Bali Trip - 2013

Why does it take so long to plan and prepare for a vacation, but it is over before you know it? I guess this the Bali trip will be our last vacation for 2013. For our next vacation (no idea where and when), little bun #2 will definitely be coming with us. 

Little bun yelling "airplane" excitedly over and over again. I guess after our Melbourne trip, he knows that airplanes = going somewhere nice and fun.

Getting restless while waiting to board..

Father and son doing the exact same thing once we stepped into the hotel room!!

The view from the patio of our room.. I like how blue the sky is, how white the clouds are and how green the plants look. Being on holiday puts anyone in a good mood!

 Little bun and his daddy chilling out at the lobby deck. The hotel's lobby has a magnificent view of the beach and horizon.

The view at dusk...

 And the view in the morning

A couple of weeks back, a friend she shared with me the good news that she is pregnant. I was overjoyed for her cos she had previously shared with me that she and her hubby had been trying for over 2 years to conceive, and having been through the long and lonely road of struggling to conceive, I could totally feel her joy. 

Just before I left for the Bali trip, I received a message from her saying that her water bag was leaking and she was in hospital on complete bed rest. Right away a feeling of dread descended upon me and I felt the breath being knocked out from my lungs. It was all too familiar. Too hauntingly familiar.

My friend was only 23 weeks along, there's still quite some time to go before she is 28 weeks, which is the cutoff period where the baby will stand a decent chance of survival and normality. I didn't quite know how to react.... On one hand, I wanted to be positive, cheer her on and ask her to keep the faith. On the other hand, I knew from experience that the prognosis wasn't good. She was too far away from 28 weeks, or even 26 weeks. Every single day that the baby manages to stay inside the womb counts, however, since the water bag was already compromised, the odds of infection setting in thereby triggering preterm labour was very high. Unfortunately, no matter how advanced medical science is, there isn't a way to mend/ patch up a leaking water bag. 

My heart was aching and I had to share the news with Mark because I just had to get it off my chest. It brought back memories of how we lost our little Chloe at 24 weeks and 2 days - a leaking water bag followed by preterm labour, and our world came crashing down. I wish with all my heart that no one would ever go through what Mark and I went through. 

Unfortunately, my worst fears came true and my friend lost her baby girl that same evening. I didn't quite know how to console her cos I have been through that myself and I know during that time I was inconsolable. I hated myself, I hated the world, I hated God. I cried till I couldn't cry no more, and raged against my fate. I was my own worst enemy. 

For now, I just hope my friend and her hubby will stand together and weather this tornado that'd change their lives forever. From the sounds of it, I am sure my friend will require a cervical suture when she gets pregnant again. My only advice to my friend.. Dear Jules, Cry and then fight. Just cry as much as you like, and when you are tired from crying or when you know you cannot cry anymore, pick yourself up and continue the fight towards motherhood so that Baby J wouldn't have sacrificed in vain. I refused to give up my fight towards being a mother because I didn't want Lucas and Chloe to sacrifice in vain.. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't have my 2 buns today.

Bless the little girl they lost.. I hope Lucas and Chloe will take her under their little wings and show her around the heaven which is their playground.

Finally a decent photo of me and the boys!! It is not 'perfect'.. just look at little bun's exposed tummy, his grim expression (he was trying to wriggle away), my messy air and huge tomato nose, the messy background, etc, but the saving grace is at least all 3 of us are looking at the camera! Only little den-den is looking quite zen about the chaos around him (this is how he is normally, cool as cucumber and unfazed by anything).

Den-den's new favorite playtime is in the Jumperoo, the one which Mark got for little bun when he turned 6 months. I am very happy that we got more use out of it!!

Little bun in the newly-purchased Jumperoo 18 months ago

Little bun #2 chilling out in the Jumperoo!

(The baby Cookie Monster toy is a new addition which I bought during our trip to Melbourne)

Bali Trip - 2013

We are going for another vacation soon, leaving on 29 Sep!! This time we are off to the lovely resort island of Bali. This trip was planned a long time ago, shortly after little bun #2 was born. We will be travelling together with our neighbor from upstairs who has a daughter the same age as little bun. We have grown very close cos we are the same age group and have kids around the same age too (they are expecting their #2 in Jan 2014). Hopefully the kiddos will have fun in each other's company. 

Once again like with the Melbourne trip, we have booked ourselves at a very new hotel (Sheraton). I have read online varied feedback about the property which has made me rather apprehensive. Fingers crossed that it'd exceed my expectations like the service apartment that we stayed at in Melbourne. 

This should be a fun trip.. not planning on doing anything much expect to chill and relax by the pool/ beach. There's a mall attached to the hotel too so it'd be easy for us to have access to a variety of food outlets. 

After this trip, no more 'infant fare' for little bun!!

Brothers banded together as friends,

Ready to face whatever life sends.

Joy and laughter, or tears and strife,

Holding hands tightly as we face the world and dance through life

I have a simple wish. I hope my boys will continue to want to hold hands as they grow up together.. And as they walk through life, I hope they will always be each other's best friend and confidante. 

He really enjoys his food.. I was giving him some mashed bananas and he loved it so much he actually yelled/cried when he saw me walking away with the empty bowl. 

"I say gimme that bowl, mom!!"

"No food, so my toes will have to suffice for now.."

My 2 older boys (aka Mark and little bun) slipped out to the poolside on Sunday morning for some quality father and son bonding time. It allowed little bun #2 and I to sleep in for a wee bit longer as little bun can make quite a ruckus at home when he is playing.

Mid Autumn Festival 2013

We celebrated Mid Autumn Festival on Thursday and Mark came home early so that we had time to bring the boys out for a walk around the compound, with their lanterns of course! We did the same for little bun last year but unfortunately, he was too young to enjoy so he ended up brawling most of the time, so our leisurely stroll ended up being a brisk walk.

He fared better this year (thankfully) and finally looked like he was enjoying himself. What a big difference a year makes..

Little bun #2 was messing with the mooncake under the watchful eye of his big brother. We took both boys out with the 2 lanterns but I don't think den-den had any clue what was happening. He did seem to be intrigued by the flashing lights of the lanterns. Hmmm.. this time next year and he will probably be able to enjoy it more. 

Little bun #3???

Realized that I have a photo of them in very similar pose when both were around 6 months old. When I first showed little bun's Godmother the photo of him chewing on his left toes (first photo), her first comment was "He is going to be a big brother and he will have a little brother next". At that time, having another child is the furthest thing from my mind cos I didn't think I can ever fall pregnant naturally, plus I wasn't planning to. So I pooh-poohed at her comment and we laughed it off. 

Lo and behold, 3 months after the photo was taken, I discovered that I was pregnant. Yes, with a boy.  

Few weeks back, I took this photo of a nearly 6 month old little bun #2 chewing on his right toes and I sent the photo to little bun's Godmother again. This time, she said "Ahhh... it's going to be a girl next".

What I learnt from little bun's Godmother is there is this old wives tale that if the baby is chewing on his left toes, he/she will have a little brother, and if it's the right toes the baby is chewing on, then it'd mean a little sister. Seriously don't know if it's purely coincidental, but I am sure after Mark reads this, he will be taking due precautions.