The Great Counsellor

All my Christian life, I have always sung and learnt about Jesus being the Great Counsellor but not really sure how it works. My logical mind says that a counsellor should be one whom you can physically talk to and get a response from in order to feel some sort of comfort. But in recent weeks, in my busy-ness, tiredness and frustrations, I really felt the true reason why He is known, among many names, as the Great Counsellor. The peace and comfort that descended upon me when I pour out my thoughts to Him, cannot be compared to anything else and truly at that point and even now I just stand in awe of the Almighty One. Always there for me. Thank you Jesus for your love to me...

Alycia at 7mths

Introducing Lycia at 7 mths...she sleeps well, drinks well, has two bottom teeth and moves fast...she is a blessed kid and pray she continues to grow well.

eighteen ten ten

181010 is another change in my life and all in God's good timing. I have scheduled for C Sect in the morning at 10.30 a.m. with my gynae. It was supposed to be at 1.30 p.m. but as he was due to fly off to attend an overseas conference, he brought the op earlier so that he could make sure that I was ok before leaving...how sweet...:)

Anyhow that morning, and even that evening before, I just had this peaceful feeling that it is indeed the right time for Alycia to come into the world. On the way to the hospital, traffic was smooth, it was raining lightly and lo and behold there were two rainbows in the sky. It was such a beautiful sight and I just felt peace. Had a good chit chat with John in the car and arrived at the hospital in good time. The nurse at the post natal ward said that I came just at the right time as there was only one single room left , the rest all fully taken up. When I told my bro abt the two rainbows he very nicely put it as Arielle and Aaron welcoming the little sister into the world.

I had all the medical pre-op steps in my mind that I had to go through before the actual op, all of which I did not like, so mentally I was occupied with slashing off the steps that I have completed, bringing me closer to the last chapter of child birth in my diary. At 10.30 a.m. I was wheeled into OT. Got my epidural jab and then heard my gynae's voice asking impatiently.."where is the midwife? why do I always have to wait for them?" Waited for about 10 mins for the midwife to come. I was getting impatient as well as I wanted it to get it all over and done with. Finally the mid wife came and I think we started at abt 10.45 a.m.

This time I was kind of amused at how my gynae was using my body organs to test a trainee nurse like asking her "what is this muscle called", "what brings blood to this organ" etc...I remember thinking..."ahyoh, using my insides to conduct an anatomy lesson"...oh well I think if I was the trainee nurse, I would have given up the job from the way my gynae was sarcastic at her wrong answers. Well he had a pt...surgical procedures are rather critical and having trainees around should be a no no. Anyhow, after 15 mins or so, he pulled Alycia out after a "tug of war" session with my body at 11.09 a.m...hearing her cry was such a sweet sound in my ears and seeing her after that just melted my heart. The anaesthetic told me..she has such nice lips and mouth. Such a bessing! My gynae kept rassuring me after that that I was doing well and that it was almost over. At abt 11.45 a.m. I was wheeled out of OT and stayed in the landing area for an hour in case of any complications. All went well and at about 1 p.m. was wheeled back into my room , reunited with John.

Glad that its all over and now to raise her well in God's awesome blessing. Pray that in her first year of life she will be in good health and thereafter.

The Firsts

I have never had any nose bleeds before but during this pregnancy so far, I have had 4 nose bleeds..and I was not rubbing that hard as I normally do. I do have an itchy nose on and off and I do rub really hard usually to settle the itchiness once and for all but these few times I don't think I rubbed that hard. Three times while brushing my teeth and the 4th this morning as I was about to go to work. The bleeds don't last long...after blowing a few times and wiping off, they just stop. But my thoughts do go wild...do I have cancer of the nose...what will happen to my kids especially my Arielle who is so attached to me....then I feel kind of sad. Jon has asked me to see the Doc but I don't think I want to in case its serious. Just want to have my baby first and then see how. I searched the net and noted that some pregnant women do get nose bleeds very often due to the increased blood flow in their bodies. So I will just put it down to that although this is the first such experience. Will maybe highlight to my gynae this week when I see him.

Another first is a bad flu and cough. I have never really have it bad and never really seen a dr. for a few days of running nose and cough but the last 3 weeks..I have had a bad flu, went to see my GP, took some medication, forgot to inform my gynae during the last visit and down with a bad cough and phelgm now. Took the med given by my GP last time as I did not complete the course in case it affects my babe even though I was told its pregnancy safe. Oh well ...I just pray my babe is alright.

Wanna just have my baby safe and sound, healthy and normal, and it's a long way to go....2 more mths!

Jie Jie

Arielle is becoming a great jie jie. Can really see that she is protective over Aaron and loves him so. When someone wants to carry him away, she will start to cry. She gets upset when he does not sit in his chair strapped with the seatbelt. When he climbs out, she scolds him. When I get panicky during the journey with Aaron loose, she will scream and ask me to "leave him, leave him" cos I will be pulling him to hold him in place. When I scold him for disturbing jie jie, at times she will say "never mind, leave him". She must have ti ti at home at night. Cannot leave him at po po's house. When we are at the supermarket and I threaten to leave him there she will pull and push him towards me and then ask me to "take him la ma". Its really cute to see them as Aaron adoringly calls "jie jie".."jie jie".

You are 2!

How time flies, Aaron is 2 today. What a journey he has been through with meningitis at 6 weeks, hands, foot and mouth at 6 months, bronchitis at 9 months and fever on and off, here and there. Now at 2, he is growing to be a tall "young man" though getting increasingly stubborn with a mind of his own. And all this while Thank God that He has led Aaron through every step. Aaron is God's blessing to us and he brings joy to the Gohs and Wees every hour of the day. His che che adores him though at time he infuriates her. Oh well...now to give him some form of toilet training of which I have been guilty of not doing yet....

Aaron, May God continue to bless you with wisdom, strength and stature. May good people always come your way and May you be a blessing to others always. and in whatever you do May you have God in mind. Amen.

26 weeks

26 weeks and still counting down. Time seems to go by so slowly..I just want to get the delivery over and done with. I guess I am just fearful of the experience, especially the pain. I have a low pain tolerance you see. I also cannot wait to see my babe. Am filled with so much joy with my current two and I pray for wellness for the upcoming one. Though the first year will be filled with lots of ups and downs, I hope that as a family and with God's strength and faithfulness, we will be able to cope well.

Arielle will be 4 towards the year end and Aaron will turn 2 at the end of this week. Arielle is getting mature by the day but Aaron is getting more mischevious. With another "A" coming, I really wonder how life will be like? Well I'll cross the bridge when I reach it. In the meantime don't think about it and take one step at the time.

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. :)