FOXY MAMA

Valentines 2012

2012-02-17T20:17:00.004+08:00

Wanna know how I celebrated Valentines Day? Visit my other blog, The Mom Girl! And don't forget to "follow" me there, too! :D

Two Years Old

2012-02-09T22:44:00.000+08:00

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY, IAINE!

What: Iaine's 2nd Birthday Celebration
Where: Jollibee Rizal Ave
When: February 5
Theme: BARBIE

Her birthday party, which was celebrated a day early because Feb 6 fell on a Monday, went so well that I'm now under the pressure of keeping up with that standard each year! To see how her 1st birthday went, click here.

So anyway, everything went better than I expected and I didn't even have to worry about a single thing except for the minor "Filipino time" glitch. This post can also serve as a review for Jollibee Rizal Ave., Batangas City branch cos they earned 5 out of 5 stars from us.

Boom! Time for a photo blog..... after the jump!

My work. A few days before the party I needed to come up with a tarpaulin layout, get it printed, and go shopping for our birthday event outfits.

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30 pieces of cupcake/Barbie invitations. These were a part of the party package and they are just adorable! Last year I made the invitations by hand myself and although I was proud of my work, it was really exhausting. This time I was relieved that all I had to do was fill these up and distribute them. I knew I didn't need to make my own set of invitations because these were very pretty and presentable enough!
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Party outfit 1: Barbie Girl. pink feather headband, Barbie shirt, Barbie glittered/printed tulle skirt, pink stockings, and Barbie shoes

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Party outfit 2: Ballerina Inspired. pearl embellished blouse, flower/blow tulle skirt, pink stockings, Hello Kitty ballet flats

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Barbie chocolate birthday cake and cupcake set from Red Ribbon bakeshop c/o Jollibee. This cake was the small size and it's a shame I didn't get it in large. It was so delish! The cupcakes were the same texture and consistency as the cake--creamy, moist, and just the right amount of sweetness. But the advantage of this smaller cake is that it comes with six Barbie cupcakes, perfect for the cupcake/Barbie thing going on (remember the invitations?).

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Party area. Fully air-conditioned and can accommodate 200 people.

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Barbie loot bags and goodies for the girls and Jollitown loot bags and goodies for the boys (not shown). I made some last minute thank you cards to stick on the outside of the bag but because I didn't have any double adhesive tape I just slipped one card into each of these bags.
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Tables. Each group of tables had 2-3 Barbie paper placemats and 2-3 Barbie party/name hats.

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The birthday girl. One day shy of turning two, this little lady enjoyed her party so much and my husband and I couldn't be happier.

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2 mascots for our daughter's big day. They were lively, funny, friendly, and awesome. I know it's in their job description, but I gotta hand it to them, they were great. Cos unlike in other Jollibee branches where mascots would run off after a quick photo opportunity, these guys hung around til the party was over. They made us and our guests happy, especially the kids. They couldn't get enough of these cheerful characters!

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Candle-blowing. Iaine learned how to do this on her own, because after we'd randomly sing the happy birthday song, she's end it with "Blow! Blow!" and blow out an invisible flame on our finger. She's our Miss Smartypants.
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FUN. It didn't matter that it was a "kids" party, guests of all ages came and had a blast. They also enjoyed the food we ordered for them.

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Surprise. We really didn't expect Jollibee and Hetty had a parting gift for Iaine: this Jollibee bench. Iaine uses it at home and she absolutely loves it!

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TLDR; She looked so adorable in her birthday outfits and she was so happy--screaming, jumping, playing all over the place. Our guests, especially the kids, also had a blast cos the program went so smoothly, the games were exciting, and the two mascots stayed for quite a long time, unlike in other Jollibee branches where they take off after only a short photo opportunity.

The next day was Iaine's real birthday, and she, my h and I celebrated in our own quiet little way by spending the day out of town. Nevertheless, having the party at Jollibee the day before was such a great idea. My daughter loved every minute of it, and better yet, it was like she had two birthdays in a year. She's 2 now and still growing, and I'm already excited about February 6, 2013!

Days Before

2012-02-04T01:06:00.002+08:00

Two already? How did that happen!

At this point, Iaine has grown to be a whole lotta everything. She's smart, funny, excitable, adorable, beautiful, loud, playful, shy, cheerful, intense, lovely, and so many other things. All of it makes her 2nd birthday a BIG deal. The party is tomorrow cos her actual birth date falls on a Monday (the day after tomorrow) and I'm relieved and excited cos almost everything is set.

Unlike last year I'm not stressing too much over this year's party cos we're hosting it at a fastfood restaurant. Basically everything's been taken care of and when we get there, all we have to do is set up the center tarpaulin (which I designed), have a great time, and pay off the rest of the balance.

Although, I did have trouble with the pax (per head count) today. I kept going through names and numbers just to make sure we'd have enough food, treats, and favors for everybody tomorrow. Fortunately we're having a party at a fast food restaurant-- they'll never run out of food, and hopefully, supplies too!

Iaine won't remember any of it except maybe if her subconscious permits it (if I'm lucky), but to me this birthday bash is still worth it. I had my doubts about making this party happen for the public but I realized, my Iaine has done nothing but shower us with happiness and made our lives all the better, so her birth deserves to be celebrated with a bang each year for as long as we have the means.

And by the way, this year's party theme is the girliest yet-- it might set the bar higher for her future birthday parties. I'm super excited to take pictures and share them with you!

Long Lovely Weekend

2012-01-24T22:22:00.004+08:00

Our long weekend ends today and I feel like writing again cos I'm overflowing with love right now. This has been one of the happiest weekends of my life. It was time well spent with my husband and our daughter. I was again suspended in countless moments of bliss in the loving presence of my family.

Saturday was rest day, which is how it usually is. H gets home from MNL and we spend the day at home just relaxing and being a family. On Sundays we like go out, so we did, and Iaine had a blast checking out all kinds of displays and even sweeping some off the shelves. We pick up after her of course, in between times of just watching her have the time of her life. Sunday is love!

Then came Monday (which was proclaimed a non-working holiday by his company cos of the Lunar New Year) so we seized the opportunity for a long overdue husband-&-wife date. We had merienda at the restaurant where he first saw me in person-- the very event that started our whirlwind romance. While having tummy-satisfying chinese, we reminisced about that fateful day. I love that he was the one who kept going on and on about it, about his feelings for me when he first saw me-- real and in the flesh-- about how everything changed from that point on. It was wonderful to be sitting there in the corner of a noisy restaurant, blocking all other sounds and listening to nothing but his words, staring at the man who is so open and honest about how deep his love is for me, and how far it has come. Honestly, I was so close to kissing his lips then and there!

"Going back to the corner.. where I first saw you..." I keep telling him how this song perfectly fits our love story. :)

We exited the restaurant holding hands, parted ways to buy some stuff, and met up to see a 4:30 movie. At 8:15 pm we were done watching 2 films, and bought our dear daughter a toy, and then we got home to a screaming Iaine who was so happy to see us.

Today is Tuesday and he's back in MNL and now I have to wait another 4 days before I see him again. [edit] You would expect that I'd feel a bit down, but actually I was in a really good mood this afternoon so Iaine and I went for a stroll around our village. The weather was fine and it was a happy mom-and-daughter bonding moment. I kept thinking to myself how lucky I am to be a wife and a mother and there is absolutely no reason to feel lonely. The next few days is what I call "down time" but in a good way. It's just me and my daughter while the H is away but this sort of space builds up that excitement and longing to be with each other again. And even though I'm always sad to see him leave for work, all the waiting is worth it when the weekends come around. When wakes me up as he kisses me good morning, I realize that the three of us are together again and I implode in love and happiness. It's a brand new start of the cycle of lovely weekends.

Passports

2012-01-04T21:29:00.001+08:00

Our passports are now in our hands! Thanks to overtime service, we claimed them in less than a month. I'm now using my husband's surname on mine and now Iaine has her very own! You think this is a big deal?...

YES!!!!!!

So happy!

Booked

2012-01-03T18:01:00.002+08:00

Last year's January was crazy. I was so preoccupied with Iaine's birthday party preparations and I was a mess. Even though my family was a big help, I was the one in charge of everything. From the invitations to the loot bags, I assembled them all. I really wanted the perfect first birthday for my first child, and thankfully, it was a big success.

And surpriiiise, it's that time of the year again. Only a month from now, my lovely daughter is about to turn another year older.

WAT.

She's turning two! I can't believe how fast she's growing, but when I come to think of it I realize that I made every second of the first years of her life count. I stopped working because I want to be with her in every milestone and guide her to them. And now I can proudly say that she's so smart for her age and being a SAHM has definitely paid off!

We didn't need to be convinced to hold a party this year because my husband and I were always sure there'd be one, no matter how simple or extravagant. We initially wanted a simple celebration at home. Some spaghetti,cake, balloons, and that would be enough. We spent so much money on Iaine's 1st birthday that we think it would be overkill to go all out again this time.

But, we changed our minds about the home thing. My ILs suggested a birthday party at this fastfood restaurant. We checked out their website and thanks to their "party planner" we have calculated a friendly budget for a decent enough birthday party. It would be a semi-private affair for family members and some of our closest friends, and having attended birthday parties at that place, I'm sure Iaine's 2nd birthday would be a blast. It's a place where kids and adults will surely enjoy.

So, we've already made a reservation yesterday and it's funny how it seemed just like a spur-of-the-moment thing. We've made the arrangements, placed the down payment, and last night I already started filling up the free pre-made invitations which will be given away 2 weeks before Iaine's 2nd birthday.

I can honestly say that I'm excited about it, although it's sad to know the reality. My daughter isn't a baby anymore. Recently I find myself staring at her and just thinking how beautiful she has become. She's a little lady now and she's gonna grow bigger, smarter, and lovelier.

And by the way, my favorite perk of having someone else do the party for me is that I don't have to worry about crafts and magicians and caterers anymore. I can just sit back, relax, and enjoy the first month of the year, and all I need to do is just show up to Iaine's birthday party with the rest of the payment balance in my wallet!

December 31st

2011-12-31T21:50:00.002+08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Family to Work Day

2011-12-22T17:39:00.004+08:00

Hello, December! Christmas shopping and parties are everywhere now, and actually last Friday, my husband took us to his office for the Christmas party held especially for the employee's children. We were all excited about it cos it was my first time to actually see where he works.

We got there a bit early and had a lot of time to kill so Jai took us to his floor and showed us his desk. I'm really impressed with their office cos it's clean, well guarded, and the facilities and perks are really good. And the people, they were all so nice to Iaine. I was also glad to finally have met Jai's immediate boss.

We also stopped by the nearest mall before heading home. I was so tired, I slept almost the entire trip. Iaine was knocked out too. She really had a blast that day.

Now it's December 22nd and there's only a few days til Christmas. I'm really excited for my daughter's 2nd Christmas cos now she knows how to appreciate and actually OPEN presents. We only have one problem though-- Santa doesn't know what to give her yet! Oopsie.

Now that I'm back to blogging, please feel free to also follow my other blog: TheMomGirl. It's somewhere I'm more open about the more personal, girly side of me, not necessarily touching topics on motherhood and marriage. See you there.

And happy holidays, mommy bloggers!

Back with a Blog

2011-10-27T16:35:00.000+08:00

Now that I'm back I feel like there's so much to talk about but I know I don't remember all of it. This update is so long overdue, I don't even know where to start. I'm really disappointed in myself because the main reason why I keep this blog is basically to have something to look back to for memories of Iaine's childhood. And now, there's a huge lapse between this one and the last one. So that sucks.

Partly it's because my laptop broke down around May 2011 and I just got it fixed earlier this month, and because Iaine is getting bigger at such a fast pace it's harder now for me to find time to write about her.

But right now I'm more proud of her than ever before. She's not that little girl anymore who wails and laughs and just babbles. She learned how to speak at such a younger age but now it's more than talking. She says what she wants, she complains when she's upset, she calls us by our names, she knows how to say a lot of words, names of things, commands, and she understands what they mean. She sings songs, reads aloud, has her favorite TV shows and characters, and many more fun developmental milestones. It's really impossible to enumerate everything because she has suddenly become this super smart little lady. Time has escaped and it's taking my daughter along with it.

Now that I'm back, I also want to tell you that I was almost at the verge of deactivating this blog because I've negleted it so badly, and it actually led me to publishing a new one which is a little bit more about me than Iaine and the rest of the family. A place where it's me, me, me time everyday. I actually just made it public today but I've been planning to do that for weeks now. I'm just sorry that I still can't tell you the address though. But it's pretty obvious for some...

I have a few more post ideas brewing and I think this one would still be followed by a couple more but I don't want to promise anything, having such a busy family life. Iaine is now a year and 8 months old so I'm super busy almost every second of the day just watching over her. While this end here, I bid you wonderful day full of God's blessings.

Ttil next time!

Avent in Pink

2011-08-09T15:38:00.005+08:00

Last Saturday, Iaine started using these super cute Avent BPA-free PolyPro 9 oz bottles in PINK! They cost more than the white ones but they're just so nice!! They also come in blue, marketed towards little boys of course. They come in threes and twos (I think) and they're special edition!

Iaine's actual bottles (3). Adorbs!!

Back with News

2011-07-29T14:35:00.015+08:00

I had to review my blog just to recall the last time I wrote something--July 1st. August 9th today and I can't believe I haven't blogged for more than a month.

Well so much has happened since then and it would be impossible to tell you everything, but I'll share three major events that have happened recently.

Iaine got hospitalized for the first time on July 21st. A few days before that, she had a fever for 3 days that spiked up to 39.4 on the 2nd night. She also had diarrhea, vomiting, and she was so colicky. It was hell. That was probably the most irritable I've seen her. My MIL was kind enough to help calm Iaine down though but when we both had a night of almost not sleeping, we knew we needed to take her to the hospital. We took her to the pedia to get checked up but it was no use.

My first choice was SPHMC but because we were 25th in queue (room reservations), we had no choice but to take a chance at other hospitals in the city. I called my aunt who's a stockholder in another hospital and she immediately helped us reserve a room in JON.

JON's ER was busy but thankfully, not busy enough for us. After I was interviewed by the nurses and resident doc about Iaine's condition, I proceeded to the admitting office. After several minutes of going back and forth from the ER to the admitting office, I was back in the ER for Iaine's IVF insertion. We had to wrap her with a blanket to keep her from moving and I had to hold her close as she was crying a lot. Everytime she screamed, pangs of pain crushed my heart.

The first attempt was successful, giving me huge relief. Iaine cried some more but not for long. After about 15 minutes of waiting, we were finally wheeled to our suite room and there, Iaine's road to recovery started.

Side story: Because of Jai's employment in his generous company, we have been entitled health cards, giving us the assurance that hospital and other medical expenses wouldn't be a problem... except, for example, if transferred to a room not covered by the health insurance. Well, we did just that because we were so terribly misinformed by the staff on our first day there. We were told that we only had to pay in cash 30% of our total hospital bill so we were confident about moving to a suite room. But we were wrong. On the first day in the hospital, the insurance company called and informed me about the real deal: We had to pay for incremental cost, excess doctor's PFs, and excess room rates. I mean WTF, right? My daughter has a health card and I don't want that to go to waste just because we were misinformed by hospital, so I called admitting, I called the insurance representative, I called EVERYBODY I needed to call just so we could move to a room covered by the card. We were transferred at 11 frickin' pm. Communication: nobody does that anymore?

Anyway, Iaine had a hard time adjusting to the setting. She was hooked to an IVF and we had to drag the IVF stand everywhere she went. She's also so active that she pulled out her IV twice by accident. Her attending physician wasn't her pedia (health card conditions) but in 2 days she was doing all better and we were sent home.

Iaine is fine now and I'm trying to gradually decrease the amount of milk she consumes in a day and increase her solid intake.

. . . . . . .

On July 28th, my MIL called and told me some very sad news. Jai's only living grandparent passed away.

I chose not to tell him immediately because he was at work and it was very busy night, so with a heavy heart I went to bed and tried to sleep although I couldn't. I tossed and turned in bed, so bothered by the news and so afraid of telling my husband because I know how much Jai loved and idolized his grandfather. It really felt like I was keeping a very big secret from him, but of all the grandchildren, Jai was one of the most deserving to know what happened. He is a legitimate grandchild and the first grandchild of Papang. They shared so many memories together.

But, around 1:30am Jai called and told me that an unknown number texted him, saying that his grandfather has died. His voice sounded a bit shaky so I knew he was afraid of hearing what he didn't want to hear, but I was left no choice. I confirmed the bad news.

He broke down and I couldn't help but cry myself. He was so hurt and heartbroken and he was in so much disbelief. We all knew it was possible but nobody really expected it to happen. Nobody wanted it to happen. Papang seemed so active and healthy at 82 years of age. His tragic passing was just too unbelievable for everybody.

My husband and I were miles away that night but all I wanted was to hug and comfort him. He was in so much pain that he had to take a moment on the phone with me, to just let his tears run down his cheeks and compose himself before he went back inside his office.

Papang's body was buried last Saturday, August 6. It was a very sad day for the family and everyone else whom he shared his generosity. The cemetery was crowded with hundreds of people, and I'm sure that on this day, everyone is still heartbroken from losing him. He touched so many lives with love and kindness.

I've only known Papang for a few years, but in that short time I saw how great of a man he was.

My husband looked up to him in the highest regard, so breaking the news to him was the hardest thing I've ever done, but I promise to be always here for him in this time of loss.

. . . . . . .

August 1st was our 2nd wedding anniversary. At that time, Papang's wake was still ongoing so Jai and I chose not to have an extravagant celebration. He even skipped seeing Captain America that week.

But on August 1st he made me so happy with sweet simple things. He woke me up at around 6am with a tray of Pancakes, butter, syrup, bread, and hot chocolate. Breakfast in bed! And that afternoon we decided to take Iaine with us to the mall just to spend some quality time together. When I asked him where we were headed first he told me he was gonna have a haircut. Ok what. His hair was almost as long as mine and I just couldn't believe it. I've been bugging him for months to get his head mowed and on our wedding anniversary he finally did it. Now he looks way more handsome and I couldn't get enough of touching his hair and nape now! So anyway, our mall date ended with dinner. I had roasted chicken, rice, a side of corn and carrots and a muffin. Burp!

We went home so in-love and happy. A simple celebration like that was really enough to acknowledge the day we said our vows and promised to be one for eternity.

The next day I posted this as my Facebook status: "Yesterday was August 1st, and I can't believe it's been two years already since i married him! I really couldn't have chosen a better man to live the rest of my life with. I love you so much, Jai! Happy 2nd wedding anniversary! ♥"

And Jai posted this on my Fb wall: "when im feeling small, you're my super mushroom. when im bruised, you're my adamantium. and when im bereft of answers, you're my 42. marrying you was the best butterfly effect i have ever started. happy second anniversary, love. i love you through all universal reboots."

His way with words always takes my breath away...

. . . . . . .

This post ends here and I'm leaving you with this:

No matter how often we experience the happy and the sad, simply being with your family is really the best way to go through it all.

Drowning

2011-07-01T00:42:00.007+08:00

First of all, I am blogging from my smartphone because I can. Second of all it's 12:51 in the morning and I can't sleep. And third, almost 2 hours ago it was still June and I must say the month ended like crap.

I just felt like crap the entire day, you know? Even with Iaine pooping less frequently than usual and kept being the cheerful child that she is, I still felt so shitty and exhausted. Maybe I wanted to get out and get some sun, or I wanted some sort of spa treatment, ot retail therapy, or just sleep for hours just to compensate for the sleepless nights Iaine's been giving me. She usually sleeps past 12 midnight and I know it's not a good thing (I can see your nose flaring from here) but there's really nothing I can do about it. She's like an energizer bunny, she'll play for as long as she wants to. Believe me, I don't like it one bit. Sleeping late gives me a headache when I wake up and makes me cranky, and in the past couple of weeks, that has happened like 95 percent of the time (talking about the headache). I don't know if it's just PMS, but whatever it is I'm not happy about it.

I did get a chance to go out today, by the way.I just finished sterilizing Iaine's bottles and I realized that we ran out of distilled water. So I took a bath and dressed up, walked to the nearest store with her stroller in tow and purchased 2 big jars of distilled water, 6Liters each (Iaine's still having diaper issues.) And whaddaya know, it was raining super hard when I checked out. Like, thunderstorm-hard. I took Iaine's stroller by the way so I wouldn't have to carry the jars all the way home with my bare hands, but I guess what happened today could have been just as difficult doing that under the bright sun. Like I said, there was a thunderstorm, and I had to push the stroller with one hand and hold my umbrella with the other.

Maneuvering the stroller w/ 1.2Liters of water strapped in was like walking a rabid stray dog. The winds were crazy, the road was uneven and bumpy, and he umbrella was no use. After just making a few steps from the store I was already soaking wet and so was the stroller.

I got home safe but completely drenched and tired. I took another bath and resumed doing what good mothers do.

You can probably guess that thunderstorm experience didn't make me feel any better. I guess I'm pretty lucky though because I didn't end up dying from a lightining strike, falling trees or electric posts or something.

I know that life's not always happy. It's just that today is one of those days when I get a hard slap on the face and shake all the optimism out of my soul. The experience could have been funny on any other day, but I was already feeling like shit so I couldn't really laugh about it now. I usually love it when it rains, but no, not today.

I need to unwind, badly. We all do. Sometimes.

Ps.
Exactly a month from now, it's August 1, our 2nd wedding anniversary. I wonder what will happen.

The Mascot

2011-06-28T16:05:00.004+08:00

If you don't know what or who Jollibee is then it's either you live in another country or under a rock. Jollibee is one of the leading fast food chains in the Philippines and his face is everywhere. There are franchises all over the world but in this country every city has at least one Jollibee restaurant. It's very, very popular because it's marketed especially towards children, teenagers, and family. I even celebrated my 7th birthday in the first ever Jollibee restaurant in this city.

Jollibee is also the name of the main mascot. He's a giant red bee who's always smiling, happy and friendly. Kids love him, including those who are afraid, like hysterically crying when seeing him up close. To a little kid he's like the equivalent of Justin Bieber in the world of teenagers except little children don't have posters of him, draw hearts around his face, dream about being his girlfriend and having Bee as their future last name.

I really think that in this country, there comes a time in every Filipino child's life that he/she learns to love Jollibee. Iaine is soooo at this phase.

She loves the theme song, TV ads, and whenever we're on the road, she points at every Jollibee poster she sees that has Jollibee's face on it. Sometimes she even makes ME point at them just to emphasize how much she loves him.

I'd hate to feed my daughter fast food and kids shouldn't always be having it, but it's amazing how powerful advertising is. Fast food is not the healthiest, but because of the way Jollibee is being marketed even children at the young age of one (babies!) are becoming fans of the brand. To me it's not a bad thing though. As long this Jollibee character is making my daughter happy, he's a good guy.

Final Diagnosis

2011-06-24T19:48:00.012+08:00

Surprise! It's another milk+poop update! But before you get tired of it, let me promise you that this is the day that changes everything. This is where it gets interesting and shocking. Remember when I was all happy and shiz? Like in the 2 previous blog entries? Well it turns out I was wrong about something but almost solved the puzzle.

Yesterday Iaine had another diarrhea episode of 2 loose watery stools and 3 sharts (I'll let you figure that out for yourself). Diaper supply almost ran out and another diaper rash appeared, so I knew I couldn't let things get any worse than that. I decided to take Iaine to her pedia this morning to finally, finally get some answers behind her condition.

It's rainy season in this part of the world but my mom and I still braved the almost flooded roads of the city just to take Iaine to her pediatrician, Dr. C. If you read about the previous checkup in one of my other posts, I might have mentioned that the doctor who was in the clinic that day was only a substitute because Dr. C was out. I had no choice but to get a consult from Dr. M.

I'm no expert in medicine but somehow I had a hunch that Iaine might actually be lactose intolerant. I dismissed it of course, because Iaine's not showing any other signs besides diarrhea and it's all so sudden.

But after telling Dr. C all the symptoms, answering a lot questions, and after the physical examination she performed on Iaine, she came up with the answer to all this. Final diagnosis: LACTOSE INTOLERANCE.

Lactose intolerance is the inability to digest lactose. Lactose is a type of sugar found in milk and other dairy products.

Lactose intolerance happens when the small intestine does not make enough of the enzyme lactase. Enzymes help the body absorb foods. Not having enough lactase is called lactase deficiency.

Babies' bodies make this enzyme so they can digest milk, including breast milk.

Premature babies sometimes have lactose intolerance. Children who were born at full term usually do not show signs of lactose intolerance until they are at least 3 years old.

Quoted from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001321/

I have never met anyone who's lactose intolerant. Honestly I'm a little bummed out because this condition is so unfamiliar to me and I never thought in a million years that my own daughter will have it an one point. Dr. C said that the LI eventually developed in Iaine somehow, that's why it didn't matter what milk we gave her. But there's no point in being sad about it. In fact, I'm happy that we finally figured out the cause of all the diaper trouble.

Another thing that I realized is that Dr.M is a nincompoop. She didn't even have the slightest idea it was LI and all she did was unintentionally mock me by telling me all milk brands are the same. I know they're all derived from cow's milk you incompetent twit, I'm not a child. THEY'RE NOT ALL THE SAME. She seemed to really want to correct me but I'm sorry Dr.M, someone should revoke your license and burn it. I can't believe I wasted 300 pesos on a moron like you and I'm never getting a consult from you again.I mean come onnnn, just antihistamine meds? When you know it's diarrhea we're dealing with? Seriously? What the hell. I thought you were the doctor, not me.

So anyway, Dr. C advised that aside from the usual cooked meals, I should feed her yogurt and Yakult (cultured milk with live lactobacilli). She prescribed meds, vitamins, and sure enough, a new milk brand. Goodbye, Enfagrow A+! Iaine is now drinking Pediasure (by Abbot) which is a brand for especially formulated for lactose intolerant children (and it's a bit more expensive than other milk brands, too). All this new stuff is supposed to make her BM better so I'm following every doctor's order. I'm also keeping her away from dairy products as much as possible because that's what's mainly contraindicated with LI. I'm really hoping for the best now that we finally figured out what's going on.

This is the start of a long process and I'm gonna do everything I can to help my daughter get through this. It's only lactose intolerance after all, and my daughter is one tough cookie. =)

What Is It Now

2011-06-23T17:09:00.005+08:00

A few days ago Iaine had another diarrhea episode and the worst diaper rash ever. It was hell for both me and her. I had to wash her and change her diaper every time she peed and pooped and while that happened she kicked and screamed. She was in so much pain. I had to handle the situation alone because nobody else could handle her.

That incident made me a bit depressed. I was running out of answers! What could it be this time? Was that the definitive sign of her being allergic to her milk? But why so late and why so sudden?

So we guessed it was the water. From purified water we switched her back to Wilkins distilled water and now her bowel movement is better. I think all this frequent heavy rainfall is affecting the water supply in some way.

I'm still wondering though if we should give Nido Jr. or Pediasure a try. But for now I'm hoping that Enfagrow A+ won't fail us. I'm also forcing Iaine to eat more solids.

Kalurkyyy!

Milk and More

2011-06-15T19:54:00.011+08:00

Welcome to my first post about Iaine's adventures in milk and poop and this is the first time I'm gonna open up about it. I initially wanted the title to be "Milk and Poop" but I thought it didn't look right. And I don't think I'll ever be making up any post title with the word poop in it anyway.

Iaine has switched to another milk formula for the Nth time since breast milk. A couple of weeks ago she had diarrhea and we noticed she was slightly less chubby than usual. We could account that to her being so hyperactive all the time but my instincts kicked in and told me something else could be the reason. Intake is almost always related to diarrhea and even though good bowel movement is only one of the indications of perfect health, I was sure it was just another milk issue because Iaine is fine and active with no indications of being malnourished.

When she was born, I breastfed her for a month but I had her mix fed because the hospital gave her formula and she got attached to the bottle pretty easily. I tried to exclusively breastfeed her since we got home from the hospital but because I was having a hard time making her latch on (different blog post), I had to do mixed feeding. I continued giving her the same brand prescribed by her pediatrician which was S26 gold. When she turned 6 months we switched to Promil Gold according to her pedia's order but it made Iaine constipated. I did some research and found out that it does cause constipation in babies, so we switched again to another brand which was Gain, a choice I made on my own. Things went well thank God. My mother also suggested it because my little sister had it for years and she's grown up to be an intelligent and healthy girl.

Up until Iaine turned 13 weeks old she was drinking Gain (plain). After that she switched to Gain Plus because since she tolerated Gain (plain) so well, we might as well give her the same brand with a bit of an upgrade. Well, we were disappointed when Iaine had very bad diarrhea because of Gain Plus so we were forced to make another switch. I recalled how Iaine got constipated with Promil Gold, so I decided to let her try Progress Gold to balance out her tummy issues. I was right and things were okay again.

But after 4 months, around a few weeks ago, she started having diarrhea again. Really bad diarrhea. She even had rashes on her bottom which required more frequent diaper changes which led to super fast consumption of diapers. And the price of diaper these days!

She didn't develop a fever or become weak or anything because I've always given her lots of water to prevent dehydration, but she was a little fussy and that made me really frustrated and worried. Iaine is a very cheerful child and it concerned us that she was being unusually irritable. Plus, the good brands of formula milk (including ours) are never cheap, and it scares me that if we don't find another brand that suits her well, we might consider lactose intolerance as the culprit to her diarrhea. Although, that would be impossible because she has tolerated previous milk formulas for a long time and I've only given her artificial juice flavors twice. Ever.

I've always done research about which is supposedly the best milk formula brands for children in accordance to age, and this time I thought we'd give Enfagrow A+ a try. The Enfa series is quite very popular for moms of toddlers these days, along with Nido Jr. and Lactum, although I think Nido and Lactum are better for children who have greater appetite and drink milk only a few times a day. Iaine isn't one of them.

Although Iaine's nutrition is compensated by her drinking a lot of milk, she's quite difficult to spoonfeed. This is surprising because I was very excited to feed her solds so I started her as early as 6 months. We even recorded her first ever eating experience. I wanted to get her all kinds of feeding materials. She got a boon squirt spoon, mesh feeders, a walker (which also served as an eating tray), bowls, etc. I was so determined to train her how to eat more. I gave her pureed/mashed veggies and fruits, whole fresh fruits, natural fruit juices, rice, meat, a bit of everything I ate on the table actually (baby led weaning). A few months ago we also bought her a high chair to help her concentrate on meals and teach her that she needs to eat on schedule. That was a success. She loves sitting and eating in it and it really has helped us a lot. Well that is, until she clamps her mouth shut. That means mealtime is over and she doesn't want more food.

The side story about solids is relevant because today I found her poop to be.. normal. NORMAL! Finally! I'd rather skip the details but it was the result I've been waiting for with Enfagrow A+. Actually, it was better that I expected! And I'm sure if Iaine had a greater appetite her poop would have come out even better. It's 8:15pm and she has only pooped TWICE today and that hasn't happened for a while! This is a big deal. I'm so relieved that things aren't as bad as I thought. All I needed was to switch her to another milk brand after all.

I've been giving her Enfagrow A+ for almost two weeks and today we have proven that it's the right milk for her. Hiyang pala sya sa Enfa. I'm so happy that Iaine is okay now, the diaper rash is almost gone, and we don't have to rack our brains anymore thinking what could be wrong with her! This has made me more inspired to train her in eating solids better. I even gave her sweet mashed banana for merienda today to aid in poop bulking.

My mom and my husband have been so supportive all throughout this difficult process and I don't think I would've stayed sane if it wasn't for them. Being a mother is hard in so many ways, but on a day like this, knowing that my child is going to be alright, it feels so awesome and so fulfilling. I have done something good for my daughter and all the hard work in caring for her is worth it.

She's going to be okay. Wow. I never thought I'd be this happy over my daughter's poop!

Sweet 16 Months

2011-06-15T13:44:00.007+08:00

I guess mothers are just naturally proud of their children as much as they are concerned about them. Lately I've been flooding my facebook page more than usual, with status updates about Iaine's developmental milestones, funny quirks, photos, and videos. Sometimes I may come off as a braggart but I think other moms would understand. Every mother thinks no one's better than her kid. That's like engraved in our DNA or something. So I will never be sorry for being proud of my daughter. Now, I hope you don't mind my rubbing it in LOL...

Iaine turned 16 months old on June 6th (which makes this another long overdue post)! Actually, she doesn't look like she's only 16 months. She's a tall girl with 8 white deciduous teeth (and more cutting through!) and most strangers mistake her for being 3 years old. Some people talk to her expecting an equally understandable statement for a response and it they're always surprised when I tell them Iaine's only a year and 4 months. Even Jai and I can't believe it sometimes as well. Our wonder child is growing up at such a fast pace.

Iaine says a lot of names and words already and each day she learns more antics to show off whenever she's in the mood. She knows how to ask for whatever she likes and playtime is always so fun.

Sometimes she can be a handful just like any other toddler, but she's not like other kids who throw a fit like there's a revolution happening right inside the house. Because she's a very curious child, most of the time I find it hard to keep her away from stuff she shouldn't be touching, but I understand it's only normal.

At this very young age, Jai and I are noticing Iaine's inclination and interest in music and dance. She sings, dances (even interpretatively), and just loooooves to listen to all kinds of music (especially piano and cello)!

Sometimes I also let her make art out of paper and crayons. Coloring outside the lines is okay but I don't think I'll ever be a fan of coloring on the floor, tables, and walls! Thank goodness that hasn't happened yet.

As I've said earlier, my Facebook account is chalkful of Iaine's photos. She loves the camera and being the beautiful girl that she is, the camera also loves her. I'm always reaping sweet comments and likes for her photos and that always makes me happy and proud of being her mom.

It will always be impossible to tell you everything about Iaine's recent developments on this blog. I can write about it on here forever but even that won't be enough. Living with her every single day and seeing everything she does on a daily basis makes me a living diary of her life but I can only tell you so much. As a good mother and wife, I try to always be here to guide her, and watch over her, and seeing her do all these incredible things is enough to make me proud of her. Sharing stuff with the world is actually just a bonus. =)

Like I always say, words will never be enough. No big words will ever be enough. Guess I'll just leave this here: Iaine is too amazing for words. =)

Shaken Up

2011-06-10T17:54:00.015+08:00

Iaine and I stayed at my parents' house for 4 days and on the 4th day (today) we decided to try this newly opened restaurant in the city, Shakey's. It's been years since the first Shakey's restaurant in the same city closed down so we were really curious about this new one. We, particularly my husband and I, have been waiting months for it to open.

After running some errands we arrived to the restaurant. The first thing I noticed was that it wasn't well lit although the air conditioning was ok. It wasn't packed with customers but I was sure we were outnumbered by crew members (they were all over the place). No arcade was in sight and the only entertainment were two flat screen TVs mounted on the wall. A fat Michael Buble was singing and the TV was on mute. Well, unless he was. Imagine that.

We chose a booth in the corner of the restaurant and I noticed how one of the two-sided benches were slightly farther away from the table than the other one. Turns out the customer on the adjacent booth pulled the bench closer to their table, leaving a huge space between our side of the bench and our table. The table, by the way was a huge mess, and not one of the crew members was paying attention to it until we made them clean it up.

Once they finished cleaning it up (except the floor which had food crumbs and other stuff), we settled down and I immediately asked for a high chair. Iaine obediently sat in it and played with a menu book while the rest of us decided what to order. The lady, who introduced herself as our personal waitress, handed us the menu and promised to get back to us at once. Well she didn't, and we had to ask someone else to take our orders.

It wasn't long before our meals were served. The taste was great. Not excellent, but great.

We were done with our main course and dessert was served. Side story: The waiter had a chance to make some small talk and found out that Iaine isn't not my mom's youngest like he thought, but my eldest. He was surprised and I was flattered.

I actually feel proud when that happens. People often say I don't look like I've given birth already. Well I do try to keep myself from looking like an old hag cos being a mom is hard work. The least I can do for myself (and my husband) is try to look good.

So anyway while we were having dessert, Iaine took a huge bite out of the pizza and it looked like she was about to throw up. My sister and I took her to the ladies room and I was surprised to find a crew member (#1) gussying up in front of the mirror, crew member (#2) was just about done using one of the two cubicles and another crew member (#3) , A MAN, was cleaning up the other cubicle. Iaine, my sister and I squeezed ourselves in the center of the tiny room and none of the crew members were budging. The door burst open too, because another crew member peeked in to talk to the employee in front of the mirror, and because it was a very small space the door hit my arm. She said she was sorry, but STILL.

Weren't they suppsed to be somewhere else? Say, a comfort room for employees only?

CW #2 AND #3 finally left, giving us, the costumers, a chance to use the cubicles for chrissakes, but #1 was still standing in front of the mirror trying to make herself look better (although impossible). I was carrying Iaine becase there was no space for her to walk so I told my sister to go do her business before I do. When she was done she took Iaine and I told them to go back to the booth cos I figured Iaine wasn't gonna throw up after all. I sent them away and finally had my chance to use the toilet.

CW #1 was still there. God, she was irritating.

When I was done she had already left. I hurried back to our booth because I thought my mom would have paid the bill already. But when I got there everyone was still seated. Still no bill.

It took us around 30-45 minutes before the bill was handed to us, giving my mom time to talk to a waiter she knew and giving dark clouds plenty of time to hover and make it drizzle outside. And I was sure that if it wasn't for our constant "bill please" reminders we would have stayed for like an hour more and we would leave the restaurant mid-rainfall. The crew made some excuse about a technical problem with their computer but whatever, that kind of service is still bad for business! I guess calculators don't exist anymore?

I just really wanted to get out of there.

We exited the building and the security guard had the decency to escort us with an umbrella. That was nice, but it will never compensate for our first dining experience in Shakey's Pallocan.

I don't know if it was because employees were new at their jobs and they're still getting used to it, but hell, customers don't care about that. Customers go to a restaurant of their choice because they expect something GOOD to come out of a dining experience. Whatever that is it's up to them, but it all boils down to one thing: customer satisfaction.

I'm thankful that my mom was kind enough to take us to a popular restaurant and pay for everything but I just wish the money she spent was money WELL spent.

TLDR; Loved the food, hated the service. I guess you can count this post as a restaurant review so I'm giving Shakey's - Pallocan a 4 out of 10. I'm not nitpicky about restaurants and I don't write about them at all really, but this one, I just had to.

The service was average and I'm still being nice. I hope to have a better dine-in experience next time.

Sunday Afternoon

2011-06-05T23:30:00.004+08:00

It's the weekend! That means, Jai is home and it's family time. Today the three of us woke up late, did our usual start-of-the-day routines and by the time it was noon we were tired and sleepy again. Jai and Iaine took a nap and I was left awake doing more stuff but when they woke up it was like everybody was energized for playtime and a stroll.

We decided to drop by this convenience store nearby called Mini Stop, kinda like 7-11, to have our merienda (afternoon meal). We tagged Iaine along and the cheerful child was was so excited to go out.

We got to the store and Iaine was screaming in delight. We let her run, walk around and pick up some items from the bottom shelves for the sake of exploration. We paid for or meals and sat down but Iaine was still walking around observing people around her and absorbing the new environment. I'm sure the lights, smell, and colors amused her, and it was fun to watch her take it all in. A simple dine-in experience to two adults could mean so much more to a growing little girl.

I let her take a few bites out of my sandwich and a few sips out of my iced tea, but she was more interested in playing than eating. When we were done, we left the store and I could tell Iaine felt cut short and a bit bummed out, so before heading home we dropped by another place to buy more stuff to take home.

It was a grocery store and Iaine loved being there. But I have to say, the cutest thing she did was grab a pair of rubber yellow slippers from a shelf and put it in my grocery basket. Little boss knows how to shop!

When that was over we finally went home and I could feel the Iaine's fulfillment that afternoon. Sunday is family day and to me, it doesn't matter how we spend it, as long as the family is together.

Iaine stepped inside the house, smiling.

I love how the simplest things still make her feel our biggest love.

Got Shot v.2

2011-06-02T18:46:00.004+08:00

It's the 2nd day of June and I got my 2nd dose of HP vaccine today! This one doesn't hurt as much as the first but there's still this heavy feeling in my arm. The first was on May 2 and the last dose is scheduled on November 2. I'm happy that it's several months away from now. Being stuck with a needle is never fun, no matter how important!

Say NO to cervical cancer! Ask your OB-GYN how to get protected. Today. :)

We're Back!

2011-05-26T20:15:00.010+08:00

I totally owe it to my daughter that I update this blog. I started this because of her and now I can hardly update it. Sorry, babe! You may not remember, but so much has been going on lately and I'm sure you'd understand.

So. I'm actually typing this using a desktop computer. Something's wrong with my laptop and I haven't taken it to a repair center yet. Anyway, of all places, my laptop just had to give up on me while we were in the hospital.

We, pertaining to my husband and I. Due to inevitable circumstances Jai was hospitalized on May 18th and was diagnosed with Urticaria, Hiatal Hernia, Esophagitis, and Gastritis. He's been having heartburn for a long time but we have always dismissed it because before it was always relieved by burping. But recently his attacks were too much to bear (it was affecting his work) so I knew I had to get him to a hospital.. and it was a good decision. What we initially thought were a simple allergy and heartburn turned out to be big stuff after all and and should be taken very seriously. Iaine was left in the capable hands of my in-laws while I (and other nurses) nursed Jai to health. He's okay now although he's still on meds to cure Esoph. and Gast.

He was discharged on Saturday and that night I was the one who fell ill. My sinuses were acting up again but on Monday we still made it to MOA/SMX for Maroon 5's concert. He got us tickets weeks in advance and I tell you, he wasn't gonna let anything keep us from seeing that band. I was looking forward to it too, but more because that was a day for us to actually DATE. Movie dates and dinner dates are fine, but this was a special day. He set up a day for us to be together, just the two of us, act like teenagers, love-struck lovers, and just enjoy each others' company. I admire him for giving intimacy a huge importance in our relationship. Being "great parents" is good but being "great parents and a great couple" is way better!

I had fun at the concert even though I wasn't familiar with some of the songs. But I really like the band and I was there to have fun with Jai so I did. And that's all that matters.

We got home on Tuesday around 3:30 in the morning and immediately I felt worse than ever. I also developed a cough which was just great. I didn't stay home though because I had to get Jai a medical certificate so sure enough when I got home I felt like wanting to be hospitalized myself. I got worse and I was sick for days. I still have a cough now but I'm better.

May 27th was Iaine's day! I took her to the Dora/Boots Meet & Greet at SM Batangas and had to buy merchandises worth a total of 700php just to get in the VIP area. She's only a year and 3 months old so she wasn't allowed to play the games on stage but I could tell she really enjoyed the event, cos by the time it was our turn to take a photo with Dora and Boots I realized she was already asleep on my shoulder. Too much running ang playing wore her out. I was carrying her and no earthquake could have woken her up. But that was alright, she saw the mascots dance the Dora theme song before she drifted off to sleep. We went home with Dora stuff, digital photos, and smiles on our faces.

And we're down to the last stop of this short trip on Recent Memory Lane. We have Jai's paternal grandfather and Jai's step-grandmother's 25th anniversary. It was held in Fernbrook Gardens (one of the most glamorous function halls in the South of Luzon) on May 28th. I was dressed in a deep red gown, Jai in a black/white/gray number, and Iaine in a royal blue/silver dress. It was a glamorous and fun night to remember (I'm a flaming shot virgin no more! LOL)

Everybody got home exhausted, but on May 29th Jai and I went on a movie date/grocery shopping at the mall. Kung Fu Panda 2 was awesome!

Life is an adventure. Just keep the happy memories coming! :)

Fit and Foxy

2011-05-14T01:10:00.002+08:00

Monday, bum. Then came Tuesday and I decided to join my mom in her fitness program. So, Tuesday, dance session/aerobics. Wednesday, dance session/aerobics. Thursday, had a good run around the village. Friday, dance session/aerobics. As you can see I'm turning over a new leaf here! No pain, no gain! ;D

Feels great to sweat and burn burn burrrn!!!

Mothers Day 2011

2011-05-09T11:52:00.005+08:00

My second mothers day was simple, and to me that was enough. Can you imagine the mothers in jail? Mothers who have missing children? Mothers who have lost their own mothers? Mothers who couldn't reach out to their own kids because of some kind of rebellion? Mothers who don't have a home? Mothers who have lost their kids for any reason? What about women who want to be mothers but can't have children?

I'm sorry if anyone reading this has experienced any of those, but I just want to make a point across--my mothers day, even though spent in the comfort of our home and my grandmothers' house, was spent in the loving presence of my beautiful happy family and that's more than enough. I have an awesome husband who was home and we have the most precious and important piece to complete the puzzle, our adorable daughter. We were together on mothers day and I'm very thankful.

I didn't receive any flowers, cards, although the greetings have out poured since I woke up that morning, so it's totally fine. You can't summarize motherhood in a day. Motherhood is 24/7, 365 days a year until the last breath. Celebrating it for a day is good, but mothers need so much more than that, really.

To me, reciprocated love, appreciation, and the occasional vacation is what mothers need to keep on. Mothers should be selfless but we are also people. I myself am not a superhero, and although it would be awesome that my daughter looks up to me like that, that isn't what I really am. We have weaknesses too, and none of us are better than the other. We all have our secrets.

Iaine is only 15 months old and I have more to learn about motherhood, but right now I'm on a good steady pace. Sometimes she can be quite a handful and raising her gets tougher as she grows older but that's what I'm here for. Yes, I can delegate chores to someone else or let them babysit, but I can't rely on anybody else to be there for her as a real mother.

Motherhood isn't something you think about and want to happen in a snap like deciding whether or not you should get a puppy. Whoever said that getting a puppy is just like raising a child is a moron, by the way. Dogs aren't people, babies aren't dogs. I'm not saying that giving dogs attention like what you'd give a child is bad, but the truth remains, you can't substitute one for the other. Motherhood means dealing with emotions, chores, marriage (if you prefer), your period, pregnancy, the house, budget, in-laws, family ties, family affairs, miscellaneous errands, and a thousand more motherly duties. Dads can also do all those things but truth be told, society has always expected mothers to take care of that stuff in general. It's unfair for some, but to tell you the truth, husbands and dads should consider themselves so damn lucky!

Bottomline is, mothers need more than a day to be appreciated. So dads and kids, work your butts off to show your wife or your mom the best kind of love there is.

Happy Mothers Day

For My Mothers

2011-05-08T21:57:00.003+08:00

My mother-in-law...

And my amazing mother...

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO US!

Great Weekend

2011-05-05T00:19:00.028+08:00

April 30th and May 1st were spent in bliss!

Jai, Iaine and I took a trip to Laiya [Batangas] with my side of the family for an overnight outing and everything went better than I expected. It wasn't supposed to be a long drive but because we were all excited to get there the trip felt like forever!

The weather was beautiful. The sun was high up and the sand was chalky to fine, and the environment was laid back. There were all kinds of people; people who came there for the same purpose--to have a good time and enjoy summer. It was hot and the wind was barely there, but to me it was perfect. Normally I would complain about how hot is is because it was the same weather in the city but being in a different environment changed the feel of it entirely.

We were all so excited to be there. Upon arriving, we just dropped off our bags in the rented rooms and proceeded to the beach. My husband and I are thrilled about this because it's been a long time since our last outing and what more is that it was Iaine's first time to actually be at a beach.

The water was warm and the seashells were uncomfortable to step on, but it was so nice to immerse my feet in the sea. The crisp splashes of the water were soothing and reassuring. This is a vacation. Have the time of your life (dirty bit)!

Our pack was more than 10 people so we rented 3 bedrooms for sleeping/bathing, a cabana for cooking/dining, and a videoke machine because what's a family occasion without one, right? It's a Pinoy thing.

My daughter was such a dearie for being in a good mood the entire time and it was adorable to see her explore the simplest of things there. She enjoyed watching small waves crash and exploring how the sand felt under her feet and between her pretty toes.

Wearing our rash guards, the 3 of us hit the water. Iaine wore her new life vest too. So fun!

Buying some hot and sweet taho! Taho is a Philippine delicacy made of fresh soft/silken Tofu, Arnibal (brown sugar syrup), and Sago "pearls" (which are similar to Tapioca pearls). Yom!

At sundown my cousins and I decided to get some henna tattoos. At first I wasn't sure I wanted one because I had one before and I know how it looks like plain dirt on the skin in a faded state, but I got one anyway. Well actually, two sets.

This is my lower back and a heart tattoo with some extended tribal design. I wanted something simple but definitely noticeable.

And these two stars represent the most important people in my life--Jai and Iaine. This design was a freebie I asked from the artist.

Power rangers!

That night was vodka night and I think I downed most of it LOL. Maybe that's why I had so much fun dancing to California Girls and the like. Under the influence, I couldn't care less there were strangers around us LMAO

There was a lot of dancing, storytelling, and lovelife discussion among me, Jai, my sis, and our cousins. It was the first time Jai and I opened up about our past and gave them a short but beautiful gist of our unique love story.

But I wasn't too drunk for the highlight of my night. My sweet husband and I reminisced our old beach outings together, our beautiful secret adventures like that first one when we had an entire shoreline all to ourselves (more of that in his blog). We also lied down on the sand, gazed into outer space, talked about extraterrestrial life, defying gravity, our future, and how nice it is to be at the beach. At the beach you can be anybody. Nobody cares about who you are, what you wear, and where you came from. Everybody's in conscious hibernation from all the stresses and hassles of the city.

Jai and I had a good conversation. He makes the best arguments, shares the best trivia, and never fails to engage me into the moment. He is truly a brilliant man who makes a simple stargazing experience so much more and so worthwhile.

Moving on to funny bits, I almost died laughing watching my cousins wash off their henna tattoos. Those things are tricky, I tell you. One wrong move and it's all over your bathing suit permanently!

Finally, we retreated to our bedroom. Iaine finally dozed off so Jai and I had some time to watch House episodes on his PSP. And when that was over, my sister and my cuousins did more wacky stuff in there--like dancing under a flashlight. Silly girls.

The next morning I woke up to Iaine and my husband still fast asleep beside me. My cousins have left the room and I assumed they were already at the beach. The air conditioner was on Antartica mode so I couldn't wait to get out of there and join them.

Not long after I woke up, my lovelies did too, and we all changed into our beach outfits. Then, we were out of there!

Because it was morning the sun was hotter than the previous day but even so, more people flocked the beach. They were everywhere. Hat vendors, tattoo artists, kids, seniors, teens, moms and dads, and everyone seemed to be having a good time.

After everyone else in the family was done swimming, Jai invited me to take one last dip. I turned him down and said it was too hot but I caved in anyway. He's just too charming.

We changed into our rash guards and went back to the beach. One of the best decisions of my life.

The water went from lukewarm to cold and I was just standing there shivering while Jai was swimming around me. He told me to stop whining and just swim. Being the stubborn brat that I was, he intentionally splashed me until I was soaked entirely. As a result, he left me no choice but to even out the wetness so I dove in at last. Then I didn't feel cold anymore. LOL

We were only in the water for about fifteen minutes but that was one of the best fifteen minutes of my life. We were like kids again, didn't give a single fvck about how the sun was burning our skin like pancakes on a stove. It was like our first beach outing. The world was ours, we were in a moment, our universe, our games, our rules. When Jai and I are alone together it's so easy to see that we're definitely made for each other. All the mysteries of the world are solved.

It took a while before we could pack up and leave. We left the resort at around 12:30 in the afternoon. The very accomodating resort owner/manager bid us goodbye and thanks. We did the same.

I was so exhausted from swimming, singing, running upstairs to our room and back to the resort, chasing after Iaine and other stuff, so I had short intermittent naps on our way home. I really wanted to stay awake to keep Jai from falling asleep (sleepy drivers are never a good thing) but I couldn't help drifting off to sleep even with my contact lenses on.

We got home safely but Jai admitted he was so sleepy the entire time too and that his eyes closed at some point. His eyes closed. On the freeway. I was like WAT

But all is well, thank God!

Jai took and nap that afternoon but I was too busy getting ready to go out again. Next on our itinerary was Thor in 3D!

We left Iaine in the care of my ILs and her nanny so we were sure she'd be alright. We drove to the nearest mall, got there at 5:30pm and decided to see the last full show scheduled at 7pm. We had an hour and a half to spare--and what better way to kill time than to eat and play some arcade games?! Shopping was out of the question LOL.

At 6:45 we were back at the theater but had to wait 5 minutes before the theater people could let us in. When they finally told us we could, Jai handed over the tickets, we received our 3D glasses, and walked in.

Okay guys, time for some analogy:

[Jai excited to see this movie] is to?

a. a little boy excited to open his present from Santa

b. a beauty queen anticipating to be announced as the winner

c. that feeling you get when you really have to go number 1

d. Obama just found out Bin Laden has been killed

We finished the movie and it was awesome. Didn't grow up with the character but it got me very interested to know more about Thor and the rest of the Marvel comic universe.

We stepped out of the theater, bought some meds, and finally headed home.

The weekend was incredible. I wish weekends are always like that. All fun, love, laughter, and Chris Hemsworth. Haha kidding.

Looking forward to the next outing and the next superhero movie. Live and love!

ps.

While I was typing, Iaine was animatedly telling me a story. The cuteness is just superlative!!!

Got Shot

2011-05-03T00:05:00.007+08:00

You read it right, I got shot. But in a good way!

Today I got my first dose of HPV vaccine. According to WIkipedia, "The human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine may prevent infection with certain species of human papillomavirus associated with the development of cervical cancer, genital warts, and some less common cancers."

My mom is such a dear for setting me up for an appointment with another OB who's a cousin of hers, making her my distant aunt (plus wedding sponsor or ninang sa kasal). I only found out about the appointment this morning when my mom texted me about it.

I have to admit, although I'm good at giving shots I'm not a fan of getting them myself. No siree. So you betcha I was scared shitless.

The appointment was at 2:30 so I left home at 2. I could have been on time if I hadn't lost my way, but when I got to the clinic I still had to wait 10 minutes for my turn.

The doctor is a relative so it was expected that she would make small talk about my family. "How's your daughter? Where are you staying now? Where's your husband?" That sort of thing.

As I watched her wash her hands and prepare the vaccine I felt like my heart was going to burst out of my chest. She told me to stand next to her and turn sideways. I stood up, and because I wanted the shot to be on my left upper arm (left deltoid) that's what I showed her. She lifted up my sleeve and there was no way in the world I was going to look now. She asked me how I was feeling and I told her the truth--I was scared, and that my sister told me it would hurt real bad. Someone also told me my entire arm would go numb. So anyway, the doctor positioned herself and the syringe, told me to relax and breathe through the mouth, and then sloooowly inserted the needle into my flesh. She told me again to relax because she felt a little resistance but I had no idea what she was talking about because my head is telling me that I was relaxed. I just don't know if my body feels otherwise.

The entire process took about 2 to three minutes because she injected the vaccine very slowly and massaged my deltoid in between pushes. But to be honest, it didn't go as bad as I expected. I guess partly that was because it made my arm numb for a while keeping me from feeling anything and the C-section that I had definitely raised the bar for pain.

Five minutes into my post-vaccination conversation I could already feel the real deal. The doc kept reminding me to move my left arm around to make the drug spread faster throughout my body, but man it was work. Right now my arm still feels twice as heavy and the injection site still has this dull cramp and I can't lift it higher than 90 degrees.

Exaggeration isn't my thing; I'm telling you the whole truth here. Getting this shot HURTS but I knew I had to get it if I want protection from certain diseases including CERVICAL CANCER.

I also learned that May is Cervical Awareness Month which I guess explains why the doctor told me that the vaccine's on a promo. I got a vaccination card, a special pink band aid, and a pink charm bracelet for me to add the free charms whenever I get a dose. It's so cute, girly and hardly looks like a vaccination due date reminder. It could be an everyday accessory.

I'm dreading my next appointment which is due next month (yes, already!!!) but you know what, it'll pass. And this vaccine gives me lifetime protection so it's definitely a go.

Vaccinated yet? Visit your OB-GYN now and ask about the HPV vac. It's one of the things that are worth the pain. :)

Sweet Dreams

2011-04-28T20:44:00.001+08:00

Thank you, my darling daughter, for being my best friend. For brightening up my day. For reminding me that life goes on. For expressing your love in the simplest ways that always end up exploding into greatness.

Thank you, Iaine, for coming into my life. You are heaven sent, the most precious gift I have ever received. I must have done such great things in my young life to deserve you. You are my everything.

Now that you've just fallen asleep, I'm once again sulking in my corner, watching you breathe in calm rythm, unaware of the sadness I am stuck in.

My sweet Iaine, you make me so happy and I never imagined I would ever feel this much joy. You give reason to my every waking day. And now that you're asleep, I am glum.

I can't wait for the morning to come. My life has become such a joyous adventure because of you. My life is changed forever. Thank you, my darling daughter, for being my best friend.

Good night, my lovely baby.

Easter 2011

2011-04-27T21:50:00.014+08:00

I was born in a family of Catholics and I married one so Iaine was baptized to be a Catholic as well. I admit that we don't attend Mass every Sunday but I pray in my own time and I have a strong spiritual side. So when it comes to Easter Sunday, we, my family, and my in-laws celebrate just like any other happy Christian family.

April 24 was so eventful, I felt like it needed more hours to celebrate Easter Sunday. Dragged myself out of bed at 4:30am and we left the house at around 6:30. We arrived in Lipa at 8 just in time for the Holy Gospel at the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church which is famous for apparitions of Mama Mary. Being in another city was a breath of fresh air. I seldom go to Lipa for any reason.

I was surprised to see the church so thickly populated at 8 in the morning. People of all ages crowded the church and even the parking lot. The officiating priest gave a short but meaningful homily and the prayer songs were upbeat. It was a good Mass and it was done quickly.

I always leave the church feeling like my burdens have lifted. I like that feeling.

We had a quick brunch in Lipa and then went back to our neighborhood to host an annual Egg Hunt for my MIL's side of the family. As soon as we were finished hiding the eggs, I guess you could say everyone scrambled to find them.

After all the fun and food, we drove back home to get packing. We were headed to a pool resort that afternoon to top off the Easter celebration. Yay!

To be honest, I hate packing especially when I need to do it on the spot but as a mother and wife it's one of the things I'm starting to get used to. I had no choice but to hurriedly gather everything we needed for that outing; clothes, towels, toiletries, bottles, bathing suits, etc. And whle we're on the subject of of bathing suits, I was surprised to find that most of Iaine's 2-piece swimsuits don't fit her now! I was still lucky to find a pair though -- Old Navy in brown, yellow, and orange with flower decor.

Coincidentally, it was also the perfect time for Iaine to wear her pink Old Navy flip flops. She was so ready for summer!

It was a long trip; 45 minutes to an hour, giving me and my younger SIL plenty of time to have a funny conversation about a school we both went to.

We took a final turn into a narrow dusty road and finally got a glimpse of the resort. We were still in the car but from our elevated standpoint we could already see the glistening cyan waters of the wave pool flocked with an estimate of a hundred people unbothered by the scorching sun. The wave pool looked like a small ocean although run by wave generating machines and its loud siren roaring in the background could be heard even outside the resort area. The place looked very inviting.

We entered the resort and had a closer look at the place -- I found the cabanas too small and the pool waters cloudy. I decided to not let that bother me though and chose to have a good time. And as soon as we were all dressed (or should I say, underdressed) for swimming, we hit the water. At first we dipped in the smaller pools and gave the wave pool a try in between. And during breaks we enjoyed scrumptious juicy pork barbeque, steamed white rice, salty sweet pancit, and ice cold thrist-quenching Coke.

I had such a great time with my husband and our daughter who by the way looked so adorable in her 2-piece swimsuit and her hair in pigtails. At first she was afraid of the water but the longer she was in, the more she loved it. By the end of the day she was laughing and playing with me and her dad in the pool. It's one of the best days of my life.

After hitting the showers we retreated to the cabanas to rest and wait for other family members. We were all tired from all the fun including Iaine who conked out as soon as she was rocked to sleep. When we got home it was already dark out so we couldn't make it to my grandparents' house. It's a usual thing we do on Sundays to visit my maternal grandparents so I was really sad we had to skip it. I texted my mom and told her we'll just have to make it up to them. After dinner, I realized that Monday morning was just a few hours away and Jai was about to leave for work again. So with all the love in the world, I stuffed his duffel even though I was so exhausted already. After making sure I collected everything, I did my bedtime rituals and hit the sheets.

I think the tap water had some sort of sleeping pixie dust mixed in because as soon as I lied down next to Jai and rested my head on his chest, I felt so sleepy that half-opening my eyes was a struggle. The last thing I could remember was Iaine playfully kicking my back while drinking from her bottle, Jai's strong loving arms wrapped around me and his lovely scent. Then I blacked out.

At 3 in the morning he woke me up, said goodbye and gave me sweet kisses. I did the same.. and blacked out again!

The next time I opened my eyes was around 8am, the sun high up and Iaine was crying. Usually I pick her up, but this time I couldn't move, like my body was run over by a truck. My muscles were in so much pain I had to text Iaine's nanny to come upstairs and take her. She did and I had no choice but to get back to sleep and get more rest.

By 12 noon I felt better and resumed my momma duties. I also texted Jai immediately and apologized for not properly saying goodbye. He kindly understood and I was relieved and thankful to have such a wonderful husband.

Easter Sunday represents the resurrection of Jesus, symbolizing the new life all of us could have after dying from our sins or whatever our weaknesses are. My Easter Sunday was all about that. To others it was just another day, or just a day of egg hunt and a beach outing, but to me it was so much more; a day that gave me a chance to rekindle relationships and realize that everyday we are always given a chance to rebirth our spirits, forget pride and forgive instead, and love one another. Easter Sunday reminded me not only of God's love for us, but also how lucky I am to be blessed with that love.

My family is the absolute proof of that.

Thank You for Loving Her

2011-04-21T10:44:00.004+08:00

I intended to go out yesterday because of some business transaction and the plan was to go home right after that. But before I could leave the house, the mailman came over to deliver a parcel card with my name on it! I was happy to extend the itinerary.

At first I was confused because it's not an everyday thing for me to get stuff through the mail but I was happy that it came. It didn't say who it was from but I had a hunch that it was from Jai's aunt who lives in the States and the package is probably for Iaine. She has already sent a box full of presents before. She's a really sweet, thoughtful person!

So I got to the meeting place on time and agonizingly waited for almost an hour for the business transaction to happen (I hate tardiness). Right after that I walked a few blocks to the city postal office to claim the package. The people there were so nice to me probably because they know my husband's family and I found it so weird and funny how the lady clerk kept trying to pronounce my nickname right "Jean? Jean. Jin. Jee-an?" I had to correct her a couple of times.

I submitted the parcel card and the package was finally handed over to me. It wasn't too big of a cardboard box but quite uneasy to carry around. I thanked the post office clerks and went on my way.

I dialed my mom's phone and my little sister answered. We were in the same vicinity, might as well meet up. They were at the nearest mall so I took a trip with the box still in tow.

I killed a few hours at the mall with my mom and my sister, still lugging the box around. The only time I took a break was when I had pizza and did some grocery shopping.

Out of habit, we went to my grandparents' after and sure enough everybody was asking where Iaine was. They always, always want to see her.

A few hours later I was back home and so excited to show Iaine her presents. A doll, a birthday card, and a Dora the Explorer sleeping dress were inside! The bubble wrap was a bonus haha.

But not only that. Apparently, Jai's cousin who just came back to the country also had a present for Iaine. While I was out, Iaine received the cutest red Chuck Taylors I have ever seen!

At the end of the day I was so exhausted but very happy. My daughter is loved by a lot of people and there are no words to express my gratitude. Even a gazillion thanks wouldn't be enough. It really doesn't matter how many presents or how much they're worth -- I admire how thoughtful people are when it comes to Iaine, and that's priceless!

So thank you thank you thank you!

Gray Eyes

2011-04-19T17:09:00.005+08:00

Two months ago I started an indefinite hiatus from wearing contact lenses. My eyes got so irritated that sometimes I couldn't open my eyes properly after many hours of wearing them. So, I threw them away and bought new glasses which I promised to wear for months without alternating them with contacts.

But the other day I woke up to an active Iaine and my glasses broken. I was so devastated and dialed Jai immediately who was still sleeping (sorry). He gave me a quick lecture so I assured him I was gonna be careful next time.. and that I'm getting new contacts.

So today, I got new ones in Gray Mist and I love them. They make my iris appear wider and give a subtle change in color. This pair is supposed to last 12 months.

TLDR; Iaine broke my glasses, I had no choice but to get a new eye color. ;)

Congratulations, Sister

2011-04-18T13:13:00.008+08:00

My sister graduated from college the other day, making her the second BSN graduate in the family. Actually two of our cousins graduated with her (all of the same age) so now there are 3 new Nursing graduates in the family.

I decided to go with a more laid back look and basic daytime make-up (as opposed to the frilly/girly get-up a few blog posts back) because I knew this event was going to give be a hassle. I was sick that day with tonsillitis (can't swallow, aching muscles and joints) and I was appointed cameraman again which meant running everywhere to get pictures. It was so crowded and so humid; I had a hard time keeping my poise.

I did what I was told and took lots of photos so when I got home I got feverish and the tonsils grew worse. I had a couple hours of sleep and then by 10pm I was okay again. Antibiotics and analgesics helped a whole lot.

So anyway, here are a few snaps taken that day:

Navy blue fitting top, floral mini skirt with fixed stretchy belt, nude sling flats, a simple vintage necklace and a brown leather sling bag.

My lovely sis after the graduation ceremony.

With our grandmother (daddy's mother).

Celebratory lunch at Britz restaurant.

Me and a glass of pineapple juice.

Too bad Daddy wasn't there.

Lesson of the story: If you're sick and feel like shit, at least try to look good right? Haha.

Congrats, sis!

She's Sitting High!

2011-04-17T20:10:00.002+08:00

It's never too late for anything! :D

We were at the mall today to have lunch with my family (Dad's in the country for 3 days) and while waiting for our orders to be served Jai and I went looking for an Angry Bird plush at the department store. Passing by the baby stuff section, I invited Jai to check out the high chair displays and found something I never expected to take home on the same day. A beautiful mocha/white/red schemed high chair with very nice features and marked with a reasonable price! We were impressed immediately and I knew it was the "one."

We decided to skip the plush and went back to the restaurant. Everybody was surprised to see Jai carrying the brand new high chair in a folded state and I was all smiles. They had no idea-- but hey, neither did we!

Why I didn't think of getting a high chair sooner? I don't know. Maybe it just wasn't our priority. But now that I realize how important it is to own one, I couldn't be happier that we got one!

It's now extremely important that I make her understand what mealtime is, that it's not playtime aka running around with minimal interest to eat. I want to establish a routine in her and make her understand that she should be sitting down whenever it's time to eat.

Another advantage of getting a high chair is that it can also be a playtime tray, art table, and it can also serve as a "big girl" chair to use with a dining table when the tray is flipped back. It's a great investment not only for the baby but for the parents as well.

So here's a clip of Iaine at dinnertime tonight. No more chasing her around anymore. She's quietly minding her own business, "feeding" herself using a plastic bowl & spoon (with some food) and being allowed to make a mess, while I spoon feed her with food from a separate bowl. It was a success. Meal time used to last an hour or more but now it's cut down to an average of 30 minutes!

Thank you Jai for being such a great husband and a wonderful father. Thank you for being so hardworking--this wouldn't be possible if it weren't for you. I love you!

My Sister's Pre-Graduation

2011-04-14T12:53:00.009+08:00

Yesterday was my little sister's Dedication, Pinning, and Ringhop Ceremony (a pre-graduation/clinical gradaution thing) and I stood in as parent. Daddy's not coming home til Saturday so I had to fill in. Couldn't take Iaine with me so she stayed home with her nanny and a family member. Here are a few photos of the event:

▲me and my beautiful sister Lindsay

▲L-R: my aunt Ninang Ruby, my mom, me, my sis, and our cousin Monique (Ninang Ruby's daughter)

▲waiting in line to march

▲ in our seats

▲ parking lot (program started at 12noon and ended at 7:30 pm. really hungry now!!)

▲ Ate out and PIGGED OUT! This is me, my sister, and our cousins having a chat.

...

Tomorrow, Friday, is going to be her graduation (in a toga) and and I'm attending too. So til then, you guys.

Ciao!

Haters Hate Happiness v.2

2011-04-12T16:20:00.002+08:00

I'm not even sure you would read this, but I wanna tell you something.

So. Approximately 6 billion people in the world. Why focus on me? Why don't you just mention my name? You keep publishing anonymous-but-obvious statements against me and it's so juvenile. What are you, ten?

I mean can you blame me if I think you were always referring to me? You always say stuff right after I say something and it's getting pretty silly. I don't even know you that well and I don't think I've ever crossed you, but you're oh so freakishly annoyed whenever you see my name.

Really now, what do you gain by that?

If you hate me that much, you're free to un-friend/un-follow, and just ignore that I exist. I'm not even asking for more followers. I'm not forcing anybody to like me. And if you don't, I really don't care. That's your problem. And I'm not gonna say your name here so I won't cross anybody I know, not because I care about your reputation.

You can just say it straight to my face you know? And not use social media to announce mysterious curse-embellished statements. (So this entry is a kind of taste-of-your-own-medicine thing.) And even if it wasn't even me you were referring to, stop with the immaturity. I've always thought you were someone with good breeding.

I still follow you because I have nothing against you. I'm not gonna unfriend you or imitate what you're doing--saying nasty stuff about a person but not really saying who it is. I'm sooo done with that childish game. This time though, I'm not saying your name for the reason that you are a brat who just need to learn a big-girl lesson.

In all honesty, I just don't get it. Don't you have something or someone else to think about?

This is the last time I'm going to talk about it and you. I just took this opportunity cos this is my space and I'm free to say anything here.

So please go away. Stay if you want to, but stop making me the center of your cyberworld. I'm happy with my life and I don't need you.

Hugs! :D

Fourteen Months

2011-04-07T12:42:00.010+08:00

I'm not a fan of counting by months but just so we're [almost] accurate, on April 6th Iaine turned 14 months old! Isn't that amazing? 2 months have passed since her first birthday. And she's acting like a big girl more than ever.

Iaine walks and runs like she's three, and knows how to "pull" me and tag me along headed for who knows where--the bathroom, for example, where she's seen the bathroom weighing scale and has become obsessed with it. She also likes to take me (or whoever's holding her hand) to the kitchen. Back home she does it and here at my parents' house too. She always comes in the kitchen as long as the door's open so she can open my mom's dish cabinet that's sitting on a low table. This isn't our house so not everything's actually childproof .

Iaine is a smart girl and a sweet, sweet girl. Gives hugs and kisses even we least expect it. She knows how to play with her baby dolls (feeding them, hugging them), knows how to sing along and dance, calls us Momma and Poppa, and knows the people around her. For example, when I ask her where her aunt is, she looks at her for a while, signaling that it is her. She points at stuff she's interested in and sometimes she just points at anything when she feels like she wants to be pa-cute. One of her quirks.

And how can I forget the number one thing that describes her? Iaine is beautiful.

She's getting so big too. Literally! She's quite tall for her age. Here's what happened recently:

Stranger: (talking to Iaine) Hi baby! What's your name?

Jai: Hindi pa po yan nakakapagsalita. / She doesn't know how to talk yet.

The lady thought Iaine was 2 or 3 years old. LOL. Such a big girl :D

Yes, a lot of good stuff are happening right now. Well, except for two things:

1. Her appetite isn't getting better. A few spoonfuls and she's done. Sometimes I even need to trick her into opening her mouth just so I could feed her. It's also hard chasing her around during mealtime.

We are SO getting a high chair.

I've been taught a method and I see moms do it everywhere. I'm putting Chibi in her chair and I'm putting whatever food I make for her on her table--with or without a plate (don't worry I'll make sure it's squeaky clean). That way, she can figure out how to eat by herself. According to my uncle who has 3 kids, that method taught his children how to eat on their own at an early age.

We'll see how that works out for us before the month ends. Jai's not coming home til next Saturday and I don't plan on purchasing a high chair by myself. I'm in no hurry anyway.

2. She has a cold. She's sleeping next to me and her upper body is elevated on a big pillow to help her breathe. She's been fussy all day and her being sick didn't help her appetite at all.

But generally, all is well. Iaine, or Chibi as we like to call her, turned 1 year and 2 months old and we're so proud. (No fancy celebration. After her first birthday we were done with that monthly feast tradition. So, we just stayed home so I can work on new layout projects and then we had some webcam fun.)

So many pearly whites!!

But I did have some 'presents' for her month-birthday week. I downloaded a couple of Dora episodes and 2 Barbie movies. Aside from her Baby Einstein educational videos, she loves them!

Her personality is definitely showing each day. I'm always looking forward to having new adventures with her. I love you, Chibi!

Burnout

2011-04-02T00:31:00.012+08:00

I'm staring at my screen trying to think of something good to write about because it's been a while since I last made a real entry. So maybe I'll just try to fill you in on some deets until something huge comes along.

1. My sideline biz is moving up. I really grateful that more people take interest in my work everyday and they put a huge amount of trust on my aesthetics.

2. Iaine is getting more clingy. Sometimes I couldn't even sit down to eat by myself. When she wants me to pick her up I just can't say no. Iaine crying out "Momma" gets me everytime.

3. Jai and I are going on a strict budget. We've already chosen a place to spend our 2nd wedding anniversary and we just agreed on seeing a concert in May. Plus, we're saving up for a brand new high chair.

4. My mom and my little sister are having a vacation in Vietnam. My dad works there and I would I could come back to visit. I loved HCM.

5. I feel like shit nowadays. No happy sunshine motivation. Just plain ol' Foxy sulking in a corner. PMS? *shrug* I don't know.

6. I'm pretty close to firing Iaine's nanny.

7. I think I found a place to live but I think we need more options.

8. I replaced my pink egg mouse with a white Imation mouse. Nothing fancy. I just really wanted a mouse that works. And I'm not a fan of the trackpad.

9. I really really wanna hit the beach soon. I had a ripe yellow mango today and it reminded me of rice, mangoes and barbecue at the seashore. I miss having family outings to the beach. But right now I don't have a bathing suit (one piece please) and I'm still working on my summer bod so I'm putting that on hold for a while.

Jai, where have our wild and wacky adventures gone?

10. Some of my friends are pregnant, engaged, and married. Some are promoted (my husband, yay) and some are fired (Iaine's nanny is aaaalmost there). Some are moving on, some are heartbroken. But all of this still falls under the category of #NEW. As for me? This is me. --> x_x

So now what?

I'm not looking for a sense of purpose. I live for the people I love. This life is an adventure itself and I'm thankful for everything I have, but please don't judge me if I'm trying to find a way to loosen up, tear the box apart, and lift my spirits.

That is all.

Ridiculous

2011-03-30T11:58:00.008+08:00

I'm not at all for politics because I know what a dirty business it is, but this time I need to speak up about something. There are 3 Filipinos who were scheduled for death penalty and as of right now it has just been announced that they're already killed. I can still hear the muffled wailing of the families as background to a reporter's update.

The issue has something to do with illegal drugs and I couldn't care less about that, but to make the long story short they committed a crime and pissed China off real bad and so they were punished with a death sentence.

It's sad, really. But is it at all acceptable to protect criminals?

The Philippine government is acting like those guys were innocent and needed a "chance." I don't know why their sentence got rescheduled but they were given a few more months to live. To me that's alright, because they have families to say goodbye to. I do understand how it feels like to lose somebody.

But here is my honest opinion: They deserve it. They knew it was a crime in the first place. Justice HAS to be served. It's just too bad that it's how it rolls in China and they needed to die. They crossed a line in another country and they got what's equal to the crime they committed.

Sorry if I'm crossing anybody, especially the suspects' families. It's just ridiculous that they're wallowing in despair about wat's over & done. If it helps, they should just pray for their loved ones.

I hope this government stops protecting criminals. To give attention to Filipinos overseas is a good thing and of course, deaths of Filipinos out there shouldn't happen. But in this case, those three knew what they were in for. They knew there were going to be consequences. They did it because of poverty I'm sure, but that's not an excuse to be off the hook and be led to think they're special.

The only people who could have prevented their own deaths for happening were themselves. I'm sorry for their deaths, I'm sorry this had to happen, but it's justice.

Let's just call it a wake up call to everybody who's in illegal drug trade, and a lesson to everyone else.

Party Party

2011-03-28T18:50:00.008+08:00

Party time!

...

My baby cousin's Christening. May 26, 2011. Jai was a godfather.

...

...............

My cousin's son Schyler's 1st birthday.

March 27. 2011

And there's another one coming up on April 3rd. Fun fun fun!

My Take on Sucker Punch

2011-03-28T14:08:00.011+08:00

Jai and I saw Sucker Punch yesterday not because he's been begging me for days, but because I wanted to see it since I knew about it. This is a quick surprise review for y'all (and a bigger surprise for him I'm sure) so here it goes.

The story is plain and simple. Girl's mom dies and leaves her and her sister to their evil stepfather. He takes her to a mental institution and she's determined to find a way out of there. Take out the action scenes and I doubt it would last 15 minutes.

But I enjoyed it!

Some people wanna read too much between the lines but what they should really be doing is take it for what it is and meet it halfway. First of all, it's a fictional motion picture and it centers on a girl's imagination. How hard is it to understand that the sky is the limit with these movies? The film isn't perfect but it made an effort so I forgive its flaws.

Sucker Punch is like 90% CG but even so, real production design is still there and it's visually stunning. Costume and make-up are awesome. The girls looked great (except Vanessa Hudgens who looked like a real prostitute--STDs, zero class and high on a truckload of meth) but my personal favorites are Sweet Pea's warrior style that comes with a hoodie and Baby Doll's sailor style that was simple (her make-up was so intense that I guess they didn't wanna overdo her outfit). A bit whore-ish, yes, but I guess that was necessary. They could have worked a bit more on the script because it came on as mediocre and not too thought out, but the storyline is mindbending mindfuck. It will blow your mind which makes the movie's tagline "You will be unprepared" ever so fitting.

I don't wanna give too much away, but here's my 3 favorite parts of the movie:

1. Opening scene. I swear I was leaning forward in my seat and almost forgot Jai was sitting next to me. That hasn't happened to me in any theater before. That first part was grabbing and hard hitting. You never see something like that everyday.

2. First imagined fight scene. It was so badass and well done. Intense but smooth.

3. WWI (map). I especially liked Abbie Cornish and Jena Malone's sister act. That definitely stood out and I like their stance. Looked authentic, unlike the rest of the girls'.

The soundtrack is unbelievably GOOD. I've never been a fan of any of those artists, but now I am. Bjork, anyone?

There's a lot of debate going on about what is imagined and what is reality, but these movies leave that up to the audience. It's not the best film in the world but it certainly isn't the worst, so I would recommend it. If you would like to see 300 with a twist of Alice in Wonderland, I guess you would wanna see this.

A little tip: don't just watch, listen. Relax and enjoy it. There are some things to think about, but don't stress yourself too much. It's a fun ride.

score: 8/10

ps.

Vanessa Hudgens was so worthless in this, and so was her character. She deserved her fate. And YES I hate Vanessa Hudgenxxx. And that sobbing/leaning against a wall/sliding down to the floor thing? God, woman! Take some acting lessons or something. I loaaathe youuu.

2011-03-28T12:12:00.000+08:00

Please send me an invite! THANK YOUUUU

Subtly Lighter

2011-03-22T20:19:00.003+08:00

I never imagined I would actually get my hair dyed. But I did. And I've been wanting to do it for weeks.

It's a lighter shade of brown now and it's not what I expected. I wanted a much lighter shade, but this has to do for the meantime.

See? Not much a of a difference, right? And the lighting certainly didn't help either. Anyway, it's more obvious under the sun.

But they say changing something about your hair actually means you want something to change about your life, and you're just externalizing that out. I think that's true.

I had a hard time sleeping last night because I was frustrated. I tried searching the interwebs for a place we could call our own but to no avail. My husband and I have decided that we want to move out soon and live more independently, but we're still at the planning stage. We're in a very complicated situation.

Budget is also tight nowadays, and if we're fortunate enough to find a place, we're gonna have to fire Iaine's nanny to save more money. (Sorry.)

Reality bites, but I swear we're gonna bite harder. BRING IT ON!

Jeean Lanting - freelance creative designer

2011-03-17T16:01:00.006+08:00

- Services available only in the Philippines -

My One and Only

2011-03-14T12:26:00.002+08:00

It appears that as of today, Iaine is 1 year 1 month 1 week and 1 day old. And I'm writing about it just because. I mean how often does that happen?

Edit: I had to go back and edit this post. It was supposed to have ended with that question mark above but then I realized I haven't blogged about Iaine's newly perfected skill:

WALKING.

You read that right, yes, she can WALK! She can walk for long distances now without holding onto something. This has been going on for about a week and only for the past two days did I see her do it like a pro. Like she's been doing it for months!

I know the development of babies vary so I never felt disappointed that Iaine learned walking a bit later than others. I hear about babies starting to walk at the ages of 8 months, 9 months, even 1 and a half and to me it doesn't matter. I knew Iaine would be ready at her own pace so I didn't need any measures to force her. I did train her, yes, but exhaust her til she passes out, no.

I'm so proud of her right now. So very proud.

Our Decision, Not Just Mine

2011-03-09T14:12:00.007+08:00

I'm a SAHM turned WM turned SAHM back again and some people have been bugging me for months to return to work. I'm a registered nurse. I went to a university to finish BS Nursing which is a four year course, then after I graduated I signed up for a review program that lasted almost a year. After that, I took a painfully hard 2-day licensure examination and then earned my license after that first take. Took a lot of hard work and to not do anything about my degree would be a a shame and waste of potential. But honestly, under the present circumstances I'm good right where I am... It's safe to say--for now.

Today I saw Iaine take the most number of steps so far. There are no words to describe how I felt. Or maybe it's how Katie (Horton Hears a Who) put it: In my world,everyone's a pony and they all eat rainbows--and poop butterflies!

This morning, we woke up at almost the same time, rolled around in bed for a good 30 minutes just feeling comfortable in a sea of fluffy pillows and soft sheets. Staring at each other. She, touching my face. Me, giving her loving cuddles and kisses. She, smiling and making the most adorable facial expressions. Us, playing hide and seek under my blanket. Then I thought to myself, how can I miss this for the world?

Jai's case is different. He's the father, the husband and he's a very good at it. He's very hardworking and I completely and absolutely understand why he has to work 5 days a week and not be with us. We have agreed about that in the first place and I don't have a problem with it. Sure, sometimes I miss him, sometimes wish I could work too and contribute to making ends meet but it doesn't mean I don't like being a housewife and taking care of our child.

I had a job offer laid out in front of me and all I had to do was just show up on the first day. The benefits sounded satisfactory with a bit of consequence, but in the long run it would have been a good call. I had a hard time thinking about it but I turned it down. Some people thought I was crazy, saying it was a great opportunity and because I can leave Iaine at home while I work. Iaine has a nanny and she's a great help but she's not the brightest bulb in the tanning bed (Juno reference) so I'm not comfortable with the idea of leaving Iaine with her for 8-9 hours a day/5 days a week. And being the mother, I can't exactly leave her the responsibility of helping Iaine out with her milestones. I should be the one seeing and participating in Iaine's everyday accomplishments. It's only fair that there should at least be one us (me and Jai) who represents the other and make Iaine's childhood as wonderful as possible.

So here's my argument: Maybe I could live til I'm a hundered years old? Can anybody seriously tell me I'm literally running out of time? How much time, then? In my point of view I have plenty of time to work on my career and be the most efficient nurse in history. Iaine's childhood doesn't last a hundred years. Every second, her brain is trying put the pieces together, trying to understand, trying to make her do things. She's at the stage of exploration and as my husband put it, the world is her playground. We plan to let her roam freely with us behind her back. I choose to be the mother who puts my child first before anything else. I want to be the mother who has a close relationship with my daughter. We want to be the parents who she runs to when she skins her knee for the first time, takes a first spoonful on her own, and maybe meet her first best friend. I wanna see her run to her Poppa when he gets home from working so hard. And I don't see anything wrong with all this.

I have nothing against working moms. Believe me I've been there. But right now I choose to stay home. When I think Iaine gets old enough to not need me 24 hours a day, then you can talk me into wearing scrubs again.

So Beautiful

2011-03-08T15:17:00.002+08:00

[photos from my SIL's iPod touch]

Just Because

2011-03-04T23:33:00.004+08:00

Marriage vows are promises each partner in a couple makes to the other during a wedding ceremony. Marriage customs have developed over history and keep changing as human society develops.

Our wedding day. August 1, 2009.

Blogs Into Books

2011-03-03T10:04:00.007+08:00

Right now I'm back home. Iaine and I are spending a few days here at my parent's house where I grew up and I'm sitting here in my old bed with my back against the headboard, my head rested on 3 big pillows and my fingers typing away on the soft keys of my sister's netbook. It feels great to be here... maybe that's why I had the urge to write another post.

I follow a lot of blogs and one of them had a recent post about her blog being turned into memoirs. Books. And I thought, OMG that's such an awesome idea.

I mean have you ever thought about the possibility of your blog just... disappearing? Like what if the Blogger peoples randomly decided to cut you out of their system to allow more cyberspace or whatever? Or what if they had some technical issues and deleted your blog? That happened to my husband, btw. He contacted the Blogger admins and made sure he would get his blog back. I think it took some time for them to retrieve it but whatever, it wasn't a pleasant experience I'm sure.

So anyway, this blog-into-books thing is genius. A lot of bloggers already have this idea but I'm referring to a specific kind of publishing. In the US, I hear there are stores that offer this kind of service and I wish we have something like that here in PH. It's such a great idea especially for mommy bloggers because it's a way to immortalize memories -- the good and the bad.

I wonder if blogs would go obsolete by the time Iaine reaches adulthood. But what if, right? Wouldn't it be nice to have something tangible that keeps written memories of yesteryears?

As I am sitting here typing the last paragraph of this entry and simultaneously watching my beautiful Iaine from a distance, full of innocence and charm, basking in the glory of the morning sun with birds' chirps in the background, I am once again reminded that when she gets older she wouldn't remember any of this. So... I am seriously thinking about getting a book done. No pressure, just an option, but I am thinking about it.

ps.

Iaine brushed my hair for the first time. I am in the clouds!

My Husband, The Great!

2011-03-02T15:51:00.004+08:00

Jai texted me today and told me to open my e-mail. He forwarded me an announcement from his bosses that said... HE JUST GOT PROMOTED! I am so proud of him!!!! Congratulations, Love! That is truly a well-deserved reward for all the hard work you're doing for our family.

WE LOVE YOU VERY MUCH!

Crayons and Toothbrush

2011-02-28T19:30:00.009+08:00

I love my husband not just because of who he is, but especially because he is the most intelligent man you will ever meet. He's so full of all these great ideas to make Iaine's childhood coloful and memorable. To make the story short, he suggested that we buy Iaine's first artwork materials. So we bought some crayons and oslo paper, gave them to our beautiful babe and witnessed the making of her first masterpiece.

Once she got a hold of her crayons she tried to eat them (of course) but after we showed her how to draw she immediately followed suit. Jai distributed the paper among the three of us, started drawing something and Iaine did the same.

It's so simple but so genius. Iaine finished her first masterpiece and now it's waiting to be framed to be cherished forever. We also had a great bonding experience and a terrific learning experience for our smart girl.

After that artwork session, it was time for Iaine's first big girl toothbrush moment!

For the toothgel I bought one that's safe to swallow, also without the flouride that can cause dental flourosis in the tooth forming years. I also got her a starter toothbrush that has a 1-minute blinking light feature to make brushing more fun for little tots and its purpose was served well. Iaine loved every second of getting her teeth brushed. She always gets fascinated whenever she sees us brush our teeth so when it was her turn she was like, GAME ON! I even went past the 1-minute mark because she wanted me to brush her teeth some more. That is HUGE!

I'm so excited for my darling girl because things are just getting started. There's a lot more in store for her beautiful life. She still has a long way to go but I'm sure her accomplishments would be within her reach. We believe she's growing up to be a well-rounded, intelligent and beautiful lady. I am the proudest mom in the world right now!

AA2011

2011-02-28T15:47:00.003+08:00

Academy Awards 2011. Just a gist.

MY BEST DRESSED: hailee steinfeld / natalie portman / reese witherspoon / halle berry / hilary swank / amy adams / jennifer hudson.

MY WORST DRESSED: nicole kidman / helena bonham carter / scarlett johansson / rhea durham / cate blanchett

OSCAR WINNERS:

best motion picture of the year:

The King's Speech

best performance by an actor in a leading role

Colin Firth (The King's Speech)

best performance by an actress in a leading role

Natalie Portman (Black Swan)

best performance by an actor in a supporting role

Christian Bale (The Fighter)

best performance by an actress in a supporting role

Melissa Leo (The Fighter)

best achievement in directing

Tom Cooper (The King's Speech)

best writing, screenplay, written directly for the screen

The King's Speech - David Seidler

best writing, screenplay based on material previously produced or published

The Social Network

best animated feature film of the year

Toy Story 3

best foreign language film of the year

In a Better World (Denmark)

best achievement in cinematography

Inception

best achievement in editing

The Social Network

best achievement in art direction

Alice in Wonderland

best achievement in costume design

Alice in Wonderland

best achievement in makeup

The Wolfman

best achievement in music written for motion pictures, original score

The Social Network

best achievement in music written for motion pictures, original song

Toy Story 3 (We Belong Together -Randy Newman)

best achievement in sound mixing

Inception

best achievement in sound editing

Inception

best achievement in visual effects

Inception

best documentary, features

Inside Job

best documentary, subjects

Strangers No More

best short film, animated

The Lost Thing

best short film, live action

God of Love

Masterpiece in the Making

2011-02-26T18:51:00.000+08:00

We just bought Iaine her first set of crayons and some oslo paper. Let's see what masterpiece she comes up with. :) Meanwhile, Iaine is seriously rocking out to Slayer's cover of Born to be Wild. The look on her face is priceless. She's our little rockstar, totally!

Haters Hate Happiness

2011-02-26T02:33:00.005+08:00

I'm taking the high road and keep on being happy (because that's what irritates haters the most).

But if I could draw an emoticon of a couple of nobodies in each other's faces screaming into megaphones about nothing important and playing no role in the contribution of the salvation of mankind, it would look like this:

( )( ) ( )( )

2 faceless asses bumbling about how shitty it is that someone else has things to be proud of plus the bonus of being happier than them in so many ways.

So. If my happiness annoys anybody out there, in any way whatsoever, I'm not sorry for being happy.

I'm sorry you're not as happy as me.

Oknowyoucankissmyass. :D

No Sicky Time Please

2011-02-24T20:38:00.008+08:00

Me, trying to stop her from crawling out of bed again: Baby you wanna watch Dora? Let's watch Dora, na lang. Iaine: aaahhh Aaaahhh AAAHHHH!!!! (jumping and dancing included) It's funny that she doesn't care when I say NO but she sure knows who Dora is.

She's more active than ever before. She's really not a baby anymore and I'm still getting used to it. I'm having a hard time chasing her around the house and picking her up but I know that's unavoidable -- that's what you get for being a part of a toddler's life (11-12 kilo toddler hellooo).

Our everyday routine is getting better too. For playtime there's real playtime (with her toys), mom and baby time, and educational video time. Her eating habits are also getting better because she eats solid food 3 times a day now (plus formula in between).

The only problem is... we think she has measles. She's had small rashes on her tummy for a few days and a low-grade fever today but no red watery eyes, colds, or cough. We changed the sheets too just to rule out bed bug/dust mite allergy (she's had that before). We're hoping it's not measles but I think it's possible. Recently there's been a measles outbreak according to the news so I'm gonna need her pedia to finally diagnose this and give my worries a rest.

My SIL's a doctor and she was so kind to prescribe some meds to help Iaine with the rash but she's not a pedia so if things go bad we still need to see one. For the slight fever by the way, I gave her some paracetamol. I don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow but I'm hoping she gets better.

She's not acting sick though. Doesn't look sick either. She's active, playful, not fussy, just happy. I hope it stays that way.

The Force is Strong With This One

2011-02-23T23:53:00.002+08:00

I love this geeky love!

Suddenly, Skin Conscious

2011-02-21T16:13:00.007+08:00

I was dark skinned when I was young and I hated it (swimming lessons didn't help). People called me names so basically I was made fun of. Well I've grown tired of that. In high school I started using a papaya soap and got great results after a few years. Yes, it took years.

And then I stopped using it because I finally got what I wanted. Fairer, smoother skin. I wasn't conscious about my skin tone anymore because I was already happy with my complexion. But since I got pregnant I've had drastic changes in my skin again--uneven skin tone and blemishes, mostly. I can live without make up but let's just say I feel much better with make up on.

Now that Iaine is a year old I believe I deserve to focus a bit more on myself and not just the mommyhood duties. I'm conscious about my skin again. I'm all for the basic stuff really, (soap and water) but because of great reviews I read at the SP forums, I bought a facial cream, toner, and scrub today. I also bought a bar of Kojic soap which is getting pretty popular.

I'll be taking a picture of myself everyday for as long as I'm using these products and then we'll see what happens. I'm hoping I won't get any adverse reactions though.

Bad Night, Bad Morning

2011-02-21T09:57:00.008+08:00

Why have I been getting these weird nightmares lately?

I usually dream about ghosts recently. And just last night before I went to bed I had an eerie feeling I was gonna get nightmares again. And I was right.

I dreamt I was killed and left for dead. I turned into a ghost (and some people I know). We haunted this vacant hotel room and the people in the apartment across the alley noticed there was something weird going on. So they checked it out. Me and my other ghost friends (invisible of course) kept still in our positions (I remember lying down below the window). One of them 'felt' my presence there and tried to touch my shoulder but her hand went through it and touched the bench I was lying on. She said "Ang galing nila magblend in./They're good at blending in." They meaning us, the ghosts. IT WAS A WEIRD DREAM I TELL YOU.

The next thing I knew, I was a zombie. Somebody gave me a pill that could turn me human again. I was my old self for a day, hung out with my family (hotel lobby, pool), and then when they were all in bed I turned back into a zombie and retreated to our haunted room. I was so depressed. It all felt so real to me.

I remember talking to my mom and she told me a story about someone asking her about me and she told her "Ay patay na sya./Oh, she died." That hurt.

I also remember Jai being a zombie and he had a clone dressed as Jesus. WTF.

Sure enough I woke up in a bad mood cos of that nightmare but mainly cos I heard a loud thud... then a loud cry. My poor Iaine was lying on the floor crying! SHE FELL AND I WAS ASLEEP HAVING THAT NIGHTMARE! Sucky. So like superman, I got out of bed and picked her up at the speed of light. Turns out she woke up before I did and crawled out of bed unsuccessfully.

Iaine is fine and I realized I wasn't really dead, but it was still one of the worst mornings of my life. Sometimes I hate it when my brain works overtime.

HAPPY 2ND BLOG BIRTHDAY!

2011-02-20T01:55:00.002+08:00

Reasons to celebrate February 20, 2011: It's my baby sister's 12th birthday, the 1st anniversary of my baby's Christening aaaand my BLOG'S 2ND BIRTHDAY/ANNIVERSARY! YAY!!

Cheers! Here's to more years of writing memories!

Iainisms

2011-02-18T22:12:00.006+08:00

There are some things I don't wanna forget so tweet about them. But then I thought, what the hell am I doing? I should be blogging about these things, not just giving out snippets.

Here's a list of bite size stuff about Iaine recently.

1. 10pm is DO or DIE -- sleepytime or up til 2am. Which means I'll be up til 2am. Which is OK on Fridays because her dad's coming home. Which is awesome.

2. As of today, Iaine has 6 teeth already. 2 at the top 4 at the bottom. And today I think I saw 2 or 3 more cutting through. Oh hello there, upper lateral and canine incisors.

3. Iaine has a thing for electronic gadgets and cables. She prefers to play with my laptop instead of her toys. My pink egg-shaped mouse is definitely her favorite to chew on and she always goes after my Globe Tattoo broadband device that's sticking out of the side of my laptop. She also knows cables are supposed to be attached to something because today she kept poking Jai's DVD player with the end of my earphones. Iaine would live blissfully without colorful toys as long as you give her some spaghetti cables. Unplugged, of course.

4. Iaine has tons of clothes and I'm now having trouble with storage space. Guess it's time to say goodbye to the smaller ones. Next question: How do I get rid of them?

5. Walking is her newest favorite thing in the world next to breathing. She hates being carried for a long time or else she would break free to stand on the floor and walk. She holds on to anything-- chairs, tables, boxes, etc.

6. She knows the basics of going up and down the stairs. One foot first, the other comes second.

7. Just recently she learned how to get out of our queen size bed by herself, feet first (Yes, feet first!) and it scares the crap out of me. Our bed isn't that high but sometimes I get a mini heart attack whenever I see her at the edge of the bed and she's already working her way out of there. (Maybe to check out some spaghetti cables in a corner.?)

8. Iaine only takes one nap a day now. 2 if we're lucky.

9. I just changed her milk formula. When she turned 1 I switched her to something that's for 1 year olds but she had stools that were too soft and frequent with GP. She's now drinking PG and so far so good.

10. Iaine loves Dora (old episodes). Her favorite songs are the intro song and Map's song.

11. Everyone compliments how smiley Iaine is. I agree. She's a happy well-behaved girl and we're so lucky. She's just really really reaaalllly active and bites when you least expect it. S'all.

12. Iaine knows her dad so well. I see it in her eyes whenever he comes home on weekends. I won't forget this one time.. She was asleep one morning. Opened her eyes and saw her dad smiling. She smiled back for 2 seconds and closed her eyes again. Went back to sleep, still smiling. Adorbs!

13. Iaine makes the cutes funniest faces. Eyebrows raised, jaws dropped, arms in the air. That sorta thing.

14. Iaine sings along to anything and anyone. She also loves to dance. Give her a beat and she'll stomp her feet, sway her hips and clap her hands.

15. Her current favorite TVCs are: Colgate (brush brush brush 3x a day song), Del (baby dressed as a butterfly), Del (talking shirts) and any commercial that has Vic Sotto in it.

Stay tuned. I'll come back with more Iainisms soon. :)

Playing with a Chair

2011-02-17T13:29:00.003+08:00

February 16, 2011. Iaineygirl and a swivel chair. It ended kinda roughly but all was well. Oh mannn she's too cute for words!

My Happy Toddler

2011-02-16T21:17:00.012+08:00

A short and sweet post. My mom, my sis and I took Iaine to the mall today (dressed up in a grey tank top and red skirt with white socks, white laced doll shoes and her hair in pigtails.) My rockstar toddler had really a good time. We had merienda at KFC and I fed her some of my potato fries and rice. She really enjoyed walking with us and standing on the escalators. And I realized.. I'm gonna be having a lot more of these backache episodes because she just looooves to break free from my hands to stand and walk on her own. Today she's 1 year and 10 days old, beautiful and smart, tall for her age, and acts like she's two already. and I'm so proud of her!

The simple joys in life are always around. Iaine, thank you for making me realize that, every second of every day. ❤

My Soul Sisters

2011-02-16T09:36:00.011+08:00

We've known each other since grade school and now we're still the best of friends, almost sisters. We've been through heartaches and family problems and helped each other out in those lowest moments. We used to cut classes just to hang out, talk and laugh nonstop. A love-hate relationship comes naturally because we know the best and worst qualities in each other and understand that we only want what we think is best for one another. We might meet hundreds more strangers in our lives and call them our friends, but nothing could ever compare to the special bond that we have. As we grew up we knew we were headed to different directions but it's amazing how little has changed among us. We're still the same crazy old circle of friends in high school and these ladies will always be the best of friends I will ever have in my life. I love them to atomic bits!

I'm the one in stripes and with me are my beautiful and smart soulsisters.

I'm here for them no matter what.

Undoubtedly the TRUEST FRIENDSHIP at its finest!

ps.One's missing in the photos, Cathlyn Garcia. Love ya!

IAINE'S 1ST BIRTHDAY IN CANDYLAND!

2011-02-15T20:18:00.047+08:00

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY, IAINE! I can still remember the pain from the c-section that lasted 2 weeks but what I really remember most is that very first moment I held you and whispered your name. Your Poppa and I don't have the right words to describe how happy we are that you came into our lives.

My sweet Iaine, you are my most beautiful masterpiece!

Read the details after the jump!

My husband and I made sure that we were going to be hands on with our daughter's first brithday, just like our wedding. We wanted mafia-gangster inspired wedding so we really worked on it and made sure the caterer knew what we wanted. The invitations, tarpaulins, photos, clothes (even the waiters' clothes at the reception) were all under the theme. And thanks to our kind relatives they lent us their black Hummer H3 as my bridal car. The most badass bridal car ever.

And because of our efforts, our wedding turned out to be better than we expected--an angel hair away from perfection. And that's the kind of motivation we had for Iaine's birthday.

I'm all about the details. I spent sleepless nights working on the party needs--from the biggest banner layout down to the smallest bow on the invitation.

I started preparing for Iaine's birthday party in Decemeber 2010. I've always sucked at cramming so I made sure I would have a lot of time to get things done. I talked to the caterer also around December and signed the contract in January (last month). I started buying prizes and invitation materials since December as well and got everything finished just days before February 6, 2011. It took a lot of time because being a SAHM I can only make stuff while Iaine's asleep or when she's with her dad, my in-laws, or her nanny.

The concept we have come up with by the way was CANDYLAND (not the board game).

Jai and I designed and manually put together the invitations ourselves but I did most of the work because he's only home 2 days a week. I almost had calluses on my fingers but it was worth it. Everybody thought the invitation was cute, unique, and nicely done. I also made an online invitation and posted it on Facebook for guests who live far from here.

L-R : middle page, back page, front page

online invitation posted on Facebook viewable to my friends

Feb 5 2011 - We stayed overnight at a hotel because it would be a good location for a birthday morning pictorial and I really wanted to stay somewhere cozy and stress-free that night although we had to make last-minute stuff. We finalized everything including marshmallow necklaces I sewed together myself.

Iaine was scared of being in the elevator but as soon as she stepped on that fuzzy hotel room carpet she was happily screaming and walking all over the place.

Feb 6 2011 - Party time! I wore a hot pink top/colorful striped dress duo with hot pink pumps and fancy gem accessories while Jai wore a deep pink Butterfinger t-shirt. Iaine had a lot of dress changes that day but her main birthday outfit was a colorful fairy gown by Ka-boosh, white glittered stockings, pink sequined doll shoes, and a fancy gold crown.

To fill you in further on the deets, here are some quick notes:

INVITATIONS. Hand-made and home-made. I bought the materials from the public market and school supply stores. The cards were printed by a photo studio and we had to manually cut them with scissors.

VENUE. I had a hard time choosing because I wanted an indoor party and there are plenty of function halls in the city. But I wanted a place that could accomodate 200 people, easily accessible, budget-friendly, beautiful and most importantly with airconditioning. We narrowed it down to two and finally chose Monte Victoire Function Hall. We made the reservation in December.

CATERING. I needed a budget-friendly and accommodating caterer that makes good venue decorations and serves an excellent menu. I canvassed around town and it all came down to Ar-geo's Catering which is owned by my sister's boyfriend's aunt. They have a Facebook account so I had an idea how they decorate functions. The owner/manager was so easy to negotiate with and everything was always noted. We gave each other ideas on how to make the party more candyland-like and even until the day before Iaine's birthday we met up and talked about the decorations. Everybody praised the buffet and told us everything was delicious. And because I really wanted it to be candyland I ordered from them a chocolate fountain cart (with sweet snacks), a cotton candy cart, and an ice cream cart. No candy buffet though--or else everything would disappear even before the party started!

ENTERTAINMENT. We HATE clowns, hands down. We know they're just trying to make a living but to us they're corny and try too hard to impress so definitely, NO CLOWNS at Iaine's party. What we really wanted from the very beginning was a magician who can also host the party. The caterer provided us just that. His name is Mardee, he's from Manila and he was great. Everybody enjoyed his magic tricks and laughed their butts off during his ventriloquism act.

And to entertain everybody while they were eating, we played hit songs, birthday songs, and an AVP made by my brilliant husband, Jai. It was so cute and hilarious.

CAKE. Among all the cake designs I saw on the internet, I chose a simple two-tier fondant cake with real candy decor. I hired our ninang (a family friend and wedding sponsor to me and Jai) to make it for us. She made some minor changes but I'm very happy with the result. It was delicious too.

CUPCAKES. I ordered 50 cupcakes from the caterer. I was the one who made and printed the cupcake toppers, cut each one into circles and taped dessert pickers at the back. Voila!

TARPAULINS. I designed everything myself using photos taken by my sister and a cousin of ours. I spent 2 hours designing the stage tarpaulin, 30 minutes on each of the 4 posters, and 15 minutes on the Wall of Sweet Notes (which by the way comes with 4 different colored markers and a note that says "Please take a marker and write something sweet for Iaine")

TABLE CENTERPIECES. The caterer provided them but she suggested that I make cards to stick on the balloons. So I made 20 layouts featuring different candy/chocolate brands, and here are some examples.

PHOTOBOOTH. What's better than a party photo souvenir! We hired Jai's friend and former schoolmate to provide us with a photo booth. He noted every suggestion I had about the print and backdrop layouts and I was very happy with the results.

TAKE-HOME SOUVENIRS. 3 kinds: colorful glass cube memo holders wrapped in cellophane (for a candy look), colorful potted memo holders wraped in tulle, and candy bags for the kids (with bubbles and colorful clay.) Candies, chocolates, yummy looking erasers, colorful hankies, and kiddie toothbrushes for the prizes.

IAINE'S FIRST BIRTHDAY WAS A SWEET SUCCESS!

I was very emotional when I said my birthday wishes for Iaine.

Jai did a better job at pulling himself together. :))

I'm very thankful that Iaine recieved a lot of presents and cash envelopes but what I'm most grateful for is that almost 200 people came to celebrate Iaine's birthday with us and they all made me feel that ALL OUR HARD WORK WAS WORTH IT.

I'm so happy that everything worked out great in the end. It was an expensive event, but what's important is that it was thought out and personal and everybody had a good time in celebrating the anniversary of the day when our beautiful and smart daughter came into our lives.

I wanna send out the BIGGEST THANKS AND HUGS to everybody who made an effort to make it there and party with us.

Now that Iaine is a year old, I'm happy that everyday she's still surprising us with new skills, tricks, talents, and owning those developmental milestones like a boss! We're so proud of our beautiful toddler.

Recommendations:

Ar-Geo's Catering Services, Balloon Decorations, and Party Needs

(and to hire Mardee the host/magician)

09178866834 look for Mrs. Arlene Yasis

My Party Rocks photobooth services

09272442453 look for Mr. RJ Dequina

Mrs. Nilda Fernandez (cake)

Her number is private, please contact me if interested.

Better Than Flowers and Chocolates

2011-02-14T20:38:00.006+08:00

Lovely day!

Jai and I didn't spend Valentine's day together because he had to leave at 3 am for work today. Although we did kiss at 12 midnight to mini-celebrate and then the 3 of us slept in the same bed together. Simple things make me happy.

Iaine woke up in a very good mood this morning. Her pretty eyes were sunshine and her soft puffy cheeks looked like fluffly clouds you just wanna squish. She was the look of a beautiful morning sky.

Iaine after bath time

And because of that, the whole day went great. I talked and played with her, watched cartoons and sang with her, trained her to walk (and saw her take the most number of steps so far) took her for a stroll around the village this afternoon, and then more walking and playing. Now she's asleep, tired from it all.

I thought I would feel bitter because I was sure I'd be stuck at home on hearts day, but to my surprise it turns out I just had the best Valentine's day of my life.

I only wish you were here, Jai. :D ♥

p.s.

About her birthday party... I know a blog entry is long overdue, but her birthday bash went so well I don't know where to start!

10 Days To Go

2011-01-27T16:46:00.004+08:00

WOW. Only 10 days left before Rockstarbaby turns one! I'm glad I started the preparations as early as December or else I'd be at wits end right now.

Venue, catering, entertainment, souvenirs, birthday dress, check. Jai and I designed the invitations and being the only one who stays home with Iaine, I finished them myself and I've already started giving them away. As for the media, I'm still working on that. But it's only a matter of time until I get things done 100%.

I don't wanna give too much away but here's a bit of a teaser.:

Everybody's so excited for my Iaine's birthday especially me and my husband. It's a lot of work and somewhat expensive but we know it's all gonna be worth it. We didn't just pay some people to give us a party. My husband and I are really involved in the process cos February 6 is a very special day for us. It seemed like we waited years for her to be born so commemorating her 1st birth anniversary absolutely deserves a special celebration. We want our daughter to look back at her birthday pictures and be thankful for happy moments (which she had no memories of LOL). We all hope it's gonna be huge a success, but most importantly, we hope everybody has a good time and a full stomach.

It's a sweet party fit for a sweet baby girl. ;) Yeah!

Holiday Recap + Iaine turns 11 months old!

2011-01-08T20:39:00.028+08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Actually, I can't really describe how happy it is or if the year's going to be happy at all. I have a headache, a stuffed and runny nose (how in the world is that even possible, but it is). Iaine has just recovered from diarrhea and fever but now she's suffering from a nasty cough and an even nastier cold. It's only the 2nd week of the month but Iaine and I have already fallen sick.

We had a great holiday season though! Here's a low down of the highlights:

December 24-25. The three of us spent Christmas in Manila with his family. It was the first time in my life ever to not attend the Christmas midnight mass and have a real Noche buena coz everybody was tired from watching the MMFF parade, and meeting celebrities while shopping on the 24th. When we got back to the family biz office(slash)dorm room we just ate some Jollibee chicken and hit the sack. We did have a very hearty dinner at Friday's though. My burger was HUGE!

December 25. Iaine's first Christmas. We attended the morning mass at the church of St. Jude which, if I'm not mistaken, stands right next to the Malacanãng palace (our White House counterpart) . We had lunch @ Jai's relatives' place, dropped by @ ATC for a few minutes and then went on our way back home to Batangas.

When we got home it didn't take too long for Jai, myself, and our super awesome baby girl to take off again. We visited my parents' house where my mother's side of the family held a reunion overnight. Then right after that we attended Jai's mother's side of the family's Christmas party and took home a bunch of gifts including a new bottle sterilizer, a rice cooker, a handful of peso bills and a plastic box type container. The games were so much fun but I had a failed attempt at catching a raw egg with my bare hand thanks to my wedding ring. LOL

December 31. My dad arrived from VN for a four-day vacation so me and my babies decided to spend New Year's eve with my family. We had tons of food and had a fun time singing using our home videoke system. Aaaand I also almost crapped my pants when my dad started lighting the firecrackers. It was a warzone!

January 1. A new year has started and my mom and my aunt were feelin' a road trip. They suggested we all go to Tagaytay, one of the coldest places in the Philippines. Unfortunately I didn't have a single pair of pants in my luggage so I wore jean shorts and went anyway.

Big mistake. IT WAS FREEZINGGGG! I've never felt that cold in Tagaytay before. But we all had a great time at our picnic and even though we only stayed there for a couple of hours, we all went home happy and felt closer to one another. It was a good start for 2011.

....

I'm still trying to recover from whatever this is. I can't talk/eat/drink/sleep well. I can't even get a move on in the party planning department. But whatever this is, it's GOT to GO.

I didn't even have the energy to host a month-birthday celebration on the 6th because of this nasty flu (I think). We weren't feelin' it. But today my ILs held a party here at home and I'm very thankful for that. No more monthly parties after this coz next month Iaine's turning ONE!

She's growing so faaaaaaaast! Happy 11th month, babe! GET WELL SOON!!!

The Christmas Man

2010-12-21T16:32:00.016+08:00

This is a story about someone who turns up around Christmas time. *Ho ho ho!* Of course this is not about Jesus. So who's everywhere these days? Yep. Santa Claus!

It's the fat guy in red, white, black, and gold (can't forget those glasses!) The large old man who we used to stay up late for, just to see him at 12 mindnight placing our presents under the Christmas tree and filling our Christmas stockings. But it never happened because he's not real. (Sorry, kiddo.) Actually I think he looks like a fat version of Dumbledore. Right?

Anyway, Iaine had her 1st encounter with Santa Claus today. The three of us purposefully went to the mall just to see the man at 1 o'clock. I even dressed her up in a rockstar/ballerina-ish outfit. Pink skull and purple tutu FTW!

The little girl was asleep the whole trip, so when we got there she wasn't in the best mood. Didn't even look at the man for 2 seconds.

Iaine, the guy's working hard to get paid, cut him some slack! You could have at least smiled. LOL

By the way, a little side story.

So we just arrived at the mall right, so it was time to take the camera out of the bag. I unzipped it, reached down into it, and then... I knew something wasn't right.

My bag was wet.

Frickin' Avent bottle leaked 6 ounces of water. Six frickin ounces of water. Everything was soaked, including my two cellphones and the camera. The camera was fine cos it had a case, but I knew my phones were definitely wrecked. The Nokia phone's buttons weren't working and the Samsung phone was dead.

Dear Avent, you may be BPA-free but you SUCK. Leak problems all the time. Imma cut you. (I wonder if Born Frees are better?...)

Anyway, being the OC worry wart that I am, I panicked instantly but tried to get myself together cos at that point it was a matter of do or die. Fight or flight. Gitterdone or else. Ackkkk.

I NEED MY PHONES.

So after the Santa photoshoot we immediately took my poor babies to this cellphone repair stall at the same mall. The repair guy was so nice to us and promised that if they couldn't fix my Nokia we wouldn't have to pay them anything. So we left my fone there, taking my SIM and memory cards with me. After having lunch at KFC (pics below) I was so worried about my phone. Fortunately, they got my Nokia working again! Eight hundred pesos gone with the wind. Or should I say, water?

She loved sitting in that high chair. Made her high, I think. LOL

I don't know if my Samsung phone's broken cos I still haven't dared to turn it on after it drowned in my bag. It's an old model so it's not really that bad if I don't get to use it again, but... it's still a shame.

Sigh. All for Meester Senty Cloz.

Long Weekend In a Good Way

2010-12-18T11:58:00.011+08:00

My husband, Jai, works 5 days a week and comes home for the weekend. Today is that day!

He came home around 9am, just 2 seconds after I texted him, asking him where he was already. Usually he gets here around 10 or 11 so I was really surprised.

When Jai approached the bed, Iaine smiled the brightest smile and immediately crawled towards him. The moment he picked her up she wouldn't let go.

I live for moments like that. :)

So anyway, Jai brought home new toys which were actually presents from his secret Santa at his office Christmas party. He told them that baby toys were all he wanted so that's what he received. Actually, his workmate exceeded our expectations! Iaine got a xylophone, a bedtime book, and a musical TV. Super thanks to you, my friend!

Right now the world is at peace because my two lovely babies are asleep. Iaine just had a bath so a little playtime and a bottle was all she needed to doze off. And as for Jai, he's just tired. He travels for a few hours just to get home.

But wait, there's more! Iaine wasn't the only one who got all googly-eyed with all her presents. I got a bunch of surprises from dear hubby, too!

A bottle of Nestea (because it's my favorite), VanHouten almond chocolates, one thousand five hundred pesos worth of Soxedo Premium Passes aaaand... HIS 2 DAYS OF VACATION LEAVE! I think I'm gonna explode!!!!!!

This, by the way, is the list of the stores where Sodexo Premium Passes are honored. Yeah that's a lot of stores...

I'm so proud to say that my husband landed a good job in a very generous and employee-loving company (can't forget to mention the the health benefits--they're awesome). But most importantly, I wanna thank my husband for being such a good provider to us, his family.

*We're so proud of you Love, and how hard you work for us. WE LOVE YOU!*

And cheers to a long weekend with hubby! Oh yeah oh yeah oh yeaaahhhhh

Spontaneous Foodies

2010-12-17T20:02:00.010+08:00

This is most favorite month everrrr but December makes me crave for all kinds of food which can eventually lead to unwanted gain weight. December is the month that makes me crave for creamy coffee all the time. And donuts too. But whatever--it's the month of food and festivities, no need for excuses!

Tonight I went to the nearest grocery store and the best bakery in town (Pan de Manila) to satisfy my cravings... It's just rained and it's dark out, the road is wet from a heavy rainfall in the afternoon and it was still drizzling when I stepped out at 7pm. Serious cravings indeed! I'm also motivated because Jai's coming home tomorrow morning and I wanna serve delicious soft bread and hot creamy coffee for breakfast. Even if he doesn't drink coffee.♥

The bread's in the dining room and this is the rest of the stash. Coffee, creamer, and hell yez OREEEOOOOOSSSSssss! 'Tiiiis the season to be fatty la la la la la.. La la la laaahhh....

Orange Ya Glad?

2010-12-17T14:03:00.009+08:00

Iaine had her first bottle of orange juice today at lunchtime! YAY! The first sip kinda weirded her out I think like "WTH is this, mother??" but after a few seconds she was sucking that bottle like her life depended on it. Just sucking it all in to the point of almost aspirating, then she pulls out the bottle, and pops in back in. It's hilarious.

She also had a bottle of milk formula before that. And a few bites of green papaya with bits of white rice. Really, I feel so high right now. Teething is starting to take it easy on her, finally! Her appetite's making a major a comeback which makes me the happiest mom on earth. She also loves those buttermilk biscuits that go soft in water fast (and in my sweet baby's mouth) and those tiny oranges called ponkanitas or kiat-kiat which are smaller than the palm of your hand.

But that's another story. One day when I was eating them I remembered those lemon-eating babies on YouTube making funny faces. So I peeled a piece out, made a small bite at the tip and then squeezed the juice in Iaine's mouth.

She totally sucked the life out of that poor little orange. Allow me to demonstrate:

And that's how things went down. Sorta. ü

Happy Things on Happy Pics

2010-12-17T00:52:00.006+08:00

3 posts in one night? I'm on a roll!

Well this is the last one for tonight. I just wanted to share these edited pictures with you because they're brimming with shimmering cuteness and happy thoughts. I found an adorable photo editing website tonight that lets you make the fanciest, cutest, kawaii-est photos evuuuur. :3

That is all.

Good night, Philippines! And good morning, America!

Random Cuteness No.2 (Christmas Edition)

2010-12-16T23:24:00.021+08:00

Here's another list of some random cute stuff I found on the internet and I am officially declaring that they're on my wishlist this Christmas... and forever more. (Deep.)

Strawberry Santas! Fruity yummy Vitamin C goodness with the right touch of whip cream. Creativity at its finest. Sigh. Sheer holiday cheer.

Hey waiter, there's a yellow submarine in my tea....... Hell yeah?? Super awesome timing for the cold climate this Christmas hello?!!?! I don't actually drink tea but this thing makes me want to. Tea like, everyday.

Pandas floating in noodle soup. I SWEAR, I'VE HAD THIS BEFORE, I just don't remember what brand it was. It was delicious and I bet it still is. Hot noodles + cold Yuletide morning breeze = blissss.

Cupcake Bonnets to keep Iaine warm and cute all night on Christmas eve. I can just imagine... Too adorable for words!

A classic: Double Stuf Oreo cookies. You would think they taste just like any other Oreo cookie but noooooo. You'd be wrong! These nomnoms are heaven. I would be so HAPPY to receive a truckload of these on Christmas and be grateful for the rest of my life. And by the way Santa Claus--milk or no milk, these gems are delicious.

And lastly... Ta-dah! A sewing machine. When I saw ndtitanlady's YouTube pillow and keychain creations, *PING* an idea! She also made a giant tampon plushie too (I'm dead serious). I've decided to put this at the number one spot in Christmas wish list (the sewing machine not the tampon). Doesn't need to be exactly this one which is super adorable, portable, and girly but I would definitely be stoked to own my very own machine for beginners and learn how to sew. I've been following a few blogs and vlogs of very creative people who sew for fun and others eventually make a living out of it, and it's insipiring to see their masterpieces transformed out of the simplest, plainest sheets of fabric. I'm not after the money, I want this to be a new hobby. Who knows? Maybe someday I'll be making Iaine's clothes myself. I mean I know the basics of sewing like repairing torn clothes and stuff like that, a few manual stitches here and there, but to actually create something out of nothing is what I really wanna do.

Project Runway, here I come.

Wait for iiiiit...

Aaaand...

BAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

10 Months Old!

2010-12-16T21:08:00.010+08:00

Guess who's reached the double digit mark?...

IAINE!

She turned 10 months old last December 6th and as usual, we held a simple celebration here at home. Pammi (shoutout to a fellow Bumpie heyy) complimented me on that and said it was nice that we do that every month (or something like that). Such a nice gal. Anyway, it is! It's a Filipino thing. We celebrate a baby's month birthdays before she turns a year old. Well my little party was a success and my most favorite part was I got to taste my favorite cake again. Dulce de Leche by Red Ribbon FTW!

Now for some quick updates...

One. I finally got a reservation! The party venue isn't too far from home but to get there it's more convenient to bring a private car. The function hall looks classy and it's super spacious.

Two. I'm still working. Underpaid of course! Because the Philippine's big ass government doesn't give a crap about nurses (no pun intended? LOL) I love my job but to tell you frankly, it sucks. I'm thinking of diving into another sea of opportunities where the fish are... But I'll cross the bridge when I get there.

I'm feelin so metaphorical right now.

Three. We've hired a nanny! Which is great, because Jai and I are working parents. I trust her because my MIL recommended her and she's worked as a housemaid here before. So far she's doing a good job and she's giving me absolutely no reasons to worry.

Four. I'm tired. All the time. I don't know. Do I need to take vitamins like I breathe oxygen? I don't know. I just can't handle too much stress. (A shoutout to family members, holllaaaaa LMAO)

Five. I absolutely LOVE thrift stores. Today I went downtown and spent an entire hour just looking for stuff in one. I mean the place was packed and I was sweaty and tired but I have to say it was worth it. I'm still amazed at how much stuff I could buy at such low prices.

Six. Iaine is constantly pulling my hair, screaming in my ear, pulling my bra straps and snapping them back against my skin (that last part she discovered on her own I swear). But she's an adorable, beautiful baby whose eyes can make anyone's heart melt like a strawberry/choco fudge cake ice cream on hot summer sand. So I just keep still and let her beat me up to her heart's content. Come onnnn she's just a kid, go buy yourself a big bag of humor. :P

Seven. YAY FOR FOUR TEETH! More pearly whites are rearing their not-ugly heads which means more drool, screams, and MORE SCREAMS! Good ol' mommyhood fun! (And yes, I stretched out her pretty lips for y'all to see; she didn't seem to mind.)

Eight. MORE PLAYTIME! It's getting harder and HARDER to leave the house each day because as Iaine grows, it's more fun to play with her and just stay home with her. Playtime is my most favorite part of the day--item number SIX included! I've never had this much fun in my life with anyone else in the world. I even skipped work just to bond with her all day. My career has been too demanding lately so I make sure I make it up to the super awesome rockstar baby. She's totally my Elixir of Life!

Nine. Christmas day's next week for chrissakes! (Gahhh I need to stop with the references alreadyyy.) I'm pretty excited cos it's Iaine's first Christmas ever ever everrrr and I'm thinking of ways to make it super special. And oh btw I absolutely love the cold. I mean I have the lowest cold tolerance ever but shivering in the cold is better than sweating profusely under the high noon sun. Making my melanin thingamajiggies active and stuff. Except when it's summertime and the beach is all I ever wanna be at. LOL.

Ten. I'm running out of things to say. Bye for now! God I missed blogging. :)

Random Cuteness No.1

2010-11-23T17:46:00.016+08:00

I'm off work today. Usually that's a good thing except when I'm bored as heck.

Earlier today I asked my mom if Iaine and I could tag along but she told me she was just going to the bank and run some other financial related errands. So I decided to stay home with Iaine and we've been stuck here all day.

Sleeping baby = me time. I checked my Facebook, played Car Town, Cafe Life, Cafe World, Bar World, read some news and some pop culture stuff.

Then I came across these thingamagigies overloading with cuteness. It's in my list of completely unnecessary things brimming with gumdrops and happy thoughts.

Rainbow necklace with dove

In my own perspective I prefer to interpret the rainbow as the dove's flight trail. Although some people may think the dove is excreting the rainbow. Don't read too much into everything, people! It's a happy symbol and I'm dying to get one. I could wear it with almost every outfit. Sheer rainbow daintiness.

Glee cupcakes

These guys sing so well I just wanna bite their heads off.

iPod Speaker Puffs

These things made me think about my sister. She owns an iPod touch and she's crazy over puffy things. Especially if they come in pink.

Harry Potter Nimbus necklace

It's not because The Deathly Hallows P1 has just been released. I've been a Harry Potter fan for years long before any die-hard Twilight fans knew Robert Pattinson ever existed (who played the part of Cedric Diggory, killed in Book 4: Goblet of Fire). Enough about glitter boy, this necklace looks mysterious and grungy, and screams real HP fan incoming, y'all got nothin on this!

Domo mouse

Gnarly, dude! The square brown monster who needs dental assistance is apparently trapped inside a computer mouse surfing to his heart's content for all eternity. I really want this! Sooo far out!

Pi necklace

Pure genius! Forgive me for posting 3 kinds of necklaces, but this one I reallllly had to show you. I'm sure my husband would be amazed by this one too.

Told ya.

So the list ends here for now. Expect more random cuteness once another boring day comes along. Ciao!

This Is It

2010-11-21T21:29:00.003+08:00

I am absolutely thrilled!

February 6, 2011 is coming! Iaine's birthday is only 2 months and 2 weeks away to be exact so we've already started the preparations. Just last week, I went on a road trip with my family and we spent an entire day at a mall. Shopping, haggling, walking, more walking, hands full with heavyweight shopping bags, but everything was worth it. For weeks I've been waiting for that day to push through because that mall is one of the most popular places in Manila to buy stuff for wholesale. We all had great day and I went home with tons of party stuff, satisfied. The bonus: the husband was impressed with my shopping taste.

You have no idea how much my husband and I are excited about this party. We already have ideas for Iaine's photo shoot, party decorations, parlor games, party favors, cake, invitations, and of course, OUTFITS! Although I can't tell the public what the theme is yet. It's all very hush hush right now. We don't want morons stealing our ideas. Just like before and always. Haha.

Jai and I have been researching a lot about the theme we've chosen to stick with so we're really putting effort into making the party the way we want it. I finally hired a caterer yesterday because we kinda know her personally and she seems easy to do business with. We've been texting and messaging each other on Facebook for days, and then this week we're gonna meet up for the contract signing. I'm also calling dibs on the party venue and a photo/videographer this weekend before anyone else tries to get her hands on them for Feb 6th.

We want to make sure everything is going according to plan because a well-prepared and thought out party is a successful party.

I think we'll be expecting about a hundred and fifty people so we're very careful about what we want and what we actually need. Budget is a very important factor to consider for any occasion. We want an awesome party for Iaine without being impractical. We just want the party to look how it's supposed to look and we want our guests to have fun, enjoy Iaine's first birthday, and never forget that day. First birthdays only come once, ya know?

We're trying to settle the reservations as early as possible 'cause Christmas is just around the corner and there's not gonna be much time for us to settle things after this month. The early bird catches the worm, as they all say.

Wish me luck!

FOXY MAMA

Valentines 2012

Two Years Old

Days Before

Long Lovely Weekend

Passports

Booked

December 31st

Family to Work Day

Back with a Blog

Avent in Pink

Back with News

Drowning

The Mascot

Final Diagnosis

What Is It Now

Milk and More

Sweet 16 Months

Shaken Up

Sunday Afternoon

Got Shot v.2

We're Back!

Fit and Foxy

Mothers Day 2011

For My Mothers

Great Weekend

Got Shot

Sweet Dreams

Easter 2011

Thank You for Loving Her

Gray Eyes

Congratulations, Sister

She's Sitting High!

My Sister's Pre-Graduation

Haters Hate Happiness v.2

Fourteen Months

Burnout

Ridiculous

Party Party

My Take on Sucker Punch

Pinterest

Subtly Lighter

Jeean Lanting - freelance creative designer

My One and Only

Our Decision, Not Just Mine

So Beautiful

Just Because

Blogs Into Books

My Husband, The Great!

Crayons and Toothbrush

AA2011

Masterpiece in the Making

Haters Hate Happiness

No Sicky Time Please

The Force is Strong With This One

Suddenly, Skin Conscious

Bad Night, Bad Morning

HAPPY 2ND BLOG BIRTHDAY!

Iainisms

Playing with a Chair

My Happy Toddler

My Soul Sisters

IAINE'S 1ST BIRTHDAY IN CANDYLAND!

Better Than Flowers and Chocolates

10 Days To Go

Holiday Recap + Iaine turns 11 months old!

The Christmas Man

Long Weekend In a Good Way

Spontaneous Foodies

Orange Ya Glad?

Happy Things on Happy Pics

Random Cuteness No.2 (Christmas Edition)

10 Months Old!

Random Cuteness No.1

This Is It