At RongChan's Wedding

My Lovely girl...




Her Birthday gift from me :) A Belle watch.








My Lovely boy...





Many more...


I love this picture! Do we look like sisters?










the twins


Lims - The generation 2 and their better half







MOre photos can be seen on Ivy's blog

Updates and Our 7mo Boy

Ethyl's scar is healing pretty well. Her dressing was changed and the Doctor assures that looking at the way it is healing and closing u, most likely there'll be no obvious scarring as she grows older.

As a Mom, I felt much relieved upon the doctor's assurance. However, I still would want to heed advise from my Dermatologist to ensure that the scar will be minimally visible.

Ethyl has been taking this incident pretty well. I can see she is still very afraid of going to the doctor after her saga many months back. I would say I am a proud Mommy as my girl is still brave eventhough she is struggling within herself to walk into the clinic. Well done, Baby!

As for our 7mo bub, he is thriving well. It's a shame that I am unable to spend alot of time with him at this point in time, I try to be as hands-on as much as I could.

I am hoping he'll grow up faster so that I can bring both Ethyl and himself out for some fun on weekends.

He is eating quite a bit as usual, but no matter how he eats, his peaking metabolism rate will burn the food and milk he takes in and he is only weighing 7.4kg. I am not worried, Ethyl was alos in the 25th percentile in terms of weight when she was a baby. Look at her now, she is one of the tallest in class and oh, I almost forgot to update...she is one of the best in class too! *beaming Mommy*

Brayden adores Ethyl. I am really glad for this fact!

Back to Ethyl...I went to collect her final term report card and this time, the teacher in charge didn't open the book like before. She laid the book on the table and said, "Ethylyn's doing very well. She is very smart and is one of the best in class."

I was quite shocked to hear this actually. They do not measure the students using grades, but through the daily work and activities, the teachers observe that she can grasps the various topics well especially so for phonics. Her Math is also good. Hubby's worry at this point is pretty redundant. He felt that Ethyl's Math is very weak and we need to work on that.

Another point the teacher brought up...all along, during the past sessions, they would say Ethyl is a quiet girl and I told them she wasn't. They never believe me, and this time the teacher commented, "Ethylyn, Wenxi, Shermaine and Joiee Ma are the top students for English class, however, when the 4 girls are together, they we very loud and talkative. We had no choice, but to seperate them into for different tables." I laughed at this comment!

"Ethylyn is also very vocal and the same 4 girls would ask questions when the lesson is going on. This is very good! That is also one reason why they are doing well."

As for the chinese teacher, she told me she likes Ethyl. She is very all-rounded and for Chinese class, both Ethyl and her best friend Wenxi are the top. Both girls as usual loves to talk, however, Li laoshi loves Ethyl more because she is able to follow instructions and pay attention when told to stop talking.

This time, my little girl makes me feel proud of her. I hope her enthusiasm in learning will continue...

I did praise her on our way back, however, my usual sentence is, "I can see you are putting in effort, and I hope you will continue to do so".

Feverish Boy

Bray's down with fever after the jab. I hope he gets well soon!

Ouch!

Heart pain!!!

We went swimming and Ethyl was pushed by another girl in the toilet and she hit herself against the basin, resulting in a cut! Parts of her flesh exposed and I freaked out! Oh, it'll leave a scar!

She was brave and didn't cry. It was Ann who found out she was bleeding then we knew what happened. Poor girl...fortunately, the scar was superficial, but leaving behind a scar is bad enough (eventhough it is on the chin).

For cosmetic purposes, I requested for the GP to "glue" the wound and leave a small little "line", instead of a open scar.

Poor girl...how i wish I was not so distracted by the little boy and could keep a more watchful eye on her to avoid such accidents. Bad Mommy!

The picture here indeed display a pretty superficial wound. But this is not a scratch as her flesh was exposed.

November Birthday

Has been busy lately, and will continue to be busy probably till our holidays.

Today is supposed to be Hubby's birthday, he is at work, and will not be back home till next morning. I am home alone today as well. Both babies are at Mom's because I had to leave home at 6am and reach ICA by 8am to collect Ethyl's passport (another long story...sigh).

This is a short entry to update on Ethyl's birthday and some pictures. How fast, my gal is 4yo and 2 days now, time I update my ticker!

I have not much pictures to show as it is quite a challenge to manage 1 tot and 1 baby when we were out. Ethyl's actual day of birthday, we brought her to IMM's Swensen's and had dinner with her. I bought her a Disney Princess, Belle, watch and she was so happy! She kept telling me she was very happy on the day itself!

This year's birthday is not ideal, and told her, because of both Hubby's and mine busy schedules, we'll make up to her during the HK trip. She is very contented and assured us that she is perfectly fine and is truly happy with us spending time with her and staying together as a family.






Oh no! I looked so haggard here!

Preparations (part II)

Counting down to our trip! Almost a month to go, and I have settled the air tickets and accomodation. Next on the list is to work out the itinerary.

Been busy to read blogs and even if I do read, I will not be able to leave comments. I hope friends out there do not mind :)

Happy Birthday to Our 4yo Princess!!!

This is remarkable! We have Ethyl with us for 4 beautiful years!

Today marks her 4th year in our lives. She is now no longer a baby (though I still call her baby), but a toddler who is able to make some decisions for herself and voice her opinions.

From being a baby till now, she has been a child who makes me feel proud of her. Her sensibility and understanding at such tender age does exceed my expectations.

Just last week, she said something that made me so touched.

“Mommy, I love you too much! You beat me and scold me sometimes, but I know you mean well Mommy, I won’t be angry and I will still love you so much! You also love me so much right? That is why you scold me right?”

We had a lousy birthday for her last Saturday over at East Coast Park (ECP), she was a little disappointed, but she assured me that she was happy to be able to play sand and water.

I will update the “lousy” part soon…

Preparations

Preparing for the somewhat last minute trip for the whole brood seems a challenge.

Making sure that we bring enough for the baby, having enough for the kids and my old boy to wear, ensuring that I am over prepared for this trip and all the nitty gritty are more than enough to keep me busy after work!

Hubby always needs to do his "mouth work", and I will do the ground work. He'll say, "Ok, my leave's approved" and he can safely throw the baton of preparing and planning to me. I am the one looking around for hotels getting feedbacks from people who brought kids with them to HK and check out on airfares, hotels, places of interests, dining and of course, SHOPPING!

I am now planning to shop online for the kids (winter wear), however I do not want to overspend as they are growing, and our next winter trip will only be next year end. Ethyl may still fit hers, but Bray will definitely outgrow.

Set my eyes on a pair of boots and now, I can buy and wear during the trip!

Besides all the fun things to do, I also have to ensure our passports are valid. Ethyl's needs the photograph changed, applied for Bray's passport online, Hubby and mine are both valid.

As this is our family's inaugural trip, I want to make sure that both Hubby and myself will on a really free and easy 5 days' trip.

Since we have Brayden along, I do not wish to compromise his meals. I told Hubby this will be our first experience, I am bringing his slow cooker along and food warmer as well. He enjoys porridge, and no matter what, I'll cook something for him to bring along on our shopping and sight seeing.

No prams with us this time, we will bring along our carrier instead. I am not sure if I want to lug my lappy along as I know Mom will miss her 2 grandbabies heaps when we are away!

Mom said why not leave Brayden behind, I objected. I knew she meant well, but I do not want to leave anyone out of this trip. Though troublesome with a baby in tow, but I'll not enjoy if he is not with me.

So, this trip is going to materialise! Yippee!!!

"Mom, do you not love me anymore?"

Who else would ask me such a question but my girl?

Had been home late almost everyday because of work commitments and my little girl started asking me the above question. Somehow when I heard this, I felt pretty hurt and sad.

Both of us bond well, and that is why many a times we knew what we wanted. For Ethyl, I have been trying to assure her that nothing has been changed (especially the love I have for her) eversince Bray's arrival. Everything falls nicely in place after 2 months of tears and wails; by going to work, I thought I could manage their (Hubby, Ethyl, Bray and Mom's) expectations well.

Hubby is fine. However he thought I might be a little ambitious right now. Probably due to the last unpleasant incidence that I encountered at work, I really feel much happier with my current employment and of course, nice boss and colleagues.

I never dreamt being too ambitious, I just work hard and put in my best efforts. Afterall, I have a family to juggle and am glad Boss is understanding enough to me. Since despite my family commitments and he is willing to let me give it a try at a slower pace, why not? Opprtunity does not come all the time!

My promise to him, I will abide. I will not neglect the well being of my 2 young ones and him.

As for Ethyl, she is in an age where all the WWHs starts making friends with her. At times when I was really tired, I'd unknowingly brush the questions away; so bad of me.

Till now, we were still very close. I love the closeness I share with her. No one else can understand this unless you are a Mommy yourself. I always make it a point to tell her I'll be home late if I was held up by work. Nevertheless, my phone would still keep ringing and she'll ask, "Mom, are you coming back now?", "Mom, where are you? I miss you so much!" etc.

SWEET! I have started another phase whereby I will try to make her understand my job and understand why we (Hubby and I) may be held up by work sometimes. She has begun to notice that Hubby's been working too much, and kept asking me the same questions!

It's another round of tough talking to make her understand...but I will still do it!

Brayden is soon turning 7mo! He seems to be teething, and is always putting things in his mouth. He just is not as close and attached to me like Ethyl. Even so, I still love him! He is simply too adorable and cheerful! It's always nice to see him flashing is mega watt smile in the mornings and evenings when I am back from work.

He is a tougher to manage baby compared to Ethyl, but I felt bad not being able to spend as much time for him and breastfeed as long.

He is currently taking formula as supplement, I am still working hard on my pump before and after work. It somehow made me less guilty as he is still able to get Mommy's milk somehow.

I wish them both to thrive and be happy with live....

Winter Funland?

It's the time of the year where my pockets really takes the toil.

This year, we had planned for holidays. As going to the US seems too challenging for us, we have decided to take a short hauled flight and go to HK instead.

Then came the timing. When is the best time to go?

Our sales proceeding was delayed (all thanks to the board), hence all plans were adjourned till infinity! Finally we fixed a date to hand over and time for travelling plans!

We have set to go HK. At the point of post, air tickets are still available; hotels available except for our last day. We wanted to spend the day at Disney...but its full.

I hope this trip does materialise this time round.

My Trio

Guess what are they watching?

The trio were enjoying Pink Panther on Cartoon Network! Both Ethyl and Bray were tv fans. I wish they will not end up wearing glasses just like us.

His First Swim

At the age of 6 months and 5 days old, my little boy finally had his first dip today!

We had originally planned for yesterday, but both Hubby and I were too tired that we slept our afternoon away!

Since today's weather is really humid, my aunt (the kiddos' grand aunt) suggested a dip, we packed ourselves and off we go to Jurong Recreation Centre for a dip! Argh...it's been so long sonce my last dip! Am really glad that I can fit in my swim suit.

Anyways' bought a nice suit for our little man and he looks cool in it!

His meal time is supposed to be 4pm, but he was happily swimming that we got up only at 5pm. Mom fed him, while Ethyl and myself went into the water again!

I assume he loves swimming. I dunk him into the water and he survived! Haha...if hubby was around, I would not get such chance.

I still do look forward to bringing them for a dip.