Vocal Point

lost in translation...

i wanted to translate my blogs (having new friends that are not Filipino), I would like it to be more "main stream".

i was hoping to find a help from the WorldWideWeb and i googled "language translator online" and a lot came out but i tried iGoogle (Google Translator) and here's what i got... pretty funny!

last saturday, July 25, 2009, 1 year old na ang bunso namin... si Matthew Benjamin.

ginugupitan ang batang pinoy after mag 1st birthday, lalu na kapag manipis daw ang buhok - kinakalbo pa.

kami naman ni dadi B, parang to get rid of the baby hair lang. chaka kasi talagang ang haba ng hinaba ng buhok ni Matthew same with Sebastian habang hinihintay ang 1st birthday nila...

Matthew's new do!

translated to:

last Saturday, July 25, 2009, 1 year old the youngest we... David Matthew Benjamin.

ginugupitan to the young Filipino after 1st birthday, especially when said with thin hair - kinakalbo yet.

We also of Dadi B, seems to get rid of the baby hair only. Chaka because really long hair of Matthew hinahaba same with Sebastian while they wait for the 1st birthday... Matthew's new do!

which should be:

last saturday, July 25, 2009, our youngest, Matthew Benjamin, turned 1 year old...

it's a tradition that a Filipino child gets their first hair cut or their head shaved -- especially those with thin hair after the first birthday.

but for me and Dadi B, it's just to get rid of the baby hair. And Matthew's hair really grew so long during the first year same as Sebastian's.... Matthew's new do!

ok, not the best idea... technology really still has a long way to go... :-) maybe i'll just try to translate my blogs (little by little) when i have time.

i love being a mother...

i love the first feel of life in my womb...

i love all the feel of flutter, wiggle, kicks and hiccups...

i love when i was able to give all my strength to push you out and meet you for the first time...

i love to see the love in your eyes for me...

i love the feel of trust in your embrace...

i love to watch you sleep and dream away...

i love to hear you call me mommy and mama in anyway...

i love that you believe and trust everything i say...

i love saying "i love you all the time." to you...

i love hearing you say "i love you all the time too" or "you, you"...

i love kissing and hugging you before you sleep...

i love kissing and hugging you when you are asleep...

i love kissing and hugging you before i let you go to school or play...

i love spending time with you just reading or watching tv or just quietly seating together...

i love hearing your giggle when i tickle you...

i love teaching you all the things you now know...

i love kissing your "pain" away...

i love singing to you...

i love dancing silly with you...

i love watching you make silly things...

i love seeing you make smart discoveries...

but most of all...

i love being a mother because of you.

for

Sebastian Daniel

and

Matthew Benjamin

a budding artist...

maybe i was just not too careful anymore (or just more carefree) with Matthew than how i was with Sebastian...

my two boys were playing in their room and suddenly i heard Sebastian "MOMMY! MATTHEW WROTE WITH A CRAYON ON THE WALL!"

me: *gasp!*

and here's what i got!

the walls were painted flat and very thin... and we are moving out in less than 2 months! what to do???

a very big thank you to P&G maker of Mr Clean Magic Eraser (Extra Power).

Mr. Clean BEFORE

Mr. Clean AFTER (or what's left of it)

my budding artist's masterpiece will just be a memory and on a digital copy.

one and a half month before the year 2009 ends...

one and a half month before the year 2009 ends... pang pitong blog ko pa lang ito???

hindi pa counted yung blogs ko na invites for referals sa mga pinagkakakitaang website... hay busy...

caught by the... Twilight...

Anniversary/Valentine gift ni dadi-B sakin ang book na ito.

naintriga lang ako sa dami ng bumabanggit sa kanya sa friendster at facebook.

so far, i'm liking it... i think i will watch the movie after i'm finish reading it and liked the ending.

and if i like the ending dadi-B will have to buy the next three books... ;-)

i need to make extra income...

yes...

affected kame ng recession... super!

since november 2008 wala ng work si Daddy. Hopefully this monday ay magstart na mag work si daddy.

buti na lang maraming mapagpalang kaluluwa ang nagaaruga sa aming maganak.

salamat po sa inyong lahat... at si God na lang ang magpapalit ng lahat ng inyong binigay na biyaya sa amin.

merong nag suggest sa aking ng Odesk na ito. balak kong career-in. hindi ko pa nga lang nasisimulan dahil busy pa rin kami sa paglilipat-lipat at ngayon paghahanda sa nalalapit na pag-move na naman ni dadi-b.

kapag nagsimula na ko dito magkakaroon ako ng bagong blogspot (i'll post the invitation here).

i also invite you to look at it using the link here:



hayun lang!

family updates sa mga susunod na blog.

39 weeks...

ngayong araw na ito, July 21, 2008, monday ay 39 weeks na ako...

akala ko nung saturday lalabas na. nag regular na ang contractions (kahit nagla-last lang ng 20 seconds) pero tumigil, nawala... haaayyyy, gusto pa ni baby sa loob...

hindi ko matantiya kung kelan kaya ako tatawag sa doctor ko. kasi naman kay sebastian hindi ko naranasan maglabor na nauna ang contractions. nauna ang high-leak kay sebastian kaya ako in-admit at in-induce...

haaayyyy, kelan kaya balak lumabas neto?

cooking...

sabi nila kapag malapit ng manganak nagkaka "burst of energy" ang mommy-to-be...

nung isang isang araw cguro merong akong "burst" kaya nakaluto ako ng marami na parang meron akong bakery, hehehe

heto ang mga naluto ko from 6-11pm (5 hrs)

una dahil gusto kong kumain ng halu-halo, gumawa ako ng leche flan


habang nakasalang sa oven ang leche flan, nagmatamis ako ng saging na saba (para pa rin sa halu-halo yan)


tapos dahil malapit na nga akong manganak, gumawa ako ng extra ulam na pwedeng i-freezer... meatballs


tapos habang nakasalang ang meatballs ginawa ko naman ang cupcakes. kasi humihiling si sebastian ng cake paminsan-minsan...





kung mapapansin nyo merong topping yung aking cupcakes & cakes, iyon ay ang Meringue na last kong sinalang (yung iba sa cupcake yung iba meringue lang talaga) shempre kapag me leche flan maraming nasasayang na egg whites. eh ngayon lang pwedeng gumawa ng meringue dito sa Illinois dahil summer na at hindi umuulan nung araw na yun, medyo hindi na humid. Unlike nung nasa Arizona kami, all year round nakakagawa ako ng meringue kasi napa dry...


hayan.... mukha bang masarap??? masarap talaga yan!

kung gusto nyong um-order (hehehe) pagkapanganak ko na lang... :-D

baby shower album...

baby shower album post at Multiply.com

http://maryset.multiply.com/photos/album/33#

before 4th of July...

July 2, 2008 - Wednesday. sumama kami ni sebastian kay dadi bernard sa mga site nya. kasi kailangan ko din pumunta ng downtown para magpa renew ng passport sa Philippine Consulate.

natapos naman namin a little over lunch time ang mga dapat naming gawin kaya ipinasyal namin si sebastian sa Millenium Park (harap lang ng Consulate). meron doong fountain -- The Crown Fountain

Designed by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa and inspired by the people of Chicago, The Crown Fountain is a major addition to the city's world-renowned public art collection. The fountain consists of two 50-foot glass block towers at each end of a shallow reflecting pool. The towers project video images from a broad social spectrum of Chicago citizens, a reference to the traditional use of gargoyles in fountains, where faces of mythological beings were sculpted with open mouths to allow water, a symbol of life, to flow out. Plensa adapted this practice by having faces of Chicago citizens projected on LED screens and having water flow through a water outlet in the screen to give the illusion of water spouting from their mouths. The collection of faces, Plensa's tribute to Chicagoans, was taken from a cross-section of 1,000 residents. The fountain, which anchors the southwest corner of Millennium Park at Michigan Avenue and Monroe Streets, is a favorite of both children and families. The water is on from mid-spring through mid-fall each year (weather permitting,) while the images remain on year-round.

"A fountain is the memory of nature, this marvelous sound of a little river in the mountains translated to the city. For me, a fountain doesn't mean a big jet of water. It means humidity, the origin of life." -Jaume Plensa

heto ang link sa magagandang pictures ng Crown Fountain: http://www.pbase.com/tanakak/crown












tapos pose ang mag-daddy sa Jay Pritzker Pavilion

Frank Gehry, winner of the National Medal of Art, applied his signature style to this revolutionary outdoor concert venue. The Pavilion stands 120-feet high, with a billowing headdress of brushed stainless steel ribbons that frame the stage opening and connect to an overhead trellis of crisscrossing steel pipes. The trellis supports the sound system, which spans the 4,000 fixed seats and the Great Lawn, which accommodates an additional 7,000 people.

This state-of-the-art sound system, the first of its kind in the country, was designed to mimic the acoustics of an indoor concert hall by distributing enhanced sound equally over both the fixed seats and the lawn.

The Jay Pritzker Pavilion is home to the Grant Park Music Festival and other free concerts and events. It was named in memory of Chicago business leader Jay Pritzker, who with his wife Cindy, established the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1979.

"How do you make everyone - not just the people in the seats, but the people sitting 400 feet away on the lawn - feel good about coming to this place to listen to music? And the answer is, you bring them into it. You make the proscenium larger; you build a trellis with a distributed sound system. You make people feel part of the experience." -Frank Gehry






and last sa Cloud Gate on the AT&T Plaza

Cloud Gate is British artist Anish Kapoor's first public outdoor work installed in the United States. The 110-ton elliptical sculpture is forged of a seamless series of highly polished stainless steel plates, which reflect the city's famous skyline and the clouds above. A 12-foot-high arch provides a "gate" to the concave chamber beneath the sculpture, inviting visitors to touch its mirror-like surface and see their image reflected back from a variety of perspectives. Inspired by liquid mercury, the sculpture is among the largest of its kind in the world, measuring 66-feet long by 33-feet high. Cloud Gate sits upon the At&T Plaza, which was made possible by a gift from AT&T.

"What I wanted to do in Millennium Park is make something that would engage the Chicago skyline…so that one will see the clouds kind of floating in, with those very tall buildings reflected in the work. And then, since it is in the form of a gate, the participant, the viewer, will be able to enter into this very deep chamber that does, in a way, the same thing to one's reflection as the exterior of the piece is doing to the reflection of the city around."
-Anish Kapoor

spot me in the Cloud Gate

baby shower...

june 21, 2008 - kahapon... binigyan ako ni dadi bernard ng SURPRISE baby shower...

as-in na surprise talaga ako!

rewind -- a few days from yesterday, kinukulit ko na si dadi... sabi ko ayaw ko na magbaby ulit. since i think this will be my last pregnancy gusto ko naman makaranas magka baby shower. kasi kay sebastian noon wala naman kaming mashadong friends sa Louisiana (and yung kasama namin duon boys lahat -- so baka hindi maka relate...)

sabi ko pa, dito marami akong girl friends(6 sila -- dami no? :-D). pero hindi ko inaasahan na merong magbibigay ng baby shower sa akin sa isa sa kanila kasi hindi naman sila halos magkakakilala... (ang hirap naman yata mag organize kung hindi mo naman alam kung sinu-sino ang iinvite mo???) kaya si dadi lang talaga ang "friend" ko na common sa kanilang lahat na pwedeng mag organize.

sabi naman ng mahal kong asawa... ayaw nya talaga mag entertain... kesyo ninenerbyos daw sha mag invite at marami pang ayaw...

in-short, bumigay na ang hopes ko na bibigyan nya ako ng baby shower.

at talagang na-exploit ni dadi ang pagiging buntis ko! less suspicious (or just absent-minded), not paying attention to detail (or just absent-minded) and just really -> absent minded!!!

kahapon... meron akong OB-GYN appointment (11am) at may school si sebastian(9:30-11:30am). hinatid ko muna si sebastian sa school... dahil meron kaming Wii night iniwan ko na lang si dadi para maglinis ng bahay. pagbalik ko around 10am malinis naman na ang bahay kaya ayaw ko pang umalis at pumunta sa doctor, pero minamadali na nya ako. maghintay na lang daw ako sa clinic. naghinala ako!(suspicious pa rin pala :-D) "cguro gagala ka no? magsha-shopping ka magisa no?" sabi ko... "sumaglit na lang tayo sa Walmart" sabi ko pa, para nga makapag kill-time ako... ayaw talaga... hinatid ako sa clinic... sa loob-loob ko, cge na nga, mag shopping ka na. saglit lang naman na time susunduin na nya si sebastian. wala naman cguro mashadong mabibili...

so naghintay ako ng matagal sa clinic. after check-up sinundo na nila ako ni sebastian. nagulat ako nagyaya pa sa Walmart. nagtanong ako kung hindi pa ba sha gutom? hindi pa raw at anyway, on the way naman. pag dating sa Walmart, ilang minutes pa lang minamadali na ako... bigla daw shang nahilo... sabi ko "akala ko ba hindi ka pa naman nagugutom???" kanina raw yun... so nagmadali naman ako.

pagdating ng apartment parking, nagtaka ako dahil ang kotse ng isang friend namin (sina mike & shirley) naka park malapit sa unit namin (malapit lang unit nila pwedeng lakarin)... nagsabi ako, "baka nasa bahay?" (pero grabeh!!! wala talaga akong idea bakit sila pupunta sa bahay? merong ipapagawa? napaaga ba ang Wii night??? -- dense!) kunwari tinawagan ni dadi -- nasa Walgreens daw sila??? which is nakakapagtaka bakit hindi pa sila nagdrive hanggang dun??? ok, trip lang pala nila maglakad (as-in tinanggap ng utak ko yun??? - wala DENSE talaga!)

nauna ako pumasok ng bahay -- at nagulat sa dami ng slippers na nasa makapasok ng pinto... after nila sumigaw ng SURPRISE! chaka ko lang napansin merong decor ang bahay at meron palang mga tao sa loob apartment namin!!! :-D

shocked! yan talaga ako... dahil na pull-out ni dadi ang the best surprise ever!!!

thanks dadi... i'm so happy...

and thanks so much sa mga pumunta....

sa mga hindi nakarating, thanks din! accept ko naman na valid ang reasons nyo hehehe...

jon and kate plus 8...

Jon and Kate plus 8 is a show at TLC channel...

para sa mga hindi nakakapanood nito. magasawa sila na merong 1 set ng 7 y/o na twins at isang set ng 3 y/o na sextuplets! (the plus 8)

i find this show very entertaining and educational...

kapag pinanood mo ang ilang episode nila at isa o dalawa lang anak mo, sasabihin mong madali pa pala ang buhay mo bilang magulang... truly, this show gives me strength and inspiration.

kung kinakaya nila (on National TV nonetheless) kaya ko rin in my own private home...

update...

salamat kay God...

nakalabas na kami nung wednesday pa...

kasi hindi na nilagnat si Sebastian since tuesday night. wednesday morning pagkasabi ng doctor na pwede na kami lumabas, paglabas nya ng pinto nagayos na kami... pagkaabot ng release docs walang nasayang na minuto...

it's so nice to be home!

nag rerecover na lang si Sebastian sa kain at tulog... naka antibiotic pa sha pero umo OK na. pati ubo nya nawawala na... balik na nga sha sa kanyang usual madaldal mode... kahit nakakarindi, masarap pa rin pakinggan!

new 7 wonders of the world...

merong nominated na magagandang natural beauty ng Philippines dito sa http://www.new7wonders.com/classic/en/index/

let's vote para meron naman makasamang maipagmamalaki natin...

weekend before Memorial Day...

May 26, 2008 - Memorial Day

May 24, 2008 - Saturday before Memorial Day...

... dapat nagda-drive na kami kung saan man namin sana balak pumunta...
... or dapat nandoon na kami kung saan man namin balak pumunta...

hindi na kami naka tuloy kung anumang "gala" ang balak namin kasi may sakit si Sebastian. so, nakipag Wii night na lang kami sa Serador Family (Mike, Shirley & Audric). nung gabi parang lumalala sakit ni sebastian, as in, tumitigil shang makipaglaro kasi sobrang hingal o panghihina...

paguwi sa apartment, tumawag ako sa pediatrician kung pwedng kong i-up ang dosage ng inhalation ni sebastian... No daw. He's too sick to be home kung itataas an dosage. dalhin na raw sa ER.

so punta kami...

all along ang concer namin ay ang kanyang hika. pagdating sa ER wala naman daw hika. dinala sa X-Ray... nakita merong pneumonia... at malaking (and impressive daw) na blockage sa tiyan! at pati appendix pinagiinitan...

dinala naman sa CT Scan... mabuti na lang yung nasa tiyan ay hangin lang daw at yung appendix ay normal naman pala. pero in-admit pa rin kami dahil sa pneumonia at dun sa malaking tiyan...

May 27, 2008 - Today... malao pa rin kung ano na ang progress namin dito... pero personally, mukhang lumalakas na ang baby ko at bumabalik na ulit sa kanyang old-self.

hopefully, tomorrow ay palabasin na kami...

hindi na kasi naniniwala sa amin si Sebastian... kasi two days na sha nagyayaya umuwi hindi pa rin kami makasagot kungkelan nga kami uuwi... sabi kami ng sabi na he will get better pero cguro feeling nya wala naman nababago...

mas mainam pa yata talaga na nagplano na kami kaagad kung saan kami pupunta for Memorial Day weekend...

first day in art class...

for the spring season, in-enroll namin si Sebastian sa ilang class na offered ng community namin dito sa Schaumburg, Illinois.

Mondays, Art Class... Saturdays, weekend pre-school. weekends muna kasi baka hindi naman nya magustuhan. 6 weeks lang naman ito (total of 6 sessions each) pero kung magugustuhan nya meron din silang summer classes na offer, cguro itutuloy na lang namin.

April 7, 2008, Monday - first day ni Sebastian. nag enjoy naman sha. kinabukasan nga nagyayaya na bumalik... paano ba naman, 15 min playtime, 30 mins art work time, 15 mins na story and singing... tapos nakabalik pa ulit sila sa play area bago umuwi...

ang hinihintay ko na lang matuto sha makipag socialize sa ibang bata next time...

going to art class...

wait... waiting with Audric...

playtime muna...

art time... first creation ni Sebastian in school

story time...

singing...

play ulit...

the right way to fight with your partner...

o di ba... paano daw mag-away ng maganda para mas maganda ang pagsasama...


Marriage: Fighting fair
Reviewed by the BabyCenter Medical Advisory Board

There's no such thing as a conflict-free marriage. You will fight — and you'll simply disagree. In fact, if you don't have an occasional quarrel, one of you is probably holding something in, which isn't healthy. But there is a good way to fight. An effective fighting style is an essential ingredient of a good marriage. Judith Wallerstein, in her book The Good Marriage, recommends using these strategies to reach an agreement:

Agree on how you'll disagreeMost couples who fight effectively have actually made rules about how to do it. What does this mean? They've recognized the inevitability of conflict and know how to deal with it. In calmer moments, talk about how you want to handle arguments. You might agree never to go to bed angry, or that when a disagreement arises, you'll take a walk together to talk things out.

Fight niceIt's essential that you argue without belittling your spouse. In a good fight, you should be able to fight freely, without the fear that one of you will walk out the door. Don't call names, blame, or drag the kids into the argument — there are no winners in these situations.

Don't digressThough some couples just seem to have the same fight over and over, try not to bring up every — or any — past grievances when you argue. Instead, focus on the immediate issue at hand ("I wish you'd noticed that Julia needed her clothes changed") rather than a general situation ("You never pay any attention to what the baby needs!").

Take time outWhen things heat up, take a break. This will help you avoid moving into the realm of the irrational. Later, when you've both cooled down, talk to each other and ask: "How do we resolve this? Let's really talk about how we feel and how we can fix it." It's also a good idea to move some arguments behind closed doors, especially if you're arguing about the baby.

Make up loudlyOr at least in front of the kids. No matter how old they are, they need to know that it's okay for their parents to fight, as long as they reach a resolution. With older kids, you can let them know you've reached an agreement, a compromise, or a solution, or simply agreed to disagree. Let babies see you be affectionate and nurturing toward each other. Nothing benefits children as much as seeing that their parents can differ and then resolve a conflict, and make up in a loving and caring way.

married couple's secret to long life...

nabasa ko lang sa BabyCenter.Com... maybe we can try...


Unexpressed anger in marriage may shorten lifespanFri, Feb 8, 2008 (HealthDay News) — Experts say the secret to a long marriage is communication, and new research now notes it's also the key to a long life.

A lengthy study of Midwestern couples finds that those who felt free to express their feelings lived longer than the perennially resentful. The couples with the most unexpressed anger died the earliest.

"The worst thing to do is to keep it in, not talk about the problem, brood about it, and be continuously angry," said study author Ernest Harburg, professor emeritus at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. "Not talking about the problems in your close relationship is not good for your longevity.

"The findings may seem obvious, but Harburg said previous research hadn't pinned down a connection between lifespan and level of marital communication. It's important, he said, to confirm what seems to be so.

Harburg and his colleagues have been following 192 couples from the small town of Tecumseh, Mich., for 17 years. The study, published in the January issue of the Journal of Family Communication, examines what happened to them between 1971 and 1988.

About 14 percent of the couples were defined as "anger-in" types, meaning both spouses developed resentments and failed to resolve problems. "They don't talk about the problem, and when they do, they just start fighting again," Harburg said.

After the mortality rates among the participants were adjusted for the impact of things like heart disease and smoking, the "anger-in" couples still died earlier than couples who handled anger in other ways.

Of the 192 couples studied, both spouses in 26 pairs suppressed their anger; there were 13 deaths in that group. With the remaining 166 couples, there was a total of 41 deaths. Both spouses died in 23 percent of the mutual suppression couples during the study period, compared to 6 percent of the other couples.

The better approach, Harburg said, is to work together. "You listen, you don't interrupt, you hear the other person, you talk back and forth. And then you use your imagination, resolve the problem and come to some kind of consensus.

"Still, the findings did turn up some evidence that mutual open communication might not be entirely a good idea. The couples who seemed to live the longest were those in which the man expressed his anger and the wife held hers in.

Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, director of the Division of Health Psychology at Ohio State University College of Medicine, said it's clear that marital interactions affect the body. "We know that couples who are nasty or hostile with each other when discussing disagreements showed larger increases in stress hormones and greater dysregulation of immune function as a consequence," she explained.

Kiecolt-Glaser and her colleagues published a study in which they found that small blister wounds on a forearm took two days longer to heal in couples who were hostile to each other.

While the new study isn't as complete as it could be, Kiecolt-Glaser said, it does show "the importance of good communication that is consistent over time.

"Harburg agreed. "If you're committed to using your intelligence and your creativity to stay in the relationship and solve the problems, then you'll get through all the rough patches," he said.

snow experience... photos

last Feb 6, Ash Wednesday, malakas ang snow pero nagchurch pa rin kami...
nakatuwaan ko lang magkuha ng pics, kasi soooobrang lamig!


snow sa walkway ng apartment namin...


kotse ng kapit bahay namin na hindi umalis that day...


inside ng kotse namin... hindi na lang namin inalis yung frozen snow sa windshield...
buti na lang malapit lang yung church...


ang driver... giniginaw!


sa church parking lot... ok wala ng parking markings...




ang leafless, lifeless looking frozen trees...


shrubs na mukhang puno ng bulak...


nakakapose ka pa dadi ha! ginaw na ginaw na yan!