My 1st Free item from couponing at Target - Cutter Mosquito Repellent

Went to Target to buy some sunscreen yesterday. It was on sale and I had 2 Banana Boat sun care coupons ($1 off 1 product). Target has a buy two specific products get $5 gift card, I got 2 for $6.92 after coupons and gift card for next purchase, it makes that cheaper than getting one.

Then I got Cutter mosquito repellent for FREE. It cost $3.99 and I have a Target $2 off coupon, and a $1.5 manufacturer coupon, so ended up I earned $0.01 to contribute for the total.  

And they have Pantene  shampoo and conditioner on sale at $3.89 each. If you buy two you can get a styling product ($3.99)  for FREE. I got a $3 off two products Manufacturer Coupon, and a $1.5 Target Coupon for the same condition. So I ended up paying less than one product and get all 3 products for $3.08. 

The pool is up, the girls love it

Little Panda Daddy came home a little early today, so we can go outside and set the swimming pool up. Cheeky Panda has been asking all day long to get the pool set up, I guess she remembered the fun from last year. As a two year old, this girl sure surprised me with her wonderful memory.

The time to set the pool up is like 10 - 15 minutes, but it take 3 hours to fill that 1000 gallons up in the 10' X 30" pool...we were playing in the pool while it was filling, so it wasn't too bad. The girls were crawling, walking, splashing, kicking and laughing so hard that I really have to ask them to quite down a bit. This is the first time Chunky Panda "swim" in a pool, she loves it so much that she laughed like screaming the whole time. Then she got so tired she looked for me to hold her so she could rest and chill. I bet she would have fall asleep if I let her. Cheeky Panda on the other hand do not want to come out for dinner. I told her I when I counted to ten, she had to get up. She said yes but when I counted to 9, she suddenly said "no 10, no 10." HAHA. I thought that was really funny she knew 10 is after 9, and asked me to stop counting. Now I know for sure she can count.

We can't find the cover in the store, so my husband ordered it online from Amazon tonight. It should arrive on Thursday (we have the Prime which give us Free-2-day Delivery from joined Amazon Mom). Hope the pool won't get too dirty in two days since there is a house building behind us. God bless.

Got my new swimming pool

Last year the little swimming pool was out in the yard for too long, all kind of dirt and bugs are collected in it (so gross). I tossed it a couple weeks ago and finally bought a new one today. The girls will be a little bigger this summer and a bigger pool will fit them better. Hopefully this time Little Panda Daddy and I can both fit in it. Before Chunky Panda was born, only Cheeky Panda and I can fit in the tiny pool, Little Panda Daddy was all left out. A good thing about that was he could hang the towels for us to dry off.

Checked a few places I usually shop, the lowest price for Intex 10' X 30" pool is $49.99 from Academy (I found that on a TV commercial and the newspaper ad., I don't really shop there typically). Now my next project is to clean up my back yard full of dogs' poop.......and wait for Little Panda Daddy to mow the yard. Hope everything go right and the pool is good. Then I can play with the girls in the new pool and have a lot of fun together.

Nursing pads comparison and reviews

Breastfeeding my girls for more than 2 years now, I have tried quite a lot of nursing pads out there. One after the other, I almost tried all of them expect the most expensive brand - Medela, which is like $3 to $4 more than the other brands. Honestly, until now I am still trying to find the best one since they all have its pros and cons.

There are two kinds of nursing pads: Disposable or Reusable. The disposable pads I tried included Johnson's Contour nursing pads, Gerber's NUK Ultra Thin Nursing pads, Avent's Nursing pads and Lansinoh's Disposable nursing pads. Reusable pads I tried Gerber's NUK Reusable nursing pads, LilyPadz's Reusable nursing pads and a little fold up wash cloth.


Compare Different Brands Disposable Nursing Pads 

Johnson's Contour Nursing Pads

Pros:

-Contour shape avoid the nipples showing issue

-Comfortable to wear

Cons:

-Not super absorbing (I had leaked a few times especially at night)

-Left linen on breasts

-Feel it when the pads got wet

Gerber NUK Ultra Thin Nursing Pads

Pros:

-Ultra Thin 

Cons:

-Without a padded bra, the pads make your breasts all lumpy looking

-Not super absorbing (Leakage happened in day and night)

-Need to be changed often due to nonabsorbent

-The sticker back is not sticky enough

-Pad move around a lot

-Feel it when the pads got wet

Avent Disposable Nursing Pads

Pros:

-Comfortable to wear

-Indent in the middle of pad for the nipple for better fit

Cons:

-The pad look like have a nipple on its own from outside (because of the nipple's indent)

-Only a tiny sticky strip at the back, not stick to bra at all

-Pad move around a lot cause leakage problem

-Feel it when the pads got wet

Lansinoh Disposable Nursing Pads

Pros:

-Ultra Thin
-Individual package for each pad
-Comfortable to wear
-Absorb the best compared to the above
-Bigger pad for better coverage

Cons:
-A crisp in the middle where it folded can be unattractive on the outside (usually can be solved by smoothing it out)
-The bigger size pad show outside the bra some times
-Sticky strip is sufficient but would be nicer if it is bigger


Compare Different Brands Reusable Nursing Pads

Gerber NUK Reusable Nursing Pads

Pros:
-Feel nice on skin and comfortable to wear
-Machine washable

Cons:
-Leak through easily without little amount of breastmilk
-Move around too much because there isn't any sticky part at all

LilyPadz Silicone Nursing Pads

Pros:

-Stick onto the breasts and won't move at all

-Silicone pads can be cleaned easily with soap and hot water

-Easy wipe off in between use instead of changing it out

-Reuse it up to 2 months per pair
-Prevent leakage by giving the nipple pressure directly

Cons:
-Trapped sweat in between the pads and breasts (especially summer time)
-Have to make sure the breasts are clean and dry prior to putting it on

Gerber Baby Washcloth (or any kind you have at home)
How to use it as nursing pads:
Fold it twice into little square shape, tuck it in between the breasts and bra

Pros:
-Cheap and comfortable
-Machine washable
-Absorb fast and a lot

Cons:
-Feel uncomfortable when it gets wet
-Need to change often so it won't leak through or get uncomfortable
-Not leak-proof

Right now, Little Panda Mommy latest testing product is LilyPadz Silicone Nursing Pads. I like it quite a lot. It prevents leaking. Since it sticks onto the skin, I don't need to worry about it moving around is a plus. The nipples showing issue will not happen at all because you supposed to press them in before you stick the edge onto the breasts (That's how it works). The only issue I have but not really a big deal is: every time I peel them off (it doesn't hurt at all), there is some sweat trapped in between and dripped on my pants. (I don't know is it because I am sweaty or other people have the same problem.)

My Favorite Disposable Nursing Pads Brand:  Lansinoh Disposable Nursing Pads
My Favorite Reusable Nursing Pads Brand:  LilyPadz Silicone Nursing Pads

Tips:
I brought both my favorite pads from Target, Lansinoh Nursing Pads cost around $7-$8 most the time, when they go on sale a few time per year, stock up. I got 6 boxes last year when they went on sales for $5.5 per box (60-count). LilyPadz Nursing Pads price is all over the place, Target is selling it at less than $6. This is so far the best price I found.

Good luck on finding the nursing pads that fit your need.

Cheeky Panda isn't happy (Tips of dealing with a naughty child)

My girls make me proud all the time. They often got compliments from people in restaurants or grocery stores or actually everywhere. Praises are not only about they are cute and beautiful, but also they are so well behaved. But this last week my little Cheeky Panda was kind of naughty, whatever you told her not to do, she did it repeatedly.

Timeout isn't working at all. She seems like enjoying the timeout and goes straight to sit down for her 2 minutes. Then she gives you a kiss and apologizes and goes on being a little trouble.

Little Panda Daddy suggested instead of putting her in time out, we should take her favorite toys or activities away for punishment. So I took her Princess dolls away for the first time and put it somewhere she could see it. It worked and she got so upset and cried. She finally started to listen again and understood if she doesn't behave herself, her stuff would be gone for a day.

I think I finally get why she has been doing all that today. These few days she has been saying Chunky Panda is happy, mommy and daddy is happy but not herself anymore. I asked her "are you happy too?" She said "no, mommy." Then repeatedly saying everyone in the home is happy excluding herself.

Today before nap time, she is closing the door on me and not listening again. I have to tell her your Jelly Bean will be taken away and she is not allow to have any until tomorrow. She broke into tears and came hugging me. I asked her again is she feeling unhappy. She said "Yes." It broke my heart. I believed she actually mean it not just fooling around like usual. I asked her why but she couldn't really tell me. So I asked "are you not happy because mommy and daddy has been punishing you a lot?" " Yes" "Do you want more attention and feel like we give Chunky Panda more attention than you?" "Yes" And she cried and hugged me so so tight.

Poor little thing, she almost made me cry. I sat her down and looked her in the eyes, explained the punishments were the consequences of being naughty. And I told her "Mommy Daddy both love you a lot and we love Chunky Panda too. I am sorry you feel like you don't have as much attention, I will pay more attention about that and make sure you are happy too. Is there anything I can do to help you feel better now?" She don't know or can't express herself. But her body language started to show me she wanted some tickles. Sounded weird but as soon as I tickled her, she laughed so hard and she was happy again. After a good 5 minutes of laugh, I asked her again is she happy now. She said "yes" and then everybody else in the house were happy too.

Time to be tucked in and she looked all happy and ready to have a good nap.

Lesson Learned - When a child not acting like their usual self, something is wrong. May be she is not feeling good physically or emotionally. Try to find out without scaring them off. Little kids this young can communicate at some level but not capable of fully express themselves. Ask simple questions like "Are you feeling okay?" "What's wrong? Can I help you?" Then if they respond as you asked, go ahead and help them. If not, you may need to get some clues around the house and guess what caused the problem. Ask more specific questions and hope you can get a simple YES or NO from them, and sorted it out from there. Such as: "Are you not feeling good? Is your teeth hurt?" or  "Do you need something? Can you bring and show me what you want?"

Just be patient and make sure not let them push your button. Continuously dealing with a naughty kid can be very exhausted and frustrated.  Every time you feel like you need to scream or yell at them (NEVER put your hands on them), take an extra 5 seconds to put them in a safe area, step back and take a deep breathe. Calm yourself down and come back to your child, sit them down and get down to their level (eye level), explain what they did wrong and tell them what is the consequence. It can be a time out, toys being put away, no outside playtime, etc. Make sure to follow through the discipline and explain it to your child. They can understand way more than you think, even they are only One or Two-year-old.