Learning to swim

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Joshua just loves the water! We have a small inflatable pool given to him as a gift and he swims in it pretty frequently. He has always enjoyed the fun in the water.      Joshua is a beach lover too!  He loves the sand and the sea… He also enjoys rivers! My 2 year old is a pure waterboy!       However, despite his exposure to water, he is not yet able to confidently go underwater or swim unassisted.  Because of that, we want Joshua to take swimming lessons. While on vacation in Manila, we are glad that we were able to find him a swim teacher who specializes on children. He is known as teacher Alvin.    Teacher Alvin is like a pre-school teacher but does it in the pool. He sings “wheels on the bus”, “humpty dumpty” and many other nursery rhymes to make the swimming experience fun and kid-friendly. For 2 year olds like Josh, sessions are one on one. It must be done according to the child’s readiness and pace. Plus, it has to be within a child’s attention span.  Alvin lets Joshua wear a back floater and he used about 4 foams at the start. After 5 sessions Joshua got more confident and now has graduated from 2 floaters to just 1! He is now able to carry himself and keep himself afloat with 1 foam on his back!  Just like anything practice is key to getting it right… In due time our little guy can be a confident swimmer without the floaters. And who knows, he may be a swim athlete like I was in my younger years. πŸ™πŸ™πŸ™ Here is a short video of his single foam swim and how far he has improved!

First Mom & Son benefit

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We just did our very first fashion show today in Fairmont Hotel Makati called “Lola, Mommy, and Me”.    I’m actually so happy we agreed to join the ABS-CBN Bantay Bata 163 Benefit Show for several reasons:

1. This benefit will change lives among young children who need help. I met some of the kids that Bantay Bata has helped, including  the recipients of open heart surgeries. They are living a healthier and fuller life than before. It’s great to be part of something that can make a difference.

2. One of my closest friends is the director of this ABS CBN Foundation’s Fashion Show. Rain Ramas hails from General Santos City and is not only a great designer, but also an excellent producer. He worked hard to make this fashion show a success– the brands that supported were Rajo Laurel, F&F, Uniqlo and other Rustan’s brands.

3. Gina Lopez, the woman behind the foundation is one person I admire. She is passionate about changing this country one community at a time. Our partnership in Sarangani is growing and has helped communities earn through Eco-tourism. 

  
4. The make up artist I will be working with is an up and coming make up star, Jag Irineo. She also is a native of Gensan and does amazing make up!  In fact, the make up she did on me was complimented over and over. 

5. This is a special mommy and son experience. Joshua was a natural. He was not afraid of the stage. We walked that long ramp with ease. It was a good moment for us and it was fun!   What an honor and privilege indeed! 

 

The Hairy Story

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If you are a  breastfeeding mother this story is something you can relate to. You have been breastfeeding your baby over 3 months when suddenly you wake up and your long hair strands are found on your pillow, on your sheets, and even on your baby’s neck! By the time you hit the shower, your shampoo seems to make your hair fall off! The look on your hair brush is just so unpleasant. You even feel embarrassed about it that you hide from your husband. You then ask, “Why on earth is this happening to me?”

  
It’s a normal phenomena for breastfeeding moms to start having hair loss. It is also called post partum hair loss. But not to worry because the baby hairs will be growing. Hormone levels will adjust to normal and the hair loss will stop. In the meantime, moms should eat well and drink B complex.  

As for my story, I made a decision to just cut my hair and sport a new hair do. Thanks to my sister in law Pria and her friend Stefano of 2 GO for introducing me to International hairstylist Laurent Herbert. He styles for celebrities and royalties. He also consults for salons and help make their businesses profitable. Laurent was available to style me and so I feel so privileged to be in good hands!  Anna went with me to his private Salon in LH Hair Science Lab in Bonifacio Global City.

  

My long, thick black hair was going to be chopped off into a pixie cut. This hairdo will be a new look and also a means to saying good bye to my long messy falling hair! 

 
A new look and a bit of pampering is good for mommies. As a mom, I get so busy running after my children and nurturing them that I can forget about myself. Once in a while moms deserve that break. Thank God for a supportive husband who even chose the kind of short hairstyle I should go for! I am one happy mommy!!! πŸ™‚  

Sarbay a family affair

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My very first Sarangani Bay fest was in 2007. It was a small beach event that happened after elections. It was held sometime in June instead of May. My husband at that time was elected as Vice Governor of Sarangani. The Swim Across the Bay and Bay Bodies were the main highlight. Also a small concert happened at night.  

My first engagement as the co-chairperson of the Festival was in 2009. Former Governor Migs Dominguez prodded me to “go at it”. I got involved in the marketing and really moving the sponsorships– also repackaging the Sarangani Bay festival’s image. You can’t sell it unless it is packaged well. At that time, I had no children yet.

But in 2011, after that  Sarangani Bay Festival, I discovered that I was pregnant  for the very first time. Unfortunately, that was an ectopic pregnancy. In 2012, it was the first year we engaged into social media and rebranded Sarangani Bay Festival to “Sarbay”.  At that time I was 3 months pregnant with Joshua. We also won first runner up in the Pearl Awards for Best Tourism Event in Sports, Adventure and Wellness.

In 2013, Joshua was with me as a 5 month old baby allowing me to work.  It was one of the most successful Sarbay fest. It was the biggest Beach Festival in Mindanao and we won the Pearl Awards championship for Best Tourism Event.

 
In 2014, Our Sarbay Fest was a huge success with over 100,000 tourists! That year we had over 1000 tents pitched in tent cities, 80 concessionaires, our social media had about 11,000 organic likes on Facebook, and our stage and shows leveled up. It was a tandem thing for my husband, Gov Steve Solon and I! Plus, I’m so blessed because despite breastfeeding my son, he made it easy for Mommy to work on this festival.  

 

Again, after Sarbay 2014, I was overwhelmed with the photos posted about the festival’s garbage. It made me angry! I was upset because we really did have a beach and coastal clean up and Gumasa was back to its normal state in 2 days after the festival. The people who took the photo just bitterly kept spreading the news of how ruined Gumasa was, when it was absolutely untrue! I was enraged because at that time, little did I know that a little bun was in my oven!  This time I found out I was pregnant with Anna.

 
My son, Joshua has embraced Sarbay too. He would sit in our meetings and knows the video ads we put out on Facebook. He even eagerly tried making his own dubsmash of “Sarbay Forever” whisper and requested that he gets his own Sarbay Forever shirt! He is part of my inner team that inspires me to do my best for the festival. He understands that this event is important to mom, so he took interest in it too. Even my little girl, Anna, was pretty patient to let mommy do her festival duties!  

 
 

This Sarbay fest 2015 was an absolute success. We were able to get the tourists to be more responsible about their garbage and an ordinance was enforced for the environmental fee. We also had a Sarbay App made to help tourists get familiar with the festival. We had good support from Sponsors, from the Government, from organizers, concessionaires and beach goers.  But personally for me, I thank God for my husband’s trust to be part of the team and to freely work on the vision of Sarbay. Most of all, I thank my two munchkins — Joshua and Anna for letting me do my best in this festival. They were easy on mommy as long as meetings were held in the house… And they participated in some meetings too! Ohhh… How this festival has become a family affair for us! God is soooo good! We are a Sarbay family — and proud Sarbay citizens! 

What a special Mother’s Day

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This Mother’s Day, I am superbly blessed to have my mother, Carla with me here in Sarangani. This is the first time we are spending Mother’s Day together in a long time. What makes it more special is because I too am  now a mother too.

In the past days that my mom has spent her vacation here with me and the kids… it has given us time to talk, to bond, to catch up, to laugh, to get advises, to marvel at what God is doing. She says she finds it enjoyable to watch me and how I am a patient mother to my kids. Coming from my own mom that means a lot! I know I am not a perfect mom and many times I lose it. Her words of encouragement is just what I need. Her motherly affirmation that I’m doing okay, really uplifts me! 

 Also as a daughter, I still get my morning kisses from my mom while she is here. This vacation  time allows me to hug her and tell her “I love you”. I will always be her little girl even if I am 38. I know it must be so amazingly fast how time has gone. We had a good 12 years separation when she was in the U.S.   When she came home, I was married and busy with a career. It was a tumultuous adjustment for mom coming home. Really, none of us knew what to expect… It must have been hard for her back then. That is why, my sister and I really believes this will be our year of breakthroughs for our family. This is a year of our family to make new memories, to heal past hurts and to not miss moments to express love while we still can.

  
This Mother’s Day is such a gift from God for us both. As I walked with her today and went shopping with her, I have so much thoughts of thanksgiving to the Lord. 

  
So this day, I give this honor to my mom and all the moms. This day is for us who have been called by the Lord for a higher purpose — to raise children in love and for them to grow in the knowledge and fear of the Lord! Let’s celebrate together in this higher calling. 

Happy Mother’s Day! 

Sometimes you drive me nuts!

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Recently my little boy has brought up a notch on his episodes of meltdowns and crying. He looks for mommy all the time. If I am out of his sight he starts calling “mommy” with a crack on the voice. Soon after he will start crying. When he does not get what he wants, he starts crying again.Β 

It is quite annoying when his crying escalates into higher decibels. It just drives me crazy! Either I shut down and freeze or I just get all irritated. Telling my son, “please don’t cry, just talk to me”, sometimes does not work. My little boy has tantrums and cries. We need a time out! His Yaya has to get him and we need to separate. I feel so exhausted and feel such a bad mommy because I can’t control the situation and have a peaceful dealing with this 2 year old!

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When Joshua gets impatient, or irritated because he can’t get what he wants, or frustrated because I don’t understand him, or upset because he can’t have my 100% full attention, then the tantrum begins. Β He can wail for 20 minutes and it can be so tiring and exhausting and provokes me to get angry. Agh… It’s hard to keep cool, and I know I must.Β 

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So, I asked other moms about their experiences and many who have passed this stage I am in. I almost got a unanimous answer… They said they can’t really remember what they did and how they managed! That account alone consoles me. It means, these days shall pass and will be a memory that does not scar! Praise God! Β Hahahaha… I need that simple encouragement.

It’s so funny because during my birthday weekend, we had friends with us in the farm. Then, my girl friend Jade who has only one child entered our room. She saw Joshua in his meltdown episode and my little daughter also crying because she needed to breastfeed. Both of my children were crying. So you can imagine how the room sounded. I got Anna to breastfeed her, while Joshua was wailing in front of me. It was happening for a good 2 minutes. My friend was watching this episode. There I was trying to calm my nerves about it — all I could say was “Please stop scaring Tita (Auntie) Jade, she may never decide to get pregnant again!” Jade and I laughed at my remark. To some moms that scene would look sooo scary! Β 

I thank God for His grace. No wonder when I see mothers who have more than 2 children, they have patience and calm spirits… The catalyst in developing that character are their husbands and children! Hahahaha! It’s absolutely true!Β 

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Okay my kids drive me nuts sometimes. At times, I have to be disciplined to discipline too (it means not to delay disciplining my child when he is disobedient or disrespectful). Β But bottom line is — these moments shall pass and my heart will continue to love them despite these little shortcomings. I think many times I fail as a mom… I get totally clueless what to do, plus my emotions get involved. Yet, Β I must remember the privilege God has given to me to be a mother… Though times get tough — in the end God rewards me with my children’s hugs and kisses. And all those bad moments go away! And they really do!Β 

Simple joysΒ 

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Just this Holy Week we did a spontaneous and unplanned trip. We packed up our clothes, our groceries, our games, and our kids to a weekend in Kling Plantation. Our only plan is to eat and have fun by the beach and check out the farm. It turned out to be more fun than we thought!

For a couple of days we had no internet. This meant finding ways of doing things together without distraction… And that’s exactly what we did!

We had barbecue and swam in the beach in front of the farm. Our kids enjoyed making sand castles and flew their kites and some of us even took a small banca ride around.

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 We also did activities that were mentally stimulating. We played othello, scrabble, and the kids did their Holy Week art work too!

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The farm had small horses, so each one took turns riding them around. My son has seen horses but this is his very first ride. He was a little scared in the beginning. Much later he was touching the horse which was very good! 

 
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We also took a ride across the farm until we reached the Maligang River. There we got off from our cars and just took a dip in the river. Just like that– these were simple joys of life. As they say, the best things in life are free! 

 

    

  

    

 Since we got all “River-ed Up” , we decided to go straight to New La Union in Maitum and go for the most exciting River Tubing Adventure. First, we got entertained by the Tboli children and next by the rapids of Pangi River. It was absolutely an amazing nature trip! The kids were asking to do it again.

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 I loved how we disconnected from the world and from all our gadgets for a couple of days. We really enjoyed nature and the people we were with. It was a great weekend of simple joys! We did nothing expensive and yet what we experienced and the memories made are priceless!

Only Mommy!

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Its 6 am now and I have not slept since my husband woke me up at 1:30am. He tells me it’s time to bring Joshua to the hospital. Immediately, I stood up and left my 2 month infant on the bed and went straight to see Joshua to find out what’s wrong.

Joshua was crying and falling into a frustrated tone. He was in outrage and screaming. I asked what happened and I was told that he stood up to pee and then going back to bed he started a meltdown. His crying and body movements looked like either he was in pain or he was totally upset.

I took my 2-year-old into my arms and asked what was wrong. He was beyond the point of no return. He screamed and cried and I did not know what to do… About 2 days ago we confirmed that my Manong Joshua has tonsillitis and this caused his body to burn up. So the routine of paracetamol and antibiotics are in play. Together with that is the constant negotiation to drink his medicines and the crying about how painful his throat is. There is no one better to soothe this boy except Mommy. I had to be in his line of sight otherwise he would start crying.

As I held my son who was going thru a tantrum, I started to pray. I asked God to help me. Nothing I was doing was pacifying Joshua and I was tired and totally clueless on what next to say or do. I asked God to give me strength and to fill Josh with His Spirit because the 20 minutes that passed felt like forever!  I carried my 2-year-old like an infant and swinging him left to right. Finally he fell asleep.

I had to arrange the bed so that baby  Anna, Manong Joshua, and myself would fit. And just as I turned my son down on the bed, Anna my 2 month old infant started to cry. I had to breastfeed her back to sleep. As Anna finished, my son wakes again and cries. So from my right I turn to my left! (so this is what it feels like to have twins!)

After sometime of rocking Josh, he finally fell asleep. Ahhhh… I thought I could get some sleep. Unfortunately Anna was moving and signaling for a feed again. So I swing from left to right and tried to do side feeding. We laid there and finally she was sleeping and I started to drowse myself. It was not even 30 minutes I heard a strong sound on the floor. It was Joshua who rolled off the bed and took a foot and half dive for the floor. I heard him start to cry, so I stood up and immediately picked up my son.  Good thing in my embrace he quickly calmed down and went back to sleep.  But I had to get the little one again to comfort her from the commotion.  I was positioned with my right arm holding Joshua and Anna on my left arm and breastfeeding.

Just right at that moment in an uncomfortable position with both arms embracing my children I started to think… “Wow, only mothers are stretched this way”. Half of my thoughts were in limbo– asking myself ” how do I manage this?”  The other half were in thanksgiving that I have both my children in my arms, and that I am available to comfort them.

Being a mother in moments like these is sooo tiring!!! It raises anxiety and makes a mommy sweat buckets even to a point of tears.  Then I began to think of all the friends who had children with close gaps what they also had to go through.  Motherhood is a tough job! So, with all respect to mothers around the world, I have to say… we are built special by God. No one should ever say, “she is just a mom, what does she know?”

I look at the clock now, and it is 8 am. I have been awake for 6 and a half hours… and I do want to take a short nap so I can reenergize.  Thank God for nannies who will assist me while I sleep.  I pray for my children and for a better day. Everytime I look at my other mommy friends, there is a deep understanding and appreciation (even when not spoken) of what they do…  Many of them remind me that this is just for a moment and these difficult moments shall pass… For now, it is Only Mommy that matters to my children. So I must be thankful for what it is now… because this won’t be forever.

Oh and yes, I am greeting all women… “Happy Women’s Month!”

Family Time at City of Dreams Manila

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I did not realize that it has been 5 months since I last went to Manila. This is our first travel as a family of 4. Anna who is known for her opera singing a.k.a crying spell went to Manila for the first time at 2months  old. Thank God she was a good girl on the plane! 

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ο»ΏWe looked forward to this short break to spend time with family, especially with my sister-in-law, Samantha, who now resides in Australia. They are in the Philippines for a short visit and it is an opportuned time for us to introduce our new baby Anna.

The newest buzz in Manila is the opening of the  City of Dreams complex. We have been to City of Dreams in Macau and we enjoyed the entertainment it offers the family. Unlike the old days where casinos were just for gamblers, now it’s concept has evolved to cater to entertain the entire family. 

ο»ΏThis facade is adding flare and glamour to Manila Bay. A complex of 6 hectares is operating a hotel, casino, shopping malls, and an array of restaurants and cafes. It also has an area specific for entertainment such as night clubs, shows, and even a Dream works amusement center for the kids to enjoy.

This investment is quite big and has the stamp of excellence just like the City of Dreams in Macau. There are shuttling of buses from airport to City of dreams.  I am very impressed with the architecture and the interiors. What was a planned lunch for the family became a 5 hour stay… Yet it was not enough! ο»Ώο»Ώ

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ο»Ώ Some restaurants have opened and it included a Chinese, Korean, Filipino, and continental cuisine. The family chose to eat at Erwin’s…the food served were burger, pizza, steaks, and saladsο»Ώ.ο»Ώ

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After lunch we were given an opportunity to see the soft opening of the amusement center called Dream Play. Dreamworks characters are inspiring the themed center with rock climbing, slides and canopy walks, rides, 3D theater show, and even their own retaurants including ginger bread’s bakery. 

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They were on dry run so not everything was opened. It was a look and see of what it could be. It was good fun especially for kids above 3ft! I would suggest it for 3 year old and above! 

What I loved about the place was how they considered every detail. Like providing a mothers lounge for breast feeding moms like me. I took our 2 month old Anna with us and having that mothers lounge helped me feed and change my infant while my toddler kept on playing! 

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ο»Ώο»ΏIt is impossible not to return to this place because they make it a whole lot of fun for the entire family. I look forward to going back and discover more of what City of Dreams can offer.ο»Ώο»Ώ

Life photo shoot

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When I gave birth to Anna, I’m so blessed because the man behindΒ ImaginenationΒ photography was in town… He happens to be my brother-in-law, John Ong. Β His gift for photography has blessed many couples for their prenuptial photos and wedding in photos. Now, they have a new segment called Life, where they capture moments in one’s life. They take baby, maternity, and family photos.

It was Imaginenation that took my first maternity photos. We could not resist to have photos taken because we waited 7 years for this first child. We were excited and wanted to make sure we encapsulate our journey through photos. Imaginenation’s team of photographers plus the direction and styling of my sister, Monique Lopez Ong made it exceptional.

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Now, John and Monique captured Anna’s first days at home! She was absolutely adorable with their direction! Β Also our first family photoshoot with Anna were made possible because of their presence!

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Imaginenation does not only capture photos, they are also involved in family ministries. They organize “Before I do” premarital counseling seminars. Many couples who plan to take the road to marriage and want to prepare for it should consider joining one of these sessions. Β Another one is actually coming up very soon in Manila… If you are interested to know your fiance and know God’s plan for your marriage start booking today!

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