Weekly Scrapz

Little Yellow Bicycle's Zinnia collection is great for making Mommy layouts. They have a few very nice glittered papers. One has lovely stripes and the other has squares already printed on so all it needs is the photo and some embellishments.


This layout also features a lovely transparent clock face. It can be used to make a clock but it also fits the 12" X 12" layout perfectly. I also used some leftover Heidi Grace chipboard stickers and leftover thickers.


The square background comes printed on so I don't have to do much measuring and cutting. I've used up more leftover Heidi Grace chipboard stickers and Little Yellow Bicycle transparent 'Say What' stickers and stamps. And Lily Bee Designs rub ons. This is my birthday scrap layout.

Crawl Part 1

Gabriel can just about move around on his tummy now. He'd get up on all fours, then push himself forwards. It's not quite crawling but it's getting there. He can even push himself over objects on the bed like people. So he needs to be watched if he's on the bed by himself.

Gabriel used to flip over and over and try to get to where he wants to go. It's really interesting to watch. Over a couple of months, he's discovered that he can get up on all fours. And when he rocks back and forth, eventually he gets enough momentum to move a little bit.

I've always found the way babies move quite cute and fascinating. Basically, they try their best to move whichever way they've discovered.

Weekly Scraps

The past week or so, I've been busy with scrapping Bryan's school open house. The school put up an exhibition of all the stuff the kids have been learning. I was pleasantly surprised at the things Bryan has been doing in school. All the art projects were wonderful. I didn't know he could paint/colour/draw so well. Bryan has always been very cryptic about what he does in school. He always shrugs and says, "Don't Know." whenever I ask him about school.



Some paper by Basic Grey's Lime Rickey collection, a lot of bright cardstock paper and Crayola by Colorbok stickers and vellum sheets.


This layout uses my leftover paper from Bella Blvd, more stickers and vellum from Crayola. I love the Crayola products for school. It's bright and cheery and matches Bryan's brightly painted school rooms.

Falling Sick

Both my boys are down with a rather nasty cough. It's one of those coughs that sound really gunky and phlegmy. And I wince when I hear it. Bryan doesn't seem to be very much bothered by it. He's as active as usual but he does get tired out a little bit more. But he's been good. He is waits until I'm done with Gabriel before he takes his medication or his temperature. At least I don't have to worry about him too much.

It's Gabriel that's seems to be much more miserable. He also doesn't seem to be able to clear his throat as easily. He also wants to be carried more and he feels more lethargic. At night, he wakes up a couple of times feeling miserable. Sigh... My poor baby. I've given him all the medication that he's able to take. The last time he had such bad bronchitis was a few months ago. He took 2 whole weeks to recover. I hope he gets over this one faster though. I miss his usual happy, cheerful self.

Happy Daddys' Day

I made this specially for Hubbie. He's been great this year, especially when I have been busy with the kids. I wanted him to know that all of us love him very much. We were also going to have a lovely dinner but both kids weren't feeling very well. They've just caught a bad cough and are pretty grouchy. We'll make it up to him next weekend. He's been understanding through it all, which we are really grateful for.

Papers by October Afternoon's Road Map collection.

Pregnancy and (Shape?) Issues

I was inspired by a post on Karen Cheng about her pregnancy weight issues. I found that my experience rather similar to hers. But unlike her, I've only been pregnant twice.

My First Pregnancy
Now this was when I was 25, young, fit (I used to run in the gym) and healthy. I was 41kg at the time. It was some time after my wedding and I determined to keep my weight down. I remember eating whatever my body allowed me to (after all the first trimester nausea). I put on 15kg by the end of the 3rd trimester.

After giving birth, my first month was quite a difficult time. I knew all about the theory of looking after an infant. But that still didn't prepare me for the sleepness nights and dazed days. So I lost a lot of weight by the end of the month.

It was only after Bryan turned 6 months, that I finally managed to find some time on the weekends to go jogging again. By the end of the first year, I was almost back to my old shape and weight.

The Second Time
I was 28 when I fell pregnant with Gabriel. My weight was about 42kg then. I managed to go to the gym once a week then. This time, I watched my weight gain quite carefully and didn't gorge myself as much. I put on slightly less, about 13kg this time. I still got the backaches and I didn't sleep so well during the 3rd trimester.

After Gabriel's birth, I felt less stressed about looking after a newborn and about breastfeeding. My weight loss was far more gradual than my first pregnancy. But the main worry I had was that this time, I had that jiggly belly thing going.

And 8 months on, it's still there! Granted I still haven't found the time to go jogging again. But I'm sure it wasn't as bad the last time around. It feels like a lump of dough. Yuck!

I wonder if I should invest in some tummy creams. Do they work? And I really do have to find time to go to the gym again.

So I figured
Having children in the early twenties is much better for Mommy's figure.

Happy Birthday Bryan!

Today is Bryan's real birthday. He turns 4 today. We celebrated his birthday over the past weekend. He wanted to invite his friends from school and I wanted a no fuss birthday. So I booked a party room for a couple of hours at Gogo-Bambini so the kids can go and really enjoy themselves.


There was a party hostess who played some fun games with the kids. She coordinated things quite well. The kids had a lot of fun in the big play gym. There were three levels of fun, including a ball pit, places to climb, slides to go down etc.


Bryan had a BIG birthday cake with dinosaurs and soldiers on it. He picked it out himself. I got the cake from Ecreative. Everyone had a piece with lots leftover. We had cake for dessert for the next few days.


As for presents, Bryan got lots of great gifts. And all of them things he would really love. There were books, art supplies, train sets, and even a transformer. He really enjoyed himself that day. And actually, so did we.

Science Centre Outing

I haven't been to the Science Centre for years. So it was a big surprise for me to have it change so much. It used to be a few big halls with a few fun exhibits in each. This time there were so many things to see and do there. I thought it was done up really well.


Bryan liked looking at all the amazing experiments with water, smoke, electricity. We only went to the discovery part where there was lots of fun stuff for a pre-schooler to do. In that hall, you could blow big bubbles, look at small animals, discover how water flows etc. I think he'd appreciate it more when he's much older.


Bryan's grandparents came along too. And I think they enjoyed themselves too. Looking at the intricate models, recreation of tornados, high voltage stuff. But I thought a couple of hours was definately not enough time to look at everything. I think, when the kids are older, we could spend the entire day there.

Weekly Scrapz

Hubbie took a some very cute photos of Gabriel in his cot. I used Crate Paper Little Sprout die cuts and papers. The rub-ons were from Cosmo Cricket. I love die-cuts because they make the layout look very unique. And this Crate Paper line is really really adorable. I just had to get almost the entire line!



These bright coloured layouts were of Bryan's trip to the Science Centre. The bright colours matched the photos very well. I also managed to use up my brightly coloured cardstock papers. And the patterned paper is from Basic Grey Lime Rickey. The embellishments are from Colorbok Crayola's line. It looks a tad bit on the messy side though.

Favourites

Gabriel's favourite song is 'Twinkle, twinkle little star'. He'll get really excited when he hears it. He'll bang on the bed with both hands in between verses.

So after I sing, "Twinkle, twinkle little star..."
Gabriel will smile and go - bang, bang, bang.
"...how I wonder what you are..."
more bang, bang, bang...
He just gets so super excited.

Home

This is one perspective of my home. It's actually the bar counter which is in the living area. I like the big grandfather clock and some of the old crystal glasses/decanters on the shelves behind. Gives the place a rather antique look.

Moving and Growing Up

We've moved our 8 month old into the room he's supposed to share with his older brother Bryan. Which leaves me with a rather large, empty space next to my bed. And with that, I've begun to accept that my baby is growing up. With Bryan, I actually wanted him to grow up and learn new things because I would learn more things with him. But with Gabriel, I preferred if he didn't rush to grow up. He'll always be my baby boy.

But in no time, both my boys will be in primary school, then secondary school, then some college, then in NS... I hope I'll always remember what lovely babies they've been. And I know they wouldn't remember much of their early years but I hope all these photos and blog posts will be special to them. I hope they'll always know that mommy loves them, very much.

*Muak*

Beginning Reading

Meanwhile, Bryan is starting to learn to read. He's quite interested in it too. I bought him a set of books with simple pictures and words to teach him how to recognise words. He is already learning letter sounds and phonics in school, so reading is just the next step. He's a quick learner and loves looking at books. He also loves doing his activity books, like writing, simple addition and especially simple puzzles. He'll join the dots, complete mazes, pick out similar sounding objects and even some Chinese activities. Then of course, there is the colouring books and sticker books. Lots and lots of ways to keep him busy.

Sit 2

At 8 months, Gabriel is getting better and better at sitting up. He loves to sit up and play with stuff. His toys, or Bryan's toys, or mommy's stuff. He'll stretch and try to get things out of his reach. And for some reason, he finds the remote control rather enticing. So recently, he's been learning the meaning of the word, 'No'.

He is also trying his best to crawl. He's get up on his hands and pull his legs up to his knees. Then he'll get a bit top heavy and end up with his forehead on the covers. He'll try to push himself but somehow ends up going backwards or toppling over instead. It's really cute to watch.

Having A Meal

Gabriel is easy to feed. He'd sit happily in his chair and let himself be fed. I have to keep his hands busy with other extra spoons/toys. Otherwise he will end up snatching the feeding spoon from me.


Before (looking forward to a yummy dinner)... I tried not using the flash but the photo is a little grainy. Already F2.0 and ISO 800. This is the best one I got.


During (what a mess!) ... My initial few tries with the flash ended up with it being over exposed. I had to turn the flash down a couple of notches to get it right. Hmm... maybe I should borrow hubbie's detachable flash and play around with it.


After (clean up time)... Gabriel tolerates my cleaning him up with out too much of a fuss. This is him in a good mood though. Usually he gets tired of sitting in his chair by the end of the meal and fusses for me to pick him up. Yep, I'm going to scrap this.

Meanwhile, Bryan has his own table and chair which he sits for dinner. I really dislike kids running around in restaurants. So I've decided that my boys are not going to be like that. I try my best to make him sit and finish his dinner. It's not easy to keep an intelligent pre-schooler sitting in his chair for the duration of the meal. In the end, he ends up watching Playhouse Disney. Sigh...

Weekly Scrapz

Bryan and his big toys. I used some of the scrapbook stuff that my best friends gave me for my birthday. Mainly from Cosmo Cricket About A Boy collection. I like the ribbons especially. Too bad the patterned papers were sold out. There is also a little blue/green bookmark which hides the journalling.


This is Gabriel playing with his toy. I used Lily Bee's paper and her die-cuts. I love series of photos which capture the moment and gives the photos a different dimension. It's not very easy to put it into layouts because there's not much space left. Maybe I should try 2 page layouts instead.


When I saw Crate Paper's new Little Sprout line, I just had to get it. The papers coordinate perfectly and there are 2 sides to choose from. I also love rub-ons because it makes the paper look like it's printed on. I punched out the circles and accented it using buttons and brads. The words are hard to see in the photo but it says 'seven months'. It's much clearer in real life.

My Clinic

Brought my new camera to work one day. Here's what I took during lunch break. Next door is a kindergarten. They have a small playground outside but the kids aren't here today. It's the school holidays for them I think. I also took a couple of photos inside. I thought the clinic photos looked much better in black and white. Gives it a nostalgia sort of look.

First Tooth

After waiting and waiting for a couple of months, Gabriel's first tooth has just sprouted. It's the bottom centre left one. He's still drooling and biting his toys so it looks like the other one on the right is coming out too. No more tooth-less grins for him!

Gabriel doesn't seem to drool as much as Bryan did though. Bryan used to soak through his collar and bib.

Meanwhile, Bryan has his full set of baby teeth and is very proud of it too. He brushes his teeth using his children's electric toothbrush. And he uses strawberry flavoured toothpaste and spits out the toothpaste (I think!). Of course we finish up his brushing because he usually doesn't get right to the molars inside.

Random Photo

This is from another of our numerous trips to the zoo. During this trip, we didn't go to the children's zoo and we didn't sit any of the rides. Instead, we took a detour round the world of big cats, into the world of reptiles. There were snakes and lizards and even komodo dragons. Then just next door, there was an enclosure with tortoises. They were huge! Big enough to sit on. This is just a bronze replica.

Birthday Celebrations

Hubbie took me to a lovely Japanese restaurant for dinner, Ko at Intercontinental Singapore. The food was quite good. The sashimi was fresh and the way the food was presented looked like a work of art.


This was the beef dish. The salad was rolled up in a spring roll sort of thing. Quite yummy.


This is the desert. Fresh cut fruits and macha ice cream with red bean. It tasted even better than it looks.



When I got back, I had a surprise waiting. There was a lovely durian birthday cake with a small gift from my boys. Thanks to my hubbie for a lovely birthday.

Kate Spade Union Square

This is one of the latest Kate Spade collections, Union Square. I love the bright and cheery colours!

This is the Big Baby Stevie diaper bag. There is lots of space inside and 2 bottle compartments outside. There is even a changing mat provided!

And this small Stevie bag for Mommy! Love the fresh pink colour. I have quite a number of small bags but I think I need a bigger one to fit all my Stuffs...

Birthday Gift

Hubbie bought me a brand new camera for my birthday. My old one was the Sony Cybershot T5 which was launched in 2005. It's quite a decent camera during the day but it's not so good at night. It's primarily a point and shot type camera so the quality isn't that good.

I wanted to try out proper photography. And how to shoot good photos without having to use photoshop to fix it. So hubbie thought the Panasonic Lumix LX3 would be a good camera. It's sort of semi-automatic if you know what I mean. There is the intelligent auto mode which is good if I don't want to think. And then there is the manual modes, where I can specify aperture, shutter speed, even manual focus.

These are some of my first shots.

The Week's Scraps

Celebrating Matthew's 2nd birthday. With papers and stickers from Bella Blvd, die-cut from KI Memories.


Simple layout with papers from Bella Blvd and Lily Bee.


Nope, this is not done by me. My best friends gave me this handmade notebook for my birthday. It's absolutely gorgeous. And one of the pinkest stuff I have. I love the fluffy ribbon thing on the cover and the page separators in between. Thanks so much!

--- posted from my iPhone.