I was coupon hunting the other day in the hopes of scoring some that could give me huge savings and discounts on online shopping. Even just browsing through the many shopping opportunities can be very relaxing.

However, I realized something that I’ve been missing. I used to read a lot. One of my biggest frustrations right now is not being able to read as much as I want. I have many books lined up in my reading list. My sister has new books that I have yet to read, and to think that before, I’d even read them before she does. As much as I want to buy more books using Amazon coupons, I’m afraid that the books might just pile up. Instead, I browse through sites, tempted by Best Buy coupons because I’m in front of the computer more now. Next thing I’m hoping for is the money to actually do some online shopping.

Ever since I found out that I’m pregnant, the information hasn’t really sunk in yet. I’d find myself forgetting that fact several times. One reason is how busy I get the whole day. I only have time for a maximum of six hours of sleep every night, how else can I remember that I am pregnant? Add to that the fact that aside from not getting my period and slight breast tenderness, there has been no pregnancy symptoms at all. This is in contrast with my pregnancy with Mateo wherein many pregnancy symptoms started early and ended late into the pregnancy. Most of the time, Ramil is the one who reminds me that I am pregnant. Mateo is also growing up like Ramil because he is starting to look after me as well. I guess we won’t need any DNA testing to prove that he is indeed our son, hehe.

I’ve been praying that this time around, I will be spared of all the things I experienced before like nausea, headaches, and vomiting. However, I’ve experienced some nausea today. While cooking lunch, my head hurt and the smell of garlic, onion, and tuna were so strong I wanted to puke. I experienced the same bionic sense of smell when I was pregnant with Mateo. I’m still hoping that this is not the start of terrible all-day sickness.

It was the celebration of Linggo ng Wika at Kasaysayan in our school last week, which explains Mateo’s outfit in the picture above. A few weeks ago, Mateo’s teacher gave him a sketch of what they’re supposed to wear. Not knowing where to buy a costume like that for a 2-year-old, we decided to just buy some cloth and bring him to a nearby seamstress.

We walked along the street that sells many kinds of cloth in a nearby market and bought some for Mateo. The travel made me wish we still have a car, even if it means maintaining it for a huge cost much like getting an rv insurance. Nevertheless, the costume turned out well and Mateo loved wearing it. I’m hoping he can wear it again next year, hehe!

We anticipate more wedding to attend to within the next twelve months or so. Mateo himself will be lending his services to many of them as one of the boy bearers. I plan to look for a barong for him in a few months’ time and I’m sure he’ll be wearing it many times. I’m also hoping for more destination weddings to attend to. Those kinds of weddings always give us an excuse to go have a vacation as well. We haven’t had a decent vacation in a long time and the coming of another baby makes me want to have one while there’s still only the three of us. I’m not planning on something as elaborate as the Riviera Maya although that would definitely be a great treat!

In one of my previous posts, I listed down the three major choices we want for our family this year. We won’t be seeing any progress when it comes to our house plans because of many things – the lot we want does not want to be sold (seller is not agreeable to Pag-ibig). Also, we are planning a lot purchase and house construction loan from Pag-ibig which according to Ramil’s aunt who works in Pag-ibig is very strict when it comes to loan release. We will need a very big amount of money (which we don’t have right now) for construction to proceed. With the many hassles this item is giving us, it seems that God is telling us to focus our energies on other things.

If you’ve read my post below, you’d know that we already got 1 out of 3 things on our list because we’re pregnant! It’s more than enough to make our year. Nevertheless, it’s not bad to wish for more and we’d love to get the last item on our list, another car for us. If things work out well, my parents will be getting a second hand car which they will be lending to us. Oh I hope this works out for us. If this is for us then God will find a way and we’ll be looking at car accessories once again apart from baby stuff that we have to ‘collect’ the next few months.

Only a few more months left for this year and we hope to hit as much as we can in our wish list. Whatever happens, we have one already and it’s going to make the next few months (and years) exciting. Yeeha!

So when I said that this year will be an important year for us, despite our many ideas of how different it’s going to be, I’ve always had a feeling that the picture above is what was in God’s plan. When I got pregnant with Mateo, I had that feeling even before I found out. In fact, I tested just two days after I missed my period and there it was, 2 lines even though the other one was faint. I had to test twice on the same night just to convince myself and Ramil.

This time around, we really planned on getting pregnant this July because we wanted the baby to come out on April when Ramil don’t have work. We figured if we missed out this July, we’ll just try again July next year, hehe! However, I’ve had root canal treatment the past weeks and we had to postpone trying for a baby. It seems that before that decision, we already got lucky!

So we’re pretty excited! I’m just so sad that I will be missing my regular coffee fix. At least, I won’t need any weight loss supplements the next few months. Then of course, it’s going to be double time on the financial side. Nevertheless, it’s all great! My sister even picked out a name already when I announced that the baby’s a girl. I know it’s waaay too early to tell but I am visualizing a baby girl, hahaha!

In a few months, my web hosting subscription will be expiring. As early as now, I am trying to figure out whether I should switch hosts or not. I’ve been browsing online and reading a lot of reviews in my quest to find the best web hosting I could get.

Good thing I found a good site that reviews and rates the different web hosting services available. I don’t have to browse through each site of web hosting provider because they have compiled the features, as well as bonus features, for each of them. Each site gets a Host Rating that lets you see quickly which is the best based on the reviews.

What I love most is that they have categories for their ‘best’. Best is relative for each person but subjectiveness is minimized with their categories like ‘Best Budget Hosting’, ‘Best Multiply Domain Hosting’, ‘Best PHP Hosting’, ‘Best Unix Hosting’, ‘Best Forum Hosting’, and many more. These categories help visitors look at the best hosting based on a specific feature they are looking for.

They also differentiate between Webmaster Reviews, Customer Reviews, and RealMetrics Reviews. For those who don’t know much about web hosting, their resources on website hosting will be very helpful. They have articles on their web hosting blog like Web Hosting Guide, Finding the Best Web Hosting Service, and Which Web Hosting is Right For You.

It’s a relief for me to find my current webhost among the top 5 of 2009 Best Web Hosts. Browsing the list though, I noticed a cheaper one which ranked higher so I have to check it out.

Last July, our school celebrated its foundation day. The preschool department had a family day to celebrate the event. Good thing that Ramil’s and my schedule for that day matched, which means whenever I have a class, he’s free, and whenever he has a class, I’m free. So we were able to enjoy Mateo’s first family day in school.

It was fun seeing Mateo interact with other kids. They even performed a song! Unfortunately, forgetful me left the camera at home so we were settled for three pictures using Ramil’s camera phone.

while getting ready for their performance

the two youngest students in their class

no more pictures!

A few months ago, Ramil and I started thinking of finally getting our own house. We’ve started looking for a lot and designed our house. In the process of planning, our preferences had many similarities and differences. However, one of the things I told him not to meddle with is the kitchen.

I’ve found many ideas online on how I want my kitchen to be. I’ve been mulling over the countertops that I want, the lay-out, the color scheme, the fixtures, the appliances, and everything else that’s related to the kitchen. I would often take hours compiling pictures for inspiration on a specific idea. I went as far as looking at different Bar Stools while trying to decide on the look that I want and look what I found.

for a homey, country feel

for a more modern feel

for a more contemporary feel

There are just so many options to choose from and I felt like I’d get crazy when it’s time to finalize our house. Although it might take us a long time from now with how things look from our end, at least we are prepared and we’ve researched as early as now.

Mateo’s nap time is after lunch. He would often fall asleep at around 1 pm and wake up at 3 pm. There are times when we’d go malling and we’d find ourselves still at the mall when his nap time comes rolling in. Most of the time, there’s no stopping him from sleeping because he gets irritable if he’s tired and sleepy.

Times like these, Ramil would carry him and let him sleep on his shoulders. Once Mateo falls asleep, we head to Starbucks, find ourselves some couches, and pass the time until Mateo wakes up. We’d take our caffeine fix, have dessert, read magazines, or go online if we have our laptop with us. Once Mateo wakes up, he also gets his own Starbucks drink.

enjoying his strawberries and cream frap

He knows starbucks so well he even recognizes the logo. When he saw a starbucks paper bag here at home, he pointed it to me and said ‘punta dyan tayo, lie down teo’.