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!