Yearly Archives

2012

milestones & musings

Dancing into the new year

December 31, 2012

2013

If I had to describe 2012 in one word, it would be…intense. I imagine that when I look back at 2012 several years later, it’ll be like “remember that epic year, what was that, 2012? Man, that was intense.”

I just read the post I wrote this time last year and if 2011 was the year I found myself, 2012 was the year I lost it again.

Too many things happened this year, epic ones. Good and bad ones. Ones that I’ve written about at length, ones that I’ve mentioned briefly and ones that I couldn’t quite find the right words for.

For starters, I went and had another baby this year. If I had to choose a defining moment in 2012, this would be it. Just like the other two monkeys, baby Finn is the love of my life and if I had to redo the year all over again, I’d have him a thousand times over. But still, having babies (even a third one) is the kind of life-changing experience that throws your world into absolute chaos.

I’ve got people who tell me that “you’ve already got two kids, one more can’t be very different.” Um, it’s like telling a guy who got shot twice that a third bullet to the knee wouldn’t hurt at all. Oh, trust me, you’ll feel the pain and in fact, the cumulative pain from 3 wounds will make the third one extra painful.

I still struggle with the breastfeeding and the depression and the long, sleepless nights that go on and on and on. Plus I have two more kids who still need a lot of love and attention. I guess it’s all the little things like  how my house is one giant petri dish of nasty bacteria so everyone falls sick easier. They also feed off each others’ grouchiness and with another person to add to the mayhem, let’s just say that the stressful moments are intensely stressful.

But then the awesome moments have also been intensely awesome. Many times this year, in spite of all the frustration and stress, I found myself looking at everything I had and felt truly thankful for all of it. Recently, Truett came to me all excited after watching Lilo & Stitch and said “Mom, ohana means family, and family means nobody gets left behind. We must always stick together, right?”

He’s right.This is our crazy little family and I love every bit of it, madness and all.

Tomorrow, it’ll be a brand new year and I’ve decided to dance into it because it’s going to be a good one.

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Kidspeak

Gems from a three-year-old

December 28, 2012

body language

Kirsten: Dad, I think you need to bathe.

Husband: Hey, I did bathe ok.

Kirsten: But your face is very dirty.

Husband: This? It’s my stubble, not dirt.

Kirsten: Um, you need to wash it.

Husband: Ok, ok, fine, I’ll go shave.

***

Kirsten: WAH.

Husband: Wah what?

Kirsten: WAH, why your hair so handsome ah?

Husband: Hahahaha, I went to cut my hair. Thanks for the enthusiasm.

***

Kirsten: Mom, look at my barbie language. *sashays and shakes her bottom*

Me: Is it like a new dance move?

Kirsten: No, barbie language means backside.

Me: Are you like high? What shows have you been watching?

Kirsten: Ariel! Look, Ursula says “Barbie language”. *shows me the clip*

Me: Ohhh, it’s BODY language, not barbie language and it doesn’t mean backside.

Kirsten: Body language means shake your backside?

Me: Um, no. Sort of. Wow, this is difficult to explain. Body language means you’re talking with your body instead of words. So it can be shaking your backside or other things like eating or sleeping.

Kirsten: *looks confused* I think never mind lah.

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i love christmas

Christmas 2012 round up

December 26, 2012

Princess Dreams

Princess Dreams

We got Kirsten an Ariel princess dress for Christmas this year and she’s been wearing it for 2 days straight even though it’s a little too big for her. We found her watching The Little Mermaid on the iPad and belting out the tunes with way too much gusto, looking more pleased than we’ve ever seen her. I think it’s safe to say that all her dreams have come true this Christmas.

Skater Boy

Skater Boy

Truett’s favorite gift this year? Spanking new skates from Grandma. His determination to master this is astounding. I think he’s fallen down over a hundred times in 2 days but he’s already managed to move from point to point unassisted.

I couldn’t help showing off a little so I whizzed past him on my blades and he was visibly impressed, like “wow, mommy can go really fast…” Hey, I’m milking my coolness factor points while they last.

Along for the Ride

Baby Finn

Baby Finn still doesn’t quite understand the awesomeness that is Christmas so he’s just being his usual ridiculously good-looking self and soaking up all the attention he’s getting from everyone during all our Christmas parties.

How was your Christmas?

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i love christmas

Merry Christmas, you guys!

December 24, 2012

Christmas Card

Our favoritest day in the entire year is finally here! Well, almost. In less than 12 hours, y’all…

Ever since the kids came along, we realized how special holiday traditions are. The things I remember most about the holidays as a kid are the tiniest moments like camping out in my parents’ room on Christmas eve, having bacon and pancakes on Christmas morning, then dressing up and going to church. So with the kids, we’re incorporating some of the old traditions and making some new ones.

We’re going to spend the next couple of days snuggling our babies in bed, singing carols, eating turkey, opening presents and basking in the Christmassy joy.

Have a merry, merry Christmas!

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giveaways reviews ads

Staying Strong

December 21, 2012

I have a love-hate relationship with milk. In that I’ve always been rather fond of drinking it, but it’s one of those things that make me gain weight rapidly. Especially since I only drink the full fat ones because low fat milk? Those taste really weird.

When I was pregnant with Truett, I was very diligent about maintaining my calcium intake. Believe it or not, I drank 2 glasses of milk every day almost throughout the entire pregnancy. And believe it or not, I also gained a whopping 30kg in 9 months. I might also have eaten most of the husband’s food (and then some) those few months but I’m certain all that extra milk made it a lot worse.

Truth be told, I’ve been slacking off on the calcium intake this time around but I recently read some articles on bone health during pregnancy and nursing that got me a little concerned. For example, if there’s insufficient calcium during this critical period, the baby takes it from my bones and I’ll lose bone mass, which might lead to problems like osteoporosis later on.

So recently, I’ve been trying out Anlene as a calcium supplement. The new Anlene tiny packs (110 ml each) contain 4 times the amount of calcium found in regular milk and it’s actually quite convenient as a grab and go drink. That’s more calcium and less fats in every pack. I thought the taste would be really weird at first but I’ve tried it and coming from a picky milk drinker, it’s not bad at all. Or if you’re not a fan of the milky taste, they have a chocolate version which is more palate-friendly. And for the lactose-intolerant, there’s even a yoghurt version available.

Now even if you’re not pregnant or breastfeeding, it’s good to monitor your calcium intake because most people start losing bone mass in their 30s. If you’ve never done a bone health check, you’ll be able to get one done for free at the Anlene Bone Health roadshows coming up – stay tuned for details on the Anlene Facebook page.

Also, as part of the Anlene Stay Strong campaign, I’ll be sharing about my source of strength on the Facebook page so that’s another reason to go check it out.

Anlene

*Finally, from now till 31 December 2012, Anlene is working with the Lions Befrienders on a charity drive. For every page like till 31 Dec 2012, they will donate 1 glass of Anlene to senior citizens who aren’t getting enough nutrition to stay strong. They’ll also donate an additional 500 glasses for every 2,500 likes.

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This is part 1 of a series of sponsored conversations on behalf of Anlene Singapore. All opinions and text are my own.

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kids inc, Kidspeak

For better or worse

December 19, 2012

Best friends, sort of

We’ve always known that Kirsten is a little firecracker but she seems to have gotten a little bit more fiery of late.

The husband rolls his eyes all the way back into his head whenever I sigh and say “I have no idea where she gets that from.” I have no idea why he does that either, seeing how my disposition is so sunshine and rainbows. There’s the occasional cyclonic thunderstorm but those are pretty rare. Besides, I got that from my daddy, who was a firm believer in grabbing life by the horns and giving it a proper smacking when life was being an ass.

Wait, this hereditary argument is not quite working for me here.

Okay, so it seems like I might have contributed a little to her feistiness but this girl has really taken it to the next level.

Her temper is the screamy kind and she’s very vocal about her displeasure. Like this one time, both the kids were talking at me so I kinda stoned out and Truett raised his voice to get my attention and Kirsten started yelling, like “WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING AT ME?? YOU DON’T SHOUT AT MY EAR OKAY!!!” Oh, the irony.

“First of all, Truett wasn’t shouting at you and it doesn’t warrant the screaming. I need you to apologize,” I told her firmly.

“Sorry kor kor.”

On that note, I have to say that Truett is often both the cause and object of her wrath. He intentionally antagonizes her by saying things like “You are shorter than me so I will call you shorty” just to drive her insane.

“No, I’m not shorty. I’m a big girl now.”

“But I’m taller. See, my head is higher than yours,” he says while standing on tippy toes for added emphasis.

“I’m tall just like you.”

“No, you’re short, so you have to be shorty. Ok, shorty.”

“NOOOOOO DON’T CALL ME THAT!!! *cue whiny, hypersonic meltdown*

I think this sort of behavior stems from the dumbass, masochistic part of his male psyche. Which is also evidently hereditary because the husband also suffers from the same condition. But to his credit, Truett does take her outbursts in stride and he’ll calmly give in to her to stop her from screaming.

They had another situation the other day when Truett compulsively destroyed one of her Lego creations. He does these things and it’s like his brain finally caught up with his actions after all the Lego pieces crashed to the floor and he suddenly realized that “oh crap, she’s going to lose it.” So just as she opened her mouth to scream, he scrambled to rebuild her masterpiece, muttering “ok ok ok, I build another one for you…”

We’re working on getting Tru to be less compulsive and getting Kirsten to be less temperamental but in the meantime, I guess part of being siblings is having to live with each other’s crazy.

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Finn, picture perfect

Will the real Ernie please stand up?

December 17, 2012

Finn vs Ernie

Last week, someone pointed out on my Instagram feed that baby Finn looks like Ernie (hat tip to Juli for pointing it out!) and ever since that idea got incepted in my head, now every time I look at my son, I start to hum “Rubber ducky, you’re the one, you make bath time lots of fun…”

My favorite Sesame Street character used to be Oscar but I think Ernie has just stolen my heart.

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