We are blessed

Our place is almost done (YEAH YEA YEAH!) leaving only some minor works and repairs. The cartons will be arriving this Saturday and hopefully by then, we can clean up some parts of the house to receive them.

Am so excited. We're very happy how the house is turning out to look like. We had no confidence it will look nice when we first started because there were no drawings, no measurements, no proper documents like we had the very first time we renovated it. This time, all we relied on was the general contractor to take measurements right on the spot (thank God that for the lack of an ID, we found a very very reliable, responsive and responsible contractor!!), let them know what we have in mind and pray hard they know exactly what we are trying to tell them. None of us can draw professionally (neither the contractor, nor us, nor the carpenters or whoever is involved) so we are all relying on the best of our imagination. Our ID friend has really been too busy to get involved so Mr Liow has been doing most of the coordination, if not all. I must say, my hubby makes a very good Puah Chu Kang!

I should have taken some pictures of the house when they first hacked away all the tiles some weeks back. All these are memories to keep and it's a pity that we've not been doing so, for a long time(especially since AN has started showing interest in cameras from many months back and hers is inside one of our boxes, so she shows interest in OURS). Will take pictures when we get the chance to.

We're thankful for the right timing! We had been praying for the boxes to come in AFTER renovations have completed and the house cleaned and 'stayable' but the Lord knows better! We are going to have things everything we need (AN's toys, books, clothes, sunblock, bath essentials etc) soon. We didn't know whether to have the parquet floors polished before or after the cartons return but now we are sure this is good timing because we can take our time to unpack after clearing up the living room (there's probably only the stucco board left in the living room to be completed and the living room can be cleaned up in anticipation for our 92 boxes!), while waiting for the newly polished parquets to dry up slowly before we pack things for the rooms, in the rooms! Trust in the Lord and He will make our paths straight. This is something we have to be constantly reminded about and is so easily forgotten..

And as we looked back, we see how blessed we have been the first time we renovated our place. We spent a total of less than $18K for our home reno the first time (with all the glass, mirrors, big and small cabinets etc) but every of those people in the renovation line who stepped into our home this time round (from the ID, to the contractor, to the carpenters etc) expected us to have spent at least $40k. We were on a tight budget when we got married. $40K was to something we couldn't have afforded but we got all we hoped to have to make our brand new niche then, at the price we could afford!

The Lord has blessed us so much!

And even though we got minimum help from the main source we relied on, we were given help in other forms (and amazingly, Mr Liow was able to find time at this supposedly busiest period of his 2 year at a new place). It was not easy, but things are slowly falling in place by His grace!

Being forgetful, 'blur' and fickle-minded that I have always been, worse now that I am pregnant, I have been adding to Mr Liow's stress over home renovations. I would think a lot during the day whenever AN is playing with my mum (when I have my brains to work for me instead of her during times like these), recall something and tell him what I have in mind. Sometimes these ideas or reminders come too late (I forgot to remind him to let the hackers know that we have intentions to keep the mixers and shower stuff. By the time I asked him, the hackers have thrown them all away). So each time now whenever I make a suggestion to Mr Liow, I can feel an overwhelming sense of fear filling up the room (hehe. Fears that it is going to be a job that's either too tough, or had been completed to the point of it being irreversible.

It's going to be another tough period for him from Saturday onwards. I sure pray that I will be allowed to help him out with unpacking (the 2 mothers, my father and Mr Liow himself will do whatever they can to ensure I do not overexert). I want to at least know where things are so that I do not need to stress him further by constantly asking him for them. It's no big deal being pregnant. If I'm tired, I will rest. If it's time for my boy to come, he will wriggle his way out, whether I'm climbing up and down, or simply resting on the bed, won't he?

Anyways...we are excited. AN is too. She loves her room (she insisted she wants a blue room!!) and is a little disappointed that we gave her pastel blue for most parts of the room. Thus when she saw the particular wall that's painted in a darker shade of blue, she was so happy! This girl went: "I love this blue!! How come the rest of the walls are not this blue?" And because the room is blue, she decided she will sleep in her own room, by herself, and little brother with share a room with daddy and mummy. I hope she means it.

Baileys and Maen have their own bed coming too! Where shall we put their bed? hehee..Will let them find their favourite spot when it's time to bring them back.

We're excited (my parents are not. Mum's already dreading the day AN will leave her...hehe)