Knitting Baby Blanket

After a really tiring and sickly 1st trimester...I'm glad to be feeling much better now.
Have most of my energy back but since now I'm bigger and heavier...I'm getting clumsy.
Doesn't help that Marcus boy is a hyper toddler!

Was thinking of my 1st gift to baby no.2 and I thought since I made an ABC Baby Afghan for Marcus, I'm going to stick to the theme and decided to knit a baby blanket =)

Made my way to the knitting shop in Subang Parade and got myself started on the blanket last week.
When finished, the baby blanket would be white with brown stripes and brown borders.
Hopefully it'll turn out nice and comfy.

My knits are not very even, have to work on the tension

2 rows of stripes so far...many many more to go

Not sure how long it's going to take me to finish this blanket, but definitely it's getting done before baby no.2 arrives.
I think I caught the knitting bug...so I've been looking around online for yarns to make more baby stuffs. There's so many beautiful yarns in the USA....and cheap too *sigh*

Anyways, I already have my next project in mind. Not knitting but cross stitch =) That would probable have to wait awhile until baby no.2 is a little bigger.

So now we're just counting down the days till baby pops and I shall update my progress on the blanket soon!

Marcus Baby Photo Shoot

Not long after my Maternity Shoot, out pops Marcus Boy <3
When he was around 3 weeks old, he had his first photoshoot...also by two-pixels.



Hello world

I <3 Mum baby socks...so cute

My lil cheeky boy

Count my lil toes mummy!



Daddy, Mummy & Marcus makes 3



Hi there pretty girl *wink*

 

Baby model pose





My lil' baby is growing up so fast.
Seems like it was just yesterday we brought him home.
Oh...how our lives have changed.since Marcus boy arrived.
Wouldn't trade it for the world <3

Celebrating Mother's Day

It's Mother's Day weekend.

I'm still at awe that now I'm somebody's mommy.

I now have my precious Marcus Boy <3

Who at 2 months old...just lights up my life.

Unexpectedly, Eric managed to take the weekend off which is rare during such occasions.

So off we went to Mid Valley as I wanted to check out stuffs at the Baby and Mom Expo.

Lunch was at Pasta Zanmai as Mum wanted Japanese cuisine.

Though Pasta Zanmai is more fusion than Japanese, it is the nearest outlet to where we were.

Marcus Boy wanted his milk so we made a dash for the restaurant. 

Garlic fried rice with fried chicken

Hot pot pasta in soup with oysters



Some roll that came with Mum's set...it came with a bowl of pasta with tempura.



Mini scallop pizza that came with my set. Erm..forgot to take pics of mum's & my main dish =)

Tiramisu...not too shabby...I've had better.

1st time Mommy and Marcus Boy <3

Me & Mum with Marcus...he's such a big boy now.

After we've had lunch and Marcus Boy his milk, we head to the baby fair.
It was crowded alright...barely any walking space let alone to push a stroller.
There were pretty good bargains at the fair...if you don't mind shopping in claustrophobic and noisy conditions.
We did managed to get some stuffs...many more I wanted to check out but we didn't have much time.

Loot from baby fair

What we bought at the fair...

2 pieces of clothing for Marcus
Me love the "My Dad Is Cooler Than Your Dad" onesies (RM15)
Hoodie stripe top (RM25)

Nuk teething rings...can't remember how much it cost exactly but they were cheaper than many other brands we saw at the fair. They were less than RM10 each.
I have total faith in this brand. Marcus uses their bottles for feeding as well.

Stuffs from Pureen...

84 pieces disposable breast pad - It was a good buy at RM30. The cheapest I found before was during Babyland sale for about RM34. A must have for breastfeeding moms. Saw many ladies grabbing this too!

Baby wet wipes - 2 x 100pcs for RM9.

Liquid cleanser for bottels & teats refill pack - 2 x 650ml at RM22. We are currently using this to wash Marcus's bottles and also my breast pump.Wanted to get the bottle (instead of refill) promotion as well but too heavy lar. Anyways, the refill packs will last us for many months. We've yet to finish the 1st bottle since Marcus's arrived.

Nappy Rash cream(50g) RM7 - Marcus doesn't really use nappy cream but then no harm having some around the house just in case.

Baby toothbrush & gum massager RM5 - Since baby starts teething from 4 months onwards...this will come in handy. For now...will try to massage his gums if he'll let me. Marcus tends to bite when we clean his mouth with cotton.

Rekito Mosquito Repellent RM 16 - Recently Marcus got bitten by a blood sucking mosquito on his face during the night. I've gotten lots of grieve from "people" because of this.
Hello...you think I want a mozzy to bite my baby? *sigh*
So now armed with a repellent...hopefully mozzies will stay the hell away from my sweet blooded baby =)
Just in case you're wondering...Don't spray a baby with the mosquito repellent lar.
Don't even let the chemical come in contact with baby's skin.
Just spray on things around him such as bedsheet, stroller or sarong.
The smell will keep mozzies at bay.

And please spray when baby is not around so it won't get into baby's eyes.
Use some common sense lar when it comes to things like this.

I enjoyed my Mother's Day out.
Hopefully Marcus boy did too.
Can't wait for the day when he can wish me a "Happy Mother's Day" =)

Golden Tiger Reunion Dinner

Was in Sitiawan for CNY and boy, was the weather hot hot hot.
I could sweat even while sitting under the fan in Grandma's house.
We were the first to arrive in Sitiawan and soon the whole family started to trickle in one by one till the house was full.


Somehow, the spirit of CNY only comes alive when everyone is squeezed into the house together while cookies and conversations flying in all directions!
It's the havoc of having little cousins running here and there...adults catching up on gossips... that somehow makes me appreciate having such a large family.
Various personalities all thrown together for a few days means many funny moments and drama =P
Okay lar...the havoc and craziness is great for a few days only.
I like my home to be peaceful and quiet.


The 1st visitor caused lots of excitement in Grandma's house....

Uncle John brought home a large roast piggy!!!

It's super yummilicious as the tasty meat is still warm and juicy with crunchy golden brown skin *drool*

Poor piggy got chopped up...

As usual, the hype of CNY is the reunion dinner and everyone dressed up even in little Sitiawan.

Yeah...it boggles the mind but I dressed up too =P

Reunion dinner was at Bei King Restaurant's new building. Bei King is famous as they serve the best Foochow food in Sitiawan. We've been to many restaurants in the past but I still like Bei King the best =)

From the deco...most likely this place would be hosting lots of wedding banquets in the future.

The hall was very spacious and everything is new with good ventilation. I reckon it could accommodate more than 100 tables.

Sat at table No. 25. In the past, they would put our family name on the table cards and now that got replaced by a number =(

Before anything else, Melaine wanted to camwhore =P

I'm wearing my RM30+ dress...I know it's black okay...that's why I had my red spaghetti top on as well =)

There's this very peculiar habits of Sitiawanites...whenever there's a dinner banquet be it wedding, birthday etc...you'll find plastic bags on the table. That's for you to tapau(take away) the leftovers. It's a common practice, so no need to feel shy =P

Clockwise : Me, Melaine, Sarah, Ann & Hannah

1st dish of the night...lou sang

Royal Salute 21 years old =)

Four season dish which looks kinda bland and unappetizing.

Surprisingly...it tasted pretty good thanks to the amount of yummy seafood used to prepare the dish. There's scallops, sea cucumber, sea asparagus, clams, fish and fatt choy (the black stringy moss)

Shark's fin soup topped with dried scallops.

I like the light texture of the soup as it's not starchy. Just wished that they didn't put sliced ham into the soup...it just doesn't go well together with the shark's fin.

With 2 brothers as my bodyguard...

Edwin - he's only 14 and so much taller than me!!!(btw...I'm wearing 4 inches heels), Me, Nic and Cheng Yan who is only 11 years old. Wonder what my aunts are feeding these boys =P

Edwin was kinda shy to take pic with all his pretty cousins ;P

I'm the oldest among all the cousins in the pic...

Braised pork and chicken with man tau

Cod fish steamed and fried. Gone in 5 mins. It was that yummy.

A signature Foochow dish. Fish maw in sweet and sour soup. It was a little spicy but I loved it. The soup was thick enough and the fish maw has a nice bite to it.

Braised mushrooms...

Fried prawns and soft shell crabs with salad on the side.

Desserts were longan with mango pudding and some pink kuih

These signs got people to stop in their tracks and looking baffled. When I first noticed the "pipe" and "shoes", I actually thought they had a smoking room and a shoe closet (no idea why I thought that people needed a place to store their shoes when they go for dinner in this place). In case you're still wondering...it's Male(pipe) and Female(shoes) signs for the washroom. Guess Sitiawanites are kinda creative when it comes to things like this.

Our family needed 4 table for the reunion dinner and that's without everyone in the family present.

Eric's in Macau, cousin Melissa is in Russia, aunt Belinda's family is in the USA and aunt Helena's family couldn't join in our non-Halal dinner.

We miss all of them...how I wish everyone could be there together.

Anyways, in our family, angpows are given out right after dinner when everybody gathers in Grandma's house.

Grandma will start the ball rolling and soon it gets a little chaotic as we go around hunting for my little(who were playing fire crackers) and not-so-little(you know who you are =P) cousins to give them their angpows.

I received a few angpows myself...Eric too =)

How fast the year goes by and how fast my cousins grow up.

If only time could slow down a little...I feel like I'm getting old really fast too!

Here's wishing everyone had a joyous and memorable reunion dinner with family and friends.

Gong Xi...Gong Xi!!!