Of family, feasting and fun . . .

The Lunar New Year long weekend is over but thanks to all the cookies that I have been munching on, I lost my voice and got myself an extended holiday with two days of medical leave.  Thankful the sore throat hit me only towards the end of the 3rd day and I got to enjoy my holiday!  Went back to work today and my boss sent me straight home and gave me strict orders to stay home the next two days.  I think she couldn't bear to hear me speak another word.  

I enjoy the Lunar New Year for all that the season brings - the sun is always out, there is the spring-cleaning part that signifies a new beginning and out with the old, the house is stocked up with food and cookies to represent abundance in the new year, it's reason for new PJs, new clothes, new shoes and fresh linen on the bed and a time of reunion and spending time with family.  

Jules had a really good time with all her little cousins.  She also welcomed a new cousin - Baby J - who arrived just in time to wish everyone "Gong Xi Gong Xi".  

She saw her cousins M & M everyday and got so comfortable with the idea of playing with them that she went to bed the other night saying "Tomorrow, Juju wake up, Juju play dough with Mikaela". 

This year, I picked up Jules' cheongsam from A, Apple Pie at the Not Too Big boutique at Forum.  It went perfect with her little "nian nian you yu" jade necklace - a little piece of tradition that I use to wear when I was a kid.  I also got Sophie a matching outfit so that the both of them could wear them to Gong Gong's office for the lion dance on the 2nd day.  And I actually managed to tie Jules' hair up in 2 little ponytails which she miraculously did not attempt to remove throughout the day! 

Other than the usual visiting and lion dance at dad's office, we also visited my aunt's newly renovated home this year and took the opportunity to do a little crazy photo shoot.  The kids, they thought it was like a big playground! 

It truly was a great start to the year of the Golden Horse!! Hope you and your family had a 马-varlous time too!! 

马年快乐！

May the year of the golden horse bring you and your family lots of love, laughter, blessings and bountiful blessings!!!

5 Years On . . .

We celebrated our 5th anniversary over the weekend with our traditional weekend staycation at the Four Seasons.  It's also the one time in the year we get our parenting act together and have Jules all to ourselves.

When we brought her along for our celebrations last year, she just turned one and was busy being curious and exploring the room more than anything else.  This year, she was just chilling with us, potting around the suite with the cordless phone pretending to be talking to Gong Gong - as if giving him a live commentary of what she was doing at the hotel.  She LOVEd the bathroom and kept telling us she wanted to bathe.  She also told my parents "bathroom nice" when she was chatting with them over the phone.  Ok, the bathroom is nice but I think it's the bathtub that fascinates her most!

We spent two lovely nights at the hotel and was just chilling our weekend away.  It was very relaxing.  We had our breakfast in-room, watched movies while she napped and slept and slept in till 8.30am!! 8.30am - that my friends has got to be a record!!! I haven't slept past 7am in 2 years!! Jules was just happy to be running in and out of from the bathroom to the living area and playing hide and seek with us!  She also kept playing with the mini bar - finally meet a fridge her size!

We didn't get any decent photos and amongst those we have see us in our jammies.  Well I guess that tells you just how busy we were chilling!

Happy anniversary sweetie!! Thanks for being the awesome husband that you are and that equally awesome Dada!! Thanks for putting up with my tantrums all these years and now your daughter's. We love you to bits!!

Have a great week everyone!!

Jules Turns 2! - #3

I promise this is the last installment of the "Jules Turns 2!" series.  We ended her birthday celebrations with a cosy party amongst family.  No big party and sing-a-long session like last year, just wholesome home-cooked dinner, lots of bubbles, laughter and a wholelota love from grandparents, yiyis and uncles.  

We were not planning for any party per se, just got some of her favourite people over to see her blow out her candles and indulge her in some good fun!! And that to her was probably the best present.  

There wasn't really a theme but I was going to decorate the cake I baked her with an Elmo figurine so I thought what the heck, we could do with a little fun creating a little Sesame Street party.  And with that, the streets of Sesame Street formed the backdrop to her 2nd year photo montage.  Thanks to the little aunt for drawing the Sesame Street road.  I was quite pleased with the end result! 

That was about as Sesame Streetish as the party got.  The rest of the house was just decked with balloons and more balloons.  Something she'll never say no to.  

She received many thoughtful gifts including a cute little doll from Da-yi, a drum set from Yiyi Sam & Unc Unc and a huge Noah's Ark book from her cousins yiyi and a sweet poster  and wooden strawberry from Che Che Sophie which completely made her day.  Her immediate respond to that poster was to run to her art and craft corner wanting to pin it up on her craft wall.  It was very sweet!  

We her parents got her a cooking set from Mother Garden and a Buzz Lightyear from the signature Disney series.  It's as close to the character from Toy Story as it can get.  The look on her face when she realised it was Buzz - priceless!! 

My mum cooked up a storm with her famous chicken stew and juicy prawns.  Nothing like a simple homecook meal.  We had Buzz grace the party again - this time in the form of an agar agar!  It was a very old-school agar agar taste and a hit with everyone.  I'm not sure what went through Jules mind when she saw me cutting up her favourite Buzz :o.  

To top it off, a simple chocolate cake (the same one I baked for her 1st birthday - the recipe was such a keeper) but this time, decorated to the Sesame Street theme.  I rolled out some fondant in Sesame Street colors and sat Elmo on the cake nicely under the Sesame Street sign which the little aunt made for Juju!  The birthday girl was so excited, she literally squealed with delight!  

At the end of all the celebrations, what meant the most was that Jules thoroughly enjoyed herself this past 2 days.  She may not know entirely the meaning of what 'it's my birthday' means but she definitely knew the last 2 days were special - I mean it's not everyday you get balloons, eat popsicles and rip open presents! 

And that folks wraps up Jules' 2nd birthday adventures!! Sorry for boring you!! Till her 3rd birthday!! 

The Jules Turns 2! Series was brought to you by the letter 'J' and the number '2'! 

Jules Turns 2! - #2

We figured since going to school was one of the big milestones in her 2^nd year, it was fitting that we celebrated her 2^nd birthday in school.

We decided on the balloon theme quite some time back – cos Jules loves balloons.  Let’s not go into how many balloons we have brought home with each visit to Parkway Parade (where there’s this balloon shop strategically located right in front of the Barney kiddy ride).  That balloon theme somehow evolved into a Disney movie “Up” theme after seeing how much Jules loved that movie – “Gong Gong, Por Por, Up” – as she calls it.  And with that, the husband came up with the grand plan of riding to school on his bike with 40 balloons behind him to be given to the kids at school.  It was a brilliant idea – the kids who were having water play when we arrived were so excited when they spotted mr balloon man! 

We also put together a simple goody bag for the children.  I got the canvas bags customised from Etsy and filled them with kiddy sized fruit juice, party size play dough, a retro paper ball, fun tattoos, some gummies and a chuppa chup each.  A mix of goodies for the tummy and for play – I hope the kiddos like it. 

Party bags!  Elmo and Big Bird not included

The cake remained the one and same headache I had as last year.  To bake or not to bake it myself.  Elmo with balloons or no Elmo, just balloons.  In the end, I decided to not stress myself and worked with the good people at ET Artisan Sweets to create her birthday cake.  The initial plan was to have the cake feature balloons and rainbow while I get an Elmo figurine to be placed on the cake (since ET Sweets don’t carry the license to design Sesame Street characters).  That was cos Jules was going through a serious Elmo phase (and still is).  But later, I decided to stick through with the “Up” theme, I got them to put together this design for the cake and they did a perfect job out of it!  It was much better than I expected! Thankfully Jules got the idea and when she saw the cake immediately went "Gong Gong Por Por Up cake"!  The cake was delish and the kids savoured it after their lunch today!  Pity Jules couldn’t get to eat her own cake (she did have a taste of the fondant balloons though) – but Mama made sure that a Juju friendly cupcake was ready for the birthday girl herself! 

Up Up and Away! 

It was a short celebration which started with some bubble and parachute time before we brought out the cake.  Our little girl was so thrilled that for a change, she was the one at the front of the birthday cake with all her little friends singing for her.  And that finally, she got to blow out that candle that was legitimately hers.  It was all good fun – I think all the kids were happy and Jules was completely besides herself. 

Parachute time and the birthday girl gets to sit right in the middle!! 

This will be the first and last time she’s going to be celebrating with this bunch of friends and teachers.  I’m not sure if I’ll do this again at her kindy next year – we’ll have to see about that.  But I had fun putting this little party together for her and I think our daughter felt that school today was made just that extra special because Dada and Mama was there to celebrate her special day!!

  

Jules Turns 2! - #1

Jules turns 2 tomorrow!  As I’m typing this, our little munch’kin is napping soundly in the room while two 8” chocolate cake are cooling in the kitchen waiting to be frosted for her little party tomorrow.  We also just spent the morning at her school together with 30 of her adorable, chatty little friends who crowded round her as she blew out that Number ‘2’ candle on her cake!! She couldn’t be more thrilled and I, I couldn’t be more proud!!

I think back on this time last year and marvel at how our daughter has grown.  She has gone from her wobbly tentative steps at 1 year to a little monkey jumping on the bed (literally like the song says).  She went from sleeping in that precious rocker of hers for a good 10 months and then to sleeping in her comfy pea pod to finally sleeping on the bed – like a big girl.  I can’t remember the last time she drank from her bottle since she went on to drinking from sippy cups and better yet these days “Mama, no hands, Juju hold cup”. She has abandoned her Sophie the Giraffe for my handbag, my watch, my 4” heels and my rings.  She goes around the house pretending she is all grown up and ready to “drive car”, “go work”.  Her vocabulary of a mere 10 words at 12 months has exploded to what may be in the region of hundred words today.  The little baby who woke up crying for me a year ago now runs to me with a morning hug and never fails to say her goodnights to everyone before bed.  More importantly, she has developed that sweet sensitivity to show love to the many people around her.  Tell me all this deserves at least an ‘A’ on her year-end appraisal if not an ‘A+’! 

While I think my daughter deserves a trophy, I would like to think that I haven’t done too badly on the report card either.  The year has had its challenges especially in the health department.  I was falling sick very often – I had a dengue scare, a hand-foot-mouth scare, a serious bout of stomach flu and the usual bad throats and colds in between.  It was probably a combination of lack of sleep for the past 2 years and lack of exercise (I can’t recall when was the last time I run!).  Jules too came down with a few serious cases – hand-foot-mouth, a bad case of stomach flu (that warranted an ER visit) and bronchitis.  There were also those crazy teething nights where she was waking up every other hour wanting to  be nursed.  I dreaded those moments and wished I had that remote control from the movie ‘Click’ so that I could just fast forward and move on to the happy parts – but I guess that would mean missing out on those extra cuddles we gave her when she was sick and those special bonding we shared as she nursed.  All very precious moments that has gone into giving her a very happy and secured 2 years of childhood.      

So never mind she’s still not sleeping through the night, never mind that we still haven’t succeeded at weaning or potty training.  Those shall be next year’s KPIs.  For now, I’m a proud Mama seeing what my little girl has achieved over the past year and thanking God every.single.day. for her and all the joy that she brings to the home.

We have been praying for this little one since the day we found out we conceived her.  Today, she prays along with us – thanking God for her day in the life of a toddler that’s filled with mischief, laughter and love.  Over the past two years, two things remain my constant prayer (1) that Jules will grow up to be a woman of God, with a heart for Him and with an even bigger heart to bring people to Him; and (2) that God will grant me all the wisdom to bring her up in a way that will always honour Him.  While I wait to see what adventure her 3^rd year will bring, I trust and believe that God will bring us on an exciting journey to making her a child-warrior for God and me, a better mother. 

Blessed birthday my sweet Julianne!        

{p/s: photo credit - the little aunt from her album - Juju Takes Over the World}

37 candles ....

It was children's day yesterday, it was also the hubs' birthday.  

I wasn't able to take leave from work cos I had an event so to make up for it, I caved in and got him a gadget that he's been eyeing for (but which I've been rolling my eyes over) and spent my afternoon on my day off earlier this week baking him a cake! 

I've always wanted to have a go at baking one of those light and fluffy Japanese strawberry shortcake.  So when I found this recipe I had high hopes of it turning out just like I imagined.  But alas, the end result wasn't to my satisfaction.  The cake turned out grainy and nothing close to the soft cotton airy texture like those we tasted in Japan.  The fresh cream (which the younger sis helped prepare) was tasty though (if that's any consolation).  If the cake had succeeded at being what it was supposed to be, I was planning to bake it for Jules' 2nd birthday but looks like it's back to the drawing back for that one.  

Still we had a cosy evening blowing out the candles on the cake the night before.  No prizes for guessing who was most excited to blow out those candles!! Jules clapped along, sang "Happy Dada" and was eagerly waiting for all the singing to be over so that she could blow out those candles! She got so close I was so afraid her hair was going to catch fire!! She was soooo happy! 

We spent yesterday evening having a simple delicious homecooked dinner of birthday noodles which my mum whipped up before heading out for some ice cream at haagen daz!  Jules couldn't be happier with that ice cream sorbet topped with rainbow sprinkles! It was like it was *her* birthday!

Doesn't matter how we celebrate our birthdays these days, it's special as long as our little girl is happy! 

Happy birthday dearie!! May our Lord continue to pour forth his blessings and favour upon you so that you may grow in faith and wisdom.  

Happy Children's Day!

Dearest Juju, 

Happy Children's Day!

Love,

Mama

中秋节快乐！

Mid-autumn festival never fails to bring back childhood memories of me, my sis and cousins carrying our colourful cellophane lanterns that our grandma never fails to buy for us and going on our little adventure around my grandparents' neighbourhood (which is also now my parents'), going into the dark back alleys and trying hard not to fall into the long-kang.  

I'm really glad today, we've kept traditions alive with lanterns, mooncakes and making sure that everyone gathers together for dinner.

Jules was more interested in trying to light the candles on her paper lanterns then actually carrying the lantern itself.  We also got her one of those with LED light so that she could carry around without us having to worry it will end up burning up but she wasn't the lest interested, much preferring the traditional candle-lit ones. 

With her dragon lantern

This year was also extra special as her school organised a little Mid-Autumn Festival celebration in school just this evening.  The kids gathered in school last evening and were treated to face-painting, free roam of the playground, lots of yummy food and a lantern walkabout with sparkles all thrown in!! When we got to school, I think she was a little puzzled at why she was back in school at that hour and not in her uniform for that matter.  But soon warmed up when she saw the familiar faces of her teachers and friends.  I also finally caught a glimpse of her friend Timmy - a name she is always calling out at home during her pretend play where she imagines she's Teacher M.  I should add that he is quite a cute little boy - good taste you got there young lady! 

Facepainting

With her friend R at the playground

Sparkles!!!!

Going on their lantern walk

Jules had a fun 中秋节 and we hope you did too!! 中秋节快乐！

Happy Birthday Dad!!

The 3rd birthday celebration Jules attended was Gong Gong's 64th birthday!  We had a simple family dim sum lunch at Royal China over at Raffles Hotel where Dad gamely and proudly worn his Birthday badge which the little sis made (he was a little shy about it to begin)!

Happy Birthday Dad!! 

Jules probably knows nothing about what a birthday means but she did wish her Gong Gong "Happy" that morning and planted a big kiss on his cheeks.  Jules adores my Dad!  She knows he is her go-to for fun and thrill - like jumping on the bed, doing somersaults or trying out some funny (at times dangerous) acrobatic stint.  She looks forward to Gong Gong coming home every evening and is always ready with a big hug and snuggle on his shoulder.  It warms my heart seeing my Dad break into a big smile every time Jules runs into his arms to give him a big tight hug ... so glad our daughter is helps add that sunshine to his day. 

Happy birthday Dad!! Thanks for being the awesome Dad you are, always still looking out for us (and now our kids) even when we've become parents ourselves.  Love you lots!!

Brought to you by the Number 4!

Jules' cousins - Sophie and Sean - were born exactly 1 week apart.  So you can imagine, with my sister now back, the month of August is like birthday parties galore!! Just over the National Day long weekend, Jules went to 3 birthday parties!! That must have been a record! And the result of that is a full-blown cough and a fever that doesn't seem to go away (but that's not the point of this post). 

So my little niece and nephew turned 4 this year!! (well technically, Sean doesn't till tomorrow) And their parents did what most 4 year old parents would do - throw them a party with all the crazy ideas and crafts, they never in their TKGS days thought they'll ever find themselves doing or scrambling to complete at 1am in the morning.  They must have been all "If my daughter wants Truffula trees on her cake, I just have to make sure Truffula trees appear on the cake".  "If my son wants a Robots theme, I better put together all that I learnt about Reuse & Recycle in school and create that Robot Centerpiece for his party"!  And as with all the parties they throw, my sis and sis-in-law did a fabulous job!! The good thing about having a younger kid - I can steal all these crazy party ideas when it's Jules' turn to turn 4! Haha! 

Jules was a little overwhelmed at Sophie's party having just woken up from her nap but at least she managed to have a go at the rainbow pinata, even if it was only after all the candies rained down.  

Sophie's Lorax-Themed 4th Birthday!

Yiyi Loraxes

We were also very late for Sean's pool side bash so she pretty much missed out on all the fun musical chair and pass-the-parcel games.  Plus it was the start of her flu so she wasn't in her usual cheery mood.   

Sean's Robot Themed 4th Birthday! 

But the birthday kiddos had fun and I guess that's all that matters! 

Happy birthday Sophie & Sean!!! Here's to more colorful birthday bashes and lots of candies and rainbows to fill your 4th year!! Till your 5th birthday!!