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!