No to newborn clothes

I had to fix Chicklet's drawers yesterday. I removed all those clothes that no longer fit him.

I actually felt bad. These clothes were given to him by his Tita Cil Cil (Ford's sister). But they were all newborn sizes and he wasn't able to wear them even once. Sayang, sobrang cute pa naman.

Chicklet was a big baby when he was born -- 7 lbs 13 oz. Even before I gave birth, I already knew that I was having a big boy because of my weekly ultrasound. So when my mother-in-law handed to me those clothes that Cil Cil shopped for Chicklet, I instantly knew that they won't fit. I can't blame my sis-in-law though, it was her first time to buy clothes for babies. First time tita eh, hehe.

Chicklet also received one newborn-sized sleepsuit from Ate Celina (one of our new friends here in Edmonton) when we were still in the hospital. At first we thought it was sakto lang. But in less than two weeks, the baby have outgrown it. Buti napasuot pa namin once and nagamit for 'picture-taking.'

Our baby boy is now 25 days old and he's growing up so fast. The last time we weighed him, he was over 10 lbs already. I can feel that he's getting heavier every day. The pambahay clothes that he's wearing now were all padala by my mother from Pinas, some of which ay malapit na ring makaliitan. Ganun pala talaga ang baby, ang bilis lumaki. Lalo na kapag boy.

One good advice that was given to me when I was shopping for baby clothes wa to not buy too small sizes. Masasayang lang daw at puwedeng hindi na masuot. Noong huling month of pregnancy ko na, I was torn. I wanted to buy a few newborn clothing din kasi I wanted my son to have good-fitting outfits. Buti na lang hindi na ako nakabili.

I am now more convinced to not splurge on baby clothes anymore. Para ka lang palang nagtatapon ng pera pag ganun. So I guess kailangan na lang dalasan ni hubby ang paglalaba, lol!

Three Blanco generations

This picture was taken the night before my in-laws went back to California (December 1, 2014).

Three Blanco men in one frame.

Nathan is the first ever Blanco boy in our immediate family and in the rest of the Blanco clan for his generation (his older second cousins bear different surnames). I hope he gets to meet the expectations of everyone - that he grows up to be responsible, gentle, and caring like his Daddy Ford and Lolo Jaime.

And oops, if I am to be asked, I want him to become an engineer too! =)

Christmas card from Mels

A couple of weeks ago, I asked (or rather, demanded) my girl friends to send me a Christmas card. You see, those girls are the only persons who give me gifts for Christmas (haha!) and now that I live faraway from them, I miss our yearly gift-giving activity. So for the meantime, sabi ko kung pwede card na lang muna. They happily obliged.

Atty. Mel's card came in the mail yesterday (December 5) and I was surprised kasi ang aga. Wala pa nga akong Christmas tree kaloka! But I was very happy. Ang sarap makatanggap ng something from your friends and from Pinas! It's like receiving a piece of home.

But another thing actually surprised me. When I looked at the envelope, there is no stamp or any postal mark in. As in malinis. There's just a handwritten "85" on the upper right portion of the envelope which I assume is the postal fee. So parang personal na nilagay lang ito sa mail box namin at hindi dumaan sa postal office. Paano kaya itong nakarating dito??? Ni walang date stamp ha.

Too bad, I was hoping pa naman to receive nice Philippine stamps na Christmas theme (may nakita ako nun sa internet eh). And I am sure you will agree that those stamps and marks give a mailed letter its distinct character. That makes a written card much more special. Importante rin kasi ang date stamps for documentation, di ba?

Oh well, I am still expecting two cards from Pinas so sana naman may stamp at mga tatak na.

Ooops by the way, I still didn't open the card. Kapag malapit na ang pasko na lang at may Christmas tree na kami para mas feel na feel ko.

Thanks so much, pare ko! Mwah!

Marsala: 2015 Color of the Year

After a long wait, Pantone finally revealed yesterday the "color of the year" for 2015.

MARSALA, according to Pantone's website, is "a naturally robust and earthy wine red." It "enriches our minds, body, and souls."

Photo taken from the internet. Credits to the owner.

I am the type of person who is excited to know what the "official" color of the new year will be. I am no fashionista nor interior design afficionado but it really interests me. I am truly fascinated on how the color is chosen eh.

Anyway, 2015 is fast-approaching and I've always dreamt of dressing up in the so-called color of the year on new year's eve. Now that I have a house and little family of my own, my plan was to buy a terno outfit for the three of us in this color so we can wear them on December 31. It's a "new" family tradition that I want to implement sana.

But the challenge is finding those outfits. And I am not even sure if the color will suit my ebony-colored hubby (lol!). I am not sure too if there are many baby clothes in this hue.

Photo taken from the internet. Credits to the owner.

Oh well, given my post-CS condition, I know that may not have the time anymore to shop before this year ends. But I am really hoping I can find a Marsala-colored top for myself at least. Para may reckoning ng taon. Plus I think I will look good in this color. Now for my boys, bahala na kung ano ang outfit nila haha!

First batch sent!

We finally were able to send the first batch of our Christmas greeting cards last November 29. This first batch will be going to the Philippines, Malaysia, and UAE- hence, we had to send them "early." But I kinda doubt kung aabot pa sa pasko. I remember that we sent cards last year on November 26 and some didn't make it on time (including Mamoosh's). But inasmuch as I wanted to send them earlier for this year, my CS operation hindered me to do so (lol!). I had to wait for a few more days bago ko napilit ang sarili ko na sulatan ang cards.

The 'red' one is for my Mamoosh. :)

I wasn't able to write "proper" personalized Christmas messages anymore. Again, I didn't have the energy (and able mind and body) to do so. Next year na lang.

But I am kinda discouraged in sending Christmas cards anymore. For this first batch alone, Pod already paid $43+ for postage. For a jobless person like me (haha!), that's quite a lot of money already. Yeah, call me stingy, but I can't blame many people for choosing electronic greeting cards na lang instead of snail mail. Not all recipients are appreciative of traditional cards din naman kasi.

We'll be sending the second batch of cards to our relatives here in North America. It'll only take a week for those cards to reach their addresses so we'll wait for a few more days before we mail them. Unlike last year, sana mapadala talaga namin ang second batch haha.

I'll show you how our card this year looks like after Christmas!

Nathan's Crib

I have yet to write a long post about my birthing story, but I still do not have the time and energy for a long post. I'll blog about it in the next days.

Anyway, I just want to show you our Nathan's crib. We have an extra room in the house but we did not put up a nursery. Our baby will be sleeping with us in our bedroom (of course) so he just have a "corner" instead of a whole nursery hehe.

We actually bought two cribs. One is this white wooden crib that can serve as our boy's bed na rin later (until he's about three years old) and the other is a Graco playpen that we placed in our living room (I'll show it to you later). Both were bought at Walmart.

I am happy to have found a colorful animal-printed bedding set in Walmart as well. I am not fond of "all blue" for the little boy eh. By the way, it has a terno crib mobile din but we didn't put it up yet.

I wanted to do something special for my baby Chicklet so I set up a welcoming party. We haven't really bought toys yet (we prioritized to shop for the baby essentials first), yan pa lang ang meron kami. The brown bear is Pod's actually (regalo ko sa kanya noong 2012 birthday niya).

I printed a small simple welcome banner, too. Sorry Nathan, Mommy has no budget for a grander welcome home surprise. But I did my best to make your first day at home a bit special.

Ooops, this is Niknok -- Chicklet's buddy. I bought it at Ikea (I got so fixated with this soft doll the moment I saw it) and I wish my baby gets to enjoy it soon. Who says only girls can play with dolls?

Niknok - derived from sinok or huccups (because Chicklet is so sinukin)

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We finally were able to bring Nathan home last November 17 (Monday). It was a very joyful occasion. Imagine, tatlo na kami sa bahay! A baby truly lightens up any dull house!

Though modest and simple, my baby Nathan seemed to enjoy his new crib and new home.

Welcome home, anak! We are so glad you're here. Your dad and I promise to give you a good home and a happy family life. We love you so much!

New Pandora Charm: Rocking Horse

Yehey! I finally have a Pandora charm that will commemorate my son's birth!

It's a Rocking Horse!

Last November 22, I just showed a picture of it to my husband and he surprised me by bringing it home that same afternoon, after he went out to buy some groceries! He really is excited to buy anything for/about Nathan!

By the way, I actually saw the rocking horse charm at Pandora WEM when I bought my car charm last August. The sales lady gave me the idea that it's perfect for my upcoming son. I liked it and promised to get it the moment I gave birth. Sakto pa that both my husband and son were born on the year of the horse.

What I love about this charm is that it is quite 'big' (unlike my dangling stilleto) and not that expensive (only $55 + 5% tax). It's my favorite charm to date (not that I have many lol!).