Swimming Lessons : Day 7

The little girl is loving her swimming lessons more and more. Last night while putting her to sleep she was asking me if she can swim. I told her its late already and dark outside. She slept but when she would up this morning the first word that she utter was swimming! haha. When we went to Georgetown she was already running towards the pool and when she saw ‘Teacher’ she already wanted to swim even though she is not yet wearing her swim suit.

Now, we don’t need to beg her to wear her arm bands. She willingly gave out both her arms when I asked her if she wanted the bands. And i am so happy to see her swim by herself and is now using her arms and feet.

She is now trying to do the bubble thing in the water. She is still afraid to submerged her head in the water but little by little she is slowly imitating her teacher. What is funny was every time her teacher would go up after going underwater she would asked her teacher, ‘Are you ok?’. haha.

Here is a video of her Day 7 :

All Natural

If there is one thing that I am unhappy about right now is my weight gain and my attitude towards it. I have been telling my self a couple of times now to do something about it but seems like I cannot find any inspiration or encouragement to reduced it. I am a little bit wary in doing some exercise because most of the time I experienced muscle soreness so I have trouble sleeping. I was wondering if there would be a way to exercise and not have the soreness. And indeed there is through Stemulite. Stemulite for Women is an all natural solution that could help your muscle. According to those who have taken Stemulite, it have helped them increase their energy, mental alertness and focus throughout the day. Satisfied customers even show some weight loss and reduced body mass. Isn't the product wonderful? It would also help you have a good night sleep! But unfortunately, I cannot take it since I am on blood thinners. Maybe I can try it if I am off blood thinners in the future.

The Week That Was (March 22 - 28)

Better late that never. I am tired and lazy to blog because my energy since to be consumed on going to the swimming lessons of the little girl everyday. But I am so glad to be given the opportunity to go outside, enjoy the sun and even build chat with adults.

I have been consistently blogging about the little girls swimming lessons on a day to day basis so you know that the previous week has all been about her swimming while I watched on the sidelines. I am thankful that I can afford the lessons and as a stay at home mom witness her progress everyday.

On the home front, well, there are couple of times I ordered from fast foods because I am too lazy to cook and too tired to even do anything. And I found myself racing against time since I also have to finished many online task last week. I am so happy for the additional blessings since I am really trying to save as much money as possible so that we can visit the husband in Kuwait in November and I need additional funds for shopping. haha. And speaking of shopping last week I spend some dough for online shopping. I received my orders today and I am one happy shopper. haha. I planned to order more if my plans for June would be confirmed.

The husband has already booked his ticket for his vacation this June. He will be home from June 6 to 19. Hopefully we can go somewhere for a late summer getaway.

Some Savings and Promotion

As a full time wife and mother, one of the many challenges that I face on a day to day basis is to make sure I spend and do the budgeting wisely. Honestly, it was only now that I become aware of our spending. I try as much as possible to write everything down on my organizer. That way, I can tracked every penny and do some analysis on where I can do some reduction so that I can save more. Yeah, ever since the news on the global economic crisis have circulated, I have been paranoid and started saving as much as I can.

Believe me I have seen the difference between then and now that I am trying to keep track of our expenses. I even have formulated some means to lessen our spending. I just wished like in other countries, business establishments like restaurants and stores would used discount coupons. Its a good thing that other online stores that I frequent gives out coupons or some freebies. I hope this also applies on offline stores that I always visit.

Anyway, if you are one of those who resides in the US and loves coupons you might want to Pre-Register With Zibogo.com. Zibogo.com will be launching soon. And if you are merchant who is seek to promote business through coupons you might want to be one of those Merchants Register To Be A Beta Tester. This way you can promote your business as well as have some savings because being a beta tester your membership for six months will be free! Good deal indeed!

Swimming Lessons : Day 6

Over the weekend the little girl was consistently nagging me about going to the swimming pool. She would say, Mommy, you’d like to swim or Mommy, let’s go to the swimming pool? To which I always answer, ‘On Monday baby!’. So I am thinking that when Monday comes she would be looking forward to her lessons.

But to my surprise when we reached the pool she was saying her favorite line ‘I don’t like!’. She even kept on saying No when I was trying to change her clothes. Fortunately, when she saw her teacher swimming towards us she screamed ‘Teacher!’ and said Yes when I asked her if she wanted to swim. And so the lessons started while I am praying that it won’t rain nor a drop in the temperature so that my little swimmer won’t get cold.

Once on the water, Anevay let go of her sour mood and started squealing and laughing. We were able to put the arms band on her too! And I was glad to see her swimming by herself.

There were also other people who are swimming at the time of her lessons. We were laughing because when she saw an adult swimmer swimming from one side to the other she joined him and even tried to swim faster and when she reaches the other side she screamed ‘I won!’. haha. The little girl sure have a competitive spirit in her.

And then when she was done competing, they went to the center of the pool and boy was she happy swimming around. She was also ‘spinning like a ballerina’ a term she coined by herself.   I was so glad that there are no crying scenes today. And here is a video of her swimming on Day 6.

And maybe now that she is using her whole body to swim she got so tired that when I was changing her back to her dry clothes, she said she is 'Super Hungry and Tired!' and she wanted snacks. And when we went to the reception the snack she was referring to are the junk foods on display. So, I bought her VCUT and here she is happily munching away.

Upon arriving at our house, I bathe her and feed her lunch. A couple of minutes after she was asking for her milk and water. A sign that she wanted her afternoon nap already. 

Swimming Lessons : Day 5

The instructor asked me if we can come in early today so that Anevay can spend two hours in the pool. The additional one hour is for tomorrow since she can’t won’t be able to attend the class for some reason. We came in at 8am and though hesitant about the two hours I agreed.

For today, we bought the arm bands and a ball. Yesterday, they tried to put styro on Anevay’s hand but the little girl don’t want to maybe because the styro looks dirty (maarte anak ko eh!). Since we have the arm bands I told the instructor that I should bring it to class. Then the ball is something to distract the little girl just in case she again started to throw a tantrum.

The armband did wonders to Anevay’s confidence. She was able to swim by herself without the teacher holding her.

From the pictures you thought nothing could go wrong right? But alas! The rain started pouring and the little girl started feeling cold that she wanted to go off the pool. And she got off and embraced me and never want to go back. It was frustrating. Fortunately, we were able to lure her to swim again. About half an hour before her lessons were over she really wanted to stop. And stop she did. Here she is throwing some attitude on me.

Hay buhay! My tshirt was wet because she cling to me as if there was someone to get her from me. And the thing is she pee on the reception. lol! I don’t put let her wear diaper na when we go to the lessons kasi and she would just pee on the rest room after swimming but because she was throwing a tantrum when I asked her if she wants to wiwi all I get is a I DON’T LIKE answer. Ayun tuloy si manong nag mop. Kakahiya!

I just hope next week would be a lot better. And she would really swim by herself na.

A lot to Do

Since we have been out on mornings for five consecutive days there are something that I was not able to do. So now weekend would be dedicated to doing this chores. Fortunately I am done with the laundry. The washing machine have finished washing the clothes so I am now on my way to hanging the washed clothes after finishing some online task. Tomorrow, I am praying I would have the energy and time to do the cleaning of our house. Because of this I am thinking of hiring even just a cleaning lady. Seems like the chores are piling up and I can't handle it anymore. Yet, despite being busy and always on the go I still don't lose weight. Maybe, I need appetite suppressant already. Seems I cannot control what I eat. But for April I promise myself I would do anything to lose some pounds in preparation for our summer getaway on June. I know its late but that's time the husband is at home. Aside from the house chores I need to do two photobooks for my niece. Probably I'll be able to do those on holy week.

Foogo

I have been eyeing this product for a long time now. And two weeks ago I was able to received it. It’s the FOOGO funtainer. The first time I saw it I fell in love with it. I knew in my heart I have to buy it for the little girl. I wanted to get the funtainer with Tinkerbell in it but unfortunately it was out of stock. The only one that is available is the pink one.

After receiving the pink funtainer I realized I wanted one more and I don’t really like to wait so I searched for it in EBAY. Luckily there was one and has the disney princess printed on it. So, I bid for it and won. Now, here are the FOOGO of the little girl.

The pink and blue one is for liquid while the other one is for solid. All are priced at Php 1K+. I know they are a bit expensive but they are Thermos product and BFA free. And I just love them.

Swimming Lessons : Day 4

Was too tired yesterday that I was not able to post about the day four of the little girl’s swimming lesson. Actually there was nothing unusual to write about because it’s still the same. The only thing that change was the weather. Instead of the sun shining brightly, it was gloomy and cold. Maybe that’s the reason why the little girl midway her lesson wanted to go off the pool. And when we prevented her too she cried. haha. She really was cold because you can see her chin chattering. I am now looking into buying her new swimsuit, one that looks like a diver suit so that she won’t be cold that easily. I just wish there would be a swimsuit Sale. 

Also the instructor want to put the styro on her back and arms so that she can float but lo and behold the little girl showed her bratty side by saying I don’t like all throughout. But fortunately we were able to convinced her to used the float and put it on her back.

Oh and I have not taken pictures of her on the pool because I am too lazy to stand and also the activities that we had done for the week is slowly catching up on me that I think my energy is slowly leaving me. haha. But I did have some pictures of her before she went to the pool. And should I say, in full battle gears.

I was able to convince her to wear her goggles but that’s only for pictorial. haha. After taking her pictures she asked me to remove it.

Then on our way home she again decided to look for flowers.

On her right is a rock she saw and picked and on her left is Aurora which she bring along at that time for her lesson.

Swimming Lessons : Day 3

I am so glad that I can religiously update this blog on a day to day basis for the little girl’s swimming lesson despite the fact that I am busy and too tired after the lesson. As if I was the one who was in the pool for one hour. haha. Anyway, on Day 3 we were late. lol. Well, the little girl decided to do her thing on the last minute and because she was still constipated she kept on crying. It was really messy that I have to clean up before we head to Georgetown. I was pressured and harassed so to speak.

When we arrived at the pool all the students have left already and Anevay’s teacher was waiting for her. I changed her into her swimsuit and she gladly jump up the pool with her teacher. And while I was busy taking pictures I realized that Anevay grew a lot. Look at her back!

That was what the teacher is also telling me. Look at her posture, straight talaga. And here she is.. in action. And then the instructor put a styro on her back so that she’ll float. I thought she would complain but no she just kept on swimming. I did not notice that Anevay was looking at me when my mind was wandering. She kept on swimming towards the place I was sitting and then I heard her saying ‘don’t worry, mommy!’ I was really surprised and even her teacher was. From that time on, Anevay kept looking back at me and kept on calling Mommy. I assured her I am okay but she seems really worried that I look worried. lol. The teacher told me that Anevay thoughts were with me that’s why she can’t focus on swimming.

Not only that, when she saw an airplane, she kept on shouting ‘Daddy, come here! Come here, Daddy!’. So I explained to the teacher where her daddy is. haha.

Anyway, here is a video of her third day of lesson.

I am ARIELLE!

Besides Anevay's developing skills in swimming, I cannot help but be amazed in her expanding vocabulary. She really has learn a lot of new words and she can now answer me in a complete sentence. Also, she can now tell stories based on the pictures she see on her books. Not only that she can now converse directly with her daddy.

Last Monday, she was telling me a lot of things so I decided to call her daddy so that she can share her first day on the pool with Daddy. As soon as her daddy said 'hello' she started talking. She kept saying 'swimming pool', 'swim like a fish', 'I am Arielle'. She also keep showing on how she swim with her arms and legs. Of course, Daddy can't see that. lol. But based on the stories she tells I realized that she had a vivid memory of what transpired in her swimming lessons. Really, she is getting bigger day by day. And should I say smarter! haha. I am her mother so I am biased.

My days have been kept busy by her and I am not surprised that I forgot that I need to look for some office furniture because I have preoccupied lately with all the summer activities of the little girl.

Sound of Music

It was in May of 2007 that the husband and I decided to purchased the Sound of Music VCD. I haven't had time to watch it until last Monday when I was looking for the Finding Nemo DVD. Unfortunately I can't find the NEMO dvd and since the little girl likes to sing I played the Sound of Music. And my intuition was right. Anevay was singing along with every part of it. And she keeps on laughing. lol.

She is quite familiar with the DoReMi song since I always sing this with her on our Magic Sing when her daddy was here. I guess this proves that Anevay has a great memory (mana sa Mommy and Daddy) so she was so happy to hear it and she also copies the action that is being done by Maria and the Von Tramp family.



Notice how she imitates the video. I am wondering if she can now attend ballet school since she really can do what she is instructed to do. Oh well.

Busy Mornings

and I know it will get busier if ever the little girl would really go to school this coming June. Even if the swimming lessons only is for one hour but my mornings have been occupied with the preparation for the lesson that's why I don't have the luxury to go online from seven to lunch time. So, what I do is go online earlier that usual and when the little girl wakes up then that's the time I'll go offline and prepare breakfast, do some house chores and go to her swimming lessons. Once there I have one hour to just sit and watch Anevay swim and have fun. Actually that one hour allow me to rest from the grueling morning and prepare me for another round of task after the lesson. Really, I never been this busy and I was thinking this is just a prelude of what was to come this June. Who would have thought that I would be this active when sometime in my life I was already contemplating of availing disability insurance because really I felt like my lupus is crippling me. God is really God that he restored my energy and now I am an active mother of an active girl. But I know a lot out there really needs disability insurance. For insurance like this you can relay on AllSup.com. They have 97% success rate in helping people received what they are entitled to.

Swimming Lessons : Day 2

This time we woke up around 7am. After eating her breakfast the little girl requested to watch Tinkerbell. I let her watch it while I do some cleaning. Wash the dishes and her bottles. After that I prepared her for her class. I put on her sunblock and i let her wear her swimsuit na (pinatong ko na lang ung shorts and sando). She was saying I don’t like all the time I was dressing her because she wanted to wear her pink gown because she was watching Sleeping Beauty. She was crying ‘No, Aurora! Aurora!’.

We arrived at Georgetown I think at exactly nine o clock. At first, the little girl don’t want to swim but when she saw her swimming instructor swimming towards us she let me removed na her clothing so nakaswimsuit na lang sya and fortunately she let me put her swimming cap.

As I watch Anevay’s lessons I saw her development compared to yesterday. She is now using her legs and arms to swim. Her teacher was telling me that she  might grow up to be a swimmer since her posture is really good for a swimmer. Plus the fact that a young age she knows how to used her arms and legs correctly. Her teacher was all praise to her.

At the time of Anevay’s lesson, the coach was teaching two adults who were wearing swimming caps and goggles. Anevay noticed them and asked for her goggles. I was surprised that I asked her again what she wanted. She answered me ‘wobble goggles’. Okay, that’s her term for her goggles which she adapted from the Playhouse Disney’s show Imagination Movers.

 

This time no more crying. And you can see on her face that she was definitely having fun.

And despite being tired and all I am thankful to have this opportunity to be going outside of the house everyday. It makes our summer a lot of more interesting.

Ultimate Blog Party

I always enjoyed being part of blog parties. You got to meet a lot of good bloggers in the blogosphere. So when I heard about the Ultimate Blog Party 2009, I don't have to think twice about joining. That's why here I am!

I am a mother of an ever growing 2 year old girl. We live alone in our house since my husband is in Kuwait for work as an engineer and would only come home twice a year.

I always consider myself blessed because in 2002, I was diagnosed with LUPUS and my life made a 360 turn. Despite of that, I never surrendered. Who would have thought that after all the struggles in LUPUS, I was able to get married in 2005 to the man of my dreams and who have never left my side. Moreso, five months after we found out we are pregnant. Isn't that great?

Now, I am a stay at home mom for two years now. And blogging has been part of my life. In fact, I authored for blogs! But this is my mommy blog. Anything and everything about my life and my family, I write here!

Here is our latest picture (me and my little girl) taken last Saturday. For more pictures of my little girl you can click here!

I am still struggling to lose weight since I was in high dose prednisone last month because my LUPUS again put fluids in my lungs. That's also the reason for the moon face.

Now, let me leave you with a video of my little princess. She is singing and dancing in tune of CONNECTED, song from the movie BARBIE and the DIAMOND PRINCESS.



And before I forgot let's talk about the prices. Of course, I would want to win something. I hope I'll get lucky to win the following.

INTL 1 — Available to English speaking bloggers. Custom Basic Blog Design
Provided by: Sweet ‘n Simple Design
Prize Details: At Sweet ‘n Simple Design

INTL 23 – Blog Makeover BLOGGER platform only
Provided by: Busy Mama Blog Design

INTL 35 — Blog Designs by Sheila
Provided by: Blog Designs by Sheila

Or any prize that is applicable to international blogger which is related to blogging and tips on how to earn at home.

Swimming Lessons : Day 1

I told myself that I would be blogging the swimming lessons of the little girl from Day 1 to Day 10. I am not sure though if I can do that but for now let’s start with Day 1.

I don’t know if Anevay already knows the concept of getting too excited for something but she woke up around 6am today and the first thing she uttered is Mommy, let’s swim. I was telling her yesterday that she have to sleep early because we are going to the swimming pool the next day. I don’t really know if she really understand that but she really was excited.

Though she already consumed 8 oz of milk, I still made her eat some oatmeal. I know she needed all the energy for the day and that I wanted something hot to fill her stomach. At this time she was throwing a tantrum because she is having her ouchy stomach moments again.  haha. I was asking her if she wanted to wear her swimsuit she answered ‘I don’t like!’. At that time I know I might have trouble coming my way.

When we arrived in Georgetown there are kids already in the pool who are learning to swim. About four kids for the 8 to 9am class. I made it a point to come early so that Anevay can familiariaze herself with the surrounding. There are times when she ready needs warming up. The moment she saw the pool she willingly nodded and said Yes to me when I asked her if she’d like to change to her swimsuit. So from this attire…

  

Notice how long her hair is. To this….

Yes, she allow me to put on her swimming cap. She was so excited to dip in the pool that she was running and wanted to dive. Coach Oliver took her from me and they started their lesson even if its not nine o clock yet.

Unfortunately the happiness of the little girl was short lived. After a few minutes she was already screaming and looking for me that she wanted to get out of the pool. At first, the instructor was soothing her but the little girl just won’t budge. We let her off the pool and wrap her in her robe. The next time the Coach was asking for her to come to the pool she don’t like it anymore.

I thought I would be wasting the fee I paid for the lesson. And what made me smile was when we were in the side of the pool, Anevay was whispering to me ‘Mommy, let’s go home, okay?’ hahaha. She really is a big girl now. I was already thinking of a way to make her get back to the pool when the Coach told me that he would asked the lady instructor to help. Teacher Kat (not sure of her name though. haha!) approached us and asked Anevay to come with her on the pool. But the little girl was really answering us with a loud ‘Don’t like!’’. Naku daddy! Para syang spoiled brat pag nagsasabi ng Don’t like sabay nakacrossed yung arms nya on her chest.

I was encouraging her by telling her of the fish and Arielle. IT’s a good thing I let her watch Arielle this weekend. haha. Blessing in disguise ung movie na un! I was able to convinced her so when the Teacher asked her to go down the pool she willingly obliged. And from that time on, she forgot about Mommy. hahaha. She immensely enjoyed her lesson that I was hearing her sing ‘Twinkle, twinkle’ and she is shouting ‘I am Arielle’. And then she started to used her legs to swim. The Teacher was saying ‘Marunong na!’ and then Anevay loves to climb up the kickboard. haha. When the teacher would left the kickboard behind, Anevay would noticed and she would asked the teacher to come back for it by shouting ‘Go there! Over there!’

    Gone was the crying little girl. All the staff were laughing at her. And yes, she was the only one having the lessons at that time. And Georgetown have four swimming instructor (three guys and one lady) kaya don’t worry daddy.  I know in my heart that anevay would throw a fit once I tell her to get off the pool and start changing into her skirt. And I was right.

When I was changing her, she kept saying ‘I don’t like the skirt, I don’t like’. Fortunately I was able to change her clothes despite her protest but when we were saying goodbye to the staff and the instructor she kept on pulling my hand so that she can go to the pool. We all laugh at her. Good thing, she did not cry when I told her its really time to go.

So that’s how our first day went. Now, she is sleeping soundly after eating her cookies and lunch.

The Week that Was (March 15 - March 21)

For the previous week I was not really active online. Although the task are still pouring in, I managed to do all those during Anevay's afternoon nap. But my focus right now is to make sure that Anevay would be having a fun summer.

This week we were able to visit the swimming pool in Centro Palmera. Though the swimming lessons to be held there are cheaper by some hundred bucks as compared to Georgetown, I still preferred the later because of the pool and the location. The one in Centro Palmera looks like it is a neglected pool and I am assuming since it is located inside a subdivision once the training starts there would be a lot of by standers.

So this week I paid two summer classes for the little girl. The swimming class and the fun for phonics class in Ingenium. I was both happy and sad because my little girl is not so little anymore. She would be spending some time in the outside world with me just on the sideline watching her. Actually this thought made me shed some tears.

After the payment comes the preparation. We went to the mall again to buy Anevay new swimsuit. She has at least five but unfortunately they are too small for her. So I bought her two swimsuit, goggles and swim cap. And some footwear.

Then last Saturday we attended Buma's graduation. She graduated Kinder2 at the top of her class. That's how our week was. And I am leaving you with the picture of the rubber shoes I bought for the little girl. This is a MICKEY MOUSE rubber shoes, would you believe I bought it for only Php 200 ( it was previously priced at Php 900)?

Saturday Fun

Today we went to the school of anevay’s cousin for her graduation. She had fun since she rarely goes out of the house. And look at her :

His kuya luis was so tired of looking after her. hahaha! But look at her she is all grown up! don’t you love her get up?