from franco my labs

franco will be turning three this july, and almost every day i am reminded of how fast he’s growing up. he has new tricks up his sleeve, and he has gotten so kulit and talkative too.

here are some of the things he’s been saying lately:

while i was brushing chesca’s teeth: “mommy don’t touch kikka! cry sya e! grrr!”

the other day, at 6:30pm: “mommy night na? sleep na ayo?” (sleep na tayo)

while throwing a tantrum the other day: “ride tayo car buy ice drop ice cream eh!”

getting bored: “go up tita bing room borrow iphone mommy!”

seeing his dad on the terrace: “daddy, come down na! eat na ayo eh!”

when the tv was turned off: “angko watch spongebob eh! please don’t off tv!”

the other day at breakfast: “eat angko pam! amor rice psss!” (franco eat spam, some more rice please.. hehe)

AND THE BEST ONE YET, after an hour of lounging on the couch watching cartoons, franco turns to me and says, “tired na angko mommy, sleep na ayo?” and PRETENDS TO SNORE. haha, FTW!

franco, you make daddy and mommy gigil everyday.  love you bubu baba buuu.

 

attitude of gratitude

life can suck big time. it can throw you curve balls that knock you off your feet, or creep up on you slowly and ruin your day. it’s at times like these, when you’re at your lowest point, that you really should count your blessings. it’s such a cliche, but true: all dark clouds have a silver lining.

here are just a few of the little blessings i’m thankful for:

– a dad who, even though he’s the silent type, shows me through his actions how much he loves me, more than mere words can say.

watching mamma mia in NY

– a mom who loves me enough to (incessantly) meddle. it drives me crazy sometimes, but i know that she only wants what’s best for me.

– big brothers who, even though i haven’t seen them in years, can still make me feel like the cherished baby sister when we get the chance to talk. (hey manong raymond!! what’s up with you?? haha)

manong ian and me, san francisco (lousy pic, but it's the most recent one i have!)

– the best in-laws in the world: i am ever so thankful that all the bad biyenan jokes are absolutely inapplicable in my case. and hubby’s family (from kids to adults) is so much fun to be with.

almost all of the ranullo/ranque/atencia kids

– the most awesome friends ever. through thick and thin, and overcoming distance. i know i’ll be wrinkled and old, and they’ll still be there.

christmas 2009

– two adorable, kulot and makulit kids who give me reason to smile every day. they make every stretch mark and every hour of labor worth it.

bubu and piglet

– a husband who can make me laugh every single day – even when i’m trying to stay mad.

two monkeys

there are so many other people and things to be thankful for.. so many little everyday miracles that we sometimes forget about. life can be dull, depressing, tiring, but it can also be fulfilling, exciting, and HAPPY.

life is what we make it.

“AYWABYU”

our baby boy is growing up so fast. and practically every day there’s a moment or two (or  more!) when he and his sister make me feel like crying – from sheer mommy happiness.

last month, franco woke up in the middle of the night, a cranky and grouchy baby. maybe he wanted his milk, maybe he had a nightmare, who knows? i woke up from a sound sleep to see him crying beside me, kicking at the blankets and making his grumpy noises. spent a few minutes cuddling and comforting him, feeling more than a bit grumpy myself.

when the crisis had passed and he was quietly drinking his milk, i was surprised when he suddenly set his bottle aside, looked at me and said, “wabyu”.

it was the first time he had said that on his own. usually he just tells me that in response to my own “i love you” to him. i know that at 2 years old he has no idea of the full significance of what he’s saying, but still.. all my crankiness disappeared in a blink and i couldn’t help but cry a bit. long after he went back to sleep i couldn’t stop hugging him.

stretch marks and added pounds be damned – motherhood has its own rewards.

i remember when you were this small..

..ngayon big boy ka na!

my pick: legend of the guardians

when hubby and i consider what movie to watch on our next movie date, there are only two factors: 1) is it something both of us would want to watch?, and 2) is it worth watching in the movie theater? (sorry, Hollywood – but there is such a thing as torrents. haha)

so when we saw the trailer for the movie “legend of the guardians: the owls of ga’hoole”, after some deliberation we decided to just download it. i wanted to see it in the theater because i love animated flicks, but hubby prefers to watch suspense/action films so we just compromised. hubby downloaded it for me.

legend of the guardians

we finally got to watch it last night – me, hubby and franco. and boy, was it a treat! anybody who dismisses it as just another kiddie flick simply because it’s in animation is really missing out on an awesome movie. it’s got everything: great story, “aww” moments, terrific action (who knew owl-to-owl combat could be so engaging?), a competent director (zack snyder, who directed another of my favorites, 300), and some of the most visually stunning scenes i’ve ever seen in a movie – animated or not.

soren in flight

there wasn’t a single moment when i felt bored. even franco’s attention was so caught up, he reacted in all the right places. he almost finished the entire movie without getting impatient or jittery, a feat almost unheard of for him at his young and active age.

the only complaint i have is that it ended too soon for me. although given the ending, i’m hoping for another installment coming soon. if ever there’ll be a part two, i’m definitely going to line up to watch it in the theater.

little eglantine - i want one of these! hehe

this is one movie that the whole family will love. but don’t just take my word for it – you can watch the trailer HERE.

gigil moment

forgot to post this the other day. scenario: dinnertime at home. franco eating dinner (chopsuey, rice and chicken), chesca’s cranky.

franco: “mommy, cry kika!”

(goes over to his sister and gives her a kiss; chesca stops crying.)

a few moments later..

franco: “mommy, give angko kika carrot! eat kika!” (franco give chesca carrot, eat chesca)

i look over to see franco spoonfeeding his baby sister some carrots from his plate.

i tell you, sometimes my heart feels like it’s gonna burst.

bubu and piglet, june 2010

love letter: to a hubby who makes me laugh

we have had many ups and downs. and, i’m sure, there are many more high and low points to come our way. after all, we still have a lifetime to go.

but one thing i’m thankful for is that we have each other. i’m glad that i’m with someone who doesn’t hesitate to tell me to my face when i’m being moody, point out what i need to improve on, and simply won’t let me get away with being a brat.

most of all, i love that you make me laugh day in and day out, even during the times when i want to scream and curse in frustration. sometimes all it takes is a look, a single line – and i would feel a smile creeping back on my face.

that’s not the only great thing about you, but that’s what gets me the most. the line “you had me at hello” is so old. “you had me with a wink, a laugh, a joke” would be more applicable for me. and i know that with you, i’ll still find it in me to smile when times are tough.

cheers to us, monkee. love you.

on the way home from batangas march 28 2007

basti's bday at boni high street. may 2007

aww.. boracay october 2007

love letter: to T, B and P

hello loveys. don’t know if you’ll be able to read this, i know you’re all busy nowadays, but anyway here goes..

thank you, thank you, thank you.. time and again, you guys have helped me through some tough days. whether it’s by dropping by (gulpi de gulat!), by letting me vent, by giving advice or simply being there and listening.. it really does help a lot just to know that you’re there. thank you.

T, you recently wrote your own “love letter” to B, saying that you’re a little bit envious of how close she and P were getting. i have to say, i can relate. you know, these past few years there’s this teeny part of me that’s been envious too. sometimes when the four of us are together, i find myself struggling to relate. it’s like i’m on the outside looking in, as you guys talk about common friends i haven’t met, makeup and fashion in which i’m totally clueless, and just basically share more together.

i know it’s not a conscious decision on your part. you would never deliberately shut me out or make me feel left out. it’s just that the changes in our lives in the past few years have been so drastic, specially in mine, that i find myself struggling to keep up, to relate.

i’m not saying this to get sympathy. it was inevitable: our lives have changed and so have we. but this is no sob story really. bear with me, i’m getting to my point now.

in spite of this, i am extremely proud. i’m proud of the fact that after more than a decade of friendship, we are still here. i’m proud of the fact that even after all the things i’ve missed out on in your lives because of my own struggles, you’re still there. i’m proud of the fact that even though we may each make new friends separate from our circle, we still confide in each other when times are tough. i’m proud of the fact that no matter how different we all are from each other, together we are still complete. and lastly, i’m proud of the fact that through the years we’ve grown up, but not grown apart. time and distance have somehow softened their impact on our friendship, and for that i am very thankful.

you guys are the best friends anyone could ever ask for. and with all the ups and downs we’ve gone through together in the past, i guess it’s safe to say that we’ll still be friends 10 years down the road.

so cheers to our differences, which somehow still bring us together and make us whole. every single day i’m happy and thankful that the phrase “out with the old and in with the new” won’t ever apply to us. here’s to 2011, another year of smiles, laughter, fishball sessions, impromptu food trips and photo shoots, beach love, and many more. love you beauties!

love letter: to you who shall not be named

i don’t know what to say.. or to be honest, i don’t know where to start. let me just keep this short then: i hope this coming year will be different. i hope you will be different.

because frankly, i don’t know how to deal with you anymore. it’s like dr. jekyll and mr. hyde – except in your case mr. hyde is about 80% in control. please don’t get me wrong, it’s not that you’re not nice. it’s just that almost everything you do turns out to have a hidden agenda; sometimes it just amazes me how single-minded you can get in trying to achieve what you want.

and even when i’m trying to be a friend and point out what it is exactly that makes people avoid you sometimes, you just don’t listen. as long as you think you’re right, you’re right. nothing else gets through your superb selective hearing.

i just hope that 2011 will bring about some changes. i know i need to be more patient, but i hope that you’ll meet me halfway.

to you who shall not be named, i hope 2011 is the year we truly become friends.

love letter: to my “cool” dad

we’ve always had an unusual relationship. i know that we’ve shocked people in the past, with the way we talk and what we say. I call you an old man, you call me a wiseass. it’s highly likely that they think me disrespectful simply because i tease you for being older than the hills.

i wouldn’t want it any other way though – you taught me that affection can’t be felt through words, but through action. you raised me  to speak up and speak out, and to deal with the consequences of my own choices.

i guess that’s why i’ve always considered you my best friend. even though you can be really strict and sometimes downright scary.. even though you’ve complained time and again that i don’t tell you much about my life, that you’re always the last to know.. and even though i don’t know much about your day to day routine either..

and that’s what some people don’t understand. they wonder how we can seem so close and still remain virtually strangers in some aspects. to them i say: being good friends doesn’t mean knowing the other person’s favorite colors, or what time they get up in the morning, or how they spend their day.

i’m just happy, dad, that you’ve always been there for me. you’re the sole person in my life who has never judged me, yet never been afraid to tell me straight to my face what was wrong. you’ve never minced words when it came to telling me the facts of life, and educated me on the different things i need to work on in my life. and i guess you’re the only one who’s ever made me feel really truly loved – with all my flaws and weaknesses. maybe as my dad, you didn’t have a choice, but then you never made me feel that way either: like i was just an obligation, a responsibility, a burden on your shoulders.

so yeah, we may not swap stories on what we do to fill our days, but we’re still friends. you’re still there for me, in every way that counts. and with all the ups and downs of the past few years, that’s what matters. you have no idea how grateful i am that you’re there.

love you dad.

march 2010, chesca's dedication

love letter: to those we miss

this is the first christmas without you. it seems cruel that we lost both of you this year, it makes it harder to feel the christmas spirit.

ate zen, we were just talking about you the other day. ate bing and david were recalling your story about the styrofoam wedding cake (ahem!), and how you almost served it to the priests. we laughed so hard, our faces were red.

papa, i think about you almost every day. it’s sad that franco hardly says “lolo” anymore when we pass by your picture, but don’t worry when he grows up, we’ll make sure he and chesca get to know you through us.

christmas 2010 is sadder without you. but i hope that you’ll be celebrating with us on christmas eve, happy together and munching on “heavenly” crispy pata.

advance merry christmas! we love you.

at sam's 10th birthday (2008)