Big Better Burgers!

I just want to share with you one of the happiest day of my life as a blogger. :)

We went to Big Better Burgers last month and as a blogger, I posted it on my food blog, you can check it here. I posted the blog on Big Better Burgers' Facebook page and they replied asking when will we visit them again. I jokingly said, "Are we getting free burgers on our next visit?" and no reply. Haha. After maybe three days, I saw my Facebook Inbox a message from one of the managers of Big Better Burgers, thanking me for the blog I made and as a way of saying thank you, they are giving me THREE free burgers on my next visit! Yeay! So I said me and family will be there the next week. So next week came, we claimed out free burgers, me and my husband are one of the happiest people on earth. :)

We had the hahalapeno burger, the mushroom loco and triple cheese explosion. I only get to taste the hahalapeno and small bite of mushroom loco. Their patties are really the best, super juicy! This has become our favorite burger place. :)

I almost feel that I won something out of blogging and I was so glad I posted my foodie blog to their Facebook page because I was finally rewarded for being a blogger. Thank you Big Better Burgers!

WAHM 101: Food Storage/Container

Don't we all love storing food like cookies, crackers, or chips? Me, I love it! I didn't experienced it when I was a kid. My mom does not store food when we were little and when I visit a friend's house and every time I see their table filled with cookies and stuff, I always like to hang out there so I can eat what's on their table. Haha.

Now that I have a toddler who is super active and loves munching crackers and biscuits, whenever we go to grocery to buy and store food for her, we always buy those who are packed individually like Rebisco crackers or Cream-O that is packed with 10 biscuits on it. Sometimes my daughter has left over cookies and a few hours the cookie becomes soft. So the other day, I had a brilliant idea! Haha. Last time, I bought small containers originally to be used for storing meat, but it was too small for meat containers.

The other day, I bought packs of cookies for Amber.. and me. :) These cookies are the ones you can buy for 80 to 85 pesos, the plastic doesn't have the name of the cookie but you will see them on the cookie itself. :) Now when you open it and take some cookies, you have to seal it carefully so the cookies will not be soft because of the air. So I remembered the containers I bought and then I put the cookies there and voila! We were munching and just refilling the cookies once they are all eaten. 

I super love this idea though the containers are not so eye catcher when you first see them. But anyway, I love this idea because it's so handy and very light to carry. I think I can even bring this every time we go out because I always bring cookies for Amber when we go out.

From now on, I will always have these containers and I will eventually replace the containers with cuter ones. Haha. I am planning to buy more containers to put some candies on it too.

Babyflo Shampoo

Last Friday, me and my daughter went shopping for her stuff and we were looking for her shampoo. I spotted this Babyflo shampoo and smelled the green one and the red one (those were the ones available). Me and my daughter agreed that the red shampoo smells so good. It smells like candy, for real! So we got the small bottle. I forgot the exact price of this but it ranges from 50 pesos to 60 pesos  for the 125ml bottle.

I noticed the first time my daughter used this, the smell and scent lasted the whole day and even the next day. I am a happy mommy! I even tried it today and I am super loving the smell of it. This is tear free by the way so this is safe for babies too! I will definitely try other colors. They have red, green and yellow. 

According to Philusa's website, Regular (yellow)- nourishes and freshens baby’s hair, Conditioning (red)- makes baby’s hair soft and smooth, Natural (green)- makes baby’s hair healthy and bouncy. 

Go try this on your baby! You will really smell the goodness of this shampoo! :)

Update: Accomplishments!

I didn't realized that I haven't blog recently. Well, just to update my readers, the last time i blog about what I want to accomplish this year, I am proud to say that i have accomplished THREE things as of this month! Woot woot!

The first accomplishment is the replacement of my laptop. I bought a netbook, not brand new but a friend offered me to buy her Acer netbook because she does not use it anymore and had used it few times just for browsing. I bought it from her for 5,000 pesos only! What a deal! I just had to have it formatted since applications were not updated. I started using this netbook last week and have transferred files and now I'm using this when I'm working. Here it is.

The second accomplishment is buying a bag. Okay, this is not a very expensive bag and not a chic bag, I consider this as an achievement because this is the first time I bought a bag in 2-3 years. It's just a tote bag haha. since it's summer and I will be attending a wedding -- oh by the way, I will be hosting a wedding with my friend this March 22, that's why i bought that tote bag to put my clothes and shoes there. I actually think it's big since I don't really like carrying a lot of stuff when I'm going out but I like the idea of carrying a big tote bag. Hihi. Here it is. Photo not mine, got it from Natasha website.

The third accomplishment -- and I am so proud to share this with you, my relationship with God. Remember that on my last post, I mentioned that God had a sneak peek of what he wants me to do to participate in our church and do what I love. Next week, March 16, I will song lead in the morning and evening service! I am just so happy because this is just one of my greatest dreams! To be able to sing to God with other people and be able to really enjoy worshiping God by singing songs of praise. I am just so happy. I am really looking forward to that day. 

I hope to achieve more this year and hopefully be able to accomplish other things that are not on my list last time. Oh, I'd like to add that side line of hosting special events and my target is hosting a kiddie party! I hope to get a chance to host one or two, or as many as possible this year, God willing.

Weaning a Toddler from Bottle Feeding

It was the same time last year when I potty trained Amber. I trained her for 3 days only. It was really successful and from then on, I don't put on diaper on her if we're here at home. 

Now that she's 3 and will be attending school this year, I decided to wean her from drinking milk from her feeding bottle. A few months back, I gave away 2 bottles to my nephew and we were down to 3 bottles. The other day, I just decided to wean her right then and there. I remember posting on Facebook asking moms like me how to successfully wean a toddler from drinking in a feeding bottle and there were a lot of suggestions from my friends. But again, it still boils down to how the child will respond to this change, right?

Day 1: She still used her feeding bottle to drink water. She was used to this when she's lying and playing on her tablet or whenever she drinks water. Then when I decided to start weaning her, I told her that she will now start drinking milk from her cup. And as many toddler will respond, she cried and said no. There were few attempts to ask for milk in a bottle but I always tell her that if she wants milk, I will have to use her cup. And then another loud cry from her. 

And as for me being a "grumpy" mommy, I also prepared myself for this training, haha. Training talaga. I have to have a lot of patience with this because it is already given and expected she will cry if I don't give her what she wants. So Day 1, she did not drink milk, the whole day. I tried feeding her rice and ham (she requested) but didn't even finish eating it. 

Day 2: Around 2am to 4am, she woke up asking for milk. I asked her, "Gusto mo timplahan kita sa baso, Amber?" And then she insisted, "Gusto ko sa bottle!" And then I told her again that there are no more bottles. I haven't said the reason why there were no bottles anymore. She cried for about 30 minutes or less and then fell asleep again.

When she woke up past 6am, I asked her if she wants Milo and bread with cheese and she said yes. So I made her Milo and tasty bread with cheese. She was able to finish 2 tasty bread with cheese and Milo too. For lunch, I cooked Tinola because it's one of her favorite ulam. Unfortunately, she only had about 3-4 spoon of it. Then she requested for milk, this time she's requesting for milk in a cup! Yay! I was so happy when I heard it and I said I will make her a cup of milk. When I handed it over to her, she said she doesn't want it full so I had to drink some of it to make it half full. She wasn't able to finish it but it was still fine. Baby steps. :) I again gave her milk before she went to bed and she was able to finish it. Ha! (Had to make "uto" for her to finish it. Haha.)

 I made this yesterday when she requested for bread with cheese. I am not really creative and this is all what I came up to, but to my surprise she actually loved it, she said to me, "Mommy sarap ng heart na cheese!"

What made me so happy was when I realized this morning that she was asleep the whole night, she didn't woke me up to ask for milk because she was full that night before she went to bed. Ha! I also made a story yesterday afternoon about her feeding bottles. I told her that a mommy snake came here and asked her Daddy if we have feeding bottles because the baby snakes needs the bottles and so her Daddy gave it to the mommy snake." Haha. I guess it made her think why it has to be the snake. Haha. I also heard her say to her cousin, "Hindi na ako iinom ng milk sa bottle." Hahaha. 

We are now on Day 3 and I bought her Bear Brand Choco Milk and likes it very much. I can say we are successful on the 3rd day just like when we did the potty train last year. Oh by the way, we also stopped giving her chocolates, candies, cookies with fillings. I bough crackers only to stock in her "baunan" so she'll get used to eating those. I admit that I made a lot of mistakes in the past because I thought that giving her want she "wants" will be good for her, I was totally wrong. We always give her chocolates, candies and other sweets in the past whenever I do groceries for her but now, we limit the sweets we give her.

This is her lunch today. I had to buy cheese powder so she'll eat these nuggets. The nuggets I bought doesn't come with free cheese powder which she loves. She finished her food because of the magical cheese powder. :)

To all moms who are reading this, I'd like to know how you were able to successfully wean your toddlers into a life changing moment such as this. I'd like to hear good stories because I am a first time mom so it would be a great help if you share your stories too!

Christmas Shopping Online

I know this is a very late post but I want to share with you where I bought most of my gifts last Christmas. Since they say that Christmas is enjoyed most by kids, I didn't spend much on giving gifts to grown ups except for my husband of course. Haha. I did online shopping of clothes for my daughter and some of my inaanak. I have a lot of inaanak na pala and I lost contact with some of them.

Anyway, I seldom give toys to kids on birthdays, christening or Christmas. I make sure that I give something that they can use like clothes. Now, I was browsing through Instagram -- let me remind you, I am purchasing most of my stuff here as well and I am getting addicted to this, I came across this seller @rileyraye_mustloved who sells cute ternos for kids. (Check out her page) This seller is so nice and we get along very well. I did a last minute shopping, I thin ordered a week before Christmas and I had to wait for some orders that she need to buy for me. This is what I bought from her (first batch).

All of these clothes only cost me P1390.00 and she gave me free shipping! She even gave my daughter a free sando and hair clip which my daughter really loved wearing. What a great deal, isn't it? Yay!

And then, since I became a fan of the clothes she's selling, I ordered again this week. She had a clearance sale and dropped prices on most of the items which I grabbed hurriedly! Haha. Here it is. I just got this yesterday.

As always the clothes were really nice like the first time I ordered from her. I got the 3 pieces of sando for 100 pesos, the stripe dress also for 100 pesos, stripes green terno sando for me and Amber also for 100 pesos and a sando set (not in the photo) for 85 pesos. She gave me freebies again, this time 2 hair clips. I am super happy. :)

You may check out her IG profile for clothes she's selling, you might want to order too! Haha. She's became a friend of mine already because we've been vibing almost everyday. Haha. Check her out @rileyraye_mustloved.I will definitely buy more from her because I saw another seller who sells the same clothes for kids but the price is almost twice the price of what she's selling. I'm with the right seller, thank God. Really good buy!

What would you like to accomplish this year?

Happy New Year everyone! It's been a while since I last visited and posted on this blog. Like everyone else, I've been busy with the holidays and work, hiring new people to work for me.

Anyway, I'd like to share with you some of the things that I want to accomplish this year.

1. Replace my laptop. 

- This is actually a thing I've been meaning to do since last quarter of the year. The laptop I am using right now was given to me by my father way back in 2008. It's been 5 years. There were signs of aging (haha!) with this laptop. I am looking to buy a netbook this year because it is handy and I don't have to buy a work table that is so big.

2. Organize my time more.

- This year, my daughter will be nursery. I have to organize and manage my time so I can attend to, as much as possible, to all the things I need to do for a certain day or week.

3. Improve my relationship with God.

- I just realized that I had been Born Again since 2010 but then it seems that there were only few changes in my spiritual life. With that I mean, I also have to improve my attitude towards people. I am a certified moody and mataray and I need to really do something about it. I want to participate to the church I am attending to right now and want to share what I love to do. God has showed a sneak peek of it. Back in November, I started being an emcee with 2 Sunday service and hosting our Christmas party. It was a good start for me and I am claiming God has a lot of things in store for me this year.

4. Learn more new recipes.

- I want to try out new recipes this year and try new restos and new food this year. I'd like to cook for my family more this year. 

5. Save!

- Okay. Don't judge me on this. I am a person who does not save at all. I am used to spending all my money until there is nothing left. And now that my daughter will be in school this year, I am obliged to save for tuition fees, for field trips, extra curricular expenses at school, and other things. So I am determined to start saving small amount at a time. I have yet to figure out how but I'd like to do it.

6. Write more.

- I had been a WAHM for almost a year and all I do at work is type, type, type. This year, I'd like to go back to writing journals, writing stuff everyday and so on. I am thinking of buying a small, handy journal to fit in my purse or bag.

7. Buy a new bag.

- I am not a bag person and by this I mean that I can go out of the house with just the stuff of my daughter inside HER bag. I don't bring my own bag. I just find it too heavy to carry two bags every time we go out. So this year, I'd like to invest to a new bag, not that expensive, not that big, but a bag where I can put the journal, lipstick, purse, wallet, napkins for emergency, first aid medicine like Biogesic, perfume and so on.

8. Be more cheerful and less stress.

- This is the last and best thing I'd like to accomplish this year. Don't we all want this? :) I'd like to be less mataray, more cheerful, happier, less stress and just enjoy my life as a WAHM.

There are a lot of things I'd like to accomplish this year but these are the main ones I'd like done as soon as possible. I will go back to this post from time to time so I can remind myself (and will post in my laptop's notepad as well)the things I need and want to accomplish.