'ME' time.

Scheduled a totally spur of the moment pedi this afternoon (and that's after calling four nail salons :0P). The salon had this nice massage chair and the pedi came with a leg and foot massage. Totally what I needed.

I felt so energized after that pampering that I was able to do a lot tonight after the little one's bed time. When I say a lot, I mean A LOT. Wash dishes, checked. Hang laundry, checked. Fold clothes, checked. Scrub kitchen floor, checked. Vacuum living room, kitchen and guest room, checked.

The amazing thing was, I did it all with a clear and focused mind, unlike my usual 'I'm so tired, ready to drop, wanna get this over with" state. And it took me less time too.

I guess I just want to write this down as a reminder to myself, that there are times when I need to take time out for ME, that I need not feel guilty/bad about it. I need to remember that a little ME time goes a long way :0)

Road trips.

After last year's break from traveling (with Vegas as the lone trip for the whole year), I am just itching to go, just go, anywhere, somewhere -- this year. I've had my heart set on Hawaii since last year then things happened and our plans went poof! I'm still hearing the siren call of the Islands but with zero balance on our PTO banks, I guess we have to make do with road trips over long weekends.

So far, I've come up with 3 workable road trips spread over late Spring and early Fall:

> A 3-day weekend in Santa Cruz in May
> A 3-day weekend in Lake Tahoe in July
> A 4 day weekend in Yosemite in September

All these are about a 2-4hour trip. It'll be interesting to see how Isaac will take to more than 2-hour car rides. We shall see :0)

I'm hoping that these trips will satiate my wanderlust for the year without cutting into our PTO too much :0)

Spring Forward

It's DST again.

I used to look at DST as one big April Fool's joke, robbing me of an hour of precious sleep. Not this year. After a seemingly endless winter, DST brings with it the promise of light at the end of the (work) tunnel -- enough light for a stroll around the park and maybe feed the ducks; enough light to energize me to cook more and maybe, just maybe, clean more :0P And yes, enough light to fit in a spontaneous visit to...somewhere, with my boys.

The promise of that somewhere is enough to bring a smile to my lips :0)

Last weekend was so gorgeous that staying indoors seems criminal. So the little one and I ventured out front, to the neighbor's 'rock' garden, while Daddy sleeps off the (hopefully) last stage of his flu.

And when Daddy woke up, we headed straight to the park to enjoy the last hour of daylight and sunshine.


So yeah, even though there is still a nip in the air, this Little Miss Sunshine (with a newly washed sash and a newly polished tiara) hereby proclaims that SPRING has sprung, bringing with it all sorts of lovely things.

The anticipation of said lovely things is enough to bring a skip to my step :0)

Toothy grins :0)

Toddling steps on green grass...

Blessed.

It's been a tough 2 weeks, with the stress of Isaac teething and catching viral bronchiolitis and the disappointment of canceling our Manila trip due to zero PTO left adding to the daily juggling act of keeping a home, taking care of family and oh yeah, making a living. The visit to the emergency room last night seemed a fitting culmination to these crazy, crazy weeks.

Times like these, I can almost hear my Little Miss Sunshine sash start to tear and the tiara slowly slip down to my forehead. I am tempted to rip both off and wallow in the pool of sleepless, worry-filled nights and dazed, so-many-things-to-do-not-enough-time-to-do-them,i-am-ready-to-crash-days. And sometimes, I tell you, I almost give in. It's hard you know. But it seems that I always end up mending the sash, righting the tiara and practicing my smile, ready for another round of sashaying down the runway of FML-kind-of-days.

Why? Because no matter what happens, it's hard to deny the fact that I have been blessed. That I am blessed. This kind of days just gives me the opportunity to realize and appreciate that a lot more.

Both the big blessings:

(It warms my heart to see how one loves the other to bits)


(Isn't he just the cutest?!)


And the small ones:


(My most favorite chocolate in the whole wide world!)



(My mouse at work never fails to make me smile :0))

Rainy Weekend

It rained the whole weekend. A downer after last weekend's gorgeous weather. But rain or shine, I still love weekends :0)

I'm grateful that Aldwin and I have weekends off. It gives us time to reconnect (while doing our chores hehe!) and recharge. Now that we have Isaac, it gives us more time to get to know the little person he is slowly becoming.

This weekend, we found out that Isaac loves Tandoori chicken.

That he now prefers to walk (with assist) than be carried. (Although crawling still tops his list of ways to get around.)

That he actually listens when I say, "Isaac, no."

That watching Mommy tickle Daddy makes him laugh out loud.

That he likes the Chuck E. Cheese commercial (we don't know why).

That he is now able to get in and out of his toy car on his own.

That he is such a mimic!

That music still has a soothing effect on him (we were able to prevent not just one, but two (two!), major meltdowns just by playing his playlist).

To slowly watch this funny and charming person (not biased, promise! ;0))emerge from the baby is an additional treat that makes weekends all the more special.

Even weekends spent at home.

Some pics:


(Here's how he amuses himself while Mommy cooks.)


(He loves playing {with} the piano!)

(A weekend isn't complete without a trip to Target. Here, tryin' out some rain boots :0))

(After bath fun!)

(Outfit: sweater, gift from Ninong Waichoi; pants, H&M; socks, Target; shoes, striderite)

Have a good week!

Getting back into the groove.

I missed the little boy today. Much more than usual, I must say.

Five straight days of taking care of the beneboy changed the pacing of my weekdays. Eat, play, nap... rinse and repeat. A whole world away from the hustle and bustle of an 18-patient day, to which I grudgingly returned to today. There's something about spending time with little ones that forces you to focus on the important things. The simple things. With that said, I should not really dwell on the going to work part of my days for they are not as important as the coming home part.

Coming home to messy faces.


And goofy faces.


And gigil faces.


The best one... coming home to sweet boys with even sweeter faces :0)

Prelude to Spring

We extended our three-day weekend and made it into a five-day one, counting Mom's day-off tomorrow.

Bebe boy was running a fever last night (teething sucks). He had enough of a temperature to keep him from resting comfortably, thus resulting into a restless night for him and Mom. Today, we stayed home to rest. Aside from being a little bit clingier and some whining here and there, he was his usual energetic likot self. He shook the fever and we even managed to go out front and enjoy a bit of the spring-like weather we've been having lately.

Valentine's Day 2010

The flowers.

The gift.


My dates. :0)

I'm a lucky, lucky girl to have two sweet boys to spend V-day with!

Little Boy Car Seat

Today we upgraded to a little boy car seat. We were sad to see our infant carrier go but not too sad that we were gonna pass up the 25% discount for the new car seat if we traded the old one in.

Here he is on his brand new Britax Roundabout:



(It started out shaky, but I promise, he is loving his car seat now!)

Another one of those moments where I sigh and whisper, "Don't grow up too fast, my baby."

Month Thirteen

This picture made me want to blog again. Somewhere along the way, my baby turned into a little boy. I haven't even gotten my fill of his chubby baby cheeks and thighs, and already, he is on his way to being long and lean. Yup, my baby is now a little boy. Which is why I want to record as many moments as I can before I blink and he turns into a man.