Project Room Makeover: Bedroom

Remember this conversation I had with myself because I badly wanted to have our dream home?

So instead of just obsessing about building our dream home and not be able to do anything about it, I thought I should just do a home makeover at our present home. Make it more homey, make it feel more permanent. No, I won’t do it in a major way. Just a few simple changes and I’ll do it slowly one corner of our home at a time (kala mo naman laki ng bahay ko!).

I want to start in our bedroom. Here’s the current layout and furniture in our bedroom.

Here’s the moodboard I made:

Items 1-3 and 6 all from Ikea, 5 from Heima

Changes:

1. I want to get rid of all the plastic containers that we have and put them all in a drawer. We need a tall drawer since we’re cramming all of Miya’s clothes and our undies in that. Currently Miya has a 4-door drawer and 2 big plastic container of clothes. While Joema and I have one each of the plastic container. Need to find just one drawer that will fit all those. We don’t have enough space for two drawers, I think.
2. I want a rack where we can hang our towels on a daily basis. (Where do you hang your towels to dry?). Yes, the ones we use daily after bathing. We need something to hang it on to dry. We usually hang it on the railings of our loft but it doesn’t make it a good sight.
3. Need to maximize space so I think we can copy these hanging laundry bags. We can hang 3 laundry bags in a corner or wall of our room which easily segregates our clothes – one for me, one for Joema and one for Miya. Although, we might need big bags since our hamper is cleared out only once a week. We’re currently using a white plastic one. Again, an eyesore in the room.
4. Want to change the computer chair to this. But need a cheaper alternative hehe. I want this because it also has a foot stool. In case, I get pregnant again and breastfeed the new baby- Yes, 2-in-1! Although no immediate plans for baby #2 hehe.
5. Hang art in our bare walls. Maybe hang this across the wall at the foot of our bed and then hang our wedding photo at the wall where our bed is.
6. I want this curtain thingy just before the railing of our room. So that we can feel our privacy at times. Not too permanent as a wall if we want to take advantage of our loft, but just enough to give us privacy.
7. Will keep all the big furniture – bed, dresser and computer table.  

Here's hoping I'll get things done. Since most of the items on my moodboard is from Ikea (which aren't available here), I'm hoping I'll win Dainty Mom's giveaway of P10,000 worth of wardrobe organizing loot from Howards Storage World. Most of the items in my moodboard are really just to keep our space look more streamlined, organized. Since the birth of my daughter, our stuff has doubled. Before I never believed our friends who told me that babies have more stuff than adults, now I know better. 

I'm thinking if I should do a moodboard for our downstairs as well or start with the actual makeover in our bedroom first. Hmmm...I might get overwhelmed with simultaneous makeover projects but we'll see. Hopefully, this makeover project will help me get over the itch of having our own bigger home.

This is my official entry to the Howard Storage World + Dainty Mom Wow Your Wardrobe Contest.

Update on Miya’s Skin Asthma

I was so happy to see Miya like this last night. This isn’t a regular sight in our home – Miya wearing sleeveless and shorts. She would be usually wearing a longsleeves top, pajamas and socks. Yes, even at home! I’ve briefly mentioned here that Miya’s atopic dermatitis (or skin asthma in layman’s term) was acting up again. Hence, the outfit. Good thing a friend of ours referred their pedia-allergologist. Her son also had skin asthma but he eventually outgrew it. The doctor’s clinic is in PCMC, so we trooped there two Saturdays ago and waited for a few hours before Miya’s turn. Dr. Sumpaico was a very gentle doctor as a pedia should be. She confirmed that indeed Miya has skin asthma. She told us not to get frustrated when there are good days and bad days because that is how skin asthma is. There will be days when her skin will be clear, then there will be days for flare-ups.

I’m sharing what she told us in case other Mommies whose children has skin asthma happen to stumble upon this blog of mine. Here’s her prescription for MIya:

1. Quick bath using lukewarm water
2. Mustela cream cleanser/Cetaphil Restoraderm Wash as shampoo
3. Rinse off.
4. Pat dry.
5. Mustela emollient cream all over body and extremeties while she’s still damp and as necessary whenever she feels dry.

We’ve actually been doing this already. Dr. Sumpaico actually asked us what we've been using for Miya hence, those producst listed above. She told us we can give Miya a bath atleast twice a day. I was afraid to give Miya a bath twice a day because I’ve read here that water actually dries the skin more. We put Mustela Milky Bath in Miya’s bath water just to contradict the drying quality of water. But according to Dr. Sumpaico, we can give her a bath as long as it’s a quick bath because Miya’s sweat will make her itch more. So during hot, humid days we can actually give Miya several baths a day, just a quick quick shower (buhos lang ng tubig) to refresh her skin and then immediately put lotion on her whole body. She also told us not to use cotton or wetcloth when we’re giving Miya her bath. We only need to use our hands when applying the liquid soap on her body. We used to use cotton when we give Miya her bath. Aside from these, she prescribed Desowen lotion (which is a corticosteroid) for the flare-ups. For days without flare-ups, we only need to do numbers 1-5 above. I also instructed our yaya to still use Mustela Stelatria on the rough parts of Miyas’ skin. She also told us we can give Miya Virlix Oral Drops (5 drops) twice a day for next 4 weeks since Miya has flare-ups during our checkup. For the last two weeks, this is what we’ve been doing. We don’t really give Miya a bath during the night because my yaya is afraid Miya might get the colds. So we still use Mustela No-Rinse Cleansing Water during the night. No baths during the night, punas lang. Although I told yaya that when Miya gets sweaty in the afternoon, she can give Miya a bath. We’ve used Desowen only a handful of times. I’m really happy that Miya’s skin is so soft now and almost all over her body. This is the first time that has happened since she was diagnosed with atopic dermatitis (this was during her 4^th month). She only has a few flare-ups (well, some blisters because she scratches like there’s no tomorrow) on her feet. You know that crease where your foot is connected to your leg, that’s where she has blisters still. But she’s not scratching herself to death anymore so I’m happy as a clam! For some, they might think I'm overreacting to seeing my daughter in shorts and sando, but really, seeing my daughter wearing those is a major feat in our household. I’ve been praying that she’ll finally get rid of all those skin rashes/blisters. We’re finally in the homestretch. Hopefully, she’ll outgrow this. Dr. Sumpaico said if she doesn’t outgrow this by the time she reached her teenaged years, she’ll probably have this for life. I hope she’ll outgrow this before she turns two. 

By the way, in case you're wondering this is not a paid post by Mustela. We really just use all of their Stelatopia line. This is what works for Miya.

Dr. Madeline Sumpaico
Tel No. 9246601 (PCMC trunkline)
Rm 19 Philippine Children's Medical Center

How's the F1 Season So Far

It has been a frustrating season for Vettel fans like me. Out of the 10 races, he has only won once. Well, the only two drivers who has won more than once are Alonso and Webber who are currently numbers 1 and 2 in the driver’s championship. Vettel is third with 110 points (Alonso has 154). 

Not so good season so far

With the season halfway done, it is still possible for Vettel to win the championship but I’m hoping he’ll start winning races. Sor far, it has been a disappointing season for him although I think he has really matured as a driver. I think now his main goal is to get significant points every race and not just winning the race. There's a difference because previously, if he wanted to win he will really push it and sometimes it ends in a disaster (accidents, DNF). But this time, I think he's really careful not to get in contact with other cars and careful with his tires to get optimum points if ever it's no longer possible to win the race. It has been a  very interesting season. Anyone could win it because all the cars are at par with each other. Well not anyone but the best driver will win it. Unlike in previous seasons where the team with the best car (not necessarily best driver) won the championship, this year the driver really will win it for the team. So I’m really hoping Vettel will start to win races and show his brilliance as a driver. Go go go!

Other Breastfeeding Mommies

I mentioned here that I’m very fortunate that the organization I work for supports breastfeeding for its female staff and we’re provided with the an expression room where we can pump milk during officer hours. As I’ve said, one of the reasons I’m still breastfeeding now is because we have an expression room here at the office -  a very conducive place to pump breastmilk while I’m away from home. Aside from the room itself, fellow breastfeeding moms I’ve met in the expression room sort of became my support system during this journey of mine.

We’re a loud bunch – hence, the additional memo posted in the room that only 2 staff are allowed to use it at a time heehee. There was a time when there will be 5 moms using the room simultaneously and during these times are our chika moments. We talk about increasing our milk supply, feeding our babies, our babies milestones to our company’s benefits, our company’s local chismis hahaha!

Earlier this month, one of the mommies left the bank for greener pasture (as one mommy put it – bakang baka lang ang peg!). We all met up for lunch as despedida for her. It’s sad that it took one mommy to leave the bank for us to have this kind of get-together.

Layout done by Mommy Chat

I'm not sure how long I'll be pumping milk for my baby but I'm enjoying it while I'm doing it. Thanks to these moms who continue to inspire me to give the very best to my baby. Cheers to breastfeeding!

Thank You and Good Night

At Miya’s age now, it’s very easy for us to teach her things. She can follow instructions and I think she comprehends things already.

Saying thank you

Miya’s so cute, she now knows how to say “Thank You” or “Tatu”. At first we just tell her to say “Thank you” when somebody hands her something. She also sees us saying “thank you” to each other. Until eventually she got it! One night, her yaya handed her her toothbrush and automatically she said, “Tatu” without us telling her to do it. And now she knows when to say it. When we hand her something, she says “Tatu.” When we do something for her that she asks us to do, she says “Tatu.” One time, she was insisting that I give her her tube of medicine (for her AP) or something else (I forgot what it was but I’m sure she can’t have ) I didn’t give it at first. But my daughter is pretty persuasive so I handed it to her at the same time I was getting frustrated with her, and then she said “Tatu” in her sweetest voice and she’s really thankful when she says it. My hubby said, “O pano ka pa magagalit jan e nag-thank you na sayo.”  

Praying

Miya sees me and her daddy praying before eating dinner. During weekdays, this is the only mealtime she sees us eating. She has usually eaten already by the time we get home. And usually I pray my prayers before grace by putting my hand in my mouth. She picked that up because a few nights after that when I told her we’re going to pray before going to bed, she put her hands over her mouth hehe! Now when I tell her we’re going to pray, she says “Iwaw” (Ilaw) meaning, we should turn off the lights because it’s prayer time and sleeping time after that. So I put her hands together in prayer and usually just say a short one “Thank you Lord for my milk (or anything else). Please bless Mommy, please bless Daddy, please bless Miya.” And then we make the sign of the cross “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” She smiles after this. She likes praying although I’m pretty sure she’s not really aware on what is happening.

Saying Good Night

We also taught her to kiss good night when it’s time to sleep. Btw, when she kisses she says "MMMwah!" When she sees me and her Daddy kissing goodnight, she wants us to do it again and again. As in she holds the back of my head and pulls me towards her Daddy (she sleeps between us). She gets kilig when we kiss hahaha!  

Talking House

I've been having a dialogue with myself.

Me: I’ve been itching to have our own home since the start of the year. If only it were that simple! I’ve really been longing to have our own home. I want us to move to a bigger space. But not too big that our family won’t be able to see each other often. But small enough to still keep it cozy and homey. This is really my immediate dream for my family. Even though I convinced myself that we’ll need to stay put for now, at the back of my mind I still want our dream home. To tell you the truth, I want it as soon as possible.  I want my dream home to be a reality NOW. Oh I want it sooo bad!!!!

 

Me (in answer): I will not rush into this. We need enough money to spend on the lot, on building the house, on finishing the house and on buying the furnishings for our home. We need time to save on it. NO need to rush. Save, save and save. We’ll do this big project when we have enough money. And no need to settle for anything less. Buy the best for everything in our dream home – that is the goal. We don’t want to scrimp on the building materials. We need to build a home that will last us a lifetime (ours and our (child)ren’s children).

Was the argument settled? Not yet! LOL! 

On Breastfeeding, Weaning and Eating Solid Food

At 17 months, Miya eats 3 times a day with in between snacks. Her breakfast is usually oatmeal with raisins, for lunch and dinner she has rice with soup of the viand with little meat and veggies. She doesn’t eat that much meat and veggies actually because she doesn’t like chewing really. If she doesn’t like the texture of the food, she spits it out. Well she doesn’t really spit it, more of she puts out her tongue from her mouth together with the food. She snacks on bread, yogurt and fruits. I let her try to eat on her own. She can put a spoon inside her mouth now, I just need to scoop the food in her spoon first :)

My daily supply of breastmilk for her is usually 8-10oz which I express in the office. What I produce for this day, she will drink the next day. If it’s a Friday, then those will be consumed on Monday the following week. She drinks this once in the morning (40z) and then once during lunch time. She asks for another round of milk in the early evening. Before, she waits up for me to get home and then feeds immediately when I get home. But she started getting irritable, so I decided to buy soymilk to supplement her feeding. During the first week, as I’ve mentioned, I bought vanilla-flavored soymilk. I think she didn’t like the smell because she wouldn’t even taste it. The following milk, I bought just the regular soymilk and atleast she would taste it even if for just a little. The very first few times, my yaya would put it in her feeding bottle. But since Miya didn’t like it, the following day our yaya will have a hard time feeding Miya from the bottle with breastmilk because Miya thought it was still non-breastmilk. Eventually, she tried the soymilk little by little because she had no other choice if she wanted milk. She usually points to the ref if she wants milk. So I told yaya to show her that that’s what’s left for her and no more breastmilk. After almost two weeks, she’s been drinking soymilk from a glass. This is her usual 3^rd milk for the day. When I get home, she’s milk-all-you-want LOL!

During the night, she usually wakes up once or twice to feed. Sometimes it’s comfort feeding, she feeds for a few minutes, say 3-5 minutes, and then goes back to sleep. Sometimes she really feeds and I’d be awake by the time she finishes. Around this time I turn off our aircon and turn on the electric fan if I’m cold hehe. When she has colds and she’s not feeling well, she usually feeds round the clock during the night. I don’t get enough sleep because the moment she feels her nose is clogged she wants to feed. And I know she wants to feed because she turns and then usually says something unaudible, sometimes she says “dide”. I tried just tapping her to go back to sleep – sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn’t.

I’m actually relieved she started drinking the soymilk. My milk production has decreased. Before, I can keep up with her daily milk needs. Now, not so anymore. I’m still drinking malunggay capsules and now I’m drinking malunggay tea, too. But it’s still not enough to produce 12oz of milk – her usual intake while I’m away. I’m still pumping milk three times a day in the office. Dropped one pumping session after her first birthday, I think.

I’ve mentioned that there are days when I think I want to wean her and I think I should start weaning her. On the nights that I can't get to sleep because she feeds non-stop, those are the times I wish she'll wean already. I'm screaming in my head "Give back my boobies!" But there are also days when I absolutely love that she still feeds from me. Last night, we went home late because we went to the hospital to visit a friend who just gave birth. When we came home, Miya was asleep already. Fortunately, when I carried her to our bed and laid her down she woke up a little and asked for milk. I remembered the glorious feeling of the milk flowing from my breast. 

Miya breastfeeding at 8 months

I’ll be away on a business trip in September for a few days and I dread thinking of how it would be to be apart from her. Since her birth, we’ve never been apart for more than 24 hours. Nothing’s final on the trip, I’m writing about it here in the hopes that I would jinx it and we won’t push through with it hehe. Our plan is, Joema and I will go on an overnight trip just the two of us, just to test the waters if Miya will be okay to sleep without me. Hoping she’ll last the whole night without drinking milk. Or maybe I should tell my mother to prepare a bottle of milk just in case she wants a bottle during the night. We plan to leave her with my parents. 

I don’t think she’s ready to wean because everytime she sees my boobies she gets kilig hahaha! Which reminds me, my daughter has this weird thing. After feeding, when she sees some milk dripping from my breast she looks at it like she’s gross with it. I tell her that’s the milk she’s drinking and she just shakes her head as if denying it in that small head of hers hahaha.

In the end, I wish there will come a time that both Miya and I will be ready at the same time to wean. I'm sure I'll be sad but like any other journey, our breastfeeding journey will come to an end.   

Cookie Monster Joins the Bandwagon

I've had a not so good morning. So for some pick-me-upper, let me share this video with you and let's all smile while watching this.  Remember this video of Manila's It Girls singing and dancing to "Call Me, Maybe?" Well, Cookie Monster has his own version. "Hey, me just met you and this is crazy. But you got cookie, so share it maybe." So cute! Who doesn't love Cookie Monster?  

My Life in Bullets

Wow, it's already July! Where did the days go? Here's what's happening in my (and my family's) life the past few days:

• I attended a seminar on Credit Analysis last week. It was very educational. Not only did I learn a lot that I can apply in my work, the things taught to us can also be applied to my personal life. Always check your cashflow! Ang pambayad sa utang galing sa cash and not from your income! Those are two different things!
• On our last check-up with Miya's pedia, he said in passing that Miya did not gain that much weight. This has actually gotten me worried. I already started to supplement her milk (still breastmilk) with soymilk. After a week of trying it, she's now drinking a glass of soymilk everyday together with her two bottles of breastmilk while I'm away. Yay! The first week she tried soymilk, she didn't like it. We actually bought a vanilla-flavored soymilk. She didn't want to taste it. After smelling the milk, she'll push away the glass. So after a week, I switched to regular flavored soymilk, slowly she tried it. She didn't like it at first but she had no other choice. During early evening, when I'm still not home she will ask milk (didi) from her yaya. I told yaya to show her what's inside our ref and tell Miya that's the only thing we have left. She actually points to our ref if she wants milk while I'm away. Eventually, she learned to drink soymilk from a glass. Yaya was afraid to put it in her bottle because in the first few days she tried it, the following day Miya will not drink from her bottle even if the content is breastmilk and not soymilk. In line with this, I'm thinking of weaning her on and off. I mean, there are days that I think I'm ready to wean her but there are days that I just love breastfeeding her and decide that we should do it when she's ready. I don't know really. 
• Some problems with our current yaya. Not anything regarding Miya but with her money and family problems. I hate it that it's affecting me. She doesn't return to us on the agreed day she will return on her days-off because of her personal problems. Hay! I don't bother my employer with my personal problems so why should I be bothered with my employee's personal problems. Kainez! I've actually asked Miya's first yaya if she's willing to return. She said yes but we agreed on a salary increase. I don't want to jinx it by announcing it. But will you pray with me that this will push through? I've realized I love our first yaya so much. She has set the bar so high for the other yayas who followed her. With her, I'm kampante in every aspect. I promised myself I won't be bothered anymore if Miya sometimes wants to be with her more than with me and if they're super close. I realized, I'm more happy with that that my yaya is really taking care of my daughter and is actually concerned with her and not just look at it like it's just her "job".
• Another Miya update - she's really really talkative now. When we hand her our phone she will put it on her ears and say "Ewow!" with the tone that you use when you say Hello but the other line doesn't hear you. LOL! And she'll do this again and again. The grandparents are so happy because she talks now when we call them. Hay, my little daughter the charmer.
• We're looking into having her checked up by an allergologist. Her atopic dermatitis is acting up again. It's been this way for a few weeks now. The flareups will go away but will come back in another part of her body. If you have noticed, in most of her pictures she's wearing a longsleeve top and pajammas with socks. She's covered all over because we don't want her to scratch. If I can only take all those itchiness away. I pray everyday that she'll get well soon.
• What is up with Vettel??? He has been on pole for the last two qualifying in the last three races but was not able to convert it to a win. Well, atleast in the last race (British GP) he was finally back at the podium - 3rd place. This year is very exciting just like in 2010! I think it will be a competition until the last race. I'm really liking Alonso this year. Might be because I'm following him on Twitter haha! I'm also following Hamilton but Alonso updates more often. It feels like Alonso really updates his fans on Twitter - he tweets when he's on training, after his meeting with his engineers, after practice session, before and after qualifying, before and after a race. I actually get updated on when the next race is from his tweets. I used to print a calendar of the races but now I just rely on his tweets. Unlike Hamilton who only tweets when he wins haha!     

I'll try to blog a more meaningful post next time. I hope you have a wonderful week ahead of you!