Shared some physical therapy tips that I learned! Also, I should edit the title to Vito “Makes” Pizza looool.
It would really mean a lot to me if you click the subscribe button on My YouTube Channel! You can also LIKE the video and leave a comment! Knowing that there are people who want to be updated whenever I post a new vlog motivates me to keep creating content. 💖
Watch the previous episode here.
This week’s episode includes swimming at Mamita’s and Papy’s, Vito showing off his piano skills (taught by his papa, of course), Pancho gardening with Mamita, Pancho throwing a ball so well, much-improved standing by Puddy, Pancho and Vito arguing about who gets to have mama time (hehe kunwari ayaw kong pinagaawayan ako pero may slight kilig yarn CHEKA), Vito so good at shape-sorting, taking a morning walk in Antipolo with Mama Pia, Vito turning into a tomato, etc etc.
It would really mean a lot to me if you click the subscribe button on My YouTube Channel! You can also LIKE the video and leave a comment! Knowing that there are people who want to be updated whenever I post a new vlog motivates me to keep creating content. 💖
Watch the previous episode here.
The boys and I enjoyed a lovely afternoon outside the house for a change. We visited Jim’s parents and took a swim – perfect for the hot, hot weather we’ve been having lately!
Also included in this episode is footage from another random morning inside (and sort of outside) our home.
Being a content creator, a podcast host, an entrepreneur (naks), and a mother, it’s really easy for me to lose track of time.
I admit I juggle too many things at once and find it hard to focus. I’m so hard on myself in trying to get everything checked off on my to-do list and I also find it hard to delegate tasks because I feel like it just won’t get done right if I’m not the one doing it. So I end up just not getting stuff done and procrastinating forever. Huhu. But it seems like I managed myself well this week and I was able to let go, delegate some tasks, and I’ve decided to take the day off tomorrow!! No work! WOOHOO!!
But a mother/ homemaker never really has the day off, right? Let’s see what happens!!
It’s so fun to incorporate learning through playtime and even mundane everyday routines! It makes us, as parents, more present when we’re with our children as we challenge ourselves to think of the many ways they can learn from their surroundings.
It would really mean a lot to me if you click the subscribe button on My YouTube Channel! You can also LIKE the video and leave a comment! Knowing that there are people who want to be updated whenever I post a new vlog motivates me to keep creating content. 💖
Watch the previous episode here!
I thought of starting blogging again when I lost Joey Bear.
I’m no stranger to grief and experiencing significant loss, but this didn’t make it any easier. Joey has always been my big furry ball of sunshine.
I wasn’t around when she died. I wonder if I’ll see her when it’s my turn.
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“What if your babies turn out to be allergic to dogs?”
My in-laws presented this question to me when I was a few months pregnant with Pancho and Luna. I answered instantly and half-jokingly, “I guess the babies would have to stay with you because Joey was here first.” They knew how Joey was my ultimate baby. I took her with me everywhere I went, and since I met her, I based all my life decisions on her happiness and comfort.
Joey’s a big part of why I’m where I am today. I got her around the time Jim and I first started dating in 2012. I made it clear that this wasn’t a joint-puppy kind of thing. This puppy was not a promise ring. She was Joey Magalona — my child.
Joey taught me how to be a responsible adult and truly prepared me for motherhood. It was through her that I saw how kind and equally responsible my then-boyfriend was. Jim started taking on more responsibilities with Joey, and I found myself falling in love with him and daydreaming about what a great father he’d be to our future children if we decided to have any.
I started writing Joey Magalona-Bacarro when we would take her to the vet.
I joked about how my kids would take a backseat if they turned out to be allergic to Joey, but we knew that couldn’t be the case. When I got pregnant in 2017, we slowly transitioned her to sleeping on a separate bed. It was so she wouldn’t relate the babies’ arrival to her getting kicked off of ours. In my head, I was thinking: she’ll back in our bed when the kids are a bit older.
I had a complicated pre-term birth in 2018. We lost our baby girl, and each night, I would go home to Joey, and she would comfort me from Jim’s lap. She couldn’t be in mine because of my post-op scar. We brought home a very fragile baby boy from the NICU 2 months later. I had no choice but to separate Joey from Pancho because he had a very delicate wound from brain surgery and couldn’t risk Joey’s rough play around him.
She was no longer allowed upstairs. It broke my heart, but Joey was such a good girl. She didn’t fight for attention. She seemed to understand that something was amiss, and we needed a little time to adjust. They started bonding as Pancho grew stronger, and Joey would lick his feet to get him to throw some food off his high chair. When I got pregnant again with Vito, I think Joey understood that she was no longer our baby. She was big Ate Joey, and she was patiently waiting to go on our adventures again. I kept thinking Joey will understand. Between breastfeeding, taking Pancho to his several doctors and therapists, work, and OB-Gyne appointments, I didn’t have the energy to take her to training camp or bake her treats from scratch as I did before.
Both my boys got sick with pneumonia before Vito was even a month old. They had to be confined for over a week, and it was a very traumatic experience for the whole family. When they got home, they were still constantly sneezing, and our pediatrician recommended that we rule out Joey’s hair as an allergen. Thankfully, my mom was more than happy to take her in as she’s the one who looked after her whenever Jim and I would travel. The sneezes and rashes went away, but I always thought of Joey. The temperature is much cooler in Antipolo, and my mom, brother, sister, and their help Gleza and Lang-Lang showered her with so much attention. They sent me videos and photos of her, and she was so so so happy. If I kept her in our house, it would have been for selfish reasons.
Then the lockdown happened, and we couldn’t even visit her. She would say hi to me on Zoom calls with my mom, and they sent me a video of her greeting me a Happy Mother’s Day last Sunday. I had just ordered a big bag of dog food, pee pads, and shampoo for her last week. Last Thursday, I was told she had blood in her pee, and we decided to have her brought to the vet. She had undergone 2 surgeries in the past for bladder stones. The vet sent me x-rays thru e-mail. Her blood test showed she had an infection and that she needed another surgery. I was hesitant because it would be her 3rd operation, and it would be done by a vet I hadn’t personally met, but I had no choice because of the hard quarantine rules at the time. Based on her demeanor the past weeks (she has Resting Smiley Face), we didn’t think things would end up the way they did. When they opened her up, they saw that she had a tear in her bladder already, and that’s what caused complications with her recovery. Jim and I drove for more than an hour through 3 checkpoints to hold her one last time. My mom and Gleza were there, and we all said a prayer for our beautiful Joey Bear.
When we decide to get a dog, we are signing up for a world of pain. We get years of unconditional, crazy love, but there will always come a time to say goodbye. Joey brought us immeasurable happiness for the short time she was with us, and nothing can ever replace it. I am so thankful for my sweetheart, and it brings me comfort knowing that my baby girls are together now. Your papa and I are incredibly grateful for you, Bear. Run free. We will always love you.
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I posted this on Facebook and Instagram as a way to honor Joey. It was excruciating to write, but I’m glad I did because people will remember and celebrate her through this post. This is why losing Joey made me want to start blogging again. So that I can keep a record of moments and create these time capsules. The downside to this kind of thinking is that there’s pressure only to publish stuff I want to be remembered by.
I simply want to share. I want to tell my stories as mundane or as exciting as my days can be. I know reading other people’s thoughts has helped me navigate through life. Surely, not all my posts will make my children proud (wahaha), but if I could leave them some words and photos to remember our moments together, I know it would make them as happy as it made me when I found my old photographs with my Bear.
These days, I tend to sit with my feet up on my chair because I can’t stand not having Joey’s fur brush against me. I don’t want to forget.
To experience this kind of unimaginable pain is to experience this kind of unimaginable true love.
Why did I decide to start vlogging when I’ve been trying to avoid it for sooo long?
In this week’s Magulo Na Bacarros, I tell you all about it! Feel free to jump forward to the best parts although take note that I did squeeze in some fun footage during the talking parts, too!
Thank you so much for your support and I’m sooo looking forward to making more quality vlogs in the coming weeks. WOOHOOOOO!!
It would really mean a lot to me if you click the subscribe button on My YouTube Channel! You can also LIKE the video and leave a comment! Knowing that there are people who want to be updated whenever I post a new vlog motivates me to keep creating content. 💖
Wow, is this really it?? Yes, I’m finally committing to vlogging! It’s like keeping a scrapbook of all my memories with my little family.
The boys are growing up so fast and I want to remember as many of these precious moments that we tend to take for granted as we’re busy going about our day. An added motivation for continuing this is so our families can keep up with what’s happening in our home even if we’re all so far away from each other right now. I hope you like the videos I’ll be uploading every Monday night so be sure to SAAB-scribe (hehehe) to my channel and click whatever button you must click to get updates whenever I post!!
Again, thank you so much for all the love you’ve shown our family. It’s your sweet letters of support that sowed the seeds for this project.
It would really mean a lot to me if you click the subscribe button on My YouTube Channel! You can also LIKE the video and leave a comment! Knowing that there are people who want to be updated whenever I post a new vlog motivates me to keep creating content. 💖
While Pancho is my superhero (watch his Origin Story here!) and his twin Luna is my angel, Vito is my champion! I was told by my friend that after losing a baby, the succeeding one is usually called a Rainbow Baby or a Champion Baby. I assume a Rainbow Baby is called such because sabi nga ng Southborder, “there’s a rainbow always after the rain” hehe. My friend explained that they are called Champion Babies because they’re usually just so… so… so strong and more advanced than other babies.
She told me that before I gave birth to Vito. I thought it was a cute sentiment but I didn’t really think much of it. Now that Vito is 15 months old and I’ve seen him do things way before the baby books tell me to expect it, I guess I get it now!
Here’s a video I got of him at 1 week old seemingly attempting to crawl!! Hahaha
And at just 2 weeks old he was holding his head up for several seconds!
Needless to say, he started actually crawling, walking and running earlier than expected. It’s true when they say it’s really different for all babies but milestones are there as a guide for parents to help with their children’s development.
Here’s a quick reference guide for power parents to check on their children’s progress!
Let’s not forget that a big part of a child’s development is their confidence and comfort in their body and their environment. This is why I make sure my boys use Pampers Baby Dry from birth. I’ve never had the need to try a different brand because it’s what the hospital used from the very start and both my boys have been leak-free and rash-free ever since!
Of course since they are boys, both Jim and I have experienced being peed on exactly as we opened their diapers to change lalo na nung newborn sila haha :))
When they reached a certain age, I switched them from Pampers Baby Dry Newborn to Pampers Baby Dry Pants. The Newborn variant is perfect for a new baby’s very sensitive skin because of it’s triple pwet-tection (hehe I love that tagline) – that means it saves baby’s skin from the 3 common causes of rashes! When they became more active, it only made sense to switch to Pampers Baby Dry Pants because it won’t sag thanks to the snug waist band and it has extra protection against babad! That means less diaper changes and more time to move around, explore, and learn! Yay!
Did you know that Pampers Baby Dry Pants is recommended by the Skin Health Alliance? I just recently found out about it too and it gives me even more confidence in my choice 🙂
Don’t forget to check out the new Pampers’ Smart Parenting Hub for more tips and tricks on taking care of your babies!
*This is a sponsored post but the views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author (AKA ME!) staying true to only supporting the products that I really use!
