Motherhood 101: Laying my Crib Issue to Rest

NOTE: If you're getting tired of reading baby-related shopping blogs, please avoid my blog for a while (until around mid-October). I'm really not buying anything for me or for any other part of the house except the nursery these days.

It's been weeks of stressing since my husband and I both decided on a playpen we both liked. It was a bit beyond our budget if we are to buy it here (as opposed to buying overseas) so we spent a lot of time exploring other buying options. I finally got tired after weeks of chasing leads so I told my husband that either we're buying it here, or we'll just get a different one. Then holding up baby girl's ultrasound photo, "...if you don't think she's worth it."

There are ways of getting what you want ;)

We made plans to go the main office of Chicco's local dealer this weekend to place our order because that's the only place where we can get the model and the color we wanted. But last night, we went to the mall to get a gift for a friend's baby. While I was shopping, my husband wandered off. When I finally caught up with him, I saw him playing with one of the Graco playpens displayed. I already had a nagging feeling we'd be going home with that playpen so I tried to get him to snap out of it. I told him we will compare so we left the playpen and went to the Chicco store where they have a display of the model we initially agreed on. He fidgeted with the playpen for a while then told me that he liked the Graco one better.

Bye-bye Chicco :(

Wow, he can be more fickle-minded than I am! Last shot... I tried to convince him subtly over dinner that the Chicco one is better but for some reason, he was fixated with the Graco one.

So my intuition proved right, we did go home with a playpen last night.

Baby girl's new playpen.

By the way, if you're wondering if cost had anything to do with my husband's decision, the answer is no. Both the Chicco and Graco playpens we were choosing from cost exactly the same. I'm slowly realizing that budget is as elastic a concept as Lastikman so why bother?

Motherhood 101: The 3D/4D Experience

I was in pain but it was the last day of the mall sale and I really wanted to get the more expensive stuff we need while they are discounted so I decided to suck it and asked my husband to go to the mall with me last Sunday. I was barely over 27 weeks and I know recommended period to get the 3D/4D ultrasound is between 28-32 weeks but I needed to know if baby is a girl or a boy so I can get to the shopping part armed with the knowledge (plus the fact that I really have been looking forward to this and with my EQ being unusually low when it comes to these things, I decided I didn't want to wait).

When we got to the mall, we went straight to the ultrasound clinic. I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed at the experience. I mean I was excited at first when the image first came into view and I immediately thought "That looks like Helaena!" (my niece). But then, we started to realize that the images were not as clear as those displayed at the lobby, on the brochures and on the website. The session was supposed to last anywhere between 20-30 minutes but I got tired of it after only a few minutes... maybe becausee of the image quality. I really wasn't seeing anything new. Good thing we opted to get the cheaper package with photos only, no video. Though we can see the baby moving, I don't think we'd be able to appreciate it much given the quality of the images.

Anyway, we're having a baby girl and here she is:

We did make it to the shopping part (yey for me!!). She already has a bottle sterilizer, 2 sets of beddings and a bath tub. That was all we could carry since the comforters were bulky.

Parchment Craft

Parchment craft is a set of techniques that results to lace-like design on parchment paper. I bought tools and supplies for Pergamano parchment craft back in 2006 when my husband and I planned to DIY our wedding invitations. A few tries told me the idea was crazy to even consider. For one, Pergamano parchment is a bit expensive (P35 per sheet last time I bought) so it's not economical compared to just getting your invitations printed. And then each design takes as long as 2 hours to complete (depending on the complexity of the design). Imagine making 100+ pieces!

I parked this hobby for a long time and was only able to try again last week when I was trying to rebuild my archive of downloaded patterns (since I lost everything when our hard drive crashed). I was able to complete these 5. I still need to improve my coloring technique since it is nowhere near those I see online (those I see online are great!).

NOTE: The patterns used are not mine, I just downloaded them from different sites offering free patterns.


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