Life Momentz

ranting

2010-12-01T21:08:00.002+08:00

1 of those times where I feel moody.
hubs and me not talking. today is the 2nd day.
he doesn't think he did anything wrong, neither did I.

rec'd an email from the boss which adds onto my moodiness.
tried retail therapy but it doesn't work.

was feeling so bad tt I very nearly cried in the train on the way home.
why? hopefully when the storm is over, I can look back n think what a trivial matter it was.

now, it felt as I have something pressing in my heart and wanted to cry it out.
makes me wonder which is more painful - emotional pain or physical pain?

New Job...

2010-08-16T11:25:00.002+08:00

New job seems ok for now.
Was flooded with assignments the 1st week I joined.
So much for honeymoon period! :P

But so far, I enjoyed the environment here...
nice colleagues to work with.
No need to worry about office polictics.
A refreshing change.

did some Teacher's day card with the girls.
Kady enjoyed herself. She's really into arts...
Vera was just horsing around... enjoying the company I guessed.

of late, it seemed that Vera's super sticky to me.
She wants me to be around her all the time....
if I walked off for abit, she'll come looking for me within 5mins!
Really dunno to be pleased or pissed... LOL...

Onward with another adventure, another opportunity

2010-07-13T17:13:00.003+08:00

Have left my ex co after working 4.5years there... one of the longest period of time that I have worked in a company. Seen a lot of colleagues going and coming...
Mixed feelings. Happy with the new adventure that I will be embarking on and yet... I think I will mix my bunch of colleagues.

So now I have about a week's off before I start my new work and am trying to cook for the family. :)

Made Japanese stew the other day.
Surprisingly easy to make.

ingredients
Beef cut into cubes
bonito stock
potatoes cut into cubes/ chunks
carrots cut into cubes/ chunks
sake or white cooking wine
1 onion chopped
pepper
soy sauce
brown sugar

steps
brown the onions then add in beef (marinate with pepper, soy sauce) to brown as well.
add in bonito stock and bring to a boil, then switch to low fire and simmer for about an hour
then add in carrots and potatoes and simmer for about another 30mins till vegs are all soft and meat tender.
Serve with plain rice.

Kady loved it so I might just make it again. :)

Yesterday I made Cashew Nut & Walnut Soup, Stir Fried Pork with OJ and normal stir fried vegs.

Tonight's menu - Five Spice Pork Trotters with Lemongrass, Stir Fried Broccoli with Prawns and Meat patties... :)

Butterfly Kisses...

2010-06-12T23:30:00.003+08:00

Who would have thought a Simple Song like Butterfly Kisses would invoke such feelings in me.

Hearing the song, reading the words...
I realised that I never really knew my dad.
Did he loved me?
Does he think of me every now and then?
Can he even remembered that he had a daughter somewhere out there?

The lyrics made me cry...
Pain that stabbed me in my heart that I didn't even knew existed.
I thought I didn't care
I thought that I will do fine
I thought that it doesn't matter
and things are better this way...

Well - I can only think of it this way
'cause I don't think I will ever know if he had loved me
if he had thought of me
rather than to have the cruel truth of knowing
that he hadn't care,
hadn't love,
hadn't matter...
I would prefer to leave it as it is.

I am just thankful that I have a wonderful husband who is everything my own dad wasn't.
A dad who is always there for his girls.

Thank you - Darling!

Here pox, there pox

2010-03-12T11:39:00.002+08:00

Caught the chicken pox virus since Monday.
Grew a lot of 'poxes' on my body, back and especially on my scalp!

The ones on my scalp are the most painful.
They are like acne - very swollen and painful.

Tried using ACV (Apple cider vinegar) mixed with water and wipe on the affected areas.
Seemed to be able to help with the itch and help the drying up...

Dh has been wonderful... helping with taking care of the kids and me. :)
Made me cooling drinks, porridge and stuff.

How great it is to have such a wonderful and loving dh!

P1 Update for Kady

2010-03-04T22:56:00.000+08:00

This is looong overdue. :P

Kady's school recently organized a Communication session for the P1 parents to let us know the activities/ plans up ahead...

I must say that I am impressed.
Not 'cos that they do the session but cos of all the plans that was lined up for the little P1 kids!
They are organizing outdoor trips to Resort World Sentosa and Universal Studio in the last week of Term 2 and Term 3.
Thereafter - the children need to do a Show and Tell in public so that they can learn to communicate and do a little 'public speaking' per se.

And - they have a studio of sorts that children can try out doing stuff like reporting, DJs, etc.
heck! They even have their own radio station so tt kids can dedicate songs!

And there is plans for them to re-do a section of the school to a Mini Science area where children can learn but science is a 'fun' and creative environment.
They are even going to create an online portal for the kids to log in and learn! (will be ready in March, I think.)

The best part - NO EXAMS this year!!! Instead, the P1 kids will be assessed on their usual work/ small projects.

The classroom sitting is in clusters/ groups. So that they can learn to work as a group.
In their classrooms, they have computers and a mini library!
Kids will get time to be on the computer and they will be teaching them keyboard skills as well.

Updates from the teacher was that Kady is very vocal (i.e. talkative lah!) and confident.
Enjoy arts and PE lessons.
Is the appointed Asst. Group Leader for English, Group Leader for Mandarin and the Art Monitor!

Since Jan, Kady has fought with her classmates twice!
'cos 1 time - someone smack her, and the other time - someone pissed her off.

My idiot brother told her that she shouldn't smack the kid back.
What she should have done was smack the kid, then drag the kid to the teacher and tell the teacher tt the kid smack her!
Good thing she didn't pay notice to my bro! *whew*

Overall - she has been coping well and both english and mandarin teacher said she is quite bright and a fast learner.

The start of a New Year - 2010

2010-01-04T10:02:00.002+08:00

Its Kady's 1st day at Primary School today...
Time really flies. Its like she has suddenly just grow overnight and no longer a little baby.

Kady is very independent and brave today.
We dropped her off at the Student Care (which thankfully is within the school compound!)
and stayed with her for like 5mins before asking her if she is okay to be on her own.
She said its fine and that we can go...
Still I lingered around and saw that my independent baby went up to the teacher to asked for some coloring pages to color to entertain herself.
I hope she will be able to do well in school - be it behavioral or studies.
I hope she will like school so that we can have 1 less worry.

Kady - if you are reading this (one day down the road), Be assured that Mummy and Daddy is very proud of you and we Love you so much!

1 wedding, 2 funerals.

2009-11-29T10:40:00.002+08:00

It was my younger cousin Vincent's birthday last Sunday...
I didn't attend as I just got back from Shanghai and was sick.
Moreover, the wedding was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Less than 24hours later, my granny passed away.
I hope she is no longer suffering where ever she is now.
She had cancer for quite a while...

Today is Sunday.
Another week gone.
I just heard from my brother that 2nd uncle passed away.
Another funeral...

That makes it the 3rd one this year.
Makes me think - life and death is just a thread away.
喜于悲，生于死 - 一限之擦。

Another baby tooth out...

2009-11-08T14:03:00.002+08:00

Kady just dropped another of her baby tooth last week.
Only realised that her new teeth are already 1/2 grown out after the baby tooth came out... :P
Her teeth are all growing out pretty soon!

Will be going over to Shanghai to attend the China coat show and getting the meetings ready. It will be a mad rush again. :(

Vera is finally recovering now. PD suspected that she has Influenza A and her fever only broke after 6 days! You can only imagine how tired I was as I have just came back from Suzhou on Friday evening and she was sick on that day.
She still has a cough and running nose but at least no fever.
Hubby was also down. Guess he caught the virus from Vera.

Kady's Graduation

2009-11-01T13:20:00.002+08:00

Just wanna share - Yesterday was Kady's graduation concert... they were asked what they wanted to be. Kady said - I want to be a scientist that can save the world from natural disasters. So that everyone will be safe. Am so proud of my girl!

Her class performance was cowboy dance... the costumes was great and her class performance was the one that has the most claps and wolf whistles!

I just came back from Shanghai/ Suzhou on Friday and bought 10 hairy crabs back. We had feast on Friday night....
Vera is also down with fever, cough and cold... very tiring night!

Tonight's Dinner...

2009-09-19T21:53:00.002+08:00

Tonight's dinner was pork chops with bacon...
something really simple.
I was lazy so I bought McCormick's Teriyaki Powder Mix marinade for the pork chops.

What I did was to add olive oil, water, white vinegar, oregano, rosemary and freshly squeeze OJ to the ready mix and marinade the pork chops for about 3hours.

Then I pan fried them on both sides (lightly brown), wrap them up with back bacons and grill them. End result - absolutely yummy!!! I used the left over marinade and added chilli sauce, water, button mushroom and brown sugar.

Add in some fresh butterhead lettuce and cherry tomatoes with Chicken and Mushroom soup - Dinner is served!

Yummy... too bad I forgot to take some pics before we eat. :P

Flying off soon....

2009-09-06T12:33:00.002+08:00

Leaving for Jinan tommorrow for work...
(Jinan is in Shandong Province)

Heard from my colleagues that it is a very boring place.
In the sense that there is nothing much around to walk or shop for.
Anyways... I'll get to see for myself when I am there soon enough!

Vera has a fever for the past few days.
Brought her to the doc and she said Vera has bacterial infection
(which in way, explains her extremely bad breathe!)
Her fever is finally gone today... hopefully it doesn't come back and she'll recover soon!

Slacking...

2009-09-01T17:30:00.002+08:00

I've been slacked. AGAIN.

I can't believe that the last time I updated my blog was 2 month's ago. :P

Quick Updates here now:

@ work

- the company opening in Suzhou went off well in Aug. All the hard work paid off.

- got a Management Award.

@ home

- Vera is walking very well now and is running! She's so cute when she toddlers and runs along... :)

- Kady just dropped her 1st baby tooth @ 5.5yrs... cos her new tooth are already growing.

- made some flowers for her childcare teachers (see below for pics, now very well taken I am afraid as we were in a rush.

been a while....

2009-06-12T15:58:00.002+08:00

been a while since I last updated my blog...
been busy as usual...

mom's business is getting from bad to worse.
Seems like she has almost maxed out her credit limits with the banks and they are all chasing her for payment.
Lend her almost all my savings and hopefully she'll be able to tide over this rough period.
The problem is that she still doesn't want to cut her losses and insist on carrying with the business. I really pray and hope that she will either come to her senses soon or that business will pick up SOON!

Had management meetings the past 3 days and its very tiring! While stuck in the meetings, my emails and work are all plying up!

K's CC is close today so here I am at home with the kids.
I think V's molar is coming out as she seems little under the weather with dripping nose.
My left eye is swollen... guessing infection...

Have to travel soon to Suzhou to help settle some HR issues.
haiz... my china colleagues (management level somemore!) are fighting each other.

I think thats enough on my plate for now... sigh....

turning 31...

2009-05-21T21:27:00.003+08:00

Just turned 31 recently...
No big celebration...

had a nice breakfast at Ikea with the girls, dh, nephew and SIL.
Then went for a little shopping @ robinsons...

dinner was with my mom and bro at a Jap restaurant in Raffles Town Club.
I had a special birthday cake this... so very different from the rest!
*lol*

We went to Goodwood Park after dinner, bough 20 durian puffs & ta-da!
That's my birthday cake! :)

Its been a long while since I last had the puffs... somehow I found that the standard has dropped.
Maybe I have too high an expectation??

Little V

2009-05-10T16:19:00.003+08:00

After I came back from my China Trip, Little Vera has started to walk.
She can walk really fast and steady now.
In fact, we think that at times she wants to run too! :P

Unfortunately, she has also been down with fever, cough, sore throat and cold for the past 1 and 1/2 weeks.
Good thing is that she is now recovering tho' it seemed that she still have a fair bit of phlegm. :S

Y'day when Vera saw me kissing dh on the cheek, she immediately followed suit and kiss me too and with the kissing sound as well! its really cute.
Still brings a smile on my lips now that I think of it. :)

Below is a pic we took y'day...
Is she cute or what? ;P

Some updates...

2009-04-22T22:44:00.002+08:00

I've been laxed again!!!! :P

Celebrated Vera's 1st b'day at the Downtown East...
Good fun, great BBQ food (thanks to Ariel, Eva n hubby for helping with the BBQ!) and with even better company - all the makings of a great party!

hubby got me a bag tt I was eyeing the other day - said early b'day pressie...
and later bought me an iphone! *yippee dooodle* and said its my b'day pressie too!
Think No more presents aft ther iphone since it doesn't come cheap. :P

Then all too soon, I had to leave for Shanghai for work.
Now in Suzhou... the weather is great! between 15degrees to about 24 degrees.
Great cooling weather just the way I like it! :)
The flowers are all blooming in Suzhou.
Great vibrant colors all over.
Maple trees are still red... think should be turning green soon, already see some changing colors.

Meetings are packed... tired... missing my bed and most of all - my 3 babies...
Miss their presence, their smell, their voice, their company, everything!
Changed my flight to a midnight flight just so that I can get home earlier...
Can't wait to get home as usual!

V is turning 1 soon!!

2009-04-07T17:42:00.002+08:00

How time flies! Seems like such a short time ago when I had just delivered baby V!

And now my little baby is turning 1 in less than a week...
if only she can stay on to be a baby... :P

V is getting smarter and smarter these days...
if she's touching and/ or doing things that she isn't supposed to, she would stop and take a look around her to see if mummy is around...
And if mummy isn't around to scold or smack her little hands, she will continue to do/ touch the stuff... even if there are other adults around telling her not to, she will develop "selective hearing syndrome" and apparently won't be able to hear...

BUT if she hears mummy booming loud voice, she will immediately stop for a while, then immediately crawl to mummy and pretends nothing has happened!
And she's not even 1 yet!

A conversation with K

2009-04-03T09:49:00.002+08:00

Had the below conversation on 30 march 2009 with K.
Till now when I recall the conversation, it still brings on a smile. :)

Y'day I had the following conversation with Kady:

K: Mummy! My friend told me tt get Married means can molest each other.
M: Huh?
K: Aiyah. My friend said aft married, then can kissy and molest each other lah!
M: What do you mean by molest each other?
K: Means touch here touch there lah! You dunno ah?
M: .... lost for words....

K: Mummy! So did you and Daddy molest each other?
M: err... why don't you ask Daddy?
K: Daddy! Did you molest Mummy??

its over for more than a week...

2009-03-22T22:40:00.002+08:00

Its been slightly over a week since Ye has passed on...
I watched Ye slowly drawing his last breathe then to totally stop breathing.

I watched him lying still in his coffin, every day till he was cremated.
I cried buckets during the 1st few nights.
When I went back to work, everyone said I looked very down and haggard. :(
I felt the same inside. I felt very down too tho' I did try to make an effort to smile more and to hide my pain. But I guessed it still shows.

I am finally getting some sleep. Not sure if its due to pure tiredness after so many consecutive nights of not much sleep. Am down with cold but so is Vera and hubby.

Finally coming to terms that Ye is not here anymore...

Ye is gone...

2009-03-13T11:18:00.002+08:00

Ye has passed away peacefully on 12 March...

with his passing - I learnt that no matter how mentally prepared you are for the demise of a loved one, you can never be mentally prepared enough.

Grandma is taking it well. better than any1 of us thought.
That is good.

I pray that Ye is in a better place.
A place where there is no more pain, no more suffering, no more sickness, no more worries.
A place where he can be free, beautiful and happy.

I am glad that I have the chance to say I Love you, Ye.
I am glad to have the chance to ease some of your worries.
I don't hate him anymore, Ye.
I meant that when I told you y'day before you left.

Thank you for your love and care.
Thank you for being there for me.
Thank you for being a better dad than my own dads will ever be.
Thank you for loving me like your own daughter
and for standing up to him whenever he was unreasonable.
I love you, Ye.
You will always have a special place in my heart.

Wherever you are, don't worry about us.
We will take care of ourselves knowing that you'll always be with us in our hearts.

An outing - Evolution Gardens

2009-03-10T21:19:00.002+08:00

Brought our girls out to Evolution Garden last Sat...
before you ask where the heck is that - its part of Botanical Gardens.
Our 1st time there as well.

We bought breakfast, drinks and some snacks.
Then had a mini picnic in the garden.
quite a nice feeling... :)

took some pics too!

Anytime Now???

2009-03-05T22:19:00.003+08:00

bro sms me abt2 days ago.
said grandpa has this respiratory bug that is resistant to antibiotics.
then today, I get another sms.
grandpa's condition is critical...
we are all guessing should be soon.
The doc had initially told us within 3 months' and it seemed that it is like what he said...

I was just telling dh y'day that I felt that all these while, grandpa is hanging on cos of grandma.
He cant let go cos he's afraid no one will look after her.
His strength/ will power to struggle on came from his love for her.
(I wish and pray that my hubby will love me this much too....)
But I wont want him to suffer cos of me...

altho' we have had some time now to prepare for this...
still - it hurts... it hurts bad.

I pray hard that grandpa's departure would be a painless one.
He has suffered enough.

Argh! Engorgement

2009-03-02T22:05:00.002+08:00

Argh!!!! Bad Engorgement and cracked nipples...
Pain! Pain! Pain!

sigh... of late I am getting very very very little ebm...
expressing is getting more and more depressing. :(
With letdown, I am only getting about 2 ounces from both sides!

V seemed to have change the way she nurse. Thus, I am often with cracked nipples now.
*sob sob*
To compound to that, I get engorgement on/off on my right boob...
*boo hoo*

My right nipple seemed to be "blocked" I cant seem to be able to get more ebm out of it.
But when Vera nurse direct, I felt that she seemed to be able to get more??

Is there something wrong with my pump or is it just me??!!

so tired!

2009-02-12T19:06:00.002+08:00

Am almost brain-dead now...

V recovered from her fever on Sunday but started having a cold on Wednesday.
sigh.... she kept waking up every 30mins of so... crying
I guess she can't sleep well due to her block nose.
so when she can't sleep well, mummy can't sleep well too.

Am soooo very tired now!!!
I hope her flu bug go away soon.
meanwhile, it seems that I am about to fall sick too! :(

oh! did I mentioned that dh gave a lovely lovely bouquet of lilac roses on Monday?
He sent them to my office and its sitting really prettily on my desk. :)
something to make me smile... Thanks Darling!

V is having Fever

2009-02-08T12:20:00.004+08:00

V had fever since Friday evening.
Hovering around 38.6 degrees...

Today, it dropped to 38 degrees.
Hope it will go away soon.

This is the 2nd time she's sick so far.
On the whole, V seemed to be slightly better as a baby (in terms of no. of times falling sick) compared to K.

V wanted to nurse to sleep which is fine.
BUT she wanted to keep suckling even tho' she's asleep for comfort.
Once I removed my nipple, she'll start fussing/ crying.
My poor nipples are so abused now that both sides are cracked! :_(
And she doesn't like the pacifier so that option is out.

Please let V recover fast so that I can have my happy baby back!!!

Update on V

2009-02-07T10:58:00.002+08:00

Vera @ 9months, 3 weeks & 2 days: 1st Step!!!

Vera is able to walk 1 tiny step all on her own w/o any support just 2 days ago.
Wow! Kids do grow fast!
Her upper teeth is now at a count of 4. Same goes for the bottom.

Vera's teeth seems to sprout in groups of 2.
Usally its 2 upper and 2 lower. :)

And on Kady - we initially had some problems with getting Kady to learn her spelling.
She just started having spelling in K2.
After 2-3 weeks of trying to set in the routine... she's doing ok.
Have been getting full score for the past 3 spellings already! :)
The next time to do would be to teach her Upper and Lower case of Alphabets as she tends to mix the 2 together.

Ushering in the year of OX

2009-01-29T11:37:00.003+08:00

We went back to BP as usual for the CNY.

Things seemed alot calmer then usual...
usually when we went back to BP to celebrate the new year, tempers are quite high cos there will be brother-in-law/ sister-in-law who laze around and doesn't help with the spring cleaning of my in laws' place.

This year, it is still the same. Brother-in-law (1 in particular) always "escape" the spring cleaning. In my memory, of the 10 years that I am with my hubby celebrating CNY at his place, this particular bro-in-law has only spring cleaned with us once. Talk about "buey zi dong" people.
Sometimes my sis-in-law will escape by going out with her friends coming back only late at night...
Maybe its age, maybe cos its already a norm, my dh's temper seemed to be in check this time round. :)
Anyways, thats over.

Today - I made a small feast for the family.
On our menu we have:
- Shark Fin Soup
- Grilled Butter Lemon Salmon
- Stir fried baby bak choy with prawns
- Omelette
- Soy Bean Paste Pork Ribs with mushrooms

Breakfast @ PS Cafe

2009-01-11T22:55:00.002+08:00

We had breakfast @ PS Cafe, Harding Road the other day with our good friend, Sim and his wife.

I had Coconut and Caraway waffles. The rest had scones with fresh cream and jam, Pancakes with Apples and fruits, Muffin for Kady and 2 others which I can't remembered.
All in all, we spent over $100 for 5 sets of breakfasts. We didn't even ordered coffee or tea. Just plain sky juice!

Food was great but the prices are abit ex tho' the fruits were clearly very fresh (especially the figs!) and the ambiance is good.
On average, each set of breakfast costs us abt $20+, except the muffin which was abt $4+ and the scones was abt $8.

I would rate it as follows over a scale of 5:

Food: 4 stars
Value: 3 stars
Ambiance: 4.5 stars

To find out more you can visit their website: http://www.pscafe.sg/harding.html

Another Year!

2008-12-31T22:47:00.001+08:00

Another Year!

Time flies!
Another year has just flown past...

Just heard tt 1 of my colleague has tendered his resignation...
sigh... he's a nice person to work with. I'll definitely miss him.
Hopefully the next person who come on board will be as nice!

We'll be having another 2 new senior management staff joining us next year (which is just 2 days away by the way!) and have just heard tt 1 of them doesn't really have a good reputation.
Oh well! He ain't gonna be my boss so whoever is going to work under him - GOOD LUCK!

I'm actually also toying with the idea of looking for greener pastures.
I find that the place is getting alot more corporate and I am really not sure if its for the better or the worse. I've been in this company for over 3 years now... I like the people in the company but with so many staff leaving over the last year... I really dunno.

My trip to Jinan next month (mid-Jan) has been postponed. I spoke to my boss to tell him tt given the current economic situation, I rather stay put and give the chance to my more senior colleagues to go since my area is not tt urgent anyways and volunteered to re-look at the possiblity only after June but boss said to re-look at it after the 1st Q... oh well... we shall see then.

On the home front - Kady is getting difficult. Her patience level is really short and would throw tantrums when things dun go her way. I really hope that we will be able to teach her well and that she would like to respect her elders.

Vera is now 8.5mths! She is already crawling pretty well and is learning to stand. She pulls herself up easily and will let go of support and able to stand for a few seconds on her own.
Vera is pretty smart for a little baby. She is able to understand my simple instructions of asking her to sleep. :)

Early Xmas celebration

2008-12-24T11:39:00.002+08:00

We celebrated Christmas with our friends early this year on 23 Dec.

Made Sangria for the 1st time and it was a hot fav!
Everyone said its a great drink and asked for the recipe... :)

For those who are interested:
- 1 btl of red wine
- 2 Thai Green Lemon (seedless)
- 5 Limes
- 1 Orange
- strawberries (quartered)
- ice cream soda or 7-up

I cut the citrus fruits to small wedges and put them in the red wine.
Then let it soak overnight.

Before serving, I throw in some strawberries, ice and mixed in ice cream soda with the wine.
stir and serve!
The next time I make this, I'll throw in some mint leaves. ;)

On the menu we had:
- spaghetti,
- turkey roll
- ribs
- pork knuckle
- salad
- chicken mushroom soup
- grilled chicken drumsticks
- buttered sweet corn

Had so much left over that we made our friends pack some home.

Mom said depending on how tired she is, if she's up to it - she wanted to make Bangers n Mash either today (Xmas eve) or tomorrow (Xmas day).

A few Updates...

2008-12-02T20:04:00.003+08:00

Again, I have been laxed in updating my blog...

I've been really busy at work and getting all stressed out.
Now that the Chinacoat event and distributors' meeting is finally over, I can breathe a tad easier.
*big sigh* Just got back from Guangzhou last week and was down with throat infection.
So bad that I totally lost my voice. And guess what? My boss asked me while we were waiting for a cab at the airport - "Are you coming to the office tomorrow?"
This is after me telling him the night before that I won't be going to work on Friday on Wednesday night. And again, on Thursday when we were returning to Singapore.
All the rest of the overseas' senior management staff who were traveling with us told me to take a break and that I should rest but my boss asked if I would be going back to the office???
Needless to say - I was really really disappointed... sigh...

On another note - Kady has changed her CC from Jln. Jurong Kechil branch to the one at Royal Road. So far so good. Today is only her 2nd day. The teacher in charge was able to pick up on the 1st day that Kady needs constant reminders on her water intake which was excellent as this was 1 of the issue we had previously with her old CC!

On Vera - dh insisted that since his office has moved location that is about 5 mins walk away, it would be a hassle and also stressful on the roads for him to drive to and fro fetching and sending us to the baby sitters' and work. So Vera stayed with the Nanny with effective 1 Dec. We will pick her up on Wed, send her back on Thu, then pick her up on Fri and send her back on Mon again. But already I am missing my baby loads! :_( *cry* I just told dh that with my traveling schedule, already I am seeing less of my baby. with this arrangement, I see even lesser of her which I really do not think its fair. Since its so much of a hassle for him, then I will go and pick Vera on my own after work. This is not exactly easy as from my work place, I need to take a bus to the mrt station, take the mrt for abt 2 stations, then take the bus again to fetch my girl, then take the bus back to the mrt station again, and take the train back home... oh! the price I have to pay to see more of my little darling!

Burned out

2008-11-17T23:14:00.001+08:00

-- 5 Nov 08 --

This was written on 5 Nov but hv forgotten to post it...
stress + worries + guilty, etc... haiz...
all in 1!

========================================

So much has happened at work and at home lately.

Had took a week off work to clear the balance of my maternity leave last week to try to take a breather as I felt tt I've lost the energy to work.

Went for short break at Batam but ended up - not tt fun/ enjoyable.
Come bk on Monday feeling even more tired. Dun ask me why. Just felt not refreshed at all...
Maybe cos on Sun - learnt tt grandpa got hospitalized so not really in the heart to enjoy.

Tuesday - took care of Kady since her CC is closed.

Wed - ended up gg bk to work for 1/2 a day.
then went to hospital to see grandpa.
1st sight @ grandpa - in my heart I know his time is near...
had a really emotional talk with him... which left me emotionally drained.
(he's diagnose with acute leukemia)

Thurs - work fr home as need to get my mind off grandpa, prepare slides for our budget mtg. No mood - so whole afternoon also never do much. haiz

Fri - home with Vera, then went to CC for Kady's b'day celebration... (only piece of good news)

Sat - Vera started fussing thru' out the nite... so didn't sleep well.

Sun - Vera had fever, Kady had bouts of vomitting, I had diarrhea.
Evening - rush to hospital to see grandpa as he suddenly developed fever.

Mon - Tuesday, had intensive off-site budget meetings. Vera still had her fever, no sleep again at nite.

Wed - mad rush trying to clear off the work, new assignments, budget mtg wrap up, new staff orientation...

I'm sooooo tired!!!! really burned out...
got break maciam no break like that....

on my plate now - got soooo many outstanding items to complete!
Recruitment to do, projects to handle, new assignments, etc....

ARRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!! I need 2 more heads and 4 more pair of hands!

Grandpa in Hospital

2008-10-29T17:56:00.002+08:00

Heard the news of Grandpa being hospitalized over the weekend when we were in Batam for a short break...

Went to see him in NUH today...
Grandpa looked so frail and small in the hospital bed.
He also looked as if he has lost quite a fair bit of weight.

the 1st thought that came into my mind was that Grandpa won't last long anymore. *sob*
The doc's initial findings/ suspicions was acute leukemia.
Y'day - they drew bone marrow from him.
Grandpa said it was really really painful and they couldn't put him on GA due to his age.

He reminisce the old days with me. How he took care of me when I was but a little girl.
How he stood up for me when I got bullied in school... how he queue with me in the school canteen and got me drinks during my 1st week in school... how he scolded me and also admitted that he was really harsh with me when I was a kid.

He told me that he loved me as his daughter and not as a grandchild. Told me how he stood up to his son when he thought the way he treated me was too much. Grandpa asked me not to hate his son..... I in all honesty - couldn't answer him. I don't know if I still hated my soon to be ex-stepfather. Hate is such a strong word.

I don't think I hate him as much as before. I just can't bring myself to forgive or forget the things he has done or the words he has used. I would love to let it all go... but somehow it doesn't happen as quickly as I had hoped... I can only pray hard that time will heal the wounds.

When Grandpa told me that he loves me as his own daughter, whatever unhappiness/ unfairness that I had felt before melted away. He cried and I cried too....

If the day really comes where he has to go, I pray that his departure would be a painless and smooth one. I prayed that the last journey will happen when he is asleep...

tired out...

2008-10-19T13:10:00.002+08:00

Just returned from Shanghai abt 2 weeks ago.... and somehow, I felt tt I'm all tired out...
really no mood to work and can't concentrate... I seriously need a break!!!

While in Shanghai, 1 of the early evening, we went to their Qi Pu Street (Supplier Market) to shop.
Its at the lower end in Shanghai and alot of shops are selling fake goods!
Simon, my colleague got hounded from the 1st floor up till the 4th floor and then down again till the 2nd floor... guessed he's overdressed in his Long sleeve shirt, pants and work shoes! *lol*
We also went to a seafood place on the outskirts with our china colleagues and its a refreshing experience. We get to choose our seafood outside the restaurants (there's a whole stretch of street on both sides selling diff varieties of seafood), we even spotted a stall selling snakes!!! (in chinese, its called 5 step snake... as if bitten by those wild ones, take 5 steps & you'll be dead!).
Food is quite good but the restaurant isn't too honest.... :S

We'll be gg to Batam next week for 4 days with Kady, Sim and his wife.
After much deliberation, decided to leave Vera with the nanny... as I'm afraid she may get food poisoning or tt she may not be able to adapt well... haiz... its not an easy decision. Till now, I'll still rethinking whether I made the right one to leave her behind. :_(

Here are some pics of the girls taken a while ago....

Kady at her trial Ballet class... she's now taking bebe ballet @ Dance Castle.
Teacher Nicole said she's ready to move up to the next class...

Pics taken @ the Henderson Waves.

Pics of the girls after the walk... all tired, sweaty & grumpy! LOL

Hv not been updating....

2008-10-06T22:32:00.003+08:00

Hv not been updating for a while....

Brought the girls to Henderson Wave 1 of the weekends...
Kady enjoyed the little walk but was soon complaining abt the heat and sweat!
dh commented that she's an exact replica of me in this sense - cant stand the heat n the sweat! :P

Last week on children's day - we brought the girls and our nephew to the Bird Park.
Kady enjoyed herself loads! :)

Kady has officially started her Ballet class 2 weeks ago.
After 1 trial and 2 official lessons, she still like the classes load and looked forward to each class on every sat... Hopefully her enthusiasm will continue. :P

Vera is sprouting her 1st baby teeth!!!! 2 at row (lower) just like Kady when she was younger.
Only thing is Vera is sprouting hers abt 1-2mths earlier than Kady.
As I remembered Kady had her 1st teeth at around 7mths.
Vera is now abt 5.5mths coming to 6mths.

Heard some really sad news... someone I know had cancer... stage 2 and is undergoing immediate treatment now.
She's only 22. I really pray hard that she'll be able to pull through this difficult and painful time.
May the Good Lord give her strength!!!

One North Park

2008-09-07T09:55:00.003+08:00

We went to One North Park yesterday....
They had a little playground which is supposedly to be interactive but we found the playground to be too small ...

Here's a pic of it:

Some pics that we took at the playground:

After that, we took a short drive to Wessex Village and had breakfast at Laurent's Cafe & Chocolate Bar...
Took their healthy breakfast (S$18), waffle ($5) and another choc croissant set (S$11).
Not because we want to but 'cos the lady said they don't serve hot food altho' on the menu there are alot more varieties!

Overall, the food isn't too bad But at those prices, I doubt we will be going back anytime soon.
The ambience is good. Very relaxing.

On a scale of 5 being the highest, I would rate it as follows:
Food - 4
Service - 2 (we had to get our own menu and place order at the cashier & yet still charge us for service!)
Price - 3 (we spend abt $40 all in for 3 adults n 1 kid based on above list)
Ambience - 4 (relaxing environment)

TMSK - Shanghai

2008-08-31T22:49:00.003+08:00

I went to a place called Xin Tian Di in Shanghai with my colleague - Simon the last trip when I was there.
They even have their own webiste: http://www.xintiandi.com/chinese/landing.asp

In Xin Tian Di, there are alot of restaurants... the place actually reminds me of Singapore Clarke Quay. :)

After walking around, we decided to try this restaurant based on my mom's recommendation:
http://www.xintiandi.com/english/shop_detail.asp?SID=80

A restaurant call TMSK is the abbreviation of Tou Ming Si Kao, which literally means "Transparent Thinking".

The interior decor is mainly using alot of "liu li" as in man-made crystal.
Beautiful decor, impeccable service!
Gorgeous settings and fantastic display.
Of course all of these come with a price.
The cheapest dinner set on the menu was RMB 599 (abt S$120 based on S$1 = RMB$5 exchange rate).
We ordered 1 set of this to share and also a lobster fried rice.

Here are some pics:

Most of the food served was really yummy.
The ones that I find normal would be the Mushroom soup altho' its supposedly 1 of the favourites. I've tasted better Mushroom soups in Singapore restaurants! :P
Dessert esp the choc cake is very normal... not to go crazy abt.

Finally Home...

2008-08-26T22:16:00.003+08:00

Was away for a Biz trip in Shanghai n Suzhou the whole of last week.
The whole trip was a rush... with alot of last minute changes...

my 1st biz trip on my own... arrived in Shanghai airport and the pickup from the hotel had some problem. They couldn't start the car...
ended up had to walk round the airport to get to the taxi stand n took a local cab from Shanghai to Suzhou instead...

By the time I arrived, I was freaking tired, having spend more than 8hrs on the road. (flight + car ride).

Luckily - this was waiting for me when I arrived! :P

Nothing beats a hot bath to ease away the knots n aches other than a good long massage! *lol*

We bought some caterpillar kits for Kady to grow the sunday before I left for my trip.
& tonight it has finally grown to a butterfly! Or at least 1 of them...Pretty, eh?

& here's some pics of my little 开心果. This nickname given by my mother-in-law to Vera... since she's always smiling... :)

Sun with Moon Restaurant.

2008-08-10T15:42:00.002+08:00

We went to the Sun with Moon Restaurant @ Wheelock place last evening with Godma...

Good ambience, nice food. Service - ok.
We spent about $200 with 3 adults and 1 kid.
Had quite a few dishes. The roast pork with peanut sauce, chawamushi and grilled Scallop is good.
The rest is quite normal.

I'll wanna go again to try the dessert as from the menu it looks quite good.
But we were too full to try. :P

Today we went to the Old Town Cafe at the old Mazda showroom near Bukit Timah.
Tried the Prawn noodles which was really yummy! *slurps*

On a separate note - Kady is getting better... Fever is gone but still having a slight cough.

Kady is down - with the full works!

2008-08-04T15:30:00.002+08:00

My poor Kady! :_(

She has been down since Saturday....
Fever, running nose, cough, sore throat.... the full works!
today is the 3rd day and yet her fever is not subsiding....

Her fever is like a yo-yo, going up n down.
will be bringing her to see her fav PD later on...
Hopefully she'll recover soon.

The good thing is that she is not as whiny as she used to be *touch wood* when she was sick.
we kept praising her for being such a well behaved girl! :)

Guilty...

2008-07-18T21:01:00.003+08:00

sigh.... it suddenly dawned onto dh and myself tt we seems to be expecting too much out of Kady.
This is after Vera's born...

I guess sub-consciously we have been comparing Kady and Vera...
what I meant was when we have a new baby at home, we kinda expected Kady to be the big sister and to behave in a more mature manner.
We have "forgotten" that Kady is afterall only a 4 year old little girl. :(

To be honest, when we take a step back to see Kady in a new light, she has been pretty mature for a 4 year old. She readily accept Vera as her baby sister and helped take stuff for us (for Vera like diapers, wet tissue, etc) too...

I think for the past month, both dh and myself are guilty of being too strict and setting our expectations of her alittle too high... We will now constantly remind each other that Kady is still only 4yrs old and we should cut her some slack...

Another Milestone for Vera

2008-07-09T22:17:00.001+08:00

Vera managed to flip over to her tummy tonight!!!!
another milestone!!!!

Wow! She's really fast...
Remembered that Kady 1st flip was when she was abt 5mths.

Its another First!

2008-07-05T15:34:00.002+08:00

Well, Life is full of first times eh?
Y'day was the first time Kady *left* us...
she went for an overnight camp that the childcare centre organized.
Heard from the teachers this morning when we picked her up that she cried last night saying that she misses mummy... awww.... I missed her tons too!
When Kady was around - the house is full of noise... but when she wasn't around...
Gosh! The house become so quiet!
You definitely can say she bring alot of "life" to our home!

I made the below dinner on Wed....
Top: Garlic Mashed Potato, Mushroom Soup, Strawberries.
Bottom: Pork Chop with Red Wine Sauce and Salad in Orange Balsamic Vinegar sauce.

Another 1st time for me - Orange Balsamic Vinegar sauce.
A very simple recipe but oh so yummy!
Just Olive oil, Balsamic Vinegar and Freshly squeezed OJ!
The next time, I will add some mustard to complete the taste!
I didn't add it this time cos we ran out of it..... :)
I also added some sunflower seeds to the salad to complete it. YUMMMMMMY!!!

Missing Vera

2008-07-01T12:07:00.001+08:00

Today is the 1st day that Vera has *left* me...
She's at the Baby sitter's today.
I'm missing her baby smell, smile and looks soooo very much!!!

How time flies!
Soon I'll have to go back to work...
something that I am not exactly looking forward to!

I wonder how Vera is doing at the Baby sitter's.
Hopefully, she'll behave and the Baby sitter will catch on to her habits soon...
sigh.....

Mini Break

2008-06-17T16:13:00.002+08:00

We went for a mini break to Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia...
I was born in KL actually... but came to SG when I was still a little kid.

KL has changed so much! Its so much like Singapore and more...
This trip is too short for my liking, I would have stayed at least 1 more day but dh has to get back to work so no choice...

We stayed in the Impiana KLCC hotel, its abt 2yrs old and quite ok other than the noise from upstairs on our 2nd night. The next time I choose a hotel in Malaysia, I will choose 1 that comes with carpeted floor!

Went to Aquaria where Kady enjoyed herself & KLCC on the 1st day.
Had dinner in the Hotel itself... think the restaurant is called Tonka Beans.
I definitely won't recommend anyone to eat there. The food is not tasty and what's worse? Its cold! Good thing we didn't have to pay for it since its part of the hotel promotional rate... so its free. Breakfast choice/ spread was good tho'.

2nd day we went to 1 Utama, shopped a little, had lunch in the shopping ctr itself which was quite good. Went back to the hotel to rest then meet my relatives for Dinner... which was fantastic! *slurp*

After dinner, we went for a short stroll at a newly opened shopping ctr called Pavilion... its full of branded stuff so naturally we didn't manage to get anything.

3rd day - we went to Sungei Wang... again nothing much here as the place has already changed to a shopping ctr that caters/ sells stuff for teens/ youngsters. Thereafter, we drove to dh's hometown to celebrate Father's Day with his dad and drove back to Singapore.

By the time we reached home, we were both dead beat!

A little Toot on Kady

2008-06-09T13:28:00.000+08:00

Kady's CC is organizing or rather producing a Music Album for their centre and had an audition.

If the children passed the audition, they will be required to attend a 10 week Music/ Singing lessons (2rs each time) on Sunday. Initially - we were thinking so troublesome, every Sunday gotta bring her back to school for 10 weeks... so didn't sign the consent form for her to go for the Audition...

But her class teacher called and ask us if she could attend... so dh said ok.
& guess what? She passed the Audition!!!

So now, effective next Sunday onwards, she gotta go for the singing lessons... She wont get paid... but at least the lessons are FOC!

Bust my budget!

2008-06-07T20:42:00.002+08:00

I've done so much shopping lately!
Gosh... I'll be so afraid to look at my credit card bill when it arrives! :P

Bought a nursing bra from Jshoppers.com which I love and would probably order more...
Panties for Kady which she is more willing to wear these days. :)
some jewellery which I'll keep for B'day presents for Godma & Mum.
some tops for Vera...
also did more shopping at kohls.com on some bodysuits for Vera & dresses for Kady.
some lingerie from maidenform.com
more clothing from Pumpkin Patch & Mothercare when I was at Vivo City
& a few more pieces when I was at the Motherhood Fair today at Expo.
I better exercise some self control! :p

Oh, we went to this new HK cafe at Anchorpoint abt 1.5 weeks ago...
food was good. Service excellent!
hubby bought the membership for $35 & with this you get $15 voucher which can be used on your b'day month which we utilized immediately since May was my b'day Mth.
They also gave us a bottle of Chardonnay for B'day person.
$10 voucher which can be used (we used this voucher the following week! :) )
Another voucher for 1 for 1 main course.
& also, everytime you dine there, you get 10% dollar value store into the membership card which you can utilize when you want to.
Quite a good deal, I say!

Today, we went to Orchard Hotel for their Dinner Buffet & didn't pay a single cent! :P
Why? 'cos hubby bought me the ala carte membership and it came with the voucher for 2 free buffet dinner. Kady get to eat FOC since she's below 5...
Food was quite ok. Had loadsa prawns and crabs! :)
Kady enjoyed the Durian puree the most since Durian is her all time fav food!

Took some pics of Vera & below are 2 of my fav shots of her...
Resolution isn't that fantastic as I took the pics with my mobile.

A lil update on Kady

2008-06-02T10:39:00.003+08:00

Ever since Vera has been born, we noted a change in Kady.

Somehow, she has seemed to be more confident and less shy around strangers.
She used to be pretty shy and would hide behind hubby or myself when strangers want to talk to her or even our friends...

But now, she will automatically talk to people. Especially waitresses! LOL
She will ask for stuff from the waitresses or even ask them - "That's my mei-mei... Is she cute?" while pointing to Vera...

Quite cute actually! :)

What a night!

2008-05-28T14:25:00.002+08:00

Vera's fussing again....
Cried from 10pm+ to abt 3am!!!
haiz... we tried everything.
nursing, carrying, patting, talking to her, putting her in the sarong...
all don't work.

This is not the 1st time she does this.
Has happened quite a few times...

In this aspect - Kady is a much easier baby to take care of.
She's a pretty good sleeper and usually I put her to bed at abt 8:30pm and as long as I stay in the same room as she is, she will be ok. if not, within 10-15mins of me leaving the room, she will wake up.

However, for Vera - she's a different case altogether. If I tried putting her to bed earlier than 10pm, she'll still fuss till god knows what time!

Hopefully, tonight will be better.

30 already!

2008-05-19T17:30:00.002+08:00

just turned 30 a few days ago...
but it had to be 1 of the worst birthday I had.
the reason was tt I happen to fall sick with fever & engorgement the night b4 my birthday.

The day I turned 30 - I woke up with an engorgement worse than the day b4, giddiness & even vomitted.
Hubby had originallly made dinner plans but I was just too sick. so we cancelled.
Ended up we just had a small b'day cake to celebrate of which I had a tiny slice.

Mother's Day & Vera's offically 1 mth!

2008-05-13T20:41:00.003+08:00

We celebrated Mother's Day with my Mother-in-law & Mum on 1st May.
Early celebration as we wanted to avoid the crowd.
Brought our mums to Grand Shanghai @ Copthorne Waterfront Hotel.
Below a pic of the restaurant. Food & Ambiance is quite good. But service so-so.
We spend abt $350 for 7 adults & 1 kid.

Vera's officially 1 mth today! :)
dh shaved her hair with a shaver despite me asking him to bring our baby to a barber instead. :S
Now Vera's head is full of patches of unshaved hair! Yikes!!!
My poor baby! *sob sob*

Vera's 1st month celebration

2008-05-10T17:53:00.002+08:00

*whew* its finally over!
So very tiring...

we celebrated Vera's 1st month today.
Ordered from www.chillipadi.com.sg took the golden chilli padi package.
Food was good! the Curry chicken & Otah Otah was delish.
Dessert was Bubur Chacha... not too bad but found the sweet potato ingredient a little lacking.
Other than that, no complaints.

Vera has a lot of gifts & red packets.... dh just finished cleaning up the place.
the 2 of us can finally rest abit!

Vera's 1st milestone

2008-05-08T13:27:00.002+08:00

Vera 1st milestone - lifting her head!!!

She was able to lift her head when she's only abt 2 weeks old.
Vera at 3 weeks can also turn her head from left to right now albeit abit shaky but she definitely can do it!

When I told my mom abt it - she said Vera's gonna be a stubborn girl! (according to old wives' tales).

Vera is also able to gauge where sounds are coming from.
When she's lying down & we call out to her - she will lift her head towards the direction of the sound.

Vera doesn't seemed like a baby who's less than a month old at all... Mother-in-law said she seemed more like a baby who's at least 2-3mths! :)

K & V

2008-04-28T16:18:00.003+08:00

Kady is down with cough again!!!
She just recovered fr her last bout in less than 2 weeks.... haiz. :(
Hopefully she will recover from her latest sickness soon.

Vera is getting spoilt by the day!
Refused to be put down... everytime we put her down, she will fuss alot.
have to keep carrying... my arms are gg to break soon!

Now will start looking for full mth's cakes & a caterer for Vera's 1st mth celebration...
think likelihood will order from www.chillipadi.com.sg and cakes from www.amosco.com.sg
lesser headache.... :P

Nursing career starts again...

2008-04-23T18:24:00.002+08:00

nursing career starts again....

Vera's been a pretty good nurser so far.
Has engorgement last week for abt 3-4days.
Good thing Siti (the post natal masseur) managed to help to relief the engorgement a lil when she was here for to do the post natal massage for me.

Aft the 4th day, think my milk supply kinda regulate... so far so good.
Kady has also been asking for mummy's milk & I've been pumping for her...
so currently am nursing Baby Vera & jie jie Kady as well.
Wonder how long this 2nd nursing career will last... :)

Anyways - today is the last day of the massage.
So far quite ok for the amt that I've paid. ($250 for 7 massages + 3 baby massages).
Amt include a binder as well. Would say that for this price, it is very value for money compared to the rest of the quotes I received.
However, found out on the 3rd massage that I am allergic to the Jamu that Siti used.
So in the end, told her not to put. cos my tummy had red patches when I removed the cloth binder aft 2 hrs on the 3rd day.
removed aft only 2 hrs cos I really cldn't stand the itch.
When I washed my tummy - I had a burning sensation.... so rather not take the risk to use the jamu anymore.

Vera's Here!!!!

2008-04-20T16:38:00.002+08:00

This is a faster birth compared to Kady. Had contractions on 11th Apr from 11pm to 5am with contractions at 5mins apart.

Sat - 12th Apr dh said maybe cos still got 1 more piece of bird's nest hv not eat... so he boiled for me. Said aft eating this last piece - baby will come out.

Sun - 13th Apr Contractions started ard midnight - 30mins apart. By 3am+ contractions was at 10mins apart.

3:45am - Had show... & slight pain at every contractions. Cant sleep. Wake up to reply some ofc emails...

4:15am - wake dh to get him to get ready to go TMC.

5am+ - reached TMC

6am - went into Delivery Ward

7am+ - had epidural, waterbag broke abt 9am - Baby made her entrance!

Overall - a quick birth... albeit a more painful one compared to Kady.

anytime now I hope....

2008-04-10T10:52:00.002+08:00

am in my 38th week now...
getting contractions every night.
this is really affecting my sleep. So very very tired come morning!

Baby Vera - oh! Please do come out soon!!! Mummy's really really tired... :(
& I can't wait to carry you in my arms either!

when we do the scan at 36th weeks - Vera weigh in at 3.2kg.
but last week at 37th weeks - Vera weigh in at 2.9kg...hmmm... doc said its all estimates & not to worry too much...
Am wondering whether Vera will be heavier than Kady when she's born?

Last Friday - Brought Kady to Great World City to catch the movie Horton & bought some Mickey/ Minne Mouse pasta... & immed cook them for dinner. Here they are:

then over the weekend, Kady requested that I make some chocolate muffins for her to bring to school to share with her friends, so we made some. Added Bananas in some of them. Actually, these are made out of Betty Croaker's Brownie Pre-mix. Fast, easy & idiot proof! *lol*

& since the weather is so very very hot, I made Japanese Cold Noodles on Sunday night. Bought the ingredients from Liang Court Basement 1 - Meidi-ya Supermarket. & oh! for those who thought of going to Liang Court - dun bother. They are renovating now & only the basement has shops... which is really a pathetic selection. Better to wait for at least another 3-6mths before gg.

More pics today....

2008-03-29T18:31:00.002+08:00

Went for the regular checkup with the gynae today.
BB's growing well... a whopping 3.2kg at 36 weeks now! :)
Now its down to weekly checkup from next Sat onwards...
really cant wait for BB V to come out so that I can carry her in my arms...

Below are pics of Kady during our Pizza session & also 1 LO tt I completed recently.
This is only my 2nd LO from this year. Pathetic right?? :P

a lil update

2008-03-19T20:23:00.002+08:00

went to see the gynae last sat...

bb's growing well... now at 2.3kg but not engaged yet.

Meanwhile, I'm waddling worse than ever - think mama penguin!

ache @ the pelvic area is also getting worse. alot more sleepless nights too...

Kady & I made some pizza the week before last but hv not uploaded the pics yet.

will try to rem to upload them soon.

We went to Vivocity & had dinner at Modestos last week...

abit disappointed with the pizza we had but the mushroom soup was really good! They gave out a scratchcard & we won $5... since the pizza was disappointing, dun think we will be gg bk anytime soon.

So we gave the $5 voucher to the diners next to our table...

& I guess what goes around comes around? 'cos this week we went to Mothercare @ Parkway Parade and bought the below Baby Bjorn Air Carrier... & as I was paying @ the cashier, a mummy was asking me about the carrier... then she offered to let me use her 10% discount card! whoppeee!!!

The carrier cost abt $175... so with the 10% discount, I saved quite a fair bit! :)

@ 32 weeks...

2008-03-05T20:25:00.002+08:00

went for the usual ckup last Sat...
BB now at 1.8kg - according to the doc, BB is in a good size & healthy which is good news. :)
Have put on abt 10kg so far....
much less compared to when I was with Kady...
remember tt when I was 30weeks with Kady, I had already put on abt 15kg!!!
shocking isn't it? :P

anyways, doc was saying tt from now onwards, it will be ckup every 2weeks instead of monthly...

@ work - finally managed to find a temp to cover my admin duties!!! Yipeee....
Hopefully, she will not quit 1/2 way lah. :P

8th Year Wedding Anniversary!

2008-02-29T18:21:00.002+08:00

today is 29th Feb 2008...
it has been 8 years since we last registered our marriage...
how time flies! :)
It has been a wonderful 8years with dh.
he has always been a great dh and daddy to Kady.
I really hope & wished tt there will be many, many, many more wonderful years that we can spend, look forward & backward to. :)
Today both dh & myself took leave to spend some time together...
had breakfast @ Ikea Alexandra, bought some furniture, came home to rest.
Then went to The Buffet @ M Hotel for lunch.
the main course are quite ok. Roast beef was really good...
but the desserts suck big time. :(
then went to Takashimaya where dh bought me a new mobile.
(pic shown below)...
I bought dh a set of speakers earlier... (pic also below)...
simple way to celebrate but hey... sometimes simplicity is the best you know! ;)

Tummy getting bigger....

2008-02-23T20:23:00.003+08:00

the tummy is getting bigger...

baby Vera is also more & more active by the day.

She's now at 31weeks coming to 32 weeks.

Having irregular contractions these 2 days...

abt 2-4 hrs per interval...

Really hope Baby will wait till at least 36 weeks.

went to Robinson's to buy the Graco Junior car seat for Baby V.

(pic below)

normal price was abt $359... there is a discount of abt $53...

& we used the vouchers to pay $150....

so end up paying abt $100+ quite a good deal I'll say! :)

Here are some of the features:

Features
Age : Birth to 4 years approx (Birth – 18 kg)
Rear or forward facing
Rear-facing from Birth – 13 kgForward-facing from 9 – 18 kg
5 position seat reclineComfy padded harness with 5 position adjustmentCosy newborn insert
Safety Features
Anti-rebound bar for extra safety in rear-facing positionSide impact protection
Harness doubled with anti-slippery material to absorb part of the energy during a crash
Easy to fit in most carsConvertible seat – rear facing for birth – 13 kg and forward facing from 9 – 18 kgEasy one-hand harness adjustment

1st LO of the year!

2008-02-19T22:33:00.002+08:00

After such a looooong time, I finally did 1 pathetic LO... this is my 1st LO of the year! :)

Definitely need more practise/ LO to get my groove back.

But still not much mood to do LOs now...

What a start of CNY!!!

2008-02-11T21:12:00.000+08:00

this CNY has to be the worst ever for us!!!

On the evening of the 1st day CNY, I was down with fever...
When I woke up the next morning on the 2nd day of CNY, I was feeling really bad... think I must have looked horrible...
'cos dh actually wanted to drive me back to Singapore (we were in Batu Pahat, dh's hometown for the CNY) to see a doc...
by the time we reached Singapore, it was abt 12pm+... went to 2 clinics around our area but all closed.
so decided to pop panadol & take a nap to see how I feel...
woke up at abt 3pm+ feeling worse than ever...

Dh drove me to Singapore General Hospital (SGH for short) A&E.
by the time I reached the hospital, my fever was 38.9 degrees.
heart beat rate was 140+...
doc put me on drip & was under observation for abt 4hrs....
also popped another 2 panadol... aft 4 hrs, heart beat dropped to 114 still not ideal as doc wanted me to drop below 100 before he'll let me off... but I insisted to get discharged. fever also dropped to 38.1 degrees....
diagnosed with acute sinusitis - something which I never had before... I mean I never even had mild sinus let alone an acute case at that!

Back home literally sleep for the next 2 days.
then when I am slightly better, dh is down with cold & almost same symptons as myself... Kady got fever.

This afternoon, dh brought her to the PD & her fever was 39.8 degrees!!!
Gosh! she immediately had to put the bullet in her bum.
My poor baby! & where is this mummy? I'm still not well but had to go back to work today cos really too much work to clear + boss travelling off tomorrow, need to prepare his staff before he flies off. :(

really thankful that I hv such a supportive & understanding dh who managed to help me to take care of our little girl while I worked. & he's not feeling all that well himself too! I'm kinda feeling tt I'm a lousy mom & wife! :_(

& at work today, in my haste to rush up the stairs, I tripped & nearly fell... luckily managed to break my fall with my hand & as a result, twisted & cut my little finger on the right hand.
How "lucky" can 1 get!!!

The only piece of good news I have so far is that boss announced my promotion to executive level today... so all hard work for the past year hasn't been in vain.... :)

@ 28 weeks....

2008-02-02T22:38:00.000+08:00

just went for the routine ckup this morning...

bb is growing well according to the doc.
bb is now abt 1.2 - 1.3kg @ 28 weeks.
BB has already turned down.
Asked the doc if there is still a chance tt she will turn/move again
& doc said unlikely.... at this stage if head is turned down, its likely to stay tt way cos the head is the biggest & heaviest. :P

BB fav activity is to kick mommy. esp at night.
mostly aft 10pm or in the middle of the night.

Looking forward to the break!

2008-01-27T19:58:00.000+08:00

YIPPEEE!!!
Will be on leave from 1st Feb till 8th Feb....
so looking forward to this looong break b4 I head bk to work.

So very tired....

2008-01-22T21:54:00.000+08:00

CNY is round the corner.... but I am not really in the mood to celebrate.
Work stress is getting to me I think.
so much work to clear but so little time.

Boss is also pretty demanding. expect everything to be fast, fast, & fast!

Preparing to do staff appraisal + increment plans + recruitment for the leavers...
+ the daily administrative staff + boss's frequent changes to his travel plans... sigh...

Getting BH contractions more & more often.
Will definitely highlight it to the gynae when I see him next week.

Meanwhile, Baby is also getting more active... especially when its bed time!
Her kicks are keeping me awake at night!

Baby - Mummy needs her sleep too, you know!
Please co-operate & let mummy sleep abit more, alright?

HortPark

2008-01-16T13:35:00.000+08:00

Brought Kady to the HortPark last Sunday...
for those who are keen in visiting - my take is unless you are really into horticulture or landscaping - otherwise dun waste your time.

Botanical Gardens will definitely be a much better choice.
They have a few playgrounds (all fairly small ones) in the HortPark.
For a new park - their soda vending machine is already spoiled. So do bring your own water.
There is a small shop at the entrance tt called themselves Cafe but seriously, other than drinks, you wont find anything else.... & a can of coke costs you S$2.00

There isn't much shade around or benches for you to sit either.
Cant seem to find the restrooms too.
For the amount that they had spend on the park - I would have expected more...
Sorely disappointed. so Don't waste your time going is my advise.

Back in SG....

2008-01-10T21:24:00.000+08:00

back in singapore y'day...
trip went quite well I think.
managed to visit the famous bakery in macau & bought some cookies for CNY.
other than that, the lot of us didn't even step into a casino!

missed hubby & K loads!!!
tons of things to do now...this year would be a crazy year for me.
loads of work to be done to clean up Singapore filing system + setting up the proper processes for China office....
And with a new baby due soon.... I need all the energy I can get!!!

Still thinking abt baby's name... dh like the name - Verlene which means Faith.
As for chinese name.... still deciding...

To Macau

2008-01-05T22:20:00.000+08:00

Off to Macau tmrw for meeting...
will be taking Tiger Airways...
1st time taking budget airlines.
Hopefully it won't be too bad....
@ a crazy departure time of 6am!!!

Wish me luck!

Shopping!!!!!

2007-12-30T17:16:00.000+08:00

Its sale everywhere!!!

Last friday went to Robinsons @centrepoint with my mother-in-law and bought quite a number of clothing + some nursing pads.

Had wanted to have a good break @ Haagen Dazs - ordered 3 items only 1 came & this is with many many reminders. After waiting for a long time, decided to cancel the rest & went to the cashier to pay instead... the service is really slow & terrible!

Today, we just went to CK Tangs & bought the Pigeon Steriliser cum bottle warmer as well as had lunch @ the Island cafe.... quite a relaxing break... :)

Xmas Eve!!!

2007-12-24T23:08:00.000+08:00

Its Xmas eve today...
Went over to my mom's place for dinner...
Eat untill I'm ready to burst!
Nothing fancy since her oven broke down.
Dishes include Pork Rib Curry, Salad, Chicken Stew (really yummy!!!), roast pumpkin/ sweet pototoes.

On 22nd Dec, we had a mini gathering over at my place.
Cooked Roast Turkey (cheated cos this was already 1/2 done).
Roast Ham, Grill Mozzarella Cheese Prawns, Lemon Butter Fish, Salad, Mushroom Soup, Pork Chop Stew... We had soooo much food left over!

Overall, it was good fun and also a good long break from work....

pissed

2007-12-15T17:34:00.000+08:00

Am pissed.... with my Sister-in-law....
I bought some chocs & candy canes for my colleagues.
Placed them on the kitchen table so that I wont forget to bring along to office on Monday just Yerterday.

Today before she leaves the house, she took the candy canes & 1 tube of the chocs.
& guessed who she asked? She asked my 4y.o girl instead of dh or me...

I mean - come'on. You would know a kid wont be able to afford to pay for those stuff & why ask a kid for permission? You should be asking the adults!!!!

I'm pissed cos its not the 1st time.
I think if she had asked me, I would hv been ok but I really hate it when people take my stuff without asking! *ARRRGGGHHH***

She's not a young girl BTW. A woman nearing her 40's already!
really pek chek. Stuff at home only know how to use dunno how to replenish.
even things like washing powder & Toilet rolls!
After she finished the last scoop/ one - when she sees me or dh going out, she will ask us to buy.

When I told dh abt the incident earlier - he just brushed it off saying tt its just food.
Later go & buy again lor. Its not just that!

Xmas Tags

2007-12-14T22:24:00.000+08:00

Bought some chocs for the ladies' colleague in my office at their factory sale ard Quality road abt 2 weeks ago.... thot they looked quite plain so I made some Xmas Tags to go with them & will be giving Candy canes as well... Here are the tags.

I went again with my colleagues to the Meiji Factory again today...

Helped dh to buy abt 20 boxes of chocs for his colleagues...

Spent over a hundred dollars just on the chocs + sweets!

1st time in my life I spend so much just on chocs + sweets.... :P

while doing some google search, I found pics of all these gorgeous cupcakes!!!

Photos are all from: http://www.flickr.mud.yahoo.com/photos/55816924@N00/

Go on' take a peek.... this lady makes some of the most gorgeous Cupcakes I've seen!!!

1st entry - All over again!!!

2007-12-10T21:32:00.001+08:00

For whatever reasons, I never had much luck with blogging.... :(
Hv tried blogging at a few websites & they all end up diasatrous!
Guess I cant complain too much since its all free....

Anyways, I only managed to retrieve 1 of my old blogs. Its here: http://kadyscrap.blogspot.com/

I'll start afresh here (Again!) haiz...

I'm abt 5mths preggy now with #2.
Baby's a girl. Have yet to thought of the name.
But I wanted something that has a meaning of happiness/ joy.
Like Kady. Her original spelling should be Cady which means simple happiness.
But as I was afraid that as she grows older, her school friends may start teasing her as "caddy", I decided to change the spelling alittle.

Back to the little one... Baby's name doesn't have to start with a K or even rhyme with Kady.
As long as the meaning's good, I'll consider.
So if you have a good name to suggest, lemme know, ya?

Baby will be due on 21 Apr but somehow I have a feeling that this little one may arrive earlier than that.... ;)

Life Momentz

ranting

New Job...

Onward with another adventure, another opportunity

Butterfly Kisses...

Here pox, there pox

P1 Update for Kady

The start of a New Year - 2010

1 wedding, 2 funerals.

Another baby tooth out...

Kady's Graduation

Tonight's Dinner...

Flying off soon....

Slacking...

been a while....

turning 31...

Little V

Some updates...

V is turning 1 soon!!

A conversation with K

its over for more than a week...

Ye is gone...

An outing - Evolution Gardens

Anytime Now???

Argh! Engorgement

so tired!

V is having Fever

Update on V

Ushering in the year of OX

Breakfast @ PS Cafe

Another Year!

Another Year!

Early Xmas celebration

A few Updates...

Burned out

Grandpa in Hospital

tired out...

Hv not been updating....

One North Park

TMSK - Shanghai

Finally Home...

Sun with Moon Restaurant.

Kady is down - with the full works!

Guilty...

Another Milestone for Vera

Its another First!

Missing Vera

Mini Break

A little Toot on Kady

Bust my budget!

A lil update on Kady

What a night!

30 already!

Mother's Day & Vera's offically 1 mth!

Vera's 1st month celebration

Vera's 1st milestone

K & V

Nursing career starts again...

Vera's Here!!!!

anytime now I hope....

More pics today....

a lil update

@ 32 weeks...

8th Year Wedding Anniversary!

Tummy getting bigger....

1st LO of the year!

What a start of CNY!!!

@ 28 weeks....

Looking forward to the break!

So very tired....

HortPark

Back in SG....

To Macau

Shopping!!!!!

Xmas Eve!!!

*pissed*

Xmas Tags

1st entry - All over again!!!

pissed