Why I Love Being Pregnant

First off, I am not pregnant. I was just talking to my friend about her pregnancy and thought about my own.  Pregnancy is not just morning sickness and labor pains.  There are fun things that come along with it too!  Here are the top three reasons why i love being pregnant (aside from the coming of a new baby, of course).

1. You can eat to your hearts' content! Of course it's not the same when you have high blood or sugar problems. But generally, you can eat and not worry about gaining weight. I especially love the second trimester when the morning sickness goes away and you still don't feel the sluggishness of the last trimester. This is the best time to hit all the hotel buffets in Manila!

2. Afternoon naps are productive.  One thing my husband doesn't understand about me is that i hate sleeping in the afternoon. I feel that it's such a waste of time. Ever since I was a child, i'd always wake up feeling sad each time I take an afternoon nap. It's just so unproductive. For me, you should be productive during the day and rest only at night. But the good thing about being pregnant is that you get to sleep anytime and still be productive! You are allowing the baby to grow each time you sleep. It's an excuse to rest more, really. I love that i don't feel guilty everytime I wake up in the afternoon.

3.  You get special treatment. Dens' love language is service but when I am pregnant, he goes the extra mile!  From getting me water in the middle of the night to back massages that help me fall asleep...people are just generally more kind and caring to you even if you don't ask them to be.

I don't intend to get pregnant again but I love remisicing the fun stuff during those 9 months.  I've been pregnant three times and every experience has been different. Some pregnancies are harder than others.  But through it all, I learned that the ultimate joy of seeing your healthy baby for the first time beats any hotel buffet or back massage. That's truly irreplaceable.

How about you? What are the things you love about being pregnant? :)

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Troy's Directing Debut

Troy had a bright idea the other night. He wanted me to take some pictures of Dawn and himself using my iPhone. I didn't know what he was up to but found out later that he had a storyline in mind. So without further ado, i present to you Troy's superhero comic strip!

Spiderman on the prowl

Fighting the bad guys



Sometimes beaten but never defeated



Our lady heroin who needed a little rescuing herself



Rescued by Spiderman



On to their next crime-fighting challenge




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Blog Inspired: Writing Your Life Purpose

One Saturday in April, i found myself at the 3rd floor of Fully Booked in BGC with other women who are also passionate about writing. When i first heard about the Blog Inspired event from Martine, I became very curious. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect from the talk but I was excited.
There was a good mix of fun activities, talks from different blog experts, and Q&A. One of my favorite part was when Jamie of Optimommy talked about writing your life purpose. Life often brings us a lot of surprises.  But when you have a clear vision of where to go, then it's easier to get to your goal. Here are some tips on writing your life purpose (reference: Arnold M. Patent, the author of You Can Have It All).

(1) List two of your uniqe qualities or talents (example: writing, dancing)
(2) List two ways you enjoy expressing those qualities when interacting with others. Basically, you need to think of two action words (example: encourage, inspire)
(3) What does your perfect world look like? How is everyone interacting with everyone else? (example: a world where there is sincere love of the Lord and everyone enjoys peace and contentment.)
(4) Combine items 1 to 3 to form a statement:

Life Purpose: I will use my passion for item 1 and item 1 to item 2 and item 2 and item 2 others to create item 3.

So for my examples above, it will look something like this:

Life Purpose: I will use my passion for writing and dancing to encourage and inspire others to create a world where there is sincere love of the Lord and everyone enjoys peace and contentment.

Once you've identified your life purpose, you can now create your blog purpose. More often that not, it is a subset of your life purpose.  Think of why you want to write in the first place. Once you've set your goal, then it will be easier for you to filter out posts that are not aligned with your blog's objective. All your posts should be anchored to the unified voice that you have set for your blog.

I thought about my own blog. I write because I want to show people that God still sends us rainbows after the storm. Our dreams may have been shattered when we lost our first born, but God restored and gave us new hope. He blessed us with two beautiful children and I couldn't ask for more. I want our lives to be an encouragement to parents (and parents-to-be).  I want to let them know that life may not always be perfect but God is good. With Him there is hope.  We can always smile again.

Ready to create your life/blog purpose? Do share them with us!

Candy, me, Martine

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The Gift of Heaven

Troy and I had a pretty unusual conversation the other day.

We were watching TV in our bedroom when he suddenly asked me what hell is like. So I told him it's not a nice place. I went on to describe it based on what I know from the Bible but not in so much detail. I told him the worst part about being in hell is that you are not with the Lord. Then he said "I don't want to go to hell, mommy"  I told him he doesn't have to be afraid. I quickly reminded him of how he has already accepted Jesus into his heart (read about that here).  Then he asked  "Am I going to heaven when I'm really really really old already?"  I felt that he is too young to fully grasp the concept of mortality so I didn't want to complicate things. I just said yes.

After that, he went back to watching TV but I saw that he was tearing up. I asked if he was crying. Then he looked at me and said "mommy, i don't want to go to heaven."  This caught me offguard so I asked him what's wrong. He started to cry some more and said "I only want to stay here in the yellow house (that's what we call our house) with you and papa!" Then i started to cry. I told him not to worry about that since we will all be together in heaven when the day comes. That's the gift of eternal life.

I've always heard of 'eternal life' but I honestly didn't really appreciate the concept of living forever.  When I was young, I remember I accepted the Lord just because I didn't want to go to hell. Now that I think about it, heaven is truly a gift, isn't it? It's God's gift for us to live forever in a beautiful place with Him and our saved loved ones.

The more I think about it, the more I am amazed at God's thoughtfulness. He thought of me and all other mothers out there who dread the earthly separation that this life eventually brings. He gave us the option to have our children in heaven with us forever - we just need to share God's wonderful love with them.

Thank you, Lord, for thinking of me and my family. You continue to amaze me! I love you!

Pray with your kids and ask Jesus to come into your hearts and be the Lord of your lives. It's very simple.

Here are some FAQs about salvation http://www.kidsbibleinfo.com/article/131/topics/s/salvation.

Please feel free to leave me a note in the comments section if you have any question. You can include your mobile number or email address and I will be in touch. This is the best gift you can share with your family.

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Finding Dory in 2015!

Did you ever wonder why there hasn't been a sequel to Disney's very successful Finding Nemo? Well, wonder no more. Check out Ellen's big announcement in the video below. Yes, still in 2 years...but hey, patience is a virtue. I'm sure it will be worth the wait.

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Weekend Reminder: Have Fun!

Here is a little reminder before you go off the weekend.

We lose the joy of living in the present when we worry about the future

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