Bela’s New Pet – Dory & Nemo

Most of you might know how much our daughter loves animals. So we have long been planning to get an aquarium and buy fishes for her as her first pet. But we kept on postponing our plan as we are really busy that we don’t have time to go to a pet shop and we haven’t clean up our house so we can’t find a nice spot in our house to put the aquarium.

But thanks to the long weekend (well actually it is not that long for me as I went back to work on the 28th and my only holiday for this week is only on the 1st of January), we were able to clean up our house and we were able to go to Pet Center at Cartimar in Pasay.


It is all our first time to go there and Bela really went crazy upon seeing all the puppies, the birds, the hamsters, the fishes, etc. I asked her if she wants a puppy or a bird but she is really firm on her decision that she wants a fish.

We check out all the stores first to scout for the best price and we are also looking for a cage for our Labrador. Then we decided to buy the first one that we saw which is an 8 gallon aquarium complete with all the setup – lamp, pump, rocks, sand, and even corals (this one I really love). Then we bought a clown fish at a nearby store and a blue fish which resembles like Dory.

Bela is really happy after seeing her aquarium. She is in front of it almost every minute and she will sometimes sit down in front of it so she can talk and play with her new pet. I am just a little worried as the blue fish is dying one by one. I don’t know if we are doing something wrong as we follow the instructions given to us down to the last dot. There is one blue fish left (out of the four that we initially bought) and hopefully it will survive.

Bela's Loots

Before I do my search for car insurance quote online, let me post first a picture of Bela’s loots last Christmas:


* Talking Little Einsteins dolls and Lion Robotic Stuffed toy from mom and dad
* Sleep wear and blouses from her grand dad June and grand mom Jenny and grandd ad Bong and grand mom Penn
* Pocketville Playhouse from her tito JP
* Baby Alive doll from her Tita Veejay
* Tiger stuffed toy from my in laws

Even though Bela knew already what her gifts were (she was with me when I was doing my shopping online and I let her choose what she wants to receive for Christmas. She was also with her Tito Jp when her tito bought his gift for her and he let Bela choose also what she wants. The same is true for her Baby Alive doll), we asked her to promise that she will act surprised when she open her gifts on Christmas day. And true to her word she didn’t forget her lines after she opened each of the gifts that she received.

Bela: “Oh I’m surprised. I am so excited. I am so happy”

But I guess she is not pretending at all when she said this as we can see how excited and happy she was with all the gifts that she received. Thanks again to all our loved ones for all of your gifts for our princess Bela. You really made her very happy and left her with a very memorable Christmas for 2008.

Weekend Snapshot # 9 - Christmas Program at TU

Last December 17 was Bela’s Christmas Program at school. I went home early and they fetch me at the office after fetching Howell and we head straight to the Social Hall of Sanctuario de San Antonio.

We are a little late as the students are already lined up outside of the social hall when we arrived. Bela took a nap on the way to the Sanctuario so she was really in the mood when we arrived. As soon as she saw her classmates, she said:

Bela: “Oh my classmates. I want to go there.”

So we lined up right away with her other classmates. But since they are the last one to perform, I decided to go inside the social hall first with Bela to watch the other class’s performance. After each performance, Bela will clap her hands and will shout “Bravo!”

When it is time for them to perform, Teacher Maica didn’t have a hard time convincing the kids to go up the stage. Bela was quiet at first but she starts to strut her stuff and she was like an energizer bunny, jumping up and down, swirling and she even wiggled to the tune of Joy to the World.


I am one proud mommy again. More pictures can be viewed here.

For later

I have been very busy lately (with work and with the preparations for the holiday season) that I miss to blog about Bela’s recent activities. So just so I will not forget, here is a list of the things that I need to blog about:

1. Bela’s Christmas party at Toddler’s Unlimited
2. Bela’s Christmas party at my office
3. Bela’s Christmas program at Toddlers Unlimited

I already sorted and resize some of the photos but I can’t find the time to upload. Hopefully I will not be too busy in the coming days (or I will not be attack by laziness) so I will have the time to blog about this.

Her name is Baby Alive

Bela’s Baby Alive doll finally arrived last Friday. I ordered it from Amazon and it was paid by her beautiful and sexy tita as her Christmas gift to Bela.

Bela already knows that she will get a Baby Alive on Christmas from her tita as we already told her that when she is asking us to buy the Baby Alive doll when she saw it at Toy Kingdom. So yesterday, since I am excited already, we showed her the Baby Alive doll. Of course we asked her to promise that she will not ask us to open it as her tita will still wrap it and she will open it on Christmas day.

Upon seeing the doll:

Bela: “Oh, oh, it’s the Baby Alive.”

And so I showed her how it works and she was jumping with excitement.

Me: “Tita will wrap it okay and you will open it on Christmas.”
Bela: “Where’s tita?”
Me: “She is still at school”
Me: “When you open your gift on Christmas, pretend that you will be surprise for the doll, ok”
Bela: “Oh it’s a surprise.”
Me: “So what is the name of your doll? You are Bela, I am Abie and dad is Howell. What is your doll’s name? Is it Annie or June?”
Bela: “Her name is Baby……Alive”

Flower Girl to be

I made a post on my other blog about the upcoming wedding of my brother. Of course, Bela will be one of the flower girls and being the stage mom that I am, I can’t help but be excited as early as now about the wedding. She will be four year old by then so she might walk the aisle on her own and I can imagine her to be the cutest flower girl (of course, you should love your own. LOL).

I am excited too for this wedding, because finally after more than a decade of going out with his now fiancé, my brother finally decided to tie the knot. And since I have been a hands on bride when I prepared for our wedding three years ago, I will give them some unsolicited advice which I have learned when we are preparing for our wedding.

1. Do scout around for suppliers. Don’t book right away a supplier and check out feedbacks from their previous clients first before booking them to be sure that they can deliver on your wedding.
2. Don’t let others influence you about your wedding. Your wedding should be about the two of you so everything that makes up your wedding should be about the two of you.
3. Try getting wholesale flowers instead of getting a local florist. I assure you that it will be more affordable but at the same time the flowers will be delivered fresh and beautiful on your wedding day.
4. Hire a wedding coordinator or if you don’t have a budget for a wedding coordinator, assign someone from your family or your entourage to manage the event so you don’t have to worry on the day of your wedding.
5. And lastly, the day before your wedding, let go. Stop worrying about the little things because the most important thing is you will be marrying the person that you love the most.

Etc, Etc

Bela is not feeling well today. Her grandma has cough and colds and since they are together the whole day, she now has colds too. And she is really irritated every time she has colds. Sometimes she can’t sleep straight at night and she has to wake up every now and then because she is having difficult time breathing. Of course, Howell and I has to be awake too to attend to her so there are times that we only have 2-3 hours of sleep and we have to go to work the next day (There are even times that I look like a zombie or I like I have been using weight loss pills). I hope she gets better soon as I am sure we will really busy with family gatherings next week.

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Last Wednesday was Bela’s Christmas program at Toddlers Unlimited. Since she was able to take a nap on our way to school, she was in a good mood and she really made us proud with her performance. Howell hasn’t downloaded the pictures yet, but I will post it soon.

Last Wednesday was also their last day at school so she has a few weeks off from school. I am sure she will miss her classmates and teachers as she really enjoys having playmates now. Just last week, we had a conversation about this:

Bela: “Mommy, mommy where are my friends? Where are the girls?”
Me: “They went home already because it is already dark.”
Bela: “I want a playmate mommy.”
Me: “Tomorrow, you can play again with your friends.”
Bela: “I want a playmate mommy!”
Me: “Do you want a baby brother?”
Bela: “Yes, yes, yes. I will share my toys with baby brother”

Home Visit and Jumping Joeys Xmas Party

In line for their theme this month which is “Christmas Season”, Bela’s class will have a Home Visit and a Class Christmas Party at Sam’s (one of Bela’s classmates) house. It will be held on Friday, December 12, 2008.

The Itinerary for the day will be as follows:

1:20 – 1:30 – Assembly at Samantha’s House
1:30 – 2:15 – Free Play
2:25 – 2:25 – Circle Time
2:25 – 2:35 – Tour around the house
2:35 – 2:45 – Special Activity
2:45 – 3:20 – Snack Time
3:20 – 3:30 – Story Time

They will also be having an exchange gift. Last Friday they ask all the students to pick their “monitos / monitas.” Then they ask each of the kids what they want to receive as gifts and they posted it outside of the classrooms so parents can see and buy the gifts for the kids’ “monitor/monita”

I wouldn’t have guessed what Bela wants. Of course she wants animals again. And I was really laughing since one of Bela’s classmate’s wants “pancit” for her gift. Simple things can really make a kid happy.

Christmas Program at Toddlers Unlimited

Bela will have another program at Toddlers Unlimited. The Christmas program will be held on December 17 at the Social Hall of the San Antonio Church. Bela’s class will perform to “Joy the World.”

I am excited as ever again. The program will not start until 4:00 PM so I can just leave work early to attend the program. I am sure all parents are excited as me to see their kids perform. I was even talking to one of the parents and she is already preparing for it including the clothes that she will wear on the day of the program. Since I really don’t like dressing up, she was telling me that it is also important that we look good since it makes our kids proud also if other kids find us attractive.

She has a point there. But I don’t think I will have time now to loose weight even if I use diet pills. I just have to look for a wardrobe that will not emphasize my excess fat. LOL.

Anecdotal Report: December 5, 2008

TODDLER’S UNLIMITED
Anecdotal Report

Child’s Name: Bela
Teacher/s: Maica and lei
Date: December 5, 2008
Class: Jumping Joeys

We thought you might like to know:

Bela loves the story "Brown Bear Brown Bear." One time, she told her teacher to read the story again. Her teacher read to her the book but did not turn on the music. Bela instantly stood up and grabbed her teacher’s hand and said “Teacher don’t sing, turn the radio. I want music please!”

US Recession

Can you really feel that our economy is improving? I often hear our president say that. But as I searched the net, I see a lot of articles on how people can get out of debt? Does this mean that there are a lot of people who really need help to debt free? America is experiencing recession right now and a lot of people are loosing their jobs. A lot of banks are also in the brink of filling bankruptcy all of this is due to the fact that their clients can’t pay their debts anymore.

Good thing there are a lot of companies that can help individuals make a financial plan that can guide them on how to be debt free. Maybe those who are in deep debts can use the help of these companies to help them make a good agreement with the bank that will benefit both the bank and the individual.

The recession in the US really has a lot of effect. It will not just affect the US alone but will produce a domino effect especially to third world countries like us. I hope the recession will end soon and people will find ways to pay their debts.

Don't cry mommy!

Last night, Bela handed me my Breaking Dawn book and she said:

Bela: “Here mommy. Here is your book. Let us read. Story time.”

So I read the book with her. But then she got all excited to turn the page and she accidentally ripped two pages of my book.

I got shocked and I shouted “Oh no” without me realizing that I scared Bela.

She run to her bed and hide with her blanky. Then I pretended to be crying to tease her more. Bela then approached me and she gives me a kiss and a hug and she said:

Bela: “Don’t cry mommy. I will buy you a book at the bookstore.”

She is one sweet little girl.

Bela’s 3rd Birthday at Kidz Republic

This is a very late post of Bela’s 3rd birthday party at Kidz Republic. But like they always say, it is better late than never. LOL.

I promised my husband that we won’t be having a party to celebrate Bela’s third birthday but of course, I was not able to keep my promise again. A few months before Bela’s birthday, we watched her first birthday video and she was so happy watching it that I got really convinced to have a small party for her.

Since she loves animals, we didn’t have a hard time deciding what will be her theme. So we knew from the start that if we are having a party, the theme will definitely be Madagascar.

We went to the Macapagal area to check out the branch of Jollibee there and then we went to Mall of Asia and saw Kidz Republic. I inquired and since their package is ok (they offer 3 hours use of the party room and 2 hours play for the kids. Not like Active fun where they will only give you 3 hours for the whole party – which includes the use of the party room and the use of the play area for the kids after the party), I made a pencil booking without even checking my budget. LOL.

I only started booking for suppliers around June already and we initially booked Kidz Republic on November 16 which is Bela’s actual birthday. But all the magicians that I like (Alex, Arnold, Wanlu, and Leodini) are already booked on the 16th. Good thing Kidz Republic is still available on the 15th so we moved our reservations there on the 15th and booked Leodini as our magician through Jelly Bellies.

I didn’t give any fuss about the souvenirs and just ordered animal stuffed toys for the girls and animal caps for the boys from Oriental Trading. Then I also ordered some Jungle Safari items for the prices from Oriental Trading too and bought additional items from Divisoria.

Two weeks before the birthday, the Madagascar Happy meal was released by McDonalds so we ordered the happy meal for the kids so they can get a Madagascar toy which is perfect for our birthday theme.

On the day of the party, Howell, I, my cousin and their house help went to Kidz Republic early so we can prepare in advance. We brought with us the cake and cupcakes (which Howell picked up from Little Royalties), the game prices and the souvenirs. There is still a party when we arrived so we had lunch first at Yellow Cab and it is only around 1:30 PM when we started with the preparations of the venue. The staffs of Kidz Republic are efficient so they helped us set up too.

By 2:00 PM most of the visitors arrived already and we started the party around 2:30 PM. We were so happy that almost all of our friends and relatives were able to make it on Bela’s birthday to celebrate with us. The room is so full that there are some visitors who are already standing up (So sorry guys. But I hope you did enjoy the party). Leodini was a hit to all my guests as he was really funny and his magic tricks really amazed all of us. The food they say was ok but I was not able to taste it as we were not able to eat. And the kids really had a blast playing at the play area. Even Bela didn’t want to go home because she still wants to play at the play area.

To all our friends and relatives, thank you for making Bela’s third birthday extra special again with your presence. We really appreciate it. Till next year….LOL.

We hired a photographer to cover the event but he is an hour late and he left early too. Good thing Howell brought with him his camera so he became the official photographer that day. You can view more pictures here.

For my Mom

Since Bela is the first grand child in my family, you can expect how so much attention and love she is getting from my parents. When I gave birth to her, my mom doesn’t want to get a nanny and she volunteered that she will personally take care of Bela. But when she turned one, she proved to be a handful and since my mom is not getting any younger, she admitted that its time for us to get a nanny since she can’t cope up with how active my daughter is.

But even though we hired a nanny for our daughter, she is still at our house everyday to oversee the nanny and to make sure that Bela is well taken care of.

That is something that we owe to her. Imagine, we don’t have to worry if we leave Bela at home with a nanny while we work since we are sure that my mother is there to look after her. And so this coming Christmas, we want to give my mom something extra special like fashion jewelry sets as a sign of our gratitude for all that she is doing for our family.

My mom is a very fashionable and stylish person and so I am sure she will love the jewelry set that we will pick for her from Holsted Jewelers as they have a wide collection of fashionable and high quality jewelry. I am so excited since I know that my mom will really be thrilled if she receives our gift for her.

Weekend Snapshot # 8 - Bears, Tigers and Bela

Last year, during the holiday season, there were Polar Bears on display at the Rockwell mall. We went there and Bela had a great time posing with the Polar Bears.

This year, I was informed by my cousin that the polar bears are back and this time some of them are even moving and they were even joined by a group of wolves, white tigers and penguins.

We went there last weekend, and as always, Bela had a grand time posing with them. Here are some pictures.

Cebu Pacific's Zero Fare Promo

Cebu Pacific just had another zero fare promo last week. I checked and I tried to make a reservation and the price is the same when I availed of their zero fare promo for our Singapore and Hong Kong trip. I am so tempted to book another trip again but then again I realized that we just got back from our Hong Kong vacation and we will have another Davao trip this coming January so there is really no way that we can afford another international vacation.

It would really been nice to get one of those vacation rentals and we would stay there for a week away from the stress at work, the traffic in the city, the hustle and bustle of everyday life and just have a relaxing time together with Howell and Bela. But of course, there always comes a price if we want to have that relaxing vacation that I am planning.

Maybe next time. I am sure this is not the last time that Cebu Pacific will offer zero fare to all their loyal customers.

Christmas Program at TU

Save the Date!
Christmas Program

17 December 2008 (Wednesday)
3:30 – 5:30 PM

Social Hall
San Antonio Church
Mc Kinley Road, Forbes Park, Makati City

I got this save the date information from Bela’s teachers. They will be having a Christmas program where the entire school from the youngest lamb classes to the oldest Pups are working together to present a Christmas Musical entitled “Christmas Around the World.” The Pups Class are going to stage the Nativity Story (with a twist) while the younger children (the class where Bela belongs) will perform the music to accompany the play.

I’m so excited. I remember during their Halloween program, we were the typical stage parents. We took a leave from work and we are armed with our video camera and Howell’s DSLR to capture every moment. I am sure it will still be the same this time. This reminds me, I have to contact Bela’s teachers if they need a costume or not so I can contact Mrs. Prim as soon as possible. LOL.

Bela’s Boo-Boo

I forgot to blog about this. I just remembered now since I was able to catch up a bit with my blogging world.

This happen exactly on the day of Bela’s birthday. We are not using our shower for Bela since we don’t have a water heater so we just use a pail and her bath tub every time we give her a bath. She was grumpy that day and she just wants her dad to give her a bath. Every time she goes to bath, she has to bring any one of her animals so she has something to play with while taking a bath.

She brought her penguins that day and Howell put the penguins in the pail. While Howell was in he middle of giving her a bath, Bela stood up to reach for the penguins in the pail and she slipped and her mouth hit the pail. It left a big wound on Bela’s lips.

Bela cried a bit but after a while she is not even minding the wound. But Howell really feels guilty about what happened. I tried to convince her that it’s just okay and accidents really happen but he really feels responsible for what happened. He said that we should really have a tankless water heater installed so we can get rid of the pail and the tub and just use the shower to avoid accidents. And of course, we have to add additional baby proofing tools in our rest room.

It took days before Howell finally got over what happened. You can’t blame her. He just felt that he just hurt her precious princess.

Christmas Preparations

It is only 24 days to go before Christmas. Our Christmas tree is now up but hubby hasn’t taken a picture of it yet. All the gifts for our cousins and god children are all under the tree. I am also finish buying clothes that Bela will wear on Christmas day, New Year’s day and for her party at school (you see it has been a tradition in our family when we are still kids that we should have new clothes and shoes for Christmas and New Year and so I want to have that tradition too for Bela). We also received the boxes containing our presents for Bela and all I have to do is wrap them and it is ready to be put under the tree too.

For our food, I told my aunt (who is always in charge of the cooking every time there is a special occasion) that we will just order from CCME instead so she will not be stressed out and harassed on Christmas day. I have tried CCME twice during MBAPs and my twitter buddies’ Christmas party and the food is good, yummy and affordable. So I showed my aunt the menu and she totally agreed with my suggestion.

I bet I will need diet supplement after the holiday season but who cares. Christmas is the time for festive gatherings so I should not think of having a diet and just enjoy the holiday season.