What an Ad!

We went to Ikea for breakfast over the weekend, and saw this huge advertisement hanging down the ceiling. Rodney & I found it funny. Not sure if you caught it? ....pretty hilarious....haaa...

Raising kid/s

This statue at University of Portland reminds me that it takes a whole village to raise a child, grandparents, friends, teachers, pastors, activity group leaders and many others in the community. Yes, I strongly believes that many individual others all have a role in the lives of our children, however, parents do bear the first and primary responsibility for their sons and daughters, in terms of educations and well being. I remember my mum once told me that it's easier to give birth to a child, but it's not easy to bring him/her up to the kind of person you want him/her to be. Two weeks ago, I spoke to one of my friends who has two boys in their teens. I asked her how's life being a mother of 18 years, and her reply was : CONSTANT WORRIES about the boys! Hmmm...I guess my mum must have thripled worries when my 2 brothers and I were in our teens. So does that also imply that the more children you have, the more worries you will be? That is kind of worry me because with my little hon, I am always worrying about his health, his needs and well being etc, so if I have another one, which this same friend asked me if I intend to have one, won't it be double worries? It's always interesting that when I have no baby, some people ask me when I will be having one. Now that I have one, some people will ask me when I will be having another one after my loss. I am also finding myself asking this question to some of my friends who have only one child too. I would love to have one more before I reach my big 40, but I know it's impossible because my previous loss was due to chromosome abnormabilities issue, and with my age, doctors told me that the risk of having abnormal kid is higher if the pregnancy carries through. So I must be really thankful to God that I miscarried then, otherwise, my 2nd kid will be someone special. Though, I am trained in Special Ed, I am totally not prepared to have or raise a special kid. Ironic, isn't it? Seriously, don't get me wrong, I am not discriminating against special kids, I love teaching them, and everyone is special in God's eyes, it's just that I am not willing to have special kid of my own, knowing my incapability to raise one. Some friends told me that I may not necessarily have special kid if I do get pregnant, but I don't think I want to take the risk. For now, I am just too thankful and happy to raise one healthy smarty pants if that's God's plan for me, and I guess God knows my ability as a mother, I am just not willing to take any risk. So I hope that my little hon will not blame me for not giving him any siblings.

Makeover revealed!

Finally, my new countertop is done! I am so pleased with it, and I'd better be ...haaa....I am very particular about cleanliness, and now the new countertop is so much easier to maintain. Our kitchen now stands out more than the old tile countertop, and it looks fabulously wonderful! I told Rodney that maybe we should change our stove, refrigerator, and dishwisher into stainless steel. Unfortunately, Rodney is not going to invest any further on this house, and says that when the housing market is good, we should try selling our house. Now that I see my new countertop, I don't feel like moving anymore ...haaa....

Before

After

Wordless Wednesday #4

Wish for another white Christmas this year!

Pls visit here for more Wordless Wednesday.

Coming Makeover

Time is so sneaky! My 3 weeks summer break passed by without me realizing it! I thought my family would go for a short trip somewhere, but Rodney has other plan! He decided to spend the money on our kitchen countertop instead, and so no trip for us :( However, I am really excited about the new countertop makeover, and it won't happen until this coming Friday. Why the makeover? I guess we have been staying in this house for almost 5 years, and our initial plan was to sell this house and get something slightly bigger. Due to the economic downturn, and the house market weren't looking good, we have to put off our plan to sell this house. Not that I don't like this house. I love everything about the house. It has pretty serene environment, nice neighborhood with beautiful greenery just a stone's throw away from our backyard, with nice neighbors, and good schools around. Since at the moment, we are not able to sell our house, Rodney thought it would be a good idea to upgrade our 5 year old tile countertop with something else more durable with less maintenance, and hope that by the time the house can be sold at a higher price value. It took us a while to decide what we want to put onto for our new countertop. Seriously, we don't mind spending on granite (about 7-8 grand including tearout+haul+plumbing+undermount sink+backsplash+custom edge nosing) if we lived in a million dollar house, but the fact is that we are not. So we decided to choose quartz which is more affordable price range for us (but still cost us more than 6 grand). Maintaining a tile countertop is really a pain in the neck, especially the grout area! On top of that, our countertop is off white, and it makes stains and mould stand out more under the light. I hope that we make the right color choice, and I just can't wait to see it next Friday.

It's life

I can see that my little hon is getting there, his terrible two! I was complaining to one of my girlfriends that sometimes, my little hon will do things that drives me crazy! My little hon is quite a handful now. He is always picking things up, playing with them a little while, and dropping them around the house, especially the alphabets bath foams & alphabets & number fridge magnets! Each time, when these little alphabets go missing, I have to search the whole house to make sure that they are in complete set. At times, my little hon will take out all his crayons, going and naming through the colors one by one WITHOUT putting them back into the box! This drives me nuts because I hate crayons to be lying around on the carpet, and I am particular about putting things back in place. And at times, he will be like a caterpillar, trying to crawl under my coffee table, and other times, a little monkey, trying to jump from one couch to another! On good days, my little hon will run towards me with hugs and kisses. On bad days, it will be "NO, and more NO!" to everything, including his favorite dessert, ice-cream! Though my little hon drives me nuts at times, I still could handle them pretty calmly. My girlfriend whom I was complaining to has 3 children, age 4,6,9, and she was telling me how her 4 years old daughter insists doing things her own way, how her 6 year old son refuses to let her hug and kiss him in public, and how her 9 year old daughter rolling her eyes, and talking back at her! OMG! I really can't imagine, my little hon doing those to me! No way! But wait a minute, didn't I used to do that to my mum? I used to roll my eyes on her when she refused to let me out too late in the night, I used to talk back to her when she kept nagging at me for using the phone for long hours, I used to stomp my feet, throw my tandrum when I didn't get what I wanted. I must be giving my mum a hard time when I was young, and I believe she has shed many tears when I was growing up. I believe my mum longed to hold me like a baby when I was first born, always be her cute little obedient girl. So when I think of my little hon's terrible two, I guess it's not that horrible as what I think. I just have to take one step at a time. Sometimes, I wonder if I have more than 1 child, would I have more things to worry about, and be more insane if all of them go through the terrible 2s, more terrifying 3s, or the frightening 4s, and will I have sufficient energy left to handle any meltdowns. Now as I come to think about it, I really admire friends who are stay-at-home mum (SAHM), and have 2 or more children to handle. I can imagine how crazy it is with 2 or more children if they have meltdowns at the same time! And as the cute little ones grow older, they enjoy phone talking to their friends, wanting to watch their own tv shows, and enjoy their alone time more. I can't help but to entertain such thoughts that my little hon will one day no longer be my little cute baby who used to do things together, and learn things from his Mommy. Whether my hubby and I have 1 or more children, we both know that we cannot keep them with us forever. But I guess, I am a selfish Mommy who wants my child to be with me, and be my cute little baby forever. Maybe I really need to learn to let go, and maybe I should focus all my love to my hubby instead of my little hon, because eventually, my hubby will be the only one who will stay by me forever ;P .....I guess I am thinking too much now .....I'd better enjoy every moment, every second I have with my little hon before he grows too fast....

What type of Mom am I?

I believe in personal time just for me and me alone, for me to unwire, and redeem my sanity. Though I miss my little hon who goes to daycare 3 times a week for now, I still enjoy being alone doing my own personal things in a quiet, serene, environment where there is no diaper changing, no activities, no nagging, no cooking for lunch, no talking, just some classical music and a little of "woof, woof" from Diao. The house is kind of neat, I would say as I spent the whole morning, cleaning, packing, tidying up the room, putting back all the mess that my little hon created the night before or even nights before. Sitting down, relaxing with a cup of tea, and of course surfing when I have the time NOW! I was wondering what type of mom I am after being a mom for almost coming to 21 months. I went to take a short quizz to find out, and guess what the results show that I AM A SOCCER MUM!!

Here is the descriptions of a soccer mom - You want your kid(s) to be the all american girl/boy. You push them to their limits. Only because you know they are more than capable of that and more. You put so much pressure on them to try harder and strive for greater. Sometimes you will make them crack under pressure but you tell them to suck it up because it builds character. You don't baby them because weakness is for losers. Some may say you're too much but you know you're raising a winner. Quiz is kind of fun, and I love to take quiz, provided that I have nothing better to do ...haaa...So which celebrity mom am I? KATIE HOLMES!!While you don't have a lot of kids, you really focus on the one you have and enjoy spending quality time . You make sure your child is perfectly dressed and well-mannered. Your child will grow up to be a charming person with impeccable manners!

Hmmm...yes, I want my little hon to achieve but I don't think I am pushing him to perform, and I am definitely not a mom who will put pressure on my little hon to strive harder when he is already performing well. I see the potential in him, and he does enjoy learning, and I am proud to see his achievements. I guess because my little hon is the only child, I do focus all my energy and love for him, and do enjoy the quality time I have with him, and I totally agree that I am "Katie Holmes" who want my little hon to be a charming person with impeccable manners :) So what type of mom are you?