Kick Push

Since I’ve hit my 23 week mark, our little baby girl has been stealing quite the spotlight. Just this past Sunday, Brian felt her kick for the very first time! Sadly, we couldn’t do our happy dance nor shout hooray since it was during the sacrament meeting at church (those church goers will never know what they’ve missed). It was quite a special moment for us. I’ve been anxiously waiting for Brian to feel her move instead of me describing it to him and Brian has been quite a patient daddy.

I sure hope to forever remember how special and magical the feeling of having a little human being grow inside of me. It’s honestly freakish, alien- like and yet so miraculous and beautiful all at the same time. It’s hard not to feel blessed and loved whenever I feel her kick which is pretty frequent lately. It’s been difficult to sit behind the desk because that’s when she constantly moves. And so, I always have to shake my knees and such to calm her down. I sure can’t wait to see her little dance moves.

I don’t have an updated baby bump photo yet so here goes some photos from my 20-21 weeks 🙂

PS: Check out this Pregnancy belt from Huggies.

Dirty Dishes

As much as I love being a wifey and having my own kitchen, there is one chore I never got along with…

Everytime I see the sink filled with dirty dishes, I seriously want to scream this out loud in a very melodramatic way…

Please tell me I’m not the only one who feels this way… 😦

But I suppose a clean kitchen and a happy husband makes it all worth it

17 Weeks

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Just want to do a quick update before I start making dinner…

Brian and I had the chance to visit with my in-laws in Tennessee. We brought Samson along with us for his very first road trip and it was quite a success!

I also survived my very first road trip being preggo. There were uncomfortable moments and we had enough snacks in the car to keep the baby fed. One thing I love about my father-in-law is that he is a photobug like me. Here’s a little portrait of our family taken by him:

He also helped me start my weekly belly shots. 

This 2nd trimester is definitely my favorite part of being pregnant. Long gone are the days of throwing up and super fatigue (finally)! Since my pregnancy, I’ve been losing weight and I am glad to say that I am finally gaining some weight- never thought I’d be happy about that. My appetite has definitely increased to the point that I ALWAYS have food with me nowadays. haha

I’m hoping to be able to put up our Christmas decor this week. Have you done yours?

Baby on Board

Ladies & Gentlemen

Behold the announcement we’ve been anxiously waiting to share with you…

Click to watch the video

Here’s our little munchkin at 12 weeks…

Brian & I are very excited & nervous to start this new chapter of our lives.

I just want to briefly express my gratitude to everyone who has been so generous & kind to me and my family.

Also, for our loving Heavenly Father for giving me this blessing & opportunity to be a mother to one of His sweet little children.

xoxo, Grace

Fall is here, Live well

It’s FALL season!

As much as I love the summertime, autumn is just as beautiful and as fun. I very much look forward to…

 Playing Croquet

Camping which also means SMORE’S time and bonfire

Pumpkin on everything

This also means EXTRA cuddling time

And of course, Thanksgiving and Christmas is almost here!

 

Well, I better calm myself down and just maybe sip on some hot chocolate. xoxo, Grace

My 3 Best Friends

It’s Labor day weekend and I get to spend it with these hotties 😀

I love my siblings! I’m so grateful that we actually like each other. Being the older sister, I had the privilege of helping my parents with raising them up (as much as I could). I love how we can laugh at each other and that no matter what, I can always rely on each one of them.

We’ve all grown up and we’re all in different places in our lives but I know we’ll always be brothers and sisters ❤

xoxo, Ate

7 Habits of Highly Effective People

I like to read but I don’t think I would consider myself a bookworm…I wish… 

I also enjoy audio books because it’s still entertaining and I can work on my to-do list while listening to it. Brian and I just started listening to the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. 

This is my very first self-help book and so far, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. I find myself inspired to learn and it motivates me to be a better person. The book is intriguing because it “ignores the trends and pop psychology for proven principles of fairness, integrity, honesty, and human dignity.” To sum it up:

I think sometimes we get so caught up with “everything” in our busy world then, we get to a point when “everything” seem to be so mundane. We lose our motivation and we start to ask ourselves, “What’s the point?” or we even start comparing ourselves to others. Here’s a quote by Mr. Theodore Roosevelt that is so simple yet so powerful to me: 

Everyone has their own story, their own pace and their own direction. Some might find themselves still in school while everybody else has graduated already. Some might still be single while everybody else on Facebook is either engaged or married to their true love. Everyone also has their own definition of success. You might consider getting your Masters degree or excelling in your career as a sign of success. While others might consider having a family or being a mom as their calling in life. All I know is, There is no one way to this journey we call life. As long as you’re doing your best and have the desire to reach your highest potential, then I think you’re doing mighty fine, my friend.

Anyway, my thoughts are quite jumbled right now probably because it’s my bed time but I sure hope that you will consider reading or listening to this book. And remember, 

50 Reasons to Exercise

To all those who need some motivation (like me). I need to take action and discipline myself to give at least an hour of my day.

Who’s with me???

Squeaky Samson

About two weeks ago or so, Brian’s cousin Spencer and his wife, Emily gave Samson a squeaky toy. Not quite sure if Brian or Samson enjoys it more…

Thank you Spencer & Emily!

Samson is 14 weeks old now and weighs about 11 lbs. This puppy is growing like crazy! He’s potty-trained and is learning to rollover and to walk with a leash on. We’ve also introduced him to water. He loves going in his kiddie pool but he’s still warming up to the ocean water. Those dancing waves makes his little heart beat faster than Usain Bolt can sprint 100 meters.

My Mama Graduated!

Last week, I got to witness my Mama graduate from LPN school. Look at that mega-watt smile 😀

 My mama is definitely an inspiration to me. She is beautiful, loving, caring and very industrious. In addition to that, she is very smart and is full of wisdom. She has always taught us these words:                                                                     “Doing your best makes you a winner”

 “Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough”

She was one of the top students in her class and she was also chosen to give the graduation speech. Let me tell you something… she was brilliant. She enunciated her words, took her time, and her speech was just awesome! She shared her experience of going back to school after raising 4 kids and being 50 something years old. 

She also shared that It’s never too late to change your major or your career. My mom actually has her Bachelors degree in Accounting but has decided to switch to the medical field. She is now contemplating on branching to the RN program. 

This is a photo of my mom and her batch after the ceremony. She’s the tiny little lady on the very right 😉

After the ceremony, my mom was overwhelmed with so much love and support from her friends that Papa had to creep in for a hug… and Brian just had to photo bomb that sweet moment haha

Papa may or may not have a tear or two. He has been such a supportive husband to my mom. One thing that I admire about my parents is that they share each other’s accomplishments. You can tell how proud he was of my mom. It’s the sweetest thing. I mean just look at them… I just wanna hug them!

Another sweet deal about my mom’s graduation is that my grandma (Apo) was there to witness her daughter graduate. Apparently when Mama first graduated, it was just a nightmare.

I am thankful for the way my Mama has raised me up. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t know the value of money or the meaning of hard work. When we were younger, Papa had to work abroad to support our family. Mama stood strong and raised all four of us by herself. That itself is an accomplishment worthy of recognition.

In behalf of my mama, thank you for all your love and support.

I love you Mama

xoxo