little tokens of farewell

These are the tokens I'm giving out to my colleagues as my farewell bid. Hopefully they'd remember me as not just the smallest pregnant lady they've seen - but as a friend... I hope I'd leave a hearty mark in their memories :)

These are for the bosses. For Paul who first noticed my talent and gave me a spare chair to join the team. For Lisa who easily gets amused by my works and knows how to push my time to the limit. Cheers to the Halpins!

These are for the two of my favorite friends in the office. Two is such a lonely number I know, but who cares? Their friendship is genuine!

For Kimberly who's never discriminating, every warm and loving - thank you.



For my Tagalog Katokwabots - labsyu ever! I will miss you and your exciting snaks and kayabangan and kasupladahan. (Sorry, can't compose English translation)

our favorite souk

It's almost the peak of summer here and it's been a week of sandy skies. But we don't want Manona to miss the tour at our favorite souk - the Souk Madinat Jumeriah - take note, her flight back to Italy is on that same day! We had to double the fun while she had to triple the panic of last-minute shopping!

Although it was not my first visit, the place never fails to mesmerize me with its ancient arabian theme. It's got this bazaar-feel so it's nothing like any other shopping mall. We bought little tokens, took silly pictures, walked in under the summer heat... we had a great time.


There's one person that was in trance during the visit. It was Momila. She can't even hear me when I called out her name. See, my mommy has a genuine taste for these kinds of stuff. I think she took it from my grandmother, Momsie. I can still remember my grandmother having all these arabian pillows, shawls. Anything I see in Madinat is already familiar to me... taken from my early childhood memories. No wonder I'm loving this place too. Mom's famous line that day was "pwede diri ko mo puyo?" ("can I live here?").

Dinner at Kimberly's

It was her idea to have dinner at her place before I leave Dubai. She was our General Manager before she became our friend. But even then, she had the magic of staying sunny despite the pressure she got from our boss. She cracks jokes and tells "weird-story-of-the-day" before each boring office day ends. No room can stay dull having a Kimberly Tully around.


I requested my dear Manona to cook us her special Chicken with Mushroom before her flight to Italy that night. I can't help it, I had to let them taste how good it was! And indeed, they all had their fill. Kimberly made her famous Lasagna and for dessert she made Death by Chocolate. Well you can just imagine me unbuttoning my skirt!

While us girls were busy with Kimberly's Scrapbook show-and-tell, them boys were babysitting Zaiid! My son felt the warmth of the Tully's and he didn't throw any tantrum. He even forgot to ask for his milk. He played with Karen's husband, Paolo and insisted on playing "blocks" with him throughout dessert break. He fetch stones for Kimberly's husband, Mark and gave out fake laughs, ran around... it was a long, cozy night.


I gave Karen and Kimberly little tokens of thank-you's. Kimberly gave out a sweet sob for me. I would definitely miss their company. Thanks for the friendship guys, will miss you.

how big are you, bellylove? (25weeks)

To get on with the cool real-world guide comparison (showing vegetable or fruit and a coin!) on how far along i am with my bellylove, here's how big it is this week:


25weeks
Bellylove rivals the average rutabaga in weight -- about 1 1/2 pounds. (Length: 13 1/2 inches, head to heel.)


Baby Manghud is a boy!!! And now I can make this as a conclusion, getting all his frequent jabs and acrobatic moves, his midnight tickles, my lazy noon eyes... you little rascal, I can't wait to hold you!

I am being too pregnant.

3oth of June marks the last day of my office life (temporarily that is.) and 8th of July marks the day we fly back to Cebu.

That makes me really excited and depressed at the same time. How can I be of two feelings? Is that possible?

Besides dealing with tight deadlines, meeting clients, making sure I'm on track, getting stressed... Besides getting frustrated about not getting things done yet: preparing for Zaiid's second birthday, preparing my goodbye tokens, shopping for pasalubong... Besides getting a bit scared once in awhile knowing I'd soon go through the horrible labor drama and c-section pains... Besides having a long TO DO list before we fly back to the Philippines... Besides being down, to be away with my husband again, knowing he will miss Zaiid every second of his day...

But I am excited. Excited to have another babyboylove, to recreate motherhood experiences again, to have given the chance to do better as a mother. Excited to become a full-time mama officially to my two boys. I am excited to meet up old friends again... To be back home in Cebu... Excited to show Zaiid anything Dubai hasn't got...

Maybe I'm just being too pregnant (if there's such a thing).

Oh, Brother! It's a Boy!

I went to see my doctor today for an early prenatal checkup (scheduled this Saturday). I was at the office when I experienced a severe pain at the lower right-hand side of my belly. I had to rush to the hospital to see if I'm doing well and if our little tummy dweller is fine.

The doctor had to do a quick ultrasound to see if there are no internal bleeding. Thank God all's perfectly well.

While she was moving the scanner, of course I had to tell her we hadn't really got a straight answer if our baby's going to be a boy or girl when we had our last ultrasound.

And to our delight and surprise, she showed us what little boys are made of.
Oh, Brother!

It was very unexpected. We had planned a baby girl's name which we plan to keep secret until the baby's out... But since it's not going to be a she - I might as well tell you what was suppose to be "her name" It's Yeemi! We loved the sound of it... Zaiid and Yeemi :) I even got "her" a Tummy Adventure journal - good thing I haven't really started it. Maybe it was instinct and that I didn't really feel like writing my second tummy journey on a set of pinks and flowers! It was just me being crazy for journal collection.

All in all, we thank God BabyManghud's doing well inside me. When we got home, I told my 1.11yo boy he's going to have a baby brother soon. He embraced my tummy and ran to get his new book "Oh, Brother!" brought all the way from Cebu by Momila. He demands a story from me. Although the pain was still there, I was at peace. We lied in bed and I read to him. I can't believe I'm going to have two little boys! Oh, brother I can't wait!

welcome Momila!

Momila arrives in Dubai! It was a perfect timing: Manona's here for her round-2 visit, we're coming back to Cebu together, and...well, it's just that there's no better time than now. Even if it's going to be the peak of Dubai's summer, we'll all have a wonderful time together.

My boy was all-smiles waking up this morning to see her Momila. To see a total of 6 toy cars plus one motorbike toy (not to mention two more books!). It was pure bliss for him. He haven't got any time to act on his shyness around her. After a few hours of warm up, he's all over her.

Welcome to our little home in Dubai, Mommy!

celebrating the man i married

To my first, my last, and one and only boyfriend - the man I married - my best friend. I love you.

Thank you for everything that you are - including some annoying parts because they make me love you more.

Thank you for the "me" I am becoming, you are responsible for that (well, I hope you got no complaints with the results).

Thank you for our family. For keeping us safe and proud for the things that we own and hope for. Thank you for the dreams you weave for us, for creating the best in The Puddings. We love you hon, we lovelovelove you PapaGoy, happy father's day.

how big are you, bellylove? (24weeks)

To get on with the cool real-world guide comparison (showing vegetable or fruit and a coin!) on how far along i am with my bellylove, here's how big it is this week:

24weeks
Bellylove has caught up with an ear of corn in size and gained about 1/4 pound since last week. (Length: almost a foot.)

My tummy's getting heavier of course, but my appetite is not as big as I use to while I had my first baby. Maybe she's going to be petite like her mama but as talented as his papa and as loving as her kuya. Above all these maybes, we just hope for a healthy baby.

Finding that Perfect Nanny

I got a newsletter from babycenter.com that talks about the signs of a bad nanny or babysitter. Finding the "perfect" nanny for your kid is tough. If only we all could be stay-at-home mums while earning as much as we would having day jobs.

My son had 4 nannies before settling to our current yaya. Although our first one was good, we had to let go of the first one due to some health problems. As a new mother, I learned a lot from her as she had 4 kids of her own. The second one was my husband's yaya. Can you believe that? She only lasted for a night and requested she'd like to quit the job because she can't carry my baby anymore. The third came as a shock since she was younger than me and that she just came from a car accident and that her mother forced her to get this job. So I let her go of course. I got another yaya whom I find it funny in terms of her beliefs and the way she does her thing. But she was good although I couldn't keep her long enough because she had a family business to take care of.

At 6months old, my son finally got his Yaya Amy. She had a son of her own too and I can sense that she takes care of my kid by heart and not just because it's her job. I know that Zaiid is getting all the fun, vitamins, and care he need while we're away. Our family is blessed to have her and we're proud to have brought her here in Dubai with us.

In photo: Yaya's yaya-friends from left to right - Yaya Amy (carrying Zaiid), Bing, Ate Dory (carrying Rashid), and Ruby

growing wonders

I prayed for a baby after being married for a year. I wanted to prove to myself I can be a mother despite my extraordinary small figure. I wanted to prove to the world I too can have the right to love another human being who is my own flesh and blood. Was I being selfish? But the heavens were kind to me and gave me more than what I had prayed for. A healthy, kind-hearted, smiling baby boy. That very moment of smelling him for the first time made me complete, made me who I wanted to be. Even if it wasn't perfect - not having my husband on that special day - I am still amazed at how the wonders of life turn out to be perfectly simple, laid out in front of you. Thank you for choosing me, Zaiid.

As we are expecting another bundle of pudding, I pray I can be twice as I had hoped I am to my family. I lovelovelove you Baby Manghud with all that I am. See you soon.

snoring babylove

We went to Zaiid's doctor to complain about his snoring. He snores every now and then but just recently, we noticed that he's having breathing difficulties - as if he's running out of air. He was disturbed and was never comfortable in one position.

This worries us a lot because he may not getting enough rest. I thought that this might be because of his overweight issue, and not something scarier like sleep apnea (God forbid!).

His doctor advised us to get him into a higher sleeping position (2-3 pillows up) and of course lose some weight. Right now he's got 6kilos excess.

We hope he'd shed off those extra weight sooner. It's not going to be an easy job but we will try harder than the last few months.

little bookworm

Our little boy loves books - I think he got that from me. He's got a total of 27 favorite books on his shelf. We needed to get him new books after he has become too familiar with his old books that he tore them all out of boredom. And, we need new books to bring along on our plane ride back to Cebu next month.

We all had a great time at Borders, especially my son who was so happy with the trip to the bookstore. I got him "I was So Mad" his all-time favorite Little Critter, "What Do You Love", and Baby Einstein's "See and Spy Shapes".

He doesn't want to leave the place anymore even if I showed him that we already bought his new books.

how big are you, bellylove? (23 weeks)

To get on with the cool real-world guide comparison (showing vegetable or fruit and a coin!) on how far along i am with my bellylove, here's how big it is this week:

23weeks
Bellylove weighs about as much as a large mango -- just over a pound. (Length: more than 11 inches.)

What's in tune with this whole comparison is that I just ate, finally, the manggang hilaw I have been craving for. Asluuuum kaayo yum! It was given by yaya's boyfriend - funny, it seemed I enjoyed more than his girlfriend hahah!

View the past weeks' comparison development.

While the littlest of the puddings is at 23 weeks, the BabyKuya is now 23months old.

oversized

My boy before bedtime wearing my jacket looking like a rockstar.

lobby smiles

We missed the Friday fun at Mercato because we couldn't find any taxi. And there's no way we would extend another 30minutes in the summer heat. We ended going back to our flat, cooled down a little at the lobby still with full of smiles before going back to our room.

the art of crying

He cried a bit when his Papa had to leave for work. And he realized he's getting attention so he increases the crying - faking it just so he can observe our reaction. I carried him in an instant (which is really what he wants since he's getting less of this now with my growing belly, poor little thing.) while his Te Nana got the camera to record his acting.

It was cute and silly at the same time. He masters the art of a fake cry - I think it's a good thing, at least it's a fake one. Ten minutes passed, he then asked for a SpongeBob theme song lullaby and milk...time for your afternoon nap little bugoy!

My favorite Pregnant Shirt

This is my all-time favorite hubby pambalay t-shirt.

1. because it's got whales in it and i love wales

2. because i like seeing my husband wearing it, it makes him look more... 'whale-y' kind of man (i don't have to explain that right? it's just one of those things that you alone can understand what you mean)

and finally 3. because i feel so comfortable in it every time i got a tummy dweller.

In photo: 7months pregnant with my first baby, a.k.a Tambibol.

We find this funny. It's like this shirt represents us, The Puddings - well, the whale family version. On top is Papa Goy (my big babywhale), next in line is Me, then followed by Kuya Zaiid (see how he's 'rounder' than I am haha!), and finally our the littlest of the puddings! And just so you'll know this is an ukay-ukay shirt hihi!

In photo: 5months pregnant with my second baby, a.k.a Baby Manghud.

Happy 1.11 babylove...

My little boy turns 1 year and 11 months old today. One more month to go before his 2nd birthday, before we fly back to Cebu. It's going to be a new adventure for him.

In photo: Zaiid with his yaya, all smiles before bedtime.

team badge giveaway

whohooo! I've made all 13 badge designs :) I can't show you the designs yet, will post as soon as I've got them. I hope they will like it! The photo on top were the badges I gave out to the team before I left Xlibris. Each were unique with its own characters chosen by my teammates themselves. They even made it into a shirt!

*meee hapeee!

the badges of motherhood pride

This was my favorite bag. It carried 4 badge designs I made. I was so inspired by the fact that I am a mother and that I have the most precious littlest being in my life.

(Now it made me think of getting my officemates some badges before I go as a thank-you token. Hmm.. not a bad idea)

Manona's Round 2 Visit

My mama came to see us all the way from Italy for the second time this year. How cool is that?

In photo: Zaiid, who will be turning one-year-and-11-months old tomorrow, with his Manona busy playing with his block castle.

how big are you, bellylove? (22weeks)

To get on with the cool real-world guide comparison (showing vegetable or fruit and a coin!) on how far along i am with my bellylove, here's how big it is this week:

22weeks
Bellylove has stretched to the size of a spaghetti squash and weighs almost a pound. (Length: nearly 11 inches)

11 inches less I presume since the sonographer has left a comment "This baby is going to be small - small in height" last time we went to get an ultrasound. Ha! Just look at the mother!

View the past weeks' comparison development.