....it's all good....

the minute i finished one, i was tagged again by the the lady of nature-Geetha. this tag thingy is so contagious both in speed and magnitude that i can't help but wonder, maybe one day we will all stop posting and just play tag...ha..ha..ha..

anyway, the tag is for me to list down my 6 weird behaviours. i'm gonna let my kiddies play along this tag...afterall, this is their blog.

about me

(1) i'm very meticulous when it comes to folding the kiddies' clothing. i will fold it with such accuracy that the shape and the size must be coherence. my hubby even asked me once whether i actually feel 'therapeutic' doing so.

(2) having a bad day will instantaneously spark off my craving for coca-cola. it did wonders to calm my nerve...turn me around...and pick me up. if you ever see me drinking a can of coke, that does not necessary mean i'm having a bad day...i love coke in my happy days too. the oddity lies on the fact that my emotion can be directly correlated to coke.

about lil Matt


(3) sometimes i put on my gloves and start to crawl around the house. mummy said i'm weird but hey, i'm a kid...i have imagination without boundaries...and playing is a big job for little people like me...maybe i'm thinking about 'spiderman' and with a dash of make-believe...who knows, i may whip up a magic web...


(4) think outside the box but i like to munch inside the box...you say it's weird but i say it's fun. a private reservation... top with a little imagination...what's better way to work up my appetitie and add flavour to my munchies.

about lil Brad


(5) there is this one time i wore my clean diaper (swear, it's brand new) over my head and mummy said i'm acting weird...but i make her laugh...and that's make me happy...what's better joy than to be able to humour my mummy ...even if i have to act like a clown.


(6) mummy always complain it's odd that i can drink water from a cup and yet, insist to be spoonfed my milk...what she didn't know is...i notice she finds spoonfeeding me such a hassle that sometimes, she rather just breatsfeed me. the genius plan is for mummy to continue breastfeeding me and so far, the plan is working well......and they say mummy know best.

now that i'm done, i need to tag another 6. since tagging is such an "in" thing in blogsphere, i decided to go systematic..i'm tagging my blogger friends in chronology as per my blog bookmark. so, i'm tagging the 1st six...yeah, i know many of you have already been tagged but the rule didn't say you can't be tagged more than once...enjoy!

(1) Zara's mama
(2) Allyfeel
(3) mom2ashley
(4) pearlvanoyster
(5) blurblur
(6) jazzmint

the kiddies are due for a haircut...what's more with chinese new year just around the corner. we don't usually go to the saloon for the kiddies' hairdo, so, all this while daddy is the kiddies' personal hairdresser while mummy is allocated the less but nonetheless important 'side-kick' duty of washing and drying the kiddies' hair......and of course, i'm ever ready with my camera :P

cutting Matt's hair is as easy as 1,2,3...it's fun...it's relaxing...and he even pose for me to take a few good shots.



before we know it, the whole process was over...



when it comes to lil Brad....the mood has changed...it's all dramatic...sobs & scream...he is squirming, trying to pull free throughout...gosh...it's stressful!

time appears to have stop- a couple of minutes for a simple trim pass as if there were hours ago... at the end, we decided to just leave it...



the thing is, he was not like this for his 1st and 2nd haircuts...the photo below was taken 7 months ago when he is a year old during his 1st haircut.

though he may look a little grumpy but he was totally alright with the snipping...



i can't help but wonder what has trigger the change...is it temporary, he just don't feel like it that day? or worst, has he develop a fear of haircut for the many months or even years to come?

Another tag by the 1st class mum and the 'lady of the house' of d'championz and d'presidenz

4 Jobs I've Had in my Life:
• a daughter -where money is easy but limited (still a daughter but minus the money part)
• an auditor - with one of the Big "5" back then
• an investment analyst - with a foreign investment research house
• a regional credit analyst - same as zara's mama xyz co.

4 Movies I could Watch over And over:
• The great expectation - so sexy and steamy in a subtle way
• The way home- a korean movie about a mute village grandma and a spoil-brat grandson, great cinematography and soup for the soul
• Ice age-i'm a scuker for CGI movies and ice age is my fav
• Stephen chow's movies-maybe 3rd grade to some but i find him a great comedian

4 TV Shows I Love/d to Watch:
• Friends
• Sex and the City
• Desperate Housewives
• The naked chef- Jamie Oliver

4 Places I've Lived:
• Kajang (zara's mama, this is what the 3rd "wow" is about)
• London, UK
• Petaling Jaya, Selangor
• -

4 Places I've Been on Vacation to:
• Europe-England, Scotland, France, Netherland, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy
• Asia-Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines
• Australia- Sydney, Gold Coast
• next target- USA

4 Places I Would rather Be in:
• home sweet home
• holding hands in hands with hubby and kiddies skipping around disneyland
• laze around a white sandy beach..somewhere, someplace...
• pillow fighting in bed with the kiddies

4 of my Favorite Foods:
• lamb cutlets
• spaghetti aglio e oglio
• spare ribs
• home cooked soup

4 of my Favorite Beverages:
• ice water
• coca-cola
• coffee
• margaritas

4 Websites I visit Daily:
• Two Little Fellas
• all the blogsites in my bookmark
• company website
• google

4 Unfortunate Souls Tagged:
• pearlvanoyster, i want to know more about you
• Happy Family, you have been MIA lately
• tracy's nest, i have grown a habit to tag u
• my little champion, for you to catch up on your new blogspot

have fun!

hammer comes down...the verdict is...

the 2 little fellas are innocent...this woman is found guilty!!!


the culprit is actually the mummy... i plead guilty and it's entirely my fault...itchy hands and butter fingers factor! itchy hands to remove the figurine from its safety nest for photoshooting (triggered by someone- albie, still intend to blame you a wee bit :P) and butter fingers to drop it while trying to remove it from the kiddies reach with one hand on the camera and the other on Betty.

interesting outcome,
we have one who is considerate about the kids (geetha)...one wise guy (egghead)...two who cheated coz' they know the answer (zara's mama & albie :P)...two who rather blame the daddy than the kiddies (mylittlechampion and jazzmint)...one who won't mull over the past (blurblur).

the above is a good example that when something is broken or an incidence happens, kids are easy target to blame.though most of you said mummy should be the culprit but i guess you do believe that the kiddies had broken poor Betty-hor? (except for zara's mama and lb of course).

dear zara's mama & blurblur,
i love taking photo of kiddies...they are so adorable, so full of vibrant and energy that you just can't get enough of.if there is an opportunity to take snapshots of your kids...i'm more than happy to do so:) honest!

i don't think an introduction is necessary...most of you would have known that this is Betty Boop...the sexy sassy cartoon character. i bought this figurine from PAris and it's one of my favourite....


sadly, poor Betty was broken into 4 pieces now...it broke my heart too...


WHO DO YOU THINK IS THE CULPRIT?


this fella looks suspicious....he even had a big bump on his head...is he the culprit?


this fella looks guilty...even look sad as if he had the worst scolding of his life...is he the culprit?

who do you think is the most likely culprit?
little fella #1 or little fella #2 or.....

first i was tagged by the pretty mummy of Baby Ashley and then i was tagged again by the lovely mummy of little Destinee.
for the past 3 years, it has always been the kids...the kiDS...and THE KIDS. it was never ME..Me...and me. eventually i lost touch with myself and that's why it took me quite a while to get to know me again.

The RULES : Remove the Blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone else up a notch. Then add your Blog to the bottom spot.
(there is a copyright of Baby Ashley's blog, so i trail over from Tracy's Nest's blog instead.)

1. All about Zara
2. Faythe's Baby Blog
3. Jess2princesses
4. Tracy's Nest
5. Two Little Fellas

You then select 5 people to pass the love on to. Yes, only 5, not 15.
i believe every blogger mates that i know of have been tagged and it's not fair to tag them again (unless they want to)...so, i will have to end the tag here.

1. What were you doing ten years ago?
a thin line btw heaven...travelling around West Europe after my final exam or hell... slaving myself on my first job.

2. What were you doing 1 year ago?
beyond heaven and earth...i have upgraded myself to slaving for the 2 little fellas.

3. Five snacks you enjoy.
i dun usually snack but once in a while i will indulge in the followings:
1 oreo over a glass of milk, with hubby in front of telly when the kids sleep early
2 chunky peanut butter, to titilliate the taste buds as and when required
3 sorrini chocolates, always buy 2 packets whenever in Singapore airport and finish it within the next 2 days
4 ice cream, wherever, whenever
5 coco-cola, to soothe the nerve at the end of a nerve-wrecking day

4. Five songs to which you know all the lyrics off your head right now.
besides the more famous nursery rhymes, i can never remember song lyrics. so, i'm going to list the songs that i can sing along pretty well as it's playing
1 winter by Tori Amos
2 like a friend by Pulp from Great Expectation soundtrack
3 can't help falling in love by UB40
4 push by Matchbox Twenty
5 promise me by Beverly Craven

5. Five things you would do if you were a millionaire.
1 invest to keep the money rolling and multiplying
2 set up education and trust funds for the kids
3 sponsor at least 100 orphans under the $1 a day sponsorship program
4 travel with hubby and kids to places in the world that are child-friendly
5 live life luxuriously

6. Five bad habits.
1 always in the last minute rush..which is the result of procastination
2 frequently not using the seat belt when driving
3 neglecting myself after the arrival of the kids
4 bite my fingers when i'm nervous, excited or hyper
5 kiss the kiddies even when i'm sick (it's spontaneous-can't help it!)

7. Five things you like doing.
1 hug, cuddle and kiss my kiddies all over
2 taking snapshots of my kiddies
3 buying and reading books
what i really feel like doing now...
4 a kids-free shopping day with my best buddy and many coffee breaks in btw to giggles over happy old days
5 island hopping in a jet ski soaking in the salty air...the open space...and the endless horizon

8. Five things you would never wear, buy, or get new again.
1 point and shoot cameras, there is no turning back after using dSLR
2 baby bottles, after so many failed attempts to get lil Brad to drink his milk from a bottle
3 skimpy undies, unless there is a special request from hubby
4 maternity dresses, for obvious reason
5 mini skirts, don't think it's appropriate anymore

9. Five favourite toys.
1 my hubby and kiddies
2 my Canon EOS 350d and its accessories
3 my collection of books
4 our newly acquired iMac G5
5 photoshop-new toy.

finally...phew...

over the weekend, daddy took Matt out for his usual round of dvds hunt. i decided to stay at home with Brad.
the minute daddy walked out the door... Brad kicked up a BIG fuss...and gave mummy a wide-awake, daytime nightmare...just because daddy didn't take him along...

so, i took him down to our condo foyer to let off stream.... and almost instantly, he has forgotton and forgiven.
one minute he was all teary,whiny and so full of drama...and the next minute, he was all cheery, jolly and so full of beans...



kids....so easy to provoke...and yet so easy to please...



this morning, a friend sent me a list of jokes on "why we love our children" and this happens to be my favorite....

An exasperated mother, whose son was always getting into mischief, finally asked him, "How do you expect to get into heaven?". The boy thought it over and said "Well, I'll run in & out and in & out and keep slamming the door until St. Peter says, "For Heaven's sakes, Dylan, come in or stay out!"

this morning lil Matt woke up early and said to us

"can we go to yeh-yeh (grandpa)'s house"?

daddy asked him

"you miss yeh-yeh?"

lil Matt replied

"yea, miss yeh-yeh"

that is so sweet....



little boys may not be made of sugar and spice but if you take a bite at just the right angle, you may be able to taste the hidden choc chips that is so sweet and rich for the senses...

really annoy with myself now...

went out for a brief shopping lunch...thinking of buying something for myself but came back with something for daddy... the kiddies and nothing for me...

don't i love me anymore????????

when the 'sort of big plan' was called off, hubby and I decided that we should make good use of time available to give the baby room a face-lift... turning it into a play areas for the kiddies.

no extravagant slides or swings...just a cozy corner for the kiddies... where toys are easily accessible...a hide-away...out of the grown-ups view...where the children rule...

the end-result is nothing fancy but everything cozy....


on the kids first discovery....they are loving it already...

besides the kiddies, mummy gain the most out of it. i will just snug lazily at one corner and read a book while overseeing the kiddies play. Bliss.



surely it's my little hidey now.
well, i'm sure the kids know where to find me....

sometime my kids make me feel so outmode...obsolete...an expired product....

at a tender age of 3, Matt is already hook on playstation... he plea, beg and terrorize daily to play his video games.

i'm not kidding... see it for yourself... every sensation captured vividly...the tension...the attentiveness...the triumph...
and he has to WIN... he will throw tantrum when he loses and shout victory when he wins... he is REALLY INTO IT!



i heard about the video games revolution and not that i'm against it... but seriously, hook on video games at 3????



boys are boys? i dunno' really...i'm still learning what lil boys are made of.

have you ever bought something out of impulse and can't figure out what to do with it later?

i bought this cute little piggy a couple of years back... the colour is striking, it's so cuddly and great to touch-touch, squeeze-squeeze and hug-hug....
however, besides adding colour, it has been sitting lonely at one corner of the house without any value-add until.........



Brad found it....



and gave it a real purpose in life...



lucky piggy or poor piggy????

there may be no kaleidescope events to oohhh or ahhhh into the new year but when the curtains of the year were drawn down, it's time to pick your produce by adding up the year's takings and choosing which are for keep, to dispose and most importantly to improve on ...

reminiscing about yesterday...
the vision of year or even years gone by have been taxing, challenging and demanding. my initial motherhood stemmed more from experimental and being 2nd time mom, i tot it will be easier but then the challenge has shifted to dealing with 2 instead of 1. being a mom is indeed a continual on-the-job training.

dreaming about tomorrow...
extrapolating from the past few years, the path down the road will still be ALL ABOUT THE KIDS with little room for myself. then again, their lives are my life. so, i'm not complaining but celebrating what's yet to come.


the job of a lifetime...
being parents mean you can't quit no matter how tough is the going. tender, loving, care to your child is a 24 hours shift on call service independent of your frame of mind, your energy level or even your state of health.


less than perfect mom...
owning the title of mother is easy...all one has to do is get pregnant and give birth but being a mom entails much more. there are times when situation gets out of hand and temper may flairs...but i learned that there is no perfect mom but only moms that did their best.


live and breathe my kids...
i never tot i can give so much...love so much...until i hold my kids in my arms... kiss them all over...cuddle and hug them closely... the arrival of the two kiddies roused the deepest emotions in me that i never knew of.


a hero in the making...
a mom is a hero to their kids... always there to wipe away tears... to calm an overwhelm emotions... to rescue from an embarrasment...to soothe the pain from a fall...a shoulder to lean on whenever needed....we do it with no paycheque and little recognition but mainly on impulse.


fund-raiser...
prior to being a mom, saving is not my first priority. now, not only that i experienced a paradigm shift, there is also a need to polish up my fund-raising skill to ensure the kids future are not at stake.

two little fellas...
having two boys mean my hubby is re-living his childhood while i'm re-learning what little boys are made of...


a food junkie turn Gourmet chef? i wish...
i was never particular about food before but being a mom necessitate the awareness of the pyramid of nutrients and what's made up of a balance diet. equipped with knowledge does not guarantee a success return...when it comes to your cooking, there's no harsher critic than the one barely comes up to your waist.


a few good laugh...
being a mom may be the toughest job on earth but constant doses of giggle and laughter from the kids manage to keep my sanity in check.


taking a back seat...
i have outlast the babies era ...they are toddlers now, maybe i should take a back seat and chill up a bit after all the hardwork of nursing 2 demanding babies...or am i just kidding myself?


looking back 2005...

the best time of my life? absolutey NO.
the most rewarding and fulfilling year of my life? No doubt!

ahhh. happy days ahead.

after reading Zara's mama post, it comes to my realization that i have not been reading to my kids for quite a while now. we bought lot of books for them and the buying never stops... it's just not put to good use.

so, over the weekend, i took out some books... sit down with the kids... start reading out loud... and the next minute i notice...




the kiddies are keeping up very well... and even okay to read on their own (or maybe just browsing)... see, easy peasy. consider job done?
of course not... i do know keeping the momentum going is the core.





a separate story altogether
i have been breastfeeding Brad since birth and careslessly not properly train him to suck on a milk bottle. eventually he refused to drink his milk from any bottle and i ended up spoon feeding him milk. this led to my impulse buying of milk bottles just to test out whether Brad may change his mind.... nope, no success story as yet but i'm claiming my consolation from the following.

i walked out of the kitchen and saw this...




the kiddies were playing with the 'experimental bottles' that i bought at the spur of the moment (it's a bottle with teat and straw attached that you can suck and sip in any posture), which also ended in a cupboard somewhere not serving its purpose.

in the instant of excitement, i just snatched the camera and snapped so as not to miss the moment...and yes, I messed up the exposure badly. if i have linger to adjust the camera setting, the moment may have just pass by...well, in this case, the moment overrides the flaw!

all the photos above saves a warm moment between siblings that could easily stand on its own... it's the chemistry of siblings.