Baby is really growing up fast and he's doing many different things now. He's also starting to speak clearer now though still baby words. I make sure he gets to interact with kids during our playtime and do activities at home like drawing, singing, dancing, fun bath time other than just watching TV. We might be a little strict when it comes to his foods and TV time but we believe it's for his own good. Though many Direct TV shows can be very entertaining and educational to babies most especially toddlers, moderation has to be given a very big emphasis. A little Sesame Street, Word World and Curious George is fine as long as you set specific time and routine making the baby understand he's not suppose to watch the whole day. Something like a treat, this way he gets to explore more on other things and develop more skills by being active.


It's hard when you have a baby at home and you just want to watch something and you know some scenes or languages won't be appropriate for the baby. Whenever we want to watch something and baby happens to be up and about I just play with him and take his attention away from the television. Sometimes it works and sometimes we just need to wait til our little boy sleeps. Sometimes we use some TV commercials which we see as morally bad to emphasize things that are good and bad. A boy grabs somebody else's things, kids pushing while playing, kids not eating their vegetables, these are some of those which we tell baby as No-No's.

I admit not all show or commercials can be diverted as a learning tool for your baby like those home security Athens, insurance deals, fastfood commercials, etc. The best that we can do is to just associate things like Cars and tell him that's a car and what's the color, animals like dogs, cats, birds. Good thing baby doesn't pay much attention to the TV since we never let him be infront the tube all the time. He'd rather play around and do his own thing.

Looks like we'll have a more relaxed labor day weekend this time around since my client already approved and she loves the final design revision I gave her the other night. After 3 major design changes we finally nailed it! Woohoo! I can take more chances in my blogging again and get to read some blogs this coming weekend. I know it's just the start of the week and I am so looking forward a long weekend, me and hubs will get the chance to play with baby and take him somewhere and have some quality family time.

I rendered quite a number of images for my presentation so I will just give you a little preview of my works to see the differences on the three schemes. At first she wanted a modern concept for her 2-bedroom condo unit then changed her mind later on and told me she wanted a cozier design. She partially approved the second scheme and we worked on the necessary changes and additions, finally the third design convinced her to go for it.

We gave much thoughts on the cabinetry and closets in the masters bedroom. She wanted to have as much closet space to avoid clutter and a nice tv stand which is also accessible to the workroom. Our kitchen had several cabinetry revisions that's why we just left it with just the basic appliance and storage. We specifically chose to use enclume potracks if ever there will be provisions for wall mounted racks. Since her kitchen is one of the first area to see when you enter the condo we had to consider aesthetics and enclume pot racks have simple yet modern designs which will best match the cabinetry and other furnitures.

Hubs also has a passion for photography and I believe we thought of having our own photo studio for business. We didn't put much thought about that because it will require lots of things before you get to establish such thing. I'm thinking if I were to do it I'll have to further educate myself about photography to know it deeper and be more efficient with production and all. I might have to take online degree programs to get the certification needed to have such business. Honestly I am not sure if I would want to extend my time with online degree programs in photography, I am quite okay with it being just a hobby.


Taking up another degree can cost you quite so dearly here and I don't have extra to spare for that. I'd rather save up the money for our boy's college funds to secure him in the future. Many students here struggle for their college having no funds to continue their schooling and we don't want this to happen to our little boy. Though you can seek free application for federal student aid (http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/), having the future set for our boy will always be first among our priorities. As much as I want to know more about photography I also want my cooking skills be on the professional level. Both courses are way too expensive to begin with so I don't think it would be practical to do anything for myself just to achieve something more than what I have right now. I'll just continue snapping photos and cooking a lot, anyway those are among the things I love to do most!

 There was an article about hand dryers in which it discussed safety of use with regards to hygiene.  They said based on the study, using an air dryer can further increase the bacteria on your hands as opposed to the traditional paper towel drying.  Bacteria, germs and viruses get trapped in the dust on the screens which then is blown directly on hands as it's being dried by the air.  Honestly I don't know the real deal with this and somehow it doesn't bother me much because I still prefer the old fashioned hand wiping and drying.  I just don't like the fuss of having to stand there infront the dryer and waiting for your hands to dry.  Paper towel drying on the other hand does the work instantly.

Having said that doesn't mean I never use hand dryers, if that's the only accessible means of hand drying and I have no choice then I just use it anyway than have dripping wet hands.  I hate the long time standing infront of the dryer to totally wipe out the wetness but thanks to the newer dyson hand dryers, drying is quicker than the old models.  I like the dyson air blade hand dryer because it really scrapes the water out so fast, unlike those warm air dyers which take longer and sometimes even get too hot for the skin.  Dyson noted that their airblade hand dryers are certified as hygienic hand-dryers and energy efficient.  

Air drying or paper towel drying, both can be good or bad.  Who really knows?  I believe doing what feels most comfortable for you is the best thing to do.