Celebrations: Sam is 9 months

Exactly 3 months from now Sam will turn 1. Grabe talaga ang first year ng baby. It flies by so fast. Kasi each month is such an adventure. To say they grow up really fast is an understatement.

I am in awe watching my kids grow. It doesn't matter that Sam is already my second. Everything still feels like the first time. Different child different adventure believe me.

I feel guilty that I haven't written much about Sam in this little blog that I have. Oh but let me tell you, I fell in love (so deep) with this little baby. She is such an absolute joy. A happy baby so easily contended.

Really. She's the easiest, happiest, and sweetest baby there is. Never naging maselan. She's breastfed and now she eats anything we give her. Veggies, fruits, bread, anything. My MIL said try daw namin pakainin next week ng alimango kung hindi parin tatanggi. Haha. I bet you she'll eat those as well.

She adores her kuya so much and follows him around wherever he goes. To her kuya Eli is the most interesting person there is. Even more interesting than dad or mom. Her eyes are always fixed at kuya and she tries to imitate mostly what kuya is doing. Kaya ang drama nila ngayon is agawan ng toys hehe.

For Sam's 9th month birthday, kiddie party ang peg ng handa ko: spaghetti bolognese, pork bbq, my famous moist chocolate cake, and mama's sumptuous caldereta. 

Here are some pictures of Sam's 9th month celebration.

The Cake. This is my go-to chocolate cake recipe that does not use egg. The frosting is buttercream with cocoa powder with whipped cream (to make it light and less sweet - recipe from my bestfriend Joy). It tastes much better than it looks promise.

The spaghetti and bbq.

Here we are with Sammy baby. She so precious. We just love her so much. :-)

Ain't she the cutest? :-)

No Such Thing As Supermom

Or superkids either.

Grabe ka competitive ang buhay ngayon. There's natural parenting. Homeschooling. Breastfeeding beyond 2yo. Baby wearing. Cloth diapering. Madami pa actually. Sometimes I think some parenting police is out to get me because there are days when I let Eli watch something as mundane and nonsense as Spongebob. When I let Sammy eat ice cream. When the kids stay up too late. Etc. etc.

Any moment now I feel the judging stares of the supermoms out there. And then it hit me. Sino ba ang perpektong magulang?

At our core (struggling good parents I mean) we all just want the same basic things for our children. That they find contentment on the kind of person that they chose to be.

I cannot promise to raise the most talented or smartest kids there are. However, I promise to love them unconditionally and accept them for who they are. Super cliche ba? Yes well, I just need to remind myself that.

Hindi importante kung ako ba ang pinaka magaling na nanay there is. Hindi importante na una sa lahat ng bagay ang mga anak ko. But when it comes to compassion, becoming a positive person and self-reliant while respecting others dyan sila mgangunguna.

Dito ako masaya sa pagiging imperfect kong nanay. Because everyday I am learning. Everyday there's a sense of wonder. And everyday I am ever so thankful that hubby and I were blessed with the children that we have.

:-)

Yedang: underrated and awesome

I have become lazy. So lazy that I cannot even get up from my bed and type on my laptop anymore. Smartphones and tablets further perpetuated this cycle of sloth (wake up, check fone, feel sleepy, sleep, repeat step 1).

Anyhoo, why am I blogging again? 2 reasons completely unrrelated.

1) A friend asked me via facebook why I wasn't blogging anymore. And my thought bubble was like: "Really? Someone reads my blog?" So now I am sure I have 3 readership ha! (Hello husband, sister, and friend. Hee hee) Sure it is fun to write. But knowing that someone reads my nonsensical thoughts gives me "kilig" to no end. Lols.

2) I realized I can blog using my iPhone. That means no need to get up from the bed anymore just to blog. Yey! What did I tell you? Lazy. Lazy. Lazy.

With that I officially end my blogging break. Fireworks. None? K. Fine. :-)

So last Friday was a special day because it was Kyle's 1st birthday (my friend Mae's baby boy). We spent the afternoon with the kids at Virlanie foundation. I baked about ten thousand chocolate cupcakes see below (of course I exaggerate  haha it was around 50pcs). 

I gained raving fans again for my heavenly cupcakes (I like to toot my own horn - obviously). But seriously, though my chocolate cupcakes have some kind of a cult following already. By cult I mean a group of random kids somewhere across the metro raving that my cupcakes are the best they've tasted. Haha!

Okay, so where was I? It was a super fun and tiring day. So the hubby and I decided to go on a date. I suggested Yedang because it's been a long time since we last ate there. For me it is one of the most underrated but good resto around town. And cheap too. Also, I think another reason why their meat tastes good after cooking is that they use good old uling. For some reason mas masarap ang bbq na cooked through charcoal kesa electric grills. Agree? Tapos you can bet that is authentic because its owner is Korean.

But again the food. The food and service are both excellent. Each table has its own exhaust (para di ka amoy bbq after heehee). Let me show you pictures.

Free appetizers. (Dito palang solve na ehehe)

This was my favorite among the 8 or 9 free appetizers which was served. This, and the kimchi of course. ;-)

Someone will assist you in cooking the meat. 

Once cooked you wrap the meat in a lettuce (it was fresh and crisp) put some chilli sauce and spiced olive oil some onions and garlic then, viola! One of the most enjoyable food I've ever eaten. (I mean you know you're eating meat but then again it is wrapped in lettuce so that kind of takes away the guilt right? Right?)

And this OMG. Their beef soup. Is. To. Die. For.

Yey, and there's a free pineapple for dessert.

Our meal was around P900 only. Sulit. Plus I loved their pandan water. 

Yedang Korean BBQ Restaurant

88 Meralco Ave., Pasig City

telephone: 636-1461

PS: Sorry for the poor quality of pictures. Or maybe not. I'm not sure whether they are okay or awful.  I want to put a #nofilter on every photo just to explain haha. I am still a bit rusty trying out this blogging thing from my phone. Cheers. Till my next post! :-)