Madness

I'm debating whether we should post this. It ruins the illusion of perfection in our household. 

But I guess it's life. Ever have one of those days where everything is complete chaos? That was yesterday. Amazing how two little girls can transform your house into a disaster sometimes. Good thing they're cute.

Note the last picture.  Nothing like cereal off of the floor.  Anyone for a diaper surprise for din din?  Mmmmm,  my favorite.  But please sanitize your hands.  See also a handful of the thousand clothes changes that occurred within that 30 min period by the two-yr-old.

We decided to go out anyway to sell our stroller.  We pocketed $125 and we're feeling pretty good about life, but knew we would soon be returning to a disaster.  That had to wait, because neither of us had a key.  We had to get a locksmith to let us in so that we could spend the rest of the evening cleaning. Glad we had made the $125 because the locksmith bill was $120.  :)

Sisters

I saw a friend on Facebook post a picture of her two girls around the same age and loved the idea. So, just for kicks, here are two pictures of Olivia and Anni. Not the greatest, but they were doing the same thing. Plus, Olivia is about 4 weeks older. See if you can guess who is who. xx]

Almost official

We went yesterday to the U.S. Embassy to get a passport and Social Security card for our new little girlie. Once the passport comes in the mail, we have to then go to the Singapore "Ministry of Manpower" to report the birth of our baby and get a card so she can stay in Singapore with us.

We never knew, but as a U.S. Citizen, if you have a baby abroad, you not only need a birth certificate from the country your child was born in, but also need a Consular Report of Birth as evidence of U.S. citizenship. Pretty cool.

Here's my lame attempt at taking a passport photo of our girlie. The light was terrible and Olivia was having an emotional morning, so it didn't quite work out. Notice my feet? I had to keep her hands out of her face and also try to get her to look up, with eyes open and ears showing. We ended up going to the mall to have a photo taken, instead.

Bath time is fun time

Nothing better than bathing a contented newborn. xxx

Baby Annika

"Clever Girl-la."
That was the first thing the nurse told us when she discovered our little Annika was scheduled to be induced later that morning. Our clever little girl decided she wanted to come into the world on her own terms, 12 days later than her due date, but still 2 hours before our scheduled time to arrive at the hospital for induction.
The whole experience giving birth here in Singapore was fantastic, minus the 10 minute cab ride (from heck) to the hospital and the fact that once there, we had to climb two flights of stairs to the delivery room.
Here's our story, in brief:
After spending the whole day on Friday walking the city (apparently in labor), I woke up at midnight with contractions. Mild. But within 45 minutes, they became more intense. By 2:30, we were on our way out the door.
Our little Annika was born at 6:03 a.m. The most noticeable thing, not only to her parents, but to the hospital staff, was how big she was. I remember holding her in shock. Her legs were chunky. Not scrawny like our Olivia when she was born. Chunky. Chunky. Chunky. Mmmm. Got to love that baby chub.
Troy came in from the hall when they weighed her to announce how big: 9 lbs, 15 oz. It was notable for a few reasons. One being the fact the doctor had been concerned about her size and how it would affect delivery. Two, because she became known as the hospital's "big baby" during her stay.
Guess that explains why I got so many comments about looking like I was going to have twins while pregnant.
Otherwise, in comparison to our experience delivering a baby in Utah, our experience in Singapore was remarkably similar. The doctor and staff were more formal and serious, and we struggled sometimes with the language barrier with nurses, but that's about it.
Some quirky differences included the following:
1. New moms aren't allowed to drink cold water. Only hot. Stupid hot water.
2. I ended up with an epidural. The anesthesiologist looked like a woman on her way out from the club. Young. Beautiful. In a revealing dress. She did a good job, though.
3. Apparently papaya-fish soup is good for breastfeeding. And the nurses have no qualms pulling your shirt down to "help" you feed your baby.
4. No matter how many times you tell them you don't want coffee, tea, or milo, they still bring it twice a day.

One week old

We took the opportunity while Niki's mom was here a week ago to take some family photos. One nice thing about Singapore is that the outdoors make a nice newborn studio. It's so hot and muggy.

More baby pics

Hard to believe I was that huge! So grateful for our little girlie, though.