Thankful for...

It's Thanksgiving today, and honestly we don't celebrate it but I like to take this time to look back on the year and count my blessings. Of course, I strongly believe that being thankful for someone or something shouldn't happen only once a year but the fact is that we are all so caught up with everyday life that sometimes we overlook just how lucky we are. So I guess, in a way this is sort of a reminder to stop hating on life, and to really learn to be thankful for what we have.

I'm thankful for the same group of people that have been a constant in my life. Kaitlin and the husband, and of course my friends. I'm even more thankful for friends who I've not talked to for quite sometime, but are still able to maintain contact with.

I feel very blessed to be able to spend another year staying home to look after Kaitlin. It's a rare thing for someone my age to be doing, but I personally feel that it's the best way to bring up my child. I'm not saying I'm the best mom in the world or that I'm a MOM 101 guru, but I feel that nothing beats watching your child grow up everyday with your own eyes, and under your own care. This brings me to the point of how I'm thankful for Daddy Li's understanding and support in my decision.

Without doubt, I'm thankful for Kaitlin. So very thankful for her existence, her smiles and the joy that she brings us. Every kid cries and screams, and honestly no one likes it, and I even lose my patience at times..but in a sadistic kind of way I'm thankful for her tantrums and her stubborness. It reminds me so much of myself as a kid (I guess it's karma), but it has taught me so many things. Besides all the general baby/toddler caring aside, Kaitlin has made me learn to be a more patient person (I'm still impatient in general, but it's better!), to be more tolerant, to understand that things don't always go my way and that I've to just suck it up. It has taught me that even with your have a grand plan that you think is foolproof, it won't always work when your throw a kid into the equation and when that happens you just have to be flexible, deal with it and move on.

This year I'm thankful for my relationship with Daddy Li and our family. Daddy Li finally got out of army and is working and I'm just so thankful that we got through those two years of him in army with little fights and arguments and lots of 'give and takes' instead.

Well, that was pretty wordy and still I'm thankful for so many more things...but I think the rest I'll just make known to myself.

I think Thanksgiving is a great day to tell your loved ones just how thankful you are for them. It doesn't have to be on Thanksgiving day, it can be any other day or everyday, but if you haven't done so in awhile..why not take this opportunity to :)

Ronald's 29th Birthday!

There was no Friday Five this week cos it was a pretty busy day for us. Part of it was because of the preparation for Ronald's Birthday!

It was also finally that we all got together since Val got back from Aussie. The first time we met up since she got back, KY was not around, and the second time we met, Ronald was not around so now finally it's a complete gathering! Did that make sense? I think you get what I mean.

Well, the plan was to have an indoor picnic cos we didn't want to be bait for mozzies in the evening + cos Kaitlin has her bedtime routine. So anyway, we obviously had picnic food :D

Our surprise plan + help from Rachel worked! Ronald totally got a fright when KY and Val surprised him! It was super funny to watch him jump, just like during the internship days. Lol, Ronald will always be Ronald!

Here are Ronald's presents (+ card and cakes) wrapped by KY! So pro cos one of her previous jobs required her to wrap presents! 

One more year before he turns the big 3-0! Haha can't wait to laugh about that, and hopefully by then, Kaitlin will be able to wish Godpa "Happy Birthday!"

It was definitely a wonderful night - yummy food + catching up with friends. Definitely a great way to end off 2013 :)

Happy Birthday (again!) Ronald aka Kaitlin's only Godpa! See it's written here for everyone to see, so don't need to doubt my words that you are indeed the only Godfather! Hope you liked your celebration and had fun :) Here's to many more years of friendship xx

P.S. My Macbook Pro decided to go wonky so it's at the service centre now and I don't have photoshop on the Mac Desktop (is that the correct name for it?!) so pardon me for the horrible and untidy photos and lack of posts + lack of online presence till I get it back! Sigh can't leave without my MBP :'( 

Thankful for...

Today has been a tough day, to say the least. The day started off not too bad, but the last few hours was really a i-want-to-pull-my-hair-out moment. Babygirl refused to take her second nap and got real cranky, but all that's solved since she is fast asleep way beyond her actual bedtime. We finally have some peace over here, and although the day has been real tough, I still want to share how thankful I am for everything.

If you didn't know, today is Thanksgiving Day. Was going to cook a Thanksgiving dinner for us to sit down to just for us to have a nice meal together, but it's a little rushed and Daddy Li and I are falling ill so we decided to postpone it. I don't think many people celebrate Thanksgiving in SG, and neither do we since we do not have a specific belief. Nevertheless, I still feel there is no harm in giving thanks and I definitely want to bring Kaitlin up to be a person who will be grateful for what she has, and learns to appreciate it and not take all of it for granted. I certainly feel it is important to cultivate this. Even I, as an adult sometimes forget that I'm better off than many others, and really should quit whining and thinking about how "life sucks". I think it's normal for all of us to feel that way, and really, I find that the only way to pick ourselves up is to remind ourselves that many out there are having it worse than us, and that we should be thankful for what we have in our lives. No amount of shopping/smoking/drinking can really make us feel better when we are feeling like our lives are topsy turvy or going downhill.

Back to my point! Here's what I've been thankful for the past year..

THIS GIRL.

Look how much she has grown!!!
I don't think there is much to be said about this. It's pretty obvious how much joy she has brought into my life. At the end of any horrible day, when I see her sleeping by my side I feel like everything is okay, and worth it. She drives me insane and can really test my patience, but really, I've learnt to control my temper and chill with life a little bit more. With a baby, you can't really have a rigid timetable and plan, and it's more about going with the flow. I've learnt so much about parenting and motherhood, and how to juggle everything.  Being with her everyday, she has showed me so many things I've never thought of or that I've overlooked, all through her world. Take for example, the rain. I complain so much about it everyday, yet this girl loves it. She loves me holding her by the window and watching the rain, and she gets so happy about it. Simple things like the rain can make her happy?! That's amazing isn't it. What about us? What makes us happy? Buying a new bag or a new sporta car? Why can't we just sit down and watch the rain and notice how amazing nature is. Okay, don't get me wrong, I've not turned into some nature lover freak. I'm just saying..it's really nice to see the world through her eyes. I'm so thankful to have Kaitlin in my life. She really is the greatest gift.


Not forgetting, the husband aka the pillar.

From when Kaitlin was still in my tummy...to when Kaitlin is almost a year old! We have aged!! D: But I'm happy to age with you :D

Having him by my side certainly makes me feel better and he helps me in so many ways. Sometimes, even if he is dead tired and he is not helping me physically, it's still nice to have him around. I just feel more comfortable and I feel like I'm not in it alone :) Sure, he doesn't express his love much, but his tiny actions make up for it. Thank you for everything my love <3


My friends.

I don't have that many friends, but I am definitely thankful for the few close ones. We don't meet up much and we are busy with our own lives, but I'm so happy and thankful that we can still chat and understand each other and it does not get awkward at all. I love how we can be frank with each other and don't get upset, or even if we do, we know that what the other person was saying was probably true. They have been the ones by my side, through my toughest times and help me through it and were there to celebrate with me through my happiest moments. They are the most giving and generous people I know and they are all so sweet in their own ways <3

As for the other things I'm thankful about..I'm thankful for having relatives who still care about me despite some things that have happened. I'm thankful for having a roof over my head, and food on the table. This, I always remind myself to be thankful for. I'm thankful to have the life that I have now. There are tough days, but I wouldn't exchange it for anything else that I have in my life currently. I'm thankful for all the bad and tough times that I've had to go through. I've learnt so many new things, met so many different people, and learn to appreciate everything that I have even more and to be a stronger person. I'm thankful that this year has gone by pretty smoothly, especially compared to last year.

I'm sorry if this post was a little long and draggy, but I'm really thankful for all these people and things in my life, and that can't be compromised into a short post! Why not take some time to give thanks to the people closest to you? It wouldn't hurt and I'm sure everyone would be happy to be thanked, so SPREAD THE LOVE!!

By the way, it's my first time linking up with some of the mommies from Singapore Mom Bloggers. Do click on the links to hop on over to some of their blogs to take a peek into their lives :) Happy Thanksgiving!

Crystal Jade Steamboat Buffet

Met up with the girls last week as Val was back in SG! :) Super happy to finally catch up with them + let Kaitxz meet her godparents + eat good food = a super un-blue Monday despite the crazy rain that day!

The prawns were seriously hugeeeee! A pity I was lazy to peel..so I only had one hurhur. They had a pretty good selection of food to choose from. From green leafy veggies, mushrooms to tofu and sliced meats (pork, beef, chicken). They even had liver! There was also fried mantous on the menu that were so tiny and cute! We were expecting them to be the actual size but they were much smaller. A tad hard to bite but still yummy! 

There were also different types of noodles you could choose from..even udon, which Val ordered!  The place also has a small condiment section where you can go choose and mix all the different sauces that you want. KY came up with some concoction that was pretty yummy but had too much garlic for me.

We had mala soup and pork bone soup. Both were yummy, and the pork bone one was really good! Totz (totally) recommend you guys to order it!

(picture credit to Kar Yan)

As part of the buffet, you can also order Char Siew Pau and Xiao Long Baos! How awesome is that?! I ordered two longs of XLBs for myself. Don't judge okay! I was famished and I really love XLBs!

Omg, I remember how I used to love eating XLBs last time. It's like pure heaven, and almost every other week I would need to dine at Din Tai Fung or Crystal Jade just to eat XLBs. Until...I got preggers, and I just didn't really like XLBs anymore. So strangeeeeeee. Anyone who doesn't like XLB must be insane, or they've probably never eaten one in their lives. HOW CAN YOU NOT LIKE XLBs?! I really don't understand! They are like the best dim sum dish besides like Har Gow and Liu Sha Bao!

Super love the tofu and century egg appetizer! Their desserts were pretty good as well! If you guys want to try the buffet..and you should cos it's pretty affordable..you can head on over to

Crystal Jade La Mian and Xiao Long Bao (Holland Village)

Add: 241 Holland Avenue, Holland Village 

Tel: 6463 0968

Opening Hours: 11am - 12mn Daily

Ending off this post with...

(picture credit to Valerie)

Yayy! Love these awesome people in my life! It's always great to catch up esp when Val is back! Makes me really miss internship days...having brekkie together...chasing KY to stop doing her work and go for lunch. Tapao-ing lunch back for Ronald. Gossiping about people..trying to scare Ronald and spilling coffee in his cubicle. Not forgetting staying back in the office to do our work  together <3 SUCH AWESOME PEOPLE in my life <3<3<3 

August [ in pictures ]

So...I ended up not completing the August photo-a-day challenge D: #majorfail

I might consider doing the September one, and hopefully complete it! Anyway, instead of the usual Friday Five, I have decided to post my August..in peektures!

All taken with Instagram (@beaverwoo)! I didn't compile all the photos I took with instagram,but most! 

August was a good month in general! Celebrated my birthday (shall get to blogging about that soon...have been procrastinating cos so many peektures!), babygirl turned 11 months old, we visited new food places (nomxz!), brought Kaitlin to playgrounds quite a few times..met up with friends..and the occasional baking! 

This year, during my burfs, I didn't really know what to wish for..I guess when that happens, it's safe to say that you are happy and contented with life, and I think I am :) Of course, who wouldn't want to wish to be a billionaire and all..but I don't really waste my wishes on those, cos like duh, the likelihood is close to impossible! 

It was also a month where Daddy Li and I got into some serious discussion about our future housing plans. We applied for BTO!! Sadly, we are no.970 out of 572 units -.- What are the odds that we would get to select a flat and it's a decent one?! Oh well, we shall just keep our fingers cross. We also got into a not-so-nice fight during the middle of August..what were you thinking?! Everything is fine and dandy and married couples with kid(s) don't fight? Not true....but I must say, ever since we got married there was a significant decline in the amount of fights/quarrels we had *clap hands* *pat each other's back* :D <3

We also got around to having Kaitlin's photoshoot last weekend and had a mini family shoot in between :) Will defo post peektures when I get them!

2012 is coming to an end faster than you and I know it, and soon it will be 2013! I don't really like 2013..there doesn't seem to be alot of long weekends #justsaying Also, it has been raining so much, the laundry is not drying!! Please stop raining :( I don't like wet clothes and I want to go out without the pitter patter. It also makes me worry about us falling ill, which is never a good thing. Rain rain go awayyy! 

Hatched @ HV

Hatched

Add: 267 Holland Avenue

Tel: 6463 0012

Opening Hours: Tue-Sun: 8am-10pm (Closed on Mon)

Met up with the girls on Tuesday for brunch at Hatched. Following my previous trip to Hatched at Evans, I was hoping that this time round the food would be better. However, I was rather disappointed, and just like the first time, I walked out of the place feeling unsatisfied and worse, there was the jelat feeling..

Nevertheless, the company was great, so that totally made up for it! I think if there is a next time, I would skip the savoury, and try out their sweet offerings. Also, thankfully this time there was no crowd so no waiting was needed and the food came pretty fast! Hate queuing up for food, and then to only be disappointed, especially with a baby in tow, I'm sure all mommies would agree it's not very easy. In my opinion, Hatched @ HV is definitely a baby/kid-friendly dining place so plus points for that :)

zero.zero

We started our Sunday morning with brekkie at home and then baking cupcakes! Pretty early to be baking cupcakes at 9 in the morning if you ask me..but, they turned out pretty good. Tried another chocolate cupcake recipe, but it tasted pretty similar to the ones we baked the last time..

Headed out for lunch at Zero.Zero with Lihai's friends and family. Didn't get a chance to snap peektures of the restaurant but the ambience of the place was super love and the view was really preets! 

Lihai and I got the Tao's Signature Set. Having tried Tao's before, I was pretty excited to taste what Zero.Zero had to offer, and I must say, it was pretty good! 

Zero.Zero
Add: 6 Eu Tong Seng Street, #04-86 The Central

Tel: 6224 4139

Opening Hours: Mon-Sun 11.30am - 3pm | 5.30pm - 10pm

Bistro Du Vin

Val's back from Australia and Kaitlin and I finally got to catch up with her, Karyan and Ronald! The original plan was to go Peperoni's at Zion but they were closed cos of some company event or something like that..so we went over to Bistro Du Vin which was just next door!

Overall, the food was yumxz! We ordered truffle fries, slow cooked lamb shank, beef cheek braised in red wine and pan-roasted Berkshire pork chop. Loved the mash potatoes and truffle fries! The service was also good, so that made the overall experience a pleasant one! Plus, with great company, there really is nothing much to complain about! :)


Sadly, I had to leave earls, cos I had to put babygirl to bed..Was initially quite nervous to bring her out for dinxz cos the only other time we did that was on our anniversary, and it wasn't a very good experience! Considering the fact that Kaitlin was pretty okay, and didn't make much noise till it was almost her bedtime, I'm really happy with babygirl behaving herself! #happymommy

you make it real for me

So before Val left, we all did some catching up! Wished I could spend more time with the girl before she flew off :(( sorry Val!

Anw, Val invited us over to her place during the CNY period. Decided to go despite feeling super unwell and Kaitxz was a lil ill, but I figured I rather see my friend before I never get a chance to so thus..we went over for a bit! Didn't take pics at her place..but yeah, there was sushi. Like we made our own sushi each..and also we had the healthy lo hei that Val's mom made! Second year in a row!:) Wish I could eat more but my tummy was not being nice to me!

Well, we headed back in the evening and here are some pics of KY with Kaitlin at the mrt while we waited for Lihai to go to the toils!

The ladybug dress very cute right? Hehe! My auntie bought it for Kaitxz as xmas present! Super adorbxz.

Following pics of Ronald with Kaitlin when he and Val visited me! So sweet of them :D:D <3 Wanted to surprise them at Lot One when I saw Val's check-in but it suddenly poured and I couldn't :( so near yet so far! After having not seen his goddaughter for about a month...

Disney princess angpow for Princess Kaitlin!

Met Val, KY and Ronald on the weekend for brunch at Marmalade Pantry at Ion:)

No offence, but they look really gay together! Haha!

 "Oh? Are you adults taking pictures of me?"

 "Okay! I shall act cute then!" *inserts cute face*

Act only lor this baby girl! Before that when we reached, ordering and eating she was making a fuss, people at the other table were staring. Seriously wanted to poke their eyes with my fork. Like I get it, you are atas, and have high paying jobs, career-minded and don't have kids. Or maybe, you are already the age of 30/40 are still a bachelor/bachelorette, can't find your soulmate cos you are so shitface ugly or have a bad personality cos you judge kids..or you are married but can't have kids cos you are mean people and that's karma for you. Seriously ah. Just cos I have a kid and I'm 20 and happily married means I have no money to eat here is it? Or that I don't have the right to eat there? Is there a sign that says no babies allowed?! Or, is there a law that says you can't bring your babies to restaurants? I THINK NOT. So pick up those forks that have been placed at your own tables and POKE YOUR OWN EYES. Shame on you adults! Plus the waitress, last warning seriously. Give us the "you sure you got money to dine here" attitude? Wtfffff. Do I look like I haven't showered for days and look like a beggar to you? Seriously. The service at marmalade pantry at the stables was way better. Worlds apart I tell you. I think I rather have a pony serve me than that stupid waitress. Argh. Anyway! Back to happy thoughts! FOOD!

 

My eggs any style + caramelized pear & salted caramel bread pudding was nomxz! Couldn't really taste the caramel..but it was still nice. Always love a decent bread pudding! The ice-cream, though not the star of the dish was super nice too! It was really light! Ronald ordered cupcakes to share as well! At first, I was like wtf $4.50 for a cupcake is pretty steep. But the cupcakes were so yummy! Love the peanut butter and the lemon one. The hazelnut choc was a lil sweet for me but Lihai liked it alot!

Speaking of which, he ordered the seared scallop linguine with tiger prawn bisque and it tasted damn horrible and according to him the scallop was like hard. He said I did a better job when I cooked him seared scallops for vday last year. Poor boy :(

Well after brunch, Ronald gave us a lift to my place cos I had to meet my uncle for awhile. Then after that, we went to toysrus at forum. Spent a damn long time there being damn fascinated with all the toys. Wanted to get everything for her but of course we didn't. Anyway, damn random but the baby room at forum is damn chio. Goes into my list of "to-go" baby rooms when in town! Besides that, it would be Paragon and Isetan.

Oh yes, in the end, we bought some activity table for Kaitlin so we ended up cabbing back home since there was so many things, and in case Kaitlin gets cranky along the way home..that's her leaning on her daddy!