little OX baby kicks!

felt my "confirmed" first kicks on Wednesday Jan 28th, 3rd day of CNY 2009. was back at mum's to watch Ye Wen with gx and felt very strongly my baby's movement in me! while i watch the kicks in the movies, i suddenly felt my little one kick! amazing! felt like a little short ripple. right now i am starting on my 22nd week of preganacy. baby according to the a website is about 11inches. gog to see my gynae next wed and i can't wait to see my baby again and see how's little one doing in the baby belly!

new life is pretty amazing. from the start with every week's scan to check the baby's growth, seeing the changes is incredible. esp when i saw the face shot of my little one. also when i first saw baby sleeping facing downwards. i was amazed that we managed to captured little one in different position. then came the first oscar scan that we saw baby for a very long time. out little one was moving, waving her hands, kicking, bouncing about! looked very excited! i remembered gx couldn't stop smiling! waiting for the report was the scary part. but was glad that baby is healthy and fine. the big face shot was taken during the oscar test.

from one week interval to 2 weeks and when 1st trimester was over, we had to wait for a month to see how baby's is doing. then we went for detailed scan to check how our baby is growing. with all the prep talk at nite with baby, our baby did great at the scan! we took a sneak shot before the nurse came in cos no photography was allowed. thru this scan, we got to know the sex of our little ox! we got a little cowgirl!

after seeing our little one twisitng and turning for the scan, we are happy that our scan went on smoothly! the doctor said she managed to take everything she needed for the report. we were glad that we have a well-developing little baby ox. after the scan, gx and i went to celebrate at soup restaurant after knowing we had a little baby gal. we were over the moon and we ate alot! and i managed to squeeze in a bowl of nice, cold pear dessert! i love this dessert and i hope our daughter will grow up to be a sweet little darling!

leaping over from Year of the Rats to Year of the OX!

late update cos haven had time to post photos to complete the blog! busy everyday! EXHAUSTED!

today is the eve of CNY 2009. Last day of the year of the rat. woke up at 8am. couldnt sleep last night! i dreamt of my grandma's old place and saw my grandpa in my dreams. even dreamt i almost gave birth! before having a baby, i dream almost everyday but ever since pregnant my dreams get wilder and very weird! got up to clear emails and soon have to help to spring clean the house and i need to go out to do a last minute shopping. last nite got gx to walk with me to check out ntuc at 11+pm. we helped to buy some grocery for mil. dun think i will want to go out tonite.

just saw my fren's honeymoon pics in italy. memories! she got a good deal cos she got all the space to take photos! every tourist spot she went was not as crowded or even looks empty esp vatican city! when we were at the spanish steps, every step was filled with people sitting on it! she got a very clear pic of the stairways! fond memories of our europe trip came back to me thou it was 3 years ago! irene was my arts schoolmate and we had the same sentiments about our art history class. we would have been more appreciative of learning our art history, if we saw the art pieces, knowing how majestic and beautiful it was. miss alot of things... art, gelatos, risotto! i did toss a coin into the travis fountain, wonder if i will get to go back, i want and i want to go back to italy with gx.


we always have steamboat for eve reunion dinner with gx and family! eating with his family is always nice and warm. there is always alot of laughter! my mum and relatives have been eating out at taka crystal jade ever since i got married 3 years ago. they started later at 9pm and dinner ended at almost 11+pm. after dinner, went out with gx and mil, wanted to get cut flowers but it was so crowded that gx gave up and we went home to play my annual, once a year mahjong with my fil, sil and gx. unbelievable! for the first round, i won and it was big cos it was about 6folds! my sil won 2nd round had 4folds and i won the next round and followed by sil again! went on for another round! the baby ox and aunt ox was winning the first 6 rounds! fil in total won about 3 games and gx only won 1 game. after countdown, gx and i went on to pack red packets till almost 3am!

1st day of CNY 2009! both of us got up alittle late than planned. went to fetch my parents to my aunt's house. then we head home and together with my in-laws we went to gx's dad's uncle house. so many little ones and when one started to cry, somehow the other oso join in but for different reasons! one toddler fell, the other baby was hungry and it went on! then i head back to mums in the evening. was very tired when i got there. had my fill of steamboat and took pics with the little ones, had a little "shooting" game with lucas! we were trying to take photos of each other... yah thou pregnant, i am still a big kid!

we had our little TEST LUCK session. i didnt play long... then it was the adults exchanging mandrin oranges and greetings sessions. i was in the gardens alone, resting... my legs were feeling very sore! took alot of nice individual family shots and of cos couple shots! when the games continued, i opt to watch tv with my mum and aunts.

cos i missed the greeting exchanging session, i got find out that aunt o and uncle m gave a box of 8 oranges arranged in a nice red box and they gave a box of sweet treats to wish each family a sweet year ahead. very thoughtful but they were not the only ones! uncle k and aunt m had a surprise for each family too! they gave a bag of gifts when they exchange oranges and yes a bag. my uncle k designed a bag for this cny and it was made when he was in shanghai! he is very creative and thoughtful! there are many little slots in this bag for cards, tissue and inside the bag there are also slots to place hp and other small items. yes very cheena but i love it! it has this very festive feel!

when i examine mum's blue flowery bag, there were little surprises in it! mandrin oranges, a bottle of peanut cookie, a bottle of cuttlefish cracker and birdnest! i asked mum to take her gifts and if she can give me her bag cos i really like it! then uncle k surprised me with my very own bag! mines one and only black! sis and cousin a also got one. then i gather all the bags from all my aunts and placed it for a photoshoot! when i got home, i checked out my goodies and mines a healthier choice of nuts and dried fruits which is good for me and baby! uncle k was so cute when he told us that he gave us birdnest cos of little nonya! he knew all of us were fans of the show. its really the thoughts that counts! went home at about 12.30am+++ and i slept at 2am!

2nd day of cny! again, gx and i woke up later than we should and we rushed to uncle J's house to pray to my grandparents. then as we waited for traffic lights to change, i spotted this m'sian car and i tot serena should buy this car and gx thinks it should be red! hey serena, its got your name on it! its a nissan! funny thing was we were the 2nd to reach uncle's place, we were not late. then i rested on ann's bed and the little aunties sang songs to my little baby.

this cny i am alittle lazier to go round actively to take pics. felt very tired and prob slowed down by my little baby bump and legs are getting sore easily! but still, after some rest, i will gather people to take photos! and i am glad gx helps out to record the day and he gets very nice candid photos!

aunt a got a massive white serving plate to serve a whole steam chicken, a roast duck and a huge piece of roast pork! it needed 2 pax to carry it onto the dining table! somehow this cny i had this craving to eat all my mum's cny specialty! somehow this cny, i couldnt wait to eat mum's fruit cake, my paternal style of steamboat, the sweet nian gao, the peanut puffs and for 2nd day of cny... a must have but never before did i feel like eating this dish as much as when i am pregnant now! mushroom, sea cucumber stewed with oyster and fa cai, topped with abalone slices! didnt take the mushrooms thou, somehow didnt fancy my favourite during this pregnancy.

after lunch at uncle j's, we head to join my mil side at gx's aunt house at katong. too bad we missed his cousin XM who was back from hk. cos alot of his cousins left, with nothing much on the tv, i got very tired. i left a little earlier with fil and gx, head home to rest. told gx i was gog to take a short nap but i ended up sleeping from 6+pm till 1,30am! after that i had difficulty sleeping! 3rd day of cny, i was back at work. i wore my very red, chilli red dress to officially open my 1st working day! yes it attracted alot of compliements! including my mum! she like me in this red dress! prob it brightens my face alot!

after school, gx was kind enough to allow me to go back to mums, cos my mil went to her sis' hm and fil wanted to stay at home. so we head home and while we watch the story of bruce lee's sifu, ye wen, mum prep my favourite steamboat. the show was alittle violent and i stopped halfway. the funny thing is that at the same time as i watch the kicks and punches, i felt my little one moved and this time its for sure! cos before i couldnt tell if those little crampy pulls were movements by my baby. it was amazing! like a little wave, short wave that rippled in my baby belly! gx got excited! but too bad i think for now, it jus me being able to feel our little one! cos i missed the yusheng at uncle J's house, mum made a small portion for me and i was glad that my uncles and aunts popped by for dinner and stayed on to do the louhei with me! gx knew i was alittle upset that i didnt get to eat this the day before! i was really happy... i really wanted to eat this dish made by my mum. it was great that i got to feel my little one's move when i had my first louhei in the Year of the OX!

the 20th week - last few days to Year of the Rat!

i was actually pretty excited that my baby is now 5month old, growing in me! but i started the week with miserable monday. tuesday 20th, i stayed at home, on mc. slept thru the day to recover from exhaustion. the weather is so hot. gx came home to fetch me to mums for our thng family cny reunion dinner and also its my bro's bdae. althou gx offered to bring the family out for dinner, we settled to have charcoal steamboat at home instead. our family tradition steamboat used since the 70s. its almost or might be even older than me! love the smell of charcoal steamboat. somehow makes you hungry and i feel the food actually taste better. one of my favourite fish and this pomfret is HUGE! but too bad i didnt try it as i am afraid i will waste it.

with the new bigger square table we could have many more people to eat the renioun dinner together! funny thing was even thou i was looking forward to this thng family steamboat, i didnt eat much, not much appetitate, prob i was still feeling sick. my uncle m said, this steamboat is unique, gx couldnt agree more as the funny thing is no one actually can accept the steamboat when they first tried it but as every cny arrives, everyone looks forward to eat it every year. its unique as we have alot of things arranged in the steamboat and let it simmer before eating, almost like a pencai. unique... well, fishmaw, seacucmber, cooked soft long cabbage are pretty normal but we put in homemade ngoh hiang into the soup and for me, the more soup it absorbs the better! i like my ngoh hiang really soggy! fish, abalone and large prawns are other items that we will add when we eat the steamboat.

uncle m, ben and wal was in luck when they popped by cos they got to eat the steamboat too and stayed on to celebrate my bro's bdae. after cny, my favourite weekend checked dress from forever 21 will be kept as its getting too short as my baby is growing! i only buy bottoms from maternity shops, most of my pregnancy clothings are not maternity wear. i need to wear bigger sizes soon cos baby's growing! bro turned 27 and is getting married next year! for us 3 siblings, all of us got married at 28!

wednesday when i got back to work, some collegues just look at me... one even told me i should not have shorten my mc last week leaving my tcher with no sub and she said she heard that my tcher complained. life hasnt been easy this year... sensitive. whatever. i need to learn to ignore and take care of myself and baby. i was really sick. after school met ann to go novena to help her find her costume. dap got off work early so she came to join us. haven't met dap for awhile! thank goodness they were gamed enough to join me to try out a new cafe i know of. when i attended chef daniel's class, he told us about his new little cafe at novena medical centre. its small and i like it cos its so quiet and cosy! while waiting for the claypot rice, we ordered a kaya bun to try. love the bun! very crispy crust and soft inside! love it. the porkchop bun is not like the one i had in macau, this one taste gingery.

the claypot rice smelt good! well as i was told in class, chef orders his salted fish and lam-mei (chinese sausages and other preserved meats) from hk. and its cooked hk style which does not add black sauce. when we looked at the white rice, we tot it mit really need some sauce but when we tried our first spoon, it was nice, every bit of it was very tasty, flavourful. i like it and the lamcheong taste so good! this place opens till 6pm, lucky i called and we made our order early and that helped to cut down our waiting time too.

i looked forward to thursday as the twins are coming back from shanghai! after easa went to get sweet and tidbits and went to mums. they had their first assignment from me! they helped me to put sweets into little red packets for my class kidos. love these papercut gal and boy designs on the angbao! so i prep 11 gals hb for the gals in my class and of cos the boys will receive the boy hb. took home a goodie bag of peanut puff, fruit cake and bbq sliced pork from my mum to my in-laws. at mum place i couldnt wait to try mum's fruit cake! somehow this was one of the things i looked forward to sink my teeth in!

on Friday, some children came in their chinese costumes and we had lion dance in school. but to me as usual, wished the lions put in more effort to move! to me the lions looked pretty restless! had an hour with the kidos on my own. my tcher went for a meeting. they had to finish up their work and i just supervise them and after work they can play in class. then i gave them the angbao at snacktime. they were thrilled. after work, met aunt a who waited for me outside school and we head to woodlands terrace to do our frozen food shopping! i didnt have a long list cos i can;t handle heavy load. i was mainly there to buy the frozen scallops! they didnt have the medium sized so i bought the LARGE ones! they are huge! i intend to keep some to cook for VD day, grilled scallops!

we shopped for 2 whole hours walking from foodedge where they sell sweets and pastry to fassler where we got the seafood and i bought packs of tomato soup! then we went to a dried goods store where i bought dried jackfruit. aunt and ann got lots of different jap chicken bites from a factory that i have not been into before. i didnt buy the chicken bites but bought 3 different kinds of japanese sausages to try. any 3 packets for $10. they say that they use lean meat to make their sausages! went to mum's place to give mum the scallop and she was amazed with the size of it! after dinner we went to the nursery to buy flowers with gx, uncle k and aunt m and of cos with the twins!

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on saturday, i cooked the original flavoured hotdogs for late lunch/tea. not bad and i love that they have little slits on the very long and skinny hotdogs so that it will not curl up! had a very slow start to the day... packed the things in the kitchen, took a rest to update and now... it time to get back to spring cleaning!