Cheeks to Cheeks

Another hour to go and it will be 2008 for us in California. Belle is asleep and Jon & I are watching NBC Dateline. What a way to spend our New Year’s Eve, huh? *lol* Oh, don’t worry, we know how to have fun to. We have a bottle of sparkling apple cider chillin’ in our fridge.

2007 has been good to us and we’re thankful nothing majorly bad happened to us and our family. 2008 will be a challenging year for us ‘cos having 2 kids will definitely change our lives. We pray for strength and health.

A Happy New Year to y’all!

Just came back from Ikea and did some last minute shopping for Belle. She has so many masak-masak toys now and I need to get a plastic container for these rubbish toys. Got her some hangers, drawer dividers, etc. The checkout counters changed a little as they have implemented self-checkout. It is great for customers who wish to get smaller items. The only thing I’m peeved about is the plastic bags. Ikea is charging 5 cents per plastic bag! I know, it is great to be environmentally friendly but they should’ve announced about it. (Maybe I didn’t get the memo, LOL!)

Anyway, thank goodness I bought a plastic container and was able to put the fragile wine glasses in there. Just wondering, is this “No Plastic Bag” policy implemented at your local Ikea store?

There is still so much to prepare before the arrival of Baby C. As I’m typing this, I’m having a load of newborn clothes in my washer and a load of towels, blankets, etc. in the dryer. Jon said I should take my time since I’ll be taking my maternity leave in 2 weeks. But what do men know?! By that time, I would be too uncomfortable to do any cleaning or washing.

I have yet to pack my bag and I doubt I’ll need much. Everything is going so fast; in fact, too fast. I’m having my doc’s appointment later today and starting next week it is gonna be weekly visit to the doc’s. *sigh* I still haven’t hand in my pre-registration hospital forms, still haven’t buy another car seat protector for the car, still haven’t buy sanitized cotton balls…See? I’m still unprepared! The thing is, I have to think about all these stuff myself.  (Yes, hon, if you are reading this, START thinking!)

Okay, the 1st load is done, gotta start folding ‘em…

Last week I was pinged by a very good blogger friend, Mamabok, about giving back to the company that has given us endless opportunities to earn a side income. Christmas is over but that does not mean we have to stop giving back to the society. Hope can be given at any time and anywhere.

Izea/PPP has given a lot of people the opportunity to earn something, be it 5 bucks or 15 bucks. As the opportunities increase, the chances of earning a steady income can be a reality. This year, Izea/PPP urged all bloggers to donate to the Habitat for Humanity. Like they say, you earn a little, you give a little. Every dollar counts for the people in need.

*Kudos to HomeschoolZoo who came up with this idea.

After dinner is always spent watching cartoons with Belle. I love this time ‘cos we always cuddle up and put a warm blankie on us. Belle loves to sit closely to me and she seems very comfortable doing that while watching her cartoons. We have been watching some reeeaaallly old cartoons. Those who grow up in the 80s will know what Super Friends are. Yup, there’s the Hall of Justice and the Super Friends are Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Batman & Robin and the Wonder Twins. Boy, this cartoon brings back memories.

We have watched it a few times and Belle knows who they are (of course, I’m the culprit of naming each character to her..hehe). Now, every evening she will be yelling out, “Super Friends! Super Friends!” I guess I’m stuck watching cartoons for the time being.

It is Christmas Eve today and we have the day off. We don’t even know what to do. We might stop by the mall but it might sound like a disaster plan ‘cos every Christmas Eve, there will be a hoard of people in the mall doing last minute shopping. So, we will see what happens but first we are planning to have a nice hot breakfast after Pilar arrives. She is coming in to clean the house. We got her a little gift card for Christmas.

Before I forget, those who celebrate Christmas, a Merry Christmas to y’all! A Happy Holiday to those who celebrate Christmas with their Christian friends.

Last Sunday I had a sudden craving for Pho. It is very rare for me to have cravings especially for this pregnancy. Jon had raved about this Pho restaurant at Alum Rock Ave, San Jose and told me whenever his Vietnamese friend has a craving for Pho, he would go to this restaurant. Hey, if a Vietnamese recommends this place, it must be good. I read some reviews about this place and all Vietnamese raved about the Pho. The only thing that turns people off is the interior look of the restaurant. For us, that isn’t important. As long as the food is good, service is fast and the place looks “clean”, we’re all for eating there.

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Belle is well now. The sniffling is getting better, so is the cough. So, what is this Monkey Queen doing now? She is being grounded. I sent her to her “naughty corner” just few minutes ago. She was going crazy with her toys and flung them about. We told her to stop but she kept going at it. I walked up to her and dragged her off to her “naughty corner.”

We will see she knows her mistake in a few minutes. From the look of it, it isn’t sinking in ‘cos she’s busy rolling about on the floor. *sigh*

It looks like every kid in the blogosphere (well, in the North America) are getting sick. Mamabok’s Chloe is sick, Blur Mommy’s C is sick and my Belle is of no exception. She started having sniffles and slight cough 2 days ago and yesterday she had a slight fever too. Now that the FDA has recalled all OTC cough med for kids under the age of 6, we can’t give her anything. So, I came up with my own remedy.

I gave her a teaspoon of honey, straight-up. I read somewhere honey coats the throat and keeps it from being irritated. That said, the honey is for her cough. Now, for her runny nose and watery eyes, I gave her a teaspoon of Claritin (for kids). Anti-histamine will help dry up her runny nose and it will also act as a double booster to keep the throat from being irritated by allergens. For her fever, I gave her Motrin. Motrin is the only fever med that works on Belle.

She slept quite well for few hours and sweated too. Sweating is good, that means the Motrin kicked in. But I guess the Claritin wore off middle of the night ‘cos Jon said she coughed a little. Usually when she cough, it is due to the nasal mucus flowing back into her throat.

This morning, I gave her another teaspoon of honey. All the coughing will surely makes her throat sore.  Hopefully the honey will help ease her throat. It sucks to see our babies being ill, huh?

Like they say, every pregnancy is different. I’m totally thrown back by my current situation ‘cos it never happened to me when I was preggie with Belle.

Similarities:

Morning (Night) sickness – I tend to feel pukey during the evening, especially when I was brushing my teeth. Thank goodness, the pukey feeling went away after 3rd month into the pregnancies.

Heartburn – Both times I was and still am suffering from Heartburn when I hit the 3rd trimester mark. This time around, it is a little worse than before. I have acid reflux too and I can feel the acid at the bottom of my throat. At times when I burp, I would burp a little acid out. Yuck!

No swelling of the feet – Phew! I have luck out so far. That means I don’t have to spend $$$ on getting new shoes.

Baby movement – Belle was active inside the womb and Baby C moves more than her (Oh no! Another Monkey Queen). Both pregnancies I get to see my babies doing “The Wave” all the time. Both girls stop doing “The Wave” whenever Daddy scolds them.

Dissimilarities:

Gestational Diabetes – I had that when I had Belle and none of it with Baby C. I get to eat more ice-cream now..hehe. Due to that, I weigh more during this pregnancy. With Belle, my all time weight was around 146 lbs. Today, I weigh 150 lbs and I still have another month or so to go. It’s gonna be tough to lose it after the baby pops.

Mommy movement – With Belle, I was able to walk like Speedy Gonzales throughout my pregnancy. Now, I’ll be lucky if I can walk from point A to B without feeling sharp pain at my hoo-haa. The round ligament is stretching a lot more this time and at this point in time, I can’t really do much walking. Thank goodness, I was okay all the way till 7th month.

Hot flash – I tend to get hot flashes now. Everyone will be bundled up and I’ll be in my t-shirt. I can’t stand having the hubby holding me while we sleep. His body is on the warmer side and with the mini portable heater in me AND my hot flashes, I could never sleep well.

Sleeping position – I could breathe better when I sleep on my right and on my back. Both positions are not recommended during pregnancy. I was able to sleep on the left side of my body when I had Belle. Now, I can’t stand sleeping in that position ‘cos my nose will get all stuffed up. Nowadays, I tend to sleep more on my right side instead of my back ‘cos the baby is putting a lot of pressure on my spine.

Okay, that’s all I could think of now. Going through this 2nd pregnancy makes me kiss the floor my grandma walks on ’cos she went through 8 pregnancies! Look at me now, I’m such a wuss…whinning about my 2nd pregnancy.