To Beautiful, Better Days

 “I have seen many storms in my life. Most storms have caught me by surprise, so I had to learn very quickly to look further and understand that I am not capable of controlling the weather, to exercise the art of patience and to respect the fury of nature.” ~Paulo Coelho

Being a parent is hard. It is that stage of your life where your priorities shift to your child/children's needs and most of your wants and needs are put behind. Each day is a struggle from nursing and comforting them when they are newborns, to feeding and guiding them while they are toddlers, to teaching and disciplining them as kids... and the list goes on. Yet, nothing stresses the parents more when the family's health is compromised. 

On my previous post, I have shared how Leon's recent battle with a viral infection stressed me out. He did have to deal with it for more than a week though - from high fever to gastritis to a bad cough. Several mums I have talked to share the same sentiments - that kids, especially on their first year in daycare get sick at least once a month cause they are exposed to other kids and to whatever virus or germs they carry. It was a stressful situation - worried about Leon's health and worried about our jobs too. Did I tell you I ran out of leaves already? It was tough to be immigrant parents in a country where we don't have the convenience of a family or a nanny to help us out. You get the idea.

Anyway, it was not just Leon who had some health setbacks the past few days. Last December, during our health checkups, (for our permanent visa application), Paolo has an elevated high blood pressure-we're talking about 150/90. We went to the doctors back then and Paolo was advised to have a lifetsyle change. We then decided to switch to brown rice and changed our diet a little bit. However, 3 months and a several eat-outs later, Paolo's high blood pressure remains elevated.

Hence, we have made a decision to in fact change our lifestyle. We have completely cut down our rice since last week and replaced it with sweet potato, pumpkin, and vegetables. We made a decision to change the way we cook our meat - steam, boil, grill, bake and minimize frying, if possible. We have enrolled at gyms close to our work and friendly to our busy working parent schedule. Paolo will workout in the morning as I drop Leon off at daycare while I workout in a few minutes after work, while Paolo picks up Leon. Once my shift changes to morning, we will switch schedules.

Anyway, with the things we're doing with our health we all hope to have improvements as day goes by. As much as we want to make sure that Leon is of great health, we wanted ours to be on the optimum too. 

Jacket: H&M || Dress: Cotton On || Boots: KMART || Earrings: Lovisa

With much positivity, I really do hope that things go smoothly, moving forward. I am greatly inspired by the beauty of the iconic Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge that I chose to share these photo set as a reminder of how beautiful our life here is in general.We may have some (health) setbacks here and there, some parenting struggles whilst doing it everything ourselves, we are still extremely grateful for the opportunity for us to build a life here. It isn't easy, but it definitely made us stronger and more independent as parents. 

Hope you liked my post. Also shared the brands I'm wearing just because.

PS: Almost turning 4 in the next 3 months, Leon still prefers to be carried each time we go out. Now that he weighs really heavy, I really could not carry him for a long time that I always tell Paolo to carry him. We know na dapat hindi sya sinasanay but they get tired, and they are kids and they will always be our baby so we give in. However, Paolo always "horsy" (carry him on his shoulders) to make it easier. This hack definitely saves you from back pain.

Much Love,

The Mommy Roves