Exhaustion, thy name is Rachael!

On behalf of the missus, I'd like to apologise to everybody for the lack of posts. Bloating plays havoc with the fingers, it's even painful to type. So she's holding off on blogging for awhile.

Baby's arriving late Jan - early Feb. 3 months to go. We can't wait...

woot woot!

#1. To my freakishly tall and big feet cousin who has finally relinquished his teen years and is embarking on his soon to be legal adulthood. Who also has an unbelievable appetite for Japanese cuisine!

Happy 20th Birthday!

 

ps: Ko, this is what you've been missing out...

#2. Many smiles and joy knowing that these two have overcome so many hurdles for a love as great as theirs. Looking forward to the big day! *bling bling* Congratulations on your engagement. No pictures of the two of you together but I guess a lil' redirection here will do.

Note to self: Take picture of the sparkle!

Sweets for my tummy

A surprise one Sunday morning in church..

Chloe: Auntie Chel, for you!

 

Chocolatey and nutty cookies

Too greedy wait for ck to take out the camera before gorging my face with it. It took a lot of self-control to have only half of it at a go! Before you jump to any conclusions, keep in mind, ck helped to eat them too k?? Can't possibly eat all of them in front of him without him having any.

 They were GGOOOOOODDDDD! 

Thank you Chloe! More please.. =)

2 weeks later,

Irene's super moist chocolate cake

Don't know if you can see what's on the cover but it says "For Rachael only!"

Unfortunately, it was the healthy version with less oil, eggs and one of the many magic ingredients.. Bailey's! The rest of the family got to have a tray of the original version ALL to themselves.

Oh well, at least I have my favourite chocolate cake and no, I didn't finish it all in one day even though it was tempting. Chocolate cake for brekkie, lunch and dinner.. hehe.. It's been more than 10 days and there's still about a quarter left. Shared by other people too! I'm not THAT greedy.. Just reaping the benefits of being preggy.

Thanks again Irene! Looking forward to the next batch..

Beraya Raya

Being in BAG now which is a far cry from Folec a very Chinesey company, ck has even more Raya invites. At least 2  houses a day, almost every other day. Went along with him initiallly but let's just say, my tummy's not agreeing well with the rich Malay food plus I find myself unable to cope long car rides (to Lumut & Tutong) if it's not our car or if I'm not the driver.

For soooome reason, even though our dear lil' Toby's not out yet, he's already gotten his very first Duit Raya! =p

Selamat Hari Raya to all Muslim friends and family!

bermalu..

I pulled a 'Tony' (my daddy). Brought my aunt and unc from Canada for lunch. Didn't bring my wallet! Brought my bag.. but smart me took out my cash and card wallet out to carry by hand the night before and usual me never put it back. Let's just say, it's a good thing I asked A.Adele along! =)

Needless to say, all had a good laugh at my expense..

Results

Dear kung kungs, popos, aunties and uncles,

Meet our first child whose legs were opened wide for the doc and us to see.. who turned around so that we can take a good look to see two big eyes, a nose and waved at us to say 'hi' to mummy and daddy as a black and white portrait was captured.

Tobias Maximillian Keasberry

finally..

Today's Friday the 26th of September! It's finally here. It's just another 8 - 9 hours before we (as just me and ck) will know whether we'll have a boy or a girl.. Been bombarded with the SAME question for the past 2 weeks and for some reason, it has intensified in the last week.

"Are you having a boy or a girl?"
"Do you know if it's a boy or girl?"

Getting myself armed with an answer, I'm actually contemplating on not telling ppl and just keeping the secret to myself! hehe... what do you think ck? Shall we do that?

Bear in mind! Baby K might not be cooperative with the scan later but I'll do what I can by drinking lots of water and holding in my pee as long as I can as indicated here as of how I can 'help get a better scan'.

A boy or a girl?? oo... exciting day!!

Inspiration

Been hanging out online @ohdeedoh. Just hope ck will approve of these few ideas I like.. budget wise that is =D

Growing chart from Fern Living Kids.  Probably can paint it on myself or I can just get Abi to do it for me!

Mobile from Flensted

Changing mat and shelvings from Ikea

Think...

Have been subscribing to GCFL (Good Clean Fun Laughter) for years. Occasionally, they send God related stories but this articular one, is a reminder of God's never ending Grace and despite of our inadequacy, He's always there and you can get a lift in life by performing a simple act of talking to Him anytime, anywhere. It's a tough road to be on regardless... Both me and ck need a constant reminder of who we serve. A living almighty God that wants nothing but the best for us and with an unborn child on the way, our faith and trust can really be tested to the max. With such a problematic pregnancy initially, it has been a long 4 months of doctor visits, jabs, worries and high medical bills. But we're grabbing and holding the His words of promises and hope.

PSALMS 139
 13 For you created my inmost being;
       you knit me together in my mother's womb.
 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
       your works are wonderful,
       I know that full well.
 15 My frame was not hidden from you
       when I was made in the secret place.
       When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
 16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
       All the days ordained for me
       were written in your book
       before one of them came to be.


25 things worth thinking about
Received from Rick Widdison through The Good, Clean Funnies List

1) Give God what's RIGHT -- not what's LEFT.

2) Man's way leads to hopeless end; God's way leads to endless hope.

3) A lot of kneeling will keep you in good standing.

4) He who kneels before God can stand before anyone.

5) In the sentence of life, the devil may be a comma, but never let him be the period.

6) Don't put a question mark where God puts a period.

7) Are you wrinkled with burden? Come to the church for a faith-lift.

8) When praying, don't give God instructions -- just report for duty.

9) Don't wait for six strong men to take you to the church.

10) We don't change God's message; His message changes us.

11) All churches should be prayer-conditioned.

12) When God ordains, He sustains.

13) WARNING: Exposure to the Son may prevent burning.

14) Plan ahead -- it wasn't raining when Noah built the ark.

15) Most people want to serve God, but only in an advisory position.

16) Suffering from truth decay? Brush up with your Bible on a daily basis.

17) Exercise daily! Walk with the Lord.

18) Never give the devil a ride -- he will always want to drive.

19) Nothing else ruins the truth like stretching it.

20) Compassion is difficult to give away because it keeps coming back.

21) He who angers you controls you.

22) Worry is the darkroom in which negatives can develop.

23) Give Satan an inch, and he'll be a ruler.

24) Be ye fishers of men -- you catch them, and God will clean them.

25) God does not call the qualified; he qualifies the called.

Mister and Missus Lim

Another name to add to the Mister & Missus list.

Congrats Ollie and Let!

Beauty

Finally! Blog template's up and to satisfaction (many thanks to ches who helped get rid of the two sidebars that came along with it) and the composition of posts are working. =) Now Clyde can post his ramblings without me having to code it.

Love the header picture. Colours! So pretty.. Scroll all the way down to find all extra bits k? Links, recent comments, info, etc etc..

XX/XY

Boy or girl? We'll find out 9 days! That's if baby's going to cooperate and open WIDE. =P



What do you think? Will we have a Toby Max or Charlie Meg?



I want a Toby.. first. Then a Charlie second. So that koko can look after his mei mei! Hehehe..

finally the good stuffs!

Had a definite, for sure, 100% certain, "It's the baby" moment. Followed by 2 more hard bumps after lying down quietly for quite some time with my hands in ready position.

A couple nights later, it was ck's turn to experience it! I think this baby's going to be a daddy's kid. In just a matter of a few seconds after placing his hand on my tummy, it gave a hard jab! I can feel lots of movement inside whenever he talks and teases to the baby. Wish I could have captured ck's facial expression when he felt that very first bump. A face of utter surprise followed by a quick "Is that it?". An assurance from me caused a HUGE grin to form on his face.

Haven't had a good pregnancy with all the precautions, really expensive but necessary doctor's visits, jabs, medication and not to mention the horrors of first trimester like throwing up and wooziness. Way into the second one now where I'm suppose to feel better with more energy, I find myself really sleepy and tired most of the time. It's nice to be rewarded with some baby movements. (which mostly only I can feel! hehe..)

By the way, baby seems to love daddy's taste in music. Lots of rock.. lots and lots of it...

la la la..

With a baby on the way, topics on our childhood songs and childhood books have dotted our conversations. Ck's got a weird memory for lyrics. He remembers the weirdest ones! On the other hand, he's baffled at how I remember all my lyrics. (KM does help in some ways.. =P)



Here's one that everyone knows, especially the chorus. Did you know that there are two verses with it??



Title: How much is that doggie in the window?



Chorus:

How much is that doggie in the window?

The one with the wagglely tail

How much is that doggie in the window?

I do hope that doggie's for sale



Verse One:

I must take a trip to California

And leave my poor sweetheart alone

If he has a dog, he won't be lonesome

And the doggie will have a good home



Verse Two:

I don't want a rabbit or a kitten

I don't want a parrot that talks

I don't want a bowl of little fishes

Cause you can't take a fish for a walk



Here's a song that I never knew existed! A new (new to me!) and great way to learn the alphabet.







Ck's hoping our baby, boy or girl, to be like me when I'm with him. Bursting into song out of the blue from time to time, entertaining him in the process. hehe..

leaving the nest

He's going to miss the birth of his nephew/niece..


He's going to miss at least 5 years of Brunei


I'm going to miss having him around to disturb and push around (although he's way bigger than me physically).


They all have to grow up at one point anyways.. Another countdown to add to the list! 7 days to go





Enjoy AU!

Visual effect

I'm at 16 weeks now but ultrasound is showing baby to be 17 so.. either ways, i'm carrying one of these.

baby the size of an avocado @16 weeks



baby the size of a turnip @17 weeks

pregnancy blues

I have PLACENTA BRAIN

nicked 3% in this household.

my excuse for being not caring.. haha! Check here for more

coming to 15 weeks

the reason why there have been no updates...

ALL DAY SICKNESS

* a BIG thank you for all who left such encouraging words and prayers on and offline regarding PCOS. It means so much to us knowing that there are friends and relatives out there who care so much for the well being of the both of us and our family to be. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as you are in ours.
Lots of love, Clyde and Chel

One in 10

Closing in on our a year and half mark of marriage and I discovered that I'm suffering from PCOS. It's said to affect 10% of the women population in the world. Can't gamble but I could just land myself in that 10% window.. sigh..

Discovery of the syndrome was upsetting, insightful of what's going on in my body but at the same time interesting with it being my first experience of a vaginal ultrasound! The word here is 'vaginal'..

So there I am lying on the bed with the ultrasound machine to the right of my head. The doc slides herself up to the bed on her stool on wheels and holds up a probe which doesn't look anything like what I'm used to seeing(short and roundish). Puts some jelly on it. Bends down to open up a drawer and pull out a string of.. CONDOMS! Packed in gold foil, Trojan brand... Haha! Like I said.. the word here is 'vaginal'. *wink* Only then did it hit me what kind of ultrasound I was going to have exactly.. We (doc and me) had a good laugh over my look of surprise with the condom in play.. A light hearted moment just before the seriousness of the situation sinking in in the form of a black and white picture. Wished ck was with me then..

Been put on medication with Metformin as part of my daily diet. It first started as 500mg pills and within few weeks, it increased to 850mg portions, 3 times a day! I HATE PILLS! It coming in a 850mg size is a real pain in the ... throat! And the side effects! *swoon....* Daily nausea and 'never experienced before' grade 10 (on the scale of 1 - 10 with 10 being the worst!) diarrhea. On the bright side.. I lost some weight! That is if you think suffering through the side effects is a good and bright enough side to lose weight.

Overall, i feel that it's the psychological effect this disease has over me thats the hardest to handle. Not being an perfect optimal 'prime' partner to produce a child together with ck... Not being strong enough. Not being healthy enough. How do you tell family members and friends when they ask you when you're having a baby? By saying, I can't?

To all PCOS sufferers and couples who are trying to add on to their family, don't lose hope. I mean it when I say I know how you feel. The loneliness and ache in your heart when you hear of friends or even strangers getting pregnant with ease or when you see a child with his/her parents just bonding and being a family or in my case see parents every week share the many magical moments with their child in my KM class. Watching them grow mentally, physically and socially.. With some parents doubting my abilities to instruct and share with them the growth of their child just because I have none of my own.. Hang on ladies.. You're not alone. Your hubby's there for you. I'm here for you.. God's here for you. I know He is for me even though there are many times I doubt that. Sometimes, I find myself barely hanging to my thread of faith but I'm still hanging in there because I know my God is good God.. With faith like a child, I claim and sing.

My God is so big!

So strong and so mighty, there's nothing my God cannot do

For me

By the way, did I mention that when I do get pregnant, there's a 50% higher chance of miscarrying than those who do not have PCOS? Talk about trials..

On strike!

Alright.. I suppose I need to at least inform readers that I'm alive and well.. =p

Have been on strike from the pc. Refusing to blog, email or even read my comics! except for checking on my downloads and uploading them to my baby drive to watch. Reason for strike, I was holding out for my expected arrival of this. But as everyone suspected.. Including yours truly, we got a call/msg a day before the expected date saying that it's been postponed.. AGAIN! New ETA, mid May. (We'll see how mid it would be huh?) The good news though is that we're expecting 2! instead of the originally said 1 as a compensation of the repeated delay to not only us but others as well.

Sooooo much has happened in the past month. Trip to Singapore and another to Kuala Lumpur for Cyril's wedding. Next on the agenda were birthdays! Tooonnnnsss of them. In chronological order (that I can remember) Unc Joseph, Matt, Ron, Ck, Wesley & me & my grandparent's anniversary & Aunty Bluela, Papa Reynold, Irene & Aunty Irene, Clara (up coming).. And even Ms Adeline C who turned sweet ol' 21 along with Matt. So have been keeping fingers working with our D50. Which has started a mob to hound me..

To the mob: It's coming!! I'm sitting down on my pc now to unload the pics! It's just going to take awhile... (=p this is what happens when the shooter is 'on strike' and possesses 2 big storage cards that enables you to take more than 500 pics each. They just sit there lying around in the cards and not in the hands of people whose faces were taken.)

Til the next blog.. Hopefully from my brand new Macbook!

*Reminder to self: Tell story of ck's first ever succesful surprise.

we know him!

Remember this guy?

ck's best man.. He's famous! =)

How to

be a good wife.. =) I like the second last point.. It's not your right to question him. sure.......... *rolls eyes

click on image for better laughs

fingers tapping

Got a msg EARLY this morning. (note to self, turn phone to silent before sleeping) Got news that my precious is coming on at end of April! Yes.. all these while, I've been typing away and doing all my computer related work on my ol' faithful who got just got pimped up with a brand new itty bitty keyboard. hehe..

That aside, we've personally been swamped with work. My part especially. Kreativgarten is moving on nice and slowly. A little too slow for my liking but still moving along. =) Managed to do some catchup with the other Mrs K last night after some time of hiatus. Nice to see her belly rounding up and lots of fun watching how much BJK is indulging her right now. However we were warned that all the manja might actually stop when the baby pops out. Hmmm... what does it take for a woman to get some extra coated sayang? Make a baby. =p

to Joss: After your indian food comment, we went to have some the next day. Wanted to take pictures to show you but was too hungry to remember so we decided to go again but once more hunger overruled all other thoughts. So yummy!! hehe.. Miss you woman! Don't overdo the cheaper than water liquid.. save some brain cells for uni.

morning call

One of the reasons for my darkening eye bags..

Yup, you counted right! 3 washing machines and they are all lined up right under our room window. Without fail every morning between 7.30 - 8.00am, I'll have my wakeup call with a prelude of beeps (in crotchet notes of C, D, E, F, G then semi quavers of C", B, A, G) followed by whirrrrr, splish splash; whirrrrrrr, splish splash.. with NO snooze button!

the loudest as it has no covers

monster blues

bye...

keeping busy

Took time out to bake. A reminder of my true love. It's been awhile since I've baked/cooked.. Enjoyed every minute of the 3 hours or so keeping busy with my mil's mixer and oven while John Mayer, Joss Stone, Renee Olstead and Herbie Hancock accompanied me through the speakers.

Recipes courtesy of the Domestic Goddess

Ultimate brownies

(my favorite recipe by far! Fudgy on the inside, crispy on the outside. Joeys are all reserved for ck)

Chocolate chip cookies - Neiman Marcus

(tweaked to my liking..)Mini cupcakes

(Vanilla flavoured with added bonus! Rummed raisins)

sip..

It's a nice change of scenery and voice to listen to. Not one of the times where someone is just taking life apart. A time of talking about anything. It was a time where I didn't have to think too much about how I should keep the conversation flowing. It was a time where I was honestly at ease with someone else in a long time. Where I didn't have to be on alert to comfort or reassure the other that all will be well. A time where all is not rosy but everyone's still looking up. (Hehe.. and also a time for the naughty side of me to come out!) Hmm.. I think I should get out a little more. By myself.. as in without ck. Girly girl time. Keep myself busy with other people.. that way, I probably won't miss him as much. Besides, I think I'm losing the art of just plain and simple catching up. yikes!

It was good just chilling out with you girl. =)
(except for the smoke! =p Next time round, it will be indoors.. *wink*)

me and him

I'm thankful and grateful for the one year that we had in our own home. If we had lived here from the start of our marriage, I don't think we would have much of a relationship in comparison of it now. We've been here for two months and for the two months, we've given up so much in terms of privacy and in terms of 'us'. I miss what we had and what we could do together. Living here may be helping in terms of finances but I think we're sacrificing lots (maybe too much) personally.

That one year of living by ourselves helps the situation though. Without that one year, that time spent being plain ol' Mister & Missus, I don't know how much I would be able to take all these past two months just going through the motions of togetherness. All we do get to do alone is sleep in the same bed and occasions of kai kai. Pretty much like dating except with sex and a little less talk. Sure hope things change soon.. Either that or I just have to be more patient and give life time to move things along.

I miss my husband.. I miss the Mister & Missus.. I miss Clyde & Chel. Trying to find ways to aid the situation. Then again, he's with a new job that drains him physically and mentally. I guess that adds to the diminishing 'us' time too. Patience.. Just patience.. Got to be the supportive wife! And find other ways to fill up what used to be us time.

Icon Buffet

Buy?

*click for larger image

*Updated

Garage sale didn't go so well especially my old shoes WHICH are in pretty good condition but apparently, my feet are too small in comparison to others in Brunei. However the main item was sold! So mil's happy. Saving all the stuffs now for the next ISB PTA carboot sale. Now that will be fun!

more bling?

Call or sms or email me if interested!

*click on image for bigger view

my valentine's gift

Thanks babe.. *kiss*

pitter patter

The babies of my life.. (click on respective picture to access their picture folders on facebook. ps: you need facebook!)

Lil' Ashley, daughter of Nane Nick & Goh ee

Lil' Darius, son of Te Tek & Wendy

temporary

Wish I could have captured all the faces most people portray when they hear me announce that we're moving back with the in-laws. One friend even asked if I was sure! (ps: we don't have a choice to change our minds..)

Truth be told, all those comments were not helping with my transition from my own home to a home which reminded me of home before. FULL of people. It's hard to be very calm about the whole process. It's hard to put on a brave face. Even now..

After almost 2 months of staying here, I have to say that it hasn't been that 'weird'. Tons of pros and cons obviously.

Major cons:

• No absolute privacy. (can't walk around naked! hehe..)
• No more kitchen of my own. (sure I can bake and cook in the kitchen here but it's just not the same! It's not the same..)
• Chinese food everyday! I miss my 'banana' roots! Pasta was our staple in our home. Here, it's been rice with a few sporadic indulgences of non-chinesey food which is a total opposite of my kind of diet. I think I've only cooked chinese food 3-5 times in the whole year of our stay in our own home.
• Chickens.. smell and sound. Roosters here have absolutely no sense of time!
• Not enough parking space. We are ALMOST typical bruneians with a ratio of 1 car to 1 person. (Bruneian ratio is 1.5 cars to 1 person)
• Not enough space. The bedroom's our room and everything. I swear that when we move next to our own home, there will be absolutely no telly in the room and I highly doubt that we will have cable.

Pros:

• I have food cooked everyday.. =P
• Don't have to worry about washing ck's clothes in time!(I wash clothes once a week or so.. Just need to check laundry basket. If it's piled up, it's time. Saves water and electricity)
• Don't have to do much house cleaning anymore! woohoo!

I wonder how long we're going to stay here..

mister vs missus : the results

The Y chromosome proved itself to be victorious.. (this time round)

The response we read from the smses were overwhelming! Especially for him. Majority voted for him! Once he told the proposal story, that was it.. Mr K is now Mr Romantic apparently.. So gentlemen (and even ladies) out there in need of ideas for a proposal or how to please a woman (or a man), email my hubby at clydeandchel@gmail.com! =)

Getting ready to answer a question.

Can't believe I lost! tsk tsk.. No matter as it was tons of FUN! Thanks to DJ Izan for the opportunity to be on air. Camera shy lady.. Scolded me when I attempted to point the camera at her! At least her assistant for the night managed to get a shot in with her..

Izan's lovely assistant

I'm still amazed at how Izan got ck to sing! Yup, you read it right. He sung on air. The 'family channel' hehe.. Am looking forward to another night with all four of us again.. Very loud! but lots of fun (esp with Izan dancing!)

Updated: Dapat permission!

Izan & Cy

mister vs missus

Will man prevail or will the XX chromosome prove to be the champion once again? Tune in this 26th of January (change of date!), Saturday @8pm to 95.9FM as Mister K takes on Mrs K in a friendly marital competition!

*click on image for webpage where you can listen live

rain rain go away...

My in-laws place is prone to floods as the other surrounding houses raised their land when building. Last Tuesday was my first experience with a flood. Unlike Ron, I was kinda 'afraid' to get in to the water in fear of the yucky stuffies that could be swimming in it! hehe.. (not the coconut la! other 'underwater' yuckies)

But never fear, my hubby's here to save the day! Well, it's more in terms of saving our car which is lowish.. good thing we've changed back the sports springs or it would have been 'flooded')

Even my mil got into the heroic act. =P

The poor chicken (who's in timeout for fighting) suffering from the wrath of the water.