Still Alive and Kickin'!!!

Hey, just thought I'd update my blog today and let my fellow bloggers who are wondering whatever happened to me that I'm still here alive and kicking :o)

I've been really busy at work for the past month and by the time I get back home, I'm already too pooped to blog...

Also, there were tons of stuff that happened/are happening, I can't even figure out where to begin - 1) My brother proposing to his super sweet girlfriend. 2) My younger sister moving to Texas, left Singapore for good and married her fiance. Same reason why me and hubby went to Austin, TX last week to stand as witnesses to their civil wedding. 3) Thanksgiving weekend... etc.

I'd post some pics when I get my sister to send me my camera which I left in my brother-in-law's car in Texas. Bummer.

Anyways, the 4-day Thanksgiving weekend is almost over. Though we didn't get to go anywhere else, I would say, it was pretty productive and fun for both me and hubby. We finally got to finish preparing Mikka's room for our stripes and polka dot theme. Painting stripes is not easy as it seems. Taping the pattern alone takes lots of time and patience. So finally, we got the taping done and started painting the dark pink's :o) Hopefully, we can get everything done by December so we can start buying stuff for Mikka.

Then of course, the rest of our weekend was spent with both me and hubby unleashing the inner rockstars in us :o) We got the recently released Guitar Hero World Tour for Wii and we're sooooo addicted!!! I'm the drummer and hubby's the guitarist :o) It's just soooo much fun doing something different with hubby --- great bonding time for couples, if you ask me.

I've been watching other GBWT fanatics in YouTube and I realized how much I suck at it, hahaha :o) This guy, for example, was playing the expert level on the drums. It's amazing how he'd hit every single note and I can really hear the beat of the drums!! He was using Rock Band drumset here. I hope one day, I'd be as good as this fella.



We were super thorned between getting Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Band II. But the latter wouldn't be released until towards the end of the year for Wii console. Too bad cuz RB2 has better songlist. But we just can't wait that long anymore so we ended up getting GHWT instead. See, at least even if I'm not musically inclined, I can still play the drums even through just games like this :o)

So there, that was what's going on with me.... hahha!

Belated Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you were able to find great deals on Black Friday sales :o)

I Want Me Some of These!!!

I Like:

Juliana
by La Canadienne

I Like:

Gaetana
by La Canadienne

I Like:

Blanche

Hi, I'm a Mac...

I was so excited for a friend of mine who just got his first mac ever! He got the latest Macbook Pro 15" last week. I'm just sooooo jealous!!!!!! Last time I talked to him, he's loving it the more he gets himself familiar with it. So he officially called it quits with his T42, ha!

Heeee, I get really happy & excited whenever I get to find out about someone shifting from PC to Macs, heheee, I dunno. Just thought having other options out there when it comes to computers is way better than having to stick with the same 'ol thing for the longest time. Where's the fun in that? Right?

Anyways, I was telling him that he should checkout the Apple Downloads section right away because it's one of my favorites - tonsa applications available (some are free, some are shareware) . For me, it's one of the coolest thing ever!! I'm sure there's also something equivalent for PC users as well, however, I'm not aware of it as of this writing.

Actually, there are other websites he can go to to get free mac games as well aside from the Apple Downloads website. I have a few mac games installed on my iMac but I seldom use them at all. I'm sure my friend at work wouldn't mind checking them out. Well, he's single so he has all the time in the world for all these kinda stuff. I used to have time for things like these as well, but since I got married I have to balance my time smartly these days, ha!

I remembered eons ago, the only game I get to play on my PC was solitaire - just to get passed by boredom. Years had passed and now, I didn't even realize that they also have this spider solitaire for mac available!!! Goodness.

Well for my friend, M, who aside from enjoying his iPhone is also adoring his new Macbook Pro, welcome to the dark side of the force man!!! Congrats on your new toy :o) You're officially a Mac now, hahaha :o)

Baby Mine

Last night, hubby popped in the original 1941 Dumbo Disney movie. Last time I've seen it, I was still a little girl. I can't even remember the storyline anymore so I thought watching it again is not a bad idea after all.

When Dumbo's mom was ostracized because she tried to defend him from the kids who were trying to provoke and make fun of her baby, she was chained and locked into a separate "cage". So she was taken away from Dumbo. It was a very sad scene that I ended up sobbing and crying like a big baby (while my husband was laughing soooo hard that I was being emotional about it, ha!)

Please tell me that it's not just the prego hormones that kicked in last night.... this scene is the saddest I've seen in a cartoon movie. Come on peeps, tell me if this doesn't make you shed a tear or two as well... heeee... (naghanap ng kakampi)

I love the song... makes me think about this little kiddo growing inside me...

Drama Episode

Goodness, I just gotta blog about this...

Last Saturday, while hubby was still asleep (I usually get up early most of the time), I decided to kick-off my set chores for the day - clean up the kitchen and mop the floor to begin with...

While I was mopping, I dunno what happened that I started crying my heart out. The kinda cry that is non-stop, with matching hiccup-y snort (super hikbi galore)... weird.

Hubby came out and asked me what was wrong and I just can't explain... so he just understood that it's one of those pregnancy dramas :o) Thank goodness he's very supportive and understanding. He was just there hugging and consoling me.

It's kinda funny now that I think about it, but that day, I felt so devastated without any reasons at all.

Oh... the joys of pregnancy...

Stripped!!!

Hubby and I got tired of sweeping the floor everyday to clean after Chewy's hair. Yeah, he sheds a lot!! I'm not sure why Skye doesn't shed as much though she's pretty hairy too.

So we decided to finally end all this crap and this is what we did :o)


Even if he looks funny, I'm sure he's relieved as well that he's a ton lighter now. If we weigh the amount of hair we shaved from him, it'll be probably weigh 10 lbs!!!

This of course, is his "before" picture...


We're still thinking if Skye needed some trimming as well. I remembered last year, I took her to Petsmart to get her hair cut and regular grooming. It was pretty expensive so that was the last. Same reason why we decided we'd do all their grooming ourselves - cheaper and less stress for them.

This was how she looked like after her summer look 2007 :o) This picture still cracks me and hubby up, heeheheeeeee :o)

And this is her now after more than a year of looking weird and funny with her uber short coat :o)

Could Have Been in Disney World Florida

About this same time last year, hubby and I planned on having our next escapade. I would have loved to explore European countries eventually, but I thought sticking locally for the meantime would be as enjoyable as well (not to mention, cheaper!).

One of the places hubby and I would love to go to is Disney World :o) Yeah- in Orlando, Florida! Where else is the perfect place to celebrate our wedding anniversary but in the Happiest Place on Earth???!!!!

It's our church wedding anniversary today and so last year, we thought we'd plan on celebrating our 3rd anniversary traveling to places we would love to go to. So Disney World was our supposed-to-be-target for this year's celebration. The best time to go there is just about after Thanksgiving when people just came from traveling. Plus, during Thanksgiving, Disney World would have just started their Christmas/Holiday theme that could have made the place more magical than ever! It's just a dream for me to be there during Christmas season. Oh maaan, my imagination is all over the place right at this very moment...

I've actually been looking for travel guides and tips on how to make the most out of our stay there without breaking the piggy bank - yep, as early as November last year! And as usual, travel sites like kayak.com (my favorite ever) have always been indispensable to people like me who loves the convenience of planning every detail through a click of a mouse :o) I would always find uber good deals on air tickets, hotels, land transportation - even for last minute travels!

Part of our "Places to see" list are Alaska, Australia, Japan, New Zealand. European cruise is also a great idea, but maybe after we explore the Schengen countries on our own :o) Oh maaaan, it's soooo nice to think about the endless possibilities if we're not only limited financially. Times these days are hard so every spending has to be taken into consideration.

Anyways, when are we going, you might ask. Well, after finding out that we're pregnant, all travel plans had changed. We could have gone even if we're 5 months on the way however, what's the point of going there without enjoying every single ride? I would think there are only certain rides that preggers are allowed to. Bummer.

So that's the reason why we decided we'd wait until our little chocnut Anikka is big enough to appreciate the magic of Disney World. That means mommy and daddy have another 5 to 7 years of saving up for this anticipated and long overdue vacation. I read from another travel resource that the best age to bring kids to Disney is when they turned 5. Anything before that might just be a total waste of time. First, they wouldn't remember, second they wouldn't appreciate everything in there. Might as well wait for them to grow up a bit.

No regrets though... Anikka's the best thing that ever happened to us this year... Disney World could definitely wait for a few more years :o)

To my hubby, happy happy happy 3+ year anniversary! Anikka, Skye, Chewy and of course, mommy love you more than you'd ever know. No Disney World for us this year alright, but nothing could be more worth it than having our very own princess growing beautifully in my tummy :o*

What's In A Name?

Wooohooo, hubby and I finally finally finally agreed on Anikka's full name :o) Remember last time we were still not sure what Japanese middle name we like that starts with an "M"? So now, we found a not-so-common Japanese name for her--- "Marishi"!!!!

We bump into some website about Japanese gods/goddessess names and got interested with Marisha-Ten or Marishi-Ten. "Ten" means he/she's a god, so we took that out. John prefers Marishi than Marisha because for some other language, the name Marisha means "bitter". Plus Marishi sounds more Japanese-y (kinda like Oishi, haha).

So now, our little bebe's gonna be-- "Anikka Marishi Goya".... I sorta like it :o)

The first thing people ask after finding out bebe's gender is if we already chose a name for her. The 2nd question they normally ask is what's the meaning of it. Yeah... so I guess it's not enough to just choose an arbitrary nice sounding name... it looks like it has to have some meaning behind it. Susmio.

So here goes the meaning of our little chocnut's name:

Anikka --> grace, gracious, favor
Marishi --> ray of light, Japanese goddess of heaven, sun & moon

I asked hubby as well if it would be ok to call her Mikka as her nickname. I think he's still thinking about it. Nikka or Nikki would be too common already so I was thinking what would be a nice nickname that would be a combination of her first and middle name... so I thought of Mikka. Haaay... I guess this is how mommies think, hahaha :o)

Ain't it obvious we're super excited? Grabs, we already chose a name for her!!!

Already A Troublemaker...

Sorry everyone if I haven't had a chance to reply to your messages nor bloghop during the past few days... thanks for visiting my blog still :o)

Anikka here is already a troublemaker at 21 weeks. Last Monday, hubby rushed me to the OB triage where they admitted me for about 4 hours. I was in severe abdominal pain - we were super scared we thought Anikka's going to come out! This little goofball...

I started feeling the pain in my pelvic area Saturday afternoon. I was still doing ok back then since I could handle the sharp stabs on my back and my lower abdomen. Then come midnight, it progressed to a very unbearable constant pain on my pelvic bone. It hurts so bad I can't even pee. I thought I was having some bladder infection but heck, this feels worse than that! It feels like Anikka's pressing hard on my bladder and pelvic floor - super painful!!!!

I called the 24 hours nurse line from my OB's office and she told me that I should make sure I drink tons of water (4 big cups in an hour) and if that didn't help, to go to the hospital for immediate medical care.

Since I could still handle the pain, I didn't go to the hospital. I thought maybe it could get better after a day. But oh maaan, I was wrong. We waited until Monday to go to the hospital. They monitored Anikka's vitals, my contractions and checked me if she's getting lower already. So thank goodness, they didn't feel her head, she's not coming out!

They also took my urine sample to check for possible bladder and kidney infection --- nada... negative! Everything looked normal, no bleeding, no fever, vomitting, change in discharge etc...

At the end of the day, they just told me it could just be the normal round ligament pains that pregnant women experience at this stage. I didn't buy it just because they can't explain the burning feeling while I pee. There has got to be an explanation to this... driving me nuts!!! They also told me to just take Tylenol (and I did) but that didn't help with the pain as well.

It's been almost 4 days now and it's still excruciating to pee and my lower abdomen feels like I'm-going-to-have-my-period-anytime kinda thing. So this morning, I went to see my OB and she told me what I've been suspecting, Since I have tiny pelvis, that I could be having pelvic separation.. thus the lingering lower abdominal pain. But that didn't explain why it's burning when I use the bathroom.

I need Dr Gregory House to make some sense to all these things!!!!!

Speaking of House, did anyone see last night's episode? What's up with that smooching action between him and Cutty?? Uhmmm... I wasn't thrilled at all!

Polka Dots & Stripes!

For the past few weekends, hubby and I were occupied cleaning up the other room to make way for Anikka's nursery! Whoohooo!

We've been looking around for room colors and ideas that are not screaming "I'm a baby girl" too much. Though I must admit that I'm definitely partial choosing girly colors of course, hahaha :o)

So we finally thought we'd paint one side of the room in stripes and the 3 other sides a combo of light green and brown (and then add polka dotty accents along the border later on).

Thank goodness for VOC-free paints (almost odor-free) that makes painting more fun. I hate the chemical fumes from paints so I never imagined myself doing any painting jobs at all. So we bought sample cans of the colors that we like and started messing up with one of the walls. It's actually super fun!

Here are some photos I took. Hopefully, we could get the nursery done soon :o) For more pics, check them here.

We also found some nursery designs online that kinda look pretty cool as well :o) We originally thought we'd use square patterns vs stripes but we realized squares could be harder. So here are some inspirations we found in the beginning. Maaan, these are just pure labor-of-love.