Recharging

Look at Adam. Isn't he sweet? Hanging toys at Aqil brand new playgym. A gift from hubby's friend. Aqil is now 3 months old and still receiving gift....I am so jealous. Honestly people, how about giving a gift to me as well? I am badly in need of everything new too.

The closest I can get to a smile. He was not going to smile actually but rather, fretting noisily.

My life has started to return back to its normal, pre-pregnancy routine. Almost. Saturday morning is about going for a breakfast with Amri, send him to Dyslexia Association at USJ then straight to Section 6 wet market. Breakfast would be better if we could go to Amy Cafe TTDI Jaya like old time but both of us had spent too much time in the bathroom thus had to make do with BJ mamak restaurant.

Hope I can do some serious cardio and weight training soon. 6 months seems rather too long to wait.

I had a bad day

Hmmph! I declared today as the worst day of the week. It started at 9.30am with a conference call and went seriously downhill afterwards. At the end of the day, I was a complete wreck and longed for nothing else except to curl into a ball and weep pitifully. Privately of course. Instead, the tears refused to wait a bit longer and I broke down inside the car. Thank God I was not driving. Oh well, I guessed it made no difference whether I wept in the car with my husband or at the privacy of my room at home. He was bound to come across me sooner or later. As it happened, I received no comforting words from hubby, who apparently had plenty of issues of his own. Nor did I expect any. It would probably made me weep longer :) But, but ...a big bear hug would be very nice wouldn't it. Though I wonder how we were going to manage that while speeding down NKVE highway in heavy rain.

Okay...time to restartegise. Do it different way. Get some help from other bosses since my own boss decided to leave me in the mess and go for a vacation instead. 2 weeks, no less. And froze my leave from 21st Dec onwards.

Haha.

Very funny. I did not really have any new strategy up my sleeve. Nor did I have the energy to think of one. I would just enjoy the weekend, play monopoly with the boys and go see some movie. And only worry about my future after 8.30 Monday morning.

By hook or by crook, I have to wrap up everything by Tuesday. Because, by Wednesday we'll be off to Langkawi....woohooo......about the only cheerful thing I have at the moment. The last thing I want is holidaying with a laptop attached like an extra limb. And it is not even for a pleasurable endeavour of playing chef at FB cafe or blogging :)

I am still seething over the frozen leave though. How could he? True I do not celebrate Christmas and I had just came back from 'enjoying' 2 months break. But I was saving the leave to spend with the boys during school holiday. Help....

SOS Carry Bag

Anyone has a Mclaren stroller carry bag I can borrow for a week? The online shop is out of stock and I don't think I'd be able to go strolling the mall looking for one this week.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned...

And I am furious enough. With one cancelled anniversary lunch at 1world, one cancelled birthday party, one cancelled weekend class, one CP204 that i have to re-do (fortunately not for the main company) plus a secretary and a despatch that have to cancell their annual leave and numerous other cancelled smaller events....

Yep...you bet that I am channeling all that negative energy into formulating revenge. Not just one off revenge but more of a lifelong payback. Just you wait...

My 9 years old baby

I've been married for 10 years!

I still find it hard to believe. Even after 10 years, I felt like I barely knew my husband safe for the fact that he is everything I ever wish for a husband.

Thanks dear, for the lovely gift. What I really want is one of those ridiculuosly expensive diamond ring but my fingers are still not back to their normal size. So, this will do very well indeed.

Happy 10th anniversary.







p/s - we'll do our anniversary lunch some other time, okay :)

Turning nocturnal, painfully

*sigh*

Night feeding sucks.

I guess most mothers with an infant are nocturnal creatures at least for the first 6 months or so. Myself included. With a couple of additional catch. First, I'm not able to fall back into sleep after the first round of night feeding. Or if I'm lucky enough to be able to do that, it will be hours afterwards. Second, since I'm wide awake at 3 oclock in the morning, my stomach will demand breakfast about one hour later. Naturally, I'll just ignore it. And by 5 am, i'll be rolling over in pain because my gastric problem has now decided to make a major comeback. By 8am, i'll be eating a nice hearty breakfast and by 9am, will be vomitting them out into office toilet bowl.

Repeat the cycle again in 24 hours.

Really, I haven't vomitted that much during pregnancy. And i wonder why, with that much pain and vomitting, I haven't lost any weight. And i also wonder if i avoid breakfast, can i avoid the vomitting as well. Surely bibik will be very happy if i tell her that i'll only be eating antacid for breakfast and please don't bother with all those scrambled egg or toast or nasi goreng.

*sigh*

I sure am cranky, sleepy and dehydrated (and somewhat deranged) woman today.

Amri's Annual Concert

Adam's Annual Concert

My one month old baby

Generally speaking, Aqil is an easy baby. He was fuss free during the drive to and fro Kuala Terengganu. He has no issue with his baby carrier, though it looks oversize on him. He slept through hubby's spectacular firework show. And he slept through silat gayung show with the loud accompanying music just 5 feets from him. In fact, he will sleep through just about anything as long as it is not between midnight and early morning, when he will be wide awake and will insist on some kind of entertainment. He breastfed and bottlefed well and has no nipple confusion whatsoever. Funny that. Probably babies nowadays are born with the knowledge of multiple nipple option as part of their rooting reflex or something.

What else? Well, just like his brothers (and to some extend, his mother) he has no specific schedule whatsoever. He'll nurse as and when he feels like it, thus the reason i decided to seek the help of pacifier. Which created another problem. Unlike mommy's booby, the dummy kept falling out of his mouth. It was getting tiring to pop it back into his mouth so unless anyone could advice me what brand can I buy to minimise that, I am sorely tempted to put duct tape over it.

All things said, I am still in awe of his lovely hair and bright sepet eyes. I wish I can have that hair.

Baby Aqil @ 2 weeks old

And still very tiny. Because of his size, I decided againts buying a convertible car seat and went for a small baby carrier instead. But he still looked dwarfed by the seat. I think I'll need to do some extra padding to make sure he is comfortable for the long drive to KT this Friday. I just hope that it will not end up as 12 hours journey.....

And, to prepare for the long drive, baby Aqil will be spending a few hours everyday in his baby carrier as a training. Adam and Amri did not need training at all and I expect Aqil will be more or less the same but still, it is better to be prepared. Plus, I have little else to do and moving Aqil from baby cot to my bed to a sofa to baby carrier to his stroller seems like a lot of fun. (Read: bored out of my mind)

Baby is here!

And it is a boy (despite SJMC's pink blanket).
Born at 1.54pm on 01/09/09 weighting a mere 2.95kg.

Warning - big fat whining lady is here till 9 Sept

After weeks of keeping my mouth firmly shut and my fingers away from keyboard, I've decided that my blog is the best place on earth to whine about my pregnancy blues. I'd rather talk with human but I can't seem to find anyone non-judgemental or one who could listen without giving me a religious sermon instead, family members included.

So there, you are forewarned. Please go away and come back one month from now if you can't handle this. Or organised a street demo.

The end is near

I am considerably more cheerful now compared to the last 30 odd weeks. Been to hospital to see my gynae and we agreed to induce the labour on 1st Sept. If not sooner since I was already 2cm dilated this morning.

Thank God for this piece of good news. I guessed the hours of touring The Garden has paid off. Though, surprisingly, I came back with just a new digital camera and a new bag. Many thanks to hubby for both. And oh...the grocery shopping at tesco this morning must have helped too. If so, quite a lot of hard work just to self induced the labour. Sure, trawling the mall was lotsa fun. Even better when your husband paid for everything. But I'd get many sleepless night afterwards due to legs and knee pain ( and a few other body parts). Even crying myself to sleep did not work anymore.

Oh well. Forget all about it. Am looking forward to Tuesday. Really, really looking forward.

Out of office....for two months

Today would be the last working day for me at office. I'll be working from home until the day I give birth starting next Tuesday.

Even better, the GM will not be in town next week. So, I'm pretty sure everything will be just fine. The temporary lady is superb. She is even more qualified than I am and has a steel for a spine - a necessary requirement in my job. I've talked and talked to everyone concerned about my leave plan. The thing is, I was taking my maternity leave as normal as a holiday break. However, I was soon to understand that it was not that easy, considering my position in the organisation and the hybrid organisation I'm in.

As soon as I broke the news, internationally, all manners of emails started flying. A representative from SOX department was sent over to talk to me in person about my leave plan. Gosh! I didn't even think of a plan yet at that time. In fact, I was still in denial over the whole baby things. Thankfully, the auditor was only interested in one thing, namely the sacred SOX procedure that I've already put nicely in place. As long as everyone continued to follow the guideline, I could not see any problem at all. But still, I swear to him that I'll look for somebody who is well versed with SOX to stand in for me (though dalam hati....kat mana le aku nak carik nih).

Next, I endured conference call after conference call discussing my leave. By then, i was already fully prepared with a detailed plan. My GM was in favour to get someone from HQ to stand in for me. That was the most ridiculous thing I've heard so far. Not to mention highly expensive.

The maternity leave was discussed again during June finance meeting, in detail. Thank God the controller did not suggest to meet the candidates in person because, errr, in truth, I haven't interviewed anyone yet. But I was pretty sure the agent will have lotsa candidates lined up in no time.

I was wrong again. Yes, there were many highly qualified candidates. I did a lot of phone interviews to screen out those that could not speak fluent English. No two ways about it. Temporary or not, you'll need to talk. A lot. In English. Period. I however, could not find any candidates with SOX background. So I setlled with a few who had internal and external audit experience. To simplify the matter, I arranged for interview during the period my boss was not in the country so that the authority to hire were mine. Sonang cerita.

I think I made a good choice. The lady was more than capable. Took her less than one week to get familiar. She started in early August so that I could have a full month to show her the rope. She'll be supported by Singapore and Australia FC too. So there! I'm on my way to enjoy my 2 months break from all things financial.

Pregnancy blahs: Bored with pregnancy

Taken from www.babycenter.com


I'm sick of being pregnant! Is something wrong with me?
Nope, it's perfectly normal to feel that way. Many women get tired of being pregnant during the third trimester, and some even earlier. What's exciting and new during the first few weeks and months of pregnancy can become pretty tedious by the sixth or seventh month. Let's face it, there's nothing particularly thrilling about having to roll out of bed sideways, groan every time you stand up, and pee 20 times a day. Sure, you always get offered a seat on the train, but you also face little delights like hemorrhoids and heartburn. It's enough to wipe the rosy glow from even the most excited mom-to-be.
Bored is an understatement of the year. I am desperate. Very, very desperate!

Dealing with others
On top of your physical discomfort, you may find yourself enduring endless questions and comments from others about your pregnancy. "Once I started showing, no one at work ever talked to me about anything but being pregnant," recalls Susan Greer, an accountant and mother of one from New Hampshire. "By the sixth month, I wanted that baby out and my body and identity back."And then there are the unsolicited comments — and hands — on your physique. Many women get tired of conversation that focuses on their burgeoning physical state. Try steering conversation back to nonpregnancy topics — even if it's just the weather or the latest reality TV show. Feel free to tell your family and close friends that you need a reprieve from pregnancy talk, and you're back in the market for conversation that has nothing to do with food cravings and not seeing your feet.Also, give yourself permission to vent when you feel the need. Although family and friends (and even life partners) can sometimes get worn down from a verbal catalogue of pregnancy woes, you can count on finding a sympathetic ear in other pregnant women.
The other non judgemental pregnant friend I could commiserated with is a colleague at Houston office. But she has gone off for her maternity leave, leaving me without anyone to vent my black mood. By now, I almost felt like putting up a notice saying 'do not touch me or i'll bite your head off'.

Savoring your time
Despite all the annoyances you're weathering, now's the time to enjoy your last weeks or months of pre-baby freedom. During the months — and years! — after your baby is born, time to yourself will be a precious commodity.Some women use the days to plan for their newborn's arrival, setting up the nursery and shopping for supplies (tiny socks!) or mapping out the details of maternity leave and daycare.
What pre-baby freedom??? Baby care can be delegated. Pregnancy is NOT.

Sometimes, though, you need a break from all things baby-related. Go ahead and plan activities and dabble in hobbies that a new mom couldn't possibly squeeze into her busy schedule. Some ideas:
• Make lunch dates with friends.
And suffer another bout of heartburn afterwards

• Learn something new. Take a chance on books at the library that you normally wouldn't pick up.
I'd like to learn voodoo please

• Streamline your space. Clean out your files, sift through the junk in the kitchen drawer, or put those boxed-up prints in the closet into photo albums.
Not in a million years

• Treat yourself to a massage. For a less expensive treat, spring for a soothing pedicure instead.
Would be nice indeed if I didn't feel like punching the daylight out of anybody who touch me

• Set up time-savers. Make yourself a haircut appointment for a new, easy-to-manage style, collect takeout menus from restaurants around town, and set up an online bill pay account.
I dream of the day that I could go and have a thorough hair treatment to my now ruined hair followed by a very complicated hair style. No. Make it top to toe treatment.

• Pick up gardening.
And risk a major come back of sinus? No, thanks.

• Connect with your partner. Enjoy some peaceful, romantic dinners together — whether you venture out to a restaurant or cozy up at home with comfort food — and focus on each other while you can.
How romantic can a heartburn be? And the only one who still showered me with hugs and kisses is Adam. Only him.

• Escape to another world. Tuck in to a nice big novel or rent a few movies that sweep you off your feet into another place or time.
That's what I did. Until the blurry and spotty vision took over. Plus, watching movies with Adam is a big pain. About one million questions per second and no break at all.

To the idiot at giant shah alam...

who parked his empty trolley behind my car a few weeks ago...
-may you suffer from incurable sinus for 38 weeks
-may your weight shoot up out of control
-may you lose your sleep for the next nine months plus
-may you have spotted vision while reading your newspaper
-may you have big fat pimples sprouting all over you face
-may your back kills you
-may you have swollen feet, hands, joints and face
-may you suffer the nastiest of heartburn
-may every step you take feels like a long knife slicing your leg muscle

But all are forgiven if you happened to be a preggy mom with husband being out of town for the day.

The reason (though I dont need one) I was mightily pissed off was that, I only noticed the trolley once I was already inside the car. And I could not get out of the car because there was another idiot driver who by that time, has parked too close to my door. At my normal size, I'd be able to slither out. At this size, no way! So I backed out anyway, hoping that stupid looking giant guard would come to my rescue. He was not. It was an elderly grandma who rescued me.

Forget about being decent...

How do you teach kids to respect the privacy of your bedroom? I've been trying for many years but still the two boys regarded my room as an extension of their bedroom. Barged in anytime, never bothering to knock, much less asking for permission.

I've resorted to locking the door if I need to undress or change. Or if I need to use my full length mirror to have a good inspection at my urmm....swollen thigh.

But I have a roommate. Who legally has all the right to barge in. Barging in was not the same as knocking on the door and waiting it to be unlocked and opened. And being pregnant means that you could not reach the door in a split second even though it was barely two metres away. The most annoying thing was, after I made so much effort to reach the door quickly, there was no one waiting outside to enter. What a waste of energy. As if being pregnant was not tiring enough.

Oh well. This is my house anyway. I've decided to do away with decency. I'll wear what I want to wear, in any part of the house. And if the boys happens to open my door while I was naked, so be it. Hopefully they would be traumatised enough by the sight to respect my personal space, if not putting them off girls forever. I'll probably strut around in any state of undress around the house checking out the various mirrors hubby installed...in the hope that I could find one that makes me looks good to my own eyes.

Note:
I've just had an idea. Everytime the boys enter my room without permission, they will be charges Rm1 each. There. They may never understand boundaries by they understood value of money very well.

Hiway blues

I think it is about time that I keep to driving on the left lane in highways. Or, at the very least, middle lane. With my blurry vision, legs cramp, slow reaction and my tendency to shut my eyes when sneezing (which I did every few seconds), I think I'm a danger to other drivers.

However, driving on left lane equals to being stuck behind that slow overloaded lorry which is probably older than me moving at 15km/hour. And moving to middle lane means following behind the equally slow vehicles trying to overtake the ultraslow lorry.

I like driving and I love being in my car but sitting behind the wheels 30 minutes after breakfast meant that the actifed I took after breakfast was starting to take effect. While I am okay with the after effect of actifed, driving at 15km/h with drowsiness was pushing it too far. I could feel myself nodding off barely 5 minutes afterwards. Which I think is even more dangerous. Taking actifed after reaching office was not an option since I loath to be sneezing all the way, plus I hate the dirty look hubby gave me when he saw the piles of soiled tissue inside my car.

So?

Back to the fast lane then. With some luck, I could reach office before legs cramp started.

This is the reason I no longer venture outside my route to and fro office. With this route, I'll be on autopilot and I'll know where I'm going. Also the reason I have to decline going to Jenan's potluck at Ina's house. Though I know where BSP is, I will not be able to read roadsigns or street/house no. Too bad. Maybe next time girls.

Happy Birthday!!!

Hubby with his cake, surrounded by impatient and starving kids


On the same day with akad nikah, my dear husband and his youngest brother the newlywed celebrated their birthdays. The same date, only with 15 years between them.

We celebrated by way of satay, meehoon singapore and of course, two cakes. Also joining the ceremony was their eldest brother whom birthdate was on 6th of June. The pengantin, understandably, went missing with his new bride during cake cutting ceremony. Only to appear much, much later when only a few strands of meehoon left in the tray.









Ayah Long, cutting the other cake





Happy Birthday guys.

Cakes are ordered from http://darulimancupcakes.blogspot.com/