New Ice Cream Haunt

OK...it's not like we stake out any particular ice cream shop in the first place lah, but it's just that now we have ANOTHER place to go to if we want really nice AND not overpriced ice cream.

We had (from left to right) their classic flavours Strawberry and ChocoMarsh (for the kids and myself), waffles (for myself) and from the premium selection (read: has LIQUEUR) Rum Rum Raisin and Bailey's & Bourbon (for the non-preggers adults).

I luuuurve the ChocMarsh and the waffles. The balance between chocolate and marshmallow was just right so you don't have an overly sweet and not too rich but yet still chocolatey ice-cream experience. Judging from the way the 2 kids downed their strawberry ice-cream (Janine was also "stealing" a few spoonfuls of my chocolate ice cream), it must have been a delicious treat for them as well, and not surprising since Udders boast of using "only real fresh strawberries" for this flavour. The only disappointment was the Bailey's and Bourbon which KY felt just wasn't alcoholic enough so no kick for him there :P

Anyway, besides good ice-cream, Udders also provides some games/toys which helped to keep 2 hyper toddlers very much occupied. That and their big eye catching chalkboard. Thankfully (or not so thankfully), Asher and Janine were more interested in the CHALK than the board, otherwise, according to the sign on the board, their will be "cursed" to fail their next spelling test *ooohhh...scary* Lol.

Well, THANKS for the yummy treat LH and Aunty Sharon. We had a great time just chilling and enjoying great company. Will definitely be back again to try their Udder flavours! ^^

There Is A Higher Throne

Ahhh...one of my favourite songs at the moment ^^ (Thanks M for the "recommendation"! Lol) The lyrics of the song are just so "deep" and poetic and Kristyn Getty, the female vocalist, has such a nice timbre to her voice. That said, I love ALL the songs in Keith and Kristyn Getty's album "In Christ Alone". But THIS song is my favourite from the whole collection.

I think I am at a stage where songs that speak of His awesomeness and faithfulness strike a strong but no less comforting chord in my heart. It's like they help turn my perspective from one that focuses on the problems/pressing needs/frustrations that constantly bombard me everyday, to one that focuses on how great and marvelous our God is and reminds me of what truly matters. And then when I do that, life's problems just look so small and trivial in comparison to how big He is. Because when I remember about all the wonderful things God has done for me (and the generations of people before me), surely there is no problem too big for Him that He cannot handle.

The songs from this album is like a healing and soothing balm to my soul right now. And after having listened to the whole album like dunno-how-many-times, I feel so empowered, the world can just throw me anything now and I will not be fazed! Hahaha! I think this is the kind of confidence, courage and boldness God would like to see in His people. ANYWAY, enjoy!

There Is A Higher Throne

There is a higher throne
That all the world has known
Where faithful ones from every tongue
Will one day come
Before the Son we'll stand
Made faultless through the Lamb
Believing hearts find promised grace
Salvation comes

CHORUS:
Hear heaven's voices sing
Their thunderous anthem rings
Through emerald courts and sapphire skies
Their praises rise
All glory wisdom power
Strength thanks and honor are
To God our King who reigns on high
For-ever more

And there we'll find our home
Our life before the throne
We'll honor Him in perfect song
Where we be-long
He'll wipe each tearstained eye
As thirst and hunger die
The Lamb becomes our Shepherd King
We'll reign with Him

"Yam Sheng!"

Wedding dinners are SUPPOSE to be focussed on the couple that is hosting the dinner and especially so when you are giving them the traditional 3 toasts. But at this last dinner we were invited to, my little girl unwittingly stole the limelight! Well, the attention from our table was diverted at least.

She had a jolly good time lifting up her glass and shouting "YAM SHENG!" at the top of her lungs (for once her mommy is not telling her to keep her volume down)! We were tickled by her enthusiastic participation in toasting the newly-weds.

Oh! And don't worry. That's only plain water she was toasting with. No alcohol or chinese tea were consumed by the little girl in the process (though syrupy drinks were sipped in abundance throughout the whole dinner!)

Random Conversations - Fan Vs Aircon

For the last week or so, Janine's nose has been drip drip dripping. Nothing serious. Just a leaky faucet. Despite religiously rubbing her down with vicks and pumping her with cod liver oil, her nose was still dripping. And THEN, KY's nose started dripping too!

Bah!

So last night, mommy declares, "since the two of you have runny noses, no switching on the fan to sleep tonight!"

And then the little girl chips in, "no fan then we switch on air con ok?"

*faint*

Great Expectations - 28 weeks

I have reached the state where the tummy has "blossomed". So, much to the "delight" of some of my frens, I am looking much "rounder" and have started "waddling". So officially, the "honeymoon" 2nd trimester have ended and I can look forward to more roundness and more waddling I suppose.

And then, technically, its ONLY.2.PLUS.MORE.MONTHS to popping!

Gosh! Where did all the time go!?!

Eeeps! Time to start putting all the baby stuff together!

But so far, besides the 1st 3 months where nausae, tiredness and an almost non-existant appetite rendered me a near useless mommy, this pregnancy has so far been pretty smooth and if not for the growing tummy and accompanying seismic activity from the little one inside, I feel no different from my pre-preggers days. Actually, in all honesty, I was expecting to be totally frazzled by now, what with juggling the mommy-ing of a very active 3 year old who is constantly bouncing and clambering around (and on!) me, work, after-work duties PLUS all the physical and hormonal changes being pregnant brings. But I think by His grace, everything is still "cool". Ok, so there WERE times when my patience was stretched REALLY thin and I snap. But generally, things are still cool. And I thank God for that ^^

Maybe, as some people say, with your second pregnancy you tend to be more laid back, more relaxed, not so "gan cheong". In a way, I think it's true because having gone through one pregnancy already, I am mentally and physically more prepared for the changes. I know what to expect, what things to avoid, what I have to do, etc. It's not like when I was carrying Janine and every new symptom caught me by surprise and I find myself scrambling to cope with the new change. So in a way its easier.

That said, I think it's also because His grace and providence has sustained us so far and kept my sanity in tact! There were days when I felt everything was just to much to bear, mentally exhausted from a days work at office, still have duties to complete when we are back, a little girl that decided that TODAY she wants ONLY my attention and be a total nuisance about it, etc. But somehow, something happens and things turn around. I can only say that it has to be because God did something.

Ok, these are just some thoughts...I think maybe being preggers has also made me more long winded. Oh wait...I think that's from being a mommy. No wait, I think its just a woman thing. Ah wait...I think its just...ME! LOL!

(OK OK...u can stop rolling your eyes now :P)

Anyway, some information that may interest some:

- No. 2 is approximately 1.2 kg
- I have gained about 6 kg (the other 4.8 kg BETTER be from the amniotic fluids and what not lah!)
- Her limbs are longer than average (like her sister ^^)
- She is in "engage" position (meaning she is head down already)
- (I suspect) she is going to be another morning baby (a lot of "activity" going on inside in the mornings. Afternoon is a "quiet" affair. Just like her sister)

Random Conversation - Morbidness?

Father and daughter had a rather "interesting" conversation the other day...

J: Last night, I dream someone come into our house and shoot us...piang piang piang like that.
KY: Oh? who did the person shoot?
J: Shoot Papa and shoot Mommy
KY: aiyoh...
J: and shoot Janine and Aunty Janice also
KY: and then wat happened?
J: and then got blood and everyone die
KY: ....

and then maybe cos she didn't like the idea that all of us dies, she changed her story when I enquired further.

M: oh...so Papa died?
J: no...Papa didn't die
M: eh? then wat about Mommy? did Mommy die?
J: no Mommy didn't die?
M: what about Janine?
J: Janine also didn't die
M: oh, so just shoot only but we didn't die
J: yes.

Hmmmmm...incidentally, while we were in China, during a hike up a "hill", we passed by several tombs. Having never seen anything like this before, the curious little girl of course asked us what those were. We explained that they were tombs which people built to put the bodies of their loved ones in. In short it was "a place where some people will put people who have died already".

After that, for the REST of the trip, she would very often tell us that inside a tomb got "dead people" and she would at EVERY opportunity asks us to draw "dead people". She would then point to the various doodles (that I drew on HER request) and proclaim that this was "mommy dead", "papa dead" and "Janine dead".

OR she would attempt to draw them herself! *faint*

A rather "happy" dead person, complete with crossed out eyes :P

And then recently, she got to talking to her grandmas about what happened to their moms and her "dead people" repetoire now includes being "buried in the sand/ground" or "cremated".

Morbid? Of course at first I was rather perturbed and didn't want to draw "dead people" for her, especially not one where KY, Janine and myself are suppose to be "dead"!. But then, I realised it was a good opportunity to introduce the concept of death and how, as Christians we believe that while we may die in our natural bodies, we will have eternal life in Heaven.

So, while it may seem morbid for a 3 year old to keep going on and on and on about "dead people" and "dying" and being "buried in sand", I think it's her way of grappling and making sense of this concept of life, death and the life after.

Becoming A REAL Dancing Princess

Instead of sending her for enrichment classes, I decided to send her for "proper" classes outside of school. And since the little girl just loves to dance, BALLET was the obvious choice.

Actually, I have been wanting to send her for ballet classes for a very long time as I believe for ANY form of dance (even gymnastics), a BASIC foundation in the ballet arts will serve her in good stead in the future especially if she decides to persue dance (or gymnastics) more seriously when she is older. Moreover, the discipline, poise and grace learnt from ballet may also do her good since she can be quite the sam seng! Hehehe! However, the earliest most dance schools will take in students is when they are at least 4 years old. Still a looong time more for Janine. We tried a "dance appreciation" sort of class at Jitterbugs, but I felt it doesn't suit us. Then I heard of a dance school in United Square that accepts girls at 3 years. And the rest is now history.

SO! After burning a reasonably sized hole in my pocket, our dancing princess is FINALLY enrolled in a BALLET school and is a BALLET student with her own BALLET outfit and is on her way to being a FORMALLY TRAINED aka REAL dancing princess. Let's see after 10 weeks what kind of "returns" my little "investment" has made :P

The Post-Janine's-Birthday-Celebation Post: More Pictures

The Post-Janine's-Birthday-Celebration Post

4 CAKES! 4 PARTIES! And all this while we were in the thick of Chinese New Year preparations and celebrations!

I think we overdid ourselves this year *faint*

But we (me at least!) had a lot of fun!

Celebration ONE - School

Both KY and I took some time off from work to celebrate her birthday in school. I always felt that something while it may seem so frivolous (both parents being around in school for her birthday), actually matters a lot to a child. And in the case of Janine, I believe it holds true. Not only was she super thrilled to see us STILL hanging around in school and setting up her cake etc, you could actually SEE that she felt EXTRA special that day. It was written all over her face. Here she is surrounded by her classmates from Gracefields who sang the "Happy Birthday" song for her in BOTH English and Chinese. This kantang mother is obviously very impressed at their billingualism.

Celebration TWO - With our CG

This was a simpler set up. We went to Uncle Geoff's club for lunch after church and celebrated for all the January babies in our CG (in this case only Uncle Joel and Janine. This lunch time celebration had to be simple because there was a BIGGER celebration awaiting us that night!

Celebration THREE - With KY's family

We had our annual reunion dinner with KY's parents on Sunday night and KY's mom never fails to cook up a storm for special family occasions. This year's reunion dinner was extra special because we were celebrating 2 people's birthdays as well. Coincidentally, my brother-in-law, Chee Tiong's birthday falls a couple a days before Janine. So you can imagine the feasting we were doing that night! Well, the little girl was super pleased with her Barbie Princess cake which she chose ALL BY HERSELF. She was even decked out in her favourite "Barbie princess" dress to match the theme of her cake! Lol! As you can see, she was one happy little princess!

Celebration FOUR - With our OH family and my family

This 4th and last celebration took place on the little girl's ACTUAL birthday. So to make it extra special and memorable, this crazy mommy decided to put more love into the whole affair and actually COOK (from scratch! none of that catering business!) a simple luncheon. And memorable it was because with barely half the food stuff ready, WE RAN OUT OF GAS! and we only had ONE HOUR left to the start of the party! Well, thanks to my mom's little electric stove, we managed to feed everyone but you can imagine the chaos! Hahaha! Oh and coincidentally (again!), Aunty Sharon and our little princess share the SAME birthdate! How cool is that! So this was definitely one party to remember!

Why are we pulling out all the stops this year to celebrate Janine's birthday? I know KY himself is wondering! Haha. Well, I think it's for a variety of reasons:

Reason ONE: Janine has started going to school and has made friends there. I thought it would make for some nice memories for the little girl. I, myself, remember fondly of those times (not a lot especially once I started primary school!) when I got to celebrate my birthday with my friends in school. Ahhh...those were like special days that stood out from the rest. So in a way, I wanted to create such fond memories for Janine to treasure as well.

Reason TWO: With no. 2 on the way, I am not sure if we will have the energy to throw such an elaborate set up for her again next year or for her subsequent birthdays. Of course we will definitely celebrate it with cakes and parties, but maybe not so many like this year. So I guess you can say its like one last MAJOR fling, going all out to indulge her in a celebration befitting our ONLY child NOW, before the new addition arrives and the dynamics in our little family changes.

Reason THREE: Her birthday falls (and will forever fall) around the Chinese New Year period. This year it falls on the THIRD day of CNY and with all the reunion dinners and CNY parties going around, its hard to pick ONE day to throw ONE party for her. So, while ideally we would like to have organised her party on ONE day, it was just not possible this year :P

So there! Justifications to the madness? Haha! Seriously, all that matters is that my little princess had a great time on ALL four days. And that she will know that as much as those days are special "just for you" days, more importantly, there are people in her life that love her and treasure her as much as we do. ^^

We love you, Janine!

Random Conversation - An Arguement

Last night was on of those nights where, coupled by tiredness and yet still having a whole lot of things to settle before CNY, Janine's dinner entics just did not amuse me at all.

For a while now, this girl has been dawdling over her meals, taking as long as one and a half hours to eat...assisted. Some meal times were good - she would wipe up everything in half an hour without leaving her seat. Other times were bad - she would keep her PORRIDGE in her mouth and not chew/swallow, walk all over the place, etc. Those times were very trying times for anyone who feeds her. No amount of coaxing or "bribes" would goad her to swallow her food and finish her dinner within the hour.

Last night was one of those nights.

She started her dinner earlier than her father or myself and even when we were done, she was not even half way through. Even after I spent the next hour ransacking the whole house looking for something, the amount of porridge left in her bowl hardly moved.

I was peeved. So I set a timer out. She (obviously) didn't finished her last few mouthfuls when the timer went off. So I "confiscated" her porridge and admonished her for being not only a time but a food waster as well, how she was being a naughty and that she was making all of us angry. I even went as far as to threaten her that if she doesn't want to eat, I can very well let her starve and become a skeleton and die. Yes. I was ranting at my little girl. Ranting and raving. Going on and on and on. Piling frustration after frustration on her little conscience.

And then, midway through my ranting and raving, the little girl, feeling very unjustified, walked into the bedroom where I was, and declared very pointedly:

"I am a GOOD girl! I am not naughty! You! You make me so grouchy!"

And then she marched off to the living room, plonked herself on the couch with a book (to sulk?), all the while muttering the same phrase a few times to whoever was within ear shot.

My! My! Looks like mother and daughter just had our first arguement!