4 years and still counting

MyLove and I will be celebrating our 4th year anniversary in one week's time. We haven't planned anything big because we just went out of town last week.

We're thinking of just having dinner somewhere at Greenbelt. MyLove would also like to watch a movie but I'm still thinking. I'm not much into movies. I actually fall asleep most of the times so I hate watching movies at night ;)

It doesn't really matter when and how we'll be celebrating our anniversary next week. As long we'll be together, that's all that matters.

the new me!

After almost 5yrs, I finally got the courage to bring my hair back how it was prior to getting married :)

It felt liberating!

Sana next time, yung katawan naman ;)

i'm no superwoman

Right after we turned off the lights and I kissed Caitlyn goodnight, I went downstairs to finish some work. It's half past nine. About an hour later, I heard Caitlyn crying so I rushed upstairs. The little girl was crying hard and complaining that her ear hurt. I had to calm her down and put her back to sleep. She laid down very close to me as if she didn't want me go anywhere. I had to stay with her for about 30mins until she fell back to sleep. When I felt that she's back in slumber, I quietly sneaked out of the room hoping she'd not wake up and her ear would not hurt anymore.

Now, I'm back in front of my laptop - trying to finish some work and send some files which I promised my boss I'd send to him tonight. It's almost 11pm... still working.

Not that I'm complaining.

But again, I'm still human.. I do still feel tired... and drained...

busy!

Friday night and I'm still working at home.. crazy busy, really! I'm hoping to to relax and enjoy my weekend so I'm finishing work that I need to do.

Well, I still have a few minutes left before Saturday. Better get back to work and try to wrap things up :)

Happy weekend to me!

missing mommy

I've been very busy with work the past few days. Last night, mylove and I went out with some friends and went home really late. Caitlyn was already asleep when we arrived home and was still sleeping when I left for work this morning.

When I arrived home this evening, Caitlyn greeted me the moment she saw me parking the car. I heard her shout, "Mom, you're back!" And when I got in to kiss her, she said, "Mom, I'm so glad you're here" and hugged me.

Made me want to quit my job and just stay with Caitlyn all the time.

How I wish....

here comes the sun...

It's been very hot the past few days. It's officially SUMMER. And what do you do on a hot sunny day???

Thank God for that swimming pool 50 steps away from our doorstep :)

where had i been?

I wasn't able to spend much time updating this blog the past few months since November. Not to mention that I've been very busy the past few months, we were also internet-less at home for about 2 months.

Let me remember key events that happened in the last couple of months...

NOVEMBER

Went to Cebu and Bohol. Caitlyn enjoyed the beach so much. She can't get enough of the sand. It's our first time in Bohol.

Did a lot of shopping and spending in preparation for Christmas and moving to our new house. It's so much fun! What's not fun was what happened after... paying for the credit card dues.

Finally moved in to our new house by the end of the month. I was so excited but at the same time sad with Caitlyn living away from my parents.

DECEMBER

Merry month of December!! The happiest month of the year! Attended a lot of Christmas parties from work, from the neighborhood, with friends, with relatives. Looked like a gained more pounds at this month.

This Christmas was also extra special this year as this was the first Christmas we spent in our new home.

Caitlyn finally got her present from "Santa and Jesus" - her green and yellow car! Unfortunately, she was also excited about it during the first week. Caitlyn now barely uses it - well, I was kinda expecting that would happen.

Got a nice Lacoste bag from My Love for Christmas! :)

Caitlyn also got to watch Barney in December. As expected, the little girl had so much fun. I was quite disappointed though with the show. The production was far below my expectation as if it didn't have enough budget. But seeing the joy in Caitlyn's face, it's still worth it.

Had to fire Caitlyn's yaya because of some trust issue. It was difficult for me to do it because she's been with us since Caitlyn was 2 months old.

JANUARY

We were yaya-less during New Year and the first week of January. It wasn't too bad, in fact we felt more relax and comfortable without a yaya. It has just became a problem when we had to go back to work. We've asked my mother in law to stay with us for a couple of days to look after Caitlyn while we were at work. The following week though, we decided to just stay with my in-laws until we get a new yaya.

We got a new yaya 2nd week of January. I was just glad that Caitlyn warmed up with her easily.

January is my favorite month.. why, it's my birthday!!! This birthday was also extra special for 3 reasons: 1) my first birthday in our new home, 2) i'm on the last day of the calendar, 3) i got a very special gift from MyLove!!!!

For my birthday, I had 3 separate celebrations. One at work during merienda, then dinner with Family at David's Tea House at MOA, then dinner and drinks with friends at the clubhouse the following night. Too bad I didn't have a single picture because I was too busy to take pictures! :(

It was also in January when Caitlyn had her last class at Gymboree. I decided not to re-enroll her this time.

FEBRUARY

On the first weekend of the month, spent overnight at Laguna for Grandma's 88th birthday. Caitlyn didn't swim as much though because she has cough.

Visited two preschools I've been considering for Caitlyn. I'm planning to enroll her to a nursery class in June. She had her trial class in the first school that we went to. For the second school, didn't have the chance to sit in because our visit was unplanned. The class was already dismissed when we came. Caitlyn had fun sitting in the class. The teacher said Caitlyn seems to be really ready and didn't seem to adjust at all. Thanks to Gymboree :)

At the last weekend of the month, spent another night at Laguna, this time with some friends.

So there.. that's what have been happening in the 4 months that I was silent.

got our tickets!

Got our tickets last Friday for the Barney show. We'll be on the 5th row! :) There are still available front row seats, but we preferred the 5th row because those are isle seats. The available seats on the front row were on the far end already. Plus, it may not be very comfortabnle to sit on the front row.

I'm just so excited to see how Caitlyn will enjoy the enjoy. Just this morning I saw how Caitly got all giddy while watching Barney DVDs. What more seeing them live :)

46 days to Christmas!

I can't believe it's only 46 days before Christmas! I can actually feel the cool breeze already - which made me lazier to get up each morning.

Unlike last year, though, when we're mostly done with our Christmas shopping at this time, we've just started with our Christmas shopping, mostly toys for our inaanaks and pamangkins. And it's becoming more challenging because whenever I buy something, I'd always wanted to get one for Caitlyn. I'm stopping myself big time from buying anything for Caitlyn yet as she still has so many toys and clothes, half of which are still even in the box. But I sometimes couldn't stop myself especially when I see nice clothes for her. We also need to start looking for Caitlyn's Christmas wish - a yellow car. She's been consistent on this one for a couple of months now. She actually includes this on her bedtime prayer. It seems quite not easy looking for that yellow car - most of the cars we saw are of pink, blue and green.

This year's Christmas will be special as well, as this will be our first Christmas in our new home. We haven't moved in yet, though, but will definitely be before the month ends. Just a few more finishing touches. I'm just so excited!

I'm also excited for Christmas because Caitlyn now understands Christmas and can celebrate with us. She actually knew a few Christmas carols already. Thanks to Dora, Barney and Hi-5! She's more fond of Snowman, though, than of Santa.

She also gets excited when she sees gifts but a smart girl that she is, would not insist on opening them when you tell her it's not for her :)

Oh Christmas, it's indeed the most wonderful time of the year :)

Mall of Asia - Nov '07

i'm back from clark

I attended a 2day seminar at Clark. Checked in at Hotel Stotsenberg on Sunday and left for Manila early afternoon of Tuesday. From what I read, the hotel has just opened a couple of months ago. The first time I saw the Hotel ground, I kinda liked it and somehow reminded me of the school we used to go to in Illinois. However, after checking in, that’s when reality sets in. It’s very far from how I expected it to be. Or maybe I was just expecting too much?

The room was just your ordinary hotel room. The layout was quite awkward, though. The room that I checked in, though, didn’t smell really nice. The CR stinks. There could probably be a leak in the sewer. I requested that I be transferred to a different room. Frontdesk told me they’d call me back once they find me a new room. One hour had passed, still no call. So I called to follow up. A different person attended to me this time and asked me if I’ve already talked to somebody else. I said I was just following up. The same thing, he said he’d call me back. 30mins have passed, still no call. Called for the 3rd time. A different person again and said the same thing to me. This time, I really got mad and told the girl on the other end that that was actually my 3rd call. She said she’d call me back. This time, I asked how many minutes should I wait. She said 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, I got a call informing me that somebody would pick me up to transfer me to a different room. Hay salamat.

The room where I was transferred to was quite smaller. But it really didn’t matter to me anymore. This one smelled “normal” already. There’s a very slight stink in the CR, but something I could just ignore.

Monday night when I returned to my room after the seminar, my card key wasn’t working anymore. I had to go to the Frontdesk to have it reset. E ang layo kaya ng Frontdesk from my room!

Food was ok. Service wasn’t. On our first morning, my omelet never came out. The second day, I had to follow up to get my scrambled egg.

And that didn’t end there. Checkout process was too slow also. They’re having the room checked before clearing you out.

Anyway, I had some fun din naman in spite of all the troubles. Lost a couple of bucks at Casino. Not really a gambler so that couple of bucks meant a lot to me! It was also a best way of keeping my mind away from the stressful life in the city.

I also shopped a few items at the duty free shop nearby. The duty free shops at Clark are far better that what we have here in Paranaque in terms of available items.

I was finally home by 5pm on Tuesday and was very happy to see and be with my love and my baby again!

paranoid

I'm very paranoid to go to any public places since the Glorietta incident last Friday. Until now, there's still no result of the investigation but it's leaning towards an industrial accident rather than a terrorist attack.

So what really scares me? Two things. First, if this is just an accident, this could really happen to any other malls or buildings. Glorietta is one of the biggest malls in the metro, so if this happened to Glorietta, this could also happen to any other mall. We frequent the mall at least once a week. Caitlyn attends Gymboree classes at Glorietta every Saturday. Secondly, a detained senator-elect was firm in saying that the incident was not an accident but a bomb attack. He was claiming there will be couple more attacks. If the incident will be proven as an accident, he might save his pride and make all things possible so the other attacks will happen and prove him right.

Am I starting to get crazy or what!? I really would just want to stay safe at home. But some are not safe even at home.

What's happening to our country? Is this really not a safe place to live in?

Oh Lord, please watch and keep us..

busy!

With the long holiday coming up, there seems to be too many things to do with too little time. The civic is already in the shop for repair. Doesn't have an idea on when this will be ready. Unfortunately, the other car is already due for maintenance. We need to bring it to the casa as well before the long holiday.

I'm also due for a follow up check with my doctor. We were supposed to go to Makati Med today, but for some personal reason, we had to cancel.

Team activities are also scheduled this week here at work. My husband will have dinner tomorrow, then me on Friday. I have yet to schedule 2 activities for my other teams. I had decline from the bowling activity this Friday because of the schedule conflict with my other team. You see, that's the problem when you have about 7 different teams.

We also need to buy a few more stuff for the "new house". After the Friday Glorietta incident, I'm actually very paranoid to go to Glorietta. Especially that it hasn't been confirmed yet if it was really a bomb or plain accident. Paranoia is hitting me. What if something's really wrong with the building structure? What if the Sunday fire was actually related to the Friday incident. Oh well, will probably just go to SM instead. hehe

I hope I get to accomplish everything before the week ends.

Papa Ben

We visited my father-in-law last Friday at Manila Memorial. Caitlyn never saw her grand dad. He passed away in May 2004, 8 days after our wedding, a day after MyLove and I arrived from our Boracay honeymoon and a day before our supposedly Hawaii honeymoon. Obviously, we had to cancel our Hawaii honeymoon and planned to do that some other time. Unfortunately, we never found the time to do so.

Even if Caitlyn never saw her Papa Ben alive, she could easily recognize him from the pictures. She says "Papa Ben" as if she knows him really well. Could he have been alive, Papa Ben would surely be very fond of Caitlyn. But I know, he's watching Caitlyn all the time. I'm sure he'd have made a great father-in-law to me and a grandfather to Caitlyn.

my love and my baby - Oct '07

ouch!

A lady driver cut the van in front of us. The van suddenly stopped. What happened next....

Disclaimer: The husband is driving!

friendster pics

Picture slide as posted in my friendster account. I have to admit I just learned how to do use slide the other day ;)

the month that was

I didn't realize it's been a month since I last updated my blog. So before September ends in 2 days, I want to give a recap of what transpired in the month that was.

Haven’t enrolled for 2 terms now. Some changes happened at the office recently and it still wasn’t sure if they can continue to pay for our tuition fee. I personally want to pursue this one, but TF is quite steep. I asked my love is he can pay for it, but he said he doesn't want to.. hehe.. It’s not actually because of the money but because he personally didn’t want me to go to school. Nababawasan kasi ang oras ko sa kanila. Ang lagay, pinagbayad na sya, they’ll get less of me pa!

Still on my MBA, just got my grades from last term a couple of days ago. I was really surprised to get a 3.5 on accounting! I really wasn’t very interested on that subject, even during college, and I know I screwed up on my final paper. Di siguro nahalata ng prof na d ko masyado pinag-isipan yung final paper ko. LOL!

Weekends were busy canvassing materials for the house renovation. We had most purchased already. Work actually started last Wednesday. Estimated time of completion is one month. Can’t wait!

While construction is on-going, we’re now busy naman canvassing/buying new appliances and furniture for the house. Hay, it’s giving us a headache with so many choices. But I was glad that I’ve already found the sofa that I want that will fit perfectly (I hope!) in our living room. The sofa is at 10% off until the end of the month only, so we’re planning to place our order this weekend. Yipee!

It’s good also that there’s an installment madness running at Glorietta today until mid-October. We’re still exploring our options. There’s just one thing that’s non-negotiable for my love – his LCD HD TV! I won’t argue with him on that.

Caitlyn has been growing so fast. She’s now 30months old. I can’t believe that in 6 months, she’ll already be 3. I’m planning to enroll her to preschool next school year. She’s still very much enjoying Gymboree and attends the Saturday classes of Level 6. She’s also overcome her fear of climbing and slides and she’s enjoying it now. She’s now used to asking for “something” from mom and dad. The other night was cookies, last night was cupcake, and this morning she said she wanted pop corn. She also have a Christmas wish for Santa.. a green and purple car! “Santa” is just so excited to buy it!

Oh, and by the way, Caitlyn now knows how to count in Spanish. Thanks to Dora!

tita apple's wedding

Some pics taken during Carlo's cousin's wedding last July 21. Caitlyn had fun playing with the confetti :)

home sweet home

coming soon...

SAHM

I've been a SAHM since last Monday and will be for another week. No, I did not quit work (not yet!). SAHM: Sick At Home Mom!

The day after Caitlyn's birthday, I had myself admitted at the hospital for an operation the following day. Yup, mylove was right. I, too, had gall stones. That's what causing the tummy pains.

Thankfully, my operation went ok. I was released from the hospital last Thursday and am currently at home healing my wounds. I have 4 small holes on my tummy.

I love being at home because I get to spend more time with Caitlyn. However, with my wounds still fresh, I can't carry her or even sleep with her because she might accidentally hit my tummy. Sometimes I wonder if Caitlyn gets upset because we don't allow her to cling with me the way she used to. There were times when she asked me to carry her and would have to explain to her that I can't because I have "boo-boo". I'd ask her if it's alright if I'd just hold her hand. Good thing, God gave us a very smart little girl as she would say "yes" or "ok" and would not persist on being carried anymore :)

But really, I'm enjoying being just a mom at home, taking care of Caitlyn and my love. I enjoyed planning dinner (even if I don't get to cook yet) and making sure it's ready before my love arrives from work.

This is life for me.. and this is my ultimate goal. To become an SAHM (STAY at home mom). Hopefully soon..

ER

I was rushed to the ER a few hours back. I had a severe stomach pain running through my back. That was the worst pain I ever experienced in my entire life, even worse than when I gave birth (I had epidural shots, that's why). Unfortunately, my love was out with our officemates for their teambuilding activity. Good thing, my mom and my brother just arrived so they were able to drive me to the hospital. The pain was really intolerable. I was literally down on the floor, crying. Caitlyn was looking at me with pity and was trying to rub my tummy. Our yaya called my love right away and a few minutes after, I got a call from him. We were already on our way to the hospital then. He immediately went to the hospital and arrived a few minutes after we did.

The pain has already subside when we got to the hospital so we were immediately allowed to go home. But I have to go back tomorrow for an ultrasound and to see my doctor. Hopefully, it's nothing serious.