Pieces of minnesota in singapore.

Before I left for Singapore, my friend Kelly gave me a Minnesota wash rag and post card as a little "farewell" gift. I'd like to show you all that we are proudly representing Minnesota in our Singapore apartment...

In our Singapore apartment sink.

On our Singapore refrigerator.

Also, when Linna and I were out and about in Singapore, we came across a little bakery called Bread Talk. I found these little gems, and couldn't believe my eyes...

They are little rolls called "Raspberry Princesses". My hometown of Hopkins, MN is known for the Hopkins Raspberry Festival, and our royalty has two princesses (plus a junior and senior princess)! I'd like to dedicate this photo to my Raspberry Princesses, Melany Terrazas (formerly Kelso), Elizabeth Junnila (formerly Oldre), and my Junior Princess Katie Haynes. I love finding little pieces of Minnesota in Singapore!

Linna decided she wanted to try the cheese bread at Bread Talk, and I'm glad she picked that one because it was DELICIOUS! I'm going to need to learn to walk by this place without going in:)

Linna gives this place two baby thumbs up!

Our home in singapore.

On the bridge over the rivers that run through our property.

Although we have a beautiful place to call home during our three months in Singapore, learning to live in a two-bedroom/two-bathroom apartment that is less than half the size of our home in Minnesota, is quite a change. However, we are adapting quite well!

Right outside our property, you can see the Keppel Bay Bridge and Marina.

We live in a second-floor apartment/condo at the Carribean at Keppel Bay, which is on the Keppel Bay on the southern tip on Singapore. We're right by the sea (Singapore Straight which runs into the South China Sea), and the windows in our apartment are floor to ceiling so we have gorgeous views! If we walk outside our property, we're a couple block walk to the Port of Singapore, which is one of the busiest ports in the world! If we stand on the Keppel Bridge, we can see all of the ships and boats coming in. It is one of the most amazing views I've ever seen!

The marina outside our property. How cool
are those buildings in the background?!

Guest bedroom.

Our apartment has a living room which is attached to a dining area. We have a kitchen with a washer and dryer, but no dishwasher (boooo!). We do have a garbage shoot right in our kitchen though, so that's a huge plus! The kitchen was stocked with all of our dishes, cook wear, etc. We have a master bedroom with a full bathroom attached to it, and a second bedroom with a half-bath right down the hallway. They have "hot water" buttons on the wall that we have to press before we take showers or baths. The rooms here are obviously a LOT smaller than we're used to at home, but it's working just fine for us.

Keppel Bay Bridge, right outside our property.

Papa Saigh's work.

The elevator area and hallway area leading into all of the apartments/condos are out in the open, which means NO air conditioning out there. We don't have air conditioning until we get in our actual unit. Since the average temp here is 80-degrees fahrenheit, with 75 to 80-percent humidity, it's very tropical, and we sweat a LOT! But because of the weather, there is lush, green, tropical plants and trees EVERYWHERE! They keep everything so clean and manicured, so it's absolutely gorgeous.

Linna unloading all of the toys she got for her
birthday in Minnesota. We had them shipped to
Singapore so she had new things to play with here.

Our complex has one of the biggest swimming pools we have ever seen, as well as two "smaller" pools, and about five or six kiddie pools. Linna and I have been to the pool every day since we've been here, and she is loving the water! There's also a gorgeous fountain in the middle of the buildings. It is also HUGE! There's a walking path around the entire property that has little exercise stations every couple blocks. There's also an pretty big gym, many BBQ areas, tennis courts, and children's play areas (we still have to check those out).

Beautiful tree-lines streets and sidewalks.

Linna's high chair set-up.

We're only about a five-minute walk to AJ's work, and about the same distance from the grocery store and great shopping centers! We have a lot of restaurants around us, and little food courts too (street food vendors). We're also super close to Sentosa, which is a beach resort/amusement park. I think we're going to go there when my parents are here in September.

Linna in front of one of the huge fountains on our property.

Our living room.

Dining area.

Half of our kitchen.

Other half of our kitchen.

Guest bathroom.

Since our beds are smaller here (we're used to our king-size bed at home, and the beds here are either a full or queen), AJ and I are sleeping in separate bedrooms. We had Linna's pack n' play in the guest bedroom, but since that's the only room where we currently have internet, we moved her into the master bedroom. I sleep with Linna in the master bedroom, and AJ is sleeping in the guest bedroom. Last night, Linna woke up around 4:30 a.m. (I'll write more on her sleeping schedule later), and wouldn't stop crying in her pack n' play, so I brought her into bed with me. I KNEW something like this was going to happen, which is another reason AJ and I are sleeping in separate bedrooms. I can't imagine two of us sleeping comfortably in one bed, let alone the THREE of us! Plus, Linna likes to move around when she sleeps. I'm hoping she gets back to her "regular" sleep routine soon, and back in her pack n'play for a full night sleep:)

Linna enjoying her Singapore tub. I think it's even
better than her bathroom at home. Nice views huh?!

Wish you could all see this place in person, but I hope you enjoyed the photos!

Traveling with a one-year-old.

When I wasn't a mom, I used to travel on airplanes and GLARE at mothers and their babies, thinking to myself, "why would you ever bring a baby on a plane?". Oh how those days are over, and oh how I want to slap myself in the face for judging those mothers.

Don't judge. I washed her hands when she was
finished crawling around on the airport floor:)

We just got off a 19-hour flight (12 hours from Minneapolis to Tokyo, and 6.5 hours from Tokyo to Singapore) with our one-year-old, and all I have to say is that moms who travel with children are my heros. Traveling with a baby is hard. Babies are unpredictable, they want to squirm around, and you're confined to a small space with other people giving you the look of death for inconveniencing their lives with your child. Well here's the deal... moms need to travel too.

Airplane entertainment.

I give Linna a lot of credit because she did very well for her first flight. She had a few whiney moments where I wanted to close my eyes, wiggle my nose, and zap us back to the non-judgemental walls of our home in Minnesota. But all in all, she was a trooper. We decided to give Linna some Benadryl to make her sleepy when we got on the plane. We tried to wear her out at the Mpls/St. Paul Airport before we got on board, and sure enough, she fell asleep about an hour into the flight. At one point she woke up, and must have either had a nightmare, or didn't know where she was, because she let out an awful piercing scream. I got her out of the carseat, and she fell asleep on me. I love when she wants to cuddle with her mama!

We decided to bring Linna's car seat, and I am SO happy we did. It kept Linna in her seat and safe. She knows that when she's in her car seat, she needs to stay put. We also decided not to spend money on ANOTHER stroller for travel, and instead we just brought our Britax. It didn't fit through the security screening machine, which made my heart drop for a second, but security just wheeled it over to the side and gave it a "personal search". I'm SO glad we made the choice to bring our "good stroller" to Singapore, instead of some cheap umbrella stroller. We had a lot to carry through the airport, and our Britax gave us a lot of storage space. Plus, having this stroller in Singapore is a necessity, because we walk to the grocery store (and everywhere else we go), so I need the extra storage space to help me carry everything. Also, our Britax reclines, so Linna can take a snooze when we're out and about, without being uncomfortable.

She's a little big, but Linna still fit in the airplane's bassinet.

I brought a LOT of snacks and food for Linna on the plane (I think I over-packed), along with two full bottles of whole organic milk. For some reason, Linna wasn't too interested in her food, and wanted her milk instead. She drank her two full bottles by the time we got to Tokyo, and since Singapore Airlines didn't have pasturized milk on board, I resorted to giving Linna a half apple juice/half water bottle on the way from Tokyo to Singapore. After she had that bottle, she decided to poop, and mid-grunt she puked up the juice all over herself. Between the poop and the puke smell, I thought I was going to be sick, so we made a quick dash to the bathroom. After talking with other moms who have traveled with babies, I brought Linna three changes of clothes in case something like this happened. Thank God!

Chillin'.

I also brought her some toys and DVDs to keep her busy. One thing Linna is really into right now, is taking my wallet and removing all of its contents. She could literally do this and entertain herself for an hour! However, I don't feel like letting her do this on the plane while she loses all my credit cards, IDs, etc., so I improvised. I went to the dollar section of Target and got a mini organizer (something you'd organize your coupons in), and some Dr. Seuss flash cards. I put the flash cards in the organizer, so she can take them out, we can read the flash cards, and I don't care if she loses them. The things that really entertained her were the airline movies (cartoons), and books. She looked so cute in her headphones while she watched Elmo on the airplane. Linna loved saying "hi" and smiling to everyone who would walk by us, or the people sitting behind us, and most of the time people said "hi" back. All of the flight attendants commented on what a good baby she was. One of the flight attendants even stopped to say how much Linna looked like AJ. I felt so left out;)

FYI, the bassinet weight limit is 20 lbs., and Linna is 21 lbs. I lied and said she was 18 lbs. and she was just fine in it. The flight attendant even told me they hold up to 25 lbs. Also, changing a one-year-old's diaper is not the easiest thing to do in an airplane restroom. It's very tight quarters, so make sure you take a deep breath before you go in there! We didn't have any diaper or food pouch explosions on the plane, even though I had heard rumors that this can happen. The "ear pressure" didn't seem to bother Linna too much during landings and take-offs, but she did pull on her ears a bit. I just popped a bottle in her mouth during both landings and take-offs, and she was fine.

You CAN take milk, baby food, juice, medicine, etc. in your carry-on bag, without having to put it in plastic bags (and it's ok if it's over the amount limit). However, those items are subject to inspection at security. In all, we shipped three FedEx boxes, packed six suitcases, and one diaper bag. We shipped things like bedding, a high chair that clips onto tables, shoes, etc. It's pretty expensive to send things to Singapore, but when you're moving for three months, it's kind of necessary. Since the boxes were big, we had FedEx pick them up. I spent WAY too much time on the phone with FedEx customer service, trying to figure out exactly HOW we ship internationally (I've never done this before), which was really frustrating! If you ever have to do something like this, make sure you mention that you are shipping INTERNATIONALLY! I spent about a half-hour on the phone with a customer service representative, trying to plan our pick-up and shipment, only to be transferred to a CSR in the international shipment department. So annoying! However, everything did arrive in good shape.

To pack all of our clothes, toiletries, etc., we got three four-wheeled upright suitcases, and three four-wheeled carry-on suitcases from Eagle Creek Luggage. Both my husband and I have gone through so many cheap suitcases and bags, and have probably spent thousands of dollars on luggage that just ends up breaking, and we have to throw it away. Since we're "older" now, we decided to get some good pieces of luggage, especially since we're traveling internationally. We got a different color set for each one of us. We checked all of our bags except Linna's diaper bag, her travel bag, and one carry on. I did some research online, and after reading a review by Good Housekeeping Magazine, we decided to go with Eagle Creek Luggage because of their great review. We'll see how the luggage holds up after a few months!

Our stuff.

It's only 7:30 p.m. in Singapore, Linna is already sleeping, and I won't be too far behind. I think the heat is really wearing us out. We're up early (around 7 a.m.) and in bed early! We're both looking forward to the weekend so Papa can enjoy some of our adventures in Singapore with his ladies:)

Our stressful and emotional arrival in singapore.

Taking a look at the first plane she'll
ever ride on!

What will a 19 hour flight, one-year-old, no sleep, and a chaotic move into a foreign country at 4 a.m. do to a person? Let me tell you... it will make you CRAZY! This mama has been such an emotional and stressful mess over the last 24 hours, that I was ready to pack up and go back home yesterday. Not the feelings I was expecting to have when arriving in Singapore with my little family of three.

Over-all, Linna did very well on the plane. She had a couple whiney moments, but over-all, she slept nicely, and did a great job staying in her car seat. Our flight was delayed by two hours, so we spent a few hours at the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport. In an attempt to "tire Linna out", we let her crawl around and play before we got on the plane. When we got on board our plane, I gave Linna a little Benadryl, and after about an hour, she was asleep. Before she fell asleep, she was standing up and saying "hi" to everyone around us on the plane. It was pretty cute. At one point, when all three of us were trying to get a little shut-eye, Linna must have had a nightmare, or woke up not knowing where she was, because she let out this piercing scream (like a scream of terror). I got her out of her car seat, we cuddled in my seat, and she fell asleep on me. Although I didn't get much sleep, my baby slept like an angel. We had one stop in Tokyo for about a half-hour, then got on board Singapore Airlines for a seven-hour flight to Singapore (the flight to Tokyo was 12 hours).

Since we were arriving in Singapore around 2 a.m., there's not much I could do to keep Linna's sleep schedule as "normal" as possible. If she slept a lot on the plane (which is good for everyone involved), then she'd be up at 2 a.m. in Singapore. If we kept her awake on the plane, that's not really fair to her because she wants to move around and play, and there's not much room for that on a plane. So, I just kind of let her decide what she wanted to do, and our schedule went out the window. This meant we had a baby that napped a few hours here and there on the plane, but never her usual night-stretch of 12 hours. I could tell she was exhausted when we landed in Singapore, but in true one-year-old fashion, she didn't want to miss a thing, so she was up at 2 a.m. (I'll write more about "traveling with a one year old" later).

Airplane entertainment.

When we arrived in Singapore, we were told that we'd have a driver pick us up from the airport with the keys to our apartment. Well, since our plane was delayed two hours, we arrived in Singapore at least an hour later than scheduled, so our driver wasn't there. Papa Saigh didn't have the driver's number, and since it was 2 a.m. in Singapore, there weren't many people he wanted to call from his Singapore office at that hour, to help us figure out how to get our keys (the apartment's management office didn't open until 9 a.m.). So, we decided to stay in a hotel. This decision did not come without stress, because who wants to load eight pieces of luggage, a car seat, stroller, and a baby into a hotel room, only to have to load it all back up in a few short hours, and unpack it all in the apartment?! Not me. But, we were all exhausted and Linna needed to sleep.

Searching for a hotel in Singapore put me over the edge. We stopped at three different places, only to find that they each only had one-bed rooms available (which is fine), but the rooms were literally only big enough for the bed. We would have had to cram all of our luggage (which wouldn't have fit), and three of us in one small room. THIS is what put me over the edge, so I made Papa Saigh call someone from his new office to help us get our keys to the apartment. The woman he had to call was 9-months pregnant, so I felt awful having to wake her up by our phone call.

It took awhile for us to figure out where our driver was, how we were going to get our keys, etc., and during this time, I really started to "resent" my husband for the whole situation. I realize now that the situation was really beyond both of our control, but at the time, all I could do was yell at him for not getting the driver's info in case our plane was delayed (which it was), and for simply not figuring out an "emergency" plan for the situation we were currently in. It was a combination of the heat (Singapore is HOT, even at 4 a.m.), being WAY over-tired, having a baby to take care of, and not knowing when we were going to be able to get into our apartment, that sent my anger through the roof. I was OVER IT! 

At around 5 a.m., we finally had our driver pick us up from a hotel lobby, and bring us to our apartment. Even though we were FINALLY there, the stress and chaos continued. We couldn't figure out the elevator, OR (once we figured out the elevator) how to get our "key" to work to get us into our apartment. Thank GOD there was a woman awake in her kitchen (I saw her from her window), so I waved at her and asked if she could come out and help us (thankfully, she spoke a little English). In our Singapore apartment, the elevator area and hallways to the apartments are completely out in the open, which means NO AIR CONDITIONING until you are in your apartment unit. Papa Saigh Linna and I were sweating our as*es off, while this little woman (Elizabeth) showed us how to use the elevator and get into our apartment. Of course, once we were in our apartment, the air conditioner hadn't been turned on. WAAAAAHHHH!

Our luggage at the Singapore airport.

Finally, we were in our "new home", but I was still angry, frustrated, and SO tired! We let Linna crawl around to discover her new place while we tried to unpack a little. Since we shipped Linna's pack n' play (her crib) to Papa Saigh's office before we left, and it wouldn't arrive until the next day, Linna and I decided to try to get some sleep in the guest bedroom, while Papa Saigh slept in the master bedroom. The guest bedroom's bed is very close to the floor. I gave Linna a bottle and tried to get her to lay down. If you've ever tried to sleep in bed with a one-year-old who is over-tired, yet still wants to "play", you know it isn't fun or easy. She fell asleep a short time later.

Tokyo airport.

Here comes the part that completely put me over the edge, had me in tears, and wanting to go home. When Linna finally fell asleep, I started to nod off too, and during her attempt to get comfortable, Linna fell off the bed. She hit her head on the ground and started to SCREAM. Although this was only a six-inch drop, the situation was just too much, and I started sobbing. I hated that my daughter didn't have a "safe" place to sleep. I hated that I hadn't showered, our apartment was still hot (takes awhile for the air conditioning to cool the place down), we weren't unpacked, we had no food in the refrigerator, I had no idea what time it was, we had no phones that we could use, no internet, and the person that I was supposed to rely on for help (my husband), well, I was mad at him for bringing us here.

Singapore airport.

Once Linna fell asleep (on a blanket on the floor this time), I took a shower, and COMPLETELY broke down to Papa Saigh told him how I felt. He knew I was mad, but now I was just sad. I was an emotional mess! After talking to him, I realized that I was just over-tired (I was running on MAYBE three hours of sleep over a 48-hour period), and that these "bumps in the road" were making me act completely irrational. We had JUST moved in. Of COURSE there wasn't going to be food in the refrigerator, and things weren't going to be set up! I realized that I hated having our family (especially Linna) outside of our regular routine, but I made myself remember how amazing of an experience we were about to have over the next three months.

One of the pool areas at our apartment in Singapore.

I looked outside and saw all the lush, greenery outside our apartment, and realized how lucky I was to be in Singapore! Our daughter is only one, and she's getting an experience that some people NEVER get to have. She's not going to remember being "over-tired", hot, or falling six inches out of bed. I need to be grateful that she even HAS a bed! We are so fortunate to be in this beautiful city, and we have my husband to thank for all of it. Our family is very blessed.

Attempting to eat her first piece of sushi at
our apartment in Singapore. No go.

As I write this, I am waking up from eight blissful hours of sleep (thanks to the help of some OTC sleeping pills - I had to take them because my anxiety was so high). It's about 5:45 a.m., Linna and Papa Saigh are still sleeping, and I am ready to go explore Singapore! There's still a few things we need to figure out: internet, our phones, etc., but those things will come. I'm not going to let "being out of my element" turn me into an ungrateful b*tch. Linna and I have so many places and things to explore together, and I can't wait to share them all with you!
More to come...

Sunday's "7 days of baby food" giveaway.

Sprout Baby Food and Toddler Meals were created by Food Network regular Tyler Florence. We give Linna the Sprout Toddler Meals for dinner, and sometimes lunch. She likes these meals, except for the Vegetable & Potato Stew, which is odd because she normally will eat that type of thing if I make it at home. I think she "turned that one down" because she was coming down with a cold. Otherwise, she LOVES these little meals! They are all organic, and made with simple, whole ingredients. They're the types of meals I would make at home, but when my husband and I decide to have pizza or something "naughty" for dinner, we pull out one of the Sprout meals for our one-year-old (we're setting a great example, right?!). I love the taste of the Vegetable & Potato Chowder. When you open these meals, the food kind of looks like dog food, until you nuke it in the microwave. I love that they offer "comfort foods", like macaroni & cheese, but use butternut squash instead of a ton of cheese, cream and butter. Sprout utilizes vegetables to make these comfort foods a little more healthy. The meals are about $3.50 a piece, and you can find them at Target, Babies R Us, etc. Sprout Toddler Meals are a great options for parents on-the-go, when they want to make sure their little one is eating a healthy meal!

GIVEAWAY: We're giving away a Sprout food-pack to one of our Minnesota Baby blog followers. For your chance to win, simply follow our blog and answer today's question (comment on the blog post). One winner will be selected at random on Tuesday. Good luck!

IS THERE ONE PARTICULAR FOOD YOUR CHILD REFUSES TO EAT? WHAT IS IT?

The "raspbabies".

Madeleine, Noa, and Linna. Future Raspberry Queens?!

This week, Linna and I got to meet up with two former Hopkins Raspberry Festival Queens and their baby girls. To give you a little bit of background, I was my hometown's queen (Hopkins, MN) in 2000-2001, and met Rosie Hatfield (formerly McNamee) and Andrea Lahouze (formerly Strand) after they were crowned a couple years later. All three of us got pregnant around the same time, and had our first babies (all girls) within about a couple months of each other! The newspaper actually did a story on us and our "Raspbabies" when we were all pregnant (CLICK HERE to see the story).

Photo from Hopkins Patch News (Andrea, Rosie, and I pregnant last year with our girls)

The three of us follow each other on Facebook, and it's been so neat to watch their girls (Noa and Madeleine) grow up. Rosie lives in Florida and Andrea lives in Hopkins, so when Rosie came back to Minnesota for a visit, we had to take the opportunity for the girls to meet!

Linna is the oldest of the three (she's one), then comes Noa (almost 11 months), and then Madeleine (10 months). Noa started walking at nine months (unbelievable), Linna is walking around on furniture, and Madeleine loves to do the army crawl and walk with help from her mom! It was so much fun to see the girls check each other out and play together. Linna liked hitting Maddie on the head, and Noa just kind of wandered around doing her own thing. Linna had only napped for about an hour that day (she's getting over a cold), so she had a complete meltdown when it was time to go home. And I can't forget to mention her snotty nose that dripped like a faucet the entire time. Leave it to me to have the "snotty nose kid";)

Maddie.

I brought this ball toss game we have to Maetzold Field in Hopkins for the girls to play with, but they were just interested in the snacks and chewing on our cans of Diet Coke (I promise they weren't open). It was nice getting to chat with Andrea and Rosie about motherhood, our plans for the future, and just catch up on what has been going on in our lives over the last few years. Rosie has been a stay-at-home mom for the last 11 months, but has actually decided to go back to work starting Monday. Andrea went back to work after her maternity leave.

Maddie loves her Diet Coke.

I hope the three of us, and our girls, will be able to get together more often when Rosie comes home to visit. Who knows, maybe the three little ones will all be Raspberry Queens one day:)

Saturday's "7 days of baby food" giveaway.

August 13th - 19th, Minnesota Baby will be doing daily reviews and giveaways of some popular pre-packaged baby and toddler foods. From Plum Organics to Target's Up & Up Baby Food, our one-year-old daughter, Linna, has been sampling seven brands for about a month, and Mama Saigh will be sharing our thoughts on each brand's packaging, pricing, taste, nutrition, and "baby-appeal". Every day this week (Monday through Sunday), we'll be giving away a food prize-pack to one of our blog followers (make sure you follow our blog for your chance to win). Details about each day's giveaway will be on our Minnesota Baby Facebook page.

Disclaimer: I am not a food scientist or a doctor (even though I'd like to think of myself as such). This is NOT a sponsored review. All of the reviews during Minnesota Baby's "7 Days of Baby Food" are our own opinions (mom and baby - yes, mom tried the foods too). All of the baby food brands we are reviewing provided us with a giveaway. We'd love to hear your thoughts on the baby foods we'll be reviewing, because as we all know, everyone has their own personal opinions. Thanks for reading our reviews, and good luck on winning one of our 7 giveaways!

TODAY'S REVIEW & GIVEAWAY: PETER RABBIT ORGANICS

Peter Rabbit Organics pre-packaged baby foods are one of those hidden gems that I didn't know about, until an "older" mom introduced me to them! Since we don't do a lot of our shopping at Whole Foods, I had never heard of Peter Rabbit Organics. Target sells the fruit and veggie pouches online, but I still haven't seen them in stores in my area (west side of the Twin Cities). The blends are pretty basic (banana, mango, apple, etc.), however, this is the first brand I've seen that offers grape or orange in their blends. The packaging of Peter Rabbit Organics reminds me of Winnie the Pooh books, so therefor, I'm in love with it. They look like something my mom would have found when I was little (besides the fact that their food comes in the squeeze pouches that weren't available when I was little). My daughter loves these blends, and has yet to turn one down. She loves the banana, mango, orange blend, and I love that she's getting a big dose of vitamin C! I really wish stores in my area carried this brand, because I think that if I could use coupons/sales, I would be a regular buyer of Peter Rabbit Organics. For now, I will just buy them on Target online when they're on sale, and use my Target RED card to get additional 5% off! Price-wise, these pouches are comparable to Ella's Kitchen or Earth's Best (a little over $1.50 for a 4 oz. pouch). My hope is that Petter Rabbit Organics becomes a more well-known name, and stores in our area pick them up soon!

GIVEAWAY: We're giving away a Peter Rabbit Organics food-pack to one of our Minnesota Baby blog followers. For your chance to win, simply follow our blog and answer today's question (comment on the blog post). One winner will be selected at random by 10 p.m. Saturday Good luck!

DO YOU BUY YOUR PRE-PACKAGED BABY FOOD IN THE STORE, OR ONLINE? WHY?