Our Father's Love

"In this was manifested the love of God towards us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him." 1 John 4:9

BLESSED CHRISTMAS!

Can you do this???

Did I laugh? Or crack even the slightest grin (with a slight "oh-bother" eye roll)? Must admit that it's getting more difficult laughing with Charis at her silly jokes or behaviour... it even gets annoying sometimes! Are we too caught up with our pursuit to "do things right", to avoid mistakes and to ensure that her preschool years do not have adverse effects on her 20 years down the road? Charis, don't say silly things or make silly sounds! Charis, don't jump around like this, you'll hurt yourself! Charis, don't play with your food during mealtimes! Hmm... sounds like we need to learn to flex our facial and tummy muscles with her a little more ;p

Read this article - "Lighten Up!" in a mothering magazine. Just what I need to remind myself that I need to do just that and not lose my sense of funny when with her! It says "For it was there (adding laughter, lightheartedness and the joy of taking myself a whole lot less seriously) that my energy renewed, my countenance restored and my relationship with my kids strengthened."

Well, we sure had fun trying this trick that she learnt. Lighten up and hope you have fun too!

the d a n c e r

Canada... ...

A weekend trip North to Canada... yes again... our 4th! It's a little treat for ourselves before the busy months ahead. Some photos @ Roadtrip - Toronto cum Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Light-headed

I got my haircut today! (Hmm... let me count... after 15 months since my last ;p) I think the hair-stylist chopped at least 15 inches off my hair... now my head feels light. In celebration of our 20 weeks milestone... the half-way mark of the pregnancy. :)

No longer a peanut :)

Our little peanut has grown! Finally got to catch a glimpse of him (yup, it's a boy) at the hospital on Monday. I remember the first time we saw Charis, a black-and-white image of her little face staring right at us... so unfamiliar yet so dear... at that point, I had such an indescribable desire to hold her, to know her and to love her. There were times when I wondered whether I would be able to love another child the way I love Charis. But on Monday, as I watched his little beating heart and saw how the little one has grown to be so accustomed and comfortable inside me, I knew that he is our baby, a precious gift from God to love and behold. As God gives, He also grants us the capacity to love, just as how He loves us ALL! We can't wait to see this active little fellow!

Here's a blurry glimpse of him, sucking his thumb?

Officially, we've also reached the half-way mark... hurray! Thank God we survived :) The big che-che cannot resist touching and kissing the "little fellow". She just loves saying hello to him each morning and patting him throughout the day. Well, she already knew it's going to be a di-di, so it was no big surprise when the ultrasound revealed it to us... such is her faith in her prayers!

Pittsburgh 250!

Pittsburgh celebrated it's 250th birthday yesterday and we managed to join in the "fireworks party" with some Singaporean friends last night. Took the Monongahela Incline up to Mt Washington to catch the panoramic view of the fireworks. They had them launched from 17 different points over the city, with some shooting out of the Ohio river. It was a pretty impressive display... unfortunately, we didn't get to hear the accompanying music from up there although we got to hear 2 ladies singing "Happy Birthday to Pittsburgh!" as the "finale" to the celebration.




Our latest night out ever since coming to Pittsburgh... and even caught a glimpse of Pittsburgh's night life while stuck in the traffic.

Cravings!

Don't remember craving any food in particular during my last pregnancy... but being away from home seems to bring about cravings for food from home (comfort food which sadly cannot be found here, sighz). I actually dreamt of them - fish noodles, ban mian, prawn noodles, popiah, just to name a few - almost every night during my 1st trimester! Maybe it's just my subconscious craving for the comfort of familiar faces and environment when I feel miserable ;p

Fortunately, baby seems to be just as satisfied with my "offering" of fruits - watermelons, strawberries, apples, pears, peaches, nectarines, bananas - in all forms (fresh, yoghurt smoothies, sorbet). They happened to be in abundance during summer, thankfully, and my hands were drawn to pick one of every fruit whenever I saw them at the grocery store. Probably nature's way of providing the nutrients I needed, except for the calories which I desperately lacked.

Thanks to the fruit cravings... I discovered the joy of eating home-baked banana muffins :) Never quite enjoyed banana-anything, other than goreng pisang I guess. But since having found my energy, Charis and I have baked 2 batches of it already!

Also thanks to the care packages from home... we finally had our yummy prawn noodles over the weekend! Goodness, I sound so greedy. Well, no more dreaming of food... hee... maybe I'll start dreaming of baby-Koh-the-second soon :)

4 pounds!

YES, I've finally gained 4 pounds (probably about 2 kg)! Although I'm still short of 2 pounds to my pre-pregnancy weight, it's an achievement... and I've 20 pounds more to go. Are you the "eat to live or live to eat" type of person? I must say that for me, eating in order to pile on the pounds is quite tedious. I'm persevering... and the baby bulge (or is it more fats?) is probably the best witness to my hard work... haha.

I thank God for the daily grace and strength that He gives, much more than I asked for. I'm almost half-way there. As Charis says... mummy's tummy is growing fat and she can't wait for baby to come out so that she will get to see what he/she looks like. Feeling the little flutters and bounces in my belly certainly brings me closer to the little one and encourages me to hang in there. :)

Storywalk once again!

An annual children's event in Pittsburgh... story booths, activities and craft, lots of fun and walking in the park :) Just a pity that the weather was a little unkind. But as always, Charis enjoyed it! She has grown to love nature... running on the grass, picking little fallen acorns and leaves and even playing on the sand.

One of the most popular amongst the children...
"Tattoo" that took days to go away...
Contributing to the huge poster...
Making a kite...

PAIN! PAIN! PAIN!

Dug up a photo that was taken about 2 months back, during our wedding anniversary... Trying to take a family photo is such a pain, physically.

Managed to get another photo when Charis was in a better mood....


We are still one happy family....

Thinking back now, we really didn't expect the physical testings that started about 2 days after our anniversary.... testings that went on for the next 10 weeks... it's really by God's grace that we survived.

c h a r i s

Random shots

milk an elephant???

The photo says it all!

Since being stuck at home with me, Charis has lots of time for her imagination and creativity to flow. Am I glad that she has these toys to keep her company while I snooze and TK work! I'm thankful that she is so understanding despite the lesser attention on her... well, quite often allowing me to rest and TK to work.

On a cool Sunday evening

It has been a long time since we went out, posted a blog, etc - in fact, a long time since we did anything much. Today we decided to brave it out and made a trip to Schenley Park - there were some activities going on there, and the highlight was a movie showing in the park. However, the highlight didn't materialized due to bad weather. Nevertheless, it was good for us, especially Charis, to enjoy the outdoors for 2 hours.

The park - it was cloudy and we were hoping that the weather would hold.

The fire, police, and a few other departments held a "road-show". Kids could get in the vehicle... try the air-horn, etc.

There were also some craft, and giving out of books and stuff. Here, Charis was choosing a book from a stall manned by some police officers.

We got struck at a stall when Charis was doing her coloring. She is very into drawing and coloring lately, and we must say that she is doing quite well at it. (Maybe will try to post some of her masterpieces up...)

A closer look at the Cathedral of Learning.

one year in Pittsburgh liao...

We haven't been posting much lately. Too much going on...

Anyway, we just realized that we have been in Pgh for exactly one year. One year say long not long, say short not short (说长不长，说短不短). Thank God for His daily presence and blessings. For His faithfulness. For how He has seen us through the last 365 days (+/-).

Looking forward to the next 365 days.

Fourth of July - Independence Day

Fourth of July commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. More info at wiki.

To add some mood into our home, we bought a Pepperridge Farm 3-layer cake that comes in the colors of the US flag - Red, White, and Blue.

Taken from USFlag.org:
"The colors of the pales (the vertical stripes) are those used in the flag of the United States of America; White signifies purity and innocence, Red, hardiness & valour, and Blue, the color of the Chief (the broad band above the stripes) signifies vigilance, perseverance & justice."

Strawberries!

Went strawberry hunting on a really hot Spring/Summer afternoon...

Where are they???


Let's take a closer look...


Daddy, Mummy, look what I found!


Mmm... let's give you a closer look...


Got a few in my basket. I'll go hunt for more...


Our harvest for the day... it's hard work... now we know why they charge us so much for a little bag of strawberries... haa


Can't wait to bring them home to eat them... strawberry smoothie, strawberry jam, strawberries with ice cream...

Horsey...

That's the pony that Charis picked to go for a ride on when we were at the strawberry farm carnival. Isn't he handsome? Make a guess, did she make it???

VBS

So glad that there's a church that takes young preschoolers for Vacation Bible School! Our church caters for children 5 and up... so we drove many miles over 45 minutes to take Charis to a Chinese church for it today. It's all worth it! She gets to learn about God, enjoy an evening of Bible stories and craft, and interact with Chinese boys and girls... all at the same time :)

Totally unrelated, but here's a nice pic of her and her 2 Singaporean friends before they left Pittsburgh to return to Singapore for good. Never saw her play more wildly... got all sweaty and "tomato-faced"... ha...

Facing the Giants

Waiting is such a difficult thing to do... and it's been a lot of what we've been doing the last few months, waiting for the reply from a company to give TK the go-ahead for his research. We've been living on the hope that things will work out so long as the door is not shut. But our human frailties cause us to fret as time inches towards the research paper deadline.

However, we were reminded last night as we watched the movie, Facing the Giants, to put our trust in the Lord who so loves us... all 100% of our trust... that must also be reflected in our actions. Do we prepare our fields for the rain when we pray for rain to water the crops? Do we praise His name in all circumstances, good or bad, because we know that He is in control? When something seems so hard to do, do we remember that with God, all things are possible?

Maybe I'm not speaking for both of us... and I'm glad that TK is more assured of God's hands in all that he's doing and never gave up on it. Today, he finally received an email to tell him that he can start the survey in early July!

Proverbs 3:5-6 says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." One of my favourite verses that has been repeated many times over in our apartment as Steve Green leads the children in singing this memory verse tune. We're so bless to have God pave the way :)

2 visits from home...

LOTS of fun times... and LOTS of photographs!

Thanks, Shawn and Feng Jun, for the fellowship in Him... you've been a blessing to us. This is our only group photo with them...


Here's the link to more photos... hope you have the time to look through all of them ;p

18 days... just flew by...

Now it's back to just the 3 of us. The apartment seems a little too quiet and empty these 2 days... no more queue for the bathroom, no more chattering in the kitchen, no more snoring in the bedroom... I think we're all experiencing a little withdrawal from the visit. Saying goodbye once again, after the last one (9 months ago) in Changi airport, was not easy. But I'm still very thankful for the blessed time we had over the last 18 days. Lots of fun and photos! Will sort through them and put them up soon... meanwhile, I've picked out my fav shot of all of us :)



Thank God for protecting all of us and taking care of all things, big and small, during that time together. I'm glad that they've arrived safely in Singapore today. God also answered our prayers by providing them with a completed new lift (that now takes them right to their door step!) so that they didn't need to struggle with their luggage on the stairs.

Country charm

Took a drive out to the countryside in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. Fresh country scent and peaceful quiet greeted us as we walked around... wonderful :)