Warni's 2 week home leave.
Since Warni decided that she would like to keep working with us, we discussed and decided that her home leave should coincide with the CNY break so that it would minimize the time off we would need to take to care for the kids.
She left us on the 3rd of Febuary and was scheduled to return on the 17th. We left for KL on the 2nd and came back early on the 5th. So that left 12 days that we would have to survive on our own without any help.
We did alright by any measure... Chris took his 2 weeks leave and I told the clinic to avoid scheduling appointments during this time. It was fortunate too that being CNY the clinic was quiet anyway.
In the end, I really salute SAHM who have the utmost patience to do this EVERYDAY! Endless cleaning, tidying and getting kids ready for something or other. And listening to whining, crying and demanding... I don't think I have the mettle to do this EVERYDAY. On the flip side, we did get to spend ALOT of time with the kids just doing everyday things, and the kids coped alright too. We did, however, spend a huge amount of time AT HOME. When the kids were napping we had to stay home and babysit so many lunches were had AT HOME. It was nice that Madison had school everyday so that gave us some respite in the mornings.
Warni came back yesterday evening and so Madison and I went to pick her up from the airport. That was a little tricky logistically as Chris had to go back to work, there was evening traffic to negotiate and Annika's evening nap to sort out ALL AT THE SAME TIME! And Madison's dinner AS WELL.
In the end, I left Annika with Maria after a quick nursing session ( she wasn't hungry THEN), and packed a sandwich for Madison's dinner ( which she ate enroute to the airport). Warni's flight was slightly delayed getting in to start with, then we hit peak hour traffic on the way back. We left the house at 5 PM and only reached home at 7 PM.
Madison had no trouble recognising Warni and accepting her again, but Annika screamed her head off when Warni picked her up! It was quite funny really, but thank goodness all was good again this morning.
The apartment also looks neater already after Warni went through it this morning! I am so glad that she is back, but also realize that she has a family back home that must miss her terribly while she is here. I am grateful for her help while we have young children. I think the kids are happy to see her back too!
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
CNY 2011
This year we spent Chinese New Year in Kuala Lumpur with the relatives. It was decided last year that we would do each side in turns. Last year was spent in Kota Bahru with the in laws, so this year we would see my side of the family.
Not a bad trip in all. The flight up to KL was so short and quick, it was over before we even knew what hit us! Madison was great this time round, take off and landing she either chewed on ice cubes or had her malteasers. Annika was a little more challenging. She was so distracted and took a while to nurse on taking off. Thank goodness she fell asleep both times and woke up when we landed.
When we got to KL we caught the VIP limousines service. Basically you catch the train from the airport to the city, then a cab takes you directly to your hotel. There is a portering service for the luggage so all we had to do was to look after the kids and get ourselves onto the train. It took us just over an hour to get to to the Ascott near the KLCC.
We got the same 3 room apartment at the Ascott that we had when we stayed there together the last time 2 years ago. Really nice large sitting area, a small kitchen and 3 decent sized bedrooms. Ensuites in every room too. Perfect since there were 3 sets of families staying together.
It was nice for the kids to meet with their cousins, and the same for us too. Of course we aren't very close anymore, since everyone is busy with their lives and we are physically apart. The first night was the reunion dinner night and we had that at a Chinese restaurant close to my aunt's house. Both girls did very well, considering that dinner finished late and it was really quite noisy and chaotic at the restaurant.
The rest of the time we were either at KLCC shopping/eating or chilling out at the apartment or my aunt's place. We did spend an afternoon visiting Jeremy at home. And is it a palatial home! Swimming pool, countless living and dining areas, bedrooms half the size of our apartment and his brother's private 3 room apartment on the top floor!
The flight home was super early on Saturday morning. We had to get up at 5 am to reach the airport by 8 and fly off at 9. Of course the trade-off was that we got home early and could still get stuff done back home. Of course, for Chris and I, it was the continuation of our 2 week helper's home leave.... and the start of the laundry run...argh....
Not a bad trip in all. The flight up to KL was so short and quick, it was over before we even knew what hit us! Madison was great this time round, take off and landing she either chewed on ice cubes or had her malteasers. Annika was a little more challenging. She was so distracted and took a while to nurse on taking off. Thank goodness she fell asleep both times and woke up when we landed.
When we got to KL we caught the VIP limousines service. Basically you catch the train from the airport to the city, then a cab takes you directly to your hotel. There is a portering service for the luggage so all we had to do was to look after the kids and get ourselves onto the train. It took us just over an hour to get to to the Ascott near the KLCC.
We got the same 3 room apartment at the Ascott that we had when we stayed there together the last time 2 years ago. Really nice large sitting area, a small kitchen and 3 decent sized bedrooms. Ensuites in every room too. Perfect since there were 3 sets of families staying together.
It was nice for the kids to meet with their cousins, and the same for us too. Of course we aren't very close anymore, since everyone is busy with their lives and we are physically apart. The first night was the reunion dinner night and we had that at a Chinese restaurant close to my aunt's house. Both girls did very well, considering that dinner finished late and it was really quite noisy and chaotic at the restaurant.
The rest of the time we were either at KLCC shopping/eating or chilling out at the apartment or my aunt's place. We did spend an afternoon visiting Jeremy at home. And is it a palatial home! Swimming pool, countless living and dining areas, bedrooms half the size of our apartment and his brother's private 3 room apartment on the top floor!
The flight home was super early on Saturday morning. We had to get up at 5 am to reach the airport by 8 and fly off at 9. Of course the trade-off was that we got home early and could still get stuff done back home. Of course, for Chris and I, it was the continuation of our 2 week helper's home leave.... and the start of the laundry run...argh....
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