Little Cozy Corner

Pelf made a good point when she wrote that it would be easiest to read about a blogger’s year in one post if everyone did a reflection post about what happened in 2007. She did one and indeed, it had the gist of 2007 and really made me think [and she mentioned this as well] that I wouldn’t need to worry if I didn’t frequent your blog coz all I would need to do is hop over on 31/12 and read that one post and voila, 2007 in a nutshell…hence, I decided to write mine as well. What has 2007 been like for me? A lot of lessons learnt and certainly, many eye openers too.

The first big news for Ted and I was when we found out that we were expecting a little golden piglet in August! [Not a very good image coz of my old crappy digi-cam but it's the original one.]

That was in Dec/Jan, and ever since I found out about the little one, I had started a new blog, Kecik’s Cozy Corner, for her to keep track of practically everything that happened during the pregnancy and now, it’s the blog I maintain for all my baby stories. I had also started my journey writing sponsored post and made quite a sum from it but with all the sponsored posts, I have lost a large number of readers, which is sad since I love getting comments and well, everyone wants to be a ’superstar’, no? But I’m stuck in that yoyo feeling between writing sponsored posts and my personal stuff because it really does bring in some cash and when you’re a stay at home mum, it’s the least you can do to rake in your own pocket money. So although I’ve cut down a lot on these sponsored posts, don’t be surprised to see a few every now and then. Did I also mention that because of PPP, my GoogleRank is now 0???? Basket betui!

In March, I returned to Malaysia for a very long holiday  - 3 months and it was because it was the last time I ever returned home ’alone’. After all, wherever I go these days, I have to bring Ella. It felt so good to be home especially with Mum and all my other relatives and friends. The glorious food was merely a huge added bonus. While I was there, I attended my bestfriend’s wedding in March. I went down to KL for that but didn’t have time to meet up with any bloggers as I had hoped.

And right after that, I was back working at my old office as a temp replacement for another friend [who took over my spot when I left] who went on maternity leave. That was another occasion that made me very happy because I got to be with my old friends and to be working in such a familiar environment was super!

Needless to say, shopping for Ella was definitely on the list. In the beginning, we didn’t know the gender and it was agreed that we would make it a surprise but I caved in! lol Turns out we were having a little girl and hence, the shopping began.

I had high hopes of getting some stuff from our trip to Padang Besar but I was very disappointed after that long journey. However, I did enjoy myself at Gua Tempurung.

In May, I celebrated pre-Mother’s Day dinner with my Mum at my Uncle’s cafe called Kofi Haven. I also got a Mother’s Day gift too! Hehehe….

After having all that fun and settling back into life in Kulim, it was time to return home to Sydney. I had to leave in June otherwise the airlines wouldn’t take me on board for being past the allowed number of weeks for pregnant women which was a bugger coz I would have loved to have stayed longer. On the other, hand I was really missing Ted and he missed out on feeling the baby move for the first time. It was a bittersweet moment for me really. But the consolation was that my sis was coming back with me and further down the road, Mum would also be with me after Ella was born, so that was all good.

Being animal lovers, we didn’t miss out on any chance of going to the zoo and petting animals. I must say that my mum wasn’t too pleased with this beach whale handling animals! lol =P I’m sure you know why…..all the pantangs la, that’s why!

The biggest and most important thing that happened in 2007 was….Ella’s birth, my first born. [Note : The birth story is rather graphic but trust me, I left out quite a bit already! It's not there to scare off potential mums-to-be because trust me, when it's your first, you'll want to find out ALL you can to be prepared but honestly, nothing you do or read will be able to prepare you for birth. ;)]

This picture was taken a week before the birth and was upload on the 11/8/2007 - in the morning! Ella was 9 days early.

The moment….

The proud Mummy and Daddy…and their little Eel.

In September, Ted celebrated his first Father’s Day and he’s very proud of it. In fact, Ella has been his inspiration for a webcomic, Kecik!, which he has been trying to put up on a daily basis but with working crazy hours, it’s not that regular. However, he tries very hard so if you’re popping by, do give him your support, ya?

On 12/9/2007, we celebrated Ella’s mor guek [sp?] which the the celebration of a baby’s first month. We invited my aunt and uncle to join us for Chinese that night.

On 17/9/2007, Mum flew back home. That was another one of those sad days for me because I had gotten so used to having her at home and her company was just something I really treasured what when you’re home alone with only a baby for company. So yes, having adult company is something I miss but, I’m still ok. I got your blogs to check out when I’m free and bored. Hehe…but seriously, there is hardly a dull moment with Ella.

In October, we began looking for a new place to purchase since we are currently renting this unit. I must say that it’s tough getting a place that you like. I absolutely love my current unit but there are issues which makes it a bad property to purchase so we are really looking hard, high and low for a new place. Even getting the finances in order had taken such a long time! Fingers crossed we will be able to settle all of this come Jan/Feb 08 coz Mum and Sis are coming out at the end of February for Ella’s baptism.

Another achievement [don't know if you can call it that or not]on a persoal note, is the fact that I’ve gotten involved with writing some articles for The Giving Hands, Pelf’s charity project. I try to write and submite an article once a fortnight so far, so good. I’ve also joined PK Tan to blog about Malaysia wildlife conservation awareness campaign and have an article ready to be posted tomorrow. Please join me and spread the word, k? To be totally honest, I’ve never gotten involved with any sort of writing like this before and I feel a personal sense of satisfaction and feeling that although it’s not much, it’s still something and I know I can do more but I prefer to take baby steps. Perhaps I will take on more challenging tasks along the rod but for now, spreading the word is the way to go.

Finally, in December, we celebrated our first Christmas together as a family. And I have been diligently playing with Photoshop and this is one of my first creations. It isn’t THAT fantastic and I’m far from being a pro but it’s a start. I don’t think I have enough imagination to start something from scratch! ;P

This is another one of my creations as well. A photo of Ella taking her first picture with Santa.

Here is Daddy with Ella posing in front of Grandma’s Christmas tree. Would you believe it if I told you that I forgot to take a family picture of the 3 of us this Christmas??? Funny how all your priorities are turned upside down when you have a little baby of your own. But it’s worth it, really.

And there you have it, my year 2007 in a nutshell. Here’s wishing you a very blessed happy new year and may 2008 be properous and more productive in any possible and imaginable way. O, and may your new year resolution [yes, RESOLUTION, not resolutionS]* come true.

*Why? I’ll tell you tomorrow.

Ted mentioned to me that it would be awesome if we could purchase a Plasma tv and with all these post-Christmas sales all over the nation, it’s really a high posibility! And if we did own such a tv, I can imagine how often I’d be popping by the video store going crazy renting all those high, action packed movies to make full use of the Plasm tv.

But seeing how small our unit is, we would seriously have to consider if getting a Plasma tv is a good idea. I mean, if you wanna get a plasma tv, its got to be a good size - BIG is good. Sadly, it’s the space that we don’t have BUT if we had a tv lift….then it’s a different story. We could have then have the tv tucked nicely in the special plug ‘n’ play console. Save space and look good too.

Brought to you by Import Advantage

Christmas came and went in a blink of the eye. All the anticipation and then you blink, and now it’s another 363 before Christmas comes again. So, how was your Christmas? Mine was quiet as it was last Christmas but the bonus if that we got Ella to celebrate it with. Partying started with a Christmas Eve party at Ted’s friends place and Ella got loads of toys there. It was rather claustrophobic [sp?] for me coz there were SO many kids running around. It was like a mad house! Good thing that Ella handled it VERY well and was only tough trying to get her to sleep being in a strange place and all but tiredness gave in any way. Ever seen what a place looks like after 10 odd kids have stripped their presents opened? Well, here’s what it looked like anyway…

After we got home, there was still one more present to be opened, so I opened it for Ella - Daddy had the chance to open the rest at the party.

On Chrismas morning, it was pressie opening time and this is what I got from Mum.

Very creative!!

Then it was time to get over to have Christmas lunch at Grandma’s.

Ella was suppose to wear this dress but it was a little chilly that day so she had to wear something else BUT the cute pink ribbon is still there! Btw, that yellow jumper she’s wearing was knitted by Grandma - talented Grandma!

Grandma roasted quails for us but had the ham and turkey bought and prepared, I think. Lunch was great but the presents were better!

She was obviously thrilled and so am I! She’s got a lot of clothes now so I don’t have to buy those cutes ones for now. We also got a train set from Grandma’s friends, it’s gorgeous!

It was about 5pm when we left for home, all happy and contented. Well, at least it was that way for Ella coz she was grumpy during lunch.

Chilling out with Uncle William’s [also known as Bill, my brother in law who was the one carving the leg of ham] teddy….all ready to go home.

Hope your Christmas was fun. Happy New Year!!!

Ps. If you’ve never seen a ‘drunk’ baby - be sure to check out more Christmas shots of Ella over at Kecik’s blog.

It’s Ella’s first Christmas. Soo….. taa-daa!!!

From all of us, to all of you.

Have a blessed Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

Ps. We’re off to the in-laws for lunch. Hopefully I’ll get a card full of pix to share. =P

It’s such a trend these days that it won’t be long before you’d be considered a loser if you didn’t own one of these gadgets! It’s been said to be one of the top Christmas gifts this year and the demand is extremely high so it wouldn’t surprise me if trying to get one turns out to be tougher that you thought.

A GPS can be extremely useful and addictive too if you’re a frequent traveler by road. With a huge 4.3 inch touchscreen display, getting information couldn’t be easier. It’s really got a whole load of features that could really spin your head. So go on, be sure to get one this Christmas!

Brought to you by Buy.com

That’s the tag line for a wonderful campaign that you can sign up and come join me on the bandwagon. In fact, why not take this challenge up and start the new year with a bang of goodness and spread the news?

We can’t save nature on our own hence, the need to spread the word on conservation awareness especially for the wildlife in Malaysia first. Although we also need to save the whales from getting culled by Japan, let’s start at home first, because like charity and most good habits, they always start at home.

Don’t know what to do? Well, what you can do is :

• On the 1st Jan 2008: Blog / Write a post that relates to the Malaysia wildlife conservation. It can be to do with your usual topic or totally just about a Malaysia wildlife conservation issue. [I've got my article done up and just waiting to submit it to PK Tan.]
• Inform other people about this campaign and explaining it in terms they understand.
• Support the campaign: Add our banner to your site and spread the word. [You can see it on my sidebar and the HTML codes can be found here.]

Hopefully, with your help, we can cause a chain reaction as mentioned in Travel Malaysian Guide and BOOM!, conservation awareness for Malaysia wildlife.

If we don’t save our animals, who will?