Monday, May 30, 2011

Angle In Disguise

Yeps you read right, "Angle." Because right now, it's all in the right angles for me. I still have to shed off a few more pounds before I can claim I have 're-gained' my pre-pregnant body. I've been getting a lot of [photo] comments lately that I look thin now and that I look like I hadn't given birth at all. Well I better be, it's been a year and a half since. But really, I still have all the signs that I ballooned so much when I was pregnant and I still haven't lost the baby belly. Not too mention the stretch marks everywhere... >.<

I have never been this weight conscious before. In fact I didn't monitor my weight pre, during or post-partum. I don't remember how much I have gained when I became pregnant because I didn't know my pre-pregnant weight. I have yet to consult my pre-natal check-up records. It says there I weighed 60kg when I was 2 months pregnant. Last check-up record says, I weighed a whooping 75 kg.

About 2 mos preggo.
3rd month..
4th obviously... The hips! Look!
5th. Yipes getting BIG!
6th. The cheeks!
7th. In full BOOM!
8th. HUGE!
HUUUGE!
9th. Enormous me!!!!!
>.< Looking at these pictures now I want to go back in time and smack my pregnant self in my big fat ass! What was I thinking? I remember indulging in sweets, sodas and carbs! Imagine I could finish an entire medium-sized loaf of bread? Urgggh! I couldn't help it really. I was so hungry all the time and since I got so huge, I hardly moved around and so I got little exercise. I always had the excuse that hey I'm pregnant, maybe the baby is hungry. But there was this knowing voice that reminded me that even though I was eating for two, the other one is just a tiny being that has little caloric needs. I hushed the voice and just continued stuffing my face to my heart's content. And so I got so freaking huge! And because I gained so much than I should and gained them fast, I had stretch marks everywhere. :(

I got conscious of my weight after giving birth since everyone was saying how fat I became. But I didn't really do anything about it. I don't really watch what I eat. Maybe sometimes, but most of the time, no. I don't go to the gym. And no I don't drink pills that promises to help me lose weight. (Breastfeeding Roand helped I guess). It's been a year and a half and yes I had shed off most of  my pregnancy weight, and people now would ask me, what did I do? Nothing really. It's just that my son, who finally learned how to walk, run, jump, climb, is hyper most of the time. And looking and running after him, had been a workout for me I guess. But because I really don't tone, I still bulge in all the wrong places. Thus the odd shape, and what's left of my baby bump is still bulging stubbornly.
My transition from 2 days post-partum, to 6mos. post-partum, to 13mos. post-partum. :)

So what do I do? You guessed it... "Angle in disguise." Like so...

If you look closer, you can see my stubborn post-preggy belly. >.<

Friday, May 27, 2011

In Memory of the Nameless Nikon D40


I've always wanted to try my hands in photography ever since my husband gifted me with a Nikon D40 back when he was still my boyfriend. Also, I was inspired by the local photographers and photography hobbyists that I personally know. Such talented self-taught photographers. Like the two 'Marrianes' - Maryanee and Ferina, that I have followed, and stalked for the longest time, and now they are making a name for themselves in the world of photography. I also envy the fact that they get paid while doing the job they really love, and continue to amaze and inspire people like me. I'm not really into making a career out of it, but I just want to make really good photos, photos that tell a story.

 I guess it's also my way to know if I have talents hidden somewhere, waiting to be discovered. I'm still trying to do just that, when my camera decided to give up on me. I still haven't mastered handling a dslr. I was too lazy to read the manual, tutorials etc. I would always conceptualize in my mind but seldom execute them, thinking I can do them some other time. Most of the time, I lack the confidence and the enthusiasm, thinking I might be frustrated if I can't achieve what I had in mind. And so the camera gave up.  And we have no money yet to resurrect it. :( And now I feel it's loss, and how it's a part of my life. It's been there, capturing photos and memories during our wedding day, when our baby was born, and while he grew up. I may be a little exaggerated but I really miss my camera. And now it's gone. :( I feel bad that I took it for granted, not really taking good care of it. And I didn't even give it a name. :( 

Until we 'meet' again my nameless Nikon D40.


I can't seem to find a decent picture of me and the cam....... 



my poser husband hahaha!


Monday, May 23, 2011

Today's Catch


Meet Percy!!! Why Percy? Because it's the pers fishy I 'caught' from the crane machine at Tom's World. My first time to actually win a plush toy from the arcade crane machines! I swear it was one momentous moment for me hahaha! I felt like I conquered the world of crane machines muhahaha!

I don't know, I guess having a kid makes you feel like a kid all over again huh?. I was carrying my baby boy (for good luck) when I was trying to catch Percy. And we did! I think I was even happier than Roand when I got the prize. ;) Although the little boy probably sensed the excitement because he beamed with pride when I handed him the toy.

Happy days!

Friday, May 20, 2011

Rac's Star

About the title: Rac - that would be me. A nickname I coined myself when I was still in grade school. It's actually my initials backwards. Yeah yeah, CAR would be my initials. Not as cool as RAC don't you think? Eh? And yes, I think Rac is C oo L. <--- That's an emoticon btw. *insert sheepish grin*

Years later, I met Mac - now my husband, and together, we are... tentenen tenenenentenen..... Mac & Rac. Tadah! 

What about the star? Now that's going to be my story. ;) It's about a star who heard me pray. It's about my star. Rac's star!

So once upon a time, before I became Mrs. Lucky, there was this one night, a bit emotional, I went out in our yard, grabbed a chair and watched the sky. Why was I being emotional? Because I was thinking about the coming days. I was contemplating about the upcoming big event in my life. I was thinking and thinking if I was ready. If it was my destiny. If the man I'm marrying is my destiny. I was actually having cold feet. Why was I being doubtful? Because my husband - then boyfriend, and I didn't exactly have the best of relationships. We had a lot of petty quarrels, really big fights, broke up several times, broke each other's heart several times. And we're going to marry each other? Was it the right decision? Would it end the petty quarrels, the big fights? Does that mean we're not going to break each other's heart anymore? What if it still didn't work out? What if we won't be happy with each other? What if he was bound to meet another and I was bound to meet another too? I had too many what if's running in my mind. I had too many negative thoughts that I was breaking my own heart. And for what? For being scared? For being unsure? For being doubtful? My head was clouded with confusion and uncertainty that I decided to clear my mind. And so I watched the sky, 

As I looked up the dark sky, I began to pray. I prayed for enlightenment. I prayed for guidance. And while I'm at it, I prayed the heavens for a sign. Not just any sign. I asked for a very specific one - a shooting star that would mean Mac and I were really meant for each other. And there it was, after I ended my sentence with please, a star darting across the heavens, answering my prayer almost instantly. I swear, for a moment my jaw dropped! It was like a big YES was written in the sky and I couldn't believe my eyes... I was shocked really. Then the rush of inexplicable overwhelming feelings. Suddenly I believed. All my woes disappeared. And then I remembered why Mac and I wanted to marry in the first place. I remembered how no matter what happened in our past, we've always made it as we had the past few years. That despite the petty quarrels and big fights, we still can't live without each other. That despite the heartaches we caused each other, we still need each other to mend and heal. Because no matter how much we called it quits, we still can't move on and we still find our way back to each other. We finally knocked each other's head and cut the chase to seal the deal. That I am his, and he is mine. To annoy and love, now and forever.

Thanks to a shooting star that decided to fall just to answer my prayer. I didn't really need that. I just needed to remember. But thanks Rac's star! You're super! (Which makes you... a super star!)

I wish I could say this picture was taken that same night.
Click for larger view. ;)

Thursday, May 19, 2011

I Think I Wanna Marry You... Again!


Before my husband and I tied the knots (on each other's neck...kidding!), I asked him why do people marry, when I meant to ask, why he wanted to marry me. Needless to say, I didn't get the answer I wanted to hear because I didn't ask the right question.  So I asked him again, after 2 years of being married. and here's what he said... ;)

12 reasons why I married you: 
  1. I love you 
  2. you bring out the new me 
  3. you make life so easy
  4. cant live without you 
  5. "be the mom of my first baby" 
  6. I already knew that you are going to be my wife the 1st time I saw you.=D 
  7. you look like "Geneva Cruz" and you became my "thrasher baby," my "worst enemy," my best friend, my lover, my girlfriend, my teacher .ehem. 
  8. you were 'easy to get' and I like it..hahaha.. but you have your own reason. soobrang bumilib ako sa about courtship na sinabe mo "hindi titigil ang courtship kahit magasawa na tau" 
  9. 1st time ko nga agkaryo to ask for your number, gumawa ng way to get your number, to ask you out, and ask you to be my girlfriend kahit sooobrang nanginginig na ko and I need my investment back..lol 
  10. I believe in shooting stars 
  11. you believe in me 
  12. you taught me how to love you again and again and again with no end. "I'll never go far away from you."
Sometimes we need to ask the right questions to get the right answers. So I finally got the answers I wanted, and more. 2 years late, but like what they say, "Better late than never."


Taken inside a calesa in Vigan.
03/06/09




Dear Husband,

You still owe me one engrandeng simpleng wedding of the year. ;)

L♥ve,
The mom of your first baby. And future second baby. AND all your babies. 

PS.
I'm still quite doubtful about number 3. ;)

Monday, May 16, 2011

Alien No More

Nov. 28, 2009. 8:22 AM

This is my all-time favorite picture of my Roand. Taken 9 hours after he was born. See how he doesn't look like an alien now? He looks so...soft, so handsome, so innocent. He smelled of the freshest most innocent sweet scent that I wish I could keep in a bottle. I would stare at him then and smell him and stare at him. And fall in love with him. I didn't want to kiss him yet then, or carry him. I just wanted to stare at him. He looked so peaceful that I was scared I'd disturb that. He looked so peaceful I almost forgot the pain I went through in bringing him out to this world. And so I just watched him. And as I did, I felt all sorts of emotions that I can't explain. I felt overwhelmed with love and happiness, at the same time I was sad that his father couldn't see what I was seeing then. I felt scared. I suddenly felt unsure. I felt worried. Of what? I wasn't sure. But looking at him, something seemed to wash away all my worries and questions. Then I was left with feelings of extreme happiness, pride and love.

That day, I felt I was born too. I felt anew. I felt I was given a second chance to make things right. This  tiny new life gave me a new one back.

Why? Does He Look Like an Alien?

Who does? My baby boy that's who...! That was actually my exact first thought the first time we met. Sometime in between me still moaning from the pain of afterbirth and the OB-GYNE excavating the insides of my uterus for left-over placenta fragments, blood clots and whatever, the nurse showed me my first-born. She held my little boy to my cringing face and said "Here's your baby mommy!" I gulped, suddenly feeling numb of all the pain, and said to myself... "Why does he look like an alien?"  It was a brief moment but I remember well how he looked. He was all wrinkly and his head was sort of cone-shaped which I think was my fault because I didn't push well. He held up his tiny tiny wrinkly hands that looked a little like a crooked old man's hands having a seizure. His cheeks were swollen, his eyes were puffy... from crying maybe? He drew his brows, wrinkled his forehead and curiously peered and blinked repeatedly as if the light hurt his eyes, and he looked a little cross-eyed as he tried to focus his eyes.

Then as if in slow-motion, our eyes met, I instantly felt the connection. Then I choked, he was the most beautiful baby alien I have ever seen.

My husband, who was out of the country,
called hours after I gave birth.
His first question was, "Kumpleto ba?"

Monday, May 9, 2011

How's Your Day Mom?

{repost from my fb account}

So it's mother's day and it's supposed to be my day because of the obvious reason that I gave birth to a baby boy named Roand Gwapo (and lived to tell the tale). Does that make me a mother? But of course YES! Because I let my body morph to accomodate a demanding fetus, not to mention the spiderwebs on my tummy and legs that I still have to remind me of how much I had morphed; Because I took all the prenatal vits. and milk even when it made me gag because I knew it was for the baby; Because I gave up my unhealthy habits to make sure the baby's own health won't be jeopardized; Because I would talk to my baby and play with him even when he was still in my womb; Because I prayed each night thanking the heavens for the tiny blessing and that Roand would be a healthy baby. 

But being a mother doesn't stop there. It was just the beginning. After I gave birth and after the ordeal I went through, I thought I was ready for anything - the sleepless nights, the explosive diapers and projectile urine, doing the laundry, feeding the baby, the endless game of picking up toys,  etc etc. I was... I really was. And so the first year of motherhood went quite okay, and I did good, if I may say so myself. 

But lately, I realized, things doesn't get easier in motherhood. My real troubles as a mother began when Roand learned to walk, to climb, to go down from the bed, to jump, to run, to throw tantrums, and that there's a whole wide world for him to explore. He is more than ready to do that and I wasn't. I am not. He's a brave, strongheaded little one who wouldn't take no for an answer but loves to say "No!" I know for a fact that toddlers go through this phase but no matter how much information I have about it, I still wasn't ready.

I can't help but miss the quiet times when he was little-er. As a baby, he hardly ever cries, (but drools a lot), he was contented in his playpen, he eats anything I give him (and everything I don't). Now everything went topsy-turvy. He would cry quite loudly when he gets frustrated, (still drools a lot), he doesn't want to get stuck in one place, and he doesn't seem to like anything that I feed him (but likes everything I don't give him like the 25 cents he found in a corner). He climbs up and down chairs, beds, and basically anything he could climb. Although I'm proud that he's really brave to do so, sometimes I wish he was scared to even try. I can't be on guard all the time, and he hates it when I'm hovering by his side all the time that he literally rans away from me, and so the inevitable bruises and bumps here and there. And me scolding almost evey minute to remind him not to play with the water dispenser, to stay away from the electricfan, not to play with plugs, to stop putting things in his mouth, to go down from the chair, to stop licking the mirror, to please eat his meal, to sit on his potty when he goes number 2, to put down the puppy and leave the puppy alone (I don't know why but he wants to put the puppy into the dustpan using a broom and if he can't, he'll carry the poor pup and drop it into the dustpan)... I swear this little kiddo drives me to my wits' end. Sometimes I would wonder, how am I surviving each day? And when I look at Roand sleeping peacefully, I still feel my heart well up and fall in love with him again, I would know why.

And I would remember, the day didn't go that  bad, not at all. In fact today, despite the fact that Roand is being his kulit self, we had our moments. 

-This morning, it was raining and Roand and I watched the rain and tried to catch raindrops then he decided to go down and play in the rain, and so I said no, cue for a tantrum. So I brought him to our room to let him cry some more while explaining why he can't play in the rain. He was still crying when I went to the window and watched the rain. He stopped and asked me to carry him. And so we were both watching the rain when I rested my head on the window... Roand peered and looked at me and pulled my head from the window as if telling me not to be sad anymore (I don't know, I felt sad). Then he smiled at me, so I smiled back. Then we just giggled and laughed.

-Late afternoon, as usual Roand was being hyper and all so I decided to take him out on a walk . We just walked around the block, holding hands. He just walked with me, didn't run or anything, just held on to my hand. Then when we reached our Aunt's house, he pulled me to the mini-garden and sat there. So we just sat there briefly and watched the sky. Then we walked again, hand in hand.

And then he was back to being hyper and remembered to throw a tantrum of course.

Happy mother's day to me... ;-*




And happy mother's day to all other mommies! How did your day go mom? =D