Baby's First Close-Up Photo: A Camera Shy

After several check ups, the time for my husband and I to have the first 3D sight of our baby's face finally came. We were way too-over-the-top excited to see our child, especially Saiful, you should have seen his face! Imagine actually being able to see your baby sucking on their thumb, waving their little hand at you or being able to see your baby's face, how miracle.. It couldn't get any better.

Well...

This baby turned out to be very camera shy giving us great view of his/her back.

-_____-

However, the best part was, we could see the gender and it was pretty clear..

;)

So we went for the next check up a month after that hoping so much we could see his/her face this time. I was like talking and talking to the baby in the car all the way from home to the hospital and told him/her to be co-operate this time and promised to feed him/her with chocolate before our 'skype' session. 

.

.

.

.

.

Uh oh, hmmmph... not my favourite part of the check up of course.

Only God knows how much I'm terrified of needles

*Gulped a bit of my saliva*

Do I really need to go through this... sighhh....

.

.

.

.

.

Ok are you done yet? ...hey let me go already!

.

.

.

.

.

stranded again..

Pftt

.

.

.

.

.

Oh please.. please show your face this time sayang.. we have been praying for it!

.

.

.

.

.

.

Apparently, we have a camera shy baby...He/She covered his/her face with both of the hands.

But I was like begging the Doctor to wait for awhile..

.

.

.

.

.

And there he/she is.....

A glimpse of our little angel..

masyaAllah! I nearly teared up..

we were like jakun talking, waving and giving flying kisses non-stop..

"hello baby! It's me, your momma and that's your daddy! We can finally see you! Can you see us?? uh oh well..of course not..he he"

So, like momma or daddy?..

Thank you for showing us your cute face darling.
From now on we shall call you..
Little N
:)

What To Expect When You're Expecting?

First Trimester ( 1st month-3rd month of pregnancy)

• I was pretty lucky that in my case, the morning sickness wasn't too bad, all praise to God. Before I was pregnant, I've heard so many horror morning sickness tales from people around me, that some of them had to be warded because of the severe symptoms. As far as I remember, I only threw up twice because of the kitchen's smell. Other than that constant feeling of fatigue, I lose appetite and I realized that steaks or meat of any kinds ( except chicken ) and curry gave me goosebumps. I couldn't even look at it in the television or imagine them, it looked totally unpleasant to me.

• I enjoyed watching baking channels on TV especially 'The Cupcake Wars' series and I'd make sure I wouldn't miss the show. I literally slept late just to watch it and even took photographs of the pretty cupcakes or cakes that they made on tv, how cute was that.

• Cravings? Not really. I didn't have strong cravings for foods that I would cry my eyeballs out for it. However, I enjoyed nachos very very much. (It's hard to tell whether it's a craving or not because I'm a usual hard core lover for nachos) but as far as I remember, we went out for nachos occasionally during my first three months of pregnancy.

.

.

.

.

"Can you see my little tiny hands waving at you?

Well hello there!"

Second Trimester (4th month-6 month of pregnancy)

• The stage where I felt energetic and chirpy. I started domestic travels with my husband and our family members. I totally enjoyed every single moment of it. Up until this stage I didn't have any specific cravings to be mentioned however I must say that my usual appetite came back to normal.

• I was a happy woman that I could still fit into my usual clothes and people could hardly tell if I was pregnant. There were quite few times I went shopping for the baby and the sales person asked whether was it for gift or did I left my baby at home. I got worried when people said my baby bump was small, like hello who doesn't and I asked the doctor if I was okay. Doctor said everything's fine and the baby's growing accordingly. It depends on the individual whether they have thicker layers of their tummy's skin and the positions of the baby in the womb is one the factors too.

• I first felt movements in my stomach. Something like popcorn popping gently or fluttering butterfly wings and light gassy bubbling sensation. It was a miracle feeling that constantly reminded me that there's a life in my tummyland. 

.

.

.

.
"Oh yes, poking and tickling my mom's tummy are my hobby. It's funny to see her laugh all of a sudden in public when she gets tickled.
Isn't it fun?"

Third Trimester (7th month-to date)

• Here's to surviving third trimester! I am currently at this stage, holy cow Batman! How time flies extremely fast.. It feels like only yesterday I knew I was pregnant and today, I have like two months to go before the labour *biting fingernails*. Basically I'm starting to feel the exhaustion and heartburn again. It's so hard to get good night rest and I do not want to get up in the mornings. It reminds me a of my first trimester, thinking about how much of a zombie I had turned into again.

• Couldn't hide the bump anymore and most of my regular clothes especially my modern kurungs started fitting too tight, eek! 

• The little one in the womb getting very active these days especially when I feed him/her with chocolates. He/She went all sugar rush and I can see my tummy moves a lot from the outside, it's very fascinating to see. Only God knows how happy I am every time the baby kicks. 

.

.

.

.
"Somersaults and swimming in my temporary home are so much fun! 
I think I'm ready to try out for Olympic gymnastics or swimming team!"

I hope you're doing fine and happy in there little bub.
Til our next 'skype' session with you!
xoxo

1st Wedding Anniversary

Happy 1st year anniversary to the love of my life, my partner in crime, my best friend, my wonderful husband. At times you drive me nuts but I'm sure I drive you nuts too ;p however, I still love you and after all this time you are still amazing to me. I'm looking fwd to live the coming years with you. 

May Allah bless our lifelong journey together till Jannah, insyaAllah

Luck

There's something about Disney characters, the songs and everything that brings up the mood and makes me go googoo gaga. It provides a place where you can let it run for awhile. Oh come on, I have childhood memories in them.. blame the parents! Hehe.

When the Disney characters or in other words i do call them as the extended family members, decided to come to Malaysia for their live show last month, my lads and I were like.. alright, being in love with live shows and musical theaters we have to go pay a visit. We purchased the early bird tickets and the best view that we could get.

Few months after that, Lite FM and Mix FM announced that they're giving away VIP tickets (with meet and greet session with the characters after the show). They don't usually do meet and greet after the show in Malaysia so I decided to try luck.

I called Lite FM once I heard the DJ mentioned the word Disney live blabla right away. It was engaged at first. Fine, I tried it again..and i got through. I got through!!! Being the first time caller for contest tickets (not really first time, urm maybe second or third. I've won Westlife tickets through Hitz FM when I was in standard five, how cool is that) so i thought maybe I still have that luck.

DJ: Hey there, how can i help you?

Me: Yay I got through!! Hi, my name is Sarah and I'm calling for the VIP tickets for Disney Live Show. Come on, please let me win this. I'm ready with my magic spell. Ehem am i on air already?

DJ: Errrrr....sorry Sarah, tickets have been given away to a guy before you. Why not try again later?

Me: Uh-oh...fine, thanks...later. *hung up the phone* 

I was kinda disappointed and told myself what lahh, a guy also calling for Disney tickets ah. Pftt so tak macho man. ;p

I didn't give up. I tried it again for several times.
Failed.
I guess it's time to learn from the guru, the contest queen, my lucky friend Cheda for tips and probably she could pass some of her lucky charms to me. This woman I tell you, have won most of the radio contests! She told me to save the number on standby and once they play the electronic que to call, that's when I should call them. I have to make sure that I must be really fast because they have like 20 lines over there. I was like 20 lines..seriously..?!
I wonder how she did it.

I did try over and over again until the last day of the contest. Still no luck *sigh* probably the luck was not on my side. But hey I shall not complain since I usually win the ones which involved slogans in the contests. Not too bad huh. ;)

The latest prize that I have won from a contest recently
.
.
.
.
.

Thank you Clozette.co!


Back to our Disney show story, we ended up watching the initial tickets that we bought earlier..without the meet and greet session of course.
.
.
.
.
.

But we had so much fun!

And I have a soft spot for little children dressing up for this kind of event...

Spot one in the washroom in her princess outfit and couldn't help myself from calling her "Hello princess!"

Just like how people did it when I was a kid in dress many years ago.

.
.
Amazing...amazing finale.
Can't wait for next year's Disney shows.
By that time, there will be a little new member joining the gang *flips hair*

Confession Of A Cake & Candles

Since today, when the tick tock struck at 12 midnight and there you go I am one year older than yesterday,  I guess it's time for me to make a confession.
A confession of something which I have kept for quite awhile.

It has been a routine for me to prepare breakfast for Saiful before we head to office.
However there was this one particular week where I felt strange..really really strange. I loved my bed to the core. I became a huge lazy bum when it comes to waking up early in the morning. To put "cherry" on top, the kitchen smelled to me like some alien death, hence I didn't prepare breakfast for Saiful (whooopsiee...poor guyyy) and I skipped office..

And..to make things worst, we have invited both families to come over to our place to celebrate Fathers' Day and I have promised them to cook! How could I? The smell of the kitchen literally made me heave!! A day before Fathers' Day, by looking at my condition Saiful was so worried and he actually did some research on Mr. Google. He went out and came back with 3 boxes of conception indicator and gave it to me.

Me: "What is this? What do you want me to do with it? Lol.*

Saiful: "It's clearly stated on the box. Read the manual and go, check!"

Me: "Are you serious....cannot be..."

Saiful: "You'll never know"

I did the test.
After a minute, a positive line appeared on the stick. I was laughing at first and tried another one. The same positive line appeared. This time, no laugh. I was sweating....... Fine. I tried the third one. This time I used the 99% accurate digital conception indicator and guess what...

I was three weeks plus pregnant. O.o

*breathe in breathe out, breathe in breathe out*
Mixed feelings.
I went out from the bathroom.

Me: "Happy Fathers' Day in advance.."

Saiful was puzzled.
I showed him the tests. He laughed and hugged me. He teared up a bit while I was still nervous thinking about it, like hello there's a little life, I mean..real lifeee in my tummy and it's not a joke! I kept on asking myself whether I'm ready for this? Will I be a good mother to his future kid? Do I know how to clean baby's poops & change diapers??

Saiful responded.

" You will never ever be ready until you face it.." *wide smile*

What he said was true.
Alhamdulillah, I survived my second trimester.. and now entering my seventh month of pregnancy real soon. After all the advices from the doctors and our parents, this is the main reason why Saiful and I decided to differ our Postgraduate studies until next year.

Saiful whatsapp'ed me this before we found out about our little one is on the way.
.
.
.
.
.

Probably God has planned and decided for our journey to follow this sequence? ;)

1, 2, 3 ...checked.
4....coming soon.

See little bub how much we have sacrificed for you??
You better be a good boy/girl o.k?
Then I promise next year we proceed with no. 5 and we go play snow.

Study Abroad

Before I got married to Saiful, both of us discussed with each other and our parents about the fact that we intend to pursue our Postgraduate studies in England this year in September.

When both of us were busy doing our chambering, we slotted in some of our time to prepare for all the relevant documents to be submitted for applications to a university in Canterbury that is not too far from central London (perhaps around one hour by tube), and that was the place where we should be enrolled at.

Alhamdulillah we have been offered places. We accepted the offer right away and after the wedding and honeymoon, we told our parents.

"hi mom hi dad look! we're ready to fly off in September. You guys gonna miss us pretty soon! Prepare a box of tissue or umm maybe more.. and come give us a big barney group huggg alreadyy!"
.
.
.
.
.

 There you go. For the love & cup of tea for Criminal law and litigation as for mine and, Business studies for Saiful.

Since then, we have settled with the payments for enrollment, made arrangements with the agents there for our accommodation, pre-booked the flight tickets and of course, the best part in the preparation list was....shopping for the clothes and being the foodie monsters, our can't-live-without-essentials..... FOODS!

We left the visa part at the end of the preparation since we were busy working took our own sweet time and it was quite last minute we realized about UK Visa's new policy that, apart from the usual medical check up, we need to go through a tuberculosis (TB) test as one of their requirements to obtain the visa. We were like "oh, should be okay lahh.."
The officer in charge told us that there are options for us to do the test.

Firstly, by undergoing a chest x-ray or alternatively by doing the sputum test whereby one need to give a sputum sample (phlegm coughed up from your lungs) and it may take up to two months to process.

Saiful and I looked at each other.
He gave me that worried look and murmured something to me. We called the approved clinics listed by the UK Border Agency to make an appointment for the test and for an inquiry regarding something very important. The clinic officer informed that it wouldn't be a problem for Saiful to go through any of the test but as for my part, I couldn't do both.
.
.
.
.
My jaw dropped with my eyes wide opened.

Pretty sure I looked exactly like the guy up here at that point of time.

What did he mean I couldn't do both??!
 No test means,  No visa! No visa, no study in England! Like hello, I have been doing massive preparations and revisions for my upcoming course for crying out loud. You guys have gotta be kidding me!

Clinic officer: "I'm sorry ma'am. If you wish to proceed, we will not be responsible for any consequences that may occur.."

We went back to our parents' home to inform them what happened.
They said they don't know whether to laugh or to cry. We ended up with a decision to differ until next year.
There are reasons I was not able to do both of the tests.
Will tell what are those on the next entry.

Guess who needed to prepare that box of tissue (or more) now.
Sobs.
-____-

New Nest

We just recently moved into our new nest after almost a year in the apartment. Saiful and I were excited but oh well, we're pretty exhausted since there's a lot of work for us to do to get things set up, you know from moving the furnitures to folding each and every undies into the boxes. I didn't know that moving out and in could be so grueling! Bottom line, we needed help. Thank goodness MIL offered her helper to do the washing, mopping and spraying bla bla whatnot while Saiful and I unpacked the stuffs (uh oh alright fine, Saiful was the one who did most of the work obviously he he).
.
.
.
.

While doing whatever that we needed to do, I stepped outside and started imagining and went

♩♬ Lalala-laa.. five little peas in a pea-pod pressed,
one grew, two grew, and so did all the rest,
They grew and grew... and did not stop,
Until one day the pod went... POP! ♩♬

I turned around smiling and asked Saiful "Aww darling, how lovely if we could plant different kind flowers around the house compound. Wouldn't it look more fresh, radiant and attractive?? Let's go to Floristika!"

He responded.

Saiful: Err wait a minute. Dear, I never knew you have green fingers. Do you have green fingers to plant those things?

Me: Well, hidden talent..you'll never know *wink*

Saiful: But we bought your purple eustoma from Cameron Highland and you put it at our previous home. It didn't worked. Poor thing, you have forgotten to water it and the plant died miserably, remember?

Me: Uh-oh, forgotten? I did not! That..that was because we lived in an apartment, the flower did not receive enough sun from the outside so that's why! Don't you learn Science.. Now darling, we have a compound. I'm pretty sure the plants will get enough sun and trust me it will grow happily, I promise!

Saiful: Mmm..alright. Alternatively, why don't we just buy the flowers in small quantity and put it in the water in the small vase or something. You can put it inside. When it died, you can just throw it away easily. The artificial flowers is a great idea too!

Men. Pfftt.
The nicest way of saying no, like I didn't know (-__-).
Anyhow, I've promised myself to secretly go to Floristika one day and plant the flowers when Saiful's not around and I will prove him wrong baby, you just wait!

Well. Back to the moving in story.
After we have done with the cleaning, unpacking and arranging the stuffs, we invited our parents and the ustaz for a simple housewarming on the next weekend. Basically, we had a small gathering for doa selamat and solat hajat (prayers) for His blessings and our safety after moving into this new home

.
.
.
.
.
Received these three basic essentials (sugar, salt and tamarind) in the pretty containers from my MIL, grandma and mom as gifts. Actually at first I was quite surprised and kinda wondered why we received sugar, salt and tamarind as gifts. As far as I'm concern, we still have the stock of those must-have-items in the kitchen drawer.
According to them, it's a tradition thing that served as a symbol of 'naik rumah' (moving into a new house) and it portrays that life is not complete without sweetness, sourness and whatnot. Ahh...I have learned something new. On the other hand, maybe they secretly wished and hinted me to cook more often hehe.

I told them not to worry. By looking at the new home's work station a.k.a  the kitchen which is way bigger as compared to the one we had in our previous apartment, ehem! I can tell that the new Masterchef is coming to town man! ;p
.
.
.
.
.
I sighed relief that finally I thought we have quite settle with the house already until Saiful showed me this

Saiful: Dear, you have not unpacked those

 He showed me those bags

Me: What are those??

Saiful: Your clothes.....

I almost forgotten that I have not unpacked my clothes.
Five bags, seriously??

Saiful: Oh...oh.. Not to forget the one in the boxes too.. and you are still complaining you don't know what to wear.. Dear, I think you can survive with all these without washing machine for a year *smiling face*

Me: (-_-)' 

This is what happened when you're married to a lawyer husband. Loyar burok all the wayyy..
.
.
.
.
.

So tell me, how am I going to settle in with these??!.

.
.
.
.
.

Uh, I can do this baby.
Yes I can.

Photo Diary 4: Europe Honeymoon, Paris

.:Paris:.

Okay. One month has passed, we had enough of Europe for the time being. We missed our nasi lemak and teh tarik session at the mamak already.
Let's pack the bags and go home!