Vacation Blog Part 1

We left Manila last Dec. 4 to go on vacation with hubby's family since we were going to get together with his other family members to celebrate their dad's 70th birthday. We left our house with one luggage each plus one bag for the kids' medicines (their Doctor gave me quite a long list of meds to bring because it's always better to be prepared for every possible sickness my kids might have to go through) and one hand carry each (except baby) and one stroller. Hubby & I decided to bring just one stroller because we both agreed that Cairo can walk anyway but we brought his stroller since it was lighter and better for traveling. 

When we got to the airport, the line was llooonnnnnnnngggggggggggg! I was carrying Phoenix using my baby bjorn and when we reached over an hour lining up I have to say that my shoulders were starting to bother me. When we were finally able to check-in, we were happy that we got the bulkhead(it's at the front where the big screen is) because there would be more leg room for us. His parents with K and baby K arrived and after airport checks, we were able to feed the kids and board the plane.

Since Cairo was easy to travel with as a baby, I really prayed for Phoenix to be the same. Having said that, our first trip on that vacation going to Honolulu was the worst plane ride we experienced for the whole duration of the trip. We left at night and I thought that Phoenix would be sleepy enough to ignore external distractions but I was dead wrong. Since we were also right in front of the huge screen, he was easily distracted by the light and glare that came from it. The first two hours of our trip felt like ten hours have already passed and yet we still had 8 long hours to go.

In order for Phoenix to fall asleep I had to walk around the plane continuously then when he got bored I had to rock him using my arms to make him sleepy. After about 4.5 hours, he was finally able to sleep for two hours and then he woke up. I had to amuse him once again and after a few more painful hours, he was able to sleep again for a little over an hour and then my luck had run out. He was awake until we reached Hawaii.

When we arrived, we had to get our rental van then drive 40 mins then we got to the place where we were staying and checked in. I was starving when we got there that I didn't even go up to the room anymore, I ate with baby P while waiting for everyone to bring up their luggages and join me. The easy part about baby P is that he loves to eat and even if he was only 9 months he was already eating chicken so I ordered salad and fed him the chicken that came with it. The downside to Kuya C(cairo) is that he is a very very very picky and lazy eater. I was able to make him eat a tiny piece of grilled cheese sandwich tho with milk. 

Even before the day ended we were already running low on energy so we ended the day early. I hardly felt the jet lag because my personal body clock was dependent on Phoenix. I sleep when he sleeps. I eat when he's asleep. I fix things when he's asleep or preoccupied. If he doesn't get to sleep, then that becomes a big obstacle for me. 

We ended our first day early and I will continue my vacation blog again next week....pics to follow as well =)

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everyone! I know that I've been absent once again and I have my US vacation trip to blame for that. We just got back this week and my youngest got sick the next day so I had to do my mommy duties and take care of him first together with our household needs.

I have a lot of things to write about our vacation but I'll welcome 2011 first with a list of things I'm looking forward to this year. Without further delay, here is my list of things/events that will have a huge impact on this year for me.
1. My youngest will turn 1 on Feb
2. My eldest will turn 5 on Feb
3. My children's joint birthday party on Feb as well
4. Hubby & I will be celebrating 7 years of togetherness and 6 years of marriage
5. The cousins of my kids(Ate T & A) will be going here to Manila during their vacation and the kids will be able to spend time and play together again!
6. Going to Hong Kong for HOFEX(hoping Global Academy will win in all the categories that we join)
7. Eating and Dining in Hong Kong
8. My eldest will be starting Kindergarten =( He will be spending a whole day in school now.
9. Going to Hawaii again this December

Time passes by so fast and I want to cherish each day this year and not have regrets of wishing I could redo something. Happy New Year to all. Let's make this year filled with meaningful experiences for us all =)

Delsey Luggages

We will be leaving for our family vacation this December and it will be our first time to travel with our little one on the plane. We are trying our best to bring as little as possible since we also have to be the ones to carry all of our stuff on top of our children's things and our kids themselves.

Since we are scared of being overweight with our luggage, we went on a hunt for the lightest luggage we could find and we were very happy with our purchase from Travel Club. Check out these stylish and super light bags from Delsey:

My Baby Vampire

My 8 and a half months old son is teething like anything and he has been randomly biting people but he is especially taken by my face and neck. He readily opens his mouth and makes the sound "aaahhhhhgggghhhh" while trying his best to grab hold of my hair and angling his face to get a bite out of my face.

It sounds funny and it even looks funnier to other people when they see him doing that to me BUT I'm telling you, it hurts like anything when his two bottom teeth get to sink in my skin. Ugh! I start to feel pain near my chin because that's where he usually bites me. When I shout NO!, he looks at me then would continue to open his mouth but not sink his teeth onto my skin anymore but simply stick his open mouth to my face. It's really mortifying if he just wasn't so damn cute when he does it.

His front tooth is starting to grow and I am not excited at all to be the person he sinks that into =( My eldest never went thru this phase so this is all new to me. I will try to enjoy my gummy baby as long as I can and I'm secretly hoping that his teeth would start growing slower!

Happy faces help me feed my picky eater

My toddler doesn't enjoy eating and is lazy to chew. Up until a few weeks ago he was still eating mashed food. My infant has caught up with his eating and it was depressing to see my two boys eating the same things because it only highlighted the fact that my eldest is so behind in terms of chewing and eating different varieties of food.

My eldest never liked eating so he never had the urge to chew. When he ate, he simply swallowed whatever was given to him. Feeding him has been a struggle for us and we've tried everything so after two years we simply succumbed to him. When he started going to school, we got hit by the reality of how behind he was among his classmates in terms of eating.

I had a good talk with his guidance counselor and we devised a plan that allowed my son to choose to chew and eat because he would be given a prize or we'd take away a privilege if he didn't eat. In order for him to visualize where he was already I made a chart wherein he'd get a happy or sad face for lunch or dinner depending on how he ate for that meal time.

For the first week, if he did not chew and eat his food in 30mins he would get a sad face and he won't be allowed to watch TV. For dinner, we promised him that we would give him his spiderman costume if he gets at least 6 happy faces in one week. We made it clear to him that we won't pressure him and he will be the one to decide what he can get or what will be taken away from him. Surprisingly, he did pretty well for his first 2 weeks.

After halloween we had to change our strategy for dinner time so we told him that he can have any toy that he wants if he gets 12 happy faces in one week. For lunch, if he gets a sad face we still take away his TV on top of the fact that he has one less happy face from his total. So far so good. If he really doesn't like his food, he'll tell me he will settle for a sad face and he'll be ok with no tv. At least now he knows that he has the power to get things or not.

I don't think that there will be a miracle and that my son will start liking all foods. He has added quite a number to his usual food and he eats everything without them being mashed or chopped up so he is improving. At least he feeds himself and he is able to finish his food within his 30 minute deadline. I am proud of him for his marked improvement and I am very grateful to his teachers for taking the time to talk amongst themselves to help us make this change in my son's life.

My son now looks forward to eating and me drawing more happy faces onto his board. Life is good =)

Bikram has finally arrived in Alabang!

As I have mentioned in earlier blog I am an ashtanga yoga practitioner. I admit that getting back into my old yoga practice has been hard because I don't feel the same connection to the yoga studios here that teach ashtanga unlike my old studio. I have moved from practicing in a group to doing my yoga alone and it just isn't the same so I've been neglecting my practice.

I have only tried Bikram yoga for one month about two years ago and I found it ok. I personally found it easier than Ashtanga because there were less poses and the heat was the greatest barrier for me. When a Bikram studio opened in Alabang, I told myself that I'd try going just so that I'd be able to practice yoga again even if it was a different type.

Surprisingly, I am starting to enjoy practicing again. I'm starting to feel a connection to my inner self. I find myself learning to calm my body down by breathing when all I want to do is shout "open the door and windows--it's sooo hot!" I know that our minds are very powerful and when my body is protesting from the heat, I chant in my head and I tell myself that I can get thru the class and that my sweat signifies the toxins and fat that are melting away from my body and somehow I survive.

I think that I can be really good in Bikram and it has become my new goal to get better at it ;)

Kiddie Parties Galore!

In less than a month I have gone to two 1st birthday parties and I will be going to another one in two weeks. I myself am planning a joint party for my 2 boys on Feb and I'm starting to plan their party already.

Admittedly, I want it to be Unique & FUN FUN FUN for the kids and adults. I want the host to be really good and not corny or try hard. The food has to be yummy comfort food and the cake is one of the things that I'm obsessing over.

For my eldest's 1st birthday party before I hired a party planner and she basically did everything except for the food. This was easy but for next year I'm thinking of changing things. I'm meeting with a decorator to take care of beautifying the party according to my theme. Food will be taken cared of by Global Academy then my cake/dessert table will be from Sonja and I'm still looking for a good host. I think that I will be getting my prizes and give-aways from different suppliers as well. I know that this will be more tiring for me BUT I'm pushing for the type of party that isn't just anther party that everyone has gone to. I want to add my family's touch to every part of the boys' birthdays.

I'm just wondering where I can get good suppliers...