Messy happy kids

This is Joy-Anne having dinner.... See the mess....my mom says it educational!!! I've no idea how that's logical.

Please don't scold me...

Joseph happy as usual at bedtime (wearing his new Lightning McQueen pajamas in a size 8!! Cost - USD3).

When I laugh...you can see all the way to my tonsils!

Howdy... I've got a moustache.

Joy-Anne....she was so good last night. She slept from 10pm till 6am! I think it's a first. There's hope yet for us to go for our anniversary honeymoon in November.

Love those pretty round eyes she's got!

after hawaii

After we came back from hawaii, it took the kids a week to adjust back to Malaysian time. The first few days, Joy-Anne was pooping at 3-4am and Joe was waking up at 4-5 am. It was many sleepless nights for us. Then the following week, my mum and Edwin were busy with DUMC's Vacation Bible School. Which makes me busy as well because I had to get off work to stay home with the kids.

My 3-yr-old can roll his tongue. I can't.

Then my dad came down over from Penang over last weekend. They had a good one-night stay at The Saujana. Joe joined them for buffet breakfast on Monday morning. He enjoyed the egg station. After checking out, we made our way to Midvalley Megamall for some errands - print photo, collect $$ at post office etc.

watching over my sister so that nobody steals her away

At night, we went to Izzi for a 3-in-one celebration....my parents' 35th wedding anniversary, Joanne's convocation and Edwin's PVC Excellence in Research award.

oops...polished off all the food already

Ah Ku came from work and didn't bring his magic tricks so this is how he entertained Joe.

Other updates.....Joe finally let me clean his ear. I've been able to see a huge chunk of ear wax in his auditory canal for ages but he wouldn't let me clean it. He held still for like a few seconds and I managed to get this out....

five sen coin for comparison of size. the black piece came out after the 'gold' came out.

Then... for weaning himself off the potty and obediently pooping in the toilet, he got Scoop as a reward. (that's the yellow bulldozer from Bob and the Builder for those unfamiliar with kids toys). Joe 'bought' the VW bus and fire engine from DUMC's children church gift shop day using the points he accumulated.

And as for Joy-Anne....she's gaining weight really slowly. Depending on her mood, she eats a lot or none at all. I think she's growing taller faster than she's putting on weight. What to do...they are Edwin's kids and will most likely grow up thin and tall like him.

Walk in love...35 years and counting

Today my parents celebrate their 35th Wedding Anniversary. By today's standards, that's a very long time.

They are right now having a mini honeymoon Weekend Package at The Saujana. For RM250++ (10% off for Citibank Credit card), they get a night's stay in a Deluxe room (looks newly renovated) with buffet breakfast and evening cocktails. No photos because Reuben borrowed my camera for Joanne's graduation last Saturday. It's pretty value-for-money. We might take the same package for our annual honeymoon later this year.

For memories sake, we also made a photobook for my parents. I'm glad they love it. It's so wonderful to see how God has blessed our family and how we have grown.

More wedding photos

I've been busy the past week....hence no updates. Here are some more photos courtesy of YinFern Lu, my sister's new sister-in-law. We're still waiting for the pictures from the paid professional photographer.

My dad officiating the wedding...

New 'chan-ka'...

Cutting their lilikoi (passion fruit) wedding cake. It's not a for-show cake. They actually cut it up and serve to all the guests.

My grandma is very happy to have her prayers answered....at last!


A rare couple pic of ourselves...don't look thatttttt much older from 6 years ago I hope.

Page boy at rehersal... wearing new 100% cotton Tommy Hilfiger shirt courtesy of Rebecca's mum-in-law.

Hmm.....is this the right woman for me...?

My little prince charming and I

The personalized ring pillow I handmade....

standing ahead of Kor Kor

In the early (unearthly) hours of Monday morning 11th August, Joy-Anne reached another milestone - she pulled herself to stand up...all by herself.

Joe did it just 1 day before he turned exactly 7 months old and I thought that was early. Joy-Anne beat her brother by pulling to stand at 1 week before 7 months old.

We had just arrived home from KLIA at about 1.30am and were busy getting settled down when we found her standing in the babycot all by herself. She's been busy doing it again and again and smiling really happily when she gets up.

I've also got more hair now

Now I've to lower the baby cot another rung so that she doesn't fall out.

Delta & Korean Air gives bad end to wonderful holiday

After 18 wonderful days in Hawaii, we got on the airport shuttle bus to make our way to Honolulu Airport for our long flight back home.

Yeah...it was a good holiday!

Joe was happy to ride the bus again while Joy-Anne napped on Yee Yee.

At the airport we had a long time to say our goodbyes because the lady at the check-in counter couldn't find Joy-Anne's name in their system.

I can't get on the plane???

I also discovered that the seats we were assigned for the Seoul-KL flight were not bulkhead row seats i.e. no bassinet. After an hour of hassle, we finally got everything in order.

honi honi yee teow

honi honi yee yee.

Honi honi means kiss in the hawaiian language. We learnt that at the luau. So after all that honi honi, we took a long walk to the gate through the non-air-conditioned airport.

We flew Delta (code share with Korean Air). I picked this flight because it was had the least connections with the shortest transit time - only 75minutes in Seoul.

Excellence, my foot! When we got on board, Joe asked, "where's the tv?"

I had checked their website earlier and they boast personal AVOD (audio video on demand).

When the stewardess passed out headsets, I asked her where the tv was. Thinking I didn't know what the headset was for, the stewardess told me, "for tv". Duhh....what kind of idiot do you think I am? Of course I know it's for the tv. So I asked her again where it was, thinking that maybe the have it hidden in some hi-tech slot. And she pointed me to the huge screen in front.

It was gonna be a long boring flight. But the horror of horrors was when they started serving meals. I was surprised they did not serve Joe first since it's regular practice to feed the kids first.

Guess what? They did not have Joe on their list. The stewardess told me I had to request earlier. She also said Joy's baby meal was a late request. I was hopping mad by then. Again and again I had to explain (because the korean crew can't speak proper english) that I had made the requests when I purchased my tickets in March, confirmed again in June and again on Wednesday 6th August. All they did was say sorry. Too bad.

So there was no kids meal for Joseph. And their meal options for adults....? Beef with rice or beef with noodles. What if I have gout and can't take beef?

Joe ended up eating a few mouth full of white rice with butter. On the second flight, he slept 6 out of 7 hours and ate nothing.

no food...eat plate.

In comparison, our outbound flight on MAS and ANA was fantastic. They gave out cool kids toys, colour pencils and activity sheets. Joe kept himself occupied watching Bob the Builder and A Bug's Life. He also had special kids meal, served first.

doing my big business at 40000ft...shh...don't let others know.

So Joe kept himself occupied climbing up and down.

To make matters worse, Joy developed a face rash. Probably allergic to either the blanket or the wipes given out by the stewardess.

Sigh....caring indeed. I will certainly not be flying Korean Air anymore in the future.

Hawaii - last days

After the wedding on Thursday, Joe was happy to hit the beach again. This time at the calm waters of the Hilton Hawaiian Village's lagoon.

He really enjoyed pushing his new dump truck and bulldozer in the sand.

On Friday, we spent the earlier part of the day in the mall....yes, again. Joe liked The Disney Store very much. It's amazing how the shop people here leave you to enjoy their store without hovering over you (like how they do back home in Malaysia). You can do what you like with all their soft toys and nobody bother you.
Too bad I earn measly Ringgit. The plush toys are so adorable. There was a set of Handy Manny's tools and also the Little Einstein friends, and Darby and Buster etc...
At the Jungle Fun shop, Joe enjoyed bossing his sister around. He said, "Put Joy-Anne here", pointing to the seat next to him.
In the evening when the sun was less hot (and after the kids had a good nap while enjoying the air-conditioning at Barnes & Nobles [it's a book shop...like Borders] ) we took a walk along the shore line.

Waikiki is the land of ABC Stores and limosines

After all you can't come to Waikiki, stay almost 3 weeks and NOT see Waikiki Beach, right?
This is Joe's first time seeing boats at a marina.

The lagoon at Hilton Hawaiian Village

Further down the beach, the sun started to set.


We made our way back towards the Hilton where our day ended with the fireworks display. Joe loved it! It's been 3 weeks of many 'firsts' for Joe. First time watching fireworks, first time at a marina, first time as a page boy, first time at a zoo....he's learnt so much. It's certainly been a good holiday.....I kinda dread going back to work :-)