The arrival of our new lil muchkin!

The arrival of our new prince

Who says third time is easier? I will be the first one to defunct this saying. The third labour for me was ab-so-lute-ly, PAINFUL!!! Yes, I could feel every inch of pain as I did not take epidural (I did the same for the first two). And you know what? The pain was more in my hip-thigh joints rather than any other parts (eg. perineal). But, as the next saying goes, everything was worthwhile and the pain was instantly forgotten when i felt the warmth of the lil munchkin in my arms the moment he was delivered.

Oh yeah, people say you have 3 boys!? I say I'm third time lucky, as every child to me is a blessing from God, regardless of the gender. Of course, having something pink will be a bonus, but maybe He has a plan for me to form a bigger family by following the footsteps of the Beckham family ;-)

Here's our lil munchkin - Choo Ming Jie, Franklin at birth and at the full month.

<Pic of Frank at birth and full month>

Needless to say, our older munchkins were thrilled by the arrival of their new play toy. Both of them are always fighting over who gets to carry and cuddle him while their parents had to scramble to put everything together last minute, thinking that they should be more seasoned the third time. We were right in a way that experience counts. However, we have forgotten the last time we had such experience was 5 years ago! Moreover, it is the third child this time, which means we have to juggle with the 2 older boys' schedule and routine with the little one. And so, we did a revamp of 2 bedrooms to accommodate the little munchkin into our lives and formally upgraded the older boys to a triple-decked bed that we got from Star Furniture; much to their delight!

<Pic of double-decked bed>

The first few months

I had to re-learn everything from where my memory left off. Firstly, I hired a different confinement lady who charges almost twice of what I paid 5yrs ago. Secondly, I had to switch confinement lady halfway as the first one fell ill. Though disruptive, I would say it was a blessing in disguise for my baby and me. The first one actually told me "It is ok for baby to cry.". I was furious when I heard this. Already I wasn't very happy with how S-L-O-W she did her chores, then I felt I was the one taking care of the baby more than her (cos she would leave the baby to cry while she slowly settles her chores, and I had to take care of lil Frank at night when she fell ill). The most annoying thing was, I caught her bug that took me a month to recover! :-(

The second CL was so much better. Not only did she take care of me fairly well, but she was also patient and motherly to my lil Frank, so much so that Frank grew attached to her as time went by. At least she didn't leave my lil Frank to cry his lungs out, unlike the first CL. To anyone who reads this blog, feel free to contact me for my wonderful CL's contact should you need one!

<Pic of Frank and Chun-jie>

Franklin's full month blast

We decided to hold the little one's full month blast in a different way at a different location from our first 2 boys because our HDB flat is getting too small with our bigger family size! And so we held baby Franklin's full month party at Simsville Multi-purpose Hall with compliments from Aunt Elsie on 28 Sep 2014, which saw a great turnout of relatives and friends.

It's a good thing we rented an inflatable bouncy castle to entertain the kiddos so as to relieve the adults. The guests were treated to a sumptuous 8-course oriental baby full month buffet from Ecreative (that included 2 free full-month dishes) and ever-decadent earl grey-salted caramel cake from MyFatLady, again!

This time we ordered brightly-coloured baby full month gift packs from Lulu's from Qoo10 at a special bulk rate, that was extremely well-received by our guests. The picture of Franklin on the gift packs is beautiful! The kids were also presented with party goodies in a lovely pail from PartyMonster. Everyone was absolutely in love with the pails when they saw them. ;-)

<Pic>

I also broke the tradition by inviting my good friends - Kenneth Ching, to be my event photographer for the day, Deasy, for being the kids' balloon sculptor (she's a self-taught pro at it too!). There was also a makeshift photo booth with DIY props and balloon sculptures that added to the fun!

<Pic>

Our sweet little boy simply basking in the white noise from the guests the whole afternoon with periodic milk feed wakes...

<Pic of Franklin>

First thing 1st!

Epilogue

I know this doesn't seem right, why is this epilogue written in Jun 2014 when my archive dates back all the way to 2006?

Imagine the Star Wars trilogy when the 1st episode shows the finale.

The time is NOW!

Starting to blog at this time is almost time for me and my family. For one, my eldest boy just entered another major milestone of his life - the big P1! Secondly, but not least, our family is reaching another milestone - having a 3rd child in our Choo family. Oh yeah, we're forming a longer Choo-Choo train now ;-)

You can imagine how my 2 munchkins reacted when they first visited the gynae with mommy. "Is mommy alright?", "What is inside mommy's tummy?" are the curious questions that popped up.

Of course, the anxiety mounted as i enter into my 3rd trimester when my tummy starts to go through the final growth spurt. The munchkins are amazed by the movements this 3rd baby is making as they place their tiny hands on my tummy every now and then to experience these magical moments. "Do you know the baby is kicking inside mommy?", "Yes mommy, the baby is playing with me!".

I can now picture how the arrival of the new baby will totally blow my munchkins' mind - "It's mine, it's mine, it's my new toy!"

Till then, this is to be continued... ;-)

Lincoln's big P-ONE!

Concurring a major milestone

Seeing how my eldest boy, Lincoln has grown and the challenges he has overcome in the past 7 years, I can't help but... heave a sigh of relief, relief for him, for me and my hubby. From a scrawny little boy with eating problems to a stocky one with a chatty syndrome. I wonder which is worse.

Lincoln's 7th birthday celebration

This sweet boy is the most affectionate boy in the family. And he has also grown more expressive over the past 1 year! My hubby's genes definitely contributed to the affectionate traits. ;-)

Lincoln had been asking how we were going to celebrate his birthday from the day we celebrated his little bro's in April (Lincoln's birthday is in June). Therefore, in order not to short-change him and since it is his first year in primary school, we decided to plan a week-long birthday celebration for him. The celebration was kicked off at his primary school, to our extended families and finally ending it off within our humble family. Every picture of him captured his smiles and glee, including his sweet little bro Rayen who seemed to be following him everywhere he goes. :-)

The supporting actors...

Rather than mere supporting actors, birthday cakes can be touted as a key supporting actor at every birthday celebration. Hence we specially ordered customized cakes for Lincoln for all the celebrations. The Disney Cars cupcakes we ordered from Berrycot Cakes were a big hit among Lincoln's classmates - every snapshot captured them ogling at the Cars figurines on the cakes, LOL!

The yummy and simply mouth-watering buttercream cakes from MyFatLady Cakes were simply decadent too! 2 separate cakes were ordered from them - Earl Grey sponge with Salted Caramel buttercream filling and Rainbow sponge with Salted Caramel buttercream filling. Among the 2, the hot favourite was the Earl Grey flavoured cake - it was unique and awe-so-tasty with the earl grey and lightly salted caramel combo! Kudos to Edna and team for their effort and creativity. :-)

Of course, credits also go to Lincoln's beloved members of the family and his primary school class - Mrs Mohd (his form teacher), besties - Daniel/Jayden/Elliot, Grandpa and Grandma, A. Elaine and U. Govin, A. Fiona, Grand Ah-Mm and Grand A. Lucy, best cousins Dinesh and Sonia, Ah-Ma and Ah-Gong, Lil' Leonard, Ah-Gu Clarence and Ah-Gim Sharon, and those who were not there but have extended their well-wishes - U. Ronald and A. Bee Lay and Family, Grand A. Nellie and A. Sherrie.

Lincoln loves you all for the pressies and well-wishes!!!

A Smile that brings a Ray of sunshine

Our pretty lil' boy is 5!

This lil' munchkin has been getting more intelligent and aware of time. (That said, I wish the time factor has influenced his bad eating habit as well - but sadly, that hasn't made much progress yet.) Rayen had been counting down to his birthday in April since Daddy's birthday in March. The pic on the right shows how he counted down the days.

We noticed he has been "time-stamping" his days diligently on his favourite whiteboard since then. We applaud his bright little idea and relentless effort!

Finally, Ray's big day is here. He had been anxiously anticipating this special day when he could celebrate his birthday with his BFFs - Janabelle and Isabella, keke... You heard it right! This lil' guy is quite a Casanova in his K1 class. His BFFs, classmates, teachers and him were absolutely delighted by our visit and specially-decorated chocolate ganache cupcakes from Plain Vanilla we brought them.

Rayen and his good-looking and awesome-tasting cupcakes from Plain Vanilla.
We loved its texture and sweetness - perfectly balanced!

Rayen and his BFFs

Rayen's 5th birthday celebration at his kindergarten

This boy never fails to melt our hearts with his lovely smile. But he seemed to be reserved with his smiles at his birthday celebrations this time. Could he be on the discovery for his most photogenic smile? Look at Ray's multi expressions at the rest of his birthday celebrations - at Grandpa's place and at home:

It is a tradition to special occasions at Grandpa's place since it has a big garden and a spacious living room that makes it all the more hospitable to guests. Needless to say, the boys are always looking forward to spending time scooting around the garden as well as celebrating their birthdays there.

There is however only ONE warmest place on earth to celebrate all birthdays - HOME SWEET HOME :-)

Rayen's 5th birthday celebration at home

Finally, amongst all the pressies he received, this is the biggest pressie from his big bro Lincoln:

This is probably the HAPPIEST and most monumental smile of all times! ;-)