myLIFE

Friday, December 26, 2008

Party is coming!

A week to go and all is set to the pool party we will have for Inigo.

Cake
Photography
Food
Venue
Giveaways
Entertainment
Decors
Music

We are trying to keep the party as simple and as relaxing as possible. Anyways, it's a pool party so most of the guests are looking forward for a lot of time in the pool :)

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Party Planning Updates

Last weekend was a long and a busy one. We were able to go home to San Pablo to visit some relatives of Daddy Ian and got the chance to book suppliers for the food, photographer and the venue. Teehee! And just today, we have finalized the invites and booked a supplier for the prints.

Things to do:
1. entertainment (clowns)
2. additional table and chairs -- since there is only a minimal number of tables and chairs available in the venue
3. finalize where to get the cake delivered -- dito ako mejo kinakabahan.. hahahah
4. double-check the lootbags -- just in case we will run short of these
5. finish the guestbook -- my DIY
6. finalize guestlist

.. seems like my list is getting longer and longer.. haha!

Pls vote: Party Invitation Design -- Thanks to all!

Thanks to all who dropped a line and voted from the designs. We were able to tally the votes and the winner is..... (tsaka na lang namin i-announce, so wait for the supplier ratings.. heheheh)

We already booked a print shop to do the printing for the invites and hopefully we can get it within this week for early distribution.. It's already December and it feels that December is just a short month considering the long weekends since people are very busy..

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Please vote: Party Invitation Design

hi friends,

after harassing my friend gail to do concepts and designs for Inigo's invitation, she (harassed-ly) came up with three designs. kindly vote which one of the designs is likely to be inclined with our theme: pool party.

Design1 (snorkeling)


















Design2 (fish)

Design3 (lifesaver)



You can vote by leaving a comment on this post :)
thanks!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Inigo's 1st---- <>

Oh well, oh well.. Only a month to go before the party and now I can honestly say that party preps is beginning to sink in.. haha.. good thing, me and daddy ian were able to book Emily for the cake today. Yoohoo! I'm so, so looking forward to the birthday cake of Inigo. Emily made a draft of the design and super nakaka-excite!

**CAKE - check!

We are also taking advantage of the upcoming long-weekend to book a resort and the photographer. Hopefully, we can book and reserve Joaqui's Private Resort and Nikko Taytay as the photog.

I still need to get my booty moving and hunting for a balloon workshop.. hmmm.... praying so hard for this! waaaahhh!

More planning, more exciting!

Friday, October 31, 2008

Trick me right!

Inigo's first Trick or Treat experience happened yesterday at Daddy Ian's office. He was on his bumble bee costume! When we got to the reception, all the kids were busy eating their packed meal and enjoying the Bee Movie. Everyone who saw Inigo was like, "ay, si bee movie!" Nakakatuwa kase swak yung costume nya dun sa movie.. hehehe...

Daddy's office is a 3-floor office of the building so imagine how many candies and goodies the kids were able to get. One thing to note, career to the max yung mga cubicles and rooms of different teams! Super nakakatuwa, as in pati ako nag enjoy kase it felt we were really in a haunted house with all the costumes and props everywhere!

Inigo wasn't able to have siesta before we head off at the office so on the 1st floor pa lang, nakatulog na sya. And everyone who saw him at that time was like, "ay napagod na si bee movie.."

here's a look on how many candies tita nice was able to hoard.. hehehehe




Looking forward to another trick or treating :D Enjoy the pics!

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Getting the Party Planning Started!

Actually, I have been trying to start party planning for the 1st bday of Inigo a couple of months back. And since that it is already October, I begin to realize to make the planning (through my head) in action!

I am busy hunting for a good venue right now. Me and Daddy Ian decided to have it in a private resort preferably in Calamba or in Los Banos since we want the party place to be accessible to his relatives in Laguna and mine in Cavite.

Here are some of the recommendations I got from my ever-reliable n@w friends:

Jonel Spring Resort and JC Manzano Resort c/o Marie
La Luz Beach Resort c/o Lisa
Casa Leonida and Rockpopint c/o Mec
Caleb and Jacob's Private Resort and Splash Mountain c/o Yayeen

I was able to also search via internet the Palm Ridge Resort and I really like the place.

I am giving myself until late next week to finalize the venue so that I can check that out of my list.

Tagged!





I love the blogs of these people and I’m glad to pass this award onto them! All they need to do is to leave the following message on their post when they pass the award on to their chosen eight bloggers.


They all are charmed with the blogs, where in the majority of its aims are to show the marvels and to do friendship; there are persons who are not interested when we give them a prize and then they help to cut these bows; do we want that they are cut or that they propagate? Then let’s try to give more attention to them! So with this prize we must deliver it to 8 bloggers that in turn must make the same thing and put this.Thanks Tin for this tag!

What a nice way of dealing with a rainy holiday.. :)

I'm passing this tag to all my blogger friends!

Friday, September 12, 2008

We're going to be 4!


So much blessings have come to our family and we can only thank God for that.
We are happy to announce that we are adding another angel to our happy and growing (as in fast growing) family! Inigo's little sister or brother will be coming out of my tummy in April 2009. I am thinking of giving birth on April 14th since it will be our 2nd year wedding anniversary. That sounds exciting for the birthday of our angel number 2!
Nothing compares with the excitement and thrill of knowing that there is another little soul inside of me.
More details about our pregnancy in the next posts!
Please pray for us as we patiently wait for the new addition to our family.

Monday, August 25, 2008

What uh-sCRAP!

I am so into this little thingy -- digi-scrapping. I have read and heard a lot of it but this is the only time that I braved trying on making one.

Since I am making and forcing myself to be busy in trying to come up with a concept for Inigo's 1st birthday, (yes, we are having a party! yoohoo!) I thought of making a guestbook through digiscrap. Well, oh-well seems like I have another addiction now.


I must've alloted space for the guests' birthday greetings, nho? hehe.. I really enjoyed lay outing the pictures and those thingies. What do ya think?!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Trying on a part time...

I was able to learn about a part time job opportunity from n@w (newlyweds@work) through Agnes. It is all about abstracting. Clueless as I was, I decided to read the post and asked how to apply and how to get qualified.

(Based from my own understanding, abstracting is synonymous to summarizing :D)

Going back to my story, Agnes was kind enough to email me the Information Sheet and the essay questions to accomplish before I get invited to the abstracting workshop. Yes, the company offers a free abstracting workshop. Then finally, I was able to attend last Saturday. It was a well-attended workshop - mostly are recruits of Agnes, and my co-n@wies (sorry girls if I wasn't able to bond with you that day. :( I was kind of "hiya" to approach you guys, :D)

Workshop was a big help for me since I was oh-so-clueless about abstracting. What I only have in mind is that I may earn extra moohlah on this.. teehee! There were some exams worksheets that day and I have to agree that you will need to have a good English vocabulary - as simple as the subject and verb agreement might be a little bit of a challenge :)

Just tonight, I got an email stating my user id and my password so that I can start with my new-found activity - abstracting!

Oh, I need to review the manual because my memory fails me every now and then since I had my CS! I need to brush up on the abstracting guidelines so that I will be able to produce more work.

abstracting = moohlah

Wish me luck on this!



Monday, August 18, 2008

Uh-oh...

looks like my brain had a short-circuit that I am having a darn hard time thinking what to blog about... geesh!

Sunday, August 03, 2008

Fun Day!

We had a fun day visiting Gymboree in Serendra and trying out the Play Class. (We got it for free by just registering beforehand and visiting gymboree's website.) It was the first time that Inigo played with kids almost his age. Though I must say that I enjoyed pretty much than Inigo did. Haha!
The Class - Oliver, Sachi, Inigo, Jak-Jak, and Althea

Inigo was so tired after the class and easily fell asleep on our way to Market! Market! while us - adults, had a quick lunch at KFC.

We were not convinced to end the day with just having fun playing with Gymbo so we therefore headed to The Picture Company at Bonifacio High Streets to have our family portrait taken and Inigo's first formal photoshoot. I am so excited to see the print(s)! haha! Will post another entry when we have the photo prints from TPC.

More pictures of Inigo's first Gymbo experience. :D







Monday, July 28, 2008

What's happening....

We went to visit Lola Lydia and Tita-Ninang Lanie last weekend. Come Sunday, we were able to attend the wedding of daddy ian's cousin. 'twas a garden wedding, too bad it rained. This was Inigo's first trip to tagaytay.
The weekend before the latest weekend, we had the chance to go to Mall of Asia and visited The Picture Company. I had our membership activated and hopefully we will be able to set up a photoshoot. (Still convincing daddy ian to schedule the photoshoot since he doesn't know yet the printing cost.. haha!) I am wanting for us to have a family portrait that is professionally taken... teeeheee!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Inigo's new toy - Little Touch Leap Pad

Inigo got his first tech-ie toy from daddy as pasalubong. He really enjoys playing with his little touch especially when he hears the ABC song.

Kids nowadays are fortunate to have toys like these :)

Saturday, July 05, 2008

On Being A Parent

I am a member of an internet yahoogroup called NewlyWedsAtWork and I have been learning a lot from the members of the group in managing our home. I would like to pick up the topic that was posted by a n@wie-mate Jeng Agustin and she posted a question "Why do you want to have children?"

I am so amazed with how the group members were able to share their insights regarding the topic. Yes, being a parent is a choice and it is a lifetime responsibility and I would like to share my insights:

Being a parent is a choice and a privilege.

A choice.

When hubby and I got married, we know that we both want to have a child. And we are blessed that we had a honeymoon baby :D Inigo is 6 months now and nothing compares to the kind of fulfillment that me and hubby feels. Yes, there are endless of sacrifices that we have to do along the way and as long as we live. But the fact that we chose to have Inigo in our lives makes us realize that it's all worth it.

A privilege.

Every child is a gift from GOD. No matter how hard we pray and how a couple wants to have a child, if they are not blessed by GOD, it won't happen. I know a couple who tries and tries to have a child but until now they haven't been pregnant. And all it takes is patience and faith to the Lord. The couple that I know will have theirs in God's perfect time.

I want to quote a n@wie-mate Mylene when she said. "But you know what, you'll never know how much love your heart can hold, until someone calls you a Mommy or Daddy :-)" She's hit the bull's eye!

Another thing, you will have an additional special day (aside from your birthday) every year - Mother's Day or Father's Day! Teeheee!

CHILDREN completes the FAMILY.

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Inigo's 6th month birthday!

To our baby Inigo,

You have been our source of joy, inspiration and hope.
Our day's worth is to see and watch you grow.
May God continue to bless and guide you.

We love you from every sense of the word.

-Daddy and Mommy


Friday, June 27, 2008

Another Milestone: Sitting on his own

A few more days to go and Inigo will turn 6 months old. One of his milestones now is his ability to sit on his own from his crawl position.



Our little tyke is getting busy by himself. Awww, he seems to grow up real fast!

Sunday, June 22, 2008

I've been tagged!


Thanks sis sheryll for this tag :D

--------- START HERE -------------

Instructions:
1. Copy and paste this tag from "Start Here" to "End Here." (don't forget the image)
2. Place your blog's name with your URL at the end of the tag. If you have more than one blog, please add them too! Just make sure that you post this tag in all of your blogs.
3. Tag 5 blogs that is not yet in this post (just to avoid duplications ^_^ )
4. This is the twist... Go to the 5 blogs that you tagged and comment on any of their posts. Why? So that search engines can crawl to your site. ^_^
5. Return to the Momhood Moments blog and leave a comment saying that you joined the tag together with the URL of the tag. I'll be checking on it and add you in the master list.

Momhood Moments Tags You List:1. Momhood Moments 2. Business Mars 3. Concealed Mind 4. Once in a Lifetime 5. The Sweet Life 6. Our Family Adventure! 7. ThinkingBox

I am passing this tag to all of my blogger friends! Enjoy!
--------- END HERE -------------

It's Raining, It's Pouring....

Something that the rain makes me feel - calmness. Raindrops make me stop and think for a while. I love feeling the coldness, i so love not getting out of the bed.

Today was spent playing with my kiddo. You bet, he's got some antics and stuffs now. Inigo can easily fill anybody's day. I miss spending my whole day with him. (Imagine how Daddy Ian misses those! :C)

Inigo tried his sweatshirt that me and Daddy Ian bought him a couple of months back at Rustan's. Thanks to typhoon frank 'cause I remembered the sweatshirt and tried it on to Inigo and finally realizing that 2 months from now, he won't be able to wear it and Inigo surely will outgrow the poor shirt! haha!

Here's what he looked like the entire day..





Friday, June 06, 2008

Inigo's Milestone - The Kiss

What could be more rewarding than getting a kiss from your baby?! This was taken just today.


Inigo's Milestone - Trying The First Step

This video was taken on his 5th month birthday, 02 June 2008.


Inigo's Milestone - The Close-Open

As early as his 4th month, he was able to close and open his hands. :D

Back from my hiatus!

I am happy to be back :D I have to admit that I have been very preoccupied at work. Even working at home after a long day in the office. Hayyy.. Anyways, I am now back in to my blogging world! hehehe


So much has happened for the past month. Inigo is growing up real fast! Daddy Ian left for the US and won't be back until 6 weeks. (Wala kaming daddy sa daddy's day! huhu!) We miss Daddy Ian badly...

Good thing there already exists internet and webcams. (I can just imagine how Mama feels before when Papa has to be overseas for 7 years! That must've real hard for both of them only looking forward to pictures and the weekly phone calls..)


More, more updates and blog entries from me, I promise! Haha!

Monday, May 05, 2008

Inigo's 4th month birthday

Mommy Led and Tita-Ninang Lanie were able to visit us in Makati last week taking advantage of the May 1 holiday. It was also Tita-Ninang Elaine's 25th birthday the day before.


We celebrated May 1 visiting Trinoma Mall. Had our miryenda-dinner at aVenetto Pizzeria.

Sunday, May 04, 2008

"HomeBound"

Whenever we fail to attend mass every Sunday, I see to it that we watch the Sunday TV Mass aired in channel 23. I am not really a "devoted Catholic" as what others may say but I am proud to say that I have a personal relationship with my Lord. I strongly believe that my faith and not my religion who will save me. :)

One of my favorite priests, Fr. Mario Sobrejuanite, SSP was the one who led the mass and I was again happy with his sermon. He talked about life - the life after death. Sure, all of us are so afraid to die and leave the earth. Most of us think that it is "the end" which in fact, it is "the beginning". Death gives a message not to the person who died but to the people still living. A message that death is something we must not fear but should be something we must look-forward to.

As I sit in front of the television, listening to Fr. Mario, I whispered a little prayer to my Lord. I asked Him to make my heart look-forward to meeting Him in my next life for I lift my life unto Him.

Looking-forward to be "home-bound"....

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Missing them...

It's almost a month since we relocated here in Makati. I should say that we're pretty much happy with our decision. But of course, there's also a lot of things that we miss down south. Quite frankly, it's the friends that we left behind whom we missed.

To Pet, Farrah and Bhe:

The happy horse weekend sessions are truly missed (most especially by daddy ian.. hahaha) Hope to see you all the soonest.

2008 Beach Getaway

Me and hubs managed to set foot on the beach this year with my college best buddies. We have been going to San Juan, Batangas since 3 or 4 years ago when San Juan is still not famous for their beach. Egotistic as we can be, we would like to think that we were the ones who discovered Virgin Beach Resort, Sabangan Beach Resort, and now the Triple G Beach Resort. hahaha..

Virgin Beach Resort (May 21, 2004)

the resort's beach front

Sabangan Beach Resort (May 9, 2005)


Triple G Resort (April 19, 2008)


We would like to believe that as far as beach resorts are concerned, we are always in-the-lookout!

Until next beach getaway, my dear friends!

Thursday, April 24, 2008

20 years from now...


He might be a computer wizard someday....

It's amazing how fast tiny tikes develop nowadays. At 3 months old, Inigo displayed interest in our home laptop that he enjoys playing with the keyboard and checking the monitor from time to time.

Congratulations to us, daddy ian for having a smart tike!

Another Milestone..


Books make a genius...

The Signature

I have been working my butt at work since this week and I feel so blessed to be given the opportunity to share my knowledge as an HR Practitioner. The trust that my company has given to me is valuable and I am positive that I have found my own niche in the industry.




Manel U. Cosinas
HR Manager
OPTWIZE INC.
"Your Strategic Outsourcing Partner"
www.optwize.com


I missed sending emails with signatures. haha!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Certified WORKING MOM!

I started my first day at work yesterday and I am now officially a "Working Mom".

More updates to come.. Have a great week everyone!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

World Wide Link Love

Thanks, Happy for this tag!

~ start copying here ~

Join the Worldwide Link Love!

Benefits of Worldwide Link Love:
1. Make new friends around the world.
2. Feel the Link Love.
3. Gain new readers and subscribers.

Rules:1. Copy from ~start copying here ~ to ~ end copying here ~ and paste it on your blog.
2. At the end of the list, put your name and the country your in, it doesn’t matter what’s your nationality just put the country where you are publishing your blog. Don’t forget to put links at your name.
3. If u have many blogs, you can link all of it, just make sure you post the same on each blog.
4. Tag eight (8) or more of your blog friends.
5. Tip for blogspot users: make sure you copy and paste the code in Compose mode.

Worldwide Link Love! Participants:
1. Julia (Philippines)
2. Catherine (Malaysia)
3. shimumsy(u.s.a)
4. Mitch (Philippines)
5. Hailey (Philippines)
6. Sexymom (usa)
7. Summer (usa
8. EED (Philippines)
9. H & S (Philippines)
10. Petradear (usa)
11. Happy (Philippines)
12. Manel (Philippines)

I'm passing this tag to Issa, Maan, Toni, Abi, Doc Joey, Anna, Nol, and Nancy.

Friday, April 11, 2008

On our own...

After almost a year of living with my parents, hubs and I decided to finally get a place of our own to live. We decided to settle in Makati since hubs is working there and to cut cost on his meal and transpo allowance. By the way, the condo is just a block away from hub's office. :)

We hired a helper/nanny to help us looking after Inigo for the times that I have to attend job interviews. (I am still in the process of attending endless interviews with different companies and as of now, no job offers yet. That is another subject to be blogged. :))

We are pretty happy with the place though parking is very challenging. After a week, we still do not have a parking space so we just settle to pay the parking on a daily basis. Geesh!

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Proud Mommy

This morning, our Inigo can now lie on his stomach on his own. Another milestone and hubby and I are happy that we were able to witness it. ( si daddy pala namin tulog pa. hahaha)


He can also hold his bottle even if it's too big to handle. haha!





Inigo's 3rd month birthday!


We celebrated Inigo's 3rd month last April 2 with a pancit and three cupcakes from GoNuts with candles. You bet, Inigo enjoyed staring at his cupcake and the candle. Yum yum!

P.S. Happy 27th birthday also to Ninang Ruby!

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Our Family Equation



Ian+Manel=Inigo


I am passing this tag to all my blog friends. Let me know if you are already done with yours! I would love to see your family equations!

Have fun!

Portraits

I so love taking pictures of my two boys and myself, of course!

Lucky me, I have a friend who is very supportive of enhancing the pictures I took to make it more classy! (Thanks Gail!)


Ian.Inigo
Manel.Inigo

I'm back!

After a looong break from the blogging world, i'm happy to say that I AM BACK! Yiheee!

Just an update on what has been keeping me busy for the last few days:

1. Scouting for a house in Makati
2. Holy week vacation at Silang, Cavite and San Pablo, Laguna
3. Yaya-hunting
4. Job-Hunting

Oh well. We are very excited and looking forward to transferring to our new condo in Makati by next week. Yeba!

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Around the W-O-R-L-D!

1. Place your link after the list. If you have more than 1 blog, feel free to add them all here!2. After placing your blog’s address/es, you must tag 5 or more bloggers that is not yet in the list, this is to keep the ball rolling.
Links around the world tag (update as of Mar. 18, 2008)
1 - Momhood Moments 2 - Business Mars 3 - Pinay Mommy Online 4 - OnlineBiz and Resources 5 - A Simple life 6 - moms….. check nyo 7 - Mommy’s Little Corner 8- Princezz 9 - Princess 10 - Random Thoughts 11 - Paradigm 12 - See Me For What You Will 13 - Pamp’s Blog Corner 14 - Pampered 15 - HappyHeart 16 - Qtcotzkie and Baby 17 - A Sorta Fairytale 18 -tragicseven 19 - Listen to the Beat! 20 Just Saying 21 Tipsy Tips 22 Different Angles 23 Delicious Corner 24 I Care 25 Blog Blag Blog 26 Daily List 27 - Life’s Journey 28- Welcome to my Crib 29 - Hearts Desire 30 - Island Paradise 31 - Texas Life 32 - Long Journey 33 - D’ Cooking Mudra 34 - My life 35- Swept Away 36 - Winged Words 37 - Rainier and Katrina 38 - Life! Learn it. Live it. Love it. 39 - Colour Our World 40 - The Next Chapter 41 - Painted Life 42 - Jannesse 43 - Shopaholic Pat 44 - A Matter of Perspective 45 - Ang Therapist 46 - Endometriosis & Fertility Resource Page 47 - Freebies Australia 48 - Abstract Musings 49 - Thinking Box
I'm tagging Morrise, Nancy, Mommy Ruby, Arlene, and Donna

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Hibernating....

have not been blogging for 3-straight days now due to my hectic schedule :)

to leah and anna, will work on the tags hopefully early next week! am super busy talaga.. ;)

got to go now!

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Linky Lurvh!

ntis....the title was supposed to sound like how an Aussie-girl pronounce love.. ;)

I was Link Lurvhed by Happy!

Rules:Cut and paste the following starting here. I have randomly selected 5 of you below to be tagged and I hope that you will similarly publish this post in your blog. You will have to tag 5 other bloggers and just keep adding on to the list. (Do not replace, just keep on adding! Yes we hope it will be a long list!)It’s real easy! Tag others and see your Technorati Authority increase exponentially! The benefits of Viral Linking:- One of the fastest ways to see your technorati authority explode!- Increase your Google PageRank fast- Attract large volume of new traffic to your site- Build your community- Make new friends!The Strategist Notebook, Link Addiction, Ardour of the Heart, When Life Becomes a Book, The Malaysian Life, Yogatta.com, What goes under the sun,Roshidan’s Cyber Station, Sasha says, Arts of Physics, And the legend lives, My View, My Life, A Simple Life, Juliana RW, The Callalily Space, Petra Summer in Blue, Confessions of an Army Wife Bless’ Sanctuary Happy Life, http://bless519.bravejournal.com/, La Place de Cherie, Chez Francine, Le bric a brac de Cherie, Little Peanut, Pea in a Pod, The Creative In Me, Me and Mine, Pinay Mommy, Expressions from the Heart, TeacherJulie, Sweetbites by Bang, Paul, Toni and Lance - Bridging the Distance, Our Growing Family, The Uncensored life of me, My Untamed World, Something Purple, A Detour, Something Purple, Wifespeaks, Changing Lanes,Bits and Pieces , Life Together Starts , A Housewife%sq243%s Journal, Joey M.D., The Working Mom, Online Raket, Idle in Makati, Thinking Box

I am passing the love to liza, concon, jenny, kaye, rhoda

Monday, March 10, 2008

Of Filipino Beauty Pageants...

I am not an avid viewer of each and every Filipino Beauty Pageant there is that is why I was not able to watch the coronation night however, I would like to pick up the controversy as they say, on the last Bb. Pilipinas Beauty Pageant. A friend forwarded a Youtube link in my yahoomessenger and I was so shocked when I saw the video.

I truly believe that sending the candidate in the Ms. World pageant will be a misrepresentation of a true Filipina. WE ARE BETTER THAN THIS. What happened to the judges?! I would understand if the decision was through text voting. Tsk. We really are better than this.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=xKwmseoKFCo

PLEASE HELP US FIND THIS YAYA (NANNY)!

I am re-posting this to help Mommy Carol in her hunt for this BAD YAYA..
If you happen to encounter this person, please let us know where you found her.

HELP US FIND THIS YAYA
Posted by carol on Mar 7, '08 7:26 PM for everyone
I am still in shaken up. I am actually struggling writing this down.
But here is a story I have so often read about, but never thought would happen in my own house, with my children at stake. Here are the events, just to update the details from my brother's email. I obviously did not get to give him clear details for we were so preoccupied with all the nitty gritty that has to be done to respond to this particular incident. Nonetheless, I, of course, thank Carl for taking the initiative to inform everyone he thought should know.

March 3, Monday - Ken and I got home and saw Ricci's arm with bruises that appears to be a mark from a tight grip. Usually, Ricci tells me how she gets hurt, but when I asked her this time, she just said she doesn't know or tried not to answer.

March 5, Wednesday - Ken and I got home and again saw a small wound on Ricci's forehead. Again, we asked her of what happened and we got the same response.For these two incidents, I kept asking the yaya how the bruises and the wound happened. Fishing out, not showing her that we suspect her of hurting Ricci. On both occasions, the yaya just responded with "Hindi ko nga alam e. Hindi ko napansin. HIndi naman umiyak..." and so on, the typical defensive answers. But despite her sounding guilty, I told myself that it could be one of three things: 1-di nya binabantayan mabuti yung bata; 2-wala syang pakialam kung masugatan since she doesn't seem to know (daw) how Ricci gets hurt; or 3-sya mismo ang nanakit sa bata. Ken and I were getting ready to pin these on her, though, but we needed concrete evidence. We talked about getting a cheap surveillance camera and all that. We were actually trying to be patient (and you have no idea how hard it is to wait on this if you are the parent of the child being abused), and we wanted to do the smartest thing for the situation. I took pictures of the bruises and the scratch.....

March 6, Thursday - Ken and I arrived about 9 pm with Manang Linda, our long-time helper who is based in my brother and sister-in-law's house (Carl and Rox). The front door was unlocked, which caused Ken to worry. He opened the door to the garage for me and ran up to our room immediately to check on the kids.
Here's the usual scenario when we get home: Yaya Josie would be in the room and the kids would be in a corner somewhere hiding and waiting for us to look for them.
The scene was different on March 6, though, as the yaya was nowhere in the room. The kids were hiding, but without the yaya to be seen, that caused panic to us. And then there were cheering and jumping when we found them in the bathroom of the master's bedroom. Then Cushie said, "Ate just bought something." I said, "What? She left you here?" Although Ken already had already thought that the yaya was gone, he hurried to the maid's room to find that her things are no longer there - a confirmation. I asked Cushie if he knew the time the yaya left, he responded, "7". He's 5, but he can tell time, so it's highly possibly that the yaya has been gone since 7 pm that night. That's 2 hours of my children being by themselves!

The second floor of the house was upside down - my mom's closet of curtains, bedsheets and blankets, my closet -my bags, hats, clothes, the playroom (can you believe it?)...every room in the 2nd floor!!!! She tried to get anything of value that she can trade for cash. She got my cellphone (which is already deactivated), my Sony Cybershot digital camera (with pictures from Gael's birthday, Ken's birthday and more of family's), about 400++ cash, groceries (fresh meat), Ken's charger. So far, these are the items we found missing. We haven't had the time to check the entire house yet because we preoccupied with laying down options for the next steps we should do.We called ferry transits and asked when the next trips to Cotabato (her hometown) are. We have printed photos of the yaya (thank God, Carl has copies. I had some, but, yun nga, my camera was stolen. So the pictures I took of Ricci's bruises and scratch are also gone). We have had the yaya blottered already.
We're really serious about this. I am asking everyone for whatever help you can give to find her. I now realize that when people send emails with this could happen to you's, you should not take the warning for granted. This, something so prevalent, happened to us, to my darling Ricci. Please help us, even by just disseminating this information.

Thank you,
Carol Bustos-Santiago

Information about the yaya:

Name: Josephine Gatan
Age: 43
Skin color: somewhere between fair and kayumanggi-ish
Hair: dyed-brown long, curly
Contact number (if she hasn't thrown her sim card yet): 09203740311


Please contact us if you have any information about her:
029620547
09162219352
029249542
029203319

Sunday, March 09, 2008

Awards: Lots and lots of them!

I was too happy to be receiving these awards from leah. Such a sweet person, doesn't she?!
Thanks much much!