antique shopping-Philippines

I treated myself to a few adult hours with a friend this morning. Jenny and I did some antique shopping at an unassuming warehouse type building filled to the brim with old and new treasures. There were lots of beautiful furniture, tons of old Asian treasures and a few random new things thrown in to give us laughs. My favorite "antique" was the red cake plate with a reindeer painted on it. Second favorite were all the Jack-o-lantern treasures. Halloween isn't widely celebrated here so I guess they consider those things rare. I really like a few items, one being a set of Fire King jade-ite oval dinner plates. I totally fell in love with these plates (or maybe they were small platters). Being that they were made in the USA the price was jacked up. Knowing nothing about Fire King I passed on the Php 1,800 ( $40) per plate price. Still thinking about them though-I guess that's how you know you really liked something. Anyway, I did bring home this fun bamboo ladder that now proudly displays Addie's beautiful baby quilt made my her Great Aunt Mary K. I have visions of this ladder displaying everything from throw blankets, Christmas ornaments, and magazines, to fluffy bath towels and vintage table cloths. Totally fun.

big sister practice

A few moments the past few days have me really excited about our new baby arriving. The common thread is Addie practicing as a big sister. Today we reorganized the amazing indoor storage compartments that are hidden throughout our condo. We moved the baby swing and bouncer out and put the Christmas boxes in. Adelaide immediately grabbed her baby doll and started pushing her in the swing. She even lent her doll an extra lovie so she could sleep better. Baby and Addie sat in the bouncer as well. When baby was in the bouncer lots tender touches and sweet talk came out of Addie's mouth soothing the baby. It was pretty cute. The day before Addie insisted that I bring her musical snow globe down from it's shelf and turn on the music. She then curled up in (what's left of) my lap and rubbed my belly while we listened to the tune. My heart melted. I think we definitely have a great big sister in the making.

missing Daddy

We aren't even half way through the week and we are totally missing Justin. In fact we missed him the moment he left. Addie asks for her Daddy in the morning and at bedtime and whenever she hears someone at the door. We both miss you Daddy/Justin! We know you are having lots of fun in the Land Down Under but hurry home to us. We are way more fun than those Aussies.

Lesson learned every day

Today's lesson learned is: Don't leave breakable a glass (or anything for that matter) on top of a table cloth that can be pulled down by a curious toddler. It went something like this: I had my back turned for like half a second; Addie pulled the cloth; the glass fell and shattered at her feet; I screamed; she screamed; I swooped her up in my arms before she could move, and we went to inspect her flesh for wounds. Luckily a CareBear Band Aid was only needed for a tiny little cut on her ankle. And just like that the new word, "boo boo" was learned. It took a lot of patience for Addie to stand next to the refrigerator, and no closer, as she watched me meticulously sweep up the glass shards on the kitchen floor; but we both made it. The brownies in the oven weren't even burnt in the ordeal. Crisis one without Daddy averted rather smoothly. Justin left this evening for a week in Australia. We had a mushy farewell and then Addie and I wrapped up the evening (after our brush with danger) like any Saturday evening should be; with picture books and a glass of milk, snuggled up in bed.

Just for fun, here is a picture of Adelaide during her first finger painting session (thank you Aunt Rachel, Uncle Trey, and Riley).

sushi at home

I am a very happy pregnant lady at this very moment. I just ate a delicious sushi roll made by our helper/chef extraordinaire. My friend Sunny brought over sushi rolls the other day for our playdate made by her cook and I NEEDED more the moment I swallowed the last bite. I sent Cora to get the supplies to make our own sushi at home. Today she tried for her first time at making sushi. I am only eating vegetarian sushi right now which is fine with me. Cora made two rolls one with avocado, cucumber, and mango; the other with avocado, cucumber, and cream cheese (this one was for me since Justin hates cream cheese. He's weird, I know this. Anyway, by the time I thought to take a picture of our homemade sushi I had eaten all my roll!). I scarfed the cream cheese roll with wasabi and soy sauce. It is officially my new favorite pregnant craving. It's healthy and delicious. It's better than Ben and Jerry's ice cream cravings I guess (I have those too but they can't be fulfilled here in the Philippines). Can I tell you how much I love Cora right now (not only for the sushi but for helping me strip and clean crib bedding/clothes/lovies that were covered in diarrhea from my little girl this afternoon-but that's another post entirely)

27 weeks pregnant

I'm not sure how I'm already at the 27 week mark. The second trimester flew by and now I'm officially in the home stretch of the last 13 weeks. Our new baby girl is growing fast and moving around all the time. I'm carrying her exactly like I carried Addie: low and out. My doctor looked at me yesterday and recommended I get a support belt. We have also started the count-down for Addie and I flying back to Washington at 34 weeks. We leave March 18th so that leaves us about 7 weeks here in the P.I. before we leave Justin for a month. We aren't looking forward to that part of the adventure but the new baby's birth keeps us thinking positively. We can't wait. Overall, I am feeling good (if not big) and the baby is in great health.

winter, what winter?

Wednesday, Jan 28 weather forecast

Portland, OR: Cloudy,41 degrees, feels like 35
Arlington, VA: Rain and sleet, 28 degrees, feels like 22

Baltimore, MD: Light freezing rain, 27 degrees, feels like 19

Manila: Partly sunny, 84 degrees, feels like 95

Bet you wish you were in my shoes for a day!