My cousin Bianca gave me this box from Echostore. Of course I love everything inside. And I love this box. I love anything that is Filipino made. So I made it my Washi tape box. 

Isn't it nice? Any recent finds you'd like to share? 😊

Merry Christmas

LGU Christmas Party 2014

I could barely remember when was the last time I attended an LGU Christmas Party. I was so excited and nervous that night. We prepared so many prizes for everyone and we wanted everyone to have fun that night. I do hope that it was a night to remember because it was for me.

Our initial display.

My MSWDO family

Hope you guys had fun that night.

What I got that night. The black notebook from Dr. Rosario Mosqueda and the rest from my manita, Collete Florentino.

My Love for Calligraphy

I've always loved writing, reading and doing posts such as this. I've always felt comfortable inside a bookstore or a school supplies store. Given the chance to choose clothes over school/office supplies, I would take the latter. It was only during the past few weeks that my love for calligraphy has started to surface. I've had fountain pens since I was in medical school but everytime I use it, I felt that it was for something else. So imagine my relief when I finally realized where I could use it. Hubby kept telling me that I have way too much pens :)

During one of our trip to Manila, I just had to add more pens. So I hoarded fountain pens at Scribe Eastwood Mall. Plus I bought a few other items, like my embosser.

Love them...

I have seen some works that I love and hope to be like them someday. Here are just a sample of their posts. I love their work.

Ella_lama

Scribblingeyemd

thefozzybook

oceanchelle

the_md_writes

I also bought my first nib, with holder and ink from iam_artisan. You can check out her store at the Yellow Hauz. If she's around, she can help you out too.

This was my first try with the nib. It takes a lot of getting used to.

This one I wrote for my mama. I intentionally blurred what I wrote.

So there you have it. Just wanted to share with you guys what I'm into right now. I still have a long way to go to perfect my calligraphy but practice makes perfect right. And I love it everytime I write.

Kiddy's Arts Town

This was during one of our Manila trip. I took the kids to Eastwood Mall, it's the closest one to the condo. They had a photo opt with some Lego Cars. My little boy wanted to touch them. Had he had the chance, he could have disassembled all of the cars.

With a ferrari

And then we saw this. Kiddy's Arts Town. R love arts and crafts so she wanted to do this. And of course, the younger one always follows her ate. It's one of those stickers for the glass windows.

She chose the butterfly.

Ate chose the flower.

And here's the finish product.

77th Araw ng Malita

This is an overdue post. I thought I posted this already only to find out that it's still a draft. Silly me. This is just a glimpse of what happened during the 77th Araw ng Malita.

SPAMAST DANCE TROUPE during the competition

Central Elementary School Teachers

With hubby

With my sister

Here with my cousins, siblings and hubby, together with Lola Pilar Bautista

I love it...

This is so priceless, when siblings help each other.

dear K feeding M.

8th Gaginaway Festival

The 8th Gaginaway Festival has recently concluded and here are a few glimpse of what had transpired. Every year I post photos of the festivities to showcase the "panagtapok" or the coming together of the 4 diverse cultures in Malita: Tagacaulo, B'laan, Manobo and Muslim. It is only here in Malita that these 4 tribes are celebrated, so imagine the people joining us and the natives from the uplands coming down to witness the festivities. To every one who celebrated with us, thank you very much. To all the committees and all the different sectors, thank you very much.

Me with my uncle, my brother and my cousins.

Aso with my other siblings (all in B'laan attire) Estefanie, Bryan and Benjamin III, my sister-in-law Tine (in blue, Muslim attire) and my cousins, Bradley and his wife Jean in Muslim attire.

Me and Jean in those rare moments when we just want to flaunt ourselves. Mind you these dresses are no easy task to wear.

Joining us is another cousin Brett in red Muslim attire and my daughter K who came late because she came from school.

This was at the culmination of the 4-days celebration. Here with us is the Mayor, Hon. Benjamin Bautista Jr., the Municipal Councilors and the Elders from the different tribes.

Nanny McPhee Original Soundtrack 18. Mrs. Brown's Lullaby

Until I have my own poem for you, this is my song for you my little one. Take care of Amay for me.

How to recycle plastic bottles

In as much I like to buy stuff especially for my family, I also want to save the environment. I have so many bottles just like these. And I've been thinking of what to do with them. I didn't just wanna sell them or throw them. The kids' drawer was a mess. So with a little imagination and a few help from the yayas....

Amway plastic bottles

We turned those bottles into holders for pens and stuff. and it made their drawers neat.

We had to insert a plywood in betwwen the bottles and the books to keep it in place.

This is so much better than how it looked before :)

What I learned with my 100 Happy Days

life is full of shit, everybody knows that. if you do not learn how to look at it in a different perspective, you'll lose yourself in it. by merely appreciating the small things, I began to realize that even in the most unexpected events, there are still things to be thankful for and be glad that I was able to pass through life.

i am thankful for the experience, the learnings, the people that I now call friends. without them, i don't know how I'd be able to surpass the challenges. and it made me realize how important family is.

therefore I say, enjoy life, find things to be grateful for no matter how small it is, be kind to everyone even your enemies, say thank you all the time and i mean all te time, say sorry like you really mean it even when it's not really your fault. watch and be amaze how life changing it is.

No. 100 of 100 Happy Days

Wowo bought the kids new toys. And I have been wondering what the big fuss was with the new toy so we tried our hands on it and we finally finished the whole puzzle. The kids had so much fun until the puzzle had to come down. Tomorrow again. 

No. 99 of 100 Happy Days

I was able to attend the Southern Mindanao Regional Assembly of the Philippine Medical Association. It was nice to see some familiar faces and get to know the PMA in a more legislative manner. 

Looking forward to finalizing the davao Occidental chapter. 

No. 98 of 100 Happy Days

Pritong saging to solve my cravings. 

Au revoir my child

It has been a week since I got out of the hospital. It wasn't a pleasant experience, then again, is any hospital stay pleasant? Ever since I was young I knew I wanted a big family, 6 or 12 kids perhaps. But when I had hypermesis with the first one, I knew I wouldn't reach 6 kids. Then I got pregnant with our second child and hyperemesis struck again. When I had 2 girls in succession, I told my husband, the next one would be the last, boy or girl, that would be my last draw. Needless to say, I had hyperemesis in all 3 kids and delivered them all by C-section. The last one was with BTL (bilateral tubal ligation). I knew another bout of hyperemesis and I couldn't take it.

For three years, I breastfed my youngest, a boy. Frustrated from previous experience with breastfeeding, I vowed to perfect my last chance at this expereience. Also, I was ensured of not conceiving by breastfeeding him. From the time they tied my tubes, I had the feeling I would probably get pregnant again, but I didn't know how, until...

About 2 weeks ago, I have had bouts of left lower quadrant pain. It disappears but comes again a day or two after. I didn't want to be confined again, remembering how painful the IV insertions were, I kept refusing hospitalization. We went for an ultrasound of the whole abdomen but the only thing they could find were incidental findings of intramural fibroids (a small myoma). By this time, it was only tender when they touch my hypogastric area (lower abdomen). So I went on with my business, went to a party and visited my in-laws.

But on a Tuesday morning, I could not refuse my husband when he demanded I go to the hospital. For several months I did pregnancy tests everytime my menstruation was delayed for 3-5 days, and every tests said negative. It was only at this month when I didn't take a pregnancy test owing to the fact that I was tryng on this fad diet which had hcg hormone in it. So I initially assumed that maybe it has something to do with that but never had I imagined that it would be "the" time, what I have always suspected.

Initially, CT scan showed that I was probably having some sort of intestinal problem and was treated with antibiotics. But when the official CT scan result came out, it said otherwise. I had to undergo another ultrasound and a few more lab works before they confirmed it was ruptured ectopic pregnancy, and they immediately scheduled a 6pm operation. 

*photo from www.soc.usb.edu. I wanted to spare you the gruesome pictures so instead I'm showing you this.

For days, I was in denial that I was pregnant despite undergoing BTL. I knew that I was going to be pregnant again, I just didn't know how. I've asked my husband repeatedly if it was all a dream or that if everything did really happen.I kept asking how it looked liked or how big my wound was. It was only after a day did I realize that I have asked him the same questions repeatedly. He protested I was asking the same questions countless times. When my anesthesiologist saw me in my room, he told me that even sedated, I asked if they could save my child. And I have spent a few more days crying over the loss of my child. Medical definitions would tell you that an abortion is different from an ectopic pregnancy. But to a mother, it is all the same. I lost a child and however which way it happened, it is still the same. I did not talk about this during the first few days because I knew how sentimental I could be. I wanted to see if I would still feel the same if I allowed time to run its course. Guess what, I still feel sad losing my chid.

Everybody has been saying "sayang". If there was someone who felt more devastated, it would be me. What helps me to get throught the day is remembering what my dear friend told me that God did not take the child from me, it was never mine, it was Jesus'. I'm holding on to that and everything seems to feel better. And I was told that I have so many blessings coming my way, I have so much work in my hand, and I would tell them, "I'd rather have that child than all the work I have now." Would it have been a boy?... or a gir?... I will never know. I just know that my child is up there with my mother. Ma take care of my child. I will see you both when the time comes.

No. 97 of 100 Happy Days

Being able to go out of the house for the first time after the surgery and be able to eat what i wanted, bring the kids to the mall and just watch them eat and enjoy their food, these are things that I'm surely thankful of. No photos this time. Just savoring the events and how my day went. 

Hearing hubby arrive safely in Cebu despite the heavy rains, another reason to be thankful for. 

Thank you Lord, from the bottom of my heart. 

No. 95 of 100 Happy Days

So I'm trying to recuperate and I'm trying to be with the kids but at the same trying hard that they don't kick or bump or lie on my stomach is pretty hard. But I like that I'm here with them. 

No. 94 of 100 Happy Days

My little visitor at the hospital during my confinement.

No. 96 of 100 Happy Days

Everyday she makes different arts and crafts and everyday I am amazed at her imagination. She wants to do different things every hour. 

No. 93 of 100 Happy Days

She likes taho so much.