Is my heart in the right place?

One of the hardest challenges I've had to overcome since I became a Christian (and, come to think of it, even before I was a Christian) is obedience.

I don't remember when I became a strong-willed person who wanted to do what she wants to do, but I'm that person. It was a lot easier when I only needed to obey my parents because it was so easy to disobey when they didn't see me. However, when I surrendered my life to Christ, it became harder. Sure, in the first months of being a Christian, being Christ-like was very easy to do. It was euphoric. Then, I found out that as you mature, the temptations of the devil become stronger - or was it only me who got weaker? Either way, I found it even harder to obey.

For now, let's just leave it at that. I find it hard to obey, but I know I need to in order to please Jesus. The challenges come daily and in the most mundane of situations. In the context of being a work-at-home mom, I encounter different sets of trials than what you might encounter. Just yesterday, I experienced a couple of trials, where I found it hard to obey Jesus but through his grace, I was able to overcome.

First Situation
I began cloth-diapering Yuri just the other day, and we are still getting the hang of it. Honey, Yuri's yaya, is still getting the hang of laundering the diapers. They were easy to launder, but she doesn't know the right way of hanging them yet. I noticed that she hangs the inserts on the clothesline folded. Knowing how thick the inserts are, I was sure they will take 48 years to dry. So I went outside and hanged them properly.

After doing that, I wanted to show Honey the right way of hanging the inserts. To be honest, I was feeling a bit irritated that she did not know how to hang them properly. Just as I was entering the exit door (oxymoron?), I tripped. Yes, I tripped. My immediate thought was "Are you trying to tell me something, Lord?"

Jesus replied: Check your heart, Maan. Is it in the right place?

Right in our kitchen, I did. What was my intention in telling Honey about hanging the inserts? Was it simply to correct her and help her improve? Or was it to find fault and feel smug about it? I don't need to tell you what the answer was; all you need to know was that I didn't tell Honey about her mistake during that time.

Was it simple to obey? No. Was it worth it? I'm sure it was.

Second Situation

Frugal Friday: Cloth Diapering My Toddler!

This was supposed to be a Finance Friday article, but I realized that for the past weeks, I haven't been talking about finances really. I've been talking about frugality, so I titled this post "Frugal Friday." Why not? We're flexible around here!

So one of my biggest regrets was not cloth diapering Yuri as an infant. There were just too many reasons. First, I'm working full-time. Cloth diapering (full-time) requires a lot of washing, and none of us could do it. I could not delegate the washing to Yuri's yaya because no one could watch Yuri na din. While she washes Yuri's clothes regularly, they are done on certain days of the week lang, not various times during the day.

Second, Yuri is a breastfed baby. When he was an infant, his pooping was very frequent and very irregular. I thought we could not deal with constant diaper changes - unlike disposable diapers which we only need to throw away.

When Yuri's bathroom habits are becoming more regulated (he only poops during mealtimes and only seated in his high chair - I don't know why!), and his peeing are becoming less frequent (I think he pees 4-5 times throughout the day despite his high water intake), I was beginning to entertain the idea of cloth diapering. Yes, ang late lang.

You see, Yuri only wears cotton briefs in the morning. No diapers. His naptime is after lunch, so before eating our lunch, I change him into diapers. Lo and behold, while eating lunch, he poops in his barely used diaper. Wala man lang ihi. It was becoming a habit, and we are getting to throw too many barely used diapers that I thought: kailangan na namin mag-cloth diapers. Yes, at 20 months. Better late than never!

I was about to buy cloth diapers weeks ago but delayed it. That was a blessing in the sky (disguise - just in case you don't get the joke!) because I chanced upon Thrifty Mama Shoppe's ultimate cloth diaper sale. ZOMG! I quickly browsed the albums, and since I wasn't very well-versed on cloth-diapering, I just bought 3 Alva diapers muna. Here are some photos of the unboxing (chos, unboxing talaga!):

Three cloth diapers (without inserts in the photo)

Cute designs! Now I understand why a lot of moms are addicted to CDs!

Microfiber insert in close-up (The microfiber inserts go with the diapers; I got three more bamboo inserts.)

The pocket in the backside of the cloth diaper

Inserting the insert. Ano daw? :D

While I was taking photos, the toddler was pulling out wipe after wipe after wipe.

The Battle of the Bags

So Job and I aren't officially "together" now (Woah! Shocking, right? I will write about this in a future post). However, he insisted that I still get a bag for myself. Months back, he asked me what I would like for Christmas. He knows that I'm not very fond of surprises when it comes to material things - I'm very fickle-minded and OC; I even weigh the pros and cons of every planner out there before I finally decide on one!

Anyway, I digress. So he asked me what I would like for Christmas. The first thing I said was "a blender" because my blender broke down a few weeks ago. However, he did not like the idea of giving me a blender!  So un-romantic! Haha! He told me I should buy a bag because, well, I have been bugging about my lack of bags since forever. He knows that I have a number of bags, but I want a new bag that fits my current lifestyle! *sniff*

Since he knows I like to choose what to buy and weigh the pros and cons, he gave me the go-signal to choose my bag. Here are my requirements (yes, requirements talaga!):

1. It should be nylon. Nylon is a good material for a bag because first, it is waterproof, and second, I need a light bag. Yuri might be light for his age, but it certainly doesn't feel like it!
2. It should have genuine leather trims. I don't want synthetic leather because I want a bag that would last for years, not months.
3. It should be roomy. Do I really need to explain this? :-)
4. It should have a sling. I'm a sling person; I was never a shoulder bag person. Of course, my bag should be versatile. If I feel like using it as a hand bag, I should be able to! But on regular days when I'm chasing Yuri around, I should be able to wear it in a sling and not have to worry about it.
5. It should be affordable. Job didn't specify a price, but I know he'll appreciate if I don't buy a bag that is too expensive because we need to be frugal. Remember: live within your means!

I have already found very ideal bags at Cuzo. Here are the top three contenders (all photos are from the Cuzo website):

Miranda (Black and Blue) - P1,995

Miranda (Blue) - P1,500

Carla (Blue-Brass) - on sale at P1,000

Aren't they all pretty? Nylon, check! Genuine leather, check! Roomy, check! Sling, check! Affordable, check! Check, check, check!

I have finally decided which to buy yesterday and, along with a gift to my mom, I already wanted to check it out. Alas! Walang BPI sa mode of payment! OMG! I don't have a BDO account, and I'm not planning on going outside the house to deposit over the counter. I also don't want to risk using my Paypal account because we have been hacked (actually, I should write about that!).

So now I'm back to square 1. I'm at a total loss. I tried looking for other bags in other shopping websites, but I can't seem to find any pretty bags with lightweight but high-quality materials like the Cuzo bags. Where should I buy a bag? I'm stressing over it, and for crying out loud, it's just a bag!

PS: I really like Longchamp Lepliages, but they're too expensive for a nylon bag - at least in my opinion. There are also some sellers over Instagram who sell them for cheap and claim they are authentic, but for 2,500 a bag, you've got to be kidding me! People, real Longchamps cost 7k pataas. I would rather spend my P2,500 on a locally-made leather bag than on a designer knock-off!

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My Reading Toddler

It's no secret: I want to raise a bookworm.

I'm not asking for a genius kid who always tops his classes - although that certainly wouldn't hurt, Lord! However, if I have to choose between a child who can memorize stuff in the blink of an eye and a curious child with an insatiable appetite for reading, I would very gladly choose the latter.

Growing up, I was known as the neighborhood bookworm. I was not the typical Filipino child who grew up in the streets. To be completely honest with you, I don't even know how to play certain Filipino games like patintero (try not to laugh and try not to cry). But I was a happy child in the company of my books.

In my childhood home, when I wasn't sleeping in my own room yet, my mom thoughtfully converted the spare room into a little library. It housed all the books I would read all day. Sure, I watched TV (a lot), but I remember being scolded for turning on the TV without really watching it. Yep, you guessed it. I was reading a book.

This time, I want Yuri to experience how it feels to be deeply engrossed in a story. I even dream about characters sometimes! To do that, I know I should raise him surrounded by books. It's a good thing we keep all the books and never give them away. Just take a look at these photos:

We even kept some of my childhood story books:

I admit I haven't been so vigilant about building a literature-rich environment for Yuri before he became a toddler. I did not maintain regular reading time. However, I am starting now. I think it's not too late as Yuri is still 20 months old. I spotted an old shelf we had that only housed boxed DVD sets. We got them all out and placed Yuri's books in it:

We only have a few books for now:

There are only a few books now, and most of them are hand-me-downs. Some of them are my sister's old books, and some were my old board books. Yes, my own board books survived the years, thanks to my mother. Pero wag kayo. We have around 20 books waiting to be opened come Christmas Day. Thanks, Daddy! I'm so excited to fill the shelves with them!

I want to raise a reader, a bookworm. I hate clutter, give me this mess any day:

How do you raise your children to love books?

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Christmas Decorations at Home

I love how my mom decorates our home in the holidays. Sure, she decorates late most of the time (read this for our Halloween decorations), but I always look forward to the day we finally get the boxes of decorations from the storage and break them in.

Anyway, no, my mom doesn't decorate our home like a professional decorator does. My mom doesn't believe in themes; she believes in using everything she already has. She doesn't believe in buying one set of decorations this year only to discard them because she'll be having a new theme next year. No, I don't believe in that either. No offense meant to those who love decorating in themes.

I like how my mom decorates because she's been decorating the same way ever since I could remember. That's more than 20 years worth of memories. Each time she breaks out the decor, I'm transported to my childhood when everything was magical and when Christmas was only a time for merry-making and not yet a time of heavy spending. One thing did not change: Christmas still stands for Christ.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Here are some snapshots I took of my mom's Christmas decorations:

My favorite shot because I spy Yuri! #nofilter #nopost-processingeffects #pushmopa

Mom's no-theme Christmas tree

No-theme Christmas ball basket (notice a running trend here?)

The Christmas canisters given to me in a Jollibee event a couple of months ago (I'm crushing on my mother's red abaca box behind the canisters)

My mother picked up these Santa Claus(es) and snowmen candles in a warehouse more than 10 years ago. Now, they're deformed, but my mom still uses them!

Santa Claus house and mug (we have more Santa mugs not in this photo)

Christmas trimmings on the curtain rods

And Chritsmas bells also on top of the curtains!

I just realized Mama loves Christmas bells! These are the ornaments on top of our tree.