Meta reminded me that 9 July was exactly the date we hosted a housewarming 6 years ago. So timely as we have been taking steps to do a few things around the house. Updates here and there. Mainly because we now appreciate living in smaller space. After years of practicing minimalism and simple living (as much as I can), I begin to appreciate the cosy, compact living that I crave so much.
Before this we discussed about moving out. Downsizing. We also talked about retirement and the future. While our girls grow up that eventually they will want their own space, and how that is going to fit if we are to live in a smaller home. It wasn’t until a chance encounter that got me thinking about maximizing the space we currently have.
The idea is not new. Some years ago, it was mentioned but I didn’t take it seriously. There were different priorities then. Now, I can’t imagine going up and down the stairs several times a day just because I forgot one thing. We are at a sweet spot right now. We are all still co-sleeping and there are a few years more to go before the girls are fully grown into teenagers.
So, we are converting Level 1 into our main living and bedroom. It is not a big project to be honest once when it is dissected. 3-4 items of things to get done. But the difference is going to be huge! Cannot wait to share the before and after here. So watch this space for more updates!
It seems like the gap between my blog post is getting wider. My last post was in 2018. I’m not bothered coz we are living in strange times. COVID19 virus driving many people crazy. Working from home (wfh), home-based learning, basically having everyone at home and trying to maintain sanity is having the opposite effect instead.
Sure we have all these opportunity to spend time with each other but I guess apart from physical closeness, everything else remain the same. Work is still as demanding, longer hours actually coz you’ll be busy getting on calls and catching people when it was just a 2 mins walkover to a team mate’s cubicle for a quick discussion. Kids are logging in for online learning, with parents sitting side-by-side to ensure they grasp what was being taught. So now if the parent is a full time worker, he/she would have to multi-task, which adds on to the pressure of juggling actual work, school work, house work and cooking since dining out is not allowed.
I am no different. The Company announced that we are switching to wfh default from Monday 17 May onwards. And I have been stuck to the dining chair from 9am to 5pm or whenever I ended my last work chat/email to fetch the kids home. It was a bit awkward coz I was back to normal routine but this change in COVID regulations threw me a few steps back and I had to switch my mind to a new routine. Heck I don’t even know what to clean or cook. Desperately looking for inspiration and I think I found it, somehow, and now am trying slowly to emulate the life of Lee Hyori.
I know it sound absurd. Like we are not alike. I don’t even follow K-pop but her simple living and nonchalant approach to life after marriage is the kind of slow living Iifestyle I would like to have for myself and hopefully the family. Simple days filled with needs and priorities, basic cooking and flavours, and generally a laid-back, stress-free day. Possible? Maybe. I try.
I don’t mean bland tasteless food. For e.g. yesterday we had pasta. It was meatless. The sauce was delicious and all I didn’t even have to use garlic. Just a toss of fresh basil and parmesan cheese. It was simple yet tasty.
I have been watching a lot of Japanese/Korean routine videos. They motivated me to follow sometimes but most times I fell back to blank state of mind by 4pm. Haha.
There’s another person whom I love to watch on YouTube for her quirkiness and mission. Spunky June of Delish.
She’s a joy to be around and she always cooks up weird delicious food. Adore her partner who for some reason eats more chilli than an Asia (he’s Caucasian btw). Together they are fun to watch.
Anyway guys the struggle is real…
An update of the kids. Eid, Raya, Aidilfitri (whatever you might call it) came and went. Not going to grumble at how short the celebration is this year. Some people have it tougher yeah!
Here are the girls in their Raya gear. Melts my heart…
Ok, lunchtime over. Back to work. Until next time.
What a quarter year! I gave birth to a sweet little thing. Went on my maternity. And just as I got back to work, we put Anna in pre-school. Phew!
First things first. On Valentine’s Day 2018, I gave birth to Nur Ayla Sakyna. She was a whopping 3.67kg. And whilst my mind went “but she’s just a little bundle”, this little girl has grown into a good size baby of 5.6kg within 2 months! But she has the most adorable adorable (yes I had to repeat) smile that will melt your heart. And she is good natured too. Probably the only time she make much noise is if she’s hungry.
With Pa (Bee has been upgraded to Pa status) working 12-hour shift and almost 6 days a week, I single-handedly took care of Ayla, with a two-year-old in tow! Made a few plans for confinement and help while I recover from c-sect but well things don’t go as plan. They say change is the only constant. After a few misses I kind of decided to just do everything myself. Great if I got help but otherwise moi’s going to be doing it. It was difficult I won’t deny it. Imagine not able to move, coping with pain and sore and body changes, while taking care of newborn and the whims/tantrums of a toddler. Only God knows how many times I’ve prayed to Him for strength. I promised Him that I will not fail . Both my daughters are the greatest gift and I will love them till my last breath. He has been kind to us and send help here and there. For that I’m thankful, grateful and forever in debt and faith for all the things that You have helped me get through. It is still a long journey but I know that You will always be there with me along the way. Allahu Akhbar. Walhamdulillah.
So without further ado, I introduce to you our latest addition to the ASSA family. Another Nur (light) to our lovely masjid.
As with change being constant, so did our plans for childcare. Long story short, we enrolled Anna to pre-school. It’s been 3 days and while she was super excited the first 2 days, today she wasn’t so motivated to be at school. Cried at attendance taking and didn’t want to leave my side. Of coz a little bit (ok a whole lot) of me cried inside too. Wanted to stick around and see if she’s ok then realized I forgot my lunch. I can only decide to do one thing. And as with all things life, you have to make a hard decision. Slowly walked away from the centre to fetch lunch from home. All the way wondering if I should stay instead and make her feel better with my presence. Sigh. Why la parenting so hard. So emo. 😥
It’s not just the kid that’s going through adjustment but the parents as well. If you think I sound like a wreck wait till you hear the Papa. Haha. His precious little girl. Ok let’s not think about morning and be positive. Look forward to 5pm when I can go fetch her home! Meantime here are her first day pictures. So cute or what!
Hello there! One year on and my baby just turned 2 last Saturday. Our joy and the apple of our eye! No matter what we will always love you Nur Anna Sofea.
With your baby sister on the way in a few months, I’m sure you will be thrilled to be the Kaklong and show her the way around. Can already picture my two babies in curls, sitting around in the living room playing masak-masak or standing in front of the TV dancing to Tayo or Telletubbies haha.
Speaking about Adik (who is kicking profusely in my tummy – she is one active lady!), I am due in mid Feb but have this feeling that she will come early. This pregnancy is so different from one with Anna. Adik is bigger, heavier and I am putting on weight instead of losing. Which is normal but so so different. With Anna I couldn’t eat much without feeling sick. With Adik, I can prettu much eat anything with exception to meat of course. My weakness is sweets this time, to the point on top of high BP, i’m also classified with gestational diabetes. It’s quite normal and can be managed through diet which I am trying my hardest to watch my food intake and to avoid carbs and sugar.
Anyway it’s part and parcel of pregnancy that your body and its condition changes. Just need to remember to stay and make healthy choices along the way. That includes managing stress level as well which is not bad since we are in our last working week before we close for the year. I have a week of no work and I plan to do NOTHING. Not that I can do much. Can barely move much nor far so I’m not expecting much action. And we are no longer mobile so…
We had to make a few sacrifices this year with the move to new home. Renovation loan and agent fees alone are enough to keep us on tight strings. And Bee is back on employment which is a good thing considering Adik is coming soon. Plus 2018 is another Umrah year so we all have to do what’s best to prepare for it. Insya Allah we will be ‘invited’ by HIM to visit the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah.
Haha I thought the next trip will be a ‘better’ one with Anna all grown and more independent…and along comes Adik. Haha. Like seriously. It will be just like the last trip when Anna turned 1 years old while on the trip. Adik will be about 10-11 months by then. So yup. She’ll be keeping me busy. But I do hope that I will be able to cope better this time round and that we can share the load. Guess I was quite stressed with Anna then coz it’s Bee’s first time and I didn’t want us to stop him from experiencing the trip. Plus his mom and sis came with us so I kinda felt like he had to ‘take care’ of them. Which is I shouldn’t actually coz with Anna by my side means I can’t do much praying or even visit the mosque. Furthermore she was sick throughout the entire journey 😦 Definitely doing it different this time round 🙂
Ok that’s about all the blogging I can do for today. Hopefully my next drop by is not a year later 😛
Two days after my last posting, Nur Anna Sofea was born. Those tiny fingers and toes. A nose as cute as button. Black sparse hair. OMG she was a stunner. Love at first sight. My heart was forever taken. She is a special one. My first born.
Speed up to 11-months later. After many hair pulls, vomitted on, peed/poo-ed on, I am still in love. I mean just look at her.
She has this deep husky voice when she tries to communicate. Although all that came out of her mouth was ahhh, uhhh, ohhh but to her (and me) it was, “mama i missed you today” or “mama i want to look at the pictures on the fridge door”. She just learned to point at something she want so these days that voice was accompanied with a tiny fore finger pointing towards the kitchen or anywhere else she wants you to look at/go.
Everyday she amazes me. From tantrums to showing off her emotions. There were times I wonder who taught her to kick her legs around when she didn’t get her way, or that smack on the face when she tried to wake you up. I must seriously think about discipline coz she’s turning the big One very soon.
We will all be in the Mid East then. We’re going on our Umrah and will leave on the 5 December. It is going to be a whole new experience for me coz this time I have a family of my own. Gone are the days where I am open to spontaneous adventure. Let’s see how it goes. I’m sure it will be ok. In fact I’m looking forward to it so much. Each time I was there, I prayed that I’d make it back with a family. HE has granted me this wish and I am so excited to show them to HIM. To say thank you for all the blessings – good and bad. Until then, take care.
Did I mention I’m still at work? 14 August came and went. Long story short, a colleague convinced me to stay and that things were getting better. For a while it did but the last one month has been scary. Doesn’t help that it’s also my final pregnancy month. My blood pressure checks are always high to the point the doc wanted to induced my labour. As long as I don’t feel easy about it I’m not gonna meddle with nature. I just have this feeling that as long as I’m off work my BP will return back to normal as they were in my first and second trimester. Anyway shit happens. The same colleague left without batting an eye and so does my entire team after having gone through nightmare themselves under the hands of you know who. I don’t blame them, the negativity in the office is overwhelming. I guess me being me was just sucking it in and being positive about the whole thing in my own way sort of landed me in a difficult position. One in which you know who faulted me for a less-than-perfect team and leaving him in the lurch while I’m away for maternity. Doesn’t matter that the plan all along was to go with the whole team in tact and functioning. Oh well. Should have known better. Just feel sad for my poor unborn baby who had to go through this fiasco with me and me not paying enough attention to her grand entrance. This was supposed to be a monumental episode of our lives. Our first newborn. Our Nur Anna Sofea. It’s ok baby. You and me will get through this with God on our side. Baby Nur seem to agree coz she just can’t stop moving inside. Hopefully in a few weeks we will look back and smile at how small these things are compared to the things that matter most in life 😊
Yup still not fasting. Todate only managed to fast for 2 days.Yup so gonna have to payback big time before the next season.
It’s the first day of week. Dreaded Monday. Office. Yuck!
If I could be positive about today, I guess Gary is coming back to me with the offer contract. I hope it will turn out good for both him and I. The change will definitely so me good. Taking a paycut – not too much I hope – but what’s money compare to peace of mind 🙂
Last week I decided that I have had enough of work. So I quit. I will not bore you with the details. Let’s just say I’m trying my darnest hard to get by until 14 Aug when I would be free of negativity. This I will say though. I have never seen a Boss so vicious in his ways.
Baby Nur is her/his usual self. Not letting me eat. Haha. I realized I lost another kg so that totals up to 4 so far. This constant nausea feeling is really uncomfortable and making me so hard to be around. Even I am frustrated with myself. No matter how I tried I just can’t bring my mood up. No amount of pep-talk and reverse psycho can lift this spirit. Imagine having to deal with this AND work. OMG.
Luckily I might get an offer. I won’t know til Monday. They knew of my pregnant state and yet still am open to working something out for me, For a moment, my faith in humanity was restored. There is still good out there.
Prepping to go out with bee now. We’ve been pushing each other since morning and it’s 4.30pm now. Haha. Weekends are so nice to just do nothing. Which equals to super low productivity. Not to mention I was not looking fwd to finishing off some outstanding work from his (the boss) list of jobs.
It’s the start of fasting month. Bravely, I took my sahur at dawn yesterday. We, Baby Nur and I, almost got through the day without a glitch. It hit me just as I walked out the office door for home and while waiting for the elevator. That smell. That familiar yuck smell. Immediately I can feel my vomit fast making its way up my throat. Before I knew it I was spouting liquid like a merlion.
Time check. 6.20pm. Just one hour before break fast. Lol. At least we tried yeah Baby Nur.
Today. Now. Another try. Managed to get decent food in. Baby Nur seem to agree with our simple spread of epok2 sardine, warm rice and sardine. Maybe coz I kinda ‘spoke’ to Baby Nur on my drive home last night to have mercy on mama during this holy month. Baby Nur has done me proud. Good job dear.
Let’s pray today we’ll get through this til it’s time to break fast. Insya Allah.
To all my Muslim brothers and sisters, Ramadhan Mubarak. May Allah accept our fast and ibadah. Amin.
If you’re wondering what week 11 means. Yup, I’m pregnant!
So much has happened over the past year. Got married. To bee. Got pregnant. By bee. 🙂
My blog entries from now onwards will not be as lengthy. I don’t even think it needs a title but what the heck. I don’t think I’ll be talking about anything else than being pregnant.
Today I just discovered that if I place my mobile on my tummy, I can see the baby’s heartbeat! Excited much!
For now we are calling it Baby Nur. It won’t be till next month for our doctor appointment so we’ll know by then if it’ll be a boy or girl. Yippee!
Baby Nur is not allowing Mama to eat much these days. Mama lost 3kg since we found out at 5 weeks. The nausea is getting worse everyday but I’m looking forward to the day when I can finally dig into that packet of nasi lemak. I hear that happens in second trimester. Not long now.
Sri Diaries 