I confess to being a meticulous mom to my boys.  Even if they are no longer considered my babies, I still ensure that they use the best products in the market preferably made from all-natural ingredients that also wouldn’t hurt the budget.  That’s why Belo Baby line of products are heaven- sent because they meet everything I look for in a baby product.  Belo Baby is what I’m currently using for myself and my little one and we really like them a lot!

Belo Baby Bar Soap, Belo Baby Hair and Body Wash, and Belo Baby Face and Body Lotion

Since I am still on an official bed-resting-phase (which I hope to be lifted on my next check-up, but husband would rather let me stay in until I pop), I rarely go out and my schedule hasn't been normal.  I may have a full-time job, I go to the office everyday meet and truly enjoy the company of the same faces, but I make sure I do something to not make it routinary.  Now I'm on house-arrest, there are times that boredom kicks in because I do the same things day in and day out, my activities are limited, so I try hard to fight it by doing these things.

There are times I get to go out, never without my husband, on weekdays to visit the office (with my OB's clearance of course), and on weekends with the whole family.  When I do, I make the most out of the day by putting an agenda in every preggy "field trip."  I never thought that going out could mean so much to me, especially with my condition, so I learned more about patience, contentment in little things, and appreciation during these times.  One of which that occupied one field trip day was shopping for our upcoming baby boy! :)

My usual mall or shopping outfit.  Comfort and style is for me!

It's still summer and if you want to have a short weekend getaway with family or friends to escape the city and the heat, then going to a place with cooler temperature or going somewhere to swim are your best options.  But what if you want both and somewhere not too far?  Then I have a recommendation for you!  Try River Mountain Breeze Resort in Tagaytay City.

Going there will take you about 1.5 to 2 hours away from Manila, less if you live in the south.  I could say it's a hidden paradise because it's not located along the main roads of Tagaytay and there isn't even one signage to direct you going there. You just have to easily rely on landmarks and seek help from Waze as well.

Why do I call it a paradise?  Let the photos tell you why.

Our room with queen-sized bed, mosquito net, and stained Capiz windows.

When preparing for your much-awaited wedding, one of the important elements is your wedding invitation.  Many are going digital already but most couples (including us) still want the traditional printed wedding invitations to be sent out to guests.

For our intimate DIY Rustic Wedding, we both had a digital event invite conveniently done via Facebook and a traditional printed invitation.  It all started with the wedding concept.  Think garden, flowers, rustic, DIY projects, and intimate.  I wanted the concept to appear and be felt on the invitations itself.  We wanted to have a hand-lettered and hand-painted invitation.  So I asked help from a very talented colleague, Myra Lim, who is passionate in doing these things.

We started with the Save The Date design which of course had the date of our wedding and our hashtag.  I posted this on our wedding's Facebook event invite:

Summer time is TULI (Circumcision) time in the Philippines especially for boys aged between 11 to 14 years old.  My son is 12 years old and is an incoming high school student this school year.  When I consulted his pediatrician some years ago about the best time to have him circumcised, he said as long as the boy is ready in all these aspects: physically, psychologically, mentally, and emotionally.  I took his advice by heart and my son and I agreed that this summer's "his" best time to have it done.  We're glad he wants it done now not because of peer pressure or "pang-aasar"of his classmates and friends, but because he's really ready.

With all the horrible stories told to him about his uncles about circumcision to scare him off, he asked if it's really painful and if there's an option to go painless.  Luckily, he lives in this era when non-surgical or laser procedure is already made available for a painless (and bloodless) circumcision.  I tried searching online but the list of clinics isn't enough, so I called a few hospitals and clinics near our place of residence to ask about their packages and I want to share this list to you dear moms of boys.

LIST OF HOSPITALS' & CLINICS' CIRCUMCISION RATES/PACKAGES IN METRO MANILA
In my quest for the best and most practical circumcision packages, I found out that there are THREE (3) ways to get it done!  I didn't include the traditional pukpok anymore of course, that would be horrifying to the boys!  The procedures are: 1) Surgical; 2) Laser (our preferred one); and 3) Cautery.  So I will divide my list below based on the procedures mentioned.

I have two boys and having said that, the toys you would frequently see in the house are cars, board games, and blocks.  We only have one brand of toy car, and it's Hot Wheels.

I remember how as a younger child, my first-born's choice of reward for good boy points would be a piece or two of Hot Wheels.  Every good boy point (as simple as saying po/opo, please or thank you) written on his journal was equivalent to P1.00.  So for 100 good boy points, we bought him a Hot Wheels car of his choice.  With this, we were able to collect more than 100 Hot Wheels cars which he passed on to his little brother Wes.  Now, Wes enjoys the Hot Wheels cars and sets his brother preserved carefully for him.

Recently, we received a Speedtropolis Set from Hot Wheels in relation to their on-going campaign: Hot Wheels: Don't Just Make it Awesome, Make it Epic!  As fans of Hot Wheels we fully support this campaign.