2011 in review… through my blog posts!

I’ve always said blogging is a way for me to pen down memories, and hopefully once Jay & Xav get a bit older, they can have a laugh at the entries, and also realise what a blessed childhood they have had! Haha…

January 2011
We went for a family vacation to Bali, Indonesia, and spent half a week in this gorgeous island! And after that, we celebrated Jay’s third birthday… and started thinking and preparing about Xav’s impending arrival! What an exciting month that was! Haha…

February 2011
As Jay entered into his third year, he soon exhibited his streak of well, boyish stubborness behaviour. By going through a very disagreeable stage. Oh, that was a tough period. Which basically lasted through the whole year, but tapered off with the help of our trusty Mr. Cane, and also because he soon could understand some reasoning. Some. One has to manage one’s expectations when it comes to a toddler.

March 2011
We watched The Lion King! Yes, even Jay! It was wonderful! Definitely a highlight of my entire year! Apart from making those final ounces of preparation for my new little prince, it was also a period of “turmoil” as my domestic helper bid her final farewell to us, and we welcomed a new person to our household.

April 2011
I popped. And then I was confined. In one of the balmiest months of the year. *shudder!* But with the addition of my new little one, it was time for Daddy & Mummy to also talk to our own “house rules”… Haha!

May 2011
May was the month of the Singapore General Elections. Having just come out of my confinement, I was still kept in the loop about the “goings-on”, and I recall numerous heated and worked up talks and arguments and what-nots both online and in the coffeeshops amongst friends and foes and Singaporeans alike. Here was my very subtle contribution to this whole furore… Haha! Oh, and May was the beginning of another milestone… Jay’s first dinosaur toy, before he began his whole obsession with these prehistoric animals.

June 2011
The month of June saw a couple of outings, to the Science Centre, the Bird Park and even a ride down the Singapore River! Oh, it was also the month I was nominated as a Top 10 Finalist in the Best Family Blog category in the Singapore Blog Awards. Didn’t win, but it was sure a fun ride, and I got to know other Parent Bloggers like Maryann, Kelvin, Yvonne & Corsage. A fellow blogger I met once commented that mummy (and I’m sure he meant daddy too) bloggers are very powerful since we appeal to a very specific crowd of people. True, because we also can “see” the light in our own situations by reading other parent bloggers!

July 2011
I muse a bit about disciplinary actions… balance is always the key. While we are stern with Jay (and Xav in the near future), we also make sure we bring them out for truck loads of FUN! In July, courtesy of Disney Junior, we were transported to Never Land for a morning of fun.

August 2011
More antics by my funny little boy that cracked me up, but August was such a busy month for me, work-wise, we hardly went anywhere, save for a brunch at the now-defunct Tanglin Tree! Sad to see that place go, but at least we managed to squeeze in a visit before it breathed its last.

September 2011
This month, Jay introduced Blackie Smurf to the world. Erm, at least to my blogosphere. Couldn’t resist re-posting Blackie here… He now has a place of “honour” at the top of Jay’s toy cabinet! Haha!

His very own creation, of which I am super proud of him!

Probably why I started sending him for more art classes this month – courtesy of the Art Bug and WOWArt Studios!

 

 

 

October 2011
Jay’s first attempt at being a page boy, and I am still tickled whenever I think of how he went down the aisle. Or to be exact, jumped up and down as he went down the aisle.

November 2011
As Xav gets older, it also means more opportunities for “equal” playtime with Jay. By equal I mean times for play where Jay has a lower risk of accidentally hurting his younger brother. Or crushing him. And when Xav finally sprouted some teeth, it meant more opportunity to share food.

December 2011
And before I could hardly catch my breath, in the blink of an eye, 2012 is a few hours away, and I can only whine reminisce about where my 2011 went to!

Now, in the last few hours of this year, here’s wishing you an AWESOME 2012 ahead. I feel it in my bones, and trust & pray for a good year ahead. 2011 had its challenges, especially because I had to juggle two kids and a full-time job… but at least now that both my kids are getting older, I think (hope/pray) that 2012 will be a smoother ride ahead! :) For the New Year, I pray for:

• Good health for my kids, and Nic and myself… and all our extended family & loved ones
• Strong & loving relationship amongst my 2 boys
• Wisdom on Nic & I to balance and handle the 2 kids well… training them to be godly boy and later men of God
• To do and achieve more in our own individual careers
• More time spent with friends and family!

What’s your New Year wish?

The gorgeous new mall in town: 112 Katong

Living in the Marine Parade area practically my whole life (save for 3 years in overly-crowded Tampines shortly after getting married), I am firstly so glad to move back to this awesome area once again.

And the “rich cousin poor cousin” competition has been on for as long as I can remember. Parkway Parade with its spanking look, and family-friendly tenant mix versus the Katong Mall, with anchor tenant Cold Storage, the cool Awfully Chocolate outlet and… loads of tuition centres.

 
(Photo credit here)

I used to frequent the Cold Storage, primarily because it offered fresh food stuff… and short cashier queues!

But now… to my delight (as well as to almost all residents in this area…), the mall has now undergone a brand new facelift. But more than a facelift, it is as if it went under some major reconstructive surgery!

Meet 112 Katong. 

I was invited for a bloggers’ tour, and saw some of the offerings of this mall.

It was an enjoyable walk, and we enjoyed a yummy lunch at Nando’s after that too!

For parents especially, this mall should appeal to you (& the kiddos).

Let me introduce you to some of my favourite places in the mall.

#1: For the Foodies

Any mall worth its chops has to have a food court – with yummy offerings! Since the tour, I have also separately went to try out some of the food offered there.

(Clockwise from top: Popiah, yong tau foo & fishball beehoon soup)

Sure ain’t hawker cheap – but makes for a fulfilling dinner!

Other yummy food offerings include Nando’s (which opens till 3AM on Fridays & Saturdays! Whoopppee!).

Nando’s new offering – Meals for 2/4/6 pax… affordable yums! I also heard that they are having a Breakfast menu – so I am looking forward to trying that out one day too!

Other restaurants include Din Tai Fung, Da Paolo Gastronomia, Canton Paradise, Soup Spoon… and more!

#2: For the Kiddies

Jay has found his new favourite toy store – Natures Collection. Check out their window display!

 

Chockful of stuffed animals, and the bear even looks to be snoring! Absolutely adorable. Store stocks Billyland animal figurines – which are right up Jay’s alley with their intricate attention to detail.

Other stores to plonk down money for your children include BabyBaby (selling high-end prams and products) & Zero2Six (catering to well, the 0-6 year olds).

And what better way to remember how the old Katong Mall used to be… by also having some tuition and enrichment centres as well! 112 has PerchingKids (an award-winning early childhood education chain from China), the Ballet & Music Company & Z Fencing!

Oh… and a MUST for the children… 112’s awesome rooftop water playground! (due to the dreary weather, I haven’t had to chance to bring Jay for this yet – though I can’t wait to do so!)

#3: For the Sweeties

112 is a dessert haven. Marble Slab Creamery. Seventh Heaven. Gong Cha. Max Brenner the Chocolate Bar. Obolo. –18 degrees.

Oh gosh… God bless my diet plans!

Jay with his Cool Mint icecream from Marble Slab… Very yummy!

#4: Our very own GV Theatre!

This is a HUGE plus for the mall. Finally… after the Republic & Liberty theatres have closed down, we have finally a mall to enjoy. GV Katong… 2 Gold Class theatres… Midnight shows without the exorbitant town charges. Aaah… I love it!

Went to catch Sherlock Holmes – A Game of Shadows with Nic on Christmas Day (after my in-laws gamely gave up their afternoon plans to give us some time off) and I loved it! Will need to try out their Gold Class theatres one fine day (when I am in a more splurging mood… perhaps for hubby’s birthday? Which is in a week’s time, actually… haha!)

The magical 4

4 years of age, I mean.

My adorably cheeky little boy. Is going to be four years old. In less than a month’s time. And I don’t know about you, there’s something super adorable about an almost-four-year-old sprouting words like “brachiosaurus,” “stegosaurus” and “ankylosaurus” – cracks me up!

And with his birthday falling on Jan 23, which also happens to be the Day 1 of Chinese New Year, it means… I’ve got to start on his birthday party planning soon!

I asked him what kind of birthday cake he’d like, but each time, I get either one of the answers. He either wants a pirate birthday party or a dinosaur one. Pirates? Dinosaurs? Pirates? Or how about Pirates AND Dinosaurs??!? (Jokin’! That’d be tooooo hard!) He can’t decide cos he loves both! Haha!

So I’ve started to look at some cakes, casually browsing through the online cake designs.

Should we get an Ice-cream cake? (A sure hit with the kiddos, though the design would probably not match the theme)

Or maybe cupcakes?! I, oops I mean, Jay loves the cupcakes from Twelve Cupcakes. The Chocolate Chocolate flavour will be a sure hit – especially with him! And customization of a fondant cut-out is pretty affordable, so whichever theme I want to go with should be do-able.

Or another 3D cake? Like how we did it for his safari theme last year. Only dinos or pirates this time round.

Oh decisions, decisions, decisions!

And I haven’t considered the party favors.

And all this for just his school bash! Family & friends wise… I really haven’t thought it through.

Well, a couple more days to try to discuss with my little birthday boy, and hopefully come up with some answers!

My Christmas week has begun!

Very often, my Christmas only begins when, well, it ends. After December 25, to be exact. There are so many things I'd THINK about doing pre-Christmas. Like getting a new hair-do, gel manicures, clothes shopping... And more often than not, I'd be too hard-pressed for time to actually get it done before the 25th.

Which explains why I am only doing my hair on December 26.

As in, right now.

At this moment.

In the hair salon.

Which my hair wrapped in shiny aluminum foil. And painted. Not a pretty picture. Which is why I am not putting any! Hahaha...

Audrey, my hairstylist, has been cutting, snipping, coloring, bleaching, highlighting my hair for, well, ever, it seems! I was first introduced to her by a good friend, Siang, and back in the day, she operated out of her house, where she converted her living room and had 2 chairs. Then the 2 chairs became 4... Then 6... And she converted yet another room. And moved to a "proper" location at POMO centre, and now, a second outlet at Far East Plaza!

And I adore her. For her cut, her ability to bring my lackluster locks to life, and giving me a heart attack, I mean, surprise each time.

A wise Pastor once commented... That when you find that good hairstylist, to not let him or her get away. And I have surely found mine in Audrey!

I even let her snip off my long hair!



THAT is how much I love her, man!

Well, I was (am) bored, but time to get off blogging and fully enjoy my hair experience. See you guys with my new 'do soon!

Now, where did the year go?!

I remember 2010 well. The year I was pregnant. The year I had so much fun with Jay. The year of loads of work (though that’s hardly new).

But 2011?

I must have entered some kind of alternate universe. Cos I distinctly remember giving birth. And seeing Xavier. And then before I know it…

He’s already 8 months?

EIGHT MONTHS?

I mean, I can’t even call him a baby. He’s more like a toddler. He doesn’t fancy crawling, preferring instead to wiggle and flip his way to the object of his desire, or flashing those huge peepers of his at the nearest available victim to carry him to what he wants.

He still adores his older brother, giving the shy smile every time Jayvon comes near, and breaking out into adorable peals of laughter at his brother’s antics (which are a-plenty!).

Xavier also enjoys *trying* to stand on his own two feet, and shuffling excitedly, so I see some walking in his near future. Haha! He also tries to “talk” to us, pursing his lips, and making funny baby noises, so we also foresee some yakking in the future!

With Jayvon, I think the constant sleep deprivation (waking up every two or three hours for 18 months does this) made me LIVE each day and FEEL each day that much more. And the fact that Xavier is a poster-baby by the very fact he was sleeping through the night before he turned five weeks old (from 8.30 p.m. to morning!) probably allowed me time-off.

What an awesome privilege it is to his Mummy. And I thank God everyday for this precious gift!

While 2011 has slipped past me thus far, I hope to enjoy 2012 more! Hahaha!

An afternoon of art!

Remember the free art workshop giveaway I had a while back?

Justyn was the chosen one, and boy-o-boy we were excited for Monday to come! Justyn’s mummy decided to sign the boys up for Deco My Tree – where the kids would get to make their own Christmas tree decoration!

Jay was used to the WowArt Studio, having had lessons there for the past 2 months, and it didn’t take him long to get to his (usual) cheeky self! Justyn, on the other hand, in an unfamiliar and new environment took a little longer.

But the boys soon got down to it!

Using moldable clay, they formed their Christmas ornament, and then proceeded to draw and paint on it!

This gorgeous purple star is Justyn’s final masterpiece!

And this is my son’s masterpiece!

The boys happily showing off their masterpieces. If it is tough getting ONE boy to pose for the camera, it is worse trying to get both to simultaneously do so. And to SMILE? It’s like codeword for make monkey faces!

The WowArt Holiday Workshops are still underway – so there’s still time to sign your kid up for it! :)

Disney Junior’s latest offering – for grown ups!

One of my first few blogging assignments (after the tiring last few weeks) was a yummy one – a lunch at La Nonna’s, with some other parent bloggers, to celebrate the launch of a new microsite called “For Grown Ups” (http://www.disneyjunior-asia.com/grown-ups/) on December 10, 2011!

This came at such an opportune time – cos the site offers guides on how to create Disney-themed parties! Is your kid a Jake & the Neverland Pirates fan? Or perhaps princesses are more her thing? This site offers simple enough recipes (even for the culinary-challenged like myself) and also decorations to match the theme!

The restaurant was also decorated, and we all felt like slanging “Aye, matey” ever so often. Haha!

From party hats, to treasures, to gold doubloons… as Mai of Disney Channels SEA showed us the new microsite, I kept thinking…

This time last year, my plans for Jay’s birthday party was already well underway! But now? *Cue the hair-pulling!*

Like I said, good timing this meeting!

Good food, excellent company, and more importantly – a great reminder for me to start preparing for Jay’s 4th birthday come January! (I even *ahem* took back the paper wand, cos it seemed a little too tough for me! Haha!)

If you need some party help, hop on over to Disney Junior’s “For Grown Ups” microsite!

Some blog posts are hard to title

I wanted to go with “I’m back!!!” … and thought, “Nah, too cliched.”

Then I thought of “Of beaches and…” and my brain froze a little as I continued to stone in front of the CSI playing on my TV.

And so I was gonna title this post “I hate hospitals, those blood-sucking…” and decided to hold my peace.

I can hardly believe my last “proper” blog entry was some almost a month back. Oh. My. Gosh. I hardly know where to start in updating where I’ve buried myself the past many, maaaaany days. Truth be told, the fatigue has also gotten to me.

Well, one week of my life can be explained in this montage…

The whole family (yes… with both kids!) was away to Bintan and then Batam for seven whole days! It was awesome – as we were satiated body (glorious, glorious Indonesian fare), spirit (we were so enriched attending the various sessions with the Pastors) and soul (I managed to sneak in an hour-long massage towards to end of the Retreat! Woohoo!)

It was as awesome as it was humongously tiring! I was on the planning committee for both Retreats, so this meant Daddy had to take care of the kiddos…

Which probably exacerbated his flu condition. And by the 6th night, he was down with a high, persistent fever that refused to go away even after he took some medicine for it. And once we finally made it back to Singapore soil, and once the kids & I were settled at home, Nic went to the A&E of Changi General Hospital – just to check out what was the matter. And he was promptly admitted. Which goes to show, the fun times just don’t end. Haha!

I went to see him the next morning. And here, I must first state that I have the highest respect for doctors, nurses and hospitals. But the ward that Nic was in coupled with the fact he told me the trainee doctor who attended to him tried, unsuccessfully, 5 times to jab him with the antibiotics drip was probably the last straw – and thank God for awesome, resourceful friends. Even on his off day, Kenneth came by to help me transfer Nic to Mount Elizabeth hospital, and got a recommendation for respiratory specialist to attend to Nic.

Well, he stayed a total of three days, chalking up a pretty huge bill, but thankfully now, he is okay.

Thanks all, for your prayers, support… and understanding! :)