And so December rolls around again. This year was a lot busier with the addition of a new member in our family, and hence, this space isn't as frequently updated as I would have liked. It was nice re-reading what I wrote in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Each time I do, my heart overflows with joy and thanks for all that God has showered upon me and my family.
Jan
The boys return to school and we welcome Liza to our family. I have put off having a live-in domestic helper in our family for as long as I could. But with a new baby joining our family, I knew I needed more help. Liza has been a blessing and a great help in so many ways. I hope we will be the family she has away from home and that we will grow together as our lives are now intertwined.
Feb
Being the planner that I am, I was fretting over not knowing when our baby will arrive. I was worrying about the older boys' routines, and would very much like the routines to be undisturbed, as far as possible. When Valentine's day rolled around, I thought... ah ha! Now would be a good time... It was a weekend, and so it'd be minimal disruptions to the boys' routines. But, no. Baby was not ready. When Chinese New Year's eve rolled around, again I thought... hmm. Now would be perfect. A nice long weekend ahead. And lo and behold, our baby was born on the first day of the Lunar New Year. The hospital gifted us with a celebration dinner, and I just had to put my little bundle of joy beside all the yummy food. :D
Mar
The newly minted kor kor turns 4. This boy has been such a darling... he is the more affectionate one of the two, and I really enjoy listening to his non stop chatters, and am amused by the questions he comes up with.
Apr
This was a month filled with numerous transitions. D was travelling quite a bit for work. Our helper was on home leave and I had a confinement nanny to fill her place for a month. There was just half a day overlap between the time the nanny leaves and the time our helper was due to return. I was worried that they'd be a screw up with the schedule and I'd be left without help. But thankfully, everyone eased into the transitions smoothly.
Nathan won a music composition competition. When his music teacher first told him about the competition, he was set on winning it. The first place winner gets US$200. He told me that he was going to win the competition and take the family to Disneyland. I wanted to manage his expectations... so I told him that there were many people from all over the world taking part. Like about a thousand people. So it's not easy to win. I'm not sure he understood the math of the probability of winning. But he was determined. In the end, he took second place! I was pleasantly surprised. No prize money for second place winner, but his music teacher let him choose a prize from her treasure trove and nai nai offered him US$100 prize money. That was a lesson for me to not undermine his efforts.
The boys took part in the church Easter choir. Practices were held on Sunday mornings and Dean took them to church early several weeks in a row for this. He later shared that Noah didn't seem like he was paying attention during the rehearsals and waking up early on Sundays was getting kinda taxing. But when it came to the actual choral presentation on Easter Sunday, Noah sang with such gusto, it was so heart warming to watch. After that, the boys asked to join the next choir. I'm so glad the boys had the opportunity to serve in the church choir and had so much fun doing it.
May
Nathan was chosen to take part in the YMCA PESA. We enjoyed preparing the 'speeches' and Nathan spent a lot of time perfecting it. He did not win in the end but I think it was good effort on his part. He was disappointed about not winning, but I suppose it was good for him to realise that as much as we would love to win, sometimes things do not go the way we desire.
Jun
We sold our very first home and it was kinda bitter sweet. I brought the boys to take some photos before the official handover. They had so much fun... Noah asked if we could stay "just 1 night", and I was sad to disappoint him. This was were our family of 2 became a family of 3, then 4. Noah hasn't started walking when we moved out and we did not get to utilise the playgrounds and swimming pools as much as we would've liked.
Since Nico was so young, we decided not to go on any overseas holidays. Instead, we spent some time exploring familiar haunts as a family. D took some time off work and we got to spend quality time together. Lovely!
Jul
We celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. I am so thankful for D and the boys that God has given to us.
Aug
This is one of my favourite shots from our trip to Sentosa. Several attractions in Singapore were giving free entries during the national day weekend. We decided to take the boys on the free cable car ride. It turned out that the queue to board was several hours long! In the end, we decided to sign up for the Faber Pass which gives us free rides for a year.
Sep
Since this was Nathan's final year in SJCK, we decided to organise a birthday party for him with his kindy friends. He took a liking to rock climbing since trying it several months back, and so we decided to hold the party at the rock wall.
Oct
Nathan's graduation concert at SJCK. He was very excited about putting up an item with his classmates and took all the rehearsals seriously. Kinda bitter sweet watching him all dressed up in his graduation gown, topped with a motar board. I am thankful that he has wonderful memories of his kindy years and we look forward to the next phase of his life as he starts Primary School.
Nov
Noah took his very first "exam" and was awarded his yellow tip. A day before the grading, there was some scrambling as he couldn't seem to execute his 'moves'. I had a video of the 16-step pattern and daddy spent a whole afternoon coaching him. Good job, daddy!
Initially, I wasn't all that keen on getting him started on TKD. But he was persistent and kept asking to learn. After some discussions with D, we decided to let him try. He looks forward to every class and was pleased as punch when he was awarded his new belt. I marvel at his enthusiasm and determination.
Dec
The year ended with us spending time together as a family at church camp. It was Nathan & Noah's second church camp and I'm glad they were able to attend the children's program on their own. Nico hung out with us at the adult sessions and it was an enriching time for all.
These boys keep me busy all day. And as much as I crave some me-time now and then, I am enjoying every moment I spend with them. I thank God for watching over us in 2015 and look forward to another great year.
And so... it took me 3 months to get this post published! Gosh... am glad it's finally up. Till next year.
