shmontel

Macam Tonga! But it’s not made of cotton, it’s made...

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:12:00 +0800

Macam Tonga!

But it’s not made of cotton, it’s made of nylon (??donno the name of the material), the exact material like the netting at netball rim tu!

(looking at the dressing of the model mommy, why do i feel that this product is from the 80s?!)

Wishlist : Nursery Rocker

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:08:00 +0800

When Sarah was 3-4 weeks old, she was a very colicky baby. Besides Infacol, the only thing that sooth her is for me to hug her close to my chest and rocked ourselves back and forth till she fell asleep. Every night. For 2 weeks at least. And the backache that I have to bear afterwards…no need for me to describe lah.

Since colic is common in a newborn, i feel that it’s better for me to be prepared for its recurrence during my confinement period next month. If there’s no other way to calm the baby, at least there must be a better way for the mommy to be comfortable while comforting the baby, right? (wah…..so obvious ayat ada udang di sebalik batu!)

To cut things short, I want a rocking chair!

I wish to have a comfy-upholstered-grandma-like rocking chair like the very empuk Carl Fredricksen and Ellie’s sofa in the movie Up. I can imagine myself snuggling with the baby with kakak Sarah menyendeng on my lap while the daddy happily conquer the big bed. Hehe.

And a few days ago, I found this picture of this beautiful nursery, plus there’s that very empuk rocking chair that I want!!! i like! Malaysian people of the internet, tell me pleeassee, tell me where can I find this rocking chair here. I don’t dare to step in those high end furniture shop, too scared that I’ll find something nice but of course giler expensive. Otherwise, the furniture sold out there seems to shout the word UGLY plus they are not-that-cheap too! ~~Do I hear the word ‘KIASU!’?~~

Oh well, I might end up with this Poang rocking chair from where else. Tested it before, it does rocks well , and quite comfy (or the comfy part might be because the one i tested made of the more premium cover *hoho*). At least it serves the purpose (to rock), unlike the Lillberg rocking chair that I used to fancy. Not anymore after i tried it out in person, not fit to be called a rocking chair at all!

Note: How come my ‘HAVEN’T BOUGHT YET’ items in my baby-shopping-list are left with all the expensive ones? Erk!

Cutenesss mommy & baby costume! (looks like the baby costume...

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:28:13 +0800

Cutenesss mommy & baby costume! (looks like the baby costume can be worn together with a baby carrier don’t u think?)

Tiki-Tiki Room. Sarah’s still grooving to this tune from...

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:57:41 +0800

Tiki-Tiki Room.

Sarah’s still grooving to this tune from her concert performance last week. Hope that we can have the video of the concert soon! ;)

Being a mother : By unknown Author

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:28:48 +0800

We are sitting at lunch when my daughter casually mentions that she and her husband are thinking of ’starting a family.’
‘We’re taking a survey,’ she says, half-joking. ‘Do you think I should have a baby?’
‘It will change your life,’ I say, carefully keeping my tone neutral.
‘I know,’ she says, ‘no more sleeping in on weekends, no more spontaneous vacations….’
But that is not what I meant at all.
I look at my daughter, trying to decide what to tell her. I want her to know what she will never learn in childbirth classes. I want to tell her that the physical wounds of child bearing will heal, but that becoming a mother will leave her with an emotional wound so raw that she will forever be vulnerable.
I consider warning her that she will never again read a newspaper without asking ‘What if that had been MY child?’
That every plane crash, every house fire will haunt her. That when she sees pictures of starving children, she will wonder if anything could be worse than watching your child die.
I look at her carefully manicured nails and stylish suit and think that no matter how sophisticated she is, becoming a mother will reduce her to primitive level of a bear protecting her cub.
That an urgent call of ‘Mom!’ will cause her to drop a soufflé or her best crystal without a moment’s hesitation. I feel I should warn her that no matter how many years she has invested in her career, she will be professionally derailed by motherhood.
She might arrange for child care but one day she will be going into an important business meeting and she will think of her baby’s sweet smell. She will have to use every ounce of her discipline to keep her from running home, just to make sure her baby is all right.
I want my daughter to know that everyday decisions will no longer be routine. That a five year old boy’s desire to go to the men’s room rather than the women’s at McDonald’s will become a major dilemma.
That right there, in the midst of clattering trays and screaming children, issues of independence and gender identity will be weighed against the prospect that a child molester may be lurking in that rest-room.
However she may be at the office, she will second-guess herself constantly as a mother. Looking at my attractive daughter, I want to assure her that eventually she will shed the pounds of pregnancy, but she will never feel the same about herself.
That her life, now so important, will be of less value to her once she has a child.
That she would give it up in a moment to save her offspring, but will also begin to hope for more years - not to accomplish her own dreams, but to watch her child accomplish theirs.
I want her to know that a Cesarean scar or shiny stretch marks will become badges of honor. My daughter’s relationship with her husband will change,
but not in the way she thinks..
I wish she could understand how much more you can love a man who is careful to powder the baby or who never hesitates to play with his child.
I think she should know that she will fall in love with him again for reasons she would now find very unromantic.
I wish my daughter could sense the bond she will feel with women throughout history who have tried to stop war, prejudice and drunk driving. I hope she will understand why I can think rationally about most issues, but become temporarily insane when I discuss the threat of nuclear war to my children’s future.
I want to describe to my daughter the exhilaration of seeing your child learn to ride a bike.
I want to capture for her the belly laugh of a baby who is touching the soft fur of a dog or a cat for the first time.
I want her to taste the joy that is so real, it actually hurts.
My daughter’s quizzical look makes me realize that tears have formed in my eyes.
‘You’ll never regret it,’ I finally say.
Then I reach across the table, squeeze my daughter’s hand and offer a silent prayer for her, and for me, and for all of the mere mortal women who stumble their way into this most wonderful of callings.
This blessed gift from Allah!
Being a Mother.

[Taken from a comment from this article from this wonderful blog. I can’t believe it took me so long to discover this great blog!]

I feel like eating candy jelly lengkong after looking at this...

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:00:40 +0800

I feel like eating ~~candy~~ ~~jelly~~ lengkong after looking at this pic of kid-friendly Sport and Leisure Center in Saint-Cloud, France. Yummy.

The REAL Facebook

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:44:20 +0800

Sarah: Mana Qaisarah punya facebook?
Daddy: Ha? fish book?
Sarah: Qaisarah punya FACEEE-BOOK
Daddy: Fish food?
Sarah: Facebook lah!
Daddy: Qaisarah punya Facebook? You already have a Facebook account? Wow! (Puzzled actually)
Sarah: Qaisarah punya buku muka tu.....
Mama: (Puzzled. Lookking at daddy) She said BUKU MUKA. Isn't that Facebook?
Daddy: (Puzzled)
Sarah: Qaisarah punya facebook tu lah. Buku ada muka Qaisarah-baby banyak-banyak tu.
Daddy: Owh....you mean your PHOTO ALBUM!!!!!
Mama: (Dah tak boleh tahan gelak dah time ni, ROTFLMAO!!!....mcm tahu2 je mama seharian semalam melayan Facebook! *kantoi*!!)

Prewash Day 1 of my CD ‘starter pack’ that consists...

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 18:01:00 +0800

Prewash Day 1 of my CD ‘starter pack’ that consists of 2 AIO, 4 OS pocket diapers and 2 fitted diapers :)

Pregnancy massage

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:59:00 +0800

For this pregnancy, i had a craving to ‘pamper’ myself. Probably i shouldn’t call it a craving, because at 2nd trimester, i actually felt that that the baby already pushing my pelvic bone till i find it hard to lie down & get up *tsk tsk*. FYI, i had the same experience when carrying Sarah but it started only at mid of 3rd trimester! And this time around, it began during my honeymoon trimester *gaaahhh*! It would get worse if during the day i had a site work - got to walk & climb in those heavy safety boots. So, obviously I really DO need that massage!! [UPDATED: it’s called Pelvic Girdle Pain. Do i need to be prepared for giving birth in kneeling/upright position? *whoaaa*!]

[unrelated photo: spot my feet! ;P]

Fellow friends suggested several spas that have therapist specializing in massage during pregnancy (bukan mak bidan yang urut betulkan position baby/uri whatsoever tu ya. Just a relaxing massage to calm the mommy. Mommy feels good, so do will the baby! *wink*). Tried to go to Nona Roguy TTDI on a Sunday but they were closed that time, heard about Urban Retreat in The Curve but that was during the H1N1 superpanic period which i tried to limit myself from going to shopping complexes. And apparently Clearwater Sanctuary not so far from my kampung in Perak offer the same service too! But balik kampung pun setahun sekali (and for 2.5 days only *sigh*), so i don’t think that would be a good idea. (owh, just discoverd Vila Manja too has massage therapy for preggers, niceee! *wink*wink*WINK* to mr.Daddy ;)))) )

Luckily, at the Parenthood Expo last August, i came accross Mother2Baby by Rustic Nirvana. Asked them about prenatal massage service… and guess what, they have that + the massage centre is sooo near to my PIL’s place which is in Jaya One + they had a trial offer for RM28/hour. Read again: Twenty Eight Ringgit ONLY Per Hour! What a deal! Foot massage at Thai Odyssey (not when i’m preg of course) pun cost me errr, about RM55/hour if i’m not mistaken. Or if i would have to bribe mr.Daddy to massage me for an hour, i bet it would cost me at least RM100 *haha*.

So i scheduled the massage session at Mother2Baby spa during the week long raya holiday, that was in my 28th week gestation. The period allowed for the massage is between 20 to 32 weeks of pregnancy. So, the timing was just nice. What can i say, it felt so gooooooood and i like the smell of the massage oil they use in spas….so soothing! I’m so glad i got the chance to pamper myself :), I’m one happy mommy!

[unrelated photo: one of the non-18SX pics from our honeymoon. Bali is synonym to spas don’t u think so? ;)]

—-Self note for massage during pregnancy: Massage at legs except the feet (i guess that’s because there’s a reflexology point that can trigger preterm contraction *o_O*), gentle stroke at lower back, bantai hardcore massage at the shoulder *aaaa…best best…*. oh, and of course, as my obgyn said “as long as the therapist don’t touch the tummy area..!”, hehe, yes of course the therapist didn’t touch my tummy. Let the obgyn handle that if necessary, yah?—-

Have you had a massage during pregnancy? Where did you go?

Origami inspired expandable maternity dress (Read: you can wear...

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:21:00 +0800

Origami inspired expandable maternity dress (Read: you can wear this forever!) Anyone? ;)

Sarah had shown some symptoms in sibling rivalry lately, one of...

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:32:00 +0800

Sarah had shown some symptoms in sibling rivalry lately, one of it was when we were discussing on buying a new bed/cot:

Me: Sarah, do you want a new bed? Mama&daddy buy u a new bigger bed ok?
Sarah: Yes
Me: Then you can give this small old bed of yours to baby adik, ok?
Sarah: Tapi ni Qaisarah punya katil!

….o_O….

Yesterday, when browsing through a catalog of baby essentials with her, she insisted on having one of those infant cot too. You mean we need to buy TWO new beds? Oh no!

pic[via]

Raya!

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:15:35 +0800

Sarah was having lotsa fun in my kampung in Perak , running back & forth between the rumah ibu and rumah dapur in my late grandparents’ traditional rumah Melayu (if my opah is still around, confirm kena sound sbb ‘beghambat’ atas rumah!). She was even more ~~hyper~~ excited at the spacious compound, running round & round & around us…nak snap family photo pun susah…haihh!

Back in KL, we had a few open house invitations (& weddings!), and went for our 1st open house cum bday party last Sunday. Thank you to the host for having us. Piccas? - just hope that other g.u.e.s.t.s & the host update some lah. This is the best i have *boohoo* .Anyway Happy 2nd Birthday Haiqal!

"Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri 1430!"

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 02:19:07 +0800

“Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri 1430!”

- Maaf Zahir Batin from me (Mye), mr.Daddy (Kamal) & Sarah. It’s 2.15a.m. now & we’re heading up to Perak in a while. Have a wonderful raya y’all! :D

Daddy's lil koala

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 07:36:58 +0800

Hopped to Snuggbaby a while ago & just realized i haven’t blogged about mr.Daddy’s new pouch sling!

I’ve been wanting to buy him a pouch for quite a while because it’s the simplest/easiest type of sling (he tried RS before but the rings annoyed him after a while :P) and carrying a growing toddler can be quite tiresome even for a muscular daddy *heh*. Being a Steve Jobs mr.Daddy is, i found it difficult to find a pouch sling with colour combination that suits his ‘taste’ (if you can call wearing plain black tshirt & blue jeans everyday as a fashion statement ;) ). So as i was browsing thru Sakura Bloom’s site, i find this black & beige RS on that model daddy (who might be Steve Jobs, who knows?) was quite appealing. And neat. And not gay. Awesome!

So 2 weeks ago we went all the way to Bukit Jelutong to meet Liz who custom made for us a pouch sling from the luxurious Belgian linen inspired by that Sakura Bloom RS. And the Belgian linen, surprisingly, is so soft and comfy! (unlike my linen shirts: rough & scratchy, *urgh*).

There you go, i’m officially jealous. I so really need to have a sling for myself now. 3 months to go before the arrival of the new edition! *shopping cepat!*

Love this pic (tapi xreti buat colour correction, black seem bluey here, sorry) : really shows the true colours of my loved ones! (oh come on daddy, tak lari Twitter dikejar! LOL)

Myself & I

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 22:14:50 +0800

Myself & I

Nursing cover clips

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:21:09 +0800

I remember that one of my failure in exclusively breastfeeding Sarah was i didn’t have enough ‘equipment’ in bf-ing her in public. Nursing bras: “asalkan ada”, nursing clothes: “apa tu?”, nursing cover: mr.Daddy kan ada to cover me up…but how? like he had to pose like a GD in netball team everytime ppl started to stare at me? Uhuh. Therefore, this time around, i tried my best to have all the backups i need to at least give me some emotional support in my next bf-ing journey. Bought some nursing bras at FM recently, still looking around for nursing clothes, and nursing cover? oh my oh my, for a simple piece of cloth that’ll be hanging around my neck, nursing covers can be quite expensive! (ok la….so i am picky picky as i was scouting for nursing cover with yummilicious patterns which usually are made from designer fabrics :P. heh )

[pic via]

Well, I later found out that another alternative other than buying a nursing cover was to actually buy just the nursing cover clips. Scouting at Etsy for the clips, i was still not satisfied with the price! I know la they’re handmade with love, but the clips look soooo simple i honestly think that you don’t need any crafting skill at all to make it!

Thank goodness to further googling, I decided to make the nursing cover clips myself, thanx to kind people who like to share diy tutorial on the net. And all i need to make my own nursing cover are:

Baby blanket (I use Sarah’s baby blanket that’s ~~lusuh~~ ~~already~~ well ‘broken-in’, hopefully it’ll be most comfortable for the baby!)
2 Clips (Recycled from nametags of the conferences that i attended before)
Ribbon (Matching ribbon, adjusted to be 12” long clip to clip)
Buttons etc for embelishments

After some ribbon tying and buttons hot-gluing and blanket clipping, it’s time to try it with the lil one! In this case, she’s a biG baby, hehe…

Awww… so this is what they call mother-child bonding eh?

-Need some oxygen in the study room- Now i remember what’s...

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:30:07 +0800

-Need some oxygen in the study room-

Now i remember what’s missing in ~~mr.Daddy’s office~~ our study/play room = GREENs!! Kayla, need your expertise here — i need a low maintenance plant (read: can live longer than 3 months ~~under the care of my not-very-green-fingers~~ la please…), any suggestions„anybody?

[pic via]

Yesterday we went to Fabulous Mom in TTDI (great discounts in...

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 14:06:00 +0800

Yesterday we went to Fabulous Mom in TTDI (great discounts in conjuction with the expo!) and saw this newborn onesie written “Party at my crib at 3a.m.” heh.

We will definitely have an allnite year-end party this year and i certainly don’t mind about that because i’ll be on (maternity) leave (read: no rush). But how will i cope when i start working again and i have to manage Sarah (always taking her own sweet time to shower & all), the baby (aiyo, must wake the baby up so early meh?) & myself (tudung pun tak gosok lagi) in the morning and make sure that i come to work on time?!!

[pic via]

Toddler crafting using scissors

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:50:00 +0800

Do you know there’s such thing as plastic scissors? I mean, the blades are made from plastic! When I found this scissors at Kinokuniya recently, I really thought “THIS IS A.W.E.S.O.M.E.! Blades m.a.d.e.o.f plastic. *WoW*!” Since it’s made of plastic, the scissors can ONLY cut papers, and not your LO’s lil finger, nor her hair (nak simpan panjang2 for Hari Raya *wink*), nor her pretty dresses. What a great way to introduce some craft projects to the lil one, such as………………. d.i.y. paper pinwheels!!!

Sarah loves pinwheels! Everyday on our way back from work/school, we would pass by a house where the owner put a few colouful pinwheels at his garden/playground and Sarah will go “Tu playground cantik-cantik ada ‘fffuhhhh’!” (read: ‘fffuhhh’=pinwheels i.e. the action of blowing the pinwheel. ;) )

Eventhough Sarah likes pinwheels so much, we never succumb into buying those beautiful ~~factory made~~ colourful pinwheel sold at the magazine shops ~~because we are cheapskate parents of course.~~ So this paper pinwheel tutorial from ohdeedoh is such a wonderful way for me to give Sarah her own pinwheels. The materials to make these paper pinwheels are easily found at home, *wallah*! We only need:

square paper scraps about 12cmx12cm (we use scraps of wrapping paper. Tried to use scrapbook papers but the paper was too heavy it didn’t want to spin when we blow ‘em)
pencils with erasers (you need the eraser to pin the ‘fan’). Sarah took her Mak Su’s pencils prior any permission. heh.
push-pins (normal office pins, where the needle is shorter so that it will not go through to the other side of the pencil’s eraser)
and of course, scissors! Sarah was very patient with her hand-eyes coordination skill to cut the papers. It’s quite a task for her, but she never complains!

and Sarah went “fffuhhh”!!!

Hehe.

I think we need to do more craft projects since we cannot go out to the malls on weekend for quite some time….*sigh*. Virus virus go away!!

Postpartum preparation : Gorgeous overnight/maternity...

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 22:34:09 +0800

Postpartum preparation : Gorgeous overnight/maternity reusable sanitary pads.

Gorgeoussssss sangat!!!!!!!!!!! *happytears*««