Project Family Room: Stage Two

my project is almost complete. it didnt take as long as i initially thought it would. ceh...target of next october konon.

hubby and i carried the tv cabinet from the living room into the family room. yup, we carried them ourselves. hubby was worried i couldnt carry it, he was surprised i helped to carry 2 of the 3 units. i told him, if i want to do this, i will tell my body that i can do this (if only the same applies to exercise...) it was painful, seriously painful. the darn thing was heavy...but we managed. i actually calculated the width of the room wrongly so we couldnt put all 3 units next to each other. one had to be separated and i asked hubby to place it near the door. looking at the separated unit, i decided...i dont need a chest of drawer. i can place the boys clothes on these shelves. so i managed to cut my budget.

we bought pillows during our trip to one utama during the weekend. now all that is left are carpets and curtains. i also brought down amir's toys. i want him to play here, rather than in his room. now his room will be mainly for sleep and for studies (well, more for colouring, at his age).

so here's how the room looks like...sans the carpet and curtains. the tv cabinet, brought in from the living room.

the separated unit. see how close the kitchen is. cant wait to cook in my long-neglected kitchen.

amir's toys. baru bawak masuk dah berselerak.














how the living room looks now, without the cabinet. i planned to put a built-in cabinet/bookshelf where the tv cabinet was. but i really like the way hubby placed the furniture. it makes the room look more inviting and spacious. so my plan now is to move the 2 wing chairs i put under the stairs and build a cabinet where the wing chairs are now, instead. but that's not anytime in the near future...

Break from Work

ah bliss...to have a long break from work is heaven!! i get to spend time with the boys, i get to do up the house, i get to sleep late and have a lie in (yeah right...the boys are fully awake by 7am!)

saturday - AM
hubby went to service the car. he took his laptop with him to do some work (with no talkative amir & mua & crying asyraf to disturb him). i asked my sister to babysit amir as asyraf is going thru a rough period at the moment (when is he not?) at least with no abg long around, he'd be able to get some sleep and i can devote my time to him. he's currently at this stage where he would scream his lungs out whenever he's left alone. i dont mean just shout and scream, i mean serious crying with tears streaming down his face. as soon as he sees someone he'd stop crying.

asyraf fell asleep soon after his morning feed and a bath.














i had time to have a nice quiet breakfast with amir before my sis picked him up.














saturday - PM
went to the korean restaurant in kompleks antarabangsa. its one of my dad's favourite restaurants and we've been going there for ages. the beef is lovely. we were supposed to go last week to celebrate my sister's birthday but my dad had dinner plans. so it was postponed a week.














sunday - AM
we've not been going to 1 utama (our favourite hang-out) for ages. amir's been asking for "giant" for the longest time. i promised him a visit during the break. we wanted to take asyraf's passport photo and develop his old photos. i've got 2 cds of his photo still not developed. poor asyraf...amir have loads and loads of albums and framed pictures around the house. dont want to think we wont be doing the same for him (of course not, abang...)

while waiting for the pictures, we had breakfast at the paddington house of pancakes. its our first time there (eh malu nak admit...) but the food was great. even amir finished 2 pancakes.




























then we went to home's harmony to look at curtains and get a bathmat. i'm looking for big pillows and a mickey or pooh carpet for the family room. next bet is giant, shah alam.

sunday - PM
i finally got hubby to move the tv cabinet into the family room. now i can start storing my video tapes, cds and dvds. its off to phase two of family room project.

monday - AM
went to the immigration department in pusat bandar damansara to do asyraf's passport. wasnt looking forward to this at all. dealing with government agencies really frustrates people. so far (and this is not saying a lot) only jpn, and only the putrajaya branch, is pretty ok. i remember standing and waiting in line when i went to do amir's passport at the immigration office in shah alam. i was 7 months pregnant, carrying an 18 month-old toddler (no...a stroller isnt recommended at a place like this!!) i had to force them to open the special counter for pregnant women. they had the nerve to say "kak, counter khas tu tak bukak lah" yeah...that's why i'm asking you to open it, i can see very well that its not open. funny how they proudly state that they have a special counter to help those needing special help, yet they dont open that counter. its just for show!

we prepared all the documents beforehand as they charge a bomb for a simple photocopy of an IC. i also downloaded and printed the form from their site, as somehow i have a feeling they'd run out of forms. it was a frustrating, frustrating trip to the immigration. it started off well, but went downhill soon after. an entry on that will follow.

monday - PM
went to one utama for a late lunch. hubby and i managed to have a quite meal as both boys slept. we lepak-ed for a bit at friday's then went off to toys r us in search of a new stroller for asyraf. also bought a pump for amir's pool.

amir was his hyper self once we got home (courtesy of the lunchtime nap) i put on the elmo cd i bought at toys r us, while hubby vacuumed the new family room and the dining area (tiba miniba rajin pulak mamat ni...) of course, hubby being hubby, he's not satisfied with just vacuuming the floors, he also vacuumed the walls, ceiling, door corners and lights (kat mana ada dust, kat situ lah dia target vacuum tu...) he's actually better at this vacuuming thing than i am. amir was having a ball in the new room which is almost complete.

Project Family Room: Stage One

ok...rule no 1...never set a target that is soooooooooo far away. either, i'll be too excited and will start to bring it forward, or i'll write and re-write a "to do list" every 2 hours until its time for me to actually start.

i got the extra energy one sunday, when i was alone at home with asyraf. i started cleaning the downstairs room, bringing up items that i'll be using and asyraf will be using, storing things that i wont be using, airing the room, throwing things that i dont need anymore, until it was almost bare (except for the irritating junk of an exercise machine that we use to hang our un-ironed shirts and a couple of items that i intend to send to the dry cleaners).

so this what the room looks like after i've cleared what we wont be using...the curtains need to be changed. looking for something more cheerful...














family photos that i put together and hubby hanged. many, many pictures of amir (asyraf's pictures are still work-in-progress, sorry abang...)














a big junk to be thrown away. why did we bring this here in the first place (duh...)



















stuff to be taken to the dry cleaners. oh lookie...my $500 escada boots that i worn only twice and my wedding shoes. i donno where to put them. sayang want to put outside in the shoe cabinet, but i'm not comfortable putting them in my bedroom.














today is a semi-public holiday. hubby had to work, so i was left alone with the boys. asyraf slept in our room upstairs while amir was watching happy feet downstairs. i dont think he liked watching in the living room, there's no where for him to lie down, but i kept him downstairs so that i can watch over him.



















i moved all the videos (yeah...still have them video cassate tapes), my cds, my dvds and my collection of 3 monopolies. it didnt take very long, was done after 6 trips. now i'm just waiting for dear hubby to bring in the cabinet plus the tv. its a bit heavy but i think we can manage. i'm scheduling that for tuesday (ceh...siap ada schedule lagi). once the cabinet is brought in, i've just got a few things to buy to make the room "useable" (carpet, curtains, chest of drawer). cant wait to see how the room will look like after that.

my extremely valueable collection of united tapes, and recorded united games, my la femme nikita tapes, my movie collection, my cds waiting to be stored.

the boys are asleep. its alone time for me and my notebook...

Asyraf's Adventures

asyraf pun ada adventure jugak, bukan abang long sorang je. while abang long spent time in bus daddy and train mummy, asyraf had his first time in the exersaucer. the exersaucer is my favourite item that i bought for amir. i've been eyeing it since i saw cindy crawford talking about it on "oprah's biggest baby shower" episode. ever since then, i've been waiting for it to arrive here. when it finally did, i closed my eyes on the price tag and took 1 to the payment counter. tak kisah...nak jugak.

asyraf was a bit confused when i first put him in, then i lowered the top bit and he let his feet touch the base. he started feeling comfortable and would look around at all the toys, especially the monkey bus. then he started to...whats the word...menapak?

Lazy Sunday

woke up quite refreshed today. maybe because i slept early (before 10pm, dah in dreamland...) and asyraf had a good, full night's sleep. the past few days he was a bit cranky...i'm guessing he's going through a growth spurt. refused to eat and drink, but yesterday he finished a bowl-ful of nestum (kenyang sangat sampai moody...)














went out for breakfast at the usual place in taman tun. hubby sent asyraf and i home, before going out again with amir. he's working these 2 days...something about road-tweaking for bus routes. yesterday he went out alone, but today he took amir with him.

asyraf slept once we reached home, so i had time to do a few housework. did a load of laundry (asyraf's things...), then cleaned the ironing room a bit (took out the exersaucer and brought up the ironing board plus my shirts - i know i said i hate ironing but i've got just this many maternity wear that i need to iron them myself. if i wait for our monthly trip to the drycleaners, i'd run out of shirts), cleaned asyraf's car seat, cleaned the exersaucer, switched on the ambi-pur and lit the scented candles, switched on surah al-baqarah to 'clean' the house, cleaned amir's room and toys, and finished off with another load of laundry (carpets, kitchen towels etc).

later in the evening, i'll vacuum all the room upstairs. i'm not one who has a lot of furniture and keeps small items, so vacuuming is actually very easy. mopping, on the other hand, is something
i hate doing... i'm also starting on asyraf's birthday favours. i know its too early but it needs some time to organise. its not something expensive...i wont spend more than $2 on it, honestly. but preparing it would take a bit of time. its the first time i've come across a favour like this, and i think its such a good gift. i'm hoping the guests would like it as well...

on second thoughts, its not really a lazy sunday, is it?

Amir's Adventures

amir followed hubby on his road-tweaking assignment today...

on the first bus...














wont sit still on the second bus...



















stopped for lunch...



















bye train mummy...



















posing kejap...



















nak dodok...



















tired...

Dream Coming True?

had my week 15 check up today. i was anxious because i wanted to know the gender so badly. deep in my heart, i have a feeling its a boy, but my heart doesnt control all these things, does it?

my gynae first commented on my weight, that she's happy i havent put on a lot (still at 62kg). surprising, since i've been eating a lot (refer lunching entry). then she asked about my flu and if i'm feeling better (yes i am, have been eating her vit c religiously) and if i am vomitting (nope...unless i skip a meal or eat really late).

then its scanning time. the baby was facing downwards, and we could only view part-side, part-back profile (ah dang...). then during the scan it moved a bit...then moved a whole lot. my gynae managed to get the height, check the heartbeat and the spine. and then she stopped...and i gasped. doctor, is that what i think it is. my gynae smiled, and told me to calm down. she monitored from 3 angles (side, top and between the legs - how come all my babies tak malu, suka sangat kangkang??). she then said, well, we can see something protruding from 3 different angles, so its a high possibility its another BOY!!

she wont confirm it though, until further into the pregnancy. we also still have all our 8 legs (daddy, mummy, amir & asyraf) firmly on the ground, but i cant help going...alhamdulillah.

so baby, during the next check up...kangkang lah besar-besar ye??

Lunching...

ets beat me to this post. was supposed to put up this entry last week, but i was waiting for the pix.

someone, who shall remain nameless, (lets just call her "kak nur") commented that my blog penuh with entries on my boys, so here's an entry about "older people"...

met up with my uni mates last friday over lunch. dim sum was suggested, not a big fan of dim sum actually. its like eating something raw (tapi sashimi takpe pulak...), but it turned out not too bad. ate quite a bit. it was great meeting the gang again. we dont live so far away and work almost at the same place, but we hardly ever meet up.

so budak-budak kampung melayu, lets do this more often eh?

My Stress Ball...

my mind's so preoccupied with this "what i want for my family / making my family settled" thoughts, that i need some stress reliever.

some people go for massage, some go watch a movie, some have a nice cup of coffee, some read a good book. i cant do any of those...my mind will be even more preoccupied with thoughts of "what are the boys doing..." (reminds me of the time when i broke down in the cinema because i missed amir so much).

What I Want...

answering the some of the questions in my previous post made me wonder...what do i want?

i want my life to be...for the lack of finding an appropriate word...not like right now. there's so many things i want to do for my family. most of them cant be done right now. i want to cook again. i want to enjoy my kitchen (that i paid a bomb for). i want to enjoy my own cooking. i want to see my family at the dining table with me. i want my boys to eat healthy, home-cooked food. and i want my house to be "used".

at the moment, we eat out almost every night. either we tapau or we go to the nearby kedai. not what we would like to do, but that's what we can do. with 2 boys needing our attention, there's just no time for me to cook. we come home late from work, the earliest we get home is 7pm. we then need to bathe the boys, prepare their clothes for the next day, sterilise asyraf's bottles, prepare his hot water, pray, bathe...where can i slot in cooking? not only that, who would look after the boys when i cook? hubby? he's already taking care of asyraf...bathing him and giving him dinner. i wouldnt burden him with amir as well. a maid??? no no no...a million times no. no maid in my house. yes...i know a maid will come in handy but not now. we'll re think our decision not to have a maid in 5 years time.

so i talked to hubby last night. when baby#3 comes, what are we going to do? how can we eat out every night while feeding 3 boys? how can we prepare 3 boys for the night and then rush out to eat, and rush back in time for their bedtime?

this is my goal...not a dream, this is something i've set out to do. and i will achieve this goal. i've given myself until october next year. at that time, baby#3 will be 1. asyraf will be amir's age and amir will be (almost) 4. amir and asyraf wont need much looking after, so we'll only have baby#3 to monitor.

i said to hubby, in order for my goal to work, i need to use the downstairs bedroom. see...we have this bedroom, currently its our ironing room. its where we store our shirts while waiting for the laundry to collect for ironing (we just dont do ironing...). i want to convert this room into the boys' room. i thought of putting in our tv there (currently unused in the living room), and i want to put a nice rug, and a nice cheerful curtain (now its a brown/yellow curtain) and put lots of family pictures (well, that's already half-way done), and i want to bring the boys' toys downstairs and put a small chest of drawers for their pajamas.

everyday when we come back from work and pick the boys up from daycare, that's where they will play. they'll watch tv there, and have their bath in the bathroom next to the room. that will be hubby's task. bathe and prepare the boys for the night. once that is done, hubby and the boys can rest, lepak and watch tv. i'll cook and monitor baby#3. this way, most of what i want can be achieved. the boys will have good home-cooked meals, we can stay at home at night instead of rushing to go out all the time, and the unused areas in my house will finally be used.

i really cant wait for this. i know it can happen sooner but at the moment, its not 100% possible yet. hubby hasnt really settled down at his new place yet, and asyraf just needs constant monitoring. looking after asyraf alone is tiring enough, with amir's "mummy nak...daddy nak..." we just cant settle down yet.

what i'm excited about is, when we found out we were expecting baby#3, the first thought that entered our minds was...can we cope without a maid? we still cant open our home to a maid just yet. after thinking this through, and looking at this possibility, i'm happy to say that, yes we can...we can cope without a maid. i'm proud of that fact and i would like our maid-less house to continue as it is right now.

p/s we can also solve our "mots" problem upstairs as someone wont be muching on his "kut" in the family area anymore...

51 Things About Me

1. Your gender:
female...

2. Single?
nope...

3. Want to be?
want to be what? single? no...

4. Age?
31

5. Age you wish you were:
32 - by then i'll be a mummy of 3...

6. The color of your eyes:
black i think...

7. Yourself:
long-winded...

8. Your Hair:
is not short enuf...i need a haircut

9. Your Favorite Item:
oh geez...there's just so many, probably the astro remote...

10. Your Favorite Drink:
nothing beats freshly-squeezed orange juice...

11. The Room You Are In:
what room is this? family cum computer area?

12. Your Pets:
it used to be hoggiey but she's far away from me now...and so sombong too!!

13. What You Want to be in Ten Years:
a stay at home mum!!

14. What You're Not:
at the moment, i'm not sleepy...

15. One of Your Wishlist Items:
i still dream of my louis vuitton luggage set, or maybe that prada wallet that i never got, or csi:new york season 3 dvd, or an mpv, or a can of vanilla coke...

16. The Last Thing You Did:
ate my dinner...

17. Your Favorite Book:
judith mcnaught's paradise (kan lia kan??)

18. The Last Thing You Ate:
rotiboy cheese bread thingy...

19. Your Life:
is hectic!!

20. Your Mood:
tired...

21. Favorite color:
blue...

22. My lover is:
hubby...

23. I'm listening to:
la la la la, la la la la...elmo's world

24. Maybe I should:
go sidai the kain now...

25. I love:
my 3 boys...eieai

26. My best friends are:
ei who i tell everything to...who doesnt really tell me everything

27. I don't understand:
people who just dont use brain!!

28. I miss:
cooking for my hubby...

29. A lot of people say:
lah...

30. The meaning of my name:
ziltch...it has no meaning...

31. Love is:
all around, like the song...

32. Read the newspaper:
everyday since i pick up the paper...

33. Take walks in the rain:
no...headache lah, and then demam and i cant afford to be demam...

34. Drive:
i'm a good driver...

35. Like to drive fast?
depends on where i am...i drive fast from the shah alam exit to the damansara exit...

36. Been out of the country:
yes, loads of times...

37. Been in love:
i wouldnt have married hubby if i havent...

38. Ran away from home:
no, not that i havent thought about it...

39. Been on stage:
first time when i was 5 years old, i played the cymbols. then during malaysian night, all 3 years in kent...

40. Judged other people by their clothing:
not really, but i do wonder "what the heck is he/she/it thinking..."

41. Are you trendy:
no...i like a style and thats it, i dont change...i'm still into the posh spice hair!!

42. Something that happened to you in 1995?
i went to LA and discovered the joy of outlet shopping...

43. Last thing you said aloud?
"hi sayang" to amir who came out of the bedroom...

44. What colour is your toothbrush?
purple...

45. Last thing you bought?
dinner for me and amir at rotiboy...

46. Best ice cream flavour?
haagen dazs strawberry cheesecake...in the winter, walking down the canterbury high street...

47. Last person you hugged?
amir...

48. Do you talk alot?
well, hubby often would have to ask me to shaddap...

49. Is laughter the best medicine?
yes...laughter would chase away the clouds...its always good to laugh...

50. Do you prefer giving smiles or getting them?
both...its embarassing to give but not get in return...maluuuuu...

51. Do you admit when are wrong?
yes but hubby says i dont do it often enough...well, i'm not wrong often, am i???

who would i tag - this kinda thing my sister likes to do, or maybe mock since she's reactivating her blog, or trueblue who writes as much as i do, or nad cos she hasnt updated her fp for the longest time, or lia cos she's another libran...

Asyraf oh Asyraf

my baby no 2 was sick for the millionth time on sunday. he either got it from abang long or he is teething, i'm not sure which is the cause.

whatever it is, i'm off work today to monitor him. his temperature would go down after he takes a bath, have a bottle of milk and given paracetamol. and go up again after 4-5 hours. poor asyraf, i cant remember amir being sick this many times in his 5 months. its nice to be alone at home with just him, though. made me realise just how big my little baby has grown...

What Would I Be Without Them...

friends. i've been very lucky to have really great friends. some are old, some are new. i dont have a lot of friends, a lot is more for acquaintences. but those that i consider friends are banyak enough.

i have friends that i've known since i was 13. that's a long, long time ago. we've known each other for more than 18 years, since i was in secondary school. it wasnt easy making friends at that age and at that time. for one, i wasnt from the primary school...i went to another school. they all "graduated" to form 1 together. i thought i'd have trouble making friends. plus, at that age...girls are very 'click'y. mock, trueblue, saigon cat, zets are some of the girls i made friends with from that age, and am still in touch with.















and friends that i made during my uni years...nina, paie, aju, eti, fahmi, man, aida, gee, karen, lucy. this was also a scary experience. i went overseas on my own (budak FAMA...) while the other students were scholars, who came in a group. i also stayed in a dorm where i was probably the only malay in the whole college (other than siti who i lepak-ed with during breakfast; and of course my abang iri). we still meet up for lunch, or children's birthdays, or we via the email. however the means, we are still in touch.













now that i'm old and blogging and forum-ming, i'm surprised that i can still find friends who are genuine. not easy as you only know them virtually and what you gather from what they've written may not be what they actually mean. the risk of misunderstanding is big. but the friends that i made over my blogging tenure...nae, dot, lia, nad, erin, diana...are great. we email, we sms, we talk, we blog & comment, we meet up. granted, there are times when the malu-malu kucing feeling creeps up when we meet, but i'm sure it'll pass over time.














i'm thankful that i'm blessed with great friends. friends i can laugh with, cry with, get angry with, depend on if i need some advice, share jokes with, lepak with, lunch with. to my friends (those i've mention and those that...well, you know who you are), may our friendship continue to grow and blossom.

and to my best friend...birthday present tu nak hutang sampai bila? ;P