overcast weather

yesterday after work, the husband & i passed by Ace Hardware to rent a trolley for our weekend move. we also passed by Ikea to have a quick dinner and buy some cleaning brushes. since the Dubai Festival City now offers the eco-carwash system, which we’ve tried and tested several times, we decided to have our car washed since Yumi’s looking so filthy already from the past days’ sandstorms.

i suppose you’ve already guessed what happened next. yes, just after the car was washed and cleaned like a brand new mean machine, rain started to pour as we were just a kilometer away from our building. with a stroke of bad luck, Yumi also lost her rear window wiper ‘cos the carwash guy didn’t put it back properly. tsk, tsk! and to make matters worse, we didn’t have an umbrella in the car (not that we use it frequently anyway as it rains here for like 5 times in a year!) so that meant i had to scram away from the vehicle to get some shelter while carrying a bag that has a patina to protect.

this morning as we were leaving the building, the skies were dark and heavy, wind was gusting and it was drizzling. when we got off the bend to get to the highway, rain started to pour, and it was non-stop until we got to our destination. for a brief moment, it felt like being in Manila again. we were at Chowking having breakfast along with other Filipinos, while outside the window, a lot of Pinoys were walking about with their umbrellas. it was like being home on a rainy day of July!

Hazel told me it even rained hail last night, too. she was on the way to the mall when she thought someone was throwing pebbles at her car. looks like it would be a wet weekend, which i hope & pray for isn’t! we’re moving flats, and the last thing we need is a damp weather. oh please, heavens, not this weekend! (yes, Coldplay fans – i’m praying with you, too!)

my bestfriend's wedding

last Saturday, my guy bestfriend tied the knot with the girl of his dreams, and unfortunately, i missed it. i was supposed to be part of the entourage, but i had to decline because:

1.) we’re launching our new system this April & i’m the business champion – not allowed to go on leave!
2.) we’re shifting apartments
3.) i’m pregnant and couldn’t commit to travel

i saw the pictures in Facebook the other night, and felt so bad missing the event! i really wanted to be there for them, but with all these circumstances, i couldn’t. i know he understands my reasons but i couldn’t help but feel upset for missing this important milestone in his life. *big sigh!*

baby's first gifts

the moment bessie B learned about Baby D’s gender (around my 12th week after my nuchal test), she started buying stuff for the little one. i myself haven’t gotten around to buying any clothing for the li'l boy, and my bestfriend beat me to it! here are some of the stuff she bought weeks ago:


B told me that whenever she and her bf are out in the mall, she'd always find herself grabbing a thing or two for the baby. even the bf has also started picking out a few stuff for Baby D. and we’re thankful that apart from these items that they purchase from time to time, they have committed to gift our little angel his baby cot & mattress, too. so sweet of them, don’t you think?

the big move

….is happening this weekend - wish us luck! i’ve found a trusted mover that can help us with our stuff, and we also found a buyer for our two aircon units who will purchase them for a fair price. yey, now we have a budget to get a new fridge! (i’m still working it out if he can buy our old fridge, too!)

last weekend was so tiring for us, but we’re happy we managed to do a lot of legwork related to the move. we even had time to spare to attend a birthday party and answer a friend’s S.O.S. we have signed the contract for the new flat’s lease, settled all payments & deposits, and got the keys turned over to us. we also moved a number of small items to our new flat. thanks to Ace Hardware’s Rental Scheme, we were able to borrow a trolley for a minimal fee (AED 23 – USD 6.25), which helped Ryan immensely in moving lots of boxes and items at a time without having to worry about breaking his back! we were treated afterwards to good company & a nice dinner meal courtesy of my cousin, Sarj.

this week will be a lot busier for us but we really don’t mind. we’re excited to move to our new home, and we can’t wait to start decorating (and baby proofing!) it.

halfway through

i had my check up today with my OB, Dr. Dawn Robinson, and was given the great news that the results of my ultrasound were ‘beautiful’ *music to my ears!* my placenta is finally moving up (no longer sitting next to the cervix) and everything is going well. ahm, well, not everything actually. i gained 2.9 kg since my last check up, which she thinks is excessive for a month’s time, so i need to cut down on my rice intake and watch what i eat. to watch out for any UTI comeback, she also ordered for a urine culture to see if there’s any infection that we need to keep track of.

baby's profile at 20 weeks & 1 day

sadly, my doctor is moving back to the US by end of this week, so that means our encounter today was the last one we’d ever have. she wished me good luck and had advised me to pick my new doctor who will look after me until i give birth. i really like my city girl of a doctor so much, but i’ve no other choice, so with a slightly heavy heart, i booked my next appointment with another OB-GYNE whom i’m convinced is excellent to take care of me and Baby D.

on the lighter side of things, it was also confirmed that we’re having a boy indeed! yey! i’m impressed with the sonographer during the nuchal testing – he was able to spot right there and then our baby’s gender – and he was damn right! now that we’re 100% sure Baby D’s a li’l squirt, Mommy can start shopping for his other baby essentials and can finally choose the colors fitted for a prince. i’m getting more and more keyed up by the day!

i'm a boy!

so, how’s the Daddy-to-be doin’ so far? he’s very excited and was so thrilled to hear the news that he’s asked me to scan the pics and send it to him straight away. who wouldn’t be when you know you’d have a 'little you' coming your way soon? :)

the ride - check!

(see, i told you i’m getting crazy about baby shopping! am i starting to sound like Becky Bloomwood already?)

last night, baby’s travel system was finally delivered to our doorstep. the set was our first purchase for the little angel, and we decided to buy it because we thought it’s wise to buy the more expensive ones first before the smaller items that we might even end up getting as gifts. during the Dubai Shopping Festival last January, we had a look around the baby shops here to canvass how much we’d need to spend on baby essentials. and before we knew it, we were ordering a push chair and a car seat already! we couldn’t resist the offer because they were on sale and we ended up saving AED 900 (USD 245).

these are what we got from Good Baby, who’s the official distributor of Quinny and Maxi-Cosi in the UAE:

4-wheel drive...

...in an unusual blue color

the royal seat in the car

unfortunately, they ran out of Strawberry and Storm colors, so it was a toss between Breen and Capri. hubby won with his choice, which is an unusual color for a Buzz 4. we were lucky there were still a few stocks left of the Phantom color for the Maxi Cosi Cabrio-Fix car seat because we wanted something neutral. we didn’t buy the Easy Base though ‘cos we thought it’s quite pricey for something that’s gonna be used only for a few months.

considering the other items in our list that we need to buy, we were happy that we were able to scrap off these two items immediately. apart from the expenses of antenatal and delivery, which i’m happy to note that my health insurance will fully cover, these two gets the biggest chunk of our budget, and we are pleased we were able to pay for them ahead. the remaining items in our list are mostly for clothing, bathing, sleeping (courtesy of my bessie) & diapering. i’m not worried about those ‘cos they’re easier to get once we move to our new place.

kreativ blogger award

my blog sisters, Pat & Joanne awarded me with this:

thanks a ton, ladies! :)

the rules that go along with this blogger award are as follows:

name 7 things that you love then pass this onto 7 other kreativ bloggers. in no particular order, here are my loves:

1. my family

2. my friends

3. eating (obvious ba?)

4. shopping, especially when i get a good bargain (same here, Pat)

5. my shoes & bags

6. cooking

7. my work

passing this on to Valerie, Vannie, Jody, Cheryll, Drea, Jade & Mich.

baby stuff shopping and some updates

online shopping can be so addictive!  i’ve recently discovered The Soft Landing, an online store that exclusively sells products free of BPA, PVC & Phthalates, and i couldn’t get enough of it! i thank my lucky stars that they ship here in the UAE! :)  despite the shipping costs, i still liked buying from them because i know i’ll never be able to find their products here (i’ve already combed Baby Shop, BabiesRUs, Good Baby and Mothercare), plus they have almost everything that i need feeding-wise.

now that BPA-made bottles are a thing of the past considering the toxic implications they have on infants, the first items that landed on my shopping cart were the feeding bottles and extra nipples and accessories.  we didn't want to take any chances, so hubby and i decided on getting the Dr. Brown’s Polypropylene feeding bottles because of their good reviews, especially on their special two-piece internal vent system that prevents feeding problems like colic, spit-up, burping and gas.  a fellow blogger, Jane, swears by it, too. with the homework i’ve done,  i’m personally convinced they were a good buy.  it claims “it’s system is almost as close to breastfeeding as our baby can get”… i just hope Baby D will like it *cross fingers!*. 

other items we also bought were Nuby & Playtex sippy cups, Milkmate breastmilk storage bottles (which, by the way, are a lot cheaper than Medela), baby cubes, Sassy alphabet & numbers bathroom appliqués (for more water fun while bathing), Nuby & Je Je teethers for gnawing, Sassy feeding pots and bowls, and Nuby spoons (for when baby’s ready to eat solids) plus a Nosefrida Aspirator and a Kiddopotamus Bibbity Bib and Roll. for the total amount we’ve paid, we still saved lots of kachings, considering the exorbitant prices of baby stuff here.  and if there are shops that do sell a handful of them, they jack up the prices like crazy!  case in point: Dr. Brown’s Wideneck 4 oz 3-pack bottles were being sold at Mothercare for AED 210 (USD 57), and they weren’t even BPA-free…dang!

i enjoy window shopping so much!  little by little, i've been buying some baby stuff these days.  in fact, it has become my stress reliever.  it keeps me from feeling anxious about my pregnancy and worrying about stuff that i shouldn’t be worrying about (trust me, reading a lot can sometimes bring you unnecessary distress!).  i’m a few days halfway through (my 20^th week is on Saturday) and this Sunday, i have a check up and scheduled ultrasound to see how baby’s progressing in my belly. i pray everything’s alright with the little one, who has now become my little tickling machine.  baby’s moving a lot these days, which i welcome as a good sign.  and finally last Friday, Ryan was able to feel his kicks and squirms, much to the Daddy-to-be’s delight :)

my precious journal

two weeks ago, i found this beautiful journal at Magrudy's:

the moment i laid my eyes on it, i instantly fell in love!  (look at the following pages inside and you'll understand why)

being the sentimental person that i am, i bought this journal without thinking twice. and i carry it with me most of the time so that when i feel inspired to write, i jot down my thoughts, with hopes that my child will appreciate this when he grows older.  this journal will definitely go inside the time capsule i plan on keeping for the little angel. 

my current reads

i love reading ever since i was 8 years old. when i was in gradeschool, i always go for summer vacation at my cousins', and the favorite thing i'd do back then was ransack their school books, particularly their reading books. oh, i could still picture the joy on my face going through all the pages! i am particularly interested in fiction - keeps my imagination oiled and running. but now that i'm pregnant, i became drawn to books that are related to pregnancy and child rearing.

for now, these are what's laid on my bedside table:

the "What To Expect..." was a book i bought at National Bookstore during our holiday last December. i got it 3 days after i learned i'm pregnant. i love this book a lot! gives me peace of mind at times when i'd find myself experiencing pregnancy-related symptoms and other what-have-you's for the first time. a pregnancy bible indeed!

"The Smart Mom's Guide..." was given by my friend & kumare, M, last Christmas. quite interesting 'cos it was designed for Pinay Moms and Moms-to-be. learned a lot from this book, too.

"Chicken Soup for The Soul - On Being a Parent" was a Christmas gift from my in-laws. our pregnancy couldn't have come at a better time, so they thought of giving us this book to prepare ourselves to the beautiful journey of parenthood. the book's heartwarming and inspiring stories makes me feel more excited to become a parent.

now that i am expecting, i am more inclined to read books more than ever. aside from these paperbacks, i recently bought "Marley & Me" and "For One More Day", which i haven't read yet. i'm so excited to pore through the pages already!

three blind mice

more of like three busted mice!

i don't know what's wrong with me, but in the last year and a half of owning Amanda, i have broken 3 Mighty Mice already. naman!

pathetic, but i'm using an IBM mouse temporarily. i miss squeezing the sides to launch Expose! i wanna get a new one, but it's gonna cost me AED 500 (USD 135) here. i wonder if it's cheaper in Manila (no one's traveling to the US eh!).

cute blogger award

thanks Jody for this award! sorry had to post it so late.

1. each blogger must post these rules.
2. each blogger starts with ten random facts/habits about themselves.
3. bloggers that are tagged need to write ten facts about themselves. you need to choose ten people to tag and list their names.

so, here are my ten, weird, random, little known facts or habits about myself.

1.) my love for shoes is greater than my love for bags.
2.) i love collecting bed sheets! the softer, the better. i got that from my Dad who buys Cannon beddings from the Bill Blass line when we were younger.
3.) squid balls sold in Ayala Avenue are one of my comfort foods. the last time we were in Manila, i enjoyed eating them at Greenbelt 3 (just across the chapel).
4.) i can’t leave for work without checking my personal emails and other networking accounts. i do that while i slather on moisturizer on my skin and dress up for work.
5.) i’m a closet Britney Spears fan! just to be clear, i only like her music, not her way of life.
6.) i love grocery shopping. i scan every aisle and buy whatever i fancy. it’s a stress reliever errand for me.
7.) i can spend two hours straight in a bookstore.
8.) i cry like a baby when writhing in pain.
9.) i love traveling but i hate airports!
10.) give me a plateful of hot, steamed rice, chopped chili, onions & tomatoes in soy sauce, and fried, crispy galunggong, and i’d say that’s heaven on earth!

passing on this tag to Pat, Cheryll, Faye, Kelly, Mandy, Mich, Joanne, Laine, Vannie and Weng.

weepy me

finally, Marley & Me was shown in the UAE! i had the chance to watch it last night with hubby.


i cried buckets from the middle towards the end of the movie. it was so embarrassing! good thing i'm pregnant...i had my hormones to blame for being weepy. but i know that even if i'm not pregnant, i'd still cry to death from the movie. i suddenly felt the urge to go home and see my beloved dogs, Chloe, Chooey & Alexis. *i miss you guys!*

"a dog doesn't care if you're rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull. give him your heart and he will give you his." - very well said, John Grogan!

circus day

last Thursday, i dragged the husband to watch the Chinese State Circus in Dubai Festival City. it was a 2-hour show, which i must say was quite entertaining. but to be honest, amidst all the spectacular stunts the performers did (especially the talented ladies!), what made us enjoy the show the most was the crowd. such appreciative spectators *picture oohhs and aahhs from 3 year-olds*!

i’m glad we did take time to watch. it gave us something to do on a lazy Thursday night (not that we don’t have much to do – we still have a lot of stuff to pack!) i liked the bicycle ride stunt the most where 15 people rode a single bike – great balance! i wish i bought my camera with me, but i was too lazy to.

i hope next time we could watch the Cirque de Soleil at Ibn Battuta Mall. but that needs a bigger budget ‘cos i’d like to watch it from the best seat of the house *wishful thinking!*. oh well, let’s see if i’ll be lucky and get free tickets for that.

winner again

i guess it's true what they say about preggy women being quite lucky. just as i checked my mails, i received a note from Ahlan that i've won a beach day with lunch at Jebel Ali Golf Hotel & Spa! yey! :)

now, if only there's lottery here...