Goodbye 2016!

Today is New Year's Eve. 2016 has truly been a roller coaster year with so many ups and downs. It's honestly the most difficult yet rewarding year for me. Here's a brief summary of what happened... My own year in review:

End Jan:

I left my job to be a full time mum. At that time, I thought I was still going to have Jo, my helper then. Well, things changed. 

March:

Jo went back home and I became a full time SAHM with no help for the first time. First time doing housework, laundry, First time cooking... First time caring for Leia all on my own. I realized that Jo did so much for us back then. And we did so little. It was tough and exhausting for me to do everything for the first time. And I was pregnant. 

Well, mid March, we went to the airport to pick her and she never showed up. I felt so betrayed and lied to back then. I cried for 2 nights and kept having flash backs of her in my home. First I experienced anger then sadness. I missed her. I couldn't believe she left us without saying goodbye. 

Life went on and we had a staycation at Sentosa to have fun and forget about what happened. 

A week later, the most wonderful thing happened! We were baptized! Both Leia and I were sick when it happened but we were grateful and thankful that we made it.

And then, I was down with Mycoplasma pneumonia, worst experience ever. I had to be hospitalized in ICU and my pregnancy was threatened. At the same time, Leia was admitted to KKH because of very high fever. Poor G was shuttling betwen us both. Honestly, it was tough but we got through it with God and so much family support. 

I guess March was the highlight of the year lol.

April: 

After I got discharged, we were desperate for a helper and engaged a transfer maid. We thought things would get better and they did in some sense. I recovered with more time to rest as she helped with housework. But soon, living with her became a nightmare for me. We clashed as she was a very difficult person to work with... Defiant, dishonest, always showing attitude. I was afraid of living with her as she started showing odds antics and spoke to herself a lot.

July:

I gave birth to little Keira! So much joy to hold a baby again. And I was blessed with a very smooth and fast delivery. My parents hired a confinement nanny for me and she was Godsend. 

It's not easy to adjust to juggle a newborn when you have an elder toddler. Leia had a hard time as she was no longer the only one in the limelight! I had to spend more time with her and I was so thankful that Mary was around to take care of Keira and me! She made me happy unlike my then helper who was constantly doing otherwise.

With Mary's help, we decided to let go of the helper and send her back to the agency. She was really intolerable and we'd rather handle the housework and children without her. It was that bad.

Aug - Nov:

After Mary left, I had to become a full time SAHM handling 2 kids and the house. It.was.hard.work. But I learnt a lot and discovered that I could stretch my limits and do more than I thought. I was on survival mode most of the time. Cutting corners whenever I could. You see when you have a toddler and baby to care for, you really don't have a lot of time unlike what some people may think. I had NO me time at all! I had to shower and pee/poop with the door open. Keira was always in the bouncer right outside the kitchen, toilet or in the living room. I was struggling to get my children's basic needs met whilst maintaining basic home hygiene lol.

Sometimes I felt like a walking zombie doing the same routine everyday. I needed to have my daily teh si to function. But I was happy to be with my children. They needed me and I needed them. G was very supportive and hands on. I had my moments when I was always waiting for home to come home so that I could talk to an adult or get some help. 

My mum really helped me a lot too! She would come twice or thrice a week to watch Keira, cook and sometimes even clean my place. I always had to nag at her -not- to sweep/mop my place and bend down!

Dec:

Things got better when G had a break from school! We brought L and K out a lot since it entertained them! Our new helper came on 17th dec and so far seems alright! Crossing our fingers...

Our 2016 Christmas celebrations!

I love Christmas. It's a festive period for family and friends to gather and bond. This year, Christmas was extra special because it was our first time celebrating it as baptized Catholics =) 

On Christmas Eve, we had our yearly traditional lunch at my mum's place where we feasted on Xmas turkey, ham and pork knuckle! We only have Xmasy food at my mum's hehe. And our present exchange! It's always a noisy affair (because the Chen family just talks too much lol) but I love it. We stuffed ourselves crazy and took pictures! 

(Little Leia) Three years old!

Yes, Leia is already 3! Omg. Seems like just yesterday that I cradled her as a newborn. Soon she will outgrow her toddler-dom and officially become an older child. Ahhhhhhhhh. Mummy's going up have a breakdown.

I notice that Leia has grown immensely over the past 1 year. Not physically... Although she is taller, I'm really talking about mental growth. At the start of the year, she was still a little toddler, talking in phrases... Still acting a little gong gong (which is the cutest part I must admit lol). 

Now she speaks in full sentences... Thinks intelligently and asks questions. Now we can't have a conversation without her understanding what we're really saying! So G and I have to be careful of what we say. She has become more socially aware... Like when I play with her and begin to space out (due to sheer exhaustion), she realized and asks me 'why are you not playing with me!'. So I get guilt tripped a lot -.- I'm not saying that I'm not happy about her mental and emotional growth spurts, it's just we have to more aware because everything we do now really impacts her.

My little one has also learnt how to play independently and play make belief. I think it also has to do with the fact that I had to encourage her to self play after Keira was born and I had to handle both kids on my own. I love to watch her talking to her soft toys... Spinning stories in her little world. Bring her best friend 'Fur fur' and unicorn around in her shopping cart. Bathe baby in the bathtub with other water toys. I love that twinkle in her eyes when I suggest to do something totally random or silly with her.

She has her tantrum moments but I honestly think that she's rather well behaved. I can still reason with her most of the time. I'm happy that I've maintained that precious mummy-leia bond and that she still wants to be with me a lot. 

I love our bedtime moments when I always read her books and cuddle with her before she knocks out. We recently started this new 'thing' of ours which involves me giving her a back massage and vice versa. She really loves it since it's quite a tickley experience hehe.

We had a cosy birthday celebration at home with Leia's grandparents. We bought her so many presents (her favourite Num noms)! I'm so thankful for our little one. Feel really blessed to have her in my life.

Here are the photos from our mini celebration!

(Family time) Staycation at Grand Mecure!

Today, G and I are having a staycay with Keira at Grand Mecure hotel. My mum booked the room for us under her Accor membership so that we can have a break!

The truth is, it's currently 9.45pm and both G and K have already knocked out. I'm the only one awake reflecting on what happened today lol. Leia came with us to the hotel today and she left home with my in laws. Whilst I'm treasuring the peace (now that K is asleep), I'm missing L like crazy. 

We only checked in about 3pm today! The room is pretty nice and they gave us a baby cot that's decent. Leia was running about so happily! We rested a little bit before heading out to Parkway for a walk. My mum had to drive there because it was so inconvenient to cross the overhead bridge with a stroller and my mum's bad knees. We didn't do much at parkway... Just let Leia check out the toys at Isetan. Looking back, I don't think G and I did anything that we really enjoyed! -.- I guess I managed to walk super fast about the kiddy shops but that's about it. Hope that Leia at least enjoyed it! 

We went back to eat the Xmas special buffet dinner with my mummy, in laws, bro and his gf. Food was gooooood. I tried to gobble down as much as I could whilst jiggling K on me. She was being very very fussy. Dinner time is her fussy time. Doesn't help that she's been very moody these few days. Maybe she hasn't been napping very well... Or maybe it's a growth spurt. Ah well. She kept crying throughout dinner and everyone else tried to soothe her but to no avail. I was the only one who could make her less sobby. 

I didn't get to spend much time w L. Thank goodness for my mil who was entertaining and feeding her. The whole time I could tell G was tired... Sigh. Maybe I've been trying too hard lately to make it seem like we can still go out... Still behave like before... The truth is, it's very hard. It's tiring. You have to sacrifice time with your firstborn. I'm not saying that I'm regretting having K (which G might say lol), but I guess I have to admit that we have to make more adjustments and give up on certain things. We have to make our life work with the two little ones. Don't over stretch ourselves. 

I'm lying in bed now and it's reaching 10pm, thinking that maybe it's better to be home? It's not like I'm doing anything special at the hotel. We're too exhausted anyway lol. Well, to be positive, I guess it's stepping out of our comfort zone and trying new arrangements like staying elsewhere with K. It's good practice!

I'm missing L tonight... Missing her 'goodnight mummy'. Her climbing on top of me to fall asleep. Her little kisses. I guess brief absence does make the heart grow fonder. 

(SAHM life) A day in my life

(My life from Aug to Mid dec 2016)

Many SAHMs have posted youtube videos documenting a day in their SAHM lives. I would love to do so too but I'm still hard pressed for time and very bad at filming + editing. I decided to blog about it instead!

Here's what happens in an average day when G's at work and L has school. It's the holidays now and my schedule is more fluid since G is home and it's school break for L. Things get very hectic when G needs to go to work because I have 2 little ones to care in the am and pm!

A day in my life:

7am - 7.30am: Wake up, change diaper and feed Keira. She's currently exclusively breastfed!

7.30am - 8am: Wake Leia up and prepare her for school! I've been changing her diaper, school uniform and socks on the bed whilst she lazes around on bed! 

Keira is usually in her cot or bouncer when I get Leia ready. 

I prepare and pack Leia's bread with peanut butter really quickly so that she gets to eat it on the bus.

8am: I send her off to take the school bus, carrying the little one! I always pop on my nursing cover if I look a little indecently dressed (cause of nursing).

8.15am - 9am: I get some household chores done. Usually, I start off with doing laundry, boiling water and washing some dishes whilst waiting for the laundry to be done. Then hang up the laundry to dry.

I always put Keira's bouncer right outside the kitchen so that she can watch me run errands. She's kinda addicted to me at the moment... So it's waterworks when she doesn't see my face -.-

9am - 11am:  Keira gets tired usually about 9am so I try to get her to nap by latching. I watch a little TV before she gets into deep sleep and I transfer her to the cot.

When I succeed (sometimes I do fail and have to repeat the previous step haha), I start preparing lunch for Leia and myself! Usually, I do one pot meals using my favourite and trusty Zujiroushi rice cooker. I just steam rice, marinated meat and veggie altogether at different times in the pot. Honestly, it's tough to cook other more fancy dishes. I simply have no time -.-

Keira likes to wake up after 30 min of napping as she transitions into the next sleep cycle. I usually need to nurse her back to sleep during this period. 

At about 10.30am, I switch on the water heater and prepare Leia's towel + clothes in the bathroom.

11am: Time to pick Leia up! By this time, Keira is up and we'll pick Jie jie together! 

11.15am - 11.45am: Back home, I put Keira in the bouncer right outside the toilet before I bathe Leia and let her play with her water toys! 

I dry her and let wear her shirt + diaper and let her continue to play with her toys whilst I bathe Keira! It's a hectic schedule hehehe.

11.45am - 1.30pm: Time for foooooood. I prepare Leia's lunch and get her to eat on her own in her high chair. Before we trained her to self feed, it was sooooo difficult to have to feed her whilst she runs around. So much patience and cleaning needed omg. So much better now. 

She eats whilst watching TV (don't judge! haha) and I try to gobble down my food before Keira fusses for her next nap. 

1.30pm - 5pm: If I'm lucky, Leia naps early. Nowadays, she naps for about 1.5 - 2 hours. Whilst she sleeps, it's just K and me again! The same routine repeats and sometimes I get to use my phone... Watch youtube or just space out! If the house is too dirty, I'll sweep or mop the living room!

5pm - 6pm: I cook rice for our tingkat dinner and sometimes bring the little ones for a walk in the park or playground! Going out really refreshes me. And Keira's always more calm when we're out! 

6pm - 7pm: Dinner for everyone! G gets home by 6pm and we take turns to eat! I can't remember the last time we ate together slowly lol. 

7pm - 9pm: Family time! This is the time we play with Leia whilst trying to manage K's evening fussiness. G and I get to catch up with each other if we're not too exhausted... True story. 

9 - 9.30pm: 

(Baby Keira) She's 5 months!

Happy 5 months little K!

Our little bub K is 5 months now! Just one more month and she'll be half a year old. Omg, where did all the baby time go! 

To be honest, having to take care of 2 little ones, I find it hard to keep track and document all of Keira's recent milestones. I looked back at my previous blog posts and I realized that I documented so many of Leia's. And I'm glad I did. I'm just a lil sad that I can't quite do the same for Keira. It's the lack of time and I suppose being a second time parent, you don't get thrilled over every little thing that your baby does. Nonetheless, I hope to document more of her baby moments. They pass by way too quickly and I want to remember them. 

Here are her recent milestones!

1. Keira recently learnt how to flip from back to tummy on 6th Nov! I don't remember Leia doing it so early... But I may be wrong hehe. Oh I just checked and L did it at 6 months! So meimei is just one month earlier. G witnessed the first time and it was so funny. After she flipped, she didn't know how to put her lil arms forward. So she looked like she was paddling with her arms by her side. 

2. If I haven't already mentioned this, Keira has learnt how to grab... A lot of things. Mainly my hair lol. She loves reaching out for her bouncer toys (hippo! Leia's favourite too) and hitting her cloth blocks. Her sister has been handing her a lot of stuff to practise lol. I believe the last 'toy' was a piece of tissue paper.

3. Keira's 2 front teeth seem to be cutting through as well... But I'm not really sure! Leia's only came out at like 8 or 10 months old so it's awfully early still. K has been salivating a lot lately and keeps jabbing her fist into her lil mouth. Maybe it's just the prequel... Although her gums have 2 white patches that look like teeth.

4. K looooves looking at the mirror. When I nurse her at waterway point's nursing room, she's always distracted by the mirror inside! It's cute but also annoying because she takes so long to nurse lol. She's a little vainie!

5. Our little one is still veery attached to mummy. Even when G is carrying her, she's always turning her head around to look for me. And she screeeams when I put her down and walk away -.- yup, it's the separation anxiety. Not sure what to do because I'm the one taking care of her most of the time. It's natural for her to only want me I suppose!

(Baby Keira) Our DIY photoshoot at 4 months!

Being our firstborn, Leia had 3 professional baby photoshoots at Baby U studio. We really loved the photos and concepts. But it also cost us like $1,700 for the 3 shoots. 3 years on, their prices have risen due to their popularity and the fact that they're indeed really good. With me not working, we can't afford to spend so much.

I feel rather bad towards Keira so I've decided to at least DIY a shoot for her. It won't be professional but at least I get to document some nicer baby moments! 

I love that my master bedroom has loads of sunlight so at least we can shoot there. I wish I had more props but it was a rather impromptu shoot with Leia at her grandparents, giving me the chance to photograph her.

Here are some photos that I took!

(Baby Keira) 4 months and counting!

Keira turned 4 months last Sunday! She's  such an awesome bub... Recently she's been doing a lot of crunches, trying to get up! And she laughs when we tickle or do the raspberry on her =D 

Here are the photos of her 4th month...

(SAHM Life) Tips and hacks

Since I became a full time SAHM after Keira turned 1 month old, I've been trying to find ways to survive hehe. It's really challenging to handle both a toddler and newborn at home alone, without any help. Here are some of my tips and hacks that have helped me and I thought it's good to document them!

Cleaning:

I try to minimize the amount of housework I have because there is simply no time!

We also hire a part time cleaner to come every Friday to do more thorough cleaning and ironing. 

1. I mop the floor only occasionally with Scotch brite's ready wet wipes and sweeper. Before that, I will quickly sweep or just use a roller to stick all the dirt.

2. A load of laundry every single day, usually in the early morning. I will alternate the adult clothes and children's clothes. Doing a load everyday helps me keep the load light and prevents laundry from accumulating. 

3. I try to minimize the number of dishes by cooking one pot meals or re-using cutlery. 

Cooking:

1. It's a lot easier to cook one pot meals. My easy go to is to cook rice in the rice cooker, add in marinated chicken (or pork/fish) and then followed by veggies at the end. It's fuss free and takes very little time to prepare. 

I also like to prepare soups then add in meat and veggies at the end. Very healthy and convenient!

Childcare:

1. I try to play with Leia whenever Keira's well fed and happy in the bouncer. That's the best time to spend time with Leia or even shower her.

2. If Keira is sleeping or calm, I will bathe together with Leia. It gets hectic in the day so that's the best time to shower lol.

3. As much I don't like to, I sometimes hand Leia the iPad to keep her occupied when I have to tend to a fussy Keira. 

4. When Keira becomes very fussy, I will bring both kids to the playground! Leia gets to play and Keira sleeps or stays calm in the stroller. 

5. I have a mental checklist for the things I need to pack for the kids when we go out. That way, I can pack quickly when we're running out of time before we leave the house. 

Checklist

Hacks:

1. I love using vinegar + water to clean table tops, mirrors, faucets, shower door etc. Vinegar is also awesome as a fabric softener and disinfectant!

(Little Leia) First kindergarden concert!

Leia had her first concert yesterday at Kallang theatre! She has been practising her dance at home, always showing me her moves. Her dance partner is apparently Tisha (or Tricia? Who knows lol) and it's a simple dance choreographed by her teachers.

I was really, really psyched to watch her perform! Unfortunately, all of us, including G, 奶奶 and 爷爷 weren't sure which dance item was hers and couldn't spot her for sure. The thing was, they didn't share which class was going to perform, and it was hard to find her since they were all dressed differently, with make up on and hair tied up. I guessed that which performance was hers though! The dance moves were familiar and I think I saw her with her partner. We would just have to purchase the dvd to watch it! 

I'm still so happy that Leia had her first ever stage performance. It's almost as though she met a significant milestone in life hehehe. When I was applying make up on her, I just had that feeling that she was already growing up so fast. And during the concert when the K2s had their graduation ceremony, I actually teared thinking about how it would be Leia's turn soon and when it happens, I would be crying tears of joy and sadness. 

My little baby is growing up so, so fast. Slow down darling. Let mama hold you for a little while longer.