2013 has been a roller coaster ride for our little family.
There were a lot of learning and leaping. Sometimes we had to learn the hard
way, and leap with just pure faith, for the most part.
Carl and I learned how to raise a little boy - one day at a time.
It does help that he is absolutely ADORABLE, especially on long days and
sleepless nights. But we are super in love with him - HE IS OUR SUNSHINE! He
surely made the past year interesting. Watching him reach his milestones and
see him grow from teeny tiny human being to becoming a little person was
incredible. Those sleepless nights caused by teething were all worth it when we
saw his first tooth come out. We now miss the days when we had to carry and
cuddle him all the time, because now he knows how to escape our cuddles so he
can crawl and cruise and play. It melted our hearts when he first babbled "MAMA" and "DIDDY",
and he first waved his hand to say "BU-BYE".
Now all he wants is his "BO"
(ball).
As for Carl and I, we celebrated our 5TH YEAR OF MARRIAGE. Congratulations to us! It has been an
adventure being married to each other - we've been through all levels of school
since we married, lived in 5 apartments in 4 cities in 3 states, had a baby,
and dealt with foreign bureaucracy as Visa holders in the United States to top
it all. Planning for our future has been a lot of brainstorming and having a
lot of back-up plans. To celebrate our milestone, we went to SeaWorld in San
Diego. It was our first time flying with Lorenz, and it was a really fun
experience. We discovered that Lorenz was a really good little traveler! We
enjoyed the dolphins and seals, and the Pacific Ocean. Carl turned 29 and I
turned 27. Carl transferred from Mormon.org to CUBS (Church Unit Banking
System), and I got started with my doctoral dissertation.
That was 2013 in a nutshell, in monthly detail...
JANUARY. We
started the year with a new baby. I was supposed to give birth to Lorenz on
January 2nd, but he arrived 4 days early. It was a whole new experience, and we
were blessed to have the help and expertise of my mom as we maneuvered our way
into neophyte parenthood.
FEBRUARY. We took
a trip to Los Angeles to send-off my in-laws to the Philippines. They've been
in the US since October of 2012 to visit us. We were so blessed to have them
close to us even for a while, and it made my birth to Lorenz even more special
with her two grandmothers present as he arrived. While in LA, we took the
chance to take my mom around, and our friends also got the chance to meet
Lorenz for the first time.
MARCH. Carl
started his new job assignment. He had a great time being with the Mormon.org
team, but It was really great while it lasted. He really worked hard as a
project manager for Mormon.org, working late and long nights with translations
and coding and coordinating with local area teams from different countries. He transferred to
CUBS and he found it exciting to learn the IT side of the Church's finances.
APRIL. It's
General Conference time again, and it was such a blessing that my mom was able
to attend it for the first time. We were edified and fed with the spiritual
nourishment we needed. It was also Lorenz's first time in Temple Square. While
we weren't able to sit down and focus on the talks, we still felt the spirit
and the importance of having modern-day revelations to guide us in these
latter-days.
MAY. My
FIRST MOTHERS' DAY ever! It felt so
surreal. For the longest time, Mothers' day felt like a non-holiday - and we
are just making do because afterall I was going to be a mom someday. But this
time, I was a
MOTHER - and we
celebrated it with my mom and relatives and friends. Also, it was time to say
goodbye to my mom whose been a very big help to us for the first couple of
months of being new parents. We've learned a lot from her, and it was
heartbreaking to see her kiss Lorenz goodbye. But it was time for her to go
back to my dad and to be with my siblings after 5 months of being away.
JUNE. SUMMER is
finally in the air! We spent almost every Saturday at the waterpark and Lorenz
always had a blast. Lorenz had his half-birthday and it was really fun seeing him
learn new things as he becomes more and more of his own person. He started
eating solids and he loved sweet potatoes, applesauce, squash, and peas. He
also started
TRYING TO CRAWL, but
doesn't really crawl - he just stays in his funny crawling position and then
falls on his tummy. He's fallen in love with his books and loves flipping their
pages. We also celebrated Carl's
FIRST
FATHERS' DAY - and we treated him with my homemade fall off the bones BBQ
Ribs!
JULY. Carl turned 29
- and we ate a lot of meat! We had a feast at Tucanos where Carl has a free
birthday meal. We played mini-golf... and ate some more at Joe's Crab Shack.
Yes we love to eat! We also treated Carl's team with pizza. One of Carl's
birthday wishes was -
another baby.
Technically, not a tough gift to give, but we'll have to work on that ;)
AUGUST. I turned 27
and
We turned 5. I started loving my
birthdays more since I've been married to Carl. It was certainly a very smart
move for Carl to set our wedding date on the day before my birthday. I am for
sure super spoiled on my birthdays. Our first year, he took to me to Universal
Studios. Our second year, he booked a really fancy hotel. Our third year, he
let me redecorate our apartment. Our fourth year, he treated me to the Canyons
in Park City. For our fifth year, he took our family to SeaWorld in San Diego
and treated me to an amazing seafood dinner in Mira Mesa! I love my birthdays -
and I love being
Mrs. Canlas!
SEPTEMBER. We
visited the Philippines as a family for the first time. It was a trip that was an
exciting trip that tested our faith and patience in many different ways. Our
primary purpose was to renew our visas at the US Embassy in Manila. Secondary
to that was so that most of our families can meet our little boy. After we got
our visas renewed, we made sure we were able to spend quality time with our
families. Our visit was filled with eating out a lot (of seafood, Jollibee, and
Chowking), touring places, and having little adventures here and there. 3 weeks
went by really fast, but at least we are now in a position where we can visit
the Philippines whenever circumstances allow (at least in the next 3 years).
OCTOBER. Settling
back in our old routine after our quick 3 weeks in the Philippines was quite a
challenge. Lorenz has grown so much, and had difficulty adjusting to the cold
weather. It has gotten really cold while we were away. Lorenz had an ear
infection, which was awful as it happened as four new teeth erupted in his
gums. Poor little thing. But, he's cruising more and was absolutely cute in his
Wolverine costume on Halloween!
NOVEMBER. We had
a lot of things to be grateful for and we certainly enjoyed Thanksgiving. We
spent a weekend in Seattle with friends and Lorenz had a blast with his best
bud Travis. We stayed at Homewood Suites and had Thanksgiving Dinner there. We
also went around Seattle and visited some tourist spots. We really enjoyed
being at the Space Needle. I felt like I fell in love more with Grey's Anatomy
(my latest TV drama fix) now that I've been in Seattle. It was a long and
exhausting drive to and from Seattle but we had a great Thanksgiving weekend.
DECEMBER. The year is finally coming to a close - 2013 went by
super fast. It's Lorenz's first Christmas and
he is TURNING ONE! He can now walk while we hold his hands. He's
learned a few tricks here and there, like putting his hand on his ear when he
hears the phone ring. He can also climb up the couch now, climb down the bed,
and go up and down the stairs. Oh, and he's learned how to DANCE! He received a
fleece blanket (that I made for him) for Christmas, among a couple other things
that we got him (a backpack, a suit set, and of course new pajamas and a
beanie). On his birthday, he got a little tikes basketball court and he was in
heaven saying "bo" and trying to shoot the ball in the ring!
So that was 2013 for us! It was
eventful and exciting, and definitely an adventure. We are looking forward to a
new year with hope, love, and happiness!
