Chasing Dreams

9/52 + 10/52: Afternoons like these

April 8, 2014July 21, 2020 RhizaLeave a comment

Photographs of my daughters, once a week, every week, in 2014. Weeks 9 & 10.

9/10: Drinking their favorite strawberry yogurt after playing outdoors.

10/52: Since Valentines Day, buying balloons has become kindof a regular thing.

This week should be Week 14, and I’ve been contemplating if I should just go ahead and skip through these weeks and just backtrack them later. But this is exactly how I dwindled in my Project 52 last year, and I refuse to let that happen now.

So here’s weeks 9 and 10, with photographs from our extra-ordinary, ordinary afternoons at home. I know they’re not the most perfect of photographs—our house is a chaos, the girls are sweaty, even my husband is caught in an unflattering position (sorry about that, Lol), but that’s our life right there in all its beautiful mess. And I love everything about it. <3

I’m not sure where it started, but we’ve somehow developed this nice little afternoon routine where we take the twins out for a walk or some outdoor playtime after they had their nap. I think it’s their most favorite time of the day, and it’s starting to become mine too, especially now that summer has kicked in, the husband doesn’t have classes, and I get to work most days at home. I never seem to run out of work to do, but I treasure afternoons when I can take a quick break from whatever I’m doing and just enjoy some QT with my little family.

March has been such a busy month, and April is starting to become full too. But I’m excited for the little non-working holidays that this month brings, like tomorrow! yay! And next week (Holy Week)! Double yay! Simple joys, what can I say?

How have your days been? I hope they’re nothing short of awesome.

We Weren’t Joking Alright

April 2, 2014June 27, 2019 Rhiza3 Comments

Two years ago, on April Fools Day, we announced on our Facebook wall that we were having twins. It sounded like something someone would post on April Fools, but we were overjoyed and we couldn’t wait until April 1 was over to share the news to our family and friends.

“I know it must sound like a really good April Fools joke, but it’s for real, we’re having twins. We’re still recovering from the sweet surprise, thank you for including us in your prayers.”

It wasn’t an April Fools joke alright, but we still couldn’t help but laugh whenever we remember that moment we found out we were having twins.

We were in the ultrasound room of Delgado Memorial Hospital, when the sonographer on duty nonchalantly announced The single most life-changing news of our lives.

“Twins? Seriously?” my husband squeaked, “Are you really sure?” I remained still on the hospital bed, and my husband barraged the sonographer a bazillion questions I would have asked myself, except I was frozen and unable to say anything at all. He calmly explained to us what we were seeing on the ultrasound screen—two gestational sacs, one placenta, 5 weeks old.

“How did that happen?” my husband asked.
“Do you have twins in your family?” the sonographer asked us back.
“None in my family,” I answered. (That time, we didn’t know this yet.)
“Is that really possible?” My husband asked.
“Yes. It happens. Very rare, but it’s possible to have twins even if you don’t have it in your genes,” said the sonographer.

He answered a few more questions until we’re positively convinced that what we heard (and saw!) were true. Dazed, we went out of the ultrasound room, sat in the hospital lobby to wait for our ultrasound prints, and took some couple selfies that we later posted on Facebook. We then called my Mom, and then my husband’s father, who also couldn’t believe their ears.

The rest, as they say, is history.

They’re turning 18 months old this month, and wow do babies grow fast! It’s not at all easy to raise twins, and there are days when I feel so tired like I could sleep an entire week straight. The expenses are doubled, the responsibilities are doubled, and I sometimes wish 24 hours a day is doubled too. There’s never enough time for everything!

But what an awesome, awesome ride this is, and believe it or not I still sometimes whisper to my husband at night, “Do we really have twins sleeping in the bed with us?” He would smile and answer, “yes we do” to state the obvious, and we would drift off to sleep like that—smiling.

God wasn’t joking alright, when He called us to be the parents of these two, and we couldn’t be any more grateful for this sweet April Fools surprise God has played on us.

Best April Fools non-joke ever.

My Dad’s Smile, I Get It Now

March 27, 2014December 30, 2019 Rhiza1 Comment

Remembering the life of a great man, pastor, husband, friend, Dad.

It’s been 7 years since Dad passed away but every year I still learn something new about him. This year, I learned how much he loved me.

Oh sure I know he loved me and my brothers so much, no doubt about it. But this year I gained a better understanding of how great that love is. I wish I knew sooner, but I needed to be a parent first to understand.

Look at THAT SMILE! That smile on his face when he held me for the first time. Or when he carried me (and my balloon!) on my birthday. Or when I sat on his lap looking like a cranky bumble bee. He had that smile on like he couldn’t contain his joy.

That smile speaks volumes, and I get it now. It was the smile of a father who loved her daughter so much, who was crazy about her and would do everything for her.

I know now because I have that same smile on my face when I hold Dawn or Rain in my arms. And I see my husband smile that way too.

I love our daughters so much it makes me tear up. I watch them sleep at night and it’s like my heart is going to burst with so much joy. I’ll do anything for them, sacrifice my life for them, protect them, and be the best Mom I can be for them.

And I realize now that sometime 30 years ago, Dad felt exactly the same way about the baby girl who was growing before his eyes.

Thank you, Daddy, for loving me that much. I didn’t understand it then, but I get it now.

8/52: Our little princesses

March 17, 2014July 21, 2020 RhizaLeave a comment

Photographs of my daughters, once a week, every week, in 2014. Week 8.

Dawn & Rain: Can you guess which Disney princesses they are? Clue: One is the fairest of them all, and one has a long, magical hair.

Photo credits: Lola Amy for their pretty dresses all the way from New York; sugar rush from Kuya Isaac’s candy buffet earlier that day; and their Daddy who never runs out of ways to make them laugh.

You’re growing too fast, little ones. Slow down!

More about Project 52 here. View all posts in this blog series here. Linking up with Jodi.

7/52: Everyday is Valentines Day

March 11, 2014July 21, 2020 Rhiza1 Comment

Photographs of my daughters, once a week, every week, in 2014. Week 5.

Dawn & Rain: Loved these heart-shaped balloons we bought from a street vendor on Valentines Day.
Dawn: Marched around the house holding her balloon the whole night, squealing in delight.
Rain: Liked her balloon too, but she seemed to like to spend time with her Daddy more. #myheart

It’s been a month since these photographs were taken, please bear with me on this dated Valentines post. I remember receiving flowers from D that day, and cooking dinner for him, and getting out of the house to run errands together, and then chancing upon a street vendor who was selling heart-shaped balloons.

I guess you can say that it was uneventful by traditional standards. But I realize now, when you’re older (or when you have kids), that V-day is just another day, and you can make any day Valentines Day anyway. Just like now, when I suddenly thought about posting these photographs. :)

At the risk of sounding like a bad Hallmark card, everyday is Valentines Day in this house!

Dawn’s captured moments could totally pass off as stock photos don’t you think?

More about Project 52 here. View all posts in this blog series here. Linking up with Jodi.

You only get to be a bride once

March 6, 2014December 23, 2021 Rhiza2 Comments

Throwback! On the eve of our wedding, I was absolutely sure that I would look like the most haggard bride ever. I was sleepless for weeks, my eyebags were the size of a half-moon, and I was worried about too many things. But then our wedding day came, and I never felt more beautiful.

I’m sure it’s a combination of things that made me feel beautiful that day—the love that surrounded me, the relief that the day I waited for my whole life has finally come, the affirmation that God makes things beautiful in His time.

But of course a huge part of my *ehem* bridal beauty was because of my Ate Imy‘s mad make-up skillz.

Me? Vainly and shamelessly posting photos of myself like this? You know this rarely happens. In fact, Ate Imy insisted on including my picture in her portfolio of beautiful brides—the one that takes up the walls of her booth on bridal fairs—but I feel too shy (and undeserving!) to have my face up there.

I realized, however, that I owe it to her to take pride in the beauty that she managed to bring out in the mess that was me, on my wedding day. So this post is for her, for being the best sister ever, and the greatest make-up artist there is.

Dear future brides

My advice for you is this: get a really good make-up artist for your wedding day. Someone who will make you look beautiful without making you look like someone else. You will feel haggard and stressed out on the days leading to your wedding, and there are make-up artists out there who will hide your beauty in layers of make-up, making you look different and not like yourself.

You don’t want to look at your wedding pictures later and wonder who on earth that girl is. You want to be beautiful, but most especially you want to be you. And may I recommend to you Imelyn Sanchez Makeup Artistry. Her style is elegant, and natural, and very classy. Trust me, she’s really good.

She will have a booth setup at SMX Convention Center for the annual Themes & Motifs Bridal Fair this March 8 and 9, 2014. Come visit, and avail of her generous discounts. And tell her you found her because of my blog—that will really make her smile. :)