Of baby bumps and pregnant-self pics

I've always thought I wouldn't have a photo of myself taken showing my baby bump since I felt I looked more like a teen who got pregnant early (because I look younger for my years, hehe), but I realized that it's important to have some sort of documentation of your pregnancy so you have something to show your kid in the future. So here's the first ever picture of me showing 'off' my growing baby bump at 5 1/2 months. And since I didn't want it to look so raw, I experimented on some effects using http://www.befunky.com/. Try it for all your photos, it's amazing for something that's free. Photo editing has never been this easy. If you want more fun scenes, you can also try http://www.photofunia.com/.

From Forever 21 to Baby Gap: My version of shifting priorities

As you may have already read in my previous posts, my name is ZEI and I'm a SHOPAHOLIC, but thanks to the Mega 3-day sale, I now know that my shopping repertoire could be altered - it all used to be clothes, shoes, bags and other what-have-yous just for me (and occasionally for Richmond), but now, it seems to be all about our (coming) baby. :) Yup, the winds have blown me from Forever 21 to the realm of Baby Gap, which is just a skip and a hop from each other in Megamall. I bought a couple for our little sweet pea and I'm sure she'll absolutely look adorable in her new wardrobe. I think this will be the story of my so called shopaholic life, my priorities are slowly changing, but I don't feel a tad bit sad, in fact it makes me really happy because baby shopping is a whole new field and Im thrilled to take it on. Here are some photos from yesterday's loot. Also bought a couple cute outfits from SM Department store since I couldn't resist their super cheap items after having shopped at Gap. Haha. :)

Baby's Gap outfits (...so far)

Not to be beaten, cute outfits (i love bloomers on babies) from SM Department store

Now what I really need is additional closet space for baby. Haha. Will probably just take that on in the coming months. For now, I'm just so giddy with all my purchases. My name is ZEI and I'm a SHOPAHOLIC. *Curtsy*

Elegance and Simplicity fit for royal brides of past and present

Today the world celebrated with Prince William and his bride, Kate Middleton, now Duchess Catherine, for the wedding of the century. As in all weddings, most eyes, if not all are on the bride and her wedding dress of course. The verdict: it was elegant and simple with a royal impact (READ: Absolutely LOVELY). Kudos to Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen! It was sort of a spitting image of Princess Grace Kelly's gown - she was a fashion forward princess bride. Anyway, here are some photos of both gowns - equally beautiful and fitting for a princess.

Looking forward to seeing how the long sleeved lace wedding dress would fare for brides-to-be of the present. Don't you just love weddings? Especially the royal ones. Haha. :)

The gown aside, my favorite part of the ceremony was during their processional - Prince and new wife hand-in-hand, sneaking sweet nothings and both unable to contain their happiness to be each others ever after. Happy weekend to all!

The Lord is Risen!

Happy Easter everyone!

Word cloud created using http://www.wordle.net/

The reason for the season

Took this photo of Richmond at the UP Parish of the Holy Sacrifice ages ago

Have a meaningful and blessed Holy Week everyone

Dear daughter, you'll have one heck of a wardrobe and more

What do you expect from a mom-to-be who's a shopaholic? Well, not much holding back, I guess. Or should I say I know instead. For the past few weeks I have been on a pseudo shopping spree, online and on foot, not for me, but for our baby. You see, I've never denied that I'm a shopaholic - thanks to my mother who introduced me to the happiness that is shopping at a very early age. *Hi Mom!* And now, instead of basking in the glory of Forever 21 or Charles & Keith and VNC, I found myself conquering the baby department of various malls. Just sharing photos of our little darling's loot as of week 21 in the utero. :) Hehe. :)

Quirky and unique onesies from http://www.googooandgaga.com/

Pilipinas onesie from my favorite, SM Department Store

Pretty dresses from local wonder, Peppermint (also in SM Dept. store)
Lisa Frank backpack courtesy of dad Richmond from Toys 'R Us

Manhattan Snuggle Toy and Sleep Sheep Sound Machine ordered from http://www.zebebe.com/ along with the Houdini Woombie

Bestselling children's books from Fully Booked

So that's it so far. As of press time though, I kinda promised the husband that these will be the last of my purchases since we're assuming that a lot of people will give us baby stuff as the due date nears and even after the baby is born. But for now, I just want to tell the consumer world that my foray into baby shopping has begun and it's gonna be another great adventure - for me and for my bank account. Haha. =p

I love 'Dear God Kids'

Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only one who remembers the 'Dear God Kids' created by Annie Fitzgerald. I used to have school notebooks with them on the cover which also had witty kids' prayers like


Though the notebooks aren't available anymore, luckily parents and kids can still get pre-loved copies of Dear God books of prayers from Book Sale. Yay for secondhand, but still valuable books. The Dear God series is a great and fun way of introducing kids to prayer - it worked well for me. =)

And the 1st batch of finalists are...

Rich and I spent Sunday hopping from Megamall and Galleria and with my insistence we scoured the malls' stroller selections. I'm lucky that Rich is as thrilled as I am to look for possible strollers for our baby. So here are some photos of our stroller shortlist... for now:

Aprica Stick

Aprica Laura Guild

Mamas & Papas Urbo (which isn't available here, but we like nonetheless - wishing someone could hand carry it from the US or somewhere it's sold)

And the last we saw was the Safety 1st Advancer...

Which eventually became sort of the winner because it came with a car seat / carrier already that could also be attached to the stroller, making it a parent-facing stroller in a way

So those are the ones we like so far, will check out Duty Free's selection soon. Haha, but the color scheme should still be along the lines of the above photos, mainly black and white. Haha. Even in baby gear, I still believe that neutrals are the way to go. :) Excitement. :)

Fave books from my childhood

I've always loved reading as a kid. I still remember how I'd always get a new book from mom after PTC (Parent Teacher Conference) back in 2nd grade with the condition that my grades were high - an O or O* (outsanding) for that matter. And I'd always love it when we went to our neighborhood National Bookstore to get my reward. I just wish that the books from my childhood would still be available in stores so I could share them with our kid and maybe make her love reading as much as I did (my whole Sweet Valley Kids collection and other books for that matter were taken by Ondoy). Here are just some of my childhood book favorites. :) Thanks mom for indulging my early interest in reading. Sadly I don't read as much now, but it still has a special place in my heart that's just waiting to be tapped.

My first ever Sweet Valley Kids book - Numbers 1-4 weren't available that time so I went straight to #5

I borrowed this book from our grade school library for more than 5 times

Don't worry, Little Witch is apparently a good little witch =)

If anyone knows where I could still get them locally, please let me know. So, do you have your own early memories of your favorite books?

Because sweet pea is 5 months today

Just thought I'd share sweet pea's ultrasound when she was 18 weeks and 2 days. :) We've never actually posted an ultrasound that has a semblance of baby, so here I am - makings of a stage mom and all, posting it in honor of her 5th month in the womb. I used to think 9 months would take too long, but then we're already more than halfway, it doesn't feel dragging long - it's really a sweet waiting. :)

Must have done something right

This post has been long overdue, but since my hormones have made me extra sentimental tonight, it prompted me to do this now. For those who don't know me, allow me to share that I've been married to the love of my life for 199 days today (almost 7 months) and I have been thankful for everyday that we've been married. I really couldn't ask for more in a husband especially now that we're expecting, Richmond has ever since been there for me and our little sweet pea - from always making it his goal to make my day happy, listening to my narrations about my day at work to not minding the embarrassment of having your wife vomit (sorry...) in a very public place. I guess I'm just really lucky to have found the person who loves me ever so dearly. So, to my boyfriend of 7 years, my husband of almost 7 months, the (surely) amazing dad-to-be of our little sweet pea and the love of my life, this one's for you.

The words are actually taken from a song that reminds me of you, God must have spent a little more time on YOU, cheesy, yes, but it's true. I will spend everyday thanking and loving you. Here's a conversation we had that I will forever be proud to tell to our children when they ask for an instance that I felt how much you love me:

(While driving home after my work...)

R: Love, do I take care of you well?

Z: Yes love, you do.

R: Good.

Z: Why?

R: Because that's what I said when I was asked at work about what my talent was.

It will always make my heart melt and smile at the same time. Again, I want you to know that I think our love is really something great. Thank you love. I love you very much. :) Here's a hopeful wish to the heavens that everyone would be as lucky enough in LOVE as I am (to each her own).

Credits go to http://www.tagxedo.com/ where I created this word cloud. :) Try it out and let me know what you think.

Our sweet pea is a gifted baby!

At just barely 5 months in the womb, our little sweet pea is fast becoming a gifted baby, albeit literally. :) I was greeted with a happy surprise when I got home from work just yesterday - it was a lovely package from Sarah and my Kuya from Philly with cute baby stuff for our lil sweet pea. Just wanted to share some photos. We're thrilled and I'm sure the baby felt it too. :) Thank you! Package from Aunt Sarah & Uncle F.B.!

Lots of Baby Janes too! Yay!

And another early gift from Tita Ais!

Thank you so much! As early as now you're already making our baby feel so loved. Hearts! Happy Weekend everyone!

My 90s love is here to stay

I've always loved Lisa Frank back in the 90s and it still sparks a charming appeal to me until now. I'm glad that Lisa Frank products are still here to stay for future generations of girls who love love color, just like me. :) I used to buy and collect Lisa Frank using my own lunch money. Whenever my family was in Shangri-la, I'd always insist on going to Tickles just to check what the new Lisa Frank stuff are. Haha. Do you have your own Lisa Frank story back when you were still a grader or maybe until now? :)

Color Scheme I'm loving right now: Aqua Green and Pink

After one visit to our OB, Rich and I ate at Pancake House in The Medical City and we got yogurt for dessert. Little did I know that this encounter with yogurt would inspire a whole lot in me. You see their spoon was a very pretty aqua green and the logo stamped on their tissue was a lovely sort of fuchsia and when I put them together, I immediately told Rich that it was such a cute combination - for a baby girl that is. And now that we know that our sweet hope is indeed a little girl, our little sweet pea, here are just some pics of nursery inspirations with the beautiful color scheme I'm dedicating this blog post too. Photos are courtesy of http://www.littlecrowninteriors.com/ for all of you to enjoy. :)

Now isn't it really adorable? :) Excited much. Sorry. :)

Sweet Pea means delicate and blissful pleasure

04.03.2011 - She's gonna be our little sweet pea :)