The Magic of Stanley Ong Photography

Last week, we were fortunate enough to have Stanley Ong and his team spend time with us for maternity and family shots.  Stan does home service photo shoots which are both convenient and relaxing for his clients.  I have been a fan of his work and was admittedly a little nervous about the shoot.  However, Stan was able to make us feel at ease and was great with Ben.  Here are some of the photos, and while I love my solo shots, my favorite ones are those with our little master.  Looking at his recent photos made me realize how much he has grown.

With all the anxiety as we wait for B1 and B2, it was nice to take a breather and simply enjoy the last few weeks being a family of three.  Of course, we look forward to meeting the twins and sharing with family and friends their newborn shots ( care of Stan's team, of course :) ).  

You may check out Stan's website at www.stanleyongphotography.com and email stanong@stanleyongphotography.com for more info.  You can also book him for events, too!

Have a Blessed Week ahead :)

winner of Ben's giveaway

My apologies for the super delayed post :( Trying to catch up on updating the blog since it has been a very hectic month.  Anyway, we are happy to announce the winner for Ben's birthday give-away of Play-dohs.  I managed to get  a shot of Ben picking the winner but it was a bit blurry.  I was the best among all the ones I took, though, hehe.  The challenges of taking a photo of a super-likot boy :)

Congrats to mommy Gen for winning the give-away! We'll get in touch with you as to how we can send the simple yet fun prize!

Daddy Bry and Mommy Nats cook with Ben's class

Sharing with everyone some photos of Bry and I cooking with Ben's classmates.  Bry prepared polvoron while I prepared fruit salad with the kids.  We are happy that Ben is in a school where there are opportunities for the parents to be involved.  Our activities were quite simple, just pouring and mixing, but we still got nervous doing them.  I really appreciate Bry  for taking time out from his busy schedule at work to do this with the kids.  It may not be a big deal but I am sure Ben will look back at the photos with fondness and realize how much effort it took for his papa to join him in class.  Thanks to teacher Karen for the photos.  Here we go... :)

We had containers so the kids can take home what we made together.  The finished products turned out quite well (yehey), not bad considering we are not really experts in the kitchen.  Hope everyone had a good month.  Ben will surely miss school when the school year ends in a couple of weeks.  

Happy Birthday, Ben-Ben!

How time flies!!!! Thank you to family, friends, teachers, coaches and doctors who have been part of Ben's first 3 years.  We look forward to more adventures with our little master.  Here are some of our favorite highlights over the past year

1. "Mastery" of colors and shapes
2. Counting until 20
3. "Why?" "Where am I going?" "What am I going to do?" "Play tayo!"
4. Tells us about what happened during class
5. Knows how to swim backstroke
6. Can do a forward roll and swing on the bars on his own
7. Semi potty-trained (except during his sleep)
8. Identifying emotions (I'm happy, I'm sad, I'm mad)
9. Can say his bedtime prayers on his own (if he is in the mood to sleep)
10. "I love you, papa" "I love you, mama"

Halfway there ... :)

25 weeks and counting, thank you Lord for watching over us as we go through this pregnancy.

It has been quite an interesting journey so far. As we enter the 6th month, I am suppose to feel my best at this stage of the pregnancy. I guess in a way it is true. I look pregnant enough for family and friends to offer their congratulations but not big enough that I find it super hard to move about. There's not much morning sickness so I am able to enjoy my meals but I do easily feel tired. Sometimes, even going up a flight of stairs can be a chore, and my back-pain is keeping me up at night, not that I am really complaining. I'm okay as long as the twins are okay :)

Family and friends often ask if this pregnancy is harder because it's twins. My emotions are a wreck since I have double the hormones of a regular pregnancy (yeah, excuses, excuses .. but I do have blood tests to prove it, haha!). I do feel the girls kicking, one on the left, one on the right, though not at the same time (yup, we'll be blessed by two ladies, so good luck to Bry during the teenage years, hehe). But for me, the biggest difference of all is not because it is twins but more because it is the second pregnancy. When you have a 3 year old, you can't just stop and rest anytime you please. You wonder how things will change for him once the new babies are out and how you'll be able to give each child the proper attention they deserve. This keeps me awake at nights more than my backache.

My favorite part of the pregnancy is whenever Ben kisses my tummy and says "I love you, babies!". Hearing that is like God reassuring me through Ben that everything will be alright, and if this is a preview of how he will be as a big brother, then we are truly blessed. :)

Arts and Crafts over the Christmas Break PLUS Ben's Birthday Giveaway!

During Ben's recent parent teacher conference, we (Ben's teachers and I) agreed that it would be a good idea to expose him to some arts and crafts activities during the break.  Thankfully, we had some opportunities to do that over the holidays.  Kudos to daddy Bry for being open to trying out some new activities with Ben.  To be perfectly honest, we're not really the artistic types but I am glad that we were able to encourage Ben to try out new experiences.  After all, arts and crafts (and cooking) with kids is not much about the end product but more for the stimulation of their senses.  Here are some snapshots:

working hard on his play-doh

arts and crafts santa at Little Gym

The finish product, smile!

Thanks Auntie Elyse for the DIY Gingerbread House Kit, here's daddy and Ben mixing the icing

Mama and Ben decorating the house panels

Tada! The finished product, hahaha! It is the effort that counts, right? Thanks to Ama, Angkong, A-tsiak and Diko for
helping out and not minding the mess we made! Thanks also to Tai-kong for letting us bring it to his house.

Now on to the fun part! It's time for another giveaway again!!!! Nothing fancy :) Just something simple to honor Ben's love for Play-Doh.  After all, it is his birthday month.  Can't believe he is turning 3 soon!  Anyway, we love Play-Doh because it's very easy to mold and doesn't dry up quickly.  It's easy to clean, too!  So for this month, we'll be giving away Play-Doh clays to a lucky reader.  Simply follow the steps below :

1. Leave a comment "HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN!" either on this blog entry or Facebook link

2. Share who will you play your Play-Doh with just in case you are the lucky winner

3. Leave your full name and email address so we can contact you properly

4.  Entries will be accepted until Feb 14, 2013 (since I am a romantic!, haha)

Good Luck!

Simbang Gabi time again ... :)

It is that time of the year again when we give thanks for all the wonderful blessings we have received and pray for strength to face the challenges of the year ahead.  I've written about Simbang Gabi before.  This time around, I'd like to focus on saying thanks for the wonderful blessings our family has received this year.  We have so much to be thankful for, with our pregnancy being on top of the list.  During the Simbang Gabi last year, we prayed that we'll be able to give Ben a sibling.  To be honest, there was a point when I was scared that maybe it wasn't part of God's plan.  Then we got confirmation that we'll be having twins.  I guess He was just telling us to wait a while because He has something different in store for us.  As we enter the final stretch of the novena, I pray that He continues to bless the pregnancy and to give Bry and I the strength (and the energy, hehe) to be loving parents to Ben, B1 and B2.

How about you, what's your Christmas wish?