Continuing the 100 day photo challenge 9 years later

While browsing my archives, I saw posts about the 100-day Photo Challenge. It was a thing for bloggers circa 2011 where you post one photo a day for 100 days to keep the blogging habit. I find it so funny that 9 years later, I'm still not done with it. So now I thought, let me just try to finish it for the Nth time (honestly, I lost track! >_<) Anyway, it's also a good way to share random stories about the past few years =)

Day 76 - A picture of you drinking something 

November 2017 | My Starbucks staple, Java Chip <3

Day 77 - A picture of you and friends making silly faces

February 2020 | One of my girlfriends, Nikki, married her beau of 10 years, Donz.
And here's the whole gang doing the obligatory wacky shot ;-P

Day 78 - A picture of you in the dark and
Day 79 - A picture of you in the water

June 2018 | Sands Skypark, Marina Bay Sands, where I chose to celebrate my big 3-0 :)
Lovely city view especially at night.

Day 80 - A picture of you and someone you love being silly

May 2020 | Maddie and I playing with FB Messenger filters. Does she take after me alr? ;)

Day 81 - A picture of you with a character

June 2013 | We had our honeymoon in Hongkong and of course, Disneyland had to be one of our stops.
Dang, I miss traveling already. Can this virus be over now? :(

Day 82 - A picture of someone you love asleep

January 2020 | Few days after the new year and there I was watching my two loves being very sweet even in their sleep.

Day 83 - A picture of you and a teammate

December 2019 | I'm not singling out one teammate, I'm showing you the whole team on our holiday celeb.
Three Filipinos, two Sri Lankans, one French, all awesome! :)

Day 84 - A picture of a school project

April 2019 | Since I'm already too old for school projects, thought I'm gonna show you one
of Maddie's instead. We take Kinder1 projects seriously here, you know! :D

Day 85 - A picture of your favorite holiday

December 2018 | This Boracay trip is our first family holiday just the three of us
and it was really one for the books. It's quality time at it's finest. And the island is just
breathtakingly beautiful after the 6-month restoration. I can't wait to be back!

Day 86 - A picture of someone who helps you with school

February 2020 | Our college barkada's smart kid, Noreen.
We would always joke that she's the major reason we made it out of the uni alive! Haha!
Thanks, babes! Love you forevs x

Day 87 - A picture of someone you grew up with

December 2019 | Me and my cousin. We literally spent every day of our childhood
together, most of those were in our Grandma's house where this photo was taken.
So much memories! :)

Day 88 - A picture of your dream car

[Note: This is obvs a googled photo so ctto :)] Mangangarap ka narin lang eh itodo na!
A Lamborghini Aventador, folks! ;)

Day 89 - A picture of you at a hotel

June 2018 | Also at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore. So grateful to have spent my 30th birthday
with the whole fam here in SG. Well except for Dad, but he's always in my <3 so yeah.

Day 90 - A picture of you wearing your favorite color

January 2020 | Pink, corz! :D
This day I marked my 8th year working in the Lion City. How time flies!

Last 10 photos, guys!

I have a strong feeling I will really finish it this time! Fingers crossed!

Ciao,

Maddie Moments: Her Baptism in Singapore

Elders say that before bringing a newborn to parks or malls or somewhere else far from home, she should first be baptized to put her under God's care and protection. And because we know that we cannot contain our wanderlust for too long, we planned Maddie's baptism just a couple of months after her birth.

 Invitation made by Mommy, of course!

My little girl knows how to pose na talaga.. ^_^

Quick note: Her baptismal gown and shoes as well as the other dress are all from the Philippines.
Baby clothes here are nice but quite expensive so we buy from PH whenever there's a chance.

On April 20th, coinciding with the Easter Sunday of 2014, Maddie was officially welcomed to God's family. The ceremony was held at the Church of Saint Michael and was officiated by Fr. Angel Luciano, the chaplain of Filipino migrants in Singapore.

 There is no special baptism here, which explains why there are so many people in this photo :) All ceremonies are communal because each church holds only one baptism every 2 months. We didn't pay anything for it though, and an offertory envelope/stipend is completely voluntary.

The Certificate of Baptism is given right after the ceremony! How efficient things are in SG!

With Maddie's Ninongs ang Ninangs.
It's not customary here to have a dozen sponsors so we limited it to 3 pairs :)

A quick side story: It is a requirement for infant baptism here that the parents are married in Catholic church and since Jhay and I are only civilly wed, we also had a wedding convalidation on the same day. A convalidation is a ceremony with the exchange of marital vows, blessing of the rings and signing of the contracts -- pretty much a church wedding without the glitz and glamour! Haha.

Our witnesses -- beside me is Maribel, my former colleague while the one next to Jhay is his cousin Ronald, who is also based here in SG.

Fr. Angel was making funny side comments as we exchanged rings hence the huge smiles on our faces. A little trivia: he is the same priest who started the Simbang Gabi tradition here in Singapore :)

Again, the Marriage Certificate was handed to us afterwards.

Woohoo! We are officially married in church, too! =)

After the baptism, we feasted on some classic Filipino dishes at Gerry's Grill (yes, the same one that we have in the Philippines!).

Their al-fresco dining area can be used for functions. You can opt for a sit-down buffet or a buffet table setup just like this for a more formal feel. And oh, see that tarpaulin in the background? It's also my labor of love :)

They have set menus or you can create your own as long as it sums up to a minimum of S$20/pax. We preferred to customize so our spread consists of Beef Caldereta, Grilled Pork Belly, Pinakbet and Palabok. Our set also includes Crispy Chicken Skin for starters, plain rice and assorted canned drinks. Both food and service are good so we keep coming back to Gerry's!

Aside from the sponsors, we made it a point to invite our friends here as our way of saying thank you for showering me and Maddie with gifts and well wishes even before her arrival.

That's Calix, another baby from our friendship circle. He's a year older than Maddie, though.

We got her cake from a local bakeshop Bengawan Solo and some customized red velvet cupcakes from Twelve Cupcakes as giveaways.

Thank you so much Godparents, Aunties and Uncles for celebrating with us! And for all these presents, too!

Love lots,
Maddie :-*

Maddie Moments: Her 2nd Month

The days went by too quickly since Maddie's arrival. Being a Mommy made me completely lose track of time. Back then, time was measured only by feeding sessions, nappy changes, lullabies on repeat and over-too-soon naps. Before I know it, Daddy's home from the office, we'd grab a dinner bite (Maddie would cry before we can even call it a full meal!), they'd have some playtime then we'd go to sleep. Another day is done just like that! But no matter how crazy those times were, I still find myself wishing we can all go back. Really, nothing compares to having your family with you :(

Okay, before I go all-out with my #OFWproblems, let me get back to business and reminisce Maddie's 2nd month :)

Her many happy smiles
She may be crying a lot when sleepy or feeling uncomfortable but majority of the time, Maddie is a happy baby!

She has this skill of making it seem like she's looking at the camera even back 
when she has yet to develop her vision fully.

Still smiling all the way to dreamland! :)

Ready for bed time in her Minnie Mouse ensemble but would still pose for the camera.

Wacky!!! :P
On a side note, the shirt she's wearing was part of the newborn pack from Raffles Hospital.
It's a very good keepsake, I must say :)

Her smile is infectious. At first I thought it's just me but a friend went out of her way to send a Facebook message just to tell me that looking at Maddie's smile makes her smile as well :)

Her 2nd Month Celebration

The obligatory monthly celeb photo :)

Lola Nelia (Jhay's Mom) was in Singapore for a 3-week vacation so she cooked some of her specialties to celebrate Maddie's 2nd month birthday.

Unlike her 1st month celebration, this time it's smaller and simpler. We prepared only a few dishes as there were only the 4 of us as well. And for me, basta may cake, happy! ^_^

Family photo in our full pambahay glory! Haha!

 Maddie: "Enough of the pictures, Mommy! T_T"

That's Lola Nelia! Thanks for the delish Lechon Paksiw, lola! :)

Hurrah for two months! ;)

Now on to the milestones...

At 2 months, we can already talk to Maddie and get some coos in response. Her favorite person to talk to is...

Daddy!!!
Look at that smile! She's ecstatic just seeing him!

Maddie listening intently to Daddy. She is a true-blue Daddy's girl!

In the morning, we would walk J to the MRT station and on our way back, we would drop by the community park for her to soak up some sun :) 

It is also around this time that Maddie started to appreciate moving objects. Hence, we got her this infant-to-toddler rocker. It comes with a removable toy bar and a musical flower so it's perfect for baby's sensory development. And of course, I loved it more because it's pink! :D

Our cutie pie with the other stuff that we bought that day. Having a baby girl gave me more reasons to shop for anything pink! Weeeee! :)

That sums up Maddie's second month happenings. Up next, her baptism here in Singapore! Stay tuned!