I hope it fits

I made these crochet booties myself. The purple pair were made much earlier on during the pregnancy and took me about 3 days to finished. But the blue pair took me months because I kept pausing and forgot about it for weeks in between and I had only finished it recently. Ok, because when I was making the blue booties, I started playing these FB games, Farmville and Cafeworld, which made me so addicted!!

Well surprisingly, these booties were rather easy to make. I got the crochet pattern free from Martha Stewart. The pattern is rather simple and very repetitive. I do find the booties a little small which is why I tried to make the second pair bigger. The second pair looks a little weird as the yarn weight is lighter and I can only agar-agar add more crochet stitches to make the booties bigger.

I just hope it would at least last over 2 months. Maybe next time I can make these as gifts when I have friends expecting baby.

Tree is up!

I love year end as there are lots to celebrate - from birthdays to anniversaries to holidays. The only down side is the damage to my wallet. Well, this year is going to be particularly special as we await the arrival of our second child. (^^,)

Last year, my xmas tree was up early as I had to travel in December. This year it's up early again as I'm sure we'll be pretty tired and busy with a newborn so better get the tree and decorations up before the baby arrives.

This year colour theme is a classic red. I bought the baubles from Ikea. No new ornaments bought this year though. And the presents, I bought most of them and wrapped it way back in early October.

Something funny about Ryan is that he has been taking stock of all the presents under the tree. And since he is starting to read a little, he know if a present belongs to him or someone else. When I sticked name tags to the presents, he would take note of the names. And if I added more presents under the tree, he notices almost immediately like he's got a built-in presents sensor.

Now if you look at the photo, there are only two presents in blue wrappers. The left one belongs in Ryan's stockings which he has not seen before and I placed that present among the bunch and took the photo when he's not around. Amazingly, when I was reviewing this photo, he instantly noticed this extra present and ran to the tree to check but he couldn't find it and so he started bombarding me with questions - Where is it? Who is it for? Why can't he find it? Is it in one of the stockings???...

I have since hid that present in my drawer and told him it must be a special present from Santa and would only appear on Xmas day if he behaves. ;D

35 weeks and counting

Quick update - I'm thankful that my To-Do list is getting shorter as I ticked the items off every other day.

Have been shopping for baby stuff like mad the last couple weekends. We are such procastinators...and we also ended up buying more - We bought Wii. I wonder where we would find time to play Wii with a newborn arriving soon...

Anyway, we bought the game MarioKart which I hope would entertain Ryan for times when we are desparate for a break. We have Xbox but I find the games way too violent for kids.

My Xmas tree is up too! So are the decor and stockings. Fast huh?!

And I finally bought a brand new laptop! Really happy!!!!!

I think this is actually my second brand new computer in my decade long of computer usage. In between, hubby and I always buy his office 2nd hand laptops. Of course these 2nd hand laptops are not fantastic but they are really cheap like $200-300 only!!! And they serve my purpose as I don't do gaming, only simple home use and web surfing.

I think I'm kinda frugal when it comes to computers. I'm not like some who have to change computers constantly because they could stand milliseconds of waiting for application to load. I have really good patience for slow computers...Hahaha!

The last couple of days, we were busy purging out our old clothes. Fold and tidied the ones we want into our new chest of drawers, and shift the existing one into the kid room. Gonna sort out Ryan's old clothes and the new baby apparels into the chest these two days.

Ok, that's all for the update now...

Off to a getaway

Can't be going anywhere far now since no airplane would let me board.

Going to Sentosa for the weekend to celebrate my ROM anniversary before I pop and become a diary cow!

^_^

Almost there

I'm in my 3rd trimester now and almost coming to the end of my pregnancy. A lot has changed. From my severe pregnancy sickness during my 1st trimester to getting well and back to normal in 2nd trimester...and now getting tired more easily now.

The pattern in this pregnancy is pretty much similar to the first. The few differences are that I felt more relaxed probably because I'm not as clueless as I was during the 1st pregnancy. I also felt that my bump is bigger this time and was showing much earlier. It could probably be that my abdominal muscles were not as taut as before. Oh well!

But a surprise for me so far is that I have no stretch marks till now. I'm not concern about it now. In my 1st pregnancy, I was rather upset about getting stretch marks. I was actually expecting more stretch marks this time because I felt that my belly is bigger. I'm not sure if it is because of the Burt's Bees oil that I'm using. But the oil is really great relieve from itchy belly which drives me nuts during my 1st pregnancy.

Anyway, I'm now getting more excited with slightly more than a month to go before I get to meet my baby.

My little helper

My sous chef.

This little fella would rather not watch tv and came to the kitchen to help me prepare dinner.

We washed the vegetables together. He cracked the eggs and whisked them. He helped wiped the table and set the table for me. And best of all, he pinched half the omelette while I was cooking the rest of the dinner. ^^D

Simple joys

We were playing Monopoloy Jr when we heard the ice-cream man rang his bell.

Ryan got all excited and in the fastest time I've ever seen, he was all ready at the door waiting to dash out and get some dessert!

Ryan beamed as we had a short strolled and headed back home with a cone in our hands.

Bliss!

Silly Kids!

Kids are sometimes soooooooo adorably funny and silly!!

Yesterday, Ryan's school was having a Tuckshop Session where they role play and also learn the concept of money. The teachers would transformed into tuckshop vendors and parents would prepare $1 for their kids to bring to school where they could buy stuffs like stationery and snack food.

As usual, when Ryan returned from school I asked about his day at school and then I enquired about his tuckshop session and what he spent on. So he said he bought a hotdog which he ate right away. He also bought a sticker and a pen. All items were 10-cents each.

He showed me the pen and sticker. The pen is a Hello Kitty pen and actually writes well. But I'm not impressed with his choice of sticker. It's was just one sticker that looks like any sticky tape!?! Some expensive sticker huh?

Anyway, I then checked his coin pouch and was surprised to find a $1 coin and a 50-cents coin!!

Baffled, and so I asked Ryan all over again in detail - What he bought? How much each cost? Who he paid to? How much he had left? What happened to the rest of the coins?

Turns out, he and a friend decided to exchanged each others coins!!!

How clever are they?? ^^D

If only they knew the concept of money. These silly kids exchanged coins like it was some stickers or toys.

Now why didn't my friend give me $150 in exchange for my $70??? :/

Shopping for Baby #2 - Stroller

Isn't this the most stylo-milo stroller in the most cheerful colour???

Yes, we got this Stokke Xplory for our 2nd child! I admit it's really a major splurge.

Comparing this stroller with Ryan's Maclaren Techno XT, what a BIG difference it is in terms of size, weight, design and obviously the price tag!!! The Maclaren stroller is a very rational purchase.

We always thought we would have a second child soon so we didn't give away any of Ryan's baby stuff. There wasn't much to buy this time round. The baby clothings, cot, toys, steam sterliser etc, are still with us. Just need to be wash or clean. But I'll buy a couple of brand new baby apparels/toys just for fun and for our Baby #2 to call his own.

I'm so in love with this stroller that every time I passes by a shop that sells it, I have to go touch it, push it around and play around with the settings.

I'm now eagerly waiting for the shipment to arrive.

Meeting the Ferrari drivers

This has been in my draft for some time now. Finally got to post it.

So back in March during our last week in Melbourne, it happened to be the weekend for the Formula 1 Australia Grand Prix. We were out having dinner at Swanston Street and as we made our way to the tram stop to head home, we spotted a signage for an event the next morning to meet the Ferrari drivers (Kimi Raikkonen & Felipe Massa) at City Square.

As Ferrari fans ourselves, how could we missed out on this opportunity to see Raikkonen and Massa in person??!! But hubby couldn't make it as he still have stuffs to tie up at work so I decided to bring Ryan there myself and we could grab lunch outside and go to the playground after the event.

I was a little worried about facing a crazy crowd or stampede but on that Thursday morning, the crowd filled up about 2/3 around and mainly in front of the stage. I guessed the stars we are seeing are race car drivers, not pop stars afterall. Ryan and I easily found a front spot on the left side of the stage. I knew we would only see the drivers' side views but I'm not going to risk Ryan's safety by squeezing with the main crowd.

We waited there for 30-45mins before the Ferrari entourage arrived. By then, there were a big crowd behind us as well. I started to get worried again and was planning my escape route if the crowd got rowdy. Luckily, there was no pushing or shuffling.

The whole event was rather short. An interviewed with drivers that lasted around 10-15 minutes. All this time, Ryan was considerably well-behaved. Then the interview ended and the Ferrari drivers proceeded down the stair near us. So I quickly pulled out my Ferrari cap waiting eagerly for their autographs.

So overjoy after getting their autographs and felt so lucky because shortly after Raikkonen and Massa autographed my cap and a few others, they stopped, waved and left.

Some of the crowd went chasing after them for more photographs. I gleefully showed Ryan my prized posession. Ryan said wow but he probably duno what's so great about it.

Anyway, so when we were leaving the event, we saw 4 Ferraris parked roadside for the event for exhibition. Ryan and I admired them, took some photos before going for lunch and to the park after as I have promised him.

p.s. - I reckon this cap which I bought originally about $60 is going to cost a few fold after having Raikkonen and Massa autographs on it ^^, ....and Hubby temporarily lost it at Dreamworld!!!!! He dropped the cap at the Imax theatre near closing time which he luckily managed to retrieve it.

My other pregnancy sicknesses

Tiredness - I get tired really easy. On a scale of 1 to 10, my energy literally dropped to minus 5. I need to take nap during the day. The only difference with this pregnancy is that I don't nap such long hours. I only need about 1 or 2 half to 1-hr short naps in a day. I remembered when I was expecting Ryan, I literally slept for nearly a total of 18-hrs a day during the 1st trimester. At that time, my sole purpose of waking up was just to have my 3 small meals.

Come to think of it, I wished I nap as much for this pregnancy so I could just sleep thru' the tough times of my 1st trimester.

Eye/Hearing changes - My eyes become more sensitive to light. And I MUST wear sunglasses all the time whenever I'm outdoor, be it rain or shine.

I'll also experience blurred vision if I read for long period. I have good sight and now I joked and told hubby how I felt old like him now as I have to change the font size of everything on the pc and handheld gadgets to large font size so that it's more comfortable for me to read.

I don't know why my hearings are sensitive too. I read my pregnancy books and it wasn't mentioned. But anyway, I simply hate loud noises at this point. TV volumes are set as low as possible and I get annoyed whenever hubby turn up the volume.

Acne - For my face, I felt like I'm looking in the mirror back in my teenage days. Thankfully, just like old times, I get one or two acne each time and not a full face of acne.

Headaches - I noticed having more headaches this pregnancy. Thankfully panadol is safe to take during pregnancy. I'll pop a pandol, instead of two which I usually do. I'm not those hollistic women who refrain from all medicines and makeup throughout their pregnancy and look like drab.

Ryan - 4y 10m

I can't believe Ryan is going to be 5yo in 2-months!!!

Although he not a baby anymore, I often calls him baby and that really annoys him. Kids at his age probably just want others to look upon them as big boys now. ;D

Anyhow, he's been rather chatty now. Correction...it's VERY chatty! He talks SOoooo much sometimes that he drives me up the wall! And oftenly when Hubby and I were chatting, he'll have something to say as well and he CANNOT wait!

And the things he says are getting funnier. Just this morning during breakfast, he was asking me what are the Mandarin terms for random things like some fruits and vegetables.

Then he asked, 'What about Nutella?'

'Um, actually I'm not sure about this. How about you go and ask your Chinese teacher and let me know later.'

He replied, 'If you don't know, then how come you say you're so clever???'

>.< *facepalm*

Pregnancy Sickness

Morning sickness is a wrong term!!!

I think most women who suffers from morning sickness would agree with me that it's not just in the morning. It's morning, afternoon and night. It's 24/7!!!! That's why I call it pregnancy sickness instead.

For me, I'm a text book case pregger. I experienced pregnancy sickness during the 1st trimester and like what you would read in all pregnancy books and websites, it will eases off upon reaching 2nd trimester. This happens to me for my first and current pregnancy and the experieces are very similar. I have lots of types of pregnancy sicknesses. I'll talk about the ones that bothered me the most first.

Nausea, heighten sense of smell and food aversion - they make my life a living hell for 2 months!!!

I don't feel uncomfortable during the first month. Well, I guess 99.9% of women will not feel a thing nor know about their pregnancy in the early weeks. Erm, except that alien woman in Species who learnt of her pregnancy immediately lah! ^^D

Anyway, I feel queasy around the 4-5th weeks, a lack of appetite and feeling bloated all the time. Then I felt tired perpetually and I had to nap which is unusual as I NEVER like to nap. Am I weird? Most people like to nap but for me, it gives me headaches and I always have trouble sleeping at night if I do nap.

Around the 6-7th weeks is the start of the beginning of hell for me. My sense of smell became so sensitive anything with a scent becomes offending to me. I have to changed to fragrance-free or stopped using stuffs with fragrances like perfumes (obviously), shower gels, skincare products, etc. This also resulted in an aversion of food.

Food that are hot gives off scent. So nearly all food makes me wanna puke. I stopped cooking and got mom to prepare dinner for us and I have to wait for the food to cool down before eating. Even then, I ate very little. By little I meant like a few mouthful. I can't take garlic, onions and avoided meat basically....that means I'm just eating some rice and veg. Anyway, anything savoury does not appeal to me at this point and my tastebud lean toward food that are sweet.

It's a lot of trials and errors. Last pregnancy, I survived on potato chips for a week. Shockingly unhealthy but it's better than nothing at all.

This time, at different phases, I survived on different stuffs like beh teh soh (马蹄酥), madeleines, pork floss with bread, crackers, instant noodles, glucose and H2O drinks etc. Not healthy, I know, but can't help it because once I get too hungry, I throw up. And boy I threw up so much for this pregnancy that I lost count. For all these unhealthy fatty junk food I ate for about 10 weeks, I actually lost 4kgs!!!

I feel sorry for those who threw up throughout their pregnancy. My mom is one. She told me she puked the entire 9 months. ''~

Oh, the only healthy stuffs I craved for and ate a lot are fruits. I ate tonnes of fruits. Apples, cherries, peaches, grapes, papayas, berries, etc, and my fav is Navel oranges.

My food aversion extends visually as well. I cannnot tolerate any TV shows or articles on food and I have to change channels or I'll feel queasy again. How bad is that huh??

Thankfully, as expected, all these nausea and food related problems gradually eased off as I entered 2nd trimester. I have been able to eat better now. Most food are okay with me now and so I tried to eat a healthy and balance diet.

I'll post about my other complaints next time...basically stuffs that I noticed a change but don't really bother me that much.

The Discovery

We have been trying for #2 for a rather long time and invested in many ClearBlue test kits but it's always a negative so I have stopped testing for some time.

During the last two weeks of our stay in Australia, I had been feeling queasy all the time but I thought I was just tired from too much touring. A week more after returning to Singapore, I still felt tired and queasy. So just days before my birthday (mid April), it suddenly occurred to me that I might be pregnant.

I looked at my last box of ClearBlue. The expiry is just a few months later so I thought why not. I'm pretty numb to a negative result so it wouldn't affect my birthday mood but if it's positive I'll have more reasons to celebrate.

Expecting yet another negative result, I paused for some time when I saw a positive sign. I'm a pro at using home pregnancy kit by now but I suddenly felt the need to read the leaflet within the box to make sure that I read the result correctly. Next thing, I took a photo and MMS to hubby and then I started crying.

For my first pregnancy, when I discovered I was expecting Ryan, I didn't feel extremely happy. I was actually a little scared as I don't know what to expect being a 1st time pregger then. Plus I always have a fear of being in hospital. Not like visiting people but like being admitted into hospital. I'm paranoid that freak accidents might fall upon me, like wound infections or excessive bleeding or someone left a pair of scissors inside me ,etc, stuffs like that.

This time round, I was overwhelmed with emotions. After trying for so long, I thought I might never have another baby. At times I felt sorry that Ryan might not have any sibling to play with. And guess what? Some things are really cliche!! Just like in tv or how people advises, when you don't think about it, you just might have that baby.

So anyway, the box of ClearBlue I bought has 2 test kits. I didn't want to get my hopes too high so I decided to use the remaining test kit the next morning to make sure the first result is not incorrect because it was going to expire. After the second positive result I then made an appointment with my obgyn to double-stamped confirm my pregnancy with an ultrasound scan. Hahaha! I feel the need to see the little 'blob' on the monitor and hear my doc says "Congrats" to us. Kiasu lah! So when we stepped out of the clinic with a printed copy of the ultrasound, we phoned both our moms to spread the news. (^^,)

a BUN in the oven

Yes, we are expecting Baby #2 !!!!

This is not a secret with family and close friends but I have reservations writing about this pregnancy before I reached 2nd trimester.

During my first pregnancy, I was happy to tell everyone I know about the good news but this time round, for some reasons, I'm apprehensive and maybe a little superstitious and decided not to talk much about it till I crossed the 1st trimester hurdle. Plus, I have been suffering from severe pregnancy sickness yet again!....I was hoping 2nd pregnancy would be kinder to me but NOoooo!!! I couldn't even take care of myself so it was impossible for me to even blog about it.

Anyway, I'm into my 2nd tri now and saying bye bye to my preggy sickness and getting my energy back. (^^,)

Sooooo....expect lots of progesterone-induced entries in the next few months ;D