Wordless Wednesday: "A girl’s first true love is her father." — Marisol Santiago
Three Years of God’s Amazing Grace and Blessings: Rysse’s Birthday Giveaway! :)
Our “little flower” turns three today.
I can’t believe how fast she’s growing. Slow down, please, Time. Slow down. *sniffs*
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| Newborn Rysse and Rysse at three. *sighs* |
I can still remember vividly her birth — which was all natural, mind you! (Eeep!)
And how our lives were never the same again after that. (Just as it changed when I gave birth to her Kuya Tim.)
Really, thank You, Lord for the gift of life! Which we celebrate today, in a very special way. 🙂
And since I feel soooo blessed to have this little girl in my/our life/ves, I want to share my joy with you by giving away A YEAR’S SUBSCRIPTION TO MUSTARD MAGAZINE, the award-winning inspirational children’s magazine published by (none other than, ahem, ahem) Shepherd’s Voice Publications! (Yes, that’s where I work now. Shameless plugging, I know! 🙂 LOL!)
And, since Rysse is our baby no. 2, there will be TWO winners for this giveaway. 😉 Yipeeee!
I wanted to share what the magazine looks like through PDF files, but I can’t do that right now. So, I tried to take some pictures instead. These are from the June 2012 issue (which is my maiden issue as the managing editor, praise God!). Sorry if they’re a bit blurry. 😉
And now, for the giveaway!
Here are the details:
ELIGIBILITY AND CONTEST PERIOD
Eligibility: The contest is open to Philippine residents only.
Claiming of giveaway prizes: Winners will be notified via e-mail. I will shoulder the shipping fee for the winner.
Contest period: Contest will run from July 5 to July 19, 2012. The winner will be announced by July 19, 2012 on .
MECHANICS
Please follow the Rafflecopter instructions below. (And do say a prayer for our little girl today, please? Thanks so much in advance for doing so!)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thank you for Therese’s Advanced Birthday Gift, Pois Belly and Kids! :) (GOD, You’re amazing!)
Guess what I received the other day? And just in time for our little princess’s birthday tomorrow (a few hours from now! Woohoo!)?
GIFT CERTIFICATES FROM !
I was totally surprised that the press kit they sent contained gift certificates (GCs). I thought they were going to send a token item or sample product. 🙂 AWESOME! God is AMAZING this way, you know?! Because hubby and I had just been talking about getting some new clothes for Rysse, but I didn’t feel like splurging on what I consider “wants” and not “needs” (yes, I’m frugal like that! LOL!).
And then we received the GCs! Cool, huh? 😉 But then again, God really knows the deepest, and even “shallow” desires of our hearts!
Anyway, here’s a bit of info re: Pois Belly and Kids:
Pois, Belly and Kids is the brainchild of Eurowear Marketing Corp., and houses three fashion-niche brands — Pois, Belly and Great Kids — which address the stylish dressing needs of tykes and tweens as well as expecting moms. Inspired by European designs and the latest trends in fashion, these brands are designed to adapt to the local climate and specific age groups.
Eurowear owners Clement and Rowena Velasco (who started the maternity line “Great Expectations” in 1999) aim to bring quality, style and age-specific fashion in maternity, girl’s teen and girl’s wear, under one roof.
Check out the full press releases here and here.
Meanwhile, here are some drool-worthy items from Pois, Belly and Kids (can’t wait to use those GCs for Rysse — hubby said buy some maternity items for myself, too, for the future! Ha, ha! Hmmm… let’s see, honey! *winks*). Thanks again, Pois, Belly and Kids, for being the “unwitting answer” to our unspoken prayers:
Great Kids: Play Dress Up!
The collection offers such cute clothes that any mother
would wish to dress their daughter/s with.
Its girly designed tops, perky tutus and colorful and glittery bottoms make their little girls
even look more adorable and loveable.
Thus, Great Kids depicts the fun and carefreeness of girlhood in all its designs.
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| I want to get this for Rysse! 🙂 |
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| And this tutu, too! 🙂 |
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| Love this! |
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| Hippie-gorgeous! 🙂 |
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| Love the checkered dress here. 🙂 |
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| This is nice, too! |
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| Perfect for little ballerina-wannabes like our little girl 🙂 |
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| Rysse would look LOVELY in this! 🙂 |
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| I want the kids to have a wagon like the one shown here, haha! 🙂 Love the red top and grey skirt, too! 🙂 |
Pois: Not too Young and Not too Old for Chic Trendy Clothes
From the ages of 8 to 18, girls are most likely at the stage when they start to discover
what styles fit their identities and personalities. It is also at this awkward stage when girls are stuck
in the middle wondering if their clothes are age-appropriate and
whether their outfit seems too young or appear too old.
Fret no more; Pois Belly and Kids includes a stylish label just for tweens called “Pois.”
Its new fashion line consists of trendy cropped tops, polka dot blouses,
shirts with stripe prints and ribbons, cute shorts, floral dresses and many more!
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| I like the color of this piece! 🙂 |
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| Sweet and simple. 🙂 |
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| I wish I had clothes like these when I was a teen/tween! 🙂 LOL! |
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| I love this dress! 🙂 |
Belly Maternity: Fashionista Mama
“Belly Maternity,” offers a wide range of classic, sexy and trendy clothes that compliments a
pregnant mother’s figure. Eurowear owners, Clement and Rowena Velasco, are very much familiar to
the new generation of expecting mothers who want nothing less
than a fashionable maternity wardrobe.
Wearing these clothes not only exude beauty and sassiness, but a mother’s confidence.
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| Oooohhh, I want to have THIS when I’m preggy again! 🙂 |
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| Perfect for the days when I work at home. 🙂 Teehee! |
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| Office-cum-casual attire. 🙂 Love it! |
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| Love the way this top “falls” on the model’s frame! 🙂 |
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| On my “wish list.” 🙂 Nice, yes? |
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| Oooh! Love this dress! And it’s breastfeeding-friendly, too! |
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| You can use this as an office top if you just throw on a nice blazer or cardigan. 🙂 |
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| Another nice red top! 🙂 |
Pois Belly and Kids has six freestanding stores in the Philippines, located at TriNoma,
SM Megamall Atrium, Glorietta 3, SM Mall of Asia, SM City Cebu and SM City Iloilo.
To know more about Pois Belly and Kids,
do visit their Facebook page:
Wordless Wednesday
The Gift of Life
(This post first appeared on Philstar.com’s Unblogged Section. I added a bit to it here. You can go to the link here to view the original post.)
Our little girl turns two today. It seems like only yesterday that I first found out I was pregnant with her. I had no inkling at first that I was expecting, since I am used to having “delayed” periods. I would get really, really tired, but I thought it was just because we were in the midst of our “conference season,” back-to-back conferences between May to November in Timor. When I started experiencing pain whenever Tim, our eldest, would breastfeed, I thought it was normal. Little did I know that all these were symptoms that I was preggy!
Hubby, Rysse and I at the hospital in Timor Leste
When I finally took a pregnancy test and found out I WAS pregnant, hubby and I were ECSTATIC! We had actually been using the Billings Ovulation Method in the hopes of conceiving a girl, and 7 months later, we found out that the baby in my tummy was INDEED a girl! What a blessing!
We decided to name her Alyssa Therese, so we could call her “Rysse” for short. Her Kuya’s complete name is Timothy Alan, or “Tim” for short, and we wanted their names to reflect being Timorese (what the people in Timor are called) since they were both born in Timor. Alyssa comes from hubby’s mom’s name “Alicia,” and Therese from my mom’s name “Teresita;” also from St. Therese of the Child Jesus.
Holding 1-day-old Rysse
(Yes, there are no standard hospital gowns for patients in the National Hospital in Timor!)
I must admit now that with this second pregnancy, I was less cautious and OC (obsessive-compulsive) with doing things “right” than with my first. I didn’t drink as much milk as I should have, I didn’t take my pre-natal vitamins as regularly as needed, I didn’t get as much sleep and rest as I did with Tim. (Sorry Baby Girl! Please forgive Mama!)
I was always “on the go,” especially during the months before giving birth, since we were preparing for CFC Timor Leste’s first ever Pro-Life Month. We had a guest speaker coming all the way from Human Life International in the US, and activities in Dili and the nearby districts (provinces in Philippine terms). I was the Head of CFC’s Pro-Life Ministry at the time, so I was on top of all the preparations.
I was due to give birth on July 22, which fell on the week after the busy weeks of our Pro-Life activities. However, our little baby, our precious Rysse, decided that it was time to come out on July 5, right after our “kick-off” activity for the Pro-Life month, CFC Timor’s 1st Pro-Life Rally.
I had spent almost the whole day on my feet, making sure everything was in place, despite hubby’s and my mom’s protests and warnings. On our way home from the Rally, I was already experiencing some back pain, which I attributed to fatigue. However, when the pain wouldn’t go away, I told my husband to bring me to the hospital. “Anyway, if it’s a false alarm, we can always go back home,” I even told him.
You can guess how surprised we were when the midwife who checked me at the hospital said (in Tetum, the local language there) that I was 6cm dilated! Rysse was all ready to come out into the world! And not a moment too soon, it seems her umbilical cord was twisted around her neck!
Rysse was hospitalized after birth for sepsis, UTI and jaundice.
Thank GOD for modern medicine, breastfeeding and the power of prayer!
Rysse’s birth was less “documented” than Tim’s (i.e. we don’t have a video of her coming out). My mom was too nervous and forgot that she was the assigned camerawoman (we love you po, Ma!). Nonetheless, Rysse was received into the world with much love and hope. I gave birth to her naturally, 100% painkiller-free, just like Tim, and once again, I was amazed at how a woman’s body is really created to nurture and “produce” life.
Newborn Rysse being cleaned..well… sort of..
It’s been two years since then. Our little girl is growing up fast, and she’s changed from a signing, babbling wobbly-on-her-two-feet toddler into a talkative “little lady” who never fails to make her Papa’s heart melt, and her Mama’s heart break whenever she has to leave her behind.
Our little lady
Rysse loves babywearing her doll, just like I love wearing her!
She shows her love for her Kuya Tim in the sweetest of ways, and complete strangers have even come up to us, asking for permission to photograph her! People say they love seeing her pictures on Facebook, because “just seeing her smile makes us happy.”
Tim shows newborn Rysse some brotherly love!
Rysse returns the favour at almost two years old. Hehe.
More than all these though, I am so grateful to God for using Rysse as a living reminder of the gift of LIFE. Born at the height of her Mama’s pro-life “career” (if you can call it that!) in Timor, Rysse is truly a gift of LIFE from the Giver of life Himself.
Papa’s princess, Rysse
Happy, happy birthday our dearest Baba Girl! (That’s her nickname now, her Papa gave it to her. Incidentally,Baba in Afrikaans means “Baby,” according to our missionary friends who’ve been to South Africa.) You are a blessing to the whole world! We love you very much!
Rysse, you are well-loved the world over, but especially in Timor Leste! Here Rysse is with her “Maun” Nelson and “Maun” Aleixo, our youth missionaries in Timor. (Maun is Tetum for “Kuya.”)
Here are more photos of our birthday girl.. our “Little Flower!” We love you Rysse!
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