Christmas Family Gathering 2010

3 Generation - Grandma, Mama & Chloe

Two happy Men feasting on the Christmas Eve Dinner

Silly Andrew & Pretty Mama :P

*Whistle* Two Pretty Ladies

*Whistle* Two Hot Babes

Charming Baby watching us EAT!

Christmas Gift 2011

Fun Christmas with Happy Children & Adult with Festive Gifts 2010 !!!

Christmas Tree with Lots of PRESENTS!

Ready to Unwrap the Special Gift from Special Ones

My girl was distracted by all the WONDERFUL
gifts from Papa, Grandma, Ah Gu and all;
and she said to Mama : " I don't want this!"
then she threw it back to me. So Naughty!
It was a Charity Bear from M.A.C.
I must admit its colour is not so attractive for
baby like her age.

Baby Clarisse was asleep during the gift opening.
Mama received all the gift on behalf. WOW!
Love the Bear - From Papa
SO IN LOVE WITH the pair of pretty shoes -
From Mama
Merry Christmas, My Darling Clarisse.

TEAR> TORE> TORN
Gift> Gift> Gift !!!

Christmas Tree Ornament

We love to assemble and decorate our 8ft tall Christmas Tree (but all of us are extremely lazy to dissemble and pack it back to the store, this dirty job is usually carried out by our maids, opps SO BAD!). This is our Christmas Tree Decoration 2010 and Christmas Gift 2010. Love it so much!

Simple & Nice

Mavis' Favourite
Ornaments Pine Cone with Gold Dust - Age 10yrs

Sparkling Strawberry Ornament - Age 20yrs !!!!!

Sparkling Red Christmas Boot Ornament
- Age 20yrs too!!!!!

Chloe's Favourite Ornament Ding Dong Bell
- Age more than 20yrs!!!!!

Christmas Balls - NEW AGE (Maybe 3 - 5 yrs ??!)
Plenty of these Christmas Balls in various colours.

Christmas Rabbit delivery Love Message Ornament
 (CUTE) - Age 20yrs!!!!

Santa Clause - Age 20yrs !!!!

Christmas Squirrel Delivering Presents - Age 20yrs !!!!

Christmas Eve Feast

It's Christmas Eve - One of my favourite days of the year. Why? It is the time for us to feast, it is time for all our family members to gather, it is time to exchange gifts, it is time to have some quiet and peaceful family time...aaahhhh....NICE! 

Good Food with Two Glasses of Wine....mmmm~~~~

Menu of the Night

BY CHEF CINDY

SUCCULENT Pan Seared Pork Chop

FLAVOURFUL Home-made Onion Sauce

SUPERB Cream of Squash with CRUNCHY Bacon

SUPERB Berries Wine Jello 

(Sorry, Just realized that I did not take a picture of it Arghhh!!!)

BY CHEF CHRIS

DELICIOUS Potato Au Gratin with Bacon

RICH Creamy Corn Seafood Baked Rice

MOUTHWATERING Sote Di Vongole

BY CHEF SAMANTHA

APPETIZING Smoke Salmon Canape with Sour Cream & Caviar

YUMMY Tuna in Cherry Tomatoes

SCRUMPTIOUS Sausage & Apple Slice Wrapped in Streaky Bacon

DELECTABLE Bruschetta Dip in Cream of Mushroom

Arghhh.....Missed Another Shot of a good DISH! This is one of the most sellable dish of the night.

ERIC'S SPECIAL ORDER

SPECIAL Lycee Martini Pink Christmas Log -
All the way from Singapore

HOMEMADE Roast Ham from Brother's Colleague -
Also all the way from Singapore

BBY BARTENDER ANDREW

EXQUISITE Mocktail -
Lemonade, Cranberries Juice & Secret Ingredient

Champagne of the Night

Winter Solstice 2010

Winter Solstice = 冬至

There are 4 members in our family to celebrate the reunion together this year, 2010. *Proud*

It is Chloe's 3rd and Baby Clarisse's 1st!

I am not too sure how important it is for us to celebrate this "special occasion" in Malaysia since there is no WINTER here. It actually marks the first day of winter, but in customary wise, we will celebrate it with a FAMILY REUNION DINNER, which means a great deal to me (ESPECIALLY NOW I AM A MOTHER OF TWO GIRLS :P)

We are planning to have our Reunion Dinner with my In-laws at the Overseas Restaurant since my mother-in-law doesn't cook and I am working (ACTUALLY NO PLACE TO COOK). But next year, I will make a point to cook since I am moving to my CONDO next year. 

Having a family of my own is changing the way I value the word "family". Anything/Everything that involves the word "family" is making me thrilled. (maybe I am still a NEW MOTHER). I always imagine myself cooking a feast to feed my happy family. :P That's why I plan to build a mini bookshelves in the kitchen to store a collection of recipe books in my kitchen. Well, my mum said I have not done any of these before, once it became a norm that I MUST do it, I will not be so excited anymore. :p Maybe?!! I don't know?!! Heehee...

Anyway, HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE to all.

Confession

After a shocking news from my friend about his son's illness; it hits me on my absurdity of wanting a "SON" so badly. Nothing else I want more than my children's happiness and good health, why would a gender affecting me so much? After a short chat with my friend, and I have decided to make a confession.

Geez.. I am so sinful especially towards Baby Clarisse. I ask for forgiveness from God for being such an absurd mother. 

I must confess that I was "slightly" unhappy when Dr. Ravi confirmed that Baby Clarisse is a girl. I don't mind a daughter at all, but preferably a son. "Preferably a son" had already demonstrated unfairness to my Baby Clarisse and it is making me feel as if there is a nail hammered hard into my heart. How on earth a mother like me to show my unhappiness to my healthy and happy daughter. I feel sad. 

Adding to my stupidity, I even made known to everyone that I must make sure my third child is a son, otherwise I will not want to have another child. [A Big Slap to Mama]. I told everyone that I will go Tien Hou Temple to pray for a son, then I will go to Dr. Ravi for advise in increasing the chance of getting a son. I told everyone that I want a son for my next pregnancy. [Two Big Big Slaps to Mama]. 

A MESSAGE TO GOD

Dear God,

Please forgive me for my absurdity. I beg for your forgiveness. I beg you to protect my children from evils, viruses and sorrows. Please provide them with good health, good personality, good family and happiness. I will do my best as a mother to love them, to provide them, to protect them from all evils. I will not make anymore foolish statement regarding the gender of my children. For my next pregnancy, please give me a healthy and happy baby, and nothing else. Thank you.

Hubby is away for holiday again ~

Hubby is away for his PLEASURE again ~ It is a HORRAY & also a SIGH to me.

Why Horray????

1. Noone nags at me anymore, I will have peace for three days.Horray!

2. A good opportunity for Mama to learn to look after two girls all by myself.

3. Chloe will not choose Papa because there is only Mama available for her today. (But sadly, when I sent her to bed just now, she said to my mum : Ask Mama go out, I want Grandma. @#$%

Why Sigh????

1. Papa went holiday without me again, and this is his second holiday in three weeks. Sigh~ So Jealous!

2. Papa is going to drink a lot again and come back sick again. Sigh~

Two girls are sleeping soundly now. I think I should go to bed too. :P

Tea at the Ritz Carlton

Hahaha..YES, FINALLY!!! I am suppose to blog about this LAST WEEK. This post is actually ONE WEEK late. Finally, I manage to steal a little time to blog about it. 

It was a Public Holiday last Tuesday, so I decided "free" myself for 3 hours from "family time" to meet up with my girlfriends, need to connect back my social network in real life not just in facebook; somehow I feel I am losing more and more friends as I aged (especially while in the process of "family building - a.k.a. pregnancy, taking care of babies). ** It is so ME! I am pulling away from the TOPIC again. :P

As I was saying, I met up with my girlfriend who is now a preggie. She looks gorgeous!! The little boy inside her is making her the happiest and the most beautiful pregnant woman in this world (Well, I believe at least to me, to her husband, to her family and friends).

I had a great time catching up with her, sadly we didn't manage to talk about "EVERYTHING" in such a short time. We met up at about 3 plus in the afternoon, and left at about 6pm. Well, when two mums gather, the topic of "babies" is like a MUST. She mentioned to me about her sister-in-law's daughter, and it hits me that Chloe is actually acting like what she described - screaming & crying - at this age (24 months). However, I think she is getting better. I don't hear so much of screaming from her anymore - I guess the "Notti Corner" is working or "Mama's Power" is working. Perhaps that the reason for losing the intimacy, I  had somehow created fear to her. :P Well, I am try to balance it out.

Let's come back to the Tea at Ritz Carlton :-

Price : Reasonable RM 60++/pax ( I am not sure on the actual price :P, my share is RM 60)

Ambient : HOT! WARM! STUFFY! For a 5/6 Star Hotel, I think Air Flow is something really important. How can they neglected it? Their setting of the expensive furnitures was also little uncomfortable. We were seated right in front of the elevator. Gosh! FIVE STAR!

Tea : English Style 3-tier Tea Set : Scones, Sandwich, Quiche, Canape, Tarts, Cakes - Selection is good and the portion is good for 3 - 4 pax. The Tea Selection is crazy. I think there are about 50 different types - I had Earl Grey and My friend had Rose Tea.

Parking : I want to complain on the Parking. Yes, Ritz Carlton can collect RM20 for parking but they must make sure the elevator is WORKING. My pregnant friend paid RM20.00 and was told to park at LEVEL B2. Okay - that's fine - B1 is usually reserved for VIPS. But the elevator was out of order and she had to walk up 2 floors to reach the lounge. *sigh* This is what we call FIVE STAR? Somemore No Receipt!!! 

Service : GOOD! They are polite and nice. As I walked into the main lobby, everyone greeted me. The reception also walked out of the counter and greeted me. She even brought me to the lounge herself. This is the REAL FIVE STAR Service.

The Overall experience of Tea is Okay but I think the companion makes the experience FIVE STAR, not the food, not the setting, not the parking but the companion and the catching up making my day a good day. :P I need to make time to do it more often! 

Formula - 13th December 2010

I have no choice, I am not able to express enough breastmilk for Baby Clarisse's daily feed. Every pump, only manage to yield ONE feed, and Clarisse needs 5 - 6 feeds in a day.

I will need to supplement her feed with Formula. Surprisingly Mama and Baby Clarisse are acting and adapting quite well.

Mama:

I thought I might be emotionally affected for a whole day because I have to feed Baby Clarisse with Formula. Apparently, I was not emotional, I did not tear. I was just worried! I think I was all prepared emotionally since a month ago, and hubby finally said something good to make me feel good - " It is considerably good that you can last till today" - Well, not exactly a good statement, in fact a little sarcastic but at least good enough to comfort me. Anyway, put it this way, formula fed baby can be very healthy and happy too because I will shower my girls with super-duper LOVE!

Baby Clarisse:

She did not reject the formula and she adapted to it. Unlike Chloe, she actually vomited immediately after the feed when she switched to formula. Anyway, both my girls are fed with Enfalac Formula, so far, no major side reactions. My maid told me her poo is good too after Formula feeding. I guess I just have to relax myself and everything will just go well.

I am not putting a full stop to our breastfeeding journey. I am "just" supplementing it with formula. Hahah...Yeah....I like...It is making it sounds NOT SO BAD at all. Well, I am still pumping as much as I could but I would say not much because I can only pump maximum twice a day since I am working woman. I am not just ordinary working woman, I am a busy working woman. Sigh! Anyway, Pump 1 to 2 feed a day, and breastfeed Baby Clarisse in the night and morning - before head to work. I will breastfeed Baby Clarisse until my body/breast or Baby Clarisse tells : "HEY, IT'S ENOUGH!"

Worth more than Gold

The smile of my children worths more than any precious you can find in this world, at least to me & hubby. Nothing can substitute this heartwarming moments. They are our angels, they are our precious, they are our  everything. This morning, before leaving home for work, I saw Baby Clarisse smiling in her sleep, it melted my heart instantly, and I couldn't stop gazing at her sleeping Smiley face. I laid my left hand on her chest while my right hand stroking her head. It was such a touching, emotional moment to me, and I almost wanted to tear. YES, sounds extremely SILLY again, but this is how my children can affect me physically (the after effect of pregnancy :p ) and EMOTIONALLY (totally, anytime, anywhere - be it a good or bad emotion - angers, frustrations, happiness, joyfulness, touching moments etc etc.) They are like my brain, my heart controls over me totally, at least at THIS PRESENT TIME - when they are still adorable & sweet. Hahaha....I am not too sure they can still have this power when they start to irritate me like I usually do to my mum. :P Hahahahaha....