Caroleen’s Treasures

Just one more to go and I am done with my online tasks. I really have to get it all done before the cut-off so I can get more moolah for Eman’s 1st birthday so even they say it is not until tomorrow until the cut-off, I just want to make sure that all my tasks are included in the next pay out. I am swamped with sewing and craft projects and I feel like I am needing some help especially with the cutting of fabric which takes so much of my time. And there’s my online store that has been sitting there for a month now……I already have a domain where to move my Multiply store but I still can’t find time to get everything in place. I just have to find the right ecommerce plug-in that suits my needs and read about the sites that sell merchant account. I think even if I cannot afford it, I can pick some ideas from their websites.

I am always fascinated with lanterns. I find them very regal and when I see one, I can’t help but dream of having our own place adorned with different kinds of lanterns like the Murray Feiss lanterns. I would love to have outdoor wall lanterns in the patio, hanging lantern inside the home and post mounted lighting in the garden. This is my dream so help me God.

See how the lanterns at Jack’s Ridge fascinated the little guy. That is what I love with the place. I want to go back just to sit and stare at them.

Wondering if my bone scanners are reliable. I underwent a free bone scan almost four years ago and since it is free, I have some doubts if it was accurate. The result says I have osteopenia. Osteopenia is a condition where bone mineral density is lower than normal. It is considered by many doctors to be a precursor to osteoporosis. However, not every person diagnosed with osteopenia will develop osteoporosis. I felt a relief to know not all can develop osteoporosis but when my mother, grandmother and aunties have gone through bone scan that same year, the result revealed my mother has osteoporosis and she had a case worst than my grandmother. Then I was back to thinking about the possibility I can also have it.

I did purchased one bottle of calcium supplement but I did not finish it because they are so huge. I feel like it won’t pass through my throat. LOL Now that I have given birth to two lovely kids, I was struck by the fear of it again because they say pregnancy and child birth reduces the bone density. Since I have back problem, it is very likely to develop it and I am actually feeling pains on my joints after some rigid work. I think I will not loose anything (but money) if I try to take one of the best joint supplement and the calcium supplement too or maybe go back to drinking milk? I think I prefer the latest so I will make a pitcher of milk that Mama Ingrid sent us. I love the taste of their powdered milk there, it taste like our fresh milk here.

Just woke up from a short nap and my head is aching. I can’t keep my eyes open when I am breastfeeding the little guy while lying in bed but I could have fought it because I hate the feeling of waking up from a not-so-peaceful nap. I feel I am old…..much older than my age. So next pay-out I am gonna buy myself some skin regimen to slow aging. Although I am blessed with acne and blackhead-free skin, I still love to have that blemish-free, soft and fair skin. I wanted to try Olay, just their new bath soap and maybe the moisturizer. Since we are always going out, I need to keep my skin hydrated and healthy. Of course I also love to have fairer skin which I have achieved when we were living in Trento. Imagine staying inside the house for whole week? I seldom get my skin under the heat of the sun. But that is so impossible to do that now so Olay will be my best friend from now on. Weather is so harsh to the skin too and it could really make me look older if I won’t do anything about it now and I am crossing my fingers that I will be religious in using regimens like that. I am just tooooo lazy. I am not putting anything on m y face, just the regular bath soap and lotion after bath. I hope the price I’m gonna pay for Olay will make me patient and religious.

I was looking at old pictures and found these precious ones. I forgot to blog about this, not that they don’t really matter to me but because I can’t keep up with a lot of things to blog about when this happened. Last March 20, 2009, the day before her Graduation Day, Ella drew this in 4″ x 6″ white board.

We were waiting for Eman to make an appearance and she envisions what will happen when that most awaited day will come. As you can see, I am on the delivery table and the doctor was helping Eman come out.

I took pictures. She erased it and made another drawing. Now the doctor is holding Eman while I was still on the delivery table.

This third drawing made me really giggle. See the taxi? Isn’t it the cutest taxi? Here we brought home the baby. Wondering why she’s not in the drawing? It’s because we have briefed her earlier that when I will give birth to her little brother, she will stay at my sister Crislyn’s apartment and wait for us to bring the baby home. We did that just in case she won’t be allowed to stay with us in the hospital but she ended up sleeping at our room for 2 nights and we all went home together with the baby.

These photos remind me of how I really loathe my huge prenatal vitamins that made me puke.With my two pregnancies, I have not finished all the vitamins that we bought. I don’t even drink Anmum when I was pregnant with Eman, just the regular milk, because I hate vanilla flavored milk. I can’t tolerate chocolate too. They just don’t appeal to me though I tried drinking a few glasses when I was pregnant with Ella. I just eat a lot of fruits, fish and vegetables (and rice too…hehehehehehe).

One thing that really makes me jealous of the people of America is the disability benefit. I have met a lot of friends in the marketplace in FarmTown when I was still crazy with it and some of them are on SSDI (social security disability insurance). One was struck by polio when he was little and the other one was a recovering alcoholic. They receive a monthly stipend and they are entitled to special discounts on services and purchases so even they don’t have a job, they still can survive through their insurance unlike here in the Philippines that people with disabilities are still working to earn for a living.

This photo was taken last October 29, 2009 while Eman and I are on a taxi on our way to deliver cloth diapers along McArthur Highway. This old woman is selling candies and cigarettes in the sidewalk and as you can see, she’s sleeping in her wheelchair probably because she was so tired. You can see a lot of scenes like this  across the country, some are worst than this but they are all equally saddening as to why they still need to work. I hope the government will do something about this soon.

I am very concerned of Ella’s permanent teeth. As I see how her new teeth are coming out, it appears that we will need to save for some braces. When her two lower front teeth (central incisor) came off and the permanent teeth came out, she started pushing them out. I told her she need to to that so she won’t have an abnormal teeth growth. She is doing that for long but it seemed it won’t do any good unless the lateral incisors (beside the central incisor) will come off. Her milk teeth are too tiny and now that her new teeth are coming out, it is becoming too crowded in there. But if we will not be lucky, we already accepted that we will really need to shell out some moolah just to get her teeth fixed. That will be in 7 years or 10 maybe.

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I posted some photos of Ella and I got this comment from Julie:

Boy! I can’t get over how grown up Ella is looking in these pictures! Did she just have a growth spurt?

Yes she certainly is on growth spurt and I wish it would slow down a bit before she couldn’t wear any of her clothes. Look at what she did while we attended a breastfeeding seminar last Friday. I had no idea she had lip gloss and powder in her bag! When she got so bored inside the function room, she roamed around the lobby of Lispher Inn and ended up in their restaurant. Donald, who brought Eman out so I can participate in the group discussion, saw the waiter take one piece of siopao from the steamer and served it to the customer seated alone on one of the tables. He glanced again and saw none other than her very own daughter. She really feels she’s grown up and likes to sit in different table when we are eating out. She not yet 7 and she’s asserting her independence already. Oh how I missed when she was still learning to walk……I couldn’t believe I will have a teen soon.

Okay enough drama. I will try to get my hands on the fabric after I check one of the weight loss products. I don’t need one yet since Eman is causing me to burn fats fast. But who knows, tomorrow I will.

Heading to the water still on diaper

I am such a good procrastinator and I have proved that for the nth time. Read more… »

I seldom see myself in the mirror because ours was broke when we moved. I do have one small mirror that I could see nothing but my face. LOL So when we went to a dinner buffet with Donald’s family last Thursday, I was surprised to see myself in the mirror. Although I noticed my weight loss because my old jeans fits well to me now, I am still surprised. If I won’t take any action, I’d be back to my old figure again and that alarmed me. I want my flabs back like when Eman was still a little over 3 months old. I feel more beautiful with those extra bulges you know. LOL I don’t think I lost weight due to lack of appetite nor weight loss formula but because of how this little guy makes every muscle in my body work double time with his acrobats. I wonder if giving him another kind of vitamins that will help him sleep more would help. Next pay out I will buy him a bottle vitamins to add on his multivitamins and vitamin C. One mom mentioned to me when Ella was little about a certain vitamins that makes her kids sleep more. We’ll see.