It's a ...

About two weeks ago, we headed to the "ultrasound of revelation", or so I called it. We were finally going to find out whether it was would a beautiful little girl with amazingly long hair, or a handsome little fellow with good ol'charm. At least that's what one expects.

After what seemed like an eternity of rubbing on my stomach, the nurse finally called my husband in and said "ok let me show you!"  We saw the little angel sucking it's little thumb, the little legs moving around, and then we saw proof of gender...and indeed... It's a BOY!!  

Yes we are having another little boy. Soon we will be having another little one running around and we couldn't be more excited.  We love him already!!  

They days couldn't come faster to meet our Baby Jason. 

There is hope for the future

Being a parent has presented itself to be quite the challenge. Even though you try and do everything right children have a mind of their own, as I am beginning to realize. I’m not exactly sure when my lovely sweet little boy turned into an over-exaggerating-tantrum-throwing-“I’m not your friend anymore”-rude-child-"I threw out everything you have taught me out the window-person-thing .  It may be a phase or the fact that he is three and a half, but I am not too fond of it, and I can only wonder how this child will as he gets older, and if we are actually being fit parents. 

Even though… there are many times when this child sheds some sort of light to our parenting skills.  For example when this above-mentioned-child who has said we are no longer friends walks up to me and says, proceeded with a hug and kiss, “I’m sorry mama, I will never do it again” and “Can we be best friends again?”  :) 

Or the times like the time when he pretends to take the baby out of my belly and takes the baby to the room to play together, and as we head to the laundry room he remembers he forgot the baby in the room, but he’s not worried because the baby is safely in his/her bed playing on the iPad, and we will be right back.

Or like when we were sitting in the balcony and he asks me where outer space is, and I say way past all those clouds and then he asks me if I could buy him a telescope so he can look into outer space.

When the nice man from my building got down from his car to open the door for us Benji was so surprised and said “THANK YOU! Wow mama, he so nice he opened the door for us.  He is a nice boy!”

When are about to eat he says “I will pray by myself… Thank you Jesus for the Food, Amen” or when he extend his arms out as far as he can and says “Jesus loves you this much”

When he forms the church band in our living room and says “Dad you be Isa (pianist), Mom you be Dada (guitarist), and I’ll be Danny (drummer), and proceeds to sing a church song”

When he talks to the people riding the elevator.  NO…actually he talks to everyone in general not just the elevator. He is quite friendly.

When without me having to asks he says "Here mom, have some, I want to share with you" and if I decline he says "I want to share with the baby" 

When he hugs Ruben and me and says we are his best friends and his favorites.
                     
So, I guess this child has more good in him, then I acknowledge.  I guess we are good parents after all!

Ps. Do you see the bandage of his leg? That is a battle wound. 

Benji vs. the ground.

A baby is on it's way

We are excited to announce that we are having a baby, praise the Lord! If you read my previous post, then you already knew this important piece of information. If you didn't know, then SURPRISE! and if you knew already there is no harm in celebrating, once more. (Raise the roof!)

I suspected I was pregnant about 3 months ago.  When I finally got the nerve to take a test, my suspicions were confirmed. Although two positive pregnancy test most likely mean there is a little person growing inside of me, it wasn’t until we saw the ultrasound that it finally felt real.  Indeed it was in there, and moving around like it was having a grand fiesta. Our hearts melted as we saw those little tiny arms and legs just dancing away, and that is the moment we all fell in love with this baby. Now we just wait to finally hold that precious gift from God in our arms.  sigh. 

On another note, Benjamin has been unexpectedly supportive. We thought he might act jealous, but no. On the contrary, he is being quite the exemplary big brother. He likes to rub my belly when I say it hurts, randomly give my belly kisses, and always asks if I am okay. The most interesting thing by far though, is that apparently Benji and the new baby are telepathic. Yup. Mr. Benj often knows the baby's concerns and will express them by saying things like “Mama, baby says he’s hungry” or “Mama, baby says she wants to come out” and “Mama, baby says quiet, he’s sleeping.”  But even with their telepathic abilities, Benji does not yet know if it is a girl or boy. This is why he alternates between “He” and “she”.  I"m pretty sure this makes him the smartest little boy ever! 

Dress: Free People  Cardigan: Old Navy

Although I am only 17 weeks, this pregnancy has been extremely different, and more difficult from the previous. Nonetheless, I am ready to endure what is to come…

Sort of...

Not really...

Pray for me!

I was spoiled on Mother's Day, and I think I know why...

My Mother's Day went a little like this: 

I woke up and was immediately congratulated by the hubby and a delightful little man who said to me "happy birthday".  Sure, it can be measured as a birthday, this year it almost felt like one. After breakfast while I cleaned up, Benjamin serenaded the birthday song to me, and Ruben so generously offered to clean my vehicle. Of course, I agreed! Who would deny such an offer? Seriously.

When he returned, Benjamin had already taken a bath and I was working on some things for our Mother's Day service at church. They quickly, and not so quietly, took off, and I was left alone at home.  No complaints there, quite honestly I get a lot done when alone.  I finished my tasks and as I was getting ready, I overheard the guys come in, and as I turned around there was a little shadow figure approaching. Benjamin walked through the doorway carrying a small white paper bag with the word “Fossil” printed in the center. I heard a subtle voice, in the not-so distance that whispered “Give it to mama, and say Happy Mother’s Days”, and as Benjamin handed it to me he once again repeated the words "happy birthday mama" accompanied by a sweet little hug. The bag contain two little boxes and inside them were a wallet and a watch, both camel colored and both I love very much. That was simply the beginning of my mother’s day.

Shortly after the gift, thanks giving, hugs and kisses we headed to music practice at church, in preparation for our service. Well we were in the middle of practicing a song, when I noticed through the door my mother, and sister walk in.  This doesn't happen too often, as they live rather far. So I ran off the stage, as when would do when excited, to greet them, and to my disbelief they greeted ME with chocolate, balloons, and a gorgeous Orchid! It was very sweet, and a complete surprise.

We had a wonderful service, lot’s of mothers, and many visitors.  After the service, we headed to the fellowship area to eat a meal prepared by our youth department.  They served us the most amazing soup I have ever tasted in my life. I cannot even describe how delicious it was.  Well once we were done indulging in this lovely meal, and as if I hadn't received enough already, my mother-in-law called me up in front of everyone (yes this happens to me a lot) and  had all the ladies come up and pray for me. She then handed me a card that was signed by all of them and a lovely bouquet of roses! Benjamin may have been right after all, it certainly felt like a birthday. I felt so much love around me.

I was thinking to myself, why was this mother’s Day so different from the rest, and the answer came to me like a kick in the stomach…

Literally.  Yes that is a small baby bump that you are seeing!

Details? coming soon!  

EShakti

So, Have you heard of Eshakti?

I received this perfect little black dress from them. The quality is amazing, and shipping was great!  I love this dress. It even has pockets. I love anything with pockets. 

This site is great. Especially for us gals who love modesty.  It's awesome because with every item they sell, you have the option to customize it. You can customize sleeve length, neckline, and skirt length.  Isn't that wonderful?  Well guess what else, the kind people over at Eshakti have been kind enought to offer this blog's readers 10% from their site. Simply use the promotion Code "EverydayToUs"!  (Offer Valid through April 5, 2015)

This is how I would style it casually. Basically I wanted to put something together for a day out like today.  Since it's finally warming up, all the snow is melting.  There is huge puddles EVERYWHERE.  I totally loves this because that is when the rain boots call my name!!

DRESS: Eshakti,  JACKET: American Eagle,  bELT: Suzy Shier, 

BOOTS: Hunter  CROSS-BODY: Danier Leather

This post is sponsored by Eshakti.

Promotion Code "Everydaytous" to receive 10%   Code has to be entered in the ‘promotional code’ box.   It is not case-sensitive.  Code can be used any number of times until the validity period.  It can be clubbed with any other promotional offer, gift coupon or gift card in the same order unless explicitly specified otherwise in the offer conditions. This discount code is not applicable on clearance / sale, gift cards & overstock categories.

Not applicable on previous purchases.

Taking Stock II

Making : Typing noises
Cooking : Tacos for dinner
Drinking :  Coffee, of course
Looking :  pretty thoughtful at the moment.
Wishing :  I didn't have to go out in the cold, and was at home in my pajamas. 
Enjoying : The stage Benjamin is in right now.  He makes me laugh!
Waiting : for 3:30 so I can go pick up my baby. 
Liking :  silence
Wondering : When it will be sandal weather. I'm tired of wearing tights everyday. 
Loving : All things minimal.
Hoping : My son will see me as a great role model. 
Needing :  To check my SimCity.
Smelling : a white bun toasted with butter
Wearing : elbow patches
Following : My Fave photographer on Instagram
Noticing : Benjamin is not my little baby anymore. 

Knowing : All my hard work will be worth it in the end. 
Thinking : Always thinking. 
Feeling : A little tired. 
listening:  To some students talking about googling their names. 
Bookmarking :  nothing.
Opening : emails... why do I get so much spam?
Giggling : To jokes that I remember through out the day. 
Feeling :  Good!



My First One 

Weekend in Ottawa

Hello there. 

A few weeks back we took a little weekend road trip to Ottawa. My husband was invited to preach, and naturally Benji and I tagged along. The ride there was long, seemed like the longest ever.  Nonetheless, It turned out to be such memorable experience. 

One of the first the best things we have ever done was try beavertales. Basically, for those who don't know, it is like a funnel cake but shaped like a beavers tale, and much better. You can get it with cinnamon or with chocolate on top.  It's just so amazingly tasty that we went back for more the next day.

Another thing we ate on this trip was authentic home-made Italian pizza. The pastor that invited us is Italian, and he makes the best pizza I have ever tasted in my life. No lie. Just remembering it makes my mouth watering.  Mmm... 

 After the service where Ruben preached, the pastor and his wife surprised Benjamin with a birthday cake. It was really sweet, considering this year we couldn't really do anything big for him.  He was so excited and happy. Cutest thing ever.  I'm so grateful for them having done that.  

The last place we went to eat at (yes we ate so much on this trip...) was a little burger joint called BFF (Burgers n' Fries Forever). We met my friend Brenda and she took us to BFF. SOOOO GOOD. Gosh everything we had in Ottawa was so good. If you are ever in Ottawa definetIy try that place.  love that city!! 

The city of Ottawa is so nice. I love everything there. The clever names on shops, the interesting buildings, the scenery...everything!! 

My favourite thing that we did there, and the most memorable was skating on the Canal.

I had actually never gone skating, ever.  So this was, in fact, my first time skating, and I didn't fall!! Yay me. I loved it though. I secretly want to be a professions figure skater now. 

Skating was fun. Skating on the canal, however, was AMAZING!!  I'm dreaming of going again and "gracefully" gliding on the ice... *sigh* 

Benjamin's experience was slightly different. He had a hard time standing on the ice. He finally managed to stand and glide a little.  After the glide he felt he had accomplished greatness, and was done for the day. 

Thanks Brenda for taking us to the canal, for eating more beavertales with us, and for that amazing Flat White from second cup.  I was in heaven! 

In all honesty I left a part of my heart in Ottawa. I'm not entirely sure why but I feel so sad whenever I leave. I'm sure the whole city feels the same way about us leaving. Don't worry Ottawa we shall return soon!!