a year later

Okay, so it's almost a year after my last post.  That's after I said I went back to blogging to record my journey as a working mom and my kids' growing up years.  It's just that so much has happened I didn't have time to think or digest some of them much less write about them.  Just to review...

the rest of December: Tamara's christening went well with only minor glitches (that's really unavoidable), went to Mindoro for Christmas and a chance for the kids to bond with their cousins there

January: Had a kick off party in the office and got tangled with the preps


February: Went to the 7107 IMF and a week later got the biggest surprise: I'm pregnant with our third child

March: Went to Boracay for Tamara's first birthday and also celebrated Hailey's graduation from ECE (early childhood education - nursery to prep)

the rest of the year passed too quickly and it's suddenly...

October: Gave birth to our third, and last, princess (yes, had a TL with the CS)

Meet our third princess: Kela Soleil

so now I have the time to post something because (1) I'm on maternity leave and (2) Kela's still in the stage where she sleeps 75% of the time, breastfeeds 20% of the time and have bath or diaper changes for the rest of her waking moments.

With the "free" time I have, while Kela and Tamara are sleeping and Hailey's in school, I even got to update their baby books.  Hailey's was 90% updated and just needed pictures and journal entries for some milestones particularly her first vacation, first plane ride, first time to visit the zoo, etc.  So it's now complete.  I feel so bad for Tamara because hers was almost empty except for the pregnancy, baby shower, birth and going home stories.  And with so much on my plate last year and this year, I completely forgot to jot down the dates of her milestones like first laugh, first time to sit, stand or walk on her own.  I do have a lot of pictures in file so I'm trying to get an idea, if not an exact date, of when she reached these milestones.  I'd feel worse when Kela's turned out more completely and accurately filled out. :-(

photos, mementos, stickers, colored papers and pens for the baby books

I also started digital scrapbooking again and my first project is Tamara's first year photobook.  (Yep, to make up for neglecting her baby book :-) I'm even going to place an order for Hailey's second year photobook which I've uploaded to the supplier's site years ago but haven't purchased.  The original files are in my corrupted Dell laptop which I'm not sure if still recoverable.  So before the online copy's deleted, will have it printed already.

fourth layout for Tamara's first year photobook

Half of my maternity leave is already gone and the holidays are fast approaching.  Soon I'll be back to work, we'll be moving houses and, before I know it, Kela's already crawling and the baby books and photobooks are once again shelved.  With a full time job, a grade schooler I have to tutor, a very active toddler and a demanding baby, it's hard to get lost in the action and find time for myself.  But for 2015, my New Year's resolution will be to find that time for myself (which I can use to blog or do my photo book projects or even just read) as well as some couple time with my husband.  And it's the one resolution I'm resolved to keep.