Getting A Good Urut Today

The urut lady who used to urut me after the birth of Baby C will be coming to my place to urut me today. Since it's quite difficult for me to go to the spa, the best I can do is to call the urut lady up to my place. Can't wait for her to come and give me a good massage. I need a good massage SOOOO badly!

Our Sunday

We had lunch at Lemon Garden @ Shangri La Hotel today, courtesy of my generous sil. We reached there at around 1pm and we ate and ate non-stop and only left the hotel at around 4:30pm. There were 21 adults and 7 kids.... which was a HUGE group! When we got home, there was another gathering of relatives and another round of eating, but this time we ate fruits, durian (yeah, darn fattening!) and homemade durian cake (yeah, really fei sei loh!). Everyone was so stuffed that we skipped dinner. All my 3 kids missed their nap and by 9pm, their batteries went dead flat.... and I only have the time to sit at the PC now. I have to work-out extra hard for the next few days coz I've been eating so much of fattening food (kuihs and durians) for the past few days ever since my sils came back.


My princess wannabe showing off her hand painting. Check out her 2 bunny teeth!

Baby C enjoying some toasts from the buffet. By 4pm, she started to get restless and sleepy and I had to nurse her in the baby changing room at the hotel.

Our Sunday

We had lunch at Lemon Garden @ Shangri La Hotel today, courtesy of my generous sil. We reached there at around 1pm and we ate and ate non-stop and only left the hotel at around 4:30pm. There were 21 adults and 7 kids.... which was a HUGE group! When we got home, there was another gathering of relatives and another round of eating, but this time we ate fruits, durian (yeah, darn fattening!) and homemade durian cake (yeah, really fei sei loh!). Everyone was so stuffed that we skipped dinner. All my 3 kids missed their nap and by 9pm, their batteries went dead flat.... and I only have the time to sit at the PC now. I have to work-out extra hard for the next few days coz I've been eating so much of fattening food (kuihs and durians) for the past few days ever since my sils came back.


My princess wannabe showing off her hand painting. Check out her 2 bunny teeth!

Baby C enjoying some toasts from the buffet. By 4pm, she started to get restless and sleepy and I had to nurse her in the baby changing room at the hotel.

Baby C Can Walk!

Today while on my king-sized bed, Baby C stood up on her own and walked from one end to the other! My maid and I cheered and clapped and Baby C was grinning from ear to ear. I think she will be gallivanting the house on her feet very soon... and I will have to watch her like a hawk. Baby C is just like her 2 cheh chehs who all started to walk before they turned 12 months.

Baby C Trying To Talk

Baby C is trying to imitate what I say. This morning, when I was giving her a bath, I said "baby, take bath.... BATH" and Baby C said "bah, bah". Later when I gave her a piece of paper, I said "paper" and she said "pah pah". Baby C is also saying "cheh cheh" the whole day... whether she sees her 2 doting cheh chehs or not, she's saying "cheh cheh" all the time, as if practising her new found skill!

Disney Princess Pasta

Sherilyn my noodles and pasta lover will go crazy if she sees a bowl of Princess pasta on the dining table waiting for her for lunch. My sil bought this packet of Princess pasta for her from Hong Kong.

Tell me which Princess wannabe wouldn't go crazy over the pasta?



Pasta in the shape of princess, princess' heels and princess stuff. Cool stuff!

Sherilyn And Her Obsession With Her Hair

Sherilyn's vain, really really vain for a 4-year old. Now that her mah mah is back, she's found someone who would entertain her whims and fancies. The moment she wakes up in the morning to the moment she goes to bed at night, she would stick to mah mah, pestering her for everything under the sky, especially to get mah mah to tie plaits with her hair. Sher's so vain that she even badgered mah mah to tie plaits when her hair was wet, right after her bath last night. To keep her mouth shut, mah mah put a clip on her hair. This morning, again she demanded that mah mah tied plaits before she went to school. Looks like my mil will be very busy with coiffuring her 3 grand daughters' hair from now onwards.

Baby C Called Mah Mah

Today, Baby C called "mah mah" when she saw my mil. When my mil came back from Hong Kong on Friday, she didn't want her and cried when my mil tried to carry her. Today she finally accepted mah mah and let her carry her. Just a moment ago, I asked her to call "mah mah" when my mil called out her name. And guess what? She responded and said "mah mah" with a smile..... so accurately and clearly!

Spaghetti Bolognaise

Another dish that Alycia and Sherilyn can never seem to get bored with is spaghetti bolognaise. I made them spaghetti with minced pork and Tesco brand Pasta sauce (I like this sauce as it tastes mild, doesn't make you feel thirsty after eating it and it's imported from UK) the other day. I added one whole diced tomato, 1 large big onion, some McCormick mixed herbs, some tomato sauce and salt to taste. I made a large batch and deep freeze a portion. The gals loved them so much that several days later, I made another batch of spaghetti sauce. This time, I used minced topside beef and it tasted even better.

A bowl of spaghetti like this on the dining table will surely make Alycia and Sherilyn shout "yay" when they see it.

Maid Stories Again

My maid is another fler in the house making me blow my top everyday. Seeing how late she sleeps each night, I try to help her out in some of the chores like boiling water, washing the bathrooms, wash Baby C's utensils and I even mop the kitchen floor after I cook. Talking about cooking, she botches up a dish 9 out of 10 times, though I kept reminding her what to do and what not to do. So now I take over the cooking, everything. Today she sent me raving mad again. Seeing how slow she works, I told her that she doesn't even need to wash the laundry or fold them. She also doesn't need to iron the adults' clothes. She only needs to iron my kids' school uniform. Most of the laundry will be sent to the laundry or my hubby's staff will do it. She only needs to do baby and some of the kids' laundry. I made this decision coz last night, I caught her keeping half dried laundry and trying to fold the damp clothes. Today, again I caught her washing dirty wash cloth together with my baby's clothes, though I had reprimanded her many times never to do it.

Also, I've caught her many times putting food that I'd just cooked or just packed back into her mouth with the same spoon that she's scooping them into a bowl when she thought I wasn't looking... when everyone else hadn't eaten yet. I told her she can eat all that she wants but she has to eat properly and not eat so sneakily. Besides, it's so unhygienic to eat from the same spoon that she's using to scoop the food out into our bowls. And it's grossly bad manners too. Today she did it again when she was pouring out the fish head noodles that hubby bought.... and she kept denying it. I wanted to say "hello, what's the strand of noodles doing at the corner of your mouth?" But my throat hurt badly and I didn't want to make an issue out of this small thing. You tell me, would you be mad? I've told her umpteem times never to wash dirty wash cloth with the kids' clothes, yet she deliberatly did it and vehemently denied doing it. She thought I was born only yesterday. All these are still bearable. What I can't stand most is that she often shouts at my kids and scolds them in the exact same manner that I do to them. She even handles them very roughly to vent out her frustration. For the past 1 week, I also caught her dozing off while feeding Baby C.... with Baby C sitting on her lap! OMG... that's frigging dangerous. I had reprimanded her many times and now, no more putting Baby C on her lap when she feeds her. She even had the cheek to ask Sherilyn to 'jaga baby' and left Baby C on the room floor... and with a bath tub filled with water in the attached bathroom, while she stepped out of the room. Thank God, I saw it and reprimanded her.

If I had the money, I would have opted for another maid. I've given this maid far too many chances to change over a new leaf.

Sherilyn's Extra Curricular Activities

I got a phone call from the gals' principal this morning which gave me a scare and got my heart thumping away as I rushed to pick up the phone. I hate receiving phone calls from the gals' pre-school. Usually, any call from the school shouldn't be something pleasant right? The principal wouldn't call me to tell me how clever or how good my girl is right? Anyway, she called to inform me that Sherilyn's Mandarin enrichment class will begin next month, which is just next week. Her Mandarin enrichment class will be every Friday from 12 - 1:30pm and Alycia's Mandarin enrichment class will be every Tuesday from 12 - 1:30pm.

Sherilyn also has ballet class on Friday from 7-8pm. By the time Sherilyn's back from school, it would be almost 2pm. Knowing how slow this fler eats her food and knowing how much she likes to dilly dally when it comes to taking her shower, by the time all the dilly dallying and temper tantrums are over, it would be almost 5ish pm. So no need to take afternoon nap lar. I have to get Alycia and Sherilyn ready for ballet at 6:15pm - dress them up and tie up their hair. Maybe it's also a good thing coz Sherilyn has boundless energy. She rarely falls sleepy. Everyday, she would avoid taking her afternoon nap and at night when everyone else has gone to bed, she would also walk round the house and dilly dally again... until close to midnight. I wonder where she gets all the energy from.

Anyway, back to her Mandarin enrichment class. Perhaps it's not too bad an idea that she has a tightly packed schedule so that all the activities will burn her energy away and hopefully she will have no problem falling asleep when night comes. Hooray!

My Girls And Their Lego Blocks

One of the toys that Alycia and Sherilyn don’t seem to get bored with is their Lego blocks. Granny bought the Lego blocks for Alycia for her 3rd birthday and the gals have been playing with them for over 2 years. Lego blocks is one toy that can really stimulate the imagination of kids. Some of the objects that Alycia and Sherilyn had built with their Lego blocks were KLCC Twin Towers, dinosaur, boat, robot, house and even a cell tower. Well, some of the things that they told me they had built didn’t really resemble the actual object but in their eyes, their creation is always the best and they are always proud of it.

That's All I Can Eat For Lunch Today

My throat still hurts today and I am coughing like someone who has TB. I don't have much appetite to eat, so I just drank some snow fungus pork ribs soup and ate half a cup of rich premium organic yoghurt.






Check out my health blog to find out more about this absolutely tasty organic yoghurt.

Funny Video Of Baby C

Baby C seems to be afraid of the sound of the hair dryer. Each time I dry her hair after her bath, she would run round and round the playpen to avoid the hair dryer. Yesterday, she did something really really hilarious. She kept shaking her head, like a model who has just gotten out from the swimming pool.... shaking her head to shake off water from her hair....

Have a laugh too...

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An All-In-One Financial Solution For My Family

When I made up my mind to quit the job that I loved to be a SAHM 3 years ago, I was plagued with worries and anxieties that my hubby would not be able to feed 3 mouths (now, it’s 4 mouths!) with just one income. It wasn’t an easy decision for me to throw in my resignation letter but to me, my kids always come first. During the initial months of relying on just one income, it was a tad difficult to adjust our lifestyles, especially in the way we spent our money. We had to cut down on many luxuries so that at the end of the month, there’s still money left to go into our savings account or fixed deposit account.

It’s never easy to have just a sole breadwinner in a family. The standard of living in the city where we live is high. Month in, month out, there are endless bills to settle, hire purchase and mortgage to pay, the kids’ school fees and extra curricular fees, insurances for the kids and for ourselves, car maintenance, medical and hospitalization bills (hubby’s self-employed), food and household expenditure, amongst others. I am pretty sure many of us with kids have almost the same commitment as us and we all struggle to squeeze out a portion of our salary to go into savings. Wouldn’t it be good if we have a personal financial planner who can help us chart out a budget planner, manage our day-to-day finances and savings goal so that we can invest in our future and that of our kids?

I found out today that AmBank has a perfect all-in-one solution called Family First that caters to my family’s financial needs. The Family First solution is perfect for families with kids as it is designed with a complete suite of products and services that cater to every aspect of your financial needs. It helps me plan and manage my expenses and save for specific goals.

Amongst the benefits that I will enjoy as a Family First member include an Everyday Account which is a current account and checking facility, up to 10 Special Savings Accounts linked to my Everyday Account, an awesome online Budgeting and Savings Tools that can help me design a budget to meet my family’s needs so that at the end of the day, I still have enough money to go into savings. I will also have access to family bankers who will guide me in managing my accounts with their financial tools, fund transfer and standing instructions facility within AmBank at no cost, access to an informative Family First Website with tips and ideas on how to plan each stage of my life and much more. Now, aren’t these benefits awesome? Well, I am pretty impressed and I am planning on getting myself a Family First account soon. It’s pretty simple to be a member. As long as you are at least 18 years of age, you can go to any of the AmBank branches with your IC to open a Family First Everyday Account.

Fruitful Morning

I had quite a fruitful morning today. After a good half-hour jog round the neighborhood and inhaling the crisp, after-rain morning breeze, I felt much better. The pain in my throat and head subsided a little and I didn’t feel cold anymore, though I’ve lost my voice! That’s the wonders of exercising. The feel good hormones, endorphins can really make you feel damn good! When I came back, I got Aly and Sher ready for school. Then, I fed Baby C antibiotics and then took a shower. Next I nursed Baby C and she dozed off. While she was asleep, I hurriedly worked my brain and hands at full steam (before baby wakes up and I can't do anything) and managed to dish out 4 paid posts and 1 non-paid post in less than an hour, phew! These days, I hardly have the time to sit on my computer to blog. The most I can spend on my computer now is 1-2 hours, compared to 5-8 hours before Baby C came along! See the vast difference! But it’s ok, in fact I think lesser time on the PC is a blessing in disguise coz I can spend more time to coach Alycia in her homework and because of this, she’s progressing really well in her studies now.

Baby C's Progress At 10 Months

I’ve not written Baby C’s progress for a very long very time and it’s time I did one now. Here’s Baby C’s progress at 10 months :

1. Can say “bear bear” when she sees the picture of Pooh Bear on her cup.
2. Can say “ball ball” when she sees my fitball.
3. Can call “cheh cheh” and “dada”. Sometimes calls “daddy” and sometimes calls “papa”. Sometimes calls “mama” too.
4. Can walk a few steps unaided when she’s in her playpen. However, when she’s put on the floor, she will cruise and crawl.
5. When asked “where’s the fan baby?”, she will point to our discount ceiling fans. Can also point to the lights, air-cond and clock when asked where they are.
6. When asked “baby, make funny face”, she will put on a funny face by twitching her lips into an ‘o’ shape.
7. Can fly kiss by putting her hand on her lips when asked.
8. Can wave her hand when we say “bye bye” to her. Can also clasp her hands and do the 'gong xi' thing.
9. Knows some of her body parts, namely ear, nose, fingers, head, toes and will point to them when asked where they are.
10. Still loves her “Your Baby Can Read” VCD series after watching them for half a year and can sit for at least half an hour watching the VCD intently….yay! Hopefully she will be able to recognize some words soon.
11. Will tap on her diaper when asked where her diaper is.
12. Still hates her antibiotics and health supplements which she has to take daily.
13. Loves soup, porridge and bread with butter and granny’s homemade pineapple jam..
14. Loves to drink from a cup.
15. Can remove her pants and unbutton her jammies.
16. Can pull off the sticker on the packet of wet wipes and knows that she has to lift the sticker to pull the wet wipes out.
17. Will pretend to cry when I give her a stern looking face when she throws her toys out from her playpen.

That’s all I can remember for now but I know there’s definitely more.

Baby C’s weight is still below average at a disappointing 7.5kg. Her below average weight is contributed by the monthly UTI attacks that she gets and the purging that comes along with the UTI. I pray that she will have no more UTI and will gain weight at a more rapid rate after her surgery.

Baby C Removing Her Pants

Baby C caught in action removing her pants 2 days ago....






When we were all laughing at her antics, she said "aah" and passed me her pants!

Mah Mah Coming Back... And Alycia Is One Happy Girl Again

Alycia is really happy today. That's because her beloved mah mah will be coming back from Hong Kong next week. My mil is making her trip back earlier to help me out with the 2 older gals when Baby C goes for her surgery in 2 weeks' time. My initial plan was to send Alycia and Sherilyn to daycare at their pre-school for a week when Baby C goes for the surgery. When Alycia heard me discussing this with a relative, she bawled big time for over 2 hours... non stop and kept repeating "I don't want to go to daycare"! Over and over and over again, though I told her later that I will not send her to daycare anymore. That night, for the first time since we moved to our new condo, she knocked on our room door at 3am (which scared the hell outa hubby and I), requested to sleep in with us and climbed onto our bed. Poor baby, she must have been really traumatized.

Green Tea Noodles With Terriyaki Chicken

Here's another quick fix meal which Alycia and Sherilyn can never seem to get fed up with - green tea noodles. Sherilyn would be beaming if I would cook her green tea noodles twice a day, everyday! If there's a bowl of green tea noodles on the dining table at every meal, she doesn't need 2-3 hours to painstakingly chew and swallow her food. She can gobble down the bowl of noodles in less than an hour.


We had green tea noodles with cold soba sauce and toasted sesame seeds the other day. Daddy bought some terriyaki chicken from a Japanese restaurant and with that, Alycia and Sherilyn had quite a balanced meal for lunch.