Answered Prayers

Hubz and I got to see sex and the City 2 over the weekend.  I love the scene where Miranda and Charlotte were talking about being married and having kids.  In it, they somehow said that they love their kids but they sometimes wish they could get a break from them.  Charlotte even mentioned that she felt overwhelmed, even when she has help.  Then they did a toast to all women with kids who do not have any help available to them. 

I am one of those women.  Charlotte's overwhelmed feeling resonates with me.  Everyday, I pray for a few minutes alone so I can take a bath longer than my usual 5-10 minutes, and in peace.  Having time alone to do the things we love is a luxury for me and my husband these days.  We are numb to chaos and noise.  Our day is full of laughter, tears, screaming, arguing.  Rest comes when the boys are all deep asleep, only to do it all over again the next day. 

I remembered a teammate once said that the biggest mistake they ever did was allowed themselves to be outnumbered.  Yes, we are outnumbered but I wouldn't necessarily consider it a mistake.  We love these children so much, which is why we're willing to go through hell or high water to raise them up. 

To me, having children requires a balancing act worthy of an olympic gold medal.  Not having help while raising these kids - crazy to some, but reality to us.  In the Philippines, help is within reach.  In fact, almost all households in the Philippines has one to three household helpers.  Growing up, we are probably the only family there who do not have a helper.  My mom insisted on training us to do household chores by ourselves.  She taught us to cook, do the laundry, clean the house, do the dishes, iron the clothes.  I didn't enjoy those chores then, but when I lived on my own, I realized how invaluable those skills were.  I thought she was training us to become maids!  Little did I know that she was training us to be independent.  I got the most out of that bootcamp when I lived overseas, got married, and had kids. 

Thank you for the toast, Miranda and Charlotte.  It is okay to feel overwhelmed from time to time.  It is okay to tune out all the noise once in a while, for sanity's sake.  But everytime I ask myself if we are truly doing the right thing, I remind myself of an entry in my journal more than 10 years ago.  Back then, my life revolved around my job - working 24x7.  At that time, I was crying my heart out because all I wanted was to get married and have children so my life wouldn't revolve around work, and that even if I do work hard, I have my husband and kids for inspiration, and I know that I'm doing it for them.  So, on days when I feel I'm on the brink, these beautiful and angelic faces remind me that God answered my prayers so I have no reason to complain.

New Digital Layouts

Here are my latest layouts for the Beautiful Evidence Album. I only have three more layouts and the cover and back pages to go and I can upload these in Shutterfly to print my photo book!


Credits: Template - Jessica Sprague; Papers and Ribbon - Echoes of Asia Kit by Jessica Sprague; Font - VT Portable Remington

Credits: Template - Jessica Sprague; Papers and Ribbon - Jessica Sprague and Jan Crowley; Font - VT Portable Remington

Credits: Template - Jessica Sprague; Papers and Ribbon - Jan Crowley and Meredith Fenwick; Font - VT Portable Remington

Credits: Template - Jessica Sprague; Papers and Ribbon - Jessica Sprague and Katie Pertiet; Font - VT Portable Remington

Credits: Template - Jessica Sprague; Papers - Jan Crowley, Jessica Sprague; Michelle Coleman; Font - VT Portable Remington

Another Day... Another Layout

Here is my page 9 layout for the Beautiful Evidence album. Because I have to go to the office tomorrow, I won't be able to create another layout tonight (bummer!) but I'll catch up whenever I can.

Credits: Template - Jessica Sprague; Papers - Jan Crowley, Meredith Fenwick; Fonts - VT Portable Remington, Porcelain (for the initial "A")

US... Right Here, Right Now

This photo was taken today at Clearlake, on our way home from an overnight camping with friends. It is pretty tough to get us all in one photo together since I am behind the camera most of the time. When we do, however, there's always someone doing something else or looking somewhere else. This photo depicts our current life - a very busy one with two highly strung boys. Despite all the chaos, I wouldn't trade this life for anything else in this world.

Credits: Template - Jessica Sprague; Papers - Jessica Sprague, Jan Crowley, Meredith Fenwick, Katie Pertiet; Font - VT Portable Remington

Christmas is here...

'Twas the night before Christmas. Our oven is busy making cassava cake for tonight's noche buena with friends. I also made peach cream pie earlier.

The kids are asleep, trying to recharge for a long night with their friends. The husband is watching Tagalog news in Pinoy TV. I'm busy with a Christmas entry on my blog.

This is probably our happiest Christmas ever. It's Calix's first and our first Christmas in our new home with just the four of us. Despite the recession, we still consider ourselves blessed. God has been truly good to me and my family.

From our family to yours... a very Merry Christmas and a Properous New Year!

I've been out of touch for a long time again, but with some very good reasons. With two kids to care for, I couldn't even find the time to catch my breath. And if that isn't a good enough reason, we decided to move to a new house during the last week of July. If you think those are enough to drive anyone insane, I took two summer classes at the Community College to finally complete my Real Estate prerequisite for taking the state test. Since summer classes are only 8 weeks long, all courses had to be taught double the time which means I cram 4 times as much because I took two classes! If you think I'm done with those three heavy reasons to be out of touch, I'm also back to work since July 7th.

To those who have been aware of my C-section complications, I am healing better now - thank God! However, I have an outpatient procedure on Friday at a surgeon's office to finally put this issue to rest.

And if you think I'm done giving reasons, well, you're in for a big surprise! My family has been going through some rough times lately because of what I thought were good investments that ended up haunting me. Anyway, we're taking it one day at a time with hope that this too, shall pass.

So, if you get the chance to see me, don't be surprised since I dropped 34 lbs in all since giving birth (I only gained 30 lbs total throughout the whole pregnancy). I'm 4 lbs lighter than my pre-pregnancy weight. 4 more lbs to go and I'll reach my pre-marital weight at 100 lbs!

Other than that, God has been good to our family and we couldn't be more than grateful.

Maternity Portraits and Tagged!

On Saturday, we had our photo shoot with none other than Auey Santos of Photograffiti. It was such a fun shoot!

I've always admired Demi Moore's unforgettable maternity portrait and though I don't have the heart to bare it all, I can daresay I have the courage to bare my very pregnant tummy! The photos can be found here. I couldn't be happier with the images.

Kudos to Auey for her talent and overflowing creativity and artistry!

********************

I've been tagged by Dang and here's my take on the Six Unimportant Things About Me:

1. I love chocolates even when it triggers my migraine. The darker it is, the better for me!

2. I hate the taste of milk (it used to upset my stomach) but because of calcium, I have acquired the taste.

3. I love to shop! In fact, I hoard lots of scrapbook supplies though I barely make a dent.

4. I am OC when it comes to the bathroom. I like the faucets sparkling, the sink white as snow so I wipe it off everytime we use the bathroom. I've also taught the husband and my son to clean as they go so cleaning won't bea big production number everytime.

5. I love taking photos and I love being in photos!

6. I can read and watch TV at the same time. When I was in school, I used to study and do my homework in frontof the TV. Call it multitasking, hehehe!

I owe one more tag from Gem. Hope to get to it soon!

After a Long Hiatus...

Yes, the husband is finally home with us. He has adjusted to his "domesticated" life pretty well. He has learned to change nappies, feed and take care of Kail, give baths, wash the bottles, mow the lawn, vacuum the carpet, help me with cleaning the house, put out the garbage. For someone who grew up having maids around, this is definitely a 360 degree change! I asked him if he gets homesick and his response, well, he doesn't even have time to be homesick, hehe!

I took him around the city on his first week, to Discovery Kingdom on his second, and to LA during the long weekend. As you can see, we've been pretty busy.

I've also decided to change skin and change blog title. However, I lost all the links to the blogs I frequently visit. So, if you're reading this, can you post the link to your blogs on the Comments section? I'd truly appreciate it!

I'm leaving you with some photos of our newly-reunited family... 'Til next post!