then, now and beyond

Oh by golly gosh! I simply cannot believe that I have not blogged since Christmas! heheh...

I have been, well, err...I've been on other sites. I have been...shopping (but in truth, it's not exactly my idea...*hihihihi*) and I have been thinking of my resolutions for next year. I don't believe I have met all of mine which I set for this year. But, I am determined to carry forward the remaining un-met resolutions to next year!! heheh..Now, that doesn't sound quite right now, does it? heheh...In 5 years, I'd probably accumulated enough to recycle as toilet paper...O_O.

One thing's for sure, something about my blogging here will change slightly. Well, sort of. No, don't get me wrong, this blog will continue, just that I won't be posting photos of Ash anymore on this site. It's just something I told myself to do when I started this blog. You will instead continue to read stories about her. Besides, both Ash and I will be going to her designated playgroup more regularly from next year on. Huh? Why isn't she in school proper? Simple - we don't have that kind of cash :-).

To sum up the year - interesting! For what it's worth, I learned many valuable lessons that will hopefully, carry me through the rest of my adult life. Not that I have that many more years left; I am already what they would call 'middle-age'. Yeah I know - sigh...but I'll never trade this for anything in the world. Sure, if I may, childbirth should be ALOT easier...naturally that is. And that the depleting ozone layer should urm...stop depleting(??!!).

I look forward to sharing more mommy stories with you and hearing about yours too. There's nothing more comforting than to know that all you're experiencing, someone out there is feeling the exact same thing. It's a wonderful calming feeling, that I hope, will continue on for as long as possible.

So, here's wishing you a blessed 2010! Be good and be safe..

have a very Merry Christmas

one more day..

One more day

and that can only mean one thing : I still have time for last minute Christmas shopping!

What do I need? Oh, plenty of stuff like some new clothes, a new hairdo, possibly even a HD TV with a funky tv stand. Get a load of the new plasmas, they are far-out. Yep, far far out of our reach, just too expensive. But, who says a girl can't dream? :-).

Yes, as a matter of fact, I will have to do some last minute Christmas shopping. Wonder why but I do. I kind of dread it because going to the mall during the holidays is like being lost in the jungle. Anyway, that will be tomorrow and after that, it's the day.

are you in the mood for Christmas...yet?

4 more days and...and...it's Christmas!!! So are you all set? I am even though I don't celebrate Christmas. Now, that doesn't make sense does it? Well, you see, both my sisters celebrate so I've kinda joined in the fun side of the yuletide season.

My contribution this year are some hand-made pressies. Decided to do the whole enchilada. Which explains why I have been busy and not posting any recent photos of the kids. I think, Em's 7th month collection is down to only the number of fingers of both my hands! *gulp*. So much for documenting her milestone..

Anyways, this year, I was planning on a family Christmas dinner, just the 4 of us. Em is included even though she only takes porridge. But, it's ok, our table is big enough for 2 adults, a hyper todd and a lil' baby. But, I may have to discard my plan. I have a last minute invite on Christmas evening. I haven't decided yet. I have oh, 2 more days to RSVP. Decisions...decisions...decisions....Man, this is tough!! I haven't had to make any decisions since searching for the best online degree.

Plus, we have that mandatory Christmas lunch at a family friend's house. For as long as I can remember, I've been going and eating and I really love their house. Even if it's a old house, but it's huge and has a pretty awesome view. I always look forward going there.

Well, that's sort of how our plan for Christmas and the long weekend will be; well, sort of.

2 weddings and not a funeral but just dinner

For the past couple of weeks, we have been having an unusual number of functions to attend. For the low profile family that we are, going on an eating feast every weekend is well, a feat! We hardly eat out. That's because we have the luxury of living close by to great cooks aka mom and MIL. So, since their first love is the kitchen, we get home-cooked food literally everyday if we want to.

We've been to all kinds of weddings these past 3 weeks. Seemed as if everyone's just tying the knot this year. And rushing off to so by this month or so. I know why; it's a Chinese thing and I am too lazy to explain it here...hehehe...but trust me, there is a good reason for the mad rush!

As for me, I have 2 more and I am done. No more 8 to 10 course dinners. Thankfully neither requires me to wake up in an ungodly hour for the "chip san leong" thingy. How I dread those things and how I now feel for my family and close friends for doing the same thing at my wedding heheheh...

And lastly, what about the just-dinner? Well, I reminded hubby that his father's birthday is coming up and well, the usual beckons - dinner out. Maybe I'll do something different this year; I'll get him a present. How does spa filters sound? Think it'll be the perfect gift?? :-)

some grossed-out randomness

Ok, so...my pinky is healing. Thank God for that. And because the impact was so great that blood spew out underneath the skin but because there was no opening (no cuts) for it to flow out, I had to squeeze the blood out through the cuticle area. Ewwww......I know. I almost fainted after...like 4 or 5 squeeze! Seriously, I doubt I will ever become a doctor or a nurse or a CSI or anything that involves cutting up of people (dead or alive) or animals (dead or alive). No no...it's not my kind of a job.

While doing all of these gross-ed out squeezing, I told my hubby jokingly that if I was at the hospital having this done on me, I would've gotten a semi-earful from the nurses.."ah, give birth you not pain, why small things like this so pain?" Truthfully, I don't understand it either. WHile it is a fact that I gave birth to my kids without the help of an epidural but it doesn't mean that I enjoyed it! I am not a sadist. And you can't really compare the 2 urm..pains; they are absolutely 2 different sensations.

Anyway, the way I see it, there is a very simple solution to my pinky incident : since it's the long weekend here, all I need is a vacation...by MYSELF! You know, the kind where you just take a good book and your bikini and check into a hotel (similar to Toronto hotels) and just disappear!! Really....D.I.S.A.P.P.E.A.R...

settling down

Apart from celebrating her 7th month birthday (if you can call it that), little Em has settled down on her sleep routine and that is make absolute sure that no one gets to rest during the day, only at night. hehehe...I will admit...I'm kinda ok with it.

Usually, Em sleeps very little during the day. She takes 2 or at times, 3 short naps each lasting between an hour to an hour-half. By 7pm, she's as cranky as any baby gets. By, 8 or 8:30pm, she's out like a light! Oh, so what time does she get up in the mornings? Good question - 6.30 in the am. I know, it's darn early. It's too early even for me. So thankfully, hubby gets the morning duty since he has to wake up for work anyway. He'll feed her, put her back to sleep, and he goes back to bed ahahhaha...talk about a lazy bum! She'll sleep in for another hour or so, (sometimes, less) before she is fully awake and everyone in the house has to entertain her.

So, there. Our sleep routine for Em. It's very similar for Ash during her time as a baby but the thing with Ash is that I had to wake her from her naps and sort of time her napping. I would have to make sure she gets no more than 3 hours of nap in total for the day.

We'll see how consistent Em sticks to this routine cos with Ash, she lost it completely as soon as she turned 2. It's as if, the routine completely evaporated into thin air one day. Sometimes, I wish too that these auto insurance quotes my agent keeps sending me, can magically evaporate too :-). We shall see...

the girl can sit!!

Did you know, my Em can now sit on her own, unsupported. Plus, she's ready to crawl but, still have not found her upper body strength yet. Or should I say, her tiny little arms to lift her shoulders and body up. Knowing my little feisty one, she'll be up and crawling in no time. I doubt 'giving up' is even in her (limited) vocab.

Oh, and she just turned 7 months not too long ago. So, happy 7th month little monster inc! Gosh, how time flies. Soon, she'll learn to walk, fight over toys with her sis, engage in sister-ly cat-fights. Before you can say "ahhh...", she'll be able to conduct colon cleanse review. Yup, folks, with a blink of an eye, she's all grown up. Hmm...strange; it's either I want it to happen or I want to stop time. *confused*

mishap during the weekend

Wanna know what happened?

Well, this momsie got her little left pinky bruised cos she slammed her car-door shut on the little thing. Thankfully, no broken bones. Even so, it's awful! I was in shock for a couple of minutes. What happened was, after putting Emily in her car seat, I decided (very cleverly) to close the door and for only God knows why, my hands never really left the door. I saw the whole thing. And I had to open the door to well, remove my pinky. I wonder if there's insurance coverage for these things; you know, like home insurance?

Anyway, there are no photos cos I'm not in the urm, pink (heheh...pun intended) of health nor in the mood to take any. You'll just have to take my word for it. Besides, you don't really want to look at bruised fingers now would you? :-) Oh and, my nail is black now...eekkk!!

keeping up with the one they call Ash

Oh wow, you know, it is literally impossible to keep up with the little-big one. She's grown (and still growing) up so much that I am already "missing" her. Every time, I stare at her, while she's playing, watching tv or when she's having her meals, she just seems so different each time.

I think, I've been feeling this way for the past 6 months or so. It gets worst because lately, I've been cleaning up my archives of old photos. So yes, I'm at that post-natal nesting mode. And, which is also why if you're on my chat list, you see me constantly online. Must be the hormones going all strange on me. Perhaps, I should consider this : bioidentical hormone replacement austin?

Anyway, as I was saying, it hasn't been very helpful with me looking at Ash's old baby photos. As blurry or as grainy as they are, I totally treasure them with all my heart because even with all the wealth in the world, I can never get it back if *touch wood* anything were to happen to them! Just going through them, reminiscing the events that took place when I snapped them made me realise..man...my baby's growing up and gosh, I am growing old! hehhehe...

It's December

My favourite time of the year. When I was a kid, I used to imagine we'd have snow during Christmas and that there was a fire place at my house where we'd sit and watch Disney movies. Of course, we had nothing of that sort because firstly, it never snows here. If it did, I'm telling you, it will be a MIRACLE!! heheh...Secondly, there is no need for a fire place : it doesn't dip below 80. And finally, we had no VCR (in those days naturally and yes, quite rightly, I am an old hag!) at home. I'm serious! My dad refused to get one. So, no Disney movies unless they were shown on regular tv.

I have done some of my shopping. This Christmas will be a teenzy weenzy different from last. My aunt's moved to her new place and we will be celebrating Christmas over at her place. It's kind of like a house-warming/Christmas celebration thingy. But, I've still got quite a fair bit to be done if you ask me. Oh and my shopping are done online and off. Thank God for web directories! This online thing is really addictive. I bet my hubby's glad that Christmas is a once-a-year affair..hehehe...ok, back to more surfing...catch ya later!