Of my Dad

"Esok Mumy pergi ke Kapit for a week supervising her students. Mummy sedang enjoy anugerah bintang popular. Nampaknya Farah Fauzana menang banyak anugerah".

Those are excerpts from my Dad's email, who is no longer incompetent with the computer and internet. He's hooked I tell you. Selamat Ber-internet Dad! It is never to late, way to go!

The ascent of a 49kg me to an acceptable 62kg. Yes, to date, I have managed to load a healthy 13kg of water, baby fat and mummy fat into my almost nine months pregnant body. 13 is always a good number, though I reckon the number of weight gained will not remain stagnant.

Little Man's movements and pokes are anything but gentle, responsive to every sound and movement, especially to his Ayah's voice. Although many times I would have to stagger rather than walk steadily, or occasionally feeling seedy; this journey has been a stupendous one.

Some of the piddling details about me and my nearing-the-end-of-pregnancy:

I love taking cold showers, at least 3 times a day. Absolutely no hot shower, whatever the time. I love nibbling and munching on ice cubes. Similarly, only ice cold water may wash down my throat. At times, bedtime will call for both air conditioner plus fan for me. Cleaning and cooking, I still love. Especially cleaning, totally obsessed!

A satisfying meal for me is one that ends with sweet chocolate ice cream or ice blended mango, leaving me with an uncomfortable heartburn. And heartburn is best remedied with fresh milk, so I love fresh milk. I do not take special formula milk for pregnant mums, for no specific reason.

Also, I did not sign up for labour class. Do not feel the need to. Watch youtube only. Feisal and I never went for a detailed 4D scan as We feel babies look the same, and complications, if any, could also be detected through normal ultrasound. Alhamdulillah, my fabulous doctor felt the same, optional she said. We are the play-cool couple, semua tak payah :)

And above all, have a positive attitude, and have faith that things will fall into place at its own pace. Oh, one more thing, jangan manjakan badan. Exercise!

Home Sweet Home

On this day, when We were supposed to be gallivanting around Jakarta and Bandung.

Of course We did not just sit around at home. Ate until I nearly burst, searched (and bought) some practical mini nursery items for Little Man, purchased an excellent Wodehouse book, watched the Malaysian Monsoon call a halt to the F1 race and best of all, proposed a slight alteration to Little Man's name.

From what Dear Feisal was able to glean (after sensing the akwardness in the name), it appears that now Little Man's name carry three wonderful meanings instead of just one previously. After much persuasion, Feisal concurred. And I smiled with glee, a befitting name indeed.

Addicted

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And the decluttering has begun. Some people regard this as 'nesting'. I don't know what it is, but it has certainly emboldened me to declutter everything I can lay my hands on.

And those magazines, are only a product of one book shelf and a magazine holder! I managed to fill a huge garbage bag with small clutters from drawers and shelves. Oh am I satisfied, knowing that drawers are near empty, neat and clutter free.

I have always liked Peter Walsh, who refers "clutter" as an all-encompassing noun. It means "anything that stands between you and the vision you have for your best life." And I agree.

Knowing full well that our home is not a museum led me into chucking almost everything-unused away, be it tiny momentos or things that stand in the way of my vision.

And Our trip to SSF tomorrow (to redeem my voucher) will see me buying cute boxes or baskets to store most of out stuff in.

Little Man deserves this :) And this is only the beginning of Our Little Project Nursery. Having a clutter free home will certainly lend free rein in our imagination and creativeness, or lack thereof!

Check this Out

Just found out about this online store that sells only flats and gladiators. In Jakarta. hmmph. Love the shoes. Check out Wondershoe people.

And for those who dig in heels or stilettos, check out Yunique Paradise. Also nice to look at! Kaki saya bengkak darab lapan so definitely won't buy any, not even to be worn after Little Man's delivery. Duh. Selipar jepun is the way to go, ha ha.

My diaper bags arrived yesterday. I know, why buy two. The black one does not look like one, it looks just like any other handbag. So I opted for two. Guil.ty Plea.sure. Give me a break.

To Shuey

All cats go to heaven :) and of course other animals too. Jangan sedih-sedih sangat ok babe.

Checked!

After a dreary Friday, Feisal and I were prompted to clear our shopping list for the Little Man come weekend. Little did we know that shopping for baby's essentials and mom's too was easy. As long as you know perfectly what to buy and most importantly, sticking to its practicalities, you are good to shop. Alhamdulillah, after only three shopping trips, Little Man's checklist is cleared. And mine too :)

There is no need to share the pictures of every single essentials that we bought. Same predictable stuff I suppose. Last weekend and yesterday, I bought these for myself :

Left to right: More comfy pants and few more comfortable tops. Cotton pants and button-down tops for confinement. Check out the bunny pants! Only RM 17 at Subang Parade.

Last two weeks, the doctor informed me that the amount of my amniotic fluid was on the high. So she performed a routine MGTT (Glucose Tolerance Test) to confirm whether I have gestational diabetes. Ran a couple of blood tests and fortunately, I'm cleared of the suspicion. Raging hormones I suppose.

The thing was, I had to fast for half a day. Feisal and I felt bad for this Little Man, sure hungry and all. So, a short shopping trip interposed between the two hours blood test. (You have to draw blood, drink a very very sweet solution and wait for two hours for the blood to process the sugar, and draw blood again).

So, we bought him five rompers for "We feel bad for our hungry Boy". Basically, these three rompers will be worn by him upon his arrival, InsyaAllah. Funny cartoons befitting the ocassion,no? Monkeys, Alligators and Emergency Vehicles :)

Having experienced my students' disordeliness led me into buying these for our Little Man last Friday night. Poor him, had to endure hunger and restlessness as well. Mommy's sorry poor Boy.

Hopefully you will grow into a well-meaning and polite person just like Paddington Bear. And Paddington also loves to 'try so hard to get things right'.

And these are among the nine rompers given by my sister Dedek few months back, and also our Baby's first set of clothes.

And most importantly, after a short shopping spree with Dedek yesterday, we did not get my Boy anything. So I made a dash into Lovely Lace, which led me into buying this cute white box. That tall giraffe was a gift from his Ayah last weekend :) A good start for our own little project nursery.

There, a short story on some of our Little Man's things. Having bought and prepared everything does not necessarily precipitate labour, does it? Hopefully not!

The disturbingly inconvenient truth

"Mdm, why did you not invite any real lawyers to judge our mooting session?

"Can we start at 9:30 a.m instead? There are some stuff that need to be settled. The opponent also".

"Mdm, we are in the midst of binding our bundle and written submission".

"We will send to you our bound bundle only after we are done with our oral submission".

* After making me wait for a solid one hour, had the audacity to enter the mini moot court without apologising for their untimely lateness*.

*chewing gum during the proceeding*.

" *digressed in their submission, for the most part* ".

8:45 am : You had the audacity to dilly dally at God-knows-where whilst I rushed on my wobbling feet to grab the keys to the mini moot court, only to find the same rather unsightly. So, I had to rearrange the furnitures to resemble a proper court room setting, intermittently chowing down my breakfast bar. Sat myself at the bench, only to find myself waiting for a solid one hour when in fact you should have started on your submission 15 minutes after my arrival.

Because of your stupid group, you have made the other teams wait anxiously. Because of your blatant ignorance, I was pressed for time and had to give my allocated time for quick lunch a miss. Unlike you lot, I hate making people wait in an unopportune hour, even if they are just students. Your untactful inconsiderateness have caused my poor Baby his lunch, leaving me blanketed in wrenching guilt every time he squiggles.

I care not if you speak flawless English. Ample time was granted for solid preparation. Flaws have been pointed out during lecture. Pompous and bodoh sombong. I repeat, bodoh sombong.

And you expect me to invite my lawyer friends to listen to your unstructured and jumbled-up arguments? And make them wait for your well-timed grand entrance? And witness your utter disregard for proper court's room conduct? And wriggle their fingers through your un-bounded bundle? Utterly foolish.

And until now, you have failed to submit to me your group's bundle and written submission. No sms, nothing. Too bad, your group have lost 30 solid marks there. And for all I care, I do not care at all. Deservedly so.

There you have it, the inconvenient and disheartening truth on a fraction of my Compulsory Moots students, on their submission day : Their Final Exam.

BODOH SOMBONG.

Blogging proves to be boring these days. I would rather have my eyes transfixed on the TV. Or let my passion for cooking take charge in the kitchen, which I do so often. Leading me, more often than not, to blog on cooking/recipes.

What I prepared for dinner last Monday:

Asian Inspired Roast

* Marinate the chicken parts in chili powder, ground cumin, fennel and coriander, crushed garlic and ginger, and salt.

* Chill in the fridge for few hours.

* Roast the chicken in a pre-heated oven for an hour, adding the bed of carrots and broccolis in the last 20 minutes.

Creamy Baked Potatoes

*Boil 4 medium potatoes (cut into quarters) for 15 minutes or until tender. Leave to cool.

*In a saucepan, add 4 tbsp butter, 2 tbspn milk, salt and pepper; beat until fluffy.

*Beat in grated mozarella cheese. Sprinkle with paprika.

*Pour the creamy mixture onto the potatoes and place on a baking sheet. Sprinkle handfuls of remaining grated cheese onto the prepared potatoes.

* Bake, uncovered, at 200 celcius for 20-25 minutes or until cheese are goldenly brown.

* To serve, dollop spoonfuls of mayonnaise and chili sauce mixture.

Home made Banana Split

* Chocolate Sauce - Melt heaps tbspn cocoa powder, 1 tbspn butter, 3 tbsp condensed milk and fresh milk in a saucepan. Pour onto the vanilla ice-cream and chopped bananas. Top with crushed peanuts.

Simply delightful!

I am entering my final trimester, and the skin on my tummy and abdomen is getting itchier by the day! Tiny, red spots have also appeared and these eruptions are definitely annoying. I can't help but scratch them. Other than that, I have no other grouses to air.

It is heart chuckling to be able to feel my baby's feet, elbows and hands everytime he elects to surface on my tummy. Not only that, he punches his Ayah a lot these days. One nudge on my tummy by Feisal will eventuate in two strong nudges by Little boy. Little boy sure knows how to be cheeky with us.

I really can't wait for the day! And last week, I had the chance to waltz around with a toddler, my cousin's daughter. Qaseh is simply adorable!