Getting Ready for the Holidays!

Nope, it's not about the vacation!

I'm excited for the upcoming giveaways preparation this Holiday Season. I'm thinking of small items that can be used either at home and office, rather than display and decoration that most people ignore. I personally made the invitation for my baby girl's Christening last August. It's time-consuming but I've enjoyed doing it. Now, I'm all crafty about doing it again this Christmas.

I wanted to express my gratitude to the people who became part of my 2015. Although it's a bit cheesy, but this year is special to me because I have my baby girl, Athena. All the people who helped me during my delivery, baby shower, Christening party

Thanks to Bumble Bee's Craft Den! Angie, the author of this wonderful blog, offers diverse tutorial and gift ideas (mostly DIY) that you may use in creating your personalized gifts! Click here for more Christmas Gift Ideas. Genius!

I also love Petro's Creative Homemaking blog! She has this sewing tutorial about reusable fabric bowl cover that is very easy to follow! With the tutorial comes a lot of pictures that can guide you from the start to end. You can choose your own cloth and color theme, especially for Christmas Season! Visit her site at The Seaman Mom. Colorful and artistic!

Lastly, Andrea's The Beauty Dojo created a window for busy wife like me. This gift ideas is safe because obviously, everybody will like this.. CANDIES!!!! Her post last October 2 entitled I LOVE CANDY CORN TEST TUBE FAVORS + FREE PRINTABLE shows how candies with customized package will surely wins everyone's heart this Christmas. Easy and affordable!

Thanks to Totally Tutorials for introducing me to a lot of DIY blogs that are truly helpful. I hope that by sharing these to you, you became more inspired in customizing your gift ideas and other stuff at home and office.

This is just the start. I'll search the web for more ideas. If you have one, feel free to share by sending me an email at arabellaschoice@gmail.com or simply add a comment just below this post. :)

xoxo.arabella

Just Borrowed

I was saddened by the trending pictures in Facebook seeing how children/babies became the subject of experiment of their parent’s foolishness and illogical sociability.

Three pictures are posted where a baby was tied in his neck and let him eat his food using only his mouth albeit the fact that he is nude in the cold hard cemented floor. My friend, Renz, also told me that there is another photo, where a woman, who probably the mother, took a selfie photo with her child with cigarette on the young’s mouth.

I hardly looked at the pictures. They made me sick and wanna puke. This is not morally right.

I verily believe that children are God’s blessing to a family. They are angels from heaven. They are just borrowed. 

BabyCakes

And a mother should feel blessed that amongst the women in this world, God chosen her to carry another being – a creation from Him. You can call pregnancy a miracle. And sure it is. And to get through the immeasurable pain of delivering a baby, is inexplicable. Let's say being a mother is not an easy job. But however hard our role here is, children should not be taken for granted. Ever.

Mothers, we watched our youngs during her nap time. Babies looked so peaceful when they sleep. Though fatigue and lack of sleep creeps all over us, it never came to our mind to leave them alone, right? To spend minutes or hours of our lives staring at our children already created a significant level of satisfaction. 

We lie them down in the most comfortable bed we can provide. We feed them. We bathe them. We tell them dozen of stories. We simply adore them.

We touch their arms and cheeks and feet. God so wonderfully creates a human being fragile enough for us to hold and cherish. And that's exquisite.

We never let even the tiniest single insect touch our babies' skin. We avoid too much noise that can wake our babies. That's us, mothers. That's how we care for them. That's the way of showing our love.

We are once a son, a daughter, a sibling. We are once a kid who plays around the park without minding about time, money, and work. We are once a child, who cries when we fell, but laughs afterwards. We are once a baby, who just sleeps and feeds and recognizes the mother who will always brought us to her arms – to hold, to hug, and to love.

It broke my heart to witness how the ethics and decency of people bent backwards where the social media now became the standard of goodness and popularity. But this I tell you. Lucky are those who can conceive a child for it bring nothing but a realization that there’s more to life than career, money, and success. Don’t let it pass.

xoxo.arabella.

Happy Mommy,
Happy Baby!

Her First Hello

Sharing you the first glimpse of Athena Louise 10 hours after she was born (February 6, 2015).

She yawned, looked at me, and got back to sleep.

Sweet daughter mine!

What this Little Girl Did Made Me Jumped for Joy!

I am a first-time mommy. All are new to me. There are sacrifices, change of priorities, and blissful experiences which right now I know I wouldn't trade for anything else.

We celebrated Mother’s Day last May 10. I am happy to be with my daughter during that day. She just turned three months old last 6^th of May and her Daddy and I are very proud that she is growing fast and advance.

That morning, I know that she got a lot of sleep because her mood is light. She laughed at me and she didn't cry. After a while, she wanted to lie on her front so I helped her. I turned on the camera on video mode and talked to her like we always do.

Watch how happy she is and how she say some words I didn't expect her to.

Have you notice the last few seconds of the video? I told Athena that I love her. And it seems like she wanted to answer me the same words. To many, it’s just baby’s funny little noises. But to me, it’s what can be the sweetest words a child could say to her mother.

Happy Mother’s Day to all! 

Xoxo.arabella

I am Happy

What is the best feeling in the world?

Think about it.

Is it when you won millions of money in lottery? Or when you graduated in College with flying colors?

Is it when your girl finally said "YES" to your proposal? Or is it when your father bought you a house or a car?


People change.


I too, have changed.

How I view happiness also changes.

When I was at my teenage, I see happiness as a result. It is something you get in return for having something that you want, or something that you need. Like a child. Give him a chocolate or lollipop and he will jump for joy! That's happiness for me.That is how I think it is.

It's not now.

I still see happiness as a result. Just shifted a little. Different perspective.

Happiness is contentment. Yes. That's it!

Being with someone you love? Wow.

Happiness is the feeling of being alive, being loved, and being free. It comes from within, they say. And I too, must agree. Inspiration is happiness. A loving husband and a wonderful daughter by my side makes me realized, life is worth living for.


Happiness is a blessing from God. That is indeed the best feeling in the world.


xoxo.arabella

Big Day Countdown: What to Do?

My BabyCakes is enjoying her stay in my tummy. She is already 40 weeks and 3 days but no spontaneous contractions are happening to me in the mean time. Although my doctor said it's normal, my excitement just keep on getting higher and higher. I have a lot of acquaintances who also got pregnant last year just like me. Seeing their FB page now with photos of their babies surrounded in their arms makes me a bit jealous and frustrated.

On the other hand, my husband, Jeryl always keep on reminding me that we must patiently wait for the will of God. That it is only Him who will decide on our girl's birthday. With that in mind, I always pray for God's guidance on my safe delivery and good health for our baby Athena. For now, I will just enjoy every kicks and punches of my BabyCakes while she is still inside me. Such a blessing! :)

Counting down the remaining days, what a mother like me has to do and accomplish?

• Check the finances - I always hunger for independence, not just physically, but also financially. Though we already have our baby's hospital bag prepared a month ago, it's harmless to always check the things to bring on my baby's big day. Today, we haven't bought her infant milk and diaper stacks as there's a need to see if our baby will have allergic reaction to any of those. This is also a way to avoid unnecessary expense on our part. It is also wise to double check our money reserves for the labor day. Albeit the fact that we already know the estimated costs in the hospital, some extra cash on hand will give us some peace of mind.

• Keep close to families - Comfort and relaxation will help us flush our exhaustion caused by the pregnancy. Most of the mommies who are expecting a child take their maternity leaves to spend time with families and the baby. I, for instance, took my leave a week before my estimated due of delivery to have some quality time with my immediate family, husband and my baby. It is very helpful that I am surrounded comfortably with people who are very supportive of my giving birth.

• Pray - Many mothers-to-be are experiencing mood swings during the latter part of the pregnancy that they become more emotional than before. Some are becoming excited and frustrated at times. Some are getting conscious about their body changes due to hormones. Nevertheless, it must be noted that these emotions are not permanent. We must keep our mind focused on our baby's big day and the concentrated on the happiness it will bring to us. Just like the saying, we should "Keep Calm and Stay Cool". Prayers are very helpful. In everything we do, we should pray. And during these times that we need to keep our faith to God more than ever.