Thankful Tuesdays: The year that was 2011

As a new year approaches, I've been looking back at 2011 and reflecting on how much has happened.  So I couldn't resist speed browsing through the year's posts and picking out photos that depicted 2011 for us (warning: photo-heavy post ahead!).  

This was the year that the hubby finished his specialist exams and got promoted.  He flew off a couple of times overseas for conferences.  It was also the year that I managed to finish my research and dissertation, and graduated. 

One highlight was welcoming a new addition to the family:

And of course, this little baby has been showered with lots of love all around!

This was the year we saw Junior J mature so much.  He's gone from this...

... to this:

He's grown up so much!  He's now feeding himself, and is a lot more independent.  While he used to be rather timid, he is now more confident (except with strangers!) and is turning into a regular little monkey.  The boy chatters incessantly and makes us laugh. 

We've learnt more about God through stories and activities:

Marching around Jericho

And of course, did lots and lots of art and craft:

Painting dots so that he can look like a whale shark!

This is my favourite painting of the year, done by the boy on his own using paints, a paintbrush, a toothbrush
and the netting used to wrap a wine bottle.  Plus loads of hand-printing!

A lot of cooking got done this year...

... and we visited many places, like museums, and took long walks together as a family:

At the National Museum

Tramping on the tracks

We visited Taiwan for the second time and froze our butts off:

We decluttered a lot:

All for the karung guni!  (Now Junior J loves shouting "Karung guni!",
sometimes at the most inappropriate times!)

Of course, there were bumps on the road. like facing the normal problems of childhood, such as constipation, wheezing fits, night wakings, and of course, the terrible twos:

There was also that major fall the boy had:

But we've managed to weather through all that.  All in all, the year has been full of God's grace, and our family indeed is very blessed.  We're so thankful for all that has been given to us this year!

2011 was a blast, and we're looking forward to 2012, both excited and nervously (since its the year of the big move overseas)... and trusting in God to bring us through!

Are you looking forward to a new year?

It was a pretty bad day.

I overslept (very tired from the leaky nose).  Woke baby up an hour later than usual, which meant his entire routine was disrupted.  Rushed to cook oatmeal for the big brother since he was coughing badly.  Managed to get Junior J to finish breakfast and baby J to nap.  Thankfully my mum popped by to help to cook lunch as we were sick, and Junior J's godma came by with her sister to pass me pineapple tarts from Taiwan.

We more or less made it through lunch (baby J woke up when I put him in the cot, and then got cranky from the lack of sleep).  Then the delivery/installation guys from Ikea popped up at 2 pm, when we were expecting them from 3 pm onwards after I've settled Junior J for his afternoon nap.  They were supposed to help fix up our new bookcase, as well as the down lights that were supposed to be attached to the top of the bookcase (after fixing up a whole lot of furniture from Ikea on our own, from a Pax wardrobe to Billy bookshelves, we thought this time we'd let their people do it since it looked a little hard to set up on our own).  Or at least that was what we thought, as initially we were told that the installation guys could only set up the bookcase, but upon calling customer service at Ikea to clarify, they told us that the lights would be fixed up as well, and they would make the necessary arrangements (it didn't make sense that the bookcase was set up and drilled to the wall, since we'd have to run wires behind it first for the lighting).

Never mind that I still had to feed Junior J his afternoon milk and settle him down (with baby J in a carrier) while they were setting up the bookcase and making a racket.  What made it really complicated was the fact that the installation guys told me flat out that they couldn't fix the lights as that was not in their delivery notes.  So I called the hubby at work.  He called Ikea.  There was a lot of calling here and there, and it got really messy, since it was the customer service at Ikea who had guaranteed that the lights would be fixed, but the delivery people (who were subcontracted by Ikea) were saying otherwise.  I didn't know what to do, since if they didn't fix the lights they couldn't fix the shelf to the wall, since we'd need to run the wires.  But the hubby said he needed them to affix the shelf, since it was a partition wall and he wasn't sure about attaching stuff to partitions instead of the usual concrete walls.

After all those phone calls, the delivery guys reluctantly said they'd fix the lights onto the bookcase (and wanted to charge us extra for that!), but would not run the wires, while adding that they would not be responsible if the lights didn't work etc.  Then they looked at the lights and said that we needed to have more screws to attach the lights to the bookcase, and those were not provided.  And they didn't have those screws with them.  I called the hubby.  Hubby suggested using our own screws.  Our toolbox was right at the back of the storeroom, and to get to it I would need to empty a quarter of the contents of the storeroom.  Baby was still strapped to me, and I was still trying to get Junior J to finish his milk.  Hubby suggested getting the delivery guys to help me get the toolbox.  Errr, looking at how unhappy the men were, it sounded like a bad idea.

In the end, the delivery guys drilled the bookcase to the wall, and taught me how to remove the screws, so that we could shift the shelf to run the wires when we install the lights on our own (after hearing how they were saying they won't be responsible if anything happened with regards to the lighting, I wasn't really comfortable letting them fix the lights anyway).

So the bookcase got fixed.  Junior J went down for his nap.  I had to bathe the baby, and wasn't feeling too good after all that had happened.  I was just chatting to Baby J (who was all sweaty from being strapped to me throughout the entire saga) while cleaning him up when he looked at me.

And this little boy smiled at me.  And went "ah goo".  And all of a sudden, I didn't feel crappy anymore.  Guess it doesn't take much to make this mama happy!

PS: Finally managed to get the photos of the Christmas ATCs up!  You can view them here...

Thankful Tuesdays: Let go and let God

Picture taken in Melbourne, in one of the parks.
 I can't remember which though!

Saturday came with pretty bad contractions, which were so frequent that we thought it was time to go down to hospital.  So we did more packing... but the contractions went away, so I guess Baby J decided to stay put for awhile (to our relief!).  The exhaustion these days has been pretty bad, and I've been falling asleep both in the mornings when the boy plays on his own, plus during his naps.  There have been a few "oh no, I don't know how things are going to be" kind of moments, like last night. That was when I realised that we will be going to have #2, and would then have to pack up our house a few months after, survive an 8 plus hour drive to visit hubby's parents with the two boys, drive back, unpack, pack again, then promptly move half-way across the world.  Again with everyone in tow.  Suffice to say I freaked out.

The hubby says I tend to be all "doom and gloom" (which makes all these thankful posts essential for me!), as I usually expect the worst to happen.  (He on the other hand, is the exact opposite.  This also means I tend to be a very through planner, though I get really stressed in the process, while he is a "play by ear" kind of person who tends to forget stuff... We more or less work well together, though we tend to drive each other nuts sometimes!)

Anyway, I am still trying to let go and let God, and perhaps this time of many question marks would be a long-drawn lesson for me to keep trusting in Him that knows our tomorrows.  So this week, I am thankful for:

:: His everlasting, never-changing nature.  That while circumstances change, we can still hang on to God and know that He is holy and perfect and loving.

:: The hubby, who reminds me to enjoy the journey.  Who also has been really patient and helpful around the house now that normal chores are getting harder to do, and is currently Junior J's self-declared "best buddy".

Junior J demonstrating how he got his face blue.

:: This little boy, who has been such a good boy for the past few weeks.

:: Little random collections around the house that make my heart smile.

:: Friends, who willingly agree to be put on call to baby-sit at anytime of the day/night, in the event that my parents are not contactable and I have to go to the hospital...

:: Rainy days that are perfect for reading Bob books in bed, and having mock picnics using the blankets.      

What are you thankful for this week?