Frannywanny

 "Mommy, Daddy can we go (to the) hotel?" Since the start of the year, this has been the favorite statement of the twins and they would really make it a point to bring it up every so often. Well, what can I say? They love going on staycations and staying at hotels just as much as Paul and I do. As they say, the apple does not fall far from the tree .  One of the reasons why they have also been asking was because they had such a fun time during our recent hotel stay last December at Quest Hotel  in Tagaytay . This was after a day trip to cousin M's farm in Batangas and since we didn't want to tire ourselves out with the long drive, we decided to stay the night in Tagaytay which is a halfway mark from Batangas to Manila (well..kind of). It was during the holiday rush so we couldn't go around that much as it seems like everyone decided to head to Tagaytay as well and the main roads were so packed with cars so we decided to stay and enjoy the hotel to the fullest. Th...

Finally, after so long I'm back blogging and I'm ready to share our latest travel adventure with all of you!  You all know how much Paul and I love to travel and it's been a bummer that we've been stuck at home for the past year and a half due to the pandemic so when restrictions finally eased up a bit, we thought long and hard and just decided to go with our gut feel as we took the #AngTwins on their first ever birthday beach trip.  Our destination: Pico de Loro  in Nasugbu, Batangas.  We've been there before, 9 years ago to be exact , but back then, we went without kids and so my perspective and point of view then were totally different. This time, I'm wearing my mommy hat and I'll share with you our experience traveling with toddlers during a pandemic . The first step was choosing our destination. It was quite a challenge to convince Paul as he was very cautious and slightly paranoid (can't blame him) about the virus. More so, when I brought up the i...

Ever since the start of the quarantine, Paul and I have been finding ways on how to keep our twins busy. Of course keeping them busy is easy but we want to do it the right way and that is to allow them to also develop a new skill or to learn something new. Since they can't go to pre-school yet because of the current situation, we took it upon ourselves to be the first teachers of our kids in hopes that somehow, we are prepping them to be ready for formal schooling when the pandemic ends and it's safe for everyone to go out again. I'm usually super busy with work during the weekday so I rely on Paul and my mom to help teach the twins while I deal with calls and my daily workload. However, I try my best to make it up to them during the weekend by giving them my full, undivided attention. On one of the those weekends, I received a package from Zoeily Cookies   and I was so excited! They sent us a ready DIY cookie kit and I know this will get the twins super excited. ...

As a mom, how many times have you felt like you're all alone in your own worries and thoughts?  Most especially for newborn moms, I'm pretty sure the answer is every day . Well, I felt that way when my twins were born. I honestly felt like no one can ever understand what we're going through as everyone had singleton babies and here we are, trying to learn the ropes of parenthood x 2! I got to admit that there were nights when I would burst out crying and it's not the kind that you would cry yourself to sleep because..well... you don't get to sleep! I was just overcome with so much exhaustion, fear and anxiety. I just wanted to do things correctly from the way I breastfeed my babies down to making sure that I get to keep them alive and healthy. I got to say though that Paul has played a huge role in keeping me sane. He never left my side and I'd say that it's because of him that I didn't fell into depression but to all new moms about there, believe me...

A month ago, Paul and I were faced with a dilemma, one of our kids has formed this habit of removing all of his/her clothes before going to bed. It started out funny and cute until it turned annoying and frustrating because one night, he/she ended up peeing on their bed thus waking the other twin up. I began searching for bedtime onesies but it's not that easy as these are normally worn by infants and I doubt it would fit my toddler comfortably. We've been using pull up pants for the longest time as we thought that they'd big enough to do away with taped diapers. Also, there aren't a lot of sized L or XL tape diapers in the market too. Then we chanced upon Toddliebaby . A new player in the local diaper industry and it stands by it's promise of providing hypo-allegenic, non-chlorine, non-dye, fragrant-free diapers that's soft, gentle and ultra absorbent. The best part is, it's all taped diapers with sizes from small to large. PERFECT! The first night th...

I can't remember the exact date when I last had my hair colored. Most probably it was sometime in 2016 as I have stopped my annual hair color treatment from the moment I got pregnant with my twins early in 2017 and all the way till I breastfed them. It's so funny because I have tiny white hairs sticking out around my "sideburns" area and when I told my cousin-in-law J that we're finally expecting a baby, he told me this "do me a favor, color your hair so that you'll be a pretty pregnant lady" . I had to explain to him that doing hair color is a no-no especially when you'll be exposing yourself to harmful chemicals that might endanger your baby. He was really serious about his advice that he even sent me a whole package of facial mask. J, this is one reason why I love you! ♥ So anyway, we've heard a lot of things about Aveda hair products and one thing that stood out to me was how it makes use of all organic ingredients. That means, it...

It was been said so many times before that being a mom is no easy feat. Put aside all the sleepless nights, the big and small sacrifices that you have to do, the pain, the anxiety... lately, I realized that no matter how hard you try to shield your babies from all the viruses in the world. That's just not possible. My twins have been falling sick for the past month. They caught a bad cold three weeks ago and quickly recovered from it then Paul got sick and just as he was about to recover, my twins caught the bug AGAIN. It's one of those moments that I just want to pull my hair and raise my hand to surrender. I love the rainy season but I got to admit that together with it comes the rise of flu and even more scary diseases like Dengue.  I still remember how awful I felt when I had dengue. I was 7 years old then and I remembered  drinking Slurpee one afternoon with my cousin and the next morning I woke up with really bad headache, high fever and a painful tummy. I initi...

It's March and that signals the tail end of the first quarter. I can't believe it. Pretty soon, summer will really roll in and before we know it, we're just about to bid 2019 good bye. Crazy! Time is zooming by in record speed. Anyway, March has always been one of my favorite months. It's the birth month of two of my bestest friends C and T, it's also when Paul and I found out that we were expecting (not knowing they're twins) and well, it's also the time when we would normally plan for our summer vacation too. I wonder if we can really go out and travel with our twins this year. Keeping my fingers crossed! March is also International Women's Month  where we celebrate women all over the world. Growing up, I guess I'm one of the lucky ones to be born to parents who never, at any point in my life, made me or my sister feel inferior being a woman. In fact, it's the opposite. They were very protective of us thus making us really feel so special and...

Remember my blog post on receiving some new toys and two pairs of shoes from Fisher Price last week ? Well I did promised to give a more in-depth review of the toys and.. I do keep promises. Fisher Price Smart Stages Tablet So, here you go my dear readers, presenting my very first Toy Review on the Fisher Price Smart Stages Tablet and the Fisher Price Smart Stages Puppy Walker ! Kindly excuse my haggard/tired eyes. I shot this after coming from a meeting in BGC where I drove myself to and from braving the traffic in Taguig, Makati and EDSA. Wow! I felt like a winner as soon as I finally reached home. Oh, how I wish our traffic condition will improve someday . Well, dreams do come true, they say. Happy viewing and please do not forget to subscribe! (I just had to say that hahaha)

I have to say that I'm a pretty detail-oriented Mom. I guess it comes with my natural OC (obsessive-compulsive) personality. When it comes to my twins, I really do not settle for second best. Personally, I don't mind paying a bit more on certain items that my twins will use for as long as I get the peace of mind and security knowing that it won't harm or pose any risks to their health and safety. Education and early childhood learning is also something I value a lot. Growing up, my parents would encourage my sister and I to read and read and read. We would even have assigned classical books every summer break and Mommy would make sure that we get to finish the book/s before our vacation is over. Looking back, I was so thankful that they did this as it has fostered my love for reading and I somehow have learned to speed read because of this. Furthermore, my love for reading has also led to my passion for writing.  You know how there's this age old marketing str...

Two weeks ago, I literally spent the entire weekend shopping at Baby Company's Grand Baby Fair . If there's one baby fair that all moms should be present in, then this would definitely be it. It happens twice a year but the biggest one happens every January. Most of you may know by now that I'm definitely not the shopping fanatic kind, so in order for me to brave the crowd just to score a number of great deals, that equates to a lot of energy and thus I ended up feeling super exhausted but very satisfied as most twin mom will definitely agree with me that with more kids.. every peso counts. Spot me and my little J! This year's fair was definitely much better in terms of logistics and variety as compared to the last. I was so happy with this thus making all the effort to go all the way to SM Megamall so worth it. We went both on the first and second day. The first day was spent shopping for all of our babies' necessities and the second day.. well I went there f...

I have to admit that I was pretty OC prior to having my babies. I love it when things are organized and clean and I would stop at nothing to achieve this every single day. All my life, I am aware of my OC-ness and Paul never failed to complain verbalize this whenever he can. Perhaps from a scale of 1-10, 10 being the most OC, I'd probably be a 9. That's pretty high, don't you think? However, what I wasn't ready for was how this OC-ness would reach its peak from the moment my twins were born. I guess, it comes with the fact that they were NICU babies. They were smaller and more fragile than other full term babies thus I made sure that not a single dust would fall on them as I just wanted to protect them in the best way I can. Don't worry, I didn't turn into some crazy OC Mommy but I was just extra extra cautious as I just wanted to ensure that I've covered all bases when it comes to making their environment as clean as possible at least for the first 6 m...

Call it timely that as 2019 rolled in, Netflex suddenly launched Tidying Up with Marie Kondo  and I swear, everyone I know -- even the major hoarders and my non-OC friends have been giving their closets major overhaul, giving out what doesn't "spark joy" and basically, cleaning up their homes. Being a big OC nut, I've been Konmari-ying my closet regularly all my life. Cleaning up is, after all, second nature to me. What I did differently though was to do a thorough clean of our room. It began when I noticed that my twins have been falling sick since their 1st birthday last October. I swear, we have been visiting their pedia pulmo every single month and we have been spending way more than we should on medicines. I also dread it whenever one or both of my twins fall sick as this spells sleepless nights and fussy days. I learned about Cleeneco by Mike Gamez from several fellow mommies like E and D. They couldn't stop raving at how clean Mike's team has tur...

I've never been a big shopper all my life. In fact, I like keeping the number of clothes on my closet and shoes on my rack at a very minimal number. Paul would often tease me that he actually has more clothes and shoes than I do. That's just me. I never liked shopping and I only do so if I need to. However, things have changed since I had my twins. I've lost count on the number of times I went to the mall and every single visit, I always end up with a bag or several bags of clothes, bottles, toys for them. In fact, I do enjoy shopping for my babies more so when I get to avail of a good deal. So, when SM Store launched their October Baby & Kids Fest , I dragged Paul all the way to SM Aura to do a little shopping. It was also perfect timing as we really do had to prepare for our upcoming family trip so I stocked up on diapers, travel essentials and even more eating utensils. We got a box of Pigeon Magmag set which I thought was a good find as L is starting to learn ...

My dearest J & L, You're both a year old today! Wow, I can't believe it has been a year since you both came out from Mommy's tummy and that officially was the start of a brand new (and exciting) chapter in my life. It still feels like yesterday when I was wheeled into the delivery room with my blood pressure going haywire and at exactly 6:36AM, I first heard the best sound in the world -- my little J's first cry. This was followed a minute after with L's slightly delayed but equally powerful cry. Since then, we've been celebrating a lot of firsts. Your first smile, your first babble, your first clap, your first solids, the first time you clearly said "Mama" then "Papa" and a lot more words following that. Perhaps right now, you're still fully dependent on Mommy and Daddy but let me tell you one thing. I am really grateful to be your Mommy. Looking back at the past 12 months, you have thought me a lot of things and I'd lik...

When I got married 8 years ago, I was one of the lucky few who didn't had to worry much about running my own household. It's because I was first asked to move in with my in laws for the first 5 months of our married life and there it was easy breezy for me. I literally would wake up in the morning with a wide breakfast spread lovingly made by Manang on the table, I'd go to work while being driven by Kuya M and after a long busy day at work, I'd go back to my in laws' house with dinner waiting for me. The only thing that Paul and I had to worry then were our basic toiletries. After 5 months, we gave in to my mom's request and moved in to my family. It was even much more easier for me as I didn't had to adjust at all. It was simply going back to the house where I grew up in before I became Mrs. Ang. Likewise, Mommy and Papa had everything ready where we had our reliable helpers to do our laundry, cook our meals and so on. The harsh realities of being marrie...

"How do you do it?" This has been a common question that Paul and I would get whenever people learn that we got twins. Honestly...I really do not know how to properly answer this question as I feel that we are just like any other parents out there. From the day our twins were born, we just took on our roles as Mommy and Daddy in the best way we can and know how. Somehow, for me, I took cues from my own parents whom I believe have done an amazing job in raising us. During my first few months as J and L's Mommy, I would sometimes ask myself "how would Mommy have done this?" I also got to admit that I've Googled and YouTubed a lot on topics and things that I never thought I'd ever search for. Things like how to get the perfect latch, how to burp a baby, how to make a baby stop crying and more. The Internet has been my best friend and somehow answers from real parents kept me sane as I realized that we are all on the same big boat. As my twins grew bigge...

At this age, my twins are more receptive towards routine. Day in and out, we have established certain routines in order for them to have better sleep patterns. I guess, this is also one thing that we made sure to have as taking care of twins is no walk in the park if you're not organized or have not done any routine to get them accustomed to their daily schedules. Bedtime for my twins is something we have first established as soon as they were born. It begins late in the afternoon where we give them a quick warm bath. They love this so much as it makes them feel relaxed and refreshed instantly. There are days when we're out till late so to make up for this, I'd always clean them up thoroughly as my twins have someone took on my OC nature and do not like feeling sticky, warm or icky. Following this, they would brush their teeth. This is something we've recently introduced as they have lots of teeth now and are eating more solids then before. Luckily, it's not har...

I've always wanted to have a little girl. I guess it's because I grew up without a brother and even my extended family has more females than males. Perhaps, it's because I've always dreamt of dressing my little girl up, going twinning with her and someday, we would go shopping and have our mani/pedi sessions together. My prayers were indeed answered as L was given to me along with her twin brother J. I'm truly grateful. ♥ From the time my twins were born, I really enjoy dressing them up. Making them go matchy matchy regardless if it's the same design or even with the color of their onesies. L, in particular has shown so much happiness and appreciation for all things beautiful. She's the type of baby who enjoys dressing up and when we would take her ribbon or headband out, she'd start to complain. So, when I got a surprise package from Little Bondi  one rainy afternooon, I excitedly brought it up for L to see. As expected, her big round eyes bri...

My twins turns 9 months today. WOW . I've been a proud Mommy for 9 full months already! If you put things into perspective, 9 months is how long it takes for a baby to form inside a Mother's womb. It still feels like yesterday when I was wheeled into the delivery room and I heard the cries of J and L for the first time. I can still remember how small and fragile they were. How we would carry them so carefully to support their necks. Today, both are talking, crawling, rolling over, attempting to climb, eating solids kind of toddlers already. They're no longer considered newborns but they still do smell like one so I'm totally fine with that. Aside from this, this also means that I've been breastfeeding them for 9 full months already. It was no easy feat so please allow me to beam a little and give myself a small pat at the back for going this far. I'm not going to lie though, I came this far because I got help . Help from close friends who offered to share ...