Bend It With Beckham

As a belated Anniversary gift to hubby, I bought us tickets (the cheapest!) to the Azkals-LA Galaxy match. I was one of this first to buy tickets I think. Saw on a news article that they were supposed to sell the tickets November 10, but they released the tickets on the 11th. Oh yes, I ordered online immediately. I monitored twitter and FB for news on what time they are releasing the tickets haha! Then after office, I went to Robinsons Galleria for the Ticketworld outlet to pay for and get the tickets. Later that night, I gave it to Joema. He was surprised alright! Because when I told him days before the ticket prices, he asked me if we'll watch and I told him no because the tickets were expensive. Yay me!

So last December 3, we trooped to Harrison Plaza early (that's were we thought it would be easy to park), around 4:30pm we left the house.

Left our tabaching at home

We were already in HP past 5, so we ate dinner first at Shakey's. By the way, I'm not that familiar with the area, although I used to live somewhere in P. Ocampo, so I had to google where the Rizal Football Stadium is. Was so happy to find out the it was just across SM, which is beside Harrison Plaza. After eating we went straight to Rizal Stadium that was a little after 6pm. We thought we were early because our ticket says 7:30pm. The entrance across SM is for VIP/Grandstand ticket holders only. We had to walk all the way to the other entrance along P. Ocampo. Fortunately, we saw the LA Galaxy bus just as they were arriving. When we got to the bleachers entrance, the line was so long! We had to walk all the way to Starbucks along Taft. I had to sit there because my foot was bothering me by this time. Joema thought of going to the end of the line and good thing he did because the line snaked all the way to and circled McDonald's beside La Salle.

The line in front of Starbucks

See the time? Almost 7pm and the line's still there. And I'm still there waiting for Joema.

I don't know what the organizers were doing and why the line was not moving when we got there. By the time we got inside those gates, everyone was in a frenzy because the match was about to start. Hay! We got tickets for the blue bleachers (told you, it was the cheapest) and the nearest bleachers when you enter the stadium is the white bleachers. We turned left, unfortunately that was going to the green bleachers. We had to turn back and walk all the way to the other end of the stadium where the blue bleachers were.

We were seated near this cheering section

The happy football fan

Can you spot Beckham?

A blurry David kicking at Beckham's corner

That's him! Jersey # 23

After the match Azkals went around the stadium...there's Phil and Anton

I won't even attempt to do a recap of the match. I hope you were able to watch it. My most memorable moment was when David took off his shirt. I was not even bothering to watch the match anymore hahahaha!

We didn't have a hard time going home either. Traffic wasn't that jammed as I expected it to be. Unfortunately, my yaya forgot to pack the breastpump so I had to wait until we got home before I pumped milk for my baby. I was irritated with my yaya for forgetting. Miya was already asleep when we got home but she still woke up when we arrived. But I had to pump breastmilk first before I got to play with her. That's why I needed the breastpump with me sot that I can pump milk while in transit. I want to immediately play with Miya when I get home. The woes of breastfeeding moms!

Date with Ninang Grace

Finally my daughter was able to see her Ninang Grace again (before this, Grace only saw Miya during her baptism).  We met up at Ayala Triangle after Miya's check up with the derma. She has regular check-up due to her atopic dermatitis. I don't know why we only thought of meeting up with Grace now when we almost always go to that park after Miya's derma check-up. Here's a photoblog.

They can pass as mother+daughter because they're both chubby haha

With Mommy and Daddy - Miya can't fix her eyes on the camera, she had so much to look at

We had dinner at MOMO - one of the few places with only a couple of people on a Saturday night

Miya transferred next to Daddy - it was her first time to sit on a high chair in a resto!

Practice walking

Miya Update

Remember that post I made where I mentioned that I made another blog exclusively for Miya? Well, it turned out I haven't been updating that too. For me, it's such a chore to maintain two blogs. And since most of what's happening with me nowadays are somewhat related to my daughter, it turned out I didn't blog here either. So I've finally decided to just blog whatever I want to blog here and decide later on if I want to transfer it there.

Anyways, Miya's now 10 months old! Can you imagine that? When I look at her newborn pictures now, I find myself surprised at how small she was then. She's so big now! She's so talkative (just baby talk - mum-ma, bababa, athathatha) and bungisngis! She can now clap her hands, wave bye-bye. And just yesterday, she walked in her crib all on her own... no cruising! I'm just sad I wasn't able to witness it. My yaya told us when we got home that Miya even placed her toys in the crib to one side and she tossed her pillows out of the crib then slowly tried walking without help. I can just imagine her. But she's so shy (sometimes), she doesn't want anyone looking when she does it, our yaya says. So last night I tried discretely recording her on video when she was in her crib, she just sat there looking at the cellphone - she knows she's being recorded because the light in my cellphone was lit up. Smart girl!

Here she is pushing her toy. This toy converts from a toy "car" which she can ride to a walker which she can push around while practicing her walking. She still needs a "lampin" around her chest so that yaya can assist her while walking.

Cruising on her push toy

Passports: Check!

We finally have our passports! I've changed my name to my married name, got Miya her first passport and well, Joema renewed his just so we'll all have to renew our passports on the same date in the future.


We schedule our appointment through the DFA's website. For family appointments you may go to this link. I think I mentioned in a previous blog that we were supposed to go on the 7th but we rescheduled the appointment to the 16th. The new DFA building, in case you had previous passports in the old building, is now near SM Mall of Asia. Here's the map.  Our appointment was for 8:30am but since the documents sent to me said we need to be there by 8am, we left the house a little after 7am. We arrived there before 8am. I think there's a parking lot right across DFA but we parked in the lot next to McDonalds. Miya was like a probinsyana. She was looking everywhere while we were crossing the streets. She must be amazed by the buses she saw, the wide road we were crossing, the buildings. We arrived early but there were already a lot of people in DFA that morning. Once you get inside the gate, you need to present your appointment papers to one of the persons in the table just before you enter the building. Since we were there with Miya, we were told to go up directly to the second floor. When we got upstairs, we went through another round of checking the papers and application form, then we were handed a number. We proceeded to the first room on the second floor for the processing of our papers. I guess the window for family appointments was not yet open because we waited for a bit. Just for a bit. I think they were bundling up the applications before opening the window since they were already receiving applications for the elderly. One man there got angry (I believe he came with his child and wife) because he said he was waiting for a long time already. He said he should have just waited downstairs where, we can see from the number monitoring thingy, atleast the numbers were being called and moving. A few minutes later it was our number was blinking in the monitor. For Miya, who's a minor aside from the application form, we submitted her birth certificate (in NSO paper). For me, I submitted photocopy of my old passport and our marriage contract (in NSO paper) since I'm changing my name. For Joema, we only submitted a copy of his old passport. Although of course we brought the old original passports as well. Don't worry every document that you need to bring will be listed once you make the appointment online. The problem with that was it was a bit vague if they need the birth certificate in NSO paper for passport renewals.  This stressed me a bit because I didn't have on file Joema's birth certificate in NSO paper. I found this out on Monday before our appointment (which was on a Wednesday). We had to ask my in-laws to bring the one they found in Bocaue. Which actually had me more stressed out later because the one they brought is in the old NSO paper which looked like it was just a copy that was authenticated to be a true copy. Anyways, I was really glad DFA did not need the birth certificate. Their requirement was vague because it said it needed the birth certificate if the birth place in the old passport was not specific. Joema's old passport only says Bulacan so I thought that was not specific enough. But just the same, better to bring everything in case they need it. Also for Miya, since I was with her they also attached a copy of my application to her application. So better have your application forms photocopied as well. I did not do that so I had to pay P5 for the copy (they have a ready copy machine there). After the processing of the papers, we had to pay at the other room. Paid P1,200 for each of us since we were all qualified as express processing because we have a kid. You have no choice in that matter, as long as you lined in the express lane which is automatic for the senior citizens and young children. After that it was picture taking time. I thought we were going to go back to the first room where our papers were processed because there were cameras there but apparently those were for senior citizens only. While us with children will go and mix with the other applicants for the picture taking. Fortunately, it wasn't a long wait since Miya was starting to get squirmy. The problem was the guy manning the station we were assigned to didn't know how to take Miya's pictures. Now, you've seen Miya's pictures here in my blog you can attest that my daughter knows how to look at a camera and smile for a picture. That guy was horrible. Instead of looking at his monitor to which the camera is hooked and see if my daughter's already looking, he was looking at us (me while I get Miya to look at the camera, and Miya looking at the toy I was dangling in front of the camera). We had to do it several times. I wanted to tell him, "let me click the button!" So irritating! My daughter was getting irritated too, she was trying to get out of the chair because it was taking him a long time. Plus they were telling me to get her bangs off her eyebrows. What the eff?! What can I do with baby hair which doesn't want to be bothered?!?!?! Anyways, after all that, we still had a fairly easy time getting our passports. After the picture taking, it was time to pay the courier and then we were out of there. Took us about an hour and a half to finish the whole process. Not bad eh? 

Put Your Right Foot In

Well, hello! Right about time I update this blog. I can think of a bunch of topics to update you with but let me start with a not so good thing. I was brought to the ER last week because my foot has swollen. It really started two weeks ago. I noticed a small bump on my left foot after practicing for two days for our Christmas presentation (our theme is hiphop - go figure!). No, we're not practicing the whole day, just an hour or two each day. And then on Friday, I went to Makati and met up with a friend. We had dinner and did some shopping in Forever 21 (it was my first time in their Makati store, it was HUUUGEE!!!). Later that evening I felt my right foot was starting to swell too. Hmmm..I thought it was just because I was tired or something. The following Monday, we had a massage at Nuat Thai, Mandaluyong (will blog about it) and after the massage I felt that my feet were back to normal. Only to be bothered by it again on Wednesday, my daughter's 10th month birthday celebration. I was really cringing in pain that Wednesday night. It was actually a good thing her grandparents were there who couldn't get enough of her and were always wanting to carry her. By Thursday early morning, I couldn't step with my right foot - it was that swollen. So I've asked Joema to bring me to the hospital. We were there around 5:45am and got out by lunch time. Hay! My foot was x-rayed which resulted in a suspicious fracture. So they had to ask an ortho to take a look at me. I was given Arcoxia in the ER and the Voltaren gel was spread in my swollen foot. I was given treatment for acute gout but my uric acid level was not even that high. I'm just frustrated with the ER doctor because after repeating to her a few times that I'm breastfeeding and asking if the meds she's prescribing is safe, she was still adamant in giving the meds to me. Aside from the other two meds, she also prescribed Colchicine. She said her dictum is that the mother should manage the pain first. I don't care about her dictum, I care about my baby. I did not take any other meds when I got home. I wanted to consult with our pedia first but he was out of town so I contacted his wife, who's my OB. But my OB was not replying back to me so I had to search the internet. I got conflicting answers in the internet so I was starting to get worried. I had to ask two friends to ask their sister and husband, respectively, who are doctors if the meds are safe. Later that evening, my OB called me and said not to take any of it and just drink mefenamic acid or ibuprofen for the pain and folic acid with vitamin B complex (Folanerve) and stick with the right diet to lower my uric acid. She also told me to consult with a vascular surgeon, she referred someone to me who is also her doctor. She mentioned that in her case, they did an ultrasound of her foot or something. Funny when she called me to ask what happened, she said "Cris, kilala kita." Haha maybe she remembered how I was during my labor. I won't complain unless the pain is something I can't bear. Now, I have to set an appointment with her doctor because my right foot swelled again last night. Haay!

At The Office

The first time I brought Miya to the office, everyone was enamored with her. What can I say, I'm blessed with a charming daughter. Buti na lang mana kay Daddy nya haha!

I can't believe time flew by that quickly. She was just 6 months old in these photos and she's way bigger now.

The Third

For our 3rd anniversary, Joema and I both took a leave from work.We all slept in, woke up around 9:30am when we (Miya and I) usually wake up 7am even during the weekends.

Nothing beats waking up next to your love ones :)

We got ready to head out for lunch and a little bit of grocery shopping.

We had lunch at a Chinese resto

Baby girl got a little bit restless

We got back home to take an afternoon nap. Ah yes, I love it when we get to rest and take it easy. In the evening, it was quality time with the hubby. I still got kilig getting ready for our dinner date.

Ayala Triangle has their Christmas lights up already

Nothing's more romantic to a breastfeeding momma than Kanin Club - give me all that rice!

Happy 3 years to us! :)

Read and Heard

Two very sad news I've read and heard today...

Read:

This news article on a little toddler whose mother died. She thought her Mommy was only sleeping. The toddler, Shylah Silbery, comforted herself with her teddy bear "Possum" and ate cheese, leftover lasagna and milk from the fridge.

Source

Heard:

My former supervisor, who's 4 months pregnant, suffered a miscarriage. Well, that's not the "official statement" but according to a former colleague her waterbag broke and was immediately brought to the pre-labor room of the nearest hospital. Yes, everything happened here in the office. So sad! I can't even begin to imagine what she's going through. Will keep her in my prayers.

****************

Motherhood really changes your perception of the world. Nothing's just a story especially those involving mothers and daughters. It seems like all the mothers and daughters are connected to me now that I'm a mother as well.

Tirso Cruz (The Third not Pip)

Our third wedding anniversary is coming up! We're supposed to celebrate it in Tagaytay and stay at the hotel I got from Ensogo. But unfortunately because of the declared holiday, we won't be able to go. See, we're supposed to go there Nov 7 then check-out nov 8. But since Monday was declared a holiday, we won't be able to book that date (limitation of the voucher). Plus, we were supposed to go to DFA on the morning of 7th for our passport renewals (new one for Miya). So yes, the holiday declaration screwed up our plans! Anyways, let's focus on the good things. Fortunately, I was still able to file for a leave on the 8th. I'm just not sure where we'll go. Okay, it now just occurred to me I can file for OA on Monday and then we can still spend the night somewhere special. Hmm...will have to aks Joema about it.

With that lengthy introduction, I just wanted to share with you some photos of our wedding. These are from the ceremony held at the Archbishop's Palace, Villa San Miguel.





Just before the wedding march

Waiting for me

More photos after the jump...

Giveaway for Breastfeeding Mommies

You know I always join online giveaways but I never really win hehe. But but you will never win if you never join so I always always join especially when I love the giveaway. Chronicles of a Nursing Mom is giving away not one but two special gifts from Sunshine Babies: a Babybond and a Milk Band.

Babybond is a nursing cover that covers the mom and not the baby. I want this!!! Miya doesn't like to be covered anymore when we breastfeed in public so it's always my worry not to I get exposed. Sure I always wear nursing tops but this will really help especially when she just yanks her head off to see what's going on in that other side of her world (ie not Mommy's boobies hehe).

As for the Milk Band, I'm really intrigued how this works.  Aside from helping the mommy remember which breast she used last (I also need this, I've been very forgetful ever since I gave birth!), it can also keep track how long baby has fed.

Are you a breastfeeding mom and wish to join the giveaway, please hop on over to Jenny's blog for the full details of the giveaway. Although of course, I wish and hope I win hehe.

Mum-ma, Mum-ma

Hello Miya!

You've started talking and I'm so happy that your first word is Mama - although you pronounce it Mum-ma! You first said it when I started doing your Halloween costume. I think you thought I wasn't paying attention to you and you got jealous. Hence, you started calling me - Mum-ma, Mum-ma, Mum-ma! At first I thought it was some random syllable you were saying - because most of articles I've read said that babies don't really associate their first words (usually mama and papa) to the persons identified with the words. But but but not you, Anak! You knew it was me because everytime you say it, you'll look at me with outstretched hands. Oh the joy!

One thing I also noticed, you've been extra clingy ever since. When I was sewing your costume, I would put you to sleep first and then go back to my little project. But every single time, you wake up from your sleep and cry as if asking me why I wasn't asleep beside you. There was even that one night when I went down to go to the bathroom when you finally went to sleep only to get back upstairs with you awake and crying in Daddy's arms. Nowadays, I can't even go to the bathroom without you crying. I'm happy you can't seem to get enough of me but deep down I'm also getting worried  you're starting to have separation anxiety. Which is a bit weird because you're not like that when we leave the house in the morning. Our ritual is, you go down with Mommy and Daddy to the lobby and you see us off. I wave and wave and wave goodbye to you from the car but you don't seem to care hehe. I think you were more mesmerized looking at everything outside to care that we're even leaving.

I'm extremely happy that you're really showing your personality now but sometimes I get sad because you're also starting to be a little girl and no more a baby. Anak, don't grow up too fast. I love you very much! I want to enjoy every single moment of your life. I don't want us to hurry.

Mommy loves you! Mwah!

DIY Halloween Costume

Our first choice of Halloween costume for Miya is the Ferrari outfit we had bought from SG when our friends went there. Oh yeah she's going to be an F1 driver. Complete with shoes and steering wheel.

But one morning while I was putting Miya's hair up in a ponytail, the hubby said in observation that she looked like a samurai. So I thought why not put her in a kimono for Halloween! When I told a friend about it, she immediately said "Why not Flintstones instead?" I got excited about this. We originally intended to do Wilma with the big pearls and all but in the end she went as Pebbles because she's still a baby. I knew I wanted to make the costume for her so I headed on over to my most recent favorite site, Prudent Baby, for a step-by-step guide on how to sew a simple dress for Miya. I chose the hipster swing dress because it's the easiest one on the site.

By Tuesday, I had all the materials I needed.

For Miya, I've cut the fabric 13"x27". I didn't have a sewing machine so I did everying by hand. Yes, running stitch and whip stitch only. I was not able to sew anything on Tuesday but by Wednesday, I was pretty much done with the dress. The bias tape I've bought was only single bias, no double bias tape was available so I sewed two singles together. This is how it looks like inside - not clean but it doesn't show on the outside so I was pretty happy with myself.

By the end of Wednesday, this is what I've done.

Thursday night I did the diaper cover and the flower accent in the front. Prudent Baby has a pattern for diaper covers but I just used a spare one from Miya's closet. I deconstucted it and used it as a pattern. But in hindsight I should have used the pattern from the site hehe. Prudent Baby used a button as accent in the front of the dress but I don't know how to do that so I figured I'll put a flower instead. I used their DIY fabric flower but I had a hard time so I ended up with just 3 petals heehee.

I had the dress and diaper cover washed by the yaya on Friday so that I can continue adding the snap at the back and cutting the scallops at the bottom. We slept at my parents house on Saturday night so my mom helped me with the snap. I actually used a hook instead of a snap. Do you want to see how it turned out? Click click click..

The "Me" Project

The other I looked in the mirror and got annoyed at how I look. Tired face and lousy/crinkly outfit - blech! So I decided the next day to do whatever it takes to look and feel sharp! So here are my resolutions for a new me:

1. Put on make-up every day - I have all the basic things to put a nice make-up on. Sure my make-up essentials are not from high end brands but I have liquid foundation, mineral face powder, blush-on and lipstick. But sometimes I don't even want to bother putting on face powder and lipstick. And that day after feeling so lousy I tried putting on eye make-up (eye shadow and eye liner). Well, what do you know, it instantly made me look alive. As in! The eye make-up opened up my eyes (literally and figuratively)! Another tip I got from other make up enthusiasts - red lipstick! So next time I'm too lazy to do the works (yes, for me that's already THE WORKS), I'll try putting on just face powder and red lipstick.

2. Take care of my skin - I'm so lazy to put moisturizer on my face and lotion on my body. That's the truth. And I think, this has already caught up with me. My face always looks tired and dry. So from now on, I vow to slather on moisturizer every morning and every night! That goes with my body too.

3. Build my wardrobe - I was inspired by the series of posts from Manila Fashion Observer on building your wardrobe. Please click the link because she has explained it better than I could ever explain it. And you know, it totally makes sense! So for starters, I've started giving away the clothes I have packed away that are too small for me now that I've given birth. I don't want to illusion myself that I can still go back to XS. Although, it's worth noting that I can still fit into some of my pre-pregnancy clothes so I've kept those. Next, I won't buy unnecessary and cheap clothing. I don't want to have piles and piles of clothes but still every morning say to myself "I don't have anythign to wear." I will invest in classic, timeless pieces. The first on my list is a white button down shirt. Do you have any suggestions? As for undergarments, I want to buy those "no VPL" undies MFO is recommending.

Those are the things at the top of my head and will probably include some more if I think of anything else.

How about you, have you done anything recently to improve your self?

Just Another Blog

I haven't been blogging for a while. Well, I actually am but on a different blog hehe. I've started a blog to document my daughter's milestones. As much as I want to do it here, for security reasons, I don't think I can. Sure, I may only have a few readers but I just don't want my daughter's face plastered all over here, which is the case now. Plus, that other blog is so much more private and personal. One day I hope to have all my posts in that blog published in a book. I remember reading an online site which can convert your blogposts into a book so I want one like that for my daughter. So there, I will still blog about her here but maybe not as often.

How about you? What's the latest thing you've been preoccupied with?

Dreaming Again

Remember my post on Ensogo? From then on, I've purchased another one for a massage and then just this morning I purchased another voucher for a stay in this Tagaytay hotel - The Theodore Hotel. I want to sleep on this bed.

Source

Wala lang...something to look forward to. Hopefully, Ensogo will offer a voucher for a hotel in Hong Kong. I want to go back there with my family. We have not travelled in quite a while. I miss airports, hotel check-ins, souvenir shops.

Cow's Milk

Have you seen the photos of this toddler in Cambodia directly suckling milk from a cow?

Source

From the news article I've read, he was breastfed before his parents left the village where they live. He started suckling milk from the cow after he saw a calf doing the same.

Source

On the one hand, it's breaking my heart that the young boy had to do this because his mother isn't around to nurse him. On the other, the photos are heartwarming because the boy did this for him to survive. Isn't it ingenious of him to do this? Survival of the fittest at its finest I think. Look at those eyes..my daughter has the same look while she's breastfeeding.

Barbie and Ken's Wedding

This is so much fun when I read it. Barbie and Ken are now married with wedding photos to boot!

From the bridal preparations:



Barbie getting her hair done



Putting on her wedding gown

I love the pink shoes

Posing for the camera



And the groom's preps:

Ken's tux and black leather shoes

Putting on his tux

Ken with his groomsmen with Bieber hair haha!

The wedding ceremony:



I wonder if they have other guests

Looking lovingly at each other..aawww

First kiss as husband and wife

Pictorial after the ceremony (these I loooooove!):

First dance:

And reception details:

Drinks! Drinks! Drinks!

Cute their table set-up!

Photo source

Never Say Never

Have I ever told you that I love Justin Bieber? As in I love him that I turn into a 12 year old fan girl getting kilig when I see him. I wanted to watch Usher's concert last year in MOA because I thought Justin might be his guest. But this did not happen as I was pregnant then and avoiding physical activities. I watched/listened to his Baby music video in our Ipod when I was pregnant with Miya ALL.THE.TIME! When he had his concert in MOA early this year, I wanted to join SM's raffle contest to get tickets but Joema just brushed me off saying who will take care of Miya. I don't know why I didn't watch this movie. Although I did read some good reviews online. I thought the movie did him good because most of the people who did not like him at first was convinced he is a great artist after watching the movie. Joema should actually thank his lucky starts we didn't watch this before because I will surely watch Justin's concert after watching the movie. OMG!!!! I really got kilig watching this movie. And that part when they chose one girl from the audience for their "One Less Lonely Girl" tradition, I could cry with happiness and kilig with those girls!!! Aaaggghhh!!!! I was almost disappointed when they did not show him singing Baby. But of course, save the best for last - he sang it during encore! I was carrying Miya when he started singing the song and would you believe it if I told you that she "sang along" with him???? Baby, baby, baby ohhh..while she blabbered "aaaahhh, aaahhh, aaahhh, ayayaya" hahahaha!!!! Oh, Justin I love you! Please grow up to be a good and gentleman!

Source