Baby on Board

my driver

2007-11-25T20:14:00.000-08:00

IMG_1288

IMG_1289

IMG_1290

where's the baby?!

2007-11-25T20:13:00.000-08:00

ian's new hair

2007-11-25T20:08:00.000-08:00

ian d' underwear model

2007-11-25T20:07:00.000-08:00

ian d'director

2007-11-25T20:05:00.000-08:00

sitting pretty on the director's chair

Ian at home (2Nov07) - 16 months old

2007-11-01T21:35:00.000-07:00

Syempre kelangan off shoulder ang damit :)

Ian at the arcade - 06Oct07 (15 months old)

2007-10-10T19:09:00.000-07:00

A requirement when going to the mall: spend 100 pesos on ride tokens.

Still, that's not enough. Ian will push you away if you try to get him out of HIS car. But you can trick him by telling him that you'll let him ride the better looking sports car ("Look Ian, we'll ride that car! the BMW with 2 steering wheels!). And like magic, he lets you carry him. Yup, he knows his cars! Then mommy and daddy "drags" him away to the exit. He'll just look stunned and if he could talk would probably say "Naisahan na naman ako ng mga 'to ah!" (heehee Ü)

Ian's Blow-Up Babies Photos

2007-10-03T23:44:00.000-07:00

For Sale: Baby Couture Bags - Not just diaper bags anymore

2007-09-18T02:53:00.001-07:00

Order basis, or until stocks last.
Please contact me thru 09189624582 for faster transactions :)

Ian's fifteen minutes of fame

2007-09-04T22:41:00.000-07:00

Ian on the Baby Face section of the August issue of Working Mom Magazine (Marjorie Barretto and kids on the cover)

And that’s my leg on the background JJJ

A Day in the Camarse Hacienda

2007-07-21T21:24:00.000-07:00

ian dancing while mommy is singing / photo op!

with sir jojo and his chick(en)s / sydney "bunso" the toy poodle

Ian Shows his Teeth

2007-07-09T21:00:00.001-07:00

My son and his trademark pa-cute smile

Ian visited the ofc, he was having tantrums but as soon as the camera started shooting, sali agad sya sa picture!

All I want for Christmas..

2007-07-08T00:00:00.000-07:00

is my two wisdom teeth...

yup! got them removed already. at the same time!

torture indeed. after the first injection came the removal of my left molar. then another injection, to numb my gums for the removal of my right molar.

it just took less than 30 mins. my dentist was goood :)

but i'm now in pain. and i can't eat.

huhuhu

Adrean's Birthday Pics

2007-07-02T19:30:00.000-07:00

Adrean's Birthday

First Birthday and First Haircut

2007-06-27T19:46:00.001-07:00

June 25, 2007: We celebrated Adrean's actual birthday at home. I just prepared (ok, sige na nga, bought dapat) pancit malabon and his tito regor bought cake.

adrean having his cake and eating it too / with daddy's "todo smile"

June 26, 2007: The next day, we went to SM City, Fairview to have his hair cut at Kid's Salon. Grabe, 200 pesos for a shave?! but kuya barber naman is good in handling ian, he didn't cry at all. kuya barber kept ian busy by giving him balls and pointing at elmo on the television. and voila, tapos na agad! kalbo na ang baby ko!

last moments with hair-ful ian / ian doesn't know what's coming next

goodbye hair / now hair-less ian

my baby shaolin / siopao / ziggy / balot / bok

SUPPLIER RATINGS: Adrean Ver's 1st Bday Party at Big Red Barn

2007-06-27T02:55:00.001-07:00

My Son, Adrean Ver Madrid celebrated his first birthday last June 23, 2007 at Big Red Barn Restaurant at Fun Ranch in Frontera Verde, Pasig City. We had a “What I want to be When I Grow Up” theme. My Ian came as an aviator pilot. He was not in the best of moods that day, because of a slight fever, but he still gave out a few of his precious smiles, especially nung kinakantahan na sya ng “Happy Birthday Song”, he was even clapping with the crowd. :)
Below are my supplier ratings. Please bear with me, this is looooong.

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Invitation and Lootbag tag: Made by Mommy
Price: by request
Contact: Me!
Rating: 10
I made two types of invitation: a handcrafted airplane shape invitation which can be propped up; and a ticket-like invitation for e-mail sending.
The first one was printed on board paper and manually cut by me and with the help of a few of my friends. I just bought bright yellow envelopes and printed an airplane on it. I used a calligraphy pen to write the names of the recipients.
The lootbag tag was printed on photo paper and, of course, cut by yours truly. :)
Both invitation layouts and lootbag tag were made by me! Thank god for photoshop!
10 lang ang rating ko for myself because I forgot to put “2nd floor” on the invitation :)

invitations
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Tarpaulin: Made by Mommy; Printing by Intermatrix
Price: 25/sq ft
Contact: any salesperson
Rating: 10+
Because I was already in a rush, I settled for having the tarpaulin printed in Intermatrix rather than go to Divi.
Their service was fast. I got the 5’ by 7’ tarpaulin in less than 30 minutes!
The only hassle was to bring home the tarpaulin. I took the bus :)

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Guestbook: Made by Mommy; Printing by Picturebooks (http://www.picturebooks.com.ph/)
Price: softbound magazine type printing (P995)
Contact: Grace
Rating: 9
The print is of great quality, pang magazine talaga. And they delivered as promised. But the layout was cropped, and some were misaligned. Nakikita tuloy ung white part nung paper sa ibang pages.

guestbookpart1

guestbookpart2

guestbookpart3

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Lootbag: Made by Mommy; items from 168 mall, divi
Price: by request
Contact: Me!
Rating: 8
I think I made “kuripot” on this one. I just put a notepad, candies, and a balloon surprise gift. Placed everything in a clear lootbag and tied a ribbon. I guess I got tired and stressed na.
Anyway, cute naman ung surprise gift. It’s a foil bag that you have to press, then after a few seconds biglang mag-po-pop out ung small mylar balloon with confetti. Maraming nabiktimang moms dito. Ung iba nagpa vacuum pa ng car kasi mahirap alisin ung confetti ng isa-isa hehe

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Prizes: Made by Mommy; items from 168 mall, divi, vente store, SM dept store
Price: ranges from 10-200 pesos
Rating: 8
The kuripot strikes again. I strictly followed my budget sheet kasi kaya I had to make do with cheapo stuff. Pero in divi, kahit cheap, maganda pa rin naman. I bought clay sets, character bracelets, stationary sets, coloring sets, bubbles, game boards, dart guns, toy cellphones and pencils and erasers sets. I wrapped it all with brown pattern paper para may element of surprise :)
For the major prizes, I bought a duck stuff toy and school kits. Gift cheque dapat for adults, but since walang naka costume, sa akin nalang napunta :)
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Costume: Baby Aviator by Bumblebee (http://www.bumblebee.ph/)
Price: by request
Contact: Maita (n@wie)
Rating: 10
Maita was very helpful. She made the costume early so I can use it for invitation pictorials. However, I didn’t quite expect Ian to grow up so fast! (dahil siguro sa new milk nya) The jumpsuit was already bitin during his party. Naging short sleeves na and shorts :)
Maita gave me boot covers para hindi halatang bitin, but we weren’t able to use it coz di namin mapag shoes si ian. Irritable kasi sya dun sa shoes nya and he kept kicking it off, so we removed it nalang. Pinagsuot ko nalang ng sandals.
But the costume was sooo cute… mukhang hapon na nagpapalipad ng tora-tora ang baby ko :)

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Outfit Change: Shirt (Big & Small Co.), Denim pants and Shoes (SM dept store)
Price: 380 (shirt), 280 (pants) & 300 (shoes)
Bought his shirt that says “ihaveahotmomma!” from SM dept store along with his pants and shoes. He kept on kicking the shoes so he wasn’t able to use it (taba kasi ng paa). And after the candle blowing, my son vomited cupcake icing on his shirt! Grrr, di tuloy nya nasuot ng matagal ung shirt nya :) Buti nalang I was able to bring an extra blue “great britain” shirt para terno pa din kami (mommy and daddy were both wearing blue shirts).

Venue: Big Red Barn, Pasig City
Price: 30k (consumable)
Contact: Mylene
Rating: 10
We got the 2nd floor party area. The place is spacious; it can accommodate upto 250 guests. The airconditioning is sufficient. I only had a hundred guests, so I had space to move around the place. The party was supposed to start at 10am, but the guests arrived late kaya we started at almost 11am na.
May kasabay kaming party sa first floor kaya mejo naconfuse ang ibang guests kasi hindi ko pala nailagay na 2nd floor ang party sa invitation :) kahit na sabay kami nung party sa ibaba, di naman namin naririnig ang sound system nila.
About the food, di ko masyado natikman, of course, busy kasi si mommy mag-entertain ng guests. But I tasted the carbonara at home, masarap pala kasi it’s so creamy. The chicken is huge (parang texas chicken ang size). The barbecue is ok. The fries are ok din. Didn’t get to taste the spaghetti though. The hotdogs are so tiny (cocktail size lang pala). The sundae is ok naman, although too sweet for my taste kasi chocolate na ung ice cream then may choco syrup pa. And canned ang softdrinks nila kaya enough na din ang serving. The cupcakes are good, Ian liked it, kaya lang nasobrahan ata nakain nya coz he vomited infront of the cake table.
The waiters are sooo helpful! They always approach me to ask if I need any thing. They helped me put up the tarpaulin and piñata. Kaya I didn’t hesitate to give them a big tip (kuripot pa naman ako :))

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Host/Magician: Butch
Price: 6,500
Contact: thru Jhoanne
Rating: 10
Konti lang ang kids na dumating, I think around 20+ lang. Tapos malaki pa ang venue, kaya other guests were seated at the back, so di masyadong participative ang crowd. Pati tuloy ako nakiki shout at nagre-raise ng hands :) But Butch was a really great host. Pati sya naka-costume (race car driver), and straight English talaga sya. The games were common, parang mcdo party games, kaya di nako masyado nag-pay attention. But when it’s balloon twisting time na, umupo na kami ni ian sa kiddie chairs… syempre I want a balloon for myself din! Then magic time na, di kasi ako naka experience ng ganun when I was young kaya very attentive ako nanunuod. Pero ang fave part ko talaga is yung puppet. Ang galing kasi talaga nyang ventriloquist, or hindi ko lang napapansin coz I was looking at the puppet the whole time :)
Medyo nagloloko nga lang ang sound system (but Jhoanne informed me that it was Big Red Barn’s), kaya minsan napuputol ung audio. Pero ok lang, sa start lang naman nangyari. When the shows started, there were no technical difficulty experienced anymore. He also forgot my other instructions and the piñata J pati ako nakalimutan ko din naman, kaya I let it pass :)
Butch handled the party well, from greeting the guests, to candle blowing, games, magic show, puppet show, balloon twisting and awarding of special prizes. Sulit naman ang talent fee :)

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Piñata by Yan-Ple (http://www.gaple.blogspot.com/)
Price: by request
Contact: Apple (n@wie)
Rating: 10
It was very easy to talk with Apple, text and email lang kami nag-communicate. I just deposited the payment to her bank account. And cute din ng layout na ginawa nya, mukhang superhero si Ian sa picture :)
Kaya lang nagkaron ng mishap when it was time for the piñata. I think I filled it up with too much balloons, so when I pulled the string (na naputol, because I tugged on too hard), a guest had to stand up on a chair to hit the piñata so the candies would fall :) parang nagging “palayok” tuloy :)

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Floating Balloons, Table Centerpiece and Banderitas by Jhoanne
Price: by request
Contact: Jhoanne (n@wie)
Rating: 10
Jhoanne (and family) was at the venue before we arrived. (Mikko was pumping the balloons while Kim sat on the kiddie chairs and kept herself busy :)) Medyo nag ”kuripot” nako on the decorations kaya limited lang kinuha ko sa kanya (nagover budget na kasi ako), still mafe-feel mo na important client ka pa din para sa kanya. She supplied the fiesta colored floating balloons, banderitas and the table centerpieces. Ang galing nga nya, kasi nagaya nya ung 3D airplane invitation ko, eh ang hirap gupitin nun! Walang natira… buti nalang may nauwi akong isa :)
What I like best about Jhoanne was she was very helpful all through out. She always answered my texts and calls. She was even there through out the whole party to take care of the guests, give out name tags to the kids and to supervise. Para na din akong may party planner J

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Photographer: Imagineer Digital (http://www.imagineerdigital.com/)
Price: by request
Contact: Eric Ngo
Rating: 10+
Very easy to talk to. Closed the deal thru text lang. Mabait and high tech pa ang equipment. I only asked for Photo services, but he brought along an HD videocam, with lights set-up pa. And because wala akong kinuhang videographer, I’ll be getting his video footage na din. Buti nalang he also brought a video cam :)
Got the cd of the files, a few days after the party.

i'll upload more of his pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/morningcarlos/AdreanSBirthday

~~~~

Whew, after four months of preparation.. it’s finally over. I was at a daze the whole day. Can’t believe it’s already happening! It was very tiring and not to mention expensive. I know my son wasn’t really able to appreciate it now, but hopefully when he grows up, he’ll be able to look at these pictures and say that “I had an awesome party pala!” :)

My First Tutor-Marked Assignment (TMA)

2007-06-27T02:54:00.001-07:00

Argh! June 23, Saturday. That was the date of my son’s birthday party. At the same time, that was also when my first TMA was due!

I just got my ENS201 (Environmental Structure and Dynamics) module on the way home from the party, and alas, the TMA1 is due on… JUNE 23! I have to read 4 modules then surf the internet to make a paper not more than 10-pages long.

As if that wasn’t hard enough, Ian was not feeling well that time. He has teething fevers and diarrhea. He did number 2 at least 5 times a day. He’s irritable, and he kept on crying.. no, wailing. And we don’t know what to do. How in the world can I finish (or start) my paper?!

We opened gifts in the afternoon after his nap that I took with him (I was sooo tired from all the preparations), he felt better after that, probably because of the sight of so much toys! Then I fed him, played with him a little, then Regan took over to let me start my paper (this was around 9:30 p.m.).

I read the first question: research on updates of IPCC related to biodiversity. Ayan, madali lang… that was what I thought. But it took me two hours to finish that first question! Ok Morning, don’t panic, it’s already 11:30 p.m., 3 more questions to answer, and Ian was wailing because of his 38C fever. Panic mode nako as a mom, pero as a student, wala pa kong naffeel. Sa isip-isip ko, I can always drop this subject, but I can’t endure ian’s crying. Naffeel ko ang pain nya, nakakaawa…

We sang his favorite songs (“lucky me” and “makulay ang buhay”) while taking turns to dance him to sleep. Eventually, he got dizzy hehe and fell asleep beside his daddy. When my two boys were both asleep, I got back to my laptop and surfed the net. I floated through the next three questions. I don’t know how I answered it, but what I wrote seemed to make sense.

I submitted the TMA to my professor at 2:30 a.m. And pleaded that he accept my submission as “on time” due to personal reasons which I also explained to him.

No reply yet. L

Gifts, gifts and a lot more gifts

2007-06-23T22:20:00.000-07:00

After four months of planning... We celebrated Ian's party yesterday (more details and official pics to follow) We opened gifts last night (the best part!). Syempre deadma lang si ian, he kept on playing with the first gift we opened, a doggy driving a lawnmower which plays music everytime you shake it (we don't know who gave it, no tag). Kami lang ni regan ang nagenjoy magopen ng gifts at mag picture! Wow, look at that pile!
Look at this mess! Who else would clean it up?! / My 2 boys just chillin' while mommy is cleaning up.

"Talo ko pa si tita at mommy, naka-havaianas baby ako!" (thanks ninang pheng and ninong lex!) "pag big nako, crocs kids scutes naman ang isusuot ko!" (thanks ninang jhe and ninong pinong!)

Morphthing

2007-06-18T05:56:00.000-07:00

I found this cool website http://www.morphthing.com/

Me as Britney Spears and Alyssa Milano

Regan as Brad Pitt and Keanu Reeves

Pork steak

2007-06-17T00:28:00.000-07:00

I cooked porksteak today for lunch. Masarap naman "daw". Although uneven and pagkaluto ko sa pork, may malambot, may hindi hehe

Boys and Their Toys

2007-06-12T06:32:00.000-07:00

Ian loves to drive. he will scoot over to the driver seat and grab the steering wheel from you. he'll pull the gear up and down. he'll turn the wiper on to full speed. Even when left alone in the car, he won't cry... he's happier when he's left alone on the driver's seat.

He'll eagerly steer, and his face makes this "gigil" expression as if he's on a race... and then he'll look at you and laugh...

Seeing this, my husband bought this toy car. I protested (because it's so expensive, and bulky), but Ian looks so happy in it. He still doesn't know how to step on the gas but he can drive! (well.. we do the driving: it's a remote controlled car)

Just look at my son's face and you'll know what i mean.

Father and Son

2007-06-10T18:16:00.000-07:00

Ian and daddy at lunch at World Topps.

My Little Basketball Star

2007-06-10T18:10:00.000-07:00

He dribbles...

He shoots...

He scores!

Disney's Desperate Housewives

2007-06-07T23:17:00.000-07:00

My phriend Feng, oops i mean, my friend Pheng sent this to me. I thought it quite funny enough to post it here.

A Baby No More - 11 months

2007-06-07T22:32:00.000-07:00

My two boys sharing a moment.

Adrean eagerly turning the wheel left and right that it almost broke! And having fun with the cellphone he has just stolen from tito regor.

my future driver! he can steer, he can signal left and right, he can turn the wiper, even the headlights ON!

Lootbag Tag

2007-06-07T01:39:00.000-07:00

The last on my list of "things to do with photoshop" for Ian's birthday.

And i already had the tarpaulin backdrop printed.. when the printer dude showed me the finished product, i swear, there were tears of joy in my eyes.. and i was smiling during the bus ride all the way home.. :) i guess seeing your more-than-life-size, a-baby-no-more, who-was-just-inside-my-tummy-11-months-ago "baby" is very overwhelming. or maybe just the fact that his picture was sooo huge, makes him mooore cuter.. i can't decide..

Bought a new camera.. again!

2007-06-06T01:38:00.000-07:00

Yup, you read it right, we bought a new camera, replaced our DSLR with a much more user friendly camera, with video recording capability :)

It's a silver Sony DSC-H7 prosumer camera (prosumer = not nearly a professional camera but more advanced than a consumer camera).

Took a picture at the office to test it, not quite as good as the image quality of the Olympus DSLR, but it's acceptable on my standards. ako pa, taas ng standards ko!

More Fun Filled EK pictures

2007-06-06T01:28:00.000-07:00

aboard the wheel of fate. / regan and toffet molesting a pirate

reminiscent of my high school dance rev days. matanda nako! excited na sumakay sg space shuttle. but scared pa din nonetheless :)

fashyon!

Morning likes to...

2007-06-04T06:26:00.000-07:00

Kris, i stole this from your blog, and i saw that you stole it from another blog.. so i don't feel sorry anymore.. :)

Directions: Go to Google and search "*enter your name here* likes to". Include the quotation marks. Type in the first ten things that come out.

1. Morning likes to please, happily flits about.
2. Morning likes to say that General Motors does not need to maintain the tools for its 1957 Chevys. *yeah and they would listen to me*
3. Morning likes to liven up your morning with a contest. *oooh, my husband would love that*
4. Morning likes to cook, doesn't like quick-frozen foods, won't use corn syrup to stretch sugar recipes.
5. Morning likes to think of himself as essential. *SHE actually does, i'm not a HE!*
6. Morning likes to show off the name brands it carries, such as Pfaltzgraff dinnerware. *what the?!*
7. Morning likes to read, spends a lot of time with his friends, and dabbles heavily in computer graphics. *this is actually quite true*
8. Morning likes to try the flight simulation game, logs onto the same database and takes his flight simulator.
9. Morning likes to play on his mat. *and do what? wink*
10. Morning likes to point fingers too much. *di noh, baka ma-nuno pako hehe*

now it's your turn, try it :)

Ian's Guestbook (part 3)

2007-06-03T05:30:00.000-07:00

i already had this printed and i'm waiting for the hard copy, it'll probably arrive next week. :)

the cover page

the greeting page

the signature sheet

Stage Backdrop

2007-06-03T04:35:00.000-07:00

This is the layout for the stage backdrop.

Lootbags

2007-06-03T04:26:00.000-07:00

These are the lootbags i arranged for Ian's birthday. I just bought party bags from divi. 20/pack of ten. and tied it together with a curly ribbon. the loot tags are to follow.

Contents:
notepad
surprise balloon
clay
pencils
candies and chocolates

Labor of Love

2007-05-31T19:03:00.000-07:00

This is the email invitation for Ian's party. Layout by me! :)

And these are the handcarried, and made-by-mommy invites :)

Captain Adrean

2007-05-27T22:30:00.000-07:00

We tried on Ian's birthday suit last saturday. Sooo cute :)

Children Once Again

2007-05-22T02:29:00.000-07:00

we went to Enchanted Kingdom last Friday, May 18 2007 for our annual company family day. we didn’t bring ian along due to the hot weather and the fact that we won't be able to enjoy the rides if we brought him (sorry baby! J)

we rode the wheel of fate, flying fiesta, dodgem, roller skater, 4d, space shuttle, rio grande rapids and anchors away. grabe, we were like kids again!

this is our only picture at EK. our pants were still soaking wet from the rapids hehe our Oly were still at the post office at this time.

oh diba? parang mag boyfriend and girlfriend lang kami :)

Ian's Guestbook (Part 2)

2007-05-16T06:49:00.000-07:00

almost done! i've made 4 more pages for ian's guestbook.

ian's first stage of tooth growth

ian-tukin

ian likot!

tawa ng tawa

Made-by-mommy invitations

2007-05-16T06:18:00.000-07:00

these are a few of the designs i have made. The airplane design is the one i made for Ian's birthday, it can be propped up for display. While the cupcake can be slipped in and out of the holder.

We're in the loop!

2007-04-29T20:52:00.000-07:00

we have DSL! it may only be 384kbps, but it's 4x faster than dial-up and most of all, it's unlimited! woohoo!

i can do tons of things that i wasn't able to do with dial up and our ofc internet connection:

log in to my yahoo messenger
regularly upgrade our anti-virus software
update my friendster
log in to my multiply
watch and download youtube videos
abuse limewire and bittorrent
ebay, ebay, ebay
set up a new blog!
etc, etc, etc

now, all i have to wait for is our next phone+dsl bill and our electricty bill. at least we got the bonus to pay for it :)

Ian's Birthday Guestbook Layouts

2007-04-29T07:35:00.000-07:00

the ultrasound..it's a boy!

ian's little hands and feet.

got milk?

with mama and papa.

i still have to make a few more pages before his birthday on june.