A home-cooked meal for Christmas

I don't cook much, so it was great fun (although it was a tad stressful) to do a bit of cooking for Christmas. Nothing fancy really, just some simple fare. I wouldn't say the meal was a resounding success, but I guess the food was edible. Or my family was just being polite. Hmm.

I made a Seared Scallop Salad, although the scallops were anything but seared. Darn. I think they just kind of 'boiled' in the butter. I always find it so hard to cook scallops (not that I try often; those things are much too expensive for me to keep getting wrong, haha). Anyway, the salad wasn't too bad- with scallops, walnuts, pears and rocket leaves, the different tastes and textures went quite well together.

For the main course I made pasta- with homemade pesto and bacon and mushrooms. Yummy! The pesto was a pain to make because I had so much trouble finding basil leaves, plus my blender was too small so I had to make them in batches.

With some simple cheese and smoked salmon on crackers plus a delicious 'cocktail' of Malibu rum and pineapple juice, I guess it was a decent meal after all. Ah well, by my standards anyway.

Christmas around KL

Being the little one's first Christmas, we made the effort to trawl the malls to show him some bright lights and Christmas decorations. Not that Christmas is about all that of course, but we thought it might be a good way to entertain him.

Pavilion was our first stop- lovely decorations with a red and gold theme.

Fountain outside Pavilion

Cute!

Gardens opted for a pretty winter garden theme, complete with white butterflies and lamp posts (Narnia?), although I felt the area decorated was a bit too small.

Not your usual Christmas carollers =)

MidValley went for a medieval theme- with castles and princesses and all. Interesting.

Here are some photos taken at The Curve...

Check out Ikano's Underwater Christmas! Cute.

Best of all? Our humble little Christmas tree, set of specially for our little darling.

Our 3rd wedding anniversary!

We celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary on Dec 2nd. The past year has been eventful- preparing for the arrival of our little one, celebrating his arrival in April, and watching him grow over the past few months. Hubby is simply amazing; he is such a great husband and father. Watching him care for and interact with our child makes me thank God even more for this wonderful gem of a husband...

My mum was kind enough to watch the little one while we went for a quiet dinner that day. We opted for Michaelangelo's at Solaris Mont Kiara, after reading an article about the restaurant. The food sounded good, plus there were some offers for Citibank credit card holders, so off we went.

Lovely flowers from hubby..

...that came in a nifty cardboard 'vase'!

A reproduction of Michaelangelo's 'The Creation of Adam' in the Sistine Chapel

For starters, we had the Carpaccio Filetto- paper thin sliced beef topped with shaved parmesan, rocket salad and mushrooms. Absolutely delicious! We ate every last morsel on the plate in record time. Looks like there were lots on the plate, but the beef really was paper thin. Yummy! :)

Hubby had the Aragosta Alla Pomodoro- half lobster cooked in a spicy, creamy tomato sauce, topped with cheese and served on a bed of spaghetti. Very nice as well.

Can't recall the exact name of the pasta I had- but it was nice and tangy with lots of capsicum and tomatoes, topped with slices of smoked duck. The smoky flavour from the duck balanced the tangy flavours quite nicely; it tasted a bit sweet towards the end (the effects of diminishing marginal utility I suppose) but the pasta portion was quite manageable so it was fine overall.

Chocolate lava cake with ice cream.. fabulous way to end a lovely meal!

Michaelangelo's is definitely a place we would go back to.

May the Lord continue to watch over our marriage and family... Soli Deo Gloria! :)

A weekend in Bukit Tinggi

Hubby organised a company weekend away recently to Bukit Tinggi, and all of us tagged along. And when I mean all of us- I really mean ALL of us. Hubby, myself, baby, my parents, his mum, and our domestic helper. 6 adults to 1 baby, haha.

It was really really great to have all the help. Travelling with a baby is no mean feat, I tell you. Seemed like we had to pack the entire bathroom and kitchen on his account!

Colmar Tropicale looked ok on the outside- this 'French village' was definitely nothing to shout about, but entertaining enough for a short stay with a baby (since babies are quite easily amused anyway). It was really just that one street, and that was it. It was nice and cool that day, so at least that was a plus.

We set our expectations really low after reading all the bad reviews online about the Colmar Tropicale hotel rooms. We occupied 2 rooms between the 7 of us; the one bedroom suite was decent and spacious, but the family room was rather awful. Especially the bathroom. Ewww. I shudder just thinking about it. Plus, there was some awful karaoke going on until late at night so I barely got any sleep. Throw in a cranky baby and well.. you can imagine. Thank God it was just for one night.

Resident swan at Colmar Tropicale

There were a few game stalls on the main street, and since there was not much to do, we had quite a bit of fun (and spent a lot of money I think) playing the silly games and trying to win prizes. I think the one who had the most fun was my mum! Haha.

Our cute prizes =)

The next day we popped by the rabbit farm; nothing much there, but hey, it was for the kid. Next was a trip to the bowling alley, where I bowled the worst game of my life... *shy*

It was a really tiring weekend for all of us, even the little one- who was still sleeping off the excitement for a few days after we got home!

Random bits on the little one..

Some random bits on the tiny tot:

- He's starting to shake his head; maybe because we keep saying 'No, no, no' ;p
- He loves babbling; recently he's going 'nyeh.. nyeh.. nyeh'
- Did I mention he can suck his big toe? :)
- Quite an observant little kid. Spends time entertaining himself with his toys.. plus he's learnt to tug at knots until they come undone.. Heh.
- Seems to understand 'High Five'!
- Starting to slap his hands on the table; so now we have to move everything out of his way
- Loves looking at books (hopefully this continues.. haha)
- Can't crawl yet; although he's starting to shuffle.. backwards!
- Oh, and he can do mini ab crunches!!

=)

Sun Motor Hunt 2009

Some of you may know that we are fans of treasure hunting. Not the type involving maps and shovels and 'X marks the spot' of course, but those involving tulips and cryptic clues! Not surprising, since I am a huge fan of word games. I absolutely love games like Scrabble and Boggle; my mum taught my sis and I how to play when we were little kids, and I've been hooked ever since! :)

Back to hunting- well we don't get to hunt much, but it certainly is something that we would like to get into more. This year, we finally had the opportunity to join the famed Sun Motor Hunt; and boy, what a great time we had! I was looking forward to the hunt for weeks and we made the necesssary care arrangements for the baby so that we could have a day off to go hunting. The hunt was stressful and tiring of course, but it really was so much fun :)

The hunt was divided into two legs- with Leg 1 further divided into two parts. Our time management was rather poor and we spent more time than we should have at Part 1, resulting in a domino effect that saw us rushing through the last few questions of the hunt, thus missing some simple questions! Drat. Ah well, I suppose practice makes perfect....

Almost 300 cars participated in the hunt..

We ended up in the top 100, and given that this was our first attempt at the Sun Motor Hunt, I thought this wasn't too bad at all. We won Samsung vacuum cleaners, which we gave to each of our mums, since they both could do with one :)

Here's a question that drove us all nuts:

Q: Property of topsy turvy fish found right here
A: Lot 733

Stumped? Read 733 upside down...

Guess we have to pay a lot more $$ in treasure hunting tuition fees! (I.e. pay $$ to enter more hunts to learn)

Our new Nikon D5000

We finally decided to go out on a limb and buy a DSLR camera, despite our Panasonic Lumix being only about 2 years old. The excuse? Indoor shots of the baby look so much clearer. Ahem. Plus, there was a Nikon Fair at Midvalley, and there were pretty good deals on offer, so it seemed like a good opportunity to get one.

After much research, we settled for the Nikon D5000. It’s a pretty decent camera with Live View mode and video recording.

Suffice to say, we're having quite a fair bit of fun with it...

Has it been almost 7 months already?

The little one will be almost 7 months old soon. Wow. It seems like only yesterday when he was this tiny little thing that could fit into the crook of my one arm. He's growing well and fast; praise God. He looks like a little boy (as opposed to a little baby) already... Children really grow up too fast; sigh.

Some updates:

• He is rolling all over the place now, so we have to watch him even more carefully. He's also sitting rather sturdily, although he still topples over sometimes. Haha.
• We've managed to wean him off his pacifier, which has not been an easy task. Phew. He has taken to sucking on his lips instead, which is quite funny to watch. Without the pacifier, putting him to sleep can be dreadfully tough at times, and sometimes I just feel like screaming my head off. But we haven't caved in yet.. hope it stays that way. The downside is that we need a bit more time to put him back to sleep when he stirs in the middle of the night (sometimes I have to cradle him for a while), plus somehow he always seems to get up around 5-ish, and we end up putting him on our bed so that we can continue to get some sleep. All in all, that makes it two wakings for me- and although short, they are certainly disruptive to a good night's sleep. Am feeling more tired than usual as a result. Sigh.

That aside, it has really been lovely to see him grow and develop.

• He has a rather peculiar habit of curling up his toes and clenching his fists when drinking milk. So 'kan cheong'....
• He loves exercising his legs- he kicks really hard, sometimes even when he is being carried; his legs can look like fleshy windscreen wipers! Our dear Michelin baby :) He also enjoys swinging his legs, which he can do quite well when he's sitting on the edge of a lap and his legs are free to dangle.
• Blowing raspberries is another favourite pastime of his. There are days when he's at it all day..
• He likes to 'talk'. So much babbling- not funny when you're trying to sleep! Yak yak yak :)
• He's been eating solids for about a month now, and he really loves it. Yum. Except broccoli. He cried after just one spoonful. Can't blame him, I'm not a big broccoli fan either. :p
• Bathtime is something he really enjoys- especially when it comes to kicking up a big splash. Tsunami in the bathtub I tell you...
• For some reason he's starting to make 'smacking' motions with his arms.. thus ending up 'smacking' himself on the tummy or his sides.. or our faces! With his arms flailing wildly, looks like he's trying to fly! :)
• He's figured out to turn himself in all directions in his cot, sometimes ending up with a hand or leg stuck in between the bars. So dangerous, gosh. Cot bumper? Doesn't help much. He now folds the thing up to check out the scenery outside the cot.. and plays peek-a-boo!
• Absolutely adore his chuckles.. he enjoys us tickling him, blowing on his tummy or face, making funny faces, pretending to nibble on his toes or dancing while being carried in our arms. So cute.

We love him so very, very much.

Teambuilding retreat in Kuantan

Recently I had the privilege to join my company's senior management team for their teambuilding retreat in Kuantan. There was lots of eating, singing, dancing, and many cool games.

The most memorable game was the 'Caterpillar Walk', which featured team members sandwiching balloons between them and completing a walk that involved picking stuff up from the ground. Not easy when there are 5 people moving up and down in tandem, while trying not to drop or burst the balloons! Plus... picking up a large coconut with one hand makes the task harder.. haha :p The grand finale to this game involved crushing against each other to break the balloons; now this was really really hilarious! I bet some of the photos, if seen by others who were not there, could easily lead to- *ahem* -dodgy conclusions!

We were also given the task of building a rollercoaster out of straws and masking tape.. and here is our creation! Cool, huh? Thanks to our team leader, who is, amongst many other things, an engineer by training as well...

A rollercoaster by another team; note the disconnected track..

which they argued provided a thrilling twist to the ride! Haha :)

We didn't win this challenge however.. we lost points for using up too many straws! Not environmentally-friendly enough, apparently. Cheh. We were most unhappy with the result. Hmmph.

We also had a 3km beach run at 6 a.m. on the first morning! Imagine that. Plus all the other games- bowling, beach volleyball, etc.. it was really tiring. Most of us were limping towards the end of the retreat, haha.

It was hectic, but I certainly had a few fun-filled days. I also had the opportunity to get to know my colleagues better; it was certainly eye-opening to see their quirky sides :)

And hubby managed the little one all by himself while I was away- well done!

Mooncake Mania!

For some reason we ended up having a lot of mooncakes this year. Too many, I might add. In fact, I think I still have 3 in the kitchen.. I blame the mooncakes for my recent weight gain. Cheh :p

Anyway, I didn't realise that mooncakes came in so many flavours these days! There are even some that come with meat floss, which sound odd but actually taste really nice. Another one of my favourites is Tai Thong's Jade Custard. I tried their new Honeydew & Peach flavour- and truth be told, that turned out to be quite yucky. Definitely not my cup of tea.

Here are some lovely snow skin mooncakes that were yummy.. with exotic names like 'Red Lantern- Snow Skin Kirsch Lotus Paste with Cheese & Raspberry' and 'Blue Moon- Snow Skin Lotus Amaretto Paste with Blueberry Cheese Feuillantine'.

And the packaging! So elaborate. I ended up buying this box of 4 since the pink box was just so cute. One particular flavour here stood out- 'Bamboo Charcoal Hazelnut', which had a pitch black exterior and a lovely chocolatey centre.

Can recycle this to store little trinkets..

We also considered buying a lantern for the little one to play with, and checked out the new canggih-manggih designs that were out there for sale. Wow, there are battery-operated fish lanterns that have wheels, plus moving fins and tails! RM30+! Crazy. Toys have certainly come a long way since the time we were kids. Hmm.

We didn't end up buying a lantern in the end (will wait till he's older).. but his grandma surprised him with one. How sweet :)

A chicken that flaps its wings and turns its head; plus it does something rather strange- it tilts forwards and the beak touches the floor, thus causing the chicken to go backwards! Until now we're not sure if that's how it's supposed to work.. but hey, it keeps him occupied! :)

Our little darling turns 5 months old today...

Time flies. The little one is already 5 months old. He's growing well, and so far, he's a pretty good-natured baby. Hope it stays that way...

According to my mum, he's already learnt to turn over, but I'm still waiting to see it with my own eyes though. Hmm. A bit sad that I don't have the privilege of witnessing that first turn, but hopefully I don't end up missing too many 'firsts' along the way. Sigh- the downside of being a working mum.

There's really nothing better than to give him a cuddle at the end of a long day at work (though I suspect it probably benefits me more than it does him.. haha). Better give him as many as I can while he still lets me...

Thumbs up for Up!

Have you watched Up yet? If you haven't, you really ought to see it. It's a lovely movie; funny, heartwarming and thought-provoking all at once.

*spoiler alert*

Flying away with the help of balloons? Cool! Talking dogs? Errr... And the scene with the two old men fighting was just hilarious! Incidentally, Russell- the little kid, made me think of my little boy.. round face with 'no double-eyelid eyes' (Where are they?? They keep disappearing when he opens his eyes wide. No hope la...) Haha :p

On a more serious note though, I wonder what a scrapbook of my life would look like. What will I file away under 'Stuff I'm Going To Do'? Hmm. I remember the exact moment when old Mr Fredricksen discovered his late wife's cherished memories.. and it got me thinking. Life may not turn out the way we expect it to, or the way we hoped; but there will always be something wonderful to be discovered, if we choose to open our hearts to it.

p/s: If you're going to watch Up, remember to be there early. The short film screened before the movie is just precious :)

Back to Banquet

It was mum-in-law's birthday recently, and we ended up having a quiet and pleasant meal at Banquet, Bangsar Village II. It's quite a challenge to bring the little one out; there are other factors to consider when deciding on where to eat, besides the obvious- the food! Haha. Banquet is quite spacious, and Bangsar Village II is rather nice and quiet, unlike some other malls which are insanely crowded.

We had the Baked Escargot with Parsley Butter Sauce and the Honey Truffle Prawns for starters; the escargots were yummy and garlicky, and the prawns were simply divine! Lightly fried and coated with honey, this was definitely the highlight of the meal for me. I virtually ate all the vegetables that came with the prawns and used them to mop up the sauce! *drool*

Garlicky escargots

Honey Truffle Prawns- delicious!

I went for something rather boring- pasta; so I won't bother to go into details here. I'm just a huge pasta fan.. sometimes I really have half a mind to move to Italy. Anyway, hubby went for the Burgundy Cheek of Wagyu, which I thought was nicer than the one we tasted at Café Café.

The best part was that our little boy fell asleep when we started our meal, and stayed asleep throughout until it was time to cut the cake. Such a dear, huh? :)

Harry Potter, Angels & Demons

After a fair amount of planning and co-ordination, we managed to find time to watch 2 movies recently- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Angels & Demons. Harry Potter wasn't really that great; it was more of a teenage love story or sorts. Plus, it was rather weird seeing sweet and smart Hermione getting her knickers in a twist over Ron. Hmm. I went back and ended up reading the last book just to refresh my memory on what happens next. Oh gosh, I'm so excited- can't wait for the next 2 movies! In case you didn't know, they're breaking the last book into 2 movies. Hope they are as action-packed as the book.. :)

Angels & Demons was also a bit of a disappointment. Director Ron Howard certainly took quite a few liberties with the storyline. There were just too many 'Eh?' moments for me. What a shame- the book was simply amazing. I remembered being glued to it, devouring page after page. The Camerlengo's speech in the book was wonderfully heartfelt and thought-provoking, but it was hardly featured in the film (if my memory serves me right).

Ah well, at least Rome was captured beautifully in the film. And Tom Hanks' hair looks less ridiculous now... Heh.

Cute cupcakes!

I ordered these gift sets for my colleagues; didn't make it in time for the traditional full-moon, but hey, better late than never. The problem was there was no delivery service available, so I had to go and pick them up myself.

The cupcakes looked so cute, and they tasted quite nice as well. Not too sweet :)

Took a photo of all the different designs, don't they look too cute to be eaten? Haha.

11 weeks on...

and baby is just doing beautifully. He has been sleeping through the night without needing to feed for a while now; praise the Lord! Hope it stays that way.

Sleep is still rather choppy for me though, as he tends to fuss a little starting from around 4 to 5 a.m, but usually the pacifier is sufficient to help him get back to sleep.

He is smiling a lot more now, and 'talking' quite a fair bit too! 'Angku' seems to be his favourite word, haha. Recently he's developed a whole new cry- this pitiful, high pitched cry that just melts your heart. Awww, the little darling. Guess you already have mummy wrapped around your little finger. Hmm.

We're really grateful to both my mum and mum-in-law for being so gracious in extending help to care for the little one. From now on my mum will be caring for him during the day when we're at work, and we get to spend time with him every evening and on weekends. So far, so good.

God is gracious indeed.

Hubby is a great Daddy!

Hubby is such a great help with the little one. He can do everything that I can (except breastfeed, obviously- haha). Nappy change? Check. Bathing? Not a problem. Dear hubby also wakes up in the middle of the night when I need help.

Baby and I are so blessed!! =D

It still feels a bit odd...

...to say "I have a son". At times I can hardly believe that I'm a mother now, (though it doesn't take that much to snap myself back to reality, heh).

Motherhood has been a rollercoaster ride so far (and it's only been 8 weeks or so!). The first month was tough; things are getting better now, as I learn to understand the little one a bit more each day. Am still trying to come to terms with the fact that not all the expectations of how to care for baby would be met. Like using the pacifier, for example. After a few weeks, we decided it was time to buy one. Ah well-pick your battles, as they say...

A couple of things to pen down, before they become distant memories:

His neck control is really quite good; even in the early days he could lift his head up, much to our surprise. Recently we have had quite a few laughs watching him shift his head from left to right (while lying on his tummy)- which involves lifting his head first, and then shuffling face down to the other side. Hilarious.

His lower lip quivers pitifully sometimes when he's crying. We noticed it right from day 1 when he was born. Aiyo, so drama.

Screams the house down sometimes if we're late in giving him his milk. Goes all red and screams until a point where there is no sound- scary. But after that he realises it takes too much energy, so he quietens a bit thereafter. At least the screaming doesn't last too long.

Sometimes he's content to suck on the pacifier while waiting for his meal. Wonder how long we can continue 'conning' him...

He pecks or headbutts when he's hungry- just like a little bird. And the way he latches on to the bottle (or me :p) would give piranhas a run for their money!

He waves (more like punching) and kicks quite comically when he's not happy- i.e. when he's sleepy or hungry. He packs quite a punch too!

Sometimes he makes a 'fish mouth' (like he's trying to whistle) when he wants to poo. Or he goes really quiet.. as if he's up to no good. Haha.

He makes a lot of noise when he sleeps at night- grunts, etc. In the early days we used to get up to check on him all the time, worried that he might have vomitted or something. Now we're wiser- it's just how he is, so we don't bother so much.

And oh.. that smile. Just melts your heart. (Never mind that at this stage the smiles are probably mostly involuntary- but hey, I'll take what I can get. It's one of those things that keeps me going.) Also, recently he has been chuckling as well.. which sounds like a quick series of hiccups, except that they are coupled with a broad smile. Awww..

Sigh. :)

Welcome to the world

Thought of writing this down so that many years from now, the little one will be able to read for himself what I went through to bring him into the world.. heh.

We visited the gynae in the morning of Monday, 27th April, and learnt that I was already at 2 cm, and the baby's head was already very very low, so things were looking good. Soon, we were told. And so we waited. The contractions got stronger throughout the day, but they still weren't close enough to warrant a trip to the labour ward just yet. We were hoping to hold on out until the next morning, since we didn't fancy going in to the hospital in the middle of the night, but at midnight I decided I really had to wake poor hubby up, and off we went to the hospital.

I had thought the whole thing would move along quite quickly, given the baby's position and all.. but it still took 12 hours. Gosh!

It was quite frustrating to learn that I was still at 2 cm at midnight; so there was nothing to do but to wait. The painful contractions were occuring every 5-10 minutes, which meant I could not get any rest, and neither did poor hubby. At 4 a.m. I was STILL at 2 cm...there was still a long way to go, and I was worried at being exhausted by the time it came to pushing the baby out, what with no rest throughout the night and all. Drat.

And so I signed the consent form for the epidural; hubby and I praying very hard that the anaesthetist who was going to administer the epidural would be alert and awake enough not to mess things up. After all, it IS an injection into the epidural space, which is part of the spine.. :p

My legs were all warm and tingly after the epidural; more importantly, I couldn't feel the pain of the contractions, which was absolute bliss. Should have taken the epidural earlier. Haha.

Managed to get a few hours' of light sleep after that; my gynae came in at 7 a.m, announced that I was at 3-4 cm (only??), and proceeded to burst my water bag. (We thought it had already burst, but she said it was still intact, and prodded it to show me. It felt like a water balloon going round and round... eww.)

After that, things got a bit weird. I developed a slight fever, started vomitting and also started shivering. Apparently, these were all side effects from the epidural. I couldn't even keep a sip of water down, and I was shivering like crazy. We had to switch the air-con off, and I was under 2 blankets, but I still felt like my bones were freezing. Those few hours were TERRIBLE. It was like having severe food poisoning (which is something that I am quite susceptible to); but on top of that being in labour, with blood and fluid leaking everywhere, and the lower body nothing but a helpless deadweight. Also, I could feel the epidural 'wearing off', since I could feel my contractions again. I was distressed almost to the point of tears, and wondered how I would find the strength later to push. Goodness.

It finally crossed someone's mind to give me some anti-vomitting medicine, so that I could also take the medicine to bring the fever down. They topped up my epidural dosage (the tube was taped to my back), and that helped somewhat. Thank God hubby was there to help take care of me. He sponged me with a towel to get the fever down, and later to help me cool off when the medicine took effect and I started to sweat profusely. By then, I was about 5-6 cm.

The next thing I remember was being at 9 cm, and then there was a flurry of activity in the labour ward. I was re-positioned, poles were put in place for my hands and feet, the gynae's equipment was laid out, etc. Everything happened so fast; the gynae suddenly appeared and the next thing I knew, it was time to push! It was tough; I couldn't seem to get the technique of coordinating the breathing and pushing quite right.

There were 8 other people in the labour ward; and I recall there was a lot of cheering from the 'spectators'- loud cries in unison spurring me to push, push and push some more! Thanks to the epidural, I remember this scene quite vividly since there was only a dull pain (thus my mind had time to wander..) and I recall thinking how ridiculously funny this whole affair would be- if I wasn't the one stuck in the unflattering position with an entire cheerleading team watching me! :p

After about half an hour or so, the gynae informed me that she might have to use a vacuum to help baby out, since he had already passed motion (she could see the meconium stains) and that wasn't a good sign... I was warned that it didn't mean that I could stop doing any 'work'; I still needed to push, and with the help of some fairly low suction, baby was out!

It all happened so fast; suddenly there was this slimy, greyish thing slapped on my tummy, and there was a commotion as hubby rushed to cut the umbilical cord and the nurses ran around to attend to baby. I don't even recall seeing his face at that point; and he was taken outside the room to be cleaned, checked, etc.

Baby was brought back into the room after a while, and I remember how weird it felt to see my baby for the first time. He seemed like a little stranger (or maybe I was just too dazed and confused to think clearly); and if you're wondering.. no, I didn't have one of those 'movie moments' where I cradled my newborn in my arms while shedding tears of joy. I did envision that, but it was not to be. Talk about a reality check. :(

Instead, baby was whisked off to the neonatal ICU, since the concern was that he might have breathed in some meconium (which is essentially his own poo) which could lead to infection in the lungs. Poor baby had to have an x-ray taken, an IV inserted for a glucose drip and antibiotics prescribed. It was quite distressing for me and hubby; and it was heartbreaking to see all those tubes sticking out from his tiny little body...but we thank God that everything turned out alright in the end- thank you all so much for your prayers!

On April 28th, 2009, our lives changed forever. May God give us the strength, wisdom and perseverance to journey on together...

Anytime now...

and baby is going to arrive. Scared to death, but excited nevertheless :)

A picture of my bump.. before it turns to flab :(

Do keep us in prayer...

Milestones...

Phew.. I've finally made it to this entry. Thought I wasn't going to be able to pen down what happened for the rest of 2008... haha.

We moved in to our new home at the end of August, after months of effort to get the place ready (and we didn't even do that much- i.e. no major renovation involved). We got the built-in wardrobes done, the lights installed, and the furniture delivered (after a lot of shopping around of course). We had some drama with regards to painting our ceiling; looking back now we can laugh about it, but it sure wasn't funny then. The installation of the lights involved some hacking, and the resulting paintwork over the patched areas was rather unsightly- no matter how many times we tried to fix it. And so we decided to paint the entire ceiling. On our own. Suffice to say, it was a BAD idea.. and in the end, we had to pay the professionals to do it anyway. Cheh.

September 20th was a big day for us- we found out that I was 7 weeks' pregnant! No wonder I was feeling like crap for weeks; I thought it was just the work stress getting to me. We were both stunned to see the little sac on the ultrasound, and we were just blown away by the miracle of life. Praise God for His wonderful gift!

I'm in my 32nd week now; and our little sweetheart is due to arrive in early May. We thank God that the pregnancy has been going relatively well. I didn't really have any morning sickness in the first trimester (save for nausea when I ate too much, but I guess that's normal :p). Of course, there are aches, pains, heartburn, breathlessness etc etc but overall it hasn't been too bad. At the moment the shooting pain up my nerve in the lower back has been causing me some grief; but I hope it's nothing too serious. Hmm..

There were times earlier on where I got worried when people commented that my baby bump was so small, and I didn't seem to be gaining much weight... but now it looks like I have to watch my weight! My gynae made me take a glucose test to check for pregnancy diabetes, since my recent weight gain was a bit too much- but fortunately things were ok and I'm fine. I blame the weight gain on all the goodies I consumed over the Christmas and Chinese New Year period! :p

It has been amazing seeing our baby grow over the past few months. We saw him (yes it's a boy!) bouncing about like a jumping shrimp earlier on, waving his hands, stretching his legs and rolling about as he got bigger. I remember one time we saw him open his mouth (a yawn maybe?) followed by some lip-smacking afterwards. Even my gynae was amused, heh.

I can't quite recall if I ever felt the 'quickening' feeling mentioned in the books.. but the kicks have been unmistakeable! He's quite the active little dear- kicking and moving about ever so often. One of the funniest things I'm experiencing now is his tendency to kick me on whichever side I'm sleeping. If I sleep on my right, he would kick me there to get my attention. Feeling bad that I was squashing him, I would turn to lie on my back for a while and try a bit later to sleep on the left instead. And guess what- he would then proceed to kick me on my left! Basically I think he's trying to protest that I am depriving him of his space- there's no pleasing this little guy! :p

8 weeks more to go; we're praying that everything will continue to go smoothly... would value your prayers too! :)

Haywards Heath

I've finally come to the last of the series of blog entries on our trip to UK waaaaay back in May 2008. I can't believe this has taken me this long :p

We made a trip to Haywards Heath (about an hour's train ride from London) to visit a dear friend and his family. It was lovely meeting up again after all these years, and I was thrilled to see his beautiful girls for the first time. After a quick lunch, we ended up joining them to take part in a procession (their village was having a funfair that day), so it was all rather fun!

The theme of our group was the story of Jonah :)

What fun!

We left for London in the afternoon.. and soon it was time to say goodbye. We had a great time in the UK; but now it was time to head home. London has changed; and I have come to accept that my most recent experience of this city cannot possibly be the same as when I was there studying. You know what- I think I have found the closure I was looking for...

New Fellows' Presentation

Staple Inn

The New Fellows' Presentation held at Staple Inn was one of the reasons for our trip to the UK, so I was rather looking forward to it. The ceremony was quite interesting, rather like a graduation ceremony- complete with inspiring speeches and of course, champagne and canapés! :)

One thing that was really noticeable was the look of relief on the new Fellows, and their accompanying family members as well- haha. I guess the past few years have been challenging for most of us; and what a journey it has been! But then again, I'm reminded that qualifying as a Fellow should be viewed as the beginning, and not the end. How true.

After the presentation, we met up with my dear university friend PS, for lunch. It was great seeing her again after all these years. Sigh, how time has flown by...

Greenwich

Poor hubby wasn’t feeling well the next day so we stayed in till late morning. We eventually managed to make our way to Greenwich by bus, arriving in time for lunch. Our first stop was the National Maritime Museum, which proudly displays Britain’s seafaring history. From there it was a rather steep walk up to the Royal Observatory, the renowned monument to navigational research. It is the original home of Greenwich Mean Time and is famous for being the source of the Prime Meridian line that divides the East from the West (longitude 0° 0' 0'').

National Maritime Museum

The famous line

Ooh look, Kuala Lumpur gets a mention :)

Y&A dropped by to join us until closing time, and then it was off to a nearby village to grab some tea. It was raining rather heavily, so that was one wet and cold walk! Well, at least there was something warm to look forward to :)

We managed to catch another musical later in the evening- Hairspray! We decided to take a chance and just turn up at the theatre counter for last-minute tickets, and were pleased to find 2 suitable and affordable seats left. Hurrah! Hairspray was just so much fun; we really had a blast. There was so much colour and energy in the music and dancing; it was difficult not to groove along!

We got lost in Rotherhithe late at night while trying to get home by bus, so that was a bit scary. Thank God we managed alright in the end! Phew.