The Apple's Diary!

My All-in-1 present arrived today. Darren said this is for all the major occasions (Valentine's Day, birthday and anniversary) plus my Push present. I don't mind as I didn't even get anything for him. I'm really happy with my gift. He even got me a Dior Sunglass to pair up with. Awesome! 

21st November came again! We are now married for 3 years, from a couple of 2, our brood is expanding to 4! I won't say these 3 years were all rosy and cosy, lovey-dovey whispering sweet nothings... NO... we spent our 3 years as husband and wife, quarreling from trivial thing like "why can't you pack the diaper bag" to upbringing difference "why you allow Jonathan to play with your Mac!" In the midst of the chaos and adjusting to be parents and having a maid at home, there were still sweet lovely moments. We knew that having a couple dinner is almost impossible so Darren comes often to lunch with me. We whispered " I love you!" on unexpected moments, bringing a smile to each other. Darren took care of Jonathan so I could rest when I needed. I stopped putting on a black face when he needed to work on weekends. I guess we just want to help easing the burden of our partners. Increasing our tolerance and patience so our other half could be happier!...

Jonathan turned 15 month old on 24th November. We usually got him a small cake to pose on every month's 24th. 15th month old Jonathan got an early Xmas cupcake (none other than PG). Xmas Cupcake by PG Although he sometimes lapsed into the "terrible 2s" phrase, most of the times he would do something silly and make everyone laugh. It could be some new facial expressions or some words he mumbled or the few baby steps he made towards me. He's growing taller and bigger. He is turning into be a little boy, rejecting his wholesome porridge and wanting to eat with us at the dining table and our food. I no longer bring out porridge for him, letting him try restaurant food or grandma's home cooked food. The salt content is of course worrisome and I try to "wash" the food before serving to him. He's also beginning to take in instruction. For example, he went into a "Starfish" mode last weekend when we were outside Vivocity's G...

Did I mention that in this pregnancy I hardly have any craving? Definitely not for the 1st trimester when intake of food was the worst. 2nd trimester I was too concerned having a complicated pregnancy to breathe, let alone eat. But everything changed in this last lap. The constant postings of food from the online December mummies' group really make me crave for some of the food. Yesterday since we were already at Toa Payoh,  I got Darren to drive down to Ang Mo Kio Ave 10 for the famous Pine Garden's lychee martin. Couldn't be any happier PG... they are really shorthanded. I had to queue to wait for my turn to get my sliced cakes. Of course, I couldn't just buy 1 single slice... I need to get more to make the trip more worthwhile. Lychee Martini Did they or did they not put martini in it? Am I or am I not supposed to eat it? I go by this theory... since the cake has to be baked, any alcohol content would have evaporated. So I ate it, all by mys...

Is this going to be next craze? Black Ball is a dessert joint set up by TV actor Zhang Yao Dong. There is one outlet at Clementi City Vibe and another outlet at the newly opened Star Vista, next to Buona Vista MRT station. Black Ball serves their signature dessert in 4 different styles - Cold, Hot, Warm or Icy. You can go for their signature dessert or pick mix and match. Mix & Match Black Ball I went for cold ( not icy) mix & match, choosing red beans, pearls, yamQ and black sugar ice jelly. At $4.50 a portion, I think this is good enough for 2 pax. Quite yummy though I found it rather sweet. My next visit, I would ask for a reduced sugar version. Also, the dessert came with coffee cream which I added just one spoonful to try a different taste. I think black ball has earned themselves another fan. Besides dessert, they serve winter melon tea series which is really quite interesting. I guess this probably be the next craze (at least for myself) after all th...

Qn : What is Malaysia Boleh? Ans : It is a new food joint at Jurong Point that sells Malaysia's popular dishes. Last Sunday, we or should be I decided that lunch will be from Malaysia Boleh after church. We went for takeaway as Jonathan had fallen asleep and we didn't want to risk waking him up from noisy shopping centre or restaurant. We were not quite sure what to order since it was our maiden trip. In the end, these were what we got. KL Hokkien Mee I first queued for KL Hokkien Mee, thinking it was the usual prawn hokkien mee. But when I got my food, I was shocked. First... it was black! and the portion was really small for $4.50. So I thought I better get another takeaway. Wanton Mee I thought Wanton Mee would be a safe choice. The portion was okay for $3.50 + $0.20 more for takeaway. Then Darren met me after buying the helper's lunch. Evergreen Chicken Rice It looked big for $3.50 but I know it won't satisfy the helper. So ...

We bought the discounted tickets from Groupon, meaning to make it as a birthday outing for Jonathan. However, the plan was shelved due to 1. unstable pregnancy 2. poor Jonathan was seriously ill during his birthday week. Hence, the tickets were left untouched until recently I discovered that there's an expiry date to it. So using the Deepavali holiday, we made a trip to it. What we didn't anticipated was the huge crowd that turned up as well. The main car park was full so Darren dropped us off before making his way to the Meadow carpark which I discovered was really a distance away. So with the helper in tow, we walked up to the ticketing booth for the conservatories. From a preggie lady's POV, the 3 minutes walk as told by the information kiosk were still quite a long way for me. And there behold, another surprise for me. The snake queue that formed at the ticketing booth. Wasting no time, I joined in the queue while asking the helper to push Jonathan to a shady ...

I'm at 33 weeks 3 days. I couldn't be happier. 1. My little XP2 has touched the 2kg line. 2. I have not gained any more weight. Total weight gain is still at 6kg (from clinic's scale) and 4kg (home's scale). 3. I'm out of the crucial stage! 4. XP2 is head down and high up. Placenta is away from cervix opening. Cervical length is not very important this stage now. Amniotic fluid is still high. - - - > No Sign of Pre Term Labour!!!! To celebrate... I treated myself a cup of decaf Mocha with 3 petite cakes from Spinelli. Not the best but good enough for me!

We have discussed this topic for a very long time. We compared between Cordlife and Stemcord. We read up all the information. We still couldn't decide. We wanted to play fair. But this is our last chance to store the precious cord blood. Today, we made the final decision. Yup! We have decided to donate XP2's precious cord blood. We signed all the forms today and also confirmed that Jonathan's donation was not successful. We were told that there were many factors contributing to an unsuccessful donation, yet none of it was personal. Probably a contamination along the way or a low cell count that was not viable.  But still... we do hope that XP2's cord blood will go all the way and put into good use one day!

As a 2nd time mummy, I am now more aware what I could do to kickstart my breastfeeding journey. Bought my fenugreek and going to bring it along to the hospital. Will start to pop 2 capsules per day after delivery and start drowning myself with fluid. My other strategy also included getting Sacred Tea and relax. I hope with all these... I can go into exclusive breastfeeding instead of partial. But I'm not going to get so uptight and be stressed over this. I'm going to CHILL..... after all, is the Xmas season too! =D

Bought the Prima Deli's Asian Food series - Mee Siam. Actually I bought it for quite some time but never got round cooking it. Finally... the chance arrived and it was not done by me. Mum cooked it. Verdict : While the box contained everything you need to make Mee Siam, the flavor was still rather weak. Guess this would be our first and last time.

 Chilli Crab This was my 3rd crab feasting in this pregnancy. This first 2 times were at KEK . This time round, I got my chilli crabs from Ghim Moh's Master Chef. Although the crabs tasted good, I found them getting pricier over time. We were made to order a minimum of 2 crabs and we were only allowed 1 flavor. If we wanted them to be cooked in 2 different styles, we needed to order 3 crabs. I thought that was high too much to consume. Furthermore, I should really refrain from eating too much crab as they contain mercury that is not ideal for the brain development (for the baby, of course!) Guess this would be my final crab feast for the Year 2012. Total damage.... $84 for these 2 crabs. Believe it or not.

I did a review of the 3 preschools that we visited sometime in March this year. 1) Mindchamps Preschool @ Fusionopolis  2) Agape Little Uni @ Clementi  3) Learning Vision @ Solaris Our search continued and we got more and more panic and desperate as we went along our search. Mainly this time round, we were looking for both Infant Care and Childcare which made it not an easy feat. In addition to the list, we managed to visit 4) Little Skool House @ Ulu Pandan CC 5) Cherie Hearts @ Science Park We even lower our expectation and joined in the queue for the Little Wings PCF down at my block. But very soon (as Xmas is approaching), we realized we need to change our strategy. With this current maid #3, whom by far we are most pleased with... we decided to take this risk. I sounded my mum whether she's willing to come over next year for the morning shift to take care of XP2 and then let the maid takes over the afternoon shift. We send Jonathan to a full day ...

I know this is very early but I chanced upon this photo in my computer. December 2009 This photo was taken 1-2 weeks after my wedding. That probably explained my "slimmest" time. I was a little depressed after I saw this photo. It has been only 3 years and I have turned out to be so frumpy, heavily pregnant and so auntie now. Sigh! Hence, I'm determined to lose all the pregnancy weight and regain my 46kg frame. I'm going to go back to my exercise regime and keep my hair long once the post partum hair loss has settled. I'm going to invest in beauty treatment to keep my skin supple and smooth. I do hope... with 2 kids in tow!