August is awesome because it is a festival of birthdays in our family; that involves Jeff’s side of the family and my side of the family. Jeff and I are August babies so is Jeff’s brother, Joe, and Jeff’s daughter, Danielle. My brother, Kevin and my Mom join the circus too – plus there’s a whole list of family members (cousins, uncles, aunties) and friends who are born on this amazing month.
Birthdays Galore
This has to be my longest birthday ever. I dubbed it as my very first intercontinental celebration as the festivity started at 12:01 am (Manila time) and ended 11:59 PM (Montana time). I celebrated my birthday for two days! There were several surprises as I turned 29: a new Samsung Galaxy tab, a manicure-pedicure with back massage, Filipino goodies, dinner at a Japanese restaurant, and lunch at a Chinese restaurant.
Jeff’s birthday involved less dining out but a lot of inhouse fun. He got a card from us – and a gift package of everything he needs but forgot or didn’t buy for himself because he’s too busy taking care of us.
Blogging Class
Earlier this month, I also finished a short blogging course at the Flathead Valley Community College (FVCC) so the improvement you’re seeing in this blog is due to that course. I thank my teacher, Kathie Lapcevic, who is the force behind Homespun Seasonal Living, for her mentorship and assistance. She offered great tips and I really learned so much from our sessions. I requested for a certificate from the FVCC’s Continuing Education Department because I came out of that class ecstatic about updating and improving this blog.
Great Falls Adventure
I have extensively shared about the Great Falls adventure in here so I think I should close my writing mouth and just let you read it. Ha!
Bedspacers
Because I am officially a whale, thanks to the size of my belly, my husband has been assigned to the couch for an indefinite period. I love him more for letting me have the bedroom to myself because really it is so hard to deal with pregnancy when you’re on your last stretch.
Some nights, the twins sleep with me and they share very special moments which I was able to capture on camera. It’s amazing how fast they’ve grown. Soon enough, they’re going to be a man and a woman. I raved and ranted about that fact in this post on raising a man and a woman.
Reading is still a major part of our daily routine. Jeff and I also enrolled in an online class on positive parenting solutions with the hopes that we will be better parents in the process.
Nicks attends a fair!
I would have wanted to join the Northwest Montana Fair but my doctor begged me (yep, that’s really the word he used) not to go because he said it’s bad for my blood pressure and might cause premature labor. So my in-laws, Joe and Sheryl, took the boy and oh how he enjoyed that close encounter with animals! He went home totally exhausted and woke up pretty excited to tell us about what he saw out there. All photos by Joe Ruffolo.
Sprinkler fun
Because I am in the last leg of this pregnancy, I haven’t been taking them outside. Admittedly, they’ve been staying indoors most of the days because I do not have the energy to ran after them especially when Toni decides to explore the bushes by herself and refuses to listen to me when I tell her to come back. So when I took them out towards the end of this month with Jeff assisting me, they were so happy. We let them run and then turned on the sprinkler so they can get wet and just have fun.
Maternity Shoot
On the day of my birthday, I had the chance to work with a photographer named Cody Payne who was kind and patient with me and my family in documenting this special milestone in our lives. You can see all photos here. I also want to share some photos of the 2013 maternity shoot when I was pregnant with the twins because I am feeling nostalgic watching these photos of the twins looking so active and happy.
I am giving birth this month (September) to Baby No.3! We deeply appreciate positive vibes and prayers as I aim for a normal spontaneous vaginal delivery this time!
