September to Remember

I didn't know that today will be my last trip to the hospital with a huge 38weeks and 6days pregnant belly. I came in today for my required blood draw before my C-Section procedure on the 9th and for my final Fetal Non-Stress Test. It is my husband's dayoff so since San Leandro is quite a ride from Newman, we decided to get there very early and do errands after that. And so I got my blood draw done after an hour of getting there. YES! that's how busy their lab is. Then I headed to the 3rd floor for my NST (good thing I wasnt late for it). I got all the apparatuses set up in my belly, my vital signs are taken and my baby's activities are being monitored for 30 minutes. It was the sweetest 30 minutes of my life because I can sleep while this procedure is going on. Few minutes before the end of the session, the nurse is busy making phonecalls until she approached me and told me that I am on active labor and contracting very hard every 6minutes. And I was like, "really?" and then the nurse told me, "and you are not in pain?" then I smile at her. I told her that I can feel a strong contraction but I can still tolerate it. Based on what I've learned, told and experienced, if a pregnant woman can barely talk or walk with a pattered contraction, then that's active labor. She wanted me to be seen in the Labor and Delivery and I said OK. She they transported me to L&D and without hesitations, its up to me if we wanted to have the surgery today instead of waiting til Saturday. Im almost 39weeks pregnant anyway and considered full term. So without my "prepared" diaper bag, and with my sister-in-law's family came in to watch Shiloh while Vincent is with me in the OR, we finally said yes.

At 2PM, they started prepping me and began the procedure until it lasted for almost an hour. And then finally! I heard my daughter's cry for the first time. Baby out is at 2:51PM. She's so precious and..... SO HEAVY! hahaha having a birth weight of whooping 11.15lbs.. (beating Ate Shiloh's record of 10.14lbs hahaha!!) and 21inches long. And we will call her Saoirse (which means "freedom" in Ireland) Zarra (in Hebrew derived from Sarah, which means "princess") 

We feel so elated to have her. She's her sister's look a like. Those chubby cheeks wouldn't stop me from staring at her. She's truly a blessing to us.

And since it is an unexpected delivery, my husband and my daughter has to leave me for a night. I am just so thankful that the nurses in the L&D are so kind and caring. Plus, a lot of Pinay nurses too so I feel comfortable with them.

My Kid's Closet Organization Ideas

Another Pinterest Ideas for me. I've been working on this for the past week and I finally finished it. I converted Shiloh's closet to fit another set of clothing for Babytwo since I decided not to set up another room as another nursery. I kept one room as a guest room here upstairs and the other room downstairs as a playroom/guestroom since it has a fullsize bed too. Anyway, these ideas were all from Pinterest and as you know me, nothing expensive was use with this transformation lol! So let me go ahead and start sharing my closet organization ideas and let me know what are your thoughts or suggestions about it.

This is how it looked like before.

This is a 2door, not a walk-in closet. On the top shelf, I have clothes that are still too big for Shiloh and clothes that I will have Babytwo to use. I don't mind if these were all Shiloh's preloved but I guess that's being practical since kids grow up so fast and 2yrs wasn't really long ago. Btw, going back, I had these clothes on a vacuumed bag which looks nice but would look pretty neat and organized if the contents wasn't showing at all. Labelling is the key not to get confuse. So what I did was I grabed Shiloh's diaper boxes, covered it with matching con-tact papers and that's where I put all the clothes that are not yet ready to wear. Then I sorted out the clothes for Babytwo and hang those 0-3 and 3-6mos clothings for now.

I also made a 2nd layer to hang those tiny clothes and I used this closet doubler and hang it in the grillings of the shelves.

Next is, I used to have this brown drawer for Shiloh's everyday shirt, shorts, intimates and bath towels which I got rid off and put it in my closet instead😆.  In replace to that drawer, I bought this 6cube storage shelf and 6matching gray chevron patterned storage bins (my eyes got kinda tired of seeing pink stuff so I went gray this time. Lol!).

 I labelled all storage bins as to Shiloh's everyday shirt and shorts, travel pants and shorts, socks, undies  and bath towels. On top of this 6cube shelf are transparent shoe boxes with lids (which I never used to keep my shoes)

and labelled it to where I can put Babytwo's bibs, headbands, hats and socks and burp clothes. I also have these 2mini plastic crates for her tiny shoes!. Thank God im a keeper! Or else I will end up spending bucks on these again. On the other side, I have a 3cube shelf with the same bins for Babytwo's short and longsleeve onesies and leggings.

So, there you have it. And as a super excited 2nd time mom, I also set up the play yard, baby chair and the swing but for sure these will be all transported to the master's bedroom since the kids will be staying with us.

PS.

I also sorted out some clothes and toys to be donated and I just have to find some time to drop it off to Newman Resource Center.

Much love,

Anne

**📆5days to go til my CSection Surgery👶**

What's Inside My Hospital Bag?

Yaaaaas! it's SEPTEMBER📆!! 8 days until I have my CSection Surgery and finally be able to hug and kiss my baby number two. Yes it is going to be a scheduled CS because my OB says that I have less than 50% of chance to go on NSD (Normal Spontaneous Delivery) based on my BMI and seriously I have a gigantic belly😱! lol! Well, not new to me since I had a big belly too with my first born. I guess thats how it is when you are gestational diabetic but anyhow, this will go away immediately right after childbirth.

Anyway, since im almost a week away from my scheduled CS, I already prepared my hospital bag and I want to share it with everybody reading my blog to give ideas to my first-time mom friends. I have a pregnancy app on my phone called Sprout and this is where I got the idea because the app has the checklist of the must haves upon admission.

So first is my duffel bag. This is nothing expensive. I got it from Walmart for $11. Its big and roomy and has lots of pockets and sturdy. I don't have anything  like this so I decided to get one. Most of my bags are tote bags and backpack that aren't big enough to hold my stuff for a 2-3days hopefully except if I will use our luggage lol! which my husband told me not to because im not checking in into a hotel or there for a vacation hahaha!! make sense!..so I just bought this instead..

Next are my essentials.. My bath towel, 2 of my tube top Hawaiian dress for easy access when breastfeeding (or I may just be on my patient's gown the whole time), my toiletries (though the hospital may provide these but better to have some just in case) and lastly, my intimates which are not in the picture😝.

My baby's "going home outfit" or could be her photo session outfit. Yes! the hospital has their photographers who goes to every postpartum mom and would ask if they would like to have their baby's first photo session with a fee and of course, I will not say no to that! :) I will also bring this large tote bag to hold some documents or even other giveaways from the hospitals and gifts from visitors just in case.

Then I also have these newborn, 0-3mos, 6-9mos onesies. I dont know how big she will be because when Shiloh's time, I didnt know she's going to be a 10lbs and 14oz baby and she doesnt fit to the newborn clothes anymore haha!! so just to be on the safe side, I will just bring a lot for babytwo. I also have some leggings, burp clothes, swaddles, receiving blankets and my nursing cover to bring along.

Along with my hospital bag, I will also bring my Ameda Double Electric Breast Pump which I got free from my insurance (and they said I am eligible for another one. Every pregnancy actually. How cool is that? let me know if anyone needs one I can give you my extra breastpump ;) ) I also have some baby bottles which is not really necessary because they encourage breastfeeding but unfortunately that was my struggle/frustration the last time. I don't have much milk and Shiloh doesnt like to latch on me and it was the nurses who introduced that baby bottle nipples to her :( probably because Shiloh is already in need of milk that time and will take some time before she get used to my nipples. And my breastpump came late then (7 days late). But anyhow, I hope this will no longer be an issue for me. I even bought this milk supply drink and hopefully this will help me since being on a CSection may delay my natural production of milk due to the medications.

In addition, I will also bring my phone and charger, my wallet with my hospital card and debit card. So if you guys think that I may be forgetting something, let me know in the comment below. If not, im thankful for your prayers and well wishes:)

Much Love,

Anne

Happy One Year to us, Newman Ca!

Yay! time flies really fast. It was a year ago when we got to move in to our new home sweet home here in Newman from Lathrop. It was roughly around 45mins away. We are enjoying our stay here and my husband said that he can see himself retiring here. lol! goodbye Hawaiian dream! :) haha.

We so love the neighborhood because we feel safe. We do neighborhood watching here and we lived in a nearby school, church, fire and police station. Major stores and hospitals could have been quite a travel but it was not so bad at all. I know someday they will put up some here. We enjoy the authentic Mexican treats at the downtown and its pretty safe to take late afternoon walks because the streets are well lighted and police cars are patrolling from time to time around the area. There are many park and playgrounds for kids and Newman has a lot of active organizations which they welcome everyone to join. So far we got a lot of Filipino friends we met at church and we enjoy their company so much.

We will never forget how blessed we are in having such a sweet home and we promised that we will continue to make more memories in it. We can't wait for that as our little one will soon be with us and be officially a family of four :)

DIY Laptop Bag

Tadaa! My $7.18 version of laptop bag. Thanks  to my Joann's coupon😉. I recently got myself an Acer Chromebook R11💻 (my 2y/o laptop bid goodbye to me already😞) to use for my freelancing job with matching hardshell case and matched it up with this pink bandana pattern fabric and hotpink fleece fabric that I used as my batting material to make it a little bit cushiony and adds protection to my laptop. I made this bag with a huge pocket infront to hold up my charger, mouse and my phone. This project was really a challenge for me😜. This is the first time i work with zippers and trust me when I say that it is not easy for beginners like me but atleast I love how it turned out and it's worth a try.

Anyhow, below is my Pinterest inspiration and I will leave the link here just incase you want to make your own laptop bag too.

Happy sewing!

Acer Chromebook R11

My laptop for two years is already broken and I need a replacement ASAP because I can't afford to go a day without a laptop because that is the only thing I use for my freelancing job. I used to have the RCA Cambio W11.6 which stopped holding battery charge, screen was turning off and on while im on videocalls and watching videos for training and a looooot of issues going on until I started hating it and finally decided to get a new one. As a Mom, I am very practical. I am not into pricey ones. All I need is something that can do the job for me. I tried to shop around last weekend and I was thinking about using a Windows 10 laptop again or switch to a Chromebook and see what it has to offer. I was thinking if I use a Windows Laptop again, I don't know how to transfer my MS Office Apps esp the Outlook since that's the platform I use to communicate with my boss and the rest of our team. And a Chromebook on the other hand, aside from its affordability, I made a research that there are Chromebooks which supports Android apps and if that is the case, I will be able to download the MS Office Apps. (I can always return it if it didn't work for me anyway). Something for a change! :)

And so I saw this deal at Costco . It was with $40 off when I purchased it plus it covers 2years warranty and another 2years if you use the Costco Visa Credit card which we have and 1year of manufacturer's warranty. Sounds really a good deal to me. So I headed to the store to take a look at it and see how likely it is to navigate the device before purchasing it online. (you can't get the $40 off in store). I still continued to do a research about the Acer Chromebook R11 and you can see the reviews and specs here. As far as I know this is the very first Chromebook that supports Android Apps/Google Playstore under a stable channel.

After a thorough review, I finally made up my mind of purchasing this Chromebook and it was really a hit. It does the job for me. I can still send and receive emails from outlook, create and edit documents via ms office, excel and save a lot of stuff via google drive.  This laptop could be boring if you are the type of person who stays too long in front of it.

Aside from the preset Google Apps, I have successfully downloaded MS Office, I have already downloaded apps like Skype, Textnow (yes! I can do phonecalls with it), Upwork Messanger and already saved some files from my work and my MP3's. Yes it has a file folder just like in windows. I thought it will be automatically save to Google drive but NO. You still have the option to keep it on your laptop and personalize a folder or upload it to Google Drive if you think you are running out of memory. Facebook, Instagram, other picture editing apps are also perfect to downloaded but I opted not to since I those has been already installed on my phone. However, there are some apps that are not compatible with this device I guess example of this is Snapchat. But anyway, you will see a prompt in the Playstore if the device is compatible with the app or not.

Anyhow, to sum it all up, I give this Chromebook a 5!. Its is chic and stylish and doesn't look cheap. Though it is made of part plastic and part aluminum, it isn't so flimsy at all. Unlike the other Acer Chromebook 14inch who doesn't support Playstore Apps, the screen tends to be wobbly.

So there you go. If you have more thoughts about this laptop, please let me know. I would also like to know some tweaks if there is

I NEED A GIG!

When I say gig, its an online job for me via Upwork. Lol!.. My current client doesn't have much workload for me for a about 2 weeks now. Ugh! disadvantage of being a freelancer. But then again, I have to understand that. At least I still have a contract with him. Btw, I have been sending proposals to clients, accepting interviews but have not heard anything from them yet. *sigh! I wish to get a new client so that I could have more mollahs to spend for my baby's stuff.

Yep! I am 26 weeks very much pregnant now and dealing with Gestational Diabetes :(. So much sacrifice now for not having too much sugar (or nothing at all) until the last trimester of my journey and this will be gone as soon as my baby is out. So while Im free from Upwork, I keep myself busy monitoring my sugar with my not-so-cool device (glucometer) and doing my research of what are the food types of preparing my meal plan based on my condition. For me who loves sweets, RICE, french fries and any CARBS,I find this so hard! ut then again, there's nothing I would not do for my baby(ies).

Anyhow, right now, me and my husband are just sitting on our couch. Me writing this blog and him watching movies from our Amazon firestick. Its Game4 between Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers but he doesnt want to watch the live game coz he thinks he's a jinx whenever he does and we are rooting for GSW! #GSWalltheway!! So once in a while. I peek on the score or check out love and hate post on Facebook hahaha!!..

Ok gotta go now.

Much Love,
Anne

Hey! Im Still ALIVE!

Thank God! I know I told you guys on my last post that I will be blogging more often but unfortunately I was unable to do so. A lot of "good" things happened in the past that I was just so busy cherishing it and making memories out of it and of course forever grateful to God about it.

First let me start off with my online job. For the past months, I was able to work with 3 clients which I enjoyed a lot because of the type of project they asked me to do for them. This includes my long time client for like around 2 years now but the other two are just like short term project but its alright. The task includes Online Purchasing and Reviewing via Upwork.  Client sends me money to purchase an item in their store and via Amazon and the other one is with iHerb.com which I can keep the product in exchange of an honest review. I always wanted to have this task but so sad that it has to end so soon but its alright. Atleast I get a chance to experience it an include it on my portfolio and hopefully clients with the same type of task can easily see my portfolio since my profile has been verified as top-rated.

Next was when my FIL had a successful removal of the prostate or Prostatectomy and he turned out to be worry-free and healthy individual as he was always. Of course being an elderly sometimes will give you stress when it comes to your health. A little pain or discomforts, you think something is wrong that you may become a doctor diagnosing yourself :) Good thing they have a medical access here in the US and was able to do all lab tests, screenings and even surgeries covered by their insurance. BTW, all is well with them (my MIL and FIL) and they managed to go back to the Philippines last May 19th and hopefully they will go back next year or how about us going home in Iloilo? lol! how I wish.

Another happy MOMents for me is when me and my husband finally confirmed that we are having another "baby SZ" yup! another baby girl and this time, we will name her Saoirse Zarra. We decided to keep the SZ initials since she's a girl just like her Ate Shiloh Zooey but it could have been "baby GJ" if its a boy hehe.. but its alright. Who knows there's still baby no.3 hahaha!! atleast I get to keep the "theSZmommy" alias :) So now I can't stop myself buying stuff for Saoirse since im not sure yet if there will be someone who will throw a baby shower for me but who knows :)

Hmmm what else? Oh! yeah I got a chance to start my application for the NCLEXam. I got documents form my Alma Mater in the Philippines with the help of my Loving Aunt Doris Dominado. I love her so dearly. and as I tracked it, it says that its already in the CA-Board of Nurses Office in Sacramento. I just  have to back there again to verify and pass the remaining supplemetal docs that I can accomplish here.  I hope that's all I need from the Philippines :(

So there you go. I can't really think of anything right now coz I woke up sooooo early trying to fill up my cravings haha! and prepared Hubby's packed lunch to work and I took an assessment for another work-from-home job from Appen which I really hope and pray that I can make it.

Keep safe everyone! Talk to you guys later..

Much Love,
Anne

For the first time after a long time!

Ola kumusta?:) it's been a while since my last post. I am currently 13weeks and 6days pregnant  and I have been veeeeery lazy on my first trimester. Too busy that I couldn't find time to update this blog. I was so lazy to work online too (good thing one of my contract with my client ended last January) so I had a plenty of time chillin' at home.  However, in-spite of being lazy, I was busy decorating my daughter's playroom.  Yes! its like thats the only task I wanted to spend time with lol!,, I had a lot of energy going on a Dollar Store trips for some fancy decorations and all that stuff. I had it with a School Themed Playroom so that her learning wouldn't stop during playtime and im glad she is having a good time eventhough she plays alone most of the time. (don't worry baby, im still baking your playmate in my tummy-oven) I will have a playroom tour video once it's 100% done.

So what's up with everyone? My family was on a couple of trips this past months.  We were in Lats Vegas last Mar.2-4,2017 for my Hubby's 9th Annual GI Conference and it was held at Aria hotel where we also stayed. It was a staycation for me and Shiloh while Hubby is in the conference.  It was too warm and sunny in Vegas to walk in the strip in the afternoon but I must admit that I miss this kind of weather. I was able to wear shorts, dress and  light clothing since it was always chilly and raining here in Newman since December 2016. Then after Vegas, we went straight to my relative in San Diego and stayed for a night.  We got to see my Nana and Tita back from the Philippines and also went shopping at the US-Mex Border Outlet.  I'll post pictures soon. (see, im still lazy hahaha!! but those are already posted on my FB account though)

After the Vegas trip, here comes our Monterey Bay Aquarium Tour (Mar. 14-15, 2017) in celebration of my Hubby's Birthday.  Our little Diva had fun of course especially when we took her at the beach for the first time then hung out at the Lodge's Pool. Then got back the next day after lunch because no one is watching after our dog so we really have to be back asap to feed her.

Few minutes after resting from our trip, my Hubby emailed me another reservation.  And now its for a hotel in LA because we are planning to go to Disneyland with my Sister-in-law's family on their kid's Spring Break.. And im like waaaah!! trip again!.. We never really went on vacation lastyear since we spent time and money lol! on getting a house so we are making up for those times that we aren't in a vacation but its all worth it.  Me and my husband are always on the go and we love long walks and long drive.  Sometimes I forget that I am pregnant hahaha!!.. Btw here's a video from our Monterey Bay Aquarium Trip.  Sorry im not good with video editing :(

Monterey Bay Aquarium Tour

But this time, I can say that I am back on track since I got a contract renewed from that previous client so I will be busy and facing my laptop most of the time and my 2nd trimester is not so heavy anymore. I can feel a lot of positive vibes and energy this time :).. Im just grateful and thankful to God that all of my prenatal checkups are ok and all prenatal tests and screenings are all good. I just hope and pray to God to have a healthy pregnancy and baby and also to stay in shape all through the days of our lives :).. 

Ok I guess this is all for now.  I'll see you guys on my next post.

Much Love,
Anne

Bicol Express

     Hello everyone! Here's another cooking post lol!.. Looks like my page is turning out to be a recipe blog 😊. Anyway, few days ago I watched Michelle Dy's Youtube vlog and she featured herself cooking this Filipino dish called The Bicol Express and I had the craving for this dish and checked my pantry and voila! I got all the ingredients. You know how it feels when you want to cook something and you got all the ingredients on hand? Woah! Heaven! Lol

So here are the ingredients and how I cooked it. Enjoy!

     Minced garlic, ginger, diced onion, serrano pepper
                          
             2lbs pork belly cut into desired serving size

                                         Coconut milk

Not in the picture: shrimp paste, cooking oil and lemon grass

Instructions:

Sautee pork in medium heat with oil, onion, garlic and ginger. Then cover the pan and let it simmer until pork becomes brown in color.

Add serrano pepper and shrimp paste. Stir, cover the pan and let it simmer for 3mins.

Add coconut milk and lemon grass. Stir and bring to boil. To adjust the spiciness, you can add white sugar, more coconut milk or use less serrano peppers.

Once the sauce becomes creamy and pork is kinda toasted (which I prefer), turn off the heat and serve.

Yema Cake

As a wife and a fulltime mom, I am a fan of quick, easy and delicious recipes to prepare for my loveys. And ofcourse, my ultimate cookbook is-- the internet. Google and Youtube tutorials.

Aside from cooking Filipino dishes, I also like to bake. But sometimes baking doesn't like me :c Btw, today I got the energy (yes! Energy it is because my current pregnancy would always put me to bed. Very opposite with my first born) to make a Yema Cake for everybody here at home. So here's how I made it and I hope you will have a good one if ever you want to give this a try.

The ingredients:

Yup! Cake mix is the key! I told you im into quick and easy ones lol! (You can use any brand of your choice)

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven in 350F. In a mixing bowl, put rice mix, 1cup water, 3eggs and 1/3 cup melted and unsalted butter together and mix together until everything is combined. You can use an electric mixer or a wire wisk  will do the trick.

2. After you get the desired consistency of the cake batter, pour it in a round springform cake pan like this.

Size depends on your desired servings. But before pouring the batter, cover the entire bottom part of the pan with an aluminum foil. This will prevent the bottom of the cake to get overcooked and avoid spills from pan.

3. Put the round pan on top of a large rectangular pan and get ready to pop it inside the oven at 375F for 25-30mins.

While baking.. On a separate pan, (for the Yema Frosting)
1. Turn on the stove in a medium heat. In a sauce pan, pour 1can of condensed milk, 3egg yolks, 1/3cup softened butter and bring to boil. Give it a stir while waiting to boil so that all ingredients will be combined well and once the mixture becomes to thickened or a little bit creamy and sticky like the Yema/custard, turn of the heat and let it cool.

Final instruction:
1. Once the cake is done, let it out from the oven and cool it down a bit. Once its cooled, pour the yema mixture on top of the cake. Add grated cheese (ooops! I forgot to put this on the ingredients list) on top for added flavor and also as a garnish lol!

2. Store in the fridge for like about 3-5mins depends on your preference. You can take off the round panel of the pan and serve it either cold or warm over a hot coffee and im sure you will surely love it!

ELF Haul

Im a happy buntis! :)

I am not a pro when it comes to applying make up but at least I love how it turns out whenever I use them (hello Youtube Tutorials), I love cheap (or I should say affordable) make up and stuff and this goes out with shopping for clothes and shoes lol!

So i got these items from Elf Cosmetics today which I ordered last Jan. 3 when they were having a HUUUUUUGE sale! I guess this was like their last minute Holiday sale for Christmas and New Year.. I mean these are already affordable yet most of the time (well on holidays) they have promocodes and discounts going on.  These items are only $25 w/o tax just in order for me to take advantage of the free shipping.  And I so love them all and can't wait to try them on.

Here's a clickable screenshot of the name of the products which I got it on a discounted price that you can check out if you would like to. Other items not listed because It was bundled as a mystery gifts upon my purchase. How's that?

So if you guys are make-up enthusiast, you might have some (beauty) hacks or tips that you can share with me below in the comment box and I would really appreciate it.

Thanks guys and till my next post! :)

Twice as Nice!

Dear Shiloh Zooey,

Happy 2nd Birthday!. Time flies really fast but it's alright. I will never ask you to stop growing up because I will always be excited to see what's in store for you in the future and we promise that mom and dad will support you all the way.

But for now, we want you to enjoy your childhood. We may be unable to give you ALL you want. But we assure to give you ALL you need. On your birthday, we wish you good health always, more blessings from God and continue being loving, sweet and smart.

We love you so much and thank you for giving so much joy to our lives. Again, Happy Birthday BabyBop!!

From Dad, Mom and BabyNo.2.

(c)photo credits to me lol!..Yes it was a DIY Photoshoot which I got the idea from Pinterest

Shiloh turns two

Hi guys! Today is a sun-shinny day! Perfect time to capture great memories. And so me and my husband took our daughter to the park and had her a photoshoot for her 2nd birthday.  Yup! this is a yearly tradition for her (atleast until she's 7 lol!) and I do it for her. No professional cameras used. only my phone and some application filters :) see my next post for her photos.

After the shoot, my MIL decided to cook a special dinner for us in celebration of my daughter's birthday. We really didn't have a children's party just like we did on her 1st birthday but just a special dinner and get together with relatives. We wanted to do it today, a day advanced since its Sunday, family day and the weather is great for travel especially for my BIL and SIL coming from Fairfield and SFO.

We had Valenciana (an Ilonggo version of Paella), Pancit Palabok, Friend Chicken, Cakes from Red Ribbon and Little Ceasar's Pizza. It was again a burp day for us and we also announced to everyone about my pregnancy and off course, everybody is so happy and excited about it.

Baby Number 2!

Remember when I said I was feeling nauseated, dizzy and weird on my Dec.19 post? Well it was all because God answered our prayer already!

I am 6weeks delayed now and based on what I learned in Nursing, it's the best time to take pregnancy tests. And so I did and viola! Thank God it's POSITIVE!!

We just figure it out yesterday. My goodness! I even had a tiring day yesterday because we were at Kangazoom at the Tracy Mall and played with my daughter along with the other kids on the jump-jump bouncers, trampoline and giant slides. Yes! My weight passed the requirement lol! And not to mention, I started Zumba and jogging and cutting down on my calorie intake. So I guess I will continue cutting on carbs and sweets this time since I have the tendency (and I was with my daughter) to become diabetic when pregnant. Aka Gestational Diabetes.

So today I have an OB Appointment today to confirm the pregnancy via bloodtest and to make sure it's intrauterine pregnancy and not ectopic. I pray everything will be ok and we will stay healthy all through out the pregnancy.

However, the OB said it is still too early to see the embryo. I am 6wks delayed and 3wks pregnant. She said most of the time the embryo can be seen at 6-8wks AOG but she said she can see a gestational sac which confirms a pregnancy and we have done another urine and blood HCG tests and both are positive. So we set up another ultrasound appointment next month.

Cauliflower Fried Rice with Turkey Chorizo

So since this recipe has been circulating in Facebook and I started my diet to loose some weight brought by the holidays, I told myself to give this a try and it was sure a fire hit!. It is healthy, a great substitute for rice aside from Quinoa and so easy to prepare and lastly, it is tasty and my daughter even loves it and I guess for picky eaters, they would not even notice that its ground cauliflower-- unless you will really take a closer look at it lol!. So let me share it with you how I made it.

Ingredients:
Cooking oil
Onions (diced)
Carrots (diced or cut into tidbits)
Cauliflower (cut into tidbits) --I used a food processor though for faster result
Soysauce/salt and ground black pepper to taste

Optional:
Luckily, we still have some leftover homemade Turkey Chorizo made by my MIL so I used that as extra ingredients or you can use ham, shredded chicken, pork etc. Or you can just leave it as it is.

How to cook:
Sautee onions in cooking oil over a medium heat.
Once onions are tender, add your optional ingredients (ham, chicken, pork etc)
Once its cooked, add the cauliflower and carrots, mix everything in the pan and cover for 3 minutes.
Add soysauce/salt and pepper to taste and mix again
Transfer to serving plate and enjoy

I noticed that after eating, since it is not rice, i really dont feel heavily full (know what I mean?). It is just right and i feel lighter and energized to do more stuff. Unlike when you eat a lot of rice, you will feel heavy and sleepy haha. So there you go guys, this is worth giving a try and let me know in your comments how it works for you.

Ciao,
Anne

Oh Hi There, Mr. Sun!

Finally! After so many days (i guess almost a week) of rains, Mr. Sun finally showed up. So we took advantage of the great weather today and since we are all tired of doing nothing at home besides eating and sleeping lol!, we went to the Livermore Outlet and went shopping with the In-laws.

We got my daughter her birthday dress and stuff from the Disney store and an Under Armour kicks for me and my MIL. (A different pair for her off course) Its my 1st pair actually since I own a lot of Converse.

The Outlet wasn't that jampacked. Probably because the Holidays are over and some people are back to work, but I was surprised that the stores are still offering a holiday deals. 50-60-75% off. Lesson learned, I won't go shopping again on Thanksgiving and Christmas lol! We tried going there on those holidays and it was crazy and crowded! Long lines formed outside the stores and parking spaces are already full. We even didn't get a chance to get off the car so we ended up going back home haha!

Do you guys have some crazy experience(s) shopping on Holidays? I would love to read them on the comment box below.

Gotta go and get ready for another week of rain starting this Saturday. Tss!

Keep safe Loves!
-Anne