Rewards and Penalties

I had a long day yesterday. What I thought would be my only meeting turned out to be a blasted marathon. It felt nice going home to a pal who's always glad to see me. Hello Pipo, stay still for the camera ...


Also, there's nothing like the sight of a package from ebay to welcome you home -


Ooh, clothes ...


Too bad our helper of barely a month decided to buy herself a ticket home yesterday. It's so frustrating when this happens. I just recently gave her tons and tons of clothes from when I was cleaning out my closet over the weekend. And then out of the blue, she decides to leave.

Of course I can't do anything about it, but some notice would have been nice. How could I now possibly clean up after Pipo, my Dad and Pao (in reverse order of messiness) with a barrel around my waist? Plus, there's the matter of yet hiring another yaya for the baby. Hay.

Anyway, I'm not going to worry about this yet. I'll let Pao take care of things when he gets back. In the meantime, I'm sure we'll survive with professional laundry cleaners and the house need not be spotless. I don't care. I have to relax. Besides, Pipo doesn't seem to mind.

The world traveler's wife

Where in the world is Paolo Zamora? He's here...



...which means I have to drive myself to work until he comes back. It's been so long already. It's a wonder why I haven't forgotten the mechanics of it all yet.

I'm especially reminded of how Metro Manila traffic could be literally heart-stopping. By "traffic," I mean not just the general term by which a mass of vehicles lined up one after the other is called. I mean people driving vehicles. Mga walang EQ! Tse!


Here, lanes, traffic signs, and traffic lights are all suggestions. Motorbikes seem to be exempted from traffic rules, i.e. they will overtake you from all sides. And the phrase "first come, first served" does not apply. What applies, as in politics, is "Matira matibay."
I try to avoid the rush by coming in and going home earlier than usual. But still. Hindi ko kakayanin. 

Please come home.

The Favorite Parent

I have a feeling Pao is going to be a fun dad. A couple of weeks ago, I was forced to contribute to the purchase of his first ever magic (not the cards) kit. You know those stalls in Megamall that teach you magic tricks for a purchase? Pao's a patron -

He now knows a few card tricks, although I have to "manage" him during his "shows" because he still has the tendency give the tricks away. Hay naku.

Pao also likes to play with his cousins. Last month, he couldn't decide between making like Darth Vader -

- or Rambo ...

... so he went with both. Friends, meet Ramvader -

The competition is going to be stiff. I may have to resort to bribery to make our son like me more. Heehee 

Pregnancy Journal 6.1 (Feet 'R Us)

We turned 24 weeks pregnant this week, which is about 6 months. Things are basically the same as they were last month. I still have backaches that keep me awake at night. My skin is still breaking out. I notice that my hair's thicker than usual. Whereas I could be the poster girl for Regroe 6 months ago, now I feel I'm ready for my Pantene ad. Naks.

The baby's the size of an ear of corn now, which is weird because I've been told he's approximately the size of a papaya last month. Isn't papaya bigger than mais? Anywho.


Here's what we look like now -


My belly should be all baby-no food, because I try not to eat so much anymore. Well, with the exception of today's brunch. I had bacon and grilled chicken swimming in melted cheese, between heavenly buttery croissant. PLUS, I had one buttermilk pancake after. The fries also tasted like they were actually cooked in butter. Yum. They tasted soooo good. 

Pao agrees -

I'm hoping I could make up for this next week. No more desserts I guess, except for those fruit cups from the supermarket. Booo.

This month, the spotlight is on my feet. I seem to have gone a size and a half larger than my usual shoe size. I tried on my regular office shoes yesterday and they don't fit anymore. Hala.I'm scared of the cost of having to refurbish my office wardrobe, shoes included. Will my feet return to normal? Gad, please.

Also, my soles and legs are tired all the time. As in achy breaky feet. My solution is to stay away from closed shoes on weekends. I've taken to wearing sandals (1 1/2 sizes bigger) that have excellent sole support instead. They're not very fashionable, but they will have to do at this point.


That's all for now. I'm feeling very sleepy. I had to stay awake late last night because I was on a bidding war for maternity clothes on ebay. I won, of course. Yey. Zzzzzzzz.

Pregnancy Journal 5.2 (SOS - Breakout)

Baby boy is growing up fast and he's taking my belly and flabby parts with him. About 3 weeks ago, we looked like this...

Now, I look like I've grown a barrel over my stomach...


The line in the middle of my tummy is also now pronounced, although I'm surprised my belly button hasn't popped out yet like most pregnant women I see. Here are photos of our baby and his cousin Gabby playing for the first time. That's my linea nigra right there.























My issue at this point is the fact that my face is breaking out like never before. As in pimples are appearing all over my body. Eeek.
When we learned I was pregnant, I stopped going to the dermatologist and began applying nothing but Neutrogena on my face. I thought I could survive like that for 9 months. Apparently not. Here's a picture of me and Pipo on his day off. My chin is covered with pimples so I had to cover it up with my hand. Yikes.

After getting the go-ahead from our OB last Saturday, I waited 4 1/2 hours to consult with my dermatologist. This is my after-derma pic...


He has guaranteed that my creams are safe for the baby, so now I'm more at ease. I really hope these things go away. I gave up coloring my hair, exercise, my regular clothes, and my usually okay figure. If these pimples stay, I don't know how I'm ever going to stave off depression. Okay, I'll call it "sadness." 
Anyway, last week, baby was the size of a spaghetti squash. I know. I too had no idea what that was. So I Googled and here's what I came up with...





This week, he's the size of a papaya. Aha. That we know, us crazee tropical dwellers.




As always, I'm still having trouble getting continuous sleep, my left lower back is increasingly becoming painful, and my hands and feet are starting to get swollen. Nothing the matter. Because now, the baby's moving more often and that's the feeling I love most in the world.

The Results Are In

We learned yesterday that we're going to have a...

As you can hear above and see below, Pao is happy...

I am too. But I'm happier that our pregnancy's coming along smoothly; nothing in there that should be cause for concern. Since counting our baby's ten tiny fingers, I realize that every bit of a child ought to be considered a miracle. It's just amazing how this life is growing inside me as I go about my usual business. He has a face already! Do you see? Do ya?

We've had names set aside for both a baby boy and a baby girl even when we were still trying to get pregnant. The one for the baby girl was set in stone. The one that we're going to use for baby boy Zamora is still under negotiation. I love both first and second names. Pao only has issues with what his initials will be. We'll see how that turns out. Meanwhile, at least I'm spared from having to use "him/her," "s/he," and "his/hers" everytime I write about our baby. From now on, baby Zamora will definitively be referred to as a HE.

By the way, the voting on whether our baby's going to be a boy or a girl came out even. Split down the middle. 50-50. But the ONLY person who expressly got the baby's gender correctly is our friend Grace. To Grace, here's your 5 seconds of fame as promised...

Winner! In closing, I'd just like to say to our active little boy that I apologize, on behalf of your dad, for exposing your "happy parts" to our friends this early. We're just so excited to meet you. Your dad is especially excited to take you to his Saturday basketball games. He's happy he'll have you to hang around it, instead of lugging my shopping bags around all the time. I hope you understand.

Anyway, I promise to keep this entry, and the accompanying video, within our network of friends. When you grow old enough to create your own presence in the Internet through Twitter or Facebook or whatever is the equivalent of these things 20 years down the road, I promise Multiply and your mother's blog will no longer be around to cause you shame. XOXO Mommy 

Donde Esta Waldo?

It's hard to start working right away after a mid-week holiday, especially when rain is beating down your window like this. We need something to jump start our brains, like a steaming cup of brew or for people like me who can't take coffee, a good ol' game of Where's Waldo. You know the drill. This is Waldo. The British call him Wally. Say hello, Waldo ...



The object of the game is to find our friend Waldo in everyday scenes like this...



Did you find him? Are you ready for some more? Here you go. Find Waldo!




Now back to work you freeloaders! Haha