21 Weeks!!!

Here is Jonah's baby bump at 21 weeks...it is definitely getting bigger!

Make sure you vote on our poll to see if you can guess right! Only about 1 week left to vote before we find out if baby is a boy or a girl.

Time to Guess!

Jonah and I had originally decided to have our ultrasound on June 30th, on baby's 6th month mark. People asked us if we would find out the sex of the baby on the 20th week, to which we responded that we wanted to wait until the baby is bigger, and features are easier to see...and they usually said, "That makes sense". So we planned everything that way. The 20 week mark has come and passed, and we are almost at the 21 week mark. The other day, however, we were talking with some of the family over Skype(webcam video call), and Rachelle said that with the larger/older babies it is sometimes difficult to see the sex of the baby, due to their size. It is hard to see the whole baby at once, and often they cross their legs when they get bigger. So, we decided to discuss it. I was of the opinion that we have an ultrasound earlier rather than later, and Jonah insisted that we wait until June 23rd. Well, in our discussion we couldn't decide which to do, so we did what we have begun to do regularly when we can't make a decision...ask baby. Its actually pretty fun, because baby is very responsive and good at answering our questions. The usual answer is, kick for a positive response, no movement for a negative response. Sometimes I'll put my cheek up next to Jonah's belly and we'll say something like, 'kick baby', and baby will kick. So, the other night I said to Jonah, "Let's just ask baby if it wants to show itself to the world." So, I put my cheek up next to her belly, and asked baby if it wanted to go in for an ultrasound this week or next week. Instantly I felt a slight push against my cheek...it was great. I then told Jonah that I felt it, and she said, "Where", as if baby didn't kick. So I pointed to the area, and she said, "No...baby didn't kick". So, I needed the reassurance that baby was really answering, and that it wasn't Jonah's muscles moving. So, I leaned in again and asked baby, "Are you ready to go in for an ultrasound?". I had hardly finished my sentence, when I felt another, stronger kick against my cheek. This time I was sure that was baby answering. Jonah, however, wasn't content with the answer and proceeded to talk to baby saying things like, "You're not really ready are you?", and "Daddy's just imagining things, right?". Then she said to me, "Its not moving...nothing". So, we decided on a meaningful date that we could go in for the ultrasound... June 29th, which also happens to be the next scheduled check-up. So, we put a poll on the top of our blog for all to vote. Just click which you think baby is, boy or girl, and then leave a comment here so we can know everyone's guesses.

Comments

So for the longest time I was baffled as to why nobody ever left comments on our blog posts. I was beginning to think that maybe people weren't reading the blog, or didn't have anything to say about our posts. Then a few people told me they couldn't comment on our posts. So I started to search in the settings. Everything I saw there allowed comments, but people still were unable to comment. So I decided to try searching the internet to see if other people had experienced the same problem. Sure enough I found a few forums and FAQs that explained what the possible problem is. It turns out that the layout we chose when we started had a problem with commenting. So, we reverted back to one of the default blogger templates. Now you should be able to leave comments, so feel free to comment until you have nothing else to say. It will be good to hear what you have to say.

Left 4 Dead

For those who don't know yet, we own an internet cafe here in the Philippines. Recently, we did a bit of upgrading. We installed a new multiplayer game on our units, Left 4 Dead by the company Valve. It was released November of last year, and not too many people have it here. Now, I had read some gamer reviews and it sounded like a fun and challenging game. Then, we saw one of our friends playing it at their house...it looked way fun! So we searched for a copy of the game and installed it here in our cafe. The first day that it was installed we decided to give it a try.

Left 4 Dead is a first person shooter game, set in a post zombie apocalypse world. You form a team of 4 survivors that have a simple goal, to escape to an evacuation point and kill as many zombies along the way as possible. The thing that sets this game apart from others is that, no matter how good you are, if you stray from the group you're dead meat. The sheer number of zombies on each map is staggering. Also, they aren't like the zombies we all know and love, wandering around slowly and struggling to stay standing. No, if the zombies on Left 4 Dead find you, they swarm. They run fast and climb walls so they can get to you as fast as possible. Make sure you have enough ammunition or you'll be overrun.

So, I gave it a try on single player, which means that the computer controls the other 3 characters. The graphics were amazing, and the gameplay flowed very smoothly. I soon grew very attached to the game, and couldn't wait to try it with other human players. So, when Jonah arrived, we started playing. We played for probably around 4 or 5 hours, and loved it. I think that if we can get the knowledge of the game out to our customers, it will be a hit.

Here is Valve's official trailer for Left 4 Dead...
(warning: contains violence and vulgar language)

18 Weeks!!!

This is Jonah at 18 weeks. That baby bump is growing fast!

The Story Behind "Siomao Espesyal"

I imagine that several of you reading this blog are wondering what the meaning of our blog's title is. It happens to be a confusing tale of twists and turns, leading us down a strange path of name crafting to form a title for our 'love team'.

It all started just after I returned to the Philippines, back in October 2008. Jonah decided that she would make a new Friendster account. So that you know, Friendster is a social networking website similar to MySpace and Facebook. While she was making the new account she was trying to think of what her alias would be. She happened to be listening to a Filipino band called "Parokya ni Edgar", and the song that was playing in called Siopao Espesyal. Its a song that uses the tune of Radiohead's song "Creep". Now, for a definition of the song title, because its important to understand. Siopao Espesyal means "special siopao". Siopao is like a chinese steamed bun,


and the Filipinos love eating them. They usually serve two different kinds, Asado and Bola-Bola. Now, back to the story...

As Jonah was listening to the song, she decided that her new alias would be Siopao Espesyal. After she created her new account we occasionally called her Siopao.

A few months later, we became a couple. I still occasionally called Jonah Siopao, and all was well. In January, she started craving a certain type of food called Siomai, which is similar to a chinese dumpling.


During this time, she started calling me Siomai. She then decided that we needed a combination of our names, which is usually common here in the Philippines. We discussed the different possibilities of our names: Jomatt, Jonatt, Matnah, Manah, Monatt, etc. However, none of them really had a nice sound to it. She then came up with the name Siomao. A great combination of our nicknames, and also a good combination of foods. After we came up with the name we started to us it in various places. Then, when we decided that we would start a blog we thought that just Siomao wasn't enough, the title had to be more special. So, we added Espesyal, to make it special.

That's the story, and meaning behind our blog's title.

Its alive!!!

This morning I woke up, as usual, and Jonah was by my side. Suddenly I heard her say, "I felt it!". I was a little confused by the comment, so I didn't really react. Then she said, "It moved again!". This time I realized that she was talking about our baby, so I quickly moved my hand into position to see if I could feel it move as well. After a few moments, I felt two small, distinct pushes against my hand. It was an amazing feeling! I'm so excited for this baby! I'm going to be a daddy! That was definitely a good way to start my day.