Rapunzel no more

I cut Rapunzel's hair this morning...

That makes me the witch!!!
But Joe kindly said that it was actually the prince who cut her hair. Well according to Disney's movie Tangled that is.

Now I'm off to trim and tidy up that uneven end.

February at a glance...

In the blink of an eye February is almost gone. I've been mentally writing this post but never had the time to put two hands to my computer keyboard. Not to mention I've been so slack at taking photos of the kids.

February started with all of us still in the Chinese New Year mood. I let the kids stay up late on chap goh meh to watch fireworks from our balcony.

February - Isabel turned 3 months old and finally outgrew the newborn sized diapers. Yup...she wore newborn sized diapers for THREE WHOLE MONTHS!!! At 3 months, she weighed a mere 5kg and measured 62cm - the tiniest of my babies so far.

At 3 months and 1 week, she rolled over so I had to pack up the bouncer and migrated her into the (14-year-old) playpen.

She's a lot more responsive and smiley these days. Oh and her butt is finally a wee bit more meaty. Sleepless nights are still a norm for me. Some nights she sleeps 12 hours (with dreamfeeds of course) but her 12-hour stretches are from 11pm to 11am! It's not too bad because it gives me time with the Joe and Joy in the morning.

February - I went back to work. Just 4.5 hours x 2 days a week. It's good for my sanity and makes me feel like I have a bit of a life.

February - I lost a bit more weight and can fit into my regular pants though a bit snug. I'm now down to 51kg. Just 1kg to my ideal 50kg weight. I've also started pilates. It's a 10-session beginners package. My aim is to tone up my abs and hopefully 'repair' my seemingly-permanently everted navel.

February - Joseph is finally liking school. He no longer whines about going to chinese school but actually said, "School is not so bad after all". He likes computer lessons because the teacher teaches in English. I guess that's the practical thing to do because you can't call the mouse 'lau su'. He also likes PE and going to the library. Juara Cerdik did a good job in teaching him to read. So he loves it when they are let loose in the library and free to pick anything they like to read.

I've been telling him that he's lucky to be going to a good school with air-conditioned classrooms and toilets that are cleaned SIX times a day!!! Kids these days are so spoilt. When I asked him if the library has air-conditioning, he say, "yaaahhh....." with a look that said "abuthen....this kind of questions also you need to ask....?"

February - Joy is already asking how long more she has to wait till we make Isaac. She thinks I'm a rabbit!!! Right now...I'm living and loving one day at a time.

La Joyeux Bistro

**update on 3Feb2012 - there's a current promo if you want to try...

It may be CNY, but my side of the family has ang moh tummies. So instead of the usual CNY fare, my brother brought us to this pork-elicious place in Taipan USJ. We ordered most of the recommended dishes...
The pork knuckles were really good! Indescribably crispy and yummy!
Forget Tony Roma's. If you can't make the trip down south across the border, come here for real baby back ribs.We were so busy devouring all that porky goodness that we forgot to take a family photo. Nevertheless, everyone (even Ah Chor who claims to eat very little) enjoyed the meal thoroughly.

Earrings for my princess

Two days before CNY, we were back in Seremban already, and while the boys went swimming, Joy went window shopping with me and Tua Um.

As we walked past Poh Kong, I asked her if she wanted to have her ears pierced. She nodded and said ok. (We had talked about this earlier so it wasn't really a spur-of-the-moment-thing).

So we went in, she sat down at picked out the flower-shaped earrings then waited patiently as the gun was prepared. At this point, she started to feel apprehensive and asked me to hold her hands.

I held her hands as the guy sprayed ethyl chloride on her ears and then with another lady (one person, one ear) they held the guns to her ears...one, two, three...bang! And it was done! Very efficient! Joy didn't cry but was rather shocked. She held me tightly and said, "Too pain, mum..." but was quickly comforted by looking in the mirror. When she got home, she happily asked everyone, "Do you notice something different about me????"

Joy turns 4...and other updates

I've been rather slack in updating this blog.

We started the year with a 14-day fast and prayer. I skipped the fasting part because I'm breastfeeding but managed (by God's grace!!) to go for the 5.30am prayer in church for all 14 days....with all 3 kids and the last 5 of those 14 days were without Daalin (who went to India for a work conference).

Every morning for those 2 weeks, Joseph got up cheerfully at 5am and walked while I carried Isabel and Daalin pushed Joy in the stroller. I'm rather pleased with his enthusiasm for waking up early and obedience in going to bed early at night.

Isabel reached her 2-month milestone on the 5th and I did the 'customary' hand and foot print thingy. She's growing well - put on 1kg in the 2nd month compared to merely half a kg the month before.
Joseph is adapting to school slowly. He still doesn't speak because he thinks that everyone speaks chinese and BM except him. As for homework... it's so darn brainless at this point that I get Joy to help him.
Joy celebrated her 4th birthday yesterday. I bought a round vanilla sponge cake, cut it into a no.4 and iced it with the tub of mascarpone cheese that had been in my fridge. She then had fun decorating it.Hui-Wearn very kindly baked her a Rapunzel cake.
She was delighted, and it's just too pretty to be cut.
So now that she's 4-years old, she's agreed to finally ditch the potty and use the toilet.
So Joseph can be relieved of helping me to pour her pee and wash the potty.
Last night, we went for dinner at Halia @ Sime Darby Convention Centre. I bought Groupons so it was RM107 for 4 persons instead of RM68 person.
It was also a celebration for all the January babies - all 4 generations!
Blessed 4th Birthday Joy-Anne!!! We love you lots!!!

Keepsake moments

We did a photoshoot last November when Isabel was 2.5 weeks old. I love every shot that Grace took!

She's great at making my kids feel at ease.

We started off with some shots at our poolside.

Then it started to drizzle so we went back indoors.

This looks like a studio shot...but it's just her wonderful (and ultra compact) props and skill.I'm totally amazed at how she managed to make my scrawny and terribly jaundiced baby look so chubby and pink!

I'm a perfectionist so when the kids don't behave and smile, I get worked up. But Grace just told the kids to play and enjoy.

I'm gonna treasure these photos for years to come. Maybe I should do this on an annual basis....

Bus stop 2011-2012

We're three days into the new calendar year of 2012!

Reflecting on 2011, I'm so thankful for all that God has blessed us with. This was the year God fulfilled His promise to us. Our testimony can be read in the current issue of DUMC's Floodgates (page 7).

We moved onto our new home and found a new CG. Our new location enabled me to have a new job with a much nicer working environment and with a great boss!

I got pregnant in February and we bought a new car to accommodate our bigger family - Isabel arrived in November.

With so many good things in 2011, I am wondering how 2012 will be. How can it get any BETTER?

But God is a great God! He is an awesome God! He's not limited by my imagination nor comprehension. Therefore I trust that this God can and will bring us to greater heights, blessing us with more than we can ever imagine or ask.

What do we do?

We trust. We walk in obedience. God is good...all the time!

Cousin fun

The Singapore boys and Brandon were here earlier this month to visit and boy, did Joe have a great fun time playing with the boys! They especially loved the castle...5 knights and a princess.

At night, they camped out in the living room....finally sleeping VERY late after a big fun pillow fight!

Playing Rapunzel...

Joy insists her name is Rapunzel.

Princess Rapunzel.I made her a simple tiara out of silver pipe cleaners (cost less than ONE ringgit!) while she hijacked a long gold ribbon from one of the christmas presents and asked me to tie it to her hair. She asked me to stand at the bottom of her castle to pretend to be the evil witch!Of course she has a brave handsome prince to save her. It's so much fun when they pretend play together!

Blessed Christmas 2011

It's Christmas!!!This is Isabel's first Christmas and obviously our first as a family of 5.I refuse to be part of all the secular celebrations and excessive feasting that have nothing to do with the true meaning of Christmas.

May you discover the hope, joy and peace that Jesus brings... He's the reason for the season!!!

cups, cups, cups!

I was browsing... Joy came up to me and said, "I want the purple cup!!!"

me : huh? Why do you need these cups? Do you know what cup this is?
Joy : Ya... it's a suction cup....so that I can stick to you and be your siamese twin!!!

Nemo at 1 Utama

We brought the kids to 1 Utama 2 days ago for this.......arriving there just in the nick of time to grab the last 2 registration forms.

After a Q&A time, there was a puppet show with a clear message to NOT eat shark's fin soup! Sharks are friends...not food.

This was followed by a craft session and then some photo-taking.I was just so pleasantly surprised that my usually-sticky-to-me princess went in to the children-only area without any fuss. And this was one of those times when I forgot to bring the camera and wished I had a fairly decent camera on my hp.

**Photos were taken with iPad and downloaded from the Voila Group Facebook site.