One of things I love about staying home is having a lot of bonding moments with Mateo. Although it’s a challenge to keep him preoccupied lately, once we find something we enjoy doing and something that’s fun, it’s all worth it. With his energy level, I don’t even need Phenphedrine to keep my weight down. He’ll be starting school on the third week of June which means we’ll be away from each other for almost three hours every day. The possibility of teaching math during those three hours is looming in the horizon for me so both of us we’ll be doing having some adjustments again. I know we’ll both breeze through it.

I’ve been attending many weddings the past few months and I foresee attending more as my friends start to get married one after the other. One of the biggest problems I often have when I’m attending a wedding is choosing a wedding gift. Most of the time, I prefer giving the couple something that’s different. Recently, I learned that rare coins are also good to give as wedding gifts. They’re different and unique, not to mention that they are excellent investments. However, it’s important to consult with coin experts when buying these coins. Better yet, get them from coin experts like Monaco Rare Coin of the Monex family of companies. I hope we get the chance and enough budget to gift newly-wedded couples with rare coins. I know I would have loved to receive some when we got married.

For almost two months now, I have been a full-time stay-at-home mom without any yaya or helper. The only person who helps ease the stress by helping out with Mateo and the house is my dear husband. All we’ve been doing so far is adjust. Since I was staying with Mateo all the time, I figured it’s finally time to wean him completely from the breast, that’s adjustment 1. Since we’re staying at home most of the time unlike when we’d bring Mateo along to school everyday, I figured it’s finally time to take him off his diapers (at least when we’re at home), that’s adjustment 2. Since Ramil and I both love dogs and Mateo seems to love them as well and our (my parents’) golden retriever gave birth last March, we decided to add a new member to our family, that’s adjustment 3. Finally, I took on a work-from-home thingie which thankfully, promises regular work for me, that’s adjustment 4. Oh and yeah, Mateo has started summer school and will be starting regular school this coming June, that’s adjustment 5. Despite the many stressful days, I’m still pretty amazed at how it’s working out so far. Sure, I have unending things to do around the house but we’re still okay. The house is never exactly how I want it. Our everyday schedule is somehow never perfectly followed. I put off a lot of things for more pressing things. I dream of taking vacations in Las Vegas hotels and winning in the casinos. There are days when I’d be too stressed out I would just go inside the bathroom and cry in frustration. However, there are days when I’d feel that everything is perfect despite the dirty house, the tantrums, the unfinished work, and all that. Those good days make up for all the bad days. My boys make up for all of it. So life is treating us well so far. We’re praying for more things this year. More adjustments to come

We attended a wedding of a colleague in Tagaytay last month. It was the second wedding we’ve attended in Tagaytay and it was our first time in Caleruega. Out-of-town weddings are really for small, intimate weddings. Every time Ramil and I would attend one, we’d say to ourselves that when you hold your wedding out of town, you are sure that your attendees love you. Traveling for a three-hour social affair is no joke. It can be a logistics and finance nightmare. Most of the time, we just take the opportunity to have a short vacation by staying overnight. The drawback is, we don’t get to spend much for our gift for the couple. We have several more out-of-town weddings lined up especially since most of our friends will be getting married soon. We’re looking forward to more excuses to have a mini vacation.

Belated happy mother’s day to all mothers out there! We celebrated mother’s day by having lunch with my sister and my parents and then a quick window-shopping date. My dad treated all of us to a nice lunch in Sangkalan and delicious desserts at Iceberg’s. Ramil and I then left Mateo with my sister and then we just went around SM North looking at things for the house. There were a lot of people everywhere seems it’s mother’s day. We didn’t even get to look at the errands my dad gave me like look for golf training aids and print out a copy of the rules of 8-ball. So there, mother’s day has come and gone and I must return to the everyday routine of chores-work-mateo. Everyday is mother’s day.

I’ve never really been a kikay kind of girl. However, I’ve been interested in make-up ever since I started working. Ever since my age moved towards the late 20′s group when I turned 26, I became more aware of how I take care of my skin. In my newfound quest to age gracefully and to beautify myself, I hope I win this contest. The first price winner gets to receive a Mika Heart Shu Makeup Brush Set, the second price winner gets a Jurlique Maintain Balance Introductory Set, and the third price gets a Shu Uemura Lipstick Holder. So if you’d like to get any of the prizes, join the contest now!

Ramil and I have always been trying to think of ways of containing Mateo whenever we’re out, most especially whenever we’re dining out. We found something that’s very, very effective.

We borrowed my brother’s PSP last week and it has been very effective whenever we want Mateo to do something. We could now dine in any restaurant or those boutique hotels. We just give him the PSP and he’d be preoccupied longer. We’re controlling his use of it which means he only gets to play with it as a reward. We’re just hoping we’re not being bad parents!

Well, it’s just summer school but stil… Ramil and I got a bit sentimental while dressing Mateo up for his first day in summer school. The program is for kids who will be starting school for the first time this June. For Mateo, we’re using it to gauge whether he’s ready for the real thing this school year or not. Hopefully, he adjusts pretty fast so we can enroll him for this coming school year.

waiting for the tricycle

It was relatively okay – from my point of view – because all I did was to leave him in the classroom and then come back after two hours, when it was the end of the class already. According to his teacher, he cried loudly at some point, calling out ‘mama, mama!’. Hahaha! I deliberately didn’t look in on him so that he’d get used to just being left on his own whenever he has a class. Hopefully tomorrow will be better for him. I think he got tired and stressed from his first day also because his afternoon nap yesterday lasted four hours! I plan to use his two-hour school time/two-hour me time into walking/running around the subdivision. This way, I won’t even need diet pills that work to keep my weight down and to keep myself fit. I’m pretty excited to let him be more independent, to meet new people, to make friends, to love his teacher, and of course, to learn a lot of cool stuff.