1st Birthday Party: Joel Ng

Date: 09 Oct 2010 SATURDAY
Time: 6.30pm - 9.30pm. Cake cutting at 8.30pm.
Venue: Pinnacle @ Duxton


Before the Party begins and while every adult is busy with party deco, a certain young man is caught enjoying some chilling out.

Birthday boy Joel.

My son. He is not shy when it comes to play.


2 suave little men who make their Mommies & Grandmas go Oooh and Ahhh over.

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY JOEL!
Hope you have an enjoyable time tearing open your presents.

Love,
Cousin Adam

The blue monster

For the first time in almost a year, my manual driving skills were put to the test because Hubby wanted to exchange cars.
It is loud, hard, and noisy with the BOV, boxer engine, and clanging of metals constantly ringing in my ears. Bucket seat offered zero comfort. Every traffic light and pedestrain crossing need to change gear. *sweat*
Driving it certainly needs some getting used to, but thankfully, to prove my Hubby wrong, I managed to get to my destination & back in one piece!
Sometimes, I think my husband just wants to tekan me leh.

This blue monster has come of age, but brings back fond memories of our "Before Baby" times :)

Fed up.

Maverick went off to grooming today... and in the evening, I am working, the groomer dropped the dog back at home..

Except of course, there was no one at home to open the door for the groomer and my Maverick.
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS MY MOTHER IN LAW??
The poor groomer has been waiting for an hour now. I told her specifically that the dog will come home in the evening. And I cant do anything to help because I am at work.
That's not all. I've been telling her to cook the organic oats I bought for Kai, for his breakfast. For almost 2 weeks now. And she simply refuses to cook the darn oats.

I am tempted to scream and shout in the air. Except I wont because it is beyond me.
Seriously, I only have one nerve left, and she is getting on it.

Two more months. I grit my teeth and feel/fill the void.
After which, liberation will be priceless.

Playdate @ my Mum's, Woodlands

It was totally spontaneous - I happened to get the day off for going to Mrs Lee KY's wake yesterday (I do love my job very much), and my cousin & aunts happened to be free/not working.

So..... the FANTASTIC FOURSOME. I lurve when cousins and kids group together!

Chloe (being carried), Bryan (the 3yr old in yellow), Kai (in black standing at doorway) and Emily (standing closest to my cam)

Chloe, Emily & Kai are born in the same year: 2009 (Emily is EXACTLY one day younger than Kai), and Bryan is the big brother.

Bryan, age 3, is supposed to be attending playgroup today, but he said because "it was raining in the morning", he didnt have to go school. HAHAHA what excuse is that to miss school?!?!?
Alamak. He's always full of excuses. LOL

After the playdate, Kai is "cleaning up"!

Marching around my Mum's place cleaning up.

Okays that's all for today. It has been a fun & tiring day for the kids and adults alike.
Family times are rare and absolutely cherished.

October is gonna be a busy month

Let's see, what have we got in October:
- I have to represent my ward to attend late Mrs Lee's wake at Istana
- a cousin's baby's 1st birthday party
- dinner appt with HK relatives
- Kai's appointment with Dr Simon Ng
- friends' wedding dinner at Fullerton
- Andy's friend's fiancee's birthday BBQ
- Bestie's birthday!


All these social events to fill up all our weekends.

And before we know it, we'll have to pack up and head to the land of Disney, good food and endless shopping! I heart Hong Kong :)

Theme: GREEN

Just last weekend, it was Yellow... But this Saturday, Kai had a penchant for anything green. He wore green to Gymboree, and he wanted to go on the green car ride outside Gymboree.

Another baby

I know Andy has always wanted another baby, and recently the baby-making topic came up between us again.
Me: But I'm not ready.
Andy: I give you 9 months. By then you'll be ready.

HAHAHAHAH Seriously, my husband is a funny man.

Yellow fellow

It was a lovely Sunday. The sun was out. We were invited to my colleague's home for Hari Raya and luckily she stays in 498J Tampines only so I didnt have to travel far from home.

My yellow fellow, dressed in this color because it was bright and cheerful. I love yellow!


We were near a huge field where people were kite-flying and there my boy was, playing with a rusty chain on the ground. I try not to freak out, because I dont want to be the "everything also cannot" detrimental kinda Mom. I just make sure I wash his hands after play.

Morning dew

The fresh morning dew formed a blanket on my car.
It is a beautiful morning.
I took the car for a spin along the East Coast with the wind in my face.
I am happy.
I danced on the sand, to the songs of the waves kissing my feet.
There is no where I wanna be now, other than right here.
Life is beautiful.
Life is grand.

Photos, in no coherent sense.

Just some random photos...

Narcissist me while waiting for Hubby in the car.... isnt the white very distinct after grooming?

and reintroducing my Mum's cat - Mango.
Contrary to popular belief, I am a cat person.
Cats are independent and they are secretive. They come and go as they please. They love to enjoy life and being pampered. Sounds exactly like us women, no?


Meow~

Rohin Foundation

The other night, Aunty Meena called me and told me some sad news about her friend who has just given birth to a baby Boy and her sorry plight.
She told me when she first read about it, she cried the whole night.
The full story & blog can be found HERE .

This is Rohin, the baby boy, who is diagnosed with an extremely rare condition called Amyoplasia, which happens in 1 out of 3000 babies, and is a generalised lack of muscular development & growth.

Rohin & his family face many difficulties and challenges from financial burdens right down to the simple tasks of clothing and diapering him.



I feel really SAD. As a nurse and a parent myself, I truly believe that no parent / child should be allowed to go through sorrow so deep, and pain so intense.
It is easy for us to take our day-to-day blessings for granted. The simplicity of having a healthy, normal family can easily be overlooked by Man's shallow desires.

Therefore, I strongly urge you people to chip in and donate to Rohin so that he can go for his medical treatments.
Any amount will be greatly appreciated by his parents.

Duty calls.

Nobody said it was easy, but working night duty is no joke!
I.is. e x h a u s t e d

When I hit the sack this morning, I thought I had died and gone to Heaven.
2 nights down. 2 more to go.

And then, I will have a laundry list of things to do. It will be the shopping date with my sista Charm, and a birthday dinner for my heavily-preggy Chris.
I bet she'll have a swell time! in a pun-intended sense. Heh.

Me also wishes to squeeze in time for a car wash, a spin to ECP with the Border Collie, bathe the stinky dogs, fit in Brazilian wax and a facial, and to visit my would-be Aesthetist Dr Chan. Very very ambitious indeed.

Detail Lab

You know, I am not that fanatic about cars. Apart from the fact that I do love my Baby Mobile loads and he has been my trusty companion on the roads everyday for the past one year - fetching me to work, school, home, places. That said, I won't readily spend alot of $$ on him either. Splurge on bags and clothes yes, but on cars..er...not really. The most expensive things I splurged on Baby Mobile were his Work Emotion rims which costed me about $2k. Even then I was like, I can buy a Chanel wallet and still have some change for $2k !! *gasp*
When I am feeling good, I handwash him and wax him up myself (with Hubby too), but on days when I can't really be bothered, I am guilty of mistreating him to the $3 carwash at Caltex Thomson. Ssshh.

But this week, I spent $400 to do car detailing/polishing. Come again? Who spends $400 on car grooming? But then again, who spends thousands on a single bag? Exactly. Millions of women (including yours truly here who is a sybarite)!
So yeah, I don't care if you accuse me of being extravagent but Ben (the boss of Detail Lab) is arguably The connoisseur for car detailing and the end result is definitely worth every cent.
He's really good with his hands. He uses top grade wax and his work takes up the entire day!

Ben is helpful and really friendly as well, and has a Golden Retriever plus an adorable baby so we kinda have things in common to talk about.

The finished work - my Candy White GTI is lustrous and oh-so-sexy, makes me have the urge to open my sunroof, wind down my windows and go for a spin at ECP in nothing but my Bikini and sunglasses, with the music blasting. Because if cars are men's mistresses, then my Baby Mobile is my lover.
Hahahaha I'm kidding about the bikini! :P

I miss my long tresses

Compare, compare.

After almost a year long of having my V-Becks inspired concave bob, I am missing my loooong hair.
I miss the hair which I woke up to kissing, the hair that followed the contours of my body, how Princessy and Pontianak I used to be at the same time. LOL.

Though I love my short hair too and received many compliments from friends and colleagues, it's an entirely different feel.
Short hair is - chic and modern, easy to maintain.
Long hair is - well, long hair.

May I announce that I am now on my way to growing my hair long again!

my Baby Mobile is injured.

When out grocery shopping with Kai on Wednesday, I accidentally scratched my rim on a kerb while exiting the carpark. See the first pic, the entire circumference of the rim is scratched white?!

And also, the 2nd photo shows a nick on my bonnet, though it is teeny and you probably wont notice if I don't say, but still, it's an eyesore to me now that I noticed.

Hubby won't pay. He said that he has to teach me a lesson if not I always don't treat my things with care. Yeah right. As if I would deliberately ram my car just to spend $$ on repairs meh... Still need to bring car to garage and leave there whole day lor.. Hmmph.
So anyway today, since I'm not working, decided to send my Baby Mobile to Detail Lab at Defu to do a full grooming and touchups. Ben, the owner, uses Swissvax or Dupont PPS which is like the Shangri-La of car waxes I suppose.
Here's a thread over at VW forum which discusses about Detail Lab.

I'm not a car pro so maybe you can hop over to the discussion thread and take a look for yourself.

More Gymboree

Andy & Adam came to fetch me from work today.
Look at the outfit Daddy picked out for our son :

I havent seen this shirt since months ago, wonder how Daddy dug it out?
I'm surprised he can still wear it!

Adam absolutely looooveees the cable cars everytime we're at Harbourfront. He never fails to point out to them excitedly and repeat "nai nai" (nice nice)

We should probably get him on a cable car ride soon. Or two :)

Before he walks even 1m, he will keep hugging my legs and give me this puppy look which has "Mummy please carry me, pretty PLEASEEEE" written all over his forehead. How can refuse??

Class starts. My boys march forward with their er, balls.

The 2 men I adore most in my life sharing some male bonding:




my Charming Little King. Cest la vie!

Our Level 3 class is coming to an end, and will also mark an end to his Gymboree playgym which we attend once a week.
This is because in Jan next year when he turns 20 months old, Kai will be attending playgroup, and it's gonna be a 5-day week, 3 hour drop-off program.

It will be yet another new milestone for us, because it would be his first time being in a classroom setting without us accompanying him.
I am nervous!

A Princess is born

On 6 Sept 2010, the stock came knocking and delivered a beautiful baby girl into the arms of my good friends Jenny and Palani.
Palani was brave to witness the birth of his precious princess and he even cut the umbilical cord! Woot!

Isn't Alyssa Grace the most precious little baby girl?

I popped over to visit Jenny and Baby today since I'm not working. She's so beautiful. I love her sharp features and crowning glory full of jet black hair.
I wanted to bake a diaper cake for her but she arrived earlier than her due date and I have no time to bake one. Maybe for her Full Month shower :)
All the pink and sweet saccharide girly stuff make me want a daughter for myself!

I may not say it, but Jenny & Pal are the best model couple I ever known. They are the kindest people I ever met, who wouldnt hurt even an ant, I swear it's true!
Baby Alyssa Grace is truly a blessed gift from the Divine. My dear friends they really do deserve such a precious little gift.

I know Palani is going to be the awesome Dad who is gonna protect her from the boys.
Now, I'm happy that Adam has more friends!

Lotsa Love,
Andy, Veron & Adam

Teething terrors.

Kai is having on-off fever over the weekend, and we had to miss Gymboree.
Other than fever, he's also having what the oldies say "green bean stools" - a pasty green diarrhoea-like poop with small bits which looked like green beans, and also loss of appetite. All he consumes are his breakfasts and milk.
Aunt LY, MIL and the Chinese Medical Hall people all think Kai is teething, his molars/pre-molars are probably erupting. He's also drooling like a tap lately.

Andy, MIL & I were worried and brought him to the hospital's A&E yesterday, but the doctor-on-call (not Dr Simon) didnt diagnose anything unusual and sent us home with Panadol syrup and some probiotics.
The doctor took his weight, which he was surprisingly still gaining despite the lousy appetite, and checked his ears, throat etc and gave us the clear.
Paranoid us :P

It's no fun when Kai is not his usual self... so hope he gets well soon!

This is terrible.

Andy has been working 12-hour days for the past coupla weeks.
Coupled with the fact that I am away for 9-hour periods almost everyday, I feel extremely guilty and unhappy that we are both missing out on our son's development, and seeing lesser of eachother.

I get up to work before sunrise. Andy and Adam are sound asleep.
I drive myself to work, Andy drives himself to work.
We get in touch with eachother through the day by means of SMSes and short tea-break calls.
I get home, spend some hours with Adam, feeding him, bathing him, tucking him to bed. I eat dinner alone.
When Andy gets home, both Adam & I are already sleeping.

Cycle repeats.

Do you see the big picture?
Where did our family togetherness go?
I miss the good old times. Simple times. We were poor but happy. Okay let me clarify, poor could mean differently to different people but yeah, you get the idea.
I didnt have my car then so Andy would send me to work / pick me home, sometimes with the dogs in tow. We went for suppers, and talked in the car, and talked to the dogs. This was then.

It's these little things that mattered. It's ironic. When people can afford luxury lifestyle, do they miss the small stuff that matter? When they have expensive bags hanging off their arms or nice cars at their disposal, do they think about the smell on their children's faces, or the wag of their dogs' tails? Or are they not even aware of what they're missing out on?

This is sad. But I promise, it is all for the better. It will only be temporary.

How to be a Mumzilla

I get asked every now and then about how I manage to keep everything together and not fall apart.
It sure is tough juggling work, a baby, clothes-and-bags-disease, shopping etc .. and unfortunately for me, I am not a SAHM!
On top of that, I have to study at night, fighting deadlines and exams.
I try to make effort in my appearance though there are days when I can't be bothered.
So anyways, here's a post for all you amazing Mums out there.


P.S. Included my pregnancy stuff for the Mumzillas-to-be


Holy grail when I was preggers:

L'Occitane shea butter soap
When I was preggy, if there's anything I remember most - it was having sensitive sense of smell. I couldnt stand most scents. And perfumes made me puke. I had to use this because the mild milky smell reminds me of a baby and this was the only smell I could tolerate.


L'Occitane Shea butter 15% body lotionThis is a light moisturiser but it smells babyish and till today I'm still using it. I prefer its richer version though, but this is good if you dont have ultra dry skin like I do.


L'Occitane Shea butter 25%
I swear by this even during my Poly days. I love its rich texture that hydrates my skin in cold air-con lecture halls, and its special milky smell which leaves me smelling like a baby!
I'm using it now because my hands are almost wrinkled from too much hand-washing. I'm not suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder or anything like that, but the nature of my job requires me to wash my hands about a gazillion times a day with chemical chlorhexadine soaps. Sounds terrible, no?



Body Shop cocoa butter
I alternated using this with my L'Occitane one, because I was reading reviews online and found mixed reviews on shea vs cocoa butter. I was kiasu and decided to use BOTH. Heck, I had only ONE chance at it, because I was only pregnant that ONCE. Can't afford to screw that up, can I? :P



Johnson & Johnson baby oil
This was recommended to me by my dearest Charmaine, who said all her mom and sorority of aunts used J&J baby oil and they have beautiful tummies with no stretchmarks.
I used the lavender version because of the smell. Works well, cheap and results (coupled with the above-mentioned butters) - I have not a single stretchmark. So Mommies, you dont have to splurge to have a killer post-partem bod.

My holy grails for Baby:

Cavilon diaper rash cream
This was first recommended to me by my Mum, and is used by the nurseries in KKH. Thank goodness for her, this has to be the Creme De La Mer for nappy creams. A small pearl-sized amount goes a long way, and heals nappy rashes by the next diaper change. Leaves a slightly greasy film as a barrier.
This really works wonders, just ask my sis Meena.

Secura diaper rash cream
This is another of my fav cream, I have to say between Cavilon and Secura, it's a tie for me. Unlike the Cavilon which leaves a slightly greasy finish, this leaves a matt dry finish on baby's bum. But I have to say that both works great.

Dentinox Colic drops
This is a real life saver when your baby is colicky and cries on top of his lungs. I've tried another brand recommended by Kai's ex-PD which was called Rid-wind, but this is definitely better at a fraction of the price. Easily avail OTC at Watson's and Guardian's.

Earth Friendly Baby bath products
They are organic and cheaper than California Baby's bath range, for organic freaks like me who want to go easy on the pocket.

Holy grail for my skin:

Origins Clean Energy oil cleanser
I am marvelled by this clever invention. It is clearly an oil which removes even your most stubborn MAC waterproof mascara but once you rinse it off with water, your face becomes soft and supple. Not a trace of oiliness. Brilliant. Worried about the mess? It comes with a pump.


Origins Never a Dull Moment brightening cleanser


Origins Checks and Balances foam cleanserI alternate both cleansers depending on my skin's needs.



Origins Never a Dull Moment scrub
I have been using this for years now, also since my Poly days. I try to find other scrubs but I just keep going back for this. I love the fruit enzymes.

SK-II Facial treatment essence.
My polymate Ivy told me this broke her out, and I was quite skeptical to use it at first because first of all, the price tag doesnt make this a pdt you can just "try for fun". But glad I did cos this works in reducing my oil production but you have to keep using it to see continued results. And the price ain't pretty!

Shiseido White Lucent emulsion
This is what I use to moisturise, hydrate hydrate hydrate. Like that it doesnt feel greasy after application.

SK-II masks
I slap them on when I am lazy to go for facials or have no time. At least I can use them in the comfort of home and still go about my chores - feed baby, wash bottles, sterilise bottles, yada yada.

Dear Skin Ampoule masksThese are only $2 per sheet, and a quick cheap method to masking when you just need a quick skin-rescue and dont feel like throwing $$ into an expensive mask. I'm having the Placenta mask on now as I'm typing this post.

Last but not least, the most important ingredient of my recipe is - lots of love from Hubby!
We check ourselves into a spa every month, just to destress and have some private couple time.
We dont sign any packages because we like to spa-hop depending on which credit card had promo.
For the month of August, we went to Furama Riverfront spa which had a nice couple room with a pond filled with lilies. Very zen and relaxing. After the therapy, we were served ginger tea and helped ourselves to the free Hermes perfumes in the spa. I used the Kelly Caleche one and smelt good all the way till past dinner.

So anyway, that's all about my current lifestyle must-haves.
Time to catch some sleep!

Love,
V.