Selamat Pengantin Baru to Hasnan & Hasrina

My bro in law gets married. To his childhood sweetheart. They used to walk to kindy together, once upon a time, before the bride's family moved to another town.

Anyway, today was for akad nikah. Held at the beautiful Masjid Kristal at 3.30pm. The wedding will be on 12th June in Kemaman - the official residence of the bride.

To this newly wed couple, congratulation and may you live happily ever after.

From Kedah to Terengganu

Timur Barat Highway rest area.

We arrived at Terengganu for the second part of our trip.

It was hot.

If I thought Kedah/Penang was sweltering, Terengganu was even more. Even with rain. If you thought Klang Valley was hot, think again.

God...being pregnant during this kind of weather was a torture. I bid farewell to restful nights (or days for that matter).

After a few hours, Adam was covered in rashes. Red welts appeared everywhere, private part included. Poor boy. Bepanthene and extra shower helped though.

Amri however, couldn't care less. He'd survive just as well anywhere, any weather. Acclimatised? Who need that.

Happy 26 years old

Happy 26th birthday to Ajoe. Many happy returns.

My dear brother turned 26 years old today. We just celebrated it at home since birthday boy was due to return to his own place today and back to work tomorrow. He'd probably just as anxious to go celebrate it with his brand new fiancee.

We did not buy a birthday cake too. There was a nice cake given as part of engagement hantaran yesterday with his name on it so we cut that one :)

My bro was engaged

On this sweltering hot afternoon. I was a wee bit worried that the engagement cake would simply melt.

We made our way to Kepala Batas around 3.30pm and regrouped at masjid badawi. Then off we went to the girl house sometime after asar. It was not too hot anymore by this time but, with the dress and all, I sweated buckets. Adam was red in the face and after a few glasses of cold sirap and a piece of kuih, dissappeared to play with the neighbourhood kids. Probably lost appetite due to hot weather. Amri however, helped himself to two bowls of mee soup and every other food served. Gosh.

The event went on smoothly. My mom was over the moon with the prospect of having a future daughter in law that was a complete opposite of her own two wayward daughters. I'm sure both my bro and his fiancee would keep each other happy. Congratulation Ajoe & Yati.

Feeling the blues

I skipped my 6th month appointment with gynae today. Reason being - I was beginning to feel like some sort of a single mom. Always showed up alone for appointments. Sometimes with one of the boys, which did not help much to cheer me up. Moreover, I feel absolutely fine (read: no less miserable than the past 25 weeks)

On the other hand, I rather enjoyed having the big bed all to myself.










Amri serenading Ibu

To scale a mountain

On Monday, Amri brought home a letter from school - inviting students for a five day trip to Mount Kinabalu this December. Amri begged to go. I gaped at him.

Not to ridicule his non-existing hiking ability, I asked him to google and discuss Gunung Kinabalu with his friends. No point giving too much information from my side at this time. This boy trusted his friends (and internet) more than his parents.

I was not mistaken. On Tuesday, he came home from school and decided not to go. Hehe. Chickened out, heh!

Tonight however, he said his homeroom teacher was telling all good stuff about Mount Kinabalu. About how climbing it is just a piece of cake because there will be guides to help you and carry your bags and of course, teachers will be there as well. And a few of his friends are already planning to joint the expedition.

God help me now. He could not even manage the climb the tiny hill in front of our house without clinging to his father for dear life.

However, that was not the issue here. Fitness wise, I could train him to be physically fit enough to hike a mountain. But come December, he was just two weeks into his 9th birthday. Not matured enough to be let loose on a mountain. At least not without the presence of his overprotective mother hen. He'll get his fair share of mother nature, that I can promise. But it will be according to my footstep. First camping trip at 10 yrs old followed by moderate hiking at cute little mountains around the neighbourhood. We could also go back to Kedah and hike Gunung Jerai, for good old time sake (terkenang zaman sekolah menengah). Till then, he'll just have to be contend with occasional hiking at FRIM while waiting for his mother to unattach herself from her comfy bed/sofa.

My new baby

Not of the human species though...:)

My much awaited built in shoe cabinet. Finally installed on Sunday. Ironically, my last shoe purchase was wayyyy back in February, when I needed something flat and sensible (read: boring). I've also noticed my feet was going to get bigger and I really did not want to spoil the shape of the shoes I have at that time. Especially my boots.

I've stopped buying shoes since then. But looking at this shoe cabinet, I'm getting the itch again. Adoila. If I buy any shoes now, I might not be able to wear it post delivery, when my poor feet shrunk back to their normal size. Hmmph. And now, since all the shoes are housed in the same cabinet, i've noticed that hubby has more shoes than I do. How come? I'm feeling rather shoes deprived right now, which can't be good for the unborn baby, don't you think?

I've located two more nice cozy place to put another shoe cabinets but put it away as 2010 project. We'll have another tiny person to buy shoes for and hopefully I'll be back to the previous size that could accomodate high heels without having the risk of broken heel.

Looking forward to add built in bookshelves next.

Macam ayah tak?

Adam was acting very cute today. He woke up early and I overheard him telling bibik that today Ibu had a conference call so if he wanted Ibu to send him to q-dees, he had to be ready earlier than usual.

Wasn't that very considerate of him? Actually, I do not have conference call today but I usually did every Thursday morning. I'd usually remind him the night before that I had to be in office by 9.00am so in order for me to make a detour to ttdi jaya, we'd have to hit the road by 8.00am. This arrangement started when we moved to BJ and thus altering our travel time, plus I got myself pregnant and found out I lost the ability to super-multitask while driving. Which made handling the cumbersome blackberry while focusing on the road was out of question. Added to that, I had one hand perpetually holding a tissue to my nose, thanks to pregnancy rhinitis. More often than not, I asked him to go with his father when I lost all the patience to wait for him.

Adam was around once or twice during thursday morning call and was fascinated by a few different people talking in a few different accent of English. Now that he knew what conference call was about, he talked about it in a matter of fact way that I found so cute. But the best thing is, for one day a week, I do not have to prod and nag him to take his shower, dress up and eat breakfast.

Maybe I should have conference call everyday.

Wonderpet

Blue fish belongs to Amri and the red one is Adam's.

The boys now have a pet each. Their first pet. Adam's fish is named Dolphin. Amri's..err....the name keep on changing every few minutes and they all sounds incorrigible and no one knows how to spell them.

They bought this pair of fish at section 6 wet market last Sunday, while waiting for me doing my weekly supply trip. And keep on bickering about it till today. Amri wanted to bring his fish to school. When denied, he threaten to take back mothers day card he gave me. Duh....mana aci! Adam with his famous itchy fingers wanted to hold the fish and managed to do it once when I was not around. He even took it out from its container. Nasib baik panjang lagi nyawa fish tu.

There was also the issue of feeding the pets. The fishes need to be fed once every 2 days. Since none of them could remember to feed thair own respective pet, bibik did it for them. But then, once they remembered, they wanted to feed the fishes then and there. These couple of fishes were certainly overfed by now.

And water changing? Bibik did it for them. The boys felt cheated out of it but could not actually remember that the water need to be changed every 4 days. So both of them changed the water again even though bibik had already done it the day before.

I felt quite sorry for the fishes. They are pretty though.

My little vain child

Adam's 11 stitches.










Adam was supposed to have his stitches taken out on Thursday so I took the day off, bought him a toy for bribe/distraction and off we went to see his surgeon. Anyway, a day out with expectant mom could never be straight forward. As soon as we reached hospital, I was so thirsty I could barely talk and walk. Thank God for valet service. Went straight to registration counter, skip GL counter and told the nurses that we would be having a snack time first. By the time we made our way back to the surgeon office, the doctor was off for emergency surgery. Settled the insurance thingy first then went back just in time for the doctor to be back from OT. However, the doctor said the stitches did not completely healed yet so we need to come back on Monday. Hmmm....


Poor Adam...he was very nervous. The thing is, his surgeon had to use the traditional stitches so that the hair could regrow on that scar. I agreed because I knew how vain Adam is. As he grow older, I guessed he would be even more vain. Amri had different kind of stitches two years ago. His was a kind of self dissolving stitches that would just melt away as the wound healed. Very convenient. But Amri's injury was at his forehead.
(can't believe i'm comparing injuries and stitches of all things)


We spent the rest of the day having lunch and latte, buying vcds and picking up books from mph. Bliss.


Come Monday, I was not free. So hubby took him instead. Kind of breezed in, took the stitches out and breezed out. Adam was back home before 11am. Very fuss free. And I had Adam complaining to me until today.



Adam after the thread was taken out. No cries, surprisingly but got himself another toy.











That was yesterday. Today Adam still refuses to go to kindy. Reason being - he looks ugly. He checks his head everytime he walks pass by any mirror. And we have a lot of mirror around the house. He is not upset with his bald spot but not that happy either. Vain..........

Adam on the mend

Adam with his new power rangers toy









Adam was put under 24 hours observation so we stayed another night. We here meant Adam and his Ayah. While mommy crashed at home, on her king size bed. Hehe....


Anyway. When it came to staying put, Adam was no better than Amri. He was restless and only slightly entertained by the toys, astro and colouring book. Even a piece of hospital rubber glove became his toy.


By 9 ++ am, the surgeon declared Adam was fit enough to go home and signed the discharged papers. We however, had to wait for hours until everything, from insurance to pharmacy supply before we managed to get home. It was lunch time by then.

I cought him climbing near the lamp just before this. Checking out the many switches there

Adam clearly missed home. He visited all rooms and went up and down a few times. When Amri reached home from school, he was overjoyed and started chattering non stop. They played cards, watched tv and god know what else while I had a bit of lie in.


I needed to get a few things from giant and the two boys tagged along. Adam decided to wear a cap to hide the big tape on his head and persuaded Amri to do the same. The cap hid the bandage well enough but soon Adam complained about the edge of his cap was rubbing painfully into his stitches. Hmmm....

We had our lattes then headed home.




Upon reaching home, Adam decided to ride his bike again. So soon? Tak serik? I guess not. Can't blame him for that. I could not remember being prim and proper myself.

Unrepentant.

But still, between these two boys, I'll end up with a full head of white hair before I hit 50. I'm getting quite worried with the little unborn one. What if the baby is a girl? What if the baby is a girl who will ride her bike the way his two daredevil brothers rode? God help us....

Adam @ OT

Adam waiting to be taken to Operating Theatre










By half past eight, Adam was ready. He was definitely a model patient. Though he complained that he was hungry and his hospital gown looked like girl's dress, that was the extend of it. Really fuss free. And he enjoyed being pushed in stretcher to Operating Suite.

By 9am, he was well under GA and I kissed him one last time before being ushered to the waiting room.

Half an hour later, I was shown to recovery room, where Adam was retching badly and cried a bit. Upon seeing me, he said he wanted to go home. That made me sad, because, I've never heard such thing from him. Or from Amri either. Both of them were brought up to be flexible and could just survive everywhere. But he said that many times.


Adam post surgery. Spending his time watching cartoon network









Once he was a bit more settled, the nurses transfered him to his own room. A few minutes later, he asked for milk. I gave a small amount, fearing that he would vomit again. Thankfully, he slept soon after.

Adam woke up not even one hour later and asked for porridge. Then rice. Then polished off soup, milo and pudding, both mine and his. He asked for twisties and I told him that it would have to wait until his father arrived because I would need to go and buy it from the shop. He asked for milk instead and was content with that.



Adam enjoying dessert











Hubby arrived soon after and I suddenly felt extremely exhausted. That was about as much adrenaline this pregnant lady could handle.

Dejavu

It happened again. This time it was Amri who ran back home saying that Adam fell from bicycle and was badly injured. We found him sprawled and covered in blood in between two park benches. It was this all over again. I knew what to expect and what to do but still, my heart skip a beat. Maybe more.

Bundled a bleeding Adam (from top to toe, indeed) into the car and drove off to the nearest clinic. Dr. Rasool and his assistants were very prompt and efficient. They cleaned up Adam pretty fast, gave him painkiller, wrote a referral letter to surgeon and even called the hospital to expect us. Adam's cut on his head was a lot worse than I expected. The full length and depth of it could only be seen once the doctor finished shaving his hair around the area.

We went home after the clean up. Asked bibik to change Adam's bloodied cloth. Packed an overnight bag, fished out Adam's medical card, called hubby who was outstation and gave Amri his pocket money for tomorrow. Cu Nan would spend overnight here to keep him and bibik company (thank you, bro).

I went straight to ER. Adam slept the whole time. Asked the nurse to help moving Adam from my car to wheelchair. Once in ER, the bandages were changed and Adam cried again. He however, did not struggle at all. But once the bandages were replaced, he was back to his cheerful self. He then was taken for head x-ray just in case there was any fracture to the skull. Unfortunately,I am pregnant, thus could only accompany him to the door. Adam was okay though. The surgeon scheduled Adam for surgery the next morning, after 6 hours fasting.

Adam waiting to be sent to his room

Adam liked his hospital room well enough that he had trouble to go to sleep. He also found that being pushed in wheelchair was funny and grinned all the way from ER to his room.

The day I turned 35

Today I am one year older and still none the wiser but of course, grumpier than ever.

Adding to the grumpiness is the fact that i had very little sleep last night in between sneezing, gasping for oxygen whenever both air passage were blocked and get this, i let my not so little darling adam slept with me. On my bed. Reason being, he injured his feet during one of his cycling stunt.

Now here, I am not one of those supermommies who enjoy having their kids co-sleeping with them. Honestly, I'd have put the kids in their own room from day 1, if not for the inconvenience of stumbling around all night long for nightime feeding and diaper changing.

Anyway. Adam does not have Amri's high threshold for pain. He looked so pitiful that I finally gave in and let him sleep beside me. Big mistake. King size bed or not, there was no escape from his super active limbs. He slept like he was seriously practising tae kwon do and gymnastic at the same time. I was sorely tempted to push him down to the carpet.

This morning he declared he was not fit enough to go to kindy. I agreed because his ankle was kind of swollen and I doubted he could wear his socks and shoe. But a YM to hubby later revealed that he was cycling outside all morning and now was watching the contractor fixing our auto gate. Hmmph!

Blissful Sunday

I woke up in the morning without headache and just a very mild stuffy nose, which was a rarity indeed. Maybe I should do this every morning - gradually inched my way out of bed sometime after 9 am.

Feeling a lot better in weeks, I gave bibik the day off and sent her to giant for her monthly shopping. Then nagged the big boss to drive me around town. Managed to buy one thing out of a few hundreds that i planned to buy plus a whole lot more that I've never intended to purchase. So far so good.

I just wish that I could have more days like today. Then I wouldn't be so grumpy and whiny

Stuffy nose during pregnancy

Why do I feel congested all the time?

Believe it or not, it's pretty common to have a runny or stuffed-up nose during pregnancy. About 20 to 30 percent of pregnant women have congestion without having allergies or a viral infection like the common cold. This condition even has a name: rhinitis of pregnancy. It can start as early as your second month and last until you have your baby or even a few weeks afterward.Higher amounts of estrogen during pregnancy can contribute to swelling in the mucous membranes lining the nose and even cause you to make more mucus. What's more, the amount of blood in your body increases and your blood vessels expand during pregnancy, which can lead to swollen nasal membranes as well. Other hormones may also play a role.

How can I tell if my congestion is due to my pregnancy or to something else?
If you have no other symptoms, it's probably rhinitis of pregnancy. If your stuffy nose is accompanied by sneezing, coughing, a sore throat, mild aches and pains, or possibly swollen glands or a fever, you probably do have a cold or another infection.On the other hand, if you have symptoms such as sneezing and itchy eyes, nose, throat, or ears along with your congestion, then allergies are a likely culprit. Pregnancy can make your allergies worse or cause you to be sensitive to allergens and other irritants that never bothered you before.Of course, you won't always be able to tell what's causing your congestion, and it's possible that there's more than one cause. For example, you could be suffering from allergies as well as rhinitis of pregnancy.

What can I do for relief?
Remember to drink plenty of fluids and keep your head elevated at night. These measures can also be helpful:• Steam can temporarily relieve congestion and it's often very soothing. Take a warm shower and hang out for a while afterward in the steamy bathroom. Or moisten a washcloth with hot water, hold it up to your face, and breathe.• Try saline nose drops or a buffered saline nasal spray, available over the counter at the drugstore. Spritz or drip a bit into each nostril and within five or ten minutes you should be able to blow your nose more easily.• Use a humidifier or vaporizer to put more moisture into the air and keep it near your head at night. Be sure to follow the cleaning instructions that came with your humidifier. Change the water daily since it can become a breeding ground for bacteria. You'll need to replace the filter often as well.• Avoid potential irritants, such as cigarette smoke and alcohol (which you should already be avoiding!) and sudden temperature changes. Also avoid exercising outdoors on days when there's a lot of air pollution.

Are there any medications I can take?
If congestion continues to make you miserable, tell your practitioner about your symptoms and ask which medications are safe for you to try. It's generally best to avoid taking any medications during your first trimester, when your baby's organs are forming.If your practitioner says it's okay, you can try a decongestant. Avoid overusing decongestant nasal sprays, though, because they can cause rebound inflammation and make your congestion much worse

Source : www.babycentre.com

*sigh*

I'm living with this for weeks now. Nasal spray doesn't really work. And the so called safe medication make me drowsy but does not help me to sleep. I am so miserable that I felt like applying for unpaid leave until the day i give birth. But I guess, staying at home will make it worse since my next door neighbour is doing major renovation and across the road, contruction for dPuncak bungalows is in full swing. And so does the dust that come with it. Plus, not all part of my house is airconditoned. I'm better off in my office.

*sigh*

18 more weeks.

Halfway there

I have gone through a miserable 19 weeks.

Another 19 weeks to go. I'm due on 9/9/09

Hoping for better weeks to come.

Amri's Sport Day 2009

The school termed it Athletic Day. Amri gleefully spent three days of this week at mpsj stadium, rehearsing for the event.

Unfortunately, the transporter did not fetch the students for today so us parents had to get going earlier so that these students could be at stadium by 7.30am. Fortunately, Adam woke up and get dressed very early and fuss free. Amri of course, was on his regular schedule. Just before he get dressed, he suddenly remembered that he was supposed to wear long pants for today. Grr...mana nak cari school long pants di subuh buta ni. Tak kan nak pakai jeans kot. Hish...budak nih. But Amri, being Amri was just as happy in school short pant as in any pants. Ibu nyer pulak yg self concious sebab most of the students turned up in long pants.

Amri warning Ayah not to take his marching photo.

Brothers aka partners in crime

Amri waiting his turn

Huge mommy. Can't believe the baby is just 157gm. What are the rest of 3.8kg I put on?

Yey.....Primary 3 Blue House won first place.

Went home around noon and all four of us crashed out on the living room sofa later. Only Amri ate lunch. The rest of us couldn't be bothered with food. Besides, we were going out for a wedding at 2pm so catching 40 winks was more important.

Apsal penonton pulak yg exhausted lebih lebih ye....

A shiny new, red bicycle

Someone has a shiny new bicycle!
















Yesterday, Hubby brought it back from bicycle shop sometime near noon and Adam had been outside cycling ever since. Even Amri joined him even though his was not new. Then the boys were joined by a new girl whom family was in the midst of moving in to the corner lot house that day. The trio cycled back and forth half of the day, ignoring the heat and the occasional drizzle.




We were busy with our reunion guest and I guess the girl's parents were busy with a few huge lorries worth of furnitures to pay much heed to these kids. They were in and out of the house many times though. And every now and then they would line up at the buffet table and helped themselves to some food, presumably for sustanance for another few kilometres of cycling. Us parents were left blissfully alone with our guest :)







Amri with his new friend/neighbour. He was doing a power ranger pose initially until the girl gave him a good whack and asked him to stand properly :)











Now, when can we get rid of the training wheels?

eMBA6 reunion

We hosted a reunion for x-eMBA6 group at our home. Some of the photos are here, but the rest will be in the yahoogroup. I think I'll need someone to help me draw a proper road map. Giving direction was a pain.


Makan time. We had roti jala, meehoon, chili con carne and chicken kebab.

Some of the ladies















Some of the gentlemen

To mamarock, thanks for the heavenly brownie. It arived just in time when my muffins were almost gone. I didn't dare to bake a large batch due to the missing kitchen scale. And of course, agak-agak the quantity has never been my strong skill.

Faiz testifying mamarock's brownie. Serious, it was delicious. And it came with the porcelein bowl.

To the rest, thanks for coming despite the rain and the sesat all around BJ case. And many,many thanks for the gifts, though it was a reunion, not a housewarming party. Hope all of you had a good time.