20122012 : Happy 3rd Birthday Ryan

Last Thursday on 20 December 2012, my smart, adorable, loving, cheeky, mischievous son turn 3. He's my best friend and kawan gaduh. Such a joy to be with, though there are times when he can prove to be quite a challenged to handle :)

As a part of Project Birthday 2012 : We celebrated his (and also adiks) birthday in Johor, Singapore and Malacca. How's that for a celebration?? Will write more on our 4 days adventure soon. 

Before I forget, let me wish my cheeky cheeks the happiest birthday and hopefully you'll have a good year ahead. May Allah bless you always. I pray and hope that you will grow up to be a soleh and a responsible son and big brother to your sister. Mummy, Daddy, Iman & Ranya love you very much. My little man is all grown up, he's even starting school next week :) 

The one on BH & AH

There was a period I shall call BH (before house) where around this time of the year I would be busy browsing on the internet for new handbags :p.Now I'm in a new era, a time which I shall refer to AH (after house) where I'm currently obsessed with anything and everything that have to do with interior designs.

Come 1 January 2013, it would mean that I've (we) officially moved into our crib for 2 years. However, in terms of house deco I would have to say that it is not "there" yet. The process of turning the place just the way I want it is a slow, sometimes painful (esp on my wallet) process.Renovations and furniture don't come cheap. So we need to really save up before we can start on any project. Even DIY is very challenging since we have our hands full with the little kiddies. Nonetheless, I am determined to make it work.

Malaysians by way of my observation prefers clean, matchy-matchy, hotel like, uniformed type of designs. I have yet to encounter any quirky houses with mismatch furniture and vintagey feel to it. I am currently inspired by several designs mags and blogs (from over the sea ;p ) The houses are rarely adorn with expensive furniture but for some reason it just looks so comfy and inviting. It also has character. You come in the house and you can instantly say "ohhhh this screams si so and so".

At the moment I feel that my pad is missing that little "je ne sais quoi", so I'm on a mission to change that :) When we first moved in everything was new (i.e. paint jobs, tiling etc) so we didn't feel like we needed to do a lot of stuff at that moment (the limited $$$ contributed to that decision too). 

Now that we have settled down and gotten to know the house better (like real) I feel like I'm in a better place to make deco decision (i.e. what kind of space the family needs rather than what we THINK we needed). Anyway we've just completed the tiling for the front porch so I'm a happy camper (at least for the moment), I'm happy enough to move on to my next project(s)...

List of Home Improvement Projects for 2013 :)

Ever since Sex & The City, I've always wanted a walk in closet for myself :p

The extra room upstairs is meant to be the twins bedroom but for the next few years until they are old enough to sleep on their own, I'm turning it into my walk in closet (haha) and prayer room 

(sejuk hati baca kan? *wek*)

Currently, I've divided the room into 2 sections using a rail and some light curtains. 

I'm still stuck over storage at the moment (yes, 3 clothes racks is still not enough) but a new chest drawer, some paint job, carpeting and wall hangings should be able to pull the room together. 

The playroom downstairs is also work in progress.

Some changes needed to be made especially now that the twins are older.

Nothing major but I'm so in love with some of the new designs of wallpapers by La.Mex

I'm also eyeing a bigger table for them to use in terms of snacks and colouring

(now semua nak rebut so I need 2-3 of everything for my own peace of mind)

I don't think wallpaper in a bathroom in Malaysia is the way to go but I do love the idea of those brighly coloured walls. Awesome pussom :)

 

Lovely living room designs. Comfortable, bright and homey

I'm trying to emulate some of the decor ideas by injecting splashes of colors and trinkets

but I've yet to find a "theme" that I can commit so this project is in my KIV file :p 

The master bedroom is not on the list because I'm currently sharing it with the 3 lil kiddies and with the 2 extra cots and kids stuff in the room I don't have much room for "stuff" if you get what I mean. I do want a new bed though. The old bed dragged from our old crib in Shah Alam don't seem to cut it anymore. Nak new king size bed boleh?

Yes this long winded post is courtesy of boredom since 2/3 of the office is gone for annual dinner. 

I decided to give it a miss this year because I'm lazy and I don't feel like socializing haha.

Nak balik nak balik nak balik...

121212 : The Day My Princesses Turn ONE

Dear Iman & Ranya,

I can't believe you are one. 

The past one year has been a blessing. 

With both of you each joy and happiness is always x2

Mummy, Daddy and Ryan is so thankful that both of you are around.

My prayers are always with you 

My dua to Allah is for you to grow up into solehah, intelligent, healthy and gorgeous young ladies

*in sha Allah*

Loads of love, hugs and kisses and hope both of you enjoyed the little mini celebration mummy and daddy planned for you yesterday

Lan and I took leave to bring my 2 little angels out for their birthday lunch at One Utama

Excuse the headless snowman, my husband is rubbish with photo composition 

(but we LOVE you anyway, daddy ;p)

Yesterday was a bit of challenge because we were left without our double strollers 

(which is in my sis safekeeping for our Johor/Melaka/Singapore trip next week)

I think I have grown a pair of muscles from taking turns to carry the twins around OU

Anyway loving their new ruffled top that I got from Brands Outlet and the recycled tutu skirts

Comelkan the birthday girls :) 

What are birthdays without presents?

I had the twins choose their presents, made them go through a few selections and they made the final pick. We ended up with my little ponies dolls. I LOVE MY LITTLE PONIES :)

I had to hide the hairclips though as it is not 1 year old friendly but the twins esp. Iman had so much fun putting on and taking out the ponies shoes 

(oh no daddy another shoehaholic in the making)

Ohh and I got them a pair of maxi dresses. 

The rare exception when I buy IDENTICAL clothes because it is just too cute.

You see I do dress them in similiar designs but I rarely buy them in the exact colours etc.

Sebab at the end of the day, the feeling of having double of everything in exact same colour,size and designs just aint cool :p

We had our lunch in New York,New York Deli

The food is so-so la. The root beer float is HUGE but lacking that extra umpphh you can only get in A&W 

The meat platter was adequate but I only managed to taste a bit of everything so maybe you should not take my final review on it. 

Had to tapau because we didn't get the chance to eat properly as the twins got restless 

But the mushroom cappuccino soup is quite good. 

The extra milk foam and dash of choc gave it some extra flavor

Food Ratings : 6.9/10

Ryan, Iman and Ranya birthday favors to be distributed to the friends in Kindy. 

50 toothbrush and toothpaste sets that I, not in my brightest moments decided to wrap individually instead of chucking it in a paper bag :p 

From the girls are ones wrapped in pink princess printed paper and from Ryan is the one with pirate wrapping paper design. Both came with stickers with the kiddies names :)

The toothbrushes was hubby's idea. 

Which made for a good change from the usual "jajan" that usually end up in the parents tummy anyway :p

That is all for Project Birthday 2012: Part 1. 

Part 2 & 3 coming soon. Stay Tune!!!

A Change in Scenery...

Say hello to my new blog design...

It is a bit monochromatic but it fits my end of the year mood, do not mistaken it to symbolize "moodiness and depression" though :p The design is an inspiration from my current obsession with interior designing magazines and blogs.

I was looking for some "head silhouette" art for my house deco. A very cute and cheap way to decorate a room. All you need is a printer and some frames and wallaaa... quirky cuteness overload :)

 
As I was "cutting and pasting" the silhouettes in "Paint", I find the combo of our "family heads" looks real cute on screen so I decided to make it into my blog header. Oh well it may change tomorrow since I get bored easily but it makes for a nice change to brightened up my otherwise deary Monday...

Have an awesome week ahead peeps.. Me wanna go collect my latest online purchase *ooppss*

The One With The Orange Wedding...

 The day before the reception :) Ryan, Nidal and Alia "helping out" Baba Ngah putting up the dais. 

It is so easy when you have family in the business....

 My fairy princess all decked in their tutus & wings (??)
Anyways loving the accessories from Shopping Chicas.
You guys should check it out, the owner is super efficient and the products are gorgeous :)

 Last Saturday was "HOT", good day to have a wedding because it is sunny as compared to the heavy storm the day before...

The kiddies attacking daddy for cendol. Lan wanted to feed Ryan je sebenarnya, but the twins, my little foodie did not want to be left out :p

 My Mum with my pumpkin patch girls...

L/R: Iman, Dareen, Kimmie, Ranya and Induk Alia

They are so cute kan :)

 Ahhhhh my cake obsessed lil boy...

He was so excited when he saw the cake box, when my cousin Aqil teased him that the cake was not for him, he started WAILING... Geram ok.

Thank god we managed to distract him enough for Arif and Aisyah to cut the cake FIRST!!

Anyway the cake is from my fave baker :) Nadibakes 

My sis and I was in charged of the cake and I came up with the rosette orange ombre design 

The flavour is red velvet as per bride's request.

I know it is a bit tilted due to the heat.. the fact that it is red velvet does not really help due to the lack of support... Taste good though...

Which reminds me, with or without a birthday party, I need to order an Avengers cake for this lil boy...

Ryan... Ryan...

 My handsome lil man...
Kawan gaduh mummy :p

Iman with my fave cousin Amir.. 

The kind of mischief the pair of us used to be in :p

Baba Sue, you're next ok!! *In Sha Allah*

My youngest Miss Ranya Fatimah
The center of attention due to her wings :)
Lil kids (girls esp) was pointing at her and was all
"mummy she has wings, mcm fairy"

Hahaha the story behind the wings:

I was having a hard time finding an orange outfit for my girls

It is either too orange (jack o lantern) or not orange enough 

(statement mcm Goldilocks la pulak)

My refusal on buying matching outfits makes it even difficult to clothes hunt

(if the outfit cost more than RM20, I wont pay double for IDENTICAL stuff)

I ended up having to buy separate pieces from H&M and Cotton On in cream and orange 

after 2 weeks of hunting finally found the singlet which meets my criteria of orange but not too orange :p

so that is my story on how Ranya got her wings hahaha

I may need to deal with my distaste on buying identical stuff soon

More on this, in my next post :)

With the rest of the family

My sis ain't around because she was in Langkawi for work :p

(ohhh HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY MAK LONG!!!)

To  my cousin Arif, congrats :) and may you be a good husband and father. Aisha welcome to the family!!! May Allah bless your marriage all the way to Jannah *in sha allah*

Ranya my lil technology freak..

So cute watching her lil fingers change the pictures on screen..

tak nak share with the rest of her siblings pulak tu...

Iman was down with fever since Monday. Turn out it was tonsillitis (too much cendol? haha)

So Lan and I had to take EL yesterday to bring her to the docs.

She's been refusing milk and food due to her swollen tonsils

Must be very painful and she was extra clingy (not that she's not clingy on normal days la ;p)

I brought her to Haagen Daaz for a lil vanilla ice-cream treat to cheer her up

Happy sekejap je, pastu moody balik.. 

takpela sayang... get well soon ya

okk peeps break time is over... adios amigos!!!

Wordless Wednesday #19

Coming Soon?? *insyallah*

Celebrating my TRIPLE blessings...

In less than a month (or so) Iman and Ranya would be turning one and Ryan is turning three :) December means triple birthday celebration for the Azlan-Farhanna household (how's that for family planing?? haha)

I'll be taking leave on their respective birthdays and I've already made plans for activities to be carried out on the day itself and the joined celebration in school (yes I do plan months in advanced ;p) I've even chosen their birthday presents. Now I'm just wondering whether I should throw the kiddies a birthday party at home. The problem with my family is there is no such thing as a "small celebration". We're not talking "extravagance" here, I'm referring to the guest list. I have a huge extended family and we're very close, so I don't feel right doing something and not inviting everyone...

Anyway, Ryan is old enough to appreciate "birthdays". He don't know WHEN is his birthday but he understands the concept of a birthday cake and presents. He's been asking for a "dademan (spiderman) + captain ayeyeca (captain america)" cake and like most parents, I would like to make my lil boy's wish come true.

Iman and Ranya is of course too young to understand birthday celebrations but since (and if) I'm throwing Ryan a birthday party, of course it will be a triple celebration between these three. A double/triple themed party would be fun hehe...Superhero themed party for Ryan and fairy princess theme for the twins... hmm my little pony would be fun too... or dinosaurs.... (maybe all 4 since I'm so fickle minded :p)

Arrghhhhh my mind is already bursting with ideas for decorations and menu for the party. Since I'm a DIY kind of girl, I know I can work everything within a reasonable budget :) uuuuuuu Imagine a garden party (provided that it did not rain) with pretty deco + cute little kids running around... I want...I want...

My mind is pretty much made up (provided the husband consented to this) : I should do this, right? RIGht? RIGHT??? hahaha

Ze Latest Addition :)

I've been thinking of replacing my Blackberry Bold 2 to for quite some time but despite the arrival of a whole range of smart phones last year nothing grab my attention enough for me to replace my beloved BB. I was also telling myself not to be "tamak" since I just got the Galaxy Tab for my bday this year.

Lo and behold, during my random conversation with En.Azlan a few weeks back, he suddenly proposed to get me a new phone under the condition that I loan him either my Ipod Touch/G.Tab during the day for him to use at work. You know what they say "rezeki jangan ditolak?" Naturally, I said YES ;p

I was set on an Android because Iphones are just too fragile for butterfingers me :p so it was a choice between the new Galaxy Note 2 or Samsung SIII. The features is about the same so I went for design and since I've never been a fan of the Note family which I've liken to be so "gedabak" and it feels like talking with a calculator, I chose the SIII to join my lil' gadget family. Anyway I have my tab for media viewing and other stuff :)

I've been using the phone for about a week now and I have to say that I'm very very happy with it :)
That is my short review on zee phone, have an awesome weekend everyone. I'm going back to Perak tomorrow, what is your weekend activity???

Meet Lil S in her cute pinky winky outfit :)



Ryan's Sunway Adventure...

Last 2 weeks was my company's family day. It was held in Sunway Lagoon so I decided to bring Ryan. We left the twins with atuk and nenek as it would be too hot for them and our movements with be limited. 

 

Glad to say Ryan had loadsa fun swimming, looking at animal @ Sunway Wildlife and going on the baby friendly rides. It was awesome because he wasn't afraid to try :) I can foresee planning similar trip for him soon...

 

 The look alike :p

 

 @ Surf pool

 

 @Sunway Wildlife

 

 "eee mummy snake.. geyiii"

 

 "mummy dinochoo fly"

 

After close to 5 hours, we went home as it was starting to rain heavily. This little boy was so exhausted that once he got his bottle he immediately fell asleep in his stroller :)

 

All in all a great day...



The Gloom and the Dooms -__-

You want to know what is hardest thing to be? It is being thankful. We’re a thankless lot and maybe that is the reason why most people are generally unhappy and negative. You just have to log into FB and twitter to see that I’m right. Everybody and everything SUCKS. That is not counting normal conversations, blog post and even IG accounts. Instead of taking pretty pictures that will lift up their moods they will find the darkest clouds or a big fat blob and comment “this is how I feel at the moment :'( ”

I call this people the “glooms and the dooms”. 98% of the things that came out of their mouth is how shitty everything is for them, how horrible god is to them, blahblahblah… It came to a point where you feel like telling them “OMG roll over and die already”.

You don’t have to be happy ALL the time, it will be unnatural (and a bit psychotic) if you’re always smiling but to never see the silver lining in anything is just sad. The problem with Miss/Mr. Gloom and Doom is I find them a bit (a lot) self-absorbed and thankless. I feel like asking them “how is your life so sucky that you can’t even find ONE thing in your life to be thankful for?”

Some has great job, steady salary, awesome family, husband, bf/gf but will still choose the one thing that they don’t have and they will go on and on and on about them. They will talk, blog even dream about it. Never finding the solution always creating more problems for themselves (i.e. indulging in self destructive behavior which is a whole new topic of their own)

For example a friend once told me she hated her job. My answer to her is this “You have 2 choices STAY and somehow make it bearable or LEAVE and get a new job”. I could tell she was a bit pissed off with me and I know that advice falls under the “easier said than done” category but what exactly do you expect me to say? It is not my job to sugar coat things because it sounds better for their delicate ears.

IF YOU ARE UNHAPPY, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!! To keep on doing the same thing expecting different results is just plain stupid.

I’m sorry but I’m just annoyed and a bit disappointed with some of the people around me at the moment. It reminded me of the time when I was that person. So absorbed with my problems that I literally blocked everyone out for months. Lying on the bed wallowing in my lost and sorrows, hating everyone who’s happy around me. So freaking bitter.

I was lucky that I had people around me who won’t tolerate with such nonsense for long. They made me realized that I had so much other thing going in my life, I moved on and adopted a healthier and more positive outlook in life. Someone told me that when I’m feeling down I should go out and do something nice to others, get out of my self-absorption and realized there are people out there suffering much worst.

Now that I’m a mother, I’m slowly learning to let go of my selfish behavior and pay attention to others needs instead. Maybe that is why Allah gave me kids fast and in quantity (haha) to help me shed my bad qualities; p

Anyway about 6 years ago I felt as if the sky is falling down on me, however once I’ve learned to accept things will happen and I have no power to stop them but I do have a control over how I reacted towards it and have started to learn to respect and love myself more, things changed for the better. Alhamdullilah.

I still have my low moment, when I do go “bipolar”, hateful and jealous over things that I don’t have but I try to get rid of the “shittyness” fast. I’ll vent it out and try not to keep on talking about it and go on being busy doing other stuff. That is why I stopped using my blog as a venting place, because I try to make it my “happy zone” a place where I can always find a reason to smile.Maybe it comes across as a bit fake and “fluffy” but I’m happy with the way things are at the moment and hope I’ll never be that person I was a few years back. *insyallah*

Anyway for the "glooms and dooms", I have a song that my friend love to sing to us back in school :-

Nobody loves me, everybody hates me

Think I'll go and eat worms

Long ones, short ones, fat ones, thin ones

See how they wriggle and squirm

I bite off the heads, and suck out the juice

And throw the skins away

Nobody knows how fat I grow

On worms three times a day

Ohh...nobody loves me.

My 10 Months Old Princesses

I don't do much milestones updates with the twins as compared with Ryan, kan? But than again I don't update my blog as often too nowadays what with IG and Twitter and what not (excuses disguising as reasons)

Anywayzzz... Iman and Ranya turned 10 months young lasy Friday :) They are at the stage where they have just found the functions of their legs and voices. Currently, there's plenty of crawling, rolling, strolling, screaming an babbling going around in the Azlan-Farhanna abode.

Iman

• The more advanced of the two when it comes to motor skills.
• She's climbing and totting along furniture (edge of sofa and bed)
• Can climb down the bed successfully (feet first)
• Very fast crawler
• Can use the word "mama" in the right context( i.e.bila merengek nak mummy)
• Says "yum" when she's eating or wants food
• Waves when you say "tata"
• Knows how to do flying kiss but she's touch her cheeks instead of her lips
• The more sensitive and manja of the two
• Vain : loves the mirror like the big brother (haha) and she LOVES it when people brush her hair and compliments her :p

Ranya

• The more advance when it comes to speech skills
• Mimics tone and babble single consonants like "baba" "mama" "dada" "tata" "nyumnyum"
• She once imitated me saying "hahaha" in a sing-songy voice much to everyone surprise :p
• Avid clapper :p she'll clap and shake her tooshie when you sing her 3 fave songs "pok amai-amai" "ABC" and "wheels on the bus"
• She KNOWS the function of my tab + BB. Obviously I keep it out of her reach but she loves this baby game and will actually fight with Ryan if he interrupts her during the game.
• Ranya crawls military style and when she don't feel like it she will roll around the house and when all of the above fails, she will scream for attention *haha*
• I've seen her stand up and climb on her own but not as often as Iman
• If she wants you to pick her up, she'll actually tug your hand or skirt to get your attention and says "ammmmeeeek" cute ok haha

I just realised that my role has now been extended to a "referee". Now that the girls are older, not only do they berebut stuff with each other, they also tend to step into Ryan's "territory" more often much to Ryan's dissatisfaction. Ryan hates sharing toys especially his cars.My son the neat freak has designated place for his toys and the girls kept messing it up :p So someone is always screaming and crying-la at my house.

I have to credit Ryan as an awesome brother despite it all. He carries "dedeks" bottle, reminded me to feed their breakfast cereal, plays pee-ka-boo with them during car rides to school and will ask for the girls when they are not around. Having to compete with 2 lil sisters at the same time is not easy but he's doing it very well :)

Our holiday up in the sky...

We managed to squeeze in another short family holiday to celebrate my dad's 59th Birthday last weekend. This time around I choose Genting Highlands mainly because my company has a service apartment in Awa.na and because of the short drive.

We've forgone our yearly overseas trip because it will be pretty much unmanageable this year with the twins being so tiny still + Ryan (maybe next year, insyallah) so we've plan for a series of short "cuti-cuti Malaysia" breaks where we only need to make less than 3 hours drive :p

Ok more photos and less talk. (The pictures quality is so-so because I took most of the photos with my BB and Tab. Forgot my camera, but after editing etc it aint that bad I think...)

 The "wajib" picture of my 3 lil munchkins. I seriously LOVE the twins dresses. It is a total steal because I managed to get them for RM10 each (hence the matching outfits)

 The entourage. Happy 59th Birthday atuk.

We love you so much and thank you for everything

 What's with the pose babe?

 The lil girls in the white trench coat (haha)

The coat reminded me of the one that Suri Cruise has :p so when I saw it terus beli 2. Hopefully I'll find another use for it. I think we need to plan a visit to someplace cold daddy (hint hint)

Ohh we did not bring our double stroller due to the space limit in the car. End up being a good call sebab as you know Genting is not a very stroller friendly place with the stairs and elevators.

 Heheh feeling all snug in their coats and cold weather, the twinnies slept and slept :p

Ryan's first solo theme park ride.

Serious berani anak mummy beratur sorang-sorang and naik the ride.

I was nervous innitially because before Ryan there was a boy who started crying when he got in the car and they had to stop the ride halfway.When it is Ryan's turn and being the champ that he is,he did not even blink (he was too busy driving and ignoring all of us,who was waving like the over excited parents/gparents/uncle/aunts that we are- uncool :p)

We did not buy the full theme park tag but only bought 2 indoor ride tickets. When we reach the theme park it was already 4pm and it was raining very heavily (visibility was really bad with the fog and all *scary*) and most of us are either too small (the twins), too old (my parents haha), or too chicken (the rest minus hubby and Ryan)

Ryan wanted to ride the "horse" so he and I went on the merry-go-round

We drove home and had delish home cooked meals prepared by my brother in law which we heated up in the apartment's microwave. Later it was family movie night watching "Real Steel" on HBO :p

 Early morning walk with the early risers :)

 Muka budak-budak busok tak mandi lagi hahaha

Before checking out Ryan dragged me to the fish pond because he saw some tortoise and fishes and wanted to see it closer.

All in all it was great weekend. Last week was a very challenging week, where all 3 kids took turns getting sick with bronchitis and high fever. Alhamdullilah all of them recovered and this trip was what all of us needed to recharge. Loads of love and fresh air :) Until next time...

xOxO,

Far