I was inspired to create similar works from the The Days are Long painting I recently did. I’m honestly motivated to create a series exploring more on my postpartum journey using these skyscapes. And so this second work was born!
I called it Everybody’s Moved… but Me.
This was inspired mainly by my reaction to social media posts I’ve seen of my friends and acquaintances. Since mums of newborns don’t have much of a choice in terms of things to do, it’s easy to turn to one’s phone and scroll our time away. I was active and spent heaps of time outside the house prior to giving birth and so the sudden slow pace really got to me.
Seeing other people go about their normal routines is enough to make me super jealous. It felt like everything was as normal for the world I know and there I was watching everything go by. Everybody seemed to be moving… but me.
With the intention of this being a series, I used skyscapes, yet again, to illustrate this experience. I particularly like the colours I used here and making gradients through oils is such a satisfying experience!
It has taken quite a while for me to write to you again. It has been a whirlwind since the day we found out about you.
A team of medical specialists have been taking care of both you and me. Moving to NZ was one of the best decisions we’ve made. We don’t know how it will be if we were in the Philippines because really, your Mummy’s body isn’t the healthiest.
I’ve been anxious the past weeks because the first sonographer who saw you thought you had a cleft lip. I mean I’ll still accept you even now for who you will be or what you will look like but I’m worried it’ll be an unnecessary burden for you as you grow. Anyway, the last scan said you are all clear. You might just have been blowing bubbles in Mummy’s tummy then.
Whatever you become, I hope you find and know and love Jesus the way your Dad and I have. I hope you model your life from Him because it will be the single most important decision you will do in life – everything else will flow from that relationship.
I hope you become the best version of you. I hope to raise you as a discerning, kind, and loving man who will choose to do what is right and noble no matter how difficult. I pray even now that God gives me the grace to forgive you at times that you will hurt me. And just the same, I hope you learn to forgive your Dad and I in times that we hurt you. Forgiveness has been the toughest lesson I had to learn and it has taken so much from my life without me knowing it.
Hang in there, my precious one. I will try my best to be healthy so that you will be, too. I am jumping with joy because you are alive.
With joyful anticipation,
Your Mum
This is another series I launched in this space. I have written numerous letters to my child in the hopes of giving this to him as a gift someday. These letters also serve as a way for me to pour out my thoughts and emotions during the different stages of my pregnancy and motherhood.
Some letters I might post as an excerpt, some I’d publish unabridged. I hope to give this someday to Raphael and I want to keep some of my private thoughts and wishes, private.
I’ve always liked preparing for things – events, holidays, school, projects, etc. It’s no surprise I carry the same enthusiasm in preparing for baby’s arrival. I’ve been reading books, forums, Mum groups, so that I’d know what to expect and what can make our lives way more manageable. One of the things I read was that it could tremendously help to have frozen meals ready for the first few weeks once the baby arrives.
And that’s exactly what we did! Last weekend, we were able to produce double serve of 43 frozen meals!
Here’s how we did it:
Have a list of the meals to be cooked and prioritise the order of cooking
I had to have varied choices of meals because I get tired of eating the same things over and over. We chose Filipino foods, a mix of vegetable and meat dishes. While completing the list, I have also factored in the time every dish cooks and which equipment I can use so that I can prioritise which to prepare first.
2. Do grocery shopping – preferably in places where you can bulk buy, especially the meats
We are fortunately located in the city centre so we are spoilt for choice with vegetable and meat shops so we were able to get the best prices for the ingredients we needed.
3. Clear a working space for chopping ingredients
We cleared 2 tables and the kitchen counter so that everything is organised. All cooking utenstils and equipment were washed as soon as they were used.
4. Have all cooking equipment ready.
Here is a list of the useful equipment we used. I don’t think it’s completely necessary to have these but it definitely did help for us to get things done.
Crock-Pot (for slow cook and pressure cook)
Vacuum food sealer
Upright freezer
Freestanding oven
5. Lay down and sort ingredients for each dish that needs to be prepared
6. Howell did the chopping of ingredients and packing of the cooked meals while I cooked up a storm and did the dishes
Having specific assignments for tasks makes everything easier. We also did assignments based on our strengths. Howell is great at organising things and dealing with spaces so he did the packing and clearing space in the freezer for storage while I cook well so I took it on.
We cooked 11 dishes for about 6 hours. Howell did the packing of meals for about 3 hours. Next time, though, I wouldn’t recommend doing this all in one go. It was too exhausting for both of us but I’m glad it’s all done now. We’re hoping these meals would tide us through for about over a month after baby arrives.
HandsVentures NZ 