Merry Early Xmas!!

I had a massive scare today! My friend Becky (who is also pregnant) had a HUGE complication after delivering her baby boy - she started hemorrhaging and lost so much blood that she had to be transferred to another hospital for a blood transfusion. It made me realise that birth can sometimes be a risky thing!! Thank God she is stable now in the Intensive Care Unit, and she has a healthy boy, Owen Michael Shaw, awaiting her when she recovers :) CONGRATS to Becky & Dave!!!

Meanwhile, some pics of me & my sis enjoying our time before the baby arrives:

AND... our Early Xmas Party!!! Here are the kiddies & Noodlely in her Santa outfit with her new haircut :)

Playing the white elephant game - it's Secret Santa with a twist where you can steal gifts off each other:

The whole gang enjoying our potluck dinner & hanging around. Me & Becky comparing tummies~!!

Can't wait for our real Xmas Day in hospital with Nugget! Hope I get good pressies hahaha ~~ ;p

OK I just want to take a moment now to say a big THANK YOU for all the encouraging emails and messages I have recieved from friends here and back home. I feel so blessed to have all of you in my life...

Here's my study wall all dedicated to family, husband and friends :) Not completed yet, obviously - it will be finished when Nugget joins us in the world ♥

(btw my mum took those pics on the right 1 month after having me! Hope I bounce back that quickly as well...)

Tomorrow I'm being admitted into hospital and the next day I will meet my little one - I am so excited and can't wait to see and hold him!! Will ask Steve to post up a short birth announcement on this blog when he's ready, but will probably not have time to blog again myself for a long time. Thanks so much to everyone for reading and commenting all these years - there have been so many times when I have wanted to stop but didn't because of you guys. Awww... *tear*

Take care everyone, and Merry Xmas. Mucho luv to you all ~!!!

Gracie xxxxoooo

Yay Nursery DONE!

Ok blogging has been such a chore lately,SO SORRY TO EVERYONE that told me not to stop blogging, but I think I can really only manage one more after this, and then I'll be on hiatus for a while... maybe forever?

I'm pleased to say I finally completely finished the nursery though! I was gonna write up this long post about all the stuff that you need in a nursery for other pregnant friends, but now I really can't be bothered :( I can share some pics though, and if anyone wants to know where I got stuff from just email me!

Hanging up and folding the stacks of clothes we got as gifts - this is my fave chillout room now :)

Nugget's ZZzzzz zone:

Some necessities -  Stokke Stroller & accessories, Maxi-Cosi Mico carseat, My Little Lamb swing, Diaper Champ bin, wheely change trolley, Bumbo chair:

Medela breast pump, bathtub & toys, Breast cream/pads and other essentials, Itzbeen timer, Baby monitors to watch him on:

Stuffed toy area (not full yet), baby calender, Burberry & Chloe baby bags, swaddles & blankies :)

I also got a lots of different toys, bottles, bibs, burp cloths, clotes, books, and a whole stack of post-partum "getting body back" stuff like the Belly Bandit, Shrinx Hips and Anita Re-belt Girdle - I hope they work!!

Will blog again before I go to hopsital!

xxoo

36 weeks~~!!!

WHOA! Can't believe I'm almost there already... in another week Nugget will be considered full term and then soon after I'll be getting my c-section. Then I guess my life will be over and I'll never blog again. I still haven't made a decision yet, but I think that if I do contine to blog, it will be sporadic and nonsensical. And not sure who really wants to read about baby stuff all the time anyway. Might be better just to quit and only update my private BFF page on facebook instead - btw please let me know if I have accidentally left you out of the group. If I have, I'm sorry!! I will add u as soon as you let me know :D

Ok, so past few weeks have been ultra busy with mum here, buying the rest of the baby stuff, interviewing new maids for the full-time position, brunches and etc. Photo-taking has taken a back burner cos I just can't be bothered and plus I've gained 18kg so how good can I look in pictures?? There's one pic someone tagged me in facebook of my ass that I just had to remove cos I looked like an elephant DIESSS. Mum fired the cook cos she said the food was too oily (sad) and is making me light foods, so at least my weight gain has petered (in fact, stopped for the last week) so I'm happy to say that I probably wont exceed 20kg by the end of this. Phew!

I've been having some anxiety attacks that have me waking up at 4am in the morning every day for the last week. I'm starting to get worried about what will happen at night as Steve & I decided that he wont sleep with me when he has work cos he really needs to concentrate. I'm getting freaked out about being alone with the baby 5 nights a week, breastfeeding every 2hrs without any help!! Someone criticised me the other day for not getting a 24hr doumi (certified nurse) to help out in the beginning - were they just trying to scare me? :( ...

Nugget is getting lower now and really crushing my cha-cha and bladder. I wee all the time when I laugh/cough LOL. Also can no longer take off boots by myself, walk for longer than an hour without my back giving in, nor can I sit still in a straight position for too long without wanting to lie down flat. I've been waking up after 4-5hrs sleep by default every day now, started reading the baby's first year books, getting tutored on breastfeeding by the doula, got my full-time maid ready to start, chosen and booked my room at the hospital, no longer sleeping with Noodle so that she can get used to someone else being no.1 (sorry noodlely), dealt with the fact that husband cannot be in the operating room and that I will get my hands tied down (damn Korean hospitals) and be in a lot of pain... so I guess I'm as ready as I can be. The nursery is complete now and looks.... adorable!! Can't wait to take pics and put it up on my next post.

Here's what we've been up to lately..

Shitty wax museam that was en route to the show we were watching @ 63 Building:

Thanksgiving dinner @ Dorothys - look at that turkey, it's bigger than the baby (and she made 2 of them!!):

Second Thanksgiving dinner @ our place - aren't my cups lovely!

Mum's getting excited about the baby coming, she can't stop playing with Liam hehe:

Hannah's trunk show for her bespoke jewellery brand Palén Design hosted @ our place. She made the living room look so fab with all this studio lighting and the jewellery was just gorgeous:

Getting in all our brunches before it's too late!

My sister is arriving from London next week, I'M SO EXCITED!!! She has already recieved 2 scholarships to prestigious music schools there, what a star. She'll be bringing Xmas, Nugget's birth and all my online UK shopping with her ~~ ahhhh...

xxoo

Secret to a happy marriage

So I've been asked by so many people lately what the secret to a happy marriage is - although I dont think I'm an expert in this area, I do have a very strong opinion on the neccessary ingredients, and I have to say that love, on it's own, is not enough. I see all of my friends who are happily married and I have to say the thing they have in common is... respect. With respect come patience, understanding, loyalty - and it also means that the person will bite their tongue when they want to call you a f*%$*& idiot.

Here's Gracie's lowdown on what makes a marriage work:

1) Do not swear at each other when angry. Don't slam doors, walk out the house, blame the other person for things that happened before. The best way to respect someone is to stay grounded when all u want to do is strangle them and call them a retarded monkey. Don't get me wrong, we make these mistakes all the time - so when you fail, which will be often, see point 2.

2) When point 1 cannot be avoided, let it go and consciously make an effort to make up that very day, if not immediately. Never go to bed without solving all issues. It breeds agitation & resentment and tears the two of you further apart. Trust me, pride is not something you should be looking for in a husband, uh-uh sista! A man that is not willing to say sorry (especially if he's NOT wrong) is not husband material. Marry the guy that can recognize how to salvage a situation, and not how to make sure he wins or gets his point across. And don't even think of marrying someone in the hopes that you can change him... see next point.

3) People don't change. They may in little ways, or try to in bigger ways - but the fact is a goat is a goat is a goat. So choose wisely and once you have, don't regret your decision. Never compare against others and love your husband for all his strengths, but even more so for his weaknesses. Those things that are not so great about him should be the reason why he has you - to balance him out DUH. Cos you're obviously perfect and have no faults. Holla. Once you think of it that way, you will feel more empowered instead of resentful.

4) Finally, marry someone that thinks you're the bees knees. I find it ridiculous that people put strict rules on the guy having to be a rich cunt, over 180cm, and owns heaps of shit. Uh... I've been there and ppl like that are usually mentally deranged, have a psycho step-mum, and/or have Hep B. Yes - those are facts.

The real secret to a happy marriage is finding someone that always puts you first. Case in point: I'd rather have a guy that has $1 and gives me $1 than a guy who has millions and gives me $100k.

I hope that somewhat answers the question. I might not be right, but at least this is what is right for me. And with this, I want to be THANKFUL for my ruthlessly temperamental, infinately flawed, goose of a husband. He's gonna be a great dad :D

I found an old pic of that night 3 years ago when we "officially" started dating hehe...

Nov 2007 @ Trademark Hotel in Sydney's Kings Cross:

xxoo

Happy 2yr Anniversary ♥

WOW it's been 2yrs already since the humble day we signed our names in that local registry in Taipei, and a year since our beautiful wedding blessing in Sydney - how time flies!

This year, being 35weeks pregnant, we couldn't really go anywhere special so we decided just to have a nice dinner and exchange gifts that we made for each other. Little did we know, we were both thinking the same thing - our "personally made" gifts to each other were both books!

MINE  - its a 25page book about why I love him (I wrote it and drew all the pics myself - so proud hehe):

and HIS - an erotic fiction about Grace & Steven, with smatterings of other people and things in our lives thrown in. A really intriguing read!!

But we both went against the rules and bought other gifts for each other haha~~ I guess being married for 2yrs make you think alike? The best is my push gift - a Tiffany celebration ring, which I will engrave with Nugget's name when he is born :)

Mum took pics for us as we were leaving the house. This is my other mink coat that she gave me - another push gift? haha... LOVE!!!

We celebrated at the Ninth Gate Grill @ the Westin - fabulous restaurant and even better view of the oriental gardens. Really lovely :)

Yums degustation:

Great service, they gave us an entire cake!

During the dinner, Steve was soooo cute. He got all nervous and said he had another gift for me - and then he started reciting Oscar Wilde's "To My Wife" He kept getting it wrong and had to take this piece of paper out of his pocket to check the words hehe. Oh, it was really sweet ~~ and then I realised that was why he was talking to himself in the shower earlier LOL.

This is year so special for us - little Nugget will be born in 3 weeks and we will spend out first Xmas together with him. We are so blessed to have everything that we do, praise God!!

To My Wife - Oscar Wilde

I can write no stately proem

As a prelude to my lay;

From a poet to a poem

I would dare to say.

For if of these fallen petals

One to you seem fair,

Love will waft it till it settles

On your hair.

And when wind and winter harden

All the loveless land,

It will whisper of the garden,

You will understand.

And there is nothing left to do

But to kiss once again, and part,

Nay, there is nothing we should rue,

I have my beauty,-you your Art,

Nay, do not start,

One world was not enough for two

Like me and you.

xxoo

Update & (another) Baby Shower!!

So the update on my placenta is that it is still too low for a natural birth - it didn't move at all for the last month BOOO!! I think cos I got so excited that it had moved last time, I totally forgot about resting and started running around and ruined it. OH WELLS it is still much better than before. And at least now we have a date for the c-section scheduled in for before Xmas so that is really soon!

The other sad news is that I am still sick as a dog *woof*. Seriously, pregnancy sickness sucks balls, I spend the whole night coughing up phlegm and trying to breathe through my mouth and if I see another lemon after this I will prob stab my eye with a blunt shovel. Ughs. At least I have my MUMMY here!! She's doing everything for me and I can order her around without feeling bad like I sometimes do with the maid. And she's helping me interview for a full-time helper to start right after Nugget is born :)

She also told me that I'm too fat, which is totally true. Actually I thought I was quite fine up until last week when my face suddenly ballooned and now I look like a chipmunk gathering nuts for winter. BLERGHHHHH.

Now to the exciting part - our friends in Seoul organised Becky & I an awesome baby shower on the weekend, and it was so much fun! They went to so much trouble, I'm so blessed to have all these wonderful people in my life, and even luckier that I got 2 showers. Thank you God for bringing so much love into our lives ♥

Setting up - what a great sign!

I got my mink coat!! And guess what else - my mum gave me her brand new one too, so now I have 2 super luxurious, ridiculously priced, totally amoral items of animal. Each mink coat is 50 dead female minks, how sad is that? But we wear leather, rabbit and fox collars and plus aren't there heaps of minks in the world...? They might get eaten by a lion if they're not made into coats right?

In the kitchen - check out all the food they prepared! I was ravenous... nom nom~~

Making a baby out of play-doh. It was HARD. I kept wanting to give ours a circumcised penis but it didn't turn out so well...

My team's baby is the retarded pink one on the left, and Steve's team is that purple one that looks like an Orc from Lord of the Rings. The winning team was orange, cos they had a safety pin on a diaper. So skilled.

Our team totally failed the next game too, cos Dave almost threw up the baby food!! It must have been groooooosss. But Dorothy was a good sport and sucked that bottle til the end, even though we were already out of the game hahahaha

You can tell Ryan (top right) won the other game where u have to steal pegs off people when they say the words "baby, boy,  & pregnant". By the end of the night I think he pretty much had everyone's pegs lol.

Me & Becky's adorable cake!

Family + Group shots:

Some of my presents. YAY!!! I am almost fully stocked and ready to go now :D

Last group shot. On the right is what happens when you're not fast enough for the timer...

Btw my friends Jay & Mandy just had their 2nd little boy in Shanghai. What a cutie! 

She was skinny her entire pregnancy, unlike me... I think she only gained 9kgs with the second one, I've gained double :(  See??

ARghhhh... maybe I'll gain less with the next one, I think most ppl tend to gain more with the first cos you have no idea what you're doing...

Besides Becky, I have 2 other friends due at the same time as me and guess what they are ALL BOYS... my Nugget is gonna have a hard time finding a mate when he grows up~~!!

Thanksgiving this Thursday! We're having 2 Thanksgiving dinners on the weeked - YUM TURKEY CAN'T WAIT. Plz plz plz let me get better by then!

xxoo

Busy, pregnant, sick...

What a terrible combination! Winter is fast approaching and that usually means lots of snow, end of year parties, and people getting sick... being preggas means my immune system is down and its really easy to catch stuff - which I did. Misery :(

Since no medication is allowed, I am giving myself home remedies of lemon & honey water, Chinese radix drink, and chocolate brownies and Kit Kats. Very good. Can't wait for the Manuka honey my mum is bringing me TOMORROW as well! I'm wetting my pants from excitement.

Meanwhile, I haven't really been motivated to blog much recently. I dont like taking pictures of my fat ass anymore and its an effort to get the damn camera out at everything event I go to. Here's what I managed to capture lately...

Dior exhibition - my tummy is the middle pic is so funny, its like growing outside of my body LOL: 

Cartier Magic of Diamonds exhibition - no pics allowed of the diamonds unfortunately. There were some really beautiful peices worn by royalty in the early 19th Century - gorgeous. Reminded me that I have Cartier jewellery back in Sydney given to me by mr wxyz which I must remember to find as my mum likes to chuck everything away without checking what it is first - no kidding. She's disposed of some diamond rings and pendants of mine before. WTF right.

The quaint little cafe we went to afterwards with the cutest drinks - everything comes with little figurines on the side. I thought they were edible. I think everything is edible these days.

Ooooh babies I love them! And I'm having one, imagine that. Golly. Check out Evan's face - I circled it in 2 of the pics below - hahaha so cute.

1st Bday parties in Korea (dohl) is a mega big deal, and this one we attended was actually considered quite tame, cos it wasn't in a 5-star hotel. Even so, it still included lots of dressed up guests in a restaurant, elaborate decorations, a movie playing on a projector, a DJ, presentation and speeches, and 3 outfit changes for the little girl....

I think this is where I caught a cold, cos there was all these people coughing (including Jaebum *kiiiillll*) and then he even gave me a hug when he left - hugging a pregnant woman when you're sick, what was he thinking! No wonder I'm like this now... *wails*....

If we're still in Korea (which Steve has assured me we will be) when Nugget's 1 yrs old, we'll probably have to do something like this. No BBQ at the park or catered food at home - that is so Sydney. 

xxoo

US army base - CRAB LEGS!!

Woot!

My first time on the army base was super exciting. I've been waiting for this day for ages - I know, so sad. But all the stories we hear about how Pizza Hut & Burger King are different on base (ie. they have the actual American original flavours & sizes instead of silly Koreanised servings and localised flavours) and that the supermarkets are just like in the States and sell POP TARTS had me hoping, praaaaying that one day I could get in somehow for a looksie through an army or Embassy person that would take pity on my curiousity. Turns out certain celebrities and entertainers also have base access, and Dorothy has had it all along!

I missed out last time when all the girls went to watch SATC2 on the opening day (the movies on base open at the same time as they do in the US, not like 2 months later as with the rest of the cinemas in Korea) cos I was too busy buying a handbag in Galleria (story of my life *hides*) but I was determined to get in this time  - and before Nugget is born which otherwise translates as: when my life is officially over.

SO... last night we finally made it and ate all-you-can-eat crab legs at one of the restaurants. It was FUN, YUM, and of course huge American servings with unlimited fries, hush puppies, & soda refills.

Here's me at the front of the gates, super excited about what lies behind the barbed wire. See, even got my chinky peace sign out. Froggie is not much of a photographer, obviously.

First we had to hand in our IDs at the check-in point and they hold it there until you come out. Dorothy can only get 3 ppl in at a time, cos they are pretty strict about who can come in and out. WHICH, I figured later, is an excellent protocol, as everything on base is SUPER CHEAP and in real US currency. ie. not only is everything marked in and must be paid for in $US, but its the same price as it would be back home for the Americans. So you wouldn't want all these outsiders coming in and scavaging all the good shit from the patriotic American soldiers.

The base is huuuuuuuge and has schools, football and gridiron fields, cinemas, supermarkets, fast food joints, nice restaurants, a hotel, casino, bars... it was basically like a completely American town inside Korea. Totally weird! No wonder some families just come and stay their entire consignment on base and never go anywhere else. It was also really cool cos the entire stretch of land is blocked out on Google Maps & the GPS navigator - its like as though it doesnt even exit.

I kinda wonder though, what all the army ppl do all day? I mean, I know we're officially at war (and we have been for the last 50 yrs) but we're not ACTUALLY on the war field with guns and grenades so what do they do? Just train all day and eat upsized meals at KFC? Yumm.... chicken.

I didn't really see any cool soldiers as it was late and dark, but there were plenty of (obese) American families in the restaurant, and NBL (NBA?) playing from the TVs. Think: big people, ranch dressing, large sodas, and a few Southern accents. Marvelous!

CRAB LEGS - we filled up 3 of these buckets hehe:

Fatty boomba @  32+ weeks & and drunkie on Budweiser:

The best part was afterwards when we went to a Mini Mart (I almost imagined Apu Nahasapeemapetilon jumping out from behind the counter telling me to come again). They had US magazines for $3.99 (which we have to pay like $20-30 for over here in the bookstores), all sorts of glorious American yummies I have never seen before, and best of all... POP TARTS. But being non-army, we are only allowed to look but not buy in the supermarkets, so Dorothy went up to this guy and told me something about her heavily pregnant friend who would die if she didnt get Pop Tarts tonight, and of course he agreed to get them for me. They were $2.50 and Steve only had a US$5 note, so he told the guy to keep it - which made me sooooo sad cos then I realised I could have bought 2 packets!! I was so upset the whole way home about this devastating loss... with only my Rolo, Milky Bar & root beer (from the other tiny convenience store that we COULD buy from) to comfort me. They comforted me.

This morning - breakfast of champions (dessert courtesy of Ariani). Yes, I finished it all. And I feel less guilty cos I watched TED videos while I ate, which makes it all the more acceptable cos I was educating myself.

xxoo