Counting Our Blessings

As promised in my last post, this post is about counting my blessings. It is always good to count our blessings, name them one by one and see what God has done (lyrics of a song). I know I’ve got more to count but as greatness comes in three, I’ll just write down the greatest three blessings we’ve received this year…

Brothers Reunited

My brothers-in-law have come for a 3-week visit and we’ve been busy showing them around North Island. Luckily, they’re like Ronnel and me – homebodies and just happy spending time with each other, playing xbox and Wii, pigging out with good food and watching movies at home. So we don’t really need to go to lengths of showing them the whole of NZ. My workmates tease me that we’ve migrated to the wrong country if we just like spending time at home. Yup, we’re not into trekking, mountain climbing, kayaking or anything adventurous and we don’t want to force ourselves to do things that we’re not just into. As long as we’re happy, we’re good. Speaking of happy, I’m happy to see Ronnel so happy – it’s been a while since he’s bonded with his brothers. It’s so unusual to have boisterous loud boy laughter resonating in our home, times three!

Bonus Ipad 2!

Ronnel promised me an Ipad (or an Iconia or anything that I can watch my kdramas with lying down) as a Christmas+Anniversary+Valentines+Birthday combo gift. So on March 25, when the Ipad2 was launched in Wellington, I told my boss that I’ll be off in the afternoon to queue up in Yoobee (Apple store). I started queuing at 1pm when the Ipad was to be launched at 5pm – yup, I am that techno-addict (remember us queue up for the Wii?). Little did I know that there were several people from work trying to contact me. I looked at my phone which had 20 missed calls, and a workmate even went all the way to Yoobee to look for me (Thanks Shiffy!) just to tell me to pick up my phone. And so I did, and in the other line was my boss’ boss asking me to come back to work. I told him I was in queue for an Ipad and he quickly told me to step out of the line. My first thoughts were, “Why? What have I done wrong?” I only asked him, “Why?” and he said, it was because I won an Ipad2 in an idea competition I joined a week ago! Yay!

Big Sister Aqui

And the biggest blessing – we’re expecting! (This reminds me of a week ago when I finally told my workmates I was expecting and one of them asked, “Expecting what?” which brought laughter to the whole team.)

Aqui is going to be a big sister soon. Ronnel is hoping and I’m guessing it’s a boy because this pregnancy is so much more difficult than when I had Aqui. I’m fifteen weeks now (due October 22) and still suffering from all-day sickness and fatigue. All in all, the baby’s healthy and quite active too. We’ve had two scans now and in both scans, little one has been jumping up and down. We’re waiting for the 20^th week scan to find out the gender and so that we can prepare baby stuff as well.

I know there are still so much more blessings to count and so much more to come. Thank you Lord!

Birthday Blessings

Another year has gone and every birthday I’ve had since I hit 25, I go into a reflective mood. Maybe it’s an aging thing. This year was another year of blessings; could even be a peak year for me and Ronnel --definitely the highest point in my life so far, which is so contrasting to seven years ago. That was the time where Ronnel got into that horrible accident and on top of that had to endure horrendous rumors about us.

Come to think of it, my life pre New Zealand was really different. Sure I had great friends but alongside I made bad enemies but it never really bothered me because I always believed in what Aristotle said about the antidote for fifty enemies is one true friend. But lately I’ve been thinking, why take the poison in the first place? I guess looking back, I stupidly took the poison myself without realising it. My only excuse was I didn’t know better. You see, I’ve been brought up in an environment where if you think you’re right, stand up for yourself and don’t let anybody block your way. More often than not, I saw things black and white-- there were no grey areas, and I couldn’t help myself and just have to make those grey areas either black or white. Ronnel calls it my Hero complex, that I think it's on my shoulders to do something to make things right. And of course because I’m no hero, I get into trouble and just make enemies out of friends. I think Ronnel is just being nice when he said that, the truth is, I’m just meddlesome. And yeah, I point it out when I think someone’s wrong... And whoever wants to admit he is wrong? More importantly, who am I to think about others faults when I have done so many wrongs in my life? I’ve come to realise this and gradually became a different person. I want to say I’m better but I don’t want to jinx it yet. And yes, God had a great role in my acceptance of this truth. It is arrogance for me to say that all the achievements we’ve had these years is due to our hard work. It was never just because of that. He always had a hand in everything. Even at our lowest point, He was there. It was then I realised how helpless we are without Him, that at any point in time, life could end...or start anew. So yeah, I’m happy to say for the past six years here in NZ, I’m enemy-free. I don’t claim to be good friends with everyone but I make a conscious effort to watch what I say or do, even think. If I ever feel to wear my hero costume, I say a little prayer in my head to remind myself that I’m not perfect and I’m definitely no hero. And I think this holy week, I will make it an effort to track down people I have hurt to just say sorry. No expectations. Just ask forgiveness for my sheer stupidity.

And gradually, because I’m no longer pre-occupied with illusions of saving the world, I got to count my blessings. I got into more productive stuff. I built lasting relationships. I saw people who were like me before and just prayed for them. Another realisation I had was, if I were the old me, I would have gone to them saying what they are doing is wrong. But that’s the thing, for people like the “me” before, we are never wrong, and that’s why it always goes downhill from there. So the best thing to do is just pray for them. I find that God has a way of taking care of things. The less I meddle, the less words I say, the less hero thoughts I think, the more faith I have in him.

One annoying thing that I know I haven’t gotten rid of, but I’ve definitely mellowed down I think, is my habit of correcting someone else’s grammar. It was payback time for me when Ronnel pointed out my status post in Facebook was grammatically incorrect. At first I couldn’t believe it, me? But it wasn’t the first time-- at work, someone noticed a grammatical slip I made. So yeah I admit that my vigilance for perfecting my non native tongue has slipped a bit. I guess before I always thought that impeccable grammar was end-all and be-all especially since my first course in UP was Speech and Drama. How ironic that my English has gone worse when I am in an English speaking nation. But really, I think I need to brush up on my grammar, I need to write more. I always said before to Ronnel that if we had kids, he'd teach them Math and Science while I do English. I need to pick up my game if I don’t want Aqui correcting my grammar when she grows up. Hmm, come to think of it, my sister has asked me to do a couple of English essays for her school work and a friend asked me to write an article for a local newsletter. Wow, everything is just falling into place. PS: I checked this entry for grammar so hope I didn’t miss anything – if I did, let me know. J

So yeah, another year of blessings has gone, and I know there are more to come. I ask Ronnel that what if this is it, like we are being blessed so much this year in preparation for a time where everything will be taken away from us. Ronnel just keeps on reminding me to have faith, to remember our lowest days, because all days after that are better days.

PS – I’ve got bonus blessings to share on my next post so watch this space.

In the meantime, here are some photos of my colleagues and me having our International Lunch Potluck.

Indian Lamb Curry Paua Fritters

Kiwi Slice Chinese Stir Fry Noodles

My Puto Pandan & Fried Rice Stir Fry Lamb

Blog Revival

My bestfriend Marj has been bugging oops encouraging me to blog again and it is three in the morning and I couldn’t sleep so here goes....

It’s been a while and I think my last blog entry was when before we went back to the Philippines for Aqui’s first birthday. She is turning two in two months so that’s quite a while. I’ll skip the Philippine trip since that on its own is a whole blog.

What I want to talk about is the recent quakes, tsunamis and end of the world rumours going around and how it has affected us.

On the surface, it has no effect really. Life goes on. It has been doubly busy at work with project implementations and deadlines. But once in a while you get little reality checks on some things we take for granted. Last week, a colleague from Christchurch came and sat with me in preparation for the project delivery and she said how relieved she was to be able to take a shower as it was the first since the quake there. We had a nice lunch and she said it’s just what she needed. It made me realise how valuable the things that we just treat so lightly here and you only find out when it’s taken away from you. I know that. I mean I know the concept but when someone across the table tells you these, it becomes a different level.

Another reality check is when we had that 10 pm earthquake in Wellington. Aqui and I were in the living room and my first and only instinct was to grab her and hug her. My thoughts were if this was it, at least I still got to hug her. Only after the quake did I think that I should have ran for the survival kit or went under a table or something. I’m comforting myself thinking that if it had gone longer I would have done that. What struck me that time was at the end of the day, nothing else really matters. All our possessions, achievements and plans of greatness don’t matter. When it’s your time, it’s your time. Something like that final destination movie (Parts 1, 2 or 3), however hard u try to escape it, if it’s your time, it just is. So I guess what really matters is that moment when you’re in front of your Maker. When you’re asked, and I believe that we will all be asked this question, “What have you done for me lately?”.

So where was Ronnel when I was having all these dramatic reflections? Well during the Welly quake, he was sleeping. And the japan tsunami, he was playing Xbox. While I was preparing our survival kit, he was thinking of where to get Aqui a dora costume for the dora concert we’re attending in two weeks. His nonchalance annoyed me so I asked him if he wasn’t worried. And his response was, “Because I have faith.” I was Martha and he was Mary. Another great revelation for why we’re so good together.

Food Art and Stuff

On a lighter note, I’ve been practicing some food art to encourage Aqui to eat more. I really don’t have to because she eats like a horse, well like a pony, really. Anyway, I’ve done Elmo sushi and Dora onigiri. Last night, I made some fish and car shaped boiled eggs and Dora mashed potatoes with cone jellos on the side. Aqui zeroed in on the jello and just poked Dora around. She wanted a whole apple instead of the Hello Kitty and star shaped ones. So Ronnel ended up eating Aqui’s dinner. For breakfast, we had puppy/piggy fried rice with longganisa (pork/chicken sausage) and Mango salsa. Aqui opted for cornflakes. I take it that she thinks the food is too nice to look at to eat.

Better Late than never....

It's been a while, hasn't it? My bestfriend from the Philippines has kindly reminded me of my commitment (or lack thereof) to blog...

Anyway, thanks to Facebook, I've been updating friends and families of Aqui's progress through photo uploads and status updates. But it's just not the same, I suppose. Work has been a time-eater as well but Ronnel and I have developed clockwork rhythm of juggling work, sleep (what sleep?), Aqui-feed/sleep/play/study time and still be able to catch up with the latest adventures of Jack Bauer.

So what's this clockwork rhythm all about?
Simple really, we have learned to adapt to Aqui's schedule. When she wakes up, we are up too. While one of us takes a shower, the other eats breakfast and then switch places while Aqui plays on the background. We learned what makes Aqui tick and (I) have given up pushing Hello Kitty and just gave in to the powers of Elmo and Dora. Now, Ronnel and I can sing the Elmo song and sing with the Map in Dora the Explorer. We learned that standards are relative - that no matter how we train Aqui to sleep in her cot or eat in her chair, nothing beats seeing her squealing happily because we have given in to her whims. And it pays off, she's active, she's happy and now, she's even walking! In the end, we are less stressed, we sleep more and we laugh more.


Here's Aqui with her first baby steps:

A REAR Christmas

Back to Work
After seven months of full-on full-time Aqui-entertainment, I'm whisked back to the reality of work. I was a bit surprised to find myself enjoying work. I feel a bit guilty for enjoying my time at work but I just don't think I'm cut out for full time motherhood -- and I have the utmost respect and awe to those who are. I miss Aqui every minute I'm at work but as Ronnel said, we are more motivated to work now - more than ever- because everything we do from hereon is for Aqui. Work means so much more now than just personal fulfillment. Nevertheless, the first days were a challenge not only for me but for Aqui too. She hasn't adapted quite yet to the fact that I'm no longer available 24/7 especially now that she's in the more-than-clingy-than-clingwrap stage. But after a few weeks, she got better.

First REAR* Christmas
We've prepared as much as we can for Aqui's first Christmas. We've had our family Christmas cards made (for free from Vistaprint - haha, they should pay me for this), had our Christmas tree up early, bought most gifts online to avoid the shopping rush and exposed Aqui to the Christmas spirit early. I'm sure she would have no recollection of this when she grows up but I'd like to think she enjoyed her first Christmas. We spent it with friends who we consider our family here in NZ.
*REAR - Ronnel, Einge, Aqui Rodriguez







Christmas Wishes
I posted my gratitude to Ronnel in Facebook - for making all my Christmas wishes come true. Of course, the first one (and most important one) is to have a little family Christmas. For the past five Christmases, it was just me and Ronnel with friends but nothing beats family of course. This year, we can say we spent it with our little family. God has a lot to do with us having little Aqui but Ronnel contributed too! :-) Another Christmas wish was for us to have childcare sorted. The first one didn't really work because Aqui was (and still is!) an attention-hogger which didn't do much for our carer's wee one so we had to find another carer who could give Aqui her undivided attention. Fortunately, we found one quite fast. Aqui is thriving and enjoying her time there. Our new carer has a 3-year old daughter who's so cute and makes Aqui laugh all the time. And Ronnel was very patient driving around the area child-care hunting with me. Third wish was for a robovacuum. Yep, you read it right. A robot vacuum. Before you call me lazy, let me tell my Time Consumption Theory. When you lose time, you'll never get it back. So make the most of it and spend your time on things that are most important to you. So, rather than spend my time vacuuming and cleaning the house, I'd spend it with Aqui and Ronnel, playing or just enjoying being with each other. Hence, I asked for a robovac. I've left subtle hints such as leaving the browser open with the a robovac on the page and not-so-subtle ones like telling him straight to his face that I'd like a robovac for Christmas. Ronnel was not really convinced that it's something worth spending money on so I stopped bugging him. One day, he asked me if I really wanted it for Christmas and I said yes, and so, he got me one. He's still not convinced that it's doing its job but he hasn't complained much. He still teases me that it's not really cleaning our home - but the dirt it collects in its bin shows otherwise. Plus, it sterilizes our carpet so I'm more confident to have Aqui roll and roll along our carpet. I named it "Vacki" and it has given me time to consume on things I prioritize more. So, thanks, dear hubby!

Here's Aqui and Vacki co-existing... Vacki cleans up after Aqui leaving a mess...


A New Year for REAR
We're looking forward to the new year. There's so much that we've planned for Aqui. We are hoping to have Aqui's 1st birthday in the Philippines so that she can spend time with her grandparents, cousins and other relatives. We're saving up for this big trip -- it's our first since we've been to NZ - and hopefully, we'll get a good deal in the Travel Fair (whenever that is).

Oh and before I forget, here are the latest Aqui updates....
Aqui has started eating "real food". She's past the "mashed everything" stage and has started to develop a liking for bread, rice and pasta. Truly a carbo baby!



She has also started "creeping"... crawling is not too far away!


Aqui Noises. She's been experimenting with her voice lately. Her favorite syllables are mamamamama and dadadadada amidst raspberry-blowing. This is cute but not at four in the morning when you're still in the middle of a relaxing sleep.



Eczema and Allergy. Aqui is suffering from mild eczema and she gets red blotches especially when it's really hot and humid. She gets itchy and grumpy too. So we've got lots of creams to put on her every time. I think this is the curse for most Filipino babies in NZ (some Kiwi babies have this too) but our doctor told us that it's because our skin is used to tropical weather. It could be the pollen here too. I got eczema on my arms when I got to NZ. Before this, my arms were ok both in Malaysia and the Philippines. I think it's just because it's so non-polluted here - I'm probably used to having the polluted air block out the UV rays from the sun. Another concern is Aqui's allergy towards dairy. It's sad because NZ has the best dairy in the world. We also get mixed advice on this. Our doctor told us to expose Aqui to dairy little by little for her to build up her immunities - i.e. me eating lots of cheese and milk so Aqui can have dairy second-hand. But the Eczema nurse told us to stop eating dairy as this attacks her immune system. This is not the first time we get mixed "expert" advice. I guess our job as parents is really to filter and decide which way to go.

She's now seven months old and it seems like it was yesterday when she did nothing but sleep all the time! Now, she's just so active and wants to go everywhere. She gets frustrated when she can't reach her current favorite toy and we try not to help her so that she can develop on her own. Whenever her temper flares, Ronnel and I point to each other on where she got her short fuse.

Anyway, that's all I have for the Aqui update this December. I'm off to sleep now. Oh yeah, we're co-sleeping - Aqui takes half the space in our bed while Ronnel and I squeeze in the other half. We decided to co-sleep because it's more convenient this way. Aqui sleeps through the night better between us and dream-feeding is a breeze. Plus nothing beats waking up to the sight of a laughing Aqui on top of you.

Six Month Bonanza!

by Aquiwee

I celebrated my sixth month birthday with friends who are celebrating their birthdays on the same day! Bianca shares my birthday while Ryan turned 1 today! So it's extra special (more food! with my official birthday food - Spaghetti and Cake care of my Ninang Doyeth.. for orders: please contact me!)




Here I am with my 6-month pressy from Mommy and Daddy!


Allergy Panic
Mommy almost had a panic attack when I had an allergy attack weeks ago. She wanted to wean me on formula as she's preparing to go back to work but it looks like I'm allergic to it! We spent a couple of hours at the clinic while the doctors gave me meds and observed my progress. It's official, I'm allergic to cow's milk. Good thing I've started eating so don't fret, I'm still getting my daily dose of nutrition!
Here I am swollen (no, it's not just my chubby cheeks) from formula - waiting for the doctor's decision on when we can go home.

I'm 5 months old! Weee!

by Aquiwee

I'm nearing a milestone. 1 more month and I'm six months old! But before that, let me enjoy my 5 month old moment first. I celebrated my 5th month birthday with Mommy and Daddy. It's an intimate moment for our li'l family as our glass windows cried and fogged with the cold and rainy weather outside.



Look at my Hello Kitty Cake!

Starting Solids
Another milestone for me is I've started eating solids! Well, not that you can call pureed everything "solids". I love pears and pumpkins but absolutely hate carrots (like my daddy!). Mommy says my poo smells now (like my daddy too! haha)
Look at me eat!



And here's a video of me being fed by daddy!


Starting to Sing
I think I'm going to be a singer someday. I've started vocalizing early in the morning which drove my parents nuts. Here's a clip of me singing my fave song and some pics of me sleeping in my parents' bed.






Missing My Grannies...
I miss talking to my lolo and lola in the Philippines. They are incommunicado for a while now since the torrential downpour of rain and floods in the Philippines (especially where they live - San Mateo. My other Lolo is ok now as he's in Makati with my Uncle). Mommy and Daddy just talk to them over the phone but I bet they miss seeing me via the Webcam. :-(

PS Here's a video of me and a boy-friend discussing world peace...