A mom…again!

You read it right, I’d be a mom for the second time! And if you think that makes me an expert on being one, you’re in for a big surprise.

The first time I knew I was pregnant to my first baby my reactions varied from excitement, joy and fear. I was excited because I knew something good is inside me and I wonder how he or she would look like. Of course that made me happy, too, because it is every woman’s dream to fulfill her role of being a mother – which caused my fear. How would I be as a mom? What do I need to do to become an effective one?

Then came a new life two years after my first born – and feelings just burst out again! More than excitement, joy and fear, though came a guilty feeling that I wouldn’t be able to fulfill my responsibilities to my first child because I ought to take cautions for the baby inside me and vice versa.

At 2, a child isn’t a baby anymore and can already do several activities by himself. But he isn’t ready to be left alone yet. I guess that supports my OB’s suggestion to have a new baby only after 3 years. HINT: 3 years is a good spacing period for pregnancy, both for the child and the mother.

On top of these, though, I am thankful for the new blessing. Nine months from now, there would be a new addition to our family and I am sure he or she would erase any fear or doubt about better motherhood.
Thanks be to God, I am a mother…AGAIN!

Pasalubong

Dave and I are excited. It’s his birthday on the 14th and we’re going to Singapore to celebrate it with his brother and his wife.  This would be Arvid Matthew’s first airplane ride so we’re much more excited for him!  Well, I guess this trip fulfills the first of the three destinations we hope we’d visit as a family.

We have nothing much to prepare for the trip, though, except for our little boy’s things and some “pasalubong” for Kuya Alvin and his wife.  We’ve asked them what they wanted and they said we could just bring whatever we want.  Nah, that makes “pasalubong-buying” a complicated task   .  Not knowing what they like, I opted for the usual Filipino foods most OFWs bring back to their job locations abroad.  These include salted eggs, cornick, Philippine mango, butong-pakwan and tamarind mix.

Signing back after a silent mode

It’s been a while since my last blog entry and perhaps you’ve been wondering what took me busy for some time. Well, would you understand me if I’d say “motherhood” being a 24-hour job, eats even my writing time?

Moms like me would probably understand what I’m saying.  Having a playful tot requires much of this 30-something mom’s energy!  Dads out there may ask why and protest that staying at home couldn’t be more energy-sapping than going to work for bread-and-butter, but I bet you, my hubby wouldn’t agree to dads who’d say that because he, too, gets a share in babysitting during his days off work.

At 1 year old and 10 months my little boy already knows how to:

• shake his feeding bottle and feed himself ( a helpful tot indeed )
  
• open and close the door (do I see fingers getting locked in?)
  
• hide under the bed, inside closets and behind doors (where is Arvid? where is Arvid?)
• climb up and down a bed, chair, table  and stairs (uh…how he makes my heart leap when he does!)
• run around the house, a playground, at parks and malls (and that means running with him!)

On the other side, he already likes to:

• get a book and read it by himself ( a good picture-reader)
• sing and dance whenever he hears  music ( “e-i-e-i-o”)
  
• wash his hands before eating ( “kamay, kamay” is his favorite expression)
• watch the moon and stars at night
  
• play games with his cousins
• look at animals, vehicles and buildings while he’s in the car and we’re traveling
• mumble sounds and words that he hears
  

Oh how wonderful it is to see my little boy grow up each day!  Well, being with him through his fun-filled acitivities makes being a 24-hour mom a great experience

On cold, liquid salt, vaporub and more

I woke up at 3:00am for the bathroom, but couldn’t find sleep since then for a very good reason.

Upon returning to our room I found out that due to bad cold Christian, my younger nephew, breathes through his mouth causing him to breathe louder than our AC. This set me out for a “Salinase” hunting mission. I knew I gave him the 30ml Sodium Chloride bottle when he went to his grandparents on his mother’s side, but still I had to ransack my medicine cabinet or else I’d find no peace. Unluckily, only the yellow and green box complete with the needed instructions presented itself, yet failed to serve its purpose.  Life can be like that small box sometimes – stuffed with guidelines or even choices which we could not  follow because of certain circumstances.

Going back to my mission, I scooped out a pea-size of Vicks Vaporub instead and rubbed some under Christian’s nose and on his chest.  Afterwards, I added an extra pillow under his head to keep it elevated.  These should help him, too, although the Salinase would have been a faster solution.  Then a thought came again – life branches out to different directions, a few of which instantly lead to our goals; others are punched with puddles that slow us down.

Meanwhile, after doing what I could do best for my nephew I already had an option to go back to sleep.  But the hissing sound still echoes in our room shouting at the mother in me so I went down to get a cup of coffee instead of throwing myself to bed. Then I sat beside my brother’s little boy and wondered if he would even know I stayed awake for him at all.

A few sips and a half full cup later, Christian’s breathing smoothed out already and words came joggling inside my head so I sat down to write.  More than an hour of waiting and a sleepless Monday morning proved worth my time.  The mommy in me felt relieved and happy for a job done with patience and love while the writer in me jumbled excitement and joy with hope for a greater find.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

I dreamed a dream

Did the title remind you of something? I bet it did!  It’s one of the songs in Les Miserables, a very meaningful song which has already touched so many.  But if you think its magic has put only those who have seen the musical in a trance you’re wrong, because I dreamed a dream has awakened many more souls through a rendition by Susan Boyle. Find out why and how.  Here’s the song with its newest sensational singer:

There was a time when men were kind,
And their voices were soft,
And their words inviting.
There was a time when love was blind,
And the world was a song,
And the song was exciting.
There was a time when it all went wrong…

Please click on the link for a Youtube video of the song by Susan Boyle:

I dreamed a dream in time gone by,
When hope was high and life, worth living.
I dreamed that love would never die,
I dreamed that God would be forgiving.
Then I was young and unafraid,
And dreams were made and used and wasted.
There was no ransom to be paid,
No song unsung, no wine, untasted.

But the tigers come at night,
With their voices soft as thunder,
As they tear your hope apart,
And they turn your dream to shame.

He slept a summer by my side,
He filled my days with endless wonder…
He took my childhood in his stride,
But he was gone when autumn came!

And still I dream he’ll come to me,
That we will live the years together,
But there are dreams that cannot be,
And there are storms we cannot weather!

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I’m living,
So different now from what it seemed…
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed…