Blessed. Happy. Grateful. Loved.

That has been my YM status the past week, and it couldn't be more true.

In the frenzy of the holiday season, I always hark how things get so expensive (shrimps were expensive and it forced me to change our Christmas eve menu at the last minute), how I have so many cousins to give gifts to, how my cousins now have children of their own to give more gifts to, how traffic is crazy and how, in spite of the long weekends and holidays, we never get to just chill at home.

But still, I wouldn't trade running around the metro to meet friends, old and new; madly dashing to the bazaar and the mall, mall to the bazaar to buy some more gifts and staying up till 2 am to wrap gifts for anything.Dec 27 at High Street with college friends

Dec 19 at home with UP friends

Dec 5 playdate for south-based N@w mommies and kids

I see Christmas in our toddler excitedly tearing the gift wrapper to unearth yet another Thomas item.

I see Christmas in my extended family trying to keep tradition alive. It's not exactly easy gathering members from various families in one place on Christmas Day. But we do it, no matter how cramped the space, no matter where. When we were younger, we used to spend Christmas and birthdays at Luneta!

I see Christmas as the kids get bigger every year. I treasure this moment because sometime soon, these kids will have parties of their own and we'll not have a picture as priceless as these.

Merry Christmas to all and cheers to the coming year!!!

May 2011 be good to all of us.

Mad About Gift Wrapping: Polkadots

I know, i know. The true meaning of Christmas isn't in the gift/s we give, or receive. But I want my gifts to look pretty, period. So I made the extra effort wrap them up nicely, no matter how small they may be.

This year, I chose polka dots. They come in green, red and gold. Love it!

These are some of the gifts I wrapped until 2 am.

Now, on to the Christmas eve menu.

Start of Christmas Parties

Still groggy from the office party last night (not used to late nights anymore--traffic at Coastal Road was terrible at 1 am), I woke up still excited for our little boy. Today marks the first of the many parties we'll attend this holiday season.

This was a kiddie party sponsored by his lola's (former) office.

He still was afraid of many things-- the life size Buzz Lightyear standee, the loud party music, the mascot --and at one point I was so sleepy I was about to doze off. But as I stare at my son playing with other kids, I know I'll go to great lengths to bring him to many more parties no matter how tired I was.

This is Christmas in the eyes of my child.

Just When Did I Get This Big?

Looking at our party photos, I couldn't help but think: when did I get this big??? I should start doing something about this...soon!

p.s. look at my arms!

4 Years Together

It's our anniversary today and I can't wait to come home. I was browsing through FB this morning looking at old photos and saw this one taken about 2 years ago. Our boy was still a baby!

Happy Anniversary to my husband, the father of this adorable little boy. =)

Missing my Baby

I'm in the beautiful island, but I still miss my baby!
Mommy is coming home in a few days. See you!

Our House Blessing

After a month of living in the house, we had it blessed last November 20, a day after the man of the house's birthday.

I didn't want to labor in the kitchen so we had the little party catered. The priest was from the parish, a three-minute walk from the house and I gave Daddy the liberty of whom to invite since this was also essentially his birthday celebration.

I woke up at 2 am that day to finish attaching ribbons to the candles

Our photo nook

Patiently waiting for the event to start

The buffet table

The happy family

Father going out the back door to bless the back and side of the house

Our guests


We hope to fill our house with many, many happy memories.

The Jollibee Magic

My son loves their spaghetti and chicken and can eat one order in one sitting, without any help from me. He just loves this bee as seen from this photo.

I miss you baby! Mommy is coming home soon.

Choo Choo Train: His First MRT Ride

This has been a long overdue plan. My son is in love with trains and we figured the long holiday is the perfect day to ride the MRT.

We parked at Ayala and walked to the MRT station

The ride up the escalator gave him the thrill, as always

Buying the tickets with daddy

O, yummy! Donut stall at the station

Forgive the mommy for not arranging the shirt before taking the photo but it was hot!

Savoring the first few minutes. we felt he was a bit scared here.

Checking the view

We stayed at Trinoma for lunch and rode the MRT back to Ayala.

Ice cream to cap off the memorable ride

Ninang Claire was on the same train! Had this picture taken at SM Makati.

Managing a Household

We've been at the house for a little over a month now and while I can say we're enjoying playing "house" with our little boy, the realities of running a household is creeping up on me.

Like, I used to take for granted that when we get home, food is ready and all we got to do is eat. Now, I try to make a list of what items to buy from the market, when and how often do we need to replenish our food supplies and give suggestions for our weekly menu.

Now, I need to check on what day the garbage truck picks up our trash, how many days we consume the water in the tank, and when Maynilad will finally flow into our home.

I check dust on top of the refrigerator, check if the garbage can has been emptied, scrub our bathroom floor and segregate our clothes ( we used to just throw them all in one hamper).

Before sleeping, we check that the doors are locked, left over food has been stored properly and our beds are ready for the sleep we long for.

On weekends, we make a general check. Do the bulbs need to be replaced? Are the plants doing well? Are there things we still need to buy for the house?

Just the other day, I was planning to cook fried rice for breakfast but found out we have no syanse!

Another huge headache is managing your househelp. I plotted the daily ang weekly tasks in an excel file but sadly, it's not being followed.

Hay, buhay misis!

I could go on and on but I have a household to run.

Gottago!

New Addition to the Clan

Johan is I think the 70+ member of the Tan family. He was baptized a few weeks ago with family members (and his parents' friends) in attendance.

I helped his mommy make the reception venue look prettier.

The banderitas I cut out

the candy buffet area

Plain cupcakes we decorated with themed cut out toppers


my son and the backdrop

Welcome to the Christian World, Johan Matthew!

My Mandaue Foam Loot

2 views of our living room. I had to post the first one eventhough the ottoman isn't there because that's the shot with my beloved sunburst mirror.

A few posts ago, I mentioned my new happy place that is Mandaue Foam.

I'm now posting my loot from that initial visit:

leaf printed throw pillows. the base is a shiny brown and has printed green and burgundy vines on it. looks perfect on our couch although the husband complains we have too many pillows already. This is P280 each and with the 20% opening discount, a real steal.


The ottoman is the perfect pair to our bright orange cleopatra seat. It is pale yellow with thin striped of yellow and green all over. This is about P980 less the discount already.

Our DFA experience (courtesy lane)

It was so efficient this is one of the few times I was happy with government service.

The husband works for a government agency and so we had the privilege to use the courtesy lane at DFA. Courtesy lane applicants need not make an appointment by phone or online. Just print out a filled up form and bring your requirements and you can walk in at any date. Just go in the morning because they will not accept applicants after 10 am.

enjoying his breakfast

We were there at 7.40 am after a quick breakfast at Jollibee Macapagal Avenue (northbound). Since this is the route we take everyday, I know parking at McDonald’s right in front of DFA will be full so we opted to park at the vacant lot across S&R. Parking was P30.

We entered thru gate 3, along Macapagal. Showed the guard husband’s government ID. Then we proceeded to the 2nd floor. There was another waiting line but since we had a toddler in tow, we were asked to line up to have our documents/requirements checked right away.

For government employees, make sure you have a copy of the govnt employee ID to be attached to the application of all of you in the group. For married employees, only the spouse and unmarried children can go in with the employee and for single employees, his parents.

the TV on the background flashes the numbers on screen. we waited for about 20mins for our number to be called

Only 1 counter was open when we arrived but it’s before 8 am so that wasn’t bad at all. Our number was 7009. Counter 10 opened about 5 minutes after we arrived and began processing applicants from number 7001 so we were just the ninth in line. Again, not bad at all. I thought we have to wait for our 7009 number to be called from the first number I saw on the board which was 5001.

Took us only a few minutes at the counter. After which we paid at Cashier 3, in the same room. Our processing fee was P1,200 (rush service) since we used the courtesy lane. There is no option for the regular processing of P900.

Jared and his dad playing while mommy gets ready to fall in line at cashier 3 on the background

After paying (we were the 3rd in line when I lined up), we were asked to go to the other room to have our photos taken. Again, a privilege of using the courtesy lane is that you have 5 photo booths assigned just to you so when we got there, it was out turn again. The lady was so friendly, even playing with Jared’s Thomas the train that I felt he was at ease when he had his photo taken. He was smiling a lot for the camera but reaches out to take a look at his photo right away so the lady tried 6 times until she got an acceptable photo. Jared wasn’t smiling then and his unruly hair looked like a bird’s nest. =)
mommy checking Jared's passport info on the PC. this was after his photo was taken

For courtesy lane applicants, there is also a separate line for courier service. Fee is the same at P120/applicant but since I needed to hold on to my passport for my flight on Dec 9, they did not cancel my old one there. There is a delay in processing of passports so ours are scheduled to be released on Dec 6. In the event my passport won’t be ready by then, I can still use my old one which was a great thing.

We were done by 9 am and still had the rest of the day to celebrate hubby’s birthday.

Tips:
1. Eat. You don’t how until what time you will be inside so eat. Heads are cooler when stomachs are full. =)
2. Be patient. Expect lines and lots of waiting.
3. If you have kids in tow-bring toys and milk. The waiting areas are cool and there is even space for kids to roam around and play a bit so no worries son this part.
4. Have you passport delivered. Since I am picking up our passports instead of having them delivered (see above), I checked the passport claim line and it is long. Good luck to me when I pick up my passport. There is no courtesy lane here. Pay the courier fee and avoid the line, the heat and the hassle of going back for the passport.
5. Go early. People I feel are generally more cheerful in the morning.hehe.