You don't realise just how fast time goes by until you do a count-back.

This day, 13 days ago, we were married.

Married life is kind of like parenting. Regardless the number of years we have been together, and despite saying that we know each other through and through, there are times and many things that we do that still surprise us. And regardless how "experienced" and "mature" we think our relationship is, we have come to know that each stage is different from the previous one.

These days, we are busier; some how there is more work to be done, and more responsibilities to take on. The hub has been out - he has been traveling on a weekly basis and C and I are often on our own for most part of the week. Despite the fact that some of his flights are in the morning, he will still send us to work and school before he heads out to the airport. He will be back by Friday evenings and we have the weekends. And because he isn't around as often as he likes to be, our weekends are precious. We treasure the Saturdays as they are our "dates"- we sip coffee and dig into a muffin or a slice of cake. We walk hand-in-hand while we window-shop and in the evenings, sit around to enjoy whatever is showing on cable. When he is in, we make it a point to have breakfast and dinner together as a family.

We are blessed and we are thankful, always. I say a prayer every night and each time, I end it with a note of gratitude - thankful to The Lord for watching us, for keeping us, for loving us.

Joined together by friendship

Sealed forever by love.

When one is Krazy and the other is Psicho, life can be absolutely insane. 

This time, 12 years ago, we were both getting ready to make our way to the Registry of Marriage.

I wouldn't lie to say that these 12 years were easy. In fact, these years were crucial in us becoming who we are now. 

We learn the importance of patience, and more so, how to act with patience. We learn when to fight and when to hold back. We learn that besides, uttering the "love you"s, we need to be able to really show it.

Our relationship has never been about romance or the number of candle-lit dinners we have had. In fact, as I look back on the years, I see how he steps in when I am not around and how I step up when he is unavailable. I appreciate the home-cook dinners and warm food during the uni days. I appreciate how he would wake up and report to work 2 hours before he needs to because he chooses to send C and me to school and work. I appreciate that although he has unfinished work which he brings home to complete, he spends time with us in the evenings until C has gone to bed before he starts doing his own things. We definitely appreciate his calls in the evenings when he is on work trips; that even though he is miles away physically, he remains attached to the on-goings of things at home. 

:) Happy anniversary. 

The Hub came back with a surprise ... He said he would be back early and that was something rare these days. In fact, he has been so busy we don't see him home till 9 almost every weekday for the past 6 months. Although I had expected him to reach home around 5.30pm, he didn't till it was almost 6. C opened the door for him and she gave out a shriek! 

She turned and then when I saw both of them, C said to her Daddy, "Daddy, you made Mummy cry."

You see, he was late because he went to get me this. The hub isn't one to spend money on flowers. He gave me one when I agreed to be his girl friend. The next time I received another was during our wedding. Then, he gave me one more when C was born. 2 years back, he surprised me with one more which he had delivered to the Staff room. I wasn't expecting him to come home with this today but he did. He made each bouquet count and I appreciate his gesture. 

"Thank you, my love." 

A decade ago, we were at the Registry of Marriages. It was on this day that we promised to be there for each other. I am often seen as the meek and tolerant one but the hub has always experienced my wrath. The hub, on the other hand, though regarded as the one with the fiery temper and short fuse, is really a comedian too.

A simple dinner to celebrate the occasion on Saturday evening. 

Our 8th anniversary fell on a weekday this year and Daddy proposed that we went for a nice dinner.

After C's swim class on Saturday, we headed out to Nex where we walked around a little before settling down at Swensen's.

C's favourite joint actually and we haven't been here for quite some time...

Now that she has a mind of her own, she has decided that she would order her own food.

She opted for mini burgers instead of pasta. But she loved them all the same.

When Daddy was away in France, he dropped by the Louis Vuitton boutique at Strasbourg.

and he got me this! 

I only learned much later that he bought this lovely bag as an anniversary gift for me. It is our 7th anniversary this year and this was indeed a very sweet gesture. This afternoon, Aunt Angie whispered to me that this beauty has a price tag of $3100 at the local boutique. Gasp! I didn't know! 

"Thank you, Baby!" 

This is my $3000 diaper bag! Hee.

 

On 3 March in 2003, Daddy and I signed our lives to each other and promised that we would...

" have and hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do us part."

 

Today, 7 years on, the vows we took still hold.

Happy Anniversary, Love

Today is a special day for Daddy and me.

:) We have been married 6 years.

Yeah, although Daddy had to work, C and I had our little celebration.

She wanted sushi the day before so I thought today would be a better day to take her. So immediately after her dismissal, we headed for Sakae Sushi.

Our Princess has a mind of her own and she knows what she wants to eat or what she fancies. And since she wanted pasta, she wanted me to order her ebi tempura as well. Our Spark was gamed enough to sample some salmon sashimi.

This time, 5 years back, we were getting ourselves ready to go to the Registry to put our names on the dotted line.

5 years on, well... let's say there were trying moments but there were also many happy ones too. Like always, Daddy received a card, which speaks volumes of the life we are having now.

Life is definitely very different now that we have Cheryl and at times, she takes out the very best, or worst in us. Still, we won't change any of these. Last year, we spent our anniversary at Sentosa but this year, it was just a quiet moment at home.

And today, Daddy took the train to work (mid way to work) after a very long time; 5 years actually and in his anxiety, wondered if he locked the car. (I hope he did) Daddy's new work place will be at Toa Payoh and that was where he parked our car and he took the train to work from there. This arrangment will last the entire week before the company officially moves this weekend (READ: BURNT weekend)

Teacher Xiu Li always has creative activities for the children during music class and today, the kids started off with some movement activities.

Cheryl was enjoying every bit of the song; she was dancing and prancing around and her being the only girl in class did not mean she was even a wee bit embarrassed. She was alright for most part of the lesson and even tried to strike a conversation with the teacher. C is always very eager to show Teacher Xiu Li her completed homework.

However, C seemed a little out of sorts today, hmm... maybe it was because Joshua was absent from class. He was ill and we hope he recovers soon. Cheryl didn't seemed as enthusiastic when it was her turn to play on the keyboard for Teacher Xiu Li and I had to guide her more closely than I usually had to. This was very uncharacteristic of her and her performance today didn't look like she has been religiously practising her keyboard every evening. Well, there is always next week.

Little reminder:

1) Homework for today's lesson : Lesson 6,7 and 10. Needs to listen to the CD to complete the tasks.

2) Fees for the month of March is due 8 March.
3) There will be no class on 16 March as it is the term break.

After class, Cheryl surprised us with her request for "French Fries". She instinctively thought that we would go to MacDonald's but Daddy reminded her that lunch is more than fries and fries (she doesn't eat anything else usually) so he suggested we eat at the very much-talked about Demsey Road.

It was a fanciful place alright; a niched place of cafes, pubs, galleries, antiques shops and even a hair saloon and we kind of felt out of place because we were a little under-dressed. But it was a nice experience to drive around and to finally see for ourselves what the hype was all about.

In the end, nobody was more pleased than Cheryl because we ended up at MacDonald's. C immediately exclaimed in the car "I LOVE burgers! and french fries and ice cream..." Wow! Only MacD has such effects on children! True to her words, she ate half her cheeseburger, prickles, onions and mustard and all; she had always turned her nose away when I tried to feed her but surprise, surprise!

In the evening, Daddy and I were standing at the window and having some "us" time when he said very sweetly, "Our anniversary is coming up, you know?" Yes Baby, I know. We didn't go for any fine dining but we spent some quality time with each other at Changi Beach; watching the aeroplanes fly by, listening the waves crash against shore and having the wind blow in our faces and I would never trade this moment, even for the world.

We celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary with a stay-over at Sentosa Island. It was Cheryl's first trip to the little island.

Cheryl was so excited that she wouldn't get down to taking her nap but she finally went to La La Land on our way there.

Immediately, we checked in and took a well deserved rest. The weather was particularly unforgiving and the sun was blazing down. The first thing we did when we got into the room was laze on the bed; King sized bed! Cheryl was rolling from one end to the other!

But we made full use of our time there and went exploring after we felt a little better. We went to the Underwater World and Cheryl was "wowing" at everything she saw. Actually, it had been a while since she said this word. Now, her pet phrase is just "不要, 不要"; (don't want).

It was a pity that we missed the Flower Festival. Some of the exhibits were still there but the flowers had started to wither; which made it quite a pathetic sight. We also missed many picture-perfect shots as the skies started pattering.

Okay, so will miss posing a picture with the iconic symbol of Singapore? A trip to Sentosa is never complete without a visit to the Musical Fountain but we didn't make it there too. Cheryl who slept so little during the day called it a night after dinner. So we ended up in the hotel room, catching the Man United vs Liverpool match! We always seemed to be able to sneak in a Man United match somehow. We were in the delivery room and we caught a Man United match too.

This picture was taken on the tram. We were heading out for dinner and I managed to catch this shot of Daddy and Cheryl, having a quiet moment. Isn't this just amazing? No words spoken yet so pregnant with emotions.

"My husband

is a man of character

who understands commitment

and does more than his share

to make his family comfortable,

safe, and secure.

I adore him.

My partner

is a man who is patient,

optimistic, caring and wise.

His sense of humor and support

hold me up when I can't

do it myself.

I am grateful for him.

My friend

is the only man

with whom I can share

my deepest secrets

and know they'll be safe.

Time with him is always good.

I cherish him.

You are all of those things

and more to me.

I'm so thankful you came into my world,

for if you hadn't, I'm sure

I never would have known the kind of happiness

you've brought into my life."

I love you

"Happy Anniversary"

Today, my baby, Daddy and Mummy would have been married 3 years.