Category: 30 Days Vol 3

1. Mornings. This has to be the grainiest and blurriest family portrait ever, but I’ll keep it. It was taken Wednesday morning, one of those rare mornings when all of us are up early, and Daddy doesn’t have class, and the babies are not crying even with all the hugging, and squishing, and snuggling. Sometimes when I look at photographs like this, I feel like watching someone else’s life. And once again I swoon at how blessed I am, and how beautiful God has made this little life to be.

2. Coin box. We have this little box where we keep loose change. We’re not really consciously saving them at first, we just needed a place to gather the coins so that they won’t be scattered all over the house. Later on we realized that by saving loose change, we’re able to gather a substantial amount of money at the end of the month. So we started making it a habit.

The box was already full this week, and D counted the coins which amounted to, ta-dah, P1,500+. Not bad no? :) Too lazy to go to the bank to have the coins changed, we went to a nearby store to buy groceries instead.. and paid for them with our abnormally heavy stash of coins! The cashier was smiling from ear-to-ear, and we went away happy with our brown paper bag of goods. Yay.

3. Taking risks. It’s been sinking in, the decisions we made the past few weeks. Although I’m sure in my heart that the Lord has led me to make these choices (otherwise I wouldn’t have made them), I still sometimes have fleeting moments of worry, wondering if we heard Him right. And then I came across these words as I was having my devotion,

“What risk is the Lord calling you to take? He understands your wariness, but He’ll never let you down. Step out in obedience, and watch what He does to grow your faith.“

..and just like that, an enormous amount of weight was lifted off my chest and was replaced by peace, assuring me that we are right where God wants us to be. 

30 Days of Gratitude, Day 11.

1. Book reading. One good thing about watching over or carrying a baby for most part of the day is being able to finally do some book reading. You see, it’s impossible to get some work done on a computer while carrying a baby—I tried it many times. But reading a book while holding a baby in your arms, or even with a baby sleeping on your lap—now that works. I finished a book and I’m already on my second one this week. Time to hit the book stores again, I’ve been reunited with an old hobby.

2. Multi-tasking. Today I thank the Lord for giving humans 4 limbs. Lately I have mastered the art of using all of them at once. Baby on my lap, book on one hand, phone on the other hand (or sometimes, a feeding bottle), and feet rocking a bouncy seat where the other baby sleeps. Multi-tasking at its finest, what can I say?

3. Silent nights. Having said the first two items, it’s only in the evenings that I get some real work done. We’ve set a routine that works for all of us at home, one that frees up my evenings so that I can peacefully work with little interruptions, if not none at all. That’s one of the many challenges with having two babies—getting them to follow the same routine. But at least they’re learning to distinguish the difference between night and day now, giving Mommy some peace and quiet at night.

Works for me. All those years adjusting to New York time, my body clock has been trained to switch to EST in a heartbeat.

30 Days of Gratitude, Day 10.

1. Mondays. I have a love-hate relationship with Mondays. Now, it’s love. No more long commutes and grace periods. No need to squeeze myself inside a jampacked train, or sit through 2 hours of traffic in a crowded bus. No more time ins and time outs. Sure, Monday is still the start of the work week for me. But now our dining table is my desk, and these two adorable creatures are my bosses (slash teachers). And I, am a student with a whole new world of things to learn from them.

2. Sisters. I grew up wishing I had a sister. And God did grant my wish when I was 25 years old, when my brother married Ate Imy. I’m glad Dawn & Rain don’t need to wait 25 years to have one. Right now they’re still unaware that they lived and grew inside the same placenta for 8 months, and that they’re sleeping in the same crib with someone they share the same genes with. But soon they’ll know. They will be playmates and the best of friends. They will have double birthday celebrations. They will sing songs together and blend with each other’s voices. Ahh, the thought of them growing up sharing each other’s clothes, and toys, and secrets, is making me smile and tear up all at the same time!

3. Taking photographs. I started taking photographs again. And no, not just with a phone cam, however convenient Instagram has made our lives. This week I took out our DSLR and started clicking away; our 50mm lens aimed at my two beautiful and clueless little subjects. I almost forgot how much I love doing this. Thank God for technology, and its ability to freeze moments in photographs.

30 Days of Gratitude, Day 9.

1. Saturdate. We took advantage of the twins’ afternoon nap time. We left them with our yaya, took out our chuck taylors and walked aimlessly around the village while the sun was still up. I love long walks, especially when I do it with someone I enjoy talking with. And I’m so blessed to have married this guy I can talk with endlessly, who listens, who makes me laugh, see the world with new eyes. It’s the total package—I didn’t just get myself a husband, I got myself a best friend too.

We ended up at good ol’ Dayrits, he ordered one of those huge steak burgers, and I got a plateful of yummy beef stroganoff. And then we enjoyed the rest of the daylight walking back home. Five minutes after stepping inside our little home, the babies woke up, and it’s as if we were never gone.

2. TV time. One of my guilty pleasures is waiting for the end of the week to download episodes of Grey’s Anatomy & Suits. Something about fictional surgeons and lawyers in suits makes me giddy happy. Also, Harvey Specter. <3 Besides, TV time with D is like our weekly date night. We may not be able to do things that require being away from the babies too long, but at least we can sit down, put our feet up, and spend quality time watching commercial-less TV.

3. Now-what moments. That moment when God answered one of your major prayer concerns, and you settle down into a new routine, and while you love your new life now, you start to wonder what’s up next. I’ve been having a lot of these moments lately. Should I accept more freelance gigs? Can my schedule handle more? When will I be able to justify shopping for bags and shoes again? How can I make this world a better place? It’s a good exercise for me, to ask myself questions like these. Sometimes I get a brilliant idea out of it, I write it down on my journal so I won’t forget, and pray about whether I should do it or not. But normally, all it takes to snap out of the moment is for me to hear one of the twins cry (or coo, or laugh). They are my now. I am who I am now—a mother—because of them. I’m working from home now because of them. Our life is like this now because of them.

I traded good things to embrace the best. And I won’t have it any other way. At least for now.

I’m loving and enjoying this season of my life.

30 Days of Gratitude, Day 7.

1. Kuya Nikos. It’s his birthday and the whole family spent a lazy afternoon hanging out and stuffing our mouths with food. He’s 16 months older than me but growing up (sometimes even until now), we were always mistaken to be twins—chubby cheeks, round eyes, dimples and all. I’m glad we’re not twins though, because I really love that he’s my Kuya. You see, there are only two people I fight with when I’m stressed out: my husband and my brother Nikos. I guess it’s because I know that even if I threw a fit at him, he wouldn’t judge and would always love me anyway. He’s 31 years old now, and I praise God for giving me this opportunity of growing up with and being in the same family as this great guy. Also, best self-taught chef in the world!

2. 3 months. News flash. I have been a mother FOR. THREE. MONTHS. Need I say more?

3. Thursday Group. It’s the first Thursday night my husband and I got to spend with our Thursday friends. My take home: “Grow in grace” and “love lots”. (I’m not going to elaborate.) See, I’m not even sure whether to categorize Thursday Group as a bible study group or a cell group or simply a barkada. It probably doesn’t matter what we are; all I know is, every Thursday for the past 5 years of my life, I get together with this awesome group of people, rummage our Pastor’s pantry and eat all their food, study the Word, encourage one another, and I come home past midnight with a full stomach, heart, and soul. Also, a swollen jaw. From all the laughing.

30 Days of Gratitude, Day 6.