and the other good news is...

yes, we are pregnant again! first trimester actually has already passed and two more trimesters to go and we’re going to have another bundle of joy. =)  after a blighted ovum case and a major false alarm late last year, we decided to hold off the good news first until i’ve already passed first trimester. but i already knew we were pregnant first week of february when i missed my period and a positive pregnancy test confirmed it. i was so sigurista that i made the test three times! hahaha. i also waited for my eight week before i decided to see my ob-gyne and had an ultrasound. and boy, i was crying when i heard my baby’s heartbeat. my doctor was laughing at me when she asked why there were tears  and i answered, “kasi naman po totoo na talagang buntis ako.” hehe.

 

for all those who have guessed before--yes, it’s true... there’s another tot coming in our family! this is really another big blessing for us as we really wanted to give iñigo a sibling this year. and we didn’t wait long till our prayer was answered as we just started to try since october of last year.

 

for those whose events we missed to attend (you know who you are =)), sorry but i had an uncomfortable first trimester. i’m just glad that inspite of this, i still had an uneventful one; no bed rest is needed. but the nausea and heartburn was really forcing me to take more rests now. my lihi stage now was more maselan than during iñigo’s time. if i craved for a lot of food then it’s the opposite this time as i had aversion for food. =( it’s good that my appetite now is starting to pick up.

 

i just hope that my pregnancy will remain smooth and safe until its ninth month. a lot of people are also wishing for us to have a baby girl this time. we also do. but i realized that when you’re blessed and pregnant, to deliver a healthy and normal baby is more than enough.

his first day in his new company

...and that new company is (drum rolls please?)... shell shared service, a subsidiary of royal dutch shell--the energy and petrochemical giant.

jude was appointed as the health, safety, security, and environment (HSSE) manager of the company. so more than a transfer, jude's move to shell is also a promotion for him as he was just a rank-and-file employee in p&g. i don't mean to brag about this but i just want to tell that this is the big blessing i was talking about late last year. parallel to the offer by shell, jude was also applying for another role in his former office which could give him a better take-home pay every month. you see, we have bigger plans for this year (particularly my plan to just be a full-time sahm) and the coming years but we also need bigger funds to have those plans materialized. in short, we need more income and we really count it as a blessing when jude was headhunted for that managerial position last november and was picked among the other hopefuls. i can't help now but think that GOD is one with our plans after all. so i might as well close the issue that others don't think the same way as we do. =)

but his transfer is not that easy at all. for one month, we stressed ourselves on the transfer of jude's housing and car loans balances which we originally made with p&g. but again, GOD is so good that everything is now resolved and we just have to pay for one loan as the other will be taken cared of by what he can get from p&g for his 10 years of service. isn't it great that his transfer was just two weeks after his 10th year anniversary? GOD really is a wonderful planner, don't you think?

...and as the saying goes, "when it rains, it pours". blessings really pour on us at the start of this year as we have another answered prayer. =)

 

what's in our joy list?

i was inspired by this article by bo sanchez: http://bosanchez.ph/what-is-your-joy-list/. my other email address is subscribed to his site and once a week i get my weekly dose of inspirational stories and that one really struck a chord, which prompted me to make my own joy list here in our site. the article reminded me to be happy NO MATTER WHAT. there are lot of things that bring me down or give me a lot of stress (having no househelp or yaya is number one!) these days but the joy list helped me to consume myself instead with happy thoughts.

here now is our joy list:

1. the fact that we are all--jude, me, iñigo and our other loved ones--are all healthy is more than enough to thank GOD.

2. our stable income and the opportunities that come along our way.

3. the frequent travels and trips to different places. and i'm praying that there's more to come. =)

4. weekly family date in the mall and in hain's for pancit bijon (mababaw lang kaligayahan ko...hehe).

5. iñigo's antics, which always brings our house down.

6. friends who we miss and who are also missing us as we're missing in action for a long time now.

7. marathon, runs, biking, and other sports activities for jude.

8. dvd shows for iñigo.

9. shopping spree for me. =)

10. the afternoon walks and ballgames with iñigo along our village's roads.

11. jogging and any chance to sweat out.

12. quiet moments at night for jude and me (ops-ops, it's not what you're thinking! =) i just love the time that we talk on anything-under-the-sun when the little tot is already asleep... but it can also lead to that... haha.)

i can only think of 12 now but i'm hoping to add more.

how about you? hope you can also share your own joy list in your site. the longer the list means the more blessings you have and the more grateful you are to GOD.