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Eid Mubarak 2015

Selamat Hari Raya!

Our 1st time Raya with Nadya and it was fun! OK let’s be honest, it was slightly nerve-wrecking as well but the fun and joy outweighs everything!

My eve of Raya was spent cooking a storm in the kitchen. Spent a total of 9 hours cos i was the only one doing it. Boohoo. But so satisfying to eat your home-cooked Raya dish! Even brought it over to my father-in-law’s place and spent Malam Raya there. Was overwhelmed with sadness cos i miss my mother-in-law and kept staring at the seat she used to occupy. She would have love the sambal goreng the most.

Managed to design, print, cut & seal up these money packets at the very last minute and got Rusly to go to the bank on Raya Eve to change smaller notes. Totally forgot about this seh! Lucky masih ada notes. Not new notes but recycled notes but gasak lah. Janji budak2 dapat duit. Dia tak kisah note tu bau kedai ke tak.

Continue reading “Eid Mubarak 2015”

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six

my baby is 6mths old today!! 

  
I’ve started her on solids 2 weeks ago, just for fun. She’s really like carrots so far and we’ve tried pumpkin & banana as well so far. Next week would be apple & buttersquash nut. So fun to see her eat. She was really interested initially but didn’t really like eating much the 1st few days.. But i kept trying and Alhamdulillah she is fine with eating. 

She has been lifting up her upper body like a champion tapi bontot masih berat so yeapp.. Ikut mak dia ah suspek. 

Will write more on her eating journey soon cos i’m actually on mobile, stuck in a jam. Lol.

So excited for this year’s Raya. Mainly for her. Not much for me & Rusly. The house is still tonggang terbalik and i’m not in a rush to do anything yet. Although i’ve been doing some changes to Nadya’s room! Did some Daiso & IKEA hack. So cute! Nanti lah dah siap betul2 baru tunjuk ok. 

I think Nadya is ready to sleep in her own room. By 8.30pm, she’ll be fast asleep and i’ll change her diapers by 11.30pm and give her last feed if she happen to wake up during diaper change and then she’ll sleep till 9.00am the next morning. 

Mummy also macam dah ready to let her sleep in her own room. Tapi suspek bapak dia tak ready. 

Step macam kalau budak tu nangis malam2, dia pulak yang bangun. Menyampah aku. 

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New Boy on The Block

So we have a new addition in the group!
10986992_10153450376348656_1175106282767632611_nBudak malu-malu nak bukak mata. Tak tau dia malu ke or tak kuasa cos we were making so much noise and he slept through it. Oh i miss the newborn days!

As always, it’s a riot when we meet. We shared funny anecdotes on labour. Now that we’ve survived labour, it’s funny lah kan. It’s so nice to see the group expanding. When we all 1st met properly, Rina was pregnant with Shafa, although some of us actually met at Farna’s wedding and Shafa is turning one veryyyyy soon!

11219363_10153450376138656_6149907671059204508_nBefore we know it, we have a new mummy and another soon-to-be mummy. Izan will have another friend in September!

Did not realised how big Nadya is now until i put her next to a newborn. Tiba2 anak aku macam besar pulak. Where did my newborn go?

Nadya seems to like Ezdee a lot! She went on and on ‘talking’ to E, macam dia tau Aunty E is carrying a boy, kan!

Nadya nak adik? Nak adik? Nak adik?
LOL

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Oh Pinky Swear!

Following up from my previous Diaper bag post where i got my 1st Ju-Ju-Be.
I bought the Hobobe at first and it really served me well. It’s good for quick trip out but on days where we’ll be out the entire day, it’ll be a little squeezy in there and i can’t fit in my digicam. #firstworldproblems.

Since Nadya will start eating soon and we’ll then bring out snacks lah etc, i thought upgrading to a bigger bag would be useful. I love the Ju-ju-be material and the fact that it’s light on it’s own so i looked around for a size i want & like.

Since i’ve already got the Admiral design from the Nautical Collection, i was aiming for the Countess next from the Legacy Collection! But which type?
I wanna try the backpack style next but i was scared if it might be bulky. Especially since i babywear all the time. Imagine front carry, back carry. Aku dah lah besar, then rempuh semua orang. although i’ll be the best person to bring to Bazaar Geylang. Abis semua aku rempuh nanti.

The only option i have is the Be Right Back or the BFF. But honestly, i don’t like the Be Right Back one that much and it does not come in The Countess design. So BFF it is! I contemplated for quite some time though. Looking at Youtube videos to see how big it’ll look like and all.

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When i 1st saw it, i thought it was a little bulky. But after wearing it, it wasn’t as bulky seh! It fits me just nice!

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This is how i look like when i go out with Nadya most of the time! It’s really convenient except that i don’t like putting my wallet & HP behind cos of the possibility of being pick-pocketed. In conclusion, i really like the BFF that i got myself another one!

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I love Geometric designs and this one is love at 1st sight. Love the mixture of pink, grey & black. Neutral with a pop of colour!

IMG_2155So this time round, i got myself the BFF and the Be Set, which is a trio of small bags that can be converted into slings. So handy to have! They even gave me a free coin pouch cos i spent more than $100.00 on Pinky Swear items.

The next one i’m patiently waiting for is the Perky Toki! It’s the only Tokidoki print from Ju-Ju-Be that i like!


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I
t’s Pastel coloured and the Tokidoki cartoons are spread apart. Won’t be getting the BFF though! Probably get a Be Set and the Starlet Bag cos we need a duffel bag for holidays & swimming trips!

Sigh… what did i get myself into. I’m sinking deeper into the diaper bag hole.
But then, it’s all i use these days seh. I no longer use all my designer bags. Sometimes i take them out and stroke them but the thought of putting in a flask and all inside them bags macam so sayang gitu.

So cute diaper bags then!

and i do know of people who use these diaper bags as normal work bags! hahahaha. Poisoning you guys to buy also! Lol

Le Familia, Motherhood, Nadya Raessa

five

My little human is 5 months now. Oh so much joy in this 5 months period.

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Nadya is so so playful now. It’s almost entertaining. She doesn’t sleep much nowadays, the time has come! While she’s still sleeping through the night, her naps are undeniably shorter now and she’s a light sleeper in the day! But a heavy sleeper at night. Heran aku. Naps are usually about an hour if i’m lucky and 15mins if ada abang motor bodoh kat bawah blok aku decide to perah motor dia yang tak seberapa tu. I tell you, you get very very cranky when u have a baby trying to take her nap, only to be woken up by really stupid noises. Especially when you’re making an effort to tiptoe around the  house making minimal noise.

Flipping from her back to her tummy is really easy for her. But she has not started to flip from tummy to her back yet. I don’t know when they are supposed to start doing that, but i honestly don’t care lah. Dia dapat flip one way dah kira bagus. She’s also lifting up her butt now but i think her upper body muscles are not strong yet to lift her body off the ground yet. So i’ll let her be..

Sitting assisted is fine for her for now. I think we still have a long way to go before she start sitting up unassisted.

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She’s quite good at entertaining herself these days. Playing with her pacifier, sampai terhantuk kat kepala and all. And she love playing with her dangling toys. Tak sia2 aku beli benda2 tu. Lol. And they all have their own name. I think i’ve mentioned this before. We’ve given them English names at first. Pas tu mak dia sedar diri dia melayu, takkan anak dia nya kawan2 semua nama mat salleh kan. So we have malay names for her toy as well. Her favourite is Khadijah & Mariam. Nama english dorang Katie & Mary. HAHAHAHAHA.

So far, Nadya reaaaaaaalllly like people. She’ll smile when they smile at them and while it’s cute, this paranoid mummy takut nanti dia dah besar, dia ikut orang yang dia tak kenal so maybe i should teach her to be more jual mahal sikit. Don’t follow strangers, baby!

I’ve kind of started giving her food to taste and today, we’ll be starting her on solid. We’ll start with Potato Puree 1st. I figure since she’ll be turning 6mths really soon and she’s a  full term baby at 40 weeks, no harm in giving her now. Cos she has been really curious when she see watch us eating, it’s adorable seeing her stare at us while we eat.

2015-06-23 21.31.37We also celebrated Father’s Day for Rusly last 2 weeks. We kept it small and simple. I made reservation for dinner at 1Market on the day itself. Alhamdulillah. Thank you Allah, for allowing Rusly to be a dad. He has been good at it.
Sometimes i wish he makes an effort to do more. Then i see postings of other mummies in some parent groups in FB, complaining about their husband, i really bersyukur that Rusly help out as much as he can. I think it’s not fair for me to expect too much also. So far, he’s comfortable with bathing her, changing diapers, making her sleep at night and all. But he’ll say no to changing poop-filled diapers. LOL

Motherhood

De Quervain

Have not mentioned this elsewhere before this except on my Facebook where i asked if anybody had the same thing i felt and it turned out to be pretty common! So i’m not being too lembik afterall!

I had this really bad pain on my left wrist each time i turn it to a certain angle. I initially thought it was some minor cramps but it was persistent and then it had me thinking if i’d accidentally sprained it without realising it. so i did some reading up and kinda figured out that it could be De Quervain Tenosyvitis.

It mainly affects the base of my thumb to my wrist. So painful that even turning a tap is painful. In fact anything that involves carrying, turning and pinching.

So i arranged to see a specialist at NUH to get them to confirm and treat it asap cos it was affecting the way i do things. I fear the day i’ll accidentally drop Nadya when it strikes me.

I managed to score an appointment last Friday and after doing the Finkelstein’s Test, it was indeed De Quervain Tenosyvitis or in layman’s term, Mummy’s Wrist. It mostly affects new mummies with babies between 3-5mths old cos that’s when they’ll start wriggling and all. It’s also because of how we hold the bottle or that habit of carrying baby by their armpits.

It’ll usually affect the left wrist if you’re a right hander cos the left wrist is not used to doing so much work and suddenly they have to do so many things at one go and the tendons are angry! Actually that was how my specialist explained it to me. LOL

According to my doctor two of the tendons share one tunnel and then now one of them is overworked and inflammed and they keep rubbing against each other in the tunnel hence the pain i feel when my wrist is in a certain position. This is not to be confused with the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome which usually happens to pregnant women but usually goes off after birth.

So i asked for the fastest treatment and he recommended me a steroid jab. We’ll see if it works. If it does not, we’ll do a second jab and if it does not work as well, surgery would be the next option.

The steroid jab was quite painful to be honest. I saw him drawing out a lot of fluids from the bottle and the jab seems to go on forever. But after 5 seconds or so, u’re kinda numb already. The pain from the steroid jab came back about 2 hours later. But i just sedapkan hati and say that it’s the steroid doing it’s job. Of course pain lah.

I thought a steroid jab and that’s it. We can partehhhhhhh.

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Sekali i had to get a custom splint done so i don’t overwork my thumb and wrist again. It was the rigid splint and damn ugly.

IMG_0773Three weeks to wear this. If the pain persists, they’ll do the 2nd jab on me.
Hopefully not ah. Cos malas nak pakai ni splint lagik.

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four

Nadya is 4 months old now and oh my what a difference these 2 weeks has been!
How and why do babies grow super fast.

So many things happened but i gotta chop chop and pen this down before i forget everything! I’m actually glad i did a monthly update for my pregnancy cos i love reading back and go “oh yeaaahhh.. i totally forgot about this!”

So i’m making sure i do a monthly update for nadya because honest to God, i cannot catch up sometimes!

Nadya can now sit up assisted. We let her sit in her Bumbo seat and i know that Bumbo seat is damn controversial. Some people said it’s good some people no good for development. Anyway, i’ve read about it’s pros and cons and i’m still using it. If you have issues with it, then don’t use it for your baby.

So yes, back to the Bumbo seat, she can sit up quite well when she’s in it but obviously she can’t sit up by herself lah kan. Or if we prop her up with pillows or place her at the corner of the sofa, she could actually sit up without toppling over.

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She love to raise her legs up high in the air now and then if nobody’s looking, she’ll put them feet in her mouth. Really cheeky. And no, please don’t tell me nadya nak ada adik baru. LOL

and she’s in the hospital baby cot cos we visited one of my girlfriend’s new baby! So adorable and kecik and squishy. Macam nak magic-kan Nadya to turn her back jadi gitu. or maybe not.

Not sure if i’ve mentioned this before but i know i’ve mentioned this to close friends many times. Both Nadya & Rusly had a hard time adjusting to each other initially. Rusly was ready for Fatherhood but he was overwhelmed by everything and got scared of Nadya. He won’t admit it but i can see fear in his eyes when he carries Nadya. HAHAHAHAHA.

Babies, i believe can sense that fear i guess? Whenever Rusly picks her up, she’ll bawl macam her favourite pet is dead gitu. and when she cries bloody murder, Rusly kancheong and pass her back to me and i’ll get annoyed because i’ll think Rusly is not trying. Now go back full circle again until one day, somehow these worked out their personal issues together, and now they’re best-friends-forever.

Nadya adoreeeeees her father. Somehow she’ll nap before her Papa is home and then automatically wake up just before he comes home and because i usually don’t allow Rusly to pick her up immediately until he has washed up and all, you could see Nadya searching for her Papa with her big round eyes. Kepala sampai senget2 ikutkan mana Papa dia pergi. So so cute!

I’m guessing she’ll prefer Rusly to me very very soon because Rusly always do stupids things with her. So yes, soon i’ll be left out. Dahlah muka photocopy. I just cannot get over how similar they both look! Especially when they sleep. HAHAHAHA.

We had an impromptu date out on a sunday cos the parents came over and kidnapped Nadya away and we kinda allowed them to! Macam “amik lah amik lah budak ni.” #parentingfail.

So once Nadya was out, i told Rusly “eh i siap2 eh? kita keluar.”
tak kasi chance orang tu reply pun. We initially wanted to catch a movie tapi Avengers dah nak abis so the timing pun a bit merepek so kita lupakan saja and probably wait for it to appear on Starhub VOD or kalau aku rajin, nanti download beli.

We also managed to squeeze in a short KL trip with my family to get some wedding stuff for my sisters. We didn’t get to eat stuff that i realllly wanna eat and trust me it’s a long list so Rusly promised me another trip in October for my birthday weekend!

Just before we left KL, guess what i discovered?

IMG_1030My baby girl sprouted 2 bottom teeth! No wonder she’s extra drooly these days. Like really drooly i cannot take it seh. 

Didn’t notice it at 1st and then she was crying while we’re having breakfast at Pelita and i saw white stuff in her mouth! I literally yanked her mouth open and felt rough edges at the bottom.

She has no fever yet but has been extra cranky and whiny. She’s making that whiny sound that’s so monotonous, bunyi macam engine speedboat. Lol.

Our Little Family, The Travel Tales

Penang, 2015

Oh finally had time to draft this out before i forget everything and it’s gonna be a long post cos it’ll be the only Penang post cos i don’t want to subject you to many many Penang Day 1, Day 2, day 3 & Day 4 posts. And because i got no time. Lol. May 1, 2015 Reached Penang International Airport at 6.50pm. We’ve made prior arrangements with the driver to pick us from the airport to the 1st hotel we’ll staying at Georgetown. Would totally recommend our driver, Morgan if you’re looking for a tour guide / pickup service in Penang. He’s friendly and chatty but not overly chatty bordering annoying, you know what i mean. He also have a vast knowledge on Penang history and was able to answer most of our questions so our car ride was really interesting with all the itsy bitsy informations that he was able to provide. You can reach him via Whatsapp at +60174031294. Since we only need a place to stay overnight at Georgetown, we chose a 3-start Royale Bintang Hotel to sleep and also cos we wanna roam around Georgetown the next day. The hotel is not bad actually! Check-in was brisk and the room is comfortable and clean! DSC00072 Continue reading “Penang, 2015”

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Counting blessings

For 2 years, it was hard & painful to go on Facebook and see all those Mother’s Day cards and presents. Will i ever get to celebrate Mother’s Day? I often ask myself. 

You have no idea the no of period tracking app, ovulation kits & pregnancy kits i’ve bought. The amount of time i’ve spent online to read up on pregnancy symptoms and think that “maybe this month is my lucky month! But another stupid pregnancy test with “NOT PREGNANT” shows up immediately. #%@&$!
And then our struggle to conceive ended on 9 May 2014. The very same day, a year ago. I took 6 pregnancy tests just to be sure. That was one of the happiest time of my life. It was few days shy from Mother’s Day. The perfect gift for both my mom and my late MIL.
I’m now a mother. Each day, i count my blessings. Grateful that Allah gave me the chance to be one. To nurture one of his umat. Thankful i was given this amanah. But i’ll never forget that dark place i’ve been in.
As u celebrate Mother’s Day, take the time to also remember your friends / family who’s trying hard to conceive. It is a painful journey and i hope one day, you get to feel that joy i felt when i saw the positive test kits. It can happen if you put your mind to it. Most importantly, with His will. InshaAllah.
Nadya Raessa, Our Little Family, The Travel Tales

Baby Packing List

What to bring for a holiday with a baby? I’ve googled for a sample packing list but some were too extensive (foldable bath tub and all! Lol) so i downsized the list and bring what’s necessary for baby.

Clothes & Accessories

  • Onesies
  • Long Pants (for night outings)
  • Sleepwear
  • Socks
  • Hats / Beanies
  • Bibs
  • Swimwear
  • Swim Diapers
  • Bath Towel
  • Face Towels

Basic Necessities

  • Formula Milk (if you’re not breastfeeding)
  • Milk Canister
  • Thermos Flask
  • Diapers (Nadya use up to 6 pcs a day. Multiply that by the number of days you’ll be away.)
  • Milk Bottles (i brought 3 with me)
  • Bottle Detergent (Put it in Travel sized bottles)
  • Baby Wipes (Normal size)
  • Baby Wipes (Travel Pack)
  • Sleeping Mat
  • Changing Pad
  • Pacifier
  • Pacifier Wipes
  • Toys
  • Head Pillow
  • Bolster / Beansprout Pillow
  • Koolfever

Toiletries 

  • Shower Gel / Shampoo
  • Minyak Telon
  • Facial Cream
  • Diaper Rash Cream
  • Hair Cream
  • Sunscreen safe for babies (for beach destinations)

Travel System 

  • Pram
  • Baby Carrier
  • Car Seat (if you’re doing a road trip)

Things to take note of: 

  1. Always bring your own baby towels. Refrain from using hotel towels. Cos they don’t really wash it properly.
  2. Bring sleeping mat / swaddle for baby to sleep on. For the 1st night, Nadya slept with us on the bed. Then for the remaining nights, we requested for a baby cot. However, because Nadya flip on her tummy all the time and then she’ll start licking the surface, i don’t feel comfortable allowing her to lick the bedsheets cos i know some hotels don’t change it very often.
  3. When heating up water using the Thermos Flask from the hotel, always do a thorough wash 1st, then heat up some water for the 1st round, throw it away and then boil another set of fresh water for your baby’s consumption. Check the bottom of the flask. I’ve come across hotel flasks which are rusty! If it is, get housekeeping to change it for you.

All these might sound petty and honestly, if it’s just me & rusly, we really don’t bother but having a baby with you means you gotta be extra careful. Especially cos Nadya is still young and her immune system is still not as strong yet. The last thing you want is a sick baby on a trip.