WIP: Celebrations & renovation

Hello, finally! I'm gonna cleared all my backlog of pictures. Today is Anya first day of school (will leave the details on another post) and she just went down for her nap. Arielle has gone to the In-laws' place for some grandparents loving so its all peace and quiet right now. Woots!

In the past one month, all my little pockets of times such as this were eaten up by doing planning / conceptualizing and whatnots related to renovations. While we have a ID helping us but I happen to be quite particular about how the layout of the place should be, how my cabinets should look like, right down to the nitty-gritties of exactly how many drawers, what sizes and where they should be. Actually, I even drew up 2-D pictures of our walk-in wardrobes, TV cabinets and shoe cabinets. Got our ID saying in jest that he ought to frame them up.

Anyways... it's more like MIP (month in pictures) than WIP so this is gonna be a long long post. And here goes:

First, we celebrated Arielle turning one. Its was a small and cosy affair involving our two families over dim sum. We got a client of the Husband to bake a pretty cake themed.. Rabbit. It's was all pink and pretty with a sugar version of rabbit sitting on top. We thought Joanne did a wonderful job replicating Arielle's favourite plush toy. What's a bonus is her prices are really reasonable as compared to a few of her competitors that we checked out.

Rabbit & Rabbit

First taste of cake.

And then, Anya had a date with her cousin, SK, at United Square to catch Barney & friends. Her first of such mascots show.

Transported into Barney's world.

Finally... ...

The keys for our new place came.

In between the last two months, we spent copious amount of time taking walks and going to playgrounds. These days, Little Miss. Mushroom gets to have some action of her own at playgrounds too.

Loves the slide; hates the swing.

Met up with the dear girlfriends. Had a wonderful relaxing two hours catching up with them.

Another nuptial celebration!

This time, its the best friend tying the knot with my JC mate. So so happy for you both!

Renovation has started immediately after we got the keys and is still ongoing...

Every week or other, we hold a meeting with the ID to discuss details on various areas that are going to be done. Occasionally, Anya comes along. Here's how we occupy her...

When the workers saw me taking out my iPad for Anya, they rustled up a little chair for her using cardboard and a toolbox.

Self- feeding has started for Arielle. Like Anya, she suddenly refused to eat at around the time she turned one - their way of demanding more independence at the dining table.

And so, once again, I am going through the phase where I try hard not to cringe as she makes a mess of her radius of one metre during mealtimes.

This night, Anya announced that she wanted to sleep with Arielle. She insisted her way, she got her way. And she has not slept in her own bed at night since.

A substantial amount of our couple / family outings `are spent trawling furniture malls, lighting and fixtures shops etc and lugging home cartons of stuff.

Thankfully, we still managed to squeeze out some time for strolls around our sunny island.

Other than the little strike she put up for a week or two, she really loves her food.

 

And ours.

Christmas came upon us in a jiffy this year. On Christmas eve, we went for a gathering with the Husband's colleagues in the afternoon. With no prior planning, we decided to drop by Epicurious @ Rail Mall near home for a simple quiet dinner.

By 11pm of Christmas eve, the entire household were already sound asleep. Except for me who spent the night reading my novel and doing a bit of QT.

Christmas morning was a joyous one with cheers and shrieks as little girls open up their presents.

There were a quite a bit of wearable gears among baby girl's Christmas presents this last year.

All in all, we had a busy but wonderful and memorable holiday season before wrapping up 2012. Hope you all had an enjoyable time too. Wishing y'all a blessed 2013!

Hello 2013!

Like a whirlwind, 2012 came and gone, leaving us with a couple of battle scars.

Yes. 2012 has not been an easy year for us. We faced new challenges of parenthood that set me back several times. We thought having a second child was simply reapplying what we did with the first child on the second one. Looking back, it seemed almost naive to think this way. Every child are indeed unique in their own ways, and in our case, our two kids are as different as chalk and cheese.

So, while our little feisty Arielle throw us a curveball every other week; big sister Anya become more and more of a person of her own which brings about a new set of challenges suddenly. On good days, she is that sweet, joyful girl who is eager to please us. On bad days, she can be whiny, uncooperative, and listens poorly. Just a week ago, I almost lost her in a mall (twice!) within a span of half an hour.

A little bit more than a year of mothering two small children has left me feeling burnt out more than a couple of times. I have felt, on many occasions, an acute need to get out of the house for a short holiday, a respite from all the madness. Yet, I can't bring myself to do so. And so, I trudge on, relying on the support of the Husband and the strength of God.

The lessons that I am taking with me into 2013 are to be less emotionally attached during meltdowns and face-offs, and to be patient, trust in The Lord, and.. Simply ride through it. I am ashamed to admit that I had, on more occasions that I can count, went on a shouting match with Anya. After the losing-Anya-in-the-mall incident, I have a revelation: Raising my voice is not working. In fact, it is counter-effective. It builds up all these negative energy and feelings that does me nor Anya more bad than good. Prayerfully, I can keep up with this cool act till its etched into a part if me.

The biggest lessons i have learned in 2012 about parenthood is that to put their needs before mine as well as to take joy in little things and find rest in little pockets of times. All these, seriously, will not be humanly possible for me if not for the grace and strength of God refreshing me, bringing me through every day. I believe I can say the same for the Husband.

With 2013 here.. well, actually I have not put in much thought as to what to expect or hope / set out for. Maybe it is because we have been taking in so many curveballs that I no longer dare to hope. Well, I just want to take a quiet moment to type this out and remind myself to simply commit all things onto The Lord and trust in Him that with Him, all things will come through. So... ...

Bring it on, 2013! Blessed 2013, everyone!

P.s. I realize I failed to mention the other aspects of my life other an parenthood. Well, I suppose I AM quite preoccupied with the kids presently. The other aspects are generally good, I'd say. May I just add on one biggie in 2012 is the purchase of our next matrimonial home. We are thankful for the finances to bring us through the transition smoothly, as well as for doing up the place which is ongoing currently.

P.p.s. I know I am really tardy in doing my Week in Pictures post. I have a big bunch of photographs that I have yet to up load and they are continuing to snowball at an alarming rate. Sorry folks (and my daughters who are my main targeted future audience), my life has taken on some serious reshuffling in their priorities right now - all many urgent tasks on hand. I have, however, been updating on Instagram on a more regular basis. You know, photo logging on the go which is easier for me right now. Do find me on Instagram if you are a user there too. It's Joyce_TS. :)

Leaving behind a place full of memories

We put up our current flat for sale a couple of weeks ago. Within a week, we loaded off our place.

In that course of three days, we had around ten different groups of people who came to view our flat. On the first day, we made a point to be out of the way during viewing time. Partially because we thought viewing will not be conducive with two noisy toddlers around. Another part was because we were afraid we might feel funny to have people scrutinizing and sizing up the place we call home in the last six years.

By the second day though, we decided we would stick around. Too much hassle disrupting the girls nap times. For them to miss naps two days in a row is likely to cause unthinkable detriments. And so, we hung around. It was not so bad. It did, however, enlighten us one thing - While the potential buyers move from one room to another sizing up our nest, unbeknownst to them, we find ourselves sort of sizing them up too.

You see, this place is filled with so much of our memories that we will fondly remember. On top of that, we have wonderful neighbors. Therefore, we (very much prefer) hope to find a buyer whom we will like, and we think will make good replacements for our neighbors too. Thankfully, of that handful of viewers that we got to meet; only a particular family left us feeling discomfited (let's call them "not-so-nice" family). The rest were either "okay" or "nice".

BUT. To our dismay, the "not-so-nice" family requested for second viewing, together with another two groups of "nice" families.

That very night, the Husband and I discussed at length if we should accept their offer in the event they made one that matches what we have in mind during their second viewing. Truth be told, after some contemplation, we decided that we were likely to reject the offer if that happens. We trusted that The Lord knows our hearts' desires, given all good intentions. So if we are not comfortable with them, we did not think it is right to go ahead. The only tough part is, how do we explain ourselves if they asked why? So imagine our relief when they told our agent that they decided not to proceed with the second viewing. Phew!

Eventually, both "nice" families turned up for second viewing and we closed with one of them. We like them, we think they will make nice neighbors and we feel peace leaving our very first matrimony home in their hands.

P.S. I haven't been doing my Week in Pictures post because my new laptop has been giving me problems. Right now, the kind IT whizz Brother-in-law is helping me to do whatever he does to make it right. Until then, there is not much I can do. Oh, I am on Instagram though. So if you are on it too, do drop me a message, and I will be glad to exchange our usernames. :) meanwhile, I am hoping the new laptop gets up and running quickly as I have loads of pics on Arielle's birthday celebrations in my Olympus that I'll love to share.

P.P.S. Renovation for our new place commences this week so it means I am likely to be mad busy. So this space might be a little neglected... ...

Turning ONE

Tomorrow is Arielle's first birthday. Being the second child, you might think the significance of first birthday might fade a little. But no, not in this case.

The past one year, I felt like I struggled really hard. And got stressed up a lot. The general success in the short 18 months of parenthood we had with Anya right up till Arielle's birth boosted our confidence. We thought raising children was our thing. And then, God gave us Arielle to humble us. The early days of her drinking woes, the persistent crying, her heightened sensitivity to light, sound (and her elder sister), her inconsolable bawling every time she falls sick gave me twofold of grey hair within a year, as well as constant fretting and panic attacks. And that is just me. I have yet to start on the Husband.

Seeing how much difficulties I had dealing with Arielle, the Husband had to spend more time at home with Anya while I focus on Arielle. It was not easy for him - to be constantly torn between work and family, worrying over Arielle, and to continue win favors from people at work when you are not there as much as people would like you to be.

Therefore, having braved through 365 days (after tomorrow), we think it marks great significance to us. We like to think that the worse part of what we call Project: Desensitising Arielle is over. We trust that in the coming year, things will only get better and better. Especially when she starts to talk and is able to articulate her thoughts, surely she will improve by leaps and bounds. It calls for celebration and thanksgiving because we don't think we could come this far without drawing strength, wisdom and joy from our Father day after day. My junior college years was the last time I was this fretful. Then, I was grappling with the loss of a relationship that did not work out and studies that went downhill. I was on the verge of depression (doctor's words, not mine).This time round, I know that if not for the presence of The Lord in our lives, I might have lost it.

We are so thankful for our cell group members and close friends who rallied around us, constantly praying for us and Arielle, sussing words of wisdom and always so encouraging. Our apologies though, that we could not hold a celebration together with all you for this occasion so dear to us because with the preparation for the new house and such, we are up to our neck and organizing one is simply beyond us.

And for the birthday girl. We think it is quite a feat for her that she has come this far.

Our darling little Arielle, Daddy and Mommy are so proud of you. For every child, it takes a degree of effort to cross milestones. With your heightened sensitivity, your intense disposition, you seem to require more crying, more fussing, more getting used to before you grow to accept to a new idea / new ways of doing things.

In retrospect, perhaps it was also why you took six months just to get use to the idea to drinking milk. What came naturally to other babies (hunger = drink milk) was beyond comprehension for you. Or rather, you would not even seek to comprehend. You were so upset every time we stuck a boob / bottle to you that you were more concerned with crying and making your displeasure known than to register your own hunger.

And so, our little mushroom head, we think you are a real trooper! Although there is no big party to mark your special day, Daddy has especially taken a day off tomorrow just so we can spend some quality time. Your Jiejie has also prepared a nice present waiting for you to rip it open tomorrow. No worries though, I'm sure she will help. And then there's also your Ah Gong, Ah Ma, Gonggong, Porpor, and your uncles, aunties and cousins who are looking forwards to celebrate with you this weekend. together. Even Aunt M is looking forward to celebrating with you and has choose not to go for her leave on Sunday. We hope you will have a blast and keep on growing. We love you lots and sweetheart, in case you think otherwise - no, it was no trouble at all.

WIP: Good times together

This week, we got to spend some good quality times with those who are the closest and dearest to us.With our parents, with our siblings, our nieces and nephews, and then the usual sweet moments with our own girls. On top of that, there was also some catching up done with a pair of couple friends as they celebrated their firstborn's full month. Last but not least, over the public holiday, the Husband and I also got to sneak out for a movie & dinner date (first in months!). No wonder my love cup is so full this week!

The girls with their cousins. In case you are wondering what's with the fascination over that teddy bear; well.. it is not. Their fascination is over what is showing on an iPhone that was propped up by the poor teddy.

The Nephew showed off his driving skills (reverse parking in a single smooth attempt!) while we watched with jaws dropped.

Baby girl's first 1st birthday present. :) The Brother & SIL brought her to a toy departmental store and she picked this. :)

The little neighbours dropped by for a spot of "cooking".

Kai and Ude, thanks for sharing this happy occasion with us. We all had a blast and hope little J likes the presents. (Or did the present float off with those balloons?)

A sight that made the adults went "awwww....".

Some lovin' moments captured during a walk with Ah Gong and Ah Ma. :)

Hmmm... Little Mushroom Head does not seem to fancy her own kind very much. :P

The Husband and I think we have the cutest dog alive.

Yep. Definitely the cutest.

The girls with their cuddly besties.

Anya with her M&M teacher. Though squirming in teacher D's embrace here; my girl actually adores her.

Make-believe snack time.

"Sweetheart, how is mommy going to feed you lunch with Rabbit in your face like that?"

Our (almost) weekly bread errand. Thank God for those bread dispensing machine.

As you can see, baby girl is getting quite good at standing, cruising..

And even walking..! Since over the weekend, she has started taking a few steps at a time without any help.