Shh Shh Success!

*picture sourced from google search

After our last several failed attempts to potty train Isabelle, we had totally chuck it off our minds. But she gave us a series of surprises since last week. She finally reaches the stage when she can hold her pee and enough time to alert us that she need to go to the toilet!!! But... the only thing is... she doesn't really fancy the potty and she let it go on the floor in the bathroom.

Well, I am not particularly bothered by that because we can skip the potty training part and graduate her straight to toilet training!

This case taught me and DH that there is absolutely no need at all to rush our little one(s) to do something they are not ready to do. And that too, saves us from a whole lot of headache, & emotional breakdown which was what I went through when I gave up half way potty training her. (I was so disappointed with myself!)

Now, all that is history and my little precious has pass another important milestone :)

Isabelle Turns 2!

This is an overdue post.

We recently had a birthday bash to celebrate Isabelle turning 2 on the same weekend as Mother's Day. It was initially meant to be a cozy little party, just 2 or 3 friends. But then, we decided to invite a few more friends, friends with kids Isabelle knows or at least met before. The more kids, the merrier. After all, this IS a kids' party.

Our invitation list grow from 8 person to about 30! And also because of short notice, we had a little problem getting a good caterer and baker. Organizing everything from scratch, just the 2 of us, in 6 days time was quite a task. From booking and decorating the venue, appointing a caterer, baker, part-time maid to help with clean up, invitation list, party packs, refreshments.... endless. But it was worth the hard work, headache and worries when we see our little girl having such fun with all her little friends !

And we are so thankful for the help from our family and friends (you know who you are!) and also for all the good friends who came and make the party such a joyful event. Specially to my DH, thank you so so so much for your endurance and for chaffeuring me everywhere to get the stuffs for the party! Muacks!

Here are some pictures from the party. Enjoy!

The Decorations

Ran out of ideas to decorate the tables so I used 3 bouquet of fresh flowers, 1 bouquet of artificial hydrangeas and a basket of jellies and candies for decoration

For fresh flowers I used : Light pink gebras, shocking pink carnations, white poms poms, baby breath and eucalyptus leaves and some tealight candles (not in the picture)

The Party packs

For Mommies : Floral paperbags (since it is Mother's Day)

For the kids: 1 set of color pencils, marshmallows, Mamee and blower

The DIY door sign.

I wish I had more time and resources to make a better one (next year!)

The Food

Chocolate cupcakes by my very good friend Kiran. Yummy!

Can anyone guess what is underneath the cupcakes? It is actually my Crabtree box that I turn into a display tray. Saves the earth and money!

The cake!

Minnie Mouse theme from True Flavors.

Cake flavor : Chocolate Moist Cake with Dark Cherries

The Kids and The Clown

The highlight of the party

(And my little birthday girl having a blast!)

The lovely and thoughtful presents

Thank you!

Cooking ~ Lime Leaves Prawns

Lime leaves (picture sourced from google search)

The lime leaves I bought last week is still sitting in the fridge and I can't find the time to use it to cook sambal prawns as planned. Didn't want to waste the precious and aromatic ingredient, so despite the busy-ness of tending to my little sick baby, I whipped up this dish. A tad simpler than the sambal version. And yes, I could cook all because DH was home to help with Isabelle. (Thank you Dear! Muacks!)

Ingredients

1. 6-8 medium sized prawns (deshelled but I left the head and tails intact)

2. 2-3 cloves of garlic - chopped

3. 1 big red onion - sliced

4. 1 red chilli - sliced

5. 4-5 lime leaves - sliced

6. spring onion - sliced

7. cilantro

Sauce:

1. 2 tsp fish sauce

2. pinch of sugar

3. 1 tsp of tamarind - soak in hot water for about 30 mins. Discard the seeds and use only the juice.

Method

1. Heat oil and saute the garlic and onion till they are fragrant, tender and caramalised.

2. Add in sliced chilli. Stir.

3. Add in prawns. Just fry them for approx 1 min. Do not overcook them.

4. Once prawns looses it translucency and turns slightly pinkish, add in the sauce. Cook for another 2 mins or so.

5. Add in lime leaves and let it cook for another 20 seconds.

6. Dish up and garnish with spring onion and cilantro.

Results

DH - 'That's all? Anymore in the wok?'

DS - 'Ho ciak... ho ciak!! the sauce very nice!'

Yours Truly - Appetizing! I wish I cook a little more!

Happy Cooking!

Mothers of Yesteryears - I Don't Know How They Do It

I have a sick little baby at home since Monday. And it reminds me of how my Mom took care of us and attend of us when we were sick during our childhood and at the same time, handled a whole lot of housechores minus the modern technology gadgets and stayed sane! My Mom had 3 children, 1 dog, a home to take care of and also to chaffeur us around for classes and I only have 1 child, a messed up home and am going nuts!

We have microwave to instantly heat up the food, the washing machine and dryer to do the laundry, vacuum cleaner to quickly suck up all the dust and whatnots, nevertheless the internet to read up on remedies and how to sooth a sick whiny baby and the list goes on. We have everything today, yet, when my baby falls sick, everything else goes haywire. Somehow, the 'engine' just stops working. But what did our mothers have in their days? Nothing more than their pair of hands and a loving heart.

Our usually clean and organised home is now messy and almost unsightly. I stopped cooking these 2 days and no home cooked food, except some porridge for Isabelle. My hair... oh... so greasy and scarecrow-y. But I know, everything else can wait and nothing comes before my little precious.

And to make things worse, feeding my sick baby the medicine is a struggle! War! It hurt our hearts so much when we see her struggle. As much as it hurts, we had to do what we had to, for her good.

Now, I pray my little baby will recover soon... very very soon. And I wish I have half the courage and strength my Mom has.

Mother's Day 2011

*Picture sourced from google search

Picture above ~ The hands creating the shape of love embracing a baby's pair of cute little feet. So much warmth and love. Perfect picture to symbolise a mother's love. Beautiful!

Isabelle was born on the eve of Mother's Day weekend in 2009 and it was not only an unforgettable day for me, but also for my Mom, because the birth of Isabelle was also her most memorable Mother's Day gift from me.

This year, Isabelle's birthday falls exactly on Mother's Day! Isn't that wonderful? But, I won't be able to celebrate it with Mom because she is away for her holiday.

Now that I am a mom myself, I do think that everyday should be a Mother's Day! Yeah, I can be that greedy :) Being a mom is seriously not an easy task. I believe that every moms on earth tend to feel that they either don't do enough for her children & family, or will never be good enough for them, although, I am very sure, all of us try our very best in everything when it comes to our family. And, not to mention, we do get to be taken for granted at some point of time. Not because our loved ones love us any lesser but I think it is just human nature. So I am guessing Mother's Day is a special day for those around us (the Moms) to express their love a little more than any other day.

So, how are you going to be celebrating this special day made just for us? A full day off sounds like magic to me! But no, that is not what I am getting. However, this year, I will be celebrating my day together with my precious's birthday! Now, what can be better than a double celebration?

I would like to wish all moms out there, a very happy and blessed Mother's Day and you deserve nothing and NOTHING but the best!

And to my Mom... I love you and being a mom myself, I love you even more! Thank you for putting up with me for over 30 years of nonsense and for everything you have done for me. Happy Mother's Day Mommy and may God bless you with many more joyful and healthy days and years ahead!

Early Birthday

Isabelle will have 2 birthday parties for herself this year!

These are pictures from her first party back at my parents' home. We decided to celebrate it earlier with Ah Kong & Ah Ma (and the rest of the troop back home) because they will be flying off for their annual holiday this week and won't be in town on the actual day. So, this is an early celebration. Nothing extravagant, just a dinner outside then back home to cut the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cake and all our loved ones to celebrate this occasion together.

I book for this cake very last minute and the baker tried his 101% best to make us the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse! Bravo!

My little baby is already 2, so fast!

For her bigger scale 2nd birthday party posts, stay tuned! Coming up after this Sat! :)