The Week Before The New Year

cooking
since i dont cook on weekdays, i find great pleasure in slaving over the stove on my days off. it doesnt have to be a great big 9-course meal, as long as my boys enjoy whatever dish i conjure up.

on saturday, i made rice with kobis masak lemak and bbq chicken - hubby is not a fan of chicken but he declared this 'yummy', he even named it 'mummy's chicken' for amir's benefit. sunday was rice with udang goreng kunyit, fried egg with soya sauce and sup sawi. tired of rice, i made deep fried chicken with chips on monday. goes wonderfully with bbq sauce.

i planned to make butter rice...wonder what happened to that plan. well, there's always this thursday.

gardening
hubby is spending more and more time in our sorry excuse for a garden. a couple of months ago, tssc gave us some 'pokok menjalar' - i seriously dont know what its called - thingies that climb over fences. we wanted to cover the ugly wall in our garden. despite our stone-filled land, the thingies have managed to grow nicely.

daddy's little helper cant help but menyibuk along as hubby went round the garden.



















wedding
we had 2 wedding invitations during the weekend. the first was the reception of the daughter of the big boss, while on sunday was our resident photographer and my good friend and colleague, apis.

laundry
i took advantage of the sunny days to clear all the dirty clothes. i did laundry practically everyday and our laundry basket is never full. i even mae a list of what to wash on which day...hah!!

















shopping
we went to 1utama last friday. hubby left me there for hours when he went off for friday prayers. he was with me only for a while, enough time for me to get large storage boxes and magazine boxes and other stuff i need for my year-end cleaning. after he left i walked from the old wing to the new wing, stopping at FOS to get a few things from the 2 for $18 rack. bought 2 items for each eai (even eai#4)

as amir will be starting kindy next week, we bought him a larger bag to fit his work books and clothes. he asked for a CARS bag but we couldnt find any, so we bought him a mickey bag. we also got him new tumblers.

















cleaning
i initially planned to do the year-end cleaning today and tomorrow (literally year-end) but i got too excited coming back with the boxes from 1utama, that i could only wait until asyraf & ariff fell asleep on friday before attacking the book shelves. i managed to box up everything un-box-ed and filed all loose papers. i'm happy all files - mine, hubby's, the house's, the cars', monthly bills - are all up to date going into the new year. i went to sleep past midnight, sneezing my nose off.

i also went a bit overboard with the boys' toys. i'm not a collector of toys - i dont buy them and i hardly keep them. there's some i truly love, especially those given on the boys' birthdays, but i usually give away general (and repetitive) toys to the boys' school. i think the school would have better use for them than we do. plus the boys are slowly outgrowing a few toys, so there's no point in keeping them. right now, everyone's into thomas. everyone includes the father.

















hubby's transforming into tim "the tool man" taylor over the past few days. he's going around doing all kinds of handyman work from changing the door knob to changing the bidet in the bathroom to changing light bulbs and repairing the boys' toilet bowl (amir said bj and babybob jumped into the bowl uhuh...)

the baby
after being on the move for 4 days, the baby's movement slowed down on monday and the contraction started acting up again. i know my gynae told me to take it easy but there's just no 'taking it easy' in my dictionary. i just have things to do, i cant help it. the contraction is scaring me a bit so i'm using these couple of days (initially planned for house cleaning) to do the baby's laundry - note i'm still not resting, sheesh.

i took out the baby's clothes from the storage box and got the shock of my life. we have almost 70 pairs of newborn to 6 months outfit. that alone would take 4 loads. i re-packed the 6 - 12 months clothes, i'll tackle that bunch later.



















the boys
my boys had a great time staying at home over the long weekend. they ate, watched tv, slept, played outside...ummm nothing different than what they do at school, i think hah! the boys had a great time...the parents were pulling their hair and screaming non-stop.





















they're growing up right before our eyes. amir vocabulary is astonishing, he's also the translator for asyraf who speaks in baby language (pelat). amir talks and talks and this rubs off on asyraf who know is talking non-stop.

if amir is the leader in talking, asyraf is the leader in action. amir on his own is quite subdued and would not run around. only when he's with asyraf - who doesnt know the meaning of the word fear - he would step up 3 gears.

ariff...well, he follows both. if both abangs run, he would run after them. if both abangs jump, he would jump after them. if both abangs scream, he would scream along. ariff sort of passed the older baby stage and jumps straight into the toddler phase. he doesnt eat baby food, he doesnt play with baby toys. he jumps right on abang's bicycle at the age of 14months, no baby bikes for ariff, thank you very much.

hubby and me
we havent sat down and made our plans for next year. we've done a few rounds of budget, which i hope we can stick to. we're still hoping for the holiday that we planned with tiza in september and still waiting for the last piece from hubby's bonus to materialise - apparently it should be ours next week. i hope so...insyaallah.

i cant wait for the arrival of baby eai#4. hubby and i have discussed ways and measures to take to make it not as difficult to handle 4, especially during the first 6 months. that's another entry...

Break

i declare today a non-working day. going to pay my bills, make lists, prepare our annual leave plan for next year, make my monthly budget, set aside money for daycare registration & monthly payment, pack to move to new office, eat and well...eat some more.

my bills are paid (sans car loan repayment), list for my shopping excursion on friday made (to get amir's new school bag, towels & loads and loads of containers), i have informed hubby of our annual leave plan for next year (i dont plan to take a lot since i'll be on time off on bi-weekly and weekly basis).

daycare monthly payment has gone up by $50 a child. add that to the yearly registration that we need to pay next week, my salary is already cut by half. we need to get a new school bag for amir as he'll be starting proper lessons and will be bringing home homework. now his bag is big enough to fit a change of clothes and his tupperware of cookies. new school bag for amir means new school bag for asyraf.

our department will be moving to a new building first week of jan onwards (i think...its not confirmed - nothing is in this department ;) ) so we're doing our first round of packing today. i just need a box, and i'm done.

do we get to go home early?

Check Ups

hubby said dsh is now our second home. in the 17 days of december, 2 of us have been admitted and we have been going back time and again for check ups and follow ups.

amir's follow up
dr razak wanted to see the progress of amir's injury and circumcision. he also wanted to take off the bandage on amir's hand. his hand is doing ok...the artificial will peel off once the new skin grows. his circumcision is also better. its not as red and raw anymore. the doctor said some small cuts are normal.


















ariff's immunisation
we took amir to see dr azizi for his 14 months jab and his final pneumococcal jab. as usual, he didnt cry. he just growled at the doctor. we decided to take him last minute and he didnt have proper clothes and shoes. he was running around shoe-less, much to our embarassment.


















26 weeks check up
my gynae's clinic is only open until lunch in december. with all the running around i had to do, i couldnt find time to visit her clinic during weekdays and opted for a saturday appointment. but i was having contractions yesterday - maybe due to the activities of the previous weekend. she said i should take it easy especially for 2 months until the baby reaches 34 weeks.

as with my other pregnancies, this baby is at a wonderful position to do a 3D scan. his head was facing down, his front was facing my right side - which explains his constant kicking affecting my right side. my instinct is correct this time, i had a great big feeling that he would look like ariff and the scan printout confirms it (of course, that is up to now; he face is not totally fully developed yet). the best part was that he was smiling. oh bless you, my complete power (that's the meaning of his name)

Post Operation

thanks for the well wishes & comments on amir's condition. not too sure what happened, hubby was taking the car & i was still at work when amir had his accident. something along the lines of his hand got stuck in pappy's treadmill and his hand melecet and the skin on his palm came off. from tiza's comment, i think she feels a bit responsible seeing she was the only person with amir at that time. donno...maybe.

anyway, we went to dsh to see the peadiatric surgeon today. he was not available yesterday when hubby took amir for his first dressing. the supposed appointment was at 11am but we only got to see him at almost 12pm. amir was ok at first. he spoke nicely to dr razak. but when the doctor peeled off the bandage from his palm, he started screaming tutup tutup. the skin was already stuck to the bandage.

















the doctor decided to close up, bring him up to the operating theatre and clean him up there. he said it would be better if he was given artificial skin rather than a dressing that needed to be changed on a daily basis. the skin would take longer to heal that way. as he'll be under GA, the doctor suggested circumcision and we quickly said yes. hubby has been toying with the idea for a couple of months now as amir keep saying he itches.

so we waited to be admitted. hubby went off for friday prayers. the insurance company and the hospital took a long time to admit us and amir fell asleep on my lap while waiting.

















we were called up to the day ward at 2:30pm. amir needed to be prepared to enter the OT. i wore the cap and gown but he refused. so the doctor brought him in fully dressed. i followed them into OT1. the anesthetists (who gave me the epidural during amir & asyraf's delivery) put a mask on amir's face. the surgeon spoke to amir for a while. then i saw his eyes slowly closing. the mask was removed and i was informed he was already asleep. i gave him a kiss on the cheek and left him with the 2 doctors (crying, obviously - when do i not cry when it comes to the boys?)

i waited at the day ward. got a bit emotional, being alone.

















20 minutes of silence went by before i was called by the nurse. amir's out from the OT. i went in, trying desperately to remain composed. saw amir on the bed, still asleep. the nurse removed the blanket to show me amir's hand. the bandage has been removed but it was all red and raw. the doctor will leave it like that, no bandage is nesscary. i was scared looking at it. how lah...is he supposed to just walk around like that?


















amir opened his eyes and smiled occasionally. he asked for water and the nurse wanted me to monitor him before giving him food as he may throw up. he didnt and after 30 minutes he was able to eat. when we finally got back to his room, he was given a slice of cake (which he quickly gobbled down) and ate biscuits that i had packed for school.

















the surgeon came to visit amir at about 6pm. he said the painkiller hasnt fully worn off but if amir starts feeling pain, he'll be given more painkiller. hubby's keeping him company at the hospital. amir's circumcision is healing well, according to hubby, and he's been given a round of painkiller and is sleeping soundly.

alhamdulillah...everything went well.

Injured

amir played with pappy's treadmill at tssc's house yesterday and came away looking like this...

lurza, tak kesian ke musuh you ni?

Cool Weekend

the recent three-day weekend was quite full. after a long time, i went grocery shopping. usually hubby would do replenish our groceries as the cleaner comes in early saturdays and i dont want to leave her at home, unsupervised.

i bought quite a few things. huggies was on promotion at $36.99, so i bought 2 packs. not much cheaper than the normal price at speedmart but cheaper still. i also bought some clothes for the boys to wear in school. tiba meniba i had the urge to cook. i havent cooked in ages, so i bought some items - prawns, chicken, fish, minced beef, veggies and came home with full set of menu for the weekend.


















i made lasagna, which surprisingly the boys love, on saturday. just look at my mat sepet with pasta sauce on his face.


















the boys were a handful the whole weekend. amir and asyraf are not taking daytime naps nowadays, which lead to them being cranky and then the parents turn cranky. we usually separate amir & asyraf from ariff as ariff still needs 2 naps a day. amir & asyraf usually fall asleep after their father scream at them.


















i had trouble with my laundry last weekend. newly bought clothes need to be washed, plus the usual loads that i do on weekends. it was raining, i had limited drying space and limited sunlight. to solve the problems, i asked hubby to buy another drying rack and for now, i have to air my clothes indoor with the fan at full blast. my electric bill will hit the roof this month!

on sunday we went for lunch at tony roma's courtesy of tssc. not used to weekend crowd, we were there only for a short while.



















for dinner, i made sweet and sour fish, udang goreng and the very simple sup sayur.





















monday was hari raya aidiladha. my mom and sisters went back to kota bharu, so we spent the morning keeping tssc company.

The Pain

a few people have been asking why my blog seems to be on hiatus. i actually have drafted a few entries but most of my entries are quite sharp and cynical. i need to read through and probably re-write some and take out all the profanities before i can publish them. hence only pictures have been uploaded here of late.

my current pregnancy seems to be a combination of my 3 previous ones. whatever i had during each pregnancy, i have them now - you name it; nauseasness, flu, dizzyness, cough, asthma & wheezing and the latest one, extreme headache (again, i think the reason is because this could be my last pregnancy so its like a summary of all pregnancies)

i suffered terrible headache on sunday. it wasnt too bad initially, i was able to do my usual sunday errands - laundry, folding clothes, preparing the boys' bags for school, bathing them, preparing (heating up, in my case) their dinner. i was looking around for panadol but hubby finished the last tab. its been quite hot lately so panadol is always stocked up at home - hubby and i are prone to get headaches on a sunny day.

i went to sleep earlier than normal, ie during tigger & pooh. i gave ariff his last bottle and slept next to him (he now refuses to sleep anywhere but between hubby and me - anak manja mummy lah katakan) during the night i woke up numerous times. my head was throbbing like mad. come subuh, i just couldnt get up. i nudged hubby saying i cant open my eyes and need to take leave from work. i got up a bit later to shower and performed subuh prayers. hubby had a meeting that morning so i had to drive myself to the clinic - the downside of having only 1 car.

i managed to drive to the clinic safely (thank gof hubby's workplace is only 15 minutes away). being in the car wasnt to bad. to walk from the car was horrible. as soon as i close the door and start walking, i had to turn and look for something to hold. my head would throb that my whole body shakes and i could feel my body jolting forward with each throb.

i took panadol after breakfast that morning. after 3 hours it didnt take effect, so i took the pcm given by the doctor. it still didnt work. i threw up twice but couldnt bend down to clean. everytime i bend forward i would feel faint. hubby came back during lunch and took my to DSH. the doctor at the a&e gave me a penthadine jab - it still didnt work after an hour. so my gynae asked for me to be admitted. i was all prepared for that and brought along an overnight bag.

our first concern of course was the boys. hubby handed their pajamas to their teachers, requesting them to bathe and feed the boys. then ariff's teacher called; offering to take care of ariff overnight with no charges. bless her. hubby took up her offer and went home with amir & asyraf. the boys were scared that night. they waited in front of the bathroom door while hubby bathed and refused to sleep on their mattress. asyraf repeated said 'takut hantu'

during my stay in DSH, they gave me panadols which didnt work until finally before bedtime my gynae gave me synflex. according to her that medicine would treat migraine but isnt very strong. that one worked the best - my headache was still there but at least i could open my eyes.

when she came back during her morning round, i asked if it was migraine. i dont have a history of migraine so i was a bit surprised. she couldnt confirm as she needed to do tests which cant be done while i'm pregnant but she said i had 'migraine-like symptoms'. we discussed on what may trigger the headache and we sorta came up with 2 reasons (not official though).

first was the heat and second was angin. no, its not due to tiredness, its not due to my pregnancy and its really, really not due to 'no maid'. i still amazes me how people would point all my small setbacks to not having a maid or being pregnant. yes...being pregnant did hinder the process to know more or give stronger painkillers but it certainly did not trigger whatever 'penyakit' i had during pregnancies.

anyway, our reasons for coming up with the 2 factors were:
1. we went out late on sunday. it was extremely hot. normally we dont go out for lunch. it coincides with the boys' naptime - cranky boys lead to cranky parents. so its always been a big no-no. unfortunately my sisters' day starts at 12pm, while ours practically slows down at that time. when we were having lunch, i did comment that someone will fall sick today, its too hot outside and now we're in an air-cond room. true enough hubby and i came back with a heavy head.
2. i had a large lunch and due to that i didnt have dinner. although i dont have a proper dinner normally but i do take a couple of toasts to alas perut. that night i didnt. the combination of heavy head and no dinner could be the triggering factor.

so here i am. at home, rested by my gynae. my head still throbs but not as bad as the past 2 days. i still cant see outside and the sun still affects my eyes and head. i still cant overdo myself and stand up quickly. it still hurts when i cough or sneeze. but its getting better and praying hard there's no repeat of the incident.

one of the person who asked me to update my blog sent me a fruit basket yesterday.
thank you andy21 :) camne nak gi sunway lagoon ni?