Flashback Friday #34

For Blake's first birthday, we decided to hold the celebrations at a bungalow at National Service Resort and Country Club (NSRCC), very awesomely paid for by my dad, might I add J It was also a chance for us, as a little family, to have a mini getaway (like finally!).

9 September 2011: The day we checked in. My dad drove Blake and me down, and left after we have settled and found a little corner for Blake to do his own little thing.

It's actually made up of two sofa seats, with the cushions removed, firmly wedged between the glass panels, the bigger sofa seat, and a super heavy coffee table. Hehe.

After which, I took Blake out for a stroll in the area before heading for lunch. The cafe at the golf area was simply marvelous! Great food and service! J

Then I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to get Blake to sleep, while waiting for Sean to join us after work! Once Sean reached the bungalow, we headed out for dinner, and walked around the vicinity further to see if we missed anything. It has been a really long time since we last came here!

After taking some photos, we headed back to the bungalow. As it was Blake's actual date of birth, we had a mini celebration for Blake's first birthday, with cupcakes from Twelve Cupcakes!

I had bought them the day before, but some of them got squashed during the transferring from car to bungalow L

Thankfully, there were three that survived! But one melted a little too much after microwaving, so we were down to two for photo taking. Still taste awesome though! J

Watched more TV while Blake played in his corner and then, it was lights out!

10 September 2011: The day of his birthday celebration! I woke up early to receive the McDonald's breakfast I had ordered in advance, before heading home to feed our pets. Then I met up with my dad. He drove me to Aunty Yochana's where we collected Blake's birthday cake, and he drove me back to NSRCC. I know, I have a super awesome dad J

While I was out, the birthday boy had diarrhea, and Sean was busied the whole morning trying to calm him down and make him comfortable. Sean took him out for a morning walk (while I was out and about), and he calmed down. It's always good to have a super hands-on dad for a husband. Hehe. I'm so blessed to have awesome men, like Sean and my dad, in my life!

Specially made this candle party favors for Blake's first birthday - Ribbons and Tape

When I got back, things were calmed and I started preparing the place for the party that night. Sean also started work on the BBQ pit, cooking all the food before guests arrive, so that he will have enough time to wash up.

My babies! J

When guests started arriving, the birthday boy fell asleep, and woke up just in time to cut the cake! Haha.

Yup, it was a candle-themed birthday party!

The night ended with a walk around the vicinity with lighted lanterns, which I brought along. It was close to the Lantern Festival then. Hehe.

11 September 2011: The day we check-out. Packed everything the night before and sleep till it was just about time to check-out. Haha. We were all so tired! After checking out, we went back to the cafe at the golf side and had a delicious branch before heading home!

All in all, it was a great birthday celebration. So thankful for all the people who came down to celebrate with us, and all the beautiful gifts given to Blake! J

Flashback Friday #21

17 July 2011: Family photo on my birthday! J

Flashback Friday #20

16 July 2011: My 24th birthday celebrations! Had a 3D cake specially done for my 24th birthday with two rabbits and a tiger figure. Sean and I are born in the year of the rabbit, while Blake is born in the year of the Tiger J

Just look at how amused Blake is with the tiger figure!
Psst... can you spot the first sightings of his little tooth? Hehe.

Flashback Friday #17

4 July 2011: When my elder sister came back to Singapore for her holidays (she was studying overseas then), she took my younger sister, Blake and me out for a Pizza Hut treat for my birthday! We had to celebrate earlier as she will be flying back on the weekend of my birthday party.

While waiting for our orders to arrive, my little boy got hungry! He had his baby cereal, and the timing was great. By the time he was done with his baby cereal, our pizzas arrived! :)

After lunch, we went back to my mother's place to play! My elder sister was making a lot of funny faces while taking photos with Blake, but I decided to put up the least funny of all photos. I know, I'm so nice, right? :P

And here's one more with my younger sis:

* All photos taken from my elder sis's camera J

Sean’s Birthday and the Huggies Surprise!

The hubs is a year older. Sean never really placed much emphasis on his own birthday (it’s just another day to him), but I try to make it special for him yearly.

Last year, I got him Mango Munch from O’ Coffee Club. We had walked past the place about a week ago before his birthday, and he mentioned that it looked really nice and delicious (it is!). Haha. It was the perfect size for our little family as well. Hehe.

This year, I had thought I’d meet Sean for lunch after my appointment with Dr. Lim, give him a treat or something. But lunch was out, because he had the school’s graduation concert rehearsals to attend, from lunch till end of the work day.

So, I thought we could celebrate over dinner, after Blake’s weekly evening swim at the club. But that was cancelled too! We reached the club only to discover that the kiddy pool was closed for cleaning L

It would be another hour or so before dinner time, and we did not really have other plans for the next hour. We decided to pack dinner from the restaurant back to my parents’ place – seeing how my dad and younger sister needed dinner too, and neither of them cooks.

When we reached my parents’ place, we saw that my dad had picked up the Little Tikes 2-in-1 Garden Cart & Wheelbarrow on our behalf! Hehe. I had taken part in the Huggies Cold Storage promotion for it. Purchase $150 worth of Huggies products, and submit the receipt to claim it! But it’s a ‘while stocks last, first come first serve’ type of promotion. So happy we managed to get it J


So anyway, after dinner, we brought it home, and Blake was beyond excited to have it opened!








Daddy’s little helper got into action, from ripping the box apart to taking all the parts out of their plastic packaging, he was “wowing” most of time! He even attempted to imitate Sean hammering the wheels together. Haha. It was pretty funny. Blake picked up the hammer, and started knocking at various parts of the wheelbarrow.








After it was done, Blake attempted to climb into the wheelbarrow like his fire truck (also got it from a Huggies promotion!).




We did not have the chance to show him how to play it properly cos by the time it was done, it was close to his bedtime. And there was still one more surprise to go!

I had packed a brownie (Sean’s favourite) back from the club’s restaurant, and managed to keep it out of his sight. I went into the kitchen to prepare.


Surprise!





After letting Blake have some brownie, we prepared him for bedtime (the standard: milk, brushing of teeth, and a quick shower), and whisked him off to bed.


Overall, it was not that bad, I think. I only forgot to take a family photo! Haha. Oops.

To end this post, here is a video of Blake in the midst of putting the Little Tikes 2-in-1 Garden Cart & Wheelbarrow together:

Blake’s 2nd Birthday Celebration at Home

After Blake’s celebration in school, and a trip to the Civil Defence Heritage Gallery, it was time to get down to working on his birthday celebration at home.

I made these little octopus party favors, in line with his party theme – Octonauts – a cartoon about the marine life. It’s relatively easy to make, but boy oh boy, it was really painful on the fingers! But it was all worth it, seeing how it all turned out J

The initial plan for Blake’s party this year was to have both BBQ and buffet. We were lucky to have my uncle book a BBQ pit within the condominium he’s staying at for the celebration, on the actual date of Blake’s birthday! It’s also my mom’s birthday (same date, different year!), so we combined the birthday celebrations and made it a big party! J

Unfortunately, it rained that evening, so all plans to use the BBQ pit were abandoned. Everything, including the buffet, from the BBQ pit was shifted into my uncle’s home before the rain poured. PHEW! And thankfully, there was still quite a good buffet spread to feed all the hungry guests.

The birthday boy spent most of the time in my uncle’s entertainment room with Sean. He was either shy, or it was cooler to be in the room (with aircon switched on and all).

Regardless, when it was time to sing the birthday song and cut the cake, my boy made his grand entrance, after a change of clothes.

And once again, when he saw his birthday cake, he just stood there and went, “Wow!” Haha, this boy is so cute J

Then it was birthday song singing, making a wish and cutting the cake – the standard tradition for all birthdays.

After which, my boy was eager to leave. Haha. He wanted to go to the playground to play, and so he said, “Bye! See you!” to all the guests, while receiving presents and red packets along the way.

But it wasn’t over yet! It was now my mom’s turn! J

The eager beaver could no longer wait, and started to pout. He became a little grouchy when we kept stalling his time to get to the playground. We had to make sure the rain had stopped completely before bringing him to the playground.

At last, Sean took off with him, and he was a happy boy!

After playing for a while, and realizing that the playground was really wet, Blake decided it was time to head back. When he reached, he was pleased to see the cakes all distributed, with his share still on the table, waiting for him.

He also became a little more adventurous with the cake, and decided to “knight” the leader of the Octonauts. Haha.

After finishing his cake, Blake opened one of his presents! My aunt had wanted to see his expression. Haha.

Wow!

Yes, he was mighty please with his Lego Duplo gift (he received two that evening! J), and in a timely manner too! Sean and I were planning to get him some of these blocks to play with, but were deciding between Lego Duplo and Mega Bloks. We couldn’t make up our minds! Now, it’s been decided for us. Hehe.

The night ended early, as the party was held on a Sunday evening, and everyone either had to work or head to school the next day.

Such a blessed long weekend Blake and us had. Truly amazing.

Once again, I would like to thank Bryan from BLJH Photography for taking such beautiful photos. These memories will go a long way thanks to you J

I would also like to thank Lucille from Lea Vanilla Rosettes for baking one of the most amazing cakes I’ve ever had, and for being such an awesome baker, accommodating to my requests to have all the characters up for both of Blake’s cakes J

Thank you both so much!

And to all who attended Blake’s birthday parties, and showered him with gifts and red packets, thank you so, so much! Just to let you know, all the money collected from red packets were all deposited into Blake’s education account. Yup, we set up an account especially for Blake’s education! J

Ahh, another wonderful year has gone past, but not all parties are over! The next party to plan is my baby girl’s first month celebrations. Hehe.


P.S. Blake was so high that night, that he couldn't sleep. He kept both Sean and me up the whole night. I think he slept wayyy past midnight! And the very next day, when he had to return to school........

Hehe

Related posts:
Blake’s 2^nd Birthday – Preparations
Blake’s 2^nd Birthday Celebrations in School