Parrot on a PorchA Journey Toward the Little Mansion Dream

Big shout out goes to my two online friends, A and J, who have just given birth two days apart this week.  Cheers and congrats to both of you for springing forth two cute babies.  I haven’t seen the pictures yet but I’m sure that they are both adorable.  So calling on the two daddies, c’mon, do not just fill up your external hard drive with those lovely baby pictures…upload them on the web please for our viewing pleasure. We can’t wait to be mesmerized by the cuteness of your babies.

As early as now, I just know that my son will grow up a “Papa’s Boy”.  Although, he’s more dependent on me and constantly longing for me 24/7, he and his Daddy has this special bonding that’s truly mesmerizing.  Well, for one, they’re both boys so their interests and inclinations jive together.  That’s why whenever the Daddy’s off from work, I let them play, bond and enjoy activities together. 

One favorite task they do is when they clean up the car.  Since my son’s in the stage when he loves imitating what grownups do, you would see him helping his Daddy cleaning the car floor mats, the dashboard or any other accessories.   He would also get the windshield cleaning wiper and make strokes on parts that he can just reach.  Very lovely sight, indeed.  I just let him take charge since I know that he has a fascination with cars and I know that he’ll grow up that way.  I wish to see more moments like these.  A few years from now, I bet he would be the one lecturing to his Dad about the latest and trendiest car accessories by then.

Virtual window shopping is a favorite past time especially on days when I do not have much online works, is bored or just in the mood to browse online shopping sites.  Sites of baby and kiddie apparels are among my favorite destinations as that’s how and where I get ideas about the latest trends for my little boy’s fashion.  Sometimes, I get tempted to shop whenever I see streamers, banners and headers with the letters S-A-L-E boldly indicated.  But more often than not, I just content myself browsing and reading the product specifications and hoping that I find similar styles at a cheaper cost in our local shops.

Since boys’ getup are rather simpler and lesser than the girls, sometimes, I find myself browsing online catalog of girls’ wardrobe.  I make mental note which pieces look great together for my “soon-to-be” daughter.  Nah, not pregnant yet but I do hope and pray for a baby girl should we be prepared and ready for Baby Number 2 in the future.  One of the girl brands I’m loving right now is Flowers By Zoe.  I am drawn to the stylish designs and the pieces are simply adorable for a little princess.  Don’t they make you want to go back to your childhood years and model them?

And so, we have a number of things we’ve crossed out last Saturday from our Little Mansion’s To Buy list. Thank you to SM Homeworld’s weekend warehouse sale, we were really able to save huge on these things: a gas stove which we got at 50% off, kitchen towels and rugs, 2 sets of Maldive glasses, Crysline pitchers, Lincophil aluminum frying pans (kawali) and ladles for the kitchen; 2 dozens of hangers and a free container (mini-drum) for the laundry and pillowcases for just Php 75 each.

I’m also happy about this purchase:

A toy organizer at 50% off. Finally, there’s some place we can centrally “dump” all of the little one’s toys.

..in my life as a Work-at-Home Mom, that is.

6:30 AM – Wake up time. The husband prepares for work and the three of us eat breakfast all together.
7:30 AM – After sending the husband off, the little one takes a bath. It’s his “yayie” that bathes him most of the time now while I ready my laptop and set to work. There are times when his mood strikes and insists charmingly that I do the bathing to which I can not say no.
8:00 AM – Online routines begin. Check email, read feeds from Google Reader, review new online assignments received, check Odesk mail, catch up with Twitter and Facebook.
9:00 – 11:30 AM – Time for “Official” online work. Blog my heart out. Write fillers. Do Odesk tasks.

**In between, I would hear my little tot say “knock knock” on the door, shouts “MOMMYYYY! MOMMYYY” and demands entrance privileges, to which, again, I oblige. He waves “Hi, mommy!” then his kiss and hug signals that he wants to breastfeed…that’s what I call my breastfeeding break. Then he sets out again of the room to play with his Yayie shortly.

12:00 NN – Lunch time.
12:30 PM – Breastfeeding time again and lull time for the little one to nap. I resume my writing work on the puter.
3:00 – 4:30 PM – The little one wakes up. I shut down my laptop, take our merienda break then play time in the garden with the little one.
4:30 – 7:00 PM – Work..work..work.
7:00 – 9:00 PM – Dinner and quality time with my boys. We often watch the movie UP (as per the little one’s request) which has been played for like a thousand times already.
9:00 – 11 PM or until I get sleepy depending on my work load – Work..work..work and then lights out.

Working at home may appear comfortable but the truth is, there are also disadvantages like lots of distractions and tons of temptations (TV, eating and napping). That is why, I’m really trying my best to manage my time more efficiently and allots allowance for such disruptions. As my workload has immensely increased over the last couple of weeks, I’ve started limiting my Facebook time and little by little avoiding playing applications like Cafe World which got me addicted of playing over the last months. Glad I didn’t get to learn the app Texas Hold ‘Em which I think is very widely played and popular in Online Casinos. Besides Gambling Online has never been my thing so the word Casino Online will never be part of my vocabulary and routine.

But despite of the disadvantages, I feel lucky to have this type of work. I get to earn as much as I did in my last work in the corporate world but right at the comfort of our home. No overtime, no clothing and transpo expenses, no taxes and the best thing is that I am with my son 24 x 7 and I can kiss and cuddle him anytime I want.

Guess who’s ecstatic at this moment when she found Ikea Saudi Arabia’s website? Listing down my shopping loots will be a lot easier. Mom and Dad, who are based in Saudi, won’t also be confused about the stuffs I’ll piggyback through them for our Little Mansion. As I blog, I’m not yet done browsing each catalog and my eyes are continuously feasting over a lot of stuffs. For now, I’m set to get those shoe and clothes organizers plus toy organizers for the little one.

One big toy chest, which he has now, is not enough so I need the more compact, stacked toy boxes such as the picture above for additional storage spaces. I also wish to organize his toys accordingly like grouping all matchboxes together, his toy Ferrari parts all together, and all other trinkets that he has. I like how the boxes come in different colors so organizing is made easier.

My son’s turning two in a month’s time. For the nth time last night, the husband and I discussed over dinner our birthday plans for him. Earlier, I was set on giving him a Jollibee party. I have even saved up for it a few months back. However, upon deep contemplation and with anticipation of the housing goal’s completion come summer time, I am torn between proceeding with the original party plan or we’ll just celebrate it by having an out of town trip. Just the three of us. The latter option will entail cheaper costs than the first and so the remaining savings will just be used for Little Mansion’s dolling up. I’ve been thinking and wishing of Outer Banks vacation rentals for the trip (I’ve been dreaming about it for the longest time) but I think the little one will appreciate either a trip to Manila Ocean Park or Zoobic Safari better. Obviously, we have not finalized our plans last night (blame it also to my being so fickle-minded) so expect that another discussion will have to be made soon.

After a few weekends of malling, one bazaar visit, and tons of online shops that I browsed, we still don’t have a Christmas gift for my little tot. Arrgh! There surely is a lot of easy options like toys and clothes but I’m veering away from giving him toys because he has tons of them already and we barely don’t have space anymore in our room to stock or store them. Clothes, well, I’ve been showering him going out clothes and sleepwears every time there is an online sale at Old Navy and I have enough for this year. So I’m thinking whether to give him a nice pair of Florsheim shoes or probably this NFL Youth Uniform set I saw at kidsportsinc.com. Or perhaps those Sports Starter Baseball Equipment Set from the same online store since he’s into playing ball..hitting and catching the ball, actually. They’re not exactly toys as they are training equipment so it’s exempted to the guidelines I’ve set. Besides, it’s never too early to get them be involved in sports, right? Take a look at this site should you also be in the lookout for possible Christmas gifts for your kids.

Kidsportsinc.com is a one-stop-shop for the best sports training gear for the youth. Whether it be baseball, soccer, golf, basketball, street hockey..this site provides the best options in helping you develop and mold your little sportsman.

So now, what I need to do is discuss with the husband and come up with the “perfect” choice. The good thing though about this is that, we still have a couple of weeks before the Christmas deadline.

*This is a sponsored review.

Last year, the husband got an onshore assignment offer at work. He was supposedly designated at their Chicago office for a period of one year. The great thing about this offer is that he can bring me with him (family status) and enjoy all the corresponding onshore benefits like free lodging on the first few months, free airfare and all other relocation assistance. Unfortunately, he had to decline the offer in as much as he wanted to accept because one, I was about to give birth that time. In fact, I was in my 9th month of pregnancy. And two, I was still employed then so resignation was something we could not just rush. We felt bad for passing that great opportunity up but we didn’t have a choice. We just hope and pray that same offer will be given soon and be able to pursue the supposed itinerary I cooked up. Yeah, I was really that excited.

Aside from visiting our relatives in California, an exhilirating New York Sightseeing activity was on my list. I dreamed (and I still do) of experiencing the exciting Brooklyn Tour that CitySights NY takes pride of in their site and their clients greatly rave about. A friend recently toured New York City’s attractions, neighborhoods and places of interest in a double decker bus and that experience exactly made me envious. I hope by the time comes when our great American dream come true, their slashed down tour prices for as low as $39/pax on their current hot deals page would still be offered or it would be cool, if they’d be cheaper so we can avail as much tours as we want to. For those of you who are bound to New York soon or who will spend the Holidays in the city, do check out the irresistible offers on their site.

Finally the search is over.

It seems that my toddler son, at such a very young age, already displays interest in sports. It’s very evident that he loves all types of balls whether it be basketball, a tennis ball, a softball, a pingpong ball, etc. He shrieks in delight and exclaims “bu!” every time he sees one. This actually amuses the sports-minded Daddy because he really would love our son to be equally athletic as him. In fact, he even already thought of the summer sports clinics that our tot will attend starting next year. He also has started collecting sports merchandise for the little one like NBA shirts, a toy golf club and a mini-bastketball hoop.

Now if you’re wondering what I’m pertaining to when I said that the search is over, it’s an online shop for NFL Merchandise.  I’ve been looking for a toddler sized football uniform to complete his sport paraphernalia collection.  Nfluniformset.com is the ultimate resource for NFL Helmet and uniform sets specifically geared for children ages 4 to 10 years old. For as cheap as $39.99, my little tot can have a complete football outfit with an official logo NFL Jersey whether it be the Chicago Bears, Dollas Cowboys or Seattle Seahawks or the others, a NFL Helmet, double stitched pants, and iron on numbers. The texture is not a concern for his sensitive skin as it is made by Franklin Sports, the trusted leader in sports apparels and equipment. The jersey is made of soft double knit 100% polyester along with a pants that have elastic waistband and cuffs. The pants actually may also be worn as pajamas at night or as day time fun play outfit. It’s really functional and it can even be worn in themed parties.

I can’t wait to get my son a small size of this and get a picture of him as a quarterback.

And I can’t wait to let him wear this when we get to this team’s home town in a year or two.

This is a Sponsored Post.