Lost In S'pore

We are heading back today after a one week break.
You'll not hear from me for a while again.
Sorry.

One week was too short of a holiday, but it was also the longest week without Gadget-daddy.

It was just a lazy holiday.
Spent some time with Ee-ee, and she stayed over for a night.
Mommy did bits of shopping here and there to get some diaper and Milo supplies.
Grandma's got her own supplies to bring back: herbal tea leaves and barley.

Unfortunately for us, Myron was down with fever and tummy upset because he drank some rain water collected in the backyard for washing the porch. Yeah, our bit of recycling water.



We will be back next weekend, but it's for a friend's wedding.
I doubt that I'll have time to blog.

See you when I see you.

Hello!!

Hello!!

We are back in KL for the holidays.

The boys are happy about everything, even just being back in the old house and rummaging through their old treasures.

They have their grandparents to pamper them, plus uncles and an aunty. They are visting all their favourite places and parks, old hang out places and Ah Ma's house.

I'm eating at our favourite "tea shop" and coffee shops. Also meeting up with a few old friends to try to catch up with them.

The only thing is I wish I have more energy. (Yeah, I know... my constant complain.)
I wish I could be running enthusiastically with the boys at the park, etc, but No.4 is due in about 4 weeks time. It's getting harder for me to move fast. It's also very hard to climb out of bed.

Oh, in case you haven't heard, No.4 is a girl!!
Yeah, lotsa moms are so excited for me, but I think my life is going to be a bit more complicated from now.

What I mean is that a girl's make-up and needs are quite different from the boys' and we'll have to deal with different issues and some same issues differently. I doubt that she will be "easier" than the active boys we have.
And I am praying hard she will not be spoilt as she's the only girl in the house.

Gottta go for now. Having breakfast with my sis and then luch date with a girlfriend.

Pictures on the way, need to be uploaded.

All In Good Shape

We are OK.

Sorry for the long silence.

Mil is here for a couple of weeks, so while everyone is a sleep, I am blogging in the study*.

It's like we were just thrown into a mixer and then pressed into a mold and now being baked in an oven... Considering the weather, these days, it literally does feel like an oven.

We only had a few days of rest when we got here on 29 December 2009, and then the boys started school on 3 January 2010. The first 2 weeks was tough moving around in public transport with 3 kids in tow, getting to know what's where in our neighbourhood and trying to work out caring for 3 young boys (and a big one) and keeping them happy, while doing the cooking and keeping the place clean (notice I didn't say 'neat') and safe.

BUT I am so so thankful for my older sis who is here. She is really my life-saver, a float, whole being thrown into the deep blue sea. She had already helped earlier in getting my boys into the same kindy as her girl, so registration and adjusting to their system (for me) has been fairly painless. Also, she is always reminding me of new things to look out for, i.e. Water play on certain Fridays means we must remember to put in the slippers and a towel for the kids, apart from their usual change of PE clothes.

Now we have a car, about 3 weeks ago, and so moving around is fairly less stressful. It's now Myron's turn to adjust. You see, while we were moving about in cabs, busses and trains, Myron had been safe and snug in a baby carrier, always snug close to Mommy. Now he is being strapped into a car seat and Mommy's not within his reach. So poor baby is in "carseat-bootcamp".

Where we stay is a rather new but very nice community area. There are lots of open fields and almost everyday there are some people flying kites, even night kites with blinking lights. On weekends there could easily be about a 100 of them in a field that is across the community center alone. There are quite a few more wide open fields surrounding our apartment.

Our place is actually at a pretty good locale: 10 minutes' walk to the public pool, 10 minutes' walk to the shopping mall/train station and 8 minutes' walk to the market. We are just 10 minutes drive from my sister's place which is an older and more established community area, so it's also pretty convenient when wanting more choices of eateries and shopping for household needs.

We are also glad to announce that we have a guest room that is available at any time, so if you are ever coming over to Singapore, please don't hesitate to ask, if you need a place to stay. Having said that, let me say that Availability is, of course, on a first-come-first-serve basis, unless you don't mind crashing in our living room, which has a nice couch in front of a huge plasma TV. :D

More stories to come...

* Yes, we have a study, pretty nice one, here at our new place, but I like to be close to my sleeping boys in the middle of the night, so the computer being in another room was also keeping me away from blogging, apart from the fact that my days usually ends after midnight with chores (laundry and mopping floors) and by then I'm just too tired to want to sit in front of the computer. Today, Mil had done the laundry and the dishes while I spent quality 'bedtime' time with Micah and Myron (Max had crashed in front of the TV while watching Speed Racer). I really appreciate her care and thoughtfulness.

Playing Catch-Up

Sorry I have been so slack on updating my blog lately.

Usually I am busy in the day with the boys, and then by the time Gadget-daddy gets back he will work on the computer until it's quite late. Sometimes I sleep before he finishes. Sometimes even if I'm still awake, I will just go to bed so that I have energy for the next day.
So that's my excuse.

... and here's some update to catch up on.


Sometimes there are some funny moments, or something "profound" expressed or exclaimed by the kids, and I think this should be blogged for a record, but I never get to the computer.
(Mx: "Mom, sometimes, I am going to be as tall as you.")

Sometimes, there's a drama of some sort, and I wonder if these should be recorded as well.
(Mc: "Mom, today, I am not going to be your son anymore... blah, blah, blah.")

This morning I noticed, Myron is distinctively right-handed.

Most kids aren't as distinctive, as in they can easily be ambidextrous, or the parents may let them slowly decide which hand they are more comfortable with for writing and feeding. Some parents decide for their kids anyway.

My two older ones were asked by the adults around them to hold the spoon/ pencil/ etc. with their right hand when it eventually came to "crunch" time.

Myron can already push himself up on all fours and be like a little rocking horse. The other thing he does is that if he is already propped-up on a sitting position, he would lunge forward to grab something he wants which may be beyond his real. Oh, he is so ready to race with the big boys.

We have news from across the border.
We are re-locating.
Gadget-daddy will be down in Lion City by mid October. He will look for a place to rent and check out schools for the boys. Mean time, he would probably be bunking in with my sis.
The boys and I will be here to finish their school for the year.
I will have to find my feet/street all over again.

So I might be bumping into some of you ladies who are there.
:)
... Or we could just meet up and do a picnic with our kids. :D

And So..

The school break was too fast and fun.

We were busy from day to night... at least Mommy was.

While the baby slept she attended to the boys. When the baby needed to nurse, go to the potty or be patted to nap again, the boys either amused themselves or kept the grandparents busy.

Will come back in a moment with pictures... as soon as I get the baby off my lap.

Yikes he's chewing the edge of the table...

Actually...

Actually, ...
I want to do a post to record Micah's milestone for his 5th birthday... but I am rather tired. Even to blog, I think of it many many times before finally get myself to sit here, just unloading my brain off whatever that's there.



Myron has been completely spoilt having had Mommy at his "goo"s and "gaa"s for the last week that he really only wants to nurse and sleep and sleep and nurse. This is both draining and sleep-mode setting.



Actually, ...
I also had a half written poem on my draft. Wanted to surprise hubby for our anniversary, but it's not moving anywhere just yet.
Another belated post to come.


Actually, ....
I wanted to post up pictures of our trip to Phuket, but just thinking of all the time it takes to upload the photos... already feel a yawn coming...

So today I asked Gadget-daddy if he was going to blog about our trip, and he said yes. Yet I know he has other things on his to-do list that is of higher priority...
So guess that's gonna come along later too.

At the beach, Chalong Bay.

At the beach, Coral Island

At the beach at our hotel

Actually,...
I took some photos of my boys playing in the garden today. They were so funny declaring it was our car's birthday (of course not. Just pretend, ok, mom?) and they strew flowers all over the hood. Of course I had to give them a good scrub after that as they were on all fours scooping dried bougainvilleas from under tha plants in the porch. They are so funny.

I am now torn between sleeping right after this or if I should attempt to read a bit more of The Last Chinese Chef. Very tempting...
Might open the book then fall asleep on it...

Good night, my blog buddies...
*yaaawn*


Update: 12:27am.
Reading while uploading some photos to this post.
Guess that worked out well. Looks like I'll be reading a bit more then.
:)

3 Announcements:

Micah turned 5 on June 2nd.


We love you so much, precious boy. You were the most amazing surprise from God.
Yes, I believe every child is a gift from God.

June 2nd was also our
8th wedding anniversary.


We actually share the same dates, same year with 2 other couples whom we have been friends with many years.

One is my good friend from University Malaya, who was my course mate for 4 years, my roommate for 2.5 years, and then we did our MA together and she stayed with my family for 1.5 years. We screamed when we found out tha we were getting married on the same day. Unfortunately we were in different towns. She was 2 hours away from us, so we did not get to attend each others' wedding.

The other is a couple we have known for a good while, and they and I worked in the same office space for 3 years. Now the wife is one of my boys' kindy teacher, and both their kids, the same age as my two older boys are best buddies in school.
:)

Myron turned 3 months on June 6th.


Myron is now trying do a flip (roll-over) from lying on his back to being on his tummy.
Because we usually prop him up on an adult pillow, he is using gravity as his ever faithful,
never-fail assistant.

Myron has also started drooling 2 days ago.
Now Mommy is a little nervous, watching to see when is he going to sprout his first tooth/teeth. His two older brothers started teething at 4.5 months and 4 months.

Some Excuses and Some Updates

Hey, Judy.
Your SMS made me realise how long I have not posted.
Thanks.

It's a tough time getting on with blogging these days because:
1. the connection is so slow it's exasperating;

2. I am tired by the end of the day and usually fall asleep while getting the two older boys into bed and have to snuggle in bed with them, resulting in Mommy falling asleep with them, if not before them;

3. Nursing Myron in a lying position induces slumber;

4. Breastfeeding is so draining I feel tired and in need of protein in-take almost all the time - I even think of having a rack of ribs in the middle of the night;

5. Gadget-daddy is doing some podcast and is hogging the room, and we are all too tired to do anything else after that but climb into bed.


Anyway..

Myron's been growing well.
In fact, to a certain point I feel he is growing too fast.
Thank you all for your prayers, thoughts and well-wishes.

We have not gone back to the doctors for further check-up, but he is now pink and no more yellow. The last we check, Myron is 5kg and about 57cm.

He has outgrown this pajamas.

He now engages you with his coos and gurgles and makes all kinds of facial expressions. Maybe it's just gas (so some scientists say), but he sure warms our hearts as he smiles a lot.



And he is constantly cuddled and kissed by his brothers, especially Micah.


This baby is just so lovely to cuddle.

I am Grateful

Thank you.

Thank you for all your thoughts, your well wishes and your prayers.

Myron went in for the blood test yesterday for the bilirubin and it had actually went down quite a bit. It was at 267.5 when we tested on Monday and yesterday it was down to 191.

It's still above the safe level of 180, but the doctor was impressed with the progress and said we just keep doing what we are doing and go back in next week for one more blood test to check the bilirubin level.

Sorry for delaying the good news, but we are juggling going to school, nursing a baby fully, still trying to give attention to the two older ones and ...

...Aarg! Either the internet or Blogger is just so slow that I keep getting interrupted before anything can load fully, and somewhere in between either the computer has gone to "sleep" or I would have.
That's the reason for the delay.

Anyway, Thanks for sticking by us at this time.

Micah finally got to carry Myron...

while sitting on the sofa.

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.

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.

MIA And Some Updates

Sorry I was MIA for a while.
We had a little glitch on our hard disk, and it made it impossible to do anything on our computer.

So the boys and I have been playing quite a lot of cars and race cars and more cars...
And Gadget-daddy takes them out to the park almost every evening.

Latest "big"event was that Micah actually dug out his tooth's filling 2 days back and complained of a toothache for a whole day. But now the nerves seemed to have gone numb and he's back to his usual self.

We are wondering if it's going to act up while we are away on holiday next week on for a week...
Sigh.

The Littlest one in me is growing.
Now I find it really hard to bend over my bathroom counter to brush my teeth.
Fern also noticed my blouse was getting tight around the belly last Sunday. :)
I am now craving for pizzas and tortillas.
French fries with ketchup smelled so good the other day when we walked past McDonald's at a mall.

We are looking forward to a holiday with my mom, bro and older sis and her family.
We will head down to Singapore for a week and in between, down to Bintan for 2 nights.
Must do something exciting before another baby to fuss over, demanding some 120% of attention.

Brain now working overtime on some gathering for former schoolmates and a small party for Max's birthday.

The Holiday - So Far

This week we have kept ourselves well entertained.

On Monday we stayed home. Later in the afternoon, Gadget-daddy and Mommy went out to run an errand. After the errand, we went to catch a movie: 007, Quantum of Solace. So it was our holiday. :)

On Tuesday Gadget-daddy went to the office so the boys and Mommy and grandma went to the market down in town for noodles. It was an outing Micah had missed since he started school. We used to go there once a week and visit this place with an old fire engine on display, but they have recently removed it. There was also a shop selling lamp shades which has an attraction for the boys: They have their pet turtles and terrapins in some of their ceramic pots. So it was again a rekindling of friendship for Micah and the reptiles, as well as the shop owners.

On Wednesday we went to the Science Center, mainly because our books were due and we went to pick up some new books. The boys have so far enjoyed three of the nine book: One on Trains, one a picture book on the alphabet and one on cars.

Tomorrow we are going swimming with a friend and kids at her condo. She's getting noodles for lunch, much to my boys' delight. I have promised to being some chicken nuggets. I think this is more for Mommy to meet and old schoolmate as well.

Friday, open for the moment. Might head to a shopping mall to pick out a specific Christmas card.

Saturday, we have a movie date with a few friends. We are going to "move it, move it" for the Madagascar 2!! Oh! Can't wait for it. We all love those crazy animals.

Sunday, we have a birthday party!!

That's what we've been up to, and our line up for the rest of week.

We 'R' Back

Hi, all.
Hope you all had a good week.

We arrived back in KL about 8pm and had dinner with my mom before heading home. We got home bout 10pm and the boys were really glad to be home. They are still busy catching up with their grandparents right now. :)

Will come back and tell you all about our adventures and accidents soon.

Till then,
Good night.