My cousin's lovely garden wedding

My cousin got married yesterday. It's been quite a while since we had a wedding in the family so it was quite a big deal!

We had to be at my aunty's place by 7.45am to avoid being trapped outside with the groom's entourage.

Joseph woke up really early but Joy got up just in time to get into the car.

I dressed her in her new dress which I 'enhanced' by adding red organza roses I made. I think it looks so much sweeter like this.

We got home at 10am plus and the kids went to bed. I had expected them to sleep till about 3pm but they were awake before 2pm. Must have been super excited.

While my mum and I got ourselves ready, the kids busied themselves by digging in the pockets of my diaper bag. They found Joy's hats and hairbands and put it on.

I 'flew' to Cyberjaya in just 30minutes. We were a bit late in leaving the house and I was afraid we would be late. But we got there in plenty of time.

Purple was the theme colour!

This is the excellent worship team - fantastic job with only 1 practice.

Joy-Anne was very very hyper! She did a lovely job walking the aisle as flowergirl but I don't have any pictures as I was at the back telling her to walk to Nana. I hope the professionals got some good pictures.

And very busy during the marriage solemnization. Here...Albert sprang a surprise on Michelle by singing her a song after the signing.

Joe was really obedient - He sat still for most of the ceremony. And he wore the bow tie all evening. I made the bowtie myself. The shirt is from Domii. Regular retail price = RM99! Unbelievable! Of course I don't pay such prices. I found it on sale and paid only RM14.90. Such great timing too because it was the only decent purple shirt I found in all of Midvalley, and the last piece in his size.

Joy continued to busybody...dressed like a princess, climbing like a tomboy!

I actually had trouble finding a decent dress with purple accents. Everything was either too expensive or too gaudy. So I bought her this dress from Flowergirl in Uptown for RM75 (in size 3!!!) and added the purple sash and butterfly myself.

When Pastor Datuk Kee pronounced Albert and Michelle as husband and wife, she also clapped!

We took some photos after the ceremony, before retreating into the cool of the air-conditioned waiting room.

Once in there, we freshened up and Joy-Anne got changed.

Joe didn't change. I just took off his inner shirt which had soaked up his sweat, wiped his face and he was good to go.

Joe wanted me to take a photo of him holding a flower.

While waiting for the dinner to start, the children ran all over the place...

Joy-Anne would walk up to lots and lots of strangers and just say, "aunty...uncle...".

The dinner was good. Great planning. Lovely entertainment in between the good food.

We were busy taking photos after the dinner and by the time we got home, it was past midnight. The kids fell asleep in the car. We finally got into bed at about 1am. It was a long tiring day. But a very good one. This is probably the best hotel wedding I've ever experienced.

pretty dresses for my pretty princess

After we got back from Melbourne I found that Joy had outgrown all her dresses. So I was googling around for dresses and stumbled across Jesslyn's website. Her simple pretty dresses were very affordably priced.

In conjunction with the 2 family weddings coming up (both with the theme colour purple), I ordered this lovely dress in lilac/lavendar. Even with the short duration I gave her (I think I emailed her the measurements last week), she did a fantastic job and I received it today, giving me just enough time to get it washed before the wedding this Saturday. I purposely measured for a longer dress because I don't quite like them too short, exposing her butt.

Joy seemed to like the dress, walking around and trying to twirl the umbrella skirt.

I ordered two dresses to make the shipping more worthwhile.

Both look very lovely to me. Only RM35 each. (But prices have been revised now.)

I would have ordered more if not for the tight deadline. Thanks Jesslyn for the lovely dresses. Appreciate the rush job very much!

bully bully

I can imagine this must have been myself and my brother more than 25 years ago...

When the kids fight....I get the camera first instead of the cane :-)

All better after 4 days of fever.

Last night, Joy-Anne finally slept through without waking up with fever and to vomit. It has been more than 32 hours since her last fever and I believe she's all better. She was very happy and active this morning.
But she's still not eating even though she drank her milk without much fuss.
I managed to get her to model one of the many hairclips I made, and Ah Ku took some photos.
For more (and clearer) hairclip photos, visit Huiwearn's ebay store.

one tiring weekend past, one busy month ahead.

On Friday night, we got home from CG at 10pm plus and the kids went to bed at about 11pm. At about midnight, Joy-Anne suddenly got up and vomitted. She cried from discomfort and then threw up more (mainly water and thick phlegm). After a while I felt she was warm. I checked - true enough, she had fever of 39C.

I gave her paracetamol but she threw it up immediately. So I had no choice but to give her a voltaren suppository.

Saturday morning - she woke up at 8am plus feverish again. I took her to see a paediatrician. He checked and said everything was ok. Even her throat was not really red. So he suspected the infection must be lower down the throat i.e. her larynx since her voice was hoarse. He advised plenty of fluids and rest and to keep the fever under control while her body fights the virus.

So I stayed home with her on Saturday while Nana, Papa and Joseph went for Children's Church.

Sunday she was a bit better. There was a 12-hour fever-less stretch. But she still woke up at 4am this morning to throw up some phlegm. I hope that's the end of the fever.

these are for sale if anyone is interested...

Yesterday evening, I took Joy-Anne and Nana to Cyberview Lodge for my cousin's wedding rehersal.

The wedding is this coming Saturday, 1st August and Joy-Anne will be one of the flowergirls. I just hope she walks where we want her to walk.

It didn't quite help the the pageboy who's supposed to lead the way, didn't want to walk and ran away.

I will prepare Joseph to be the back-up page boy. Kinda like an understudy :-)


After my cousin's wedding, "Santa Clause" will be coming back from Philadelphia. I've to be Santa Clause's tour guide and driver and mobile ATM.


Then my brother is getting married on 15 August (which is the main reason Santa Clause is coming home).


Once Santa Clause goes back to Philadelphia on 21 August, we have Joseph's Sports Day on 22 August. Then it's followed by DUMC's Children's Church VBS (Vacation Bible School) from 23-25 August. After that, we'll be making a trip down south to Yong Peng from 28-31 August. And somewhere in the middle of all that, I'm thinking of having something done to get rid of my haemorrhoids which are getting more and more irritating.


So it's a very busy month ahead. I've still got a wedding photobook to complete and flowergirl basket to be done by this week.

It's been 9 years!

Daaling came home from the park this evening with Joseph and cake.I asked him what it was for..... and he said it was our anniversary.

Huh??? I scratched my head and racked my brain for the longest minute ever. And I still couldn't figure out what he was talking about.

What's the date again? 22 July 2009.

Err... what anniversary is that dear?

So anyway, it has been 9 years since I promoted him from friend to boyfriend.
This is the first time that we took a photo - first and only shot - and everyone is looking at the camera.

18 months going on sweet 16

Joy-Anne turn exactly 18 months on Saturday. Just 1 and a half.... she's getting pretty vain.

Talkative (according to Yee Yee, like mama) and smart too.


She knows her Bible characters and her friends...

Our latest addition...

We spent all of Saturday in church - 10.30am till 7pm plus.

Left home before at 10am to go buy some breakfast for my Little Lamb Ministry meeting at 10.30am. The kids played in the Music Room (which is full of toys and books) in Block D while we met in the Dance Room.

Then my mum and Edwin had briefing and prayer at 11.45am for today's Children's Church. There was a special event today - a carnival!

That started at 1pm. Joseph was very excited.

While Joy-Anne slept through most of the carnival, Joseph was very busy. He got his face painted then went fishing and came back with 2 friends.

He also went about to the various games stalls, throwing balls at cans and into cups, racing 'go-karts', eating candy floss and popcorn, jumping on the giant inflatable castle, etc etc etc.
In the process he won a few toys. He was really very happy today.

After the carnival, I gave him a bottle of milk and then told him to sit in his 'cave' (stroller, covered with my sarong sling to block out the light) and nap. He was knocked out from 4.30pm till after celebration ended at 7pm.

When we got home, I put the fishes into a container. Joy-Anne was very excited as you can see.... She wanted to catch the fishes and Joseph was trying to protect them.

Joseph wants to feed the fishes with bread crumbs. His papa says fishes eat dead mosquitoes. (????!!!) I'm not sure how long the fishes will survive. To prepare Joe for the inevitable, I've explained to him that as with all living things, the fishes have a life span and will die sooner or later.

And this....is just to make Yee Yee laugh.

After Joy-Anne answers "ok", Joe will say, "Hey...brother and sister cannot marry!"

Anyone can be a mother...?

I seldom blog about stuff other than happenings in my life but I'm making an exception for today.

How far should one go to have children?

I came across this when I logged on to msn today.

World's oldest new mom dies, leaves 2 toddlers

Three years ago, Maria del Carmen Bousada lied to doctors at the Pacific Fertility Clinic in Los Angeles in order to undergo IVF. She gave birth to twin boys in December 2006 at the age of 66, setting a new world record in becoming the oldest new mom. She had told doctors she was 55 years old - the maximum age limit for fertility treatments.

How is this world record something to be proud of?

Now, she is dead at 69 years of age, leaving behind 2 toddler boys not yet 3 years old.

Who will raise the children? I feel sorry for this 2 boys. They were conceived by eggs from a younger woman and donated sperms and then implanted into Maria. So who are their real parents? Children need a father and a mother. Why is IVF done on single women?

There will be no end to the questions. I just hope the boys will turn out alright.

back from UK

So the rocket came home... I mean Papa brought the rocket home.

I'm not sure who or what Joseph is more happy to see.

On the downside, we found the bag broken. The zipper lock is damaged, misaligned. It can't be locked anymore.

The handle is broken. Edwin found it broken while it was still on the baggage claim conveyor belt.

The expendable compartment zip is missing the zipper pull.

Either Emirates or KLIA had better compensate us for the bag. It has travelled all the way to Hawaii via Tokyo and also to Melbourne with no problems.

Emirates gave Edwin a 9-hour transit (from 6pm to 3am) in Dubai on his return flight. Thank God for his wonderful friends who picked him up and took him out for dinner and drove him around.

He visited the Burj Al-Arab...(I know..the photo is bad)...

The Palm (the famous manmade palm-shaped island), The Atlantis and other spots. Unfortunately the camera battery died.

Cars are cheaper in Dubai than they are in Australia. You could buy a proton with 1-month's salary....imagine that!

papa's coming home

Joe made me laugh this morning.


I woke up him up this morning and told him that papa is coming home today.


Mama : Do you miss papa?
Joe nods his head.

Mama : Are you excited that papa is coming home?

Joe : Yes. But I had fun. I like sleeping in your bed with you.

Mama : When you grow big like Ah Ku, are you still gonna sleep with me?

Joe : No...

Mama : But why?

Joe : When I grow big, I marry Ashlyn che che, get a house, have children.

(Ashlyn is our cell leader's 9-year-old daughter)

I couldn't help laughing but tried to do it very discreetly.

He's way too mature for a 4-year-old!