hide-and-seek

This is my 1.10yo boy's new obsession. He wants to hide inside his Papa's closet and wait for us to find him. He looks at the camera thinking uh-oh he's already been spotted!

He's got all his tricks and wonder, I can't imagine him grow so fast. One more month to go before he turns two.


After the hard-core-ki-at with his Papa, he turns to me for a good read. He supplies some of the missing words while I read the lines to him. "Rayhan and Jerboa sat upon a sandy dune. They sat and counted shooting ____ (tars!), sang verses to the _____ (mmm!)". Can you guys guess what those words are? Hahah! - (from his favorite book A Desert Story.)

How big are you, bellylove?

I found this cool real-world guide comparison (showing vegetable or fruit and a coin!) on how far along i am with my bellylove.



4 weeks
now officially an embryo -- is about the size of a poppy seed.




5 weeks
has grown to the size of a sesame seed, looking more like a tiny tadpole than a human.




6 weeks
as long as a lentil (about 1/4 inch).





7 weeks
having doubled in size since last week, is as big as a blueberry(about 1/2 inch in length).




8 weeks
now comparable to the size of a kidney bean (just over 1/2 inch long) -- is constantly moving and shifting.



9 weeks
has grown to the size of a grape, weighs a fraction of an ounce, and is almost 1 inch long.




10 weeks
now barely the size of a kumquat, weighs less than a quarter of an ounce. (Length: a little over 1 inch, head to bottom.)


11 weeks
now about as big as a fig. (Length: just over 1 1/2 inches, head
to bottom.)




12 weeks
by this time, the size of a lime and weighs 1/2 ounce. (Length: just over 2 inches, head to bottom.)



13 weeks
has reached the size of a medium shrimp and weighs nearly an ounce. (Length: almost 3 inches, head to bottom.)



14 weeks
now as long as a lemon, weighs about 1 1/2 ounces. (Length: 3 1/2 inches, head to bottom.)



15 weeks
has grown to the size of an apple and weighs about 2 1/2 ounces. (Length: 4 inches, head to bottom.)





16 weeks
measures up to an avocado, now, and weighs 3 1/2 ounces. (Length: 4 1/2 inches, head to bottom.)




17 weeks
weighs 5 ounces this week -- about as much as a turnip. (Length: 5 inches, head to bottom.)




18 weeks
as big as a bell pepper and weighs almost 7 ounces. (Length: 5 1/2 inches, head to bottom.)




19 weeks
equals a large heirloom tomato in size and weighs 8 1/2 ounces. (length: 6 inches, head to bottom)




20 weeks
has grown as big as a banana. (Length: about 6 1/2 inches from head to bottom, and 10 inches from head to heel.)



21 weeks
currently the length of a carrot -- weighs about 3/4 of a pound. (Length: 10 1/2 inches, head to heel.)



The little tummy dweller is now 21 weeks old, the length of a carrot! I will have to end it here and surprise you with the coming weeks, so come back soon!

Design Can Change!

Our green little planet is sick.

Big scary facts:

- Global temperature is increasing.

- The polar ice caps are melting.

- In 2003, extreme heat waves caused more than 35,000 deaths in Europe, with 15,000 deaths in France alone.

- Weather events are more extreme.

- Sea levels are rising - Lohachara, once home to 10,000 people was washed off from the face of the Earth.


I have taken the pledge, as a designer, to help make a change.
Know more about sustainable design or Design Can Change.


Let's make this work! Design can change!

i found it: Tummy Adventure Journal II

I finally found the perfect Tummy Adventure Part II Journal for our second baby. I can't wait to get started! I wanted to make something out of the ordinary journal - something different from my first tummy adventure because of course knowing I'll be expecting a little girl.

I bought Tri-Coastal Design Photo Box and Receipt Holder Notebook in vintage print. It was love at first sight the minute I saw their whole collection. It's going to be exciting filling the whole box with happy bellylove memories... stuff I can put in the receipt holder - of course I have to replace 'receipt holder' into something more appropriate!

I can't wait to do my pasting, cutting, ribbon and paper shopping. I might have to do all these when we get back to Cebu. I think there is a wider range in journal-making materials back home and it's definitely friendlier to the pocket. This is all for the love of my second pregnancy, dedicated to our Baby Manghud. Absolute labour of love :)

hairdo and happy tricks

Hoorray today is friday! We woke up at 9am today, an extra hour late. An early morning smile from my boy, a perfect way to start the day. Look how silly he looks with his new hairdo thanks to our Yaya. He hates the barber shop so our Yaya took the time to do it. Sweet!

After Zaiid's morning bath, taken care by my husband, they get down on the floor and do their favorite stunts. Creating new tricks and fun ways to enjoy each other - father and son bonding. And every time, they always manage to break my heart into tiny bits of happiness.

Congratulations to my Mommy!

Congratulations Momi!

My mother was inducted into office as Vice Pres of The Philippine Society of Hospital Pharmacists (PSHP EV Chapter) at Casino Español last March 15 2008. We're proud of you Momila!

By the way, I designed the gown she's wearing hehe. Doesn't she look too gorgeous for a grandma?

solutions for itchy preggy tummy

Dry skin and itchy tummy are two most common complaints of being pregnant. My bellylove started to itch at around 3months and my skin started to feel really dry.

I would like to share my two solutions:

1. After taking a bath, before putting on a towel, I put on Himalaya Herbals Nourishing Baby Oil. Since we've arrived in Dubai, my son has been using Himalaya products and has since been proven perfect on him. Now, I'm getting the benefits from their baby oil myself. Enriched with Olive oil that nourishes, Winter Cherry that improves the skin tone and Aloe vera that moisturizes my skin - I can definitely say it works better than any lotion or baby oil I've tried!

2. Before going to bed, I rub my tummy with Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Tummy Butter for Stretch Marks. It soothes the itchiness and it smells good on you! Plus it claims to help reduce the appearance of stretch marks, although my stretch marks are peacefully hidden somewhere else, I don't mind at all.

So there you have it! :D How about you, what's your secret? :)

i don't feel like working today.

TO DO:
- mock-up for CD cover designs
- Bags of Sens logo design amends
- Prepare final artwork of tri-fold brochure and folder
- new folder design

I'm the type of designer who wants to get things done before any doing any extra unrelated-to-work stuff... like blogging. Instead of getting that list out of my plate, I am composing this entry. I don't feel like working today. I feel tired and lousy and sleepy altogether. Can I just go home and sleep?

Happy Puddings Day!

Today marks the day I married my bestfriend. Happy 4th Wedding Anniversary to The Puddings! A total of 11 years of being in love with each other. Each year becomes sweeter and funnier with our growing family.

I made my husband this photo design and mount it on a frame. He once said to me he likes to have a family photo on his desk one day. This morning, my 1.10 yo was amazed to see how his favorite book "Discover Little Creatures" is inside the frame together with our picture. He was staring at it and pointing at things "an!" "ma!" pa!". He then experiments on the frame and then broke the stand which was made of hard cardboard. Satisfied, he smiled to us... oh the things you do Zaiid!

I MET SCORPIONS!

The legendary old school rock n' roll band Scorpions will perform tomorrow night at Dubai Festival City. Together with the Aircrew team, we went to their Press Conference late this afternoon.

Yes, they were a bit old to be rockin' out but hey, they are Scorpions! Their lead man, Klaus was all-smile and doesn't possess that typical rockstar attitude - well at least to our experience - he was kind enough to stay for us to take pictures with him.

He sang one famous line: "Here I am, rock you like a hurricane!" His sort of teaser for the coming concert tomorrow.

At the end of the conference, we got our Press Pass ID! Whohooo! :D And look who wants to go to the concert. Hahah! Sorry babylove, no toddlers allowed :)

Love Mother's Milk!

I read a news article through my friend, Toting a breast feeding advocate herself, regarding The Philippines getting support all over the world on Milk Code stand. Read full news article here.

At least our government is recognizing the dying breastfeeding culture in our society. I must admit that I have no idea that formula milk companies have violated the Philippine Milk Code.

In one of the videos being highlighted in Boycott Nestle blog, an introduction states: "In 2003, the National Health and Demographic Survey found that only 16% of Filipino Infants were exclusively fed with mother's milk, a sign that the breastfeeding culture is declining."

It breaks my heart to know that some parents actually believed that their babies will turn out geniuses if they use formula, or that formula has more advanced benefits than breast milk. Anything for formula milk for their newborns. Look what evil advertising brings. It twisted the consumer's minds and made facts out of pure marketing.

I have not fully breastfed Zaiid due to my postpartum depression. Unfortunately, I only made it three weeks because I needed to take hard medication which prevents me from breastfeeding. It was a sad way of ending it but some situations needed desperate measures. I was not a perfect breastfeeding mother but I hope I can do better with my second baby.

Love breast milk, no to formula!

bellylove: 20weeks

I'm 20weeks on my second pregnancy now and I feel much better: goodbye morning sickness (I've stopped taking Navidoxine) yey! Although I get nauseous at some days or get really annoyed at little things, my little bump and I are getting through each day with a smile.

For a little bit of fun information, Zaiid has stopped calling my tummy "eggsss" and now refers to it as "ball". And just before we went to bed tonight, he placed his head on my naked belly, embraced it with one arm and gave five pats. Sweet little thing, I know Baby Manghud's going to have the coolest brother he's ever asked for.

Zaiid's Baby Shower Invi-Tag

This is my Baby Shower Invitation-Tag when I had my first pregnancy. I enjoyed composing the invitation note, sewing the little stitches and and one by one naming each of the invitations with names of my girlfriends. At the same time each invitation becomes their name tag with matching blue baby pins! It was a fun labor of love.

I'm not planning to get another baby shower for my second pregnancy - well, not yet. Should I decide I'd get one, I'd like to get big brother Zaiid involved in it. How? Will post soon (self brainstorming coming up!)

To the littlest of The Puddings

You're all tiny kicks and punches since yesterday. What's up little love?

We found a name for you, we hope you will treasure it until you get old...

You, getting old, is too far for my imagination yet. From this point, you are our angel, my little tummy dweller number two, my eggbelly love, kuya Zaiid's little sister, the littlest of The Puddings.

Don't worry about the future, you will like it here. Maybe way much better than my tummy-home. You will see how magnificent God works in nature, the family you have, the home your papa and I provide, and the person you will become.

When we meet finally, all my silly guilts and worry trips shall pass. And I can only think of one thing: to love you with all of me...

typical Sunday

After I got home from work, The Puddings and Yaya head out to Deira CityCentre. That's me and the Baby Kuya doing grocery... well sort of. My husband is at the counter while Yaya took a quick snapshot of us. After we've accomplished all the home needs, we head off to St. Mary's church to thank God for all the blessings he has given us.

What a lovely typical Sunday :)

I think it's a _____!

I woke up excited and anxious today. I couldn't even get myself to decide what to wear! Al Rafa hospital is just at the back of our building, so there's really no need for wardrobe panic. But yes, I was restless, wanting to look extra pretty, silently aching to meet the little dweller in my eggbelly through an ultrasound again.

My 1.10yo came with us and enjoyed fooling around with other kids, smiling to nurses and strangers, or swimming on the floor. Of course I got all the stares because of my petite (extraordinary small-sized) frame with my big belly out. But at least with Zaiid around, he's got everything to put on a show, not just his BabyManghud.

We waited for 20 minutes...

The sonographer amazed us with how she does it. She kept going without saying a word. My husband kept pushing me to ask for the sex of the baby. "Still measuring" she replied. Patience please. While she continued to "measure" our little love, we saw complete set of hands and feet, head, spine, and the heart in an orange and blue thunder-like circles dancing and bumping each other... it was another magical sight.

After all the "measuring", the sonographer said she couldn't see what's between the legs and that the baby is in cross-legged position. "C'mon baby let's see what you got..." and I added "Cge na Baby Manghud kit-a mi beh..." No, she remained poised and secretive. From the sonographer's mouth the words came out:

"I THINK IT'S A GIRL."
My heart skipped a beat. I felt like jumping. I wanted to be sure and asked, "No testicles?"

Although it wasn't a hundred percent statement, my husband and I are convinced. But I don't want to go ahead and shop for little pink stuff anyway, I just want to imagine her in little baby ribbons and flowers. But not over-the-top kind of girly... just a little baby girl holding his big kuya.

I hugged my little boy and kissed him all over. "Nana ta baby girl Zaiid! Baby girl si Baby Manghud!" His reply was "Ar!" - translates to: I'm happy too Mama! I got a red toy car! I think he's as excited as we are.

Swarovski CRYSTALIZED Wedding

We went to Burjuman today for Zaiid's friday ki-at. We found this showcase along the way. Swarovski CRYSTALLIZED Wedding, an exhibition of one-of-a-kind wedding design pieces, embellished with CRYSTALLIZED - Swarovski Elements. Makes you go wow.

Insanely Expensive Cellphone

I passed by their shop a few times already, but last friday I just had to take a closer look...

This is insane! I cannot imagine a cellphone worth this much. Take a look at the digits.. click on the image to enlarge and see how much it costs (that's in AED - Dirhams).

This is VERTU.

"The ceramic used on the earpiece of a Vertu handset is similar to the material used to protect the outside of the Space shuttle." Is it really necessary?

"The 18 carat gold, platinum and diamonds used to encase Vertu's precious material handsets are certified by the Swiss Assay Office." Why? Why would anyone want this much value on a cellphone?

Oh well, I'm just not their target market!

look at zaiid.

Fridays are good. I get to hang out with my boys (the hubby is half the day). Now that summer's here, it's impossible for Yaya and Zaiid to go outside play even at around 10am. The heat is unimaginable...well, think of the desert. So we have all the freedom in the world inside our home. We do his favorite games or read all his books. Today was quite interesting. Zaiid took all of his toys from his froggy storage basket then requests to be inside it. Hahaha what an idea!

He goes in front of the mirror to check on how he looks. You look adorable, crazy-creative Babylove.

back in office life.

I am back in the office. 30 more minutes to go and I'm home. Can't wait.

1. Murali (the printing press guy) came to me this morning to show me the business cards in violet. He said I have written to the envelope "special violet". I cannot in my entire recalling power imagine me writing something like that. But he insisted so I said it was my mistake. The files on the CD however are perfect in blue. Weird. So why would you print them in violet when in fact the files are not?

2. I've heard the news that my bosses (a.k.a the owners of the company) are moving down to Australia but would still continue to run the business. Hmmm... I think no one was convinced.

3. Nauseous again. Bright lights and computers combined is a killer.

starting to love organic toys

This is Zaiid doing his favorite action song of the month, In A Cottage By The Woods. He is hugging (my favorite) rabbit while I sing the last line that goes "come little rabbit, come to me. Happy we shall be..." My mommy and momsie (grandma) taught me this song and now I'm passing it to my kids.

But I want to talk more about the rabbit. Yes he's finally safe with my boy's arms, away from the mean hunter. I fell in love with this miYim. It says organic all over its box. I haven't really thought of going organic with toys, but this is something. Putting the sweet heavenly color and packaging (yes I'm keeping the box) aside, it's on sale. So no budget lectures from hubby this time.

I browsed its website and learned something: Untreated cotton thread is woven into gently flowing fabric... + then brightened with nature's own plants and minerals... = one-of-a-kind stuffed toys with unique color vibrance!

Not bad eh? If I could buy organic stuffed toys next time, at least my family's making Mother Earth smile a little.

it's all about the monkey!

This is what logos should be.
Makes you want to start a collection, or go terno-crazy from bikinis to bags. Never complicated nor boring, these monkeys make money!

If they were rhinoceroses, would Paul Frank still be Paul Frank?


(in Photo: Zaiid waiting for his new Small Paul slippers.)
P.S. My husband said if he was with me shopping, I wouldn't have gotten Zaiid another pair of slippers. Hehe, he was just pointing out some values to me again. Oh sweet love :)

dreaming of baby boys

Feeling a lot better today. With lots of lovin' and playin', to a sick pregnant woman, those are the only medicines she could rely.

I have been dreaming about baby boys lately. The first time was he appeared as Baby Manghud and he was talkative, alert and very assertive. He had an idea that he'd rather have me as his girlfriend than having some kind of a "Britney Spears". I laughed so hard in my dream that in reality, my sister told me I was giggling while asleep.

Does that mean I want another boy? Or do dreams get opposite answers in reality? Hmm... I don't know, but soon we'll see. I can't wait to get an ultrasound this weekend and find out eggbellylove's sex! *daydreaming again...

"Thank You"

This is from my friend Tschai who had survived Dengue last week.

Dear Family and Friends

Last week proved to be a difficult week for me and my family. Some of you may have sent birthday greetings, and some have prayed for my health.
Seeing my love ones harnessing all their strength to be there for me in one of the lowest times of my life gave me the courage to fight back and recover. At first, I thought spending my 30th birthday on the hospital was the worst birthday ever. With all your support and prayers, I realized it was the best birthday gift anyone could ever ask for - the gift of life. I have gone through a lot and I know, because of your support and love, I am given the strength to see it through...
God in his own time will surely shower each of you His blessings. My family will always be forever grateful.

love always,
Chai

Let's Feast!

Who can take away the magic of dancing brings? And even if I'm a bad dancer, or even if Zaiid never dances, we managed to...dance! Today is Mother's Day. I am sick but I am not complaining. I am dancing with my babyloves... we are celebrating eachother. (Of course Papa is the DJ and cameraman.)

Dancing to the tune of Le Festin! :)

(some video captures)

the dancing begins....


hold hands.

'Gen! says Zaiid.
He wants another round.