Going on 3

In 3 weeks, Amirul will turn 3. I'm thinking of organising a low key birthday party for him. Just family. In our new home. Nothing lavish like his previous parties. However, I'm afraid I would not be able to pull it off.. considering the time frame. Erm, I better start cracking for ideas. Definitely gonna be a theme party. I pretty much have have an idea of what the theme would be but then again I might not be able to pull it off. Takpe la, asalkan he gets to celebrate his birthday with his loved ones :).

Lil H has yet to have his Aqiqah done. Insya'allah hubs and I plan to have it after Raya.. which would be close to his 1st birthday. That would be a greater affair... insya'allah.

I'll blog more soon :)

A lot has happened...

Wow.. It has been ages since my last entry and it wasn't on purpose (really!). I was busy with a lot of things... One of em being us, the Zefferins, moving into our new home in Bandar Nusa Rhu. Alhamdulillah, the move was a good one however, our new home sort of looks like 'tongkang pecah' due lotsa stuff lying around which I have not had the time to really sort them out. Insya'allah, I'm giving myself less than 2 month (too long ke?) to unpack evertything and organise and decorate.

So far, our house is erm 80% complete. I'm embarassed to say that our living room is filled with boxes and the kids toys. No sofas, settees, carpets etc yet so guests (luckily only our families were the guests and no complaints from them! *I hope*) have to park themselves at the dining area. Hopefully, we will be able to fill our living room with the essential items soon (poket dah kering :p)

Our 'lounge area' is complete... as we have our tv, bookcases and a sofa. Enough for the Zefferins to have a nice relaxing spot after a hard days work... Thanks to our spacious master bedroom, we are able to fill it with a lot of stuff. Although there are still more spaces to be filled! The kids room is filled with their paraphernalia but I intend to decorate it in a more child friendly concept. Paint it blue... have cute bits hanging on the wall etc...

Kitchen is the most time we spent in.. I'm so proud of my kitchen that I take pride in cleaning it excessively after each cooking session (belum pro lagi but hoping to be - now that i have my OWN kitchen :) ) Even lil Harith likes to be in the kitchen, looking up at me while I cook. Well, lately, he's got this separation anxiety thingy going on so if I disappear for just a second, he will wail like nobody's business! Oh my, my darling booshkoosh!

As for Amirul, he loves to hangout at the lounge, minding his own business. But after awhile, if it becomes too quiet, I know that he's up to something.. Just the other day, he was TV upstairs and the next minute, he came down with a big grin on his face. I start to imagine what damage has he done this time. It turns out, he was happily playing and spraying his father's cologne all over the place. Nasib baik, he didn't finish up the whole bottle! I shall update bout him more in another entry..

Hubby at this moment is on the plane for a business trip. He has so much on his plate yet he still manages to keep us satisfied in every way he can. Thank you hubs!

Okay, gotta go back to work... so far so good in my new job.. I hope I'll be okay here..

Okay, more updates soon!

P/S: Mmm, had Chicken McDeluxe for lunch... which is not good for me since my in house Dr said I have high cholesterol (just above normal range)... Why lah?

Unemployed!

Today, I am officially unemployed. What a relief! Seriously! I've been slaving myself in my previous company for more than a year and for the past few months (ever since I came back from my maternity leave - thank God for that)the company's performance was very much going downhill. I'm sure it was pretty clear with all the news in the papers - one after another. My boss left while I was still on my leave and that pretty much signaled bad news. Considering my department gets all the HOT (fresh from the oven) news beforehand, we were very aware what the Company was going through.

Alhamdulillah, I managed to land a better job elsewhere (did cha think I'd resign without getting another job first??? Sheesh)up on the hill. Hehehe. Rezeki anak lah katakan. I started job hunting even before I went on my maternity leave. Due to my physical condition then, I failed to get any opportunities. Sad, yes! Just being pregnant, I was discriminated. Bukannya being pregnant ni berpenyakit. I guess I was quite desperate masa tu and any form of rejection was uncalled for. Huhu.

I remembered bagai nak rak I was looking for a job. The funny thing was, I wasn't the only one in my department who was job hunting. Kahkah! We were helping each other out :). My prayers were answered when I got the call from my future employer, asking me to come for an interview. Cuak pulak! Alhamdulillah, the interview went well. The very next day, I got a call back and they were interested! Yippeee. The rest was history-lah! Lega....

Now, I'm on a week break until I get back on the corporate wagon. New job, new pay, new opportunity. Insya'allah, I hope things will work out well for me which at the end of the day, would do good for my lil family. As a matter of fact, new crib for me... new beginning for me, hubs and my boys. Insya'allah, here's hoping for a brighter future for the Zefferins!

Frustation indeed!

Today hubs went to our house at Nusa Rhu for a meet (or 'bashing' session)with our contractor. We have been facing numerous problem with this Mr S and we've had enough of his lame excuses. Everytime we made plans to meet with him, he would blow us off at the LAST minute and it was just SOOO frustating. Finally we decided to terminate him and get another contractor. But then, considering that he has not finished his assigned work, we opt to keep him until he completes them all. Until we are satisfied with the outcome, no payment shall be made!

I guess hubs did a good job of 'bashing' him this morning as he promised to complete everything by end of the week. GOOD! At least now I can plan when to move things in the house... right after giving it a good clean.

One thing I was disappointed on was that I specifically told him to move the drainage bit in the kitchen (as it would be under the kitchen cabinet, and might pose a problem if it gets clogged) to outside of the house. This was before the kitchen cabinets were to be installed. But then the contractor TOTALLY forgot about it and the drainage remains. To cut the story short, after lots of arguments... and apologies from Mr S, he will do what he was told to do and complete it by end of the week. Thank God that I didn't have to get the kitchen installer to uninstall the kitchen cabinets (I would have killed myself if we were to resort to that!).

So, I hope my visit to Nusa Rhu tomorrow will be a good and satisfied one. I shall now sleep in peace *winks*

Me... The Next Nigella?

Tomorrow, my kitchen cabinets will be installed and I can't wait to see the results. It should be fabulous since I've spent quite a sum for it. Man, I remembered scouting for the perfect kitchen cabinet company, manufacturers..whatever you call em for quite some time until I finally chose this particular one. The service was also good and quick. Hubs and I thought long and hard on the design, what wood to use, what kind of table top would be suitable, blah blah. Alhamdulillah, we are happy with the end result well at least not until tomorrow.

Hehehe, I'm taking the day off from work tomorrow to especially supervise the installing works. I just hope it won't take up the whole day as I have the urge of going window curtain shopping. So many things to do! Maybe, if I have the time, I'd stop by IKEA and see how good the SALE is. Oh, reminds me that I need to check on lightings for the house.

On top of it all, I hope we could move in pretty soon. I can't wait to be the domestic goddess of my own home. Heheheh.

Mi Casa

Our crib is all done with the renovation (nothing spectacular, just some nip and tuck here and there) and it’s time for the furnishing to set in. I really have no idea when we will be moving in but the Zefferins surely hope it’s anytime soon. We’ve got people to do the kitchen and wardrobe fittings but the execution is yet to start. Yep, we are moving rather slow but we want to make sure that everything goes smoothly and carefully thought of. Oh yes, money is also tight so we need to prioritize well. Insya’allah, good things come to people who waits (I would like to think so :) )

It’s really hard sometimes when you are not staying by yourself especially when you have your own family. Not that I don’t appreciate all the help that I can get (especially the part of taking care of my kids while hubs and I are at work) but it can get taxing at times that makes you want to scream! Sigh. I realize that living on your own would be more tiring and more challenging but if I don’t go through it, I wouldn’t know for myself, would I? Let’s see the pros and cons:

PROS
1.We get to achieve our own independence (yep, even at 30 y.o.. hahahah)
2.We get to design our place the way we want it to be (I have always loved to own my dream kitchen – though not much of a dream considering the space but at least I get to claim it MINE, MINE!)
3.Hubs and I get to bring up our kids OUR way without any direct intervention (sikit-sikit boleh lah but kalau dah lebih-lebih tu, sakit hati jer ;p)
4.I get to cook meals for my family (guilty – I don’t cook as often as I would like, heck sometimes I don’t cook at all since my mom is the boss of the kitchen and she has her ways)
5.Weekends would be an excuse for us not to wake up soo early and not feel guilty about it..teehee
6.There would be lots of space to put our ever-growing stuff into our new home (our things back at Mom’s dah melimpah ruah!)
7.The kids get to play at the nearby playground without having to worry about crossing any roads (the community is great!)
8.Our house is sort of in between Mom’s and MIL’s so it would not be a problem sending them kids over


CONS
1.Might have to resort to employing a maid to help with the housework. People close to me know very well that I don’t prefer to have a maid. Not that I think I’m a SUPERMOM but I just have an eerie feeling when it comes to this people. How laa?
2.We would have probably spent a BOMB for the house (but it’d be worth it) so tak boleh la nak spent lavishly sangat (not that I do pun). Well, not for a couple of months anyway…hehhehe

Having said that, I hope the moving bit will be anytime soon. Please pray for us. Ooooh, and I am also looking forward in having a house warming cum Aqiqah for Harith in our house. Would be so fabulous! Okay now, back to work!

Better safe than sorry

I had a scare last Saturday night as I was nursing my son. I felt pain on the lower part of my left breast. Sorta felt like a lump but it was hard and seemed like connected to the muscle tissue. I was worried. What does this mean? Looking at lil Harith snugly positioned next to me, many many thoughts came rushing into my mind. For a person who has been fit as a fiddle all my life, I began to think of the worst. In my family, both from my mom and dad’s side, as far as I’m concerned, nobody has ever been diagnosed of any serious illness. I think by this time, you guys must already know what sort of illness I’m referring to – Let’s just not mention it.

What would be the best way of me getting quick info on this newfound revelation at 11pm at night than surfing the net for answers! There I was, searching every possible websites for symptoms, causes, risks.. you name it! Although from articles that I read, ‘Breastfeeding can offset the increase of breast c*nc*r faced by women who have their first baby after they turn 25’, anything is possible in this modern age. Thanks to the pollution, our food consumption, lifestyle etc. I just hope that I don’t have to be dealing with a worst-case scenario considering that my kids are still small and they need my undying love, devotion and attention. Oh man, this can’t be happening!

I quickly ran downstairs to my hubby who was busy working on his lappie. Told him my predicament and he was surprised although maintained very calm. He quickly went into the net to find for answers. He could see I was very worried but told me not to worry too much and try to get some sleep. How could I? I need answers badly and going into the net for it just wasn’t helping! I figured, going nuts about it would not help either so, I did what hubs told me to and only then make an appointment with my gynae the next day.

Woke up early in the morning to the sounds of sweet Harith stretching and cooing. After Subuh prayer, I recited the doa a lil longer than my usual routine and hoped for a happy ending to this situation I’m in. Hubs told me that (from what he gathered last night through the net), my symptoms could only be a minor infection that is common among nursing mothers. Okay, that is good news.. I mean, that is inevitably curable through medication. But I’m not about to rest on my laurels until I see a Dr.

Unfortunately, I was not able to meet my gynae in the morning, as her schedule was tight so I opt to see her later that night. The whole day I was fidgety although my boys kept me on my toes that made me forget about my problem. I went on as usual, nursing my son (did feel slight tenderness whenever he suckled) throughout the day, hoping that the problem would subside. But it didn’t and I became very anxious. Even so, I managed to nap with my boys till late evening, and then went to the pasar malam.

The time came for me to meet with my gynae and expressed my concerns to her. Hubs and my boys tagged along (I guess for moral support) and they waited patiently while Dr D had me checked. She used the ultrasound method and checked thoroughly. Emotions running wild just looking at the monitor while she scanned for abnormalities. There it was. There was a blockage or should I say some congested milk in my b***st. Dr D was surprised at how much milk I’m producing so she said this is common. The funny thing is that, I’ve always made sure that my son drains my br***t to the very last drop and I’ve never had any problems since Harith was born and even when I was bf my eldest. I guess it is sort of a wake up call for me to ‘not take things for granted?’ Whatever it was, I am so GLAD that it was a blocked duct and nothing serious. Alhamdulillah.

So Dr D gave me some hard-core antibiotics and pills for the swelling and told me to massage the affected area with a warm towel. Things would go back to normal in no time. I was elated (although the bill was pretty pricey)! Alhamdulillah.

My advice for nursing mommies out there, don’t forget to continue having your breast examined as often as you can, be it by the Dr or by yourself. We should not take things for granted and we must always take care of our health and well being.

What Is A Blocked Or Plugged Duct?
The milk is produced in the alveoli of the
breast. This flows down the milk ducts and collects under the dark portion of
the breast called the areola. Sometimes, thickened milk may block a particular
duct. The milk starts collecting behind this obstruction and this leads to the
formation of a hard lump. In case of only a blocked duct, the mother does not
have any fever and looks otherwise well.A blocked duct must be treated.
Otherwise, infection can set in, leading to mastitis and breast abscess. In
mastitis, a portion of the breast feels hot, swollen and becomes painful. In an
abscess, the swelling, when examined, appears to be full of fluid.A lump due to
a blocked duct should be gently massaged towards the nipple to help empty that
part of the breast. The baby should be fed more frequently from that breast. If
you have been feeding lying down (which is otherwise correct), try feeding in a
sitting position. You can also try holding the baby under your arm, instead of
across the front. All this may help to remove milk more efficiently from the
blocked segment of the breast.