Uy, may blog pala ako.

Well, hello there, blog!

I have been a bit busy for the past few weeks. Okay. Sadyang tamad lang ako mag blog talaga nitong mga nakaraang araw. But I blog in my head, you know. Minsan pag may nangyayari, I 'type' in a blog entry on my head, complete with how my first paragraph would turn out, but when I get in front of the laptop, nawawala lang bigla ang ideas ko. (Ayos na bang palusot yun?)

Pero totoo din namang nabusy ako ng bongga these past few days... The reason? I recently put up an online shop -- Baby Nate's Online Shop. I'm on the testing stage palang, actually. I ordered just few stocks to 'test' the market, and thank God naman, out of stock na ko ngayon. (Which is hard din pala kasi I have customers inquiring now and wala pa ko maooffer til mid of June).

So yun. Wish me luck?

Elayskie

It's so fluffy!

This came in the mail today! Yay!

I know I said quota na ko sa cloth diapers for Nathan but these are just too cute to pass on. Pero on a more serious note (baka nagbabasa si hubby), we need this in preparation of the rainy season. (wink)

Elayskie

I still hate you, thunder and lightning.

Last night was torture. Ang lakas ng kulog at kidlat, feeling ko tatama yung kidlat sa bintana anytime. Parang naka-surround system lang yung effect ng kulog. It was around 9pm na and Nathan was already sleeping in his crib. The funny thing is, wala siyang pakeelam! Ni hindi man lang nagugulat sa tunog.

Di katulad ng mommy, dakilang takot sa kidlat at kulog since birth. Haha!

So I took him from his crib, tinabi ko sakin, ang reasoning ko: Baka natatakot, hindi lang pinapahalata. Haha! In the end, it was me who found comfort in Nathan rather than the other way around. Oha, I always thought that he would draw courage from me when he needs it, baliktad pala. :)

Elayskie

Happy Mother's Day!

I know I must have blogged it somewhere, about Bob not being the mushy/sweet type and how he stands by this belief that "roses are overused and if he gives me one, he'll lose originality."--- something I have come to terms with over the years we've been together. Don't get me wrong, he's not dead stiff, in all fairness to him, he tries to come up with something, like painting or composing songs (which I really love, feeling ko ang haba ng hair ko.) You get the point.

So, few days before Mother's day, imagine my surprise when I saw on his browser that he googled "Sophie Kinsella." Haha! Okay, hindi niya alam na nakita ko, so Dad if you're reading this -- yes, I sort of had a hunch. Haha! Side-kwento, we were talking and the subject came up, he said... "Ano nga yung bagong book ni Kinsella? I Have Your Number?" Ang tawa ko talaga kasi the way he said it, parang nagbabanta lang. 

The thing is, I've been wanting to buy the new book, but I don't know, the price seemed a bit high for me. Or dahil feeling ko ang dami ko nang mabibiling children's book at that price kaya parang ayoko bumili. I really didn't thought he was paying attention when I was looking at it.

To make the long story short, he gave it to me the night before Mom's day. I guess he was forced to give it to me early coz I was throwing a bit of a tantrum that night. Umalis kasi siya for a while and I thought he bought me a Starbucks drink. When he got home emptyhanded, nagtampo ako. Hahaha! 

But in all honesty, it's not about the gift. My mother's day would still be perfect even without a gift from Bob, because the truth is, yun na e -- sila na ni Nathan ang gift ko for life. Sinagot na ni Lord ang lahat ng birthday, Christmas, New Year, Valentines wish ko. They are my life treasures, and I couldn't be more happier. I look at them everyday and I realize how blessed I am for having everything I need just within arm's reach. 

Wishing you had a fab mom's day as well,

Elayskie

Allergy scare.

Nathan gave us quite a scare a few days ago when red spots/rashes suddenly turned up on his whole body. First thought was it could be tigdas, but then he has no fever. So I called his pedia, and she told me as long as there's no fever, all we need to do is to observe. As soon as I put down the phone, I remembered that we gave Nathan a teeny tiny bite of Patchi chocolate just minutes ago. I checked what remained of the chocolate and found out that there are small, ground almonds and raisins in it!

I panicked, coz I know that nuts should not be given to kids under three since it poses a risk for allergies talaga. So I texted his pedia and said told her about the nuts. She said to start with the anti-allergy medicine and keep her updated with Nathan's rashes. So Bob went out to buy medicines for Nathan and thankfully, Nathan didn't fight us when it was time to take the meds.

At dahil sadyang praning at paranoid lang talaga kaming mag-asawa, we decided to bring Nathan to Medical City Antipolo. Nathan's pedia, Dra. Acosta is only there during wednesdays and fridays, so we were assigned to a different pedia. Buti nalang, she confirmed that it was only allergies (which thankfully, wasn't severe since Nathan only took a tiny bite of the chocolate). She explained what tigdas (measles) look like and explained how Nathan's rashes is different from it. She looked at Nathan's records and said, "Ikaw naman Mommy, may vaccine si Nathan for measles oh. Very rare na magkaron siya nyan dahil may vaccine na siya." 

Oo nga pala noh! I totally forgot about that. *Facepalm*

On my defense, I always say that when it comes to Nathan, I'd rather err on the side of caution. Okay na ko mapagastos ng konti sa check-up or masabihan na praning, paranoid, OA basta alam ko lang na ok talaga si Nathan and there's nothing to worry about. 

To date, okay na yung rashes ni Nathan. Buti naman. At one point natakot pa ko baka mag-iwan ng mark. Buti nalang wala. :)

Elayskie

Dear Nathan

You're growing up so fast. I know I've said this over a hundred times already, but it's true. Yesterday, I looked at you while you were having your first haircut and all I could say to myself was, "He's not so little anymore". Although I'm sure you will forever be a baby in my eyes and in my heart, reality catches up to Mommy and... ack.

I'm all over the place, you see. There are times when I just look at you and I almost want to say, "Don't grow up too fast!" but then there are times that I wish you'd grow up so we can enjoy more things together. Ang gulo ni Mommy noh?

I'm just amazed -- at everything you do. How you try to understand the world around you. How you focus on something. I know you have a thousand questions in your mind and you can't wait to know the answer to them. Basta hinay hinay lang, we'll go through that together, okay?

For now, just forgive me for being emo. I swear at my state right now, I'd probably cry over all the clothes you've outgrown, or the shoes you won't be able to wear anymore. Haha.

Ang laki mo na kasi talaga.

Mommy 

New Books. :)

Yesterday, while at SM Masinag -- I decided to check Books for Less again and went home with three books for only 250 pesos. :) The photo above is from the book, "I love you, Little One" by Nancy Tafuri. 

Elayskie

Don't be so quick to judge.

I think one of the most important lessons I've learned with mommyhood is this -- don't be so quick to judge. I don't know why, but for some reason, when I became a mom, I became more understanding of life -- of people.

When you see a mom using TV to babysit her kid, It's so easy to say, "Oh my that's against perfect-parenting 101! You shouldn't let your kids watch TV! Haven't you read about the effects of TV to kids below 2 years old?" You may not even say it out loud, but believe me -- the parent feels the judgement.

I know because I've experienced this first hand. I'm a new mom -- with zero idea on how to take care of a child. I relied on books, on google -- and (unsolicited) advices. But with these advices came unwanted remarks, sometimes bordering insensitive. I figured at some point in my life, I might have done the same thing to a mom -- so it's just karma acting in.

So I made this 'resolution' -- not to judge, period. I will offer advices only when asked, or if the conversation deems for it. I will choose my words carefully. Every parent is an expert, in their own way. I don't need to be perfect in the eyes of other people, I just need my son to know that I'm doing the best I can.

 

Elayskie

Cloth Diaper Disaster

All of Nathan's cloth diapers are out right now. As a result, we were forced to buy him disposables. Hayy.

There's a reason why we use a separate laundry soap for Nathan's cloth diapers. It's not just being maarte, but you see, cloth diapers need extra care -- like making sure that the soap doesn't have extra enzymes or other what-nots. Bleach, fabric softeners are a big no-no for cloth diapers. So imagine my surprise when I smelled downy in all of Nathan's cloth diapers last night. Hayy. I rinsed them again, twice -- to see if the smell would rub off but no. I just decided to hang them and 'test' it once they're dried already. I'm hoping longer sun exposure would do a magic trick.

I just hate seeing Nathan in disposables. :(

Elayskie

Domestic Diva

3 months in our new home and I'm so close to calling an agency for a helper. Fail! I swore to no yaya-helper pero hindi ko na yata kaya! Haha! When we first moved in, I thought, "Well, this is easy!" and it was, at least for the first month. Now, I have a toddler and he likes to move around a lot! A LOT!

Right now, I'm just taking a break -- I've been cleaning since 8am and so far, I'm only done with 1 out of 3 bathrooms, the kitchen and the living room. Thank Samsung for a fully automatic washing machine, I'm almost done with the laundry na din. (Read: Wala nang diapers si Nathan!!!) A mess is still waiting for me upstairs, and if I think about it more, baka tamarin lang ako. Haha!

On the bright side, who needs gym? Grabe lang ang exercise ko from sweeping and mopping the floors at akyat-baba ng hagdan.  ;) Hay. Back to 'work.'

Elayskie

Reminder.

Unfinished business.

I can't really tell you what it is, but I'm just excited that for the coming months, I'll be doing something to 'settle' it. I've been thinking about it really hard and with everything that's going on right now, I figured to give it another chance. Here's to praying I finally stick to it. Haha.

Elayskie

Hello, new blog!

When I told Bob I wanted to switch to blogger, he just nodded and didn't ask me why. He knew this means I'm going to ask him to design my blog and that he has no choice but to do it. Haha!

Thank you Dudad for designing my blog. I love it! Sobra!!

Elay

Reading is Fun!

We started reading books when Nathan was just about two months old. I know he doesn't understand the words I say or why I do a thump-thump sound whenever I say Ella the Elephant, but he has shown me his appreciation for what I do, and that's more than enough for me. :) I know he appreciates it coz whenever I pull out the book, he starts smiling and you just know that he's waiting for it.

Reading Love You Forever by Robert Munsch.

Sometimes, when he's crying really hard and we can't figure out what it is that he wants, we just show him the book "Zigby Camps Out" and he will stop crying at once! We figured that he loves looking at the pictures, and he loves listening to the sound effects (animal sounds) I make when I read to him. 

He also loves "Love you Forever" by Robert Munsch. I LOVEEEEE reading this book to him because of the song, "I love you forever, I'll like you for always, As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be." I'm also extra proud when reading this book to him coz it's a free signed copy from the author. Haha!

These are our books so far, most of the books here, I bought from booksale! :) Cardboard books for as low as 50 pesos, and some around 100 pesos. Ngayon, mas inuuna ko pa talaga tignan ang children's corner sa bookstore bago sa bestsellers. Hehe!

This afternoon, I saw that Books For Less opened a new branch at SM Masinag, and since I was there, I decided to give it a visit. Nalula ako sa dami ng children's books! I saw Dr. Seuss books for 99-150 pesos, and a whole lot of other books that I want to read with Nathan. Sobrang dami, I think I spent more than an hour just browsing around. Hehe!

I got these books for around 300 pesos lang. I loooooooooveeeee that it's finger puppet which puts a whole new fun to our reading sessions. I tried it with Nathan kanina and he loves it! I love the Elmo book, inside it has lyrics to "If You're Happy and You Know It" but it has other actions like, "Touch your nose," "Rub your tummy" and "Dance".

My dream is to own more books, and own books na nasa top 100 books for children. For now, okay na kami ni Nathan with the nice images and rhymes. It's something I'm sure we will be doing for a long time, and we will never get tired of it (I hope!).

We Choose Cloth.

This post is written for the Real Diaper Week Carnival with the theme “Real Simple. Real Diapers.”  We aim to educate and advocate the use of cloth diapers in the Philippines.  Please scroll below to read the other carnival posts about cloth diaper styles, how to’s or must haves. 

***

"Ang mahal naman niyan!" 

Ask any cloth diapering mom, and I'm sure someone has said pretty much the same thing about cloth diapers at one point. Usually, this phrase comes after "Ang cute naman niyan!". 

Well, it's true that it can be a little expensive at first. You would need to shell out a little to be able to build a decent stash of cloth diapers. Believe me, Hubby's facial expression said it all when I first told him that I want to build a cloth diaper stash for Nathan.  This was after he saw Next9's website which I 'accidentally' left open on his browser. Believe me, the look on his face was just like telling me, "Are you out of your mind?! 1k for 3 diapers?!"

The thing is, I wasn't researching about cloth diapers just because it's cute. (Okay, I admit that was ONE reason). But at that time, Nathan was having really bad rashes because of his diapers. We tried brand after brand, we changed every after 2 hrs but we got the same results.

So, to give him a 'preview' without having to spend that much, I asked that we try Chino Pino's first. It's pretty much the old school lampin but it's pre folded already and it has velcro closures that made it a lot easier to put on Nathan. In just a week of switching to Chino Pino's, the rashes were gone. Yay!

But eventually, we outgrew the chino pino. Nathan's thigh -- well, people call it "Pata" for a reason eventually became too big for the chino pino. Hubby said maybe it's time to try out the modern ones. I swear I did a happy dance when he said that. :)

Ang-mahal-naman-nyan-rebuttal number 1: If you do the math, you'll see it's not expensive at all.

Cloth diapers are reusable. Which means, if you stick to it, you'd probably never buy another disposable diaper again EVER. I always say din, since Nathan is our first child, the probability of our second (maybe even third) child to use the same CD's are high! Investment ang tawag dun. :P

If you change disposable diapers 12 times a day and keep doing that for a year, this is what it will cost you:

Drypers: PhP7/pc = PhP30,576/year
EQ Dry: PhP6/pc = PhP26,208/year
Huggies PhP9/pc = PhP39,312/year
Kimbies: Dry PhP6/pc = PhP26,208/year
Pampers Comfort: PhP7/pc = PhP30,576/year
Pampers Baby Dry: PhP8.25/pc = PhP36,036/year
ProKids: PhP6/pc = PhP26,208/year

Confession: I didn't do the math. Next9 did.

Ang-mahal-naman-nyan-rebuttal number 2: It's really good for the environment.

When I was trying to convince hubby to switch to cloth diapers, I asked him to guess just how many years it would take to decompose a single disposable diaper. He guessed 50 years, and based on my research, 50 years -- even when it sounds soooo long already, is just a quarter of disposable diaper's life. It takes 200 years, some data I've read said it takes 500. 200 or 500, maski nga 50 lang e, that's still a very long time! That means by the time Nathan has his own grand grand kids, the diaper we used on him would still be sitting on a landfill somewhere!

It actually felt good when we started using cloth diapers. It was nice not seeing disposable diapers on the trash can. I know it's just a small contribution, but still it's something, diba? At least Mother Earth has one less disposable diaper to worry about because of us. Pwede na yun!

Ang-mahal-naman-nyan-rebuttal-tip number 3: Ang cute kaya!

Kasama talaga to sa reasons why we like cloth diapers. Haha! Because of cloth diapers, Nathan is ready for a photoshoot anytime! :P When we were using cloth diapers na, I realized how

ugly
 different it looked like when Nathan was just wearing disposables. Sure, disposables have prints too but it just looked... well, different.

Cloth diapers now come in different colors, in different prints. Some were even customizable, and if you're really crafty, I'm sure you could do loads with plain cloth diapers. Can I add, sobrang nakakagigil yung butt ni baby pag naka cloth diaper, ang tambok! :)

[caption id="attachment_129066" align="alignnone" width="423" caption="Nathan says "OK"."][/caption]

***

So there, that's just three of the many reasons why we chose real diapers. It took a little explaining of course to convince hubby, but I'm happy to say that he's my number 1 supporter now when it comes to full-time CDing. Yes, we do full time! We use cloth diapers 24/7. Yay!

He now knows the benefit of cloth diapers and would even answer back for me whenever someone says "Ang mahal naman nyan!". Minsan may iba pang statements like, "Mukhang mahirap i-maintain, or magastos sa laba" pero with a little explanation, nagegets din naman. :) Proud moment ko lang is when he explained it to our friend, akala ko di siya nakikinig sa explanations ko e!

If you haven't yet, I suggest you give it a try din. The secret is to just buy just a few first and then decide which system works best for you. Oh yes, cloth diapers are so modern now and we have different systems pa! I suggest you look into it first. We're really far from the oldschool lampin na. Another yay for that!

There's a group called Modern Cloth Nappying Pinays (every cloth diaper addict mom is in that group) and you can ask them questions and for sure you'll get really good answers. I joined the group when there was just around 80 members, now it's around 700+ na! Galing! If not sa group, just google and research lang, you'll be surprised at how many moms are doing it already. (I used to watch videos on youtube on how to strip diapers! Haha)

Anyway, ang haba na nito. Just think of this as me saying na, real diapers can be intimidating at first, but still, it's something worth trying.  :)

***

Please check out other entries for the blog carnival:

Next9 Baby's The CD Revolution

Tickled Mom Clarice's Stuff you need for an easier CD-ing life

Buntis' Milo's stash of real diapers

Happy Tots Studio's Matteo's Diaper Story

Hoo Goes Where's Real Diapers Our CD Journey

MrsBry's Z loves: Next9 Cloth Diapers

This Mom's Life's Transitioning to Cloth Diapers

ms. Masungit's Cloth Diapers? Where?

The Odyssey of Dinna's nurturing rafael: the cloth diaper chronicles

The Articulate Pen's Making the Switch to Cloth Diapers

The Common Mom's Surviving the Holidays with Cloth Diapers

Tickled Mom Abie's Cloth Diapers. A Quick Review of the Different Systems

Swept Away's What We Love About Cloth Diapers

Chronicles of a Nursing Mom's Going out of Town with Cloth Diapers

Organized Junk's Out and About with Cloth Diapers

Baby steps.

"Just let go", I've been telling this to myself for the past few days. Nathan is in the phase where he wants to roam around and just grab things and explore. We were at the supermarket one time and he refused to be carried, instead he wanted to be put down so he can walk, assisted syempre. He also refuses now to be held at both hands when walking, gusto niya one-hand assist nalang. And though I'm really proud of this achievement and milestone, I can't help but still feel a bit OA. HAY I really feel that I don't make sense at all pero, ang hirap pala!

Excited for tomorrow!

As I've said on my previous blog, we will be celebrating Nathan's first birthday tomorrow. It's going to be really simple, with just a few family and friends. I'm really excited on how things will turn up tomorrow since everything -- and I say everything, is a labor of love. Haha!

Every bit of decor is DIY -- and since our printer broke down few months ago, we had to make use of what we have. Thankfully, I have a very creative husband who knows exactly what to do with a piece of paper, oil pastels and lots of other stuff available.

Nakakatuwa kasi we have Easter Egg hunt in the morning, and all the eggs are created by Bob. Paper Mache! DIY ba kamo? :)

Hayy sana when Nathan grows up and gets to see his first birthday party, he'll be reminded of just how Mommy and Daddy worked real hard to make it special.

Oh hello, blog!

Halos nakalimutan ko na meron pala akong blog.

March has set a record -- pinaka stressful na month at sana wala nang mag-attempt mag break ng record. Just a day after Nathan's confinement, si Papa naman ang sinugod namin sa hospital. He suffered from a major stroke. It was the scariest day of my life din, never thought I'd go through that at all. On hindsight, everything on that day was carefully planned and timed by God. Nung hapon na yun, nagtataka ako bakit wala pa si Papa (He was supposed to go here in the morning), then I called him on his cellphone. It rang once and he didn't answer, so I called again -- this time, he answered and the only words he said was "Punta kayo dito anak, inaatake ako". Then silence.

That 5-second silence was scary. The thought was scary. We were fifteen minutes away from Papa. Mahina pa naman ako sa mga ganitong pagkakataon. Pero it all felt like I was on auto pilot. I called the guard house of Papa's subdivision and told them to go to our house and call an ambulance. Sa isip ko nun, at least may mauna sakin sa bahay since malayo pa kami. I also called our Ninang, who was our neighbor din and told her to come to our house. She was about to leave na daw buti nalang nakatawag ako agad. She said when they got to our house, the screen door was locked so they had to force it open, then they found Papa lying on the bedroom. God was so good na hindi na niya inallow na makita ko pa yun. Siguro kung inabutan ko si Papa na ganun, baka dalawa kaming isusugod sa hospital.

Ang nakakatawa (at least for now) dito e sa panic namin mag-asawa, iniwan namin si Nathan sa kapitbahay namin habang kami ni Bob e nakasakay na sa kotse ni Ninang para isugod sa hospital si Papa (ambulance never came). Parang nakisama naman si Nathan kasi hindi daw siya umiyak, as in nakaupo lang daw sila nung kapitbahay namin at ni isang beses e hindi nagwala si Nathan. Buti nalang dahil sa taranta namin, wala kaming dala man lang na gamit ni Nathan. Walang milk, walang diaper -- kahit pampunas nga ng tulo laway wala. Hayy, thank you Anak for being cooperative on that day.

Anyway, we stayed in the hospital for 10 days. Longest 10 days of my life. I was crying every night. Halo-halo na yung emotions ko. I felt worried for Papa, tapos namimiss ko mag-ama ko who had no choice but to stay at home. So ako lang mag isa nagbabantay kay Papa. Ang hirap! I would never wish for this to happen to anyone, not even my mortal enemy siguro. (Kung meron man).

I guess that's every child's fear. Good thing about this story is that ours ended up well. Papa recovered well, and now -- almost a month after the incident, nakakalakad na siya and nagagalaw na rin niya yung left side ng body niya na nung una e ni makaramdam, wala. He's on continuous PT sessions, 3x a week for now but we're hopeful. Pinag-mop na nga ng sahig nung isang araw para maexercise. Haha!

Anyhooo-- Birthday ni Nathan kahapon! One year went by soooooooo fast. I will blog this on another entry dahil it deserves a separate post.

Nakakamiss din pala mag blog. :)

Never again, I pray.

I never thought I’d ever write a blog post inside a hospital room.

Nathan got admitted yesterday, after three days of fever and diarrhea. We already went here last Tuesday, just one day after the fever but he was sent home coz he was still bibo and makulit when we got here. Initial diagnosis was amoebiasis. This puzzled me and Bob, since everything Nathan uses is sterilized, and we use distilled water for everything.

Anyway, two days later, Nathan refused to take his milk, if he did, he would spit it out after a few minutes. That prompted me and Bob to bring him to the ER again, and just as suspected, the resident doctor told us he needs to be hydrated thru IV and be given meds thru it as well.  Need I mention that he gave us the scare of our lives when he looked at Nathan’s records and said, “Oh typhoid to ah!” like it was something ordinary.

Nathan was okay pa the first few minutes, then he seemed to sense na they were going to inject him with something na, so he cried! I couldn’t bare to look at him when the nurse was administering his skin test. Hay yung iyak ni Nathan in itself is heartbreaking na. When it was time to put the dextrose, Nathan was screaming already. He looks at me, and then to his Dad, as if crying for help, but there was just nothing we could do at the moment. Ayaw pa ako palapitin kasi ganun daw talaga?

Heartbreaking is seeing your son, barely a year old, with dextrose. Oh poor little hands! I couldn’t imagine how the nurse was able to get it right the first time, but thank God he did coz had he failed, I probably would’ve unleashed the warfreak in me.

It’s now Day 2, and Nathan is feeling a lot better already. I say so coz the first thing he did when he woke up was pinch my nose, haha! He’s very active again and he moves a lot! This morning, we brought the laptop (hence the blogging) and he watched Happy Feet (his favorite movie) kaya ang happy happy niya naman. We brought toys din, and he was so excited to play with it even with just one hand free.

And because he’s feeling better na, ang likot na niya super! Nahuhulog ang puso ko whenever he moves his right hand coz that’s where the dextrose is, and natatakot ako na mamisplace and they have to reinsert. True enough, just at about lunch time, the nurse noticed that Nathan’s hand was a bit swollen, and they decided to take it off. I could imagine in Nathan’s mind, he’s laughing and saying “Aha! My plan worked!”

We’re hoping that Nathan gets discharged today, or at least tomorrow be the last day. Ay grabe, while I was typing this, pumasok ang nurse to say she's going to reinsert his IV. Nooooo! Kawawang Nathan. She couldn't get it right after a few tries kaya ako na nagsabi, please tell the doctor we don't want IV for Nathan anymore. Buti naman pumayag. Dumedede na naman si Nathan and no more vomiting, so I guess it's okay na to remove the IV. Nakakaawa naman kasi to the highest level.

Hayy. I pray never to experience this again.

Kakayanin!

"Wala kayong yaya? Kaya niyo?" asked my next-door neighbor this morning.

Oo nga noh, I realized. Wala kaming yaya. Walang helper, for years now. I guess our very unfortunate experiences with our previous helpers already traumatized us and the thought of getting a new one just scares the hell out of me.

So we've decided to not get a yaya or an all-around helper, for peace of mind. With all the horror stories on yaya's caught on cams, jusko, wag na. Sarili ko nga hindi ko mapatawad pag may nagawa akong mali kay Nathan, ibang tao pa kaya. And surprisingly, I'm kind of enjoying the household chores. To those who know me really well, this is really something.

This morning, I ditched the mop and went traditional with a rug, put on a great music and scrubbed like I was dancing aerobics. Haha! Crazy, I know. Even Nathan thinks so too coz he was smiling at me the whole time. I must have looked like I was the missing member of the Wiggles. LOL!

Honestly, it's too early to tell. We've been here for almost two weeks, ask me again few months from now, when Nathan starts walking and running, I might just change my mind about household help. Right now, it's easy breezy with Bob helping me whenever he can. He's cool like that.

On getting Nathan a yaya -- I don't see myself doing that right now, or in the future. I'd like to remain as hands on as I can with Nathan. I love being able to witness every milestone, and being the first person to scream, "Dad! Dali tignan mo!!" whenever Nathan does something new. It's very rewarding. I know it sounds cliche but it really is.

"Yes, walang yaya. Kinakaya. Kakayanin." -- I told my neighbor.

Obligatory Valentine's Day Post.

Love is work.

It is, in fact, hard work. People think that when you fall in love and get married, that's the guarantee that love won't fade. Marriage isn't a prize, it's not a trophy you give to your boyfriend/girlfriend because they behaved well. Marriage, I realized, is a work in progress.

It's waking up everyday and choosing to fall in love again and again with the person you vowed to spend the rest of your life with. It's falling in love with him despite and in spite of everything. It's choosing to accept everything about the person, good or bad, and embracing it.

It's loving him even when he snores so loud in the evening and it ruins your beauty sleep. It's resisting the urge to bury his face in a pillow because you'd rather not sleep than suffocate him. It's being there for him even when he's so irritating that he drives you nuts already. Ah, sometimes it makes you want to self-admit in a rehab center. It's taking care of him even when you know so little of medicine and the mere sight of blood makes you faint. It's sitting beside him when he's feeling so down, understanding him despite the lack of words.

Love is work. Marriage is a work-in-progress. You don't get married and become the  perfect couple. You will fight, you will argue, you will agree to disagree. He will become your best friend, but at times, he will be your mortal enemy as well. Sometimes, you ran them over in your dreams. You may even say curse words in your head. Sometimes, it would be easier to quit -- but you know so well by now that long, deep breaths will work magic.

Love is knowing that he snores because he's tired, from working straight hours so he can provide for you and your family. Because he loves you so much that he wants to secure the future. He will work long hours, he may even trade days off for a bonus (he knows you'll get mad, but he prays you will understand).

It's knowing that he wants to be with you even when it looks like he's pushing you away. Knowing that your voice is soothing, like music to his ears (well, when you're not nagging). It's knowing that when you take care of him, it makes him the most special person on earth. It's picking up tiny hints here and there that he loves you, and he appreciates what you do for him, even without him saying it out loud.

Love, it makes us crazy, stupid even. But what the heck, right? Love is wonderful, and finding that one person to share this magical feeling makes everything else a breeze.

Love is work, but most of all, love is realizing that every hour, every minute, and every second was worth it because you did it together. ~ Angela Florio

New Home

We've been incredibly busy since we moved in our new home, but I think it's the kind of busy that makes you really giddy instead of tired. That, or talagang punong-puno lang kami ng energy for this new home.

It's a work in progress. We still have a lot of things to buy for the house. But it's okay. "Baby steps," we keep telling ourselves. For now, we'll make the most out of what we have. Bob has been working double time to meet deadlines and earn bonuses so we can buy new things. With the rate he's going, I'm confident we'll have everything ready by this month. Haha!

I'm kinda surprised that I'm enjoying all the household chores din. (Ask me again months from now, baka mag-iba sagot ko. Haha!) I wake up at 4:30 am (no alarm yan ah!) then bangon na agad to fix things and prepare breakfast. By 6am, almost done na ko. Siguro the downside to having a big house (well, big enough for three) is that -- MALAKI din ang lilinisin. That's two bedrooms and three bathrooms to clean! Oh well. Bob's been helping naman with chores and even proposed that we do a schedule! As in MWF-TThS ang drama. He wants to take turn with the cooking na din! Wow diba?

I'm really happy with how the things are going right now. 2012 came in with a great promise ha, in fairness. :) Continue to be kind, 2012. But know that as early as now, love na love ka na namin.

 

Happy 10 months, Nathan!

Dear Nathan,

10 months ka na today. Oh how time flies. Gasgas na yung linya ko na yan, pero that's just how I feel everyday. Sometimes, I say to myself, "Sana lumaki ka na" and then take it back the next minute, kasi I want to enjoy this moment more. Ang gulo ni Mommy noh?

At ten months, ganun parin. You're still as amazing and wonderful as you were before, siguro nga mas lalo pa ngayon. You never fail to surprise us with your sweet little milestones. You know how to make Mommy happy when I'm a bit sad. You know how to take away Dad's fatigue from work. You are a delight to everyone, to our family and to our friends. You should know ang dami dami daming nagmamahal sayo.

Mommy has lesser mommy-boo-boos now. Thank you for being patient with me. I continue to realize that motherhood is a never-ending process. We continue to learn everyday. I don't think I'll ever be the perfect Mom, but I'll be the best I can be for you, promise yan.

We love you,

Mom

Five!

It's our fifth year anniversary today! (Well, as boyfriend-girlfriend) Do married couples still celebrate that? We do, I do. I like the thought it has been 5 years since that night that changed the rest of our lives.

As posted on Facebook:

I remember texting Bunsoi, "Pano ko sasagutin, hindi naman nagtatanong?!" And how nervous you were when you finally asked if I felt the same way. Nun lang ako nakarinig ng napakaraming stutter in just one sentence. Haha! Hayyy.. and how we both cried when I said yes! Ang corny lang natin nuon Dudad!!

It's been a wonderful five years, masaya -- nakakabaliw, pero masaya. Agree ka ba dun? Oh, cheers to a life time of kabaliwan. :p

Happy 5th Anniversary, Dudad. I love you! :)

Sharing pics from 2007 to present. :) Nene-Totoy days pa ito.

[caption id="attachment_12906621530" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Our first date. January 2007. "][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_12906621531" align="alignnone" width="529" caption="April 2008."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_12906621532" align="alignnone" width="320" caption="March 2009. Eraserheads Concert. The Final Set. My Surprise birthday gift to Bob. :)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_12906621533" align="alignnone" width="529" caption="2010 -- Syempre, our wedding year! The most memorable year ever!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_12906621534" align="alignnone" width="529" caption="... and Nathan came along! Best gift of 2011."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_12906621535" align="alignnone" width="529" caption="Hoping the best for 2012!"][/caption]

I know that five years is nothing compared to the lifetime we'll spend with each other. Growing old isn't so scary anymore because of you and Nathan. Thanks for everything, Dudad. :)

Perfect.

I'm not supposed to blog about this at all but I'm blogging anyway. :p I want for us to remember this week, how wonderful it has been since we first stepped into our new home.

Yes, finally.

It was love-at-first sight. We felt like it was made for us, there was no heavy feeling, everything was a breeze when we got inside. We checked, room by room, wall by wall and words were not needed to confirm that Bob and I had the same thing in mind: This is it.

How we are blessed this much, I'm not really sure. But God knows the intent of our hearts, and he gave it to us, for that -- we are thankful. More than thankful! We're more than delighted now that Nathan will be celebrating his first birthday on this house. Oh come to think of it, we'll be celebrating most of our firsts in this house! Home, we are finally home.

The house is like a blank canvass for us. Bob's been channeling his interior designer self for days now, and I'm just amazed with how synchronized our minds are at this point. We have the same ideas, we agree on concepts. Ang galing galing! We have sketches of how we want it to look, and Bob's 100% set on building the cabinets by himself! Oh God. Ang creative lang ng asawa ko.

It was just like how we started on our first apartment. Wayyy back 2007. Ay, ang dala lang namin is a sleeping bag, and Bob's personal computer. As in  yun lang, and wala pang computer table ha! Dun sa CPU nakapatong yung monitor niya. We slept on the floor, and ate on the floor! And then one by one, we started buying stuff until it was complete already. Then we moved here in Antipolo, most of our things nakacombine sa bahay sa Mission Hills and we decided to leave it there and start anew.

So now, we're literally back to square one.

Even Nathan is cooperating! Walang gamit yung bahay but he's not picky and moody at all. He slept on the floor, with blankets naman pero still, it's far from his comfy crib and beddings, but he's okay with it. As soon as he woke up, he was all smiles already and was giddy crawling on the floor. Hay, it's perfect. More than words can say.

Bob has his own office in the house. It's been our dream for him to have his home office, and now it's finally coming true. Ah, I leave all the designing to him kasi office niya yun. He's so inspired that he says he would have time to paint already. Oh wow. His office has the view of Antipolo Mountains. Perfect lang talaga.

I can go on and on about this house and never stop on how perfect this is for us. But I'll stop here. :p Will post pics as soon as we can.

Home, sweet home.

Excited!!!

We'll be starting on a brand new journey soon! I can't wait till I'm able to post more details about our new 'baby', but for now, just forgive the excessive exclamation points to follow.

Sobrang lapit na!!!!!!!!!

The Paawa Look.

Now, who can say no to that face?

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

Dear Nathan,

Today, you reminded Mommy of a very good lesson in life: Never give up.

You've been trying to stand up on your crib for a long time now. You would try each day, slowly trying to figure out how to do it. At times, you would reach out for the toy beside your crib and hang on it for support.  For the past days, we've seen you kneel longer than you did before and we just thought, "Hey that's a good start!"

Kanina, habang busy si Mommy magtupi ng cloth diapers mo and si Daddy naman busy sa work, bigla mo na naman kami sinurprise! Nakita nalang kita bigla na nakakapit sa rails nung crib mo, at siyempre sa gulat ko, tinawag ko si Daddy at nagulat ka naman. Ayun, naoff balance ka tuloy at napaupo ulit.



Bigla naging cheerleader si Daddy at ako naman, photographer. Dudad stayed by the side of the crib, "Go Anak, kaya mo yan." He said.

Few attempts later...



You did it!



You managed to hold on for a minute (?) before you fell on your butt. But, just like that, you tried again and again.

Ganyan nga, anak. Sometimes, in life -- we fall down. But that doesn't mean we have to quit trying. Para-paraan lang yan, until we figure out what to do and how to do it. It may hurt a bit, but the happiness you'd feel when you succeed is worth every single ouchy moment. :)

Just don't forget, Mommy and Daddy are always here for you. We love you sooo much!

Photodump v.1

Went to Pugad Adventure in Pugo, La Union last Sunday. Had the chance to roam around with my trusty Canon. :)

[slideshow]

Babywearing.

I knew about babywearing when N was just a few weeks old. I wanted to try it so much back then, but I didn't have the luxury to go out, so while waiting, I watched babywearing videos until I figure out how to really use it. Then on N's first month, Joy gave it to me as a present -- finally, I'll get to babywear N, right?

Wrong.

The horror -- despite the many videos I've watched, wala talaga. N would squirm when he's inside, probably because the fit wasn't okay. It says on the video that you're supposed to be hands-free when you're baby wearing, but I was putting it so wrong that if I remove my hands, N would probably fall off.

I tried -- for days until I figured I'd just try it again when N's big enough to support his head para we can do the other sling carry. Eventually, time passed and I (almost) forgot about the sling. Few months later, we were given a hand-me-down carrier which was so easy to put on, so lalong nakalimutan si sling.

Fastforward to N's eighth month, I wanted to try babywearing again. For some reason, the carrier we were using gave me nasty back ache when I'm carrying N in it. I couldn't last for anything longer than five minutes. So I took out the sling and decided to give it another try.

With enough support from Bob -- and a few tips from the net

and Dr. Lei (a new-found online friend!) ayun, nasuot ko din! N looked happy inside, and he would really behave when he's inside the sling. Maybe it helped that N is already able to support his head kaya mas madali na for us. But the thing is, it worked! I'm able to babywear N!

First Day Out

So, with a proud grin on my face -- we decided to go out and try if I could really babywear N for hours. We decided to go to SM Masinag since it's near and there's not much people there even on weekends.

Naloka ako.

I got all kinds of stares -- some curious, some amazed. We went to the infant section of the department store, and while browsing some items, I overheard two saleslady talking behind me. They said,

"Meron tayo nyan! Yan yung mahal na tela. Ganyan pala yung sling pag nakasuot noh?" 

Then they approached me and said, "Ganda naman ng upuan ni baby. Hindi po ba masakit sa likod?" 

Feeling proud (and thankful that the salesladies have no idea how I failed on babywearing once), I smiled and said, "Actually, hindi. Masarap nga e."

Went home that day and despite the number of curious stares that we got, I'm happy that I was able to babywear N and that he enjoyed it as much as I did.

Not everyone knows.

It's just sad that babywearing isn't as popular as it should be in the Philippines. How I wish meron akong makasalubong na nagbaby wear din.

Last weekend, we went to Manaoag with the family. As usual, I brought out my sling and wore N as soon as we stepped out of the van. The stares, andun pa rin. Pati relatives, may joke on how I looked like a 'badjao' wearing it, but it was okay. Tawa lang, kasi I've thought of that before.

Ok lang, kalma lang. Just then, a woman stared at me, looked at me from head to toe and smirked! Oh God. Bob saw it too and we just laughed. I said, "Dahan dahan sa pag titig ate. Konting pasintabi lang" loud enough so she can hear it. Then Bob and I laughed again. I knew right there and then that I was up for some more stares. True enough, I got the same stare a few times more, and even overheard a woman say, "Pag di ka nag behave sa stroller mo, i-gaganun kita katulad dun sa baby, nakasabit lang"

Having enough, I finally told Bob I'll remove N from the sling first.

Bob said no, and his words exactly:

"Komportable kayo ni N dyan diba? Wag natin sila pansinin. Di lang nila alam yan sling."

Take it from Bob, he knows exactly what to say and when to say it.

I realized, oo nga. Not everyone knows about babywearing. There would always be people who would stare you down and even say rude comments about it. The thing is, deadma nalang. As long as we know why we're doing it, as long as N is happy and safe, that's all that matters.

Hello, 2012.

It's almost the end of January and yet, this is my first ever post for 2012. I know, I'm such a lazy blogger. Although that does not mean I don't blog in my head. God, if someone would invent a way where my thoughts would go directly to my blog, nakupo -- disaster.

2011 has been so good to me and Bob, and came with the great blessing called Nathan. I have high hopes for 2012 and all the years to come. The thing is, I think I've never been this positive before. Parang ang gaan nalang ng lahat ng bagay. Call it weird but that's how I feel right now.

In two months, we'll be celebrating N's first birthday party. Oh my. Ang lapit na. For N's birthday, we decided to skip on the bonggang handaan and instead celebrate it with the people who will appreciate it the most. We'll do a party at Philippine Orthopedic Center, and hopefully, if budget permits, pati sa Tahan-tahanan.

Sana manalo ako sa lotto. Haha!