our time off

I felt that my 2.4yo son neened some time off from his home routine. The mall is not an option because he'd end up getting a new toy car and drowning in milk in his stroller. We opted for the beach!

With just the two of us, (sort of. We hitched from my mother's Thanksgiving Day Out for her staff at El Salvador Beach Resort) my little adventurer spoke new words, discovered the patterns of the waves, burried a car with his sandpit, meeting a cat-friend. He was at his best - giving out smiles, playing by the poolside, discovering (and this time walking) on his feet on the sand.

When it was time to go, he happily ran to the car as if saying "I missed you car!" Haha! Maybe we should do this more often.

let's go to sleep

Getting my precious me-time, 2-3 hours a day (every afternoon) means a lot to me. It's when I can come face to face with my laptop,  or plan a week's budget, or just chat away with my friends without a 2.4yo mister who wants to see himself in PhotoBooth over and over again. This is when my eldest gets an afternoon nap, my time of peace and quiet.

Putting Zaiid to bed is a tedious job and it takes skill and there's no way anybody can put him to bed. He'll have a list of things to do before he's finally off to dreamland: 

1. read-me-a-book "gen! gen!" translates to "again". This includes about 5 favorite books until he's settled for his Cars: old, new, red, blue.
2. "man!" - requests a bottle of milk 2-3 times in a row.
   
3. sing-me-a-song "gen! gen!" 
4. or draw-me-a-(spider, car, bridge, fish)

Yes, it takes patience and full commitment. Well, that's part of the parenting package isn't it? Despite our bedtime routine, I feel this is the best time we bond together. We crack some tickles here and there, giving me hugs, wet-kisses all over... and calls me with the sweetest voice. He's not trading one moment of bedtime with mama. One more story, he turns his back on me, with one hand on my shoulder and one leg on my body, he snores happily.

mini kiddie halloween party

My mommy-girlfriends got a day together just for kids to play dress-up for the halloween. It was a short happy afternoon date with the kids, where they get to hang out and be with each other, play ball, run around like silly little people.

My husband and I thought he'd best be a wrestler, wearing only a tight underwear. But showing the rest of the diaper is not going to work, so we've decided he'll be a rockstar instead. Problem solved!

 Happy Halloween! :)

hello world, i am Akii

He is the newest member of the puddings... our little bright angel, we welcome baby Akii! He is such a strong willed baby who in less than a week can move his head from left to right, who enjoys the voices around him especially his big brother's. He cries when his milk has been delayed by seconds, when he feels wet just by a tiny bit, when wants to be swayed to sleep.

Finally he's here. Our family won't be the same - more mess, more happiness that's for sure. We love you Akii, we can't wait to show you how beautiful life is.

visiting hours

He wanted me to take a picture of his toy too. Wearing a little sumbrero, he calls me again and again to show me his new tricks and funny acts. I missed you Zaiid!

My 2.2yo son visits me on weekends ever since the doctor advised me a complete bed rest. In the meantime he lives with his grandparents to give me that full rest. It's never been easy being separated with him. The guilt is always there, the missing, the endless cravings of his laughter... it always seemed I'm less of a mother to him. But I know love understands more than we can. We know that these sacrifices are rooted from love itself for our BabyManghud and that no matter how far we are from each other, our love for our family never stops growing.

Soon these visiting hours will come to an end.

The Tummy Adventure Journal II

Presenting... The coming of BabyManghud - Tummy Adventure Part 2!

Since I'm exclusively resting in bed for the past two weeks, I have no excuse of not having to finish this project. I had a great time cutting out pictures and utilizing whatnot I can find. This is truly my labor of love dedicated to my second pregnancy :) (Photos below: some pages from the journal)

waiting is good.

Waiting is good. It makes you think of those times where nothing seems to fit in one scoop of "now" or "the present" and then you realize those panic attacks are just making you jump just because.

After having experienced two nights at the labor room, praying and hoping our BabyManghud won't come out a preterm baby, I am taking one day at a time. Each day is a big blessing to us. And I am very proud to have one strong little dweller, agreeing that at least we'll wait and hang on to the day PapaGoy comes home - he will be 38weeks old, a full term baby.

Despite having this blessing, I still can't drop the guilt: of not being able to physically care for my 2yo, of missing the fun being together. I miss him terribly but there is only so much that I can do. What kind of mother am I? But I know this is only temporary and that things will be better for our family sooner than I think. As long as I keep my sanity and delete all negative emotions...

Hang in there puddings :)