One and a half years

Time flies. It's been 1.5 years since we've moved to Sydney! We arrived here 2 July 2008, and now it's end of 2009 already!

Praise the Lord for His goodness and grace in our lives! It's been so evident how He has provided for our every single need. It's just too much to list down everything, but more recently, the following changes have taken place:

SEPTEMBER 
- I went back to work full-time 5 days a week. Both girls are at the childcare full-time now that I'm working. We are thankful for this childcare centre where we can be assured the girls are in good care! It also helps that the girls both love going to 'school' (as they call it)!

This is a picture of the Christmas present the childcare made for us parents:

 

 

 

OCTOBER
- We moved house! Bought our own place and happy to live in our own place rather than a rented property. Praise God for His miraculous providence of this house (that in itself is another story). Now that we have moved house, the girls' childcare centre is just walking distance from our new place. Amazing how it all turned out huh?

We also tried our hand at gardening (for the very first time) since we now have a garden. Considering the fact that we don't have very green fingers, the plants are surviving pretty well!

 

 

DECEMBER
- Did a 5-hour road trip to Young to pick cherries. It was lovely!! Fresh and beautiful cherries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- I started a new permanent job at a different company. Wrote a testimony about how God provided for this job in my church blog site: http://www.ilife.org.au/index.php/2009/12/who-gets-hired-in-december/

- It's also Janine's 2nd birthday tomorrow (31 Dec). Time flies! She a really cheerful and cheeky girl with a loud voice and cry!

Janelle & Janine absolutely love playing together. They both keep each other entertained annd can play together for hours on end. This makes life much easier for us as parents, which we are extremely thankful for! 

Feeding the ducks

Or rather, this is an attempt to feed the ducks. Maybe it should be titled "Chasing the ducks" instead of feeding them.

5 Years

5 years = half a decade

That's exactly how long Royston and I have been married.
 
Can't believe we have been married for 5 years already! It means the term "newlyweds" or "newly-marrieds" does not apply to us anymore. Yet, when we look at our parents who have been married for more than 30 years, 5 years seem like such a small fraction of a married life.
 
Thank God for these past 5 years of married life and for a wonderful loving husband! Seems like we have gone through so many different phases in these short 5 years!
 
19 June 2004 - our wedding
19 January 2006 - Janelle's birth
31 December 2007 - Janine's birth
2 July 2008 - move to Australia
 
We have been kept really busy the past 5 years with major family transitions in almost every year! But I'm thankful for all that has happened because we have been brought closer together as a family through all these, and we have experienced so much of God's blessings upon our lives that we are really in awe of our Almighty and Loving Father

A 3-year-old's take on marriage

Day 1
Janelle: "Daddy, are you married?"
Royston: "Yes of course I'm married! I'm married to your mummy."
*look of utter surprise on Janelle's face*
Janelle smiles in great amusement: "You're married to my mummy?!?"

Janelle: "Mummy, are you married also?"
Me: "Of course I am. I'm married to your daddy, that's how we had you and mei-mei."
Janelle smiles in great amusement, obviously not fully understanding this thing about marriage.

Day 2
Janelle: "Daddy, mummy, I want to get married!!"
Royston: "You're too young to get married."
Me: "Who do you want to marry?"
Janelle thinks for a while, then proudly proclaims: "My sister!!"

Day 3
We let Janelle watch part of our church wedding video and she thoroughly enjoyed it!

Day 4
Janelle *sadly*: "But I'm not at your wedding. Janine also not at your wedding. Joie and Clarice also not there."
Me: "Oh darling, but that's because you were all not born yet, so you couldn't be at our wedding."

 

First "Professional" Haircut

2 weeks' back, I went to the hairdresser's with Janelle as I needed a haircut. When we reached there, Janelle kept requesting for her hair to be cut!! So I obliged and she had her very first haircut by someone other than her mummy! Here's how she looked after her haircut. Basically the hairstylist cut it all straight, but it's definitely much straighter than how I usually cut Janelle's hair :)

 

I can walk!

After 1 week of practising, Janine can now really walk :)

Blues

People usually have Monday blues, but mine are Wednesday blues. Wednesday - because my parents who have been staying here with us for 1-over month are going back to Singapore! Argh. I have been too pampered the past month, not needing to cook meals or do much housework because it had all been done for me. I'll have to start doing it all by myself after this Wednesday!

My blues turned deeper blue (?!) when I received a call from Royston confirming that he'll be away at school camp from Tuesday to Friday next week, and wouldn't be coming home. It means 4 days 3 nights that I'll be alone with my 2 girls, no maid, no parents' help, and with no kopitiam within walking distance from home!! I was wondering how I was going to send them to childcare, rush to work on time, and pick them up from childcare on time, go home and cook dinner, bathe them, put them to bed....the list of disgruntlement goes on and on. And it must have been divine coincidence (if there's such a term) that after I received this phonecall, I met this lady who was out alone with her 4 children, aged 8, 6, 3 and 1! Her husband was on an overseas business trip and she traveled some distance alone with her kids to stay at a friend's place. I was impressed with how brave she was to manage alone with 4 kids and somehow, it felt like the Lord was encouraging me through her - that it would all turn out fine for me.

Well, if you compare her situation to mine, mine's definitely not half as bad (after all, she managed alone with 4 kids! I only have 2 :)) Guess I shall take heart in that! And I shall have to spend the weekend stocking up pre-cooked food in my fridge for the week ahead

Trip Back to Singapore

It was a sad yet fulfilling trip back to Singapore - sad because this trip was made to attend Royston's grandmother's funeral, yet fulfilling because we had a really good time with his extended family. Plus we managed to meet up with several friends, see our good friends' new baby, meet our little nephew for the first time, and spend a few days in KL with family.

Janine didn't get to celebrate her first birthday on 31 Dec 08 as it was the day of the funeral, so we celebrated it after that. On the first day of 2009, Janine took her first few steps unaided. She was laughing away and very wobbly though! She's also starting to imitate words and sounds. She can say "mama", "daddy", "papa" (for grandpa), "flower", teh-teh (for cheh-cheh, ie. her older sister), "baobao" (ie. carry).  

Janelle had a very good time with all her cousins in KL. She really enjoyed the company of her cousins, and they all happen to be boys! To think she ever used to tell me "Mummy, I don't like boys. I like girls only." Well, looks like she's mincing her words already

Janelle seemed to take on a different personality while in Singapore - she ceased to show love to her little sister, became more disobedient, and was extremely quiet while in the company of others. It's really strange, but I think somehow she knew she was in a different environment and behaved like that. Thank God she's back to her "normal" self here in Oz!

As a family, we really enjoyed our time back home in Singapore. We're missing all our family and friends already!

Janine's first few steps

Taken in Singapore a few days ago at Grandpa/Grandma's house.