Back track to the year that was…

Let me make up for the year that I haven’t been posting.

Let me give you and overview of what our little family have been up to for the past year, 2007. Let me begin, December 2006 when the source of all the “busy-ness” arrived in our lives.

December 10, 2006

Gave birth via c-section after 12 hours in labor at Chinese General Hospital. Baby Girl Lao arrived in this world, 6.15 lbs.

December 12, 2006

This is the first time I was able to see our baby girl, she was brought to my room from the nursery because we were discharged that day. We went home and ate Pancit Malabon and puto to celebrate!

December 13, 2006

First day at home, among the first ones who came to see Anne was Ate Marlene and Therese. This is also the day I first gave Anne a bath.

December 20, 2006

Happy birthday brand new mom!

The day I turned 30 years old. Anne is 10 days old. Being a mom is foreign to me but I am starting to get the hang of it, my only problem is her world is up side down my baby is awake all night and sleeps all day! So during these days when I felt like a zombie! Because I was up all night. Its like when i see the sky turning black, fear eats me. And in my mind I’m saying “eto na naman kami…” (Here we go again)

My birthday was no different. I was up until 5am or 6am. Dzune left early to attend Letran’s annual Christmas party I was asleep practically all morning. When Dzune arrived in the afternoon, we cooked spaghetti. My family came, as well as Nino Boy and Therese.

December 25, 2006

Since Anne is only a few days old, we decided to stay at Tondo to celebrate Christmas with my in-laws, Anne was so small then. A simple dinner was prepared by Nanay and we all ate together at midnight.

December 31, 2006

Again New Year was with Lolo Rene and Lola Babes at Tondo. Not much activity for us since Anne was so small we stayed inside the guest room all the time with the air conditioning to avoid hearing the fireworks and the snow. Therese and Dave was also with us.

January

A brand new year!

On the 10th Anne turned a month old, which we celebrated with Pancit and chicken, prepared by Lola Babes. There was also cake brought by Mama Doyet.

On the 14th Tatay and Ninong Davy that Anne must be christened! So when Dzune arrived home on the 12th, which is a Friday, I was informed that Anne will be christened on Sunday at the Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary-Binondo Chinese Parish and we also have a reservation at Presidents Restaurant in Binondo for the reception.

So they snatched me the chance of preparing invitations, souvenirs. By the next day I was busy sending SMS to the ninangs and ninongs and our other friends. Good thing most of the Ninangs and Ninongs confirmed their attendance some of my friends have prior commitments like Ninang Miel but thankfully they cancelled their prior appointments to attend the christening.

January 14, 2007

Anne’s dress was borrowed from Ate Therese. Souvenirs were angel figurines from Divi, no tags. Ninong Davy, Ninong Gerard and Mama Doyet using their trusted digital cameras took photos. Only a handful came, mostly relatives and closest friends, Ninong Richard arrived all the way from Dipolog!

We only reserved 3 tables at the Presidents and it was just enough. The menu was chosen none other than Ninong Davy and guests was saying that the food was great.

It was around this time that Anne started having a normal sleeping pattern. She was sleeping at night waking up every three hours for her milk.

By the way, I don’t know if I am abnormal but my milk never really flowed and I never had a chance to breastfeed Anne, and up to now I still look at this as my failure.

February

Around February I was alone taking care of Anne, Dzune went back to the office. On Valentines, I dressed up Anne in a pretty yellow dress and visited Lolo Babes and Lolo Rene, my Mom arrived in the afternoon and though we don’t have any flowers for them, Anne was enough gift for them. We only stayed home that day and enjoyed dinner I think, I prepared.

On the 19th of February, I reported back to work, and here I realized, I understand most of my friends who kept saying they miss their children when they go to work. I thought it was exaggeration, but when I became a Mom, well, I realized how true it is. I miss Baby Anne so much I almost fly home as soon as it’s 5pm.

February 25, 2007

This is the first time we took Anne out. We went to Malate Catholic Church to attend the christening of Cheska, she is the daughter of our good friend, Grace and Jensen. Reception was held at Huey Ying, Ninang Kleng’s resto at Macapagal Seaside. Then for the first time, we took Anne to a place, which I have known as home, we went home to Taguig so we can fetch Lola Rose.

March 10, 2007

Anne turned 3 months today and today, she also turned on her tummy all by herself! Today we also celebrate Papa Jay’s birthday. Pamamanhikan was also scheduled on this day, so in the afternoon, the family fetched us and we went to Mama Chacha’s house at San Andres and then to dinner at Huey Ying Restaurant. Papa Jay’s wedding is scheduled October 10 of the same year.

April, May passed on without so much happenings, Anne continued to thrive as she grows. 

A new building was constructed at the back of our apartment blocking the source of ventilation and since it was summer, it was really hot. My mom kept complaining so the air-condition was turned on almost the entire day. 

On June we finally came to a decision that we need to stop renting, we figured that the money we spend on renting we could spend on somewhere else. Like for Anne’s formula and diapers so on the same month we gave notice to our landlady that we are moving out by the end of the month. It was also on the same month that Anne's two front teeth came out.

Moving was painful. I felt sentimental, it is our home, it is the first place where Anne came home to and she will never remember it.

July, we moved out and stayed with my Mom in Taguig. Thanks to some generous persons, the construction of our house was started. It is also on the same month that we celebrated Tatay's birthday and this is the first time Anne celebrated it with her Tatay since the previous year she was still inside Nanay's tummy. 

We celebrated it at the house in Balut.

On August, we celebrated Dave (Anne's cousin, they were born four months apart) first birthday. On the very same day the latest addition to the Lao Clan was born, Aurora Kimly or Rory daughter of Albert and Karie. 

Our family has been so much blessed with babies on this year, on September Marie was born, she is the youngest sibling of Therese and Dave. Too bad that Yayen miscarried, her baby was supposed to be born on October.

For some months Dzune and I and Anne was living apart. Anne and I were staying at Taguig with Lola Rose and Dzune was staying with in laws at their house in Balut. Around the end of September, our house was almost livable, Our target completion was originally October in time for Jay and Cha’s wedding, we were saying that as soon they started living with us we must be comfortably staying at our house. But due to some concerns, we were really not able to meet this deadline.

October 10, 2007

Jay and Cha’s wedding. Theirs is a Christian wedding, Anne is so little to play a role of a flower girl but this never stopped her from changing her outfit three times, her dresses was tailor made by my Tita who made the bridesmaids dresses during our wedding (Mama Cora).

Wedding was at a church in UN Avenue and reception was at Teatrillo in Intramuros.

Otober 12 to 16, 2007

It’s our first family outing!

We decided to join Jay and Chacha in their honeymoon. Destination: Puerto Princesa Palawan. Because Jensen’s family was also there! We flew via Cebu Pacific. We availed of their Piso-Fare promo then we stayed at Niko’s Cabanas , which my brothers and sister enjoyed immensely because of the swimming pool.

The place was really nice and conveniently located near Jensen and Grace’s home. Jensen’s family was so accommodating and they took us almost everywhere, we skipped the Underground River Tour because we had two babies (Cheska and Anne) with us. What we love most was the Island Hopping tour and the dinner we had at Ka Lui. Food was great! And if given the chance we would tour Palawan again.

When we came back, now we must get to business.

Anne’s birthday was in a few months and it was my major project.

Thanks to n@w which was a big help during my preparation for Anne’s first birthday party celebration. I met Jhoanne Paris and thanks to her and her brilliant ideas that I was able to prepare a nice party for Anne!

October 31, 2007

Anne goes to her first Halloween activity, Trick or Treat!

But the Glorietta blast was still fresh during these times so the remedy, we brought Anne to go trick or treating at Toyota Pasong Tamo with Mama Doyet.

Mama Doyet, of course bought her costume, the angel in her red devil costume. My mom and Mama Doyet were of course excited since its Anne’s first time to go to a Halloween activity.

And much to our surprise, Anne was called third place during the awarding for the Best in Costume. Lucky Baby!


 

December 10, 2007

Anne turns 1!

On the day of her birthday was a Monday, we were at the house in Balut, in the afternoon we attended Mass at San Rafael’s Parish. There was pancit and cake for Anne courtesy of Tita Rebie at home. The later that night we were fetch by Papa jeff and Lola Rose.

We celebrated Anne’s birthday at Don Henricos in front of Robinsons Place in Ermita. Her birthday celebration will be a different entry.