2 weeks to go!

Erkk..it's two weeks to go and I still got loads to do and prepare. I'm in panic state now.

Let me see, what I have done so far...

Invites : print and will send by tomorrow. Mana yg tak sempat di hantar, there'll be an email version as invites. So, do email me so I could send u the invitation.

Favours : Half-way done. The adult's almost done. Tinggal packaging part. The children's, I am still waiting for the favours from the printing company that I engaged. I really hope it turns out alright. The infants yang belum lagi. Favours pun belum beli lagi. Erkkk..

Cake: checked.

Food: Main food, checked. Side dishes, not 100%. I leave this to Hubby. I don't think I can handle everything.

Balloons: checked.

Banner: Thot of ordering one, but looking at the price, terus tak jadi. So, plan to do our own. Bought the kain putih already. We'll see how. Worse comes to worse, no banner...hehe..

Activities: Don't think there is any. Perhaps some bubble time...or borrow some kiddie equipment from my friends so the kids can kill their time when they're there.

Photographer: Oh, this adds up to my misery last week. My initially hired photographer, who happens to be my friend, has to undergo an emergency operation scheduled on the same day as Ashraff & Aliff's bday. So, I had to find another photographer, and I was panicky as it's so last minute. Alhamdulillah, I managed to find one.

Sounds like a big do, isn't it? Nope, it isn't! So do not expect one..hehe. There's no mascot or entertainer or confetti. It's just a simple party, but because it's for two, me and hubby want it to be a bit grander than the very simple makan-makan we had before. That's all. I'm just hoping things go out the way we want it to be. And my utmost hope is for the boys (and the organizers) to be healthy and lively that day...And of course, the weather is fine. Hope, hope, pray, pray...

P.S : I got to know from a party planner that a couple paid RM6,000.00 just for balloon decorations for their son's 1st birthday party. Gosh...I can't believe people are willing to spend so much for a mere 1st birthday!

Update...(after sometime).

Hello! Dah berhabuk blog ni selepas lama ditinggalkan...

Seriously now I can't use internet excessively at work. The IT people gave us password to access, so now they can detect which website you go to, or whether u use it during office hours. So now, I can't abuse the office hours by blogging...hahaha...

I'd have to do it before office starts, or after. Or in today's case, I'm blogging from cyber cafe.

I am on emergency leave today. Ashraff was sick (again). I don't know what's up with him, but he has been sick almost every month lately. As usual, it started of with a blocked nose, but just normal medication won't clear his nose completely. He needs antibiotic to be able to do so. Now, it comes together with a very high fever. Mata dia berair je...and he is lethargic most of the days. My usually active lad is lembik, and I'm helpless to see him like that. So today I bought him to specialist, and the doc has to give an antibiotic jab as his fever is pretty high. He was wailing and crying...so the first injection at the buttock did not succeed, so doc had to give another one on his thigh. Kesian mamat tu. He was clinging to me from morning, but I had to escape free for a while to use the Net (had to make some internet banking transactions). So dah alang-alang dapat internet ni, lebih baik update blog...hehehe...

Last weekend was a busy one for us. On Saturday, we were running errands on the morning, and later in the evening, we went to Eiseai's son birthday party. According to Eiseai, it was a small do, but to me, it's qute grand. I love her house...a minimalist approach is definitely my style. Of course, BJ is a nice area to live in. Dulu masa my hubby was working for Guthr1e, I was dreaming of having our house at BJ, but hey di luar kemampuan, plus it's so far away from mak abah. I can't live that far...hahaha...Anyway, it is good to meet Eiseai and her family again. This time around, I didn't get to meet lots of bloggers' mommies except for Erin.

Me, Eiseai and our Ashraff/Asyraf's

But what I'm thrilled most is Eiseai & hubs love the chocolate wrapper we did for her Asyraf.

Thanks u guys!

Then on Sunday, we went back to Muar for my cousin's wedding. Can't miss this one, as this is the last cousin that is having a wedding in Muar. The rest are all happily married. I always love going back to Muar. When I was small, we celebrated our Raya in Muar (Abah's side). The house is just accross the mosque so every Raya morning, me and my cousins will open the front window to watch the guys parading in colourful baju melayu to perform the raya prayer. Then, when Atok died, the house is rented out to other non-related party, so we could not visit the house anymore. From then on, no more kampung life for me, thus, I made a vow to myself that I'll marry one "kampung boy" so my children will get the taste of kampung life, just like I do. I'm glad I found hubby....

I used to play infront bunga api infront of the house with my cousins..and picking up rambutan from the tree. Now, all that is left is just memories of the good old days...

The next two weekends will also be busy weekends for us. Next week, I have 1 invitation to wedding and another to a birthday party. Then we have my company's annual dinner, carrying "Gold, Glitter and Glamour" as its theme, which I don't think I'll follow the theme. I don't have a gold outfit nor a glitter outfit. So me and hubby have decided that if people decided to tell us that we don't follow the theme, we will say "Yes, we do. It's "Glamour", can't u see..." Hahaha...

Then, of course, in between those busy schedule, I have to prepare for Ashraff & Aliff's bday party. Yup, it's on the 8th, so mark your calendars. I shall post you the invites by this week...So, blogger friends, pls email me your address so I could sent you an invite. Janganlah shy-shy nak email ye...

My (Quite) Long Break...

I took a 2-days leave on Monday and yesterday, thus, plus the weekend, I have a 4-days leave. No purpose in specific, just to finish up my annual leave for this year (we are granted 30 days leave every year).

Anyway, last Saturday was supposed to be a hectic day for us with 3 Raya open houses to attend to. It was the last day of Syawal so lots of people decided to use this day to invite people for “makan-makan” at their houses. Do u notice the word “supposed to”? Well, we attended only one open house, which is my Branch’s open house at Rest0ran Puter1 at Taman Tun. That restaurant belongs to one of our clients so we were offered a discount for the event. Nice food, great ambience. We were there for 3 hours, and for the whole of that hours from 12 to 3, Aliff did not nap at all. He refused to coz the surrounding was a bit too happening for him, so he was walking non-stop and tried to make friends with bigger kids. I thank God he was not cranky and a bit independent at that time. Takdelah macam koala nak melekat je kat Ibu dia.

So after that event, both boys were tired and slept like a log. That's why we have decided not to attend the other two houses. At first we thought of going there without the boys, but Hubby pun keletihan. Plus the traffic on the road...oh my God...was terrible!!

On Sunday morning, we went to see our favourite cake chef and placed an order for A&A's (Ashraff & Aliff) birthday cake. By the way this chef makes lovely wedding cakes. Beautiful decorated, plus the cake itself is super-delicious! Of course, the price is on the high side as he made cakes for celebrities and royalties, but hey, he's one of our clients as well, so we got a discount for the cake:) I don't know how A&A's cakes gonna be, but I hope it's okay. Yang penting rasa tu okay.

Then the rest of Sunday, we just lepaking at home. No wait! We had another Raya open house at the month of Zulkaedah...hehe. Yang ni wajib pergi coz it's Hubby's immediate boss...hehe...

Monday and Tuesday despite not having any specific reason to take leave, I just decided to use these two days to get a glimpse of what life is as work-at-home-mum. Here's what I learn within the two days:-

1. It is much less stressful than the daily task I had to fulfill in the office especially when you are doing something that you are passionate about, but it can be physically tiring as you have to entertain the kids, running errands...or should we live in our own house, I'd have to do the cooking...and when the kids are schooling, I have to send and fetch them from school, which brings me to the second point...

2. Time management is critical! If you can't manage time well than it might defeat the purpose as why you chose to become WAHM in the first place - tak masak, tak hantar anak sekolah, tak make sure anak buat kerja rumah. I have to very much improve on this bit. I'm pretty bad at time management. My ever-organized Hubby always complains about this. "You dah buat ni?" "Errr...belumlah." or "Alamak! Lupalah..." Mana tak mengamuk pakcik tu!I usually got carried away doing something less important, then only remembers that I have to do something essential by the end of the day. I must maintain a "things-to-do-list", just like I did in the office. Or else, I'd easily lost focus.

3. Have to start the day early, probably not as early as you used to get up for work, but at least before the kids wake up. So you have time to prepare yourself.

4. The best time is when I could greet the boys at their beds. Cuddle, cuddle, kiss, kiss, before sending them off for their morning baths. It's good to hear Ashraff asked "Ibu tak kerja ke hari ni?". Wish I can do this every morning....

5. I need to have internet connection at home, to check out orders, read emails, networking with others, blogging and blog hopping. Maybe in two days I can live without it but permanently? I don't think I can. It will drive me insane! Internet shall be installed at our new home, insyaAllah.

6. I need to have my home office, a proper place for me to have my notebook and printer, and also my work area for me to do the wrapping, cutting...and a designated place for my stationeries and stocks. Currently I did my work at the dining place. So everytime nak makan, I have to put my things away, and I have to re-set everything should I want to do work. A lot of hassle. Plus my things are kept in the store, where mak keeps most of her temporarily unwanted goods. Lemas! That's the thing when you live with your parents. You can't treat that as your own house, eventhough it used to be your house (when you are still single). I can't wait for our house to be completed by the end of the year so I could have my work station. We target to move in by middle of next year, after fully renovated, insyaAllah.

7. I still need a maid, especially when my children are young. If they are bigger, then I think we can make do without one. Probably we just hire a daily maid to help with the house chores, especially the ironing part. I simple hate ironing!

Two days is just not enough but at least it gives me an insight on what's life has in store should I decided to take that path. There's room for improvement, like for instance, my target by 7 p.m. onwards, I should stop doing any work, at least not until the kids are settled in bed. This is because within these few hours, I should give 101% quality time for the family. My target is also to work an average of 6 hours in a day only, so I would have ample time to focus on the hubby, kids and housechores (cooking to be exact).

Hehehe..this is my ideal work-at-home-mum life. I don't know for sure when I shall take this path coz financially we are not quite ready (orang kata, kena tunggu sampai at least 3 bulan gaji ada dalam simpanan), but it has always been my dream - doing something I love most..and at the same time, take care of the family. Of course, I could give it a try for about one or two months once we are ready, and should things do not turn the way we want it to be, I could always resume working in corporate world before I loss the skill. I was talking to famy the other day and this is what she says her plan is.

Anyway, on Tuesday, I also did some "school shopping" with Ashraff. I guess I made an entry before about our decision to send Ashraff to school starting next year. So on Tuesday, I brought Ashraff to two schools whom I made appointment with the principal beforehand. The first school is our first choice (Tadika Mekar Ilmu TIC jr...anyone sending your kid there?), since it's just a walking distance from my parents' house. Personally I like this school in terms of the setting - roomy and proper ventilated. But it has a longer school hours which is until 12 pm (normally 11.30 am) and it has homeworks and exams. Somehow, Ashraff dislikes this school. He verbally expressed this as soon as we got back to the car. "Ashraff tak suka school ni. Ashraff nak school besar. Yang ada Mrs Van tu". (That'll be L0rna Wh1ston, boy. We can't afford it now, okay?! ).

Then we proceeded to the second school (Tadika Twinkle Tots at Wangsa Maju...anyone sending your kid there?) . I love this place too with few exceptions. First, it's 100% Malay so I doubt Ashraff will speak in English despite it being English medium...and then maybe he could easily influenced with the use of "engkau aku" which I don't quite prefer especially with young kids. The principal told me that in class the kids are prohibited from using these words or any bad words for that matter. But other than that, it's pretty hard to control them as some parents also used "engkau aku" when talking with the kids...and in the TV, they used "engkau aku" too...and in books. Errrr...macamana nak buat ni ye? Another bigger issue is the distance. The school fees is less expensive than the 1st one, but including the transportation, it will be way more expensive. But I love the activities than they have...and the principal loves the kids very much. Some owners do it for business...but this one is due to passion. So, I have a strong feeling that my boy will get a proper love and care should I send him here. Plus, Ashraff had his lunch at that school. Dia nampak bebudak tengah makan and dia terus dengan muka tak malu cakap dia nak makan. The owner gave him a bowl of rice with fish and spinach...and to my suprise, my picky-eater boy ate the whole bowl including the spinach! It must be peer pressure..hahaha...

And as expected, he loves this school. He couldn't wait to tell in the car, so he just expressed it in front of the principal. "Ashraff suka school ni. Ashraff nak school kat sini..." Gee....Now we are in dilemma. The first school or the second one? Does distance between school and your house matters in choosing the right school? Does the opinion of a 3 year-old counts? Or do you have any other recommendation? Emmm...susah jugak "school shopping" ni ye.

Wow! Look at my entry this time...When u have the mood to write, you just pour it all out in one entry...

Take a break...

Here's an advert from my lil gift shop in my other window...

For those who are in the mailing list, you might have got our newsletter already.
But for the benefit of all, here's the latest news from CMOG.

We have launched a new newspaper, which is the Wedding Newspaper. Check it out here!
And we also have re-introduction offer of C.M.O.G Kids Personalized T-Shirt here!

Coming up real soon is the Anniversary Newspaper...
And also the cheaper alternative for the chocolate wrapper, which is affordable to all. Now everyone can have their own chocolate wrapper! (ala-ala tagline A1rAs1a pulak..hehe).

Alhamdulillah, I have a super-fast and energetic "general worker" to help me with the wrapping of chocolate, so I can concentrate on doing something else.

And oh, one more thing, if you are an active blogger, please subscribe to CMOG's mailing list (for those bloggers who have been receiving newsletter from us then u don't have to do this) as we shall also launch a new great offer, specially for bloggers like you, insyaAllah.

Now, that I have announced this, I must make sure that all of the above materialize kan?

My baby is now a toddler...

Hellew!

Anybody home?

It's been two weeks since my last entry. I just lost the appetite to blog, that's all. And I also lost the energy to blog hop. I'm sorry should I have not visited your blog lately. Will try to "qhatam" all your entries soon. Anyway, just as I was excited to blog, I found that I have problem uploading photos! Gee...so I waited and waited, until the problem rectifies, which is just few minutes ago!

Now here I am blogging excitedly...

Aliff has fully recovered from his chicken pox. It wasn't a severe case of chicken pox, so not that many scar on his face and body, alhamdulillah.

Talking about Aliff, my mushroom-haired boy is now 1!!! He turns 1 year old on 2nd November 2007!

12 months have passed, but I still remember clearly the day when he was born. He was born Khamis malam Jumaat (sama macam Ashraff) at 9.43 pm (Ashraff is at 9.47pm). It was a fairly easy delivery. The intense and unbearable pain lasted for like 2 hours, almost the same as Ashraff's. But this time around, I did not take any pain killer except for the gas. I want to take pethidine just like I did with Ashraff's, but doctor said it's too late. I was already dilated like 6 cm at that time. So, the whole 2 hours I've been clinging for the gas for life. The active labour (pushing part) was harder this time around. It took me about 5 pushes before Aliff was out, as opposed to just one hard push for Ashraff.

Anyway, that's 12 months ago. Today Aliff is an active and healthy boy. As I left for work last Friday morning, he was still fast asleep. And unfortunately, as I returned home, he was also sleeping. So, it took me almost whole day to wish him happy birthday.

But the wait is just worth it...

Let me jot down Aliff’s achievement and development as at todate, just for my own personal record:-

1. He can walk pretty steadily now. He has been walking since he turned 11 mo. I’m surprised he can walk before he turns 1, because his development was pretty slow initially like he only perfected roll-over skill when he was 4mo, he can only crawl when he was 7mo, sit independently when he was about 8mo. Sorry Aliff, Ibu must have underestimated you. Oh God! Now, I miss to see him crawl…just like I miss the days when Ashraff crawls…

2. Abang Ashraff could be his worst enemy. Aliff could expressed his anger with his face expression as well as body reaction when Abang Ashraff takes the stuff he’s holding. He can fight back now. He can protect his rights now; no longer give way to Abang Ashraff like before. I just watch when they are in conflict. Let them try to settle on their own. If things go out of hand, then I or Ayah will interfere. Oh, the dawn of sibling rivalry.

But, just any normal sibling relationship, Abang Ashraff is also his idol and his "bestest" friend. He loves to follow Abang Ashraff around, which Abang Ashraff will treat that as "main kejar-kejar". I find it pretty much amusing.

3. He lost quite a weight resulted from the chicken pox and a bad cough he had earlier. Pipi dia dah tak tembun cam dulu. He lost his appetite either because of the sickness, or he no longer finds bubur nasi mouth-watering. We now tend to give him nasi biasa with our own lauk. Haven’t brought him to his 1 yo jab yet so am not quite sure of the weight. But I think he weights around 8.5 kilos now. Is that normal? Should I be worried?

4. He understands instruction well like when we ask him to take a certain thing, he’ll do it. If we asked him to throw ball, he’ll do it. He can clap when we ask him to clap, blink his eyes when we say “blink-blink”, put both his hands on his ears, when we say “Allahu Akbar” and lie on the pillow when we say "sayang bantal".

"Sayang bantal...."

5. Unlike Ashraff who up till todate, could not follow where we point our finger to, Aliff could. I guess Ashraff is a bit abnormal when it comes to this. He can’t seem to focus. We have to say “look at our finger” and push his head so he’ll look at the direction where we are pointing our finger to. Kadang-kadang sampai sudah dia tak nampak, lepas tu tanya “Mana? Mana?”

6. Aliff is attached to me, which is different than Ashraff. Ashraff at this age prefers Bibik to me. I remember being so jealous of Bibik. But Aliff, eventhough is quite attached to my maid, he still prefers me when I’m around. I like the feeling, but at times he is “too attached” to me sampai I nak ke toilet pun susah. Yang tu kekadang buat I rimas dan agak meletihkan jugak.

7. Recently Aliff loves to wake up in the middle of the night to play. So far, twice already. He’ll play about 1 hour or so, and go back to sleep. I guess he must have got than from me, coz Abah said when I was about Aliff’s age, I used to play in the middle of the night as well. Oh gosh! I hope this will pass soon, coz I couldn’t bear not to get enough sleep at night.

8. Aliff could also utter a few words. Some of his words:-

Bebbit (Rabbit)
Baw (Ball)
Pitca (Picture)
Fis (Fish)
Nak (Hendak)

He is quite a chatterbox compared to Ashraff. Ashraff could not utter a single word at this age.

Aliff playing with his "Bebbit"

I’m so proud of both my boys, Ashraff and Aliff. Both have different personalities, but so far, their developments are healthy and normal. They are both apples of my eyes. Add colours to my life. The best time for me to really appreciate them, is when they are both fast asleep. They look so calm and innocent and I almost cry just by looking at them. I guess every parent shares the same feeling, right?!

Oh anyway, Ashraff got his Ultraman Nexus already. He brought the 20 RM1 bill to the cashier to pay his Nexus. Now, we all tengah pancing dia suruh let go of his diaper. Everytime he does his biz in the toilet, I’ll reward him with RM1. He is aiming for a Dark Faust, Nexus’s enemy. Actually he has been doing his biz in the toilet before, but after the chicken pox, mamat tu mengada-ngada taknak pergi toilet. Mati akal camana nak buat. So, we decided to implement the reward-based system coz it has been working well before. Alhamdulillah, berjaya jugak. I hope he’ll be diaper free soon, at least in the day…

"This is my reward for sleeping on my own. Not more patting on my bum bum"

TO ALIFF, HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY FROM AYAH, IBU AND ABANG ASHRAFF. MAY U GROW UP TO BE A GOOD BOY. WE LOVE YOU TO BITS, DEAR!

"Some people call me 'Cupcake'" - ALIFF-