Baby M's grand entrance

Baby Maxwell Owen made his appearance a day after his due date on Oct 17th, 09! He weighed in at a whooping 4.3kgs / 9lbs 8oz.

 Obedient boy we say he is! He knew exactly when to make his appearance so it was convenient for everyone! And boy, did he come fast! Save all the gory details...but contractions started for me on Saturday morning at 6am. Then at 6:15am Mike asked me if i was doing fine, i said to him i think so! Then 15 mins later, he asks again and i still say i think i am ok...... he decided that this was it eventhough i was not convinced! So, he got up and got himself ready...whilst all that was going on, he also asks me if we should phone the hospital, i say no and finally at 6:45am with my contractions about 3 mins apart, we phoned the hospital and they advised that i have some breakfast before hand...which i did! Went to hospital 8am and then was admitted and he was born at 10:45am that morning!!! so not too long at al a labour! Praise the Lord!!!

All was well and Baby M and I was needed to stay overnight at the hospital. We got into the recovery ward later that day and Miks was very excited to finally get a chance to come to visit! She was ecstatic!!!Baby M did fantastically at the hospital! He slept through the night so i thought that it would be great times ahead!!! A day later, Sunday evening we were allowed home! Little did i realise, my joys of baby M sleeping through the nite was shortlived!!! He did not only not sleep that nite but he was screaming his head off!!!!

However, he did finally settle and slept for a bit that nite!!! We have all recovered well since then!!

It's countdown time!!

it is now 3.5 weeks to my due date! And we are all very excited anticipating the arrival of this new little one! For one, i am sure eager to find out what i have been carrying with me all this while...be it a girl or a boy! However, we've still got to wait till the little one is ready to make an entrance!!

Recently i was asked, why not jot down on your blog all the things i have taken for granted that i have never imagined that i would have difficulty doing normally!
So here is a some things i have had to improvise:

1. First thing i had noticed was my own disability to see beyond my own belly button! Now, even to look at my toes which of course every now and again i have them done was no easy task! It could only be enjoyed by me when i am sitting down! when I am standing i have to literally bend over to see it!
I had missed taking a snapshot of me trying to see my toes whilst standing at about 30 weeks...but this is me at 36.5 weeks.

2. Then i started noticing that my arms were getting shorter coz my bump was getting bigger... now i think if i were just that little bit shorter, or taller, it wont bother me as much. But at my height and the designs of the houses and their countertops here, i find myself unable to reach in front of me for very far without again having to bend over! This has been really interesting coz i've had to improvise of my food chopping! Having to do them sideways is not always fun! In fact, once my DH said to me something was not sliced thin enough! I said to him be glad that it is even sliced at all! Coz at the rate my bump is growing it is not the most comfortable thing to be worrying about how thin my slicing of veggies are!

3. Obviously nail cutting was also becoming an ordeal. One day i literally had to lift my leg on top of the countertop in the bath and tried to clip one toe nail the best i could!!! Not the easiest task! So what do i do? I managed to clip that one toe nail and then decided i wont attempt the rest! Just go and get a  nice and pretty pedicure!!

Busy but fun weekend!

This weekend was a fairly busy one for us! We had some friends up for a visit. It surely was an insight to how it could be when the little one is here.....Our friends have 2 lovely boys aged 3+ and 1+..... Miks was all over them and wanted to do just about everything for them! Which at some point does get quite scary.....since she is not that big herself...she tries to lift the little one to heights that she herself has difficulties in!!!

Our friends arrived on Thursday nite and Miks was so excited, she did not want to sleep...but she had no choice as Friday was a school day for her.....so she only managed to see them brieflyon Friday morning before heading out to school....after school, all she could talk about was when the boys were going to be home!!! And when they did arrive home, all she would do was play with them and did nothing much of her own! Then on Saturday, Aberdeen had an Open Day whereby we could go and visit some sights in town for free and also places in town otherwise not open to the general public. So we decided to visit the Fire Station. It was a big hit amongst us.....All of us enjoyed looking at the fire trucks up close and personal....some of us managed to climb in to pretend to drive one as well. Miks also managed to slide down a fireman's pole with some help. Although she did it only halfway! Mike did a try but not too successful, in my opinion anyways!!! Then Sunday was church. We then met up again with our friends for lunch at Woodbank and thereafter headed to the playground there for about an hour+... then it was time for our friends to head back down south:( ...so we said our goodbyes and see ya laters..... and headed home ourselves!

It was in all a fun and tiring weekend!!!

Being pregnant!

Well, am now offcially very very pregnant!!! Am now 34 weeks heading to 35 weeks....it has been exciting times for us all! Just back tracking a few weeks of this pregnancy..... we came back from M'sian vacation when we were already 28weeks excpecting! Wow! time has flown by!!! This baby has been great!! Behaves really well and gives mommy no reason to complain about being pregnant! I have had none or very little problems! This little one allows me to sleep well at night and does not keep me awake! I say to the little one before i go to bed at night good nite and that's it, we both settle into comfortable positions and we are both asleep for most of the night until i got to get up for a pee! Which is not bad considering i fall back asleep right after!

This bump has been growing great and slightly different from when i had my daughter before! I am what they say carrying all the way out front and have not gained much weight anywhere else! Whereas with my daughter before, i gained weight all over but also carried out front and fairly low! So lots of ppl have looked at my bump and asked, Girl or Boy? Do you know? I get lots of comments for it being a boy and a few of it being a girl! One good thing is that Miks does not mind what we get, as long as the baby is healthy and mommy is healthy too! So i have turned around and said to these ppl who are busy guessing, i am taking bets! if anyone is interested! Since for me its a win-win situation!!!

Anyways, a few weeks ago i bought this little one's car seat. We had been thinking of using Miks' old one but because of the design of the seat in my car, it was not so practical so we bought a smaller one that is specifically for infants only and not a combi one! So the combi one will be kept and put away until this little one is old enough for it! The stroller/buggy is not yet bought but i have a reason for that.... as i wont be able to do much for about a month after the little one is here, i will be placing my order for that during that time!!! At least i wont be so bored at home!!!

We have a crib/cotbed all set up! that is a hand me down from Miks....so no need for a new one! What is nice is the fact that i have not have had to get too much new stuff! Most of the big items we still have from when Miks was a baby! And Miks is more than glad to share her stuff with the baby! We even swapped Miks dresser out for the baby!!! She has not complained!! All she wants now is to have the baby in her room when it is old enough and sleeps through....but i have said to her, that is probably not going to be! But she certainly will get loads of opportunities to care for the baby!

Still here! Update on vacation!

Hello!! Wow! Looking back i had realised that i have not been on here for ages now!!!

Well, have been keeping really well! We had a great trip back home but then again at the end i was ready to come home! I was wishing for my bed! And of course it does not help that i have been busy growing a baby and expanding my bump! Things were just getting that tad bit uncomfortable at some points!

However, here is a rundown of our break back home!

We left Aberdeen quite eventfully! This was coz we had to evacuate the airport about 5 mins before we were supposed to board our flight for bound for London...there was a fire alarm that went off..... humff.....as if that was not enough, they made us wait outside the back of the terminal building and then made us get in line to get back back into the departure hall...the line was massive!!!! People were trying to cut the queue everywhere possible! Not fun!!! But anyhows, we all made it back to the departure hall in good time and the second time we went through security was funny, Miks had gone through it the 1st time uneventfully ie: no beeping of sensors...so she thought she'd be fine the 2nd time, but, she was not that successful that time coz she set off the sensors and had to be searched!!! Imagine the sight of an 8yr old getting searched / body checked by security at the airport! Shame as i did not managed to get a picture of it!!! Rather a funny sight!!! The look on her face was priceless!!! Anyways, all was well in the end! We managed to get on our plane in good time for our transit time in Heathrow! Gosh! Heathrow was another story! There were so many people about that airport, it is easy to lose each other from sight if we are not careful especially when Miks likes to wander about around! But anyways, we managed to get some dinner there before boarding our flight bound for Singapore! It was Miks 1st try at sushi and did she like it? Yup she did!!!

This was her enjoying little bowls of sushi and a bowl of udon noodles!

After that we did some walking around in the airport but i found it hard to maneuver around so many people. So what i did was to have Miks follow her daddy and i went into the duty free shops to have a look at stuff to buy. I ended up buying 2 bots of perfume for gifts. At least it was a successful shop! Soon after it was time for us to go to the departure hall where we were again met with loads of people! And all this ppl were also going to get on the A380 bound for S'pore! All the excitement!!

! Unfortunately i did not manage to take any pix

prior to boarding...was just too tired at that point!!! Flight was great to say the least for a 24 week pregnant woman! Was not too uncomfortable....and was able to walk around a fair bit!! Food on the flight was alright as well! Arriving in Changi was pretty fun! Only thing was we did not have enough time to browse around at the airport due to tight connection time! Finally we arrived in KL at about 9pm that evening. The first thing we all wanted to do was eat!! And the thing we had wanted to eat most was roti canai! And that we did! The moment we arrived a

t mom's place, we went to the 24 hr mamak shop that had roti canai! That was yummy!!!

This picture was take a day or two after arrival in KL. Also, whilst we were there, we had an opportunity to meet up with Pas. lynda and family. too bad Pas. Daniel was out of town. but he was really really kind coz he knew i liked durians, he called all the way from Cameron highlands to someone and had durians delivered to their home so we can enjoy them after dinner! The durians i have to say were absolutely delicious!!!!

Jet lag never seem to have left us, i think it stayed with us almost all throughout our break! So none of us was sleeping early or waking up early! It was always a late nite with late mornings!!!

After a few days of resting we headed for Mike's home! When we arrived in Sibu, the thing we had wanted to eat there was the local kampua noodles! (again forgot pictures, just too hungry to eat it right away!) That was again of course delicious!!!

Was there for a couple of weeks, then we went on and drove to Miri. Miks will say at this point, this is where she was born. At least that is what she can be proud of!!! Hardly lived there much! This trip was an eye opener to Miri coz having not lived there for a good few years, much has changed! They now have a flyover albeit a really short one!! Traffic congestion in Miri has not gotten better but in fact has gotten worse! However, Miri was an eventful trip as well. We managed to meet up with some friends whom we have not seen for a couple of years! And then on top of that the car/taxi (brother in law's taxi) got into an accident! Well, he got hit by a mercedes i hear them say....i was not there at the scene! That was not fun!!! But what was kinda alright was that we got to stay another night in Miri! So got a chance to meet up more people! Then it was back to Sibu for us and thereafter back to KL for a few more days. In the last few days we spent in Malaysia, Mike got sick! We all got quite worried as with the swine flu still rampant, we decided that since he was not getting any better, we would go and see a doctor! So we did and thankfully, it was not the dreaded flu but an upper respiratory infection! So meds did its job. But this was a downer for Mike as he was not able to enjoy all the good food around in KL.....too bad for him! But for me, i still enjoyed all of my eatings!!! YUMMY!!! Thinking about it makes me hungry!!

Then it was time for us to return to Aberdeen! Our return trip was pretty good with all things considered, we had a great trip home!!!

Vacation!!!

Yay!! It's almost that time again! Time to go for vacations!!! Can't wait! Going home to M'sia is always great fun! I am looking forward to good and cheaper prices for food back home! Plus i dont have to prep, cook and clean up after myself!!!

We are counting down! It is now 10 days to go!!! And also this trip is kinda cool coz i managed to book us on the SIA Airbus A380!!! It will be cool to try it out!!! Hope that it will be as good as they say it is! YIPEE!!!! The best thing is, Miks is usually great on long hauls!!! She i must say is a seasoned long haul flier! 

For me this time will be quite interesting as i will be 24 weeks preggie when we go back and 28 weeks by the time we come back.....that should be fun! Imagine trying to get into the tiny spaces in the aircraft! Hope i wont have too much of a problem! 

Hello!

Hello world!

It's been a while now again since i've updated on here..... but that could not really be helped since i have been busy with who knows what!!!! 

Anyways, we have since celebrated Miks birthday and she is a thrilled 8 yr old. She got what she wanted for her birthday pressie from Mom and Dad...of course Daddy was a star for getting.... not remembering mommy had to go and buy it and keep it in the car for the longest time!! Just so Miks would not find out!!! However, she loved her brand new electric scooter that goes at about 10mph.  Have to get a picture of her actually enjoying it though. She is quite good at riding it! Having said that however, she did crash into the bushes once and she came running home crying!!! But she recovered soon after...and the next thing we saw...she was off on the scooter again!!!

After that we had a great birthday party.... she decided to go to a ceramic painting place and it was a hit with all the girls there! They chose all various things to paint..... from elephants to skateboards...... that was nice!!!

Prior to that we also celebrated my birthday to which i got a great gift as well! I had been asking for  a new laptop and here i got it! I got a MacBook and it is great!!!  On top of that i got myself an iPhone as well! They are all fab!!!

Then we had daddy's b'day...... yeah i know 3 b'days in the span of 2 weeks..... i tell you....by the end of it i was sick of cake!!! I saw so many cakes for Miks b'day that i seriously told her i dont want to see cakes again for a while!!!

Anyways, for daddy's b'day we had dinner at home..i prepared one of his favorites which was lamb chops and it was pretty good if i must say so myself! The plates were cleaned out that evening! Even Miks enjoyed it loads!!

 

4 days till Miks is 8

It is officially 4 days till Miks is 8! She cant wait!! I wished she was not growing up so quickly.....

Anyways, we've got all the stuff for her party ready planned....she is going to have a ceramics painting party this saturday...she is absolutely looking forward to it! Me? am not sure...coz this saturday is a busy day for us! Birthday party in the morning, wedding ceremony to attend in the afternoon and a wedding reception in the evening....i know that by saturday evening, i will be absolutely shattered! Also this week is an exciting week coz this week on Friday we will be have our 20 week scan.....cant wait to see how much the little one has grown......I've always been very blessed as to not have my tum turn to weird shapes due to bubs moving about.....but sometimes that is worrying too......coz i dont feel movements very often.....but however, it's when i least expect it when i get a jab here and a flutter there.......

Latest Update: 28th May 2009

Today is exactly the day before Miks turns 8! She is really excited!!! that just means i got more to be done!!! I almost forgot to order her cookie cake!! Man! that would be a disaster!!!! But however, i did it... it is now on order and will be picked up tomorrow at the cookie place at the mall........everything else should be in place before the end of today....i hope.....i might have to head to Costco again though tomorrow....we'll have to see.....will update on how the day goes!

Got my day planned ahead...got to go to 3 different places just to try to get everything together.....will soon head out!

As for pregnancy, it is getting exciting these days....since i bought a fetal doppler, i have been having fun trying to locate where this baby is laying.....it is now getting easier to hear the heartbeats....initially was quite tricky.....this baby likes to hide from the doppler.......

Yay! tomorrow also marks 20weeks into the pregnancy and we will be having a detailed scan...and no we are not planning to find out what sex is the baby....we'll take what God gives us and let it be a wonderful suprise despite Miks protests......she really wants to know.....but we tell her its going to be a suprise!!!

10 days to Miks 8th birthday

Today marks 10 days to Miks 8th birthday....it seems it is not getting any easier raising a girl at this age......all she wants is to do what she wants and not what we want her to do!!! I wonder when that will pass......She definitely a person of her own mind......
The other day when she got masd at me for not allowing her to watch tv or play the computer, she decided to stomp upstairs to her room and says to me " I AM NOT COMING DOWN FROM MY ROOM NOT UNTIL DINNER TIME!!!!" So i in reply said to her, "Well, suit yourself" but minutes later i hear her stomping down the stairs saying..." oops i forgot to bring something up" I had to giggle at this.....she was adamant about not coming down and she realised that she had to just minutes later to collect something from downstairs.......she is quite a character....however after all that she did go back upstairs again.....just to come down for a quick dinner....by then she had calmed down and did not bother to be mad anymore......
Right now as i type this post, she is downstairs i bet trying to concentrate on homework which has to be done but her mind is already on the TV which again i have forbidden her to turn on until after homework is done......cruel you may think...but once that thing is turned on, i cant get her away from it...that's why i do what i do!!!
Every year for her birthday i always have a suprise for her...last year i took her to a manicure and pedicure....just to get her nails looking pretty....this year she has again ask for another suprise...but she said, can it not be nails again????i want something else......i said to her, so what would you like? Anyways, i said to her as well, if i told you what the suprise was, it wont be a suprise after all......but i do have something up my sleeve this year and i bet she will be really really pleased with it! Will not reveal for now.....maybe after her suprise is known to her......

Wow!

It's been quite a while since i updated this.......just thought i do a quick jot of a few things on my mind.....

1. We have moved house...still trying to make the house feel more like home by putting stuffs away...pretty unsuccessful on my part i think......Still havent got much progress.....well, actually have had some of the things out of the box already...but it seems there is still more to go

Update: 19th May

2. Pregnancy is going well. We are well into our 18th week now and nearing the middle point.....sickeness now is all gone for the most part unless i eat something that my tum disagrees with then i face consequences....;-)

3. Mikayla is turning 8 in a couple of weeks and i still cant believe how fast she has grown. She now has great replying antics to DH and I. I sometimes wish her tongue isnt as quick....but hey....who can complain! She is a handful to say the least!

4. Hurrah! we have a date for going home to Malaysia for a short break.....looking forward to eating all the yummy stuff to eat!

A week to moving day

Thursday....today is a week to moving day....now...it is going to be april fools' day....i sure hope that they are not fooling me when they say we get keys then!!!Else, i will be screaming at them.....
Anyways, i have called them to ask them (MDL Agents) if i could go in and have a 'viewing' to do some measurements to the rooms so i know where to place my furniture on moving day....they said yes...but i'd have to call them back...they said the flooring should be done by yesterday...now they think it's only the curtains left....so hopefully we get that done and cleaning as well......
Yesterday was also my last day at my part time job....i decided it was too much for me as i am absolutely shattered every wednesday.....come home and am extremely tired....so much so that i dont cook on weds now.....hope that i will start feeling well and stronger soon! I should be passing my 1st trimester soon!!! So, hopefully with that all my symptoms also disappear!!!so much for feeling good!!!The ladies at the playgroup were really sweet, they bought me a pot of flowers as a going away and moving home gift! So sweet!!!

Weekend is near once again!

Yay! Weekend is near! I can just smell it!!!!

Have had a rather good week! We now know when we are moving so doubly YAY!!!!!Have got most stuff confirmed, and now just waiting for B&W of the paperwork! And the wonderful part is......the floors are going to be replaced before we move in!!!! Somehow magically on Monday we got an email saying the floors were arriving at the end of this week and they will be able to install them next week....so that is WONDERFUL!!!! But i say, it must be just that the contractors and house agent must have had very itchy ears that day as i was going about how ridiculous it was coz they said the floors werent be able to be in till 1 May........so that evening the email arrived!! Sometimes i think talking about them does work!!!! ;-)
As for how i am feeling this week, it has not been too bad at all...but today i discovered that i cant stand the smell of cooked rice.....WEIRD!!! Most other things are fine......hope this feeling does not stay for long!!!! I am otherwise doing GREAT!!!
Oh yeah, yesterday i had gone for dinner with some moms from Miks class. We went to Malmaison. It was really good!!! Food and ambience was great! Unfortunately i forgot to take any pix...excuse to be back again.....so i take pix of the food and its presentation! Only complaint was parking spaces or that lack of......we ended up having to park a little further off and walking....nonetheless, good exercise....
This weekend, am part looking forward...part not sure what to feel....Miks is going to a friend's house for a sleepover.......she is very excited....i am not too sure...all really because of the skin problems she's been having lately....hopefully she will be fine...am going to send some antihistamins with her...one can only hope all will be fine.......plus the cough as well.....GAH.....just timing is not great! Can't say no to her now...coz she was promised.....

Goodbye Weekend! Hello Monday!!!

This week has been quite a week......i had been sick with the cold and stuffed up nose without being able to take anything for it. that was hard!!GAH!!!
Then on top of that, i had to be busying myself with packing up stuff for the impending house move which now looks like it may be postponed by a couple of weeks......due to the flooring not being able to be done before then.....hopefully they will have it done in a couple of weeks......so i will find out more fixed and firm details about when we are going to move by tomorrow.......*fingers crossed* it all goes well!
This past week i had also gone out with some girlfriends for a movie. We had gone to watch The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I had been forewarned that it will be a long movie...and indeed it was....we went for the 7.45 pm show and it did not finish until about 10.45 pm. Gosh! Were we all shattered by then...all i could do was drive myself home and then climb into bed........
Anyways, the movie was pretty interesting........we said 'at least it kept us awake' despite being extremely tired towards the end......;)
Then the weekend was spent doing more packing up....DH was doing most of the work on the weekend...as for some weird reason or another when Saturday rolls on, i get super exhausted and tired and unable to do anything.......;) So i rest most of saturday.......

Feelings of nausea

Well, it has been a week now since i have started feeling sick...i find myself at my worst in the evenings......just sick and yucky with no interest in food......Really hope it disappears sooner rather than later...although i must say that i am glad that i'm still able to get around and do things......

Had gone swimming yesterday after not exercising for too long.......but did not do too much....did not want to over exert myself.....however, that made me feel really good......the only thing is that i about got kicked out of the pool by a chinese friend of mine when she discovered i was 2 mths pregnant...she told me that she does not want to see me in the pool until i am at least 4 mths pregnant...according to her, it is not good to swim this early in pregnancy...but i say the nurse and docs probably think otherwise.....as long as i dont over do it.......i dunno...so until i go and see a doctor or nurse again, i shall stay away when she's at the pool....;-)

Miks now knows that she is going to be a big sister.....the look on her face when we told her on Sunday was priceless....in fact she said she was so happy she could not sleep that night!!!! She was totally over the moon!!! She now calls my belly "Bean" coz we told her that the baby now is only the size of a jelly bean......i wonder what will she come up with next????

Anyways, i am off now to go and catch a good movie with some girlfriends at the cinema......hopefully i stay awake for it!!!

Ah..the joys of being Pregnant

Today was probably one of the first times that i have felt pregnant....i think i am beginning to get the morning sickness syndrome......i hope that this wont last for long.....all day today have been yucky.......the feeling of nausea has not yet left me...the good thing is that i am still able to eat....the only problem is keeping it down.......at time of logging this down i just had another wave of nausea sweep by...nothing coming out...which is good...but the feeling is just terrible.....now i know how my pregnant girlfriend feels when she told me she felt very nauseated last week....that's how i feel today......

Well, this all started yesterday when i had some vanilla milkshake and apparently that did not jive well with my stomach......and out it all came after coming home from picking Miks from school.........thereafter i did not feel any better.....managing only very little dinner.....and then of course feeling really hungry late in the night.......then it did not get any better this morning coz i threw up part of my breakfast again today...which is not good........really dont hope this stays.....praying that it will go away sooner rather than later........it's odd, coz i never remember feeling like that with Miks......must be a really different child someone tells me......we shall see.......

Last night was really funny....coz since i ate so little dinner, by around 10.30pm which is bedtime i thought to myself and told hubbie that i was hungry.....he suggests that i get something to eat.....me being me i thought i could drink water and it shall all pass.....forgetting that i was preggie for that short while........however, about 1/2 hours later, i turn to hubbie who at this point was in bed with me and said " I cant sleep! I need FOOD!!!!" so off i went to get food.....which was a brilliant idea......had some bread with butter and peanut butter....YUM!!! Pure satisfaction.....something that i dont feel sick eating......then hubbie turns around and looks at me and starts to giggle....i turned to him and said, "dont you dare laugh....this is in no way funny!!!!" Turned my back and went to sleep......so much for feeling sick.......however again, i could not sleep.....due to having slept for about 3 hours earlier in the day yesterday....last nite became a nitemare........hardly any sleep...so, today i told myself...am not going to nap in the day time...let's hope i sleep tonite!!!

Getting pregnant and being pregnant

HPT # 1

Today as i sit here and write about this topic of getting preggie and being preggie, my thoughts are all over the place. But i figured since i had intended to record all my thoughts about being pregnant this time down, i had better start!

Well, you see, we have been trying for another baby now for about 6 yrs with no avail! Then about 1.5 weeks ago, we discovered that we are indeed pregnant!!!! I was so shocked and happy and suprised all at the same time that i took a total of 5 HPT's just to be sure!!!! They all obviously told me the same thing! BFP!!so that has taken a while to sink in..but now that it has, i must say my thank yous to all who have kept us in their prayers all this while. We would really like to thank the Lord for this provision which He will care for and know from the top of head to tip of toe!!!

We are all very excited! at time of writing this, Miks our 7 yr old still has no idea what is coming her way in 9 mths time! I bet she will be delighted!!! I will remember to take a picture of her when we tell her in due time!!!

Right now, i am feeling a little anxious just coz we have an early scan to determine that all is well and then we will be refered back to the GP/Midwife. The scan is to be this saturday and i am wondering how i will last till then!!! God will have to give me lotsa strength and energy to get by this week......Last week was easier just coz i have been busy with another friend who has been busy moving house! This week will be fine as well!! at least that's what i tell myself!!!!

Well, my scan on Saturday went very well and the nurse tells us that we are doing well....we have one healthy heart beating......had not managed to count the heart beats...hopefully to do it next scan...........will have to scan the scan results onto the pc then have them here.....she was ready to have me contact my GP but i said to her, since we are moving can i wait....she says yes and then offered us another scan in 2 weeks.....so we will be in again for another scan....

A Saturday of some sort of cleaning

ah.....managed to lie in again this morning before having to get up to get things done.

It was not too bad today.....weather wise, it was raining in the morning then the sun showed up after and that was really nice....the only thing was, we enjoyed it only from the inside of our home......i had been busy trying to sort out stuff and clear things out......stuff to throw, stuff to charity and stuff to pack away......plus on top of that i had loads of laundry calling my name!!!!
With our house move being quite near, i think it is about time we started getting things done......what i really need is a list...to get me organised and systematic and not problematic.......especially when it comes to Mik's things, i have to have very little sympathy for them and toss them out......else we will be collecting junk yet again!!! I am determined not to be bringing junk over the new place, despite the fact that she will be getting a fairly larger room! The new rule for her at the new place would be to have everything of hers outside of the living room and in her bedroom!!!! Have yet to inform her of the new rule...but i shall be more than glad to implement that rule!!!!As for myself, the rule will be not to keep too many papers and magazines that can be tossed out......i think my study in the new place might just be to open for everyone since i might take the room downstairs for a study.......We shall see.......

Weather has changed yet again!

This week the weather has changed yet again....we have sort of gone back to more Spring-like weather which is of course nice...but to see the snow melting away is sad too...this is because our snowman has now pretty much melted to a small mountain.....of ice......:( ...
Anyways, have been quite busy for a while now.....that's while my updates has been lacking.... i have been busy helping a friend move house and i think we should be done by tomorrow as on Friday they will be handing back the keys of their old place.....we had been having a good time helping out in the move. However, we discovered yesterday that Miks is allergic to severe amounts of dust......after a long weekend of helping out, yesterday her around her eyes were puffy and swollen....so antihistamine was given....and no more popping over to the friend's old house.....then later in the evening before bed, she was given another dose....so today she was fine and able to head to school....so the antihistamine did the trick.....gosh...i dunno how she can be allergic to so many things...one of her other allergies are medications with sulfa......so.......have to be careful.......might eventually get her to be tested for allergies......

However, back to helping out in the move, she had a blast playing with the boxes in the house and helping pack some things...also today she got to 'paint' over some picture holes.....will have to get hold of pictures.....

On our end however, we had made a decision to move out of our current house to make home in another house...hopefully nearer to town....hence reduced amount of time for driving.....we are currently waiting on answers from the owners of that house....fingers crossed...they will be pleased with what we are offering......and take us in for their tenants.......anyways, this mean i will be getting busy trying to sort and throw stuff out and try to do it systematically.......;-) i now officially have about 3 weeks to pack and move!!! that's SCARY!!!without having a confirmed place to move to, there isn't much i can do......besides packing up...which i will start next week....promise myself to do just that!!!!

Snow in Aberdeen

Snowfall in Aberdeen on 2 Feb, 09

A clearer view from Miks bedroom window of the neighbourhood

The view From Miks bedroom at 6.25am......

Today it finally snowed in aberdeen...too bad it was not much and it was really a lot of wet snow! so lots of slushies around....very dirty and wet!!!!

Driving around in DH's car was an adventure today..slipping and sliding some.....and got flashed headlights by someone who thinks i should have my lights on when i didn't think i needed it!!!!....anyways, it was because my car was in the garage for a service......glad to have it back today though!!!!

Feb 6, 09

Today being the third day of snow in a row, Miks was finally wel enough to spend some time out in the snow and she had a whole load of FUN!!!! She and 2 of her big friends were playing in the friends backyard after a trying time getting home from school due to heavy traffic on the road.....it took us about 45mins to clear out of a stretch of road that usually takes us under 5 mins! It was any drivers nightmare.....especially with falling snow and dropping temps.....anyways, we made it and Miks and her friends build a skinny snowmand and rolled 3 gigantic snowballs!!!!

3 really big snowballs!!! The 'Skinny Snowman' (which btw fell over after 2 days)


Feb 7, 09

Today is the 4th day we've had snow here in Aberdeen and it is great!!! WE had fantastic weather today! We built a snow man and went sledging for abit today. However a funny happening today was when we had friends over to pick up their car after they've returned from vacation. Mike's car was parked behind them so he had to move the care so they can get out...little did we realise however is that he would be getting stuck in the ice whilst trying to get back on to our driveway behind my car!!!!LOL!!! I was laughing whilst trying to see if i could be of help pushing....but to no avail! Alas, we left the car as is and decided that it was time to come into the house to have a hot drink!! now that was inviting!!! Anyways, after we have had our tea, we headed back out again...this time was much better....watching our friend reverse her car out of the driveway and then watching them drive off...they did alright...and i think this was all thanks to a great neighbour who shoveled all the snow to clear the way in front of our house......later on after that, we went sledging...that was pretty fun and all Miks would say was "this is AWESOME!!!!" You could tell she was having a load of FUN!!!

Trying to remove a whole blanket of snow from the car's windshield

The end Result = Not very sucessful in one try
Miks 'flying' on her sled

Our beloved "Ms. Snowman" (as Miks calls her)

Feb 13, 09

Today the snow has started to melt.....i havent had a chance to capture many pictures of the melting snow just yet...hopefully i will be able to get some soon before it all melts away......

A little bit of melting snow (taken at the church area near the playgroup where i work)

I think we have all really enjoyed the snow......i know i have!!! Really loved driving around in my car with it....the one really nice thing about having a 4x4..is that in this sort of weather....there isnt much to fear!!!hehehehe......

Aberdeen Chinese Community Gathering

I have just come home from attending a Chinese New Year gathering hosted by the Aberdeen Chinese School and Community at the Linksfield Community Centre.

Just some girls having fun making silly faces whilst the performances were going on!

There was lots of food!!! And also, i dont think i have seen that many chinese people in one location before here in Aberdeen! Man! There were loads of them!!!

What impressed me were the people who were making 饺子 (jiǎo zi) They were really good! Even then men were good! Too bad i did not get any pictures to post them on though! :(...Hadnt thought about it! But i will ask a friend who was taking pics if he has some to share....

Among other things that were happening besides have loads and loads of food and 饺子, there were also some performances by the kids who have chinese lessons and also piano lessons there. Some were good some were ok.....too bad the piano there was an old one, the kids who played on them had to really try hard to make it sound good! I was talking to a friend about this and she told me that her teacher has always told her " It's not about how good a piano is, it's how well you make the piano to be!" So you make your music and the piano is there to help you! So in essence it does not really matter at times if the piano is old, you just got to make it sound good the best you can!!!;-)

Another perfomance that really caught the attention of these people was a friend of mine and her parents with their chinese musical instruments. guzheng 古箏 Huqin 胡琴 qinqin 秦琴 These instruments were really cool! Had no idea my friend was so darn good at it!!!

Overall it was good fun and good food with good company although i probably only knew about 0.5 % of the people there tonite!

House Hunting in Aberdeen!!

House hunting in Aberdeen is a difficult...no lets say nightmarish job! At least to find a suitable one for us to live in!!! Either too far, too old, too small or something else is just not right!! So I have yet to find our next home.....hope to find it soon!!! I have since figured out why we have been on the losing end of the leasing housing market, i think i jinx myself out by going to look at the houses before speaking to an agent!!!

Anyways, saw a nice one with potentially 6 bedrooms...but i dunno if that would be feasible due to budget.....huh!!I really dont know! Am getting myself way too confused!! Well, it does seem now that the house i have mentioned is not meant to be!!:(

However, i think i may have found another good house with quite a few things that are to my liking! So, will have to wait till monday to make an appointment to see the place! Fingers crossed and hoping i dont jinx myself out of the house yet again!!

4 Feb 09

House hunting is still on...have not found the right house....am getting really tired of looking for houses everyday...especially here in aberdeen....houses here are generally older and and dated....the nicer ones are usually private homes or not available for lease!

Keeping my fingers crossed that we shall find something soon!

8 Feb 09

Today i told hubbie that after the 3 days that he is away, if no houses that are suitable comes available...he is going to see the first house that i had viewed mch earlier.......so came Wednesday 11 Feb, no suitable houses.....so we made an appointment to see the house!!! and he quite liked it despite the fact that we will be losing out some of the pluses in our current place to there......so, we were going to make and offer on certain conditions......let's see if they agree!

13 Feb 09

Today we have decided to put in an offer for a house here....Finally with some hope in hand, we might just get the house.......

20 Feb 09

We heard today that the owners of the house have agreed to our conditions but are still waiting on proper black and white to come through.....

However, the irony of all this is that, on the day that i hear we have gotten a house, another house with a sort of better location comes up on the market...which is i why i say, housing in aberdeen is just something else.....of course we can still decline the other offer and go for this one, but there is no guarantee that we will get this house......so i said to hubbie, let's just stick to this house that we've gotten an answer for and not think about the other house anymore!!!!GRRR!!! Had this house appeared on the market a week earlier!!! That would have been fantastic!!!! And then i think.....how classic!!!!Anyways...enough said....shall not think of it no more!!!!

23 Feb 09

Today i got an email from our relocations agent....apparently the black and white contract has come through with some criterias......flooring wise is okay the only thing is that it may take longer which means may not be done in time for our move in...but can be done after moving in....which is no problem for me......but the other thing was that they are refusing to change the tv for us.....which is also not a problem for me.....and they are not willing to replace the curtains upstairs and in the lounge which i think also wont be a problem for me.....we'll have to see what hubbie has to say about it all.......

2 Mar 09

Yay!! Finally we have a house we are moving to.......the house that i like from the get go.....on top of that, i discovered today that our new neighbours are friends of Mik's classmate and they have a girl going to the same school....that's pretty neat! Hope they are nice people.......Now we are waiting on paperwork to come through...hopefully that would be sooner than later.......i have already set up the transfer for our internet and phone to the new place with effect from 13th Mar.....Will post some pix sometime soon!!!

Happy Chinese New Year of the Ox!!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR OF THE OX!!!!

Gong Xi Fa Cai! This is what we've been hearing a fair bit amongst our chinese friends here in Aberdeen. Indeed it is Chinese New Year....There is not much of an atmosphere here very unlike in Asia where it is one of the big celebrations......over here, Miks went to school as usual and stuff like that......However, we did have our CNY eve's meal albeit a lunch instead of a dinner....then we also went out for dinner with friends on Monday (1st day). Then on the 2nd day, I had a pot-luck lunch with the yee sang. That was rather fun!

As of my last post, i HAVE started work and that has been fun! I told my employers that yes i shall be back and the kids have not scared me enough for me not to return! ;-)


As for house hunting, just as i thought that i have found us the right house, i got beaten to it by someone else....this is 3 houses now...am going to be viewing more houses in the next 2 days....hopefully i will be able to find one to my liking as well as Miks and Mike's likings........seems like i have seen to many a house now...am getting confused myself! hehehe....

Anyways, i am hoping to be able to see just a few more houses and there is now one house that i am really keen on seeing...only problem is the house rental is over our budget! Wonder if they'll reduce rent????? Hopefully! :)

Start of the week!

It was a crazy start to the day today....i had to take Miks to school using another road coz the one i usually take is closed for road works of somekind...have no idea what it is....anyways..to top it off, it was raining and sleeting as well...so not fun start! Then after that i had an appointment with a nurse...there i felt the very powerful blustery winds of aberdeen...had to walk quickly for shelter from bone chilling winds......After that, i had to drive about 15mins to get to my 'workplace'...mind you i was supposed to be there at 9.15am...at this point it was already about 9.05am...thinking about it..wondered why i could not get out of the house intime in the morning so i did not have to rush! hhmph! by the time i got to my workplace, it was 9.25 am....was late for my 1st day at work! Not good! The good thing is i dont have to work that schedule on daily basis. I'd only be working typically on Wednesday afternoons to which i will make a mad dash into town to collect Miks from school...will have to see how that works out. First trial this week...
anyways, at playgroup today it was fun meeting some new children.....nice after being away from little ones that are not mine for almost 2 yrs....i miss those days when i was working in TLC!!! Thoroughly enjoyed myself there! Will have to see if i will be able to last here in my new job! Hopefully.......

Anyways, my day did calm down after that.....managed to come home and had lunch at home prior to going out again in the rain! Today i bought some new games for my wii....extra controls too!

What a week!

This week has been quite a week for me! Have been busy again as usual...only this weeks busy got added in with looking for houses and such....also put an offer in for a house and got beat by another person being able to move in sooner! Waaa! Not fair coz i really liked that house....however...have consoled myself to a point whereby i do not like that house anymore :p ... also this week, one of our friends who was visiting Aberdeen had a fall whilst in the bathroom...not a pretty thing but thankfully it was not serious......he had to end up visiting the A&E here and got glued up for the wound.....it was a laceration right above his eyebrow. He was really quite funny and calm about it though....so at the end of the day, we all had a good laugh! he was really concerned that they would have to shave his eyebrows!!! Anyways, this same week, another friend of mine had an accident with a deer when it ran right into her driver door...mind you, this was while driving on country roads in aberdeen with no street lamps.....not a good thing....but thankfully no one was hurt but the deer.....(it died)......
Also, this week i have decided to start on some sort of packing up for my move.......the must move out date is firm now and the reality of our decision to make this move to another house is now becoming REAL!!!!so hopefully we find a house by then!!!*fingers crossed*
I am also starting part-time work this coming week...basically i will be required to work only 3 hrs on Wednesdays at a pre-school playgroup. Getting paid to go and play with 5 yr olds! (Why not??)
So, as we start off another week, i hope that this week will be less eventful!
My great friends have helped me to decipher Mikkys name and got it emailed to me in chinese writing so here it is: 美琪 ( from what i understand it means Beautiful Jade).....wonder if it will stick.........

Friday!

Wow! After a full week of school back in, we are all beat!!! Mikayla had a great week in school and things are going to be more of normalcy next week when all the activities start up again....to full swing. This week was busy however coz Miks wanted to go and play with SueAnne right about everyday after school. I on the other hand have been busy looking at houses and shopping too.....am looking to be moving house....hopefully sometime soon...it will however be a rental....buying here just costs too much for not so nice houses.....anyways...
This week, Miks got a chinese name...you see, Miks being half chinese, we had not thought of giving her a chinese name when she was born...so whilst at a friends' house yesterday, we were going about writing in chinese....then after much conversation, i was asked if Miks had a chinese name...i said no....they said oh...so i said, why not you all give her one based on her name....so here it is...she is named in chinese after her english nick name mikky...(have to figure out a way to post it as chinese writing....note to self) so that was pretty cool! But Miks was like...huh? i got a chinese name????anyways, that's the end of my school week with miks....the weekend should be quite nice!!!

Last day of holiday

Today is the last day of my two week break from having to wake up early and driving Miks to school...:(...got to get back to normal tomorrow and i am certainly not looking forward to the early morning rise and rushing through traffic to get Miks to school..However, i do look forward to the idea that she will be in school for the day and i will be able to go shopping....:))! Hope to get some good bargains.....

Anyways, today we finally made it to church after missing it for a week....albeit a little late...but it was good nonetheless....this is what i got from today's message..." my past is definetely not my future!!!" So be in all this remembering that what is past is past..we learn from it and make amends and do not allow what has passed to rule our lives.....God loves us regardless and He knows us and what we do even from the time that we have not been born...He has and will continue to lead us if we allow Him to!

New Year's Day

Today is New Year's Day....what have i done today? Slept in again...had lunch at a friend's place and then picked up someone at the airport and then sent them to their home whilst here in Aberdeen and stayed back there to have dinner and chitchat.over here we had some really nice Malaysian 3 in 1 teh tariks! YUM!!! :) the white black coffee smelt wonderful too! didnt dare to try it...just incase i'd stare at the ceiling tonite and not sleep a wink....sleeping at 3 am in the morning these days are bad enough...can't cope with more of no sleeping!!!
..and Miks did not want to leave coz she had the fun company of another girl....in fact, what was funny today was when i asked Miks if she wanted to have the girl sleep over at our house....she very quickly said...no mommy...my bed isnt big enough...mom says: sure it is...you both arent too big...your bed will sleep 2 of you....and Miks says...no mom....my bed's teensie.......classic case of her trying to compare her bed with ours.......but with some persuasion of allowing her to go and hang out there again tomorrow, she quickly agreed! ;-) (the power of persuasion on a 7 yr old) ...that's basically how my first day of new year was spent!

Happy New Year!!

Sitting here at 2am on New Year's day....wondering, reflecting and thinking........Have decided on not having resolutions this time around....just gonna take it as it comes!!!So may this year be blessed for all and may all have God's blessing and joy to overflowing!