What Mama Has To Say | Just another WordPress weblog

With the blessings of my blog-mother (thanks Tin!), I am taking a break.

See you one of these days.

(photo courtesy of Roland Garros 2008 website)

Rafael Nadal looks so good in this green tennis ensemble. Nike did really well on this. They should actually have picked Nadal over Federer (in his boring sense of style) for the latest Nike ad.

Click here for more drool moments.

another tag from Tin, thanks!

What time do you usually wake up?
My alarm rings at 7am, but before that, I do get up a few times during the night when Chrissie wakes up.

What’s the first thing you do?
Snooze the alarm. Hahaha. When it’s really time to get up, i make sure there’s a divider between Chrissie and Julie, or else Julie will be all over Chrissie. When Chrissie is already up, i get her and we both go outside to look for her Ate.

Breakfast?
Rice and ulam and freshly brewed coffee with milk.

Do you go to work/school?
Yes. Work.

Do you like it?
Yes. I only don’t like the part about leaving the house.

If you stay at home, what do you do all day?
Laze around…Take care of and play with the girls. Surf. Watch TV. Find something to organize in the house. I rarely clean and cook nowadays–there’s Ate to do all that.

When’s lunch and what you do usually eat?
At work, 1230 and whatever is left over from the previous night’s dinner. At home, depends what time we had breakfast.

What time do you get home from work/school?
Between 630 to 7pm.

What do you do?
When I get home? Kiss Julie. Then, I wash my hands, get out of my work clothes and then go to Chrissie to kiss and hold her.

Dinner: When and what?
Usually at 730. im currently surviving on whole meal bread sandwiches.

What do you do to unwind?
eat out, watch movies and shop

What’s your favorite part of the day?
uwian from work.

Who’s your favorite person to interact with?
my family

When’s bedtime?
between 10-11pm

Who’s bedtime with?
my family. currently, the girls share the bed with me and hubby sleeps on the floor.

I would like to tag Mrs. Buntis, Anne

My panganay is a person full of wonders. At a very young age of 5 years old, she has already developed a personality that is distinctly her own.

An Adventurer and Explorer

The above photo was taken when Julie took the kid’s course at Forest Adventure. She dares to take challenges given to her–learning to ride a bike & scooter, swimming. She’ll try inline skating next.

A diligent student

Julie’s K1 teacher feedbacked to us that Julie only needs to listen to instructions once and already knows what to do by herself. She takes her school work seriously and always does her homework straight away. She feels guilty about not being able to do school work when she misses school due to illness. She works on every new activity book that we buy for her–most of the time too fast that she can finish about a quarter of a book in one sitting.

Hobbyist

Aside from her studies, Julie is also into the creative stuff. She loves arts and crafts–she doodles, draws, colors, cuts, pastes and what have you. The house is full of her art work (and all the mess that goes with it). She also dabbles at photography so my camera’s memory stick is always full. Lately, we’ve taken into baking–check out her friendster album. And our most favorite hobby is (drumroll!)–shopping!

THE Principal

Growing up with 2 adults and barely with kids her own age, specially in the last 2 years, Julie was more exposed to adult ways of life. She was always told to sit properly, talk properly and eat properly. She was molded into this kind of behavior that she now also reprimands other kids who are not “proper”. ONce when her former playmate Mico was in Singapore for a visit (this boy is one of the naughtiest I’ve seen), she was always telling the boy off–”Mico, don’t!”, “Mico, sit properly!”, etc etc. Hence, her tita started calling her Principal Julie.

My Sassy Girl

Despite her “strict” and “proper” upbringing, Julie is also very outspoken and witty. She tells stories in a very funny and animated way. She never fails to make me laugh with her one-liners (“Waaahhh!!! Djokovic and Feathery again!?!?!”). She’s a headstrong child who speaks her mind and heart.

Ate Julie

Even before she had a sister, Julie has always been caring to other people. Her teacher told us that when somebody gets hurt in class, Julie would be the one to comfort her friend. When I feel down or I’m not well, she’d always give me a pat and a hug and tell me everything’s going to be fine–a touching reversal of roles. With Chrissie now, she took on her “Ate” role to heart. She always volunteers to care for Chrissie, even for things she’s not yet capable of doing. She loves her little sister to bits and never forgets to blow her a kiss and a flying hug (2 hands from the chest extend out) before we retire for the night. Her life dream is to be just that, an “Ate”.

A good child

Julie is not without her share of mischiefs. Like any other kid, she would try every now and then to challenge our rules and authority. However, once she gets scolded for her misdeed, it is always a lesson learned for her.

She also grew up without wanting too much. She was always satisfied with what she already has. When we are in a toy store, she would look around and play but when it’s time to go, she would put back whatever she’s playing with, without question. With food, she’s not too picky, knowing all too well that she has to eat whatever is on the table. Every little thing we give her is rewarded with a big thank you. She knows how to appreciate gifts, no matter how small. Mababaw ang kaligayahan.

Friends and family alike have lauded us on how well-mannered, level-headed and and an overall pleasant person Julie has become. It’s very flattering to receive such comments because more than the talents, the merits and achievements, what I really want is for my children to be good and decent people.

My prayer is for Julie to continue being the way she is. I have yet to see what will become of Chrissie, but hopefully Julie will be able to rub off her good traits to her little sister. I can almost hear her now…“Chrissie, sit properly!“.

(For Julie’s photos era 2006 and beyond, visit her multiply.)

My to-do list, as tagged by Tin:

My to-do lists are all over the place…Work to-dos are written in a notebook specifically for work. Personal to-do’s are written either on a small notebook i keep in my bag, or on pieces of sticky notes, or typed in my mobile phone or written on a wall calendar (ang jologs!). This post should keep everything in one place, (except work to-dos).

1. chrissie ’s 6th month check up and immunisation - tomolo lah! DONE.
2. Meet the parents day at Julie’s school — 16 May @ 230pm DONE
3. Go for hair rebonding (finally after 1.5 years!) - 17 May, just in time for the long weekend Weehee!
4. Post new pictures in Chrissie’s multiply — this weekend DONE.
5. Back up documents and pictures into external disk — this weekend, pramis! as promised
6. Check MOE website for Primary 1 registration schedule — next week. no updates yet.
7. Ask landlord about new rate — i’ve been trying to prolong this, but have to do it by next week–meeting this weekend (24th)
8. If #7 is not good, start looking for new place — next week
9. Try on new batch of clothes on Chrissie to see which ones already fit (a.k.a. mowdeling)– this weekend DONE
10. Learn about paid blogging — next month?
11. Look around for good Bintan packages for the school break — eom
12. Start planning for Chrissie’s 1st birthday bash - sometime July
13. Do 2 more tags

BUSY PEOPLE:
1.) my chopsuey
2.) mind bubbles
3.) vanity kit
4.) somethingpurple
5.) a detour
5.) juls random thoughts
6.) meeya’s memes and finds
7.) Marikit
8.) Strawberrygurl
9.) What Mama Has To Say

I would like to tag another busy mom, Kat. And as long as you’re a busy mom, you’re welcome to do this tag

Chrissie was born with a huge mass of hair…On my last ultrasound before she was born, my doctor was able to capture 1 standing strand of hair which measured about 1cm at that time. Everyone who sees Chrissie since she was born would always notice first how much hair she has.

Not only does she have lots of hair, her hair also has a life of it’s own. When it was shorter, it would naturally spike up when dry. Later, as it got longer, the front part would always go down into her forehead (and cover its wideness) and the back part would be flat or curled, depending if she spent most of the time on her back or not.

I used to say that her hair was ‘pinaglihi’ from either Papa Piolo’s or Dingdong Dantes’.

But now, I am convinced, her hair is from David Cook–that tousled, unkept look.

Even though David Cook was inexistent when I was naglilihi–it’s probaby destiny that he’s my bet in this year’s AI. All because of the hair…hihihi.

When I was single, I was very carefree. I didn’t think of anyone but myself. I was fearless about most things. But being a mother changed all that. I started to be more cautious. I fear for my children’s safety the most. I took one step towards making my children safe from the threat of daily crimes by moving to Singapore. But now, there’s a new threat in our midst–the threat of global warming.

A few weeks back, I watched a docu in National Geo called “Six Degrees”. It basically tells that when the overall world temperature increases by a mere 6 degrees, all of the major citiies in the world will be under water–New York, London, etc…Yes, most probably Singapore too. Scary isn’t it.

So from then on, I vowed to myself that I will do something about it. In my own little way, I will try to save the earth.

Today being Earth Day, I enjoin everyone to start their own personal crusades. I think we can all start by asking what we can do.

I’d like to share a few sites as a starting point:

1. WWF
2. Greenpeace (for more hardcore stuff–you can also get free banners to show in your blog!)
3. Saving Gaia (from Singapore’s top media company)

Tonight HBO will also premiere Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth”.

So let’s all learn together, let’s save the earth together.

in slide show, of course

One of the things we did on my birthday:

The sisters tried on different hats and posed for this pic.

More to come after this weekend…

April is the month I turn a year older. By coincidence, some of my favorite people also celebrate their birthdays this month.

April 3

Pat “Ang Dyosa”. She’s the only one i would admit to being prettier than I am. In fact, if I was a guy, i’ll be one of her legions of suitors. I love her because her infectious smile simply makes my day.

Karen. She was my college batchmate, however, I only got to know her when we became officemates after college. She was one of the sosy girls in school, but I was blessed to get to know the more simple and sweet side of her. We spent every moment of our office hours together. Our tandem was called K-ci and Jojo, after the then famous duo.

April 4

Kim. I met Kim when she went for a tour here with a friend of mine, and we just hit it off right away. She’s funny and witty. She also loves passionately, just like me.

April 8

Alfred. He’s gregarious, smart and hilarious. His vocal impersonations of Brits, Indians, and Singaporeans always makes me laugh. Magka-birthday kami, that makes him a real favorite.

April 13

Ces. My dear friend & kumare. She’s got a good heart and a good soul. If i could pick parents for my kids, undoubtedly, that would be her and her husband.

April 15

Marty. He’s one of my favorite ex-bosses and later on became one of our wedding principal sponsors. He not only mentored me on my job, he also gave me lots of valuable advices on life and love. I met him shortly after my own father died, and became like a father to me (of course he’d deny being that old).

Tita Olie. In a sea of terrifying in-laws, she’s one of the coolest. I love her because despite our age gap, I can talk to her like she’s my kabarkada.

April 21

Tita Lil. My beautiful birth godmother and in college, my adoptive mother as I stayed in her house during that time. She had her first child when she was 19, but inexperience didn’t deter her from being a good mom. She has raised her 3 boys well–and now she’s a doting grandmom to 6 kids. She has also been a solid support for my Tito, through all the trials and successes.

April 27

Mom. I heard sometime ago that babies conceived when the woman is in her mid-20s are the healthiest and would most likely be beautiful. My mom was 25 when I was born. Go figure Thanks ma for choosing this perfect time to have me. hahaha.

Happy Birthday April babies!

ADDENDUM:
I almost forgot (alright, I did forget)…Another special person is celebrating this month–and here I go again, I am not sure of the exact date (April 24???). Lisa. We got close while visiting each other in our respective country-bases in 2002. She generously accepted me to her flat while I was still settling down in Singapore. She’s a person I know I can run to anytime–very dependable. Lisa is a friend to keep.