Kids of Brussel Sprouts!

Check out some of the cute kids who wear Brussel Sprouts clothes! You can click on the Brussel Sprouts link to view all the awesome clothes we carry! Here is the link:
http://brusselsprouts.multiply.com/

Whoppers monster!

Gabie is such a whoppers monster! She loves WHOPPERS! Thanks to her Tita Tessa who introduced her to those yummy, malted milk balls. Bad aunt! Hehehehe!
Here she is stuffing her face at 10:30 in the evening!
Gobble! Gobble!
By the way, her Tita Tessa is so thrilled since she now says TESSA very clear in her cute little voice.

Mama's toe mishap

WARNING: THIS ENTRY COMES WITH GRAPHIC, GROSS PHOTOS OF A BADLY BRUISED TOE! (Pierre, I warned you!)

(This is my toe the following morning after the accident! Take note of how it looks! Then, checkout the picture of my toe at the end of the day!)
This is the story of the toe: After a long day of shopping in the States, we were all unloading the van. I grabbed the big diaper bag of Gabie, plus the video camera bag. So, I then proceeded to step out of the van! KABLAAMMMM! I suddenly smashed into the cement pavement! My ass connecting to the floor so fast I didn't even realize it 'til I was on the ground. Max, Lex, my parents, & Gabie looked at me in horror since I made such a loud sound. I'm really such a klutz!!! Apparently, the long strap of the video camera bag got hooked on the heel of my shoe! Of course, I didn't know that when I was trying to get off the van. Thank God I wasn't carrying Gabie. Everyone started fawning over me, wondering if I was okay. I quickly assured them that it was nothing. And I dust myself off the floor & pretend nothing hurts. All the while, my freaking pinky toe is throbbing! I guess, my toe must have gotten bent when I fell. Anyway, Max tells me to put some ice on it. Of course, I ignore this advice thinking that the pain will just go away!
Hello, I wake up the next day and my toe is painful, really swollen and has doubled in size! Max starts insisting I should go to the hospital! He thinks at this point I have broken my toe! I refuse the hospital, saying it's nothing.

Again, we leave the house for a full day of shopping. Walking becomes quite a task. Actually, my walk was more like dragging my right foot! Hahahaha! As the day progresses, my toe got nastier looking! The color quickly turned purplish black! It was quite amazing how fast the color changed.

Here is the photo of my toe by the end of the day: (Check out that lovely color! Oh, pls. excuse my toenails. I was planning to cut them, but never had the chance! Hehehehe!)


We went to Max's cousins house that night. Luckily, Annalyn (wife of Max's cousin) happens to be a nurse! Take note, she is a nurse & she freaked when she saw my toe. Her face was priceless. All the cousins started laughing. Annalyn was such a savior! She quickly bandaged my toe & told me what to do!
She said if I went to the hospital, they would have done the same thing even if it was broken.



Now the question is - did I break my toe?
I think it was broken! The accident happened about 2 months ago, and until now, my toe still looks funny! Hehehe!

Check out my Slide Show!

Surviving our family vacation in the US

When my parents told us that our whole family was going on a vacation in the US, I got excited! Wow, it was going to be the first vacation of Gabie outside the Philippines! How exciting for her. No problem with the nanny, since my parents were willing to take her too. Uhm, then the awful news hits us. The nanny got denied a US visa. Horrors! I'm thinking, can I handle my very rambunctious child for 3 plus weeks. I had no choice dahlings. I had to deal with it. This was surely going to be a true test of my parenting skills. Hehehe!


My biggest worry was the long flight. I frantically started to ask around, what was the best way to tame Gabie while flying the friendly skies. I was imagining all these worse scenarios flying with a 14 month old for 13+ hours. Her pediatrician, Dr. Bong didn't believe in any cold medicine or anything to make her sleepy. In other words, I and the rest of the passengers would have to deal with her if ever she makes a scene. As luck would have it, Gabie was an absolute angel! She was such a behaved little girl. It was truly unbelievable.
Gabie had the time of her life in the States! Everything was new and exciting for her. As for Max & I, we also enjoyed the trip immensely plus we got to bond big time with our child. Gabie also got to bond with the entire Alindogan family. Her Lolo Nonoy & Lola Cory were beside themselves whenever she would enter their room for some playtime.
Granted, Max & I were more tired but it was all well worth it. I learned to shop quickly! Panic buying was more like it since Gabie would require my attention. Hahaha! Max also became an expert diaper changer. Hahahaha! All in all, it was a great experience. I'm also really lucky since Max was such a big, big help!

Gabie's 1st Luau Bash Invitation

Aloha guys!
Here is the invitation to Gabie's 1st birthday bash! See you there.

Outing in Tagaytay

I was worried an outing with rambunctious Gabie would be an ordeal! So when the Dela Lunas invited for a 3 day stay in the Spa of Tagaytay Highlands (from 11.08.06 - 11.10.06), I was quite apprehensive but also excited for a short vacation. We left late at night to avoid traffic & to make travel time as short as possible. It proved to be a good move. We were in Tagaytay in a flash & Gabie was asleep most of the way!
The Spa was as welcoming & cozy as before. Aahhhh! What a nice getaway! Thanks to Ron & Charmaine, we had a really extravagant room. Even the lucky nannies had their own bedroom complete with jacuzzi.
Gabie was excited to be in a new location. She was actually well-behaved in our entire stay. Being the curious person she is, she loved the new place. Lots of things to explore for a little child.

It was a trip of many first for her... first trip out of town, first trip to the zoo, first trip to a playground, first trip on a long car ride & first taste of lengua de gato & pastries.(hehehe!)

Max, Gabie & the birdie (not quite sure what it is...uhm, a parrot?!)



Gabie enjoyed the huge playground with slides & playhouses:

Welcome to my little, plastic home...


Gabie seems to be thinking - My Dad is so weird! The slide isn't that high! What's with that face!?


Ah, another plastic house! hehehe!
(Checkout Gabie's smile. Talk about having fun!!!)



We had our lunch at this supposedly Hawaiian resto inside a boutique hotel. The hotel looked really nice & modern. Uhm, the name was just not that imaginative. It was called The Boutique Hotel - Bed & Breakfast. Putting "Bed & Breakfast" under the name just sort of confused us. A bit contradictory to say the least. Anyhow, we enjoyed our food which was really more pinoy bbq than Hawaiian fare.

Gabie was fascinated by the crystal chandelier!

Nacha Libre w/ her wonder friends!

Gabie's 1st Halloween was a blast! The Dela Lunas joined us for trick or treat. Of course, we had to take a gazillion pictures of our kids in their costumes before heading out. The pictorial was hilarious! Trying to get 3 little kids to sit still for a pose was quite taxing. Between the 2 cameras we used, we ended up with over a hundred shots. Thank god for digital cameras!

Here are some of the shots of the 3 amigas:
Nacha Libre, Hawkgirl aka Bianca, Wonder Piglet aka Kate
(For some reason, Nacha's hair looks fried! Gabie looked more like Hurley of "Lost" than Nacha that day. Hehehe! Talk about a bad hair day!)




The 3 gals checking out each others outfits:
Take note of Hawkgirl's weapon. Mommy Charmaine gave her a batirol! Hahaha!


Here is Wonder Piglet squaring off with wrestler Nacha Libre:



Nacha Libre & Wonder Piglet done with their friendly match & wondering where on earth is their candy!



We finally hit the streets... And bumped into the sexiest bellydancers in Alabang! They were soooooo hot, our hubbies couldn't resist a picture with them! Hahaha!



After just doing one (kinda long) street,we called it quits. Here we are taking a group picture in the front steps of some random house.



And us all in the back of the van except Max (he was the one taking the picture from the front). Hahaha!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

Nacho Libre's Asian Counterpart!

When Max & I watched "Nacho Libre", we immediately thought of Gabie! hehehe! She has the same messy hairstyle & the same body type as Nacho! We couldn't resist putting her in a nacho libre costume for her
1st Halloween.
Boy, she is going to kill us when she gets older. Thank God she is quite clueless now. Hahahaha! Hopefully, she also has her daddy's sense of humor.

So here are Nacha Libre's pictures side by side with Nacho Libre! Enjoy!!!

Funny faces of Gabie

Gabie really brightens up our day! Just seeing her making faces puts a big smile in our faces.

A series of pictures of chunky, cutie Gabie:

Little Mallrat

We finally took Gabie to Mall of Asia, the biggest & newest mall in the country! Funny Gabie enjoyed the home store of all places. She had fun on top of the piles of carpet. hehehe!
She was so tired from malling that at the end of the day, she was fast asleep in her stroller for over an hour. To think the mall was so noisy! She didn't have a care in the world!

Here she is having a grand time.


Our fatso daughter popping out of her outfit


Chatting & laughing with Daddy Max


Playing around with Mommy

Party animal

Gabie loves parties! She seems to enjoy the noise & the activities even though she really can't participate in them yet. She acts like she understands the show. When the people sing the "Happy Birthday" song, she shrieks & screams with glee! As if it's her birthday! hahaha! Hopefully, when she turns one, she will be just as happy in her party.
These pictures were from the super fun Care Bears party of Kate. Lucky cutie pie Kate just turned one & her parents threw her a wonderful party.

Finally, a family picture of the 3 of us! hehe! Thanks to the photographer of Charmaine & Ron.


Gabie enthralled by the funny, talkative magician


And here is Buddhalicious Gabie socializing

What to wear?!

Gabie really has her own personality! She acts like a little grown-up. Whenever we go out, she really gets excited when she sees her going out clothes layed out on the bed. She can't even finish her milk straight since she keeps glancing at her outfits. She is distracted by the clothes! I think she got her love of clothes from her Lola Cory. Anyway, I took out 3 outfits the other day. I held up the 3 outfits & asked her which one! She looks at all 3. She thinks for awhile & finally picks one! I'm not kidding! She really reaches for the outfit. Just to make sure she is really choosing, I change the order of the clothes & ask her the same question! She again thinks & then reaches for the same outfit! My daughter is a genius! Hahaha! Or just one kikay girl! Hahaha!
Here are the 3 outfits that were being considered that day:
Guess which one she chose!?


This wasn't the one she picked, but this is the one I think I would have picked!


Again, this was one of the outfits she snobbed that day!


This is the outfit she picked! Of course, its pink! This is actually an old picture of her. Beside her is her pretty, naughty cousin Mica.

The untold story of Nanny M

Where do I begin my story! The beauty of living in the Philippines is the availability of hiring people to help you with the house or with your child for a cheap price. We were able to get a nanny before I even gave birth to help us with Gabie! Let's just call her Nanny M! Boy oh boy! From the beginning you can tell she had a very aggressive & abrasive personality. The thing that should have been a big clue is she is an old maid. Nevertheless, we hired her since she had 14+ years experience as a nanny. To be fair, she really knew her stuff. She handled Gabie like a pro. We breathed easier especially with the delicate stuff since she knew what to do. The BIG problem was she knew she was good! As the months went by, she got more & more obnoxious. It was obvious she didn't respect me as her boss! She resented it when I told her what to do. I found out, she even hated it when I chose the clothes Gabie would wear! Ahem, I think she forgot I'm the mother! Basically, she wanted me to just shut up & keep quite. I found out after that she would whisper to Gabie that I'm a nag. And that she is annoyed with me! The nerve of her to whisper bad things to Gabie.

Of course, the big drama had to happen the day after the biggest storm to hit the Philippines since the 90s. It was bound to happen! She was disrespecting me repeatedly. That day, I couldn't take her sassy responses to me. So I calmly asked her to pls talk to me nicely since I don't even talk to my other household staff like that. She responded by saying I can look for another nanny if I don't like her tone! And that she doesn't like it when I still tell her what to do since she knows what to do! Oh my! I saw red! I blew my top like never before. She got it from me. I don't think she saw that coming. She probably though I relied on her too much that I would just deal. She was sadly mistaken. I told her to pack her bags & leave.

The timing was horrible since we were also on emergency mode because of the horrible storm! Oh well! I really had no choice but to deal with the situation. That day, Gabie clung to me like never before. Since my daughter is so heavy, my arms were hurting badly by nighttime. I was exhausted!!! Thank god, my mom immediately lent me her really reliable maid, Gemma. Gemma has been a great help! I am telling you guys this story because the lesson here is never to settle! If you aren't happy with someone, do something about it. We all have choices. I feared I couldn't handle taking care of Gabie without her, that's why I stomached her for so long. My big mistake!
It turns out, Gabie has changed for the better after Nanny M has disappeared from our lives. She is now a much happier baby! Gabie can be held by different people already. Also, she is easier to handle. The change happened overnight. It's really amazing! This is the great thing that came out of this whole experience.

I attached a picture where she is partially hidden to protect her identity! hehehe!

Little piglet eating her carrots & squash

We really wanted to give Gabie solid food at 4 months since she was drooling & reaching for our food when she was that age. But we decided to follow Dr. Bong's advice to wait 6 months just in case of allergies! Poor Gabie! I know she was ready but she just had to content herself with my milk & formula.
As soon as she reached 6 months, we gave her solids! She was so excited & didn't give us any problems. To this day, she greedily opens her mouth once the spoon is in her site! She even complains if the one feeding her is too slow with shoving food into her mouth. Gabie is a voracious eater when she is served vegetables! Lucky us since we aren't big vegetable eaters. Surprisingly, she doesn't like fruits yet! She makes bad faces & shakes her head from side to side when served apples & pears!
Here she is in her cute piglet bib (given by her abuelita) eating her favorite meal: