Happy five day!

Today is Georgia's birthday and she has turned five. She requested for Disney princesses birthday cake and we bought her an ice cream cake from Swensens. And the presents she received from us is the Disney princess story book that comes with a mini movie mechanical toy projector, my parents gave her Charlie and Lola activity pack and a colour airbrush art set from my brother. Georgia is sooooo happy today! Time flies and I can't believe the little baby girl born five years ago is already five! I can still remember her crawling into the bathroom looking for me when I was in the shower. It was just like yesterday that she was still on breastfeeding. I can also remember her crying every morning when we have to leave her at the childcare (at 20 months old and for almost 11 hours a day!) and thank goodness I'm home to look after my children now. I seriously can't bear to go through that phase again. It just breaks my heart to leave my children at the childcare. I've made some sacrifice and I think it's worth it for me to spend my days at home nurturing them. Sometimes it still fascinates me that I am a mother of two.

Georgia with her princesses ice cream cake

Kieran also happened to turned five months old today. He's a big boy now and he is loads of fun to play with! Everyone can't get enough of him especially Georgia. She is my little helper. She'll help me to look after Kieran when I need to cook or take a shower or do some housework. I am very thankful to have two lovely and wonderful children. Mummy loves both of you! ^_^

My mum with Kieran

A fun day at the Marina Barage

Yesterday, we had a great time at the Marina Barage. Although the weather was kinda warm, it was quite enjoyable at the same time too. There is a water play area for the kids and we spent almost an hour there as Georgia refused to leave. Thereafter, we walked around the Barage to the roof top for a bird's eye view around the area. The view around the Barage is not that fantastic due to the many constructions that are going on. It'll be better in the future when they are done.

A great place for family outing.

Arrival of baby Kieran

Finally, my pregnant days are over with the arrival of Kieran on last Saturday, 18 April. So now the secret is out. Baby is a boy. We named him Kieran Lim Rui Xian. I selected the English name while Andy chose the Chinese name. I had to be induced on my 37 weeks as my gynae said that his head is a little big and it would be quite difficult for me to have a natural birth if I were to wait till nature takes over. So I had to be induced early. Finally after about six hours of drip and with some difficulty (vacuum has to be used), baby Kieran is finally out. I must say that this second birth is a little more difficult than the first. I delivered Georgia in about three and half hours. Well as the saying goes, no two pregnancies are the same and it sure applies to birth experience too!

Georgia is the most excited among the family to see Kieran. She has been waiting patiently all these months and now she is finally a big sister and she's so, so happy to see her baby brother. I know Georgia will be a good sister.

I write more soon when my stitches doesn't hurt so much (I'm sitting on a float as I type).

What a lovely day for a picnic!

Today was such a lovely day with the sun shining down on us and we decided to head to Sembawang park for a picnic. And so I prepared salad, handmade popiah, fruits, fruit juice and also some tidbits (as Andy and Georgia love to snack!). It was a less than ten minute drive from our home. Usually we would cycle to the park but with all the food, it's just not possible.

We were the only family there having a picnic. I love the peace and space and that's why I love going to the parks on weekdays. We enjoyed our lunch while trying to fend off ants of all sizes who were attracted to our lunch! Georgia was busy eating and 'shooing' the ants off our mat! ^_^ After lunch, the two of them played the kiddy version of badminton. It's a game that both Andy and myself enjoy playing with Georgia. She loves the game so much that she is a pretty good player for a four year old!


Glad to be able to see the sun and have another great day with my family! ^_^

Strolling in the Garden

Yes, today we were indeed strolling in the Garden except that it is not an outdoor garden but an indoor event with loads of landscape designs. It is Singapore's Annual Garden Festival and today is the last day. We treated this as an educational excursion for Georgia as she will be learning about the different types of plants and also the creativity used in landscaping a garden. There was a competition for the best designs and I must say some of them are really good. Since it was a garden festival, there was also a market place for everyone to buy plants. We bought a few plants to beautify our home too! ^_^

Bugs like grasshopper, bee and ladybug were mascots for the festival.

This is part of the garden which was conceptualized by Far East Flora and was named Best Show and won the Gold Medal. It's called Shangri-la and we liked it as it gave us a feeling that we are under the water. There was water on top and the reflection was cast onto the garden which gives the illusion of underwater world.

A Chinese garden designed by a Chinese.

A portrait of Mao Ze Dong using grass.

Also a portrait of the famous Marilyn Monroe. Fascinating work!

How nice if I have a garden of my own to beautify! :-P

We walked for almost three hours

There were a couple of additions to our parks and we took the opportunity to see them and have some family time. There was the Henderson Wave (300m bridge) connecting Mount Faber to Telok Blangah Hill. And the forest walk or nature trail (1.3km) in Telok Blangah Hill to the Alexandra Arch. The end of Alexandra Arch is the Hort Park. We intend to visit the park another day as it was quite a long walk for Georgia. The entire walk to and fro took us about three hours with the little one. I brought along homemade chocolate chip cookies and we ate them during our walk. The sky was kinda grey today and although it was not that great for taking photos, it was really pleasant to walk. Georgia did complained at the beginning (as always) and later she enjoyed it so much! She saw lots of birds, both local and migratory ones. We saw a mummy bird feeding to her young. Lots of squirrels, insects and the plants. It was a great science excursion for Georgia today. She asked loads of questions and we tried our best to answer. When she got home, I asked her to draw all the things that she saw in her little journal. I hope to go there again in the future during the night as it would be lovely to see and take photos of the bridge with their colourful lights!

Here Andy is "riding" the Henderson Wave.

Cheeky monkey with her favourite teddy, Gigi.

The forest walk.


Andy and Georgia were goofing around on the Alexandra Arch.

Georgia enjoying herself with the homemade chocolate chip cookie.

^_^

We took part in the first Singapore's Kids run!

We took part in the first Singapore Kids run organised by Cold Storage at the Padang on 1 June 2008. Yeah this post is kinda late as I fell very ill after the run. And I am still ill. I have got some bacteria infection in my throat that till today, refuses to go away. Even Georgia has contracted the viral infection from me.

Anyway, the run was really fun. At the beginning, it was kinda chaotic as there were so many parents and children. No one knows what to do except to queue up behind one another along the Sunshine Orange kids chase banner. The ground was muddy because of the rain on the previous night. Georgia was complaining of the mud and the smell. I told her that it's no big deal with the dirt. But she's not convinced. Hahaha! I hope she'll get over these things as she grows up.

We were among the first group to run as there were simply too many parents and children and we were divided into groups by different runners' numbers. When the race got started, Georgia threw a little tantrum and refused to lift up her legs and run. I HAD to drag her along. Gosh! Then I had to slowly coax her to enjoy the fun as she was so bothered by the crowd, the heat and the ever so loud sound system! Luckily she cheered up after a while and we were running down the 800m course. Andy ran alongside us on the pavement. Only one parent is allowed to run with one kid. It was a good albeit short run. After the run, we collected the medal and the certificate along with some other freebies. And then we were off to the carnival and Georgia enjoyed herself more to the games stall instead! Kids!

A new job for me

I've called it quits to the corporate world. I am officially a stay at home mum (SAHM) again. I was with Georgia for the first twenty months of her life and then I got a job and we had to place her at the childcare much to my reluctance. I also wanted to see if I can adapt to my life with a child and also work life. I must say that I have been managing both quite well although at times it can be very draining on my physical self.

Everyday is like rushing for time and trying to get to work on time for me (and I'm sure loads of other parents are like that too). I've got to rush to the childcare (which is like a ten minutes drive away) and then try to get to work on time. No matter how much I try to get to work on time, I am late almost three to four days a week! I start work at eight and the childcare centre opens at seven. So you can imagine how rush it is for me to get her to school and then to the office (45 minutes travelling time). After work I have to rush to pick her up before seven when the childcare closes. Then get both of us home and shower her and cook dinner and then tuck her in bed. All in a matter of two hours (Georgia goes to bed by nine)! I do not know how I got by but I just did it in the last two years. I finally made a decision and after much discussion with Andy, that I would like to concentrate on looking after Georgia.

I have stopped working since last Thursday and I am happy with it. I don't deny that I will miss having an income of my own. But nothing beats caring for my own child and be there for her and watch her grow. Children grow so fast that I felt I missed out a lot for the last two years. Both of us are away from her almost twelve hours a day and that only leaves us with three to four hours of bonding on weekdays. I always feel guilty when I drop her off at the childcare. Is money really that important? Yes it is but it should never rule our life nor interfere with family bonding. I believe in making sacrifices for family. I am very appreciative of the support that Andy has shown me. Thank you Lao Bear (that's the nick that I called him :-P)

The only change that Georgia has noticed is that she only goes for the half day program and I'll pick her up before 12.30pm. She's happy that she can get home early and be with mummy. I am happy too as I get to goof around with her! ^_^ I also get to exercise everyday! I'll bring her to school every morning on my bike, about 30 minutes from home. We will sing and chat during the journey.

Both Andy and myself hope that in the future Georgia will appreciate what we have done for her. We love you Georgia!

We have a leap year baby in the family

This post is long overdue!!! We celebrated Andy's birthday on the 29 February 2008! It was a working day so I did not have the time to bake him a cake and bought one from the bakery instead. It was a simple celebration. I cooked him a nice dinner and made him a tote (which I'll post it up soon after I made some alterations to it!). Georgia was happy to celebrate her daddy's birthday. We also bought her a little cake with the picture of Hello Kitty.



Georgia was rushing Andy with his wish making so that they can blow the candles together!!!

There's always an end to the rainbow

After almost a month off from work and a lot of home rests, I am well enough to bask in the sun again. I really miss being outside. I have buried the sad moments and am happy to let it go and start all anew again. Gone are the days of crying. I was glad that I was able to let go of my emotional baggage. Andy was affected by me too but I really can't help it. Now I just have to make sure that I take good care of my body and take the necessary supplements prescribed by my gynae. I sincerely pray that it will not happen again. Crossed my fingers and toes too.

So I'm back on my feet again and I brought Georgia to a new park which was near our estate. The park was packed with loads of fun things to do. There are two playgrounds for the children. A water play area with no water yet! Haha! But it looks really cool. There's the fitness corner. There's also a rope bridge for the little people. Georgia loved all of them and we were playing at the park for almost two hours and both of us got a tan! At 31, sun is no good for the skin. I surely do not want any premature ageing or more freckles on my face!!! Haha!



We're definitely going there again tomorrow!

We had such a great day yesterday!

Yesterday it was mummy and daughter's day out. Andy had to work OT (we do miss him!) so I thought I'll just bring Georgia out for some fun. Well we were supposed to go for the Parents teachers meeting at her childcare centre in the morning but I just couldn't make it in time!!! Haha! So anyway we went ahead with the day and went downtown. First we went to Cedele at Wheelock place for lunch. It's quite surprising to me that such a popular shopping area (Orchard Road) in Singapore, and there are limited choices of vegetarian food available! I have already done my research on where to eat before I head out somewhere. So Cedele was a good choice afterall. Too bad I did not take any photos. I had the Grilled vegetables set (portabello mushrooms, pumpkin, red and yellow peppers, mash potatoes and salad) with the mushroom soup and free flow of their homemade bread. Georgia shared my meal with me. It was such a good meal.



Then we walked around and finally when we went to the Takashimaya B2 arena to look at some Christmas decorations, Sesame Street characters were there for a show. They are Georgia's favourite so we went near to the stage (well we were kinda late so we had to stand quite a distance) and watched the entire show for about 30 minutes. Luckily I always bring my camera everywhere I go so I was able to snap a few pictures of them while Georgia was sitting on my shoulders!!! I am not sure how I manage with a 12-13kg girl on me and trying to take pictures of the Sesame Street characters! I'm also glad that I had a good camera (Nikon D40X!) otherwise at that distance I wouldn't be able to get a good shot!

Moo moo cow

I made this little cow purse (design from Ottobre) for Georgia and she loves it! It was made in time for her to take it along to our dinner in little India.


We went to Little India for our dinner at our favourite vegetarian restaurant, Ananda Bhavan. Andy ordered the vegetable bryani set while I shared the naan set with Georgia. We also bought some indian sweets that were yummy to our tummy! After dinner, we walked around the area and I got some good bargains! A beautiful short kurta and sari long skirt for a total of $23!

^_^

Goofing around...

On my birthday today, this is what we have done!

Some quality time

I had some great quality time with Georgia today (of course everyday we have quality time but today was just one of those days where both of us really enjoyed our day). I made carrot raisin muffins (VwV) in the morning for our breakfast. I substituted half the oil with applesauce and I'm not sure whether is it because of that, my muffins turn out kinda 'kueh'. But it is still edible and quite yummy. I'll probably try again another day. I also made some Konnyaku jelly as G has been bugging me for them for a long time.


I made some 'play dough' for G to play with and she really enjoyed it! These are some of the things that we made. The girl's mouth is made by G and I like how pouty it is!!! :o)

Family time

Finally, Andy got last weekend off and we were able to go to Pasir Ris Park for some family time. There were many new additions to the playground and it's more fun now!!! There's the suspended bridge, longer flying fox, new slides, little play area for toddlers and babies and many more. We had a lot of fun that day!


Georgia had such a good time at the park that not long after we got home, she fell asleep while sitting on her swing! Haha!