Yes, you read it right -- WifeSpeaks is back!
After a long time of being in hiatus, WS will relaunch next week with a new and more exciting format.
The new WS will be blog carnival style. There will be a new theme every week with a different sub-theme every day:
MemoirMonday
ChikaTuesday
FoodieWednesday
FabFindsThursday
SpeakOutFriday
What's best about this is that you don't have to be a WS contributor to join!
So see you next week and join us at WifeSpeaks!
Ang aking kabiyak ay hindi mahilig magbigay ng bulaklak. Kaya't tunay na isang magandang sorpresa kapag ako ay nakatanggap ng mga bulaklak mula sa kanya.
Ang mga bulaklak na ito ay bigay sa akin noong kami ay magdiwang ng aming ika-5 anibersaryo bilang mag-asawa. Di ba't napakaganda?
Maligayang LP! Bisitahin ang iba pang lahok dito.
The weekend passed by so quickly that I wondered where it has gone. I guess, it must be because it was a very busy weekend for us.
Our weekend officially started on Friday night. I began assembling Sean's party loot bags (er, i mean, loot "cups"). Caitlin was so excited for the party that she offered to help me with the assembly. We decided to call it a night when I saw that we still lack candies for the loot and prizes. Besides, the little girl has play therapy early the next day. I don't want her all sluggish and sleepy during her session.
Our Saturday morning started with Caitlin's play therapy. Her pediatrician recommended that she undergo therapy to address the trauma she has due to the vehicular accident we were involved in last December. It was her 2nd session (out of the 4 sessions initially recommended by her psychologist).
Saturday afternoon, we attended Bernice's 1st birthday party held at the Kensington Place at the Fort. The party's theme was Dora the Explorer and the little girl had fun dancing to Dora's songs. She even sang along. Sean also seemed to enjoy looking at the balloons and decors, and dancing to the songs played during the party.
During the party, I came to realize that my little girl has grown up. She actively participated in all the games and socialized with the other kids whom she only met there. She no longer clings to Mommy or Daddy. I was so proud of her!
We headed home at around 7pm.
Sunday was spent at the mall, buying more prizes and candies for the little boy's 1st birthday party this March. Good thing there were a lot of items on sale. Both kids also bagged 2 pairs of shoes each, courtesy of their Tito Francis (thanks, bro!).
After the mall, we went to church to hear mass then went home.
Since we already have the items we lacked, we resumed assembling the loot "cups" and preparing the prizes. Again, Caitlin was Mommy's little helper. We finished everything at around 11pm.
So that was our weekend... very busy one, indeed! Don't you agree?
Yes, I know. I've been a bit (too) lazy in updating my blog. I've been very busy lately, both with work and with the preparations for our little boy's 1st birthday party this March. And taking care of 2 very 'makulit' and 'malikot' kids really takes a lot! I rarely have time for myself, let alone time to do other things.
Anyway, just to give an initial update... I'm happy to share that I lost around 7lbs in just a little over 2 weeks. And that's without using any weight loss products! Isn't that great? I just hope I can stick to my diet :)
And I hope I can update my blog more often :)
Limang taon na pagsasama.
Kuha ito noong October 11, 2008, ang aming ika-5 annibersaryo bilang mag-asawa.
Maligayang LP!
Bisitahin ang iba pang lahok dito.
Isang batong hugis puso... ito ang aking lahok para sa linggong ito.
Isang batong hugis puso na kinulayan at sinulatan ng mga salitang talaga namang napaka-"heartwarming".
Gawa ito ng aming panganay bilang isang activity sa kanilang paaralan.
Maligayang LP! Bisitahin ang iba pang lahok dito.
Ito ang unang "lila" na pumasok sa isip ko nung malaman ko ang tema para sa linggong ito.
Si Barney... ang kasalukuyang kinahuhumalingan ng aking 2 chikiting. Kuha ito noong nagkaron ng palabas si Barney sa SM Malls noong Nobyembre at Disyembre.
Maligayang LP! Bisitahin ang iba pang lahok dito.
Di ba't napakagandang pagmasdan ang paglubog ng araw?
Ito ang aking lahok para sa linggong ito.
Bisitahin ang iba pang lahok dito. Maligayang LP!
To unwind from a busy day at work, I usually watch a couple of 'teleseryes' when I get home while I let my 2 very active 'bulilits' play.
Last night was no exception. I watched my nightly dose of teleseryes. I didn't notice that my little girl stopped playing and was actually watching with me. So imagine my surprise when she suddenly asked me, "Mommy, where is his Daddy?" (The teleserye was about 2 boys with the same father but 1 of them never knew who his father was).
Anyway, since I was caught unaware by little girl's question, I didn't know what to tell her or how to explain. I just told her that the boy has a father but he just doesn't know who. Then I continued to tell her that there are kids who just do not have daddies. And that she's lucky she has both a mommy and a daddy.
I really found it hard to explain to her in a way she'd understand so I left it at that. Luckily, she didn't ask more questions.
Part of me considers this a proud mommy moment. It showed that my little girl is paying more attention to things other than the usual ones that she's interested in. But part of me is worried that I will not be able to keep up with her questions.
I guess I'd better be prepared... what if she asks me "where she came from" next?
Ito ang aking lahok para sa linggong ito...
Kuha ito sa isang beach sa Florida, USA; isang malamig na araw ng Nobyembre. Di ko na matandaan ang pangalan ng beach na ito. Pero napakaganda nung araw na iyon. Napakaaliwalas. Kaya't naisipan naming mamasyal kahit kami ay nanginginig sa ginaw.
Maligayang LP!
Bisitahin ang iba pang lahok dito.
This time, for Sean's 1st birthday.
I still remember when we planned for Caitlin's 1st birthday party. We crammed with the preparations. This time, it's no different. We're still cramming! Hahaha! We barely have 2 months to prepare.
Anyway, here's what we've done so far:
1) Theme - this is a non-negotiable. Can you guess what it is? It's something hubby is a big fan of. If you guessed "Formula 1", you're right!
2) Venue - we've already booked the Big Red Barn at Fun Ranch Pasig for the party.
3) Invitations - courtesy of my cousin B and her hubby.
4) Photo - my brothers N and J, and cousin B (again!)
5) Food/Food carts - we just have to finalize the menu since this comes with the venue.
6) Entertainment - booked with the venue, too
7) Decors - we need to finalize this with the venue, too
8) Cake - we've found a supplier that does an F1 themed cake and cupcakes. We just haven't booked their services yet.
9) Lootbag/Souvenirs/Giveaways - all we have are ideas for these. We still haven't decided and we're still open to suggestions. So if you have ideas, let me know! :)
10) Birthday attire - we're still looking for an affordable race car outfit for the birthday boy.
11) Video - no supplier yet.
I guess that's it. I hope we make it in time :)
Una sa lahat, nais kong humingi ng paumanhin para sa mga linggong ako ay hindi nakalahok sa LP. Naging sadyang 'busy' lamang ako nung mga huling buwan ng nakaraang taon. At dahil bagong taon na, pipilitin kong makalahok sa LP linggo-linggo.
Ito ang aking lahok sa para sa linggong ito -- litrato ng aming bunso kasama ang "Ferrari Hotwheels Collection" ng aking asawa. 
Hindi pa naman ganon karami ang mga munting sasakyan na ito. Pero unti-unting nadadagdagan tuwing kami ay mapapadaan sa tindahan ng mga laruan. Di magtatagal, kakailanganin na naming bumili ng cabinet para lamang sa koleksyong ito ng aking asawa.
Bisitahin ang iba pang mga lahok dito.
Maligayang LP sa lahat! :)
I just realized that today marks my 4th year in the blogosphere :)
First off, thank you to everyone who sent well wishes for Caitlin. She's doing fine now.
She was discharged from the hospital last October 28th (a day after I blogged about her confinement). But before she can be discharged, we had to wait for her pediatrician for a final checkup. Everything was clear and we just have to continue her nebulization twice a day for the next 2 weeks.
We also took advantage of the pedia's time to have Sean checked. He had fever the past 3 days and threw up 4x the previous day. We were really worried since throwing up in babies is not a very good sign. And before we could even leave the hospital and take our little girl home, our baby boy was admitted!
I immediately went to the admitting section to reserve (another) room for Sean. Then my brother and I took him down to the ER for some tests and to have his IV inserted.
He was really fussy and crying when his chest x-ray was taken that he fell asleep after. He didn't make a fuss when his IV was inserted. He just slept through it! The nurses, and even the ER doctors on duty, were amazed that he didn't cry at all! But I wasn't really surprised since he doesn't cry during his vaccine shots. Hehehe...
He still threw up during the first couple of days in the hospital but his fever had started to go down. He was just given some vitamins and paracetamol since his pedia suspected that it was just something viral. But after that first 2 days, he started coughing and phlegm was detected in his lungs. He has bronco pneumonia. The pedia then started him on some antibiotics.
Thankfully, he responded well to the medication and was discharged on November 1st.
Whew! The hospital was our home for that entire week! I don't think I'd like that to happen again anytime soon.
Here's a picture of Sean in the hospital. He didn't look sick at all!
And in case you're wondering what's that big white thing wrapped around his arm, that's a disposable diaper. They use it to prevent the patient (specially babies and toddlers) from playing with and eventually taking off the IV.
Anyway, both kids are now back at home and doing well. It even seems as if they were never sick at all.
Again, thanks for all your prayers and well wishes! We really appreciate them! :)
The little girl is confined in the hospital… again :(
She was still fine after her UN program in school last Thursday. But she started to become a little feverish come late afternoon. I just gave her some paracetamol to lower her temperature.
Then on Friday, while I was at work, I got frequent calls from my Mom who updated me of Caitlin’s condition. She said the little girl was REALLY not feeling well, a clear indication of which is that my little girl has been sleeping the whole day and didn’t want to eat anything. Her fever even registered 38.9 degrees Celsius at one point during the day. I also reported these to hubby every time I get updates from my Mom. We agreed that we’d take Caitlin to her pediatrician the following day.
When I got home from work, I checked on my little girl and asked if she wants me to take her to the hospital. She said she just wanted to sleep and rest. But I noticed that she’s having a hard time breathing. You see, she has asthma (which she unfortunately got from my side of the family). I just waited for hubby to get home from work and we rushed her to the hospital’s ER.
When we arrived at the ER, the nurse on duty immediately approached us. He asked what the problem was and then he called the resident pedia on duty. We waited.
When the pedia arrived, she asked us some more questions. Caitlin is having an asthma attack! The pedia instructed the nurses to hookup Caitlin with an oxygen tank and to nebulize her 3x -- once every 30 minutes. Little girl was also hooked up with a machine that monitored her heart rate and was also taken to the Radiology Section for some x-rays. I was then asked to go to the Admitting Section and have Caitlin admitted.
The oxygen was taken off on Saturday afternoon and Caitlin has been responding well to the medicines and nebulization. Her IV was removed last night. Thank God!
Good thing we all have health plans. Otherwise, we may have just waited the next day to bring her to her pedia instead of rushing her to the ER. You know how much emergency services cost!
I hope she can be discharged by tomorrow.
Tagged by Em.
:::START COPY:::
Do you read books to your child?
Does your child like to read books?
Do you like to buy new books or is second-hand ok?
Post a picture of your child’s bookshelf if you have one.
Drop a line in this blog if you receive this tag and do it.
:::END COPY:::
Caitlin is very fond of books. Although she can't read yet, she has shown interest in them as early as 2 years old. She doesn't really mind if they were new books or 2nd hand books. And reading books before bedtime has become a nightly routine for us.
Here are some of her favorites lately...
As I've said, these are just some of her favorites. She has lots more (and I mean A LOT!).
She has also shown interest in workbooks the past weeks. So we bought her some and she already started working on them.I can't believe it has been 5 years already. How time flies!
Five years ago, today, we made a promise to love each other forever. I hope and pray that promise remains.
Happy Anniversary, Honey! I love you!
