Busy bee

I've been busy with work and baby preparations that I hardly have time to rest properly, let alone write a new post. I do have a lot of things to write about, I just need time to organize my thoughts. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Ok, time's up.

Here's what's I've been up to:

1. I had to go see an orthopedic last week to have my ingrown toenail checked. This is the second time I've had an ingrown toenail and I thought that this second time was a lot better than the first time because it didn't bother me as much as it did before. Good thing I had it checked because this second time is actually worse since the nail got really embedded on the right side of my toe!

Long story short, I underwent surgery last Saturday to get rid of the stupid ingrown. The doctor said it was a good thing that I decided to have it removed because it might just get infected and that would've been worse for my LBJC and I. I wasn't allowed to take any painkillers (oh joy), but I was asked to take antibiotics. The only brand I can take is Augmentin because it's the only brand that's safe for babies. It's about P89.00 per tablet (I so did not want to spend on this) and I had to take it three times a day.

I took the last tablet today (hurrah!) and boy, am I glad that it's over. Augmentin gave me tummy troubles! It made me feel bloated and gassy. I hate it.

The next time I get tempted to cut my toenails too short (I really like cutting 'em short) or the next time I get tempted to wear ill-fitting shoes (If there's a cute pair of shoes that I like and the only one available is one size smaller, I buy them anyway because they're...well, cute), I'll just remind myself that it's not at all fun to deal with an ingrown toenail.

Some people have it easy because they can have their ingrown toenails removed by their faithful pedicurists, but for some reason, I REALLY CAN'T TAKE THE PAIN! Why am I not like those people? Oh well. I think I'll throw my nipper away. The doctor said I should just cut it straight and that I should not use a nipper to shape the sides because that's how you get ingrown toenails.

2. I've gotten so big. REALLY BIG! It's getting harder and harder for me to move around by myself. Shifting positions in bed takes a lot out of me. I can't wait to give birth so that I can feel "light" again! Of course, that's not the only reason why I want to give birth already. The ULTIMATE reason is that I'm super excited to meet my LBJC. I want to hold him already!

I still have seven weeks to go before I give birth. Hopefully, he's not in a breech presentation anymore. Tomorrow, when we go to our OB's clinic, we'll find out if I'm delivering him normally or through a Caesarian section.

3. My in-laws saved us a ton of money! How? They gave us a baby crib, a playard, linens, and a sterilizer! Thank God my in-laws bought the big items on our to-buy list. Now the only big thing on that list is a breast pump.

We haven't seen the crib, but my mother-in-law said it was pretty big. The playard that we got was the Pooh Graco playard. OHA and I aren't crazy about Pooh, but hey, we got it for free so we're not complaining! The sterilizer that we got was the Avent steam sterilizer.

Here are the new bebe thingamajigs (images taken from the web since I don't have photos of the actual loot yet):

Avent steam sterilizer

Graco playard
(Same color and style as our playard, but different design pattern)

3. My OHA and I watched Iron Man last April 30. I loved the movie! I'm not that big a comic book fan, but seeing Iron Man is making me want to read comics. I want to see it again, but I don't think I'll have the time.

I think my LBJC also enjoyed the movie because he was kicking up a storm during the movie! My OHA was quite proud and said, "That's my boy!"

Before we watched the movie, my friends and I decided to eat in Barrio Fiesta because I wanted to eat sinigang and it's been ages since I last ate there. When I was a kid, I used to love Barrio Fiesta because their sinigang and crispy pata were top notch. Their sinigang's still good but the other dishes we ordered were just so-so. The nice surprise was their sisig! It was so yumpy! Too bad their servings are really small. AND EXPENSIVE. Which sucks big time. Well, the food's really not that expensive but the price is somehow not proportionate to how small their servings are. I think I would've been happier in Triple V.

4. I've been playing Virtual Villagers a lot lately. I didn't think I would get into this game because it takes so long for anything interesting to happen. I find it surprising that I immensely enjoyed playing the game. I've downloaded part one and part two, but so far, I've only played the first part.

My OHA said VV is like The Sims. I've never played The Sims so I wouldn't really know. It was boring at first, but as soon as I started unlocking the puzzles, I found it more interesting. I've unlocked ten or 11 puzzles out of 16 in the game. I've reached level two on the technologies, except for farming and construction becuse I'm already on the third level with those two.

Balikbayan box love

I forgot to post about this, but my OHA and I finally got our baby goodies! My LBJC's thingamajigs have arrived from the States! They're so purty and cute. I can't wait until my LBJC's born so he can use his awesome thingamajigs.

Among our purchases, my favorite's probably the Playtex Drop-Ins Nurser. It's so very groovy! I wish I remembered to transfer the pics from our camera so I could post it here. Maybe I'll post it when I get home. I have a lot of free time later anyway since my OHA will be home late.

Ooooooh, before I forget, I finally finished seasons one to three of CSI: NY! I bought the DVD in Metrowalk in 2007 but I completely forgot about it until I unearthed my copy last Holy Week. I just finished episode 24 of Season 3 last night (or was it the other night?) and now I can't wait to get my hands on the complete CSI: NY Season 4. Too bad the season's not done yet.

Now, I'm too impatient to wait for a couple more months to go to Metrowalk to check if the complete Season 4 DVD's already available so I just downloaded Episodes 1-16 from Torrent. Maybe I'll start on season 4 tonight. I can watch a couple of episodes while waiting for my OHA :)
Edited: April 23

Here are the bottles we bought:

We also got additional gifts from my OHA's aunt and uncle:

Lookee lookee!

Look at what I got last Friday! Isn't it purty?

Sony Ericsson K770i

http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/products/mobilephones/overview/k770i?cc=ph&lc=en

Happy weekend

Yesterday, OHA and I went to In My Womb in the new Glorietta Link building for a Congenital Anomaly Scan (CAS). A CAS is a basic fetal screening to check the baby's vital organs like the heart, kidneys, etc.

OHA and I were super nervous because we didn't know what to expect. It was such a relief for OHA and I that my OB, Dr Sheila Jane Illescas, really goes out of her way to put her patients at ease by being wacky.

The scan took about an hour and it was the most excruciating hour of my life (I'm sure that I'll change my opinion about this once I've experienced going into labor)! It wasn't until Dr Illescas told us that the baby's fine that I was able to heave a huge sigh of relief.

Our LBJC was a little hyper and gave Dr Illescas a hard time in trying to take a photo of his face. He's also a little on the chubby side, but still perfectly normal. The only thing I have to worry about is that his position's breech. My OB said he'll still have time to move but that I should start watching what I eat so that he won't take up too much moving room in my womb.

At P3500, the CAS is a little pricey but definitely worth it! When we were viewing LBJC in 4d scan, it was just a breathtaking experience. It brought tears to my eyes. I couldn't believe that OHA and I made that beautiful baby. I could go on and on with the sap fest, but what I just want to say is that parents-to-be shouldn't miss out on this opportunity because it's wonderful.

Btw, the doctor said he looks like me but my in-laws say our LBJC looks like OHA. We'll just have to wait and see!

After In my Womb, OHA and I went to Greenbelt to celebrate (hurrah! our baby's normal!). We originally planned to go to Sugi but I changed my mind and said I wanted to eat in Segafredo only to find out that the stupid place is already closed! So we ended up eating in Sugi because I was too pissed to think of another restaurant.

OHA ordered the kaki teppanyaki and yaki meshi while I ordered the Katsu Donburi and green mango shake. Because we were famished, I forgot to take a picture of the food *insert sheepish grin here*

After Sugi, OHA and I went to Gourdo's beside Gloria Maris. It was like going to chef heaven! They have all kinds of spices, sauces, and other thingamajigs that are used for cooking. If I knew how to cook anything other than pasta, I would have cleaned out my wallet in this place!

I was trying to get OHA to pick out stuff for himself like bratwurst or German franks but he didn't want to. I, on the other hand, ended up buying a big box of Honey Bunches of Oats, Nature Valley peanut butter granola bars and three pieces of soap for my mother-in-law.

There's still something I haven't written about, but I'll reserve it because it deserves a separate post.

Happy Friday!

Everyone at work's happy today. Why? Because we received our Annual Incentive Package! Ka-ching, ka-ching! BONUS! Yey!

It would've been a truly happy day if not for the amount of taxes deducted from our paychecks. My tax deduction is almost 10 grand! That's nothing compared to the deduction of one of our colleagues--almost 60 grand! I could go to Hong Kong with that amount!

My OHA and I will be celebrating tonight. I was thinking Cafe Ysabel or Casa Armas, but we might just settle for Cyma or Bubba Gump. We're also going to be shopping for our LBJC. Happy day!

Btw, as promised, here are our bookstore purchases from Singapore:

From left to right top row: Eternal Egypt, Heroes Volume One, Richie Rich Classics, I am America and So Can You, The Au Pairs, The Au Pairs Skinny Dipping, The Au Pairs Sun Kissed

From left to right bottom row: Nova Swing, 20th Century Ghosts, Daughter of Hounds, The Atrocity Exhibition, The Overnight, Best New Horror, Dead Sea, The Everlasting, Ghouls

He did it!

Lookee at the shirts my sister-in-law gave us!

We've only worn these shirts once, when we went to my house one weekend. OHA was worried that my parents might get offended because of the word "bitch" on the orange shirt. I told OHA not to worry about it since my parents are pretty cool about stuff like that. True enough, when we got to my house, my folks barely paid attention to our matching shirts.

This is my shirt:

This is OHA's shirt:

I wish I could I could wear this again soon, but I'm afraid I'll have to wait until I give birth to my LBJC because my tummy's getting too big for the shirt. I told OHA that he can wear his shirt but he doesn't want to wear it unless we're matching :)

Too much time on my hands

And because I've been bitten by the Friday bug, I'm too lazy to do anything that requires moving a lot of muscle groups. I'm looking at random photo folders in my flash drive and I found a couple of pictures that I think are worth posting.

This was how our room looked like after OHA and I got home from our Singapore trip last November :

This was our loot:

We are such tourists! OHA and I have been here a couple of times (separately) already but we never tire of shopping for touristy items!

What we bought (from upper left): noodles, laksa and other food for my dad, Hang Ten shirts also for my dad (dirt cheap in Singapore), Charles and Keith bag for my sister, a glittery Singapore souvenir banner, T-shirts in can for OHA and his brother(The Departed and Kill Bill), a bottle of Body Shop's Bergamot body spray, seven of OHA's shirts from Bugis, several dresses also from Bugis, Merlion souvenir fans, a Night Safari glow-in-the-dark cap, matching mushroom slippers, 2046 portrait, a bunch of Chinese toys, a bottle of Private Reserve ink and Noodler's ink for OHA's Mont Blanc, souvenir shirts for my brother-in-law (my sister's husband, not OHA's brother) and my father-in-law, clothes for my niece and my nephew, an Underwater World tumbler, Craisins, Godiva demitasse, Underwater World backpack for my nephew, three pairs of shoes for me, one pair of black sandals for my mom, a test tube-full of water from the fountain in Suntec City (I forgot what it's called. Something like the biggest fountain in the world thing), Underwater World pens and bookmarks, huge-ass case of Ferrero Rocher, spices and herbs for OHA's aunt, six Chinese-print silk bags, three chests of chocolate coins, a pink whale named Taffy from Underwater World, Chinese lanterns, Cadbury chocolates in a vintage tin, tops for OHA's sisters, souvenir magnets from Bugis, Strawberry shortcake lunch case, Barney book of colors for my nephew, spicy fish chips, OHA's batman jeans from the DC store, a mahjong tile-type tissue holder.

Not in photo: the cutest Merlion stuffed toy (it's tongue's sticking out), Monty Python's Complete Flying Circus for OHA, Canon IXUS i-7 zoom for me, Uzumaki DVD for DHA and his best friend, Lamy Safari fountain pen for OHA, the mucho expensivo RISIS panda necklace, teddy bear necklaces for my friends, gazillions of books from Borders and Kinokuniya. I'll save that for next time :)

Oodles of doodles

When I saw this charm bracelet in Rustan's last year, I immediately fell in love with it. It's a wishing bracelet with the cutest charms! This one is the "I wish I was on vacation" bracelet. The charms include a palm tree, a camera, a tiny plane, and a suitcase.

About a month after OHA bought me this bracelet, he bought me another one! It's the "I wish I could eat junk food all the time" bracelet. I'm going to take its photo when I get home since I don't remember where I saved the file. Teeny tiny slices of cake, sundaes, hotdogs, and tubs of popcorn hang from a sort of different type of metal beads than the one pictured here.

Because there is a strong, wacky side to our relationship, OHA thought of giving me a matching charm "anklet":


We're quite artistic, OHA and I. Here are some more of our lovely artwork :) We drew these on a Burgoo table. Because our order was taking forever, we busied ourselves by doodling.

My drawings

OHA'S drawings

Aren't we brilliant? :)

We only stopped doodling when the food arrived. Here's my order:

I don't remember if this is the New York strip steak or the Country style steak

OHA's order:

Seafood Caesar's supreme

either quesadillas or chimichanga

Blur on Ice

Since OHA is busy preparing his syllabus, I thought I'd pop over to Blogspot and share my undeniable talent in photography. I jest. I don't have "the eye" as they call it, but I like taking pictures. It's the uploading part that's the problem. Thank God for Picasa :)

This is a collage of our Disney on Ice experience. We watched the January 19, 1PM show. The photos are kinda bad and they're not worth looking at in detail, so here are itty-bitty photos instead :)