On A Wonderful Day Like Today

It seems that my last blog post title is a premonition of things to come. We're currently 7 weeks along and I am ecstatic to have a third baby born into our humble family. As they say, life is what is happens when you are busy making plans. Though the baby actually came as a surprise for us, it's a great, great surprise and we are uberly delighted no less. Pls. pray for baby and me that we do this right all 9 months of it. I'm currently on bed rest due to some spotting early this week. Hopefully I'll feel a little better and be back to work in no time. There is nothing else that I wish for but to hold a hold a beautiful and healthy bouncing baby in January! Can't wait! By the way, today is my husband's birthday. Let me just give honor to him here by saying that he is the best gift that God has given to me. He is my better-half, my love, my inspiration and my life.

Actually, what came to my mind when I saw this picture was - What if I also owned a gazzilion shoes like Christina Aguilera, I get pregnant (again) and then never return to my old shoe size (just like what happened to me)????? My feet were 6.5 inches before and now I'm a size 8. Oh well, maybe for Christina Aguilera she can afford to replace all of these damn shoes or at least hire a trainer to be able to return to her old weight and original shoe size. But for me, that's close to being a miracle. Sigh. But then again, maybe owning these beautiful and uber expensive shoes would be reason enough for her. (rationalizing!)

Every so often, we let our kids ride the carousel.... For fifty bucks, it's a priceless childhood experience. :-) Love, love, love that these pictures are able to capture that fond memory.

Lately, my work-life balance is so beyond me and I'm really getting so tired already. I want to be with my kids now more than ever but I couldn't and that really pains me a lot. They have been sick the past days and I have sort of need to put that fact aside because I have deadlines. What kind of mother I am? I'm a bad mother! In addition to that, I also want my prayertime back coz I feel that someone forcibly stole it from me. And especially now that it's the Christmas season, I want to feel the "Christ" in the season but, somehow, it's not what's happening. If only I could, I'll really want to shift to become a housewife-mom again. Maybe I can just stay as a blogger? But I do have a choice now?

Wee! I am officially a Stay At Home Mom for one week...and it feels really good. After working for 13 long years with the same company, I am finally FREE! (Well, at least for 5 more days.) :-) At any rate, I think Zoe is doing a bit of "lambing" by getting a little sick last night. She and I cuddled together until she fell asleep. Hay, my kids are really my heart. They make me who I am and I love them so much. Wish me luck guys on my next endeavor!

With Christmas just recently over, I gathered my kids' new Christmas toys in one big bag while thinking of where to store all these new loots. These were mostly toys given by godparents and thoughtful relatives and friends. For Zoe, her favorite toy now is the twist car that she received from her grandfather (I'll post the pictures after I transfer the files from the cellular phone). It's something like an Ezy Roller but it's made of plastic. She also got some personalized pillowcases from her aunties and a nap mat . Anyway, while carrying away the toys to the play room in the attic, one of the things that crossed my mind is how I, as a parent, can provide an example of the true spirit of Christmas amidst the many and almost unavoidable spirit of "consumerism" that tags itself along with Christmas. By that I don't want to mean we will get rid of the idea of receiving gifts altogether next Christmas. I just want to my kids to be more reflective about Chri...

About a year ago, it was just all about two pink lines... Now, it's about two BIG eyes...and MORE! :-) I love you baby!

"Mommy, hwag ka pasok sa office! Hindi na! Dito ka na lang house." That's what Zoe said to me upon waking up and seeing me already in my black office suit this morning. Hay. Really it breaks my heart to leave them at home while I go very early to work and not return until the evening. I had replied by saying, "Mommy has to go to the office today, Sweetheart". "Sa ___ (says name of my office)? Well, okay. Ako, wowork din dito na lang sa house." (By this she means she will play with her new laptop which I got from the Richwell sale --- found in my next entry). Oh well, that's the life of a working mom. This is the life I choose to live so I better just make the most of it.

A recent article at Mercatornet entitled ‘Mum, Dad, where are you? I need to talk’ by Carolyn Moynihan says that a survey of almost 10,000 students at 96 secondary schools in New Zealand shows that more than half of them want to spend more time with their parents. Some 54 per cent “sometimes” or “hardly ever” get enough time with their mothers and 61 per cent sometimes or hardly ever get enough time with their dads. This is “big stuff”, says Auckland University researcher Simon Denny. “Having a close relationship with a parent is one of the most important predictors of good health and wellbeing for young people.” I totally agree that each parent should find time to be with their children. That is why we always make sure even if my husband and I have to work on weekdays, we still try to spend time to be in touch with our daughter. It's just a pity that sometimes work restricts us from going home as early as we wanted. As a parent, I really hope we can do something about it...and ...

Well, at least doc says she's 95% sure. :-) Happy, happy, happy!

On the afternoon of Easter Sunday, I treated myself to a pedicure c/o my regular manicurista. Zoe also decided to have a 'pedicure' of her own c/o Yaya Cat. Here is how Zoe's toes looked like after: And here are my own toes: Can you see? Of all the things that my baby girl will get from me, Zoe unluckily inherited the shape and look of my (big and fat) feet and (rounded ugly) toes. And now that we both have red nail color, the similarity becomes even more obvious. You want proof? Here's a picture with our feet together: Like mother, like daughter. Hahahaha!!!

Do you also experience this with your kids? We spent the whole vacation time - all four days of it - with Zoe. I really think she loved every minute that we were together. We went to church, to the market, to the 24-hour store nearby --- always with her in tow. Thus, I was not surprised that she cried the moment we left the house without her. Actually, she did not just cry. She went shouting "Sama, Zoe!", stamping her feet, wailing and extending her arms towards me. It really, really tugged my heart.

After a long search, my hubby and I finally found a summer school for Zoe. Last Friday, I was able to enroll her to Kindermusik with Teacher Jeannie and Company. Summer starts on May 2, 2009 and it runs for 6 sessions. During the trial class, I was surprised and so glad to see a good friend there (Lingling with her son Niño). Zoe and I felt right at home. To describe Zoe's experience in one word - FUN! She was shrieking like crazy (I guess out of excitement and joy). And I love singing along with the songs and enjoying it with my baby. Of course, I also got so tired chasing the girl around (considering my present condition). She's the same at home and in school - super ingay and super likot ! But I'm so looking forward to the classes this summer. I'll post more pictures of our little adventure tomorrow (as usual, forgot my camera cable). Be back soon! *pictures c/o Teacher Jeannie's website

Lookie here! Our second baby's very first picture! Baby#2 looks as if he/she's waving! Can you see? Heartbeat - ok! Length - ok! Everything - ok! That's all I needed to hear from the doctor, really. :-)

...definitely for the better ! Key words for 2009: Pray.Hope.Trust.Love.Baby!!!

The topic of wanting to have more children and fecundity have been very much in the air these days, well, at least personally for me. I think it started during one afternoon when my husband and I were out in our mini-garden talking. Just next to our house, we saw the four cute grandchildren (all siblings) running around their grandparent's house and enjoying very much the company of each other. My husband and I realized how happy it would be to have a lot of kids (our own) running around our house. And then this week, I stumbled into this wonderful blog called Sonlight Garden . I then tell myself ~ here is a great example of a mom talking about motherhood, her children (6 kids and one in the oven!), husband, her faith, homeschooling, her garden and all of these don't seem to be in contrast with each other. In addition, I go to Mercatornet and chance upon their feature on big happy families. Finally, I see this one by Pope John Paul II (14 October 2000, A Message of Life and Ho...

I was searching the internet one time and stumbled into this wonderful site/book of Holly Pierlot called A Mother's Rule of Life . It's one of those great sites that you're glad to have found. It's perfect for a Catholic wife and mother like me who is forever juggling priorities and trying to make things work at home. This site has sample schedules, a great Q&A portion, solutions for parenthood dilemmas, and many other beautiful things. I just wish I could buy the book or the PDF workbook soon (fyi, this is not a paid post). I am lifting this prayer from this site and I thought it's nice to share this one. + Behold the handmaid of the Lord Be it done unto me according to Your Word. I seek only to do Your Will Lord: That I avoid all sin and selfishness, That I love, That I fulfill my duties well, That I be attentive to Your Voice. Open my heart to Your Will for me today And I pray the same for my family and friends. Grant me the Grace of a willing heart and a do...

Zoe: "Mommy, don't go!" Zoe: "Mommy, come home soon! I miss you!" ...enough reasons why I want to be a WAHM (hay...).

I read about this Mercatornet article (of the same title) and it gave me several realizations as a parent. I realized that parenting is not about those trips abroad, those expensive toys or having that colorful time-out mat to discipline your kid. It's about showing your kids that you truly love them and that you set the proper example on how to live as a good person regardless if the rest of the world is acting in chaos or in lack of virtue. And regardless is you have money in abundance or not.

Some pre-pregnancy planning over here... Anybody who can recommend a good Intellicare-accredited OB from Cardinal Santos or Makati Med? Since our company shifted this year from self-administered hospital reimbursements to a health card, we sooner or later have to change our OB (in UST) since she's not Intellicare-accredited lest we want to pay all OB consultations and pfs using our personal money (which amounted to more than 50k the last time). And although USTH is a good hospital, I think it would now be more practical to transfer to another hospital. You see, when I gave birth to Zoe, my visitors (including close family) could not get to UST because it was oh so flooded in Espana. LOL. But of course, this is all just planning....we continue to hope and pray that God will give us baby#2 soon. :-)