Virgin Beach, San Juan

Our beach daytrip last Saturday, August 22 at Virgin Beach, San Juan. The place was nice. Suuuuuper hot at the beach!

Here are some pictures:

Mama, Papa and Joey (we all got dark!)

"i want coke..."

They were swimming in open water here. We went on a boat ride and stopped to feed the fish, then the others went in the water to go snorkeling and Julia wanted to jump in too! Scary! But Julia enjoyed it alot!

view of the beach

lolo and joey

mama, lola vicky, julia and lola marl

The past two weeks at a glance

Aug. 3 (Monday)- Had dinner with my two best college buds at Mexicali, ATC. I haven't seen them in ages so we did alot of catching up. Thanks Cha and Sheng! You guys really made my day! Till next time!


Aug. 8 (Saturday)- Lia is here for the weekend so we planned an all girls gimmick. Went to Cuisine and Embassy at dFort. I had fun with the girls! But I honestly think that Embassy is a little bit too much for me. Haha! I'm OLD.

Before leaving for gimmick :)

group pic before going home

Aug. 9 (Sunday)- Drago's birthday! We went to BF and ordered pizza for everyone. Then Drago had to pack and head back to clark that afternoon. Weekends go by so fast!!! :(


Aug 14 (Friday)- Linggo ng Wika celebration in Zobel. We were asked to dress in Filipiniana costume. The kids had a parade and alot of other activities. What a tiring day!

When I got home I just rested for few minutes then had to head out again to go to a co-teacher's bday bash at Parque Espana, stayed there till around 10pm then left to pick up apa in Sucat. He spent the day with his family in his dad's side.

Now it's Saturday! Finally gonna see Drago again! :)

Fun Monday :)

We didn't have school today because of the SONA, so I went with Apa in his morning activities: tennis at 6:30 and swimming at 10:30. That boy is a bundle of energy! He was out and about the whole day and didn't even take a nap.

Anyway, it's been ages since i've played tennis so i was a little bit rusty. But I had fun! It was great getting all the endorphins out :) We played from 6:30-7:30, got home around 8, had breakfast and rested for a while before getting ready for swimming. It was Apa's first day of swimming lessons and we all went with him. Julia had the most fun of all! As usual :)

Here are some pictures:

tabachuy :)

bugoy :)

my babies!

mama and joey

After swimming, Apa's other grandma picked him up and took him to lunch and shopping. He got back around late afternoon. Then, for dinner, we went to Mexicali. What a long , tiring, but FUN day :)

Tomorrow, back to work.

hiatus

I have been on a MAJOR hiatus for the past few weeks (obviously, i mean look at my blog!). I just can't find the time! And whenever I do, I'd be too lazy to blog or even go online.

I'm getting old.

So anyway, since i don't want to go into so much detail, here's a bullet point version of my updates the past month:

• My parents arrived from the states on July 11 (with my nephew Apa who will be spending his summer break with us) and so I got my new laptop and alot of other stuff from my sister :) I love getting my loot! Sorting through all the pasalubongs really excite me! Thanks ate for all the food, clothes, shoes and all the teacher stuff that you sent me :)
  
• Drago left for Clark the very next day :( So much for the excitement. I really really miss him and i'm still getting used to the idea that for two years we'll only be seeing him on weekends.
  
• At least my nephew is here and i've been spending most of my free time with him, showing him around... I took him to the mall, ate at all the places he wanted to try like Jollibee, Chowking and Shakey's :) and took him to the grocery to buy snacks that he likes and to ruins to get games for his DS and dvd's that he could watch. He seems to be having a good time naman, considering he spends most of the day with my mom and dad. hehe. He's a really good kid, it's not difficult having him around.
  
• Been really busy with work, putting alot of serious effort into it like i never have before. I didn't realize how much i missed teaching until I started working in Zobel again. I guess the one year break helped ease the burn out :) Though I have to say, I've had better days in Zobel with the company of co-teachers who have become such really good friends, spending time in the faculty room chatting and lauging and eating (and whining and complaining...hehe...) Hay, I miss those days! Now it's just work, work, work.
  
• I've been out of the social circle for such a long time, but honestly, I just really don't feel like going out lately. Especially since Drago left. I prefer spending time at home with Julia because she makes me forget that weird sad feeling of not having Drago around most of the week. She's such a smart and happy kid and I really enjoy watching all her antics. There's just too much of her dad in her!
• So right now, I'm into lesson plan making, nephew-entertaining and daughter-watching. That's basically it. Hopefully, there'll be more exciting gimmicks in the next few weeks :) That's if I feel like doing something fun outside school/work and our house!
• Oh, it was Krissy's birthay today and we went with Drago's family (minus Drago) to a family KTV place. It was alot of fun! Julia had a blast! (Is that considered gimmick?) =p
  
• I don't even have any decent pictures of Julia (the last time I was able to take nice pictures was during our trip to Ark Avilon Zoo--posted in my facebook). I'll take pictures of her and Apa this week to show my sister.
  

Meanwhile, this is all I have :)

Jumping on the bed... her new hobby =p

di naman masyadong detailed no?

FINALLY!

I finally got my new laptop! Thanks ate! :)

Hello online world, i'm back! :)

updates and pictures soon.

Julia's Bday dinner at Chi's

We had our family dinner (Sabitsana side) for Julia's bday at Chi's yesterday. Good food but our orders took so long to be served. Tapos hindi pa sabay sabay dumadating. Nakaka bitin! But it was good nonetheless. All were present except for Tita Jill :( Julia's line up was not complete! It was fun, even though the girls, Maddie and Julia (actually mostly Julia, because Maddie was sick), was super hyper inside the restaurant. She kept on saying hi to the people at the other tables and banging on the glass doors. Nakakahiya =p

Thanks everyone for joining us for dinner! And thanks for all the gifts! Julia got a pretty dress and a huge box of Froot Loops from Ninang Krissy and Tito Chu, para hindi na daw sya mang agaw ng froot loops ng classmate nya :) Ninang Char gave her a cute dora shoulder bag, disposable toilet seat covers and a cool first aid kit that fits into my bag! Thanks Char! It's just what I need! Thanks also Tita Jill for the xylophone-slash-noisemaker! Our peace and quiet ends where Julia's fun begins! :) Hehe!


Here are some pictures taken at the dinner:

Highlights of the past few days...

June 15: Julia's first day of school at KinderCare
Drago and Ninang Krissy went with her :) She was crying at the beginning (as expected) but she warmed up after a while. I think her favorite part was snack time! hahaha.

crying...

working with clay



snack time! (she likes eating her classmates' food! haha)

June 17: Our first day of school in Prep and Julia's birthday!
It was a suuuuper busy day! Good thing i prepared everything i needed for my class the day before. I just did a few last minute stuff in the morning before heading to KinderCare at 10 a.m. for Julia's bday party. I only asked for a 1 hour off so i had to rush. I passed by Red Ribbon to get a bday cake and then straight to Julia's school. Good thing Drago brought everything else already. We also prepared the loot bags the night before so we're all good. We served popcorn (which they loved!), wafer sticks and juice. Oh, but Julia was crying for a whole hour before the party started. I arrived at her school around 10am, just as they were about to set up and she was still crying! It's because parents and yayas weren't allowed in the room anymore. Guess that's why she got so agitated. Kawawa, bday pa naman nya. Anyway, the party was fun! She stopped crying when we gave her a stick-O. Cute ng kids! They sang happy birthday, then ate, had their pictures taken and then lined up to give gifts and get their loot bags :) It was a memorable event for us coz it's Julia's first school experience. I'm glad we did this! When she's bigger I can show her the pictures and she'll know how special it was :)

I posted all the pictures on facebook

By the way, my class that afternoon went well :) It really pays to be prepared, especially on the first day. I had fun meeting and getting to know the kids. I forgot how much i loved classroom teaching :)

Ok, 9 and a half months before summer vacation. Hehe!

It's been a very busy couple of days after Julia's accident. Mostly because of work and going back and forth to U.P. to accomplish requirements for my M.A.

Being a freshman is hard because of all the procedures you have to undergo, but being a freshman in U.P. is a totally different story! It could have been much easier if I went to La Salle instead. I can go on complaining endlessly, but all the hassle aside, i'm pretty sure i'm going to like it in U.P. once i'm already there. I've always loved their campus (compared to the impossibly congested DLSU) and even though I still need a map to find my way around, it's actually quite fun. Besides, as they say, it's the U.P. experience :)

Anyway, i still have to go for my advisement and enrollment on Friday. It's the last day so hopefully I finish in one whole day. Or else, i'm out.

Here are some pics I took of Julia with her stitches :)






We had the stitches taken out today. The driver took yaya and Julia to MCP where they met Mama. Thanks Mama for assisting them!! As expected, Julia cried like a madman. But she's fine now. We're going to bf tonight so Julia could see everyone who just got back from Leyte and Bora :)

Whatta Day... :(

Earlier today Julia had an accident :( While she was trying to get down from the toilet she fell and hit her head on...i can't even explain what part of the bathroom it was. I got yaya's text around 10:45 and rushed home to see a profusely bleeding Julia and I guess I just freaked out. I kept on thinking why is there so much blood? I started calling people... drago, the driver, mama, ate jill and finally the neighbor. Anyone who could possibly help us get to the hospital since we had no car. Julia's and yaya's clothes were all soaked. The floor had little puddles everywhere. I didn't even attempt to look in the bathroom.

Anyway, we went straight to the E.R. of Asian Hospital. The doctor checked the cut and had the nurses cover it with bandage to help stop the bleeding. It was small but kinda deep. Of course Julia went wild. For one, I really can't bear to see her crying hysterically when I know she's in pain. I don't even go with them to the doctor's room when she gets her shots because i can't take the sight of her being pinned down. The doctor at Asian wanted to sedate her and administer general anesthesia but i told him I wanted to consult our pedia (and mama) first. It's a good thing they let us transfer coz as it turns out, sedating her wasn't really necessary. Though she was really going wild in the O.R. at MCP, I'm just glad that mama was there as well as Dra. Romero (who's been her pedia since day 1) and alot of other familiar faces. I was already pretty calm when we got to MCP. Seeing Mama, ever so calm and cool and generally unperturbed... nahiya naman ako maghagulgol diba? :) Plus Drago was already there as well. I made him stay with Julia in the O.R. Even Tatay arrived a few minutes after! It turned out to be a family affair. She ended up with 2 or 3 stitches and a dose of local anesthesia. Even after everything, i'm just glad it wasn't that serious. It could have been worse and we're really lucky. We're so thankful for all the people who helped us. It's one of those times, Drago says, that he's glad his parents are doctors. And i'm glad too!

PHEW!

Now she seems to be all better. We're just asked to observe her for 2-3 days for any symptoms like excessive sleepiness, vomiting, dizziness etc. Because if any of these symptoms manifest, she's gonna have to undergo a CT scan. Yikes! Wag naman!!!

This image is soooo much better compared to what I saw after the accident.
Now it just looks like a tiny bubu on the forehead.
Tibay talaga ng noo ni Julia! Mana kay Drago!

Last Friday, May 15 my mom and dad left for the states. It's been 5 years i think since my dad's last trip to the U.S. and less than a year since for my mom who's been going back and forth on a fairly regular basis. My dad seemed reluctant to go but hopefully he finds himself having a great time (with my mom in tow that's quite a challenge...hehe!), besides among all of us in the family, my dad's the one who needs a vacation the most!

Enjoy your vacation guys! :) Pasalubong ko ha!

***

Last Monday, Julia went to a trial class at Kids' First. She joined the toddler class with kids ages 1.5-2yrs. I loved the place! They recently transferred from Casa Vicente (beside ATC) to Madrigal Business Park so it's nice and new :) and the teachers were super nice too! Julia kept on crying at first so I had to stay inside for a while, then i eased my way out and made yaya stay instead. She was fine towards the end. They did some art, had circle time (songs and storytime), and snacks--which we didn't bring so her classmates had to share with her. Seeing Julia in a classroom with other kids made me realize how big she is already! And how excited I am about putting her to school!

After that, I decided i want to put Julia in a toddler program in a school that accepts students on a monthly basis. Since my dad is away for a more than a month and his car and driver are just here, I'll try to arrange a schedule so that Julia can be dropped off and picked up in school (as much as I would like to bring her, i'm already starting work in Zobel on the 25th). So, I really loved Kids' First, but they only accept quarterly and it's a bit expensive. Then Char told me about Kindercare in BF, they accept monthly for only 5k for the entire month, 5x a week, 2hrs. a day. I'm planning to visit the school today or tomorrow to check out the place and make further inquiries. It's probably too soon to tell but i think i'm going for Kindercare. Though I really loved Kids' First because its super nice and all, I'm not really very particular anymore since Julia will only be there for a month. Besides, i'm only after the socialization and supervised play. Julia learns so much at home already but sometimes she learns irrelevant stuff from watching Wowowee every single day (ex: "Rexona...piso a day!") Hahaha! Yeah, she does that alot... with actions and all.

***
After 1 year, my "long vacation" with Julia is over :( I've been so used to being with her everyday the past how many months that i'm actually having apprehensions about going back to work. But when I think about my new set of students and the classroom i'll be decorating, i feel kinda excited! Hehe. Mixed emotions :) I guess that's the reason why I want Julia to join a playgroup or a toddler program. Coz i don't want her staying home the entire day doing nothing but watch TV and solitary play when she can do so much more.

Will post pictures next time. Nakakatamad eh.

Practice Shoot

Yesterday, my friends and I had a practice shoot. First we went to Filinvest--there's a secluded part there that was good enough for some nature shots. They don't usually allow people to hang out in that area so we didn't stay long.

Anyway, I didn't really get to take alot of pictures because Julia fell while running and bruised her elbow...again :( The sad thing is she already has a nasty wound on that same elbow and it was already healing into a scab, and then she fell and hit that same spot so it bled really bad. I can just imagine how that must have felt :( Now her wound looks even nastier. Kawawa :( I felt so bad, we went straight home to clean her up. My friends and I just settled for the front yard of the house to take some practice shots. Oh well.

Julia with Tito Bert
Can you see her wound? wawa :(

On the brighter side, here are some really cool tricks that I learned:

nakakahilo ba?? :)

Thanks Chuck, Bert and Chino! Next time ulit! :)

Family Date :)

Yesterday Drago was home early because he just had a test at NTC in the morning. And since he had the rest of the day off he took Julia and I to MOA :) I've been wanting to go out (anywhere but ATC, Festival and Southmall!) so I thought MOA would be a good idea :) We spent the whole afternoon there. Took some photos at Baywalk and went around the mall. We stayed there till around 730. We had dinner at this thai place called JatuJak (pretty good!) before heading home.

Here are some of the pics we took at Baywalk:

We didn't stay out there too long because it looked like it was about to rain. I wish I could have taken more interesting pictures. Maybe next time :)

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Julia looooves this book :) And as with any other book that she likes, she can already tell what happens next as we read through the story. I think this one's gonna be quite a reader :)

More snapshots...

Julia with Lolo Art

with sticker-faced Julia (taken on my Birthday)

Julia and Papa: a typical morning :)