This is LiN's Life

Updates on the second one...

2009-05-21T15:09:00.006+08:00

Was at SGH yesterday to do a scan and for my mthly check up. I dont know why but my chk ups are scheduled at 3wks apart fr each other instead of the norm 4wks.

We woke up as usual, had breakfast and dropped Nurul off. We were unusually early although the scan was at 9.50am.

When I was called to the scan room, my hubb went in with me. The technologist scanned the baby and as in the previous ultrasound session Baby is in an awkward position - her head is at the bottom right of my tummy, almost near my right pelvic bone. (In the previous scan, Baby N was caught on the screen with her head at the front of my tummy - meaning her legs are towards my spine, lying horizontally slightly to my left. Now I didnt even know that is possible?!)

Awkward...such that when the technologist tried to look for her with the "scanner" thingy, it kept hitting my right pelvic bone which had me whispering "ouch" a few times. Alhamdulillah, Baby is ok...normal, heart, head all growing as scheduled.

Then the technologist asked my hubby to wait outside while she does a vaginal scan. It took me by surprise coz usually they dont do that esp since I am in my 3rd trimester! I had to get down from the bed and turn the other way around. Easier said than done!!

She then continued with the scan and OH MY GOD! was it painful! She manovered the scanner thingy left and right, up and down and it hit my "I dont know what" inside. It was quite painful that tears started swelling in my eyes. Then she called out for her colleague.

They had a little discussion in Mandarin while her colleague took over the "manovering" scanner thingy part and said out "4cm".

Then they told me that my Placenta is a the bottom. *gulp* At that moment, I felt guilt, for ignoring repeated warnings by my mom and hubby "dont carry heavy things!". I did try not to carry heavy-heavy things but it is almost impossible since I am mostly alone with Nurul most of the time and my Nurul is a heavy 12kg now.

Getting dressed, I asked her what are the complications of a low placenta. With that she quickly replied "The doctor will explain everything".

Ok. Thanks ah...that reply kept in a state of suspense as I wait for my number to be called upon.

Meanwhile, I went to get my weight and blood pressure taken per normal. My weight during the last check up was a hefty 64.5kg. So when I went up the scale this time round, I was kind of expecting the scale to go beyond 65kg at least.

The scale went 64.5kg and stayed there for a whole 1 second. Just as I was begining to question "Huh?" the scale jumped up and stayed at 67.5kg for a whole 2 or 3 seconds. So yes, I put on 3kgs in a mere 3wks! I think I will not dare to look at the small LCD screen in my next appt, it might just show a two digit starting with 7! OH MY GOD! That would be as heavy as my hubby!

So anyway, when we went in to see the doc, the doc explained that my placenta is 4cm from the opening of my cervix. She thinks its something not to be worried abt as I am only in my 29th wk so my womb should be expanding more! (Yikes!) within the next few wks and most prolly my placenta would start to move upwards given that there is more space now. 4cm is at the borderline. Anything between 4cm to 2cm should be a worry and anything that is less than 2cm is definately very dangerous. She confidently says that it should be safe in my case.

At that moment the phrase "Placenta Previa" crossed my mind. I dont really know the meaning but I must have read it somewhere before.

My hubb asked if there are anything that I should or should not do to help the situation.
The doc said "No, we just have to wait and see"
"Carrying heavy objects or walking alot... will that make it worse?"
"Not really, just dont do strenous exercises and try not to carry too heavy an item"

Right...so how heavy is heavy?

She then scheduled me for a Diabetes test in the next two wks and another appt the following wk.

Meanwhile, Baby is kicking and stretching like nobody's bizness...she really likes to stretch out from one end near my pelvic bone to the other diagonal end near my rib cage. So I really have no choice but to sit up straight all the time!

Well, here she is at 29wks...her first public appearance!

Prelurved!

2009-05-04T17:02:00.001+08:00

Ok so all of you would have known by now that I lurrrrve shopping! Haha! So that is why I simply lurrrve baking diaper cakes...coz I get to shop!

Well...most of the time the items are meant for my customers, but sometimes, I do bits of top ups just to enjoy that that special discount...hehehe...

Oh and this compulsive buying nature goes on beyond baby stuff...and it all starts to add up to quite a bit such that my hubby have started to nag!

Thus I have decided to let the stuff go for a miniscule of the original price that I bought them at....toys, clothings, shoes, household items... you name it, most prolly I will have it. Haha!

Items are self-collect from my place in Sengkang or postage to be borne by buyer. For bulky items, let me know if you need delivery and we will work something out ya. *wink*.

Oh not to forget that once a mth, I will have free giveaways....totally FOC! So do check this link out ya...

www.prelurved.multiply.com

After the party

2009-04-29T11:01:00.003+08:00

Its been 3 days since the Nurul's Birthday Party but we are still recuperating from it. Im back at work but am I glad that this wkend will be a long wkend! I need time to rest physically and emotionally!

It was a wkend full of pleasant and unpleasant surprises, full of all kinds of emotions. Some parts of it didnt go as planned, thanks to the unpredictable weather and a certain person I am still very angry with! It will be a lesson well-learnt for me and I shall remember what you did!

Overall though, I am glad that the day went well.

Pictures will be up as soon as I can get them from my sis, coz I didnt have time to snap any pics myself.

Biggest thanks to ...

My Mum - who sponspored the whole BBQ and most importantly helped to calm me down when I was most angry. Happy Be-lated Birthday Mom, although the cake came at the stroke of midnight. Neng sayang Mama!

My Sis - for helping out with photo-taking and being the BBQ assistant for the day and for helping me out with the many other little things. Love you too Teh!

My Bro - thanks Alif for being there, hang in there ya, remember this is just a passing phrase in your life and that we all love you.

To Yan - thanks for being the most wonderful BBQ chef and for being so helpful in many ways that others should be!

To my BILs - thanks for coming by taxi and helping out, appreciate it.

To my ILs - thanks for loaning us that Fondue machine of yours and for the fruits that came with it.

To all others who came early to help - could have done it by ourselves but thanks anyway.

To all guests, friends and family members, thanks to all for attending Nurul's birthday party, for all the well-wishes and the gifts. We really really appreciate it! =) We hope you had a good time at the party and pls pardon us for any short-comings.

Nurul at 23mths

2009-03-17T11:07:00.002+08:00

Close to 23mths, Nurul had only started to talk proper words recently. We were kind of worried coz physically, she developed quite fast. She started to flip on her tummy at 3mths, started to crawl around 7mths and started to walk around her 10th mth.

So it took her almost a whole 12mths to start talking properly - "properly" coz Nurul had started to "talk" around her 1 year old birthday but nobody could really understand what she is saying. My hubb says its not really "baby talk" coz the sounds that she makes are more like the aboriginal language with the occasional "clucks", if you know what I mean!

The funny thing was, when she "talks" to you and you dont respond to her "request", she would get frustrated and say the same thing in a higher tone! It was really a funny sight!

We have always been religiously repeating the same words to her hoping that she would catch some of it. For example, on the walk back from the carpark everyday, I would point out the flowers by the walkway and say out loud "See Nurul, Flo-wer, so pretty Flower" or when we see a cat I would say "Cat" and make purring sounds. It sort of work, I guess coz sometimes when she is not running along the walkway, she would stop at a flower, point at it and look at me - telling me that she recognizes the flower but still no words.

On one occasion though, while stuck in a traffic jam, my hubb's youngest brother who was holding her pointed out to the vehicles in the traffic and said "Car". To our amazement, she repeated "Kar"! He pointed to an SBS bus and said out "Bus" but to this she turned her attention away to a book she had in her lap. Oh well, I guess Nurul will learn at her own pace and nothing can make her go any faster.

To date, she is able to say these words properly:
Mama
Papa
Abang (malay for Brother)
Kakak (malay for Sister)
Baby
Sayang
Susu (malay for milk)
Nak (malay for I want)
Nenek (malay for grandma)
A-tok (malay for grandpa)

And of course there are words that she is still trying to perfect like these:
Peeas (please)

Eng-Kiu (thank you)

Pu- (short for pacifier in malay)

Then there will be instances when she would add an additional "M" to some words like how "mama" suddenly turned into "mamam" (which means eat) but luckily it turned back to Mama after a wk! *phew*

This wk, it was "Abang" which turned into "Abam"! I guess it will wear out in a wk too!

There were also instances where words which will sprout out suddenly out of the blue! Like when we were watching a repeat telecast on the show "Seksa" she suddenly said out "Seks"! Yikes!

Being her active self was climbing up all over my hubb one day while he was seating back watching TV. She almost stepped on that sensitive part and my hubb scolded her in anger "Nurul! Baba's got B*lls you know!" The next moment, she was smiling and said "Balls!" right out there! I guess the lesson to learn is to be careful with whatever we are doing or saying infront of her from now on!

This pregnancy so far...

2009-03-03T09:55:00.002+08:00

Been there. Done that.

Basically, this time round, its quite the similar to the first time, so I guess that is why 4mths of the pregnancy flies by without me realising it.

Well, almost everything is the same. The first trimester went quite well. I didnt have any bleeding unlike the first time. I ate more than usual but the same as in the first time. However, my tummy started to show much earlier. At 3mths, people were commenting that I looked like I am in my 5th mth. I guess its due to the lesser "elasticity" after being expanded so much in the first time.

The funny thing was the "weird sightings that lead to cravings" that I had. They came suddenly and out of nowhere.

For instance, we were having dinner in a halal tim sum restaurant near Simpang Bedok one night. Our table was near the cashier counter when I saw a customer who was paying for his take-away holding to a normal plastic bag with a glimpse of some green leaf in it. I was so sure that it was Otak-otak and started to crave for it. I asked my hubby to approach the man to ask where he bought the Otak-otak. The man looked extremely perplexed and opened up his plastic bag to show to my hubby. It wasn't Otak-otak at all! It was a few bundles of banana leaves which he had just bought at the nearby Shop n Save! After being embarrased, my hubby "tsk-ed" me off and that started my search for Otak-otak for the next couple of days.

On another occasion, walking home from the carpark to my block late one night, I suddenly thought of pizzas and started to crave for them. I didnt tell my hubby fearing another telling off so I kept it to myself. Approaching the lift lobby however, I saw a "brown" box on top the dustbin, from a far and told my hubby excitedly "Eh, someone ordered pizza lah. Must be nice eh! Rainy day, eat hot pizza". My hubby shook his head and started to look puzzled as he approached the dustbin. "Pizza box?" he said as he pointed to it. It was then that I realised that it was blue and not brown. That it was a shoe box!! LOL!

Crossing over to the 4th mth, everthing changed so drastically. Hunger attacks came very fast and furious, there wasnt any pre-warning rumbling of the tummy at all. If I dont satisfy the hunger fast enough, I will start to vomit out but since there is nothing to expell, its mostly water which leaves an acidic metal taste down the tongue and throat. It was so terrible!

One of the worst hunger attack that I remembered was when were were on the way to Jurong, my in-laws place. It attacked me suddenly and I had to control myself fr throwing out in the car. That was in addition to the motion sickness that almost always comes when I am a rear passenger and when my hubby is driving; the 30 mins ride seemed forever!

I also had a more sensitive nose. The smell of my neighbour's frying fish could make me want to throw out. Oh and changing Nurul's diaper of poop never fail to make me puke too. Imagine struggling with a restless toddler while holding back my puke. "Nurul...NO!...*wek*...*wek*...Nuuuurullll!!! *WEKKKK*!!!"

Luckily at 18wks now, I am glad that the hunger attacks are more mangeable although the vomitting is still there, but lesser. Just a wk ago, I started to feel little flutters in the tummy. I was not sure that it was the Lil One kicking about coz its so subtle and random, maybe just gas? But come this wk, I am sure its the Lil One coz the kicks are more intense although still very random. The Lil One kicks all the time, at random times unlike Nurul who does the rhthymic tapping and Kallang wave at night.

My normal working pants are unzippable now and normal work clothes is a lil bit too tight to be worn now. So I have no choice but to start wearing my maternity clothes and pants which are still a bit too loose. My fav footwear for the moment: Crocs. As some of you may have known, I have broad flat footed feet. This makes it almost impossible to wear normal slip in shoes. So once I find a pair that does not causes blister or is too loose, I splurge on it. Well, currently, Crocs seem to fit me perfectly, what it being rubber and all, it fits to your feet and not the other way round.

To date I have 4 pairs of Crocs, 2 Primas (from the Crocs warehouse sale) 1 Maryjane (my very first pair) and the newest one, 1 silver Malindi. I love the Malindi one the most and am in the process of procuring another one! Haha!

To side track abit, I have also managed to convert Nurul and my hubby into a Croc-fanatic too! Haha! Nurul have 3pairs for now, one of which she could no longer fit. My hubb, he's had 2 pairs, 1 pair I recently bought for him through a Bulk Purchase. He really likes the closed-toe open back likes of Sobek and Professional Crocs.

Getting back, I can harly wait for 18 March when we will be scanning Lil One. Hopefully, we will be able to tell the gender coz I for one can hardly wait to start shopping for lil clothes and lil Crocs of course!

Jackpot!

2009-02-17T16:04:00.003+08:00

The first time that it didnt happen, I thought, well, maybe Im too tired running after the little one. She is getting naughtier and faster by the day, you know.

Personally, I was kind of dissappointed as I had hopped that I would be able to get that 2wks of MC (like I did during the first time) so that I would have an easier excuse not to attend that overseas trip at work. haha...lame and totally embarrassing! So we tried for a second time.

That weekend afternoon, while playing with the little one, it suddenly occured to me that if it did happen this time round, my time will no longer be solely hers. That I would have to divide my time and attention when the time finally comes.

I felt guilty. guilt for planning for a second when my first is hardly able to say a few words, needless to say understand what is really going on. guilt for robbing her of the happy and comfortable world she already is in. The Baby Centre Bulletin emailer that I received did not help either: "Is it time for another baby?"

Growing up, I have always heard my mom talking about how she is not spending enough time with my second sis. She was 2yrs when my twin sisters arrived. I didnt understand her point then. I guess she still feels the guilt to this very day. And it probably won’t go away for me either...till Nurul is all grown up?or till forever?

I talked to my hubb about this. He tried to reasure me quoting him and his brothers as an example. He told me that he enjoyed growing up with his brothers very much. The 2yrs age gap between them meant that they will always have common topics to play or talk about and they still share those same interests up till today.

He also reminded me that Nurul loves to play with the babysitter's daughter when she is there and oftens feels lonely when she's home with us. So having a second one will be like giving her a companion to play with. Well...i guess so.

So nearing the date, while running errands with Nurul one night, I poped by the pharmacy and grabbed what looked like the most realiable yet cheaper version of the HCG test kit, making sure that i hid it from the sight of the other customers. I don’t know why, but I thought it's embarrasing to be seen holding the kit while pushing a little toddler in the stroller, hardly two years old, as if I was being judged for careless family planning.

At the counter, the cashier flashed the kit while a sales promoter is right infront of the counter, asking "Is that all?" The promoter did saw the kit and glanced at Nurul. I guess she may or may not have judged me, but I adjusted my wedding ring, pretending as if the ring is getting in my way, before signing the bill and scootting away as fast as I can. hehehe...In any case, I guess, my blushing red face made me look like an irresponsible teenage mom, pregnant for the second time!

So early that Monday morning, ho ho! Jackpot!

Nurul's turning 2

2009-02-11T16:03:00.003+08:00

Wokay...its been reallly long since Ive updated this blog.

With numerous events that had taken placed and Ive yet to update here, I almost wanted to give up this blog totally.

However yesterday, when I incidently read back my past entries (started from me reading about my first pregnancy), it seems to be such a pity to give up this blog. Ive been blogging since Dec 2004! WOW! That is 4yrs of ranting and bitching and complaining...sooo...Ive decided to keep writing here...although the updates maybe like 4mths once!? Gulpppp!

Ok so where do I start?

My current big project: Nurul's 2nd birthday party is due in less than 2mths away and Ive been slowly planning and buying the necessary stuff. I guess I have no choice but to start all the work early coz at the stage I am in now *more of that later*, things get done at half the speed that it used to be.

Last Saturday we were at the party supply shops at Middle road. (FYI-the shops at concourse have all moved out to Middle road and some at Tekka Mall, I heard) My initial plan was to look-see the items that they have and to compare them to online shops. But we were so tempted by all the party stuff that we went abit crazy and started to fill up the shopping basket.

Usually, my hubb would be the "auditor" seiving all the stuff in the basket before proceeding to the cashier but on that day, he was the one getting out of hand! He even had a little assistant, Nurul, who was excitedly filling up the basket with plastic hand clappers and packs of blowouts! Imagine the situation I was in, my mouth was busy explaining that we dont need this or that this is cheaper online while my hand was busy taking stuff out of the shopping basket while Nurul dump more stuff in!!

Well, to cut the story short, the damage done was close to $100 and the stuff that we bought were only red table covers, red paper plates, red paper cups, red cutleries, red serviettes, some hair colors, face painting kits, a few water guns and a few bubble blowers. OMG! I have not even started buying the Mickey party wares from the online shops and decorations...shees...I would estimate that it would be another $150 at least? *Gulps*

Right now, I am trying to compare the price differences between buying Helium-filled up balloons as compared to buying uninflated ones and going somewhere to get them inflated or rent a Helium gas tank. Of course the major difference is the convenience and hassle free vs the few moolahs...that I could save, suggestions anyone?

Other than that, I am quite excited about the whole planning thing. Since we didnt have a party for Nurul's 1st birthday, I wanted to put together a slightly bigger party this time but still it will be family and close friends only. I wanted to do the party now coz I figured out I will be too busy with someone * more of that later* when she turns 3 and I wanted the party to be about her only and not that someone.

Choosing the theme was quite an easy task. Nurul is really into Mickey Mouse Clubhouse right now. Whenever the show is on the TV, she would hog on to the TV. No one is allowed to change the channels even when its on the commercials or she would kick up a big fuss. She calls Mickey Mouse "Mee-mouse" and would go "Hod-dog" whenever the mouseketool pops up. Her fascination with "Mee-mouse" does not end there though...whenever she sees her Mickey romper, she would try to put it on herself and refuses to change to her pyjamas even after her bath. In the lift, she once pointed out to a neighbour's teeshirt excitedly and said "Mee-mouse!"- which had the lady blushing red.

And since we were going to have the party in a Chalet with a swimming pool right infront, we conclusively decided on the theme: Mickey's Pool Party. Super Cheers!

So far things that Ive accomplished are:
*Book the Chalet
*Create our own Meeska Moouska Mickey invitation card
*Put together useful stuff for the kids goody bag
*Plan the layout of the decorations at the Chalet
*Plan a few simple mickey-inspired kids menu for the day

Things yet to be done are:
*Place orders for Mickey partyware
*Decide on the balloons decor
*Book a caterer - yikes! the most impt yet overlooked item on the list!
*Distribute out the invites
* there's more to pop out I guess

Oklah...better get back to more online searching on "which inflates... a bigger one... at a cheaper price"...balloons lah ok!

Ta-da!

A different kind of Raya

2008-11-05T17:07:00.012+08:00

Haha...so my last entry was Raya was just round the corner...well this entry is about Raya being just over...haha...and to think that this entry wont even be here if not for AzLiN asking about Nurul in baju raya...heh..thanks sis for that nudge...I need it, seriously!

Ive been meaning to blog, its just that the last mth was soooo hetic what with Raya and preparations for my sis's wedding and all....oh and on top of that I had a few diaper cake orders the wk after Raya, the pics are still not loaded up to my Multiply....haiz...so much back log I dont even know where to start!

Right, so Raya is basically the same as in previous yrs. First was to my in-laws's place. However, this yr we arrived really late, and that in turn upset the whole plan for the day.

As we were getting ready, I couldn't find the anak tudung which I bought to be worn with the ever difficult, but cantik tudung fr Jelita, so I had to make do with the normal anak tudung I use and the outcome is evidently seen in the first day Raya pics! Haiz...(guess what, I just found them yesterday! in the second drawer of my cupboard! I swear I looked there then! anyway...)

Then my hubby couldn't find his songkok! He searched high and low and I think to date he still have not found it...I thought we were like jinxed or something that day.

So anyway, my family had bought the same material but in different colors this year. It was supposed to be a Baju Kurung Pahang, you know those very flair types with big pesak....but the material was a bit stiff so I felt like a robot the whole day and although I had lost 5kgs during Ramadhan (more on that later), I looked like I had put on double the weight I had lost!

[Sidetrack: Achieving my pre-pregnancy weight was such a struggle. Loosing weight is easy (as long as I avoid rice for lunch) but gaining it back is double as fast!! If I skip rice for a wk during lunch, I am sure to loose 1kg. However, the moment I start having rice for lunch or dinner, I will gain back 2kgs!]

Through out the month of Ramadhan however, I didnt have much apetite and time, I guess, to indulge in food. I could hardly eat rice for Sahur and prefered noodles or bread. So I guessed that is how I lost the 5kgs which brought me from the "pre-obese" state, as my family doctor said, to an acceptable BMI! Yipee!!! I was so happy when some of my relatives commented that I had lost weight during my sis's wedding last wkend! =) =) =)

Back to Raya...since my Hubb is on shift duties, it is quite difficult to jalan raya. So we tried to visit as many houses as we possibly could on his off leave and off days...sorry to those that we didnt visit this yr...paham2 aje lah yer....

The highlight of this year's Raya was when we visited a distant relative's house, partly bcoz my mum wanted to pass to her my sis's wedding card. It is my mum's maternal cousin's house...and it is in a kampong...yes, a kampong but right smack in Singapore!

I was told that it is the last kampong left in urban Singapore. Lorong Buang Kok...as my uncle pointed out, Buang Kok not Buangkok as it is spelt now. It is located off Yio Chu Kang road somewhere near Hougang and Serangoon North estate, behind the old Woodbridge hospital., infact it is so near my house!

Once we made a right turn into the old dirt track, we were greeted by the crickets chirping away. Immediately it reminded me of the school holidays we would spend in those kampongs in Klang-Selangor.

On my right was thick green lush trees and on my left was a big big drain full of filthy water which I believe came from the private houses on the opposite side of the drain. The dirt track was lined with granite chips and was very uneven with big pot holes. The houses that we wanted to go to was a short walk away. The minute we started walking through the kampong, my sis went shutter-crazy. She took pictures of everthing around her, the lampu colok, the leaves, the wooden bridge...we joked that she short of took a picture of a lump of chicken droppings! Hahaha...such Jakuns we were!

The surrounding looks so serene and peaceful. Its hard to imagine that just a distance away is a busy road and concrete buildings where people live in "pigeon holes". It was obvious that the people who stayed there took pride in their house. There was a small lawn where they had planted cactus and flowering plants and although it was in the kampong, the place was so neat and tidy. There were hibiscus flowers as big as my palm and a swing which was made of a plank of wood, tied to a big, tall tree.

Unfortunately, I had left my camera in the car and so I only took some pictures before we went off. Ok, enjoy the pic peeps...Hope your Raya had been wonderful as mine!

Eh..eh..dah nak Raya?

2008-09-26T12:11:00.004+08:00

Here I am at work but my mind is thinking of what I need to do first once Im back home and how I wished I dont have to go to work so that I could finish up all the housework and cleaning up that needs to be done before Syawal comes next wk...which btw is only...1...2...SHEESH! 5 days away!!!

Its silly lah coz nobody actually comes to my house during the first few days of Raya. So I dont actually have to clean everything now. (heh...actually last yr we only started cleaning our windows a wk before the first batch of visitors who are my hubb's aunts and uncles came. Anyway the windows got dusty again less than 1wk after we cleaned it! Damn those constructions going on at the school nearby) I guess cleaning up the house gets me in the mood for Raya coz I dont bake cookies or cook ketupat, you see?

So anyway, last year I had only 2 rombongan of visitors. Which means all the kuihs were hardly touched and the gassy drinks were guzzled by us in the following months...no wonder both of us put on so much weight lah!

Anyway, initially my hubb insisted on not buying any kuih2...which got me worried coz at first I thought that my mom was going to donate some of her kuih to me but she didnt make much this yr and so she couldn't give me. So I persuaded my hubb and he finally agreed to make a fast trip to Geylang tomorrow morning to buy some kuih.

Which reminds me that this will be my 4th trip to Geylang. 2 in the afternoons when I was on MC..hehehe...one tomorrow and last Sunday, with my mom and sis. I realised that this year's bazaar is not as meriah as last yr's and that some of the major stalls are missing eg the dry flowers stall that used to be infront of Tanjong Katong Complex, alongside the road. And that got me scampering looking for dry flowers in Ikea instead coz my hubb says that our home concept is modern and so only dry flowers will match it....haiz...

Before going to Ikea, I had written only 2 things to purchase there:
1. Carpet for Living Room (our Geylang bought carpet "died" on us just 2 yrs after we bought it!)
2. Door mats for the two toilets and the front door

But the total damage was $458! So yes, we bought alot more things than those written on the list!

One area of Ikea where my hubb and I will always have disagreements with is the flower/decoration area. My hubb usually will choose bright colors like red or yellow or orange but I usually stick to my safe beige and browns. This year I gave in to his request of Orange but not without some beige flowers too.

So last night, after coming home from Iftar with his friends at Charco's, (haha..my stomach is rumbling as I type this as I recalled back the taste of those delicious tender ribs I had last night! Ish batal posa nanti...) I sat down trying to arrange the flowers into the small vase for the TV console as I watch Ayat-ayat Cinta on dvd. Of course Nurul had to lend me a hand, pulling out the leaves from the flower bunches...hehehe...in the end, I finished the arrangement 3hrs later!!

That leaves me with:
1. Arrange flowers for big vase
2. Iron out the new curtains and hang it up
3. Sweep, vacumn and mop the whole house
4. Lay out the new carpet
5. Lay out the new table runners
6. Put up the stick on decoration from Ikea
7. Alter Nurul's first day Raya set
8. Iron all 4 sets of Nurul's baju kurung and dresses etc
9. Iron my hubb's new attires
10. Hand wash and dry out my Hari Raya attire
11. Hide! Nurul's mountain of toys
12. Change the bedsheets

Well, these are all that I can remember as of now. And all to be done by this Sunday! Yikes!!!! And at these times, my hubb will go "Tulah, suruh ambik maid tak nak..."

So anyway, incase I wont have time to log on again, I would like to wish everyone

Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir Batin

Singapore Flyer

2008-09-22T14:53:00.016+08:00

I have always wanted to go on the Singapore Flyer but feel that at that price, for 30 mins, is abit too costly. So, when the work place provided me complimentary tix, I jumped up to the opportunity.

I have heard people saying that the best time to go on the ride is at 6.30pm. Not only will you be able to see the day light, but also the night lights and the sunset. It being a Saturday and with the F1 coming up soon, I figured that it would be better to get the tix as early as possible on that same day so that we could get that time slot.

So after dropping off the latest diaper cake at Marine Parade, which by the way have got to be the most fun diaper cake Ive ever done - more on that later, I took the ECP and with the help of a printed map and instructions fr my hubb, I found my way to the Singapore Flyer.

After purchasing the tix, I went home to catch some sleep. I had wanted to reach there a bit earlier so that we could snap some pix at the Yakult Rainforest but all three of us woke up too late that we had just enough time to reach there.

My hubb told me once that he is not too fazed about the Singapore Flyer thingy but the moment that we were there, he was the one who started snapping away with the camera! And that was when he told me that the SD card is FULL! Yikes!

Nurul and Me before getting on the Flyer

I had remembered to charge the battery the night before but had forgotten to empty the SD card! So while the long snaky line heading to the cabins moved, I was busy deleting pixs and videos. *Mental note: Must really remember to transfer those pix to the hard drive before the festives!*

Family photo when we first get into the cabin

Once we got on to the cabin, Nurul, who was so calmly sited in her pram, started whining, asking to be let out. The minute she was released, she went crazy, running here and there in the cabin and for sometime she didnt want to let go of the railings and wanted to climb up the sides of the cabin! What a nightmare! An old Chinese man even commented "Dia kecik tak takut ah, Wa sudah tua banyak takut lah...dudok sini saja"...LOL!

One of the nicer pix taken by me

Running around after Nurul, we didnt get to snap alot of pixs. If Nurul is in the pix, she was always trying to squirm out of our hands! Amongst the highlights of taking that ride that day was that we got to see the F1 track and spectator stand as they light them up for the night. I must say it looks spectacular! That reminds me to stay home this Friday for the live telecast...

Errr...the sunset is behind my hubb's head! And Nurul's face got cut!

The Singapore Skyline

The future IR

30 mins passed by so fast. At the end of the turn, Nurul had somewhat settled down as she drank from her milk bottle. My hubb said that maybe Nurul is an "adrenalin junkie" as she seems to get high only when we are at the highest point of the wheel! Sheesh!

We then had dinner at Mdm Lin's restaurant at the first floor, which btw, is Halal certified. My hubb had Braised Beef Noodle while I had Beef Hor Fun and ended with Sago Gula Melaka and Red Rubbies for me! Puasa2 ni, tulis nama makanan pun perut bole berbunyi...ish..ish..ish

My hubb trying to keep Nurul occupied while I have my dinner!

We ended the night with a quick trip to John Little at Marina Square to grab some Hari Raya clothings for my Hubb.

It was really an unforgetable night, especially on how Nurul reacted. We will now have to think twice if we are planning to bring her to Genting Highlands ...

Nurul as of lately

2008-09-05T15:41:00.007+08:00

Its been reaaally long since I last wrote about Nurul...or I last wrote at all...hehehe...

Alhamdulillah, diaper cake orders have been quite good. It keeps me busy after Nurul goes to sleep at 10+pm, what with the Hubb being away for classes or being on Night shift most of the time.

Diaper cake "bakers" have been popping up everywhere in Singapore. It is so competitive now but all is fair in business. I mean, kalau rezeki itu memang sudah di tentukan oleh Nya, InsyaAllah it is yours. No need for jealousy and rivalry.

For me, I am satisfied knowing that I am able to help relay the giver's thoughts and wishes to the receiver through my diaper cake. ;) at the same time quenching my thrist for craft work.

Talking about craft, it seems that it is unavoidable anymore. Nurul have started to grow up quite abit and so did her toy collection! Its starting to take up quite a big part of the hall! Inevitably, one of us will have to give up their space and move into the other room so that Nurul can have a room.

All of Nurul's toys are in the hall mainly because we would like to keep an eye on her while she plays and we watch TV. Coz Nurul is quite an accident-prone baby by nature.

Here is Nurul in her tent of toys.

Anyway, its been decided that I will have to move my craft table, sewing machine and all those craft supplies to the Guest room where my Hubb had already conqured half of the room! Haiz...I think I might have to do some serious spring cleaning come the end of the year!

She's been growing up quite fast, this lil girl of mine. She now has 4 upper and lower teeth and her bite is really mean! Her hair's grown quite a bit too but since its curly-wavy, it springs up to the cape of her neck. If you'ld pull it straight, it actually touches her shoulders!

Here is Nurul with her two teeny tiny "ton-chet"

I only hope that her fringe would grow fast enough for Hari Raya....

Ever since she had grown the two teeth on the upper and lower gums, she's been interested in "adult" food. She totally rejects cereal in the morning. We had to "cheat" her by putting in 1 scoop of cereal in her morning milk. Then she rejected porridge. We tried varying the veges and meat but to no avail.

At one point I even resorted to giving her a diluted version of the Spagetti Bolognaise that I had cooked for the day. She tasted it and then asked for more. She seems to enjoy the "soupy" sauce alot. And since then, we gave her pasta or rice but always accompanied with a "soupy" dish.

Since she is such a fussy eater, we always give in to whatever she asks for. Any Food is better than No Food rite? Errr... the "healthier adult food", I guess...

Here is Nurul enjoying a slice of Softmeal bread

You may be all grown up now Nurul, but to Mama you will always be my Lil' Monster! Mwah!

Hairy issues

2008-06-04T16:03:00.015+08:00

This is a usual conversation with our neighbours when taking the same lift:

Nurul smiles cheeckily...

Neighbour 1 smiles back: "hello boy-boy, wah your eyes very big ah!"

Neighbour 2: "tsk...aiyah, gir-girl lah! ears got pierce mah...Girl hor?"

Me, smiling: "ya, girl"

Neighbour 1: "oh...sorry, sorry..."

Me, smiling: "nevermind, its ok...ok Nurul say bye-bye"

Nurul smacks a wet flying kiss.

Needless to say, Nurul has my hubb's looks and my eyes.

The hair...must be from me I guess? We both have high foreheads but Nurul's hair is a lot more thinner than mine.

Actually, the hair have grown quite a bit back from the time when we had her cukur rambut (in which we did not really cukur all the rambut), but they are too thin to be seen. Infact, the ends have started to fling out in all directions, another confirmation that she took that gene from me. FYI, my hubb has very thick, straight hair.

Back to the boy/girl issue. So anyway, on Nurul's birthday, we put on a hair clip specially made by me with extra velvet lining, supposedly to help hold the hair. Soon, the clip was dangling precauriously at the ends of her hair and I had to take it off!

So if a clip wont work, maybe these will....

The adventures of Nurul

2008-05-12T14:58:00.010+08:00

Sometime back we were at T3, the newly opened airport (or so to me..hehehe...) to have our dinner at Secret Recipe. Remember, we had those vouchers yet to be used...

Had a bit of trouble finding the carpark to T3. We went round and round and finally saw the signage.

Nurul had so much fun coz it was so spacious. The moment she got off the stroller, she went walking round and round, left and right.

She stopped to smile at strangers.

She touched the water fountain.

She even ordered food for us...

Then on Sunday, we went swimming. Here is Nurul all ready to go swimming.

Nurul in the pool.

ONE birthday THREE cakes

2008-04-30T16:11:00.016+08:00

On the day Nurul turned one, my hubb had to work the night shift and I had to be in school as there was a Science SPA being held.

ONE cake

My babysitter, Kak Zainab, had mentioned that they would like to have a mini-combo celebration as her daughter's birthday is also in April. So here is Nurul with Ella and the cake.

TWO cakes?
Weeks before Nurul's birthday, we were discussing on whether we should have a birthday party for her. My hubb had a strict rule: kenduri doa-selamat only. no party.

On the other hand, I felt that we should do some celebration but not a full-fledged party coz I didnt want to handle the after party mess.

But as we discussed further, we realised that since Nurul is the very first grandchild for both our families, she would be quite lonely at the party, ie no friends of her age. And, lets just be honest, the party would be more for the adults rather than for the kid. :)

So we decided to hold a simple dinner for our immediate family members and my babysitter's family at a restaurant.

Since we had vouchers from Secret Recipe, we wanted to hold the dinner at Vivocity's Secret Recipe. It was quite a convenient place and assessible by public transport. But we were told that since it was a Saturday night, no reservations were allowed. "Chop"-ing 17 seats on a wkend night can be quite a feat so we had no choice but to look for other options.

With a few days away, we didnt have much time to make a decision. So on Wednesday, I took half a day off and went with my Hubb to Amirah's Grill to recce the place. I had heard so much about it but have never been there myself.

Since the dinner will be after Maghrib, the Bussorah St's branch would be a nice location. We could do our prayers at the nearby Sultan Mosque first before proceeding to Amirah's Grill. Upon seeing the place, we decided to stick to it and put up a deposit for a reservation for 17pax.

I had placed an order for Simply Irresistable's Cupcakes. I must say it was beyond my expectation! They looked too good to be eaten. The "baker" Hasnita, was so sweet that she even gave Nurul a presie! I would recommend the cakes to anyone. Oh, btw the butterflies, ladybirds and flower toppers used are all original, handmade by the baker! How creative!

As soon as I opened up the box, Nurul immediately imprinted her hands on 2 of the cakes.

The dinner went smoothly, Alhamdulilah! It was quite difficult being host & hostess to 15 guests in a crowded and quite cramped restaurant, on a Saturday night mind you! It was only then that I was told that the Pahang St branch would be more suitable as it is more spacious. Geee...maybe next time?

I shall let the pics do the talking...

"HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY NURUL"

Nurul aiming for the pink cake

...and she finally got it!

All involved

Towards the end, Nurul was getting kinda cranky coz it was waay past her bedtime of 9.30pm. We left the place, sent my mom home and only got home at 10past twelve am!

THREE cakes
The next day started early despite the very late night yesterday. We had to attend a kenduri on my in-laws side.

My in-laws bought Nurul yet another cake! This time round its a Foreva Friends cake.

See the dead-tired look on my face

But having insufficient sleep the last few days, Nurul was no fun to be with. She was all whinny and crying each time someone tried to carry her.

We left at 2.45pm to supposedly to go swimming but were too tired that we decided to just shop for our swimming costume.

Throughout the 1+hr journey from Jurong East to Tampines, Nurul was fast asleep. We reached Tampines and went to Toys'R Us coz I wanted to get Nurul an Aquadoodle set. Nurul was still fast asleep. She must have been sooo tired coz she seldom sleeps when we are in noisy crowded places.

The next day, the kakak told me that Nurul was still cranky the whole day. Well, I guessed, the lesson to be learnt here is .... Nurul must have enough rest!

The giveaway..

2008-04-24T11:53:00.007+08:00

So the Simply Sweet Grape and Cherry Diaper Cake was finally given away to its rightful owner - Baby Ifa Umairah.

Here is the cake all wrapped up and ready to go...

The front of the gift tag

A picture of the cake so that the mommy can keep it for rememberance...

Coachy-coachy-hota-hey!

2008-04-24T09:42:00.007+08:00

So while we are at it, talking about birthdays and all, I feel that it would be an injustice if I do not write about this.

We are very practical couple, my hubb and I. For birthdays, we usually ask the other half what he/she wants/need as a birthday gift. If nothing in particular comes to mind, we would just give cash to the other party so that he/she can spend it on any thing that he/she wants.

But this year, since its my thirtieth birthday, I wanted something different. My hubb wanted to give me $500 cash to spend. I took $400, coz I wanted to spend part of it on Spa packages and also on some shopping for a revamped new me. As for the other $100, "Get me a surprise," I told him. He was clueless, kept asking me what I wanted and kept pestering me to buy the surprise myself.

Truth is, after the birth of Nurul, I think we tend to forget about each other, spending more time, money and effort on Nurul. Of course Nurul needs that from us, and we are more than willing to do so coz she is our beloved daughter, but sometimes we need to spend sometime or some effort on each other, to remind ourselves that the roles that we have to play in this household is not only to be the mom and dad to Nurul but also as lovers or as a couple who in the first placed fell in love with each other and that is the very begining all this.

So he kept pestering me, everyday, to a point that I almost gave up. I told him that I have always been giving him hints day-in, day-out. And had he been listening to me (men! where are their ears?!) it would have been such an easy feat.

Like when I said "I think I need a laptop bag lah dear" or when I said "If I have a egg-beater how nice, than I can bake Nurul's birthday cake". Anyway.....one day, he stopped pestering me and told me that the Surprise will be a belated birthday gift.

Day passed by and I still didnt receive any belated surprise birthday gift. So I kept quite and sort of gave up. Then, one day, I opened my wardrobe and I saw a box with a gift tag on it. And when I opened it up, boy was I surprised to see a Coach handbag!

SURPRISE!

Beaming from ear to ear, I thanked my hubb for the surprise.
"Eh, but this costs more than the $100 that I returned back to you leh..."
"Nevermind, as long as you like it"
"Like? I soooooo like it lah!"

He asked his friends where is the Coach boutique, went to Taka, and he chose and picked out the bag himself! I am so proud of him lah! He seldoms follow me shopping, even then, it would be shopping for Nurul's stuff only, so I didnt think that he would know my taste. So it was a huge deal when I really liked the bag that he picked out! (I find some Coach bag a bit tacky, those with the patchwork design, luckily he bought one which is simple yet practically big enough for me!)

Later I found out that he even tried to get the gift wrapped up, but didnt manage to find a gift wrapper suitable enough and that the Surprise gift have been sitting in my cupboard for since two days ago (I didnt find out about it earlier coz I didnt open my wardrobe for two days! hehehe...)

I did ever told him that I will be saving up my March bonus to join the next Coach spree on the SMH forum and that this time round I wanted to get a bigger handbag for Hari Raya. But it was just a one time comment, so I didnt think that he would remember it!

Coachy-Coachy-hota-hey!

Dang! What do I get for his birthday then? Oh oh!

Nurul turns ONE!

2008-04-24T09:04:00.007+08:00

My dearest Lil Monster,

A year ago on this very day, mommy was beaming over you in the Labour ward in SGH. You were still clad in a pink fleece blanket, your cheeks so tembam and pink! We called you Lil Monster bcoz your cries were very loud, esp when you're hungry, just like a hungry Monster.

My dearest Nurul,

A year later, today, mommy is still beaming over you. Each time she says "Sayang, sayang" you will hug mommy and rest your head on her chest. You are no longer tembam but only bcoz you are one active girl! You are no longer refered to as Lil Monster, but as Nurul.

Happy Birthday my lil one!

Mama and Baba/Abah/Papa loves you very much!

Semoga Nurul Nazurah menjadi anak yang soleha, baik, yang sihat, yang cerdik dan yang cantik. Jangan noti2 tau! Amin!

Zippered pouches to go!

2008-04-07T10:39:00.012+08:00

These handmade zippered pouches were made for an order which didnt turned out in the end. So I am letting them go...

Usual Price: S$6.00ea
Now: S$4.00ea!! (includes normal postage)

Size: Is slightly bigger than your EZlink card
Colors and Qty is as in the pic. Will not be duplicated anymore, so these are limited edition.

To "chop" one for yourself, please email me simplylne@yahoo.com.sg

A inside: White Twill Cotton

B inside: Red Twill Cotton

C inside: White Plain cotton

D Inside: Beige cotton with printed stars

One weekend, two simple events

2008-04-01T16:37:00.025+08:00

One weekend two simple yet important events.

First up, my thirtieth birthday.

We had a late lunch at a restaurant at Tanjong Katong Complex. I had Mee Goreng Nyonya which was yummy! My hubb had Bee Hoon Fish Head Curry (which to me is yucky!) and we shared a plate of Black Pepper Beef and Mushroom Kailan in Oyster sauce.

Let's just say the meal was simple, but the bill wasn't!!

Next we travelled all the way to Chinatown Point to get the Swensen's cookies n Cream ice-cream cake. We over at my mum's place and I had the cake cutting ceremony there.

Nurul was so "busy" trying to imprint her hands on my cake.

Hai, kak, birthday girl beli kek sendiri ke?"
hehehe... that is just me, self-reliant.

On Sunday, my younger twin sister, Nur Azlin had a simple exchange of rings ceremony.

Here is the ring.

And here is Nurul looking more excited than her aunt.

Congratulations to my sis, semoga jodohnya panjang hingga ke pintu syurga.

To me, hehehe...Happy thirtieth Birthday!

the big 3-0

2008-03-28T23:56:00.003+08:00

the time is 11.59pm sooo.... in exactly 1 minute I will leave the wonderful 20s.

its sad to know that you have lived out 20 years of your 75? years? of life on earth.

its even sad if you look back and realise that you have squandered and diddle away 20/75 years of your life

to me, the last decade! (OMG!) of my life had been the most meaningful-eventful

20yrs
*graduation!
*my first job at NUH
*just met the "kawan lelaki biasa ajelah"

21yrs
*status quo "boypren"

22 yrs
*changed job to Kinokuniya
* kira da steady lah ni...steady boypren

23 yrs
*errr...masik lagi steady boypren hehe...tapi dah planning2 dah...

24yrs 2002
*change job again! now with SR
**wah! dah upgrade to Fiancee seh!

25 yrs
*keje baik2 tukar lak jadi "servant gabermen"
*kumpul duit banyak2 oi!

26 yrs
**kepak bing bing** cewah!

27 yrs

*obtained driving licence, finally!

28 yrs
*marilah pindah, berpindah-mindah....!
*sibuk pegi night classes pat PSB

29 yrs
*mak buyung dah meletop dah

30 yrs
*anak buyung turn 1 yr old

hahaha...by the time I typed '30yrs', then time shows 1.00am.

So anyway,
Happy Birthday to me.
The thirtieth.
I spelled it out coz I am still in denial of the number 3-0.

Happy 11th month Nurul

2008-03-25T00:06:00.003+08:00

Cant believe my Lil Monster turned 11 mths today!

Happy 11th my dear!
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1 more mth to Nurul turning 1yr old!
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1 more wk to Nurul's mom turning 30yrs old! Yikes!

What's cooking?

2008-03-19T09:09:00.015+08:00

With the purchase of my Microwave/ Double Convection Oven last month, (thank you to my Hubb for sponsoring that! Yipee!) suddenly I am all excited to try out delicious dishes from the new Manja Cookbook, although most of them are not neccessarily cooked using the oven!

Cant remember the real name for this dish but it has pan-fried Salmon, tomato and asparagus.

This is White cod fish with butter and lemon sauce and steam spinach and potatoes. The only thing missing from the recipe is the baby capers. Cant find them at Shop n Save. Any one know what that spice look like? Oh btw, cod fish is soooo expensive! Can you believe that 6 small pcs costs $13!

Since Nurul is always interested in whatever we are having for meals, on the day that we were having Spaghetti Bolognaise, I made an improvised version of Macaroni and Cheese, using chopped Spaghetti instead, for my her. Sorry no pics! And there was a day that I made Sabsuka, a baked dish of minced meat marinated with spices, green chillis and poached eggs. I made more so I gave some to my mom. Here is an eg of how the dish look like although in this pic the dish has more gravy than the one I made. (Picture courtesy of Lilprincess.multiply)

Splashing Time! Diaper Cake

2008-03-17T14:42:00.009+08:00

Guess I am still not numbed by the multiple pin pricks yet....here is the latest addition to the Simply Diaper! Cake family ....

Splashing Time! Diaper Cake

these *socks* are made for *splashing*?

For enquiries, pls email to simplylne@yahoo.com.sg

Simply Diaper! Cake

2008-03-13T16:34:00.005+08:00

Remember how I told you that I am up to something crafty again?

Well, here it is, Simply Sweet Grape and Cherry Diaper Cake

Dont you think it looks delicious enough to eat?

It is actually meant for my hubb's colleague who had just given birth to a lovely baby girl.

You cant imagine how many times I took it apart and fixed it back together again. I simply loooove the Cherry cupcake.

Soooo.... I looooved making it so much that I decided to make more of it! Yipee!!

The oven's preheating, it'll be a while more and new confections will be on the shelves.

For more delicious pics do drop by SimplyLNE, Life's Simple Pleasure to see what I am up to next.

*Dearest Hubb, thank you for being most understanding and supportive of my ever crafty ideas! hehehe...*

Shopping craze!

2008-03-06T11:10:00.012+08:00

February and March saw me spending close to $2K on shopping! Bearing in mind that these two months do not have bonuses in them, I am agast at how much I had spent!

First up was for my brand new Compaq laptop. Top up $299 after signing on the broadband with Starhub.

pix to be uploaded

With the lappie, comes the Microsoft Vista 2007 version bought at approx $200 from Singpost.

Then it was alot of clothes, both from warehouse sales, Bulk Purchases and from shops. $100

Next was shoes from Bata $19.90 but then I cant resist joining the Bulk Purchase for Crocs shoes and got myself and Nurul these... for $78 for both!

I was getting really irritated with my Nokia 7390. Apart from the lag, it kept on hanging while I am in the middle of conversations. As the phone is hardly 1 yr old (was bought on my birthday last year), I had tried to hold on from buying a replacement. I usually change my hp only when the contract ends every two years. But this time round I could not tahan anymore!

Nokia 7390

Before this Nokia, I was using Sony Ericsson's K700i and was so happy with it. Frankly, I think SonyE is much more user friendly compared to Nokia. So this time round, I had made up my mind that I will be getting a new Sony E phone for sure.

So we went to the Sony E concept store in Carrefour and asked about the promotions that they were having. For a monthly budget of $60, all I could get was a very bulky, brown in color and "ugly" phone with 3.2megapix camera or a more stylish Walkman phone W580i in Metro Pink! with a 2.0megapix camera. I was ready to pick the W580i in Metro Pink! but then I remembered back then, when I picked my Nokia 7390 over other models simply becoz it was in Pink! ... and look what a dissappointment it is!

So I asked for a hp with at least 3.2megapix. So she showed me the P1i and the W960i. The P1i looks so "nerdy" although it meets my budget nicely at $60/mth. The W960i is however looks Oh! So stylish...ala-ala executive gitu! but is a tad too high for my budget at $77 /mth. But after consulting my Hubb, he told me to get the W960i as the trade in value will be much higher if I intend to trade in the future. As usual, the concept store will try to push us to buy extra batteries etc.

The nerdy P1i

After much persuasion, I took up the complete package that includes the W960i, and extra battery (original), a desktop charger which is able to charge 2 batteries at a time and the screen protector film. It all amounts to a surprising $960 (wat a nice number to go with the model no!), ie $80/mth! A mere addition of $3.00. I walk out of the store happy and broke! So here it is my spanking new W960i.

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And you thought it was over? Was at Robinson's on Tuesdayday, thinking it was their cardmember's sale. Hehe..we were a day too early. But as we were walking to our car parked at Midpoint Orchard, we saw that John Little was having their member sale! I left the store with some innerwear and $40 charged to my dearest Hubb credit card! hahaha...

Guess what? I was back to Robinson's and John Little again yesterday! Bought Vera Wang's perfume which costs $168 for a 3.4oz bottle - Thank God for vouchers! I also picked out a couple of baby stuffs for a Diaper cake for my Hubb's colleague, Fauzana, who had just given birth to a baby girl - $35 in all (to be shared between us) Am so excited to be doing some craft after so long! Just watch this space for the final product! ;)

Ok so that sums up the bulk of my shopping craze! Let me see....$1865! ;P Sheesh!

Must really keep that PBonus in March and am so looking forward to that extra cash fr the Gabermen. No more shopping for me! (...hehehe...or at least, I hope so!)

Tantrums at 10 mths

2008-03-04T10:54:00.005+08:00

At 10mths and 2 wks, Nurul have started to show lil bits of her character.

She is a very sociable baby. Apart from smiling to neighbours in the lift, she gets especially excited and friendly when she sees another baby/ toddler or as we always address it to her "friend".

From her stroller, she would reach out her hand to touch the other baby in the stroller or if the other baby is a distance away, she would point her index finger to the baby make cute little sounds and look at us for approval. We would always reply with "Friend, Nurul, say "Hi", "Hello" and wave her hands.

Since the last time we brought her to Gymboree play last year when she was 4-5mths old, we have yet to let her mingle about with babies her age. At Gymboree last year, the group consisted of 20 odd babies from 4mths to 10mths old. Although Nurul was one of the younger ones in the group, she was already actively chasing after soap bubbles and interacting with other babies by touching their hands.

But the other side of her character which seems to be showing more the last few wks is worrying to me. She will throw little temper tantrums if we take something she shouldn't be playing with away from her. She would cry and if we are holding her, she would struggle and arch her back.

Initially, being the more "lenient" parent, I would give in and give the item (eg. my handphone)back to her and keep a watchful eye on her. But with time, I noticed that she would use her "trick" of crying and arching her back almost everytime that she is unhappy.

Being the first grandchild of both my hubb's and my side, she is always in the limelight and are given so much attention. I am afraid that when the Lil Sis or Bro comes along in the future, and when the attention will be on the Lil one, she would be very difficult to handle, and

There was a time when she tried to climb up the Ikea Pouffe footstool. We said a very loud "NO" to her and placed her back down on the floor. She cried out at first and started to throw tantrums. Seeing that her crying was not getting our attention, she stopped crying and tried climbing up again. We repeated our "NO" and placed her down on the floor again. This time round when we ignored her crying and tantrums, she surprisingly moved on to playing with something else!

From that incident we know that, apart from her determined, "hardboiled" nature, that if we ignore her crying and tantrums, she would give up coz "it is not fun anymore as my parents are not giving in to me."

Here are other methods of handling your lil one's tantrums.

I certainly hope (and pray!) that we wont see her crying and rolling on the floor of Toys' R Us!

Back dated pics - Trip to the Bird Park

2008-02-28T20:56:00.014+08:00

When Nurul is awake, it is really difficult to do things, especially to blog. Whenever I am out of her sight, she would cry out for attention.

Now that she is sleeping, I am trying to sneek in a few mins to put up a post and upload my pics to Flickr. And that is when I realised that I have not blogged (or upload the pics) from our family trip to the Birdpark back in December!

Tix were compliments from my hubb's workplace. Date was 8 Dec 2007. The rainy Sunday morning made us think twice if we should go to the Birdpark. It then simmered down to a drizzle and we decided to give it a try.

Surprisingly, there were quite a lot of visitors there despite the rain.

Nyai with Nurul at the big Xmas tree near the entrance

We first went to the Penguin Expedition. Nurul was big-eyed when the penguins swam near the glass panel.

A family pic with the Penguin family (without mama Penguin's head!)

We saw the "leggy" Flamingo, the Pelicans being fed, but Nurul enjoyed the Bird Show the most.

Us waiting for the Bird Show to start

*Waiting makes me sleepy

Paying full attention at the Bird Show

Although we were at the Birdpark, the thing that intrigued me the most was two turtles who were crawling (well one of them, at least) to the end of the cage and then they seemed stucked there for a moment.

The noisiest place have got to be the Lory Loft. There must have been at least a hundred of the birds there. My bro and sis fed the birds. When they held the bowl of bird food in their palm, the birds instinctively came and started feeding from there. Some started to "bite" my bro's arms when the food was finished. But Nurul seemed calm.

The last stop for the day was the tallest manmade waterfall (in asia?).

At the end of the day, I think Nurul is still too small to remember anything from the Birdpark.

Lil Monster did it again!

2008-02-05T14:14:00.001+08:00

I was home alone with the Lil Monster on Saturday.

The hubb was at work to pass on the "mess" to the new guy before he moved on next wk to join back his team doing shift hours --to which I am not very excited about coz we will see lesser of him, although technically, he will have more free time as he will get two days off with every two days of shift work. Bummer... oh well, more of that later...

That afternoon, the Lil Monster had two long naps of 3hrs. I took the time to throughly clean and mopped the whole house and even had time to cook chicken rice.

So when the Lil Monster woke up that evening, I took her to the room and put her in the cott to change her diaper. Checking that the gates of the cott is pulled up, I made a quick dash for the next room to get the new pack of diapers.

Just as I was about to turn back to the room, I heard a loud "THUD" and the loudest cry ever from the Lil Monster. I was shocked to see the Lil Monster face up on the floor.

It was REALLY a heart-stopping moment. Many times have you been warned by the elderlys "Be careful. Dont let her fall" to which you smile. You never think it'll happen to you. And then, BAM! when you least expect it. Your forehead is stamped with the words "GUILTY OF NEGLECT"

Ironically, a few days before, I was crossed at my hubb for letting the Lil Monster fall (again!) from her standing position while under his care. I even said "she falls more under your care than when she is under mine" GULP!

The Lil Monster is without a doubt a more active and energetic baby than any other babies, well at least compared to her two cousins who were born few weeks ealier than her. Although she is stil trying to stabilise her stand, she is already climbing up stools and chairs. So it is very unlikely that she will not fall, it is more like a rite of passage. But of course it is no excuse for us.

Back to the tragic scene, I rushed to her frantically, hugged her close and consoled her. At that moment my mind went, "SHIT! My mom will kill me for this" I tried distracting her by bringing her infront of the mirror and almost immediately she stopped crying, sobbing occasionally. And then within minutes, she was happily gurgling away. What a relief it was!

It was only through the reflection on the mirror that I saw the big red patch on the right side of her front forehead, the size of a 50 cent coin. The Lil Monster had actually fallen face down at first! I tried to apply cold compress and the big patch later sothered down to a smaller 5 cent coint patch which seemed to look more like it is the result of an abrasion rather than a knock.

I called up the hubb and was expecting a scolding but instead he sounded very concern and said that he will leave work immediately.

We lowered the cott to the next step. But we are still very puzzled on how did Lil Monster climb over the gates which were as high as her chest. My hubb said she did a "suicide window" fall.

We kept checking on her that night.
No vomitting.
No fever.
No unusual behaviour.
Apetite for milk - ok
Sitting and picking things up - ok
Pulling self up to stand - ok

So did I get that scolding from my mum?
No.
She was more worried for the Lil Monster.
But I did get alot of "tsk..tsk" from the other relatives at my cousin's wedding the day after.

Just as Lil Monster wore her 5 cent mark of rememberance, I wore that "GUILTY" stamp on my forehead with much shame.

Cookie (Lil) Monster

2008-01-25T11:05:00.000+08:00

Nurul is a big eater. She eats almost anything that we are eating.

She eats the spicy seaweed.

She eats Sour Apple Ice Cream.

But her (current) favourite is the teething biscuit.

But when it is Durian...

hmmp you call that food? Yucks!

2008-01-24T14:59:00.001+08:00

Happy 9th month Lil Monster!

3 more months and you are 1 yr old!
How time flies!

Mama and Baba aka Papa aka Abah (yap to date still havenot decided yet! LOL! ) loves you to bits!

Oh trying to escape eh!

2008-01-24T14:28:00.000+08:00

Gone were the days when we could prop her into her yellow bumbo while we continue with our housework at the same time keeping a watchful eye on her.

All the time spent confined to the yellow bumbo had been put to good use. My Lil Monster is now as skillful as David Blaine.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is not an illusion, not a trick ...

I present to you Nurul, the escapist Lil Monster...

sorry the pic fr you tube will take up to 6hrs to load just click on the clock below to view the video

So much for a New Year

2008-01-22T16:33:00.000+08:00

*pics to be added in later

it had been hardly 22 days into 2008 and already i am feeling so tired out. so much for starting the new year a fresh!

for a start, remember the secret getaway from 2-4 jan 08 tat i mentioned in my previous post? well, it wasnt really a getway per say. it was at a corner of the island, Aloha chalet to be precise. it wasnt really a relaxing getaway coz ...

1. my hubby still had to go to work on all the 3 days! and since Aloha is such a cast away place, i still had to wake up early!! to drive him to the mrt

2. we were lugging so much things there tat we had to make 2 trips for it, 1 trip fr my mum's place and another trip fr my place. and for both trips, the car was full to the rim!

3. i had to think so hard of all the things tat i need to bring for the Lil Monster. GOSH! i was not aware tat bringing a toddler away fr home would involve so many thngs, logistically! or was i too paranoid of leaving anything behind?

4. since my mum had forgotten to pass her house keys to my hubb, i had to drive her back on the second day to feed the cat!!!

5. lugging all the things tat we lugged there back home. it took a cab ride + car ride then another car ride

well, at least the lil monster enjoyed her swim in the pool. juz look at the way she splashes the water around.

i bet the pool water must be dirty or something coz the very next day that we are back fr the chalet, the lil monster had high fever.

her fever was 37.8C then it went up to 39.0C we were skeptical if the thermometer was reading correctly coz the lil monster was still her usual self at 38.5C.

then she started to stick her tongue out alot, whc i presume must be bcoz her throat feels dry or sore. it was quite scary though, her tongue could reach her chin!! and my hubb tot tat my upper-lip-rolling-up-to-my-nose-habit is freaky. dont ask me for a pic of tat, its scary i tell you.

with all the talk tat lil monster resembles my hubb more than me, at least i can say tat she did inherit something from my genes, eventhough it may be the scary/freaky part...lol...

we brought her to the doc after a dose of panadol and was diagnosed with viral fever. he told me that it should clear in 4 days time and if by Monday, it doesnt clear, we should come back to see him again

the next few days her fever went as high as 39.2C and then it drops to 36.5C after panadol. I was so scared and insisted that we do something about it but my hubb read on our family clinic's website that we should only rush to the hospital if the fever reaches 40C

By Monday morning, when the fever was again 39.2C, we decided to rush to SGH instead, incase she needed to be warded. But the doc there brushed us off and told us that it is just viral fever again!!

By now she had developed a nasty nappy rash. The doc who looks like he can hardly bother, hardly opened her diaper and claimed that he did not see any rash appearing yet! Hai tak pernah aku jumpa doktor potek mcm dia ni!

So we were sent home with a wash and powder for the rash and more panadol!

All the while tat she was down with fever, she was totally not herself. When usually she will be running and climbing and babbling, she just wants to sleep in my arms, not in my hubb's arms, only mine. She became so grouchy and whinny. She refused milk, refused water, refused any food (when usually she would open her mouth to anything that we shove infront of her face). Her not wanting to eat made me feel so helpless. How is she to regain her health if she refuses to drink or eat?

Luckily her fever started to simmer down by Wednesday and just as I thought she was getting well, she had diarrhoea. Followed with rashes all over her body, face and even head! I felt so uncomfortable for her. I made barley water as advised by my mum and gave it to her.

By Friday, she was coughing and the rashes didnt seem to go away. So we went to the doctor again! This time round the young stand-in doctor prescribed a cough mixture and a steroid cream for her rashes.

Although the steroid cream was applied sparingly, the nasty rashes went off almost immediately. The cough was still there though.

And then over the weekend, she started to sniffle and it became runny nose. So off we were to the doctor's, again for the 4th time! This time round our regular family doctor, the friendly Dr Chong is in. He gave a new cough medicine, a more diluted one, a runny nose medicine and one for blocked airway.

By this time I was feeling so guilty for pumping so much medicine into my Lil Monster but I keep telling myself that it is for her own good, so that she could be herself again, all well and healthy. Well, today, after spending close to $140 on medication and doctor's consultation! (thank god for gabermen benefit! hehe..) she is all better although still a bit of runny nose and cough but she is back to her usual antics.

There you go so much to tackle in the new year, and it is not even a mth! And this is on top of work sh*t issues. The ugly creature is at back to work again, back-stabbing...sigh...

p/s cant believe I took 3 days to complete the whole entry. But it is a looong entry...

Nurul and Me doing our (my) favourite things

2007-11-22T10:25:00.000+08:00

Ok. I am back at it. So many half-done posts. None posted up. The oldest dated back to October! Ish Ish Ish!
************************************************************************

My babysitter (Kakak) wanted to go on a one day trip to Batam yesterday, so I applied for a day leave.

After seeing my hubb off to work, Nurul and I slept on until 9am.

I woke up, bathe, prepared Nurul's breakfast and put the porridge to cook with slow fire on the stove. (yap, she's started on solid food for sometime now)

After feeding Nurul at 9.30am, I let her play awhile while I checked on my BP thread and the street directory for directions to 105 Tampines Road.

You see, I had great plans for the day.

First up is a the Fox Warehouse sale at Tampines Road.

The sale starts at 12pm and I intend to be there slightly after 12pm as I would like to avoid the evening crowd. I am a sucker for warehouse sales. Maybe its the adrenaline rush or that whenever I saw someone wearing the same apparel, I find relish in the fact that most prolly, I bought the it cheaper than her. hehe...Or maybe I am just addicted to the dust in the warehouse, I dont know?

I do not mind burrowing through piles and piles of mangled clothes to find that piece of rare clothing, that "jewel" as I call it. Apparently, I am quite good at it as my "training" started as early as my poly days- when you dont have much to spend but still wants to own a Levis or OP.

Anyway, I bought two pairs of jean/bottoms, two tees and 1 romper for Nurul and for myself, two long sleeve tops and a pair of casual pants for a total of $55!

And all this while, Nurul just sat back in her stroller. Relax jer.

After feeding Nurul in the car, up next is all the way up the Tampines Road to TPE and then exit 5, to Ikea. The day before, I saw on the almost-eaten-up (by Nurul) Ikea Xmas catalog that there is a big children's pillow. And I thought that it would be useful to cushion Nurul's falls now that she's starting to stand up.

So I flipped the the street directory again and went forth. However, Tampines Road is commonly used by big and heavy vehicles. Being flanked by two big heavy vehicles by my side, I got nervous and instead of going straight to the turnabout to join TPE to Pasir Ris, I turned left. So I ended up going back to Sengkang!

For a moment while on the TPE, I was kinda scared that I might have joined the TPE after the Sengkang Exit, (although I was quite sure that the Tampines road entrance to TPE is definately before the Sengkang Exit), which would mean that I might have to travel all the way up to SLE! Hehehe...

You see, it was only my 2nd time on an expressway after I have started driving lah. This despite the fact that my Driving license is dated back to 14 Nov 2005, my windscreens still have the Learner Driver triangular signs. I think they will be stuck there for sometime, at least until I pass my "Husband's driving school".

Anyway, upon reaching Sengkang, I decided that it was too much of a hasle! to turn back to join TPE. So I parked the car at my carpark and cancelled the trip to Ikea. Haha...so much for a great planned day!

If it is any consolation, the petrol was 1/4 tank full and I didnt want to end up stranded in the middle of TPE. Lol!

Then Nurul and I took the NEL to Plaza Singapura. It wasnt exactly Nurul's first time on the NEL but she was still peery eyes and all everytime the door opened at each station.

At Plaza Singapura, we went to one of my favourite shops, Spotlight. I was there to get some potpuri essential oil for the scented pillows wedding favors that I will be making for my Cousin who will be getting married in February.

It had been so long since I was there. There were so many rows of beautiful colorful fabrics.

But if you asked me, Nurul was more excited being there than I was. Strapped in her stroller, she had both her hands stretched out on the left and right to feel whatever fabric she could. I think she will turn out to be like her mommy, a crafty geek. Hehehe...

At the end of the day, we returned home -a Happy and Energetic Nurul and a Tired Mommy.

Dearest Hubby

2007-11-19T22:20:00.001+08:00

I am so missing my dearest hubby tonightlah.

All because for the first time ever in almost 3yrs, he has to work the graveyard shift today just because some impt people fr all over Asean are having a meeting in town.

So today I clocked out at exactly 5.10pm (coz I was 10mins late in the morning, heh..) quickly picked Nurul up fr Kakak's place and rushed home to see my hubby before he leaves for work.

My hubby who was supposed to be sleeping in the afternoon had vacumned the house, washed the milk bottles and bought me laksa for dinner from Banquet. Hehe...thanks dear, luv you lots.

He told me to sleep early (ya right!) to ensure that I get enough rest coz tonight I will have to be the one preparing the milk for Nurul's night feeds and to pacify her during her numerous "mengigau". Then he hugged me and told me that he will miss me.

I was holding back tears actually but I jokingly told him that for numerous nights in bed, when he was snoring next to me, each minding our own sleeping business, we didnt miss each other. Just one night, and we suddenly get so emo.

Its strange isnt it?

But truth be told.

I miss you lah dear.

Miss you lots.

And if you would to ask me now...

"Big fish or small fish"

My ans is ...

"Big Fish"

Mwah!

The end is near...Yipee!

2007-11-02T15:02:00.000+08:00

That time of the year is here again...to clear those leaves! Yipee!!!

...*ahem*...actually I dont have any to clear but who cares, I will still have 21 more come 1st Jan.

Ok let's flip the calendar together now.

14 - 15 Nov 2007 wednesday - thursday
A compulsory "retreat" that must attend. Its right smack at the very northeast end of Spore. But at least its at that wonderful2 Changi Village Hotel. I looove that place, so rustic, so serene or so I'd like to think. I am just in love with the see thru bathroom lah...hehe....

That brings us to 16 Nov 2007 friday
Now after being a full "attentive" participant for 2 whole days, I think I deserve a break. So let's mark that date down shall we....

Aha...9 Dec 2007 sunday
Is the day we get to gaze at the birds at Jurong. It will be a family event and the first for Nurul. I hope the weather will not pose as a problem.

10 Dec 2007 monday
Nurul's 7+mth check up. That summons for an Urgent Leave call in the morning and later an MC request from the doc. Childcare Sick Leave. Haha...saves me one day of leave.

The day after, 11 Dec 2007 tuesday
Not sure if Nurul is getting a jab on the 10th. If yes (*or not*), then most prolly she will be down with "fever". That accounts for another Childcare Leave. Afterall, they encourage us to spend time with family rite?

21 Dec 2007 friday- The day after Hari Raya
Another *important day* to Malays/Muslims. Hari Raya mah! Must celebrate what! Will be very buzy one.....So must take leave. haha...

24 to 28 Dec 2007 monday - friday
I will be a very good worker and not take leave this wk. So that I will be able to help them with anything urgent for the new sch year. *wink wink*

31 Dec 2007 monday - Eve of New Year, A typical half-day work
8am Come to work, Log in and go out for breakfast
9am Settle down after breakfast
10am Important discussion on current issues (*ehem) with co-workers
11am Check email (and read blogs, see anything new can buy fr BP etc)
11.45am Start to get ready to go home, answer nature calls and slow stroll to the main office 12.00pm sharp Log out

1 Jan 2008 tuesday - Happy New Year
(a much more a happier occasion for me coz of the next few days..hehehe)

2 -4 Jan 2008 tuesday...haha...the Happy New Year continues...
A secret getaway (but still within the shores) with the family had been planned.
A happy New Year WEEK it will be...whoohoo!!!

counting....6 days - 2 childcare leaves = 4days
that leaves me with....15 days to be brought forward to 2008
...15 + 21 (fr 2008) = 36 days!
hahaha...I can take leave like nobody's business next year!

oh, and of course there are 2 x 4hrs time off to be claimed, courses to attend ....

happy leave planning everyone! hahaha

Selamat Hari Raya!

2007-10-27T22:47:00.000+08:00

Kalau keropok, dah lemau.

Kalau rendang, dah basi.

Errr...tapikan Raya sebulan kan....heh.....

Expiry date ada 15 hari lagi lah...so....

SELAMAT HARI RAYA

MAAF ZAHIR BATIN

yer....

at my inlaw's

The color for the year- Purple
and as usual Hari Raya photos taken after bermaaf-maafan
therefore the red rudolf nose.

1 more wk to go ...

2007-10-03T15:45:00.000+08:00

Hi all!

Hope everyone's doing well this Ramadhan. As for me, so far I have missed only 4 days of fasting! And its only a wk away to 1st Syawal, so Im gonna keep my fingers crossed in the meantime.

So what have I been up to since I started working?

Term 3 is a bad time to come back to work, especially if you have been on leave for sooo long. From the very first day that I am back, I had to rush the O Levels seating plan for my HOD. Then it was preparation for prelim practicals. Now its preparation for O Levels practical.

My life had been hetic too. Everyday it is a feat for me...

6.00pm
pick up Nurul
take crowded bus home/drive home
settle her down

7.30pm
start cooking/ rush to cook dishes for buka
set the table for dinner
bathe

9.00pm
wash clothes / handwash Nurul's clothes
iron clothes

11.00pm
prepare, puree Nurul's food
pack Nurul's bag for the next day
cook for sahur

I end up sleeping at 12 or 1am everyday. No more luxury 8-10hr beauty sleep for me. : (

It makes me wonder sometimes how I can still find time to do something like that BP that I organized - which btw had just been completed successfully.

I was actually dying to spend sometime for myself, to sew or do some crafts. But all the daily routine leaves me very little, if none at all, time to indulge in it. So when an order for my Kanzashi brooches came in, I sprang up alive! I devoured every stitch and loved every minute that I spent making the Kanzashi brooches. After so long, Im glad to say, I still have it. The brooches turned out perfecto!

Thank you Soffya for the order!
(these are only an illustration of the brooches that I made)

Back to Hari Raya...we spent practically every wkend breaking fast either at my mom's or my in-law's. Dont get me wrong, I would loove to spend the weekend lazing around and cooking for buka at my own house, especially after 5days of hetic schedule.

It was more because both of Nurul's grannies can never get enough of her. But of course, there was always something to bring back for sahur later...hehehe... :)

We've been out shopping for Hari Raya a few times now. Most of the time was spent searching for Your Highness's shoes / dresses / Baju Kurung. As for the parents, it was just one quick trip to Geylang Bazaar to grab that Baju Kurung that matches Your Highness's Baju Kurung.

With one wk to go, nothing have been done to our home yet. No spring cleaning, no washing windows. That is why I am adamant that we stay home this weekend. The very last weekend. To turn the house upside down and clean it inside out. Well, hopefully....

Looks like the plan to buy a convectional oven had been postponed to next year, again. But it will still be homemade cookies that will be served on our coffeetable. Well, homemade in my mom's home that is. Hehe...She had voluntarily made me Pineapple tart, Honey Cornflakes, Hazelnut Choco, Rempeyek...and a few more that needs to be collected soon. Hehehe...what do I do without my mom! Thank you mom!

Well, that is it for the time being. Till the next update, toodles....

Bulk Shopping ....

2007-08-21T10:23:00.000+08:00

Hi All!

If you know me well enough, you would know that my long dissapearance from the Blogger scene simply means that I am up to Something ;) ...

That Something actually started during my confinement period where I have nothing much to do (with nothing much- it means no shopping or shopping-mall-whoring, although there were those few occasions where I sneaked out, coz I need to do some banking ;)...hehehe...

Being confined to the four walls in my home, I resorted to the Motherhood forums where initially I exchange and read opinions and experiences of many other confined mothers out there. One section I was really hooked on was the Bulk Purchase forum of Singapore Motherhood. Heh! Who says you cant go shopping while being confined!

It started with me buying my Couture Diaper Bag at a mere S$30+!

Next I bought a wet bag, story books, bibs, diaper clutch, denim dresses...oh and I shall stop there....

Buying through a bulk purchase simply means that you save on ridiculously high shipping prices (which is at least US$18.50 ie S$30.00!) from the originating country plus there is a certain % off the retail price. The shipping is much cheaper as the cost is divided among all the orders. For my Bulk Purchase of the Diaper Bag Express, it is a savings of ~ S$10!

At the same time I was intrigued in finding more and more innovative products for babies. So I decided to give it a try. To start my own Bulk Purchase. Please click on the link to my Bulk Purchase.

Little Pocket Snack Pouch

I really love the Little Pocket Snack Pouch. It will be useful when Nurul gets older. To get me through the last isle at a supermarket---the candy shelf. As it is, currently she is already grabbing anything that is in front of her and putting it in her mouth. (That includes my tudung, my hair, my nose...you get the idea).

So drop by my Bulk Purchase k. And while you are there...buylah!

Guess who's back?

2007-07-26T13:32:00.000+08:00

Yap folks, Im back, at work tat is. Nothing interesting happened when I was gone, apparently.

Heh, I was actually hoping tat somehow, magically, the skool would collapse on the very morning that I was supposed to return to work. Actually its not that impossible with all the cracks forming on the walls in the lab, its just a matter of time. BUT, it didnt, collapse. So here I am...haiz..

But an email fr my old fren Yaz somehow lighten up my day. Pls see below the extracted version...people, enjoyZ!!!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For those who are born in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Fond memories...the good ol' days : )

1. You grew up watching He-man, MASK, Transformers, Silver Hawk and Mickey Mouse. Not to forget Ninja Turtles, My Little Pony and Smurfs too.

2. You grew up brushing your teeth with a mug in Primary school during recess time. You will squat by a drain with all your classmates beside you, and brush your teeth with a coloured mug. The teachers said you must brush each side 10 times too.

3. You know what SBC stands for.

4. You pay 40 cents for Chocolate or Strawberry MILK every week in class.

5. You watch a very popular Malay dubbed Japanese drama on RTM1 about schoolgirls who possess powerful skills in volleyball called Moero Attack.

6. You find your friends with pagers and handphone cool in Secondary school.

7. SBS buses used to be non-airconditioned. The bus seats are made of wood and the cushion is red. The big red bell gives a loud BEEP! when pressed..

There are colourful tickets for TIBS buses. The conductor will check for tickets by using a machine which punches a hole in the ticket.

8. Envelopes given to us to donate to Sharity Elephant every Children's Day.

9. You've probably read Young Generation magazine. You know who's Vinny the little vampire and Acai the constable.

10. You were there when they first introduced MRT here. You went for the first ride with your parents and you would kneel on the seat to see the scenery.

11. Movie tickets used to cost only $3.50.

12. Gals are fascinated by Strawberry Short Cake and Barbie Dolls.

13. You learn to laugh like The Count in Sesame Street .

14. You longed to buy tidbits called Kaka (20 cents per pack), and Ding Dang (50 cents per box), that had a toy in it and it changes every week. Not forgetting the 15 cents animal crackers and the ring pop, where the lollipop is the diamond on the ring.

15. You watched TV2 (also known as Channel 10) cartoons because Channel 5 never had enough cartoons for you.

16. Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, The Three Investigators, Famous Five and Secret Seven are probably the thickest story books you ever thought you have read. Even Sweet Valley High and Malory Towers .

17. KFC used to be a high class restaurant that serve food in plates and let you use metal forks and knives.

18. The most vulgar thing you said was asshole and idiot and THE MOST EXTREME WAS 'super white'... you just couldn't bring yourself to say the Hokkien relative.

19. Catching was the IN thing and twist as the magic word.

20. Your English workbooks was made of some damn poor quality paper that was smooth and yellow.

21. CDIS were your best friend.

22. The only computer lessons in school involved funny pixellised characters in 16 colours walking about trying to teach you maths.

23. Waterbottles were slinged around your neck and a must everywhere you go.

24. Boys loved to play soccer with small plastic balls in the basketball court.

25. Teng-teng, five stones, chapteh, hentam bola and zero point were all the rage with the girls and boys too...

26. Science was fun with the balsam and the angsana being the most important plants of our lives, guppies and swordtail being the most important fish.

27. Who can forget Ahmad, Bala, Sumei and John, eternalized in our minds from the textbooks. Even Mr Wally & Mr. Yakki. What abt Miss Lala??? And
Zaki and Tini in Malay Textbooks?

28. We carry out experiments of our own to get ourselves badges for being a Young Zoologist/Botanist etc.

29. Every Children's day and National day you either get pins or pens with 'Happy Children's Day 1993' or dumb files with 'Happy National Day 1994'.

30. In Primary Six you had to play buddy for the younger kids like big sister and brother.

31. We wear BM2000, BATA, or Pallas shoes.

32. Your form teacher taught you Maths, Science and English.

33. The worksheets were made of brown rough paper of poor quality.

34. You went to school in slippers and a raincoat when it rained, and you find a dry spot in the school to sit down, dry your feet, and wear your dry and warm socks and shoes.

35. School dismissal time was normally around 1 pm.

36. There would be spelling tests and mental sums to do almost everyday.

37. Your friends considered you lucky and rich if your parents gave you $3 or more for pocket money everyday.

38. You see Wee Kim Wee's face in the school hall.

39. You freak out when the teacher tells you to line up according to height and hold hands with the corresponding boy or girl.

40. Boys like to catch fighting spiders.

41. Collecting and battling erasers was a pastime for boys.

42. Autograph books were loaded with "Best Wishes", "Forget Me Not", and small poems like "Bird fly high, hard catch. Friend like you, hard to forget".

43. Class monitors and prefects loved to say "You talk somemore, I write your name ah!"

44. There were at least 40 people in one class.

45. Large, colourful schoolbags were carried.

46. Aaron Kwok was VERY famous then.

47. Punishment for making mistakes was to stand on the chair or stand outside the class.

48. Boys and girls don’t really click well.

49. Gameboys were a luxury.

50. You brought every single book to school, even though there was one thing called the timetable.

Lil Monster...2mths (Part 1)

2007-07-18T20:31:00.000+08:00

They say that babies change their sleeping habit with each new month.

It is especially true in the case of the Lil Monster.
She who used to sleep more than 15hrs a day, started to be more awake during the day when she turned 2mths.

While this change means lesser time for me to log on to surf the internet or blog hop (therefore my blog being on hiatus for awhile now), it also means that she sleeps longer during the night, sometimes 5-6 hours straight.

Anyway, there were alot of development and changes in her 2nd mth. Which makes me wonder whether I am gonna miss alot once I start work next Monday. Haiz...

SIXTH WEEK
At 6wks, she had just started to coo, and then she began to "converse" with people. My Lil Monster is one friendly fella, she talks to anyone and everyone. She will first start with a coo, then a smile and if you smile or talk back to her, she will start to converse with you.

SEVENTH WEEK

14 June 2007 - Her first check up with the PD

The PD is Dr Lian Wee Bin. A very nice lady. She seemed very experienced and thoughtful. We asked her a lot of questions and she was very helpful.

We were worried that Lil Monster was refluxing alot, sometimes even like the "Exorcist". But While Dr Lian assured us that it is quite normal in young babies, and that it should improve as she ages, she also told us how to position Lil Monster to help lessen the reflux. She also recommended a change of milk brand to Enfalac AR if the positioning doesn't help. Lil Monster is drinking S26 Gold.

Dr Lian then proceeded with the physical examination on Lil Monster. I was so nervous when Lil Monster didnt respond by turning her head to the rattle being shaken. Standing there, I was chanting quietly "Please turn, please turn". I was actually very worried, but then Lil Monster smiled to Dr Lian and started cooing and "talking". Sheesh!!

When finally Lil Monster did turn her head the second time the rattle was shaken, boy, was I glad!!

Before going home, Lil Monster had her 6-in-1 jab and her BCG jab. I was all prepared, armed with a milk bottle incase she would cry her lungs out. But what a surprise, she only cried out when the needle was first poked into her thigh. Other than that, she was well and cooing all the way home. We even went shopping for her car seat at Robinsons and Kiddy Palace. Hahaha! But that night she ran a slight fever. After her bath and milk, we gave her the paracetamol syrup that was prescribed and she slept through out the night. No whinning, no crying. Such a good girl!

Mummy, I just want to sleep...

16 June 2007 - To market, to market to buy fish!
Lil Monster was all well the next morning. So that Saturday, she made her solo trip to the wet market.

As you can see, nothing can stop her from her beauty sleep, not even the noisy wet market.

EIGTH WEEK

24th June 2007 - She turns 3mths!

On the day she turned 3mths, she was all dressed up to go to .... a wedding lunch reception. It was Marina Ramli's sister wedding. She was wide awake at first but all the commotion made her sleepy...hehehe...We then paid a visit to her babysitter's place, which was just a blk away before proceeding home.

Hey! Wats tat? Whoa! Where is tat noise coming from? Oh! This is so exciting!

*Yawn*.....zzzzzz.....

1 July 2007 - All strapped up!

Here she is in her sparkling new car seat.

Hah! Finally, my very own seat. I was starting to worry that I will outgrow it before daddy fixed it....

That night we ate at a very crowded Sakura. It was Alif's farewell dinner before he leaves for China.

Hey! Wait a minute! Why am I not in the centre of the pic?

After dinner, outside Sakura.

Hmmm...now tats more like it....

Uncle Alif n Yours Truly

At 6am the next day, we were at the airport sending Alif off to Shanghai, China for his Industrial Attachment.

Tats Uncle Alif at the far right. He will be back in 6months...Hmmm...Maybe I will surprise him by standing up then.

***********************************************************************************

Stay tuned folks, Part 2 coming rite up....

The Countdown...haiz

2007-06-30T14:23:00.000+08:00

Today is the last day of June.

Tomorrow, the first day of July.

That means I'll be returning to work soon...sob..sob..

Too soon. If you ask me.

I still havent had enuff of Lil' Monster. Nope, 3 months of Maternity Leave is definately not enough!

Please ahh, 3 months to be translated as 28 days calendar (not 31 days ah!), including Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays HOKAY!!! I feel cheated!!!

Everything is almost ready. We've got the babysitter, had discussed with her on the arrangements. I've made the list of things to bring over to the babysitter's house. I've been practicing my driving skills with my Hubb beside me, incase I need to drive the car.

Everything is ready.

Except for me.

I will miss her...
...whining which would wake us up every morning
...smiling to me every morning
...morning smell even if it is the smell of susu basi. It is the best smell to wake up to.
...bathtime when she would cry and struggle when I try to put baby powder on her face
...snoring with me during the late afternoon naps
..."conversations" with me

...big round eyes peering at me during night feeds

Ya Allah, please give me the strength to go through this. Only you would understand.

My dearest Nurul, mummy will miss you dear!

At 6wks she started cooing...

2007-06-21T14:27:00.000+08:00

This is Nurul at 6wks when she first started her "ooooh" and "ahhh". (Pls excuse the "Merlion" part at the end) We used to be very excited and would run to her everytime she start to coo.

But nowadays, every morning at around seven am, she would whine and cry until she gets our attention. Still in bed, we would wake up suddenly and run to her thinking something is wrong. With our eyes hardly open, we would

Check diaper - diaper ok
Check feeding time - not feeding time yet
Try giving plain water - rejected
Try giving pacifier - rejected

Clueless, we would ask her "What do you want?"

To which her reply is ... a smile ... and she would start to coo!!!

No more waking up late on weekends for us. Such is our Lil Monster!

Stack 'em up!

2007-06-21T13:54:00.000+08:00

Playing "mummy and good housewife" can be quite a routine

... feed, put to sleep, rush household chores, feed, put to sleep, cook, feed....

so its quite understandable that I feel the need to do something to please myself, yet being productive at the same time.

Yesterday, I suddenly woke up from my afternoon nap, thirsty for some craft work. Then I remembered the half finished diaper stacker which had been on hold for a long long time now. :P

Yap, the diaper stacker is all done now. And I feel very contented. :)

Stack 'em up!

Close up.

I love how the pattern on the Ikea remnants come together at the front.

Lelong!! NEW Corelle Set for Sale!!!

2007-06-11T14:26:00.000+08:00

The story goes:

This sparkling new Corelle set had been sitting in my kitchen for sometime now, unused and untouched. It was actually a house warming gift from my relatives, which I sincerely appreciate alot! However, I am already collecting my own Corelle set of a different design: Pretty Pansies

(FYI: Corelle is the "sister line" of Pyrex, the durable and long lasting dinner/kitchen ware. It is microwavable (heh...good for people who wants their food fast, with the push of a few buttons), light weight, chip, break and stain resistant (esp good if you have a hubb like mine who chips my mugs and plates ever so often while washing them! Or if you cook using lots of kunyit! For more info on Corelle, click here)

Sooo...after much deliberation I have decided to sell/trade it off to make way for more Pretty Pansies...

The lelong is for:

*Corelle set(16pcs)
*Design: Spiral (pls see photos)
*Set consists of: 6xdinner plates, 6xbread and butter plate, 2x21cm soup plate, 1x1L serving bowl, 1x32cm serving platter
*Condition: 10/10
*Never been used before, still in original box and packing materials (Scotch tape is from gift wrap)
*Not sure of the retail price but an 18-piece Corelle set is currently retailing at S$156 at Metro.
*Willing to sell it off at a price of S$140 (negotiable) or trade it for shopping vouchers worth the same value.
*However, do note that the 1 yr warranty by Corelle is not valid as I do not have the receipt!

Great as a gift or if you are just starting to collect your own corelle set!

So wat r u waiting for? Quick email me at roslne@yahoo.com.sg before the GST hike starts! :P

Thanks ya!

Got Milk?

2007-06-08T15:23:00.000+08:00

This is wat happens every 3 hourly...

I want milk!!!!!!

After milk....

I tell you, its so easy, one big cry and the big people will come running to you with the bottle!

*Hick* Whoa! Why am I feeling high? Wait a minute, is this milk drugged?

Hmmph! It is definately drugged! I fell asleep right after!

Eh, but kinda shiok lah getting high!

Anyone else?

Got Milk?

The "Lil Monster"...(the part after delivery)

2007-06-03T15:09:00.000+08:00

As Nurul was born barely few hours after my last Penthidine jab during labour, she had to be brought to the High Dependency ward 54 for observations right after delivery.

Initially, the observation was for 24hrs but during a routine check, the docs found out that her jaundice level was very high 360+. She was immediately placed under three UV lights to help bring down her jaundice level. They also took blood and spinal fluid samples to be tested for bacterial infection. But it was only after taking my blood sample that they found out that the high jaundice level is due to unmatched blood types. I am an O+ while Nurul is B+ (my Hubb is B+). The nurse explained that in the placenta, my antibodies must have attacked her red blood cells causing them to lyse and release the bilirubin that causes high jaundice level . I remembered learning this in my Poly days and know that her jaundice level will return to normal soon.

Nurul in HD ward 54

But still not being able to touch and carry her much is quite heart wrenching for me. In the ward, other mothers had their sons/ daughters wheeled to their bedside every feeding time while I had to be contented with twice daily visits to the High Dependency ward. After my discharge, not being able to go to SGH by myself, I could only visit Nurul once a day, usually after my Hubb finishes work in the evening. I felt deprived of the time spent with my daughter and treasure every minute of it. Therefore, when people told my hubby that I should not go to visit her in the evening and night time (apparently it is not "good" for me), I almost went berserk!

But 8 days passed and the afternoon that I received a phonecall from my Hubb saying that Nurul could be discharged, I was the happiest mum ever!

Now, although she is only 40 days old, she had brought us much joy and laughter. Our precious one, our "Lil Monster" (My hubb calls her that bcoz she cries very loudly when she's hungry, just like a hungry Monster!), our Nurul Nazurah.

"Our Lil Monster"

Freedom!

2007-06-03T14:52:00.000+08:00

Yesterday is the 40th day of my confinement. And so, as of today, Nurul and I are officially free from being confined! Yipee!

But ... since Nurul still have not been given her jab of BCG (she was warded in High Dependency for 8 days due to high jaundice...more of that later), Dear Hubb insists that it is not safe for her to be exposed to the outside world before it.

Therefore, the end of the confinement is not much a celebration eh?

Well, at least, I get to eat the ice cream that had been sitting patiently in the fridge waiting for me. Haha!

The Arrival of Lil Baby aka Nurul (Part 2)

2007-05-29T12:40:00.000+08:00

Ok, so here's the continuation....

Monday, April 23 2007,

After leaving SGH, we dropped by Takashimaya to buy the Corelle set that was on sale. My hubb had it arranged for the delivery to be on Saturday, confidently thinking that we would be home by then, if all goes well. We chowed down KFC before rushing back home to clear up some unfinished chores.

1545hrs
We rushed down to SGH. We reached Ward 53A at 1615hrs. I was showed to my reserved bed and given the very unflattering dress to change into.

The Oh! So flattering dress!

After that, it was just a long wait for the doctor to come. My hubb left to do his prayers at the nearby musolah.

1845hrs
The doctor on duty came and inserted the pill. Just one pill, but a very potent one that is.

2020hrs
My hubb came back to the ward.

2030hrs
My mum n bro came by.

2100hrs
The contractions started. So how do I describe it? Excruciating pain? Sharp pain? Hmmm...I think the word that describes it does not exist yet.
One moment I would be laughing and talking with my mum and the next moment, I was squirming, twisting and turning left and right, in pain, on the bed.

2130hrs
The pain was so bad that I was clenching my teeth and tears started flowing from my eyes. The contractions were 10 mins apart. My hubb suggested that I walk about to ease the pain. The nurse only allowed us to walk along the corridor of the ward and advised us to tell her if we are ready to go down to the Labour Ward.

2200hrs
We walked 3 lengths of the corridor, my mum included. Everytime a contraction starts, I would stop in my path, squeeze my hubb's arms, clench my teeth and practice the "pant-pant-blow" breathing technique that we learnt at the Antenatal class.

But a short while later, the pain was worse and I was crying in pain. My hubb decided that we should go down to the Labour Ward where I will be able to get pain relief. I changed into the Labour Ward top and was wheel chaired to Ward 52.

Between 2230hrs and 2400hrs
As soon as we reached Labour Ward 52, my hubb was told to stay at the reception area first and fill out some forms while they get me ready in the room.

I remembered the Midwife telling me how to use the laughing gas mask.

"Hold this over your nose and breath in deeply, everytime you feel a contraction coming", she said.

The gas smelt weird.
Infact, I dont understand why it is called "laughing gas" coz it felt nauseating enough to make me want to puke out. Maybe it should be renamed to "puking gas".

But after the first few breaths, the effects were "woohooo" and the smell didn't matter anymore. It made me feel light headed, as though I am in a Lala Land.

And since I wasn't wearing my glasses, I faintly remembered blurred people fussing around me, taking my blood pressure and fixing the heart beat monitors on my tummy. One of the blurred people approached me and asked if I would want my baby to have some type of jab which they will give right after birth. I knodded my head (although I wasn't very sure if I actually did coz my head was sooo light!) when in my heart, I was cursing her. Couldn't she do this earlier on or later after I've given birth or they could ask my hubb right?

Although I was zonked out, I could still hear "the blurred people" talking.

"I think must give her a jab lah. She's so restless like that"
"You ask her lah, if she wants"
"Ok, I ask her"
"Miss, you want a jab, I give you Penthidine jab ok, very good for your back pain. Can last until 5 hrs"

I knodded. Only at this point, I realised that although the gas was making me feel light headed, my back was still in pain.

They checked and told me that I was 1cm dilated and gave me the jab in my right thigh.

God, all this pain for only a cm! One tiny cm!

0100hrs
After the jab, my hubb came into the room. The nurses turned down the lights and the sound from the heart beat monitor.

The jab took awhile to take effect. In the meantime, my hubb had to stand by my side, massaging my back continuously until the jab took effect, which was quite some time later. Thanks dear!

Between 0100hrs and 0500hrs
After the jab took effect, I was able to "semi-sleep". My hubb also rested on the black armchair, although he intermittently woke up to check on me.

In that "semi-sleeping" stage, I suddenly felt the urge to pee and asked my hubb to tell the nurses. He came back to the room with a nurse who placed a potty beneath me. After a while, I told the nurse to take it away as I couldn't do it in the potty, lying down.

After "sleeping" awhile, I woke up again, this time coz I felt a warm trickle down south. At first I thought it was the "Bloody Show" but the nurse told me that it was my waterbag bursting. Well, it didn't actually burst, but sort of leak. She told me to get some rest coz the baby's coming soon. Despite feeling uncomfortable, I was able to sleep quite soundly. The magic of Penthidine!

0500hrs
The contractions started again. This time more intense and closer. Infact, it felt like there wasn't any interval in between at all! In the dark room, I called out for my hubb who was sleeping quite soundly on the armchair.

"Dear!.... Dear!"

No reply.

"Fauzi!.... Fauzi!"

Still no reply.

I then resorted to throwing the small pillow which I had put underneath my back to him. Haha...the small pillow landed nicely on his lap, without even waking him up!

The pain was getting reaaaaaally bad now. I gropped around in the dark for the emergency call bell, in between deep breaths of the gas.

Right before the nurse came in, my hubb woke up. I asked the nurse if I could have another Penthidine jab. She checked that I am 3cm dilated and it was about 5hrs since the last jab and said ok. She gave me the jab on my left thigh.

Approx 0630hrs
I tried very hard to sleep but the pain was very bad and the Penthidine dont seem to work at all! My hubb started to massage my back again. Seeing me in so much pain, he asked if I want the Epidural. After numerous moans and deep breaths of the gas, I relented, "I want the Epidural"

My hubb called the nurse. She checked and told me that I am 5cm dilated and so it was too late to give me the Epidural. She told me that she will call Dr Yu.

I think my moans of "Ya Allah! Ya Allah!" got the nurse worried. She walked in a few times into the room and reassured me that she had called Dr Yu and she is on the way.

Approx 0715hrs
A dishevelled Dr Yu arrived. After getting ready, she told me to push whenever the urge came. I tried to push but yet it was not strong enough.

My hubb told me to "let it all out" and not to clench my teeth. So during the next urge, I sort of let it all out, but still not to the point of screaming. But it was only when I heard my hubb say" I can already see her head dear", that I squeezed my hubb's arm, closed my eyes, and was pushing with all my might. When Nurul came, my hubb kissed me on my forehead.

According to my hubb, who saw it from the other side, after Nurul's head came out and then one of the shoulder, Dr Yu quickly scopped out the other shoulder. While on this side, all I could feel was a very HUGE relief : )

A nurse excitedly dangled Nurul by one arm and leg! and asked me " See, boy or girl? Boy or girl?"

To which I weakly but angrily replied " I cant see!" (Well of course, i am without my glasses! Duhh!)

I swear if I am not in this compromised state, I would surely give her a tight slap for dangling Nurul like that but that Lil Baby knows how to stand up for herself! While the same nurse was cleaning Nurul up, she grabbed the plastic apron the nurse was wearing. Nurul's grip was so strong that another nurse had to help release her fist.

"Yo lady! That's for dangling me naked in mid air! Now, put me in my mum's arms!"

Meanwhile, Dr Yu massaged my tummy and out came the placenta with a plop. She then stitched me up. I didnt even feel it when she snipped my perineum. It must have been during one of the pushes.

After the Hep B jab (which I signed for in my semi-conscious state earlier on), Nurul was placed back in my arms. Her eyes were open wide, looking intently at me and my hubb. And the moment that made my eyes watery was when she curled her fingers around my index finger. It was amazing. My daughter, our daughter!

Hello dear!

And when I brought her close to my chest, she instinctively latch herself on to my breast. The miracles of Allah! She was sucking really strongly. I was overwhelmed with emotions. So this is the special feeling that they were talking about. The bond between a mother and her child.

Nurul was then taken to the High Dependency Nursery for observations whilst my hubb followed. I had a short nap and was later wheeled out to my bed.

So this is my Labour Story. If you ask me if I would like to be pregnant again, I would say, YES!

The Arrival of Lil Baby (Part 1)

2007-05-20T17:53:00.000+08:00

Hello!

Alhamdulillah, We are back! All 3 of us! :)

But firstly, a BIG THANK YOU to all family and friens, for all your help, well-wishes, doas and wonderful gifts! (hehe...I had a great time unwrapping presents meant for my lil' one) So shall we recall what happened since my outdated last entry?

***********************************************************

Tuesday, April 17 2007

After the Amniotic fluid scan, we proceeded to Dr Yu's room for our appointment. As usual, she did a cervical check and told us that Lil' Baby is really, very low and that I am 1.5cm dilated! Yippee! Although the Amniotic fluid scan shows a high score of 11 (apparently, one's Amniotic fluid score should drop to 5 or even 3 if she is near labour), Dr Yu confidently predicted that I may be seeing her soon, over this weekend, perhaps, in the Labour ward.

Am I egg-cited or wat! Finally, I will be able to see my Lil' Baby after 9 months of wait!

Despite the wonderful news, Dr Yu fixed us an appointment for next Monday, incase "the magic doesn't happen". I left the clinic that day beaming from ear to ear :)

***********************************************************

Wednesday, April 18 2007
.
.
.
Sunday, April 22 2007

After hearing Dr Yu's prediction, I was sooo looking forward for "The Signs", ie Water bag Burstin', The Bloody Show, The Regular Contractions...

But by Friday, I've given up hope of seeing any. We have tried talking, coaxing, even to the point of bribing her to get her to come out soon. Sad to say nothing works. My Lil Baby is very, very comfy inside.

I am disappointed that Dr Yu's prediction did not materialise. So to sort of cheer myself up, I asked my hubby to bring me to Takashimaya after tomorrow's appointment, to do some shopping...Corelle Pretty Pansies plates were on sale. I told him I needed to complete my existing set. Usually he will try to coax me out of it, but this time round, I think he could sense my disappointment and relents.

************************************************************

Monday, April 23, 2007

Dr Yu was surprised to see us when we walked into her room.

"Guess, she didn't wannt to come out yet huh?" "Hmm...she is way up today, oh, and coz she is way up there, your cervix is not dilated at all"

My heart dropped. What happened to the 1.5cm? I thought we were doing well, dilating slowly?

Checking my pink card, she calculated that I am 4 days overdue.

"Looks like we will have to induce her out. So which day do you want to do it? As long as its before your 41st wk"

I looked at my hubb and he looked at me.

"Let's do it today", I said.

"Are you sure you don't want to come back tomorrow instead?"

"Nope, today. But first we still need to go to Takashimaya"

He arranged with Dr Yu for us to come back later that evening, at 4pm.

Dr Yu said her "see you later in the Labour Ward" line again, only this time it will be true.

The nurse doing Admissions was puzzled and sort of petrified when she found out that I choose not to be admitted straight away.

I guess I am not too happy with the fact that I am not at all dilated. Not dilated means that after inducing, I have to start from 0 (and not 1.5cm!) to 10cm. And I know that is a very long journey, bearing in mind that usually one dilates 1cm per hour, if you are lucky. So excuse me while I get grumpy over the 1.5cm! It is a very big deal for me!

And what better way to get me off from being grumpy. Shopping. So wat da heck. Judge me if you must but I still choose to be admitted later. Hmmph!

********************************************************

Announcing the arrival of Lil Baby ...

2007-05-20T16:58:00.000+08:00

This will be a very short entry as I am still adjusting to my new role. A more detailed update coming up, I promise ; )

Announcing the arrival of Lil' Baby...Nurul Nazurah.

2 days old

Born into the arms of

Mama: Roslne

Baba/ Abah (to date he still can't decided yet!): Mohd Fauzi

On: 24 April 2007 (I know, the announcement is way basi)

At: 0740 hours

Weighing: 3.175kg

Alhamdulillah! All praises to Allah!

peek a boo

2007-04-16T13:58:00.000+08:00

A peek back into what I may have missed blogging about...

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I turned 29 this year, on 29 March 2007! We had a fruitylicious time at Arnold's Fried Chicken at City Plaza.

Mmmm.... sedapnya!

Cake compliments fr my family...

Thank you Ma, Tam, Teh and Alip!

My Hubb, Me, Bro N Mum

My Hubb bought a special gift for me....which I shall not disclose here...hehe...

********************************************************
Some buys from the recent Taka Baby Fair...

Now, Aint it cute!

Still here... waiting...

2007-04-16T12:46:00.000+08:00

I might have mislead some of you into thinking that somehow Lil' Baby had popped out with my 10+ days absence from the blog. Heh...sorry, Lil' Baby is still settling in comfortably in my tummy.

Last Tuesday, Dr Yu did a cervical check and told us that although Ive not dilated, Lil' Baby is really low. This Thursday will be my due date, 40 weeks exactly on 19 April 2007. Tomorrow I will have another appointment with Dr Yu. Don't really know what will happen tomorrow. I heard that they usually will not let you pass your due date, a day or two at the most, and then they will induce you. And I read that inducing could be quite painful (esp when they had to manually burst your waterbag) and very long hours. Yikes!

Meanwhile, I have been on 7 days MC for the rashes which had turned quite ugly since my last entry. I was finally given a steroid cream, which really did help.

Nesting instinct had got me working hard these 7 days ...

1. Did tons of laundry

2. Vacumned the whole house

3. Cleaned up my craft table

4. Washed and replaced the curtains

5. Still sewing the last set of curtains

6. Did the 2nd round of Lil Baby's laundry

7. Lil' Baby's cot...all set and ready

Which got my Hubb really worried that I am not resting enuff....

38 wks and still waiting ...

2007-04-04T16:14:00.000+08:00

Before our appointment yesterday, we had breakfast at Burger King at Compass Point. The Sausage with Egg Croisant tasted so good that I was tempted to buy another. Hehe... Well, it had been ages since we had breakfast at BK.

Then we were off to SGH. As usual after registering, I proceeded to have my blood pressure, weight and urine checked. The nurse told me that they had changed the urine test procedure. Instead of having a Lab Tech test my urine from a cup, this time round, we had to pee onto the urine test stick directly. Since it was not my first time doing a urine test stick, I stepped into the Ladies quite confidently. The only thing is that I had forgotten what a big bulging tummy I am carrying right now, unlike the last time when I did the urine test stick. So if you could imagine, it was like "tikam-tikam", trying to aim for the stick. In the end, I think I somehow managed to "tikam" at the correct spot lah!

We waited for quite awhile for our number to be beeped. When we entered, Dr Yu seemed to be very buzy. She noted that Im 38 wks now so it should be 2wks more. I had lost 0.3kg to 68.9kg since my last visit and asked her if this is normal. She assured me that it is normal that the baby will stop gaining weight at this point and focus more on her "migration southwards".

I told her that I had been having more Braxton Hicks and hardening of the tummy and asked if the pains that Ive been experiencing near my "V" is ok? She nodded, "Hardening of the tummy are actually contractions; expect it to be longer within the days and the pains near your "V" is actually the baby pushing her way downwards, at the same time the cervix will start thinning. This is good."

As usual, she asked me to lie down to do a physical check. And everytime I lifted my blouse, she goes "Wow, big tummy ya" I simply grinned but was thinking-" huh? Im sure in her career as a Snr Consultant, she have seen bigger ones before rite?" She tested for the baby's heartbeat and said that it is doing well. She felt my lower tummy and declared, "Yap, baby's engaged now"

She saw that I am having some rashes near the belly button and told me to apply Calamine lotion. Seeing that I am worried, she told me that it is ok to breakout in rashes, some mothers have worst breakouts, all over the body. Gosh! Alhamdulillah, mine is only confined to that area. Must remember to cut my nails short; I have this tendency to scratch the rashes, especially sub-consciously in my sleep.

She told me that I could be due somewhere in the 38th or 39th wk. Gosh! That is like now! or next wk! I can hardly believe that the time is almost here! She reminded me to leave home for Labour Ward if my contractions is around 15-20mins and set for another appointment next wk.

Gawd! I still have not set up the baby cot, and the diaper stacker is still on my sewing table, oh and some more baby clothes to wash... gosh! better get started right away!

(tony) BRAXTON & (catherine) HICKS

2007-03-29T16:47:00.000+08:00

LiL Baby as small as a pea on 14 Aug 2006

LiL Baby on 4 Dec 2006

I am in my 37th wk today and am considered full-term. If Lil Baby is born anytime after the 37th wk, she is considered developmentally ready to handle life outside the womb.

Been experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions since my 5th month, i think. But the ones that Ive been having lately are much more intense and lasts much longer. My tummy also hardens alot. This sometimes causes me to wake up in the middle of the night.

If anyone ever told you that the sleepless nights starts after the baby is delivered, do not ever believe them! The truth is it starts from the last trimester. Waking up to pee in the middle of the night, is a torture and I often find it difficult to get back to Lala Land.

Oh, and shifting from my right to my left, in my sleep is such a delicate maneuver. Imagine with the big tummy + the back pain, shifting from left to right means moving at 45degrees per turn until you are on your left with "Ouch! Ouch!" in betweens. Kinda like a big whale making a big flip. Well, of course when you are flipping like a whale, the thunderous movements would shake the bed and inturn would wake up dear Hubb. In his sleepy state he would ask "kenapa dear, ok tak?"

Just as I am excited, I think Lil Baby is kind of excited about the BIG DAY too. Her kicks and stretches have turned into wave-like movements, as if she is doing the Kallang Wave in rejoice. And around10pm every night, she would be doing a rhythmic tapping against my tummy with what I believe is her hands, lasting for 5-10mins.

Patience Lil Baby (& mummy) ...20 more days!

Crafty Mama...

2007-03-28T16:30:00.000+08:00

My dearest fren Yan Ling and her boyfriend Mike will be leaving our shores come April 2, for the land where Kanzashis and Sushis come from. She will be gone for a whole year. She feels that a year is too short but me on the other hand feel that its a tad too long.

So last Sunday, we met up, had a very chewy Doner Sandwhich at Anatolia and I passed to her the long-due reconstructed tote bag which I promised her months earlier. Hehe...

The whole set: Tote bag and a zipped purse and a blue kanzashi felt flower pin

Close up of the Kanzashi felt flower pin on top of beige and brown velvet ribbons sewn to the bag.

Close up of the zipped purse, the lining is made of the same linen as in the tote

Believe it or not, it was reconstructed from an old linen pillow case and pieces of velvet ribbons I had lying around in my messy cupboard. The brown flower print is new material though. I remembered Yan Ling telling me that she like the brown flower print sometime back. I was glad that she liked it despite my not-so-perfect sewing skills. Being the very forgetful me, I had forgotten to snap a pic of us together when I had my cam in my bag all this while! Sheesh!

Oh, and my cousin Aqiern saw on my SimplyLNE Multiply site and bought two of my polka-dotty butterfly pins from me. Yippee! It feels good to sell something after such a long time. Thanks kak! : )

Polka-dotty butterfly with ribbon pin
For sale: S$8.00 ea

So what is next on my Craft agenda? Heh...to finish up the diaper stacker first. :P

Not engaged yet...

2007-03-22T23:56:00.000+08:00

9.55am was the appointment time but we were late. Heh...SGH's Houseman Canteen Nasi Lemak is deelicious lah. Im into my 9th mth but Lil' baby still gives me hunger pangs especially in the mornings.

At the clinic, Dr Yu was looking rather exhausted that morning. Must be she just had a delivery session, I figured. In hardly 1 min, she examined my tummy and said that although Lil' Baby's head is down, but she still have not engaged yet.

"She wont be an early baby," Dr Yu said.

I was kinda disappointed. Was hoping that Lil' Baby may give me a nice surprise by popping up early. It would be especially nice if she pops out on 29 March - so that we could share the same birthday. But its quite far-fetched of course since Lil' Baby is due only on 19 April.

Dr Yu asked if we have thought of a Birth Plan. In my mind I had sort of decided that as far as possible, I would like to experience the contractions. As long as I could endure the pain; no epidural for me. Maybe will take the laughing gas. I would like to find out my threshold for pain.

So we left SGH with another appointment scheduled for 2 wks from now...

Lil' Baby, pls be good, pls engage soon so that Mummy could see you soon.

Hot Mama and Biawak tersimpul

2007-03-21T11:14:00.000+08:00

When I was attending Antenatal classes back in January at SGH, the most common complaint (beside the almost synonymous "Backpain") that Ive heard coming from the other participants is "Leg Cramp".

I didnt understand it that back then, until the wee morning of last Friday. I had my first "Biawak" which somehow tersesat to my left feet and wah! the tersimpul is really painful lah! In my semi-conscious state, I was screaming for my Hubb. He came to help almost immediately, slowly massaging my left lower thigh. It did ease but till today, I can still feel my muscle tense. My Hubb said "Sejuk kakinya tu" and he helped me put on a pair of toe socks.

During the Antenatal class, we were brought to visit the Delivery suite. The very first thing I felt stepping into the room was the extremely cold Air-con. My hair was standing on ends lah dey! The Sister reminded the husbands to bring along a jacket, and said it is not necessary for the mothers as they would be feeling hot. I was like "Huh?"

Being one who is afraid of cold temperature, I included a jacket into the Ready Bag. But now that I am in my 35th wk, I have started to understand what is meant by "hot". I sweat in my sleep, drenching my clothes. No more warm showers for me- only cold ones. Once I even showered for 4 times in a day!

What can I say? I am one Hot Mama!

Journal Mak Buyung

2007-03-16T10:46:00.000+08:00

Since its the skool hols, there isn't much to do at werk. So what do I do? Heh..I hogged the com (sad to say, I dont own my own table and com at work) and blog hopped till I dont know how I reached there.

Recently my interest in blog-hopping had been focused specifically on journals of Mak Buyungs (journals on pregnancy). Some journals were very detailed starting from the very first day the pregnancy test kit showed a "+". Each and every doc's appointment, each scanned pic, each baby item bought was noted down. Wow! Great effort.

This brings me to recap on my own pregnancy related posts ...heh...can count with my fingers lah...

Initially, I did intend to start a separate journal on my pregnancy when I was about 4 mths (maybe someday when Lil Baby is all grown up, someday she can read all about her first few days of existance thru this journal) but the thought of recalling and writing about the last 4mths makes my hair stand on ends. So lazily I decided to put the idea on hold first ... well until today....when I am a mere 30+ days away...

So I ask u, will it be too late to start my pregnancy journal now?

Tick tock tick tock...

2007-03-12T16:01:00.000+08:00

Today my ticker says 37 more days to go. That's slightly more than a month. But from what Ive been reading from forums, most moms deliver in their 38th or 39th wk. So that would be approx 4 wks more from today. Hmmmm.....

Many around me have been asking how I am feeling? Anxious? Excited? Nervous? Scared?There is even this Pakcik in skool who would ask me every day without fail, "Bila lagi?"

By now, my standard answer is "Anxious, but wish time moves faster" To that, most of my friends would say, " I know what u mean, but do try to enjoy the last few wks...u will miss it"

So I've been trying to come up with stuff/chores to occupy my time and take my mind off it.

All the necessities have been bought, washed and stored nicely in the drawers. Last Saturday, we assembled the Baby Cott that was passed down to us by dear Cik Mas. Thanks Cik Mas for the Baby Cott and Stroller. Masih cantik lagi and best of all saved us lots of $!

The ready bag is in the car boot all packed, just waiting for the right time. I've been carrying the "Pink card" (admittance card) with me wherever I go.

Ive even taken up a small craft project of sewing a Diaper Stacker out of the scraps of Yanling's nice white Ikea curtains. Now Ive just to attach the ribbon at the front and will post the pic here soon. Ive even bought a lovely light green cotton material with lil red ladybirds all over from Spotlight recently. If I have the time, I may venture into sewing a set of pillowcase, bolster and mattress cover for the Baby Cott, complete with a matching Diaper stacker with little red Ladybird buttons. That is, if I have the time...

Count down with me now... 37, 36, 35, 34 ...

Fed-upnye !

2007-03-02T10:24:00.000+08:00

Hmmmph! Fed-up betul I. Asal ni? Ngan Blogger? My new posts smua tak nak upload walaupun I dah publish!

EEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!! Frust-nye!

2007-03-01T08:37:00.000+08:00

Wondering wat Im doin here sooo early in the mornin? Im on 1/2 day leave today.

Nope Im perfectly fine. Alhamdulillah. Its my Hubb who is feeling under the weather. He's got fever and I think insufficient rest. Come to think of it, both of us seems to be suffering from lack of sleep, this albeit the 10hr sleep marathons we always have on Saturday and Sunday mornings. hehe...

His forehead is still hot despite the ice water that Ive been sponging him with since last night. And of all times, my thermometer decided to run out of battery at this very instant. Sheesh! Thing is "someone big" is visiting his office today, thus he still have to go to work later. Kesiankan. And there is nothing much I can do to help...

My hubb, he is such a good caretaker, unlike me. When Im sick, he will be on leave so that he could take care of me. He makes sure I get my meds on time, makes sure that I get sponged with ice water and that I am comfortable. Im quite clueless in being a good caretaker. Not that I am anak manja or anything, Ive been self-reliant since my younger days as my younger siblings needed my mum's attention more back then. So I know how to take care of myself but not necessarily others.

I hope my hubb gets well soon, the house is rather quiet now that he is sick.

********************************************************************************
On a different note, was at the doc's on Tuesday. Lil Baby is doing fine, Alhamdulillah.

During scan, I was told that Lil Baby had turned and her head is now at the bottom. According to the books, I should be experiencing a "Lightening" sensation when this happens. Unfortunately, its not really true. Infact, now that her legs are near my chest, I feel more vigorous movements from all directions; vertically across my tummy to horizontally and even diagonally! If Lil Baby is a boy, I think he would enjoy soccer, but then again, my hubb is not really a soccer fanatic.

The "Scan Technologist" or so I think that is what she is called (definately not a "Scanner" rite..haha..) tried to take a 3D photo of Lil Baby but wasn't successful. Lil Baby is shy, crossed legs and the hands were covering her face. So instead, I had a blur 2D print out instead.

Doc Yu said "hmm..32wks...still 2months to go...still long time..."
Huh? Long time? Gosh, cant wait for the two months to get by. I get exhausted so easily now, walking and even talking. My body feels so heavy, I feel like Snufflelofogus or so its spelt- u know, that big brown elephant in Sesame Street.

Anyway, Lil Baby is 1.9kg now and Doc Yu said she is a bit longer? / taller? than normal babies locally. Hmmm...where did that come from? My hubb is 1.7m and I am a minute 1.52m.

My next appointment is in March. 3 wks from now. Afterwhich, it would be 2wks later and then 1wk later. Everything is already waiting for Lil Baby's arrival. Soon. 2 months from now...

What comes wif a 30 wk old belly...

2007-02-14T14:48:00.000+08:00

What comes wif a 30 wk old belly...

--You cant fit into your fav pumps anymore

--You are left with no options other than buying flat slip-ins that are one size bigger than your usual size

--Underwire bras irritate the hell out of you

--When even an L/XL size maternity tee is too tight (U are normally S/M size)

--You have to stop for breath twice when climbing 3 flight of steps

--When you walk and talk on the hp at the same time, the person on the other end can hear your panting for breath more than the conversation

--You get hunger pangs but once you start eating, you'll feel congested

--Getting a sound sleep is impossible when turning from side to side hurt so much

Oh, how Im gonna miss all these...

What a relief ...

2007-02-07T10:49:00.000+08:00

Lil' Baby had not been as active for the past one wk.
Active- Involves continuous, rigorous kicking and turning especially around meal times and after 10pm everynight, without fail.

Lil' Baby is still turning around, although much lesser, but definately no more kicking.

We got worried. So since its Tuesday-the day my docs is in, we decided to drop by and solve this worry.

We came prepared with reading materials, for the long waiting time as our appointment is only due a wk later, and so I am sure that we would have to wait till all scheduled appointments were over. But we were caught by surprise when our number flashed on the screen just as we were getting settled into our seats.

Dr Yu was looking very calm today, unlike in our previous visit. As we raised our concern, she was very comforting and reassuring. She did a scan and confirmed that Lil' Baby is well developed and that we dont have to worry. The placenta was on top of Lil' Baby, sort of like a cushion. Dr Yu said maybe that is the reason why I am not feeling the kicks as much a I used to as the Placenta is cushioning the kicks. She tried for sometime to get Lil' Baby to move but Lil' Baby was not co-operating.

Suddenly, we saw Lil' Baby moving her lips, in a sucking motion. Dr Yu was so excited- she had not seen this before on a 2-D scan. She called upon my Hubb and the nurses and there were squeals of excitement. I could see Lil' Baby's lips and nose quite clearly-flat, broad nose that looks more like mine rather than dear Hubb. My hubb tu hidung dia ada mancung sikitlah, maklumlah, ada darah orang Bugis. I ni darah Jawa tapi dah cair dah...

But just to confirm Lil' Baby's movement, Dr Yu sent me to to the Labour ward to do some tests. For 20mins, two round sensors were placed on my tummy to trace Lil' Baby's heartbeat and movements at the same time. I can't believe that I am actually lying on a Labour Ward bed, in a similar room that I will be giving birth to Lil' Baby to in a couple of wks!

Dr Yu confirmed that Lil Baby is moving and is well. No need for any worry- she said. She also gave me a Count-to-Ten chart where you track the number of movements made in a 12hr period. If the count is 10 or more in the 12hr period, it is fine and ok. But if its lesser, now that calls for concern and immediate attention.

Lil' Baby made more than 10 movements in that 20 mins test...Heh..so no cause for concern there.... What a relief!

2007-01-23T10:25:00.000+08:00

Next wk I'm into my 7th mth of being a preggie. To date, I've put on a whole 10kg. I am at my heaviest ever! My hubb gleefully mentioned the fact that I am only 4kgs lighter than him. Its ok, I said, it is expected that I will put on around 12kgs through out my whole pregnancy. But what I find kinda hard to believe is the reflection of my tummy in the mirror...really BIG....hmmm ...or is that mirror sort of distorted in some ways...

Last Tuesday, (which seem juz like yesterday) I had my first appointment with my Snr Consultant, Dr Yu Su Ling from SGH. She's quite nice. And really busy. And for the first time I heard Lil' Baby's heart beat. It was quite loud, well it is on the speaker. Lil' Baby is 0.9kg now. All healthy and well, Alhamdulillah! When asked if I am attending Antenatal classes, of which I am, she quickly responded " Good!" " Then I shall test you!" I took a big gulp. Yikes! Antenatal classes also got test one ah.....Sheesh!

My next mthly appointment is in February and after that, I think it would be more frequent, like once a fortnight, I think?

Oh, we have also started to look around for baby stuff. At 6+mths, I get really exhausted easily. So I thought that while I could still walk, we should start the reiki before the real shopping begins.

From the high end of the spectrum is Mothercare at Marina Square. The stuff there are really good quality which of course, comes with really good prices. Initially, we decided that we would not be buying the bulk of the baby stuff here, maybe just a few pieces of the OH SO CUTE baby booties and clothings.

But then we chanced upon Mothercare at Suntec which was having its closing down sale with discounts 20-40% off. Oh, it was so tempting! The jumpers and baby tops there were soo cute! After much calculation, we bought a pack of 3 pcs long sleeves sleepsuits with little teddy bears on it and a pack of 3pcs short sleeves jumpers which is sooo sweeet with the wordings " My little cupcake", it looks good enough to eat! I was tempted to buy the baby cot set with little yellow giraffes which comes complete with a big giraffe which you could hang on the wall and measure Lil' Baby grow. But I cant, mainly coz we havent got our baby cot yet. Oh btw, the sale is on till 14 Feb. Maybe I will drop by again...heh...

While at Marina Square, we also dropped by Kiddy Palace. The stuff there are much more affordable and quite a big range. So since I already have their discount card, (dont ask me why) we sort of decided to buy most of the stuff there unless there is a better bargain elsewhere.

Reading up the IDOBABY forum, I realised that there were mentions of a certain Baby Kingdom & Baby Hypermart in Kaki Bukit Ave. Apparantly, they are the direct importer and so they are supposedly cheaper. But when we compared the prices of basic necessities like wet tissues, milk bottles and basic clothings, the prices are about the same. The significant items are the baby car seat and strollers of which both of these warehouses cum shop seem to have a wide variety of.

Oh well, our reiki have not yet ended. I heard from dear Marina, of a certain HDB shop in AMK which is selling the basic necessities at very favourable prices on top of further discounts. She shops there alot for her three kids. Hmmm...seems like we would need to be making that trip to AMK.

Thank God for the car and for my Hubb, coz I dont think all this reiki is possible without them. Kecian my Hubb tau, drive me here and there, sampai kaki dia penat, MC dua hari.

Is all that reiki really necessary? I would think yes. For a start I figured, we need at least two sets of milk bottles, one set for home and one set for use at the baby sitter's. A sterilizer, which would cost $100+ bucks. Basic clothings, wardrobe/ cupboard for Lil Baby, and many more things Im sure. Ive yet to write down the necessity list. It is also sort of an investment u noe, for future ones, InsyaAllah!

2006 Good Bye

2007-01-03T18:09:00.000+08:00

Alhamdulillah, 2006 had been a fruitful year. Looking back into my blog for the past 12mths (yap peeps, its silly but I read my own blog! Haha!), Im quite surprised that I/we achieved quite alot in 2006.

To recap here are some of them:
1. We renovated n moved into our own house
2. Yaz my old skool fren got hitched.
3. Studied like crazy and finally passed the Cert in Biz Studies at PSB Academy
4. Fell ill and became a resident of SGH for awhile
5. The consignment of SimplyLNE at Stamford
6. Went MAAD for a while
7. Went Lime-y with Yanling on the 13 August afternoon
8. 2 overseas orders for SimplyLNE, Yipee! (Only two but quite eventful taking into account the amout of craftwork I do nowadays)
9. Our 2nd yr Wedding Anniversary (still cant believe its been 2yrs, Alhamdulillah!)
10. Had friends and family over for the Hari Raya Open house
11. Another BIG investment with our KIA RIO

but the most important of all...

me becoming a Mama and my hubb a Papa/ Abah/ Ayah (he still havent decided yet)...InsyaALLAH!

So may ALLAH bless you all and have a great 2007 peeps!

Preggie Shopping

2006-12-15T10:31:00.000+08:00

One of the perks of being a Preggie is that you get to buy new clothes to fit your ever expanding tummy.

In my first trimester, I was still wearing my Hipster Giordanos, much to my Hubb, mum's and MIL's disagreement. "U wear tight jeans, baby no space to grow", my mum grumbled. I guess I was still in denial of my condition. Not that I am not happy about getting pregnant.

In the early second trimester, I can no longer wear my Giordanos. My work pants start to become a lil' too tight and wearing Tees is slightly obscene when it sort of stretches in front of your belly and sort of make the material look thinner, thus my belly button was sort of visible, a lil' like playing peek-a boo.

Now at 5.5 mths, I have to finally "wave the white flag" and surrender to Maternity wear. And only now have I realised that there is very little selection of Maternity wear for mums-to-be in Singapore (for Muslimah with tudong). Affordable ones that is. By affordable, in my terms it means lesser than $30. The cheaper the better.

If you know me, I only go for bargains. I dont believe in spending alot on a piece of clothing when I can get a few pieces for the same amount, tasteful ones of course. My Mango-es are only bought at sales. Maybe you could call me a sale-freak. I love digging under the big pile of clothes to find the "jewel". That is why I thrive at Fleamarkets.

Coming back to Maternity wear. My very first maternity wear is a light yellow ruffled blouse which was $70+ after 20% discount which we bought from a shop in Hougang Mall. Gosh, I thought, that is so expensive! Double the price of my Mango-es. To this day, it is still hanging in my closet, untouched. So since then, Ive been trying to find bargain Maternity wear. And with some help from the IDOBABY forum, I managed to find some incredible buys.

Most maternity pants in boutiques would cost at least $40. Those found in the shops of HDB estates costs above $25. But at Mustaffa Centre there is a small section of maternity wear on level 3 of which maternity working pants are selling at $18, and it is of the same quality as those found at the HDB estates. I have 4pcs of them. But of course these are those "old" fashioned maternity pants which will cover your whole belly.

As for tops, I go for baby doll dresses or kimono tops with cardigans at This Fashion at no more than $25 a piece. As for Tee-shirt material tops, usually they cost between $15-25. I have 5 such tops bought for a mere $5 each!!!!! The secret, those Factory-outlet kinda shops in HDB town centers. Oh and these tops are actually Old Navy or GAP Maternity wear with long sleeves of which the labels had been disfigured but are still visible. In fact, other than maternity wear, there are quite a nice variety of normal short and long sleeves tops and track pants at these shops all for $10 or lesser!.

Oh, and I found a very rare find at the Factory-outlet kinda shop recently in Toa Payoh central. On sale was maternity cargo pants at $10!!!

And of course I cant live without jeans. I am a jeans/tee-shirt kinda person. When I found out that a maternity pair of jeans with the big elastic band cost more than $20, boy was I excited to find out craftster's DIY maternity jeans. I bought some elastic T-shirt material from Spotlight and immediately started to cut out my Giordano jeans. It took me some courage to make that first cut on the jeans though...but since then Ive been wearing my jeans and haha, no more *tsktsk* from my mum...Yipee!

2006-12-13T10:06:00.000+08:00

December 12, 2006 is a big day for some of us, the working adults.

Big Bonus Day.

Well, its not really that big, but if you graduated in 1998 in the midst of the Asia Economic Crisis, you would understand. Started out with 0.5 bonus back when Im with NUH, 8 years in the work force now, its slightly better at 2.2. Mind you, its 2.2 and not 3.2 (unlike a Radio DJ reported earlier on)

If you know me well, you would know that I control my monthly budget very strictly. I have a strict routine of noting down the commitments/expenses/ bills for that month a wk before my pay is credited into my account.

The truth is for 3 years when I first started working, I have no savings at all. My pay and bonus disappears into thin air and I dont recall spending on something big or useful at all. Thank god I dont own a credit card back then!

So one day, I sat down with my bank book and the single digit printed on the very last line and I thought to myself, what should I do to get out of this recurring trap. So I started to write down my montly budget and Im proud to say that I do this without fail every month since 2001.

This December, however, there is a special additional committment: For Lil Baby + Car

Yap, as you all know, Lil Baby is on the way. And the car had been a much discussed matter ever since the Pregnancy Test kit had a "+" sign on it.

After much deliberation and lots of calculation, we decided that it is a practical decision to purchase that car. Sending Lil Baby to the baby sitter everyday, plus the trips to the in-laws every wkend. It would be too much of a hassle to lug Lil Baby and the pram and everything else to the west side of Singapore and back to the Northeast. Plus the total sum of the taxi fares would definately add up to more than the amount we would spend on petrol.

So with Marina and Ramli's help last Sunday, we went shopping for a car. *Special thanks to Marina and Ramli and babies for helping us. We owe u guys one*

We had wanted to get a smaller car, something that would not incur a monthly payment of more than $400 per month. But after much discussion on their experience (they started off with a hatchback car which they found difficulty in trading in 3 yrs later), we decided to get a slightly bigger but still affordable car, a sedan, mainly for the larger boot space.

Kia Rio, Auto, 1.4, in Sunset Orange.

It was quite a bargain, at 42K+, it comes with leather seats and sports rim which Marina told us that it would cost an additional 1-2K. The sales person also gave in to Marina's bugging by adding in free Solar Films and some other car stuff which I dont understand. Oh and a free iPod. With such a bargain, to me it didnt really matter that its in Sunset Orange.

But the big significance is that I have to be even more strict with my budget...

The long awaited appointment

2006-12-05T15:34:00.000+08:00

After watching The Amazing Race Asia on Thursday night, my Hubb and I "amazingly" grew fanatic over that show. I have always enjoyed The Amazing Race (much better than watching half-naked men & women on Survivor, I would say.)

It didnt help that on Saturday AXN was showing The Amazing Race (& Asia) re-runs from 11 am to 3pm non-stop. We were stuck infront of the TV. Apparently this craze even made us stay awake to watch the midnight episode on Sunday although it was evident that we were tired and were yawing every five mins. We slept only at 1am.

As a result, we were late for the long awaited appointment at SGH yesterday morning.

After waiting for what seems like the longest time, my number was buzzed and I went in for my detailed scan. This time my Hubb followed me in. It was the longest scan that I had ever had and it didnt help that I couldnt see anything on the screen 95% of the time as the Technician's elbow was almost in my face.

The results were out: Lil' Baby is doing a-okay. The Technician asked if we wanted to know the gender of our Lil' Baby. We said yes. She told us.

Over lunch, I asked my Hubb if he was ok with the gender. He was infact grateful, he said that he would expect it to be easier to bring up Lil' Baby. Ah, well, I on the other hand was hoping it to be the other.

I sms my mum. She was surprised. She had the same hopes as me, where as my mother-in-law had the same hopes as my Hubb. From the many responses that I had from family/ friends, mostly mentioned that the gender would be the one I was expecting. And so my mum and I were surprised at the results.

My Hubb must have sensed some disappointment, he came home that night and told me not to despair. His colleagues told him that it was told that he would be expecting a girl but it really turned out to be a boy.

I guess as long as Lil' Baby is a-okay, Im a-okay. Alhamdulillah! I mean what difference does it make right? 10 years down the road, boy or girl, I am still going to be nagging to Lil' Baby to clean up the room or to do homework?

And so we decided that the Lil' Baby is going to be in White....

Lil' Baby had started to move around. It felt more like little tickles instead of kicks ...

Hari Raya Open House

2006-11-20T15:37:00.000+08:00

*Apologies, finally, here are the pics...for more pics click here...Hari Raya 2006*

For the first time eversince we moved to our new home, we had our friends and relatives over as part of our Hari Raya Open House. 180 invites were sent, 90 on Saturday and another 90 on Sunday. The invitation was from 11am to 11pm.

The menu consists of Lontong, Mutton Rendang, Chicken Kurma, Lodeh (Lontong vegetable gravy), Egg sambal and "Mee Birthday" (White Fried BeeHoon- like those you always find at birthday parties thus the derived name). Eh, lapar lak perut ni .... Thanks to Cik Mas and Cik Nordin (Datuk'), our caterer, we received numerous compliments on the food. Not to mention that it was very reasonably charged too!

Despite the heavy rain that Saturday afternoon, our guests trickled in. Some were even drenched in the rain. Tapi takpe kan Yati, jln basah2 dlm hujan ngan hubby mesti romantik kan. Hehe...Soon, by the evening, there were many guests in our home. We only managed to snap a few pics coz most of the time we were buzy entertaining our guests.

My hubb's secondary school friend: Mas & Family

Marina & Ramli's twins: Haziq and Haziqah

Fairuz (eh mana the signature mat rawker hand sign tu? ) Yanti & Family.

Panas ke Kak Embong? My mum' s family...

That Saturday ended with the whole bunch of 20+ "PI-kia"s who came in at around 10 pm and stayed till around 12mn. (PI-kia is the term used to describe the avid gamers of Warhammer 40K etc from the shop PI, of which my Hubb is a faithful member of since his secondary school days) Juz watch their antics....tsk..tsk..tsk..

The PI-kias

My family: still smiling ...tapi penat oi!

Sunday was solely for invites on my in-laws side. Here are some pics..

Mak Sarah, Mak Yah and family

Mak Wie and Family

On the whole, the weekend could not have been a successful one if not for my mum, parent's in- law and siblings. Thank you Mama (both mine and my hubb's) for the ice jelly cocktail. Thanks Tam, Alif and Teh for helping out in the kitchen and the errands to the shop. Thanks A-Ngah for helping with the shop errands and to A-An for making that trip down to save us with the shortage of Hari Raya cookies.

Thanks to our friends and guests who came to our home. We had a lovely day having you in our home. Special thanks to guests who came with gifts. We were not expecting them at all!

Niat hati cuma nak Open House, jadi smua tau kat mana rumah kite. Tu jer...Tak sangka u all dtg bawak hadiah. Mcmmana pun, terima kasih lah byk2 yer....

Good news comes in abundance!

2006-11-02T15:44:00.000+08:00

A recap on the last Ramadan, the fasting month.

I am not very proud of it, but sad to say I only managed to fast 1 day, on the very first day of Ramadan. And I think I managed to go through fasting that first day, only because it was on a Sunday and I practically slept alot on that day!

Well, excuse me, before you start *Tsk*-ing, I would like to announce that I am officially excused from fasting, since I have already paid the Fidyah. I have tried to fast, on the first day, but I was feeling very weak and my stomach was hurting alot. And I believe it would do US more harm than good if I continue to fast.

I am officially a Preggie!

Well, maybe some of you may have gotten the news through the comments left by Coombee or Sop earlier on before my tag-board became history.

In the early stages, my hubb told me not to write about it in my blog. He didn't want me to get too excited coz the early stages were a bit scary and precarious. He didnt want me to have high hopes, juz in case...

But since that time, it would be very hard if I would still try to hide my fully "bloated" belly and the way that I walk now- like a gangster/ penguin (he said).

I had spotting in the early stages. Was on hormone tablets and had lots of MC- 2 wks to be exact. But at that stage, I was still feeling ay-ok. It was the stage after, that was the real test. While others at the I-DO Baby forum had morning sickness (Ms), I had MnNs (morning and night sickness). Before which I never did know that there was such a thing as Night sickness. It was awful.

It gave you no warning of such, strikes you out of the blue and makes you bedridden for at least 1hr. The slightest smell or sound irkes you. I had to stall my crafty ideas for the first few mths.

Now in my 2nd trimester, 4 mths to be exact. Things are gettin much better. I dont get as much MnNs but lots of back pain.

Really looking forward to my next Med Check at SGH in December. A full scan would be done then and maybe Iwill find out the gender.

Selamat Hari Raya!

2006-11-02T11:38:00.000+08:00

This may be 2 wks late but still ...

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Maaf Zahir Batin!

Hari Raya's a full month long celebration afterall!

Clearing stock at SimplyLNE

2006-09-19T22:21:00.000+08:00

Been occupied completing a few bulk orders. Meanwhile I tot, I'd like to clear some stock from Lime Fleamarket.

A peek of whats on sale...

Card/ Tissue holders

Polka dot Clutch with detachable lace brooch

BARGAIN! Button earstuds $1-$1.50 per pair!!!!
(Price excludes postage)

Will update details on SimplyLNE the blog soon. Meanwhile email me simplylne@yahoo.com.sg to enquire...

End of Sew-it-started

2006-09-08T22:42:00.000+08:00

When I started my craft blog~ sew-it-started.blogspot.com~ lil did I realised that I dont really have the time and effort to maintain both blogs.

So folks, my crafty adventures will be featured back here again...and my craft creations will be available at my revived SimplyLNE blog or my shop SimplyLNE

For a start, these were what I had been busy with these kanzashis

Made of double layered satin. It is actually sold in a gift box with matching ribbon bow.

But this is also available on its own at a discounted price.

Drop by SimplyLNE blog or SimplyLNE shop for more info.

Happy Anniversary Dear!

2006-09-08T22:06:00.000+08:00

Ok, despite the fact that my Dear Hubb does not read blogs, I'd still like to make a shout out to him.

Happy 2nd year Anniversary Dear!

He got me two roses, signifying 2yrs, which is so sweet...although its not in my favourite traditionally deep red roses...I appreciate his effort though, rushing to a florist at the end of his hetic workday. I, on the other hand, didn't get him anything....:p

Oh, and he insisted we had dinner out-at Magic Wok Hougang, so no cooking for me... :)

Looking back to 28 Aug 2004, this was where we started...

One wk of "Eat, Sleep and Watch TV"

2006-08-24T20:39:00.000+08:00

I am on a strict order by my doc.

"Eat, Sleep and Watch TV", he said. For a whole wk.

2 days and I've "slept and eaten enuff tv".

Yap, my mind is a total wreck, like that.

So on Wednesday, I ventured to my mum's place...

Today, HAH! Am I glad that my lil' bro had an appointment at SGH (I was required to accompany him) ....And since SGH is soooo near my fav craft shops.....I went venturing....to Chinatown. Of course, my Hubb wasnt pretty pleased about it.... hehehe....:P

Tomorrow, I am going to be a good girl and stay home.

*wink....rubbing hands together ....and a crafty smile......hehehe...*wink

Lime was Tangy

2006-08-13T17:55:00.000+08:00

The day started at 12pm and I still have sore legs till now...haha...

For more reads and pics skip along to my craft blog pls...sew-it-started

SimplyLNE @ Lime Fleamarket

2006-08-07T22:19:00.001+08:00

If you had not read my craft blog "Sew it started", this is what is happening this Saturday...

SimplyLNE will be at Lime Fleamarket:

Lime Fleamarket
Saturday, 12 Aug 2006
1 to 7 pm
At *scape(Open field behind Cineleisure Orchard)

And these are what will be on sale:
*Retro/Vintage button stud earings (I am a button freak remember?)
*Kanzashi felt brooches
*Kanzashi butterfly brooches
*Yarn loopy flower brooches
*Conduroy cardholder/ wallet
*Polka dotty clutch with lace
*many more...

Yanling's handpainted "Freshtees" will also be there...

See you soon!

Lazy tired and bored...

2006-07-16T22:13:00.000+08:00

Yap, Im lazy right now. My laundry pile is screaming out to me but I'm too tired.

After MAAD today, I went down to Chinatown only to find out that the buttons that I needed to purchase are out of stock. Rite.

Then I was at Spotlight. The black white polka dot fabric is out of stock too. Sheesh...

So for some amusement, I Yahoo searched my name, and this is what popped up...

http://216.105.51.182/browseproducts/4MM-ROSLNE.HTML

So I am 4mm pearls. Cheap rite, I only cost $7.25.

Hah.

Congrats to Diana...

2006-07-11T15:02:00.000+08:00

In 1983 a whole batch of them were born:

From my mum's side:
my twin sis, two male cousins and Diana ,

Fr my dad's side:
two male twins

and from Malaysia two male twin cousins

So 23yrs later, one of them got engaged...the first of the army of crying babies ....hehehe...

Last Sat was spent at my aunt's place as my cousin had her engagement. A shout-out to Diana Saharudin and Lukman (I think that's the correct spelling?) Semoga berkekalan hingga ke jinjang pelamin, InsyaAllah....

This is the only pic I could snap of her before my batt gave up on me.

Niwaes, at the kenduri I was spying on a childhood tit-bitwhich I had not seen for a very long time. Didn't manage to get one coz it was meant for the kids of course. So when I saw this at a shop recently, boy, was I estatic!

Brings back fond memories of when we would bargain with the Mama at the shop for a cheaper price when we bought more packs. hehehe....it was only 20cents each back then....but I guess "dulukan duit besar"....

SimplyLNE going MAAD...

2006-07-10T11:10:00.000+08:00

Thanks to dear Dorothy Loh of madbeautiful bags, I was at MAAD yesterday. And I will be there for at least the next two Sundays...

Show your support to Singapore's very own local crafterians and artisans!!!!

I promise that you will be intrigued, amazed, if not inspired. I know...I was!

On a personal note, sales was not too bad, at least it kept me inspired. So expect more crafty ideas from me ...read Sew it started

Life's been hetic but worth living...

2006-07-06T09:21:00.000+08:00

Post is backdated to last wk, before the weekend...

Have you ever experienced a time when everything seems to happen at the same time in your life and you are divided into giving your attention to all the issues at the same time?

And have you ever wondered, why these things cannot be spaced out...I mean one thing at a time? Not that I am complaining. Infact, I am grateful for His blessings. I am but a human...a weak one that is, one who struggles with her daily stress...but wat can I say, I bring some of those stress to myself...

Studying for my Cert in Biz Ad + craftin like crazy to stock up for a craft fair + family demands and household chores...

It is a blessing that I have such an understanding Husband to help me wash the dishes, fold the clothes....thanks dearie for being there ....

2006-06-21T20:09:00.000+08:00

Remember when I said I NEEEEEDDDD to send my MAAD entry by that day?

I lied. I didn't.
I only did it yester-night. A whole 7 days from when I said I NEEEEEDDDD to send!
Yap, I suck at datelines.

And Dorothy of Madbeautiful had received her invitation.
I guess I might miss 2 July's.

On another note, my doc declared me cured. Finally. No more waiting at SGH for 2 hrs for a 5 min apptm. But, I kinda miss goin to SGH, well only because I always use it a reason to pay a visit to the Chinatown which more often end up wif me buying more buttons. Another round of button buying and I think I could declare myself a button-freak! Haha!

Been a while since I post pics of us, I think.
Being married and no kidos yet = freedom babe!
And since NR6 runs by our home and thanks to the free tixs my hubb had, we went Midnight Movie watching on a Saturday at Suntec. Err...actually it had been quite sometime so I kinda forgot that movie tat we watched.

I tot we looked so kawaii in tat matching deep red top but obviously my hubb don't think.

See my new Transition glasses? Almost cost me my whole Progess Bonus...600bucks! But I like how the frame looks like my all time fav female singer, Lisa Loeb.

We had BK and WAFFLE FRIES! Ha! I had the most perfect waffle and the biggest too!

So after some waffle, finally a smile!

Wat I hav been up to...

2006-06-12T12:06:00.000+08:00

Remember the list I entered in my previous entry? Well, here's the update...

So far I've ...
1. Cleaned the house.

2. Went to Spotlight. Quite proud of myself coz I managed to control myself from spending on unnecessary stuff. Bought some coduroy which was on $2 off for VIPs and made these:

Of course these are half way done. Read wat else Im gonna do to them and the fabulous Pink Swap pakage I received from *k* here....Sew it started

3. Was at SGH for more blood test. Took 45mins to travel to and fro from SGH while the test itself took hardly 5mins!!!

4. Drafted out my crafts but must remind myself to send the MAAD entry by today! Been postponing it too long.

5. Did the laundry today
6. Intend to check out Textile Centre today.
7. Tomorrow: To create more works of "art".

And a BIG THANKS to MUM!!!!! Look what she did in her spare time for me...

Tats all right now...will update more when there's more pic....

Kick back and relax? No way!

2006-06-09T14:01:00.000+08:00

Juz a quick update.
Will be on leave till next Wed.
And I intent to use the time wisely, hopefully, productively.

Today:
Cleaned the house first.
To Spotlight for the fabric sale.
Then school.

Wkend:
SGH for more blood test. (Blood-suckers!)
More house cleaning.
I intend to chk out Textile Centre.
Draft out my ideas.

Monday and Tuesday:
Will be spent at home, creating more works of "art".

Wednesday:
SGH Med Appt. I hate Med Appt esp at SGH. Appt at 3pm but my nos. will only be called at 6pm! Sheesh! Wat can u say...for the sake of subsidy!
Hopefully, to Ikea to spend that voucher wif dearie.

Any available time:
To update my blog and Etsy page.

Must be disciplined. Must not waste time on the couch, channel surfing, like I did previously when on leave. Must off this pc now. Been on it for the past 1.5hrs.

Ok bye.

SimplyLNE now at Stamford House

2006-05-08T22:48:00.000+08:00

Im proud to say that SimplyLNE now available at

BEADS'n Pieces
(Ms Ayako Matsuo)
39 Stamford Road
#02-12 Stamford House
Singapore 178885

Opening Hours:
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 12pm-5pm
Friday 12pm-6pm
Saturday (irregular) 1pm-6pm
Closed on Wednesdays, Sundays and Public Holiday

How to get there:
3 mins walk from City Hall MRT towards the direction of the old National Library.

Via Bus:
Stamford Court bus stop (B02) 124, 147, 166, 174, 190
SMU bus stop (B01) 130, 133, 145, 197, 851, 960
Chijmes bus stop (B02) 2, 12, 33, 147, 190
Capitol Building (B05) 14, 16, 36, 77, 106, 111,
131, 162, 167, 171, 401, 502,
700, 857
City Hall MRT (B03) 51, 63, 174, 197, 851, 961

And while you are there, check out Yan Ling's one of a kind Handpainted T-shirts and Post Card Pictures from a very promising photographer, Mike Lee going for as low as S$5!

Ms Ayako Matsuo's shop in Stamford features hand crafted goodness of all sorts including her very own exquisite jewellery line: BEADS'n pieces and crafts created from women from the third world coutries. Drop by and you will be amazed!

Sick...

2006-05-06T16:32:00.000+08:00

Felt like I disappeared from the surface of the earth when I fell sick last wkend. Not a great feeling, especially when u are in SGH over a long weekend! Sheesh!

Ive been having this UTI problem on and off, thanks to my ever persistent holding-back-fr-loo-going habit since my school days. So apparently, this time it had spread up to my left kidney. No wonder I had soo much pain in my "left loin" as described on the doc's diagnosis. I was having fever as high as 40C! It wont be a wonder if parts of my brain might have been fried up. The meds that the doc gave me didnt work so when we went back to the clinic, he sent us packing to A&E SGH.

Other than the seasonal fever and the pain, I was perfectly ok. I even insisted to stay at the A&E to watch Grey's Anatomy instead of lying down in the Observation Room.

By Wednesday, I was as good as new and raring to go back. See insert pics. Unfortunately, I had some precarious results from a blood test on my liver and that forced me to be held back. They changed my meds and I drew more blood to test my liver functions. I was only discharged the following Tuesday...

Well, at least i didnt waste the whole wk away. Fulfilled a butterfly brooch order and made some more.

Thing is, since I missed my Marketing Exams, Im gonna sit for 2 exams come July. Marketing and Accounting....Gosh!

***************************************
On a diff note, some of my recent orders...fr my Hubb...for his female colleagues being transfered...quite proud of the pink one though...wat ya tink?

Arrgh!!!!

2006-04-21T09:19:00.000+08:00

I miss crafting.
My hands are itching.
But I cant.
I've got a STU*** Marketing Exam tis Monday.
Arrgh!!!

Previously, I hate Economics.
I take tat back.
Economics is a breeze.
Formulas n working out maths.
I like.
Guess tats where my strength is.

8 chapters of Element Marketing is torture.
Neber been good wif theory.
Tat's why I love Science.
Practicals, I score.

But for rite now.
My brain's not co-operating.
Its on short term memory mode.
Tats why tis entry is so short.
Sheesh!

Juz some yummy pics

2006-04-20T12:59:00.000+08:00

Was clearing my thumbdrive when I found two very yummy pics. My Hubb drools at any Japanese dish recently...and since Ramen Ten is Halal, we've been contributing to their Tips Box eva so often...enjoy...

Hazelnutt Praline...my fav nut!

Peachy, so yummy!

Lots of shoppin' n feastin'

2006-04-03T11:20:00.000+08:00

Ok, so this is a back-dated post pls bear wif me...

Turning 28 isn't a very happy thing to start with... 2 more yrs to the big 3-0, gosh! My only consolation is my hubb will follow suit turnin 28 few months down the road...haha! Oh and all the discount coupons that I get in the mailer to help ease the numbness...

So on my birthday this year, I decided to take half day leave to splurge and spoil myself crazy. Pityful, half day leave partly coz Ive been taking leave like nobody's bizness twice every month since the start of 2006.

Niwaes, the "splurge and spoil myself crazy" thing started the wk before. Tuesday March 21, we had a hearty dinner at Breeks' cafe in Habourfront. We had Caesar's salad and Waffle Fries for starters. And then I had the Dory fish while my hubb had the Honey Chicken. The coupon was for a free main course with an order of another.

And then, tat Saturday at 1230pm, we were at Seoul Garden at Bugis Junction. The place was packed wif hungry tourists. But it didnt matter to us, we ate to our hearts content. We started out wif some vege, then to meat, seafood, meat, some fries and crackers, meat, more meat, then finally ice-cream. As u can see, I am 'in love with meat'. Its a wonder that my bowels did not throw tantrums. I only managed to snap a few pics of the ice-cream that we had coz we were too preoccupied with chewing and chowing.

Us

The first of many laps ...

I-Scream with Nata de Coco..

The only regret we had was that BJ's Seoul Garden is damn tiny! Where are the Chicken wings? And the meat were all mixed up..chicken wif beef next to each other...v inconsiderate esp for the tourists whom I think were from China and most probly are Buddists. They kept asking me " Excuse me, is tis Chicken or Beef?" I glanced at the labels but what I see is white meat labelled as Black Pepper Beef...Sheesh..

On my birthday, I met up wif my fren Wailing n her bf, Mike. She gave me a treat at Magic Wok, to wch I still owe her a meal. We discussed about possibility of setting up a flea market stall and I passed to her some of her colleague's orders for SimplyLNE. Thanks Yanling for being my "promoter". We went to a shop and secured a deal. Quite a good deal but not sure of the crowd there though. Niwaes, we proceeded to Spotlight and since I get 10% off on my birthday, I got myself some craft supplies amounting up to $80.

OH! YOUVE GOTTA LOVE THE PINK CONDROY WIF TINY FLOWERS, Checked Fabric, Felt pieces, Trimmings, Lace, Faux Pearls and some Cameos which turned out into lovely Victorian style brooches...(will post the pic some day)

Oh, after Yanling left for the day, my spree continued...bought some apparel from Giordano, also courtesy of Birthday discounts, haha!

I ve really gotta stop buying pants, I've got more pants than my Hubb!

Oh and the last thing I got for my birthday is a pair of new spectacles which cost me $600 bucks! The most expensive pair Ive eva bought! But I forsee it being around for a looong time....will be collecting it today...Yipee!

Wat's up?

2006-03-20T22:00:00.000+08:00

Hey ya!

Unexpected things happened the past 1 wk, good news and some sad news. With tat last Marketing class 2wks ago, I tot that I will be able to spend some time craftin'...but I was terribly wrong.

On Tuesday last wk, I received a call fr my Hubb at 4.30pm asking me to come to SGH. "Mak Jun (his aunt) had an accident", he said. I tot tat it was a light accident taking into account her job as a store helper is not tat dangerous but I was terribly wrong! How I wished I was right though!

Apparently she was on her way to KL and the bus she was in had an accident with a trailer. All 35 passengers were hurt, except for the bus driver. Mak Jun is now in SGH ICU. I shall not reveal too much coz they wanted to keep it within the family to keep out uninvited attention. She is unconscious after going thru 2 ops to remove a part of her skull. The whole family have been praying hard for her safety. Al-fateha!

On a different note, last wkend I brought up the subject of subscribing to Starhub Cable coz the deal wch comes wif a free Osim I-squeeze seems sooo tempting. I-squeeze had been one of items on my wish list ever since I've been experiencing pains in the back of my knee. I believe this is wat I get for insisting on wearing heels to work although I hav to climb up and down the stairs umpteen times everyday! Hehe...Well, we decided not to subscribe coz both of us were seldom home and it would be a waste.

Niwaes, last Sat we were home expecting the delivery fr IKEA and the Starhub people who were scheduled to tune the aerial to accept Cable TV, when i overheard my Hubb talkin on his hp secretly. He was checking how much he had to pay...Funny, I tot, the Cable guy whom I spoke to earlier did mention that the tuning would be FOC.

Me: Dear, eh, I tot the tuning is FOC?
Hubb: Yalah.
Me: Then juz now I hear u ask tat man, "how much?"
Hubb: Oh, tat is different, Im subscribing to Cable. U want I-squeeze rite?
Me: Huh? (First looked blur, then Cheezy smile) Oh, I get I-squeeze izit? Yay!!!!! Thanks!!!!
Hubb: For ur birthday ah!
Me: Hehe! Thanks! Eh, also good hor, I get I-squeeze, U get cable.
Hubb: Yah! I get HBO! Yay!

It seems like he was happier compared to me.

Oh, and in the midst of unpacking boxes in my mum's new place yesterday, we tot we lost Yayang. Everyone was looking high and low. Even my hubb went to 2 blks away to look for her but she was no where to be found. We were losing hope. While we were moving stacks of boxes, my Hubb found Yayang hiding behind the stacks and stacks of boxes in a corner of the room. Sheesh! Yayang and her antics!

I love IKEA furniture...see how they match my bedset!

Bedside Drawer

Chest of 6-drawers...haha...4 belongs to me!

I'll update more pics...rite now blogger's photo download is havin some prob...sheesh!

Been a whole mth!

2006-03-03T15:35:00.000+08:00

Hi Peeps! Wow! its been a whole month since my last post!

So much had happened...its not tat ive grown tired of blogging...i dont think i ever will coz im kinda fond of the blabber space im given here...coming back, time and again i had intended to prop myself down infront of the 'box' and let my fingers 'do the talking' but time and again something will crop up. To summarise:

1.On 19 Feb 2006, Im officially declared a 'Sengkang-ian'. Alhamdulillah, and Big thanks to all family members and friends (of my hubb), everything went along as planned and smoothly. I did keep my cam near me but in all the excitement, I had forgotten to catch any pics.

This Sat will be the 14th day ive stayed at our "Hotel/Chalet Home". Tat is what my hubb had named it, his reason being:

a. My full length window in the living room looks out to a garden with swaying trees
b. The contemporary concept which we picked with furniture and whole of the living room in colors ranging fr Barley white to Browns looks like a cut out from a House decor magazine or a hotel room.
c. The windy breeze that comes in fr the kitchen windows during the day and fr the living rm windows at night makes it feel like we are in a Chalet by the beach. At the same time, our KDK fans are standing in the corners of the rooms, looking spanking new and unused.

I'll try to put in some pics later, once Ive cleared the boxes after boxes that are still unpacked. Wat to do, Im a working lady who attends classes twice a wk and wkends are a luxury to me.

2. Surprisingly, I made it for my Econs Test. I recalled tearing the dotted computer printed result slip on one of its side and peeked into it trying to make out the alphabet written under "Grade". At this point my hubb grabbed the slip fr me and teared it open wide. "A".

Back in the new Marketing class in mid February, when asked by a fella classmate what was my grade, I told her the alphabet. She was totally disgusted by me. Shucks! I was expecting a C or at the most a B coz I think I wrote too much for a 2mark qn and I would imagine that most probably my lecturer might have fallen asleep while marking my paper and start to drool all over it....or ... I tot I had gotten an A coz all the marks had been moderated. I was quite surprised to find out that almost half of the class had to resit. Alhamdulillah!

3. On my hobby, Alhamdulillah! I've been buzy preparing for a couple of lobangs but to date "the fruits of my labour" is yet to be seen. InsyaAllah. Ive been buzy preparing for another event too. This on top of Marketing exam on 24 apr. I kinda like my Marketing Lecturer fr TP. He's experience and I like listening to his stories on his Flea market adventures.

Ok then, its way past my bedtime! Haha, since becoming a wife, Ive really forgotten abt beauty sleep. But Being Married Rocks so who cares!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Drop by SimplyLNE in the second week of March to check out what "Its My Birthday" is all about...

Yazrinah....Selamat Pengantin Baru! Cewah!

2006-02-06T17:03:00.000+08:00

My dear "old" friend Yazrinah got hitched last wkend...on Chinese New Year.

We used to attend Chong De Primary school, which btw is long gone. But thru our secondary school years (we went to different schools) and many years after that, we kept in touch with each other. She was with me thru my 4U2C craze years, she was with me when I broke up wif my first boyfren and she was with me when I needed her the most, with the passing of my late sister.

I could never thank you enough Yaz, for being a true friend!

I hope you find happiness with your beloved half, semoga berkekalan hingga ke anak cucu...InsyaAllah!

Yazrinah & Hubby...28 & 29 Jan 2006

more pics

On another note, ain't it cool...we've got hitched on the same date, 28 and 29, but different months ah...of course!

Lastly, Yaz welcome to the K Klub...Klub Kawin ...hahaha...

So what have I been up to...

2006-01-27T14:32:00.000+08:00

The last 2 wks Ive been preoccupied making Friendship Bands for the swap in Craftster. Yes those are bands that gals and sometimes boys make for their friends and they in turn wear them on their wrists. It was the In-thing in the 80s or 90s, I believe.

Niwaes, the last time I did one was ages ago, when I was trying to court my Hubb...(ehem)...I made him a simple one with black background and his name spelt in army green. At that time, we were getting to know each other, so there were no heart shapes or any mush msgs on the band, well it was a 'Friendship band'.

One night, while I was working on night shift and feeling lousy, he dropped by and brought me dinner. I was feeling so lousy that I already had my bunk bed set up in the middle of my workplace at 9pm (yap, we were allowed to sleep after setting up some stuff for next shift). That early morning around 2am, when I settled in for some winks, I was surprised that my pillow seemed abit fluffier. When my hand reached behind my pillow, I was surprised to see a cute teddybear with the band that I made on its arm. I wasnt feeling lousy anymore! Thks dear, I'll never forget that, xoxo...

Ahem...rite so here are the pics to the bands that I made for my 3 swap partners. I had forgotten to snap a pic of the 4th one though.

And Ive received one from Roxy. Will be posting the pic here soon...

The next thing is to move to the our new home. Yap the house is ready. Just waiting for the curtains that Im sewing. Its very simple curtains, tap top type. We saved quite alot compared to buying ready pieces as the materials were bought at Joo Chiat Complex for $2 per metre! In all, we spent less than $80 for curtains for the whole house!

Im also trying to stock up new brooches for a big project which, InsyaAllah will take place in late Feb or early March. I really hope this craftcraze of mine will lead to something bigger than just being a pasttime. InsyaAllah!

Hurry!! Offer ends in 6 days!

2006-01-26T17:18:00.000+08:00

SimplyLNE opening sale ends in 6 days!

With 10% discount and FREE POSTAGE, its too good an offer to miss!

Fresh new look for new year!

2006-01-20T17:08:00.000+08:00

Its been long overdue....

Finally, presenting my new skin....fresh yet simple...

So dear, is this me?

Project Run(all the)way

2006-01-18T16:45:00.000+08:00

I know its Wednesday and the finals for Project Runway was on Monday, but since I was on leave on Monday, my time zone is a day late, so pls excuse moi...

I was fretting when Project Runway was first aired on Ch 5. "Not another reality show!" Dont blame me, I was feeling nauseous what with Survivor, Temptation Island, Amazing Race, Bachelor, Bachlorette ...to name a few....

But with every Monday that passes by, I slowly realised that I am a reality show freak! So when I saw the last episod of Project Runway few days ago, I can't believe that my 10pms on Mondays will never be the same again, not without Wendy Pepper. Oh, plus the point that they chose to replace the slot with the stupid-in the face boob show-where most probably they aren't real either! Such a disgrace! Tsk, tsk...

Oh, ya, Monday. I was on leave to settle some stuff for the new house and when we were finally done for the day it was 930pm at Sengkang. On the way back in the NE line, it was only then that I realised that at 10pm was the finals for PR. Yikes! Luckily we decided to get off at Dhoby Ghaut and take the express bus 502 home. I was praying hard that it would be aired on TV Mobile. To my delight, it was! YAY!!!

So I was like straining my neck to watch PR on TV Mobile in a very crowded 502. At the point when we got off at our stop, the ads were on so we ran all the way back to our block. And surprisingly, my Hubb was running with me! (Ok, ok, he was running infront of me. Sheesh, give me a breaklah!)

We savoured every moment of the show. Especially since we will not be able to bitch abt Wendy Pepper anytime soon. But why didn't anyone tell me that Jay won?!

Niwaes, better than Wendy Pepper ape!

Hey Ya! Its da 12th!

2006-01-12T16:54:00.000+08:00

Hari yg di tunggu2 dah pun tiba....I think I am more excited than 1 month back. Weird huh? Untok yg bukan Maid Gabermen, 12 hb is the day when I feel RICH, well only for a day...Hari dapat gaji ah.

Lagipun, last month I dapat draw 2K fr my NTUC Anticipation account. Jadi rasa kaya sikit ah. I get nervous when I have to handle big amounts in my POSB account. Takut overspend ah. Kalau dah dapat gaji ni, baru boleh lega sikit.

Tetapi Alhamdulillah, Bonus last month tak disia-siakan. Infact, Im quite proud of myself for being able to maintain that four figure in my POSB at the same time feed my appetite for some 'Mango'. Here is a summary of the items/things that I spent on:

1. My Panasonic Lumix in pink
2. Three Mango tops which costs me less than $100
3. A new pair of shoe from Level 1 Far East Plaza
4. A new Casio stainless steel watch for work
5. My essentials from Clinique including toner and DDMG
6. Belanja my whole family Pizza Hut
7. Belanja my Hubb's family Anatolia
8. Paid up cash 2K to the Renovation Loan

Yet to spend on: My very own sewing machine
This I have to KIV for the time being until my house is ready.

I'm quite happy with the progress of the renovation. Last Saturday, the lights were being fixed. When we came over on Monday night, the windows to our Service Balcony was already up and they had washed and mopped the floors! I was surprised!

Today the Solid Top is being fixed to my kitchen cabinets and tomorrow will be the finale. The toilet cabinets and accessories. Tat is why I will be away tomorrow, on leave again (last Friday I was on exam leave), to rush to Sim Siang Choon to purchase our accessories and deliver them to my house in time for the contractor to install the items FOC! (Initially, they wanted to charge us $50 per toilet for installation of accessories-which is cheaper than Sim Siang Choon btw)

So today I must rush to Spotlight to buy the DMC threads for my Craftster Swap. Hopefully, tomorrow while waiting for the toilet to be ready, I will be able to do some Friendship Bands. So toodle loo....

Hello 2006!

2006-01-03T17:05:00.000+08:00

A new year usually comes hand in hand with new resolutions. As for me, I have stopped believing in resolutions sometime ago, or sort of gave up on them, since I never fulfill them. Instead, I prefer to go with short term and long term goals.

This year, my goal is to get settled down in my new house...And as promised last year (sheesh, I sound so bad here), here are some pics...

This is my living room with full windows. But I dread the thought of washing all those curtains in the future!

My built in wardrobe...Come to think of it, I dont think this is enough for me and hubb ...

My dinning area...

Us in our home...haiz....so lomantik'...

This week they will be painting the whole house, Saturday will be the lights. Next wk will be the kitchen cabinets. If everything goes well, I should be able to move in by Chinese New Year or in February! Yipee! No more long journey to work, thus more money saved on travel fare, thus more money to be spent....but on household bills! As the saying goes, " You get some, you loose some!"

But first, Fri is Econs test! Been really lazy for the past 1 wk. Right now, I should really get down to study coz I'm yet to finish 4 more chapters, and Econs is like definations after definations, formulas after formulas to be remembered...Oh no! If I pass, I think I will be happy enough.

I think I have to resort to the hard way, I shall force myself to study at the library everyday this wk until Friday. So must go now. Wish me luck for the test! .....

SimplyLNE: New Addition ...

2005-12-30T16:12:00.000+08:00

A new addition to the "Cardholders family"...

Unclapsed

Topped up with a ribbon
(pardon the intruding fingers)

For details check out SimplyLNE

Here it is...SimplyLNE...

2005-12-23T16:30:00.000+08:00

Well, after much hardwork, this is the end product...Presenting to you ...

Do drop by, there is a promotion goin on....

Special thanks to cOOmbEE for her design and for cracking her head till 12.30am thinking about the order form. Thks gal! Owe you one!

This is LiN's Life

Updates on the second one...

Prelurved!

After the party

Nurul at 23mths

This pregnancy so far...

Jackpot!

Nurul's turning 2

A different kind of Raya

Eh..eh..dah nak Raya?

Singapore Flyer

Nurul as of lately

Hairy issues

The adventures of Nurul

ONE birthday THREE cakes

The giveaway..

Coachy-coachy-hota-hey!

Nurul turns ONE!

Zippered pouches to go!

One weekend, two simple events

the big 3-0

Happy 11th month Nurul

What's cooking?

Splashing Time! Diaper Cake

Simply Diaper! Cake

Shopping craze!

Tantrums at 10 mths

Back dated pics - Trip to the Bird Park

Lil Monster did it again!

Cookie (Lil) Monster

Oh trying to escape eh!

So much for a New Year

Nurul and Me doing our (my) favourite things

Dearest Hubby

The end is near...Yipee!

Selamat Hari Raya!

1 more wk to go ...

Bulk Shopping ....

Guess who's back?

Lil Monster...2mths (Part 1)

The Countdown...*haiz*

At 6wks she started cooing...

Stack 'em up!

Lelong!! NEW Corelle Set for Sale!!!

Got Milk?

The "Lil Monster"...(the part after delivery)

Freedom!

The Arrival of Lil Baby aka Nurul (Part 2)

The Arrival of Lil Baby (Part 1)

Announcing the arrival of Lil Baby ...

peek a boo

Still here... waiting...

38 wks and still waiting ...

(tony) BRAXTON & (catherine) HICKS

Crafty Mama...

Not engaged yet...

Hot Mama and Biawak tersimpul

Journal Mak Buyung

Tick tock tick tock...

Fed-upnye !

What comes wif a 30 wk old belly...

What a relief ...

2006 Good Bye

Preggie Shopping

The long awaited appointment

Hari Raya Open House

Good news comes in abundance!

Selamat Hari Raya!

Clearing stock at SimplyLNE

End of Sew-it-started

Happy Anniversary Dear!

One wk of "Eat, Sleep and Watch TV"

Lime was Tangy

SimplyLNE @ Lime Fleamarket

Lazy tired and bored...

Congrats to Diana...

SimplyLNE going MAAD...

Life's been hetic but worth living...

Wat I hav been up to...

Kick back and relax? No way!

The Countdown...haiz