And the school begins

My children began going to school yesterday and I felt some sadness when they were gone. They won't be in their rooms anymore when I wanted to have some talks with them. They may be young but those three already talk with sense. They know a lot that I don't.

But I have no choice.

As we were waiting for the school bus outside, I had the time to observe how the heat of Dubai  affected my plants. Our careless gardener killed 4 of my potted plants and as much as I would like to reprimand him, I chose not to. He is of different race and only God knows how he would react if scold him.

Our once sturdy plant is now dead.

But these bougainvilla plants surely know what survival means.

Now that we are approaching September (yehey), I am beginning to feel excited for the cold months. They call it winter here, but sorry to burst your bubbles guys, it's just like our January-February in Baguio City. But that's alright. It's already a relief for us in the Middle East.

And of course, cold months means we have an additional member in the family. Still looking for a name, though. I am thinking of naming him Gabriel, Matthew, Joshua (like DJ) and Benjamin (because he is the youngest). Let's see then...

For now, let's find happiness in every good things that come however tiny they might be for us.

29 weeks

This morning was my appointment with my endocrinologist and I got a passing mark. You see, two weeks ago I was asked to test my blood sugar 4x a day and although the needle was so tiny, the frequency of getting blood sample was felt by all of my fingers except my thumb. May excuse letter ang thumb, ang kapal ng skin nya kasi, ha ha! So, this time the good news was I will just be required to test once, of course if I wanted to do more testing, that's  up to me. The good thing about having gestational diabetes is I am able to watch what I eat, thus my weight has also been put under control. And the baby's!

My OB Gyne explained to me that my GD was the reason why my tummy was so big during my 6th month. And I always felt stressed because it was tight all the time. Aside from eating a lot of sugary/starchy foods, I was also guilty of not hydrating myself enough which also elevated my GD. Now, I am slowly being educated on how to handle diabetes and after I give birth I still plan to continue and improve my diet plan. 

I am now on my 7th month, 29 weeks to be precise. 

However, during my last visit, I have been cautioned by my OB to listen to my body more at this point. There is still frequent tightness esp. when standing up or walking which is not normal. His request is for us to cross the 32nd week safely. But the goal is for me to go full term of course. Getting pregnant at my age is definitely challenging - the aches, the discomfort, house arrest, sleepless nights, skin patches etc. But I am sure there God has his own sweet reason why we were given this miracle of life.

I am looking forward to my 40th and to our Christmas with my baby peanut!

Finally, weekend

Days move so slow when you are going through something. Right? I am on my 28th week and I am not feeling any better. Aside from the discomfort which is totally new to me because I never had this thing during my previous pregnancies, I am also diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Upon reading, I found out out that this is quite common to women who get pregnant later in their life. This weekend, I will be seeing an endocrinologist to check my condition further.

Anyways, I am relieved tomorrow is a weekend and by Sunday or Monday, our househelp will be with us already. Her legal documentations are on the final stage, thanks to her former employer who willingly cooperated with the process.

So! How do I end this week? I'd like to show some pictures of our last day in the Philippines. But before that, I'd like to share how we ended staying in a hotel day before our departure.

We were on our way to Terminal 3 on July 30 when we discovered that our flight schedule was actually July 31 and not July 30. We thought all along that we booked our flight to Dubai on the 30th. 

We all ended up laughing. So we just decided to check in somewhere rather than go back to Laguna. That's the reason why we were able to spend the night in Hyatt City Of Dreams. It was worth it. After a stressful day of last minute packing and cleaning the house that day, it was a great great relief to finally have a "respite".

If there would be one hotel I would like to go back to next time we are home, it's Hyatt.

The room was spacious. Abi slept in that day bed you see in that corner.

The bed gave me and the little peanut inside me our much needed comfortable sleep. We requested for additional mattress where Anjo and DJ shared that night.

They had this a walk in closet where I kept all our luggage. That made our space clean and organized.

And, what I loved the most? Their Toilet. Huge.
Too bad, I didn't get to enjoy their bath tub. Next time.

There was a He & She sink.

Shower room was big. Can you see? Three could fit in. I swear.

We stayed in the suite room due to unavailability of our other preferred room. But no regrets. Those who were staying in that floor had an exclusive lounge where we got to enjoy snack all day. My kids had a feast on their popcorn, gummy bears, marshmallows, fish crackers, fruits and juice.

We decided not to go to their dinner buffet because I couldn't eat that much due to my condition, so I promise next year, I will indulge. But we had a sumptuous lunch in APU, a Filipino themed restaurant and it was excellent. The children didn't have the chance to explore the DreamPlay but they were able to swim during the morning.

Except for some shortcomings which we already sent feedback to the management through their online comments (i.e no welcome fruits/sweets, slow service, sleepers, and water in the rain shower was running low) our overall experience was pleasant. But don't expect too much in their buffet breakfast, not as much as Sofitel's Spiral, but much better than Mandarin (when it was still there) or that of Marriots. 

I can't wait to go back next summer. See yah!

So this is it. Happy week end everyone. Stay dry!

I am back but I am missing her

Every time we are home, Sarah stays with us. But every time we leave, I get this separation anxiety. I still cry when I think of her. She sleeps with us, yes on our bed. She just jumps there, much to the disgust of hubby. Hahaha.

Whenever we think of the possibility of going back to the Philippines for good, my heart is always looking forward of having her permanently again. 

I am back

After a good three week break from the heat of Dubai, now I am back. Much to my relief, though. Most of my my three weeks in the Philippines were spent inside our rented house (but still close to our home) because I was experiencing terrible backache and tight belly. My two high school buddies managed to arrange a meet up with me in Nuvali when I was still a little bit well. I hope next year we would be able to go far as a family and spent some really fun time in the Philippines.

So what did we do instead? We decided to make major major repairs in our house. Since, we brought almost all our furnitures to Dubai, it was relatively easy to do repairs because the house was literally empty. 

We changed the  floors of the entire house. The first floor used to have synthetic granite but now it has the ceramic tiles although we maintained the size. Upstairs, we removed the vinyl tiles and changed it to natural wood colored tiles, the effect was brighter rooms and lighter ambience. 

The interior was also repainted and our installed cabinets and granite countertops were likewise removed to give way to our planned cabinets next year during our phase 2 renovation. For this year, we just focused in our living and dining area make over.

When we were "envisioning" our would be concept, kids insisted that I do away from "old school" furnitures. So this means, no more too much carvings and that colors must not be too brown or too dark. So ok, we decided to have the "modern look".  

On our way to Tagaytay to search for a round table, we chanced upon the store which we used to frequent in Paseo de Sta. Rosa. It's were we bought our dining table cloth which we would always get compliment from guests, our nice wall clock that looked expensive due to its gold color and vintage design and our christmas ornaments two years ago. We got off our car and there inside we changed our mind, we will do "country style". 

Less carvings: Check! Light colors: Check. Chic and young: Check. Furniture sizes: Check.

The staff called the owner and when he arrived, we immediately closed the deal. What followed were series of emails and text messages. It was smooth because both owners (one was assigned in creative and design, the other is into cost) were easy to transact with and they understood that we needed to finish it just within days. They did everything. All we had to do was to approve and pay. 

I saw this nude colored sofa in their showroom and both me and dar were drawn to it. It fits perfectly in our small space and the color was just right to our taste. This distressed coffee table was chosen by the owners and for us it was lovely. All the decors that you'd see were chosen by them including the drapes. 

I didn't see this console table and mirror in their showroom, but I love how it turned out to be in that corner. 

This accent chair was originally floral blue. But I think they remember how I fell in love with their red couch on display so they called me if I wanted to change the accent chair from blue to red. I said yes immediately. 

 Abi said he loved everything except this frame. He found it creepy. Haha.

And this is my favorite corner. My dining area. The table which has hand painting on top is again a distressed one. Haha. Parang pinaglumaan na ng panahon. I am excited to scout for country style plates and cups here in Dubai for my beautiful cupboard. Wow! Dream came true for me. Just when you didn't expect good things to happen. 

Now, the only remaining trace of our former Italian themed house was our chandelier. Well, I told the kids it will stay there no matter what. :)

This is the advantage of having a small space, it's easy to change the over all look. You just have to have a concept in your mind and you have to strictly stick to it. No impulse buying please.

Next year, we hope to finally organize our mess in our kitchen extension by installing floor to ceiling cabinets. I am leaving it all to my husband with just one request- I need a storage cabinet that would serve as a pantry. I am excited.

So if you want to sneak peak the "store" where we got these stuff, you can visit their fb page Lucina Home. Their Nuvali showroom is opening anytime now and if you have time you can check what they have there. 

Happy Monday everyone!

just anything

This is one of my favorite things to do on a lazy weekend afternoon, when husband is sleeping and the kids are just in their rooms doing their own thing.

I feel so peaceful and happy when we are all complete in the house doing our own individual "businesses". The house is quiet and I feel so safe and secured. No amount of shopping can equal that heavenly feeling.

But its entirely different when hubby leaves for work. I feel the anxiety. Yes, until now. And its over a year since we have been in this kind of set up. And to "cure" my anxiety, I usually cook, kahit walang kumakain. At least, when I cook half a day is gone without me feeling sad.

This is my nth time to try baking pudding. 

I think I got the taste right, but the center portion was still soft. 

I didn't listen to my instinct that it needed little more time in the oven.

Yes, this is pork adobo. My 2nd time to use my elementary classmate's recipe. 

I just wished I cooked it longer, parang for me kulang pa sya sa lambot. 

Nowadays, I am busy packing our clothes for our Phil.vacation. It's really effort for me because of my bulging tummy and my aching ligaments. In fact, I didn't buy pasalubong this time. Just didn't have the energy. Anyway, next year I'm sure I will be very excited to go home again with my little bundle. Bawi na lang sa summer of 2016. Yay!

I will just be bringing my two preloved dresses that I promised my high school bestie. When I looked at it now, I am wondering if I could ever go back to my Small size, with all these pounds in my waist. Saklap 'day!

I will have to meet her in Nuvali because I wouldn't be able to travel very far at this point.

As of now, I have yet to put my clothes (so few) in our suitcase. Also my husband's pala. Kids' are done last weekend, thats the most tedious kasi. And off we go.

But first, I have to wash all our bed sheets. :)

Wonderful Saturday Afternoon

It's only very seldom for us to have visitors in our house. For one, we live very far from the Filipino community. Well, second is because we don't get to socialize with other kabayans because husband works outside Dubai and weekends are usually reserved for family only. So, naturally when we get the opportunity to know that some great people are in town, we always try to invite them in our home. 

Like yesterday...

When Maie told us that Tita Luchie and Nanay Sana (!) will be visiting Dubai, I requested her to let us know and to reserve their one day with us. And Maie was really gracious to say yes. Thank you po.

It was always a pleasure to have good people around. Much more when conversations link us to our past. Those good old days. Oh so much fun and reminiscing. 

May we have another chance to get together, wherever and whenever.