My 10 years of Marriage

Sometimes I am just amazed at how fast time really flies. To be exact, Nick and I have been married for 10 years and 4 months as of January 2009. We did not really celebrated our 10th anniversary in any special way as I was still in my confinement after delivering Lucas. I actually sneaked out and we had a quick lunch at TGI Friday's at Queensbay Mall to mark our 10th anniversary last year. Nick also got me a nice little diamond ring that has a GIA certificate too *grinning dizzily*.

Many of our friends actually never expected for both Nick and myself to tie the knot at almost lightning speed 10 years back. I was the extrovert, ever-so-flamboyant and known as an ex-party animal type of person, whereas Nick was the introvert, shy and quiet where he spent most of his time at home with his schedules filled with only boring activities such as reading comics, watching the norm programs that's aired on national TV and clocking in to bed at 10pm *lol... I can't imagine I had such a goody-two-shoes as my hubby*. We were more like what Paula Abdul's number of "Opposites Attract" rather than the more commonly found couples that shared lots of common interests together.

We both met at a casual friends' hang-out where never even at the back of my mind could imagine I would end up going out with such a boring and not-so-good-looking chap. Can you imagine I was so mean... at a time I even blatantly told Nick that if I was given the score card to rate his looks, I would have rated him "0" => zero. And poor Nick was asking me softly in return "Then, why did you choose to go out with me still?" I told him that it was his inner beauty that attracted me to know more about him and it was also that part of his personality bowled me over. And you know what happened after I answered his question? He melted like butter.... wuahahhaahahaaaa....

Well, what basically was the inner beauty of Nick? Aside from being quiet, shy and extremely low in self-confidence when it comes to courting girls. Nick does not gamble, womanize, smokes nor drinks. He is the pure goody-two-shoes kind of guy. Believe it or not, he does house chores such as washes the dishes, cleans the toilets, helps me with the laundry - yup, including folding clothes, does gardening and bathe the kids. He is also a darn good handyman - my mom simply adores him whenever she needs a small fix on leaking water taps and pipes, electrical points and even to the extend of repairing some electrical items.

So, you guessed all those traits bowled me over? Nah.... not so much of those. I had 3 previous relationships before I start-on with Nick. They were none close to the beautiful traits Nick had. Most of them were practically fanatic about career, sports or cars, and the feelings and thoughts of a woman will normally be the last item on their list to consider thinking about. Nick allows me to speak my mind, values my opinions and shares part of the decision making process. He is a family-oriented type of person where sports, cars and other personal interests will come in least important when it comes to prioritizing his loved ones. So, now you know what keeps me to him.

Our adorable Lucas

Youngest of our 3 little darlings is none other than our adorable Lucas sweetie. Born on the 28th of August 2008, Lucas would be the last member in our little troop.

Aside from being amazingly sweet, adorable and lovable baby, Lucas has certainly been a miracle gift from God. Lucas practically had no tantrums and would hardly cry unless he has been left alone unattended for a long, long period. Even at times of hunger, he would just call out in little, little shouts asking for attention. The reason for being such a lovable baby is because he smiles and laugh a great deal. So, indirectly Lucas will be the center of attention wherever we bring him about.

I still remember during his early days whenever he needs to poo-poo, his signs are pretty prominent to tell us that he wanted to do his big business - especially when his face starts to turn beet-red and we can almost always hear him "nggh..." *lol* BUT... none of his poo will appear in his nappy unless we take it off and wipe his bum-bum clean before he gets on with his business. So, we can practically place a piece of kitchen towel lining his buttocks before he churns out his *ahem* - you know what lar...

At 2 months plus, Lucas started to drool a great deal. Not that he is teething or whatsoever *still scratching my head on why he starts to drool at such an early stage*. I have now bought dozens of bibs for him to use, as a fresh piece of bib needs to be replaced at almost every half an hour to an hour. I am praying and hoping that the drooling part will end soon, as we mothers all knew that a baby's pretty clothes will not look nice when it is covered under a huge bib. *hahaahaa.... sounding pathetic don't I?*

Anyway, Lucas just turned 5 months as of yesterday, and his greatest milestones this far is able to turn his position, holding up his head steadily and able to push himself up to view the environment surrounding him while laying on his tummy. Lucas is able to respond to his given name and will immediately smiles sweetly back at you. Oh yea! He goo-goos and gaa-gaas a lot too! Most of the time when we place him on the bed with a ceiling fan above him, he will start his babbling session talking to the fan on the ceiling *isn't that cute?*. Well, I am sure there is more to come as he continues to grow lovingly in God's grace.

New-found Passion

It was months back since I had wanted to start of with my newly found passion of digital scrap-booking ever since laying eyes on one of my friend's works on both manual and digital scrapbooks i.e. Hooi Ling.

Well, I had finally got the engines started and had spent about 1/2 an hour producing my very first digitally scrapped picture from scratch with some of the tools downloaded from some digital scrap-booking websites.

What do you think of the results? I used myself as guinea-pig for testing out the first digital-scrapping lah... pictures of myself was taken sometime back i.e. mid of year 2007.

Piddle, paddles of life... as we move towards Chinese New Year

Its been almost a week since my last post, and life has been on the fast lane for the past week for me. Other than the upcoming CNY preparations that are way behind schedule *mind me... I still have not gone for any of my CNY goodies festive shopping*, work has been pretty consuming over the recent week both for Nick and also for myself.

On my family, for Shawn is a normal school-going week. But something surprises me is that, he requested for his 1st bento from my maid! *psst... probably I was sharing a lot on Sandra's bento boxes for Indy with him lately*. And he specifically picked on the food that he wants to be seen packed into the bento box for him i.e. fried chicken drummets and sausages. But as he is currently recovering from a bad cough, I had promised him that he will get his choice of bento box when he has recovered.

On James, by right to have started his nursery days by now since he is at age 4 this year. But over some silly circumstances, and also that he has indicated that he did not want to start schooling yet, we are giving him another half year's time as allowance before he needs to be enrolled. Till then, he is still the temper-prone boy at home as usual.

As for our adorable Lucas, he has been a little ill this week as the viruses from his two elder brothers had caught him - flu and cough. Poor baby... earlier he was sneezing pretty frequently and experienced several nose blocks during nights. And now, he is coughing - mostly at night. Hey, speaking of coughing at night - Nick and I read an article circulated through emails that to relief children from night coughs, Vicks Vapor Rub can do the trick. By applying some generous amount on the bottom of both feet and then cover it with socks, within 5 minutes the child/baby can be relieved from the night coughs. And guess what? That trick really did wonders! Both for Shawn and also on Lucas.

Well, Lucas is still on the road to recovery, and is doing pretty fine with it. Nick and myself are not the type of people that brings our kids to the doctors at the first call/signs of illness. We prefer to allow the child's antibodies to do the first phase of defense rather than washing down both good and bad cells with antibiotics without giving the internal systems a chance to fight on its own. Mild fever is pretty norm when it comes to this phase as it is indicating the body is fighting with the virus internally. So, feeding them with ample water, plenty of rest and healthier blend of food will help naturally. But should the fever goes beyond 38.5 degrees celcius, medical attention is required.

That's for the past week updates on my life, my experiences and my family. I would also like to take this opportunity to wish all our friends, relatives and families who celebrates chinese new year, a HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR! May the "Niu" year ahead be filled with great health, good wealth and prosperity in abundance for all.

Boys will be BOYS.... James

Our second son, James who has just turned 3 years old last mid-October, and will be 4 years old by this mid-Oct. James in a nutshell is an active, playful, full of funny temperaments and is an independent soul with his own set of mind over things and issues.

In person, James is both a feisty and a heart-catcher over little, little actions that he'll do to bowl you over head over heels. As a baby, James has a cheerful laugh and has been a fast-learner and develops much faster comparing with other children. Believe it or not, at 3 months old, he was learning to mimic my actions, and practicing it fast. At 5 months, he can even cry "di.. di..." as his indication to call his daddy. I really could not believe my own ears until after several attempts made by him. By 10 months, he started standing on his own and by 11 months has started walking independently without support.

On his power of speech, by 2 years old, he can clearly and correctly say in full sentences on his ideas, needs and wants. And by 2.5 years old, his brain was fully developed. You can test this out on your child to see if his/her brain is fully developed or not by asking him/her to bend both their thumbs simultaneously at the same time. If they can perform this action, it means their brain is fully developed. If they can't, please do not push them - let them develop naturally.

On food... ha... this is the best part, James is a bin. Why would I call him a bin? It is because he eats practically everything that is edible!

Unlike his elder brother, James is Shawn's total opposite. Shawn likes to play and makes noises as he plays, while James appreciates serenity and quietness. Shawn is friendly and is able to make friends instantaneously with others - both adults and children, while James takes a little while to warm up - especially to adults. Shawn is very outspoken, whereas James is a little shy. James would loved to be treated like an adult, he likes people to reason things out with him and he will oppose if he thinks and feels unhappy with your decision - which can be pretty daunting for a parent like me. If he does not get things done his way, he will try a different approach just to get his target spot on, which could be even butter-you-up method. Smart guy isn't he?

That's just purely a boy...

Our Little Man... Shawn

Shawn has always been a blessing to us. Being the first child, naturally he gets all the attention from both Nick's parents as well as mine. Other than being showered with unconditional love and gifts, he tends to get spoiled with all the goodies and sweets which should be refrained from taking during a bad cough or sore throat. Well, it still is happening till now.

Born in the year of the dragon, Shawn is 9 years old this year. His favourite past time is playing with the complicated LEGO and LASY sets, which he enjoys mostly other than spending most of his other spare time watching the idiot box - I call it - a.k.a. the television set. I practically had to peel him off the set when he's glued to it, just to get him to go about doing his homework and chores.

Food choice.... *sigh* is always a challenge to serve him with a decent meal. Shawn hates prawns, fishes, seafood, pork and now to add into the list - even his used-to-be-favourite snack i.e. cheese! In short... he's a real picky-eater! Up to the extend of picking out those items listed out above if he sees them lying in his dish *faint*.

In person, Shawn is a cheerful, pretty independent and is a very loving soul. I still remember an incident when he was only 3 years old, and he was alone with me when I was very sick - breathlessness actually. He cared for me, fetch me water, hold my cup, recovered it for me and even did little back rubs for me *awwww... so sweet*.

Well... that's our little man...

Life in the past week

This is further to Bonnie's question...

On Shawn...
School for Shawn this year was pretty fine for a start. Since this year is his first year in morning school (his primary 1 and 2 was in the afternoon session), he can cope with it pretty well - especially for an ADHD child. I have to admit that I am quite restless initially as I worried sick if he can adapt well with the switch - knowing that he's an night-owl that doesn't go to bed without me *ahem....* holding my cane. Well, I am certainly very happy that when it turned out otherwise, and that he is performing and behaving quite well this year.

Shawn's mode of transport to and fro from school has been with the school bus since his primary 1 days. So, there are no changes other than the school hours for him. And being at primary 3 this year, he is pretty independent in knowing what to expect and be prepared for in a fresh year. To be exact, after the second day of school, I haven't been appearing to his school during his recess break - and he has been coping with it very well *I am impressed with my boy*.

On my CNY preparation...
To be honest, I have done nothing for CNY this year *grinning shyly*. You'll be asking why so late still have not started with my preparation - my answer: not in the mood. With the gloominess lurking in the air on the uncertainty for most people in the industry due to the economic downturn, and knowing darn well what is coming right after CNY, my hubby and myself really do not have any mood to celebrate CNY. We intend to just give angpows to my parents and ILs only, and probably get a few boxes of mandarins for gift-exchange during house visits. Extremely simple hor... yea... have to agree to that. No CNY props and decos up in my house either, coz we are not planning to invite anyone over too. Yup, our spirit is that low.

Why so low when it doesn't affect us? - you might be thinking... Well, though it will not affect us, but it will affect the market. When people loose their jobs, the spending power is lowered directly, crime rate will increase, and God knows what will happen next. Coupled with the passing of one of my uncles - at the age of 68 only, and being an ex-Malaysian footballer who frequented medical check-ups and clinical visits, and has a good medical record - died of a heart failure.... we hardly could spark off any interest to celebrate the CNY.

Well, just hope that a trip to the mall this weekend to stock up some items will help to alleviate our emotions.

Loosing Pace?

I have not been blogging this year and I must admit that I really do not know where should I start. Well, let's just start with the beginning of the year. We did not really celebrated new year like most youngsters do when they usher in the new year. New year was pretty blended in like any other days for a family of 5 for us.

And with the rushing and tying up loose ends before I take leave from my previous employer, I could hardly recall what took place other than some last minute handover as my assistant was away on long vacation till 2nd January 2009, which so happens to be my last day with the company as well.

Right then, it was the start of a fresh school year for Shawn and I had a hell of a time rushing in and out and making sure all needs and necessities are there and ready for him, coupled with my own errands to run before heading down south to UPM (Universiti Putra Malaysia) on the 9th of Jan.

In between, I managed to take a little break to celebrate a good buddy's birthday and we had a great lunch at a Japanese restaurant located next to Harvey Norman at Queensbay Mall *pardon me I forgotten the name of the restaurant*.

And now, after the mad-rush weekend in Serdang/Puchong coupled with lack of sleep and rest, which include attending the funeral of my sudden demised uncle whilst I was in KL, I am finally back to Penang but down with a bad runny nose and sore throat, and loaded with tons of assignments and research work to complete by this quarter *eyes rolling with the thought of 7 assignments in specific to be completed*.

Everything happened past the last two weeks was like flashes in my mind, and I could hardly recall the specifics of each incident. Let's just hope that my cloggy nose will clear off soon and my blurry mind will recover its "vision" soon. *LOL for being in the state of blur*

Now, would you excuse me while I go and catch some forty winks so that I will end my zombie days soon. *wink wink*