First trip overseas with baby :)

We are back from church camp. The 4 days 3 nights spent at Batam was enjoyable :) It was our first trip overseas with Candra. Before the trip, I was a little anxious because it was the first time WG and I were going to take care of her by ourselves. We were worried that we would not do a good job or would be too tired/sick to do a good job. So we prayed for ourselves, for strength and good health. Thankfully, none of us fell sick and we rested well there.

We were also worried about Candra's sleep at night. We were afraid she would wake up at 5plus in the morning, Singapore time (sometimes she does that in Singapore)..which would mean 4plus Batam time. We prayed, and asked some others to pray that she would sleep till a later time... well, I prayed for 7am Singapore time exactly.. guess what? She did just that cos she was just too tired... haha...we could sleep till 7plus am Singapore time :) Praise the Lord!!! He knows our need for sleep..haha.

She did well sleeping in her play pen...she was very happy throughout the camp.. enjoying the presence of so many people...loving all the smiles people gave her...although she made some happy noises during the meetings, they were generally ok. Actually, I think all the little babies and toddlers behaved very well in the camp. Praise God!

WG and I are happy that we cooperated with each other well, helped each other out whenever we could and took on complementing roles throughout the trip. Although he had to involve himself in some of the programmes, rehearsals etc, everything turned out just fine :) He always made sure we were well taken care off before doing anything else. I think he did a great job as a daddy! We are thankful we did not quarrel or bicker over anything..and happily enjoyed our time as a family. Praise God!

All of us had fun! Especially Candra .. :p and I really enjoyed taking care of her!

Coincidence? Chance? or GOD? :)

I think God's really amazing. I should share this experience with you guys.

Yesterday, I wanted to be "naughty" and put one less parking coupon. My original plan was to take the chance and only put till 8am (though I could only leave house after 830am). Well.. my original plan was thwarted when I made a mistake while tearing the coupons. The mistake was made in such a way that I had to put an additional coupon for half and hour...to make it 830am. When I made that mistake, I went "Awww!" (well, that was the sinful me who wanted to cheat a little) but the next thought that came was, maybe there is a reason for the mistake and who knows, this mistake could save me from a parking ticket the next morning.

GUESS WHAT!!!!! I reached the carpark this morning at 840am and there was 2 parking attendants standing right at my car...!!!! They were waiting for me..giving me that little grace period. I managed to prevent them from issuing a ticket... Phew!!!!! Woah.. when that happened, I really thanked God! It was definitely His way of showing me that He's watching over me, my every little move and motive.

If I did not make the mistake, they would probably have issued the ticket cos they would not have given someone 40mins of grace period...Praise the Lord! It's all His grace...............

Well, I also learnt that I should not take chances like that..haha!!

God's amazing right?

Sneak preview :) Photos by ONEEYECLICK

Lovely picture taken by our dear friends from ONEEYECLICK who walks with us through different seasons of our lives :)

Uncle Dan played with her and made her smile :)

Loneliness ... superficial relationships

I was listening to Beth Moore share in one of the videos sessions in her "Stepping Up" series. She said something which I really agreed with...this is what she said,

"We are overloaded with superficial relationships but starving of deep ones"

I think that's so true of us, people living in this modern age. Honestly, I think SMSes, emails, blogs, facebook etc. have made us so used to being overloaded with superficial relationships. Do we really connect with people over all these mediums? Do we connect DEEPLY? I am not saying that we absolutely can't, but I think there's just something all these mediums can't do for us... they just can't replace our need for face to face deep communication and connection. God made us for deep relationships... not superficial ones. I like something else she said...

"God created us with a connection requirement"

I feel sad to know that more and more people are getting more comfortable sharing deeply over msn, sms etc, than to share with someone face to face...Sometimes, I find myself clicking away on the computer, reading blogs, scanning through facebook because I hope to "connect" with people..but after all that clicking, I will still feel empty and somewhat lonely. That's because that kind of "connection" is more often than not superficial... If that's the connection we have all our lives, we will certainly feel lonely... Cos God made us for more than that.

Busyness is a huge problem in modern day living... and I fear that many of us have lost the ability and skill to do "deep relationships".

Are we overloaded with superficial relationships and starving of deep ones?

I am asking myself this, "How many people really know me and how many people do I really know?"

Are we allowing the devil to deceive us into believing that the "connection" we have with people is real? We mustn't fall into that trap and stop loving others deeply... (the devil uses "half-truths" to deceive us all the time)

I am not saying that we should stop using SMSes, msn, facebook, emails etc...but I think we must be aware of the dangers of losing what is "real" in the midst of all these...

Our attempt at taking a passport sized photo :P

Need a solution!!

Aiyo..my sweet little kiddo decided to wake up at 4plus am today! Can you believe it!!! That's like super early for a 7 month old... I don't know why....She's been waking up super early the past week....today's the record-breaking day.

Well.. we leave her in her cot to play by herself (until 730am)...and she doesn't really disturb us..but we do hear her little noises when she talks to herself or sing.. haha! This morning at 4plus, I was woken up by her cute little sounds.. sound really cute..but eh..not so cute when I am sleeping right..haha.

As I look back on the tough sleep training..I am so glad we did that for her..Can u imagine if we did not train her to stay in her cot till we picked her up? She would be calling for us at 5plus or 4plus in the morning EVERYDAY!!!!!! Woah..I can't imagine that...

So, now this is the problem! What can I do to help her sleep till later in the morning? She naps ok, she doesn't sleep really late (8plus pm)...she has a rather fixed routine everyday...WHERE DOES THE PROBLEM LIE? The worst thing is this.. she wakes up real early..but she's not cranky in the day!

I was thinking maybe she just doesn't need to sleep so much.. but still.. 4plus am is way too early for a kiddo at her age..she should be doing at least 6plus am. ARGH...hmm..maybe she's not eating enough in the day..but we think we are probably overfeeding her already.. haha! (this kiddo loves to eat)...

??????????????

What's going to happen at church camp when she sleeps with us in the SAME ROOM??? oh dear...