Anika has been our adorable little pick-me-upper these past few weeks. She has gradually transformed into a chatty yet skittish little girl. Aside from this, she is turning out to be a kikay who idolizes her kuya very much. Although she definitely will not take any b.s. from Mateo, she always wants to do whatever her kuya is doing. In fact, she behaves very differently whenever Mateo is around. Instead of being her typical relaxed, subdued, and laidback self, she turns into an excitable, slightly hyperactive toddler which is exactly how Mateo is. I loved the one-year-old phase back when Mateo is the same age and I am loving it even more now with my little girl.

Mother’s day will be here in a little over a month and even though my mom will be far away in the Philippines, I am already thinking of what to give her. I have seen some mother rings in an online store recently and aside from wanting to get one for my mom, I also want one for myself! You can choose from rings or pendants and basically, the idea is to have all your children’s names and/or birthstones on the rings or pendants. I think it is a really cool jewelry to have because it speaks so much of how a mother would always have her children in her mind, thoughts, and heart, no matter where she goes. I’m going to check out their shipping policies and hope they ship internationally.

April is here! And for our small family this means another birthday for one of us. Ramil will be celebrating his 31st this month. Just like with most birthdays, I am again unsure of what to get him. And again, just like with other birthdays, it would be so much easier if I had a little bit more budget for the birthday gift. I already have several options in mind and Mateo is rooting for the guitar that we saw at a nearby shop. Although they do not sell a wide range of guitars and guitar accessories such as MXR Pedals, their selection was quite good enough and Ramil already has his eyes set on one of the guitars. However, thinking about the cost of the guitar and that a guitar with way better quality will have the same price in the Philippines makes me think twice about getting him one here. Since we could also easily bring a guitar over when we visit soon, that might be a better idea.

I have been reading a lot of books lately thanks to my Samsung P1000 which makes it very easy to read ebooks anywhere I go. Its size is very similar to the usual pocketbook sizes so I can easily read while lying down and nursing Anika. It also helps that I found a great site where I can quickly download almost any ebook that I want. I have been searching by author and I am sometimes overwhelmed by the number of results I get. You can even get textbooks, ITIL Books, biographies, reference books, and many more.

I have so far been on a Jodie Picoult and Nicholas Spark run and I would sometimes finish a book in less than a day. I am reminded of my younger years when I would almost always be reading a book and I would sometimes stay up really late just to finish one. Nowadays, I am thankful that I can go back to reading although it is of the digital kind because it also keeps me from getting bored whenever I am nursing Anika.

As I have mentioned in my previous post, we have found a potential house we could move into. Aside from our furniture issues, another thing I am wary about is the security of the area. We are a bit unfamiliar about the area and we do not really know whether we will need to install something from homesecurityfamily.com or a small dog will be enough.

It is very different from the place we are renting now because here, we live right next door to our landlady and the area is at the end of the simpang (street). Aside from this, everyone on this simpang knows each other because almost everyone who lives on the simpang is a sibling of our landlord. Since the potential house we are looking at is the end unit terrace house, we are hoping that the unit next to ours will be able to look out for our place as well from time to time whenever we are not around. I guess we’ll know by the end of the year if we’ll need to check out homesecurityfamily.com. We’ll be going home to Pinas for 3-4 weeks so the security of the house will be a real issue then.

There is a possibility that we will be moving houses next month. A friend of ours will be starting work here as well on May and she is suggesting we all stay in a bigger house. Since my sister and I are planning to do this as well maybe at the end of the year, we figured that this is a nice opportunity to get a nicer house since there will be more of us sharing the rent.

We actually found a nice 4-bedroom house already and it is within our budget. We are hoping it is still available once we get our resources together for a deposit. However, I feel funny thinking about how we are going to look like inside the house. The house will be totally empty when we move in except may be for the address plaque outside which is pretty nice as far as address plaques go. Although address signs are not very common here, it was a nice little touch to the house. The only thing that will be left in the house after the old tenant leaves is the air conditioner in the living room and the heaters in the bathroom.

Despite all the space that we will finally have, we do not have anything to put on all of those spaces. We do not have a sofa for one. The sofa we are using here now came with the house and it’s pretty old and worn already so we really do not wish to bring it with us. I guess this means we will need to save up for a decent sofa and I’ll start scouring some garage sales soon.

God seems to have more changes in store for us. It is a good thing that over the years, Ramil and I have learned to bend like bamboos whenever God’s plans surprise us. The changes that will be coming soon makes me want to get term life policies for Ramil and me since I’ve been remiss in getting us additional insurance.

Our own plans will most definitely change to accommodate the Lord’s will but I know that this will be a great change for us. So anyway, we are trying to keep these changes to ourselves for the mean time. Hopefully, we’ll be able to share the upcoming changes with our family and friends.

Our year of no TV is over. Ramil and I succumbed to the pull of the very cheap LED TV that we found on sale at a nearby appliance store. However, we resisted getting cable because that would definitely make being couch potatoes a bigger temptation. Since there is nothing else to watch here without cable TV, we settle for turning the TV into our own monitor. We plug in our external hard drive and the kids get to watch movies and cartoons that we downloaded. At least it is still easy to choose and control what they watch on TV. I guess I will not be using my laptop’s vlc 2.0 player that much anymore.

It has been twelve years since Ramil and I became a couple. I can’t believe it has been that long already since we got together during our college years. He surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers on our way home last Wednesday. He made us wait in the car while he supposedly bought something from the grocery complex. The day before, I think he asked if they can have the flowers delivered but I think that kind of service is not usual here. If there is anyone more thrilled than me about the flowers, I think it would be Mateo and Anika. Anika, in particular, loves flowers and she kept wanting to touch the bouquet even when I put it on a vase on top of the table. I also got Paulo Coelho’s new book waiting for me when we got home.

We thought of going on a dinner date but it rained really hard so we did not get the chance to go out. Still, it was a special day and I just cannot believe how much has happened in our twelve years together. It has been a long way from our UP days and now we are far away from home with two kids of our own. I cannot help but wonder what the next twelve years has in store for us.

The other day, a friend of mine is trying to look for a gift for her husband who is a musician. Despite the number of music gadgets, devices, and equipment that they already have, she still wanted to give a music-related gift because that is something she is sure her husband will love and appreciate. After looking for months, she finally got one of those Stanton turntables. Although her husband is not a DJ, the turntable is surely something new that he can explore. The turntable comes with a lot of features such as pitch control, 3 speeds, reverse function, key correction, and many more. She cannot wait to see the look on her husband’s face when he gets his gift this weekend.