Hubs got sick before and his coughing took a while before it was totally gone.  It started with colds then flu, before we know it he's been being pestered by his cough to a point that he decided to go to the hospital to have it checked one early morning.  Though he's taken several medicines and natural remedies it wasn't sufficient to suppress the lingering cough.  He decided to go and have it checked right away when he woke up with a slight pain on his chest while coughing.  This alarmed him pretty much so off he went to the hospital.

Nothing serious at the moment but if not treated promptly, it could lead to bronchitis.  Of course he didn't want me and most especially baby to be affected so he had it treated in no time.  I'm happy that he finally went to the doctor, it's really hard to make him  go for his check-up.  He just had to take some antibiotics for several days and that was it.

This experience served as a learning process for him/us with regards to our insurance.  Though we have a medical insurance from his work surprisingly he had to pay quite some cash to cover the co-pay.  Honestly, it sucks!  Despite the fact that he has insurance in a good medical provider the insurance itself is a rip-off.  Yes it paid for certain bills but he didn't expect the cost for the co-pay that he had to handle.  Up to now it makes him think what the insurance is for if people have to pay so much for such emergency case.  

To end the story hubs had no choice but to pay off the bills sent to us.  I think his prescription medicines were covered by the insurance but for those who needs medication without prior coverage, I suggest you check out Medicare Consumer Guide.  It has great information about Medicare and other insurance programs, concerns regarding prescriptions are further discussed in "Medicare Part D".  Medications are quite costly so better knowledge on your prescription coverage can help lessen your load.  Hope this helps.

It's undeniable that me and baby enjoy the outdoors so much, we both get our much needed exercise for the day being out and about. Though outdoors time means playtime or mommy-baby errands time, we also do serious playing at home. Well, a baby's life at this stage is all about playing, eating and sleeping. I let baby play on his own here at home but I see to it too that I have time to play and interact with him. It's very important for parents to keep close guidance to their children mos especially during the earlier years.

Baby is very interested now with books, cars and drawing. We already got him his very own table where he can scribble and doodle using washable markers and crayons. Funny that we have to include some preschool supplies in our shopping from time to time so baby has his materials. He's more coordinated now with drawing, he knows how to uncap and cap the markers (he figured out on his own after watching me do it several times) and most importantly, he no longer bites on the crayons!

Baby knows what he wants to do so there's no telling him "play with this, play with that". He grabs the books that he likes to browse and puts it back (sometimes) where he got it. He sounds his ABCs and 123s as "e,e,e,e,e" whenever he sees letters, words, alphabet and numbers. I am not rushing him to speak clearly, besides he's still a baby and we want him to be like that for now. He's growing up too fast! He can now say longer words like elephant, super grover and sesame street but of course in his own baby words which only mommy understands. This reminds me to jot down all his baby words again so I can have a record of his new words. I believe he had about 30+ words around 16 months, makes me wonder how many words he has now at 19 months.

At first baby was making rounds on the slides and later on took a break from the baby playground and ran all the way to the bridge going to the garden arbors. He just kept going all the way to the other end of the park with the bigger playground looking behind and screaming whenever he sees me near him. We saw many squirrels and baby tried chasing around the birds which gave him much exercise for the day. I had to ask baby to go back to the other playground because it's more shaded there plus he can enjoy more with the other smaller babies around.

I knew our cue to head out when I saw baby almost dragging his feet up to climb the playground. He was pushing himself so hard just to have a little more fun going down the slide. He practically used up all of is energy playing for good 1hr 30mins. I like it when baby's ready to go home already because it's a lot easier for me to put him in his car seat. No more resistance, no fussing and no crying.

It is rather shocking to see people being trampled over when there are certain events and a commotion happens.  Many people end up getting hurt and some cases even lead to death.  Imagine you going to a concert and then uncontrolled crowd gets out of control creating panic to all.  People usually get into a heightened level of fear giving them poor judgement on their actions.  Sad to say there were many cases of this kind of event in which people get injured or gravely hurt due to insufficient crowd control system.

To prevent outbreak of disorder it can start with simpler options like using stanchions and barricades.  Places like cinema. orchestra and other more formal setting can have a hand with the use of velvet rope.  These crowd control barriers even as simple as signages and decals painted on ground can further direct crowd to a certain direction.  These can promote more orderly movement which can avoid confusion to all.

Making sure everything is in proper order can make a big difference in every event with high crowd volume.  The system can also work more efficiently when things are moving on the right phase.  

Every year tax preparation must be done in order to get the income tax returns.  Either you get a return or pay taxes that you owe, that's how it works.  Taxes may be done with the help of licensed professionals like attorneys, certifies public accountant or even through online tax preparation software services.  Whatever is the desired service, the most important thing is that taxes will be handled or settled to avoid being audited.  

Enrolled agents who are also known as tax specialists can also work on taxes, they are the only professionals granted with rights to practice directly from US government.  Unlike CPAs and Attorneys, their practice is limited only to the states where their licenses were issued.  An enrolled agent is issued a federal license which gives the power to represent any taxpayer from any state with regards to federal tax matters.  The duties and responsibilities of enrolled agents could extend beyond preparing returns like client representation in audit, collections cases and appeals.

Enrolled agents acquire license after completing ea cpe requirements, 72 hours of ea continuing education during the 3 year enrollment cycle must be observed.  For more details and information regarding enrolled agent cpe courses, check out Fast Forward Academy.

Everyday is playday for me and baby, a visit to the park or playground is a must to keep our little boy fit and healthy. We always go to different parks and playgrounds so that baby won't get too used in a certain playground, this way he won't be over confident to the play area and will always be careful. It's also good because he gets excited when he sees a new play area. Our trips depend on his mood and lately it's harder to get out of our place in the morning. He will end up playing around first or doodling on his table and getting him to finish what he's doing takes so much effort.

Among all the playgrounds we frequent I love the one in Central Park. Usually when it's noontime already I try to avoid going out due to the burning sun but that playground has good shading which mostly covers parts of the play area. He can definitely play even on the hottest day without having to be so exposed to the sun's harmful rays. The playground is also complete with a sand and water area, swings and slides. The big area is covered by firm and cushy rubber mulch, soft enough for little tots' accidental falls when running around. I just love those places installed with Rubberecycle pads, it really feels safer for the kids. The place is about 15mins from home but it's worth the trip because I know baby enjoys it there plus I feel safe for him playing there.

Baby right now is extremely active and keeping him at home is not a good thing to do. Playing outside can give him much exercise and not to forget fresh air. Baby gets to interact and socialize with other children and best of all, we're having a great fun time playing and bonding together.

As we all know our precious water supply is depleting more and more every year.  Some places are drought stricken and their water supply simply dried out.  Water plays an important role in everybody's life because we need it for our survival.  It is our duty to protect and conserve our natural water resources.  Little things can be done in order to conserve water, such small measures can help save us too from paying high water bills.

It all starts at home, since water is highly consumed in households it is best to practice water conservation at home.  Here are some simple pointers which any of us can apply for a more efficient water consumption:

Rain barrels are great storage for outdoor water consumption.  There are many styles to choose from with different finishes, materials and sizes.  The rain barrel is designed to efficiently gather rainwater direct from the downspout, guaranteed to collect as much water direct from the source. You may also use any regular container for such purpose, though special rain barrels for sale are better fit to the downspout system.  It's a little investment for bigger future savings.

We haven't chatted with mom and dad lately, they are always busy going to places. Most Sundays they go to the farm and just recently they went to Bicol for a little vacation. They celebrated Elisse's birthday there and how we wish we could've joined them. It's been 4mos since they stayed with us here, time flies by so fast. I can't wait for their next visit here so they can see how much our little boy's growing.

Mom and dad said they are likely to come back here in 2yrs time again or if things push through with the Australia reunion they plan to attend to, they will try to see if there are cheap flights connecting here. Hopefully there will be discounted international airfares because if they will be lucky enough to get such deals mom said they will definitely swing by even just for a week's worth of stay. A week is pretty short but better than not seeing each other for the next 2 years.

 

I tried calling them today but no luck, they're collecting some harvest from the farm. I wanted to inform them supposedly of the on-going discount deals and sale prices from Travel.com.au for Australia, USA, Asia and Europe trips. International flights are getting more affordable in some airlines Just taking my luck if mom's up to it because that could mean one thing for sure, we'll get to see them again here!!!

I may be having so much wishful thinking right now but who knows? Right? By miracle of some sort they can come here even for a very short time to make the most of their flights. I will always be waiting for their return here no matter what.  We don't have the luxury of flying back home whenever we want to so the best thing for us to do is to wait for them to come to us here.

Me and baby are always out and about and sometimes there are days when it's just so sunny and even if we put on sunblock there's no escaping from a little sunburn. Since I always wear my wedding ring I already have a ring mark on my finger, it's like wearing one without the actual ring. That simply means I've gotten that dark already!

I can't help but reminisce those times we're searching for the ring design and jeweler before the wedding. I went to different places to find the best deal and gladly we did. I am not too particular with diamonds, I'm good even if the stones are just regular stones if it saves us more. I value the ring itself and the meaning to it, I didn't believe it has to be so expensive to be that valuable. We were just after having it as white gold with few stones and that's pretty much it. At first we were eyeing on titanium rings or tungsten rings to make it a bit different but upon getting quotes we simply backed off. It's a price of 3 pair of rings with those metals, practicality was more of an option for us.

You know what makes our ring a lot more special? The jeweler actually named it after me since it's an original design just for us. How about you, going anywhere without your wedding band?

Tonight I finally get the chance to resume with my vacation post during our Manila trip. Baby got so tired from our day out that he actually slept early tonight. It was quite a fight because he's trying to hold his eyes from closing and break free but mommy had to be strict this time and put him to sleep. Apparently it's a success!

Nothing really much happened during our first night in Bora, we got to the island at about 8pm I believe and looked for a place to crash in for 3days. After finding a place and settling in our things we head out for dinner. Baby was still so awake and very curious with the new surrounding. It was a very humid night, no wind and the sky is just pitch black. It would have been nicer if the sky is twinkling with stars but it seemed like we'd have to use refractor telescopes just to see the tiniest star way up up there. Who wouldn't want to just lay down on the sand and stargaze? Perhaps next time around we should bring a telescope when we go to a similar outing, baby will be bigger by then and he'll surely enjoy seeing a twinkling star.


After our delicious dinner by the beach our little boy didn't even bother finishing his food and forcefully hopped out of his chair. He could barely walk that time but eventhough he rushed his way to the shore and started dipping his tiny feet in the water. That was such a sight seeing his wide wide smile, his chuckles and cute giggles whenever the water goes splashing around. We might not have the luck for a starry night but that was all forgotten when we saw the glistening crystal clear waters. Why wish for stars when something nearer which you can actually touch and feel and no telescopes needed to see its twinkle?


A little splish and splash completed our night at the beach. Dad, bes, hubs, me and baby enjoyed a nice walk back to our hotel and called it a night. Baby didn't have fever anymore and it was such a relief for us knowing that he's okay and he can enjoy swimming later on.

Acoustics is an important aspect in design most especially for institutions like schools, offices and medical facilities. Acoustics can play a big importance in every environment because it can be of detriment to one's safety if not given much thought and considerations.  Say for instance blind or visual impaired people, they strongly depend on sound for their navigation.  

Such environments with large area like classrooms, auditoriums, halls, gyms and cafeterias need careful acoustical planning and engineering.  If not given the proper treatment noise created in these areas can create too much reverberation thus creating elevated noise.  

Smoking is dangerous to our health and even if you are not a smoker, being exposed to second hand smoke is twice harmful than the other.  Though everybody knows about this fact not all can find themselves quitting from smoking.  It has become quite an addiction on their part in which flushing it out from their system seems to be such a hard task.   

There are therapies and certain medications which aid to suppress smoking and one of the most revolutionary solution to at least lessen the harm of smoking is with the use of e cigarette.  An electronic cigarette is safer than tobacco or the traditional cigar, it is also a healthier option over the real cigars.  This electronic device simulates real cigarette in terms of physical appearance, flavor, nicotine content but less the harmful chemicals, smoke and odor.  The electric cigarette doesn't claim to be completely safe as compared to the real cigar due to its minimal contents which give the same sensation as real cigars.

Don't you just hate it when some people flick over their cigarette butts everywhere as if the whole place is their trash can?  This problem is also eliminated by using the e cigar having no cigarette butts to throw after use.  Even if this kind of cigarette won't pose much health detriments to users, caution must be observed exposing it to youngsters.  This cigar is originally intended to help smokers quit and not to promote pleasure smoking for those who don't.

Knowing how to dress up appropriately is very important and that doesn't stop alone with the clothing, wearing the proper shoes will definitely give much appeal to any outfit.  There are different shoes for every occasion and every season.  Shoes are also made according to use, sporty, flats, stilettos, casual, etc.

Shoe shopping can be so exciting when you're up for deals but finding the great deals online can be as equally exciting.  Best Shoes Brands offers a wide range of footwear for the entire family.  You can see all the latest fashion and even signature brands, buy Paris Hilton shoes or buy Charles David at lower prices.  It's the same as spending the day at the mall in search for the perfect pair of shoes for you except doing it online and less the tiring walks.

Take advantage of the special clearance sale up to 50% off.  With Best Shoes Brands you can definitely treat yourself with some splurge without much guilt of excessive spending.  No need to pay for shipping, it's free shipping bothways and easy returns all year round.  You can now buy 80 20 shoes or buy Cordani shoes at the same time, it's like buying two for a price of one.  Best Shoes definitely got the best deals for you.

Healthy eating is the key to healthy living.  This is true though it doesn't depend only on one's eating habits, lifestyle and environment plays a major factor when it comes to health.  Indeed you may live better with healthier diet, steering you away from certain sickness and keeping a fit and able body to move.  People nowadays are more keen about their health but some can't ditch their bad eating habits and opt for the healthier choices instead.  Later on weight gain comes in so easy but losing the added pounds seem to be multiple times harder than gaining it.

There are so many diet regimes out there but finding the right one for you is not as easy as 123.  You may stumble with a diet and fitness plan which won't do the job for you and end up feeling frustrated and hopeless after doing so.  HCG Diet is an easier way of shedding those unwanted pounds without having to undergo any operation or medical procedures, fad diets and excruciating exercise routines.  HCG knows how hard it is to lose weight that's why they came up with diet very low calorie diet treatment combined with special hormone treatments.

The hormone drops does not cause weight loss, instead it modifies your eating habits.  The combination of low calorie diet helps the weight loss possible.  The HCG helps burn fats stored around the hips, thighs, belly and upper arms without much needed exercise.  It's not recommended to do high-intensity exercise when taking the HCG drops instead walking 15 minutes everyday or yoga can help.  Many people are so happy with the result of their HCG diet and you may see their testimonials at http://www.facebook.com/yourhcg.  It is your right to know everything about their product, visit http://www.yourhcg.com for more information.

Having a nutritionist as a mom has probably been really helpful in general. I know a lot about what I should and shouldn't eat, and which restaurants are healthy for you. But a college meal plan is completely new to me. It's a necessary evil as a college freshman, so I'm going to have to get used to it.

But I want to also make sure that I apply all of these things that I've learned from my mom. 

I've been looking online to get some healthy suggestions on what to eat and when I was doing that I came across the site clearwirelessinternet4g.com. After I looked through it some, I passed it onto my mom for her to use for our home internet service.

I've learned quite a bit on meal plan nutrition and I think that it's going to be just fine. I'll just have to watch how many desserts I'll eat. I've heard those are pretty tempting. They also have ice cream every day which I'm sure will be really tempting.

Guest post written by Geoff Sanderson