Photoshoot with Sophia Photography

I forgot to blog about this photoshoot which happened last Month (11/28/09). The pix were taken by Erwin and Mitch of Sophia Photography inside AAV. We had a good time. JEL was very cooperative. SP was able to capture lots of nice shots which are very natural. I love them!

You can view more of JEL's pix here.

Been MIA & Some Updates: JEL's Hospitalization, Party Preps and New Antics

Had been MIA in this blog for a long time. We got so busy since JEL was admitted in Chinese General Hospital for 5 days due to severe cold, cough and asthma. Anyway, below are some updates about JEL's condition, 1st Birthday Party Preps and New Antics.

JEL's 5-Day Hospitalization

As I mentioned on my last post, hubby just brought her to the hospital to have her checked but the pedia didn't allowed them to go home. Since I was left in the office and I wanted to see our baby, hubby fetched me back from home. He also needs to bring clothes and other needs in the hospital. I was so sad seeing the IV on my baby's hand. She woke up at around 1am upon hearing the nebulizer and was so happy seeing me.

I can't explain the feeling but I was happy to be by her side while she is having the nebulizer thing. I needed to be back to the office the next day. Just sleep for a while in the hospital and was back home again at 4:45am. Hubby drove back to the hospital.

On her 2nd day, got a good news from her pedia that she might be able to go home on Saturday. We're so happy that time. Hubby fetched me again from home after work. The guards are strict and they didn't let hubby entered the room because our yaya is already inside. Only 2 bantay is allowed. He slept in the car.

3rd Day

It was JEL's 9th Month Day. We pumped some balloons to entertain the celebrant. However, hubby needed to go back to office to get the Philhealth papers for us to be able to go home the next day which is a Saturday. He also picked up JEL's birthday cake. It was good that the cake is nice and tasted good. It eased the tiredness of hubby. The only sad news is her pedia told us the JEL's condition is worse compared the day after and told us that she can't go home yet. She will still check if we can be discharged the next day but worst case it will be on Monday.

We also transferred from semi-private to a private room. Hubby finds our room hot and noisy. The other patient whom we share room is already 5 y.o. and keeps on playing with his cellphone. JEL can't have a good sleep. The adult watching over him is not stopping him and we don't want to make a bad deal with that.

Pix of JEL's Monthsary here.

4th Day
All of us were able to sleep better in the new room. JEL's pedia came in early. She said that she is better than yesterday but still can't be discharge because her breathing is not yet well. Sad because we will be staying longer in the hospital.

JEL's IV was transferred to her other hand because the liquid is not dropping anymore from the bottle. It was heart breaking hearing JEL crying. Hubby just advised me to just stay in our room. When baby is back, she cried a lot. The hand where the IV was removed seems to hurt so much. It was good that we're able to stop her from crying when we let her see herself in the mirror. She smiled and talked to her image in the mirror. Hubby went out to buy a portable mirror so that we won't need to go the the restroom for her mirror remedy.

5th Day
All Saints Day. Boring day for us. We are just inside our room with no TV. All the private rooms in CGH old building doesn't have one. They only have one in the new building. It's just sad that there was no available room in the building anymore. But it is still a blessing that we brought our laptop in the hospital. JEL was able to watch Yo Gabba Gabba videos that we saved in our Hard Disk.

6th Day
We're discharged. Her pedia came in early and gave us a discharge order. She advised us to give PRED10 for 2 days to complete her 7day steriods at home. We're able advised that from now on, JEL will be needing a maintenance medicine for her asthma (2 inhalers - ventolin and flixotide). She needs a puffing tool called Baby Haler. The procedure needs to be done 3x a day with a minimum interval of 6 to 8 hours. The more she cry the better because she'll be able to inhale the medicines better. We're able to get our of the hospital at 2pm. CGH discharge system is so slow. Btw, since JEL was not able to have her trick or treat, we let her wear her costume on our way back home. She was sleeping throughout the trip. She was happy when we got home and started playing with toys but have noticed that she is not moving her other hand freely. She might have thought that she still have an IV. We're telling her, " JEL, you can move your other hand". Hehehe. Well, it's nice to be back home. Hubby cleaned our room before we slept that night. Thanks also to my mom. We asked her to stay with us to help our yaya with JEL's need until she gets well.

View some of JEL's hospital pix here.

FAST TRACK to Last Saturday - JEL's follow check-up
She is getting better and better. Our pedia is happy to see a 1kg increase in her weight for just 2 weeks. She was admitted @ 7.4kg and she is now @ 8.4kg. She is also now 72cm tall. Our yaya is also telling us that she now have a good appetite. She is now consuming a minimum of 20oz milk/day and eating a saucer full of rice 3x a day. We're happy for her improvement

NOW, we need to get back to Party Planning and Preps.
Below is my checklist.
Venue: DP Paid
Caterer: Pencil Booked
Lootbag items/Prizes: Almost complete. Been to Divi AGAIN last Sunday.
Photog: DP Paid
Venue Decor: Pencil Booked
Cake: Supplier Selected. Need to discuss design and pay DP.
Celebrants Attire: Need to Finalize Designs

Btw, just want to rave about JEL's new tricks and antics at 9months.
1. Stands and Dances w/o support (the longest we've seen is ~15s)
2. Attempts to walk w/o support (The last time we saw her, she was able to make 2 steps inside her crib)
3. Knows how to " Mano" but without holding the hand of the elder yet. Just letting her forehead touch the hand.
4. Makes a kiss w/ and w/o being instructed.
5. Appreciates things and kisses them. When we gave the Doctor kit that we bought from divi, she got excited upon seeing it and kissed it. Last night, my mom brought the books that my sister bought for her. She also kissed them.
6. Claps with sounds.
7. Says mama, dada, dede, mommy, daddy, gaga or baba for yo gabba gabba.
8. Swings her body while dancing.
9. Sings inside the church with the choir.
10. Imitates laugh.
11. Knows how to call someone and asked her/him to come nearer (hand movement).
12. Waives Hi and Bye.
13. Do Hi-5, a-line and aprub!
14. Anticipates a call from mom. Our yaya told me that one time, when I called home and she was sleeping. She woke up when the phone rang and said "mama?".
15. Sings and dances to the song " I have to hands...."
16. Plays with other kids and never cry when things or toys are being taken from her. She loves to SHARE and not "madamot".
17. No more stranger anxiety. No more crying but she still needs some time before she will playing with new faces.
18. Don't cry anymore before we leave in the morning. She is now waiving her hands to us. Btw, we don't say bye to her, we only tell her " See you later".

Well, this list will be longer if I'll list every single details. That's all for now. Just a happy and proud mama.

PS:
I'll tell you a secret. Shhhh. JEL doesn't have a tooth yet. We've been waiting for it for quite some time already. Hahaha.

JEL's 1st Birthday Party Preps Update: Trip to Diviland

Last August 21, Hubby and I went to Diviland to check on items we can buy for JEL's 1st birthday. We bought a lot of stuffs but these are not complete yet. We might go back before the Christmas Rush. At least, we already know what we want and need. See contents on our luggage below.

Bday Teaser 3: Pin the Button, YGG Around the World & Writings on Minibooks

If you can't buy it, D-I-Y!

Received Some Freebies

Got these cute picture frames from KiddieParty.ph by joining their promo. Check the details here.

Bday Teaser 3: Hello! How are You?

Hubby's labor of love for his baby girl.

JEL's 1st Birthday Party Preps Update: Party Time Caterer Food Tasting - 2nd Round

I got surprised last Friday night to receive a text from Mel asking if I want to have another round of food tasting. We agreed since we're really going to Festival Mall that Saturday to do our grocery shopping. We picked up the foods at around 3pm and ate them at home. Below are the comments that I texted Mel.

Fish Fillet in Lemon Butter
US: Good but better if with sauce since it's dry.
MEL: It really has a sauce (Tartar or Black Bean) but for sample foods for pick-up they don't give it because it can be spoiled. She just want us to know what kind of fish they are using for their fish menus.

Backed Mac
US: Good also. Tasted like the Baked Spag. We still preferred the Baked spaghetti since long noddles symbolized long life.
MEL: Noted.

Beef Pot Roast in Mushroom Sauce
US: I like the sausage. LOL. Hubby said that it's better than the roast porkloin but it is super greasy. I agree with him. That would be bad for our health. But if they can choose a better beef part (less fat), we like it better than the roast porkloin.
MEL: Noted!

Sweet and Sour Pork
US: We're not able to receive it but instead got another packed sample of roast beef. Hehehe.
MEL: Noted.

Customer Service
US: Superb
MEL: None yet. I haven't tell her that we really appreciate her great Customer Service. We haven't booked anything yet and still we are getting this such good CS. Thanks!

Anyway, we advised Mel that we would still want to get the original menu that we planned. And she took note of that.

Bday Teaser 2: Spot the Difference

Hmmm. Can you spot the difference? Hahaha!

Last Weekend (July 24 to Present)

I was not supposed to have a backlog in this blog but I'm having headach for some days already and also my PC had a virus that needed to be cleaned up.

Anyway, last Friday, we suddenly decided to go to Festival Mall for us to just have a whole day rest on Saturday. We returned our printer to the repair center after seeing the same problem it had before. It was a back job. Hubby also upgraded the memory of his laptop to be more efficient on his work. We had dinner in Sai-Bachi. It was a good dinner. Hubby had their eat-all-you-can tempura, while I had their noodles and tokuyaki balls. We also went to Robinsons to look for a Baby Walking Belt but it was out of stocks. We ended up just buying shoes and additional milk container for JEL.

Saturday
We all stayed at home. Hubby tried to repair my PC but was not satisfied. He was able to install the virus scanner but the virus definition can't be updated. In the evening, he was not felling well. Was the virus from my PC got into him? Hehe.

Sunday
After our Sunday Mass, we went to ATC. We bought EPass Load, picked up our TPC pictorial prints and my LYB membership card. I also bought some cosmetics from Body Shop. I availed their Members' Birthday Privilege (20% discount on your Birth Month).

We then went to Megamall to Celebrate Ariel M.'s Birthday. Jel was able to play with Clark. See pictures here.It was awesome to see them again.

We also went to SM department store looking for the Baby Walking Belt but it was also out of stock. We just ended up buying new shoes again for JEL. No Worries. It's not expensive. We just bought it for P99.

On our way to my parents house, it was raining hard. Our windshield wiper broke. The car repair shop we went to was not able find the right size of bushing from the nearby car accessories shops. It was expected since it is a Sunday and already 3pm. We are just thankful that Manong was kind enough to do some Mac Gyver stuff. He just used an epoxy to make one wiper working. Ariel drove our car with this set-up.

In my parents house, we just had PM snacks while my family is playing with Jel. We left my parents house at 6pm.

We're still supposed to go to Antipolo for the welcome party of Ariel's cousin Jason and Her Ate's Despedida party but we opted to just go home for safety purposes. We are still from the South and it was raining hard. We are all tired when we got home.

Monday
We got excited to know that Ma'am Joji is already back after attending a quarterly review in our CA office. She was able to bring the plush toys I ordered from Ebay which was shipped to Kuya Rowen's Home. JEL was surprised seeing them. See her pictures here.

Tuesday was an ordinary day but we're thankful that Ariel felt better and JEL's colds was contained. My PC virus clean-up was also getting better after system restoration.

Yesterday, hubby and I had a lunch out to buy some balloons for JEL's 6th month Birthday today. I pumped six balloons. Pictures will be posted soon.

Today, it's already 12:47am. I'm still awake and trying to update this blog. Hehehe. Later, we will be taking a half day off for JEL's monthly Pedia check-up. We will also be picking up her cake from Recipes and Magic. Hope it would be nice and tasty!

Well, that's it. I need to sleep now. Hope I can post JEL's 6th Moth birthday pictures tonight.

JEL's 1st Birthday Party Preps Update: Party Time Caterer Food Tasting

We had our food tasting yesterday. We picked up the sample foods from Party Time Philippines Japanese Restaurant in Festival Mall. We didn't eat those foods for lunch because we ate in their resto. We had Pork Teriyaki, Tonkatsu, Gyosa and Tempura which are all good. Hubby enjoyed their Tempura and the Vegetable Balls.

By the way, we ate the sample foods at home for pm snacks. Below is our verdict.
Baked Spaghetti - I like it. Hubby said that it's a little salty but maybe because we took all the cheese toppings.
Roast Porkloin - Good but needs more sauce.
Vietnamese Spring Roll - We don't like it. We will change it to fresh lumpia.
Fudge Brownie - Yummy and Chewy - Passed!

We already informed Party Time Philippines of these comments and Mel already took note of them.

JEL's 1st Birthday Party Preps Update: Venue Hunting

We accidentally started planning for JEL's 1st birthday last May. We just saw a party planner booth in SM Molino. We got a copy of their packages last May 23 and that's how it started.

I found their packages expensive. So I searched the web for other suppliers and while surfing the net, I got into the Smart Parenting and Girl's Talk forums. I learned a lot from them that it had been my hobby to checked these forums every night.

By the way, here are the places we've been in search for the right venue for JEL's 1st Birthday:

1. Avignon - It seems the guard didn't understand us. I think we also didn't understand him. We've asked for the clubhouse and he said it was already sold. Now, I realize that he might thought that we are looking for an open house. Nevertheless, we will not go back there, the place will not be accessible for our guest coming from Pasig and QC.

2. Camella in Molino Clubhouse - We didn't take a look at it. By the look inside our car,we don't like it already.

3. AMICI Clubhouse inside Camella - Covered but not air conditioned venue. Too Small for the # of guests we're expecting.

4. Big Red Barn Alabang - The Place is nice and for really for kids but I find their packages expensive. I also don't think that it will be worth for a 1st birthday. Our baby will not be enjoying the play area yet.

5. Congo Grille Alabang - Parties are held on their 2nd floor. It's nice for a Jungle Theme party. They can customize their packages. They also have reasonable prices. However, I am not satisfied with their customer service. I was able to compare it with the comment from GT about Congo Grille El Pueblo.

6. Jollibee in Madrigal Alabang - Large Party Area but hubby doesn't want a short party time (2hrs). They also don't allow outside party host.

7. Dazo Hall in Philam Village Las Pinas - Big Party Area and have a reasonable rental fee. It can accommodate more than 200 PAX. No issue with parking. Friendly to the commuters but our guests are coming from Pasig and QC. This is quite far for them.

8. Storyland in SM Southmall - They have a party area that can accommodate 150PAX but party time is only up to 2hrs only. They have in-house party host and caterers but you can also get food from the FF inside SM.

9. Pixie Forest - We didn't inquire here but we've seen a party before in this venue. We saw another party in this place this morning and we are not comfortable with the place because the party venue is dark, noisy, small and has no privacy.

10. Fridays - They have kiddie birthday packages but we can't afford it. Hehe.

11. Orchard Golf and Country Club - They have in-house caterer and we also can't afford the prices of their menus both the buffet or sit-down. How I wish we can. But the downside is the accessibility to our guests.

12. Madrigal Center - I find the rental fee expensive for a non-A/C venue.

13. Max's near ATC - Hubby doesn't like the place.

14. Starmall - They have accredited caterers but can order from the FF inside starmall. They have reasonable birthday party packages.
a. Castle Area - Small. It can only accommodate max of 100pax.
b. Resort Area - Small and can only accommodate max of 120pax.
c. Function Room with A/C - It can accommodate 150pax but have low ceiling.
d. Function Area (Open sides, covered, no AC) - It has a capacity of 500pax but can rent half of the place only. Pictures of the place is seen here.

We wished to celebrate JEL's birthday in our clubhouse but it's small and can only accommodate 40-50pax. Currently, we are leaning towards the non-A/C function area in Starmall due to it's accessibility to our guests and their not so expensive venue rental fee. We are also not obliged to get their packages. The only downside is that they have accredited caterers and they charge corkage fee for outsourced food carts and party host.

Bday Teaser

This is just a teaser. Trying my luck on digital scrapbooking using scrapblog. Sorry for being an excited 1st time mom. Hihi. By the way, this is just part of Jel's 1st bday party preps.