BDP : AT THE AIRPORT

(From now on, posts that's older will be tagged BDP : Back-dated Post !)

This was when we went to the airport. When I checked the date of when the pictures were taken, it was 1st of November 2009!

Hah! almost a year to the date.

I hang my head in shame!

I am such a bad, bad blogger!

 They even smile alike!

Photographic proof that we were at the airport - here we have a pic of planes.

POUTS & TANTRUMS

Looking at these photos, I can't recall what transpired (haha ... am I just getting old & my memory is failing me or its just too many tantrum-throwing that I can't recall them all). I caught many grumpy looks & even some hand-pointing. Not a pretty picture I tell you but nonetheless important to etch in memory.

We all love to think that our children are perfect little angels. The reality is ... they are NOT! My Ryan ain't no angel, I am the first in line to admit that. He sometimes throws tantrums or gives me sour-grumpy looks when he doesn't get his way. But that does not mean that I let him get away with it! No siree!

I am one of those parent that would rather reprimand my own child when he misbehaves than let someone else do the scolding. I am aghast at rude & bad behaviour, especially from children. I also don't understand when parents can just sit back & let their kids say whatever they want, do whatever they want! Does that make it ok? ... just because the parents choose to keep quiet & let the ugly behaviour transpire? I think not! I may not be able to teach other people's children some manners but I'll be damned if my child takes after that bad behaviour. I think I need to speak up more if I want Ryan to grow up to be a respectable man. Shouldn't we teach our children from young? Shouldn't we protect our kids from being bullied? Do we sit back & say nothing ... or do we speak up ... for our kid's sake?

Ryan may not be the best behaved child nor the most gracious, but it is very important to me that he learns to be nice, courteous & honourable.

Now ... if only he would learn to share his things ... that would be good, no?

Still looking sweet here ...

Sour, angry!

Hey! Stop gritting your teeth & stop pointing, boy!

A HAND-ME DOWN JACKET

Ryan is a lucky little boy. He gets tons of hand-me-downs from family & (Mummy's) friends. And in return, when Ryan's outgrows the many clothes or toys, we pay it forward by giving away these toys to other family & friends. Many a times we have given them to charitable organisations too.

Its my way of passing on & blessing others with the many blessings bestowed on us. These items may not be new but they are still in good working condition. Besides, kids outgrow clothes & toys within a blink of an eye that it'll be such a waste to buy brand new when you can get them as hand-me-downs.This also works out for us as we are trying very hard to be ultra-frugal these days. 

I am not a parent that scorns at second-hand goodies. Nor am I vaguely embarrassed to admit openly that my son wears a LOT of pre-worn clothes & plays with a huge variety of wonderful pre-loved toys. 

The fact that Ryan has so many hand-me-downs stuff ... shows that so many people around him ... love him, right? See .. I told you Ryan is one lucky kid!

Ok, so ... the hooded-jacket was given to Ryan by my friend, Lisa (used to be her kids'). Ryan looks cute when he raises the hood to his pretty little head. Here I got some nice pics of him at home.

SO PEACEFUL

Don't all kids look peaceful when they sleep?

The only time that my Ryan can be quiet & still .... is when he sleeps. He's so hyper-active & talkative that sometimes its hard to keep up with him. Try spending a day with this small boy & you'll understand why me & Hubby tire easily these days (of course it doesn't help that we are cranky old folks).

I love to see my son sleep (& rested). It means that I can now have some semblance of peace & quiet ... even if its for a while ...

I love you baby, sweet dreams!

ROLLING WITH TRANSFORMERS

Remember when Ryan used to be sooo obsessed with The Transformers. The obsession may have lessened considerably but he loves those robots still. We bought these Transformers mats at Toys R Us when they were on sale.

Yes ... we spoil our little Ryan but he loves us so much ... in return. 

I'M ON A ROLL NOW ...

... with updating my pics & blog.

These were taken in waaay-back February this year. As usual, whilst waiting for our ride at my sis' place, I can't help but whip my digicam out, to snap a few pics of my boy.

HOW I EAT

Wanna see how Ryan eats his favourite egg prata?

Wanna see how he "tortures" his Daddy ... after eating said eggy prata?

Well, I'm gonna show you anyway!

See what I go through ... on an almost daily basis.

Some days are good, some days are are. not. so. good.

But everyday ... with my boy ... is a blessing!

Prata ... here I come!

Ryan : Let's see how many poses I can come out with.

A LOVING KISS FOR MUMMY

As anyone would have noticed, I don't have a lot of pictures of myself on the blog. Why? Just don't like being photographed, that's all. So when gems like these turn up, I can't help putting them up here for others myself ... to see treasure.

A loving kiss from my angel, Ryan ... captured perfectly by Hubby!

Goes to show that even if we were waiting for our prata to be ready, we can get some touching  pics for memories.

Aww ... so sweet!

So blurry ... but still so loving & cute!

The (sometimes) photographer of the day.

HAPPY SCHOOL DAYS

Ryan has been going to a playgroup for more than eight months now (since the start of the year 2010). The initial stage wasn't a pretty picture but now he's been enjoying his daily school trips. Sometimes I try to snap pics of him before he embarks for that daily 2 hour session.

Why ... you might ask ... take photos of Ryan getting ready to go to school? Well, isn't going to school ... a rite of passage for every child?! So there! Hehe ....

See ... what I'm faced with every day ....

P/S : The logo of his school has been smudged/erased from the photos. Didn't want to put them out in the blog - confidential issues & all. Just so if you were wondering ... if his uniform was bleached or something. Nope!

BREAKFAST WITH MY DADDY

Ryan just loves his egg prata. And since our Precious loves prata for brekkie, we as a family have to suffer eat prata too. I've taken many photos of father & son having their usual morning pratas, here are two of them.

They both look very happy here - looking at them in the photos, puts a smile on my face.

Big smiles all around!

Aren't we feeling happy today!

SAY CHEESE ...

Recently, I've cultivated a rather "bad habit" of snapping photos of my son (under our humble block) ... whilst waiting for Hubby to get the car from the carpark. He'll say to me "Mummy, I say cheese". Yep, my son is so prone to my trigger-happy ways that whenever he sense a photo opportunity for me, he will remind his Mummy to snap away by saying the secret-code words : "SAY CHEESE".

If you think about it ... it's quite funny ... haha, to me anyway!

Ok, here are some random photos I've taken recently.

Nothing significant about them ... just Ryan acting out some of his moves & poses, that's all (he's full of them, these days!).

He loves this blue T-Rex (dinosaur) T-shirt. 

Ryan is soooo much into Ben 10 these days. Here he is twirling his Omnitrix, pretending he's Ben ... haha!

ANOTHER MONTHLY BIRTH-DAY?

Yep! You read that right!

If you have been reading this blog, ahem ... rather diligently, you might have seen some "oh-so-lame" yet rather impor-tant cake-blowing sessions that we have for our family ... well, it's just for the naughty munchkin (haha! not for the adults).

Yep, just like most kids his age, my Ryan enjoys blowing birthday candles. Errm ... not so much eating the cake though. Ryan seems to dislike any sort of cake these days ... I really don't know why. So this time round, I had this "brilliant" idea to buy a sugar-glazed donut instead. Donuts (among other things) are his new favourites, especially ones topped with chocolate or chocolate sprinkles.

Let's not forget the lone candle!

Smile for the camera!

A single blow will do it!

Will we still do this monthly cake-blowing-thingy in the future? I think we will. As long as Ryan still loves it & enjoys blowing the cartoon-decorated-cake, we will still humour him, with a candle. I think its just a simple act to show to our kid ... that we love him! That every month we spent with him ... is worth celebrating! And although its rather lame for most people, we still do it! I admit that we don't do it every single month ... due to forgetfulness & busy-busy days, but when we decide to do it, we usually celebrate it with little fanfare ... just that lone candle & cake for my angel, Ryan.

How do you celebrate the joy ... your kid brings to you? It may not be that cake or donut or eclair (or presents?), but I am sure every one of us have our own way to commemorate the happiness our children bring to our lives. I know me & Hubby will still keep on doing it, for as long as we can.

JUST MORE PICS TO SHARE

Since I didn't know where to begin on my loooong overdue posts, I guess the simplest way is to start from the present & ... go back & forth randomly. I will try to update the very recent photos but will "return to the past" whenever I can.

Don't get a headache reading the posts, ya?

This particular new red OP T-Shirt (bought during their seasonal sale) had a logo of a "fierce" blue eagle. Ryan refers to it as the "eagle shirt". Haha, that's originality for you!

Ryan looks rather grown up (and serious, no?).

Ok, its time for a cheeky smile for Mummy!

Another cheeky smile before we go!

Oh ... he also wore this same colour-coordinated outfit for the small National Day party at his playgroup. Bright red shirt, light khaki pants ... yep! I definitely wasn't gonna buy a pair of white pants just for that 1 day (duh! didn't want to be wasteful!). Besides, it doesn't matter that the pants are white (or not), what matters most is that Ryan enjoyed himself in his first National Day Party, at school. That's good enough for me : ) !!!

LATEST RANDOM PIC

We had a chance to go the the Jurong Bird Park recently, so I just wanted to share a cute picture of my mischevious munchkin, on the Ben & Jerry's cow mascot at the Park entrance. Ryan thoroughly loved the outing & a bunch of thanks goes to my pal, Lisa for giving us free invites. We also went to the Singapore Zoo too! Haha, so you can tell that I've got a huge bunch of photos to upload soon. Until then peeps ...

MY TWO PRECIOUS BOYS !

The title says it all, ya!

They are both oh so precious to me ... but I'm sometimes ... their harshest critic, & at times ... push them the hardest.

Why do we do that?

Why are we the worst critics, of the ones we love most?

I guess its because we want only the best for them, nothing less! I am far more guilty of that, than most people would like to admit. I know I have to be strong ... & let them make their own mistakes, some-times. I know that its better to be loving & supportive than be destructive verbally but most times, its hard for me.

"Hold thy tongue ... & let love show you the way."

HERE WE GO AGAIN ...

Dear loved ones,

It's a public holiday today (we get to drive) but we were at home the entire day, rotting away (we usually don't). Ermm .... what was wrong?? Well, my poor baby, Ryan is down with high fever (once again!) since Wednesday & hasn't recovered yet. He's (so) frequently falling sick these days ... that my heart skips-many-a-beat (not in the good-excited way, ok!) whenever he has a slight temperature!

Dear God, please make my baby better ... he's had a tough couple of months recently & just when he's over the bend ... he falls sick again. Poor thing! I'm sometimes so tired & drained but I am very relieved that Hubby is around to help me these couple of months. As much as I grumble (& nag), I'm very glad & extremely grateful to have his love, support & helping hands, during these tough times.

Why you might wonder am I on the blog yakking away, all of a sudden? Errm ... Hubby finally starts on his 2nd job today. Whilst his 1st job is more on an adhoc basis & doesn't bring money in all the time, Hubby had to take on a 2nd job that feeds the family, regularly. Unfortunately, the 2nd job entails long hours & regular night shifts. There are times that I wonder ... whether we did the right thing? .... Hubby left his old job for so many reasons. Our current situation might never make us millionaires, heck it might not even make his old pay but all I can say is that - there's no turning back now!

Whatever may come,
Whatever will be ...
We will face it together, as a family.

We will stay strong,
We will be resilient,
We will stand united,
We will defy the naysayers,
We will make it ... no matter what!
Heck! There's no other damn way ....!

Its sometimes hard to stay positive. Its sometimes hard to be super-duper optimistic ... but we have to try the best that we can. We have chosen this path for our family & we will be moving forward, not backwards, damn it! Deep in my heart, I really do believe that we made the right decision ... but there are times, when even the strongest supporter (muah!) has lingering-doubts of her own.

I may not know a lot of things ... but the one thing that I am sure of is this - Ryan just loves having his Daddy around the home, all day long! During the pass six months or so, these 2 guys have built a bond so strong that recently Ryan sprouted this priceless gem :

Ryan : Daddy, go where?

Me : Daddy, go work, darling.

(I sometimes tell Ryan that his Daddy is working, when he's out of the home like attending courses or running some errands for the day. I know its 'cruel' but its just easier that way. When his Daddy's home, he will ... never fail, to ask again).

Ryan : Daddy, go where?

Hubby : Daddy, go work.

Ryan : No! Daddy dun go work, (sometimes he will also say : Mummy, dun go work, too ... haha!)

Hubby : Daddy, have to go to work darling.

Ryan : Daddy, dun go work. Daddy, stay at home. I go work!

(Oh! how I wish that was true! Especially ... when you are much older & get to read this blog entry, I will hold you to your word, my little angel)!

If you ask Hubby whether leaving his job was worth it, just to hear those precious words from his only son, he'll probably give you a resounding Y-E-S! The 2 boys have forged a relationship so strong that its so endearing & heartfelt, its such a fulfillment that brings so much joy, in Hubby's eyes. That alone ... makes everything worth it!

Your kid is only 3 (years old) once, for when that (certain) age passed ... you will never, ever get it back! Spending precious time with his son, has made it all worthwhile. We may never have riches, we may never be rich, heck ... we may never have a lot of money ... but the one thing that we have is a close-knitted family that is full of love & devotion. Nothing can buy that!

If it means that we have to eat home-cooked meals everyday, shop less, buy less, own less ... then so be it! At least, we have each other. Coz if we were to die tomorrow, we will have died with less regrets, coz we spent those precious & priceless moments with our son. He will always know that we love him so much & everything that we do is for him, alone. He will never have to question our love for him, he will always know that we will do everything within our power to give him a wonderful, stable & loving environment. He will always be loved & he will always know that we love him. That will never ever change!

I will try to blog more frequently & upload some photos real soon, to get everyone up to speed ... on all the on-goings these pass couple of months. Till then .... stay strong everyone!

Always, Lynn.

MY BOY

Yep, just some pictures of my boy - this time as a collage. I think I might do more of the pics in collages next time as I've already used up a ghastly 45% of my Blogger photo quota thus far. As I don't see myself stopping taking photos of my family anytime soon, I think I need to re-size or choose my endless photos wisely. I don't want to have the need to pay (extra internet storage space) for my blogging hobby - that just doesn't make sense to me!

Anyway, this collection of photos of my boy (taken in January 2010 - on the busy streets of Orchard Road, no less!) ... now adorns my PC. Yep, I get to see his cheeky smile ... everytime I boot-up the computer. What a joy!

P.S : Just click on the photo, to see the bigger version of it.

Doesn't he look cute? Yes, I'm extremely biased ... so sue me !!!

RYAN ... LOOKING COOL

Here's a recent pic of Ryan trying to act cool. He's wearing his latest acquisition ... a rather cool pair of black shades from Daiso, no less. Yep! you can still look as cool as a cucumber ... for a measly 2 bucks, haha!

BUSY AS A BEE

Yep! That's been an understatement! We have been kept busy with the usual stuff & more. Since Ryan started playgroup this year & it was also his birthday, we've been kept busy since the first days of January. Is this how 2010 will be? Busy as can be?? One consolation is ... time does pass very fast when you are busy. Bad thing ...? You are always so damn tired & there's never enough time in the day .... to do the million other things on your Task List. Duh!

Ok, I've been a BAD blogger & I haven't been updating regularly. Not only haven't I finished updating last year's backlog, I have further created a new "monster" ... with the arrival of 2010, comes with it more photos & stories, yet untold. I promise I will get to them somehow ... some day. Haha ... when? I can't promise you ... but I will get them all done, really!

Meanwhile, I wanted to put up a adorable pic of my munchkin taken recently in downtown Orchard (on the first day of 2010). His hair was still long here ... errm .... does he look a little like a girl? Yes!! my boy has been mistaken for a girl ... many a times during his lifetime (especially when he grows out his hair). Does he look like a "pretty" girl to you? Oh well, whatever!

He looks kinda cute here (he was holding his newly bought orange Yo-yo) & was being rather co-operative ... so the photo turned out quite well (nice natural lighting too). My boy .... is 3 now! I can't believe it! I love him more each day ... & eventhough he's still a little mischievous rascal, I can't imagine my life without him!

This photo now adorns my PC, as the wallpaper. Everytime I switch on the computer, I see Ryan's smiling face. Awwww!!!!!

220TH POST!

Haha ... wasn't my intention, to write about the the 220th entry but it had a nice ring to it. Besides, this will be probably my last entry for 2009, so I just wanna end it on a nicer figure ... haha! Yes, I know ... lame excuse.

My other excuse ... is to put up pictures of my 2 boys. They have given me some cute poses lately, so I just wanted to put them up here ... to round up my year.

Although life has been extremely tough, both of them make .... everything worthwhile. We may have our rough patches, we may have our disagreements, we may have our arguments ... but I love them both, with all my heart & soul. I don't know where I'll be, without them .... in my life.

To my two darlings, I love you both ... more now, than ever! Please stay the course with me & I know .... we will make it through, on the other side!

(P.S : Yes ... I'm being nostalgic & mushy. So sue me! )