Only When They're Sleeping

with 3 menace in the house, there's really no quiet time. my neighbours can vouch the screaming and shouting - and that's from the parents. what dont the boys do? they scream, they cry, they jump, they climb, they slap, the fight, they pinch, they bite, they shout, they push each other, they bang the doors, they throw things down the stairs and out the windows, they kick...

the only peace and quiet we get is when they sleep (if they sleep, that is...)

* asyraf would sleep face down during his early days; while ariff can sleep just about anywhere...

Maidless And Loving It

i think a lot of people know this by now...we dont have a maid. the statement still brings about surprised gasps from people but i dont know why it should, really. there's a lot of people with no maids nowadays. i think half of my married friends are maidless, so i personally dont find our decision shocking.

maybe because of the number of children we have (plus their gender) that people naturally assume we should have a maid around to help. surprising as it may sound, the only time we ever seriously considered having a maid was when amir wasnt even born yet. after that we never thought of getting one anymore. after asyraf came, then ariff...now baby no4, it just all became a routine that it gets easier to manage.

bathtime? all in the bathroom at one shot...
mealtime? all fed from the same bowl at one shot...
naptime? all...all over the room (some on the bed, some on the mattress, some on the floor) at the same time...
sleeptime? all at the same time everynight...

hubby and i have gotten our individual tasks (almost) perfected. we know what each other is supposed to do and we know not to get in each other's way. of course now everything gets in my way and i'm so irritated by it - its as though the house, especially the kitchen, is not big enough for me to walk in but that's another story.

i guess the main thing in making this work is to not expect a lot. the house may not be spotless, the table may not always be lined with food, the boys may not always be fresh-smelling, the clothes may not always be washed and folded (eh...sorry, they always are!) but its good enough for us.

another is to find help where and when you need them. for us help is in the form of the daycare to help out with the boys on our days off and when we work late (they are a god-sent!), my sister to help when we need to go out at night (very rare) or when we need a breather on weekends (she would take amir for the day, soon it will asyraf too), the weekly cleaner to help make the house almost spotless, the dry cleaner to iron clothes as i seriously do not do that task. other than that, hubby and i are pretty ok handling things on our own.

it also help to tell ourselves, things are not smooth-flowing and it shouldnt be. there are times when we make mistakes, there are times when we yell a little too loud because we're just too darn tired, there are times when the boys have a boo boo because we cant watch all 3 at once, there are times when we just couldnt get up in the morning, there are times when we wish we had a maid (especially when it comes to dirty diapers and for that moment of peace so that we can enjoy our dinner), there are times when the boys are just too difficult to handle we just feel like running away (or hide behind the doors, eh dayang nolie?). there are times like those but they pass by. then its back to just the 5 of us.

hubby and i do get worried. what if there's an emergency? what if one of us needs to go away for a night or two? what if we, or one of the boys, fall sick? it would help to have an extra pair of hands, i'm not denying that. handling 4 boys alone is no picnic. we have our back up plans, we've tested some of them, we've yet to test the others.

and more importantly, we pray. we pray that our decision is the best decision we have made for our family. in the future, we never know. when the boys start school, we never know. when the laundry gets neck-high, we never know. but for now, we are maidless...and loving it.

Tagged

by mrs rimo who just moved into the blogspot neighbourhood.

The rule is simple. Use google image to search the answer to the questions below. Then you must choose a picture in the first page of the results and post it as your answer. After that tag 6 people.


I'm









I really want to go








My favourite place







My favourite thing (which is my wishlist...hint hint to my sister and cousins and hubby and anyone who loves me)










My favourite food









My favourite drink










My favourite colour









I live in












I was born in









My college (i miss this place badly!!)










My favourite story










My hobby









I wish







anyone wants to carry on the baton - lurza? dot? liza? mar? syerah? inda? azie? andy (leh email je kat i)?

Planning for the Fourth

i took advantage of the long year-end leave last month to make a 'to buy' list for eai#4. 3 attempts and the list was finalised after discussing with hubby. the list includes:
1. huggies ultra
2. nappikleen
3. enfalac (2 boxes)
4. container for enfalac - for home and school
5. small storage box for mittens & booties
6. baby monitor
7. avent bottles
8. sterilising tablets (3 boxes)
9. container for sterilising bottles - for home and school
10. bottle brush
11. small towels
12. sebamed liquid cleanser, lotion & cream
13. bath tub
14. rubber mat for changing table
15. baby wipes
16. maternity pad & disposable panties (for me)

over the couple of months, i've managed to buy everything listed down except the diapers, milk formula and the baby monitor.






























i have also prepared almost everything for eai#4's arrival - washed the newborn and 0-6mths clothes, prepared his cot (hubby raised the base to the highest level yesterday), put up the cot bumper, put up the cot mobile and clean the baby carrier. the only thing pending is washing the baby's towel.

















i also need to sit down and prepare our hospital bags. while doing that i need to make a list of the boys' clothes for school. i'll probably be admitted for 3 days (based on past experiences) so the boys need to have enough clothes for that duration. when i gave birth to ariff, the boys clothes went a bit haywire. i packed everything in one bag and the clothes were all used up within 2 days. this time around i think i would need to label them - to use on which day so that it would last 3 days.

if eai#4 has jaundice and need to be admitted to the special care nursery, i will probably only go over to the hospital on a daily basis. after hubby sends the boys to school, he would send me to the hospital on his way to work. we did the same after asyraf was admitted and i managed to get a good rest being at home. unless, of course, the jaundice is detected before i'm discharged, then i'll remain at the hospital until the baby is given the all-clear.

apart from the 3 weeks after amir's birth and the week after asyraf's birth that i spent at my parents house, my maternity & confinement period have all been spent at home; alone with the baby. i find it better that way as i am more comfortable being with hubby and my boys, in my own home.

the confinement period after amir's birth wasnt great. i shared a single bed with amir, hubby slept on the floor. whenever amir cried, the whole house would come running, asking what was wrong. i felt uncomfortable learning to breastfeed with people walking in and out of my room. we were practically living out of a suitcase and hubby had to run home almost on a daily basis to grab things we left. when we went back, the car was packed to the brim.

when i finally got home, it was heaven. it wasnt easy as we were adapting to being first-time parents but it was wonderful. i learnt a lot from amir and my time along with him; what can be done, what cannot be done, how to do many different things at one time.

i've spent 3 'confinements' mainly being at home on my own. alhamdulillah its been pretty good. nothing will change after i deliver our fourth son. we'll go straight home after we are discharged. i'll still spend my days alone with the baby. i'll still take care of myself and the baby. i'll still call the same kakak to give me the post natal massage. i'll still eat the same food i did during the last 3 confinements - corn flakes and toast for breakfast, grilled chicken or beef and salad for lunch and rice and a simple lauk for dinner (usually hubby will bring home on his way back from work).

hubby and i have planned our daily routine during my 2 months at home. for the first month, hubby will be in charge of giving baby his nightly bath. during the day, i will give him a simple sponge bath on the changing table (so that i dont have to bend down). done with his bath and mine, we'll go downstairs for my breakfast, maybe i'll do some light laundry and then rest till lunch. prepare and have my lunch and then bring the baby back upstairs. its usually quite hot in my room in the morning as we get the morning sun. my usual laundry issue will take a back seat for a while as we would send our clothes to the nearby shop to be washed and folded, except for the baby's clothes and the boys' school uniform.

the boys will be fed and bathed in school and hubby will pick them up all full and clean. that way we can skip dinnertime and bathtime. hubby will then bathe the baby (he loves this task) and dress him in his jammies and then get some much needed rest for an hour or two while i spend some time with amir, asyraf and ariff.

so there - our plans are sorted. people keep asking me if we'll be getting a maid but i think we've got everything under control for now, so we'll be sticking to our no-maid policy as long as we can.

Bring On The New

i used to make new year resolutions. used to...not anymore. i used to put study harder, pray 5 times a day, yada yada yada. my list was as long as st nick's list. then i thought...heck it. why plan for the better once a year. if you want to be a better person, if you want to change, you can do it anytime...anywhere.

i'm a bit confused when i read resolutions that include "want to be a good mom and wife". cant you do that without waiting for the new year? are they bad mothers and wives and will continue to be so until 31 dec and then miraculously will change overnight? weird...oh well.

this year...like the previous year...i made monthly plans. monthly plans are easier to monitor, to keep track and to change (if necessary).

jan - new year, new surroundings, new budget, new mode of transportation (erk...)
feb - buy the last bit of things for eai#4
march - welcoming eai#4, in time for the retreat?
april / may - rest and getting to know eai#4 and adapting to changes he will bring; plan for eai#4's cukur jambul; not expecting a lot of ker-ching this year; hoping there's enough for new sets of curtains for my room and the tv area;
june - back to work (noooooo...);
july / august - nothing planned yet but i need to ganti 9 more days of fasting that i missed; work is usually hectic around this time;
september - another ramadhan;
october - will the holiday planned with tiza materialise?
november - hubby's ker-ching; how much will it be this time?
december - i'm planning to take a long break towards the end of the year. no holiday planned yet - unless the october holiday with tiza doesnt happen. but where to go...

i'm just wishing for a good year this year. 2008 was surprisingly good. there were hiccups here and there - unexpected pregnancy (which has become a blessing - alhamdulillah), accidents with the boys (amir's stands out the most) but generally it has been a good year. combined, both hubby's and my ker-chings, made things smoother.

we totally got rid of the evo and are now depending on only 1 - which i will also zero-rised.

we bought new furniture and fittings (totally accounting word there) for the boys' room and are slowly getting them to sleep in their room. its been working great for almost a month but of course daddy and mummy needs to be in the same room with them. hubby's been complaining that his back and head and muscles and almost everything else aches and he's been pining for his big bed.

we've also been making use of the tv area upstairs and have (almost) completely made our bedroom a no-kids zone. after 3 years of having to manouvre around kiddie toys, its a welcome change.

we upgraded our alarm system after an incident that saw the number of hubby's shoes depleting. the thief managed to get his hands on the hubby's best shoes - the total90 football boots i ordered from the UK complete with hubby's name and favourite number, the kenneth cole hantaran i gave hubby, his brand new nike trainers.

the biggest purchase we made with the B and L we got, was our new ride. just in time for eai#4. a great big surprise for the boys, which we were so excited about. alhamdulillah...this has been our biggest buy thus far and we're pretty happy with it. the purchase process wasnt great but finally, we are more comfortable...

Firsts

first haircut of the year...

















first pictures of the year...

















first day in school...























first wave in the morning...