Mel and the New Normal

PRODUCT REVIEW: Arms' Reach Co-Sleeper I got this beautiful crib for 2 nd hand in one of my favorite groups on Facebook. Someone else actually tried to buy it, but because she wasn’t able to write the exact word SOLD (as per group rules), it went to me! It was serendipity, I tell you. I’ve been drooling over these co-sleepers even before I got pregnant. Heck, I’ll admit – it made me want to get pregnant so I can have one! I was lucky to get this 2 nd hand at a great price, in such pristine condition. This is the exact model and color that I bought. Super nice! With my 1 st 2 children,   I was given 2 nd hand cribs, the regular ones that you put at the end of your bed or elsewhere in the room. However, being young and naïve, when the babies were a bit bigger we had them sleep right beside us, with our bed pushed against a wall. That’s a big SIDS no-no. So with this crib, it was the 1st time that I could look directly at the baby in her newborn stages.  Ele

I’ve been gone for so, so long, I actually considered creating a new blog completely! Life has changed so much since my last post, which is why I have been off the blogging world for a long time. I got pregnant with my 4 th baby, and I wanted it to be a completely positive experience, sans paranoia. I didn’t want to be too stressed remembering the previous experience and being afraid every step of the way. I figured I could blog about how it went after, when everything went well. And here I am! Except for my delivery (which I’ll write about in a separate entry), my pregnancy was pretty relaxed. Even the delivery in itself was great, it was the complications after it that gave us as scare. Anyways, throughout the pregnancy I was given all the food that I demanded (burritos for the whole 9 months), I got to stay home when I wanted, and moved my work schedule around my hormones! I was not exempt from any of the pains of being pregnant, but I was extremely happy as I knew the baby w

This blog is in terrible need of an update, I KNOW! So here's the most important one so far in the last few months - our celebration of Kat's 3 years in heaven! Josh was with us because we needed to take him to the doctor for his cough, so he took a day off from school. Mika was sick so we just vibered her photos from the cemetery. We just spent an hour eating Wendy's burgers with 2 fat cats. We were pleased to find the Mommy Cat with a broken tail with another cat that looks exactly like her (her baby, now all grown up.) That darn cat sits with us every time we're in the cemetery because she knows we're suckers, and we give her all our food, and that day she had company. So most of our burgers went to them. Yup, watta party haha! Sometimes I can't believe it's been 3 years. Time really does heal all wounds. A lot of parents would probably say "I think of my lost child everyday", but honestly, with the hustle and bustle of life, sh

Missing and absent from blogging, as usual! With good reason this time though - "kayod" in putting up a small hobby-business with hubby at BF Homes. Found a great-value-for-money spot and couldn't resist putting up a business that is related to my husband's passion for vintage consoles and gaming. (Though he doesn't play much because of work, he is an avid collector.) Will be blogging again soon, once we've settled in!

Joining the growing ramen community in Alabang is Bangaichi Restaurant, located right behind Festival Supermall (at it's Riverside Area). If you need a landmark for it, it's located in the strip of restaurants behind Save More Supermarket side. You can park right outside it, which is super convenient. Two stories tall, this restaurant is pretty hard to miss when you're in the right area. Upon entering, I noticed that Bangaichi had an industrial feel that's pretty popular now (unpainted walls, bare bulbs lighting fixtures). It had a very modern feel to it. They were still on their soft opening when we tried it, so possibly the restaurant may look different inside by now. As you can see, the restaurant has lovely views of the "Riverside" creation of Festival Supermall, and it has wonderful natural lighting. With regards to the Ramen, we really enjoyed it. I was happy to have butter corn ramen here in the South (since I also get to have in the ra

You know how everyone had their #Happydaychallenge thing a few months ago? Even though I'm I huge, like, SHEEP in the sense that I love following trends, I did not get into that. In general, I am a very happy person, and I feel happiness even in the worst of days. I kid you not. Even during the "dark ages" of our pregnancy, I consistently found something to be happy about everyday (thank you American Idol!) I guess I just have a lower standard for happiness, and I easily find happiness in small things, so I wasn't so into the challenge where people seeked out at least 1 happy aspect of their day. That said, this is a completely different concept from me being a "Grateful" person. I am not a grateful person. Happy, yes, but grateful, not so much. Meaning - I enjoy my life, but I am not that person who says at the end of the day, "Thank you for this and this and this." I don't even mean this in a religious way, that I'm not grateful to God