Stressed Out Mother’s Life

Ever since we’ve moved to the new house (so called moved in, though we only sleep there during weekends), I could be constantly found in the kitchen (something that is a rare sight at my current place)… I guess now that I have my own house (and kitchen), I would want to cook something nice for my family to eat… it might not be something elaborate and grand, neither complex… just a simple one dish meal to 3 dishes meal will satisfy the entire lot…

I do have the intention to explore and expand my culinary skills, however that will take time. Obviously I’ve been telling my friends about this and that recipes, and mind you, I did have my fair share of trying them out… however with young children at home and needy at some stage, certain recipes will have to be put aside… will try them out when I have the time or when my kids grow older… haha… and of coz when I do get around the buy the oven…

* Super backdated post *

The Year 2008 has been quite eventful for me. I got to travel to a lot of places, had loads of fun, had my share of cooking and baking though not much) and hordes of strength to take care of the 2 girls (you’ll be surprised that the 2 girls are able to bring the house down)…

January

• Pie’s first year in kindergarten – surprisingly she didn’t kicked a fuss in the 1st week; 1st day was just crying and not letting go of us, 2nd day was having red eye but not much tears, 3rd day was happy to be sitting there and learning

April

• Few of my firsts – went to Bandung with my colleagues (not so closed ones)
• Went to Langkawi (if not mistaken, the last time I was there, I was just a baby, even younger than Pea) with Hubby’s family
• Pie’s first time school sports day. Each class had to attempt 2 games. At the end of the day, all children gets a gift, as an encouragement and appreciation to them

May

• For the 1st time, my company had a team building session. Thought it was held somewhere nearby (Port Dickson), it didn’t dampen our team spirits. Splitting me and flatmates into different groups, we had to go through a few challenges and trying to emerge as the 1st one so that we get additional points / items for the next round. I thoroughly enjoyed this session, eventhough it was hot and sweaty, eventhough I had to miss Mother’s Day celebration, no doubt… I had a good time and it was totally fun!!!
• Though Pie wasn’t feeling well the day before, we brought her to her kindy for her early b’day celebration, just before the school hols. It was just a quite 10 mins of singing b’day song, cutting cake and eating it, I can see that she thoroughly enjoyed her day with her friends. Every single day, she’ll come back and tell us who is her best friend and who are her classmates.

June

• Another 1st time, I got to travel out of the country, on my company’s expense (oops… ok it was not the first – the 1st time was to Singapore), but then this time around it was even farther than Singapore… it was to Netherlands… and for a whole 2 weeks!!! Initially was quite excited, but after the 1st week, I missed my home super lots… esp. my 2 girls. Nevertheless, Netherlands was fun… and I went to Amsterdam!!! Had regrets not going there during my studies last time and thought that I would never ever get to go Europe anymore… Just my luck I guess, that this time around I was selected to go there… However, I missed out Father’s Day celebration (also!)

August

• Took a day off to celebrate hubby’s b’day… spent the day with him without the kids… such long time we’ve never had a couple’s day out…
• For the 1st time, he went out dating with a pretty girl… Pie He brought her to watch Wall-E… she was so excited that her Daddy was bringing her out to watch a movie…

November

• Pie’s school concert – Not too sure who enjoyed this more, Pie / Pea. Pie could be enjoying coz she got to dance in front of everyone with her class; Pea also equally enjoying it as she was dancing to the tune (practically every tune) below the stage. Till date, she would request to watch Pie’s concert CD, so that she get to dance every night. And… she can memorize all the dances now… she even danced all of them during our pre-CNY dinner, an entertainment that couldn’t be found elsewhere

December

• A full month of non-stop action (esp. for hubby) to get the house up and ready for the big day. After putting up grilles and lights and fans, hubby had to paint the entire house (incl. ceiling) during the weekends and any other public holidays, just in time for our January’s ‘yup foh’ (moving in).

Here’s hoping that 2009 will have equal or more memories…

I was supposed to be up early to prepare for one of the tender… I promised my boss that I’ll give him some information by morning… however I can only concentrate half-heartedly…

I have no idea if this year is totally not a good year for me… Initially, things were quite smooth… making me think that the title of this web site doesn’t suit me anymore… however events that started to happen in the past few months made me think twice… even to the fact of whether am I still suited in this working environment.

Just last week, I’ve tried my best to put in all my effort and even tried to change for the better. However, if the events were to happen one after another, I wouldn’t know how long I can withstand them.

Obviously I wouldn’t mention the reason I put such title, else I might face with another comment of ‘tarnishing ppl’s reputation’! Though I wouldn’t say I’m feeling so much better, but expressing these things out made me released some tension out…

I have a totally long day to go today… and to face the person who thinks I am wrong, but me thinking otherwise… *sigh* it’ll be a total long day!!!

CNY came and went… yesterday was the last day of CNY… hence it’s time for my compilation of what I did during CNY (in other words, I was too lazy to write during the CNY period… now that it’s over, it’s either I do it now, or be gone forever with the wind)…

I started with the ‘Scrumptious Start‘ in the previous posts… will continue here with Day 1 then.

Day 1
Starts with a twist. Was supposed to wake up early to help MIL cook vegetarian dish (1 big pot for the entire day and entire family); however Pea needed me to pat her back to sleep… in other words, I woke up late and didn’t help much. Hubby’s brothers came over at about 10am, and we had our brunch. After that, it was photo taking session, before continuing with the tea ceremony (a tradition whereby the younger ones have to offer tea to the elder ones… in this case my in-laws). We each get ang pows from them after each round of tea.

Nothing much was done during the afternoons, as we had to stay at home and wait for relatives to come and visit my in-laws. Evening though (something different) we went to MV for dinner and ronda-ronda. It was a total feeling from usual, as there weren’t many cars around, and not many people either (coz quite a number of shops were closed).

Day 2
Same thing happened like Day 1. I couldn’t wake up early to help MIL… she single handedly cooked 5 dishes to feed a family of 9 adults and 2 kids.

Pie enjoyed the feast that she gave thumbs-up during the photo taking.

After lunch, we packed our bags into the 1 year old car, and headed straight for the hills, to meet up with my family. One of those rare occasions of Pea going out for holiday. Had an interrupted dinner with the family… Pea couldn’t sit still and for long, hence both hubby and I took turns to eat and take care of her. After that, we went back to the apartment for cake cutting… my grandma’s b’day falls on the 2nd day of CNY (chinese date)… Bought a pandan layered cake, and for the first time, she kept saying the cake is good… she likes it so much coz it’s not sweet… Usually we would buy cakes from Secret Recipe, but she don’t really like them… it’s much too sweet and rich for her taste… luckily this time around, I made the correct choice (thx to someone who reminded me).

Day 3
We stay put at the apartment until dinner time… Dinner was at Imperial Rama (Highland’s Hotel). Food was so so only… however it was a tad expensive. Among all, I liked the chicken best… tastes totally different from KL. However, Pea seemed to be acting up again… we had to take turns to take care of her and Pie.

After dinner, Pie wasn’t feeling too well… So we left early and headed back to the apartment. Pie was totally off… she coughed and coughed the whole night… most of us couldn’t really catch a wink!

Day 4
Cause Pie wasn’t feeling too well, we went back to KL around lunch time, and immediately went straight to our usual clinic. Though she wasn’t familiar with the doctor (our GP wasn’t around), she still managed to whisper out what was wrong with her. The doc was quite a nice chap… even spent the time explaining why was she coughing so badly and esp. at night. Gave her 1 med and 1 drop (Update: after taking the med for about 1+ week, she’s now feeling much better. However, whenever she sneezes, thick mucus will come dripping by).

Day 5
I started work today. Didn’t want to take any days off… had to leave them for holidays and also taking care of kids! Leaves doesn’t come by easily these days…

Day 7
Yan Yat Day (Everyone’s b’day). Bought ‘yee sang’ from Overseas… My mum loves yee sang, and esp. when it is only found during CNY, obviously she would like to eat more and more of it. Eating yee sang on this auspicious day is just heavenly… haha… truthfully speaking, the yee sang is seriously good and value for its money (RM 63 incl. tax). Salmon was fresh and a lot, and (my fav) lots and lots of nuts.

Day 10
Celebrated sis’s b’day early (since it’s the weekend, and her b’day falls on a weekday). We went to SOHO for dinner… I ordered the dishes and I guess my family wasn’t too happy with the choices… actually neither was I. Except for the fish, nothing was that good (anymore). In fact, it was quite expensive for 4 dishes and 1 porridge (hubby was not feeling too well then) – damaged my pocket about RM 200.

vs
(Wanted to show what the girls were having in their hands. Pie was eating deep fried stuff, which is totally not healthy for her. On the other hand, Pea was enjoying her raw carrot very much. I quickly took the chance to also let Pie eat a carrot stick… telling her that ‘mui mui’ likes it so much. Both Pie and Pea likes to mimic what each other is doing and eating… so good for me, esp. when I want either one of them to do something or something that is supposingly to be good for them).

Day 12
Another rare occasion of having a gathering with the colleagues… esp. when most of them are based at customer’s site now. Managed to gather them around for dinner at La La Chong. Don’t know whether it’s my taste bud that have gone wrong, coz the food wasn’t that good (for my taste). Yee Sang too dry, La La got a lot of sand, Crab a bit too wet, Sotong too rubbery, not the crunchy ones that I like. The only ones that I do enjoy very much is the vege and the soup. Another round of damage to the pocket… however this time around shared the cost with another colleague.

That’s the end of my CNY. CNY to me is just another day… only difference is the art of giving and receiving… Me giving out ang pows and go pai lin… my girls receiving loads of ang pows from friends and relatives.

Credits to:
Paper, Flower Sticker & Tag: Mary_Cherries
Brackets: RockSkyEP

It’s Chinese New Year tomorrow… the starting Year of the Rat. My family started the celebration with a big lunch at my grandma’s place… she single handedly cooked the yummy delicious food you see above (from top to right: Fragrant Oil Prawn, Mixed Vegetables, Chicken in Red Wine, Home-made Fried Fish Balls, Celery with Prawns & Vegetarian Duck with Taufu).

I guess all would have gone back to their hometown, preparing for CNY eve’s dinner with the whole family, getting new dresses out for the big day… Here’s wishing all Chinese readers … Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Haha… it’s the usual me. I’m always late at wishing people… hence this post. It’s a brand new year… the past year has been different for me, coz it was my first time blogging. How did I come across to do this ? Well, it started with me reading people’s blog for information on breastfeeding (I was 8 months pregnant then), and then during my maternity leave, I had lots of on-and-off free time around… more over, it was also a start for me to do digital scrapbooking (most of them of my 2 lovely kids)…

Things I did the last year:

• Went to Australia (Adelaide – my first time) & Hong Kong (Pie’s first time)
• Went to Singapore for conference (never did this b4); Usually to S’pore is to visit my aunt
• My first year as the Team Leader, hence a lot of things to learn (in terms of resource assignment, project problem, blah blah blah)

Now, too much things on hand, cannot think what else I did last year already. Anyway, more posts to come in the future!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

p/s: Chinese New Year is coming… Can’t wait to collect ang paus!!!

Yesterday went to 1 Utama to get another blanket for Pea (as well as quenching my thirst for Starbucks Java Chip). On the way back from old wing to new wing, passed by Big Apple Donut shop… remembered that a colleague mentioned it was quite nice, hence thought of giving it a try. The queue wasn’t that bad… think it was merely 10 people in front of me.

As it was our first time trying (and also coz there weren’t a lot of ppl at home), I bought 1/2 dozens to try. To our surprise, it was much nicer and softer than Dunkin Donut. Even my kids enjoyed it!

This 2 days, I’m attending a training called Character First! For developers, no, this is not the characters as in ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’. It’s character in the sense of your action, attitude and behavior.

I would deem this as a motivational kind of course, as the messages passed in is towards building good character, good qualities in your inner self. Characters cannot be learned as a trait / skills; it has to be built and nurtured (just like how you plant fruit trees), preferably from young. But that doesn’t mean that you are older, you cannot build or change your character for the better.

The course started from identifying why people have some bad qualities in them (eg. late for meetings, lack of commitment, personal problems, etc) and what is the root cause of it (eg. disrespectful, unreliability, anger, etc). From identifying the “headache” (bad qualities) and providing what was the “panadol” (root cause), we went to identifying what are the good characters that a person should have to overcome such things. We were given a pocket booklet, identifying 49 good characters vs the bad, each with a meaning to it (eg. Responsibility vs Unrealibility).

It continues to how to give sincere praise to people, how to show appreciation to your peers and colleagues and how to widen my views to see people’s good character rather than always harp on the bad things (be it work place or at home).

This course enlightened me to think that I’ve been seeing things from the wrong perspective… Instead of focusing and harping on a person’s bad attitude / behavior, I should instead focus on their good qualities. This will in turn make the person more confident and be more successful in life.

Got this article from BabyCenter on signs showing how much your child loves you.

When I read the article, it makes me feel so special, coz I know what it meant now, esp. when the young one cannot talk to me… but the fact that she waits for me when I come back from work, the way that she reacts when she sees me and don’t see me, I know that she has a special place for me.

1. Your newborn stares into your eyes — he’s actually working hard to memorize your face. He doesn’t understand anything else about the world, but he knows you’re important. [Pea stares and stares non-stop. Whenever I put her down and get her to crawl, 90% she'll come crawling back to me, and wanting me to carry her.]
2. Your baby thinks about you even when you’re not around. Between 8 and 12 months old, he’ll start to scrunch his face and look around when you leave the room — and he’ll smile when you return. [Boy does Pea do it good. She's starting to cry when I leave for work, or even when I leave the room, and a great big smile (and hug coz it means I will carry her) will be given out. Same goes for Pie when she was young.]
3. Your toddler throws wicked tantrums. Nope, those screaming fits don’t mean he’s stopped loving you. He wouldn’t be so hurt and angry if he didn’t trust you so deeply. [Haha... Pie is starting to fall into this category. She don't really throw tantrums much, but she's starting to say "no" she don't want to do this or "no" she don't want to eat that. But it doesn't end there. She'll follow up with an excuse that you'll find it... how much have my kid grow ? How does she know to give such good excuses ?]
4. Your toddler runs to you for comfort when he falls down or feels sad. Kids this age may not truly understand the meaning of “I love you,” but their actions speak louder than words. [Haha... point proved. Both Pie and Pea looks for their comfort zone (person)... their Mummy!]
5. Your preschooler gives you a flower picked from the garden, a finger-painted heart, a sparkly rock, or another gift. [Pie has been giving me flowers, ever since he grandparents introduced her to the garden. It will not be long b4 Pea's turn to do so. I wonder if the garden will still have so many more flowers ? Their growing might not be as fast as the girl's picking.]
6. Your preschooler wants your approval. He’ll start to be more cooperative around the house, and he’ll look for chances to impress. “Look at me!” will become a catchphrase. [Hehe... Both girls do this. Now that Pea knows how to clap hands, wave bye-bye and move to the word "music", we've been non-stopping asking her to do so, and she obliges.]
7. Your grade-schooler trusts you with secrets, like his first crush or his most embarrassing moment. You’re his confidante, even if he shies away from your hugs in public. [Well, I'm hoping that both girls will treat me as their friend (not only Mummy), and tells me everything. Hopefully they won't keep secrets away from me (not like their Mummy when young) ]

Death for anybody is a sad thing, what more it happens to small kids and worst of all, the murderer is either the parents / near relatives.

Whenever I read about kids dying, be it being killed by someone or happened in an accident, I will think of my own 2 kids. Cannot imagine how can parents / relatives be so cruel to even kill their own flesh and blood with their own hands. How can even have the heart to do it ? It’s like they have no sense in them… no brain, no heart, not a human being.

Even if they don’t want their kids, there are other ways to go about it… either giving to their own parents (the kid’s grandparents) or even to welfare. There are so many child-less couples who wouldn’t mind adopting them as their own.

Last time, when my cousin was going through a rough period in her marriage, I was scared that she might give away her own child. I was thinking that if that happens, I’d rather take in the kid and take care of her myself. I even told Pie to love and sayang her cousin, coz I am really scared that it will happen to my niece. Luckily, things came through and my cousin and her hubby is getting along much better now.

* Updated *
So how cruel can parents be ? On the other hand, just thought about it this morning, I can understand what parents (in particular mothers) are going through. Being a mother myself, I am sometimes frustrated with my kids – my 3 year old is staying with my mum, and practically every week I get complains from my sister on how naughty she is. Whereas for my 7 months old girl, she is very active and doesn’t want to be let down, constantly need attention from everyone. In addition to that, whenever she is put down (even for a while), she can go crying loudly, until you carry her into your arms again. I do scold and sometimes scream at the elder one (cannot afford to do it at the younger one coz she’s still a baby), but then again, no dark thoughts would come across the mind. Instead, maybe some rest days is needed to rest your body, mind and soul ?

Anyway, no one knows what the mother is thinking, so be it. Hopefully no more of such news come out anymore…