Felicity's 5th Birthday

Dear Felicity,

Today you turn five years old. Happy birthday!

We praise and thank the Lord for giving you to us, our Baby Number 4 and Mommy's mini-me.

At your age, it now seems clear to Mommy and Daddy that you have quite a strong personality. You are assertive and independent, which sometimes make us forget that you are only in preschool. You are somewhat a perfectionist, that is why your coloring artwork is always the best. Though I hope you will learn to not be too hard on yourself and be content with a few flaws in your penmanship. You have a wonderful voice, and you already agreed to be the singer while Mommy plays the piano. What should our first song be? 

Your current favorite character is Elsa from Frozen, hence the theme of your quarantine birthday. Just like Mommy, you love chocolate. And just like Mommy, you have a beautiful smile. Right now you are the middle child, and you can easily play with the Big 3 (Reese, Francis and Sera) or the Small 3 (Ted, Sean and Ela). You also easily get into fights with all of your siblings (except Baby Ela, for now) because of your strong personality. You may act stubborn at first, but you eventually say sorry when it's your fault. 

You enjoy dressing up and putting on make-up, but Daddy does not allow you to do the second one. You're a smart girl and a fast learner. This morning, you surprised us when you chose to pray the Prayer of St. Francis, which we didn't know you've been memorizing (since it's quite long). "Lord, do make Felicity an instrument of your peace." Your language of love is Words of Affirmation, and we hope to continue encouraging you with the right praises and positive comments, so you will never forget that we love you very much. 

Happy 5th birthday, Piling!!! It is our hope and prayer that you will continue to grow up as a Child of God. 

All our love, 

Mommy and Daddy

P. S. You promised to stop thumb-sucking now that you are five years old. Please see it through. 😂

Pio and Therese - 10 Years

Dear Reese, Francis, Sera, Felicity, Ted, Sean and Ela,

Today we celebrate Mommy and Daddy's 10th Wedding Anniversary. We got married last May 15, 2010, and it has been ten years of pure love and happiness.

So as my way of honoring your Daddy Pio on this special day, let me share 10 things I love about your Dad (that I'm sure you do, too):

1. I love that your Daddy is selfless. He works tirelessly to provide for our family and places our needs before his own. So the next time you are about to complain about how Daddy works too much, remember that he does all those things for you and me. 

2. I love that he likes having many children. Can you imagine being an only child? You would easily get bored in this quarantine with no sibling to play and fight with. Daddy takes pride in having many kids, so he has to work seven times harder. 

3. I love that he is generous. Daddy believes that generosity is the way to prosperity. The more you give, the more God will bless you. Because Daddy knows that he is blessed, he finds ways to bless others, too. 

I pray that my children will become cheerful givers like their Daddy. 

4. I love that he is simple. Have you ever wondered why every birthday and Christmas, I always get Daddy the same gift? (Shirts, in case you didn't realize it) This is because he rarely buys any for himself. Your Dad is one of the least materialistic persons I know, not caring much about wearing branded clothes or owning many things. I actually want to be like him in that respect. 

5. I love that he loves to eat. When Mommy was pregnant with each one of you, I liked to eat many kinds of food, and I was so lucky that Daddy always said "yes" to my eating requests. This is a great thing about your Dad. As long as we are with him, we will never go hungry! 

6. I love that your Daddy believes in dating the wife every week. Boys, when you grow up and get married to the woman that God chooses for you, never ever forget to take her on a date at least once a week. Whether it is dinner at a restaurant or a simple meal in the backyard, the time you spend with each other will add up and do wonders for your marriage.

Fun fact: Mommy and Daddy enjoy movie dates so much, we sometimes watch a boring movie (not a horror film) for the sake of making it an official movie date.

7. I love that he likes to travel. And he has no choice but to bring me along with him on vacation (one of the perks of being a wife). I know that you also want more family travels, and I'm sure Daddy will make that happen when the world is safe and pandemic-free. 

8. I love that he is a family man. This one requires no further explanation. 

9. I love that he is a planner, and I especially envy how he can get every thing on his to-do list done during the work day. Your Daddy is a little bit OC, which is always to our benefit since he tends to make things more smooth and well-organized. 

10. Lastly, I love that I am not his number one. God is. And he wants you to make God your number one, too. This is our prayer, that as a family, we continue to grow in faith everyday; that as a family, we give glory to the Lord in our love for each other and for our "neighbors".

If Mommy had more time, I could increase this list to 20, 30, even 50 things I love about your Daddy. But let's save that for the next anniversaries to come.

I just want you to know how blessed you are to have Daddy Pio as your father, and how more blessed I am to be married to him.

Don't forget to thank him today. 

All my love,

Mommy

Francis' 8th Birthday

May 2, 2020

Dear Francis, 

Today you turn eight years old. Happy birthday!

When you look back at this photo in the future, you'll remember that it's your quarantine birthday since you're wearing a mask. You know enough about COVID-19. Let's continue to pray that on your next birthday, our world will be completely pandemic-free.

But no pandemic was ever going to stop us from celebrating your 8th revolution around the sun!

You know that kids are not allowed to go outside of their homes in this community quarantine, but Daddy strategically scheduled your immunization today so we could have an excuse to go to Lolo Max and Lola Azon's house.

There you are getting your flu shot. You volunteered to go first, and right after the injection, you triumphantly shouted "That did not hurt!" It wasn't the same though for Sera, Ted, Sean and Baby Ela.

The best gift that you received on your birthday was Jesus in the Eucharist. How lucky were we to be able to attend Holy Mass when all the churches had been closed for weeks. Shown in the picture above is you being prayed over as the priest gave you a special blessing from God.

Of course, no birthday is complete without your favorite...

LECHON!!!

Thank you Daddy Pio for making Francis' wish come true!

Happy birthday from the family who could be with you for now 😀

I'm sorry we couldn't give you any toys for your birthday. But Mommy did give you a special, long, tight, rolling-over-the-bed hug this morning and you were very, very pleased. I had figured out for some time that your love language is physical touch, so hugs and kisses mean a lot to you. You are always hugging and kissing me too, and I love you for that!

Francis, if there's anything this quarantine has taught us, it is this: As long as we have food, shelter and our family with us, we have everything. You have everything. So thank the Lord often and live everyday with a grateful heart.



All our love,

Mommy and Daddy

DIY Newborn Photo Shoot

Dear Angela Clare,

You were born in the time of the Covid-19 Pandemic and Community Quarantine. As a result, there have been some things that you missed out on your first month that your siblings were able to experience early on, like going to Church (although we have attended Mass several times at Lolo Max & Lola Azon's house), joining the Feast, not yet meeting your close relatives and cousins, visiting your pediatrician for your scheduled immunization, going to the mall with Mommy to buy baby stuff, among other things. But don't worry, there will be plenty of time later on to do all of those, including and most importantly, receiving the Sacrament of Baptism. 

The one thing that we couldn't postpone though was your newborn shoot. Your siblings (except for Ate Reese and Kuya Francis) had professional photo shoots as early as one week old, and their newborn photos look amazing with all the cute props and set-up. You'll see them framed in the the Kid's Room. 

Of course, Mommy was not about to let your newborn stage pass without having a photo shoot of your own. I wanted to avoid the likely possibility of having to explain why your other siblings had them and you didn't. (For Reese and Francis, it's simply because newborn photography wasn't popular back then.)

So we did it yesterday, on April 13, 2020. Your Ate Sera suggested that we use the fruit basket from our kitchen as a small bed. We used my favorite beige scarves and some plastic flowers as props. I was about to make paper flowers for your hair, but good thing your sisters found the flower headband that I kept for your christening. 

We had the pictorial in Mommy and Daddy's bedroom, right beside the windows to get natural light. You peed on me twice, and I had to breastfeed you often to calm you down. You didn't sleep at all during the shoot as I had hoped. You cried every time I put you on the basket, but the white noise playing from Spotify somehow helped soothe you.

I used Daddy's cellphone to take your pictures. There were about 50 raw shots in all, but only five good ones. It took us almost an hour to finish, and I think you got really tired after. (You and me both!) 

It is NOT EASY being the stylist, photographer and mother at a baby's pictorial. But it was all worth it! You did well, Baby Ela. Look at how gorgeous you are:

I can't wait to put up these pictures on the wall next to your siblings. 

Happy one month, Angela Clare! Every milestone of yours is Mommy and Daddy's celebration too.

Xoxo, 

Mommy

P. S. I will make a separate post about your birth. 

Kuya Francis

Dear Francis,

You are 7 years & 11 months old as I write this. Your birthday on May 2 is coming soon, but it looks like we'll be spending it in quarantine (due to Covid-19 pandemic; you'll definitely remember this time in our lives so no need for me to explain further).

I still can't grasp the fact that my kids are growing up too fast.

When Mommy and Daddy found out that Baby No. 4 (Felicity) was going to be a girl, we were quite worried thinking that you'll be the only boy among your siblings. But then God answered our prayers right away and you are now Kuya of the Boys Team. (GOD IS GOOD!)

Seeing you play with Ted and Sean is one of my favorite moments at home (up until the point when somebody starts crying). You always try your very best to be patient with the little kids, no matter how intentionally annoying Ted may be. Even when he starts to play rough or engages you in a "wrestling match", you still try to appease him without being too rough. 

When either Ted or Sean ends up hurting you, you don't fight back. You can be very forgiving when the small boys do not follow the simple rules of Zingo. Seeing you behave in a mature way with your younger brothers makes Mommy very proud of you.

Thank you for being a good Kuya, Francis. I pray that you will always have a kind heart. 

All my love, 

Mommy

Felicity Jr.

Dear Felicity,

When we brought Baby Ela home from the hospital, one of the first things that I remember you telling me about her was this:

"Mommy, I'm so happy because Baby Ela and I are the same. We have brown skin."

A few times before, you would say that Reese and Sera have "apricot skin" (Apricot from the Crayola label), and I think to a certain degree you wanted to have fair skin like them. Mommy and Daddy knew you somehow felt different, so we made sure to often tell you that you're beautiful, especially since you liked dressing up and putting on Mommy's tinted lip gloss (Human Nature, Flame Tree).

Now, Daddy keeps saying that you and Ela are twins, and this always makes you smile. I hope having a sister that does not have "apricot skin" makes you feel more comfortable with your own complexion. But more than that, I pray that you will come to know and believe with all your heart that God makes everyone beautiful, regardless of skin color or any other physical attributes.

Lastly, YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL because you look like Mommy. 😉

I love you, Piling!

Xoxo, 

Mommy

Early risers

Dear Ted and Sean,

Good morning!

As always, the two of you are the first to wake up among your siblings. Today, in particular, Ted woke up first. Then he got bored playing by himself, so he woke up Sean.

The next twenty minutes while Mommy was pumping milk, I was just watching you two have fun with each other. You were jumping on the bed while Ted was singing "The A says Aah!", talking in your own language that only you understand, playing in the baby's crib (and making a mess of it), and kissing your baby sister every now and then. 

Toothbrush seems to be a favorite toy these days. Aside from brushing teeth, you also used it to play sword fight. (They will need to go to the UV sterilizer after.) 

We also saw a rainbow outside! Ted was the first one to see it, and he eagerly told me all the colors of the rainbow, including indigo. 

Now that Sean is no longer a baby, Mommy is always happy to see the two of you playing together. I savor these moments when you genuinely enjoy each other's company because I know that soon enough, you will find something to fight about (which you did, because of the toy blocks).

You are lucky to grow up with your best friend(s). 

I love you Ted and Seany Boy! Now, STOP FIGHTING. 

Xoxo, 

Mommy