EMPOWERED MOM

So many events and celebrations happened this day, October 24..

Of course it’s my father’s birthday. United Nation’s Day Celebration and for us bloggers, we had the 3rd Mindanao Bloggers Summit and the Mindanao leg of the Philippine Blog Awards…

I started my day at 12:01 A.M. preparing song copies for my father’s mañanita at 4 am.. Technically, I did not sleep yet, lol.. my day is an extension of yesterday..  When I was done, I opted to sleep a little. A nap, I suppose. But my aunts and cousins didn’t arrive until 5, that’s 30 minutes after I woke up, haha..

After we finished the songs and the foodies, I rushed to the orange house to bath, dress and prepare for the mbs3…

Attended mbs3 and Philippine Blog Awards, headed home for my father’s birthday celebration…

whew.. I was tired and sleepy… But it was worth it…

When Lili was a baby, she was breast fed for 3 months only. I had to work in Cebu and she had to be left with my parents here in Cagayan de Oro because at that time, I found it really difficult adjusting with the call center job, the graveyard shift and a baby in between. Before I left, it was a blessing that the nursery at the Madonna and Child Hospital had her for 36 hours prior to birth. And with that, they have fed her with the infant formula that Lili’s pediatrician recommended. At that time also, I had no milk yet. But soon enough, when I was able to see her, the milk followed. It was like having her in my arms signaled the milk to flow from my breasts so I can feed her. The store brand formula did wonders to Lili and I really appreciated the fact that she was able to feed on me and with a bottle alternately. So when it was time for me to leave, she was bottle fed by her caregiver.

It has always been said that breast milk is best for babies. That is definitely true. The American Academy of Pediatrics recognizes breast milk as the gold standard in infant nutrition. Some companies may say that their formula brands offer the same benefits as breast milk, but the truth is, none do. Infant formula is a safe alternative to breast milk. It has helped mothers like me cope with the stress and financial challenges, especially when we have to face said financial battles alone. With the infant formula that I gave Lili, I can say that it’s worth the price I had to pay for each can of milk. She is smart and although I can attribute that to genes, I think the milk has helped also. My friend and Lili’s godmother, who is a doctor, disagrees. She said that whatever milk used, Lili will still be getting the same nutritive value because all milk are governed by the same standards and nutritional requirements regulated by FDA..

Hmm.. Well, what do you think?

I LOVE THIS SONG… Nina Simone has always been my favorite singer. There is something in the way she sings that makes me feel the message of each of her songs… Kinda like listening to your own heart beat…

The song below was used as one of the songs for our play, “Adios Papa”, which starred Tito Ricky Lluch and Tita Tatit Fajardo, with the guys of Pasundayag Community Theater. I played “Azucena”, the maid. Well.. just a few tidbits of what I used to do, but have always loved…

Tessie and I were busy looking for the right gift for our friend Maritess for her 45th birthday on Sunday. We are planning to give her a home or garden set. After all, gardening and taking care of the home is her hobby and passion. Tessie said Maritess told her that her garden hose is not working properly already. So off we went to the SM today to see what we can find. Whether it’s a garden set or a garden hose, we are sure Maritess will love what we will give her. She has such simple joys… However, when we got there, we found nothing. Darn! Now we are going to get her something separately…

So here I am browsing through my favorite shopping and information site, ShopWiki… I ahve always been a fan of shop wiki as I am able to find so many great things there… It is revolutionary for shopping since it actively seeks out every store on the internet in a similar way that Google finds every web site. Kinda like the google for shopping. When you search for something, it crawls the web to give you what you need. That is the part that I like about Wiki.. You see, traditional shopping sites will only show you stores that have paid for placement or links, but ShopWiki gives a shopper everything she or he wants to know, regardless whether they get paid for it or not. For a shopper, this means they can find anything and everything for sale on the web at ShopWiki.com.. And if you are simply browsing, the good news is that, you still get more than what you expect… Take for example, the keyword “entertaining“, when you search for it at ShopWiki, many links will be given to you that will somehow broaden your horizons. Added information is always welcome..

So right now, I am looking for a particular gift that Maritess may like. I key in the following keywords: outdoors, garden, gardening, green thumb, garden accessories, and anything else I can think of that might give me clues as to what gift I will give my friend… Hmm.. I think I am getting a great idea here. Maritess may want garden tools, or manual seeders or even gardening outfits… Uhm.. What should I give her? OMG! This is even more difficult than I thought.. tsk.. tsk.. tsk.. I think I should give her something for the home instead.. A clock maybe. How about a pot or a vase? How about home tools? A rocking chair? oops.. I think I am the one who wants that. Silly me.. lol.. A pillow perhaps?

Anyway, it will still be on Sunday. I can always use all the information I have gathered here to decide. I am giving myself until 12 noon tomorrow to finally get things in proper order..