Being thankful

There is much to be thankful for in life. Little things mean so much in the grand scheme of life...

• Being with Kate all day long, though the reason is cos I'm on MC.
• Watching her silly antics all day long, being able to watch and understand her daily routine with the MIL.
• Listening to Kate's growing vocabulary of Mandarin with the in-laws.
• Listening to Kate singing and humming to herself through the day (the girl has pitch. yay!)
• Being able to assist the FIL in getting a truly sweet gift for the MIL's upcoming birthday
• Having a thoughtful, caring husband who tries his best to understand
• The best husband who helps out
• A lovely daughter who rubs my back saying "Mama pain"

....

Little things, big and deep meanings which make life worthwhile.
Always worth remembering these things to remind myself of the good things in life.

Boring

That's what I have become, temporarily. The sister said it out loud the other day and I'm mildly insulted. But I know it's true. I've been sleeping so much - yawns. I went through my pictures recently and - GASP - to my horror! I have not taken much/any pics of Kate recently!

Gotta get going!

Dumdidum

So. Life seems to have come to a slow-mo-moment. I’m so busy at work, but I’m physically unwell to be able to deal with it as well as I prefer. I’m surrounded by busy acts daily – showering Kate, playing with Kate, rushing to and home from work, deadlines looming with a capital L, but yet, things seem to be moving at a snail’s pace. My brains’ semi fizzled with me forgetting that it’s my Dad’s birthday today. And I had to be reminded of my bestie’s birthday via Facebook.

I wanted to take a picture of an act of vandalism at home – thanks to silly Kate.

I also wanted to write more but I have to go off now. So goodbye.

I know, this is a weird post.

Parents on our own

The MIL was away on holiday. I'm really happy for her - I truly am because she deserves the holiday. I mean, it is not easy taking care for a child all alone. And cook dinner. And do chores about the house.

But man, it is so not easy to not have help. I mean, she's been away since Monday night & I've never been happier to see them home last night, after 4 (never-ending) days.

While we are fortunate to have childcare help (we deposit Kate at my Aunt's place - she's a stay-home Mom with 2 kids), the logistics and other bits of it are still challenging. (I'm not complaining, and I'm really appreciative of the help that we have. I just need to let off steam.)

I hadn't had a proper shower for two days. The husband is busy at night with work and I've had no choice but to put Kate in the tub for her to co-shower alongside me. Because it's always about 9pm (I know, sooo late) and I'm terrified that she'd catch a cold (she did) it's always a rush job and it's been difficult.

I don't know how the husband and I will manage when we are wholly on our own, when we have to be the ones responsible to drop Kate off at childcare and pick her up from there (within time limit without incurring fines), when we have to be the only ones responsible for household chores (o the dirty pile of laundry irks me)... man.

I know everyone manages and I'm just very grateful that I have the help of family in the meantime. I know how lucky we are.

Happiness

... is sharing good news with loved ones.

Haha

The husband is not one who expresses himself dramatically. He's what I'll say is... a "cool" kinda guy.

So sometimes, when I get SMS-es from him that are more expressive, I smile to myself and go haha.

Some examples:
".... hee hee" - the first time I saw a "hee hee" from him, I baulked. Truly rather uncharacteristic.

"okie" - this is quite funny too as it's kinda cute. Again, unlike him.

"Babe I am so fucking happy!" - haha the sister will get this; for him to use things like 'exclamation marks' is again, rather amusing from him!

Family fun

Ages ago, the sister said that she wanted to organise a family photoshoot. And I agreed. It took us a (long) while, but we finally got round to doing it. Largely by chance, as the sister had stumbled upon an offer. Not worth going too much into the details of this (blah) offer (though the price was highly attractive), but the entire process was part good & part bad.

The bad was the photographer. I mean, he did an ok job but the overall experience was just not great. The co-ordination was a pain and I really thank the sister and boyfriend for their patience and time and effort to get it all done.

The good! Was the fact that the family had the opportunity to do this together. We all got dressed in the decided theme of white & denim and it was so pretty to see everyone decked out. Then the next good bit was the fact that we now have these beautiful pictures to keep. Though it was done not too long ago, it's still amazing how different Kate looks. I also love how my parents are so game to be silly and have so much fun with us kiddos. Though I'm not really a "kid" anymore, I still want to always do these fun stuff. And I'm thankful that I have my siblings to "play" with.

The young ones

My little family

My happy family

Awesome weekend, busy like a bee

It's been a while since my weekend is this packed and though I'm knackered, I had a really good time. It started off on Friday evening, with a dinner with the siblings. The food was so-so, the ambience was not bad, what really made it rock was the occasion (Happy Birthday, brother!) & the fact that the family was together to celebrate it.

Moment with Kate

Group shot with Jude's birthday brownie with ice-cream

Saturday morning was bring-Kate-cycling-for-the-first-time and I really had fun cycling - working out those leg muscles that are rather different from jogging ones had me whining about my "achey legs". I really loved that Kate had a rocking good time and I'm definitely going to do this again.

My pillion rider & I - before we began cycling. I was a tad concerned about safety but I'm proud to say that I did well! (I also did not adjust the seat so that I can touch the ground very easily)

After the fun cycling, we proceeded for lunch and it was a play-date with two other colleagues and their children. It was another hour & half of back-breaking non-stop moving, with the husband and I taking turns to play with Kate. She's not too adventurous (I'm guessing it's because it was too crowded & noisy) but I think she enjoyed herself, overall. She fell twice - by walking backwards and falling down a mini flight of stairs. The first time was a shocker and the second time, though still a shocker, was (according to the husband) her experimenting. She'd intentionally wanted to try it again. Go figure. I'm just glad that she didn't hit her head on the wall nor did anything catastrophic happen. One repercussion was that she had nightmares that night. Thanks to my Mom who was looking after her - apparently Kate was up and fussing for nearly two hours from 3am. Unfun.

Us @ Polliwogs

Sunday morning started dark and early, with the alarm going off at 6.10am. It was the day of the Great Eastern 10km Women's Run which the sister and I had signed up for ages ago. We were both not in the best shape (little training) but I must say that I was glad that we went ahead with it. I think I didn't feel that great because I just wasn't in the best shape to run. I'd the flu a month ago and that disrupted my regular running and I hadn't gotten back into regular-running shape yet. This 10km run is my first run since a week ago, where I only did 5km. Despite all this blablabla, I must say that it was still great that the run is completed. The running route was beautiful and I just wish that I was in better shape to have enjoyed it more. The sister summed it right when she said that it'd be a while till the next run.

Completed

Work's been a roller coaster ride and I've been so busy. I think this is truly the peak of how busy I am since I've joined the company 6 months ago. So I'm really glad that this weekend was so enjoyable and fulfilling, because these precious moments are truly what makes life better, and truly worthwhile.

Cycling fun

My colleagues organised a cycling trip today at East Coast Park. I was very excited about it as we'd never been cycling together before and I just knew that Kate would enjoy herself, being the dare-devil that she is!

And I was right.

The morning started out sluggishly as it was rather tough to wake up before 8am on a Saturday morning. (yawns). Especially since Kate was abit punkish the night before and our sleeping arrangement was not the usual. We got to East Coast Park at about 9.20am, and my colleagues were already there having their breakfast. After lazing there for everyone to finish their breakfast, we started off!

I haven't cycled for ages and the husband's only (fierce) advice was "don't fall". To the uninitiated (i.e. me, before today), there are different kinds of bikes available for adults to carry their kids in. There is this huge-ass vehicle that looks like a manual version of a tuk-tuk-cum-buggy; it can hold 4 adults (2 in front, 2 at back & 2 in front of the front) and there are pedals available for everyone to pitch in - I really wish that I took a picture cos it is rather tough to explain this gadget. Moving on, the other two forms are regular bicycles with baby-seats in the front (between rider and handle-bars) or at the back (behind rider). I thought it'd be more comfortable for Kate to be seated at the back (actually, more comfortable for me too as I didn't want a baggage in front of me) and it was the right choice!

Kate sat in her seat and the moment I began to cycle, she just made herself comfortable and slouched like a pro. I'm so happy that we had this enjoyable session today - I love trying out new things with Kate!

I'm going to go again some time, just gotta remember to slap on more sunblock.

Kate was so comfortable she fell asleep!

Friday

I am going to savour the weekend. It is precious time with my family.

Counting down.