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Monday, July 21, 2014

Getting settled

It's been 3 weeks since Chris left and I think we are finally starting to settle down.

Today Liam is exactly 13 months.. and I am so glad we are over the first year. For some reason I always find month 8-12 the toughest few months in the 1st year.. the weaning, their mobility and the start of fussing.

Annika turns 4 tomorrow and she's really excited. We've already celebrated her birthday when Chris was here 1 month ago so tomorrow will be cake in school and maybe cake at home. She also asked for a pinata for school so I've got to do that today. I've been bribing her with the pinata.. so everytime she refuses to do something ( practise piano/eat breakfast/ sit down etc ) I use the pinata as ransom. For now it works.. I've got to think of something else once her birthday is over!

I had some trouble getting the apartment rented out but its mostly sorted out now so I hope I don't have to deal with it for a few months. There's just a few minor dismantling works that's still to be done but it shouldn't be too complicated.

I think the house is also FINALLY settling down.. the roof was still leaking and the roofing people came in again to fix it, and we are waiting for another downpour to test it out. Our architect came in over the weekend to inspect the house, and I'm so glad he did that. He took pictures of the various minor defects and I hope those will get corrected at some stage. The wardrobe guy also came in on Saturday to install our bathroom mirrors and cabinets so we now have mirrors in the house! I'm actually happy that we're getting things done in stages so that every little thing feels like an improvement, and the helpers aren't overwhelmed with work at the very start.

This week is looking busy for the kids.

Monday: kids have 'racial harmony day' at school and Madison had her Mandarin show and tell. She brought some kueh buluh to show. We practised a little at home and I hope that 2 minute speech is enough!

Tuesday: Annika is 4! Cake and Pinata at school. Madison has her first on-course golf lesson so I have to take her to the driving range prior and then leave her for the lesson. Lesson starts at530pm.

Wednesday: Berries as usual

Thursday: Music class day- Madison has a double: a replacement music class at 1pm and then CMC class at 6pm. Tennis session for the first time for me and a few neighbours

Friday: Swim class as usual

Saturday : I signed Madison up for a swim meet as encouraged by her swim teacher. Of course to express my support I also indicated I would help out as a volunteer.. let's see how that pans out. In the evening we have a potluck dinner at a friend's house. I still haven't decided what to make!

No wonder I was getting anxiety nerves this morning....


Friday, July 11, 2014

July 2014

I think I should never forget this month

1. New house

We finally moved in on June 23rd and obviously had to spend the night there once the beds were moved over. It was a crazy nightmare having to move and look after 3 kids. When we moved from Papillon to Montebleu I don't remember having any major issues, so I assumed it would be the same this time.

It was bad!

We were firstly under prepared. I was recommended Helping Hands as a moving company. They employ ex-convicts to do the job and are reasonably priced as they are partly a social enterprise. The boxes they sent us were too small and even though we paid for more (20 more) boxes they were insufficient. We had stuff still unpacked when the movers came. Fortunately they brought a huge empty box for us to use.

We had so much stuff! They needed 2 trips to bring all our things over, and when they got to the new house the first thing they said " there are stairs!" They were NOT happy. Fortunately they were nice enough to oblige ( at an additional cost ) and I brought drinks and my banana cake for them.

It took the rest of the day just to vaguely unpack and get the bedrooms reasonably ready for the night. There were still workers trying to finish up the details in the house so it was terribly dusty and noisy.

2. Chris leaving for Germany

He left on the 29th of June, on the same day that Anthony arrived (fortunately!) His flight was at midnight, so we had time to have dinner with the extended family. I drove him to the airport with Anthony and his mum.

3. Endless house repairs

When we got the new house, it wasn't completely finished so the workers were still working everyday. Floors had to be finished, painting wasn't completed and the timber screen on the staircase had to be finished.

Then at the end of the first week the heavy rain started. The attic roof started to leak!

The first time round the roofers blamed the neighbour's tarpaulin on their roof flooding our roof with their water.Anthony and I sorted that out by getting their roofers fold the tarp onto itself.

Then it rained again and our roof STILL leaked. The second time the roofers came back, took out some part of the gutter and then replaced it. I was seriously doubtful that it would work.. but we had to give it a try.

Of course when it rained it leaked AGAIN. The third time I think they replaced something else and we are still waiting for another heavy downpour.

Next came the toilets. The first floor WC seat was chipped when they handed over to us, and 3 weeks later we are still waiting for it to be replaced.

The second floor guest WC started leaking soon after. The first time the plumber came back they said it was the inlet water gasket that moved, so they manipulated it and said it was fixed. Obviously it leaked again the very night. So they had to come back again another day to do a better job.

Once they finished that , the master bedroom WC started leaking. Just unbelievable. I'm still waiting for that to be rectified.

Finally the wood floors. There were patches of unfinished floor that they had missed, so they had to come back and re do them. They wound up redoing most of the floor and that took close to a week to complete. When they finally finished the 3rd floor, the plumber went and walked on the wet varnish! So now there are foot prints on a few steps and staircase landing which is still due for a redo!

What next!

4. Primary one registration

It was like a day of doom! I've been so anxious over this with the competition to get into school these days.

I thought I'd got all the documents ready so I drove over to register first thing after dropping the girls off at school. Only after I sat down to fill out the form I realized I'd forgotten the most important document: Madison's birth certificate!

It was a miracle I managed to drive home safely and get the rest of the process completed.

Turns out there were 100 spots and 50 applicants so technically we should be safe. I'm still waiting for the final confirmation slip to be mailed out to us.

5. Getting Montebleu rented out

We decided we're probably keeping Montebleu for the forseeable future for now, but obviously need to rent it out. After we moved out, I paid another contractor close to $6000 to do minor repair and cleaning work in the apartment. It was quite dirty and messy. I had to go back and do a scrub down of the stove and oven as well.

We had a few viewings by potential tenants, and now they want ALL the built in furniture removed! This means more work on the apartment and touch up paint and floor work. But I guess we don't really have a choice; it's either this or no tenant.

Hopefully that'll be all for now....

Liam's ONE!

This post is so overdue!

Liam turned one on June 21st, and we had a party for him and Annika before Chris left for Germany.

I wanted it to be a simple affair, but alas, no.. Annika made it explicitly clear she wanted her bouncy castle for her friends. We had her party one month early so that I wouldn't have to organise a party while Chris was away.

So.. we had the bouncy castle, we had catered food from Currywok and a few families over to celebrate the 2 birthdays. Of course like everyone else with a girl we just had to have a Frozen themed party. I googled it as a theme and there were plenty of suggestions. We wound up having a Frozen themed cake/dessert table which the kids absolutely loved. I was so blessed to have generous people help : my clinic nurse made blue coloured jelly for the table as well as a huge pot of curry chicken. My mother-in-law and my mum's maid helped with setting up the Frozen themed table. I was quite hesitant about getting a bouncy castle after last year's debacle with heavy rain but Annika was lucky. The day was dry and weather cool. Of course I had to make the cake, a rainbow cake with frosting decorated with Queen Elsa, Anna and Olaf.

This time we didn't organise any games, there were no face painters or balloon twisters. The kids were just as happy running around and playing with each other. We set up a mat on the floor with paints and a few handicraft things which they did use for a little while.

It's bittersweet that my baby is one, but it's also a relief. It means he is able to be more independent of me, it means he doesn't have food restrictions anymore (hooray!) but it also means the babyhood is gone... I suppose it's been a gradual transition but Liam is definitely becoming a demanding toddler now!




Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Almost 1!

In the blink of an eye Liam is almost 1.

When Madison was born I had relatively more time and wrote in the blog frequently. When I look back at the old entries it's quite nostalgic and of course it seems all too easy then! One child to many adults... She is the lucky one.

By the time Annika came, the time crush started. Days began to become more stressful. It was hard trying to balance work, Madison's preschool schedule and finding time to spend with Annika. And as time passed, it actually got harder, because Madison took on more activities, and we got busy with work.

For a long time, I felt really guilty and sad towards Annika. I felt like I was shortchanging her, but honestly I didn't know how to relate to her. She was ( and is ) the most challenging of them and really brought the monster out in me. I try not to compare the 2 girls, but it's difficult. Where Madison is calm, composed  and easy to look after, Annika is loud, messy, attention seeking and fussy.

I started reading up articles online about middle child syndrome, and got even more anxious and paranoid. Was I damaging her spirit and self esteem?

Then I thought more about it. And read somewhere that we shouldn't make the middle child syndrome a big deal. There are many successful middle children, and the challenges that they face as a child make them stronger and more independent people.

Annika had a parent-teacher conference just last weekend. And she had a glowing report! I was quite amazed. Her teachers were very pleased with her progress--socially and developmentally. She is apparently quite an independent child in school and is able to socialize with most kids in class.

So I should focus on the positives and try to work on my relationship with her. I have to work on my patience and have trust and faith that things will be ok.


Liam is truly the baby of the family. He is progressing in leaps and bounds, and is starting to walk already... Warni and Mylene are encouraging him to walk... and I'm saying "no, no it's ok... he doesn't have to walk so quickly!!" He really gets the benefit of being the last child, so will enjoy the most relaxed parenting compared to his sisters.


We are going to have a birthday party for Liam and Annika on the 21st of June. Again... poor Annika has to share her birthday with Liam because I want to get the party over with before Chris leaves for Germany. I don't think I would have the motivation or energy to host a party while he is away.



Finally... our new house is almost ready. There is a final inspection on the 11th of June and bearing any complications we should receive our TOP ( temporary occupation permit). I also want to complete our move before Chris leaves because I think I would go mad trying to move by myself!



Oh.. one last thing... Primary one registration is set to be on 8th of July for Madison...

Monday, April 14, 2014

April

This year is going by too quickly!

It's already mid April and I feel like I haven't really accomplished anything this year.

In another 3 months Chris will be headed to Germany for his fellowship. I can't even begin to imagine how I'm going to survive the weekends!

I decided yesterday that while he is away that the kids should cut down on weekend classes. I think we'll stop Madison's golf lessons for the 6 months he is away to start with. I'll probably still continue with tennis on Sunday evenings for now since that's a drop off lesson. Thankfully Annika is done with her Saturday afternoon music classes.

Liam is growing up too quickly! He'll be 1 in another 2 months... It's bittersweet but the baby stage isn't easy. He still doesn't like his solids very much but hopefully he'll grow out of that. I've decided not to stress over it because I know that if I do it'll make things worse and he'll wind up hating food. (Which is a disaster because I like to cook!)

The weekend that just passed was crazy. More so for Chris than me. Saturday the girls had tennis, then went for a swim, had lunch then Chris took them to golf. After golf he had to attend a wedding so he took the girls along. 2 hours later we had to go for a playdate at a friend's place. After the playdate he had to go off to a hospital dinner!

Anthony has just arrived for a week's visit and the kids are stoked. He's a really good uncle to them and doesn't mind spending time with them.

Finally.. the house is coming up nicely... I'm hoping it'll get done in the next month or so and we can move in before Chris goes away. It will be a nightmare if I have to do all the moving by myself and then get Montebleu done up and ready for rental!

Monday, March 24, 2014

9 months old!

Liam has reached 9 months!

3 more months and he is officially a toddler. My little baby is a toddler!
He is entering the 'difficult' stage. Eating is a problem right now. Sigh. Why are my kids like that??

We started solids when he turned 6 months. Till today he doesn't really like them! Of the 3 he is definitely the worst.

I'm at my wits end at the moment and am trying hard not to freak out about it. Of course it doesn't help that he hasn't gained a single gram since the end of December. How is it he can put on weight so easily for the first 6 months of his life and then struggle to even gain 100g in the next 6? It's bloody ridiculous. I had a lot of internal struggle as to whether he needs more milk? More solids? being a breastfed baby I felt a lot of responsibility -- maybe my supply sucks?? Maybe my milk is too watery or something?? Should he start some formula?

Anyway.. I trawled the internet for more information and the message is mixed. Obviously the pro-breastfeeding people say that milk is all they need for the first year and solids is 'just for fun', and other sites say that they need the solids more towards the end of the first year.

I think I'm probably going to try and encourage him to eat more, but it's really tough. Patience is probably what we need. Hopefully one day he will come to like food.  Annika is finally mostly over this phase. At 3.5! Sigh.

Work is also a source of stress.. the clinic feels like it's another kid!
We've completed the clinic renovations and the place looks much nicer, but I guess it'll take awhile for people to start coming back. And also, I probably need to spend more hours sitting at the clinic... which is another reason why Liam has to eat more and drink less.

For all these reasons I'm quite sure Liam is our last kid. After Annika I entertained the thought of having 4, but I'm definitely not a chilled out/relaxed sort of mamma. I'm really tired of being stressed out over the kids and stressing out over feeding/napping issues. The older kids are at a good stage now, and I'm looking forward to being able to do more stuff like ski and travel with them all. The clinic would suffice as my 4th!

Moving forward: Liam, please start eating better so I can worry less about you, Clinic, please pick up so that I can also worry less about you! Annika and Madison: Enjoy your pre school days... they are running out fast!

Monday, March 10, 2014

Madison's 6th


I'm really happy to say that the money spent on face painting and balloon twisting was well worth it!

Alicia Lye, the solo artiste who came and entertained the kids with her art is quite good. She has a company called Happier.Sg and she specializes in face painting. I've seen a few face paintings done by other artistes and she is by far the best. The only downside is that she operates on her own, so if its a big group she might have difficulty painting all the kids. I think the adults also wanted their faces painted by her!!

I wanted to keep the party small and simple this time, but have great food and wine. Chris and I did steak taste testing over the past few weeks, and I finally decided to order chilled barley fed USDA rib eye from MMM at Square 2. It was a tough decision!

But the steaks turned out great. We had them almost an inch thick and the marbling was fantastic. I bought 2 cast iron grill Le Cruset pans to cook the steaks in. We cooked it over the BBQ fire, but the pans took a really long time to pre heat. I was so lucky.. our new neighbour on the 5th floor lent me his cast iron flat grill and that heated up more quickly. He was so nice to come and help us grill the first 10 steaks!

I think we had 5 bottles of wine amongst us all, as well as some beer and soda. The kids had pan fried ribeye and chicken nuggets.

Oh.. the only hitch in the day? The kids.

I asked Madison if she would like to have her hair done before the party and she said 'yes'. So I took both girls to Monsoon at Novena Square for a haircut and for me to get my hair treated.

After we spent a good hour getting our hair done, we went home to prepare the food for the party.

The girls were amazingly well behaved at home.. no fights, no screaming and no tears. Of course that also meant they were probably up to no good.

They were sitting in the balcony and Madison was GIVING Annika another hair cut. She lopped her sister's fringe off so annika now has no more fringe.

Unbelievable. 2 hours from the party just freshly back from a professional haircut and they did this to their hair. Why not do it YESTERDAY! To say the least I was fuming mad.

.. it was lucky Warni spotted hair on the balcony floor and stopped them before more damage was done.

I'm glad the party is over and that it was a success... everyone enjoyed the meat so that was the point of it all...

One more party for school and I'm done for another 3 months!