Archive for the ‘Thoughts’ Category

Inspired by Barb’s cheery post, these are what make me happy:

1. Babies
2. A good Japanese or steamboat meal
3. Seeing the people I care for, happy
4. Losing weight (contradicts to #2!)
5. Road Trips
6. Dancing to retro music
7. Drinking alcohol (unvoluntarily happy, in this case)
8. Spending time with the loved ones
9. Being pregnant
10. Being around friends

HAPPY WEEKEND, EVERYONE. Have a good one!

Next Monday marks the day I return to work having taken 6 weeks off to deliver a child. I’m returning 2 weeks ahead of schedule to fulfil a request from my boss. Am I happy? I look forward to :

- installing a routine back into my life

- enjoying my morning cuppa uninterrupted

- undisturbed lunch breaks

- going for a run at the gym/hairwash/pediacure/facial over lunch

- speaking technical terms which don’t revolve around milk, diapers, burping or poo

- chit-chatting with a few close colleagues that I have

- at least one hour of solitary moment to myself when driving to/fro work; just me and my thoughts

On the other hand, I will miss:

- sitting in my pasar malam shorts and T-shirts with holes the whole day

- napping in the mornings

- napping in the evenings

- napping at any time in between whenever the baby sleeps

- sleep-training Bradley; I’m almost there though not quite. I hope my MIL doesn’t ruin it for us.

- blogging & Facebook-ing

- hanging out at my parents

- all the extra time when I can get a lot of chores done

- spending quality time with the boys

And I’m definitely NOT looking forward to:

- horrifying traffic in the Golden Triangle, especially if it rains and/or it’s a Friday

- dealing with imbeciles at work whose combined IQ is lower than Bradley’s

- and other work-related stress

Back to work, peeps!

I’m the kind of gal who enjoys having a routine. Of course, after a while I will lament about how dull and boring the routine is, but deep deep inside I am thrilled that there is a routine in my life. You know, you wake up and do certain things in the same order everyday – brush teeth, shower, grab bag and kids, go to work, etc. Hence needless to say, I get thrown out of my comfort zone whenever the routine is broken. And being out of my comfort zone means I start grizzling. This is already a big improvement ever since I became a mum.

Having a new baby throws my routine out – BIG TIME. They feed, cry, poop, cry somemore whenever he wants to or even sometimes, I think he does it just to irritate me So I no longer have a routine as of now. Even the 2 older boys are starting to act up. Take last night for example. VT took Brandon up first to sleep followed by Bryan & I about 30mins later. Then Bryan just HAD to go and disturb his di di until he woke up. It was a carnival in the bedroom for the next hour before I dragged Bryan downstairs again. This time, I gave a very stern warning that he is to march right up into bed and no talking is allowed. It worked. Or so I thought. Throughout the night, they both woke up at spodaric intervals, with glee mind you, to discover that it was funny to wake the other up by crying louding. In my sleep-deprived state of mind, I tried to pacify the crying one while resisting the urge to explode in the middle of the night. Before 7am this morning, everyone was up except VT, no thanks to VT’s alarm!

Oh, I just hate not having a routine. In a way, I’m looking forward to going back to work in November so that we can re-establish a routine, albeit a new one. I am just horribly unflexible, aren’t I?

On a happier note, here’s a photo that I really like. It was taken during the boys’ recent weekend to Cameron Highlands.

As I count down towards the last few hours of 2008, I asked myself what is there to remember about this year. If there was one month that will forever be etched in my memory, it would be the month of July.

On the 5th, Bryan was admitted into DSH for this terrible, terrible accident. His scars serve as a daily reminder for me to be a better and more vigilant mother. It also reminds me (more like kick myself in the b*tt) to be grateful for the lovely children that I have. Yes, even when they cry for hours with no apparent reason or when they drive me up the wall with their antics. And yes, even when the older one still wakes up countless times at night. I shall be grateful, for it can be taken away from you with a snap of the finger.

And then on the 19th, I was back at the same hospital. This time was for a joyous ocassion. I told myself not to cry like I did with Bryan when the baby was delivered, but it was just overwhelming when the ob-gyn placed lil’ Brandon on my chest with his umbilical cord still uncut. I stared hard at his face, trying to remember every single detail and the flood gates opened.

Two incidences this year within a span of two weeks from each other – one sad, one happy. But both relates to my being a mother. So, if you were to ask me whether 2008 had been a good year, I would reply, “Most definitely! Any year is a good year when you have beautiful and healthy children!”.

With that, I bid 2008 goodbye and say hello to 2009. Bring it on!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, everyone!

I used to be very stressed over, what now looked to be, small matters. For example, I would get stressed when Bryan doesn’t nap or when he was being extra whiny and tearful. Sometimes I even got stressed when our schedule was just slightly off. VT on the other hand, would get stressed when Bryan walked around the house with a chocolate cookie in his hand, because Bryan will leave fingerprints all over our suede sofa. Additional stress is added when I don’t get enough sleep.

However, after Bryan’s accident, both VT and my own’s view of life and parenthood changed completely. We realised just how lucky we should be to have healthy kids and as long as they are kept from harm’s way, everything else is a small issue. I have to say that because of that, I really enjoy having the kids around me all the time now. I am less stressed and won’t sweat the small stuff. And because of that, I feel that I am a better mother by paying more attention to both Bryan and Brandon.

For example, last Friday I had arrived home from Jakarta close to midnight although my plane landed just after 9pm. There weren’t any taxis at the airport hence the queue was endless. On top of that, Brandon woke up every 2 hours to have his fill of milk (growth spurt). I was absolutely knackered on Saturday morning. Usually I would be very short-tempered and irritatable. In fact, when I woke up, I was all those things. But I reminded myself that both the boys are safe and then I didn’t feel so tired anymore.

Life is just so precious, you know, especially the lifes of our little ones. I want to cherish every bit of it!