Counting my blessings.. ;-)

here's one of the stars on my blessings list.. Lanner boy with his chubby cheeks! went to the doc's today and he weighed in at 5.5kgs from 3.8 last month.. hehe besra used to put on a kilo a month but 1.7kgs is simply astounding.. lol.. i'm so blessed he's such an easy baby to care for, eats, sleeps, pukes, pees, and poos but doesnt cry much.. hehe..

back at work now n can feel the pressure is on! the relief teacher for me decided she didnt hve the experience or expertise to mark the exam essays so i'm saddled with 60 essays to mark in 2 days! yikes! still i count my blessings that i'm finally in a school where i'm so appreciated and i'm giving back as much as i have received and then some. so excited for my debate girls because we won the district level and now will be debating at the state level championship...

which brings me to my other blessing on the list.. just found out the that the competition is from the 6th to 9th in a rural town of Kota Marudu.. which is absolutely PERFECT! as i leave for england on the 10th and dont get back till the 20th... weeeeeeeeeee. man upstairs works in mysterious ways!

other such blessings is of course my delicious husband, my incredibly smart mouthed girl Besra and a lovely house almost complete.. ;-) everything is rose tinted at the moment, but like everyone else, we could do with more money in our coffers! hehe.. pls donate to the wiles foundation, just ask me for our bank account number!

Just Bes n I.. n the girls.. ;-)

Kate (left) and Cora (right) are virtually Besra's big sisters, esp if u see them together.. they adore her and vice versa and they r great at looking out for her and entertaining her for hours although Bes can be a demanding lil 2 n a half year old.. spent most of the afternoon today with Besra and the girls at Martin's workplace and they had a blast swimming in the pool and making sandcastles.. in this pic, the girls buried Besra's legs and she found it really amusing.. ;-) Cora being buried to the neck and if u look carefully she has fake sand boobies! hehehehehe..

anyway, lanner stayed home with the nanny while Bes and i had some quality time together and later with daddy too.. feeling a bit melancholic cos Tuesday is fast approaching and i actually have to go back to work after 60 days of maternity leave. ah well.. gotta get back to reality some time eh!

Finally learnt to download pics from my handphone! hehe.. silly me!

1. BabyLanner, 17th April 2009, 2.95kgs, natural birth, 6.30pm water broke, 7.58pm entered the world. 43 weeks old, 5weeks premature but happy n healthy. Pic taken the next morning. ;-)

2. 18th April, baby n mommy in passenger seat while daddy drove us home for the first time. ;-)

3. Sleepin peacefully in his crib at home.. lookin a bit red n yellow though...

4. Eyes open shot.. sort of metallic blue colour.. may change to brown eventually like Besra's.

5. At hospital Likas.. probably day 3 or 4.. cant really remember. was there for 7 days. day 1 had full blood transfusion.. this was when his jaundice level stabilise and he could wear clothes again.. prior to that lanner was naked under the uv light for days with only fake black eye glasses to protect his eyes. tubes still in his hand as shown above. my boy is strong.. didnt cry much like the other kids.. n he's pull through brilliantly!

6. mommy n baby boy.. on the road to recovery..

7. Daddy n baby just before he left for his fishing tournament.

9. Family shot at the hospital.. view of the sunset in the background..

10. My boy in a froggy outfit! used to be Besra's and prior to that belonged to Liz's kids (Australia).

11.Awwwww.. so cute!

12. One eyed pirate or punk rock kid? hehe.. which do you think?
13. Besra doing a mommy.. ie breastfeeding the baby turtle! go figure! heheheheh

14. A month old.. managed to put on a whole kg even with the jaundice scare.. 3.8kgs.. nice n round now. ;-)

15. A brilliant picture if i say so myself.. two cousins... Dylan n lanner.. my boy is older by 2 days (5 weeks premature) while cousin Dylan was 10 days overdue.. hehe.. go figure!

16. Taken today.. what a big strong boy he is now.. possibly 5kgs.. can lift his head and shoulders up for quite some time.. marji my nanny says kids 3 mths old only can do this.. its a great milestone cos the docs said to watch his development in case he's affected by the jaundice episode. so far so good.. physically developing well and passed his hearing test. fingers crossed!

Super Duper Happy!!! Cambridge here I come!

Got the good news a week ago but I'm blogging abt it now cos they've actually purchased the ticket to UK for me so it's as good as confirmed! For those not in the know yet, I've been selected to represent Malaysia at an English Language Teachers' Conference by Longman Publishers at Lucy Cavendish Ladies College, Cambridge, England! Teachers from 30 countries all over the world have been invited and I'm super excited that I get to go! weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Meeting the great man himself.. the English Language Methodology bible writer himself Jeremy Harmer! Plus going punting in the river (i hear its like canoeing but with a pole) and to a gala dinner ball! Wow!

Been online shopping... for tickets! Have booked a 5 pound ticket to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre for As You Like It. They rebuilt the theatre almost exactly as it was when the great man himself was alive.. when i was studying in London in 1999/2000, i watched Anthony & Cleopatra almost as soon as i arrived in London and a week later watched Julius Ceasar on my own (a play which i studied in highschool.. so u can imagine how awe-struck i was to see it come to life!). A groundling ticket is the cheapest and BEST seat in the house cos you literally have no seat, instead u get to stand right up near the stage and many swear that getting spat on by the actors (actresses are banned as in the old days) is the ultimate shakespearean experience! hehe.. take a look at the pics!

View from the outside...

& of course the inside... i'll be standing in the yard.. hopefully close enough to the stage to be spat on! weeeeeeeeeeeeee!

As you like it... is Shakespeare's pastoral comedy. haha i just found out pastoral means idealising the lives of shepards and the lot. this play is where we get the phrases 'All the world's a stage' and 'too much of a good thing' hehe.. anyway.. very excited to see it dramatised as it should be. ;-)
Also spent $$ on a ticket for The Barber of Seville at the Royal Opera House! Price includes Champagne (i bet its only one measly glass!) and the program book. hehe... if you dont know the opera, you'll recognise the music if u go listen to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmTcmBn56Jk. Gosh i'm sooooooooooooooooo excited abt revisiting london!

Anyway, fingers crossed I dont miss any planes, trains, busses, or shows... ;-) will definitely keep ya'all posted. ;-)

Besra's one-liners

Lil children say the cutest things.. here r some of Besra's bests...:

1. After watching Ryan Seacrest: 'RIGHT BACK MOMMY, RIGHT BACK!"

2. When she's jealous: HOW ABOUT ME MOMMY? (In her sad, pitiful voice)

3. After daddy kisses her: MY DADDY PIKEY! (PIKEY:SPIKY STUBBLE, she cant pronounce the 'S' well)

4. When she's excited: PRESENT? FOR ME??? YAY! (Jumps up and down)

5. When she's being loveable: I LOVE YOU MOMMY. I LOVE YOU DADDY. (using the cutest lil voice ever!)

6. When she wants attention: TALK TO ME MOMMY!

I particularly like number 6... so incredibly adorable... anyway, just thought i'd list this so that one day Besra can read this and say: That was me?! ;-) I love my lil girlie... ;-)

More lanner's full moon pics.. ;-)

Lucky parents of two adorable kids!

1st taste of champagne for my baby boy... ok.. i didnt really... but the rest of us did!

Passion for cake!

All of us... the Koh Clan plus godma Aloysia... a toast for Lanner, welcome to the world!

Thanks Liza for the choc cake!

My lovely lil boy... so serene... hope he doesnt turn into a lil terror in the future!

just the four of us... ;-)

thanks mom n dad for celebrating my full moon! weeeeee i'm super happy! gurgle gurgle!

Lanner's godma.. Aloysia and her lovely woman.. Liza..

Two cousin babies! Lanner 17th April 2009, 2.95kg, Dylan 19 April 2009 3kg. Jo and I are super proud mommies!

17 May, Lanner's Full Moon Party

Grandma cuddling the star of the party! He's wearing a blue baby outfit given by sister-in-law-to-be Joeanne which reads: CHICK MAGNET. hehehehehehehe.. ;-)

Whoa... thanks to the tons of people who came for Lanner's full moon (1 month) party... lots of lovely red packets were collected plus all the pressies you can see in the pic. we had the party last sunday at 3pm at Langkah Syabas Resort where Martin works and a fantastic time was had by all! Lanner drank his milk, burped, slept, peed n poo-ed and the cycle repeated itself so i doubt if he knew we were celebrating his safe arrival! hehe.. anyway, lots of people took turns to cuddle him and give him his milk...;-) Lanner boy.. your fan club is gainin in number by the minute!

This was before the festivities took off in the restaurant. Hot chick in the pic is Beatrice, Besra's chinese god-mother or better known as Khai-Ma. ;-) We arrived a couple of hours early so Besra and her friends Chelsea and my god-daughter Natalia could frolic in the pool.. awww... look at my lil waterbabies below...

Some of the first to attack the delicious food.. spaghetti, fish fingers, chicken wings, homemade beef sausages, feta salad, coleslaw, potato salad, tuna and egg sandwiches... needless to say, the snack menu was a hit! ;-)

once the cake was cut besra had to have her share! hehe... anyway, i havent collected the photos from the professional photographer so there will be a part two to lanner's party shots. especially want to include the cake cutting and champagne toasting pictures with the whole family. hope to get the pics soon. ;-) anyway, glad baby lanner is doing well, and baby besra is a big girl now. ;-) have 1 more month of maternity leave left then it's back to work. at the moment, i'm savouring every minute of it! hugs all round!

Martin's biggest grouper to date... 22kg

As i mentioned before, Martin went for a fishing competition recently and landed this huge grouper. He was quite disappointed with the fight it put up, or lack of fight to be exact. for it's size the fish didnt give much resistance. Anyway, its still his biggest to date. This year, martin's team didnt do too well in the overall competition but one of his teammates got an individual prize. ;-) ah well, there's always next time!

More pics of my boy...

Just the three of us... ;-)

Besra and daddy by our mango tree at our land. ;-)

Lanner in a froggy suit, sent from Oz, thanks Liz... Besra wore it too when she was that tiny. ;-)

Lanner's foot in my hand... so u can imagine how small it/he is.. ;-)

Best seat in the house!

Owww... in this pic he's grabbin my finger... a bit red n yellow so you can tell this was before the transfusion. he looks like a chinaman in this pic. i assure u he no longer looks like this. ;-) he's much cuter now!

Lanner Boy!

This was taken the morning after Lanner was born. my sis was at a dinner party in a posh restaurant and when i called her she popped by the gift shop n bought lanner the green turtle with the cute huge eyes. ;-) plus she got me tons of chocs... man i havent needed a sugar rush so bad, all the puking made me weak. haha.. go chocolates!

One big happy... Daddy, Besra, Mommy n Lil Lanner the day i got home.. at 2.95kg lanner was almost twice besra's size when she was born... and this time, giving birth actually hurt! martin had to endure me screaming in pain when the contractions came and kept getting closer. when we arrived at the clinic, it was 3 mins apart so i was screaming like mad! he says it was torture listening to me. hehe.. at least he suffered a lil!

This was the 3rd morning... he was more red than yellow and like i said before, besra had a bit of yellow and it went away, so i assumed the same, besides he's of mixed blood... tot that's just his natural colour!

Martin n his reels.. ;-) this is his penn 50 and if u notice in the picture, martin has actually bought another penn 50 cos it was a good deal.. hah! He took a similar shot when besra was born as can be seen here below. hehe.. my two lil cherubs can have a penn 50 each when they r old enough... ;-)

So do you think the two kids look alike?! if u ask me, they really do! even the mannerisms when u hold them and burp them. hehe. but besra has bigger eyes and cried a lot more too! lanner is a quiet one, for now that is! ;-)