Akhirnya Kini Pasti

Finally last nite the much waited reunion happened. This reunion was 1st planned long time ago. But then, it never happened because almost everyone has this-and-that to do.. We all joked about this reunion as it was an impromptu one. I only knew it at lunch time yesterday from Pija. Got a shocked to hear her on the other line as she never calls me from her office number. Normally it is me who called her.

So alhamdulillah, I got to see all my best friends from my university days except one, Yati who now lives and work in Sabah.. Missed not having her there last nite. Out of 5 people last nite, only one is living&working in Kedah. Ida came down on tuesday to do her raya shopping. Her visits too was a last minute plan. So that is why last nite get together was a last minute one.

Alhamdulillah also I have my MIL at my house. At least hubby&Arissa has company while I'm out having dinner. I hate having to leave both of them at home. I dont think I would have come to the reunion if my MIL wasn't there at my house. Hubby gave the green light when I told him about the dinner. He will said yes even if his mom wasn't there with us. It was him all this while who keep pushing me to plan for my reunion.

Met them at Jusco Cheras Selatan. Me & pija had to come all the way from KL . Lin&Syikin stay around Bangi . Ate at Pizza hut . Reminiscing the good old days.. Pija reminded me about our eating trip at McDs during the exams week. We drove almost 50kms from campus just to eat McDs's burgers a day before our exams. Tgh stress waktu tuh people..

And they all reminded me of how I switched my course degree from IT to Business. Yes , people, for one good semester I was an IT student. My heart wasn't into IT. In fact I know my capabilities. Almost all my closest friends ( I have anotherIT group of best freinds) were doing IT at that time. Maybe that is the reason why they never failed to bring up this matter everytime we see each other.

Though I was the only one taking BBA course, all of us really clicked to each other. And all of us came from different states. I will be talking to one of them " aku/kau" , to another friend " I/y ou" , to another one "orang/awak"... so rojak...

Glad I was given the time to see them. Glad I made the time to see them just before Lin's departure to UK for the her PHD . ...

What a small world!

Through internet, we are bound to meet someone who is connected to us in someway.Be it from our own life history , spouses or even from other family members. Thus, I was surprised to know that my hubby met his old friend from his student's days' in London last Saturday .

We were invited to attend Aidan's 1st birthday party ( thanks for having us Dot dear!) on last Saturday 25th Aug. As this is the 1st time for me to meet other fellow FP's & blogger's mommies, I did get cold feet. I almost back out when we were lost in Kota Damansara.. Dot dear, sorry but your map was a bit confusing la.But hubby was so determined that we finally found our way to Dot's home sweet home.

I was worried a bit if hubby would feel lonely and out of place. Not that he is not friendly person. Anyway, I was relief when he introduced me to this guy who looked like someone he knows. On our way back to our house from the party, he told me that the guy is his friend when he studied in London. What small world to meet again your friend! I never thought my hubby will meet up his old friend on our 1st FP's gathering.

Internet really connects people .From it , I not only gained new benificial knowledge, meet new people but also also managed to traceback one of my closest friends who in the end doesnt want to be found . Phew!

Breastfeeding

For almost two years I have succesfully breastfeeding my child. I never thought I will make it to this day. The journey was a wonderful experience and new. New in the sense not only for me but also for people at my office. I was the 1st one to start this culture of expressing BM at the office. It did worry me in the 1st place of not being able to do it.. But alhamdulillah, people was very helpful and understanding. I got to use the pantry for my EBM session 3 or 4 times aday.

Breastfeeding and wanting to do EBM at office is not an easy thing to do for a new mommy. I remember how people from the older generation ( including my mom& MIl ) can easily succumb to giving powdered milk to a crying baby who is still learnng the rope to latch on properly . .. And also when the new mother is still not adapt at breastfeeding the baby. This thing happened to me.. However, thank god I didn't resort to give Arissa powdered milk ...

In my own personal opinion, I dont think breastfeeding is a skill that is possesed naturally by all mothers. It is something that all new mom-to-be should learned. Its like riding a bike. U need to learn and relearn how to bike so that u wont fall .. So it is the same with breastfeeding.

I remember searching for articles and books on breastfeeding from either the internet or at the bookstore. All this was done before I was pregnant. I refused to believe that breastfeeing was easy. And I am thankful that I wasn't in the wrong .

From books and articles, I found out that there is a milk production systems in our body that controls supply of breastmilk. And this information is vital and essential for every mother to understand. Remember when we mommies always complaint about not having enough breastmilk to feed our child? Well, the key to that is the mommy herself. We are the owner of our own body. Thus we are the keys that can unlock and lock so many doors in our milk production system. In simple words,high or low breastmilk supply is actually something that can be controllable.

Of course, I did have my ups and downs in breastfeeding my child. But having the knowledge on successfull breastfeeding really helps me alot. There were times, when I was stress with breastfeeding. But then again, thank god hubby was always there to support me . He is my no. 1
breastfeeding suppoter. To breastfeed succesfully, every mommy needs a strong suppoter. And that role is best played by our hubby.

However, at the end of the day, breastfeeding is an individual decision. No doubt the best milk in the world is breastmilk. And the best food for baby under 6 months is breastmilk.
Don't feel bad that if we are unable to breastfeed our children. It doesn't make us a lesser parents. What is more important, be the best parents we can be and give to our child.

there's a saying in Islam, that a new born child is like a piece of white canvas. A piece of white canvas can be turned into beautiful art or the other way around. Thus, it is the painter's job to paint it beautifully so that the canvas can give values to others.

So, may each and one of us be the best painter for our children's sake. Amin.

All for you

I have been slowling preparing Arissa for that big day. The day when she can finally drink 100% powdered milk and not her Mama's milk.. We started when she was 20 months old. She will be drinking neslac 1 during the day and at nite time, she will be have mama's milk. And now, she is TWO years old...

So far, she has been ok about not being able to feed from me.. It has been almost a week ... She did ask for it at nite just before she goes to sleep. And asked for it again when she wakes up at nite.... She didn;t ask again or get all cranky when I said no & explain her why she can't have it.. She has been a good girl... But her mama really miss breastdfeeding her... Hubby told me to be patient .

Who said that you are not going to miss breastfeeding your child? It did cross my mind that I may miss this special session @ breastfeeding ...I thought I will only feel a bit strange and that's it.. But I guessed it wrong by now.. I miss our special moments. I miss our mom&daughter bonding time.. I miss having her in my lap drinking my milk..

She is two years old

This year Arissa had an early birthday celebration with her cousin Danial who turned 1 year old on Aug 10th. The small party was done at my parents' house on Saturday nite. We had bbq party too on that nite..

It seems like only yesterday she was born. In fact I still think she is small and baby too. I guess it is hard for parents especially mothers to think that their child has grown up.

People always ask me what can she do ? Well, almost everything I would say. There are some words she can pronounce clearly & some words a bit babylish. But her comprehension of things spoken to her and around her is great. Her memory skills are excellent for a toddler like her . She can recalled exactly which , what & when & how things are done,stored, said etc. I know my hubby & MIL have a sharp & alert mind.. But I never expected my daughter to have thve that qualities. :) I'm happy she has that inside of her as I'm not that person.

She is still like any other normal toddler. Will put up an act when she didn't get what she wants. She can even be angry at me & dont want me to hold her when she cant get her ways.. Sometimes she will pretend that she is crying .Thinking I would succumb to her cry.

But she's quick to know if her Baba is in an angry mood. All by listening to the high tone of my hubby's voices.

My darling Arissa, may you grow into a beautiful person inside and outside.

And thank you to the Man up there for this wonderful precious gifts.

Durian Eater

The youngest family member in E&F family likes to eat durian..Wanna know how old she is? Well, she just turned TWO(2) years old today…. Here's a picture of our daughter Arissa happily enjoying eating her durian. That was the 1st time we allowed her to eat one biji durian . Before this, we only gave her about 1 scoop / just a pinch of durian..

How did it all started? Well, it all started when we were back at my parents house inN9. My dad will never fail to buy durians whenever the children come back home. Mom always said it is better to eat durian with a bigger crowd rather than eating it between 2 people only(my parents la!).

As usual, Arissa always want to join in whatever we adults are doing. So she was there sitting on my mom’s maid lap in the kitchen watching us ‘kopek durian” . It was fine by me when we let her touch the thorny durian skin . . And I even let her take a sniff of the wonderful smell of durian. Suddenly she said she wants to eat one of it.. Hubby said “Let her try a bit”. Off I put a bit of durian inside her mouth. When I asked her if the durian tasted nice, she said “Nice”. And after that she insisted of having some more… We let her eat a few more after that before my mom’s maid took her out from the kitchen .

All of us was surprised that she likes the taste of durian as she is still small. Even my brother’s young children don’t like to eat durian. Maybe because the parents themselves are not durian lovers.

So far we have exposed Arissa to many kinds of food. But we have limited her exposure to junk food i.e fast food like ice creams, cakes, sweets . She just had her 1st taste of ice cream about 1(one) month back. Wanna know what was the brand? Baskin & Robbins. We were out at Subang Parade with my husband’s brother and his family. If it wasn’t for Khuya (Abang) Fazul buying his kids some ice creams, Arissa woudn’t get the chance at all.
As curious as she has always is, she likes the new taste and experience of feeling and eating a new thing. My hubby & I had to eat most of ice creams in my hand as we don’t want her to eat most of it. Arissa insisted of eating to last bit of the ice cream cone!

Remember the Wall’s ice creamman riding on the motorcycle? Arissa only recognizes it as the-musical-motorcycled man. She doesn't know that that person is selling ice cream actually. I have advised my maid & all our family & in laws too , not to tell her what about the ice cream man.

MacDonalds? KFC? Hemm… That too we have not exposed it to her .. Of course there’s no way of escaping it when watching TV. But me & hubby never said the word to her. We sometimes switch to another channel when MacDonalds or KFC’s advertisement is aired.

Why the delay of not exposing her to all this? Reasons are plain & simple. Apart from we wanting her to have a good eating habits, we too thought she has all the time later to eat MacDonalds or KFC or any other sweet drinks when she is older. In fact, I’ve seen it from my own experience be it from my family members or from public, how hard it is to resist your children craving of eating fast food. Once a while it is ok to have roti canai or nuggets for breakfast. But I don’t think it is healthy to let your child to eat roti canai & nuggets for every meal.

We firmly believe for our kids to have good eating habits from young to ensure they grow up as healthy achievers in life...

To see more pictures of Arissa eating durian ( just one biji k !) , swing over to here http://pinkrabbit.fotopages.com

My daughter, My first born child

As her 2nd birthday is coming up soon which falls on Aug 15, I'll be pasting some pictures of Arissa , my daughter , here in my blog.. More pictures can be viewed in my other site http://pinkrabbit.fotopages.com/



Syafiah Arissa , our 1st born child.. My hubby choosed her 1st name , Syafiah . While I came up with her 2nd name Arissa. You can say that her Baba prefers to choose names based on its meaning while her Mama prefers the sound of the names. Alhamdulillah, the proces of choosing our 1st born child wasn't that long & troublesome.

So what do we call her thesedays? Both names I would say.. Yes, folks! She responds to both names when we are talking to her.. At 1st, other family members would asked us if the child get confused with 2 names being addressed to her at all times... But then, no.... In fact she responded very well to both names.. You will see us calling her by her 1st name at one time. And calling her by her 2nd name at a different times. She knows we means business with her when our tone of voice is suddenly on a higher note and more firm than usual. In fact, researches has proven that babies respond differently to both parents.. My hubby said that I’m my daughter’s food source as I still breastfeed our child. While I like to say that he is our daughter’s buddy..To her, Baba is fun time…



Alhamdulillah, carrying her for 9th months was a smooth sailing experience. Thanks to my dear hubby who " menatang mcm air yang penuh" ... Yeah..My mom keep on telling me how lucky I am to have such a helpful and understanding and loving husband I have... Thanks to Allah too for fulfilling my wish that I made when I was single mingle.. hehehe!



I didn't get to experience morning sickness or even feeling like one preggy mom-to-be..May be that was all due to me going to the gym until I was around 6 months pregnant.. I'm not bragging on this but there was time when I missed feeling those feelings that only preggy mommy would feel... Those feelings gives most significant feelings that differentiate you from the other non preggy women.

So, when is the 2nd child coming? InsyaAllah, soon I hope so..

Fitness First---- Finally

Finally at last I have enrolled myself into a gym on last Wednesday... I've been delaying my comeback to gym since the last 6 months... reasons for the delay was because Arissa is still below 2 years old... I've been bathing her morning & nite since her birth... My maid only helps me to lap2 kan aje if I were to come back home late from work.But she will be 2 come this Aug 15.... I try to come back home as early as I can after completing my work at 5.15 pm... And with hubby's office at Pantai Bahru and the kind of work he is into , I'm in the better position to come home as early as I can....

Prior to my gym enrollment last week, I normally take Arissa out for a walk.. But not the leasurely walk la folks! Most of the times, she will be running ( I repeat RUNNING! ) happily around the housing neighbourhood... And how she remembers which house has a dog or a cat and small pond and with nice garden.... And she knows which one is my bro's house too.... yes, my bro lives in the same neighbourhood... Easy for my parents to visit us... ;)

Back to the gym story, I just so happy to be able to do this as I miss doing it ...My last gym session was when I was 6 months pregnant... So, it feels so good , less guilty leaving my daughter now ... But I wont be coming back that late from gym la ... Just need to be home before maghrib.. To those who will think bad of me for the above statements, Pls do not make your own assumption as U dont know me very well... It's unfair to have bad judgement about oneself when u dont know that person inside out... So just read my entry & shut up k...

Nadia, to answer your question on this, I alone joined ... But one of my collegues, just joined yesterday... So , yeah for me!