More babies!

Just heard the news about Ken's Uncle D and aunt K having their 3rd baby next year too! On top of that, my bro is also having another babe! Both due sometime in July or August! woo hoo! Baby D will have lots of playmates! Looks like the new baby bonus scheme is really working!!!

Coming to an end...

Thought I might just do a post, possibly my last before we return home to Singapore. We've got exactly 1 week before we leave Upper Hutt. We vacate our house next wednesday, and fly outto Christchurch on Thursday to go on our 2 week vacation on South Island. Guess what, we haven't started packing... where on earth do you start? Most of our own things are clothes, but we'll still have to pack up the rented stuff, and clean the house before handing the house back to the landlord. On top of all that, K has got classes right till the last day on wednesday, with his graduation dinner being on wednesday night! So we've booked ourselves into a motel nearby, arranged with a mother of jie K's friend to babysit them for wednesday night... I'm just praying that mei K will take it all in her stride, and not create a ruckus the whole night we are at the dinner! 

Too many things to happen over 2 days... and we fly out early morning on Thursday... all because we didn't want to waste 1 day with nothing to do, maximising our time traveling! Oh well... I'm sure all will turn out right. At least we have sold our car, at a lower price than I had expected, but at least the guy was kind enough to let us drive it till the last day. 

This weekend will be a busy one for us. Packing, and cleaning, catching up with friends for the last time, last minute shopping for christmas gifts etc. We'll be home only after christmas this time, so we apologise to those at home who won't be getting anything from us... just getting for those we'll see over christmas... anyway, we're trying to keep our luggage to minimum... hopefully we'll have some space for the yummy chocs though.

This is one of the things we have been keeping track... the girls' height growth. We've stuck flags on the back of the storeroom door (so they wouldn't rip it out). 

Jie K's growth: 96.5-99cm

Mei K's growth: 75-79.5cm

We really had to do it, otherwise we would never have known if they were really growing, except for them outgrowing their clothes, I guess. I was even looking at photos we took of jie K on her birthday in June, and realised that she was wearing a top that is now too small for her, and mei K has taken over. 

Although we really look forward to going home, and starting to adjust to our new life again, there are many things I'll miss here in NZ.

1. The weather. No matter how cold it was in winter, we really appreciate the coolness and dryness of the air here. And now that summer is almost here, we're starting to complain that it's too hot!

2. Our long walks. Nightly post-dinner walks with the girls in the double stroller, putting them to sleep while we have our couple time. Lately since K has had less work, we've been able to take 1-2 hour walks at night, especially with the sun setting only at about 845pm, it's just been great! Plus, the cool weather just makes our walks all the more enjoyable.

3. Our coffee group. The partners of the staff college have been meeting up every fortnight for the last 7 months. Will surely miss the company of these ladies whom I'm come to know, and we've all become very fond of, including the children. 

4. Playgroup, mainly music, kindy (for jie K), story-telling at the library. Activities that have kept us occupied during the weekdays. Not forgetting the adrenaline pumping fortnights when I lead the songs at playgroup.

5. Our garden and flat. Though it's not a place I'd live for long term, especially not during the winter months because of the lack of heating/dehumifying in the house. But it's a place we've felt safe in, served us well, including the garden which the girls love to run around in while I'm inside cooking, but still able to keep an eye on them. Just the outside area available to do things I wouldn't allow them to do indoors!

Painting in the garden

That's all I can think of for now... Memories are made of these blessed moments. 

Our little adventure.

Wow! After 8 months of cold, wet weather, we finally experienced what summer can be like here in NZ. K had a 5 day weekend, so we decided to take one last driving trip of North Island before he graduates. (of course we still have 3 weeks after to do more traveling elsewhere) It must be the most unplanned trip ever! We hadn't booked anything, or decided where to stay for each of the nights. We just knew we were heading north toward the East Cape, north of Hawke's Bay, to see the coast, and get some beach at View Larger Map">Gisborne. The final decision was made after this internet-savvy mummy had checked the weather all over NZ, and found that the sun was only going to shine in and around Gisborne for the whole weekend.

So we packed the bags, the kids, some food into the car, and off we went. We had driven up SH2 many times, and have stayed in Napier 3 times in the last 8 months (yes, we love Napier). This time, K had heard from his friend about Havelock North, which is just 1 hour south of Napier (3.5h from Upper Hutt). As we drove into the town, we both agreed that we'd stay the night here. It was the prettiest town we'd seen in NZ so far, with a nice village centre and cool cafes, and even a big playground! We were also won over by the big spa bath in the motel we checked-in to. Too bad we arrived late, and didn't get any pics of the place. 

The next day, we contemplated staying another night to soak in the atmosphere of this chic town. We'd noticed how much better dressed the people were. Even the mummies chasing after their kids looked better dressed than most of the kiwis we've seen in the Wellington area. (we later found out that it was a tiny version of Auckland with the more well-off professionals living there) It was the best place for K and I to do the thing we love... people-watch! But we decided we wanted to push on and explore more. 

After some people watching, coffee drinking (not me of course), shopping and a stop at the playground, we headed north to Gisborne.  After an unexpectedly long and boring 3 half hour drive, we found a beach-front motel in Gisborne, facing the pacific ocean. This was a 'real' beach to me, as previous ones we'd seen here either pebble beaches, or with rocks and waves which made it too dangerous to swim at. The sand here was fine and clean. Though the water was much to cold for me to venture further than knee-deep, K managed 2 swims and did some body-surfing. The kids just loved the sand, and could sit there for much too long, digging with just shells they found on the beach. 

On our morning walk

After seeing how much the kids loved the beach, we decided to stay another night in Gisborne, and forgo driving up the coast of the East Cape, which would have been a 6 hour drive to get to the next decent sized town to sleep at. We were blessed with really good weather throughout the weekend, at times getting abit too hot, especially being in a car whose a/c is broke! It must have been at least 30 degrees in the car! We just wondered how we'd get used to the heat and humidity back home... After leaving Gisborne, we drove back south to Napier. K decided to drive via the coast into Napier, and we found Port Ahuriri! It had pretty quaint shops, seafood joints, and to top it off, a beautiful hotel with a view! It didn't look like much on the outside, but K decided it was time to pamper us and himself with a luxurious hotel room! (as compared to staying in motels and motor lodges!)

Monday, we drove back home to Upper Hutt. It was a great relaxing holiday for me, thanks to daddy who helped with the kids, giving me time to read my book, or just to chill/stone at the playground while he watched them. The girls were also very well behaved, except for some tiffs at the playground. It was a rather liberating way to have a holiday, not needing to worry about where we'll be going, which place we'll be staying at, or whether we would even have a place to stay. We had agreed that if we didn't find a place, we'd just drive on till we found one. Interestingly, it was one of those holidays where K and I talked a lot on our drives, sought each other's opinion and concerns, and didn't have a disagreement throughout! Wonder if that's the way holidays should be done, as little adventures! 

We know that the Lord has brought us here to build stronger bonds together as a couple, and as a family. I thank God for that, as I can see how things have changed for the better. Personally, I think I have come to accept the role of a SAHM much better than before, also coming to accept that I don't need to be earning my own money to play a big role in this family.

To Scrap or not?

Now that our time here in NZ is coming to an end, I'm starting to think of ways I can help the children remember their time here. One good thing that I think I've done is to keep this blog going for the last 8 months. It's a way to remember things I've done, and to log our loves here. But I've also toyed with the idea of doing some scrapbooking. That is quite the in-thing now I realised, though it's something that has been around for years. I'm just not totally confident that I'm creative enough to have fresh ideas, or even the time to do it. One thing is for sure, we'll be doing lots more printing of photographs now that K has managed to take some pretty decent shots with his toy. We're also thinking of ways to decorate the house with our own creations, rather than using someone else's work of art... unless of course we find great paintings(which we both can't do).  It's also a sense of knowing that we'll be able to enjoy our house more than we have in the last 5 years. Since we got married and lived in our own house, we've had to spend weekends at the in-laws house all the way on the other side of the island just for convenience-sake. Of course, when the kids came along, weekends were the in-laws' time with them... so that we again a necessity... so friday nights, we would basically pack up all we need for the weekend, dog included, and tow it all to their house. Then come sunday, we'd do the same with packing the whole family back home to get ready for the new week. It was rather bothersome, but after awhile, we got used to it. Now when we return home, the in-laws will be in our house. For me, it feels like I can now Live in the house that I really liked, though we'd have to put up with new changes, and much less space! 

So back to my question... maybe when we get back and start getting organised with printing out the pictures and getting the materials, I'll be inspired to start the work. I wonder if there's such a thing as a scrap book online? 

Will keep researching, and reading up... maybe I'll get some great ideas!

Baby News...

This feels strange and so exciting! It's like the first time I'm keeping a log of the on-goings of my baby... and it'll be my last one! Went for our 20 week anatomy scan yesterday. I had been looking forward to it for the last 1 month, and was so excited about bringing the girls to see the new baby on the screen too! 

At first, I wanted to be surprised by the gender of the baby, while K wanted to know... and I just couldn't stand the thought of him knowing and not me! Anyway, as the day drew nearer, I decided that I wanted to know too! I had a feeling that it'd be a boy, and thus we'd have to buy some new clothes for him, and thought that while we are here, we could take advantage of the summer sales to buy the nice baby clothes.

This being my third baby, I have gotten pretty good at reading the u/s scans as the sonographer was moving the sound head around my tummy. I also felt the first kick while the scan was being done, and even saw the legs kicking out on the screen. As he got down to the legs and the regions around it, I thought I spied a little diggly-dangly in the area. After which, the sonographer asked if we were sure that we wanted to know the gender. After confirming, he then showed us the little 'thing' I was looking at... It's a boy! He was very sure of it. So was I! He also mentioned that all is well, and the baby is right smack in the middle of NZ average size for his age, although I might have a slightly low-lying placenta, but the doctor we consulted later said he was confident that as the baby grows, it will fix itself later on in the pregnancy. 

Anyway, prior to all this, K was quite sure and very prepared for another girl. We had even chosen a girl's name, and not a boy's. This had influenced me, and I was also preparing myself for a third girl. After all, it's the only way we knew! Plus, we have all the girls clothes, and the 3 girls could sleep in the same room till they were older, and when we had enough money to get a bigger house! Well, with God's gift of this little boy, I'm sure now that this factory will be closed for good! We now have to think of a boy's name, and think of which school this boy will go too! After all, my alma mater which the girls will go to is an all-girls school, while K's alma mater...hmmm... he doesn't think too highly of it, plus it's really too far in the east for us. But, that will be a good 6 years before I have to worry about it again. 

 

First scan done at 14 weeks. Baby at 9.19cm

Here is scan done at 19weeks and 3 days. EFW: 301g (53%ile)

Can you see him pointing at his nose? Hope he's not digging it!

Here's a view of his arms and hands...

Trauma turned pleasant...

One week ago today, I experienced the most traumatic 1-2 hours in my life. It's just one of those things I'm going to blame on being pregnant. Went shopping with the folks at the shopping mall in Lower Hutt. What was to be a great shopping day thanks to the remnants of labour day discounts, turned into horror when I was in the department store, Farmer's, and was about to pay for my purchases. I had met my mum at the shoe department, followed her around before we decided to leave Farmer's. It was then that I realised that I was not carrying my backpack on my back!!! Now, I really didn't have much in there as it really served as the diaper bag, except for my wallet and camera! Not that I had much money in there, but the hassle of having to cancel my cards from overseas, and having them replaced would have just made it all too expensive. I just panicked. I tried to remember when I had to put my bag down, and only thought of the food court where we ate lunch at, and there after the changing room where I tried on some clothes. I had been pushing the girls around in the double buggy, and really had no reason to put the bag down any where else. 

I first searched the changing room, and asked the lady at the counter nearest to it. Not there... Went back up to the food court, looked around, asked the cleaners... nothing... Went back to Farmer's to check again. The lady at the counter then advised me to leave my particulars with her, and she'd contact security and call me if anything turned up. She also told me to go to the customer service counter of the mall and ask for help. Meanwhile, we went back to the food court, and asked the cleaner lady there again. She also directed me to the customer service desk, and personally walked me there to tell the service person to call security and to ask them to look at the security cameras to see what might have happened. Within 15mins, a security officer came and took me to the security room where they viewed the security cameras. They took the time to turn back the computer to when we were having lunch there. It then showed that I was not such a dud-head to leave my bag there, and even followed me tracks into Farmer's just to make sure that the bag was with me. They then told me to go to security in Farmer's and ask them to do the same as they had their own security cams in there. Well...(sorry if the details are boring you) I went back to the changing room counter, and the lady called their security, who then told her that nothing got turned in, and will call me if anything does... with that, I had lost hope of finding my bag.... I went to the bank to cancel my ATM card first (fortunately that was local)... however, at the counter of the bank, I got a phone call(yes, I usually carry my hp on me but not my wallet!). It was the security guy from Farmer's, and he said they found my bag in the shoe department! I was ecstatic! I just couldn't understand why I would put my bag down there... but then again, some parts of my day just seems to go by in a blur nowadays... 

I just thank the Lord for keeping my bag intact, and for helping me find it. I thank Him that I managed to keep my cool and not break down (which I just felt like doing). I thank Him that everyone was so helpful, understanding and service-oriented in helping to find my bag. Somehow, when I thought that someone might have nicked it, I just didn't believe that people in this friendly, pleasant country might be so dishonest. Perhaps I have too much faith in mankind, or I am just too naive... but I'm glad it wasn't this experience that has proven me wrong. It got me thinking of how the kind of service I might receive if this had happened in Singapore. For one, I know that the changing room counter lady who was just like a cashier, went out of her way to entertain me. A lady (another shopper) standing around who overheard our conversation was so nice to advise me to go straight to the bank first before looking for the bag. I was so touched by their sincerity. Wonder what a busy cashier in say, Robinson's, might have done. I have never ever lost a bag/wallet(touch wood) in a mall at home before, so I wouldn't be able to compare the level of service that's available in Singapore. Anyone care to comment?

An Update...

It's been such a long time since my last post... Need to post about our Oz and NZ trip with the family. K has been away for almost 1 half weeks now, and he gets home on friday late night... I can't wait. Although, his return then means that my parents go home :( Why can't we have it all??

Have really enjoyed my parents stay here with us... The weather last week could have been kinder though... It rained throughout the week, the temperatures dropped to below 5 deg in the morning and at night... What kind of spring is this? 

Well, where should I begin, the weekend was a long one as yesterday was Labour day, so we took a drive up to Waikanae, Otaki and Levin on Sunday, did some shopping... taking advantage of the Labour day weekend specials; spent the night in Waikanae. Thank God the week-long rain held up, and we were able to go for an evening walk, and the next morning, did an hour and a half walk down the Waikanae river to the beach... It was simply awesome... photos will come... I promise. This is one thing K and I will miss. The wonderful long walks with kids in double buggy... in cool weather, simply admiring God's wonderful creation. Saturday the gramps treated us all to the Loritz circus here in Upper Hutt. While it was nothing much compared to the huge ones we've seen, it was still entertaining for the kids. It was small... the tent sat about 300 ppl around the ring... but kids loved it. Both my Ks were mesmerised from start to end.

Back-track to 5 weeks ago (wow! time really does fly by!) mummy and 2 Ks flew from Wellington to Sydney on a 6am flight... which meant we were at the airport at 4am! By the time we got onto the plane, the girls were wide awake, and ready to bounce off the walls... The counter staff from Qantas we really quite nice to allocate the whole row of 3 seats to us though we only had 2 ticketed seats. So the girls were happy to be able to move around. But this mummy was too sleepy to keep them entertained. Thankfully there was a young boy(about 14) who was sitting behind us, and started playing with them. They got friendly with him, playing peek-a-boo. Che K even told him her name... I was most impressed by her social skills! That gave mummy time to have 40 winks. When we reached Sydney airport, the little one promptly fell asleep! We met my parents there at the airport, we were all so happy to see each other!! My brother and sis-in-law met us at my aunt's house in Newcastle in the afternoon after they flew in from melbourne. A family reunion down under!

Anyway, the rest of the week was spent catching up with family. We spent 2 nights at a cottage in Hunter Valley where the wedding was held. It's the first time I'd been to a western wedding... and I never realised how long-winded it could be... considering it was only a 3 course dinner! I thought Chinese weddings were bad... At least the hotels in Singapore got cut off time, and most people leave by 11pm. This was at the Lindeman's winery... you can just imagine all the drinking going on... and it just went on and on... fortunately we had 2 kids and a baby in our party, who were so good to sleep through the whole dinner, so we left early.

Caught the flight to Auckland the next morning on an Qantas code-share flight with LAN airlines (a chilean airlines). Never again will we fly that carrier... gave us all a scare by delaying the flight by about an hour after taxi-ing to the runway, because one of the engines wouldn't start! Imagine the thoughts going through my mind during the wait... not to mention 2 kids clambering all over me, a baby with my bro at the other end of the aeroplane ... thank God for grandparents! Thank God also for taking away my preggie illnesses just in time for the trip... otherwise I would have suffered through it all!! 

Anyway, the pictures I've posted tells about the rest of our trip down from Auckland to Upper Hutt. 

Too many things to be thankful for... New lifestyle to adjust to when we return, new addition to the family etc...