After all that excitement, I was kept busy finalizing my little girl’s birthday bash. This year, we found Haley having such a great time with her little friends that it made it all worth it for me.

I finally got some breather in the following weekend during my little family getaway to Perhentian Island. Some great diving, spending time with my family and some good friends by the beautiful cove of Bubbles Dive Center. Good times!

March has been a month of illness to the household too. Everyone fell ill with flu or cough or a combination of other things throughout the month. Those are some stubborn bugs, I tell you! I am still recovering from my cough and Haley is still fighting her flu & cough at the moment. But good thing is she’s been happy & active all the time which made it less stressful to us.

Anyway, the entire craziness of the month is subsiding now but it’s not over yet. So, this blog post is going to be a short one. I am just very excited to share with everyone here on a project which took me (and my wonderful team of friends & families) almost a year to complete it.

Here I present Asther Lau Photography’s feature video. Hope you like it.

Special thanks to:
Eddie Lee’s Moving Pictures for the creation of this awesome video.

Habgood Music for the beautiful background music!

Hope you like it. Thank you so much for your continuous support to bring ALP to where we are now.

Oh! Recently we received an email from Frugal Dad informing us that ALP’s website has been selected as part of their latest Top Parenting Blogs list. How cool is that!

I hope April will be a more relax month for me so I can get more time to share with you more beautiful sessions I’ve had had in the recent months. For now, have a wonderful April ahead and watch out for ALP’s monthly giveaway game on our Facebook Page!

Cheerios!
Asther

Holding the titles of A Wife, A Full-Time Mother (to FOUR happy & brilliant kids), A Business Owner, A Dedicated Breastfeeding Advocate (she’s also a lactation consultant) as well as A Beautiful Friend (inside & out!). Life can be tough with so many things (and people) to manage, but she never let them bog her down. Instead, she takes them all in with an open heart and treats them as exciting challenges in her life. Every time I look into her eyes, I see a river flowing full of wisdom, patience and determination.

We’ve been talking about doing her family session for quite a long time. I think for more than a year! After several postponements (due to the kids’ schedule, or hubby’s work travel plans, or just plain busy life), we finally had it going. This was the first time I get to really know her family. Her kids kept me on my toes with so many fun ideas that day. And it was really nice to touch base with the man who is still madly in love with my dear friend after so many years together.

I managed to capture an amazing number of wonderful moments for them that day. Here are a few of the MANY favorites I got that day.

A truly blessed family

The boys in the family

And the girls!

In Daddy A's arms.

I did some fun stuff with some of the images too. Check this out!

Damian

Stephanie

Josephine

Jeremy

Hahahaha...

Fav!

One more fun animation!

Thank you Mummy G, for giving me the time to complete your photos. I hope everyone like them and let this session be a memorable one for the many years in the future. Thank you so much for your friendship and your love. I treasure them in my heart always.

Alrighty… it’s going to be a crazy month ahead with the Bloom Workshops coming into full swing, as well as a fully booked month of shoots in between. March is also my little girl’s birthday month, so I’m already going crazy with planning her birthday party. Here I pray that I’ll survive it all without a glitch. Wish me luck & pray for me, yah? Thank you so much for reading and I’ll try to keep this blogsite updated again soon.

Cheerios!
Asther

Finding out that we were expecting our 3rd baby, my first thought was “Oh boy, what if we’re having twins?” Seeing my grandmother had twins and my husband himself is a twin, it was quite a possibility. Honestly, I had mixed feelings (more towards relief) when we saw Yaya (as she is so fondly called) turned out to be a singleton

Recently, Asther had the privilege to shoot a set of twins – Jayron and Jayden. They are twin boys and are the 2nd and 3rd addition to their family. This was also Asther’s 2nd twin newborn boys session

Now, J & J’s parents were pretty thrilled with their second pregnancy and much to their surprise, they found out that they’re having not one but two new additions to their family! The doting parents then planned and prepared for their journey with a happy and open heart.

J & J

Big brother Jayron was calm and mostly sleeping throughout the shoot, whereas little brother Jayden was a bit more wriggly and active. Photographing twins can be tricky such as this case when 1 twin is more awake than the other, making it challenging in posing them together.

Brother Jayden all wide awake

Little Jayden enjoying his solo session

Little Jayron still in his deep slumber

Asther will be photographing them again for their 6 months portrait and she is looking forward to it!

Two precious bubs with their loving parents ♥

We would like to thank Julie for helping out that day

Did you know that ALP conducts a mini giveaway every month on our Facebook page? There will be at least one surprise gift to be given away with a simple game to win it.

Click here, like our page if you haven’t already and good luck!

Hope all our wonderful clients and friends are enjoying the first two months of 2012 in between festivities and celebrations! (Our tummies probably enjoyed all the good food too! )

Til next time, toodles!

Xoxo,

Su

Note: The Bloom workshops’ early bird rate ended last month, however we still have some limited spaces selling at RM850 each. Head on to the website and Facebook Page for more details. We are looking forward to meeting all the wonderful ladies at the workshop in March!

~ My very first post on ALP’s blog! Woot! Oh this is Su, Asther’s PA by the way and I have been handling email enquiries sent by you lovely clients. Can’t say I wasn’t nervous in the beginning – She does receive a lot of emails! Lol.. I was so worried I’d get clients mixed up or give them the wrong information but as days and weeks went by; I got the hang of it and what can I say? Gotta love having an awesome and understanding (not to mention very patient) boss.

I’m a mummy of 3 – two boys and a lil girl. I’m lucky to know Asther and trust her enough to let her shoot my baby girl at 6 days old. I know how important it is to capture our kids’ moments as they do grow up very fast.

Ok enough about me.. Let’s move on to our new post and I sure hope you readers enjoy reading it (and all our future posts ) Cheers to all! ~

Mummy A contacted Asther months ahead for her “Bump to Pop!” sessions. Both N and A are very soft spoken & good natured people and the maternity session was done with them totally relaxed & calm throughout.

Mummy A giggled a lot whenever Asther cracked up a joke resulting in this nice shot

Exuding warmth and love to their unborn child

Pretty mummy with her petite belly ^_^

Kisses for his lovely wife. Such a sweet couple

Their baby girl finally came into the world about a month later.

She carries the same calm serenity of her parents'

After a bath (she hates bathing for some reason) and a full feed, she went into a deep slumber and the entire newborn session was done with her sleeping soundly. Asther usually conducts her newborn sessions with the baby sleeping throughout the most part of the photo session. This is because posing a sleeping baby is much easier & more possible as compared to an awake baby. An awake newborn baby is usually very wriggly & tend to fuss for milk or to be held. Often than not, the newborns in Asther’s session will wake up some time so she’ll try to capture some “awake” shots as well. But this is usually without much/any posing done on the newborn.

In baby dreamland!

Don't ya wana "bite" her?

Sweet baby!

Comfortably hanging in there

Sweet Baby S with her warm and loving parents

Wishing Mummy A and Daddy N all the best with their little princess. Hope Baby S continues to carry that serenity and calmness in her. Perhaps we could see more of her in the future?

Oh and have you noticed the head bands worn on Baby S? (I know I have! Lol) These beautiful hand-made headbands used in this photo shoot was bought from Sew Whimsey by Asther. Go check it out!

Before signing off, we would like to send out a special thank you to Irene Lim who became our props assistant for the day Until our next post, remember to hug your loved ones today, tomorrow and every other day! Toodles!

xoxo, Su.

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I’ve been ill just a few days back. So ill that the doctor decided to admit me into the hospital ward for treatment & observation. While I was in pain & misery early that morning, only 2 major thoughts came to mind. Haley & my clients. Boy oh Boy, was I in a mess! Who’s going to take care of them if I’m like this?

Honestly, I was partially afraid for my life that day. My heart was beating so hard so fast, that doctors were worried about my thyroid situation. I was praying so hard that I do not get a heart attack that day. It was so scary… an event which has left me lots to ponder about… again.

This year has me struggling in keeping a balance between my personal life & my business. I was at the verge of burning out. I was working so hard to achieve so many goals, that I forgot to take a step back & give enough time to myself. Every time I wanted to do that, I started feeling guilty about it. I started telling myself the “Me Time” can wait. Lots more important stuffs need to be done first. And thus, I got caught into a whirlpool of family responsibilities, making sure every one is happy, making sure our monthly income is flowing in steadily, chasing after deadlines & deadlines of editing, and endless other things. I forgot about ME. And that affected my creative self, my self esteem, my happy self. I let a certain people bully me & take advantage of me. And that almost killed my passion & my business.

Lucky thing is that I realized about it before it’s too late. I decided to take a real break. I took the courage to have my first solo trip away from home. The wonderful times with my dear friends Laura & Pau Ling are still fresh in my mind. I got to have some time alone & explore Melbourne all by myself. Don’t get me wrong, I love being in a company of people. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a social butterfly. But there’s this special good feeling once a while being alone, especially when traveling in a foreign place. I guess I get the chance to think and not think at the same time. It’s just ME time. And it did wonders. I came back refreshed & strong again.

Laura took time off from work & flew down to Brisbane from Sydney to be with me. She took me around town & even brought me back to her beautiful parent's home. This is her goofing around in the house.

Such fun refreshing time in Melbourne with little Meagan. Mummy Pau Ling is one of my besties. I miss our times chit chatting in bed at night about everything under the stars.

During my exploration of Melbourne city, I visited the beautiful St. Patrick's Cathedral where I offered a prayer for my late father. I did some private reflection here to find some peace in my heart & soul. And found them I did.

I made new resolutions that includes more of ME this time. My health is one major issue I need to keep in check. My family is another, especially my relationship with dear hubby who’s been much ‘neglected’ since we both became parents. And I was so caught up in building up this photography business while juggling with motherhood & keeping the household in order that I just didn’t have much time for anything else. But I want to change all that. And change has been happening. Slowly but surely. And so far, I think I’m doing quite okay.

Our own version of Winter Sonata at Nami Island, Korea. Hehehe...

My beautiful Haley... my everything.

All these changes will not have been easy if not for the amazing amount of support I have been getting from my dearest friends & clients. For trying to understand that I need this time to re-prioritize. For understanding that I am a mother, a wife and a daughter as well. Most importantly, I’m a person with feelings & needs too. And for that, I want to thank my current & past clients who have been so supportive to me. Your little words of encouragements, your short sms-es & messages to see how I was doing, your small little gifts of food & little pretty things. All these I treasure close to my heart.

My business have finally grown enough this year to let me afford help & I’m really happy to welcome my dear friend Su as well as a new found friend, Kevin, into ALP’s little family. We aim & hope to make more happy hearts amongst our clients so praying that our team still stay strong & bonded in order to do just that. To make more happy memories & more happy hearts.

This little slideshow is dedicated to our 2011 clients. Thank you for your unconditional supports! Thank you for taking my hands & walk through this beautiful journey of photography with me. Love you!

A remembrance of 2011.

Here’s to a better 2012 for everyone the world around.

xoxo,
Asther

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Now back to last night…

After the hubby read Haley her usual bedtime stories, I switched off my work station and went to bed with them. Haley & I decided to sing. From “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”, “The Alphabet Song”, “Baa Baa Black Sheep” to many more, we sang happily together in the dark. Giggling & clapping in between songs. We were happy… I felt very blissful. And we finally fell asleep with melodies in our dreams.

Waking up this morning, I opened my eyes to a little smiling face. Haley crawled from her bed corner to mine & started snuggling with me. She softly wishes me a good morning and her sweet little voice calling me “Mommy” just made my day. I’m happy. I’ll worry about all the other stuffs later. For now, I just want to soak in my happiness. I am thankful for being blessed.

My little girl who always makes me happy.

I’m currently juggling between work & motherhood without any help at the moment. My mum’s gone back to our hometown and my trusty PA is on her own family breakaway. So work will have to slow down a little and I hope my beloved clients will give me a little bit more time to settle them one by one.

Hoping to write a year end blog post before 2012 comes, but if I couldn’t, here’s wishing everyone a Happy Holiday and a Happy New Year!

Hugs,

Asther

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The pretty Shi Ning!

Shi Ning with her lovely mommy

Daddy's little girl!

Mommy I took months to prepare for this session. She went on a shopping spree, buying all these beautiful attires & headbands for her precious little girl!

Sweet!

Love those funky socks!

Rocking it out infron of my camera!

Tu-tu girl!

We managed to capture some awesome family portraits that day. Seeing their happy faces always makes my heart sings!

LOVE!

FAV!

I brought along my little girl for the shoot so she can spend some time with us and her friend, Shi Ning. Here’s a shot of the two girls together.

Besties in the making?

That is all for now. It’s been a crazy few weeks for me with travels, family & work. Just a little note to inform that my shooting schedule is currently full up to February 2012. I feel so sorry that I’ve to turn down many enquiries for shoots lately but I try my best to refer my good photography friends over whenever I can. So, do book early to avoid disappointment and I look forward to spending some wonderful time with you & family!

Till then, take care & God Bless.

xoxo

Asther

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Music credit: Akvalung

Yup! I’m finally conducting a photography workshop with 3 of my awesome friends. *excited* Wow oh Wow! It’s been a busy busy few months for us, preparing for the launch of our workshops. I’m really happy that it’s finally here and we can go to the next phase!

Want to know more? Head on over to our website at BLOOM Workshops Malaysia. Hope to see you there!

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… with a SPLASH!

As you’re reading this post, darling hubby & I are on a live-on-board dive cruise somewhere in Savu Sea, enjoying one of the many things that we love to do together that is scuba diving. We’ve been dreaming of exploring the underwater world around Komodo National Park for many many years and finally we can tick this off our bucket list! For the first time ever, we left Haley behind (in the care of my own mother) so that we can use this opportunity to be together & do some reflections on our life together.

Fourth year into a marriage life is still considered “young” by many, but to us, it’s one more year of achieving several new milestones together! As husband & wife, and as parents to our beautiful Haley. We started dating back in 2003, going through both highs & lows in our lives together. Living together & apart due to the nature of my previous career as a scuba diving instructress but managed to keep our relationship going although at times we almost call it quits. We’ve never really talked about getting married to each other. I guess it was due to the uncertainty of what we want in life as an individual and as a couple.

But one fine day we did! We got married! A simple, “Darling, I want to get married. To you…” with an even simpler reply, “Aaaarrr…” marked the beginning of the next stage in our life together. And when Haley came into our life, we feel almost complete.

Photo courtesy of Grace Tan (2011)

Here’s an excerpt from an article I read recently which reminds me once again about how important it is to take time off from everything else & focus on just the two of us.

Gal Baras wrote:

“I bet your mind just filled with thoughts of “the children”, “my work commitments”, “that project I have to finish”, “how hard it is to get a babysitter nowadays” and various other seemingly-appropriate reasons for your romantic situation being what it is and why you should not be feeling too horrible about it. Besides, is this not what everyone experiences when they turn from a couple into parents?

Yes, they do, and yes, they all feel just as horrible as you do about it, but does that make it better?

Nope.”

Read more…

Hence, the reason why I took the courage to book this trip for our wedding anniversary celebration this year. This means both of us have to leave our precious little girl behind for so many days. I’m not sure how I’d fare by the time this post is published but I do know that both hubby & I need this “break” together. Our journey is an on-going one… and this is one journey I’m willing to walk through for a very long long time. Pray that God will bless our journey together & let it be filled with more love, happiness & adventures.

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Music by Akvalung

Want to know more? Stay tuned and everything will be revealed pretty soon.

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