My birthday celebration

This is rather late but better late than never :). I had a great time on my birthday and here are some photos to share :)

My morning surprise from papa

My birthday cake.. haha. I am 1 every year :)

My pride and joy

Eagerly waiting for me to take out the cake

She ate half the cake

She suddenly took out these 2 dots from under her laptop and placed it on her own face!

My best buddies, we will never fail to meet up on our birthdays

Hot mamas

Here is a photo my friends and I recently took at a CNY get together. 4 hot mamas and a single hot host with 4 cute little girls. The girls (yes we all had baby girls coincidentally) are 9 mths, 2, 3 and 4 years old. We are old school mates and recently caught up with each other again in Facebook.

Ladies ruled the house :-)

My little missy:
The 2, 3 and 4 year olds:

It was a memorable day, thanks ladies for hosting and organising it :-)

My best friend joined the club

My best friend finally gave birth to her little girl yesterday, about 8 days late. She endured pretty long hours of labour pains, induced around 7am and gave birth around 8pm (do the maths!) and did it all without any epidural. And guess what she said to me after that 'there will be no second one, CONFIRMED'. Ha ha ha that made me laugh. It sounds so familiar. Didn't we all say that when we first have our babies and the next thing you know we're all planning for the second one.

Although I had mine via c-sec in the end, I also endured 2 hours of contraction pains. I too swore back then that I will NOT go through this again. It was just too painful...

15 months later, here I am thinking of when to plan for the second.. haha. I am sure she will say the same a few months down the road.. let's wait and see :-)

Updates: much faster than I thought. She told me today (her little girl was 2 weeks old) that she was thinking of having a 2nd one.. hahaha LOL.

Hayley's 1st Birthday

As you would have known, we celebrated Hayley's birthday at a friend's restaurant. We booked 3 tables and prepared a 7 course lunch to cater to our close family and friends. Like all celebrations, there would surely be happy and unhappy moments.

Well, let's talk about the unhappy moments first so that I can end the post with the happy stuff :-). Like all parties that involves food, the most common problem is having friends who accepted the invite and then declined at the very last min - aka 'kite flyers'. 3 close friends did that to us so we were rather upset. Although they have valid and genuine reasons but we still can't help but feel upset but of course we do not blame them. So we ended up with only 7 or 8 people at each table with lots of food to spare. Thankfully we invited all close friends so they don't really mind packing back the leftovers else the food would have gone to waste and we do not condone food wasting!

Apart from the above, it was happy moments all the way :-).

Although with only a few friends and families, it was fun nonetheless. Everyone came on time except my mom who had to work so she arrived 30 mins late and everyone was waiting for her with growling stomach. I have 2 pregnant women at the party (both due in May), 2 moms whose babies are born in 2008 (both younger than Hayley) and another 2 moms whose kids are above 3. So the moms-to-be and the new moms and the veteran mom have lots to share and talk about :-). There were lots of kids and babies there to play with too.

I also invited Hayley's babysitter so that she could meet my family. Having aunty there really helped. She helped me feed and watch over Hayley when I had to entertain my friends. The usually friendly Hayley was rather shy on her birthday. She didn't allow anyone to carry her (at least not instantly). She needed time to warm up but thankfully she didn't cry when others insisted on carrying her. As usual, to keep her occupied to her seat, we have to bribe her with food :-).

Hayley tasted cakes for the first time on her birthday (well this is as far as I know as I am not sure if aunty ever fed her with cakes before at her place). We gave her both the cupcakes as well as the jelly cake. We gave her a little bit of each to let her try and she enjoyed them as usual (she'll eat anything and everything - proven from the fact that she ate an ant!). Even though she knew how to blow into the whistle, unfortunately she doesn't know how to blow the candle. She thought they were toys and wanted to reach for them. I had to blow the candles on her behalf and of course cut the cake for her.

Here are some of the special things I prepared for the party (apart from the cake of course):

1. A thank you gift pack for kids (I bought stationery, sticker pictures and M&Ms chocos). I wrapped them up nicely in wrapping papers. I also tailored made the cards with the special cartoon characters that the kids like. Eg Cadence like Barney, Ying Hui likes Winnie the Pooh etc. The gift was given to kids age 3 and above. Unfortunately I did not get anything for babies as I didn't know what to get for them. Sorry friends with babies :-(

2. Twin cupcakes for the adults nicely wrapped in a box which I ordered from Yummies By Audrey. They were specially designed in conjunction with Valentine's Day. If you visit Audrey's blog, you will also see Hayley's cup cakes being posted there :-). As for the thank you card, I did it myself using photo paper and photo printer. I even translated the message into Mandarin (for some of our Mandarin speaking friends) although I don't know how to read them :-). I used the free online translation tools and got some of my colleagues to check.

The party started around 1.30pm and ended around 3.30pm. We wanted to stay longer to chat but we have to respect the restaurant's break time which is from 3 - 6pm. The kids were happy to receive presents. Cadence my 4 year old niece even asked me 'yi yi, how come no present for my little sister?'. I had to explain to her that the presents are not suitable for Caitlin and she nodded her head. What a good little girl she is.

Hayley knocked off immediately in the car on the way back. Nothing I do will wake her up. It was quite funny and rare. She's not really the type who will fall asleep on her own. I guess the air conditioning and the rocking movement of the car really does the trick. Anyhow, it was tiring for her and us as well.

Here are some more photos to share (I am being featured here for the very first time :-)). As I have not received all the photos yet, I will share more in the 2nd post once I have received them:

The birthday girl

With her favourite pose - the pouty lips or ''chu chui' (pigs mouth)

The gorgeous 3kg jelly cake that cost us RM135

The 3 of us

My best bud Jessie and me (look at the bun in her oven :-))

Every successful party would not have been successful without the help and support of friends and families. Therefore, we would like to thank the following from the bottom of our hearts:

1. Andrew & Alexis for buying the 2nd birthday cupcakes and bringing them to us on purpose on Friday night. They were yummy (all the guests said so) and beautiful. Uncle Andrew is like a godfather to Hayley. He's also the Santa Claus as he often brings her gifts :-)

2. Dino (Jessie's hubby) for being my photographer for that day. Dino is now into photography and recently bought a new DSLR camera and the photos he took are beautiful. His first baby will arrive in May and the camera would come in handy to capture those special moments :-). They are expecting a girl with a pointy chin and big round eyes, just like her mom!

3. My sis Ai Nee for helping me collect the cupcakes from Audrey all the way from Mon't Kiara.

4. My eldest sis Alice for the cool Adidas shoe for Hayley.

5. Jodie for giving me discounts for the food, recommending yummy dishes and making sure everything turned out well :-). Everyone said the food was good and I am glad to hear that.

6. All our dear friends (Jane, Ling Yi, Samm, Kin Fei, Samson, PCK, Hock, Bro Chuen, Bro Chuen's wife and son, Dino, Jessie, Jodie, Jadrian and families (my mom, both my sis and tuaso - aka my eldest sis in law) who attended the party and showered Hayley with lots of kisses, hugs, good wishes and angpows!

And guess what, I was told that 14 February 2010 is also the first day of CNY. So it will be 3 happy occassions for us in 1 day next year. She sure is born on a very special date! HEHE

Do you feel the same way like I do?

I just have to blog about this. My best friend and her hubby recently returned from a trip to Vietnam. She is currently 5 months pregnant with their first child. They took a lot of very nice photos with great sceneries and photos showing day to day lives of the locals and lots of photos of Vietnam toddlers and kids. My best friend's hubby, I'm going to call him D posted the photos on Facebook and one particular photo caught my attention. This is the one:

When I saw this photo I immediately felt very sad. I posted a comment on the photo which said something like this "love the photos but it makes me feel very sad to see little kids being ill treated, dirty and looks like they were not cared for properly. This is the reason why I cannot visit 3rd world countries as I will definitely cry if I see this in person. You will understand how I feel when you finally become parents', well not in the exact same words but something to that effect.

D disagreed with me and replied to my comment asking me "why cry? these kids are happy. This is how they grow up, this is their lives. Although they are dirty, they are very healthy and hardly sick. Their immune system is very good unlike city kids. You shouldn't feel that way about them" again not the exact words but something to that effect.

I guess they won't understand since they are not parents yet. To me, although the kids are laughing or appear to be happy in the photos, you can't help but realise that they are growing up in such poor conditions. Although this is their lives and this is how they live, they are still kids. They take what they were given, they eat what they were fed with. My point is kids are kids. They don't know how to compare, they are not choosy and they have not seen the world. As a parent from this part of the world, I guess we could call ourselves lucky. Lucky to have homes, lucky to have a clean place to live in, to have good healthy food and to have clean water to drink. We can't help ourselves but to compare how lucky we are over here. I felt pity for them and sad at the same time. I am sure I will cry if I see it with my own 2 eyes. When Hayley had a little scratch on her face, my heart ached until the scratch disappears. I couldn't imagine what I would feel if I see my baby covered in black dirt, putting her dirty fingers in her mouth and not wearing any pants! I don't think I can handle that. Maybe the people in Vietnam cannot afford to look after their kids due to the hardship but my point here is, the photo makes me sad and I don't like to go holidays in places that will make me sad! Maybe some people will say that I am being silly and I will miss going to some of the most beautiful places in the world if I have that kind of a perception. But I can't help it.

Do other mothers out there feel the same way as I do or I am over emotional?

D ended the email saying that when he sees things like this, it makes him love his baby even more. I told him that he doesn't need to go see things like this to love the baby even more. He will unconditionally love the baby the moment she is born - its a she :-). And he would even give his life to her. That is how powerful it is. I guess he would only understand when the day finally arrives.

Rebuilding my Friendship (Part 2)

Last Friday I didn't get to date anyone cause I had to go back to work. I've been so busy with work (going to be busy until Feb) that I hardly have time or the mood to do anything at night. However, I did take the effort to meet up with some of my dancing friends who were performing in Sunway on Saturday afternoon. Papa, Hayley and me went over for lunch and we were hoping to also catch the show. We were late (had trouble finding a parking spot) so we missed it :-(. But I managed to catch up with them over dinner that day. It was nice seeing them performed although I didn't get to dance along. I really miss dancing very much.

I really dislike bringing Hayley out for more than several hours and that is why I hardly bring her to shopping malls. I do bring her to hypermarkets but very rare to the malls. I just hate the idea of her missing her naps. Sometimes I hope she would nap in the stroller but it just wouldn't happen. She is such an inquisitive baby and she likes looking at people, lights, anything or everything that passes by. She yawned and rubbed her eyes but she won't go to sleep. We even chose a quiet corner in the mall and walked in circles hoping that she would go to sleep. We failed miserably :-) and we gave up in the end. We envy those parents with a sleeping baby or toddler in the stroller.

We had steamboat for dinner that night and so she tagged along. As she didn't get her nap, she was rather grouchy. She refuses to sit quietly in the baby chair and often asked to be carried and entertained. We gave her bicuits but all of them fell on to the floor. Papa and me hardly ate anything that night. We were so tired of looking after her and entertaining her that we didn't have the mood to eat. Plus, the table were rather cramped with so many of us (all my dancing friends) and the weather was extremely hot. But it was still nice to be able to chat to my dancing friends and get an update of what's happening in the industry that I've left behind almost 18 months ago.

We left around 8pm and as expected, Hayley slept in the car. As we lived nearby we had to wake her up again to feed and changed her. Poor girl...

Sometimes I really salute those parents who likes to go shopping with their babies every weekend and spend many hours out there. I really don't know how you do it... SALUTE!

This weekend, we're going Ikea... hahaha. I want to buy her a high feeding chair...

Rebuilding my friendship (part 1)

Today was a fruitful day. I woke up at 6am (Hayley woke up at 6am!) and I snoozed till 6.30am cause Hayley poo-ed. After sending her to the babysitter at 7.30am, I went to the market as usual. Bought all the stuff I need and got home at 9am. Checked some emails and did some work and started my 'maid' routine at 9.30am. I had to finish cleaning the house and doing the laundy before 11.30am so that I could get myself ready to meet an old friend for lunch.

We had a good lunch and a good chat. Nothing formal, it was just to catch up and to rebuild the friendship. The first thing he said to me when he saw me 'aiyoh, why so thin one? I thought all new mothers have to worry about losing weight and keeping fit but you look like you need to gain weight' ~ lol. He also recommends that I get a medical check up done to make sure I am ok... see how bad it is??? Anyway, I promised him that I would get a check up done next week when I have some time.

We didn't eat at an expensive place (he was very kind to my wallet) but nonetheless it was a good lunch. Not so much about the food, more on being able to chat to him. The 1.5 hours lunch was a bit too short but it was better than nothing. After lunch I did some errands and got home at 3.30pm. I was exhausted and sleepy but still I was happy that I achieved something today.

Now I need to plan for next Friday, hmm.. who should I date? :-). Hopefully I dont have much work so I can go ahead and take my Friday off.

Losing my friends

Not sure if other new moms out there felt the same but I suddenly became very depressed over the weekend. I suddenly thought of my friends. When was the last time I contacted them? When was the last time we met up for a good chat or for dinner or even for a drink? I could not remember. I think it was before I had Hayley so that must at least be 9 months ago.

I did receive invitations but often I would reject them and after a few rejects, they stopped asking me. I did attend a gathering once but I left after an hour as I was worried about Hayley (alone with the papa for the 1st time and I am not sure if he could handle her). Some friends also took the effort to drop by for a visit but I felt bad. I felt that I didn't put in any effort at all in maintaining the friendship. Friends who understands will understand but there will always be a few who doesn't and I do not want to lose my friends.

I think I spend too much time on Hayley. I set too high an expectation for myself in caring for Hayley. I felt that if I didn't do what I had to do for the day, I am not a good mom and I am not a responsible mom. I have to make sure the same routine was performed everyday otherwise I would feel bad/guilty and its like my day isn't complete. As I only have quality time with Hayley on weekends, I made sure I dedicate my time to her on weekends without allocating anytime for myself. Come to think of it, I forgot when was the last time I actually went shopping for myself. Each shopping trip is to the baby's department. I also dislike bringing Hayley out with me to meet friends as she is a 'busy body' girl. Eventhough she is tired, she won't nap when we are outside and I dislike the idea of her missing her naps. I also dislike the idea of her missing her porridge or cereal or fruits whenever we are out. As weekends are the only time I had with her, I need to make sure she gets all the good stuff ie nutrients etc from the food I feed her. These are all the excuses I give myself to stay home.

Because of all that I suddenly became lonely. I used to be very outgoing, dancing and performing everywhere and could never sit still and had friends from all walks of life. Now I am often at home and 24 hours with Hayley and becoming a 100% dedicated mom. Am I becoming too obsessive? Am I doing it all wrong? Or do other moms out there had the same problem like me?

A friend who cared made some suggestions like a lady's night out once every week or every 2 weeks. Just a couple of hours after work for dinner or shopping or foot reflex or anything at all except being home. She even offered to accompany me. Glad that I still have a good friend out there. Talking about this good friend, she is pregnant herself and warned me that if she ever became obsessive like me, I need to pull her out of the house ~ lol.

I think this is quite a common problem for moms who couldn't let go. It is not an easy decision to make but it is one that has to be made. My sister who had 2 girls (4 years and 8 months) had the same problem. We have also agreed that we have to find time, once a month to go for some self pampering activities. A spa day out or even shopping just for us. NO baby stuff. I said ok.

This Friday I am going to put words into action. I have actually made a lunch appt with a good friend who often came over to visit Hayley (with gifts). I am going to buy him lunch as I will not be working on Friday (clearing annual leaves). As I do not have the luxury of a maid, Friday is normally my spring cleaning day. I could only clean when Hayley is not with me or not at home and that day is only Friday. As she is now crawling everywhere, cleaning the house is something that I must do (again obsessive I know). It will be a tough Friday for me as I had to juggle going to the market (to buy stuff to cook her porridge for the weekend), to spring clean the whole house (fyi its a double storey terrace house), to meet a friend for lunch in PJ and to pick her up after it all ends. It will be tiring for me , no doubt (I always complain to my husband that being on leave is even more tiring than being at work) but I am going to give it a try. Wish me luck and I hope after a few attempts with different friends, I will be back on par again and be a happy mom. A happy mom will lead to a happy baby! Now you know why I lost 5 kg! lol

Gift from Aunty Eileen

Aunty Eileen is very sweet. She lives in NY with her hubby Richard and her 2 boys Jack and Rhys. Both the boys are very very cute and handsome :-). Rhys is a few months older than me and Jack is almost 3!

Aunty Eileen always buy me stuff from NY. She bought me dresses, Baby Einstein CD, Combi Food Processor etc.

See what she bought me recently :-). I love those dresses. Although some people still mistaken me for a boy when I wear a dress (because I don't have much hair la), I always forgive them. Mummy doesn't like to buy me dresses for that reason. Mummy likes to buy pants and shirts for me and make me look hip.