Great News!

One look at the pictures, you should have guess what news it is right? :) That's right, baby number 2 is on the way. Baby will be due in October. These are our first glimpse of the baby. During the ultrasound, the baby was very active, bouncing and turning around, perhaps because the ultrasound guy was poking at my tummy and at the baby. He needed to get the measurement done and thus it was necessary. Got to see the beautiful beating heartbeat and heard it for a few seconds. :)



I went for the first trimester screening which included a blood work and an ultrasound to measure the fluid on the baby neck to check for any abnormality. Seem like this is something new because I was not offer this option when I was pregnant with Evy.



The pictures were not very clear, guess we couldn't really complaint since this was not a 3D one that others get. Still we could make out the head, nose and body. It was still too early to know the sex yet, so the ultrasound guy didn't even bother to check.



Look! He managed to make the baby facing us. Thus we could see the face with the eyes and mouth. Looks like I'm going to have a big head baby number two too!

Oh yeah, don't think I have it easy with this pregnancy. I was actually suffered from a pretty bad morning sickness since 5 weeks. Vomitted up to 3-4 times a day and felt sick most of the day. Last two days were the worst because I think I got stomuch flu/virus which resulted in severe vomitting (up to 7 times a day). Whatever I put in, out it came, even 1 french fry and water. Thus, I was not getting anything in for the last two days and actually lost 2 pounds. I never experience this before and thus it sorta freak me out.

Luckily I felt much better today and actually got to eat and not throw up. * knock on wood* This in fact is a great news because this morning I actually felt very weak from not eating for 2 days. Oh yeah, guess now I will have to blog about my pregnancy and baby too. Hehe...

Update April 3th: Both the blood and ultrasound tests came back normal. :)

The Big Two

My little girl is going to be two in a few days. It's great to see her grow up and being independent. I remember when she was a baby, I was thinking how I wish she could sit, then crawl, then walk, then talk and being more independent. Hahaha... guess I'm the opposite from all the moms who wish their babies will remain babies forever.



We got her a notebook after we moved. Now she has her own little corner in our computer room. I saved a few children friendly websites on the desktop and taught her how to open her notebook, use it, open the links on the desktop to play and shut down the notebook when she is done. She definitely is a fast learner because I only need to show her once and now she is a little expert.

Teaching her how to use the computer definitely paid off for me because now she learned to recognize A-Z and even pronounced all of it except a few she still couldn't. 1-10 in English and a few English words she learned while playing and surfing on her own. She already knew how to say 1-10 in Mandarin, I taught her that. She speaks Mandarin to us and can I say she starting to form sentences in Mandarin. I know she understood a lot of words but she still couldn't pronounce it, but I believe all this come sooner or later.

I am very happy with her progress. How proud I am of her speaking in Mandarin because no matter where we are, deep down we are pure Chinese and I don't want people to call her a banana (yellow outside but white inside) or being look down by Chinese in the future. No matter what, bilingual is a plus no matter where you are. I always look at the wider range and into the future and I strongly believe we made a right choice.

My little girl, mommy and daddy only want what's the best for you and for your future. A little obstacle in the beginning is nothing because you will be fluent in English in no time. All we wish is you remain speaking in Mandarin with both your parents and never forget the language.

Spaghetti with Homemade Sauce

I made this sauce using chopped garlic, chopped yellow onion, fresh mushroom, ground pork, Italian seasonings, diced tomatoes and canned tomato sauce. Served it with angel hair pasta and top it with chilli oil and grated parmesan cheese. Quite an easy dinner for a lazy night!


When stirred to coat well.

Crabmeat Cream Corn Soup

Featuring one of my home cook dishes.

Ingredients:

~ 1 egg, lightly beaten
~ 1 canned of creamy corn
~ Shredded wood ear fungus
~ 1 small canned of crabmeats
~ 1/2 cup of cubed tofu pieces
~ 2 canned Swanson chicken broth

Thickening:
Potato starch + water

Method:

In a big saucepan, add in the chicken broth. Turn up the heat and let it boil.

When boiled, add in the above ingredients except egg. Lower the heat and let it simmer for 15 minutes.

Turn the heat off and add in the beaten egg, when pouring the egg, write 8 with it with a chopstick so that it has the egg drop effect.

Lastly, add in the thickening and stir until the soup thicken.

Char Siew Night

Char Siew with Noodle and Nai Pak



Char Siew with Mantou (store bought mantou)

Haven't been making char siew for ages, so just out of the blue felt like making it and thus the char siew night was born.

Short-Cut Char Siew Recipe

2 pork chops

Honey

Marinade:

3-4 Tbp. Lee Kum Kee bottled Char Siew sauce

2 Tbp. Hoisin Sauce

Method:

1. Marinate the pork chops with marinade overnight, give it a few turns along the way.

2. Preheat oven to 350'F. Bake pork chops (pour all the sauce on top of pork chops) for 30-40 mins or until cooked, turn once half way through. Keep basting the pork chops with the sauce while baking.

3. When done, take it out of the oven and brush it with honey on both sides. Set aside to cool for 5 mins. before slicing. When sliced, brush the leftover char siew sauce from the pan on top of the char siew.

Hot and Sour Soup

Want a bowl of hot and sour soup? This is also an Americanize dish. Not sure whether you can find it in M'sia.



This recipe can be found at Lily's blog. I omitted the bamboo shoot and char choy and added cut baby corns.
I also added dark soy sauce and chilli paste into mine to make it real spicy. Also thicken the soup with potato starch.



This hot/spicy and sour soup is really suitable for winter. The sweating helps to keep you warm. :D Thanks Lily for the recipe!

Dinner

Homecook meals again! I just love homecook simple meals at home because often times it's very healthy compared to what you eat outside. Everyday thinking of what to cook for dinner can be such a chore. I would just love to go out and eat sometimes but sadly there is no authentic Chinese restaurants here. We will have to drive to Denver to satisfy that cravings for good chinese food. How often we drive up there? Hardly! Because it's not a short drive and to think to drive all the way up just for a meal, it's pretty ridiculous or extremely desperate. We only drive up there if I need to do grocery or visiting friends.


Nai Pak in Oyster Sauce


Moist, Tender and Juicy Pork Chops

Thus, I made these for dinner. One to cut cost of eating out and two because it's healthier. We eat out during the weekends anyway, my off days from cooking, so got to cook during weekdays to save money. :P My hubby is pretty nice, he gives me days off from cooking. :)

Sour Cream Butter Cake

Tried out a new butter cake recipe using sour cream. I read a lot of reviews that this cake is moist and yummy. I modified it from the original recipe that I found at allrecipes.com.

Verdict: It is indeed moist and delicious.