Dear Sweetie,

It’s your 18th month birthday today. How time really, really flies. You have reached many milestones and your daddy and I are always in awe of the changes we see in you.

You are a sweet little girl. You know how to make mommy and daddy smile by giving us those unexpected pecks on the cheeks and the tightest hugs. I love it when I wake up from sleep while you motion those little arms to embrace me.

You have learned the habit of waking up early in the morning to crawl to mommy’s bedside. At times you just cry to wake up mommy so I would carry you to our bed. You haven’t let go of your pinching habit. It does the trick though when you want to put yourself to sleep. There are nights when I see your hands motioning to pinch while you were asleep. You might be doing that in your dreams, it’s so cute to watch.

We are happy to see you eat well. You now use the word “milk” not just to ask for milk but to mean that you are hungry. Your craving for solids increase by the day and you can’t last a day without a serving of rice and viand. For snacks, you enjoy nibbling Arnott’s and the Wiggles alphabet biscuits. You still like Original or Berri orange juice and Yakult.

Music forms a big part of your day. You get bored easily if you watch a show without the usual song and dance. Even mommy had to use different tones in teaching you shapes and numbers just to keep you engaged. By the way, you are doing well with your counting and can recite from 1 to 10. You can also mimic the words to describe the shapes – circle, square, rectangle and triangle. I will one day capture them on video so we can show your grandparents, uncles and aunts back home.

You also developed a few not-so-nice habits. You have mastered the art of screaming at the top of your lungs when you are frustrated. This usually happens when you get cranky and we’re not at the comforts of our home. Before, you just ignore the kitchen drawers and the stairs. Now you can climb up the stairs in a flash and mommy has to climb and skip a few steps just to reach you.

When you feel full or no longer interested to finish your meal, you will spit them out unlike before when you just close your mouth when mommy aims the spoon. You never liked using straws for drinking, instead you prefer mommy to hold the cup while you drink from it. Before, you are happy to play in your own corner in the living room. Some of our guests took note of it and was surprised to see how we manage to keep our space neat and tidy. Now, I clear up your toys tons of times a day. You pull the books and magazines out from the shelves and take delight on stepping on them. Soon, mommy would love for you to learn to keep your toys away.

But all those not-so-nice habits pale in comparison to the happiness that you bring. We love you to bits, Amelie. May God bless you and keep you safe always.

xoxoxo,
Mommy

Tags: 18th months old

You might have heard about the MySpace suicide that happened in 2006 which ended with a charge against a mother and her daughter (the Drew’s), who conspired to harass the victim, Megan Meier.

In a nutshell, the Drew’s and another co-conspirator Ashely Grills, registered a fake MySpace account under a boy’s name and tricked to befriend the victim. After a few weeks of blossoming cyber friendship, the Drew’s started to bombard the then 13 yr old Megan with hate messages, which eventually led to a suicide.

The victim’s mother Tina Meier spoke on a TV interview yesterday after the charges were laid by the courts. It was depressing to watch. Imagine losing your child to suicide? I am sure she had asked herself what she could have done to save her daughter.

How do we keep our children safe from people like the Drew’s? We shower our kids with love and encouragement so that they will live with self-esteem but how do we help them deal with the outside environment – their school, the people they hang out with? Thinking about this make me feel helpless.

I can only pray that this is the last incident of its kind.

[news source: Sydney Morning Herald]

Tags: lori drew

I was clearing up piles of paper on our computer table when I saw copies of old church programs.  One copy has this reminder:

When you are driven, you seek other people’s approval by focusing strictly on the goal.  But when you are passionate, you relish the journey as much as the destination.  Driven people burn out — passionate people don’t.

I’m not sure about the source/author but I definitely needed to read this.  I hope you all have a beautiful weekend!

Tags: drive, passion

I’ve done a short version of this on my ex-blog and was tagged to do this on my hobbies blog. Since I want to take this to-do list seriously, I am posting it here for the sake of accountability. Hee.

Thanks Mee for encouraging me to do a more comprehensive list!

1. Enrol in photography classes. - deadline: Thu, May 15 Sent intent to enrol online. Waiting for feedback. DONE!!

2. Sign-up for a new web *bleep*. - deadline: Fri, May 16 DONE!!

3. Order new lens from the shop. - deadline: Wed, May 14 Will wait until I finish my classes so I can decide better on which lens to get.

4. Sort baby stuff to be passed on to Amy. - deadline: Sun, May 18

5. Wire money for forex. - deadline: Sun, May 18

6. Finish 8 memes! - deadline: uggh! end of the month?

7. Finish digital scrap pages for Amelie’s 1st year! - deadline: another uggh: end of the year?

8. Spring cleaning in Autumn. Sort our summer clothes and pack them. - deadline: Sun, May 25

9. Bring A’s immun records for nurse’s update. - deadline: Mon, May 19

10. Pick-up plane tickets. - deadline Tue, May 20

11. Schedule appointment with chiro. Ask Roselle for referred clinic. - Sun, May 19

12. Send required stuff for Amelie’s art desk. - Fri, May 16

13. Bake choco marble cake! - Fri, May 16

14. Convert driver’s license. - EOM

15. Update LP entries.

16. Do more blog-rounds.

I wonder how long it will take me to finish them all.

BUSY PEOPLE: 1.) my chopsuey 2.) mind bubbles 3.) vanity kit 4.) somethingpurple 5.) a detour 5.) juls random thoughts 6.) meeya’s memes and finds 7.) Marikit 8.) Strawberrygurl

What’s on your list? I’d like to ask: Hazel and Mamajo.

Tags: to-dos

After almost three years of being a marikit, Toni has now found a new home, her very own home.

The first time she asked about signing up for a domain a few months ago, I already felt that ‘the time’ has come. I always believed in her and her blog’s potential and I know she can maximize that when she becomes independent of the marikit community.  That is why when she asked for help to setup her new home, I did not think twice.

It is so nice to see her blog grow to become a success. She has drawn lots of readers, what with her wit and positive energy reflected in all of her writings.

I am so proud of her and I am sure the rest of the marikit sisses are proud of her, too. So friends, blogger-friends and lurkers-alike, let us continue to support Toni and Wifely Steps!

Tags: hostees, wifely steps

My new blogger friend, Joy, sent me this 5-star blog award! Thanks, girl!

Now, I thought of a tag to go along this award, which I’ll pass to 5 more blogger friends. The question goes, “Who or what inspired you to start blogging?” I am very much interested to know.

So, I pass this award to Weng, Pinky, Julie, Roselle and Willa!

Last Sunday, the church we go to had a special program prepared for Mother’s Day. I took a few photos with my very reliable camphone (save for the photo of the flowers, which I took at home using my dslr). From left to right: the youth (within the tween to teen age bracket) and kids presented a skit about the important roles that mothers play in our day to day living; next, the kids stood by the door while watching an audio visual presentation again prepared by the youth. This part made me teary-eyed and my daughter’s not even on the video! The kids were asked questions like, “If you have 1M dollars, what would you give your mom?”, “What are your favorite activities with mom?” The answers were all cute, sweet and funny!

In the second row of photos, the usual cuppa (cup of tea/tea break) at the hall was prepared inside the church; the next photo is with yours truly and my bebe. In the last row of photos; the iris stems were given to each mom who were there and the last photo was taken while Amelie was busy playing inside the crying room.

We were supposed to go on a picnic at Mt. Annan that afternoon but the weather didn’t cooperate. The skies were gloomy and it started to rain in the area. Good thing we had a back-up plan. Together with our church mates and friends, we went to Blacktown and had a Filipino food fiesta at the Parco’s residence.

It was a simple yet memorable Mother’s day. I am looking forward to next year’s when Amelie can already talk and be able to greet me. That would be the best gift!

Tags: mt. annan, punchbowl

Hubby went home last night with this big, white box. I asked him what it is and he said it is a gift from my Ate Crizel from the Philippines. It was a pleasant surprise indeed! This chocolate cake does not only look good, it tastes so good, too!

Ate asked me to take photos of the cake and thought of sharing them here, too. That shot with my sister was taken at our rented condo in Savannah, Singapore in 2007.

Thank God for sisters!

Having a sister is like having a best friend you can’t get rid of. You know whatever you do, they’ll still be there. ~Amy Li

Tags: gateau, my sister's gift

and I won’t be celebrating it if not for the two of you…

I Love You Both To The Moon and Back!

And here’s my big shout out to all the moms out there,

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!! May your days be always special!

Tags: mother's day 2008

After a month of paid blogging, I’m now feeling a little choked up with all the must-dos and have-tos that go with it. You see, I jumped in way too fast to even think if I can take on the unforeseen challenges.

First, paid blogging is demanding of time and focus. Since I started in April, I have been hitting the sack between 12mn - 1am. Not that there were too many ad assignments coming my way, an average of 2-3/day on a weekday is more than enough to overwhelm me. But there are strings of requirements that you must fulfill. Such as your paid blogging site must have regular non-paid entries, there’s even one that requires a non-paid before and after each paid post. Ha! Then, you must take care of your Google PR ranking and site traffic, too. Well, we bloggers can do so much to reach a high PR ranking. I read from a forum that Google has now removed Technorati and Bloglines as a measure for PR calculations.

Second, I find that I’ve become too focused on making more money out of blogging that I’m neglecting my personal blog. This is my diary. All the posts here, no matter how badly written are all details of my life. I want to continue to fill this with memories, good and bad.

Third, I want to use my spare time (that means when my two charms are in bed), to pursue my hobby. A “love” project is in the works and I can only manage to “squeeze” it in between updating my paid blogging sites. Not fair.

So, I am giving myself up to end of this month to see if my feelings about my paid blogging venture will be the same. Who knows, I might just be adjusting to my new schedule. If only my focus is to mainly earn then I won’t be writing this entry. I will be working hard to reach the 4-digit monthly earnings. However, I find that my heart is not in the right place at this time.

I tell you, you must have a passion for paid blogging if you want to earn good money. I managed to make a few hundreds out of my April efforts. It’s not bad, really. But it is hard work.