The one with the hair issues

I am so frustrated with my hair right now!

Pregnancy hormones are causing all these changes in my body, it's honestly driving me crazy. My usually-smooth forehead is now a pimple farmland, and my hair is so oily I feel like I could fry an egg with the oil in it. The pimples don't bother me as much; I just refrain from looking in the mirror and touching my face and I forget that they're there. The hair, on the other hand, is really causing me grief. My head is just one big ball of grease, even right after I take a shower. I don't even bother with conditioner anymore.

Most of the time, I just tie my hair into a tiny bun. Good thing it's already long enough for that. I'm seriously considering cutting it short, but I read that my hair is supposed to grow thicker, more beautiful, and faster as I go further into the second trimester. I guess I'll just suck the greasy feeling up for now.

Hopefully, by the time I give birth, my hair will be long enough for me to be able to do those pretty fishtail braids and high buns that are so hot right now. I hope they'll still be hot then. That would make the oil spill on my head right now all worth it.

The one with the sleeping arrangement

My parents sleep intertwined that you won't know which limb belongs to whom, and they take up only 1/4 of their bed. Before I got married, I hoped to have that someday. Now that I'm married (and pregnant), I want him to take 1/4 of the bed so I can have the rest of the space.

*image from here

The one with the onesies

This was how we announced to our families that we are expecting a wee one:

I ordered two personalized onesies with "Baby Mesa" in pa-cute lettering.

We told our parents the weekend after we found out. We had dinner at Abet's mother's house on a Saturday, and we gave her the onesie just before we ate. It took her quite a while to realize what it meant, but she squealed with joy and hugged us both when she found out. Abet's 9-year old nephew, Ycko, was the happiest of them all, it made me cry to see him jumping around. He's been bugging us for a cousin for some time now. He'll make the best kuya, I'm sure of it. Just one of the reasons Peanut is so lucky.

Telling my parents the next day was a bit more eventful, because we told them during their anniversary lunch celebration. We gift-wrapped the onesie and gave it to them as an anniversary present. My dad opened the gift, and he figured it out right away. Oh, he was so happy! He was proudly showing the onesie off to everyone with a big silly grin on his face. My brother Joe can do a very accurate reenactment, it's so funny. My mother's face was also so precious. You really can't describe your parents' faces upon finding out that their daughter is pregnant. My siblings were also all very excited. We couldn't stop talking about my pregnancy all throughout our meal.

When Peanut gets older, I'll make sure to remind him/her of how happy he/she made everyone with the news of his/her existence, that he/she was so wanted and so loved even in the womb, and that there was nothing but joy and gratitude and excitement from the people who matter to us.

The one with the two pink lines

The day I found out that we're having a baby will forever be one of the happiest and most memorable moments of my entire life.

Even during the two-week wait (the time from ovulation up to the time you can take a test), Abet and I already had a feeling that I was pregnant. I guess we're just such positive (pardon the pun) people. At this time, I quit smoking. We were so assuming that Abet would even kiss my tummy good-bye before he left for work in the morning. We became even more suspicious when I started to feel my breasts whenever I went down the stairs, since breast tenderness is one of the earliest signs of pregnancy.

I took the test the morning I was supposed to get my period. I couldn't even wait to see if my period would arrive or not. I took the test while my husband was at work so that in case it turned out negative, I can pretend to act cool when I break any bad news to him. With the first test, one bright pink line immediately appeared. Negative. My heart sank, but I told myself, "It's OK, it was just our first try. We'll try again next month." I was sadly staring at the test when after a few moments, a second line in the faintest pink shade oh-so-slowly appeared. Even if the line was barely visible, I knew that was it. I started crying as the second line slowly became clearer and clearer. I am pregnant after all! Praise God! With trembling hands, I took a second test to be sure, and just like with the first test, the second line showed up much later than the first. It didn't matter, my head was already high up in the clouds. I looked at my tummy and said "I love you" to my baby for the first time.

Waiting for Abet to come home was the hard part of the day. To keep myself busy, I made his favorite food, baked mac (which wasn't really baked because we don't own an oven yet) to celebrate. As soon as he arrived, I sat him down on the sofa and handed him the pregnancy tests. His face when he figured it out was just priceless. Absolutely priceless. I'll never forget my husband's reaction when he found out that he was going to be a father. We hugged and cried, and it was Abet's turn to say "I love you" to our baby for the first time.

It's been two months since that beautiful day, and Abet and I are still smiling. I know Peanut will give us a gazillion more reasons to smile in the months and years to come.

*image from here

The one with the baby announcement

We're thrilled to announce that our little family of two is now going to have a new addition! We're going to have a baby! Abet and I are completely over the moon.

I am 13 weeks and 1 day pregnant as of today. We have known since mid-July, but we decided to wait until after the first trimester to make any announcements, when the risk of a miscarriage has significantly gone down. We even waited until we heard the heartbeat to tell most of our closest friends.

Abet and I are extremely grateful that we were granted this prayer sooner than later. I got pregnant after just one attempt! (May I take this moment to ask you to give my husband, the sharpshooter, a round of applause?) Of course, it wasn't without lots of fervent prayers and the help of an online ovulation tracker. I stopped taking birth control in April (I'm pro-RH Bill, can you tell?), but Abet was away for summer camp when I was supposed to be good to go in May. We tried on our June schedule, and BAM! Baby Mesa on the way! 

Our family and close friends were surprised when we told them the news since Abet and I were pretty vocal that we didn't want to have kids for at least until a year or two after we got married, but we just felt the desire to start a family sooner than we planned. We were telling ourselves more and more often, "Gawa na tayo baby." (No, that's not a code for "let's have sex.") We talked about it many times until we decided to go for it. I'll write about our reasons one of these days. 

We have been calling the baby 'Peanut' since we found out I was pregnant at 2 weeks (which, obstetrically speaking, is 4 weeks--confusing, I know) because that day, I couldn't stop eating peanut butter and Nagaraya. We'll stick to Peanut until we find out what the sex of the baby is.

This is probably the most exciting time in my life so far. I am enjoying every minute of it, which isn't very hard to do because my husband, my family, and my in-laws are all making sure that I am happy and well-taken care of.

I'm going to be a mommy. Abet is going to be a daddy. It's still so surreal, I'll fully believe it when I already have a bouncing baby in my arms. For now, I'll savor every moment of my pregnancy and keep praying that everything goes well.

Oh, Peanut! You're still in my tummy and only as big as a lemon right now, but you've already brought us so much joy. We can't wait to meet you, love!

*image from here

The one with the new home

I've been blogging since 2003, and since then I've had my blog hosted on a bunch of sites: Blurty, LiveJournal, Xanga, Friendster (eeep!), Multiply, and Blogger/Blogspot. In 2010, I started paying for a self-hosted blog with a WordPress platform and my own domain so I could monetize it.

I haven't been doing my paid blog assignments for some time now. It was fun for a while--I made around $80-$100 a month--but it got tiring. Blogging became more of a task than a hobby, and I missed blogging for enjoyment. Plus, I realized that I can make more money by just concentrating on my work. It doesn't make sense to keep paying for hosting for my blog since I'm no longer interested in making money from it.

I'm setting my old blog to expire soon and will be blogging at this address moving forward. I still have a copy of the old blog exported somewhere else, though. As my husband and I transition into a new phase in our lives, there's going to be a shift in the content I'll be posting. It's only right to move to a new home and start anew, and I'm so excited about it.

So, here it is. My new home. This Happy Little Home.

Welcome, welcome! Enjoy your stay!

*image from here