AWOL

I'll be away from work (and blog) for 11 days for a much deserved break with my family (or so I would love to think). Pray that I'll have a safe and fun filled holiday *In Sha Allah* and see ya later, alligator.

This boy got talent *masyaAllah*

Date : 6 October 2013
Venue: Hotel Goldcourse, Klang

Earlier this month, Ryan's kindy had organized a Graduation Day (for the 6 year old) and Talent Day (for the 4-5 year old). It was a successful and fun filled event. Watching the little munchkins perform (and forget) their steps warms my heart. I couldn't help but tear up a little watching little strangers reciting Surah Yassins by heart and accepting their diplomas after that. That would be my little boy in 2 years time *in sha Allah*

Time is moving very fast, hopefully, I will get to enjoy this phase to the maximum because I would sure miss this moment when my children would be too old and too cool to hang with mummy :'(

with my handsome little boy at the start of the event :)

The "doorgifts" for the kiddies, kinda cool that they remembered the "celebrated" by providing toys to all the little men and ladies. Ryan was of course over the moon to get this "CARS" garage set which made him totally pumped up to perform

I admit I was crazy nervous, totally afraid that there would be a repeat to his sports day tantrum. Alhamdullilah Ryan proved to be a total champion, remembering all his steps and looking as if he was having the time of his life on stage.

The biggest surprise of the day : Ryan and I was awarded the Most Creative award for his class for the Fun English at Home programme. I did not expect this but I would say it is kinda awesome when your hard work is recognized even if I was just doing something I truly love and enjoyed, which is arts and crafts and spending time with Ryan. Now I'm all pumped and "kiasu" to win it again next year:p

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A short video of Ryan doing the 'Endang'. A Negeri Sembilan dance, which is quite fitting because he is 1/4 N9ners anyway hehehe. My extended family members (my aunt and uncles) semua excited tengok the video because it is part of our "heritage. Enjoy :)

Baby Harness : Yay, Nay or Ada Aku Kisah?

I've always been a huge supporter of using a baby harness. I first came across it in some random parenting blog. Admittedly my first reaction was "macam doggy" :p but after further reading and research about the harness, weighing in its pros and cons, Lan and I decided that we're going to get one. 

We first started talking about baby harness a few weeks before our Jakarta trip. Ryan was around 19 months old then and just entering the "discovery phase" and I was seven months pregnant with his sisters. I know there is no way that I'll be able to get him to stay in his stroller for hours and letting him run free is not an option. It was my 4th time going to Indonesia and I'm fully aware how crowded the parks and shopping mall can get especially during the weekends and being heavily pregnant, I know I won't be able to be running after him all the time. I went straight to Mothercare after that and bought the cutest backpack-like cow harness for him. 

The thing about using a harness on your baby means you have to be ready to deal with stares/people pointing and even snide comments. I've had someone said to my face "macam anjing", laugh at us, and whispered loudly "kesian anak dia" when they think I was out of their hearing range. Ignore them I say especially if you have your babies best interest at heart.Keep in mind that should anything happen to your kid because you lose your concentration for a split second, these same person would be the first person to turn around and accused you of being a bad parent. Parenting to me is doing whatever that works for you and your baby.

Some people thinks that using a harness is the lazy way of disciplining your kid. I actually read a comment on Babycenter, where this mother of 4 was chastising everyone who is even considering of using a harness. Quoting her "if you can't teach your kid to follow basic instruction like holding your hand and standing close to you in public than he/she should stay home until he/she learns". Maybe she is one of those lucky mothers with children who never misbehave but I find her response totally harsh. 

Please understand that, using a harness is not a license to let your kids run around unattended. I still hold my children hands while using the harness and I don't tug and "pull" the harness to get them to stop running. To me a harness is just an extra precautionary step to ensure that I have all my kiddies within arms reach. If you've ever been in a situation where you need to run errands while holding countless shopping bags and at the same time is trying to ensure that your child is safely within reach, you will appreciate the handiness of the contraption.

Harness is very beneficial for toddlers, who is usually very curious creatures. They will run first and think consequences later and that is very dangerous. I would usually use the harness in an open area like shopping malls, theme parks or playground. Avoid using a harness in confined spaces and if you're surrounded by fragile items. Trust me you would not want to be in a situation where your little darling suddenly realized that they can now lift that gorgeous crystal swans off the shelf, keep them strapped in the strollers for this kind of situation :p

I love using the harness so much that we've continued the practice with the twins. Using harnesses with twins takes  on another separate new skills because the " rope" do get tangled together which may caused both of them to fall or I may be caught in a situation where the twins are tugging me to two separate ways :p I also have to endure with the extra annoying attention because there is now TWO cute little girls walking hand in hand in the mall. Some of this attention is of the positive kind but it kinda scares Iman and Ranya when some random makcik suddenly physically zoom in to them. People should really respect other people personal space even if the subject in question is two cute little munchkins hehe

I guess I can relax a bit nowadays because I have an extra hands and a pair of eyes that will help me monitor Iman and Ranya. Big brothers are the best, huh? especially if you have one that is as cute and protective as Ryan :) Alhamdullilah....

Reebok is getting married....

Another "member" of Ferum 7 will be joining "alam perkahwinan" soon :) As a part of our tradition, we decided to throw the bride to be - Reebok (bukan nama sebenar haha) a Geisha Hen Party. This is the group 4th birthday shower, so we were literally scrambling for ideas to find a different theme, suitable to the bride's personality and preference. Hope she enjoyed herself...Anyway my task was deco's and party favors.I forgot to take the final deco pic but I think it turn out pretty cute even if I say so myself :p

What is a geisha party without the headgear huh? As always with most of my DIY project, I visualize the end product in my head. I don't plan everything to a T so this is a results of leftovers felts, headband, glue, glitter, origami papers and flowers :)

Next in line -> Photobooth props. You can buy ready made ones from those shops available online but I say why waste money?  esp since you can make all these using Microsoft words. Print it out, get some sticks (lidi sate) and it is all ready for major cam-ho session. Anyway my efforts was totally worth it since the bride decided to recycle it and use it during her wedding day...

Another idea for place mats... I bought a few mini bottle, put the attendees name on it and printed some friendship quotes for the inside... walla..my own message in the bottle...

what are parties without favors, right? I used a bunch of old envelopes as the wrapper. Knowing the girls, most of them are not exactly the sentimental type that will keep wrapping paper :p  so why waste??

Cath helped me hunt for these cuties. A fan in honour of the theme (and to be used on hot days) and a mirror because my friends love mirrors and it is one gift I know all of them would appreciate (hahaha) I totally caught Tinie using this minutes after she unwrapped the packaging...

THE PARTY

We had an awesome lunch in Minori Royale Bintang, Damansara. The food was good and price was reasonable. The best of all we had our own private room, which was real cool since we had plan for some wedding shower games, which would be totally awkward to be done in public

Task 1
Design a wedding gown using a tissue paper. We used Nia as a model. She's one of the most fashion forward 5 year old I know (a bit bossy too, I think she takes after the mum haha) Anyway we won, because we're awesome like that.

We also won the Wedding Charades 100,000,000 to 3 
(I'm exaggerating of course or maybe not. Yes I'm kiasu and I LOVE WINNING hehe)

The Ferum 7 girlies... 
We went through a lot together. 
The good and the bad : 
first love, first heartbreak, breakup, major fights, 
hair pulling (at least 2 of them did haha), weddings, babies etc

We're all grown ups now...
No longer teenagers with teenagers problems...
We've gone through so much individually and as a group
Some events pushed us closer, some pushed us apart
There are months that went by without so much as a simple Hello..
There are periods where we see each other every week..
I think we have all accepted the fact that our friendship has grown pass what it was 12 years ago.
Hopefully we'll stay connected and this friendship will last till Jannah
In Sha Allah

Vain and loving it :)

My first 2 friends in UiTM :p

I rarely take selfies now that I have children. 

I'm still vain ( I'll admit that) but I think I've managed to tone it down quite a bit

My IG and FB accounts are now filled with pics of my children :p

I guess that is why Allah blessed with the lil munchkins, so that I can take away the self obsession and shower the abundance of love and attention to someone else other than myself hahaha

To Reebok who secretly reads my blog 

Though I'm not sure if she still does but what the heck....

 

 Dik... 

Congratulations and good luck with the wedding and more importantly the married life

Remember there would be times when you may not like Iwan and his lil annoying ticks (if any) but love is taking care of each other even when you're angry. Protect your marriage and remember this is the person you have chosen to spend the rest of your life with and till Jannah so cherish and love each other, ok!!! May Allah bless you always and will miss you bunches when you moved back to Kelantan... Dulu kaula satu2 geng aku kat flat7 lepas aku baru kawin dengan tennis... now semua dah besar kan? dah takleh toga toga dah...

Love you bokkie...

This and that and nothing much...

All I can say is the 3 days break flew by so fast.... 

I wished it was longer so that I can spend more time with my munchkins 

The problem with weekends is I try to crammed down a gabijillion activities. From outings to visiting to housework... It is very hard for me to just shut down and do nothing. Mainly because I will feel irritated at the end of the day if I don't think the day was spent "productively" enough... So I will usually end up more exhausted by Sunday night instead of feeling rejuvenated.

Oh well.. my choice :p

But that did not stop me from feeling annoyed whenever I read about people who I think (or assume) having lesser responsibilities from me complaining about how busy and tiring their life is. Sometimes I want to shout at them and say things like "you have one kid and 3 maids, how hard can your life be as compared to me maidless, having to take care of 3 kids, keep my house presentable and work at the same time?" but I know those type of thinking is not fair. Different life, different obstacle, huh? So hard to keep things in perspectives at times.

But whenever I feel overwhelmed with things around me... I stop, take a deep breath and count my blessings instead... Maybe I don't have the latest most coveted handbags or on constant trip overseas but I have something even better.... my 4 lil (or not so lil) darlings... They drive me nuts and stress me out but I'm never short of love and attention whenever they are around... 

and for that Alhamdullilah :)

With my baby boo Ranya...

Hehehe early morning walk in the park with Iman, Ranya and Ryan on Malaysia Day holiday :)

Lil Miss Iman in her gorgeous Old Navy colour blocking dress :)

Selfies with my man....

Ryan Daniel. My handsome lil man :) After two months of speech therapy I'm happy to report that his speech is improving very well. I think he is just more aware of his speech patterns. People still chastised me for "over reacting" since they dismissed it as plain "pelatness" which a lot of kids have...I agree, maybe Ryan's speech problem was not overly serious, but I have the means and time to help him improve his problems, why shouldn't I? After all knowledge is power, rather than I waste my $$$ on new shoes or clothes at least I know I'm investing somehow in his education.

Miss Ranya Fatimah in her yellow outfit... She's trying to balance herself on the planks.. too cute

The twins are currently suffering from "twin escalation syndrome" It means that they try their very best to gain attention from outdoing each other. For example if one cry the other will cry LOUDER. If one jumps the other will jump HIGHER. It's actually very normal with most twins who experienced "sibling rivalry" at a much bigger scale. It makes sense if you think about it, they are of the same age, have the same needs and developing at the same rate.

They fight hard but they love more fiercely too... Iman is so protective of her little sister, she will get Ranya's bottle, towel etc for her, console and play together. Ranya is so manja with her kakak... You can't help but melt watching them play and laugh together... 

6 more weeks to our family holiday *in sha Allah*.... I can't wait....

Logic from Ryan's eyes

Ryan is at that age where he is asking loads of questions, some funny, some nonsensical, some annoying and repetitive like "mummy buat apa tu" x 1000 times a day (haha yes I'm horrible) 

Example 1

R : Wow Mango... Ryan love mango

Me : Ok

R: Mummy kenapa mango yellow?

Me: errr.... *mumble* sbb it grows under the sun... errrr Ryan look adik buat apa tu (distraction 101)

Anyway if you're wondering mango is yellow because it contains up to 25 different carotenoids that can be isolated from mango pulp, the densest of which was beta-carotene, which accounts for the yellow-orange pigmentation of most mango species.

Example 2 @the ATM machine

R: Kenapa duit keluar from there?

Me: Sebab mummy work, and my boss pay me gaji, and put it in the bank and if mummy nak money, I can go to the nearest ATM to get duit.

R: Oooooooo.... dapat gaji boleh beli Ryan present???

Me: *sensing where this may be going* Errr Ryan apa tu?? pointing randomly at something 

However, some questions are a bit more difficult to answer

Example 3 @in front of my grandad cemetery

Me: Ryan, look itu kubur atuk mummy. Jom baca Al-Fatihah

R: Ehhh kenapa atuk mummy kat situ?

Me: Atuk mummy dah meninggal, Atuk jumpa Allah, bila orang meninggal, kita kena tanam their body in the cemetery

R: oooohhhhh.... mummy Allah tak boleh ambik atuk Ryan, atuk Ryan tinggal dengan Ryan je kat rumah....

Me: errrrrrrrr......  Ryan look ada ambulance la kat depan hospital

How do you explain death to a 3.8 year old? I had to do it earlier this year when Lan's great grandmother pass away and we brought him to arwah funeral. I don't think he fully understood the concept of death and losing a person forever yet but we did try to explain to him without making it too scary (which is almost impossible)

Anyway, I tried a bit of  logic yesterday to stop Ryan from having a melt down and it worked. Lan and I promised Ryan that he can get a new toy car since he did well in class. So we went to Jusco and told him to choose a toy within RM50 budget. My son of course had to choose a RM80 truck the size of my palm which I think is a bit pricey considering that it has no special features (i.e it does not move on its own, makes no sound etc). We tried to convinced him to choose something else... I even pointed out a crane model, as tall as his sisters and over his RM50 limit because it was at least worth the price. All met with a big NO "Ryan dah ada", "Ryan tak suka", "Tak cantik", "tak mahu" etc.

I know I had to put my foot down and make the decision which will be deemed "uncool" in his eyes, so I said "sorry, I'm not going to buy the truck for you". He stood still, lips quivering, refusing to move, showing all the sign of starting a temper tantrum, so I decided to try one last trick before running for the door :p

Me: Ryan, mummy ada RM100 je at the moment. If I buy you the truck which cost RM80, we have to go home straight and we can't go buy pizza and ice cream and cha time....

R: Nak jugak truck

Me: Ok fine, but kesian adik nanti tak dapat underwear baru, underwear adik dah small, nanti adik Ryan kena pergi school without underwear and kena marah dengan teacher. Tapi takpelah, Ryan dapat truck baru

R: adik takde underwear?

Me: Takde... kesian dia kan? kita tengok toys kat luar boleh?

R: *muka sedih* ok-laaaaa

I did buy him a lego set later, which is within his toy budget limit. I guess I need to practice more LOGIC with him now that he's older. Hopefully this will curb more future tantrums, though mummy has to exercise more patience because admittedly I do succumb to the screaming and nagging trap especially after a rough day at work. 

Imagine when Iman and Ranya starts asking these questions too *bite fingers*

The Twins Hari Raya #OOTD

Before doing a proper Hari Raya post, I'm gonna post a fluff post on the girls Hari Raya outfits :) Having "A" girl is great, having twin girls? AWESOME especially when it comes to dressing them up. I had so much fun shopping for their "coordinated" but not too matchy-matchy Raya outfits. 

Shopping takes on an entirely different spin nowadays, having to take into consideration, what they have and new thing they need (or I think they need) Too bad I'm still not successful in getting them to be interested in accessories. Shoes, they love (yeay!!) but headbands, hair ribbons and the likes of it, usually don't stay long on their head and would be yanked off after a few seconds -__-

Day 1 Aidilfitri : Pink Peplum Cupcakes Baju Kurung. I've had the cuppies material for ages and finally found the right use for it :) so I got 2 contrasting material for the tops because I'm not keen on making identical clothes for the girls. Majorly adorable (I'm their mum, I can over compliment my children if I want too :p)

Day 2 Aidilfitri: Green Daisy Top and Yellow skinnies on Ranya and Green Tulip Dress on Iman from Gymboree for our Raya in Malacca :)

Day 3 Aidilfitri: Najavo Print dresses from The Children Place for a swinging day in Bertam Jaya :) They had on a different DVF Gap Dress later on the day when we were in Merlimau but too bad I didn't manage to snap any decent pic of it...

Day 4 Aidilfitri: My fave outfit on the girls are these matching navy dresses with chevron prints from Baby Gap. Awesome pussom all camera ready for our Raya in Tanjung Malim hehehe

Day 5 Aidilfitri : For their Pak Lang's engagement on Monday they had on these gorgeous dresses we got from GM Klang. Green chiffon dresses with flower applique and beading :) Value for money

Day 6 Aidilfitri : another fave outfit.. recycled Upin and Ipin outfits courtesy of Ryan's wardrobe which he generously "donated" to dedek. Heheheh

Day 6 Aidilfitri (the girls 2nd #ootd for beraya) : bow tops from Trudy and Teddy and Tutu skirts from GM Klang :)

This is what you get when you want to post something but don't really have the time to type down a proper entry : a boring (but cute) outfit postings, be thankful at least it is not a selfie of myself hahaha. Selamat Hari Raya all and Happy Working (or not) !!!

Selamat Hari Raya!!

My sweet little man…

A few days ago, I came back from a very stressful day in the office and he greeted me with a smile and said “eeee lawanya mummy, macam princess”

He kept on wanting to see my c-section scars, and everytime he would look at me pitifully and say “kesiannya mummy Ryan, doctor cut nak keluarkan adik” 

A few weeks ago I wasn’t feeling well and he sat next to me and gave me a head rub because I told him I had a headache (ok it was more like tepuk-tepuk but still…)

I had a disagreement with him and walked away; he came to me with this sad lil face, extended his hand and declared “Mummy, Ayen soyyyiee… (10 seconds later he will forget his apologies and goes on to do some other mischievous behavior but still…) 

Yesterday, Iman was crying over something and he went to her, patted her head and said “dah dah jangan nangis, Aye ada sini”

He’s also very protective over his sisters, if Lan or I would reprimand the twins he’ll come in between us and his sisters and would shout “mummy/daddy jangan marah adik (ohhh but it is ok if he’s doing the screaming to them but still…) 

I must be doing SOMETHING right… Alhamdullilah

The one with chicken pox.....

Ryan has chicken pox. It started with mild fever over the weekend and he woke up yesterday with watery spots on his body. He's vaccinated so we're hoping (and it looks like) the effect won't be so major. He seems fine yesterday, despite several complaints of itchiness and some fussing during bedtime, at least he was not throwing major tantrums of any sorts.

My worry is that Iman has caught the bug. She was also down with fever on Monday but doctor said it was due to sore throat. At that time no one was aware that Ryan was hatching chicken pox virus within him, now that we know, Iman is on major spot alert.

Anyway we're feeding the girls with pro-biotic to enhance their immune system.  I'm quite worried over the effect on the twins as they're not vaccinated yet. Their shots was due last month along with their MMR booster, but their pediatrician clinic was out of chicken poxvaccines,  so now all we can do is hope and pray that they did not catch it. Other than make them sleep in different rooms, not much can be done to separate the 3 as the girls hero worship Ryan and follow him all around the house :p

 Oh well the doctor did say it is very likely the girls WILL catch it now that Ryan has it but effects on babies are usually very mild as compared to adults. I'm just hoping that it won't be around Raya week coz that would be an extra "interesting" celebration for our family...

 A picture of my lil man slathered in calamine lotion. He's secretly happy because he can stay with Atuk and not go to school. Kept on telling me "Ayen holiday 2 days" - Ignore the fact that he's been out of school THREE days already hahaha

When I had my bout of contact dermatitis, my dermatologist suggested this brand of body cleanser along with its lotion. Alhamdullilah it worked very well for me, so I decided to buy a bottle for Ryan. We've been bathing Ryan a few times a day with this and it does help with the itchiness. Thank god because this ain't cheap :( Oh and we keep Ryan in air conditioned room 80% of the time to ensure no excessive sweating = no itching = no scratching :p

So far so good... I'm still standing despite the lack of sleep. Oh well a bit of a test during Ramadhan, I reckoned 

now BACK TO WORK!!!