Cassandra's Coming Out Soon - Five Things We Checked If We're Ready for the New Baby

My wife's already in her 37th week of pregnancy.  In a race, this is what we call the homestretch.  The last leg.  The defining moment.  

Ever noticed this in life?  That all great things cannot be done overnight?  And have you ever noticed that the most difficult part in a long process is always the last leg?  

Here are five things our family checked if we're really ready for Cassandra.  

1. Is Ate Champee ready? I have a friend who once told me that no matter how they prepared their first child, they still got surprised on her reaction when they got home with the new baby as their eldest got protective of her old toys that are now used by the new baby.  One of the advice that we got from my sister in law was to always make sure that our ate is involved in preparing the family for our new member.  Also, we kept on reminding our Ate Champee to always share her toys and include her in our daily prayer where our little ate is leading.  As parents, we're conscious on making her feel loved such that she can also pass it on to our new little angel and to wipe out the feeling of jealousy.  Also aside from her heart, we prepared Ate's new look with a new haircut from the salon.
2. Is our budget ready? This might be the number one reason why couples today don't have any plans on making a big family.  It's always about money.  When we're single we think on how can we get married with the money we have.  When we're married, all we think is how we can support our children.  This is reality.  For our family, what's worse is that my company had a change in the middle of the year and our yearly bonus got pushed back a few months.  But as a Christian, we believed that all things are possible when God moves... even through our finances or should I say, most specially in our finances.  Despite the scenario, our little business picked up and got more clients than what we expected.  Will we have enough to cover the CS operation and expenses afterwards?  Maybe just enough to get by... but with all the wisdom that God has shown our family, we know we're ready as long as we do what He wanted us to do.  In John 21:6 Jesus said, "Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some." When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.  I've seen this miracle when I proposed to Cali with uncertainty that my little savings could allow us to get married.  But then I was confident since I was able to "throw my net", meaning I took the leap of faith with God's assurance that everything will be accounted for.  I learned photography, read business books, attended internet marketing, made some quality output for my main job, serve God even more... then the "fish" came.  Did I earn more financially during Out time?  A few maybe... but I met friends who eventually became suppliers for our wedding and was even able to book our honeymoon flight for less than 2k for a trip to Macau and HK.  So, with that, our family's just waiting for the surprises that God has in store for us.
3. Is our HEART ready?  When we had our first baby, we said that during our honeymoon stage, we were overwhelmed by the love we have for us as a couple and that it was time for us to share this love.  The same is true with our Cassandra that we can't wait to love another member of the family.  Come to think of it, as we increase our numbers in the family, the number of person giving love grows as well... for the first baby we have two, for the second one, we have three and so on and so forth.
4. Is our HEALTH ready?  Definitely my wife is ultra healthy... she commented before that she's even healthier when she's pregnant as she becomes conscious on what she eats. For me, it's a different story.  I gained a lot of weight despite the same exercise I've been having.  I just believe that the extra pounds of fat will be helpful on burning calories during the wee hours of the evening when Cassandra comes :)  Well, that's just an excuse, I really regained my love for carbs which added to my love handles.
5. Is our SPIRIT ready?  As a family, we're still active in serving God and been going through different talks or even giving one to keep us connected to God.  As Christians, any new life event and the anxiety it may bring, should always make us closer to Him.  Our family's prayer time is now lead by Ate Champee while we drive her going to school.  As simple as her words of thanksgiving, they were also reflect the exact sentiments of our family... full of gratitude to God's amazing greatness.

Checking out these five areas, I think we're ready and if we missed something, I'm sure these will be areas where God will surprise our family.

Amanda's big sister "ate" look