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... 

Growing...

At 14 weeks, baby is now 9.14cm. We survived our trip out to Oz, and down the north island of NZ without daddy! 

Oh well... looks like I'm not going to win that deal of coming home lighter than before!!! Sigh... I was so on track till now...

In another week, daddy's gone for 2 weeks.... 

Surprise!

What showers of blessings we've received from the Lord! It's totally unexpected! First our chance to live here in NZ... now this....

We just went for our first obstetrician appointment today, and confirmed that the Lim household is expanding AGAIN! Baby no. 3 is already 12.5 weeks old! 

Phew.... no wonder I felt like I was losing it, and I thought I was taking such a long time to recover from the holidays! 

Questions like how, when, and why will be answered on a more private note... but this is God's gift. None of our expectations, personal agenda and plans can over-ride His greater plan for us. 

So, this is it... our lives are going to be changed yet again! 

In anticipation...

We are eagerly anticipating something that's happening tomorrow... It's really keeping us in suspense... keeping us guessing... 

Watch this space for updates!

Sick wee one...:(

For the last 1 week, this mum has been cleaning up after the wee one. She's been spewing from both ends. Fortunately the vomiting stopped after 2 days, but I think I haven't had to changed so many sets of clothes and diapers for a long time! She also went on a food strike for a few days, and there's really not much left of her. She went from being the active, ever ready to climb any chair, table or the like, to being my baby koala, sitting in my lap and cuddling up, so unlike her usual self. Whilst it was kinda nice to not have to watch her, and make sure she doesn't get into trouble, it was a painful sight to see her all curled up, with droopy eyes, and a pained expression on her face. I actually missed having my little bundle of energy, and was praying that she'll be back soon. Well, the weekend seemed a little better for her. For the first time in a few days she woke this morning with a smile on her face, and I'm here updating my blog without a baby in my lap! Hopefully this is the end of this week long trauma for her, and she can start replenishing herself, to fill up all those fat cells again.

Well, otherwise, the family had a fine weekend. Friday, we went to a ballet called Peter Pan at Te Papa. It was put up by the students of Jie K's ballet teacher. I was really impressed by the level of professionalism of the production. There were even dancers flying through the air! Of course, with all little girls, Tinkerbel was jie's favourite. She loved the dancing so much that at the end of the 1 hour show, she refused to leave, and even cried saying that she wanted more!!! Well, the dance school will be doing another show in Upper Hutt in Nov, and the teacher has said that the pre-schoolers (K's class) will be involved too! Hopefully she'll have the guts to get up on stage. The rest of the weekend was spent going on walks, yum cha with another family, and more walks.

I'm stoked by how we spent the weekend, and am really praying that we can have much more great family time together, taking walks, just chilling out, without needing to rush from place to place. I guess it helps also that the weather here is beautiful, with the coming of spring, and you're not pouring with sweat from the humidity. But I hope that we'll be able to continue this when we return home. For one, we will be spending a lot more time at home on the weekends now that the in-laws are living with us. That might help, not needing to shuttle from east to west so much. 

Just 9 more days till I embark on my solo journey to Sydney with the girls. A little worried about the 4 hour journey, but more excited that I'll be meeting my parents at the other end! 

Can't wait!

Recovering

It's been almost 2 weeks since my last post! Time really flies... I think I must have been having post holiday blues... I have had to recover from having visitors/helpers, and the holiday, Getting back into a routine, and the swing of things... it's been harder than I expected! I was feeling more tired than usual, feeling lethargic, I found it harder to control my temper, and to top it all off, jie K was more whiny and clingy than before! I don't know what brought it on. Maybe 2 weeks of having her way with the gramps was too good for her? Even getting back to the routine of sleeping by 730pm was so hard, and I was too tired to get involved with all that! My exercise routine has been disrupted for 2 weeks now... I'm sure it's contributing to all that tiredness.

So I decided I needed a bit more sleep. Like all of 10 hours every night... that has helped a little, and this week has been looking up! Dinners have become a bit more interesting too! 

Oh well, the netball season has ended, and our team ended 5th in our grade... which was not bad, though we think we could have been at least 4th. Unexpectedly, there's an indoor netball league that starts next week, but it's weekday nights. So I've not decided if I'll play much. Indoor netball is actually a bit different. It's a faster game, it's played 6-a-side, with only 2 halves of court. Anyone in the attacking half can shoot, though only 2 shooters and 2 defenders are allowed in the semicircle. But if a middie shoots from outside the circle, it counts for 2 points (like in basketball). It will be interesting, as I've never seen it played before. 

Jie K has developed a love for dancing, especially ballet. It started when we borrowed Barbie's 12 Dancing Princesses DVD from the library, and followed on with watching movies of Disney's various princesses. Then I bought Barbie's Nutcracker and Swan Lake dvds, and both the girls can watch them over and over again!!! Last sat, we took jie for a trial ballet class. She absolutely loved it. She went straight into class without hesitation (it helped that she had a classmate from kindy, a boy, who was there for his first lesson as well). They were so attentive, and followed instructions as best they could. I was impressed. We've been so excited, and can't wait for the next class this sat. The first thing she asked for when she came out was dancing shoes like the other kids (the ones who were regulars). So we went to the ballet shoe shop yesterday, and we were so blessed that there were a pair of leather shoes (pre-loved) that were her size exactly! The nice lady sold it to us for $15, which I thought was a steal! I had done some research for 2nd hand goods on trademe (NZ equivalent of ebay) and some auctions were starting at $20! Anyway, jie K is thrilled with our purchase. She's even got a little pink ballet bag, which ah ma bought for her, for her little shoes. I wonder how long this will last... maybe she'll stick with it, and become a good professional dancer (am I imposing my dream on her? although I had dreamed of singing in a professional musical. Not quite the same).... or maybe our interests in sports will show up much later? Who knows... for now, I'm happy to develop whatever interests she has...

Anyway, here are photos for those not on FB. 1, 2, and 3.

I need to start running again!!!