「豆」趣

不經不覺已當了爸爸三個星期。

經過多日來的密習式訓練，總算對抱BB、餵奶、掃風、換尿片等基本技巧有所掌握。儘管訓練有素，小豆豆每天總會為我們帶來意外驚喜 – 如每次換完尿片後（或正在換的時候）才來「出貨」！

小豆豆大部分時間都是在睡覺......

但每三小時餵食一次的時間表，已叫初為人父母的我們疲於奔命；平日要辦的事情更必須分為不同的時段去完成，不能一氣呵成，到現在還是不太習慣，但相信適應過後做事會更有效率。

雖然面部神經還在發育當中，小豆豆你的表情未免也太豐富了吧（尤其在剛睡醒時）！

看起來還蠻逗趣的。=)

身體雖然小小的，肺活量卻是相當驚人......

從其震耳欲聾的哭叫聲可見一班，更一步一步地挑戰著我倆的忍耐力，自問脾氣好的我也被搞得頭昏腦脹......

再加上今年冬天的降雪量好像特別多，不斷的鏟雪、鏟雪、再鏟雪......

雖然Jen 和我都很累，但看著小豆豆原本瘦削的身型逐漸長肉，一切的勞苦也是值得的。

偶然向我們報以璨爛的笑容更是無價！ =)

上帝對世人的關懷及用心，想必比我們所付出的不知要高出多少倍。

好在我拼命咁護住塊面...

 

同BB 換尿布，絕對係身手同反應嘅考驗！

新的一頁

感謝神！感謝Jen  的勞苦！小豆豆於3:30 am 出生了！

剛離開媽媽肚子時哭聲超大，應該會是個健康的寶寶。

 

感謝媽媽老遠從台灣趕來幫忙照顧，密集式湊B 訓練正式開始！

First Day Back At Work

After a week of laid-back holiday, it's gonna take some getting used to getting by a regular day...

6:30am	Alarm clock went off...
6:40am	(alarm kept going for 10 minutes before I could actually hear it) Set alarm clock to 7:00am... went back to sleep... zzz...
7:00am	Alarm went off...(I was actually having a colorful baby dream within a 20-minute nap!) Press snooze button... Went back to sleep... zzz...
7:10am	Ditto...
7:20am	Got out of bed (finally).
7:30am	Made breakfast
7:40am	Devotion (kinda rush)
7:55am	Had breakfast
8:10am	Left home for work (cold...) (traffic was really light... guess most people were still having their day off.) (gas price at 113.9¢/L!!?? ARRRR...!!!) (sunrise looking good! At least the weather was nice.)
8:30am	Arrived at office Chit-chat... Check/reply emails... Greet new colleagues...
9:30am	Continued with data check and report writing from where I left off before the holiday... (and where was the data?) (the network drive was kinda slow... so was my brain...) (40% efficiency)
10:00am	Warming up and getting up to speed... (60% efficiency)
10:30am	Snacking -- Belgian chocolates (holiday gift from client) offered at lunch room. =P
11:00pm	Full throttle! (100% efficiency)
1:45pm	Lunch time...
2:15pm	Rolling start... (80% efficiency)
2:45pm	Winding down (post-lunch syndrome)... zzz... (70% efficiency)
3:00pm	Snacking (only 2 pieces of Belgian chocolate left!?)
3:15pm	Turbo charged!! Feeling kinda levitated... (120% efficiency)
5:00pm	Shutdown... Off-line...

Average Efficiency = 85%.  Not bad for the first day, I guess. =)

Well, better pull myself together, get adjusted, and get ready for little ToTo... who will be here in less than a month!  Yay!!  Can't wait!  =)

Awaiting

Eight months ago your life journey began;
A gift from above, it's all been planned.
Your every hair was numbered because He cares;
Such wondrous blessings we'd love to share.

Whenever mommy ate, you started to kick;
Whenever mommy slept, you started to play!
Let mommy feel your movement everyday,
so we know you are doing okay.

Sometimes you kicked so hard even daddy could see;
Mommy hummed your favorite song and you listened quietly.
I wonder... would you love playing piano like your mommy,
or enjoy building model like your daddy?

No matter how you turn out to be;
We know in God's eyes you are unique.
He's got the whole world in His hands for you to explore;
Life is full of sunshine and joy, you'll never get bored!

Little ToTo you are growing bigger everyday.
For less than two months we eagerly wait.
The countdown is on for your arrival day;
Just don't come out to play too soon or too late!

The Little Angel on the Top of the Christmas Tree

Someone posted this in the office today, and had a good laugh out of it!  Great way to get ready for the holiday season!  Having a bad day at work? Think of poor Santa.  :)

When four of Santa's elves got sick, the trainee elves did not produce toys as fast as the regular ones, and Santa began to feel the Pre-Christmas pressure.

Then Mrs Claus told Santa her Mother was coming to visit, which stressed Santa even more.

When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and two others had jumped the fence and were out, Heaven knows where.

By now Santa was in a bad mood. He began to load the sleigh, but one of the floorboards cracked, the toy bag fell to the ground and all the toys were scattered....

Seriously frustrated, Santa went in the house for a cup of apple cider and a shot of rum. When he went to the cupboard, he discovered the elves had drank all the cider and hidden the liquor.

In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the cider jug, and it broke into hundreds of little glass pieces all over the kitchen floor.

He went to get the broom and found the mice had eaten all the straw off the end of the broom...

Just then the doorbell rang, our highly irritated Santa marched to the door, yanked it open, and there stood a little angel with a great big and gorgeous Christmas tree.

The angel said very cheerfully, 'Merry Christmas, Santa. Isn't this a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Where would you like me to stick it?'

And so began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas tree.

- Author unknown

Getting Ready

My work schedule had been quite hectic recently.  While working for at least 10 hours a day on-site, I had been writing reports for other projects at home in the evenings and on weekends for the past 3 weeks!  I had never worked under such crazy schedule and stress.  Now I know how it feels like to be an elastic band being stretched like it had never been stretched before...

Tonight, PJ talked about being aware of the spiritual meanings behind everything that happened in our lives.  That was a good reminder for me at the right time.  In such busy schedule and tiring days, I could hardly find time to think deeply about the spiritual meanings behind all these.  God could have molded me for His purposes using different ways, including ways that I would never imagine, like making use of my crazy workload!!

We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.

Isaiah 64:8

I am not sure how things would work out, but knowing that there is a purpose behind all these unbearable workload, my working attitude would become very different.  Maybe all these crazy working hours were just “warm-up” exercises for me to get familiar with what a busy lifestyle is like, so I am getting mentally and physically ready for the coming of little ToTo!  :)

There is one thing I am sure – it’s all in His good hands.

Little ToTo at 12 weeks old.

March Break Getaway

We had been looking forward to visiting Vegas, and decided to go for it during this March Break.  Well, we are not much into gambling, but the food, the show and the neon light city in the desert itself sound exciting enough!

After a long line-up to check in and going through U.S. Customs (not surprising during March Break), we made it on the plane pretty smoothly.  It was a 5 hour flight from Toronto to Vegas, and everything was on time.

Needless to say, Vegas has been famous for its gambling and adult entertainment activities and has earned the title of Sin City.  There were slot machines everywhere, even inside the airport, and believe it or not, people were playing them, considering the closest casino is just 10 minutes drive away!

At around 7:00pm, we arrived at our hotel (Luxor). It has an Egyptian theme and has the shape of a pyramid.  After checking in and dropping off our luggage, we went to Mandalay Bay for dinner based on some highly recommended reviews online, and the reviews were right!  The buffet was excellent there, probably  because of our late arrival (we had dinner at 8:00pm Las Vegas time, which was 11:00pm Toronto time).  Anyhow, all the food taste extra yummy, including some of the biggest crab legs I've ever seen!  It was so good that we almost went there a second time during the rest of the trip.

On the next day we spent most of the afternoon at Premium Outlets, and took a walk on the Strip at night.  It is at night where Vegas really comes alive!  All the drinking and partying usually seen on weekends elsewhere happen here every night!  I just found lots of photo opportunities with all the neon lighting displays around Paris and Bellagio and had a good time snapping shots after shots!

You have to admire the Americans for their determination to transform a desert into what we see here in Vegas today, and there are many crazy stories to tell here.  From what I heard, if you let the casino know that you are going to spend a huge amount of money gambling on their facility, the hotel will give you free vouchers for food (buffet, most likely) and a free room to stay (the luxury level of the room depends on how much money you agree to spend).  Pretty good deal, right?  Thinking that you might have a chance to break even or even able to win a fortune, while enjoy all the free stuff?

Well, imagine how much revenue these casinos/hotels have to generate in order to support the establishment of such spectacular architecture in their facilities, to hire all the staff to work there, and to cover the energy bill they use to light up the desert?  Most likely, this money is coming from the gamblers' own pocket.  What are the odds that people think they are going to be the lucky one hitting the jackpot?  Well, do the math and think again.

Anyhow, I am beginning to understand how come almost every casino has a buffet restaurant... it serves the purpose to feed people quickly, so they can get back to gambling in no time!  For the same reason, I think I know why all casinos are designed in a way that people have to walk through the gambling area before getting back to their hotel rooms or the exits.  Also, no wonder why the casino exits are so difficult to find, yet they never bother putting up more signs and directions to show people where the exits are.

The next day we went to MGM Grand to pickup the tickets for Cirque du Soleil's Ka.  I was really excited seeing the Lion Habitat there and saw some real lions!

 

We then went down to the Venetian, the Mirage and Caesars Palace.  We didn't get to visit the real Rome and Venice, yet we had a chance to see all these European attractions on just one street.  Although all these architecture were great to look at and I still enjoy a walk on the Strip, they are all phony, and the people and the culture behind the real thing are missing.  Maybe that's why I was so excited about seeing the lions earlier, because even though they were trapped behind glass for display, I saw lives in the lions, which was in big contrast with the phony and hollow European landmarks here in Vegas.  Hopefully some time in the future we can see the real thing in Europe ourselves.  Finally, we headed back to MGM Grand for dinner and to see Cirque du Soleil's Ka.  Fabulous show!!

The trip wouldn't be complete without a visit to the Grand Canyon.  After a light night’s sleep, we managed to wake up at 6:00am and met up with the tour going to the South Rim.  The drive itself took 5 hours one way.  On our way to the Grand Canyon, we stopped by at Hoover Dam for a 10 minute photo shootout.  At around 1:00pm, we finally arrived at the Grand Canyon and stopped by the Bright Angel Trailhead.  The view was absolutely breathtaking!  During our given 3 hour free time, We took the shuttle bus, stopped off at the Mather Point area of the Canyon, and walked along the trail to the Yavapai Point area.  The view on the way was truly beautiful, and you have to be there to experience and see for yourself how the geologic processes played out over time and how magnificent the landscape is.  What a great piece of nature's artwork!

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
~Psalm 19:1~

During these 4 days in Vegas, I think we had seen everything we wanted to see and we were ready to head home. Vegas is worth the visit but once you've been there, I don't see why you'd go back. Maybe next time we would consider staying at the lodge there, so we have more time hiking down the Canyon and explore its beauty in other ways, like a helicopter ride down the Canyon. Exploring the Red Rock Canyon with a scooter sounds pretty fun, too!

Oh, and of course, thanks Jen for the treat!!

Click HERE to view more photos.

Our 13th Valentine

I love to see and hear you smile;

it seems to take away my trouble.

Your smile has always warmed my heart

like a hot cocoa with floating marshmallows.

I love to sit next to you

to watch an episode of "Chibi Maruko-chan" or two.

Your giggles and laughs are like music to me;

to duet with mine like a symphony.

I love to hear you play piano;

a precious sound from deep in your soul.

Musical notes expressed in an unique way

delivered to God who is worthy of our praise.

I adore your passion on music;

Chopin, Mozart, they all sound romantic.

Learning music is fun but not that easy;

You have opened up a whole new world to me.

I admire your passion on teaching,

even those kids always give you headache.

Your patience and persistence always remind me

"Thy Will Be Done" and it is not me.

But... sometimes we fight, sometimes we quarrel;

the silent treatments had made us sorrow.

But after all things got resolved,

they've made me understand and love you more.

You brighten up my days though you drive me crazy;

You have become the rainbow of my life.

I thank God for giving you to me

to cherish as the apple of my eye.

瓦器內的寶貝

我們有這寶貝放在瓦器裏、要顯明這莫大的能力、是出於　神、不是出於我們。我們四面受敵、卻不被困住．心裏作難、卻不至失望．遭逼迫、卻不被丟棄．打倒了、卻不至死亡．身上常帶著耶穌的死、使耶穌的生、也顯明在我們身上。

~歌林多後書4:7-10~

我的生命，是一盞漂亮但不能發光的燈台，抑或是能夠在軟弱中散發出上帝的光采？

願主叫我時刻緊記有祂這寶貝活在我這個本來就一無是處的瓦器內。