3 weeks

And just like that, come tomorrow my baby is already 3 weeks old. Yes, I call her baby or shobe because we're still debating on her nickname!

I can't believe time has flown so fast. Next thing you know we'd be celebrating her first month and it gets faster from then on.

Even with Karl's nagging I haven't taken too much pictures with the baby. I feel like I'm too Haggardo Versoza to show myself to the world or at least document myself. Mia on the other hand, keeps on posing with the baby as if there were no tomorrow.

This is Mia being a real ate. I think she thinks she is older than she really is. She sees me with Emilia on my chest and she wants to do the exact thing even if the baby is heavy for her to carry.

AND less than a month since my delivery Mia the demanding Ate wants a baby brother. Girl, keep on wishing! As I've said before, "Sirado na ang tindahan!".

On Having Two

It's crazy!

I guess it doesn't help that I'm nursing my CS wound, stabilizing my milk supply, reviewing Mia for her exams this quarter and no yayas for both kids(Well, Mia's yaya is leaving tomorrow and the replacement is still arriving next week!). I have been having a cumulative 4-5 hours of sleep every night and this is for a person who loves sleep and sleeps for at least 8 hours a night.

I'm so proud though that after day 1 at home, I have been completely independent from my mom for the graveyard shift. I don't need to 'phone a friend'. Hehe...

What I can be grateful for is that Mia simply adores her baby sister. She feels like she's this big person(as in literally) who can carry the baby around. She loves bottle feeding her (with breastmilk not formula) and talking to her. Karl also helped a lot especially during his paternity leave. Now, I already gave him my blessing not to help during the late nights since he has work and I'm on leave.

I am totally looking forward to this long weekend. Hopefully more hands on deck, since Karl is on holiday does that mean he can help? We haven't discussed it yet:P. Have a nice long weekend everyone. Enjoy!

4 days to go!

And I'm reminiscing how time flew so fast.  Mia is so big now!  Since this baby in my tummy would be our last, can everything be in slow-mo, please?  Here's a video of Mia when she was 2 years old.  I wish we took more videos or maybe we should have just documented her life.

Daughterless

Our daughter has ditched us.  This is the longest we've been apart.  The last time was when I had dengue and even though I was in the hospital, at least I knew she was in the same country.

We spoke via Face Time yesterday and the first thing she said was, "I miss you, Mom...".  I miss you too Achie.  The house is so quiet without you.  And just like how I tell you how to count days, 2 more sleeps until I see you again.  Hope you're enjoying over there, right now, I just have to watch your videos and wait like a nagging girlfriend on my phone that you call/text me for updates.

See you soon!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is just around the corner. Mia won't be here for most of the celebrations but I'm slightly relieved (Bad mother!) since I get to rest a little before baby no.2 pops out(Nickname still undecided!).

Enchanted Kingdom

Waiting in line for the Wheel of Fate (cheesy name I know!)

It has been over 10 years, maybe even 15 since the last time I have been here. Even though Mia has been to different Disneys, Sea World, Universal Studios etc., I still want her to experience what's here in the Philippines. Even though I wasn't in the best condition, I decided to join my teammates and let Mia experience Enchanted Kingdom. Since our group was big, we were able to take advantage of discounts.

Injured Girls

Mia and I are on house arrest.

I started having this funny feeling last Saturday in a wedding we were attending.  I thought I just overate, but the "earthquake" feeling in my tummy didn't go away until I surrendered and went to my OB last Monday.  And to think I was postponing it to Thursday!

Mia on the other hand started with cough and colds.  It has now progressed to fever.  Crossing my fingers that it isn't dengue.  Hopefully it's just a weather thing.

This picture was taken from the wedding last Saturday, Mia's 7th flower girl stint.  I was on my 30th week then.  I'm at 31 weeks now.  We don't want me giving birth right now.  My OB says we need to wait at least 32 weeks to make sure the lungs are fully formed.

My urinalysis results are out and it's leaning towards UTI.  Once this is treated, I hope the trembling shaking thing goes away.  For now, I'm on bed rest day 2.  I would have never thought I'd do this.  Oh well, there's a first for everything.

Flower Girl duties no. 7

Karl got Mia's dress today. I must say that this is probably one of the prettier flower girl dresses that Mia has. I can't wait to see her walking down the aisle in this. 2 weeks to go. I can't wait! Dress by Zandra Lim.

Mia's AVP

For Mia's surprise party, I asked one of my friends to make a video for her.  Yes, at age 5, there was a lot to show from documentation (Let's hope Baby no. 2 will have the same number of photos).

If you haven't seen it, enjoy!

Thank you Tita Keeks for the video!

Surprise Party

It wasn't my idea.  A party, a surprise party, any kind of party for Mia's 5th birthday.

Being an August birthday celebrant, weather is NEVER on our side, but we managed.

Happy Birthday Achie.  You're still not officially 5 yet but I hope for a lot more fun and adventure with you.  Mommy and Daddy love you very much and shobe too :)



Hope you had fun even if you hid behind my butt for a good 5 minutes.  Maybe you were just really really really shocked!

27 Dresses

No, I didn't even watch this movie.

I hope I don't jinx it, but another advantage of having a child early is getting her to be a flower girl in a lot of weddings.  Either Karl and I have a lot of friends, or people don't know anyone with kids at flower girl age, but I think Mia has kinda hit a pretty good quota on weddings.

These are her flower girl stints so far:

1. The first one was in Chicago!  How social!  If you squint, you can see in the background, it says The Chicago School.  Yes, she was a tiny munchkin then and yes, pat on mommy's back for surviving the long haul flight with a toddler.  She was less than 2 years old.  It was in June but the weather was pretty cool so she was all bundled up in the picture taking.

Mia's Rendition of One Direction's What Makes You Beautiful

Last Sunday morning, I caught my daughter struggling to take a video of herself while singing "What makes you beautiful" by One Direction.  I told her that I would take her video and she replied, "Great idea mom!".  Here's a snippet of the song.  She sang the entire thing.  Afterwards, she got dizzy with all the hair flipping she actually told me, "I'm tired from singing, Mom!"  No retakes, all done in one take.

Enjoy!

P.S. She was pointing at an actual door when she sings door in the lyrics and no, I did not teach her the choreography.  She made all those up herself!

Of Posters

When I was younger(a long long time ago...), I had Leonardo Di Caprio's picture on the ceiling of my room.  Blame it on Titanic, but I thought he was such a cutie patootie.  Basically the concept was he was the last person I see at night and first person I see in the morning.  Don't judge.

I had a good talk with Mia last week when she was making careless mistakes on her quizzes.  Karl and I told her that she was better than what she was getting and she should know better (Yes, our daughter is only 5 and we discuss this).  I worked harder on the worksheets I gave her and just hoped she would do better Crossing my fingers that the maid isn't answering them.

Mia the Ballerina

Obviously, I still have a summer hangover.  This picture was taken in Mia's photoshoot for her summer ballet recital.

Our call time was 8am.  They finally got to pose at 12nn, with arguments from the parents since the studio wanted it moved after lunch.  Imagine the fussiness of 10 or so kids under 6 years old.  Insanity!

Mia enjoyed the make up (which didn't come from me, I never knew photoshoot/ performance make up had to be so dark!  All I had were nude/natural shades).

Amazeballs

Awesomeballs!  Okay, I really don't get these balls thing.  First of all, how can balls be amazing or awesome?  Maybe it's a generation gap thing.  Yeah, yeah I'm old.

Moving on, someone posted on my Facebook wall that Mia got featured again.  It made my day- possibly being the highlight of the whole week!

Summer's Over!

Just like that Summer 2012 is over!

Here's a picture of one of the activities Mia had and loved.  I can't believe we're going to big school already.  AND I can't believe we've been yayaless for 2 months and a half.

Props to me and more props to my mom!

Full Circle

My first recital, same studio. Ignore my cousin with the kissy face.



The thing about having a kid relatively early, is that everything happens earlier.  Tomorrow, I'm accompanying Mia to her ballet recital pictorial. 

I can't believe it's with the same studio I went to when I was her age.  The place looks the same, the people are still the same (maybe a little bit more wrinkly).

Of Class Pictures II

So I complained about Mia's pictures before, and I made sure this time around I wouldn't commit the same mistakes.

I think I made sure everything went well, too well, in fact that I had a harm time choosing which pictures to order!

I love her smile on her first picture.  Too bad she was holding a placard!

Of Class Pictures

It's that time of the year again when Mia had to take her class picture in school.

What I like about her school is that the kids can wear their "Sunday Best" and actually pose and have a solo shot.  Last year, I prepped Mia tirelessly on how to smile.  I made sure she had a cute outfit- a crisp white button down polo with a dainty blue skirt.  I made sure her hair was fixed and although minimal, had some accessories on.

Why I Won't Have Pictures with Mia in Her AVP

You might think I'm just such a nag and I ask too much from my husband.

I always say that I take better pictures than my husband.  This is the best proof so far why I believe I am the better photographer.