Apologies for this delayed announcement, but FINALLY...



Read the detailed birth story here.

Labels: baby, family, frosts, kobe

I wasn't able to post on this blog for two days because I was too busy preparing myself for the approaching D-day of Kobe.

And I can't believe I haven't posted about Baby Frost #2's name! What the hell is happening to me?

Baby Frost #2 will be known to the mortal world as Corvinus Keith, or Kobe for short. For the benefit of those who doesn't know yet, Mr. Frost has a couple of demands when it comes to naming his sons:

1. The full name must always include Keith as the second name. He didn't used to care if it is used as the first or second name, as long as it appears in the child's birth certificate. But apparently, that changed and now he wants his sons to share his initials.
2. The first name should start with a letter "C". And it should go and sound well with Keith.

Issen's full name is Constantine Keith. Actually, we were dead set on naming him Corvinus Keith, but God knows why we changed our minds a couple of days before he was born and wrote Constantine Keith on his birth certificate instead. Probably because John Constantine was way hotter in the movie than what I pictured him to be while reading Hellblazer. I could already see Mr. Frost rolling his eyes, with a thought bubble above his head saying, "What a BS!"

Now where did we get the name Corvinus?

I loved the movie Underworld. Need I say more? For more details, check out this Wikipedia entry.

And where did the nickname Kobe come from?

No, we're NOT fans of Kobe Bryant. In fact, I hate the guy, but Kobe is just the perfect nickname. If a kid who can barely talk will say the name "Corvinus", it would sound something like "Ko-be-nu". And it sounds Japanese, because it is actually a name of a Japanese City.

And yeah, for the last time, we got Issen from a video game, Onimusha 3 to be specific. That's what you get for having geeks as your parents.

Judging by the way we name our kids, you might think we're weird. Wait till you meet us in person.

Labels: family, frosts, kids

Both my husband and my son are sick.

I'm not feeling very well, either.

And there are stuff at work that need my immediate attention.

Talk about wishing to be at several places at one time. And to feel a lot better.

Labels: about me, family, frosts, Issen

I mentioned awhile back that I need to be more careful in managing our finances because Mr. Frost's company (a subsidiary of the international company I recently moved to) decided to release employee salaries once a month.

Most companies in the Philippines have a twice-a-month salary release setup. Most common is on the 15th and the 30th of the month, but some do it on the 10th and the 25th of the month. But according to Mr. Frost's finance department, this once-a-month salary release arrangement has enabled big multinational companies to be more efficient and more productive. Sure.

Anyway, I've already drawn up a new budget sheet and adjusted it to this new cash flow. So far, we're on track and on top of everything. If we really stick to this budget until next payday, we won't need to find somebody to give us cash loans, which by the way, are very helpful for those who are in dire need of cash for unexpected situations and emergencies.

Anyway, our own finance department did a survey a couple of weeks ago, about adapting the once-a-month salary release setup. We were made to choose what setup we would be comfortable with, once-a-month or twice-a-month. I chose the latter because that would be more flexible for us, but unfortunately, those who voted for the once-a-month setup outnumbered us. There's no announcement yet as to when this will take effect, but I'm adjusting our budget sheet again, just in case.

Wish me luck, please. I want to overcome this financial struggle. :)

Labels: about me, frosts, sideline

Even before we got married, Mr. Frost and I have decided to bring our kids up with martial arts and/or self defense training. No, we don't want our kids to be showboats or bullies, but we don't want them to be beaten up either. We just want them to be able to protect themselves. Of course we'll instill discipline as well so they'll use their training only for appropriate times.

My first choice is Muay Thai training, as I am impressed beyond words with Tony Jaa of Ong-Bak. As early as now, we're already scouting for venues for any Close Combat Training. We found several in the metro, but we still have to verify what they are teaching there.

Over the internet, however, I found Captain Chris' Close Combat website. He is apparently a World Leader In Self Defense. I'm curious about his program, which includes explanation of the different kinds of martial arts. Actually, they offer a free quiz/trivia where they'll "challenge you to see if you know what training discipline (karate, judo, krav maga, etc.) qualifies as a cultural fighting art, what is a combative sport, and what is real self defense." I took the test and found the results and answers very interesting and informative.

Captain Chris claims that his program will help you learn more about The Truth About Martial Arts, something that has been commercialized and "tainted" the past several years. In my opinion, the term "martial arts" has been corrupted well enough that only few can tell what it really is.

I guess the program is worth checking out. I'll be trying the "test drive" they're offering and let you know what I think of it. Better yet, why don't you try it yourself? You just might find it useful.

Labels: frosts, kids, sideline, web finds

And just when I thought the start of my week can't get any worse, it did.

As I mentioned, I woke up with a bad case of leg cramps. Then since my hormones have done a good job of try to glue me onto the bed, I got up really late and had to rush preparing for work lest Mr. Frost and SkyClad leave me behind. Bottomline, that's another reason for me to NOT want to go to work, because bathing and getting dressed was rushed.

Anyway, I brought some sort of rice cakes to eat at the office. Being the pregnant beast that I am, I was already hungry by the time we got to work about a couple of hours after breakfast. So I ate the rice cakes while checking my mail and doing my research. After a few minutes, I felt heavier than ever. I felt queasy, and when I looked at my the rice cakes, they're gone. There's half a roll left, so it's not completely gone. I brought four rolls of rice cakes and I realized that wolfing down three and a half rolls in less than 15 minutes will definitely make me feel weird.

Next in line to make my day more miserable was the fact that my company-issued mobile phone broke down. No warnings or signs whatsoever, it just stopped working. Well, first I was trying to call an officemate and I can't hear a damn thing. I figured there must be something with the speaker, but to be sure, I dialed my own number from another mobile phone, and it won't ring at all. It received the call and I can hear the ringing sound on the calling mobile, but no sound is coming from my own phone. I turned it off, thinking maybe a system restart will fix it, but then, it won't turn on anymore. Great.

I'll be bringing it tomorrow to have it fixed, on warranty hopefully, but God knows when I can used it again. And this happened just when I planned to back up the numbers and notes I saved on the phone memory and was hoping I could do so tonight.

On with the mishaps, it's probably because of lack of sleep, but I feel like I'm gonna be sick. I mean really feverish sick. And this made me feel more exhausted than ever. I just hope this fever won't push through. I cna't afford to be sick right now, for so many reasons.

As Mr. Frost usually says when he's having a bad day, I need a "system reset". As in go back to bed, wake up to a new day, and start over. I'm hitting the sheets now, hoping I can rest well enough to "reset."

Reading what I have written here, I definitely, absolutely need to restart my system. My brain isn't functioning well. Ugh.

I certainly hope tomorrow will be a better day.

Labels: about me, frosts

I recently transferred to a new department in our company. Actually, the company I'm "leaving" is a subsidiary of the company I'm "moving to," so I'm literally going to the mother ship.

Anyway, the mother ship had it's very first "Post" Christmas party cum "mini" sportsfest last night at SM Bowling Center Mall of Asia. I didn't join the bowling "tournament" for obvious reasons.

After the bowling tournament, we had dinner at Italianni's. It was a fun night, all in all. Although the mother ship and the subsidiary share office at the same floor of the same building, and we're not really strangers to each other, it was still great to bond with a new group of people.

Alas, I have chosen to be discreet about my corporate slave professional life, and as much as I want to share the pictures taken that night, this is the only one I can post:

This reminds me of Janeane Garofalo's character in Mystery Men

I'd like to have one of those, even if I don't bowl. That would make a great conversation piece around the house. Heck, I'd even put it in my office table if I could buy it.

Anyhoo, a friend who's based in Canada went home recently. Good thing SM MOA was part of their itinerary that night or else I wouldn't have the chance to see her again. So I met up with her and her Canadian husband for a brief hi and hello while the bowling tournament was ongoing. Of course, we took a couple of pics.

International quality native bags behind international beauties Jezz and me.


With Jezz's husband, Craig. Oh lookie! A very pregnant me!


After dinner, I went back to the office, along with several officemates, because Mr. Frost was waiting for me there. We got back at the office a little past 11PM, but Mr. Frost wasn't bored. It was Guitar Hero III night at the office and he was having so much fun reliving his rock band days. I would have tried it myself, but I was afraid we won't go home at all if I get my hands on those guitars. That's another story, though.

Labels: about me, entertainment, friends, frosts, games

... friend/officemate Myla giving me a Starbucks 2008 Planner. I'm not really a planner person but the anniversary edition of Starbucks' planner is just so adorable I wanted one so badly.

Myla actually gave one to Mr. Frost last week. I kept on bugging him to give the planner to me but he won't budge. I was asking people here at the office if they can recommend a annulment lawyer (jokingly, of course). When they asked why, I answered, "I'm filing for annulment on the grounds that he won't give me his Starbucks planner."

And that night, Myla gave me my own planner, just so I won't divorce her boss. I so love being Mr. Frost's wife.

I know most of you probably have already seen how the Starbucks 2008 Planner looks like, but I can't help but post a pic here. I actually went crazy and took a loooot of pictures of the planner in all angles, but you'll be thankful that I had the sense to post just this one pic :



Thanks Myla! You made one pregnant woman very happy.

Alas, when we got home at a little before 9PM, Issen was still awake. He gave me one good fight against sleeping and drained me of all my energy. I actually had one of my pregnancy blues episodes during this time and I got sooooo close to snapping and screaming at the innocent little boy. Good thing I was able to control my hormones and kept my "nice mommy" image for Issen.

I can't imagine the trauma Issen will get if his nice and playful "Mom" lost her marbles and suddenly screamed at him for reasons he can't even begin to understand. And I can't forgive myself if Issen did get traumatized because of me.

But my night didn't end when Issen finally fell asleep a few minutes before midnight. I was unable to sleep due to forces beyond my control and the description of those forces, just one particular noise actually, can be found in this previous post.

Labels: friends, frosts, Issen

Last night, I had one of the weirdest, yet pleasant, experiences in my life.

For the past several days, it's so hard for us to put Issen to sleep at around 9pm as the holidays messed up his sleeping routine (Read details here). Last night, we finished his "goodnight" video around 930pm, so I turned off the lights and I braced myself for another possibly hour-long battle of authority with the little tyke.

Surprisingly, I didn't encounter any resistance. As soon as the lights went out, Issen voluntarily lied down and had his milk. In about 5 minutes, his eyes are closed and he was lying still already. Usually, it takes about 45 minutes of imposing "No more playing, it's sleeping time already" authority before we reach that stage. I was lying beside him, delighting in Issen's habit of caressing my face while still not believing how quickly he slept.

Suddenly, he took of the bottle from his mouth, eyes still closed, and reached for something in front (or above) us, then said, "Ma-mi ba". He put the bottle back to his mouth and his hand to my face right after saying those words, as if nothing happened, all along his eyes kept closed.

I swear I had goose bumps all over when I heard what Issen said. The first thing that came to my mind was Mommy Val, Mr. Frost's late mother. I was stunned for about 5 rounds. I quickly sent an SMS to Mr. Frost about what happened (he was working out in the garage).

After a few minutes, as soon as I recovered from the initial shock, I concluded that Mommy Val was probably saying goodnight to Issen in his dreams. I began to think (wishfully) that she was indeed with us at that moment. I even went further into thinking that she was the one responsible for Issen's "submissive" attitude when I was putting him to sleep, that she helped me put him to sleep.

I said a silent prayer, then thanked Mommy Val for making her presence felt by Issen. At least that's what I'd like to think about what happened.

Oh the things I'd do for a chance to meet her.

Labels: family, frosts, Issen

Got tagged by Liz. (Thanks, sis! Good luck on your party planning! )

1. I love to eat: anything that Mr. Frost cooked. He's really a better cook than I am.
2. I hate to eat: something that I'm not craving for at that very moment.
3. I love to go: window-shopping (or actual shopping, if I have the money ) for baby stuff and graphic novels.
4. I hate to go: somewhere that would take me more than an hour to reach. (At least now, at my current state of pregnancy)
5. I love it when: my family spends quality time in bed upon waking up
6. I hate it when: my feet get wet because of the rain, especially when I'm not at home.
7. I love to see: Paris! (Please, Lord, let me see Paris before I die. )
8. I hate to see: the look on Mr. Frost's face whenever he finds something that would be a great addition to his collection, but we can't buy at the very moment. It really breaks my heart.
9. I love to hear: Mr. Frost's and Sikei's goodnight "sing" ritual before going to bed
10. I hate to hear: songs of "bands" I hate.

Feel free to grab the tag!

Labels: friends, frosts, tags

I was getting rid of old files here in my workstation when I stumbled upon these pics. Have a good laugh, everyone.

EXHIBIT A: ISSEN'S FIRST FACE-OFF WITH DADDY
This was taken when Issen was hospitalized at Makati Medical Center sometime October last year. We have just moved to a smaller room (after spending 5 days in a large private room, ugh, imagine the rates) when Issen started playing with his tubings again. He won't stop pulling the tubes so naturally, Mr. Frost reprimanded the little boy. I caught in camera the first father-and-son face-off.


EXHIBIT B: YOU ARE NOT COOL, YOU ARE ANNOYING
Mr. Frost showed me this JPG file he got from the internet. I apologize if you are offended by its message, but I really have nobody in particular in mind to say these words to. I see people doing this usually while hanging out at coffee shops and bars. It annoys me, but really, no offense meant. In the first place, I wasn't the one who made the JPG file. I'm really sorry, but I find this image highly amusing.


EXHIBIT C: WORLD'S FINEST... COUPLE
As most of you know, among our shared interests (though MR. Frost is more knowledgeable) are Marvel and DC merchandises. We bought the Batman shirt I'm wearing from a mall's children's section, size Medium, way back when Mr. Frost and I just started dating. Yep, I was that small before I got pregnant or married. It still fits me, though, but I have hoist up the hem up above my bulging belly. Then last month, we saw this large, black Superman shirt at another mall and we bought it immediately, since it's seldom that we find a shirt of that kind that fits Mr. Frost perfectly. We wore it together to work and couldn't resist having our picture taken.


EXHIBIT D: ELEVATOR SURPRISE
I am simply lost for words for this animated image. It pays to know some wrestling moves. You wouldn't know when you'll need one. I just wanna say, though: Wrestlers rock!


Hope you enjoyed them as much as I did.

Till next "PC cleaning" day.

Labels: frosts, great finds

Yesterday, my new toy suffered its first (and hopefully the last) physical injury.

Mr. Frost and SkyClad were planning to spend the whole day modding their toys. Mr. Frost will also be building his Gundam, our long-awaited 1/100 MG Gundam Mk II Ver.2 Titans. SkyClad brought two types of tripod, one long and the other the short one usually used on table tops, so they can take nice pictures of their toys for "documentation purposes." Excited as they are, they set up the camera on the big tripod first way before they were ready to take pictures. And with Issen roaming around their area while they were too busy with their stuff, what do you think would happen?

I really felt bad about it, because I was making extra effort to take care of it, jut as I promised Mr. Frost. The camera's still functioning perfectly, it's just that now it has some deep scratches and a slight dent in one corner. I was thinking to have it fixed or have the housing replaced at the Sony Service Center. I'm pretty sure it's not covered by the warranty, so I'll ask how much would it cost me to bring back it's "flawless" skin.

Anyway, in the afternoon, I was scheduled to go to Sony Philippines' Basic Photography with my Cyber-shot Workshop. I signed up for it since my purchase of my new toy last month gave me the benefit of attending the workshop for free. Also, because the workshop venue is practically a stone's throw away from our house so I say, what the heck. If the workshop turned out to be a waste of time, at least I'd get freebies. I read in one of their posters that I'd get something, I just didn't know what. Yep, I'm a sucker for freebies!

The workshop was scheduled at 1:30PM, and I left the house at 1:15PM, without eating lunch, may I add. I was planning to pass by McDonald's near the venue, but the drive-thru line was too long that I asked the cab driver to just go straight to the venue. There was no snacks offered, just menthol candies, so all throughout the workshop I was praying that it would end soon, or at least they give us a few minutes break just so I can eat. No such luck. It ended around 4PM.

The workshop turned out fine. Out of eight confirmed attendees, only four of us came. For someone who didn't take two photography subjects during college, the "product training" was very useful and informative. For me, I didn't hear anything I haven't heard before. But it was still good for my memory to be refreshed. I toyed with my camera instead of letting the facilitator bore me to death. Here are a couple of my close-up shots using the Macro setting of the camera.

A blast from the past. Classic Mongol pencil in B/W. Hehehe.

Glorified teeny weeny fruit basket

And I was right, there were freebies. Nothing very fancy, but nice ones all the same.

First, they gave us Cyber-shot notepads and pens. The pen was cool because it lights up and came in a package with extra batteries and pen refill. You should know, by the way, that I appreciate life's simple pleasures. In Filipino, mababaw ang kaligayahan ko.



Next, they did a demo of their printer and allowed us to have photos printed to take home. I had this one printed.


Since the others didn't want free photo printing, only one of 'em followed me to the printed, the facilitator egged me on to have more pictures printed. I would have, if I wasn't dizzy from hunger.

They also gave us 20% discount on all accessories, good for that day and for that branch only. However, if they don't have stock of the accessory we want, they could order for us and we could just pay when we pick the item up. I would have taken advantage of this as I was eyeing this particular camera bag and mini tripod, if I wasn't dizzy from hunger.

What can I say? I can't think very clearly anymore so I opted to just go and buy something to eat and head home. Besides, I took my hunger as a sign that the items I wanted to buy impulsively were not for me. At least I saved more than a thousand bucks.


When I got home and had my fill of burgers, fried chicken, spaghetti, and nuggets, Mr. Frost showed me these.

1/100 MG Gundam Mk II Ver.2 Titans, Frost version

Click on the images to enlarge and to better appreciate. Let's wait for Mr. Frost to put up more detailed pics on his blog as these two don't give justice to its "incredibly realistic posing".

Gotta go now, another work week coming up.

Hope you guys had a nice weekend!

Labels: about me, frosts, toys