Troubles

Lately, I have been looking for the right words... the strength... the time... to be able to put into writing the quite busy and trouble-laden weeks that has been plaguing me.  First, I am having quite a difficult pregnancy and although I have been advised by my OB to take a leave of absence from my work, I just can't.  Short of someone offering us financial assistance, hubby and I just can't afford a month or so of me not having any form of income at all.  We are barely able to save up for my forthcoming delivery from both our monthly income as it is that I just can't imagine how we can survive if go on leave now.  So that's that... I can't complain about having work because it's a blessing that both hubby and I have jobs when others don't, I just pray everything's going to be alright with baby #2.  See the thing is I have a low-lying placenta and... well to make the long explanation short, it is causing me pain and I have to take meds and all that... and hopefully my condition will improve soon!  And then, just when I am having difficulty moving around like I did before, Adam got sick, and was cranky and wanted to be carried all the time.  Of course, I can't carry him for more that a minute or so, so I had to ask my hubby and sister to do it for me but Adam wouldn't have it that way so he got even more cranky and short of just breaking down and crying with him, I had to be more creative in keeping him entertained while he was still feeling sick.  Oh, and of course between me and Adam having to take meds, it only means even more expenses...  *sigh* even writing about it makes me exhausted... I just pray these troubles go away soon!

First Ultrasound

I had my first ultrasound at sixteen weeks, the gender couldn't be determined yet so I guess I would have to be patient a little longer and wait for my next ultrasound to be performed... I am really praying for a baby girl but another baby boy would, of course, be so welcomed also.

5 Years!

Happy Anniversary Honey!

Pichi-pichi

Since my first taste of Amber's Pichi-pichi with cheese about a year and a half ago, I have always compared other pichi-pichi to it.  So far, I haven't tasted any that would surpass the cheese-topped goodies that come from Amber's.  And I am super thankful that Amber's opened a branch very near our place in Parañaque.  So now, whenever I get the craving for their delectable pichi-pichi, I wouldn't have to go far.  Just this Monday, after office, hubby and I went to Amber's to get 30-piece-box to enjoy for merienda.  We got to share it with Adam, my niece-Cheska, and my parents.  The kids loved it so much that we had to stop them from eating too much or they will ruin their appetite for dinner.

The Graduate

My youngest sister graduated last Wednesday, March 30 with a degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management. I must say, that it was quite a happy moment for the whole family since Mae, has been hard at work and study at the same time for almost two years now. She started out as a full time student her first two years of college and then became part of the Jollibee SEEDS Program that enabled her to work, study and earn a bit at the same time. Both my parents has been retired for almost three years now, so aside from the 12,000 per semester shouldered by Jollibee, we have to come up with the rest of the money that is needed to complete her tuition fee. I am fortunate enough to have been able to contribute enough financial and moral support to my very industrious sister who is now a full-pledged graduate! So you may understand how ecstatic I am that we have hurdled the worst, and she would now be able to support herself and maybe help out with my parents' household needs. I love you, Mae, we are so proud of you!

After the graduation rites, we celebrated with a monster meal delivery from Shakey's.  We were all so hungry but we didn't get to finish all of it even though the food was tasty.  Maybe we're just too tired or maybe there was just too much food. :))

Gatadobo

A while back a friend gifted me with this delectable dish from a restaurant called Coconut House.  Since then, I have been wanting to visit the said establishment if only to get another dose of the tasty Adobo with gata but I have not had the opportunity to go there.  The craving was renewed however when I got to watch a feature from Carmina and Pekto's show, Day Off.  The Coconut house was recommended as one of the must try places when dining out.  Now, I also want to try their coco halo-halo... hmmm, hopefully, I'd be able to finally visit this restaurant this summer and try their mouth-watering goodies!

All Day Sickness

While I was preggy with Adam, I didn't get to experience what most of my friends and relatives said they did while they were pregnant - morning sickness.  So, these days I'm thinking "be careful what you wish for..."  It's not like I wished for it, I sort of just shrugged at them when they were saying that it was hard for them to wake up in the morning because you feel like you're going to throw up any second... Well, here it is... and worse, because I also feel it in the afternoon and sometimes at night!

The solution:  Currently eating small but frequent meals; I always have saltines and/or hard candies in my bag; and I take 5-minute naps whenever I get overpowered by drowsiness.  Hopefully, I would be able to overcome this stage really soon because it is quite a damper on the happiness of being pregnant, not to mention, it becomes a hassle when I have to attend to Adam but I feel so sick to do so. :(

While I Was Out

It's almost a month since my last post and I have been dying to write about what's been happening to me these past few weeks...  I'll just have to compress everything into one short post for now because I am still reeling with the flurry of activity that has been my world lately.

First, let me start with a big, happy bit of news:  I'm pregnant!  Yes, baby #2 is on the way... I am now 7 weeks pregnant and counting.

The thing is, I have been suffering from asthma attacks again.  I even developed skin allergies from I don't know what, a couple of days back and had to take my anti-allergy meds again.  That's something I haven't done for a couple of years now, so it was quite a surprise to me.  There's this constant feeling of nausea and drowsiness that I didn't experience while I was pregnant with Adam before.  I have gained almost a kilo of weight already and I haven't even reached my 2nd month of pregnancy!  I'm scheduled to have my first ultrasound next week so...

In the office, a transfer of offices has been already announced and I have to carefully pack and label everything before the big move.  I don't have a secretary/clerk to assist me so I have to do all these on my own.  It's a good thing that the office I'm moving to is just a couple of doors away from my current one so it's not going to be a huge adjustment, but still, the amount of documents I need to transfer is quite a lot and the office I'm moving to is relatively smaller so it's going to be a challenge to fit everything into my new space.

As for my talkative, active baby boy, Adam, he's just a little fireball that keeps me going.  Currently, he's into games in the I-touch like "Traffic Rush", "Sniper Strike", "Cops and Robbers", "Tower Bloxx", and "Pig Rush".  While Pororo, Pocoyo, Handy Manny and Cars are the cartoons he never tires of watching.  He's more conversational lately although some of his words, you'd have to strain your ears and imagination before you can understand.  Like one time he kept asking for "Picky Caws" when he was actually asking for his "Mickey Mouse" stuffed toy.  Then there was one time he said he wanted to eat "Pochik" when he wanted to eat "Pork Steak".  But most of the time we can understand him and is very talkative...

Well, I guess that's all the update I can give right now.  Hopefully I'd be able to post soon and report more often but I can't really say anything for sure these days.

Happy Hearts Day

Today marks "the feast of hearts".  We commemorate love and affection almost everyday but today especially... call it riding the commercial wagon, call it corny, call it whatever you want.  But I enjoy seeing lots of people celebrating their love, so this is one of my favorite days of the year.  Where you see heart decorations almost everywhere and you get sweets from your loved ones.  This year's sobrang cheesy gift by my hubby is a short AVP he posted on Facebook.  He says he didn't get to put as much time and effort to it as he wants due to his work (and probably my using the computer every chance that I get).  But it doesn't matter how short or long the time he spent working on this, it's definitely the thought that counts!

It's his rest day today and he usually picks me up from work on Mondays, so we'll see what else he has in store for us this Valentine's day.

Manila Zoo

It has been over a decade since my last trip to Manila Zoo so I was excited both for my son (who will see it for the first time) and for me too. I have been hearing good reviews of the renovations for this place that I have been wanting to visit for the longest time. Hubby and I were awake and getting ready for the trip as early as 7AM, unfortunately, we let Adam sleep late the night before so he woke up late (9AM), as a result, it was already past 10AM when we left the house. My mom, dad, youngest sister, Mae and my neice, Cheska, went with us on our "field trip".

Anyway, the trip itself was quick enough since it was a weekday and we didn't encounter that much traffic. Manila Zoo was... well, a bit disappointing for me since I was expecting a much improved place, but that's just me... what's important is that Adam loved seeing the animals for the first time (well, most of them, he saw for the first time) instead of just looking at them in his picture books or seeing them on TV and videos. He almost threw a tantrum though, when the "bebra" (his way of saying zebra) didn't come out in the open. It was the one animal he really wanted to see in person but Adam had bend over the fence just to get a peek. Good thing when went over to the tigers cage, they were roaring and moving around... he really enjoyed that and didn't want to go to see the other animals anymore. He loved hearing the tigers loud roars (while I was scared just hearing one roar) and even imitated them. We stayed in front of the tigers' cage for a good twenty minutes. The only reason Adam lost interest was when Charlie bought him a monkey stuffed toy from a vendor nearby. Adam hung the monkey around his neck even as we gave him his milk while sitting in one of the benches inside the park.

After the "field trip" we went to Congo Grille at SM Mall of Asia for a super late lunch and also to celebrate my youngest sister's birthday. We were supposed to go on the "Cruise" of Manila Bay right behind MOA but the kids were all tired out already so decided to postpone it to a later date. We passed by Dampa instead to buy prawns (my sister's favorite) which we later cooked in lemon butter sauce and ate to our belly's content for dinner.

P.S.

Kiong Hee Huat Tsai!