Same Old Brand New Floor

I find it amazing how a four year old can appreciate the simple things in life. I often wish I had Keisha's perspective towards life, but I don't and I don't think I'm doomed (yet). We were busy the whole day today and yesterday repainting our house as we are near to closing our internet cafe. I have to admit, when the living room set was delivered today, I realized how much I missed having an actual living room. We were also busy repainting the bathroom, scrubbing the walls, panting the staircase, and painting the floor red, the color it once was.

I admit to being really tired and cranky from all the work we've been doing but when I saw Keisha rubbing her foot against the red floor as she smiled I asked her, "Do you like it?" She instantly said "Yes" and that she found the floor pretty. I felt that all my efforts were rewarded and that everything was worth it. Well, I knew that from the start but I just couldn't help but feel appreciated.

It's way past midnight where I am and my husband and I just finished waxing the floor and making some last-minute touches. We still have 3 PCs left, so we're not totally closed yet, and we're not totally finished decorating the house and all. But I'm glad that we got a lot of work done together, and as I'm resting while blogging, I'm waiting for my bathwater so I can take a much-needed shower.

Merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS Keisha and Nicole!

Love Mama, Papa and Grandma.

Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve, and Keisha is asleep. I guess she couldn't fight off sleepiness anymore after a tiring day we spent at my mom's place. I guess I'll just have to wake her up later when it's time to open presents and stuff. And when I'm done cooking.

Goodbye PCs

I'd like to collectively apologize for the three of us who haven't been posting on this blog for several days already. We all have been pretty busy with the holidays and stuff plus the fact that we're selling the PCs we have at home. I'm glad and sad at the same time. I'm sad since we're losing an additional source of our income and we're not going to see friends we've already made through the shop as frequently as we did. But I'm glad since Keisha and Nicole will now have more time and space to play with each other instead of being stuck upstairs all the time.

What also makes me glad is the fact that we are going to buy a living room set again, and we're also going to be able to make some repairs in the house. We can get the sink fixed, get a screen door installed downstairs, bring Nicole's crib downstairs, and even take care of fishes again. We're also going to have the privacy we lost, and well, we'll have a living room again.

Having the internet cafe was a blast, and I'm sad to see it go. But with two growing kids to think of, I don't regret making this choice.

Tooth Extractions

I got two of my teeth extracted the other day, and they still hurt quite a bit. How is this related to Keisha? Well, for starters, my eldest daughter has been really considerate and did not bug me with carrying her, which she usually does. She would also often ask if my gums hurt and if I needed anything.

Keisha would also ask if I already drank the antibiotics and the pain relievers the doctor prescribed, and her reminding me of those things made me not forget, since I'm honestly not that good when it comes to drinking medicines on time.

Yesterday my mom, Leslie, and Keisha went to a mall and brought me back a shirt with red stripes, which looked great. I'm glad they had a great time, although I was left with Nicole. Good thing though I had my cousin to help me out.

I know I promised previously that I'll try to make my share of this blog, and again I apologize for not being able to complete my end of the bargain. I'm glad how this blog has been going, though, and I'll really make an effort to post as often as I can after work.

Kids and Work

Whenever I feel the urge to not go to work, I always remember what our CST Trainer Donna said, "You can't have a career and be a parent at the same time." I'm beginning to think she's right.

I can't afford to stay at home for another year for a lot of reasons. One is Keisha's going to attend school in a matter of months, and I want to enroll her in a private school, which translates that I need money. Second, we still have quite a few debts to settle, and I want everything to be cleared before the new year starts. Third, Henry's trips are coming to a close so most of the expenses will be shouldered by me for the time being.

I'm thinking of getting a new job since I saw this really close call center for me to work at, so I get to save not only on fare expenses, but the center being close means I also have more time at home, since I won't have to worry on travel time as much as I do now. But the hassle of applying for a job is something I don't want to get myself into at the moment. But if I've decided on not going back to eTel, then it's a reality I'll need to deal with.

I'm only glad that Keisha seems happy I'm home, and I also get to spend some time with Nicole (why her name changed from Simone to Nicole I promise one of us will get onto that). It's something I seriously miss while at work. I guess the only thing left for me to do is to discuss how I feel with Henry and take it from there.

Monic and her Blogger Password

I'm glad my mom in law has access to her Blogger account again. I wouldn't want to be the only one blogging on this blog, since it totally destroys the purpose of having it at all. We decided to put this blog up for the purpose of sharing our thoughts about Keisha's daily activities, and I definitely didn't want it to be a monologue.

I hope she finds enough time in her busy schedule to squeeze even a few minutes for blogging. I'm sure when Keisha's older, this'll be something she'll appreciate and thank us for.

The last post she made regarding Nicole's baptism I'll leave for her to finish, although I'm not sure when she can. I won't spill any details; I'll leave the storytelling to her this time.

I'm Back!!!

I forgot my password and Leslie had this great (although late) idea of using the Forgot Password function in Blogger just recently. It's been months since I last posted, but I'm glad that Leslie has been keeping the blog up-to-date.

Well, what can I say? Almost everything that happened to us are documented here already. From our trip to Ongpin up to Keisha's birthday. I just noticed that there are no entries for Nicole's baptism. But I know why, though.

My son was really busy and sort of out of his mind when Leslie got hospitalized for appendicitis, so he wouldn't have time to blog about it. Leslie had trouble sitting still for days, so she wasn't blogging either. And of course, I was busy with their kids.

I'll just try to remember when exactly did we have Nicole's baptism and I'll get right back at you.

Keisha and Sleep

I don't know what's gotten into me yesterday but I felt like a dead cow after I got home from work. I slept right when I got home, woke up for lunch, and resumed sleeping after eating lunch and I didn't wake up until Henry came home, which was around 11:00pm or so.

Keisha was trying to wake me up repeatedly, and I remember she was saying, "Mommy wake up!" or "Mommy please wake up!" but I just couldn't bring myself to open my eyes for anything longer than 10 seconds.

I don't know why she was waking me up, but when I finally did, she was already asleep.

Yesterday was Great!

Since I started working again after almost a year of being a stay-home mom, I once again have this nagging feeling inside me that I'm not giving Keisha and Nicole enough time. Due to my shifting schedule, I try to squeeze in sleep, household chores, blogging, and playtime with my kids in the 12 hours or less that I have when I get home around 6:00 am, since I leave around 6:30 pm for work.

But yesterday was different. It was literally a great day for me. Since I spent a couple of hours sleeping at work (yeah, I know, don't ask me how and why) and I managed to get some shut-eye on the bus while I was going home, I didn't fall asleep until around 1:00 pm. I had a lot of time in my hands and I took advantage of it. I finished all my paid posts around 9:00 am, went to the market, cooked lunch for everybody, helped around the house, and I had a lot of time to cuddle and play with my two kids.

Keisha loves playing pretend, and we spent a lot of time doing just that with Nicole. And I have to admit, when Nicole peed on me, I didn't mind the least. To be honest, I missed that. I missed cleaning her bottom as well when she has poop, and taking baths with Keisha as well. And Keisha even sang me a song to sleep around 1:00 pm and stayed by my side until I fell asleep.

And what's even better is that Henry came home really early yesterday, around 4:00 pm. Although I barely had three hours of sleep, I felt like I've had more than eight. I was really glad that all of us were there, and he even brought me my favorite snack, Pringles in Sour Cream and Onion flavor.

I didn't get any sleep after Henry came home, but I didn't mind. I still went to work last night feeling refreshed and great. Although Keisha wasn't able to walk me down the street with her dad where I'd ride the bus to work, I was able to kiss her goodbye and she still saw me off the door.

I wish I had more days like yesterday.

Sleeping Beauty

Keisha's still asleep as I write this, although when I went upstairs to change from my work clothes she opened her eyes and accompanied me to my room. I got a few good minutes of snuggle time before I took her back to her grandma's bed to complete the rest of her sleep. It was still too early, anyway.

She specifically requested for another bag of Oishi's Ribbed Cracklings in Salt and Vinegar flavor which I did get her, in addition to a chocolate donut from Ministop. I also have two pieces of the red candy she likes eating, mainly because it colors her entire tongue red.

I'm not sure if I'll still be awake when she wakes up and eats all of my presents, but I know that when we see each other later this afternoon, I'll know how she felt.

Chocolates and Mentos

While I was at work today I tried as hard as I could to keep my mind off of junk food and save my money until I get home so that I could buy Keisha something good as a present. I ended saving more than half of the money I took with me, as the only things I spent on while I was out was for five pieces of candy and my fare.

So when I got home, I got off at 7-11, not where I usually get off the bus on the way home. I initially wanted to buy her something from Jollibee, like a breakfast meal or something, but the store was still closed so I went to 7-11 instead.

I ended up getting her a Hersheys Cookies and Cream bar and a Mentos tube, grape flavor. She absolutely loves Mentos, although I was a bit hesitant to buy her cookies and cream as a flavor for Hersheys. She's used to the regular brown colored and dark colored chocolates, so I didn't know what her reaction to white chocolate would be.

After I walked Henry to where he'd ride the bus, I was surprised to find Keisha up and awake. I gave her my presents, and she smiled, although her eyes were still half-closed. She ate the Hershey bar instantly and said she'd eat the Mentos later. I was really happy that she liked the cookies and cream flavor, although she noted that it was a bit crunchy, because of the cookies and all. Right now she's upstairs with her godmother, grandmother and Nicole, just playing around. When I wrap up my blogging for today, I'll join in the fun before I sleep and take on another night at work.

A Present when I Get Home

Keisha has this way of either bluntly stating that she wants me to buy something for her when I get home from work, and when I say bluntly I mean she literally says, "Mommy buy me a Hershey bar later, OK?" Now when she's trying to be subtle, she pokes around my bag, asking what this and that is, and then puts the bag away with a pout and doesn't say anything for a couple of minutes.

Last night, she and her dad walked me down our street to where I ride the bus to work. I really felt bad when I got on the bus because the moment I did, she shouted, "Bye bye Mommy, take care," in such a sad voice. I took a couple of seconds to turn around and wave back at her before the bus driver moved the bus forward.

I kissed her goodbye before I got on the bus I a couple of times, but somehow I still felt bad about leaving her. In a way, I'm glad that I'm on the night shift since she's asleep when I'm gone, and when I get home she normally wakes me up or just snuggles with me while I sleep. I know this for a fact because sometimes, I wake up and I find her beside me, just staring at me.

Keisha can be a brat sometimes, but I guess all kids go through that phase. But what I love about her (aside from everything) is that she makes up for all the tantrums she's thrown during the day with a kiss or an embrace, or even a simple, "I'm sorry," that just melts my heart and makes me forget whatever she's done.

So tonight, she specifically asked for an Oishi Ribbed Crackling snack. Although it's junk food (I know, I shouldn't be feeding her this but it's just a treat) I still decided on buying it and we'll dive into it probably later this afternoon when I wake up, unless she's already beat me to my bag and ate it all by herself.

Peace of Mind

This week, I'm glad that I don't have to feel bad or uneasy whenever I leave for work. Why? Because one of Keisha's godfathers and his wife are staying with us over the week. I'm glad that my mom in law has someone with her to accompany her whenever I'm asleep during the day and when I leave during the night.

I'm glad that Keisha will have someone to play with while my mom in law is busy doing something else, or whenever she's busy attending to Simone (aka Nicole, which I'll need to explain in a later post).

At least I don't have to worry about how the kids will be whenever my mom in law attempts to do laundry during the day while I'm asleep, or how they'll be during the night while I'm gone. As I said, I'll have peace of mind for this week.

24 Days Before Christmas

I can't believe it's only a mere 24 days before Christmas, or a couple of days over 3 weeks from now. I'm busy shopping and bidding for a lot of things at Ebay, and I'm still wondering what to get Keisha, my parents and Ate Elena, my mom-in-law, and Henry.I don't even want to get into what I'm going to get for myself...

And the worst part of it all is we don't even have our Christmas tree up yet...

Shopping with Keisha and Monic

As mentioned in Henry's post, I recently had appendicitis and I was confined for several days. I'm trying to see it in a positive way, like I had the time and chance for a much-needed break, but I also feel that I have been so left-out and behind a couple of things, like my blogs for example.

So when I got home and took a few more days' worth of rest, I wanted to move around not just because my doctor advised me to, but because I wanted to take back what I seem to have missed. I'd consider myself a bit knowledgeable about surgeries and operations, having given birth to my two daughters via cesarean section. But I don't know why, but this one felt different.

Moving on, as part of my moving up and about, Keisha, my mom in law and I went shopping. Therapeutic, huh? Lol. But I had a really great time save the constant nagging and misbehaving Keisha gave us a dose of almost the whole time we were outside. I understand the reason for her being so - she was already sleepy and tired from all the walking we did.

What I loved best about our trip today was that we found so many beautiful dresses for Keisha for a really low price. We paid a visit to a nearby thrift store initially in search of jeans for me, but we ended up buying more for Keisha and I only brought a jacket and a long-sleeved shirt (which I absolutely love).

My mom in law was at her usual haggling self; she got us really big discounts off of the already discounted prices, and even got the store owner to put other kid's dresses on layaway for us. Talk about gift of the gab, huh. Well, better call it a night, since I still have some errands to complete in the morning.

Appendicitis

I know it's a minor thing, but I was really worried when Leslie had appendicitis. Her tolerance for pain for a girl (or am I being subjective) is unusually high, so when she stated her abdomen ached, I knew she wasn't kidding because she rarely says that. She rarely says anything about pain anyway.

I remember when she gave birth to Keisha and Nicole (Simone's real name, we'll have to explain in a later post why), she was still smiling after the operation and with her last cesarean section, she was already sitting down and smiling a couple of hours right after.

Keisha was really worried too; I still recall the look in her face when we started to panic. Although I still remember everything as though it were yesterday, I would like to dwell on the memory of seeing Keisha's face when her mom and I arrived home.