The land down under

Me and the kids first set foot here in Sydney last May 15. The travel was ok aside from the occasional stressful scenes like if the kids get cranky on the plane. I had to also deal with frequent spit-ups and throw-ups from them. :)

Adjustment is not really an issue as far as I am concerned. It's just like we are in the Philippines, only with the cold weather which we love! It's getting winter here. I'm pretty lucky that I get to be with my mom until August to help me look after the kids. Super goodluck to me when she leaves by then! haha!

Overall, I am happy that we are living the way we planned and the way we wanted. We can never thank God enough for this wonderful opportunity.

Here's to a good life for us here in Oz!

Pre-Loved Items For Sale!

For those interested, please send me a private message to manel04@gmail.com

I can do meet-ups in Alabang for small items. All items are ready for pick up in our house. Email me if you are interested! :)


6-seater dining table: Php5,500



Avent Breast Shield: Php800




Next9 Baby Sling: Php1,000



PLAYSKOOL EXPLORE 'N GROW STEP START WALK 'N RIDE
at Php700.00



Battery-operated Educational Toy
priced at Php250.00



Play Mat
priced at Php300.00



Toshiba DVD Player
Priced at Php1,500.00



Diaper Organizer
Priced at Php600.00



Aprova Walker
Priced at Php500.00



Chicco Steam Sterilizer
Priced at Pho1,000.00



Hand-woven Duyan
Priced at Php200.00



Authentic Brand New Barbie Doll
Priced at Php400.00



Chicco Manual Breast Pump
Priced at Php400.00

Andrea Laureen Turns 1!

We held a party to celebrate Lolin's 1st birthday last April 11. Our original plan is to celebrate it in May since Daddy Ian will be here by then. However, nothing is final yet on when he will come home and for how long will he stay here before we take off to Oz, so we decided to have the party this April instead. I had only 5 days preparing for this including looking for a Jollibee venue. haha!

Venue: Jollibee Alabang Junction
My first choice is really Jollibee Festival Mall but as expected, all slots were booked for April 11 when I inquired. I initially have a pencil booking with them for May 9 but it was given to another client already when I forgot to renew my booking.

Just a tip on those who plan to celebrate in a fastfood, make sure that you count the food before the crew serve it. This was my first time with Jollibee (and to any fastfood for that matter) and I was surprised when I saw that the crew were already distributing the food to my guests. Some guests were left waiting for their food because apparently, they did not prepare the exact number. It was also very difficult to check on how many meals did they actually served. When I was about to settle my bill, they were charging me of 5 additional regular softdrinks because some guests requested for it. Duh?! I, myself didn't get to have a drink with my meal plus the ice cream included! I was firm that I will not pay for it plus they didn't have me sign for that. I waited for 30mins or so while the manager is nowhere to be found before i settled my bill. I could have just flown away without paying a cent!

Entertainment: Jollitown Mascots




It was my intention to have the 5 mascots present in the party. First, I anticipate the usual fastfood-party program to be, well, typically boring (sorry for this but this is my own opinion) so I wanted something that will "wow" the guests -- children and adult. True enough, my friends told me they were happy to experience all the mascots present in one party :) And you are right, the kids went enormously hyper when the gang came out. Twirlie was not in the picture because she already came out few minutes before we start the program to receive guests.


Face Painter: John Lord Tobias
My friend's brother is super talented that I got him as my face painter. I just bought face paint.




Party Favors: OMG (Oh My Gifts)






Me and my friend chanced upon this stall in ATC. They were selling cute cellphone holders at 50% off. Got these at 50 pesos each. Too bad they only have 50pcs on stock. For the kids, I bought cute ballpens also in OMG at 49pesos each. They gave me a 10% discount for the pens.

Birthday cake: Red Ribbon



I got this design with a matching Barbie doll which meant a cake and a toy for Laureen. Jollibee gave us a free medium-sized cake also.



Balloon Decors: Party Time
I got balloonderitas and two balloon pillars. They were also my supplier for Laureen's baptism last June.






Tarpaulin: Gail Monzon
My ever-reliable friend :)



Over-all, I was happy with the party considering the amount of time for the preparations. Oh, and the photos? All were courtesy of my guests whom I required to bring their own cameras. haha. It was a good idea since I had the pictures of ALL the guests :)

April 14

Last April 14, 2010 marked our 3rd yr wedding anniversary. The 2nd time that hubby is out of the country. I've actually met with my client that day and after two days, I went shopping! Well, that was one "happy" way to celebrate it, at least for me. :D

I got my 2nd lacoste bag (the 1st was also a gift from hubby) and a nice kenneth cole watch. I was leaning towards getting the imara keeva nike watch but hubby suggested i get a kenneth cole instead. Good thing i found a KC watch i like :)



oh and since the watch is on sale, i had the chance to get myself a havaianas slipper too!



Thanks to my dear hubby for giving me a budget to shop! Happy me!

Pre-Loved Baby Items FOR SALE!

Pre-Loved Baby Items:


"These are slightly used items of Inigo and Laureen. All are guaranteed still in good conditions. PM me for more info: manel04@gmail.com"

Laureen at 10 months!

This is my first video project. I was actually inspired by one of my nawie-sister who made an AVP for her son's 1st birthday. Nothing fancy, but I felt happy watching it. Hopefully I would be able to learn more about this before Lolin's first birthday. Teehee!

To our dear Lolin, you will always be our little princess! We love you! Happy 10th month!

Lolin at 10 months from manel cosinas on Vimeo.

Happy 2010!

There's so much to be thankful for the year 2009.

1. Daddy Ian got a new job and got his first trip to Sydney in end of March 2009. Though that meant he was out of the country when Andrea Laureen was born.

2. I gave birth to a healthy baby girl and managed to control my post-natal stress. haha!

3. We transferred to a new apartment which made us very much close to Mama's house! We only needed to hire one helper and it saved us much!

4. I started an events coordination business -- something that I want to do while being a SAHM. Something to look forward to and also became my ME-TIME.

5. And the very highlight of it all -- our Australian Immigrant Visa was approved.

We are really humbled and grateful for the Lord has been so good to us!

And so what's up with 2010? We are on the first week of February and the January just flew so fast. Since our visa was approved, Daddy Ian had to leave for Sydney early this year to (1) find a job, and (2) settle-down. He already accomplished job number 1 (and we are praising God for this). And now he is working on his job number 2 -- to settle down. Hopefully, we would be able to be with him come May. Can't wait!