my precious

i was singing to the Lord last night and was praising and worshiping Him when He revealed something to me...

i've always complained about how difficult pregnancy is and how i don't want to go through it again. but the Lord said to me that He made pregnancy difficult for women to appreciate how precious is the life that they carry in their womb. the Lord said, 'had I not made it painful and difficult, you would not have taken such precaution to protect what you have now. you would have taken for granted the life that you carry. because I made pregnancy difficult, you will realize that the your baby's life is so precious that you will do whatever it takes to protect her life not only while she's in your womb, but throughout her life.'

i praise God for His revelation...we tend to appreciate things better if we labored to achieve it. we are more careful to spend our hard earned money versus if it were just given to us. we appreciate a good test score when we studied hard to achieve the grade. all the more with the life that continue to grows inside of me. when the time comes and i see her and hold her in my arms for the first time, i will realize that all the pain and difficulty that i went through was worth it, for my husband and i have been blessed with our precious little daughter.

28 weeks tomorrow

tomorrow, mj will be 28 weeks. her eyes are fully formed and she has eyelashes now. she can open and close her eyes too. she should be 15 inches long and weigh about 2.5lbs. mommy's weight should continue to climb from now on (yikes!). mj has a 95% chance of surviving if she's born now---but she wont...she will stay inside her mommy until she's due. =) she will wait for her daddy to arrive.

mj's baby bag should arrive today, too! weeee!!! im excited! i hope i don't get disappointed with the bag. =)

i may have a florist for the wedding...my friend, etey, has responded to my email and he told me that jie (his girlfriend, owner of the shop) and oszie may are in touch and discussing the flowers for the wedding. yey! 1 more thing to scratch off my list. =)

chel and i were working on the template for the baby shower invitation. excited narin ako mag baby shower. =) i actually like the planning and everything. i should go into event planning but i'm to chicken to try a new career.

the wedding bug

i was bit by the wedding bug again. there's only 6 months left before the big day and there are still several details that we need to work on. im stressing a little bit.

it should be that by this time, we're all in the philippines preparing for the june 24 wedding. but my baby mj decided that she was to arrive in september and that mommy and daddy should put aside their church wedding plans and plan for her arrival instead. =) she'll be here soon and so along with with the baby plans, we are planning for the january wedding. talk about stress and time management! but we are happy that we will have little mj with us to complete our family. =)

some of the things we still need for the wedding are: flowers for the ceremony and bouquets for the ladies; gowns for bridesmaids; hair and make up stylist; wedding souvenirs; place for the rehearsal dinner; barong for paul

i am desperate to get the flowers over with. i don't know if i should go to the big name/expensive florists or settle for a local florist in cavite. i know someone who owns a flowershop...but i have my doubts about their flowers. i was told that the girlfriend of my old friend from high school owns a flowershop as well. but my friend hasn't returned my messages (maybe he hasn't gone online(?)). maybe i'll post a bulletin on friendster and see who will be helpful and respond to what i post.

gowns. the ladies in the philippines will have their gowns made there and ladies from here will buy from here. [mga barubs, we need to find someone who will make your gowns na!] i hope we accomplish this by october. i know it's several months from now, but the less i have to think about, the better. (note to self: order swatches on friday). i've already picked the potential dress for the my friends here in the states. it's now just a matter of scheduling appointments with the bridal shops and getting them at the best price possible. =)

hair and make up: i don't want to spend too much money on this because...maganda na ako! hahaha! kidding aside, (yes, i'm kidding!)...i've asked my cousin for his recommendations but he hasn't said anything to me yet. i just want someone's skill...im perfectly happy with the make up that i use, i just don't want to put make up on myself that day...i don't trust myself that much (pang everyday lang ako) plus, it's my wedding...i want to be pampered. =) i can't fix my hair so i really need a professional to do that for me. any recommendations? my budget for my own hair and make up is P5,000. does paul need make up for the wedding? hmmmm i wonder how he feels about that? hehe

souvenirs: i have to ask my sister in law to go to divisoria and canvas the best price for the souvenirs we have picked. =)

rehearsal dinner: my friend jeshan said that they went to a good chinese place in malate (has to be in manila so it's close to the pan pacific)....i hope they can email me a copy of the menu soon. =)

barong: paul has to take care of this. i don't know if he wants to start looking now or if he wants to buy his barong in january. i suggest he should start looking now, but knowing my husband, this is the least of his priorities. =)

there are so many other details that need to be decided on. so many little things that need to be purchased. i think we're going to skip the wedding planner and spend the money on other things for the wedding. we'll have to ask friends and relatives to help us to make sure everything's going smoothly. =)

the lake house

on saturday, lai, chel, t, and i went to see the lake house, the new movie starring sandra bullock and keanu reaves. it's a story of 2 people who live in a glass lake house 2 years apart and yet find a way to communicate with each other through a 'magical' mailbox right in front of their house.

the movie had a slow start...i don't want to give too much of it away and i'm too lazy to actually write a movie review. it picked up towards the middle and became more interesting. sweet love story about love.

will not watch it again though. hehe the movie left all four of us confused. and i think we all wont watch it again. maybe we will when it comes on tv. =)

new favorite song

Free by Shawn McDonald

I feel like the weight of the world is all - crashing down on me
And some how I just don’t believe this how - it is suppose to be
And all this expectation on - the way I’m suppose to live
Becomes my minds distraction - with nothing left to give

You said your burden is light and your load - is no more
You said your ways are right and in you I will soar

I want to be free - free to dance and free to sing
Free to live and love and free, oh
Free to be me

I feel like my heart is being beat - down into the ground
In you I’m longing for some peace - to be found
I know the heaviness that’s - making me cold
Is stealing my youthful soul and - making me old

You said your burden is light and your load - is no more
You said your ways are right and in you I will soar

I want to be free - free to dance and free to sing
Free to live and love and free, oh
Free to be me

this is my new favorite song. click on the link and visit shawn mcdonald's page and listen to his song 'Free'. it has a catchy beat to it and it is rising on the Christian charts. very uplifting...some of us may be going through a difficult or painful time. i hope that this song may inspire you to trust in the Lord, for He said in Matthew 11:28-30 'Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light.'

God's yoke fits us perfectly and it allows us to move and follow Him without pain or burden. It is only when we resist following His ways that it becomes difficult for us. But we should trust in the Lord that He will never lead us to harm. For His plans for us is prosperity, a good life and a good future. His is the perfect will for us, let us all learn to trust and obey the Lord Jesus Christ.

i want to be free. free to dance and free to sing. free to live and learn and free to be me. all these i find in Jesus.

another lazy day

i didn't seem to have accomplished much today. i got home from work and decided i should squeeze in some prenatal yoga to help me with my back problems. i did that for about an hour and then updated mj's baby book.
i did a little bit of dusting around my room and then just sat infront of the computer trying to google my blog. i can't google my blog!!! it doesn't show up! i never thought about googling my blog until lai said if you google "the random one" her blog is the first to appear on google. no matter what i tried, my blog never seems to pop up. and then i realized maybe my blog hasn't been getting as much hits as lai's blog and so google deemed my blog insignificant. hmmf! hehe

flipping through the channels, i chanced upon dateline nbc's interview with britney spears. she's due the same month i am, september. she's lost her collar bone too!!! her face is plump and her breasts are huge!!! hurray!!!! i am not alone!!!!! haha! i was feeling bad and sorry for myself as i remember photographs of angelina jolie in all her pregnant glory. i was asking myself, 'is that what pregnancy should look like?' angelina didn't look like she was pregnant except for her belly sticking out! and now, look at britney! a woman who looks pregnant and is pregnant! now i have a reason to feel 'not so bad' about my body. =)

as shallow as all of that sounds, it is not. women who have never been pregnant will find it difficult to understand the emotional ride that is pregnancy. but i'm hanging in there and will try to enjoy the next few weeks of pregnancy. =)

going on 27 weeks

this friday will be the start of my 3rd trimester which means, in a several weeks, baby mj will say hello to the world.

i have noticed more changes in my body. my belly definitely feels heavier. mj should be about 13 to 14 inches from head to toe and over 2 lbs now plus all the other fluids that i carry along with her. i will have about 50% more blood circulating in my system...my breasts are heavier too in preparation for breastmilk. my lower back gets tired more easily and it's harder to sleep. i woke up several times last nite just trying to change positions. pelvic/pubic bone is sore, too, because of all the weight that rests on top of it.

mj's developing her sense of hearing and her retina's beginning to form. this means she is able to hear the world outside the womb. sounds are muffled but she can still hear them. she will also be responding to light. i scheduled my 3D ultrasound for july 14 at 5:30 pm. i'm excited to see how mj looks like and take advantage of the technology. paul wouldn't be here for the ultrasound, but i will send him pictures of baby mj. i can bring up to 7 friends and family with me to the ultrasound. the session is about $115 which insurance wouldn't cover (of course!). i scheduled the appointment but i'm still not 100% sure that i'll go. if i change my mind, i'll cancel the appointment.

in about 3 weeks, we will go to ikea to buy the crib and the cabinet. i want to start fixing our room and make it as comfortable as possible. i called the kate spade store in downtown sf to check if they have the 'grand street mandy' baby bag that's on sale and i was told they didn't have it. the palo alto store has it but with the gas and time that i'll spend driving down to palo alto, i would have spent more than the shipping cost so i bought it online.

grand street mandy baby bag
grand street intersects new york's bustling soho, little italy, and chinatown neighborhoods giving the street a unique urban charm. this inspired the form, function, and style apparent in this group. the mandy is a rectangular messenger bag featuring one zippered interior pocket, two slide pockets, and an oversized changing pad. sleek nylon with smooth cowhide leather trim and a wipeable signature larabee dot lining.