Baby Company Baby Fair

SM held it's Baby Company Grand Baby Fair last weekend. At first I didn't want to go because I do not have a list of things to buy at this point, (plus the traffic and difficulty parking in Megamall.) But we decided to drop by early Sunday morning with MamaCherub since we're going to Marikina anyway.

Just bought a tummy binder, dropins and some consumable baby supplies stocks: baby laundry detergent, baby soap, paper stem cotton buds. All items are indeed on sale. The least is 20% off. And there were a lot of freebies! We got two swag bags with lots of free stuff.

My favorite of all, is this four-small-shelved-wooden-white-drawer, with animal drawings. Priced 1.3K, that is 70% off. Sooooo cute.

Putting up the Nursery: Part 2

Almost every night, we see to it that we go to Euen's room. We would just look at it, think of what else would we need, arrange baby stuff and clean it even if it hasn't been touched by anyone but us. Excited much?

Last weekend, we decided put a two-layer wall shelf to put the storage containers bought from Ikea and other baby stuff that would need easy access. So we devoted some time with the installation of the shelves. I had to call my very own handyman with his do-it-himself skills. With a little help from me. We choose white shelves to go with the theme. For the Kusiner wall pockets, we just decided to use S-hooks underneath the grilles. Denden said there's too much drilled holes already.

Thank you Denden.

Here are the finished products.

Putting up the Nursery: Part 1

We have been looking and looking everywhere but we couldn't find the right furniture to store baby Euen clothes. Since we're eyeing on a white-colored baby cot, we wanted to match it with a white-colored chest drawer. We've looked everywhere but we couldn't find one. Could it be that the furniture makers didn't want to make white ones because it easily gets dirty?

We were looking into having it custom made but we actually found this one on sale last weekend. The Lock & Lock InPlus Kid's Storage Box.
It passed my requirement with it's white frame, and we just picked nice colors for the drawers. We choose biggest, one with six drawer boxes with covers. We picked smaller boxes because we wouldn't want it too deep.

One might think that it's too small and will not be enough with all the baby clothes and stuff. Yes it is, but this is just the storage for the clothes that are often used and needs immediate access. There is a built-in closet in the room adjacent to Euen's room, to put the extra towels, beddings, diapers and all the other clothes. When she gets bigger, the InPlus Storage box could be a storage for her toys.

One excited soon-to-be dad couldn't wait either. He had it assembled right away.

Ikea Baby Things

I made a list of what I wanted to buy at Ikea for baby. And I gave it to my sister. I didn't expect that she'd buy it all, all the more, bring it all home during their last trip.

-A few bath towels and a sleeping bag.

-Highchair, Antilop with the tray and the cushion.

-Ceiling lamp for baby's room.

-Spoling foldable changing table that turned out to be free. Thanks to Shashing and Kuya Shosh.

It was a short list but it was bulky. Baby Euen's very lucky and very much loved.

Here's how it looks like when unfolded. We opted for this because it's easy to stow away when not in use. We needed the space for the nursery. I liked the many storage pockets underneath.

In the photo are some of the small storage / decors bought during our last trip to Singapore also.

I am very excited as we've started to arrange baby's room already. I CAN'T WAIT!

At Last..

The dining room is the next one on the list.

The 22" wall mounted LCD TV is courtesy of Auntie Debot who we love very much. Denden and I were the ones who installed the TV mount, DVD player shelf and the home theater system. Of course, I am just an assistant. Now we can watch when eating, PLUS--swinging it a bit to the right, I could watch from the kitchen as well.





I think I've mentioned sometime ago that our dining set were custom made. We made our own designs, mostly "Ikea-inspired", gave them to Justin, then Justin gave them to his Uncle, Father Gil. Then Father Gil took them to the furniture maker. Note that this is in Vigan. And so, we just waited... and waited.. and waited.

And though there was a one month delay in the delivery, it was worth it!

We made some specifications on our drawing but most of it, was up to the furniture maker. The type of wood they used was Mahogany... The outcome-- was so much more than we expected.

Next In Line

So here are the series of pictures that will complete our house.
Next to the kitchen is the living room.

Due to the size of our living room, we were careful of picking the right furniture that won't take too much space, and yet, would receive and accomodate guests. After all, this is the receiving area, right? And so, we opted for a three-seater black leater sofa bed with two Ottoman and a three-layer (wood-glass-glass) center table.

The center table even has a story. We didn't realize that the top layer was too big so I took it to the glass cutters and had the four sides reduced.

The oversized mirror on one side did make the room bigger. And the lamp, bought even before we started building the house, was finally in place.

My Handyman

After several weeks of waiting (for a discount / sale) and wanting (to install it), yesterday, we completely ignored paying of almost Php13K for Rubbermaid’s Configurations, the D-I-Y closet for our room.
After almost five hours of careful design configuration, measurement, some cutting, drilling, screwing and the whole assembly, my handyman, no other than Denden, finished installing our closet.
His fee, dinner to his favorite restaurant and a movie.

Lenten Weekend

During the Holy Week, Tatay Pransing, the master painter, decided not to take a vacation and worked on the initial preparations and base coat painting. They say it was part of his penance and sacrifice. And so, taking our part for the Lenten Season, he let us help him and we spent a day getting our hands and arms white with paint.

Lights were installed by Jose the electrician. This one on the picture are Ikea Lagra spotlight gifts for the closet area.

And before I forget, the Pearl Series for the ground floor bathroom were installed. Plus the bathroom fixtures that are actually useable at this time. Thanks to Daniel the plumber.

The family visited and had a preview of the house last Sunday. Papa Rene and Mama Helen seemed satisfied. We’ve set our deadline, three weeks, we transfer. Finished or not.

Going UP or DOWN

To be able to go from one floor to another, you’ll need a flight of steps that compose the stairs. This week, both our stairs were made and installed.

The first one is the main staircase to the ground and second floor. Roger the foreman started with the measurements putting the nylon thread layout, with adjustments for the height consideration. Then, deformed bars were framed with the wood support underneath. They poured cement and let it dry and after two days, it was done!



The second stairs is indeed installed. This is our stairs to the second floor and the attic. We decided that it was better to have an attic stairs that is made already. It might consume too much time and energy with the complex mechanism, plus, the parts. However, finding an attic ladder wasn’t that easy. We rarely saw displays in hardwares and even specialty ladder shops. There were some but it was expensive, range is from Php35K all the way to up Php65K. We browsed through the web and found a number of makers outside the Philippines but the shipping charges will cost as well.

And so, one day, almost out-of-hope, we just tried our luck, walked into the store and then, we found it: the attic ladder with good quality and the most reasonable price, a little over Php10K. MC Home Depot is the only hardware store who sells Louisville Ladder attic stairs, out of the many home depots that we’ve searched on. After a few weeks, when we were ready for the purchase, the display and stock were bought already. So, we just ordered and we got our unit the following weekend. And with Cocoy’s expertise on the installation, now, it is part of our house.

My favorite things

IKEA is my favorite furniture shop in the whole world. Every time we visit Singapore, we see to it that we get to buy something from IKEA. From the simplest bowls for our doggies, to small kitchen utensils, up to stools and side tables.



What is good about IKEA is that the products are packed flat and small. An advantage for us, because they have to fit in our check-in luggage. And having to assemble the furniture yourself is a good thing. Because, there is “labor-of-love” attached on every item you buy. And once you’ve completed it, you will be more fulfilled.

One more favorite part is their showroom. Sitting on every sofa, enjoying the comfort of the arm chair with foot stools and feeling the sheets and mattresses of the beds. Almost falling asleep on the super soft bed and cuddly pillows, not being bothered when other customers walk in front you. The kitchen set-ups are the best. Still dreaming to have one of this on our own house, soon.



My favorite on all these favorites is having my favorite person with me during my trip to IKEA. Not only that, I am also with my “soon-to-be” next favorite person in the whole world.