Peaches!

What a way to end the week - see photo.

H bought this sweetheart from a block mate, Abi, who posted about selling Dashcund-Labrador mixed puppies.  Since H has always wanted to buy his parents a puppy, he went for this and reserved one.  We couldn't get her right away since she still needed time with her mommy so we had to wait  a while.  Today was the day we were bringing her home! I had work so H was the one who picked her up and cared for her during the day, which included cleaning her pee twice and poo once! So proud of H, haha.

Early tonight, we drove to Alabang to bring her home to my parents-in-law.  It was a bad ride for her as she was crying most of the time.  It was a mix between crying and sleeping for her, actually.  We were going to let her sleep in the living room tonight but I was just too worried about her crying at night and not having anyone to soothe her so I suggested she sleep in our room.  BAD IDEA.  She kept crying and crying and crying.  She'd sleep for maybe 45 minutes, then wake up, and cry, and, well, wake us both up! Which explains why I'm awake NOW: 1AM.  I decided to get up and play with her a bit to make her stop crying and observed that she was kind of shivering.  I realized, she must be feeling cold! Solution? And she hasn't woken/cried since (knock-on-wood).

I guess I got a taste of how it must feel to take care of a baby - helpless and frail, will just cry and cry until it gets what it wants.  Difficult part? You have to guess what it wants! Anyway, I suppose that's just .0005 of the many things I still need to learn about child/infant care.  Partly scared, but looking forward to this new experience.  I have (a little over) 4 months to go!

A Teacher's Desk

I was looking at my desk today and thought of blogging about my personal space...

1: Runner's World magazine cover.  I used to have the one with Piolo Pascual on the cover but removed it at the end of last school year.  This one always reminds me of the 42-km goal.  I know I'm on running hiatus now, but this serves as my inspiration! :) I WILL get back to running in less than a year's time! :)

2: Calendar of Activities.  Every month, we have one given to each faculty member and it's good to have that on my desk so I don't forget anything!

3: Asics AD.  I forget now what quote is on it but I just remember liking it, therefore keeping it up there.

4: Chupa Chups! Anytime I feel a student needs rewarding, I get one from my stash and share it with the kid/s :)

5: Trash bin.  What's a desk without a trash bin? A dirty under-the-table area!

6: Human Nature Day Moisturizer.  I'm really no girly-girl.  But I've noticed my skin to be a bit dry especially in the mornings so this really helps give moisture to my face (may ganun?).  Although I don't apply make-up, I put this on every morning.

7: Be hygienic! A roll of tissue for when I need to go to the comfort room - which is very often these days since my uterus, as I have read, pushes on my bladder and causes me to pee quite often.

8: Gap Dream.  Mmm, yummy scent and keeps me from smelling like fried-something when I come from the canteen.

9: Pens.  A teacher's essentials: really good black and red pens! Mine's usually Standard, Pilot, BIC or HBW :P (cheapos, hehe)

10: My Sun phone.  What I usually use to connect to my mom and other people here at home.  Globe phone (iPhone 3GS) was being used to take the photo!

11: Papers to check.  A pile of them, mind you. That's actually a staple already on my desk.  Not good :(

12: Bath and Body Works' White Citrus hand soap.  Smells sooo good! :) But my #1 favorite is still Dancing Waters <3

13: Bible.  Enough said.

14: My "name tag".  This is quite special to me because it's always been just Mary Elizabeth Ng for the past 4 years.  I got a new one this year since, well, duh, I got married.  Hihi.

**

There are tons more of stuff to discuss but maybe some other time.  For now, my eyes are dying for some shut-eye! Good night and I hope your desk looks better than mine (i.e. no pile of papers to check!).

P.S. Didn't label it, but look at our wedding photo booth (below Runner's World magazine cover) <3 Having that photo there reminds me of good times and even better times ahead :)

Hello, Monday!

Mondays are usually very tiring for me.  I have 4 classes which are unevenly spread out throughout the day.  Just one class in the morning and then 3 classes in the afternoon! I'm usually pooped on Mondays but what kept me energized? Baby's tiny movements that I could feel throughout the day.  He is indeed a boy, ang likot! I kept feeling bubbles in my tummy all day hehehe.  I can't wait to feel the actual kicks!

**
If you don't know it yet, H and I live with my parents and will be doing so for maybe a few more years.  After all, it's a pretty roomy house for just my parents and brother.  There's an extra room that my mom wants to convert into the nursery.  I was initially against this, thinking that Baby would definitely be sleeping in our bedroom.  I realized, though, that he would need a place to stay during the day where nanny can also stay in without necessarily having to be in our private space.  Also, a separate room would be able to house family and friends who would like to visit Baby :) So, I've been browsing through websites to get ideas for the said nursery.  So many cute ideas!

Project Nursery





Lay Baby Lay

There are just so many ideas! I wonder, though - where to get super cute decoration? I love the ones that go up the wall (stickers, letters, etc.)! I wonder if they have it in Rustan's? Can't wait to go shopping for Baby! Three months to go...mom has requested that I shop only by February (I'll be 7 months then), early shopping might cause bad luck daw.  Well, I don't believe in it but neither am I risking it! 

Baby Bump!

Hooray! I'm beginning to look less fat and more pregnant! My uterus, though has not risen much yet so my bump is still below my navel. But I've already started wearing maternity blouses since 2 of my teacher uniforms no longer fit without any button threatening to pop out! At this point, I have also started feeling baby's little movements. No kicks yet but flutters and what seems like a tiny fish swimming around in me. Amazing. I think if anything, this whole pregnancy has deepened my awe with God and His wonders.

Yup, STRETCH MARKSSSS.  And yes again, that's baby's name (for now).  Liam was suggested by Nini, my sister-in-law.  Looked it up and it means strong/protector - perfect for a dragon baby! As for Jacob, it means "he who supplants".  That's not the reason why I like the name, though.  I've just always been fond of how it sounds (no relation whatsoever to Twilight's Jacob Black, pleeease).  We're not yet 100% sold on this but for now, this stays.

Cheers to a good week ahead!

It's A Boy!

Starting today, H won't be the only man in my life now ;) Just had a 2D ultrasound that revealed that our baby is indeed a cute little boy! :) Love, love, love! Vinny was occupied today so I asked two of my girl friends to go with me - Cla and Aids.  Both gladly obliged and were super 100% supportive.  Maid of honor (Aids) was stuck in traffic, though, so I just had Cla.

Everytime I'm scheduled to have an ultrasound or OB appointment, I'm always nervous prior to it thinking that something might have happened to the baby - paranoid.  Today, two seconds after the doctor put the "thing" on my abdomen, she said, "Oh there's your baby!" What a relief! Even better was that baby was very much active in my womb (which I still cannot feel, at the moment).  His legs and arms were moving! Such a magical moment :) At some point, the doctor even caught the baby thumb sucking! Here's a photo of that:

The doctor asked me if I wanted to find out the gender since some don't opt for this and prefer the suspense.  As for H and I, we'd rather know to be able to prepare better.  The doctor said, "Okay, in that case... baby is... 100% BOY!" The minute she said "100%" I already had an idea she was going to say BOY.  The receptionist/assistant said that at 17 weeks, if the assessment is a GIRL, it may or may not be accurate.  However, if it were a boy, it's SURE to be a boy - the boy, cannot be mistaken for a girl.

I admit that I was hoping for a girl for a first baby.  I think I said that already - so for the first 5 minutes or so, I was a BIIIIIT disappointed.  But eventually got over myself when I saw how cute the little thing was! I can't help but be in awe thinking there's a little person moving and playing around inside me! :) I immediately told my mom and H, and both were ecstatic.  Though mom was also hoping for a girl, she said, "Well, if God wants a boy first, then so be it!"

I must say, In My Womb Ultrasound Clinic is the bomb! They have these little rooms for the ultrasound procedures and in each room, there's a space for guests (family and friends) of the mommy who want to see baby.  Even better, they don't have to peek into the monitor! There's a big-enough HD TV mounted on the wall for them to view the baby.  Awesome! They have clinics in SM MOA, SM Megamall (where I went), The Fort and SM Pasay.  Highly recommended.

ACTUALLY.  Everything about this day so far has been great.

After the ultrasound, Cla and I walked around a bit.  I eventually felt my stomach growl so we looked for a place to eat.  We saw this new Japanese restaurant - Yabu by the Atrium and decided to give it a try.  It's a Katsudon place that has very nice interiors and really good food! Very authentic.  We also had Gong Cha (my first time) which did not disappoint! I think I like it even better than Serenitea.

Here's my friend Clarisse with her Pork Katsudon Set.  It comes with cabbage salad, fruits, miso soup, Japanese rice and a generous serving of pork Katsudon.  Good that they have three different sizes for their meat (chicken/pork/seafood options).  Clarisse got the medium-sized.

I was initially craving for Chinese food so I think dinner will be Chinese.  Waiting for H to pick me up at home and then we'll be off to mass + dinner.  He's in a pretty happy mood since he's been praying for Baby Guce to be a Baby BOY Guce ;)

Today gives me license to check out anything BLUE for baby :p NOT buying YET but at least I can now be more focused on my window shopping! :D

Ah, life is good to those who are good (I try!).

Four Months!

I know I said that 9 months seem like such a long wait...but, hey, I'm four months already! It's not so long as I thought and times DOES fly by super fast! Now I only have 1 month to go before I know the baby's gender and 5 months before baby pops out! Thankfully, gone are the days that I seem to be hugging the toilet bowl for relief...or those days when everything just seems to give me a wave of nausea.  Food is now something I just can't get enough of ;) Throughout the months, I have done a lot of thinking (yes, despite being very busy with work) - the kind of thinking that allows me to really reflect on motherhood and it's effect on my life.  When this pregnancy was very new to me, I'd still feel bad about not being able to run that marathon I so wanted to run early 2012.  Today, I'm just bent on taking better care of myself (yes, I did go home at 12:00 MN last night, eeep!) so that baby and I both end up healthy AND THEN running after baby comes out...which I REALLY hope I get to do! I'm just worried that I might be so glued to baby that I never want to leave his/her side.  We'll see!

My officemate has just recently gotten an ultrasound which revealed she was going to have a baby girl! I admit, I got quite jelly.  Originally, I was hoping for a girl.  Why? 1, free education at the school I work in.  2, I love how close my relationship is with my own mom and always imagined to have the same kind of rapport with my own daughter.  3, I feel it's more fun to dress up a girl than it is a boy ;) Now, I'm thinking...if I do have a girl, that will mean I won't leave teacher in the said school, ever! Of course H can afford sending our kid to school without me having to teach there for free tuition...but what a huge relief if tuition fee were no longer a problem, right? If I do have a boy, plans are... 1, move to either Xavier (might not be so easy seeing that the school's are right across each other...too close for comfort?). 2, stop teaching and do something else...? But I think H doesn't like the idea of #2 so much.  He feels that we will be able to live a more comfortable life in a situation where both husband and wife are working.  Agreed.  Hrmmm, then again, it wouldn't be so bad to have to teach for life...would it?

Ayayay.  Decisions, decisions.  I guess before I worry about these things, first things first...find out baby's gender! It will also make shopping easier - will trim down list of things to buy to just one color...pink or blue! ;)