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!

Maddie Moments: Maddie's Chinese Name

I have a Singaporean then-officemate who is very fond of Maddie. She liked it when I told her that she is Maddie's "fairy Godmother" and true to that name, she would always give Maddie presents just because.

Friends, meet Maddie's Aunty Adeline :-)

Of all the things she gave our little girl, my favorite is her Chinese name. Yes, Maddie has a Chinese name! Here it is...

Since Madison is a Western name, Adeline instead picked a Chinese name that resembles Jayanne and has a nice meaning, too! According to her, Jia means "additional happiness" while Ying means "luster of a gem". And that's exactly what Maddie is to us! Jhay and I were happy then but when Maddie came, it was a different level of happiness altogether! Spending each day with her is just bliss. Seeing her smile, playing with her, watching her grow and calling her ours... Oh, what an honor to have been entrusted by the Lord with a lustrous gem!

One day, Maddie will learn the Chinese language, or at least how to write her name! :D

Thank you, Aunty Adeline! What a wonderful, unique gift this is!

Maddie and Adeline, 1 year later :)

Maddie Moments: Her First Month

Being the crybaby that Maddie is, the succeeding days were still full of crying and in effect, sleepless nights but by the time she turned a month old, we were pretty much getting the hang of it. The key is indulging her in about half an hour of swaying while humming "My Nipa Hut" (yes, there is an English version of Bahay Kubo!) and then ever so carefully laying her down and quickly latching her on. 

Her 1st Month Portrait

We had a bit of a struggle since matakaw sya sa milk so she has the tendency to feed even when she's already full. The ending is Maddie throwing up and Mommy panicking >_< It's really good that I had Mamita around because she would always know what to do. I was starting to get a little paranoid about it so I did a little research and learned that it's normal since the baby's digestive system is still developing. She also outgrew that phase after a couple of months :)

Maddie loving the company of Mamita and Aunt Haley.

Maddie can see us and the things around her already so her eyes would follow moving objects around the room. She started to make small responses to the sounds that she hears, too.

At 1 month, Maddie also loves to be carried all the time. People would always tell me, "wag sanayin sa karga, ikaw din mahihirapan" but I really didn't mind because I thought I won't get to carry her in my arms forever so enjoy it while it lasts. Especially now that she's already big and she's living far from us, i really really miss those days.

That, my friends, is how a tired yet happy first-time mom looks like :)

The eyebags, omg! Hahaha.

Now back to her first month birthday... To celebrate, we had a small feast at home. We invited some of her SG Ninongs and Ninangs over to join the fun.

I went a little overboard with the food. Check out in the next photos how many guests we had. Sorry, excited lang! :)

Maddie's Ninong Mike, Ninong Wendyll and Ninang Sara. These 3 were my officemates and housemates the past years.

And now, with our current housemates.

Three cheers for Maddie's first milestone!

Happy 1st Month Birthday, little one! :)