Second Birthday of Maria Mikaela

Maria Mikaela at 2 years old

We just had a simple birthday celebration of our little girl.  We wanted it to be just a family thing away from stress and hassles of the preparation.  Unlike during her first birthday that we had it in the hotel after which our little girl got sick.  More than anything, we wanted still our daughter not to get used to something big everytime she will have her birthday.  It would be something that we as parents would want to learn and resist to lavishly spend and for our daughter to grow up frugal and save up for something more important and essential so that she can give and give even more.

Looking back, I saw how my little girl could not really relate with huge celebrations.  I just saw how her eyes were so amused seeing lots of guests.  But I guess she could not tell what was going on.  Everytime i think of how she responded with the previous year's birthday celebration also, still i was tempted to ignore and come up with another huge celebration.  With my very practical husband beside me, I always get to be reminded and refreshed to stay focused and simplify things for us.  Hmmm we thought of a much better use our money such as starting something for an income generating projects and activities.  For my husband delayed gratification was the learning that he passed on to me.  I like that one better than lavishly spending for now and nothing surprising or beautiful to expect at a much later time.

Discipline.  That is how I see it.  Everything at this time is focused on that goal for the family and delay in acquiring stuffs. Amen...Praise God...I am more at learning...this time in my life.  I am more at passing the same to our daughter.  Birthdays even can be celebrated well...intimate...more beautiful and focused to more essential thing...that is for rejoicing and thanking God for giving her another year of her life...after the many challenges that we had since she joined us in our family last July 28, 2012.

I believe God has provided her well.  I and my husband have a lot of reasons to rejoice and be thankful for His provisions and generosity.  Amen.  Praise the Lord:-)

Children Copy Their Moms...

Everyday from Mondays to Fridays, my daughter sees me each morning checking myself on the mirror.  I fix myself in front of her.  And just lately, she does things to herself.  She loves the mirror.  She makes face in front of it, does some peekaboo acts to herself.  climbs up and down the bed with her simple decision making skill such that what to do and how to go about going down the bed finding the exact position that would fit in her "desired" goal.  

Last night I saw her doing the same moves.  There is another thing that I observed though. I guess she was learning from the hard hit down that happened.  She tried to be more careful.  She performed such with precision and certainty.  I thought so many times that my daughter is really smart.  A less than 2 year old child thinking so hard and making such decision on how to go about things.  That in her own little world and capacity is smartness for me.  A mom like myself would shout out loud and would want to announce to the world that simple skill of her child. Oh so wonderful...Thank you God. A child so wonderfully made by Him.

Lastly, the latest that I did were the dance exercises from a downloaded Zumba video at youtube,com where my daughter simply went "wild" (hhhmmm pls dont get me wrong, it was not really that wild) dancing and dancing.  That one worried me since I have such a very slim (yet energetic) daughter but she likes so much to copy mommy.   

Hmmm I ended up with the decision to stop just to make her do the same. Huuh lesson learned.  Mommies can't just do everything in front of children. Right? whehehehe.

PS...that's the reason why I and my husband do not argue in front of her.  She would give us that look in her eyes that she felt the emotion so well...

The Sacrament of Waiting (By: Fr. James Donelan, S.J.)

The following was one of my favorites...hmmm when I was single.  I happen to browse the net for it since I was so desperate when I tried to look for the book that had it but to no avail.  Please devour:-) 

http://www.irisys.co.uk/blog/bid/58260/8-ways-to-reduce-queuing-time-in-retail-stores

The English poet John Milton wrote that those who serve only also stand and wait. I think I would go further and say that those who wait render the highest form of service. Waiting requires more discipline, more self-control and emotional maturity, more unshakable faith in our cause, more unwavering hope in the future, more sustaining love in our hearts that all the greatest deeds of deering-do go by the name of action.

Waiting is a mystery – a natural sacrament of life – there is a meaning hidden in all the times we have to wait. It must be an important mystery because there is so much waiting in our lives.

Everyday is filled with those little moments of waiting (testing our patience and our nerves, schooling us in self-control.) We wait for meals to be served, for a letter to arrive, for a friend to call or show up for a date. We wait in line at cinemas and theaters, concerts and circuses. Our airline terminals, railway stations and bus depots are great temples of waiting filled with men and women who wait in joy for the arrival of a loved one – or wait in sadness to say goodbye and give the last wave of hand. We wait for springs to come – or autumn – for the rains to begin and stop.

And we wait for ourselves to grow from childhood to maturity. We wait for those inner voices that tell us when we are ready for the next stop.

We wait for graduation, for our first job, our first promotion. We wait for success and recognition. We wait to grow up – to reach the stage where we make our own decisions. We cannot remove this waiting from our lives. It is a part of the tapestry of living – the fabric in which the threads are woven to tell the story of our lives.

Yet current philosophies would have us forget the need to wait “grab all the gusto you can get.” So reads one of America’s greatest beer ads get it now! Instant pleasure, instant transcendence. Do not wait for anything. Life is short – eat, drink and be merry because tomorrow you will die. And so they rationalize us into accepting unlicensed and irresponsible freedom – pre-marital sex and extra marital affairs – they warn against attachments and commitments – against expecting anything of anybody, or allowing them to expect anything of us – against dropping any anchors in the currents of our life that will cause us to hold and wait.

This may be the correct prescription for pleasure – but even that is fleeting and doubtful – what was it Shakespeare said about the mad pursuit of pleasure – “Past reason hunted, and once had, past reason hated.” Not if we wish to be real human beings, spirit as well as flesh, soul as well as heart, we have to learn to wait. For if we never learn to wait, we will never learn to love someone other than ourselves.

For most of all waiting means waiting for someone else. It is a mystery, brushing by our face everyday like a stray wind of leaf falling from a tree. Anyone who has loved knows how much waiting goes into it – how much waiting is important for love to grow, to flourish through a lifetime.

Why is this? Why can we not have it right now what we so desperately want and need? Why must we wait – two years, three years – and seemingly waste so much time? You might as well ask why a tree should take so long to bear fruit – the seed to flower – carbon to change to diamond.

There is no simple answer – no more than there is to life’s other demands -having to say goodbye to someone you love because either you or they have made other commitments; or because they have to grow and find the meaning of their own lives – having yourself to leave home and loved ones to find your own path – good-byes, like waiting, are also sacraments of our lives.

All we know is that growth – the budding, the flowering of love needs patient waiting. We have to give each other a time to grow. There is no way we can make someone else truly love us or we them, except through time. So we give each other that mysterious gift of waiting – of being present without asking demands and rewards. There is nothing harder to do than this. It truly tests the depth and sincerity of our love. But there is life in the gift we give.

So lovers wait for each other – until they can see things the same way or let each other freely see things in quite different ways.

There are times when lovers hurt each other and cannot regain the balance of intimacy of the way they were. They have to wait – in silence but still present to each other – until the pain subsides to an ache and then only a memory and the threads of the tapestry can be woven together again in a single love story.

What do we lose when we refuse to wait; when we try to find shortcuts through life – when we try to incubate love and rush blindly and foolishly into a commitment we are neither mature nor responsible enough to assume? We lose the hope of truly loving or of being loved. Think of all the great love stories of history and literature – isn’t it of their very essence that they are filled with this strange but common mystery – that waiting is part of the substance – the basic fabric against which the story of that true love is written.

How can we ever find either life or true love if we are too impatient to

wait for it?

***********************************

Waiting is a good thing only if something is worth waiting for.

How will you know if it’s worth it? Gut feel.

What if you don’t trust your gut? Pray. You will be enlightened. Trust me.

Is it wrong to expect while waiting? It’s not wrong, but it will increase your chances of heartbreak and disappointment if things don’t work out in the end.

Is it good to expect while waiting? It is better to HOPE.

What’s the difference between hoping and expecting? HOPING means you’re open to either side of the coin landing though you’re more inclined to believe that things will turn out well. EXPECTING means you’re thinking single-track…which won’t do you much good at all.

What’s the difference between waiting and expecting? EXPECTING is waiting for something TO DEFINITELY HAPPEN. WAITING is staying where you are, but not necessarily expecting something to happen definitely.

Do you need assurance from someone you’re waiting for while you’re waiting? Ideally, yes. But realistically, do you really want assurance from this person? It’s so easy to just point at something and make that the reason why you’re waiting (“Because she said…” “Because he told me that…”).

With WAITING, all you really can rely on are 3 things: your gut feel, your heart and mind. Just YOURSELF, not anyone else.

So should you wait? What does your gut say? How does your heart feel? What does your mind think? If they’re saying different things, keep asking yourself these 3 questions (and pray!) until you get a solid answer.

THEN you’ll know if he or she is worth waiting for.

Being A Guidance Counselor

July 2 -3, 2014 at the RELC, Lapasan CDOC "Preparing a Guidance Program"

This is something that I have not done in years that is to talk about my Guidance and Counseling Profession.    I was employed in the university - high school department doing this job for 10 years.  I got my license to legally practice as Registered Guidance Counselor in 2008.  I felt that I have thrived in the job doing the following major responsibilities:

1.  Counseling 

This is the heart of the services.  I did counseling on the daily basis.  I announce a week  before each class schedule the names of students that will be called for counseling the following week. I post 5 to 7 students on the class bulletin board.  List of names shall be inserted in the class beadle board to inform each subject teacher and to excuse them in the class for that particular period.

2. Facilitate Personality Development Workshop

I prepared training/ workshop modules for the students such as Etiquette and Social Graces, Fine Dining, Orientations, Year level bonding activities ( in partnership with the class moderators in the year level).

3.  Consultations with Parents

Parents are free to come and visit us at the Guidance office.  They can consult about their sons and daughters' status in school and on how they could follow up and support them

4.  Prepare Homeroom Guidance Modules

We prepared Homeroom activities on self- awareness, motivations, relating with others, family relations and many others.  Each year level has its own theme to take care of. Class moderators implemented the activities in all the Mondays of the month immediately after the morning's General assembly.

5.  Others

This included joining meetings, trainings and  seminars, engaging in Graduate school studies, part time teaching when some departments needed teachers, accompanied students in retreats and recollections, outings, sat in school committees, conducting psychological testings with the testing office of both high school and college department and many others as needed by the school.

Again, I stayed for 10 years in the job.  After such length of time, I resigned.  I was supposed to lead the Guidance Department as Coordinator yet i found myself inadequate.  A year after that, I resigned and thought that I will never go back to the practice. Yet, five years after, God brought me to the same practice of the profession this time doing it in one of the public schools in the city.  And a year after,  I was designated as Guidance Coordinator (this current year). 

So I thought the position that I avoided was still the same position that God wanted me to face.  This time in a much bigger school with a huge responsibilities given the heavy cases in the public school school where I am currently assigned.  

Ouch? Yes really an ouch. But I feel this time, I am more prepared and ready for the job. I thank God for the 5 - year break and formation of my person.  I am no longer afraid by God's provisions and grace to face the job.  I feel more skilled this to lead and to create and implement program. I feel more drawn towards teamwork than focusing in self achievement and glory. I feel more humble in accepting comments so that programs can be better improved. I feel that God's grace abound from where I am.  I thank the Lord God for this blessing and strength to continue in the mission of my profession - Guidance and Counseling

Mikaela's Having Her Simple Fun

This is my first time to post a video with how my daughter spends some time with herself at home.  I was just amazed at how these past few days she has been spending a lot of time in front of the mirror curious with how she looks and smiles at herself candidly.

Ten (10) Core Life Skills Plus One (1)

Oh my I just enrolled for my dissertation.  This is the last phase of my post graduate studies in Education. This one is rather the most challenging part where i will be researching on the 10 core life skills defined by the World Health Organization (this one i happen to browse over the internet and i found it to be a two thumbs up for a research in the public school where i am currently assigned.

"Life skills include psychosocial competencies and interpersonal skills that help people

make informed decisions, solve problems, think critically and creatively, communicate

effectively, build healthy relationships, empathize with others, and cope with managing

their lives in a healthy and productive manner."

What are these 10 core life skills?.  Let me share what I got from my research some most of it came from  from the World Health Organization.

1.  Self-awareness -  includes recognition of ‘self’, our character, our strengths and weaknesses, desires and dislikes. Developing self-awareness can help us to recognize when we are stressed or feel under pressure. It is often a prerequisite to effective communication and interpersonal relations, as well as for developing empathy with others.

2.  Empathy - To have a successful relationship with our loved ones and society at large, we need to understand and care about other peoples’ needs, desires and feelings. Empathy is the ability to imagine what life is like for another person.

 3.  Critical thinking - thinking is an ability to analyze information and experiences in an objective manner.  

4.  Creative Thinking -         is a novel way of seeing or doing things that is characteristic of four components – fluency (generating new ideas), flexibility (shifting perspective easily), originality (conceiving of something new), and elaboration (building on other ideas)

5.  Decision making -  helps us to deal constructively with decisions about our lives. This can have consequences for health. It can teach people how to actively make decisions about their actions in relation to healthy assessment of different options and, what effects these different decisions are likely to have.

6.  Problem-solving -   helps us to deal constructively with problems in our lives. Significant problems that are left unresolved can cause mental stress and give rise to accompanying physical strain.

7.  Interpersonal Relationship -          help us to relate in positive ways with the people we interact with. This may mean being able to make and keep friendly relationships, which can be of great importance to our mental and social well-being. It may mean keeping, good relations with family members, which are an important source of social support. It may also mean being able to end relationships constructively.

8.  Effective Communication -   means that we are able to express ourselves, both verbally and non-verbally, in ways that are appropriate to our cultures and situations. This means being able to express opinions and desires, and also needs and fears. And it may mean being able to ask for advice and help in a time of need.

9.  Coping with Emotions -       means involving recognizing emotions within us and others, being aware of how emotions influence behaviour and being able to respond to emotions appropriately. Intense emotions like anger or sadness can have negative effects on our health if we do not respond appropriately.

10.  Coping with Stress -    means recognizing the sources of stress in our lives, recognizing how this affects us, and acting in ways that help us control our levels of stress, by changing our environment or lifestyle and learning how to relax.

I was caught at how these skills would really help us thrive with the many challenges with life.  I would want to check these with the grade 7 students with hope that i would be able to respond as their Guidance counselor by creating activities that would fill in the gaps. Hmmm yahhh i know what you are thinking...I will be working on a lot of variables but...but I feel it...it can be done...By God's grace...:-)

Lastly,even if I will not include in my research Prayer...I will have to propose that 10 core life skills plus Prayer will bring it to perfection.  Prayer...can break walls and the impossible (by human assessment) to a reality and shall I say..."miracles do happen"What do you think?

PS...i will soon be writing modules enhancing life skills for our children...I pray that I would be able to deliver them well to help us in parenting our own children:-)

Does Education Really Respond to the Real Needs of Students?

http://www.stgabrielsf.com/school/images/stories/EC.jpg

How much time does schools give to completing our academic life?  Quite a long time compared to the 2 day pre cana (pre wedding) seminar given to those who will be getting married.  Let me illustrate a little why I am sharing this.  The two day seminar comprises soon-to-be parents preparation to nurturing a family and raising children.  A lot of books that i read related to building family and relationships would say that there is no school that gives us the complete package of such preparation.  Yet, i realize that parenting plays a very crucial role to the kind and "quality" of children that will some day soon will live their lives too and will become parents themselves.

Obviously, the two-day pre cana seminar cannot even answer all the needs of the couple to be able to hurdle the many different concerns and issues of married life nor will it be able to emotionally, spiritually or completely prepare them for it.  So parents will have to rely on what the school has to provide what they lack.  But when our children go to school, what the program will spend more time with will be in the academics.  They will be thrown into varied mental exercises in Mathematics, English, more time in Science.  They call these subjects as the major ones.  While the minors are appropriated less time..

Oh my, our children do this from elementary to college until they finish their courses (we adults were also formed this way right?).     So when they get a job, they would realize they fall short with the most important skills such as human relations where respect, honesty, commitment,  humility, teamwork, and many other good values that they need to be "truly" human.

In my heart, I believe true education should be responsive to the real need.  We always hear from daily news issues of corruption, killing and many different forms of human rights violations.  Still our educational system has not truly responded to it.

How about reversing our educational system or balancing our educational system such that while we give mental exercises, we also give the same and ample time for formation of values ...family values supporting our very own parents that don't have enough time to give that formation since they are at work while their children are in school. Or give training on Vocation particularly including family life in it.

After all, a lot of our children will go into married life and so when they become parents, they would be more confident to face the many challenges  confronting married individuals or formation of children.  So they won't say anymore that they were like thrown into a vast ocean with the options "swim or die".  Oh my ...  Old as I was when I got married, I still felt that way with my age, how much more with those teens that just got pregnant and call their situations "accident" and so they just have to swim or leave the responsibility of child - rearing to their own parents.

Hmmm this is something that we could reflect upon..:-)  Have a happy day everyone...God bless us all:-)

Then and Now ...at Home:-)

When i was single, i maintained a very neat small house.  When I arrived home, i felt i could just hop on the couch when i was tired and just stretched my body, breathed really deep that i sometimes dozed off to sleep.  When I woke up i  turned on the stove, heated some food at the fridge or bought food at the nearest carenderia.  I then turned ON the television set and watched some favorite programs while I ate my dinner.  After that, I delayed washing plates and allowed myself to surf the net or read some books.  I slept sometimes very late or very early when I was so tired.

I had my single life like that. But not now.  Hmmm when I get home, I would immediately see something different the moment i enter the door. Toys are everywhere, plates and glasses on the table plus a dusty floor.  The first time i realized that this time is very different, I wanted to scream since I was so tired from work and i knew that it is never the same.  Yet when i saw how my baby looks at me and my husband misses me during the day ...or it may be the other way around hahhaha.  I miss them so much.  I thought the mess is nothing compared to the fun and joy they bring in my life...

I may not have such an orderly house at the moment. But I feel overjoyed at the love and the ray of God's sun every single day despite the many challenges that I encountered:-)  Thank you dear God:-)

Praying...for Students:-)

http://www.teacherswhopray.org/your-legal-rights/

Let me share about what my friend teacher shared a while ago.  She said straight that she prayed for her students the previous day.  She has seen how her students have been bombarded by angry words from different teachers so to reverse what she wanted to do, she prayed over them. And I responded "what you did was beautiful".  

I should have added "that should be what teachers do for their students".  I was touched.  That is something that I rarely do.  I was simply reminded that when I pray, I would make it a commitment to pray for them.  This time, other than doing it silently, I will make them hear my prayers for them.

If I would do that I may influence them in the following:

1.  value prayer being a student

2.  To embrace the contents of prayer

3.  Live, commit and be true with life and being alive

...More than anything...embrace God and His power in our life.

Wow...I am being reminded through my friend to commit to prayer...to pray not only for my family and mention other people in our lives but to particularly mention ...my students...

I thank my friend Candice for dropping by at the Guidance office for such a brief beautiful sharing...:-)  God bless her wonderful ...beautiful heart:-)...Amen.

There is Light...There is Hope:-)

https://www.behance.net/gallery/154422/Light-of-Hope

I watched X-Men the other day...hmm with the permission of my dear husband.  It's one of my favorite movies ever since.  And I was able to capture the line stated by the older Charles to the younger one "Just because someone has fallen does not mean they have no chance at getting up".  I do hope i stated that right.  Why am I sharing this?  I just met four people that have become signs of God's hope for me today.

First was my professor whom i approached for the reason that i have lost all my notes and that i was full of fear i might not be able to answer the questions during my exam.  She just told me to browse the net and look into anything that i could read about the topic.  That was quite a relief since that was what i did for the past days already.  I felt so relaxed after that.  Thank you God for that expression of hope.

Second was I met one of the Canteen's staffs that i thought i accidentally talk with after years not seeing her.  She expressed that she could not have a baby.  While conversing with her, I surprised myself sharing that she could expect so much from God's provision.  "God is so generous.  The strong and deep faith of man is God's weakness. And the thing that He could not resist and could not do is to stop loving us".

Truly I said that line with deep conviction.  I felt His presence wanting to be felt by that person through me as His instrument.  I have almost forgotten being an instrument.  Hmmm that experience was a great comeback.

I met the third person when I was about to go out of the canteen.  He was asking me where I am now working and how i have been doing.  As I was answering him, I remember how swift and natural I was and the peaceful feeling that where I am is where I should be.  I strongly felt that hope and light.

I met the last person when I was about to walk out of the campus, right in front of the Chapel (place of worship).  He was my colleague in the previous school where I worked for 10 years.  It was great recalling the many sacrifices, graces and growth in ourselves despite the many challenges.

Yes there is light...there is hope.  Like Wolverine from movie X-men when he almost drowned at the end part of the movie yet was saved and ...I assume X-men series continues after that...Hmmm Light...hope ...that is how i feel right now...And i move on with head up high to the heavens...:-) Amen

Simplify...Simplify...And Refocus

Why the repetition of the title?  That is a cry from inside.  That is my greatest desire at this time.  I have so many things to do...being a wife (hmmm most neglected part...forgive me hon), mom (consumes most of my day), work (summer is almost ending and we are asked to report to work to do some cleaning and planning in school), my comprehensive exam in my post graduates studies which will happen this weekend and the following week and the writing of the dissertation research soon with perhaps some teaching load in the graduate school.  

Am I crazy? hmmm crazier? I feel choked at times.  We don't have anyone to assist us in the house and now I am doing so many things at the same time.  I remember one time when i fed my daughter, i just allowed myself to cry while she was watching her ABCD and number videos.  She might have felt my sobs in between  that she checked on me and gave me that cute grin while i stopped my sobbed and dramatically changed my facial expression into a huge grin as if nothing happened.  

I told my husband about it after that.  And i just told him that i just wanted to cry to ease out that emptiness and tiredness that i felt. within.  

While writing this, i am in the middle of the great plunge of digging my notes for my comprehensive exam.  But since writing is theraphy for me, i hop from my notes to writing.  And it SIMPLY made me relaxed...

Why am I into these things? I really trim down my engagements.  Perhaps i could postpone dissertation or just write slowly while i enjoy the greatest part of my joy and happiness...MY FAMILY.  I love my family so much.  When things get complicated, i could always trace my eyes to that part of my life that gives a lot of meaning to what i am doing at the moment.  A great inspiration at that.  I could value less the others, desire to simplify and do something about it because i have a family to take care of.  I want my heart to refocus.  And that all others in my life are just decors.  They don't really define me.  I am just me...and I have a family to go home to.  That is what I am thanking God for at the moment:-)

Dealing with My Child's Tantrums and the Different "Varieties" of Crying

google.com temper tantrum photos

I and my husband are not experts in handling the topic.  When I gave a parenting seminar, one of the questions was on dealing with tantrums.  It was so easy for me to answer that time since, it was just all readings and sharings from others such as the word...IGNORE.  

Now that our daughter Maria Mikaela has reached the stage approaching toddlerhood, she displayed some bouts of it especially during meal times or teething discomforts.  What did i do when this occurs.

I rambled too inside.  I panicked. I did not like seeing her in pain or experiencing discomforts.  Of course as a mom, i want to see my daughter well, smiling, giggling, posing her charming grin and giving me that wonderful hugs and pat on my back.  But then, she just went wild with her wailing.  When i learned and told myself not to panic, i had to observe and sense what was the discomfort all about.  I would check her diaper, temperature and if she was hungry.  If it's about teething, then i would place a gum jell to ease her pain.    If she's full, mothers can sense the difference among different tempo and pitches of the cry.  I can.  That's the wonder of it.  Thank you God.

I would start to observe manipulation when she cries and then checks on my reaction from time to time.  If she senses my panic she makes it much louder.  Oh smart girl.  I won't do anything with that.  Most of the time she stops. 

When I feel that she has been awake for much longer time, then it must be that she's sleepy so i put her to bed.  But when it is a cry of pain, even if i put her to bed she still continues to cry and so i find a way to check which is the cause or what caused her pain.

Oh mothers...mothers have gifts at sensing these things.  I feel that tantrums and other varieties of crying can be dealt with accordingly if "use" we mothers will use our "extra" sensing power. Again thank you God.

With our daughter...hhmmm i and my husband have lost our patience several times.  We did not want her hurt herself.  We explain to her that it pains us to see her in pain.  Even if in her young age she might not understand the entire conversation, we just want to communicate to her that she is loved. 

Ohh I feel that our little girl is smart.  I feel that she is listening yet she is just so "gifted" with some of those strategies that may manipulate us.  Though a lot of times, I find it cute but she can't be reinforced and pursue with such behavior.

Tough times....great learning for new parents like me and my husband.  Still there is a lot of rejoicing to being a parent.  A piece by piece to learn each single day despite this challenge.  Thank you God ...Amen.

MOTHERS’ DAY - MY LOVELY DATES and MORE:-)

May 11, 2014…mother’s day…I was at first not so motivated to go out of the house not until there was the brown out.   Hmmm we had to do something.  I and my husband decided to hear mass at the mall after which we can bring our daughter to a play house where we could roam around and play with her. 

It was kind of tough though bending our bodies and go through some passage only fitted for kids.  But still we had to accompany our daughter.  We alternated roles.  I go up with Mikaela while her dad stays down and catches her.  We did slides, rode cars, threw balls and we allowed her to explore her way and check toys which she may find new to her eyes.  She was so curious and wanted to explore more.  Yet we had to limit her time. That was her first time in that huge play room. 

From the play room, we paced through a Japanese restaurant and ate our early lunch so that we could bring Mikaela home for her solid food lunch.  We brought her milk though for an initial intake.  She cant starve while we ate our lunch.  It may be a big discomfort for all of us.

I was just so glad, everything went well.  All of us had fun yet I sensed my husband profusely sweating in the playroom for lack of airconditioner.  Yet I saw how happy he was observing our daughter tracing her steps everywhere. 

Looking at my dates – my husband Michael and MiIkaela made me feel how God has provided has so well.  I feel so blessed with having a husband that’s really a great partner in everything while I saw my daughter fulfilling such a great desire of a mom.  She is such a gift…a beautiful gift to us.  She is  the greatest symbol of God’s generosity in our life as a couple.  She taught me everything about valuing life, formation of our character as a couple including guarding our own actions / behavior for they may negatively influence her.  Things are not perfected though yet, as a mother, it is a uphill downhill and up again.  The most important thing is I never stop myself from learning despite the many flaws and faults.

Thank you God for making me a wife.  Thank you for making me a mother.  Thank you God for making things happen for me, for making me a mother to your beautiful angel by the name of MARIA MIKAELA.

HAPPY MOTHERS’ DAY TO ME….AND TO ALL MOTHERS IN THE WORLD:-)