Happy Blessed New Year 2013

It has been awhile since I blogged. I apologize for being away from my blog for so long. I update my FACEBOOK fan page most of the time. If you have not LIKE the page, please hit LIKE: https://www.facebook.com/jullieshandmade

Year 2012 was a crazy but fruitful year for me. As most of you know, I was holding a quite demanding full-time job. Juggling among full time work, family and crafting business wasn’t easy for me, especially when having 3 years old boy and another one on the way. Yes, my dear Abba Father has given us another bundle of joy  Jerell Tan. He was born on 27th of Nov 2012. When I looked back, I still wasn’t sure how I did it and I know for sure, all by God’s grace!

Year 2013, I’m back to being a SAHM. Well, I call myself mum-preneur.. Sounds better right? I’ll be managing 2 small business from home.

BIG Thank You

I will also like to thank my friends and all the lovely couples who have been supporting me throughout year 2012. I really thank you for being so understanding. Due to work and family commitments, I wasn’t able to take in some orders and had rejected quite a numbers. Really sorry to disappoint some of you…

Nevertheless, I’m glad I was given opportunities to complete some of these lovely dolls. My greatest achievement and satisfaction in this small cottage business is when I received good feedbacks from the lovely couples. In fact, this is the push factor for me to continue doing…

Oh yea, I think some of you may wonder who is Elaine. Well, she is my best friend and also partner. I’ll introduce her to all of you in my later post. So, stay tuned!

In year 2013, I hope to be more active and do this business differently. I’ll focus more on weddings and share some useful DIY stuffs on my site. Besides that, I’ll collaborate with some of my entrepreneur friends that provide good services.

Lastly, I’ll be shifting my blog site soon. I’ll keep you updated once it’s completed.

Please continue to support Jullie’s Handmade. Thanks!

Happy Terrible 2!!!

Very late post….

Joel has turned two on 25th of Jan… Well, there’s an old saying about terrible 2, it’s really true! NO KIDDING! Joel used to be very quiet and quite easy to manage. But now, he is getting more active and sometimes very difficult to manage! We really didn’t expect this to come… Knowing more words, he’ll say NO, DON’T WANT! I WANT! Whenever we hit him or scolded at him, he would keep quiet and refused to look at us. GOSH! His cries loudly and embarrassed us often in the public!! Sigh…. Terrible TWO!

Well, he is a happy boy and very socialize.. :) He always make us laugh… He starts to learn a lot of new words and things. He likes to make funny faces to attract our attention. We’ve taught him to be polite by greeting people and he did it almost every encounter with anyone… :) He starts to say ‘Please’ whenever he wants something and ‘Thank You’ when he received them. He listens to instructions pretty well too and sometimes is my great helper… Well, if he’s not naughty, he is a sensible boy… :)

This year, we decided to have a small party at home and invited a few of our close relative. I’ve ordered a cake from Rei with Joel’s favorite cartoon characters, Barney and Elmo. We decorated the whole house with balloons. Thanks to my dear brother for blowing the balloons… :) Joel was having lots of fun that day.

Birthday cake from Rei! Yummy! We finished all on that night…

Simple decoration for the party

Oh! It’s so difficult to capture a nice family potrait

He has two cousins around his age and he enjoyed their company very much! The three of them were having so much fun that when time to go home, the two cousins cried!! Hope to have such a gathering again…

DH bought him a set of drum an a small car as his birthday present this year.

Fruitful year of 2010

This is my 2nd year being a SAHM…. It’s a real blessing for being able to spend my time with Joel. Seeing him growing everyday and witnessing his ‘first’ time are something that ‘money’ can’t buy!

Joel is a fast learner, I must say. He picks up thing very fast. Coming to 2 years, he is able to listen to instructions very well and very eager in learning new things. He can recognize 1-10, some alphabets and most of the shapes. He is able to tell me what he wants. He can speaks quite a lot of words. All I need is to mention once or twice, he’ll be able to remember.

There’s another thing about Joel that both Alan and I is proud of, his character. He is a very friendly and happy boy. He doesn’t have stranger anxiety unless that person looks crooked… =P He’ll greet anyone whenever we asked him to. He’ll smile at strangers and sometimes, will say, “Hello, Uncle" or “Bye Bye, Uncle” He can mix around with kids very well. He’ll hug someone he likes. At this stage, he is able to differentiate young and old, female and male. He’ll call young boy and girl, gor gor and jie jie. Middle age lady, he’ll call Ah Yi and older lady, he’ll call Auntie. As for man, he’ll call Uncle.

Of cos, being an outgoing boy, he is very active! Sometimes, I was not able to handle him alone… He’ll play trick on me like hiding behind a pillar or leading me to a wrong place. He refused to hold my hand and he’ll throw tantrum if he couldn’t get what he wanted.  Whenever I scolded him, he’ll look at me innocently and talk to me about other things just to diversify my attention. *FAINTZ*! For my boy, scolding him is useless… The only way to deal with him is negotiating with him. Works pretty well… hehehehehe….

Joel’s 2010

I’ve stopped breastfeeding Joel @ 20th month. I was very sad and guilty. The first month when he was weaned off, he rejected formula. I was very worry. I had no choice but to mix Milo into formula. But only for one month, 2nd month onward, he accepted formula very well. Instead of calling milk, he called it Milo. He’ll request for Milo whenever he wants it and he can have up to 4 cups of ‘Milo’ a day.

Joel likes music very much. He likes to sing and dance. I remember, the first week when he was weaned off from breast milk, he was unable to sleep and he wanted me to sing to him. After 30 mins of singing, he dozed off… This little boy is YouTube fanatic, he’ll choose his own songs and sing along with it. Besides that, Joel likes to play puzzle. I bought him those wooden puzzles from Popular. He could place the puzzle pieces correctly after one or two trials. From the puzzles, he learnt a lot of new words.

Year 2011, we plan to send Joel to some classes, where he can learn how to interact with other kids and learn how to be independent. Sometimes I find him very lonely and sometimes, he’ll ask me to bring him to his granny’s place so that he could play with his gor gor. :( We’ve enrolled him to this drama and speech class by Acts3. The class will start in Jan 2011. Hub and I brought him to the trial class and Joel enjoyed it very much. I’m looking forward to bringing him to the class again.

A prayer for our little boy,

“Father God, we thank you for baby Joel. He has brought us happiness and joy to our family and he has strengthened our marriage and relationship. Indeed, he is the greatest gift from You. We thank You for this wonderful year. We could literally feel your blessings and protection everyday. We are very touched ant thankful! Father God, we pray that You’ll continue to guide us and grant as wisdom to teach this little boy and care for him.  Without your grace, we are unable to depend on our own strength to achieve our plans. Protect us from all evils and sickness with the blood of Jesus. Lastly, bless our loved ones. In Jesus name we  prayed, Amen”

Gift for little Rachel

My niece, Rachel, celebrated her 5th birthday last month… She has been wanting a handmade doll with a crown from me. Since she’s taking ballet, I’ve made a little ballerina for her… :)

Granny’s 80th Birthday Bash

Last Friday, we went to Kuching, Sarawak to celebrate my granny’s birthday. It’s a 3 days and 2 nights trip and we stayed in an apartment @ Merdeka Palace.

This is the first time after many many many years where all my relatives from my maternal side gather together. It’s very difficult to have all of them back, cos my grandmother has 9 CHILDREN, especially two of my aunts who one of them are staying in US and the other in Australia.

We’ve already booked out tickets 3 months ago, once the date & location were confirmed. I’m glad it was held in Kuching, cos it’s we can take a direct flight from Singapore.

We took Tiger Air. The flight was not so full, hence Joel had his own seat… :) This little boy was very excited to see plane… Coming to 18th month, Joel starts to understand and being curious about everything around him, so, this trip was more meaningful to him. He kept pointing the plane and swung his hands as if he’s flying.

 

We were staying @ Merdeka Palace in Kuching. My uncle booked an apartment with 3 bedrooms for us. It’s so spacious!

My dad drove from Sibu to Kuching on the same day we arrived. Being in Kuching several time, my dad became our ‘tour-guide’ for a morning… LOL!!! This is my first time after 20 years to re-visit Kuching. and I really had no idea how the city looks like. There’s a lot of development going on. Hence, the town was a bit ‘messy’… Hehehehe… I believe another 3 years, it will look very different!

Saturday was the dinner. Joel never attend any 9 course dinner before. Initially, my DH and I were worried whether he’ll be frightened or cranky… So, we forced him to take a nap at 5 plus and then we got ready our weapons; biscuits, waters, cakes and etc…. to distract him during the dinner.

Surprisingly this little monster was very well-behaved! He was in 110% good mood… Smiling and waving at everyone! All my relatives were praising him being friendly… I’m very proud of him!

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The dinner started with Longevity noodle, supposed to be mee-sua, but the hotel doesn’t have mee sua. Instead of using mee sua, they replaced it with KOLO-MEE!!! Weird, but YUMMY!!!!

After three dishes, my 3rd uncle came to stage to give a speech about my grandmother… It was so touching and almost everyone was in tear… Truly, my grandmother is a great woman who gave birth to 9 children and brought up single-handedly. During then, my grandfather was very busy working to provide for the family. Household was all taken care by my grandmother. It’s not easy at all, after being a mom myself.

Photo session was a challenge… It’s quite chaotic… LOL!!

Then later, all the grandchildren, from youngest to oldest (that’s me), lined up to take red-packet from my grandmother. Joel was her first great grand son! This little boy, walked toward her on his own to receive the red packet and followed by a hug…

What a memorable night… :) I really miss all of them and I’m looking forward to another gathering like this in future. It’s so good to catch up with my aunts, uncles and cousins…

Then on Sunday, we took Tiger Air back to Singapore. I’m sure Joel miss his young uncles and aunties greatly!! He had so much fun with them. The youngest was Uncle Bryan, he’s 5 this year! Then there’s Aunt Megan, she’s 7 and Uncle Jared, he’s 10, I think… And lastly, my youngest brother, whom Joel loves to disturb.

Occupied!!

I’ve not been blogging for a month! I didn’t realize how time flies…. I was quite occupied lately. Occupied with:

1stly, my boy, whom I called my little monster… LOL!!

My little monster is 16th month old this month and he can walk on his own now! One fine day, he just stood up and walked on his own without any assistance. I was quite surprised!

He is more and more demanding too! If we refused to listen to him or scolded him, he’ll turn away and show an angry face! Gosh! But he picks up thing very fast too, though he can’t talk, I just need to tell/show him once, he’ll know what to do next. LOL!

2ndly, my aunt and family from US were here for holiday… The last time I met Megan, she was barely two. And now, she’s SEVEN!!! Time FLIES! She is very tall, for her age and she has a very sweet smile. She wanted to learn crochet from me and wanted to make a small cake that she can hang on her bag. Struggling with needles and yarns, ended up, I’ve made the cake for her… LOL!!! Joel had lots of fun with his ‘aunt’ and both of us miss them very much….

3rdly, I’m busy with my dolls making too… :) I really enjoy this business very much especially hearing compliments from my buyers. Few more pairs to come ‘till end of this year. Thanks to their support!

And lastly, I’ve mentioned in my previous blog that currently I'm taking a short course, the exam is just around the corner, so I’m also busy preparing for the exam. I pray that I can pass this exam!

Happy Blessed Mother’s Day

To all mothers, I’ll like to wish you a Happy Blessed Mother’s Day….

Being a full-time SAHM for more than one year, I started to realize, it’s not an easy job at all! It’s not 5 days or 5 1/2 days work, it’s 24 hours 7 days work!!! No leave, no public holiday, no mc to claim, but sometimes, some time off to take… LOL!!! Even If I would have to go back to work, the responsibility of a mother to cater for Joel is still there. Just like what these quotes say below:

A man's work is from sun to sun, but a mother's work is never done.

- Unknown 

When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.

- Rajneesh

With this, I also appreciate my mother and mother in law and respect them more and more.

However, seeing Joel’s growth everyday is my greatest satisfaction. It’s irreplaceable and priceless. I’m still praying everyday to my Abba Father for granting me wisdom, strength and patience to take care of Joel and my family. I’m grateful that I have a good husband and a lenient ‘boss’, he is always there for me when I’m about to be driven nut by this little monster and approving my ‘time off’ almost all the time… Hehehehe….

Balik Kampung!

Balik Kampung means Back to Hometown in Malay…

I’ll be going home to visit my family, especially my dear granny this coming Thursday! It’s just for the weekends and will be back on 4th of April… I’ve not been home for 2 years! The last time I was home was 2008 Chinese New Year… :(  Longing to go home for very very long! Miss my granny and miss the food there too!!

This is also the first time I’m bringing Joel back… :) I hope he’ll have great time there… So excited!!

Where is my hometown?? Well, I came from Sibu, Sarawak. It’s locate on the East of Malaysia, Borneo Island… A lot of my friends don’t really know where is this place and always thought I could go back by coach.. However, I can’t… I need to go back by plane. That’s why, I can’t go home regularly like some of my Malaysian friends who are staying at the west.

 

Images extracted from www.mapquest.com

Heart-shape Birth Mark

I didn’t notice it until Betsy told me during our lunch the other day. We know that Joel has a birthmark on his left wrist, but we never notice it’s a heart-shape.

Happy Prosperous Lunar New Year

“Gong Xi Gong Xi” Joel wishes all of you 恭喜发财，万事如意

  by offering a mandarin orange that signifies good fortune….

May the year of the Tiger brings joy, prosperity and love to all of you and your loved ones….

Joel’s 1st Birthday Party

Last Saturday, 23rd of Jan, we celebrated Joel’s 1st Birthday at Goldkist Beach Resort, East Coast Park. We had invited our very close relatives and friends. My parents came all day from my hometown, Sarawak to attend this party. Coincidently my aunt and her family were here too. It has been awhile since we had such a gathering and was really fun!!

Thanks to May Ling and Jin for decorating the place for us. Honestly, the chalet was quite old and ‘run-down’ and both my DH and I were very very disappointed with the condition. But after decorating, the whole place looked quite nice… ;) But still, we are disappointed… :( It’s not worth the money we’ve paid…

Before the party, Joel went for a swim! It was his first swim.

Rei has made this wonderful cake for Joel… ;) It was yam cake and super delicious… If you look carefully, the bear is in 3D! I’m sure Rei had spend quite sometimes to ‘draw’ and ‘color’ this bear!

We were so reluctant to cut the cake. Anyway, we finished everything!! ;)

More shots on my Flickr album.

Family Portrait

My family members

My parents and my parents in law

My in laws

Cake cutting

Friends and relatives that we’ve invited…

On the actual day, which is 25th of Jan, I’ve cooked Joel mee sua… Since we’re kids, we would had a bowl of mee sua on our birthday… Mee sua symbolizes longevity. I’ve cooked mee sua with a chunk of meat, carrots and potatoes. Joel loves it!