Nelly Is Half A Year Old.

I can't believe half a year has gone by... Well, at least in Nelly-years.

Till now, sometimes I feel like i'm still recovering from childbirth.

I probably am because this pregnancy just took EVERYTHING out of me and post birth as well.

However, watching this button grow so quickly just never ceases to amaze me. 

Even the second time round... I still can't imagine how a small wriggler like thingamajig ended up a small human... 

She's been an easy baby so far, less the illnesses for the past couple of months..

Otherwise, she's always smiling and showing off her gummy smile ... almost all the time.

I love it!! 

Will blog more later.. am in between work/errands/running from one place to another.. 

Life thus far..

xx.

Later.

In Case You Missed It

This Globe Chair is for sale at Lorgan's The Retro Store @ 100E Pasir Panjang Rd  Century Warehouse #01-03, Singapore 118521 Open daily 10.30am - 6.30pm

** Baby not included**

My Husband Is a Better Photographer Than I

My husband and I are professional photographers. And well, most of you who know us have asked us "So who's the better photographer?"

And often I would reply, tongue-in-cheek, "On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, it's me, and on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday it's Terence".

Ok I take that all back. He is the better photographer.

Only Terence can make a still photo of nothing come alive with a pretty reflection that has "movement" in it make you stop and say... Wow.

I don't know about you, but I really like this image. And I haven't seen any of its kind from many many pictures of the bay area, that's been "shot to death".

(Sorry about the low quality.. it was a grab off my mobile phone from the screen of my mac)

This Has To Be The Newest Part of International Plaza

The rest of the building is ..... let's just say... a bit dated.

Some Things Don't Really Change

Yesterday, there was an Earthquake off the coast of Sumatra, close to Aceh.

I was in the office and my immediate reaction was to get the Satellite phone out and charge it.

Just in case we get activated, and have to go cover the aftermath. Man, that feeling of slight, very slight, panic came over me because it's been a while since I had to go into fireman mode. I spent all of last year being pregnant and giving birth and have been pretty domesticated of late... nursing, expressing and growing a baby.

But i guess some things never change and it's a little like riding a bicycle.

You never forget and there's some form of muscle memory. Mental and Physical. You automatically start to think : wet wipes, torch light, alcohol swabs, cameras, chargers and little clothing... oh and passport....

Felt nice to be able to almost be part of the team again but then again more importantly, not too many people were hurt by this event and we don't have to cover any "aftermath". Thank God most people are safe in Indonesia and i'm taking this as a warm up session...

Happy Easter

Here are some Easter Vanilla Cupcakes I made for family and friends over the weekend... just cause i'm feeling festive.

Short But Sweet Meeting again...

I think we can give ourselves a pat on the back for making an effort to meet up every 2 years  or so, albeit short coffee meetings or fleeting meetings at the airport. This time round, the whole family managed to get together.. Well almost.. Terence had to work.. But the kids have grown and they are all pretty awesome.. yes, for now, it's still possible to fit all 4 kids on one chair. (:

There's Always Something Out There

No matter how dry it is out there with respect to the news, there's always something, some photograph, some shapes, some patterns that is waiting to be made. We just have to trust our instincts and get out there with the camera and keep our eyes open.

Even I have to convince myself (that there's something out there) on a daily basis.

Portrait

The more children you have, the more eye-bags and lines you earn. I like stripes and bags... err does that count?

Silent Type

I don't talk much about him but he's always been there the silent pillar of strength. My partner, my hubby, my love. He puts up with me... therefore he's stronger than I. Finally had a quick coffee together. LONG OVERDUE.

Batman and the Goddess

These are my children

Here's a Happy Picture

Here's to balance out all those morbid pictures below in that other post.

Darker Month and a Half

the nebulizer..

So part of the reason why i've been quiet with the blog entries is because we've been down with illnesses all month, and last.

I'm not writing this post to earn sympathy points or whine about how pathetic my life may seem but its merely a form of reflection. True, it has been really trying and many times, I feel like it can't really get any worse than it is and it does. I trust that we will get past this and I believe in the power of prayer, so I know that one day I will read this and look at how far we've come since then/now... for now. In Feb I was hospitalized for an asthma attack full blown brought about by a mycoplasma infection. Not Fun. Having your lungs cave in by the minute is quite a freaky account. You start to hyper-ventilate and you then try to remain calm... while starting to feel like you're trapped in a cave. But with the lungs closing in, you then start to hyper-ventilate even more which is ironic when you try to remain calm while on the way to the hospital. A month later, i'm down with a severe cough again only here's the catch. Nelly has the same bug as I and she deteriorates quicker and needs to go on the ventilator/nebulizer thingy. She has been on it 3x a day for the PAST MONTH. Thank God I own the nebulizing machine (from nate's time) otherwise it would cost me $10 bucks a day to rent.. more stress I don't need. She's also been on 2 different types of anti-biotics for the past 2 months. That's a lot for a kid that's not even half a year old. She's had stuff stuck up her nostrils, while wrapped up like a burrito and then later pricked in the finger for further blood tests. I on the other hand have been stretched to my limit. There's nothing worse than nursing a sick child to health while sick yourself.. You just get worse because you don't sleep more than 5 hours a night sometimes an hour at a time. And you just feel like dying. This is the worst part of my month.. being ill and having to be a mother to a sick infant and get sicker yourself. I swear post natal depression has kicked in full time. You feel tired, worn out, low in energy, lack of appitite, and guilty.... from ignoring or not having enough energy to care for your other kid who also fell sick along the way. As if things couldn't get worse. Anyways, Nelly is much better now and just ended her month of medications.. I have finished 2 courses of anti-biotics so far and am still suffering from a severe cough with green phlegm.

I'm sorry you have to see this but this has become a normal recurrance when my immunity is down and my allergies kick in.

We have no idea what this is and I have just seen the ENT specialist today. Am off for a CT scan tomorrow and hopefully we can figure out if this is all caused by some sinus infections. All this while I juggle my assignments in between. I'm kinda done with the whining and wallowing in self-pity but do excuse me if I seem a little less perky than I usually am. I'm just really really really tired. Again, i'm not out to score sympathy points or crave for any attention but i'm just penning this down because i know in my head and my heart that I have no right to really complain about life because I have life and I always tell myself that our older generation prolly had it much worse and they didn't even have a blog to rant it all out in. They must have had a lot of neighbours and health care must have been cheaper then Speaking of which i have already passed the $2000 mark for our medical bills just this month alone. How I'm gonna get by... HAHA I don't even wanna think about that. No shopping for me for a while. I don't have the energy for that anyway. The best thing i've done this past 5 months? Have a hair cut... that's how simple my life has been (: PRAISE GOD from whom all good things come. REALLY and i'm saying this to declare victory over any evil around me cause i'm done with all that...I need to get well.... sooner than later. (cough cough cough)

Art

Even when you're sick... you're so beautiful like a painting.

Happy Birthday Dearie

This is a shout out to my cousin's son... "HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETIE!" And more importantly to the parents for surviving a year into parenthood.. xxoo