Playtex One Step Breast Milk Storage Kit

This is a very much delayed entry that I have promised myself to share it with other breastfeeding mommies. I don't mind if others have known this beneficial method before me. Deep down inside I just wanna share my new found short cut in handling expressed breastmilk @ EBM..

This 2nd time around with breastfeeding Aisyah, I wanted to find the simplest and quickest way to express and store my EBM. I wanted to cut down my time in expressing EBM at office . We all know how important it is to spend less amount of time in the office for BM expression. And we all know that having double breastpumps have tremendously help us to express more milk compare to single breastpump. How each drop of that gold liquid is so precious that it's normal to see us crying when we accidently drop EBM on the floor..hehehheh..

Thus, I took my chances after thorough research when I purchased Playtex One Step Breast Milk Storage Kit online. And guess what, I hit the jackpot!

By using Playtex One Step Breast Milk Storage Kit , i can express BM directly to playtex bottle liner/milk bags. Yeah! Not into bottles ok.. With that, this means less items to be washed after expressing my BM. I know that most of us expressed our BM into bottles. This is if we are not using Avent products.

So how I managed to do this? Well, the Playtex One Step Breast Milk Storage Kit comes with an adapter rings. Without this vital item, there's no way i can pump my milk into the milk bag.

But what about for avent via cup user and bottles? All breastpump is meant for normal standard neck and not for the wide next bottles. Don't worry about this either. I found the solution for it. Just get spectra wide neck converter. And voila ! U can know use your wide neck bottles & avent via cups to store your milk.

Currently I'm using Ameda Lactaline double breastpumps. And expressing BM at office is a breeze thesedays eversince I used the playtex adapter.

Sorry to mention this. But we can only buy this from overseas online shop. I didn't come across any local online shops that sell this playtex adapter. The cheapest online shop plus delivery cost was from thesoftlanding.com ...

One down. More others to go know..hehhe..

Gossip Girls

Is it me or it is really not the norm?

Remember how hooked i am with One Tree Hill? And now with Gossip Girls pulak? Well, watching one of its episodes last week got me craving for more this week. And yeah, I watched it last night. Got scolded by dearest hubby for still wanting to watch it as i'm supposed to be in bed sleeping . It's me who told him how sleepy i was last night in the 1st place.. But no...Once I saw the show on the telly, my mind just perks up..hahahhah..

What crossed my mind is that are there other women like me ( in the same age group) who are happily married and blessed with lovely children who are still into those kind of tv shows/dramas ie One tree Hill and Gossip Girls? Aren't those meant for younger womaen aged below 25?

I do hope there are others like me outthere..Watching these tv shows just makes me feel happy. And there's a young good feeling too blooming inside of me when i watch it. Of course one watches a certain kind of movies or tv soap dramas/shows beacuse they can feel the connection of themselves and the story line/plot. Not only that, it reminds you of what u went through during your teen life or in that certain phases of your life. I honestly don't think one will continue watching the shows if they don't feel the connection.

Another thing that crossed my mind, will by watching these movies/shows one can look young? I mean there are people outthere who look young no matter what age group they are in. Is there any hidden tricks ke?

We all know that to look and stay young ones needs to feel & think young at heart too.. Of course u need to watch out your food intake too and lead a healthy lifestyle too. But by any chance, one can look young by continue enjoying watching these tv shows like one-tree-hill & gossip girls?

Demand driven. Not product driven

That phrases caught my eyes a few minutes ago as I was browing through online baby shop.

It's about products that can help to increase and boost breastmilk production for breastfeeding mothers. We all know how stressful it can be when it comes to depleting breastmilk stocks. So many stories too we often heard about breastfeeding mommies trying so many ways to increase their milk production in hope increasing the EBM stocks too.

Those sentences are just so true. And every breastfeeding mommies should have known it by heart.

Breastfeeding production is all about stimulation . Lack of stimulation in the form of baby's sucking will slow down breastmilk production.And everyone thought that expressing the breastmilk is good enough to maintain one's breastmilk supplies. How so wrong they are..

What is needed to increase breastmilk production is frequent breastfeeding.And by this i mean breastfeeding your baby as often as u can and on demand too.. And don't forget the 2 hours gap between feedings. Frequent breastfeeding will means more stimulation that is needed for breastmilk productions. Sorry to say that this form of stimulation can only be rightly achieved when your baby sucks your nipple during breastfeeding.

So less breastfeeding session will only means less stimulation.Less stimulations will bring down breastmilk production. And in the end, depleting EBM stocks.. And when this happen, chaos la..

Which is why I don't see and think myself as one lucky breastfeeding mother. Almost every single woman whom i told that my baby girl only wake up a after 6 am for her feeding will say that I'm so lucky. So lucky for that my sleep at night is not interrupted by night feeding.

The thing is about my baby girl is that she normally stock up ie will want to be breastfeed as often as she likes too prior to her bedtime. Thus, she will only go to sleep if her tummy is fulled with milk. Mind u ladies, I don't offer her comfort feeding.

Once she is asleep, she won't be waking up till after 6 am. And even if she wakes up after 6 am , she is contented to suck her little fingers thesedays. Alhamdulillah, I will somehow be awake ( no matter what time it is during the night) a few seconds before she wants to be feed.

So what with the fuss? The big fuss & worries is, I need my feeding. I need that frequent breastfeeding with my baby girl. I need that stimulation. Without that stimulation , how am i to maintain my breastmilk production.I'm a working mother . And I only get to breastfeed her at whatever time i can reach home safely and earliest.

I haven't resorted to taking any PIL ASI or those food that can help increase milk production. Somehow, my production have been just enough for Lil B consumptions. But I am so relieve and thankful that i started early on EBM stocking.This is one thing that i was slow during my eldest daughter breastfeeding time. I guess that has help a lot in maintaining adequate EBM supplies for my 2nd girl.

Stress? A bit.But i try not to be so stress on this EBM stock things. Most of the time, i only pray that it is enough for my baby girl.

Small red sock. Big red sock

Christmas came early for me. As a matter of fact , my santa claus aka my dearest hubby came back safely yesterday though he is still very jet lag till today.

Yeah! he came back with all Oxford street goodies. Mind u, my hubby didn't la shop at those mahal2 kedai... He had to stay there as big boss likes the place. One doesn't need to shop at high end shops to get good quality goods. So long ones have an eagle eyes , he/she will managed to get a good run for her/his money..

Thus, imagine buying nicely working pants & shirts at 3 pound? Crazy kan.. Plus the pants come with belt too.. hehehehhehh

I am one happy woman....So is Arissa.

Great coffee. Great company.Altra Rica

I'm not a coffee lover. But last night coffee at my BIL's house was surely a kick.. It was just your regular kinda brand but from a premium selection. I missed the colombian premium line when my SIL served it on a-day-that-I-wasn't-around .Nevertheless the Altra Rica got me liking my coffee..

Which is why food will be on top listing for things-from-london... Heheheh.. Told my hubby that he is to get all kinds of chocolates, choc drink and coffee powder from his next London trip. I know that I should be asking him to get other non-food item.But then, this is not the season to be jolly when it's actually winter season there..Nevertheless, getting me a parfume would be ok too....

I like my Sunday night yesterday compared to the Sunday lunch at my BIL's house. We were there again to pick up hubby's handphone which must be pick up no matter what.Why? Coz his monthly pay cheque depends on it. hehehe..

I know hubby would love to stay a little longer to chat with BIL & SIL but then Lil B aka Aisyah was left at home. I can't remember when was it the last time we hang around at my BIl's house without the presence of the stress-factor...hehehhe..

Everyone from kids to adults surely act differently when the stress-factor is not around. I don't know why but everyone just switch on to their prim&proper aka unrelaxed mannerselves when the stress-factor is around. I'm not implying that the stress-factor is a not-so-good person. That person is actually a good person. Trust me on these ok..hehehe

Talked about drinking coffee , I surely have changed myself a bit.. This i compared to my life when there was only Arissa around. Now, there are two precious princess in my life. I avoided coffee and took less caffainated drinks when breastfeeding Arissa for 2 solid years. But with Lil B, I'm consuming a little bit extra on caffeinated drinks..

And this time around, i took extra steps in controlling my food intake. I saw myself gaining weight during those 2 years of breastfeeding Arissa. Thus, i sort of promised myself not to be in that weight again this time around with Lil B. So yeah, I get to fit into my old choc pants that I used to wear before giving birth to Arissa. That choc pants can't fit me during the 4 years of Arissa's life. But now, it fits me even after 3 month of giving birth to Aisyah..

We all know how breastfeeding makes one hungry after each feeding sessions. Thus, i'm more determine this 2nd time around to maintain my weight .Of course dearest hubby said that I can lose more weight which i like too. But i have to attribute my weight loss factor to my temporary status of SAHM which ended 3 weeks ago.. It was sure tiring to be a maidless SAHM. But nothing can replaced those precious times that i spent taking care of Arissa & Aisyah. Yeah, i still miss those moments of waiting for Arissa to come home from school at 12noon everyday..

So, alhamdulillah, last weekend was a good one eventhough we only got to put up our feet after 1030 pm only..

Skill Trade

Who knows how to sew? I don't. But my MIL & my mom know how to sew. MIL was an ex-home science teacher while my mom who is a retired teacher too learnt this skill from gayapos( its advertisement were in the newspapers thosedays).

Thus my children are lucky to have baju kurung sewn by their tuk Umi. Not only that, my MIL sewn beautifully patched baby's bolster and pillow covers for the girls. For Aisyah , my 2nd child, MIL sewn bolster and pillow covers with 2 patched rabbits on it. This to symbolize of my 2 girls , Arissa & Aisyah. And for my old rented house my mom sewn all the curtains...how lucky i am kan!

So why didn't i learn this? I have no solid answer for that. Maybe lack of interest. Not that it never crossed my mind. It did. But that was years ago.. I had myself thinking of how i should learn to sew leher baju kurung tulang belut from my mom..And until now that never materialised.. And i wonder what will happen to my MIL sewing machine once she passed away.. Hers is the special one unlike my mom's normal machine... I hope one of my daughters would inherit these gift( skills)..Insya Allah..

Having an extra skills like sewing or cooking are really an advantage for women especially. Not only you get to sew your own clothes & curtains but you can also earn a living from these skills..In fact these can be the 2nd job after one reaches her company's retirement working age.

Which is why i admire those mommies who make full use of their sewing skills in sewing beautiful and useful stuffs like baby slings ( pouch & ring sling) , the soft structured carrier, baby's clothings, hair clips and many more..

And why was this issue of sewing crossed my mind? Must be beacuse of the beautiful snuggbaby SSC and Hotslings pouch that i saw yesterday online.. heheheh

Mei tai hunting

how am i not to drool over this mei tai..check out at http://snuggbaby.com/

the fabrics are just soooooooo cool & eye-catching.. Now i'm just waiting for jumosac's SSC which also look like mei tai..

I have to admit that my hands are just itchy to get these lovely things. And oh yeah, i've bought my very 1st baby pouch from fabulousmom..They were having a shop clearance sales last week. If it's not for the email that I received on Wednesday last week, i wouldn't have gone there and bought one.. Mine was a simple plane color. Bought it as it was on sales.

And how is the pouch? handy . Still trying to familiar myself with it..

Birthday party

As matter of fact, I'm refering to kids birthday party. Thesedays, it's a common and natural things to see how parents would selfishly spent entra for a grand birthday party for their children.

i was just browsing through some kid's birthday party pictures. Of course one will get ooh & aah all over the pretty settings and all the lovely goody bags and delicious food too. I wonder how much does it cost to have kids birthday party when the goody bags is filled with toys, pretty hair clips, etc. And thesedays it's a must to hire a face/hand painter and cute cupcakes too.

But one thing that hit my mind after a while of browsing through those pictures. Would any parents be throwing the same level of birthday party for all his/hers children? I mean lets say you have more than 2 kids . So would u be spending the same huge amount of money for each of your kids birthday party?

Somehow, I don't think they would. Which is why some of us parents outthere have decided only to have one or the very most 2 kids. Not 3 or 4 kids. All in the matter of wanting the best and only the best for their children.

No one is blaming these parents for spending so selfishly for their kids. It's their money anyway. But what i;m curious to know is did they ( those parents la) at any point of time feel pressured to keep up to their friend's standard.

With that I mean, imagine one friend of yours started to throw big & expensive birthday party for their kids. Soon all the other mothers ( normally it's the mother who gets all excited about parties) started to throw the same level/status of a kid's birthday party.

hemmm... all i can say is that those kids are lucky. Actually any kids who get to celebrate his/her birthday is lucky regardless if the party is only kenduri doa selamat , or even a small party with only a cake and celebrate with mom & dad only.

Because at the end of the day, it is the thoughts and actions that matters. Even a small muffin with one candle can make a 3 year old girl smiled so big ...ahah!

070809 featuring Aisyah Zafirah

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At one point of my life, I am....

I should be sleeping right now. Sleeping as sleeping when your soon-to-be 2 months old baby is sleeping.. and so is the rest of the people in my house.

But i'm itching to right something tonight.( But it will be a short one.)Reasons are my status as a person in this world has changed eversince that August 7th, 2009.

At this point of my life, I am a mother to a 2 beautiful girls. I am still my hubby's wife. And I still drive that 10 years old car..We will touch on that topic on one fine day ok..

At this point of my life too, I am currently a temporary SAHM . Simple reason that my maid of 3 years didn't want to renew her working permit which expired on end Sept 09. And for that reason too, I took 1 month of unpaid leave ( on top of the 60 days of maternitty leave ) to take care of my 2nd baby. Not that I don't want to depend on my MIL to take care of my newborn baby. But this is a choice that I am able to make ( thanks 2 my understanding CEO) . So I shall be back working early next month .

At this point of my life, I'm still a pro-breastfeeding mother.Thus, it's a 24 hours and 7 days a week's roles for me as my baby girl's sole food source. But I have yet to start stocking my EBM for her ..Shall do that starting this week.

At this point of my life, as I'm going through my new roles as SAHM, my BIL's eldest son is going through a new chapter of his life. Which reminds me of how much i have always wanted to further my studies overseas ( not that i didn't get the opportunity). Thanks goodness, there is FB to keep us ( me of sharing it with dearest hubby of his nephew's life story) connected.. Which is why i have to admit that it was a waste of him not to move his heavy bum to make that short walk to see that football/soccer games that we all have to watch from tv here ..

mmmmmm... shall stop now as i need my beauty sleep. More off to recharge my energy level for tomorrow ..

Parenting Progress

The best thing you can do for your child is to show your love and affection. But there are also many other ways you can help your preschooler grow and learn:

1. Offer your child healthy foods. Keep lots of fruits, vegetables, and healthy snacks in the house. Me & her Baba have been feeding her with healthy food since birth. From breastmilk to homemade pureed food, delayed exposure to MSG & junk food & fastfood. We also monitor & cut down & limit her intake on chocolate, ice-cream, sweets and all the processed food. We explain to her the good & bad side of having too much of these food.

2.Make time for your child to be active. Limit TV viewing to no more than 1 or 2 hours a day. Arissa is only exposed to TV some 2 years back.. We have been blessed by having a maid that doesn't switch on the TV when me & hubby are working. But she is used to listening to the radio. And so far, all of the maids that we had & have like to play and talk with kids. But thesedays, Arissa gets to watch the telly while my MIL reads the Quran (while waiting for maghrib prayers). It's hard for my MIL to control with tv show Arissa can watch. Thus, we always explain to her why certain tv shows are not good for kids viewing.

3 . Read and talk to your child. This helps children learn language and opens them up to new ideas. Both of us have been talking to her since she was 1 day old. And even the previous maids too likes to to talk to her since she was 1 day old. Imagine hearing her saying " A slip of the tongue" !

4 . Help your child get enough rest. Between the ages of 2 and 5, children need about 11 to 13 hours of sleep each day. So far so good . In fact her bedtime since starting pre-school is 9.30 pm every nite..And nap during the day too for at least 1 hour.Some days are 2 or 3 hours.

5. Give your child a chance to meet and play with other children. Preschool or play groups can be a great way for children to learn to interact. Her 1st playgroup was at Gymboree when she was 2 years old. And this year at Musikhaus. And now at the current pre-school. So far, her interaction with other kids has been good.

6. Teach skills, such as how to get dressed or use the toilet. Watch for signs that your child is ready, and try to move ahead at his or her pace. We are doing these . In fact she is better than her cousins who still depend on maid for shower and eating and dressing.. But then again, can't blame the cousins as it's the parents' fault too who depend too much on the maids..

7. Set limits that help your child feel safe and secure but that also allow the child to explore. Mostly it's hubby who is more relax on these.Me on the other side is the type that worry too much .. So, I'm thankful that hubby is guiding her on these and me learning to from him..

Above is from WebMd . I was busy reading about newborn when all of a sudden it crossed my mind to look up for info on pre-schooler. I guess it's not easy being a parent to two kids . Meaning, we always need to update our parenting knowledge all for the kids benefits.

Yasmin Ahmad

Yeah! Count me in..



I am one of those people who look forward to Petronas advertisements ie during raya,merdeka,CNY, Deepavali . Actually I look forward to Yasmin Ahmad advertisement. Why? Because of her, Petronas advertisement was in a different league than others.



And I'm gonna miss seeing it this year as Petronas had given another advertising agency ( yeah not Leo Burnett KL ) for next advertisement job. I read this from the local newspaper..

Talk about Yasmin Ahmad's creative touch on advertisements, I was in tear the other day while driving back from work. One of our local english radio was playing a eulogy scene from one of Yasmin's advertisement. I don't think I wanna blame it on my pregnancy hormones for making me so touchy.

And today, I managed to find it on youtube on this eulogy scene. It was done for S'pore Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) . The speech was so simple and touching. Even the scene was done superbly in a simple manner. Nothing extravagant.

The late widow of David Lee talked about her late husband's imperfections like snoring in bed.. Of course it was funny and had all the guests laughing. But it was those last few sentences that caught everyone with a deep sense of sadness and truth about what married couple's relationship should be actually.

When our partner or spouse are alive, these imperfections or bad habits are just annoying to us which make us complaining about it everyday . But it is these imperfections that we will miss most when our spouse is no longer alive and living & breathing next to us.

These imperfections is what complete two individuals as soulmates.

Which is why my hubby don't understand sometimes of me not so annoyed or taken aback with his imperfections. Of course there are some of his imperfections that I dislikes. But there are a few that is not worth to be annoyed so much..

And even now , I know that these imperfections is something I'm gonna miss when he is no longer with me..



U can view the advertisement at these http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw0s4C0g5SM&NR=1
http://www.facebook.com/beautifullyim
http://www.thinkfamily.sg/
http://www.mcys.gov.sg/
http://yasminthefilmmaker.blogspot.com/

Phoneless Maid = Problems Free Employer

I know there are people outthere who allow their maids to have handphones. Even some of my neighbours do this.

Personally, I detest and object this idea. Why? Because allowing them to have handphone means exposing us the employers to more maid problems. Everyone wants a less problematic maids.
So why do we need to open up more doors to these?

I know that some of us allow them to give phones so that they can call us whenever there is an emergency at home. Yeah, imagine we can't be contacted when one of our children is sick or something bad happen to them. Or that the house is on fire.

But we can always provide the house phone as another medium of communication. In fact, we can tell the maid to call the neighbours next door if there is an emergency. Of if there is no neighbours next door, our maid can always go to the other neighbours who live in the same lane.
I don't think most of us doesn't know our neighbours at all.. Unless u don't mix at all.. That i can't help.

And some said, just give the maid prepaid phones. Let them use their own money to pay for the calls. Of course , this is good for our wallet. Or, the maid will stop using their handphones once they run out of prepaid ( as they need to ask us the employee to help them buy the prepaids)

Well, hello! The maids will never run out of prepaids. They can always get help from your mom's maid, your SIL's & BIL's maid, or your neighbours' maid. Thus, how to stop them..

And do u think u can keep track of the phone bills and calls? Not when the maids are using prepaids. But if they are using the house fixed phone lines, it is so much easier to keep track of it.. We can easier tell that the house fixed phone line have been abused when all off a sudden this month's telephone bill is higher than last month. Both of u & hubby are working during the day. So it can't be u and hubby who made all the extra phone calls. Thus, who else but the maid?

But how to reason it out to our maid that they can't have handphone. Even when the handphone is paid by them?

U can start by reminding them, that their main motives of coming here to our country is to earn an income or money. And if since money is not easy to earn back home in their homeland, why do they want to spend it unnecessarily on handphones and phone calls.. Tell them that u as the concerned & kind hearted employees would let them make the calls using the house phones or use our own handphones. Tell them, u are giving them free phone calls. Any employees would be happy to hear this free phone calls. They need only to inform u when they want to make the calls.

And yes, use I-Talk as it is cheap . Both either using the house fixed line or via handphones.

But what if, some of u out there say that my maid is one good maid? Well, have u ever heard of how some else's maid who have been working here for the past 10 years and whose personality is so down to earth, humble, hard working and now had run away with another person , taking along with her her employer's jewelery and money?

I know not all maids are evil and yes that some of them have good & honest personality. But people can always changed. Even we too.. So , until their characters changed from good to evil, we as the employers might as well prepared ourselves by not exposing ourselves to more problems that we can already handle.

To give or not to give handphone to your maid.

The choice is yours.

Braxton Hicks/False Labor or True Labor Contractions

I remember being blur when my Doctor asked me about labor contractions. That was 4 weeks ago. Hahahah... How am I not to be blur and blank about it when it has been almost 4 years since my last labor .... It did not help either when she used the term uterine contractions ... :)

So I did do some research on it . But did not found one until yesterday evening a good website with a simple explanation.

Thus, I'm sharing with all of u this link from WebMd website. They even explain it using a table comparison format...

She who bit me

As much as I wanted to take her out to the park yesterday evening when I got back from work, I know I had to be firmed with her and not fallen prey to her crying.

I was talking to my maid and she was playing with my pregnant blouse tali. All of a sudden , Arissa bit one of my left fingers.. And it hurts.

I turned around and asked her why on earth that she do that.

She said that she wanted to untie the tali baju.

I slapped the lower part of her left leg twice and told her that it is wrong for her to bit me.

After that, i sat her down with me at the living room and said that as a punishment for her wrongful behaviour, I will not take her to the park. Upon hearing this statement, she let out a big dissappointment cry.

As usuall, she will try her best to get me on her side. Meaning, to change my mind and take her to the park. Or course any mommy will feel so kasihan when her child is crying but somehow I just had to teach my daughter of the consequences of her actions.

As I hold her in my lap , I told her to stop crying. Soon I explained to her how I wanted to take her to park earlier. That was before she bite me. I said that it is wrong to bit other people as u are hurting them. I told her that me, her baba, her tuk umi & bibik doesn't bite her. And we didn't do that to her because we love her . If we bite her, then it means we doesn't love her and are hurting her.

I asked her if we ever bite her. She said no. With that, I said, I can't take her out to the park. I did ask her if she understand my reason of not taking her to the park. And she said yes.

But being one determine young girl she is, she still try her luck in asking if we can still go to the park. I firmly said no and that we can always the next day , provided the weather is not hazy and no raining ...

Little Miss Weekend Planner

Pardon for the blur picture as hubby took this using his handphone ( he is so happy with the latest download of wallpaper and software ).

Ahemm, just like the title of this entry, our lil Munchkin had suddenly turned herself into Lil Miss Weekend Planner on last Saturday. Wanna know why?

Coz she had laid out her plan of going to Mid Valley after having our morning roti canai breakfast at her favourite mamak restaurant. For a soon-to-be 4 years old kid, she likes to have half boiled egg as breakfast. And don't mind having it everyday too..

So from morning till after Asar prayer, all we heard from her was " Mama, let's go to Mid Valley". " Baba, let's go to Mid Valley". " Mama, I want to go to Mid Valley " . " Can we go to MV?".Mid valley. Mid Valley.

She even didn't want to take her nap & rather keeping herself wide awake eventhough she was sleepy and tired. How determine this lil girl can be once she have set her mind on one thing.

Lil' Miss Weekend Planner even laid out her chosen clothing for Mid Valley. Hubby was surprised to see it on the foot of the bed when he woke up from nap that afternoon. Yep. The dress that she wore in the picture was chosen by her.

Was she happy when we finally took her to MV? Of course she did as she woke up late on Sunday morning..

Ladies & Edema

At 35 weeks of pregnancy, I'm going through all the common things that a pregnant woman should be. Having an interrupted sleep on almost every night is nothing new . Due the positioning of the baby, I'm going to the loo every couple of hours. More frequent than normal. So I'll be draging my sleepy self to the toilet every 2 to 3 hours on everynight. And to make it worst, if i didn't drink enough of water during the day, I'll be having a cramps in the middle of the night too.. Of course it is painful.

And preggy mommy is puffy mommy too.. More to my feet actually . Edema. And during the Isetan sales @ KLCC, I could only look at those lovely discounted shoes. Yeah, it is not fair for a puffy feet-mommy . Eventhough I did buy one pair of shoes ( that is because I'm familiar with it's sizing that matches my size ) , still I wish I was able to buy another pair. A few lovely pair of shoes caught my eyes. But I don't dare to buy them as I'm not too sure of it's sizing.

Apart from frequent urinating & having an edema, gaining that extra 10-15 kg is in with me too... Nevertheless, I'm not worried much as all those fats are distributed approximately like this :

1. Baby: 7.5 pounds
2. Placenta: 1.5 pounds
3. Amniotic fluid: 2 pounds
4. Uterine enlargement: 2 pounds
5. Maternal breast tissue: 2 pounds
6. Maternal blood volume: 4 pounds
7. Fluids in maternal tissue: 4 pounds
8. Maternal fat stores: 7 pounds

And all these can easily be shed off during confinement period/pantang.I'm not saying one should avoid from eating a well-balanced food just to lose the extra weight. You only have to change your cooking methods and breastfeed your baby. This works for me . But after 2 years of giving birth to Arissa, I gained extra kilos as I didn't really watch what I eat. Plus no exercise too..heheheheh. Maybe that is why it is better for woman to be in her ideal BMI weight prior to her pregnancy.

hemmmm . A visit to my Doctor last Saturday , I was told I have only 5 more weeks to go. But, this lil munckin may pops out a few days earlier from the DD .

The Chosen Bottles

We used Avent bottles during Arissa's time.

At that time, I never heard of BPA-free feeding bottles. But now, it's an in-thing to use BPA-free bottles. More for health reason actually why parents are switching to BPA-free bottles. Nevertheless, you will still see so many non BPA-free or the normal bottles in the market.
And I must say that not all parents outthere in general are aware about the downside of using BPA bottles.

I remember this pregnant lady that I talked to while queuing up to pay . With her was the normal Avent bottles. She was surprised when I told her that she may want to reconsider buying that Avent bottles as it is not BPA-free. I did explain to her briefly on the bad side of normal bottles. But she told me she would stick to her decision of buying that Avent bottles as she hate to line up again to pay..

Back to my original motive of this entry, I finally bought my BPA-free bottles. This is after doing some research on the design and cleaning methods of each bottle brands that I like.

Nuby SoftFlex Natural Nurser/Silicone Nurser. MAM bottles. Philips Avent bottles. All BPA-free bottles. And all are wide neck bottles. And all have similar-to-mother's-nipple and anti-colic.

Reading and looking at each pictures of the bottles in the internet is totally not the same as holding it in your hands. Thus, I used my long Friday lunch today to do some real life research on the listed brands. I just had to hold them in my hands & see it with my own two eyes to make the final verdict. On which is suitable and easier to use. More to maid-friendly-bottles!

Ye la... It will be the maid who will be using the bottles when I'm away working. Thus, I need a hassle free bottles to be used by my maid. One that is easy to assemble ie. just insert the teat into the nipple ring and screw it all to the bottle. Plus having too many parts of the bottle for washing will be troublesome and can also lead to poor cleaning. It's important to minimize all these unwanted issues as I don't want my baby to be sick because of the dirty bottles.

With MAM bottles, there are just to many things to be assembled. From the silicone valve at the bottom ring , to the bottle body and lastly to insert the teat into the bottle ring.

Same goes to Nuby SoftFlex too. One needs to properly insert the teat into the bottle ring. This is illustrated in the leaflet. Failing to do these will result in leaking. And u won't get that anti-colic function in place. The same things goes with MAM bottles too.

Furthermore, when u have so many parts to assemble, then contamination of virus/bacteria can happen also. Why? Too many parts to be touched by hands.

If it is me who will be feeding our baby, then i can confirm on the hygenic bottle handling and washing procedures. But since it will be my maid, thus, I need to eliminate or reduce this forseen issues.

So I chosed Avent BPA-free bottle. Actually I have fallen for Nuby Soft Flex. But for the above reasons, I'm choosing Avent. But Avent BPA-free bottles has an issue with leaking. These has been experieced by most Avent BPA-free bottle users out there.

But after reading so many reviews, some have been able to identify the cause of it and how to deal with it. Again, poor bottle assemble is the root of leaking. Anyhow, Avent bottle is still the easiest bottle to assemble with less parts to deal with.

My only worry now, is, will my baby love Avent bottles?

We shall see that when October comes.

My Itchy Hands

With some of the Cloth diaper's online shop having promotions , I'm just itching to buy those beautiful and colorful , and girlish CDs...

So what's stopping me from buying it? Well, for one reason, my 2nd lil' munchkin is not out yet from my tummy. InsyaAllah, she will make her debut before 20th August 2009.

2nd reason, it's not a practical idea to use CDs on newborn baby as you don't get to use it longer and frequently . Newborn baby will grow up fast into baby. Thus, it's a waste of money. It's better to use lampin/prefold and dispos ..Gosh! I'm slowly using these CDs terms..heheheh
No wonder i'm itching to buy CDs!

Apart from CDs, I think I slowly converting myself into this think-green mommy or save-our-planet mommy.. You'll see me surfing for cloth menstrual pads or mama pads and nursing cloth pads..

Of course the initial cost of buying these CDs, mama pads & nursing cloth pads is high but low or zero cost in the long term.

Enough about those things. I'm 34 weeks preggy now. And I'm glad with the good progress me & hubby have done with our 2nd baby preparation.

We had sent back most of the items that I will need for my confinement in my parents' house. And 90% of the baby's clothing, mittens , booties,lampins, my NR confinement products, dispos , my daily clothings are all in my S'ban room.

As for the hospital bag, i have put all items in one place .Just waiting to be transfered into the undecided-which-bag to use as hospital bag. But I still wanna get 2 or 3 newborn clothings. For our 2nd Munchkin, I did buy new clothings for her. At least she gets to wear her own clothing on her 1st day. Alhamdulillah, most of her big sista's clothings are all in good conditions. That's the benefits of buying only good quality clothings . Mind u , these are not branded items. Most were bought from Jusco.

And last nite, we have agreed on the book cabinets which to be placed at the family hall upstairs. So we will be heading to IKEa after my check-up this Saturday..

And 2nd munchkin's name? I've a few on the list. Only waiting for my dearest hubby's list..

Cherish them when you are their favourite person

In one day, how many times does your kids, toddler ask to be carried around. Dukung( carry them on your waist) even when u are pregnant?

Or your child bugs you when you are busy watching the news? She just wanna show you how she draws a cat . Or she wanted to teach you how to pronouce the letter 'a', 'e', 'i' , 'o', 'u'.

Or your child ask you to sit down with her and watch tv when u were about to put the folded washed clothes inside the drawer.

Or when your are the most prefered person next to your hubby, to bathe her or to accompany her for brush-your-teeth-b4-bedtime .

Or when she wants to be seated next to you in the car . Doesn't matter if you are the driver or the passenger. All she knows that she want to be seated in either in front or back as long as same as you..

Or that she insists on holding your hands no matter if it's going to the park, walking in the mall or everywhere. She still want to hold you either by her right or left hand eventhough your hubby is holding her opposite hand.

Or she likes to sit on the same side of the table when eating out or at home. You will always be seated next to her.

Or she likes to cuddle up or sit next to you on the bed while watching tv. Not everytime you get to cuddle up with your hubby when watching tv together with your kid..

Or that she likes to comb your wet hair after you are done with shower.

Sometimes I do feel like I need a space on my own. But when I think back that all these small things will soon be gone once my daughter is grown up or when she is able to do things on her own or when I'm not her favourite person anymore, I just accept and do it with open heart.

Arissa will soon be 4 years old in August. And how time flies. No doubt she is slowly gaining her independence but in most cases in her 24 hours of life daily, she still needs me for this and that.
Of course she needs her Baba too.

But as a parent , we should all try to cherish all these small things now . These things will soon be missed by us parents. Just like how our parents miss it now. And maybe that is why to our parents' eyes, we are still their baby. Or why they still prefer you in the shoulder length hair style.... hehehehheeh

Moving down south

Sometimes, we never gonna know what the future will be. No doubts there will be plans that were made. But whether it will come true, no body knows.

I guess it never crossed my mind that my younger brother will be working and moving south comes this July.

All the while, all of my siblings are staying around KL except my eldest brother who has been staying at my parents’ house for the last 1 and half years.

And it’s nothing new also to us when my younger brother changed his job again. Changing employers is nothing new for those people who work in the banking industry. As a matter of fact , this is an easier way for them to climb the corporate ladder.

Comes July, my younger brother will be working down south of Peninsular Malaysia. It’s quite far from our hometown Seremban but still in Malaysia. And I guess , this should be ok for my parents.

Why? Because I remember the time when he was working in the US after his graduation. He worked there for less than 5 years . And how my parents kept on persuading him to come back home and work here. Not that my parents have never been to US before. We once stayed there when my father was doing his MBA. And we had been blessed to visit UK & US more than once .
The thing is with my parents especially my father, is that he prefers all his children to be staying and working in Malaysia. I don’t know why. It can be for the reasons of old age that is catching up with my parents. Being in the same country means easier for us to balik kampong and visit them..

My daughter, my niece and nephews will definitely gonna miss their Pak Lang and Mak Lang .All are attached to them.

But then again, this whole thing can be temporary. Who knows , with a better offer and perks, my younger brother may come back and work in KL again..

My baby girl turned big girl

We had been warned that the 1st week of Arissa's schooling will be a challenging period for us and for our girl too.

Though the 1st day went smooth sailing, the 2nd and the 3rd day wasn't so smooth at all . :)

I wasn't supposed to send her to school on the 2nd day which was a Monday. But somehow I wanted to see her in her school uniform dress for the very 1st time.

So , my presence did distrupt the morning a bit. She was asking me & hubby to stay a little bit longer that morning. But after being there , standing outside the classroom for almost 10 minutes, we just had to go. And the effect was that she was upset with her Baba for not staying in her class. And she cried a bit in the morning and while waiting for the school van to arrive. This happened as there were other kids who were crying too. How contagious a cry can be for kids!
And upon seeing my MIL's car parked not far from the school, she told her teacher that she wanted to go home with my MIL. And in the car, she cried too..

Back from work that evening, I asked her reasons for crying.As expected, she was upset with her Baba and for me a bit. And she didn't want to go home by van as she was afraid that Aunty van driver didn't know our house address. hehehehe

The 3rd day was the same scenerio too. Hubby was late for work as Arissa was holding him back longer. I didn't send her to school as me & hubby have agreed that it's better for our daughter to get used to the idea and ritual of only my hubby sending her to school in the morning. Arissa came back from school with my MIL as she was able to see my MIL's car eventhough it was parked a little bit further from the school... And yes, she cried a bit.

And 4th day? Alhamdulillah. All was ok . After convincing her that the aunty van driver know our house address, she went home by school van. And MIL was smart to park her car far from school that day. Only the school teacher saw my MIL's car.. Our big girl called me around 1 o'clock noon just to let me know that she didn't cry on that day. But other kids cried! heheheh.

They are teaching her Mandarin too. To make it fun and exciting for her, I told her to teach me some mandarin words as I only know a little bit of Cantonese . This I learnt from watching too much of Hong Kong serial drama & movies way back during high school..

Arissa's 1st day in pre-school

We lived each day as it is.. Making out the very best of each day. And though at the back of our mind, we know that that special day will come knocking on our lives, we are still slowly accepting and getting used to the idea of Arissa’s going to pre-school.


Yes. My 1st born has finally made her 1st step into pre-school. And Friday ,June 19th 2009 was really a good day to start our daughter ‘s 1st day in pre-school.


For the past 12 weeks, me and hubby had been sending Arissa to a weekend’s class. The 45 minutes ‘ class was only once a week. Prior to this, we had send her to Gymboree in Bangsar .She was 1 year plus. I’m looking at her Gymboree’s photos. And how time flies. And her hair was straight then!


I guess sending Arissa to the weekend class at musickhaus had given her a good early exposure in socializing and being around other kids. She had fun attending her weekend class that she always told us how she wanted to go to school. And she was always asking me & her baba whether she have class the next day. So we had been hearing the same tune from her for the past 10 weeks.


Thus, when her class ended on June 13th, 2009, we decided to quickly enroll her in a pre-school. We thought this is for the best as Arissa was still feeling high and excited about school.
With that hubby & me took a day off on Thursday, just to search for the right and best pre-school . And yes, our lil munchkin did tag along during the school hunting. We went to 2 pre-schools located around our housing area that Thursday morning.


The 1st pre-school is using Qdees concept and the 2nd ones is using Montessori and Jolly Phonics UK. Of course Arissa likes the swimming pool at the 1st pre-school . But somehow, the teachers ‘ lack of teaching passion and how they really stick and adhere to the qdees syllabus, put me& hubby off. The one issue that didn’t appeal to me and hubby is the daily homework concept.


We had a good look at the books that are used at the 1st preschool. But somehow, we just couldn’t buy the idea of daily homework for kids below 7 years old. For us, toddler should be learning new things in a free and relaxing manner which involves a lot of physical and mental movements. And not confine to sitting on the chair and desk all the time. I guess, that time can wait as all kids will enter standard 1. And for the time being, let these kids learn in a manner that suits their age. No offence to any parents who like Qdees ok..


For the 2nd pre-school, Arissa herself willingly join on-going classroom while me & hubby busy talking to the principal. I must say that the principal of the 2nd pre-school is more passionate and energetic than the 1st pre-school’s principal. And so are the other teachers at the 2nd pre-school.


I’m amazed and thankful that Arissa herself like the 2nd pre-school. Amazed because she can pointed to the principal’s business card when ask which pre-school she likes best. And hubby quickly suggested that we enrolled her the next day which was Friday. So , me & MIL along with Arissa, went to the pre-school after lunch and settled all the necessary payment and details for the enrollement. Boy, was she excited when she sees the 2 uniform dresses , 1 set pair of PE uniform, the school bag , phonics book and CD.


That night we put Arissa to bed as early as 9.30 pm. And woke her up as early as 7.15 am . Her class started at 8.30 am. And it was PE time which was good as they let the kids play at the school playground. Thus, Arissa got the chance to mix around with the other kids in a relax manner and not confined to the classroom. I guess this helped her to break the ice with her new classmates.


Me and hubby stayed there, standing and watching her play. Or course she ran to us a few times. And she even told me not to snap pictures of her..Haiya! Thank goodness, hubby managed to snap a few pictures of her playing .


And when she finally gained the confidence and comfortable playing with the other kids, did she come to us to tell that we can leave her. “ Baba, u can go now”. “ Mama too”. So that was after 20 minutes we were there.


I have to mentioned this… One of the lady teachers, upon knowing that it was Arissa’s 1st day there, quickly hold Arissa’s hand and asked her name. She then led Arissa to join the other kids at the playground. Me and hubby was touched by this simple act. She had made Arissa feel welcome to these new surroundings.


And Arissa got her wish came true. All these while, she has been telling us how she wanted go to & come back from school by school bus/van. My MIL was supposed to pick her up on that Friday when school finishes at 11.30 am. And Arissa knew that her Tuk Umi is fetching her up as we were not sure if we can get the school van. But she didn’t want to follow her tuk umi back home when the teacher told her that she can go home by school van. Hehhehe..


So her tuk umi just drove behind the school van until Arissa was dropped off in front of our house. And I can hear how happy she was when I spoke to her on the phone later. That night she told us that she was brave and happy at school.


Was I worried throughout that Friday morning? A bit I must say. And I was looking at my phone from time to time, wondering if there’s a call from my MIL or from the school…. But none until 12 pm. Hehheeheh..


Thus, Alhamdulillah . All were fine and good on Arissa’s 1st day in pre-school.


I remember looking at her in her PE uniform that Friday morning. How grown up my girl is!


Btw, guess who had problem to sleep the night before ? hehhehehe.. Definitely not the female gender..

it's weekend again..

Tomorrow is Saturday. And like so many other weekends, mine is pretty much the same . Same as I'll be sending Arissa to her musikhause class . Her Baba will only get to join her in class if he is free from attending his own class too.. Yep. Only mama who is not having any Saturday class.

But this weekend is a busy one. There's Arissa'a replacement class on Sunday as she had to miss it last Saturday for my company's family day at PD. So two classes for her during this weekend.

On Sunday too there will be a wedding of one of my company's staffs. But I'm not so sure to attend it as the wedding starts at 12 noon at Dewan Perdana Felda. And Arissa's class starts at 1.30 noon. Her class is all the way to Ikano area.

On Saturday nite itself, the malay community in my neighbourhood will be having BBQ nite. Work have been assigned to each of the families except mine.. Why? Coz i'm 7 months pregnant...hehehehhe

Anyway, each one of the ladies will have specific task to do ie. on food preparation . The men will definitely have to the BBQ and setting up the tents.

I guess married couples' weekends tend to be a bit busy than single people.. Why? Coz there will be the gathering of family members for either for special reasons like kenduri doa selamat or tahlil or birthday celebration or no reasons at all. Suddenly the whole weekends in that month seem so full of family activities .

But when u have kids, you will want to have a free weekends which only revolve around your family only. This exclude your parents, PIL, brothers & sisters, BILs & SILs & relatives..
I bet most of us do feel it this way..

Same goes for me and my hubby too.. And since it's a busy weekends for me & family, thus I have decided to do my groceries shopping today after coming back from work. I normally will resort to this idea if i know my weekends are full of things to do ie. family gatherings either on my hubby's side or my side.

This plan will leave me extra time for Arissa and my hubby too this weekends.. At least I get to spend the day in our house doing anything with both of them... It can be coloring , playing with clay, going for a swim or jogging( mine will be brisk walking la ) . And dearest hubby will get to do his revision or simply having his rest by watching the TV or playing with me & Arissa.

For that, I'm really looking forward to this weekends eventhough I know it will be a busy one. Most of the times, that is what we do . Meaning one of us either me or my spouse have to play his/her roles for the family when the other partner is busy . We all do this .

Have a good weekends everyone!

Road to Cloth Diapers

Anyone who wanted to find out more on cloth diapers, free to swing by at the following blog...I know it's not easy to find a good review on cloth diapers when there are so many brands outhere in the market... Even I am , and still are ( a bit) confused on the best & suitable CDs for my 2nd child.



Nevertheless, I'm glad that I found diaperasia/forum to clear my curiousity and doubts on CDs.. In fact , these CDs addicted mommies were all so helpful to share what they know about CDs based on their experiences..



One piece of advice that I remember most about choosing the CDs is that to all CDs are good in its own function. But ones will only find the right CDs depending on their own children as each child is different from another child. No doubts I will have to buy a few brand 1st and see if it suits my baby.But I will try to minimize the wrong-brand/types-purchased by reading as much information I can .. Me no shopaholic CDs..



1. Jess's blog

2.Indi & Maya's mommy's shop

3. Farra's shop

4. Soho Mama

Cloth diaper: which one?

I'm soooo pening!!!! Confused with cloth diapers @ CD...

Ok. So I'm currently doing my research on cloth diapers..Read on the types of cloth diapers available here ie. sold online .. I even read the diaperasia.com forum to understand it more..

But I'm getting so pening and confused and arg!!!!!!

Confused that there are so many brands outthere and design too.. Pocket diapers, Fitted diapers,All-in-Ones (AIOs) ...

I hate the idea of buy-first-try-later concept.. From the forum, most of the CD addicts bought so many types of CD.. This meaning investing in hundreds of ringgit 1st until we find the right and comfortable and convenient CD which is just suitable for our baby...

And I'm not that kind of buyer. No matter how cute the CD designs on my baby's bottom, I'm not going to buy every CD there is on the market..

I just want to buy the right one.... Argh!!! I'm in the middle of closing the April's account...And I'm 25th weeks pregnant... And there are so many other things that I need to sort it out and get and buy before my 2nd baby pops out early August!!!!

Let there be light at the end of my CD tunnel!!! Amin...

ante-natal class

So should both couple ie. husband & wife attend the ante-natal together or only the expectant mother to attend?

For me , both should attend the class actually as it takes two to tango . And babies are actually a miraculous creation of two human beings. Thus it makes strong & reasonable sense that both expectant mother& father to attend ante-natal class..

So there I was reading from the malaysianbride forum on the excitedness these expectant mommies feel of attending ante-natal classses..Some expressed the sadness of having to go alone as their spouses got a valid reasons not to atttend..

But I can not help not to feel from the words in the forums the sadness and jealousy some of these women feels.. The women whose husbands are't attending the classes for some unknown reasons that I can only assumes lazy to go..

So i'm sorry if what I said is so wrong.But then again, I feel pity for these women who will be alone at the classes..

Imagine the pain and the stories of other's labour that these women will be hearing at these classes.. Not all of us can take the pain..I know this for sure coz I just read one email from this lady who got scared listening to all the story in the labor room. Of course the teacher won't be telling it in a scary way.

But not all of us women can stand or picture the pain of getting 10cm dillated ...

Thus, having a moral supoort in the presence of a husband at the ante-natal class will be such a relief actually. Coz, these women will know that they are not alone during that life-threatening moments.. Don't forget that there are mommies who sacrificed their lives to their babies.

Plus, how on earth to make sense on the breathing techniques.. And not forgetting the massaging lesson the husbands can learn and offer to their heavily & aching wives!

With that, for me, both husband and wife team should go....

labor day wifi free

Spending my labour day hols in my parents' free wifi house .. :)

Ayah installed it as it will be easier for his cucu( aged 10 years old mind you ) to surf the net..More of playing on line games from the sesame website..

Thus, for us adults, it's a bonus as we get to surf the net using our own notebook.. Yippee..

And since I don't have internet access at office( hard to get illegal access ) , here I am catching up with what I can with facebook & blogs and internet research...

So many stuffs to search with regards to my pregnancy state and stuffs for nursing and breastfeeding.. Mind you , it's not easy to get variety of nursing bra and BPA free products here in Malaysia..

Thank goodness to wonders of www , I managed to buy some breastpump spareparts together with other mommies.. Who would have thought that www.malaysiabride.com 's forum is more than a wedding info stops but also a good place for new mommies and soon-to-be mommies to share informations on any thing..

Sometimes, we alone can't find the right info on the certain things. And how time consuming it is to search one stuffs that other mothers are also into it.. Thus, I'm glad that I got to share the shipping cost for buying one stuff that other mommies want too. Best I got to know which online shop offering FOC international shipping.. Thus, I hope to receive my parcel soon..

On baby's stuffs, I have yet to start on it.. I know the clock is ticking..Thus, I'm planning to do some spring cleaning on Arissa's baby clothing this month.. I've got the ameda breast pump purchased online. Currently waiting for the purchased valve and custom flange to arrived.

And how most of the prices of bottles & teats cleaser & baby detergent have gone up since the last 2 years.. I stopped buying these products 2 years back after weaning off Arissa from my breastmilk .

As for normal diapers or cloth diapers, I'm still undecided on it.No doubt I have done my research on it. And had read some blogs on it too.. But I guess I need to check it out 1st with one person who said that she had used it before. Plus, I need to be sure that my maid can handle this cloth diapers.. This is due to my maid capabilities . Only we the majikan knows our maids capabilities and thinking level...Hai yah!

Ok...Gootta go for lunch now..Off to movie date with dearest hubby after lunch...

Happy weekends everyone..

The Devil wears Prada

Last night while surfing the net for my pregnancy stuffs, dearest hubby suggested that I watch "the devil wears prada" movie.. I wasn't interested in watching it in the 1st place, thinking that it will be like reading some chick-lit books. Yeah, I don't read that kind of books for simple reason that I never find it appealing nor attractive enough for me to read it.Not that I have not tried to read it before ok..

"it's a good movie dear" . And when my hubby said that, I know that I should watch it..Well, I trust his views as he knows me inside out.. Plus, he is damn good at reading people's body language.

The Devil wears Prada. Surprise surprise! This is a good movie.With a good message too.. "Everybody wants to be us." Of course anyone would just love being in Miranda's or Andrea's shoues..Who wouldn't want when u can have all the designer clothes , bags and shoes that middle to lower class people can only dream off! Chanel,Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Calvin Klein etc..hemmmmm!

But then, being there comes with a price or something that needed sacrifice..Just look at what happened to Miranda's personal life.And Andrea's life too.. Of course each one of us are different people with different view on life principles. But there will always be something that we need to let go. No doubt Miranda has her children and her famous job.But her marriage life?

And for Andrea. When one is at her place where she has be at some company's functions, you are bound not to be able to attend some family or friends gathering/celebration.. But then again, it' s how you play your part in your life that matters.

Of course job is important in life.And so is family & freinds. The bottom line is one should know when to draw the line. When is it for you to make that smartest decisions of having a balance in one's life.

For example, one should try to finish all his/her work on time on that day. The least to do is to finish what u have set out to accomplish on that day. And when u do this, then there will be no reason for u to stay back at office after office hours. Of course it's ok to stay back once a while in a week. But not everyday of the week..

But I always see & hear people staying back at office almost everyday.. And I wonder what happen to their social life.More pitying if they are single ..I wonder when is it do these people meet other single people!

p/s : I just love Meryl Streep's superb act!

BPA-free

All things about BPA products is very alarming. I guess that I wasn't that worried nor much affected by it, not since yesterday.

Of course it's easy to be ignorance about it as it's a choice for us to make. But somehow yesterday, I just had to do some research on it to satisfy my curiousity on what BPA is all about.

I did read from wikipedia . But I failed to understand it from that. The explanation on BPA was too high level for me..I need something written in a laymen terms.

Found it here from momslittleones's reading corner . There are two reading materials that focus on BPA which I found easy to understand. After done reading it, I just can't help not to feel so worried and trouble too by this BPA side effects especially for our unborn baby and baby too..

Hard for us to deny that BPA has been around us for 5o years. It is widely use in a making all consumer products ranging from children's toys, resusable drink container , all PVC made products, and very worrisome to parents is plastic baby bottles. Yikes!

And the negative side effects can be from breast cancer, impaired learning and memory, prostate disease & cancer, miscarriage, sperm defects, obesity , diabetics etc...

But among us, who is most at RISK? Our growing children. With that, I'm so busy planning on what to buy and get for my 2nd unborn baby. From the breastpumps, to the bottles, teats and storage milk bags, all will have to be BPA free. Of course these BPA-free products is expensive than the normal one , but we can always minimize the cost by making a good buying plans.

So currently there are so many things going inside my mind. Thank goodness that there are many BPA-free baby products outthere. But the bottom lines will be my baby's products preference. We all know that babies are not alike. What suits ones baby may not suits another baby. And I hate to be making fruitless and wasteless decisions once I make the purchases.. See how mind boggling this things is for expecting mommy like me!

Back to the research findings from the reading corner, they clearly stated brands that is BPA leaching in baby's bottles. Most of these wellknown brands has come up with it's own line of BPA-free baby products in the market thesedays.

But to see those wellknown brands definitely give a strong impact on the mindset of mothers outthere. This will effect the purchasing power that mothers have when buying baby products. Even I was affected by it!

Prior to reading those articles, I thought I could still use all the normal bottles , teats and milk bags. Why? Because the BPA leaching is due to simulated use—dishwashing,brushing, and boiling. And I thought I could simply follow the basic rules of changing bottles and teats ever 3 months. But then, the total cost of using these normal products is actually the same as buying the BPA-free products. And for the sake of our children future, I dare not to take risk.

One thing about being a parent is that we try so hard to give only the best for our children. No doubt that some of us are not financially strong . But that do not deter us from trying to give the best that we can do for our children. I've seen some parents who are just low paid workers. But their actions in being not stingy on food for the children is something that I salute them.. We all know that fish & seafood are expensives. But we can always get it cheap from the wet market expecially if u buy at the early wee hours in the morning.

Thus, BPA free or not, the choice is ours parents!

Oh yeah, do check it out ( the reading materials from momslittleones ) as they got tips on how to avoid this BPA things!

Spectra vs Ameda BP

Reason of today's entry was due to my visit to momslittleones shop at Sri Kembangan a few weeks ago.

It's is also because I know how dilemma and confusing it is to choose breast pump(BP) ..

Prior to my visit to momslittleones shop, I have chosen 2 BP that I favour most ie Spectra 3 and Ameda Lactaline. On the 1st ranking was Spectra 3 followed by Ameda . But before I can make the final purchase, I need something concrete or strong validation to back up my decision.

In fact, I hate feeling inferior when hubby asked me why I made that purchase.. My dearest husband doesn't like impulse purchases or semi-impulse purchase or whatever purchases that is done without fullest logical thinking. Simple to say, do enough Qs & As before making that final decision.. But then again, I am not a shopaholic too..

Back to my visit , I have to say that I gained alot of useful infos on both BP. And looking at the BP online is definetely not the same as looking at it in reality. When I say in reality, I mean by touching it , feeling it with your barehands and even testing it on my body.

I have to stressed these finer points that touching the BP with my own hands helped me alot in understanding the BPs. There at the shop, the BPs are display outside the box/packaging. Normally we will only see the BPs being displayed in the box. Thus, we only get to view it and read whatever is written on the box/packaging.

But at the shop, they let you touch and try the BPs. And the best part of it, not only that I learn how to assemble & disassemble all the BP parts, I found out which one is easier to use. Working mothers who have to express at office have less time to spare for expressing session.

So on Spectra I found out that it's open system pump is one bad point that I dont like.. An open systems pump means that there is no barrier in between the tubes and milk collection . So there is a chance that milk will leak into the pump tubing. With that, this means inconvenience and a hassle to working mothers as we have to then wash, sterilize and air dry the tubes before pumping again. And the tubes are not that big. In office, the most that we will pump is for 3 sessions. And how on earth are we going to airdry it in such a short time?

And I found out from the sales person there who was really helpful and knowledgable about BPs, these incidents is a common thing. Another common thing to happen is that milk/water gets into the motorpump via the tubes. And when this happen, you need to send your motor for a service. Each service cost about RM50-RM100 . Once u send your motor pump for service, the level of noice motor will be a bit louder than before.. But it is still quiter than Medela which most users said sounded like mesin potong rumput!!!!! Imagine the noise of the motor pump of a grasscutter.

And with milk leaking inside the tubes, then mold can be found too.. Mold is not good as this will infected your precious expressed milk.

Howeve, the manufaturer have recently come up with a special item that function as a barrier to prevent leaking milk. How effective this small part is unknown yet as momlittleone have only have it in their shop recently ( less than a month ) . Thus, need to wait for review from the users.

As for Ameda, it is a closed system pump that have a diaphragm which acts as a barrier to prevent milk from leaking into tubes. Thus, the expressed milk is never exposed to the tubes or the motor pump. The best part is that less parts to wash and sterilize! Yippe! And no mold too..


On a personal notes, I did have a good look at the Spectra & Ameda BP. I found out that the milk-leak-into-tubes can happen easily due to the design of the Spectra. So that is one key point that worries me.. You may think how on earth will the milk leak into the tubes and into the motor pump. Well, it can happen when we accidently dropped the bottles on the floor or have it tilted during expressing sessions.

Another bad points on Spectra is that u can't use batteries supply when there is no electricity. But with Ameda yes.

However, both have it's good points too. Both can be used with Avent wide neck bottles and Aventvia cups. Just use the Spectra Wide neck converter. This u can only find from fabulousmom online shop( for malaysia).

Both are good trusted BP brand that is recommend by certified lactations. The level of noise is way much better than Medela BPs. And it's not that heavy & bulky too..

On single pump and double pump, I only have to say this. If u are a working mother like me who wants more expressed milk in a short time ( less than 20 minutes from assembling the BP to washing it ) , then double pumps is the best choice. On brands, Medela or Spectra of Ameda are ok.. So long as it is approved and recommended by certified lactations.

Oh yeah, somehow Avent is not so on the prefered list at that shop...

I'm can't wait to receive my Ameda this week...

Chitchat in my room

I miss talking to my sisters!

That’s coming from my colleague who is barely 3 weeks married… I wasn’t that surprised with her comment as that is the stage that we all married people will go through..

When u are married, u are bound to miss certain ritual be it family ritual or friends’ ritual or whatever things that we normally do when we were single and available..

And my lady colleague are so used being around her sisters. Not that she is the youngest in the family. She’s the eldest in fact. And how she is used to come home after work and chitchat with her sisters..

And all this reminds me of my own borak2 or chitchat with my family. It’s not that we have now stop talking to each other. But the kinda chit chat that I’m referring to is the lepak2 in my bedroom.

I can’t remember how it all started. I mean the customary lepak2 thing in my bedroom ( my sister’s room too as we shared the same big room) .. All I know is that, my mom would come to our room and she will either lie down on our bed or sit down on the bed with her back leaning against the wall. I and my sister would be either joined her at the bed or sit at our chair. And soon after that, my eldest bro and my younger brother would soon join us too..All except my father which will only joined much later. Sometimes, none at all as he would be out from the house.

What do we talk? Anything. It could be about relatives, friends, school etc. And how long will we be talking? More than 2 hours I guess .

So I’m missing this chitchat . And my family kinda understand the need of we-can’t-be-doing-that-chitchat like we normally do when I was still single. But I must say that my mom sometimes do come to my room ( when I’m back at their house for balik kampong) to chitchat with me.. And this only happened when I’m back without my hubby. And so were my brothers and sisters too. They would be doing the same thing. But now that they are all married, I rarely got them to come to my room.. They can’t be leaving their spouses all alone.
I guess my family members understand the privacy that I & my hubby needed. Plus the room (my sister have another room to herself now ) is our only private place in my parents’ house.

With that, my bedroom at my parents’ house will always be a special room for me. For it is the room where my family and me did our chitchat. It is the room that bonded us closer as family members. The room that witness each & every single words of our conversation.

And I’m thankful to Him for giving me the memories. Not all family out there get to do what I did with my mom, sister & brothers.

Benjamin Button

I didn't watch Benjamin Button movie because of Brad Pitt. Not that I'm denying it that he is one of good looking actors that we have.. But I watched his current movie which is still showing at most cinema is because of the story line/plot of the movie..

And Wikepedia gave almost full details of the movie plot which is like what u will see when u are watching it..

I first came across it last month while downloading my Cinema birthday movie coupon. Once done reading the reviews of the film from various websites, I just now it that I really wanna watch this movie.. If and when the times permit us..

And Alhamdulillah, I got to watch it last Sunday with my dearest hubby when we were back in my home town Seremban. As usual, we watched it at MBO in Terminal Two.. Less people and convienent to get there from parents' house.

No doubt the movie is a long 2 hours and 45 minutes movie.But I doubt they can make it a short one when the story itself requires that long time.

The plot made me think of how if things like that were to happen in our time. How would that person deals with it. Would we too be making the same decision like Benjamin who left his Daisy and baby girl ?

And yeah, tears were flowing down my cheeks during one of the sad parts.. And how touching it is for Daisy to have Benjamin craddled in her arms during that final breath of his. Normally we will be holding our wrinkle and aging loved ones. But in this movie, our aging loved ones is just like a new born baby..

How lucky of Daisy to be near by Benjamin's side before he close his eyes . And how so creative of the director to use the humming bird to simbolize someone's death..

And I'm surprise that dearest hubby enjoyed watching it. Thanks dear for your company!

Coach me to these!!!

Currently I'm on the look out for new handbag... Why? Coz the current one that I have is gonna soon can not be used anymore.

A thing about handbags with me is I rarely buy handbags! Not that it's something I wanna shout out loud.But that's the truth about me.

Reasons are : I have my mom to who likes to buy handbags for her daughters. So far we ( and her too) have been blessed with having the opportunity to stay/ed for a two or three weeks either in US or UK. All these thanks to my brothers la.. Soon my eldest brother , Insya Allah , will be transfered again to London for a good minimum of 3 years working posting.

I remember staying for two weeks in Sheffield ,UK for my eldest brother's convocation. He being ones who knows where the FO's are either for pinggan mangkuk like Royal Dalton/Albert , shoes : Bally /Clarks , and all those branded & expensives brands would take us there for shopping. The same thing also happened with my younger brother . He too knows where all the FO's are when he was studying and working in Milwaukee, US.

So I would be buying less than 10 handbags ( reasons why i rarely buy one ) . I'll be buying different type of handbags to suit different occasions. I still can't forget my shopping spree in the US.. I bought so many things from handbags to shoes to watches... Of course I did my survey & research on the prices here before buying it all there in the US. And it was so worth it! I remember my Guess watch that I bought less than RM100 when it was infact RM300 plus here. Sad to say that I still have some of the handbags that I have not even used till now.. Btw all are in good conditions la..

Some of the handbags too were bought by my eldest SIL and by brothers too... I have to say that they got it ( all the branded ones like the S'vtore F'gamo) cheap. I'm not bragging here. But the prices that they paid is like paying peanuts..

And thanks to dearest hubby, I have more handbags lagi ..He bought some when he was in US for his business trip.

So why do I need to find a new handbag when I still have others in the closet? Coz, my needs are different now. I'm a working woman & mother too... So the size of handbags have changed over the years. The one that I'm currently used for office is the AAA brand made in Bandung..


Yeah! I do have the imitation ones.. :)

And this morning, I visited Coach's website.. I had visited other sales blogs too that sell Coach handbags.. But I have not gone sooo rambang mata about Coach till this morning.. I wish I can have those up there !!

Kiasu Driver

Something on the road amused me on my way to work this morning.

I was using the SMART tunnel and was only about 250 meters away on the way out to Jalan Tun Razak. Those who have used this SMART tunnel would know that the lane on the way out to Jalan Tun Razak is a one lane only.

So there I was queuing up in line on the way out to Jalan Tun Razak. Suddenly from the back mirror view I saw this Kelisa car driven by this one young lady with long hair cutting the maroon Honda City which was behind me from the left side. The Kelisa car was able to cut the Honda city as the Honda city wasn’t in the middle of the lane. The Honda city was more on the right side of the lane thus creating ample space for a small car like that Kelisa to cut over from the left side.

So now the Kelisa car is moving slowly behind me. A few seconds after that, came another small car which was a Kancil who tried to cut over the Kelisa car girl from the left side too..

Aha!!!!! Guess what was that Kelisa girl trying to do? From my back mirror , I saw her panic and drove her car more to the left side of the lane…She obviously didn’t want that Kancil car to over take her!

Her kiasu act tickled me that I just had to shake my head in disapproval…

Come on la…U did the same thing to that maroon Honda City. And now u disapproved what the Kancil car wanna do to you! That is so pathetic!!

That was why I called her kiasu driver. And a kiasu driver who always wanna be 1st in the line, who hates queuing up, who doesn’t know that one lane road should be one lane road and not two lanes is always those who drives SMALL CAR!

This exclude those branded small cars like the Minis .Know why I don’t categorized Minis drivers as kiassu drivers? Well, I have never seen Minis cutting over lane impatiently like the other small cars . And I never seen a dented MINIs or other dented branded expensive small cars.

Normally , the cars driven or owned by kiasu drivers is always dented and have scratches here and there..

So that was my morning drive today… A kiasu driver that tickled my normally stress morning drive to work.

On-line purchase

I rarely buy things on-line . But couples of week back, I couldn't resist the temptation to buy this necklace from Aunty Shidah's blog. I could have bought more than one necklace if the others were still available for purchase. Most of her beadswork are simply pretty !

So yesterday, I received my parcel . And what surprise and nice of Aunty Shidah to wrap the parcel with nice printed wrapper.. Holding and unwrapping the parcel made me feel like unwrapping my birthday present. How nice of her to give that extra personal touch to parcel.

And to top it most, the act of receiving my postal parcel reminds me so much of my penfriend's days.. How me and my penfriends used to exchange parcels . I can't remember how many we had been sending to each others. But the feeling of receiving one is definitely good.

On another note, i back at work after staying 4 days & 3 nites at DSH. Arissa had been warded for her inflamed airways. It all happened when I went to DSH for my monthly check-up with my O&G doctor. Was surprised to see another blogger there in the same clinic..

Anyway, as Arissa had been coughing at night & in the morning for the past one week, my motherly instinct just had me to take her to see her paed doctor. Based on the doctors' advice , Arissa had to be warded . What was thought to be 2 days and 1 nite had turned into 4 days and 3 nites.

Alhamdulillah , she was discharged yesterday. Now she doesn't have night cough. Only morning cough which we are hoping will soon go away. Currently she is on her 6-8 puffs daily. I mostly thankful to Allah that Arissa has been such a good girl since birth. If other kids are peaky eater, well, she is not. Her tastebud is so like an adult. And she likes spicy food too. Serve what ever food to her, and InsyaAllah, she will eat it. In fact she doesn't mind to give it a try on new food.

And when it comes to taking her medicines, Alhamdulillah, she wont resist or spit it out.No matter how not-so-nice the taste of it. Of course she will make that yucky face.But she will swallow it. Thus, with this second baby, I really hope and pray that he/she will be like Arissa.

After spending 24 hours a day for 4 days with her parents, thus it's no wonder that my lil Munchkin is missing her mama so much..She had called me twice today.Asking me to come home early. Hemm.. ;(

Pen pals

Again, thanks to FB, I managed to be in touch again with my long lost penpals... Happy but sad at the same time when IYS , the company that run this wonderful services of penfriend is no longer operating. I googled them and found it's website. So it had closed its doors last year in 2008.

Back in in 80's and 90's , IYS and having pen pals were the in-thing . Now writing and sending letters to penpals are considered quaint. Emails , IM, YM and whatever with the net are now more attractive than snail mail. This is what we call modernisation and globalisation and whatever la.. ;)


I truly enjoy my penpal's days... How not to enjoy it when I received so many gifts from my wonderful penpals.

I love picking and buying all those beautiful papers and envelopes too...They came in all shapes and sizes and colors.. I like mine to be different. Not that i dont ever use the simple white letters.. I did. And so with the aerogrammes which is definitely cheaper than using paper notes. That was how i spent most of my pocket money and duit raya.. To save time and so that I don;t have to queue up long at post office, I always bought a lot of stamps and keep lostsa airmail stickers.

If my freinds have to buy some popstars stickers like NKOTB or Johnny Depp or Jason Donovan, I dont need too.. My penpals from US, UK and Germany were just too happy to send it to me.. And birthdays were always specials.. There were toiletries set, small parfumes, teddy bears and not forgetting cards .. I still have those precious gifts back at my parents's house. So are boxes of letters. Yep! my treasure junk..

One of them visited us in Malaysia. That was 6 years ago. Natascha my German friend came to Malaysia for her winter holidays. She came with her friendly partner.My hubby who was my boyfriend at that time, helped me to accompany them.. I still have our foursome pictures at the KLCC tower bridge. As a token for our hospitality , they gave me a book on Germany. Could be a hint for us to come and visit them there..

Btw, Danny is living happily with her partner back in German with a one kid..

And yesterday, another of my penpals replied my message on FB. What triggered me to find all my penpals was due to me being found by one of them. Nopi who is my Greek's penfriend, found me via FB.
And today I'm in touch again with my penfriend from US .

Looking at their current photos is just so great.. I used to see them as a teenager.But now they are all lovely women. Happily married with kids and living a wonderful lives.

Btw, I too joined Kuntum club.. The magazine is still around but not too sure if it is popular with school kids thesedays.. I can still remember which photo I sent to them. Response? Not bad also... And recently I found back my old Kuntum penfriend who is a Johorian. It seems that she was my cousin's college mate in Dungun..

Orait..Gotta go now.. Christine my US penfriend just sent me a message on FB.. Need to check it out..
Yeah...tgh cilok from my office work.. ;) hheheh

p/s: Just read Christine's message. Her eldest child's name is Emily. What a coincidence!

Mama Kitten & Baby Kitten

A few minutes after arriving at home from work....

Arissa: Mama Kitten!

Mama: What is it Sayang?

Arissa: Call Arissa Baby Kitten , Mama Kitten.

Mama: Ok Baby Kitten. smiling. Yes. What is it Baby Kitten?

Arissa: Baby Kitten cry this morning. I was looking for u Mama Kitten.

Mama: Emmm. Mama was...

Arissa: Not Mama. U say Mama Kitten.

Mama: smiling. Sorry Baby Kitten. I went to work this morning Baby Kitten..

Thesedays , she likes to address herself as Baby Kitten. And the rest of us will be " Baba Kitten", "Tuk Ummi Kitten" and " Mama Kitten" .. Thus , I played along with her ... she will be quicked to remind us to address ourselves by that new name whenever she is Baby Kitten. ;)

meow meow...

i like to move it move it..

ring ring ring.....

Arissa: Hello Mama! I'm ok..

Mama: Hello Sayang! How do u know it's me?

Arissa : Mama, I have eat(eaten my ) rice..

Mama : That's good Sayang. Can u dance for me ' I like to move it move it" ?

Arissa : she went on to dance and sing to that tune...giggling

Mama: Smiling. Do u feel any pain at your back?

Arissa: No Mama. Mama, Where is your boss?

Mama: My Boss? gigling . She is here.Working. Why Sayang?

Arissa : I want to talk to her.

Mama: She is working Sayang.

Arissa : Ok.. I wanna go now.. Bye Mama..

Mama: Bye Arissa.


Above was what happened today. I called her from office. She had a fall yesterday nite before brushing her teeth. A fall that could have been prevented if I was more careful & alert with her.. I'm still so sedih and kesal with that incident. My hope and pray is that she will be ok.. Amin

Lately she likes to ask about my boss. For example she asked about my boss yesterday nite as we were walking down the staircase for dinner. She asked how was the boss. I told her that my boss was ok.. Reason to her question was beacause me and her Tuk Umi have told her that my boss will be angry with me if I am late for work...

Arissa, being her normal self, doesn't like me going to work . Thus she will try to delay me in the morning by asking me to take her for a short ride around the neighbourhood , wanna help me to stir my mug of choc milk, asking me to feed her breakfast and me to eat my breakfast. I normally take choc milk and no food as it's too early in the morning.My tummy just can't eat that much around 7 am . Thus I normally pack the breakfast to office.

So this thing about my boss is the lastest issues that she likes to ask from me..

Arissa :Mama boss will be angry if mama is late for work

Blame it on AA & MAS

Argh!!!! Tension nyer!!! A few of my staffs ( those who are single & have less life commitments) are fully making use of the best travel offers from AA & MAS !!!!

Imagine going for holidays more than 3 times in a year! How I envy them... :(

Two of my staffs went to Indonesia last January 2009. And now they have already booked & paid for their next vacation to Ho Chi Minh in middle of this year! Argh!!!

Of course I did have my vacation last month... But with my current pregnant status, it's not advisable to travel by plane even though i'm only into my 3rd months...

p/s: busy checking out info on Krabi after reading superzac's blog...

My curly Sue

Who would have thought that our lil girl will be having curly hair! Both me and my hubby was surprised that her hair turned from straight to curls!

She had beenhaving less hair since birth and that wasn't a surprise for us as both of us were hairless or had less hair when we were small.

And her hair so far was straight since birth. Only a couple of months back did it turned into curls.

Anyway, it's in the gene which inherited from my hubby's side. It seems that this hairstyle skipps from one generation to another generation.

All of my hubby's siblings have straight hair. But the aunties and uncles have curly hair.I didn;t occur to me in the 1st place as a few of my BIL's children are having curly hair. In fact my 1st SIL does have curly hair. So it's natural for me to think that those kids got it from their mom. However, it only hit me that my daughter got her curly hair from her tok ummi once her straight hair turned into curls ...

Strangers have been asking us whether we permed her hair..I can't blame them for thinking like that as me & her baba have straight straight. But it's so weird why some parents would permed their less than 5 year old children's hair or even did rebonding or whatever la with their kids hair! I pity those kids as their hair is natural and in great shape when compared to adult's hair.

The weirdest comment we ever encountered was from the hair stylist. We brought Arissa for her 1st salon hair cut..I know other kids her age have been hundreds times to hair salon. But for Arissa, the need never arrised as her hair was always less and fine too since birth. And we only need to cut it at home.

Back to the hairstylist. Wanna guess what he said after cutting our girl's hair? He said that our daughter can do rebonding or hair straightening when she is big.. Aiyoh! That is still so far ahead la...

Anyway, what she will do with her hair once she is all grown up is all up to her... But I don;t think I will allow her to do all those things to her hair when she is still in school. What's important is that for her to keep her goldilocks in good healthy clean shape.