Yakkity yak

my darling is THREE

2009-11-03T11:10:00.003+08:00

my darling turned 3 last week. time really does fly, innit?

this time 10 yrs ago, i have just finished my MSc and started working. life involved trying to b a surgeon n achieving it. hours n hours spent on 1 case fr morn till pm didn't bother me. i was up standing for hours on end..smelling the tumour, assisting it being removed, seeing the blood flow after the vessels were attached. going to work in the dark n going home in the dark. weekends were spent on call n recovering fr the heavy week schedule. well.. did manage to get some partying done as well :)

now, my day starts w getting lil one ready for sch. well..more persuading her to go to sch. followed by running errands n cooking. try to sneak in some exercise, no swimming lately since the weather hasn't been permitting.there is definitely more sunshine here of course compared to europe:)

lil one, Alhamdullillah is growing (or so we like to think). she has been pretty clingy lately. prob still adjusting to her daily routine. we were away for 3 weeks. so to b expected she ain't to keen on being at home not in a hotel where she had mummy's attn 24/7.

there are the good days n there are the bad days. on bad days,i wish i cud b transported away fr her. sometimes just have no idea wat to do esp when she is having a tantrum. holding her n keeping her safe n trying not to lose it is really easier said than done. ppl say she is spolit since she is our only child. Well, i guess so but wat can we do. We have to redha to Allah's decision n i am sure He is looking after our best interest.

enough ranting...update
1. she chooses what to wear. if she doesn't like the item she will simply refuse to wear it. lucky if it is not thrown away
2. swears when she is very angry. mummy's fault entirely. note to self: stop swearing.
3.wt hmmm...last weighed her a week ago. she has gained all the wt she lost during the trip Alhamdullillah
4. ht...still petite
5.her imaginary fren's name is adik
6. no longer scared of lion dance...sigh!
7.drinks formula using a straw bottle..holding it herself yay!
8. allergies: cow's milk protein, tomatoes, blackcurrant,citrus, shell fish
9.loves fish...eating n looking at them. m still trying to get hubb's consent to buying an aquarium. for me it is no biggie since i grew up w animals in the house.
10. there were a few times when i tell her to do something e.g. nap time she will anwer:
a. i am doing work la, can't u c
b. don't be ridiculous mummy
c. i don't want
d. have milk and wake up
11.role playing..she is the mother n consoles her soft toys...sometimes by singing veena comel, veena comel while bouncing her soft toy; ala ala don't cry,have milk; y u cry so much, stop crying ok

many more which i can't remember at the top of my head.

a week in history

2009-07-31T09:51:00.003+08:00

had breakfast w hubbs twice this week..all by ourselves. we haven't had this opportunity since lieverd was born. it was strange albeit hurried since hubbs needed to get to work. of course, had to throw my healthy breakfast out the window as well:) even in the car, it was pretty odd since usually we have our 'entertainer' singing/chatting/shouting.

lieverd had her mid year party on monday. she made her own costume, tulip. wat a coincidence since it is mummy's fav flower. the theme was flowers n insects. the girls were all flowers n the boys were insects. i was happy that she was pretty independent esp during the class photo. as 1st, she wanted me to be w her. i lead her to a chair, sat her down n left her there. she was ok w that so i managed to get some piccies.

today is the 1st time she wanted to wear her sch uniform. well part of it. t shirt only. good step forward.not sure if this will cont so watch this space.

we're off to KL tomorrow. need to get supplies for ramadhan. its been awhile since we went back. 8 months to b precise. well..this year we decided that we were gonna explore borneo more than going back to KL. for the past 2 years we didn't manage to holiday much since money was spent going back to KL. being KL is NOT n NEVER will b a holiday.

had a bad bout of laryngitis. finished my course of antibiotics today. last nite was the 1st nite in the past week dat i have managed to sleep thro. Alhamdullillah

tad worried about the h1n1 situation. am praying to Allah dat we will b safe.Amin.

one of those days...

2009-06-24T09:23:00.002+08:00

didn't manage to sleep well last nite since lil one was pretty restless. cud smell the haze even though our room is air conditioned n the air purifier was switched on. poor gal kept waking up to cough. sent her to sch anyways n bumped into the owner. she mentioned that lil one has been missing sch quite a bit. yeah..well..can't b helped. april/may was such a blur. we got hit by 2 rounds of bad cold/flu. didn't send her to sch on mon since she was sniffling the whole nite. think she is allergic to the mosquito patch i placed on her earlier that day. one good thing that has come out of this is that she much prefers warm water now..phew! its been ages since we have tried to get her to stop drinking cordial. we were quite sly since her cordial was usually very watery:)

can't believe she is already 32 months now. very chatty. sometimes can't get a word in edgewise.very argumentative. she fell asleep on daddy's shoulder yesterday while i was doing my weekly case review session. came home n tried to take over fr daddy since he needed to go back to work. she just screamed her head off n totally refused.she spent the next 45 mins ordering me to go fr room to lounge while screaming n shouting off n on. didn't help dat i was soo tired n wanted a short nap. 1st day of my period n it really felt like the 1st day of my miscarriage minus the contractions.in the end, i gave up n stayed put in the room. she slept for 2 mins on me n rolled off. 5 mins later..she woke up. fed her some milk w she guzzled down in no time, all that wailing must have made her hungry n thirsty. let her play outside earlier. we ran out of bubble solution so can't play w her bubble gun. wasn't keen on letting her play w our neighbour since she is coughing so wanted her to have an earlier bath.
daddy had to go out for dinner. she had her dinner n then wanted some milk. gave her milk 45 mins after her request. she guzzled it down n guess wat? she vomitted it out. m so tired of this. she looked so tired since she only had a proper 45 mins nap in the afternoon. so, we went to bed at 9pm. amazingly, she dozed off almost immediately.
right now, i cud do w a nap but can't. waiting for washing machine to finish its cycle. then need to start cooking. b4 i know it, its time to pick her up fr sch. picking her up a lil earlier since she woke up at 7am today.
i really salute single mothers..gosh! wonder how they do it....i doubt very much i can!

haze...smoke..open burning

2009-06-14T08:21:00.004+08:00

we have been waking up to a smoky house since may. Alhamdullillah we went for a holiday during the gawai-agong's b'day week..treated to nice fresh air for 5 days. on our way to the airport, our cab driver informed us that the plantations have been doing land clearing /open burning every nite. no wonder we tend to start coughing in the early hours of the morn esp lil one. even with our room air conditioned n the air purifier switched on, it still did not manage to filter out the smoke.

we had a fantastic time in KK. didn't manage to have some seafood as there was no point since it was just the 2 of us well 3 plus lil one. also the fact that we can't enjoy the seafood since we wud b bz chasing her. since the lil one arrived, our holidays are geared towards her. went to the aquarium n marine museum in UMS on the 1st day. was pretty impressed. altho the aquarium is small but they had posters about the research UMS is carrying out. highlight of the day was the dolphin statue :) lil one was happy to see the huge hybrid garoupas, seahorses, clown fish,star fish n a few others which i can't remember. UMS has a nice campus....

after the aquarium, we headed out to 1borneo for lunch. lil one must have been so tired that she slept as soon as we reached w/out her lunch. well, she had a good breakfast. it was the 1st time in yonks hubbs n i had a quiet lunch just the 2 of us. did some shopping n went back to the hotel after. on the way back to the hotel, i remember that i wanted to visit the rainforest area..well, too late. hopefully we can go back there esp after the seaworld is up n running.

2nd day, didnt do much. went to the pool n stayed at the hotel mostly. lil one had nearly 3 hours nap which we didn't want to disturb. later, we ventured out to the waterfront. had a fresh coconut drink n bought some snacks.

off to Lok Kawi wildlife park the next day. lil one mentioned that she wanted to see elephant, zebra, cow,tiger n bear. she was lucky they had it all. there were also orang utans,deers, otters, parrots, hornbills, monkeys and many others. we managed to catch the show w she enjoyed esp when they brought out the bald eagle.we skipped the reptile house n aviary since it was very hot.

all in all, a very good trip Alhamdullillah. hopefully can persuade hubbs to go for a weekend once the seaworld is up n running :) mount kinabalu, karambunai will have to wait till lil one is much older. doubt she can appreciate it now. hopefully by then we can all go snorkelling, wud love to sneak in a dive or 2 as well :)

Alhamdullillah, my bb is 2.5 years old...

2009-04-20T10:21:00.002+08:00

My bb is 2.5 years old..wow! can't believe we are at this stage. i remember just a few years back, i had given up all hope of having a child.Syukur Alhamdullillah she is now a kicking n screaming 2.5 year old toddler.

Lieverd is definitely being true to her 'country'. The 1st colour she can recognise is orange. at one point of time, hubbs was worried that she is colour blind hahaha insya Allah she is not.recognising colours has been a big mystery to her. she recognised shapes before she turned two..but took her another 6 months b4 colours. there were a few times when she did get them right before but both hubbs n i think she was just guessing. but this time round, we are pretty confident she knows them. slowly but surely eh..

her vocabulary is increasing by leaps n bounds. short conversation in the car while sending her to sch today..sch is only 2 streets away..
me: where are we going, fah?
n : school
me: do u like going to sch..
n : silence..
me: of course
n : of course
me: u can play w your frens..
n : of course

speaking of frens..one day after sch
n: joey cry
me: who is joey? is he your fren in sch?
n: yes
me: joey..boy or girl?
n : boy
me: fah, boy or girl?
n: girl
got a shock she can differentiate btw boys n girls.

later i found out that joey n eden are the twin boys. lil one keeps mentioning their name everyday after sch. hubbs n i are teasing her n telling ourselves..got boyfren already hahahaha. thing is our fren's son is at the same sch but she hardly mentiones him. then again..maybe becoz these boys are twins. they are identical..i have no idea how the teacher tells them apart..

today..she surprised me by pointing out alphabets. so far, she can recognise a,l,s. haven't tried all the other alphabets as yet. she knows her nos as well..1 to 5.

as i said b4 m using this blog as a log book.

whatever it is I am ever so grateful to Allah for this chance to bring my lil one up. all the sweat n tears are rewarded by that smile...Alhamdullillah

what a week

2009-04-09T14:37:00.002+08:00

this is the 2nd day in the past 2 weeks that lil one hasn't napped on me//literally sleeping on my chest. her head on my shoulder n sometimes feels like she is strangling me since her arm is wrapped around my other shoulder. lil one has been ill..caught a flu bug. took 2 days for the fever to settle. Alhamdullillah this time round, she keeps asking for her meds. "Fah got leaky nose, mamam ubat pls" even when its not time yet. guess she thinks if i eat more, my leaky nose will stop n i can go play w my dolphin swing. after her fever subsided, i thot she was well enuff for sch n playground pm. sent her on tues n the next day, she was worse...i.e. pretty lethargic. today, i guess she felt well enuff so she herself wanted to have a bath after her milk. but told her no sch since i want her to rest some more. as if she did rest ...

well..she is now in her 2nd hour of her nap. i am pretty rundown already. had a cold thro out the week but decided not to do anything about it till last nite. took lemsip last nite, felt better in the morn but now m tired. cudn't nap since my nose is pretty bunged up n i have a cough. Alhamdullillah it is a public holiday tomorrow so hubbs is not working. we were suppose to go to brunei on sat but guess need to shelve that idea since lil one n me are still not 100% well.

our KL trip is cancelled much to the relief of yours truly. wasn't really looking forward to that trip. the only reason i was gonna tag along was becoz hubbs needed to b there for a week. lil one + no daddy for a week i.e. 5 days n 4 nites = disaster for mummy. as u can clearly see i have no desire to be in KL untill raya. if it was up to me...don't even feel like going back for raya as well but can't do that.i guess i am just tired of going back to KL so often for the past 2 yrs. being in KL just stresses me out soooo much. am so tired of ppl critisizing on how i bring my lil one up, i am not feeding her enuff etc. oh well..c'est la vie. plus all the snide comments on my wt. hallo..i was anorexic when i got married. there is no way i will go back to that wt..hubbs commented he was afraid my bones wud break n he didn't like hugging a bony me.

i even dread ringing my own parents..since they will keep asking is she eating, is she growing..hallo! wat kind of mother do u think i am. do u actually think i will deliberately not feed my child to stop her fr growing..jeez!i understand their oncern but gimme some credit la. i do have a couple of undergraduate degrees w my name written on them.

some ppl forget. just becoz i am not working, doesn't mean that my brain has totally gone to pot..gimme some credit la.oh well...c'est la vie.

29 months old

2009-03-19T10:03:00.004+08:00

omigosh....lieverd is 29 months old now..time really flies!

milestones:
1. toilet trained altho she still mixes poo w wee..it all means the same, she needs the toilet hahaha
2. sleeping in her own bed. we bot one n attached it to ours. now i hope to b able to sleep well since i don't have to wake up in d middle of nite to check which position she is in, if hubbs is about to knee her face, where is she facing, is the duvet anywhere new her face etc
3. goes to nursery n eats the food served :) altho mummy still packs cereal n raisins just in case
4. loves to sing..no longer abbreviated version of twinkle twinkle lil star, lil einstein theme song, mickey mouse clubhouse theme,happy to u
5. can throw overarm
6. vocabulary increasing by leaps n bounds
7. able to construct 6 word sentences
8. very cheeky...
9. climbs in n out of the car and onto n from her car seat all by herself - supervised of course
10. throws her rubbish in the bin by stepping on the pedal...need to watch sometimes she even throws the plate, cutlery or cup as well :)
11. puts her dirty dishes n utensils in the sink
12. picks out her own clothes- frustrating for mummy at times esp in the morns
13. puts up a fuss when we want to put a diaper on her for the nite
14. loves dancing esp to star world theme
15. not aggresive when other kids push her away...she just persists n not run away - i.e. stand her ground w/out violence Alhamdulllillah
16. drinks milk now only 3 times/day - well, she eats more but prob not as many calories as her formula provides
17. sleeps 9 hours at nite, usu has 1.5 - 2 hours nap during the day
18. able to dress herself.
19. can count up to 15

these are the few things i remember on top of my head. I will try to note more down. Using this blog as a log book as well :) Easier to read than my handwriting lol

Weekend in Cat city

2009-03-10T13:57:00.004+08:00

It was a long weekend here. cont w our cuti2 borneo theme, we went to kuching. left late pm on fri as opposed to early pm thx to MAS - i refuse to comment further on that carrier! got in to kuching late so decded to just have room service n sleep. lil one has just started a new sleep routine which we didn't want to upset.

as expected, lil one woke up at 7:30am the next day. after brekkie, we decided to visit the cat museum. There was no electricity but Alhamdullillah the museum was not in total darkness. lil one we felt didn't enjoy it as much as it was pretty dimly lit. surpisingly for a govt building, there was no back up generator. had lunch after that n went back to the hotel for lil one to catch some zzz. after nap, swimming. hubbs was being adventurous so he decided we shud try the food court that his frens went to during our last trip. discovered that the food court was mainly seafood based n there was too much area for lil one to run around. in other words, we won't b able to have any dinner since we wud b chasing her left right n center plus seafood for the just the 2 of us, hmmmmm. so abandoned that idea n went back to the hotel. as it was late, we opted for the buffet. not bad a spread.we all crashed at 9:30 pm that nite :)

woke up next morning..it was my b'day. don't feel like celebrating this yr. anyways, took lil one to the aquarium after brekkie. she really enjoyed herself. Alhamdullillah it was free since she went to it twice. after the 1st round, we thot we wud chill out n wait for a cab but lil one decided to go back once she had her fill of snacks n water. had to literally drag her out n catch a cab back to the hotel since her lunch n nap time were looming near.hubbs treated us to a nice dinner that nite n Alhamdullillah lil one behaved herself. she sat in the hi chair n was happily colouring n drawing. ate bread then her pizza n she actually refused to allow the waitress to clear her unfinished pizza as well :)

all in all, it was a perfect weekend altho it started off a lil shaky thanks to good ol' MAS. Alhamdullillah

1st day in nursery

2009-03-02T14:07:00.002+08:00

Lieverd surprisingly woke up early today, well 8:15 the time her nursery starts :). rang n informed the teachers n they said just send her as soon as she is ready. managed to persuade her to leave the bed n gave her milk. decided to give her a quick shower as soon as daddy was done w the bathroom.all in all, she was an hour late:)

at first, she didn't want to go into the sch. Alhamdullillah, I found a dolphin puzzle so she sat herself down n played w that. didn't even realise that we had left her there. her teacher said if she rings then pick her up at 10:30am. waited n waited n no call. then her teacher txted at 11ish n said that she was ready to b picked up.apparently, she cried for a bit since another new boy was crying but stopped soon after when she was brought out to play. as expected, she refused her food but Alhamdullillah drank water - she was full fr her milk :)

brought her home, fed her lunch. played for a bit on the patio. gave her milk n now she is sound asleep. i think she is ok..but we will see in the next few days. I really hope she will like the sch. good for her to develop social skills, the main reason y we decided to send her.

i thought i wud really miss her but i think the time is right plus i must not b selfish. lieverd needs to grow n be independent. one of my duties as a parent is to allow that to happen.

gosh! how time flies..soon i'll have to register her for proper sch...interesting since we don't where we will b when she starts std 1:)

unfortunately, didn't take a piccie of her just now. hubbs did w his mobile.

Bz weekends

2009-03-01T17:01:00.002+08:00

Every weekend since CNY, we have had plans. Well..not the usual family stuff. The 1st 2 weekends were CNY open houses. We took opportunity in the only free weekend in feb to go stuff our faces w sushi. Last week, had hubbs family day f/b wedding in the eve. This weekend, pot luck lunch - NL frens.

The lunch was nice, decided to make some banana cupcakes n fried mee hoon. The best part about the lunch was definitely the company. It was really fab to meet frens fr the NL days. Funny dat in NL, we used to have gatherings like these very often..here we don't as we are caught up in the rat race.

Lil one is already toilet trained. It really is true that it is much easier when they are ready. Alhamdullillah, we have reached another milestone in this lil gal's life.

Tomorrow..will b pretty exciting. We are gonna try n send her to nursery. Didn't manage to change her sleep cycle since i was potty training her. but will attempt to do so in the next few days, hopefully the nursery will b ok w that.

Potty training

2009-02-19T15:31:00.002+08:00

It all started on a tues morn...lil one has been taking off her diapers for quite some time now. but on tues, she totally refused to wear them after her bath. instead she put her panties on. told her to tell me when she wants to wee wee potty. tues was a successful day. no accidents for me to mop up n she did actually use the loo even though there were a few unsuccessful wee wee potty episodes.

yesterday was fine till later that nite. i was so tired that i passed out on the sofa. hubbs was surfing as per usual. next thing i knew, hubbs had her milk in his hands n had stepped in a puddle of wee:) he was not impressed. told him not to be angry but tell her that she must tell us when she wants to go. she prob did tell me but as i mentioned i had passed out.

today..she did a small wee on the potty then lost track while playing n wet herself. told her again that she must tell mummy b4 she does it. so after i mopped up, she said she wanted to wee wee potty. brought her there n she actually peed some more. she is now napping of course in diapers :)

frens say it shud take a week. we'll see. hubbs is pretty excited since that will decrease the RM spent on diapers. its getting more n more expensive. lil one also is pretty sensitive so we need to change her diapers more often. if not, she will have nappy rash.

insya Allah, she will be starting playsch in march. called up the owner yesterday n they have a place 4 her. told me she can start immediately but i said we will wait till march since i have just started potty training her.really hope she likes it.more so since i can have some time to myself n not get cranky w her. taking care of her 24/7 w/out breaks is taking its toll now.more importantly, she will get to make n play w frens. she has been pretty good about sharing so far but i can see that she is getting more n more possesive over things. she threw a wobbly at the playground the other day since there was someone else on the dolphin swing. infact, whenever another kid touches it while she is on a different swing, she will say ' no! don't touch'.she has been trying to strike up conversations w other kids as well. we feel that sending her to nursery will do a world of good, insya Allah. we really hope she will like it.

as for me, i am feeling pretty lethargic. main reason i think is becoz i am sooo not fit. other reasons, it has been pretty hot lately. can't even remember when it rained last. clothes take only a couple of hours to dry. Alhamdullillah it has been breezy so I have been able to stop myself fr using the air condition. but last nite was pretty stuffy..so switched on the air con in the living room n water came out of it hahaha. tells us dat we have been ignoring it for awhile now, merajuk la tu kut :)

put to shame

2009-02-09T15:15:00.003+08:00

my darling lil one not only has a 6 pack but can now do chin ups. she decided that if she wants to see whats on the counter,instead of looking for something to stand on, she does chin ups. we have seen her do 5 at one go. for a pint size gal, she is pretty strong. even her parents can't do chin ups. hubbs was so shocked to see her do them. i forgot to tell him when she 1st did it some time last week. in a way, i am glad that she is not trying to climb the kitchen stool as that stool is definitely not stable. maybe shud think of getting a proper stool but then that it will only encourage her to mess up the counters. sorry, honey! more chin ups for you..at least she can't reach n mess things up since she needs her hands to do the chin ups. hehehe..

Alhamdullillah, sunny days are back here again. looks like more trips to the playground for lil one. she has claimed one of the slides at the club as hers. keeps saying 'its a mine' to any kid that tries to use them. but she will let them use it, Alhamdullillah. she's in that phase where everything is hers. but i am glad so far, she doesn't push, shove or beat if anyone plays w her toys etc. so far, she will let them play w it but will watch closely. i really hope n pray that she is not physical w other kids. i don't condone pushing, shoving or any type of violence. to me, that is bad behaviour. well..easy for me to say now but i really hope she doesn't pick up these bad intolerable behaviour.

Happy Birthday to FIL n SIL

2009-02-05T15:20:00.002+08:00

Many happy returns of the day Papa n Eza! Will call soon when abg gets home fr work. hubbs had a lunch meeting.This week is a hectic one for hubbs. He has been going to work really early n back pretty late...sigh! oh well...at least he is back by dinner. lil one missed him yesterday. picked up the phone n started a pretend conversation w hubbs.i cud hear her say..'daddy and so on n so forth.she did that twice. i guess she is just so used to hubbs being home for lunch.

She was sooo cheeky last nite. i was so tired so i decided to go to bed early but of course she followed n didn't let me sleep. she let out a couple of really stinky farts. after one of them, she actually screwed up her face after getting a whiff of it n said smelly. before the next one, she pulled my hand n put it at her bum. next thing i knew, she farted another stinker. told her she really needs to poop but of course that fell on deaf ears. she complained ' hot (hard) poopie' last week so i told her it is becoz she has not been drinking enuff water. for the next few days, she was drinking like a trooper n started having softer poops.

i tell u since being back in m'sia i have been making 'friends' w all types of insects. we have had an invasion of one insect species/pests after the other. 1st, the centipede f/b cockroaches (only 4, Alhamdullillah) f/b cicaks f/b spiders f/b beatles f/b wasps. ants n spiders are forever around. the current residences are cicaks (not as many as b4), ants, spiders n wasps. actually looked up the net to find out what kind of wasps we have...they are spider wasps. no wonder i haven't seen the giant spider in my bathroom for a while now.Alhamdullillah. n to think that i was insect free for at least 10 years of my life...sigh! even lil one gets excited now.she was trying to tell daddy when he got home yesterday about wasps. she can actually say wasp as well.

lieverd wanted to have kuey teow at pbc yesterday but told her we cudn't go since it was raining.as if we didn't know what she really wanted...the dolphin swing. i doubt very much it was the kuey teow as the main reason. she overheard daddy saying that he has a workshop at pbc n immediately told us, swing dolphin at boat club. when she speaks slowly, u can understand her words but when she goes off tangent n starts babbling away. well..that's our lil missie.

gong xi fa cai weekend

2009-01-27T09:10:00.002+08:00

we were off to bintulu for the weekend. woke up on sat,the sun was shining so decided that we shud just go for it n hope for the best. Alhamdullillah it did rain a few times during our drive but when we got to bintulu it was nice n bright!

checked in n had lunch straightaway..was too famished to go anywhere else. later that afternoon, we went for a quick dip in the pool. even though the sun was shining, it was pretty windy. lil one was cold but actually refused 2 get out of the pool. i forgot to bring my goggles so cud only bear to do 2 laps, the chlorine was pretty strong.checked out the mall since we forgot to bring her vcds. managed to get some ciplak ones. dinner was at the hotel that nite as it was raining. bumped into an old school mate. she was in bintulu since the local o&g specialist is on leave.

while waiting for our frens to arrive fr miri, we went swimming right after breakfast. well, hubbs n lil one did. i was nursing a tummy ache. chilled out in the room b4 heading out. lil one fell asleep as soon as she got into the car so we ended up driving around town. as soon as she woke up, we went staight to taman tumbina which was a zoo built on a hill. good workout for us as the exhibits were placed strategically on top of different hills which we had to climb. lil one enjoyed herself. started w the birds; hornbills, parrots, peacock, rooster then off to the reptile area; a few crocs, tortoises and a sleeping phyton. next stop, bear enclosure. poor lil bb bear on its own in a huge enclosure. looked very lonely n looking for someone to play with. deers were next on the cicuit on the way to the lion house. we were mislead...there was a lion statue but no lions, only one lonely tiger. it started to drizzle while we were at the tiger enclosure so we had to rush n get out of there. as we got to our car, our frens just arrived. so we decided to meet up for dinner.

had dinner in a nice lil place. food was brill but we were wet since it poured while we were having dinner, kampung style in a lil hut. one of our frens was soaking wet as he was directly in the line of fire or in this case windswept rain.

next day, there was a lion dance performance at 1pm so we decided to check out late. watched a few mins of the show since lil one didn't like the loud beating of the drums. clung on to me for dear life n asked me over n over again to go up to the room. as we checked out, the dance was not over yet so she had to endure a few more mins of it. well, this time round, the show was on the porch so she was safe in d lobby.drove back to miri after dat.

all in all, it was a nice lil break. to sum it up, bintulu is a nice lil town. worth a visit over the weekend. as for me, i am glad we are back to travelling mode. this year, we are trying not to go back to kl as often as previous years.

the feng shui masters predict that this yr will a difficult one esp w the current economic situation. as for me, i am looking forward to another year of my lil girl's life n ours as a family.

27 months old

2009-01-18T15:02:00.003+08:00

my darling will b 27 months old tomorrow. i keep forgetting to update re: her progress. using this blog to chart her progress. being the ever forgetful me..even her babybook is not up to date. slack mummy!

To date:

1. she is taller since i don't have to fold her jeans

2. wt...still trying to gain the wt she lost when she was in KL. funny that, every1 keeps saying she eats more when she is w ppl but she loses wt in kl - 0.5kg min

3.jumps at every opportunity possible

4. runs around the house

5. keeps patting her lap like in little einstein while singing pat pat pat last off (blast off)

6. calls herself fah

7. sings her version of twinkle twinkle lil star..abbreviated twink twink lil star, up apaky (up in the sky), diamond apaky, twink star; happy (birthday) to u; hot dog hot dog, mickey clubhouse, see ya soon, bye bye mickey

8. can count till 12 but now gets confused..1,2,3, x,y,z fah

9. will say she is 2 if u ask her how old she is

10. can say bismillahirahmannirrahim

11. sometimes will say askum = assalamualaikum when she enters the housr

12. drinks 640 mls of formula/day..can't trust her to eat so i make sure she drinks her formula

13. eats more since i stopped breastfeeding

14. naps usu 1.5- 2 hours/day weekdays..weekends, hmm...daddy's home so sometimes no nap

15. comfort me by saying its sokay mummy, its sokay mummy

16. will say go back hotel, go back room, go back kitchen if she is angry

17. her lower 2nd molars have fully erupted

18. loves mickey (happy) mouse n minnie mouse

19. wakes up every morn asking for daddy

20. wakes up fr a nap asking for mummy

21. loves dolphins, cats...animals in general

22. puts her clothes on herself w minimal help

23. not potty trained yet..mummy lazy

24. fav sentences: what happened clubhouse; coz pete said wrong manic(magic) words;who's that daddy daddy daddy; mandi tub w frens; balloon up a ky, balloon pop up a ky, areef scared dolphin

25. prays...her version of it

i'm sure there is more. this is what i can remember on top of my head.

A brand new year 1430/2009

2009-01-06T16:55:00.002+08:00

Wow! A year has just gone n we are now 6 days into the new one. I really wonder what this year has in store for us. looking forward to new experiences.

Alhamdullillah for d year that has passed. I am so thankful to Allah for many things.I was so in tune w Maal Hijrah falling on the 29th of Dec that i totally forgot that one has to recite the doas on the 28th. Was about to do it after asar prayers on the 29th then realised my stupid mistake. definitely very the blur:)

had a very nice family holiday in penang. managed to go swimming a few times. indulged in seafood. got hooked on nescafe w creamer during this trip as well. now i need a lazy chilled out holiday...:)

m back to reality now. maidless since the maid we had doesn't want to leave miri. we are due to move next year or so. well..now that i am no longer pregnant, i don't care if we were to move tomorrow.

nazeefah is on a waitlist for a playsch near our hse. cudn't b asked to check on others hehehe. well..i guess i shud but w the rainy weather now, very the malas. taking this opportunity to start fasting as well. Alhamdullillah have managed to do 2 days. trying to do as much as soon as possible. wanna start this ramadhan on a clean slate, insya Allah.

happy new year everyone!

Anniversary and the end of post miscarriage confinement

2008-12-18T15:28:00.003+08:00

In 2 days time insya Allah, we will be celebrating my 6th wedding anniversary n end of confinement. Can't believe its our 6th. We have gone thro a lot n I bet there is more to come. This anniversary also marks the end of my confinement period. It wud have been happier if our twins are with us but it is not to be.Our twins are in heaven n one day insya Allah we will get to meet them.

I have no idea what to give hubbs.Last year was easy, it was wood so I gave him a golf club. this year traditionally its iron. I don't think he needs more since he just bought them last year. hmm...since we are in KL, I won't be cooking a special dinner for him. Will do that once we are back home in miri.

To my darling hubby, thank you so much for the wonderful years n our kids. insya Allah, we will be blessed w more children n our marriage lasts thro time.

separation anxiety

2008-12-15T16:53:00.002+08:00

hubbs asked if i wanted to watch mamma mia. we felt that maybe we cud try n leave nazeefah w her toks then hubbs reconsidered. he said that i wud probably be balling my eyes out wanting her w us :) so far, i have only been apart from her during 2 occasions. one, when she was in scbu n the other was after my miscarriage. must say, i hated both times. now that we have a maid, i am so trying to tear myself away fr her but its not successful. i do allow the maid to play w her alone but ever so often i will make sure i check on them, like every 10 seconds:). letting her play w the maid is made a lil easier since i am still in confinement so can't really go out.

we are thinking of sending her to playsch. i must learn to let go.my lil bb needs to grow up n be independent. she needs to play w frens her own age.i have to stop molly coddling her. easier said than done, most definitely.

looks like i am having a bad case of separation anxiety.

baking baking baking

2008-12-10T15:05:00.002+08:00

today is the 2nd day of baking . tried out what was supposed to be oatmeal raisins muffins yesterday. supposed to be since while i was putting the ingerdients together, realised that the oats i had are no longer edible. quickly substituted w more flour. after having bung the muffins into the oven, i realised that my sis had left some oats fr her last trip. well..n managed to have one whole piece right after her nap. after that piece, she kept biting the tops of a few others, refusing to eat the whole muffin. hubbs felt it was ok but needed more sugar.

am trying out another recipe today. eggless n dairy free cupcakes. tried it once b4 n was not happy w the result. put it down to i was still fiddling around w my oven then. this time round,using the fan oven instead. hopefully it will work out.

hmm..m suppose to lose wt but all these baking is doing us no good. well..n is eating. i guess i just need to restrain myself fr eating them.hahaha..as if that is going to happen. looking forward to the end of confinement so i can go swimming.

our maid has arrived. we arranged for one b4 the miscarriage happened. hubbs put his foot down n said whatever it is we are going to have one. its been ok so far.didn't think i wud b ok w having someone else in the house. i love the help actually. now, i have time to do other things n lil one has someone to play with esp since if i leave the house i have to wear long sleeves n socks. aiyo! too hot la here for that.went to pbc on sat n nearly fainted fr the heat esp since i was all decked out in confinement wear. another 10 days to ho...yay!

Life...gift fr Allah the Almighty

2008-12-03T16:16:00.005+08:00

Life Is a
Gift

Today
before you say an unkind word - Think of someone who can't
speak.

Before
you complain about the taste of your food - Think of someone
who has nothing to eat.

Before
you complain about your husband or wife - Think of someone
who's crying out to GOD for a companion.

Today
before you complain about life - Think of someone who died
too early on this earth..

Before
you complain about your children - Think of someone who
desires children but they're barren.

Before
you argue about your dirty house someone didn't clean or
sweep - Think of the people who are living in the streets.

Before
whining about the distance you drive Think of someone who
walks the same distance with their feet.

And when
you are tired and complain about your job - Think of the
unemployed, the disabled, and those who wish they had your
job.

But
before you think of pointing the finger or condemning
another - Remember that not one of us is without sin.

And when
depressing thoughts seem to get you down - Put a smile on
your face and think: you're alive and still
around.

got this fr a good fren today. its nice when u get emails like these. for me, it reminds me that life is short n u shud always think of others b4 yourself.

lots of things have happened in the last few months. in a way, i am glad its nearly the end of the yr. can't wait for the brand new yr. i wonder what is in store....well that is for me 2 plan but it is Allah who will decide.

have at least 1 new yr resolution. need to get fit. have been so lethargic. insya Allah, if all goes to plan i will b able to have some time to myself next yr.

in kl, the story so far

2008-11-27T16:55:00.003+08:00

got into kl late tues pm. went straight to the hotel and had room service for dinner. was just too tired to go out, am not allowed to go out after maghrib n it was raining.

yesterday decided to pay my 'sch' a visit. yes! my sch has become a mall. needed a few things fr the supermarket..lil one's formula. went up to the kids' floor...no sale yet!bought a b'day prezzie for our niece then went to get my swatch batt changed. been meaning to get the batt changed for a yr now. my swatch has been up n down kl-miri so many times n has never left my handbag :) next on my list is to change the batt on my other watch n get my bracelet fixed. which reminds me...i dunno wat to get for hubbs for our anniversary which is in less than a months time.

had chic rice for lunch. also really yumm hot soyabean drink n tau foo fah. bought dounts as well fr j co. surprisingly i must say there was NO q at j co. in fact the food court was not as bz. i remember trying to secure a table at 2pm on a weekday b4..took us 2 rounds b4 we got one.

my darling daughter had a good nap so i gave her a donut n to my surprise she actually finished the whole donut. 1/2 b4 her bath n the other 1/2 after . she's having a nap now..her tok put her to sleep. Alhamdullillah.

the morn b4 we flew...i told her we were going to take an airplane in the pm. she happily answered..'sit plane have breast!' to which i replied...sorry hun! no more..milk dried up. actually i do have some now post miscarriage but i really don't want to go down the same route in weaning her off. she tried a few times in the plane n we had to be firm. in the end, she sat in her seat n nearly finished her bottle of water. feel asleep for about 45 mins. woke up n had her meal. the kids meal is the same as the adults. poor gal has some spots on her face now as the nasi goreng had egg in it. well, the other option was pasta which was spicy.

got a brochure fr robinsons. hmm....70% sale on petit bateau. well..m so tempted to go this weekend. will ask hubbs later tonite. if i wasn't in confinement, u can bet i will b in robinson's tmrw :)

change of bb ticker

2008-11-23T17:18:00.001+08:00

hmm...yes! i have changed the bb ticker. looking forward to lieverd's 3rd birthday...insya Allah

what will they ban next..

2008-11-23T10:20:00.003+08:00

yesterday, the national fatwa council banned yoga. i have done yoga n i certainly don't remember any form of chanting or meditation. it was purely stretching exercise that left u feeling very relaxed afterwards since ppl like me tend to get stressed out fast n get all their muscles in knots! Alhamdullillah, my faith in Allah is still intact even tho i practiced yoga.hubbs went to a few yoga sess with me and even he can't remember any chanting/meditation. in fact, he has coined the term goyang for yoga which is purely exercise :))

another practice that has its roots in hinduism is merenjis n drawing of henna on the bride's hands n feet. hmmm...will they ever ban that? i doubt it very much.

a few months ago, they banned girls fr dressing up like boys...tomboys. i used to have my hair really short, hardly wore dresses or skirts, climbed trees n didn't play w dolls...but Alhamdullillah i am now a wife w one daughter. yes! i was very much a tomboy but i didn't have any probs w my sexual orientation. what i don't understand is why is there no fatwa about men crossdressing. all those mak nyahs w implants etc. shudn't they be banned as well?

my opinion is faith in Allah is ingrained in u by your parents. how u were brought up n what u were exposed to plays a huge role in developing one as a person. Everyday, one prays to Allah so that one's faith is intact. To me, all these are tests from Allah.

insya Allah w Allah's guidance, we will b able to nurture n bring up our daughter so that her faith in Allah is intact n not easily shaken. this will remain as one of our biggest tests fr Allah.

kakak fah

2008-11-22T11:56:00.004+08:00

its the 2nd saturday since the episode. weekends are usually filled w doing errands cum family outing. i do miss going out w the 2 most dearest ppl in my life. if it was sunny like yesterday, i wud have gone out at least to pbc to see the sea. looking at the sea n feeling the breeze really calms me down.

lil gal calls herself fah. but yesterday while she was playing she called herself kakak fah. both hubbs n i were stunned. thot i misheard her but even hubbs heard it. well...insya Allah she will b kakak fah one day.

as for me, i am getting stronger by the day Alhamdullillah.can't wait for this confinement to be over so i can binge on food. for the past 2 years, i have been on a no dairy n no seafood diet. now that i have stopped breastfeeding....hehehe. but must watch it since i don't want to end up a bigger tong. yes! i know i am fat, don't need reminding by certain parties. well, hubbs doesn't mind my present size since he says that it shows he has been feeding me n that i am happy. but i really need to exercise. feel so lethargic. now that lil one doesn't rely on me for milk, i can start going swimming in the morn during the weekends that is if hubbs is not playing golf.

hubbs is currently planning our family holiday. can't wait to go. its been ages since we had a proper holiday.

my frens in NL says that it is gonna snow soon. how i miss living in europe. i haven't lived in kl for 10 yrs now n am not looking forward to living there again.

when batt runs out

2008-11-19T18:20:00.008+08:00

lil one loves to fight her sleep.for the past week, her nyai was around.her daily activity was bullying nyai. not allowing nyai to sleep..in fact, the minute nyai lies down; she will order nyai to get up. even to the point of not letting the nyai take off her specs. poor nyai!there was once nyai went to bed at 8pm after isya' prayers!!!

but when her batt runs out, she can literally fall asleep anywhere. i actually saw my fren's son doing this and was wondering when she will do the same. her son once slept in the corridor. my darling fell asleep while she was exercising on the sofa's arm n while she was in her see saw. attempts to move her resulted in her waking up.

toddlerhood is fascinating but frustrating for all parties.she has soooooo much energy! sometimes i wonder where she gets it from considering her food intake it not that gr8. then again, sometimes she just gobbles down anything n everything esp when daddy is around. when daddy goes off for biz trips...her appetite wanes.

ik erg boos

2008-11-17T13:52:00.003+08:00

i really don't know how i am gonna go thro the rest of this confinement period. w a baby, time is used up quickly. w a toddler...its bz n tiring but the fact that one can't leave the house is getting to me.

poor lil gal..this week, she has her granny around. but when she plays outside, she wants me there. she asked me to wear my slippers.she actually took my shoes n put them near my feet to get me to wear them. bless her!

i really cannot understand the rationale behind being confined after a miscarriage. its punishment enuff to have lost your kids but being confined to 4 walls of the house w the memories..i think its plain cruelty. well...another test by Allah. just need to b patient..praying hard to Allah to help me thro this. have another month to go. well...actually will b going to kl next week. we bot the tix a few wks ago n they are non refundable. so rather than see the tix go to waste, will b making the trip. not sure if i am up to seeing ppl actually. the way i see it, no one can understand the pain of a miscarrage unless u go thro it.

even tho i accept that what happened is Allah's will n He is looking out for me but i am still getting head around the factors that brought this on. things that cud have been avoided.

whatever it is, I am thankful to Allah for Nazeefah, showing me that i can get pregnant without assistance n the fact that i cud have had twins.

a fren in need is a fren indeed

2008-11-15T16:47:00.002+08:00

the same fren who gave me the quote sent me this hadith.

Sahih Muslim Hadith 6370 Narrated by AbuHurayrah

AbuHassan said to AbuHurayrah: My two children had died. Would you narrate to me
anything from Allah's Apostle (peace be upon him) a hadith which would soothe our
hearts ... Read Morein our bereavements? He said: Yes.

Small children are the fowls of Paradise. If one of them meets his father (or he said his parents), he would take hold of his cloth(or his hand), and he (the child) would not take off (his hand) from it until Allah causes his father to enter Paradise.

Sahl ibn al-Hanzala, who had no children, said, "I would prefer to have a miscarried child while I am a Muslim and resign that child to Allah than to have the entire world and what it contains."

this fren has been thro thick n thin w me. i knew i can count on him. he will remain a very dear fren to both hubbs n i. even tho he is far n we are rarely in contact, its nice to know that i can still depend on him.

i am healing insya Allah. slowly but surely. its lil things like these that really makes one day.

quote

2008-11-14T14:12:00.002+08:00

A fren of mine sent me this quote n i simply love it. it certainly made my day.

Though Destiny waylays you a hundred times,
In the end it pitches a tent for you in heaven.

It is God's loving-kindness to terrify you
In order to lead you to the kingdom of safety.

later, i received a brightly coloured package fr my sis in kl. i have forgotten that its the lil things in life that can really make one happy.

i have learnt a few lessons fr this episode in my life which insya Allah i will never take for granted. every day is a struggle but it is made a lot easier by waking up seeing my hubbs n daughter sleeping every so peacefully as dawn breaks in w the birds chirping n the rooster cock a doo dooling away. watching my mum playing w my daughter as well gives such a warm feeling to my heart.

Farewell my twins

2008-11-12T19:22:00.003+08:00

We found out that we were pregnant the 3rd week of ramadhan. It was a shock but a pleasant surprise for the both of us. Since I was breastfeeding, I had no LMP to refer to so we went for a scan. The 1st scan showed nothing so we were afraid that it was an ectopic so had another scan at the end of the week..Alhamdullillah, it was in my uterus. off we went to kl for eid. came back fr eid, had another scan..there was 2 heartbeats! all 3 of us were shocked...gynae included. confirmed the twin pregnancy 2 weeks later..both babies were growing well, 21.5 mm n 22mm respectively.

last thurs, i had a bad cold.i was struggling to cope w the pregnancy n looking after a bouncy toddler. hubbs unfortunately had to go to kl every week, sometimes even 2x/week. my mum cudn't come over to help me out as my sis just had back surgery.our search for a maid wasn't futile as yet. started to spot on thurs n fri but no cramps. nothing during the weekend.on mon, it started again but stopped in the morn. hubbs was in kl for a day trip so cudn't go c the gynae plus i was just soooo exhausted. after subuh the next day...i started to bleed. it was lots of fresh blood. i also had cramps. my heart of hearts told me that i was having an inevitable miscarriage but i tried to stay strong.i was hoping that at least 1 twin survived. woke nazeefah up @ 9am as we had an appt at 9:45am.The final scan showed that my babies had no heartbeat n were not moving. According to their sizes, they both passed away that morn.while waiting for erpc, i had a very strong contraction and passed what i thot then was a huge clot. on close examination, i saw one of the twins. he/she had a face, eyes were shut, shoulders, arms n legs as well.he/she was as long as my palm. my heart was broken into bits. that was one thing i definitely wasn't ready to see.my babies were buried at the cemetery. as hubbs aptly commented, we leave something of us everywhere we live.

on the same day, my hubbs aunt passed away. my mil n bil who just arrrived in miri w my mum had to take the next flite back to kl. i do thank them from the very bottom of my heart for making their way out here at such short notice.

to all my family n frens, thx so much for the kind wishes. Allah has his reasons, I am very sure.

i will definitely miss my lil gal feeding her adiks thro my belly button; her nite nite wish while rubbing my tummy; her putting her cheek on my tummy to kiss them goodnite and last but not least her attempts to tickle them as well. even though she can't say it, we think she knows. she hasn't looked for her adiks since yesterday..

i can't wait till after my confinement is over to visit their grave. as for their scan piccies..i don't know what to do w them yet.

my oh my

2008-11-09T14:45:00.002+08:00

the conversations that we have w lil one can be quite hilarious n frustrating at times.

since weaning her off, bedtime has been a struggle.
1.last nite her conversation w daddy..
daddy in a firm voice: time for bed
lil one: :no
daddy : go to bed
lil one : shut up, daddy naughty
mummy was chuckling away to herself

she also loves to take off her sleepsuit when the air cond is switched on full blast. of course, it makes both mummy n daddy angry. few nites ago, this is what when on

1. she spilt water on the bed
mummy: why mummy ba bap?
lil one : coz fah naughty
mummy: what did u do?
lil one : fah spill water

2. mummy: y mummy ba bap?
lil one : coz fah naughty
mummy : what did fah do?
lil one : open buttons (of) (sleep)suit

her fav video is colours n shapes. she can name the shapes but colours...aiyo..tembak only.
mummy: what colour is this?
lil one : red, yellow, green
mummy: its not a traffic light la...

she also picks out the clothes she wants to wear. somehow w daddy, she doesn't but w me. aiyo..we can go thro all her dresses like this morn n she picked a dress which was still too big for her. mummy tired of arguing w her, gave in..

for the 1st time this morn, she said 'morning mummy'. its usually morning happy, morning breast (yes! she talks to my breasts), morning bear. if u ask her...what about morning mummy...she will say NO!

i really wish i can tape all these but as soon i whip out my phone she turns all shy n keeps quiet. hope to remember to write more of our conversations...

my lil gal aka miracle is 2 years old

2008-10-21T21:26:00.003+08:00

my lil gal turned 2 yesterday. wow! how 2 years have flown by. i still remember driving to bronovo at 1am in the morn in active labour. then hubbs went home to get the camera. and me insisting that i have a c section and not a vaginal breech delivery which Alhamdullillah was the right decision. then lil one being whisked off to scbu at kinderziekenhuis where she stayed for 5 days. n me crying to sleep every nite since i was all alone. the bb that i carried for 9 months was not w me n was on a glucose drip w a NG tube down her nose.

now, she is walking n talking. dressing herself. becoming more n more independent. have also managed to wean her off for 1 week now. difficult process but had to be done under the currrent circumstances.

m too tired to go on writing. will post piccies soon enuff.

to my lil gal, i can't thank Allah enuff for u as a gift to us who we will to the best of our ability to nurture.u were conceived at a time when your mummy had lost all hope of getting any kids. both mummy n daddy love u very much.

no no nope

2008-09-13T16:51:00.002+08:00

Lil one is in her no stage. nearly every answer she gives u is either no or nope. her other fav word is aiyo. oops...i am 2 blame for that. thot i don't use it as much...looks like i do. hopefully she willl 4get that in time.

her sleep patterns have been pretty erratic. so far, she has woken up twice for sahur. sleeping really late...11 pm. last nite, it was 12MN. letting her cont this till end of ramadhan so i get a bit of rest in the morn. if i am lucky, she will have a long nap...another opportunity to get some rest.

i tend to cook early i.e. before her nap. at least one dish is done. the other one i will cook once hubbs is back. 2 dishes seem to do the trick for us both. it helps dat we love kuih..

have managed to fast everyday. missed one day since i had gastritis. threw up all my sahur n was left very weak after dat. her breastmilk consumption has also not increased..Alhamdullillah. there was one day she woke up at 6am n refused to go back to bed even after drinking fr both breasts..and she asked for her cereal. yes!at 6am!! so let her eat in bed. since i was flat out fr puking my guts out earlier, i slept w cereal bits on the bed.not a wise choice since we found a cockroach in the room the next day.

bugs is another thing i hate finding in this house.after being bug free for 8 years, i must say i totally 4got about the existence of bugs:) oh well...a lil inconvience dat i can just spray or actually get hubbs to deal w it:)

Ramadhan Al Mubarak

2008-09-06T18:26:00.001+08:00

Ramadhan is here again. My favourite month in the islamic calender. Alhamdullillah, I have managed to fast for the past few days. it has been very difficult n tiring since am still breastfeeding lil one. since daddy doesn't come home for lunch n i don't eat during the day she tends to eat less as well. to date, she has woken up for one sahur only. hopefully this trend does not continue since she has just put on the wt she lost in kl. yup...she lost 0.5kg in 3 weeks in kl. well..she did have chicken pox as well. the chicken pox has left 2 scars on her face. i really wonder if vitamin e will do the trick. need to buy some soon if not the scar will expand since she is still growing plus Alhamdullillah she is fair so the scars are pretty visible.

poor lil gal has been housebound the past week since it has been raining heavily every day. the mosquitoes are at large so much so she gets bitten left, right n center, bless her!we bought her a lil rucksack which she will insist on wearing n then says that she is going to school to play w frens. hmm.....yes! the playsch part, still haven't made my mind up about it. think i will seriously consider it after raya. my only prob is her allergies.

a few nites ago, she wud sing 'happy to you' = happy birthday to you b4 she slept. tried to get her to sing so i can record it, of course, wasn't successful. tried to get her to sing for both tok ma n tahira, she refused as well. both hubbs n i are hot dogged out. she is in the mickey mouse = happy mouse to her phase. loves the hot dog song. she will make mickey dance n sing hot dog hot dog, tuneless of course!!

she really loved it when both naz n qayyum were here. till today she will look for abg. if u ask her where abg is, she will reply 'work' :). to her, we reckon anyone that she sends to the airport goes to work like her daddy.

reflecting back, 2 ramadhans ago she was in my tummy till the last 3 days; last ramadhan she was just learning how to stand n this ramadhan she is running n talking. gosh...time really flies. wonder what she will be like next ramadhan.

whinge whinge whinge

2008-07-08T14:02:00.003+08:00

breastfeeding....the topic that has been playing on my mind recently. how long will i cont till...i hope for another 3-4 months.b4 we left for kl, lieverd was only drinking my milk 3x/day and she actually started to sleep thro the nite. but since we got back n she has been ill, her breastmilk consumption has increased by 3 fold. she has a few times looked at me and said more...all i can say is 'sorry sweetie..there's not much left'. today however, my breasts feel full again..must be all the drinking the past week. so we are back to square one of weaning her off my breast. considering that we will be going to kl in a couple of weeks time, i wonder if it is worth trying to wean her off again. i guess i will try n hope for the best i.e. in kl, she will b bz playing n 4get about mummy's milk. another thing i need to sort out is her constant whinge-ing. she never used to whinge even when she was ill b4. it does drive me up the wall. ignoring her has not made it any better. suppose i shud try to cont to ignore n hope that the message will hit home eventually.

Alhamdullillah she is getting better. still has a lil cough but so far no runny nose 2day insya Allah.

right now am wondering if she has chronic constipation. she has been poo-ing everyday but its like diarrhoea. her belly tho is pretty soft but resonant+ on percussion. can't seem to palpate any mass. then again, she has been having lots of formula. but today, her tummy is pretty soft. haven't managed to percuss her belly today.

just started her on scotts emulsion. her appetite has picked up but she has diarrhoea. cud be the orange juice in it. changed to original flavour which i m hoping she will cont to take n c how that goes.

looks like we will need to see her paed in kl next week.

Antics part deux

2008-07-03T19:48:00.007+08:00

at long last managed capture these. hopefully one day, the full repertoire(?spelling..brain gone rusty la)

KL trip

2008-06-30T18:12:00.003+08:00

was in KL for the last couple of weeks. managed to get a few things done.hubby not impressed w me since i didn't manage to sort out the flat. all in all, it was not a wasted trip. managed to see quite a few of my frens even one fr the NL days. her son n nazeefah are the same age. its fab seeing how much they have grown n see what they can do now.

the down side to this trip is nazeefah is ill today. to top it off, daddy is still in kl.i really hate it when she is ill in miri since her paed is in kl. w the stupid policy, we can't c the paed unless we are referred. Alhamdullillah the dr managed to diagnose the throat n ear infection today i.e. on our 2nd trip there. thing is if a child is having a fever of 39+ deg n cont to spike even tho on 4 hourly PCM...hello!! infection brewing la.gggrrrrr. i am one who hates dishing out antibiotics but common sense will tell u that something is up la. now i wish i bot an oroscope as well.

this time, lil one is really knocked out. usu when she is ill even w a fever of 39 deg, she is as active as ever but this time round, one can see that she is tired++.she was soooo clingy n kept whinge-ing all the time which is very unlike her. i guess d trip itself didn't do any favours.

to sum it all, i AM NOT looking forward to going back to KL in 3 weeks time. well..mixed emotions actually. happy n glad since bil is getting married but am terrified that lil one will fall sick again. its tough esp since hubbs keeps travelling n i am on my own most of the time. well, at least after this july/aug kl trip, my sis will b around so i have a helping hand...Alhamdullillah.

well..looks like this weekend is gonna be spent washing n cleaning all her toys. i really hope its sunny coz if not, she has no soft toys to cuddle n no toys to play with.

goodbye long weekend :(

2008-06-08T16:01:00.002+08:00

its back to the norm starting fr tomorrow...well, not really since i'm going back 2 kl on fri for a wedding, hubbs' cuz reception. we missed the nikah n bride's do.

went to brunei yesterday to see some frens n stock up on our meat. our neighbour advised us to buy rice there as well so for the 1st time we did n guess what! it was confiscated by the customs. thing is NO ONE told us we were not allowed to buy rice. there were NO notices anywhere, not even the supermarkets told us about it. they cud do like what they do w the petrol...INFORM US!its our 1st time buying rice there since we saw basmati rice. haven't had basmati for awhile now.oh well...its not our rezeki i guess. thing is now..i have a feeling that hubbs will not b as willing to go to brunei anymore. there goes one of my outings out of miri.sigh!

am right now contemplating whether i shud go swimming or not. have a cold u c but i do need the exercise. well..have 2 wait till the loves of my life wake up. yes...both hubbs n lil one are fast asleep. me, however..who wud love to nap has been slaving away in the kitchen. made foccacia bread..looks good but have yet to taste it. have my stew simmering away on the stove as i write this. a friend of ours has just started chemo so i decided to make some stew n send it over a lil l8r.

lieverd started saying 'jom'. i have no idea where she got that fr. hubbs reckon he was the one who has been saying it. i dunno...malay words that she can say so far are ni, nak, jom. we tend to speak to her in english. dunno y but i suppose i grew up speaking english at home so its natural.. actually we speak more m'sian english la now so much so that she says no la:))

have managed to video a sample of lieverd dancing. will upload it as soon as i download it fr the camera.

Alhamdullillah she's eating again...

2008-06-05T16:24:00.002+08:00

Alhamdullillah she has started eating again...not as much as b4 but at least something..her menu now is
1. cheese for brekkie followed by formula
2. lunch depends either b4 or after nap
3. yogurt after her nap or lunch
4. crackers after yoghurt
5. dinner +/- fruits
6. formula.

she gets breastmilk as soon as she wakes up in the morn, b4 her nap n b4 dinner plus on demand if she wakes up during the nite.

I really hope this trend continues. i pray hard it will. must remind myself not to get too stressed out when she goes into her no eat mode. its really hard not to but i must do it.i really don't want her to feel pressured to eat.a friend i met over the weekend said her son literally refused to eat since she force fed him so much so that he found eating such a discomfort.

feels like sunday

2008-06-03T20:31:00.002+08:00

its really feels like a sunday today. it is still raining..practically the whole day it has been raining. poor lil lieverd...told her we wud bring her swimming today but what to do.explained that we cudn't and she seemed contented just playing w her ball n daddy on the patio.

as for me, i have spent the whole day in the kitchen. made bread for brekkie then realised that even the fast programme takes 2 hours. so switched to plan b, made nasi lemak instead. so, it became brunch . lil one fell asleep while daddy was pushing her on her cat. so, we didn't go out for lunch.made her lunch then went on to bake a cake for tea. had a bit of rest b4 proceeding to make dinner. dinner was as per usual a simple affair. baked the fish instead of steaming. tuned out ok and hubbs gave it the thumbs up.

at long last managed to tape nazeefah doing her 'funny walk' n head banging. will upload it soon.

gawai weekend

2008-06-02T14:02:00.003+08:00

its the gawai hols here so hubbs shud be on leave mon n tues but since kl is not on leave, he had to attend a meeting there today. there goes all our long weekend plans. wanted to go to kb to stock up on beef etc n see K Jijah n family but what to do. Alhamdullillah its only a day trip so he is back tonite.all was not lost actually since we went to a b'day party on sat and i had a swim prior to that.

whenever u ask nazeefah to play golf she will do her imitation of a golf swing. unfortunately, i haven't been able to take a video of it. the one below is her 1st 'proper' swing w a golf club. note how tiny she compared to the golf club n daddy. nazeefah is one tenth of daddy's wt:)) there are quite a few of her antics which we try to capture but it is diff since she will stop as soon as she sees the camera.

lieverd has not been eating much n of course not drinking much water. so much so, she is constipated. i really have no idea what to do now. trying to encourage her to drink by letting her drink fr a cup. worked b4 but no more now. she prefers to play w the water instead. she has been screaming her head off everytime she has a poo so i think she is traumatised by it. u can see her trying to hold it in everytime she has the urge. i am really at my wits end actually. as for eating, i reckon i am to blame since i tried to force feed her so now she really doesn't want to have brekkie at all. she will eat bits of food for lunch n dinner if we are lucky. i really didn't want to force feed her but i cudn't see her not eat since i am just so used to seeing her eat 3 meals a day w snacks in between plus i know how much she can eat. i dunno...its better when hubbs is around since he can take over b4 i get so frustrated. so far, motherhood to me has been one frustration after the other. so much so i can't seem to enjoy it most of the time. i do hope one day, i can look back n say i did my best but deep down i know i am just so shite at being a mum.

lizards n nazeefah

2008-05-29T14:19:00.002+08:00

for the past few weeks, one of her bedtime ritual was to climb down fr the bed n open the bathroom door after she has had her 1st milk feed. last sat, her daddy was in there doing his biz so she said hello then decided to join him i.e. poo poo as well. on sun, she pushed the door n realised daddy wasn't there so she came back to bed n decided to walk back to the bathroom . this time round, the lizard decided to make its presence known. she got a shock of her life and ran shrieking away to the bed. even daddy who was in the lounge cud hear her without the monitor.unfortunately this incident hasn't recurred so i dunno if she is actually scared of lizards. but the good outcome is that she no longer climbs down fr the bed.

managed to open her mouth n see how her teeth are erupting. her canines have all erupted but not fully. her right lower molar hasn't fully erupted yet. reckon this is why her appetite has dwindled down. at least today, she had 3 spoons of oats n 3 small bits of toast for brekkie. drank 100mls of water n 165 mls of formula. had a few bites of potatoes n carrots for lunch. now she is having her nap..hopefully it will b a good one. becoz she didn't have much to eat yesterday, i fed her more formula which resulted in her vomitting it all last nite b4 bed. she slept thro the nite but i cudn't sleep since i was scared that she was going to have a temp. Alhamdullillah she is ok so far and her daddy is back tonite.

life..worth it?

2008-05-28T18:29:00.003+08:00

today has been one of those days. started out w lieverd waking up at 4:30 am n refusing to sleep till 5:30am. she woke up balling her eyes out at 8am coz she needed a poop. decided to poop lying down so it leaked onto our bed. then refused brekkie. feeding her formula was a nightmare. then she had a short nap, woke up w dark rings around her eyes indicating that she needed more sleep. refused lunch. hubbs txted that he needs to fly to kl tonite instead of tmrw morn.boy oh boy! my cooking today was such a disaster since i had NO mood whatsoever to do it. if i wasn't fasting, i prob wud have not cooked. that what i usu say but i end up cooking anyways.

i am so exhausted beyond words. i think i really need to sort out some sort of playsch for lil one, at least once/week. i need to be away fr her for a bit. to date, we have not been apart fr each other except for when she was born since she was in the neonatal care unit. sometimes i feel that i brought this on to myself since i was guilty and still feel guilty that she had 2 spend 5 days in that unit that i refuse to be apart fr her.becoz i am so tired i can't see n enjoy the joy that she brings to our lives. i love 2 c her play w her dad but since he is travelling a lot n also comes home late fr work..this doesn't happen often as well.

moving to miri was suppose to give us more family time but i don't think it has. if being in kl doesn't give me such a headache, i wud love to b there instead of here. even going back to kl for short periods of time stresses me out soooo much. oh well! such is life. i just have to plod on and hope for a better future.

on my own

2008-05-25T19:30:00.007+08:00

this is by far one of the VERY few times i am at home alone. lieverd is out w daddy getting our dinner. i rarely cook during weekends since i cook both lunch n dinner on most weekdays. i must say, i really do cherish the very few times i have to myself.

oops...they are back :)) anyways, quick update on lil one's progress

1. she can make 2 word sentences. her 1st sentence was daddys home (daddy is home).yes ... everything revolves around daddy. 1st word, daddy. shud i b surprised her 1st sentence is also about daddy :))
2. she loves yoghurt n cheese. so far, her ezcema has not really flared up much, Alhamdullillah.
3. her naps are shorter now..lasting 45 mins or an hour now esp during d weekends. if i am lucky, she has 2 hour naps mon to wed.
4. she dances a lot now but its so diff to take video of it.
5. loves swimming...went yesterday n today as we were going out 2 the market, she wanted to bring her float.

can't think of anything else at the mo. m a lil tired. swam 8 laps for the 1st time in 3 years. realised that i am sooooo unfit. was panting after the 1st 2 laps. well, insya Allah m planning to swim at least 1x/week and hopefully hubbs schedule lightens up a bit (wishful thinking on my part) so i can swim more often.

wesak....n baking

2008-05-19T13:57:00.003+08:00

am so exhausted..due to whatelse, sleep deprivation la. lieverd has not been sleeping well the last few days n has had very short naps during the day. i reckon its becoz daddy is around so she feels its such a waste of time if she naps. she had a slight fever 2 nites ago, Alhamdullillah its gone now.her right lower molar has fully erupted and the others are coming thro. her canines are also making their way thro. they have pierced her gums already.

we're back to square one on feeding her formula. she is back to being fed by a spoon...oh well! at least she drinks it and takes 3 scoops day n nite. have introduced cheese to her. she loves it n so far her eczema hasn't flared up much. gave her yogurt today n she seems to like it. m now trying to wean her off my breast very slowly. m only allowing her to have breastmilk 1st thing in d morn, at nite n b4 her pm nap. so far, it has worked. getting her to drink more water as well.target it 2 years old. need to get my p back if not no sibling for her. pity her nanti..no one to play with.

4got about the fan oven option for my oven so have been baking without using it. no wonder all my baking has been pretty dry. must make sure i use the option next time n also use my mixer. Alhamdullillah, my cookies turned out ok. next time i can add raisins to them.

stormy winds..tailend of a typhoon ramusan

2008-05-15T12:50:00.003+08:00

Alhamdulllillah our roof n house are intact n our neighbours' as well. lil gal had just under 3 hour nap so i thot of treating her. cudn't go swimming as the weather didn't look good so i thot i'll take her to the playground instead. didn't even realise the damage the storm caused till i txted hubbs wanting to take lieverd to pbc's playground. pbc is shut for 3 days due to damage. one of hubb's colleague had a tree fall onto his house, they are safe Alhamdullillah. in a way, i am glad that we are not staying at the camp, near the beach or have tall trees around our house.to read more about the destruction..here's d link, http://www.theborneopost.com/?p=35517. was at pbc on mon pm...watching the waves and admiring the view. lil did i know what was in store the next day. even on mon, parts of the playground was shut and the swings were repositioned.

i wud write more but i think i will take a nap instead. am fasting today n had a bz morn till now. hubbs working lunch was cancelled so needed to cook. lil one woke up a lil later today so my morn schedule went a bit off. Alhamdullillah i put the chicken in the fridge overnite..of not, hubbs wud have had telur goreng, nasi panas n kicap for lunch. doubt very much he wud object to that :)). lucky me, Alhamdullillah!

check out my facebook album. will upload some photos soon.

mother's day

2008-05-12T14:04:00.002+08:00

happy mother's day to all that celebrate. hubbs decided we will not celebrate this occasion as he says anniversaries n birthdays are more than enuff to celebrate already :)) well...we can't stop lieverd if she wants to do something for us in the future.b4 i got married, i used to celebrate but now since hubbs' decision we have stopped.

lieverd is napping at the mo. Alhamdullillah, she can still nap thro the racket that the plumber is making in the kitchen. at long last our tap is being replaced..no need to use the spanner to turn the cold tap on n off, i hope.

the winds we really strong yesterday n roof skirting has flown away. hopefully it won't rain tonite as the contractor can only come tomorrow. we also have no hot water today..yes...looks like this house is crumbling :)). well..another 3 more years to go.

update on lieverd:
1. drinks formula fr a straw cup...yeehaaaa! no need to feed her w a spoon! insya Allah this will cont
2. can put on her own shoes..usually correctly
3. words: no, yes, wet, mary, i know, show, shoes, baby, kakak, mummy (at long last),chair, nose, head,more, hot, cold, mouth n a few more..these are the ones i have at the top of my head now
4. much to daddy's delight, she will do a golf swing when u ask her to play golf. sometimes she pretends she is putting the ball on a tee

will upload some photos on my facebook when we download them fr the camera.

my late grandmother

2008-05-07T14:53:00.002+08:00

the day started early today. received a call fr s'pore. my grandma passed away at 1 am. this is what i hate about being away. but i am glad i managed to see her for the past 2 years after not seeing her for 6 years. in my hearts of hearts i know she is in a better place.

i miss her tarts. she made the absolutely deelish tarts i have ever tasted. she used to make one whole biscuit tin for me alone. till today, i haven't found any tarts that matches hers.my aunts used to try to kid me n pass off theirs for hers. but no way. i used to be sooo choosy about tarts but since she stopped making them, i do eat others but definitely not in the quantities i used to. yes....she loved to cook. she used to make sure we ate before we went out. in those days, most things in s'pore was not halal so she was scared we wud eat outside.suffice to say, i wud put on wt everytime i go back to s'pore. 1kg/week!!

when i was in uni, she started to have hearing difficulties.actually, we used to say she had selective hearing. she cud communicate w her grandchildren well.

everytime we went back for raya, as soon as we reached the carpark we can see her in front of the window waiting for us. she even did that when i went back every weekend while i was working in jb.

all the memories i have of her have come rushing back. i wish i cud see her one last time but unfortunately that is not possible.i am glad tho that nazeefah managed to meet her.

i miss her soo...

scorching heat

2008-04-29T14:48:00.002+08:00

it must be appox 34 deg outside n there is no way i am leaving this house till much later. hubbs is back fr kl, Alhamdullillah so lieverd is now napping. she refused to nap till very late yesterday i.e. 5:30pm. she woke up at 7:15pm and wanted 2 go outside n play w bubbles. had to convince her that it was dark n too late to play outside. her routine is out of sync at the mo since we just came back fr kl. i reckon she also misses her cuzs, pak n mak ngah, tok ma n tok acho. they were here for a short visit a couple of weeks back. for the first few days last week, she will get onto her truck n call out for kakak. went into the room where they were in looking for kakak as well. occasionally she will ask 4 baby i.e. areef. she is not as fond of areef as she is of kakak since areef loves to 'sakat' her :)).

as for me,i do miss the hustle n bustle of having relatives around. but it is back to biz as usual now. really looking forward to this long weekend. hubbs travels a lot nowadays and it is pretty tiring for me as lil one acts up when he is away. brought her into the room at 9:30 last nite. she had her milk then climbed down fr the bed. went straight to the bathroom n called out for 'bik!bik!',realised that daddy was not there, she went to the bedroom door and said daddy!daddy! told her daddy is on the plane home so she climbed back onto the bed. rolled around a bit n stretched her arms out and said..'daddy! nak nak', gesturing for daddy to carry her. this morn, saw daddy n immediately got daddy 2 carry her then went back to sleep. she ran to the door when i told her daddy is home for lunch. beamed from ear to ear when she saw daddy then started to play with n entertain daddy. wasn't happy when daddy left for work. went to the sliding door n said her high pitched bye bye till she cudn't c daddy's car anymore.

spoke to my bestfren yesterday n i realised that i have only seen her 2x since we got back fr europe. she told me that she saw me more during my annual visit back to m'sia than since we moved back to m'sia. it is really difficult for us since everytime we go back to kl there is loads to do n need to spend time w the families. but i promised her that i will try my best to see her when i am back for a longer stint in july/aug.i know i will prob b bz w prep for bro in law's wedding but reckon i cud squeeze in a lunch/tea w her. she has been thro a lot last year n i really feel like i have not been there for her as much as i shud like she was for me for the past 20+ years of my life. hubbs n i were saying the other day that when we were in europe we saw our frens everytime we came back to m'sia and now that we are in m'sia we don't see them. he also complained about the fact that he can't play golf in kgns esp since he has been paying his membership dues year in n year out. as for me, thank god rlc has absent membership fees so i have been an absent member since 1998! gosh...come sept i have not lived in kl for 10 years..wow!

parents n inlaws want us back in kl but to be honest i don't think i can hack it. i love the simple life in miri. kl is nice but in small doses. i dunno..i guess we will leave it up to Allah. we can only plan but we must leave everything in His hands.

at the mo, i really wish i was in europe. fine!i'll be sneezing my way thro the next couple of months but it is way cooler, temp wise than here.feel so lethargic fr the heat even tho i have d a/c on the whole day...yes! i know i am spoilt :))

our lil gal in action

2008-03-27T18:11:00.004+08:00

one of the lieverd's antics. this was taken a couple of days ago.

she is becoming more mischievous by the day. sleep is still her enemy. she has even done a 'yasar'..i.e. using her fingers to keep her eyes open.

growth wise, we reckon she is growing. maybe not putting on wt but poss growing taller. her clothes are getting shorter.hmm...unless her clothes have shrunk, then we guess she is growing.

we r still trying to decipher her words. she babbles less nowadays i.e no running commentary of whatever she is doing. sneaking up on one is also one of her favourite activities.

oh well! Alhamdullillah she is well.that is by far the most important fact of all.

catching up

2008-03-10T17:28:00.002+08:00

its been awhile..hmm...this seems to trend i.e. in my opening sentence. not sure if i can actually finish this entry. we'll see..

lieverd is having a nap. yes! a really late one. i reckon she is trying to stay up to wait for her daddy to come home 2nite. yes! daddy is in KL again for a day trip. he's been going to KL a lot these past few weeks..aarrrggghhhh! and working late as well when he is in town. lil one stayed awake till daddy left this morn. she woke up at 3:45 am for milk and stayed awake till 5:45 am. said bye bye to daddy n joined me in bed. usually she will point to her cot but not today. as usual, woke up looking for daddy. we went out for a morn walk n she went all the way to the gate n called out for daddy. yes! one can surely say she is daddy's girl. she calls me 'mee'. hmm..dunno if its her nickname for mummy or mee goreng, mee siam :))

oh..b4 i 4get. thank you every1 for the b'day wishes. coincidently unc syed zul was in town so we had lunch with him and a few friends who know him. my plan to go to mandara spa for a pampering sess has been postponed yet again :( it was also raining this weekend so cudn't take lieverd swimming. wanted to take her to the baby swimming classes this morn but she woke up late.

lieverd's progress:
1. becoming more n more spoilt :))
2. loves shoo - ing the cat that comes to the house
3. still drinks her formula via a spoon while watching her vcd
4. grabs on to her bath when she sees us taking her towel
5.says daddy; wow; one; duck out; shh for shoes, show n shoo the cat; bib, mamam;nyai;cuckoo
6. no longer signs to twinkle twinkle lil star
7. dances n nods her head to nearly all music even CNY songs
8. likes david archuleta, american idol
9. walks fast esp when we try to catch her
10. loves playing w her ball
11. must go out at least once a day..difficult esp since its been raining here a lot..wish there was kizsports or tumble tots here
12. food is still not one of her interests..playing w food definitely is.

gosh n many more. will upload her recent photos soon. tad difficult to take photos of her since she wants to play w the camera.

brand new year 1429H n 2008

2008-01-12T08:33:00.000+08:00

A brand new start to the year. To everyone who read this boring blog of mine..as if anyone does :) here's me wishing you a happy new year. may this year cont to bring more happiness n prosperity

resolutions..never made any in my life but better late than never :)

1. be patient...
2. be a better wife to hubbs n mom to nazeefah
3. be less of a perfectionist to lessen my stress levels

i reckon 3 is enuff to start with. quite sure will make up some more as the year goes on

on a lighter note, my lil girl is walking everywhere..fr the room to the living room..out the door. at long last, she is no longer afraid of the swing so we can push her in it. she loves it now. so far, we have managed to take her to the playground 2x this week. her daily routine now includes either a trip to the playground or a walk outside in our compound. any sports on telly is 'golf' to her, thx to daddy. her vocab is increasing. she can clearly say car; daddy; mee for mummy..hmm actually not sure if its for mummy or milk :) but definitely not noodles as she doesn't like them.she points to her head, nose n face on command. says ssshhh for shoes. climbs into her bumbo seat..yes! she still fits in it :( when she wants to watch her vcd. will stand up on command n picks up her cookie buckets if we say ' cookies for sale'. mealtimes is still a challenging task. she much prefers playing to eating. she did put on 500g since we got back fr kl but has lost it all again. we reckon it is becoz she can't wait to walk n has less naps. she sleeps 10-11 hours at nite and naps for only an hour during the day.

at this mo, she is sleeping under daddy's armpits. she loves that position...ain't got a clue why...:)

My bb is becoming a lil girl

2007-12-11T14:04:00.000+08:00

Lieverd is 13.5 months now and she started walking last week. it was soooo amazing to see her take her first steps. she actually took her 1st steps 2 weeks ago at her nyai's house. can't believe she is growing up so fast. felt like it was only yesterday she had a nasogastric tube n was hooked up to a drip. her crying face hasn't changed though..that has remained the same.

she is becoming more independent n feisty. her face turns all red when she can't do what she wants. clung on to daddy 2 days ago knowing that he was going away for a biz trip. shud see her when her daddy is back fr a trip...puts her head on his shoulder, coos softly and blows kisses to daddy. yup! she is still and will remain daddy's girl. last nite was lil different though. showed her daddy's piccie b4 bed. she smiled at daddy's piccie, hugged the frame and blew kisses then settled down i.e. had her milk and slept.30 mins later, daddy walked into the room. she got up so i fed her some more. she realised that there was something going on in the bathroom. stopped drinking and was patiently sitting down facing the bathroom. occasionally saying a word or 2. the minute daddy walked out, she waved him hello. it was a tad difficult to see her facial expressions as the room was pretty dark. she immediately put her head on daddy's shoulders,hugged and blew him kisses when he carried her. all these was followed by a round of play on the our bed. daddy of course started snoring n i dozed off. woke up 1/2 hour later to find her right in the middle of our bed. today she woke up the same time daddy did and is only now having a nap after daddy came back for lunch.

she is in a frowning phase. she frowns at all strangers esp men. daddy brought a relative home today n she was frowning away.

yes..that's my bb girl. growing up real fast...

Happy Birthday to my dear sis n nephew

2007-12-05T16:45:00.000+08:00

yesterday was my elder sis's b'day n today is my nephew's...yasar aka basar.can't believe that basar is already 16 and tahira is 17. well..tahira claims that she is 17 but has a mental age of 5 which i can fully say is pretty true. i reckon tahira is just spoilt n she knows she can get away w it with all of us. no matter how hard we are on her..we still spoil her. i remember i was still carrying her even when she was 6 years of age. as for basar, i can still remember his 1st word..dap dap = sedap! yup! he still hoovers food down..alam flora esp for qboy!

lieverd is napping now. i know she is looking for daddy . daddy is away on a biz trip. he has been travelling a lot this past month..every week compared to every month. thank god it has been only overnite trips. she has been pretty excited these past few days..trying to walk. she has managed to take a couple of steps on her own.stands on her own n walks into mummy's arms of coz. can't take a video of it since she will stop whatever she is doing n rush for the camera. need to wait for daddy.

she has started to answer back to me already. of coz i don't have a clue what she is saying. i enjoy trying to converse w her as well actually. i hope she understands what i m saying. she has a strong mind n has shown it a few times already. we have to be firm w her if not..e.g. not wanting to sit in her car seat. told her she has to if not we can't go out at all. i think she has had it easy in kl..being taken out of her car seat. need to be firm on that point.don't fancy being stuck at home at all! thank god! my parents understand so they have been really supportive on this point. need to introduce the harness as well. mum reminded me of that. w all the kidnappings etc that have been going on, i don't care what people say as long as my precious is safe.

nazeefah is really precious to us. till today i can't even entertain the thought of having another since i feel that she has had not enuff time w us. but i do know that she wud love a sibling to play with. i wud love another girl but i think hubby wud prefer a boy. i suppose i need to muster the strength n energy for another bb. at the end of the day...i leave it up to Allah. He has given us the chance to bring up nazeefah.

a year later

2007-11-09T16:04:00.000+08:00

lieverd is a year old now..how time flies! 2 years ago, i really didn't think we will b at this stage.

unfortunately, she has not been well. she has been ill off n on since before we left for NL. it definitely has not been a happy raya for her n mummy as well. mummy has become so tired n very cranky. i really hope she gets well soon. the good thing is she has been pretty happy today. clapping her hands to pooh's song fr her leapfrog, trying to stand on her own, zooming away on her push walker. she was not happy to see daddy go back to work after lunch though..waved him goodbye but didn't say bye! she usually does..

can't wait for her to be better n put on some wt. she lost all the wt she gained while she was in NL. there was no stopping her..she was eating most of the time. reckon she knows that she is there only for a week so needed to stock up on the food there :)). hopefully her appetite will pick up again..

ons klein meisje is 11 months old

2007-09-24T14:42:00.000+08:00

I can't believe that lil lieverd is 11 months old already. it has been a long journey full of the unexpected. on days like these when she behaves and has a long nap..i really feel bad for every cross word i have said n every negative thing i have done to her...verbally. no one told me that being a stay at home can be sooo hard.no..i take that back, my best friend finaz has applauded me loads of times that she will never b able to do what i am doing. sometimes i am sooo exhausted that i can't even b proud of her achievements. being a kiasu mum doesn't help, i guess. deep down i know nazeefah doesn't have a clue what her mummy is all about. there have been times when i will just sit n bawl my eyes out n she will just look at me. it's been tough..new place, new life actually. and it doesn't help when people keep implying that i am not feeding her. boy..its been pretty hard feeding her. most of my battles w her have been over food. there are times when i just want to give up and shove an orogastric tube down her just to get some food down. maybe if she was on formula i wudn't be that hard on myself then again she may refuse her formula and be back at sq 1. being patient is not one of my traits.

on the positive side, lieverd can:
1. wave and say hello
2. acknowledges other kids n the stray cat..yes! mummy needs to get her act together n bring her to the playgroup on weds
3. crawl and get into all sorts of mischief
4. hears the gate opening n knows that daddy's home
5. grin to greet daddy

gosh and many more which i can't think of at this point of time.

all in all, it has been a pretty tedious journey but i do look forward to the entire journey of her life..we love her to bits . Most important of all, we can't thank Allah enuff for the opportunity of having her in our life..our lil lieverd

Burning stove

2007-09-17T04:54:00.000+08:00

Cooked up a bit of a storm yesterday for iftar. made puteri salat aka serimuka.didn't turn out as nice as it did last year but hubbs liked it (that's the most important fact). for mains, we had udang masak lemak cili api, vege n fried fish.still can't believe i managed it with b/feeding in btw. asked a couple of friends over as well. i really miss the dishwasher :))

lieverd defnitely wasn't such a happy bunny yesterday since daddy cordoned off both staircases so she was stuck in the living room only in addition to occasional glimpses of mummy fr the kitchen. she made sure i didn't leave her side after that..cudn't even go to the loo without her protesting:)) yup..she is definitely velcro-ed to me. must sort out the playgroup. she needs socialisation..

gonna hit the sack soon...still tired fr yesterday. but Alhamdullillah enjoyed it actually..it's been awhile since i can manage to cook like that. looking forward to next weekend..

Fav food

2007-09-15T12:54:00.000+08:00

hmmmm..how do i do this without drooling n without having brownie points chopped off. considering i may not b able to do this any other time since hubbs is playing w lieverd so here goes..

do bear in mind that i am on a no seafood, no eggs, no nuts diet...reckon the list will go on n on n on..:))

1. yong tau foo..ampang shack
2. chee cheong fun..kopitiam in du
3. apam balik
4. durian
5. mangosteen
6. laksa johor
7. soto
8. lontong..the real one w banana leave, lodeh n sambal ikan bilis
9. tarts...grandma's
10. kek lapis betawi
11. puteri salat aka seri muka
12.poffertjes
13.oysters + tabasco
14.mussels
15. durum fr chicken doner, den haag
16. tagine
17. nasi kerabu
18. teh tarik..esp when i was pregnant
19. nasi ayam du n bkt bintang

... aiyo..got to stop la..drooling already..

zaza, if u r reading this..kfc in amsterdam, dam rak i.e. d one in front of bijenkorf..chicken pieces are halal :)) if not, try out chic cottage in leiden,the burgers are deelish. we emailed them to open a branch in den haag but they wanted to sell us a franchise so...

Ramadhan Al Mubarak..

yes...we have been touring the pasar ramadhan daily..so far, have managed to exercise control and not over buy kuih..

working vs stay at home mum

2007-09-10T16:10:00.000+08:00

today is one of those days where i crave working soooo much. the financial independence n just able to be away fr nazeefah for a while. i love her to bits but i just feel drained out esp when it comes to feeding her. she was doing soo well then we went to kl and again everything went pear shaped. gave her fav today, pumpkin..but she rejected that too...

i really dunno..is it the travelling that makes her not want to eat..i really don't know. or being unsettled..or maybe it is just me..

A new beginning

2007-08-18T07:03:00.000+08:00

It has been ages since I last blogged. Lots has happened.We have moved to Miri, Sarawak. I still can't believe that I have actually left europe after 8 1/2 years. Still settling down, I will give myself at least a year to do so.

Nazeefah, Alhamdullillah is growing well. Her wt gain is still slow but she is as active as ever. She can crawl and loves going up the stairs we have which is only 3 steps as this house is actually a single storey w split levels. Since all the furniture has been moved to give her space, she has none to pull herself up so she uses our glass cabinet n sliding door to do so, spiderman style. Gnaws on anything hard, loves the laundry basket n hates all teething toys.

But I must admit sometimes it is can be really hard to keep calm w her. Insya Allah, I am becoming more patient and definitely much less a perfectionist. Working is sooo much easier even w the 72 hour on call I used to do.

Sometimes, I think she knows that she is such a precious daughter esp since we tried so hard to conceive her that she can get away w a lot of things. Alhamdullillah, daddy is pretty firm if not....oh well..still a long way to go in this parenting world.

1st visit to consultatie bureau

2006-11-28T20:45:00.000+08:00

Today was lieverd's 1st visit to the consultatie bureau. Alhamdullillah she is thriving and is following the growth curve..well, 3rd percentile of the dutch curve:)) at least she has made onto the curve :))Still waiting for the m'sian growth chart which a good friend of mine has mailed to us. Hopefully she is will more than the 3rd percentile :))

It took us at least a good 30 mins just to get out the door...dressing her:)) it wasn't too cold enuff for a snowsuit and the fleece outfits that she has are all a tad big. so we compromised...used a flannel jumpsuit n blanket. well..the consultatie bureau was only short 5 min walk from the car.she actually protested to wearing a hat. hmmm...

it's day 40 today..can't wait to go out shopping to buy clothes n other essentials for lieverd:)) 1st a stroller then...watch out shops, here we come!!got full permission from dad as well:))

wandering baby

2006-11-21T23:08:00.000+08:00

hubby n i learn something new everyday..nazeefah woke up at 10pm and wudn't settle down after that. hubby changed her diaper and still she wasn't happy. she wasn't even really interested to play. it wasn't colic, Alhamdullillah. we felt she was a wee bit too warm so we took her temp. true enuff it was a lil above the upper limit of normal. so we took a layer of clothing off n Alhamdullillah she felt better and was comfortable enuff to play. the nite before, she took off her hat herself so we knew that she didn't need that last nite. i guess we are afraid of under dressing her and we are also so used to having her in 3 layers since she come home from the hosp. well...we learn something new everyday. it's definitely a steep learning curve. i reckon being m'sian as well one is so afraid of her getting cold esp during the nite.

the piccies above were taken in the afternoon. the covers was at her chest level when i tucked her in for her afternoon nap.the next piccie was taken just before she woke up for her milk. hmm...think we need to get her into a grobag soon. well...she prob takes after hubby since they look so similiar anyway.hubby sleep walked when he was a jongen..looks like nazeefah sleep shuffles :)) we are really amazed w her strength n what she can do w it. we just love her to bits even though we r so dead tired at nite. waking up and seeing her just brightens up our day..esp since it is winter now

One month already

2006-11-18T23:48:00.000+08:00

we can't believe that our lil lieverd is already one month old.She now weighs 3.06kg, a lil disappointing since she has been putting on at least 200 g per week. this time round she dropped off to 140g. well, we think it is becoz she is not getting enuff sleep. lieverd stays up till wee hours of the morning then sleeps for a stretch of 4-5 hours. she really sleeps well during the day but when daddy is home..she feels that it's playtime even though daddy tries not to entertain her. i guess she looking for her own rhythm and is getting used to the outside world.

we got a shock yesterday morn. she managed to wriggle herself from under the covers. we usually tuck her in until the level of her chest.the piccie above was taken @ 10am..the covers were at her knees when she woke up @ 7am. at the mo, she is also trying to remove her hat at nite. since she is now more than 3 kg, we have decreased a layer of clothing during the day. we discovered that she began having heat rash on her neck as a result of keeping the 3 layers of clothes. hmm..a journey of discovery for her parents and her.Alhamdullillah she doesn't really complain.

Alhamdulllillah she is doing fab till now. Dad gave her a bath this morn. I am sooo lucky, Alhamdullillah to have such a supportive n hands on hubby.Phew! Love him to bits even more so now..

Dad in action

2006-11-13T21:35:00.000+08:00

Dad of course has been a very active participant in diaper changing...actually mum gets the weekend off from diaper changing :) Alhamdullillah, my hubby is ever so supportive. I think he actually enjoys it since lil lieverd only tends to shower poop on mummy! She tends to wee as well when we change her to the point where hubby is ever ready for that possibility:)) In fact, I love the weekends since dad will wake up in the middle of the nite to put her back into the cot after her feed.

Dad is a discplinarian. I must now put Nazeefah in the cot half asleep so that she can settle herself down to sleep. It really touches my heart strings but I know that is the best in the long run. I think Nazeefah senses that so she cheekily gets me to let her sleep after her feed b4 i put her into the cot during the day. Doesn't do that on the weekends so far...

It's a beautiful autumn day..but unfortunately I am still housebound. Looking forward to our visit to the Child Health Clinic or Consultatie Bureau in a couple of weeks time. Small things really matter a lot nowadays :))

Drie weken

2006-11-11T21:48:00.000+08:00

Our lil lieverd is already 3 weeks old....we can't believe it! To date, she is now 2.92 kg..Alhamdullillah.She is just beyond the target...she is suppose to put on 150g per week and she gained 240g last week.

Lieverd can now hold her head n control her neck movements for aprox 1 minute. In an upright position she can also turn her head towards daddy when he calls her. Loves being in a vertical position with her head held up high by herself. Tried to reach the toy dangling from the frame of her play gym, got frustrated when she cudn't do so.Can push herself away from the breast when she is done. Hmm....we are all just amazed with her development. Well, the midwife did say that smaller kids tend to be stronger.

We took the photo above for her malaysian citizenship n passport application. At the mo, our munchkin has a dutch birth certificate n is not a malaysian citizen as yet:)) Hopefully they will accept this photo if not hmmmm...so far, all our friends have done it this way since everytime they go to the studio, baby is either asleep or crying.

Can't wait to see what she will be up to in a weeks time..our lil lieverd. As one of our friends rightly said, she is the joy of her parents..

Something new everyday...

2006-11-05T02:19:00.000+08:00

Lil lieverd is really keeps amazing her parents. She started to steadily hold her head up for approx 10-15 seconds last nite.her mum is sooooo afraid but she was happily cont to do it herself.Dad of course didn't manage to get it on camera..what's new!?! Got video cam but it's happily stored in its case...hmm...

Poor klein meisje had an awful nite. She had huge bogeys in her nostrils and had to breathe thro her mouth. This was very difficult esp when she was b/f. Alhamdullillah, I managed to get them out today..the nasal aspirator we have is tooo big for her lil nostrils so had to use some ingenuity..

Today also marks the 1st day that she is sleeping in her back. All these while she has been on her side. She took sometime to settle down but Alhamdullillah she has now and is sleeping soundly.

Another reason why she took sometime to settle down was prob due to overstimulation. Read her a book while she was b/f, then let her play with her play gym for a while..suffcie to say we have learnt that 10 mins of stimulation per day at the mo is enuff.think she takes after her dad when he was a jongen...:))

2 weeks old..

2006-11-03T19:32:00.000+08:00

Today was lieverd's 2nd outing. Went to see her paediatrician. Alhamdullillah, she is doing well. She has gained 400 g since birth..she is supposed to put on 150g per week. No wonder she was regurgitating her milk...drinking too much milk :)) sound familiar?? plus she has that 'i am full' face and nods off to sleep after her meal :))

There was a worry that her hips are dislocated..since her bum was engaged n she was in breech. Clinically, her hips are normal but she is due an USS end of Jan to rule that out. Insya Allah it will be ok.

Today she will start b/f on demand. That will worry the grandparents since they think that lieverd shudn;t cry at all.. So far, mum has had the alarm clock on so I wake her up for feeds but her paediatrician said to let her feed on demand.So, she becomes the alarm clock now.

Winter has come. It's really cold. Was 9 deg today...lieverd was nice n comfy in her maxi cosy. All bundled up. A friend is bringing the snow suit this weekend. Yup! There is a newborn snow suit that is passed from one Shell family to the other. Well...it is not really worth it buying one since we are leaving next year, insya Allah. Furthermore, she will only use it for a short period of time as well..

to date, our lil lieverd has put on 400g and has grown 1 cm..Alhamdullillah..

1st outing...

2006-11-03T03:29:00.000+08:00

Lil lieverd went out today..well, naughty mum can't keep still and has started doing a bit of household chores..as a result mum has a tiny wound under her incision scar which is discharging. Had to go to see the nurse at Bronovo to make sure it was ok. Insya Allah, it won't turn into pus. In the meantime, mum has learnt her lesson and will TRY to not do much..easier said than done..oh well!

Tomorrow, will be her 2nd outing..again to Bronovo. This time to see her paediatrician. Lief's head is misshapen prob due to the breech position and the fact that she was right under my diaphragm. Insya Allah her skull will right itself soon enuff..

She was an absolute angel in the car. not even a pip squeak from her. she was nicely bundled up in her maxi cosy.lieverd is definitely a m'sian kid.24 deg is her temp. nothing more or less. her dad learned that last nite, she refused to be put into her cot unless it was warmed up by a bag of cherry pips. yup! she loves her bed nice n toasty..like mum!told hubby that but wud he listen, of course not! so he had to learn it the hard way..:))

Imanee Nazeefah Izhar

2006-10-27T19:49:00.000+08:00

This is my fav photo of our lil lieverd. I know it's a bit blur but....

Nazeefah arrived into this world @ 0415 hours, 20th Oct. All in all, it was a pretty short labour but she did make a grand entrance like aunt su said:)). I started my contractions at 2345,19th Oct and by 0200, 20th Oct - I was 5 cm dilated! She was still in breech position so i insisted on a c/s. According to the report, my water bag burst 1 min before the c/s started as well! Had a c/s under spinal anaesthesia which i took me by surprise since I really thot i had an epidural. Didn't know that till I was up in the ward already:)) and both the nurse n i were looking for the epidural infusion line.

We found out on the table that I had a malformed uterus so my lil lieverd was only using one side therefore she couldn't grow n the reason that she was in breech. The gynae that did the op confirmed that there was no other way that she cud have come out and told me that we made the right decision to have a c/s. Also, that he was shocked his collegue managed to turn her at 36 weeks. Alhamdullillah!

Becoz she is small, she couldn't regulate her temp that well n her glucose levels. So, she had a glucose infusion set up n went into the incubator. Her first 'car' ride was in an ambulance that whisked her off to Juliana Kinderziekenhuis since there were no space for her in Bronovo's SCBU. Alhamdullillah, they managed to find a bed for me at the Rode Kruis Hosp which is next door to Juliana.The 1st few days were pretty difficult for me but I am sooo thankful to Allah that insya Allah that ordeal is over.

The medical service provided was sooo excellent!Alhamdullillah!

delivery mode

2006-10-19T22:51:00.000+08:00

Baby is still in breech so we have decided to go down the c sec route altho our gynae advises us against it. Our gynae proposed another ECV f/b inducing then emergency c sec prn...hmmm...not too keen on that idea! That plan scares the hell out of me..don't think i am strong enuff to go down that road. BUT we are having another scan on admission. So, baby has another week to try to turn. As hubby says, baby is laid back like him, will turn last minute. If baby was like me, he/she wud have turned well in advance :)) Vaginal breech delivery is another option I don't even dare think of. Insya Allah baby will turn in time.

As for now...i have to start relaxing more. Just scared that I may have to go for an emergency c sec since my braxton hicks are getting more regular n one of the signs have started. Trust the sign to start after we saw our gynae! The nurse that was in charge suspects that we won't make it to the date given. We'll see..trust our baby to try and come out before time :)) It's hard trying to keep still.. there's just so much to do. well..gotta listen to hubby....since he has put his foot down on that subject.

Insya Allah, all will b well

ECV

2006-10-07T00:24:00.000+08:00

Our baby, insyaAllah is still in the right position instead of head up. Baby used to stick out his/head from under my r rib n now its his/her bump! We had an ECV done on thurs to correct baby's position. interesting procedure. I thot it was going to be like a massage, NOT! The gynae had to disengage baby's bump from my pelvis...yup! baby was even engaged, wrong bit of his/her anatomy tho'! That was the most uncomfortable bit . after that, it was just a matter of guiding our lil one. then amidst all that, i had to have a braxton hicks contraction which left baby in a transverse lie. So, we waited till that was over and baby was guided to the right position. All in all with the monitoring before n after the procedure...3 scans during the procedure..we were out in an hour! I was so amazed. hmm..was actually thinking of chickening out that morn. Am glad hubby managed to persuade me not to and i have given my baby the chance to enter the world insya Allah naturally.

2 ladies i know had really short labours. F from my antenatal class was in labour for 3 hours n D from yoga 4 hours. This has given me more confidence to face labour, insya Allah. The piccie was taken from our last antenatal class..F n hubby are missing since they received their lil one 2 weeks early. Out of all the ladies, i am the 'baby' of the class since i am due last...am still loving my bump. not ready to let go of it as yet....:)

Ramadhan kareem

2006-09-23T20:24:00.000+08:00

Not sure if I'll fast this year..will try but will have a extremely low threshold to break fast:)) The normal do at the embassy will start this eve. My name has been kindly left out of the cooking list but will try to contribute as much as we can. Making udang masak lemak cili api tonite.

That earlier paragraph was written 2 days ago. to date i have managed to fast 1/2 day for the past 2 days..:)) at least something i suppose. we'll see how it goes..esp after our scan on thurs..

well...to all muslim readers..as if anyone reads my boring entries...ramadhan kareem to all of you.

at long last....

2006-09-18T16:24:00.000+08:00

we won our 1st premier league game yesterday...and a win at old trafford as well. hmmm...so sweet!! felt that arsene was scraping the barrel for excuses last week...players not used to the pitch and so on. it's nice to be back on the 1st page of the table.... things are looking better....i really do hope!

on the preggers front. Alhamdullillah everything is ok at the mo apart from the fact that baby is in breech position. there's still time for baby to turn...we have another scan next week and will confront the issue if baby hasn't turned as yet then.

am having a small kenduri tomorrow. to pray for our baby's safety n well being plus our friend's. our friend is already hospitalized to increase the survival of her baby. insya Allah, all will be well.

parents coming over in a fortnite's time. am looking forward to that. think i do need a hand nowadays. baby is getting heavier even though he/she is now comforming back to m'sian size. at one point of time baby was comforming to dutch standards..which wud have meant a min of 4.5 kg at birth...aarrggghhhhh! At the end of the day, the most important bit is that baby is well.

food....glorious food...

2006-09-08T21:56:00.000+08:00

I am soooooo full! Went to a farewell do at the embassy just now and ate TWO bowls of assam laksa. Before i was preggers, i absolutely dislike assam laksa. Hubby is the one who loves it...boy! this baby is really following his/her dad's fav foods!! at first when i got there, i was a bit worried coz i only saw the assam laksa n the other dishes didn't look that exciting but lo and behold...the gravy was soooooo nice...poor hubby! wanted to taupau some back but the men haven't eaten yet plus wasn't offered any so..

had lepat ubi for dessert as well...yummmmmm! well, i guess i'd better eat as much as i can before the confinement period starts.in a way, it's prob good i am not in m'sia. if i was, i wud prob be as big as a barrel!!

as for baby, he/she can really kick esp when he/she is kicking towards the back of my uterus..i feel as tho my whole bump is shaking:)) but i must say it is quite an interesting feeling actually. keep telling baby not to do that much since my placenta is at the back.Alhamdullillah, baby is ok till now..we are seeing our dr next week. hmm...our bizarre dr!!

antenatal classes are going fine. think hubby enjoys them..esp when the men get to have a chat. yesterday the conversation was on strollers. yup! we still haven't bought one as yet..still have time since there is the added confinement period...prob is i like this certain brand but it is damn expensive:( practical me is fighting w the non rational me:)) hmm..wonder which side will win..

Pregnancy n emotions

2006-08-30T17:06:00.000+08:00

it's been like a roller coaster these past few weeks emotions wise that is. all in all, i am glad i have decided to deliver here. I don't think i can cope without my darling hubby.

i reckon it's all down to attention..:)) i spoke to my best friend about it and she says even tho she is not preggers she also craves for attention. phew! thot i was going mad at one stage...i tell u the mood swings during preggers is heightened at least 5 fold compared to PMS levels.Think hubby feels it is worse..

then again, it cud be the fact that i really am afraid of what is going to happen during labour n the delivery itself. have seen a few people go thro it but it is not the same. all in all, insya Allah it will be ok n go smoothly..plus hubby won't faint..like dad did when mum gave birth to me lil sis

.

we're back online

2006-08-27T04:23:00.000+08:00

at long last after a llloooooonnnnnggggg hiccup, we're back online. thanks to our mate, harmeet!! the streets of centrum will miss seeing me daily :))

oh no...no entonox!!

2006-08-25T05:24:00.000+08:00

just found out that entonox is not an option for pain relief...hmm...it's bad enuff that if one wants an epidural you have book an appt plus it is only offered during weekdays 9 - 5 pm. all i can do is to laugh...well, the dutch being the dutch,everything is regimented. in fact, the best time to give birth is weekdays 9 - 5pm :)) as if the baby will come then la..life! well..it will be an experience. insya Allah, my antenatal classes n yoga will help me thro...apart from the obvious, prayers!!

as a 1st time mum the thot of labour really is pretty scary. have seen n witnessed a few labours esp during med school - was scared then n still pretty apprehensive now. well, i suppose this is all part of life.Lucky sis! never felt labour pain in her life...ggrrrr....

Whoa... 7 months already!!!??!!

2006-08-12T02:24:00.000+08:00

Alhamdullillah, m now 28+ weeks preggers. Am soooo amazed. Suffice to say. both of us are really excited. Also enjoying the pregnancy now after the 1st few months. Phew! Glad that is over...I can go on and on about how fantastic it's been so far, how it feels incredible and actually experiencing what I know in theory. The weather has been perfect as well, well yes! it's rainy and grey but most important of all it is COOL!!! Hubby is shocked as he is decked out in his track bottoms n w a jumper and I am only dressed in a kaftan w socks:))

It has been a really busy couple of weeks. Inlaws were here for a real short visit. we whisked them off to Helsinki the day they arrived. Helsinki...hmm...was the biz. Weather was beautiful and the food scrumptious. Unfortunately, I couldn't chomp on the smoked trout which was served at brekkie..oh well! Got back to Den Haag and it was food galore, hubby's fav dishes. And the size of the sabah prawns..wow!! Went to dusseldorf the following weekend for whatelse...of course! shopping..even managed to visit metlach for villeroy stufff. Am actually having 2nd thots about the stuff we bot. MIL keeps assuring me it is a good buy but w the baby on the way....

In NL,we visited Oud Zuylen castle...that was soo enlightening. Imagine growing up in a castle..whoa! And the dinner that nite was yummy and the dessert..appropriately named grand dessert. It was served on a mirror!!! Picture speaks a thousand words...

yup! it has been a pretty busy few weeks. most of my friends are still away for the summer holidays.am looking forward a quiet week before our friend comes over from london for a few days.

looks like my travelling days are numbered. doubt we will be doing much in the next few weeks..plus nothing beats being pregnant.Insya Allah all will be well..

Paris....

2006-07-20T02:58:00.000+08:00

We were in Paris for an extended weekend..boy ! it was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOTTTTTTTTT!! For the 1st time in my live, I had blisters on both feet! managed to do D'orsay; Louvre; Versailles; 'climb' the Arc d Triumph,took the lift la since I am preggers:)) and the boat ride on the seine . Shopping..not much choice, pretty disappointing actually. Hubby only managed to get 1 short sleeves shirt. Due to the heatwave, he wears short sleeves to work nowadays. Wasn't in the mood anyway since it was soo hot plus my arching feet. Did get a skirt from a shop called 'Balloon' :)) which was just round the corner from our hotel. Before this trip, darling hubby offered to buy me a pair of shoes but turned that down since with the baby coming and me not working, priorities!!life..

hubby at long last has managed to witness the bulges baby makes when kicking. so far, baby has been pretty cheeky i.e stops kicking when daddy wants to see it :)) ends up w hubby shaking or tapping my belly to get baby's attention :)) suffice to say we are pretty excited. insya Allah all will be ok...

looking forward to my inlaws visit in a fortnite's time. haven't seen them for yonks. unfortunately friends of theirs who have been looking forward to their visit will not be in europe then. well, maybe they could meet up at the next visit after the baby is born..

what a week....

2006-07-03T04:41:00.000+08:00

The past week was pretty eventful..considering I am a lady of leisure with no work pressures to think about.

We had our annual Malaysian food fair last weekend. One of the ladies made roti canai including the 'tebar' bit as well..but no roti telur. So on Sun, hubby dutifully brought eggs so that he can satisfy his craving for roti telur. 3 rotis later...he was:)) Pak Mat made laksa johor...yummm.. n a pot of assam pedas for hubby, thinking that I wud love it but... Am still not a fan of assam pedas or assam laksa.So, darling hubby ate the whole pot by himself.

Bumped into van der Sar at the British School. Managed to get a piccie of him, totally forgot to get his autograph for Mat. Sorry mate! Will email the piccie once my friend emails it to me.We found out later on that the kids were given verbal instructions not to disturb him. A tad difficult isn't it since he was there standing and sticking out like a sore thumb waiting for his daughter. Later that day, we found out a dear friend of ours passed away, may he rest in peace.Mate! We will miss u loads.

Then France kicked Brazil out of the the world cup championship. Thanks to my Henry's goal....see I shud have supported France from day 1:)) England like I thought wud not make it..with a manager like erikkson, I saw no hope! Let's hope Mc Laren can do a better job.

Yesterday was another day of stuffing our faces at the British School Summer fair. Yours truly of course helped out during the week to prepare the food, so it was really nice to be able to taste the fruits of my labour. It wud be really nice if some day my kids can attend BSN..we'll see!

Another week of heatwave...quite stiffling esp since I am preggers. Looks like will have to try n stay indoors next week but easier said than done!:))

Summer heatwave

2006-06-13T05:20:00.000+08:00

From winter straight to summer. It has been hitting the 30's the past few days. Alhamdullillah, so far I have only spent 1 day flat - thanks to my hay fever. This is the 1st year in 7 that I have not taken my antihistamines daily. Insya Allah, the weather will be cooler the end of this week so my hay fever shud tail off. As for the heat...am coping so far, Alhamdullillah.

Had our scan last Thurs. Alhamdullillah, baby is doing well. Conforming to dutch size..million dollar question - sex. Well, we don't wanna know and baby cooperated w us. I was impressed that hubby managed to identify the 4 chambers of the heart compared to the last scan where he couldn't even recognize the head:)). Granted it was an axial view but still....

As for world cup, yes! I think baby enjoys it..pretty active during the matches. I still haven't decided which team to support. I suppose it will be England yet again..supported them while I was staying there but considering half of arsenal is french...hmmm...As for England, I really don't have the foggiest what eriksson is doing.

Anyway, to all footie fans (as if anyone reads my blog apart from me..:)) ) - enjoy the matches! can't wait to see henry n ronaldinho in action. btw, hubby proposed that if we have a boy, he wants to name the baby iman ronaldinho....:)) hmm...iman henry is quite nice as well..

Lazy Sunday

2006-06-04T21:49:00.000+08:00

It's been a while since I last updated this blog...well, our personal laptop is ill to the extent that our internet access was blocked due the the spam it was generating!! We are back online via hubby's!

Hmm...what have we been up to since my last entry. My aunt was here from S'pore the first weekend of May - brought our supply of a+w rootbeer (hubby craved). It was a very sunny and warm weekend so we paid Keukenhof a visit. Poss our last visit there b4 we leave NL. Then off to London for my exam. Learnt that studying during the 1st trimester of pregnancy is not a good idea at all :)). well, at least I tried.

Following weekend, bro in law was here from M'sia. Bless him! The weather went back to winter..but I think we managed to have some fun despite the weather. Went to Zeeland, Delft, Brussels, Nijmegen, Cologne and Aarchen.

With the French Open going on and the World Cup starting on Fri...I think we will be spending most of our time indoors:)) like today! Gave up on trying to peel hubby from the telly for a shower!!!

Apart from that, all is fine Alhamdullillah. I have stopped puking, have more energy. Have even started cooking. No spicy stuff as yet though...:( Insya Allah, will be able to soon..

Spring is here....

2006-04-19T20:58:00.003+08:00

Despite the temp not really up to spring standards, our tulips have started to bloom. We planted them before our trip to Egypt...Hubby did one box n me the other but we can't remember who did which flower box. Never mind...I can at least enjoy having tulips on my balcony. A gardening triumph for us..

On a different note, syukur Alhamdullillah we have conceived and are expecting our firstborn in Oct. The pregnancy so far has been ok despite the all day sickness n extreme fatigueness. The challenge has been to stay in n keep still. We bled at 10 weeks+ which was scary since it was a gush of fresh blood. All sorts of causes just rushed thro my brain...reminded me of when one receives a call while being oncall. Medics brains are trained to run thro all different scenarios while walking or running to wherever we are meant to be. Alhamdullillah, the baby is growing well n pretty active. Managed to get another scan done as well. So, insya Allah we will only have 3 scans in this pregnancy. But I am tempted to get a 3D scan done but not sure if the insurance will pay for it. The stupid insurance will not even pay for kraamzorg services which are part of the dutch maternity care package. Oh well!Presently am waiting for my gynae to ring w my blood results. European maternity care is sooooo different to M'sia. My next antenatal appt is in June!!To be fair, I cud have opted to deliver in M'sia but being away from my hubby for 4 months wasn't an option I wanted to consider.

Insya Allah, all will be well.

Moveable marriages

2006-03-23T23:38:00.000+08:00

Attended a talk organised by outpost today titled ' Moveable Marriages'. Fascinating facts esp as the speaker touched on quite a few things which really hit home. Among the points she higlighted:
1. Lost of income n financial independence
2. Career halt
3. Need to adjust to single income i.e. SINKY from DINKY
4. Communication

Well, I must admit I really do miss my financial independence, hubbyhas been fab - he lets me buy whatever I want within reason but I can't do it. Since everytime, I pick something up - I feel that I need to justify to him why i bought it. Just saying that I wanted it I feel is not enough a reason.Presently, the only reason I will go back to work is becoz of my financial independence...:))

At the end of the day, communication is the key to a lasting marriage. Syukur Alhamdullillah, we have managed to be able to communicate well. We learnt that esp during our 1st year of marriage..

I admit I used to get angry that he cud not pick up the phone to ring n wud prefer to email but now..I have gotten quite used to that.

On a lighter note, it's the last week of March and it is still COLD!!! The official spring day was a couple of days ago and it was 5 deg that day:)) I really can't wait for spring but am not looking forward to my hay fever..c'est la vie!!Yes! Human...never satisfied:))

Me birthday

2006-03-09T22:48:00.000+08:00

Many thanks to Eza, Dil n not forgetting Soffy for the beautiful bouquet...yup! no pink:)) My birthday yesterday was the 2nd I have celebrated in Holland and 8th in Europe. Wow! I have been away from M'sia for a while now...wonder where we will be next year..

Overall, it was a quiet one as I was suffering from a headache which started the nite before. Nearly bit off hubby's head when he suggested we celebrate before we prayed Isya' at midnite. I was just afraid the headache wud become worse if I postponed the prayers. Anyway, opened all the cards after prayers..and the pressies which were stored under the bed for the past few days on my b'day itself. Lilac seems to be the theme as Tahira n Yasar gave me a lilac top.BTW, the flowers on the top came off with a lil help from me:)) They must have forgotten I don't like flowery things...Don't get me wrong, I do love flowers esp tulips but not flowery stuff..:)) the tomboy in me still prevails..

My 3 yr old sweetheart n 2 of my god daughters are March kids as well...Fish power:))

Think I'll stop rambling on...can feel the headache returning! So, it's time for a power nap..

Oops...last but not least Happy belated 2nd anniversary to Eza n Dil..2 years eh with no 2 in tow...excellent!

House arrest

2006-03-01T01:10:00.000+08:00

Hubby put me on house arrest today :)) Boy! I can't believe I managed it. Was soooo tempted to clean the flat, do the ironing, empty the dishwasher BUT there was no way I wanna face hubby's wrath. Yes! Even the most laid back person can get pretty angry :))

In a way, it was nice to be able to put my feet up n do jack all. Thank God! I have the Chronicles of Narnia to read. Must say it is not as entertaining n gripping as Lord of The Rings but it's worth a read.

No need to do dutch homework this week since there are no classes :). A good friend of mine will be arriving w goodies from M'sia. Bateel dates.....ooooooo! I really love those...the ones that have candied lemon n orange peel. YUMMMMM! Wanted her to bring some toni's char kuey teow but don't want her to risk it. The customs at Schiphol can be quite a nuisance.

It snowed this morn and also in the afternoon but didn't stick. Hopefully, it will snow tonite but i bet it won't be as thick as last year. Well, better than nothing..

ik heb trek

2006-02-17T02:02:00.000+08:00

Darling hubbs rang at 1740 hrs saying that he was leaving which is really unusual for him as he normally ringsongeveer 1830-1900hrs. Shocked but happily surprised, i started cooking in hurry..i.e. didn't wait for the fish too dry properly before grilling it.As per usual, 1900 hrs came and no sign of him....rang him n guess where he was....still at work!!!! GGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!To top it off,I stopped studying at 5pm. Could do w another hour or so....

We were in Volendam last 2 weekends. We just had to take a piccie as it was pretty cool. Volendam is a lakeside (was a seaside) town. The white bit was ice followed by more ice then flowing water. There was even a patch of ice floating according to the current. Pretty cool stuff.

Vandaag, ik heb mijn lieve gezien. Mijn lieve is een twee jaar meisje!?! Wij hebben naar Leidsenhage gegaan. Op dit moment, ik ben erg boos en trek....

Werk...niet werk..

2006-02-08T01:15:00.000+08:00

Two of my med school friends came over for a visit last weekend. Well, one of them took a whole week off n the othe other had fri off. They took leave in anticipation of my going to London for a week helaas niet..It was really nice of them to come over n we had quite a few good few chats.

Hubby posed a good question. He asked if I missed working. I haven't really thought about it actually. My 1st answer was I didn't miss the work but the financial independence. It was soooo nice being able to shop without answering 1001 questions e.g. do u really need it, don't u have something similiar etc. Esp when I was earning in GBP!! Come to think of it, I pretty much miss the patient contact - they can drive u up the wall but it can be entertaining as well.

As a result of our discussions, I am sitting for the MRCP1 in May. Chance of me passing is extremely slim but my target is the september paper..2 reasons to visit London this year :))

Als voor weer, het is niet zo koud vergleken afgelopen week. Maar het was mere zonnig afgelopen week. Het is mere bewolking dit week. Ik houd can sneeuw maar ik denk dit jaar dat het niet sneeuw is.

Happy New Year

2006-01-31T00:02:00.000+08:00

I am in the mood to cook. Not sure why..we're having prawns in thai green curry, fish cakes n choy sum. Not sure if I am gonna stir fry the choy sum in oyster sauce or just garlic....haven't decided yet. Will wait till hubby rings before i do the vege. On the stove presently, are the chick peas for hummus. hubby hinted that he hasn't had hummus for some time. Planning to bake some cupcakes tonite as a back up for a kenduri tomorrow. Attempting to make steamed apam tomorrow morn. 1st try so not sure if will succeed or not..hence the cupcakes for back up...:))

It's Awal Muharram tomorrow.The beginning of a new year..I am definitely looking forward this coming year.

Beautiful winter's day

2006-01-23T22:41:00.000+08:00

It's a lovely winter's day albeit it is freezing cold. Nice and crisp.Temp is forecasted to go down to -6 deg tonite....brrrrr!But no snow...Syukur Alhamdulillah, the winds are not as strong as usual.Went to a farewell lunch wet last friday as it rained n the wind blew from all directions. An umbrella was pretty useless.
Went to a friend's cukur jambul do for her son yesterday. It was fab. Must say that it was the 1st one i've been to since being in Europe. Obviously didn't go to any while I was in London. Then again, people tend to go back home to do it...not many M'sians opt to deliver their children here. We are pretty spoilt w our healthcare system back home.
I am fasting today..have another 2 days to go i.e. fasting wise.Can't wait to have a nice hot milo in slightly over an hour's time from now.. :)

Sob sob sob

2006-01-19T23:07:00.000+08:00

Hubby came home with bad news yesterday. We are not going to London...I was soooo looking forward to this trip but alas! His company wants him to go on a different course instead....Well, Allah has other plans for us.

Anyway, met up w a friend with her 2 lovely daughters and her newborn son. Thank God! They still remember me....yup! their 'nanny' is back in town :)) They are having a cukur jambul kenduri this weekend so bet all the usual suspects will be there.

Think have proscrastinated enuff, must start revising my dutch. Classes start again tomorrow...Ik ben moe maar ik moet oefening te doen.

Back to cold weather...bbbbrrrrrr

2006-01-17T01:09:00.000+08:00

After 3 weeks in hot n humid Malaysia, we were greeted by 0 deg n no direct train to The Hague. My darling hubby had to lug our luggage up 2 different trains so much so we decided to cab it back to our flat. Our journey from the airport took 2 hours and a bit instead of an hour. Syukur Alhamdulillah, we were well rested during our flite back since we were ugraded to biz class :)
Hmm....just realised that I need to pack again soon for our trip to London. Feels like I am packing n unpacking esp in these past few months :)) Not complaining though since I love travelling. Am really looking forward to our trip to London...want to do all the things I didn't manage to during my 6 years of living there plus meeting up w all my friends.
Need to get back to my over due paper....or what my NKI collleagues prefer the term manuscript! Also, need to revise my dutch since I start my classes again this fri...

Anniversary

2005-12-20T23:44:00.000+08:00

Today is our 3rd wedding anniversary and the FIRST time we are in the same country!! Yup! 1st one, we were separated by the North Sea and 2nd by a continent!! Suffice to say, I am absolutely chuffed to bits!!

Have packed for the trip back home. Am afraid we may be over the limit. Lots of stuff to bring back..will ask hubbs to weigh the bags later tonite.If yes, then will have to spend tomorrow repacking. Can't wait to go back but am definitely not looking forward to the journey..shouldn't complain really. At least it is a direct flite and we're flying MAS :))

X'mas..New Year...Eid..

2005-12-19T20:54:00.000+08:00

I love being in Europe this time of year. The x'mas lights...Much prefer the atmosphere in London compared to Den Haag.

The x'mas markets in Germany are legendary and an event that one should try not to miss..so we have been told. And it definitely wasn't a dissapointment. Hamburg was our destination last weekend. It was cold but the atmosphere was nice n warm. We bought our gluhwein mugs without the gluhwein of course! Can't wait to use it for hot chocolate...Hamburg is a lovely city.They have lots of shopping malls which was a blessing as it was still heated even though the shops were shut..A real shopper's paradise but unfortunately the sales haven't started yet.High end merchandise as well..

It snowed on our way back...which was sooo beautiful. Had lunch in Groningen. Was amazed to find out that it was a nice city..not small..possibly bigger than The Hague.

Have started packing for our trip to M'sia this fri. Yup! We're off on another holiday :)) We'll be celebrating Eid there as well. Nice break for hubby who has been working so very hard this year.

Rain...gray...winter

2005-12-06T01:10:00.000+08:00

We're back from the Land of the Pharoahs, pyramids,temples n tombs. In short, the trip was interesting n very enlightening albeit a tad short. There was a lot to take in.This trip definitely has sparked my interest in ancient civilisation. Yes...looks like that will be next on my reading list. Still have not finished reading about art collection at the Mesdag museum...which reminds me that I only have another 6 months on my museeumkaart, must start hitting the museums again soon. Plan to visit Panorama Mesdag after my dental appt tomorrow.

We spent 3 days in Cairo, took the sleeper train to Luxor. 2 days exploring Luxor and 1 day Edfu, Kom Ombo and Aswan. Managed to squeeze a sunset fellucca ride on the Nile. Out of all the cities, I think both hubbs n I love Luxor. Would love to go back and visit Abu Simbel, Alexandria and Sharm El Sheikh but we'll see.

Looks like we are travelling a lot these few months. Egypt in nov/dec, poss Germany to visit the X'mas market Fri week and back to M'sia the following Fri. Am definitely not complaining. Think hubbs needs the break as well. He has not taken much leave this year...

One thing for sure is the fact that we are really looking forward to going back to M'sia...bro in law's engagement do, niece and nephew's b'day party...hubbs trying to squeeze in a trip to penang to savour the soft shell crabs.yum!! must make sure I exercise a lot there..

een lui zondag

2005-11-20T20:41:00.000+08:00

this has been a pretty quiet week since i was ill. pretty much stayed at home. even missed my badminton sess on mon!
however, i did go out on thurs to visit the peace palace. hmm....cud feel the presence of world justice there. visited the hall where the sipadan island case was tried. found out that the public can attend the case hearing. next case is bosnia herzegovina vs serbia montenegro - application of convention on the prevention and punishment of crime of genocide. the case will start end of feb...am really interested to attend. hopefully, i don't forget!!
it's the weekend so of course we have open houses to attend :)) went a friend's place yesterday..the trip around her table sent us round SEA. she cooked burmese laksa, siamese macaroni soup, bruneian rice and cendol medan!! of course both hubby n i tucked in esp since we were both fasting yesterday. we have another house to go to today n we are fasting. suffice to say, we will be stuffing our face in yet again!! need to control the intake as i need to lose at least 2 kgs more. MIL commented I have put on weight since I left KL in Feb, I have actually lost approx 4 kgs to date!!i definitely don't want to go back to my anorexic look when i got married!! well, c'est la vie!

Beautiful autumn day

2005-11-14T21:40:00.000+08:00

It's such a beautiful sunny day today but it's cold! Temp is in the low teens...so the weather forecast say. I haven't been outside at all today as I am suffering from acute laryngitis.Prob brought on by the stress of preparing for our 1st eid open house. Till today, I can't believe we managed to squeeze in approx 50 people at one go....enjoyed it although it was pretty tiring! Our flat is still in a mess...tidying it up slowly. Thank God for the floral gifts, our flat looks lovely even though it is in a tip!i am kicking myself for leaving most of the vases I got as wedding gifts in KL as well. All jugs have been converted into vases for the time being. The flowers were all in a pail before!!

Am actually looking forward to hosting my next open house...wonder where it will be held...I think I know how much food to cook as well so that there will be not too much surplus.We'll see..But need to have more culinary training from mum in law first. Was very dissapointed w my rendang!

Het Suikerfeest

2005-11-04T21:22:00.000+08:00

Eid...food! Am recovering slowly from yesterday. Tried to control the portions of food I had but... After the do at the embassy, we went to five open houses - granted it is not as many as we wud go to in m'sia but still the same amount of damage if not more!The day ended at 12:30 am!! This evening, we're off to Rotterdam for another 2 open houses!?! My poor GI system...

Hubbs and I are planning to host an open house soon since we're off to Egypt in a few weeks time. Am really looking forward to this trip..it's such a nice feeling to know that I can come back to Holland after that. No threat of being deported to M'sia, insya Allah!

I'm giving my brain a rest....got totally confused during the dutch lesson this morning. Left the class w a glazed look...Ik vindt altijd grammatica is erg moeilijk.Ook in Engels. Het maak Nederlands meer moeilijk voor mij..Ik denk ik moet praat en leest meer Nederlands. Ja wel!Ik probeer..Ik heb niet 100% gedaan.

Eid Mubarak

2005-10-28T22:26:00.000+08:00

Today is the 25th of Ramadhan...yup! Eid is really just around the corner. Wow! Can't believe it..this month has really flown past, literally in a blink of an eye!! We're celebrating eid here this year..was in M'sia last year. The celebrations here are pretty festive based on Eid 2003. The day will start with prayers followed by an eating sess of course at the embassy. Not sure if there will be open houses this year as Eid falls on a week day..we'll see. Apart from being with our families, I will definitely miss hearing the takbir. My hubby was sooo excited last year that he went to prayers early just to takbir :) He will definitely do the same here but it is a different feeling altogether.

Both my hubby and i wish all Muslims 'Eid Mubarak'. Veel plezier!

Melancholy

2005-10-20T03:02:00.000+08:00

This is the time of the year when one starts feeling melancholic. Mid ramadhan n it's cold!!! Plus the chilly wind from the north blowing hard..bbrrrrrrr...

A part of me yearns to go back to KL for eid but I don't think I can face the dreaded q's....e.g. why r u not preggers yet? N the comments one receives, my fav one so far is 'ingatkan tak nak anak'. Oh man!To think I have given up my career for what? just to live off my hubby,shake legs n twiddle my thumbs??? I really thought I was over this phase of my life but it's sneaked up on me yet again. It's a vicious cycle..

Actually made it to the Mesdag Museum yesterday. It was a quaint lil museum, full of delightful treasures tucked away in the Mesdagkwartier. Was introduced to the works of Sargent n Mancini. Have not read much about them but intend to. That museum was actually in between exhibitions..thank god for my museumkaart, I will not think twice about visiting it again...

Eerste Zondag

2005-10-09T23:38:00.000+08:00

This is the 1st sunday in long time that we haven't stuffed our faces in. Syukur Alhamdullillah for the fasting month!

We had a pretty busy day yesterday. Didn't sleep after suhoor. Well, I couldn't stay in the flat any longer. My 48 hours of rest was definitely over. I am not 100% well yet as I am still coughing but what the heck..I know that this cough will last at least a week. Went to Den Heijer for fish, must say that the fish didn't look as fresh as it did the previous Fri. Off to Leidsenhage for grocery shopping then Delft for farewell gifts followed by to Xotus.

Rang the parents but I didn't manage to speak to my in laws. Had to start preparing for iftar. Hubby wanted 'dendeng tok cik'..so since his wish is my command, I tried cooking it. Didn't have a clue what it is suppose to look like or taste. Then again, it's fasting month so taste didn't matter :)) Hubby said it was nice. But I felt the meat wasn't garing enuff. Made 2 portions - 1 for the men n the other for the ladies tables respectively BUT the portion for the men ended up on Dato's table. To add injury to the insult, they (members of Dato's table) only ate 1/2 of the portion...grrr...anyway, took some from the ladies table for hubby.

Being overseas n fasting, one starts craving for stuff. Bit difficult since people tend to jump to the conclusion that we are preggers :)) Ja wel! Latest craving is guava..esp w the assam powder. For the life of me, I cannot remember when I had it last!! Think my body wants vit c n has had enuff of getting it from oranges! then again...limau bali...yummm...

My darling other half is working from home. So called work life balance :)). Shudn't complain really since he has managed to be home for iftar.And I don't have to cook tonite since we're off to a farewell do.

Oh that note, I shall end this entry. Tot volgende tijd! Mijn man...hij hebt mijn laatse blog gelezen. Hij vindt het zo grappig.Maar ik moet probeer...