Chris' newborn shoot

I hadn't intended to do a photoshoot for Christian but since my sis was around last month, we decided to grab some props and make him a model!

(Disclaimer: The above pictures were taken when he was less than a week old. He's now almost 6 weeks old n looking very fat!)

I'm glad baby has popped coz i feel like my old self again - able to squat, kick, swirl & twirl.
But this is also the part I hate most... Trying to lose the post-pregnancy cellulite!!!!

A month of semi-confinement

Friends are blessings from God... 

My friend Sophia (who has heard so many scary stories about my chinese maids) had mailed me a stack of recipe books - to aid me in aiding my maid to prepare edible meals... These books as well as the ultimate confinement recipe book that Diddy bought from home all came in very handy during my confinement period!

I love receiving mails! So imagine my happy-ness when I received a box of goodies from Cynthia, Li-En and Jasmine! In the box were a bunch of gifts for the kiddos, piglet mooncake for me, spice & seasoning packets for preparing that oooh-so-Singaporean meal that I miss... I'm SO BLESSED!!!

And then 1+ week after I delivered, my sis flew to visit!!! Having her here was seriously the cherry on the cake! (Not just because she brought treasures...)

She brought bribes for Ashley - which worked. The girl immediately warmed up to her yee yee with the gifts of Mickey & Minnie soft toys, a toy handphone & many more.

 Her luggage was packed with herbs, ginseng, sauces, seasonings... Poor girl has to pay excess luggage to bring all these things over.... But i truly appreciate her!!!

 And a very thoughtful gift - my very own bubble tea making kit!!!

We were so happily chatting and unpacking the treasures, that we didn't notice the sneaky Ashley was stacking a sky tower of cans & bottles!!! It was really tall and about to topple anytime. Happy that she knows how to stack, unhappy that she may have just broken all these precious belachan chilli!

 And not forgetting gifts for the little guy... I'm quite mean, I didn't buy many stuff for Christian... Mostly expecting him to dress in Ashley's handmedowns. Thankfully yee yee came with some cute stuff for him and also one of my friend in Beijing, Elaine, passed on all her son's clothes (including winter wear - thank God!) to Titi... So now Titi can look a little more boyish. :)

My bestie, Ebel happened to have a Beijing flight so she swung by for a day and we had sooooo much fun! I wish it would never end... She and my sis were playing with Ashley, I think it was one of Ashley's happiest days in BJ ever.
We ordered plenty of pizzas and pastas from Annies - my favourite italian restaurant... It's awesome coz everything here delivers! (Even toilet paper, diapers, mineral water...)

Confinement staple - Pig trotter vinegar

Left: Hailing from my friend Elaine's Beijing kitchen... recipe from her mum in Singapore..
Right: From Ebel's mother-in-law's Singapore kitchen. This big tub of trotters flew in to Beijing to supplement my confinement menu

So blessed!!!!

Had a great month of confinement (though I was sleep-starved - still am)...

Grateful for my sis and Ebel visiting, yummy confinement meals, physical recovery was even better before than the previous time with Ashley (due to NIL stitching)... And yes, this round I am still breaking all the rules - bathing, going outdoors (sneaked out for buffet one night and whooped up plenty of sashimi), drinking cold bubble tea everyday, carrying Ashley and piggybacking her around the house...

God is really good to me. When I first came to Beijing, I knew nobody and had no friends. Randy is supposed to be introducing friends to me and doing the PR thing since I'm the tag-along. But he's hopeless at that! Eventually I had to introduce my friends' husbands to him and tada, now he has some friends in Beijing too.

Thankful for friendships and support from my mummy friends here. A while ago I also got to know an all-Singaporean group of tai tais friends and it was nice that they came to visit n say hi to the new bub.
And we've also gotten to know a few other families, who we meet on weekends for buffets & dinner gatherings... Finally I'm a little more settled in Beijing n enjoying life here abit more... :)

Maternity shoot - 2nd time round

So we've been deliberating about a maternity shoot for a while - largely coz all our wonderfully-talented photographer friends are all in Sg, leaving me, a freelance maternity-photographer wannabe stranded here alone. The truth is we're a little more conceited with the 2nd child - giving less attention, probably coz we've done it before and everything's all too familiar.  

Anyhows, I woke up on Sunday very determined to do a photoshoot of this pregnancy coz I had tonnes of nice ones with Ashley. So here's the challenge, we have the photographer who was going to be the subject of the shoot, an impatient hubby that wants to complete the shoot in less than half n hr and a hyperactive toddler that cannot take instructions or sit still long enough for the timer to snap. Oh, not to mention we did not have a tripod.

Equipments: My trusty Alpha (Canon 450D) and my Canon G12, Ashley's toy box (as a tripod)

So here are some of the best shots taken from our bedroom window!!! 

My tummy at week 33 (8.5 months)...

 We set the camera on timer mode, and started posing silly to ourselves...

 I liked that it looked like we had someone that was trying to pose us. Hahaha. My friend who did my 1st maternity shoot always laugh at how the 2 of us did all that smiling and kissing without him even telling us what to do. That's coz Randy has been assisting me on some of my clients' maternity shoots so he's already anticipating the next pose. HAH.

 Daddy: We're going for seconds and it's gonna be a dragon!

I'm pleasantly surprised at how gorgeous the lighting is from this window. Love the natural light!

 This was the first time in the entire 8.5 months I actually took a tape to measure my waist. Naturally I got a shock. I knew I was getting huge, but 38" wide?!

 

 I wished that the photographer aka my hubby would have told me to open my eyes in this photo. So I wouldn't look like I was dead... Hahaah...

 It was hard trying to get Ashley in the photos. She just wouldn't! She wanted to be behind the camera!

Here's what I meant!!!!  

Caption: All above photography done by Ashley Chan

To think I got her changed into this nice crochet dress. When I couldn't even get her in our pics... Sighs. 

 I really miss doing maternity shoots for mums-to-be. Before I left Singapore, I had a few ex-clients (who were expecting again) contacting me to shoot for them. But I was leaving and I was pregnant too so I couldn't though I would really love to. I'm still passionate about making mummies-with-a-bulge look their best in this beautiful season.

Anyways, another 4 weeks more to pop!!! Sometimes I feel sad, like I have not enjoyed my Ashley long enough in her current season of growth, where she's starting to talk, learn and play. And my 2nd one is coming and my attention has to be diverted. Then somedays we imagine the 2 kids, sitting on little chairs, about the same height and age having fun colouring their story books together. And bringing them to Disneyland Resort where both of them can enjoy at the same level since they will be 19 months apart in age gap.

Thankfully too, that this pregnancy is taking place while I'm not working full-time so I have time to spend with my Ash before 2nd bb comes. And also not having to rush back to a 9am-6pm workzone after 4 months...