Our little one at 18 weeks and 3 days

Yesterday's visit was good. I gained 4 lbs for the first time but not sure if I can keep up with it coz I drink lots of water yesterday as requirement for my ultrasound and haven't pooped yet. The woman doing my ultrasound said that it looks like a girl but we heard rumors that ultrasound is not 100% sure and some babies came out the opposite of what the ultrasound result was. A friend of mine and my dermatologist said that I'm having a girl and another friend said maybe it's a boy. We'll see but for now I assume that it's a girl. I'm just thankful that the baby's body is complete. We saw the little feet, hands, head, heart, mouth and the baby was smiling yesterday. It's really amazing to see the baby moving. I guess she enjoyed that we're watching her but of course I was talking to the baby the day before my appointment that mommy and daddy wants to see her so she should move and impress daddy coz daddy will take some hours off just to see her. I'm not sure if the baby really understand what I said but we saw her right hand with the little five fingers opened as if she's trying to show us how little her fingers are and she's moving around not just hiding in one corner which she normally do in the morning. It’s been two weeks now that the baby moves every single day though others think that it's too early for me to feel the baby moving coz I'm a first time mom. I think my baby is an exception to that. Its fun feeling the baby moving coz it tickles though sometimes it's a little painful. It feels like the baby is stretching inside, pushing my tummy, kicking, knocking, rolling, pinching, pulling something inside and hiding in one corner.

Here she is yesterday showing mommy and daddy that she can raise her little feet so early...

OB Appointment

Another OB appointment today and a challenging one. Why? Because I have to drink 4 cups of water an hour before my appointment for the ultrasound. I thought I won't be able to make it coz I don't drink a lot of water specially in the morning. I usually drink half glass of milk and crackers for breakfast and that's it. But today I tried my very best to follow the instruction or else they will reschedule me if my bladder is not full. The visit was successful but they change my due date coz the baby is 2 weeks delayed according to the ultrasound. So hubby and I were right with our calculation. ^_^

Our 2nd Wedding Anniversary

Today is our 2nd year wedding anniversary. I wasn't really planning to go out today but hubby said that next year we might not be able to go out because we already have a baby. So I decided to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Since I'm preggy, I choose what place I want to go and eat and I choose the Thai restaurant. I think that's one advantage of being preggy. hehe The food is really good and I was stuffed when we leave the place. haha But still I had a "to go box" for my left over coz I only eat 1/4 of my food. Yes, I ate a quarter only coz the restaurant served a huge serving. I didn't even finish my tea. Hubby asked me if I want to shop at the store next to the restaurant so I can have a little bit of exercise and won't be stuffed when it's time to go home. I agreed with him and so I look what the store have and found one blouse that I can use once my tummy grows bigger. Then we greeted each other on our way home. :)

Cable TV to fight boredom?

In the past hubby and I spend more time on the computer than watching TV. Hubby asked me if I want to have a cable TV but I always say no coz there were times that I didn't bother to turn the TV on for a week or weeks so it's just a waste of money. But now that I stay at home everyday and only go out twice a week, I started watching soap operas at noon. I spend more time watching TV than the computer lately and the other night I was surprised when hubby was on the phone talking about cable TV connection. I am still satisfied with the TV shows we get from local channels but it seems that hubby is so determined to have a cable connection and his reason is he doesn't want me to be bored here. I said that I'm not bored yet and the cable TV will only make me lazy to do something else if I started to like watching nice shows and if that happens, then it's his fault. He said that it's okay as long as I won't be bored while I'm in the house. Lately I experienced having back, hip, and leg pain that's why I prefer to lie down in the couch to take a rest while watching TV or listen to music. I sometimes get up during commercial break to do some chores if my body is feeling a little better or if I'm not in pain. I still want to do some chores and a little bit of arranging before the baby comes. I hope I won't be addicted to watching TV unless I need to. :)

Birthday celebration with friends

These two photos were taken last Thursday at Barnes n Nobles where Starbucks is. We drop by there to have a cup of coffee after eating dinner at the Chinese Buffet Restaurant. Too bad, we forgot to take a photo while we're having dinner. I only remembered it when we're about to leave. Anyways, it was sort of a celebration for my birthday. That's what we do if one of us have a birthday coming and sometimes a belated birthday treat for us. We had a good time last Thursday though the weather is cold. :)

EC... Sooo slow...

I tried to drop EC before going to bed but it's soooooooo slow. I was able to dropped 7 blogs only and now I've been waiting and waiting for the blog to download. I hope those who dropped EC in this blog will understand why I didn't drop EC to their blog yet but I will try to visit and drop EC again tomorrow. Got to go now, bed time for preggy me. :)

Shopping time

I wasn't really planning to go shopping today but I noticed that my pants are kinda tight already and it's very uncomfortable if I'm full. So I went out shopping today looking for maternity clothes on sale. I bought 2 sizes of pants medium and large so if the medium size won't fit anymore then I don't need to be in a hurry to shop for the next size. I bought some shirts too for the fall coz the weather here is already little chilly. :)

Crawfish

This is my new favorite dish from Chinese buffet. A friend of mine introduced me with this which I didn't like the taste at first but after trying it the third time, I started liking it and yesterday I had two plates of this maybe 6 pieces for each plate coz I want to try if the taste is good and if not then I'll eat the crab legs instead. This is really yummy especially if the crawfish is fresh. :)

Prayer meeting and selling...

Hubby and I were invited to a prayer meeting when we were at the Filipino store coz the host of the prayer meeting was there also shopping and told us to go to her house Saturday which is today. The last time we went to her house we waited for an hour and a half because the guests arrived late (Filipino time) which is not good. So today hubby and I decided to be there a little late coz I'm sure that others will arrive late. To our surprise, we still arrived early. I guess we waited for 30 minutes before the prayer started then we had dinner after the prayer. When it's time for us to go home, somebody was selling a book with lots of coupons from restaurants and grocery stores. Hubby didn't like the idea of selling something coz it's supposed to be for socializing. I wasn't interested to buy the book but they're bugging me to get one coz it's the kids project in school. I was trapped at the sofa so hubby did something to stop it. He stand at the door waiting for me and said bye to all so I can get out and go home. I just said to the ladies that I better not buy then I said bye to them and thank the host. Hubby said that it's okay if I'll stay to socialize but he doesn't like it when the ladies are bugging me to buy the book. Good thing hubby was there or else I'll be tempted to buy the book that I can't use. Coupons are good if you use it but if you don't then it's useless. The good thing is I met some friends again and went home full. :)

Eggplant with egg

I'm not sure if you heard that eggplant is not good for pregnant woman. Why? Well, according to my cousin in the Philippines that the baby will get seizure disease when the baby is born. I told hubby about it and he didn't believe that it's true so I asked my OB and practitioner and they both said that there's nothing wrong with the eggplant. In fact, vegetables are good for me and the baby. So I bought an eggplant and cooked it today for my lunch. It's funny though coz the cooked eggplant with egg looked like a turtle. I was talking to my baby while eating and having fun with the shape of the eggplant that I ate. haha

What do you think?

Got pimples again

I have an acne break out again and it's itchy. Grrrr I can't help but scratch them coz it's really itchy. Sometimes it's painful so hubby decided to get an appointment with my dermatologist. We went to my dermatologist today and got prescriptions. I was there a year ago and now I'm back to step one again. Same problem but different prescriptions now that I'm preggy. I hope that my acne will be gone soon but he said that after giving birth, my acne will become worst. Oh boy.

Two in a row

It's a nice day for me today coz my blogger friend Nancy gave me these tag and award. I like it and they are so cute! Thanks a lot girl! I really appreciate the thought. :)



Uber (synonym to Super) Amazing Blog Award is a blog award given to sites who:

~ inspires you, makes you smile and laugh, or maybe give amazing information, has an amazing design and any other reasons you can think that makes a blog uber amazing!~

The rules

* put the logo on your blog or post
* Nominate at least 5 blogs (can be more) that for you are Uber Amazing!
* Share the love and link to this post and the person you received your award from.

I want to share this award to my fellow bloggers who have amazing blogs namely: Lynn, Juliana, Twinks, Ivy, Webloglearner, Darlene, Ilocana and Elda.

***********************************************

Friendship Tag

We need friends for many reasons, all through out the season.
We need friends to comfort us when we are sad, and to have fun with us when we are glad.
We need friends to give us good advice.
We need someone we can count on, and treat us nice.We need friends to remember us, one we have passed sharing memories that will always last.

Spread the poem of friendship:

1. Everyday Life 2. Words of Love 3. Sheng’s Simple Thoughts . . . 4. Pinay Mom Blogs 5. REALITIES 6. Glossa~licious 7. A Great Pleasure 8.The Spirit of Blogging 9. RestnRileks 10. Wishing On A Falling Star 11. A Simple Life 12. Just the way it is... 13. Michelle's Small World 14. You

Now I'm tagging those who are listed in my blog roll and you. :)

Budget! Budget! Budget!

Well, knowing that we have a baby coming made me changed from shopping to saving. Actually I tried to control myself not to spend beyond our means already but thinking about the economy today made me think twice. I've been watching Oprah's show especially when it comes to saving tips or money 101 so I'll learn something how to really live lean. The baby is not really that expensive according to other parents that hubby and I know but we don't know if there are emergency expenses coming. According to Suze Orman, we should have 8 months of savings for emergency. I really like Suze Orman's advice to those who are having financial problem which she calls it financial suicide. She's frank and uses the tough love to those who asked her help and I learned a lot by listening to her at Oprah's show. So budgeting is really important. :)

Lucky Me!

After I finished visiting those who dropped ec on my blog yesterday, I decided to check 3P if there are good offers for me. And guess what? I got 8 offers available for me (lucky me pancit canton! haha) but I only took one. Why? Because I was looking for a good one that I can relate to which also have a good pay out. It was automatically approved but I hope and wish that I perfectly made it right coz sometimes the rules made me confused. In the past I received a few emails that I need to fix something but sometimes I forgot to do. Too bad! Well, good luck to me. ^_^

My EC is back!

The other day I received an email from the entrecard staff informing me about my EC that was deleted. The EC website was not working right at that time and I almost gave up but when I'm about to email them, the EC website was working and so I read the reason why the EC in my blog was deleted. I guess you noticed before that I had a slideshow on the left sidebar with an automatic audio in it which is a violation on the EC rule. I decided to delete it and emailed them that I already fixed it. They answer me right away and welcome me back. I'm not sure though if there are ec droppers that I wasn't able to visit because my inbox is already empty. I'm just thankful that my EC is back. :)

Awesome online directory!

There are lots of directories from phone books and even online nowadays but do you have the time to spend in searching and looking for what you need? Well, it sometimes frustrates me to spend a lot of time looking at the directory if I need something that I'm not familiar with coz it gives me pain on my neck and back. I guess you experienced that too. Thank God the Clicksmart was born! From the name itself you already know what it means. But just in case you don't know yet about this, I'll give you some information about this awesome directory. Clicksmart.com is connecting consumers to small businesses with good reputation so consumers don't need to do the guessing game. This is a directory where Clicksmart certified experts help consumers to find what they are looking for and this website will really save you time. Using Clicksmart is as easy as 1 2 3. You just select a category like massage therapists then enter the zip code or City like San Diego then click the Go and you'll get a list of San Diego Massage Therapists. The list contains San Diego Massage Therapists who are certified experts on their field. Isn’t that nice that Clicksmart help you find the experts? That’s what makes it awesome!

We Need Friends

Oh I love this tag about friendship. It is cute and very touching. It's true that life isn't complete without friends. Thanks a lot for sharing this with me Lynn!

We need Friends for many reasons,all throughout the season.We need Friends to comfort us when we are sad,and to have fun with us when we are glad.We need Friends to give us good advice,We need someone we can count on,and treat us nice.We need Friends to remember usone we have passed sharing memoriesthat will always last.

I want to share this to my fellow bloggers listed on my blog roll and those who happen to drop by here. Go get it guys! :)

I feel okay tag...

Thanks to emjei for sharing me this tag. :)

-i feel okay tag-

My quote: (Inspirational) - "Sometimes what you want isn't always what you get, but in the end what you get is so much better than what you wanted."

*start copy here

Feel okay? Well you should be! You’ll definitely be okay if you’re going to be a part of this meme, be okay if you are about to have a chance to increase your Technorati and Google Pagerank!

1. Make others feel good: share your favorite, self made, or any quotes as you pass on this meme with the image below.

2. Make sure to come back – HERE - (ifeelokay.com) to get the master list and leave a comment that you’ve made yourself a part of this meme. This would ensure that you’ve been added to masters list.

3. Your favorites, self made, or any quotes that you shared are collected and will be linked back to your site as its source, this would give you much benefit. Put a category before your quote. (ex. Inspirational, happiness, love, sweet, time, motivational, friendship, and others), much better if you relate the quote on your blog. Ex. Fashion Blog - quotes about beauty; Personal Blog - quotes about success, life, inspirational and many more. It’s your choice.

4. Only one quote and category per blog please, make sure to tag as many bloggers possible. Please update your contributor's list more often. May we achieve thousands of quotes from different bloggers around the world. Let the fun begin. Be a part of a great collection of quotes from different bloggers around the world!!!

Contributors

(1)BeautyTips,(2)EmjeiSays,(3)Techmobiz,(4)BlackNickel,(5)inspirational stories,(6)iAM-MAi,(7)NeuroPatch, (8)Express4Free, (9)Club101, (10)Earn4aLiving,(11)Love tips,(12)My Touch of Heaven, (13)BigMoneyList (14)A Simple Life (15)Momhood Moments (16)Business Mars (17)FunFierceFabulous (18)My Pink Shoelace (19)Rosa’s Meanderings (20)Chronicles & Tales Unlimited (RED) (21)Within Small Bites (22)My Life…. My Journey! (23)Life is good and Beautiful (24)HappyHeart (25)http://oscar-vg.blogspot.com/ (26)Reality Notes (27)My so-called Life (28)Kwento ni Enday (29)The Fountain Of Happiness (30)Amazingly Me (31)Caring Is Not Only Sharing… (32)Onabentofrenzy (33)Denz Recreational (34)Pieces of Me (35)My Inner Thoughts (36)Emily’s Buzy World (37)Maritima Heavenly (38)Origena (39)BiiterSweet Life (40)Words of Love (41)Pinay Heart Wanderings and Musings (42)BlogScope (43)Unsealing My Mind (44)Program-IT-Jin (45)Mspuzzles (46)Anygen’s Journey (47) Best Travel & Tours (48) Ultimate Cooking Guide (49)Me, the Islands and the World (50)Straight from the Heart (51)Never Ending Resolve (52) fragments of thoughts..a piece of life -reyapot (53)LabRat (54)Everettski (55)Pajarolandia (56)SpiritOfTheValley (57)SteelTownEagles (58)ValAlexander (59)LeisureSpecial (60)gLamorousSylph (61)ELSWhere (62)Jeffrey’sLoop (63)LeopardO’Web (64)OpenBookProject (65)TuniTec (66)CranesForPeace (67)CIE-SL (68)Dare to Blog (69)Life Realities (70)WebGeek Journal… (71)Ness (72)WilStop (73)Life: Thoughts & Inspirations (74)On Touching and Saving Lives! (75)Blogger across the universe (76)My wonderful Life (77)Our Growing Family (78)denz Techtronics (79)krchan (80)StoriesInLife (81)Married and Happy About It (82)NetworkOfCombinedIdeas (83)AdventureSage (84)in-TechRevolution (85)Ivory Tasks (86)Best Places to Travel (87)Pinay Mommy Online (88)SeeNRead (89)Random Thoughts (90) My Small World (91)YOUR BLOG!

- HERE - View the complete list of Quotes by bloggers around the world - HERE -

*end copy here

I'm tagging you! :)

Prayer Meeting, Eating, Dancing and etc.

October is the black rosary month in the Philippines and Filipinos here in US still do it until now. The only difference is in the Philippines people there do the black rosary with a procession at 3:00 AM in the morning while here in US we do the rosary in the evening at one of our fellow Filipino's house then after the rosary is dinner. That's what happen yesterday evening. I took some photos but no picture when we pray the rosary coz I think it's not appropriate to take a picture while others are concentrating on the prayer. Here are some photos I got. :)

All Filipino foods.

Eating time. :)

Dancing while another Pinay was singing a Filipino song.

It was a very fun evening. I had a good time and we were laughing so hard listening to jokes. ^_^

Brunch and dinner

This was my brunch yesterday that I throw up. Rice, dried squid and hot cocoa.

Beef stew for dinner. Hubby and I like this one but I only ate a little bit of this because I got stomach ache.

And this is baked steak for hubby.

I felt sorry for my baby...

I cried today for the first time in my pregnancy because I wanted to gain weight so badly and the only thing I can think of that I'll gain weight is to eat more. I tried eating more this morning after hubby left for work but after a few minutes I throw up all the food I ate. I felt so sorry for my baby. How I wish I can eat all the foods that my baby needs but it's too difficult for me to do that coz I can only eat a little bit. I just hope that my baby is doing okay eventhough I didn't eat enough food today. I wasn't feeling hungry after throwing up so when I feel better, I drink the high protein drink and ate kiwi fruit so at least my baby can get some protein and Vit. C. I'm not going to force myself to eat more again. My OB is right, once I throw up I don't want to eat again so I should stick to the small meals and snacks that my OB told me. The OBGYN at the Doctors TV show said that the normal weight a pregnant woman should gain is 0.5 lb to 1 lb a week. So my goal now is to gain that 0.5 lb at least if it's too hard to reach the 1 lb a week. The gaining of weight thing really worries me which sometimes made me awake at night thinking how I can gain weight. I really need a miracle on this weight gain thing.

Cooking with friends

Here we are Amy and I in the kitchen having fun while cooking at our friend Jane's house. Photos below are the foods we had for lunch and snacks. :)
Palitaw.
Macaroni salad
Arroz caldo
Sinigang na baboy
Leche flan
Dried squid
Munggo with other veggies
Fried marinated milkfish
Pansit sotanghon

Actually, I just decided to have a cook-off with friends coz I have lots of veggies and I don't know what to do with it. So I thought I better share my veggies with them and have fun at the same time. My friends said that this is my advance birthday party. nyahaha Okay rin, complete na eh. :)

Simple snacks

I was thinking of eating snacks that are also healthy at the same time. Filipinos know these two simple snacks that I made and they both are delicious. :)

Cantaloupe with condensed milk. Delicious! :)

Fried sweet potato with white sugar on top. Yum! yum! Hubby love these simple snacks. ^_^

Crime Scene Drama Today

Hubby and I were taking a nap at the living room this afternoon then we heard a loud sound of a motorbike over speeding. Hubby and I were looking at each other and suddenly we heard the motorbike going to the parking lot followed by a Police car's sound. I hurriedly went to the Dining room to see what's going on then I heard somebody yelling. As soon as I arrived at the window I saw the Police car parked on the road and the driver's seat door was open. I then heard another loud sound of the motorbike and boom the guy riding the motorbike hit the Police car's door. The guy riding the bike fell on the ground and two Police were trying to put handcuff on his wrists while the guy kept yelling and I think he hit one of the Police. Another Police came running from the front parking lot to help the two Police. I guess the guy tried to escape so the Police hit him on his face. The guy sounds like he's drunk or on drugs. The 3 Police brought him into another Police car that was already parked at the parking lot and the guy still keeps saying something and yelling to the Police. So the result was...

The 3 Police tied his feet as well.
Three Police cars at the front parking lot.
HEMSI arrived too.
The crime scene with the motorbike of the bad guy. The guy was inside the Police car arrested while the Police (not in uniform) was talking to our neighbor. Another Police (not in the picture) was interviewing our neighbors as witnesses and handing them paperworks. Most of our neighbors were watching the scene from a distance like what hubby and I did, just looking at the window as if we're watching a movie. What a Sunday afternoon!

For the Coolest Blog I Ever Know Award

I want to thank my friend Amiable Amy for this award. Thank you so much girl for making me smile today. This award arrived in time and I really appreciate it. :)
http://amy200686.blogspot.com/



Once accepted, the rules would be as follows:

1. Put the logo on your blog;
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you;
3. Nominate 10 other blogs;
4. Add links to those blogs on yours;
5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs;

I want to nominate this award to the following:

Juliana, Lainy, Bregie, Elda, Nancy, Ivy, Lynn, Butchay, Webloglearner, and Ilocana.

Scary night

My friend S called me yesterday afternoon and asked me if I can go out with them for the ladies night out. I agreed to go with them coz hubby doesn't have a problem with it. When I'm close to the restaurant where my friends and I normally eat dinner, I pass by at the back of another restaurant next to the Chinese restaurant. There are two bumps there and another parking area then after I pass the two bumps a tall black guy showed up. I step on the break so the guy can pass. He was staring at me saying something and pointing on me as if he was mad at me. I didn't hear what he said coz my car's windows were closed and the radio was ON but I know that he was saying something maybe bad at me. He looked like a trouble maker but I waited for him to pass by though I'm scared. I'm just observing him just in case he's going to attack me by destroying my car or whatsoever and as soon as he's 2 feet away from my car I hurriedly drive to the Chinese restaurant looking for a place where there are people around so if he's going to run after me then there are witnesses or individuals who can help me. The parking lot was almost full and quiet so I looked for a space and hurriedly went inside the restaurant. I didn't mention to my friends of what happened coz I don't want them to worry about me. I told hubby about it and he said that his father told him "if you're inside the car and somebody's going to attack you, you should do something because you have 150 horses under the hood". Well, I hope it won't happen again coz I don't want my hood to have some blood in it. I don't want to pass that road again.

I lose weight again. (sigh)

I had my OB appointment today and I was shocked when I saw my record that I lost 2 lbs. During my first visit I was 86, then second visit 87 but today my weight is 85 lbs. I weigh myself the other day and I gained 1 lb already so I thought I was doing okay already. It really breaks my heart that I almost cry while hubby and I were inside the room waiting for the practitioner. It seems so hard to gain weight for me. I was told not to eat for two coz the baby is still little and doesn't need much yet. But one of my friends told me to eat for two coz the baby is growing. I don't know which one is right coz the book said that I need to eat even if I'm not hungry coz the baby is hungry. So hubby asked the practitioner about it and she said that I'll just eat additional 500 calories everyday but the book said 300 calories only. My OB told me not to eat 3 big meals coz that's the cause of nausea. He said that I should eat 3 small meals and 3 snacks in between which is I need to eat every 3 hours during the day. But I noticed that even if I eat small meals I don't feel hungry after 3 hours. And if I try to eat snacks and I'm not hungry then I feel like I'm going to throw up afterwards. My OB told me not to eat too much coz if I get nauseated I might not want to eat anymore which is not good. He also told me not to drink water like he does coz I'm little so I should only drink water little by little. Now I need to gain weight 1 lb a week but gaining 1 lb a month is already difficult for me. So I don't know how I can do it. I want my baby to be healthy but I don't want to be sick either. I guess I need a miracle for this pregnancy coz I need to gain weight at least 25 lbs before giving birth and the practitioner warned me already not to eat junk foods coz other pregnant women who are desperate to gain weight did that. (Sigh)

Yummy shrimps!

Hurrah! Got a good lunch today with Lynn's shrimp recipe. I didn't know what to eat for lunch and I remember Lynn posting about how delicious her shrimp recipe is. So I tried it today and it's absolutely a finger-lickin' licious one. haha Thanks Lynn for sharing your recipe. Now I know how to make a delicious shrimp. -_^

Ingredients:

1 lb shrimp
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 shallot or small onion sliced
1 tsp magic ginisa mix
kikkoman soy sauce
1/2 cup water (optional)

Saute' the shrimps, onions and garlic with the olive oil.
Add "ginisa" mix.
Add a little Kikkoman soy sauce and that's it.
But if you like to have a little sauce for your rice like me, then add a little bit of water. Enjoy!