RS-Family

Perseverance

2011-12-17T16:57:00.000+08:00

As much as Raymond and I love each other, our marriage life is definitely not a bed of roses all the time. Going through the many ups & downs, we survived to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary recently on 9 December 2011!

Amidst our many differences and trials, I truly believe that "what God has bind, He will not separate", because God's words have indeed been fulfilled when He blesses us with the gift of parenthood! Blessed with the gift of Raychelle whom both Raymond and I love dearly, we realise that Raychelle is the fruit of our love, and both our blood runs in this little being to bind us, two unrelated beings, together. God's work is truly amazing!

Recently I had the privilege to have lunch fellowship with a Priest & 2 other colleagues, and was enriched by the Priest's generous sharing. One take-back from the sharing which I will remember in my heart dearly is that the Priest shared that in a marriage or even in anything we want to do, "commitment" is not the key word, instead it is "Perseverance"! Quoting the Priest, "A man can be committed to his marriage, but he'unfaithful to his wife" versus "both parties persevere to make the marriage work"!

I thank God with all my heart for speaking to me through the Priest! Amen!

Terrible-Two!

2011-04-09T22:46:00.000+08:00

Terrible-Two is definitely NOT a myth! As much as I love my cutie-pie Raychelle, I can get very annoyed by her sudden outburst of loud cries, insistence on her ways, unreasonable demands etc ... That said, the very extreme can come from her too, like times when she's very sweet telling me, "God bless you mummy!" when I alighted from the car to go to work; when she snuggled up to me on the bed eagerly waiting for me to read one storybook after another to her; when she told me to drink water after I told her I was sick and couldn't get out of bed; the list can just go on! =)

I love my gal!

2011-03-14T00:15:00.000+08:00

Having Raychelle is truly a blessings! Seeing her growth and development is amazing! Ever since she started going for her 2-hour daily pre-nursery school, she would entertain us with performance of songs, dances and actions she has learnt from Teacher Sona! However most of the time she would insist that we join her as her "students"...hahaa

For a working mum, guilt arises when I have to spend long hours at work. This little girl would tell popo that she wants mummy on days when I leave home before she wakes up and returns when she has slept, luckily these kind of days are only occasional. On such days, I miss my Raychelle too and I would browse through some of the 4000+ photos of Raychelle which I've taken with and stored in my iPhone. Looking at her photos never fails to bring a smile to my face or liven up the weary spirit in me... Thank you God for blessing me with the gift of motherhood so that I can experience an extra dose of love!

Playing Host

2011-02-15T08:22:00.000+08:00

We've always enjoyed having friends over at our humble abode.

Hubb and I would take great pride in discussing and planning the theme, the menu items, the drinks, the programme etc... Afterwhich, will be the shopping, cooking (nowadays we seldom cook big scale ever since Raychelle comes along) or ordering of food... The big day will arrive & hubb will help to pick up the food (he doesn't mind travelling far to get nice stuff) while I will do the cleaning (when no guest comes, our house can be in quite a mess!). We really hope to make our guests' stay (be it long or short) as homely and fun as possible! The joy of seeing our guests enjoy themselves at our place truly makes our day!

There's 2 "themes" we like to adopt for our gatherings - Air-Con Indoor or Outdoor Alfresco Dining (at our huge lift lobby directly outside our unit)! Air-Con Indoor is cozy when the group is small & all can squeeze into our tiny home; Outdoor Alfresco Dining is fun when the group is big and yet all can gather round our combined huge collaspable tables and laugh at one anothers' jokes! Both themes had been a success till recently I realised that Outdoor Alfresco Dining may not be so suitable for gatherings with small kids...

You know that you have been a great host when guests forget the time and indulge in chatting over drinks and they will even send SMSes to thank you for the lovely night, or for that particular food, or for the great company & even ask about the date of a next gathering! =D

Sadly, I've come to realise that Outdoor Alfresco Dining which had been a hit for several groups of our friends, doesn't fit for groups with families & small kiddos, cos:
- Small kids can't stay still outdoor, they will prefer to go indoor to play with Raychelle's toys;
- Parents will have to follow the kids indoor & miss out on the catching-up outside;
- The group of friends split into 2 groups - indoor watching kids & outdoor small talks;
- Host will start to feel bad =(

You know you are a bad host when:
- Guests feel sleepy;
- Couple guests start to ask each other what time they are leaving;
- No one wants to play the game(s) you suggest;
- You wonder what's wrong with your party!

Anyway there's a good learning point from this recent gathering - It's not the house size that matters, our friends don't mind squeezing into our tiny abode as long we can tend to our kids & talk to our friends! Looking forward to making the next gathering a better one! =D

Raychelle is turning 2 next month!

2010-10-15T14:28:00.000+08:00

Time flies... this phrase definitely describes the growing years of a child!

It seems like not long ago when I was planning how to celebrate Raychelle's 1st Birthday, and the then crawling baby at the last birthday has now become an active, chirpy & cheeky todd!

Just this morning during the drive to my mum's house, this little cutie pie who was sitting in her baby car seat behind my driver's seat, asked, "You want go .. Donald?" Apparently we had passed by Rivervale Mall and she spotted McDonald's Fastfood Restaurant located on the first level. Suddenly I realised that Raychelle can already say a lot of words and though I'm happy for her achievement, I'm saddened too, that she's growing so fast and much, that I wonder if I had missed out any of her milestones this year, at times when I was so tired and got bogged down by work?

9-day-Separation with my darling Raychelle

2010-06-08T09:40:00.000+08:00

My long-awaited holidays are finally here after my 9 days Immersion Programme Trip to Suzhou, China with the Pri 5 boys of my school from 26 May to 3 June! However, this school holidays would be a pretty short one, as I would be back to school for the Staff Work Week on 21 June, thus all in all, I only have 17 full days to spend with my darling Raychelle, starting from 4 June and ending on 20 June. Nonetheless, I'm going to make the best out of it, making every moment special and well-spent with my little girl who has grown so much in this year!

While I was away for 9 days in China, I didn't dare to call Raychelle, because I knew that once she was reminded of my absence, she would definitely cry for me. Hence I only had smses-exchange with my two sisters to find out how was Raychelle. Over the smses, they told me she was fine, naughty as usual, "bullying" everyone at home including gong gong & po po... hahaaa... I was so relieved to hear that... but my sis also told me that occassionally Raychelle would suddenly cried and called out, " daddy...dad...dad....mummy...ma..ma....". Hubb also travelled to Guangzhou, China, on the same day as me, and would only return 3 days before me, thus, Raychelle was for the first time without her parents for 9 days! ... Poor girl! Yet the fact that she was in really good hands of my family members, made me relieved and could discharge my overseas work duties with total peace of mind... Thank you, my papa, mama, and mei mei Peidi & Xiujin!!!!!!

When I was back last Thursday at about 1.20pm, I didn't immediately went to fetch Raychelle home. Instead, after hubb sent me home, I unpacked my luggage, did a "spring clean" of my house, bathed, napped for an hour (I could feel that I was falling sick soon, thus decided to take a power nap to recharge), before taking a cab to my mum's house at 8pm. I called home once at 5+pm and my mum passed the phone to Raychelle, she was so excited to hear my voice and kept calling "mama...mamaa", thus when I hadn't reached my mum's house by 7+pm, my sis smsed me to ask if I was reaching soon, because Raychelle has been asking for me after that phone call!

The moment the door opened and Raychelle saw me, she smiled so broadly and kept calling me, "mummy...mamaa....", but there was also when the "stickiness" started! She "tagged" me everywhere I went in my mum's house, insisting that I carried her... seemed like she was too afraid that I would "disappear" again! "Absence makes the hearts fonder" is indeed very true!

Thank you, God, for making my trip a safe and fruitful one, and keeping everyone in the group safe & healthy. Thank you, God, for the precious gift of my family who looked after Raychelle so well while I was away. Dear God, please bless my June holiday with Raychelle, to be a loving and memorable one! Amen.

Daddy's 38th Birthday!

2010-03-25T00:43:00.000+08:00

Gosh!... I did it again!

Yes! After forgetting about my wedding anniversary last year, I forgot about my hubby's birthday this year!

Last Wednesday during my March school holidays, as I was writing the date "17/3/10" onto Raychelle's daily record book (a mini notepad which I use for recording the time & details of her daily food intake and bowels), I found the date very familiar and was trying to think hard why this date had certain significance... suddenly it dawned upon me that it's Darling's BIRTHDAY!!! Actually I did remember that Darling's birthday was coming and was hoping to do something special so that Raychelle could share the joy of celebrating daddy's birthday, yet it just totally slipped off my mind till the day itself!

"Darling! It's your birthday today leh!" I exclaimed excitedly, "but I actually forgot about it... hee...sorry!"

"Raychelle! Let's sing Happy Birthday for Dad Dad!"... so we sang or it was actually me singing and Raychelle "pretending" to follow the tune...hahaaaaa

Anyway, Darling's job was to end late that day, thus we won't be able to go out for dinner celebration. Rushing over to the NTUC located at the Rivervall Mall opposite our house before Darling left for his work (he helped to "jaga" Raychelle for half an hour), I quickly cracked my brain to think what could I prepare for a simple birthday celebration after his work that night. I decided to bake muffins to be stacked up on my Wilton (a US baking stuff brand) 24-cupcakes stand, as "birthday cake" for Darling. My first choice was banana-bran muffins, but the bananas in NTUC were still unriped (slightly "blackish"-skinned banana due to over-riping is best for baking), hence the next choice would be Wholemeal Carrot muffins. After buying all the required ingredients, I planned to give Darling a little "surprise birthday dinner" that night!

Thank God that my second sis Peidi came over to my place that day as she missed Raychelle and wanted to play with her! With Peidi around, I could at least "disappear" into the kitchen to prepare the "surprise dinner". After marinating the chicken tighs with black pepper sauce, I proceeded to bake one of my favourite muffins - Wholemeal Carrot Muffins! Within 2.5 hours in the kitchen, I was proud to whip out a tray of 28 muffins and a pot of roast chicken and spaghetti in black pepper sauce!

When Darling returned home from work, the mini "surprise birthday dinner" commenced....

Looks as if it's Raychelle's birthday...haahhaaa

I was quite surprised that Raychelle enjoyed the muffiI was ns as most children do not like wholemeal or grainy food.

Daddy's Birthday Dinner!

Happy 38th Birthday, daddy!

Chinese New Year 2010

2010-02-26T00:27:00.000+08:00

Following the Year of the Ox is the Year of the Tiger... and based on calculation using the Lunar Calendar, Raychelle would be 3 years old this year!

My mum always refers to the Lunar Calendar and insists that we are all older...hahaaa. Unlike our mathematical way of counting age based on birthday (eg. a child only grow by another year old upon reaching the next birthday), according to the Chinese' way of calculating age, the moment a baby is born into the world, he/she is automatically 1 year old, and at every next Lunar New Year, the child's age will increase by another year. Thus 15-month-old Raychelle suddenly "skips" to 3 years old... I find this rather amusing...just imagine the vast difference between a 15 month-old & a 36 month-old toddler! Well, since my mum says so, so be it! =)

Take a look at how "3-year-old" Raychelle celebrates her 2nd Chinese New Year...

Part 1: CNY Eve Reunion Dinner @Function Room of Compass Height

Raychelle already had her porridge dinner at home before going for the "4-Generations Reunion Dinner" with daddy's extended family, thus she just spent her time roaming about while the rest ate!

Part 2: CNY Day 1

Raychelle wearing new clothes, new socks, new shoes & carrying new bag on the 1st day of CNY

At my parents' house...notice that Raychelle had a change of outfit? The cheong sam was too hot for her, so I changed her into another new dress which was bought by her Ah Mah in Bangkok last year when she was only 3 month old.

At the house of Raymond's Grandma who is Raychelle's Great Grandma aka "Lao Mah"..

Part 3: CNY Day 2 (We visited Raymond's Gu Gu)

Part 4: CNY Day 4 (We visited Raymond's Maternal Grandpa, Da Yi, then we went to my mum-in-law's house)

On the 4th day of CNY when darling was sending me to work, I told him that ever since I've grown up to be an adult, it has been really a long time since I had so much fun & enjoyed CNY ... it's no doubt that a child can bring so much joy to the family!

Praise & thank the Lord for the gift of Raychelle!

Monday Dinner Dates

2010-02-25T23:32:00.000+08:00

Ever since our family of two becomes three, it's been very seldom that darling & I got to go out for a date just on our own. Wherever we go, Raychelle will follow ... this is definitely not a complaint, cos we really love having her around, but then... when it comes to meal time, darling & I will have to take turn to eat - while one eats, the other feeds or humours Raychelle...hahaaa

Thus, I suggested fixing a weekly dinner date with just the two of us, starting this year 2010!

Every Monday night, Raychelle will stay over at my parents' house, because Tuesday is a CCA day during curriculum hours in my school and I have to reach school by 8.30am, hence it's more convenient for Raychelle to stay over instead of us having to shuttle her to my parents' house super early in the morning. Furthermore, I have a colleague who stays nearby and drives, so I can catch a lift from her to school on Tuesday mornings, and darling can get to sleep a bit longer since he doesn't have to send me to school. Since last year after I returned to work from my maternity leave, such arrangement had started. However, last year, on Monday nights after knocking off, we would always go to my parents' house for dinner and played with Raychelle, then bade her goodbye & goodnight and proceeded home without her. I guess being new parents (especially a new mummy) last year, we didn't bear not to leave Raychelle out of sight.

After a year with no real dates on our own, I felt that it's time for darling & I to catch up. Besides family-bonding time with Raychelle, we need husband-&-wife bonding time too. Since my parents have been the caregivers of Raychelle on weekdays for close to a year, Raychelle is naturally very close to them, and enjoys staying overnight at my parents' house, as most of the time when she stays over on a Monday night, she will get to go "gai gai" (go out for a trip) with Gong Gong & Po Po the next morning! Knowing that Raychelle is very good hands of my parents, I automatically will have great ease of mind to go on a weekly Monday dates with darling.

So far, our Monday dates are mainly dinner dates followed by window-shopping if we happen to dine at a shopping mall, but it's a good time for both of us to catch up! On the most recent date, we managed to catch a movie - "Little Big Soldiers"!

Besides the weekly Monday dates, I'm now looking forward to our first overseas holidays since Raychelle's arrival - a short Bangkok shopping holidays during my upcoming March holidays!

Our 1st Monday Dinner Date @Jerry's (Jalan Kayu)

Super Delicious Oxtail Stew & Buffalo Wings from Jerry's

Using our "Buffet Club" vouchers, we dined at Saltwater Cafe at Changi Village Hotel

Happy 3rd RS-Wedding Anniversary!

2009-12-09T23:44:00.003+08:00

3 years ago, I would never imagine that I would one day forget about my wedding anniversary!

However ... Yes, I did - this year, TODAY!

When Darling came home early at 5pm today, I was kind of surprised because I thought he had told me in the morning that he was going to have a long day at work. I was in the kitchen, about to prepare Raychelle's dinner while this naughty little girl was napping, when Darling popped in and thrusted me a Starbuck bag and a cute little bouquet of flowers, saying, "Happy 3rd Anniversary, darling!" I was taken aback, because I had actually forgotten that today is our 3rd Wedding Anniversary! I didn't expect Darling to remember and specially took the trouble to buy nice meaningful gifts of flowers (just a tiny bouquet cos he knew I'm the practical type who don't want him to spend a bomb on big bouquet which will die off in a few days time), card (with his mushy lovey dovey words, but I love it), "The Buffet Club" membership (very practical for glutton like me), a Hong Kong travel guide (Darling promised next year we would go there for holidays) & a starbuck stainless steel mug (maybe I've been saying for a long time that I'm going to get one from Starbuck for my morning Teh or afternoon Earl Grey in school) for me ... I was simply very touched & of course, HAPPY!!!

Darling still had to rush off for his work at 7pm, so I suggested going for dinner at the nearby Bliss Restaurant @Punggol Park... on me (cos I really felt so bad to forget our wedding anniversary)! I quickly cooked Raychelle's porridge and had it ready in a lock-n-lock container by 6pm, and off we went for our sumptious dinner at Bliss Restaurant, with Raychelle! The dinner was good, Raychelle had her fun stroll with daddy at Punggol Park, and we managed to be home by 7.30pm for Darling to go off for his work... a short but lovely evening spent together as a family in celebration of our 3rd RS-Wedding Anniversary!

Praise & Thank the Good Lord for the most wonderful gift of my RS-Family!

Raychelle has her own snug seat in our new Toyota Wish!

Darling enjoying his Gratin Steak

Raychelle simply can't sit still...

Mummy & Raychelle!

Raychelle & Mummy smiling sweetly for the camera!

Raychelle seemed bored!

Darling & Raychelle waiting for Mummy to finish her Grilled Garoupa

Raychelle trying to smile for the camera

Raychelle making a funny face...

Simply bored!

What shall we do now?

Raychelle & her milk bottle

Raychelle reaching for her water

A family shot - kindly taken by the Bliss staff

A last shot at Bliss before we left

My 3rd Wedding Anniversary Gift from Darling!

Happy 1st Birthday, Raychelle!

2009-11-06T23:53:00.002+08:00

The tiny little bundle I held in my arms last year this day, has turned 1 today! Praise Lord for the wonderful & blessed 1st year we have with Raychelle ... looking forward to enjoying every moment of Raychelle's growth & development!

Last year, we had 2 days of massive celebrations of Raychelle's 1st month. This year, we decided to keep her 1st birthday celebration simple yet cosy, sharing the joy with guests who are our really close family members and friends. Hence we held Raychelle's 1st Birthday Luncheon at our house last Saturday, 31 October 2009.

A happy & blessed RS-Family

Mummy dressing up Raychelle

Pretty Raychelle with her fave Nanako

Mummy feeding Raychelle Chicken Drumstick*

2 Red Eggs for Raychelle*

"Mian Xian" for Raychelle*

Raychelle's 1st Birthday Cake baked by Mummy with LOVE

Raychelle cutting her birthday cake with Daddy & Mummy

Raychelle getting ready to taste her birthday cake

Daddy "pinched" a bit of the heart-shaped orange butter cake for Raychelle

Guests: Ah Mah & 2nd Uncle

Guests: Gong gong, Po po & Yi yis

Guests: Granduncle Thomas, Grandauntie Rose, Aunties Annabelle & Cristalbelle

Guests: 3rd Granduncle & Uncle Xiao Kang

Guests: Ganduncle Johnny & Uncles Ryan n Sean

Guests: Godpa, Godma & Didi David

Guests: Uncle Melvin, Auntie Angeline (mummy's gd fren) & Chie chies Asley & Alyssa

Guest: Yi yi Xiujin's gd fren - Auntie Joanna

who's also the official videographer of the day

[*Eating Mian Xian with Chicken Drumstick & 2 Red Eggs for 1st Birthday has been a tradition in Mummy's family ... even till today, Po po will prepare a birthday "Mian Xian" set complete with 2 red eggs for the birthday person in the family!]

The RS-Family thanked all who came to celebrate Raychelle's 1st Birthday! We hope you have enjoyed yourselves as much as we have enjoyed ourselves!

Raychelle is growing day by day...

2009-09-13T17:13:00.001+08:00

How time flies ... Last year this time, I was still wondering how the "bump" in my tummy would look like ... whether she would have double eyelids, would she look like me or hubby etc... Now that the "bump" is out since last November, it's amazing to see her grow and change each day! No wonder friends who are parents always say babies grow very fast... it's true! Praise God for this miraculous "bump" who has grown into an adorable & active 10-month old Raychelle!!!

8 mth-old Raychelle - she loves to read!

9 mth-old Raychelle's 1st visit to the Zoo on Mummy's 32nd Birthday!

9 mth-old Raychelle on her tricycle

(she can't ride it yet but she can balance on it for a few sec while mummy took the shot!)

10 mth-old Raychelle on a blue Rocking Horse @Dr Rhonda's clinic

Mummy with Raychelle!

Raychelle, the little drummer-gal!

2009-07-11T21:28:00.004+08:00

Raychelle is now 8 month-old and she has started crawling since I bought the "Pooh-mat" for her last month!

Besides the exciting crawling practice sessions on the mat, Raychelle also kena her 1st "balugu" (bump) while on the mat... happened when yi-yi Xiujin came to play with her during my school holidays. Both of them were having a good time playing with Raychelle's musical instruments - shakers, piano, drum, tambourine, when Raychelle who was sitting upright did a "humpty dumpty" fall backward and her head landed on the piano with a "tud" and she started crying loudly! I was on the phone with my mum, and immediately I hung up the phone and went to pick Raychelle up, at the same, sweeping my hand around her head to examine for any "balugu" and there it was at the back of her head, a little "balugu"... poor thing!!!

Since the "balugu" incident, I was very cautious about letting Raychelle play with her musical instrument toys. I will only allow her to play with them maybe once a week under my supervision and I will also always ensure that none of her musical instrument toy gets behind her, in case she does the "humpty dumpty" backward fall again, I don't want her to risk hitting anything that's hard enough to give her another "balugu"!

Today, I decided to let Raychelle have a music-make-merry session after her lunch, as she refused to sleep and seemed to be having a lot of energy. Previously, she could only wave her shakers and tambourine or any-o-how hit her piano keys, but today she could beat her drum pretty well! She did a few sets of drum beating with her 2 drum sticks, quite a cute and hilarious sight, especially when she tried to aim for the drum properly with her drum sticks! As I was videoing her, she surprised me with her improvision - beating the drum with her hand, like those tribal dance...she must have recalled Daddy beating the drum with his hands and dancing around .... smart girl!

Raychelle has indeed grown so much and learning real fast .... I'm so proud of my cute little baby girl who has brought me countless joy & laughter since her arrival!

Thank you God, for the most wonderful gift of Motherhood & the most lovely gift of my little darling Raychelle!

Raychelle Learning to Crawl

2009-06-10T00:16:00.006+08:00

After going back to work on 26 Feb 09, the mid-year school holidays are finally here again! I'm so glad to resume my FULL-TIME MUMMY vocation!

Raychelle has grown so much during the last few months and it's really a delight to see her learn so many new things, like recognising English words, Chinese characters, picture cards, Math dot cards (all these are based on the Glenn Doman's learning methods for babies); eating from spoon; sitting up without support etc...

However I was quite concerned about one developmental stage that Raychelle must go through, yet hasn't gone through, and she seemingly unwilling to go through... the stage of CRAWLING! I've read from Glenn Doman books that crawling is a very essential stage for babies as it will affect their brain developmental progress ... if a baby skips the crawling stage, it is actually not a good sign, and it may imply future developmental problems (eg. poor motor skills, reading problem etc).

Though Raychelle has only turned 7 month-old, she is rather advanced in her ability to sit upright without support. One reason could be due to the fact that she's a chubby baby with lots of cushioning on her bum, hence she is very stable in supporting herself while sitting upright. Thus she is able to sit and play with her toys for very long. I also notice that other babies (usually babies of thinner frames) her age who can't balance themselves while sitting, will normally lounge their bodies forward and start "propelling" to move.. which causes incidental crawling, hence these babies enjoy crawling to reach for things that attract them. Unlike those babies, Raychelle doesn't seem to have any incentive to crawl because she is already very comfortable sitting up and playing with her toys. Whenever I turned Raychelle on her tummy on the bed, she will start "grumbling" in a very pathletic expression and sound. I also realised that it could also be due to the fact that she is chubby, she finds it harder to lift her body when she moves her hands and legs while on her tummy, hence she doesn't get to experience "incidental crawling", worse so while on a bed where her body tends to "sink" into the mattress! I was worried that if I don't help to give Raychelle the opportunity to learn crawling, she may be too comfortable in her sitting position that she may just move around on her bum, and one day just stand up and start walking while skipping the crawling stage.

Hoping to provide Raychelle the opportunity and safe environment to learn crawling, I went to Compass Point "Mini Toon" to buy a 130x200cm mat (something that those Yoga mat)yesterday. Of course Raychelle's 1st session, as seen from the video, was not a very pleasant one for her, as she was very unhappy to be placed on her tummy down position and was not willing to make any effort to inch forward despite me placing toys as "baits" (partly due to her past experience of no movement while sinking into the mattress). Nonetheless, I am confident that with more practice and loving encouragement from mummy and daddy, Raychelle will definitely make her debut crawl and gets to enjoy the crawling exercise once she masters it!

Raychelle learning campfire song!

2009-03-16T13:31:00.003+08:00

Since the last time I updated this blog, Raychelle has grown so much! She's now 18 week-old and will be turning 19 week-old this Thursday. More than a week ago when she turned 4 month-old, we brought her to a kids' hairdresser for her first hair cut and she was such a sweetie pie who remained happy sitting on daddy's lap throughout the entire shaving session which lasted about 8 minutes, enabling the hairdresser to have an easy haircutting session. Am really proud of my girl!

Raychelle loves to learn new things ... including learning campfire songs from daddy! Check out the 2 botaks singing campfire songs!

Seeing little Raychelle grow each day...

2009-01-17T01:17:00.007+08:00

Raychelle at Day 1 (6 Nov 08)

1 week-old Raychelle (13 Nov 08)

2 week-old Raychelle (20 Nov 08)

3 week-old Raychelle (28 Nov 08)

4 week-old Raychelle (4 Dec 08)

5 week-old Raychelle (11 Dec 08)

6 week-old Raychelle (18 Dec 08)

7 week-old Raychelle (25 Dec 08)

8 week-old Raychelle (2 Jan 09)

9 week-old Raychelle (9 Jan 09)

10 week-old Raychelle (16 Jan 09)

Dear God, please continue to bless my little darling to grow each day into a healthy, strong, happy & beautiful child of God who will do wonderous & victorious deeds for the love of God...Amen.

Amazing Gift of Motherhood..

2009-01-17T01:03:00.007+08:00

Before Raychelle was born, I was never a fan of babies, in fact they scare me! ..hee

Hence my confinement month was indeed a challenging period when I had to adapt to my new role as a mum.. a clueless one, a "gan-cheong spider" one, a "scary-cat" one... yet I managed to rise to the occasion! I bet all mothers do! =D

Now 10 weeks in motherhood, I simply can't describe the incredible emotion felt whenever I hold my baby in my arms & we both gaze into each others' eyes .. I can only say, "Thank you, Lord, for blessing me with this gift of motherhood..."

Parenthood

2008-11-22T21:23:00.003+08:00

Our first baby - Raychelle Gerardine Lim (weight 3040 g, length 49cm) has finally arrived on Thursday, 6 November 2008 at 10.28am at Mount Alvernia Hospital.

Life for darling & I has really changed ... ... for the merrier!

10 Things I Miss Most during Pregnancy...

2008-11-03T12:45:00.005+08:00

In no order of preference,

1) Gulping ICE COLD BEER with every munch of sinnful deep-fried food
[Consupmtion of alcohol is not advisable during pregnancy as heavy drinking can cause "fetal alcohol syndrome" which may result in a small baby, and often cause defects.]

2) Sipping Red/White WINE with friends around the RS-kopitiam table set amidst the relaxed ambience of the humble-RS-abode
[Same reason as above. It has been a long while since darling and I host any wine chill-out at our place!]

3) Dipping my roti into dark soysauce-&-pepper-flavoured runny HALF BOILED EGGS for breakfast
[Undercooked eggs increase the risk of contracting Salmonella. Contamination with Salmonella bacterium can cause baterial food poisoning which may cause a miscarriage or preterm labour.]

4) Savouring Salmon/Tuna SASHIMI in Japanese Restaurants
[Best to avoid any uncooked food during pregnancy for fear of contracting any bacterial infection.]

5) Slipping my feet into my size-35 HIGH HEELS ranging from 1-to-3-inches tall
[I've stopped wearing high heels during my early pregnancy, as high heels will be difficult to stand and walk well in especially when the feet and back are going to take quite a strain as pregnant me get heavier. Furthermore, due to water retention starting at the beginning of my 3rd trimester, my feet have swelled to size-38! I have passed all my high heels (except my 2 pairs of wedding heels) to my two sisters. Whenever I try to slip a foot into one of my wedding heels, I feel like I'm Cinderella's Step-sister!]

6) Wearing my WEDDING BAND on the fourth finger of my left hand 24hrs-7days a week
[Once again, thanks to water retention that my palms have turned chubby and my fingers look like fat sausages! My wedding band has failed to slide down my finger and gets stuck at the knuckle since August! Maybe even after childbirth, my finger will not "shrink" back to its original size and I will never get to wear my wedding band again!]

7) Falling into a cosy slumber in any POSITIONS (eg. left, right, chest-down, curled...) freely
[A good night's rest can seem an impossible quest, especially during this period of late pregnancy when the bump is enormous!]

8) JUMPING out of bed every morning
[The moment I lie down on bed, it's almost impossible for me to shift any part of my heavy body, what's more to have the agility to leap and jump out of bed! Almost every morning, I will need darling's help to turn my body to one side and gently lift me up into a sitting position, before I can drop my legs down the bed to slowly get down... sigh...]

9) Having the power to delay trips to the lavatory by HOLDING my BLADDER
[As my womb expands and presses on my bladder, the need to urinate frequently becomes a routine, and I simply have no say on delaying any toilet trips not even for a minute once I feel the urge, unless I want to risk peeing into my undies should an unexpected sneeze or laughter explodes!]

10) For me to know ... For you to guess... hee

Newly-arrived October Babies!

2008-11-02T10:48:00.005+08:00

Though the expected due date of our Baby R is 19 November 2008, our gynae had informed us during one of my antenatal check-up in the beginning of October that Baby R is expected to arrive earlier in end October due to her low head position. The news really got Darling and I excited and we frantically got ready Baby R's room in an amazingly short period of time (an applausible feat considering that both Darling & I are Great Proscratinator ... even some of our wedding preparations close to two years ago were still undone on the eve of our Big Day!)!

Well, October is over! Here comes November ... Baby R is still happily doing her "head-stand" in mummy's womb, growing chubbier each day! Seems like Baby R truly understands her parents' nature, thus deliberately gave us the wrong signal last month so that history of the Great Proscratinators would not repeat itself and we would not end up doing things last minute or even not have her room and stuff ready when she really arrives!

Anyway, arriving ahead of Baby R in October are two adorable babies - Baby Gal Fang En & Baby Boy Wei Jun! Congratulations to our good friends who are the proud parents of these two lovely bundles of joy!

Congrats to Daddy Jit Kai, Mummy Clarin & GorGor Fang Zhe on the arrival of Baby/Meimei Fang En on 17 October 2008!

Congrats to Daddy Jieqiang & Mummy Peiling on the arrival of their first-born, Baby Wei Jun on 31 October 2008!
May God bless these two lovable babies with healthy growth filled with abundance of love, joy & laughter!

The Boy who cried, "Wolf!"

2008-10-28T15:44:00.004+08:00

Awaiting the arrival of our first baby is accompanied by feelings of anticipation, excitement, curiosity, nervousness, apprehension, and impatience...

There were several occasions of "false alarms" when I thought the severe tummy pains I was experiencing was from the contractions of labour, but they turned out to be "Braxton Hicks" contractions, which went off after a while.

The first time we had a "false alarm" was last Wednesday night, on the way home after having dinner and watching channel-8 9pm Chinese series at my mum's house. Darling saw that I was in great pain and tried to drive fast yet steadily (to avoid humpy ride) so that we could rush home for my shower (probably the last one before labour till the one-month confinement period is over!) and to grab our "baby delivery bag" before making our way to Mount Alvernia. However, the crescendo came to a plunge when my pain went away after my shower and didn't return while I rested on my bed!

Subsequently, whenever I told Darling that I'm experiencing contraction pains, he would give that "unbelieving smile" and said, "Darling, it's not time yet! You are just like the boy who cried, 'Wolf!'" ...

Pregnancy ... An Amazingly Awesome Experience!

2008-10-25T11:24:00.004+08:00

Going through a pregnancy is an amazingly awesome experience that is beyond words...

At each visit to my gynae for my antenatal check-up, there's bound to be new discoveries of our baby which surprise us or make us laugh!!!

The 1st time (24 March 08) we saw her on the ultrasound scan monitor, she was just a "bean"-like dot!

The 2nd time (5 April 08), she had progressed to resemble the shape of a "tadpole", and there was a flicking black dot which was her heart beating!

The 3rd time (3 May 08), she was standing upright, with arms outstretched, and legs bouncing, as if she was dancing! When we tried to have a close-up look at her, she used both hands to cover her eyes!

The 4th time (6 June 08), she had grown taller and could no longer be in a standing position due to space constraint in mummy's womb. She was in a sitting position with legs stretched out straight like she was going to do "sit & reach"! She would also kicked her legs as if swimming "frog-style" or waving her hands as if knowing that we were watching her!

The 5th time (5 July 08) was our scheduled detailed scan of her at the 5th month. This time, the scan was longer, about 40 minutes, and we zoomed in to see her little parts - head, spinal cord, arms, hands, fingers, tighs, legs, feet, heart ... etc. Her mass could be detected for the first time - she was 600g!

The 6th time (2 August 08), her gender was confirmed - GIRL!

The 7th time (30 August 08), her mass soared to 1.358kg!

The 8th time (20 September 08), she was growing steadily and had put on more than 600g to a mass of 1.989kg! She was no longer sitting in mummy's tummy in her upright position, instead she had secretly rotated herself to a "head-stand" position!

The 9th time (10 October 08), our gynae called her a "big baby" relative to mummy's size, she was growing fast to a mass of 2.471kg! Despite being in the 34th week, her head had dropped to a low position, indicating that she wants to arrive earlier than her expected due date of 19 November 2008!

The 10th time (24 October 08), mummy's weight dropped by 0.1kg but baby's mass increased by another 500g to a proud mass of 3.091kg! This chubby girl really knows how to absorb nutrients from mummy for her healthy growth! Her head was even lower this time that it couldn't be detected by ultrasound scan on mummy's tummy. The gynae did an internal examination and announced that he could touch her head ... she will be arriving very very soon!

Wow!!! This is really exciting!!! Darling and I can't wait to welcome her to our RS Family! =D

Preparing for the Arrival of our Baby R!

2008-10-20T00:59:00.007+08:00

We are very blessed to receive a lot of "hand-me-down" from friends who have been very helpful in gathering their children's stuff, packing them and passing them to us!

I must have been a bad mum-to-be, as my kind friends have to keep reminding me to set a date to get the stuff from them, or for them to pass to me ... they reminded me to better get things ready when I can still move around with my growing tummy!

Daddy-to-be Raymond, just like mummy-to-be Shannon, is a Great Procrastinator! It was only a couple of weeks ago that he removed all his "junk" from the designated children's room (since day 1 when we got our house, the purple room is meant to be for our kids one day, however, it has since been a doggy's room, guests' room, entertainment room from time to time, & finally resigned to its fate as a store room after last Christmas!). With the "junk" relocated to Richards Avenue where our Baby R's grandma stays, and a new coat of paint, we are ready to bring in the babies' stuff (which had been sitting in all the empty corners of our living room) kindly passed to us by Aunties Hwee San, Sharon, Janet & Serene (mummy's friends) and Uncles Michael (daddy's cousin), Rusty and Calvin (daddy's friends).

Since last week when Dr Kenneth Lee announced that Baby R is going to arrive early at the end of this month (or anytime now!) instead of mid-November, we have been frantically trying to get ready Baby R's room, at the same time roping in help from Maternal Grandma to do shopping for mattress, bed sheets, towels, etc.

Praise Lord for our teamwork! Here's our proud list of chores completed:

Assembling the baby cot

Buying Toyogo Drawer Chest Set

Sorting out bags of baby clothes for 0-3mths clothes (those 3-mths onwards ones can still be hidden somewhere..hee)

Washing, drying and folding baby clothes including mittens, booties, beanies

Learning to operate the stroller, baby's car seat and rocker bed

Washing the covers of stroller, baby's car seat & rocker bed

Categorising the 5 Toyogo Drawers for the baby stuff to go in

Packing my Baby Bag for admission to hospital for delivery

Gosh... Baby R hasn't arrived... & I'm already exhausted! =P

"Babies" ... Mixed feelings

2008-10-11T08:20:00.003+08:00

Teaching two PSLE classes for Chinese this year has inevitably added certain pressure on me, not just in terms of work but on my personal life too. I have this “fanatic motherly” sense of great responsibilities towards my P6 boys. Hence last December, after much consideration; reflection on my own lifestyle; and careful planning of this year’s schedule, I decided to resign from two major church ministries (RCIA & Little Rock Scripture Team) which took place on weekday nights in the church. I was very actively involved in these two ministries previously, such that I was in the church almost every other night and the weekends. However with my new “P6 babies” in mind, I did not dare to take the risk this year to spend so much time elsewhere when I should sleep early to perk myself with lots of energy and “good mood” to take up each day’s challenge with the “P6 babies”. I prayed and discerned that though I felt bad to leave my ministries, I was not out of God’s service, I could still serve the Lord in the area of my vocation as a teacher! Hence I decided to dedicate this year of mine to work doubly hard, not just work for a salary, but work with a purpose to serve the Lord and to help the boys! I was confident that with my commitment and determination to adjust my lifestyle, I would be in top form to be a dedicated and committed P6 teacher.

In term 1, I was very pleased with my own work performance and even change of lifestyle (sleeping early before 11pm and even incorporating 3 days of exercise weekly). Then in March, after one term of bliss, God decided to assign me another vocation - MOTHERHOOD!!

My reaction when I found out that I’m pregnant, was to dig out my only book on pregnancy (a wedding gift from one of my dear colleagues a year ago) and flipped to the page on “Estimated Due Date” to try and calculate whether my baby would be due before or after PSLE period. Phew… what a sign of relief when I saw that my estimated due date would most likely be in November, a month after PSLE, which means that I could still see through my P6 boys’ academic year. Though people around me commented that I’m very “lu-gi” because my maternity leave would fall during the school holidays, I thank God that He’s only sending me the baby after PSLE, so at least I could still deliver my commitment to my P6 boys.

At my first visit to my gynaecologist, I asked him if I could still raise my voice in class and whether it would affect my baby, he gave me the “go ahead”! I was overjoyed! However my joy didn’t last long. One Friday, my pregnancy symptoms decided to sneak in during the seventh week of my pregnancy, I experienced horrible heartburns, poor appetite, vomiting of sourish gastric juice and giddiness … I was on medical leave the following Monday. As much as I wished I could get out of bed and come to school, I couldn’t. At 5.45am, I had to inform via sms, the teacher in charge of planning relief teachers to arrange for relief teacher; colleague Vincent to get assignments from my P6 classroom cupboards for the relief teacher; and colleague Yuriiki to clear up my messy table (I'm one who can work in mess unacceptable by the social standard) to make space for the relief teacher. The following days, though I managed to come to school (surviving through medication), was not a pleasant one as I continued to have those nasty pregnancy symptoms (especially heartburns) while having to put up a strong front in front of my P6 boys.

Since that day when I was on medical leave, I decided to accept the fact that those nasty pregnancy symptoms may be here to stay, what I could do instead, was to be more prepared and organised. I did my readings and followed tips from “experienced mums” on how to lessen morning sickness, such as eating dry salted crackers before getting out of bed (by my bedside then was a box of Meji plain crackers) every morning, so that I won’t feel sick and could get out of bed every morning to come to school. In order to take care of my “P6 babies”, I have also learnt to take better care of myself by making sure that I didn’t overeat (my previous indulgence before my pregnancy) and yet ate smaller meals (like a munch of bread or biscuits every now and then) to prevent heartburns problems.

Next, I had learnt to be more tidy and organised. I used to be very confident that I would be in school everyday and would leave chores like packing the day’s work on the actual day itself. But since then, I’ve decided to clear my desk (to create at least a small space for someone, maybe the relief teacher, to use) each day before I left and packed the stuff for the next day’s lessons into a trolley which my dear husband had gotten for me to use in school. All these were my contingency plans in case I felt or got sick again at the last minute.

I began to learn to accept my dual-vocations as teacher and mother. Thank God my discomfort was not here to stay ... I got much better two weeks later. I learnt too, to continue to be fervent in my prayers each day, asking God to keep me strong and be with me. I’m sure God will have His way, since it is He who gives me my two classes P6 babies and my own baby.

Maternal Instinct...

2008-10-01T09:21:00.004+08:00

In late February this year, I got this "maternal instinct" that God may be sending something wonderful to our RS family ... but after 2 "sticks of tests" on 10 March, I wasn't sure if God's gift was on the way... the other line (the pregnancy test window line) seemed too faint to be a true signal ...

The awesome "maternal instinct" grew stronger as the days went by ... though I wasn't sure, that "maternal instinct" urged me to be more careful and I even refrained from savoring a single drop of my favourite alcohol (red wine!) since that "maternal instinct" developed in me...

I simply couldn't contain my curiosity... I prayed to God to give me a distinct answer ... YES or NO? I went ahead to buy another brand of pregnancy test kit ... this time, one which was triple the price of the previous brand I bought but with a reputation of "telling the Truth instantly & accurately"!

On 16 March, a day before Darling's birthday,

God answered, "YES!"

Darling rejoiced!

I pondered...

Sweet Memories ... 1 year 9 months 19 days ago...

2008-09-28T12:27:00.011+08:00

This day I will marry my Best Friend; the one

I Laugh with, Live for and Dream with ......

LOVE

1 yr 9 months 19 days ago...

2008-09-28T11:18:00.013+08:00

Time flies... without realising it, Raymond & I have been married for 1 year, 9 months and 19 days ... can't believe that we will be celebrating our 2nd Wedding Anniversary soon, and this time, with a new member who will be arriving in November to share our joy!

Looking back on the 1st year of our marriage, the journey was indeed not a breeze, much had to be learnt, tried & tested to enable both of us to truly understand that living out our wedding vows is no small feat ... countless amount of efforts, love, patience, gentleness, faith, trust, kindness has to come from us to deliver what we had committed on 9 December 2006...

I promise to be true to you

in good times and in bad,

in sickness and in health.

I will love you and honour you

all the days of my life.

Coming thus far, we Thank and Praise our Heavenly Father for always lovingly holding our hands to lead and guide us on this journey of a lifetime together. Thank you Lord for all your blessings, love and guidance!

Testing testing...

2008-09-27T16:27:00.001+08:00

This is a carefree & sunny warm afternoon... and I'm in my 33rd week of pregnancy =D

I'm now lazing on my bed with hubby by my side taking his nap, & laptop on my lap, creating this blog site to leave footages on the happenings & growth of our RS Family.