Bday Preps #2: Aedan Jared's 1st Birthday!

Hah! I'm back again, after a long hiatus. I'm trying to balance work, mommyhood and being a wife 24x7, so some personal-blogging-time has to be sacrificed. I'm sure my fellow N@wies can really relate. :-)

Allow me to look back and gather my thoughts so as to update this blog. Ok, I'm supposed to give updates on our baby toddler's first birthday.

From the first blog entry about preparations (click here), I was able to pull it through in a month's time. (ofcourse with the help of hubby A, my brother, mother and Anna - our househelp. Thank you guys!)

Party Theme - Jollitown. As if there are many choices. Just two for boys, Jollibee itself and Jollitown. The other one was Barbie Party for girls. We chose Jollitown.

Invitation - They are included in the party package that we avail from Jollibee. 30 pcs in total. However, we were not able to distribute all. Still have 5-7 invitations with us. I wish I did not write on them so I can make use of it by next year. hahaha.  The Guest List ate most of my time. It's always a challenge on who to invite and updating who will be attending. *Sigh*  We are targetting 100 guests (adults + kids combined). But we are blessed with friends and big families from both sides so the list went on 160. Wow!!! The rest were invited online via FB and email.

Guest List and Invitations

Jollitown Them for Invitation

Party Favors/Loot Bags - All from Divisoria. Ofcourse!!! So that we can stretch the budget and give Jared's guests (kids) some cool prizes and nice take home goodies.

B for Boys; G for Girls

So what's inside the loot bags?

Total of 8 items per Loot Bag:
Sulit na sulit!
Peso Power = Php 35/loot bag
:-)

Pencil + Eraser Top

Candies in Cola Can and Mini Gas Tank

Coloring Books to match 8-pcs of Crayons

Mini Toys for Boys: Robots and Cars

Jack Stone for girls

Bubble toy and plastic balloons

Game Prizes

Party Crew:
My brother Jett, Me & Anna

Photo Booth - By Party Boothster: We got them on promo!!! Booked last year (2011). As expected "BLOCK BUSTER"!!!! Guests keep on coming back. For a 3-hour packaged, we dearly enjoyed it a LOT! The photo printing quality is very nice and printing itself was speedy! I can highly recommend them.

Loved the Photo Layout. Swak na swak sa party theme!
Peso Power: Php 4000 (Photobooth=3500 + Customized backdrop = 500)

Party Clothes - For our baby, its Debenhams for Toddlers for his shirt and Market Market mall find for his maong pants. His shoes are from SM Baby Company but are no longer new because his Nike shoes from Tito Ninong LA that is supposed to be his shoes for the party are still too big for him he may look like a little clown. :P

Cake - On the actual day of Jared's birthday, I'm supposed to bake him cupcakes. Unfortunately, I didn't have the luxury of time. I will make more kwento on what transpired on his actual birthday (June 28) and a separate post on the birthday celebration at Jollibee (June 30).

Chocolate Cake from Red Ribbon.
I customized the design to have a unique look.
DIY cake candies are from Goldilocks. 

Party Cake from Jollibee c/o Red Ribbon
Flavor: Chocolate

Photo/Video -  It's Daddy A. We are working on a tight budget so professional photographer and videographer were out of the game. Good thing, Daddy A is good at this craft. Sulit din! :-)
Video were taken using my humble iPhone. Enough to capture the highlights of the party. Tito Ninong Raymond (my youngest brother) and Daddy A were responsible in taking videos.

I am proud to say that we were able to fit in within our allotted budget of 25,000 (max)!
Promise, I will give more details. More kwentos on next entry. I hope I can find the time! :P

Good night for now.

Bday Preps #1

Yes, our little one is turning 1 already in exactly 1 month and 4 weeks as our ticker says. (found at the right sidebar).

A and I decided that we will just make it simple. A party in a regular fast food store will suffice since Jared still don't know how to enjoy his own party. We are only targeting 100 pax (adults and kids combined).

So, before the sun sets in today, I started to inquire in the nearest fast food (the happy bee) in our place. I checked on the available themes to choose from and there are only 3 options. I learned that the minimum booking is 30 pax. We can bring cake of our choice but should NOT be the brand of their direct competition. Cake from not-so-commercial bakeshop will do but it's a Big No to eat the cake during the party. It's only for candle blowing and picture taking purpose. Well, this is acceptable since they avoid being blamed for food poisoning issues and if such thing happens, the only culprit will be the food served from their store and nothing else.

There are 4 Food Packages to choose from, well, technically 5 since the other one is Build-Your-Own-Menu.
From the packages, I can sense that we might will go for Package 5 (Build Your Own).

I could say, it's a blessing in disguise that we were not able to book for a face painter because the store does not allow it. They only allow Videographers and Photobooth. And it will cost us additional 200/hour for electricity for our Photo booth. Yes! We are having Photo booth too for Jared's birthday. hehehe. Similar to our wedding, Photo booth pictures will serve as souvenirs for his party. Actually, the Photo booth was the first supplier booking we had in preparation for Jared's 1st Birthday. We booked it last year pa! hahaha. (Adik lang mga parents pagdating sa photos. :P )

Ok, as the Q & A portion went on, I was surprised that it will really cost me almost 19K for 100 pax. Complete Birthday Package na ito.

• Food
• Party Fee (Misc) - Mascot with 30 mins appearance, guestbook, crayons, balloons (ceiling displays)
• Party Add-Ons (Party hats, party liners or the paper placements, 30 pcs. balloons (P12/pc for add ons)
• Special Loot Bags (P50/pc) - The Standard is P25, Premium is P80
• Cake - Only small and regular size available. Regular size is 900.

So If our guests will exceed 100 (I'm sure it will) then we will be over 20K budget! Waaahhh!!! Kami na lang kayang 3 magcelebrate. hahaha.

If we are to book with the happy bee, then my choice of having a themed cake like on his baptismal will never be possible anymore since they don't allow it. No famous characters or brandings allowed like mickey mouse, barney, ben10, etc. If we are to insist to bring in our cakes, the general designs will be acceptable. Hmm....ayos na rin....we can have a 12 x 8 in cake at 900 only. Tipid! :P

Well...this is just my initial inquiry. Will ask the pizza store nearest our place maybe this weekend. As for the the other happy clown store, the nearest is in Market Market, while the nearest chicken store is in Fort.

On this preparations, I will have to remind myself again and again of our Goal. Just a SIMPLE birthday celebration.

Let go of the nice and fancy loot bags.
Let go of the clowns.
Let go of the face painter
Let go of the party carts.
Let go of the balloon toy making.
Let go of catering service.
Let go of the professional photographer and videographer.

Hahaha...so far, I'm on track. (Can someone give me a pat on my back pls.)

Again, the photo booth is already booked so that's not counted as "Kaartehan". :P

More update on next posts.

Need to sleep for now.

Perpective 14: Hearts Day

Love Note from A

A's Valentine  Gifts for me ! ^__^

No fancy dinner for two, no expensive nor traditional gifts like flowers and chocolates but A's presents still melts my heart. Got 2 of my favorite food that I was actually craving for since last week.
1. Quickly's Super Taro Ice
2. Special Hot Bibingka

I love you Honeyko! Mwah!
You never fail to surprise me! *hugs*

Friends, I hope you had another memorable Vday yesterday....coz, I did! :D

Baby's First Day Out

Date: Jan. 14, 2012
Event: Celebrating 32nd Wedding Anniversary of A's Parents
Where: Tagaytay
What: Apart from the anniversary, it is also Jared's first out of town trip.
Sorry, not being lazy but I have really little time to do this. I'm watching the last episode of My Binondo Girl! hahaha.
I need to update so let the pictures tell the story. :P

@ Ming's Garden

@ Ming's Garden

@ Ming's Garden

@ Ming's Garden

@ Ming's Garden with Tita Kat

Believe me, it was my FIL's (Father in Law) first time in Tagaytay. Can't blame him. He spent more years in Middle East.

Father and Son bonding moment via Zip Line

Jared is one camera addict. Look at him smiling and looking at the camera while all of us are not yet even ready.

Lasing sa Buko? Lunch @ RSM Lutong Bahay

Bungisngis ever!

Pa-sweet lang...

MIL & FIL: Still Happy and In love after 32 years of marriage

Me and My Spoon....as always. Jared behaves when we give him spoon and so we can enjoy our meal and eat peacefully

My favorite shot of the day.

Jared kissing me back

3 Generation of Tria. Hahaha...Jared you are one cute funny baby!

The Star of the Day are not the celebrants but this little man.

Getting rid of Mommy's shades. hahaha

Our crepes @ Cafe Breton, Tagaytay

Sealed with a kiss

Jared: "Lolo, I have something to tell you."

Jared: "Secret!" very naughty look....naku! may future ka anak. :P

Such a cutie on his hoodie

Dinner @ Carlos Pizza

 Simply happy!

Silver Boobies

Cheers!!! Yes! I am celebrating because I have surpassed 6 months and still counting of EXCLUSIVE breast feeding. Whew!!! That's a big big achievement for a working mom like me.

As I write this entry, it's actually 6 moths and 10 days and with this, I earned my Silver Boobs Award. In nursing calendar these are the important milestones:

Nursing for 3 Months = Bronze
Nursing for 6 Months = Silver
Nursing for 12 Months or 1 Year = Gold
Nursing for 24 Months or 2 Years = Platinum

I'm targeting the Golden Boobies. *Sigh* That's a lot of hard work to do, because I will still carry that extra bag (insulated bag for expressed milk) with me everyday I go out of the house. Need a lot of patience especially now that Baby J is developing his first set of teeth. Patience not to snap at him whenever he tries to bite my nippies and patience in carrying him at times I nurse him while standing. At 6 months, Baby J weighs almost 10kgs. That's a normal weight of a one-year old baby. Oh boy, he really is a BIG baby.

Need to continuously drink lots of water, have soup in my meal regularly, take that malunggay supplement everyday and avoid drinking caffeine and ofcourse alcohol.

Though I have several sacrifices because of breastfeeding, I know I have and enjoyed the benefits of it more than doubled. First, the reward of FREE supply of milk. That's a lot of savings! As in Big Time! If my milk stopped after 2 months of giving birth, our expenses will surely shoot up high. Considering 1 can of milk is 1k that will last for a week. That's already a clear savings of not less than 16K for 4 months just for milk. At the rate he drinks milk, I doubt my son will only consume 1kg can of milk in a week. Na-ah!

Second, the unexplainable joy of producing and providing for your baby. Nature's natural way! Simply amazing. Third, the pleasure of bonding together. The two of us. Mother & Son. The way he looks at my eyes while he drinks simply melts my heart....always.

Aaahh...the simple rewards of being a mother.

Well, I think, the blue nursing cloth will not have its break anytime soon! NOT YET : P

While nursing in a coffee shop. Baby J fully covered, you'll think I'm just wearing a shawl. hehehe

Happy Christmas! Happy Feet! Happy Me!

This month, we celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary. It was very simple and plain. A even reported for work while I stay at home but still working from home nga lang! :P
We wanted to keep it that way. But A managed to bring gifts for me. Hot Bibingka, Quickly's Super Taro Ice + my favorite box of chocolates....Ferrero Rocher! Yey! We told each other that official gifts will be claimed in a later date.

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It's the very first time we celebrated Noche Buena were all members of my family (Rovero Family) are complete!!! It was a simple get together and yet so happy and for sure will be memorable even for the rest of the members of my family.

Rovero Family

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2 days after Christmas was my birthday!!! Hooray!!! Since I am officially on vacation, and A had his VL too, we decided to celebrate both our anniversary and my birthday last 27th. First stop was High Street. Time to claim for our gifts! Since we celebrated 3 occasions this month, I have the right to claim 3 gifts! Yey!

comfy...thanks may ganito..ikaw na magbuhat ng halos 10kgs!!! Waahhhh!
Carrier: Ergo Baby

1. Anniversary Gift
2. Christmas Gift and
3. Birthday Gift

Si A, 2 lang...hehehe, minus his birthday.

We went from one shop to another and ended up shoe shopping!!! Yey again!!! Good Lord, Jared was so cooperative and remained contented and happy on his stroller and even enjoyed being held in his baby carrier as we stroll from one shop to another. After which, we satisfied and fill our empty tummies with comfort food from Cafe Juanita at Burgos Circle.

Dinner at Cafe Juanita

Ofcourse, birthday celebration will not be complete without a cake and candle to blow! :P

It was another simple yet memorable birthday celebration for me. I spent it with the two most important people in my life. A and J. ^__^

Triple X from Sugar House

The celebrants: My 30ish Bday and Jared 's 6th Month

Gift #2: Classic Black

Gift #1: Isn't it fab? Will surely feel like a star if i wear this! :P

Gift #3: My very first pair from NW

Papahuli ba si A? Gift #1 nya

Obviously, Our Christmas is really Merry!!!
Blouse: Kamiseta
Necklace: Gifted (Thanks Esa)
Shorts: Bazaar find
Ring: Arty - Prize from online promo by NYOBQ