Q4 2012 Update

It has been 4 months since I last posted and so many things have happened - new, exciting, fun, good and even bad.

Here's a quick recap of God's faithfulness before 2012 ends:

1.  Joined Dolphin Fire Group Inc, a media holding company, as Sales slash Accounts.  Yes, went back to Sales after being in Marketing for 8 years. Its a refreshing feeling at the same time challenging. I met new ladies who are fun and crazy - meet Maria and Colleen. I'll show a photo of Carla when I get a nice one :)

Main Photo L-R: Maria, Colleen, Me.  

Eating street food while waiting for our meeting to start. 

2.  I had 4 days bonding time with my parents and siblings in Bangkok. We did so much shopping and eating!  We were able to buy dresses for P300@, pants for P250@, and tops for P150@.  I went with 1 small luggage and came back with 2 big luggages.  No more shopping for me until June 2013.  Only for clothes though.  Shoes and bags are different all together :D

Shop, eat. Shop, eat. Shop, eat. 

3.  As soon as Kalel went back to school from October break, he got Hand Foot and Mouth Disease! It was viral and not the Foot and Mouth Disease we know from animals.  It was a rough 2 weeks for all of us because we had to separate Kalel and Sky at all times while being in one roof. Kalel had to miss school and had to do a lot of catching up.  It's all gone now but there are still marks. Poor Kalel.

4.  Kalel did his first charity work at Sun and Moon Children's Home in Paranaque.  We donated diapers and feeding bottles. The place was lovely.  They even have a playground and swimming pool. So before visiting the orphanage, I explained to Kalel why the kids live in an orphanage. I wanted him to appreciate what he was and also learn the act of giving.  After visiting and seeing the playground and pool, he goes "They're lucky they have a playground and a pool".  For a moment I didn't know what to answer but I had to make him "bola" hahaha!

 
5.  We finally launched our official Bamboo Dappy Website. Its now www.dappydiapers.com.  But were still keeping our multiply page www.bamboodappy.multiply.com active.

6.  Finally, its our first Christmas with Sky in our new home. My hubby and kids are the loveliest blessing.

Hooray for all the answered and unanswered prayers in 2012 and Cheers for 2013!

Start listing your 2013 faith goals and believe that they are all YES in Christ! Dennis and I are excited for what God will do this year.  We want to get surprised again.


XOXO
Jenny

How we survived Kalel's First Seizure Attack

We were looking forward to another exciting activity this weekend. My sister and I were supposed to go firing and my gear was set until Thursday morning came.

Kalel had his flu shot last Wednesday and we already expected a high fever so we gave him paracetamol ahead. True enough the fever arrived just before bedtime. His temperature was 39.8 and We thought it was just normal because 2 weeks ago he had the same temperature and he was healed completely by paracetamol.  We gave him paracetamol every 4 hours but accidentally let 1 hour passed Thursday morning. His temperature was 40.1 then.

Then 7am hit, Dennis was still asleep beside Kalel when he heard gnashing of teeth. When we turned around, he saw Kalel having seizure already. He kept on shouting while shaking him in the hopes of reviving or snapping him out of his seizure. He woke me up and all of us just panicked. I panicked so bad that I totally forgot that we can actually bring him to the hospital. My yaya even reminded me.

While driving to Makati Med, another seizure attack came. Dennis beat all traffic lights and counter flowed every way just to get to the hospital as fast as we could.

It was the scariest 5 minutes of my life. Kalel's life literally flashed before my eyes. I thought we would lose him.

Thank God he was revived immediately in the hospital. He was admitted for observations and tests that morning until Saturday. What happened was a Benigne Febrile Convulsion (BFC) which is a result of a high fever and a bit normal for children between 9 months to 5 years old. But since he had seizures, he will undergo an EEG for his head just to make sure it's really just BFC and not a seizure as sickness.

Kalel is well now and back to normal. It's me and Dennis who are still traumatized. I didn't want to go home and see our room and living room where we tried reviving him. I could still picture his attacks in my head. We also try to avoid seeing Makati Med, as in we'll take longer routes going home to avoid it.

I feel guilty at some point because I was busy working that Wednesday night and wasn't able to attend to him to at least give him sponge bath to lower down his temperature. I also forgot to alarm my phone when morning came so he missed his medication. We also didn't double check the dosage of his paracetamol intake. We realized we were not giving enough. And yes, I've been beating myself up for these things.

What's important now is that we already know how to prevent another BFC from happening. Here are a few tips:

1. Make sure to not miss paracetamol intake. Give every 4 hours until fever subsides.

2. Check temperature every hour. If fever doesn't go down and persistent at 38.5 and above, give Ibuprofen to lower it down. Make sure there' a bit of food intake.

Note. We can't give Ibuprofen immediately because it requires some food intake. Most children don't have appetite when they're sick so paracetamol is tummy friendlier.

3. Sponge bath to lower down temperature. If fever reaches 39, give him a bath already. Best to use shower hose and start from head to continuously lower down temperature. Do this even during night time.

Thanks to my family and friends who prayed for Kalel. It sure worked!













Read more about Benigne Februle Convulsion

THE Ultimate Japanese Night

Thank God for holidays and long weekends, we get to spend time with our loved ones more often.  In our side of town, we love Japanese food.  My hometown, BF Homes Paranaque, has numerous Japanese restos. Every corner has a Japanese restaurant literally.

Luckily, my sister-in-law, Tatin, cooks very good Japanese food. Her forte is Katsudon.  While my sister knows where to get good Salmon and Tuna. And I do all the eating.  So for this long weekend, we decided to have THE Ultimate Japanese Night.

Our menu for the night:

    

 Tuna Salmon Burrito (because it was that big!)

        

Fresh Salmon 

Fresh Tuna 

Katsudon

Toge 

Chichen Teriyaki 

Boys in the house 

I just realized we forgot to take pictures of the ladies "in the house".  

We didn't just have Japanese food, we had DJ Thor in the house!

Well spent long weekend.  Til the next holiday!

Despedida Party - The WISER Way

Its the last work day of our office barkada yesterday and we planned for a despedida party for her.  She likes to sing a lot so we opted for a videoke party.  Of course the whole group likes to sing (and dance too!) too.  Who doesn't like to sing right? 

Deciding on where to hold the party was tough because for one, it was a bit last minute since everybody was loaded with work, and second, it was a Friday.  Almost all videoke bars in Makati were booked.  The only available option was Red Box but we felt it was unreasonable.  They were charging almost P600/person and only includes 2 drinks.  No dinner yet. 

So we decided to take the videoke party at home.  Thanks to sulit.com.ph, we were able to get a videoke supplier in a flash.  As in literally in a flash!  We called at 6:30pm and the supplier delivered the videoke set at 8:30pm. 2 hours waiting time wasn't so bad considering the rain and traffic.  It was cheap too!  We only paid P1,500 for the whole night already. The supplier even said that if we booked earlier, they only charge P800.  Sulit.com.ph was indeed sulit! 

Everybody had fun, especially the despedida celebrant who got drunk! 

Delivery from Shakeys, KFC. Drinks from 7-11.Thanks Dex for the Shots!  

I told you Ed will definitely fall asleep in our couch.

Bembots and Lea

The ultimate couple 

Instant Videoke Party!  

We'll only miss you in the office Aica.  We'll still be your Ates, strict Ates.

How do you find my new blog look?

Woohoo!  I love my new blog look!  Thanks to Pats Themes.  Contact her if you need a classy website look or just to have a fresh look.

Visit her page at http://patsthemes.multiply.com/ 

She also did our DAPPY page in multiply > www.bamboodappy.com  

XOXO 

Win Bamboo Towels from Dappy

Our very own DAPPY is now on Twitter!  

We're inviting all our mommy and future mommy friends to follow us at 

@dappyPH  

When you follow us, you will get a chance to win a set of Bamboo Towels!  

Each set comes with 3 bamboo towels made from 100% bamboo and an organic pouch.

Get this first hand.  We will start selling this by September.  Watch out for this! 

Visit www.bamboodappy.com for other bamboo made products.  

Goodnight Smart.

So after praying for 1 year, I finally decided to move on from Smart Communications to a smaller and more intimate organization.  Its a new challenge, new industry and new working style.  Being in telco industry for 8 years was an amazing journey but I am very thrilled on the new things I will do.

I just wanna recap my 5-year journey in Smart.

- I joined Smart as a single person

- I got married few months after

- I got pregnant 2 months after getting married

- Expressed milk in the ladies washroom for 1 year

- A lot of crazy and wild Christmas parties, gimiks and launches

- Got pregnant again after 3 years

- Gave birth to our second boy

So basically, Smart was a big part of my personal life.  And I will definitely miss Smart and the super fun people I worked with.  We really took the motto "Work hard, Party harder" seriously!

    Tin's Wedding

 Usher's After Concert Party @ Republic

 One of those Ukkokei Days 

 Pajama Party @GRZ's place to mend Krisel's heart

 Ad Con 2009

 Smart Money Photoshoot

Just another gimik night

This move is not my end game.  It's just the start of my dreams coming true. 

Another Battle We Will Win

Not all blog posts are fun and nice to read, and this is probably the first post I'm going to write with a heavy heart.  Its so hard that putting a title to this write up is the last thing I will write.

This is me writing as a daughter.

Let me start by saying that I love my parents and siblings so much that I am deeply affected by recent happenings in our family.  We've supported each other in every situation and we will keep it that way.

Our eldest is being challenged financially and so pressured that he turned to doing crazy things (like drugs). It doesn't help that he hangs out with people who don't encourage him.  The whole family is concerned and just  like what we did before, we will support him by pointing him to the right direction. And we will continue to hold on to God's promise:

"I remain confident of this:  I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living" - Psalm 27:13

This is the real world with real problems. There are fun times and there are bad times, ups and downs.  BUT what's good is that we have an unchanging God. His promises and our destiny don't change.  As I was worshipping this morning, He reminded me of how sovereign He is, that He can weave my brother's past, present and future so that he will fulfill his great purpose.  It is so great that the enemy is really trying his best to ruin his life and his family.  Well, I have news for the enemy.  We will not back down, but we will remain strong in the Lord.  Jesus Christ has won the battle for us 2000 years ago when He died on the cross.

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" - Ephesians 6:12  

To all my friends who follow this blog, I hope you can include my concern in your prayers.  And to those I haven't met but can relate to this post, I hope you are encouraged.

Finally Settled in our New Home

OMG! We're finally settled in our new home, still within Salcedo Village.  We can now call this "our home" as we've stopped renting.  We've been renting for 4 years and just thinking about the money we technically threw outside the window is heartbreaking. But God's ways are sweeter and wiser. He surprised us with a property of our own.

We still don't have internet at home so I'm just using Smart Bro.  Its my best friend now a days.  PLDT's taking so long to transfer our account, its crazy!

So, I'm going back to my full time work in a week's time and just want to recap all the things I've done during my 72 days Maternity Leave (because I had a C-Section):

1.  Gave birth to a healthy and super adorable baby boy who looks like me (finally!).

He is named Jude Anakin, aka Sky (for Skywalker).

2.  Made a big delivery to our new customer for my Dappy business - Bamboo Dappy

3.  Had our new home renovated.  Got so stressed dealing with contractors!

4.  Moved and unpacked all our stuff.  I didn't expect we had that much things!  We've accumulated so many things in the past 4 years.

5.  Celebrated my 31st birthday.  Time flies.  I really need to start enjoying every minute.

6.  Ready to introduce 3 more products for Dappy.  Watch out for this!  They're so cute! As always.

Here am I in my home office, listening to good music while I write this and trying to enjoy my last few days of freedom. My new baby is now 2.5 months old and I'm starting to get separation anxiety.

Cheers to my fun-filled Maternity Leave!

Balancing Parents-Kids-Grandparents Relationship

My parents and in-laws are very close to our first child, Kalel, because he's the first grandchild in both sides (You probably know where this blog is going). As early as 6 months old, he would already sleep over at Gua-mah and Amah's (Grandmas in tagalog) homes without us.  We just make sure he has his nanny with him. That went on every weekend, and alternate.  One weekend at his Guama's place (my mom's), the next weekend at his Amah's place (my in-law's). D and I were ok with this set up.  It was actually healthy for us because we'd be able to go out and have fun a bit. This went on for the next 2 years.

The challenge now arises.  I realized having this set up opens up some issues like: 

1.  Expectations - Our parents are both from the south area so switching homes are not a problem.  Its the expectation that we'll visit every time were in the south that is the problem. 

2.  Coordination - Who's going to pick up, what time and where. Miscomm is very easy to commit. 

3.  Spoiling - I think this is the most common challenge. Grandparents like buying their "apos"toys. For Kalel, he would get new toys every week.  I don't mean this in a bad way, don't get me wrong. New toys are great, but getting them every week is not healthy. They lose the sense of patience and they don't take care of their old toys. And toys are not cheap.  Just the other day, he intentionally broke his arrows and told me to buy him new ones. And of course, I didn't. 

In everything we do, we try our very best to honor and respect our parents. We love them and they know best. And we also want our children to have, not just good, but the best relationship and memories with their grandparents. So its very difficult to manage these situations.  

Here are tips (I think) to help us be the parent we want to be and still respecting OUR parents: 

1. Let go of the small issues - Best to not sweat the small stuff.  If we can let go of small concerns, then let's do it.  Its too small to ruin the relationship.  I personally noticed that grandparents can be emotional.   They may take corrections in a bad way. 

2. Give them new info - Since info is so easy to get online (and not all parents are familiar with how the internet works), let's share our new learnings with them in a polite way.  For instance, I asked my mom one time on how to properly clothe my newborn.  And she said "Your sister looked it up online and it said newborns should have one layer more from what were wearing. So if were wearing sando, they should wear short sleeves". I was amazed she actually believed what the internet said, haha! 

3.  Meet them halfway - If everything they're doing is not ok with us, then let's bargain.  I remember this past summer, my mom would always take his grandchildren swimming. As in everyday, morning and afternoon. And I was scared that Kalel might get colds. He's thin so he easily gets cold.  So I asked her if they can go swimming in the morning and just go to the park in the afternoon.  So its win-win situation. 

4.  Listen to them - There's no harm in listening.  We don't always want the things we hear but its a sign of respect. In these situations, I just say ok in everything, unless I have a better idea. Haha! 

5.  Be firm - Sometimes grandparents can insist on what they want. If what they want would be harmful, like swimming morning and afternoon for a week, then we should also be firm on our decision by giving examples of past situations.  Like, I could tell my mom that Kalel easily gets colds and can lead to coughing, and hope that she'll understand. When she's calmer, then we'll discuss parameters on swimming rules. 

These are not easy but here is my personal saying: Try and try until both everyone is happy.

Source

Handling Our Eldest

I knew it will be a challenge to take care of my eldest's needs when the new baby arrives. I've seen this with my sister when she got pregnant 9 months after giving birth. That's why we really planned to have our second when he's at least 3 years old. This way we've spent enough time with him and given him enough attention.

So as soon as we found out about the pregnancy, we'd "brainwash" him (in a good way) everyday that he'll be a "kuya" or older brother and we would need his help in taking care of the new baby. We'll even ask him to lay hands on my tummy and pray for the baby.

A few weeks before giving birth, our Pedia gave us a heads up on Kalel's possible behavioral changes once the new baby arrives. She said there are possibilities of regression like peeing or pooping in unusual places, lots of crying and a lot more.

Honestly, we felt we were prepared for these changes but no, we were wrong. Kalel definitely regressed. Now, he's harder to feed, cries a lot, asks for things that really out of this world. We're also having a hard time to talk to him to explain things.

Ergo, we need help! According to this checklist, here are some things we can do.

- Set aside special time for your older child.  Each parent should spend some one-on-one with the older child every day.  It’s amazing how much even just 10 minutes of uninterrupted one-on-one time can mean to your child (and help their behavior!).  Let your child choose the activity, and you follow their lead.

- Listen—really listen—to how your child feels about the baby and the changes in your family.  If they express negative feelings, acknowledge them.  Help your child put their feelings into words.  Never deny or discount your child’s feelings.

- Make sure it is very clear that absolutely no hurting is allowed.  Give your child other ways to express bad or angry feelings they may have toward the baby.  For example, they could draw an angry picture of the baby, or act out their wishes with dolls, or roar like a lion.

- “Baby” your child, if that’s what they seem to crave.  This may help stave off regression in areas that are less acceptable to you.  There is a tendency to suddenly expect your child to become more independent when you have a new baby.  If you expect less independence, you are more likely to get more!

- Have the new baby and older child exchange gifts. - Have some special “big brother” or “big sister” gifts to give your child as friends and relatives start showing up with baby gifts, so your older child won’t feel left out.

- Remind visitors to pay attention to your older child, and not just the baby.

- Make sure the older child has some special, private space, and things of their own that they don’t have to share with the baby. - Give them special jobs that they can do to help the family and help with the baby’s care (but don’t overdo it—take your cue from your child on this). 

- Let them participate in the baby’s care—baths, dressing, pushing the stroller, etc.

- Point out the benefits of being an older child, like choosing what to eat, being able to go the park and play, and having friends.

And let me just add this last tip:

- Have a LOT OF PATIENCE. Don't yell at the child. Speak with a calm tone while kneeling down and looking at him eye-to-eye. (Gosh! This is the hardest to do!)

Source

The Genius in Tithing

Malachi 3:10 - Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.  Test me in this," says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.

Don't you just love this verse? Just read it over and over again and you will be fully encouraged (especially when we are financially challenged).

This is a verse we always here in church and this is of course one of my favorite verses in the Bible.

Its been a month since we last attended church (because I can't leave Sky yet, and I miss church!).  Me and D have always believed that everything comes from God and we can't boast of anything. And tithing is just one way to thank and show Him that we fully trust Him.

Here's the genius in tithing > The more you're in lack, the more you should give. How ironic right?

And we see this as a test for God because He said it in His word "Test me in this..." This is the only verse where God says we can actually test Him.

Our cash flow has been fully tested this past 2 months because of overlapping expenses, but God has been faithful to His promise.  Looking at our bank books, I still don't know how He did it.

To God be the glory.

Overcoming Postpartum

I must admit, my first postpartum was very difficult for several reasons. First, for the most obvious reason, it was my fist time to be a mom and I didn't have any idea how to handle a newborn. Second, I was just adjusting to condo living (where space is very limited and I can be claustrophibic). And third, I was also adjusting to the new lifestyle - being a mom and a wife. 

My mom would always visit and help on the baby and every time she would leave, I would cry. Even when relatives visit, I would also cry when they leave. I felt I as going crazy. I wanted to divorce my husband. D, my husband, would enjoy his normal life - gym, drinks with friends, play station, while I suffer sleepless nights, breastfeeding and a big belly (even after giving birth!). There was a point I asked my doctor if I can have medicines. She didn't give me medicines but only said to call her if I felt like hurting the baby. Thank God I didn't reach that point. The most I felt was I wanted to bring back the baby to the hospital. Haha! 

After going thru the first one, I was more prepared for the second wave. Even D was now prepared to handle my mood swings. This time, I made myself busy with the business and in designing our new home and most of all, I decided even in day zero that I'll enjoy every minute with Sky, our newborn. 

So I would say I've overcome my postpartum this time in less than a months time, feels great! 

Here are some links you'd want to read to prepare you for postpartum or what's normally called "baby blues" 


http://www.babycenter.com/0_postpartum-depression-and-anxiety_227.bc 
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0004481/

Re-Start.

Used to blogging under www.chuabells.com 3 years ago but was deleted when I wasn't able to renew it on time. Tsk Tsk Tsk. So here I am creating a totally new one. It's never too late. I just feel sad for my write ups. Anyway, here's another chapter in my life - 2 kids, employed, growing a business and trying to get back in shape the soonest possible time.

I like writing short stories about my adventures, activities, realizations, ideas, concepts and a whole lot more. I personally don't like reading long blogs, I get bored and tend to read only the first few and last paragraphs (talk about ADD!)

Cheers!