We Are Still Here

Hi. We are still here.
Nope, we have not suddenly rushed off to the hospital... yet.

Thanks for dropping by and for all your comments on the last post.

Gadget-daddy has been rather busy in front of the computer, doing work. Hence, not much of a chance for me to sit in to respond to your comments (all so nice and encouraging) nor the opportunity to "visit" you too.

The blame is not entirely on him. I too have been feeling lazy when I am not with the boys or trying to sort some things before the arrival of the baby.

Also (confession time), I have been addicted to a new game on the iPod touch, called word warp. It's a word game.

Anyway, while I am now busy buying stuff in preparation for the arrival (disposable diapers, wet wipes, breastpads),
Gadget daddy has set up a new site for the coming of the baby.
It's suppose to be for those who are interested on live feeds of what's happening.
The site is:

www.twitter.com/milkrr

This was just like what he did when we were expecting Micah.

So should I expect at some point of my labor I'd be screaming in pain only to find the hand I'm suppose to be squeezing is gone and busy typing something on the iPhone? Hmmm... probably.

Maybe I'd be asking something like

"What's the time?"
And be answered by a "Hmm? Mmm... Errr..."

"How heavy is the baby?"
"Errmm.. mmm... one moment, dear..."



Oh boy... Less than two weeks to go.

A New Week Already?!!

The weekend flew by.

Will post up pictures soon of the get-together I had with old school friends on Saturday.

And the little 2 year-old's birthday party on Sunday.

On Monday, while Gadget-daddy went to work, the boys and I visited a friend who would be leaving the country soon.

Today the boys went back to school.
So it's the usual run of them being in school, me hanging out with my sister till school's out, and Gadget-daddy doing work at a Starbucks across the street from the boys' school.

Tomorrow's another day...

One more day closer to seeing the little baby's face.
:)



p/s-
Today as I was getting Gadget-daddy his dinner, he hugged and rubbed the "little boy" inside and said, "Be seeing you soon." I smiled then I let out a little whimper.
Ugh... LABOR!! Must start psyching myself for the pain ... one more round.

What's In A Name

The boys have this Chinese character for their middle name:

梓


It is pronounced as "Zi".

From the Chinese dictionary* there are many meanings to the sound "Zi", like son, wisdom and quite a few I can't remember. Obviously I am not one who can read Chinese. But of the many meaning, the one I chose, is actually the name of a kind of a tree. It is described as a strong tree that can be good for making furniture and such.

Well, a strong tree sounds good. But I really chose it because I like the symbol of a tree.
To me, it signifies

life and growth

(of course I also felt it had a bit more of an artistic bent to it, something of nature and inspirational).

So this "Zi" turns out to be a tree called Catalpa.
My good brother-in-law, the one in Singapore, managed to help me locate what the tree looks like, thanks to Wikipedia.



So, my sons,

grow well,
grow strong.
Be useful in many ways, and
Be inspiring to those around you.




* My former colleague who was leading the Chinese Ministry looked up a dictionary and showed me the whole list. Of course, me with no photographic memory can't recall all on the list except what has struck me.

Found Them CNY Pix

Update:

I finally located the photos I had intended to put up in the last post, but was just too tired to think clearly where to look for them.

So here are the shots of:

Tea Ceremony at Ah MA's -




Lion dance in action -


Me and the two kids on my knees.




More happy shots of the kids -





My Boys:Their cousins:

Our Family Pix: CNY 2009

More Of Our CNY In Colours

Sorry this is so late, but looking up some photos, thought I'd put this up anyway.


The first day we went to Ah Ma's house and did the usual tea ceremony.

This is the time we usually get some shots of all the kids in their New Year clothes.
None in a traditional Chinese garb this year.



Then we visited a family friend who had the Lion dance at her house.
It was totally thrilling for the kids to see one so close this year.
The fire crackers were deafening.

(Sorry I did not manage to catch the Lions in action as I was holding Max and my niece close to me. I had one child on a knee each. They were thrilled and terrified at the same time.)


We managed to visit 2 other homes.

By the time we got back it was time to shower and change to get to Ah Ma's for a steamboat dinner, with Yee-sang again.



Then we did the cake and song thing for Gadget-daddy.
This time, we had 2 cakes... just for the kids to sing and blow the candles.
Does this mean he aged 2 years instead of one this time? ;)



And in the midst of all the food, fun and noise, Micah was fast asleep on a lazy chair. All because he was too in volved in all the earlier visitations he did not nap. Hence he missed the dinner (Max was sleeping in Gadget-daddy's arms while we were visiting the third house).

Dates and Updates

I have two important dates coming up this weekend:

1. A friend is back from the States and we are doing a kind of reunion with some old school friends. Every time she takes this long trip back we all really make an effort to meet up.
Yay! Looking forward to that.

2. A close friend's son is turning 2.
We missed the first birthday celebration as we were out of town, so MUST go this time round.



For now,

1. Gadget-daddy's in Singapore for work this week.
The boys and I have been so spoilt with his being around since last November that we miss him terribly.
Max would ask a few times a day, "Is Daddy coming home yet?"

2. My blooming baby, 36 weeks+, is making me look like I have a watermelon under my shirt.
Today I walked up a flight of stairs with my sister, talking to her along the way. When we reached the top of the stairs, I was panting and felt my heart working double the time to get oxygen to my brain. This little guy is still doing his stretching and wiggling at night.

3. Micah was sick the last two days.
He had high fever for 2 days and cried almost all the time of some pain or discomfort. But he was better today, no fever, and insisted on wanting to go to school.
He wanted to give the flowers to the teachers that were meant for Valentine's day.
I asked the teacher to keep an eye on him and call me, as I was in the neighbourhood, if he starts running a temperature or coughs badly.
Glad everything turned out well.

4. Max has taken to singing to himself loudly -
songs from school, but he can't seem to remember the whole song so he will either repeat two lines of some nursery rhymes like a broken record, or will just fill in with his own words, and gibberish and laughs aloud.
e.g. Peas porridge hot,
Peas porridge cold,
Peas porridge in the air-cond!!
(throws his hands in the air and laughs.)

5. We have decided on a name for the no.3 boy.
The only thing now is to see if the name would suite his face.
:D


6. Of late, I have been feeling that this one's going to do some dramatic entry into the world, compared to my first two who were late in their arrival.
Hang in there, baby. Wait till after this weekend before you claim a share in this world.
Daddy wants to be here to be the first to welcome you.

Valentine's Day

So how was your Valentine's day?

We went out to Midvalley because Gadget-daddy wanted to get some lights from Ace Hardware.

Well, I had thought it was some light for our house (a few busted tubes and bulbs), but it turned out it's this:


It's for his new hobby - making is own short films.

Anyway, we had a pretty good time browsing around.
And then we went to a new restaurant for lunch:



After lunch, we headed for a quick swim at a friend's, but Max fell asleep on the way. So while Gadget-daddy and Micah swam, I managed a good time of catching up with my friend.

Later, Gadget-daddy and I went for a movie - The Strange Case of Benjamin Button.

Very interesting and heart warming.

Max had come along, but he fell asleep half way.

It was a pretty eventful Valentine's for us and our kids.

For the Teachers.

On Thursday night I got the boys to do this to give to their teachers for Valentine's day.



But "Thanks" to Tour deLangkawi, we did not make it to school the next day.

We were caught in an almost stand-still traffic jam for an hour and a half, and we were not even half way to the boys' school. So I texted the teacher and said we'll be missing school for the day and Gadget-daddy turned us round to head home. We had wasted 1.5 hours on the road for nothing.

While we were in the jam, Max kept whining, "why is it so long"?
and eventually, he got so tired and cried saying he wanted to go home.
Then Micah cried and said he wanted to go to school.

At the end I called and chatted with the teacher, and she correctly guessed which boy was crying for home and which one for school.

These two guys are so funny, and so different.

Anyway, we are still waiting to give the flowers to the teachers on Monday/Tuesday.
A belated Valentine's.

What Goes Around Comes Around

I did it.
I took a look at the huge bundle of babies clothes and kinda sorted everything out.


These are the "sorted" piles.

There are actually two stacks of clothes, one for new born, and the other for 3 months and above.

There's also a stack of nappy, nappy pants and all the assortments of mittens, bootees, bibs and hats.

All these are from my sister in Singapore whose boy will turn 2 in May.

Interestingly half the clothes were those that had belonged to Micah, then passed to Max, and then to her son. There were also a few that were Max's "new clothes". I also recognised a few that were given by me for her son when he was about due. Now they are all back here again, in my room.

I had washed the cloth nappies, and while I was putting them out, a cockroach flew into the balcony. Eeek, indeed!!
So I brought them in and now they are in the landing, still a little damp after sitting under the fan for a couple of hours.



A brief inventory of the clothings:
(Actually, I didn't count the real clothing items yet as I want to wash them first)

45 pieces of cloth nappies
44 pairs of bootees (not counting 3 brand new ones still in it's original plastic pack and maybe 6 one-sides)
32 pairs of mittens
12 bibs
8 "hats" (more like a big sock for the head. Hahahaha.)

After all the sorting and washing and tidying up, I just can't do the next thing I had on my list of chores - ironing.
Guess that'll have to wait for tomorrow.

Now I need to lie down and rest my aching back.

Like A Desperado

Date: Federal Day, 1 February, 2009.



Gadget-daddy wanted to take the boys to a waterfall.
I asked him to ask his brother to go along to help watch the boys.
He said he could handle them.

I then decided I would go too... at least, maybe, Max and I will just sit and play in the stream at the foot of the fall.

Wonderfully, an answer to my prayers, Gadget-daddy's bro wanted to come along too, so we all made the trip to Gabai Waterfalls, Ulu Langat.


And since the uncle was good in going along with the boys, running up the steps, Gadget-daddy and I took a leisurely climb up the fall.

Noticed a unique snail along the way up.

Also noted the many different foliage above our heads.

The trail up to the falls now is good and proper steps compared to the days when we went up a few times in our teens. It was then a jungle trail. More exciting, but less accessible to the public. I definitely would not have made it if it was as then, as I recall a section of the trail required you to climb over a huge fallen tree and then under another.

Anyway, we all made it up and down. We counted - 367 steps in all!!


Quite an achievement for a then 34 week preggy Mommy!!
(Does this sound like I'm trying to achieve something before the arrival of the 3rd boy and having to be home-bound for a month? *grin*)

Micah enjoyed the water, but complained it was too cold.
Max had refused to get in altogether and cried when Gadget-daddy took him one round down the natural slide.



For them the real thrill was discovering and handling a giant millipede and their snackie of sausages and crabsticks.



On our way back, we stopped at this place called "the Look Out Point" and had lunch there.
The food was nothing to shout about, but it was still part of our outing. It was just different to be a place where we could see our city's skyline quite clearly.

There's actually a look out tower, but I did not manage to get to the top fast enough as the four boys raced up. But I figure the view is probably pretty much the same.

All in all ,it was a pretty good and tiring trip.
Both the boys slept on the way home.

Counting Down

I am now in my 35th week.

Baby boy's blooming and dancing all the time under Mommy's belly.

Did my checkup yesterday and kinda "saw" the baby's face. A round little pumpkin. Oooh... can't wait to see him for real and hold him and smell him. Ahhhh...

He has this "bad habit" of stretching and sticking his legs into my ribs at night, which is making it quite hard to sleep.
There were also these 2 times I jumped up from my sleep with water squirting up my nose from my stomach (had taken a gulp of water after a toilet visit middle of the night). He must have kicked me in the gut. This was worse than any heartburn.

Plus I still have this constant pain on my left hip joint (got a nerve pinched there).
So every night Gadget-daddy, busy click-clacking away on the computer has to put up with my groaning while I try to stretched out on the bed and relieve some pain.

Today I packed my hospital bag.
- a set of long romper for the baby and a towel to wrap him in.
- my necessities
- a food container with some 3-in-1 Milo, a set of cutlery. Need to get some biscuits.

Of late I have been feeling like this one's gonna do some dramatic entry into the world.
Both my older boys were late (Micah-9 days, Max- 4days), but this one can't seem to wait to want to get out.

So I am getting ready.

The only thing I did not manage to do today was to go through a huge bag of babies hand-me-downs from my sister. Have to sort our and wash them.

I also have to get myself some new nursing bras and diapers for the baby.
Must remember to give Mil and my mom money to buy ginger and sesame oil.

Other than that I think we are ready for the new one as most of the stuff, i.e. cot, bath tub, changing mat, we have from Micah's time.

Oh, just can't wait to see this little one's face... and then maybe can decide on a name for him!
Hahahaha...

Gadget-daddy's Third Pregnancy

I have been wanting to write this post for while, but CNY came into the picture...
And I actually have more pictures to show... but...

Anyway,

When I was pregnant for the first time, we were all anxious and excited.
Of course I had already mentioned before (here) that we only discovered the pregnancy when I was already 14 weeks into it, so the first trimester was all over.

Anyway, Gadget-daddy made all the doctor's visits with me,
did his dishes, and mine, most of the time after meals,
helped mop the floor,
set up a website for photos and updates (of which the server has now crashed),
and filled up petrol for the car every time I mentioned a need to (I had my own car then).

When I was pregnant with Max (full story here), Gadget-daddy spent as much of his time as he could with Micah, who was about a year old then.
I can't recall much of what else he did, but while I was surprised by the second pregnancy, he was not. (Hmmm...? You say?) This was because I was still breastfeeding Micah, and while we did not use any contraceptives, I was still not expecting to conceive so soon.

Now, with the Third baby on the way (and pretty soon too),
Gadget daddy's very helpful with the two boys,
does most of my little beck-and-calls when I am on my aching back,
gives me back rubs and
rescues me in the night when I have cramps on my leg
and fills petrol for me too, except on a couple of occasions when he was away.

But this time round, there is no dish washing or mopping of floors.
Not that I'm complaining, but just different.
Besides, I feel the most important thing is what he is doing most of the time :
Spending time and bonding with his two older boys, before the third one arrives.

But he had it easy with all the pregnancies as there were:

No problem sleeping*
And that's because most of the time I sleep quite well and even when I don't, I'm not troubled by his snoring. I have heard from some men how their pregnant wives would "smack" them in the night because they cannot sleep and are even more aggravated by the husband's snorings.

No Mid-night cravings demands
I have also heard of how some pregnant wives demanded their sleeping husbands to get them something to eat/drink. One was of a craving for coconuts from the neighbour's house!!


So we are good and happy when we are pregnant.
:)


* The only complaint he made was in the first pregnancy, by the third trimester, I had to be surrounded by pillows so that I could sleep well and his complained was that I took up 2/3 of our bed. He felt crowded on our king-size bed.