mga trip nina kuting at bibi

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Baby Things for Our First Born

One of the things I looked forward to when I became pregnant was shopping for the baby. But since I was hospitalized several times, my shopping budget was slashed. Come to think of it, bibi and I would still be budget conscious whatever situation we may be in because that’s in our nature :)

Here are some of the cost management schemes we did:

1. Second hand items – we asked our family/closest friends if they have baby things which their babies/toddlers are not using anymore and if they would like to sell it. I think it is a win-win situation – instant spring cleaning for our family/friends, savings for us! A generous friend of mine even just gave us a few of her baby’s things stocked in her mom’s house which she left when she and her family migrated abroad. Lucky me!

2. Canvass: online vs mall shops – I blogged before that there are items which are cheaper online. Since I have lots of free time as I am on bedrest, I compare online prices vs the mall’s. Aside from my limited shopping trips, I rely on bibi to do the canvassing in malls which I think he enjoys as long as I give him a list. He is happy to help me on this as canvassing is one of his forms of relaxation. My basis for saying so is that he himself maintains an excel file of prices of grocery items we usually buy from different supermarkets (SM and Puregold). Since his place of work is near these supermarkets, he plans his grocery accordingly with maximum savings in mind. Weird? I don’t think so. Nerdy? Kinda :D I would have loved to go to Divisoria for our baby’s things but bibi is not fond of the place because it is out of the way and going there is more of a hassle to him (traffic, parking, security, crowds, definitely not wheelchair friendly, etc). Naku, pagkapanganak ko, Divi here I come!

3. Maximize “saving tools” – I am referring to discount/membership cards, vouchers and credit card points. So far, we have the SM Advantage card and discount voucher booklet, Baby Company Mom card, A-card (Ayala) and gift certificates bought with credit card points. But there is one thing that bibi will not take advantage of – 3 day sales. No amount of discounts will make him go through crowds and endure long lines. Ako kaya? Can’t wait to try it!

4. Baby showers and Wish lists – good friends of mine wanted to throw me a baby shower. Who am I to refuse :p? And they even requested for a wishlist. It is a common advice for parents to buy stuff after the baby shower to avoid multiple items. As for the wish list, this really makes gift giving easier (I myself ask for this if I am the gift giver). I made my list flexible – generic items and specific items with links to pictures for easy reference. Everything in my wish list are things we haven’t bought yet and included items which I just want for the baby and placed at the bottom of our list of things to buy – who doesn’t want cute stuff for the baby? Lucky me again because my friends were very generous – they gifted me with the big ticket items – crib, infant feeding starter set, sterilizer and baby bouncer!

Baby things can really be costly. But we also have our weak moments when we splurge on items especially if the above do not apply. After all, we are new parents and we only want the best for our first born – we just try our best to be practical about it, a trait which we would like to pass on to our little buting :D

Preggy Memories

Only two nights from now, the little miracle inside me will reveal herself to the world. How time flies! Thinking of this makes me reminisce the months that have passed. Before the anesthesia affects my memory, let me list down some of the things I want to remember about my pregnancy:

1. I did not suffer much from morning sickness. I had a few bouts of nausea which thankfully didn't last long.

2. I did not have weird food cravings but I had a phase wherein I hated chicken, especially chicken fried in olive oil. Even the word chicken makes me uncomfortable. Another food that earned my distaste is canned corned beef. As in yuck! My disgust with chicken eventually disappeared in my 2nd trimester. The same cannot be said for the canned corned beef. Let see after I give birth.

3. I always wake up at around 2am and 4am to pee. Most of the time during the 1st and 2nd trimesters, I would not able to go back to sleep until bibi's cel alarm ring at 530am. I would play Hang Man on my cel then eventually got addicted to solitaire in my pda. Nowadays, it's either I sleep late or if I wake up for my 1st bathroom ritual, I will be able to sleep after the 2nd one. I also added the occasional drafting of blog posts as one of my wee morning activities (actually, this post was drafted two weeks ago during one of those sleepless nights).

4. Pillows! Prior to being pregnant, I only use 1 pillow. Sometimes, I was even more comfortable with a rolled up towel. But now, I cannot sleep without my 8 pillows! Makati Med was my sponsor for the 6 pillows.

5. Bibi has been spoiling me even before except when it comes to junk food. Bibi is a health conscious person that is why junk food is banned from the house particularly chips, ice cream and chocolates (except when these are given by friends :D). When I became pregnant, I just text him and he will try his best to drop by the grocery, no question asked! But since he has trained me well, I only request 1 type of junk food and it takes me at least a week to finish it. Note that he only buys the small packages (pede na!). Paano na kaya after I give birth? Mmm…

The above are just a few of the memories I have of my preggy days...The past 9 months has been a roller coaster adventure for us but everything is worth it. Two more sleeps to go and bibi and I will again embark on a different trip…parenthood!

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Online Shopping: ManilaBaby Shop

Ay, may na-adik sa online shopping! Last na ito before the big day-grabe, 6 days na lang as I type this. Kanina lang 1 week to go pa based sa countdown ticker ko. Actually, past midnight na kasi. Bakit naman nagpupuyat si buntis? Wala pa kasi si bibi, galing badminton at naaya na mag-Mercato sa The Fort. Pinayagan ko na kasi bilang na ang mga araw na pede siyang umuwi ng late, wala na ring food sa bahay (meron naman pero puro leftovers na) tsaka gusto kong makatikim ng food galing dun. Eh since di ako makatulog ng wala si bibi (aside from the fact na natulog lang ako maghapon at waiting for the food din), eto blogging blogging muna.

Ang haba ng intro, off-topic pa hehe :)

Back to the topic, eto ang nabili ko online, sa ManilaBaby Shop (thanks Doc Lei of Caleb's Closet Ecostore for the referral!)

Taffy Diaper Clutch

- Wala kasi kaming makita nito sa malls. Eh kyut pa siya :)

Nursing Cover

- Meron nito sa SM pero doble presyo nito dun!

Di naman obvious na mahilig ako sa orange. Wala lang, trip ko lang mag-orange :)

As I said, last na itong online shopping - for the meantime hehe. We'll see lang kung kelan mauulit kasi super busy na kami tiyak by next weekend...dito na kasi si buting!

Online Shopping: Human Nature

I've always wanted to try Human Nature organic products but these were not easily available/accessible before - you can only buy these at bazaars, from dealers, online, or at their store in QC which is too far from where we live/work. Now, these are being sold in Rustan's Supermarket and Beauty Bar but these places are still out of the way for us. Since I now have online purchasing power, I tried ordering online. Their website has definitely changed for the better from the last time I surfed it almost a year ago. Big improvement was made on the site's online shopping feature - it's so easy to use! After a few clicks and 1 day of waiting, my package arrived!