Little castle

finally

2010-11-19T16:08:00.000-08:00

Finally, my dear hubby completed his study and he had passed his membership in oral surgery royal college of surgeon edinburgh. After all the sacrifices that we had put in... finally his coming back for good and hopefully we can stay together as a family should be and give our full attention to our family especially the kids. And thank you God for making our wish comes true.
Congratulations dear. I'm really proud of you... and WELCOME HOME MR SURGEON!

Darwisya's New Habit

2010-08-23T01:07:00.000-07:00

Recently (dah dekat 2 bulan) I noticed Darwisya has a habit. Nail biting! urgh..... I noticed it when she attended her school's sports day somewhere in Jun. At that time she was standing under a tent with her friends while waiting for their turn to play. Luckily I was sitting exactly in front of the tent so that i can see her. Or else until now, I may not know that she has the nail biting habit.

Well talking about nail biting based on my limited knowledge, habit can be from nail biting, thumb sucking, hair twirling etc. and there are many reason why children develop their 'habit'. The commonest is because thay are anxiou, nervous, feel boring but there are children who develop their habit without any reason; it is just they like to do it! And I think Darwisya develop her habit because of anxiety and boring.

Luckily Darwisya's habit is still not so bad to extend that it ruined her nails. And I want her to stop her habit before it gets worse. Some people say, most habits disappear by the time a child reaches school age. But I don't want to wait for another 2 years for her to outgrow the habit. So how to stop it? First I always told her that nail biting is not a good habit, it's unhygienic and it can ruined her nails. Darwisya is very lady-like and she loves beauty so probably she can accept my reasoning :P. Whenever I saw her doing her habit, I will quickly distract her with other things.

Hopefully it works and Darwisya is free from her nail biting habit soon.

And the tantrums begin.......

2010-08-17T19:47:00.000-07:00

As a parent, for sure we will come to the phase whereby our little one started throwing tantrums. And now, my little Damia @ adik @ kak ngah has started showing off her 'talent'. I think it is one of the most 'challenging' , distressing episode in the life cycle of a parent. Nobody will never experience it... I guess. xtaulah kot2 ada 'super-baik' baby yang xde langsung temper tantrums. Sama ada mild tantrum ke severe tantrums, mesti ada jugak.

My daughter will throw tantrums whenever she didn't get what she want. Dulu nangis je.... skarang dah pandai golek2 atas lantai, menjerit2, tendang abis segala apa yg ada depan dia, siap baling2 barang yg ada. Ganas jugak budak ni.... What I normally do? Just let her cry or scream or do what ever she want as long as the surrounding is safe. Meaning that no possible injury can happen to her. And this is what I did with Darwisya when she was small.

Is it normal for a child to develop tantrum? Yes, it is. So parents out there, do not worry too much ok. A tantrum is a normal response as they do not know other ways to express their anger or frustration. And most of them age 1-4.

How do we overcome tantrums? These techniques were taken from a website
1) ignore the tantrums. (This is what I did) And make sure they didn't harm themselves
2) help them dealing with anger and frustration. For a bigger child who could understand probably this will help but of course not for a young child like Damia
3) Pay attention to what triggers the tantrums. It can help us act before their emotions get past the point

Most children will grow out of having temper tantrums. With time, most children learn healthy ways to handle the strong emotions that can lead to temper tantrums. Children who still have tantrums after the age of 4 may need help learning to deal with anger. If tantrums continue or start during the school years, they may be a sign of other issues, such as learning problems or trouble getting along with other children.

Please don't scold them whenever they are throwing tantrums. I admit at times I did scold them but at the end of the day, I regret. I always remind myself not to show off my anger in front of them and always be calm but am just an ordinary human being. Of course I do make mistakes. But I strongly hope that it is not too late for them to learn a good attitude and manners.

For my little darling Damia, it's ok for you to show off your tantrums now. Hopefully you will understand and learn a better way to express your anger or frustration later on. But don't take too long dear coz mama xlarat nak tengok Damia mengamuk macam tu. Love you!

Ramadhan

2010-08-10T04:24:00.000-07:00

Nothing much different for me in welcoming Ramadhan this year. But this year I want my darling Darwisya to start learning puasa. She is still young, baru 5 tahun tapi rasanya ok kot. My aim is at least dia puasa separuh hari, balik dari sekolah bolehla bukak puasa...:) Nak kejut sahur, rasanya x susah kot sbb dia mmg senang nak bangun. x banyak songeh. Harap anak mama dapat belajar berpuasa dan pengertian puasa sekali untuk tahun ini.

Selamat berpuasa untuk semua. Semoga kita sentiasa mendapat keberkatan dariNya. Amin

Personal experience :)

2010-08-01T22:39:00.000-07:00

I'm still in my confinement period.... Boringnya, x sabar nak habiskan tempoh pantang. Nak kata berpantang, pantang jugaklah tapi not that strict. I do believe some of the do's and dont's after delivery as long as it won't harm myself and of course the baby.

Giving birth is not easy, either normal vaginal delivery or caesarian. Both have an effect on our body physiology. During pregnancy, our body changed a lot.Our body will come back to it's normal body state on it's own. But all the amalan masa berpantang probably will help the recovery process.

All my 3 children were born normal vaginal delivery so I don't have any experience in caesarian. So I could not give any comment about it. Tapi beranak normal mmg ..$%^&##!*& ..... Tuhan saja yg tahu. I didn't take any pain killers during my labor. It's not that I don't want to take an epidural but i'm just unlucky because all my delivery happened after office hour n over the weekend. ( in gov hospital setting, they don't provide epidural at this time) And I think that is why God make woman to bear children not man coz I personally don't think a man can go thru it. I still remember my hubby said after I gave birth to my son " kesian tengok mama beranak tadi..." He accompanied me throughout the process, and I hope he would appreciate all my sacrifices, all the pain that I had gone thru..

Post delivery, there is not much pain but only some discomfort (talking about normal delivery) Bayangkan baby keluar thru the small birth canal, semua sendi2 pinggul jadik longgar. and all the 'pushing' during delivery betul2 buat badan jadi letih. letih bukan mcm lari berkilometer tp lain rasanya. Nak angkat kaki sendiri pun xlarat... sbb tu org beranak kena byk rehat utk recover. During my first 2 delivery, i did'nt wear any traditional bengkung tp kali ni pakai... rupanya mmg best pakai bengkung ni. Kalau ikut lojik, kenapa nk seksa diri pakai bengkung from underbust to mid thigh. nk gi toilet, nk jalan, nk duduk mmg seksa skit. Bengkung actually grip badan yg longgar2 tadi so bila kita nak bergerak xlah rasa lenguh2, rasa berat. Mmg recommended to every mom yg baru lps beranak.

Urut mmg salah satu perkara penting for me selepas beranak... just imagine badan yang letih, lenguh2 diurut.... best giler. Another thing is bertuku.Tuku is a ball-like metal object with a handle. Tapi kalau takde boleh guna batu sungai. After it has been heated, it is wrapped in a cloth and noni leaf, and gently rolled over the abdomen. It is believed to help uterine contraction but I don't think so. I practised bertuku during my confinement because of the comfort. Rasa relaks, selesa lepas bertuku ni. So as long as kita rasa benda tu x memudaratkan, no harm practising right?

Food wise, ada jugak yang pantang. But from medical point of view, xde istilah makanan panas ke sejuk. Semua boleh makan tapi I personally feels ada jugak sesetengah makanan yang kurang elok dimakan oleh orang bersalin coz I have my on personal experience. So it is up to you which one you choose, but the most important thing is a mother needs a balance diet for her own energy and for breastfeeding. So make sure you take a balance diet and drink a lot of water for your own hydration coz we loose a lot of fluid per vaginal n from breastfeeding.Talking about breastfeeding, it really helps in uterine contraction and reduce the risk of postnatal bleeding. Badan pun cepat turun.... I manage to get back to my pre pregnancy weight sebelum habis pantang :)

Apa2pun, the process of getting pregnant, going thru the pregnancy period, giving birth, confinement period and raising a child is not easy. Bukan senang nak jadi seorang ibu.... To all husband outside there, please appreciate your mother and of course your wife for all of their sacrifices. And if you have a chance to accompany your wife throughout the delivery process, please do. Coz you won't understand until you experience and see it with your own eyes. Tapi jangan pulak suami collapse dlm delivery room nanti... ;P

Having a new child is like signing a contract with God, to raise them as a good muslim or muslimah. And hope I can do the best that I could to raise my kids.

my darling

2010-07-21T00:45:00.000-07:00

I am now a mother of 3.....
darwisya nadia ahmad fahmi
damia hayfa ahmad fahmi
rizqi zaidani ahmad fahmi

Thank you Allah for giving me chance to be a mother
Thank you papa for giving me a chance to be a mother to our children

Long time....

2010-06-19T01:21:00.000-07:00

I have not been blogging for quite a long time.... it is not that i don't have any stories to tell but I am just too tired of arranging things lately. plus malas, plus internet broadband yg mmg lemb*p.... i can't even upload any post! teruk kan!

Yes.... I am very very very very very tired. Now everything seems to be settling, still not 100% yet. A lot of new things happened since we move back to KL, Darwisya dah sekolah, renovation rumah completed, my transfer to Selangor approved 1st july and maid pun dah sampai. Alhamdulillah.... walaupun byk dugaan tapi settle jugak semuanya.

Now waiting for my third baby to come out.... Currently am @ 36weeks, a month to my due date. ultrasound scan showed that am having a baby boy! Alhamdulillah, hopefully it is not wrong. now he is kicking my tummy, maybe he is telling me "yes mummy, i am a boy..." :)

volcano! volcano!

2010-01-25T02:06:00.001-08:00

Darwisya really enjoy watching Hi-5 either in nickelodeon channel or in youtube. She learn a lot of english vocabulary here. One of her favorite segment was with kathleen (one of the member of the old Hi-5 team) She had been asking me to make a volcano just like kathleen did in the program. As i was cleaning and sorting things out in the kitchen, I gathered all the used cooking ingredients to make a volcano with her. After all, we will be moving back to KL so might as well I just finished the ingredients by making the volcano rather than throwing it away.

To make the volcano, all we need are bicarb soda, vinegar, red coloring and for the volcano, i just put a small round cup on top of 'lesung batu' then cover it with aluminium foil. creative huh?! hehehe

So these are the things that we need, check out the top of the volcano! It's actually one of Darwisya's cooking pot toy. The Volcano did not look like a real volcano though... :P

Ready? Here we go....

First, fill up the top container with bicarb soda

Then, pour in some colored vinegar slowly and see the bubbles coming out!

Add some more bicarb soda for more bubbles! wow...!

While pouring the colored vinegar, Darwisya was singing the song that Kathleen sang during her show. I recorded it but unfortunately I can't upload the complete file and only half of it been uploaded and saved... so sad. sorry guys :(
(You can checked in you tube, Kathleen's Volcano video)

poo poo...

2010-01-20T17:11:00.000-08:00

My darling mia is having problem with her poo poo.... she likes to hold whenever she feels like it. Ended up her stool became hard. This constipation problem had been going on for the past 3-4 months, on and off. Aiyoo... at times i feel like am a 'no good' mom coz i can't over come this problem. Really i feel like i'm a failure.... Her sister did not have any problem with her bowel habit when she was small. Yup, not every kid is the same. You might have no problem with your kids now but probably you can with your subsequent one.

Probably before this she had a bad poo poo experience now making her feels that poo poo is very unpleasant, very painful, very.... whatever description it is. That makes the habit of holding it. She will cry and scream her throat out whenever she has bowel motion. She will make all sort of actions to hold it; stiffen her legs, sitting in knee-chest position etc. It's like a vicious cycle, even if her stool is soft but when she holds it and refuse to poo poo, the stool will later became hard and more difficult and painful to come out.

Diet? She had no problem with her diet. basically she eats what we eat provided the foods are good for her. She eats vegetables(green leafy vege), she likes fruits especially apples and grapes, she likes raisin very much she can even finish a small box of raisin in one sitting, she likes cereals and oats, she drinks juices (oranges or apple) about 20z per day, she likes nuts (cashew, almond, peanut), she still on breastfeeding but still the problem is there. Kid who is on breast milk rarely constipate because breast milk is easily to digest and does not contain complex particle unlike cow's milk. Banana does not help in treating constipation. (many people get this wrong!). Cheese n milk products especially from cows milk may worsen the problem. Soy milk is good but Mia doesn't like it. Her fluid intake is good and adequate based on her urine output n color. So i guess diet wise, she is ok.

You know why this problem is still there? Because it is her HABIT! and it is really difficult to break it! Now she is on daily medicine (stool softener). It is a magnesium preparation osmotic laxatives that can help to draw fluid into the bowel and soften the stool. It is the safest among other type of laxatives and the most important thing is it does not absorb into the body/bloodstream. Now I need to make sure she pass motion every day with normal soft stool, then slowly wean off the medicine once she feels comfortable with her poo poo. Of course it will take 2-3 months to break the cycle and hope everything would be fine n smooth.

My Damia is different... totally different from her sister. It is really a big challenge for me taking care of her myself. Probably God makes it more challenging just to test me. of course I will try my very best to overcome it but i need some times, i need supports and i do not want criticism. People easily can judge, easily say i should do this, do that, no need this, no need that. They simply don't know how much much effort i had put in. So please keep your words/critics. But sometimes it does not need for you to say it out loud but people can understand and can read your mind by the way you ask or act. Anyway, thanks to all who had give some advice. Really appreciate it! oh dear... I'm a bit over emotional this time... heheh, sorry guys! I'm actually quite stressed up lately, a lot of things to think of.... don't know whether i can face it.

Guess it is very much true... God is testing me :)
"Dear God, please give me some patience n strength... amin"

Magical Day!

2010-01-10T21:45:00.000-08:00

Disneyland Hong Kong... a must go place when you visit hong kong. here are some pics taken during our outing day to the theme park. It was actually our 2nd visit in 1 and a half years of life in Hong Kong. Nothing much to elaborate, let the pics tell everything.... enjoy!

Tengah entertain damia dengan poster mickey mouse sambil tunggu papa amik gambar. Ada pulak photogapher sesat disebelah trying to capture the kids photo.... heheh... kena mintak royalti nih

Sampai je terus ada parade, so layan parade dulu.... mickey mouse and friends. Damia paling suka parade ni coz she got to see all the characters. Darwisya hanya minat the princesses jek. Tapi xdpt nak amik gambar princesses sb diaorg pandang sebelah lain

cute tengok the 7 dwarfs ni menari.... walaupun pada size diaorg bukanlah 'dwarf'

Our little family in front of the sleeping beauty castle... ini mmg port wajib amik gambar kalau dtg disneyland :)

Main Street USA.... jauh di hujung sana ialah the castle. Kiri kanan kedai2 souvenir n kedai makan

Darwisya kena nyanyi lagu 'jingle bells' utk dapat sticker princess.... muka dia dah lain macam. harap2 lepas ni, kakak lebih berani sikit bila masuk school ok!

Salah satu show yg ada, this one is a 3D show. Show nya sama je dgn yg last time kitaorg pergi.... boring! ingatkan time Christmas diaorg tukar la show lain ini x jugak.

sempat posing sementara tunggu turn tgk show. ready with the 3D glasses.... damia belum masuk dah tertido... penat sgt main

This was at adventure land... bot ride keliling tasik. layan jugaklah.

Darwsisya muka cuak naik boat... she still remember the last time kitaorg naik boat. She cried that time sb terkejut tgk binatang2 yg ada. But this time dia x nangis... Damia jugak yg cool. tepuk tangan n babai semua binatang yg ada.

Now darwisya punya time... naik rides. The flying Dumbo

Merry go round

Senja di The Small World... kinda like this pic. xtau nape...

Inside the small world... a boat ride sambil tgk patung2 kecik ni menari2.

Christmas eve in Disneyland... ramai giler manusia sampai x boleh nak gerak. papa agak frust sb xdapat nak amik gambar castle n fireworks. penat je angkut tripod yg berat tu... This was the first time we stayed till night. Overall the kids enjoy themselves, mama and papa penat, duit habis bayar tiket and beli food yg mahal.... tapi as long as the kids are happy, then mama n papa pun happy. Maybe lepas ni dah x dtg lagi sini. Bye!

Play town

2010-01-04T17:54:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we brought the kids to an indoor play area called Playtown in Westwood Plaza, Belcher's Road. Very much better than 'Jumping Gym'. They charged HKD 100 per kid/per entry with free one accompanying adult. Tapi kalau pegi 'happy hour' dapat HKD 50 je... from 7pm till 9pm. So of course la kitaorg opt for 'happy hour'... jimat duit! the place was really nice, comfortable for the kids and parents. Both my little girls really enjoy playing there

susah giler nak dapat main kereta ni. ramai sgt budak2 plus at the same time somebody was having a birthday party there

kakak kena tolak adik sebab adik xpandai tolak dgn kaki sendiri

damia enjoy playing at her play area... specially for kids under 3

game favorite darwisya n papa... tembak2. mula2 kena kutip bola dulu

kemudian masuk bola dlm senapang tu n tembak!!!!!

Damia berenang dlm ball pool.

Panjat atas untuk naik slide. dekat sini nak panjat, panjat la sesuka hati damia. kat rumah jangan nak panjat2 sangat

Again, at Damia's play area. ada banyak toys for the kids to play. All still functioning... bukan yang dah rosak.

Darwisya pretending to drive damia to school

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010

2009-12-31T06:04:00.000-08:00

Comments from pYzam.com

In just few hours we will be in a new year... welcome 2010 and sayonara 2009. Leaving 2009 makes me wonder, all the beautiful/ enjoyable/unforgettable/unpleasant/sad moments and experiences that I have gone thru. Does 2009 really change me to a better person or I am just the same old person? I guess I'm pretty much the same 'me', maybe some improvement in my cooking skills...heheh. The opportunity of being a full time house wife teaches me a lot. Staying with the kids at home, raising them myself, spending 24hour of my time with them had turned me to a better mum... i guess but NOT perfect. Better in terms of understanding the kids feeling, their thoughts, their interest etc. And I think I have done everything the best I could to be a better wife too.

For this coming 2010, I hope I can face all the upcoming challenges. First of all, I will be back to work after a long holiday, raising up my 2 kids and at the same time expecting a new one :) without dear hubby by my side, waiting for the completion of our house renovation and get ready to move in, darwisya starting her preschool, dear hubby finishing his Master and the most important thing is probably 2010 will be the time for a major change in my career path. Really hope that everything will go on smoothly...

For this coming 2010, I hope I will be a better person... to Allah The Al-Mighty, I will never skip/ miss my solat, a better wife to my darling hubby, a better mummy to my lovely kids, a better daughter/in-law to my parents/in-law, a better sister to my siblings/in-laws, a better aunt, a better friend... better in everything. I just want to be better because I know I can't be perfect.

Last but not least, happy new year to all of you and may all of our wishes come true
Amin...

Jumping Gym USA

2009-12-23T01:13:00.000-08:00

It is like our routine, weekend is our outing day. We will go anywhere; either out for lunch or shopping(most of the time window shopping!) or bring the kids to the park/play area (either indoor or outdoor). So last 2 weeks, fahmi checked from the internet... the list of Hong Kong tourist attractions for kids. He came across this place called Jumping Gym USA in Tai Koo. It is an indoor play area for kids (based on the description in the internet) Not much pics available for us to have a look at the place first before we go. Another place is Snoopy Land in Kowloon. Snoopy land looks boring as it does not have much of entertainment/ games for the kids so we decided to bring the kids to Jumping Gym.

Tai Koo is in Hong Kong island. So think it would be easier for us to go there as we stayed at hong island too. It took about 15minutes journey to Tai Koo via MTR. It is situated in a shopping mall, and when we arrived there we have to walk around to find the place... some more there was no sign board or anything that can help us to locate the place. luckily we met a guard who understood english and guided us the way. Finally we find it!

To tell you the truth... there is NOTHING special about JUMPING GYM. Memang frust! Jumping Gym macam kedai2 game yang selalu ada kat atas shopping complex kat malaysia. There's a lot of video games, gambling games, and few games yg need some physical activity like bowling (small one just for kids), basketball and bumper car. So bolehla jugak Darwisya layan game2 tu. nasib dia suka bowling so kira oklah. And the best part is bukan budak2 yang pegi main kat situ saja. nenek and atuk2 tua pun ada main tikam2... aduh! sabar je lah. Apa2 pun, darwisya still enjoy herself. But pity damia as nothing there for her to play (not suitable for her age)

Until today I still wonder why Jumping Gym USA was listed as one of the tourist attraction in hong kong... that place is nothing! you can get that kind of entertainment anywhere. Bak kata fahmi, "macam main game kat 'Pertama Kompleks'".... ;P

p/s: sorry can't upload the pics... ntah kenapa asyik fail! next time try lagi

Spending last few months in Hong Kong

2009-12-14T06:38:00.000-08:00

.

Yup... we will be going back to Malaysia for good early next year. Horray!!! It is sooo nice to be back 'home'. But not really 100% happy coz hubby will be staying in hong kong till December next year to finish his master.
It's winter now in Hong Kong, so this is the last chance we have to put on our winter jackets... ;) i brought the kids to a nearby playground in the morning. The sun was shining bright but it was still chilly... temperature that day was 16deg celcius. The kids really enjoy playing there. It is like our daily routine in hong kong... am sure gonna miss these moments. Enjoy the pics!

Darwisya's work

2009-12-10T23:12:00.000-08:00

This is one of her latest art work. Dah lama buat tapi lupa nak upload. Since we will be moving back to KL early next year, rasa dah malas nak buat aktiviti2 lagi. Teruk betul mama ni! hehe... She made this herself... dari lukis, color, koyak colored paper and tampal. Kalau nak ikutkan separuh siap dia dah merengek2 cakap malas lah, kakak penat lah tapi mama berjaya jugak pujuk kakak buat sampai habis. And as usual, she dedicate this picture to her beloved papa. Agaknya bila la mama nak dapat pulak eh???

Alahai Upin & Ipin...

2009-12-04T04:39:00.000-08:00

Have you heard about the 2 cartoon characters? Oh... my little girls really like them. The very first time we came across this cartoon was in february this year when we were back in malaysia for a holiday. That time the new movie title "Geng: Pengembaraan Bermula" was due to be released somewhere in march. From the preview, the movie seems to be good. But we did not have the chance to watch the movie in cinema as we flew back here earlier.

We only have the chance to watch it when we were back again during last hari raya. (My bro in law bought the cd) The movie is superb... maybe not 'at par' with other disney/pixar movies but as a malaysian, I am very proud of it as we can come out with a very good movie like that. Upin and ipin is not just a movie, they actually have a tv series at tv9 channel. But we never have a chance to watch the tv series. They actually teaches the children some good values; frienship, sharing, respect, fasting (berpuasa) and a lot more.
Now nearly everyday we watch upin n ipin movie... Damia can sit in front of the tv to watch it till the end! darwisya, of course by second week she is able to memorized the script from A to Z... so as mummy :) sometimes, both of us (me n darwisya) just go crazy.....acting like the characters in one of the scenes... and that is what we called 'our fun and silly time together' :)
So if you haven't watch the movie, do not hesitate. Just watch it... it is something to be proud of. Who else is going to support our local film industry if not us! Enjoy!

Cookies!

2009-11-18T23:26:00.000-08:00

I got the recipe from a friend. She received it from her friend and there is actually a story behind the recipe... Want to know more? can visit her wonderful blog here. hehe.... sorry my friend (Mrs Z), didn't ask your permission first to link it to yours :)

So this is how the cookies look like. Looks yummy? I am not a big fan of cookies so I don't know how to grade it whether it is oklah or yummy or super duper delicious! I made this on my hubby's birthday. He gave 10 out of 10 marks... wow! ye ke ni?? tak tau lah kalau saja nak ambik hati tapi dia cakap betul2 best. The kids simply love it especially Isya. It contains a lot of oats, nuts and chocolates that made it delicious and also healthy. Thank you Mrs Z for the recipe... :)

From breastfeeding to bottle feeding

2009-11-16T21:28:00.000-08:00

Now I'm trying hard to change (breastfeed to bottle feed). Why? Because I'll be back to work soon. I don't have any problem with my eldest daughter as she was breastfed for only 2 months and she refused it once I start working. But Mia is different... she never use bottle before so it is very difficult to make her use it. Got few tips from my friends on how to change to bottle but so far none is successful yet. Mia will throw tantrum whenever she doesn't get it. I tried to ignore the tantrum episode but she will keep on screaming no matter how long would it takes. I had once let her cried for nearly an hour but then i give in. I know I should never give in easily when it comes to this situation but I just can't stand the screaming and crying.

So what I'm doing now is trying to reduce the frequency of feeding during the day. Whenever she comes near to me for breast feeding quickly I will distract her by taking her to the kitchen and get something to snack... usually i give her some fruits. Luckily she likes fruits especially apple and grapes. Night time, I try to sleep separately from her so that she would not 'smell' my presence. I have been trying this for a week but so far not much improvement seen. Arghh... what else should I do?

If only Mia can read and understand..
My darling Mia, mama have to go to work soon and you must start using the bottle now. I will not be at home to feed you as frequent as you want or as long as you wish. You will be staying with nenek at home so please darling mia, start using the bottle, please behave when mama is away and no more tantrums.... I promise to feed you when I'm home.

29 years of life...

2009-11-09T06:30:00.000-08:00

Today I'm 29 years old! .... ada yg cakap muda lagi, ada yg cakap dah tua. I don't judge it by being young or old, but by what I have achieved for the past 29 years... Hmmm, where should I start....

Before I start listing my achievements or maybe my life chronology.. (not much achievements though) let me tell you a bit about my birthday. I was born in Hospital Besar Kangar now known as Hospital Tuanku Fauziah on 10th November 1980 @ 700am. This was my mom's first hospital delivery as her previous two delivery were at home (my grandma's house). She told me it was easy except at that time the hospital was black-out... no electricity. So I was delivered in the dark...:) My mum told me I'm a good girl when I was small. Not a trouble-maker, very quiet and not talkative

So what I have achieved so far....

1) Of course I'm totally grown up... :) from a little girl to a lady, a wife to a loving husband and a mum to a wonderful daughters. Thanks a lot to my beloved mum and dad for bringing me to this world
My dear mama and abah

2) I had completed my pre-school, primary education in Perlis, secondary education in Perlis and Perak at 4 different schools. That's why sometimes I got confused with my friends, can't really remember them well.
3) Received my M.D. at the age of 24... started working in Sabah. I have been working in 3 different places in Sabah within 2 years. First was posted to QEH for my housemanship, then to KK Luyang OPD and the last was in KKIA Pekan before being transferred to KL.
4) Got married at the same age, 24.... then we flew together to Sabah. starting our career and family there. Now we are married for 5 years and still a long journey to go...
KK memory, I was pregnant @ 7months (kalau x silap). Picture taken at Mount Kinabalu park

5) I'm a mum at the age of 25. My first daughter, Darwisya Nadia was born in Sabah. And we welcomed our second daughter, Damia Hayfa at the age of 28.

yang mana satu darwisya and damia? sama tapi x serupa

6) Already bought our dream car and dream house. Planning to do some renovation to the house before we move in.

I think that's all that i have achieved so far. Basically my life is rather complete, having a degree, a noble career and a wonderful family.What's next? Only God knows. So birthday is not just a day for us to do the counting. It is more of remembering the important things in our life so far. Happy 29th birthday to me.... see ya!

The products

2009-11-07T23:16:00.000-08:00

These are few products under 4life company. Previous entry, I have explained a bit about Transfer Factor TF. So today, just loading up a picture of the products for you guys to have a look. By the way, have you guys study/ read about TF? If still not, don't forget to do so ya!
Nothing much to say this time, just have a nice and wonderful day. See ya!

It's all about....

2009-11-05T03:19:00.000-08:00

my little family; my precious

"I want the best for them... and luckily I found one. :)" This was the last sentence from my previous entry. And here I am again to tell you what this 'thing' is about :)

A friend of mine had introduced me to this supplement called Transfer Factor (TF) a year ago. Lama kan?... At first I didn't even made an effort to look what TF is all about. I don't even bother about it. Until when my mia is unwell and with the up shooting number of diseases reported daily, I decided to study about this product and I am very impressed.

TF aren’t vitamins, minerals, herbs, or fruit. They’re messenger molecules that teach immune cells to response effectively by recognizing, react and remember the threats. That's how it work! TF is an immune molecule messenger found in the colostrum. When a baby is born, the nurses and doctors always advice mother to give the baby the early breast milk which is called colostrum. Colostrum contains a lot of TF and antibodies from the mother. TF provides all the information about previous threats that the mother had before. The newborn baby really needs this for her body because her immune system is not yet mature. This is how babies acquire their immunity in the beginning of their life. Later on when they grow up, their own body immune system will take over their own body defense. They will start producing their own immune cells; leucocytes, TF, maccrophages etc. However when we grow up, there will be a lot of things that can lower our immunity; food, environment, pollution, stress, sedentary lifestyle and not to forget all those chronic illnesses such as diabetes etc. So our body immune system might be defective. Whenever an intruder enters our body, our immune cells could not fight effectively resulting in prolong illness and increase the need of antibiotic later on. That is why many scientists even physicians highly recommend us to take TF to educate back our own immune response to work effectively. No more prolong or recurrent illness and most important less usage of antibiotics. TF is safe and natural (from cow colostrum and egg yolk), halal, no side effects and no allergy reaction. Too good to be true ? But all are proven based on the clinical trials/researches. Even in cases of autoimmune diseases, whereby our own body immune response is kinda overactive, TF can actually help to regulate it but still a lot of ongoing clinical research and trials are being carried out to prove about this matter.

To be honest, i'm not a big fan of supplements but after reviewing a lot of articles about nutrition, wellness and health, I think I need that for my own good. And after studying about TF, I decided to try. Why not? I'm not doing any harm to my family but I'm helping them. I want them to be prepared to face this new world. 'Super bugs' are everywhere... these bugs are getting smarter day by day by changing their genetic makeup so that many more medicine needed to kill them. Drug companies are struggling (i guess) to come out with a new powerful antibiotic and vaccine to overcome those new bugs. Why not we just prepare our own 'army' in the body to fight it. It is much better right? After all, our own immune cells are our first line defense. That is why i recommend all my friends to have a look at this product.... go and read about TF. There's nothing to loose.. If you still find that TF is not good for you than that's ok coz at least you have done your work :) Remember, TF is NOT a drug to treat diseases. It is a kind of supplement. If you have any medical problem which needs you to take daily medication, just continue your daily regime. You may add TF as a supplement on top of it.

So this is the website for you to find out about TF; www.4life.com. I am proud to be one of their family. I don't care what people would say as long as I'm doing a good thing. If any of you are interested to know more about the product, you can just email/send a message to me. I'm always there to help as much as I could.

So end of story, a general advice from me: remember to study about the supplement products that you want to try. Choose it according to your priority and needs. Make sure it is safe and has proven clinical studies on it. But even if you take supplements, healthy lifestyle is still crucial. We must live healthily, eat healthily and work healthily. (a reminder for myself too).

Below is a quote taken from an article title 'Total Health and Longevity' published in the Woodland Health Report

It's a hostile world. No matter who we are, where we live or what we do, the immune system is our FIRST and LAST line of defense. No matter the money governments around the world spend on pandemic response strategies. No matter the alleged availability or potency of antibiotics. No matter the research dollars pouring into vaccine development. At the end of the day, one question rises above the rest. How strong is your immune system?

Take care, see ya!

The Heartbreaking Moment

2009-11-01T22:26:00.000-08:00

I think enough of darwisya's activity for the time being. This entry is all about my little damia. I will never forget the day my little mia was admitted to the hospital... still fresh in my mind. It all happened on 11/8/09...

Mia started having fever the second night after we came back from shenzen for a holiday. Usually her fever subsided after taking a dose of paracetamol however this time the fever was not settling. Worried about her condition we quickly brought her to a nearby private clinic but still her fever not coming down despite doses of PCM and tepid sponging. The most it went down was 37.8 not even reaching normal body temperature. Then that evening as her fever was spiking at 40deg , suddenly i saw her arms n legs were shaking and her eyes were up rolling. Oh my God, she was fitting!

Am panic... don't know what to do. Even am a medical doctor, but when it comes to your own family, you will forget everything! Trust me! I feel like i know nothing... nothing at all. Blurred...what should i do? All I did was crying and crying, calling her name. The fitting episode was brief.... but post fitting she appeared drowsy. She was not responding to me, she kept looking upwards as if somebody was above her head. I couldn't control my fear, I didn't feel good about it. I'm supposed to be calm but i can't control my feelings. Darwisya also cried when she saw me crying. What a terrible moment! Thank goodness Fahmi came home early that day. Quickly he called the ambulance to come and fetch us and bring us to the nearby hospital.

When we arrived at the hospital, mia started crying. She responded and making eye contact with me. Am relieved... a bit. I was praying and hoping that this is just a simple febrile fit not something to do with brain infection/meningitis. I just kept her in my arms and hugs her. I didn't want to be apart from her at that moment.

She was admitted for 4 days with a diagnosis of febrile seizure secondary to influenza A infection.Thank goodness it was not H1N1 subtype. She still having spikes of fever for a week. Now, my mia is healthy. As notty as usual...hehe or maybe a bit more. It was a really bad experience to us.

End of story, I think not even a single mother in the world want their children to be sick... even it is just a simple/uncomplicated flu. It is really heartbreaking to see them unwell. I swear, I don't want to face this experience again. Am traumatized . I don't have any picture of mia in the hospital coz i don't want to remember that moment again. Let the terrible/unpleasant/horrible moment well kept in my mind. Influenza infection was very terrible i must say. In this new world, there are a lot of threats around us, the bugs are getting smarter day by day but do all of us are well prepared to fight those bugs? Some may say 'yes' or 'no' but i'm sure many of us would say 'i dont know'.. Since then I think I need to give something to my beloved family. something that can help their own body to get ready to fight all the threats. I want the best for them... and luckily I found one. :)

Darwisya's reward chart

2009-10-30T01:20:00.000-07:00

As a parent i wonder what is the best way to teach our children good manners. Of course parents represent the ideal model to their children but sometimes it is quite difficult to make them understand certain values. I tried to 'google' to find it out; a lot of ideas, advices i got.

I came across this book at MPH Alamanda Putrajaya last raya title "children book of manners". One thing that caught my attention is that this book includes a reward chart and stickers. I had the idea of making a reward chart on my own before but i dont know how to start it. So without any question i bought this book straight away :) The content is simple and understandable. Darwisya really enjoy the book and every day i need to tell her the story.

This is the book. RM 24.90

I started using this book about a month ago. My daughter was very excited to see the reward chart with stickers to put on. So we make a deal (me n darwisya). She must behave well and must follow all the values written on the chart. At the end of the week, we will count the stars that she gets and give the reward accordingly

The rewards are all the things that she likes. She likes ice cream, make muffin, going to the park, buy new books. So these are the four rewards... This is how the chart looks like

The reward chart

After about 3 weeks of implementing this reward chart, I think it is quite useful. But of course it will take sometimes for the children to adjust with it (to understand what the chart is all about) Darwisya just couldn't wait to get her reward every week. She will ask, "mama, kakak dah boleh buat muffin? dah boleh beli book?" I could see some improvement in the way she behave and how she play/interact with her little sister. If I were to put this into percentage, I would give 70-80%.

So the pics below is about her getting her reward... After 3 weeks, she was rewarded 3times; to the park twice and the latest reward is make muffin! Hmmm....at last! She had been asking me everyday when she can make muffin! Darwisya really likes cooking. I just prepare the ingredients and she mix everything herself... with a little help from her mummy :)

yummy muffin ready to eat

End of story, it is up to us how we want to teach our children. No manual for it. Just do whatever we think is good for them. I like to read about parenting because it can help me improve myself. I'm no perfect mom. Still a lot of things to be learn. As I was searching thru the internet, I came across this tip from www.positiveparenting.com:

Trust your parental intuition! So often we place our trust in books, friends, family, and others in positions of authority. For today, each time you are in a discipline situation with your child, take a deep breath, allow an idea to come to you and go for it! Trust that YOU are the best expert regarding your child.

Happy parenting! see ya

Our fun time

2009-10-27T07:19:00.000-07:00

Remember i promised to put up pics of my daughter's art works? here are few... many more work done but only few pics taken. i suggest u guys do take pics of ur children art works... so that we can cherish those happy, fun, exciting time plus your children can see it back when they grow up! Bet they will be thankful to you :)

This is her first art work. A crown made from Koko krunch box!

This is her work place... notice the drawings on the wall? She painted it herself but of course mummy did the drawings :) I think the idea of having her own table is a good motivation for her to do her works/read books/do anything

Sticker time. We bought the background papers together with the stickers for her. actually can make a storyline using the stickers but of course, nobody can understand her story. I think she just stuck it where ever she want. But never mind, at least she got a space to express her creativity

A butterfly. Check out the wings. It's actually her hand prints!

Try and do some art work with your children. it's fun! We did many more... building small box house, flower origami, paper dolls and of course cards. ask her father, he had received a lot of surprise cards from her. You can surf the internet to find out more activities for you n your kids and some of it are free. Or maybe you can just squeeze out those creativity in you to create a fun and exciting activities with them. Good luck! see ya!

From a career woman to a housewife..

2009-10-21T21:29:00.000-07:00

Nope... am not officially resigned from my work. Just taking a long unpaid leave to follow my hubby abroad. Having 2 kids really a challenge. Could not imagine how those people with many more kids survive n handle theirs. At first i thought housewife is easy but IT IS NOT. You will be the first person to wake up and the last person to sleep. Make sure everything in order, from the time my lil girls wake up till night time. I do feel stressed up in the beginning coz i just feel so tired handling everything but as time goes by i slowly can cope with it. But still sometimes i just feel like i need time for myself without the kids... just do anything, or go anywhere just me alone.
Being a housewife is not easy, it's tough, tiring, challenging.... Taking care of ur own kids make people around you have some sort of expectation. What i mean is when our child does not behave well infront of others, of course they would say 'the mother doesn't teach the child well'.

My eldest daughter is 4, not attending any pre-school yet as it is so expensive here (hong kong) So i decided to teach my daughter on my own... wow, sounds great n interesting right? But here comes another challenge. It's very hard to get their attention and they will give all sorts of excuses whenever they are lazy. However am proud of my daughter, even though at times she is just simple lazy to learn, at least by now she is able to recognize and write all the alphabets from A-Z, counts up to 20 and write her own name. Guess more than enough for her age, right? Now I just concentrate more on developing her fine motor skills like holding pencil correctly, holding scissors and try cutting papers, holding a paint brush and try painting..

End of the story, I just hope all of us realize that housewife is not an easy job. Please show some respect, appreciation and support towards them. Maybe next time i can share with u guys some of my daughter art works and few websites that might be helpful for you to teach and create activities with ur children. see ya!

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim

2009-10-20T01:13:00.000-07:00

assalamualaikum

This is the first entry for my blog. and today is my first day becoming a 'blogger'. To be honest, i really don't know much about blogs and at first i also don't understand why people like to have their own blog. So why not i give it a try... maybe it's fun :) and hopefully my decision to create my own blog would not only benefits me but also the others. probably by sharing what we have; knowledge, experience etc. Hope i will not stop blogging.. Insya Allah

See ya!