Finally, an LO after a 2month hiatus

OK, finally did an LO after two months plus of not scrapping. Dug around for old photos that I had printed. This was taken when Jon was at the Singapore zoo when he was 16months.

It didn't look like that initially, I tore the first LO up...no mojo and I tried to incorporate too many things. 2nd time around, I went simple.
I asked myself what I would like to do: doodle and sew. And so I did. Smiled as I doodled water droplets and stuck blue buttons on them. Also cut out a few circles of felt and sewed buttons on. Simple and therapeutic...I do wish I have some blue mist to spray on the white parts.

And hubs was nice to buy me some photo paper...printed some photos, but my HP photosmart didn't work. Hubs checked and said I hadn't been printing for some time, and fixed it. Very happy to have married a handy man. Hope to scrap one more LO next week. Very tired. The sore throat and phlegm is trying to creep in and I am trying to beat it with cough syrup and lozenges.

Advice needed

I have not been scrapping LOs, coz I ran out of photo paper....and that's like two months ago. Must get off my butt to get photo paper. I should also get photo paper for my usual HP printer so I can print diff sizes of photos to scrap. Any recommendation on what paper to get?

I am contemplating getting the Canon Selphy. Coz the photos printed by my little HP photosmart sometimes smudges. The Canon Selphy has a durable overcoating that protects photos from water overspill, fingerprints and other hazards. The CP780 comes in silver or red although the screen shot is more pink than red. What do you think?

The LCD display of my camera has gone kaputs for a few months already. I didn't replace the camera coz it can still take photos. Just that I am not sure if they're clear, haha! ANy recommentdations on a slim PHD (press-here-dummy) camera? I won't buy a SLR coz I have so many things in my bag already for two kidlets!

Lastly, check out this SB room of Jennifer Johner!!!! She calls it her craft space. Space is such a luxury! Love it, esp the pom pom balls hanging on top. I know they collect dust, but they add such a beautiful touch to the room! And so many crafters have the Ikea Expedit bookshelf...there's no Ikea in Miri. Unless I get other things, it is not worth it to ship just one over hor. Maybe I should just buy Expedit bookshelves for the whole house. Or we could just ask a carpenter to copy lor....

Tests, meds and more tests

Test #1

Two thursdays ago (4 Nov) First, Simon noticed a small lump at his right parotid area, the area where the ear joins the face. It's a small but hard lump and he asked if there was an insect bite. Nope, there wasn't. We advised him to go to the doc the next day to check it out.

Turned out to be a tumor. After a CT scan and a fine needle biopsy, it turned out to be benign. But as there are five major nerves at the area, we decided it's best to remove it. What if the nerves grow around it in future. what it the tumour grows slowly over the years and cause complications later on...what ifs.

Made some calls, made some decisions, we're going back to Singapore in Dec to remove it. Firstly, Simon was going back to get the keys to our Bradell flat, make sure the place is nice and clean with new appliances for our new tenants (that's the responsible man for my husband). Secondly, it's covered by insurance. Thankfully, the planner husband decided we both should top up our Medishield insurance to get total coverage, otherwise it would cost about $S13,000 to remove a small 2-cm tumour and medishield will cover only about S$3k, leaving us to fork out S$10K! Or we could do the polyclinic way and wait.

Meds...for the kids

Then the kids fell sick....again. This time, it's my fault. Jon had a bit of cough and last Sat, we went out with a friend for a drive, stumbled upon the first MacDonald's drive-through in Miri, and decided to have lunch there. Jon played and had so much fun at the simple playground and woke up a sweat. Then he had some fries.

We went back, and took a nap. When he woke up, there was a yellow discharge at this left eye. Then on Sun, his touch, feely fingers meant the right eye got it too. And he developed a fever (must have caught a chill on Sat at Macs). Went to see doc on Mon. Doc said there was mucus at his sinus cavity, and as the nasal passage was blocked, it went upwards and out near the tear glands. Whoa, I thought mucus was only smart enough to come out as phlegm...but as discharge at the eye....man!

I had a cough and had promptly passed the germs to Jillian. Grandma said she noticed Jillian was breathing harder since Thu. I obviously didn't. So she was breathing so nosily on Sat night. and we decided she should go see doc too on Mon. Thank goodness the few dosage of meds was enough and she could carry on with them and didn't need to go under the nebuliser.

More tests

Dear hubs went for a dinner last Thu night and came back with the runs. He didn't tell me he had the runs since morning after the oily char kway teow, and mind you, it's not was oily as the ones we have in Singapore. If I knew, I would have reminded him not to eat too much that night. Well, he had suckling pig and what-nots.

So yesterday, when after Jon had fever for three nights and had to go back to get anti-biotics, Simon decided to see the doc. He has this issue of having the runs whenever he's stressed or what he eats foods that are too oily or rich. He thought it could be Irritable Bowel Syndrome. MIL thought it could be a gastric issue. So we decided he should do both a colonscopy as well as Endoscopy.

MIL was concerned and was afraid he could discover polyps. Polyps are common in adults and are harmless. However, most colorectal cancer begins as a polyp, so removing polyps early is an effective way to prevent cancer.

Praise God, nothing down there. Turns out that he has excessive stomach acids. Got some meds, and waiting for results 10days after.

Sweet lil' pea

My sweet Jillian. She's a little doll, except when she screams to protest when I put her in the play pen instead of carrying her.

She is approaching 15months young and is 83cm long and 10.6kg. When she was 12months old, she was about 81cm long...Jon was 78/79cm long at the same age. If what they say about a child's future height as an adult would be twice of his/her height at two years old, then Jillian's going to be very tall. At least 1.66m tall....

She loves reaching for books and opening them. When she comes to a page or picture that she likes, she will bend her face all the way down and kiss it. Jon doesn't have as much literary appreciation as Jill.

Here're a couple of recent pics of Jillian.
After church on Sun, we did a quick trip to the mall to pick up socks for Simon. As Jon was beginning to throw a tantrum by commanding us to go in specific directions, we decided it's best to leave to go grab lunch, or tapao back. Once we left the car park, Jill soon fell asleep. Thankfully or not, we drove around for a while coz our original choice for lunch was closed. So Jill got a quick cat nap and was all right when we decided to dine out instead of packing a doggy bag.
When we got home after lunch, cousin Qiqi was at out place. So it was a quick play time for the girls before I put Jill down for has nap. While they are only two months apart, they have gotten together for less than 10 times coz our schedules just don't match. Either Jill is napping or Qiqi is napping. So I am very happy that they get to be with each other.
Check out the pants for the girls from Aunty Ee Chiew, complete with "exposed boxer shorts".

Do we really need that much space

When I first arrived in Miri and stayed with my in-laws (still staying there till our place is ready next year), I said, "WOw, what a huge house! I will need to spend half a day cleaning it, and perhaps only cleaned some parts only."

Then my MIL decided to extend parts of the house after Jonathan was born. The living room got extended, the other part at the split level also got extended by taking in the balcony space (no more easy access to cat). the kitchen got extended, the landing area on the 2nd floor was extended by taking in the balcony and was converted into a bedroom, and lastly, in-laws room also extended by taking in a balcony. Reason: balconies are a waste of space coz too hot to enjoy them. We did save one balcony space to hang clothes, that was useful coz it provided an extra area to hang clothes in case they don't get dry during rainy weather.

After living there for 3 years, I am so used to the space. So when I stepped on the site of our new home ;two weeks ago, I was like, "Huh, how come the living room is so small? Can we have our small group meetings here? And the bathroom in the kidlets' room...it's even smaller than that in our Yishun flat." Correction...it's slightly bigger.

The contractor has poured and cast the cement for our new home, but without walls, our perspective was affected. I got Simon to go measure the area, just in case there's some mistake and we cannot rectify them once the walls are up. He did. They were good. So let's see when the walls are up, OK?

Oh yes, while the kitchen looks smaller on the ground than on paper, I don't mind, coz it looks like the size in our Yishun flat, even wider.

To think when we first met the architect last year, I said we shouldn't have too much built-up space. I wish for more open area for the kidlets to play. Then when the drawings were finalised last Dec, there wasn't much space left. The architect reminded us that we wanted bigger bedrooms. And we have 3 bedrooms plus a study-cum-guestroom in case families and friends come over to visit.

If we wanted more space, we could always build two storeys, he said. No.....I cannot spend half a day cleaning the house!!!! and we will stick out like a sore thumb in the nighbourhood of single storey homes. It will become like Serangoon Gardens or any private estate in Singapore, towering over the last standing single storey home. Architect continued, "It's more cost effective to build 2 storeys, coz the roof will be smaller (it takes a large component of the budget), and you get a larger living room as all the bedrooms will be upstairs." Noooooooooo!

Then I read this article on Apartment Therapy "Four people (and a dog) living in 180 sq ft". No typo. Check it out. Wow, that's cool. and only US$7,000 to build, and that's coz they hired a barge to deliver two trips to the island. Plus hire a generator and bought a truck.

No more comments about smallness of space in our new home. I think it's going to be quite spacious, if we do correct space planning....or if we cut down on the things I want, rather than need. OK, there goes that dream scrapbooking room, haha! Scrapbooking corner, can already, hor? Otherwise, I will hoard, and hoard....

New home - update

The contractor has just cast the cement for our new place....yay! It is actually quite boring, but yet it still sounds exciting at the same time. Coz that means we're one step closer to our new home.

This is the view from the front of the property

And from the back of the property

Where I will prepare our future meals

The left side of the house with the living room facing the fence, patio facing a wall, bedroom 3 facing a fence and our bedroom facing a wall

The two areas sunken in are the bathrooms in the master bedroom (left) and the kidlets' bedroom (which looks super small to me)

Simon came to pick me and Jon up just before lunch to check out tiles at a shop during lunch time. It was a quick 15mins coz he had to buy lunch back to the office. I think I am pretty boring when it comes to tiles. But I've already decided on the colour of the dining room, the kids' room, they will be colourful...*grin*.

Feeling sentimental - Jonathan

What I love about Jonathan - not in any order - his dimple, his big hugs and loud kisses, his laughter and lit-up face when he enjoys a play time.


While I sometimes struggle with Jon's intensity and his demands for mommy time, I relish magic moments when he sits with me and watch his fave Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cartoons (thank goodness he doesn't ask for Tom & Jerry anymore), laughs at the funny antics of Donald Duck, uses a fork to pick up a piece of sausage, licks it and proclaims, "I love sausage." before popping it into his mouth as if it's the most wonderful thing in the world, and says for three days in a row, "We go Mason's house?"


How fast three years have gone by, and he's grown up from the chubbiest baby to a chunky 22kg toddler wearing 5-yr old clothes, from a crawling bub to a boy who zips around the house (whether on legs or wheels) at breakneck speed. Some things still remain the same, his love for animals.


Jonathan doesn't say goodbye when I drop him off at his nursery. Occasionally, when his teacher asks him to say goodbye, he will do a little wave with his hand without raising it up, his arms by his side. I realised he doesn't like goodbyes. It's the same when his cousin Megan and Aunty Cat goes home in the evenings after dinner. He sees them almost every weekday, and yet when they leave, he cries a bucket. Even when Megan had ignored him the 45mins or so she was here, or that they fought over some toy.


Jonathan's a true extrovert, like me. He gets his energy from being around people. He doesn't understand when introvert Megan, after playing with him for a while, retreats to a corner to recharge. He needs his recharge with her and wonders why she goes away. He follows, she screams in protest. How do I tell him that not everyone's like him?


When Jon's happy, his excited squeals turn to super loud screams. That riles his grandparents up, and Uncle Bryan too. How do I tell him to tone down when he's ecstatic? Or having a ball of a time? I shush him telling him he needs to quieten down coz Jillian's napping. Sometimes, I will whisper like it's a game and he follows....not all the time though.


Jonathan doesn't understand that he cannot go inside yeh yeh's room coz grandpa is busy doing accounts at the end of the day. He just wants to see yeh yeh. Coz when yeh yeh comes back each day, Jon's usually napping. So when he wakes up, he just wants to play with his cousin Mabel, or find yeh yeh. I will try to ask him to have a snack or a drink, or bring him out to see the cat and the dogs, if the weather is not too hot. And yes, I do distract him with cartoons. although I know too much TV prog is not good for him. It's a cope out, and that happens when I am tired, or lazy or when the weather is too hot to go out and play.


Recently when Jon wakes up, he wants to go upstairs. He knows nai nai, yeh yeh and Mabel are there. I would bring him to our bedroom and try my best to steer him away from Mabel's room coz she is still sleeping. I have shared with him Bob the Builder's web site where we play a few games online like puzzles, and matching stuff. He likes watching the short videos too. But I limit computer time to 30mins. I don't really like the thought of Jon in front of the computer at 3yrs old.


Sometimes, we will play with his fave soft toys, a yellow duck who's left with one eye. We play with his tiny toy cars, or roll a ball between us. Takes patience and lots of imagination to play with a toddler. I have just started reading a book on activities for toddlers....and I had left it at page 6. Time to get back to it. Coz this mommy needs all the help she can get with a super active boy.


Now that we have Jillian, Jon does show his jealousy. When Jill is being carried by daddy, Jon would want to be carried too. This happens when they wake up at the same time in the morning and both want daddy to carry them downstairs. I would laugh seeing Jillian cling to daddy's legs while Jon throws himself onto daddy (who's standing by the bed), until it gets a bit too intense and I have to step in to offer to carry one. While I may smile coz my children love their daddy so much, it did occurred to me "What! The kids want their father rather than me?" Haha!


Sometimes the scene would repeat in the late afternoon or early evening when daddy comes home. Fortunately, it's better now. Jon would be having his dinner and would greet his father, and Jillian would smile at him from her play pen and each would get their chance to be carried by daddy.


I may be frustrated at Jonathan, or at people's reaction to him. Some days I am tired, or cranky. But I do love him so, so much.

To end of, these two weeks when I pick him up, Jon would run to me and fling himself at my legs to hug me. He is one passionate, intense big fella and I wish for time to stand still, for me to enjoy all these special moments with him before he grows up all too quickly.