A Parisian Welcome

We are so excited to welcome our little girl! The support we've been getting from the people around us has been wonderful and we would like to thank everyone. I didn't get to have a baby shower for CB, and this time, my family helped me organize a Parisian Baby Shower for BG and we all had an awesome time!

Here are some photos from the event...

BONJOUR! The guests loved this =)

Good food and yummy French pastries & cupcakes

Wish cards for baby and pompoms I made

Tokens for our guests

Pin The Sperm On The Egg  =D

Make Your Own Nappy

Drinking Game (with CB joining in the fun!)

Draw My Baby

CB waiting for the opening of gifts

Opening gifts with my little helper

Big thanks to all my friends and family for the love and generosity...

Fab company + Yummy grub = Great memories!

Having A Baby Shower

A Baby Shower is a way to celebrate the pending or recent birth of a child by presenting gifts to the parents at a party. The term "shower" is often assumed to mean that the expectant mother is "showered" with gifts. (wikipedia)

It used to be that, only when having the first child can you have a baby shower and usually, both women and men are invited. Nowadays, there are no hard rules in having a baby shower. You can be given a baby shower with your 2nd or 3rd child, depending on the host of the event. Some have diaper shower, where guests are asked to bring diapers, instead of baby items. And others have book shower, a chance when guests can give books to the baby and older siblings, it may be new or used. Some still invite both men and women, while others still want an all-women affair.

As for me, I didn't get to have a baby shower for my first born. I didn't want to entertain guests or see friends because I felt weird looking "different" and feeling fat. I've gotten over that, but not the fat (sadly). But for this second pregnancy, my sisters and mom wanted to host a baby shower for me. Since it's not gonna be a surprise party, I told them I wanted to be part of the planning process. I get to choose my theme, colors and decors to be used. I've looked online and was surprised to see that there are a lot of blogs dedicated to baby showers! Lucky me, I was able to gather enough inspiration for my own baby shower. Here are some of the ones I liked:

I adore these Parisian-themed baby shower! I always enjoy our trips to Paris and our little girl was actually conceived in Paris, which makes this theme more special to me. Fingers crossed, I'll come up with something as nice for my own baby shower.

Photos: Google

It's A Girl!

Yes, we are pregnant and it's a girl this time!

We are so ecstatic and cannot wait to meet the new addition to our growing family. I found out I was pregnant last May, during my trip to Manila. I haven't been feeling well for a few weeks and decided to try and use a pregnancy test kit. It was positive on the 1st test, and since I wanted to make sure, I did another test the next day and it still showed positive. I went to my OB-Gyne and he confirmed that I am pregnant, 6 weeks pregnant that day I tested! Hubby was in Vietnam, so I had to tell him via web chat. I'm so glad I got a screen shot of his reaction when I told him the great news, it was priceless!

We found out our baby is definitely a girl via 4D Ultrasound in Hanoi last September. Here is a photo of our little bub:

I am now on my 29th week and this little girl is kicking up a storm in my tummy. My doctor said everything seems ok and baby is thriving well. Unfortunately, this pregnancy is much more difficult than my first one, as I am not getting any younger. But this baby is what we have hoped and prayed for, so I'm sure all the things I'm going through now will be forgotten, once we have that first glimpse of our little bundle of joy!

Just An Update

Hi, Mommies!

I have been going around the blogging world, checking up on fellow Mommy bloggers, and I noticed that a lot of blogs have not been updated for some time. It would be nice to keep in touch with all of you and find out what you've been up to and see how your little ones have grown. I am one of those moms who have been quite busy to write anything about our life at home, especially about my little boy. Hopefully, I'll be able to update my blogs regularly starting with this one. Wish me luck!

We are still here in Vietnam, and trying to fit in the expat community here. Unfortunately, since I am neither here nor there for a long time, I haven't been able to forge any new friendships. I'm hoping that will change soon. (fingers crossed)!

Europe Trip 2011

In Frankfurt, and I am joined by my family to meet up with hubby's parents and relatives who travelled from Australia, for a birthday trip for my dad-in-law. We all gathered in Dittweiler at my in-law's family home before heading to Croatia. We spent 2 weeks in Croatia - traveling from Zagreb-Crikvenica-Rovinj-Split-Dubrovnik. We celebrated my dad-in-law's 80th birthday in Crikvenica, his hometown. We also went to Venice, Italy with a drive-by in Slovenia and Bosnia & Herzegovina. From Dubrovnik, we flew to Paris, France for the last leg of our trip to visit Disneyland Paris before going back to Frankfurt, then Manila.

Here are some of our photos:

Frankfurt, Germany

Venice, Italy

Crikvenica, Croatia

 ]

Split, Croatia

Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

A few days after we arrived in Manila, news of the tsunami and earthquake was shown on TV. We were quite fortunate, having left earlier than our planned extended stay. It was also lucky that my sister and her hubby went to another island far from Tokyo after we left their home.

Let us help in any way we can and pray for those who have lost their lives and those who have lost their loved ones.

Photos: Google

Two Birthdays and a Trip

It's our birthday month! CB celebrated his 3rd birthday with a Toy Story theme at McDonald's. I made a Toy Story cake using a ready-made marshmallow icing cake and decorated it using a Toy Story poster and toy figures bought in a toy store. My little boy was so happy with all the gifts and toys he received!

A couple of days after, we travelled to Tokyo, Japan where my younger sister and her husband are staying for a couple of months for a short teaching stint in a University. Unfortunately, CB (cheeky boy) got sick and contracted a flu. It's a good thing my brother-in-law spoke fluent Nihongo, we didn't have to go to an international hospital for consultation. My little boy had to take Tamiflu, as part of his recovery meeds, though.

Oh, and I had a simple birthday celebration, got cool gifts (like Hello Kitty stuff LOL) from my mom and sisters. It was so much fun to be with my family again!

New Year, New Post!

Happy New Year!

Gad, it's been such a long time since I posted on this blog! I miss blogging, for sure. But just can't seem to find the time to just sit down and start it. One of my new year's resolution is to update my blogs at least 1-2 times a month and fingers crossed, I'll be able to do that. Since I find it a real effort to sit long enough infront of my laptop, I will try to post more photos and short notes with it. I miss my blogging friends too, and will start visiting other mom blogs again.

Hubby moved up the corporate ladder again and we have moved to Vietnam. It's our first time to celebrate New Year here and I must admit that it was a nice change from all the noise and pollution (from fireworks) I've been used to in Manila. No fireworks show in sight, being on a high floor, we could see a lot from a good distance. We had a simple family dinner and opened some gifts after that, then watched the New Year's countdown in different countries on cable news (CNN and BBC).
New country, new adventures. Catch up with you all soon!