A dollar a day.

Kahapon, nagpunta kame ng mall. May gusto si little boy na laruan. Ung transformer na tag $45. At dahil di ko maatim na bumili ng toy na $45 na lalaruin lang ng isang oras, syempre di ko binili. (OO, kuripot akong nanay. :p) Sabi ko sa kanya, hindi ko bibilin kasi mahal un. At wala kame pera pambili. Pwede kame buy ng toy, pero ung mura lang. So nagpalit naman sya ng mura na toy. Ang siste pa, pag-punta namin sa bahay ni SIL, me bago sila na Wii.

Kaya naman pag-uwi, maiyak iyak syang nagtanong na bakit ko daw sya hindi binili ng toy. Ang drama pa, "Mommy, if you want to make me happy buy me wii." :P

So pinaliwanag ko sa kanya na hindi lahat kaya ko bilhin. Kasi sa ngayon wala pa work si daddy, so yung sweldo ko e pang bayad namin ng rent, food at pang-school nya. Pero syempre nanay pa rin ako at naantig ang puso. So, sabi ko sa kanya kung good boy sya, I will give him a dollar everyday. At pag-nakaipon sya ng $45, he can buy his transformer. Ang tanong nya, "Mommy, how many $1 for wii?" :p Sabi ko 500! (More than 1 year yun! ahehe)

So far nakaka $4 na sya for good behavior. Mwehehe.

Sana tama ang way ko para matuto sya ng value of money at hindi nya maisip na inu-uto ko lang sya. ehehehe

Call from Ms. Teacher

Today, while having lunch I received a call from little boy's teacher.
Ang tanong ko agad, "What did he do?" E kasi naman, sariwa pa sa ala-ala ko ang mga tawag ni dating teacher. Ahehehe...

Anyway, this time good news naman. Me award daw si little boy, and it will be announced during their school assembly. Wohoooo!

Ask ko kung ano, surprise daw. Attend daw ako ng assembly para malaman ko. Naku baka mamaya, best in being late pala! ahehehe. :p

Excited na ako mag monday! =)

My little designer.

Dahil excited ako kay Emma, nagtitingin tingin na ako sa mga magazines ng kung anong magandang gawin sa mga kwarto.

Nakakita ako isang bedroom ng bata na may outline ng puno sa wall. So I asked little boy, kung gusto ba nya ng ganun. Ang kanyang sagot...

'No, I don't want that mommy! If my friends visit me, they will ask me why do I have a tree inside my room! They will say, "Why do you have a tree in your room?" It's not right to have a tree in your room mommy."

Ahehehe. Lalaki nga ang anak ko. Walang arte sa katawan. :p

Nung isang linggo naman, nagdrive kame around the neighborhood. Nagtitingin tingin kame ni mahal kung anong magandang kulay ng bricks. Out of the blue, bigla na lang nagsalita si little boy. 'Mommy, I want white bricks." At bakit white, tanong ko.

"I don't know. I just want white. Cause red bricks are boring."

Naku po nanang! Buti na lang kame lang nasa kotse at wala kame sa bahay ng aming mga friends na nakatira sa red bricks! Kundi baka napukpok kame ng mga bricks sa ulo. ehehehe.

So light colored bricks it is. (Wag naman white na white at baka magfeeling michelle obama ako nun!)

Then, napa flip ako sa isang page na meron wall decor na rusty effect. Ayaw raw nya nun. At sabi ko bakit na naman ayaw nya? Sabi nya "Cause its rusty. It's not nice mommy. My friends will say 'Ewwwww!So rusty!'" (Talaga bang dapat may say ang kanyang friends sa bahay namin? ehehehe)

Then he saw a page na meron malaking book shelves sa wall. Sabi nya gusto daw nya nun. Gawa daw kame ng library para sa mga books namin. Aba, pareho kame ng taste ng anakis ko! Eto ang inu-ungot ungot ko ke mahal na gawing project. Gusto ko ng wall to wall na book shelvings, di ko lang alam pa kung sa anong wall ko gagawin. ehehe.

Buti na lang ung bunso e wala pang say. Kundi pano na!

Having Emma

New post on Emma. =)

WS SpeakOutFriday 03: Newlyweds, The Day After

What's next? What happened the morning after that most beautiful day in your life? And then, how about the many mornings after?

What is the reality of marriage for you and your husband? Looking back, what is the difference between now that you’re married compared to when you were still single, particularly your relationship with your man? Did marriage really change both of you in some ways?

~~~

Okay, what changed exactly? Here's a few that I can think of at the moment.

Nawala na pagpapa-cute. I can directly tell him now na "Sunduin mo ako at wag ka male-late!" Hindi katulad dati, patweetums pa na "Oks lang. Sige take your time. Antay lang ako dito." At ngayon diretsahan na rin nya sinasabi na "Mag-commute ka na lang." at hindi na "Try ko kung makatakas sa boss ko. Pagnakatakas ako sunduin kita."

Dati, unahan sa pagawa. Ngayon unahan na sa pag-utos! Ahehehe.

Then there's the big S. Oh wag na magpaka inosente, alam nyo kung ano ang S. I don't have to spell it out! Less of it. Not that I am complaining. It just means that we have more (not exactly better) things to do now. Or siguro, mas masarap lang talaga pag bawal. Mwehehehe. :p

Mas nag mature kame. (Magkaron ka ba naman ng dalawang batang palalakihin kundi ka mag-mature e ewan ko na lang. hehe)

Yes, it changed! A little bit for the better, a little bit for the worse. But I think change is good. Just imagine if nothing changes, then there won't be any more challenge in the relationship and it'll become boring. And boring is definitely not a good word to start with.

So newlyweds, embrace change! It'll do more good than bad, just learn how to possitively handle it. =)

Aaactiioon!

My little bebe (who is not so little and not so bebe anymore) at 19months, still doesn't talk much. I can still count his words with my fingers. Delayed na sya kung ikukumpara kay little boy (kuya). Na syempre hindi ko dapat ginagawa di ba. :p

Anyway, kahapon nasa bahay kame ng isang friend. And ung friend ko meron 3month old na baby. Yun baby pa talaga. Sinilip lang namin sa room kasi tulog na. My little bebe, went to the crib. Tried to touch the baby, he looked at me, smiled and said..."bay-byyyy". Ay naloka naman daw ako! Marunong na pala magsalita ang little one! =)

Anyway... hindi pa un ang kwento ko talaga.

Nung pag uwi naman sa bahay, (excuse me sa mga nakain! medyo gross to... hehe) si kuya mag u-u daw. So sige, uu ang kuya. After nya, balik na kame sa mga gawain. Ako nasa dining table. Ung toilet, pag bukas ang pinto tanaw ung loob. Pumasok si little bebe, syempre pinapanood ko kung ano ang gagawin. Ang ginawa, naghubad ng shorts. Naghubad ng pull-up diaper nya. Pumasok sa toilet, kinuha ang stool, umakyat sa stool at pumusisyon na. Syempre at this point, sinabi ko na ke mahal na i-assist kasi panigurado sa liit nya, sho-shoot sa toilet bowl. Namangha ako kasi di ko pa sya ni to-toilet trained pero more or less alam na nya ang gagawin.

Pero syempre, hindi lahat ng kwento e happy ending. Ang siste kasi, naka uu na pala sya sa diaper. So, nung hinubad nya ung diaper, meron onti sumabit sa paa. Tapos naglakad sa toilet. So alam nyo na kung ano ang nangyari! Tapos, ng umupo sa toilet seat, alam nyo na rin malamang ang nangyari! In short, nagkalat sya. So, ung ang aking pagka-mangha e 50% dahil alam nya na ang gagawin at 50% sa tindi ng aking lilinisin! :p

Pero syempre, dahil ina ako nangibabaw ang aking pagkatuwa sa achievement ng aking iho. Hindi man sya magsalita, nakukuha naman sa gawa. Siguro paglaki nito, eto ung taong tinatawag na "man of few words." mwehehehe.

Emma's own blog.

I don't want to bore you with all the hammering details so I created another blog to document Emma's progress.

Just in case you're interested, Emma's site is here.

=)

WS: SpeakOut Friday02: Ideal Marriage

For SpeakOut Friday, our question is this: as a married couple, can you think of the ways your marriage inspires other couples? For you, what makes your marriage ideal? And if your marriage should turn out be one for the ages, what would you like to be its ultimate legacy?

I think we inspire other couples on how we treat each other. We started out as friends, and up to now I can say we are still friends. As in pwede ko okrayin ang mga nakaraan nya. (Pero syempre, di nya ko pwede okrayin. Di ba ideal na ideal? Hehe )

As for me, I think ideal ang aming marriage cause after 5 years, we can still laugh and be merry. After all the struggles and hardships ko sa kanya(once sided talaga e no! syempre blog ko to, kung gusto nya gumawa sya ng blog nya at bumuo ng husbandspeaks. mwehehehe), nangingibabaw pa rin ang aming looooove sa isa't isa.

And kung sakali nga na maabot namin ang katagang "stood the test of time" chuvaness, gusto ko makilala kame as a couple who have lived, loved and laughed. Charing! hehe

Kidding aside, gusto ko makilala kame as a couple who was able to nurture two little boys into loving, caring and responsible gentlemen. I think sila ang magiging salamin nang kung anong meron pagsasama talaga meron kame. I think and I believe that a happy couple produces happy children. =) (Pwede na bang pang Miss U ang sagot? mwehehehe... )

Uy baka kala nyo echos lang eto ha.... totoo ito, Promise!

Cost of a Child.

Got this from email. Too good not to pass!

---------------------------------------------------------

Current Exchange rate SGD1 = PHP32.4094

Here's the price of a Filipino child. This is just too good not to pass on to all. Something absolutely positive for a change. I have repeatedly seen the breakdown of the cost of raising a child, but this is the first time I have seen the rewards listed this way. It's nice.
---------------------------------------------------------
The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with P5,404,725.00 for a middle income family. Talk about price shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition.

But P5,404,725.00 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into:
* P300,262.50 a year,
* P25,021.88 a month, or
* P6,255.50 a week.
* That's a mere P893.64 a day!
* Just over P37.23 an hour.
Still, you might think the best financial advice is don't have children if you want to be "rich." Actually, it is just the opposite.

What do you get for your P5,404,725.00?
* Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
* Glimpses of God every day.
* Giggles under the covers every night.
* More love than your heart can hold..
* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
* A hand to hold usually covered with jelly or chocolate.
* A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites.
* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.

For 5,404,725.00, you never have to grow up.
You get to:
* finger-paint,
* carve pumpkins,
* play hide-and-seek,
* catch lightning bugs, and
* never stop believing in Santa Claus.

You have an excuse to:
* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,
* watch Saturday morning cartoons,
* go to Disney movies, and
* wish on stars.
* You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle, wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.

For a mere P893.64 a day, there is no greater bang for your buck.
You get to be a hero just for:
* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,
* taking the training wheels off a bike,
* removing a splinter,
* filling a wading pool,
* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless..

You get a front row seat in history to witness the:
* first step,
* first word,
* first bra,
* first date, and
* first time behind the wheel.

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so one day they will, like love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!!

Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren & great-grandchildren!!!!!!!

It's the best investment you'll make!

Emma: First Trimester

Tuloy na tuloy na ang aming si Emma!

Yesterday, we got a call from the agent. Ready na daw for signing ang contract ng ang aming soon to be house.

Haaayyy! Ang hirap rin pala. Dami dapat pagdecidan. Mas madali pa ata mag baby.
Sa baby, 2 lang choice of color mo. Either blue or pink. Sa bahay, ang dami!!!!
Dapat mamili ng kulay ng carpet. Ng tiles. Ng walls. Ng Kornisa. Kataranta!

Kakainis lang di pwede masunod ung aking dream kitchen. Kulang kasi sa space at kulang rin sa budget. Mwehehe. Di bale, wala naman sa kitchen ang sarap ng pagluluto. (Mweheehe. Sourgraping. Yaw ko nun, kasi wala ako nun. :p)

But so far, happy ako sa design na napili namin. It has 4 bedrooms. The living room will be converted into a theater room. Bedroom 2 will be converted into a scraproom. (Yahooooo!) And bedroom 3, will be the guest/study room.

This is our lot plan. Me mga changes pa, pero onti na lang. Syempre more changes = more anda needed. Kailangan bumasok lahat sa budget. =)

WS:FabFindThursday -

WS: Today at FabFinds Thursday, we will focus on Wedding Day Fashion/Kikay Essentials.

Just like WS Misis Jen, I consider my wedding shoe a fabfind!

Its the perfect shoe for me, dahil nung una di ko matangap na bumili ng shoe na isang araw lang gagamitin. At sya ang naging sagot sa aking pag-aatubili. I think sulit for its price and for a bridal shoe, dahil kahit hindi na ako kasya sa wedding gown ko, I can and still am using my bridal shoe. =)

WS:FoodieWednesday

Wifespeaks - post a photo of food or share a recipe from one of the very many instances you and your better half celebrated your commitment to one another, perhaps from the day you said “Yes” to be hubby’s girlfriend (or was it the other way around?), the night your ex-boyfriend now hubby asked you to marry him, your wedding day, anniversaries, etc.



Why fruits? Because it reminds me of mahal's commitment to me.

Mahal is not a fruit eater. I don't think he knows the difference between a pear and a peach. But he will gladly climb the highest mountain and cross the deepest river to get the fruit that I crave for.

Syempre exag lang yan. Intro lang ba. :p

Kaya prutas kasi naalala ko lang na ng magka bunga" ang aming pagmamahalan nasukat rin kung paano kame ka-committed sa isa't isa.

Siyam na buwan akong miserable sa pagbubuntis dahil imbes na morning sickness, ang sa akin ay "whole day for nine months sickness." Kung kaya naman, ganun na lang ang pag-suporta ni mister.

Minsan ako ay nangasim at naghanap ng mangga, dali dali syang sa tindahan ay nagpunta. Nang umuwi, ayayay! Indian mango ang dala.

Mama: Hanovaaaah! Wala naman kaasim asim yan. (Sabay tawa ang aking mahal na ina!Buti na lang magalang ang aking mahal at hindi napatol sa nakatatanda na. ehehee)

At ng ako ay naghanap ng prunes. Dali dali ulit, sya ay kumaripas ng takbo patungo sa suking tindahan.

Mahal:(In his most confidence voice pa!) Oh ha! Eto na ako mahal. Dala ang iyong prunes. (Shows the fruit on his left hand.)

Simplymuah:Hanovaaaah! Hindi prunes yan! Dates kaya yan!

Mahal:(In his most confidence voice ulit!) I know, I know. Praktis lang. Hindi kasi ako sigurado. KAYAAAAAA! Binili ko pa tong isa. (Shows the fruit on his right.)

Simplymuah : Hanovaaaah! Hindi prunes yaaaaaan! Apricots yan! Makukunan ako sayo promisssse!

Mahal : Wag ganun! Halika, sumama ka na lang at bilhin natin ang prunes mo.

Simplymuah : Hmmm... ayaw ko na nun... Mangosteen na lang.

Mahal : JUSKOLORDDDD! Ano na namang prutas yun?

-------

After 9months of fruit guessing our little boy has arrived.

-------
**Present time**

Little Boy : Daddy, I want honeydew ang longan.
Little Bebe : Anana! Anana! (His first word, banana.)
Mahal : Juskolooord! Eto na naman kame.

Gardening 101

Never let your child name your plant. Lalo na kung culinary plant ito.
I made that mistake at nakuuuu! pahirapan sa pagpapaliwanag kung bakit ko need gupitin mga dahon at isama sa luto.

Bumili ako ng Basil plant and little boy named it Alex.

Eto na, need ko magluto. So need ko pumitas ng dahon dahon ni Alex.

Ayayay! nagiiyak si little boy. Bakit ko daw ginugupit si Alex. Isusumbong daw nya ako sa pulis. At talagang hinahanap ang fon ko para tatawag daw sya sa pulis! Kawawa naman daw si Alex. Ni hurt ko daw si Alex. Hindi daw ako marunong mag take care.

So paliwanag ko na si Alex ay good plant. Willing sya bigay dahon nya para maging healthy and strong kame.

Mhuka naman nauto ko at ng matikman nya ang aking luto, e nakalimutan na nya si Alex. Syempre sabi nya best cook na naman ako. At bukas daw, iluto ko ulit si Alex! Nyahahaha!

At ang kanya naman tanong, kelan ko iluluto si Harry? (Ang aming cactus... ahehe, nawili!)

WS: ChikaTuesday - Commitment

Today in WS' ChikaTuesday : What’s your marriage proposal story?

Fine dining.
Expensive wine.
All dressed up.
On bended knees.
With the bling to match.

Nada! - Lahat wala nyan. Wish ko lang. Mwehehehe!

But still, di ko pagpapalit ang aking proposal story.

When : April 11, 2003
Where: Under the stars ( Kasi nasa roofdeck kame! Siguro kung di ako pumayag, e me balak syang ihulog ako. :p)
Why : Anong why??? Syempre, swerte na nya sa akin no! Mwehehehe... Syempre joke.... (And jokes are half meant. :p)

Why : (Serious na, promise!) At that time, me pinag-daanan kaming problema. Me isang nag maldita sa akin. Knowing me, papatol ako. Pero dahil inlababo ako sa aking mahal, sabi ko kung ano na ang desisyon nya, yun na rin ang desisyon ko. So, napagtanto nya na ako na ang the one... ika nga nya..."cause I now know that we can weather all storms together, kahit na pa it's you and me against the world!" Nakanaman! Yeabah! (Actually, I was giving him what you call "false-security". Kunyari submissive! Mwhehehe. Naway hindi sya nagbabasa ng blog ko. ahahaha!)

And so with glistening eyes (syempre, teary e!) I said, "you and me against the world ka dyan! Paalam ka muna sa mga magulang ko kaya!"

At ang kanyang sagot? "How ah, got SARS leh!" (Kasagsagan ng SARS, bawal malis ng gapor!)

E di may-i-long-distance na lang kame on the spot sa aking mga parentals.

Mahal : Pa, Ma... Hingin ko na po anak ng kamay ng anak nyo.
Mama : Wala ng solian ha!
Papa : Basta ang bilin ko lang, wag mo sasaktan ang anak ko at makakapatay ako.
Mama : Hay naku, tigilan! Ang tanda mo na para makulong.
Mahal : Wag po kayo mag-alala, aalagaan ko to. Kahit niw-wrinkles na ako sa kulit nito!
Mama : Oy! wag mo isisi sa anak ko yang wrinkles at dati na yang andyan!

Hay hay hay! Hangkukulit!!!

At asan ako ng mga sandaling yan, e asan pa...e di nagulong sa kakatawa! Hindi pa ko lumutang, kasi after 3 days ko pa napagtanto na nag-propose na nga sya! Ahehehe. :p

Emma

Naku! Naku! Naku! Hindi po ako jontis.

Hindi ko akalain na madami palang readers ang aking blog. 24hours after posting that we are expecting bebe #3 by December, ang dami bumati sa akin sa apat na sulok ng mundo.

Sorry, sorry po. Hindi ko po kayo nais i-mislead dear friends and readers.

Ang amin pong bebe #3 ay next big project namin ni mahal. OZ gov't is giving out
$26K for first home owners. So, ni try namin na magpa-assess if we are able to purchase a house. Given na single income kame ngayon. And luckily, pumasok naman kame sa bracket dun sa house na gusto namin. So we grabbed it since ung monthly payment is almost the same as our monthly rent.

Kaya ko kaisip na bebe #3 kasi...
1. Blessing sya for us.
2. Nahihilo ako. (Sa dami ng paperworks at kung anik-anik)
3. Magastos na parang bata!
4. Sya ay mula sa aming dugo't pawis!
(Syempre, ibang dugo't pawis nga lang pag real bebe, mwehehehe :P)
5. 9months in the making sya from contract signing upto hand over.

at bakit EMMA -- kasi po EMMAgcalas House po baga! ehehehe.

I want mommy to hatid me to school.

"I want mommy to make hatid me to school." - little boy

Mommy : Bakit si mommy gusto mo maghatid sayo anak?
Little boy : Kasi maganda ka mommy e.
(Aba, apaka bibo talaga ng anak ko na ito. Nyahahaha! Wala ng aangal, blog ko ito e.)

Mommy : E bakit ayaw mo si daddy mo?
Little boy : E kasi hindi sya naliligo.

(NYAHAHAHAHA!)

The following day...

Daddy : Anak, Naliligo ako! Hindi mo lang nakikita dahil nasa school ka na!

Bwahahaha! Depensib si daddy!

WS is officially back!

For this week, WS' topic is Commitment.
And here's my take on it.

http://clickandstick.blogspot.com/2009/05/ws-commitment.html