Quick Post on a Yayyyy!

I failed to put the nappy on little dude last night before we went to bed.  I was meaning to wait until he was already asleep so that he would tell me if he needs to do #2 instead of doing it while on his diaper, which he usually does before he goes to sleep. 

As I said on my previous post, Marcus isn't fully potty trained yet, so imagine my surprise when, at around 1am earlier, he woke up and grumpily said to me, "Manney (mommy), wee-wee!"  My little boy can now tell when he's about to go even when he's asleep!  I was a little shocked and impressed and hurriedly led him to the restroom.  Yayyyy! A few more months and hopefully we'll have a nappy-free home and baby! :)

Goodbye, Long Weekend!

I'm surely gonna miss you. :(

I will long for...

• Fun baths with little dude everyday
• Meals shared with my two boys
• Updated blog posts
• Overnight at the home I lived in and kwentuhan with my mom
• Three-point shooting, bowling, table tennis, and golf via Wii
• Homemade cookies and bibingka

Friday night grocery shopping, Visit to Momsy & Papsy, Haircut at Little Tots MOA, Car Show at World Trade, Addicted to Baking Cookies, Wii with the boys

Marcus' First "Exam"

When I got home from work last Tuesday, yaya told me to check the little dude's diary.  He's going to have an exam daw, so I did check it out and here's what I found:

Oooooh.. so a graded recitation, as we call it during my time (what's it called nowadays anyway? just recitation?).  It was the first time that Marcus' school actually gave "us" something to do so I got kinda excited.  And panicky.  Haha!  The stage mother in me of course wanted nothing less than a perfect score for my boy.  I was confident with the alphabet, no problem with that.  But for the numbers, I was a bit hesitant.

The following day, I dropped by National Bookstore on my way home and bought puzzles and books.  Puzzles interest my little dude so I bought a number puzzle where he has to slot in the numbers in the right spaces.  I was hoping that would do the trick.  That and the practice we did before going to bed, that is.

Come Friday, we got Marcus' diary back and this is what Teacher Riza had to say - "He read all the letters and numbers but can't pronounce them properly."  Haha! Well, he's a little bulol but still, he was able to express how his brain interprets those figures.  So proud of you, my Marcus!

Next up - "Familiarize the numbers 11-20.  Recitation on Wednesday."  Yikes!  The long weekend is almost over and we haven't practiced yet.  Hihi.

Online Window Shopping

Doing my "rounds" on my usual online group buying sites, here are just random stuff I'd love to purchase.

1. Yoga classes - I want to try yoga because I heard it promotes relaxation and concentration.
2. Cotton candy maker for when we throw kiddie parties at home or maybe in Marcus' school!
3. Steel watch to add to my few accessories
4. Animal hoodie blanket for the little dude
5. Prada messenger bag - who doesn't want one?
6. Satchel bag for everyday use at the office
7. Brazilian blowout for my now long hair (still contemplating whether or not to have it cut though)
8. Mini sewing machine for my future DIY projects

Now if only we weren't on a spending ban... Hehe.

Wedding Venue: Blue Gardens

As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm coordinating a wedding for my friends, Armie and Jayson.  We've actually had a couple of meetings and as far as timeline is considered, I think we're doing fine.  We have also made an ocular inspection of their christian wedding venue, Blue Gardens Wedding and Events Venue.

Blue Gardens is an ideal wedding venue in the QC area, which also offers affordable and hassle-free packages.  They have tie-ups with caterers, photographers/videogaphers, lights and sound systems, photobooths, etc.  Rates are quite good but I am yet to comment if it IS worth the price based on how we will be working together in the coming months.

A few photos I took:

Indoor venue at the second floor.  The account executive said this could fit up to about 200pax but we think it would be a little cramped with that number.

Entrance to the garden venue

Sample decorations of the garden area.  For their wedding, Armie and Jayson are going to use this for both ceremony and reception.

For the bridal entrance

What's good about Blue Gardens is that they accommodate only one event per timeslot, one in the morning, and one in the evening.  That goes regardless if you're going to rent the entire venue (indoor and outdoor, for an extra charge) or not.  This will eliminate the common problem of hearing the program from another event while your own program is on-going. 

So far, we liked what we saw and we're looking forward to having pre-production meetings with the other suppliers here.  Stay tuned for more comprehensive reviews that I shall be posting here as we go along! ;)

Half-Baking

I'm a frustrated baker.  One, because I don't even have an oven at home.  Two, because I do not have the discerning taste that the usual chefs have (well, for now! haha!)

However, lately, I have discovered making goodies using the oven toaster, thanks to The Maya Kitchen website, so I'm starting to relive my dream of becoming a pastry chef.  The first product I was able to surprisingly successfully do was the banana cake.  Here's how it looked:

From my instagram photos.  I know I have to learn to take better food photos.

It was very easy to do.  You basically just have to mash bananas, beat eggs, mix them all together with the cake mix, and voila!  Banana cake in no time!  I just melted some Toblerone white in the microwave and put those crunchies on top.  Like I said, I was surprised that Jax loved it. :)

Last week, the trying-hard baker in me made something else - white chocolate butter cookies.  This time, I tried doing something that's not pre-mixed.  The steps are similar to how the banana cake is done - basically, just a lot of mixing!

Ready to put inside the pre-heated oven toaster!

Finished product

 These weren't bad at all! *insert high five here*

The challenge I encountered was in ensuring that the temperature in the oven is consistent throughout and that it was pre-heated properly.  I'll just post the exact recipe once I have perfected the texture and repeatability.  Soo happy that the taste was fine!  For now, I will just have to continue on with my "experiments" until the hubby buys me a real oven (which he said he will, once he sees me really passionate about this! yeyyy!)


Oh and I have to mention, I had a small dream come true from all these - packing home-made cookies for my little dude's baon.  So proud!!! :)

Montessori Di Maria Bambinella

About a year ago, I saw a "coming soon" sign for a montessori school in Solenad 2, Nuvali - the Montessori Di Maria Bambinella.  Being fond of the montessori method of teaching (I'm a proud alumnus of OB Montessori), I got a little giddy and thought I'd enroll Marcus there.  However, when he turned two and we were seriously looking for a toddler school, we had to consider proximity.  Sure this is five minutes away from home by car, but nobody will drive him to and from school everyday since Jax and I both have work unless of course we teach yaya how to drive.  Hahaha!

Now, MDMB is finally open! 

I was in the area late in the evening already so photos (aside from being taken using my handy dandy camera phone) aren't so clear.  I only managed to get these information for the sake of those who are looking for a toddler school within Sta. Rosa.  I wasn't able to get hold of the fees though, but at least contact information are here. :)

So True About Marriage

Just a repost from one of my favorite bloggers, the ever pretty bride to be, Patty Laurel.  This is actually a text from Joy Farney of the Grace Full Mama blog.

20 Things I Want to Tell Engaged Women

1. Marriage is made up of two good forgivers. Because every marriage is made up of two sinners. (Romans 3:23)

2. At some point, you will have to learn that life isn’t all about you. (Philippians 2:3)

3. Don’t listen to women that tell you that passion fades…it doesn’t have to! (um…all of Song of Solomon)

4. Don’t give up. Love never fails. (1 Cor. 13)

5. He wants a kind wife, not a maid or another mother. Be nice. (Galatians 5:22-23)

6. Give your husband the gift of your respect.  He needs it more than you know. (Ephesians 5:33)

7. Be mindful of your expectations.

8. Honor the Lord above all things. Colossians 3: 17

9. Find your worth and security in the Lord, and don’t look to your husband to meet all of your needs.

10. Be very careful about reading romance novels, they set you up for an unrealistic view of romance.

11. Real romance is finding that one spot in the crook of his arm to snuggle into, that shared look over the dinner table when the kids are acting crazy, and the way he fixes the leaky sink when he is dog-tired after work.

12. Love is about relationship.  The more I love my husband, and seek a relationship with him, the less critical and duty-bound I become.  It is similar to my relationship with God.

13. Be thankful for the husband you have. Accept him as he is, not for what you want him to be.

14. Don’t compare!! Don’t buy into the game of comparing him with anyone else’s husband.

15.The Biblically “normal” marriage is filled with joy, connection, laughter, and peace.  It’s not free of hurt feelings and conflict, but they know how to process their pain with one another so that they live more often in a meadow than at the scene of a train wreck.  This is not the average marriage, but it normal – -because it is a visible display of Jesus’ relationship with His bride (Ephesians 5:22-33).

16. Your marriage is a testimony! 

17. Pray for your marriage. Pray hard.

18.I’ve heard that is gets better with age.  I have to say in my short {13 year} experience, that is so true.

19. Where there is God, there is always hope. Even for the most broken marriages. “With God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)

20.Marriage is commitment and sacrifice. But it’s also the best, most wild ride you will ever have with your best friend.

Current Fave Photo

I randomly take photos of the little dude every now and then, in an effort to capture all of his milestones (as if that's possible). This, however, has got to top my list of Marcus' favorite pictures. 

Taken yesterday morning (using my ever reliable HTC phone, instagrammed with the Lo-Fi filter) when he just woke up. Look at that boy-next-door smile!

Muy gwapito! (yes, you can tell I'm the proud mom!)  I cannot help but smile whenever I look at this picture in my mobile phone.

With this, I decided I'll be making regular posts of my current fave photos of from now on.  Ciao!

Small Miracles

Yesterday, I went to church with little dude.  There was this guy who gave a talk on how he is at a low point in his life, his voice was shaking the entire time.  He shared that his family is going through a financial difficulty and that earlier that morning, he and his wife prayed.  They started their prayer by giving thanks and in the process realized there's so much to be thankful for!  Amidst their troubles, he concluded that, in fact, he was actually spoiled by God! What a wonderful reflection!  He ended up praying for the entire church (in between stifled sobs) to experience this same blessing from Above - to feel that God IS a giving God and that He WILL give more than what we could ever ask for.  I was wiping my tears too as he finished his sharing.

This made me think.  The past few weeks, I've been feeling really low.  In fact, yesterday, I suddenly burst into tears and hugged the hubby tightly as I sobbed.  But recalling what I learned from the Sunday service, nahiya naman daw ako bigla.  Here I am, feeling like I have the most pathetic life, when in fact, I am so blessed!

I have two miracles today:

1. Opening Jax's office bag and finding a mobile phone he won from a raffle last week.  Perfect since my Galaxy tab broke down and I need another phone to be used for official business. Can God be any more knowing of what I need?
2. Comfortable commute becoming an eye-opener.  As I drove out of our office parking lot, I saw two of our assistants on their way out too so I asked them if they wanted to hitch a ride.  When I dropped them off, one of them said, "Thank you, ma'am.  Naka-swerte pa kaming nakasabay sa inyo."  Who am I to complain when I've been living a relatively easy life?

Sometimes, all it really takes is to believe that you are blessed and favored by God. Now I feel a lot better.  :)

A Reflection

I must admit.. I haven't been as faithful as I'd hoped to be lately.  I guess that explains why I constantly felt restless and confused and seem to be lost in direction.  I needed peace of mind that I didn't know where to get from.  I knew I just needed to be with God again but somehow I didn't have the "strength" to go to Him and surrender.

Today, surprisingly, I felt calm - after saying my little prayer, that is.  Thank you, Lord, for planting a seed of desire in my heart to come to you.

Saturday Mornings and Taho

It's recently becoming a ritual for the three of us to wake up early on Saturdays to have some simple family bonding time over bike rides and taho.  Let me walk you through how we do it, like today...

We went outside to take photos of Roxy the race car.  I'm so proud of my little boy who kept on pointing out letters and "reading" it aloud.

He must've missed going out! After all, it's been raining all week! After we're done with the car, Jax and I went for a walk while Marcus rode his bike.  I am happy to announce that he can finally pedal on his own! No more pushing for us or walk-while-on-the-bike for him.  The day he learned this deserves a separate post. :) 

Finally, we reached the gate to our village where Manong Taho can be found.  Hubby and I had two cups each while Marcus finished a smaller-sized cup.  He loves his ta-wo!

I love weekends.  Sigh.  For working parents, these are precious times we could only wish to savor every second of.

Semi P-Trained

Now at two years and seven months, my little boy is semi-potty trained.  I said semi because he still has his nappy at night and whenever he's in school or out of the house.  But still, I think it's great! Say hello to less diaper expenses! :)

Since he was one and a half, I've been bugging my husband to remove the carpets in our living room so we can start training little dude to let us know when he needs to go.  I didn't want our house to smell like pee and poop and with the carpets on the floor, I'm sure it would be much more difficult to clean and remove the nasty odors.  However, lazy as he is, he insisted that we just let Marcus do his stuff, carpet and all.  That was a definite no.

I then decided to give the task at hand a rest until earlier this year. I instructed yaya to leave little dude without a diaper for a few hours everyday.  At first we noticed he was trying NOT to pee (he was holding it in!), conscious that he doesn't have a nappy on, so we got a little worried.  We remained persistent and trips to the CR even if he didn't say he needed to go did the trick.

Hoping to be completely diaper-free soon!

However, there was one challenge then - little dude would pee sitting down! Imagine his dad's horror when he saw this!  We never bought a potty for him to train on so he got the idea of how to do "it" by watching me!  To remedy this, Jax had to take Marcus with him whenever he had to pee to show him how it's supposed to be done.  Hehe.

Now, we're still working on two things:
1. Make him pee at the middle of the night, and
2. Get him to stay in the toilet seat and wait until he's "done".  Kids have very little patience and attention span so this is posing another challenge.  What's good though with Marcus is that, whenever he doesn't have a diaper on, he says "poopoo" which means we have to take him to the throne. If we're lucky (which we more often are) he'd take a dump where he should be.

To be fully P-trained will probably take a few more months but hey, I'm still thankful we're slowly getting there!

How We're Spending Rainy Days at Home

Rain took a vacation here in the Philippines and decided to stay for a while.  Sigh.  All these dark clouds and drizzle-one-moment-then-heavy-rainfalls-the-next downpours and mud puddles and news about floods are making me sad and sentimental.  So. Uncool.

Good thing I have my little ray of sunshine here at home.

Just woke up! How could you not love this little dude?!

The only consolation I have from this weather is that we were sent home yesterday and I had some time with Marcus.  Since we can't go biking outside or go to the playground, this is what we are keeping ourselves busy with:

His turtle alphabet puzzle!!!

We're also starting to train him to work in his own desk (which is just beside the office desk in our room) so that hopefully soon we could both do our own stuff at the same time - him reading or playing while me blogging!  I think it's going to work, with a little more practice, because now as I type, he's pointing out the puzzle pieces and saying the letters aloud while showing it to me.

He won't stop saying the letter over and over until you repeat what he just said.  Oh, kids seeking approval and confirmation! We parents could only wish they'd ask this from us forever.

He puts the pieces on the same layer in the puzzle into a pile.  Could this be a sign of OC behavior?

These are priceless (and sadly, rare) moments I get to share with my little dude.  To me he'll be the smartest, funniest little guy with whom I will forever wish I had the luxury of time to spend every second with.  I want to wish no-work rainy days come more often but that may not exactly be a good thing for mankind.  Hehe. 

Stay safe, everyone! Let's all pray that the sun finally comes out soon.

I'm (still) in Love with Christian Grey

So I finally finished reading the controversial Fifty Shades trilogy.  It took me about a month and a half to do so but yep, I made it through all three books.

(photo source)

You see, I don't really consider myself a reader.  I'm not the type who would always have an unread book on my shelf that I save for when I have my me-time.  The last time I finished a book was last year and it was about parenting (a gift from a good friend - see, I don't buy books!) so I'm not sure that counts since it's something I felt I had to read.  Just thought I'd mention that to give you an idea of how (and why) these EL James books must have had an effect on me.  So anyways...

Fifty Shades had a mix of reviews - some loved it while some thought it was a little too sexual and kinky to the point of even being considered porn.  As for me, I loved it... at least the first two, that is.  Fifty Shades of Grey (I was quite surprised with my own reaction towards the ending!) and Fifty Shades Darker (Best in sex "scenes" award - don't they ever get tired of all that sexing?!) were harder to put down compared to Fifty Shades Freed.  As what the other reviewers and critics have mentioned, the book is not considered well-written.  I found it a bit too spontaneous, as if the author was just literally typing away what was on her mind with no hesitation whatsoever, but I didn't mind.  In fact, I think it was one of the things I liked about it - it made the story a little more "real" and relate-able.  I actually admire the author for having the courage to write about such a seemingly sensitive plot which most women (or maybe even men?) wouldn't dare talk about openly. 


Here's what I loved most about Fifty Shades: 

1. Christian Grey kinda reminds me of my husband.  Minus the ridiculously rich and BDSM bit, Jax is my Mr. Grey - smart, has a way with engines, and (the biggest resemblance) bossy.  Fine, he could act sweet and could be a sweet-talker too, but the operative word there is "could" because he's more often not. Hahaha!

2.  Anastasia Steele inspired me.  She may be easy when it comes to giving in to sex but I find Ana's strength admirable - how she stands up and reasons out to Christian (something I wish I could do so much more of these days), how she really goes after what she wants, and how she could unconsciously (or was it?) able to control her man.  I totally get how she's perceived to be the weaker one but turns out to be the "source of strength".

3.  I'm a sucker for love stories. And fifty shades IS a romantic novel for me.  Sure it had a whole lot of sexual content but if you see beyond that (and actually read the book, not just the F parts! hehe), it's really about acceptance of your partner's past and his/her entire being, of compromising and working things out together, of trusting and unconditional love.   


I've read from several blogs that they're making a movie out of this series already but I also learned that there's not even a director nor writer yet! I guess that will have to wait for at least another year.  I'm curious as to who's the playing Christian and Ana parts though.   Any bets?

Laters, baby! :)