Monday, July 31, 2006

Horlicks doggie cookies


Promised Shuoze that i will bake this so that he can help me to decorate and promise fulfilled i did, today..:)


We had fun decorating these cuties but most times, i think i'm abit too rigid, complaining about the way he placed the koko krunch and chocolate chip. Lol. And to my surprise, he actually took them out and placed them to the places that i mentioned :P

As for the younger son, he got really busy as well.. busy eating up my koko krunch and chocolate chips mostly. That greedy boy.. grrrr.. haahaa.

Overall, it's a fun and happy day today plus the cookies turned out to be really adorable. Check them out!


Adorable aren't they? ;)


Edited to add recipe for Livia :

Ingredients:
180g butter (recommended Golden Churn)
80g Horlicks
100g chocolate chips
200g top flour
25g cornflour
25g milk powder
Koko Krunch

Method:
1) Sift the flour, cornflour and milk powder.
2) Cream the butter and Horlicks for 3 minutes at low speed. Do not overbeat.
3) Add the sifted flour and beat for about one minute to form a dough.
4) Divide dough into 10g each. Embed 3 chocolate chips into each piece of dough and roll into a ball.
5) Insert 2 pieces of Koko Krunch to form the ears and 1 chocolate chip as the nose.
6) Bake at 140 deg for about 25 minutes.
7) Cool before storing.

Saturday, July 29, 2006

It's a boy!


Gynae double confirmed this with me 2 days ago and guess what?

We are thrilled! (even though we've got 2 other boys already *wink*)

Somehow i feel i can relate and connect better with boys than girls. Maybe this is my destiny. To be surrounded by boys. Lol. The only reason i would be wanting a girl is for my in law's sake. You know, the balance things up especially when they already have 2 very active grandsons occupying them. Maybe a girl will soften things a little, that's if the girl is not the very active sort :)

But oh well, guess it's all fated. I am to have 3 boys and i'm glad. Now, the boys will have no reason not to go shopping with me when they have grown up. No sister to push the responsibility to! Haha.. Goody good.

Hb got so excited over the news that he told his collegues the very day itself. So not hb! You see, he's not the sort who goes around telling stuff about his private life.. :D

Conclusion, it's good news afterall aye.. except for my sisters in law who have been wanting a niece. Hehe :P

p.s: Still cant believe that i'm pregnant with 3rd baby!

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Scare


Had a scare on Tuesday when gynae's nurse called to ask to go down to clinic on the day itself before 11am due to the results of my blood test..

Usually, they only do this when there's something wrong. Otherwise, doctor will present your result during your next visit. At the same time, received another call from Shuoze's teacher saying Shuoze has fallen ill and it's better to get him from school asap.

As all wives do, they call their husbands to inform the situation.

For my age group, the risk of my baby having down syndrome is 1 in 1320 but for me, it was 1 in 257. Scary isn't it? Of course, that was only the calculation. I could be oone of the 256 moms who will have a normal baby or the 1 mom who will have a down syndrome baby.

What choice do i have?

Do further test of course to get 100% confirmation on whether baby's down syndrome or not. Went through a test called amniocentesis where my gynae uses a very long needle to jab through my stomach to get to my womb to get the water where the baby is residing.

The risk of having miscarriage for doing this test is 1 in 200. But hb and i knew we gotta take the chance.

The procedure was really scary! Blood test was already bad enough for me and this, simply too much to bear. I closed my eyes most of the time, chanting my prayers. Every second in the room passes like every hour. It was that bad.


After the test, i had to go through another detailed scan. In total, 2 hours was spent at the hospital and total cost?

$1200.

Having babies are very expensive and tough!

After the test, i was told to rest for 2 days, do not carry heavy things and if possible, rest on the bed always the avoid miscarriage. There were some cramps and soreness at the tummy area during the 1st day but thankfully, on my second day, i was back to normal again.

And today, gynae called me personally to let me the result which we opted to go for, a super fast test call PCR where they zoomed in into certain chromosomes but of course with additional cost on top of the compulsory test which will take us 3 weeks to know the result.

The result?

NEGATIVE!

Yes! Baby is normal afterall.. :)

Seriously, this pregnancy is really a rough one and i do hope to see some sunshine after this.. No more suffering for me please.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Spizza


After watching David Rocco'ss Dolce Vita (cooking show) on Channel 16 last night, i couldn't help but crave badly for authentic Italian wood fire pizza.


At the very last minute, i sms-ed hb and told him to meet me at Spizza, Balmoral Plaza branch for dinner at 9pm! (supper for me since i have already eaten my dinner) . I'm that desperate.. haha.

It was our first time there and i love everything about Spizza. Good pizza, nice ambience and excellent service. I will definitely go back there again. We ordered Trovatore - Mixed Seafood soup in tomato base “Ciuppino” and Katarina pizza - Tomato, Mozzarella, Beef Carpaccio, Rucola and Shaved Parmesan. The pizza was really very good.. beautifully soft base, crispy edges and juicy topping. Yums!

What a great way to end the night.. :P

If you have any good recommendation for wood fire pizza, do let me know yeah *wink*

For more info, do go to www.spizza.sg

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Star cruise yeah!


I simply cannot wait for Friday to come and i've got good reasons to. Hahaha.

We, the whole family together with my parents in law and sis in law will be going for our very very first holiday together!

I lurveeeeeeeee doing things together. But it seems like the family i married into, don't quite like doing things together (but i could always, always count on them if i'm in need of help *grin*) unlike my family, we love get togethers, holiday together, going to eat together etc. I like the feeling of togetherness. It just feels so homey and warm :D

So imagine my excitement! I wasn't even this excited when i went for my 3 weeks honeymoon to New Zealand. Lol. I have been counting the days since last Saturday when everything was confirmed. Of course, even though i am very excited, i still couldn't beat Shuoze, my eldest son. He is much much much more excited than i am. Lol.

I'm really looking forward to spend some fabulous time with my 2 little darlings, doing things they want for the whole day till they hit the bed, then it's the big darling's time. Thinking of taking a dip in the pool with hb when the kids have gone to bed. Keeping my fingers cross on 2 things.

1. the pool will not be crowded at all. Hope everyone goes to disco or to see performances
2. the tankini (yeah, i wear tankini. No guts to wear bikini yet plus i think hb will freak out lol but i promise myself that i will wear one as a reward if i'm still stretch marks free after the birth of my 3rd child) still fits and i don't look fat in it.. hohoho

Aiihhh.. tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday. So many days more! :P

Steamed moist chocolate cake


I'm so back!


Finally, my first cake after such a long hiatus. Hb's been asking for it (the chocolate cake) day and night. Now that i'm better and could bake without feeling nausea thinking about it, i baked hb one last Sunday.

Too bad, the picture i got here was pretty bad. It's the only picture i managed to capture before the camera went 'beep' and dead after that.

This steamed chocolate cake that i made was different from the one i baked the other time with the strawberry deco. This cake stays really moist even though it has been refrigerated, unlike the other one that would turn hard (mostly the chocolate ganache) and needed to be microwaved for best result (well, that's because the chocolate i used was val rhona dark chocolate). This one uses condensed milk mixes with cocoa powder for the fudge which explains why it stays soft. As for the cake itself, i prefer the steaming method though.. Much more moist and definitely melt in your mouth :P

Nevertheless, both were really good. Next time round, i'm gonna combine the best of both world which is, the cake will be steamed and the topping would be chocolate ganache instead of original.

I can't wait! And i'm sure hb can't wait either :D

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Baby @ 14 weeks


Went to gynae yesterday for my usual check up..


14 weeks
Size : 8.16cm (double from the previous! despite my weight lost)
Mommy's weight : 52.9kg (lost 1 kg)
Present : ShuoLi
Total : $980.36 (package starts and for lab fee)

Had blood test. As usual, it freaked me out. But surprisingly this time i never cry. Haha. For the previous 2, i did. Perhaps it's because didi was with me and mommy's instinct was there. So cannot cry :P

Sometimes i do wonder out loud how did i go through 2 labours without any pain killer and still freak out at the mere thought of getting injected. Miracle!

Next visit will be finding out baby's gender time. Can't wait! :D

Appetite has returned and am currently craving for lotsa things.. lol.

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Food poisoning


I seriously have no idea what happened to me lately! Just when things were better from all the sickness i got, i had food poisoning (my very first food poisoning) on Saturday night and lasted through Sunday.


Imagine how i panicked when i found out i had food poisoning given that i am currently pregnant. I really thought the bacteria would attack the baby and do something to it! I was praying and chanting, promising to God that if baby were to be ok and all healthy as per normal, i will never touch sashimi and salad till i birth..

Later i found out that the baby would be alright afterall because food poisoning is confined to my intestines only. Something upset my stomach, nothing to do with the baby. There's a barrier between me and the baby that keeps the baby safe and sound, unless i have the very severe case which thankfully, i did not.

Nevertheless, i am still keeping my word to God, that i will not be eating sashimi and salad anymore for the rest of this pregnancy to avoid another scare.

How did i get food poisoning?

I was happily bringing hb to my new found japanese restaurant armed with a $20 voucher courtesy from the restaurant when i gave my feedback sometime ago. That night, i had 3 pieces of salmon sashimi and salad. We suspect it was the salad the culprit because the sashimi was really fresh and hb had it as well. As for the salad, i was the only one eating it. The rest of the food, we both shared. So now, i am still thinking whether i should feedback to the restaurant on what happened to me.. hmm.

I think i should.

By the way, this newly opened Japanese restaurant (ok, not really newly opened la but still pretty new) is located at Wheelock Place, 3d floor.

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Steamboat pic


Gotten this pic from Carolyn for quite some time now but didn't get the chance to put it up till today, when i am feeling better..

Really enjoyed the outing. Too bad Davis wasn't in the pic - she was holding the camera for us :P

Thank you girls for accompanying me =)

Update : past week was really really bad. Just last Friday, Sat and Sun, due to excessive coughing and vomitting, i've been vomitting blood too! I almost freaked out. Called my gynae to double check things. Thank god it has nothing to do with the baby, just my throat but i am all better now even though i still vomit at least once a day. At least, the blood's gone ..

Then there's problem with my hand with its numbness. Been irritating the hell out of me. Can't sleep at night because of it. Kept feeling the needle pricking, the coldness and no matter how i position the right hand, the feeling is there. Saw doc yesterday, seems like it has something to do with my nerves near my neck. Sigh. If problem persists, i would be refered to the specialist, a neorologist. But given my condition (pregnant), they can't do much. No medication, no x-ray.. so what can they do? I'm praying that it'll heal miraculously by itself one of these days. Problems problems.. GO AWAY! Leave me alone!