Blessings from Above

In order for me not to field questions about favouritism when my kids are grown up, I made the effort to throw a 1st birthday party for them. The theme for both was animals (Chace's party was a little more specific - it was a Safari Adventure theme). For Claire, we booked a holiday bungalow to accommodate our guests - but with our temporary abode, we had plenty of space for everyone so I used the money instead to have a more elaborate setup for the party. We had the same balloons, goodie bags from the same source and more or less similar guests. However, since Claire is now more grown up (and not wanting her to feel neglected), we hired a face-painter & balloon artist for her enjoyment. Unfortunately, Yas Meen didn't really get to do much balloon twisting because she was just too good with the face painting - all the kids were queuing up (again and again) to get inked! View photos of the party here ...

happy birthday to me... :) another year has gone by in a flash... hopefully i've also become another year wiser... july has always been my fav. month in a year since both our birthdays (dh & i) and our ROM anniversary fall in this month... with another few more days to go, we might just have another reason to love July... i.e. if #2 decides to come early. although we both would prefer not since we still have uncompleted work to do. sweet DH got me the dSLR that i wanted as a pressie this year and we spent the morning having fun, taking photos as a family. its so nice to have crisp & clear photos as compared to what you get with a PNS camera - there's just no denying that u get better quality photos with a dSLR and here's the photo evidence! as you can see, even our pets got into the (photo) action... i did macro shots of our fishes and it has been a while since chewy has nice clear photos (since he's such a bundle of energy and we only get blur ...

C's daddy, i.e. this is the 3rd year that C is celebrating with her daddy - as for me, well - we've known each other since 1997 or so... so i can safely say, more than 10 times? hmm... next year this time, there will be four of us. :) we are not that into big celebrations - usually its just dinner together as a family (and another two with the extended families) and we haven't even had a cake in years (dh is not a big fan of cakes)! thanks to a dear friend though, we have a cake this year! :P so here's our feast for today - the in(famous) Sin Huat Crab Bee-Hoon (Lor 35 Geylang) with garlic prawns & some healthy vegg... yum yum! close up of garlic prawns dh's slice of mango cake (excuse C's messy hair - she just took her bath!) some may argue that it is different when you do takeaways - maybe its the lack of ambience (of a dirty coffeeshop or waiting hours to order/get your food) or not being ripped off (the ave. bill per head drops to S$50 or...

can u count the # of candles on his birthday cake? Dad was very happy to celebrate his birthday with his 3 grandchildren... :) happy birthday dad! may you always be happy and healthy!

i had thought long and hard how to celebrate Claire's 2nd birthday : - a small, intimate home party with some close friends? -> then i'll need to prepare food (not sure if i'm up to it in my current state) - book the function room and invite the whole kampong? -> not sure if its a good weekend to have a function since its close to Easter and most pple will probably need to be in church. in the end, i decided to just invite Claire's regular play-date kahkis and some of my colleagues. for the children, i organised for them to spend some time playing at Frisk 'n' Romp (indoor playground with scheduled hourly programme). my next headache - the food! as the party room for Frisk 'n' Romp is only available between 3.30 - 5.30pm (and the food provided is only for the kids), i had to think of alternatives. i enquired at all the food outlets within the complex and finally decided on Starbucks since they had an outdoor dining area on the ...

My li'l baby (yes, she'll always be my baby!) turns TWO today! Happy Birthday sweetheart! May you always be healthy and happy.... Mummy & Daddy LOVES you! party photos coming up soon!

- Opening of Tampines One (3rd shopping mall in Tampines Town) - my wishes came true : i had hoped for a cold storage for groceries & a HSBC bank branch to do my banking! no need to travel to parkway parade anymore! - Screening of 'The Sniper' starts today - starring the 'Nude Photo Scandal' Edison : i think many young gals swooned over THE photos (and wished that they were the ones frolicking with him) - Screening of 'Fast & Furious 4' - once upon a time... I love fast cars and quick action - now that I've become a mother, I have to value my life and consider the risks that I can take! (wished I had sky jumped in uni. days! doubt i'll ever have a chance to do that in this lifetime) Most importantly... my baby turns TWO today!

she loves the barney cake (actually she chose it) with her two cheeky cousins with my sis aka her godma family photo (incomplete) serving cake to her godma since Barney cannot be the main lead in the main party, I decided to order a small cake featuring him and his friends for our family celebration - my sis' two boys are in afternoon session so they all cannot join us on the actual day and thus a separate celebration. it was nothing fanciful, just a simple cake cutting and present opening session at my parents' place... (in case you are wondering, two 'men' are missing - my BIL has evening classes and dh was away for reservist training) anyway, i think kids enjoy their birthdays tremendously since they are in the limelight (okay, maybe not all kids - some are shy by nature and only like to be surrounded by familiar faces) - Claire is definitely one of them. :) she keeps chanting... birthday cake, happy birthday to me, open presents... etc.

since li'l one's birthday is just over a week away, she has started receiving birthday presents... first one was from dear daddy (kitchen set from toys'r'us) & the 2nd one is from aunty audrey who flew the present all the way from OZ, together with some supplies of rafferty garden! thank you aunty audrey! have a safe & fun trip to africa!

what a busy weekend it was! we started off with JK's early birthday celebration on fri - a small, cozy home party which we feel honoured to be invited to! it was such a heartwarming sight when mummy L and daddy BK took photos with the 7 toddlers that were present - it almost felt like mummy L gave birth to all 7 of them! on sat, we attended Glady's big birthday part held " with a pinch of salt " - what a cute name for a cafe! dh and i passed by this cafe previously as we frequently visit the marine fish shop located in the vicinity for our supplies and we have always wanted to try it. mummy G and daddy E booked the whole place and we enjoyed an afternoon of good (junk) food - definitely a place to visit again! we ended off the weekend with yummy lunch @ one of our family's usual haunts - keppel club's chinese restuarant: peony jade with the in-laws and another small, cozy BBQ party at dinner time held in the bungalow at our club to celebrate Jesse...

how time flies... our li'l darling will turn 2 in less than 3 weeks' time! so what else can i be up to, other than planning her birthday party? we (actually, yours truly) decided to have a beach themed party this year - starting with a play session for the li'l ones at Frisk'n'Romp, cake cutting (since some of C's fren will be going home after that play session) and followed by a BBQ by the beach! i'm still in the midst of consolidating the guest rsvp list, personalizing the goody bags for C's frens, finalizing the cake design and confirming the food order so if you've been invited, pls rsvp the soonest (and NO GATECRASHING pls! - i will totally make you feel out of place and uninvited! :P) what do you think of these cupcakes?

its the time of the year where we start getting truckload of invitations to birthday parties since we hang out largely with others whose children are born around the same time as C. Ju Xian (cousin of C's cousin) has the honor of being the 1st birthday boy we celebrate with for this year... we had a great time at Gogo Bambini - thanks for inviting us!

according to the chinese, li'l one should be 3 this year... and her lunar birthday is on the twenty-second of the second month, which is today! some of her li'l frens had planned to visit the zoo and we decided to 'gate-crash'! our annual zoo pass will be expiring at the end of this month and dh is not in favor of me renewing since i probably won't be able to go too often in the later part of this year so this may well be our last visit to the zoo for the year - i wanted to let li'l one try out the new water play area within the children's section of the zoo at least once. interestingly, even though she is quite a water baby, she didn't really enjoy the water play area (maybe its because my helper was the one accompanying her instead of me!) anyhow, we can always resume our membership after #2 turns 6 mths (which is when li'l one will turn 3 and will not enjoy FOC admission anymore) after our zoo outing, we headed to town for some retail ther...

me! what?!?! another year has gone by again!?!? some of you have been asking... so here it is - my present from dh this year (he thinks i've been hoarding his for too long! keke...) don't ask me why its in orange - its not my fav. color - i'd blame it on dh's habit of buying presents last minute... tsk tsk! *how abt a digital SLR next year (or maybe as a push present for our next baby)* wink, wink! :) photos from my 'celebratory dinner @ mingles la brassarie - big splash ' using the new camera yummy lobster pasta - unfortunately the lobster is tiny so its more like crayfish! li'l princess part of our celebration this time round - she was sleeping in my sarong sling same time last year so no photo for comparison!

finally got the photos for princess' party (from my friend) - unfortunately there aren't many. :(   I also added a couple of photos that we took after the party... and if i can find a way to convert the video, i'll upload the video clip as well. :)

My princess turned ONE! What an eventful year it has been! We love you babe! More and more every day! ps:// we are still waiting for photos from the party! hehe... check back soon!

claire's birthday bash is just 2 weeks away and i'm just about tying down the loose ends for the birthday bash. if you have been invited and you have not RSVP, kindly do so soon! if you have not been invited but wish to come, email me - i'll consider your request (haha!!)... ps: if you are thinking of buying her a present and have no idea what to get, can i suggest that you contribute to her 'Fisher Price Rainforest Jumperoo' fund, either in the form of cash or vouchers? :)

as the day draws nearer for us to celebrate princess' 1st birthday, i decided to put together some slide shows to commemorate the occasion... here's the preview... Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

me... the mummy, that is... i'm getting closer to the big 3! scary! sleep, that's the present little one gave me. she has been waking up every 2 hours for feeds the last week or so. i put it down to 'growth spurt' and am very glad that i do not need to report for work every morning but last night, she only woke up once (even though i woke up a couple of times to check in on her) so there, my little one gave me the opportunity to catch up on some much needed sleep. how sweet of her, isn't it? i do think that she's very 'clever' for her age, from examples: when i was staying with my in-laws, she was willing to drink expressed breast milk from bottles (fed lovingly by grandma). the minute i moved home, she rejected the bottles and only wanted to latch on. she started 'recognising' mummy and daddy from about 11 weeks. no one else can carry her now. she 'allows' me to do my things, e.g. when i finish my bath, i need to dry my hai...

having a baby slows you down... it gives you time to reflect on your life and how you've been living. for me, my priorities shifted completely. i never knew that motherhood can change a person so much. while i still believe in working damn hard for $$$, its no longer to satisfy my own material needs but for the comfort of my little angel. i want her to have the best, to have things i never had. i'm glad i made the right career choice when i graduated, for now i have the luxury of watching my little angel grow up yet still have the means to shower her with gifts. i treasure every moment with her and wonder why i never had her earlier. with her, i found time to do the things i loved, like photography and baking, all while spending quality time together. my heart fills with joy when she smiles and laugh and aches when she cries. she's my little angel. i baked dh a fruit cake for his 31st birthday on 11 July... here's what it looked like.