Category Archives: Me

GOODBYE 2011, HELLO 2012!

1 January 2012 19 comments

Wow, it’s 1 January 2012??

I feel like I’ve done virtually nothing to speak of all this year.. yet, I also feel like I’ve accomplished the greatest human achievement that ever existed – giving birth to and raising a baby. And, yep, that’s basically what our entire year was about: Hunter.

I won’t lie: having a baby is hard. Even with Hunter’s docile-ness and lovely sleeping habits, having a baby has changed my entire life so much so that I don’t remember my previous life anymore.

Pre-baby, my entire world was going out with Chris and doing whatever the hell we wanted, and spending on anything we wanted, with lots of partying thrown in for good measure. My world also revolved around my career which I was proud of and I used to think having a career was so rewarding, and couldn’t imagine why women would have a child at the (possible) expense of achieving what they wanted in the workplace.

Post-baby, my entire world revolves, simply, around Hunter. He is the center of Chris’ and my universe, the thing that holds us together so tightly as a family, and the one thing that has formed an unbreakable bond in our marriage. Nothing is more precious to me than to see the way both their faces LIGHT UP when they spot each other across the room – that, to me, is what true lovereally is.

I personally don’t think mothers get much recognition out there. Now I realise the sheer amount of sweat, tears and plain ‘ol effort that goes into raising a child. It’s the most difficult thing to accomplish in one’s life BY FAR; BAR NONE. And I think no one really realises that unless you’re a mother, or a father….because I didn’t either. There can be this automatic assumption that anyone who is a mum that doesn’t work has heaps of ‘free time’ on her hands, bumming around and taking it easy. Now I realise and recognise the greatest yet most difficult ‘job’ of being a mum, and I will never EVER think being a mum is ‘so easy’ again ;)

Anyway, recap of my 2011:

January – Hunter Burgess was born, and our lives changed forever. I made probably the most iconic and memorable blog entries during this time, and Chris also blogged Hunter’s birth story.

February – Our beloved ferret Misty passed away, just a few days after Hunter was born. We had our first photoshoot with Hunter, and most of this month passed in a haze of sleep deprivation.

March – We celebrated Chris’ 30th birthday and I gave him a Jaeger LeCoultre master memovox watch.. which will be an heirloom for Hunter when HE turns 30.

April – Lots of progress updates for Hunter. We also gave Star, our ferret, away to a lovely French family.

May – We celebrated my first Mothers Day. Also did a 3-month old photoshoot before the move to Singapore.

June – We had Hunter’s baptism and Chris celebrated his first Fathers Day.

July – My in-laws came to visit and met Hunter for the first time. Also started Hunter on solids. He went under day surgery for his tongue tie.

August – Chris and my second wedding anniversary :) Also moved my blog from Livejournal to here.

September – Did the Body Age test and found out mine is 18 yrs old, wahaha! Got gel nails for the first time in my life and fell in love.

October – Went on our first family holiday to Bintan. Hunter also fell sick for the first time in his life, at 9 months old :( And at the end of the month, we celebrated my 30th birthday aboard a yacht :)

November – Posted photos of the Hermes orange birkin Chris gave me for my birthday. Celebrated my aunt Susan’s 60th birthday at Cookyn Inc. Got the Combi stroller for Hunter (an early Christmas present from Mum and Dad). Dad gave us a real scare at the end of the month when Dad had TGA.

December – Celebrated both Mum and Dad’s birthday, Hunter’s first Christmas, and Chris’ parents and brother came to visit for Christmas/New Year. It’s been a crazy busy month!

 

Here’s a cute little snapshot that I got… note the stats below are only from August onwards, because that’s when I moved my blog from Livejournal to here.

Attractions in 2011

These are the posts that got the most views in 2011. 

    1. MY HERMES BIRKIN :) 37 comments November 2011
    2. HUNTER AND MOTHERCARE’S CASTING CALL 2011 50 comments September 2011
    3. A FAMILY SCARE… 38 comments November 2011
    4. HUNTER’S FEMALE TWIN 82 comments August 2011
    5. A 30TH BIRTHDAY TO REMEMBER… 26 comments October 2011

 

2011 was really good to us. Momentous and crazy, but good :) I feel blessed not to only have a lovely little boy, but also wonderful family and friends. I can’t quite think of anything I want different for 2011. So I’m looking forward to seeing what 2012 has in store for us…… ;)

 

Stepping into 2012!

‘ME TIME’ – TRIED AND FAILED

9 September 2011 17 comments

I managed to steal away for a little bit the other day, a very rare moment for me as I need to be with Hunter all the time because of the breastfeeding. It all went a bit pear-shaped, because despite preparing a bottle filled with breastmilk for Hunter for my parents to feed him with (you cannot imagine the effort – have to clean/sanitize all the pump parts, express breastmilk, clean/sanitize his bottle, transfer the milk over, make sure the milk stays chilled by putting it in an insulated bag, etc..), HE REFUSED THE BOTTLE! No matter how hard my parents tried, he angrily batted away the bottle. Sigh.

But since, I’ve managed to get him to take breastmilk from his sippy cup. Yay! Just as well, since he’s already progressed to using the sippy cup. We are practicing every morning and evening now (about 2oz of milk each time before he’s then directly breastfed the rest), and my hope is that when I next decide to have a bit of “me time“, he’ll be OK with taking the sippy cup from my parents. Fingers crossed.

Anyway, the reason was I went to get my hair coloured.. it’s now a sort of deep mahogany. I can’t do brown, because my hair always lightens in the sun, and the brown streaks end up going straw-coloured and most unattractive. So I’m hoping this deep-red colour I have in now will manage to ‘stick’ and not get bleached by the sun!

Dont you love that post-hairdresser feeling; the freshly washed and dried hair? :)

 

Anyway, does anyone have an opinion on latex vs silicone pacifiers? I know the silicone ones are more easily found in shops, and that’s what Hunter’s been using to sleep. But, I tried out the Nuk latex pacifier with him the other day and he took pretty well to it (he generally will reject all pacifiers but the one he’s used to). It is SO SOFT! I really like how soft and flexible it is, plus the colour of the pacifier is just too cute ;)

Enjoying his NUK latex pacifier

 

And finally, just some random photos I snapped of Hunter, which I’m throwing up here :)

Happy boys

 

His onesie says 'Dumpling'. Because, really, that's what he is.

 

BIG Bear meets Little Bear

 

There's something indescribably endearing about naked baby fat. And I mean that in the least creepy way possible :P

 

 

2010: A RECAP

31 December 2010 44 comments

I thought 2009 was an epic year for us, considering it was the year we moved to Shanghai AND the year we got married. But 2010 has been quite the biggie for us too ;)

If you’d told me, this time last year, that I’d be just about to give birth soon…. I’d probably have laughed in your face! It was nowhere on my radar and I hadn’t even considered getting pregnant back then. Oh how things have changed, *lol*. Amazing how much I’ve grown too – a year ago I felt like a kid and most definitely did not feel maternal.. and yet now, I feel prepared to be a mother and very eager to have our own little family.

Hilariously, my goal for 2010 was “to travel every month”. We wanted to make sure we got all our holidaying in this year, but were…. errrmmm… cut short when I fell pregnant shortly into the year, heh. But we still managed:

January – Australia
February – Harbin, Japan
March – Sanya
April – Hong Kong
May – Huashan Mountain, USA
June – Tantou Island
July – (none)
August – France, Spain, Russia
September – (none)
October – (none)
November – Singapore
December – (none)

I’m glad we still got in a few trips, because I know things were drastically change in 2011 when we become a family of 3 :)

So, what else happened in 2010?

January – celebrated Dad’s 60th birthday at Tetsuya’s in Australia, and also attended my dear friend’s wedding!
February – between our Harbin and Japan trips, our month was pretty much filled up
March – started doing pole dancing classes, which I adored but then had to give up just a few months later ‘cos I got pregnant.
April – bought my adored Balenciaga black bag from Hong Kong boutique, which I still use and love. Also became totally Shanghainese and got ourselves an electric bike
May – visited one of my favourite places in the USA, Kirk’s Steakburgers!
June – was in an interview about expats in That’s Shanghai magazine
July – detailed my online history/life and did an open Q&A time for everyone to ask me whatever they want!
August – announced my pregnancy in an epic post, and celebrated our 1st year wedding anniversary with a big Eurotrip around France, Spain, and Russia!
September – announced we are having a baby boy! Also finally got to start wearing my wonderful ‘push present’ from Chris
October – appeared on TV on a program about Singlish. Entered my 3rd trimester and celebrated my birthday at HoF with dear friends as well as a decadent brunch at the Ritz Carlton with Chris.
November – went to Singapore for our babymoon!
December – bought our much-lusted-over Bugaboo Bee 2010+ and celebrated a quiet Christmas in Shanghai. Wrote a long rambling entry about ‘pregnancy reflections’

2011 is going to be one helluva EPIC year for us… starting in January when I’ll give birth (anytime now!!!). We’ll instantly morph from DINKs (Double Income No Kids) gallivanting all around Shanghai and livin’ it up, to…. *dun dun dun*….. PARENTS. It’s a surreal thought that this time next year, we’ll have an almost 1 year old – so exciting! So I suppose 2011 will be a year when we have to mature up quick-smart and pronto ;) It’ll be a rollercoaster ride!

And so I leave you with my favourite quote of 2010:


“You can stand tall without standing on someone.
You can be a victor without having victims.
Be gracious, always.”

A wonderful New Year to all of you, with much love!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME :)

31 October 2010 106 comments




“It’s my BIRTHDAY and I’ll be a……………. gamer nerd if I want to!”

One year older, none the wiser. Just kidding! Hopefully a wee bit wiser. First birthday celebrated whilst pregnant, which is all quite novel to me :P I’m glad I’m feeling OK still (starting to feel a bit heavier due to giant belly, but not yet at the end where I’m just too big to move), so I can enjoy and celebrate my birthday in full :) Fortunately this year, it falls on a weekend…. which means that I get a… birthday weekend celebration! *does the happy chicken dance*

More about that later. For now, it’s Chris’ present, which I requested a month ago when he was on a business trip (so he could get duty free prices). The NINTENDO DSI!!!!

Been considering it for awhile as I wanted a gaming console, and was tossing up between PSP or the Nintendo DSi. The latter is way more suited for me. The PSP is good and excellent for the hardcore gamer, but the DSi is a lot more versatile, has cuter and more varied games. I *adore* it. On the downside, we are fully obsessed with it now. Yes, Chris is too.. so it’s like a birthday present to both of us ;)

He is obsessed with Pokemon Diamond, and I am unhealthily obsessed with Dragon Quest IX. OMG THE GAME IS SO GOOD I COULD SCREAM!!!! I’ve clocked up so many hours of gameplay already, and if you ever wanna find me, just look for the girl with her nose buried in her Nintendo DSi ;) I also love the Zelda games on it ‘cos I can *swoosh* my sword at enemies by swiping the touch screen with my pen – cripes it’s so much fun!!!!

I’ve also decided that it’s a great ‘investment’ for when I’m in labour… since that goes on for hours and sometimes days, it’ll keep me occupied :P Plus, when I’m breastfeeding later, I can play it to keep myself occupied too, hehe.

Most awesome birthday present. Thank you honey!




ME SPEAKING SINGLISH ON ICS TV

28 October 2010 28 comments

A while back, ICS TV station asked me to do a ‘lil skit on….. Singlish!

What is Singlish? Basically a “language” that Singaporeans speak… which is basically a bastardization of English ;) Some of the stuff I find quite cute to hear (and makes me fond of Singapore), other times it’s really bloody painful on the ears and quite unintelligible.

But, now you can check out my Singlish – wheeeeeeee!! It was filmed in my apartment…. so it’s also a sneak peak of where I live, hehe.

Oh, and I was 16-weeks pregnant here, so you can spot my ‘lil baby bump :P