Be well, birthday boy!

Summer was coughing one Thursday night with a slight fever. She wasn't able to go to school the following day. Come friday night, her fever hit 40.1 and no Tempra can make it go down, even when I wipe her joints with almost frozen face towel. Good thing her pedia texted back right away and instructed me to give her Dolan, which was magical!

Omar started feeling bad over the weekend. We had massage service for everybody on a Tuesday night.

Until Winter then started to cough too and got fever. I then brought the kids to the pedia. They were prescribed antibiotic, together with meds for cough and colds and nebulizer for Summer. Summer got well while Winter still got on and off fever. I then brought him back to the pedia a week after and he was prescribed a stronger antibiotic and had his x-ray and dengue test. I was told that if after the new antibiotic was given to Winter, he must not have fever or else he will then be admitted to the hospital.

And he still had fever. I texted the doctor and he texted back to admit Winter to the hospital. Knowing the long line for room admission, I called the hospital first to put his name on wait list while waiting for his test results the other night. Dengue test result was negative. X-ray result was cleared. The doctor recalled his orders and instructed us to bring him back instead to the clinic the following day for a follow-up check.

We went to the clinic today with a hyper boy. We went home and was instructed to just proceed with his medicines. And while I'm typing this down, he's starting to get warm again.

He's turning 3 on Monday. I hope he gets well by then. The environment nowadays are full of virus and bacteria, might be due to climate change as well. For my kids' sake and for my contribution to help save the environment, I will go look for eco friendly products for my gift for Winter so I can train my kids as well to love God's creation. But you have to get well first Winter.

Not sick, lots of gift, a happy birthday, a happy birthday celebrant, a happy mom! That's me!

It's dream changing.

With the coming baby, life will never be the same again. We are expecting it. It is not just life changing, it's dream changing as well.

We will be eliminating soon a wish from the list and will be adding a new one - to pay off our loan.

With this, we have to work harder, tighten our belts, and know our priorities. Cost cutting is a daily practice now at home. Conserve water, conserve energy, and buy wisely. Good thing I was trained well with my mom on how to negotiate in the market. Getting the best quality goods in the most affordable cost.

It seems it's not only me who are into this practice. From my e-group, they've been discussing a lot about financial seminars. I will have to try the site offering IWillTeachYouToBeRich articles, tips and training. If effective, I will share it with them. Let's get inspired with all the testimonies.

When I get rich, I will pay off our loan and send both my and Omar's family to a trip. I just love travelling. I will help fulfill my family's dream - scratching some off their wish list. And putting enough savings into my kids' accounts which they can only touch when they reach 18.

It's nice to dream. Wake up, Jade! Time to work now to fulfill those dreams.

Coming soon...

... our new baby.

We are counting the days before we get to see our new baby, hopefully in the next four months, in time for my or Omar's birthday. Summer is excited too. Winter has no idea at all but I'm excited too for Winter.

It's both exciting and scary.

I can foresee enlargement of our overhead cost. Omar and I have to work double time this time and have to tighten our belt for the coming baby. Budget will have to be revised, an envelope have to be thicker, an envelope have to be thinner, an envelope have to go, a new envelope coming in. Will my incoming finances be increasing too? Omar please read my blog =). Have to get some side income too, best time to hit the stock market seminar for ideas and suggestions.

Life is stressful now - Orders, canvas, purchases, payments, due dates. I pray too for a peaceful married life for the next four months. May we learn to compromise with each other. With that, I posted a photo of me and Omar on my facebook, a sort of reminder to be peaceful with each other.

We're thankful for the support we're getting from the family. We couldn't make it through without them. Everybody's excited too.

And nope, I am not pregnant. We are just soooo blessed.

January, March, April then June

Those are the months when we need to renew our car registrations.

I only have a car, Omar has lots. I register our car with our funds. Omar registers his cars with his own funds hehehe. Along with it are the car insurance. Good thing Karcraft Autoworks is accredited with insurance companies and accepts writing policies for car insurance. We get to choose among the insurance companies who gives the best plans with the best price.

So getting the best car insurance is just like being under the hands of car accident attorney Austin.

Stay safe with the trusted one. Be confident.

O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath – Personal Injury Lawyers – 808 West Avenue, Austin, TX. 78701 – 512-494-9949

Who got a spare?

Car seats. I need car seats. I need car seats in Canada.

I have a 6 year old girl and a 2 year old boy. They are not used to using car seats here in the Philippines since I don't own one here. But we will be needing it for our upcoming vacation in Canada. I'm confident my 6 year old girl will follow my instructions to take her car seat, I am not just confident with my 2 year old boy. But I'm hoping that he'll follow his sister. I just need to be creative with my boy and provide snacks and toy with his car seat.

I used to be my brother's navigator whenever we travel. Back on the days when GPS were unheard of. I like reading maps and taking alternate routes. But having to take the back seat with the kids, I cannot remember the many routes in and out our house in Toronto and we've been there for 4 times already. Thus, no need for me to take the DMV test. I left that to my sister who took practice exams when she went to study and work there for 2 years. Plus, my brother applied for an international driver's license here in the Philippines which he can use whenever we travel.

Anyways, please I need car seats. Please do let me know if I can borrow from you or if you know somebody whom I can borrow. Thanks a lot!

Visa renewal: CHECK!

Positive thoughts attract positive results!

Mom and Dad will be sponsoring another trip to Canada for our summer get-away this year. We skipped our annual tradition last year and we're having one big time this year. Woohoo!!!

Flight tickets were issued already. We got promo tickets and it was a good deal.

My family's visa renewal application was just picked up today. I'm thinking positive! We will surely get our visa. We must! Summer's been packing her carry on bag since January.

It was just sad that Jenjen and Ate Bing cannot join us. Jenjen's having her first day at college a week after our scheduled flight to Canada. She's taking Psychology at La Salle. Good thing the review she attended last summer paid off. It must have been just like taking New York gmat prep.

And just when Jenny finished filling up her application forms for her renewal and just when I got her manager's check from the bank for her visa fee and bank certifications, she received an email from Canada asking her to submit her passport for visa issuance for her permanent resident application. She took her masters at Canada for a year and worked at the ombudsman of Toronto for a year too. And just when she was on her way back did she apply for permanent residence.

Oh I'm so excited to pack our stuff. It'll be my first to travel without a kid on my lap since I gave birth. Scared of expenses. It's an all expense paid trip - from tickets to accommodation to food and trips. But how can I stop from shopping? I just have to focus on our pending home loan. Sheessh.... just have to take lots of pics this time. At least that's for free.

Looking forward to a feast!

My BIL, who is a chef, got promoted. What was best was the company opened a position just for him. He works as a sous chef at Ascot Hotel in Makati until the executive chef resigned. He is now the acting executive chef. But it's been a bit too long already and they have to formalize everything. In their company, the next position from the sous chef is executive chef. He doesn't want to accept the position executive chef since he wanted to be able to pass through the proper titles. He'd rather stay as the company's sous chef. But the company had other plans. Instead, they opened up a new position just for him - executive sous chef. Just perfect!

In celebration of his promotion, he's treating the family for a dinner on Sunday. Nope! Not in any restaurant. Their family loves to cook. The family loves to eat and drink. He's going to cook for us on Sunday. We're having a feast. I heard the menu includes crab, prawns and clams.

And since he's into drinking, I've already thought of the best gift for him. I discovered another drinking t-shirts. It's not the first time I encountered such shirts and shirts like that always reminds me of him so why not add one to his collection. Superb!

The interior defense dines under the sabotage.

Yesterday and tomorrow.

If I could only turn back the time, it would have been easier to go back to my pre-pregnancy look. It would be nice and fun to dress up with all my accessories.

It was 5 years ago when Omar and I went home to our ransacked home.

We lived in an apartment then, just the two of us. We both go to work at day and would stay at Bulacan on weekends.

That night, we met up after work and played badminton. After the game, we went to Sta. Ana, where he grew up, to attend the town fiesta. We were just about to have dinner when his phone rang informing us that somebody broke into our house. We weren't able to eat dinner anymore and headed home. When we got home, the door was broken and our stuff were everywhere. They took all our jewelries, accessories, watches, and cash. All the jewelries my Mom gave me, poof! They were all gone.

If we only applied for the wireless security system and got even the cheapest copper package, we could have saved everything.

In the future that we get to have our own home, I'll see to it that I'll have them installed. It's easy and they work fast, I'll just have to call their toll-free number at 877-470-2751. I just hope to have our new home soon so I could still get the 2 free keychain remotes when I place my order.

Keep in mind, security is the priority, specially when it comes to your family.

Something nice.

I've been hitting the kitchen lately with the cookbook I bought just before summer.

It so happened that I now live where I work, giving me enough time to prepare dinner when I get home and extra pairs of hands for Winter while I'm preparing the food. Aside from the fact that Cherry almost prepared everything and all I just have to do is to put everything in the pot.But with Mom and Dad coming back, I don't think I'll have the guts to cook for them. I'm good knowing that it'll just be my nephews who'll get to taste my experiments, but not my folks. I'll be scared!

But maybe if I get western furniture like the photo above and my oven, I might consider ;).

Excited.

Notice the big change in my blog? Do you like my new background?

I was blog hopping and noticed these cute backgrounds until I clicked on the logo and found myself looking for my own. And what's more, the site will teach you how to customize your blog! And browsing at the instructions, looks like they are stupid friendly. I don't even know which to do first, or next I mean. There's just too much! And I don't have much time. Maybe one new feature per login. Oohhh I am just so excited!

But before I make major changes in my blog, I have to look for silver first. This will help me keep my blog running! Motivation for more posts!

Mommies cook too.

Summer once asked me if I know how to cook. I said a little. She was so surprised and said, "No! Mommies don't cook! Only ates cook!" Nahiya naman ako bigla, disoriented ang anak ko sa mga roles ng parents sa bahay.

I don't cook at home. Omar cooks more. Ate Cory does the cooking at home. I know how. I know how to read and count so I know how to follow the instructions from the cookbook. I'll live.

So I bought this Mama Sita's cookbook and I liked it! It comes with nice pictures so at least you would know how your dish should look like. I like to try cooking the spicy sitaw, the steamed tilapia, the oriental beef stir fry, and the brocolli with mushrooms.

This time, I tried cooking the seafood chowder.
Then I served it with green salad with olive dressing.
Followed with a fresh green mango shake. Just perfect for summer. With this heat, it's almost like Arizona homes weather.
Perfect!

I cooked the dinner and I ate it by myself hahaha. Kuya and his family went home to Manila and Omar played basketball and will eat dinner outside. Cherry and Cory had no choice but to eat my dinner. Masarap naman e, for me. But for my picky eater Summer, not yummy daw cook ko =(.

Oh well, it's a start. See, mommies cook too!

What to give?

Gosh! Paeng is graduating from grade school and will be a high school student next year. They're getting older and harder to please! I'm running out of ideas of what to give them on occasions like his coming graduation. Before, I would just visit a toy store and buy what's in. Now, you have to go what's the latest gadgets and they're costly! Not to mention, hard to find.

And as I was surfing online, I saw a site where I could easily purchase a gift for his age. A friend suggested that I get him an ipod. But since he already got one, I could just get him accessories for his ipod. That's something I can afford. And since it's summer and he can already join his dad play basketball on Tuesdays, this would sure come handy for him while playing or during their short trips.

I just hope he'll have fun using it as much fun he'll have during his coming highschool years. Congratulations Paeng! Make us proud!

First Letter

Rules: Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real. . .nothing made up! AND DON'T CHEAT BY LOOKING UP ANSWERS IN THE INTERNET. If the person before you had the same first initial, you must use different answers. You cannot use any word twice and you can’t use your name for the boy/girl name question. {stole it from Alpha while bloghopping}

Have Fun!!

1. What is your name: Jade

2. A four Letter Word: Jump

3. A boy’s Name: Jack

4. A girl’s Name: Jill

5. An occupation: Janitor

6. A color: Jade green

7. Something you wear: Jeans

8. A food: Jack fruit

9. Something found in the bathroom: Jade Tissue

10. A place: Japan

11. A reason for being late: Jam as in traffic jam

12. Something you shout: Jos ko po? =)

13. A movie title: Jurrasic Park

14. Something you drink: Juice

15. A musical group: Jonas brothers

16. An animal: Jaguar

17. A street name: JP Rizal

18. A type of car: Jaguar

19. The title of a song: Just once

20. A verb: Jump

70

I miss blogging. It's been a while since I last blogged events since I gave birth and joined Facebook. It's so much easier posting photos at Facebook but going back, you cannot read stories just by merely looking at the photos. And now I've finally updated my blog and back to blog hopping, I even had the time to steal tags. I miss tags. Enough blog hopping, time to surf the net. First stop is holodomor.

B B

Baptism and Birthday Party - not the BB you're thinking of.

I am just so happy for Vicky! They long so waited for this baby and now Stephen Joseph is turning 1!

Omar and I were blessed to be invited to be PaoPao's ninong and ninang. We attended the very early baptism at 9am at the Ermita Shrine, and coming from Bulacan with the kids in tow, that's really early for a Sunday. I'm not complaining ;).

After the rites, we went home first to bring home our stuff from Bulacan and for a quick power nap. Then left for the birthday party/baptismal reception at 12nn at Gloria Maris at the CCP complex.

It was nice seeing my college barkada again. I saw Den with Willy, Efren, Jusy with Nick, and Maila's kids - Achu and Stacy and of course, Vicky with Jason and Joseph.

Summer, as usual, was scared to join the other kids in front for the birthday program. Jusy gave her Play Dough to play with. We were served Chinese food, of course! It was superb! I like the souvenir item for the ninong/ninang - it's a Mickey Mouse stuffed toy on a towel arranged like a cake.

We gave PaoPao a toy bike which I purchased from Toys R Us at Podium. Good thing I was able o use my card and earn miles. Paying it full on time gives you good credit standing and won't make you a bad credit credit cards holder.

The Search.

I lost the bezel of my only Tag Heuer watch more than a decade ago. I brought it to the local service center and my watch stayed with them for months waiting for the missing part to arrive. Until I decided to just get it from them without having it fixed.

And so I was searching over the net for the missing part when I came upon this site. Shopwiki is the best site to go shopping. It did not just help me think of great gift ideas for my nephews and nieces, it offered great prices too! Plus, the perks of hassle-free and traffic-free going to shops and stores just to buy the gift, when you can do it online.

Hmm... what about an Xbox for a family gift? What do you think?

I need it!

My pair of glasses are old already.

My lens does not fit my eyes anymore. I just gave birth with my second baby two months ago so I need to change my glasses. I'm not sure if it applies with those who gave birth, but my eye grade goes up every time I give birth.

We will be traveling soon so it's a must for me to buy a new pair. And I want one with a sun sensor. My hands will be full with a toddler and an infant in tow, and without a nanny at that too! I cannot afford to depend on a pair of contact lenses just to be able to wear a pair of sunglasses. So, it will be great to have an eyeglass and a sunglass in one. Plus, something that's great for picture taking too!

I was browsing over the net, came across Zenni Optical, and came up with the exact eyeglasses I was looking for.

It couldn't get better! It's even so affordable! With all my previous expenses in giving birth and my upcoming expenses for our scheduled trip, I cannot afford to go with an expensive wear.

I'm even considering giving these away for Christmas gifts! I am so excited!