It’s a …..

So the much awaited gynae appointment passed last Saturday. Our last visit was over a month ago and I was really wondering what Mojo progress will be and in a certain sense I missed seeing the fella. So there was quite a bit of excitement for me. But what was more exciting was the fact that it was time to determine the sex of Mojo. Looking back at my previous posts, I am not sure if I mentioned what my preference was in terms of sex of Mojo. But in any case we were believing that it was a boy. More so with the “old wives” indicators; more morning sickness, pointy and high belly and when the father puts on more weight than mom during first trimester all pointed to Mojo being a boy.

Now we are in week 17, Mojo has grown and is now a full 98.6mm, the head with the eye sockets and nose and chin are more apparent. What is also visible but not apparent here, is Mojo’s fully formed bones which are all in the right place. So all is well, for me it was a sense of relief not that I was worried but, it was just comforting to see Mojo growing well and strong too. Mojo was rolling and turning around through out the visit.

As the gynae was talking to us, Mojo jumped to the other side of the womb. Here you can see the spine more clearly. So now, for the moment we have all been waiting for (at least for the two of us).

Is Mojo a He or a She? With all the movement and jumping that was going on Mojo managed to give us a glimpse of her bum and there was no birdy there so ladies and gentlemen, we are having a GIRL! For now it is 80% certain as per the gynae but in any case, for now we will go with the premise that Mojo is a her!

To be brutally honest, as I walked out of clinic, I was a little sad that Mojo was not a boy, I was looking forward to roughing things with him and doing whatever Fathers and Sons do but after a while it was not so much a downer because I was thinking of all the things I can do with HER and was getting excited:

• I can date her for a movie and dinner when mum is out with her friends
• I will teach her what to expect from a man
• I can teach her to be street smart unlike her mum
• I can look forward to terrorizing her prospective boyfriends when that time comes.

And what’s better than being pampered not just by one girl but by two. I should be so blessed! Yes, I am an extremely blessed man!

M having a GIRL!

Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough

Enigmatic lyrics from the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson. The man has passed, and as it comes to light no matter what he has become or transformed to in his last years, one thing Michael will always be remembered for is his music.

 

For me the love started very young. I remember it was my 6th birthday and all I wanted was an Off the Wall cassette, and I am sure if I look for it, I will find it. It was the start of my love of music and my first piece of music, that I owned.

I played this tape over and over again and each word of every song in still in my head! This is probably my favorite MJ album of all time. Whenever a song from this album comes on the radio whatever conversation that I am, in stops and I will sing along, much to the embarrassment of my wife who is usually the one I am talking to at the time.

As time went on the music got better and better and MJ went on to music icon status. It was an absolute thrill for me to watch him live at the National Stadium during his Dangerous tour. It was my first live concert and the stadium was completely packed out and the previous times I saw that was during National Day and the Pope John Paul’s visit some years back!

So today as we wish him farewell, I doubt his music will ever die nor will his moves, which will be copied/modified for years to come. I mean come on how cool is the Moonwalk! So join me in reminisce of this legend. As crazy and wacko as he maybe he is still the most electrifying performer of our time, and I doubt few will come close for a long time.

M Tapping my Feet

Joby, Kate Spade and the White Shirt

Yesterday was our 2nd wedding anniversary. Yes we are two years young and personally these two years have been the best years of my life. I am so glad for the Maju who has been my best friend and I look forward to more of our adventures together. Best of all, its another good reason to get and give presents!!!! So here’s the haul and damage…muhahahaha…

My Haul

 

Since it was rather close to Father’s Day the wife gave me my gift early. It was what I have been wanting, to complement my photographer gear. It was a Joby SLR Zoom tripod something to have when going on vacation rather than lugging around my heavy duty tripod, which I never do. 

Just a point for the photo enthusiast, this tripod does not come with a ball head that was purchased separately by the wife! Honestly this is a great tripod, light and easy to use. Highly recommended!

 

Next up was not really a planned purchase by the wife but since we were at the photo supply store she asked me if I still need to get the backup thingy when we travel. What it is is a backup drive to copy photos to when the card is full. After walking around Funan for a while the guy at the photo shop recommended me against this solution and said best to just get a big capacity cards. So here’s the next one!

  

That’s not all, I had lunch delivered to me from my favorite restaurant, Yellow Light. This was a little bit of a surprise not because of the food delivery but more the food deliverer. It was our good friend Patrick who was doing the wife a favour. Thanks Patrick for coming all the way. Best of all it was my favorite dishes Miang Kum, Pad Thai, and Red Rubies

What more can a guy ask for? Not much, but there was one more little cherry on top. I have been using the same pair of Ray Bans sunnies for 5 years now, was a gift from the wife during a trip to Brisbane. They served me well but have more or less fallen apart, so I have been wanting a new one. So the wife, put a gift “voucher” Maju style in a card when we had dinner.

Finally I am completely ready for our “Pre Parenthood” Trip now, thanks to Maju!

The Damage

Presents are not really my thing. I normally don’t do well with them but once in a while there is some brilliance and I guess I am proud of what I got this time. First wave was a set of books from MPH, sounds ordinary but believe they are not. I do not have a picture of them but they are rather useful and interesting books that she was looking out for, so just take my word for it. She found this stashed in the toilet on the 22nd. Thinking that was it, she was a little disappointed with just books, come on anyone would be, but of course that was not all.

The next morning she woke up to find her usual bag replaced with this. Its a Kate Spade Clementine Baby bag which she has been eyeing for a while. To make her look glam while trundling around with the Mojo with a nice looking bag hanging from the nice stroller, we are shopping for now. It actually comes with a strap to fasten to the stroller as well as a Kate Spade changing mat, so quite ingenious for women’s fashion. Oh well she loves it and that is what is important.

That was it as far as the planned presents for the wife. But one final event just to end of the post which somewhat falls into the damage department. I have a white shirt that I really like and I think I look good in. Problem with me, is that I almost always manage to mess it up in a small way during meals. Could be a splash of curry or sauce, so usually I am ultra careful when donning this shirt. So since we were both quite full from lunch we decided to have steamboat at our favorite Tian Fu Steamboat. I was ultra careful and every time I felt as though something splashed I would check my shirt, the wife was also careful to not be the cause of any spillage too.

So towards the end of meal when the broth level was low and we were at the last strips of beef, as I was about to take out a piece of meat when a splash of the hot broth hit my hand and I jerked….hard! All I heard was the sound of my chopsticks and bowl flying and hitting the ground and the realization that my worst fears were realized. I just could not help but laugh as we both broke out in silly laughter much to the shock and amazement of the other folks in the full restaurant.

 

To put it simply there is a picture in our kitchen which says “Live Much, Love Much, Laugh Much" which we bought randomly and I guess that sums US up.  We pamper each other the best way we know how and we try to make the best of what God has give us, and He has given us lots and we laugh as often as we get the chance to do so!

So babe, don’t stop living, loving and laughing, I won’t!!

Majimo 

 

Left Behind

For a total of 10 years I have been off and on reading the “Left Behind” series of books by by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. It basically chronicles the events after the Rapture and the years after that, where the Book of Revelation in the Bible gets interpreted and dramatized as a series of novels. Whenever, folks get converted to Christianity the first book of the Bible they head for is Book of Revelation mainly because it speaks of what is to come. However, they do not get very far as the Book of Revelation is one tough book to read and understand as it is full of symbols. So if you are a new Christian or if you are long time believer and want to finally read the Book of Revelation, the “Left Behind” series is a good start point with a little bit of a fictional license. One point to note though is that the entire series spans 16 novels so its not a quicker way.

My story and how I got reading these books, starts in 1999 when I went on a month long business trip to Kokomo, Indiana where my company at the time Delphi was headquartered. Now if you have never heard of Kokomo, get the visual image with the Beach Boys song playing in the background out of your head, its nothing like it at all. Its Indiana’s 15th most populous city with 46,000 people censured there as of 2000. What all this translates to is the fact that Kokomo is a boring place for a city boy like me.

My favorite hangouts during this month long trip and a few years later another 4 month stint was the Markland Mall in particularly the Books-A-Million (as pictured below thanks to Google Maps).

And it was here one night I heard two guys talking to each other while looking at a book and this was what they said: “Wow, spreading the Word of God via the Internet!” and that peaked my curiosity for some reason. In 1999, I was not as firm in my belief as I am today but I was enthralled nonetheless more so by the fact of how could the Word of God go via Internet, at that time only e-mail, research and rudimentary chatting was done on the Internet. I had just completed 5 other books during my stay in a matter of 2 weeks and the thought of another 2 weeks without any book reading ideas scared me, and so I guess this was a sign, and moreover the fact that 3 of the books in the series was in that branch’s best sellers list probably got to purchase the first in the series.

So it started!

I was utterly hooked by the second book and when I finished one I headed to good ol’ Books-A-Million to get the next novel in the series. It ended there, as Assassins was the latest at the time i.e: Book 6. When I returned to Kokomo a few years later in 2002, I continued with;

Sometime between 2002 and 2006ish I read the next book in the series, The Remnant, not sure when exactly. If you are wondering why I have all the book covers in this post, it is because the covers are nice and glossy which was another reason I decided to buy Book 1. After book 10, there was a pause for some reason and now when I am currently in a book drought so to speak, as every book that I have picked has been nothing short of so so. I have decided to resume, but this time a little differently rather than buying the next book in the series I borrowed it from the National Library. I have 10 of these books lying around and honestly I do not think I want another book shelf clogger but I would like to get to the end of the series.

 

So as I re-embark on this series I thought it will be nice to share these books with you guys and perhaps one of you may have stumbled upon or even read one of them. If you have, gimme a shout and let me know what you think. I started reading the 11th book and I am back into that reading sweet spot that does not let me stop. So this has led me to sleep really late and being increasingly tired, during the hours of 2.30 to 4pm, like right now. So I guess it is time for a caffeine fix.

M Reading, Yawning and Enjoying!

Happy Times

One thing that has happened with the arrival of Mojo, is that the wife and I are spending lots more time together.

We already spend a lot of time together, more so than most couples. But now there seems to be a difference and to be honest I can't really put my finger on what it is. But there is something.

There is more need to lean on one another, more cooking collaborations or rather home cooking, more TV comfort food and just overall fun, laughter and madcap nonsense from Maju & Maji.

So even though the mountains may challenge and depths confound, we will always maintain that forever happy and crazy outlook, cause it's so much better when faced together in one accord.

M Happy

13 weeks

The pain was unbearable for her. Every cringe was a reflective heartache I felt myself. I hate to see the wife in pain. No one would not like to see their loved ones in pain.

We rushed to the gynae the next morning, managed to see another doctor as regular one was on vacation thank God for favour. More favour came when we to heard that Mojo is fine and growing well but there was a tiny hiccup for Mum.

The pain will be there for a while and will go away in time. How long? Don't know, it depends. Fibroid has doubled in size and is now put pressure on back and other internals thus the pain. Doctor prescribed painkillers, rest and endurance.

Our big guy prescribed HC, oil and the word which we stand on and REST. Although home rest was needed I felt we should not miss our leaders meeting so we went and were blessed in the knowledge that the shrinking has begun and will disappear completely.

M standing in REST

“Pre Parenthood” Trip

Some couples like to mark their end of couple-hood and start of parenthood with a good vacation. Something substantial and memorable! And since the wife and me are seriously due for one, we thought we make this a good one. The planning started early! What was even better was that the best airline in the world; Singapore Airlines was having their 10th anniversary celebration and they had some really good deals. So time to take advantage.

Choices of destinations we had were: London, Sydney, Auckland and Zurich. After much debate and considering many many factors we decided on London and proceeded to book our tickets. It was completely free because we used our points and this got us two return Economy class tickets to London on the A380 (we still had to fork out some cash for the taxes though). I was excited, having never been to London.

We thought going to London alone would be a waste since essentially it is a city and I am not one for cities. So we looked around Europe for another destination and eventually settled on Italy. We almost settled on Paris, because we love Paris so much, but we decided to go someplace new. So the itinerary highlights of the Italy trip would be the following:

Pisa

San Gimignano, Tuscany and the jewel of the trip the Amalfi Coast (below picture taken by MorBCN);

The flight we were booked for 19th May 2009. But as life would have it, we had to cancel as it would have proved to be too hard, with Maju is her preggers state, what with Europe being all about walking. It would not have been an enjoyable trip, so I saw no point to it. Good thing, well kinda good thing, was the fact since H1N1 was flying around the airline gave us a full refund and so we did not waste a single cent.

So are we giving up? Now way! We have found and booked us on a much more relaxing trip! In an effort to mark this milestone. So where to?

Picture from www.mymaldives.com

Maldives baby! This island in particular! Looks psycho right! I will take some of my own pictures and share when we are back. For now we are just waiting for the days to pass by before wheels up!

M excited

First Real Picture

11th Week; and another visit to the gynae. With some anticipation and for me, hoping that my car will not be moved to the other carpark by the valet due to TMC’s parking situation was on my mind, we arrived early with a little traffic drama.

We had to do the OSCAR test. This is typically done after the 12th week, but since we were planning on going for our European “pre-parenthood” trip we had to schedule it earlier and as a result we had no appointment but had to queue. As early risers we were both hoping to get into see doc as early as possible and indeed we managed to. We were in and out in record time, with some waiting of course.

Following this. we headed to our usual gynae. The wife told me she was a little worried because the person, who did the ultrasound for the OSCAR test, was making these confused “Hmmm” sounds indicating like something was wrong. Following which she asked if I was outside. She proceeded to call me in and when I came in I saw the worried look on Maju. She proceeded to show us the hand, the leg, the head, the heartbeat, the spine, the length, etc but no bad news. Perhaps a bad bedside manner, well our gynae will clear it up.

So we headed to ACJ and waited. We got in eventually, she calmed all fears and worries saying all is well. Of course it will be, Mojo is blessed and favoured. We complained about the escalating morning sickness and the tough few weeks Maju had, which eventually led us to cancel our European “pre-parenthood” trip. The consolation was the fact that morning sickness is a good sign of Mojo’s growth and development. So in a sense we were gladly comforted. So here’s Mojo:

The first thing the wife said when she saw the print out more closely was “Yes, a sharp nose!”. To be frank pretty prominent one too. You see, I have a rather large pointy nose, while she has a flat nose, actually to be honest a flat face. So as not to capitalise all the pictures which I have been there are more posted on Maju’s Blog so do go there if you want to see more. There is an interesting one of Mojo so do have a looksy.

M Worry Free

Lost in Lost

I have been obsessed with Lost for the past few weeks and to be honest when I get into a particular show I tend to forget the world, considering how much of a couch potato I am and the fact that this is my comfort food, and my only means for unwinding.

Imagine, 3 weeks ago I had never watched a single episode of Lost and as of last night I watched the final episode of Season 5 which was aired on 13th May 2009 in the US. Meaning I watched 103 episodes in 3 weeks! Guess you are starting to see the obsessive nature of this habit. Can I help it, of course I can; its not an addiction but it’s comfort to me. Some folks, like a Whiskey Sour, some like a smooth glass of Sem Sav or a smoking Cohiba, I like my TV!

M back to normal ;-)

9th week

NOTE: This post was written in the 9th week, that is 6 weeks ago.

I am tired yet extremely upbeat. Got a message to do something but I am not sure. Can I?

Hahahaha conventional wisdom again confounding me. The wife is sick woke up with a high fever and so she stayed home and rested. But the fever didn't go away for a while and it turned out to be a viral fever. This coupled with the peak of morning sickness, it was not pleasant for her.

Feeling frustrated with her symptoms and predicament, when I got home one day I was prompted to pray for her, apply oil on her, take HC and decided to take the next day off.

That night when I finally hit the sack I looked across and saw a peace on her face that I have not seen for a long time. I saw the beauty and grace that I have missed so much, thus leading to this post. In the morning, she got up with no more fever and that was the end of it!

PTL! All glory to Him who can when I can't.

M Trustin'

Tadpole

My previous post mentioned that Mojo was 1 centimetre, actually that is incorrect. The water bag is 1cm, Mojo is not even noticeable to the naked eye. Most couples realise that they are pregnant, at month two of pregnancy, but we knew at month one itself because we were too eager and we were so sure that we would be preggers that we were just waiting for any symptom to confirm and when one symptoms occurred the rest is history.

So 2nd appointment rolls around, and we were looking forward to see how much the fella has progressed now that we were at 8 weeks. Here are the pictures:

I guess at this point the title of this post is starting to gel. The wife is experiencing morning sickness  not in the morning but at nights before bedtime, and due to this the sleep was affected. We were believing for better days but according to all, if these symptoms are there then Mojo is growing well and strong. Here is to our 19.2mm Mojo at 8 Weeks. This bible verse helped:

Isaiah 53:4-5 (NKJV)

⁴ Surely He has borne our griefs
      And carried our sorrows;
      Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
      Smitten by God, and afflicted.
⁵ But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
      The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
      And by His stripes we are healed.

M Believing

My Take on How to be a Better Father

I know this is premature but there is no way to fully prepare oneself for Fatherhood, so here are some pointers for where I am starting at:

1. Time – Children spell Love as T.I.M.E and this time is not spent in front of the TV or head buried in a laptop but quality time. Once they grow up there is no way of re-living the times lost. So before regret, establish that fatherly bond.

2. Love and Honour Moms – This is often forgotten but I feel it’s the most important, children are the best “mimicers” and if we show love, respect and honor towards our wives and their mothers, the child will know that 1) people are to be treated with respect and 2) when they grow up they know how to treat their partners.

3. Be the example – We can talk/lecture all we want to but, if we as fathers do not practice what we preach we are pointless. Kids physically grow up but mentally and emotionally they grow up by learning from us. We need to be the guide in a world without boundaries.

4. Hug them as often as you can – As men, we are often shy to show affection but, children have an uncanny knack of bringing on smiles. So don’t hold back on the affection; let go and show them your soft side, there will be time for seriousness when it is required.

5. Have Fun – Although this list may sound serious, the idea is to not talk things too seriously. Learn from them, as they will teach us invaluable lessons that no one else can. We need to show them, that we are happy and not stressed over needless things. Have fun no matter what!

6. Let Go and Let God - Fatherhood can be lonely. What are we to do when there is no one to turn to in tough situations, there is no father to the father. But with God as my eternal father in whom, I can always turn to when I am lost and He will show me the way in all things.

Honestly, I know these 6 points are certainly not exhaustive and I will be the first one to put my hand up and say that I am a NOOB as there is no way I know it all. But somehow I felt the need to put these points down following some research on the subject to which, I was surprised to find very little.

So what else do you reckon does it take to be a good father, chime in and teach me.

M Learning

First Pictures

Being a visual person, the idea of the full gravity of the pregnancy and the act of “wrapping my head” around the idea of impending fatherhood seemed far away. Considering that Mojo pops in December I believed that there is still time a plenty. With that in the back of my head, we headed to the gynae for our second appointment, at which point we were fairly certain that we were indeed pregnant.

So after some talk shop and congratulation wishes, the wife jumps onto the bed thingy for our first sonogram. My heart was racing and the images of many movies and TV shows of couples seeing their first images of their child came to my mind. Will I get teary, will be wife be able to contain herself, will be so overwhelmed with the images that we’d turn to mush?

 

Honestly, looking at these images of a black oval, we really did not understand. Did I mention we were complete noobs. It was one cm in length and essentially was a globule. Where’s the fella? Then the gynae said this is the water bag, and eventually this bag will expand to house the baby. Ahhhhh…..its all coming together now.

So there were no tears, no goo goo eyes made at each other, but rather puzzled looks and I am sure both the wife and me, said to yourselves; “Is that it?” The gynae seemed to be more excited for us and she presented us with a “Welcome Bag” filled with goodies from the hospital sponsors. Oh well, its a start, and though the over emotional feelings were not there, we knew that this was the start of something special.

M 1CM and growing