I'm still here..

Belated Happy Hearts day everyone! Well, it's been a while... I have been busy with school and other activities not to mention following the Bachelor, Survivor, Winter Olympics and catching up with American Idol.

This was a pretty tough week, I have midterm exams plus a terrible backache. This morning I had this conversation with my daughter:

Elyse: Mommy, please "arga"! (arga or karga from our bedroom going downstairs)

Me : Sorry, i can't. My back is still not ok.

Elyse: your back still ouch Mommy?

Me: Yeah...

Elyse: you should go to doctor Mom, the doctor will check you! ok, mom?

Me: you're right, i should go to the doctor.

Elyse: yes mom.. don't worry, your back will be fine.

She's really thoughtful. It melts my heart to hear those concerns from the smallest person in the house. :)

Have a good week everyone!

She's clever!

Her never ending please and unstoppable kiss will make her dad pause from whatever he is doing and listen to "any" of her wishes. Last night she did absolutely the same thing. We were at the family room watching tv when daddy was asked to get this pooh puzzle from her room. On the other hand, dad immediately went upstairs to get "her" stuffs. We caught ourselves laughing due to her cleverness! She really knows how to control her dad.

Daddy was laughing but at the same time felt weird because at 3 years old, Elyse can manipulate him according to her liking. She is smart but I’m anxious.

The Chipettes

I was wondering why she kept posing like this, and yesterday I realized that I should have asked her. Then she said, "Remember mommy, Brittany of the Chipettes? I like her! She also does that." And then she started dancing.. humming to "Single Ladies" of Beyonce. I just remembered that she is currently fond of watching "Alvin and the Chipmunks 2" movie.

So there, a major influence of Brittany to my daughter. By the way, here are the Chipettes! :)

Bored

Recently, I was stricken by massive amount of boredom. I used to be a SAHM, but now that I'm studying and busy with lots of stuffs. I can't imagine myself staying in the house 24/7! Its maybe because my daughter is independent now, unlike before that I should change her nappies every now and then, feed her, play with her. At 3 yrs old, she didn't have much wants, or should I say, she didn't want me to be around her all the time.

And now that I want to do some LO's, my laptop is with my husband on his business trip.. while I'm using his laptop minus the software I'm using for digiscrapping. I'm pretty bored! Hayyy!

I was talking with my Auntie Ninang over fb this morning, and I missed them back home. I hope we can sneak in some time this summer for a much awaited vacation in PI. Elyse was this small when we last visited PI. It was March 2008, for the 70th birthday of my mother. I want her to reunite with her cousins too.

And this was when we attended Ninang Cha's recital at UP Theater. Ninang Cha is now in Memphis for her Master's degree. How time flies..

La fete des Neiges

Last Saturday we were at Jean Drapeau park along St. Lawrence River for the celebration of La fete des neiges in Montréal. The temperature that day was around -30C, we're all chilling except Elyse. She had fun in the ice sculptured slide, had picture beside the seagull and rode the mini car. She didn't want to go home that day. In spite of chilling temperature she kept on saying... It's not cold, I don't feel cold! while removing her mittens.
That same day, we had brunch at tutti frutti with Suzette.
Have a great week to all!

Allergy to peanuts

Babies have sensitive skin but for some reason my daughter has more sensitivity in her genes. The doctor said that I was the culprit behind this, it is because I had seborrheic dermatitis. The reason why my daughter had seborrheic dermatitis and now eczema. She have some allergies to nuts also. She never tasted nuts since she was born and yesterday she hold it and put it in her mouth, but according to her she didn't ate it. While I was having a chit-chat with friends she approached me and pointing to her mouth. Before that she was just like an ordinary girl at her age, running around with her playmate Karyl. I saw her fell down on the floor several times, the floor was carpeted and I didn't know where did she got her now swollen mouth. I just remembered that she hand me some peanuts! Until her both eyes becomes reddish, around her eyes were tiny rashes and she started to scratch her hands with rashes growing in her arms. So we called 811, to ask the nurse what we need to do. And the nurse advised us to call 911 or bring her to the emergency room of Childrens Hospital. So, we decided to bring her directly to the emergency room and then a nurse attended her, checked her BP, heartbeat, asked some questions et al. After a few seconds, the doctor arrived and checked her heartbeat, asked some questions.. that time there is no sign of rashes except for her swollen mouth.

According to the doctor, it was caused by peanuts. Now, she have to be checked by the Allergist to verify which level of allergy she had. She was prescribed to take Benadryl for the next 24 hours and some sort of injection if ever the same thing happen again and she have difficulty in breathing / the situation is worse.

All things happenned while we were having a despedida party to her playmate Karyl who will be transferring to B.C. this Thursday. I just remember that we didn't even took pictures, it maybe the last time for so many years that we will be together. We are planning to visit them on 2010 winter olympics, and they will be almost 5 by then.

There are cases that by touching or even just smelling the peanuts will be dangerous to the person allergy to it. And the doctor said that since we are not sure if she took it, we have to make sure how deep is her allergy. After an hour, we asked the doctor if we can go home and since there is no sign of difficulty / irritation, he allowed us to go home but monitor her condition and give her the medicine.

Maybe it's a premonition that before everything happened, while we we're looking at the gps for the nearest hospital in our place and she kept on saying "Mommy, let's go to the hospital." We were looking at the nearest hospital because the DQ (Dairy Queen) in our area is just located beside the hospital. We just want to get some ice cream cake for the party. So there, she had her first hospital visit!

Christmas the Filipino way

It was our second Christmas away from Philippines. It's been 4 years since we started working abroad but we are always making sure that we will celebrate Christmas with our families in Philippines. Although this year, we are far from our loved ones..... still, we spent Christmas in a traditional Filipino way. We want to pass this Filipino tradition to our daughter, like attending mass and remembering that it is HIS birthday, noche buena, gift giving, visiting friends and relatives and of course partying with fun games.

Here are some of our pictures during Christmas day.

Back to reality

Holiday is over and we're back to reality. Elyse is back in the daycare from Christmas vacation, for more than a week she stayed at home with me making a mess all over the house, playing, dancing, singing. In a middle of nowhere she would ask me "out of the blue" questions or would even tell me about a person she met / saw before. She is just adorable at this stage and continuously amaze me with her curiosity and good memory. She also love going to school and last night she said she miss her playmates.

One day while she was in the couch asking me to give her Stick-o, actually she already had a lot that day so I said, we don't have anymore. She said, "we buy stick-o at maxi!". I said, "do you have money?". She responded, "Yes! I have money!". So I asked her, "Where is your money?", "At mommy!" she said. Then, I told her "I don't have money!", and she immediately replied, "Oh, it's my daddy!", I just said, "Your daddy don't have money also!". "We buy money!" that's what she said! I was speechless for a few seconds and can't help but laugh out loud. At first she was in awe but later on laugh with me.

I have a video here showing her favorite moves! Have a great day!

Snow and headache

Here's the result of non-stop snowing yesterday. It is a total nightmare for commuters, the slippery and wet road conditions. I just let my daughter stay in the house today since our car is still out there full of snow! My husband is not patient enough to wake up early and remove the snow so, I just did it a while ago and caused me headache. At least i removed some, but it will take more time to remove those frozen ice.

Elyse was also out there with me making snow balls, and playing with her shovel. Now she fell asleep in the couch and snoring, I guess she had a tough day. Walking in the snow can also make me feel so tired. And also because i was out there for about an hour not remembering that the temperature today is -10, it makes me feel worse.

Anyway, it's time to cook for dinner. Good day to all! Ciao!

What I Like?

While looking inside the fridge or going to a toy store she would always say "What i like?". Kids are just smart! This afternoon when i picked her up at the daycare and we were on our way home, she just remembered her plush puppy. Accidentally she left it in the daycare. It is not allowed to bring any toy in the daycare but with the absence of any of her favorite toy, she would throw tantrums the whole day. So, her teacher allowed her to bring one but would then be placed in a box while in the school. She can only get them when it's time to go home.

So to make her stop from crying, i just said "Ok, we will buy another puppy at Maxi." After 10-15 minutes travel and we we're just into our doorway, she immediately told me "Mommy, we will buy puppy at Maxi!". I can't believe it, she remembers! Before going inside Maxi, i asked her to promise me that she will be a good girl, no more crying and should eat a lot to become as pretty as her favorite princess. And she said " ok, promise!"

And when we got home, I told her that it's time to eat her favorite pasta. She love carbonara over spaghetti with red sauce. She just said, "I like pasta with yellow sauce!" She only meant, carbonara! By the way, it's her picture with princess accessories and her favorite plush puppy. While she's playing now, she just said "Ohh my goodness!" :) Yeah.. Ohh my goodness! She really knows what she likes.

Little Princess!

Yesterday, teacher Sabina mentioned that this Monday (December 8), Santa Claus will visit the children in school. I just said, "It's too early!". And she said, "Yeah, it's a little bit early this year, they will have their Christmas party in the school! So, now I don't have a choice but to look for a dress that will suit their Christmas party theme. Teacher Sabina said "Anything red!". Good thing is I still have those red dress from Ate Sylvia. She was a good friend in Morocco. While I was talking to the "little girl", I was surprised when she said "I want the princess dress, mommy!". And even last night, after bathing her she kept on looking where was her princess dress and wanted to wear it right away. I just said, "Not tonight! but on Monday, baby!". She is just fascinated with princess and fairies now, the effect of Disney's Cinderella, Snow White and Tinker Bell. Like when our friend gave her a set of princess accessories, I was thinking of sending it to the Philippines for my niece. I never thought that Elyse would wear those, she just know how to put the tiara, ring, necklace and asked me to put her earrings on. Suddenly, I just realized that she's starting to act like a lady! And then she's calling herself Princess Elyse, with magic wand on her hand she would say "abra kadabra"!

And since she cannot wear her princess costume on the school's Christmas party, I will get her a princess-like dress that she's going to wear on Christmas. This dress from GAP and The Children's place caught my attention. I'm gonna check it in the store this weekend. I hope that they still have her size or at least i have other options. Have a great day everyone!

Online shopping for winter!

It's already winter and my latest orders just arrived! On-time for the snowy and cold weather here. I got 2 pair of boots for Elyse, the EMU boot and Kamik snow boot. I also got a set of Columbia jacket and snow pants for her. For me, I grabbed the UGG Belfair waterproof boot and Nine west hobo as my everyday bag for a really good price. While my husband requested the special edition of Adidas NBA Mavericks rubber shoes, which he will wear on summer and his UGG Hartville waterproof boot for this winter. Happy shopping!

My first pumpkin!

Here's the pumpkin designed by Elyse at the daycare. With her friends and "teachers" at the daycare, they went out for trick or treat and enjoyed their Halloween party. They we're all dressed up, even adults we're walking down the streets with their costumes and masks on. Elyse picked up her Tinkerbell costume for that day. After her party, we headed to downtown Montreal for the soft launch of Restaurant Papa, owned by Uncle Edwin and his brother. They are serving Filipino dishes, with a very delicious "pancit" and "menudo." The resto is located at the busy streets of Avenue Plamondon / Victoria where most Filipino stores can be found.

I wasn't able to bring my camera at the Halloween party, but her teacher Sabina promised that she will share the pics so, I'll post them here soon.
Happy Weekend everyone! Thanks for reading and visiting my page! :)

Busy Bee months!

October and November were the busiest month i had, in a while blogging has been totally out of my list. Now, I'm back and hopefully I can find time to do it religiously. Not to mention that December must be busier than the previous months. We have a lot of appointments here and there, for the family doctor, the US embassy, my theory driving exam and school registration for my prerequisites. Yes, hopefully I'll be accepted so I can pursue my studies here.

Last October was the Thanksgiving celebration here in Canada and we decided to visit Toronto. The first on our list is the Niagara falls then the CN Tower and for the kids, Nascar and Southbrook pumpkin patch. Though tiring, we all had a wonderful time in Toronto. And here' are the pics!

The Halloween month is almost over and Christmas songs can be heard everywhere. I love listening to Celtic Woman's (A Christmas Celebration) album. So, yeah.. I'm very sentimental these days.. missing my family back home. Plus the weather! It's getting really cold here... right now the wind chill is -11 degrees. It's freezing cold! I'm just thankful that houses here are well constructed, due to the bricks and good ventilation I'm not chilling inside the house.

Bedroom furniture

Last night when we were about to sleep, my 2 year old daughter asked me if we can sleep in the new room. "I want to sleep in the new room! new room!", that was her exact words. I was surprised because it was the first time she insisted to sleep in the new room. Ever since this BEDROOM FURNITURE arrived, I noticed this sudden change in her. At first she was afraid to stay there but now, she's spending most of her time jumping in the bed and playing with her favorite toys and playhouse in that room. I believe this PLATFORM BED is making her stay more fun.

Aside from the simple and elegant design of this BEDROOM FURNITURE, I'm not worried that she will fall down from the bed while sleeping or playing. This PLATFORM BEDS are not just designed for elegance but crafted for safety as well. As this is more important to me since I have a daughter who just love to turn our bedroom to a playhouse.

I'm glad that little by little, my daughter is enjoying her new BEDROOM FURNITURE most especially her PLATFORM BED. Sooner, she will be sleeping there alone without being afraid. I really can't believe she's growing up so fast. It's her second week in the daycare and she is not crying anymore. Also, she stopped calling herself "baby", she said she's a big girl now!

First day in the daycare

Yesterday morning, i have to wake her up at 8:00am since we have to be at the daycare before 9:00am. It's only 10 minutes away from our place but the preparation will take a lot of my time, so we have to be really early. At the daycare, their breakfast will be served at 9:00am then some exercise, following activities at the park and coloring / writing activities. But maybe the summer is really over, it's getting cold here so going out might not be that fun.

The hardest part was when i left her in the daycare, I said goodbye to her and she embraced me tight. She was playing when i left so she didn't noticed. I really don't want her to see me go so I left quietly. After that, I headed back home to clean-up and got finished before the 12:30 pick-up time. I was at the daycare while they were having lunch and Elyse didn't noticed me. I was asked by the teacher to wait outside the room then she accompanied Elyse, telling her "Look who's here! See, i told you.. your Mommy will come back." Yes, she cried.. about 10-15 minutes and every time she remembers me. But the teacher said that for the first day, she did very good. She also said that we will see if she will cry a lot tomorrow or she'll be better, if the latter, then on Wednesday she will start her whole day stay.

Elyse seems excited to tell me her stories, she said that she played outside in the broom broom / car. She said that she had vegetables and milk, but according to her teacher she didn't took her milk since it's in the cup. When i asked her if she like her school, she said yes! I told her that tomorrow we will come back again but she seems puzzled. Maybe she's thinking that I'll leave her again tomorrow.

Weekend Snapshot #53

Saturday, we we're able to grab some stuffs from Old Navy in Champlain mall. Sunday, we stayed in the house and took a walk to the park in the afternoon. It was windy and cold outside but Elyse still enjoyed her swing ride. Have a great week ahead!

I miss you!

Yesterday morning when she woke up and still in her bed, she just said "Daddy is in the office." Maybe she just realized that her Daddy already left for office while she was sleeping. So, I said "Yes, Daddy is in the office because?" and she replied "to buy milk for Elyse!". And as her morning routine, she didn't failed to say "Good morning Mommy.., "Good morning Austin.., Good morning Tasha.. " and so on. Around 7:00pm when Daddy arrived from the office and she rushed to him, embraced him tight and surprisingly, she said "I miss you Daddy!". We we're laughing with amusement! Having such a sweet little girl is indeed the most wonderful blessing. To hear those words melts my heart. Kids are truly amazing!

I have mixed emotions about Elyse going to the daycare. Yes, I'm lucky that I got a daycare for her but on the other hand, I can't hide my sadness for this milestone in her life. It's exciting for her but it is also her first step away from me. I'm afraid that she will learn to be independent, gain a lot of friends and discover new things. I can't deny the fact that she's growing up so fast, faster than I can imagine. Maybe I'm being too selfish but I'm just a mother. I will miss her mess, her voice, her tantrums.. everything. Although she continuously testing my patience, most of the time she's making me smile and laugh. She inspires me and makes me realize how wonderful life is.

Homogenized milk and Daycare

Since we arrived here in Montreal, i started introducing 3.25% homogenized / fresh milk to Elyse but i wasn't successful. She still prefer the Nestle formula or follow-up milk. For the past couple of days, i started mixing it again in her daily diet and yesterday she wasn't aware that she's already taking pure homo! I'm so happy that finally she didn't bother to ask for "new milk" or "change to other milk". I was waiting for her reaction but she took it just like her formula.

I'm still actively searching for a good daycare.. the reason why I'm not visible in the blogosphere these days. I have visited a lot of daycare and I'm so so happy that i found a very good, clean, organized and educative daycare just 10minutes away from my place. The Romanian owner is very nice, she's a bit strict with her policies but i guess she can work things out. I guess she's experienced in her field, i trust her and i know she can take care of Elyse. I was surprised when she told me not to bring Elyse's feeding bottles, and on her first day i don't even have to stay, it's a bit strange, I'm getting nervous too because I really don't know what will happen. But she assures that Elyse will get used to it. According to her, "she will be fine!". She told me not to worry too much. She knows the feeling of a first time mother and leaving my precious daughter behind will never be easy, most especially she is my only child but she made me understand that it's only for the best. It will be the first time that Elyse will stay in the daycare and will be away for 8 hours a day, 5 times a week. So, my husband who was also surprised, laughed over things after i told him the scenario. He said "good luck" to her and hoping she can easily pull things off.

Now, we are always telling Elyse that soon she will go to school and she just have to be nice to her classmates and teachers, that mommy and daddy will go to office so she can have more toys. She said "yes" but this morning when she woke up and i was not beside her, Fred told her that mommy is in the office.. she cried a lot and screamed "mommy, mommy!". Well, good luck to us! September 8 is her first day in the daycare. I hope that Elyse will cooperate well with us! I really hope that "she'll be fine!".

Happy weekend to all!

I feel better!

I'm feeling so much better now. My appointment with CLSC was this afternoon and my ear treatment took only 15 minutes. I'm relieved when the nurse told me that I don't need to come back for another treatment. My hearing is back to normal or should i say it's even better.

Last Sunday, we had a very memorable day with our friends at Granby Zoo. It is such a great place to visit with family and friends. It's not just a zoo but has other attractions like the water park, they have lazy river, water games, children's pool which my daughter enjoyed a lot and their wave pool is said to be the largest in Quebec. Even if you're in the zoo, you can still enjoy the roller coaster ride, monorail, merry-go-round, bump cars and train at the rides park. For younger visitors, they can play at the ball in the jungle camp. Here are some pictures of Elyse while enjoying the water:

This Saturday our friend and his family from Toronto will visit us, so i have to prepare our itinerary for the weekend. It will be another busy weekend but I'm sure we will have fun. Happy Wednesday to all.