♥ 27 weeks today ♥

In some pregnancy books, 27-28 weeks is the start of the seventh month. And the 7th month is the start of the third trimester. WOW! This second pregnancy of ours is sure is going fast :) Our EDD is early March 2012, 3 more months to go!

http://babyblues2010.blogspot.com/2009/11/pregnancy-breakdown.html

stretch marks galore! :p

It's not our second baby's fault actually. When I was pregnant with Iya, I got stretch marks in my belly around the 35th week. The picture at left was from my 31st week where I boasted I didn't have any stretch marks. As you can see my belly is smooth and oh-so clear :) A friend commented she thought she didn't have stretch marks in her first pregnancy too, that is until she gave birth and finally saw the marks on her flat baby-less belly. One month after her comment, I saw my first stretch marks, gahh!! Thank god the marks were small and stayed like that til I gave birth to Iya :) The marks eventually faded without any post-partum interventions (i.e. cream or lotions) on my part. Sad to say, the stretch marks came back with a vengeance now, in my second pregnancy.. *sigh*

What's more, unlike in my first pregnancy, I wasn't active in stretch marks prevention this time around. Before, I started my anti-stretch mark regimen after the first trimester. I rubbed on natural lotion on my belly every single night. My sister-in-law even suggested to use olive oil which she used and my mom swears my SIL has no stretch marks in her belly at all! I found that encouraging but I never got around to using olive oil as it is too icky for me :p Anyway, this time around, I haven't put any anti-stretch mark cream or lotion in my belly since the second pregnancy began. Hopefully, I can find the best stretch mark cream before I go into my third trimester (I'm on the 6th month now) and apply it on my belly like crazy til I give birth! Maybe I'll even give olive oil a try :p Hopefully it will discourage any new marks to appear (on belly, arms, breasts and thighs) and will help remove the old. Will probably write an update on this stretch marks affair after I give birth. Maybe even post before/after photos if my belly doesn't look too horrifying! Hehe!

baby in the bun! :)

As promised in the last post, here's my "official" blog announcement regarding our second pregnancy :) Sad to say, unlike our first pregnancy, there's hardly no documentation this time around :( With Iya, I made a baby blog and a Facebook album chronicling the 10months of carrying her to term. I just hope our second kid won't mind. It's been very hectic being pregnant while taking care of a very active toddler (I'm a hands-on mom, no nanny). And forget housework, I only get things done when hubby's off from work or when Iya is asleep -_-

Anyway, I announced my current pregnancy via Google Plus (G+) when I was about 5 1/2 months. If you want to follow my pregnancy updates, go here: http://gplus.to/melissasolito :) If there's one thing good with this pregnancy is the fact that I have G+ to stimulate my brain and have crazy fun! To those who say G+ is dead, you clearly don't know how to make your Stream interesting! If you're tired of the useless updates, gossip, spam and endless game notifications from Facebook, go check Google Plus! But don't blame me if you get addicted :p And yes, G+ IS addicting!

beaches to casinos to stinky tofus to mall tripping

The title just about sums up the 4 years of family vacations we had. Though, technically, the first family vacay (beaches) was our honeymoon and the second one (casinos) was our babymoon. I was 4 months pregnant with our first baby then :) The third one (stinky tofus) was truly our first "family of 3" vacay and our most recent one (mall tripping), just this October, was kinda like "family of 3 + 1 in the bun" vacay. Yep, folks, we're pregnant again! o_O But I will reserve the second pregnancy story for another post, heehee!

BEACHES

Back in 2008, the place we honeymooned was still kinda a secret vacay spot. I never blogged about it (did not even share photos in FB!) coz I wanted it to remain a secret place ;-) However, other people who went there blogged about it as the place is truly awesome! Now, Coron / Busuanga / Calauit Islands in Palawan is not so secret anymore. Coron town in Busuanga Island has lots of new hotels and I hope, a better road from the airport to the town proper. Anyway, here's one of my favorite honeymoon photos (unedited from my phone camera) that captured the splendor of one of Palawan's last frontiers:

CASINOS

On our first wedding anniversary, we went to Macau and Hong Kong. It was my first time in Macau and second time in HK, but the first time I went there, Disneyland was still not yet operating. For Labsie, it was his first time in both places. Now, as much as I hate to admit this, I'm a fan of casino games, whether offline or online. So you can just imagine my excitement in visiting Macau's ultra-awesome casinos! :) My fave casino past-time, of course, are the slot machines. There's just something addicting in trying to win from a machine >.< Now, if it weren't for my cheapskate tendencies, I would be in so much debt right now due to my casino-loving nature. Hehe!

But.. I'm so much smarter than that because I use casino bonuses! In The Venetian Macao (pictured below), I got free $20 worth of casino voucher from a roving hotel employee. For online casinos, I trawl the web for blogs and sites that offer no deposit bonus codes and casino bonus coupons. That way I can try different online casinos without spending money. After all, what if I don't like the online casino? My deposit would be wasted then! At least with codes and coupons, I get to try the online casino for free- and if I like it, I will probably use my own money to play some more without any hard feelings ;-) Back to The Venetian, isn't the casino hotel gorgeous?? And that's only one of the many stunning casino hotels in Macau! By the way, that's my youngest brother with 4-months-pregnant me in the photo below :)

That's it for now! Stay tuned for part 2, involving stinky tofus and mall tripping! ^__^

Iya's 1st Korean BBQ!

I guess the title says it all ;-) Today is our first night in Astoria Plaza (Pasig) after 3 days in my bro's condo. Its our first time to be in this part of Metro Manila (we usually stay in Makati CBD) and thus we're unfamiliar on where to eat, what to do, etc, etc in this area. Luckily for us, there was a Korean BBQ eatery in front the Astoria, a MiniStop (that serves Pinoy hot meals) on the side, and a Red Ribbon nearby. We won't go hungry for sure ;-)

For tonight, as you might have surmised, we had dinner in the Korean BBQ eatery. Labsie and I last ate in this type of resto way back in 2007. We had so much fun grilling stuff + making our own lettuce rolls then. And tonight was no different :-) Our Iya, who is normally very active, sat through the entire meal! A miracle we say! My guess is she found the food very colorful (brown grilled pork, green lettuce, orange sweet potato, red sauces, yellow steamed egg) and can't wait to put it in her mouth, hehe! :-) All in all, we had an awesome and very satisfying family dinner. Til the next Korean BBQ cookout!Ü

Vacay 2011 is on! :)

Its 330pm on my phone- that means in 30 minutes we're off to Manila! Yesiree, it's that time of the year again- our annual vacation! Woohoo! ^__^ If you're a follower of this blog, you already know why we go on vacay during October. If you're new here, these are the reasons: October is when we celebrate our wedding anniversary, our couple anniversary, and Labsie's birthday. Three special occasions deserves 10 days of vacay! :-)

remembering 9/11 -- 10 years later

It's mid-morning of September 11 in my part of the world now. In less than 12hrs, it will be the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 US attacks. 10yrs ago, as the first plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York, I was studying for a Zoology exam scheduled the next day. I was a 20yr old BS Biology student in UPMin then. When the second plane hit, I knew something was up and stopped studying. I texted my Zoology teacher in jest if she could cancel the exam (hi Dr U / Z!) as something momentous (albeit horrific) is happening. Of course she replied, no, the exam couldn't be cancelled. Boohoo! But that didn't deter me from watching history unfold on live TV for the next several hours. Needless to say, I didn't get to sleep that night-- NY time is 12hrs behind our time, we watched the 9/11 attacks on our late-night news.

The next day, I was groggy when I took my Zoology exam. I can't even remember if I passed or failed that exam. But the memory of watching the 9/11 US attacks live on TV was forever burned in my memory. The memory of seeing the planes crash into the towers, the memory of people jumping out of the towers, of the people running away from the collapsing towers, the memory of the burning Pentagon building, the memory of the frantic voices from the heroic United 93 flight-- all these are burned in my memory. I know no one personally who was hurt in the 9/11 US attacks (my aunt in law resides in Woodside, NY though) but I was changed, and I knew the attacks will forever change our world, not just the United States of America. Here's my favorite insight on how 9/11 changed our lives by Martin Levenson:

Horrible and tragic events, with so many lives lost needlessly, on 9-11 and since.  But for me, the greatest tragedy is that a once proud nation, fiercely protective of its peoples' rights and liberties, has seen fit to suspend and abrogate those rights in so many ways, and that its people, now living in a culture of fear both real and imagined, have accepted this so meekly.  "Sweet land of liberty", indeed. The events pictured in this collection have cost the US so much, not only in lives and money, but in heart and soul, and I grieve for that more than anything else. 

For more pictures of the 9/11 US attacks, check out The Atlantic's 3-part photo series (click the links):
--THE WEEK BEFORE (photos from all around the world, a week prior 9/11)
--THE DAY OF THE ATTACKS
--THE DECADE SINCE (relevant photos after 9/11/2001 til 9/2011)

DIY edible fingerpaint :)

Aside from music, Iya also loves the visual aspect of arts. I already bought her washable markers for coloring stuff and making art but it didn't seem enough for her. I thought maybe Iya needed to 'get down and dirty' to truly enjoy the art experience. And so this fine Sunday morn, I made her edible fingerpaint ^__^ If dipping her fingers into bright colors won't make her shout with glee, I'll go back to my medical career and forget being a mom. LOL!Ü

Anyway, here's how you make edible fingerpaint:

1. Mix 1cup flour with COLD water (variable amount, just add little by little). Mix until there's no more lumps.

2. Slowly add HOT water to the flour mixture until desired consistency is achieved. If you want it more runny, add more water and vice versa.

3. Separate the mixture into different containers and add food coloring to each. I used my mom's Wilton stash and the colors are absolutely brilliant! :)

4. Now you're ready to fingerpaint with your toddler! Remember that it will be messy so just relax and let the good times roll, hehe!Ü