I went over status updates of friends in my Facebook when I found out a good friend, after years of trying to conceive, is pregnant with a baby boy! I know she and her husband has been praying for one for a long time and finding out it is a boy is just icing on the cake.

Knowing my friend, she would dive right in and will be planning and decorating the baby’s nursery in no time. She is a very creative person. She planned out the ittiest bits of her weddingS – yes she got married twice (to the same person), dove head on to mastering photography and scrapbooking and decorated all the houses they lived in beautifully. She really has an eye for art and eye candy. I actually cannot wait what she will do for the nursery. I am sure it will be a theme that is artistic, trendy and cute all at the same time. Baby Bedding Sets would be themed too, I bet.

I often wonder which months are the busiest for baby deliveries and with two friends due in three weeks, five friends celebrating their babies first birthdays next month and two relatives giving birth just last week, the answer is clear – the last quarter of the year is baby season! (And the first quarter is obviously mating season!)

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I noticed I have not been writing about my son too much for awhile now. While I was looking health insurance leads (haven’t signed up our family still – somebody slap me) and arranging his pictures for his 2nd grade school album, I chanced upon a few pictures of him lately gamely posing the camera – and he even was the one telling me to take pictures of him.

I guess it all happened because when the pages I have ordered from Artscow arrived, he was the one who read them immediately. (For now, he is the only one who appreciates my scrapbooks, Martha just points to the pictures). He asked me how come he only has 25 pages as opposed to his sister’s whopping 85. I told him it is because he throws a tantrum whenever I’d take out the camera. (But it also because I have around 15 page spreads for him to go into a book, not loose prints).

So he now poses for pictures. He would even tell me to take pictures whenever there will be the rare event at night when he and his sister aren’t fighting over TV and good heavens, are sharing the couch!!! (Martha doesn’t share the couch, witch! LOL)

It doesn’t seem to help that he is always out of the house every chance he gets. He always wants to sleep over the Lola’s place – and lately he has been involved with the Little Lamb’s Choir and it has been taking up so much of his time.

His growth spurt is tripling every year. Most of his clothes are getting “bitin” already and I really need to prioritize buying him clothes over the princess (the princess just officially reached being snug in 4T – so I think by December 5T clothes will be snug too).

His appetite is dangerously close to rivaling Edil’s too. Whenever we would eat at fastfood restaurants, he would eat – pay close attention – 1piece chicken with extra rice, if he isn’t in the mood for extra rice, he would order spaghetti PLUS cheeseburger + large fries. He is the only member of the family who prefers Sprite over Coke Zero and I’d need to remember that everytime we order or else he would throw a fit.

We need to save too, because this young man officially hit the stage of expensive stuff – he wants a guitar for Christmas and he tells me he doesn’t “need” a PSP (and he maybe right) but our hearts break a little each time he would borrow the PSP of friends and his uncle. (He is conscious of money now too).

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Hi: Lost of activities and family gatherings this month.
Lo: We need to travel a lot and it can get quite expensive. Plus, I do not have a maid nor a husband to help me pack – I have two kids and myself to think of. (I am not joking, I need to make sure we are covered until the end  of the month.

Hi: The husband is doing great at his job.
Lo: We sacrifice a lot not to have a normal weekend these days. I am praying for guidance on what would be the best thing to do about it.

Hi: Work has been doing great too.
Lo: It tires and drains me a lot. I try not to complain because I may not have as much work next month though. And like a friend said, there are laws of attraction. I have much money now but we also have so many expenses. For example, we need to get updated with Matthew’s school’s fees, shell out money for house maintenance (like making sure refrigerator water filters are replaced), etc.

Hi: It feels great to be able to help people.
Lo: It gets depressing knowing you can only help as much.

Hi: Nobody is getting sick! *knock on wood*. I am very very thankful on this part.
Lo: I’m quite paranoid actually. I make sure that the kids are taking their vitamins everyday and have gotten Martha back on her puffer – because the weather changes are crazy I am afraid it will trigger an asthma attack. Since we travel to the city often these days I shell out a lot to make sure they eat right and sleep and rest. I cant afford (financially and emotionally) to have someone in the family get sick right now. That includes myself.

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This is her usual face when she sees me pointing the camera at her – and she isn’t in the mood for picture-taking. And yes, that’s really her usual face when she is pissed off. At least I really capture her personality in pictures, even if I don’t get the usual smiles I need to make scrap pages for her myself (heehee). The only consolation I have is that those pictures are the real “everyday scrapbooking” memories I “need”.

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The festivities of our October has officially started – with my Dad turning 59 last Saturday. We didn’t have the chance to really celebrate his day because they were so busy preparing for something big towards the end of the month but a lot of people sent food for him. I believe he had three cakes (and yes I tasted them all!).

We went to my cousin’s place because my aunt cooked her trademark kaldereta (I can eat it the whole day, I swear) and my cousin cooked yummee lasagna. We stayed there until night time because the kids had a blast with their cousin’s swimming pool. It was a great day – no rain, not so hot, great yummy food and easy conversations.

Sunday was spent with my sisters and brother and more relatives. (More food!) I finally was able to get my motherboard for G – I hope we can get her to work in the next few weeks. I missed her! I also have a magic Jack now – just need to get a phone unit from Manila.

It was a great weekend because the husband was able to come home for 2.5 days instead of the 1.5 ones we had to deal with for the last two months. Hopefully, his schedule/workload will be easier to deal with so we can feel like family again half of the week.

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Martha loves to draw lately. When before she would only draw lines and circles now she has finer control of her fingers and hands that she can draw the one you see on the picture.

It’s a person – who? It maybe Mom, Dad, Kuya, Lolo, Lola, Tita Abbie, Tita Agnes, Tito Derek, or Santino It depends on how big it is – the biggest one is usually me, how much hair it has – Martha always has the longest hair, and whether it has circles on the eyes – then it becomes Lolo or Lola. I have a pile of drawings from her all like this – it’s actually adorable. I’m encouraging her to draw other things but she would pout and say, “Di ako runong Mom eh, di pa ako big, di ako school, la ako signment.” Which is always said like she is the biggest loser for not going to school.

So we do school at home. More on that next.

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I posted a trivia quiz over at Facebook once asking how many houses have I lived in all my life – I think nobody got it right! So here it is – trivia: I lived in a total of eight houses since I was born, and I experienced first hand moving houses, relocating and settling in new areas seven times! It’s a good thing though I only had to transfer schools twice. As with moving places, most of my “important” stuff got lost in transition. But to an eight year old girl, important stuff means the bracelet a friend gave, diaries and letters from classmates. It’s a good thing I had been quite anal ever since I personally transferred pictures to our new houses by myself.

A Moving Company could have done us good. Not that we had much to move over but my Mom is such a pack rat. You would not believe until now how many clothes and stuff we still have over at the old house. To think we give away or sell clothes at least three times a year – and my mom gives away three boxes at once at a time. A moving company may cost a little but for its worth it would have saved all of us from so much stress.

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(Just when I was writing this entry, Martha comes up to me and says “Wow, si Tita Abbie ko!” She immediately looked crestfallen when she said, “Ay naku, si Tuya hug si Tita Abbie ko!” I told her she hugged Tita Abbie more on the first picture.)

Case 1:
Matthew on weekends when my siblings would go to Amadeo.

“Mommy, andun ba si Tita Abbie? Sa tingin mo dun matutulog si Tita Agnes? (he referred to Agnes when he was a toddler as Tita Witch, FYI.)

Meaning: Sana pwede ako matulog dun kasi andun si Tita Abbie kahit andun si Tita Agnes

Case 2:
We had major drama on Abbie’s birthday because Matthew talked back at me. As punishment I decided we wouldnt go anymore to Manila for Abbie’s treat. It was the longest three hours of his life, crying and pleading and crying some more – to make me change my mind.

Case 3:
Whenever I’d scold Martha these days, she cries and yells for help, in the following order:
”Daddy, Daddy, I want my Daddy!”

If Im so angry Id shot back: “Wala dito Daddy mo!”

You think she would cry some more? No, the next person in line is…
”Huhuhu, Ta Bie, Ta Bie, I want my Tita Abbie!”

I rest my case.

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