Another baby on the way --->

And no, it's not mine! hahaha No, it's going to be Den's.  

October 25 is that landmark day when I found out that my 20-year old niece is going to have a baby.  I was so busy with another person's kid that I totally neglected to observe that my very own niece, who's living in the same house as I, is pregnant.  Imagine my surprise and consternation when I noticed that her tummy was kinda big that you can't mistake it for simply being full from food.

Not wanting to confront her immediately, I just made a joke hoping that she'll bite.  But she just made a noncommittal shrug which inflamed my suspicions even more.  Then I started counting back and checking how fast we ran out of sanitary pads as I kept racking my brain for signs of pregnancy that I didn't see.  See, if her tummy was already showing then that meant that it was in the 2nd trimester already and I totally missed the first trimester!  And that's when I realized that I must have been so preoccupied with the Boy Who Will Not Be Named that I didn't notice her pregnancy signs.

So, that night, Patrick and I asked her straight on.  Her answer was, "Kailangan pa bang itanong yan?" which roughly translates to "Do you even need to ask?"  I was really pissed at the answer.  Here we were, asking politely and nicely and that's the reply we got.  I think she was being an ass to cover her real feelings as teenagers are wont to do.  But then the truth was out.  She was pregnant and going on 5 months.

Needless to say, my world collapsed.  I wanted her to finish college (she had a semester to go for crying out loud!).  I wanted her to enjoy her life as a single person.  I wanted her to travel.  I wanted her to make more out of herself before she even had to THINK about having a baby...

What was the point of our talks about pills and condoms and all those irresponsible parents littering the streets with their offspring?!  They're becoming one of them!  I was so frustrated that they didn't use their heads.  I was so frustrated that they didn't protect themselves.  I wanted to strangle the boyfriend for not using birth control.  I wanted to strangle Den for not insisting that the boyfriend use protection!

Naturally, the first reaction would be surprise, then shock, then anger, then acceptance.  For both my sister (her mother) and I, it was rather easy because of the maternal instincts for the baby kicking in.  We had to make sure that the baby was safe and healthy.  For the men in our lives, it was really anger that's the reigning emotion.    Saying they were pissed off was an understatement.  They wanted to meet with the boyfriend and his family ASAP.  At the time of writing, that hasn't happened yet.

I don't think I will truly get over the regret and the frustration but all I can do right now is provide the support she needs because stress is not good for the baby.  I have told her that she needs to finish her last semester so she'll have a better opportunity even after the baby is born.   

Dana's School Halloween Party

On the 20th of October, Dana had her first school Halloween Party.  I was worried when they announced it and notified parents via letter because it only meant that more expenses will have to be set aside to accommodate the budget for her costume.  Trust me, when you're in dire straits when it comes to finances, like we have been for the past months, you really begin to question all these school parties hehehe

But I'm very lucky that my HS friend, Gicel, was able to lend me her daughter's Princess Jasmine costume for Dana to wear :)  Thanks a lot, Gicel! :)

So here she is, together with Dylan who just put on his Spiderman clothes and mask :))



They had a costume contest and as you can see Dana was #60! all the kids who came in costume registered for the contest so that took a while to judge.  It was funny because there were a lot of witches which I thought would be banned haha but even the parents were wearing costumes!! She liked the one like 3D art in the last row of pictures :)   Her teacher was dressed like Jang-Geum of a Koreanovela :D

Dylan's Kindergarten Field Trip

Sept. 14, 2011 - It's that time once again when Dylan sets off on another field trip.  This time they're heading to Lucky Me (the noodle factory), Paradizoo (an animal farm/zoo) and Tagaytay Picnic Grove (for rest and relaxation).  As you can see, Dylan is excited to be on their way.  

Their first stop was the Lucky Me Noodle Factory but we weren't allowed to take pictures because of security reasons.  This part of the trip would have been more interesting if we had more time to really listen to the tour.  Instead, the tour went by so fast it was like the staff were more interested in just breezing through with their spiels and such.  The kids couldn't really pay attention and they can't really see over the windows in the factory.  I had to really focus to hear the tour guide explain the process of making the noodles and packing them and such.  In turn, it was I who had to explain to Dylan.  I guess there were a lot of schools scheduled too so they had to hurry us up.  This was the only photo allowed, taken by their staff after a quick run through of the factory.  

After the Lucky Me Factory, we went to Paradizoo Ranch in Mendez, Cavite.  There were a lot of chances for taking pictures because there were a number of different animals that Dylan went a little crazy going after them :)  There was a white carabao, a black carabao, a camel, horses, foreign goats and sheep, butterflies and bees.  Here are some pictures. It was raining hard some of the time which was hard for the kids but it was otherwise a fun trip.  

The last stop was the Tagaytay Picnic Grove.  This was where we had our lunch overlooking Taal Volcano. The kids breezed through their lunch and just ran around in the grass.  Dylan was also fortunate to have been able to ride a horse.  One of his classmates who originally bought the ticket became scared of the horse so he backed out.  Dylan was given the ticket instead :)  Thanks! :D

 Needless to say, all the kids were tired and pooped out during the drive home :)