Marcus-isms

Little Dude playing bowling (he's sooo addicted to this lately) in our room while the hubster is sleeping. Getting annoyed with all the noise, hubster sits up and asks his son to stop playing.

Dad: (grabs some pins) Marcus, no more.
Marcus: (points to the bed) No, dad. Go back to sleep!

So, who's the boss now? Hihi

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While I was busy munching on chestnuts, little dude gets my hand and insists on "fixing" the pins, which actually meant positioning them into a triangle for him to, again, play bowling.

Marcus: Mom, arrange please!
Me: Wait, baby. Mom's eating.
After a few minutes...
Marcus: Mom, that's enough!

Did my son just imply his mom's matakaw?!!!

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Little Dude wakes up before mommy does, surprised to find out that he doesn't have pajamas on (I removed it because he peed in his pants that night.)

Marcus: Uh-oh. What's this?! (Gets up and heads to the door)
Me: Marcus, why? Where are you going?
Marcus: Get pants. Wait lang, Ma. Don't move ha. Stay there.
Me: (thinking - alam kaya nya where to get his pajamas?)

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One day while we were watching Avengers on DVD...

Dad: (pointing to the TV) Marcus, who's that? Do you know them? Ironman... Thor...
Marcus: Gangnam style?!

Wahahahahahahahaha!!!

Planning for Little Dude's Third

If there's one thing I realized about having a child born on the early part of the year, that is how challenging it would be to plan birthday parties every single time. 

You see, Marcus was born on January 6th - that's about two weeks after christmas and less than a week after new year (then there's also his papsy's birthday on the 30th of December and the annual stressful year-end closing at work!).  That means all the holidays and merry-making are just about done by the time of his birthday.  The difficult side of this are:

1. Party planning adds to all the holiday rush, as if all the christmas shopping, gift wrapping, attending and arranging parties left and right, menu preparations, etc. aren't enough 
2. Non-working holidays cause some some period of downtime in terms of coordinating with suppliers who may also be on vacation
3. Bonuses have just been given out towards the end of the year and therefore people are broke by the early start of the year (well at least for me!) and so if not planned early, budget becomes a constraint

When I look back at the little dude's first birthday, I couldn't help but feel a little regret for not having been able to make it as "grand" as I hoped it to be because of lack of preparation.  By mid-December, the only thing final was the venue, caterer (without menu yet!), and McDonald's.  A few days before, I still didn't have cake, entertainment, or matching outfits for the three of us.  Oh my, just enumerating all these things is making me sad.  For an HR person like me who is so used to organizing company events, this is so... bad!  Tsk tsk.

Skinny little dude with kid Mcdo on his (bordering disastrous) first birthday

That's why I learned my lesson.  As early as now, I'm starting to plan for Marcus' third birthday party.  For a the-works party, this is still late but since I'm just thinking of a simple celebration at his toddler school, I think the timing is just right.  As I write this post, I am making a list of the things that need to be taken care of for the party - food, decorations, entertainment, and favors.  My target is to have everything polished before christmas, which is 60 days to go.  Wish me luck!

Defining Happy

How does one start to describe the happy emotion he or she feels? I don't know, really, but let me try...

Before 2008 ended, I was a bit hesitant to welcome 2009 for the sole reason that I felt I was having the best year ever - I was scared it would become opposite with the coming of the new year. It was the year I finally married the man I love, went on my dream honeymoon, was recognized and transferred to a new role I enjoy at work, bought our first investment, etc. I thought nothing could top those. Well, until now.

When Jax and I moved in to our own place on that same year, we had to go through a lot of adjustments. Like any newly married couple, we had our share of arguments - some petty, others over something I would cry my eyeballs out, some were even to the point of us questioning ourselves if we did the right thing. It was hard, but we managed to sort it out each and every time. I'm not sure how exactly, but what I do know is that it involved a lot of talking, understanding, forgiving, accepting, loving, and most important of all, praying.

As days and months passed, I noticed our fights became less and less. We have slowly both discovered what makes the other happy, and tried to respect and give each other that, no matter how silly or "unreasonable" it may seem. We were "just getting the hang of it" when "it" happened. Junior happened. We weren't really planning on having a baby just yet (I wanted a second honeymoon on our first wedding anniversary), but the news of an addition to our family of course made us very excited. We learned be "one" in everything we do all the more.

2009 did go by in a breeze. My pregnancy turned out to be, well, "light". Jax and I still had those ups and downs (mostly in our careers and finances) but with prayers and lots of support from family and friends, we survived. It wasn't an easy ride but God made sure we were ok and that everything was taken cared of. Now looking back, it still amazes me how things just fell perfectly into place!

Now going back to my definition of happy. It's quite difficult to put into words. For now, I guess I'd have to say it's when you know in your heart you're exactly where you're supposed to be. It's not smooth sailing nor a bed of roses, it's just that inexplicable feeling that you know you wouldn't trade places with anyone else in this world. :)