{Today, I’m Grateful For…}

Our Family of Four

My crazy family: Three Girls and a Boy! :-)

What’s On Your Nightstand: January 2012

My last What’s On Your Nightstand post was for the month of August last year and as we all know, another year had begun and January is almost gone already! So what happened you might ask? Well…this (see below photo) happened and I’m so proud! :-) I loved every minute that I spent with her and no regrets on not reading much at all!

My Chloe bear @ 3 months

But now that things have somewhat settled down and the holidays are all over, I’m ready to get back to reading again!

What I finished reading this month:

1. #86 Little Girls Can Be Mean by Michelle Anthony M.A. Ph.D. and Reyna Lindert Ph.D. Little girls can be mean for sure and this book gave me some insights to “reality.” I’m a bit scared for my girls since times are so different from when I was growing up, especially in another country. But at the same time, I wouldn’t draw too much attention and take things ‘too seriously’ as in this book. After all, kids will be kids and we all turned out to be just fine. :-)
2. #87 Safe Heaven by Nicholas Sparks This was no Notebook but Nicholas Sparks still the same…
3. #88 Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin I watched a movie called Something Borrowed that was based on one of Giffin’s novels so I thought I’d read her other novels. But I must say I was not impressed with this one at all since it left me with nothing after I was done reading. I’m not sure about picking up another one of her novels for now….

What I’m reading currently:

What I’m planning to read next:

I’m participating in What’s On Your Nightstand , which is a way to connect with other bloggers and share my ”reading list” and reading habits of mine monthly from 5 Minutes for Books.  What’s On Your Nightstand happens on the FOURTH Tuesday of every month.

52 ABC Projects: No. 2 {Like Book}

Not long ago, I read about this cute book called “like book” and purchased one for Bella. The basic idea of this book is to communicate love by telling someone what we like about that person everyday. The one I got is for kids and my husband and I write one thing we like about Bella every night before she goes to bed. Bella absolutely love this book and always reminds us to do her like book and asks, “what do you like about me, Mommy?” :-)

I suppose you don’t really have to buy this particular book to do this since you can pretty much make your own. But this book definitely helps me to pay more attention to little things that Bella does and appreciate her as one of God’s greatest gifts to me. I hope that we get to do this as a family for a long time as our girls grow.

theilikebook.com

Chloe Bear @ 4 Months

Chloe Bear (4 mos.)

Oh how time flies….

My little girl is already 4-months old, weighs 11 lbs 4 oz. and is 24 inches tall. She’s such a happy girl, especially in the mornings when she wakes up. With her biggest and brightest smile, she makes you feel like you are the most special person in the whole wide world and that you can do anything!

She loves her big sister SO MUCH and can’t stop smiling at her. She has her Daddy’s beautiful eyes and cute ears (*^^*) and melts Daddy’s heart every time she looks at him. She loves sucking three fingers all at once unless she gets the whole hand in her mouth. She loves playing in her walker and putting everything in her mouth, of course. She loves PraiseBaby music DVDs and loves being sung. She doesn’t really care for being strapped in her car seat or car drive and she’ll let you know with her loudest cry. She loves human contact and is spoiled and wants to be held often as many babies do. :-)

She’s pure joy in my life and I can’t believe that she; belongs to me. I’d like to think that I must have done something right to deserve her but I know for a fact that I haven’t. So once again, I’m so thankful to my God who loves me enough to give me one of the greatest gifts in the entire world.

52 ABC Projects: No. 1 {Money Jars}

Bella's Money Jars

My hubby and I have been talking about giving Bella an allowance for sometime now that she is a 4-years-old ”BIG” girl and we finally did it starting last week. We sat down with Bella and talked about four money jars I made for her and what she can do with each jar. I’m not sure if she completely gets it but I think she got the basic idea.

Yesterday, I took her with me to a local dollar store to purchase few things I needed and told her that she could use her money from the SPEND jar to buy something for her if she’d like. She was VERY excited with her all $1.40 and couldn’t wait to pick something out. So what did she buy? Well, she wanted to buy something for her Daddy, even though I told her multiple times that she can get something for herself! I was so touched and proud of my little girl. She ended up buying Cars 2 crayons for Daddy and gave it to him that night. As you can imagine, Daddy was very much moved by his little princess.

Motherhood (or parenthood for that matter) is not easy. In fact, it’s extremely difficult if you ask me; not only because of all the things I am to do as Mom for my children but also because of inadequacy I feel everyday(it’s ridiculous to think that I’m in charge of two little lives!). But those are the moments that make it totally worth it and I’m grateful once again for the blessing of being Mom.

Word of the Month: January, 2012 {Emmanuel}

Emmanuel

: Jesus Christ, especially as the Messiah

: from Hebrew `immānū’el, literally: God with us

Today, January 1, 2012, our pastor John’s sermon was on “God’s greatest desire for you in 2012″ and he talked about what God desires the most more than anything is to be “with” us. And I’m thinking to myself, ‘hmm, how crazy is that?!’ since I know for a fact that I’m so undeserving and unworthy. But I also know for a fact that I’m a precious child of God and whom am I to question whether or not what God desires is crazy?! So this year, my “new year’s resolution” is to be with God….more intentionally.

I have no doubt that God is in the center of my life, our marriage and our family and that He is present at all times. However, I do neglect Him often and don’t give Him the time or respect He deserves. No, this is not the first time I realize this nor will it be last. But I’m thankful for yet another chance to set my priority straight and I pray that I improve and do better this time than last.

So I’m happy to say that my greatest desire in 2012 is ‘God with us and I with Him’ so that I can worship my God without fear!

25 Days Till Christmas {Day 25: Christmas Day!}

Day 25 Activity: Open presents and be thankful for our savior and our blessing!

We are thankful for so many blessings in our lives including our little miracle, Chloe, this year. Bella has been reciting John 3:16 over and over again for the past few weeks and it is indeed one of the greatest verses that show how much God loves us! It’s all because of you, Lord, and it’s all for you! Thank you and we love you so very much!

Hmm...what to open first... :-)

Daddy with his princesses

Mommy with her princesses

My silly family with their silly toys :-)

25 Days Till Christmas {Day 23 & 24}

Day 23 Activity: Write thank-you cards to Jesus!

Our family spent this morning writing and decorating our thank-you cards to Jesus. There’re so many things we were thankful for and God’s love, grace, blessing and mercy filled our hearts. Bella thanked Jesus for Mommy, Daddy & Chloe of course and she expressed all her thanks with lots and lots of glue and stickers. :-)

Our family thank-you card for Jesus

Day 24 Activity: Cookies for Santa!

We made yummy chocolate nutty crackers (Mommy’s Christmas specialty) upon Santa’s special request (wink, wink *^^*). Bella said she hopes that Santa leave some for her in the morning, which I thought it was so cute. :-) Of course, Santa ate them all and all there was left on a plate the next morning was a thank-you card! :-) And yes, we had lots more in the refrigerator for Bella. :-) We never really made a big deal out of Santa so I wonder what Bella thinks of all this… *^^*

Yummy crakers for Santa!

Bella @ Christmas eve service

Chloe...the night before Christmas :-)

25 Days Till Christmas {Day 19, 20, 21 & 22}

Day 19 Activity: S’mores!

Our family went over to our friend’s house to have dinner together and make s’mores on a fireplace. Bella has been excited about s’mores for a while ever since I bought marshmallows few days ago so this was a big treat for her. She was VERY careful so it took a while for her to melt the marshmallow but she loved and ended up eating two big ones!

S'mores + Fireplace + Friends = Good Time! :-)

Day 20 Activity: Christmas shopping!

We went shopping for Christmas! Enough said…. :-)

Day 21 Activity: Fireworks! Roman candles

I remembered Bella having so much fun with roman candle fireworks at Nana Do’s last year so I decided to get some for her this year. I was told that it’ll be hard to find them at this time of the year so I ordered bunch of them online paying very expensive shipping cost only to find out later that our local grocery store was selling them 50% off! :-( Anyway, we have lots of them now and Bella loved them!

Bella playing w/ roman candle fireworks

Day 22 Activity: Quiet time…

It’s been crazy with all the holiday activities, events, and prep works and on day 22, we are just chillin’ with the family….

Chloe wrapped a big Christmas gift for Daddy! :-)

Christmas Reflection: Hope

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” Jeremiah 29:11-

About 2 years ago, we lost our baby boy, LW, through miscarriage and it was one of the saddest time of my life. I cried and mourned for days for all the missed time and opportunity to love and adore him on this earth and the reality of this fallen world. I remember holding on to Jeremiah 29:11 verse for my dear life, constantly reminding me that God knows better and that our family and our baby boy were under His care. Yes, I was sad and I will be sad for the rest of my life for our lost baby boy but then, I’m so thankful for the hope of seeing him when God finally calls me home.

“so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life” -Titus 3:7-

I kept the crystal that the hospital gave us along with some helpful booklets about the miscarriage. And this year, I hung that crystal on our tree to remember our little LW and to celebrate our savior and the hope He’s given me. I don’t know if it’s because it’s Christmas time, but my heart was full and joyful and I’ve never been more grateful to my Prince of Peace.

Crystal ornament for LW

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” -Romans 12:12-

I guarantee that I will always shed tears for my little boy. I guarantee that I will miss him for the rest of my life and get sad from time to time, thinking of him. But I also guarantee that I will NEVER be without hope; hope of eternal life, worshiping my God forever and ever and hope of being reunited with my little baby boy….

Merry Christmas, my little boy, and Mommy misses you and loves you very much.