The one with it has begun

Okay...this is the first time i'll be talking about my weight as detailed as i need to be. I'm 30 lbs away from my pre-pregnancy weight. yes, 5 lbs more and i'm in the same weight as i was when i was on my 9th month pregnancy with simone. I never felt lonely about it before until i realized that i cannot enter a store that does not have Large sizes, nor fit a free size blouse without the saleslady's ma'am-this-wont-fit-you look. I felt sad, really and tried to shoo away the feeling by dressing up and accessorizing but inside, i missed my old frame and my old self where i can just wear what i want to, and feel lighter.

So i consulted a nutritionist and she asked me about my blood type. My blood type is B+. And these are the things she told me about which i think can benefit those of you who would want to lose weight and have the same blood type as mine. believe me, some of the things she said shocked me.

~ CHICKEN is my worst enemy. as in. she specifically told me not to eat chicken for a month just so i can appreciate the weight loss. chicken apparently eats corn and this is the second in my list. Apparently, my blood type does not digest chicken well and transforms it to fats an eventually becomes toxins in my body...aka bulges.

~ CORN - did i mention that i loooovvveeee corn. as in in all forms, popcorn, sweet corn, buttered corn...hmmm, makes me drool now. but yes, this is my 2nd enemy. and the war has really begun

~ WHEAT - this gave me a big whoa?!-are-you-kidding-me look. my nutritionist even told me that i can eat rice, as long as it's brown rice but never wheat bread. huhuhu...so everything that i've been eating trying to lose weight is non-sense. no wonder i did'nt shed any pound at all.

So what are the things that i can eat...here is the list:
yogurt -- good thing i love this
flax seed - i dont even know what this is
onion
cabbage
broccoli
garlic
watermelon - my favorite!
grape juice
guava
jackfruit
cherry
lemon water - naks, sosyal
sardines - biglang naging j-lo. hehe
lamb - sosyal ulit. haha
salmon
mackerel

she also gave me a list of supplements that i can take. a total of 15 tablets, everything 3x a day. whew! but i have to do this if i want to slim down. i even hung notes in our door hangers reminding me no to eat sweets, drink iced tea nor eat chicken! hahaha...

so from this day up to my 30th day, i will give a detailed summary of how my day went so people who are interested with the same program can have a peek of what to expect.

And yes, the war has begun!!!

The one with challenges of being a sahm

Article posted from betterparenting.com. thanks mec for this. true, true, true!

I have always wanted to be a stay-at-home Mom, mostly because I grew up with a mother I seldom saw because she was a career woman. And though I have made my peace with my childhood and her parenting, I still chose to be a SAHM and absolutely looked for a man who will support this dream. Thankfully, he was also raised by one.

Parenting in itself is an everyday test of courage, creativity and patience. But being a SAHM has unique challenges that not everyone will get. Sometimes, not even the husband.

First, there is the lack of funds.

Aside from having to make do with one income and stretching it to accommodate a growing family, there is that sad fact that you will think twice about getting that massage or buying that nice pair of shoes. The massage money could buy more food treats for the family and you’re not really going anywhere nice to wear the nice shoes to. Plus, where do you get money to buy your husband a gift? From him?

What works: Agree early in the relationship how money will be spent and always allocate some, however little, for your own needs and some of your wants. It may not be practical to get a mani and pedi but the cost to the family of a depressed mother is higher. Be resourceful about finding good bargains so you can save more money. And consider things you can do to generate some income, even if it’s only selling things you’re going to throw out anyway on Ebay.

Then, there’s the low self-esteem from not earning and lack of titles.

We don’t really have grand titles. Even if we say we’re Operations Manager of Arevalo Industries, our rewards will still generally be intangible ones that not many can appreciate. Tied to this is the limited purchasing power. I think most SAHMs get depressed about this at least once a month. We’re only human enough to get jealous of friends getting promoted, awarded and paid ridiculously high especially if we know that we’re smarter than said friend.

What works: It’s hard work but SAHMs really have to submit to a paradigm shift where they learn to put value in other things. While other moms are rushing to finish presentations, we dawdle in bed, waking up to kisses from our tot. While other moms are making sales pitches, we get our child excited over vegetables. Celebrate milestones only you and your family can appreciate and you will remember better why you made the sacrifice.

And what of adult company?

Adult company and conversations were something I really, really missed when I first became a SAHM, especially since it took my child a year before he started talking. SAHMs do not stop being social animals just because they quit their job and having to stay at home all the time may grate on one’s nerves.

What works: Have regular date nights with the husband. And by all means, keep meeting with friends. If you can’t relate with them anymore, find other parents, especially mothers like you. Go on play dates, do volunteer work or take up short courses. You can also go online for adult conversations, even if it’s only exchanging bubble solution recipes.

And you do feel redundant.

It’s not that there aren’t enough challenges in a day for SAHMs but the routines and the same environment and company can make anyone feel redundant. You get scared that you will not be able to contribute to conversations anymore and that your brain will somehow lose connections because you’re not doing complex mathematical equations.

What works: Keep reading, not just for leisure but to be educated as well. Go back to University or pursue higher learning by getting a Master’s Degree. Take up a new hobby or pursue other passions. Keep abreast of the news and what’s new. Consider working from home as well. And learn along with your child because you will always learn something new. For instance, I can now name dinosaurs for each letter of the alphabet. Can you?

And everybody takes you for granted, even you!

Neighbors ask you for favors. Your children keep forgetting things which you then bring to them. The PTA delegates all the organizing to you. Your husband stops doing chores around the house. What’s worse, when you delegate storytelling time to him, he tells you he’s tired from working all day. He also insists on weekends off and nights out with the boys. And your mother assumes you can also accompany her to wherever because you don’t work. And you start feeling guilty about wanting to cuddle up with a good book when there are so many other things to be done. Makes you wonder why not enough SAHMs aren’t in asylums, yes?

What works: Delegation of work and duties as well as expectation setting is a must for the setup to work. Husbands have to appreciate that you also work and therefore need to rest as well, or have your own ME time. Husbands also have to know that they do not stop being parents to your kids so activities with them have to be fairly divided as well. Fairly divided meaning, he will be unable to drive them to and fro during the day but he can take over bath and story time at night. Children also have to be taught that as members of the family, they have to contribute to the chores, either by helping clean up or by not adding to the messes. Make house rules your friend. And don’t feel guilty about putting age-appropriate responsibilities on your children’s shoulders. They will thank you when they grow up and you will not go insane. Also, learn to say NO to other people’s chores. Keep in mind that you stayed home to be a better parent to your growing kids, not to be the community’s errand girl. And if they keep on asking, bring up the possibility of getting paid. After all, time spent for them is time away from your kids and your chores.

Being a SAHM is not for every woman nor is a single-income setup not for every family. But if the decision was made with clear goals in mind and communication between everyone involved is kept open, cooperation is easier to come by and rewards of such a setup are more readily enjoyed.

The one with 3 years

When I posted simone's video of her playing the piano at the Twinkle, twinkle song, I've gotten a lot of comments about how "talented", promising and gifted she is. A friend of mine who is a principal of a school even mentioned that we should enroll her to a music school so her skills can be honed. we talked about it and decided to park the idea until maybe when she's five already. :) we love the idea that hey, my kiddo may be really good in music but we also want to balance things around as she is only 3. :)

Moving on, the other day, another amazement gave us a pretty good laugh knowing that simone, at age 3, can follow different pitches of a song. you see, all along, we thought she'd only sing the songs at the pitch we're accustomed of hearing. Simon tried to raise the pitch a note higher and was surprised to hear that simone was able to sing it in the right pitch and not missing a note. He then lowered it half-note (man, i have a hard time singing on half-notes lower or higher) and she was able to sing it well. we were in awe. haha. we plan to video it too as a remembrance.

When she is asked what instrument she wants to play, she will answer with, "yung shoot...eehh...fyut pala" (flute) haha. cute! love you anak!

The one with busy or holy???

Have you ever wondered why we tend to busy ourselves during the holy week? we wait for it with much glee only to find out that we'd take a long vacation going places, scheduling things that we can't do on other regular weeks, think of books to read, movies to marathon with, springclean the house, or declutter the closet. And before we even know it, the week has passed already. I realized about this just the other day while i was talking to the husband and made a comment of how i want to clean the house during the holy week and he shared how he'd clean the car spic and span too. then we suddenly realized that we have this tendency to busy ourselves with things on days that are supposed to be for remembering what Jesus did for us. What I did was freed my schedule from meetings, only delivered custom travel mugs yesterday for a client. I plan to do things until wednesday but clear our schedule from thursday until black saturday. I know that we can always remember about Jesus' sacrifice not only during holy week, but it would have been a better idea if we make sure that at least once a year, we have devoted more time for Him. :)

Have a blessed holy, not so busy week everyone!!!

The one with loving it

Ever since I left the corporate world and ventured the world of party planning, i've always felt blessed of having to benefit from what they say, "the best of both worlds". And i can only list down some of the things i love about my job:

~ i never have to wake up as early as 5am everyday!
~ i can always schedule my meetings at my most convenient time
~ i work on very flexible hours
~ i can work wearing just my PJs
~ no one would know that i have'nt taken a bath while working, taking calls, online meetings, etc
~ my monday is my saturday. what maybe the busiest day for most of employees is my sacred rest day. :)
~ malling days don't have to be just weekends
~ what best way to earn than by doing parties for others and going to parties every week!!!
~ i get to meet different people every week
~ i'm a proud hands-on mom!

Thank you Lord for answering my prayer. :)

The one with some rains

Lately, we've been having rainfalls and some gloomy days amidst the summer heat. the gloomy days added to the three consecutive events in our family: the passing away of simon's lola, my mom's tendonitis and simone's suspected chickenpox.

~ Nanay passed away last March 10. It was our thanksgiving day and we went to my in-laws' house. when i went there, i saw that she was struggling for breath already and they hurried her to the hospital. we were so sad but we still did'nt expect that it will be the last time we'd see of her. Simon is Nanay's favorite apo. and by favorite, preparing simon's school uniform when was he was a student and preparing his food was only some of the things she used to do for Simon. She was really expressive of how she always favored simon so her passing brought back many good memories to simon, of how he was loved by her grandmother. Thank you nanay for taking care of my husband and thank you for raising him to become who he is now. we will definitely see you again.

~ Last wednesday, two weeks after nanay's passing, my mom had a terrible pain on her arm and eventually went on to her back. i was alarmed. she asked that she'd be taken to the hospital already. at the emergency room, we waited and found out that it was tendonitis. we'd have to bring her to an ortho doctor after her medication and check if she needs therapy so it won't have to go back. seeing my mother in pain was hard. it was a realization that our parents are really growing old. My mom thanked me for taking her to the hospital, taking care of her. I told her it was nothing. I thought to myself, she took good care of me while i was growing up, it was the least i can do for my parents.

~ Just the other day, simone had rashes on her body. Simon feared it to be chickenpox but i shooed the idea right away, thinking later on that i was in denial. We had her checked that day and the pedia made an initial diagnosis that it might be chickenpox. i was so sad finding about it and prayed that i hope it goes away right away. the pedia admitted that she can't really diagnose it as chickenpox since the possibility of a heat rash is also evident. i, of course, leaned on the idea of a heat rash. until now, she only had about ten rashes (yes i counted one by one) but i really hope everything turns out better.

I know that there are some rainy and gloomy days, that days like these you'd just wish there's an instant cure for hair loss among cures for so many things. But more than anything, after a rainy day will always be a bright and sunny day. :)

The one with free pizza

I read a book about how to be financially free. and after reading the book, i cancelled all my credit cards and never thought i'd see it as a good influence to me. but i chanced upon another article about how you can maximize your credit card and be able to get good deals with it. i tried to read more about it and learned that it only takes a regular updating and checking of your account. we paid our balance payment of our bohol trip using simon's credit card. it was a good 12k and after receiving the bill just today, i saw a promo of greenwich that give you a free family pizza with an accumulated receipt of 10k. cool! i immediately remembered our bohol trip and told it to simon. luckily, we were on our way to the mall so we had a free pizza meal courtesy of our credit card. it's not bad after all. :)

other freebies when you use your metrobank card are the ff:
- free baked macaroni for a single receipt of 2k
- free double pizza for a single receipt of 5k.
- free family pizza for accumulated receipts worth 10k. the value of our pizza was 400 pesos.

cool! now all i have to do is to read all the promos offered by these credit cards. :)

The one with not another pound

I was so tired last night from a long day of parties that i bought a lot of "comfort food" on the way home. i bought ice cream, my favorite cheetos, and piknik. yummy! i know that i just spent a lot of money just to gain more pounds. Earlier that day, Lissa my former officemate, gave me pics she got from mama arlene and those pics were my pics before while i was in univet. man, was i sooo thin. i tried to go back to one of my first posts here in my 5-year old blog and this is what i found out.

http://simon-jacque.blogspot.com/2005/05/one-with-kuks-reyes-tmu.html

i took that picture before my first trial make up and i can't believe that at that time, i never thought that i was thin. look at the collar bone and the long neck. waah!!! will i ever have that kind of body again?! (wishful thinking) i need a quick trim. i hope to meet the nutritionist my dad in law was talking about. i'm so excited to lose all the weight and at least get my pre-pregnancy body back. :)

am i shooting for the stars here??? haha.

The one with playdate

I just got home from the mall and spent the day with my husband and daughter. we went to a playroom again and had a good playdate with the other kids there. it was fun playing with the other kids as in to the point that they'd be all over you just so you'd notice them. we played "shopping game" and then played hoops and balls, slides and play house. i'm a keen observer especially with kids. and by simply looking at how they behave, i come to semi-analyze how their personalities are as kids. I've noticed some kids who bully just so you'd notice them, i noticed some who seem to be the "ate" and the leader and the kid who is loved and "played with" the most because he/she is the youngest. in this case, it was my daughter who was their doll. haha. at first, no one wants to play with her. but eventually, all the other kids came to her and wanted to play with her. nalilito tuloy sya where to go and what to do. haha.

i just love playdates! You just need to have the best multivitamin so you'd be able to keep up with them :)

The one with a new hobby

Movie marathon has always been a favorite pasttime for us. we love watching movies. and when we bought the LCD tv for the living room, we knew we're gonna be in for so many lack-of-sleep-nights. haha. we start watching tv when simone has dozed off already and it's very seldom that we get to finish a movie but for weekends and during day time, we can finish about two movies straight as long as our daughter won't bug us to change the cd.

And just last week, my ever creative and techie husband found a way to watch movies without using DVDs at all. he just put about 30 movies in his ipod and viola! i thought he needed to buy memory of some sort or upgrade the ipod but he was able to maximize it. winner!

And just last sunday, we bought a 2-seater super soft leatherish sofa to go with our new hobby. i really wanted the 2-seater recliner chair but 20k for a piece of sofa (not even a set) is too much so we settled for a 2-seater "normal" chair but feels good to sit on. :)

The one with growing up

These past few weeks, my sister in law Chell and her son Neyo have been visiting my in-laws on a regular basis. I really felt happy that the kids get to spend more time together. And seeing them playing together, tickling each other and just taking care of each other, I know that they will all grow up loving and protecting each other.

Neyo is a big baby. It's like he was given a human growth hormone because at 8 months, he looks strong, big boned. i love it when i make him smile. he has the cutest smile.

Justin is the singer and the hotwheel among the kids. he's so restless he cannot sit for five seconds nor stand alone not doing anything. he'd always run, jump and literally dive wherever he can. The reason why his mother would always put a high-pitched tone when taking care of justin. haha

Simone is the achie and im just so proud that she's aware of being one. :) she loves her cousins so much.

we love you kids!

The one with thirtiesh

And i thought turning 30 was not that bad. well, it really was'nt if we're referring to how i felt on the actual day of my birthday. i really thought i embraced the 30-hood stage. but months have passed since i started/attempted to lose weight and it became doubly hard for me now compared to five years back. heck, i'd cut down the rice, id lose weight in one week. now, cutting down rice was nothing. and i also noticed that my face dries up easily. i dont know if it's because of the weather but the anti aging product tv commercials seem to be appealing to me lately. hahaha. and getting samples from beauty stores are worth a try.

oh yeah, let's always blame it on the hormones. haha.

The one with bohol 2010 day 2

Our second day was spent at the beach. And it was just soooo peaceful, serene, and anything relaxing that we can think of and feel. We felt so blessed that we were able to spend it with our parents and of course, our daughter.

the swimming pool. nice!

I booked three rooms for us. we got standard rooms at the hotel. But i felt that it would have been better if we booked a villa instead. although come to think of it, we had separate TVs, separate bathrooms, separate rooms, major privacy (read: honeymooning! haha) and separate doorbells that we'd use to dingdong each other when it's time for sun-bathing again. haha.

we had a good family time together. i spent some time in the water with my moms, and simone (aka girls' time)

just the girls

and of course, more private time with the husband. yihee!


i also love our mother-daughter bonding moments....

SOOOO much fun! i really hope we can do it again. Thank you Lord for the perfect trip! :)


and to you simone, we love you. thank you for your love, for making us feel how it is to be parents... and making it a little easier for us...at times. hahaha. God bless you anak :)

The one with bohol 2010 day 1

I'll try to post this in multiple entries so as not to crowd one entry with lotsa pictures.

I MISS BOHOL!

If there's only one thing that we think is the downside of having an out-of-town birthday celebration, it's that we were'nt able to bring the whole family (including titas, titos and cousins) im sure it would have been uber fun!!! but maybe on the next trip ;)

We left Manila at 530am and i was so proud i was able to pack just one, as in one and only luggage for the three of us. i felt so proud, i thought of myself as a very good and wise traveler. haha. i didnt even have to buy one Titan luggage for our things. so that's one big luggage, one bag for me, one backpack for simon (for all our techie stuff) and one portable plastic container for simone's milk bottles. cool!

Simone is the perfect travel buddy. Our prayer was answered and she was soooo behaved during the flight. i really felt that time that she'd grow up to be a stewardess after having to see her how she runs inside the airplane when the seatbelt sign is off, asking for water when the stewardess first time passed by our seat, as if knowing what to say. and i never even had to distract her with anything. when we were off to bohol, i actually tried to divert her attention to the airplanes outside so she would'nt feel the pressure in her ears while taking off. but man, i noticed she did'nt need to be diverted at all. she knew pretty well that we'd be flying off, "with the clouds" and that she even said goodbye to all airplanes still on land. haha. winner!

"i'm reading ma, dont disturb"

simone with all her grannies

I gotta say she was also so behaved since she was with all her grandparents. she felt secured and contented. :)

Landing...

We were greeted at Bohol Beach Club with this...

simon did'nt want to leave the resort anymore. he just wanted to go to the beach, lie down under the sun and relax. i, of course, felt that a bohol trip ain't a bohol trip if we won't be going to places. so i got the ordinary tour from the hotel at 3,400.00 for a whole day trip with driver/tour guide, entrance fees excluded. i thought it was a good deal. we were able to visit chocolate hills, the tarsiers, souvenir shop, loboc river (but since we had to wait for an hour, we were'nt able to do the floating river thing coz we were all super hungry!)

grannies at choco hills...we had to transfer though. everyone's piled up at the good spot. hehe

enjoying the tour! simone walked up the steps for the first half, the other half time???i carried her! gosh!

posing on the rock...literally on the rick. hehe


we had to stop here...super nice kasi. the big, vertical trees had to be included in our album :)

only in bohol...



and since our first day fell on simone's exact bday, we had cake for her during dinner.

i think almost all the guests in BBC that night knew it was her bday. haha. we had to sing the song 4 times, she had to blow her candle four times too. kaloka!

simone just turned 3!

The one with eco-friendlier

The other day, while doing my grocery in SM, i used my eco-friendly bags instead of their plastic bags. It was a conscious effort to bring the bags instead of just using the plastic bags. I felt good having to "save the environment" the little way possible. We also shifted to using recycled papers and buying more organic stuff, organic vegetables, organic soaps, organic shampoos, etc. My dad's Amway products are better alternatives.

I also found out that there are more eco-friendly inks that we can try. i was actually surprised to read about Anilox roll cleaning which are ecologically safe products.

I think it's not an easy transition to be more responsible in taking our part in caring for mother nature. But i'm sure we need not be advocates or members of any eco-groups to do our part. we just have to know where we can contribute the best way we can. :)

The one with being an adult

I, as a mom, feel very democratic (if this is the better word) in raising simone. It is not in my system to tell her what she can't do, can't touch. after all, someone, if not me, is always around to watch her. that's why we do things together like i let her "wash" dishes. by wash it would mean soaking her bottles in water until her shirt is soaked in water as well. I let her cook and stir. I hold her hand while stirring and explain to her that she can only do it when mommy is around. When doing the grocery, I ask her to get the things we need and one time, the cashier even let her hold the ls2208 barcode reader. I let her water our plants, help me feed ross and other things that other kids her age are'nt allowed to do so.

My parenting skills may be a little more than the ordinary and I know that there are certain limitations with the "freedom" we give her. I know that we can't as in never leave her out of sight except when we know that she is totally in a kid-friendly environment. But come to think of it, it's every parent's golden rule to never leave their kid out of sight so i guess it's not really a limitation after all. :)

The one with the navigator

Whenever my husband tells me that i'am the better driver, I always feel blessed that i have a husband who can summon to accept the "feeling" that his wife is better in driving, which normally would not be the case for other couples.

But when he got his new license already (believe me, it took us years before he was able to get his license back...haha) he is able to drive Vin more often and feels more confident driving to places. He downloaded a gps system in his phone that would track where he's heading...it's really cool as it is as accurate as how you would remember the landmarks.

With this, I actually feel more blessed that he's the better driver now and that he navigates our family to a safe journey...literally and figuratively. :)

Simone's top 10 amusing answers

And they say kids say the darndest things...hahaha...

Simone Before turning three...

1. Mom in an almost angry tone: “Simone, ang likot-likot mo naman e. Grrrhhhh”

Simone: “Eh bakit may tiger pa?” (pertaining to the grhhh…haha)

2. Dad while driving: “simone, wag ka nga malikot”

Simone: “Eh happy ako e.”

3. Mom after taking a bath with simone: “Come on let’s go.”

Simone: “No, im doing something e. I’m soaping e.”

4. Simone to mom bidding goodbye: “Eh san ka punta?work? client? AGAIN???”
5. Simone to dad bidding goodbye: “Eh kaw, san ka punta? Office? Ingat ka”
6. Simone to mom when going to party: “Party? Ayoko dun, may clown dun e”
7. Simone to maru after she’s told to stop playing with water : “Ehhh…ate, dun ka sa labas…wash ka ng plate!”
8. Simone to Ross (our dog): “Ross, no! quiet!…galit si Jesus.”
9. Simone to Justin (her younger cousin: “Justin, stop that. Not good yan ha…galit si Jesus”
10. Mom: “simone, we’ll go to the mall later ha”

Simone: “Mall…again?!?!?”