My Mommyology

November 18, 2013
by mymommyology
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Kate Baked Some Christmas Goodies

Why hello there blog and blog friends! It’s been a while, hasn’t it 😉

If you recognize this pile:

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas….

… I’ve been buried under it these last few weeks. I honestly don’t mind, it’s a fun and happy problem to contend with. Fortunately the orders continue to come in, and really, we cannot thank you enough for the support through our personalized items! No doubt, it has kept me fairly busy. That among other things and current events happening in our country today.

Before I continue, a commercial break: If I’m being honest, it’s been a bit hard to post about the usual everyday things and happy thoughts since Yolanda hit the country. No doubt we’ve all been affected and we’re all doing our share in small ways to help. I have my thoughts about it, and I will share them here when ready. In the meantime, I will try to establish some sense of “new normal” and rebuild the blogging mojo back to its old levels. Hence the somewhat cheery, yummy pre-Christmas post…

The other part of this pre-Christmas order rush is our food tie-up. In the past years, folks have come to Two Tots looking for items they can also give the parents and relatives of the kids they shop for. In this case food really well since it serves more than one recipient and can be given to the entire family.

In an earlier post, I mentioned the Trays we launched also for the season. Since the Mommy Mundo Bazaar two Sundays ago, we’ve also started to put some Christmas cookies on them. It’s a miracle the cookies have actually made it onto the tray and into our sales as Bea and I find, they’re so good we can’t stop eating them ourselves!

That’s because they’re made by the cookie goddess herself, Kate Santos. Kate of Kate Baked, has gamely teamed up with Two Tots this year to distribute two Christmas flavors that are EXCLUSIVELY SOLD with us. The first one is what she calls White Christmas, and it’s made with milk and some white chocolate chunks, apart from the usual cookie dough mix. It’s not too sweet, but it’s for all the milk cookie lovers out there. A dozen of it comes in a box and is sold for P450. With our tray (originally priced at P295), we give it all at a total of P695 — all wrapped and ready to be given as a gift.

Orders can be placed when you email: inquiries@twotots.net.

The second cookie is literally a taste of Christmas. It’s what Kate calls her Spiced Date. It’s not actually a spicy cookie, but more of one that is filled with all the spices of Christmas. It’s DIVINE I tell you — Divine! It’s worth breaking your holiday diet for. This dozen goes for P550, but again when paired with our tray, it’s a gift that’s worth P795.

Yummy, pretty gifts. What more can you ask for?

All these cookies of course are baked with a whole lotta love. They’re also wrapped individually, so you don’t have to worry about the cookies getting old too fast. The cookies last about 4-5 days in room temperature, but could last longer if you refrigerate them immediately. You’d just need to warm them up again before gobbling them all down. 😉

We sampled these cookies at the bazaar and everyone’s praise was consistent. The texture, the moistness of the cookies… they’re really, really good! Even the kids liked it, and they kept coming back for more! There’s not much more to say except, please do come and taste them for yourselves.

In fact, we will be at the 2nd half of the Mommy Mundo Bazaar this coming December 8 at the Rockwell Tent. If you place your cookie and tray orders now, we can have them ready for you by that Sunday. It’s actually perfect because the next day, you can take them to work to give out or send them off to deliver.

Kate has several other well-known cookies that she makes. You can get them through us too (we’d be happy to put it on a tray for you, but the actual prices will apply). For orders, we’d need at least a week in advance to prepare, so please do notify us ahead of time. Don’t forget your 50% deposit to confirm the order so that we can process it in the most efficient amount of time possible.

Let’s all #Spreadthecookielove y’all! 😉

You can find her on Facebook at Kate Baked Cookies, or follow her on Instagram: @katebakedcookies.

October 31, 2013
by mymommyology
4 Comments

I Have Vikings for Daughters

The actual Halloween date hasn’t even come and gone and we’re already trick-or-treat-ed out. The girls have gone to at least 3 Halloween celebrations each. Jamie has probably gone to four. But that’s okay, at least their costumes are put to good use.

And about that. The costumes. Over the last three years, Sam has gotten a pick of who she wants to be. Two years ago she asked to be a pirate, like her best friend Elie. They were pirate princesses together! Last year she wanted to be Woody of Toy Story. Not Jesse but Woody.

For Christmas, Sam received the gown of Merida from Brave as a gift, and I thought we could make it last through to Halloween. She wore it several times before then, but when I’d ask her if she’d wear it on Halloween, she said, “No, I want to be someone else.” Sam was taking her sweet time deciding on her costume, and I was feeling the pressure. I didn’t know if we’d find a good costume here, or if I could even make one! Oh goodness.

Meanwhile in little sister land, I wasn’t worrying. I figure Jamie could still wear one of Sam’s old costumes like she’s done in the past.

Then one weekend out of the blue, my husband and I decided to let the girls watch one of our favorite animated films, How to Train your Dragon.

Love this movie.

We saw it once in the States and loved it that we just had to get a copy of the movie. If you haven’t seen it, I highly encourage you to do so too. It’s one of those all-time favorites.

Surprisingly, once the girls got over the first viewing scares and suspenses (there are fire-breathing dragons after all), they asked to watch it again. And again. And again!

Pretty soon we were watching it everyday, or every other day. The girls had the lines and actions of specific characters memorized. Jamie in particular had some lines memorized and she’d repeat them to me at random times of the day. She also would ask me questions about the movie. She seemed to take an uncanny interest in the characters and the plot.

One day at pick up from school, when the teachers handed out the memo for Let’s Pretend Week, Jamie’s teacher bent down to her and asked her what her costume was this year. Without blinking or looking at me, she said, “I’m going to be Astrid.”

Where do I get this kind of costume?!

Say what.

“Who’s Astrid?” Her teacher asked, with a quick, amused glance at me.

“Astrid, the Viking girl from How to Train Your Dragon.” Jamie was convinced. She didn’t check with me, she didn’t break her teacher’s gaze. She just answered. And I must admit I was taken aback. I wasn’t prepared for Jamie to have an opinion about her costume this year. I had a pirate outfit she could have most definitely worn easily! Sam was three when she made her first costume choice… but I suppose because of school and her sister’s influence, Jamie acts a bit older than she really is.

Her teacher was quite amused at the determination and originality. I was in a panic. Where on earth will I get an Astrid costume?!

We got home and Jamie immediately told Sam the same thing. “Ate! I’m going to be Astrid!”

Sam replied, “That’s a GREAT IDEA Jamie! Mom! I want to be a Viking for Halloween!”

Ohhh boy.

When it comes to my girls, there are certain things that I say no to. But clearly this was not one of them. Why didn’t I convince them to be something easier to source? I don’t know, it didn’t occur to me. Why would I do that? My girls love dressing up and playing pretend. I can’t bring myself to temper that. Besides, being a set of Vikings won’t hurt anyone. Maybe just my husband’s wallet, but for the sake of letting the kids be who they want to be, I’m sure it (he) can take it.

I scoured Amazon for Viking costume options, but there weren’t any for kids. The ones that were there were too big for Jamie, and didn’t look anything at all like Astrid. Also, it would cost an arm and a leg to ship it over this way, for maybe one wear. If Sam wore it, I wouldn’t worry so much because it could easily be handed down. But costumes for Jamie, we’d have to find someone who’d want to be a viking too at her age!

I was left with having something custom-made. I actually asked Kris of OcMom, as she has a talent for making costumes for her kids. “What?! Vikings?!” was her reply. Okay, maybe not. 😉

Thankfully, the superheroes (they really can do anything!) at our office found Sonia Lee’s Costume Central. They do custom-made costumes for kids! All we had to do was present our pegs. Sonia has been in the costume sourcing, making and renting business for the last five years, and for something that’s custom-made, I felt she priced it quite reasonably (I understand she needs to turn a profit as well, so even if it was a tad bit over my budget, I didn’t question it).

I trekked over with the kids one afternoon at the height of Manila traffic (ugh). They were troopers and sports because they knew they were going to get themselves fit for their costumes.

Jamie wasn’t shy about getting herself measured either. My usually shy-around-strangers daughter had no complaints about standing and talking to Sonia who took the time to fit them both. And she waited for her turn patiently.

She stood and turned on command. No complaints!

Sam wanted to be Ruffnut, one of the trouble-making twins in the movie.

We were only going for the costume…

I asked Sam why Ruffnut was her costume of choice since I didn’t like her character too much (my issues, I know!), but Sam simply said it was because she wanted a costume without spikes and skulls. She liked what Ruffnut was wearing.

Sonia had the costumes ready in two weeks, just in time for the girls to fit once and get it altered. She also made boots for them to go over the girls’ shoes!

So what do you think? 😉

I think Sam is rocking her Viking-ness, don't you? ;)

Sam has her hair in two braids too… it’s just not long enough to hang loose, hahaha!

And this one, my little Astrid! She’s so happy!

The girls were so excited to wear them and try them on, they didn’t want to take them off. It’s made well too. There’s nothing sharp or pointed sticking out and it’s comfortable. Sure, with the layering and the boots the pieces are a tad bit warm, but I haven’t heard a single complaint on discomfort from the girls.

We’ve had them wear it to practically every single Halloween party there is. So actually, if I depreciate the investment put into these two costumes by the number of times used (including the ones we’ve yet to go to, as Halloween isn’t over yet!), then it’s really not half bad at all! But really, their happiness alone is priceless.

I love it that the girls wear it gamely. They get compliments for it too. Those who know who these characters are think that they’re so cool to have picked this as a theme for the year. I certainly didn’t plant the seed in their heads; they thought of it all by themselves. Not many understand their choice or can recognize the costume as vikings (A warrior princess?!), but that’s okay. Sam and Jamie know who they are, they’re proud to wear their costumes, and that’s all that matters to me.

Happy Halloween folks! 😉 Trick-or-treat!

October 29, 2013
by mymommyology
0 comments

Costumes-Smoshtumes and Let’s Pretend Week

Oh October. It really puts my creativity (or lack thereof) to the test. Who ever thought Halloween could take so much out of you?

I remember growing up it was just one costume per year. And my mom would usually have me make mine myself, with whatever materials and clothes I had at home. I remember one year I was a dalmatian because I had a white shirt and a pair of white pants and I had to cut out black spots from paper and stick it on. My headband, we dressed with black droopy paper ears. I don’t remember much after that one.

With my kids though, it seems as if we have more than one round of costume per Halloween season. For Sam’s first year she just had one. After that, it sort of compounded. I think Summer Camp added to the growing props and make-shift costumes, so Jamie was born into a home full of dress-up fun.

Now both girls still love playing dress-up, and they play it on a regular basis. In fact that’s probably why we’ve accumulated so many little trinkets here and there apart from the Halloween costumes that Sam has worn in the past. Thank goodness I have two girls, as those costumes get more wear out of them than I’d initially thought they would!

Jamie’s school is fairly creative. They find all sorts of occasions for the kids to be animals or fairies and give them some role to play. I think that’s why Jamie is great at pretend play at such a young age.

The week before Halloween, the teachers send the parents a memo for Let’s Pretend week, where they coat their curriculum around different themes from Monday – Thursday. On Friday for their culmination they let the kids wear whatever it is they want and they have a true trick-or-treat session in the nearby area.

Last year when I saw the list I panicked. Jamie’s teacher saw the look on my face and assured me that they weren’t expecting us to buy anything new, but to just be creative.

Man. I had images of my black paper spots falling off with my creativity years ago (or lack thereof).

I think the most that I actually had to make was Jamie’s blue hair as Thing 2.

She didn’t like her Thing 2 crazy hair very much… ooops.

We survived last year’s themes, and I’d forgotten about the panicked feeling until I saw the memo again this year. To be fair, the school gives the parents ample time to digest Let’s Pretend Week and prepare for it. As my friend Trina says, there are some parents who will just slap on a princess costume and be done with it (And what do the kids know right? You just tell them a story to justify the same costume everyday and it’ll still work). Now while I can’t bring myself to buy five different costumes that will be worn only once (it’s not like Jamie can hand-me-down to Sam…), I also cannot do that to my child (this is just me – no judgements please!). Hence, the challenge to think of something new to wear everyday. And besides, Jamie gets excited. She sees her pictures and we talk about what she’ll wear, I think she’d know if I was putting her in the same costume but giving her a different story.

For this year’s let’s pretend week, Jamie had a theme. Three out of her five costumes were insect-based.

She was a bumblebee for Animal Day.

I’m bringin’ home a baby bumblebee…

And then the Eency Weensy Spider for Storybook day.

Same suit, different child.

Are you noticing a trend?

For Peter Pan Day, Jamie wanted to go as a fairy. I had purple butterfly wings and I figured I could put her in a tutu dress with glitter. But then again when she watched Jake and the Neverland Pirates she said she wanted to be a pirate. And thankfully, Ate was a pirate two years ago too! 😉

Yo-ho Let’s go!

Jamie said she was “Mistah Smeeee!”, and she was happy to be so, on a pirate ship. So even if the costume wasn’t exactly like Mr. Smee, I figured this one I could let slide because her imagination was bigger than that.

Last year and this year, there was a Superhero theme. No other Superwomen come to mind than Wonderwoman, Batgirl and Elastigirl… none of whom Jamie could relate to because she didn’t know them. The one superhero she did know was Spiderman (thanks to my brother’s collection maybe). Maybe Spiderman was the easiest to remember because of her interest in animals and insects.

And thankfully, The Fatherland and Missus Big bought a spidey costume for their son. He refused to wear it because he wanted to be a rainbow instead (and MY GOD. That rainbow costume is a true labor of love and an absolute WINNER in my eyes!), and so Jamie was happy to borrow it.

With the graceful hands and Bunny. Always, with Bunny. Who said Superheros couldn’t have bunnies?

Complete with the mask too! I have to say, I was surprised at her willingness to wear even the mask. I suppose that’s Jamie for you though — she really is full of surprises.

So as you can see, if it’s not a hand-me-down, it’s a borrow-me-please type of costume. And why not? The kids have fun and the costume’s value improves with every person’s wear.

That was most of Let’s Pretend week for us, and again I made it through alive. Jamie in fact wanted to stay in her costumes the whole day. I just had to convince they were dirty so that they could get washed. The last day is a “wear any costume” kind of day. Since we’d exhausted most of the artillery of costumes already, it was just about that time to think of something new for Jamie. How we got to her costume of choice this year deserves another blog post in itself. 😉

What are your kids’ costumes this Halloween season?

October 28, 2013
by mymommyology
1 Comment

It’s Halloween Week on My Mommyology!

Happy Holiday Monday!

This week on the blog, we will follow the Halloween theme. My kids love Halloween. I learned to love it too when we were in Chapel Hill because it signaled the start of Fall. We never made our own pumpkins though. And fall and Halloween, it is – was – the perfect weather to play outside. Not too hot, not too chilly… It was and still is my favorite season of all. I just checked the 7-day forecast: they’re already hitting the high 30’s over there!

In any case, it’s Halloween week. And if you’ve also been following my instagram posts, the girls have gone through several rounds of costumes. But we’ll get to that! There are other things and themes that are related to the “season” which fit nicely into this theme. So I hope you’re up for it! 😉

Trick or Treat!

October 25, 2013
by mymommyology
4 Comments

The Miracle of Mustela (and How Stelatopia Has Won Us Over)

My husband is driving my crazy (and it’s not in the romantic kind of way!).

I can’t blame him. He’s stressing out over Jamie’s skin allergies (Eczema / Asthma of the Skin / Atopic Dermatitis / Whatever it is you call it). It’s something she most definitely inherited from me. And all of this combined is driving me a little batty too.

Over the last few months, it’s gotten much worse. It’s not easy to see your baby girl scratch, complain, cry and lose sleep over skin irritations and flare ups (despite heavy and constant antihistamine medication). If I’m having difficulty seeing her go through this, I can imagine how bad it must look to someone who didn’t grow up with it.

I had to live through 20+ years of skin asthma before I got it under control (Jamie’s pedia-derma says that an allergy is never outgrown, it is only controlled). That was 20+ years of medications, lost sleep and constant itching and scratching to no end. I was diagnosed at age 10. Jamie though — she’s 2.5! She’s my little girl! My gentle soul. And I deal with her complaints and her crying all day and all night. It’s gotten to that point that even I don’t sleep because I wake up constantly at night to stop her from scratching and to re-apply any medical treatment that I possibly can.

At the advice of our pedia-derma, We did a blood screen. HIGHLY. UNPLEASANT.

My poor baby! 🙁

But it did show us that she’s not allergic to food. Her triggers are environmental. It looks like she will outgrow this though as she gets older, but my husband is having difficulty accepting the uncertainty of when. Needless to say, finding a stop-gap, trouble-shooting the flare-ups and appeasing my husband (or at least trying to find a way that he will accept this reality for Jamie) is stressing ME out to no end. It’s a miracle my allergies haven’t flared up again!

We are short of moving countries (and I wouldn’t mind that actually, but it’s not so easy to just pick-up and go), because I really don’t know what else to do. I’ve had the air conditioners cleaned. Bunny and the rest of her furry crew are constantly cleaned and put through the washer. The Cleaning Diva came and cleaned up the house. I can’t imagine what I’d do without our Aquasana water filters as it is. I feel as if I’ve tried every topical hydrocortizone and steroid cream in the market too. Jamie already knows the names of the products she likes and doesn’t like, as some sting the irritated skin upon application.

So what led me (us) to Mustela? Well, the #SoMoms were once again invited to a re-launch of some of the brands’ products. I’d heard of Mustela from my French-Italian friend Caro, as it’s the brand she uses on her kids, but I never did get a chance to try it on either of the girls. But thanks to the highly active social media circle, I’d also heard good things about it from friends who’ve tried it on their kids (apparently, there are so many cases these days of atopic dermatitis on kids! Goodness gracious. We need to clean the Manila air!).

In any case, I decided to drop by as it was very near my apartment. And I was glad I did. This was the first thing that caught my eye and propelled me to stay.

Yes please. No more eczema. Yes please.

Tammy Tancinco of Mustela sat and chatted with me and listened to my story about Jamie as she saw how interested I was in their Dermo-Pediatrics Range.

I made sure to take home a copy of this.

I was also able to take home a few samples of the Stelatopia, Stelatria and Stela-Protect range. I loved what I was reading about it and was eager to try them all on Jamie.

What really won me over was Jamie’s reaction to the products. When I first applied the cleansing bath milks and the topical creams, she didn’t cry. SHE DIDN’T CRY! She normally does because it the application of some products stung. I think we were both surprised when she didn’t cry, as she was anticipating it to hurt again. She even said “It feels better already Mama”. Of course she would know.

Within days, I immediately saw an improvement in her skin and in her sleeping patterns. We weren’t waking up as much for one thing. That’s a good thing too, because Jamie’s doctor says sleep helps them grow. The bigger they are the more equipped they are to combat these skin irritations. Plus, sleep helps heal the wounds and she doesn’t wake up to scratch and re-open them again. And my husband has seen a difference too. It hasn’t totally taken the problem away (realistically that’s too much to expect for any product to do!), but it has helped. He’s even re-applied some of it on Jamie in the middle of the night without fear that she’d break into a crying spell from the pain.

And Jamie loves it. She normally dreads the time when I tell her we need to apply this and that because it will sting, but Mustela doesn’t cause her discomfort at the onset. In fact she’s gotten so used to it, she told my mom which creams to apply and on what parts of her body when I wasn’t home. She asks for the Milky bath oil at the end of her bath every time now too. How to use? Fill a little tabo with water and mix in 2 caps-full of the oil. Use that as the last rinse and then pat dry. Her skin does feel like it’s trapped in more moisture than usual (we are going to need more of this bath oil soon!).

Thank you so much Tammy! The Mustela Stelatopia Range (and Stelatria Cream)

There is nothing that will make me love a product or a brand more than seeing it work wonders for my child. There are a few that have been able to do this, and because of what we’ve just gone through, Mustela has made it to my “brands I swear by” list. They have truly won me over. If your child is experiencing some skin problems, Mustela can help! I definitely believe it!

***

Mustela has recently seen the re-birth of the MustelaBebe and Mustela Sun Protection Lines. The new patented active ingredient Avocado Perseose is proven to help baby’s skin be less vulnerable from birth onwards. Babies need time to build their skin’s cutaneous barrier, leaving their cellular resources vulnerable for a period of time. Avocado Perseose stimulates the production of the barrier’s key elements to promote its development and function. It also acts as a shield against external stresses, directly protecting the skin’s original cellular reserves. And if I may add: it smells awesome too!

Photo credit: Mustela Philippines

Mustela Philippines is directly distributed by PHARMASAFE INC. and is available in the following stand-alone Kiosks: Ayala TriNoma, Robinson’s Ermita, Glorietta 4, Shangri-la Mall, Megamall A, Greenhills, The Shops, Alabang Town Center and Mall of Asia.

For inquiries, contact the Mustela hotline at 0917-8959988 or email mustelaphilippines@yahoo.com. Follow them on Facebook at Mustela Philippines.

My Mommyology

Learning from Motherhood.

Kate Baked Some Christmas Goodies

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I Have Vikings for Daughters

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Costumes-Smoshtumes and Let’s Pretend Week

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It’s Halloween Week on My Mommyology!

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The Miracle of Mustela (and How Stelatopia Has Won Us Over)

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