my hands-on husband (part 2 - curtains or blinds?)

to reduce the hassle of cleaning, PP and i are prepared to do without curtains or blinds, but we realised that we could not do without these for the bedrooms. i was rather keen on wooden blinds at first, but after hearing about the noise, durability and the hassle of cleaning, we decided that something more clean-cut would be better. since baby is the priority and we needed something that could block out sunlight effectively, this was pretty much love at first sight :) 

alas! shipping the blinds in would cost so much more than the blinds itself :/ so, we decided to improvise! at first, we thought we could just purchase the fabric and get a curtain/blind company to fix it for us. to our dismay, very few companies offer such a service and even if they did, their prices were unreasonable. 

to our relief and joy, we found that the blinds from ikea fitted our dimensions exactly! so we bought them, and the hands-on husband yanked out the ikea fabric and attached the fabric we bought from GRAstudio :) it sure was not easy, because he had to manage the cutting of the fabric and the drilling. thank God for hPP's effort :) :) here's the outcome...

love all the beautiful elements of the sky, whether clouds, rainbows, stars... all these are a testament of how our God is a great designer and his artistry and creativity has no limit at all!

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 

What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

Psalms 8:3-4

my hands-on husband (part 1 - our bedroom lamp)

im very thankful for a hands-on husband :)

we scored this rustic lamp for $10 when we were exploring the streets of chinatown, bangkok! clearly, it was meant for wet markets and is truly, vintage and industrial :p it stuck out like a sore thumb in the shop full of chandeliers and classy lamps... and i was thrilled to see it! the shop owner was puzzled to see our strange interest in it, hehe. however, it was too shiny and glossy for our liking... so this is what my dear husband did. 

he sprayed some primer on it, before spray-painting it! all the materials were gotten from our favourite crafty source, art friend.

we had two options, blue and white :)

clearly, the white one matched the room better although i really liked the shade of blue :) 

the blue lamp is sitting in our store room now :/ are you looking for a lamp like this? if so, we will gladly sell it to you :) we promise it will be cheaper than what you find in typical lighting shops because we got it at a reasonable cost. PP's handiwork, however, is very valuable! 

online purchases

being 8-9 months pregnant made me highly immobile when preparing for the home :/ this was when i truly appreciated the internet! christmas shopping, research for the home, and even purchases were made online. thank God for the internet, which has become a blessing in this case. many little things in our house were found online because we were not able to source them from anywhere else, or because they were cheaper :) 

take for example, this chair. ever since we started research on our home, i was especially taken by the simplicity of this chair, also known as the eames chair or the eiffel chair. see the inspirations here. little did i know that it was so common :/ nonetheless, it was comfortable, clean in design and fit the theme of our home. at first, i planned to purchase the chair from here or here, but to my joy, i stumbled on this link :) it is the cheapest version i have seen thus far, and with some hesitation, we decided to order 2 pieces, one for our craft area (above), the other for the iMac area. delivery met with some hiccups because i forgot to state my preferred time slot. thank God the two chairs arrived safely nonetheless and we are rather pleased with the quality :)

sometimes it is all about the details. PP and i spent a long time scouring for suitable wardrobe handles for the wardrobe in baby E's room. Mr A actually suggested some cute "bear bear" handles, haha. we quickly told him we would try to source for our own. to our dismay, they can be hard to find! we had no idea where to get them locally. most of the handles (e.g. in IKEA) are metal and not to our liking. we saw some really special ones on etsy but they were rather costly too. after some searching, we finally decided on these :)

these lights were originally for the master bedroom but when they arrived, they were so lovely that we decided to place them in the dining room instead. it all worked out, as the lamp we got for the dining area fit nicely in the master bedroom too :) (more on that later as well, hehe). initially, i thought that we could just do with simple LED down lights, hehe. no regrets getting these from this lovely shop :) part of what made these lamps so special were the bulbs!

they are known as thomas edison bulbs, also found online here :) love the unique light patterns created by these bulbs...truly one of a kind. apparently, this person can make any kind of bulbs as long as clear specifications are provided!

these are our wall hooks and this is where we got our trash bin :)

6 months of happiness

6 months, my dear! that makes almost half a year, and we are enjoying you more than ever!

you are so fun-loving and ever curious about this world that surrounds you. everything intrigues you - you reach out for everything that is strange to you, including your toes :)

your smile, as always, is my highlight for every morning. it is not difficult to make you smile - you are such a happy boy :) how we pray it stays that way and you will learn to rejoice in the goodness of the LORD as you grow :)

my dear baby boy, you are growing so fast that you leave mama and papa breathless sometimes :) there are just so many milestones that you have made and we would have trouble recalling them all if not for the help of photos and videos. you have learnt to roll back and forth - it's your main mode of transportation now. suddenly, your world has expanded and you have realised how there is so much more to explore as you roll here and there. even in your sleep, you are practising and more than once we have found you awoken, calling for help as you wake up stuck on your tummy. thank God for a new skill accomplished so skillfully! there is little we have done as parents to help you attain these milestones. little by little, somehow, you just progress and amaze us :)

you have also learnt to sit for brief seconds on your own, using your hands as support. everytime we carry you and place you in a sitting position, you squeal in excitement as though saying, "wow, the view here is so much better! what took you so long, mama and papa?" 

as your awareness of your surroundings grow, it seems like the separation anxiety is setting in. papa says it's because when we are out of sight, it seems like we cease to exist in your eyes. i have always been exasperated by how "sticky" you can be - just taking a few steps away from you can cause you to protest. however, putting myself in your shoes - if God were to seem to forsake, and stop proving his love and existence to me, i think i would be very much devastated too. and so, i patiently stay by you, and pray that one day, you will realise that many others do love you too and i, as a mother, am more than happy and committed to stay by you and take care of you. this reminds me of how God has promised that He "will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Heb 13:5

this post comes late because it has been such a hectic mid year. we went for church camp in JB, and we took your very first plane ride to penang! wow! thank God for this privilege to fly to penang, where you met your great-grandmother for the first time. it truly warmed my heart that you could be used by God to cheer her spirits at such an old age. she is 93 this year. mama is truly thankful that she has been granted more time by the LORD, so that she can meet you. 

we started you on your solids! you just cant wait to gobble them up :)

we can see your little tooth peeking out on the bottom left side of your gum. is that why you have been waking up so often at night? the possibilities of why you don't sleep well confound us. at times, mama is tempted to search for answers - maybe you are overtired, or undertired, or maybe its the solids. maybe i should shift your nap later, or earlier, etc. at the end of the day, i really just need to let go... pray that God gives us wisdom to decide what to do, to learn to pick up your cues and to give you what's best. 

the faster you grow, the more we want you to slow down. we know fully well that this year will fly by and before we know it, you will no longer be a baby anymore. so day after day, we just want to treasure each moment God gives. the sleepless nights, the poop, the fussing n trying to get you to sleep - these all will pass. but that will mean you're growing up. so we will bear with them as much as we can, trusting that God's grace is sufficient for each day.

we love you so much, little ezra boy. 

tots on parenting/housekeeping #5

(the happiest kind of laundry)

i don't deny that care-giving and being a housewife and a stay at home mom is more difficult than expected. yes, we do meet with our challenges and there are unexpected difficulties each day, but the biggest struggle is actually the mundaneness of it all. 

since a long time ago, i always knew that this would be my end state if God ever gave me a child. i knew how important it was to mother the child, to bring him up in the ways of God, to be there everyday for him and fulfill the calling of a mother. i've sort of looked forward to it, thinking that it would be fulfilling and there would be no better calling. 

alas, it is alot more glamourous in my imagination :)

i struggle so much...sometimes muttering and murmuring - am i supposed to feel accomplished by how clean i mop the floor? how well i do the dishes? what have i condescended to?

God showed me and comforted me through this passage:

"Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD." Jeremiah 9: 23-24

God reminded me that my pride and all the accomplishments i hold on to are but dust. my glory and my joy should come for this: striving to know and love the God who loves me so and has been so real in my life... and then showing my understanding of His will in my life by doing what He wants me to do and being exactly where He places me. 

tots on parenting #4

when my child is sick ...

this is probably one of the greatest trial that God can put in the life of a mother. the fear that the child does not recover, the heartache that comes from seeing your child suffer, and the impatience for the child to quickly recover are all overwhelming emotions that one needs to deal with, in the midst of all the frantic physical care-giving. it's been tough, but there are a few lessons that God has taught me through this:

1) Ezra is not mine. He is given by God, and under the care of God Almighty.

"But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows." Luke 12:7

2) Don't think beyond tomorrow, for it can be too much to bear

"Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." Matthew 6:34

3) Trials like this can come, to build our faith and teach us how important it is to trust in Him.

"Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass." Psalms 37:5

4) I need to learn to suffer long, and be contented with whatever state God places us in

"Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." James 1:3-4

 

5) I am thankful for the fellow prayer warriors who committed Ezra to God in prayer when he was ill.

" Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." James 5:16

thank God that we can bear one another's burdens :) (pun intended :)