My depression has returned. I am back on therapy and meds.

I am not entirely sure what caused my black hole of despair to return. Sometimes there really is no reason for depression — it is a horrible illness I would not wish on my worst enemy — but I do know that the past couple of years have been particularly rough on me, and the past few months have been some of the most trying on me and my family.

I knew that I needed help when I would start crying whenever I was alone. And because finding ANY alone time is so difficult these days, I would cry the most while in the bathroom. A hot blubbering mess in the shower? A regular occurrence. Sobbing while on the crapper? As pathetic as it sounds, this happened/happens all too often.

I knew that I needed help when I had a sudden urge to smack my child for being fussy. I have NEVER had violent thoughts toward my children before and this scared the crap out of me. I called J at work in tears, and asked him to come home immediately because I didn’t trust myself with the girls.

I knew that I needed help when just the act of getting out of bed became too unbearable to even think about. When I looked forward to each and every day with dread. When I failed to see joy in my children’s smiles. When I wanted SO badly to check myself into a mental institution and the only thing holding me back was knowing that we could not afford it.

I knew that I needed help when I began to have repeated and detailed thoughts of death and suicide and how much better off all my loved ones would be without me.

Both my psychiatrist and psychologist have told me that my getting out of bed, getting dressed and making it to their offices were courageous acts. They tell me that if I were not brave, I would have given in to the disease. I would not be taking care of my kids and trying to support my parents despite the fact that it physically pains me to even just sit up. When it takes all my energy to not be crying ALL the time.

But I certainly do not feel courageous.

And as much as I love my parents, even after all my struggles with depression in the past, they still questioned me when I finally confessed to them my condition: can it be that I’m just being overly dramatic, too pessimistic, too selfish, too irresponsible, and too lazy?

Who knows? Perhaps they are right. I am working hard to find the answer.

First, my neck is recovering nicely. I am still in a bit of pain but it is nowhere near as bad as it was two weeks ago, and through acupuncture and chiropractic therapy I am even slowly regaining the reflexes in my right arm!*

My chiropractor tells me that I now only need to return to him if my pain worsens. As for acupuncture, I am continuing the sessions because our focus has now shifted to lessening my stress levels and trying to reverse the physical damages that it has already caused to my body. I am taking hanyak, the Asian herbal medicine, and receiving acupuncture sessions once a week.

Both doctors have strongly recommended yoga as a form of exercise, relaxation technique, and additional therapy for my back and neck. I have always found yoga to be boring in the past (I much prefer fast, high-impact routines), but then again I have only tried it by myself at home with DVDs and I now believe that being in a class setting with a licensed instructor may be more beneficial for someone like me. As such, I will begin yoga classes next week!

(I am also hoping that yoga will help me get back into shape. I know that it will not be a miracle worker, but here’s to hoping that it will be the first step toward getting back into my pre-pregnancy clothes.)

How do I make time to go to doctors and yoga classes with two young kids? While it may be true that me and the girls are staying at my parents’ and have three people — my parents and my sister — around for help, they all have work too. They have been rotating their schedules so that at least one person is home with me at all times, but this can get tremendously difficult and it always does not work out. Additionally, I still hardly ever get breaks (when both doctors tell me that I need as much rest as possible) because there’s usually one adult per baby.

So we have decided to send Claire to daycare, at least temporarily.

Right before I took this picture, I asked Claire, “How old are you?”

We have discovered that there is an in-home daycare just two houses down from my parents’! It has been running for over 15 years (funny how I never noticed it until now — despite my YEARS of walking and driving by it — and stupidly thinking that the people living there must be a large family) and has received pretty good reviews online.**

There are actually two facilities in our neighborhood, both run by the same woman: the first is for 3 to 5-year-olds while the other, the one that is closer to my parents’ house, is for 15-months to 3-year-olds. Coincidentally, the owner of the daycare met Claire on a walk the day before before I first contacted her, and had taken a liking to her almost immediately. She was very understanding and sympathetic to our situation, and thought that Claire would make a nice addition to her toddler class which currently consists of 10 children and 3 teachers.

So far, Claire is doing better than expected at her new “school.” (That’s what we’ve been calling it to her face, and it’s not too far from the truth because they do far more educational lessons and activities than I can currently provide for her at home.) It is undoubtedly a rough transition for our shy little girl, but we feel that this will benefit her in the long run, especially since most of the kids in her class are older than her and she can learn from them and be exposed to more advanced lessons.

We started Aerin on solids a couple of weeks ago and she’s been enjoying
them tremendously.

Living back at home has certainly been challenging for this married-with-two-kids woman. Sure, it is the same house that I grew up in and I still feel safe and comfortable here. But it is akin to moving back in with the ‘rents after being away for college, and the past two weeks have been full of compromises and adjustments for everyone in my family.

I also miss J very, very much.

At our 4-year anniversary dinner last week

I hope to be back soon with another big announcement, but it will have to wait a few days until people are met with and confirmations made. (No, I am not pregnant.)

I hope everyone has been doing well!

*Someone recently asked me why I sought out “alternative medicine” to treat my neck injury. I wasn’t sure exactly what to tell her (I think she thought I was a complete hippy — me! Ha!) and all I could say was that it just worked out that way. I already had an appointment with the chiropractor when the pain began, and I had already been going to the acupuncturist thanks to my parents’ urging. And since sessions with both “doctors” (I know some do not think chiropractors and acupuncturists are not really ”doctors” but I call them that because they both have medical degrees) were tremendously beneficial, I saw no need to seek out another.

**It may be bad manners to talk about money, but I have to add that daycare out here in the suburbs is almost half the price of what they charge in our neighborhood! AND they provide two meals and a snack!

Happy anniversary, my love. It’s been nothing short of wonderful.

Thank you to all who have been checking in with me. I am currently at my parents’ house with Claire and Aerin, and will stay here for at least a month. (J is living alone in our condo, driving up on weekends to spend time with us.) Things are expectedly very hectic as we adjust to our new living arrangements — e.g., no cribs for the girls — and life in the suburbs. I will try my best to return to blogging as soon as life slows down some.

Tomorrow is a big day for us as Claire and I will be checking out an in-home daycare just a few houses down from us. Wish us luck!

I immediately called out to J, who had to take yet another day off from work due to my health problems, and phoned my mother to see if she could come watch the girls while J took me to the doctor.

I had actually been meaning to go to a chiropractor for some time now because my back, neck, and shoulders are constantly in pain and have been ever since I was pregnant with Claire (so that’s over 2 years). As luck would have it, I had managed to find one nearby with good reviews just the other day and called him as soon as his office opened. He would be able to see me that same day.

He knew almost right away what the problem was: a herniated disc in my neck. After an examination, the diagnosis was confirmed.

The scariest part of the examination was when he was checking my reflexes. Because as it turns out, my nerves are so damaged that I NO LONGER HAVE REFLEXES IN MY ENTIRE RIGHT ARM.

I know that this isn’t that big a deal; after all, I still have full motility and sensation in all parts of my body, including my right arm. And according to the doc, the damage to my nerves did not happen overnight — he estimates that it’s been at least a year since I first developed the herniated disc (I had just written off the pain as normal aches and pains from having a baby to take care of) — so I had been living with this minor damage this entire time and hadn’t even noticed!

But it was pretty scary to see your left arm twitch and jump just as it should be, only to have the doctor perform the same exact tests on my right arm and see it lie lifeless and still.

I received some physical therapy today, and will be returning to continue receiving therapy for however long it takes for the pain to go away. (Luckily, the burning OHMIGAWD MY NECK AND SHOULDERS ARE ON FIRE sensation only lasted through this morning.)

The doctor told me that if the pain does not lessen soon, he would like to send me for an MRI. He said that while most insurance companies will deny MRI coverage for herniated discs, they will approve them in cases like mine where there is nerve damage. (Hearing this scared the crap of me too.)

The worst part about this entire ordeal is that I still have Claire and Aerin at home.

After some arguing and even a couple of tears on my part, we have decided to send Claire to my parents’ for the rest of the week. And depending on how I am doing, we — meaning me, Claire, and Aerin — may stay at my parents’ for a little over month, until J’s parents return from Hong Kong late next month. J will stay at our home, visiting and sleeping overnight occasionally, but the commute from my parents’ home to NYC is almost an hour each way and it will be too difficult for him, especially since his work hours do not fall during rush hour when trains run often.

And although my mother would love to stay at our place to help out, she still has her store to manage and the frequent drives here — 45 minutes without traffic — are becoming too difficult. At my parents’ house, Claire will be watched by my sister and mother and father, each able to cover for the others when they have to work.

I will still need to watch Aerin by myself until the end of the week, but having one baby to watch is exponentially easier than two.

I had to fight back tears as I packed Claire’s things, and I started bawling as soon as she was out the door. I may enjoy occasional breaks from my children, but I have never spent a night away from Claire since she was born (aside from hospital stays), and I know that I will miss her horribly.

(The original plan was for me and the girls to all go to my parents’ today, but there was already so much stuff to pack and bring just with Claire…we simply did not have the time, space, or energy to do so today.)

I have recently started to get acupuncture and have been taking Asian herbal medicine for my failing health too. I hope that this, in addition to the chiropractic therapy, will help me get in better shape asap so that I will be able to take care of my girls the way they deserve.

Author and illustrator Jeffrey Brown has taken up this challenge in Darth Vader and Son, which paints a lovely and hilarious alternate reality of Darth Vader as an everyday father. Among the many scenarios depicted in the book, Vader teaches Luke how to use a lightsaber, takes him toy-shopping, and even goes trick-or-treating with him!

I hardly have time to check my Google Reader anymore, so I was absolutely delighted when J told me about this book. The only problem I can see with it is that Leia is nowhere in sight — perhaps the author will write a sequel featuring her?

This 64-page hardcover book will not be released until May 4, but you can be sure that we will be pre-ordering a copy for ourselves and our girls! In the meantime, be sure to check out the below book trailer:

Via Design Taxi. 

I consider Easter, not Christmas, to be the most important holiday in my calendar. My old youth pastor who inspired this shift in thinking had told me, “Yes, Christ’s birth is to be celebrated…but Christianity in its entirety not have existed without His resurrection!”

Today I would like to share with you one of my favorite Cross-themed songs: “The Power of the Cross” — written by Keith Getty and performed by Stuart Townend. I have also included the lyrics below the embedded video.

Oh, to see the dawn
Of the darkest day:
Christ on the road to Calvary.
Tried by sinful men,
Torn and beaten, then
Nailed to a cross of wood.

This, the power of the cross:
Christ became sin for us.
Took the blame, bore the wrath—
We stand forgiven at the cross.

Oh, to see the pain
Written on Your face,
Bearing the awesome weight of sin.
Every bitter thought,
Every evil deed
Crowning Your bloodstained brow.

Now the daylight flees,
Now the ground beneath
Quakes as its Maker bows His head.
Curtain torn in two,
Dead are raised to life;
“Finished!” the victory cry.

Oh, to see my name
Written in the wounds,
For through Your suffering I am free.
Death is crushed to death,
Life is mine to live,
Won through Your selfless love.

This, the power of the cross:
Son of God—slain for us.
What a love! What a cost!
We stand forgiven at the cross.

Happy Easter once again! Rejoice, for Jesus has defeated sin!

1:45pm: Both girls wake up from their nap at the same time! (This is very unusual.) However, I must note that Aerin did not sleep the whole way through — she woke up a couple of times, but I could tell that she would be able to sleep more if I let her, so I just popped the pacifier back into her mouth, turned on the mobile, and left the room. And both times, she had fallen back asleep after a few minutes of fussing.

(I would also like to say that Claire’s nap usually lasts 1.5 hours. Everyone told me that when your child transitions from 2 to 1 nap per day, he/she will sleep 2.5-3 hours…yeah, that did NOT happen with us. She’s always been a crappy napper, so I can’t say that I didn’t expect it.)

When both girls wake up at the same time, I usually go tend to the one that is crying first. (If both are crying? I go to Claire first, because they say that you should always go to the older child first in cases like these.) This time, Aerin is full-on crying while Claire is just babbling, so I go to the littler one first. I change her diaper and lay her on the playmat while I go to Claire. I change Claire and bring her out to the playmat too. Aerin doesn’t seem that hungry yet, so I leave her on the mat so that she can continue playing with her feet while I start feeding Claire. She finishes half a bowl of the seaweed porridge and a third of the sweet potato.

2:00pm: I sit with Aerin on my lap, encouraging Claire while she plays with some toys. Claire has recently started to show an interest in wooden puzzles (and is starting to get pretty good at them!). We have received many as gifts since she was born, and this one makes the corresponding animal sound when the correct piece is placed into its hole. The sounds are pretty annoying and drive me and J bonkers, but Claire loves it.

2:30pm: Claire suddenly seems to realize that I’ve been holding Aerin this entire time. She makes a devastated face, and comes toward me with her arms out — obviously asking me to hold her instead. I can’t resist. I quickly put Aerin in the Bumbo and place Claire on my lap. I read to both girls. (And because I don’t want Aerin to feel left out, I hold her hand.)

2:45pm: Both girls are starting to get fussy. It is time for our daily walk. I try to go out with them at least once a day so that they can get some fresh air as well as a change of scenery. (This is why I hate rainy and/or extremely cold days.) I am a complete hermit who loves being home — I would be perfectly happy staying in for weeks at a time — so this is a big sacrifice for me. But my girls’ happiness is worth it…and besides, it’s good exercise.

When we go out and it’s just me at the helm, I usually strap Aerin to my chest and push Claire in the stroller. There is a small park a few blocks from our house, but it’s only some grass, benches, and a nice view of Manhattan — nothing too interesting to little kids unless there are lots of people out. (And with 2 little ones, it is difficult for me to physically play with them at this park by myself because it is right beside a busy street.) Since the weather is a bit chilly, I am guessing that there won’t be too many people out at the park so I decide to go to the pharmacy instead (8 blocks away) to pick up a new bottle of St Ives Apricot Scrub. Here is a shot I took of us from a poor reflection off an office building:

We leave Walgreens and although it’s a little cold, the air is crisp and fresh and the girls seem to be enjoying their time outside, so I decide to walk 10 blocks in the direction we came from, passing our street on the way, to our local Dunkin Donuts. I get my favorite drink of the moment — Vanilla Chai Latte — and hang out a bit, chatting with the cashier who knows us well.

On our way back home we pass a construction site and I point it out to Claire as I always do…it is an urban water park, slated to open this summer and only two blocks from our place!!

3:50pm: Our walk has lasted a little over an hour and it is now time for Aerin’s last nap of the day. I give Claire some diluted apple juice and hand her her new Ni Hao Kai-Lan sound book to keep her busy while I put her little sister down to sleep.

4:30pm: Aerin wakes up after only 30 minutes. Normally if this happens I will try to get her to sleep more, but I can see by her eyes that she is wide awake.

…..

The next two hours are pure pandemonium. Okay, so it isn’t that bad. But there is a reason I don’t have any pictures from this time period. I’m not sure what it is, but babies and toddlers always seem to hit their breaking points between the hours of 5 and 7pm (at least mine do). Both girls are fussy and whiny and DEMAND my attention. There are a few tears, but this is expected.

…..

6:30pm: Daddy is home!!!

6:40pm: After J is settled in, we discuss our “divide and conquer” plans for the girls’ nighttime routine. That night, J takes Claire and I get Aerin. I manage to get this shot of Claire, happily in her bubble bath (her new favorite word is “bubble!”), before going off to prepare Aerin’s bath:

6:50pm: Aerin is especially smiley during her bath. I notice that she’s really starting to resemble her father.

7:30pm: Both girls are bathed, fed, and sleeping!

J almost immediately goes back to work. (The only way that he is able to come home from work so early is because he finishes his work at home. Sometimes he’ll even work until 1 or 2 in the morning.) Since the office has an issue that needs to be taken care of asap, and because I am starving, we decide that it will be better if we eat separately that night. J will eat leftovers from the fridge when he gets a break from work, and I decide to have some jjambbong (Korean noodles and seafood in spicy sauce).

I eat my jjambbong straight from the pot. There is no need to add to the dishes when I am eating alone.

8:30pm: I load, and start the dishwasher. Remember when I said that I don’t trust the dishwasher to properly wash baby bottles? Well, my fatigue and lack of time won over. We use the Munchkin Deluxe Dishwasher Basket for our Dr. Brown bottles and it rocks. Almost the entire top rack of the dishwasher is filled with baby stuff, while the bottom rack — although you can’t tell from this picture — is only about half full. Claire and Aerin’s laundry is always quadruple the size of mine and J’s too. How do two tiny humans create so much work?

8:45pm: I take a bath. I manage to catch up on Draw Something while lying in the tub.

Once I am out of the bath, I finish up, and schedule my blog post for the next day. 

11:00pm: I unload the bottles from the dishwasher and place them on the bottle rack to dry. Although we love our Dr. Brown bottles, they are quite skinny so they do not dry properly in the dishwasher. (Don’t you love these pink Dr. Brown bottles? It’s a BRU-exclusive color.)

This is also when I tend to our home a bit: tidying up all the scattered toys, wiping down the table and countertops, sweep the floors (if needed), take out the garbage, and so forth. I also pre-prepare the girls’ bottles for the night and the next morning (two for Aerin and one for Claire) — filling the bottles with water, assembling the necessary pieces, and measuring out the powdered formula so that all we need to do is pour and mix and not have to worry about these things when we are at our sleepiest and klutziest.

Normally, I would also be preparing Claire’s meals for the next day at this time too. But my mother is supposed to come over the next day to help out, and she has offered to bring us some food, so I am in the clear for the night.

11:30pm: I kiss J goodnight and head to bed. I know that I should sleep, but I can’t resist…I watch the previous night’s episode of Mad Men (Betty got fat!).

12:15am: J comes to bed. We fall asleep sometime between 12:30 and 1:00am.

Aerin gets up twice that night, at around 2am and 5am. I take the first feeding while J gets the second. Our day starts all over at 7:30am, when Aerin wakes up for the day.

#  #  #

Although I had stated at the beginning of the Part 1 of this two-parter post that this was a “typical” day, it was not. This day was a very good one, meaning that it was a fairly easy one for me. I had actually been planning to write a “Day in the Life” post for a while now, but every time that I had started to plan one in the past, things got too hectic and I wasn’t able to continue taking pictures and/or jot down quick notes.

Do I have easier days than this? Yes. But they are rare, and typically my days are a bit more difficult than the one chronicled here.

Sometimes I am so exhausted that when Aerin is down for a nap, I turn on the TV and lie down, while holding Claire tightly (so she can’t cause mischief elsewhere) and take a 5-minute power nap. Sometimes, when both girls are screaming their lungs out, I just cry along with them. And sometimes, I call J at work and beg him to come back home.

But we do have our good days like the one recorded here. And even on the tough days, there are moments that make everything better, even if temporarily. (For instance, when I say “saranghae” — Korean for “I love you” — to Claire, she comes over and gives me a big hug. She only does this to a couple of people in her life, so I know that she knows it should be saved for those she cares about, and makes me feel all speshurr for being one of the privileged few. )

Do you have any comments, questions, or topics you’d like to see covered here? Please send me a message via my contact form. Enjoy!

Today’s Bloggy Thursdays will not feature a tip. Rather, it will answer a question…

The second most popular question I get asked about blogging is: “How much money do you make from blogging?”

Last August, I had posted my revenue from the first month of monetizing this blog. (If you are too lazy to click over, the figure was $307.24.) The sum should have gone way up since then, right?

Wrong.

Well, not entirely. The actual answer is more complicated than that. Because, in a nutshell, life happens. Page views will not always go up. Advertisers will come and go. Your life outside of blogging may make an unexpected turn and you may not have the time or resources to devote to your blog as you did before.

What good is a blog post about making money from blogging without a clichéd picture
to accompany it?

Since August, the money I have made from blogging has gone up and down. I think that if I had to state a number, I would say that I made, ON AVERAGE, $250/month.

There has also been a month when that number has gone down to $150. There was also one month when I made over $700. Yes, $700 is a lot of money (at least to me). But when I think about it, it’s way less than what I made in one week when I worked full-time…and back then, I would blog while at work!

The last person who asked me this question was genuinely curious, because she was thinking about becoming a full-time lifestyle blogger.

I relayed the above information, and added, “Don’t quit your day job.”

Disclaimer: I am fully aware that I *could* be making more money if I could devote more time and energy to this blog. But as the situation stands, I can’t. And while I know that my blog has been suffering some as of late, I continue to blog because it provides me some semblance of order, in addition to some WORK I can control, in my chaotic life. And, as with all other nuggets of wisdom (or stupidity, depending on your POV) I share about blogging, please take this with a grain of salt because I am by no means an expert.

I bet that you are now wondering what THE most popular question I get asked about blogging is…and for that, you will need to wait for a future Bloggy Thursdays.

Better late than never, right?

This post chronicles the first half of Monday, April 2, 2012. Claire had just turned 18 months old, and Aerin 5 months.

(Please excuse the poor quality of some of these pictures as they were all taken with my phone and I usually only had one chance to get a shot!)

6:54am: Aerin wakes up, which means that I must also get up for the day. I keep her sound machine on so that there is less chance of our waking J, and quietly change, feed, and play with her, waiting for the rest of our family to awake.

8:15am: Claire wakes up. She usually wakes up between 7 and 7:30, so she’s slept in a bit today. I leave Aerin in the Bumbo on the floor of our living room while I prepare Claire’s morning bottle (yes, we know we should wean her from this) and go say hi to my firstborn. She giggles when she sees me and throws her arms up so that I will pick her up. I change her while she drinks her milk.

8:20am: J wakes up. He takes over for a bit while I brush my teeth and wash my face. Then I entertain the girls while he gets ready for work.

8:45am: J leaves for work. Claire calls out “Bai!” while waving a hand.

9:00am: It is time for Aerin’s first nap. I turn on Ni Hao Kai-Lan on Amazon Instant Video (we have a computer hooked up to our TV) so that Claire can sit still while I put Aerin down. Luckily, it only takes 5 minutes for Aerin to fall asleep.

9:05am: I prepare breakfast for Claire and I: scrambled eggs and yogurt. I also make a cup of coffee for myself, and we eat — or rather, I eat and feed Claire— while sitting cross-legged on the playmat while watching Kai-Lan solve yet another problem her friends have caused. (Rintoo is a jerk, Tolee is a wuss, and Hoho is just plain annoying.) When we’re finished eating, I continue to keep her entertained with books, toys, and stickers.

9:50am: Aerin wakes up. I give Claire some Korean shrimp-flavored crackers to munch on while I go tend to the youngest member of our family with a diaper change and a bottle.

10:30am: Aerin has taken to cluster-feeding as of late. I am hoping that it is just a phase, because breaking a habit like this can be heartbreaking (i.e., letting your child cry from what they believe to be hunger). Here you can see Claire looking at us with some resentment in her eyes. Also notice that she’s placed her giraffe in the Bumbo. Lately, whatever she sees Aerin doing, she wants to do it herself or have the giraffe do it too.

10:45am: Here’s another example of Claire acting jealous. She started to cry when I placed Aerin in the activity gym so I had to scoop her back up. (We’re working on disciplining our toddler, but it’s a slow process with Aerin in the picture!) And as soon as Aerin was gone? She placed her giraffe there and turned on the lights and music, as you can see below.

11:00am: Ni Hao Kai-Lan is Claire’s favorite show so when I saw these Beanie Babies on Amazon, I immediately ordered them. I know that television is not recommended for toddlers, but mama needs a break sometimes. Claire obviously loves these little guys and has played with them all the time since we got them last week. She will take Rintoo (the tiger) and make him “Rowr!”, throw Hoho (the monkey) into the air because he is always hopping on the show, and even tries to tie a balloon to Lulu (the hippo)’s horns because that’s how she flies on the show.

11:45am: The past hour or so has mostly consisted of me playing with the girls: giving Aerin tummy time, reading to them, singing, playing with Claire’s toys, helping build Claire’s vocabulary by pointing out various objects, etc. Aerin is usually okay for about 10-15 minutes by herself on the Bumbo or on the mat, but after that I will have to carry her. After 15-30 minutes or so of this, she will get fussy and I will put her in the Bjorn. During the times that she is being carried or in the carrier, I try my best to keep Claire from getting jealous by paying extra attention to her and being overly energetic. Needless to say, this is very tiring.

12:00pm: It is time for Aerin’s second nap, and Claire’s only nap of the day. I try to time it so that they overlap, and today I am in luck. I turn on some Pororo music videos to keep Claire entertained, and go put Aerin down for her nap.

12:05pm: In the 5 minutes or so I had left Claire alone, she has gotten ahold of the baby wipes and pulled out a bunch. I save the ones that are on the floor in a ziplock bag so that I can use them to wipe up minor spills, as well as spot-clean our microfiber couch (apparently, baby wipes are what furniture stores recommend to spot-treat microfiber).

12:07pm: I change Claire’s diaper and put her down for her nap. As always, I enjoy watching her wrestle with her giraffe before falling asleep.

12:15pm: I finally have some alone time to myself. I sit down for a few minutes with my laptop, baby monitor on one side and a cup of instant coffee on the other. (I love Asian instant coffee, because they include creamer and sugar in the powered mix without making it too sweet.) I quickly check email for the first time that day, and start researching and writing my blog post for the next day.

12:20pm: Before I get too comfortable, I start preparing Claire’s lunch: miyukgook (Korean seaweed soup) with chopped clams, boiled with rice so that it has the consistency of jook, or rice porridge. I know that she can have soup with regularly cooked rice, but she likes it better this way.

12:25pm: I also pop a Korean sweet potato into the steamer and set it for 40 minutes. Claire’s a very fickle eater these days, so I try to have as much variety as possible available for her to eat.

I go back to my computer and savor my coffee with a piece of toast. I feel horrible saying this, but sitting here, in the peace and quiet without the girls, seems pretty darn good.

Stay tuned for part two, which will be published this Friday…

Do you have any questions about today’s cool tool? Would you like an item featured in the future? Please leave a comment to this post, or send me a message via my contact form. Enjoy!

Do you know any iPhone users from our generation who do not use Instagram? Because I don’t.

Ever since its launch back in 2010, Instagram quickly became one of the most popular photo-editing and photo-sharing services for mobile devices. And while the company has recently announced that an Android version will be released “very soon,” Android users have been without the ubiquitous app for years.

I considered doing a round-up of all the best Instagram alternatives for Android, but I didn’t want to insult the intelligence of my readers.

Instead, I’ve decided to highlight my personal favorite photo app for Android: Camera360.

Camera360 is very much like Instagram and other photo apps in that it applies filters to the pictures you take with your phone camera. However, to me, what helps Camera360 stand out from its competition is its well-rounded mix of fun, professional, vintage-looking, as well as silly filters without being too overwhelming.

According to reports, Camera360 has already surpassed Instagram with 6 million users worldwide (as of June 2011), and for good reason: its high-quality filters and effects, as well as quick processing time, are vastly superior to many Instagram clones. By concentrating on the image processing, in addition to adding effects which are highly sought in Asia, Camera360 was quickly able to gain a strong user base in China, where it is most widely used.

As you can see from the screenshots below, Camera360 comes with a myriad of filter categories — 18 to be exact! — as well as sub-filters within most of the categories. (For example, the HDR filter category has five sub-filters: Soft, Gorgeous, Classic, Bright, and Storm.)

Additionally, you can enable one of the many frames, called “Scenes” — and as you can see below many of the frames are the type that inserts your picture into another one (e.g., poster, billboard, art).

What good is a review without some real-life examples? Here is a picture of Aerin I took yesterday — Miss Smileypants was especially giddy and splashy during her bath last night:

And here are four filters I have applied to the picture. The “Enhance” set of filters is especially great at adding an extra “pop” to any image:

One feature I love is that you can set the app to save the original version of the picture along with the edited — this is something that is missing from far too many photo apps.

Oh, and have you noticed the “Ghost” filter in the screenshot of filters above, and been wondering what it does? It adds a spooky, ghost-like figure of a girl to your picture. I won’t show it here — you’ll have to download the app to see it in its full glory!

Camera360 Ultimate — the full version of the app — used to sell for $3.99, but it is currently FREE in at Google Play (previously called The Android Market).

I have read that some people prefer the older version of the app, called Camera360 Memento, citing it to be more user-friendly and including a tilt-shift filter. Although I have this version also (it is also free), I personally prefer the Ultimate version — probably because I am more used to its UI.

Camera360 has actually replaced my default phone camera because it is that much better. The only thing I don’t like about it is that you can’t take any ol’ picture and apply the filters…but since I take all my pictures with Camera360 anyway, this doesn’t bother me too much.

Are you an iPhone user who has read this far? I’ve got good news for you: Camera360 is also available for the iPhone — for FREE — here!