crinklynose.com

My picture wall!!!

2011-11-12T17:19:00.001-07:00

Wahoooooo! This thing took me and hubby more than an hour to put together! So much for their claim saying that in 10 mins you'd have a picture wall with the template they provided.

I was going to surprise hubby that I've done it on my own while kiddo was asleep (and hubby at work), but he came home and I was still working on this thing.

It's alright though, I think it's worth the time and effort ;)

Now all I need to do is to put real pictures on them ;) Yay!!!

Holy cow, my plants are still alive!!!

2011-11-04T08:00:00.003-07:00

First time I planted some flowers that lived this long (about a few days). I'm so happy they are thriving ;)

They said that your entry way through your main door has got to be clean, open, inviting and clutter free for good luck... so I cut the old plant by the entryway that was blocking the view of the door from the outside and planted some bright colored flowers instead (see those cut off tree trunks of my previous plants in there?) ;) I have to get the old plants pulled out from their roots as well. Once they're gone, I'm going to plant more winter flowers next to these guys.

I think I'm beginning to like "gardening" a bit (if you can even call it that). I have 3 more flower beds in the backyard that's screaming like "hey, you owe me some flowers!"

Steriods, anyone???

2011-11-01T10:46:00.001-07:00

This is by far the most cool looking inhaler I've ever had ;)

Smokin'!!!

2011-10-31T10:50:00.001-07:00

This is as close to smoking I could get... ha! I'm at the dr's office with a nebulizer... asthma attack again ;(

I am floored!!!

2011-10-12T12:50:00.003-07:00

Love the new floors! Nope, they are not wood floors (I don't have the time and energy to maintain wood floors... no no no... I'd rather spend that time doing something more meaningful)... yeah, they are T.I.L.E.S!!! Wood grain tiles! No worries with scratching, cleaning, maintaining that come with real wood floors! Hah! Don't get me wrong, wood floors are beautiful. But to me, that's all they are, just beautiful ;) Other than that, everything else especially maintenance is a pain...

These wood grain floors are perfect! You can barely see the dirt on them! Drove me nuts everyday with the almost white floor we used to have and the dark floor we have on the living room... so yeah, I'm so happy happy happy!

I am also liking the wider baseboards they put in ;) They are not painted yet so they look bright white.

Now, we have to deal with choosing the paint... oh man, here we go again... I went through choosing the paint last year when we did our bathroom... hard to decide which one is which... David Bromstad, I need you right here, right now!

Pizza at 2am!

2011-10-12T02:35:00.001-07:00

Crap, we passed out super tired of all these work going on in our house. It's 2am, I woke up and realized I wasn't able to prep something for kiddo's lunch.

Whipped up something real quick from the almost empty fridge and here's the best I could come up with - ham, cheese and pineapple pizza on toasted english muffin.

Oh boy. Here goes nothing.

Hurrraaaayyyyy air purifier!

2011-09-27T19:57:00.001-07:00

After being sick (sniffles, coughing, sore throat, etc) for the past few months, we finally decided to get air purifiers for each of our rooms (kiddo's and ours).

We clean pretty good in our house on top of the monthly professional cleaning we get... I just don't understand why we keep on getting sick. It only takes one of us to catch something and we all end up getting sick.

Man, I had been asthma free since highschool and last year, it came back! I suspect its all the "renovations" we did on our house last year plus the series of stupid dust storms we had the past few months!

Maaan, the dogs hair were cut short since beginning of spring, air filters are changed regularly. We clean every week, shampoo the carpets every 6 months... uhmmm, what else are we missing?

Well we had enough! Next week, old carpets are all going to go bye-bye! Hopefully, that and these air purifier units would do the trick on top of dusting every inch. We will probably have the a/c ducts professionally cleaned as well.

If these work well, we are going to get another air purifier unit for the living room!

Keeping my fingers crossed!

Is that a Bone???

2011-09-26T18:44:00.001-07:00

When I picked up my daughter from school last Friday, she was uberly excited to show me her craft for the day (human bone made out of paper) Lesson plan for the month is all about human body including skeletal system so I had a pretty good idea why they have bones for this week's craft.

She was like "Mommy, look it!" (Showing me the bone paper mache she did).
Me: "Oh wow, what is that???" (I was expecting to hear that it's a bone)
Kiddo: "It's a femur!!!"

Mommy's dumbfounded again!

Then a 4 yr old boy came to me as well...
Boy: "Look, you gotta see my femur too!" (Showed me his bone paper mache as well)
Me: "Wow, that's awesome! Good job!"
Boy: "They are the longest bone in our body and it goes from here to here!" (He pointed at his hip down to his knee)
Me: "Is it really??? Oh wow, that's great!" (Trying to hold my jaw from dropping in astonishment!)

Unbelievable! Wow!!! Toddlers these days know these kinda stuff?

Pizza, anyone?

2011-09-18T21:27:00.001-07:00

Toppings include mushrooms, pepperoni, lemons, zucchini, carrots, bell pepper and watermelon! Eeeww, my kiddo is weird, haha ;)

Time to grow up!

2011-09-16T12:30:00.001-07:00

Yay, finally, a real grown-up laptop bag for me!!! No more nerdy backpacks to lug at work... no more lousy purses that comes along with the ugly backpack! Woohooo!

With this, I didn't have to bring a separate purse for my "girly" stuff. This doubles as a tote bag as well so even during weekends when I didn't need my work laptop, I could still use it and would still feel fab, mweehheee ;)

Been using it for a couple of days now and I wouldn't want to look back! I love this cutesy. Thanks to the hubby I didn't have to justify too hard to get myself one of these ;) Laveeeeet!!!

Happy Friday... uber busy at work but for some reason I am loving it ;) weirdo.

A monster on my whiteboard...

2011-09-14T13:41:00.001-07:00

Since this guy never fails to make me smile whenever I look at my board in my cube, I thought it deserve a space in my blog ;)

He looks pretty weird and funny... reminds me of some anime character...

He was doodled by one of the geekiest (and goofiest) character I've ever met in my entire life who sits next to my cube and who happens to be my boss as well ;)

He probably wouldn't be too happy with me blogging about his "work of art" but hey, I just have to. It's the little things like this that makes life a little bit more interesting ;)

Maybe I should give this monster a name... aha, I'd call him Alexander... you know that lead singer from the band "The Calling"... (Alex Band) with his signature voice that is just too hard to forget!

Nahhh, Monster the Monster sounds better ;)

Ok time to drive back to work now... lunch time is over...

A rocketship!!!

2011-08-28T18:50:00.001-07:00

When I saw this strange structure on the freeway after I picked up my daughter from school, I was super excited to ask her what she think it was. We always try to introduce new words to her vocabulary whenever we possibly can so I was going to tell her it looks like a spaceship, with spaceship maybe being her new word for the day.

When I asked her "sweetie, did you see that? Did you know what it is???". She replied with gusto and enthusiam and said "It's a rocketship!!!!!"

Ok, I was dumbfounded... totally didn't expect that ;) At least I know she's learning from school or from the ipad... whichever ;) I left it at that since a rocketship looked more fitting than a spaceship anyways ;)

My daughter never fails to brighten my day ;)

What a cookie can do...

2011-08-25T20:52:00.001-07:00

While giving her a bath, I asked my 2.5yr old if she thinks she can spell a few words with her bath letters. First we tried HAT, then RAG, then BUN , then JUMP. I would say the word then say the sound of each letter then she would find the correct letters from the pile and stick them on the wall (I'd say HAT- hah, aaa, tttt and she would understand what I meant). Since she only has one letter of each that she had to borrow the A and U from the previous words that's why BUN is missing the U and HAT is missing the A.

Her motivation??? A cookie for each word she spells correctly.

Yes, she is my cookie monster and I am so proud of her ;)

Natural remedy for coughs...

2011-08-21T22:34:00.001-07:00

Lemons, honey, rum... wait, rum??? Really?

Goodbye truck...

2011-08-21T22:04:00.001-07:00

After 4 yrs and only accumulated 20k miles with us, it's time to let go. I'm sure another person or family would take care of you more than we can right now. Thanks for the good times ;)

Goodness, I realized every little step we take for the past few months brings us closer and closer towards plan 2013...

Yes, i am a working mom...

2011-08-04T10:04:00.001-07:00

Kiddo is sick since Tuesday. Hubby stayed with her for the past 2 days. It's my turn to stay with her to watch her today... difference is, I am working remotely from home while I watch my child.

I attended a quick 30min meeting on the phone and here's what surprised me after I checked on the little one.... a wall and toys full of marker pen doodles!!! Arrrggghhhhhh! And yeah, not only that, they're on my ipad too!!! I think I'm going to have a heart attack...

So yeah, I can feel my blood rising up on my head. Crap.

Papa Jesus & her blankie...

2011-07-31T09:40:00.001-07:00

I asked my daughter why is she wearing her blankie that way... she said "like Papa Jesus mommy..."

Not sure if it's Papa Jesus white robe like what he wears on childrens story books or if it's his white garment while He's on the Holy Cross... hmmm...

It just blows my mind how in the world a 2.5 yr old tot could associate a blankie to Papa Jesus... of all the things she could imagine with it she chose Him... we probably are doing something right making her more aware of Papa JC. I'm so proud of her ;)

Happy Birthday to me!

2011-07-28T08:04:00.001-07:00

This day has just started and I am already feeling super special and loved. My daughter greeted with with a sweet happy bday song this morning, I got a delivery from Hogwarts (c/o hubby), got a new pair of shoes (c/o my favorite sister on earth) and was greeted by family, the special people in my life, dear friends and more friends from fb universe!

I may not have everything that I want but I know I have everything that I need in my life... I am truly blessed ;) I couldn't ask for more.

Hope this helps!

2011-06-23T15:07:00.001-07:00

God help us! Kiddo had been uber rambunctious these days we need some guidance as new parents how to deal with it the effective and loving way we can!

Chillin'

2011-06-23T15:03:00.001-07:00

We just turned on the swamp cooler and the burst of air blowing on their ears and face made my waggly-tailed kids doze off. Who could blame them when it's 100F's outside!

Hubby+Kiddo+Water=Love,love,love!

2011-06-17T16:59:00.000-07:00

I dunno what's up with me, but seeing hubby walk the kiddo by the water makes me fall in love with him all over again.

I think it's because I knew he loved the water since he was a kid (growing up from Hawaii) and now, seeing him share this love with our daughter and seeing them walking by the shore or near the water always makes me smile :) This is just a few of their daddy-and-daddy's-little-girl bonding moments :)

Yogurt!

2011-06-12T15:25:00.001-07:00

We took the kiddo to a yogurt place as her reward because she'd been very good at asking us to go potty!!! Wooohooo!!! Patience pays off!

Sooo proud of our kiddo!

Teddy and his pullups

2011-06-11T17:27:00.001-07:00

Errr, my child put this onto her teddy. Is this totally normal?

Let's go swimming!

2011-06-11T12:08:00.001-07:00

I'm ready to swim mommy, come on, let's go!!!

Not sure which one affected me more...

2011-06-10T15:05:00.002-07:00

Seeing my daughter cry her heart out for the first 2 weeks as I drop her off to her new school, clinging & begging for me to take her with me... (I felt beyond horrible and I was miserable thinking if we should go look for another school as it looked like she's telling me something's wrong with this school!)

OR

Witnessing my daughter's "independence" one fine day as I drop her off at school... after we exchanged our kisses and i love you's, she calmly said "See you later Mommy"... turned her back, mingled with her newly found friends in school... talk to them about her Dora backpack... (Part of me was waiting for her to hold my hands longer and tell me not to go...)

Sniff... reality sank in... where had my baby gone? She will always always always be my little bebe....

Not too long ago she was just trying to learn how to roll over, crawl, stand on her own, walk... now, she can pull down her own undies... go sit on the big potty... poop and peepee and just call us when she's done... tells us stories what she did in school... I'm so scared to think of what's next... one day, she'll just come and tell us ---- "Mommy, Daddy, meet my boyfriend, Spencer (Reid)...." Oh noh, haha!

Water day in school!

2011-06-07T22:03:00.001-07:00

Today is water day at the kiddo's school so they were asked to come in their swimsuit... so here she go, tinkering with her favorite "there's a monster at the end of this book" app while mommy get all the little squirt's swim stuff ready ;)

Looking at this pic, I realiazed I gotta get her newer swimsuits because she's outgrowing them pretty quickly.

Mikka "reading" Part2

2011-06-01T13:06:00.000-07:00

We're so proud of our 27 month old little squirt :) She's getting better and better at "reading" :)

Been quite a while since we were able to practice with her reading phonetically, we thought she might have forgotten. So last night we tried showing her simple words for her to practice her new found skill :)

Here's part 2 of her trying to "read" simple words.

Mango-eating-monkey!

2011-05-14T12:36:00.001-07:00

This is how we eat this from my home country, the Philippines ;) So cute my baby ;)

New toy!!!

2011-05-06T06:59:00.001-07:00

This one I share with the kiddo and we both love it!

I get the best of both worlds as I am still crazy about my Android phone and at the same time the iPad fulfills the gap that I didn't have from my phone (regardless if it's android or iphone).

We considered android tabs as well however, they felt like they're the same as my phone only bigger ;) So it's a no brainer decision - ipad it is!

I'm a happy momma, no more bored kid during long drives, travel, waiting at the restaurant, no more "can I play with your laptop, mommy pls"etc etc etc ;)

Thank God for the blessing of "unexpected" moolah, otherwise we would still have waited for the 5th generation, haha ;)

At Last!!!

2011-05-04T12:51:00.001-07:00

Been waiting for this for a few weeks now ;) All the way from China! Ridiculously out of stock from Apple store since it launched. Now it's here! Hurrraaaay for the kiddo's new toy... errr, I think I should say, *my* toy ;)

My poor Chewy...

2011-05-03T17:02:00.001-07:00

He's sick, didn't want to eat his food this morning and had a few poopy accidents last night ;(

Counting Easter Eggs

2011-04-30T12:13:00.000-07:00

Here's the kiddo counting the Easter eggs she got from egg hunting last Easter weekend :)

My Awesome Easter Weekend

2011-04-30T11:25:00.001-07:00

I had the perfect Easter weekend -- lazy day with me, hubby, the kiddo, the 4-legged kiddos and the 75F weather. Awesome!!!

After church, we didn't go anywhere and just stayed at home. Since the weather was just beautiful, we spent the rest of the morning in the backyard - the tot playing with her water tub, hubby grilling some Filipino BBQ, the dogs just having fun in the sun :) Most of our neighbors are enjoying the weather as well. Two of our neighbors rang our bell since they dropped some ball over our backyard :)

Anyways, here's a video of what felt like one of my best weekends ever :)

My 2 yr old is "reading"?????

2011-04-28T17:03:00.001-07:00

Around Christmas 2010, the kiddo learned the sounds of each letter of the alphabet so by the time she turned 2 (Feb this year), she has mastered it by heart. She could even give you example of things that start with certain letter (i.e. P, P, P-- Pizza!, you can tell she loves food!).

We encouraged her to say out loud the sound of each letter whenever we come across simple words wherever we go. We read the words so she would understand that there's more to letters than just having sounds... they form words that she can read :) I think this practice helped a lot on top of us reading books to her every single day.

One time we went to Trader Joe's and there was a big signage that says "EGGS on sale". When she saw it, she shouted "EGGS!!! EGGS!!!". My husband and I looked at each other and we were trying to figure out how did she know that those read "EGGS" when there was no single picture of an egg in there. Hmmm.

It was an "A-ha!" moment for us -- maybe, just maybe, she's able to grasp the basics of "reading". How else would she know that the word on the signage read "EGGS"???

We were stoked.

Anyways, here's her first video trying to "read". This was taken this morning. I will try to take some more tonight and post more videos of her as she gets better at it :)

She knew simple words and mostly those that she's already familiar with since she can associate the word with the actual object. She can easily get 2 to 6 letter words correctly.

Regardless, we are just happy about her progress. Please take note that we don't sit down for hours and hours to teach her all these (we don't have time for that as both me and hubby are working full time, plus I don't have the patience!). She just picks it up really quick as most kids her age do.

And no, we didn't use the "Your Baby Can Read" program. We used old school method of reading to her every night so the love for books and reading came naturally for her.

From the get-go we were never believers of "YBCR" program. I thought in the beginning it was pretty cool seeing those little kids "read". However, when I saw how it's being done (putting your kid in front of the TV every single day and having them go through flash cards after flash cards after flash cards and a mountain of other media of God-knows-what!), we knew that it's not for us. We don't have the time (and patience!) required for this program. Not to mention it's really expensive. I'm so glad we didn't fall into this trap. Sorry, I'm sure this worked to a lot of parents. I didn't want to criticize it at all, I just personally think that learning phonics is one of the best way to teach kids to read and YBCR is more like "memorization" (to me at least, just my opinion).

Anyways, super long post for today. Sorry, I'm being a stage mommy. Just really super proud of my baby. All these things she do are just bonuses to us. Her personality and character and being just who she is is what makes us super crazy about her.

To our Mikka, we love you, sweetheart!!!! We are sooo proud of you!!!!

Somebody's watching me!!!

2011-04-25T14:37:00.001-07:00

Oh my goodness! I got the fright of my guts! The kiddo is napping longer than her usual 2hr nap so I found some time to look into some homework we got in preparation for our meeting with our CFP.

I was sooo focused into the paperworks when I looked up I saw Leonardo the Terrible Monster sitting on the kiddo's chair, right in front of me! (I know, he's not the cutest looking monster but my daughter adores him!) She must have put him there earlier when she was playing with her "pretend" friends.

Maaan, I almost jumped off my chair! Then of course I laughed at myself. One of the many joys of parenthood ;)

Love the hat!!!

2011-04-21T21:54:00.001-07:00

There's no denying the kiddo is a Target baby ;) Checkout the cute hat! We didn't get it since I know as soon as we get home she didn't want anything to do with it. So, this snap would do ;)

Crispy okoy & adobong string beans

2011-04-19T12:38:00.001-07:00

This is sooooo good! A good example why abstaining from eating meat during Lent doesn't feel too much of a "sacrifice" to me at all. I should have given up coffee and/or chocolates instead (oh maaan, now to me that's definitely a sacrifice!)

I cooked adobong sitaw (string beans) with squid balls (weird huh?) last for dinner last night. Hubby came home with a plate of okoy (tiny shrimps crisps), from a friend of ours who brought us pasalubong from L.A (thanks Arnold and Kim!)

Surprisingly, the string beans and okoy went good together so I had a busog kiddo and hubby last night ;)

Now what to cook for tonight?

Just like college

2011-04-18T17:12:00.001-07:00

Gotta love this book - geekiness and all!

Rayban

2011-04-16T09:18:00.001-07:00

I thought she's such a cutie ;)

Experimental Pasta

2011-04-10T14:26:00.001-07:00

It's Sunday and the kiddo's napping so I took some time to whip off this pasta I just put together really quick. I have some pasta sauce in the pantry, some leftover rotiserrie chicken, frozen veggies, shredded cheese, cooked pasta and baked it for 30mins... no idea how it's going to taste like but I'd let the hubby and the kiddo be the judge.

No I'm not a good cook, so I don't have high hopes at all on this one. I just didn't want to eat out this time.

Hey, at leat least I tried "cooking" ;)

Mikka enjoying the splash pad

2011-04-09T18:19:00.001-07:00

We attended a birthday party last week at Desert Breeze Park. It was pretty warm that day so the kids had a blast at the splash pad. It was Mikka's first time to play on a splash pad and she was pretty thrilled with it :)

Mikka and the Bluebonnets

2011-04-02T15:11:00.000-07:00

We went to Austin, TX last weekend to visit my sister and my brother-in-law. It was a great trip! Made me realize how it makes a whole lot of difference when family's close by. We really really love it being there and I'm sure we're going back soon.

It's spring time and Bluebonnets (state flower of TX) are in bloom. They can only be found in TX and we're lucky my brother-in-law knew a "secret" place where these pretty flowers are blooming a plenty!

My brother-in-law (he's the best!), put together this awesome video of Mikka with some of the highlights we had while we were in Austin :) Can't wait to go back there!!!

Bluebonnet Hunting with Meeks from AM3 Photography on Vimeo.

I'm so sad ;(

2011-03-19T13:41:00.004-07:00

As I am putting away Mikka's art/crafts this week, as I look at them I can't help but feel some twitch on my heart... sigh...

Thursday night, our daycare lady called me to break her news that they are moving out of state in 2 months because her husband found a good job offer in Pensylvania. He did try to look around for a job locally so they could keep the daycare and wouldn't have to move but that didn't workout for them.My heart broke as Mikka and the other kids in her daycare (there's 2 other girls who go to her and an 8 month old boy) love love love her so much! She's their 2nd mom pretty much. Plus the care she has for the kids is just unbelievable!

Mikka learned so much from her - crafts, reading books, pretend plays, dress-up, singing, dancing, puzzles and a whole bunch of other fun stuff they do everyday. I'm not one of those crafty moms so imagine how proud I am whenever my daughter comes home with crafts and artworks she did at Ms Terrie's. Regardless whether its just a page of coloring book with my daughter's scribbles and doodles or some paper with stickies, I feel so lucky that our daycare lady's commitment to stimulate the kids learning in every possible way is just remarkable!

The picture on the right shows 2 of Mikka's "artworks" that always make us smile and be proud of our little girl. She did them with the help of Ms Terrie of course! In a couple of months Ms Terrie and her family are leaving and I don't know how it's going to impact the kids. I hope they're still young enough to get traumatized by this.

Anyways, now we're on the lookout again for another in-home daycare as daycare centers are not even an option for us. We're not putting the kiddo in a daycare center, period. The small in home daycares is what we think is best for her until she's ready for preschool.

Preschool... wow, that's like next year already! Somebody stop the time from flying sooo fast!
I know there are other stuff going on around that are way more sad than this... but I'm just human, come on. We come to love Ms Terrie and her family and them leaving just really broke my heart ;(

What's Your Name sweetheart?

2011-03-11T18:36:00.001-07:00

Conversation with the kiddo...

Me: What's your name sweetheart?
Kiddo: Mikka!
Me: Mikka what?
Kiddo: Mikka G***
Me: What about daddy? What's daddy's name?
Kiddo: John!
Me: John what?
Kiddo: John G***
Me: What about mommy's name?
Kiddo: Ann (I don't usually go by my first name however it's much easier for her to pronounce it, short and simple)
Me: Ann what????
Kiddo: Ann, O, P, Q, R, S...

** she thought her mommy's name is "N", haha ;) **

Not a UFO...

2011-03-09T08:30:00.001-07:00

I just parked my car at work and I saw this balloon ;) Too bad I can't zoom in my phone as much so this is the best shot I could get. There were actually 2 of them but I was too lazy to find the spot so I can take pics of them both, ha! It was friggin 50F this morning so I hope the people up there bundled up pretty good ;)

Been seeing lotsa balloons these days cuz the weather's getting warmer. Whenever Mikka sees one of these she would say, "Beni!!! Sticky tape!!!" --- just because one of those Dora episodes she'd seen was when Beni was stuck in a balloon asking for help and sticky tape cuz the balloon has a hole on it. It's been a while since we saw that episode I'm surprised she remembered. Yeah, whaddaya expect from a Dora fan? Ha!

Hey there stranger!

2011-03-03T13:10:00.001-07:00

It's been 2 years! I've missed you guys! We have lotsa catching up to do :) I can't wait.

Pooooh Thing!!!

2011-03-02T19:42:00.001-07:00

Mikka was sitting down by the door and munching on her chips when she heard her dad opening the door from outside while talking on the phone.

Immediately she screamed- "Daaaaddy!!!"

She was excitedly waiting for him to open the door and step in. Since he was talking on the phone, he decided to stay outside a bit longer...

Mikka was still waiting and when her dad still didn't step in, she ran towards me, pointing at the door and said "Daddy, stuck! Pooooh thing (poor thing!)!!!"

Yeah, cracks us up big time! ;)

Mikka and her colors!

2011-02-28T16:46:00.001-07:00

It took her longer to pick-up color identification compared to her ABC's, numbers, shapes, etc. We even thought she's color blind!

Our worries went away when she was able to match buttons of the same color when we asked her to. Now, we are so proud that she can nail her colors at 24 months! Regardless we are just happy with her learning progress. So so sooo proud of her.

Here's Part 1:

Part 2:

Mikka and her 32-pc Jigsaw Puzzle

2011-02-28T15:45:00.003-07:00

My kiddo is obsessed with jigsaw puzzles! She would put together a few different sets of puzzles at home on top of what she already had at daycare --- in a day!! Wheeeeww, I thought that's a lot!

Whenever she's bored, she would mix puzzle pieces from different sets together (she has 12 pc sets, 24 pc sets and 32 pc sets and mix them all up) and then put them together accordingly. It totally amazes me how she could keep herself busy for hours!

I'm clueless of the puzzle skills other toddlers her age have. Part of me wants to see how she measures up with other 2 year olds. But I'm trying to avoid googling it since I didn't want to compare my baby to other kids. I still believe that each of them develop certain skills at their own pace. I'm just happy and proud that my baby can put together a 32-pc jigsaw pretty much on her own. I still remember my mom always always always brags about my younger sister being able to put jigsaw puzzles together when she was 2 (go figure where Mikka got it from and I can't be thankful enough!) So now, it's my turn to brag, haha :)

Yesterday, I checked on what she was doing in her room. So I tried to hide and took this video of her putting her barn animal puzzle together. She was sooo into it, she didn't even notice I was just standing there by her door. Be warned --- this is an 8-minute video, so be prepared to get bored, haha. Definitely not boring to me as I've been watching this video over and over until I passed out last night.

I am soooo proud of my daughter. She never ceases to amaze me and her dad... and her grams...and her gramps... heheeee. She's such a blessing. We love her so much!

Birthday cake baby doll

2011-02-27T14:32:00.001-07:00

I know we're not going to eat this baby doll cake topper(yes, she's edible) but I didn't want to throw her away either. Poor thing, she's probably going to get stuck in the freezer for a long, long time.

Birthday Hat!

2011-02-24T00:13:00.000-07:00

She was wearing her birthday hat the entire day! I can't believe she's 2!!!! Happy happy birthday my sweetheart!!! We love you sooo much!

Harajuku!!!

2011-02-21T15:03:00.001-07:00

Maaan, I was at Nordstrom Rack and saw these cutesies for toddlers! Too bad they only come in 2T's (2 yr old's). The kiddo wears 3T's so she could wear them longer. Otherwise it's just a waste as kids grow up pretty fast so it's more practical to get 1 or 2 sizes bigger.

Anyhoo, maybe it's a blessing in disguise that they didn't have the kiddo's size or else I wouldn't be able to resist the temptation of getting my girl one of these. Sooo adorable!

Yay, done!

2011-02-18T22:06:00.001-07:00

And it's only the beginning... still have lotsa stuff to take care of before the kiddo's "party" ;) I promise, next year onwards its going to be just spaghetti, hotdogs, cake at home!

For the Love of Dora!

2011-02-18T21:15:00.001-07:00

Guess where am I going to use these Dora cut-outs? 4 done, 41 more to go... ha! I can do this! :)

Testing Mobile Blogger

2011-02-18T09:18:00.001-07:00

Wow, the new mobile blogger for android just blows my mind. Sooo cool! Just like my version of mocha at work - swiss miss milk chocolate & freshly brewed coffee! Not bad! ;)

Mikka Singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

2011-02-10T12:50:00.000-07:00

Here's the kiddo's rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star :)

Got excused from Jury Duty

2011-02-07T12:22:00.003-07:00

Not that I'm trying to excuse myself but the case is about DUI. Uhmm, totally partial when it comes to that. I'm sure everyone else shares my hatred about DUI but to me, nothing - no evidence, no witnesses or whatsoever could change my mind when it comes to DUI accidents. Alcohol and driving don't go together period. Not a criminal case but then again, still, my mind is so set. I'm totally partial to the injured party. Also, the case is estimated to last for 8 days. Whoah? Who exactly has 8 days??? Thank God, I was excused by the judge after I asked to talk to him and the lawyers involved in the case during break.

Whoah. What a relief! I know, I'm just so so so bad, but I'm glad I didn't get to be a part of that case. Next please.

My Silly Sweetheart!!

2011-02-04T16:51:00.000-07:00

I just have to blog about these incidents with my 23 month old daughter. Too funny it's a shame not to write about them :)

She's just sooo silly and witty!!! She never fails to brighten our days :)

1) Share!

The other day, I gave my daughter a small bowl of snacks when my phone rang. About a minute or so on the phone, I heard my daughter talking:

Kiddo: “You want some???”
Kiddo: “Say, thaaaank youuuuu!!!”

When I checked what she was doing, I saw her “sharing” her snacks with Skye. Good thing she didn’t let Skye eat from her bowl, haha :)

Maaan, can you believe it? She was asking our dog to say “thank you” :o)

Hahahaheee. I tell you, that moment, it felt like all my worries vanished into thin air! I was laughing my heart out!! :)

2) Pretty!!!

The kiddo handed me her hair bow before we left the house one morning.

Kiddo: “Mommy, put on, please?”
Me: “Ok, there you go” (as I put it on her hair)
Kiddo: “Pretty!!!!”
Me: “Yes sweetheart, you are very pretty!”
Kiddo: “Of course!!!!”

Hilarious!!!!

These are just a few of those little silly things my daughter does everyday. I wish she knew how much she made our lives so much happier and brighter :o)

We love you sweetcakes!

Is that an owl???

2011-02-02T09:00:00.001-07:00

Saw an owl on my neighbor's roof. I thought it's weird sitting in there :)

All set for snow :)

2011-01-28T23:09:00.001-07:00

Yay finally after pushing out our sledding trip for the past 4 weeks, we're going to make it happen this time. Wooohoooo!!!

Why I Like My Google Phone #1

2011-01-27T20:42:00.002-07:00

Reason #1:

What's not to like with Live wallpapers?? Moreso, if it's as colorful and fun as these balloons?

If you're a mom like me and you have a rambunctious toddler like mine, these kinda stuff helps "entertain" them a bit and it's totally free :)

Watch out for my next few videos as I document why I am loving my Google Phone (powered by Android!!!!)

I'm sure there's some apps for Live wallpapers for newer iPhones as well. But I use Google stuff a lot (blogger, picasa, email, docs, contacts, calendar, map, etc). So this works out great for me :)

Woooohoooo!!!

2011-01-27T12:27:00.001-07:00

Here are my rubber case for my g2!!! Just got them from the mailbox!

God bless my heart I am sooo happy :)

Mikka Eating Pancit

2011-01-26T18:49:00.001-07:00

Here's the kiddo eating pancit on New Year's day 2011 :) She's 22 months here.

Testing Pixelpipe

2011-01-26T17:43:00.001-07:00

Bonding time with my kiddos

2011-01-26T14:05:00.001-07:00

Download now or watch on posterous

VID_20110126_131121.3gp (8363 KB)

Here's my first video post via posterous. I usually go home during lunchtime to bond with my 4-legged kiddos :)

Bye bye iphone

2011-01-25T00:19:00.001-07:00

Posting this via android. Hmmm, hope this lives up to my expectations :)

It's here!!!!!

2011-01-24T17:54:00.000-07:00

My G2!!! Hello Android :)

Lousy Havaianas!!!

2011-01-22T12:04:00.001-07:00

I think I have 2 more pairs I've already tossed out on top of these. I
thought they're supposed to be durable? Or maybe I have heavy feet I
keep on breaking them.

A few of these were already about 5 years old & I used them for about
2 years before they gave up on me that's why they already look old &
nasty.

I finally found some spare time to snap pics of them so it's
time to go bye bye to these guys. Thank goodness to mobile blogging,
makes blogging a hundred times easier for me :)

Oh well. Whatever.

Sweet Tomatoes

2011-01-21T19:03:00.001-07:00

If it wasn't for this place, she wouldn't be here. This is where it all began for me & hubby :)

Here's Mikka eating her veggies & mac n cheese @ Sweet Tomatoes :)

Goodnight Gorilla

2011-01-21T15:26:00.001-07:00

Nothing to do on a Friday afternoon with mommy. Lemme read a bit :)

Bored Kiddo

2011-01-21T15:24:00.001-07:00

She's bored so she grabbed a book, sat on the big pillow & said cheese when she realized I was taking her picture :)

Mikka Counting in Tagalog

2011-01-19T06:55:00.000-07:00

My daughter just beat her daddy into counting in Tagalog, haha. She counted from 1 to 10 while her daddy could only say "sampu" (# 10).

The kiddo is almost 23 months old here. She could count in Spanish as well for sometime now, just haven't had the chance to upload the video on that.

Anyhoo, enjoy this video of the loveydoveydoos of my life :)

Autumn Protector Case for T-Mobile G2 - T-Mobile G2 Protector Cases

2011-01-18T16:10:00.000-07:00

Autumn Protector Case for T-Mobile G2 - T-Mobile G2 Protector Cases

Ok, my sister just sent me a link to this case! Oh my gaaawwwwwddddd!!!!! I have this thing about white phones so this is the closest I could get :) I don't think I'm going to wait for the white iPhone anymore. Let's see if G2 is going to be the deal breaker :) To top it all off, G2 is free at T-mobile today, hehehee :)

Thanks sistah!!!! I think I'm going to convert to Android in a few days :)

Paint Me Already!!

2011-01-18T12:28:00.001-07:00

I need to seriously schedule painting my walls.... It's screaming
"Have you decided yet??? Paint me already!!!"

Testing Mobile blogging

2011-01-18T10:58:00.001-07:00

Here's my first mobile blogging post. Mikka at Ikea :)

Talk to me H-O-N-E-Y!

2011-01-14T15:14:00.001-07:00

A while back, I was talking to my girlfriend on the phone and was surprised the way she talked to me:

GF: "Yea, I brought her to the D-E-N-T-I-S-T and it was miserable. They had to do this and that yaddyaddyaddayadda to her T-E-E-T-H and she was C-R-Y-I-N-G like there was no tomorrow".

Me: "HUH?"

Turned our her toddler was next to her and she didn't want her to know that we're talking about her and her experience at the dentist. But that time, I didn't get the concept... not until a few weeks ago and found ourselves spelling some words as well as we speak while our daughter was next to us.

Scenario#1:

Hubby: "We gotta give her a piece of C-O-O-K-I-E everytime she pees on the P-O-T-T-Y"....

Me: "Are you sure? Maybe we can give her just S-T-I-C-K-I-E-S so she wouldn't keep on eating C-O-O-K-I-E-S after P-O-T-T-Y"

Scenario#2:

Me: "So, are we still eating our I-C-E-C-R-E-A-M tonight?"

Hubby: "Of course, after she goes to B-E-D"...

Sooooo weird and funny at the same time. We had no choice or else once she hears the word ice cream, she'd be constantly begging me, "Ice cream, mommy... ice cream!!! Yummy!! Please? Want some! Please, please, please!"

Oh parenthood :)

I Don't Wanna Be a "Marlin".... Or Maybe I Do!

2011-01-04T22:50:00.001-07:00

Uhmm, Marlin... you know, Nemo's uber protective dad?

A couple of months back I went out with 2 of my girlfriends and we tagged along each others' tots. One has a 4 yr old, the other one has a 2 yr old and mine's 20 month old back then.

After dinner, we took the kids to the play area right in front of the bookstore. I am ashamed to admit that it was the first time I took my daughter to a "public" play area that has a lot of kids playing at the same time. We normally bring her to the park when there's literally nobody else is playing except us. I have this annoying mindset that she's going to pick up germs and get sick afterwards (which of course was realized the following day but that's a separate story).

Anyways, throughout the time we were there, I found myself always running after my daughter making sure that she's safe and that the bigger kids wouldn't knock her off. I made her play on her own however I was always beside her while my girlfriends were telling stories and catching up. They were just fine with their kids running around on their own while I was super scared that my baby could get hurt and such, etc etc. I wish I have the "courage" to let go and do the same.

I asked my husband that night if I'm being over protective of the kiddo. I totally think I am. At her age (she's 22 months old now), she never get to try eating candies just yet, whole grapes, roasted peanuts, etc that I feel could make her choke. I finally was able to give her corn in a cob a few weeks ago. But everything else like fruits, vegetables, chicken drumsticks, I always cut them to the size I knew it would be safe for her to swallow.

I don't want to be over protective of her because from the get go I always wanted to raise her to be an independent, street smart kid as she can be. Stuff like if somebody tries to hurt her, she's not going to shy away but instead she would stand up on her own... that if she'd find herself with a flat tire, she can change it by herself and not wait for somebody to help her... I want her to be brave and strong like Lara Croft vs Sleeping Beauty waiting for her prince to come and save her from her long slumber....

For that to happen, I gotta be more like Crush... who's not afraid to let go of his kids so they can learn their way through actual experience and be able to swim back to the EAC on their own...

I am still trying to find my way through this discombobulated world I am in called parenthood...

But I know that there will always be a Marlin in me... I'm sure there is one in every parent in this world. The one who'd do whatever it takes to find and bring back his kid into his loving fins regardless how many sharks, how many strange creatures that come across his way, how many jelly fish stings he had to go through, no matter how far he had to swim... every parent brave their own treks to the "unknown" just to make sure their little one is safe and sound...

May God bless the hearts of all parents in the world trying to make things better for their kids...

Ok, Courage and Wisdom, please come visit the parent in me :)

Frugal Christmas 2010

2010-12-21T15:52:00.001-07:00

In my attempt to stay within our goal of having a "frugal Christmas" this year, I would like to savor this picture as I know this is not going to happen anytime soon anyways :)

Hadn't hubby and I promised to make this Christmas humbling and simple, I would have gotten this gift for my husband and daughter- a personalized iPad.

Yes, people, I think I finally justified why we need (errr, want) an iPad. But, Christmas is not the right time for these kinda gifts (at least in my family circle) because it's just too extravagant. This year, we want our Christmas with our daughter truly humbling as how baby Jesus was born. It's just easy to forget the real meaning of Christmas with all the media extravaganza during the holidays. Oh well, that's how it is these days and it's our job as parents to change the pace if we want our kids to understand what Christmas is really all about.

Anyways, I'm really enjoying this picture because this is as good as it gets :)

Merry Christmas everyone!

Mikka and the Pigeon

2010-12-19T03:14:00.000-07:00

One of Mikka's favorite books of all times - Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!!!!

This is one of her first books as we got this 2 yrs ago (when she was still in my tummy) as Christmas present from hubby's brother :)

She loves this because it's her turn to say "No!" :) She have another Pigeon book "Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!". That's also a fun book to read.

I love reading to my daughter. Sometimes we converse based on books and songs we both love :) Nobody would understand us unless they are familiar the book or the song we're talking about :) For instance the other day, I was singing "I'm Madeline, I'm Madeline and though I'm very small, I'm Madeline, I'm Madeline but inside I'm......" then she would say "tall!!!". Hilarious!

I totally digressed. Anyhoo, here's Mikka and her dad reading "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!"

Backyard!!!!!!

2010-11-21T21:09:00.005-07:00

Yay, finally, we have a backyard we could actually use and enjoy :)

About 7 months ago, here's what the backyard looked like:

When we got our house in 2006, this is the most decent property we could afford with a big backyard. 4 years after, we realized that we don't get to use our backyard as often as we want to. Too hot during summer and even during winter, there's technically nothing in there but dying grass and weeds and of course, a big dog run for the 4-legged kids.

Then Mikka came along and she's getting bigger and active. We knew we had to do something as we're outgrowing our little old house and it's nice sized backyard. So we decided we expand a bit, clean up and said good bye to the bigger backyard we thought we want.... - all these for the tot!

So now, much smaller backyard but definitely functional... and here's what it looks like:

our old patio converted was converted to a room addition. now more space for mikka!

the walkway and my empty planters... gotta plant some winter flowers in there! woohoo!

Oooopps the hoops :) Here's the gate of the dogrun in case the waggly tailed kiddos needed to stay in there whenever we have guests who are scared of dogs.

I love the huge wind chime :)

So there... it's one of those gazzillion things that kept us busy... it's so worth it especially whenever we see Mikka running around safely and the dogs enjoying the grass :)

Now if only I could get that thingie they call bbq grill..... hmmmm....

It's Potty Time!!!

2010-11-12T00:54:00.002-07:00

We think Mikka's close to being ready to be introduced to potty training so we got her this cute teeny potty :)

We were told if we really want to train her on how to use the potty, it would only take 7 days (there's also a 3-day version) but it requires for one parent to be at home with the kiddo the entire "training camp". You'd just have to put regular undies on your kid during those 7 days or leave their bottom bare. Since kids hate the feeling of wet bottoms and that there's no diapers to catch their pee/poop, it would leave them no other choice but to "go" potty. I think it's a pretty clever idea! This "technique" works most of the time and I've spoken to a number of moms who swore by this.

However, at this stage, we'd just slowly introduce Mikka to potty training. We're not going to do any drastic steps until we know she's totally ready for it. Introducing the concept might help but I feel that if she constantly sees and understands what potty is, it would be good enough prep for her to do the real thing.

Wish us luck! At least she's not afraid of this and she looks like she can sit comfortably on it ;) Maybe she thinks it's just but a toy... oh well, we'll find out :)

Video link:

Mikka and her Jigsaw Puzzle

2010-11-11T22:41:00.012-07:00

She loved loved loved this puzzle set for the past 2 months that she found it challenging. Every morning as soon as she woke up, first thing that comes out after "Hi Mommy" would be "Puzzle! Puzzle!" Then she'd work on it over and over until she gets tired of it.

Now at 20 months, she have had this memorized already so sometimes she just put them together once and then keep them away.

Here's one of those days she kinda like it but was over it after putting the pieces together once then she's ready to move on with another thing that catches her interest...

Anyhoo, so proud of my sweetheart being the impatient tot that she is, she still could put these guys together, haha!!!

And the Winner Is....

2010-11-05T10:34:00.004-07:00

Remember my previous post (about a month ago) when I can't decide which counter tops to use in my kitchen?

I had granite (Tan Brown or Baltic Brown) and Silestone (Mahogany or Coffee) as my choices. Then I went to Home Depot the night before the tops guy come over my house for templating and saw another type of Silestone top! To make my long story short, I ended up with Sierra Madre Silestone for my countertop! I love love love it!

Also, I ended up getting my choice#2 glass tiles just because I realized it looks nicer and has that little extra pizzaz I subconciously looking for.

Hmmm, anyways, here's a sneak peek of my countertop and glass tile backsplash :o)

I loooooooooooooveeeeeeeeee my kitchen now that I notice that I'm spending a lot of time in there lately :o)

Will post more pictures soon.

Yay!!!!!!! Now it's time to think about paints paints paints!!!

Not Just Another Princess...

2010-10-29T22:45:00.002-07:00

Cuz mine's a warrior, is green and most of all, I love her soooo much :o) Video link here.

Since we decided we're just going to stay home this Halloween as the kiddo would probably enjoy giving out candies and saying hello's and good-byes to trick or treaters than if we take her out, we thought it's alright for her to wear something a little bare like this...

We still gotta get her a small sword and maybe paint her green? Hahah, just kidding :o)

I really love this Warrior Princess Fiona costume :o) We got 2 costumes for her that I ordered online. One is Princess Leia and Warrior Princess Fiona. My first choice is Princess Leia however, the smallest size available is way too big on her :o(

But the Warrior Princess Fiona costume turned out to be cute too, hehehee :o)


child size version of the costume... can't find toddler size one. it's way cuter, ha!

Anyhoo, happy halloween everyone!!! Be safe and have fun!

Which tops???

2010-09-27T13:35:00.002-07:00

Countertops that is...

I'm on the lookout for some decent countertops for my kitchen as we're temporarily using some cut wood our contractor put together for us until we find the real deal.

I had some tops guys come over during the weekend and they brought in samples. My oh my, I didn't realize they're really expensive. For a teeny weeny sized kitchen as mine, I thought I wouldn't be spending an arm and leg for an ok looking tops. Oh maaan, I was sooo wrong.

I grabbed some granite samples from one of the guys slab shops as well as some silestone from Home Depot. I was looking for something simple yet would get my chosen tile back splash to pop.

Here's what I got.

I narrowed the choices down to these guys - bottom 2 are granite, the smaller squares in the middle are the silestone, top most are my glass tiles (i dunno which one to get yet) for my wall that would go above the granite backsplash. geesh.

granite#1 with my glass tiles. below's my cabinet color.

granite#1 + tile#1

granite#1 + sparkly tile#2

granite#2 + tile#1

granite#2 + tile#2

silestone#1 (coffee brown) + tile#1

silestone#1 + tile#2

my heart is set on this top - silestone#2 (mahogany) + tile#2

silestone#2 + tile#1 --> this combo is my favorite of all!!!!

It would all boil down to the "right" price (read: cheap, affordable, reasonable, haha!). I already know that my silestone#2 would bust my budget (unless of course I sell more stocks but I'm not going to do that!). Also, now that I look at the pictures, I think I prefer glass tile#1. Still gotta get the hubby's opinion (and approval) before deciding which is which.

Here are some pics that I took from the slab shop. They look so much different with different lighting and the bigger slab gives you a better picture on how the stone would look like as tops.

this is granite#1 slab (look at the bottom since the top part was dusty)

granite#2 slab

Worst case, we'd just stick with what we have now, the pieces of cut wood my dear contractor put together for us, hahaha :o)

see, wood piece is not too bad at all, huh?

messy temporary kitchen with cut wood as our countertop, thanks to our contractor for doing this for us. gives us some sink we could use while waiting for the whole kitchen to get done.

Decisions... decisions... all these projects are driving me nuts! But nonetheless, I know it's worth it since the kiddo is getting bigger and we need extra space. A lot of people were telling us, we should have just bought a new house vs having to renovate "This Old House". Yeah, but moving is not an option for us right now, so renovating to make some space is the best option though admittedly it's not the most cost effective route. But hey, we love our neighborhood - easy access to everything! We could have gotten probably a much much cheaper brand new home but we gotta drive an hour to go to work and another hour coming back. Plus, everyone knows it's buyer's market out there, so we really think that we made the right decision that works for us. So there... all these with a 19 month old and 2 waggly tailed kids are more than enough to keep a working mom beyond being busy busy busy... Good thing I love my job, or else, my sanity level would be down to the pits.

Shhhhhhh...

2010-09-19T22:21:00.001-07:00

One fine Sunday at Church, my Anikka was trying to catch our attention by making all sorts of noise and such. As a mom, I thought I'd shush her to let her know that a church is a place of worship and noisy kids are not regarded as cute. Even if we're inside the cry room (yes, our church has a dedicated cry room so familyiesand adults who didn't want anything to do with kids throwing tantrums in the middle of the Holy Mass, could still pray and worship without disturbance), it's still embarrassing if your kid starts to act up and be the noisiest in the crowd. Oh noh noh noh.

Anyways, as I shushed her here was the scenario:

Me: "Quiet Mikka, shhhhhhhhh..." (as I quickly tap my index finger on my lips)

I got a good stare from my daughter and immediately, she laughed and enthusiastically screamed---- "Booooooo!!!!"

Oh my goodness, I was trying soooo hard not to laugh!

You see, one of my daughter's favorite books is Leslie Patricelli's "The Birthday Box". She has memorized this by heart since we've read this a million times already. The story was about a toddler who got a present on his birthday to discover a big brown box when he unwrapped it. Of course, kids would get too excited with the what they could do with the box more than the present itself, so this tot's endless imagination have brought him & the box to a whole new world of his own.

Now to make the story short, here's the page of that book why I got the silly response from my Anikka when I shushed her.... ---

All these antics and she's not even 2. She was just 15 months old back then, she's now 18 months old and could count and recite her ABC's. Oh Mikka, you never fail to put a smile on mommy's face :o)

Almost Done...

2010-09-02T20:54:00.002-07:00

I'm so close to reclaiming my bathroom after almost over a month of hiatus from choosing the tiles, the paint colors, vanity, shower assembly, faucets etc etc etc.

Here's some pics of the shower and sink area.

sorry for the dust

gotta love these fixtures!

wall paint on the side walls is also sesame not sure why it looked bright yellow in the pics

The only thing that's missing now is the shower door. Now, I asked hubby to choose which shower door he wants since I really don't care that much. I'm too tired to be picky about shower doors... of course, not until he showed me this. Now I can't stop thinking about it. My budget for a decent shower door is about $350 to $400. Imagine how I almost died when I found out that this puppy costs about $1500!!!! Oh well, time to shop for something more reasonable and within the budget...

Will definitely update this once we find the best shower door that would fit our need and wouldn't leave a big hole in our pockets :o)

Oh, here are some "before" pics. Taken just before we moved in the house back in 2006 - yeap, at the beginning of the the housing market crash. It was still expensive back then... only if we had waited for another year before getting our own house... but then again, it's alright. In return, we could have not adopted Chewy had we stayed in a rental home any longer than we should. So, no regrets :o)


yep, we bid goodbye to the tub and converted the area into a full shower

excuse my big belly making a peek- shoot, what the?@$#

Are We Ok?

2010-08-23T13:45:00.000-07:00

Things have changed a whole lot lately... makes me wonder if we're still ok. Are we?

Baby #2

2010-08-22T11:37:00.002-07:00

Oh noh, noh, noh... not mine, ha! I caught your attention, didn't I?

Hahah, I'm just so happy I gotta blog about 3 good friends of mine expecting their respective babies (their #2's) and they all told me in a span of a week (this is on top of my friends from blogosphere who are expecting their 2nd babies as well). Some great news eh? I'm just so happy for them.

Now I know I'm all set not wanting another baby because I don't think I could handle another one but with all these baby #2's popping, makes me re-think about it. Hmmm, maybe hubby and I should consider having another one... errrrr.... I dunno. Easier said than done.

The good thing about having a 2nd kid is we'd be secure that Mikka is not going to be just by herself when me and hubby are all old, teethless and weak. I mean, family is family regardless how many friends you have. At least having a sibling would make her less likely feel that she's all that she's have when both me and her dad leave this world. Well, she has and are going to have more cousins however, sibling is different.

HEY, is this me talking about kid #2? Get outta here!!!! Wow, doesn't sound like me at all.

Well, let's see. If God permits for us to have another bundle of joy, who am I to object? :o)

She Can Count!!!!

2010-08-09T00:27:00.000-07:00

Sooo proud of our Mikka! She knows her letters and numbers pretty good (she recognizes them and say what letter/number they are) but we didn't know until this weekend that she knew to say them in order!

Good job sweetheart! We're just so proud of you! We love you sooo much!

Another Funny Moment...

2010-08-07T16:42:00.000-07:00

... I was getting ready to go to Home Depot to get some of my sample paints changed from "flat" to "egg shell" sheen, so I went to where I left the jars and this is what I've found...

Apparently, Mikka found some spare time to entertain herself by stacking these guys up... and take note of the 6"x6" tile she put underneath so she'd have a stable stack...

Where is she learning all these???? Hahaha, she's just sooo funny!

Decide Already!

2010-08-05T13:07:00.001-07:00

I'm running out of space for my paint swatches on my bathroom wall. Hard to choose but gotta make up my mind already!

And here's a sneak peak of the newly grouted shower :o) Not clean yet since they just finished grouting this morning. The shower still has that pungent smell because of the grout...

At 16 Months...

2010-06-29T16:59:00.001-07:00

I know huh??!! I thought she just turned 1 not too long ago, now she's 1 year and 4 months old!! Oh where, oh where has my little baby had gone???? She's a toddler now and growing real fast!

I'm so happy to brag about what she can do :o)

1) Says more than 15 words consistently:
* hi
* book
* dada
* mama
* eyes
* hat
* heart
* shoes
* aaa-choooo
* keys
* Jesus
* ba (for ball, baby, banana)
* fish/fishy-fishy
* moon
* eat
* ilk (milk)
* woof
* mooo
* raawr
* baaa
* go
* ca (car)
* vrooom-vrooom
* papple (apple)

2) She knows her shapes! Ask her what a triangle, square, circle, star, heart, oval is and she'd point them. On top of that, she can put these shapes back in her puzzle mat and her shape sorter toys. I thought it's pretty cool :o)

3) She knows the sounds of different animals! Hahaha, this one I didn't realize she knew as much until last night that while having dinner. We asked her how does a dog sound like.. then she said "ooff, oooofff". Then of course her favorite - the cow and said "mooo, moooo", then the lion (raaawr), then the sheep (baaa), then cat (eeooo, instead of meow, close and almost there)

4) She loves stacking things (blocks, cups, small jars, etc) until it gets too high for her to stack another...

5) She climbs up everywhere like a little monkey...

6) She knows and points at her eyes, ears, nose, mouth, cheek, chin, elbow, toes, face, fingers, hands, head, tongue, feet... she'd also point at flowers, birds, airplane, car, ceiling, fan if asked where they are. Sooo funny and cute.

7) She likes to scribble as well and with help of her daycare teacher (thanks Ms Terrie) Mikka has a few work of art she brings home from time to time :o) I probably have to post some of them here...

8) She can take off her shirt on her own now.

9) She could put her books back into the shelves (though they're still all over the place, haha)

10) She puts her toys back to where they belong when asked.

Oh gosh, I can go on and on, but I'd be sounding like a stage momma already. Bottomline, she's a very happy, social, friendly baby who says hi (with matching princess wave) to everyone we bump anywhere we go. We're just so proud of our Mikka and I'm sure her lolos and lolas, titos and titas are going to be super proud of her too.

On A Positive Note...

2010-06-18T15:11:00.000-07:00

1) Somebody got an award at work for being the Store Champion for the quarter (woohooo, cheers to dada!!)
2) Somebody just learned how to take off her own shirt without assistance (woohoo, cheers to bebe!!!)
3) Somebody's happy and thankful for emergency funds (woohoo!!!)
4) Thank God It's Fridaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Major Heartbreak!!!

2010-06-18T10:07:00.003-07:00

My friend from work told me she got tickets to the circus for her daughter and was able to convince me to go take Mikka to the circus as well.

I got really excited that I ended up purchasing seats for my family. I'm so positive Mikka's going to enjoy it cuz she only sees elephants, tigers, horses etc from books, so it would be fun to see how she'd react when she sees them on the flesh.

But of course, I didn't get contented from just buying the tickets, I have to look for more information about the circus itself. I should have done this before I got the tickets (I know!!!!!), but the eager beaver in me prevailed, now I'm in a major heartbreak!

http://www.circuses.com/ringling.asp

I saw this horrible video AFTER I purchased the tickets and my heart broke into pieces. How could I???????? These are exactly the kind of people I'd condemn to death a million times if I have the power to!!!!! I just betrayed these animals for buying the tickets... I am hating myself right now.

And I thought this week couldn't get any more worse...
1) Mikka got sick last Monday afternoon, she's now taking antibiotics for the first time.
2) Our A/C broke last Wednesday night and it's 100F+ in the afternoon... my poor bebe had to deal with all the heat (We were billed $2400 to replace our old AC unit...)
3) I campaigned a lot about our blood drive at work for this week and I have signed up to donate blood like months ago, only to find out that same day that I can't donate because I started taking antibiotics (stupid asthma!) over the weekend, sigh :o(
4) We found out yesterday that we have mold problems in the master bathroom and the best way to go at this point is to replace the tub area and it's going to cost us more $$$$.
5) I just wasted $100 to pay some idiots to abuse animals!!!!!!!

I really am hating myself right now...

Depth Drilled by Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig

2010-06-15T21:49:00.004-07:00

I couldn't help but share this interesting visual information on how deep BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig dug before the "oilpocalypse"...

Oh, I thought that Fangtooth fish (just before 15,000 feet below sea level) looks oddly familiar... until my husband told me that it's that fish from Nemo at the scene when Marlin and Dory found themselves drawn to this tiny flicker of light only to realize it's a trap from this Fangtooth thingie...

It's Been A Month Now...

2010-06-08T23:21:00.000-07:00

... since my mom and brother left the US to the Philippines. We miss them a lot. Especially my mom who stayed with us for almost a year... and helped us take care of Mikka big time.

Time flies so fast that I didn't realize where the past 30 days have gone. Things have definitely changed in my household - dramatic change but all is good.

To my mom, thanks so much for your sacrifices for me and my family... for having to stay with us for a year and being away from Papsy that long just to be with us. Mikka wouldn't be the bright, healthy baby that she is right now without you. We love and miss you oh so badly. Hope to see you soon.

To my brother, thanks man for picking up mamsy and coming over. We enjoyed our escapades with you and I can tell how much Mikka enjoys the company of her uncle. She just kept on knocking on your room's door whenever I ask her "Where's Mama Gie and Tito Bong?". I always make sure I show her your pictures so she wouldn't forget. Hope you had a great time with your South East Asian tour. Please send us pictures you took using your new DSLR :o) Please come back and visit us soon. We love and miss you. Ohhh, I just remembered... you didn't get to drive the Benz!!!!! Waaahhhh!!! Di bale, next time dude, you can drive it around the block, hahaha :o)

Mikka's Aloha Hello Kitty 1st Bday Party

2010-06-04T14:07:00.002-07:00

This post had been sitting in my drafts folder for the past 4 weeks so some may no longer be time-appropriate so please bear with me.

This was written when my mom was still here and my brother just flew from Manila to the US a few weeks back. Now they're both back in the Philippines but my brother's out and about for another 2 week out- of-the-country trip (gosh, my brother travels a lot but it's good because he deserves every bit of "me time" these days)

Missing them both, but that of course requires a separate blog post... heee...

To my dear ones who have been waiting for the pictures, I'd post some of them here. I don't post pictures in FB as I used to just because I realized even if you set your album accessible to "friends only", other people could still see them. Not sure but I'm guessing it's some FB bug. However I'd be sending a link to the rest of the pictures to you guys, just give me a holler if I missed you in my list.

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Yay, I finally got a chance to blog about Anikka's birthday party here in AZ!

We just came back from Vegas over the weekend since my brother flew from the Philippines, we took him for a short trip to the Sin City, drove to Grand Canyon and swing by Sedona before heading back home (all in 3 days!). It was one of the most exhausting out of town trips I've ever had! I think I didn't want to go out of town anytime soon, haha!

I have lotsa pics in my camera that are piling up and I haven't even blogged about Mikka's first bday party celebration here in AZ... oh maaaan....

Anyhoo, March 21st, almost about a month after her first birthday (Feb 23), we celebrate this exciting milestone of hers (and ours too) here in AZ. Her "Aloha Hello Kitty" party was held in an open park (Playtopia ainTumbleweed Park) to take advantage of the gorgeous AZ weather in spring :o)

We chose Aloha Hello Kitty for her theme. First, it's cute and not too common, second, it's the only cartoon character I get my husband to agree on since HK is Japanese plus adding Hawaiian touch makes it more dear to hubby.

Cute as it may sound but it definitely was not an easy theme to gather so I had to improvise a bit. Since we just came back from Hawaii at the time of her party, most of the favors I got while we were there. I also had to just mix and match Hello Kitty themes with Hawaiian themes, so I guess, it turned out pretty ok. I just had to invest a lot of time researching where to get the supplies. Other than that, we had a lot of fun preparing for her party!

It was just a simple party with some good friends and good food...

We rented 3 ramadas closest to the playground so the kids wouldn't have to go far. Hubby came in late though because he had to run to grab some more stuff from Costco. Took about an hour before he came back and the party already started. He missed some games but heck, what to do? We didn't have anybody else to help us unlike in the Philippines where you could hire someone to help you with all your events needs so all you gotta do is sit back, relax, mingle with guests. It was definitely an experience and an event to remember for us regardless :o)

Anyways, thanks so much to all those who came and made the celebration a blast - families and good friends, every single soul who took their time to join us, can't thank you enough! Special mention to Tobi, our balloon artist and face painter, Sonya who helped me host the party, Clive Vanrensburg our photographer, Ate Leeza for cooking the food, Bravo family for always there for us from the very beginning our our journey as a couple, the Crandalls for helping us entertain Mikka while we run around to check on the guests etc, the Yabuts for always helping us with valuable party suggestions , we found our cakemaker, Tasha, because of Ice, thanks so much sis plus the idea of Hello Kitty as Mikka's theme saved us a lot from knocking our heads to find out which theme to use... and of course, every single soul who came and even those who didn't make it, thanks sooo much from the bottom of our hearts!!!

So 'nuf of the talk... here are some pictures we'd like to share (at long last!!!).

Mikka's Favorite Books

2010-05-23T01:06:00.000-07:00

You can tell right away by looking at the books' condition if the kiddo likes it or not - if it's all beaten (and bitten) up that it almost look like it's not going to withstand another flip, then yeah, it's one of her most favorite books to "read" and play at.

Good thing that she outgrew this biting thing about 3 weeks ago since she started daycare. Now, she still flips through different books however, these are the ones she would choose and would "ask" me or her dad to read to her. By her asking I meant, she'd be taking the book and give it to either me or her dad and would automatically sit on my lap or her dad's. Reading once is not enough though, we had to read about 3 times. I dunno what's up with these books but apparently, she likes them so far at this stage.

I thought I want to share this as I really think it's interesting to see her transition from just biting and flipping books to actually showing interest into listening and reading them. Amazing these kids these days!!!

Leslie Patricelli's "The Birthday Box" never fails to make my Mikka giggle everytime :o)

You Know You're A Mom When...

2010-05-13T08:23:00.002-07:00

... while debugging your program at work you find yourself singing "sarasponda sarasponda sarasponda retsetset... sarasponda sarasponda sarasponda retsetset..." at the back of your mind... oh maaan....