The Beginning- A Journey of Parenthood 4/10/2012

April 10, 2012(10:43AM)- I’ve been remiss in blogging made by the final busy stretches at work before holy week and Holy Week itself.

Got to spend a lot of bonding time with Mommy and Nina which is very rare. We went to Olongapo and Subic for Holy Week. Our trip began in Abe’s Farm which is a nice restaurant/mini-resort that served excellent kapampangan food and had an Antonio-esque feel to it. Ninski was sweating buckets since there was no A/C but she didn’t seem to mind and she seemed to thoroughly enjoy herself. We then stopped by Dad’s farm which was now filled with nicely laid-out plant crops. Nina also seemed very happy to be in this environment and she especially liked the swing which she loved to ride with Mommy, Lola, Ninang and Daddy. Little Nina seems to have a little “Dora the Explorer” streak in her which is really cute as she seems to be very happy to take in new surroundings, sights and sounds. 🙂

It was Ninski’s first trip out of town and she behaved exceptionally and admirably well despite the long car ride back and forth. She got to bond with her baby cousins Eno, Nico, Anya, Javi, Liam, and Caitlin. (Yes, the house was full of babies.) We stayed at Lola Mang’s house in Olongapo with Mommy, Lolo, Lola, Rupert, Pepper, Lola Mang, Tito Bong, and Tita Remy. We then were able to bring Nina and the babies to the Lighthouse. She thoroughly enjoyed the Lighthouse, seeing all the people and kids swimming and playing by the pool and by the beach. (She seemed like she wanted to join in the fun!) She’s been very happy the past few days in general and kept on smiling, talking, and laughing. Me and Mommy on the other hand got to bond with her relatives and got to spend a little quality time with each other just going around various locations in Subic which included the Logos Hope, a giant floating bookstore that goes around the world selling books for charity. Ninski’s developing really quickly and is now very mobile. She will roll towards her toy or any item she wants and doesn’t cry as much anymore when around a lot of people. She’s also developing a very powerful kick! I don’t know who she got her legs from but her kick packs a wallop considering she’s only 5 months old! 🙂 (*Rubbing hands, envisioning a little Taekwondo champ.*)

We went to my Amah’s house Sunday lunch and celebrated my cousin’s 18th birthday. She’s a very smart girl and is currently studying Chemical Engineering in UP. Nina got to meet Sa-i for the first time and was very well behaved. We also celebrated my dad’s birthday Sunday evening and had a great dinner with delicious noodles, tempura, paella, and pochero. Me and Mommy got him a nice Lacoste shirt which I hope he’ll use. (It’s actually a nice one, Lacoste >Sport< ie. Looser fit without looking sloppy.) I love my dad very much and I would just like to put on record that he's my idol and that one of my goals is to try to make him less stressed with work by helping him and working hard to the best of my ability to take up some of the burden of running the business.

Yesterday me, Mommy and Ate went to Manila Ocean Park. It's a world-class venue if I might say so and we got to see lots of different kinds of fish, sharks, jellyfish, rays, and other aquatic creatures. ("Under the Sea" was playing in my mind the whole time.) We also got to see Sealions and even got to take some pictures with one. 🙂 That's a once in a lifetime experience I think. (Sealions are like seals on steroids – much more mobile, and looks and acts a bit more intelligent.) It's a good way to spend a holiday with Mommy and I'm glad we went. I hope to bring Nina there one day when she can appreciate it. 🙂

It's now time to get back to work! Happy Easter everyone!!

Dear Lord, Thank You for this day. Thank You for Your love, Your grace, Your sacrifice, Your forgiveness, Your blessings, Your wisdom, Your patience, and Your understanding. Thank You for always keeping me, Mommy, Nina, our families, our relatives, and our friends healthy, happy, safe, and blessed. Please always continue to grant us the blessings of Your kingdom and guide us everyday to walk the right paths and to act according to Your will. Thank You for always carrying us when we're in need and for always providing for us everything we need and much more. Thank You Lord for saving us and for sacrificing Your son to die for us. To You be all the honor, glory and power forever and ever! In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

The Beginning- A Journey of Parenthood 3/27-3/29/12

March 29, 2012(2:37PM)- Been very busy at work lately still improving systems and personnel. It doesn’t matter if it’s only +1% a day as long as it’s positive. (100 days = 100%!) Been reminding the managers to keep their people and systems procedures at close watch to prevent backsliding. Sense of urgency has become slightly better due to this but we are still far from perfect (not even a quarter of the way there.)

I had little time to bond with little Ninski but on Tuesday me and her were able to visit her Amah. She was very, very behaved and was entertaining Amah who was in turn entertaining her. I really love her gummy smile and laugh. It’s truly very cute to see her switch in an instant from her usual inquisitive frown to a shrieking laugh. 🙂 I think she sort of looks like a mix of me, my dad, and Mommy. Yesterday (which was her 5th month birthday,) I wasn’t able to spend much time with her because I was attending an association dinner. I came home late and she was sleeping already in her “matanda” sleeping position. (On her side, looking like a sleeping adult.) hehehe 🙂 HAPPY 5TH MONTH BIRTHDAY NINSKI!!!! Me and Mommy are very, very proud of your development and are really thankful to God for bringing you into our lives!! You are our pride and joy!! 🙂

Holy week is coming up and I think it’s a genuine time to reflect on God’s sacrifice and his blessing of Jesus Christ. I will be spending it in Subic with Mommy and her family. I can’t wait for the R&R but I can’t think of it too much yet as there’s still plenty of things to do before that time. Time to get back to the grind and make the best of the rest of this day!

Dear Lord, thank You for Your grace, Your love, Your forgiveness, Your sacrifice, Your blessings, Your wisdom, and Your infinite patience. Thank You for always keeping me, Mommy, Nina, our families, our relatives, and our friends happy, healthy, safe, and blessed at all times. Please always lead us to the right paths and to do the right things according to Your will. Please continue to bless us always in every endeavor we undertake and help us to excel in whatever we do. Thank You Lord for sending Your son Jesus to die for our sins. To You be all honor, glory, and power Lord forever and ever! In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

The Beginning- A Journey of Parenthood 3/23-3/26/2012

March 26, 2012(8:30AM)- A new Monday of a new week and I’m off to a running start. What little progress has been gained the last week or two must be maintained and people must be constantly kept in check to be kept from back-sliding until good habits and work practices become second nature to them. Recently completed our ISO 9001:2008 re-assessment audit. It was much tougher than a regular surveillance audit but we showed them what we got and the improvements we have made over the past two months and it reflected in our monthly targets. The job now is to maintain these improvements and keep improving daily even at a rate of 1% at a time. As I told my people, there’s always something to improve. You can never reach 100%. Even between 99% and 100% there’s an infinite number of things you can achieve to make things better. (99.9999999999999999999999…%) Whoever thinks that they’re perfect is a fool.

On the home front, Mommy’s shingles are getting better. Hopefully it won’t manifest itself again for years to come. Ninski is developing fast as usual, becoming very mobile and malikot nowadays, rolling around and punching and kicking whenever she can. She’s talking a lot more now especially to Mommy and her milk bottle. She’s also getting happier to see me most of the time (when she’s in the mood,) and I can carry her now without her crying. (Not all the time, hehe.) I’m very happy that Ninski is turning out to be a very intelligent girl. She can be moody sometimes but when she’s in the mood she’s nothing but Pure, Happy Joy 🙂 Thank you Mommy for making and keeping her so and for also keeping me so at the same time! 🙂 On my part, I feel that there’s still a lot of things I can improve as a parent. I will strive everyday to be better and become the best Husband and Daddy I can be to Mommy and little Ninskers!

Went to Tagaytay with my family this weekend for some R&R. It was great to be back there and to feel the breeze and to see the view. It always relaxes me to be in the mountains. Mommy and Ninski didn’t get to come because of Mommy’s shingles that’s in the healing stage (most contagious stage.) Got to spend a little time with Mommy at mass yesterday and I was happy. Even an hour of quality time with her makes my day 🙂 Yesterday, we celebrated my dad’s chinese birthday in Gloria Maris. Ninski was with me and was uber behaved considering the constant noise, ruckus, and attention from her fans (my relatives, hehe 🙂 Got to bond with my cousins from both sides a little which is nice since I haven’t seen them for a while.

Dear Lord, thank You for this day. Thank You for Your grace, Your love, Your sacrifice, Your forgiveness, Your blessings, Your wisdom, and Your infinite patience. Thank You for always keeping me, Mommy, Nina, our families, our relatives, and our friends healthy, happy, safe, and blessed. Please always keep us so and continue to bless us with the bounty of Your kingdom. Please always lead us to the right path and take control of our lives so that we may live it according to Your will. To You be all the glory, honor and power Lord forever and ever! In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

The Beginning- A Journey of Parenthood 3/20-3/21/12

March 21,2012(12:54PM)- Busy day at work as usual, focusing on quality this time and in ensuring product excellence. (There’s no such thing as tolerable % error.) Still leading the people here to acquire and maintain this state of mind. In this way, if any errors occur it will be small and manageable. Still a long way to go (as always,) but things are looking slightly better from last month. Output is up and personnel attitude has improved a little.

Met Paeng Nepomuceno, the greatest bowler in the world last night in an Architects’ Bowling event. It’s such a big honor to be able to meet and talk to one of the Philippines’ most treasured sports heroes. His achievements in the sport of bowling is unparalleled by anybody in the world (do some research, this is not an overstatement,) and is a source of pride to Filipinos everywhere. I hope I could meet him again someday as he is a shining example of what Filipinos can achieve in the world stage and is a true man of excellence. He has won the world bowling championships 4 times in his career. (Odds: 100 million is to 1.) He won his first cup at the age of 19. (Think about that.)

Last night I also got to spend some good quality time with Mommy and Ninski. Mommy and I played with her and she seemed very happy and content just to be with Mama and Dada. She was talking a lot too which is very cute 🙂 I’m still trying to get her to say “Dada” first but so far, no luck! Last night I’m reminded of why I work hard and strive to become a better person. There’s no better incentive than my beautiful wife and my very cherubically(?) joyful, and cute daughter. 🙂 Ninski is also continuing to watch her Mandarin lessons everyday on DVD. Hopefully she’ll pick something up from it and be able to speak it much better than Daddy someday! 🙂

It’s going to be a long week, with the ISO audit coming up this Friday. It’s time to get back to work!

Dear Lord, thank You for this day. Thank You for Your love, Your grace, Your forgiveness, Your sacrifice, Your wisdom, and Your bountiful blessings. Thank You for always keeping me, Mommy, Nina, our families, our relatives, and our friends healthy, happy, safe, and blessed at all times. Thank You for always guiding us to the right path and for giving us the strength of mind and body to go through our daily work to the best of our abilities every day. Please help us always to walk in Your image, and to live our lives according to Your will. To You be all the glory, honor, and power Lord forever and ever! In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

The Beginning- A Journey of Parenthood 3/16-3/19/12

March 19, 2012(8:30AM)- A new week and I’m off to an early start (good.) Going to be busy today with a QMS meeting first thing in the morning for the upcoming ISO assessment audit next week. Then tonight there’s a tribute dinner to our new architectural top-notchers like we did last year. I sincerely believe that these bright, young architects are the hope of the future of the Philippines’ construction industry. It’s up to them what direction our next generation buildings, houses, and commercial properties are going to take in terms of design, safety, and innovation and Crown plans to be a big part of this future. Things are running relatively smoother here in the plant the past few days but this is no time to be satisfied. There’s a lot of improvement that can still be gained in terms of productivity and efficiency.

Ninski is her usual happy self the past weekend, always playing and exploring the world around her. I’ve been able to spend some time bonding with her, carrying her on my lap and watching TV and playing with her. I truly believe that she’s somewhat advanced for her age as she’s able to recognize her bottle and her toys. She’s also starting to recognize people and her surroundings. She seems to be very healthy and is now constantly doing her mini-pushups when on her belly. It doesn’t seem very long now before she starts teething and crawling! 🙂 Yesterday I went to dinner at my parent’s home with Ninski without Mommy. She was very happy at the beginning to be in the car and moving around and to see her ninangs, Amah and Angkong, until she got over-stimulated by her new surroundings. When this happens, she will let you know. She’s still retained her lung (crying) power and can really cry very loud when she starts getting uncomfortable. It seems she also had separation anxiety from Mommy because as soon as we got back to Mommy she was once again calm and very happy.

Got to spend a little time over the weekend bonding with Mommy too. We watched a good movie called Moneyball starring Brad Pitt. It was about the science and economics of baseball. I thought it would turn out to be boring (as I’m not really a baseball fan,) but it turned out to be quite a good movie. Oscar worthy if I might say so. It has a good balance of comedy, drama, and action (of the baseball kind,) that keeps you on your toes and interested throughout the movie. It’s an inspirational movie that delivers without being too cheesy or dramatic. Mommy’s healing well and I expect to be back home sometime this week. I love you Mommy!! 🙂 I can’t wait to get back home!

I’ve been able to rest and recuperate a little this weekend and now it’s time to get back to the grind!

Dear Lord, thank You for this day. Thank You for Your love, Your grace, Your forgiveness, Your sacrifice, Your blessings, Your wisdom, Your patience, and Your understanding. Thank You for keeping me, Mommy, Nina, our families, our relatives, and our friends always healthy, safe, happy, and blessed. Please continue to shower us with the blessings of Your kingdom and guide us to live our lives today and everyday in accordance to Your will. Please always carry us on Your shoulders and give us the wisdom, temperance, and the fortitude to go through our day to the best of our abilities. To You be all honor, glory and power Lord forever and ever! In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

The Beginning- A Journey of Parenthood 3/13-3/15/12

March 15, 2012(9:39AM)- Lots of work to do as usual, including a general cleanup of the plant that’s beginning to look like a mess (but have been slowly improving the past few days.) Output is slowly rising again to cover sales demand and it’s creating minor chaos in the transfer/storing of stocks. This is a much better problem however than no output or broken machines.

Ninskers has another new development. She’s now able to flip back from her on-belly position at will. She is smart and uses her head to gain momentum to turn either left or right and get on her back. In this way it’s now dangerous to place her anywhere near the edge of the bed as she can easily roll off it. She’s also eating more now than ever, downing ounce after ounce of formula-fortified breastmilk. (Breastmilk quantity alone is not enough anymore the way she’s going!) She’s growing fatter again too. So far there seems to be no sign of chickenpox from Mommy’s shingles. I’m crossing my fingers that her body just adapts against the virus and it never comes out. She’s also talking a bit now, saying random things especially when she sees something she likes (like a computer or her milk bottle for example.) 🙂

Mommy’s shingles is healing quite nicely and I expect that we can go home mid next week. I really admire Mommy for being tough as from research I know that shingles can be very painful. Thank you Mommy for still being able to take care of my needs and Ninski’s needs despite your condition! I love you very, very much!! 🙂 Speaking of Mommy, she’s quite hooked to this new game for iOS named “Draw Something.” It’s an innovative and fun game that you can download and play for free but I recommend you don’t bring it to work as it’ll distract you especially if you’re playing against your friends.

It’s time to get back to the grind!

Dear Lord, thank You for this day. Thank You for Your love, Your grace, Your forgiveness, Your sacrifice, Your wisdom, Your blessings, and Your understanding. Thank You for always keeping me, Mommy, Nina, our family, our relatives, and our friends healthy, happy, safe, and blessed at all times. Please always guide us to do the right things and to do things according to Your will. Please always give us the strength of body and mind to go through our daily work and to work to the best of our abilities. Please continue to provide us with Your bountiful blessings and carry us always when we’re down. To You be all honor, glory, and power Lord forever and ever! In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

The Beginning-A Journey of Parenthood 3/9-3/12/12

March 12, 2012(9:08AM)- Writing early as it’s going to be a long Monday. There are many things to work on and finish, including documentation and compliance for the upcoming audit.

Ninski has now discovered a new trick! She is now able to lift her legs up, sometimes even bring her foot up to her mouth! Another world is opened up to her. She now combines this trick with rolling around, increasing her mobility. She also seems to have full control of her arms now and uses it to grab toys, and to spar with Daddy hehehe. This happens everytime I go near her to kiss her. Sometimes she looks like she doesn’t like me but most of the time it seems that she’s just playing around and just wants to hit me or grab my eyeglasses just for the fun of it. Nina you mischievous little baby! 🙂 Every morning if she’s awake before I go to work we play a little game. She would often smile at me and then smack me when I try to kiss her, but luckily I’m too fast for her and plant my kisses just the same. (She seems to treat it like a game, that’s my future taekwondo champ!!) 🙂

Mommy has been down with the shingles the past week and once again I see how tough Mommy can be. Shingles is really painful and we even have an employee that was downed for about 3 weeks due to it recently. Mommy seems to be doing relatively good however and seems to be able to ignore the pain most of the time. I’m really proud of Mommy and love her very, very much for being able to take care of Ninski and me despite her condition. (Ninski could actually get chicken pox: I don’t know if I want her to get it already so it’s over or not.) I Love You Very, Very Much Hunny! Get Well Soon!!

Had a lazy Sunday yesterday mostly bonding with Mommy, going to mass, church, and having dinner with my family. Bought and watched Harry Potter Deathly Hallows part 2 which was surprisingly good. It’s not exceptional (I still can’t take all the wand waving seriously despite the actors’ serious faces,) but is a good finish to a well made series of movies that are much more entertaining than the books. (After Book 4.)

Dear Lord, thank You for this day. Thank You for Your love, Your grace, Your forgiveness, Your sacrifice, Your wisdom, Your blessings, Your patience, and Your understanding. Thank You for always keeping me, Mommy, Nina, our families, our relatives, and our friends healthy, happy, safe, and blessed. Please continue to do so. Thank You for giving me the strength, wisdom, and fortitude to go through my day. Please let Your will be done in my life and guide me to do the right things everyday. To You be all glory, honor, and power Lord forever and ever! In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

The Beginning- A Journey of Parenthood 3/6-3/8/12

March 8, 2012(9:12AM)- It’s going to be a long day here at work. Machines that were supposed to be working have now once again refused to do so. Frustration level is very high. I’m really fed up with these machines. Sometimes the only answer is to purchase new ones. (Think of a car that’s been used 24/7 for 5 years or more and you’ll understand why they break down.) Sales are good and expected to pick up and I’m doing everything here in the operations department to not run out of stock. Anybody in manufacturing that doesn’t have a love-hate relationship with machines must either have the patience of God or is very, very rich as to afford the best, new equipment, and service personnel all the time.

Ninski’s development progresses everyday. She’s starting to babble a little although I think it might be more than that as she really seems to be a smart baby. 🙂 She’s also very attentive when there’s a discussion going on between me and Mommy or other people. She just keeps quiet and listens, seemingly trying to absorb everything in. She’s also starting to show her moods, esp. when you tease her about her milk. She will do a cute “Grrrrr!” when you do and get angry. Hehehe 🙂 She also seems to be continually developing her arm and leg strength. She’s now able to lift her legs as high as they will go and she kicks like a Taekwondo black-belter! (which she will enroll in as soon as she reaches about 4 years old he he he.) We had a minor victory yesterday testing formula milk that she’ll like. She usually spits out baby formula but she finally seems to accept Nestle’s Nan-One Plus.

Bonded with my sibs Tuesday night at our condo. We ate Sunrise Buckets (which for some reason didn’t taste very good that night,) and watched Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy’s Tower Heist in our living room CRT TV (Yeah, the fat type.) We rarely use that TV but I was actually impressed by the quality of the picture and the sound that came out of the old behemoth. (Kudos to Phillips for making a great product!) I will make it a point to hold more movie nights with me, Mommy, and my sibs as it seems like a good way to wind-down after a long, hard day’s work.

(Speaking of which…Time to get back to the grind!)

Dear Lord, thank You for this day. Thank You for everything that you have given me. Thank You for Your love, Your grace, Your forgiveness, Your sacrifice, Your wisdom, and Your understanding. Thank You for keeping me, Mommy, Nina, our families, our relatives, and our friends always healthy, happy, safe, and blessed. Please lead us throughout this day in accordance to Your will and give us the strength, temperance, and fortitude to accomplish our work day with our utmost best. Thank You for always being there for us and for never abandoning us. Please forgive us whenever we forget to thank You. To You be all the honor, glory, and power Lord forever and ever! In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

The Beginning- A Journey of Parenthood 3/1-3/5/12

March 3, 2012(10:11AM)- So much to do so little time! <– This cliche describes my work everyday. You have to quickly solve issues before more crop up (and they always do,) otherwise you'd be swamped and you will be totally inefficient in your decision-making (very important in managers,) and all other aspects of your work.

Ninski is starting to be able to crawl. She's moving backwards at will so far when she's on her belly but is quickly learning how to move forward, especially when motivated by her favorite toy Sophie or Mommy, or Ate. She seems really happy when she's trying to be mobile and I can foresee now that she's gonna be a "runner" when she finally learns how to walk. She's a very smart girl and tries her best to respond to your questions when you talk to her. She's also learning to imitate expressions from the adults she sees around her. I predict that it won't take long now before she starts saying "Ma!" or "Da!" She's also physically a very strong girl and is able to resist you with surprising force when you try to take away something she likes like her bottle, Sophie, or other toys. (So much for the saying "Easier than taking candy from a baby"!)

Yesterday evening I was able to spend some time with Mommy in Eastwood mall. It's actually a very good mall. The only thing missing is an Astrovision (but there are stalls that sell DVDs anyways.)

…

March 5, 2012(9:06AM)- My entry last Saturday was cut off due to work matters. There’s so many problems arising here at the plant and I’ve to be on my toes and “on it,” in order to maintain a semblance of order. There’s only a few people you can trust when you’re an entrepreneur and you have to be careful in choosing them. Just yesterday, a well regarded engineer/supervisor was caught sleeping on the job. Just goes to show how even the “better people” will do their best to weasel out of work whenever possible.

Went to visit Monsignor in the hospital Saturday evening as he’s undergoing kidney dialysis. He’s the bishop who wed me and Celine and we showed him Nina. He seems happy and well-recovered so that’s good news. We went to a family friend’s wake after. We were suppose to go to Bern and Third’s place that night too but skipped it because Nina wasn’t feeling very well. (Constipated, hasn’t pooped for 3 days.) We just stayed home and took care of her until she finally fell asleep. Another problem is that she wouldn’t take formula milk. She doesn’t seem to like the taste at all. Formula is designed to be tasty to babies but Nina seems to have gotten too used to Mommy’s breast milk and immediately can tell the difference between that and formula. She gets REALLY mad when you try to force formula on her!

Sunday morning me and Mommy went to mass while Ninski was given a suppository that made her poop in no time. We then visited Daph and John’s new place near our condo, which is a town house with 3 levels of 100 sq. m each. It was old but it has a lot of potential. I’m sure Daph and JY can make it beautiful! They even have an entertainment/home theatre room specifically built by the previous owners for that purpose. (Insulated flooring and rectangular shaped.) The previous owners didn’t leave any furniture behind save for 1 couch but I can imagine that it’s going to be fun for Daph and JY to slowly furnish the place.

Went to Eno’s birthday after in Renaissance with Ninski. It was fun but tiring at the same time because there were a lot of kids running around, (with their yayas chasing them!) It was a dinner at my parent’s house after that, (Thanks John for the Cebu Lechon!!) Nina was incosolable for a little while while we were eating. I think it’s a combination of trying to feed her formula and the changing surroundings that got her REALLY angry. Mommy was able to calm her down as usual and soon she was sleeping soundly in my room. 🙂 We got home late and me and Mommy had little time to bond. I haven’t expressed to her however my gratitude for being such a wonderful Mommy and for keeping Nina happy and consoling her when she’s angry. So thanks Mommy!! 🙂 You’re the best in every way! 🙂

Dear Lord, thank You for this day. Thank You for Your grace, Your love, Your forgiveness, Your sacrifice, Your blessings, Your wisdom, Your patience, and Your understanding. Thank You for always keeping me, Mommy, Nina, our families, our relatives, and our friends healthy, happy, safe and blessed. Please always keep us so and give us the strength, wisdom, and fortitude to go through our daily lives according to Your will. To You be all honor, glory and power forever and ever! In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen!

The Beginning- A Journey of Parenthood 2/28-2/29/12

February 29, 2012(12:02PM)- Been very busy with work. (What’s new?) Have had some time to spend with Mommy and Ninski however the past few days.

I’ve been trying to do my part in taking care of little Nina after work, especially now that she’s still sick with a cold that’s been bothering her for the past few days. Her pediatrician says it’s nothing too serious as her lungs are clear. I did some research and found that it’s quite normal for babies 3 months and beyond to get colds. It’s very hard to see her uncomfortable though and it’s just heartbreaking to hear her cry in frustration. Luckily, Mommy seems to be able to calm her down most of the time although it usually takes a little while before she does. I’m able to calm her down for a limited time but there are times that only Mommy’s touch works.

She’s still very active however. Having a cold doesn’t stop her from rolling to her belly at will and moving around this way and that through various means. (Wriggling, rolling, etc.) She can also hold her bottle well when she wants to but usually starts playing around with the nipple and the milk after a short drink. I’m really proud of my little Ninski as she seems to be a very smart girl, and also a very behaved, good girl to boot! 🙂 I can’t thank Mommy enough for her infinite patience and strength in keeping Nina always as comfortable as possible. If I don’t know what to do anymore when she’s crying, I know that Mommy’s always there to take care of her and make her happy. 🙂 I love you Mommy!

Played poker with a few friends last night and it was nice to be able to relax a little amidst some drinks and good company. This day will continue to be busy and I’ll be coming home late tonight due to a business association dinner. I’m already looking forward to seeing Mommy and Nina though and it’s the thought of their happy, smiling, faces that keep me going. 🙂

Dear Lord, thank You for this day. Thank You for this life You’ve given me and for all the blessings that You shower upon me everyday. Thank You for Your love, Your grace, Your forgiveness, Your sacrifice, Your wisdom, and Your understanding. Please always keep me, Mommy, Nina, our families, our relatives, and our friends healthy, safe, happy, and blessed always. Please continue to guide us to do Your will and to lead us to the right paths. Please give us the strength of mind and body to accomplish our daily tasks with excellence and to excel in everything that we do. To You be all honor, glory, and power Lord forever and ever! In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.