Thus, I'm not a florist

Beautiful bouquet of flowers given by a friend as a X'mas gift

Flower arrangement No. 1 for CNY, my virgin attempt at flowers arrangement. Hub said this looked like a turtle.

Flower arrangement No. 2.

During X'mas, a friend gave me a bouquet of flowers as a gift and it was a very much appreciated gift. It was very nicely arranged and I thought that my dinning area looked so much more festive and pleasant with some fresh flowers.

So, for this CNY, I took the trouble to hit the nursery at Thomson and bought some freshly cut flowers, 2 short vases, 1 huge sponge and a lot of enthusiasm to do some flowers jamming.

Hub raised his eyebrows and gave me an incredulous look. "You sure you know how to flower-arrange? It's not as easy as it looks ok.... ...."

"Bleah, how difficult can flowers arrangement be? Just stick the flowers into the sponge lah" I snorted.

Hrm... ... 1 1/2 hours later, I came to a conclusion that arranging flowers was indeed NOT one of my competitive strengths. Half the time, I was swearing under my breath while still trying to pretend that I was enjoying the whole flower-jamming process and at the same time, working very hard to ignore Hub's smug "I-told-you-so" look.

Ugh!

Ok, to all the florists out there, you have my respect!

Beanie says Happy Chinese New Year!

Past few days had been really crazy. Visiting relatives and friends with a baby is not easy. I'm basically running around like a mad woman, packing the diaper bag, cleaning after Beanie, preparing her food (oh, I've started her on solids! I'll update on another post), expressing milk, do housework ... etc.

And I'm still surviving on 5-6 hrs of interrupted sleep (on good days).

Above is Little Beanie doing baby push-ups at a friend's place. So far, she has been rather well-behaved during our visitings. She tends to be shy whenever we are in a new environment. She will sit there quietly to observe the new surroundings, kinda "scan" the new area with her big big eyes. And not much stranger anxiety yet. As long as I'm within her view, she is quite willing to be carried by my friends and relatives.

Ok, I gotta sleep. I'm so tired!

Failed choco pear cake

I started baking again... yay! The cake above looks good right? Unfortunately it didn't taste good. ;(

I had some friends over for dinner a few weeks back and I happened to have 2 very ripe, soft and juicy pears sitting in the fridge, so i thought of baking a chocolate pear pudding cake. I have done this cake twice before and both times turned out delicious.

However, this time round, I did not have some of the ingredients: self-raising flour, milk ... etc. But I had plain flour. Eh... no milk, but maybe I could put more eggs and melted butter instead?

I thought to myself: how bad could a chocolate cake be? And so I experimented.

Result: Epic fail. The cake did not rise, it was too oily (too much butter!) and dense.

My friends were too polite and nice to reject the cake and all of them ate their portions. I felt so bad to serve my guests a horrible cake. ;(

No more experimenting!

Beanie is 5 months old!

"Hmmm... is this purple too? Just like my t-shirt..."

"Heh Heh, I am finally strong enough to bring down the Baby-Gym! Wahaha..."

"Since I'm at it, I might as well take a bite... nom, nom, nom"

"Sofie the Giraffe's head is so yummy... nibble nibble nibble"

My little Beanie is 5 months old already! She is really cute and playful now, I am so enjoying my time with her. A little update on her milestones:

1) She is a drooling champion. I have to change 5-7 bibs a day... she can soak a bib in about 2 hours. Geez... I wonder whether she gets thirsty from all these drools.

2) She can flip from her back to her stomach on both sides, turn 360 degrees and crawl backwards!

3) She can sit unsupported on her own for 5 seconds ... and then topple over.

4) She can grasp her toys and shove them into her mouth under 3 seconds. Previously, she doesn't seem to know where exactly is her mouth.

5) She knows how to hold her feet when I'm changing her diapers, which is very convenient for me to clean her and apply the diaper cream.

In another month's time, I will introduce solids to her. I can't wait to see her munching away!

3rd wedding anniversary

After all these years, Hub still surprised me with a bunch of flowers on our anniversary. He has gotten the florist to send the flowers to the restaurant. So imagine my surprise when I saw the roses on the table that we were supposed to dine.

The flowers really caught me by surprise and I was really touched. I have known Hub for 17 years (scary right?!) and been together as a couple for 11 years. He isn't exactly the romantic sort and we have gotten so used to each other that, sometimes we kinda take each other for granted.

However, this bunch of roses jolted me awake and I reminded myself that we gotta make an effort to keep the romance alive...

Thanks Hub, Happy Anniversary and I feel very loved!

2011 to 2012

I’ve been thinking about the past 1 year and all that it has brought, and before I hurl myself into the new year, It's time to reflect upon the past 1 year, and what a year it had been!

The arrival of my first child has got to be one of the most eventful times in my life. From the first trimester complications, to the almost miscarriage in Hong Kong and the eventual birth. The whole journey was unforgettable. Sometimes, I still cannot believe that I have a pretty little baby girl in my arms and I'm so overwhelmed by the amount of love I have for her. No one tells you how much your perspective of the world changes when you become a Mother. Well, perhaps they do but it’s also something you just cannot imagine until you’re actually there. And once you become a mom, there's no turning back. Now I simply cannot imagine life without my daughter, to watch her grow and being there for her when she needs me.

Previously I have decided to be a stay-at-home-mom for the next 1 year to look after Beanie on my own, but after weighing the pros and cons, my current decision is to find a job that allows flexible work schedule and yet, be closely related to finance. So, I thinking of being a Financial Advisor and I am currently meeting people and going for recruitment talks to consider my options. Hopefully I can start in March or April this year. The plan is to work from home most of the time, and going to office in the mornings when necessary.

So who is going to take care of Beanie while I am at work? A friend's mother who is staying just a few blocks away, have tentatively agreed to be Beanie's babysitter. We have to sort the schedule after the Chinese New Year. Hopefully it will all work out.

And finally, Hubby will be back home for good! Yay Yay Yay! He will be relocating back to Singapore in a week's time, and I am most relieved and glad. Finally the father and daughter can bond on a daily basis. ;)

I'm entering 2012 with a lot of excitement. I'm looking forward to Beanie growing up and witnessing her milestones, from her first crawl, first tooth and her first steps. A new career awaiting for me, which I hope will work out, and more family time with hubby