happy 28th birthday to my hubby!

October is a big month for me and Labsie. It's the month we celebrate our wedding anniversary (Oct 8), our couplehood anniversary (Oct 15) and the best event of all -- Labsie's birthday on Oct 31! Yep, my hubby is a Halloween baby! And would you believe he was born around 11:45pm? Very near the witching hour of midnight! =) But no worries, he's not scary or monstrous at all. My hubby is the sweetest guy ever!

This year, Labsie decided to have a simple dinner celebration in his family's home with my family as guests. Just two families coming together to eat and celebrate hubby's 28th birthday. We had seafood extravaganza, with crabs, shrimps, prawns, clams and grilled tuna gracing the table. We also had the usual pansit guisado, lumpia ubod and birthday cakes. Yes, cakeS! Coz Labsie had two, courtesy of Tita Ling and my mom =)

To Labsie, may the Lord grant the desires of your heart. Stay as great as you are! Love u always.. XOXO

Maternity & Baby Stuff Wishlist

Sleeper Keeper Total Body Comfort Pregnancy Pillow

Smart idea, sensational results: Take the concept of a pillow, stretch it to an elongated curve, contour it to provide the right kind of support where it is needed, and make it flexible so the user can shape it as necessary. Voila! This pillow does the work of 5 and is great for back and stomach support during pregnancy.

Designed by a registered nurse to follow the natural shape of your whole body

Horseshoe-shaped head section allows you to obtain comfortable upper body position and height

Extra-long midsection is perfect width for complete back or tummy support

The slightly curved end tucks snugly between knees as it conforms to body's shape, keeping you cool and comfortable

Allows you to shift from side to side as recommended by obstetricians

Cradles your body for recommended side sleeping

Helps keep your hips and spine in a neutral position

Promotes better circulation by lifting and cushioning areas you choose

Relieves strain on stomach, back, shoulders, neck, hips and legs while sleeping

After your delivery, it's a perfect support pillow for you and baby while breast-feeding; Also a great support for infants sitting up

100% polyester fiberfill covered with 100% cotton flannel in a plaid pattern

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Gabriel Feeding Pad Break-Away

The Gabriel Feeding Pad Break-Away is a 3-in-1 product for nursing, burping or bottle-feeding! The Nursing Veil has finger loopholes to hold veil in place while minimizing infant distractions in public feeding situations, and end flaps that lift for mom-to-baby eye contact. The pad flips over to burp baby on soft fabric or to allow baby to rest comfortably on lap or shoulder. The bottle-feeding feature holds a 2-9 oz. bottle of milk and frees one hand while feeding baby upright.

Nursing Veil (the large denim cloth on left side, second pic) Features:

Lift end flaps for mom-to-baby eye contact

Small opening to view baby while nursing

Lightweight fabric for maximum coverage and air circulation

Pocket for nursing pads, toy or teething ring

Minimizes infant distractions while feeding

Finger loopholes keep veil from shifting and sliding

Burping Pad Features:

Soft padded back (white cloth on above right, second pic) for burping or resting

Protective barrier to prevent fluid penetration

Bottle-feeding (birth to 6 months)

Free one hand while feeding baby

Holds a 2-9 oz. bottle (bottle not included)

Pocket for bottle cap

Holds pacifier or teething ring

Contoured neck for comfortable fit

baby-proof your home!

It will be six months before we’ll have a baby in our house and another 6 months before s/he will be actively wandering but it’s never too early to start baby-proofing our home! As per the usual, I searched online for tips about this and these are the easy to implement baby-proofing techniques that I found over at WebMD:

- Bedding: Put baby on his back to sleep; avoid soft bedding that might suffocate him. Crib slats should be 2-3/8 inches apart or less so head can’t get trapped.

- Floors: USE carpets to prevent slipping. Also check floors constantly for small objects that a baby might swallow like buttons and coins.

- Furniture: Cushion hard edges and sharp corners. If possible, move sharp-edged pieces away from high traffic areas. Anchor down unsteady pieces of furniture, such as bookcases.

- Bathroom: Never leave your child unattended in a bathtub or bath ring. Install no-slip strips on the bottom of the tub. Install lid locks on all toilets and keep the lid closed to prevent drowning and to keep the lid from slamming on your baby’s head or hands.

- Food: Avoid heating baby bottles in microwave ovens. The liquid heats unevenly, leaving pockets of milk potentially hot enough to scald your baby’s mouth.

my weird cravings

One awesome thing when you're pregnant is that you get to have food cravings that you have to have at that moment. Not buts or ifs from the husband or partner -- he has to get the craved food asap or else all hell will break lose! ;-) I had my share of food cravings during the first two months of my pregnancy, the time when I was still blissfully unaware that I was eating for two. I craved for sour green mango with salty shrimp paste, sour oranges and apples dipped in plain salt, cheesy junkfood and steamed seafood. Sounds pretty usual for pregnancy cravings right? Well, my weird cravings are actualy non-food stuff!

Would you believe that during my first trimester (I'm in the second tri now, woohoo!) I craved to watch car shows? Thank god our cable had Discovery Turbo! My cravings were satisfied. Of course, I also looked online for sexy cars and devilish big bikes, and stumbled upon national cycle's website. My saliva just drooled from viewing their stocks of Cruisers, Harleys, Sport Bikes, and Goldwings. They also have over 30,000 motorcycle parts and accessories to fully customize your bike. Mine will be heavenly pink and a girly big bike :p Hubby says my weird craving for cars and bikes might indicate that we'll be having a baby boy. If that's the case, we should buy a big bike for him now! ;-)

we're 3 months pregnant!

It's official, Labsie and I are 3 months pregnant! Hubby is very thrilled while I'm quite ambivalent about it. After all, we planned to have a baby after 3-4 years of marriage. And we're still on our first year. Tsk! But hey, God thought we're ready to be parents so here we are: unexpectedly expecting our first bundle of joy! ^_^ On a side note, four posts from August and 2 posts from early September will now be published below. We wanted to wait until we're 3 months pregnant to announce publicly that we're expecting and these 6 posts contained references to our pregnancy that's why I didn't publish it yet. Enjoy reading!

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Coffee Cat bonding ^_^

That’s us, the early birds above! And that’s me in the middle, wearing pink of course. Hehe! Despite getting stranded in various places in the city due to strong rains and winds, we three managed to get to the meeting place (Coffee Cat in Torres St.) first =) Of course, we were all wet! Didn’t matter though, we jumped right in to chatting and updating each other with our lives. Here are more photos when the other doctors arrived last Friday night:

Thank you to Ate Grace for organizing this meetup! And to Aura for the pretty mini-birthday cake you gave me. It was delicious! =) See you soon guys!

our wedding and honeymoon posts

I’ve been receiving lots of inquiries about Davao weddings and honeymoon in the Philippines so I’d thought a post that links to all my posts about these. What I wrote are by no means comprehensive but I hope it will be able to help you =)

WEDDING UPDATES (in order of published date)
Our Engagement Announcement
Davao Wedding Fair (Candor and Bliss)
Our Save-The-Date Cards
Our Wedding Invitation Prototype
Davao Pre-Cana Seminar (just a quick post)
JUNE Wedding Update
NO JULY and AUGUST Wedding Updates — very busy with my Physician Licensure exam
SEPTEMBER Wedding Update (1 month to go!)
Sneak Peak of our Prenuptial Pictorial
My Trial Wedding Makeup Photos
Food-Tasting Photos in Grand Regal Hotel (1 week to go!)

POST-WEDDING POSTS
2 weeks married!
Elbanbuena-Solito Wedding: The Bride
Elbanbuena-Solito Wedding: The Groom
Elbanbuena-Solito Wedding: The KADA

HONEYMOON POSTS (out of 10 days)
Day 1 and 2: honeymoon chronicles: makati/laguna
Day 3 (part 1): honeymoon chronicles: makati food pornography
Day 3 (part 2): honeymoon chronicles: sea creatures and robots
Day 4: honeymoon chronicles: chapel and kitchen