Adoption is an option but when is the best time for it? It was not a hidden fact that adoption was an option for us when we were TTCing for more than 3 years. Then we thought that if we will not be blessed with our own, then we might as well help other children and go for adoption. The next question was when to have it.

A cousin and her husband, after trying for a couple of years finally opted for an adoption. The child is the son of his husband's sister. Totally a relative by blood. They are taking the child so that the mother can move on with her life. So even if she is taking her prenatal vitamins and still hoping to have her own child, she will face a chapter that she has been longing to experience.

To answer when is the best time to adopt a child, when you are in a situation to adopt one. A child is a blessing and who wouldn't want to have one.

        

Pregnant again? i hope not i haven't gotten over my last pregnancy yet. Not that I don't want to have another child but I need to take a breather first. What am I thinking? I hope I am not paranoid but with the thread going in our yahoogroup, I can't help but think.

I still don't have my period which makes me worry too. I can not monitor my fertile period yet though we use some contraceptives along the way. I now know how difficult it is having kids without any help. I become more unproductive rather than fruitful when it comes to chores. Having another child means additional responsibilities and lesser time for the two girls.

But if given another blessing, who are we to decline. I know how it feels waiting for a child. If that is the case, then it is time to look for the  best prenatal vitamins again... and dieting!

        

The end of May brought tears and laughter in the family.The happy part was that my sister finally got married. After the toxic wedding preparations, it was all worth it. She is now married to her Mr. Pogi. The day went fast that during the whole program at the reception, I was inside the hotel room looking after the children. When we got back to the reception, it was already about to end.

While doing the last minute preparations, we got a bad news that our cousin met an accident and he died. Instead of going to Isabela, our relatives from the mother side opted to stay in Pangasinan and helped with the funeral planning.

As much as we wanted to really have fun, there is a part of us that is grieving.  Now that the wedding is finished, my family is bound to go Pangasinan next week. It is our tribute to our dear cousin.

        

After giving birth, I have several things of to do list. Among these are trips to the salon, the dentist and hopefully, a spa.

I was already done with my foot spa when we went home. Though I failed to have the pedicure with it, I was happy with the result. Then when we got home, I had the chance to have a trip to the salon while I was at SM. I made bye bye to my long hair and had a short do. I requested for a wash and wear cut so its what I got. Next on my list (for the next salon trip), eyebrow threading, hot oil and a facial. I might purchase a prevera for wrinkle cream to stay away from the losyang look.

I was at the dentist's clinic last weekend but was advised to go back after a couple of months more. They don't do teeth extraction for women who just gave birth. They fear that bleeding might happen. So there goes my dental appointment. Same thing with my glasses, I still need to wait for 4 moths to have my vision normalize.

        

I can't recall if office uniforms were issued last year but I am glad that did this year. I would like to commend the person in-charge of choosing the uniforms because they look good and it is not the usual design that we see in offices.

G's uniforms are mostly worn out already. Thanks to our house helps who do not take care of his clothes while they are washing it. Some of his barongs lost its buttons while his pants' zippers are destroyed. I've been thinking of fixing and sewing it but with my schedule, I forget to do it. So when he brought home his new sets, I was happy.

I like the idea that they have color coding for their uniforms. Mondays, they wear green; Tuesdays white, Wednesdays blue and Thursdays brown (I hope I got it correct). These are simple barongs with nice designs. Thank God he doesn't need to wear neck ties or bow ties, or else I'll be dead. I don't know how to tie those. Pants are either black or gray, these are easier to pair with.

I hope next year they get new sets again. But if not, then I should start instructing our house help to wash G's uniforms well.

        

When you are a housewife, you are responsible for everything at home. Main concerns include the electric bill, water bill, grocery and rent (or payment for PAG-IBIG). In short, budgeting is under your care.

There are times when I am good at budgeting but most of time, I fail. I easily give in to what my family wants, especially when it comes to food and pigging out. We simply can't resist the thought of rewarding ourselves after a month of hard work.

For the month of May, I am very much delighted that the electric company rolled back their rates. That after several energy auditing they finally admitted that they are overpricing. This is a good news for me because it means that our bill would cost less and that we could allot bigger budget for our eat-out this month. If ever we would go overboard with our expenses, it would just be little.

With the start of the rainy season, it also means that the electric bill will go lower since there would be lesser instances for the use of electric fans. The weather would be colder. So its a hurray for the rainy season, for now!!!

        

Bayad Centers are shops that receives payments for bills. Pag-ibig Housing payments are acceptable here. One of my favorite bayad center is SM. It is very convenient for us since we get to pay while we are having fun. What I don't like is the fact that PAG-IBIG does not deliver their statement of accounts on time. G already phoned their customer service to complain about this but they told him that it is already the responsibility of the post office. How do they expect their clients to follow-up their statements monthly

I wish PAG-IBIG will work like the Outer Banks homes that works well for the benefit of their clients.

        

It is not too often that we go for family vacations. Having 2 kids in tow means that I have to prepare a lot of things (there are times when I am packing 'our house' with us). Aside from this, it also means greater expense for it. But during this time, family vacation is a must. We need to go to Isabela to attend my sis' wedding.

It was convenient for us to travel because we didn't have to commute. Dad bought a van which we used going home. Dad was very careful in driving it because he is not familiar with Manila routes and he has 2 kids under his care (to think that he was still on a look-out for cheap insurance companies that could offer him good and quality quotes when we traveled home).  He only drove over 80 kph when we were already at SCTEX.

Traveling back to Laguna was convenient too. We took the plane from Cauayan Airport to NAIA Terminal 3, took the cab from there to Buendia then the bus to Balibago.

All-in-all, the kids were not that stressed. In fact, little G enjoyed her vacation this time. She loved playing in her grandparent's wide lawn... more of the attention that she got from them.

I am now on a look-out for another family vacation. Something nearer perhaps.

        

Another major event to celebrate this year. We have waited long to be part of the Mother's Day and Father's Day event and so every year, we look forward to celebrating it.

My Mother's Day this year was celebrated simply but it was made special by the card that my family gave me. This time, it is my turn to check for the father's day gift guide, since my kids are still too young to look for a gift for their tatay.

        

It is important for parents to document the growth of their children. If I could take pictures and videos of the girls as often as needed, I would. I want to make an evidence of their milestones in life. At present, we are using my sister's Canon camera. I love it because it has features that make me want to take their pictures often. It takes clear and clean shots. It has both digital and optical zoom.

If I could buy a new one, I would still buy the Canon brand. I am more familiar with it already and I know its features by heart... but if I will choose between a point and shot one with a DSLR, then I'd go with the last one

With many more events coming in the future, I hope to own a new digital camera soon. This is still better than using a cellphone camera.

        

I wish for a BIG TV too. For a tv lover, the bigger the television, the better it would be. If I could have the biggest  Samsung HDTV for our home now (or anytime this month), I would be the happiest for that day.

I love watching movies on TV. I can stay home and do nothing but stay in front of the television. I watch drama, comedy, romance and whatever interests me. I can also watch cartoons and sci-fi movies with the kids.

If you know me, you may conclude that this is the reason why I use glasses now. You can't blame me... watching tv makes me forget the time.

        

We have been sick lately. It started with the little G, then baby A then me... while we were sick here in Cauayan, our tatay was also sick in Laguna. He was not able to work for a day. It was just sad that he was alone and he doesn't have anyone to look after him.

The weather has been unpredictable. It is often hot during the day but in rains hard in the afternoon then at night, it would be hot and humid again. For someone who is always tired and lacks sleep, it is easy to acquire illness. To make up for the low resistance, we make sure that we take in enough supplements. I would take vitamin C since it is better than any other medicine. This was recommended to me before when I was still pregnant. It is effective and I try to share it with everyone here in our household. If this has the same result with other illnesses, especially with mesothelioma then the mesothelioma survival rate would have been high.

Anyways, as the famous saying goes... prevention is better than cure. It is still better to take care of ourselves than to spend for the medicines in the future. I agree since it is difficult having a sick household.

        

Tuition fees, uniform, school shoes, school supplies and everyday baon... this would be one of my concerns by 2012. I think this will be the time when my little girl starts to go to school (a playschool first). Thinking of it alone is already a great way to have a quick weight loss.

That time, I will have to work double time. I have to take care of the house, the store and my family. i may not able to have a househelp then so I need to have an efficient time management. I would need to master the multi-tasking.

For SY 2010, my obligations are already accomplished. I was already able to buy the school supplies of Mariel. We bought everything that she needs when the school opens. I will just prepare again next year, same time for another set of school supplies for her.

        

as I thought it would be...

Baby Ani celebrated her 1st month bday last May 10. We were lucky because we had tatay for the day. It was election day here in the Philippines. This is the reason why working individuals had an additional free day. The 3-day holiday is a long weekend but for me, it is not. The days had been busy which made me feel like it was an ordinary day. I was even more tired since mom went to Baguio to attend my cousins' graduation. I was left with Mariel and the 2 kids.

It was very tiring indeed. Our saturday and sunday went really fast. We were so busy that I didn't even got the chance to click here for diet pill reviews as I wished that I would. I was not able to finish my assignments that time.

As early as now, I am again looking forward for the next long weekend. I think it would be on June already for the Independence day...

        

After several visits to the car shop, we were finally able to finalize everything. We are having a Grand Starex for the family.

Ever since we grew (literally) upm we had wished to have a bigger car. Something that can carry the whole family comfortably. Something that can bring us to places as a family (all 7 of us). But since we had several other priorities then, dad was not able to buy one. Now with 4 grandchildren, he decided that it is about time that we have one. He wants his 'apos' to be comfortable and enjoy the ride.

This day, I can say that finally dad' car is here. Aside from the car accessories like the seat cover, auto insurance was also covered with the amount that he paid. We also got upto 40k discount after talking with the manager.

We can't wait to use it.

        

After more than a year, I finally filed my SS Maternity benefit. I have written about my dismay on this government agency several times already and it is only now that I can say good words for it.

Yesterday, I went to the agency to update my contributions. I had in mind that if I cannot avail of my maternity benefits yet, I would just file for a loan. When I got to the counter, I asked if I could have a printout of my contributions but the lady said that they no longer provide one. I asked if I could avail of a loan. After checking she said that I already could since I have 70 contributions all-in-all. Then I asked if my contributions for June to December 2008 were already filed, she said yes. This means that I can file my benefits already.

This afternoon, G went to file it but he forgot to get my ID so they requested that I should file it instead. In less than 5 minutes, they received my papers, checked their records and asked the first page to be photocopied... and that's it! I'll just have to wait for a month for the cheque which will be mailed on my listed address (which is in Pacita, btw). and the good news, I can also file for my maternity benefits for baby Ani.

If everything is right, I'll have enough money for our garage flooring by next month. It is indeed very timely since we also plan to have baby Ani baptized by July

        

I feel so tired these days. After taking care of the baby, the little girl would ask to be carried too. There are instances when they want to be carried at the same time. I thank God that I have my cousin Mariel and mom with me now. They are truly my angels and my blessings. With them around, I get to catch some afternoon nap and the best of it, I get to eat hot meals without being disturbed.

I didn't know that having 2 kids is this tiring. I just count my blessing that it is happier having them and seeing them around. The smiles on their face makes me want to move on with the day. Their laughs make me want to go on and look forward for another day with them. I knew that I have lots of pending works, there are assignment that need attention and there are sites that need to be visited. I particularly have to check on sites that sell used books online so that I can start with my readings (while pumping or feeding the baby).

At the end of the day, as I said, I feel blessed having my girls and my family... plus the assignments and the house and the store.

        

Another week to be thankful of. Here is my list this time

* peaceful election on my side of town
* Ani's first month celebration
* breastmilk and breastfeeding for little Ani
* long weekend and work gloves taking its rest
* television that keep me company
* uninterrupted sleep
* winning the Lotto
* MOMS - you can not ask for more

        

Finally after staying at our house for 1 year and a half, we are now expecting to further improve it by adding a perimeter fence. We had plans to do this after I gave birth with little G but it changed when we had little S. Everything had to take the backseat for the meantime to give way to the second child. Now that we have given birth and we had more blessings than expected, we are finally moving on.

Things are going right before I went to the Admin Office. We had already laid plans on what we would like to happen to the house but when I got to the office and requested for the list of requirements for home renovations, I was frustrated. They are asking too much. I didn't know that putting up a perimeter fence will require me to request permits from several institutions. They were even looking for a house plan with an architect's signature *roll eyes* I was imagining that if I had a finger pulse oximeter with me that time, the result might have increased abruptly.

Another dismay on my part... because of this, we might not have the fence yet asap. I still have to work on the papers needed which might take several more days hayz... I really hate our developer. So if you are buying a property, I DO NOT recommend DDC Lands at all. It will give you headaches, the major ones.

        

There are over hundreds of new positions in the government to be filled out today. These include jobs from the Preseident of the Philippines down to the Councilors of each of the municipalities and cities of each province. Compared with the previous elections, today marks a milestone to the country. For the first time, we will be having an automated election. This means that results are expected to be out earlier and faster. This is the first time so expect that there will be a lot of 'challenges' that might be encountered.

So go out and vote. Exercise your right...