Seven Random Facts of Banot's Past

Tag from Geri

1. Dislikes weekend during childhood years coz it would mean spending the entire two days doing household chores.
2. Had a boy cut hairstyle for 3years(2nd yr.highschool-1st year college). To complement my boyish attitude i thought it would be cooler to have a short hair too.
3. At 5th grade mother sent me to the city for a summer class which happened to be an english speaking class. I would have taken my second piano lesson if i knew it before hand. Hated the twice a week tongue twister audio class and the gay teacher but enjoyed the extra curricular dance class. We get to showcase the steps during recital, it was fun.
4. Was chosen to represent our school divisions volleyball team for the SMRAA(southern mindanao regional athletic association). Back then i could only wish to be tall so i could hit and spike the ball hard...
5. Wanted to become a policewoman after highschool, i even applied for the entrance exam for the military academy(PMA) but my height failed me to break through. It was one of the saddest moment of my life.
6. I'm terrorized with big ocean waves, i know i'm an island girl but i'm really scared of it eventhough i know how to swim. I almost drown when i was 8yrs old, i guess that would explain it. It haunts me even in my dreams so i would settle down in the sandy rocky side of the water everytime we go to the beach and watch my family waving, calling my name to come join them. Very sad.
7. Choir group member since 4th grade till college. Back then i don't know how to use my vocal chord properly so i always strain my throat and end up hurting the next day even loosing my voice and miss a big presentation because of it.

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It's Official!

i find it so cute that i can't help scanning it.

After two weeks from our initial application via our county courthouse, 16days to be exact we finally got it. We thought it will take longer than that like 6-12weeks based on the information we got from their website. On the other hand it also says under the current news that processing are now back to normal but we could not help and wonder what if it doesn't come early before our trip. I guess no room for worries now huh.....

I'm officially uncle's sam adopted child while Matthew have now his own legal identity aside from the birth certificate. What a previlege. It's been a long journey and it has concluded stress free except for the tremendous fees we have to shed lol. So what's next? Our upcoming Philippine trip in two months. We are so looking forward to it.

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Name behind the blog

Long overdue tag from my dear friends online. I'll make it short that way it won't be boring to read lol. I was born in the year of the horse and a meticulous, critically inclined Virgo. I was named Maria Vanessa at birth by my mother but for some reason the hospital clerk didn't do the registry very well that i end up with one name instead of two. I'm the baby of four children but i do not remember being babied a lot when i was little, i matured quiet fast that the only thing i can recall is when my father would take me out for shopping without a single complain when i pick something from the store. He would rather hand it quick to me than see my teary puppy eyes. I never leave empty handed all the time. Definitely a daddy's girl. Cooking, dancing and singing are my passion. Truth is, i made singing a career after college although it was shortlived but it was worth taking risk of going overseas(china) otherwise i would have never met my husband richard. Parents wanted me to become a doctor but my calling then wasn't in the medical field. I wanted to be a nutritionist, but i get bad feedbacks about it so i later decided to follow my parents wishes and take it from there. Initially enrolled in physical therapy for my premed in Cebu City but graduated as a medical technologist thinking that i'ts still quite close related to medicine if by chance i would pursue it later on. Along the way as i'm beginning to be more realistic and practical, i don't think it's smart to continue financial wise. Parents were struggling already and the fact that they already sent 3 kids before me i felt the demand to set it aside and venture onto something else independently. They would do everything to support me but i just could not handle the sacrifices they have to endure for another 4yrs(proper med) of school. I was stubborn enough that i went to manila after graduation to find my purpose and play with destiny. It took seven persevering months before i finally landed a good decent contract. It's very fullfilling and worth a try. That would explain why i end up here in the land of opportunity. I never knew i would meet my soulmate overseas, and since both of us couldn't handle the seperation when he left beijing he worked on the papers for us to be together. Now married and naturalized citizen with a beautiful son, i could not ask for a better life. With my only educational background printed in my job resume i'm stuck working in the field were i thought to be less exciting "the laboratory". Don't get me wrong i am very thankful to have a job like this, it's just not where i want to be. In a year or so i can see myself working in kitchen. I will be taking few classes when i come back from our philippine trip. So watch out for an aspiring chef in the making lol.

Thoroughness, hard work and conscientiousness are my hallmarks. Perfectionist to the point that i get discouraged at times when something goes wrong. Everyday i am learning to just let it go for that's what life is, no such thing as perfect. Quite successful in the process actually. I have a fastidious love for cleanliness, hygiene and good order, conventionality and aristocratic attitude of reserve. Hubby would sometimes call it a disorder but i protest, i'd say i'm not that extremely obsessed. Blame it to my mother for i grew up doing critical cleaning/chores with her next to me checking if i did it right or not. She had me do it all over again if she finds a trace of dust left behind in the corners of our little house. Until she's satisfied she won't mind spending a day with me lol. I admit, it was one of the worst days of my teenage life. But everytime i reminisce about it now gives me smile, there is actually a good reason for all of that, afterall mothers knows best. Thus no feelings of remorse when i tell her stories such as this on family reunion. We teased her and laughed about it. Yes it was a litte rough but i'm grateful for the training and discipline that were implied to me during my adolescent years. For without it who knows what kind of a woman i have become. Salamat mama, you are such a unique human being and still my source of inspiration.

I'm proactive, fan of sports like tennis and intellectually enquiring, every new things i encounter i would question the logic and purpose of it's existence. I like to learn and teacheable especially if it's something that interests me. Still loves the culture i grew up with and will be forever stay proud of my roots......

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Mommy's little boy no more

Goodness he has become like a cloned weed lol. How did he grew up so fast? Richard and i were just browsing some videos when he was only 4mnths and helpless now he can almost get what he wants at his own convenience. He turned nine months last week, weight(20.2lbs) at 45% and height(29.1inches) at 80%, not too bad considering his mother is short lol. Loaded with many tricks like going down the table by scooting legs first and let gravity pulls him down is the most gutsy maneuver i've seen, i know babies are careless and doesn't know any better but he does know not to dive head first from tables, bed anymore. All i have to say is "bobu"an he knows what it means. He'll sit and wait till someone grabs him or simply would look down over and over and i guess realize how big of a fall it would be if he try. It's the repetition that made these babies smart hahaha. Newly acquired facial expression like the lemon face(i named it)after he took a sip of the lemon and squeezed his face downward was the most funny face his grandpa had ever seen in years. Silly thing is he'll ask for more and would gladly do the lemon face again. He must love sour taste like i do. Singing and dancing are few of his favorites especially when he hears me singing the twinkle twinkle. Besides the walking with me holding one hand, i could tell he really wants to walk unsuppported and reach all corners of our little house lol. What he does to get through is pull himself up by leaning towards the wall and walk sideways. If not walking he would climb the stairs if gates left open. Thank god he hasn't fell yet but we already put it on our routine to close the gates all the time coz he could sneak in behind our back. When we take him in the shower room expect him to be at the side of the tub waiting to be picked up. he would raise his arms and blabber until you grab his little butt, he loves to take shower the adult way, one time he slide into the tub while daddys taking shower i heard a big sound i thought he crack his head or something but it was daddy calling me to come over, i saw mattie sittting down next to his dads foot with an excited look on his face, he still got a diaper on soaking wet but very happy to get in there lol. How he climb there we don't know, but he did it, probably slide his heavy head over. Clever he had become. Definitely not a baby anymore.

This coming holidays we will be in the philippines. It's about time for matthew to meet the other side of the family. Hearing my family's excitement makes me want to fast forward the days, i could not wait to relax the whole month and not worry about mommy chores lol. There's going to be a lot of travelling coz were not directly flying to davao from manila, we decided to visit cebu then davao before settling at my parents hometown of mati for the holidays. This is going to be draining when it comes to loading and unloading luggages. We might go to hongkong or bangkok if cebu pacific airfares stays cheap during our trip. Right now it says less than 20dollars on their webpage(going to hongkong/bangkok). Too cheap to be true? we shall see. It would be an exciting sidetrip when that happens. This is going to be mattie's baptismal too and inlaws are flying there for the occassion and short getaway.

That's all for now folks. P.s. i haven't forgotten my long overdue tag assignment. Coming up soon!

Video of the week. Enjoy

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Night with the Legend

It was a night worth to remember a spectacle i shall never forget. Mr. Tony Bennet was in town for a 2hr concert, it was my first live solo performance experience here in the states so i just feel like sharing it to everyone. I'm a music lover mostly oldies coz i grew up listening to it, this was really a treat if you know what i mean. Plus his not getting any younger, this could be first and last glimpse of the him. That's why Richard did not hesitate to get tickets for us when i saw the promotion from our local grocery store. So concern to miss the event we held them(tickets) hostage for a month. I told him that i can watch it alone if he choose to stay home but he happen to like him, surprisingly he even have some of his songs loaded on his ipod so I figured he'll tag along and even bought another ticket for his dad. Another bonus is that he got the best seat the closest i can get to take a decent picture of him. Can you imagine my excitement? really it's tremendous.

The night started with dinner at the same building, fine dinning which i'm not really fond of, food and service was excellent for the price we paid ,it better be good, right folks? The place was packed with people of all ages, mostly on their 40's and above lol. It's a solo night but he brought along a surprise for us, his daughter singing one of my favorite of all time standard song "The Nearness of You". I could not help whisper the lyrics in the air lol. I know i'm not supposed to do that, i just missed performing a lot that's all. Some favorites like The way you look tonight, Shadow of your smile, For once in my life, Boulevard of broken dreams, I left my heart in san fransisco, and the popular "Fly me to the moon by Frank sinatra as he pay tribute to his bestfriend was among the selection. It's so wonderful and refreshing to hear these songs live from a legend. I couldn't ask for a better pre-birthday treat than this. He was magnificent, little dance steps here and there, short chats in between made me feel like i've known his life a little bit. I didn't know Bob Hope gave him his name tony bennet, his original name was quite long so the comedian thought it's best for him to get an american short name, that's how it all started. What a memorable wonderful 50 years career he had he said and still wishes to continue to sing for everyone. Him saying that really inspired me. I will truly be a big fan of yours Mr. Tony Bennet. More years to come for you and your music.....

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Eight months and home alone again

7and a half monnths photos of mattie

It's challenging to be left alone with a hyperenergetic infant in tow, though i dislike it a lot before the baby when hubby travel out of country, now i must admit i'm not as bored and irritated as i used to. Because at least i get to play and do more chores with the little one if i don't feel like going out thus requires moving around doing something to be entertained. Just perfect for my personality, coz it makes me feel productive and useful. I think i know where my son got all his energy lol. Hubby coudn't agree more either lol. Mother son bonding definitely fill in the hours of my mundane day to day existence. Honestly, it's more of like my favorite hobby now. Fun and interesting, also a learning exploration of my childs growth and development. Each day is like another day of newfound skills ready to be unfold to the world, it's amazing. It's like a sequence in the movie only i get to watch it live all the time lol. Truthfully, this is the stage that i'm so looking forward to, we interact and me on the other hand playing foolishly like a clown to match up with him. I couldn't ask for a better playmate.

So what's new with my 8month old hyper boy lol? He crawls and scoots(combat crawl)half and half, ends up with the latter most of the time. He can climb up to the sixth stairway now unsupported while me watching him at the near side below. He can manned his walker back and forth easily, sometimes he couldn't figure out how to get out when stuck on the edges of the kitchen cabinets, besides that he is cruising fine when there's no obstruction. So far these are the major ones. Other minor silliness like pulling the stopper cap behind each doors and eat it, he have a fetish with anything that has tags exposed on it(clothes, rags, toys,cables). More fascinated with our cat buddy that he wants to go after her when he sees her coming. He recognizes her meows too that he would stop instantly in whatever he does to find the object that's making the sound. Attentive and curious, i wouldn't be surprise if he becomes an investigator in the future. I got a daily report from the daycare people saying he has been a bully lately, stealing other babies toys. There are times too that some female babies left with him in the afternoon pulling his foot backward so he couldn't crawl. They said he hated it so much that he end up screaming furiously loud enough to get their attention lol.

Video my mattie on his walker:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFCmb2kd4xM

affair with my belly folds......

Now that im back to my pre pregnancy weight i coudn't help to get annoyed with my little flabs. I am now wearing my old clothes but could not enjoy the looks of it. I know i shouldn't be whining right considering that it only took me 8mnths to shed it? But heck i don't have the guts to flaunt the extra piece of skin when i wear lowrise bottoms. Grrrrr, i can't let this stay for long, it has to go away otherwise it's very unlikely for my skin to get back to normal according to some doctors. Speaking of cocobutter, since early in my pregnancy i've never stop using it. I really hope it holds true to it's purpose of reducing stretch marks.... i do have a few on my left lower side only that needs help lol. I'm so vain when it comes to this(tsk tsk shame). My hair and body is what makes me feel good and confident, forget about materials stuff that covers it..... those weighs less to nothing to my whole being. Alright, time to hit the floor for some crunches i mean serious 15-25minutes of sit ups/crunches starting this week.

Meanwhile, i decided to play golf today with mattie riding along, we'll see if i survive without daddy's company to switch him around. Some fresh air and sun is much needed booze today to prepare me for this second week of being home alone with my shortie. We were suppposed to go spend our weekend at the lake 2hrs outside of Houston with my inlaws, but too short of a time and a lot of moving around with the little one to be worth a road trip going there and flying over to get back here in SA. So i decided for us to stay home, i'm a little sad. But it's ok we'll survive.

P.S. he finally got some teeth, two sharp ones lol.

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