Schoolboy Mode

Check out this little guy looking so sleek haggard  in his uniform! Haha!

Taken during his "dressed rehearsal", a few days before school started.

Looking at him I can't help but feel sentimental.  He used to just lay in my arms and cry all the time and now.. and now... *tear* Ok, that's too OA.. So proud of my little dude. 

A Favorite Outlet Store

A few weeks ago, I mentioned the many outlet shops we have here in Paseo de Sta. Rosa.  Whenever a new shop opens, naturally I'd go and take a visit asap to check if it's worth including in my usual (window) shopping route.  For a while I'd drop by that particular shop on a regular basis until another shop opens, and then that would be my new "site".

Out of all these retail shops, however, the Bench outlet is the one that remains in my top list of places to drop by in that area.  When I saw it was being constructed last year, I shrugged and wondered, "Why Bench?" I mean, not to look down on the brand but I just thought it was somehow a little out of place since it was surrounded by Marks & Spencer, Debenhams, Aerosoles, Nine West, Gap, Banana Republic, etc. What I failed to realize, however, is that it also carries La Senza, Mothercare, Charles & Keith, Lyn, Pedro, Face Shop, F&X, and more.  Homygash, it was heaven in there! These are nice retail brands but products are being sold at affordable prices.

These are low-res photos as I just used my paparazzi skills to get them.  I don't get why they wouldn't want their shop to be photographed though.

On the left side are American Eagle, F&X, Chaps, and Celio.  Mothercare is at the center.  There's also a small area for Kasheica's Luxe line.

Lyn and Pedro.  (That sounded like a couple's name! lol!)  Some shoes are on sale for up to 70% off!

La Senza Lingerie.  It's quite a big area too.

Charles & Keith.  Sorry for the blurred pic.  This was the time they told me taking photos isn't allowed.

Sure the styles are not the newest ones but for someone like me who isn't really so much into what's uso, this is definitely worth spending some time and moola on. Stocks/sizes may sometimes be limited (as what is common during sale seasons) but you just have to be patient enough to look around for good finds.

The down side of living near these rows of outlet shops is that whenever I shop in malls like Glorietta or Power Plant, I always end up debating in my head whether or not to get a particular item knowing that I can probably get a similar product at a lower cost, in a place very near to us where the shiny 4-letter word S-A-L-E happens all year round.

Til next outlet shop feature! :)

Recent Family Photos

I've been wanting to have a family photo shoot since early this year but being the cheapskate that I am, I don't want to book a professional photographer nor sign-up for those members-only studios.  Instead, I decided I'm just going to have a DIY shoot with my photography-enthusiast dad.  I haven't, however, seriously planned for our theme, color palette, props, and venue.  Oh and my dad & I have not yet agreed on the schedule (he's one busy lolo, but I'm sure not for his apo! hehe)

Anyway, just thought of sharing these very few photos we have.  It's quite rare for us three to have a decent picture since my hubster is allergic to the camera.  Frustrating, I tell you.

A sub-photoshoot from The Viado's family picture taking

At hubby's friend's wedding in Bamboo Organ

On our first visit to the Fun Farm at Sta. Elena

At my niece's baptism reception

Did you notice how difficult it is for us - the can't-stay-still toddler, anti-camera father, and begging-to-have-our-picture-taken mother - to have an acceptable family photo? *sigh*

Little Dude's Milestone Post # 1

If there's one thing I regret not doing since Marcus was born, it is to properly document my little dude's milestones.  Of course there will always be the photos (which I have not organized as well - bad mommy!) but I still feel that it could've been better to have a journal to match the pictures with.  Ooooh.. the trade-offs of being a working mom!  I still blame my laziness and inefficiencies as a kick-ass mom to my job.  Anyhoot...

I thought of starting now anyway.  Better late than never, right?

Presenting my little dude's milestones at 2 years and 6 months... *insert drum roll*

Feeding

• Milk intake is about 4 bottles of 200ml each per day - Enfagrow and this week tried Nido Junior (must seriously start weaning soon!)
• Rice and meats. No veggies (trying my best to make him to!)
• Aside from milk, tries Dutchmill yogurt drink (different variants) and the classic Zest-o tetra pack juices but the winner is Nestle Chuckie!   
• Holds his spoon and fork (calls out to yaya if either one is missing) to feed himself
• Drinks only distilled water

Bath

• Has overcome the fear of the shower as long as the water volume flow is right
• Insists on washing his face on his own (the drill is cheeks first, then forehead, then nose, then chin)
• Wants to "swim-swim" (get into the pail of water) with his rubber duckie buddies after he has been rinsed off of soap
• Usually uses warm water but can tolerate cold water a little better now with the help of some oil spread over his chest and back before hitting the bathroom
• Products used - J&J's milk bath, milk lotion, and shampoo, Human Nature's Tangerine Tarsier body wash and Citronella oil, Cetaphil liquid soap (for the face), and Avon Baby lotion & oil    

Sleeping

• About 8 hours straight at night, average of 2-hour nap in the afternoon
• Wakes up before 6am and turns in around 9pm (I'm trying to think of ways to make him sleep earlier but not yet successful)
• Cannot sleep (and even drink from his bottle) without his favorite "doo-doo", the Lightning McQueen pillow his Tito Berto gave him on his dedication day
• Refuses to sleep beside daddy.  If he wakes up at the middle of the night and realizes it's daddy who's hugging him or is beside him, he'd wail and call out to mommy.  I pity Jax sometimes. :( 

 Attitude/Habits

• Knows how to say good morning first thing when he wakes up
• Says "A soyi" (I'm sorry - with matching hug) when given the evil eye and "Please" (with clasped hands) when asked to
• Throws tantrums by banging his hands on the floor/wall/table/bed whenever he doesn't get what he wants
• Learned the "No!" word and says it with much gusto whenever applicable (to him, at least.  Not to mommy!)
• Says "Lovuuu" (Love you) and "Take Care" and waves with a "flying kiss" when sending us off to work (but have to make him ride the car and go round one block first before he agrees to let us leave)

 Abilities/Development

• Can do simple chores - close the door, throw trash, bring to the sink, get stuff (pillow, milk, diaper, etc.)
• Knows his family - mommy, daddy, momsy, papsy, papa Don, mama Jo, Jaela, nanay, tatay, papa Jim, ma Hana, ta Ava
• Washes his hands with soap and water (uses the chair to reach the sink) on his own
• Goes to toddler school and according to teacher, his attention span has improved
• Can say mommy's, daddy's, and yaya's first names
• Identifies most of the alphabet letters and some colors & shapes
• Able to name some animals and their sounds - dog, cat, monkey, bird, snake, elephant, tiger, lion, dinosaur, horse, etc.
• Recognizes rain, thunder, and lightning
• Draws lines and circles
• Can pee inside the bathroom on his own after he says "weewee!" (though sometimes still pees sitting down - tsk! tsk!) but insists on putting on a nappy when he feels he's about to poop

Favorites/Pet peeves

• Loves to watch "Po" (Kung Fu Panda)
• Biking (Finally!  I teared up when I saw him pedal, not walk, with his bicycle for the very first time.  So thankful I was able to witness it!)
• Finger puppets and his turtle puzzle before bed time
• Playing with phone cameras  
• His "Mater shoes" - red crocs with Cars movie characters design 

Measurements

• Height - 89.5cm
• Weight - about 13+ kg
• Shoe size - 6 to 7
• Shirt size - usually S or 2T (depends on brand)

Sometimes I am still left in awe of the things he is now able to do, of how much he has actually grown, of the million silly things he is capable of, of how he makes all my stress instantly melt away just by looking at him strut his stuff (unknowingly).

I love you so much, Alonso Marcus!

Hey, I had fun writing this post (felt nice to reflect on how my little dude is now) so I will try am going to make this a regular thing.  Let's call this the Marcus Milestones portion from now on. :)

Somewhat a Birthday Post

While browsing through the sent folder in my Gmail account, I found this:

Had to edit out some information because I'm praning about being stalked. :|

It was a little surprise I made for the husband on his 26th birthday (we just got engaged then).   I didn't know what to give him and we didn't have money since everything went to our wedding fund so I created a "site" for him where his family and friends can just post greetings instead. 

Too bad the chat box containing all the birthday wishes is not working anymore though.  I remember there were quite a number of messages from his loved ones there.  Could've been a nice online keepsake.  Oh well.

Now Jax's 31st birthday is just a few months away and  I want to do something different for him this time.  Last year was supposed to be our "year of celebrations" - our little dude turned one and it was both our big 3-0.  Marcus had a party and so did I.  However, he refused to celebrate in whatever way.  I remember we just spent the day at the mall buying some clothes for him and stuff for the house.  Sigh.  Now thinking about it made me a little guilty for not pushing harder.

AJ's not really the let's-have-a-party type and his wish lists are always impractical or over-the-top expensive so it has always been a challenge to gift him with something he would actually enjoy.  I guess it's that time of the year again to get creative with what to do.  Any suggestions?

Entourage Baby

Just a quick post to inspire me to work today...

A few months ago, my little dude played ring bearer to one of hubby's high school friends.  We were sure he'd walk down the aisle just fine and he did not disappoint!  No forcing, wailing whatsoever needed.  His dad just asked him to walk towards mommy (I was at the far end taking photos) and he just did.

 

I was so proud I wanted to cry! 

This wasn't the first time he was part of an entourage though as he was the ring bearer during my brother's wedding in 2010.  However, I'm sure you can compare above photo with this:

 

He was just 10 months here and obviously cannot walk yet.  The initial plan was for us to put him on his stroller and for his dad to just push the him through.  However, I ended up being the "bearer of the ring bearer" since I carried him through the entourage march. Lol!

Marcus has another stint lined up next year for our friends' wedding (which I am also coordinating) and I can't wait to play stage momma again.  Hopefully next time though his barong would sit perfectly on his shoulders.

Giordano in Paseo

Yes, Giordano now has an outlet store here in Paseo de Sta. Rosa.  Another addition to my mental must-drop-by list whenever we’re in the area (which is at least once a week)!  

Last Sunday, we decided to take Marcus out for a ride on his bike.  Usually, we’d go to Solenad 1 in Nuvali but recently it’s getting crowded on weekends so for a change we went to Paseo instead.  Am I glad we did because I learned, thanks to this girl carrying an attention-grabbing bright orange paper bag, that Giordano is finally open!  

They have a lot of jackets, jeans, polo shirts, long sleeves, shorts, and shirts. I liked that they have quite a range of sizes unlike in other stores on sale where there are just broken sizes and stocks are very limited.  There were a variety of colors and designs and cuts.

Polo shirts were P400 to P425 each, shirts for P350, and shorts for P600 up.  There were chinos being sold for just P500 but Jax couldn’t find the perfect fit for him.  

Good thing little dude wasn't on hyper mode so we were able to buy a few items while he went around bobbing his head to the music and playing with these belts.

Next time I’ll share the rest of the outlet shops that we are enjoying here in the south. There's so much more! :)

Artsy Fartsy Mommy

I am not artistic.  Unless maarte is considered artistic, then fine, I am super artistic. 

Just to give you an idea... In gradeschool, I would get disqualified from getting an eagle (that's how it's called in CSA - you get a gold, red, or blue eagle depending on your average) because I'd have a C in Art (and PE!).  I can count with one hand the number of times my art work was ever displayed in our class bulletin board.

BUT for a so not artistic person, I'm one hell of a trying hard.  Hahaha!

Since I promised weeks ago that I'd be an awesome maker (and kick-ass-my-mom's-the-best mother to my little dude), I decided to get a little artsy by personalizing my son's school stuff.

I gave Marcus' ordinary and boring notebook-diary with a little more attitude.

I made this with the help of foam stickers which I got from the scrap booking section of National Book Store.  It was so simple to do!  (Is this even considered being artsy? Hahaha!) I just had to concentrate hard enough to get the perfect spacing and  alignment.

I also made a monogram for Marcus.  I wanted him to have his own little logo which we'll use to label all his things and maybe use even for gift cards, etc.  This is what I managed to come up with:

I thought his logo won't be complete without a red car because he really likes Lightning McQueen and it's one of the first words he uttered so I sort of forced it there.  Do you think it's off?

One of these days I really hope I could get my hands on his scrap book and all the other projects I'm planning.  Wish me luck!

Proof of Wedding

After three years and eight months, we finally got our wedding album and video!  Yayyyyy! I remember including this task in my random list of things to do way back 2009 and now it's finally here!   

The reason for this delay was mainly because I had a hard time selecting photos (there were too many nice shots to choose just 200!)  I only managed to complete it last year (yes, when Marcus was already 1.5 years old!) plus there were some miscommunications with the exchange of emails.  Anyway, I'm just glad that it's here because I got scared when I heard that our supplier's office in Marikina was affected by Ondoy two years ago.  Good thing they were able to save their files or else... yikes! 

Let me share how the final products looked like.

It came with a soft cloth bag, which is good because it's heavy!

The secondary packaging is a black leather case.

Inside the leather case is another soft cover to protect it from scratches.

The album cover

My favorite spreads:

I like the craftsmanship and texture of every page.  It just does justice to every photograph, sending me down memory lane to one of the happiest days of my life. :)

And now on to the video.  I did not expect much because:

1. This was taken ages ago when, unlike now, movie-like editing and HD wasn't the standard yet
2. We understood the forte of this supplier was really more of photography, not videography (although I've seen their videos recently, which have improved and may easily compete with the latest trends in SDE's)

Yes, it wasn't mind-blowing-great as predicted, but I love how this part of the video captured the first few moments we spent after our wedding ceremony.  Aaaaaah.. wish I could have that body again. Lol!

The proof that our wedding actually happened is still not yet complete.  We are yet to claim our framed portrait and unedited video but hey, we were able to wait three years so what's another month? Hahaha!