Time to go??

IT's really time to pack up and leave... oh mine! Time has gone by so fast, I can hardly have time to rest (esp last week). There were too many events, farewells and "partying" going on last week. We had farewell for Kelly who will be leaving for Ireland on Monday.

Kelly's family and our family came in 2007 and we knew each other since then. She is a very nice and outgoing lady who make friends so easily. A lot of people will miss her and her family... especially since ASM (the rugby club in Clermont) won the Championship this year. They had been in the Final 11 times but never won any title but this year... it was a great present for them as Kelly's hubby is the coach of the team... and it's been 3 years! It's been a long wait for the Clemontois! Everyone was crazy and celebrating, rejoicing, crying... it's a good memory for us too!

Tuesday was a farewell coffee for Christy, Amy and myself. We also came around the same time in 2007 and it's been 3 years! They got us each a very special gift and we had a great time saying Goodbye.

Thursday was the last session of the Chit-Chat group. We had a party at Jessica's house in the countryside. She has a beautiful house. I always enjoy the group as I can learn and practice my French. The ladies were fun and kind and it's really good to know so many people from around the world... I think we had people from 11 countries this year, mainly French and American, also Spanish, Irish, Indian, Romanian, English, Dutch, Italian, New Zea-lander and of cos me from Singapore! It was a great experience getting to know people from different countries!

Corrine giving me a farewell gift from the Chit-Chat group!




Friday was a busy day as well. We had the Ladies bible-study group's coffee cum farewell. This group of ladies will be most missed because we had been through a lot together. We prayed for each other, learning the word of God together, minister to each other and being there when someone is in need! This is really a special group and all of them are so kind to me. I'm so grateful that God has sent these ladies into my life for these years and May God continue to use them to minister to more ladies out there! They had a mini baby shower for me too. One of the ladies made a cake especially for me as I can't have sweet dessert.. she make the cake without sugar but still taste good... Thank you, Daria!

Ladies from Bible Study group


The no sugar cake that my friend make for the baby's shower!


A traditional Gien teapot for those who are leaving.


Saturday was another long day. Matthew has swimming class in the morning. Kermess (school carnival) in the afternoon and Farewell dinner with Mr et Mrs Renault!
Matthew enjoyed himself so much this year at the school carnival. He danced well, played well unlike the previous year.






We had a church pinic on Sunday. It was the usual summer picnic before the summer vacation but the weather wasn't very "summer". It was cool and Thank God it only started raining when it's time to leave. Meanwhile, Matthew had totally enjoyed himself at his friend's birthday party at Kizou.

The week was busy but full of interesting events... it's really time to pack up and get ready to go home very soon!

Doctor's visit

Doctor's visit went well so far. I was diagnosed with gestational diabetic again and this time the blood sugar level was pretty high. I was referred to an Endocrinologist to prescribe me with the proper diet's advise and insulin treatment if needed. And as far as I wanted to control my blood sugar (avoiding sweet altogether and cutting down carbohydrate/starch), the level was still high in the morning. The doctor said it's not too serious but I needed the insulin shot every morning as it might pose risk to the baby. I was a little disappointed but to think about it... it's better be safe than sorry. It was really difficult for me to come to this stage and I really prayed for all to go through well the next few months.

I also went for my ultrasound scan last week. Getting to know the gender of the baby make me feel so excited. Matthew and DH both hoping for another boy while I wanted a girl (of cos). The scan went well and long... about 45 mins. Beside checking the basic stats, we also have a 3D scan of the little one. It was the first time for DH to see "pop pop" (little nickname for the little one as she popped a lot).
The gynae had a hard time trying to get a good picture as she really move a lot. She said at one point, "Can you stop moving?" We all laughed as we can see her moving and waving at us. It's God's creation and it's beautiful!
By now, you should have guessed it! Matthew's going to have a baby sister. He's a little disappointed but I guess he will still love and take good care of her. :)
Thank God for His protections and blessing that have been showered upon us...

This is God's wonderful creation!


We can clearly see the eyes, nose, ears , mouth and hands!

South of France

We had a very long weekend last weekend and DH was planning to visit our friends in Chamonix and then a visit to Milan but turned out that we have to change our plan as our friends have some visitors for that busy weekend... so in the end, we decided to go to Cote D'Azur area in the South of France.

The weather forecast didn't show good weather but we went ahead with our plan. On the first night we left at about 5.30pm and the night was cold and long. The first stop is Montpellier which is about 3 1/2 hrs away. It was a wet night... the wind was strong with heavy downpour. It was quite difficult to drive and the temperature was about 5 degree C. It was freezing for me and it was tired for Matthew. Finally we came to the hotel. It was in downtown Montpellier. It's a small local hotel with basic essential but the staff was quite friendly and helpful. We were very tried and sooner than we know, we were asleep.

We woke up pretty early as Matthew is an early bird recently... Around 7am, we were all awake. Getting ourselves ready, we are all set to explore the town. It was a quiet morning, we left the hotel at around 9am and most of the shop are still closed. Nice and peaceful, we have a very nice morning walk to the Cathedral, the market place and Place de la Comedie. Next we went on the tram that take us to the Polydone and Antigone and before we know it, we had reached the Esplanade de L'Europe.







By the time, we finished our lunch (we had subway sandwiches for lunch), it's about time to leave for Marseilles. The weather was great... unlike what the night before. Marseilles is a well-known port and with good weather, it's pretty. We took the petite train all the way to the Notre Dame Cathedral at the top of the hill... it was a nice view from the top but the journey was a little bumpy for me!
We had bouillabaisse for dinner... a well known Provencals fish-stew that originate from Marseilles' port.







On the following day, we had a scenic drive along the coastal area - the Famous Cote D'Azur. It was indeed very Scenic and with good weather.. it was prefect!






We arrived at Cannes that night... it happened to be the Cannes Films Festival... but of cos we didn't have the ticket and didn't see any celebrities but we did took picture at the "red carpet". We left for Nice the same night as most of the hotel are either too expensive or fully-booked.





After a restful night, we drove to Monaco from Nice the next day. Along the way, there are some pretty site too.




Monaco is having the Formula 1 car racing that weekend, so it was packed with fans all over... it's quite common to see luxury sport cars like Ferrari and Bentley. Again, we didn't have any ticket and we just happen to be outside the race track...


We had our dinner at Old Nice which is pretty nice...



On our way back to CF... it was a long drive with the strong wind and the heavy traffic... it took us about 10hrs to get back from Nice - including lunch break and many pit-stops!

The famous Milau bridge on the way back...

An adventure month??

It's almost end of April... it seems like time passes faster when we're on vacation. Having the spring break is definitely a good time to rest but most importantly - good family bonding!

April is a month full of mystery and adventure for us...firstly, I'm officially into my 2nd trimester. The first appointment with the new gynaecologist turned out to be great despite the long waiting time. She did a very detailed scan, measuring the size, heartbeat, length, age of the baby and etc. All the result turned out to be good... I feel so blessed and thankful to have come to this stage! God always do amazing things in His way...

Another big event is the vacation in Egypt. Initially, I was quite worried as there's always warning about going to Egypt - water, food, safety, especially since I'm expecting. But it turned out to be the most relaxing tour we had so far. That's the difference when you joined a guided tour with a private driver and a personal tour guide, being taken care of everything. It's just meant for the 3 of us. It's no doubt the most expensive trip we had so far but I think it's worth the price. DH enjoyed a lot as he doesn't need to drive around in the crazy traffic of Cairo.



Being able to visit the Pyramid is a dream come true for DH!







Matthew enjoys riding the camel with Daddy. It's a wonderful experience riding the camel in the desert! I would love to do so too but the guide said the ride might be too bumpy for me.



Taking the cruise on the River Nile is a very relaxing experience.


View of Cairo and River Nile

The food is not fantastic. We almost had the same kind of food everyday that we all agree having McDonald is a better choice!





Having McDonald meal while waiting for our train.


The overnight Train ride to and fro Aswan and Luxor was worse than the turbulence in air. It took about 11 - 13 hrs and I can hardly sleep




Overall the trip was great. We had a few days of extremely hot weather 40 degree C/ 104 degree F. I almost got into heat exhaustion at the valley of the kings, having signs like nausea and dizzy and feeling breathless. Matthew and I had to stop after visiting only one tomb while Daddy and the guide continue with the rest. It was even too hot for the guide but Thank God, we survived!

Here are the rest of the photos if anyone is interested!

It was a long tough month!

Praise God for His protection! All have been good so far even though it was tough. Having those sleepless night and the morning sickness wasn't fun and it really drained me out. The pain wasn't that great too. I was basically resting and doing nothing most of the time. Thank God Matthew has been very good, playing on his own and letting me rest as much as I need. I had a doctor appointment last week cos I was having really bad pain. Again, thank God for His blessing, everything seem ok. I had an ultrasound and the doctor showed Matthew the baby's legs and arms... he was amused and of cos very excited about it! We're overwhelmed by His miraculous touch and can't stop praising Him

As usual, DH is away... but soon he will be back. And hopefully he will stay around for a while without having to travel so much. He did help me with the housework that he had never done before... I'm thankful for him and love to have him around to lighten my workload. Matthew misses daddy very much as I can't do much with him now. We have been counting the no. of days left before DH is back! :)

Pretty soon, I will be entering into 2nd trimester and I'm looking forward to having my energy back. It was tough but definitely a good start!