Exclusive Baby Photos

Which baby is more famous that Beyonce's and Jay-Z's Blue Ivy Carter? Well, at least as far as this blog goes? Baby Ruiz Ancheta #2 of course! 

Exclusive photos below! That Anne Leibovitz needs to work on her lighting...

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As of last Wednesday, Baby was 78mm (3 inches), the size of a peach. I love all the fetal-food comparisons.

Up-close profile pic. I see more Fernando in this one. Hehe...

The doctor had to lightly hit my belly a few times so he/she'd turn face up. What, don't see that? Hey, where are our 4D photos? Oh well, that's what we get from social security healthcare. I ain't complaining!

Thanks for dropping by!

Paloma's New Role

Paloma's life will soon have added meaning. Aside from being an arts and crafts debonaire, music master, superb little helper, child of God, and stinkin' cute kid, she can now add to her list...big sister!

That's right, round two is on! We're expecting Baby Ruiz Ancheta #2 to be here in early September!

After coming back from our trip to the States in January, I found myself wiped out for weeks. And I thought that I was having a loooong bout of jetlag! I had my first ultrasound on Wednesday, and so far everything looks healthy for Baby and me. I'm about three and a half months along, and the worst of the typical first trimester symptoms has passed - the nausea, fatigue, sleepiness, food aversions and constant gagging. It was all there! We won't know the sex of the baby until mid-April, but in the meantime, we're busy doing our usual adventure-making as a threesome. I guess now I'm in what they call the "golden stage" of pregnancy. And I'm taking advantage!

Please keep us in your prayers as the pregnancy goes on. And thanks for visiting as usual!

Going South for a Winter Day

Over the weekend, we got together with some friends and went to Sitges, a beach town that's about 40 minutes south of Barcelona by train. It's renowned for its annual film festival and Carnival, and is also a popular destination for gay and lesbian travelers. Although it's not the first time we've been here, we still enjoy eating paella seaside and watching other Sunday merrymakers wander the town.

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Paloma and I bask in the warm winter sun.

 The beautiful 17th century church in the background, Sant Bartolemeu i Santa Tecla.

 Paloma can't wait to hit the sand.

 Serious beach gawking.

 Paloma poses with the statuesque ladies.

 After lunch, the guys and Viola made a huge sand crocodile while Paloma and Ulisse fell asleep.

 Viola makes an attempt to destroy the crocodile once the masterpiece was complete.

 We took a walk around the old quarter and admired the romantic facades.

Because it was Sunday, the kids kept going back and forth to touch the face of Jesus. ;-)

 Paloma's friend Italian friend, Viola, says, "Es prezioso...il mare!"

 Paloma and her papi enjoy the last drops of sun on the church bench.

 I got some residual rays with the little one myself.

 The white buildings saying good night.

Well-situated lighting can really make a city glow.

 See you again soon, beautiful Sitges...

It was fun!

Happy happy 32 months!

This past month, with the continuation of a cold winter and Miss P's lingering cough, we'd spent lots of time indoors. I mean, lots. We don't have much to show for our "adventures in Barcelona", but I can tell you that we've been doing lots of keeping warm indoors and, of course, occupying ourselves with the usual arts and crafts sessions. The other day, I was making a cloud project with Paloma, and she said, "I'm tired of the cloud." But really, she was tired of the winter. I know it!

These past few days, it has really warmed up, and I am vowing on this blog to go out every beautiful day that we can. And, we are finally recovering from the sickies. So, it's ON!

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Paloma and her daddy take a break at the playground at the zoo.

We also got to hang out with Paloma's classmate, Ulisse, while visiting the animals.

A few days out of the year, the temperatures hit 0 degrees. Okay, that's celsius. But still! At least the sun was still out.

Our little sport made most out of our rare outings. Here she poses behind the book sculpture on the fancy, tourist-laden street, Passeig de Gracia.

Back in the kitchen. One of Paloma's favorite meals to prepare is pancakes.

We've had to get creative here at home. Before we made our train, our silly thing tried on the scrap boxes to make sure they were the right size.

Fernando and Paloma do some serious lima bean peeling.

On a weekly basis, we have a box of locally grown, organic fruits and vegetables delivered to our home. We were intrigued by this romanesco cauliflower. Cool, no?

Seriously, though. How fascinating is this? The whole thing is cone shaped, then each stem is a cone shape, then each floret is cone shaped, etc., making it a fractal form.

Of course we had to do a valentine craft.

And order our valentine tart.

My turn to squeeze!

This is what we did last weekend while we nursed Paloma's cough. Playing indoors all...day...long...

Thanks for visiting. Will update again very soon!

Happy happy 31 months!

Hello! This was a big month, mainly for Paloma's language. Every time we go to the States, we always see a developmental jump, and I think this was because she spent so much time with her English-speaking grandparents at home. Paloma can now say, "I want this...." "I'm hungry" or "I'm tired" "I don't like this because..." This makes a big difference and avoids a lot of frustration. She can ask all kinds of questions in complete sentences and loves to listen to and tell made-up stories. There's still some typical two-year-old whining, but the meltdowns are much less now that she can express herself more easily. She's also eased up a little on trying to exert her independence, where we can get her dressed without much of a fuss. That's a huge one for the parents! I see our lives getting a little bit easier...

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Before we left for the States, we made some gift tags for our Christmas presents.

Ta-da! Like the googly-eyed face collection? 

We watched the story of Jesus' birth on YouTube several times, and Paloma and I re-enacted the scene 50 more times. Her favorite part is flying the angel to the stable to watch over Baby Jesus.

Rafa, Katya, and Pau came over to celebrate Fernando's birthday. Pau took a few pictures of the event.

My parents gave her a ukelele for Christmas, and she gladly played a chords of "Tomorrow" for Fernando's birthday.

 Helping her daddy blow out his candles again.

 

Them two relax on the sofa.

We're over our jetlag and back to the daily grind, that is at the crafting table. 

Thanks for visiting!

California Christmas Love

This Christmas, we spent a little over two weeks in my beloved home - California! With our fabulous luck, Paloma came down with an ear infection and spent much time indoors. But that didn't stop her from having fun. We arrived on Christmas Eve, and the next day the house was filled with guests to celebrate Christmas Day with my paternal grandmother's side of the family.

The weather was sooo warm. Some days felt like summer! I brought along my coat and wore it some places in the evenings, but I felt so silly since everyone wears flip flops year round. Good times!

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This is just part of the gang on Christmas Day. Lots of food and people - Filipino style!

Paloma loved playing with her cousins (In Filipino culture, "cousins" is any kids in the family around your age!)

She loved all the girly girls around - Jasmine and Alissa. It was so sweet!

 Paloma poses at church with the manger scene.Fernando's first time at Cheesecake Factory to try the mega desserts.

 I also got to meet up with my Cal State Fullerton friends at Downtown Disney. Amy's got a bun in the oven!

 Paloma did a little overhugging with River.

Me and my longtime friend Kim at BJs to get our pizookie. Check!

 Rob helped us eat it too.

 We also hung out with my cousin Haydee and Daniel to admire the huge decorations in Downtown Brea.

They took us to the infamous Bruxie, where they serve waffle sandwiches. The chicken was definitely my favorite.

 Our lovely companions.

 We also went to Ferrell's, where we originally wanted to dine, but there were lines out the door! So we settled on getting some ice cream while Paloma watched how they made their handmade cones.

 A little evening entertainment to cap the night.

Paloma also enjoyed all the greenery in the backyard with Lola.

Holding my parents' heirloom tomatoes. They were actually very good. The tastiest tomatoes we'd ever had!

 Jumping for joy as usual.

 Chilling with Alex.

 Kim and Rob came over to treat us with donuts (Fernando's favorites) before we left. Guess who had some...

 We also went to the cemetery to visit my grandmother's grave. Forest Lawn is so peaceful and green.

I don't see this woman enough throughout the year. We visited my cousin Armilyn at her work.

 We were able to leave on a Sunday night, so we celebrated Fernando's birthday at Claim Jumper that afternoon before catching our flight.

After 24 hours of traveling, we're always pooped. But not pooped enough to celebrate Fernando's birthday among the three of us. Happy 36th, Fernando!

 I may just have more pictures to share later. In the meantime, hope you enjoyed these!