Celebrate joy!

I was browsing my IG feed when I came across a free writing workshop this weekend. I wanted so bad to go but I was reminded that: - I've no helper so I can't leave the kids yet - I've so many things on my plate this week already As a mom, there are so many things that you want to do but it's hard to find the time and the energy to do them all. I remember when we went to the beach last year, I was reminded of this truth all so well. At that time, Ciara was only 4 months old and Pia was 3 years old ( yup! We're that kind of parents, na dinadala ang mga junakis kahit saan haha).  For all the moms of very littles, you know that when you go on a vacation in a different place, you're basically just parenting in a different location.  It's truly more exhausting to haul everyone in the car and in a hotel than just to stay at home... So you have to have the right mindset for it, dapat handa ka sa kahit among sakuna! Haha! But yes, kahit naman nakakapagod, we always ...

What a March! Parang first quarter palang, bugbog na tayo. .. I don't know if it's just within my sphere, but there have been so many losses, grief, sickness, and unexpected things happening these past few weeks... Huhuhu, I feel you guys... Just a week after Dennis' dad passed away (it was so sudden), we had to rush Ciara to the hospital because she had a seizure, we were confined for 4 days before we got discharged... And now, we are all nursing a really bad flu... It's emotionally, mentally, and physically exhausting, to say the very least. But the bittersweet truth is, life goes on. And it does not wait for anyone... Minsan gusto ko nalang tumulala at matulog. Ikaw din ba? So hinga muna tayo nang malalim, then exhale...  These days, I'm learning more and more about grief... Grief is like a dark cloud that follows you wherever you go. It hovers even on your busiest day, it's just there, and you know that if you just dig a little deeper and take a moment to st...

Kung gaano katagal ang January, ganun naman kabilis ang February! Did you feel that, too? Now, we are going on our 3rd month into the year, and looking back, a lot of the things that I was hoping for didn't go exactly as planned. As I'm writing this, Ciara woke up and decided to join me and wrote this: ] =]=] ] o[ ] Haha! Gusto din nyang mag-hello! So that's a case in point of things not going according to plan. Of course, all moms know that truth by heart. There's your plan, and then there's your baby's plan. And their plans always prevail. Ha! So going back, this first quarter, I am reminded to hold things a little more loosely. There are a number of things that I was looking forward to this year that didn't pan out. Maybe it's not a total NO in God's book, maybe it's a NOT YET sort of thing... but still, I felt frustrated and disappointed. But God gave me a picture of two things:  ...Of water flowing ...Of a bamboo swaying with the wind ...Of...

  “It’s always a yes, unless it’s a no.” I heard this one parenting advice that will make parenting more worry-free and less stressful. If they want to take a bath in their swimsuits, go ahead. If they want to run across the field with only their nappies on, go run! If they want to say hello to every single person at the grocery store, go at it! If your one-year old wants to take a bite of the french fry of her big sister, just let her have it. If your three-year old wants to sleep every single night with her newfound toy, no problem! If it’s not going to harm them or hurt anybody, just say yes.

Hello, everyone! It's me. It's been a long while, I know, my last update was when I announced that I was preggo with our rainbow baby! Ciara just celebrated her 1st birthday, and Sophia just turned 4. I have been missing writing so here I am, making up for the lost time by picking up my digital pen and blogging again.  Chunky Ciara at 6.5 months Do people still blog these days? I don't even know... lol! Lahat ata naka-reels and youtube videos na. But all I know is that writing is the oldest friend I have relied on ever since I was a kid. It has been my companion and comrade when I am feeling down ( like when I found out we had a miscarriage ), happy ( when I got married ), when I need to reflect, or a space to gush over how pretty awesome the world is ( first time in Japan ). So sana may magbasa parin, and I hope that this space will be able to make you smile and encourage you. So sa dami ko nang sinabi, eto nalang... some photos of my fam to catch you up! PS: I promise to ...

 Hi everyone! Wow, buhay pa pala ako! Lol! Anyway, so my last post was March and today is September 13, and guess what? I am 6 months pregnant as I type this... SURPRISE! Well, we announced it when I was 8 weeks pregnant and we just wanted to make sure that the baby is fine and had a heartbeat already before we officially announced... but yaaaay!

Hello! Happy 2022, everyone! It's been a pretty wild start of the year, thanks to Omicron. Parang pina-party lang tayo ng Pasko at New Year,  haha! Then after the last firework fired up, almost everyone was nursing a fever, cough, or colds. Our family wasn't exempted. It was Sophia who first caught the colds and cough, then one of her nieces, then it was my turn, then Dennis', then the last one was his younger niece. The virus pretty much just circulated around our home for 2 weeks, but praise God we are all okay now. No symptoms anymore! Cleared! So this is me hoping that everyone is recovering well and that you're in better spirits. I know this is a bit late, but since my last post was last September, I figured I'd do a wrap-up for 2021. It's never too late to look back and reflect on the lessons in the past, right? So I am catching up just to make sure I don't forget whatever lessons were actually under the bittersweet moments of last year. 1. Good days c...

August 6 "O baka naman positive pa ko sa Covid niyan ha..." I jokingly told Dennis before I had my swab test last week. We just finished my ultrasound for the nth time to see if I still need to undergo raspa and was given a deadline by my OB that if by the following week there would still be remaining products of conception, then I need to go through raspa... I was already sad with that news so imagine how shocked I was when the swab results came out and I found out that, on top of everything we were dealing with, I was indeed covid positive.

AUGUST 7 I haven't really gathered my thoughts enough for this post to sound coherent, but hey who says you have to wait for that eureka moment before writing down what's in your heart, right? Maybe I will just keep this under my personal file... forever saved under the drafts folder for my eyes only to look back on what happened years from now... It's August 7 today and well, I hope I can say all is finally well and my body has fully recovered, but that's not what happened. So no, I am not yet OKAY.

  Seas Waves will rock our boats Winds will threaten our sails Currents will try to pull our anchors offshore But come and see Take a closer look There’s someone in the boat with you He is unafraid He is in control He is holding your hand “Fear not, I AM here. I've got this.”

  July 20 We're still waiting for the baby to come out naturally. But honestly, all this waiting is good for the soul. Although there is that part of me that wants it to happen already so I can start recovering physically... like I want to move forward somehow the soonest time possible. But maybe that's why we are still here, in the waiting...  because so much more is accomplished when we quiet our souls. A week before we received the news that our baby is gone, God showed me a picture of a man sitting on a big rock with sheep at his feet. He had his back on me but he looks like a shepherd, overlooking the vast field, at peace, resting, unhurried... I immediately felt it was David.  I was asking God for career direction at that time and that was the picture He gave me. I thought I was still pregnant at that time, little did I know that the baby in my tummy was already gone.  Hmm... what does that mean? I was only looking for an answer regarding my career but apparent...

JULY 12 It was our 2nd ultrasound at 8 weeks and the line of questioning of the sonologist indicated that something was wrong. "Bakit pinaulit yung ultrasound?" "Hindi ka ba nagspospotting?" "Your doctor will be the one to explain it to you ha, ma'am." Something was also missing on the monitor. A blinking dot and a number of 100+ bps. I had been pregnant before so I knew when something was amiss.

The word “languishing” was recently posted by New York Times to give a name to what so many people are feeling these days and I associate it with a dismal feeling of waiting and numbness to what's happening around you. ...and I guess that was what I was feeling for the most part of last year. Yes, there were wins but there was also that feeling of being lost and wondering far too many times gaano-katagal-ba-tayong-ganito? Hello, curveball! Last year was the biggest curveball we have probably ever had to catch in our lifetime… and if you were to ask me how I was by the end of last year, I would tell you that I’m okay. Just okay. Because there are still a lot of questions left unanswered in my head.  When I stepped down from working in the church full-time, I knew I said yes to God, but  I haven’t seen things come full circle even after several months had passed. It hasn't made sense YET. It was only the beginning of this year, that the fragments of last year slowly came togethe...

If you met Dennis and I, then you know how different we are from each other. Our upbringing, our backgrounds, our likes, but one thing stays central and core: Jesus. ...and that really is all you need to have in common before entering a marriage. Correct? Not really. While Dennis and I both love the outdoors, he likes the mountains while I like the beach. He is Bisaya (born in Bukidnon) while I am a Fil-Chi from Manila. Other factors also play a part. I think if you're a Christian and you're rooting for two of your friends in the church, you are bound to hear one party say "Hmm, friend lang talaga tingin ko sakanya eh." "No, I don't see her THAT way..." Dibaaaa... so it means, we are also looking for other qualities aside from the person being a Christian and this is not something to be shy about because this is valid.  Other things play a part and you don't have to belittle these things because also looking at these factors makes marriage smoother...

 . ..and just like that, our baby is already 1-year old! Huhuhuhu! Too fast, my love! Thankfully (and maybe stubbornly lol), we got to celebrate her birthday last January 16 outside. Whoohoooo! We invited a few fam and friends to mark this milestone with us, and we are super grateful to each one who made her birthday special.  Siyempre pati host, stylists, program team mga talented ninangs nalang din! Para hindi na dumagdag sa headcount because we can only squeeze in so many people with the social distancing rule. So tayu tayo nalang talaga to haha! So here are photos of that special day!

Hello everyone! We're on the last few days of October and we're still where we were last March! Eeeeep, pandemic! For my birthday this year, I only asked for one thing: a beach trip with friends.  Birthday wish fulfilled! Yaaay! I think most of us have been wanting to go out for a while now. And understandably so! Have you guys seen that meme of that travel aficionado who used his treadmill to mimic that of the airport conveyor belt? That was about as far as we can live vicariously at this point, so a little breather outside MM really does our souls good. Now that the government has eased its restrictions, we now have a leeway to book that trip but of course, we should still be vigilant of ours and others' health. So here are quick checks that you need to do before booking a trip outside the Metro.

After going to El Nido, we went to Puerto Princesa which was such a nice surprise because we didn't think it would be as fun! Trivia: This was the post-vomiting leg of our trip because we had food poison in El Nido hehe! Quite the adventure, yes! One day we were island hopping, having the best time of our lives and the second day, we were throwing up our dinner on the bathroom floor hahaha! I didn't know that you can vomit in a perfect trajectory until that day. Eeeeew but true! So Puerto Princesa was us trying to still make our adventurous selves happy, we still went ziplining and rappelling! Here is a short video!

Oo na nga, sobrang tagal na nito... lol! But this whole staying-home-strictly-no-traveling situation that we have has got me dreaming of packing my bags somewhere where there are sand, seas, and sun! I think you are too! So here is our honeymoon video of Palawan at El Nido. Days after we got married, we went to this beautiful island! Why El Nido? Well aside from it being hailed as the most gorge beach in the Philippines (topping the white sand beaches in Bora and the diving-haven that is Bohol), I wanted to go to a place both of us haven't been to so that both of us would be discovering the place for the first time (odiba, minsan poetic at corny akey like that!). So here is the first part of our honeymoon video, enjoy!

Just the other day, I had the greatest scare since Sophia was born. She was standing inside the crib, trying to balance herself using one hand, when she slipped and hit the back of her head against the wall where the crib was leaning on. 

Hi there! If you are also in-between, let me encourage you, relax ka lang ... God's plans for you are still good, pleasing and perfect. I guess it is only apt to also share how this year has changed for me in a lot of ways.  VGH faaaaam (nung wala pang social distancing! :))