who's not ready to wean from co-sleeping?

Last Monday night before going to bed, Caila told us that she wanted to sleep beside Yaya Juliet. So Hubby and I let her, knowing that (like the rest of the occasions when she said she didn’t want to sleep with us), after spending a few minutes in the other room, she would cry and go back to our bed. But to our surprise, she spent that entire night apart from us. A part of me was glad because it meant that she was slowly becoming independent. But a part of me just didn’t want to let her go just yet.

celebrating mother's day...kindergarten style

Thursday last week was Mother’s Day here in the UAE, and weeks before, I had applied for a leave for that day because, well, I just wanted to. Good thing I did because a few days before, it was mentioned in Caila’s school diary that the kids’ mothers were invited to a Mother’s Day celebration to be held on the 21st of March. So, tamang-tama talaga yung pag-apply ko ng leave.

I arrived at Caila’s classroom that morning just a few minutes before the program started. All of the kids were standing in line outside the room, while all the mothers were asked to sit down on the small chairs. It was a bit cramped, but we all managed to be comfortable. Then the kids walked in and I saw my daughter following the little girl in front of her looking around for me. As soon as she saw me, she smiled. We were then asked to stand up and join them in the Mother’s Day prayer followed by their exercise: dancing to the tune of Justin Bieber’s song “Baby.” Most of the moms were game and joined, while some were too shy and just took pictures or videos of the children.

and the next richest person is...

Before I announce the name of the winner, I’d just like to say thank you to the people who joined my birthday giveaway. Some may think that it’s ONLY 4 who joined, but for me, I’m already happy with that. Hindi naman kasi sikat yung blog ko, I’m not a celebrity either...so malaking THANK YOU to Donna, Sally, Ms. Anonymous and Arnold!

traditional birthday celebration at work

Last year, our office started this tradition of gathering together in our conference room once a month (preferably on the first working Saturday of the month) to celebrate the birthdays of that month. (Sorry! Too many "months" in that sentence.) Everyone is happy because we all get to enjoy drinks and slices of cakes, and the celebrants are given special attention.  Since I’m the HR and Administration Coordinator, naturally, I’m the one who has to make the arrangements to carry this out. There’s not that much to do actually; just prepare and send the announcement by e-mail and take care of the drinks and cake (which can either be ice-cream or normal). This month was no exception even though I was one of the celebrants. I didn’t mind though; at least whatever I bought was according to my taste...which is why I included cupcakes so that all of the celebrants (there were 6 of us) had a cake each.

Baskin Robbins ice-cream cake

the other Baskin Robbins ice-cream cake

It may be a small thing, but as one of the employees, I really appreciate these simple things that the company does to recognize the staff and to make us feel special.

food and bonding-filled birthday

I woke up Saturday morning with Hubby and my daughters still sleeping beside me. Since I didn’t have work that day, I just lay in bed, cherishing the early hours of the peace and quiet of the morning. After a while, my youngest stirred and soon she was on her tummy giving me a wide gummy grin. My husband followed shortly, and within a few minutes all of us were wide awake tickling each other and laughing just like the day before. By 7:30am, we started getting ready to go out.

We attended the 9 o’clock mass (celebrating Palm Sunday) at St. Mary’s, then we went to Ansar Gallery to pass away the time and because Yaya Juliet wanted to buy some things. A little after 11am, we headed to Asiana Hotel. I know I gave a not-so-good review about La Mesa here 2 years ago, but a lot of our friends and colleagues still enjoyed themselves, so we decided to try out their brunch.

me and my girls

I just wanted to post this photo because it was taken when we all woke up at almost the same time, we were all in good moods, and right after that shot, we spent several minutes tickling each other and laughing hilariously.

What a great way to start the weekend.

Pure bliss!

photos with fitness first mascots

While walking around Dubai Festival City last Saturday, we saw some people from Fitness First at the Festival Square area teaching Zumba and other fitness activities. We were going to pass by them without another glance, but then Caila and I saw their mascots and we just HAD to take pictures with them.

I’m glad that our little girl is getting fond of these costumed characters like her Mommy...but I’m more glad she’s finally beginning to smile a bit more naturally for photos without us having to ask beg her to.