Our Little Girl got a box of puzzle pieces on her third birthday in April this year.

This is her today completing the picture. She definitely loves her puzzle but not for me when it becomes a mess on the floor :-)

Hello blog! It's been awhile.

Something hit my heart yesterday. We had an 8pm dinner yesterday. After keeping away the dishes, husband was obviously tired for the day, a normal scenario. He laid down on the couch and napped. Our charming wee girl on the other hand was energetic and playing and wants a play mate.

And it hit me, I saw my previous myself in that scene. When my kids deserved my after work time then and I cant. Either my shoulders were just too tired and wished to nap, or I have to come home late, at times 1am. Or I need to face the laptop until 2am or even 4am. Or work during weekends. (That was not everyday though, but let's say more than half of each month).

It's been five months since I've been out of work, staying at home. I never thought I'll love being this way this much. For the longest time before (I've been in the sandpit for 10 years now) I've been conscious of how much I earn for the family -- except for the last 5 months. But realistically, I need to be back to the work routine soon if we are to survive the desert life. I blogged about this to remind me that my kids will not be kids forever, they grow and we don't want regretting missing to play with them.

And to add more charm to the reminder are these photos of my babies  (^-^)

My Little Boss turns two years old today, she who made me feel how wonderful and magical to have a baby everyday at home.

Two years went by so quick it seems, but I am trying to remind my self to enjoy each growing day of my kids.

Hello Kitty misplaced her whiskers but still pretty in pink

My dearest blog,

How are you? I miss you so! Please don't feel bad, I didn't abandon you. It's just that I am "keeping a balance" between family and work, and, okay add to that some social responsibilities.

Meanwhile, let me share you what I had -- some peak-a-boo time with my Baby Boss:



And more breakfasts with the Big Boy at the desert:


And more desert jumps for me too:


See you again in awhile dear blog :-)

It's the cold and COLDS season here in the sand pit, and for the first time, Little Princess got coughs as she turned eight months. Her bowels timing and frequency also changed slightly, and I was wondering if it is related to her teething. Her fifth pearly is breaking her gums currently. Except for the occasional coughing and mucus, there's nothing alarming so far. She is not extra cranky and she sleeps well through the night. And to prevent any chance for fever and diarrhea to set in, I rang the clinic yesterday for appointment today.

Customer Service: Any preferred doctor for Little Princess?
Me: Dr J.A. please.
Customer Service: Sorry but he's fully booked and you would be 16th on the waiting list. How about the other doctor? He's available from 10 am then 4-6pm
Me: Thank you but we'll just try our luck tomorrow with Dr. JA.

We were at the clinic 9am today but left and did not push our chance with Dr JA. We remembered to see Kalel's doctor six years ago in his new clinic and was lucky to see him, and here he is with our Princess.

Little Princess and Iranian doctor, Dr. Mohammadi. The Pediatrician who has loads of Kit Kats in his fridge for his little patients.

How many kids more on your board Doctor? Lots still, I know.

What's with pediatricians anyway?

Probably, there were around six doctors that Kalel had visited over the past six years here in Dubai, four of them because the two Favourite Doctors were not around. To say, we had no choice.

Little Princess meantime had three pediatricians on her first days, another two during her vaccinations.

I guess we had enough experiences with pediatricians to say that indeed, we learned to play preferences.

You see, our two favourite pediatricians stand out because:

- they are cheerful and socially child friendly, our kids get to smile back
- they treat kids personally, knowing the kids by name
- they cheer the kids by singing or mumbling 'I love you'-s
- they explain why the medications are as such
- they minimise prescribing antibiotics, until necessary
- they go beyond asking how the kids had been and what are other concerns apart from what we came for.
- they chat with Kalel, not rushing their time even with a waiting list of patients

I would like to put my feet on the shoes of our Favourite Pediatricians and know how it is to feel fulfilled in their profession. Would it be so great when your service is sought after and preferred by many?

It's Christ birthday tomorrow, and as my family's celebrating it, I took two days work leave. Gifts are wrapped and one more to grab and wrap today. What's special this Christmas for the family is having our Little Princess with us for her first time to greet Jesus a happy birthday. ♥

How many these days serve cake on their baby's monthsary? For some, it's finding a reason to indulge on those spongy chocolatey cakes :) Thank you Riane (< "_" >)

How loud would you laugh in joy if your daughter at five months and three days, stretch wide her arms pointing  to you, and cry as if pleading to be carried, and only stops when you take her in your arms?

Our Little Princess communicates her needs since birth, but this time, she does it with both her hands and arms.

This Little Princess is on a heat endurance training at 3.5 months old. It's her first trip to Oman's mountains at 44 deg Celsius.

At Hatta Dam. My brother behind the camera and our friends in front.

Hatta Pools August 2012

Hatta Pools August 2012

I was wrong when I thought it would take me awhile to again step in the movie house until our Little Princess at least grows bigger. Today, while we needed to wait four hours for our car's tinting, we trooped Mirdiff City Center's Vox Cinema to use time, after all it's not sale season and there's my I-do-not-care-when-shops-are-at-full-prices attitude.

Batman's The Dark Knight Rises is currently showing but Kuya Superman opted for Brave. It is the story of Princess Merida, who was determined to make her own path in life and defies a custom that brought chaos to her kingdom. She was granted a wish which turned out to be a curse. She used her bravery to undo this beastly curse. I found cute listening at the Scottish accents of the characters. Having Scots for colleagues made me so accustomed to their speech, and if there's a European accent I could readily identify is it's theirs.

Princess Merida and her triplet brothers

Our Little Princess at two weeks before turning four months old, behaved well and watched along with us, cooing once in  a while. She started getting cranky (just wiggly) towards the end of the movie, so their Dad ascended with her upstairs near the exit to put her to sleep.

Little Princess already sleeping as we left the cinema, oh well, it's 10:30pm by now.

Hello there, please meet another bundle of joy in our family, our Little Princess,  born on 27th April 2012. 

Finally after nine months and after a two-hour intensely painful induced labour with my Husband at my side, our little princess is out at last, and it was so magnificent  hear her cry immediately soon as she emerged out of my womb and before she was placed on my belly. Her first cry brought cheers to everyone in the delivery room, especially to me, saying we both made it well. The sound of her cry was just amazing, so innocently demanding for comfort and warmth, I felt our connection instantly that first second.

We named her from an Irish word that means 'a great queen', and a second name that is in honour to her Igorot maternal great grandmother's  righteousness. 

The town is being painted red ahead of February 14 when people celebrate Valentine's Day.

Our Big Boy saying "I am a kuya!" to our Little Precious One  in my tummy (29 weeks at this time).

In Dubai, there's a thousand and one ways that malls and shops highlight the event, such as the floating hearts of red roses in our background above.

I have just crossed 12 weeks (1st trimester) on the pregnancy scale, which is an exciting-looked-forward period for me! That’s when the early pregnancy discomforts are said to shy away. Oh, those times of eternally feeling hungry but feeling nauseaus at the sight and smell of food!

I have my constant pee visits, not that I feel the need, but my son wiggles three times nightly and is relunctant to stand until I pull him out the bed. I dislike now this exercise though when my pregnancy hormones make me a light sleeper. I fear unable to go back sleep and be groggy at work next day. Once it took me at 3am to get my sleep when I was already in bed at 10pm.

I was at the doctor last weekend (11 weeks) and had another ultrasound. I would have declined feeling I am having an ultrasound overdose, but I agreed being excited to show my Gremlins our Little Precious One swimming in my tummy as the doctor assured it’s now visible.

Now I forgot how I felt uncomfy with the doctor’s knowledge on operating the ultrasound machine during my first visit (she seemed to be at at her late 30’s though), kept asking help from the nurse (!) and eventually calling the other doctor. This recent ultrasound, she cannot  see any image from my tummy so she has to do  it from ‘down’ (again!). From ‘down’ she meant the vagi_ _.

On to the ultrasound. At 11 weeks, my expectations did not come full circle, not sure if it’s due to the doctor, the machine, or maybe Little Precious One is way small. During my Gremlin Kalel’s first trimester ultrasound, I was in tears of awe looking at his full body literally swimming on the screen. I did not want my Kalel and his dad to miss it this time, but they have yet to exactly experience it – hopefully next month’s ultrasound.

But Little Precious One didn’t totally disappoint. After about 20 minutes of trying the doctor found a partial view of moving limbs. We got to hear heartbeats too! So that made us happy. Even Kuya Kalel was acting out how Little Precious One was moving on the screen. Thing was, their dad missed to bring the camera cum video to record. Luckily, the clinic gave us a copy of three images, each on 3 seconds each. These were compiled below, and the best view would be on the 6th - 10th seconds:



I have done my blood and urine tests at 7th week, and so far so good. Last week, I declined a test:


Dr : Should I schedule you for a Nuchal Transluceny Scan?
Me:  Do I need it?
Dr:  I’ll take care of it. (Silence, senses I am more unwilling)
Me: My baby is normal and should be ok.
Dr: So you’ll continue with the pregnancy whatever it takes?
Me: Of course! I have a healthy baby!
Dr: That’s the spirit!

Not that I'm confident but I'm avoiding being too paranoid. I have faith in my baby, in my self, and all loving people around me. I have resigned on slowing down on everything and focus on healthily nurturing Little Precious One in my tummy.

By the way, Little Precious One is 4.61 cms at 11th weeks :-)

^-^