Yeay to Potty Training!

Few months ago, we tried to potty train him but it wasn't successful. The very first time, I brought him to the potty and he just refused to sit on the potty. His legs will cling to my legs like a koala whenever I tried to put him down. Ok then, I decided to wait few more weeks. And it was the same. No signs of him loving to sit on the potty. But, he can pee on the toilet floor when I asked him to. This pretty means he's ready to be trained, the only fear in him is to sit on the potty. Which I don't know why. The big hole I guess? Haha. 

The following month, I tried to potty train him again. By faith, we went diaper-less and pant-less! Only the t-shirt for the entire day (except for sleeping time). It was a huge disaster! There was no problem with pee-pee because every 30mins, I brought him to the toilet to pee pee on the floor and not the potty. He just refused to sit on the potty! Sigh. After dinner, I noticed some signs of him wanting to poo. I quickly brought him to the potty and again, failed! He ended up poo poo on the toilet floor. T__T

I told myself, he wasn't ready and we shall just go back to diaper. 

Many more months later, I tried to put him on the potty and initially, he refused but I forced a little while trying to distract him with his favorite milo nuggets and voila, he sat on the potty for a good 5 mins!! I knew in my heart it was time to train him. 

This week, we went diaper-less and pant-less and even though he still really can't control his pee, there were few accidents in the day when I forgot to bring him to pee. Yesterday night was a huge success when he knew the urged to poo, he went to the toilet himself, trying to climb up the potty placed on the toilet bowl. Thank God I saw it and quickly placed him on the potty. Within seconds, he poo-ed a bomb in the toilet bowl! I was so so so happy that I cheered him on as he poo-ed. And there was a huge smile on his face, he felt the sense of achievement when I clapped as he poo-ed. 

2 years 4 months, little brother is potty trained! Well done baby!!

Believe.. My help comes from the Lord!

Three more months to 1 year that I tendered my resignation. I wonder if I've ever made the right decision. Looking at my kids today..  I knew I've made the right decision ever..

But at low times... My brain just couldn't think positive and I think, how nice if life is still the same. Staying in the 3 bedrooms condo. Having a job in hand. A paycheck every month that I can spend and not feeling guilty. And yes, I will still have my ever ready life-saver.. My babysitter. 

I used to have the luxury of having a nice and ever ready babysitter. We get to go for a date after work. Sometimes we can even catch a nice movie together. Or when I wasn't well, my babysitter was there to help. Or if I need a one day off just to catch up with my sleep. And when I gave birth to Daniel, my babysitter helped all out with Ashlynn without asking for extra fees. Blessings! All I need is just a phone call and her simple answer of 'yes, sure can' gave me such peace that I have someone that I can rely on in times of needs. 

Today, who can I turn to? Sometimes I felt so lost and everyone seems to be so far away. Guess it's a no turning back now. 

Today, I have to learn and trust from the Bible that my help comes from the Lord. Thinking of the future really makes me feel so weak. Sometimes I just couldn't find the strength to go on. I need support. A simple 'yes, i can help you' definitely will make me cry in joy. All I can do now is not to forget that God exists. Even though men are not available all the time, but God's helpline is always ready. 

My help comes from the Lord!

Something that I've always wished for...

Dream is always free. Wishlist is also free.

I've always wished for ...

1) Helper
Some of my friends stay with their parents/in laws or few houses away from them and I think this is a great blessing. Looking at how my grandma takes care of her youngest grandson makes me tear. I told her the other day to stay over my place for a few days during the holidays but she told me that  her grandson is still small, and Aunty needs her help. I silently wished that I have someone staying with me that can help me with my kids. Or at least help me with the cooking. Or at least help to look after the kids while I quickly go and get some groceries done. Or going to my mom's place over the weekend and have a nice home-cooked meal. I wished we are staying few stones away.

2) Dating for free
Those days, dating was free. Today, with two kids.. if we want to go for a date, babysitter alone for two kids already cost us RM120, for a full day care. Thinking about that amount of money, we decided not to go dating but use that money and dine in as a family of four. I wished I have someone that can keep an eye on our kids for few hours and we can have a nice date out together. Hands in hands. I actually lost count the last movie that we watched together, I guessed it was Transformers 2 in year 2009. Not to mention of catching movies together, we never get to go for dinner dates ever since I stopped working.

3) Travel
I like the concept of ta-pao the whole family and go! Packing the kids clothes and necessities is so much fun. More fun if we get to fly together. Even though it can be exhausting with two toddlers in the cargo, but spending time together as a family is worth all the sweat. I actually don't mind, as long as we can all be together. I just like it if we can afford to pay flight tickets for all and go for a nice relaxing holiday. I don't mind flying to Langkawi. But Langkawi alone already cost us almost RM2k. With that fees to pay, I think we can fly to Krabi/Phuket/Pattaya which I think is more fun.

4) Migrating
With the so many hoo-haas that is happening now, it's just so hard to sit down and relax. I felt a little stressed out thinking about my kids future. Quite a number of my friends are now migrating. Some to Aus, some to HK, some to Europe, some to NZ.. oh well, I wish I'm one of them too. But migrating is never easy. Unless you are single, I think it's much easier to plan. With a family, you need to weigh out the pros and cons, whether you can survive at the other side of the world. Many of my friends did it, I believe we can too if we try? Oh well, this dream is a little too big to think off. And it will always remain as my dream/wishlist.

Nevertheless, I'm thankful for what I have today. A healthy growing family. A strong leader (husband) at home. Two healthy kids. Those things above are just what I wished for..... and how nice if it can ever happen. =)

God is my STRENGTH !

2 Corinthians 6:11-13 The Message (MSG)

^11-13 Dear, dear Corinthians, I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!

God did not redeem us to tame us! Such a powerful statement as I was listening to Lisa Bevere's preaching on Lioness Arising. 

Many times, we restrict ourselves in a small box. And we stop growing. We are like a small plant being planted in a small pot that doesn't have much space to grow and expand. In the verses above, God is waiting eagerly for us to enter into His Kingdom, a wide-open and spacious Kingdom. There is no restriction in His Kingdom. There is so much freedom. But, often times we forget about His grace and we moved one step behind. Then, we hide ourselves in a shell. God says, come BOLDLY to the throne of GRACE that we may obtain MERCY and find GRACE in time of need. 

I know it's always easier to say than done. But that's how our Faith works. Meditate on the verse again and again (I can repeat the same message over and over again until my heart is pumped up) and I assure you that you will find the strength to just stand up, get out from the small box and stand boldly at the throne of Grace. 

I've read of many miracles took place during the last Easter. Don't wait for the next Easter for your miracle to take place, but know that Jesus has already died on the cross, our redeemer lives and miracles can take place now, anytime.. when you believe! 

I'm reminding myself now and then to always cast my fear and cares unto the Lord. Pile your troubles on God’s shoulders - He’ll carry your load, He’ll help you out. Such a great assurance. 

Ever since I'm promoted as a Mother, I have a lot of fear. I fear I might wake up to my child not breathing. I'm afraid that my child will choke. If I bring them for a swim, I'm afraid of secondary drowning. You see, so much fear in me that sometimes I think I'm crazy. I have so much fear that I forgot about God. I seemed to see the fear as a giant and I failed to look at my Big God. 

Today, I'm learning to rest. Let it go and let it go.... and LET GOD to work in me!
I pray the same for you too, that God is always the giant in your heart and mind.

Thankful and Blessed!

Sometimes I can just pause for a moment and enjoy watching both kids playing together. How the big sister instructing the little brother to do things. Daniel, you do this and that. Don't do like that. Listen to me, do this. Lots of fun moments together, even though sometimes they might end up with a little dissatisfaction among each other.

As I gazed at their beauty, looking steadily how they walk, run and jump.. all the excitement they have as a child, they play all out, shout, scream, laugh, giggle ... how they think out of the box, being so creative and having an engineer-brain, build things based on their imaginations ... all I can say is Thank You Jesus! Thank you for blessing us with active, lively, healthy, perfect little children. We couldn't have asked for more, we are so thankful and blessed. At the same time, I asked the Lord to forgive me if sometimes I ever take them for granted. Today, as I seek for forgiveness, I pray for more strength and wisdom to be a better mom. I pray for more grace, blessings and mercy.

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

 The two little gems that bring so much joy to a home, making a four-angled brick house feels so warm and cozy. Their laughter and giggles lift up the atmosphere and spread love all around!

Restoran Kali Little Restaurant @ Klang

Kali Little Restaurant is located in Klang, directly next to a Chinese temple. It's pretty easy to find the way there by using the waze app. This restaurant is just next to restaurant four star. We reached there about 8pm and it was packed! Full house! We waited for about 10-15mins for a table. So, if you plan to dine here, be early. 6pm is good. Not only that, the bad news was that they ran out of stock for crabs! How can a seafood dinner be complete without crabs? =(

 Address: 89, Jalan 2, Pandamaran Jaya, 42000 Port Klang, Selangor, Malaysia.
Opening Hours: 5.30pm to 11.30pm (Close on Monday).

Tel (Kali): 012-2714444/019-9441111

 The little kitchen behind.

Stir-fried pea sprout (dou miao) with garlic

 The ran out of lala as well, so no lala bee hoon for the day. They changed to small prawns instead. 

 Salted egg sotong. This was so good!

 We saw many tables ordered this claypot fish and decided to give it a try. But I don't think we will want to order the second time. Nothing special about this dish (different people might have different taste buds tho)

 Salt-baked prawns. The prawns were so fresh that a simple salt-baked can be so delicious.

 

 Again, we read in blogs that this is a must order. Almost every blogs that blog about this restaurant promote this dish. But I still think it's a little too dry, we prefer something like char siew that has some gravy coated around the meat.

The bill of the day for 4 adults.

We will definitely go back again for the big fatty crabs that we have missed, and at least we know what we should order the next round. 

Homemade Pandan Kaya

I enjoy baking bread, and we all love to toast the bread and spread a thick layer of kaya on top. It's so delicious. My mom in law harvested a big stalk of pandan leaves and I'm just so excited to blend and try to cook my first homemade kaya. 

 Look at the long long green green pandan leaves. Blend the coconut milk with pandan leaves and extract out the juice.

 Cook the mixture over the double boiler. It's so much easier this way, you do not have to stir all the time.

 The color is getting darker and darker after 30-45 mins.

 Done! The home made kaya is ready to be spread on the toasted bread!

 My first try : The texture is pretty smooth. Except I don't really like the santan smell, perhaps I should try again using freshly squeezed santan and not on-the-shelves santan.

Here's where I adopted the recipe:

Nasi Lemak Lover

Ingredients

3 large eggs (lightly beaten)
250g caster sugar
350ml coconut milk
8pcs pandan leaves

Steps
1. Blend pandan leaves and coconut milk in a blender. Strain .

2. Add sugar into beaten eggs, use a hand whisk to stir mixture until sugar dissolves - lightly stir
3. Mix the pandan coconut milk with the mixture of sugar and eggs.
4. Sift the kaya mixture into another mixing bowl.

5. Place mixing bowl over another pot of boiled water on low heat, stir kaya mixture occasionally. I placed it on top of a kuali instead since I do not have bigger pot. Stir every 1-2 mins.
4. It took at least 1hour to cook till desired thickness. Cool completely before store in a clear jar and keep in the fridge.