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Blessed

dear son,

at this time, maybe you don't know it yet but you are so blessed. every single day, from the time that you were born until now that you have just turned one, you were blessed by God with good health. we thank God unceasingly for making you a healthy, happy baby. through you, papa and i were able to experience the beauty of life... through you, we were able to bring out the best persons in us... through you, our love was further strengthened. through you, we feel so blessed.

now it makes me sad how time has flown so fast. little by little you can do things on your own, like holding your bottle, sleeping on your own or even scramble down on the floor to try walking. i silently wish for the time when i used to lull you to sleep, and the mere sound of my heartbeat makes you fall asleep. now it seems that you have grown up too fast that you almost want to explore and do things by yourself. i know that's all part of growing up but maybe it's just the mom in me that makes me feel insecure with your new-found independence.

but my greatest consolation is to see your face lit up each time you see me walk through the door after a day's work. it gives me unexplainable joy whenever you give me your sweetest smile, as if saying you missed me soo much! that's why i look forward to going home each day, and to see that chinky-eyed smile...

my dear son, remember that papa and mama love you soo much- more than the stars in the sky, more than words could ever say. without you, our life will be incomplete. without you, we can never experience life's greatest blessing.

a party like no other

i just realized that it was so so hard to organize a children's party... it took much of my time lately that i hardly had a post... actually i was preparing for it as early as march but the actual preparations took only 2 months! it was just a backyard party and most of the stuff that we used for the party are D-I-Y... richie and i did the preps in between parenting because up to now we still don't have a yaya :( and so it left us really tired and stressed every single day before (and actually days after) the party...
but all the tiredness wear off seeing euan so happy even if he hardly slept the whole day (excited ata) and no tantrums ha (kahit pawis na pawis na ako sa pagbubuhat kay euan, enjoy pa din sya!)! plus seeing all the kids (and even the adults!) had fun throughout the party made it all worth it. Everyone enjoyed the program prepared by butch gonzales that even my sister wanted to take him home! (hehehe ano ito stuff toy na pwedeng iuwi?! btw my sis is a 15-year old teenager! LOL)

even if there are so many things i wanted to do for the party, i have learned to let it go and be content with what we can manage (and what we can squeeze in our budget)... and with all the happy faces that i saw last saturday, i can truly say that euan's party was a blast!
for euan's full album, click here.

back-to-back parties

we attended a series of kiddie parties, that it seems euan is looking forward to it every weekend! euan is beginning to enjoy it, and even gets excited to see the mascots (but not to be touched, nanginginig ito :) ) anyway, here are some photos of yancee's (my nephew) 1st birthday at sm storyland. he doesn't look like 1 year old though, he's just big for his age, (9.6lbs ba naman nung pinanganak :) ).

(1) ate sally with yancee and me with euan; (2) family picture - kuya ian, ate sally, alyana and the birthday boy, yancee; (3) richie and euan with lionel, the mascot; (4) richie with euan, me and yancee and the ever pretty ate hannah, my niece and inaanak; (5) ate hannah with euan in his trademark shot (singkit na naman sa kaka-beautiful eyes!) :)

we were not able to take pictures of the other parties... nakakapagod din pala to attend parties every weekend but seeing how it makes him happy drives all those tiredness away.

here's another altered art

since i posted my chopsticks altered project, here's another altered art i made months ago - a wall clock for my mother and mom-in-law as mother's day gift...

this one is for my mom w/ euan's picture when he was 4 mos old, and the one in the right is for my MIL with all her grandchildren.

for this project, i give credit to ms. pia lopez who helped me (through YM ha!) how to do it and gave me helpful links for ideas. she is also the one who encouraged me to try out scrapbooking again and gave me links to some sites and even great tips especially when i was starting out. i never thought that scrapbooking is such a big industry that it has become a career for some, until pia introduced me to a wonderful group of scrappers.
thanks also to ms. ria mojica and ms. iris babao-uy for the inspiration. i scraplifted their LOs as shown respectively.
these 3 ladies are oozing with creativity that i consider them the scrapbooking divas! thanks mga sis! :)

i'm on scrapbytes, gee!

im so happy i just found out today that the article i submitted for scrapbytes e-zine was published!!! scrapbytes is an online magazine about scrapbooking. the september issue was about altered art projects, so i tried my luck and submitted my altered art as shown in this picture. click here to view the article. this really made my day!!!
btw, scrapbytes e-zine is a part of scrappinmoms website which was pooled together by some of the best filipina scapbookers in the philippines. incidentally, scrapbytes is celebrating its anniversary this month. to the scrappinmoms, thank you for all the inspiration and for putting up a helpful site for scrapbookers, especially for those who are starting out this hobby. more power and may the creative force be with us always :)

i love mickey!

dear euan,

this month you amaze us when you began to recognize mickey mouse! you are starting to love mickey mouse clubhouse that whenever you watch it, you seem to sing along with mickey's OBB! humming with pouting lips actually, LOL! you were soo cute everytime you dance and sing and giggle! you got this thing for mickey probaby because when i had you, i saw mickey mouse in (HK) disneyland!...actually he was the one i was dying to see in disneyland that when it was our turn for photo op, i hugged him tightly that minnie got jealous...(yeah, she's the jealous type, but papa hugged her too so she won't get mad :) ) it was mickey and minnie whom we had the most number of pictures taken hehehe... i am just as fascinated to him then as you are to him now...

oh and you also know how to clap and show off your beautiful eyes that each time we take pictures of you, either your eyes are shut or you wink too hard just to show off your new antics! (as in wala ka ng matinong litrato, katulad nito...)

you also love to sing with me "itsy wincy spider", with actions and all!! you're such a smart kid! and if there's anything that you got from papa, it's his knack for music! you love to hear your nursery rhymes each morning that it puts you (and us!) to good mood, seeing you dance and hum! music is in your genes because papa is such a talented musician...and you seem to enjoy his music even when you were still in my womb, cause you fluttered and kicked really hard each time you hear him play.

euan, i hope and pray that you continue to be a smart, happy and loving child. when you grow up, i hope you hone your talents and excel in everything that you do. above all, i pray that you will be the person that God wants you to be. i love you so much, son. - mama