List of Firsts

I just came across this cute list that i never posted. You know I love lists! 
Here is a list of hings that Adam saw for the first time in the US!   It’s so amazing the things that I didn’t realize Adam has never experienced in the Philippines. 
– A.Drinkable Water Fountain- He even said to quote- “We’re drinking dirty water!” Thank you Apple store for providing this amazing experience!
– Banners flying behind airplanes Adam loved this one! Also it seems like in the US you see that plane cloud line. I have no idea why you don’t see it in the Philippines and Adam was obsessed! Grandma Gertch explained this to him and for the rest of the trip he would insist all clouds were airplane lines! 
– A hole in a taxi between the back and front seat. Maybe this one is only in NY, but Adam was enthralled with the little space to pay the driver from the backseat.

– A backyard and a barbecue. Apartment living over here in Manila. Adam loved helping Randy BBQ. He especially loved using the BBQ tongs to pick up all the leaves and grass in the yard. Don’t worry, we usually always cleaned them before using them 🙂 

– A little stroller at Whole Foods. Oh boy, was this was a BIG hit.  Every day when we went (yes        we went every day) this never.stopped.being.old.  Adam had certain items he wanted in his card, usually corn and meat. Adam is apparently a middle aged midwestern man deep down. 
– Peaches and plums!! 
 – A Roller Coaster! We didn’t actually ride this as the boys are too little but just looking at amused the boys. 

– Actually an amusement park/boardwalk in general. 
For Malcolm it was his first time in the US and in Washington, New York and California!
PS- It’s funny reading this 8 months later and realizing how much older Malcolm is now. Back then at 18 months he was still more baby than toddler but now this list would be for Malcolm as much as Adam!

The Great US of A

Last week I got to spend the whole week in the US! Alone people! I missed my boys terribly of course but I also enjoyed every second of the week! I flew home to take the oral assessment portion of the Foreign Service Exam. This was the last hurdle of a year long process and included a whole day interview with written test, group test and two interviewers asking me questions for an hour. So that meant I was going alone so that I could get over jet lag and concentrate. If I passed this portion that meant I could join the Foreign Service and be a diplomat too!
This was my first time to New York in the winter in three years and I was dreading the cold! Here is the scene I flew in to. But I was pretty lucky.  All that was left of the major blizzard  that hit the week I arrived was a bit of snow here and there. The weather was a downright balmy 40 degrees all week!

As an added bonus of going to the US for this interview.  I had the chance to spend some time with my mom and sister. I spent some of the week studying but I did manage to squeeze in some shopping and some amazing New York dinners Daphne and MJ planned for me. Let me forewarn you that this will be a very food heavy post….after all when in New York for just a short time you  have to cram in all the food you can.

Saturday Daphne and I shopped a bit and then picked up delicious sandwiches from Parm for lunch. I have to say there is nothing better than shopping in New York, except shopping in New York with my sister and maybe the chicken parm sandwich from Parm.

On to more food. For dinner we headed to Lupa for dinner.  Randy and I had gone to Lupa three years ago with Adam for lunch after Daphne and MJ got married and we have never forgotten how delicious it was.  You know what, it was as amazing as I remembered.

The next morning Aunt Vangie and Grandma Gertch came into the city and we all went to the outlets for the day. It was such a nice day and so nice to hand out with these three ladies.

Daphne took off work on Monday to hang out with me and she took me to Nomad for lunch. This place is a little atrium restaurant in a new hotel and was so delicious!

Mmmmmm, radishes with butter are so delicious.  It may not seem like it but they are people!

The next morning I was left on my own in New York.  I went and got my hair done and walked all around New York, enjoying everything about it.

I snuck in a facetime call with these two and before I knew it I was on the train on my way to Washington D.C. to take my oral assessment.

I got in around 2 and had the rest of the day to amuse myself. I had to wake up early the next morning for my interview so I hung out by myself. It was a rainy day in DC but I didn’t let that stop me. I walked around all day.

When I was pregnant with Adam I ate a Cosi Greek salad 4 times a week so my first stop was Cosi for a Greek salad.

Then onto TJ Maxx, because come on people, what is more relaxing than mindless discount shopping. I did not buy this shirt. What did I buy after whiling away two hours…shampoo and a diet coke.

Because Randy has trained me to be prepared for these big days, I plotted out my walk for the next morning and took a trial walk to the interview location. I have to say people, this may sound a teeny bit crazy but it really works. You wake up the next morning much more relaxed and knowing what to expect. I was staying at the W so my walk was basically across the White House and I was there. A pretty perfect way to psyche me up to convince the State Department that I was the right person for the job!

I even took a photo just in case i passed…

On my way home I stopped in a White House tourist shop, mostly to warm up my wet feet, and saw two little snowglobes I knew the boys would love. Adam has been talking about snowglobes for the past couple months. I decided not to buy them, because if I failed I would remember failing every time I looked at these snow globes.

On to dinner. I was by myself so I stopped at a lively looking restaurant and ordered a chicken parm.  Too bad it was so small…i left pretty hungry!

Then it was home for an early bed time and some American Idol. Aren’t you glad you now know every minute of my boring day alone. Oh, I forgot about when I went to Swatch to buy a watch when I realized in a panic I didn’t have one.

The next day I was up nice and early and nervous but I had spent time preparing and that definitely helped. I had to lock up my phone for the day so here is a photo from right when I left the building after finding out I passed!!

On my way home I decided to treat the boys and stopped back in the White House tourist shop to pick up those snow globes. While I was in there the people that worked there convinced me to take a photo. And you know what, what better day to get up to the podium. After all, I chose Public Affairs and you never know people! 

I have no excuse for this photo…

I had made plans to meet my friends Anna and Jenny who worked with me in Manila and are now posted in DC. I was a little nervous that I wouldn’t get in and be a gloomy guss during the dinner but thankfully that wasn’t the case. It was so nice to see them and catch up and to have dinner right after with friends who had gone through the same process. These two are such wonderful colleagues and I miss them all the time in Manila. We went to Le Diplomate, very fitting!

The next morning I met my friend Carrie for brunch and she surprised me with my other friend Carrie who was in town from Brussels and I hadn’t seen in over 3 years!  It was so nice to see these two. We had our first babies in DC together four years ago and spent that first year figuring out what we were doing. I will always have such a spot in my heart for these two. We went to Ted’s Bulletin where Randy and I used to take Adam all the time when he was just a teeny baby. It made me so nostalgic for when we lived in DC and Adam was so teeny.

A short train ride back to New York and I was at another delicious dinner with Daphne and MJ. This time at Cosme, a delicious new Mexican restaurant.  These two spoiled me rotten this week. I had such a great time with them.

I’ll miss these two so much. The next day Grandma Gertch came to get me and took me on a million errands, because that’s what mom’s do, even when their daughter is 36!

Oh wait, what’s this? I got to see Randy while I was in New York. Not the Randy you know, but the Randy I knew back at PS 38. Oh can just one of our children have this curly curly hair!!  Looking at this picture I totally see Adam, except with Robert Kennedy hair.

and just like that I was on my way back to Manila to see my three boys.

 Look what I came back to! They were so excited to see me and to show me their sign.

Here are my top three from New York, not including seeing my family and friends which is always number one!
1. Passing the FSOA!! 
2. The amazing meals with Daphne and MJ in New York, I just can’t pick between Lupa, Nomad, Parm and Cosme. But if I had to pick I may just have to say that chicken parm sandwich from Parm…..mmmmm!
3. Spending the day shopping with Daf, mom and Aunt Vangie. 

ps- best laid plans people. I imagined looking at those snow globes for years and always remembering that walk home after I found out I had gotten into the Foreign Service.  The morning I got home to Manila I gave the boys the snow globes and they managed to (accidentally) break both within 10 minutes. Oh well, at least I have my memories oh and a job 🙂

Fun Farm with a surprise ending!

So I know you all have seen our trips to the Fun Farm so many times you’ve probably memorized the layout, but you know you love seeing the days picture as much as Adam and Malcolm love the farm and this one has a surprise ending.

But first things first….how cute are these two holding hands!

If i had a yard I would definitely put in one of these tire swings. Adam spends at least an hour in this swing every time we go. It’s in the shade so we don’t mind swinging him away.

Of course we made sure to fish a bit. Adam always spends at least an hour here as well.

Surprise number one – this little guy got up on a little pony! Last time he was scared but this time he went all the way around the trail and loved it!

Surprise two, Adam and Maddie decided they wanted to try zip-lining! I was nervous but it was low to the ground and well run and kids younger than Adam and Maddie were trying. I wasn’t sure Adam would go for it but we decided to let him try. When it came to their turn, Maddie got a little scared but not Adam. He got right up and said he was ready and went right down! I was so proud of him. Maddie went right after Adam and they both loved it.

Happy Birthday mommy!

I’m a little behind after 10 days in the US (!) more on that soon. But first my 36th birthday! I turned 36 a couple of weeks ago and it was such a great day.

To start the day I woke up to cuddles from all my boys. Randy had gotten some yummy pastries for all of us to share.

I went in to work for half a day and my friends at work brought in cookies for everyone to celebrate my day and left post its on my desk with Happy Birthday wishes. I went out for lunch with work friends to celebrate a friend who is leaving to head back to the US to have her third baby and they surprised me with a cake.

Then I decided to take the afternoon off and go to the Spa. This was such a great idea! I had just enough work time to enjoy my birthday and then took off for the rest of the afternoon.  After the spa I met Randy and some of our friends for happy hour at Raffles and then Randy and I headed to dinner. The whole day was full of love from all of my friends.

The next day was Saturday and we celebrated all day with the boys.  Randy cooked us a delicious dinner and we had a yummy cake with candles. Nothing better than spending the day with these three cuties!

We had this spectacular sunset as an added bonus.

Antonios

Antonios is considered the number one restaurant in the  Philippines and Randy and I had shockingly never been there. As an early birthday treat for me and our friend Jackie we decided to head to Antonios.

One of the reasons we haven’t gone to Antonio’s is that its two a two hour drive away. I had dreaded it for so long but I forgot how fun it is to take road trips with Randy. We chatted the whole way and were there before we knew it.

When we arrived our friends were there and we had a yummy meal in a beautiful old building. The building used to be Antonios family home.

We’re pretty lucky to have such great friends here.

Oh Philippines. you always surprise me. A great special pre-birthday treat!

Dragons Love Tacos

In our house we read this book at least once a week –   Dragons Love Tacos
The boys love it and we now have taco night at least once a week as a result. So when it came time to plan Malcolm’s party I decided to combine dragon and tacos, two things the boys love. 
We of course needed sweets. We got a yummy rainbow cake with marshmallow frosting and loads of sprinkles. I put this cake out and Malcolm immediately grabbed a spoon and walked over, trying to jump up and grab a bite. Needless to say, he was a big fan!

We hung up loads of balloons and dragons. And made some yummy tacos. We had slow cooked tacos, flank steak tacos and yummy corn salsa. Not to mention beans, salsa and purple local rice!  It was definitely my favorite food at a birthday party we hosted ever.

The hit of the party was a face painter, who painted arms (as someone who hates washing off face paint for days I was a huge fan) and was great at it.

I’m a little worried that this little one will be on his way to a full sleeve by 18….

Then this happened. I was finally convinced that we should have a pinata. But I felt like i won the battle by filling it with toys instead of candy. To quote Adam, ‘sneaky, sneaky mommy’.

Here is my directing kids away from the dangers of a pinata face….

While it may look disorganized, by the time this little one took the first swing everyone was on line and out of the way!

Adam has a pretty strong swing!

Everyone got one swing! Even the little ones.

After everyone had one swing I helped along the demise of the dragon and the toys were quickly gobbled up!

Next up, cake time! I guess you could say Malcolm was excited!

Adam’s best friend Henry came to the party and Malcolm was excited to play in the ball pit with him.

Malcolm even got into the painting and got a snake on his arm.

We had another birthday party that afternoon so we saved Malcolm’s present to open the next morning. After all two parties in one day takes a lot out of you.

We all woke up refreshed the next day!

I'm Amerikids!

Right after his second birthday Malcolm started Amerikids, the preschool Adam goes to. It’s always been hard in the mornings to leave Malcolm at home, he always wanted to come with us. so it was exciting that he was finally able to come with us!
Here are is favorite things about school so far: 
  • His lunchbox
  • His schoolbag
  • His train hat

But slowly..slowly he’s starting to really love it! Here are recent texts from Teacher Lari from his first three weeks of school-
“It was a great day for him. 🙂 Although he is still managing the transitions, he’s more receptive.  He brings his bag to the park and eats some of his snack there. Isa, one of his classmates actually approached him and said hello. He said hello then looked the other way. Other than one short period of crying, he had a great day. :)”
“Malcolm did so much better! He rarely cried and was voluntarily working on different materials. He was even multitasking with a material while he was working and listening to a book I was reading. he’s definitely getting there 🙂
“He didn’t bother to go to Pre-K (where Adam was). He was too busy working on the materials and was already interacting with Kate and Bella. They actually almost got in trouble for being too loud. and we like it that way! Slowly coming out of his shell!”
“It’s safe to say that he’s already comfortable n the classroom. During snack time, one child accidentally dropped a bowl of grapes and without hesitation, Malcolm helped pick up the grapes. No one prompted him to help, it was so wonderful. He didn’t cry at all! The entire morning, it looked like he enjoyed the day.”

Here are pictures from Malcolm’s first day!

Welcome to Amerikids Malcolm!! Now when people ask where you’re from, you can answer Amerikids like Adam!

You're Two!

My dear baby boy, 
It seems like a second has passed since I got to hold your teeny little body in the NICU. You were so delicate and fragile I was scared to hold you and yet all I wanted to do was hold you all the time. From the very second you were born you were so determined and showed us right away how strong you were. 
You are truly my international baby. You are an honorary Pinoy, born in Manila and have already been to three continents. I wonder how long before you have been to all of the continents!

Your hero in the world is your big brother Adam. You copy every single thing that he does. But Adam better watch out if there is a pirate ship or lego you have your eye on. You are five pounds shy of his weight and can take him already. But you two love each other and play together for hours.

You will spend so much time working on getting the small little legos in the right piece. You love putting things together and have so much patience already to get it right.

You just started school at Amerikids and on week three you are already loving it. Adam helped you through the first week and let you sit next to him when you were scared. Your best friend is Henry, you love playing with him and will walk around the playground holding his hand. You love to wash your hands and will sit at the sink for hours if I let you playing in the water. You LOVE the bath. All I have to do is mention the bath and your run right for the bathroom and wait there for us to catch up. Yet you never once cry when it’s time to get out. Even thought Adam insists that you get out first every single bath.

You love to eat and really get a thrill out of mixing your rice with anything, definitely an honorary Pinoy! Your favorite fruits are watermelon and apples and your favorite foods are raisins and eggs. Your favorite treats are…well all of them! Except for icecream. You are not a fan. Maybe it’s too cold? You know exactly where the treat cabinet is and will head over there and point your figure until someone listens to you.

The best part of my day every single day is when I walk through the door after work and you and Adam run up to give me big hugs. You are so excited and immediately grab my finger to lead me somewhere. Sometimes you forget what you were so excited to show me and will just point to anything and smile wide.

You are learning new words every day. Current popular ones are there (said on loop until I in fact take you there), apple, uv you (for love you) and hello.

You LOOOOOVE doggies. You sleep every night clutching Artie, the stuffed Rottweiler.  It makes those early morning wake-ups at 4:30 a.m. almost bearable when you sheepishly walk in hugging Artie. You will say hello to any and every dog that you see and love crawling around the house pretending to be a doggie.

You love songs and will stop what you are doing to listen intently whenever anyone in the house breaks out into song. You love doing the hand motions for Itsy Bitsy Spider and do them pretty well.

I can’t wait to see what this year brings for you and I can’t wait to see more of the wonderful little person you are becoming.

Love you,
Mommy

PS- I hope this year also brings a later wake up time- love mommy

Malcolm got some wonderful presents from all his loving family!

This right here- Magantimes should be bought by every mom everywhere! The boys LOVE it and will both sit and play with it for hours on end. That is a pretty rare toy right there. Yes the occasional fight will break out when a house or rocket ship structure is knocked over but all in all worth every penny!

Randy made one of Malcolm’s favorite meals for his birthday- beef bourguignon and french fries! It’s pretty impressive that Randy can make french fries that the boys like more than the ones from Old MacDonald.

Recipe here- http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/beef-bourguignon-recipe.html?soc=rotdsocialtumblr

And Adam and I made a yummy chocolate cake for Malcolm! Recipe here- Ottolenghi Fudge Cake

Malcolm- I hope you keep on living every day to the fullest and taking advantage of all of life’s opportunities! We love you!

Pie in your face, hello 2016

What better way to celebrate New Years than with friends and some pie in the face! Our friends Naomi and Julian whose two little ones are Adam and Malcolm’s good friends invited us over for New Year. We headed over with the kids, some champers and a yummy chocolate cake. 
After a kid friendly dinner that consisted mostly of chocolate and candies (it is New Years after all) it was time for some pie in the face. The real version of this game includes spinning a wheel to see how many turns you get, basically Russian roulette with pie. The little ones version was turning the handle until the pie smashed in their face. They loved it!

All the kids and dads took a turn. The moms were let off the hook since we had makeup on.

After some more chocolate and playing the little ones headed off to a movie and bed. They all fell asleep in one bed. Might be the cutest thing I have seen in 2016 thus far!

Our friends then served the most amazing dinner. Naomi’s parents were visiting from Holland and brought the most delicious mackerel which they served with yummy salmon. Next course was this yummy Tomahawk. 

Followed by a yummy roast.

And this right here was the best of all. Her parents also brought the most amazing cheese I have had in quite a few years. Not a bad way to bring in 2016. Oh yeah there was also cards against humanity, fireworks, lots of laughs and the best end of the year.