House Hunting Horror Story

Sigh.

Found the perfect home only to lose it to an unscrupulous, no-integrity owner.  Imagine the emotional roller-coaster ride that we were taken on!  Basically, we had a verbal agreement on a price and was thrilled that the owner - being a single person - said that she could vacate quickly.  We were meant to meet the next evening to do the paperwork but the next morning, my agent called to say that the owner recanted on the offer and wanted $4k more. 

More haggling followed and we tried to bring it down to an extra $2k instead of $4k.  A few hours later, another call - this time, carrying the message that the owner is not able to move out until the end of Dec! What?!!!  By this stage, the husband and I had become extremely upset and annoyed at this craziness. The husband makes the decision to stop this madness and essentially, to tell the owner to bugger off. 

But, important lessons were learnt:

1. Don't show yourselves to be so enthusiastic about a place
2. Don't forgot to bring your cheque book when house-hunting
3. Don't forget the axiom that "If something seems perfect....it probably isn't". 
4. This is weird coming from a couple that deals with/ has dealt with highly manipulative individuals for a living - Don't trust so easily!

I'm sure I'll learn more along the way as we renew our search for a home but I do pray that the journey isn't gonna be one that is filled with such craziness.  

So dear readers, do keep your fingers and toes crossed for us, will ya?

b.

Decisions, decisions...

Post that I wrote on the 23rd August:

Last week ended of with a somewhat excruciating decision as to a property that we were seriously considering to purchase.  We went to look at the place - for the third time - with a large crowd, I may add and was none the wiser about whether we should buy or not.  It was kinda funny ambushing the poor owners of the place with family members from both sides! In the end, after much discussion between the husband and I, we decided that the place was just not for us.  The house, though nice, just gave me a negative vibe after the second visit.  We prayed about this and well, suffice to say, I felt instantly better after we decided that we weren't gonna go ahead with it.  As I was telling my colleagues, I guess I was trying too hard to like the place.  Partly because I thought I might miss out on a good deal.  Partly because I'm afraid of not finding a place in time.  Although my folks have already offered their home to us in the event that we can't find a home in time.  Alternatively, there's always Changi beach! :) So, it back to house hunting....sigh.

Perky, Nate and I are still recovering from the effects of the flu - though Nate and I are doing much better than the husband.  For some strange reason, he started having nightly fevers for the last three or so nights and has to go see the doc again.  I'm just so glad that Nate has gotten better - it really is quite traumatic trying to give a baby medication and in particular - nose spray and nose drops!  I'm glad that we didn't just try to make it for the trip coz the husband got ill the last - the day we were supposed to be on our way to Koh Samui!  I'm just praying for healing for him!  Anyway, we postponed our trip to the 11th Sept (yes, yes, didn't think much about the date in my ill state!).

Ciao!
b

Begone, Damned Flu!

What a horrible time for the family to be ill!  Nate, the Husband and I were supposed to be all excited about our trip to Koh Samui tmrw.  Instead, the three of us are down with a bad case of the flu:(

The worse possible scenario is when you have to take care of a cranky and clingy baby when you are ill.  Certainly no picnic.  At least, I have the help of my family but I truly wonder how someone without the help of extended family cope...

The positive aspect of this whole thing?  The fact that we were not asked to pay cancellation charges for the hotel and the flight!  And it was so last minute! This is almost as good as being able to change my too-large-jeans after having worn it for a week and washed it - no questions asked! 

The thing is, our trip was timed with some minor renovation works at my mum's place.  This meant that Nate would not have to be exposed to dust and other such unhealthy particles.  Oh well. 

I guess we'll just have to look forward to the trip in September..

b.

Signed, Sealed and Undelivered

Well, we sold our beautiful home:(  Yup, we signed the papers last Monday and it wasn't a wonderful feeling.  The couple who bought our home was so keen on the place (and 'keen' is seriously understating it!).  We got a decent price for the place and now we are on to searching for a new home.  It has been a tiring and frustrating search thus far.  And it certainly isn't easy when there's a baby involved - the husband and I need to plan our day (usually around Nate's feeding times), drop him off at my mum's and rushing through the viewing (coz I feel bad about having my mum take care of Nate during the weekend - even if it's for 2 hours!). 

My nightmare is that we will not be able to find a suitable place before our doom due date of 15 November when we have to get out of this home.... I've promised the husband this evening - after a round of useless viewing - that I'll try my best to be positive about the whole thing.  BUT, it's tough!

This home - albeit situated at an "ulu" joint - is really special for me for a number of reasons and some of the main ones are as follows:
1) It is our first home (ok well, the bank is the real owner!)
2) We put in a crazy amount of effort to make this a lovely home - I paid a designer, but I did most of the conceptualisation.
3) It reminds me of our wedding - since we were crazy enough to prepare for two things at one go :)
4) The husband and I spent many an evening in LOVE...kekeke (insider joke!  Just couldn't resist it!)
4) My pregnancy and Nate's first home!

So, why are we selling? To be closer to my folks since they care for Nate during the day and the commute to and from home/work every morning and evening really adds to the fatigue.

But I guess new and wonderful memories can always be formed in a new home but I'm not quite ready to think that way for now.  Till then, I must remember to take lots of photographs of this place to show Nate what his first home looked like.

I do pray that we'll find a place special enough for us to set up camp!

b.

Nate's 8 months!

Well, this post - just like all my other posts - is way overdue!  Nate turned 8 months on the 26th July. so I'm am about 1.5 weeks late with this update:)

It really is amazing to see Nate grow from this helpless, crying infant to this somewhat boisterous, curious, fun-loving little baby.  He has learnt a great many tricks over the last two months and I honestly regret not being able to update this blog on time coz I'm missing out on charting his development as it happens rather than having to provide a summary!  One of the main objectives of even starting this blog was so that I won't forget all the little experiences...oh well!

So, to my precious little Nate:

1. You now climb over anything and everything - it seems as if crawling has become kinda boring for you.  You treat everything like a mini obstacle course - including, your mummy and daddy.  This makes the both of us very tired because our place isn't baby-proof and we have to tail you everywhere you go.  But we let you explore, coz, how else are you gonna experience all the weird and wonderful things around you?

2. You have been clapping your hands and it has been quite funny because you even clap when you are on the cusp of sleeping:)

3. Over the last two months, you have also learnt to identify a few things - like flower, car, bird, dog - and I think Jako has made an impact on you because you (mostly) sit quietly and listen when I'm reading you your book about Dogs.  You tend to maul most of your other books:)

4. You've mastered the art of saying 'No' by shaking your head and this almost always happens when I'm feeding you and you don't want your food.  I know you certainly understand the concept of 'No' because you listen when I tell you not to put "illegal" stuff into your mouth.

5. You've become incredibly sticky to me - much to the chagrin of your Daddy.  You seem to only want me to carry you - especially so when you are sleepy and when you wake up in the middle of the night.  You complain and cry when Daddy tries to soothe you during the zombie-hours and become instantly quiet when I carry you.  Unfortunately for you, we started "re-training" you from last night to be "weaned off" needing me (and my boobs) - and boy, did you turn on the waterworks!  I'm pretty sure our neighbours hate us.  But you fell asleep in Daddy's arms after 15 minutes of crying and being given some water.  And Mummy screws it up by feeding you at 3am when you awake!  Mummy and Daddy really need to stick to the programme!

6. You had your first haircut last weekend and I was super proud of you.  You sat there quietly throughout your haircut and was just observing everything that was going on around you.  Even Jimmy (the "hairstylist") was pleased, especially since the little boy before you was screaming blue murder!  I think you've inherited my vain genes, my darling!

Before the haircut 

After the haircut

7) You also had your first swim in the pool at our place.  We kitted you out in the baby swimwear that Daddy bought for you from Vancouver and as any good kancheong parent, put on a confidence suit and your swim diaper.  You loved the experience and just like dogs, you just instinctively knew how to paddle:)  Although, you seemed a little too interested in your float since we caught you trying to eat it a couple of times:).  We took a video of your first swim and well, until Mummy gets a bit more tech savvy, I'll post the video but I guess these pictures will suffice!

Mummy could also be a float with all that chubby bits!

That's about all Mummy can think of now....but I just want to thank Him for bringing you into our lives and designing you the way that He has.  We love you dearly, my little love and we can't wait to see all the new stuff you'll be doing over the next month.

Love,
mummy.

Baby in a hurry!

My little fella is becoming such a big boy!  I can't believe he'll be 8 months old in slightly more than a week.  I remember how long it felt like to reach the 8th month mark when I was pregnant.  Nate's reached some amazing milestones over the last month and a half - he's gone from crawling (and crawls so quickly now!) to standing (holding on to something or someone) and climbing:)  So, since his 6th month mark, playtime has not just been restricted to lying down.  In fact, he hardly lies down to play anymore! Here are some pics of my curious lil fella:

For some insane reason, I'm getting a little worried about him losing a little weight:( I suppose all that activity and the fact that he is growing lengthwise, means that he may not look as chubby anymore! But I'm so glad that my mum does such an awesome job feeding him.

Speaking of feeding, I'm going to try to expand his cuisine to include more than just a mix of fruit or vegetable puree.  I got this awesome baby/ toddler cookbook and am going to try out some of the recipes!  Cauliflower cheese anyone?  So far, I've established that he enjoys the following:
1. Sweet Potato
2. Carrot
3. Pumpkin
4. Apple
5. Blush Pears
6. Rockmelon
7. Peaches
8. Bananas
9. Cauliflower
10. Broccoli
11. Salmon
12. Apricot
13. Plums

And not a huge fan of:
1. Spinach
2. Peas
3. Corn
4. Chicken!

But the trick usually is to mask the spinach or chicken with stuff that he likes so that he won't quite protest as much!

The husband and I were supposed to bring Nate down to the pool today for his maiden splash...but the poor baby is down with a cold:(  I do pray that he'll get better fast!  I'm hoping that he'll be a water baby!

This week was also pretty good coz my brother flew down from Shanghai and he got to meet a much bigger Nate!  It's always nice seeing him since we usually only see him once or twice a year!

I'm sure tonight's gonna be a loooong night with the darling ill, so time for me to go catch up on some sleep!

b.

Brain Freeze

The course Stewie and I are attending is turning out to be somewhat of a nightmare.  It's really pretty siong but that's not the worse of it.  Neither is it the long hours (starts promptly at 8.30am and ends about 6-ish).  But it's the mathematical equations and the economics terms that these MIT/ Harvard lecturers are throwing about that's making the both of us feel pretty stooopid!  Not everyone in the room is a bloody economist/ statistician lah!!  Plus, our group facilitator is driving me mad! But the good news is that our group project is making some headway - thanks to Frenchie:)

Lily, Cally and Debs are off to HK tmrw (joining Pants, who is already there with her folks) - lucky girls!! I seriously need a holiday! Yes, I'm going to Perth in Dec with Nate and the husband but Dec is just too far away!  We are considering either having a staycation (a bit lame, but convenient) or go somewhere close (either Bintan or Langkawi).  Still thinking...

Anyway, I had really nice Jap food over the weekend at Sushi Teh at Paragon and thankfully, Nate was asleep for the most part of our lunch:)  Here are some pixs of the both of us (Perky is actually visible in the reflection!):

And here's a pix of Nate in his cute Petit Bateau outfit:

Alrighty... time for bed....I'm friggin tired!

Love,
b