Baby Shower!

We finally had the baby shower on Saturday after having to postpone it by a week due to the unfortunate accident I had. It was really just an excuse to have our close friends over and shower us with gifts hahaha! Thank you guys for your presence and for putting up with our silly games! We are so blessed to have friends like you!

Preparing for the shower

Packing the macaroon favours

Don't the colours look bright and chirpy?

Mini Dumbo welcomes guests at the door

Guests were invited to pen notes and wishes for the little one

Xin customised a gorgeous mobile for the nursery!
We used it to decorate the dining area for the shower :)

Christmas all over again!

Demonstrating how the cloth diapers work
That teddy is older than I am!

Our unfortunate participants in the diaper-changing game

Neon green?! Hunny what were you thinking??

Pressie-opening time!

The peek-a-boo piano toy that had everyone going oohh and aahh

Adorable embellished tees from Chelsea our artistic friend!

We also had "Mommy's Boy" and "Got Milk?" tees to complete the set.

My favourite Lana cake!

Snooze time. zzzzz.

Baby Nat all snug and cosy and fast asleep

The cutest wee feet

Impromptu bottle ad haha

Thank you for visiting! Please take home a token of our appreciation.

And of cos the latest belly update~
When will we finally get to see you oh little one?

(you're getting pretty heavy you know!)

More Christmas pictures

I have no idea we took so many pictures over Christmas! Guess I was more trigger happy than I thought haha! I half-wish we still had our Sony T10 (the camera that got snitched in Bangkok) so maybe the photos would have turned out better and I wouldn't have to spend hours altering them into something more decent. Oh well... we make do with what we have, though I am making sure we borrow something good for the birth!

Dec 28th 2008

What do you need when making good old brandy butter?

A good old-fashioned cookbook of cos!

And nothing beats the heirloom of a treasure recipe book that the hubster smuggled from home when he moved out here. If you look carefully, you can see the year his mommy got it from her school - 1963!

We brought Matt's homemade brandy butter to the Chngs for yet again another round of face-stuffing. This is what happens when you have too much leftover turkey and pudding. You invite less fussy friends over to help clear the fridge.

Having the Challengers at any Christmas feast always entails being coerced into following the Challenger tradition of having Christmas crackers and wearing funny paper crowns throughout dinner. Here Matt is demonstrating how the crackers worked. Everyone was really game so it was a great laugh! I'm just glad I got to work the camera so no funny shots of me haha!

Goodbye 2008 and hello 2009!

This is probably not the cheeriest news to share on the first day of the new year but oh well, it is a NEW year after all! And a time for fresh beginnings... and maybe another miracle story haha :) As some of our friends may have already heard, I was involved in a 5 car accident pile-up a few days ago on the highway as a cab passenger (we were the 5th vehicle) and had to be admitted to a hospital for contractions that brought on the risk of preterm labour. I shall not go into details here but let's just say I didn't know I was having contractions at all!! Let alone know that they were coming at 2-3 minutes apart! It was not fun at all being put under close observation in the delivery suite being poked and pricked by needles that were bigger than your veins.

We really thank God that the little one was never under serious threat - his heartbeat was strong and steady - it was more the risk of him being born early at 34 weeks so I had to be given incredibly painful steroid jabs to mature his lungs in case that was to happen. Thankfully the medication finally kicked in and along with the wonderful care of the doctors and nurses in charge of my condition, we were well enough to be discharged yesterday on new year's eve so we could at least usher in 2009 in the comfort of our home (and be free of needles!!!).

Thank you for all your prayers and kind wishes, we know that it is truly by the grace of God that protected us so that we were able to emerge relatively unscathed save for a bit of a scare. The incident also showed us how unprepared we were if the wee one were to say hello now so yeah, time to make sure we're really really really ready for his arrival! Another good thing that came out of it was getting a foretaste of how contractions felt like so I would know when the time came :)

I am still under strict house rest so I apologise if I am unable to reply correspondences as quick as I'd like to, but I will be checking my mail as and when the hubster-dictator-nurse allows me to actually get out of bed. (yes he is that strict!) 2008 may have ended on a more dramatic note than we anticipated but we are really looking forward to the new year and our soon-to-be-here little bundle of joy!

We hope you had a wonderful holiday too and a great start to the new year!

(and remember to always always wear seatbelts! Trust me.)

hello little one...

We'll be seeing you soon!

Tis Christmas Day!

It's Christmas morning!

The mantle all dolled up in christmasy festive fashion

Traditional Challenger Christmas breakfast of cold ham, tomatoes, boiled eggs and soldiers

(ok it's more like lunch since the Christmas service ended at 12)

Time to open pressies!

This is the funniest gift we received! Guess what it is?

It's a wee blocker! You use it to cover the baby's winky while changing his diapers to avoid getting squirted haha

Baby Challenger received the most pressies this Christmas
-- and he doesn't even have a birth certificate yet!

The turkey nearly ready for serving

Christmas turkey with sausage stuffing, bacon rolls, corn, mash, steam veggies
on very non-traditional serving plates haha

It is a Challenger tradition to wear the paper crowns from the christmas crackers all through dinner. Our 2 guests were not spared either.

At the end of a long day, nothing beats snuggling in with a good book.

Hope you enjoyed your Christmas as much as we did! :)

The day before Christmas

Some last minute crafting and handmade gifts...

hanging my favourite pooh ornament which I've had since I was 10...

popping over to the Chngs for carols and a pig-out...

(dang I forgot to take photos of the carollers!)

and of cos a homemade log cake!

And have I mentioned our little Christmas Eve miracle?

It'd been raining the whole day and our front porch was all slippery and wet so of cos I put on my anti-slip shoes to head out to the Chngs. Who would have known that anti-slip isn't always anti-slip??!! So there I was, a 8mth preggie hippo sprawled on her butt in the rain and scaring the living daylights out of the hubby and baby's godma. They were like, oh my goodness oh my goodness oh my goodness! Do you need to go to the hospital??! And I was like, YeowwOUCH!! Until I realised it wasn't the belly or hips that hurt, but my right arm which I used to break my fall. There was no bleeding, no cramps, no nothing!

Turns out I'd landed on the fleshy right butt-cheek which cushioned the shock so it didn't hurt one bit and there was no bruise at all!! For someone who bruises as easily as a peach, that really said something. Amazingly I did not break/dislocate my arm as well so all I had were some minor grazes. Praise God for his protection over the wee one or we might have had to spend Christmas Eve in hospital!

So yeah a prayer of thanksgiving and a change of clothes later, we were on our way to Christmas carols and turkey and roast beef and opening the first pressies when the clock struck 12. This is definitely a story that's gonna be retold in christmases to come! :p

Hope you had a blessed Christmas filled with love and joy too!

The week before Christmas

What have we been doing in the week leading up to Christmas?

Lots of shopping and wrapping...
(my poor overdrawn bank account)

and preparing of gifts....

... some to be sent to UK in time for Christmas

Kids' Christmas musical in church...

Putting up the Christmas tree...

overflowing with gifts...

letting the little ones do their part in putting up baubles...

... and having the Praying Hands over for Christmas potluck

... before finally putting our feet up to rest...

but only for a day or two!

xoxo

Lime Sorbet - SGD 45 - Sold

I love this yummy shade of luminous green!
Delicious 8x5mm peridot brios dangle within 15x8mm oval hoops with pearls and crystal rondelles. Drop is about 3.3cm from golfilled hooks ~

*Enjoy 10% off this piece!*

Vintage Rose (blue) - SGD 45 - Sold

This is a blue take on the original custom order of Vintage Rose with antiqued cameos from Japan and vintage rose cab. My only pair! Drop is 5cm and 5.5cm respectively ~

*Enjoy 10% off this piece!*

Marjorie - SGD 40 - Sold

Bronzy shimmery tones with special coated swarovski briolettes and flower tendril charms.
Drop is 4.5cm from goldfilled hooks ~

*Enjoy 10% off this piece!*

Olivine - SGD 45 - Sold

I really like how the olivine crystals set in vintage-style oxidised silver casings and the pale gleam of the green amethyst brios complement each other so brilliantly! Having a good mind to keep this for myself :p Drop is 4cm from oxidised cz studs~

*Enjoy 10% off this pair!*

Scarlett - SGD 39 - Sold

Vintage-style antiqued swarovski components in deep red with oxidised vines, red garnet rounds, crystal rondelles and mauve freshwater pearls ~Drop is 4.5cm from oxidised CZ studs.

*Enjoy 10% off this piece!*

Gardenia - SGD 45 - Sold

Christmasy colours of white, silver and gold with vintage rose cabs and swarovskis for that special noel touch ~ Drop is 6cm from sterling hooks.

*Enjoy 10% off this piece!*

Smoky Glitz - SGD 39

Shoulder dusters for the festive season!

Petite fleurs atop faceted smoky quartz cubes with crystal chain trails while drop is 7.5cm from sterling hooks~

*Enjoy 10% off this piece!*

Nuala - SGD 45

Bursts of glitter and shine galore with this pair of faerie darlings! Drop is 5.5cm and 4.5cm respectively with sterling components.

*Enjoy 10% off this piece!*

Kitty collection

I'm starting to get panicky at the thought of having to find space to store all those teeny weeny parts (away from curious prying baby fingers) so as a special bonus to clear some room, I'll be listing some new items at 10% off starting with this little mini kitty series.

Proud Percy - SGD 39

Drop is 5cm from 14k goldplated studs.

Prancing Kitties - SGD 39 - Sold

Drop is 4cm with little 10mm tall enamel kitty charms, swarovski pearls, rose quartz and goldfilled parts.

Hoity Kitties - SGD 40 - Reserved

Drop is 5cm from goldfilled hooks with sparkly swarovskis.

Kitty Sparkles - SGD 36

Drop is 3.5cm from sterling hooks with vintage black kitties from rhodium cz links & swarovskis.

pinky goldy earrings!

A trio of pink gold-plated CZ stud earrings just for the festive season!
Also enjoy 10% off on this series!

Turtledove - SGD 39 - Reserved

Drop is 4.5cm (left) and 7.5cm (right).
Dove measures 2cm x 2.5cm.

Sway - $39

Drop is 4cm (left) and 3.5cm (right).

Horatio - SGD 39 - Reserved

Drop is 2.5cm (left) and 5cm (right).

hit by a truck

I was so annoyed at how the flu bug likes to choose the most opportune moment to make its attack!! It really had me at its mercy 2 days before the tea party, all through the weekend and 2 wedding lunches, and even on the tuesday after the snifflies seem reluctant to say goodbye! We decided to just let me sleep it off instead of self-medicating and 2 days of hibernating seemed to help so I'm no longer feeling like I'd just been hit by a truck! (but a motorbike? maybe.)

The effect of the last few weeks of busy-ness is really taking its toll so the plan is just to list whatever pieces I have on hand, clear the backlog of custom orders and close shop for the Christmas season! We've got friends from Australia arriving on Saturday to stay with us till we say hello 2009! and a Christmas party on Sunday so yup, I really need to take time off to set up the house. Bring out those tinsel and baubles! I'm all ready to decorate! :p

Hope you'll have a ball of a time celebrating this festive season too!
Joyeux Noël!

Christmas tea party!

Ah before I forget (and people start making plans!), we're having a Christmas par-tea! next Saturday at Doinky Doodles! It's gonna be my last "outdoor" event before I pop since I'm just getting heavier and heavier with each day and the limbs can no longer catch up with the mind. There'll be moi with new stuff and Amy with her cute animal mugs and of cos Xin with her latest Christmas offerings!

(click to enlarge)

Come join us for a lazy leisurely afternoon of quirky tete-a-tete!