Counting down...

just realized I've not updated this blog at my end for quite a while already... it's because there's really not much to update at this point in time, and ok, I'm just plain lazy, bleah... honestly, I feel like a waiting duck now, blissfully floating on the pond and waiting to be shot at. It's the waiting phase for me, & with most of the preparation all done up, we're just waiting for her to say "it's time for me to meet the world!" =P

Emma's been growing steadily and we're now visiting our gynae fortnightly rather than monthly (I'll most likely be doing my GBS test next week - do pray for an all clear for me). Since Sunday, I'm beginning to feel a tinge of excitement & I can't wait to finally meet her. heheh... Oh, while I'm at it, I'm also making it a "hobby" to challenge the old wives tale of pointy tummy = carrying boy. You should have seen the faces of my mom's mahjong kakis when they were told they were wrong in predicting Emma's gender. hahahah *evil grin* (my gynae even joked that we could start collecting "bets" from those who still insist I'm carrying a boy... we could make some money from this. hahahah)

Ahh... I also feel a minor sense of accomplishment... we've sent our curtains for the much needed dry-cleaning, cleared out most of the stuff in Emma's room, and our study is now spick and span. I've just vacuumed the bookshelves and the CD shelves with our new Rainbow system, kept all the unused hand-me-down maternity clothes (they're still too big for me despite the fact that I'm now at 35 weeks. I'm still wearing my size S & M maternity clothes & I guess I'll not need those XL ones at all), and almost done packing the hospital bag (except for the toiletries). What's left to do now is to wash the bedsheets & to remove the plastic from the single bed & baby cot.

We bought 2 Flower Wall Lights (one pink, one white.. like the ones in the pictures below) from Ikea to decorate Emma's room & they're simply lovely to look at!


Both Roy & I are proud with this purchase as they can also double up as night-lamps & they both cost less than $20 (much cheaper than our original plan of buying stickers to decorate the room). We'll post up the final picture of Emma's room once everything is in place. =)

"Emma, mommy & daddy can't wait to say "hi" to you face to face... see you real soon!"

We've been tagged! 8 Random facts abt us (Roy and Ade)

Sally tagged us.. so we'll share some facts abt us.. =)

firstly, the following rules:
- start copying -
* I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
* Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
* People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
* At the end of your blog, you need to choose people to get tagged and list their names.
* Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
- end of copying -

Ok, here are 8 of our secrets or lesser known facts... =)

Fact #1: Prior to JC, Ade was in an all-girls school for 10 yrs, while I was in an all-boys school for 10 yrs

Fact #2: Ade had ever intended to join the AirForce, while joining the military was never an option for me until I was 19.

Fact #3: Ade loves to eat fats (chicken fats, pig fats, etc), but not me.

Fact #4: Ade loves to nap, something which isn't in my dictionary. For me, "eyes closed" = sleeeeeep...

Fact #5: Both of us don't like telemarketers.

Fact #6: We like dogs, esp Yorkshire Terriers (well-behaved endearing ones of course).

Fact #7: Ade loves to watch Taiwanese variety shows, but I find them kinda boh-liao and a waste of time. hehehe (Ade's input: cos I'm half Taiwanese mah. =P) Conversely, I like soccer, but ade tried (and is still trying) to like it.. hahaha

Fact #8: We both love Jap food! SUSHI SASHIMI anytime!

okie... simple, and not too mindboggling.. maybe next time we can do one with some facts about Emma too... =)

and *drumroll*... Adrian and Jasmine you guys are tagged!

6 more weeks!

time sure flies.. it's just 6 weeks away from Emma's expected date of delivery... it just dawned on Ade and I how close it is, and how little time left we have to do up her room! So we finally got down to start clearing the stuff that have been left on Emma's cot, and washed the bedsheets for Emma's cot. Next up is to send the curtains to the dry-cleaners... u won't wanna know how long it has been since they were last cleaned... hehehe

oh yah, we just bought the Rainbow e2 Cleaner System (http://www.rainbowsystem.com/eng/product.cfm) yesterday after seeing a free demonstration of the system's capabilities in our own home by the company’s salesperson. We had a choice of 1 piece of furniture for them to clean to showcase the system, and we chose our own queen-size bed. Horrors of horrors!!! There were many "residents" that were sucked up by the system and collected in the system's water reservoir. Imagine a basin of water, with a whole lot of puke in it.. lumpy yellow stuff that look somewhat like cotton-wool, which are in fact the dead skins, mites, etc.. that bought me over, and Ade figured it'd be a good system to make our house really clean, and help solve my sinus problems. It can be used as an air purifier too. So I guess it's a good thing to have to keep the place clean for Emma too, so that she won't develop sinus problems like me.

anyway, I just used the Rainbow system to clean our sofa in the living room. Guess what's the outcome? Wanna know what happened to the clear water in the system's water reservoir? hold ur breath and take a look.....

(after vacuuming the sofa, this is the state of the water that was originally clear and clean...)

(check out the dirt.. dust mites, dead skin, etc..)

gross right? u can see the murkiness of the water.. i can't imagine what i've been sitting/lying on for the past couple of years.. yikes!

At least, now Emma will have clean surfaces to lie on, to crawl on, and to sit on.... =)

see ya soon, Emma! oh btw, Emma's been rather active these days.. kicking really hard, keeping Ade awake.. think Emma found how to do the 黄飞鸿's 无影脚.... hahaha..

2 more months!.. and the banning of this nice blog in some place.. hmmm

finally got to have a breather from the hectic, arduous hours of training exercises in the course that I'm attending right now. Somehow, though there weren't much assignments, the long nights were still draining, such that all I wanted to do was to just sleep and rest my mentally tired spirit. Nonetheless, I thank God that I can still find some sporadic moments to "play" with Emma, even if it meant just placing my hand to feel just one of her kicks, or her hiccups. Those moments never failed to brighten up the long bleak day.

2 more months.. that's how soon it'll be before Ade and I get to meet Emma face-to-face, cheek-to-cheek, nose-to-nose. There are supposed to be 2 overseas study trips in Aug, one before NDP, and one after NDP. I've decided to opt out from the 2nd trip since it's just 2.5 wks from the expected date of birth of Emma. No way am I gonna miss out saying hello to Emma when she's born. For now, Ade and I are just thankful to God that He has continued to strengthen Emma and building her up physically, and for developing her spirit... for now, it seems that Emma has a sweet joyful spirit... but it'll be nice if she's outgoing and friendly to pple too, just like her mommy.. =)

oh.. u know what? we just found out that some of our friends in a certain country could not access this blog. And thinking abt it, we thought it's such an irony that the blog is banned by the very country in which our baby was conceived. I guess they aren't very comfy with the mere mention of God and what He's doing in and through Emma. Ah well, they sure dun know what they're missing out.. heheh...

A later EDD... hmm...

We went for our last gynae checkup on Monday and we're glad to report that Emma's been growing from 970g a month ago, to 1.317kg now. But, according to the AC (abdominal circumference) & FL (femur length) from the ultrasound scan, her EDD (estimated date of delivery) has now been pushed back to 2 weeks from 6th Sept to 20th Sept. Hmm... does this mean she's not growing as much as she ought to be according to her gestational age?

Am worried...

Yet, I'm trusting God that she'll continue to grow well and will absorb the nutrients she needs to grow healthily.

Am wondering whether I've been eating enough even though I've been eating heartily since I entered into my 2nd trimester. Is it because I don't drink enough milk? (I can't take dairy products because of my lactose intolerance). In the meantime, I'll try to up my protein intake and pray that Emma's weight will improve in my next gynae visit.