And then there were 5...

I meant to post this before Nic's birth... but only managed to get down to it when he's 3 months old. :P

When I was a little girl, I dreamt of marrying my prince charming, becoming a mom and having two children - a boy and a girl. After marrying the man of my dreams, we went on to have two adorable children, two boys born 18 months apart. Was I disappointed when I found out that I was going to have another boy the second time round? Yes. Was I glad that we went on to have a second boy? Yes. I confess that the gender disappointment was real - I had always wanted the experience of bringing up a girl... And I imagined being able to do girly stuff with her, share secrets and dish our advice from mom to daughter. The disappointment soon faded and I am so thankful for God's gifts of two healthy boys who've completed our family. D & I are content with our family of 4, and never really thought of adding to it.

The first couple of years with an infant and a toddler were difficult. I was still working full time then and by the end of each work day, I'd be exhausted. Yet, seeing their bright smiles and cuddling up with them each night made all the hard work worth it. As the boys grew older and more independent, things got easier. We got back our uninterrupted sleep, enjoyed spending weekends outdoors, and went on short holidays a couple of times a year. Gone were the days of middle of the night feeds, diaper changes and baby food. D & I were enjoying parenthood so much, we started talking about having another child. But we were comfortable and weren't too keen about going thru another round of baby care. With another baby, our finances would be further stretched. Our attention and time would have to be further divided. I think I had enough love in my heart for more children, but the realities made it more a "no" then a "yes". As for the boys, Nathan has always been keen to have more siblings. Noah on the other hand, is happy with just one Kor Kor, and wasn't too keen on becoming one himself. Somehow, Nathan managed to convince him that having more children in the family meant more fun. Noah became more receptive to having a sibling. And so... we went on to have a third. Being pregnant the third time was more tiring than I remember it to be. Perhaps it was because I was running a full schedule with the boys and was handling childcare, cooking and cleaning by myself. It being the third and probably the last pregnancy, I decided to do a maternity photoshoot. Hardly had any photos of the pregnant me when Nathan / Noah were in my tummy. So I'm glad I have these photos which remind me of the days when a precious little being was growing inside me. Photos were taken at The Studio Loft, and these are some of my favourites.