Early Christmas Gifts

A lovely lovable friend informed me she's here in the Philippines and wanted to meet me and the kids. We had a great time at Conti's in Trinoma. And she's so nice to have given us these:

The kids were excited with their new tees so the next week, they both wore the Gap tees as we head over to Toy Kingdon in SM City The Block.

We were suppose to check out the Richwell sale that day but I was hesitant having them with me plus the fact that it was raining hard at that day. I decided not to go, said "pass" on that big warehouse sale. There's still a lot coming up for sure. Besides, I would need more than enough money so I can also get something for other kids that are special to us. I actually have thought of something for the girls but has not decided yet what to give the boys this year. I need to do some brainstorming to come up of something creative. =)

Thank you friend. You know who you are. GOD bless and keep in touch!

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Offline For A Week

It has been a while since I got the chance to post something here. Why? Well, aside from the lack of time, the big time reason is that we don't have any internet connection for almost 7 days now. What a waste of time, right? I am currently using a Globe Tattoo USB stick and my SIM card to connect to the net. Thanks to a dear friend for lending this to me. I missed a lot of opportunities in blogging and in ODesk. I can't go and rent a computer everyday when I have a toddler in tow. I tried it for 2 hours but realized it's totally difficult. This week has been so stressful. Doubts, fear, anger, irritation, pain, happiness and a lot more type of emotion consisted this week.
I can no longer count as to how many times I have called the technical support department of Globe Broadband to follow up on our connection issues. Now, I think the stress this week has brought me has added colds and a possible UTI..ouch! I'm gonna have to do a water and Buko juice therapy to self heal. I really don't want to rely on taking medicines at once unless necessary. And while we didn't have any internet access, I took time to read, watch, play and do the laundry.

Still I have tons of clothes to iron and fold. Plus, I got the chance to check on my active contracts and tons of tasks awaits me! Haha! Spell good luck to me!

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Losing Weight and Gaining It Back

I indeed lost weight. That's what I told myself after looking at these photos. Both these photos were taken maybe 4 years ago. The first one at the PBCom Towers office of Convergys and the other at my parents in law's home.

Weight loss, why am I little alarmed? Well first, I didn't really intend to lose weight. I didn't enroll in a weight loss program at all. I have not really grown big but I would like to maintain or be at the 50 kilos level. I'm below it as of this day. It was just recently when I realized that I've lost almost 22lbs. That's quite a lot. That's an achievement to those who are in a weight loss program or using weight loss systems. I have been made aware of this by friends and my cousins. That's what made me decide to do something to gain it back. Extra rice please!

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Get To Know My Toddler

This photo was taken when Roey was just 11 months. When all she can do to communicate was smile and cry. The lovely dress was a gift from my friend Gizelle (Thursday Brownies host).

Now, Roey is at 21mos- she can already talk and shout too! LoL! There are times that her words though different in meaning, sounds almost the same. She calls her sister Keanna, "Tate" (minus the T, it's Ate). She calls her father "Dadee" and that's always clear, while she calls me "Mhey" which obviously is shortcut for Mommy. Sweet, right?

This little miss surprises us with her wit and talkativeness. There are several TVCs she would imitate and certain kiddie product jingles she can sing along with. She moves like crazy when she feels like dancing. She know the songs "Price Tag", "Just The Way You Are", and "Fireworks" - can hum and say the words "uhh and yeah". But, her lyrics are most of the time in her dinosaur language. LOL!

Here are other things she can:

- She keeps her pillow and folds the blanket imperfectly as soon as she wake up in the morning.

- Always eager to personally hand the helmet to her Daddy.

- Eats on her own (using a spoon or just her hand - that's how "cowboy" she is).

- Eats freshly sliced tomatoes, garlic and onions.

- Can count from 1 to 10.

- Sings "Blues Clues"song, "Mr. Sun", "I Have 2 Hands" and "Our Father"

- Already started doing the "sign of the Cross" and "Amen".

- Can draw a smile and sun rays on an unfinished sun drawing.

- Volunteers to remove Ate Keanna's socks as soon as the latter arrives from school (eww!)

- Can already say names: "Papa Jesus" (may sound Jeswu sometimes), Sponge Bob ( Spangsbav), Popo and Jollibee (Jaaamibee)

- Recognizes fruits like Apple, Banana (with matching Uh-uh-Ahh-a sound effect), and Grapes

- Recognizes shapes: Circle, Stars, Moon

drawings: shoes, flower, Hello Kitty, heart, umbrella, dog, pig, cat, bag and more

- Knows how to use the cellphone and can say "Hello, musta?" (Hello, how are you?)

- She already know when to say "No" and "Oh no!"

- Can already appreciate things by saying "Wow!"

- Says "Hi!" and "Bye!" and do the "bless" act (Mano)

- Can manage to strike a pose in front of the camera (as long as Mommy's behind it)

These are just few of the many things our Roey can already say and do. Of course, along with the list is her unique tantrums. Unique because if it strikes, it is a combination of cry, shout, whips, kicks and body bending techniques. Something we would like to avoid of course.

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Price Tag

My daughter Keanna loves singing and it was just recently when she auditioned in their school's Student Idol contest. Her audition piece was "Fireworks" by Katy Perry. She was so happy to inform us she is in the semi finals. Today, Wednesday is their semi finals, and she didn't know until Monday afternoon. She told me it will be on the 28th. You know the feeling when your child keeps bugging you about what they need when you are working? Geez! So I have to temporarily log out of my job and help her find a nice song that she can deliver. We browsed for songs that she can easily practice and memorize. You Tube helped a lot, really! I was able to download a "minus one" version of Price Tag after answering an online survey. Yay! Saved it in a USB and wrote the lyrics for my daughter to use. Yes, we don't have a printer, ha ha!

Here's Maddi Jane's version. This has played numerous times for my daughter to practice...or should I say daughterS? Yes, my toddler has started liking and singing this too though we can't understand the words yet.

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My Outgoing Toddler

Roey is growing up to be outgoing like me. I would like to consider this to be positive. I am hoping that her being outgoing brings her to many places and let her meet good friends too. In this photo, she's thrilled to carry her Pink bag which is a little small that her feeding bottle peaked. Haha!

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Rain = Cake

It's been reported that there are 2 Low Pressure Areas in the Phils. now that is why it has been raining on and off. In some other cities, there's flood and even landslides. Sad.

Photo credits to my friend Ched

I am not sure though why I am drooling for cakes when it rains. A slice of what's pictured above will definitely satisfy my taste buds! Good thing my aunts visited us yesterday and prepared Champorado for us. Good enough for me since I can only fulfill my eyes' satisfaction with this cake for now.

I am linking up to sis G's Thursday Brownies today. For more of the Filipino color, click on the meme page below.

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Model Wannabe

As you can see, Keanna is a little younger here. She's at the roof deck part of Trinoma in front of Starbucks. The braided hair is actually fake, haha! It is attached to her Pink headband/cap. I miss the times when she would gladly pose for me like this. She's a model wannabe. Her light Violet blouse is from Gingersnaps and Brown shorts from SM. I was able to keep this pair and had them ready for little Roey to wear. He he!

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