I’m on a roll today! This is my second digiscrap layout for today, the first is in my other blog. The little girl in photo is my niece, Jazmyn, born to my cousin Carree and her husband Antwon. The photo was taken at the hospital using a handphone camera hence the resolution.

Welcome to the family, Jazmyn!

Credits: Papers from the One Sweet World kit by Angi Jones of DigiScrap.

Credits: Embellishments by Amy Teets of Scrapix-Design. Papers by Gina Miller of Digichick. Ribbon by Heather Melzer of Heather Ann Designs.

When I was pregnant with Amelie, I always prayed that she’d be healthy, with complete body parts and inheriting the good traits of her dad. I so admire how he has remained simple natured, timid and patient throughout the years — those traits I want our daughter to have.

I shared this with my mother-in-law and she asked, “You didn’t pray for her to be beautiful?” and I said, “Not exactly. But I did ask for her to be cute.”

It will take a few more years for me to confirm if she got the traits I prayed for. Although I’d like to think that she is an overall good kid now, it is still pretty early to tell. But what is very evident is Amelie looking very much like her dad.

As soon as my ObGyne placed Amelie on my chest after delivery, I whispered to R, “Kamukha mo sya.” Since that day until now, you’ll hear the exact same words from the people who see them together.

Credits:  Pacific Solace (papers) by Christy Lyle of DigiChick. Sweet Rubbish (embellishments) by Sara Carling.

My sunshine, now at 15 months is becoming more and more active, tirelessly running to and fro, climbing the stairs, pulling out all the stuff in her dedicated shelf and eats much to her heart’s content. I love it when she smiles so beautifully whenever she sees her dad coming home from work or even at me when I just came from my bath! Isn’t that cute? If she’s done something that she knows mommy’s not happy about, like touching things in “mommy’s shelf”, she’d run to you and try to appease you with a hug.

I am happy that she keeps a good appetite. She eats cereals for breakfast; thankfully she likes cow’s milk now. She enjoys her servings of whatever pinoy dish I cook and her favorites are — pork or beef sinigang, beef nilaga, chicken or beef afritada, Filipino spaghetti or chicken macaroni soup. With the appetite of my two charms, who would not be motivated to cook everyday? Amelie will typically have lunch with me, a serving of rice (she graduated from rice porridge since 1) and viand then slices of oranges or rock melon will come after. We try to always have fruits on the table though it’s a challenge to stock up a lot. She will join me and R for dinner later in the day. She loves orange juice and Yakult (this helps her digestion). From 4 bottles of 8 ounces of formula per day, she now drinks just 3. Yey!

She loves books, enjoys her time alone playing with her toys, plastic containers and even CD cases! Whenever she’s bored though, she will call your attention by turning up the DVD player volume or she’ll come to you and pinch you. Yea, one habit I hope she’ll outgrow. She pinches me a lot when she’s trying to put herself to sleep. Even if I just clipped her nails, her fingers are just too precise not to miss the muscles and fat I have on my arms.

R plays a lot of “hide and seek” game with Amelie. I tell you, once you start playing this with her, she just won’t stop. You’ll be catching your breath and she’ll still be running and hiding and wanting for you to surprise her.

She says the words “ilk” for milk and this has helped avoid crying spells whenever she’s hungry. There’s no more guess work when she gets cranky. So she asks for “ilk” when hungry, pinches and whines when sleepy. Ha ha.

Amelie loves action songs. She first learned how to clap and stomp and raise both arms to the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It” before she turned 1. Her next favorite is “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”, far from her “close-open” antic when she was still a young baby, she would open and close her hands and motion her fingers to form a diamond and sing “kul” “kul” when she watches the video. Now she’s learning the “Eensy Weensy Spider”, she started to do movements on her fingers but have yet to learn the rest.

When she sees me and R dressed up, she’ll drop whatever she’s holding and run towards us. She knows we’re going somewhere and would want to go too – and fast! When you say “shoes” she’ll be so alert that it will be difficult for you to dress her up, she just wants to put her shoes on and go!

There are lot of little challenges to come – teach her to brush her teeth (she bites the brush before it gets in her mouth), potty training (which I dread!), better sleeping habits — she takes 2 naps daytime and sleeps through the night and with “better” I mean for Amelie to sleep on her own. She only does it now when she’s very tired.

Parenthood is REALLY tough work but the rewards are priceless! Happy 15-month birthday, darling Amelie!

Credits:  Earthy Vibe kit from Gina Miller of Digi Chick.

Late August this year, my Ate C forwarded an email from her company’s brand manager requesting for leads on potential baby models for a new TV ad. In my excitement, I bothered less if our dinner wasn’t ready yet and that I was very tired that day coming from work. I immediately picked-up Amelie, gave her her evening bath, fixed her hair and diaper and grabbed my trusty Canon camera! Talk about priorities! Hee.

The photos in this layout are just two of what I sent to my sister. Kaya lang, when the brand manager inquired about Amelie and learned that she’s in Singapore, she told my sister that the shoot is scheduled in the 1st week of September and it therefore followed that she’s dropped off from the list. Sayang no.

But despite that, Amelie remains to be a JNJ baby.

Credits: Brushesflowers Kit (embellishments) by Kristy Nerness.  Playful Kit (papers and clips) by Holly McCaig. LO created on December 3, 2007.

Amelie had always enjoyed bathing save for the first few weeks when she was still a newborn. But when she was in her 10th to 11th months, she started to dislike it. The mere sight of her tub just sent her shrieking and wailing. I had to improvise like using plastic containers and what not to entice her to stay put in her tub because bath toys didn’t do. If R was around, he would hold Amelie while I wash her up. Her struggles and wails often led to 5-minute baths and a wet mom and dad.

However, a few days after we reached Manila, she surprised me most when she all of a sudden changed her mindset over bathing. She stayed put until I finished the whole bathing ritual. Now, unless I take her out of the tub, she wouldn’t stop splish-splashing! A pleasant surprise indeed!

 Credits: Sara’s Surfer Girl Kit.  LO created on November 24, 2007.

Used Photoshop CS for this LO. LO created on August 14, 2007.

Used Photoshop CS for this LO. LO created on August 7, 2007.

Used Photoshop CS for this LO.  Created on July 8, 2007.

For our daughter’s first year, we celebrated the 20th of each month as it presented milestones/developments of her growth. I fancied buying this small cake with her favorite character design, Elmo.

Credits: Papers used by Sarah Batdorf of Scrapartist. LO created on February 21, 2007.

I was doing some reading today about babies and I came across this beautiful list of post-baby observations. I couldn’t agree more..

1. You finally stop to smell the roses, because your baby is in your arms. 2. Where you once believed you were fearless, you now find yourself afraid.3. The sacrifices you thought you made to have a child no longer seem like sacrifices.

4. You respect your body … finally.

5. You respect your parents and love them in a new way.

6. You find that your baby’s pain feels much worse than your own.

7. You believe once again in the things you believed in as a child.

8. You lose touch with the people in your life whom you should have banished years ago.

9. Your heart breaks much more easily.

10. You think of someone else 234,836,178,976 times a day.

11. Every day is a surprise.

12. Bodily functions are no longer repulsive. In fact, they please you. (Hooray for poop!)

13. You look at your baby in the mirror instead of yourself.

14. You become a morning person.

15. Your love becomes limitless, a superhuman power.

Used Photoshop CS for this LO. LO created on December 17, 2006.

This scan already shows our baby’s features — her chubby cheeks, button nose and cute lips.

Credits: Fab Freebie by Gina Miller of Digichick. LO created on September 24, 2006.

Those free papers and embellishments make really good e-cards. Here’s what I did for 2006. The first one was sent to friends and relatives while the second was posted on my blog.

Credits: First LO - Winter kit by Valerie Fowler of Digichick. Second LO - Holly kit by Holly McCaig of Digichick.

Leah and I met through another blogging pal turn real friend, Jay. The three of us, together with our spouses, shared a common liking for Singaporean favorites like beef kway teow and chilli crab. We would always go for spur-of-the-moment dinner or lunch outs to Geylang or Chinatown. We enjoyed watching movies, plays and concerts, too! Their company is sorely missed.

Credits:  Papers and embellishments from Scrapbook Factory Deluxe.  LO created on November 13, 2006. 

Keanu is the son of Justice, a blogger-friend I eventually met when her family moved to Singapore. I’ll never forget how she helped organize a get-together (cum shower party) for me. How thoughtful, no?

Credits: Aberdeen kit from Sarah Jones of Digichick.  LO created on April 19, 2006.

Andrew Thomas is the son of my close friend, Shiela. We’ve know each other since grade school, became classmates in high school and schoolmates in university. She left the Philippines for the US months before our graduation and stayed with her parents in Oxnard.

We saw each other during my US trip in 2004 and I crashed in her place for a couple of days. Being with her again brought back memories of us staying up late just chatting, confiding about each others’ problems and secrets. Boy, how I miss my dear friend.

Credits: Soft and Sweet Layout kit by Jan Hosford of Digital Freebies. LO created on April 19. 2006.

This is one of the first layouts I created in 2006. I’m still very much a newbie in digiscrapping and in using Photoshop. But I’m enjoying every minute I spent in creating layouts

Kathleen is the daughter of our couple-friends Jack and Karen. This little lady should be in primary school this year. How time flies.

Credits: My Favorite Color kit by Dena Cooper. LO created in March 11, 2006.

When I think of how long my parents have stayed married, I wonder if my husband and I will reach the same milestone. It’s still a long way for us but I’d like to think and believe that we’ll reach if not surpass that length of time.

Credits: One Sweet World kit by Angi Jones for FabScraps.  LO created on December 22, 2005.

Kelly is my cousin’s daughter.  She is growing to be as beautiful as her mom.

Credits:  Soft Sherbet kit by Heather Roselli of Digichick. 

Carlos is my sister’s only son. He’s now 8, tall and smart for his age. He used to hug me when I come to the Philippines for a visit and he was only about 4 or 5. When he turned 6, he became too conscious to be babied! Ha ha.

Credits: SweetNSassy Kit by Robin Carlton of DigiChick.