Cake Story – Our Baby’s First Birthday Bash

November 17, 2016August 19, 20198 Comments

Our precious little miracle from heaven, Baby Tuz, has just turned one. He was born on Nov. 17, 2015 at 11:47 PM after a whole day of a painfully induced labor which still ended in an emergency C-section. Still, Mahal and I are just so overwhelmed right now with so many emotions we couldn’t help but become teary-eyed with happiness… overjoy… disbelief… amazement… plus over fatigue from a full year of being full-time, hands-on, work-from-home parents with no yaya nor helper, just us three all this time. We couldn’t help but wonder how we were able to raise Tuz — a happy, fussy, gimmicky little boy who wears us out every day, every dawn and every single night to the point of insanity but whom we love so, so much!!!

Having said that, my next several posts for this month will be about our little big boy Tuz plus how we celebrated a year of sleepless nights, tremendous joy, mood swings, unexpected blessings and so much more!

Let me start by sharing with you the cake story… Continue reading →

How Can Introverts Have Baby Showers?

November 15, 2016November 30, 201615 Comments

BACKGROUND

Around Halloween last year, I was on my last few weeks of pregnancy. Baby Tuz was about to be welcomed to our little family and of course, we couldn’t be any happier and we wanted to celebrate it!

You might not believe it but I I actually googled the phrase “How Can Introverts Have Baby Showers?” Lol! I was to become a first time mom then and I’ve only attended two baby showers in my lifetime (one was for Irene and it was just over lunch among her 4 girlfriends back in early 2000 and the second one was for Jem 3 years ago organized by her friends). Continue reading →

Supermoon 2016 and a Magic Spell

November 14, 2016November 14, 2016Leave a comment

It’s full moon tonight and it’s not just any ordinary full moon — it’s gonna be a SuperMoon — scientifically known as perigee-syzygy when a full moon is closest to the Earth you feel like you can almost touch it!

The SuperMoon won’t happen for another 18 years (Nov. 25, 2034 acccording to NASA) and this will be the biggest and brightest in 70 years so better get your telescopes, binoculars and cameras ready for one bright evening tonight! And for a Wiccan like me, better get my magical spell ready too. Teehee. Continue reading →

Death – Tarot Card of Great Transformations

November 13, 2016November 30, 20161 Comment

I first mentioned about my use of tarot cards in one of my first few posts – First Time Mom’s Daily Routine. I have a separate blog about it, babywiccan.blogspot.com, which I don’t update anymore because like I said in my very first post, I want to put all my virtual selves here on MomTraNeur.

So having said that, this is the first time that I am going to share with you here one of my most powerful tarot card readings. Continue reading →

How to Jumpstart a Healthy Lifestyle – Here are 4 Tips

November 11, 2016November 5, 201716 Comments

HOW I’VE LOST TRACK OF MY HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

We’ve been eating out a lot more frequently than usual not just because of lack of time to visit the local market for organic stuff (we have to be there by 5am to get the freshest produce and catch, unfortunately, our body clock keeps on moving because of Baby Tuz‘s fussiness) but because I’ve been feeling like celebrating lately. I know a big part of our nation and the world is mourning right now because of certain events particularly having ex-dictator/president Marcos buried in Libingan ng mga Bayani plus Donald Trump’s startling win in the recent U.S. Elections, but in spite of all of that, I want to focus on the positive and just celebrate life! Looking at our little family, we still have so many things to be thankful for, hence the eating out and mini celebrations as of late… Continue reading →

The Power of Letting Go

November 4, 2016August 12, 20193 Comments

I just received good news when I woke up this morning! I was on the way out of the bathroom when my phone rang. My phone rarely rings because people rarely call me since they can always contact me online. In a split second, I thought it was Leylan, the electrician who fixed the electrical wiring in the bedroom yesterday who said he will come back today to fix our broken washing machine. But when I looked at my phone… guess who??? It’s my lawyer! Continue reading →

A Stay-At-Home Mom’s Experience With The Current Duterte Administration

November 3, 2016November 30, 2016Leave a comment

I am a full-time, stay-at-home mom and I seldom go out of the house except for weekly errands and holiday travels. And when we travel, I am busy minding our baby inside the car or busy looking at Waze for directions. Suffice it to say that I am not like most of the Filipino citizens who really experience the changes (some may say grave changes) that have been happening around the country day in and day out since Rodrigo Duterte took his seat as the Philippine President. But for me, as introverted as I am who normally don’t care about politics or what’s going on around the country, I think I have experienced enough so far to say that I have felt the change . Below are my experiences: Continue reading →

The Power of Meditation and What I Learned in Taiwan

November 2, 2016August 16, 201914 Comments

The year is almost over and I still have so many things to accomplish on my plate — work, business, pleasure and leisure, passions and hobbies, the upkeep of the house and everything it entails, maintenance of good health, taking care of relationships, etc.

But since we only have 24 hours a day to do everything we can to be productive and live a balanced life, more often than not, it really takes a strong willpower and determination to be able to squeeze in everything we need to do day in and day out including the not-so-important and urgent tasks. Because of this need to be “superwoman” (or superman for our men out there) in so many ways, I remembered the importance of meditation. I am after all, a full-time and hands-on work-from-home mom, which means I am an all-around 24/7 caregiver, helper, yaya, breadwinner, homemaker, partner, cheerleader, and everything else in between and I need all the help and support I can get to remain sane, healthy and happy. I am just so thankful because I have a male counterpart doing same things I do to lessen the burden while at the same time doubling the joy and fulfillment in our little family. But still, there are days when I get so overwhelmed and having a great partner is not enough… Continue reading →

Thoughts This Halloween

October 28, 2016November 30, 20164 Comments

I’ve been a lot busier than usual with everything that I had to do (my VA / Virtual Assistant biz, baby stuff, house chores, errands, holiday activities, etc). Our baby Tuz is a lot more active (climbing everywhere he could climb), he easily gets bored now with his old toys (we may need to resell his jumperoo and walker which he only used quite a few times before) and he’s fussier than usual. He cries then laughs then cries again for no apparent reason. We’ve done everything we know until such time that he simply gets tired and takes a nap and then… FREEDOM — for a little while at least, hence this post, before our 11-month old baby wakes up again and our merry-go-round continues. Continue reading →

Top 8 Things to Do in Nuvali 2016

October 25, 2016October 26, 201615 Comments

“Set to bring fun and one-of-a-kind activities and events all year-round, activities reflect NUVALI’s values anchored on the Evoliving (Evolved way of living) principle.

Structured on a system that encourages modern, responsible living supported by a belief in maintaining balance between development and nature, NUVALI’s framework allows each individual the space for a well-enhanced sense of oneness with the natural environment and its bounties.” – http://nuvali.ph

Even before Nuvali opened to the public, this has always been their principle. I was one of the lucky few who got invited back in 2010 to witness everything Nuvali has to offer and as the years passed by, I make it a point to visit the place once in a while because aside from Sta. Rosa being near where I live, Nuvali is just really a fun place to be whether you’re alone, with your significant other or with your family. Continue reading →

Nuvali Night Sky Cinema 2016 Family Event

October 24, 2016November 30, 20165 Comments

I blogged last time that we were attending the Nuvali Night Sky Cinema event. So that’s where we came from last Saturday with my family and as usual we had a blast! We were there early in the afternoon so we did a lot of things first before finally heading to the Open Fields for the 2016 Night Sky Cinema. I’ll blog about that on another post after this — about things people can do in Nuvali.

For now, here’s a photo essay of how our Pre-Halloween Family Get-Together at Nuvali Night Sky Cinema went and a guide as well for those who plan to do this next year in case you missed it last Saturday. Continue reading →