Random Updates

Oh so many things have been happening lately... but I must admit to being lazy to update... the thought of taking out my lappy and composing an entry... well, let's just say that it seems easier to just switch on the tv and go from there  :P

Anyhow, on Sun we finally got our maid! haaaa.... I guess 3rd time's a charm... but of course we still need to settle the immigration part. We are waiting for the agent to finalise the documents. Should be hearing from her around this weekend. Hope that she won't fail us like the last two. 

I find this maid quite ok... she's biddable and listens to what I have to say. Not like the temp maid who clearly just does what she thinks is ok. Tsk tsk... sometimes that just irritates me, how lippy she can be. I know what people would say... marah her lah... But I'm not like that. I'm slow to simmer... and usually just takes things along... until of course they push me too far. So for now I'm still patient. Luckily my permanent maid actually listens and 8 times out of 10 does it the way I want it done. So we'll see... can't expect perfection right? :P

Oh, and we finally got a new car... well... hubby did anyhow... his 2nd proud baby, Kia Forte... hahaha, he has been dreaming since like forever... we were supposed to purchase it last year... but then we jumped and purchased a house instead... and with a baby coming... well, you can just imagine our line of thought. Of course the closer to the due date, the more our parents were asking when we were gonna get a new car... I guess they couldn't imagine their beloved cucu in the backseat of hubby's satria  :P  So a couple of weeks ago hubby finally made the jump and got his dream car... should see his face last night when I wanted to drive... hahaha... comical... like a mother hen protecting her chicks... but I did well... didn't even leave a scratch...at least for now  :D

Ok, have to go pumpy-yumpy now... we're taking Shiya out for her 2nd month bday... hahaha... will update on that later! ;)

Baby Mikha

Family has always been my top priority and having a huge family my dream... and here I am blessed to announce that I have a new nephew...  :) His name is Adrian Mikhail, we call him baby Mikha.

He was born on 23 March 2011 at 4.08pm at PCMC weighing 3.3kg... he is just simply beautiful. There's a slight resemblance to his handsome brother, Illie...  :) 

Welcome to the family darling... sending you lots of hugs and kisses...! muah!

Ps... it's funny how me, both my sis in law and bff has shared the same room 6h-06... :)  

What to get??

Those who knows me would know... I am a big time shopaholic! I love new and bright things... and I love to shop, shop and shop! I shop not just for myself, but for others as well... I love buying pressies...and now I have an even bigger reason to shop... for my darling baby princess... :)

So what's this post is all about? It's about a decision that mummy has to make... between a activity gym, bouncer or musical mobile... I can only get one...why? Because of the price of course! It's so frightfully expensive.. each costs about Rm200+ to Rm300...sigh... can't buy all three... or can I? I probably will buy all three...  :P just what to get first...  :)

my fav musical mobile... fell in love as soon as I saw it...

Next is the bouncer...

and the last is the activity gym by BrightStarts... but I'm not able to find a pic that I can upload...

Hmm... what to get...what to get...?  :P

Little Princess Update...

Shiya is 49 days old today. Since her birth...

• saw her first smile on Wed (16.3.11) when I was playing with her after her morning meal... we had just bought her a new rattle toy which was named Mr. Panda by me (who else  :P  )... and there propped against my knee I showed her Mr. Panda and voila...her beautiful smile!! hehehe... she's such a sweet and beautiful baby... her smile lit up her eyes...
• her first smile to her daddy came this morning at the wee hours of 2am... we were changing her diaper and her daddy was distracting her and talking to her... and I guess she found his voice soothing because she smiled a wide grin... hehehe... comel!
• the first time Shiya merajuk with me was last Friday... I was feeding her milky2 and she wanted more... oops! mummy didn't prepare enough...so daddy had to heat up some milky from the fridge... in the meantime, I decided to direct feed her... she definitely didn't like that and started screaming for her milk... and when it finally came, poor baby just didn't want it anymore. :(  Mummy was quite sad and almost cancelled her plans to have dinner with Che and Michu... She was so upset she fell asleep in my arms...
• she loves to coo-coo now... and her fav position is propped with her back against your knee, facing you... she can stay like that for quite some time... all the while cooing... :) 
• her head is still pretty much bald except for the horse-shoe like patch at the back of her head... hoping that her hair grows out soon  :p
• poor baby has red dots (itchy) all over her face, scalp and now on her arms and legs... sigh... I wonder if it's the soap I'm using? Sebamed... but whatever it is... am planning to go to the Dr. Ranjit (skin specialist) for a second opinion... (her paed said that it's eczema) and maybe get a better cream to help soothe her discomfort
• since her 43rd day... I have started to alternate her feedings with formula... lots of reason for this move... one is that I don't trust others besides me and hubby to properly heat my breast milk (especially a maid who might just give her milk that has been sitting out too long), two is that my milk supply has also been slowly going downhill... hubby said it's stress... some say I need to up my intake of food... dunno... rather not think about it... and three, it's so much simpler when we're on the go... yes, giving direct I can just feed her where ever... but if you need to express first? It's a bit hard dealing with express milk...
• I have stopped swaddling her... since the book said that leaving their arms and feet free will encourage them to grow and develop much better... sometimes kesian tgk her all swaddled up... right now, it's fifty-fifty... sometimes she sleeps well...sometimes she tends to wake up when she's agitated due to her fists flying about...

Ok.. that's all for now... will try and upload latest pics... :)

Bye Bye Pantang Days...

There's a lot of things I want to write, yet there's a lot of things I shouldn't write. Hahaha... Let's just start with the obvious...

My pantang days are over! Yeay... hehehe... it officially ended on Tuesday, 15th March. Amazing though that since then I have not really been out to anywhere! After weeks of waiting and anticipating... in the end it was just brunch at McD KLIA. Mum had to fly to Kuching and so Meq picked me up and we had brunch there. Though it was a simple meal and the venue was not at all entertaining... but I had fun anyways... cos the company was great. I had quality time with my sis and mum to dash out gossips and just talk talk away...  :) not to forget the yummy chicken mcdeluxe that I had... my first mcd meal in 45 days! Hahaha... who would've thought I could last this long? :P

The checkup on Monday went great too... the doc said that my womb is back where is should be... and that from inside everything is healing nicely. I have lost all of my pregnancy weight and return back to chubby me... so even though I'm no longer carrying the excess preggers weight... I still need to lose weight :P weight that I have been trying to lose since before I was married! Hehehe... so let's save that story for another day...

For the closing of my pantang, I had taken Makcik Naemah (the lady who had cukur Shiya's hair) for a day of berurut and a day for lulur and mandi bunga. I must tell you straight on that I'm not quite a fan of berurut... I don't know why...even when I was pregnant I didn't ask for any foot massages or anything like that. I guess that's just me. So the urut was 'ok-lah' but satisfying in the end cos I felt that my skin was softer from the effect of the minyak urut and my body more relaxed. It was a solid 2 hour of every muscle being kneaded and stretched. :)  Then came the lulur (which was today) and I can't tell you how I have been waiting for this! Since late pregnancy till my pantang days I felt that my skin was somehow uneven and just rough and patchy. hehehe... tak berseri in other words. It was probably from all the homones going haywire??

Anyhow, we had a solid near 2 hours of berlulur that really scrubbed every inch of my skin. I must admit that sometimes it kinda hurts... but in the words of the lady that first did my eyebrow threading, " kalau nak lawa, kena lah sakit"...  :P  she even lulured my face!! Never heard of that before... hehehe... but after the grueling experience, my skin now feels lighter and oh so much softer! I love the glow I saw in the mirror...hehehe... oops! One should always compliments oneself... right? LOL

But the best part was saved for last... mandi bunga! Oh it was sooooo refreshing! I loved the mixed smell of flowers and lime... wish I could do it everyday... hehehe... to end it all after I've toweled myself dry, she sprinkled beras at me and kinda of powdered me with this mixture of powder, flowers and water (made a white, flower smelling paste).

And there it ended... my pantang days... hehehe... I already feel normal and good as new. I'll always remember those special moments that  I was able to share with my loved ones and darling baby... being taken care of... it's one of those chapters in your life that should be bookmarked because.. no, it doesn't happen everyday... and no, not to everyone either (though sometimes is can seem quite common)... and yes, it is wonderful to have everyone catering to your needs and have people give in to your little wants...

Pregnancy from start to finish has been wonderful! And my ultimate prize for completing the experience...? My darling Shiyah... battle scars..? Why my 'pretty' stretch marks... hehehe... till next time... ;)

The Closing of Pantang

I am very lucky to have someone special to take care of me during my pantang days... she was the one who took care of Farel and Lissy too when my sister gave birth. She's our own Kak Ita from Bukit Tiu Kelantan  :)  She came when Shiya was 3 days old and took care of Shiya's needs as well as mine.

Used to my mum's strict diet plans during pantang days... she cooks me her famous pantang style black pepper chicken, chicken soup and baked fish. Hehehe... yes dears, that has been my basic food night and day for the past 33 days... amazing how I could stand it this long, but I guess I had other stuff such as caring for baby and catching up on my sleep to worry about than the variety of my dishes...  :P   Each dish is of course accompanied by a vege dish of mainly either sawi or bayam... or lobak putih... or carrots... hahaha.... but I don't mind munching down on all these goodies in the hopes that my body stays healthy, I lose the baby fats and of course... increase the milky production to accommodate my baby...

Besides looking after my food, she also looks after other things such as the washing of baby's bottles & clothes... my clothes and help me to wear my bengkung... and making sure that I have what I need like hot water, milo... After all this... I think the most special part that she played during my pantang was the wonderful company she provided. During the week days when it was just us and the baby... she was there to share in the gossips, hear me whine and listen to my yammerings. She even got me started to watch some Indon day time series... Bintang & Kejora... hahahaha... life would have been pretty dull and boring without her around.

She's also always there to help me take care of darling baby. There is no one (besides my family) that I would trust better than her... even Shiya calms down and just snuggles up whenever Kak Ita would hold her. Thanks to her I am always able to catch up on snoozing fest in the morning or afternoon... of course night time shifts are my private time with Shiya, but I know that she's just a yell away should I need any help....just the thought is a comfort especially being a new parent and so unsure of what to do most of the time! Watching her handle Shiya taught me how to take better care of my baby like how to properly bathe her and change her diapers... (of course I already did all this with Farel... but I take this as a refresher's course  :P  )

I feel sad that she'll be leaving us tomorrow... but I understand that she has her work priorities to look into. I don't even have the time to take her out properly and get her a nice gift as a thank you for taking care of us for the past 33 days. Urrgghh... can't believe tonight's session with her was the last night...!

Yes pantang has been bearable with Kak Ita around... I hope that she'll visit soon... missing her already... :( sigh, sigh and double sigh...

One Month of Joy!

My baby is now one month old! My, how time really flies... it seems only yesterday that I was in the labour room with hubby dear... imagining how Shiya would look like and dreading yet wanting the labour ordeal to be done with... now suddenly she's already 32 days old... -sob, sob-

Drama queen huh? well... of course I am knowing that there's only 32 days left with Shiya before I have to start work again and leave her from 7am to 7pm... arrgh... I don't know how I'm going to do that 5 days a week!

Nyhow... this last week has been tiring and joyful at the same time as I learn more and more about taking care of darling dear... on Wednesday marks the first day that I bathe Shiya... it was pretty awkward I must admit. My arms weren't strong enough to fully support her in the tub... yet using the chair was more of a hindrance than help. Hmm... guess I'll learn to adapt eventually.. but so far Shiya has been patient with me and didn't even cry... :P Mummy's angel...

She's been having trouble sleeping... and would stay awake for hours these last few days... could it be that she's grown up and wish for more entertainment now that she's hit the one month mark?? Hmmm... or it could be the wind in her tummy that's bothering her.. poor baby... mummy really doesn't know how to help you get rid of the wind... all I can do for now is try to massage your tiny tummy with Telon Oil, make sure that you gulp as little air as possible when you're having your milky and make you burp as often as possible...

I love it when you fall asleep in my arms and snuggle up closer to me when I hold you close... I love it too when you smile though I know it's not a reaction to whatever I am doing or saying... I know you recognise my voice when I hum you 'rock-a-by-baby' and 'this old man'... in fact... all the tiredness slips away when you're near... honestly...

One month of pure joy being close to you... and this week also marks the day that you've slept in bed with me and papa... (not even in your bassinet...but between us)... I know it won't be like this forever... that makes this moment even more precious... and I cherish every little moment of it! :)

Fate as It Is...

I was going over some friend's blog and came upon a nice entry... she was writing the journey she took in naming her baby girl... and it was an interesting read indeed. And so here I'd like to share about what hubby and I went through to name our little princess...  :)

Of course as a little girl, we always had our favourite names that we swore we would eventually name our children. Though I must admit at a ripe age of 28 I can't imagine what they were... hmmm... seriously can't remember! :P  Anyhow, one thing for sure is that I have always, always wanted a name that had a wonderful meaning... and so began the search when I found out that I was pregnant. There were so many to choose from! It could be significant to us in so many ways... initials same as us... alphabet same as mine or hubby's... it could short.. it could be long... hahaha... you get the meaning   ;)

Somehow, the quirky me wanted my 'princess' to have a first name that starts with princess... guess it would be lovely when people calls her, they would actually be calling her princess.. hehehe... so after a brief search, I found the name Ameera which in Arabic means princess... So I was determined that baby's name would be Ameera-something. The search went on for weeks... Batrishiya, Qistina and Aalia were some of the final ones that was seriously considered. You might have noticed that there are a lot if 'I' in this para and none of 'we' as hubby was quiet about the issue and wouldn't really commit to any names. There was just one name that he suggested... Nadine.

Then one day I came across a beautiful name with a beautiful meaning... Arshiya... which means divine in Arabic.. even in other languages the meaning was gorgeous... I immediately fell in love with the name and knew that this was my baby girl's name... After discussing with hubby dear, we decided to name her Arshiya Qistina - meaning Divine Justice.

Oh the story didn't end there... I later found out that my MIL had a name that she had always wanted to name her daughter (my hubby is the third son out of three...  :P no girls in the family)... the name was Naseeka Ain... The name meant a lot to my MIL and after much deliberation, I had included the name together... it became Arshiya Naseeka Qistina... hahahaha... sounds half baked right?? It's really my stubbornness that wanted to keep Qistina in the name since I love it so much...

Then I remembered the one sole name that hubby had suggested...Nadine... and the name just fits... Arshiya Naseeka Nadine... That's fate for you... something that was already meant to be... you just have to wait...search and you'll find it...

Arshiya Naseeka Nadine...
Divine Golden Hope....... and that's what she was to me... a gift that I have been hoping for... :)

Maid Issues... YET AGAIN...

The third time's a charm? In previous posts I have been yammering away of my attempt at finding a nanny/maid for my baby. And so far? I have failed... The first time, there were problems at the immigration and we decided to go with another agent. The second agent proved a disappointment when he was unable to deliver after several promises were made. I don;t understand until today what was his problem but we are no longer interested and just requested for our deposit back as we didn't want the headache of handling this weird agent. By weird, I mean...

- keeps making promises of the maid's arrival... and the day came and went with no news from him

- we would call and sms repeatedly... with no reply, sometimes for days

- he offed his hp the whole week during Chinese New Year 

- he finally sms hubby phone with a weird remark "in Jakarta to settle maid's application (apparently there was a problem) and he couldn't call because he lost our hp number" ...what??!

- again promises were made... then again not answering his hp

Come on now... wouldn't you feel stressed and suspicious? Thank goodness he agreed to return our deposit money... and that only I think because hubby and threaten to go to the police. Silly guy! I knew from the start there was something wrong with him. After all, who in their right mind (if legitly interested in work and commission) would turn down a potential client's call by saying he's having lunch? Tsk Tsk...

Okay, that's strike two... now we have gone with another agent... sigh... they even provided (at a charge of course) us with a temporary maid to take care of things until the permanent maid arrives. Hopefully this time things will go well for us. The way hubby talks about her, she seems confident and there was no talk of me and hubby submitting the forms for them (like with the other 2 agents). So the RM6k that we will be paying this agent will really go to their hard work of getting the maid to us... The set expected date is in April. Like I mentioned before, I don't really mind if it's late... just gotta be assured that she's coming. 

Off to a lighter note, well not quite... now that hubby had called me to tell me that the temp maid is coming in tonight, I find myself unprepared. I haven't had a maid since I was 11 years old, so am at a lost as to how to handle one. I wonder if she expects to take care of the baby only? I know I am taking a maid for my baby... but I need time to actually trust her. She's a complete stranger who is going to touch and cuddle my baby... :(   no... not yet... not so soon... I would rather do everything myself. 

Since the start of my confinement I haven't actually taken care of Shiya 24/7 as I have help from the nurses at the hospital and eventually from my parents, hubby and Kak Ita (she also took care of Farel and Lissy) at home. This gives me time to catch up on some snooze and take care of myself such as eat, bathe and of course pumping time... 

So tomorrow starts a brand new schedule.. because I can't yet find it in myself to let a complete stranger have her time without me being there... hmmm... havta start work in 34 days...  :(   wonder if I can find the courage then...