I can't believe it's already the end of the month! Didn't I just post my monthly roundup for last month? Time is flying by so fast I couldn't keep track! Anyway, before moving on to do some research about colon cleansers, I would like to post my roundup for this month just before the month ends.

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
- Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love

What movies and/or TV shows did I watch this month?
- Brothers and Sisters Season One

What special days did I celebrate and how?
- FIL and SIL's birthdays

What gifts did I give and/or receive?
- We gave out a nice candle for my SIL
- Hubby treated FIL for a videoke

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
- Had headache again
- Andie still has a slight infection
- Alex had allergies all over her face

What fun things did I do with my friends and/or family?
- we went to Bicol to celebrate the Holy Week
- Dinner and coffee with MM
- Bebots' EB!
- We went to EK for my sister's family day at work

What new foods, recipes or restaurants did I try this month?
- Recipes by Cafe Metro
- Cafe Breton
- Brooklyn Pizza

What special or unusual purchases did I make?
- None

What were this month's disappointments?
- Andie is still sick in spite of the anti-biotics
- Alex is not taking a nap lately

What were my accomplishments this month?
- Still breastfeeding for 5.5 months
- Alex is having fun in her summer school! Good that we push through with it!

Since Hubby and I got married, he always had this dream of having a huge LCD TV with LCD mount. He wants an entertainment room that goes with it. With soundproof walls. Because he wants to sing in this room with his friends. Well, I don't sing (that much) but he does so sometimes I would go and sing with him. But, I'm not going to go through that here (you know, me, singing, LOL). Anyway, I don't know when he will have this dream of his but who knows, maybe someday.

That's what you will usually hear from Alex these days.

"Mama, I'm a big girl now."

And with that my heart would melt.

She is taking her role as an Ate SERIOUSLY. I remember when we were at the in laws and they had a visitor who carried Andie for a short while. She was so nervous that this stranger might get Andie and leave. LOL.

She kept on saying, "Andie! Andie! Don't get Andie!". She was almost in tears. Aaawww. I guess she loves her baby sister that much!

She eats on her own now most of the time. But when she is in front of the TV she would forget that she is eating! The sad thing lately is that she doesn't want to take a nap anymore. :(

Oh! She can also tell if she wants to make wee-wee and poo. Although there are still accidents which she just recently did in a sandbox in her school (aargh!). But other that, she is doing well.

Hmmmm....is it a sign that we are now ready to go to those Orlando vacations that I really, really want to check out with the kids?

Hmmmm...I really hope so!

Yes! The best appetite suppressant - that's what I need right now!

I can say that my appetite has grown big time ever since I gave birth and started breastfeeding. But now that I'm planning to stop it I need to watch out on what I eat and how much I eat. You see, I can't take not having snacks in between meals. I get hungry all the time!

Although people said that my appetite will change when I stop breastfeeding, I still want to make sure that I won't gain too much again when that time comes!

It's been awhile since I've been tagged. So thanks for this Eds!

Let me share this Irish Blessings’ friendship proverb:

“May there always be work for your hands to do, may your purse always hold a coin or two. May the sun always shine on your windowpane, may a rainbow be certain to follow each rain. May the hand of a friend always be near you, may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.”

o 0 o

Now, I'm still thinking if I will go to the mall later to buy some KVM switches or probably will do it tomorrow.

Happiness is...

1. Dinner and coffee with my good friend MM
2. Swimming and family day last Sunday
3. Weather is getting better!
4. Another family getaway soon...
5. Andie's cute little smiles
6. Chocolates from Norway
7. Brothers and Sisters Series (I'm hooked!)
8. Alternative songs
9. Dancing with the little girl on a great music :)
10. Figarro's Cafe Latte

To know how this started and credits of the header, click here.

Yes, I'm still here!

I just couldn't update my blogs because I've been having trouble with my internet connection since Sunday night.

Gosh, I hate GLOBE DSL!

We've only been using this for 2 months and we've been having a whole LOT of problems with our connection.

Aaargh!

Anyway, we are trying to re-apply for our previous account with PLDT. I just hope that the port is still available...

This is what happens when I left Andie to Hubby while I was browsing and reading some Mesothelioma treatment as my online task the other night.

Look at Andie!

She had no idea what her Dada was doing! Although she seems pissed off or irritated by what's happening. LOL!

Hubby recently discovered some nice games for his phone. So while he is taking care of Andie, he is also playing. That's what you call multi-tasking! ;)

Enjoy the weekend everybody!

Since it has been 2 months since I last visited my Endo, I decided to go and see her last week.

Well, it didn't go well as I've expected.

My average blood sugar is now 5.4 which used to be only 5.0. I noticed that my endo is always giving me bad news. You see, I've been trying very, very hard to control my sugar intake, but I guess I'm not very successful. I guess it's partly my fault because I've been eating a lot of sugary stuff for the past 3 months. HA! These are the goldilocks treat, bread talk's floss and I recently discovered the egg surprise. Nestle's Belgian Bliss and Selecta's Berry Strawberry. Yum!

So there.

I'm having second opinion. I'm going to see a new Endo a week after next and see if the new endo won't recommend a pre-diabetes maintenance. I'm still breastfeeding so I still can't drink any meds. If I'm at the point that I would need to drink medicine, I would probably buy in bulk or in wholesale so I can get it cheaper.

I realized that even if I vowed to be healthy, I'm not being true to my word because we made almost all our weekends our "junk weekend". No wonder I'm not losing weight anymore that I would need a diet pill just to have my pre-pregnancy weight back.

"Junk Weekend" means McDonald's for snacks on Friday, pizza as our snack on Saturday or Sunday and a take out food for Sunday dinner.

Really, really bad food. Not to mention chips and cake in between meals when we are in the mall.

I have to change this habit. ASAP.

Happiness is...

1. Alex is enjoying summer school!
2. Andie turned 5 months old last weekend
3. Still breastfeeding for 5 months
4. Bebots' EB last Friday
5. Back to driving!
6. Pocoyo from YouTube
7. More online tasks
8. Weird (but at least not too hot) weather
9. In laws for letting us sleep over because of blackout last weekend
10. Gift of family

To know how this started and credits of the header, click here.

I posted a couple of months ago about Alex and Andie's four month old photos here.

I will share again their photos this time they wore the same bathing suit! You see, Andie has been wearing Alex's old clothes and has been using her old stuff too. With this I can compare who is bigger and it's a nice feeling that I don't have to buy too much clothes for Andie anymore. Except of course on special occasions and when she will outgrow her Ate's old clothes.

Check out their photos.



Would you believe that Alex (first photo) is already seven months old here? While Andie is not even five months old. LOL!

But during our check-up last Saturday I found out that when Alex was 5.5 months old, she was 8.4 kilos which is Andie's weight now. So, they weigh just the same :)

I'm worried about Alex's weight because she is not gaining that much. I hope she gets to gain more weight soon.

On Andie, she is exactly 5 months old today. Check out the updates here.

Happiness is...

1. Alex is ready for school! Check out the stories and photos in my other blog.
2. New car
3. A vacation in Bicol with family
4. Hubby and I (with kids) on the plane and surviving it without Yaya.
5. Alex getting her own seat in the plane
6. Good food and great company in Bicol
7. Beach, beach, beach!
8. Pizza and Sausage Rolls from Pizza Hut
9. Planning for a date with Hubby (I don't know when, though)
10. Safely back home from the vacation

To know how this started and credits of the header, click here.

Aaaargggh.

I can't believe I actually looked forward to summer! I wanted to go the beach. I wanted to smell the summer air, but with the weather this HOT? Oh please no!

I think the hottest of the year (just my opinion) was yesterday. It was very humid and the air was sticky. It made me want to take a bath four times a day. I'm really affected because I work from home and if I turn on the aircon, our Meralco bill would shoot up. LOL!

This is not really helpful. Especially if I'm working like reading tons of stuff about Ferrari parts as my assignment. Or when I do calls for clients.

I'm worried about the kids too. It's a good thing Alex and Andie are pretty adjusted to the hot weather that they can still sleep inspite of it.

As I have posted yesterday, we had a blast in Bicol. We left Manila Tuesday last week and then we were back here last Saturday. I thought the vacation was enough but it wasn't. I wish we could stay longer but we will have a busy day today so we opted to go home early. At least I was able to take a break from my assignments and didn't have to think about an insurance lead for a few days. It's nice to be able to get away.

I won't go into details anymore since all we did there was eat, swim, sleep, and eat. LOL! It was a wonderful break. We were so relaxed that Hubby didn't have the mood to take too much photos either. So, will just post a few here and then just check out the rest of the album here.



It was the first time that Alex had her own seat! She was so excited! When the plane took off, she held hands with her Dada. :D



She had a great time playing with her cousins. Here is a photo with her cousin. She really loves hugging her all the time...



Here is our photo while we were swimming on our second day there!



Another photo with her favorite cousin...



I hope we can have another vacation before the summer ends. But being on the plane with the two kids (without yaya) is quite challenging. With all those bags that we had to carry! And I even had to pump milk in the airport before boarding time! Whew! But at least it made us realized that we can do anything already!

Wow. I can't believe it. I suddenly have free time. Now that Alex is going to school this summer I now have two hours and a half of FREE time. Well, the half hour would be dedicated to Andie's bath and sleep so I have two hours free from Alex. This means free to work on weekdays. Come to think of it, it is not actually a free time. But I will still consider it since the house is so quiet! It makes me concentrate in my work more.

I can't believe how time flies so fast. Last night I was reminiscing and I can't believe that it's been three years since we bought baby stuff when I was still pregnant with Alex. Then I gave birth to her. So many milestones were witnessed. We went shopping for toys, stuff and more.

We were thinking which one is practical, if we will buy some bean bag chairs or a chair that she can use for studying. We laughed at the thought because we used to think that it would still be a long time. You know, school. But nope. I was wrong. Now is Alex's first day and I can't help but feel panic? happy? worried? sad? excited?

Mixed emotions actually. But more of THANKFUL that I was given an opportunity to work from home and be with Alex the whole time, the whole day.

She can call me if she needs me. I was able to give her a bath everyday until she was two years old. I can check her food and monitor what she is eating (this is really important to me). I read to her before sleeping. I put her to sleep after lunch and then be there when she wakes up.

And with all these, I can still work and do what I want - write and blog.

God has blessed me with everything and I am really thankful.

Happy Easter everyone!

As I have mentioned, we just got back from a vacation yesterday so we didn't celebrate the Easter much. We just heard mass at 12noon earlier. We had lunch at home then Hubby and I took turns to take a nap. He slept at a mattress but a sleep number bed would have been better. I tried sleeping while Andie was asleep but Alex was all around the room, jumping, singing, talking to herself that sleeping would be impossible.

Anyway, we will be having dinner in a while with my family and it's going to be a seafoods night. We just ordered from Dampa, bought ice cream (I recently had this Belgian Bliss by Nestle and it was heavenly so I asked Hubby to buy one for tonight). I'm sure it's going to be a fun night!

How about you? How did you celebrate the Easter Sunday?

(Note: I wanted to post this photo of Andie supposedly on her 5th month - which will be in a few days - but I got too excited that I will post it here!)



Funny, when people see Andie, their first reaction would be to laugh or be surprised at how Andie got so big! People would call her names - Siopao, Monay, and more. Poor Andie. And guess what her recent name is now when we went to Bicol?

Pan de Coco!

Oh boy! Do you agree?

She's been smiling a lot lately. The moment she hears her name, she would smile. When somebody smiles at her, she would definitely smile back. Hubby would take a lot of pictures of her that we need an upgraded computer memory for these bunch of photos!

I just hope she stays a happy baby all the time. Will post more updates on her fifth month on the 19th.

We've been looking forward to April 13 since it is Alex's first day of summer school! You see, we enrolled her a couple of months ago (probably January) since we were too excited! LOL! She is sooo looking forward to it too. The Mama and the Dada are more excited actually. :D We prepared everything for the big day - camera, extra micro sd in case there are a lot of photos, Alex's school stuff, Alex's snacks. For the schedule, we've been practicing Alex to sleep and wake up early. The only thing we are worried about is her breakfast which usually takes two hours to finish.

Aaargh. So wish us luck on that area.

Here are her activities for the summer...

Day 1 - Finger Painting
Day 2 - The Alphabet
Day 3 - Yoga
Day 4 - Shapes and Colors
Day 5 - Numbers
Day 6 - Movie Day
Day 7 - Storytelling / Dramatic Play
Day 8 - Cooking
Day 9 - Theme: The Family / Class Picture
Day 10 - Assessment
Day 11 - Water FUN / Swimming
Day 12 - Educational Trip
Day 13 - Yoga
Day 14 - Music and Movement
Day 15 - Graduation / Family Activity

I can't wait! (*grin*)

o 0 o

Oh, I want to share a pic of Alex during our Bicol trip. She really had a grand time there with the cousins. It was like heaven for her. She ate a lot, played a lot, swan a lot! We were so happy for her!

...from a four-day vacation in Bicol. We spent the Holy Week at my in-laws' house. This is actually our fourth time there and as always it was fun, fun and fun! Although no historic hotels for us since we stayed in the house. Nope, definitely not an old house but one of my favorite rest house. Very comfortable, homey and offers lots of good food. LOL! That's why I had upset stomach when we were there because all we did was EAT. I don't think I gained weight though because of course I'm still breastfeeding.

Anyway, will be back with more stories and photos a litle later. Will just finish some assignments and hopefully within the day I can at least start the stories on how our vacation went. (*wink*)

We just came back from a vacation. We were out since Tuesday so I had tons of assignments left behind. But before proceeding to do some reading about insurance articles I took a break (without even starting working on it. LOL!) and answered this interesting quiz. I don't know if its true though. Yes, I can work in routines but am I really good in focusing on the tasks? Naaah, I don't think so.

You Think Objectively

Your brain works best when you are able to think in steps. You like procedures and routines. You are good at staying focused and on task. You are excel at developing workable solutions to difficult problems. You simply look at the facts. You have an excellent memory, and you are a quick thinker. You can sort out what's important from what's not.

How Do You Think?

The weather was worse but we still had a great time at Enchanted Kingdom (EK) last Saturday.

It was my sister's family day at EK. Our second time but the last one was when Alex was still a year old. How time flies I know.

This time Alex had been looking forward to this day - riding the carousel, the choo-choo train, and the dinosaur ride.

We got to EK around 3PM already and the weather was just ok. When we were lining up the grand carousel it was suddenly raining. Good thing we didn't bring Andie along. We were able to ride while raining and then as soon as the ride was over the rain stopped as well.

We (Hubby, my sister, my brother, and I) was able to ride the Log Jam thrice! There were no lines at around 7PM already. :) I think everyone was lining up for Rialto and Rio Grande Rapids.

Anyways, we had food trip as well - potato corner, hotshots burger, and mini donuts. I was so hungry the whole time we were there! LOL!

Well, I will just let the photos speak. Although we (I mean Hubby) were not in the mood to take a lot of photos so we end up only with a few photos of Alex.
















It was a great time with my family. A break from work and research like the motorcycle accident attorneys that I did last week.

Alex is so looking forward to go back to EK soooon!

For more photos, click here.

This is actually a long overdue post. But I'm still posting it anyway since Hubby got some nice photos of Alex.

My friend's nephew Eugene celebrated his 7th birthday last March 7. It was a simple birthday celebration with family and friends. But it was pretty special for us because it was the first time Alex joined the games and actually had FUN!

Alex was so cooperative. She didn't feel shy at all. Although there were only a few kids but I felt that they all had a grand time.

Check out the little girl.











I was so happy when I saw her singing "happy birthday" with the rest of the kids. It just goes to show how big she is now. Definitely ready for school. :D

And here is our photo with my good friends Mage and Ercs.



I wanted to buy a memory card after the party but I was too tired so we ended up going home afterwards.

More photos here.

Happiness is...

1. Krispy Kreme's Chocolate Karnival
2. Great weather yesterday afternoon
3. FIL's birthday today
4. Roasted Cashew Nuts from Coron (thanks to my sister)
5. Andie getting well from infection
6. ME time today
7. Upcoming trip
8. Becky's Food for the Gods
9. My crazy appetite (yes it makes me happy when I eat these days. LOL!)
10. More online tasks

To know how this started and credits of the header, click here.