Euri and Euan's Studio Photos

Finally, I had the kids photos taken last week! Eugene was, as usual, against the idea of bringing the kids to a professional photo studio as it is expensive and in his own words, "not a necessity".  I agree that it's really not necessary but with the kids' birthday coming in a few weeks, I just couldn't resist having their pictures taken. In fact, I need a new set of photos to use for their birthday invitations.

Euan's birthday is on the 17th of February. My little prince is turning 5! My darling little angel is turning 1 on the 23rd of April. Their birthdays are only more than a month apart so I'm so excited doing the birthday planning and all. :-)

There are a lot of photo studios in Manila but I've been eyeing CamKids since I gave birth to Euri. Haha. Anyway, here are some of the photos from the photo shoot taken by CamKids Studio, Robinson's Magnolia.

Cookie Monster Mode: [Easy] Colourful Raisin Cookies

Colourful Raisin Cookies (I added Cinnamon to other batch)

Been craving for cookies this past week. I've been baking cookies on a daily basis! Yes, I know it's bad for someone who's on the brink of diabetes, but when you're suffering from uncontrollable craving for sugar, there's no way to go but to give in.

I've taken into consideration that too much sweets will shorten my life span, so the cookies I baked a had less sugar than the ordinary cookies I bake. I even played with the recipes and turned them into my own cookie-experiments. I don't usually write down the recipe of my cooking/baking experiments, but since baking is more science (meaning it follows precise measurements unlike cooking), I know I needed to write it down or memorize it in order to make it perfect for next time.

Here's my latest "just got lucky" aka "tsamba" cookie recipe:

The Cookie Base and Easy Chocolate Flavoured Cookies

If you are like me who has this unstoppable cravings for sweets, I suggest you keep a cookie base mix in your cupboard so that when you have this sudden urge to eat something sweet, you can easily whip up a cookie or two.

Cookie Base (you can use this for at least 3 cookie recipe)


Mix the following ingredients:
5-6 cups of flour
1 cup of refined sugar
1 cup of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of salt

Here's a good and simple recipe to start:

Starbucks Free Lifetime Pass

You know you're a coffee addict when you jolt right out of bed upon reading a group message saying that if you share a link to your newsfeed and friends, you'll get a lifetime pass from the coffee expert, Starbucks.

The link says that if you share the link to your Facebook newsfeed and to five of your friends or groups, you'll get a lifetime pass to Starbucks. It's in "celebration" of the coffee shop's 44th year anniversary.

I was so excited that I immediately shared the link on my newsfeed and sent it to some of my friends. Then when the "Click Here To Get Your Lifetime Pass" button didn't work, I decided to check Google for more information.

Turns out, it's just a survey SCAM.

A lot of people fall victim to these kinds of scams and honestly, we can't blame them. Often, the offer is too tempting to pass.

Anyway, for me, it's a lesson learned. I'm so embarrassed when I told my friends to ignore my message. I also had to go to the group pages to delete my posts.

So from now on, believe what the wisemen say: if it's too good to be true, it probably is.


Want to know more about this scam? Read it here.

The Pros and Cons of Working from Home [by a Work from Home Mom]

I have been telecommuting since 2009 and a lot of people tell me that I'm so lucky to be working from home. I agree. There are so many reasons why I love working from home, but there are also moments when I feel like I just want to throw myself back to the days when I still worry about what to wear and getting stuck in traffic.

That's why there's what we call, Work-Life Balance.

Contrary to what most people think, working from home is not as awesome. There are also things we wish we can do, and things that we envy from people who work in an office. Here are just a few of the Pros and Cons of working from home.

Cover Up: My Dilemma of Breastfeeding in Public

Stuck in a semi-conservative era, folks here in the Philippines are still easily offended when seeing a mother pull her boobs out to feed her baby. Even abroad, I know there are still places where breastfeeding in public is forbidden.

To some mothers, public breastfeeding can sometimes cause embarrassment (especially here in the Philippines). Why? Well, let's start with the famous argument of "morality". If you're a breastfeeding mom who breastfeed in public without cover up, you know how easily you "attract" quick glances and sometimes stares from strangers. You know, those quick glances coupled with a smirk or [hungry] stares from maniacs waiting for you to show more flesh. Annoying, isn't it?

I have been breastfeeding my little Euri since day one. It is a very challenging task - constantly praying for her to latch well so my nipples won't hurt, waking up every 2 hours at night, pumping/milking my two melons to produce enough milk so my heavyweight champion won't go hungry.

At home, I couldn't care less if I walk around the bedroom with my boobs exposed. My nannies must be so used to seeing me hand-expressing that they just probably roll their eyes behind my back. But when we're out and about, my dilemma is always the moment when Euri cries for milk.

Baby Wearing: Ergobaby Carrier

Baby wearing is the new trend for Moms here in the Philippines. Aside from having our little angels being (literally) closer to our heart, it has so many benefits for the little ones. Investing in a baby carrier can be easier to the pocket too (depends on the type and brand of your carrier), compared to buying a stroller... though I still believe having a stroller has its own perks.

Euri's been colicky since she turned 5 weeks. It was difficult to calm her down, especially when she finds it hard to burp. Feeding her would make her stop crying for a while, then she would spit up milk (a sign that she's overfed), then cry again. I would put on aceite de manzanilla (anti-flatulence) or give her Restime (simeticone drops, advised by Euri's pediatrician) hoping that it would stop her from being upset but it would take several minutes to an hour before the (already tired) baby starts to calm down and (finally) sleeps.

Now, though the colic episodes lessen, my just-turned-2-month-old little princess loves to be close to Mommy and still demands to be cuddled when we're out at the mall or even at bed time, hence, the crib/playpen ended up folded and kept in our storage room and the beautiful Capella stroller looking like new. The nanny and myself however, have started to develop dark circles around our eyes, coupled with firmer muscles on both arms -all thanks to my heavyweight bundle of joy.

To solve this problem, I decided to do my own little research on how to calm a colicky baby and how to lessen (if not avoid) her being carried around too much. Turns out, one way to calm a colicky baby is to swaddle and cuddle her close since they miss the warm temperature when they were still inside our tummy. So in short, we can't really avoid the almost 24/7 "karga-hele-sayaw" scenario.

Solution? A baby carrier that would free our hands even for just an hour, enough to do some household chores.