first class with Sugar Inc

taken by the teacher and she sent the pics to individual students! its the 1st time i attended class that has such sweet teachers! thou what i am learning seems basic, i am still looking forward to the other 2 classes i have booked!

Baking is Theraputic!

Baking is Theraputic!Baking is Theraputic!Baking is Theraputic!Baking is Theraputic!

Baking is Theraputic!Baking is Theraputic!Baking is Theraputic!Baking is Theraputic!

Baking is Theraputic!Baking is Theraputic!Baking is Theraputic!Baking is Theraputic!

Baking is Theraputic!

before giving birth i chanced upon a blog that led me to many more baking blogs and i found some blog that had classes. I decided to join classes by Sugar Inc. Yes, i bake cupcakes before so why am i joining the class. basically is to learn more on decorating. This class i attended was in a small studio that had 8 participants. good thing is that they gave us recipe that uses yogurt. I have never tried baking using yogurt in cakes! Yet to try the cakes as i am waiting for gx to come home today and we are gog to taste the original yougurt, strawberry yougurt and chocolate cupcakes.

i was with individuals participants and we worked together to bake the cake. then we worked together to colour the fondants and we shared the many colours fondant we knead. personally i kneaded the tiffany blue and yellow. looking at the colours and the cutters, i went with the flow in me... as i flatten the fondant, i look at the cutters, punch and i look at how should i go top it up and imagine it on the cupcake... i love cracking my brains on such things, i love the process and its theraputic! i started on the pink flowers, then i decided to top darker pink little flowers on them and i loved the contrast. the teacher like the combination i made. was thinking of my little one when i made the fondant flowers! then i made tiffany blue series and i love this when they were top the cupcake! feels calm. my yellow fondant had some blue colour gel on it and when i knead it further... it became kinda greenish yellow. beside the blue series, i like this little flowers i made! it gives me a "fresh" feel.

the butterfly took me quite a bit of time to finish. the little white dots are the most difficult to mould! to make them round and then sticking them to the petals was a challenge cos they stick to your fingers and refuse to leave! i wish we had more time to play with it but at the same time i wanted to go home asap to see my gal! i called home even when i was in class to check how my little one is doing! when i placed those 3 pink flowers on the cupcake, i can't wait to see my gal and imagine doing cupcakes with her when she is older! i was glad i bought the single cupcake holders along! we were given only a box to do takeaway. each of us had 8 cupcakes and when the teacher hand us 2 more cupcakes, no one responded to it and last minute i took it and use up all my fondant creations and the teacher was surprised and said i was very well-prep to come for class! i even shared the rest of the cupcake holders with my team mates.

what i like about attending class is to learn. Also i love that after learning, i dun need to wash anything! rushed home to see my little gal and hubby. i am thankful to have his support and i am given some time on my own to do something i like. Also i need to thank my sis and mum who offered to spend their weekend with my little one! they made it possible for me to have a breather. to thank my hubby for his 2 months of support, i bought him 2 ties! little one knows i was away and she seemed not very please (gana hit!) but i know she was glad that i was back to cuddle her (hold me so tight!)

AUGUST! its august oredi?

i am still updating my June and July and i can't seem to finish it! time is limited and there are so many on going things happening! so i decided not to wait for those past months entries to be posted... i am gog to keep up whats happening in August and hopefully before august ends... i will be able to post those entries up!

August 1st 2009, Saturday. Stayed over at mum's. Sis came over on Friday nite to fetch us over. Gx had to work so baby and i sent daddy to work. mum and sis were heading to supermarlet to get bbq food, so i left Rach to dad to care for. got 2 trolleys, filled them with bbq food and grocery. after that, sis and mum went out again with uncle k, twins, aunt s to get bbq pit... dad had to go to work and i was left alone at home with baby... felt quite depressed as again i was alone... i wanted company even if i had to hold my baby... but no one was at home! called gx and almost wana cry cos mum called back to say they were having lunch outside and i was to ask M to cook for me... so he was nice to leave work on time, drove to get me prata and my favourite ginger teh. we had our alfresco lunch under the new shade in the gardens with baby. she was lying in the rockable portable cot which when she is older, this can be folded up to become a feeding chair. baby Rach kept awake as much as she can after i told her its bbq nite... she kept yawning and fell asleep only for awhile and tried her best to keep as awake as she can... but she did nap for quite awhile and her eyes were all bright and light up when she was awake again!

while sis and mum looked after her, my bro set up the fire then gx took over to do the 1st shift of bbq. i helped him out and i couldnt eat much after our shift ended! gx took a rest as he worked in the morning while i took the 3rd shift to bbq corn for everyone. took a shot with my mum and gal. she sits very nicely when mum carries her... tell her grandma's leg hurts can't walk much as it hurts after standing too long and whenever grandma carries her and she never cries when grandma sit down with her in the arms. when sis or dad takes over... the walking starts!

gx and i stayed up to watch tv and waiting to give Rach her mid-nite feed but she didnt get up till our show ended at 1am. We both were exhausted by the time we got to sleep at about 2am+! but next day, we still got up early and brought our little gal for our sunday family walk.

i bought her the little white cap with the ribbon bow on Monday for our family walks on Sunday! She look so cute and yes she is getting bigger and longer! chubby chubby! gx proceed to wash car. We left the house alittle late and i felt so mad but didnt cause an outburst bcos thou i hate to be late for class, gx was nicec enough to offer to drive me down. when i checked for the unit no. i was shocked to see 4pm on my mgs... i called to double confirm... then realise that i remember wrongly, my 12pm class is on another sunday... lucky we were in time to drive to town. We went in search for sil's bdae gift and gx got a belt from A/X too. made an order for bags esp for our mums. its for their bdaes in Sept and Nov.

when we were done, we were pretty early and we decided to walk to borders and also to check out the newest shopping centre in town... ION Orchard. We tot we were mountian turtles but we found many like us quite lost looking for the underpass to get over to wheelock... the place is filled with people everywhere and on every level! we had some time on our own at borders and i was at the food mag section as usual. got alittle hungry and we went into the borders bistro but in less than 5mins after flipping the menu... we left. i was glad gx and i think so alike! We decided to go to lucky plaza! when he mention Luck... i said yes straight away! as usual i had my avocado drink and he too had his favourite happy soda. i ate mee soto while he tried something new, chicken mee. sticky in texture and taste not too bad but i still will order mee soto ... saw a brochure at the counter and realise they have a stall at tpy hub fork and spoon! but wonder if they have avocado drinks and mee soto or they just do the grilled items? will check it out soon!

gx head home after alighting me at central for class. i was early so after i found the studio, i went to walk around. went into Club Marc and i bought gx 2 ties as i like one of the pink and grey stripes tie very much! got myself a pair of shoes! unbelivable colour thou... its light blue almost tiffany blue! then head down to check out the jap shop that sells all jap biscuits and sweet treats! mananged to walk out without buying anything as i didnt really spend much time in there afraid to spend a bomb! Class was ok and i did enjoy myself. wish i would have done better in decorating the cupcakes. Hope the other 2 classes will be fun! looking forward to attend my next class as i find it theraputic! head home and baby was asleep but i had so many things to do, unpack the stayover bag, wash the bottles, cap those that are already sterlised, put her dry clothings away.... Sunday is the only day gx and i get to sleep on the queen size bed together as we take turns to look after our little one in the living room... she likes to sleep in the airy living room than in our room... for the whole of last week when i was down with flu, gx did every nite duty with fil help. i miss napping... i miss deep sleeps...

SIL birthday!

We ordered in dinner from tpy Melben seafood to celebrate SIL bdae on Monday. Everybody ate the salted-egg crab except me! I still can't take prawns and crabs due to my c-sec wound is still healing. didnt see anything that was suitable for sil when i was in town after my dental appt on Saturday ... so her gift has to be belated as both of us are so tied down on weekdays!

We left baby at mum's place and sis & mum cared for baby while we went in search of a watch i saw on the mag. Arriving at A/X, we were told that watch is sold out. so i looked at the other watches on display and tot this pc is even better than the one i saw! the leather is quilted and has this shiny patent that can make this a smart casual or semi-formal accessory.
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Sil likes the watch and we are glad that she like the colour as we tot black and the white pcs look more like a casual watch. fil joked that it look like a wonderwoman braclet! when i saw it, i had the same tots! We are happy to have found her something she liked and gx is always so doting to her sis and it make him happy to see that she liked the watch.

Rachel's 3 Full Month Parties!

Updated on facebook photo albums - Rachel's 3 Full month parties.

Rachel's 1st Full Month Party

5th July 2009 Sunday - at mum's place. My relatives, close gfs, gx's buddies and Gx's collegues! wished we could have captured more from the party but we were so tied down entertaining as there were many guests! sorry to those who came but we didnt managed to catch you on the camera! thanks so much for taking precious time to attend our little Rachel's party and thank you for all the well-wishes and gifts!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=97686&id=745787682&l=21ad0ca94f

Rachel's Actual Full Month Party

10th July 2009 Friday. Eventful day! Prayer to Rachel's great grandparents, Sending fruit tarts to Gynae and Nurses at TMC, Massage session with Mrs Wong at TMC Parentcraft, Trimming hair ceremony, Collecting Cord Seal, Sending tarts to Gx's office, Collecting dinner from crystal jade taka, Dinner party at inlaws, Gift Ceremony, Cake cutting and it was long day for Our Family... daddy, mummy and baby slept at 1am!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=97753&id=745787682

Rachel's 3rd Full Month Party!

11th July 2009 Saturday - At In-laws. Gx's relatives, Gx's bosses, Gx's longtime fren (sadly only one could make it!), our neighbour, FIL's buddies, OUR SI frens, my family and my longtime gf who missed the party the week before! I made it a Pooh Bear themed party. Started with wanting to order agaragar instead of a cake. I like the design where pooh holds the #1 representing 1 month old! then i ordered the pooh bear cookies as party flavours! worried that there won't be enough agaragar ... didnt want the table to be left empty after i cut the agaragar to serve, i ordered another pooh bear agar and it was great as this was 3D! like a pop-up art! I personally baked little pooh bear vanilla butter cookies for my gal's party! over gx's side there are more little ones and they all loved the pooh bear items!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=97889&id=745787682&l=06aaa9e60f

Personally, i love all 3 parties but the one that is most meaningful would be Rachel's actual full month party. daddy took a day off and we spent so much time as a family doing many task that day! We did alot more personal planning for out little one. After prayer to my paternal grandparents, we went to pick up the pooh bear cookies from Aunty Yochana! She is the one in the middle and she is pretty and young! Think many would have imagined that she is older cos she told me many told her so! i was one of them who say you look so young! then to punggol to pray to my maternal grandparents and off we head back to tpy to pray to gx's grandparents and after lunch we were on the road again!

Next, we brought her to TMC, after distributing her full-month tartlets to my gynae and nurses who took care of us, we gave our little gal a treat. BABY MASSAGE! i booked a personal session with Mrs Wong, the head of parentcraft at TMC. We attended her prenatal classes and i was thankful that she popped by to see our little gal when we were staying at TMC. So after we gave her a box of tartlets to thank her, i started to massage Rachel! while Mrs Wong showed me massaging Rachel's left leg, hands, i had hands on session on Rachel's right limbs! Rachel slept so well after the massage! Didnt take pics and gx was busy recording the session on video... its for me to revise just in case i forget the steps!

Next desitination was opp TMC. We brought her over to the shop where we did her cord seal. we chose to have her chinese name craved in FanTi as in future dun think many will write in FanTi anymore! so we want to let her know how her name is written in Fanti! then we decided to let her just trim her hair instead of shaving all off on her full month. We want to wait for her head, skull and everything else to be more developed before shaving her hair off... so we had the hair at her neck trim shorter. then we drove a long way to gx's office to deliver the tartlets. it was my first time at his office. everyone was so excited to see her and all gathering to try to wake her to see her eyes open! cos at her party, she shut them for so long enjoying her beauty sleep! but little one just slept on... then we drove to town.

We were to collect dinner takeaways from Taka crystal jade. Both sets of grandparents think that Rachel is too young to join the crowd outside for too long... moreover with H1N1... so dinner is to be held at home. So i had help from Aunt O who helped me order the pencai which usually is only available during CNY. i tot it would be easy to have all the good stuff in a pot! i always like the salted egg-yolk prawns best from this crystal jade so i ordered for the rest to thank everyone for helping me out in many ways during my confinement thou i cannot touch prawns at all! Aunt O recommended spinach tofu topped with mushrooms and it was nice!

lucky we arrived a little too early and the food isnt ready for collection as we had time to look for a cake to celebrate Rachel's Full month and oso it is the dessert for the day! Chanced upon the great offer at baker inn's counter! 50%+10% off 3 types of cake and i chose the new york cheesecake as it red and pretty with the decorations we saved from the macaron creation! Yes it was my mil's great idea to save these pretty sugar pcs! and i put them to good use! making the cake look special on this special day!

yes baby is in her own slumber party again! the day was tiring for us but we were prob the happiest people! baby didnt come easy and we are so glad she is growing well! Also i am so lucky to have such great support from both families! Everyone in the photo did their part to give us help, sacriface time to make us comfortable and guide us through baby's 1st month.

also we appreciate the gifts they prep for our little one! Thank you Ah Ma, Ah Gong, Gugu, Uncle Ray, GongGong, Popo, Ah Yi, YI Jeong, Ah Fu and Aunty Cammie! Also we need to thank Aunty Mary for assisting me, giving me so much help and cooking my confinement meals! Uncle K and Aunt M for giving us twin's baby stuff! We saved alot of money as we didnt need to buy many baby items such as cot, the bedsheets, pram, feeding chair and piles of clothings! And buying new H&M baby clothings from Shanghai for our little gal! Uncle M and Aunt O for giving us the useful bathing station, sterilizer and of cos the beautiful party clothings! Aunt K and nesa who pops in to check on us, giving us company! esp to nesa who helped to capture bathing moments on camera! Also esp thanks to Ann and Dap for helping me prep brownies and cookies for the party! Thank you to Aunty Yochana for making the parties memoriable with her amazing creations! and to all the people who sent us their well wishes. thank you for all the gifts!

the person i need to thank most is my hubby. I prob could have drove him mad with my mood swings but he is strong! he is a amazing hubby and now he is a wonderful daddy! He is very patient and i have to say THANK YOU for putting up with me, going thru the late nites together, being so understanding and holding my hands when i needed support! i am so lucky and so is Rachel!