4 years and many more

Got married to my kampung boy 4 years ago today. Had a wedding of my dreams - a garden poolside wedding.

4 years on - we have 2 kids and a very hectic life. But God has been good to us and we thank Him for that. I wonder what it would it be like six years from now - on our tenth annivesary.

15 May 2009

We celebrated John's birthday at home with a krispy kreme doughnut cake. Arielle enjoyed the blowing of candles and cutting of the cake the most.

Never Knew

I never knew I can shout so loud until kids came along. I used to kesian my neighbour's kids as always get shouted at but now I understand. I feel its actually not good for them, they get frightened but sometimes can't really help it. I tried not to shout for few weeks already but was back again last weekend. Arielle is getting really really naughty and cheeky. Don't want to eat, don't want to take medication, want this, want that, don't want this, don't want that..sigh. I told myself a few weeks ago that I will try reasoning with her instead of shouting...as mentioned, only lasted for a few weeks. When I shout and I see her tiny body jump, I really feel sorry for her.

I will try again my utmost best not to shout but to reason properly. See how long I can last. :(

Saturdays

Ah i dun look forward to Saturdays. Its my most busiest day of the week. My day starts at about 6 a.m. with expressing milk, putting the clothes to wash, sweeping and mopping downstairs, preparing for lunch, then taking Arielle to musickarten class, grocery shopping, cooking lunch, bathing the kids,putting them to sleep, cleaning upstairs, preparing for dinner and if got time in between,do some accounting work or ironing. If at night got stuff on I'll feel more stress trying to get all the things done. If Jon needs to work even more stress have to jaga two..cannot do any thing. But at the end of the day, I feel a great sense of satisfaction.

Flood Waters

The weather was terrible in Marudi. When it rains it just pours. The few days before our return to KL, it rained continuously. I was a bit worried as we had to take the small flight out to Miri International Airport. Flood waters kept rising and at the time when we were leaving, Jon’s brother took out the boat in case, vehicles and the chooks were moved to higher ground, as the water level reached the tip of the driveway.

From the balcony

From the tip of the driveway

Jon's mum trying to salvage some wood

Jon, Arielle, and Hui Hui, Jon's niece
on the boat parked at the side of the driveway



Flooded chicken coop

The drowning beans

When we arrived home, updates from Marudi revealed that the water level continued to rise until Jon's house living room. They had made preparations by propping up all the furniture by 1 feet. Thank God the rain did finally stop and the water started to subside within a week. I was worried the water was going to destroy MIL's noodle machines but all turned out well. Now I know how much havoc flooding can cause.

Homegrown

Jon’s mum is one very tough entrepreneur and that’s probably where Jon inherited his entrepreneurial instincts. She runs her own noodle business, rears chooks and vegetables for sale as well as for own consumption. Here are some pics of her produce. Her kampong chooks are really tasty though the meat can be quite tough.

Petola

Some kind of melon for soup

yummy chooks

Long Beans

French Beans

Delicacies

Each year there would be something strange to eat when we are back at Marudi. Last year we had barbequed wild boar on arrival. It was tough but quite yummy with chilli of course. Arielle had frog porridge. My MIL put it in her porridge so that she can move fast. She sure can…she runs not walk!

This year on arrival we had turtle soup for dinner and a few days later had wild bats cooked with ginger and black sauce. Yucks eh? Jon’s brother hunts and shot a couple of wild bats. Tasted like mutton but the thought of eating the furry creatures just irks me so I did not touch the dish much. Here is a pic of the bat dish..din take the turtle one..

Mama's Fault

Babies are helpless and they totally rely on parents to do things for them. What we decide to do have huge impact on them. They are practically at our mercy.

Aaron has recently turned 6 mths and so I thot it was time for him to start his infant cereal. Since he was sick when we came back fr Marudi, I gave him one week break and decided to start him on Monday 9/2/09. He seemed to be enjoying it. Gave him a bath after an hour and then decided to put him to sleep with 5 oz of EBM. He finished his EBM and I left him in his room to give Arielle a bath. When I finished with Arielle I heard him crying and found that he has vomited all over the mattress and his head had some of it when he rolled over it. I thot it was one of those things. I started to clean up but then he vomited again. Over the 2 hour period, he vomited non-stop and it was real pain to see his body go into spasm before each vomit. Jon & I took turns to call each other for help each time it happened. The final spasm came with nothing coming out, so we knew his stomach has been emptied. He was so tired after that I just held him in my arms and he slept.

After that he drank ok..next day, he started to have green stuff coming out of his eyes and my mum then informed that he started a bit of diarrhea. After work, took him to the dr’s straight. His throat was red and that probably caused the nasal track to be infected. After some probiotics and eye drops he seems to be better.

I really do not know what happened there. I shld hv listened to my mum, i.e. not to rush hin into cereal since he was recovering from HFM. Maybe he was allergic to the cereal with milk as all this time he has been on breast milk. Hmm..but when he was 1 mth he was fed formula milk also. Maybe he was overfed. Too much starchy cereal and then EBM. My mum seems to think I overfed him. What do you think?

All these stuff happening to Aaron just dampens my mood. He is such a cutie and I put him thru such an episode. Sorry Aaron, mama’s fault.

On a happier note..he can now sit up, crawl and is very inquisitive. I must say he is really a cute baby.

CNY 2009

CNY this year was far from expectations and very hectic.

We took the 7 am flight from KL to Miri on 24 Jan and only started packing late the night before. I wanted packing this year to be different i.e. to pack way in advance but was busy every night. The Wee family got together and had our reunion on 22 Jan and on 23 Jan night, my brothers wanted to see the kids again, so stayed at my parents’ house till late. As usual Jon was working late..its always like that when we are off somewhere the next day. So in the end, only took out the suitcase at 11.30 pm. We hardly slept. By the time we got to bed was 2 am and Jon’s friend came at 4.30 am. I only got ready by 5 am. So stressful! Well I din know that more stress to come.

Arrived at Marudi about 3 pm. Felt very unsettled with the kids. The weather was terrible, worst than before, so hot and humid on one hand and rainy in the next. Mosquitoes were huge and I had at least 15 bites on the first nite. Was worried more for the kids. I hung around them so that the mossies will attack me instead of them as my blood is the sweetest and prone to all such bites. I was really irritable and poor Jon got the brunt of most of it but I guess he patiently ‘tahan’ me.

Our little Aaron then had fever on 4th day of new year. Took him to the government hospital and got some fever medication. At 3 – 4 am that nite, we found rashes all over his front part of the body. Took him to the hospital again in the morning. The initial diagnosis by a nurse was measles. The doctor’s assistant said no..its an allergy. It was a relief to hear that. It cannot be anything so serious as normally fever will continue up to 2 – 3 days. The rash was almost immediate. Then blisters started appearing on his little toes at night..wah panic and I was suspecting hands, foot & mouth disease already. Searched the net and the signs matched, blisters appearing after 1 day of fever. He refused to drink and was unsettled. Jon & I took turns at nite to comfort him. Each waking hour was a crying one. Sat morning back to the hospital again..the episode at the hospital require another write up…Arielle developed fever on Friday nite. By now I really could not wait to go home. My mission was to just keep their fever down. Booked an appointment with SJMC for Monday morn.

Touched down at 7 pm on Sunday, 1 Feb, reached home before 8 pm to a clean house. Mum mopped the house and Dad fried mee hoon for our dinner. Thanks ma & pa! Home Sweet Home!

Monday morning – confirmed Hands, Foot & Mouth Disease – the Sarawak strain – and both quarantined for a wk! Thank God not the serious strain. But got it fr my parents who told me earlier not to bring him back. Sigh!

Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is not an easy task especially during the initial stages. At least, during the first two weeks, new mothers will experience sore nipples when babies suckle as hard as possible for milk when there is none. Backaches and sore necks are also common if not seated correctly during breastfeeding. It is a dream of every mum to breast feed at least during the first 6 months.


Well it was my dream before I had my first kid. However, I was really really disappointed as Arielle din want to suckle at all. She was in fact terrified of the breast. Each time I tried she would scream her head off as if the whole world was crashing on her. I was still determined to give her breast milk so I pumped as hard as I could. Lasted for 8 months as I changed job and my new office did not have a convenient place to pump and to store milk. Well was relieved that it was over although I would ideally wanted it to last for a year. Arielle was however really small size, probably because I din have enough milk then. Poor girl.


This time with Aaron, God has blessed me with heaps of milk. Though I could train him to direct breastfeed, I opted to express the milk for him. In that way, other people can help me feed him. I started expressing 6 times a day but now have cut down to 5 and slowly to 4 times. Nowadays, I really cannot wake up in the middle of the night to do my motherly duty. Too tired! Each session currently I can get at least 6-8 oz compared to Arielle’s time when I was expressing only 2-4 oz. I hope to go on until Aaron is one year but I dun thk I can tahan. May train him to direct feed when he is 6 mths or so. Arielle managed when she was 6 mths. I have stock now to last for at least 3 months if I continue to express. Pic of my freezer. I have one more pack at my mum's and one more at my brother-in-law.

Heart of Gold

Jon always tells me that we should help people who needs it whenever we can and not expect anything in return. In that way we would be happy helping people. He also has this philosophy..if people dun like the way you are, then its their loss, so why be upset. I always knew Jon has a very good heart and he is a nice fellow but what he did for my mum really touched me.

Few days ago my mum's TV broke down and so she asked my aunt to give her an old TV. Jon collected and fixed it up for her. He noted that that TV was also not in good condition and felt that it will break down anytime. He told me that he wants to get for her a flat screen TV. I was surprised. Mum previously could not see eye to eye with Jon when we were staying together. That was on Friday last week when he made the suggestion. As of yesterday mum now has a new 37 " flat screen TV given to her by her son-in-law.

Truly Jon has a heart of gold. Eversince marrying this kampung boy of mine, I have been more positive towards life.

Thank you very much dear for your deed.

Start of 2009

Decided to bake a butter cake at 11 p.m. on 31 Dec 2008 as I had bought the ingredients for about a week already and since 1 Jan 2009 was a holiday. Set the cake to bake in the oven about 10 mins before midnight. After watching the fireworks on TV, checked on my cake and noted the grease proof paper hanging out of the cake tin was getting burnt. I then adjusted the position of the tin so that the paper will not brush against the heating element at the back of the oven when it rotates. Made it even worse and the paper caught fire. Panic panic! I was afraid the whole oven would blow so I quickly switched of the mains and started blowing but the small fire still could not be put out. I screamed to John for help. He was upstairs attending to the kids. He came down and started to blow as well..I din want to douse it with water as I din want my cake to go to waste. Thank God, John managed to blow it out. His comment.."people play fireworks, you also want to play!". The fire damaged the paper and the tin slightly but I continued to bake the cake. The result...

But it is quite yummy I must say especially with the burnt parts and the "kah leow" (ashes). Got the recipe fr lillian.net I think.

Not looking forward to

There are two things which I am not looking forward to in 2009 - going back to Marudi for the Chinese New Year, and Arielle going to School.

Going back is so inconvenient, especially I am still feeding Aaron expressed breast milk (EBM). No convenient place to wash my pump and the bottles - there is only one small sink in the house which is in the kitchen. Warming up the milk is a hassle as no constant supply of really hot water - water normally boiled once a day and stored in flask - to warm up the milk. Transporting my frozen EBM back is a challenge bearing in mind it takes about 6 hours to get back including transit time. I think I will source for dry ice and pack it tight. I have to bring back some as I am afraid the milk I pump there and then is insufficient. Furthermore, I hope immigration will not confisicate my stock thinking those small frozen white packs are drugs and are being smuggled. Then I have to plan my pumping times during the journey...Sigh..I'll get a headache each time I think of all these issues. Feel like just staying at home but what to do...married to my kampung boy...

Thinking of sending Arielle to school in June 2009 and really not looking forward to it. Can't bear to see her crying her heart out being left with strangers and cannot bear leaving her at a public place even for half a day. But what to do, she has to go thru it as prt of life and trust God to take care of her all the way.

But 2009 will be a great year otherwise...Aaron will be 1 and he will start talking and walking. I cannot wait! plus many more good things to come. I don't know what but I am sure they will come. :)