Thirty, Flirty* and Driving!

*to my husband only 🙂

Via movieposter.com

Yup, I’ve turned 30. Like Jennifer Garner’s character Jenna in one of my favorite rom-com movies, 13 Going on 30. 🙂 I’m now “Thirty, Flirty (just to my husband, of course 😉 ) and Driving!” 🙂 Driving?! 😀 Well, I learned how to drive a few months before my 30th so I consider it a success and a milestone because it means independence! 🙂 (Wait, am I 30 or 18? 😀 ). Independence from constantly bugging, pleading and using all my charm to my husband for him to drive me to some place or event I wanted to go to that he totally doesn’t care about. Places and things like bazaars and shopping and other mommyhood-related stuff. 🙂 So being able to drive is a big deal for me now that I’m 30. Haha!

Kidding aside, I, in reality, am driving to my thirtyhood: a lifestage that, for me, is a monumental chapter in someone’s life, a new leg to travel in his/her life journey. And my driving has brought me at the entry point to the next phase of adulthood where much bigger responsibilities, challenges and decisions to be made await. It’s also a “check point” to ponder on and evaluate the goals and plans one has made on his/her career, finances, lovelife among others and check them against reality. It’s an opportunity as well to revisit the path taken and contemplate on what, why and how he/she has travelled his/her way to the gates of being 30.

The pacing and speed of driving and the routes to take going to this stage of life vary and are dependent to the “driver”. Someone single may prioritize his or her career and work as hard as he/she can to speed away and reach a certain status or destination by the time he/she turns 30. Or he/she may prefer to wander around and enjoy every moment of the ride by doing the things that makes him/her happy. This can also be a stage where he/she considers financial stability as a priority to ensure a smooth travel ahead. He/she may also find thirtyhood as the dead end of singleness so the anxiety to find “the one” creeps in.

For a married person like me, entering 30 is a totally different ride. The travel is no longer just by himself/herself, there are “passengers” that accompany and they are called his/her family. The passengers/family becomes the priority. Their safety and needs are taken into a large consideration in choosing the destination and the routes to take. Major decisions on finances, children’s education, acquiring properties, settling, parenting and other huge responsibilities are carefully thought of as they would impact the entire family.

Personally, I used to be worried and anxious about turning 30. I felt that I wasn’t prepared to travel towards this age especially when it comes to the financial aspect. My savings were never enough. I spend more than I save. And looking at the timelines I’ve set to achieve my goals, I think that I’m behind schedule. When I compare myself to people I know my age, I couldn’t help but feel doubtful of my own abilities to accomplish my aspirations.

Then there’s also this mental battle in my head on whether I should quit the corporate world to focus on nurturing our little family or pursue my career to reach the goals I’ve set even when I was still single and at the same time help my husband with our finances. I wanted to get a master’s degree (but I don’t have money. haha!) and get promoted as fast as I can. (Millenial, eh? Haha! 🙂 ). But pursuing this will require me my precious time which I cannot trade because I have my own family to take care of. At the same time, I see my children grow up each day and I wonder what would their character be like had I be the one spending every moment of each day that they explore, learn and develop.

Further, the challenges and responsibilities of being a wife and a mom overwhelm me. These are lifetime jobs and I wasn’t even sure if I was doing any of them right. My heart was filled with doubts. Am I being a good wife to my husband? Am I raising my kids well? What would my kids be like when they grow up? Does my husband think I am being a good mom to my kids? Am I doing the right thing when it comes to being a wife and parenting and building a family? Thinking about the answers to these questions gives butterflies in my stomach because I can’t pause time to catch up the things I have missed and re-do those that I’ve done wrong.

The 20-something woman that I was kept on “driving” my own life bearing all these anxieties and uncertainties in my heart. But somewhere along the road, Someone hailed me and offered to take the wheel. I remembered I wasn’t alone in my journey and Jesus is there to accompany me. So I let Him drive my life and all the worries banished and were replaced with the love, comfort, peace and security from God. These sweet promises of the Lord are more than enough for me to hold on:

Via iBelieve.com

Via Joy Comes in the Morning

I’m not sure where the Lord will take me as I continue with my journey. Will I continue to be a working mom? Or leave my corporate job and become a full-time home maker? Will I be able to get a master’s degree? Have our own business? I have no idea. But one thing I’m sure of: God knows the way and for as long as He is my “driver”, I and my future are safe and secure. All I need to to do is to put my trust in Him.

I’m 30 and I face my thirtyhood with a worry-free heart full of gratefulness and joy. 🙂 I thank the Lord for the never-ending love that He constantly shows me through the years. For giving me an amazing husband who shower me with so much love. For blessing us with adorable kids who give us so much joy. For surrounding me with family and friends who love and care about me.

My 30th birthday celebration in Tagaytay with the loves of my life 🙂

Here I am! Thirty, Flirty (with disclaimer 🙂 ) and Driving! 🙂

Photo taken by my friend, Raissa on my birthday.

Our Wonderfully Imperfect Breastfeeding Journey

Let me get your imagination work and picture this: It’s nearly 12 midnight, the kids are past asleep. I rushed to my work area either to face my laptop and finish a blog post or do some online research, or finish some stuff for the home or the family (clue: DIYs? 😀 ). Or jumped to the sofa to cuddle with my hubby while watching The Walking Dead or any movie. Usually, I would consider this to be my “me” time or “us” time with hubby. Then, in the middle of doing any of these, a soft crying sound of my 18.5-month-old toddler that gets louder and louder would be heard from our room. It’s the Little Princess wanting to nurse. So I would pause whatever I’m doing, go to our bed and lay down beside my little angel as she sleepily pulls up my shirt and reaches for my breast to latch.

This happens all the time. (Except when I fall asleep with the kids while putting them to sleep. I’m even the first one to sleep at times! 🙂 ). Since my little girl was born 18.5 months ago, I’ve always been “interrupted” by her late-night nursing. I’m not complaining! Well, I admit, I take deep sighs sometimes when she begins to cry and I’m in the middle of doing my thing. I’m a human, too. 🙂 But generally I would oblige in her tiny late-night cries to breastfeed her. Because I love breastfeeding!

Breastfeeding is close to my heart. I have developed this love for breastfeeding ever since I experienced this wonderful gift with my first born. It was so beautiful — cradling my fragile little boy in my arms while giving him the best comfort and nourishment he needed. And what makes it even more amazing is the fact that despite the challenges I faced with breastfeeding — what I thought as zero milk during the first 3 days, sore nipples, engorged breasts, the “hassle” of pumping milk at work — I was able to continue nourishing my son with my precious liquid gold until he was 8 months old. He was not 100% breastfed though but I’m still happy and proud that I was able to provide him the best milk in spite of having no knowledge on breastfeeding to begin with.

Yup, you heard it right. I wasn’t prepared to breastfeed the Big Boy. When he was still in my tummy, my OB-Gyn encouraged me to breastfeed because she said that’s best for babies so I welcomed the idea. She even prescribed me with Natalac, a malunggay capsule that aids in lactation, weeks before my due date so that, according to her, I would be able to produce a lot of milk when I give birth. Then my husband, who was informed by his colleague who is a dad, told me that breastfeeding can save money from buying formula milk so we went looking for an affordable electric breastpump, a Precious Moments single electric pump, so I could pump milk. But I did not even make an effort to do my research about breastfeeding. Tsk, tsk. I know. Daddy J was even more informed than I was. So I delivered my precious baby boy with this only breastfeeding knowledge in mind: “It’s just simple. I’ll just let baby latch and that’s it. Voila! Breastfeeding!” 🙂

I hoped it was simple and easy as I thought it was. I suffered from sore nipples on the first 2 nights of breastfeeding my Big Boy. Then after his newborn screening test, the pediatrician informed through the nurse that my baby was almost getting dehydrated! What???!!! Since we were naive first time parents and we didn’t have much idea on how breastfeeding works, we decided to give the Big Boy some formula. So the mixed-feeding started and our breastfeeding ended temporarily. On the third night, milk leaked from my breasts! “Yay, I have milk!” So I tried offering my breast to my baby and he latched. Yay, again! But he slept while nursing. Hmmp. I tried pumping the following day and got a whooping 1ml! Not bad! Hahaha! But I wasn’t disheartened. I just continued latching and pumping combined with formula feeding until I was able to produce more milk.

The Big Boy only directly fed from me for 4 months because he got nipple-confused due to bottle feeding so I resorted to exclusive pumping. I went through blogs and articles online on how I can continue to give breastmilk to my baby boy while at work. I learned some techniques so I pumped every 4 to 5 hours starting 6:30am until 10pm everyday, weekdays and weekends. The Big Boy consumed my breastmilk during the day and formula at night. This went on for 8 months until I finally decided to box up and keep my breastpump in the storage because I already found it so hard and so tiring to pump milk every single day. Our breastfeeding/breastpumping journey ended there. Bittersweet memory.

Breastmilk stash I was able to build for the Big Boy when he was 5 months old. Too bad we didn’t have a breastfeeding photo *tear* 😀 (Please forgive the pixelated photo. It was taken using a low-res camera phone.)

But my breastpumping saga didn’t end just like that. It left an inspiration and motivation in my heart that if God blesses me with another child, I will try all my best to exclusively breastfeed him/her. So when I learned I was pregnant with the Little Princess, I knew I had to be ready for the battle! 🙂 How did I prepare for breastfeeding?

1. I educated myself about breastfeeding. I did my research by reading breastfeeding blogs and articles on the internet. What should I expect during the first few days of breastfeeding? I particularly focused on this early part because this is where we had a struggle when I gave birth to the Big Boy. The blog Chronicles of a Nursing Mom became one of my resources even during the Big Boy’s nursing days, in equipping myself for breastfeeding. To share some of the things I learned based on my research:

• A mother’s breasts always have milk. She just needs to let baby latch and latch and latch to stimulate milk production.
• After giving birth, a mom produces the first milk called the colostrum which contains antibodies. It is very important for a newborn baby to take this colostrum to protect his body by latching and latching and latching.
• Colostrum does not flow like the mature breastmilk but it’s there in our breasts. Don’t expect an abundant volume of white-ish milk to come out your breasts right after giving birth.
• A newborn baby’s tummy is just as small as a marble. The milk that he/she drinks from his/her mommy is enough to fill her very tiny tummy. No need for formula.

I was also planning to attend a breastfeeding seminar at The Medical City or Medela House with Daddy J to be more informed not only me but my hubby as well, but we missed the schedules.

2. I emotionally and mentally psyched myself for breastfeeding. The moment I learned we were going to have another blessing, I ingrained in my mind and in my heart that I would only offer breastmilk to my precious baby. Self-motivation is key and breastfeeding has to be taken by heart or it’s not likely to work.

3. I started looking for a breastpump.  On the 7th month of my pregnancy, I already got myself a breastpump because one, I needed a breastpump ready when I give birth for worst-case scenarios, ie., baby would need to stay at the nursery. Two, I would be coming back to work 2 months after giving birth so I had to build breastmilk stash for the Little Princess. Three, I didn’t want to be bothered about purchasing a pump once the Little Princess arrived but focus on taking care of her and the Big Boy instead. So I researched and compared on the best pump I could use especially when I get back to work. Price, durability, efficiency and double-pump functionality were the factors I considered so the options narrowed down between the two: Unimom Forte and Spectra 3. I settled for the former after a long deliberation in my mind which I got from Babymama.ph. I wasn’t so excited, huh? 🙂 I also looked for some tips on how to sustain breastfeeding while being a working mom.

 Another product of my poor camera phone, my hospital-grade double pump, Unimom Forte, fresh from Babymama (at the time the photo was taken 🙂 ). It’s still alive and kicking until now. Well, the motor. The breastkits need to be replaced as they have loosened already.

4. I prepared myself nutritionally for breastfeeding. I took Natalac malunggay capsules prescribed by my OB-Gyn weeks before my due date to aid in my lactation. I’m not sure if it really does have an effect but I wanted to be prepared given the misconception with the Big Boy that I didn’t have milk. Just wanted to make sure I would have overflowing milk by the time I give birth! Kidding! 😀

5. I made a checklist of the breastfeeding “gears” I needed to prepare and made sure they were packed inside my hospital bag. These were my breastfeeding necessities:

• Nipple Cream — Based on my experience with the Big Boy, I already had an idea how breastfeeding could hurt because of incorrect latch so I made sure I had a nipple cream inside my hospital bag with the Little Princess in case we don’t get the correct latch right away. It was a must because I didn’t want to “suffer” again. 😀 I got the Motherlove Nipple Cream which I bought online at Babyoutlet.Ph. I was supposed to get the The First Years brand since that’s what I used when I first breastfed the Big Boy and it was very effective in soothing sore nipples but I opted for Motherlove this time because it’s organic and can be used as a diaper rash cream.
• Breastpump — This is part of the contingency plan in the event that baby would need to stay at the NICU which thankfully she didn’t. I tried using my heavy-duty pump at the hospital and boy, it hurt so bad and not a single drop of milk was coming out! Colostrum phase. 🙂 So we continued direct feeding. 🙂
• Breastpads — Just in case I get leaky boobs early (assuming me 😀 ) 🙂
• Nursing bra/s — I had some from the Big Boy’s breastfeeding days so I put it also in the bag so that my breasts wouldn’t be too exposed when I nurse especially when there are visitors.
• Button-down shirt — Yes, this had to be in the list. I didn’t want to pull up my shirt when breastfeeding and show my 6-month-big-and-dark-and saggy-after-delivery tummy to anyone except my husband. 😀

Apart from being personally prepared, there were external factors that helped make my breastfeeding less difficult. First and most important, I had the full support of my husband. When I was breastfeeding our baby boy, he saw the pain I was going through because of sore nipples so my sweet hubby voluntarily bought me without my knowledge and request The First Years nipple butter at SM Baby Company to soothe my aching nipples. Awww, I was so touched! 🙂 And why wouldn’t he support my breastfeeding when he knew he wouldn’t buy cans of formula every month? Hehe! 😀 Also, remember he was the one who informed me that I could pump my milk? 🙂 I was truly blessed.

Also, the people around me were supportive of our decision to breastfeed exclusively. Being a breastfeeding mom herself, my mother-in-law encouraged me to breastfeed and always reminded me that it’s best for babies. My mom, eventhough she didn’t breastfeed me at all, never persuaded me to use formula over breastmilk. My aunt also provided a strong motivation by always telling me that breastfeeding provides the best nourishment for babies. I’m just thankful and blessed that I was surrounded by breastfeeding supporters. I didn’t have to deal with arguing and explaining why we choose to breastfeed.

It’s also a good thing that the hospital where I gave birth strictly adheres to the Unang Yakap and breastfeeding protocols that the Department of Health mandates. I experienced the “Unang Yakap” and the Little Princess was roomed in with me right when I was transferred from the recovery room and we were able to breastfeed easily. Unlike with the Big Boy, rooming in after birth was not practiced yet by the same hospital so he had to stay at the NICU for a while even if there he was delivered naturally and there were no medical findings. Therefore, I had to visit him in a wheelchair while still recovering from the stress of pushing at the delivery room and the stitches after to breastfeed him.

Being able to give birth to the Little Princess via natural spontaneous delivery also made breastfeeding easier for us. No painful operation stitches that needed to be nursed and endured so I got to focus more on breastfeeding her. Also, based on what I heard from my other mommy friends who experienced C-Section, their babies had to be left at the nursery for monitoring and most of the time ended up getting formula-fed either because the mommy is still recovering and could not breastfeed or does not have breastmilk to offer their babies since milk does not flow like a fountain during the early days of childbirth.

Let’s just pretend I was as beautiful as Emma Watson when I gave birth. 😀 (Emma Watson’s photo borrowed from Marie Claire UK). 

So wonderful nursing moments with the Little Princess began at the hospital and it was not as smooth as I expected it to be. My tiny little girl had several crying-at-the-top-of-her-lungs episodes which for some reason was much more intense at night when everybody was sleeping! My husband, though very supportive, was not as well informed and fully determined as I was to exclusively breastfeed especially during the first few days of our baby girl. Remember when the Big Boy got almost dehydrated according to the doctor? Daddy J got traumatized with that experience so he prepared a small can of formula “just in case”, he said.

When the Little Princess’ incessant wailing began, hubby constantly asked me that she might be hungry despite me telling him that she was getting milk from me. I even showed him the tiny speck of milk I squeezed from my breasts just to prove him my point. But his heart went out to her crying little princess that he insisted we give her formula just to make sure she was “getting milk”. I was too tired and restless from my 10 hours of labor plus the pushing and all while delivering our baby plus the crying of my beautiful princess that couldn’t be pacified so, I gave in. 😦 We offered her formula but she wouldn’t drink. She was just playing with the bottle’s nipple. She preferred the real milk from her mommy! 😀 So we went back to breastfeeding. 🙂

When we arrived home, milk generously began flowing from my breasts. Milk issue solved! But there was another struggle I needed to hurdle: my Big Boy in his terrible twos who was so sticky to me was fighting for my attention over his baby sister. He would cry when I cradle the Little Princess to breastfeed. I remember one afternoon when I was putting them both to sleep, the Big Boy refused to lie down and preferred to play. But when his baby sister cried wanting to nurse and I went beside her, he pulled me and began crying even harder. much harder and louder! It was like a crying contest so imagine the chaos! 😀

For the Big Boy not to feel left out with the arrival our new baby and our seemingly endless breastfeeding sessions, Daddy J and I made sure we set special time with him alone. So we brought the Big Boy with us when we go grocery shopping or run some errands or we scheduled a “date” with him. I was able to pump some milk for the Little Princess’ consumption while we were away but hubby thought we could give a few ounces of formula so that it wouldn’t go to waste. I unwillingly yielded because of exhaustion due to sleep-deprivation and the challenge of dealing with a jealous toddler. Thank goodness I was awakened from my daze and decided to put an end to those few formula-feeding instances. I was able to store enough breastmilk for the Little Princess I instructed our yaya to give breastmilk only when we go out. Hence, the formula still ended up getting wasted. No, wait, we gave the still-almost-full can to my mother-in-law for her dog so it was not really a waste. 😀 Beginning her 3rd week, the Little Princess was already formula-free! 🙂 So technically, until now, she is around 99.5% purely breastfed. 😀

Still breastfeeding at 16 months. 🙂 Taking a break from walking around Enchanted Kingdom. 🙂

Looking back at how far we have gone with our breastfeeding, I felt a tinge of regret for allowing the Little Princess to get a taste of formula when I knew I could fully provide and sustain her with my milk. I was prepared and have set my eyes on the goal but I felt I “failed”. I could have trusted my breast more. However, I realized that was just “0.5%” of the total 18.5 months that I have been giving my baby girl the best milk and it’s a waste of time to wallow in misery because of that short lapse in our breastfeeding journey. What’s more important is that the Little Princess has been exclusively breastfeeding/drinking breastmilk (meaning no formula) for wonderful 18.5 months now (well, technically, 17.75 months. haha! 🙂 ).

My breastfeeding story with my 2 kids taught me these important lessons:

1. Breastfeeding should begin at a mother’s heart. If the person who is the source of this wonderful gift does not have any willingness or motivation to breastfeed to begin with, what should we expect? A mother should have the motivation, determination and dedication to breastfeed in order for breastfeeding to succeed. If I did not take breastfeeding by heart, I wouldn’t be able to provide the best milk for the Big Boy for 8 months and the Little Princess until now.
2. It is very important to be properly informed about breastfeeding. Breastfeeding does not work for a lot of moms because they are not informed about its benefits and the things to expect and do once breastfeeding begins. Though breastfeeding is a natural thing, the availability of infant formula milk tends to take the place of breastfeeding if it is perceived to be not working and the way to combat this misapprehension is by being armed with knowledge about breastfeeding dos and don’ts.     
3. Our partner’s support is very crucial in breastfeeding success. It is specially needed when the mother feels vulnerable and wanting to give up because of the challenges of breastfeeding particularly during the first few days or weeks — sore nipples, engorged breasts, plugged milk ducts, sleep-deprivation, a newborn who wants to latch every hour, other kids to be taken care of, etc. The partner should offer any help a breastfeeding mom needs, be it reaching for a burp pad while the mom is nursing or changing baby’s nappies so that the mom can take a break or rest. But more importantly, the partner should serve as a nursing mom’s “cheerer” and motivator to keep on breastfeeding despite the odds and not resort to formula feeding.
4. Our partners should also be properly informed about breastfeeding. In order to provide full breastfeeding support, the partners should be equipped as well about breastfeeding. Had my husband known that formula milk does not answer a newborn baby’s seemingly-endless crying, he wouldn’t have considered offering it our baby in the first place. Had he also known that babies 0-6 months should not drink cow’s milk and that breastmilk is superior milk that that is all needed by a baby, he wouldn’t think twice about throwing the can of formula. Being properly informed will help our partners in giving reminders and encouragement to the breastfeeding moms.

Having told a novel-like story of my breastfeeding journey, let me share a few more things that I learned along the way on how to make breastfeeding successful especially the early days:

1. Learn how to do correct latching. Incorrect latching is usually the culprit of sore nipples which eventually lead to nursing moms using formula either to rest their aching nipples or to totally succumb to it. Attend a breastfeeding seminar. LATCH, a non-profit organization that promotes breastfeeding education and support, organizes I think a monthly or every-other-month breastfeeding seminar in partnership with The Medical City. The Medela House also holds breastfeeding talks. You can also research the internet. Kellymom.com is a complete resource about breastfeeding.
2. Let baby latch and latch and latch. Breastfeed on demand. Newborn babies love their mommies’ breasts that they want to nurse to fill their tiny tummies or simply for comfort. It’s normal for newborns to latch endlessly because they need their mommies and that’s the best way they feel secure. Just nurse baby when she wants to nurse. Don’t worry, breastfed babies don’t get overfed.
3. Look for breastfeeding support. If the people that surround you do not support your breastfeeding decision, there are online groups available that provides knowledge and encouragement to breastfeeding moms. I personally had a lot of questions when the Little Princess was a newborn (like is it normal that she is on my breast almost every hour?) and the breastfeeding group on Facebook, Breastfeeding Pinays, became my go-to support group. There is another Facebook breastfeeding support group, the Breastfeeding Philippines – Mothers, that also provides breastfeeding encouragement and support.

It took me several pauses again before I could wrap up this post. The Little Princess was calling her mommy to nurse. I don’t mind, because breastfeeding is what I committed to do until it is my beautiful toddler who tells me “It’s okay Mommy, you can finish what you are doing. I’ll go back to my good night sleep…”

Harry Potter and Hedwig Go Trick or Treating

I know people are already thinking about Christmas and here I am still posting about Halloween. Forgive me, please, because I didn’t know where I would find or (buy if I could!) time in the past couple of weeks to blog more often as I wanted to. So let me share this update with you before it totally gets stale. Better late than never! 😀

We never really celebrate Halloween even when I was a kid. We just spend it like any ordinary day though I remember during my childhood days, there were activities that some kids my age would do during Halloween or usually on the eve of November 1 like melting and molding balls of candle wax and pangangaluluwa, the Halloween version of Christmas caroling. 🙂 And watching scary episodes of a documentary show Magandang Gabi Bayan! 🙂 But other that, nothing. No costumes, no trick or treat, no candies, no parties.

But recently Halloween has grown to be huge celebration with all the pumpkins and spiders and all that spooky decorations around and is targeted among kids who are being dressed in cute (or silly) costumes to go around the neighborhood, malls or offices with a pumpkin basket in their hands asking for some candies and sweets.

Personally, I’m not an extremist in my stand as a Christian when it comes to celebrating Halloween. The creepy and gory emblems of this occasion signify its “demonic” nature — black and ghosts, scary masks and blood and all those stuff. But the way it’s being “celebrated” based on my experience does not categorically “glorify” the evil-ish things such that there are rituals that put the dark images in pedestal (that’s an extreme). It’s simply for fun for the kids and the kids at heart — unleashing our creative juices to decorate office spaces with non-spooky stuff, usually Disney and all kiddie decors, and for the kids, enjoying some sweet treats while parading in their cute costumes. I remember when I was a youth in our local church IEMELIF in my hometown, we regularly had a Halloween fellowship not to celebrate the spookiness of the season but to always remind us about the love, beauty and goodness of God amidst all the darkness around. We also had a costume contest once, of course without the scary side.

While Halloween generally appear to stand for something “dark”, I and the kids participate not to celebrate its dark nature but merely to enjoy the artistic, non-spooky decor, the cute and creative costumes and the of course, the treats. 🙂 Therefore, as far as we’re concerned, our participation in Halloween celebration is in no way related to the dark and evil. It’s a mere decoration and costume celebration and nothing else. And hey, this is the only time I can put them in costumes which I find soooo adorably cute so better take the chance! Hehe! 🙂 But I never dress up the kids in spooky, devil-ish costumes and I have never transformed into a creepy creature. I’m totally not for spooky Halloween.

Every year since I had a kid, we participate in Halloween events in my office. As what I’ve said, I enjoy transforming my kids into cutesie little thingies. 😀

Big Boy J was Shrek at his first Trick or Treat in my previous company when he was 8 months old. Adorable, isn’t he? 🙂

The Big Boy’s first Trick or Treat 🙂

I wasn’t able to prepare for his costume the following year so I just dressed him up as a pirate. He joined the Trick or Treat at his Dad’s office.

He apparently didn’t like wearing the pirate’s hat and boots. 😀

I had 2 kids to dress up last year so I had to come up with a theme! 🙂 Old MacDonald Had a Farm was an easy but cute last-minute idea. 😀

Big Boy J as the farmer, the Little Princess A at 6 months as a chick and Mommy as a babywearing nest. 🙂

Themed Halloween costumes is a must now for the two kids. This year, I had more time to think about their costumes but I had to consider the time and ease of preparing everything because I was dressing up 2 kids. I searched the internet and decided to come up with something like these:

Photo by Diary of a Crafty Lady

Photo by At Second Street

Via Diary of a Crafty Lady / At Second Street

I’m not a Harry Potter fan. Never read the book nor watched the movie. So I just relied on the internet for ideas and validated it through my office friends who read and watched Harry Potter. 🙂 Big Boy J was the Harry Potter of course, the Little Princess A was the cute Hedwig. 🙂

Don’t they look so adorable? 🙂

How did I pull off the Harry Potter themed costumes of the 2 kiddos? I had more than a week to prepare so I thought of reusing some available stuff at home, doing some DIYs and using some ready-made items. I had fun putting together their costumes! 🙂

Let’s start with Harry Potter. I listed down the HP elements that I would need. Basically the following:

• Robe
• White polo
• Gray vest
• Black pants
• Red and gold necktie
• Red and gold scarf
• Round eyeglasses
• Wand
• Broomstick
• Spell book treat bag which the idea I got from Diary of a Crafty Lady

To start everything, I asked my ever-reliable and supportive mother-in-law to help me sew the HP robe. She’s my go-to person when it comes to stitching and sewing stuff since I don’t have a sewing machine and I don’t know how to sew…yet. But I’m gonna learn soon. 🙂 I’m just so blessed that my MIL also enjoys crafting such things especially for her grandchildren. 🙂

Trying on the robe specially made by Lola with love. 🙂 As usual, I forced him to put it on. 😀

For the clothes, I pulled out of the closet the white long sleeved polo and black pants that the Big Boy wore when he became his Ninang’s ring bearer at her wedding last year. The Big Boy didn’t have a tie so I searched SM Megamall department store and fortunately found a maroon tie for only P49. 🙂 I didn’t want to spend so much on it so I just thought of putting some gold or yellow stripes by sewing or painting with a fabric pastel. I ended up keeping it as it is. And btw, a very unfortunate thing happened on the tie. I burned it while ironing! 😦 But nothing much to lose because it only costs P49 and will be hidden with a scarf anyway. 😀

Poor tie 😦 😀

I bought the gray vest also at SM for P399. I splurged on this because the Big Boy can use it in the future for casual or formal attire. The round glasses was also from SM for P149. I just asked hubby to remove the dark lenses and I don’t know how he did it. 😀 Yay, Dad had a participation in their costumes! 😀 I also got the broomstick from SM for P79. This was a serendipitous find because I was planning on DIY-ing it but realized I didn’t have resources for the materials needed.

Voila! HP glasses! 🙂

The scarf was the most challenging part for me as I couldn’t find a readily available one. I was at the Fashion Market (tiangge) section of Market! Market! and found a cheap maroon Pashmina at P100 so I decided to buy it and just do something about it. I thought of just getting a yellow or gold cloth to sew on the Pashmina and while looking for the right fabric to use, I discovered this red-and-yellow-striped-a-la FC Barcelona fabric for P180/yard. It took time before I finally made up my mind and use this instead for the scarf to save time from sewing. I also knew I can make an FCB item (a hybrid fitted cloth probably 😀 ) out of it since my husband is an FCB fan. P180 spend justified! 😀

The “FCB” fabric turned HP scarf.

I sought the help of the kids’ caregiver/yaya to handsew the scarf since I didn’t have enough time to do it myself as much as I would want to. I think I should get one soon and I’ll elaborate why later. 🙂

Next is the wand. I tried looking for a ready-made one but to no avail. So I was left with no choice but to DIY and I was surprised to find out that it was just so easy peasy to make! All I needed were chopstick, glue gun and paint which I all have and simply followed this tutorial from Micah C Micah Do that I got from Pieces by Polly. Apparently though, what I had with me were brown and silver poster paint instead of acrylic and poster paint peels on wood so I just coated it with a colorless nail polish. So chic, right? Hehe!

“Alohomora” 😀

Instead of using a pumpkin basket, I wanted the treat bag to blend with the Harry Potter theme. I borrowed the idea from Diary of a Crafty Lady and tweaked it a bit. I used a brown paper bag instead of sewing a felt cloth, and wrapped the bag with brown felt paper leaving the bottom and the right side to resemble a book. Then I printed a “Book of Spells” text I downloaded from the internet, cut the letters and glued them on the bag. I just added some stripes on the side to make it look like a book. I wanted to add some more embellishment on the “cover” but I already ran out of time.

The spell book bag big enough for lots of treats! Hehe!

And now, for Hedwig. From this inspiration, I needed the following:

• White cloth to be made into a sort of cape and sleeveless shirt/dress covered with feathers
• Crocheted white owl hat which I could easily buy online OR DIY using a white bonnet and some scrap fabric or cloth
• White long sleeves
• White leggings
• HP acceptance letter treat bag inspired also by Diary of a Crafty Lady

I discussed the idea with my MIL and I guess she got overwhelmed because admittedly, it’s quite tedious to make. 😀 I actually wanted to do it myself make it my trial project but as I mentioned, I do not have a sewing machine. But my MIL loves my kids so much that she just bought a ready-made owl cape! 🙂 It’s not white but not a big deal at all. Though I thought of hand sewing white feathers but thankfully I totally let go of that idea because probably I’m still sewing until now. I’m exaggerating of course but you get the point.

The cutie owl cape! 🙂

Btw, I was planning on being part of the kids’ costumes just like last year by babywearing the Little Princess thus, the cape design of the owl so that it will spread and cover the baby carrier. I thought of being a tree, where the owl lives obviously by simply wearing brown pants and green top and probably just sticking some leaf cutouts on my shirt. Dressing up as a cage also crossed my mind but I realized it was too ambitious so I just stuck with the tree. Haha! But come trick or treating time, I didn’t get to go around with the kiddos because I was dressed up as the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland as part of our department’s decor. Good thing I didn’t change and remained to be the Red Queen instead because I won as one of the best in costumes! Haha! 🙂 I’m not going to post a picture of me in my Red Queen costume anymore. I’m shy. Haha! No, I couldn’t find a nice shot, most are blurred so I’ll just leave to your imagination the look of a Queen of Hearts in a P29 red wig and cheap make-up. 😀

Going back to Hedwig. 😀 The owl cape problem was solved, I just needed the shirt or dress with feathers. When I was in Market! Market!’s tiangge fashion section, I saw a P50 white tank top and I immediately knew that’s what I was looking for. Also bought a yard of light gray Geena cloth at Cotton Touch in Market! Market! for P30 to use as feathers along with the old white shirts I no longer use at home. So the tracing and cutting began, then sewing them all on the white tank top. It took me 2 nights to finish the “shirt feathers”. Just the front part, take note. So I decided not to continue it to the back. The cape would cover it anyway. I knew I made the best decision not to sew the owl cape with feathers to make it white because it will take me forever! Ha!

Trace and cut then all prepared for sewing!

I partnered the shirt feathers with a pair of white leggings for P150 from SM. I discovered and I had a hunch that the tiangges have it too, in a cheaper fabric though, for only P50. Too late. 😦 Moving on, a white long sleeve shirt was also part of the plan which was supposed to serve as an inner for the shirt feathers but the best one I found after a long search had no size for the Little Princess and I find the price at P399 to be steep for its purpose. Bye bye inner shirt. Besides, the shirt feathers alone already did it’s job plus it would be too hot for the Little Princess if I added a white longsleeved shirt.

I finished it! Yay! Handsewn with love 🙂

And finally, to complete the Hedwig costume, the treat bag! 🙂 From what I learned from my research, Hedwig is Harry Potter’s messenger so I used the acceptance letter as the design for the treat bag, similar to what Diary of a Crafty Lady did. Same with the HP treat bag, I also used a paper bag, a white horizontal (or in landscape orientation) one. Then I printed on a white bond paper Harry Potter’s address using the original font used in the envelope, the 4 Privet Drive Regular, that I downloaded from 10 Digits Design. I couldn’t thank more the person who made this font because I was already at the verge of giving up finding a file that bears the Harry Potter’s address that I could enlarge and print. He was heaven sent! 😀 I pasted the address on one side of the paper bag to serve as the front side of the “envelope”. Afterwhich, I cut and glued pieces of white cartolina to form the back side of the envelope. I used a long brown envelope as a pattern. Then I printed the Hogwarts logo and the red seal and glued them to “seal” the “envelope”.

Ready to be carried by Hedwig to be filled with candies! 🙂

Here are Harry Potter and Hedwig enjoying all their treats! 🙂

Treat bags all filled with treats! 🙂

There goes our Harry Potter and Hedwig Halloween! ‘Till next year! 🙂

4 Things I’ve Learned in Our 4 Years of Marriage

This entry is supposed to be an “anniversary post” for my husband and I’s 4th wedding anniversary which we celebrated 3 weeks ago but it ended up resting in my drafts folder for weeks now because of my jam-packed October especially the second half — our company’s Family Day at Manila Ocean Park, a parenting conference at CCF, Halloween preparation in our office, DIY-ing the kids’ Halloween costumes.

Anyhow, I really need to get rid of this post from my drafts so I can move on so here it goes… 🙂

I can’t believe it’s been 4 years since Joey and I exchanged our vows and I Dos and made the eternal promise before the Lord to be together forever. Four years of living together under one roof, sharing the same bed and closet (sometimes shirts or towels 🙂 ), laughing together on silly jokes, watching latenight TV series or movies together, sharing our mostly contrasting thoughts and opinions about anything under the sun, having sporadic fights and misunderstandings, helping each other bathe and clean up and raise and discipline our 2 adorable kids, learning together what it is to become a husband or a wife and a parent and many other happy/sad/crazy/proud moments and memories I will no longer list down. So please raise your glasses with me and say cheers to our 4 years of togetherness! 🙂

Since wedding anniversaries are special and only happen once a year, I was hoping to celebrate our 4th year together, just the 2 of us, any possible way — an overnight stay in Tagaytay, a spa day away, or even just a simple dinner. I even teased J before I left for work the day of our anniversary to take me out on a date that night. Hint, Hint. No, plea. Kidding. 🙂 But reality did not meet my expectation. Later that day, J asked me if we would still go out for dinner and was insinuating that we just stay home because he still had a jetlag from his US trip and he had run out of budget for our date. Okay, this made me a little disappointed not because we couldn’t go out and have dinner together as I openly hoped for and I perfectly understand any financial-related issues, but because he was leaving the decision to me on whether we will eat out or not. To me, such matters should be handled by the husband, just like how a boyfriend plans his date with his girlfriend.

And so, the upset wifey me was thinking of how I should react. If I were the old stubborn wife that I was, I would celebrate our anniversary by myself by going to the mall and shopping while bearing a grudge on my husband. “How dare him not take me out even on a simple date on our anniversary?!” I imagine that playing in my head while doing some retail therapy for my broken heart. But the transformed, more mature wife that I am now just didn’t let the situation get into me so much to ruin the rest of my day. “Breathe in, breathe out,” I told myself. I replied with unseen elegance and poise to my husband’s SMS that we could just stay home if budget would not permit but I would have appreciated if he had told that to me point-blank without waiting for me to make the decision. I knew he sensed I was irritated even if I was trying my very best to mask my frustration. After that, I wholeheartedly accepted that we wouldn’t have a date that I have been longing for in a while. Yes, wives can be reasonably clingy and demanding, too.

I went home from work that night “heart broken” but found this lying on the bed when I entered our room! I feel like teen-er again. hehe!  🙂

Thank you, Daddy J for the pretty flowers! 🙂 Shall I smile when taking selfies? 😀

I told J what I felt about his text message and why I reacted that way and he apologized for his action. I said he owes me a date. Hehe! 🙂

Now, on a more serious note…

J and I have been married for just 4 years and there’s a whole LOT of things that we still need to learn (apart from dealing with mishaps on anniversary celebrations 😀 ) as we go on with our journey called marriage, based on the principles of God. We’re just at the beginning and we have a looonnnngggg way to go. But I thank the Lord for teaching us one at a time His design and purpose for marriage. Here are some of the important things that I personally have learned in our 4 years of marriage:

1. Marriage NEEDS Jesus as its foundation for it to grow firm and steadfast and withstand storms.
Many times I’ve heard in Sunday service messages and especially during wedding ceremonies that for marriage to become unshakable, it must be built with Jesus as its foundation. Just like our lives, it must be surrendered and entrusted to the Lord and He will be the solid Rock that will keep and hold the marriage together. To borrow Pastor Peter Tan-chi’s words on having a Christ-filled life, it will make the husband-and-wife relationship “problem or challenge proof”.

“They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.”  – Luke 6:48 (NIV)

Photo by Studio1 Photography

I couldn’t agree more with this. When I was newly married to J, everything was so fresh and novel because beginning our wedding day, I was no longer living by myself but sharing my life with another person I vowed to be with for the rest of my life. And with this entirely new life comes the happiness and excitement of being with the person I love and care about every single day, day and night, as well as the challenges and difficulties that we as a couple will face along the way.

Admittedly, however, I personally was never really prepared to be a wife and this stemmed from the fact that when I got married, my spiritual foundation was shaky. I’ve mentioned in my previous post that I had a bumpy spiritual journey that went on until my married life. When I entered a lifetime commitment with my husband, my relationship with Jesus was stagnant. I knowingly de-prioritized it, took it for granted. Therefore, I had a very difficult time adjusting to our married life. I would always end up getting frustrated because of our differences which most of the time manifested on how I treated my husband: disrespectful with no humility and intently, no submission. There were times when J and I would have a fight, I would shout at him and wouldn’t talk to him for days. I would nurture the anger with pride instead of being humble and asking for forgiveness. It was chaotic inside of me and it translated in my relationship with my husband. Not so good.

What makes everything even more challenging is the reality that J is not (yet) a Christian and therefore, we are not aligned on our goals, specifically spiritual goals for our marriage and family. I’ve hinted or even candidly mentioned about his spiritual status in my other blog posts. He has heard the gospel several times at church and I’ve also shared it with him during the early part of our dating relationship but it just became a point of debate between us so I just didn’t shove it down his throat. But I have left this burden to the mighty hands of the Lord and let Him work in the heart of my husband because I know that I cannot “force” him to have a relationship with Jesus. Only God has the power to make that miracle in his life. All I can do is to constantly pray and strive to be Christ-like through the help of the Holy Spirit and become a good testimony to my husband.

And because we put different weight on spiritual matters for our marriage and family, it became a source of disagreement and exasperation between J and I. I would like us to go to church on Sundays but he prefers to stay at home and relax (but thank God this has changed already. 🙂 ). I wanted Big Boy J to have a dedication on his first birthday but he firmly insisted on getting him baptized in a Catholic church (I had to cede on this one to avoid further disagreement between us). I prefer the kids to go to a Christian school but he prefers a Catholic one (I pray and I’m kinda positive that he can be convinced on this one 🙂 ). And some other clashing thoughts and ideas on how we are going to discipline and raise our kids, some of which are so difficult for me to accept and compromise.

Photo by Gerard Aquino

Photo by Gerard Aquino

Photos by Gerard Aquino

But with all the things we have experienced so far in our young marriage, this is the most important thing that I have learned: having Jesus at the core of a marriage is like having another “Person” — a mentor, a counselor — who is always there to guide a couple in their journey of lifetime togetherness. He will direct a husband and a wife in all aspects of their marriage starting off with their individual selves, onto their relationship as a married couple then flowing into parenthood. He will enable the couple to become humble and accepting to each other which will lead to a stronger bond that will withstand the test of time. Jesus is like a glue, a heavy-duty one, a Mighty Bond, that will bind a husband and a wife together, making them inseparable, unbreakable.

As a follower of God, it is my earnest desire for J and I’s marriage to be rock-founded on Jesus. So I always pray that God will touch J for him to open his heart and submit his life unto Jesus so that we’ll share this same aspiration for our marriage. I know how it is to be like to have Jesus in my life and I’m looking forward to sharing and enjoying this same feeling with my husband in our relationship.

2. Wives MUST submit to their husbands as commanded by God.
In our marriage, God has also spoken to me so much about my role as a wife to my husband ever since I rekindled my relationship with Jesus. I am fully aware even before J and I got married that a wife needs to submit to her husband because that is what the Bible says. Ephesians 5:22-23 reveals, “Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.” (NIV). But being fully aware is different from fully understanding and living this command of the Lord. For the first 3 and a half years of our marriage, I really had a hard time obeying the Lord in this aspect.

Photo by Studio1 Photography

Photo by Gerard Aquino

Photo by Gerard Aquino

Photo by Gerard Aquino

Photos by Studio1 Photography / Gerard Aquino

The struggle comes, first and foremost, from the fact that I am a Christian who tied the knot with a self-professed non-believer. I’m not going to tell the long story of our love and how we ended up together because it will merit a long discussion specially from my point-of-view as a Christian. But to make the long story short, right from the start, I acknowledged that the differences in our faith was going to be a concern in our relationship as husband and wife and on how we are going to raise our children. How am I supposed to submit to my husband who does not share the same faith as mine? How is he going to lead our family especially when it comes to our spirituality? How are we going to raise our kids when our perspectives on parenting come from two opposing poles?

Well, this is obviously the consequence of being “unequally yoked” with a non-believer (2 Corinthians 6:14-15), you might be thinking. I have learned to accept that and I have surrendered it to the Lord. But I think in spite of this sad truth, I still need to submit to my husband because that’s the Lord’s command. God impressed upon me through Ephesians 5:22-23 that I was not being the wife that He wants me to be to my husband if I purposely do not obey and submit to him. Despite J and I’s differences in our spiritual beliefs, I’m very grateful to the Lord that I do not experience persecution at home such that my husband would not allow me to go to church or read the Bible. In fact, J is very willing to come with us every Sunday at church and is the one who accompanies our Big Boy J to his Sunday School. Just a constant, earnest prayer and I believe God is doing something in his life. What I’m saying is for as long as my faith in Jesus is not compromised, I will continue to submit to my husband. Of course, I love my Savior more than my husband and He is the one that I will obey more than my husband.

Ever since God opened my eyes and my heart to obey this commandment of Him, I had peace in my heart, like I’m doing the right thing for the first time in our marriage. Irking and annoyance between J and I (or mostly from me? 😀 ) have reduced. There is less tension between us now. I have also learned to be more respectful of my husband which helped him become more confident in leading our family.

I’m still a work in progress when it comes to this aspect of our marriage but it’s my heart’s relentless prayer to continue to be an obedient, respectful and submissive wife after God’s own heart.

3. Spouse MUST be put first before the children.
When I became a mom, the term “unconditional love” became a real experience to me. Imagine a tiny little baby whose only way to communicate is through crying but then, you pour out all your love, time and devotion to him/her — getting all sleep-deprived, putting all his/her needs before yours — without expecting anything in return because the fact that you are doing all of those things for your child is already a joy in itself. It was wonderful and life changing.

And little by little, as I prioritize my child and devote most of my time on him, I have set aside, unintentionally, my husband. Nothing wrong with it, or so I thought, particularly when the Big Boy was still a newborn. Then he grew bigger and my unconditional love for my son even intensified, displacing my husband in the picture. My husband and I had rarely spent quality time together, just the two of us. Movie and dinner dates lessened. Romance had taken a back seat. Blame it on the postpartum hormones heightened by the physical exhaustion of middle-of-the-night feeding and diaper changing while my husband seemed to be enjoying snoozing soundly all night and didn’t even bother to wake up early in the morning to relieve me from taking care of the Big Boy (Felt the anguish? 😀 It’s over now, thank God. 🙂 ). In spite of the situation, still I thought, there was nothing wrong with it.

Until one day, I was browsing a Christian celebrity mom, Rica Peralejo’s blog and came across her blog entry about keeping quality family time. I was like, “What? Wait…” upon reading item number 1 of her post which says:

1.) Spouse comes before the children.  That while children are wonderful, we must not forget that a good marriage is of primary importance. Children cannot be the center of family, for without steady posts all will come crumbling down. Moreover, a healthy relationship between man and wife does not only benefit one another, but gives security to the brood; children need to be loved and led, and not made to be a god!

“Really? How come?” I was a bit reluctant to believe her point at first but I felt a pang of guilt. “Tugs!” right in the heart.

So I further read about the order of priority in the family according to the Bible and this was clarified to me when I saw the post of another Christian mom blogger that I follow, Joy Mendoza of Teach with Joy, about prioritizing and respecting our husbands. She stressed that doing so is an act of obedience to the Lord. Justyn Lang also made a great point in this article on A Biblical Marriage. She said that it is “normal” for mothers to spend their time and energy caring for their babies and go through this “survival” stage but it becomes a problem when this extends to post-babyhood and becomes a lifetime habit.

Another valid point was raised by Christian speaker and author Sheila Wray Gregoire in “Your Husband Trumps Your Children” on To Love, Honor and Vacuum that prioritizing and nurturing our relationship with our husbands will actually benefit our children:

The best way that you can love your kids is to love your husband. What kids want, more than anything, is to feel that their home is stable and secure. That security gives them the wings to grow and explore in safety.

Double, triple, quadruple “tugs!”. I should be dead by now.

Photo by Studio1 Photography

Photo by Studio1 Photography

Photo by Gerard Aquino

Photo by Gerard Aquino

Photos by Studio1 Photography / Gerard Aquino

The best and most reliable source, the Bible, tells in Genesis 2:24, “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. (NIV)” As Sheila Wray Gregoire pointed out, we, wives, were united as one with our husbands, not with our children and therefore, it is our husbands that we need to put first (next to God) before our children.

After learning and getting enlightened about all these, I was convicted by the Lord to revisit and change my priority from “God-Children-Husband” to “God-Husband-Children.” This was reaffirmed by Francis Kong, a well-known Christian inspirational speaker and author, when he spoke at the Counterflow Conference that J and I attended last month (will blog about it too). He opened his talk with this question: “If you are in a sinking boat and you are with your spouse and your only child, who will you save?” then referred to the same verse above. J and I had differing answers to this question, and I knew I had the correct one.

4. Marriage is an everlasting commitment between a husband and a wife. NEVER ever think of or consider ending it.
No raising of the white flag. No cutting ties. No parting of ways. No breaking of vows. No matter how mountainous the challenges you are facing as a couple. For the Lord says in Matthew 19:4-6, “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate. (NIV)”

It’s undeniably clear what the Lord wants to tell us with regards to marriage: we have no right to break the bond that He sacredly and blessedly created. Sorry but once you get married, you’re tied forever. No taking it back. 🙂

Photo by Gerard Aquino

Photos by Gerard Aquino

Further, in 1 Corinthians 7:10-11, God instructed us with this regarding marriage: “To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife. (NIV)”

This is my firm belief right from the very moment that I decided to marry my husband and I vow to follow this Lord’s command for the rest of my life. But I had a personal struggle concerning, again, my husband’s spirituality. I must admit that I was confused on how I would deal with the fact that he is not a Christ-follower. What should I do given that God says that a Christian should not be yoked together with an unbeliever? I cannot leave my husband definitely! But God showed me 1 Corinthians 7:12-13, “To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. (NIV)”

Problem solved, thank You, Lord. Even if J is not (yet) a believer, it’s not a reason for me to leave him and get out of our marriage (not that I thought of leaving him because he has not yet accepted the Christian faith). All the more that I should stay and pray for him and his salvation. And I believe that it’s also part of my role as his wife, to pray for him to experience the wonderful gift of salvation.

Photos by Gerard Aquino

Our married life journey has just begun but God has already revealed a lot about our marriage. But there is still a lot to learn and I’m looking forward to more marriage lessons that He will teach us along the way.

Happy Wives Club