Paddle and paddle

Unlike Aliff, Ashraff is kinda slow when it comes to motor skills. I've been trying to show him how to paddle a bicycle before but it never works. I lost my patience half of the way. Come on, shouldn't paddling comes of naturally? Guess not with Ashraff.

But alhamdulillah, at the age of 5, finally he grasps the skills of paddling, thanks to Ayah who has all the patience in the world to guide him. Yippee!

He was so busy with looking at his feet while paddling, he has no clue on how to manouver the handles, so he carries the bike everytime he wants to make a u-turn..

Anyway, talking about the boys, Ashraff is finally wean from bottle. Now he takes his milk from the cup. Aliff is toilet-trained (diaperless during the day), thanks to his babysitter. Two kids - none of them trained by me!

Aqieff is somehow or rather using pacifier to make him sleep, especially during the day. It all started when he suffers from colic right after my confinement, so the only thing that can ease him down is the pacifier. Plus, it makes our job easier to train him to use the car seat. After all, Ashraff is using pacifier and it's pretty easy to wean him from that thing, so we thot no sweat in trying to use it with Aqieff. We tried with Aliff too but he refused to suck on the dummy.

Anyway, my fellow blogger readers, Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri! And mintak maaf banyak2. And this raya, after 7 years, we are celebrating our first raya in KL. Nak menziarah Abah's kubur di pagi raya...I'm expecting Mak to outburst with sadness as 20th September will be her first raya and first birthday without Abah. Poor Mak...

1 month old Aqieff

Aqieff is one month old on 8th August. He weights 4.3 kilos, an increase about 1.2 kilos from the day he was born.

Yesterday we had a small makan-makan at our house just to celebrate Ashraff's 5th birthday. Hubby was the master of the kitchen where he cooked meehoon goreng. I'm just his helper, making sandwich and chicken roll crackers as per instructed by him. All recipes are from him.

I'm glad Mak decided to come to our house (it's her first visit after the house is fully furnished. Arwah Abah couldn't make it.). Since she's still in her tempoh idah (edah?), it was a short visit, makan2 and terus balik.

We bought a cup for Ashraff in conjuction with his 5th birthday to make sure that he weans from bottle. No more bottle for a 5-yr old boy! He took the fact well this time around, unlike our first effort about 3 years ago..

Now, satu job settle. Next will be to toilet train Aliff..

I will always love you...

I will always remember this date...26th JULY 2009.

This is the date when Abah passed away...peacefully...at 8am in his own bed.

Now, I will never hear him calling my name.
Will never see him watching CNN or Discovery Channel...or reading newspaper.
Will never hear his word of advice.
Will never see him playing with his grandsons.
Will never see him sending us to work at the frontgate...together with Mak.
Will never see him jog in the morning..or gardening in the evening...or going to the surau.
I will never hear his laughter..or jokes...or merely his voice.

All that is left is his photos...his handwriting...the clothes that he wears...and all the good memories of Abah...

I miss him...dearly...

Abah, I will always love you...forever and ever...
I wish I could tell you this before you leave...

Introducing..our latest addition...

For the first time in my life, I have internet connection at home! Yippee!! Now I'm happily blogging at the comfort of my home.

Alhamdulillah, I've safely delivered a new baby boy on 8th July 2009 (exactly 2 weeks earlier than my EDD). The delivery went out smoothly and less traumatic as this time around, I opt to use epidural. Believe me, after going through twice the labour pain plus the stitches downunder(with very minimal pain killer), I got a bit traumatise to go through it all again. Thus, that is when I decided the epidural thingy. Wow! No wonder people opt for that. It's a pain-less labour!!
Anyway, on 7th July 2009 which was the day of my check-up, I had to be admitted to the hospital due to high BP. The reading was 140/90. I was monitored throughout the night but it turned out my BP was still at the border line (the lowest was 120/85), so my gynae decided to induce me. Yeah, it's Ashraff all over again.

So at about 5 am, they induced me, but I don't feel any pain at all (just slight discomfort). Gynae was suprised to see me sleeping after the induction took place as she came and checked my dilation at about 10 am. I was dilated 3 cm only. Ain't suprise me, coz I don't feel any contraction going on at all for the past 5 hours after induction. So they decided to put me on drip to fasten the labour. To the labour room everybody!

At about 10.30, the anaesthetist gave me an epidural jap. I was freaking scared of the needle going through my spine. But it turns out to be not too bad. Labour pain is million times more painful than that. At 11.00, they put me on drip. I could feel my belly harden every now and then so I presumed that was when the contraction took place. Other than that, just like I mentioned before, it was painless and I slept all the way till I felt the urge to push, which initially I thought the epidural effect has worn off. But it turns out I'm fully dilated and ready for the active labour i.e the pushing game..."Cepatnya!," I thought.

Then at exactly 1.10 pm, our new bundle of joy was delivered...

Name : AQIEFF BIN MOHD FITRI

DOB : 8th July 2009

Weight : 3.13 kg (the smallest among three, maybe becoz he was born 2 weeks in advance)

Length : 52 cm

Story behind his name. If you can see, the name rhymes with Aliff which wasn't our criteria in choosing a name for our 3rd boy. But, Abah likes it. This is the first time he (or any of our parents) intervenes in choosing a name for our baby. With him in that kind of condition, the best thing for us to do is to follow his choice so Aqieff it is...meaning "seorang yang fokus."

So now I have three boys in the family..plus Hubby, four. I'm definitely outnumbered! But I'm blessed. Blessed with God's gift.

"Kita ada four boys sekarang. Kesian Ibu takde kawan...," said Ashraff. Geee...who cares...I feel so special surrounded my boys. Plus, that's one thing I have in common with Victoria Beckham...hahaha...

Aqieff was so far an easy baby, alhamdulillah. Ashraff adores his brother very much, which was different when he got Aliff last time. Aliff has no sign of jealousy so far. So it was easy to handle the boys this time around as compared to handling Ashraff when we got Aliff. Maybe due to age factor. Ashraff got Aliff when he was 2yo3mo, while Aliff got Aqieff when he was 2yo8mo.

As for confinement, this is the first time Mak couldn't take care of me so I have to survive on my own. Thank God, Mak Pontian was here for the first two weeks to help. And I hired a confinement nanny to help me with the cooking, urut, tungku, tangas, bengkung, lulur, mandikan baby..and other general help she could. Kak Nor is a major helper. And I was treated to everyday spa at home!

Despite that, confinement still means confined between the four walls..so you tend to get bored. Jadual Astro pun dah hafal..hehehe...Everyday I make a mark at the calendar. Bila nak habis 44 hari ni...Today will be my 18th day of confinement. Another 26 days to go...Time moves very slowly...

Now some updates on Abah. He was weaker than the last time I blog about him. He is now on diapers, few people have to lift his body to make him stand and walk and not only his leg but his hands are now swollen. I never got the chance to see him everyday now that I'm in confinement. The last time I saw him was when Aqieff was admitted due to jaundice so as I visit Aqieff in the hospital, I visited Abah in another hospital as well. Tomorrow I shall be going to Mak's house to stay overnight as Hubby is going to Singapore (to watch Liverpool game live there). So, I got the chance to see Abah...and massage his legs and hands, talk to him, keep him company...

I wouldn't blog about his actual condition coz only Mak and me knows about it. Let just say, only miracle can cure him now..We keep on praying for this miracle to come...

Oh by the way, just to share. For this confinement, I'm using Nona Roguy's product. For the first time, I have no constipation problem during my confinement. Thumbs up to the product!

Heii banyaknya benda nak blog...Another thing, the boys are finally sleeping in their own room! But Ayah got to put them to sleep first. It was a pretty easy transition period for the boys. Now we only have 1 boy to share the room with us...

"Home Sweet Home"

I haven't got time to write long entry..what more to post some photos...

But I got to mark this date down...

27th June 2009...is the day we finally moved in to our new house. A house which insyaAllah will be our permanent house till bercucu-cicit. Unless, we strike a gold somewhere which allows us to upgrade our house to let say, a mansion..:)

If I have the time, I'll share you more story on this..and post some pictures. You see we do not have a camera (camera rosak!)..and all photos are taken with our so-so handphones which does not come with a cable to 'sedut' the photos to our PCs. Jadi faham-faham sajelah...

Oh, lil more update since ada time lagi before Hubby arrives...

On the not-so-nice news, my father is diagnosed with unknown cancer about 1 1/2 months ago. 'Unknown' because the cancerous lumps happens to take place in between his stomach fats, which according to oncologist is a rare case because cancer should start from an organ. Initially, the whole family was sad and shock at the same time. I cried for days (almost every prayer), but after a while, we learn to accept it as fate and most importantly, to encourage and motivate Abah to take it positively. Abah lost lots of weight. Hanya tinggal kulit dan tulang sahaja from waist above, as from waist downwards was blotted with water. His feet, especially, is swollen so he couldn't walk far. He just stayed upstairs sebab once he go downstairs, he needs help from at least two people to carry him upstairs again (one to papah dia, and another to help him lift his feet so he can climb the stairs). My used to be healthy father is sick and it is sad to see him suffer. So far, he has undergone 3 sessions of chemo..so about 5 times more before the doctor does a full body scanning to see if there's any improvement. Now, we can only pray to see him recover cause not all cancer is fatal. Many survives.

Ok, Hubby is here..so long...

A helping hand is here!

Alhamdulillah, our new maid has arrived last weekend. When we say 'our' it includes the whole Fitri's troop and Mak Abah i.e the maid is shared with Mak and Abah. No, she does not earn double income. Instead, the maid's monthly salary is paid from two different pockets - mine and Mak's. She is just our part-time maid who does the basic household chores for us - ironing, washing, folding the bajus and cleaning the house. Tugas dia lebih kurang sama macam those maids you hire on weekends.

We still send Ashraff and Aliff to day care centres. And when we moved to our new house, we shall not bring her with us. She stays at Mak's house. That's the arrangement for the time being.

I'm happy and less tired now. Kerja dah lah melambak kat office. Balik rumah nak iron, basuh baju, lipat baju lagi. Hey, I'm not a super-wifey and super-mummy. Plus, I'm getting heavier. Paling tak suka buat is gosok baju. Berdiri lama-lama gosok baju boleh buat tapak kaki I jadi sakit..and peluh tak payah nak ceritalah.

Now, I have more time to look at Ashraff's homework, read them goodnight story books and berborak. That is if I'm still not stuck in the office at 9 pm lah kan..(mcm hari ni). Got to go now!

P.S: Sofa, checked. Curtain, almost checked. Target to move: by end of May.

P.P.S : Still hasn't choose a name for our 3rd boy. What's a good name that starts with an "A" and ends with "FF" and does not rhyme with Aliff? Or on a 2nd though, "FF" kat tengah pun takpelah:)

Money, Money, Money...

Alhamdulillah, I've just received the back-dated salary adjustment that I've been waiting for since last year. Since it's back-dated, kembunglah bank account. But not for long because this money shall now goes to the furniture shops. Sofa, dining table, king-size bed..and curtains...errr..don't think it'll be enough to cover all..

We also have to allocate some for the maid which I've been negotiating with Mak to pay half of the agent fees and monthly salary. And let the maid stays at Mak's house so we can have some privacy at our new house...and to make sure I'm at my toes on whereabouts are the children's things sebab kalau ada maid ni I tend to take things for granted. Mak seems to agree to let the maid stay with her at this point in time. Basically we want to have a part-time maid. At first, we thought of hiring the maid who came during weekend but then we are in the dilemma on sending the 3rd baby to nursery at 2-month old age. So negotiating with Mak is the next best thing to do since Mak is also looking forward for an extra helping hand.

The plan is to send both Ashraff and Aliff to full-day programme at school and only the baby will be taken care of by the maid at Mak's house. Kena review jugak budget takut quite costly. Hey, we both don't earn that much...:)

Oh, it's Maghrib time. Gotta pray coz Hubby is fetching me right after Maghrib to watch movie together after so long...Confession Of A Shopaholic..wuhuu!