I took these photos of me and Hill a couple of months back, and I've been looking for them ever since. I have tons of photos on my laptop, and I haven't had the time to sort them out. But since I found these, I wanted to share them. She has this talent of copying facial expressions. Smart kid. Haha!

Hello, homies

After spending some eons writing for money, I am very happy to announce that I DON'T HAVE A JOB RIGHT NOW. Well, I'm not really jobless, I just don't have projects yet.

I have always promised myself that I will take a much needed break from the computer the moment I don't have anything to write and spend some more time with my daughter (who's on the bed, behind me, with her nanny). But I guess I haven't really fulfilled that promise since I've been slaving away for two hours trying to make my blog look a little bit..well..lookable. Whatever that word means.

So, after two hours of tweaking and experimenting with colors and fonts - I have a new looking blog. Sorry guys, I'm illiterate at HTML and other codes, and I can't afford Xsitepro or Thesis theme (as if I have a Wordpress blog, anywaay) - so this is the best that I can do.

But since I'm done (for the day, I mean), I'll go fulfill my promise and TAKE A REAL BREAK FROM THE COMPUTER. I'll go out and have a swim (I live just meters away from the beach) or maybe I'll keep myself in the bathroom. Give myself a nice sloughing, a good scrub, a wonderful foot soak and some great body moisturizing after.

Whichever way, I'm going out! See you soon!

cerelac with love

We've been feeding our babies with Cerelac, or Milupa or Gerber - ever since they started eating. Who can blame us? We work eight hours a day, sometimes even more. And some of us can't trust our yayas enough to prepare our baby's food, afraid that she might mess up while cooking. And we're all feeling guilty, because as much as we want to make food for our babies - not all of us have the time or energy to do so.

So if, like me, you can't live without instant baby food - then why not simply ADD something cooked or real to it - if only to take some of the guilt away.

As a busy mom, I've created my own Cerelac with Love. I add a couple of extra touches to her cereal - and it doesn't even take so much time. I usually add either potato, squash, carrots, sayote, avocado or mango to her rice cereal. You might want to try it too.

Here's a time saving tip that you might find healthy: prepare the extra touches in batches, ahead of time.


Here's what you'll need:

• A couple of hours FREE
• Baby tummy friendly vegetabes of your choice: squash, carrots, sayote, potato. Sometimes I also use mango or papayas.
• A steamer
• A food grinder/fork/blender/food processor - anything to puree/mash the food with.
• Ice trays with cover
• A Freezer
• Some zip - loc bags

Here's What you'll do:

1. Wash, Peel and slice your vegetables of choice.
2. Steam them (separately, of course). Steaming baby's food is better than boiling them since
boiling sucks out the food's nutrients into the water.
3. Mash, grind or puree the food.
4. Fill the ice trays with the pureed food.
5. Freeze the ice tray.
6. Once the food is frozen into cubes, take them out of the ice trays and transfer them into
ziploc bags.
7. Label the ziploc bag with the type of vegetable and the date when it was cooked. These
baby food cubes can last for two months.
8. Repeat the procedure for the next vegetable/fruit. You can make as much as you like, and as
many varieties as you like. The last time I checked my freezer, I had squash, carrots and
papaya food cubes.

Here's How To serve (the yaya can easily do this):

1. Every night, pick out three cubes of frozen baby food, and keep them in the chiller or the
refrigerator's lower compartment to thaw overnight. I usually pick out different baby food
cubes and place them inside baby bowls with lids.
2. When it's time to eat, prepare baby's cereal (preferably brown rice or rice with soya) and put
the defrosted baby food cube in along with the mixture.
3. Mix well until the baby food cube has thoroughly been melted and mixed with the cereal.
4. Serve to hungry baby. :)
5. Thawed food cubes should be served within 24 hours.

Preparing these baby food cubes don't take a lot of time. When I cook, I make the most out of my time and cook around four or five vegetables. I make a lot - enough for two weeks, at least. At least, with this - I add a special touch to my baby's food. I may not be there to make sure she gets the real thing, but at least there's that little bit of love that makes what she eats a whole lot better.

ps -

My ice tray creates heart - shaped ice, which takes the title Cerelac with love a bit more literal than usual. :)

heart wrenched

I wrote this post on my notebook a couple of days ago. I have trouble with writing blog posts on the computer - I reserve that for work. :)

Anyway, this is the first post that I've written after a long hiatus from the blogging world. And this is the first piece of writing that is personally relevant to me that I've written in a long time now. So I write this out of my own accord, because my heart is wrenched. But let's talk about the details later.

Today is spectacularly spectacular (wink, wink). Mubo ko ug kalipay. I don't have work, and I get to lounge around, lie in bed, drink tons of water, eat lots of vegetables and tofu. Haha, I'm kidding. But yes, I don't have work and I will spend this by:

• Giving myself a super pampering treatment rivaling those from spas. This treatment will include a mud pack, a total body scrub, a good leg (and other unmentionable body parts) shaving, hot oil treatment, facial regimen and total body moisturizing. But of course, I'll be doing them myself. Why spend when you can save? :)
  
• Watching TV - MTV, Channel V and CNN. RIP MJ all over!
• Listening to my MJ playlist.
  
• NOT surfing the net. NOT turning on the computer.

Good luck to me. Now, let me end this blog with the heart wrenching stuff that have prompted me to pick up my pencil and notebook.

First, MICHAEL JACKSON'S DEATH
Call him anything you want - he has (and will always be) an icon of my childhood. I grew up listening and singing (yes! I used to sing) to his music. I am sad not only because of his demise, but because along with his death, a huge part of my childhood went along with him.
Farewell king of pop, and thank you for the wonderful music - your music will always be wonderful, and your memory will never be lost forever.


Next, NEDA AGHA - SOLTAN'S DEATH - A DISTURBING VIDEO
I didn't have enough guts to view this video. First MJs death and now this? Too much for this week already.

Neda Agha Soltan drew international attention when the video of her death circulated through the internet. She was shot during the 2009 Iranian election protests. Neda died on the streets while her friend tried to comfort her and make her last moments on earth at least bearable. Onlookers could do nothing but just stand and look helplessly.
Neda, may you find peace wherever you are. You are the voice of the young and the oppressed and those who rise to stand up peacefully for their rights. May your death inspire people to not be afraid to believe and stand up for their rights and demand justice.

Which also brings me to the question: How many other innocent people die this way each day? I have no idea, but my heart also goes out for each and everyone of them, Nedas in their own way.


And lastly, The EVIL NANNY VIDEO
I saw this video in Facebook. I was brought to tears while watching the nanny kick, stomp and abuse the little girl in the video. Through the research that I have gathered, the incident happened in Indonesia during 2007.

The parents of the poor little girl suspected that their child was being abused by her nanny, so they hid a spy camera to find out if their speculations were true. And they were. They were brutally and insanely true. The nanny was sentenced to two years in prison (WTF, 2 years!?!?).

How many children go through the same thing? How many children go through worse? What about those children who have no parents to install hidden cameras and file cases in court?
How many parents leave their houses and return at the end of the day not knowing the horrors that their children face with their "care" givers? How many children experience these things not only from their caregivers, but even from their parents?

This incident happened two years ago, and I wonder where the child is and how she is doing now. I hope she is well.

As a mother, I can only imagine how the child's mother must have felt when she watched the video. And as a mother, I can only pray that this horror never happens to my daughter - and to any other innocent and helpless child out there in the world.