Aidan's first haircut in the salon

Aidan's first professional haircut!

See the pictures here!




I'll add more details soon.


NB: Finally, we got the video from Terence, who was visiting Melbourne and tagged along to the salon. It's here.

Healthy Cookies (yes they exist!)

We've been on the hunt for healthier snack alternatives for Aidan, without too much sugar ('coz he's energetic enough as it is!) So after Googling around, I found a great cookie recipe which we tried this morning!

If you've been following my tweets today, you'd have seen the results as the cookies were being made.

Here's what happened (click on photos to see larger version):

Mash a large ripe banana


Add in butter & sugar


Sift the flour


Add all the dry ingredients to the wet ones and Mix!!


Chop up an apple in the Happy Chopper


Add it into the mixture


Mix it into a dough!


Spoon them and drop 'em onto the cookie pan


Bake for 20 mins at 160 degrees C


Here they are baking...they SMELL DELICIOUS!


All done! Onto the rack to cool...


...and into Aidan's tummy! Yum!!

Here's the recipe, which I got from ChefMom.com. I've tweaked it a little...didn't add the cinnamon or macadamia nuts, 'coz I didn't have any at home!

Apple-banana wholemeal cookies
1 large ripe banana
1/2 cup unsalted butter, really soft (or use olive oil as a healthier alternative)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup of oatmeal
1/2 cup white flour
3/4 cup wholewheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup macadamia nuts, chopped
1 apple, chopped

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C. Mash banana in a large bowl. Add butter (or olive oil) and brown sugar. In another bowl, mix dry ingredients. Add these to the banana mixture. Add the nuts and apples last.

Spoon onto cookie pan lined with greaseproof paper, about 5 cms apart. Bake in oven at for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Prep time: 30 to 45 minutes. The recipe makes about 30-40 cookies, depending how big you make them!

And trust me, they were REALLY yummy. I usually gravitate towards chocolate, but these weren't too sweet so I just kept popping them into my mouth! WARNING: 1 or 2 cookies might be a healthier alternative to chocolate; pop 6 or 7 of these babies like I did, and you'd need to swim 10 laps!!

Thinking thoughts

Just some quiet reflections.

I made a new friend recently, my Tupperware manager actually, E (yes, I've recently joined Tupperware; for Tupperholics, my AP was on 2/8/09, and 1st demo this Sat after Sessions!), and our long car rides to Demos and Sales meetings have given us an avenue to talk, and swap stories.

E's such an amazingly wonderful person, very open about her life and what's she's battled with, and I'm just so impressed with her positivity in spite of everything. It really feels like God's had a hand in bringing us together, for such a time as this.

Tonight we talked about lots of things, our family as usual, and based on her own experience post-birth, it made me wonder if all the feelings and anxieties I had with my newborn could've been classified as post-natal depression.

Now labeling anyone with the big D-word is pretty scary, although during the 1st year of Aidan's life I did check out a few websites to see if I exhibited signs. While I ticked a few boxes, it wasn't quite enough to label me with PND. I guess there's a spectrum.

I think my feelings mostly tied in with a sense of a loss of control. I think I was angry most of the time. Not angry enough to yell or scream or throw a plate, but I often felt stressed, anxious, tired, and got the sense I was well in over my head. Which resulted in me snapping at everyone, all the time.

So maybe it wasn't just the baby blues, maybe it was more than that. I guess I'll never know. I'm hoping I'll be more aware when the next one comes along.

In the meantime, I've learnt a bit more about myself in the last week, why a lack of control over situations tend to tip me over the edge (esp. nearing my period...hmmm...hormones do play a part!) and what amazing AMAZING girlfriends I have. And a gracious husband. And a merciful God.

Here's to tomorrow!