I'm sitting on my couch, waiting for dinner to be served. No, not by ZY but by a new addition to my family- my domestic helper. I've more or less become a typical Singaporean working mum- first comes the baby, then comes the car, and when second baby comes, domestic help also arrives. Been resisting or rather, delaying this idea of employing a helper for quite a long while. But as baby no. 2 is coming (in about 3 months time!), we thought maybe a helper would be useful for my MIL. Our helper has been here for exactly 2 weeks now, and the house has never been SO clean before!! The floor squeaks when we walk, the toilet floors and kitchen tops are stainless, everywhere is dust-free, and even our plastic bags collected over the years are neatly folded and stacked! Even after cooking, I don't have to wash the dishes!! I'm hoping and praying that this helper can be as enthusiastic and responsible as she is now until she leaves us. 

On the 10th of Dec last year, I received a very interesting sms from my colleague, EW. It read "I dreamt that you brought your child to school and I play with HIM! It's a sign! Haha..." At that time, I thought that it was funny as I wasn't even pregnant yet. 

Now that I'm pregnant, there has been so many guesses about Baby's gender. The usual questions I hear are "Is baby a boy or girl?", "Do you prefer a boy or girl?" etc. Personally, both genders are fine for me and ZY. Another girl will be good because Ch and the baby can share all the clothes and toys. And I would think that they'll be closer when older too. But a boy is also fine. People say that a boy and a girl makes the 好[hao] Chinese word. But then, looking at my friends, this combination would probably mean that the siblings will not be as close when they are older.

So, when I knew that I was pregnant, I casually asked Ch about Baby's gender. She said "Baby is a boy". Haha! Is a child's intuition really true? In school, there are so many speculations too. People look at the size and shape of my bump, my complexion, my pregnancy symptoms and give their opinions. Some will say... my face looks so radiant.. this must be a girl. On the other hand, some will say... my face does not have a glow... must be a boy. Contradicting words based on the same feature. Hmm... I suppose these are subjective.

I once told ZY that if Baby were to be a girl, I'll stop at two. Don't want to be in that situation where people start asking if I am trying for a boy for the 3rd child (if I were to be pregnant again). It'll be worse if the 3rd child turns out to be a girl again. Can imagine people will start saying sympathetically "Oh.. it's ok. 3 girls are good too. Closer to the mom." 

So, yesterday after the detailed scan at KKH... I told ZY- "Haha... you have a chance of having three children in the future!!"

Get it?? *wink*

Was reading through my previous blogs and laughing at all the cute and funny things Ch has done or said. I decided to post an entry since it's been a long while since I update on her development.

Meet Baby No. 2, the new addition to my life.

Baby No. 2... lives in me, taking my nutrients and oxygen (my colleague, YZ, refers to it as a parasite).

This 3rd pregnancy has been so different from the 2nd (for those who didn't know, my 1st pregnancy was an ectopic case). I have a stronger nauseating feel, more vomiting scenes, more tiredness, a bigger bump, more bloatedness, more breathlessness, but less appetite. I'm so sensitive to smells now. Any kind of smell. Like the smell of perspiration, the smell from the toilet, the smell of food on my clothes. All these make me wanna puke. I felt so terrible and so weak last weekend that I ended breaking down and I cried. Ch was very nice, and she kept asking me "Mommy, why are you crying? Are you feeling better?" And she kept wanting to sing to Baby. Oh, it was so comforting to hear that from my girl. 

Something to confess (in case any of my students are reading this right now), I've not been marking much. In fact, I think I've only managed to mark one set of worksheets so far this year! I've been so tired after school ends, so all I can manage is to drive myself home without puking along the way, then plop my heavy body on the sofa or bed and snooze until ZY comes back. After having dinner and picking Ch up from my MIL's place, I'll engage in my usual activity- lying down and resting... until Ch sleeps. That's when I sleep too. Looking at the piles and piles of worksheets on my table in the staffroom, I think if this goes on, I'll probably be able to stack enough paper to hide myself from the rest!

So now, all I want for Chinese New Year is to be able to finish marking 50% of my stuff, and not to puke on the way when we go for New Year visitations.

To celebrate the close of year 2007 and to welcome 2008, our enthusiastic youth organised a bbq for our congregation. There was a lot of good food and barbequed stuff. I loved the bbq chicken and so did Ch! When I set her down on a chair to feed her porridge, she asked "Mommy, where's the barbeque chicken wing?" 


Other food I enjoyed were the kim-chi rice cooked by Jessica, the delicious porridge by Sharon, and of course, the unforgettable "dao-pok" prepared by Lawrence.

Because I took a long time to feed Ch, I was also lavished with lots of bbq food from various people. This must be the advantage of a mom with a young kid! 

After the sumptuous dinner, it was treasure-hunting time. Ch, behaving like one of the youth, wanted to participate too. So, I had to carry her while hunting for clues! We had to climb up and down the stairs, run around etc. I got so tired that it felt like I had burnt off all the calories taken during the dinner! But it was great fun, and I must admit that if Ch had not said that she wants to join in, I would have probably just sat around. Come to think of it, it has been a long time since I joined in such games too.

Ch used ZY's handphone to take some pictures. Don't you agree with me that they look well taken? At least, all the subjects are in the photos.


It is really nice to see everyone so at ease with one another, and to be able to chat together. We even tried to connect to our dear friends, SJ and Anna who are in Utah, through Skype! Though not very successful in video conferencing, we enjoyed ourselves singing with SJ. He even showed us snow! 

See the video here Singspiration_1_Jan_08

Today's the first time we allow Ch to sleep so late. She played so much, that in the end around 1+ am, she decided that it was enough. Came to me and told me that she wanted to go home and read her storybook. True enough, she knocked out in the car on the way home.

Thinking back, 2007 has been a blessed year for me. I hope that with God's blessings, 2008 will be as good, if not, better. I'll probably not set resolutions for myself, as I usually forget about them after a while. Maybe I'll just remind myself to do the best I can for each task or challenge that comes my way. And to be a better example to people around me.

Also, special thanks to the following people (not in order of importance hor...)
Timothy and Lawrence: for playing and entertaining Ch during her dinner so that she can finish most of the porridge

Lai Mui: for loading my plate with food

Sharon: for helping me to find a suitable container to put the dessert my mom prepared

Shan Shan: for entertaining Ch

Eunice: for feeding (and sacrificing her chicken wing to Ch) and entertaining Ch. And for helping to buy Coke for me!

Dorcas: for helping to take care of Ch and for washing her milk bottle!

Peter: for getting the dao-pok and fork for Ch.

And to everyone who played a part in entertaining Ch throughout the night! Without you, I wouldn't be able to enjoy myself too!