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... :)

Ashley's birthday bash

To celebrate Ashley's one year old birthday was indeed a big milestone for me. I felt like we were not just celebrating her coming of age, turning one, but also our accomplishment, having nothing - no experience, no knowledge on childcare but making it through a harrowing year of struggles, pains, fears, and of coz joy and satisfaction. It's a mixed bag of emotions. 

So I've been busy-ing myself preparing for the grande party of her life (till date), sourcing for a suitable restaurant to hold it. The top few options I had wanted to book were way too expensive for a private booking but thankfully I managed to find The Rotisserie to hold the party... :)

Yay, I'm happy with the party invite that I designed... :))

I wanted to do up a candy bar corner for the kids, some nice little buntings to drap etc. Addy was my constant source of decor inspiration, she was such a wonderful help - look at what we came up with!!!

Tada!!! So fun, if I were a kid, I would wish for a candy bar like this during my birthday party too..

 

 Ashley: Me & my favourit-est popo! Thank u for looking after me all these 9 months... <3 u...

  Popo's so nice, came early to feed me and put me down for a nap while dad and mum gets busy with the guests...

 Good portion of food by the restaurant (except for the Fish & chips)...

Posting this pic of Ash with Carlos & Agata coz they dun haf FB and I couldn't tag them...

 

 Daddy bringing out the Castle Candy Cake!!! :D

YAY!!! I am ONE! 

To many more wonderful years ahead with mummy, daddy, Jesus and God greatest.
It is our wish for u, not to be the smartest or the richest person on earth but for u to always remember it's our Lord from whom these things were given to us, Happy birthday darling. Muack muack.

CNY 2012 - Part 2

Day 2 of CNY: We visited the Chia's and had another kids playgroup time!
Mummy Ade is superwoman, she cooked dinner for the adults and yummy porridge for the babies! So blessed by their friendship... <3

 Super duper mummy and the 3 kids

 The TWINS again! Love love love to see them in a shot! Cute TTM!

 Secret to getting a shot like this? Dangling snacks above the camera!

There were a few funny moments where the 2 girls caught us offguard! Ashley started to scream and while the adults pacified her, in a split sec, the other bunny quickly crawled into the room and poof out of our sight! I think it's a conspiracy.

Pictured left: Raeanne saying to Ashley: "Hey Ashley, while you scream, I will go for the chocolates..."

Pictured right: Mission accomplished. Let's share the loot.

 Not to miss out Reyes...

Look at Ashley's hair? Crazy messy from having too much fun!

 Left pic) Ashley: Raeanne, lemme give u a hugggg....

Right pic) Raeanne: Noooo!!! Daddy save me!!!!

 Let's play head bangers!

 Raeanne posing sweetly for the shot, while Ashley poses with her flying kick!

The adults were roaring with laughter while trying to get a good pic...!
So wonderful to have friends like them... :)