For Husbands and Boyfriends, (Ahemm.. daddy R)

I stalk several blogs. That is the reason why I started this blog. I love to read and tell stories. Since I discovered about parenting and lifestyle blogs while researching about breastfeeding, It became my daily routine na. I learned a lot from other's blog and I so much relate with their experiences as homemakers. So I started this blog just to document memories and to share stories. 

So when I read about this in my favorite blog, I wanna adapt it. She got it from yahoo and made comments, so I will make mine as well ... (actually si daddy R lang pinapatamaan ko ;-)

It's about keeping the flame alive. Because at the end of the day, amidst being a parent we started as lovers. And we need to keep the fire burning. 

Compliment the wife or the girlfriend.

A simple compliment can go a long way. Being a working mom is so stressful, and sometimes no time na para mag ayos. And it matters kahit once in a while masabihan ka ng "ang ganda mo naman ngaun" or you look nice with your dress today" it lightens the mood, and it brings back the confidence, parang nung nagliligawan lang kayo. 

Do PDA once in a while.

Never underestimate the power of touch. Not naman the teenny weenny type, but nakaka-feel-good kasi when your hubby holds your hands while walking, make akbay while shopping etc. 

Hug the ladies from behind.

I also love this, specially if unexpected. And sweet lang db? Feel na feel mo yung love. 

If she needs to vent out something, listen.

I know we talk too much, but we need to talk to vent out what we feel. So please listen. 

Converse with her.

Nothing beats open communication. So talk. Talk. Talk. 

Make time for her.

Date, Dinner, watch movies etc. Just like when you're teenagers. Promise it will make you feel like teeners again, brings back good memories. 

Out of the blue, touch us.

Yes. Nakakawala ng stress if you have someone to snuggle lalo na kapag malamig. 

Give her gifts once in a while.

Girls are all the same. We need to be spoiled. 

Lastly, practice not to be annoyed at us.

We are just girls. So please understand us. 

Laters!

Whats up with Baby D?

I know! work and school plus the traffic knocked me out this past weeks, as in! Bakit ba naman kasi ambon lang ay baha na at traffic na ano? Hay I'm dreaming tuloy na sana ilang tumbling lang ang work ko sa bahay. And buti nalang I learned the art of patience during these times, pero kakaubos oras at energy pa din. Anyway, will share some of the snapshots of the past weeks na MIA ako. 

baby D and R eating wafers! I love that even madalas wala si R, they can still spend kulitan time. Salamat sa skype. Will treasure moments like this talaga. Sana when baby D grow older, he will understand why sa picture lang niya palagi makikita si R. 

Me: D where's mommy?

D: (will point at me)

Me: D Where's lolo? lola?

D: (will point wherever his lolo and lolo are)

Me: Where's D?

D: (will point at hisself, sa bandang ilong pa lol)

Me: Where's Daddy?

D: (will point at the picture frame at the wall) 

Honestly, it breaks my heart. Baby D is growing so fast and R is missing a lot. But I know in God's time, we will be together as a family. 

Enough of the drama. Here's some positive vibes.

Baby D's first attempt to take a shot of his bling-bling. (Ang ingay ng toy na yan!)

And who says only moms with baby girl can play dress-up? kami din. 

And baby D discovered basketball! ito na ang simula ng career ng anak ko. Un lang, kung dati pagkagising niya ay "mommy" hinahanap niya, ngaun "bola" agad agad. lol

And look at that! Gusto pa niyang magbola e hating gabi na. 

And did I ever said na he's growing so fast? (A million times!) haha ngaun if gusto niya lumabas ng room, isusuot na niya mag isa ang cap niya. Hay... bilis talaga ng panahon. 

Look at the baby pasaway, ewan ko ba at libangan niyang tanggalin lahat ng damit niya sa cabinet. Itulak ang cabinet at couch. And to my surprise, alam na din niya ipunas sa wall ang malinis na mga towels!

This I find so cute. Ang pagkakaroon ng baby number 2 ang under negotiation pa, buti nalang andyan si teddy na playmate niya. (will blog more about teddy and baby D soon!). Ayan at magkasama pa sila manuod ng ulan while inside the laundry bin. And whenever you ask "D where's teddy? hindi naman niya ituturo, kundi susunduin niya nasaan man naiwan si teddy, with matching sounds pa yan! "gahhhha" translate "I found you teddy!"

And as usual, kapag nainip na si baby D, kasama din niyang aalis si dhheddy (teddy). 

Dear baby D, 

I love that you are growing as a malambing baby to mommy, kahit na kinakagat mo mga kamay ko whenever I tell you na "enough dede and no more dede". Big boy ka na kasi anak, (actually tamad na lang magpump si mommy, sorry! pero dont worry as long as you want milk from mommy, ok lang kakayanin pa naman! lol). I love the kisses and hugs you give every morning and at night, nakakawala ng pagod. I also love that you are so pasikat na and lolo, lola and tita are so aliw saiyo. I love that you always call daddy whenever you see my phone and tab (akala mo kasi magsskype kayo ni daddy always). You are learning a lot and so fast! I wish I am always there to witness your milestones. But I know you are smart enough to understand that we are doing this for you. 

I love you to the moon and back anak. And even big boy ka na, you will always be mommy's little baby.

Love, mommy G.

Sweet Travels: Work & Stay at Sofitel Philippine Plaza

Last week (Actually 2nd week of June, gahh! this post was long overdue), I had another opportunity to stay at Sofitel Philippine Plaza for my company's annual national convention. This is my second time to stay here and I must say nothings changed since 2010 until now. Well, aside from the renovation of Spiral (which was devastated by habagat). Nonetheless, it was a great stay. Let the pictures I took tell the story. 

The entrance centerpiece of the hotel never fails to amaze me. I like the simple yet elegant arrangement of white flowers (I don't know what it is). 

And the elecators. 

Sorry I have to capture this. Every guest need to insert their key card to get into their rooms, this give the guests the feeling of security. However, andaming naliligaw at nalilito na guest dito. lol

This is the bedroom of the regular room, triple sharing. 

The bathroom. Yes, no bathtub. 

Ready food. (Kaso may bayad). 

oh I love looking at the sunset! (good thing we had a nice view of the manila bay and the pool area)

And.. they have full stocked ref. 

There is a wedding by the bay, so we also witness the fireworks. (Lakas maka romantic feeling)

While at the lobby, they are dancing pandanggo sa ilaw. 

This is one of the conference rooms where we did our paperworks. 

The pool view. I love that they are very strict not allowing guest to swim during rainfalls and thunderstorms (baka daw kasi mabasa guests lol), no seriously its for the safety of the guests. 

And since swimming is not allowed, we went to their Spa, where use of sauna and jacuzzi are free to use for guests. And and sama talaga ng loob ko because I forgot my swimsuit. But nice the lounge ha? So relaxing. 

The new Spiral. 

The only reason I am excited about Sofitel is their breakfast. PG lang ang peg. They have selections of breakfast from english, japanese, filipino. Breakfast starts at 6:30-10:00 am and since we have a work to do, we went down early as in we are the early bird. 

I love the mini water falls at the center of the dinning area. So relaxing. Great view to start a busy day. 

My first day breakfast. Minipao, Siomai, Ham, Sausage, Fried Rice, Hash Brown and BACON. 

We also had Ham and cheese omellete. 

I love the detals of the cutlery. Shala. (and ang bigat)

I love it that they serve healthy drinks. This is pomelo etc. (sorry forgot the other ingridients). Un lang, it doesn't taste good. Bad combi for me. 

And the best discovery that I had, Blueberry Yogurt, Yum. Yum.

Nah, this is not from Sofitel, but an infamous delicacy from Iloilo. Yum.

 
And this is my second day breakfast. No Rice. 

 

Healthy Fruits for dessert. 

This is view from our veranda. Manila is scary during rainy season. Wahh. 

Washroom Shot. 

I love their public washroom, always clean and well maintained. 

What I really like about Sofitel is that they are breastfeeding friendly. This has been my dilema since I am an extended breastfeeding mother. My job requires me to travel from time to time and storage of my breastmilks are always an issue.

 
Fresh Milk anyone?! I so love my manual precious moments pump because I can express anywhere. For this stay, I just sneaked into our hotel room everytime I need to.

They also have a mini freezer for my milk storage. (I just put the pale pilsen for some humor, but the fridge is roomy). 

My Bfing gadgets.

And after checking out, you can leave the freshmilk at their conceirge. They are trained how to handle breastmilks. Kudos to them. 

Overall, I will give Sofitel 8 stars. Good Food, Good Service (well aside from a waitress na nstress na siguro sa dami ng delegates namin), Good Stay. 

Laters!

Baby D's funny antics!

Baby D will turn 17months this 18th, he's growing so fast that I miss the times na nakahiga at kakawag-kawag lang siya sa bed namin, na ang kaya pa lang niya sabihin ay "maymi".



Ngaun? Oh well, define disaster! He's like a sponge na, lahat ginagaya, lahat aagawin, lahat i-eexplore. But I am enjoying this phase, alam ko sobrang mabilis lang dadaan, so I want to document them.

Who doesn't love water? E ang magswimming sa water fountain? Bet na bet ng baby ko yan. Lol kaso takot na takot na mascots?! Panu na ang second bday niya? Balak ko pa naman ihire si mcdo at jobee lol.



He's getting madaldal also. At take note hindi babytalk kapag nagsalita (ewan, baka chamba lang lol)

Chamba 1
When you say "the ryza mae...."
Baby d: shoooowww (with action yan)

Chamba 2
Lola: d ayaw mo kumain, payat ka na ilan taon ka na anliit mo
Baby d: itcha (marunong sumagot lol)

Chamba 3
Lolo: d ang gaan gaan mo na, ayaw mo kasi kumain
Baby d: dibale (haha diet daw kasi siya)

Chamba 4
(Running from lolo's room to our room)
Lolo: saan ka pupunta?
Baby d: uwi (lol)

Chamba 5
Mommy: sino love ni d?
Baby d: mommhe (sorry daddy r!)

If only we can stop time noh? Ung kapag wala tayo sa bahay matutulog lang ang mga babies natin, pagdating natin saka lang sila magigising at maglalaro so we will not mis their everyday activities and milestones. As if pwede.

Whats up?!

Been busy this week, as in lumalangoy kami sa dami ng work. First week pa lang ng June, September na kami nakarating sa training schedules namin. Hay I feel bad tuloy na I don't have time to skype with my college bestfriend, hindi ko na nahihintay si daddy R umuwi sa gabi borlogs na ako, and also less playtime with baby D. Di bale, bawi bawi nalang kapag may time. chos!

I'm also back to school! yebbaaahhh! goodluck naman sa 10 units ko. Pero now I feel more inspired (sana until matapos ang sem). I am now starting to reach my dreams, I am more motivated ngaun because of baby D and of course ni daddy R! (lagot na talaga ako). 

I also wanted to show some snapshots of baby D last week.

Sukat ba naman magrelax sa legs ko? lambot na lambot siguro siya sa fats ko. 

Baby D loves chocolates, as in tinutungga na niya chuckie. 

 weird manuod ng TV ang batang ito. 

Crying baby.  

I'm thinking of weaning baby D soon, kaso kapag ganito naman siya kapaawa kapag sinabi mo "no more dede" naku baka gradeschool na siya dumedede pa. lol 

 Don D is resting while watching TV. 

And... my only reward for working hard this week. 

Baby D is growing so fast talaga. Everyday may bago siyang skills. He can now say "daddy", "lolo", "babaw" in short for nangingibabaw, "lablablab" "lola", "helo" , can demonstrate how to drink chuckie (with sounds), will demonstrate how to shampoo his hair, knows to point his ears, my ears, his nose and hair (kapag nasa mood siya), will dance with "ayos na ang buto buto comercial", but sadly, he seldom says "mommy" na ngaun. Maybe because I seldom spend playtime with him na becuase of work. I need to do something about it. Pero what I am proud is hindi sila bulol. Anyway, child has different phase of development. 

But on a lighter note, I'm happy because mas kilala niya si daddy R, he knows na kapag hawak namin ung tab, lalabas dun si daddy R, at he will repeatedly say "daddy" 100x. There was one time pa nga hindi talaga magsskype si R because my basketball sila (fitness project niya yan), hindi malaman ng bagets panu i-eexpress na bakit hindi lumalabas daddy niya sa phone, ang cute lang niya. 

I know I will be busier next month, I'l be on field again, school will be more demanding, commuting and rainy season will take most of my time, hay working/studying mom woes. But I know I can do it, I so still lucky that I have a supportive hubby and family. Kasipagan ko nalang ang kulang. lol. 

Laters!