Dispatched

It was the first time that I ordered books online. I chanced upon this website through my Yahoo Group N@W or Newlyweds at Work. After reading through some feedbacks, I was convinced that the site was legit so I searched for the books I’ve been wanting to read but too frugal to buy locally because each of the books would cost me a thousand pesos, more or less.

When I went to the website, I found out that both of the books I was looking for were available so I went on ahead and ordered both, paid via Paypal. Both books cost me less than a thousand pesos and what’s even great is I did not pay any shipping fee, to think that the books will be coming from the UK. Great deal, right?

So, what’s left for me to do now is to wait. According to the site, the books will be delivered in two weeks. I can’t wait!

If you’re interested to order some books, head on to The Book Depository. Enter code May11 at checkout to cut off 10% from your total bill. Discount code is only available until today, May 31.

Disclaimer: I cannot vouch yet for this site because I am yet to receive the books that I ordered. So, for now, order at your own risk. I will post feedback once I get hold of my books.

Charm

The Pirates of the Carribean – On Stranger Tides is already being shown. Hubby and I were able to watch the first three installments of the movie and now that the latest installment is on, I was skeptic that we’ll be able to watch it after our latest huge purchase here. Besides, we already watched Fast Five last week.

But, I wanted so much to see Captain Jack Sparrow on the big screen again and I’m sure he’ll be delivering over-the-top funny lines and facial expressions, I had to put my charm to work on the husband. So, before the weekend I left this for him to read:



On the bottom of the note read:



I guess my charm worked as hubby asked me to watch Pirates with him last Saturday!



So, dear hubby, thanks for another weekend movie date. You might just find another note on the table come July when my favorite Harry Potter’s last installment is on and I just know you cannot not watch this:

Mommy Moments – Dear Mom

The Dear Mom theme on Mommy Moments for this week is to post a letter made by your kids or a letter to your mom or a letter you made for any other mom.

My Johan is too young to even walk lest write me a letter and I’ve already featured my mom to one of my posts, so I chose to write a letter to to myself knowing that other moms would relate to it as well.

Dear Mom,


You are doing one great job as a mother. There may be times when you think you’re near the end of the rope and you sometimes doubt your sanity, rest assured though that most if not all moms experience the same thing. When your child was born you thought you weren’t capable of caring for a newborn, you had no idea how to change a diaper, you didn’t know what colicky means until your child cried out in the middle of the night, you absolutely don’t know what to do. But a few months after, you’re now counting how many syllables your baby has blurted out, you go after a fast-crawling infant, you try to hold on to a squirming baby wanting to be free from your arms. Time is fast, dear mom, the baby you are now holding will soon be a little man with a mind of his own. For now, it will be okay to kiss him and hold his hand in public, but time will come when he’ll outgrow that and he’ll want you to stay just a few little steps back when you bring him to school, a little far behind so his classmates won’t see you but still close enough for him to feel you are there.


You may feel unappreciated at times but when your son looks up at you and holds your finger while you're putting him to sleep or during those times when his eyes sweep across the room to find you and he gives you that huge grin when he finally sees you, that only means that you are loved by that small creature and to him you are the world.


You are a good person, mom, and no matter how different your parenting is from the others, you and the other moms are all on the same team with one goal in mind – to be the best mom you could be for your kids.

Neutrogena Brandvocate

I got this on my email today. Looks like I was chosen as 1 of 100 brandvocates for Neutrogena. I can’t wait to see what they sent me.

Sorry

I went out this morning to have the headset that I bought yesterday replaced. I was riding this jeepney going to a nearby mall and I noticed this man almost in front of me with a huge bag seated in an awkward manner and his right hand nowhere in sight. Seated in front of me (and beside the man) is a korean girl reading a book. I’ve been thinking that the man actually has no right arm as I can’t see it from where I was seated, the man and I even met eye to eye as I was really staring at him.

When suddenly I saw where his right hand was. Inside the korean girl’s bag! His huge bag is actually a decoy to hide what he was doing. I didn’t know what to do, the korean girl was clueless that the man is trying to rob her, she was too busy reading her book to know what’s happening. I began thinking of ways on how to get her attention then I realized that I might put myself at risk trying to save the korean girl’s stuff from being robbed.

I instantly thought of Johan. What if I’d be able to catch the korean girl’s attention and she caught what the man was doing, the man might physically harm me, punch me or something on his way down the jeepney, pull me with him as I was seated at the end of the vehicle next to the door or worse knife me or shoot me with a gun. You never know as most of the bad guys are armed. What could’ve happened to me then? What would happen to my son?

So, for the korean girl who I’m not so sure if she lost anything, I’m so sorry. I know I could have been a better citizen and informed you of what the man was doing but I’m too selfish to think about my safety and my son’s future.

What I Learned So Far

Being a mother is really the hardest job I ever had. When I was working, I could go two straight shifts and not lose my sanity, I could sit and stare at my computer screen for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week and not have a backache or arm ache or any possible ache that my body could take. Now, even if I get to sleep more than 8 hours, I still feel tired after getting up at 2am to give Johan the bottle. Now after carrying Johan for only 20-30 minutes, I feel like I’m an old lady suffering from Osteoporosis (come to think of it, I might as well take supplements to protect my bones). I am drained physically but my heart is filled to the brim with love and happiness.

Nearly 8 months into this “new job” I think I’ve learned many things, most of them thru the hard way.

• Never, ever take away a biscuit, a cloth diaper, a rubber ducky from the hands of a 7-month old kid. You won’t hear the end of it. The wailing would go on until you replace that nibbled, saliva-soaked biscuit with a new one.
  
• If you’re going out, make sure to bathe the baby first before dressing up yourself. That nice dress you prepared the night before will only get drenched and wrinkled.
  
• Always, always bring that changing mat everywhere or else you’ll find yourself changing the baby’s diaper in somebody else’s arms.
  
• Do not forget to put that alcohol in the bag. You do not want your hands smelling of poop or pee just when you’re about to have lunch.
  
• No matter how stupid you may look - jump, roll your tongue, dance, roll your tongue, play peak a boo, roll your tongue – to make your baby laugh or even smile for that camera.  If it didn’t work the first time, do it again in that same order.
  
• Be quick in preparing the formula, the water for his bath, doing the bed, playing the Baby Mozart CD. In short, be as fast as the wind or you won’t hear the end of it again.
  
• Buy appropriate clothes for the baby. If he’s a newborn buy those cute onesies and rompers but when he turns seven months, it’s about time to buy him some pants and shirts or you’ll have a chubby little boy looking like he’s wearing a one piece swimsuit.
  
• Never, ever leave the newborn baby with the Daddy at the hospital. You might overhear the Dad tell the little one “Let’s go to the nurses station and look at some nurses, baby.”

I’ve got many, many more days before I resign as a mother and I can’t wait what this adorable child will teach me the next time.

The Problem

We’re so excited when we saw this at SM Appliance Center yesterday. It’s an LG 32” LED TV that came in bundle with an LG Home Theatre System. Everything cost less than Php 30,000.

It’s such a great deal that hubby was not able to resist and we found ourselves bringing home one. The Home Theatre System, however, is out of stock but we’ll be able to get it this coming Saturday.



Later today, I will go to the cable company to subscribe for their service. Cable TV finally! After almost 8 months of no cable TV, we’re finally back to civilization! Disney Playhouse, Johan? Yey!
But, we got a problem. Our room is not that spacious. We recently had a cabinet built in and we only have this as extra space:



The bottom shelf of the cabinet which used to hold Johan’s toiletries and other essentials which got moved to the top shelf. When hubby assembled the TV into the stand, it won’t fit. The “smart" carpenter who made our cabinet miscalculated and the right side of the shelf is higher than the left side. Great, right?

So, the only solution is to mount it up the wall which I am hoping would work given the very limited space inside the shelf. I hope hubby will be able to install it already as I can’t wait to watch my downloaded movies in the “big screen” with surround sound.

Do it, Don’t do it

I got really excited when Johan showed signs of crawling and I can’t wait for the day that he would start doing it. So, when the day finally came, I was too nervous to even hold the camera and record this milestone on video. I was so scared he would fall off the bed and maybe I was in shock when I saw him actually crawling.

Now that he’s been constantly on all fours (which I am super proud, btw), I sometimes find myself begging him to stop. He’s so fast! He can reach the end of the bed in no time and he’ll grab anything he can get his hands on – his toiletries, his diapers, mommy’s bag – everything that’s on the bottom shelf of our cabinet which is at the foot of the bed.

I am so tired sometimes just by looking after him. I know I should be thankful that he’s finally crawling which means lesser time carrying him, but then, I didn’t realize it would be this hard to follow him around and take away everything away from his grasp all the while watching where his head might bump and where he would fall.

Now I can’t wait for him to walk. Can’t I really?

Johan on the move

The Strongest Woman

My mom is the strongest woman I know.

Mama used to work in a company but then decided to resign to focus more on our family business. This was during the late 90’s and I was already in high school. I would remember Mama waking up early to do deliveries then go to different companies to do some “sales call” even walking under the heat of the sun in a deserted techno park in Laguna hoping to seal a deal at one of the companies there. Business was doing good and we were able to dispose of our old truck we named “Lohman” to a new Mitsubishi L300 FB van. Everything was going so well.

Until the business went down. Some of their clients ran out on them leaving them in debt with their own suppliers. Legal cases have been filed, the business went bankrupt, the spanking new L300 van was taken away by the bank, maids had to be sent away, home mortgage went unpaid earning more interest than the actual cost of the house, promissory notes for tuition fees piled up. In short, the hard times came and it came with a bang.

We found ourselves with less of what we used to have. The chicken, meat and beef that we used to have for dinners were replaced by 10 pesos worth of bread to be rationed to 6 kids and 2 adults, with Mama giving up her share telling us, “I’m still full.” The new clothes we used to buy from the malls every few months were replaced by a once a year shopping for Christmas Day at a “tiangge” near our house and these will be put on credit and will be paid after we got our “aguinaldos” from our Aunts and Uncles. Our electricity got cut off one too many times and we had to rely on candles to study for our lessons until Papa’s payday comes and we’ll be able to pay for our bill.

I remember my Mama trying to make ends meet by repacking nuts and having us sell those in school. I remember Mama making Nata de Coco at home making our house smell of vinegar just to earn some extra income. I remember Mama harvesting some “kamias” leaving them under the sun to dry and then packing them to sell at the market for 5 pesos per pack. I remember Mama swallowing her pride and going to our schools to plead with the administration to allow us to enroll under promissory notes.

Through all these, Mama remained strong. I’ve seen her waver but she never fell. I guess her faith helped keep her strength for us, her children. I don’t remember one Sunday that we missed to hear mass or one October evening (the month of the Holy Rosary) that we missed gathering up in front of our grotto to pray the rosary. Mama forced us even if we’re sick or just being lazy.

Some would be ashamed to recount distant stories of their past. But our story is humbling and it reminded us of the hard times that tightened our bond as a family. It reminds me of how my Mama kept our family together during those trying times, how she remained strong up to this day and how she proves she loves us in her own simple ways.

I love you so much, Mama. Everything that you’ve done for the family is very, very much appreciated even if we don’t say it often enough. Happy Mother’s Day!

DVD Review: A Bug Collection DVD Box Set By Max Lucado

 

This DVD Collection includes three DVDS: Milo the Mantis Who Wouldn’t Pray, Buzby and the Grumble Bees and Hailey & Bailey’s Silly Fight.

I watched these DVDs with my 7-month old son and these got his attention, for a few minutes. Maybe he’s just too young to appreciate these kinds of stories, we’ll try again when he’s a little bit older. However, I really liked the voice talents and how they narrated the story in an animated fashion, just perfect for kids. The graphics are great and would definitely be a huge hit with kids aged 4 years old and above. The lesson of each story is what I appreciate the most as they teach kids the importance of prayer, good manners and getting along with other children.

This is one of the best products that I have reviewed so far. I highly recommend this to other parents like myself.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

One Dazzling Anniversary

Today is Saturday, May 7, a day before our 2nd wedding anniversary. We were supposed to go to Ermita Church and then go to nearby Robinson’s Place as we did last year on our wedding anniversary. But, what we have planned for today changed at the last minute for reasons I don’t want to waste my time thinking about. We could have planned to go tomorrow on the exact day of our anniversary but we don’t want to miss Manny Pacquiao’s fight.

Knowing that our plans for today won’t push through, I was moping around the house since yesterday. I’m totally not in the mood to do anything. But, hubby saved the day. He insisted that we go out and bring Johan with us. We’ll just watch the movie tomorrow instead of today. Then I remembered, Maan of Youji&Me called me last night informing me that the Silver Cross Dazzle Stroller that I won at the Royal Wedding Photo Contest on Facebook is ready for pick up at the Greenbelt 5 store.

Daddy drives Mommy and Johan to Greenbelt 5 

So, we decided to go to Greenbelt to pick up the stroller and just hang around with Johan. When we came to the store, the staff were very, very nice. They were very accommodating and they played with Johan while talking to me. Maan asked for an ID and asked a male staff to get the stroller. While I was signing some paperworks, the male staff and hubby were already strapping Johan into the Dazzle.

“What are you doing to me?”

Johan, was very quiet although he looks as if he’s wondering what they were doing to him. Once settled in, Johan suddenly said “A-ba-ba-ba”, to the delight of those who heard him.

“A-ba-ba-ba!”

Then Maan requested for some photos. To which I gladly obliged, well, I would have asked her for a photo if she didn’t ask me first.

The camera-shy Daddy did not want to have his picture taken but after stealing a dagger look towards his direction, he changed his mind. =)

We all said our goodbyes and thanks to the staff and we’re off. We were supposed to hang around the Ayala Triangle but it was drizzling and hubby wanted to shop. Sine we were both not familiar to the locations of the stores in Greenbelt or Glorietta we decided to go to the Mall of Asia to do our shopping.

When we got there, we had lunch first. Johan was being fussy while we were eating so we had to take turns in bringing him out of the restaurant until he calmed down and we were able to finish our lunch. Then we just strolled around the mall and took pictures, lots of it.

   

It is our 2nd wedding anniversary and mother’s day celebration but we took more pictures of Johan instead of ourselves. It doesn’t matter, though, because Johan is the fruit of our love after getting married two years ago and he’s the real reason why I am a mother today.

A very happy Johan in his new dazzling Dazzle stroller.

Thanks again to Youji&me for this amazing stroller!

Happy Mother’s Day to all Mommies out there!

Mommy Moments – Preggy Tales

Hubby and I didn’t want to have kids as soon as we got married. Even if we were together for eight years before tying the knot, we felt like we still want to enjoy each other’s company a little bit longer as a married couple with no kids. We got to do just that until we found out I was pregnant on February 8, 2010, exactly nine months after getting married.

Johan’s first ultrasound

It was not an easy pregnancy for me, I was vomiting most of the time, I can’t eat anything nor can I drink water as it tastes bad for my over sensitive taste buds. I had subchorionic hemorrhage on my 2nd month and was put to bed rest by my OB Gyne when I had contractions. I was on bed rest for a month and my company was kind enough to allow me to work from home. Eventually, though, I had to resign from my job because my pregnancy is making my GERD and Asthma worse. I was on constant antibiotics and steroids just to prevent any asthma attacks.

Five months pregnant at my friend's wedding

Everything became easier after my first trimester. I was able to go out of the house and meet up with friends at the mall. I even attended a friend’s wedding in high heels! Hubby and I would constantly go out every weekend to spend some quality time together before this little one comes out to change our whole life. But, we have to change the venue of my maternity shoot from Nuvali, Sta. Rosa to nearby San Miguel by the Bay because I was having premature contractions again at seven months.

 My maternity shoot at 7 months pregnant

October 4 was the due date given by my OB based on my ultrasound results all throughout my pregnancy. Exactly on that day, at 3 am, I felt my water bag broke. We went to the hospital  at around 5 am because I waited for contractions to begin before we left the house. I was in labor from then on until seven in the evening. That’s 16 hours of torture! My cervix never dilated from the 4cm mark the entire time that I was in pain so my OB decided it would be best to undergo a CS delivery instead.

The first time I met Johan when he was roomed in with me.

Johan Matthew arrived on October 4, 2010 at 7:27 pm weighing 7.11 lbs and measures 50cm.

As expected, our lives changed drastically upon his arrival. But, everything changed for the better and we could not feel more blessed with Johan’s presence that completed our small family of three.

Happy Mommy Moments!

The Draw

I’ve been on pins and needles since early this morning. I can’t quite concentrate and I had to refresh the FB page every now and then just to know if the other entries were catching up. Then I had to go offline less than 5 hours before the draw. When I logged in again, there was this huge issue with some of the photo entries which got 200 likes in less than 5 hours! Something was very fishy and some of the other people who entered the contest noticed that as well and looked into the profiles of those whose photo likes suddenly zoomed up. Not surprisingly, the profiles all came from the same school, liked the same pages, graduated from the same batch and are all friends of each other. Fishy, right? I assumed that this person made 200 or so bogus FB accounts to like their own photos to guarantee his/her win. Good thing is Youji&Me probably made an investigation and disqualified all of those “bogus” entries.

So, when the top ten most liked photos were announced, everyone was waiting for the draw. I was really, really praying and I was waiting for just a wall post announcing the name of the winner. But, Youji&Me increased the suspense to a higher notch by posting an album instead. An album that showed the manual draw they made.

Here are the pics:

   



I won the Youji&Me Contest on Facebook! My hands were literally shaking, I can barely type a message to my friends and cousin who were also waiting for the announcement with me. I shrieked so loud I sent my Johan, who was watching his Baby Mozart, to tears.

Am I overreacting over this win? Well, I only won this:


A Silver Cross Dazzle Stroller that’s worth like, what, uhmm, just a retail price of Php 17,499.00!!!

Now, call me whatever you like, I don’t care because that’s one huge win!

I can’t get over this, seriously. Haha!

Thanks for your likes and thanks to Youji&Me for this!

Go visit Youji&Me’s website here.
Or their FB page here.
Or go visit their flagship store located at:
Level 3 , Greenbelt 5 Mall, Ayala Center,
Makati City, Philippines

Happy 7th Month Birthday, Johan!

We started the day right at 2am when Johan woke up upon his Daddy’s arrival from work. Johan was already full of energy despite the time and I myself felt a bit energized having slept earlier than usual. So, our small family of three, wide awake at two in the morning, had a wonderful bonding time with our dear little boy demanding full attention from his Daddy.

I love looking at my husband and son playing with each other. It warms my heart and reminds me that I am truly blessed with these two wonderful spirits that completed my own.

We sang Happy Birthday almost all day long because it seemed like Johan loves being sang to, he flaps his arms and laughs everytime we did.

Happy 7th month birthday, Baby! Daddy and Mommy love you so darn much!