Livia Ionce, 44, Gives Birth To 18th Child

Livia Ionce, 44, second left, holds her newborn daughter, Abigail Ionce, who was born Tuesday, as she and her husband, Alexandru, 51, pose for a photograph with 13 of their 18 children at their home in Abbotsford, Canada on Saturday July 26, 2008. Their oldest child is 23-years-old. The couple immigrated to Canada from Romania in 1990.


ABBOTSFORD, British Columbia - A Romanian immigrant has given birth to her 18th child in British Columbia, making her the province's most prolific mother in 20 years.
Proud dad Alexandru Ionce said Saturday that his 44-year-old wife, Livia, gave birth on Tuesday. Their daughter Abigail weighed in at seven pounds, 12 ounces.
"We never planned how many children to have. We just let God guide our lives, you know, because we strongly believe life comes from God and that's the reason we did not stop the life," said Alexandru Ionce.
The couple immigrated to Canada from Romania in 1990 and now live in Abbotsford, British Columbia. Their 17 other children range in age from 20 months to 23 years old.
Ionce said he did not know if the couple would have more children. The family now has 10 girls and eight boys.
"We would have liked a boy to be even," he said. "We thank God all of them are healthy and happy."
Ionce said the family has received calls from Germany, Romania and England, as well as from media outlets across Canada

Twins born to mixed-race couple have different skin tones

Twin baby boys Ryan (L) and Leo Gerth rest in a Berlin hospital July 18, 2008. The twin boys, who have radically differing skin colours, were born on July 11 by Caesarean section to German mixed race couple Stephan and Florence Gerth.

PAPI'S BIRTHDAY!!

Yesterday, 2 Sep 2008, is my Dad's Birthday!!!
I've decided to bake a cake for him. And with the help of my 2 little nieces, Rachel and Regine...
Here's our creation, nice? :P Heehee....

Recipe

Ingredients:
4 Eggs, 5oz castor sugar & 6oz of plain flour

1) First crack your eggs into a large bowl, whisk them for a few seconds just lightly. Add your caster sugar only and whisk until your mixture thickens and turns almost white in colour.

2) Add in the sift flour and mix them well.

3) Pour your sponge cake mixture into a greased and floured round tin. Place in a pre-heated oven at 180C for approx 20-30 minutes (depending on your oven).

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My sisters, brother and I share to buy him a nice shirt and matching tie from Raoul..I find it very nice too! And my mum also cook yummy dinner for him, esp his favourite DIY Yong Dao Foo...!! *slurp!*

Panfu, the virtual world for kids!

Panfu is a friendly, virtual world, in which kids can play online games, have fun & learn spanish easily & make new friends!

Check out this new fun website with your kids together and have fun!

http://www.panfu.com/

Billy's Vanilla Cupcakes!!

My niece's , Rachel, has just finished her exams last week. So I've planned to make some cupcakes together with her and my sis, Angela yesterday. Not too bad for our first attempt!

Here's our masterpiece:

I've search through the sites for a nice receipe. And I found this. It's easy and nice to eat.

Billy's Vanilla, Vanilla Cupcakes
Makes about 30 cupcakes
1 3/4 cups cake flour, not self-rising
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix on low speed until combined. Add butter, mixing until just coated with flour.

2. In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl before each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat.

3. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about two-thirds full. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes.

4. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat process with remaining batter. Once cupcakes have cooled, use a small offset spatula to frost tops of each cupcake. Decorate with sprinkles, if desired. Serve at room temperature.


Billy's Vanilla Buttercream
Colored sprinkles, for decorating (optional)
Makes enough for 30 cupcakes1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
6 to 8 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. With mixer on low speed, add 6 cups sugar, milk, and vanilla; mix until light and fluffy. If necessary, gradually add remaining 2 cups sugar to reach desired consistency.

Chocolate may reduce pregnancy complication risk

A box of chocolates. A daily snack of quality dark chocolate is healthy for pregnant women and protects them from possible high blood pressure problems, a medical study said Monday.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Indulging in chocolate during pregnancy could help ward off a serious complication known as preeclampsia, new research suggests.

Chocolate, especially dark chocolate, is rich in a chemical called theobromine, which stimulates the heart, relaxes smooth muscle and dilates blood vessels, and has been used to treat chest pain, high blood pressure, and hardening of the arteries, Dr. Elizabeth W. Triche of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut and colleagues write.


Preeclampsia, in which blood pressure spikes during pregnancy while excess protein is released into the urine, has many features in common with heart disease, the researchers add.
To investigate whether chocolate's possible cardiovascular benefits also might help prevent preeclampsia, the researchers looked at 2,291 women who delivered a single infant, and asked them about how much chocolate they consumed in their first and third trimesters. The researchers also tested levels of theobromine in infants' umbilical cord blood.


Women who consumed the most chocolate and those whose infants had the highest concentration of theobromine in their cord blood were the least likely to develop preeclampsia. Women in the highest quarter for cord blood theobromine were 69 percent less likely to develop the complication than those in the lowest quarter.


Women who ate five or more servings of chocolate each week in their third trimester of pregnancy were 40 percent less likely to develop preeclampsia than those who ate chocolate less than once a week.


A similar, but weaker, relationship between chocolate consumption and preeclampsia risk was seen in the first trimester, with women eating five or more servings of chocolate each week at 19 percent lower risk than those who ate chocolate less than once a week.


Theobromine could improve circulation within the placenta while blocking oxidative stress, or it could also be a stand-in for other beneficial chemicals found in chocolate, Triche and her team note in the May issue of Epidemiology.


"Our results raise the possibility that chocolate consumption by pregnant women may reduce the occurrence of preeclampsia," they write. "Because of the importance of preeclampsia as a major complication of pregnancy, replication of these results in other large prospective studies with a detailed assessment of chocolate consumption is warranted."