Showing posts with label EVANTales. Show all posts
Showing posts with label EVANTales. Show all posts

December 9, 2008

EVANTales: Art Gallery

Riki called me at work this afternoon to warn me that Evan had prepared something for me when I get home and that I should make sure I act surprised (so as not to disappoint my little man).

No need to fake any facial expression because what I saw made my eyes grow big and my mouth open wide.

Evan ceremoniously asked his dad to unveil the curtain (or rather blinds) and dyaraaannn... their own father and son gallery. Can you spot daddy and baby Swampfire?




The t-shirt says it all. 100% awesome!
Work-related stress, all gone.

December 3, 2008

EVANTales: Ben10 Overload

I first heard about Ben Tennyson when we were in Walt Disney World last September. Evan, Riki & Lola were all talking animatedly about this one kid they saw in the Disney store wearing the cool Omnitrix watch (Emi to self: the what?!). Evan wanted one for himself too, badly.

So when we got back home to Walnut Creek, father and son wasted no time and visited their favorite orphanage (Toys R Us) to look for Ben and his awesome watch. Fine, just another waif to bring home for Evan to play with. Or so I thought.


What I didn't know was that the minute you wear the watch-like device (the Omnitrix), it will enable you to transform to several alien forms!



Alas! Now we live with half of the alien force. Meet Evan's adopted siblings: Swampfire, Chromastone, Humongousaur, Jetray and Echo Echo.




We are still finalizing the adoption papers for the remaining five.






September 14, 2008

EVANTales: He's Three!

Riki and I now have a pre-schooler!
Parenting literature says this is an amazing time in a kid’s life since it is the stage where they are becoming their own person and exploring new things and social groups on their own. So of course, we are excited for the numerous possibilities for our explosive little man.
In his three years of existence, he had already accomplished so much that we are everyday in awe of his impressive development and maturity.
  1. A seasoned traveler – Evan had been on 20 airplane rides in his lifetime, he is already more comfortable of flying than me (I still hate takeoffs!). He buckles his own seatbelt, operates his own in-flight entertainment system, gives the flight attendant his own choice of drinks and food, and settles on his seat to enjoy the long flights. He even demanded his own carry-on luggage so he can race with Riki in the walkalators! He knows his way around airports, train stations, subways and hotel facilities. He knows all the drills by heart! He had been to 4 countries, 11 US states and 2 Disneys – and what’s amazing, he clearly remembers all experiences and can recount them in details afterwards!
  2. A technology lover - Evan taught his Lola Lynne how to use the Macbook and how to surf the internet (we captured it in video, it was so hilarious!). He can open a browser and go to his favorite kiddie sites (e.g. pbskids.org) and play on his own. He views my Multiply site to check his vids and pics too! He loves and expertly uses all of his dad’s gadgets – iPhone, iPod, DSLR, digicam, videocam, DVD player and cable tv remote.
  3. An independent mind – at a young age, he is capable of making his own choices in terms of clothes to wear (we stand in front of the closet and he points to what he wants to wear that day), shows to watch (he knows his kiddie channels by heart), places to go to (especially during shopping!) and activities to engage in (yes, even haircuts!).
  4. A witty and funny kid – people always enjoys Evan’s company because he is good with conversations. Rookiedaddyhood tells all the amusing stories.
  5. A mini-Riki and Emi – what touches me the most is that our little boy finds joy in sharing our passion – books, sports and music. We can’t wait for the day when we can go to rock concerts together! Peace, love and rock & roll!
Happy Birthday Baby!
Please don’t grow so fast…Mom is not ready to let go of his little boy yet. Sniff!

June 22, 2008

EVANTales: Human Energy Photo Contest Winner

A common vice of all mothers is to brag about their kids, in all possible ways. I am no exception to that rule.

I blog about Evan all the time. I drown my friends with Evan kwento all the time. I have Evan's face plastered in my office laptop wallpaper, that even my non-Filipino colleagues at work recognized him already. And yeah, Evan's pictures and home-made videos are all over the www thanks to his DV rebel dad.

But I don't stop my motherly pride there. I even entered his picture in an office photo contest, for more exposure! And guess what, my entry won the category for the most number of online votes! Woohoo!

Yeah, I did some shameless campaigning to get votes. But during the process, I discovered some people voted for my entry even though they didn't know it was Evan in the picture nor that the entry was mine! Only proves that Evan's charm radiates to everyone, even strangers. Hehe!

Ever since Evan came into our lives, we have been receiving an avalanche of blessings. Now, even his mere picture is contributing to the bucket. My winning entry got me this. Sweet!


April 30, 2008

EVANtales: A Different Kind of Alphabet


This is Riki and Evan's own (super high-tech) version of the ABC's. Evan did the voice-over himself, I can't be more proud of my 2.5-year old!

And yes, since the target audience of this educational video are kids, it is a bit lengthy. But don't miss the last part (XYZ's). It is so hilarious, I'm sure you will have a good laugh. Ang kulet! Haha!

Watch out for Harry Potter as well. "It's my favorite".
ENJOY! :)



Great job again Dad! Mwah!

April 17, 2008

EVANtales: What Did You Do Today?


Here's a very creative way to report your day activities to your Mom when she comes home from work.



This are all still pictures. Great job Dad! :)

April 8, 2008

EVANtales: Dropkick Garcias (Music Video)

The song "I'm Shipping Up to Boston" had been blasting in our car stereo, in our laptop music player, even in our OnDemand channel for a straight month already... Evan can even pronounce the artist band's name so fluently - "Mom, I want Dropkick Murphys!"

This music video is inevitable.

My two boys rock! YEAH!


March 31, 2008

EVANTales: A GuitarHero Soccer Painter who plays Golf!


Keeping up with my two "boys" is proving to be such a hard task each and every day!

One night just two weeks ago, Evan was (supposedly) watching his nightime kiddie show, while I leisurely read my book beside him in bed. I heard him muttering "Nice swing!"...and later on..."Oh, he missed it!" Deep into devouring my new book, I confidently thought he was just reacting to one of his PBS Sprout shows. Then he suddenly turned to me and asked seriously, "Mom, is that a birdie?". I was so startled, I quickly looked for the remote to change the channel. Evidently, he had switched from his kiddie show to guess what...the Golf Channel. He had been watching the Puerto Rico tournament the whole time!

I quickly googled all the golf terms the next day to catch up with this new father-son bonding activity.

But lo, I am still distinguishing between a lob and a sand wedge, they have already moved on to playing soccer (they are enrolling in a father-son soccer class this spring), watercolor painting, and yes...Wii Guitar Hero!

I think it is high time for a daughter in this family! (Kidding!)

November 13, 2007

EVANtales: Our Little Manny Pacquiao

Riki bought Evan his first boxing set recently, and they have been "training" eversince.

This is Evan, our little pillowpuncher. Well, for now, i guess a better passion than girls. Hehe!


August 7, 2007

EVAN Amazing

In a month’s time, Evan will be turning TWO already. My little man is growing so fast! And for a toddler his age, his unfolding intellectual and social developments are so impressive. We know he is indeed special the moment he was born, he scored 9.9 in his APGAR test!

I am such a proud mom, I just have to do this brag list. :)

1. Evan can count from 1 to 10 when he was just 1.5 years old. Now, he can count from 1 to 20.

2. He knows his ABCs pretty well. We’re not just talking memorizing the ABC song. He’s so way beyond that already. He can already IDENTIFY and READ his ABCs (but only in capital letters)! Show him any letter, in any order, he will tell you what it is. And his hobby now is reading letters everywhere he goes. S.A.F.E.W.A.Y, E.X.I.T, S.T.O.P, etc.

3. The book What To Expect The Toddler Years said that average kids at this age can identify 4 objects by pointing. Well, Evan can identify almost 100+ objects! He is very good at picture-reading. He knows all parts of his body, can identify all primary colors, he knows the name of almost all furniture and fixtures at home and even the animals in the zoo. We spent almost 15 minutes at night saying goodnight to all of them, “Goodnight tiger, goodnight elephant, goodnight headboard, goodnight tree, goodnight mirror, goodnight eyes, goodnight tummy…”

4. Evan is very good with words. Some kids his age are still “bulol”, but my angel speaks most of his words (English and Filipino) clearly already. He is like a parrot. He repeats every new word he hears from people around him and will remember them from then on. One time, when driving thru Mcdonald's, upon hearing the order taker’s standard greeting “Hi, what’s your order?” He promptly replied (from way back in his car seat!) “cheese burger meal”. What a riot indeed! Hehe.

5. Very much like his father, Evan is such a sociable person. If most kids shy away from people, especially strangers, Evan, on the other hand, finds delight in initiating contact with them. He happily greets our housekeeper “Hello, good morning!”, gives everyone in the supermarket a sweet smile and a “Hi”, and quickly warms up to friends and visitors in minutes.

6. Evan converses not in simple chunks of words but in complete simple sentences already! He never fails to surprise us with his new lines every day. From “let’s go to Lola’s bedroom” to “I don’t know” "I don't like" to “Whoa, look at that!”

7. Evan is also gifted with logic and wit. He always inquire about things, bombarding us with his “Why?”, “What’s that?” and “Who’s that” questions. He also knows how to follow multiple instructions already like taking off his socks and then his shoes and putting the former in the laundry bag and the latter in the shoe closet. He also knows how to assert himself, oh yes he does! Here are some classic and adorable conversations:

Daddy: “Evan, please help me clean your toys”.
Evan: “Dad, I’m tired”.

One time when we we’re reciting our nighttime prayers:
Mommy: "..please bless Mommy, Daddy, Lola, Kuya Galen, Tito Ryan…"
Evan: (cutting me off mid-sentence) "Family!"

Lola: “Evan, don’t run!”
Evan: “Walk lang.”

8. He sing-along to many songs already on his own. Sometimes we will just hear him humming while he plays or while staring at the horizon during road trips. From “Twinkle, twinkle, little star” to “Itsy Bitsy Spider” to most of his favorite TV (and On-Demand) kiddies shows.

9. He is a book lover! Maybe because he always see his mom and dad reading books (in the bathroom, in bed, in the couch, everywhere). Or his mom reading one single book straight for two days (and acting as if no one's around... teehee!). He likes to read his books with Dad all day long and before bedtime. He even squeezes in his own storyline to make his bedtime stories relatable to his everyday life.

Daddy: "In a faraway kingdom, there was once a prince."
Evan: "... and a little boy..."
Daddy: "He was proud, arrogant and mean."
Evan: "...drink water, wear shoes..."

10. He is showing signs of being an OC like me! He can’t stand open closet doors, he follows his dad to the bathroom, flushed the toilet, put down the toilet seat (YES!), turned off the bathroom light and exhaust switch (his dad always forgets), arranged protruding chairs and placed all shoes lying around the living room in the shoe closet!

Yes, we are talking about my 23-month old baby here.
Now you will say AMAZING is an understatement. ☺



If you want more adorable and amazing anecdotes about Evan, read Riki’s Rookiedaddyhood tales here.

October 30, 2006

Evan's 2nd Halloween


TRICK
:
A year ago, everyone’s saying that Evan was the spitting image of his Dad. Here we are celebrating his first Halloween.

TREAT:
Just like wine getting better as it age, Evan grows more good-looking every single day. And everyone is now saying he looks just like Mom! Haha!
Here we are Trick-or-Treating at our condo’s Halloween Party!




Happy Halloween Everyone! BOOOO!!!

October 25, 2006

The Untold Birthday Story


It is almost two months after Evan's birthday bash and I am yet to start my party story entry. Looking at how things are going on right now (read: a blogger's block), it seems this will be included in my 2007 to do list already.

Albeit the blogging indolence, my Smugmug album is always updated! View Evan's party pictures here!

P.S. My party suppliers were all SUPER!!! Peninsula Manila (venue), Jelly Bellies (party planner), Adworks (invites), Abby Frias (photo), Jason Magbanua (video), Ryan (face-painter) and 168 Divi Mall (loot goodies)! Thanks y'all! Mwah!

Saturday Morning


Eversince Evan turned a year old, (early) Saturday mornings became bonding time with Daddy. A cruise around the city (while listening to their favorite COLDPLAY album of course – yes, because he had been listening to it since he was still in my womb, Evan now knows WHEN TO START singing in the Speed of Sound song! Isn’t that amazing?), a stroll along Baywalk, a visit to Grandpa in the South. As for me, a welcome treat to stay late in bed and have my morning coffee (or Coke!) in peace. Hehe!

Last Saturday though, I decided to join in this exclusive (early morning, gasp!) bonding activity and dragged my two boys just across the street from our home to watch an early basketball championship game where my officemates were playing for the gold trophy.

Of course, when you go out with Mommy Emi, every moment is a potential scrapbook moment so a digital camera is a must in the diaper bag! Good thing though since guess who we bumped into in the court? :)



Turned out the Red Bull team have their practice every weekend in the ‘hood. Cool!


Here's a peak at the fun games that day. Congrats Ninang Bibi!!! Champion!


PUEDEH!

September 10, 2006

Happy Birthday EVAN!!!



The much-awaited birthday story coming soon on this site!!!


January 20, 2006

It’s The Most Wonderful Time…

...of the year! DECEMBER that is, my favorite month. :D

Last month had been a frenzy of activities and festivities (this month a flurry of work and deadlines thus the lateness of this post!). I TRIED (the operative word here!) composing a decent blog entry but every time I sat down and started tinkering at my laptop, all my other deliverables at the office and in our business kept on haunting me, blocking my creative juices from flowing. Today I just gave up.

So I ended up doing this bullet-point photo blog to summarize my December. What a good way to start my new blogging year. Bleh!

BACK TO SOX!
I ended my maternity leave and went back to work on a time most people are going on vacation already. Except for people in Compliance and SAP who are cramming for year-end reportorial requirements and year-end closing. First day at the office (December 2), my local and global back-fills rushed to SEND their Turnover Documents and set-up turnover meetings. It seems these emails had been sitting in their DRAFT folder since November! SOX to everyone is like a hot plate you just can’t wait to drop. Hay!

PARTY POOPER BDAY BOY
I had placed my orders online for the flowers to be delivered to Riki’s office at least two weeks before his birthday on the 15th. Guess what? My very unpredictable husband was out on client call (in Quezon!!!) on that day checking out manufacturers of virgin coconut oil. So end of story, my surprise was ruined. His officemates ended up enjoying the bouquet and pleading to have a stem each. Hmph!

TWO YEARS of MARITAL BLISS
How time flies indeed. Last year, december 16, we were just enjoying marital bliss and getting ready for our Boracay vacation the next day (Evan is a bora baby! Hehe...), now we have added parenthood to our many blessings. I took this day off from work to do my last-minute arrangements for Evan’s party on the 18th and started my Xmas shopping. (Yes! You read it right, I crammed to finish my xmas list this year one week before Christmas day. End result, I spent beyond my xmas budget. Dang!). Riki took the afternoon off from work (bawi kaya sa surprise spoiler the previous day?) and joined me at the mall to buy my birthday gift. Finally, I got my sterling silver bracelet I so long wanted (to match my white gold jewelries and wedding/engagement ring). Yey! We had dinner that night at Circles Events CafĂ© at the Makati Shangri-la to celebrate our bday cum anniversary cum bday. After filling our stomach (up to esophagus!) with food and chocolates for three hours, Riki and I went on our much awaited movie date (after three months of home arrest!). It was really nice to spend some quality (alone) time with my better-half and enjoy the perks we use to take for granted when we were still not parents.

LAST YEAR IN THE GREGORIAN CALENDAR
Next year, specifically the 17th day of the last month, I will belong to the box most people call “wala na sa kalendaryo”. Tired from the escapades of the previous night, I just stayed home and played with Evan the whole day. I felt lucky and so blest to be at this point in my life where all I have ever hoped for in life, I already have – my own family. Everything else that will come my way, are just bonuses. God is indeed good!

WELCOME TO THE FAITH
We really love doing celebrations during the month of December! That is why we made sure Evan’s christening will be on this month. And specifically on this date, the 18th. A year ago on the same day, Evan was conceived (yes! I am that OC I know the exact date!). So it is just appropriate to welcome him to the Christian world on the same day God gave him to us. Perfect isn’t it? He was baptized in the same church where Riki and I got married two years ago, the Santuario de San Antonio. During the ceremony, Evan was so behaved. He was just looking intently at the priest, as if he can understand what the latter was saying. He didn’t even cry when the priest poured the holy water on his head (he loves bathing! Hehe…). How can you not love such an adorable angel? Afterwards, we had a great and fun party at Italianni’s Greenbelt 2, where all our families and friends came to celebrate with us as we welcome Evan to the Christian world. Stuffed mushroom yummy!!!



More pics of the baptism ceremony and after-party here!

HOHOHO!
For Christmas I ordered online matching White Stripes t-shirts for me and Riki. When the package arrived a week before xmas eve, mine was the wrong item. Grrrrr!!! I have to mail it back, and the correct item will be delivered only after the holidays already. So I ended up not having one during xmas eve. Terno pa naman dapat kami ni Riki. Huhu!
It was Evan’s first Christmas! He was the best xmas gift for me and Riki. We couldn’t asked for more. Here he is opening his gifts, his piggybank (which Riki and I bought and started filling when we first learned that i was pregnant) and playing cute, making everyone's life happy and worth living.


TAKE TWO!
I just can’t get enough of the buffet in Circles (diet? Is that a word?) I have to bring my good old college friends back there during our annual Xmas reunion dinner. We had a grand time catching up on each other’s life updates and stories, in between plates. Hehehe!


BLAST FROM THE PAST
I bought Riki a Magic Mic/Sing for his birthday, but I was only able to give it to him two days before the new year. So, on new year’s eve, we both sang our heart out (to my Mom and the yaya’s detriment!) NONSTOP till we have tried almost all the good songs in the selection. How timely right? We welcome the new year with a BANG indeed. Hahaha!

POSTSCRIPT
Another (late) xmas dinner with my college friends on the second week of January, this time minus Lisa (since she’s already back in SG), plus Jojit (who just came back from Canada after the new year). When Jojit said he had made reservations already at the Shang Palace, everyone went “HUWAT?!?! Our wallets haven’t recovered yet from the Circles gimmick!” Good thing, the ever generous guy that he is, he treated us all for dinner. Weeeee!!!

Fine dining is such a wonderful experience indeed…especially when it is not you who will be paying. Hehe! ;)

Emi out!

January 10, 2006

Ang Batang Panday

Ready...SING!
Bawat sandali ng aking buhay
Pagmamahal mo ang aking taglay
San man mapadpad ng hangin
Hindi magbabago aking pagtingin
Pangako natin sa Maykapal
Na tayo lamang sa habang buhay
Maghintay

Ipaglalaban ko ang ating pag-ibig
Maghintay ka lamang
Ako’y darating
Pagka’t sa isang taong mahal mo ng buong puso
Lahat ay gagawin makita kang muli
Makita kang muli...

Now the favorite sleeping song of my son Tristan...este!...Evan. Hehe!

December 29, 2005

What Happens...

...when your mom and grandma used to watch PBB? This.

A Happy and Peaceful New Year to everyone, from The Garcias! :D

December 18, 2005

November 20, 2005

Sleepyheads

To the left or to the right

Straight up or sideways

Nothing beats sleeping with my old man.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZ...