wanna see pregnant momma cozai?

there you are, just took this picture in the middle of the night!!!! everybody is sleeping except me at home...and jem...who's out there having drinks with the guys. i couldn't sleep coz i just visited another unit in the evening just now...thankfully the owner is around and let me go in to take a look at her kitchen cum toilet cum storeroom layout. i'm still thinking how to redesign my kitchen... my new home's kitchen supposed to be a long kitchen, but shortened by the current owner, turned out like my current sengkang home, just slightly longer...the living room does look more spacious with that shortened kitchen...and that shattered my kitchen with bigger worktop!!! ngiao!
sorry for that unglam t-shirt with folded up sleeve, it's a hot hot night, even i blast the ceiling fan with highest speed, i still feel so hot! that's the kind of t-shirt i wear everyday!

i don't normally take my pregnant photo...in fact this is the first pregnant look photo...and there you are! show it to you!

oh by the way, i just had a detailed scan 3 days ago..jonathan's current estimated weight is 1943g (week 33)...other measurement like the head...blah blah blah organs and other body parts are in good size and length, radiologist said he has chubby cheeks and also very proud to show he's a boy...my parents were in the room with me during the scanning...my mom kept touching my tummy, as jonathan moves non-stop...

it's exciting to know that we'll have a new home soon...

no more flipping through classified section, my housing agent can finally take a break from receiving my smses :P i will forever remember how my agent always look so compose and quiet during all these house viewing period and when he felt this would be the unit, he talks more than usual and become a little pushy. after all, as housing agent, they also hope they can close a deal soon...then can get $$$ mah! haha.

i just visited one unit today, opposite my in laws' block, super high floor...no no no...am not looking for another unit...now my focus is how owners design their house. actually, with our new home layout, there's a challenge on where to place the tv...unless we break down one bedroom which...i found most owners did, then the placing of the tv & sofa is solved...anyway, back to visitation topic, i visited this unit during their renovation period last year...and now that they shifted in for couple of months. i asked if i can go in to see see look look...first of all, as i mentioned, theirs is very high floor, so when i see outside, i really 'lao nua'...very nice view!!! ok ok!!! always be content with what i have yeah! just sharing my thoughts only!
they engaged an ID to do up their home, reno cost ard $80k *jaw drop*...i must say theirs is very nicely done up...big white homo tiles, nice toilet tiles color, wet & dry kitchen area and some design layout which i've never thought of, interesting :)

still have another unit to view...quite thick-skin yeah! but really nice to see people's design, give me more idea...

actually took some pictures of our new home using my hp...but not very nicely taken...so decided not to show you now...next time ok.

my parents were in town couple days ago, showed them our new home too...they like it! of course like lah, think my dad is the happiest, coz he has always wanted us to buy any unit that is the same block with in laws, super duper convenient.

will be continued, nathan woke up from nap...

the searching is over...no more waiting....

we've just bought a unit last night, exactly the same block as my in laws...we compromised on height....bought the unit lower than 8th floor....but we like it, jem and i have the peace for buying this home. but honestly, i still need to get over the height....but gotta tell myself, though not high level, so long as it's windy, unblocked and lots of privacy, that's more important.

till now, i still can't believe we bought it. made an offer last night, after some negotiation, we signed and paid deposit....that was it.

my parents and in laws are the happiest. so close, so convenient!

i'm exciting about the renovation part....going to do up the new home!

have parent attachment day last week...get to join ian's class for 1.5hrs, to see what has he been doing in class. can tell he really enjoys his class a lot. unlike in term one, bringing him to school gotta create a lot of stories and bribes (very unhealthy) to lure him out of the house. when i went to pick him up during the dismissal hour, he'll always look out for me to make sure i'm there to pick him up. then during the school term holidays, he started to miss his class, kept asking when is his school starts.

term 2 started...ai sehhh! changed so much!
he asks if there's school everyday even during weekend. then when reach his school, he'll run into the assembly hall instead of crying "i want mommy".
dismissal...huh! don't even look at me when walking towards his dismissal hall, busy holding his friend's hand and kept talking. don't have that 'oh, mommy, so glad you come to pick me up' look anymore.

say grace before meal...look at ian's eyes, close very tight when praying...so funny



ingredient: lotus paste & snowskin, choc chips & rainbow color bits
one of parent & child activities during the parent attachement day
ian & myself made this caterpillar during the class

mentioned to you that i'll be catering confinement food yeah...i opt for trial food. $30!!! it's from Newbaby. this is how it looks like when they deliver confinement food. 2 dishes, 1 rice, 1 soup & 1 bottle of red date tea with a pair of chopstick & soup spoon

taste...ok lah...not fantabulous....not expecting too much from catering service...can never compare with home cook food right.

let me tell you what i'm tempted to do now.

i wanted to go to my preferred blocks and levels and knock at my preferred unit, to ask if they intend to sell their unit anytime soon. all i want is the answer, then it's easier for me to 死了這條心 if none of them has no intention to sell or more patient if they do.

after we viewed the one in my in laws' block.
my father in law suggested us to buy, they shift to that unit, we take over theirs.
my grand in laws both sat down talking to me, advising us not to be so fussy, we can't always wait till we get 100% fit our criteria. to have certain criteria is already a rare opportunity...
my mom in law...said maybe can continue to wait, more retrenchment along the way, more people may sell their units...urh....ok.

can't write more now...nathan is up...hogging the comp. anyway, that's all i want to say.

oh! did i mention nathan calls me 'MOMMY' recently? it's on the 8 APRIL...easy to remember, coz his birthday is on the 4 AUGUST, just swap the numbers.
ian calls me 'mee' one day before he turns 2. back in those days, i remembered vividly he can call the rest of the family, i'm the last one.
as for nathan, i'm the first!!!
i have many version..."memmy", "army", "meemee", "mommy"
he calls grandparents "baba, mama"
call ian "gaga"
call jonathan "baby or ah bee"
call daddy jem "gawee"

okie bye....nathan is making lots of noise...tummy feels tightened again...better rest.

we viewed 2 units today.

i'm only going to talk about one of them...coz the other one, am not interested.

we're in dilemma now...to continue to wait? or to compromise on height.

we saw one same block as my in laws, lower than 8th floor. the rest is great.
- 4 rooms
- windy
- facing depot, very close to depot!
- super near to in laws
- big kitchen (the owner shortened it, but renovation can always fix back)
- unblocked, so have privacy
- have recess area
- valuation out 3 days ago, $480k!

hiyahhhhh! don't know...

i opened up my notebook, we've viewed a total of 17 units in bishan for the past 5 months. 5 units were sold since then. it was an exciting journey to look out for our ideal home...i do hope we can find our dream home soon.

after sending ian to school, and make nathan sleep, i go to all the nearby blocks, go up to the highest floor, walk down level by level (not all the way down lah, only selective levels)...trying to peep the layout of the unit (yes, i know it's rude)...bishan layout are pretty much the same, so all i want to know which side does the living room face, is it blocked or unblocked, windy, noisy...etc. there was once i happened to go into a unit which is under renovation...i asked the contractor if i could go in to see...then after he showed me around, telling me what he's doing, what is this and that, later i found out the contractor is the home owner...:P. like his place a lot, so so so windy, so unblocked! jem said it's very dangerous for someone like me to explore alone...but i am just too curious...sometimes i wonder what's the point of looking around...if nobody is selling that unit with that particular location i like, it doesn't matter whether i know the layout inside out....but then again...i'm curious.

jem and i have the same thought...

how long do we need to wait...to be able to find our ideal home.
jem showed me one verse yesterday

Proverbs 13:12 - Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.

now...the condition of our heart is like the first line...
hope deferred makes the heart sick...i feel quite sick liao...not sick of viewing flat...just feeling a little...uhmm...how-long-must-we-wait kind of sick feeling.

as for me...everyday, i wonder how long....or wonder will we able to find. or if found, can we afford to pay for it...

we do have high expectation...and fussy with our selection...
after all, once we select a flat, it's for the long haul...if choose wrongly, we gotta make do with it and live with regrets. unlike our sengkang home...we bought, stayed for 5 years and sold without making loss. bishan is not the case.

oh well...searching continues!

i'm supposed to rest, but i must get this off my chest!!!

firstly! let me give all the parent-to-be an advice! never give deposit to confinement service!

as i told you before, my favourite confinement ladies (yukying and yuklian) are all engaged by the time i found out i'm pregnant with jonathan. so one of them recommended me her friend, called grace.

i know they normally have this request for deposit...normally $200, it's to protect themselves just in case mothers back out last min. when i first engaged yukying (pregnant with #1), she asked for deposit, but i told her i will pay her fully at the end of her service, she agreed...it's all based on trust!

alright, this time, i decided to give this recommended confinement lady $200 deposit. jem opposed to it but i gave :(, after experiencing my previous 2 confinement ladies (they are sisters), i like them and trust them, so i thought i can trust her friend too.

i called grace today, told her i'm not engaging her 'replacement' friend...will do confinement myself. so i asked for my deposit back. then guess what she said???!!!

i'm the one who decided not to engage the service, the deposit should be forfeited...
mannnn!!! i was so furious ok! don't think i talk nicely to her, then can bully me!!!! i started to raise my voice already, told her off! the one i want to look for is her, not her friend! and she's the one who fly aeroplane! it's not my fault!

then she changed her statement, only will return me $100, the other $100 is to give yukying's recommendation fee.

WHAT RECOMMENDATION FEE?!!! yukying never even mentioned that to me. she's not even provide me any service, fly my aeroplane, still have the cheek to retain that $100! i told her i don't care what the heck is the recommendation fee! i want my deposit back!!!!

then she said will call yukying and get bk to me. i called yukying after a while, grace never call her! i told her what happened, all i want is my money bk, i don't need any other recommendation! thank God she helped me settle...and she'll transfer the deposit back to me.

it's a lesson learnt for me. no more deposit and also must listen to my wise husband advice :P! ngiao! you know...maybe she may agree to do confinement service, after staying 1-2 days, due to many people at home, she decided to leave? then claim service provided, deposit cannot take back...blah blah blah! who knows??!!! i'm thankful that this kind of thing happens before 'D' day. i have enough time left to get ready and find catering service...thank God we decided not to engage her friend's service, who knows that one also 耍花樣 last min!

half an hour ago, my confinement lady called me...said that she may not be able to make it for my confinement...eh....my big day is only less than 2 months away...thanks for the news.

but am not surprised...
1-1.5 months ago, i told her i've sold my flat and currently staying with in laws...where there're 7 adults + 2 active kids + 1 baby, and she has to sleep in living room due to space constraint. she said she's fine with it.

then now that she called, gave me excuses like afraid the immigration won't allow her to come in as she just complete one confinement in end of may. the confinement job in the month of May is a last min request (urhh...whether or not is last min, i paid my deposit, she should take mine into consideration first, coz i'm the priority!!!)...won't tell you her remaining reasons...after talking to her, it seems her reason is valid and i chose to give her the benefit of the doubt...whether or not the answer is acceptable...the fact is she's not going to do confinement for me...period!

she also said that not many confinement ladies want to accept jobs that require them to sleep in the living room. due to their night shift, they need to rest too. then we have so many adults under one roof, with different activities going on in day and night time. she found a replacement for me...it all depends on whether i want to take her....but later i found out her friend is not aware of the zzz in living room and the number of people in my in laws' place. anyway, will call her tomorrow, to see if her friend is willing to take this job...

when my flat is sold...i actually started thinking how my confinement would be like. that is why i wish i can find a new home soon, then all problems solved, i can just do my confinement there...renovation can do later. apparently God thinks otherwise, so my next thought is...how about not getting a confinement lady...just cater confinement food. i'll take care jonathan all by myself, then everybody don't have to adjust their lifestyle like having to sleep early, cannot watch tv when baby is sleeping at night...(baby might need to sleep outside too), ah po's cooking for the remaining of the family will not be affected as confinement lady may probably use the same pots and pans to cook confinement food for me. anyway, having the 2 boys around, i don't think i can sleep and rest as much as i can even in confinement period...i can't let ah gong ah po do all the work right? they are old, have their own chores to do, and need time to rest.

you know...i'm also thinking of things like renting a place for one month...but who would want to rent a place for only a month...and renting a place is not cheap either! wow, just one confinement...so ex!

just had a discussion with jem....decided not to engage confinement lady...he'll take leave to help me, and will tell family tomorrow...hopefully they can take turn to take leave to help me taking care of the boys...so that i can rest....confinement food? do catering.

pls don't think that after having 2 kids, i would know what to do with newborn okie...i'm a little panic now....coz i can't quite remember how to take care of newborn, in gentle and delicate way :P the 2 kor kors are big now, i've been a rough mommy to them, drag them to bathroom and bath them quickly before they waste even more water. they cry i also bochap! it's very different when you handle a newborn....!!! what else? the wrapping part! they can wrap them up snug and tight! they love it! when i tried to do it during my confinement days, my boys always cry and the wrapping become loose easily! oh oh! don't like the burping part for newborn....that can take a lot of my energy away coz my baby always take very long time to burp, i always wonder how my confinement lady can burp my 2 boys so easily previously....oh well...that's their expertise!

good night! it's 1.40am now...

oh, if you wonder who is this confinement lady...she's NOT the 2 confinement ladies who took care of my boys previously...they are good :D this is another one...both my confinement ladies are already 'chop' by somebody else when i found out i'm only 2-month pregnant

i don't know what my week has been...i'm not too busy, neither am i free. been staying in bishan for about 4 months ++, i think?? i'm at the point when i'm longing for some privacy again coz i started to show signs...my poor in laws kena from my not-so-respectful mood. just to let you know that, i do have privacy here, my grand in law pretty much leave me alone to take care of the boys most of the time and they both busy with their house chores....and they will automatically help me looking after the boys when they see me busy with something. sometimes when i need to have time alone and lunch out, they'll help to take care of my boys. i appreciate that and absolutely feel very blessed to have them. it's just...me...longing for a place where it's only me, my family...and my home.

we went back to our home in sengkang on good friday, with no in laws' help, i was busy doing everything all by myself and jem...i simply love it. the feeling of taking control of every part of my home...looking at my home, my own space...i miss my sengkang home tremendously and still can't believe our home is sold...

we had our 1st hdb appointment on 7 april, for us seller, we don't have to bring many documents as compared to buyers except our IDs and photocopy...pretty straightforward. our 2nd appointment would be 25 may....which is the day when we'll hand over our house key to the new owner *bye bye home*. i've started do some packing and threw away many stuff. it's unending man!!! after throwing so many things and the house still look the same....still so many things!!!

how's our house hunting?
we decided to open up to other blocks that's slightly further away from in laws, so we saw 3 more units during this the weekend. spotted one...met most of the criterias i hope and pray for...
1) higher than 11th floor
2) exactly same layout as my in laws, so have 4 rooms!!!
3) have recess
4) unblocked and lots of privacy, pretty windy
5) valuation is a steal...$490k, the lowest valuation we saw for high floor
6) very near to wet market
7) lift upgraded

the downside?
1) all rooms are facing the road which leads to main road, so lots of car passing by, can hear cars zoom zoom....quite noisy though it seems not many cars even for sunday...then they have the pedestrian crossing traffic light, so according to jem, he can hear the 'toot toot toot toot' sound.
2) cannot see trains & depot (bad news for the boys :P), but this is of course not critical :P

so...just simply that 1 downside, we started to reconsider...i was very excited at first viewing...my agent saw my excitement and thought we will make an offer in our 2nd viewing with family. i'm very sure, whether we offer 490k or 500k, we'll surely get this unit once we make our offer. then when we brought our family along to see second time....i have second thoughts already...i stood in the master bedroom window for quite a while, the noise from the main road really bothers me...having been staying in house with quiet night, this is an important question for us...are we willing to compromise.

i asked for a silly sign from God today too...when we came bk from viewing the 1st time, it's time for the boys to nap...which normally takes minimum 45 mins for both of them to doze off. i said...if this is the unit, make them fall asleep in 30 mins (haha, a request that make my life easier), then i'll take it as 'go ahead' sign to make an offer :P

so...till now...i still wonder whether God did answer or bother to answer my that inprompto request...both boys...in the end...of course took more than 30 mins to doze off in the end. uhmm...whatever it is, will still seek Him...

we're sort of not in a hurry to buy a unit now...confinement...confirm will be at in laws' place...even if we buy a unit now, we won't get it by june. jem still hoping hdb price continue to drop...i hope soon...and i really hope to find our ideal home sooner... i'm seriously longing for my space. i pray that God will bless more home owners here so so so much that they all go to buy condo, private property...then we'll have plenty options, haha!

my baby jonathan has been an active sportsman in the womb...i've never seen my tummy go out of shape many times in my life. one moment, my tummy 'senget' to one side, then another side. i know i mentioned his super active movement many times in the blog, simply can't help to mention again, goodness me! think my previous 2 pregnancy must have loosen my tummy muscle a lot, now i think he happily kick, shift position without feeling 'tight'!

less than 2 months to go...

am glad renotalk forum is finally up again...

been reading and looking at the photos of people's renovation progress...ehhh...actually didn't read much...only when the picture is nice then i read to find out more.

but one thing i noticed....9/10 of the new owners.......use the same square basin in their toilets...then the tile's color...combination of white, gray and black...then some with mosaic, all sama sama... this is the kind of design i wish to have in my new home next time too...glad to find something similar, but ooooiii??!!! a lot of people also like that

got the picture from this link

as for me, i would choose lighter tiles...for the entire bathroom. got this picture from this link

in jem's recent bangkok business trip, he told me he likes something like the above picture, a 'hole' to put all the shampoos, soup stuff he saw in the hotel. i like that idea too. if budget permits, we shall have that...i like bright bathroom too. tiles that's too dark will leave some white soup scum when it's dried...not nice.

have no units to view this weekend...oh, there is, 1 or 2 but they are not in our priority list, just flats nearby my in laws, way above our budget, no harm taking a look but gotta wait till jem comes back from beijing. we offered another below value offer to another unit too, but the owner still don't want to let go until he got his $550k target...somebody from last week offered at value $540k, also don't want to sell...*sigh* another closed door.

so while waiting for our dream home...i'll just continue to look for photos....to get some ideas...not all...slowly...every night, though just looking at photos and read a little bit, my brain also complaining info-loaded.

that's all from me...

**add on**after 2 hours

let me complain a bit here okie....
with regards to my pregnancy...i've never feel so immobile before...when i was pregnant with ian and nathan, i still can move, get up and down easily. now...i feel like an old grandma, need a tongkat. my left pelvic bone is killing me....sharp pain, whatever pain...and now i feel my tummy is getting bigger...(and i still have another 2 months to grow even more!!!), braxton hicks suka suka come and go...my 2 boys, likes to sleep on my big tummy/blow bubbles on my belly button....then jonathan 'buay song', always kick to complain.
ok...enough of complaining, i thank God jonathan is pretty active inside, at least i know....he's fine :).
not going to procrastinate liao...will make an appointment to see a chiropractor this week.

jem is in airport now...to beijing for holidays. shiok eh!!! it's nice to go with close friend to any trip :D. he's going with bernie to visit the chong household. i shall go on holiday trip ONE DAY! must enjoy gao gao!!!

i had my first regular contractions (braxton hicks) today...started at 8 plus @ am, lasted for one hour. each contraction is 2 mins apart and lasted average 30 secs each...i still have another 2 months to go, so i know, this is not the day yet. but at the same time, i do feel a little worried coz there's such thing as preterm labor especially when my contraction is so close apart. found it hard to move about....and my dear ian kept asking me to kick ball with him. i really feel very uncomfortable, all i wanted to do is sit down, so i prayed (yeah, after timing for one hour)...and read out some scriptures taken from the supernatural childbirth book.

surprisingly, immediately after that, my next contraction become longer and weaker. then even longer and stopped after 2-3 more contractions which is like 10 mins or more apart. will report this to my gynae next monday :D, let him check check!!! but i must thank God for this...to stop the bh...though i know it's normal to have that prior to birth.

going to sleep now....very tired....*check the time*...uhmmm...jem is flying soon.