dava's 4th birthday

smiling her life away...


lighting her four cool color-flame candles (unfortunately you can't see the color too well in the pictures)

she wanted a dolphin and a shark. but a pink fishy did just fine by her. the boys were glad for blue-green bubbles and water.

the long and short of it...

i meant to do this for sam's birthday, but only got around to actually doing it on mine.

i have chopped my locks again.

the excuse i tell myself is my hair is still falling out (lord love nursing), and my bangs are vainly trying to hide the fact that they're actually growing hair (from all my hair that previously fell out...again: lord love nursing). the real reason: my husband. because i love fulfilling his wishes, one of them being that i cut my hair again. --and so i have.

so on my birthday i want to say thank you.

thank you sam for loving me, and in loving me, making me fall so deeply and madly in love with you.

thank you for being the one that i'll live the rest of my life with, and for making me realize that that's okay...better than okay...it's wonderful! (those who know the me i used to be, understand what i mean.)

on my 25th birthday i will officially tell the world that (a couple years ago) i officially said goodbye to "independent woman", and am unquestionably now dependent and loving it.

thank you sam, for being with me on this long, drawn out birthday, that started on the road (march 3rd, my "actual" birthday), "knocking and looking and knocking and looking" like mary and joseph for a place to stay (please not a stable!); slowly making its wending way through visayas and back to luzon, experiencing the virgin beauties of these paradise islands (do not judge the philippines by manila! shame on manila! northern samar, here we come!); finally having my "surprise" birthday party once we got back home, with a surprisingly good turn out (thank you everyone who came, forgive my unsocial nature, and going to bed even before it ended: pregnancy, you know); and then finally ending yesterday traipsing around makati, having lunch out (thank you cyma --and sean and suzi), hitting the theater, and then giving me a wonderful surprise ending of the day, making me fall in love with you only more and more.

i love you my love. i couldn't have asked for anyone better. i love you.

ps...more on our road trip coming...soon? i'll let you know.

pumpkin pie is in the oven

So, it goes a little something like this: I may be skinny, but I'm still flabby-blabby-wabby, my stomach muscles are still separated, my belly-button still sticks out like a baby's...and...I won't be able to do much about it til about another year from now, give or take. -- Because number 3's cookin'!

I'm bracing myself for the challenge of having 3 little ones under my wings, but I'm happy, Sam's happy, Dava's happy, and the baby...well, as long as she can keep nursing, she's happy too.

So, this is my official: I'm pregnant again! Hallelujah! Soon I'll have a whole pond-ful of hallelujah chorus frogs, or a tree-ful of monkeys, or a sty-ful of piggie wiggies, and a great deal of fun... :)

a very merry christmas...

more family day fun

special thanks to: ACTIVE FUN for donating the free use of their play area, and SNOOP'S RESTAUANT for the yummy snack after!


color color everywhere

i think this would officially be "bounding down the stairs"

bouncing on the magic sponge?

drowning in a sea of balls

smushies

chow time

dava's first chinese telephone

...atbp...

pretty eyes

silly billy

screaming screamer

sleeping sleepers

of play strollers, beads and unabolished slavery

dava's new, live doll

smush gush

big sister say, "let's play beads."

little sister say, "yess masta jackson."

flower child

daddy and bebe

family day fun

this halo-halo was courtesy of a very sweet slash cool slash doting older man who sam met (long, interesting story) who had met "david and maria" back in 72! cool, huh?


free loaders! there's this lovely little toy shop, where you can go in and play with a whole slew of different toys...and not be required to buy anything. it's very nice, upper class, and especially convenient for family days :)

like father, like daughter. so intent on playing.

little toys still attract big boys. magnets and fun.

school's cool

i was so frustrated with so much moving, and not being able to settle down, get organized, have some sort of curriculum -- even if it was just in my mind -- or plan for her. but, after proclaiming to a few people my decision to just "give-up" on scholastics with dava, i decided to try it anyway. in less than one month's time she's already writing numbers on her own, graduating to early bird readers book 2. and teaching herself things like 3 plus 2 is 5. which is surprisingly odd, cuz she still hasn't mastered 2 plus 2 is 4. or maybe she's just not telling me. kids these days.

swimming has turned her so dark. i don't mind though. foolish little girl.

she already thinks she knows enough to make short-cuts, write the way she wants, and write it fast and messy. but, unfortunately for her, she got herself a strict teacher/mother.

dava dora. it's not school. and no i didn't cut her hair so she can look like dora. i've never even seen a single episode of dora the explorer, and neither has she. but, whatever. they call her dora anyway.

the wanders

not really sure if it's wanderERS or simply, plain wanders...but in any case it was very entertaining. i felt like a child again watching those chinese acrobats jump through the hoops.

for some reason i was so sure they were korean or something, but no, they were good ol' chinese. it was supposed to be a "vegas" performance, but the bulk of the show was chinese acrobats.

not much new stuff, but entertaining nonetheless. smartest thing they did was mix in filipino talent, which really gave the show a lot of flair. i'm not biased when i say filipinos are some of the best dancers in the world. it's true.

if i could watch it again, i think i'd sit sideways and just watch the live band. that's really much more my thing. they were very, very good. i'd be mezmerized.

p.s. many thanks to "ms. teng". the benefits of being missionaries is that, because we have no money, we can get free ticketing ("everyone that asketh receiveth, and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened")! and we got very good, choice seating. praise the lord!

mommy time

sexy babes

this is a one-time wear bathing suit, and for picture taking only. cute little bathing suit was too small for the little fatty bebe. she was actually quite angry in it cuz it was too tight. she couldn't even wear it for swimming. but, it's okay, good ol' birthday suits work for little chub balls like her.