It really isn't easy to take care of 3 kids, stay healthy, and keep up with work. So much to juggle, hence it’s already July and I’m only my 2nd post of the year. 

F is already 9 months, and we celebrated with a long weekend trip to Salt Spring Island. 

I was excited to go back after all these years (read more about my 2017 trip at this link). Not much has changed, other than the addition of more food trucks (gentrification???).

Oh and the addition of my 3 kids, of course. 

Before the trip, I was a bit worried about what they would eat. It's always difficult to feed each of them, because they have their own preferences, likes and dislikes, which also depend on their level of fatigue. I only let myself think about it for a few minutes, because there weren’t enough neurons in my very full and tired brain to even remember to think about it (if that makes sense…). 

For dinner on the 1st day, we went to Cassette. Spoiler - we all loved it, 10/10 food and service for a group of 9 with a total of 5 kids. 

Entree for 2, with the salmon option, for me, baby F, and H: 

PERFECT fish, crispy skin, no bones. Comes with a salad that I only managed to get one bite of, because the rest of the family devoured it. Can you see the little golden edible flowers garnishing the salad? 

Fried chicken burger for S: 

Also perfectly cooked chicken!!! H is usually pretty picky with fish and chicken, but he was extremely quiet during this meal, too busy eating. 

Cassette smash burger for P: 

He left 3/4 of the burger, mostly because he didn’t nap despite waking up at 6AM to make it for the 8:50AM ferry. More of this delicious burger for me… 

Piles of fries, as you can see from the photos. None of the fried food was overly greasy. The staff remembered to keep salt levels low. I wish we had time to have dessert. Actually, I wish I had the foresight to use formula, so that I could have an alcoholic beverage at the breweries and the cider place that we visited back in 2017. 

For most of this trip, I was with the baby, either nursing or napping him, and not doing a whole lot. We did finally make it to the infamous Salt Spring Island Saturday farmers’ market and made a quick loop around before heading to the nearby playground. Honest opinion of the market is that it was a bit of a bust though, so crowded and overpriced, with a mediocre quality of goods. Who am I to judge though? Some people might like driftwood bird houses, still fresh with bird doo doo. :) 

While F napped, the other kids went for short hikes, beach time, blackberry picking, going to the goat cheese place, bakeries. Because I was mostly with the baby, I think P must have felt neglected. I forget sometimes that he’s not as independent as his older sister, who was having a blast with her cousins and making up games… Anyways, hoping the next trip will be better for him. At the end, he bonded with my cousin’s huge dog and we ended up leaving on a very high note. Guess we’ll come back again… 

After having 3 babies, I finally feel qualified to blog about this topic. No more imposter syndrome here (if you did not already read in between the lines, *insert sarcasm here*. Being a mom is sort of weird in the sense that it is so confusing annd unclear whether any particular action or choice is correct in the moment. Should I encourage coach/discipline/reprimand/do and say nothing in any certain situation? Am I ruining my kids' self esteem and future potential if I step in? Anyways...)

1. Diapers and wipes

    * This is the most important. You do not want poop everywhere, it’s another mess to clean. 

Huggies are best value for performance, for my kids. There are other brands that I've tried and we've had more leaks. There are also some that are scented and it was not my fave smell. 

These have been on sale a while and work just fine: https://amzn.to/4qnzlwe

2. Change pads, one in the living area and one in bed. If you have space for a full change table, then good for you. Make sure to get a change pad that can be wiped down, like a Keekaroo. 

This helps reduce the mess of poop everywhere.

3. A few onesies with the envelope neck and snaps on the bottom.

The envelope neck design is great for the inevitable blowouts so that the whole shirt can be pulled down, rather than pulled over baby's head. See this video for reference (I am not affiliated with this video creator, it was just the first video that showed up when I searched for “how to change a baby’s onesie”). 

4. Zipper romper pajamas with the option to cover feet and hands. 

I am Team Zipper (to those people who are Team Snap, please explain to me how you have time to do each individual snap?!). I am especially fond of two way zippers that can be zipped up from the feet to the neck. Having the option for covering feet reduces one extra step of putting on socks. Also, their teeny tiny socks get lost so easily, either they slip off while out and about, or they get swallowed up by the laundry machine. 

Parade Organics has great options that feel super soft and look great even after many many washes. 

Honourable mention: burp cloths and lots of cloths in general to wipe up spilled milk

Don’t forget to take care of yourself, moms. Get yourself a snack, some new sheet masks, and the following things: 

1. Nursing bras and liners or pads if breastfeeding 

2. Lots of nutritious warm meals. 

3. Pads or adult diapers for postpartum bleeding, depending on flow and pain. Diapers can be more convenient.  

Side note, WOW, it’s hard to form coherent sentences right now. I imagine this brain fog is due to waking up every 2 - 3 hours at night to grow my 7 week old baby, and then spending most of the day chasing the two older kids (5 and 3 year olds). Thankfully, the husband is a more than capable partner who can take care of two small children, while managing my fluctuating hormonal mood swings. Life is good. 

3 kid post partum life is a lot... Are H and I crazy?!

Or is this actually what normal should be, and everybody should have 2 or more kids? 

Or is there no normal anymore?

Or am I delirious from lack of sleep?

Up at 5am, waking every 2 to 3 hours, in addition to brain power needed for negotiating with and entertaining small kids. This has been harder than the steepest mountain I have ever climbed. 

This explains why I am so hungry all the time. On top of breast feeding, there is also the constant herding of the older kids to make sure they are living their best lives. I am so grateful for all the people who make me food to make sure I have enough energy for this lifestyle.

Thinking back to the hospital meals, which were not so great... For those of you staying at Burnaby General Hospital, here is a glimpse of what meals look like.

DAY 1 - Lunch (5/10)

Chicken teriyaki with some type of vegetable soup. Vanilla frozen dessert (can't really call that real ice cream).

The chicken was pretty dry and rubbery. The rice was sort of hard. I couldn't decide whether the chicken or the rice tasted worse.

DAY 1 - Dinner (4/10)

Breaded fish and potatoes. There was also a mandarin orange, not in photo.

Note that they called this breaded fish, not fried or fish n chips. It was a mushy piece of fish with a side of mushy beans, some of which had already turned black. 

DAY 2 - Breakfast (6/10)

French toast with scrambled eggs and cheerios. Coffee.

The best part was the Cheerios. Can't really mess up something that comes prepackaged. All the rest was mush. 

The coffee was strong enough for my lowered tolerance (my caffeine intake was  limited during pregnancy).

DAY 2 - Lunch (6/10)

Mac and cheese with minestrone soup. Broccoli and banana.

Sort of funny how they presented the banana. Did the hospital nutritionist precalculate that half a banana is sufficient potassium intake for the day? 

Mac and cheese was acceptable only when paired with broccoli that added texture. Otherwise, it was just mush.

CONCLUSION

-Hospital food is mushy.

-Consider bringing your own food and snacks. With breastfeeding and recovering post partum, I was already constantly HUNGRY from day 0. The hospital portions were insufficient for me, but you can make your own judgements of portion size based on the photos. 

-5/10

It has been a week since baby number 3 arrived and days are up and down, depending on how the night goes. Life would be boring if it's too predictable! In case I forget how difficult (and beautiful) these days are, I wanted to start documenting again, starting with a 24 hour schedule.

12am - just finished the first night feed 

240am - night feed 2 and diaper change

3am - oldest comes in. Before she went to bed the night before, she had already said she would come in to sleep in my bed. GREAT (*INSERT SARCASM*). She watches while I finish nursing and baby #3 falls back asleep.

4am - middle child is here too now...

410am - I take both S and P back to their shared room. There's no space for 4 of us in a queen size bed!!!!!

Maybe 430am!? - everyone asleep, including me. I'm sitting on the floor, head on S mattress using it as a pillow

5am - i wake up, shivering and shaking like i just had an epidural because i feel so cold. Since Baby 3, my circulation has felt a little more lacking than usual. I tiptoe back to my own bed and curl up under the blankets. 

630am - middle comes in to wake us up. Thank goodness H is here, and he takes P down for breakfast

715am - midwife calls and wakes me up.  That's ok I wanted to chat with them anyways.

730am - get S up and dressed, breakfast and do her hair. Get the little people out the door by 830am with their dad and grandpa so they can go to school.

9 - feed P

910 - diaper change 

930 - diaper change

10 - another feed

1030 - H is back from drop offs and I can nap (thank goodness)

1pm - wake to the sounds of an online parent teacher Zoom call that H is having. Great timing because the baby also wakes up and it's time for another feed

130pm - diaper change

2pm - diaper change

220pm - feed once again, and another big shart

230pm - grandma arrived, so I can eat while the baby plays with her

245pm - feed the baby for the 9000th time, and he falls asleep

3pm - watch TV!!!! I haven't watched TV during the day in SO long. This is one of the perks of maternity leave that I did not previously enjoy when I was doing 2 under 2 without childcare.

430pm - kids come home at the same time midwife arrives for follow up check

5ish - dinner time, midwife confirms all is well health wise.

6ish - bath time, bedtime routine. 

8pm - listen to H struggle with the kids as he puts them to bed. Of course, the baby is nursing again.

9pm - wind down and prepare to not sleep.

11pm - time to feed again.

Oh look, 12am, lets do it again.

The difficult thing about being post partum and somewhat obliged to follow Chinese post partum traditions of my family, is that I am not allowed to go outside or eat cold foods. Luckily, I was prepared for this and crammed as much bubble tea as possible in the days approaching my due date. Here we are, enjoying the Chicha San Chen BOGO deal for their new store opening in Toronto:

While im not usually a fan of taro flavored bbt, the taro balls here were 10/10. Pearls and tea flavor also 10/10. Price was 6/10 because it would be $10 per cup without BOGO!!! But you pay for what you get...

“In Greek mythology, the moon goddess Selene is the personification of the moon. She is said to drive her moon chariot across the sky every night.”

Visited Selene with H for our anniversary dinner last month. What a great little hidden gem, tucked behind all the construction currently causing congesting on Hastings St.

We had their tasting menu, which was $80 per person. Sadly I did not take notes on what each dish was, but they were literally all perfectly delicious. Here’s the scallops with some fresh bread and olives: 

My favourite was the Greek salad with marinated tomatoes. I recently learned that tomato skin easily peels off when tomatoes are immersed in cold water, and then hot water. 

Some seafood, octopus… thing. I can’t remember a thing, I was really tired and pregnant. :) 

Lamb chops. Usually, they have a beef dish, but H does not beef, so they switched it up for us. +10 points for providing accommodating service: 

Dessert was just OK, but I’m getting so picky with food these days. H liked it, especially the complimentary chai ice cream. Happy anniversary to us, as we enter into the 6th year of marriage, and expecting our 3rd child. 

Might be a good name for a 3rd kid.

 

It's the end of summer, officially first day of fall. Seems like a good time to recap what kept us busy this season!

1. Summer camps for the kids, running around doing drop offs and pick ups at Saplings and Pedalheads. Would recommend both, especially the soccer camps at Pedalheads for boys who are obsessed with playing soccer. The instructors are infinitely more patient than H or I could ever be. 

2. Food, including Tochi, a French toast food truck, which we found at PNE!!!!

This is the half order, and we chose the cinnamon & sugar and the matcha. Cinnamon & sugar with the vanilla ice cream was the perfect pair. The matcha flavor was too metallic and had a strange fishy aftertaste. 

3. Blueberry picking at Billz Bees:

Bill doesn't advertise enough, he's a great guy, farming his land, taking care of his animals, and helping people with bee and wasp infestations in his downtime.

4. Kids starting school! So much free time really...

5. Vertigo and nausea. After this experience of not being able to eat for about 2 to 3 days, I have truly realized that theres nothing more important than EATING (and being healthy). Reminder to make time for taking care of yourself, physically and mentally.

Have a good start to Fall 2025 everyone.

We survived the 1st week of school and gradual entry scheduling conflicts! It's all a blur of drop offs, pick ups, setting alarms, dont forget a child, feed everyone, manage all the emotions. 

I need a break from the long weekend and solo parenting during the day while 33 weeks pregnant. Good thing grandparents are around. Good thing H could take a few hours off. Good thing I could take days off to balance the rushing around. 

Slower days are just around the corner. 

KOREA NOODLE HOUSE

This place is good. K good night.