Moving Up 2018

My daughters are far from entering pre-school yet but to send off the bigger kids in the daycare, they hold an annual Moving Up exercises. My eldest, Yamyam, joined for her first Moving Up. (She also joined last year but she was barely two years old then so that doesn't count. Lol) 

Didn't I just give birth to this little girl yesterday? TIME FLIES IN A SPEED OF LIGHT! 

I was deeply moved when I saw her certificate, parang magka-college na ang anak ko! Haha! I couldn't express in words how grateful I am to the daycare center's staff for taking good care of my two daughters. 

Yamyam's video of what she wants to be in the future:

Link here

A SINGER!

Yes, you heard that right. She wants to be a singer when she grows up! Hahaha! I don't know where she's going to get the DNA for that, but hey, singing can be an acquired talent! 

Here in this video, she performs with her classmates.

Link here

As you can see, the class is composed of future pilots, teachers, stewardess, beauty queens and doctors (really? doctors? are you sure, kids? lol). The kids had to have a costume for their chosen fields so I chose singer so I don't need to be bothered by what Yamyam had to wear. March is a crazy month for me, and being nanny-less, I had no spare time to look for a better costume for her. Next year ko na kareer-in. :D 

I am so proud of my little one, as any mom out there could be. She's only two and a half and she can already recite the alphabet, count from 1-10 and knows the primary colors. She performs well in the daycare too. Of course I can't recall what age did I learn all those but certainly not when I was two. 

Honestly, I am not very strict when it comes to what they should learn at a certain age. I follow their own learning pace. I stopped worrying too much. Yamyam has an advanced physical and social skills but quite lagging in language however not pathologically delayed. Some kids her age can already properly construct a sentence while she is only beginning to string two to three words together. Alhamdulillah. At their age, Yamyam at two and Amreen at one, I always make sure that I bask into their "little-ness". They will never be this age again so Jabar and I make sure that we're always there, as much as possible, with their every milestone.

Whatever they choose to be in the future as long within the bounds of Islam, in shaa Allah, we will always be behind cheering and pushing them to the top. :) 

36th

Belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my man!!!  

He turned 36 yesterday and since he doesn't want visibility in my social media accounts, I'm greeting him here in the blog. Haha! And I'm posting this picture because I think he's cute here. LOLZ. Labloo, Ama! 

No Yaya, Big Problem

It's been two months since our household help/nanny left after more than a year of staying with us, right when I just started residency training. Oh well. It's so difficult to find a replacement nowadays and it's not like we live next doors to our parents or non-working relatives where we could just leave the kids while we go to work. We, technically, have no one here in the metro to help us out. The existence of the Daycare Center in Jabar's office plays a major role in our lives today. Had there been no daycare, my mind would have blown up. There's no way I'd stop residency right now.

How do we manage?

Jabar and I divide the household chores and attending to the kids' needs. If one cooks then the other does the laundry, if one gives the kids a bathe then the other one cleans up. So far, so good. But there are days when we are both sooo tired and just want to sleep and we are both so irritable. However, we have no choice but to do the tasks. Partnership has never been this meaningful for Jabar and I. Glad to have a hands-on husband who needs not to be pestered to do his tasks. He knows exactly what to do without reminding him. He makes yaya-less easy for me. Oh, credits must be given to my two daughters who are very cooperative. We give them a bath at night so as early as 6 AM, we scoop them up from the bed while they are still asleep. If they wake up while we're in transit to Jabar's office, I change their clothes in the car. Otherwise, I do it in the daycare. As soon as I drop them at the daycare, I take the UV Express to the hospital. Alhamdulillah my workplace is relatively near his office. These are the days when I wish I knew how to drive so it'd be easy for me to travel back and forth the daycare.

I wake up everyday between 3-4 AM to sterilize the bottles, boil water, cook rice for our baon, and clean up the mess from the previous night. It feels like going to the battle every morning, battle against time and traffic. We need to leave early so as not to get caught in the metro traffic, otherwise we will get late in the workplace. Punctuality has always been my mark (ahem!), I avoid being tagged as a late-comer since I am only a first year resident. So I really make sure that we leave the house before 6:30 AM.

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It is vividly clear to me now why Allah has put me in this path -- Family Medicine in Ospital ng Maynila Medical Center. The schedule just fits me perfectly even without a household help. We only have maximum of four duties in a month and we are at the OPD for the rest of the days, which means we can leave the hospital as soon as the clock strikes 5 PM. Therefore, I can do the household chores --- laundry, clean up, and cook--- as soon as I get home. These are the things I cannot do had I pursued Internal Medicine, even with the help of a nanny.

Notice my tired eyes. 

I've been looking for a nanny almost everywhere to the point that I even ask some of my patients if they know someone who wants to work for us but always to no avail. Well. I can only pray to Allah to send us a nanny whom we can entrust our kids to and will stay with us for a long time.

I have always wondered how women in Western countries, where getting household help/nannies is not the norm, do it. They can still get a full time job, reach their dreams and fight for their advocacy while raising well-balanced children into productive adults. WOW. Western doctors who are also moms are my source of inspiration right now. Gotta meet one and ask for tips!

“Naku mommy, ang likot na po ni #AmreenNurlailah ngayon. Yung mga laruan tinatapon po sa basurahan, ang mga tissue pinapasok sa loob ng damit, lagi pong pumapasok sa banyo at tumatambay sa ilalim ng sink...” and so much more. Subhanallah. I got to witness it yesterday. May Allah protect our children at all times. #AmreenAt1

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FIVE

Jabar and I recently celebrated our fifth year anniversary together. Five years of annoying each other, getting fat together and being the ultimate partners-in-crime. Speaking of partners, partnership has never been more meaningful to us these days when we don't have a nanny to help us with the kids/household chores while both of us work full time. Jabar and I developed strategies and skills to make things faster and efficient at home while we still got to do what is expected of us in our workplace. And hey, we don't get late at work!! (There's no excuse for being late, unless there's heavy traffic jam!)

With our Amina Mariam and Amreen Nurlailah who made our anniversary dinner more...exciting!!! 

Unmarried people may assume that a couple is already well-adjusted in marriage in five years time. Wrong. Jabar and I haven't really sorted out our differences and we have just learned to let little things go and admit that we are two equally different individuals. For as long as we have the same vision and goals, then I think we're good. Occasional bickering rise up once in a while but we know our limits and our respect for each other is strongly kept in place. Alhamdulillah. 

Life is becoming even more exciting now that our two toddlers are growing up. Yamyam and Amreen are equally different too, each has her own unique character and we need to adjust to each child. Bismillahi mashaaAllah.. I am but grateful for each and every day that I wake up beside my two little girls.

We have planned months ago to hold an intimate anniversary dinner date here at Brassiere 3, Conrad Hotel. However, now that we have nobody to left our kids with, we had no choice but to bring them with us. All plans of intimacy dissipated when the older one began to run around and jump up and down the couch, while the younger one began to squirm in the high chair  and both kids did not want to be spoonfed but to eat by themselves with their bare hands! You do not want me to describe what kind of mess and chaos we created in the supposedly serene buffet restaurant. Haha! Great thing is that it was Friday night and only few people were there and nobody really did mind us. I kept on apologizing to the waiter attending to us and she assured me that they're also used to this kind of scene. Oh well. Life with toddlers. SO MUCH FUN. 

Alhamdulillah for the five years spent with Jabar. I cannot imagine life without him beside me. We have seen each other in the worst state, he has seen me fail and yet he still continues to encourage me and brings out the best in me. So much love for the man I am with. I am looking forward to the next five and hundred years with you! 

Profound. #magaralkanaAi #resAidency2018

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