Liezl's Den

Small Favors and Friday Madness...

2006-08-21T15:43:00.000+03:00

The other day my friend M (whom I got fond of coz she’s so bubbly and a very nice friend; I can see the very essence and value of friendship in her) sent me an e-mail asking some small favor in helping her to prepare and cook for her friend’s birthday (and alongside with her friend’s celebration was a religious activity the 2000 Rosary; it’s almost the same with what we had in our house the only difference is the 2000 Hail Mary’s instead of the usual count).

I called her after reading some mails and answering some phone calls from other friends and told her the needed ingredients in making leche flan and talked more on what we’ll be doin’ since its weekend again. We settled with the idea of going to Villagio Mall and there’s the newly opened Carrefour to have our groceries and just to see what’s with this new mall.

They came around lunch time, and almost all of the grocery stores were closing, they were like the contestants in Amazing Race who jumped from one grocery store to another , left with small time to buy all the needed stuffs, so they just had the ingredients for leche flan and brought food from Take Away Restaurant (take note of the name of the resto) and after eating lunch we started making the flan with the help of our li’l cook (our daughters) who are always ready to help. And so we let them help a little , only in stirring the yokes. Then came the usual scene from the two bratinellas, yelling, crying and making peace again with each other again for the nth time.

After the cooking we went to the carrefour, gross, too much people of different races were coming and going. And worst thing is there’s a band there for the opening of Carrefour, but it was the worst band ever...

Breasfeeding Tips

2006-08-19T03:35:00.000+03:00

An Old Post from http://www.seanlinus.com

The nutrient balance in a mother’s milk is just right for her infant as he/she grows.
There are at least 12 anti-inflammatory agents in breastmilk which promote healthy immune system.
Immunoglobulin-A in breastmilk protects the baby against Coxsakie B virus, Staph and E coli bacteria by painting the intestinal tract and blocking the pathogen’s adherence to the mucous membrane.
Lactoferrin prevents the growth of pathogenic organisms such as E coli, Salmonella and Candida Albican by blocking iron utilization necessary for their survival.
Breastfeeding decreases the risk of childhood cancers, asthma, bacterial infections, diarrhea, allergies, diabetes and SIDS.
Breastfeeding keeps babies’ teeth clean and helps develop better speech.
Breastfeeding reduces the risk of breast, ovarian and endometrial cancer in mothers.
Breastfeeding mothers return to their pre-pregnancy weight sooner than their bottlefeeding counterparts.

Nutrition While Breastfeeding:

Eat a well-balanced, varied diet
Breastfeeding mothers burn 500+ calories daily
Check with your doctor about taking a multivitamin with iron
Drink eight glasses of fluid (eight ounces each) daily
Avoid or limit caffeinated drinks to one to two cups daily
Avoid alcohol or limit to one serving (six ounces of wine or 12 ounces of beer) on a special occasion

Prenatal and Breastfeeding Nutrition Guide:

The minimum recommended servings are based on a 2,200 calorie meal plan:
Bread, cereal, rice, pasta - nine to 11 servings
Vegetables - four to five servings
Fruits - three to four servings
Milk, yogurt, cheese - three to four servings of calcium-rich foods or a calcium supplement
Meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dry beans, nuts - three servings
Saturated and trans fats, oils and sweets - use in small amounts
Pregnant teenagers need four to five servings of dairy products and four servings from the meat group to support their growth as well as their baby’s growth

How to Increase Your Milk Supply:

Increase frequency and duration of feedings
Encourage baby to take several feedings early in the day when milk quantity is greater
Apply warm, wet cloths to breasts
Massage breasts before a feeding
Rest! - when you nap, prolactin levels increase

How to Decrease Milk Supply:

Suggest that mother continue to drink eight glasses of fluid (eight ounces each) daily
Limit intake of salt
Wear a supportive, non-binding bra
Pump to comfort
Drink plenty of fluids, but don’t force fluids
Avoid nipple or breast stimulation
If you become engorged, use cold compresses or ice packs

Medications and Breastfeeding:

When medications are necessary, mother needs to inform her healthcare provider that she is breastfeeding
Always check with your physicians before taking over-the-counter medications

Sean's Milestone

2006-08-19T03:32:00.000+03:00

An Old Post from http://www.seanlinus.com/

Day 1: Welcome to the world our new bundle of joy, happiness and contentment is what you can always see on his face from the moment he came to us…He is such a peaceful baby…He has a dimple shown when he gave us his first very sweet and innocent smile:) Thanks Daddy God for the new Gift!
After a Week: He’s quite settled with the everyday noise (mostly from a witty toddler named Ate P…such her nature!) and activities of the Rafael’s haven. Most of the time were spent trying to make Momsy and Sean comfortable with breastfeeding but still milk form Momsy is not adequate for Sean’s needs. He sleep, drinks formula milk and sleep again.
1st Month: Sean is able to hold his head up straight, gone are those wobbly-head days (but he can hold his head straight while he was just a week old. Whenever he sees Momsy, Dada, Ate and uncle he starts making sounds. He started cooing and giggling.

2nd Month: He’s development is rocketing, physically he doubled his weight, at this month he weighed 12.2 pounds and his height is 58 cm. He can communicate us more with some gestures like sucking of hands when he wants milk or making some smacking sounds with his lips. Still, most of his time is spent on eating and sleeping. He emitates what his older sister is doing like making some facial expressions and animated sounds;)

3rd Month: Still a peaceful baby, he has the ha- eye coordination.Whenever he focuses on a toy near him he can grab it with his hand. His emotional closeness to Momsy is very evident (when Momsy is feeling mad he can sense it), from being happy to being sad. BUt he is a very happy baby, no problem with him in terms of taking care he’s a very patient baby. He just wait while Momsy prepares his milk (just to be clear: no formula milk from 3rd week onwards just breastfeeding). He’s close to his older sibling, whenever he hears her cry he’ll cry too. Emotional intelligence of Sean is being nurtured, I think the effect of being a breastfeed baby.

4th MOnth: Sean at this month enjoys his gurgling sounds, his voice is so loud when he is agitated or happy. He is always feasting on his fist, left and right, sometimes both, andmake some smacking sound. He can sense some changes in his environment, and he can relate to the so of our voices and to our facial expressions. Emotionally, he’s so close with Momsy and enjoys the every-morning giggles with ate P. He can stand on his feet (of course with asssistance) and you can prop him up with some pillows to let him sit. If something annoys him he’ll start with his mantra “gang-gang-gang!”. His hand-eye coordination is more enhanced, he can grab anything he wants as long as it is within his reach. WHile on his stomach, he can lift his head and chest but for a short period of time and turn his head from side to side. He is a happy baby who always squirm with excitement, laugh and squeals.

Mom's Milk is The Best

2006-08-19T03:30:00.000+03:00

An Old Post from http://www.seanlinus.com/

Breastfeeding Sean at first was a little bit difficult for there was no milk in first 2 weeks and MOmsy is still learning the proper latch on and other stuffs on breastfeeding that time plus the fact that Momsy is still sore from delivering him and feeling a lot of pain. After that there were already lots of milk and slowly Sean and Momsy learned and from then on beastfeeding became so easy that even we are inside our car Sean can still get his milk.

The only thing that Momsy is still working on is how to breastfeed Sean discreetly while in malls or other public places.

The first thing to work on in breastfeeding is on how to make the two of you comfortable; mommy and the baby then all the rest would follow. Proper latching is also important, which means that the baby should be sucking in the whole areola part of your nipple if not it would be painful and the nipple should be on top of the baby’s tongue and nose is right up against your breast.
As for Sean, the first few weeks, the interval of feeding him takes from 1 to 2 hours and you can sense that he wants to be feed when he makes sounds with her lips, when he smacks his lips or put his hands in his mouth and the most noticeable sigh that he needs milk when he cries.

While giving him his milk i make it a point that i won’t drift off to sleep while holding him in my lap i’m so afraid that i might get to sleep and drop him on the floor so it’s better for me to put him in the bed and feed him. There is somthing in breastfeeding that makes you sleepy, I noticed that effect both on mommy and the baby. As for Sean, the moment that he started to drink milk he’ll drift off to a deep slumber.

The big difference of a breastfeed baby than feed with a formula milk is very noticeable from the peaceful attitude to the perfect nutrients needed of the baby plus the very strong resistence to common diseases like colds and cough. Ate P’s milk is formula milk, but she had the colostrum and I breastfed her for 3 weeks and after that my milk stopped that’s why I switched her to formula milk.

Speaking of its advantages:

–Mom’s milk has the right temperature so no need for boiling of water,no need for sterelization and no need for feeding bottles, just clean your breast then voila!

–MOm’s milk has so much to offer to the baby: optimal growth and development, decrease in risk in some diseases (mom’s milk is rich in infection fighting antibodies) and it protects the baby from obesity while growing older.

–Emotional Intelligence of a breastfeed baby is also higher, plus the mom and baby relationship is nurtured (emotional closeness).

–And it lowers your expenses, no need to buy expensive formula milk, just eat the right and balanced diet .

The Bouncing Baby

2006-08-19T03:27:00.000+03:00

An old Post from http://www.seanlinus.com/

Sean is on his 7th month now and he changed a lot, physically and mentally and his development leaped from being a peaceful baby to bouncing yelling baby who happens to love his voice echo on our house from time to time especially when he’s overflowing with excitement and happiness.
Sometimes he caught me off guarded with his voice, of course, i was and still am like on the deja vu stage with my andrea’s feminine yet loud noise when she was in sean’s age. i was accustomed to a loud blabbering by my first born at this age but sean’s more powerful than hers. of course he’s a baby boy so what’s next?
His body is so sleek and lean and very quick to twist and turn that sometimes if you’ll not hold him tight he’ll gonna end with a crashing thud on the floor. He gulps a lot of water, yes! not only sips but gulps.He doesn’t know how to suck from a bottle. Until this month he loves only my unadulterated milk and some solid foods but we have to be wathcful with what food we give him coz his skin is so sensitive–which means, no fish, no chicken, no eggs, no nuts and other legumes, no dairies and no sea foods or else he’ll be as red as a lobster.
He has a very good appetite but the problem is he has an allergy. But anyway, as long as he is healthy and we ‘ll keep him healthy and stay away with those allergens.
He’s a tall baby. Funny, he’s fairer than his older sister sometimes when we’re in a mall some ladies would ask us if sean is a girl. He has this oozing aura of being a baby magnet everytime we are outside. He’s always wearing blues and white shirts and shoes but still most of the time he’ll be mistaken as a baby girl. He always smiles sweetly and hug us. We love you Sean!

DOra and Boots, Princess New Friends

2006-08-19T03:15:00.000+03:00

An Old Post from http://www.andrealizette.com/

Princess got a gift from Ninong Robin, a VCD of Dora The Explorer, it’s her new fave movie. Everyday, she wants to watch Dora and Boots and sings along with them. Not only the movie she’s watching and also she got hooked on the the activities, stories, games, everything on Dora the explorer website. Barney and teletubbies got some rest but still they are her best friends.

When I asked her what she wants from Daddy when he gets home from the office, her reply would automatically would be, ” Two ice cream and two pop!” and “One for Barney and one for Po.” And she would make statements like, “Nothing for Sean coz he’s still a baby.”

A Great day for ate Princess

2006-08-19T03:09:00.000+03:00

An Old Post From http://www.andrealizette.com/

It’s been long overdue, our trip to a bookstore has been suspended for more than 5 times and now finally, we’d a time to visit Jarir Bookstore to buy Ate P’s books, but we ended up buying more. Ate P’s bourgeoning happiness upon the glimpse of books, and coloring books with Barney, BJ and Baby Bop on every pages were heightened by pure sheer of joy when she saw me handing her a pair of pink slippers, pencils, pencil sharpener and Daddy N gave her a hola hoop.

The day is not yet finished it’s just lunchtime soon after the trip to the bookstore we went straight to A & W and had a fattening meal. Ate P posed in front the camera to have a picture of her new pink slippers:)

Then the great day of the pretty toddler is not yet over yet, we went to Royal Plaza just to stroll but found out that GUess is on sale. And again Ate P have new tops and skirt while momsy got her new bag.

Tryin' a New Sport

2006-08-19T03:05:00.000+03:00

Finally, I gave in to my friend's (J) persuasion of trying a new sport, which is by the way she really patronizes (whom she referred as a sport with "class"). It's been nearly 2 months that she was talking me into engaging into tennis.

Eventhough, I really liked the idea of indulging myself into a new sport which would help me also reduce my weight (still got the love handles from giving birth to my 1 year old son) and to have time for myself once in a while still I was so hesitant to join her for lot of reasons; like I don't have a nanny who'll take care of my kids while I'm out there and enjoying myself and second it's still summer and sometimes humidity is so high but my hubby cooperated very well and as well as my brother, so case no. one is solved then just deal with the heat and the humidity.
Good thing is our friend M will be joining us too so good luck to us!Thanks to our husbands who'll be looking after our kids. Last Sunday we went to City Center with our friends M and C and looked for all the neccessary stuffs we'll be using. We walked to and fro all the sports shop and tried to haggle with every salesperson to give us more discount for the racquet.

As a starter for this sports I don't have an idea which tennis apparel and racquet to buy. And so, I settled with the affordable one and decided to have the Head Titanium 4100 (original price is Qr 208 and I got it for Qr 160) and my friend M got the Head Titanium 4200( orig. price is Qr.199 and got it for Qr.179), of course we bought it with discounts. We bought also knee pads and wrist bands from Sun and Sands.

I'm excited and i'm looking forward to start the lessons at once so that I can play tennis with my friends.

Day 1 in Tennis Lesson

2006-08-19T03:04:00.000+03:00

This is the first official day that our tennis lesson has started. Our instructor Mr. T arrived, I guess past 8 pm, and his assistant were already there teaching some Indonesian kids and we are 2 new tennis students plus a 23 yr. old Moroccan lady.

The Racquet Parts

First the assistant taught me the parts of a racquet, which are the head, face (which is where you hit the ball), down to the neck then the grip or handle and the butt.

Then our instructor came and taught us the basics of tennis.

The Ready Position.

Step 1:Your right hand should have a good grip near the butt of the racquet and the left hand supports the neck of the racquet. By using both hands, this allows quick grip changes.

Step 2: Your feet should be shoulder width apart and your head forwards into the court. You have to bend your knees slightly, that is to lower the center of your gravity and stores energy in your muscles.

Step 3: Be alert for the coming of the ball from your opponent and try to bounce on your toes that is to give you extra spring in your feet. The timing is also important. You have to accelerate in maximum speed at any direction the moment you see the ball.

Step 4: After hitting the ball return to the center of the court and go back to ready posotion.

The next we learned was the basic racquet grip. You have to place the index finger's base knuckle on the top right bevel and the side of the thumb should be resting along the back of the racquet, or the opposite side of the grip.

The assistant teacher told me that there's the so-called Continental Grip (it means all-around grip). It is the universal grip. It was once known as the Aussie grip. This grip is used for any shot, although it is mostly used now for the serve and volley.

As the lesson progressed we learned the forehand and backhand moves as well as the proper footing in each every move and what followed was the volley (forehand and backhand also) and then the service.

It was a very productive night. In two hours, I learned a lot and was able to execute correctly almost all of the lessons our teacher taught us. And i'm looking forward to Saturday night for our 2nd meeting.

A Post 1st Birthday Entry!

2006-08-12T19:10:00.000+03:00

It's been a week since we celebrated our baby boy's first birthday and the party hang-over is finally subsiding, the adrenalin rush was set back to normal and we are preparing for Ate Princess' 3rd birthday.

Sean's 1st birthday bash went well, as expected, same old friends and new ones and friends kids attended the party. The party started late by thirty minutes coz some kids were already enjoying the rides and almost forgot that there will be a party first in the party room before getting lost in the wild rides of Junglezone.

The party started with a show of a Juggler and the Magician. The juggler, he is quite good, he can juggle, first 3 batons then followed by 3 hats and 3 balls. Of course, kids like my almost three yrs. old Andrea was left speechless, she was too absorbed on what she's seeing. Next was the magician, but the celebrant was pulling my blouse already, he's telling me that it's about time to breastfeed him. Oh boy, I had to go to the corner and concentrate on feeding my little boy and quite cautious that he'll not sabotage my cover by pulling the shawl that I wrapped on us.

Next was the parlor games. I was the one who suggested to Abby (the party facilatator) another game which is the putting of the M & M's to a clear cup, the one who'll finish transferring the M &M's minis from the paper plate to a plastic cup will be the winner. Although the original idea was marsh mallows but I guess M & M's would do better. The next game was Trip to Jerusalem and then followed by a game of saying "happy birthday Sean...." the one who'll say it the longest would be the winner. The next game was "bring me" of course, almost all of the kids got crazy hunting for every item or thing that the facilatator was asking to bring. Sean, the celebrant won for bringing the smallest shoe (which is his own shoe). I bought also an additonal prize ( a Winnie The POoh and 100 acre's Friends Puzzle) but told the facilatator to please put it away for the meantime that Ate Princess is watching coz she considered it as hers already like she put her name on it while we were in the house before going to the party. We prepared also the "pabitin" it's a Filipino game various goodies and toys were hung from a wooden frame that is held by a rope attached to a pulley. Kids then grab for the goodies and toys when the wooden frame is lowered holding the rope at the other end. But Sean, as the birthday celebrant had the chance to pick and grab a toy; it's a pack of luminous stars.

The next was the blowing of the cakes. I made 3 chocolate moist cakes and bought the winnie the pooh and hundred acre friends tiny toys as cake decor and there are also cup cakes made by our Ninang (whom my kids address as Mom May and considered as their second mother) and I ordered an Ube flavored cake with the theme of winnie the pooh and hundred acre's friends.

After all of the games and party shows was over then its time for a sumptuous and gastronomical dinner. As experienced, we prefer cooking the food for our parties than ordering it or have it catered for us for we can control the taste of the food than be sorry later for some negative feedbacks from the visitors about the food. But due to lack of time and and we don't have a househelp so we settled on ordering half of the food on our menu and there are also friends who offered their help by cooking some of the food.

In our menu, there was the good old kare-kare (I think every occassion it's always present) and as well as caldereta, baked macaroni,bopis (by our friend Judith), Pancit (by Mavis), Estofado (cooked by Mavis), leche flan and ref. cake, Maja Blanca (NInang May Voluntered to make) as well as the fruit salad, cup cakes and gelatin. We ordered Empanada from our neighbor and bought 3 buckets of fried chicken.

Orient Express catered the following foods: Black Pepper Steak, Sweet and Sour Chicken, Beef and Chicken Teriyaki, Beef in Oyster Sauce, Seafood Steak,Fried Rice, Leche Flan and Fruit Salad.

The Rides in Jungle Zone is based on the elements of the 'wild nature of the jungle world', Jungle Zone boosted 9 attractions mainly for kids in its huge size of approximately 3,500 square metres The Jungle Train will bring kids on a 'joyride' journey through the 'jungle' area. Hop on the Elephant Jet and let kids enjoy the excitement of be 'flown' up to the sky and enjoy the panaromic view of the entire theme park.

The Crazy Jump is an exciting ride that offers kids sheer 'adrenalin rush' as it 'drop' down without even a hint! Honey Swing might be the perfect answer for kids to enjoy a good buzz while Lion's Lair provides kids the ultimate chance to drive and , bump others without being summoned! The Mountain Coaster is another crowd puller that offers kids the opportunity to venture through mountains, hills and cave full of 'surprises'.

The Wild Flume ride is considered second to nothing as it offers fun 'plunge' into the river from the mountain top. Eureka, a kiddy's magical ride proved popular with its unique tricycle flying ability! The Fun Castle and Adventure Castle are made up of a multi-level fun world which enables young kids to climb, crawl, jump and slide! The latest and exciting Video Arcade and Redemption Games would further add to the excitement here. It would definitely be a day of restless fun for the energetic ones!

At Jungle Zone Theme Park, kids would enjoy a memorable birthday celebrations organized by experienced party organizers at either the Amazon or Rainforest Party Rooms. Complete with the state-of-the-art sound system and lightings, selection of food menus, exciting games, fun activities, various options of entertainment shows and colorful decorations, birthday parties would be well remembered and cherished!

Our new House help:)

2006-08-01T15:00:00.000+03:00

We have a new house help, it's been for more than 4 months now that he's doing the cleaning in our house. His name is Benot and he's a Nepali. He told us that he came from one of the provinces of Nepal, a place wherein no roads yet, no telephones and no schools.

From his face you'll notice at first that he's a nice person so at once I told my hubby that I have a good vibration (a positive one!) that this person would be our househelp for good.

Back to Benot, he's in his thirties and he is soft-spoken and has fine manners. Every Friday he comes to our abode for his weekend spring cleaning. He is staying in the Industrial Area, it's quite far from our place but he really makes it every 8 in the morning. First rides in a bus (Karwa) then walks from the bus stop to our house ( I guess 2 kilometers). He's so good in his job. This is the kind of a person whom you can trust, sometimes without telling him he extends much far from his usual chores like cleaning my hubby's shoes or even without telling him he'll even take out our clothes from the dryer and hang it.

And every Friday we make it a point that before he starts his work here in our house he should have breakfast first and since it's a weekend we usually wake up late so he just manage himself for a cup of coffee or a tea and a bread or usually we eat kubos ( it's an Arabic bread).

Every lunchtime we usually let him tell stories while we are eating, the usual one's, like how life is in their country or about his family.

He finished his secondary education so there's no problem conversing with him. He can talk English well. And he told us that he started his education late already, at the age of 10. Since their home is surrounded by mountains and they have to walk for 10 kms. every day just to go to school. And going to college needs more money so he has to stop finally to work and eventually got married and had 2 kids.

And the rest is history he ended up here in Qatar for some work and we told him that he can place a call to his family using our Skype connection but he said thanks but he can't coz there's no telephone yet in their place.

that's for now...to be continued...

Sean is Turning 1!

2006-08-01T14:12:00.000+03:00

Our little boy is turning one this 5th of August and we started preparing for his birthday bash three months ago. We went to Junglezone in Hyatt Plaza to book a party in the big party room last June. For sure Ate Princess will enjoy the rides and also their friends.

The kids that we invited, all 49 of them and some had called me already informing me of their absence (good that I put an RSVP in the invitation card for me also to furnish a master list for all the kids that would arrive on that day so that I can give it at once to the staff of Junglezone) and narrowing it down to 45 kids. These are the kids of our friends that we knew in our 6 years of stay here in Qatar.

There will be face painting, games, jugglers and a magician and of course the unlimited rides (except for those cars and rides needing those tokens). I guess kids would love it. There will be a variety of cakes and sumptous meal after the games.

Missing Pinas!

2006-05-22T02:46:00.000+03:00

It's been more than 2 months that I longed to be in my sweet country. I planned of going home but I simply can't. Silly, I know! The thought of travelling with a toddler and a baby in tow is madness but I know that i'll manage. But see, this is the case of a stay at home mom with no work, no money and just totally depend on a husband.

How I wish to be back there in my homeland and enjoy with my parents, surely they would love to. Anyhow, this reminds me of pulling myself and gearing toward a new life, I should be back to working again but how? that the question, with nobody that i would trust with my kids I cant. How I wish that my kids are big already, so I can manage with my finances. If I want to fly to Pinas then I can. I can buy my own ticket. But, for now I just can't move!

Busy Bees!

2006-05-08T02:05:00.000+03:00

Just finished watching the 1st Season of Desperate Housewives, Yup! I got addicted to these tv series, to name a few... Smallville, Prison Break, 24, Lost, not to mention Family Guy.

Days are so swift, to the point that I sometimes don't know which day it is alreasy. As I mentioned in my last blog entry I don't have a maid anymore, so that's it. Everyday is a hectic day. My whole day is not enough for my toddler who's nearing three and my 9 mos. old baby.

It occurred to me lately that I gained again the weight that I lost on the first week that I returned our maid, which means that I easily adapted to this endless juggling of houseworks and keeping my sanity intact for the moment that my kids are still like cavemen (when will this end?).

Friends kept on asking me if I can make it. Don't insult my capacity of course I can do it but the sad part is I became so damned impatient and easily irritated. I feel sorry for my toddler I quickly snap on her everytime she makes demands and attention. And I feel bad about this. I don't want to be a monster mom to my kids but sometimes I just can't help but to snap at them or worst spank her. I know, I told myself tht I won't resort to spanking and yelling but what happened to me. I guess it's not too late I can still change my parenting style.

I love my kids and I want them to feel my love for them.

Bye E!

2006-04-03T01:13:00.000+03:00

I just finished all the housework, Yup! I"m back to being the Certified Plain Housewife doing all the chores, multi-tasking almost all of the time, saving time and energy by making chores easier so that i'll have ample time for my toddler and my 7 month old baby.

We send back our maid (E) to her friend (M), it's too sad for her but we have to do it for our own sake also. We paid all the expenses and the needed fees but they fooled us until now E has no visa as a maid. And to make it worse the person who is responsible for all of this mess is always hiding and running away from E's friend.

Last year, 1st week of May we went to M ( she's working as a secretary in an agency ). We approached her coz we thought that she's a good person and she's working in an agency and we needed badly to have a maid for I was 3 months away from my delivery due date. And we had known from a friend that they also got their maid through M.

We agreed on her terms (M's) even not having to run through the resume of the person that she was endorsing for us to hire. All that we heared from her was that that person/maid had enough experience for she had worked as a maid in Singapore and here in Middle East. Even M's demand for every 2 year vacationticket, a day-off every week, and the maid;s ticket plus the visa (which by the way, was to huge, doubled the usual fee) and the renewal fee for the 2nd year of the maid's visa; all of that we agreed and paid her. Of course that maid that she wanted us to get is her friend.

From May til June and here came the month of July, M, had lots of excuses ( take note: we gave the money, a total of 7000 riyals on the monthof May), she said that after 10 days the visa will come out and after a week the maid will come. The same mantra and excuses, and i was fed up and I even told my hubby to forget about that maid and just get the money from M so that we can get another maid.

And finally, on July 27 2005, the maid showed up (E). It was a horrible experience for me. Knowing that she had already experiences for being a maid I thought that our life would be easier and I was also preparing for the coming of our second baby, just a week away and he'll be coming. The reason why we wanted the maid to come as early as possible so that i'll have ample time for orientation and making her feel homey with us.

We treated E as one of the family but she really had this attitude that you'll not know how to respond to. She's the kind of maid that you have to tell her what to do and worst how to do things the proper way. It was hard for me, remember I was pregnant and knowing that my temperament was like a roller coaster and I was on the verge of exploding. My God! You have to tell her everything.

From the proper vacuuming of the carpets, to the cleaning of the comfort rooms ( the one that we are using and hers), cooking you can't depend on her ( she sucks!) just frying but still chicken and fish would come out super golden nearly burned), even laundry she would mix the whites with the colored clothes, and worst when it comes to folding of clothes, to the proper sterilizing of my toddler's bottles...to top it all, I or we was not satisfied with her performance. but we insisted that she'll learn putting aside all of our anger for hiring this kind of maid.

To make things worst, she's the kind of the maid that would put every blame to another person just to make an excuse why she failed this and that, she'll not be short on excuses.

For her 8 months in our family we had forgiven her pea-sized brain but we had to say enough! Legalities and proper documents to back off her stay her in abroad were lacking and for our safety we have to return her to her friend M.

We feel sorry for E, she's the victim. I didn't know at first that she was cancelled by her past employer her in Qatar ( a locale family) and how come that M managed to get her from Philippines. If a person has been cancelled then she/he can only come back here after 2 years. And now, M is blaming Fatima (the person whom M bought the visa for E) for all the mess that E's facing.

If E will be found by the Immigration that she's an alien then she has to pay all the penalties before deportation.

Disgusting Ogre: Sorry but I'm Mad!

2006-03-29T00:27:00.000+03:00

How would you feel if you'll be bombarded with an almost the same statement over and over again. Like an instance, again for the nth time a person approach me and told me how quick i'm becoming fat! Yeah! It was a mocking statement. I replied again for the nth time (and that's the last time that I would reply to this mocking statements and questionings! heavens forbid me but i wanna wring their necks!) that I have to eat not only for me but also for my baby.

Yes! I'm the one giving my baby his milk! HIS FOOD!!! If i'll not eat, then what will happen to my baby for sure this guy would ask me again why my baby is wailing... I don't need to explain for each and every person why I gained weight, do I?

Next time that I'll hear from this ogre, I'll gonna kick his ass to where he belong! He should know his limitations. I have enough from this man. As much as possible I don't want to sound like a loser but he's too much, sometimes I can't stand what he's up to. this is not the first time that he made some statements that have double meanings. If you have problem with me, why not talk to me in a nice manner.

Sometimes leches do suck up a lot of blood! Beware!!! Stop, right there you Parasite!

Welcome to the family Paj!

2006-03-25T04:56:00.000+03:00

My hubby got our new car the other day, a 2006 model of 7 seater Pajero (still I want the 2006 Landcruiser Prado) anyway, it's much better from our old 2-door Pajero. It's like a daddy version of our old car. Hubby N called his new car "Paj". We are a growing family which means we need a bigger car. My 2 and a half daughter enjoys her new place inside the car. Still we are trying to find the right car seat for her.
Upon arriving from work, my hubby and ninong yam went to Mitsubishi to get the car and after that we went hotel hopping. We went to Ritz Carlton Hotel then to Intercontinental Hotel and made reservation in the resto for a brunch the following day.
And yesterday was the Baptism of paj. We went to Parish Center and asked the parish priest, Fr. Tom to bless our new car.
Like a real baptism what followed next was a sumptous buffet brunch at Intercontinental Hotel. I wanted to sleep after eating but then we had to go to City Center mall to buy ate P's car seat and Sean's walker. What a hectic day! Thanks to ninang may and ninong yam!

Getting Younger!

2006-03-25T04:10:00.000+03:00

My birthday bash went well, although i was dead tired, and there was a 2nd round on the following day. I invited some of my friends again to come to our house for a dinner and still we had lots of foods.
Thanks also to my hubby who arrived earlier from work that day so he can cook caldereta and kare-kare and also to my 2 darling babies, they let me finish all the cooking before throwing some tantrums.
And thanks to the friends who sent their greetings, thru text messages, e-cards and phone calls.
My visitors and friends enjoyed the food (baked macaroni, lumpia shanghai, cheese rolls, KFC fried chicken,caldereta, kare-kare, leche flan, ref. cake, fruit salad, puto from ninang and ate J, pancit, and cakes from bateel and opera cafe.

2006-03-16T00:50:00.000+03:00

It's been three consecutive weeks that we were either going out or staying in our house or in our friend's place every weekend. The first time we met was in their place for a dinner and the first time that Princess saw our new friend's kid, also about ate P's age (older by two months to be exact) they automatically got along and played but there's the normal scenario of yelling and fighting for a certain toy both of them want to play with.
We are glad that we met a new family, a new friend. Friends whom you can give trust and you can share stories about our family life and the good thing as a mother I learned a lot from her, especially on parenting.
And ate Princess is also enjoying everytime that they'll play but quite a little difficult on the part of saying goodbye to each other; either one of them will cry.
It's good to have a friend that truly cares for you, who gives advices that came from their hearts. We are so blessed to have them.
We enjoy the every-friday lunch at three in the afternoon til night. Had a great time playing table tennis, eventhough i'm just a starter on this game. And, we had a great time with you guys on our weekday trip to the park. Hope and pray that we'll be friends for life...

2006-02-20T02:15:00.000+03:00

Finally, after the mass we went straight to City Center Mall to have my hair cut, so, one to-do in my list is down and my next schedule is going to a dentist then after that have a footspa and complete it with a pedicure and hopefully a whole body massage. This is great!

shy?

2006-02-19T02:22:00.000+03:00

Ate P is now 2 yrs and 4 months, and i'm afraid that she's becoming obese and her attitude has aslo changed from being an extrovert she's now a shy toddler. If starngers or common friends would approach her she would automatically hide behind and worst would not reply to them.

is this a stage of a toddler? if not, i'm afraid i don't want her to be like that. i want her to be a bubbly toddler who would be so confident in talking to others.

the other day we attended a costume birthday party of one of his friends, kuya J, and again she was so shy even to our close friends. she doesn't want to talk and play with other kids. she just stood next to me and asked for milk we did nothing but to sit down and wait for the party to finish. this is not good. i want her to be her old self.

something not nice

2006-02-19T02:00:00.000+03:00

How would you react as a parent if your child is being bullied? And as a parent how would you feel if your child is the one acting up being the bully? And what's the proper parent reaction and what is not?

i can still remember we went to a friend's house (eight months ago) to finish what my hubby started, helping to upgrade a friend's computer. Ate P was just 16 months old and she was playing with R ( a 5 yrs. old kid). At first, they got along well, since we are the visitor, and hubby was helping them with their computer so the parent were so very accomodating to ate P.

But the kid seems to be adamant in letting ate P play with some of his toys. in the first place, ate P would not touch anything not unless being motivated to do so. and as hours passed, the kid seemed to be impatient to ate P. everytime ate P would touch his toy he would shout at her. and worst time came when he took from their bedroom another toy and he did not want it to share but to let only ate P see it. and as a toddler of 16 mos. she's curious that she wanted to play with it too. he shouldn't have shown it to her if he doesn't want to share it with ate P.

what's the problem with this kid? parents should have told him to back off and if he doesn't want to share his toys then why expose it to ate P. as for me, i don't want a lengthy discussion with my toddler on an unruly behavior, just told ate p that she can just doodle and draw to avoid more fights. but really, it's disappointing to have a kid with a behavior like that.

on being a parent

2006-02-19T01:37:00.000+03:00

As a mom to my toddler on her terrible twos my parenting style changes to suit the quick changing attitude of my daughter. If style A won't be successful then refer to style B, but sometimes it seems that all of the above won't work then it's the time that we should meet halfway. As much as possible. I don't want to give in to every demand my witty toddler makes.

I always teach and remind her that it's important to share her toys to a playmate and she would say that she will and she knows how to share but the problem is sometimes other kids would want to take everything from her so that's the start of the chaos.

Like what happened when a neighbor toddler was outside our house when little P and her nanny were playing outside and with her nature of being generous, she quickly ran inside and took the racquet for table tennis. But what happened next the kid was aiming the racquet to her face. still she played with her and even invited the neighbor toddler to come up to the second floor to play with her toys.

Next thing that happened, the two of them were screaming. Seems that neighbor toddler wants to hoard every toys insight and everything that ate P would touch she'll grab.

And last resort was to let the neighbor toddler to go home before worst scenario would occur.

I don't want that my daughter be bullied so before it happens i make it sure that my toddler will be safe.

a nanny with a peas-sized brain!

2006-02-18T02:19:00.000+03:00

Our helper serves also as a nanny to my eldest daughter (2 yrs. and 4 mos. old) when i'm having my shower or when i have to do something important.

The other day, I told her to keep P with her while i was with my baby. Then after 5 minutes my daughter was already calling her and I thought that she was just in the kitchen or in her bedroom but when i went to the kitchen i saw her cleaning outside near the garden. What the heck? Why did she left my daughter just to clean outside?

And worst on my way to the bathroom i saw the iron plugged to the socket and I was near to explode!!! What would happen if it would cause fire and we are inside this two storey villa with a toddler and a baby?

Again I don't know waht's running in her pea-sized brain. For the nth times I talked to her regarding safety, that she should always take extra precautions on safety. She's now nearing her 7th month with us but still i'm not satisfied with her work and her being ineffective and inefficient.

She doesn't know how to do the laundry the right way...
She doesn't know how to cook a decent meal, she can fry fish and chicken...
She doesn't know how to fold clothes...
She doen't know how to clean the house...
She doesn't know how to befriend my daughter so that no more fighting when it's bathtime...
She doesn't know hot to put my daughter to sleep for a nap...
worst she doesn't know hot to take care a child.

and i keep on teaching her aside from the orientation i gave when she arrived 7 mos. ago. and now i'm going nuts. if we are only in the Phils. i guess i have dumped her already but we are here, far from home, and we spent a lot of bucks on her for her visa and plane ticket.

the clock is ticking on her, how i wish i have all the resources to finance again for a new worthy maid.

My Color is Orange!

2006-02-17T22:19:00.000+03:00

You're a bold, confident orange. A warm, powerful color that indicates a strong, welcoming personality, orange is the mark of people who are social and extroverted by nature. Vibrant, with an upbeat attitude, you have a bright, inviting demeanor. Energetic and fun-loving, you're a real friend-magnet. Your easy charm and unassuming manner make you the sort of person people want to meet and get to know better. Well-rounded and fun to be around, you enjoy helping others, so it's no surprise that orange also symbolizes attraction. Orange is an extraordinary color — for an extraordinary person.