Category Archives: Married Life

Faith Talk Married Life Mommyhood

Dawn & Rain’s Dedication

My little family

Whenever I stare at this photograph long enough, I start tearing up. No, really. Happens every single time. In fact, I’m trying to keep my eyes from staring at it too long right now.

Two weeks ago we dedicated our twins, Dawn & Rain, to the Lord. It was an emotional week for usThe in-laws (D’s parents) were in town to meet their grand children for the first time (it’s been a while since we spent time with them too!), there were gatherings of loved ones and friends here and there, even making DIY decorations for the party was a sentimental time.

The truth is, I panic sometimes. How are we to raise these two kids when we, ourselves, are just.. kids? But maybe it’s a good kind of panicbecause it makes us come to Him everyday with full awareness that we can never do this without an abundance of His grace, provision, and strength. He is the one who has given us these blessings, and He will be the one to enable us to take care of them. There’s simply no other way. It is in that note that we gathered a small group of our loved ones and friends (we wished we could have invited more!) to witness as we dedicated our dear Dawn & Rain to the Lord.

As Pastor Dave shared in his message that day, we’re dedicating them to the One who said, “Let the little children come to me.” (Matthew 19We may not have everything it takes to raise two babies at once, but we do have God with us in this journey, and He happens to love little children! Where else can we learn parenthood but from The Father Himself?

Photographs from the dedication are in my Facebook account, you can view them all here. Normally I’d dump lots of photos here, especially from an important occasion such as this. But today I feel like posting just one photograph, one that summed up the occasion for me: Me & my husband standing in front of the altar, beaming with so much joy, holding these two little humans with trembling hands, and dedicating them to the One who has entrusted them to us.

Dawn & Rain Married Life Mommyhood Portraits

Rain’s sweet pouts and Dawn’s funny faces

Outtakes from 2/52. Can you blame me for taking too many pictures of this duo, and having a hard time choosing just one shot each?

DSC_1676Twins Photography

Twins Photography

Twins Photography

Rain’s sweet little pouts! —Don’t you just want to kiss her? :-*

Twins Photography

Twins Photography

Twins Photography

 Dawn’s adorable funny faces! —Don’t you just want to squish her? :D

Twins Photography

Spinkie Bunnies

Twins Photography

Oh yay Spinkie bunnies!

Twins Photography

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Twins Photography

Loves of my life.

It was Sunday afternoon when these photographs were taken, in the attic of D’s childhood home, as we were spending the weekend with his parents who are in town for a short trip. The babies were supposedly taking a nap while the grand parents were resting in the room one floor below. I remember the beautiful afternoon light through white-curtained windows, the tiny chuckles that filled the room, and my husband being all silly just to make these babies smile.

And I remember feeling like my heart was going to burst with so much love and joy, like everything I ever need and want in this life is within the four corners of that bed.

Photographs are amazing that way. They don’t only preserve memories, they also remind you how the moments made you feel.

Life as I Know It Love Married Life Mommyhood

Day 26: Cancelled movie date, chocolates, and Valentines

Family Portrait, February 14

1. Cancelled movie date. We reserved seats to watch Warm Bodies (yup, zombie love for Valentines!) twice and cancelled them twice too because we couldn’t leave the house. We couldn’t find a babysitter, for one. We have one yaya, but we need at least 2 people watching over the babies if we have to be away for a long time. On top of it, these two girls are keeping us glued to their crib with their smiles, and their cries, and all the little noises they make. But hey, how can we complain?

2. Roses & chocolates. D came home with a single-stemmed rose and some Ferrero chocolates for me. We have to admit, no matter how cliche flowers and chocolates and teddy bears are, it still makes us, women, feel warm and fuzzy inside when we’re the recipients of these traditional symbols of love. Yes, even on an overrated occasion such as Valentines Day.

3. Loves of my life. Our movie date may have been cancelled, the single-stemmed rose dried up, and the chocolates consumed, but the best part of Valentines Day was ending the night squeezed in our queen-sized bed, with these two wide-eyed baby girls who don’t have any idea that we’re sooo in love with them. At the risk of sounding like a bad Hallmark greeting card, everyday is like Valentines day at the Oyos home.

30 Days of Gratitude, Day 26.

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Day 22: Leading worship, speaking to the youth, and lovin’ my family

February 10 at Lifex

1. Leading worship. My husband was assigned to lead the praise and worship in church last Sunday, and I stood up there with him again (at his request). It’s what I would do too when I’m the one leading worship—I’d ask him to stand up there with me. Not that we couldn’t do it apart from each other; it’s more of, we simply love doing this together. It doesn’t feel like a long time ago when I was just praying to have someone I can grow in faith with and worship the Lord with. God answered those prayers beyond my imagination. Not only do I get to worship with D now and all the days of our lives, I also get to do this ministry I love with him.

2. Speaking to the youth. Later in the afternoon, I delivered a message at Lifextreme, our church’s youth worship. The last time I had the privilege of speaking to the young people in church was February last year, where I talked about, well, marriage. And then I got pregnant and took a little hiatus from speaking in front. One year later, last Sunday, I spoke about loving your family. Funny, these topics they assign to me. Someone’s getting old.

So I told them the obvious, that we get to choose our friends, who we hang out with, and in a way, who we work with. But the family we’re born into.. now that is something that God chose for us. It’s a gift, something that we should nurture and take care of even though, and especially because, these are the people who know us for who we are. And these are the people we’ll go through life with, whether we like it or not! Be kind to the ones you do life with, says Bobbie Houston. I stood up in the pulpit for 30 minutes speaking about this topic that means so much to me, especially now that we’re starting a family of our own.

3. I love my family. I could never get tired saying it. I love my family. I love the family I was born into, and I love this new family God has blessed me with. The thing with speaking about topics like this is, as you study your passage and review your notes, you also get to look into your own life and have a deeper appreciation of what you have. I feel so blessed beyond words.

*The rest of the 30 Days of Gratitude shall be posted with dates backtracked. Like I anticipated, it’s easy to list down blessings, but to find time to post them here.. it’s more challenging than ever. I just need one uninterrupted afternoon to get those drafts out, so watch out for a flood of posts soon. ;)

30 Days of Gratitude, Day 22.

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Day 15: Lost and found, catching up, and Sunday nights

Purpose

1. Lost & found. Sunday morning, I happened to be given a chance to welcome and get to know two first-timers in church. One of the girls described herself as feeling “lost”, and we discussed in length how we can find direction and purpose if only we would let God take over our lives. And then I prayed for them. At the end of our prayer, they both attested to accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord & Savior, and wanting to know Him more. It struck me what this “lost” girl said, that she still doesn’t know what she’s supposed to be or what the future has for her, but at least now she knows for Whom everything is supposed to be and Who holds the future. I guess she’s not that lost after all.

2. Catching up. With family and friends volunteering to watch over the twins on Sundays, I was able to take a break last Sunday and catch up with some of my friends. Lately it feels like I’ve been away for a long time and clueless about what’s happening around. It’s good to finally get some updates on what everyone is up to. I love that it allowed me to zoom out for a moment and see in a bigger perspective how God is constantly working in everyone’s lives.

3. Sunday nights. The babies were tucked in early and I had no work to do. Husband and I camped out in the living room to watch some movies and just enjoy the night. This is our life now, we keep telling ourselves these days. Which is usually followed by us smiling like lovesick highschoolers who still sometimes can’t believe that this is our life. Ending and starting something—a day, a week, a month, a yearwith the one you love makes you feel this certain warmth that just.. never gets old.

30 Days of Gratitude, Day 15.