Hello 31!

The weekend before my birthday, I spent my entire Saturday volunteering for Daffodil Day.

The next Sunday, we did a spontaneous trip to Daylesford and we had a yummy lunch at The Farmers Arms Hotel. 

More food mama!

The Lavandula Farm in Daylesford

The long drive and lunch obviously made Little Bambi quite tired..

Then the week came and it was busy at work (as usual). 

Coincidently, all of us mummies from Mothers Group agreed (a few weeks before) to go out for dinner and drinks on Thursday night, and they surprised me with a cake! 

Then on Friday, we did a scavenger hunt for work. I was made the team captain of my team, and I cringed when I found out my bosses boss was in my team! But in the end, it probably worked to our benefit because we won! Either that, or it was because I picked Richmond for our team (as I am a Tigers supporter).

This is when we had to eat a pie, all at the same time.

And finally on Saturday, Grumpy prepared a feast at home for our friends and Dopey.

Home made yong tau foo and soy sauce braised pork belly

Group shot with Little Bambi and even the dog!

With Little Bambi a bit older now, I have been able to celebrate my birthday this time round with more activities, and it has been a lot of fun! Of course Grumpy played a big part in it all, supporting me with the charity work, looking after Little Bambi while I was out at night or staying back for work. And of course, with him cooking all my favourite food and sharing a meal with my closest friends together with Little Bambi, it was the perfect way to celebrate my 31st birthday! Here's to the first year of my thirties!

Sleep Better

Things have been a lot better since the start of the month.

For starters, at the end of July, my old boss at work told me about a potential BA role in her stream. I jumped immediately and was all like "Pick me! Pick me!". The next day which was a Thursday, I met the hiring project manager and my old boss for coffee at a restaurant downstairs in our building, and in less than 15 minutes, the project manager goes "Yes, I want you on board. Lets get the ball rolling". By that Friday, my current boss released me from my previous role effective immediately, and I was so happy that I did not have to deal with any of the idiot consultants who have been causing me so much grief! This secondment role is a different step from my previous project management role, but considering my mummy status now, my priorities have changed. I am still in the same effing 'never ending' project, but just working in a different stream.

Requesting for this change of roles at work, I highlighted to my bosses about my need for work life balance at the moment. Working full time, I need to be able to leave the office on time, which I have NOT been able to do at all previously. My hours have changed slightly, I start at 8am instead of 8.30am. And so I leave work at 4.30pm instead of 5pm. Also, I squeezed in a request to be able to work from home on Fridays. I still send Little Bambi to childcare on Fridays, but with working from home, I am able to drop her off later, and pick her up earlier.

So there you go, the pressure has been off for the moment. Its strange, how I never liked my old boss when I started at the firm, and now we are close and she has been instrumental with this move. On Thursday this week, we went to the Cancer Council Victoria for Volunteer Day (with work) together.

At home, it has been a bit over two weeks now that my mum has left. So Grumpy and I are on our own caring for Little Bambi. It has been challenging, a bit tiring at times, but overall, we are closer than before. Its all about teamwork right? In the mornings, after I wake Little Bambi up, I breastfeed her, and straight away hand her over to Grumpy, while I run for the train. He then puts her on the potty, changes her nappy, dresses her, and drops her off to childcare. He is also in charge of cooking - he whips up dinner for Little Bambi and us too.

Working full time, I know how my time with Little Bambi is limited. I only get to spend full days with her on weekends. And as such, I have decided to hire a cleaner, that comes to our place once a fortnight. This cleaners costs us an arm and a leg, but that gives me the luxury of spending more time with Little Bambi, instead of scrubbing toilets.

I have also started going back to the gym now. Previously, working long hours, being stressed, lack of sleep blah blah blah, made going to the gym nearly impossible. But now, I go for classes with two of the mums from our Mothers Group, which is great. It is important for me to be fit and healthy, and at the same time, keep in contact with the mums. They update me with the latest goss, new trends and baby developments. We have a girls night out planned in two weeks, and I am looking forward to it.

I sleep better these days, and also, after taking a dose of antibiotics, I have recovered from my cold and throat/chest infection.

My birthday is at the end of this month. I am getting old. What a bitch!

15 Year Anniversary

While sitting at my desk at work this morning, looking at today's date, I realised it was our 15 year anniversary. Since we got married, we stopped celebrating the 8th of August because the 23rd of January became the new official anniversary. Regardless, I still remember the 8th of August very fondly, and 15 years is a big enough milestone for us!

I have been looking at my iPhone and my laptop, searching for a recent photo of just the two of us. Unfortunately there is NONE! Oh dear.. its either the three of us together (like the one here), or just myself and Little Bambi, or Grumpy with Little Bambi. But that is okay, before the arrival of Little Bambi, we had like 14 years of 'just the two of us' photos. 

Having my mum live in our home for the past couple of months, we have been lucky to be able to sneak out for date nights (while my mum stayed home to look after Little Bambi). We would go to the movies at least once a week at night, and also, every Thursday night, we would head to 2 Brothers for some beer and a pizza, just for some alone time. But this arrangement was not permanent, of course. It has been over a week now that my mum has left Melbourne to return to Malaysia, and so its back to just Grumpy and myself with Little Bambi. So far we have been enjoying our family time together.

Okay I am getting sleepy now. Bed time for me! Happy anniversary to my dearest Grumpy, the father of my Little Bambi. Now that she is in our lives, looking back, I would not have it any other way. 

13 Months

I was not sure if I should continue taking Little Bambi's monthly portraits after she turned one, but I decided to continue for my own pleasure, seeing how quickly she's grown into the little girl that she is.

At 13 months, Little Bambi is so much fun. On Thursday night, as usual, I put her to bed at 7pm, then I left her room to have dinner with Grumpy. 30 minutes later, I went to check on her, if she was asleep, but she was not. She was just lying in her cot, talking and playing with her stuffed toys. We spent the next hour and a half, just giggling and being silly together.

At 13 months, she is still not interested in walking. She still loves to be carried and cuddled, she is very affectionate (in other words, quite clingy). But that is okay, considering she spends 4 full days in child care each week. That gives her every right to be clingy with her mum and dad!

Her hair is growing now, which is great because I love doing stuff to her hair. Haha this is one of the reasons I wanted a daughter in the first place! In this photo, she actually has a little pony tail at the back of her head.

At 13 months, she has learnt to become a picky eater. I read that it is normal among toddlers. She still accepts all types of food. However, the difference now is that half way through a meal, she will decide that she has had enough. That it is, mama! No more, I don't want any more food, get it out of my sight! Jeeezzzzz...

Recently, she has been obsessed with baths. She has always enjoyed bath time, it is a fact, but now, she is clever enough to REFUSE to leave her bath. After Grumpy has soaped her and all, he will try to lift her out the bath, instead she holds on to both sides of the bath with her little pruned fingers - clinging on for dear life. She is absolutely hilarious. I can't imagine my life without her!

Sick and Miserable

Of course after weeks of stress at work, lack of sleep, anxiety, pressure and a whole lot more, my body decides to break down and with that, I picked up a bad cold, cough and a sore throat. I put on a smiley face in front of everyone, but who am I kidding? I am sick and miserable on in the inside. Little Bambi has the exact same symptoms as I do, and we are both just soldier-ing on without any medication.

Here are some photos to cheer myself up. Everyday before I go to work, I feed Little Bambi and then we watch a few YouTube videos on the iPad and then we snap a few photos (while she is still in her sleeping bag).

Come on Jules! Find the strength to carry on!

P.S. How exciting is it? The Royal Baby is on its way!

12 Months

I am three and a half weeks late with this post (no, not my period - if that was what you were guessing haha), but that just goes to show how busy, lazy, tired and lazy (again) I am!

So my Little Bambi finally turned 1! What a huge milestone it was! Look how grown up she looks here in this picture!

At 12 months, she can stand on her own now, but she has not learnt to walk yet.

At 12 months, she has a total of 6 teeth. We have started giving her food with a bit more taste, i.e. chinese porridge with pork or fish (marinated in soy sauce) which she absolutely loves! The past 6 months has been very westernised meals (you know the Annabel Karmels, chicken casserole, beef bolognese, pasta, toast - all with no salt), but now that she has passed the 12 months mark, she is back to being a chinese baby! By the way, I am still breastfeeding. I know I know, many people say once your kid turns 1, breast feeding after this point is strange, but I am determined to get past winter with better immunity for her system.

At 12 months, Little Bambi can pronounce or repeat certain words after us. She has a much better understanding of the environment that she is in, what is happening, etc. She is very clever and can express herself so well.

She has grown so much, and because of her mum's busy work schedule, we have not been able to make it to our 12 month appointment with the maternal & child health nurse yet. Next week, I promise! Once we meet the nurse, we can weigh Little Bambi and see how she is progressing in the growth department. I keep telling myself I need to stick a little growth chart on the wall of Little Bambi's room and tick it every week (to see how far she has grown). When I was little, each weekend, my uncle used to measure our height (my cousins and I) against the wall, and I remember clearly how I used to be the tallest, next to the two boys! Btw, I am still waiting for her hair to grow longer.

We celebrated her first birthday party, which was a huge success! Minus the food poisoning I encountered after. Long story. I will write another post about her birthday party.

Overall, the past 12 months has been an amazing year for me. Being a first time mum, having Little Bambi in my life, how my priorities have changed, yet I would not have it any other way. She is the love of my life!

Happy 12 months my Little Bambi!

Tough Week

Last week was an extremely tough week for me at work. The politics, the new idiots they hire, the pressure and the way we seem to do things at the very last minute.. it is driving me insane. I have not been sleeping well all week, constantly waking up every few hours and the only thoughts in my head are about work, work and more work! This is NOT GOOD for my soul! Little Bambi's first birthday is just round the corner, and I would rather be doing fun stuff like organising her cake and getting ready for the day!

Apart from an awful week at work, Little Bambi had a throat infection and also contracted a viral infection on the skin at the side of her face, and near her ear area. There was one night where she was crying uncontrollably, and it just made me feel so helpless as a mother! The doctor did not prescribe anything for the throat infection, but we did go to the pathologist to test for the viral infection at the side of her face. 

Our family portrait is finally ready, Grumpy and I picked it up on Thursday night. Yesterday I googled a framing store, and immediately, Little Bambi and I drove there to get our portrait framed. The family portrait is a custom size, hence I had to get it custom framed. I am extremely happy with the portrait! I will post a picture here once the framing is done. 

It is the long weekend, and while we are all very busy with family and Little Bambi's birthday coming up, I have been enjoying my time with Little Bambi and Grumpy. Last night Grumpy and I went out for a movie, I was hoping to watch The Great Gatsby, but there were no seats left, so we settled for Hangover 3 which was so dumb! 

Today we went for a drive to the Yarra Valley to have lunch and some beer at the White Rabbit Brewery in Healesville. It was good fun!

My baby is turning 1 soon!

After we got home, I started sneezing a lot, and I think I am down with a cold. I might have gotten it from Little Bambi (she probably picked it up from another kid at her child care!) There is nothing worse than falling sick during the week of my baby's first birthday! AHHH PUTAINNNN!!