Archive for the ‘Home’ Category

This question has been bugging me for months now. Though I know that my daughter could sing and has shown great interest on musical instruments, I still do not know if she indeed has musical talent. You know how moms could get so biased most of the time

How should I know if my child has musical talent?

You see his dad could sing, his uncle plays the guitar soooo well. Right now, Yona would always want to visit the guitar stores of malls on every visit.

So is she really musically inclined? I would want to enroll her in a music class, singing or guitar perhaps but I don’t know where to start. I don’t want to spend on something that she would get tired of after a few classes.

Help me please?

After almost 3 months of using Lana’s baby bag, nasira na siya. I got so upset because it wasn’t cheap at all So now I am looking for the best  baby bag that I can get for my little girl, it has to be roomy yet handy like a yoga bag so I can easily carry it whenever I am with her.

I know there are a lot of online sellers out there so if you have any idea, please post the link in the comments section.

Thanks much =)

I used to have a lot of pimples. I suffered for years and my loyal knew everything I went through and every single product I used just to get rid of pimples. I tried Thanakha, which worked wonders by the way, Cetaphil, Celeteque, Ponds, a local product of mineral makeup because I thought my powder was causing the allergies, and many others.

And guess when did the pimples stop? When I got pregnant! hehe When I gave birth however it started coming out again due to stress and some other factors like hormonal changes and lack of sleep. Brought this topic to my my doctor and she advised me to use Dove Extra Sensitive bar for my skin and my daughters. Her exact words were “Try Dove and you won’t use any other soap again.” I used it immediately and saw a HUGE improvement on my skin. SHE WAS RIGHT!

Our whole family now uses Dove Extra Sensitive Bye pimples and skin irritations!

Today’s a day of so many firsts in Lana’s life and I have to blog about it before the anesthesia side-effects sets in again LOL

1. 16 days after her birthday Lana had a full bath for the first time. We waited for her umbilical stump to fall off before giving her full bath. It fell off last Saturday but the thought of her running a fever last Sunday scared the hell out of me. Her temperature rose from the usual 36.00++ to a 37.6 – 37.7 degree Celcius. I called her pedia and she informed me that it’s a normal temperature for newborn babies.
2. I clipped her nails for the first time today – easy, NOT! I tried not to tremble when I did the cutting.
3. She visited her pedia today and got awesome feedback All’s well with my little girl, yay!
4. Her skin tag fell off today – woot! we’ve been worrying about it since it was on her face (see photo below). She scratched it by herself LOL
5. She went to SM for the first time, too! – something that I don’t want to do again. It’s just too stressful for her
6. She experienced riding a tricycle and yellow cab for the first time today The hassles of being carless in this generation arrrghhh…

The best part today? It was our first time to leave home as a family

Our health cards are about to expire this month but we’re still not decided whether we’ll renew our contract with Medicard or not. We’re having a lot of financial issues at home this month so help me God. On top of this I am also looking for a reliable insurance company for the whole family.

We’ve been under Medicard for the past 11 years and so far we’re contented with their services. If you have any recommendations like Wholesaleinsurance.net, feel free to leave comments here.

Thanks in advance!

Giving birth to my second child was as painful as the first. I bled and it hurts so bad but what makes it more painful now was the fact that I committed myself to breastfeed her until she’s about two. Fellow breastfeeding moms reminded me not to give up and with this in mind, I didn’t, and survived the hellish first 3 days of adjustment.

My milk didn’t come out until the 4th day just when I was about to give up. Lana only had glucose solution for days because I believed that she wasn’t getting any from me. I also have flat, inverted nips making it harder for Lana to suck milk. I was getting frustrated because first I couldn’t move that much – my body was sore from the operation but my mind was willing to do everything to feed little Lana. On top of that, I felt that I was neglecting my eldest Yona which I promise not to do when I learned that I was pregnant. I was worrying about so many things, making me cranky — and they call it “postpartum blues”. LOL

Anxiety. Anxiety. Anxiety. Anxiety.

My husband and the whole family were all supportive, thank you Lord! For without them I wouldn’t survive the first week alive.

I am very thankful for my FB mommy-friends who were all willing to share their tips and tricks on how to breastfeed successfully. My friend Tin from Canada also introduced me to a reliable pump, Medela Swing! — I so love it! It’s worth the investment, really

So right now, a week and a day after giving birth, I’m emotionally stable and my milk is overflowing!

Thank you good Lord for surrounding me with wonderful people.

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September 4, 2011 3:08PM – Baby Out!

After nine long months of waiting, we finally said HELLO to our newest princess, Irina Mirabella. The whole family (yes, everyone!) went with me to the hospital around 11:45am of September 4th. It was a scheduled C-section operation so we were all calm (yet nervous inside).

I got interviewed, checked and guided to the operating room after an hour. 3:08PM, Lana was out.

Here are some photos taken before, during and after the operation. I was so thankful that my anesthesiologist who didn’t just took good care of my life but also took good shots during the entire operation I so love my doctors!

cord coil! she has two coils on her neck, arrrggggh!

my lovely OB, Dra. Lucy Kalaw-Garcia

the pretty mom, in eyeliners and sparkly lip gloss hahaha!

proud dad and ate <3

hello love! we’re sooo thankful that God gave you to us.

WE LOVE YOU, LANA!

Finally, after 9 months of anticipation, we’re finally saying hi to our second daughter Lana today, September 4, 2011. Yay!

The original plan was to give birth via C-section on September 8, 2011 – Mother Mary’s birthday but the latest UTZ showed that she was already excited to say “hi!” to everyone today. So there! Off to the hospital we go later

I am so excited, okay, the whole family’s excited to see her especially her Ate Yona. She couldn’t wait to make gigil LOL

Lana or Chuchubels will be named Irina Mirabella which simply means “peace” and “admirable or beautiful”. I am fervently praying that she’ll grow up like her Ate Kristiona Ma. Ysabel.

What are your sibling dos and dont’s? I haven’t read ANYTHING to prepare myself for this. I sooo love them both and I don’t want any of them to feel that I love her any less. I only know a few things, lousy ones: no jewelry like tire chains, power dressing ALWAYS! and love, love, love them with all my heart

Care to share some tips? Feel free to leave any comments here TIA!

Time flies really fast. I can still remember my first post about my second pregnancy and now I am giving birth in a few days! I am now on my 36th week and my OB said that I should avoid any stress or strenuous activities if I want to give birth on September 8th, my chosen date for the Caesarian operation.

Everyone’s so excited for Lana’s birth but I’m so not ready, emotionally yes, but financially no. I firmly believe though that God will provide.

Told Yona that we couldn’t grant her wish for a blackberry playbook on her 6th birthday because of so many financial obligations that her dad and I are facing Thank God the little Ate fully understood our situation.

My family and I are very thankful for all these blessings: another beautiful baby, successful business and love, love, love within the family.

What more could I ask for?

I’ve been there. Working my @$$ off til dawn, juggling several tasks both online and offline just to make both ends meet. It went on for about 2 years and then I realized one thing: MONEY CAN’T BUY ME EVERYTHING. So I stopped. I dropped my ALL my time-consuming online tasks and focus on what we just need. It was hell yeah, as I was used to spend so much and would normally have unlimited Paypal funds but I noticed how my relationship with my family have suffered. I told myself that I couldn’t go on living like a zombie. Living just to work.

I re-assessed all our wants and needs and found out that most of our money were spent on WANTS. I convinced myself that I was doing it to give my daughter a BETTER life but it turned out that I was ruining my relationship with her and compensating my shortcomings with trips to the toy stores which ONLY provided fun, not happiness. I even wanted to purchase an outdoor firepit and huge mail box which are all unnecessary LOL

So I asked her what she needs and shocked to know that she only wants a “HAPPY MOM, not a grumpy one”. So there!

I understand that most WAHMs only want the best for their kids but we should not sacrifice our relationship with them by “not being with them”. There’s a huge difference between being physically present and actually being with our kids.

Here’s an old poem (whatever!) that still holds true until today:

10 THINGS MONEY CAN’T BUY
Money can buy a bed, but it cannot buy sleep.
Money can buy books, but it cannot by brains.
Money can buy food, but not appetite.
Money can buy finery, but not beauty.
Money can buy a house, but not a home.
Money can buy medicine, but not health.
Money can buy luxuries, but not culture.
Money can buy amusement, but not happiness.
Money can buy companions, but not friends.
Money can buy flattery, but not respect.