Ideas how to earn additional money

It's summer time!! It is time for those out of town trips to Boracay or Palawan. But where would you get those additional cash for your trip? As you know during summer our expenses also increase. Like in electricity bills: due to opening of airconditioner, water bills: due to those frequent showers you take to feel refresh. Here are some ideas you might want to try to get some additional income.

1. Garage Sale
Look for things in your closet or bodega that you are no longer using. In our case, since we need to buy a bar stool for our house, we decided to have a Garage Sale via our office. What we did was took a photo of all the things we don't need anymore and post it in a shared folder in our office. As of this writing we already had a sale of around 5K pesos. yehey!

2. Freelance
If you have a special skill that you can offer like doing Website etc. try to market it to prospective clients. You can do this during your free time. You don't need to shell out some money for this, all you need is some talent and proper training.

3. Crafts and Hobbies
You could also sell your creations or products of your hobbies like baked goods, beads bracelets, Scrapbooks etc. You should also find a way to make money from the things your are doing right now. If you are a stay at home mom, why don't you also baby sit some other kid or baby. These are great ways to earn money because you will really have a genuine interest in what you're doing.

4. Direct Selling
You can do this on your spare time. Just sign up with a direct selling company. Wait for your application to be approved then you can start selling. Some of these companies provide training to help your selling skills.

5. Invest, lend money and hope it will be repaid with interest.

Tongyang @ Megamall atrium

Our section had a party at Tongyang located at Megamall Level 4 atrium. It’s eat all you can!  Yehey! I was so excited because it’s my first eat all you can after removing my gall bladder.  Prior to my operation I was unable to eat meat and other fatty foods like bbq for a long time.

Tong Yang serves a wide variety of dishes. They have pork, beef, chicken, seafood, vegetables, sushi, desserts and beverages. It’s nice for large gathering because people can chat while cooking their food. Actually it’s my second time in Tong Yang. The first time was before they renovated their store. And I must say that the ambiance it created was very nice.

Saizen At Robinsons Galleria

Last Thursday, we finally got around to going to Saizen at Robinsons Galleria located at Level 3 East wing. It’s like we are in Japan again. When our company sents us in Kobe, Japan for business trips we usually visit the 100-yen stores to buy stuff to be used in dormitories like plates, kitchen utensils, frying fan etc. due to budget constraints.

Last April 2009, the real 100 yen shop opened its first branch at Robinsons Galleria. It covers 800 square meters of space with thousands of different kinds of  merchandise. This store is originally called Daiso in Japan, but somebody copied the concept and also took the name. Now the real Daiso franchise owners can’t even use their own name, hence the name Saizen.

Me and my husband spend more than 2 hours going around the store, and bought a lot of items for our house like utensils organizer, hangers, can openers and others. All items are worth 85 pesos. What’s nice, the store accepts credit card. We’ll definitely go back.

Common baby ailments and my remedies

1.  Diaper rash == Calmoseptine
Diaper rash is a very common condition that can cause a baby’s skin to become sore, red,  and tender. As for Migi he develops rashes whenever he poopoo unnoticed and the soiled diaper are left on for too long. We tried putting Vandol, which is an ointment we usually put on when we have burned skin. But Vandol is not effective for Migi. His pediatrician informed us to use  Calmoseptine. When we use this one, diaper rash disappeared immediately after one day. You can buy this at any drug store in sachet form and spread it thickly to the affected area every diaper changed. Make sure your baby’s bottom is already clean and dry.

2. Cradle cap == Cetaphil
Cradle cap among babies is also very common. If your baby’s scalp has flaky, dry skin that looks like dandruff, or even thick, oily, yellowish or brown scaling or crusting patches, it’s most likely cradle cap. Solution changed whatever shampoo your baby is using to Cetaphil Skin Cleanser. Yes you read it right, the cleanser which sensitive skin people used.

3. Congested nose or hardened booger == Sterimar Baby Nasal Spray
Sterimar is a gentle nasal spray based on sea water with its concentration of sodium chloride reduced to the level found in the human body.  Sometimes Migi wakes up at the middle of the night having a hard time breathing, or sometimes he has a large booger (kulangot) stuck in his nostrils. To prevent these from happening, spray on the Sterimar into the nostrils. Warning though, we are a three man team when we put Sterimar into Migi’s nose. One person holds the baby in a slanting position, one person who will hold the baby’s head still and one person will spray the Sterimar into the nose.

4. Diarrhea == Pedialyte
One thing that must never happen whenever your baby has diarrhea is to be dehydrated. Pile your baby up with water or if possible use Pedialyte. It is an oral electrolyte solution that is specifically designed to replace fluids and minerals (electrolytes) that are lost when a child has diarrhea.

5.  Mosquito Bite Prevention == Chicco No Zanza Gel Protection
From 0 months onwards, Chicco No Zanza Gel Protection is indeed very helpful.  It could  protect Migi in keeping those little vampires away, for hours. You could buy it at any SM Store (baby section). Warning though it’s smell is strong and price is expensive (almost 400 pesos).

6. Strong teeth and gums == Sans Fluo Toothgel cleanser
As of this writing, Migi already has 2 lower teeth. To clean his teeth we use Sans Fluo and a toothbrush. The toothpaste does not contain any fluoride and is specially formulated for infants and toddlers ages 0 months to 6 years old. One good thing about it, is its safe to swallow.

What changed after I become a Mom…

First and foremost, the saying is true, you will never truly appreciate your mom until you are one yourself. I love and appreciate my mom now more than ever. From the time we are still in our mothers womb until we became independent through their guidance is a great feat. Kudos to all the moms out there.

Second. You know the true meaning of early to bed, early to rise. At seven months, my son sleeps at 8:00pm and wakes up before the sun comes out, usually at 5:00am. And if we get really lucky he wakes up at 4:00am. hehe  Oh how I miss the days when I woke up and it is already noon. =)

Third. You forego buying the expensive shoes or cell phone you’ve been dying to have for something that your son will be needing like a crib or a stroller. During shopping his needs comes first.

Fourth. You’ll know why God made your breast. Even though I only breastfed for 2 months (due to low supply), breast milk contains important nutrients to help give your babies immunity to certain ailments. Breast milk is still best for babies!

Fifth. You’ll wonder why that toothless smile from your baby after you’ve arrived from the office removes all of your stress.

Sixth. You take care of yourself more because you know there’s a little person depending on you to take care of him until he grows up.

Oh how I love our son. And I hope he will forgive me if ever I make some boo-boos as a first time mom.

Pic-A-Boo Migi

Last April 3, 2010, Migi had a pictorial at “Pic-A-Boo” located at 5th floor Mega Atrium, SM Megamall. We finally got the prints of his pictures today (hmp! after 16 days!). The good thing about this store is that they provide costumes like superheroes, cartoon characters etc. The shots are unlimited but they don’t give  out the softcopy. You can choose up to 3 costumes for your baby per session. Regarding the prints, there are several packages to choose from. We  choose 6 metallic print (size 4R) which cost around 1,260 pesos. The costumes we choose were superman, ladybug and winnie the pooh.

At first, Migi was game but as the photoshoot progressed he became irritable. Maybe because it’s hot since he is wearing a costume and he is unfamiliar with the surroundings and the photographer. We tried to make him smile, even his yaya made silly faces to make Migi smile, but it’s useless. He began to cry when he was wearing the last costume (winnie the pooh). That is why we didn’t have a good shot to choose from among the winnie the pooh shots.

Regarding the service, I had to comment about 2 incidents that happened with regards to Pic-A-Boo. First was during the day of photoshoot, when we arrived in the store there was a photoshoot on-going. So they informed us that our schedule was 3:30pm and that they would text me if it is our turn. So we strolled around Megamall, come 3:30pm I was wondering why they haven’t texted me yet. I thought maybe it is not yet our turn. We went back to the shop at 4:00pm and the staff told be they forfetied our schedule since we did not arrived on time. They told me we should have come 10 minutes before our scheduled. This was their SOP. I told them how come no one informed me regarding this and I thought they are going to text me. We waited until the on-going photoshoot is finished, so that  they can accomodate us.

Second incident was regarding the claiming of the picture, they told me we can claim the pictures after 10 days and they would contact me if it is already printed. 10 days had gone by and there was no call or text. I called up their shop last monday and they told me the pictures are already there but 1 out of 6 pictures have a damage. They informed me they will re-print it. So I said OK, I will pick up the picture if all of them are already ready. Last Friday I called again to inquire if the pictures are ready. A Staff there said all the prints are already there. Today, I went to their shop and found out to my dismay that  the damaged picture is not yet re-printed. I told them I called last week and it is already fix. My problem was I didn’t get the name of the staff, who said the pictures are already OK.  I questioned them why this incident happened, maybe they don’t have any form of monitoring. They informed me that their printer broke down and as soon it is fixed they will reprint the picture.

Good thing, their output was quite impressive, I was so happy seeing Migi’s pictures that my irritation dissappeared.

I posted the best picture as voted by his lola and aunties (Sorry it’s  a scanned copy only)

Our new bar stool

We transferred to our new house in Greenwoods last August 2009, right before our son was born (September 9, 2009).  We had a kitchen counter top customized where you could eat or just hang around but the problem was, we have no bar stool. Today we went to Mandaue foams because I’ve heard they have a sale and found the perfect bar stool for us.
Check out our new bar stools.

The bar stool is only 1,200 pesos each and we got it for 20% discount. We also bought a customized bed foam for Migi’s crib and playpen. It is made of  Memory foam. Haven’t check the quality of output yet because it will be ready after 1 week.
Mandaue Foam Inc. is currently on sale until May 2, 2010. All items for20% discount. Their products includes furniture like sofas, dinning set, bed frames, ottomans, side tables, office desk, chairs, carpets, lighting and mattress foam.

There are 2 branches that I know, you might want to check it out.
KM 23, Ortigas Avenue Extension, Cainta, Rizal
Quezon Ave.cor, BMA Ave.,Quezon City

BPA free bottles

Choose a bottle that is BPA free for your baby.
First what is BPA? It is short for Bisphenol-A, which is a chemical that is actually an artificial estrogen. It is used to create the plastic called polycarbonate. Research have shown that BPA are harmful to animals and people especially for babies. It appears to mimic the effects of estrogen, interfering with hormone levels and cell signaling systems. People exposed to high levels of BPA have a greater risk of developing uterine fibroids, breast cancer, decrease sperm counts and prostrate cancer.  If you want to avoid any bottles that contains it, look for the #7 recycling symbol or “PC” on the bottom. That’s usually a sign that the bottle contains BPA.

There are many bottles that are BPA free like Avent, Born Free etc. As for my baby, his bottle is Tommee Tippee although it’s expensive, its BPA free and its teat mimics mum’s breast so you can switch easily from breast to bottle and back again without the trauma.

Emergency Preparedness

Our company gave us a Grab and Go kit. It is composed of a flashlight and whistle, these are to be used during power failure, earthquake and other emergencies that might happen during office hours.

The flashlight is a common emergency essential. It is crucial to be able to see what you are doing and where you are going in an emergency. The company gave us a crank type flashlight. These type of flashlight has a lever that you can crank or pump for light. But what is the whistle for you might ask…

A Whistle is an important part of emergency preparedness planning, as you never know when you will be in a situation where you will need to whistle for help. In this day and age, many people do not think that a whistle is necessary because we have cellphones. However, if you are underneath an earthquake rubble or stranded in a flash flood trying to signal for a rescue team, or if your child is in trouble and does not have a cell phone, a personal emergency alarm, such as a whistle, can be of utmost importance.

Given the disasters happening around the world like storms and earthquakes, we must allot time to prepare for our own emergency kits in our homes so we will be ready in case of an emergency.

Gallstones (Multiple Choleliths)

Last year 2009, I would suddenly woke up with a severe pain in my stomach that would run throughout my lower back. I would also vomit whatever I’ve eaten that night. During November and December 2009 I would notice that I would have these episodes whenever I ate chicken joy at night. So we suspected it was the culprit. But during the last week of January these episodes became a nightly routine and that is when I decided to consult our company doctor. Dr. Morales ordered an ultrasound. And last February 1, 2010  I was diagnosed with multiple choleliths or gallstones, largest one is measuring 0.5cm.
According to Dr. Morales, gallstones usually remain asymptomatic initially meaning they don’t manifest but once the person experience intense pain in the upper abdominal region spreading towards the back, this is the time that treatment is needed. Often attacks occur after a particularly fatty meal and almost always happen at night.

I have two options, one is to change my diet and lifestyle, meaning low cholesterol, low fat diets (Goodbye pizza, goodbye burger, goodbye lechon!) to prevent these gallstones “attack” and the other is to have an operation removing my gallbladder. We opted for change in diet because I just recently undergone Cesarean operation. For 3 weeks, I only ate mostly salads with no dressing, fruits and steamed fish. I loosed approximately 2 kg in 3 weeks. I would have continued this complete change of diet had my pain didn’t re-occur. During the last week of February 2010, I would have these gallstones attack even if I ate vegetables and fruits. Worse I would experience these attacks even during office hours after every meal. The doctor said that my gallbladder is already inflamed so even if I drink only water it would trigger the attack. Also since my gallbladder is already inflamed, there is a chance that the gallstones will move to any of the ducts connecting to the gallbladder, liver or pancreas that would lead to serious complications and organ damage.
I also found out that my father-in-law had gallstones. One time he had a severe abdominal pain that would not subside, he was rushed to the hospital. There he was diagnosed with gallstones and had an emergency operation to removed the gallbladder. Since I don’t want my situation to turn into an emergency, I decided to have my gallbladder removed.

Last February 27, 2010, I had my gallbladder operation in UST Hospital. The operation was a success, and when they biopsy my gallbladder it contained green cholesterol stones. I took a leave of absence from office for about 3 weeks to recuperate. I experience loose bowel movement for about 1 week and would always feel full. My wound opened up a bit and became infected because I carried my son when he was sick with fever and measles. My surgeon just gave me antibiotics and advised me not to carry anything heavy….

Now after 1 month, I’m back to normal and I can now carry and take care of my son all I want.

Baby Signs

Migi is already 7 months old and we are teaching him some Baby signs. What are baby signs? It is a technique that will enable to communicate with your baby before your baby can talk.  Research says that infants develop the fine muscles in their hands before they develop those required for speech, so they will be equipped to communicated with their parents before they can speak.

We decide to teach Migi 3 signs for now. Milk, Diaper, and Sleep. This is because babies usually gets frustrated if their needs isn’t easily met. We will show the sign everytime we do the activity. Example when he is drinking milk, we will use the sign before or during the activity. Below are the figures for signing Milk, Diaper, and Sleep.

To sign “sleep”, lay your head on your hands.

To sign ” milk, open and close your fist as if you were milking a cow

To sign ” diaper”, open and close your first two fingers and your thumb at your waist.

Research says we must keep signing until the baby begins to sign back. Usually babies can takes weeks or months before making their first sign and you can teach babies to sign as early as 6 months.
Will keep you posted if Migi begins to sign back.  =)

Mommy’s Letter to Migi

Dear Migi,

Happy 7th month birthday! Time flies so fast, you’ve grown and changed in the past 7 months… your not a baby anymore you’re a little boy now.
You can already walk using the walker and its a first step towards your independence. You can already roll over so many times  just like an action star. You snore like your dadee when you sleep at night. Everyday I thank God that I am with you and can see all of your milestones.
I love you so much and my world is much a better place now since you are in it. Thank you for just being you and I will do my best as your mommy.

– Mommy

May 2010 Elections

The 2010 Election is only 32 days away.  Unfortunately, I cannot exercise my right to vote because my registration was deactivated. My officemate mentioned that she received a letter informing her registration is deactivated because she  failed to vote in the last two elections. Since, we  recently moved from Manila to Rizal province, I did not received such letter from COMELEC. I checked the Comelec website to investigate if my registration is active or deactivated because during the last 2 elections I was sent by our company to Japan for business trip and therefore was unable to vote.
This is the website. http://www.comelec.gov.ph/precinctfinder/precinctfinder.aspx

After filling up the form and hitting the "Find Now" button, below is the result. "Your registration record has been deactivated. A deactivated registration status means that you cannot exercise your right to vote this coming election. I called up the precinct where I previously registered and it is confirmed…. I cannot vote this coming 2010 May Elections.

The quest for finding a yaya for Migi

Migi is turning 7 mos this coming Friday, but he was already handled by 3 different yayas.
Flashback..

Yaya#1  – a.k.a. Ana  (Age: 19)
[Profile]: Single, high school graduate, already had 1 child, from Leyte
[Duration]: 2009-09-10 ~ 2009-11-21 (2.5 mos)
[Side story]: Ana was with us from the time Migi was born. Last November 21, 2009 she availed her day off. Did not come back after wards leaving all her things and clothes with us. From what we heard from her cousin (since her cousin is the yaya of our nephews) she eloped with a guy she eye-balled. First problem: she advanced her salary for 1 month because her father was sick and needed money for hospitalization. But since she ran off… O well goodbye money… Second problem she caused, was we needed a replacement ASAP because my maternity leave would be over after a week and I needed to go back to office.
[Lessons Learned]: Don’t give advancement of salary no matter what.

Yaya#2  – a.k.a.  Letty (Age: 50)
[Profile]: Widowed, mother of 6 children, youngest child is 12 years old, from Cubao
[Duration]: 2009-11-2o ~ 2009-12-24 (less than 1 month)
[Side story]: Letty was a mother figure to us. But since she was old, some of her methods of taking care of baby is also old. One example is I specifically told her not to let Migi nap/sleep on his stomach (Nakadapa na position) because there was a risks of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) when babies sleep that way. But my mom (which luckily lives next door) caught her numerous times. When I confronted her about it she said Migi sleeps longer in stomach position. Hmmm…  more time for her to rest?!? She also dislikes cleaning the 2nd floor of our house. Reason: she said she hears voices in our room, she claims there are ghost living in our house…. She asks for  a Christmas vacation and promised to come back on January 2, 2010. She never came back.
[Lessons Learned]: Not to get an old yaya because you can’t teach old dogs new tricks.

Yaya#3  – a.k.a.  Jean (Age: 19)
[Profile]: High school graduate,  single, from Zamboanga
[Duration]: 2010-01-05 ~ 2010-04-09 (3 months)
[Side story]:  After a week of working as a yaya and household help, she wants out. Reason she cannot do yaya and household work together because she said my son is too heavy. Ouch! that hurts! (my son was already 19lbs @4mos). Our solution was to get another person to do household work. After that she decided to stay. She recommended her cousin, Erica. But since our house is too small for 2 household help, and during weekends we are the one taking care of our son, there are lots of idle time for them. The weird thing is even if there are the two of them our house seems dirtier than ever. And since they are cousins, when something wrong happens (e.g. broken dishes, lost things) they would hid it among themselves and would not admit it even when confronted. Another thing was I got my telephone bill yesterday. Lo & behold my bill was expensive. Apparently Erica is using our landline phone to call her friend’s cellphone.  Haayyy naku!!!
Last week they ask permission to leave their job because they would be going back to their province.
[Lessons Learned]: Give a daily detailed schedule of tasks to household help so they would know what we are expecting. Set house rules at the beginning of employment.

Yaya#4: unknown…
and so the quest for finding a yaya for migi continues…..

BDO’s Junior Savers Club

When our son was born, our lives got busier. At the back of my mind, I was already thinking of opening a bank account for him just like what my mom did for me. Last March 19, 2010 I finally got around to doing it. I went to Banco De Oro to inquire about opening a bank account for my baby.
They recommended the Junior Savers Club.

Migi's First Passbook

Requirements includes
1. Birth certificate of the baby (zerox copy)
2. ID picture of the parent
3. Two valid ID of the parent
4. Initial deposit of 500 pesos
The bank account will be under the name of your child but in trusted to either one of the parents since the parents will be the signatory of the account.
(e.g.  Bank account Name:   "Kid's Name" by "Mom's Name")
We will put all Migi’s monetary gifts in this account. And when he grows up I want to get him interested in saving and learn about setting personal savings goals for the things that he really want.

Diaper Bag in Disguise

I bought a new “Diaper Bag” because the one Migi is using ripped off. Since we need to bring many things when we go out (bottles, milk, water, diapers, cottons, baby wipes, clothes etc),  durability is one requirement I’m looking for.

This is the bag that I bought. It doesn’t look like a diaper bag. It is large enough to carry all the babies necessities for the trip out. It has lot of interior pockets for quick and easy organization of things. The bag also includes a changing pad. We got it with a 20% discount.

I bought the bag at “SPOILED”. The store is just located near our office (tektite). The address is Mezzanine floor, Goldland Millenia Suites, Escriva Drive, Ortigas Center, Pasig City.
To all the new moms you might want to check it out because it also has a variety of baby gears, toys, clothes and other hard to find baby must haves.

Our Baby is Sick! (Roseola Infantum)

Last March 6, 2010 while Migi’s lola is playing with him, she said Migi is hot. True enough when I touch his forehead he feels hotter than normal. I got the thermometer to check his temperature. He’s running a fever of 39 degrees Celsius. His fever went on for 3 days. I got scared because I know fevers can sometimes cause convulsions and seizures in babies. We gave him medicine to lower his temperature, lukewarm sponge bath and offer him plenty of milk and liquids to prevent him from dehydration.  After 3 days his high fever ends abruptly and at the same time a pinkish red rashes appears on his stomach and back. It spread all over his body. We went to see his pediatrician on March 10, 2010 because there was a Measles outbreak during this time.

    Migi's Back

The doctor’s diagnosis: Migi has Roseola Infantum aka Tigdas Hangin
Roseola Infantum is a viral illness in young kids, most commonly affecting those between 6 months and 2 years old. It is usually marked by several days of high fever, followed by a distinctive rash just as the fever breaks.
The doctor said there is no vaccine for tigdas hangin. It is different from measles or german measles which can be prevented by vaccine.

There is no medicine either to be given to cure it. She only gave us supportive treatment.
1. Fluid Therapy (Pedialyte) 50 to 100ml after each loose stools.
2. Zinc Sulfate vitamins (ImmuZinc) 0.5ml once a day for 2 weeks
3. Cetirizine Allerkid for itchiness 0.5ml once a day at bedtime

The doctor said that the rashes will disappear after 3 to 4 days. By March 13, 2010, All of Migi’s rashes completely disappeared.

Thank you Lord!

Hello

Welcome  to our  Blog, Join us as we write about our adventures as a family. Post may be musings about life in general, rants about crazy adventures of parenting, anything under the sun that makes this life an amazing  journey.