Museo Pambata

A couple of days ago, we decided to take Timmy out to an educational trip. Since we've already decided to homeschool him, we might as well start exposing him to things other than toy stores and the mall.

After choosing from several options, we ended up taking him to Museo Pambata. I wasn't sure if this place was good so I prayed really hard that it's where we should go.

Scale Model of a Spanish Galleon

By God's grace, it was a nice place for a kid. You can touch most of the things there so Timmy was very happy with that. The room had themes from science to old Manila.

Mini Jeep

All in all it was a great trip. Timmy enjoyed it and he was happy with the museum.

Timmy's Favorites...

Mommy Again

Having a son is such a blessing and I'm excited to be a mommy again for the third time. Yes...we found out that we are expecting another bundle of joy which is due to arrive February 2011.

My hubby has been bugging me the last three weeks that I am pregnant because he noticed changes in me that I quickly dismissed. Last night, we got our confirmation.Thank you Lord for the blessing of life!

The year that was....

It's been so long since I last wrote here simply because I was so busy. Busy with the hubby, baby, Pink & Pearl and all the things that Christmas brings. 

The year 2008 has been filled with blessings upon blessings. The year started when I became a mom again with the birth of our second son Timmy and ended with the birth of the business that I was praying for. We were also blessed with memorable vacations with the family. 

I could go on and on about the details of 2008 but bottom line is the Lord has been faithful. He has allowed good and not so good things to happen in our lives to bless us in the end. 

"He is the Rock, his works are perfect,  and all his ways are just. 

A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he."

Deuteronomy 32:4

Being a stay at home mom

At some point before getting married I knew that when I would have my own kids I wanted to be a stay at home mom. I was influenced by own mom who took it upon herself to quit her job and take care of all 4 kids. I never had a yaya and enjoyed having my mom there all the time. This is the same thing that I want to give my son. I want to able to care of him and watch him grow up.

Some people would probably think that being with your kid(s) 24/7 is just too much. Some will even say your son might turn out to be a mama's boy. I thought about this, looked at my own experience and other people's too and realized that kids will almost always attach themselves to their primary caregiver be it the mom, dad or a yaya. Being attached is not bad up to a certain extent. It can be positively used.  It can be used to help your child develop confidence and trust in you. Your child is certain that the parents are always there to give him unconditional love. 

I am closer to my mom because she took care of me but growing up I always yearned for independence. I know of some grown men that were not mama's boys even if their primary caregiver was their mom. I believe that as the child grows up the parent needs to learn to let go and know that he is there to guide and protect their child. We cannot hang onto our kids and treat them like babies forever. Cliche as it may sound, we have to teach them to spread their wings and fly. I admit that I have fears that I may hold onto my son too long but I always tell my husband to please bop me on the head if that happens. 

Now on the 24/7 part, I admit that I also need a break. A short trip to the grocery or the mall or even just time to do what I love too is important to me. After all we moms must not forget to love ourselves. We must not forget the things that we are passionate about that makes us the person we are. 

I love being a stay at home mom because I can devote my time to my family. I can better take care of my husband and my son. But mind you it does not come without sacrifices and problems.

 I am so blessed to be where I am and to have a great husband and sons. My reference point in everything is the Lord. I always pray that I will be the wife He wants me to be for my husband and the mother He wants me to be for my son. After all, we are not the masters of our lives but God is. 

Sweet Smell

The family had a very long (and tiring) day. First we went to worship at 10am meaning we had to wake up by 8am so that we could give timmy a bath and prepare ourselves to go out. After worship we headed to my brother's lunch to celebrate my sister in law's birthday. The food was yummy! Loved the pasta with shrimps and mushrooms. I'm not a fan of white sauce (in pasta) but I loved this one. Yummy!

Hubby went to watch a ball game which left me with Timmy. Timmy was behaved. Cried when hungry or when he needed to have his nappy changed. Good boy! My folks drove us home and that's when I felt really tired. Timmy was tired too because whenever we're out he doesn't get his normal snooze time. Realized this when I put him to sleep at 6pm and he only woke up to eat at 730pm. Hubby and I made the mistake of waking him up so that we could go have dinner with the other side of the family. Big mistake because he was a bit cranky and I felt guilty for robbing him of the precious sleep time.

And now Timmy is sleeping and hubby and I are screen sucking. Oh and did I mention I've a headache because of the heat and not eating on time.

What have I learned today?

• You can never eat on time if you a have baby to take care of (given that you don't have a yaya like me). I stopped eating on time since I gave birth and have had a few headaches because of this....more to come
• Never wake up a sleeping baby. I always thought it was crap whenever other parents would say that they never wake up their child. I'd ask myself why? Well, now I know. Aside from the crankiness that comes with waking a sleeping baby I also felt pity for the baby. I never want anyone to wake me up from a nice deep sleep so why would you want to do it to your child?
• Family time is important. No matter how many times you argue or disagree with family members your family relationships are still important. They're there for you when you need them most and it's unconditional love at it's finest. It takes precedence over friends and other obligations. As others would say it family is family.
  

At the end of the day through all the chaos, headaches and stress what makes it all worth? Going home to great husband, a cozy home, countless blessings, family that loves you, having a little angel in heaven and hugging and smelling the sweet smell of my little timmy. Thank you Lord!

Silence

Lately, I've been doing some me time late at night after I put my baby to sleep and my hubby has also fallen into slumber land and I just realized that I'm enjoying the silence. Nobody but me is awake in the house. All I hear is the gentle buzz of the fan and the keyboard clicking. It's bliss.

After a days worth of the baby's cry, the noisy dogs and neighbors, a honking jeepney that always passes by our house in the afternoon, a barrage of cars and trucks passing by, tv blasting and after taking care of household affairs it's a simple pleasure to be alone and enjoy the silence.

This I can enjoy for at least an hour. An hour to screensuck. An hour to eat. An hour to relax in front of the tv. An hour to do what I want to do and then I head off to bed and then wake up and deal with the hustle and bustle of the day's activities.

Thank you Lord for this precious hour of silence.

Major production number

I never imagined how difficult it can be to go out with a child. I thought it was easy and simple until I went through it myself. Somebody told me that it was major production number and it really is.

The first time I went out with Timmy was for a simple dinner with daddy. The driver picked us up at the house and he drove us to where we would meet daddy. It took us about an hour to reach our destination and in that one hour I changed his nappy twice. He pooped horrendously, peed on the car seat, puked on his clothes and so had to change his onesie. All this in an hour and throw in some loud crying for background music. By the time we reached the parking lot I wanted to go home. I was tired and overwhelmed with taking care of this cute little baby.

I didn't want to stay in the car while waiting for daddy so I brought Timmy with me in a sling to go around and tried to enjoy. It was ok at first when I saw Timmy wide eyed looking at this new place but when he started crying I panicked, wanted to cry myself and decided to go back to the car. And so we stayed in the car and when it became hot he started crying. To help him a bit I turned on the aircon and fed him. We left the car after feeding for fear of carbon monoxide poisoning. In between these events I told my hubby that this was a bad idea and maybe we should just go home. After much talking I changed my mind and agreed to go on with the original plan to have dinner.

After much prayer I calmed down and went to the resto and continued to wait for my hubby. Timmy fell asleep so it was pretty easy already. I thank God I listened to my husband because we had a good time eating good food and even had energy to go around with Timmy.

It was an overwhelming and tiring experience but was all worth it to spend a nice night out with my hubby and me son.

Tim's day out

Yesterday we went to Timmy's doctor to have him checked and for a vaccine shot. It was also the day of the rally so the traffic was horrible. It took us two hours to get to our destination. But cute little Timmy was oblivious to the traffic and the hot heads in the car.

Timmy was so behaved when his doctor was giving him the vaccine. He would usually cry at the top of his lungs but yesterday it was just a small cry. Afterwards, we headed to the Fort for dinner with Daddy, Lolo and Lola. Dinner was at Pancake House and their Pan Chicken is yummy! Timmy slept through dinner (because he had his in the car) so it was an easy time for the grown ups.

The highlight of the night was grocery shopping! Don't ask me why but for some reason hubby and I love to go to the grocery. Timmy was awake the entire time we were at the grocery. He kept looking around with his big eyes and hubby and I were talking to him about things.

So how was Timmy's day out? Well, he slept most of the time but mommy had a great time :)