This and that and nothing much...

All I can say is the 3 days break flew by so fast.... 

I wished it was longer so that I can spend more time with my munchkins 

The problem with weekends is I try to crammed down a gabijillion activities. From outings to visiting to housework... It is very hard for me to just shut down and do nothing. Mainly because I will feel irritated at the end of the day if I don't think the day was spent "productively" enough... So I will usually end up more exhausted by Sunday night instead of feeling rejuvenated.

Oh well.. my choice :p

But that did not stop me from feeling annoyed whenever I read about people who I think (or assume) having lesser responsibilities from me complaining about how busy and tiring their life is. Sometimes I want to shout at them and say things like "you have one kid and 3 maids, how hard can your life be as compared to me maidless, having to take care of 3 kids, keep my house presentable and work at the same time?" but I know those type of thinking is not fair. Different life, different obstacle, huh? So hard to keep things in perspectives at times.

But whenever I feel overwhelmed with things around me... I stop, take a deep breath and count my blessings instead... Maybe I don't have the latest most coveted handbags or on constant trip overseas but I have something even better.... my 4 lil (or not so lil) darlings... They drive me nuts and stress me out but I'm never short of love and attention whenever they are around... 

and for that Alhamdullilah :)

With my baby boo Ranya...

Hehehe early morning walk in the park with Iman, Ranya and Ryan on Malaysia Day holiday :)

Lil Miss Iman in her gorgeous Old Navy colour blocking dress :)

Selfies with my man....

Ryan Daniel. My handsome lil man :) After two months of speech therapy I'm happy to report that his speech is improving very well. I think he is just more aware of his speech patterns. People still chastised me for "over reacting" since they dismissed it as plain "pelatness" which a lot of kids have...I agree, maybe Ryan's speech problem was not overly serious, but I have the means and time to help him improve his problems, why shouldn't I? After all knowledge is power, rather than I waste my $$$ on new shoes or clothes at least I know I'm investing somehow in his education.

Miss Ranya Fatimah in her yellow outfit... She's trying to balance herself on the planks.. too cute

The twins are currently suffering from "twin escalation syndrome" It means that they try their very best to gain attention from outdoing each other. For example if one cry the other will cry LOUDER. If one jumps the other will jump HIGHER. It's actually very normal with most twins who experienced "sibling rivalry" at a much bigger scale. It makes sense if you think about it, they are of the same age, have the same needs and developing at the same rate.

They fight hard but they love more fiercely too... Iman is so protective of her little sister, she will get Ranya's bottle, towel etc for her, console and play together. Ranya is so manja with her kakak... You can't help but melt watching them play and laugh together... 

6 more weeks to our family holiday *in sha Allah*.... I can't wait....

Logic from Ryan's eyes

Ryan is at that age where he is asking loads of questions, some funny, some nonsensical, some annoying and repetitive like "mummy buat apa tu" x 1000 times a day (haha yes I'm horrible) 

Example 1

R : Wow Mango... Ryan love mango

Me : Ok

R: Mummy kenapa mango yellow?

Me: errr.... *mumble* sbb it grows under the sun... errrr Ryan look adik buat apa tu (distraction 101)

Anyway if you're wondering mango is yellow because it contains up to 25 different carotenoids that can be isolated from mango pulp, the densest of which was beta-carotene, which accounts for the yellow-orange pigmentation of most mango species.

Example 2 @the ATM machine

R: Kenapa duit keluar from there?

Me: Sebab mummy work, and my boss pay me gaji, and put it in the bank and if mummy nak money, I can go to the nearest ATM to get duit.

R: Oooooooo.... dapat gaji boleh beli Ryan present???

Me: *sensing where this may be going* Errr Ryan apa tu?? pointing randomly at something 

However, some questions are a bit more difficult to answer

Example 3 @in front of my grandad cemetery

Me: Ryan, look itu kubur atuk mummy. Jom baca Al-Fatihah

R: Ehhh kenapa atuk mummy kat situ?

Me: Atuk mummy dah meninggal, Atuk jumpa Allah, bila orang meninggal, kita kena tanam their body in the cemetery

R: oooohhhhh.... mummy Allah tak boleh ambik atuk Ryan, atuk Ryan tinggal dengan Ryan je kat rumah....

Me: errrrrrrrr......  Ryan look ada ambulance la kat depan hospital

How do you explain death to a 3.8 year old? I had to do it earlier this year when Lan's great grandmother pass away and we brought him to arwah funeral. I don't think he fully understood the concept of death and losing a person forever yet but we did try to explain to him without making it too scary (which is almost impossible)

Anyway, I tried a bit of  logic yesterday to stop Ryan from having a melt down and it worked. Lan and I promised Ryan that he can get a new toy car since he did well in class. So we went to Jusco and told him to choose a toy within RM50 budget. My son of course had to choose a RM80 truck the size of my palm which I think is a bit pricey considering that it has no special features (i.e it does not move on its own, makes no sound etc). We tried to convinced him to choose something else... I even pointed out a crane model, as tall as his sisters and over his RM50 limit because it was at least worth the price. All met with a big NO "Ryan dah ada", "Ryan tak suka", "Tak cantik", "tak mahu" etc.

I know I had to put my foot down and make the decision which will be deemed "uncool" in his eyes, so I said "sorry, I'm not going to buy the truck for you". He stood still, lips quivering, refusing to move, showing all the sign of starting a temper tantrum, so I decided to try one last trick before running for the door :p

Me: Ryan, mummy ada RM100 je at the moment. If I buy you the truck which cost RM80, we have to go home straight and we can't go buy pizza and ice cream and cha time....

R: Nak jugak truck

Me: Ok fine, but kesian adik nanti tak dapat underwear baru, underwear adik dah small, nanti adik Ryan kena pergi school without underwear and kena marah dengan teacher. Tapi takpelah, Ryan dapat truck baru

R: adik takde underwear?

Me: Takde... kesian dia kan? kita tengok toys kat luar boleh?

R: *muka sedih* ok-laaaaa

I did buy him a lego set later, which is within his toy budget limit. I guess I need to practice more LOGIC with him now that he's older. Hopefully this will curb more future tantrums, though mummy has to exercise more patience because admittedly I do succumb to the screaming and nagging trap especially after a rough day at work. 

Imagine when Iman and Ranya starts asking these questions too *bite fingers*

The Twins Hari Raya #OOTD

Before doing a proper Hari Raya post, I'm gonna post a fluff post on the girls Hari Raya outfits :) Having "A" girl is great, having twin girls? AWESOME especially when it comes to dressing them up. I had so much fun shopping for their "coordinated" but not too matchy-matchy Raya outfits. 

Shopping takes on an entirely different spin nowadays, having to take into consideration, what they have and new thing they need (or I think they need) Too bad I'm still not successful in getting them to be interested in accessories. Shoes, they love (yeay!!) but headbands, hair ribbons and the likes of it, usually don't stay long on their head and would be yanked off after a few seconds -__-

Day 1 Aidilfitri : Pink Peplum Cupcakes Baju Kurung. I've had the cuppies material for ages and finally found the right use for it :) so I got 2 contrasting material for the tops because I'm not keen on making identical clothes for the girls. Majorly adorable (I'm their mum, I can over compliment my children if I want too :p)

Day 2 Aidilfitri: Green Daisy Top and Yellow skinnies on Ranya and Green Tulip Dress on Iman from Gymboree for our Raya in Malacca :)

Day 3 Aidilfitri: Najavo Print dresses from The Children Place for a swinging day in Bertam Jaya :) They had on a different DVF Gap Dress later on the day when we were in Merlimau but too bad I didn't manage to snap any decent pic of it...

Day 4 Aidilfitri: My fave outfit on the girls are these matching navy dresses with chevron prints from Baby Gap. Awesome pussom all camera ready for our Raya in Tanjung Malim hehehe

Day 5 Aidilfitri : For their Pak Lang's engagement on Monday they had on these gorgeous dresses we got from GM Klang. Green chiffon dresses with flower applique and beading :) Value for money

Day 6 Aidilfitri : another fave outfit.. recycled Upin and Ipin outfits courtesy of Ryan's wardrobe which he generously "donated" to dedek. Heheheh

Day 6 Aidilfitri (the girls 2nd #ootd for beraya) : bow tops from Trudy and Teddy and Tutu skirts from GM Klang :)

This is what you get when you want to post something but don't really have the time to type down a proper entry : a boring (but cute) outfit postings, be thankful at least it is not a selfie of myself hahaha. Selamat Hari Raya all and Happy Working (or not) !!!

Selamat Hari Raya!!

My sweet little man…

A few days ago, I came back from a very stressful day in the office and he greeted me with a smile and said “eeee lawanya mummy, macam princess”

He kept on wanting to see my c-section scars, and everytime he would look at me pitifully and say “kesiannya mummy Ryan, doctor cut nak keluarkan adik” 

A few weeks ago I wasn’t feeling well and he sat next to me and gave me a head rub because I told him I had a headache (ok it was more like tepuk-tepuk but still…)

I had a disagreement with him and walked away; he came to me with this sad lil face, extended his hand and declared “Mummy, Ayen soyyyiee… (10 seconds later he will forget his apologies and goes on to do some other mischievous behavior but still…) 

Yesterday, Iman was crying over something and he went to her, patted her head and said “dah dah jangan nangis, Aye ada sini”

He’s also very protective over his sisters, if Lan or I would reprimand the twins he’ll come in between us and his sisters and would shout “mummy/daddy jangan marah adik (ohhh but it is ok if he’s doing the screaming to them but still…) 

I must be doing SOMETHING right… Alhamdullilah

The one with chicken pox.....

Ryan has chicken pox. It started with mild fever over the weekend and he woke up yesterday with watery spots on his body. He's vaccinated so we're hoping (and it looks like) the effect won't be so major. He seems fine yesterday, despite several complaints of itchiness and some fussing during bedtime, at least he was not throwing major tantrums of any sorts.

My worry is that Iman has caught the bug. She was also down with fever on Monday but doctor said it was due to sore throat. At that time no one was aware that Ryan was hatching chicken pox virus within him, now that we know, Iman is on major spot alert.

Anyway we're feeding the girls with pro-biotic to enhance their immune system.  I'm quite worried over the effect on the twins as they're not vaccinated yet. Their shots was due last month along with their MMR booster, but their pediatrician clinic was out of chicken poxvaccines,  so now all we can do is hope and pray that they did not catch it. Other than make them sleep in different rooms, not much can be done to separate the 3 as the girls hero worship Ryan and follow him all around the house :p

 Oh well the doctor did say it is very likely the girls WILL catch it now that Ryan has it but effects on babies are usually very mild as compared to adults. I'm just hoping that it won't be around Raya week coz that would be an extra "interesting" celebration for our family...

 A picture of my lil man slathered in calamine lotion. He's secretly happy because he can stay with Atuk and not go to school. Kept on telling me "Ayen holiday 2 days" - Ignore the fact that he's been out of school THREE days already hahaha

When I had my bout of contact dermatitis, my dermatologist suggested this brand of body cleanser along with its lotion. Alhamdullilah it worked very well for me, so I decided to buy a bottle for Ryan. We've been bathing Ryan a few times a day with this and it does help with the itchiness. Thank god because this ain't cheap :( Oh and we keep Ryan in air conditioned room 80% of the time to ensure no excessive sweating = no itching = no scratching :p

So far so good... I'm still standing despite the lack of sleep. Oh well a bit of a test during Ramadhan, I reckoned 

now BACK TO WORK!!!

"Sisters are two different flowers from the same garden..."

My tiny little fairies... Love them so much and will protect them from any harm coming their way *in sha Allah*

Keep calm coz it was an awesome weekend :)

Since it is the week before Ramadhan, we tried to cram in as many activities that we could. Alhamdullilah, it was one of those tiring weekend that leave you fulfilled rather than just plain exhausted :) 

 SATURDAY:060713

After Ryan's morning class, Ryan and I sped off to Coffee Societe, Publika for Reebok's 30th Birthday and Bridal shower Instagram theme celebration :p

Saturday morning was well spent with my lovely ladies :
My "kakak" Tini, our fave dentist Dr. Aimee, Party organizer/yellow minion Kelwa and Hanis.
Food was not bad and I enjoyed the settings and party deco :)

With my BFF and bodyguard : Ryan Daniel who patiently played and waited for mummy while she ate and gossiped. Of course he conveniently "pau" mummy for an army tanker and a book before we met up with my girlfriends..

Had dinner with the girls at one of our fave food stalls because I felt guilty leaving them at nenek's house in the morning.

-----------------------------------------------------------

  SUNDAY: 070713

We started our Sunday with a simple pancake breakfast while our gardener mows the lawn (ahhh the smell of freshly cut grass is awesome). After tidying up, we had lunch at my mum's place and moved the party to my in laws place :p 

The girls doing their fave past time activity : CLIMBING. Terkenan Abang Ryan minat Spiderman kot when I was pregnant with them :p

Late evening and after much coaxing from Ryan, we stopped by Aeon Bukit Tinggi for Pizza. Once the kids is filled to the brim with soup, garlic bread and pizza, we dragged them to the play gym (can't remember the name) where they spent an hour climbing, running, rocking and bouncing of bouncy castles :) 

Iman Khadeeja : The resident spidergirl, even her girly princessy dress can't deter her climbing activities :)

Ranya Fatimah: Dedek yg loud and manja. She love singing and humming softly to herself. I should really take a picture of her doing that one of these days :)

My superhero Ryan Daniel : The twins looked up to him and copy his every move. This is good because they pick up new skills set fast, but also bad because they will also pick up on some of his negative habits :p oh well you win some you lose some :P

The girls playing peekaboo. My lil babies are now speaking, running and jumping toddlers. I do miss the times when they were tiny wriggling newborns in my arms. We're currently sorting out their baby stuff and giving away, selling and donating mana yang patut. Feeling a bit bittersweet because my babies are all growing up so fast and even more so now that Ryan is not only diaper free but also bottle free :) Alhamdullilah we managed to wean him off right on our target date which is when he turned 3 years and 6 months :) Apart from having a bit of a problem sleeping for the first week, tossing and turning before bedtime, there was no tantrums or fall out. Good job, Ryan!!!

The siblings during their "bff" moments. I wish I can freeze time and keep them happy and protected from the cruel world and even crueler people in it. That won't happen but I always pray that Allah will bless all my children with the very best. In Sha Allah :)

Alhamdullilah, Allah has given us the opportunity to "enjoy" another Ramadan, so let's make full use of it and strive to be better Muslims at the end of the month (forever). Let's curb all of our vices (esp extreme shopaholic tendency on my part) and spend more time doing good for others and be thankful for our blessings. I'm desperately trying to remind myself that as a middle class, university educated, mother of 3 beautiful children, wife of a loving man and daughter of doting parents have nothing to be sad and ungrateful about when our brothers and sisters in Palestine, Syria, Egypt and Myanmar will be spending their Ramadan in fear and poverty. How's that for putting things in perspective? 

Half Time...

We've just entered July 2013 and 6 months has since passed since New Year.  I think this is a good time as any to compile all of Ryan's pictures to capture the activities that he had done in school in a blog post before I accidentally deleted any. Maybe one day when he is older, I can show him this post for memory sake.

The problem with school activities is I'm not there to capture the moments myself, so we had to rely on pictures that are posted on FB by Ryan's class teachers. I had to painstakingly go through each and every picture, combing through everyone, mentally playing "Spot Ryan Daniel" game in my mind. Sometimes I had to go through like 78 pictures before finding ONE picture of Ryan :p Oh well, short of hiring a professional photographer to follow him around in school, I should just be thankful that there is SOME pics of Ryan available for my viewing and enjoyment. For parents who complaint about this arrangement, I suggest home schooling, mesti boleh ambik gambar anak anda berjela-jela huhu

Ryan's First Trip to the Nursery to learn about plants in conjunction of "Green Week"

Ryan with his classmate and his other teachers

Ryan's Second School Trip was to KidZania.

I think the bus ride was what interest him the most oh and the chance to become a fireman.
No picture of that, but I do have 2 pics of him having lunch hahaha

Waiting in line, I managed to spot him by his shoe.

Always the smallest one :) Ryan the Builder

Ryan's kindy is also huge on Parent-Child activity. So we joined in the "Fun English at the Park" activity where we had to choose 5 park related words to complete the task

Hehehe had our "picnic like breakfast" together. I remembered making Ryan offer kuih to the rest of his classmates and parents. Some of them look at Ryan as if he wanted to mugged them. Didn't even bother to say "no thank you", just had this masam face and shook their head NO. How la to teach kids manners if the "orang tua" pun so RUDE!!! *sigh*

Ryan's assignment is to draw, write and memorize 5 new English words weekly

Doing his homework diligently :)

Alhamdullilah full marks :) 

Ryan first school holiday assignment was to choose an animal and create a scrap book with all the relevant information.
He choose SHARK of course :p

and me being the standard "kiasu mum" decided that ONE visual aid is not enough, so I helped Ryan make this papier mache shark from an old water bottle and newspaper :) we shall see if I can keep up the momentum in two year where I have to help 3 preschoolers with their homework...

Ryan's 3rd School Trip to Ladang Kopi and Kilang Kerepek in Morib

Sports Day in Impian Hotel, Morib

4th School Trip to Hi5 Bread Factory in Shah Alam and Shah Alam Library.
He's the one in the middle doing the Ultraman pose :p

The members of Pink Class (4 year old class), celebrating their friends birthday in school. Now Ryan wants to celebrate his birthday too. I kept on having to explain to him that his birthday is a long way to go and since it is on a school holiday, probably most of his friends won't be around to celebrate with him...

Alhamdullilah, Ryan seems to be enjoying school very much and I can see a lot of positive changes in him so far. May the progress continues and hopefully his second half of the year would be as fun and educational as the first one. In sha Allah :)