The Story of Mamacat

Today, TwentySixOctober is sharing the story of Mamacat!

We're glad that we managed to get the owner to share her startup story here with us.



Who is Mamacat?

Mamacat is an online home business which specializes in selling babywearing handmade accessories such as drool pad, baby carrier sling bag & customised baby carrier's cover & hood (checkout their pretty photos below).

Who is the owner?

The business is managed by Adeline (33 yrs old), a full-time working mom, together with her mother & her younger sister.

Adeline is in charged of receiving orders from customers, finance & marketing. She also does about 20% of the sewing work.

Adeline's mother does most of the sewing work.

Her sister, who has recently quit her job as a designer, is in charged of taking photos of their products, design all the character hoods, design their Facebook page & upcoming website. She also helps in the miscellaneous handicraft such as cutting of fabrics.

When is this business initiated?

Mamacat begins in 2012 by Adeline's mother & sister who love handicraft.

They first started as hobby as they wanted to sell off their handmade items.

Adeline joined the business in Oct 2014 when she was on her maternity leave & started to market this business.

What inspires them to start this business?

This business is initiated as a hobby when Adeline's sister & mother wanted to sell their handmade items. The business expanded when Adeline joined in 2014.

When Adeline gave birth to her first child in 2014, she wanted to make babies accessories for her own use so she picked up sewing. Her friends from her mommies group saw the things she made and started to order from her. Business gradually grew by word-of-mouth & also marketing by Mommy bloggers.

Adeline & her family enjoyed making beautiful items and feel accomplished when they receive compliments from their customers for their hardwork.

What are their future plans?

In the coming year, Adeline plans to make it into her full time business and to launch other products besides babywearing accessories.

She is also planning for her #2!

She mentioned that as she's trying to juggle her work, business & being a mom so her plan may change.

Adeline & her family have shown that indeed hobby can turn into business opportunity.

And being a working mother does not hinder her from pursuing her interest!

You can visit their Facebook page at Mamacat

Photos of their beautiful items!

"If you just work on stuff that you like and you’re passionate about, you don’t have to have a master plan with how things will play out.” - Mark Zuckerberg

TwentySixOctober is collaborating with Mamacat for a giveaway!
Do follow us & look out for our giveaway in 2016!

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Xoxo,
TwentySixOctober

Christmas 2015!

This year Christmas is a special one as it's the 1st time that I'm celebrating with Aedan! Daddy don't be jealous. Haha.

Though Daddy is not in Singapore, Mommy is blessed to have close friends to spend this special day with. Thanks for making this Christmas gathering a lunch event so that Aedan & I can join in! (I usually prefer not to go out at night to avoid disrupting Aedan's sleeping schedule.)

We had pot luck & gifts exchange!

It's difficult to prepare pot luck with a baby (always wanting attention) so I chose to bring fruits which required less preparation. Moreover, it's a healthier choice! 

I made an effort to make them look Christmassy! 

Ingredients:

- strawberry 

- grape 

- cherry  

We also had a gift sharing session. 

I had headache when considering what to buy for 7 pax. 

Since Christmas is the time when we share love & care with our loved ones, I believe the thought of sharing is more important than the actual gifts. 

So.. I decided to make a Christmas gift bag (decorated by myself with some help from Aedan) & packed with practical things from Daiso!

It was fun & also tiring shopping in Daiso for gifts (with Aedan in the carrier)! 

Here's what I got with a budget of $6 per gift bag. 

1. Vaccum Seal Storage Bags 

This is ideal for travellers to help them squeeze in their loots into their luggage bags. 

2 of my friends are going to Japan this coming year end so I hope it will come useful to them. 

2. Cord Belt Hook & Loop 

I personally love this! 

I hate to see my computer's & charger's cords get tangled up. This will help solve the problem. 

This is also ideal for my friends who are travelling as they can use it to keep their chargers neatly in the luggages. 

3. Charcoal Facial Cleansing Foam

I have personally tried this facial foam & it's quite good! Moreover, the size is also just nice to bring for travelling.  

I love Christmas because it gives me the opportunity to meet up with my loved ones & prepare little gifts for them.

Furthermore, I get to receive & open presents too. ^_^

I don't have any Christmas wishlist so I'm not hoping for any particular Christmas present. I simply like to receive things wrapped in gift wrappers & love the joy of opening a gift. Haha. 

It was great to catch up with my secondary school friends. 

They had fun playing with Aedan too. 

The next gathering will be for my farewell!

I like this picture captured by my bestie 

How's your Christmas?

 Hope u have fun too! 

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Xoxo,

Twentysixoctober 

Breastfeeding Mums (BFM) 2015 Year End Gathering

For those who follow my blog will have read that I'm a breast feeding supporter and also a member & admin in the Breastfeeding Mums (BFM) group on Facebook.

You may read my breast feeding experience here.
My Breast Feeding Experience

Recently I joined their year end BFM gathering and met many awesome mums who shared with me many useful tips on how to take care of baby such as food to introduce when baby reached 6 months old, how to sleep train baby & of course many nursing tips!

The event is well organized by a few of the mommies in the group. Thumbs up!

1. There was Baby-Led Weaning booth which provided information about how mums can introduce solid food by allowing baby to learn to self-feed.

2. Baby wearing demonstration where mums get to learn how to breast feed on the go with baby in carrier (awesome!). And also educated 

mums on the method of using different type of carriers (e.g. woven wrap, soft structured carrier, ringsling). 

3. Introduction to NTUC's U Family Mentorship programme 

4. Play areas for babies. 

Aedan enjoyed the play area :)

5. Food.

They provided light refreshments for all mommies. 

6. Goodie bag! 

- TheAsianParent cup 

- Pigeon Breast Pads 36 pcs

- Travel size Bepanthen nappy rash cream 

- Forever Aloe's Lips with jojoba for baby 

- Sample size Forever Aloe's Propolis creme, soothing massage lotion, soothing clear gel 

7. The best of all, mommies get to interact with each other! And babies get to meet other babies. 

I'm glad that I have attended the events and hope there will be more such events where  mommies can come together to share their experiences. 

You will realized that I did not include our group photos and photos with other mommies. This is because the Breast Feeding Mums group is a closed group which their admin make effort in screening the members before accepting them into the group. It's something that I like about this group too. Mommies can be comfortable to share their worries and problems, get advices & encouragment from other mommies in this group without worrying that the topic of discussion may be inappropriate for other males to see. 

I strongly encourage all breastfeeding mums to join the group to get more knowledge & support for breastfeeding! 

Happy reading,

Evelyn C. 

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8 Sacrifices Mommy makes for her baby that are all worthwhile

I'm officially a stay-at-Home Mom (SAHM).

A few days ago, I went back to office with a heavy heart & tendered my resignation. I have weighed my importances & my baby is definitely my priority.


In life, we just can't have everything. 

Often we need to sacrifice one thing for the better of another. In my case, I sacrifice my career to take care of my baby as there's no family or relatives who can help take care & I do not trust a stranger to do this job.
Kudos to those working Moms as they have to juggle work & babies.

Being a mother is no easy job and there are sacrifices to be made.

1. Career
Regardless whether we choose to be SAHM or working Mommy, we will face with time when baby needs extra care (eg. when baby is sick) & we have to put down our work to care for baby.
For me, I chose to quit my job to be the care giver for my baby.

2. Physical appearance
Mommy will never look the same as before after child birth. We can make considerable effort to slim down & look good but our body will never look exactly the same as before.

3. Money
With additional dependent and expenses, Mommy has to cut down other expenses like lesser new clothes and no more new fancy bags for the time being.

4. Freedom
With baby, we can't go out whenever & wherever we want without planning. It's difficult to have impromptu meet up with friends or movie night. Every outing requires planning such as the things to bring out (carrier or stroller) & to consider baby's feeding & napping time.

5. Time 
Our 24 hours is no longer all ours. Most of the time, I find that I only have a few hours of "me" time when baby is sleeping.

6. Sleep
No one sleep when baby is awake. No more luxury of sleeping 6-8 hrs straight as Mommy has to wake up every 2-3 hrs to feed.

7. Desire
A lot of time, Mommy has to sacrifice self interest for the better of baby. I have threw away thoughts of buying fancy clothes & branded bag as I'm now sticking to clothes that are comfortable & easy to breastfeed. The only bag which I bring out is diaper bag.

8. Endurance of pain
Child birth & breastfeeding. The pain from contraction & nipples crack. Sometime the soreness from nipples can be unbearable but we still continue to breastfeed. Mommy just have to endure as it's all worth it when we see the milk drunken look on baby's face.

I believe in fair trade in life which means if you want something, you have to give something else. All these sacrifices are all worth it when I see my baby smiles & sleeps peacefully in my arm and the fulfilment in observing him grow up each day. Baby grows up fast.

The joy that baby brings into the family is incomparable to the momentary happiness from material rewards. It's something that money can't buy.

We can always work in the future for career, money & desire. But the chance to witness baby grows up is only once in a life time. They will not always be so small.

Enjoy each day as parents!
Happy reading,

Evelyn C.

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Christmas Giveaway!

Hi all readers,

To celebrate this Christmas season, I will be giving away an awesome goodie bag to one lucky reader!!

As mentioned in my previous post "What to pack in diaper bag?", I love backpack diaper bag so today I'll be giving away a Baby Kiko's Mama Travel Backpack with the following goodies:

1. Palmer's cocoa butter formula Baby Wash 

2. Palmer's cocoa butter formula Bottom Butter Nappy Cream

3. Palmer's cocoa butter formula Baby Butter Moisturizer 

4. Palmer's cocoa butter formula Massage Lotion for stretch marks 

5. S size Diapers 

How to win?*

1. Simply Like my TwentySixOctober facebook page.  

2. Like/share this post on facebook.

Giveaway ends on 25 December 2015, 2359 hr

 

A lucky draw will be performed & winner will be notified & posted on our Facebook page. 

*this giveaway is only for reader residing in Singapore 

Update on 28 December 15:

The winner is Irene Sim! 

You may check out our Facebook page for details of the lucky draw.

https://www.facebook.com/twentysixoctoberblog/videos/431104060411893/

Thank you for your support!

Twentysixoctober 

 

Guide to making passport for baby & Aedan's 1st day trip to Malaysia!

Aedan is 4 months old!

I have recently brought Aedan to Malaysia (Johor) to visit my 外婆 who is his great grandma (wiill be sharing more photos at the end of this post).

Before going to Malaysia, I have checked from Immigrations & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) that all babies are required to make their own passports in order to travel overseas (no more co-sharing of passport with mommies).

Many new parents like myself may wonder how to get a passport done for baby!

After asking around & experiencing the process myself, I decided to share a guide for making passport for baby. Hopefully, it will be useful to you. 

Guide to making passport for baby

For all Singaporean residing in Singapore, there are 3 ways to get your passport done. 

1. Submit the application online  - $70

2. Submit the application via postage - $70  

3. Visit ICA building at level 3 to submit the application over the counter - $80

By all three methods, you may make an appointment to collect the passport when it's ready. 

It's definitely not a good idea to head down ICA without an appointment as it may require an average waiting time of 2hrs. Imagine waiting 2 hrs with a fussy baby! Moreover, it's more expensive ($10 more) if you apply over the counter. 

I prefer online application as it's the easiest method. 

Here's a step-by-step guide to the application. 

1.  Prepare a soft copy baby passport photo based on ICA specification.

- plain white background 

- JPEG format 

- file size about 150 Kbytes 

- dimension: 400 x 514 pixels 

https://apples.ica.gov.sg/apples/index.xhtml

2. How to take a baby passport photo?  

You can simply do it at home. 

- Dress your baby & comb his/her hair neatly

- Let your baby lay on a mattress/bed/mat that has a uniform background colour or you may take on a white background (You may use a white handkerchief as background!) to save the time on cropping. 

- take multiple shots of your baby's face using your phone camera or passport photo app

- choose the best shot with baby's head facing front 

3. If you need to crop the photo. You may transfer the photo to your computer (you can just email to yourself). 

Crop the photo using photo editor or Microsoft word,  paste on a white background, save as JPEG and resize it to 400 x 514 pixels.

4. https://apples.ica.gov.sg/apples/index.xhtml

Click on the above link to apply passport & log in using Parent's SingPass. 

5. The following are the information required for submission.

6. Key in baby's birth certificate number & leave the NRIC & passport expiry blank.

7. After making payment, ICA will send a pink card to your home address within 5 working days to advise on collection. 

8. After receiving the pink card, you may make an appointment online to avoid long waiting time.

9. On the day of appointment, bring along your baby together with the following documents:

- birth certificate

- mommy/daddy's IC depending on which you use to register 

- the pink card which was mailed to your home 

I made an appointment at 12 noon, arrived on the dot and only waited for about 15mins to collect the passport! 

Aedan's first day trip to Malaysia!

I have not visited my 外婆 in Malaysia for more than a year. This time I took Aedan along together with my 舅舅's family to visit 外婆 for her 87th birthday.

This was the first time Aedan got to meet his great grandma. 

Took a photo with the Christmas tree at my 舅舅's house before we set off for a long day. 

舅舅 with Aedan

We went in on Saturday and the jam was really bad. Waited for about 2hrs! 

While waiting, we took selfie in the car. 

I even fed Aedan and changed his diaper in the car. My first car diaper changing experience.

Our first meal in Malaysia. Really yummy!

When we finally saw 外婆, she was really happy (with tears in her eyes). 

She grabbed Aedan's hands, patted his butt and kept saying ”打屁股，打屁股” :)

Baby's butt is really nice to pat. 

Later at night, we went to this supposedly famous place for dinner. (picture below). 

After a sumptuous dinner, we went to church for servicing. 

That pretty sum up my day in Malaysia. 

Took another about one hr jam to reach Singapore. 

Reached home at about 11plus and Aedan & Mommy were exhausted. 

It was a tiring day but all worth it for the big smile on 外婆 face. :)

------------------------------------------------

Hope the step-by-step guide in making passport will help those who is planning to make a passport for ur little one. 

Tips for day trip to Malaysia, Johor: 

1. Bring a few toys to entertain your baby during the waiting. 

2. Practise changing diaper for your baby on your lap in case he shits during the jam. 

3. It will be good if you can nurse your baby to sleep during the waiting. 

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Have a good trip!

TwentySixOctober 

What to pack in diaper bag?

It has been a month since my last post.

Baby Aedan is in his 16th week! Time flies. Baby grows up really fast and I have been documenting these precious moments. 

My hubby is currently overseas and it's difficult for me to send him the video via whatsapp when the size is too big so I've decided to upload on YouTube for easy sharing.

Ever since I became a mommy, diaper bag became an essential whenever I'm out with baby. 

Whereas all my other small fancy bags which I used to carry to work and dinners are all chucked one side to accumulate dust. 

It's important to get a bag that is easy to carry with compartments to store the baby items. I personally love back pack diaper bag. Back pack is lighter when carried on both shoulders. 

Here the list of items in my diaper bag: 

1. Nursing cover 

2. A pouch to put the diaper changing items & wash cloth 

3. Merries Diapers x 3

4. Diaper cream 

5. Huggies wet wipe 

6. Diaper changing mat 

7. A small toy 

8. A blanket 

9. Wash cloth

10. Nursing pads in Avent pouch

11. Disposable plastic bag 

12. Tissues

13. Changing clothes (optional) - only if I'm going out with baby for a long day

14. A folder to put all important documents like birth certificate and health booklet  

I breastfed exclusively so there  is no need for bottles, warm water and milk powder. The benefit of breastfeeding! 

As you can see most of my items are in bright colours as it helps to brighten my day!

Here's a photo of my usual look of the day of with little Aedan.

What's in your diaper bag?

Cheers,
Evelyn C.

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