Two Dogs and a Baby

My two dogs, Spottie and Bully have been wonderful in welcoming Caleb into our home.  As they're both considerably powerful breeds, we took extra precaution when Caleb returned home from the hospital with us.  Both dogs weren't allowed too close to Caleb for the first month.  We made an effort not to neglect them and continued to give Spottie and Bully their regular exercise.  We currently supervise any contact between Caleb and the two dogs and they've been really gentle with him.  Caleb seems to enjoy their company too.  We still never leave Caleb alone with the dogs though, just to be on the safe side.

Caleb and Bully

Caleb and Spottie

 

Hanging out in the garden together

 

It always saddens me when I hear of people giving away their dogs when their baby arrived.  Please don't.... dogs are part of the family too! 

You Are My Father

As I was choosing worship songs for tonight's cell group, I came across True Worshipper's song 'You Are My Father'.  It's such a wonderful song to remind me of my eternal Father who has always been there and never failed me. 

There have been so many changes in my life over the past few months and sometimes my emotions have been like a roller-coaster, but I can always count on God to be there to celebrate my victories and listen to my cries.

Verse 1:
It doesn’t matter where I run, You’re there for me
It doesn’t matter what I’ve done Your love’s for me
You wipe away the tears, You lift me when I fall
My life is saved by the mercy of Your grace

Verse 2:
It doesn’t matter where I go, You walk with me
It doesn’t matter when I fall, You cover me
You wipe away the tears, You lift me when I fall
My life is saved by the mercy of Your grace

Chorus:
You are my Father, Provider
You’re my Deliverer
Your mercies embrace me, surround me
Through Your everlasting love
Father I worship You
Father I worship You

And Your love is for me
And Your love is for me
And Your love is forever

As I take on this new chapter in life, I must remember all that God has done for me and keep Him at the centre of my life.  Without Him, I am nothing.

Baby talk

Caleb has settled into a more predictable routine these days which is great!  As he's nearing four months, his neck muscles are pretty strong and he's able to hold up his neck but it's still a little wobbly at times.  He sleeps at a regular time at night and I (hopefully) no longer have to stay awake till 3am! He's turning into a very chatty baby and keeps the whole family entertained with his baby talk.

Thankfully my milk supply is still there but I have started to supplement formula once a day though I try not to at all.  It's getting easier everyday as Caleb has begun to play on his gym alone for longer intervals allowing me to do stuff around the house. 

I've learnt a lot about Caleb taking care of him full-time over the past 3 months and realised that although motherhood is challenging, it is indeed a very fulfilling role.  I've begun to see glimpses of him laughing - he currently laughs once every few days which is a big treat for me :) Its interesting to notice how his yawns were silent at first, but now it comes with an 'aahhh'.....

I think being a happy and fulfilled stay home mum requires a change in mindset.  It's appreciating the opportunity to be involved in every part of the child's growing up years and learning new things every step of the way.

His many expressions

He loves his gym

Weekend family dinner

Motherhood

I'm finally able to sit down and blog now that Caleb is taking a nap.  I just finished a load of laundry, folded them up, sterilised his feeding bottles, tidied up the house, put my unfinished pizza in the fridge and now typing as fast as I can before he wakes up!  Such is the life of a stay home mom.

Nowadays I spend most of my weekdays at home.  I did plan to take Caleb out to the mall on my own, but then news broke of the attempted kidnap at the parking lot of a nearby mall and now I'm hesitant to do so (Though I doubt anyone would want to kidnap me in my current unkempt state!)

It's challenging and definitely not easy breezy as a stay home mom, but it's such a blessing to see little developments, growth and best of all, smiles in the little one each day.

My mind is a bit fuzzy due to my frantic day, so here are some pictures instead.

The smile that can melt hearts

I'm always trying to take snapshots of us together

Happy baby

The birth

I last wrote when I was 36 weeks pregnant and now, in the blink of my sleepy eye... Caleb is already 3 months.  I shall now attempt a rewind to the life-changing day of Caleb's birth.

I have to say, Caleb's birth day was pretty perfect.  It was Wednesday, the 14th of March and 10 days to my due date.  Woke up at 8am and realised I had a 'show'.  Thankfully, hubby had not gone to work yet! Packed my bags, had a shower and off we went to.... McDonalds.  We had to get a good breakfast before checking into the hospital.  

During breakfast, I felt mild contractions but that hardly distracted me from my delicious egg McMuffin and hash browns.  However, by the end of breakfast the contractions were getting stronger but still bearable.  Off we went, with our satisfied tummies, to Pantai Hospital.

Checked into labour ward, got inspected by the nurse and found that I was 3cm dilated and ready to be admitted immediately! At first I refused the epidural thinking that I could endure the initial contraction pains but the pains got much more intense within a few minutes.  Plus contractions seemed to be at a 1 minute interval.  I quickly asked for epidural, and it was administered to my spine in 15 minutes.  Slowly, I felt my lower half go numb and I was relieved.  Soon I was chatting away with hubby and updating my Facebook status.

I was on the hospital bed all day waiting for full dilation whilst baby's heartbeat was being monitored.  Anyway, my doctor was at the operating theatre in the afternoon so I just had to wait.  Finally, Dr Wong arrived at 7pm to check me, and I was 10 cm dilated and ready to push. 

The nurses started preparing me for birth and that's when I got real nervous.  Thankfully, the epidural took away all my pain.  Then hubby held my hands and at the nurses instructions, I had to push.  Pushing wasn't random, but it was timed together with the contractions.  I pushed and pushed until my face turned blue, purple, green....white. Still no baby in sight.  

Anyway, to cut the long story short, doctor came back with a vacuum and I pushed like crazy for another 20 minutes and at 8.15pm, Caleb was out! What a relief!!! 

I really thank God for answering my prayers yet again, He is ever faithful to me :)

Ok, enough of writing... here are some pictures!

 Our first family photo

 1 day old Caleb

 Caleb's birth announcement

Nearly there!

I'm now 36 weeks pregnant and baby Caleb (yes, that's his name) will be full-term in a few days. I get tired easily nowadays and don't go out as often as I used to. I'm glad that I'm still able to take Spottie on his 45 minute walks around the neighbourhood though! I wonder whether my dogs realise I'm pregnant, they must have noticed my belly increasing in size over the past few months.

I feel excited that Caleb is arriving very soon, but also anxious of the whole birth process. Been watching too many pregnancy programmes on TV and reading an assortment of pregnancy books to equip myself with the necessary information so that I won't freak out when the time comes.

My parents and in-laws are super excited of course. Mother-in-law has been giving me lots of advice on what I should and should not do during confinement to which my standard reply is 'OK'. However, I have decided that I'm going to wash my hair no matter what (contrary to the traditional Chinese confinement practice of not washing hair 12 days after giving birth). I simply cannot imagine refraining from a hair wash for 12 days. I think its completely unhygienic. Plus I want my newborn son to see me looking nice and pleasant, not scary.

We've pretty much got everything ready... baby room, baby supplies and my hospital bag is packed. Now I've just gotta pray that baby comes out smoothly and at the right time too.

Caleb's Room

It's Christmas time again!

December's my favourite month of the year! I love seeing pretty Christmas decorations and listening to Christmas carols playing at the malls. Not forgetting shopping for presents...more window shopping this year as we need to budget for our baby! Can't resist snapping pictures everywhere I go. Here are some of them :)

Hubby and I attended a wedding at Prince Hotel last weekend

Christmas deco at home

Christmas at the malls! TL - 1 Utama, TR - Pavillion KL,
BL - Prince Hotel, BR - The Curve

Even as we celebrate Christmas this year let's not forget the real meaning of Christmas.

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. Matthew 1:21

It's a boy!

I haven't written for ages! There have been quite a lot of changes in my life over the past few months. 4 months ago, I found out I was expecting. What a surprise! One of my prayers after that was, 'Thank You Lord for having the confidence in us to take care of a child!'

Thank God, the first trimester wasn't that bad, I didn't really have morning sickness but felt tired most of the time. Some days, I could lay in bed all day. I was also as hungry as a horse all the time and had food cravings. My cravings were for my usual favourites - nasi lemak and spicy food!

I was off to Sydney for 2.5 weeks when I entered my second trimester and spent some quality time with my relatives there. I've wanted to revisit Australia since I last went in 2006, and took the opportunity when my cousin Mindy said she was going in October. Morever, I must go before the baby arrives.

I'm now 20 weeks pregnant and we've found out that it's a boy! Hubby and I are getting more excited now, and I have recently begun to feel the baby kicking inside me. There are lots to prepare for, and I really have no experience taking care of babies, so I need to learn as much as I can and keep my ears open to advice from experienced moms.

I really thank God for His blessing as children are a gift from Him. And even as our family grows, hubby and I must always remember to teach our children to love Him wholeheartedly.

Here are some pics from my Sydney trip:-

Sunbathing kangaroos in Sydney Wildlife World

My new found friend Rory from the dog park

Pancakes on the Rocks... real yummy!

Having a feast

And the classic... koala bear :)

Bersih 2.0

Something extraordinary happened in Kuala Lumpur on 9 July 2011. Thousands of Malaysians came out on the streets of the capital to demand for clean and fair elections. They had 8 simple requests:-

1. Remove dead people and multiples of the same person from the electoral list
2. Postal ballot open and transparent to all
3. Use ink that cannot be erased in vote casting
4. A minimum 21 day campaign period so that voters can better weigh their choices
5. Fair media coverage to all parties (not just the government)
6. Public institutions (judiciary, police, etc.) must be impartial in upholding the law and human rights
7. Stop corruption
8. Stop dirty politics

So the Bersih 2.0 committee organised a peaceful street rally and welcomed citizens who supported it to join it. Unfortunately, the government declared the assembly illegal and got everything prepared for the citizens on the day.

The videos below show what happened on 9 July 2011.







It saddens and shocks me to see the government spraying tear gas and water cannons at their own citizens. The citizens just wanted impartiality and the right to exercise democracy properly in the country they belong to.

I feel proud that Malaysians have the courage to stand up for righteousness and I will continue to pray for a country where truth and justice prevails.

Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people. Proverbs 14:34

Canvas Painting

The wonderful thing about not having a nine to five job is that I get to do anything I want during a weekday. I met a friend for lunch at the mall today and checked out my favourite art shop after that.

Lo and behold, there were stacks of white canvases in different shapes... just waiting to be painted on. I couldn't resist the temptation of creating my own masterpiece and bought a square canvas and a set of acrylic paint.

Upon arriving home, I excitedly got my palette, brushes, water and rag cloth ready and started painting my classic 'heart'. The 'heart' was created in Adobe Illustrator previously, and not on canvas yet.

So I started sketching... and painting. 4 hours later, I was done. Here's my 'heart' on canvas.

Nursery Visit

Stephanie and I went plant shopping in Sungai Buloh a few days ago. Steph's the perfect person to go nursery hopping with as she knows everything you need to know about plants! Do check out her very interesting blog here and nursery directory here.

Thanks to Steph's advice, I managed to choose a few hardy plants that won't wither so easily.

We also took lots of pretty pictures... here are some of them.

Holiday Home Updates

It's been nearly a year since we started Holiday Home Malaysia. I'm really glad we started this and we've had guests from UK, USA, Russia, Australia, Russia, Canada, Thailand, Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore and of course Malaysia so far.

There have been many memorable guests, such as a Russian family whom we communicated with via email even after they arrived because we couldn't understand each other verbally and so needed the Russian - English translator on the internet.

I really thank God because He has blessed and guided us tremendously through this new endeavour and it has been an eye-opening and enjoyable experience for us.

Thoo and I are constantly thinking of how we can improve the place and feedback from our guests have been really helpful. Recently, we've added new bedlinen, DVDs, kitchen utensils, plants, a clothes rack and more cushions.

Here are the latest pictures.

Dog's Miraculous Rescue

A dog was miraculously rescued from the sea yesterday, 3 weeks after the devastating earthquake and tsunami destroyed his home. What an incredible miracle!  

She was even reunited with her overjoyed owner soon after!

Amazing stories like these really warm my heart and I'm so inspired by the people who made it happen - a thumbs up to the coast guards for their incredible rescue!

Japan's Tsunami

A massive earthquake and tsunami struck Japan last Friday and as of today, over 3000 people are confirmed dead and more than 8000 missing. The world is growing very concerned about the nuclear reactors that have malfunctioned at Fukushima, exposing dangerous levels of radiation into the atmosphere. The lives of thousands of Japanese people have been changed in a split second.

I'm touched reading about how the Japanese have maintained their good values during this time of adversity, helping and encouraging each other to remain strong. I really feel for them, and am praying for God to bring healing to this nation. May the whole world stand united in helping Japan.

Here are some pictures from the internet (courtesy of CNN, Getty Images and unidentified sources):-

Christmas Mood

It's my favourite time of the year.... brightly lit Christmas trees everywhere, Christmas carols playing in the shopping malls and lots of people in holiday mood. December is a time to be thankful for all God has blessed me with :)

The Christmas decorations in Kuala Lumpur are getting better each year. Here's what I've seen so far...

Snow @ Pavilion

Giant Christmas tree @ The Curve

Reindeers @ Pavilion

Cosy little Christmas town @ 1 Utama

In the midst of all the activity around me, I must never forget the one and only reason for the season...God coming to earth in the form of Jesus Christ to bring salvation to us.

Footprints of Faith

It's been nearly 2 months since I started working in the advertising industry again.  Pretty exciting I would say, and challenging at the same time. There's so much for me to catch up on! Nevertheless, I think I've settled in quite comfortably.  Met some nice colleagues too.

There were times when it was particularly challenging, especially when meeting difficult and demanding clients. I was quite turned off by a few of the irate and rude ones, but am getting used to it - reminding myself not to take things too personally.

I'm glad I took this step of faith.  I did look back initially, thinking about the comforts of being where I was, as opposed to being in an unfamiliar place and out of the comfort zone.  It was scary at times, especially when demands were high and I didn't really have a clue about what I was supposed to do.

It's during these times that I've prayed the hardest and really had to depend on God.  And to take tiny steps as He leads, knowing that He was and is always in control.  There have been pleasant surprises along the way, and God is opening my eyes to new experiences each day.

New Chapter Begins

The past 3 months has been quite a whirlwind. Not chaotic, but just really exciting and fun! The 3 month break after resigning was very timely for me as it enabled me to rest and do the things I enjoyed - travelling, cooking and even starting a guest house. I'm starting work again next week. It's quite a surprise actually, I didn't expect myself to start a full-time job so soon. However, I felt that this was an offer I had to take and a blessing from God as it was much better than my expectations!

It's nice being able to relax, read and watch tv at home alone on weekdays but I realised that life is more meaningful and colourful when you share it with others. Having people around makes you appreciate life more and see things from a different perspective. I know I have a lot to learn at my new workplace and I'm looking forward to this new chapter of my life.

God is full of surprises! I asked him for new experiences, and He told me to empty my cup. So I did, and now He's given me more than I imagined. I've learnt that when God says something, we have to obey Him and step out of the comfort zone at times because that is when growth happens.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11