Baby Banz & Bugis Junction

Mummy bought me sunglasses! We (Vic & I) went out to Bugis Junction coz Vic wanted to get a swimming costume. But just because we can't walk, our mummies had to come along with us. And just because they can't really understand us sometimes, they asked auntie Lina and Tina to help them. So we thought we could just have an easy time - just the both of us - but no... they had to make sure we were behaving ourselves!

Well, our mummies and our aunties took a really long time to eat. We had to yell a bit to get them moving, u know, we can't yell together because that takes too much energy. Anyway, one of us yell can already. Both of us have loud voices! So we took turns. It was quite fun! The uncles and aunties at the next tables really have no manners. Keep staring at us yell... wait till they have their own kids!! :P

Anyway, Vic got her swimsuit finally and auntie Eve is sooo nice! Bought Vic a swimsuit but didn't buy any for herself so that she can save more money for Vic! :)

Psst! If u pay attention carefully to the pictures, do you think we look alike? :D

Abby's 9 months old today!

It's been 9 months. 9 months of initial expectancy have blossomed into nine months of love, enjoyment and learning. You've brought so much joy into our lives it's unbelievable. Because of you I see passion for living. Because of your enjoyment for life I learn to take delight in things which I never took notice of before. You've put up with our nonsense, been absolutely tolerant of our errant behaviour, and marveled at our stupidity. Yet never, for once, have you blamed us. We owe u a great deal.

You've learnt to belly crawl backwards and have become more tolerant of being put on your belly. The way you rock your upper belly to our 'Yao-ah-Yao' is absolutely hilarious, yet it makes me wanna rock with you too. The way you clap is so cute, and we never know when we can catch your toothy smiles. You've got 6 teeth on your upper set and still 2 below. Those who don't pry open your mouth see only the charming pair of pearly whites greet them whenever you smile your lovely smile.

You've been ill abit, all due to our negligence. If only - yah, if only - we have been more vigilant with your cleanliness, especially washing your hands, then you wouldn't have had that horrendous eye infection that has been spread to a couple of other people. You've suffered so much, and we've blamed your fussiness on your unbecoming behaviour. Yet when you've recovered you're back to your angelic status.

You've been such a blessing, I don't know what I've done to deserve you (or daddy for that matter). I just know I've been so blessed because I'm your mother, and your daddy's wife. :)

With love,
Mummy.

Emmanuel Fun Day

Brought abby swimming while Ben played Scrabble today. It was fun! She enjoyed herself even though the sun was scorching hot. Applied lotsa UV protection then we played abit in the water. After that we went to Eve's place. Wonderful afternoon. Ben & I are glad to witness something beautiful unfold and the glow on people's faces (as well as the occasional blush). :D Heh. Well, God is good! :D

The Travelling Document

Thinking of going for church camp this year - 6th to 10th June 2005. But to do so, we have to get Abby a passport. To do that, we have to take a photo of her with a white background. Sounds easy enough, until you actually get down to doing so. Finally we ended up with one that was pleasant enough without her trying to grab the camera!



After that, I applied online. Wow. Ben's impressed at the efficiency of the government system now. In the past, he had to spend half a day at least to get his passport done. Now everything's online. It's a real breeze. Well, just hoping that the photo'll be accepted. :D

A Touching Link

This is wonderful...Soldier's Card.

Post exams

Finally. It's. Over. Yay! :D Now i'm in the midst of reviewing my semester's discipline andd I must say, there's lotsa room for improvement! Well. Gotta clear up my mess - physical and online - and plan a productive vacation. Spend lotsa time with Abby and take lotsa pictures of course! :D Glad the madness is all over. Yup, it was all over, now it's all over. (Lame eh?) I'm zombified. 8=]

I'm amazed

Have been having my exams, and it's been a real challenge. Stuff's way harder than before, it's unbelievable. But God's made it all worthwhile. Lately, people are changing. I used to be part of a group that was extremely and highly secretive about their work (till now some of them still remain). There's no swopping or sharing of assignments or research, and everyone's basically just SO competitive, it's madness. God knows how i survived those times. "Be as innocent as doves but as shrewd as serpents." It was extremely tiring. I'd love to share, yet somehow it just wasn't right. The culture just wasn't there to be open and friendly. Yet in this semester, things are vastly different. True, those kiasu 1st class honours strivers are still there, yet I've come to know new friends. Now I truly understand when people say that it's not the grades that matter, but the relationships they've made in NIE. Well, I think during my diploma years, only one or two were true friends and stuck by me through it all.

This exam period has been different. On Thursday, a few of us got together to pray before our paper. It felt odd at first, beccause I guess it's my first time praying with people from NIE. Heh. Well, today, we got together again, and stowed away for about 2 mins to pray. It was amazing. Why? Before we got together, we were actually inviting people to join us. Some accepted, while others gently declined. The invitation was much like, "Wanna go canteen?" type, rather than in a sheepish manner. So we gathered quite a no. of people and started praying. After a quick prayer, we all felt so energised to go for the paper! God's good! I felt even ice break among some of us, who usually wouldn't even speak to each other. Strange, but in a nice way.

After that, we got our books checked. Mine couldn't pass - too many underlined sections and notes. So I left the stack in the corner and went for the paper. Halfway through, I decided to see if I could get them by asking the Chief Examiner - Ms Yee. Well, I was supposed to wait for her before the paper started but I decided to go ahead without my books. Then I regreted. Well, she checked the 5 books and 4 books cleared. Yippee! :D

Didn't manage to complete the last question, but still it was about 80% done. Well, it's all entirely in God's hands liao. :D

Now have to piah my last paper that will be held tomorrow! :D

Praise God!

Finally, my angel is well again. She is waaaaaaaay happier and I never realised her agony after speaking to Roland and Chellie (and Ben & I both experiencing abit of it ourselves) who also had similar eye infections. Will record in detail after my exams on Tuesday. So just to let everyone know that she's well again! :D Praise the Lord!

Fault Finding

Sometimes we spend time asking who is responsible or who to blame,whether in a relationship, in a job or with the people we know. We miss out some warmth in human relationship to give each other support. Treasure what you have. Just a little story which is really worth reading. (But how many of us can do it?)

A boy was born to a couple after eleven years of marriage. They were a loving couple and the boy was the apple of their eyes. When the boy was around two years old, one morning the husband saw a medicine bottle open. He was late for work so he asked his wife to cap the bottle and keep it in the cupboard. His wife,preoccupied in the kitchen totally forgot the matter.

The boy saw the bottle and playfully went to the bottle and fascinated by its color, drank it all. It happened to be a poisonous medicine meant for adults in small dosages. When the child collapsed the mother hurried him to the hospital, where he died. The mother was stunned. She was terrified how to face her husband. When the distraught father came to the hospital and saw the dead child, he looked at his wife and uttered just four words.

QUESTIONS :
1. What were the four words ?
2. What is the implication of this story?















ANSWER :
The husband just said "I Love You Darling."


The husband's totally unexpected reaction is a proactive behavior. The child is dead. He can never be brought back to life. There is no point in finding fault with the mother. Besides, if only he had taken time to keep the bottle away, this would not happen. No one to be blamed. She had lost her only child. What she needed at that moment was consolation and sympathy from the husband. That is what he gave her. If everyone can look at life with this kind of perspective, there would be much fewer problems in the world. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiving attitude, selfishness, and fears. And you will find things are actually not as difficult as you think.


"A successful relationship requires falling in love many times -with the same person."

Need God

Tomorrow's my CAE104 paper, from 9.30am to 12nn. I'm not finished with Frankenstein yet. Didn't study for all. Hope I can be coherent enough on paper tomorrow. Remember quotes? How to? I shall now firmly declare that it is only by God's grace that I make it through this module. God, help me understand the exam questions, and recall the appropriate responses. Have to do 3 questions, within 2.5hrs. I take about 3 days to do 1 question. How about that? And I haven't been using the pen to write non-stop for 2.5hrs. So physically, it'll be a challenge. God, can you remind me why you want me to be in this course again? I mean, I'm really grateful for it, yet it is a struggle, although comparatively way easier than my peers who have a heavier work & school load. That one? mission impossible.

Pray that abby's eyes recover. Dirty hands and eyes don't mix. Have been applying medicine since Sunday, still the swelling and redness comes on and off. Went back to Dr Junior today. (yup. The PD's name IS Junior.) He gave antibiotics. Also said that by Friday, if things don't improve, we'll need to take her to a specialist and sedate her to get her eye checked for foreign particles. Scary!

He said something that irked my MIL today. He ALWAYS says that Abby looks like a boy... so I'm rather used to it lah. Many say that too. Well, they can say whatever they want. Doesn't bother me. When we reached home, she muttered, "Hui En na2 li3 xiang4 nan2 hai2 zi3?" (Literal translation: Abigail where got look like boy? SCE) I told her not to be bothered by that. Hah.

Anyway, was a lil' irked this afternoon. Abby has been EXTREMELY TRYING. Perhaps due to her current condition, or because of 'nurture'. She's picked up by her care-givers whenever she whines ABIT. Gosh. If not, she'll erupt into a full-blown cry. She's my daughter, I know what kind of full blown cries she's capable of. (Coz I can too... hahah...:P) Anyway, she's becoming a certified fussy pot. Even when I'm upstairs studying, when she cries abit downstairs, I can hear the, "ooorh oorh lah." :S And lately, she refuses to take her naps. So she's been touring the house. From her own crib to our bed, to her grandparents' bed, to the crib in their room and then to hy's room. See her mood. (Gosh. Really trying to contain myself here. See baby's mood? We'll be in deep trouble!) So have been taking care of abby abit these few days coz I've been at home, and she's also refusing to nap. She can play till she's real tired, fall asleep seated, and still refuse to lie down for a nap. So after she did so today, I put her in her crib and she whined. Thank God her messiah didn't come upstairs. She promptly went back to sleep after a bit of whining.

So I shared this with her granny while on the way to the pd. She recounted how her own MIL would intervene and not allow the babies to cry. In response, I said that children are parents' responsibilities, which she promptly said that her MIL didn't care - and usually just grabbed the babies away from her. But she said she's chin chye. Well, to summarise, I ended with - if that's the case, to *minimise family squabbles*, then it's better not to have anymore kids. *fuming* Really very upsetting to see abby become a brat. Let's hope it's because she's not feeling too well at the moment, and not a 'nurture' problem. I really hope these three months would be beneficial for Abby. But in the long term, with teaching and all, how? Sigh. It's already a challenge to have father and mother see eye to eye regarding discipline issues; now the challenge is complicated when external caregivers are involved. But in Singapore, unless we can afford to live on single income, then it's really a common problem to many. Well, my MIL is more negotiable than my mum. Let's just say, although the current scenario is less than ideal, I'm contented.

Well, really need God to see me through the next few days and preserve my sanity and health. Really looking forward to next Tuesday! :D