DIY Guestbook Photobook

Today let me share with you guys what I did for Jashley's guestbook on her birthday last October. I know its super late na, but still I wanna share it here.

I made the layouts (I'll share each pages on a different blog entry) in photoshop using the digital scrapbooking kits I have downloaded from the internet. I started this project since Jashley is around 2 months old, I have nothing much to do that time at home so I decided to create a few layouts for her. I stopped doing layouts when I started working na. Then during Jashley's birthday party preparation, I was looking for Photobooth deals on Groupon when I saw a Photobook "free voucher" from Photobook Philippines, you only need to pay the shipping fee that cost P300.00, because the book will be printed in their main office in Malaysia.

Since it's free, I grabbed it and started digiscrapping again to complete the 40 pages of the book. I had so much fun creating layouts and exceeded the 40 pages, It's hard to choose which layout I won't include, good thing additional pages is allowed on the type of book stated on the voucher, with additional cost (P120 fo 4 pages). So from the original cost of P3,250.00 I only paid P420.00 for this Photobook.

I got a little problem with paying it since I don't own a credit card nor a paypal, I only have my visa debit card but unfortunately their system won't accept my card for the reasons I don't know. I emailed them and told them my situation and asked for a different mode of payment like bank deposit. At first they advised me to borrow a credit card from a friend so I can proceed immediately because bank deposit process takes a while, but if thats not an option for me, they will put my order on offline payment so I can pay thru bank deposit. Since I don't know anyone who was willing to let their credit card be borrowed, I settled with the alternative mode of payment which is the bank deposit. I emailed them again to let them know that I will proceed with that offline payment. However, according to them they will allow me to pay with this method once only. Anyways after I got home I uploaded my files on their system and choose the bank deposit mode of payment,

The next day when I was about to go to the bank, Hubby called me telling me that he was able to borrow credit card from his officemate. I don't want to borrow na sana but since I only have 2 weeks before Jashley's birthday, and the production time and delivery timeframe for the book is 5-7 working days, if I opt for the bank deposit It will be needing a couple of more days for them to received my payment before they start the production. Baka di umabot sa birthday ni Jashley. I called the Photobook Philippines to ask them if I can use credit card na lang eventhough they send me their bank details na and sa sytem nila I have choose the bank deposit option na. I said sorry nalang baka kasi naguguluhan na sila sakin, but according to the person I spoke with, theres no problem naman daw since they prefer the credit card payment. Ayun, after 4 working days I received na the package, Ang bilis.

Thank you Photobook Philippines for the free voucher and most importantly for patiently answering my queries kahit na in the end I used credit card din.

I'm still in number 1 spot

Jashley were barely 6 months old then when I decided to work again. I wanted sana to wait for her to turn 1 year old before I go back working so we can have more bonding times pa, but masyado na malaki ang monthly house expenses namin. Hubby can provide naman, he can cover for our daily basic necessities. and I am very thankful to God that I have a responsible Hubby, but I admit we're still kinukulang, we can't have any kind of luho, and most importantly we're not able to save for the future. So when I found out that the previous company where I worked, before I go to singapore is currently hiring, I contacted the manager and asked if I can apply, he requested for my updated CV, the next day after I submitted it, I receive agad the Job Offer letter, I signed it and thats it, in 2 weeks time I'm back into the corporate world. 

I felt both happiness and sadness at the same time. I am happy because I actually missed my job, my profession, and of course I will be able to help Hubby na with our expenses. But that means I have to leave Jashley to Mama everyday. No more 24/7 hours of play, hugging and kissing. We only have mornings before I leave for work, at night and during weekeends for that. And what actually scared me is the thought that she might get more closer to her Lola (MIL) than to me, don't get me wrong I love my MIL and very thankful that she is willing to take care of Jashley so I am able to continue my profession. But of course being a mom, as much as possible I want to be the first in my daughters heart, me and her daddy, kaso paano nga yun kung both of us is working. 
Anyways here's our set up, during weekends we made sure that Jashley is with us, kami ni Hubby ang nag-aalaga. As much as possible my in-laws won't take her from us during these days so we can have some quality time with her. Si Jashley naman whenever we're home she doesn't want to come to either Mama or Papa, she wants only me & her Daddy. But nowadays kahit kay Daddy ayaw nya din paminsan, I always tease Daddy that number 2 lang siya sa puso ni Jashley ako padin ang number 1, hehe. Whenever I was around kasi, she didn’t wanna be washed, changed or carried by anyone else except me, minsan nga lalapitan lang nila tatakbo na sakin akala nya siguro kukunin siya. If bigla ako mawala sa paningin nya, sisigaw na yan ng "Mommy...Mommy...Mommy" until she saw me again. When someone is taking her from me, she will hug me tightly so no one can get her from me. Buti nga recently when I really need to excuse myself from her to be able do something, I will just tell her "Mommy will need to go to the toilet" and she will let me go na. 

In mornings naman, di naman siya humahabol when I leave for work, I always explain kasi sa kanya na Mommy is going to office. Kasama sila ni Mama tuwing hinahatid ako ni Papa (FIL) sa sakayan ng bus. When you ask her "Where Mommy will ride?" she will reply "Bus" then ask "going to?" she will answer "Office". While inside the tricycle, we will be exchanging a lot of bye-byes, kisses, i love yous, and after I alight she will send me flying kisses, then I will let them go home na, I don't want to let her stay longer dun kasi masyadong mausok since its a highway. And I tell you that it is always the sad part of my day, I also see on my baby's eyes that she's sad too, she will just stare at me as if telling me na "iiwan mo nanaman ako" habang lumalayo sila. 
On the other hand according to Mama, during the day when she knows that her Daddy and I are not home, si Mama  naman ang ayaw nya hiwalayan, Mama was able to work lang daw when Jashley is sleeping or if Papa will play with her, kasi that's the time lang na sasama si Jashley kay Papa if they will play, kaso madalas hinihika si Papa after they played kasi harutan pala ang trip ng bata. 
At night, we usually arrive around 8:30 or 9:00 pm, she's still awake pa naman most of the time, upon seeing me and her daddy, she will run towards us tuwang tuwa. She will make kalkal my bag to find a pasalubong. Then will pull me through the back door while saying "tamon...house" meaning come on, let go to our house. And then ayun, no pansin nanaman sa kanya ang Mama at Papa until I leave again for work. 

Before when she was in "nangingilala" stage already she doesn't want to be carried by anyone except Me, Daddy, Mama & Papa. When she turns 1 year old she wanted Me and Mama mostly. Then naging Me and his Daddy whenever we're around. Pero ngayon etsapuwera na talaga sila lahat if I'm around. Sabi ko nga kay Daddy mukang kaagaw pa nya si Mama sa number 2 spot kay Jashley, hahaha.
Anyway Mommies, especially working Moms like me, though we can't be with our babies 24/7, I know no one can replace us in their tiny hearts.

Puyat moments

After I gave birth to Jashley, almost all of my Mommy friends would tell me that it will be the start of our sleepless nights. Apparently it is not the case with Jashley, I didn't have any problem with her during night time because she sleeps althrough out the night, though she wakes up early around 5am the same time that her daddy wakes up to prepare for his work. But during day time maximum na yung 30 mins of sleep for her, I already tried turning off the lights, blocked the sunlight coming through the windows, don't make any noise, but still she cannot sleep longer than 30 minutes. One time after I lulled her to sleep, I didn't put her down to see if she can sleep longer on my arms, guess what? she was able to sleep for 3 hours straight. Since that moment, during daytime I let her sleep on my arms so she can sleep longer. We do this everyday until she is aorund 5 months, finally she was able to sleep lying down na during daytime. On night time she still sleeps from 7pm to 6am the next day. I really didn't experiencd waking up in the middle of the night for any reason other than I have to feed her. After that we can both resume our sleep.

Of course its a different story whenever she's sick, worse when she have flu and congested nose. Because the only way she can sleep well is if I carry her and sleep while on sitting position. So the first time she got sick is also my first sleepless night experience with her.

But these past few days, she keeps on whinning at night, and I don't know what's the exact reason. I checeked her but looks like she's not sick naman, like last night. She's a little fuzzy and whinny. We arrived home late last night because we dine-out with hubby's office friends. As expected she's already sleeping when we arrived, When I carried her upstair and lie her down on the bed, she's awake na pala. I told her to gp back to sleep again, usually she's able to sleep back. But this time she didn't, and she suddenly speak;

Jashley: Daddy. Higa. (while pointing on the space on the bed beside her)
Me: Opo, dyan higa si Daddy, wait mo lang nasa baba pa si Daddy.

After a couple of minutes hubby entered the room upon seeing her Daddy she stood up and went to her Daddy.

Daddy: Bakit nagising ka na? late na, sleep na ulit. (While putting her back into bed)
Jashley: Dito. Higa.
Daddy: Opo, Higa na si Daddy, sleep ka na din.

She then burried her face into her pillow, matagal-tagal din so I thought she's already sleeping na. Until I heard her soft cries, I pat her gently while telling her that there's nothing to worry because Mommy is here. She stopped for a while then she whine again and keeps on turning and turning. I asked her if she wants milk, she said "milk" so I gave her milk. After that di padin natulog she wants to play daw, kaso ako naman sobrang antok na. I let her watch on my phone nalang her favorite mickey mouse clubhouse so I can sleep, kaso everytime the video ends or she accidentaly press the home button of the phone, she will wake me up and ask me to resume the video. She keeps on waking me also to tell me whatever was seeing on the screen, like she's explaining to me what is happening there, for example "Mommy...dog...awww-awww-awww" (while pluto is barking), or "Mommy...mouse...dance" (because mickey mouse is dancing). Kahit na antok na antok na ko I try to respond parin, so she won't feel that I ignore what she was saying.

Anyways, around 4am nagisingan ko nlang she's already sleeping na and then the phone was on my hand, I don't know how it happened, I just remember that I tried taking the phone from her one time and asked her to sleep na but she said "no, ayaw" so I let her continue watching. Maybe I tried it again then she let me and she sleeps na. Ayun para tuloy akong zombie sa office kinabukasan sa sobrang puyat.

There are times na 3 consecutive days siyang ganyan, we're taking turns nalang ni hubby so one can fully rest kahit papaano. Several times hubby wasn't able to come to office due to his headache cause of lack of sleep.

There is also this instance that we are sleeping on the living room, we arrive home late also that time so inorder to not wake her up we decided not to transfer her upstair and just sleep there nalang din. Around 1 am she wawkes up crying and keeps pointing at the door through the dirty kitchen while saying "dayaw" which we don't know the meaning. We offer her milk, to watch, to play but she refuse it all. She still keeps on pointing at the door, I ask her if she wants to go to Mama's (MIL) house, by the way my in-laws house and our house is just right beside each other and connected through the dirty kitchen at the back.

When I asked her if she wants to go to mama, she replied "Mama", so hubby then called Mama, but when Mama is getting her from me, mas lalo pa sya umiyak and again point to the door while shouting "dayaw" again. Hubby said maybe she wanted to go to my in-laws house so we brought her there but after getting to my in-laws house she again points back to the dirty kitchen outside. around 5 times we've been going back and forth to our house and my in-laws house. When we were inside the house, she will say "dayaw" while pointing outside but when we're outside she will say "house" while pointing naman on either our house or my in-laws house, the weird thing is she will stop crying while we're passing through the dirty kitchen. It's a little creepy but as much as possible I don't want to entertain that idea. When she finally stops crying hubby and I pray and ask God's protection.

How about you Moms out there? What are your puyat moments with your babies?.

Educational Stuffs

Yesterday my Mom shared on Facebook a cute video about a DIY activity book for toddlers made out of felt fabrics. I suddenly wanted to make one for Jashley, I searched online for some tutorials, and found that it is called "Quiet Books", it is basically a book, usually made out of fabric that filled with quiet activities for the kids.I think this is a perfect activity to keep the little girl busy especially on church and whenever we travel. Plus with this book learning will be definitely fun for her. I hope I can start with this project soon as this will surely take a long time to finish, I actually planned to buy some of the materials needed last night, but Hubby and I have a little tampuhan since Sunday so when he fetched me at the mall last night, and saw him still a little grumpy, I didn't bother ask him to accompany me in buying the stuff. Anyways we're ok now, hopefully I can drop by at the bookstore later, after our dinner with his office mates.

Moving into the real topic, I actually want to share with Mommies out there the stuffs/toys & methods I'm using on teaching Jashley.

1. ABC Puzzle Mat

This mat is really helped us a lot. We have this mat since Jashley was around 5 months old, What we usually do is, we take one letter, show it to her while telling what letter is that. Mostly she won't mind us but we still continue doing this. Until she recognized the letter A, the very first letter she was able to learn, then E, C, S. Then one day I was busy doing something, she picked up a letter, run towards me and waved the letter right in front of my face while shouting "I". I asked her to pick another letter and show it to her Daddy, she was able to tell & show 3 more letters (Y,M,O). She's around 1 yr & 2 mo that time. Presently, she loves disassembling and assembling back this puzzle mat.

2. Magnetic Letters & Numbers

To encouraged her more on learning the alphabet I bought her this magnetic letters at Toy Kingdom for 100+ php per set. What I did before is, I take-out around 3-5 letters (those that she wasn't able to recognize), repeatedly telling and showing her each letter until she was able to memorize at least 1 or 2 of those letters. then we will move to another set of 3-5 letters. And since it is handy, whenever we go out , I am able to bring 3-5 pieces with me so I can teach her, while we are traveling.  

3. Alphabet & Shapes Chart

I bought this chart the same time I bought the puzzle mat, because I wanted to turn Jashley's room into a playroom, since no one is using the room. I put up the chart into the walls. But after a couple of weeks we decided to just set-up her play area on our living room so we can leave her playing there while we can do other things, and just constantly checking her. But I wasn't able to move the chart on the living room because it doesn't look nice, so I just leave that on her room upstair. Until I came up with the idea of putting it into an illustration board to make it sturdy. Those 2 charts are now sticked back to back with each other, making them a little handy in bringing upstair or downstair whenever needed. With these she was able to be more familiar with Alphabets and what objects starts with a specific letter. Same with the shapes, she was able to memorize almost all the basic shapes with this chart.

4. Shape sorter

The shape sorter is a gift from her uncle Jr last christmas, this helped Jashley developed both her analitical & motor skills, At first I just show her where each shapes should go, when it is her turn, she will try each hole and I will say "wrong" when she's trying to insert on a wrong hole, she then continue trying other holes until she heard me say "correct" and she will figure out how to fit the shape on that hole. Come to present time she's now memorize and can play alone with this toy.

looking for the right hole.

5. Wooden Shape Puzzle

This my recently bought toy for her to again encourage her in learning shapes and color. Upon opening it I show her how to use it (mas excited pa ang Mommy. hehe.). When I let her try, aba kabisado na agad. She assemble it quickly while reciting each shapes excepts the pentagon & oval na madalas nya makalimutan. I bought this at Toy Kindom also for 149 php.

6. DIY Shape Bath Toys

This one, I made this using my scrap foam sheets from my scrapbooking stash. I always wanted to buy this kind of bath toys so she can play and at the same time learns while taking a bath. But it is so expensive, so I am having second thought on  buying. Good thing while I'm searching over the net, I stumble on some tutorials on making these bath toys. I remember that I bought this foam sheets at National Bookstore on the scrapbooking section around 5 years ago (yup! sobrang tagal na niyan), so I'm not sure if it is still available now. I use my die cutting machine in cutting the flowers, circle and butterfly to have a perfect cut.

7. Magnetic Drawing Board

One day when hubby and I arrive home from work, eto ang naabutan namin na ginagawa ng batang makulet.

Little busy bee.

Mama taught her pala how to hold a pencil that day and within the day ayun master na ang paghawak ng pencil. From that day whenever she saw a pencil and paper, she will repeatedly says (or rather shout) "write, write, write" and will not stop until you gave her a pencil and paper. So hubby and I decided to buy this drawing board to encourage her to write/doodle more and of course to save our walls from her doodles. Right now, whenever we saw her scribbling on that board, I will asked her; "what are you writing baby"?, she will confidently replied "Jashley" while pointing on her doodle.

8. Books

She have a lot of books also; from alphabets, numbers, shapes, colors, animals and story books. Since she was around 3 months old We make sure that every night before we sleep we will open & read a book for her. As of now, she's the one requesting na to open and read a book for her (see my kwentong libag post), minsan nga she's the one who's telling the story pa or whatever is in the book.

My little reader.

9. Educational Videos

From time to time we allow Jashley to watch educational videos like Dora the Explorer, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse & some nursery rhymes on YouTube, but we limit it for like an hour per day.

10. Educational Smartphone Games

Since I noticed that she's able to operate my phone already, I downloaded several games on my Iphone for her. There is this one shape puzzle game wherein you have to drag a particular shape on its corresponding slot and after you finished sorting all the shapes balloons will show up from the bottom of the screen for you to pop it up. At first she's just interested with popping out those balloons and she will just let and wait for me to sort out the shapes, then when she sees the balloons coming out, she will then take the phone from me. I thought she's just not ready yet for a puzzle game so I didn't force her to do the sorting, but to my surprise, one day while I was busy preparing food on our dining table, and while she's sitting beside me I let her play with my phone. Then she suddenly call me and show me the finished puzzle, I asked her to do it again, it looks like that after all those days she's just observing how I am doing it.

Another puzzle game that she loves to play.

Those are the tools/toys that helped us on teaching Jashley, right now she's able to count na din from 1-10 although constantly skipping the number 5 (i don't know why), for counting I just use any similar items I can find at home to teach her, like candies, her feeding bottles, pens, hangers, etc. I just repeatedly counting these items until one day I heard her counting on her own na.

Here are some of my personal methods naman:

*I usually focus on one lesson at a time, so she will not get confused.

*I use different kind of tools on a each lesson so she will not get bored, I notice kasi if we use one kind of material lang after sometime she don't want to respond anymore kahit ilang beses mo siya tanungin. looks like she's not interested anymore.

*Be creative and fun on teaching, I have a lot of activity in mind that I want to try but some of them I think is not yet appropriate with Jashley's age yet, so I wasn't able to try pa.

*I don't force her. What I do, I will play with her muna to warm her up then slowly asking her some questions, if she respond that is my cue that she is currently in the mood for learning. If after 2-3 times of asking her she didn't reply I won't force her.

*We compliment her everytime she does it right, in that case mas lalo siya nagpapakitang gilas.

*To help her memorize something, after I show and tell her a thing, I will ask her to show and tell it also to her Daddy, then to Mama, to Papa, and to whoever is also there (the more person the better), so in that case she will repeat it as many time as possible for her to remember that particular thing. She enjoy doing this especially when she receives compliments like "very good baby" or "galing galing naman ni Jashley".

So I think thats it for now, will just update if I have discovered new techniques and ways to make learning more fun, 1 tip lang mga Mommies, observe your kids on what interest them the most, so you will know how you will approach them, like for my baby since she like showing off what she knows kapag madaming siya audience, I use those moments para turuan siya, infairness hindi naman kami napaphiya sa audience. Hehe... Till next time mga Mommies, If you have teaching methods that can share with me, I would love to hear them too.

Kwentong Libag

No, it's not what you think, I won't make kwento about libag. So this is my real kwento all about. When hubby and I arrived home last night my Jashley is running towards us and do her usual routine of kissing and make "mano" to me and her Daddy (she does this whenever we arrive home). After that she told me "Mommy...Read...Books", I replied "Ok baby, what do you want Mommy to read for you?, she then replied "Li-ba-bag". I was like what?!! what does she mean by libabag? I'm waiting for someone at home to help me decipher what does it mean, but it seems that no one knows too. So I ask her "what is libabag baby?", she then show me the book that I recently bought for her and answered "libag" while pointing on the book cover. Ayun naman pala it means Ladybug, this ladybug Sleepover book that I gave her the other day. Buti na lang so smart ang baby ko that she was able to explain what does she mean by showing me these book (Which by the way I bought at national bookstore for only 59php each. So cheap!). 

I corrected her pronunciation many times but still "Li-li-bag" padin ang nasasabi nya. Anyway it's ok baby ma-perfect mo din yan next time. Always remember that Mommy will not get tired understanding you until you are able to converse fully na. 

As of now though you were able to repeat na every single word we were asking you to say, you were still confuse between C/K & T and M & N. Here are some examples:

No more = Mo More

Kain = Tain

Carry = Terry

But still you are doing a great job baby. I love you so much.

-♥♥♥-

So fast

Time flies so fast talaga, last night hubby and I came home late because I have an office team dinner. We got home around 11:30 pm na, and obviously our little girl was already sleeping. Di ako sanay, we usually got home kasi around 8:30 or 9:00 pm, she still awake pa by those time, so we have enough time pa to play with her before she sleeps at 10:00pm. Since she's already asleep I just content myself on staring at her, and realized that time is flying so fast, she's now on her 19th month and already knows a lot of things. I am really amaze on how fast her development is, and I always thank God for that. Madami natutuwa sa kanya kasi at her young age she knows almost all the alphabet already. She's able to count na though she keeps on skipping number 5 (I dont know why). She knows shapes too. She's also very "madaldal" and will repeat almost everything that we said. She can speak & understand both english and tagalog. She also can sing some of the lyrics on some nursery rhymes she's watching. Super smart talaga ng baby ko. Then just last sunday, while I am busy washing her feeding bottles, she was busy playing naman sa may living room. While holding her plush toys kitty (hello kitty) and bob (sponge bob), I heard her saying kitty, bob, kitty, bob, (paulit ulit siya while pointing on the toy she mentioned). So I butted in and our conversation goes like this:

Mommy: Who is that baby?

Jashley: Kitty, Bob

Mommy: Kitty and...

Jashley: Bob

Mommy: Dora and...

Jashley: Boots

Paulit ulit ko ask sa kanya yang Kitty & Bob saka ung Dora & Boots binaliktad ko din to test if she will get confused.

Mommy: Bob and...

Jashley: Kitty

Mommy: Boots and...

Jashley: Dora

Hmmm... Very good talaga ang bebekoy. So I asked her again at nagulat ako sa sagot nya because I am sure no one teach her this. It goes like this:

Mommy: Daddy and...

Jashley: Mommy

Mommy: Mama (her Grandma on Daddy's side) and...

Jashley: Papa (her Grandpa on Daddy's side)

Mommy: Papsi (her Grandpa on Mommy's side) and...

Jashley: Mamsi ((her Grandma on Mommy's side)

Mommy: Tito Alex (her Daddy's brother) and...

Jashley: Mency (her Tito Alex's girlfriend)

I was really amaze on her answers, I don't know how she figured out who partnered to whom. or maybe because she always sees that her Daddy and I are always beside each other, and when we are both out for work she is left with her Mama and Papa. Then when Papsi and Mamsi naman is visiting her they were always together, And for Alex and Mency sa Facetime lang sila nakikita ni Jashley palagi because they are both working in Thailand. I was just so amazed that she was able to get the logic on who partnered to whom after that kitty and bob example. I think she's now ready for some matching activity like matching mother and baby animals, or opposites activities.

Kids these days talaga were so smart. Another instance na na-amaze ako is while she's watching a series of nursery rhymes, bago matapos ang every song meron siya sinasabi na word like, "bus", she keeps on saying that until the current song ends and turned out that the next song is "wheels on the bus", then before that ends she will say again a word "rain", cause the next song is actually "rain rain go away". Ang galing ng memory nya, although everyday we are playing this rhymes at home no one memorized it except her. I think my baby's memory skill is as good as her logic skills. Thank you Lord for that.

Those things made me realize that my baby is growing so fast, Samantalang dati inip na inip ako na lumaki na sha, now I am so overwhelmed with those things she's able to do.

-♥♥♥-

Reasons why...

I know I always say I'm too busy to blog but actually that is not really the sole reason why I seldom post an entry here. I'm really not a writer, even in personal I'm not the type of person na "ma-kwento", I always have this feeling na people are not interested on whatever story I have. I actually created this blog cause I think it can help myself in that aspect, at least here I can  tell any story I want to share and its up to the readers if they will read it or not, wapakels nako. But what usually happens is for couple of days I will post blogs then suddenly I have this feeling again not to blog because no one is interested anyway. Then whenever I am reading and browsing other blogs I again wanted to keep up my blog. Like right now since we don't have much workload in office I now have a lot of time browsing and reading blogs and that explains why I'm now posting a blog entry right now. I got envy on some of the Mommy blogs I browsed lately, on how they documented every development of their little ones. I wanted to document also everything about my baby girl so she has something ti read on later. For now this is my motivation on keeping this blog alive. So good luck to me, I really hope I can do it.

-♥♥♥-