Wanted: Female adult koala bear to fill up nanny post

Happy new year, everyone. May it be a prosperous one for all. God bless :)

When you're a SAHM even the most mundane can be exciting

1. I dont recall ever seeing this luxe small carpet. Mom must not have been keen to let us wipe our dirty feet on it. Today she used it as the base 'alas' for her darling granddaughter to nap on. So prejudice she. Heh.

2. Pets sync well with babies. They even do the shoebox sleep pose together.

3. Apparently there are skinny jeans in neon pink for babies. Must get them for I myself need to fulfil my 'fashionistic' needs, via my daughter, of course, since the mid section is still not cooperating. Damn this mrs potato head phase.

This blog has changed its theme from "luahan perasaan" to "obsesi anak macam la dia sorang je ada anak"

Breaking heart

How can I leave you with a stranger and miss your antics and anything "first"? How do I choose between having the means to provide you with the best money can buy and being able to care for you with utmost love (which no one else would be able to)? Sigh...it's such a huge trade off between the two that I cant even answer myself when I asked "what do you really want?".

And the muffin top hath spoketh

Being a (first-time) mom means flooding the web with pictures of your baby. Sorry singletons, I really don't care if I annoy you lot. Once you get to this side of the hill, you're just gonna curse yourselves for having been so bitter.

Listen. I know how you feel. Been there done that, and trust me, your future is better off without being so bitchy now. Ooh...what did I just hear? "BITE ME", you said? I'm not gonna be agony aunty and nag because it's just not worth the effort. Just two questions: "How would you feel if your own mothers aren't happy with or proud of you?  How much hurt would it inflict you if they never showed that you mean the world to them?"

I figured.

So now just back off and let us bask in our happiness.

High heels will change your mind, woman.

I saw a little baby bump today. Someone else's, of course.

And in my heart I went "sigh....".

It's crazy, missing being pregnant when I  have a strong-willed (read: fussy/demanding/"hold me hold me hold me!!!") 3-month old. But the yearning is so intense that I think I'm aiming for number two immediately.

Hahah. *lap peluh*

Dont wake me up before you go-go

My Little Drama Queen

You're happiest during the first half an hour upon waking up

and when I bathe you

Then you cry incessantly all day long

Refusing to be put down or left alone in your crib

You poop only once a day, 

always at the same time like clock work you are

Perhaps because you also feed like so

Two-and-a-haf hours 

and the crying machine gets revved up

You drive me nuts and make me put off my schoolwork to the very last minute

But

I can't stop kissing and cuddling and loving you

Because you're my little angel

My Little Pea

...and truth be told, I am so effing sleepy cos I haven't slept all night finishing up that bloody Research Methods presentation. You were very fussy and crying a lot tonight...cos I wasn't in bed with you?

Ok mommy's bedtime now.

I love you so much.

Sometimes it feels like a heartbreak, because so many others who still have theirs can't even be bothered to call and say hello

I'm always happy here. Don't need a popular footballer to justify my love for this place.

I miss Dusun Muda. I miss sleeping to the harmony of frogs croaking and being startled by the roosters crowing way too early in the morning. I miss waking up to get breakfast from the sundry shop. I miss being paranoid about the neighbour's geese. I miss the creaking sound of the wooden floor. I miss entering a house from the back/kitchen door instead of the front. I miss playing in the rain. I miss air hujan cucur atap. I miss the hammock under the house, and how the ground was always damp and cool down there. I miss being excited over that piece of plank in the master bedroom because it could be removed and I really thought it's a secret emergency exit if orang jahat broke in. I miss the pink guava and buah katak puru trees in our compound.

I miss a lot of things that I can never experience anymore, let alone to have a go at them again with my child(ren). And on top of it all...

...I really miss my grandmother now.

:'(

I'm a mother. It's all about putting in the effort. Like, coming up with this entry at 2am with a sleepy baby in one arm, phone in one hand, and another hand alternating between typing on the keypad and clearing snoot from the nostrils.

Whilst being pregnant I asked oimira to slap me in the face if she finds me no longer concern about the way I look. Fast forward to 2.5 months post-delivery and I find myself looking forlornly at all the blah clothes in my closet at mom's. And frustratingly, the same happened when I finally went back to PIL's as so many stuff don't complement my jelly belly anymore.

Fixing a Broken Heart
And so I hopped on to WWW (hello, old friend) to seek inspiration on the latest do but now I'm having issues to grasp the idea of this major ear bling. Please give me some time to ponder over this.

Worry not, I'm good till you see me in carrot cut mom jeans.

Promise.

My Style Icon

Julia Patton of Camp Patton. 2.5 years of age with fashion sense and attitude that put Naomi Campbell to shame.

I'm Now an Embarassment to My Single Friends

Bahahhhaaahhhhaaaaaaa!!!!!!!

It's not always baby talk

Yea. Today's entry is about moi. My digestive system, to be exact. Gross? You bet it is. The strory goes like this:

I popped a baby.

Then I got obsessed with drinking (more than) enough water and eating oranges and taking jamu pills and downing hospital-grade laxative.

All in the name of avoiding constipation.

And all was happy and dandy until last week. Atending to a very demanding baby who cries A LOT, I was no longer observing this discipline and safe to say that I would go through the birth experience all over again instead of today's WC tragedy.

No wonder the Malays coined the term berak batu because hell it sure does happen to the most unfortunate beings -____-

(Oi cerita belum habis)

Then my aunt passed me a tub of prunes. And so I went at it like a peasant who hasn't had food for days. The verdict? It was like having a built-in heavy duty food processor that churns out massive errrr..."output".

Why does digestive system have to be so complex?

Gotta run. The royal throne's calling.

Guilt

When you have to ask your husband to put the baby to bed all by himself, at a time when she seems to only stop crying when you, and not anyone else, hold her.

All because you have a deadline to meet. Sigh.

Postgrad studies - do it before you procreate or postpone it till your retirement age.

:(

Motivasi fuhh fuhhhhh

Managed to squeeze my lumpy mid section into pre-prego skinnies. Terasa diriku seperti emak paling hot di donia.

Siap posing ada angle. Bahhh.

Whoever first concocted this potion was fudging genius

Minyak Yuyi Cap Limau. Dipercayai sejak turun temurun untuk melegakan kembung perut. Ask Odena. She'd say

H*ELL TO DA YEAH!!!

Penniless but hey, who's complaining when you've stopped your cursing habit after leaving your job

My point being, being a SAHM has helped me develop a new skill: PERSUASION.

I am in love with this rug and I shall convince the mister to buy it for the new house because a little Moroccan touch sure does not hurt. And he owes it to me for the lighting faux pas (long story).

On a side note, I'd be back at work on Monday had I not tendered my resignation. Two words: Mimpi ngeri.

:O

Love Changes Everything

After almost two months he's now totally immersed himself into fatherhood and it really warms my heart each time I see him cuddling the little one in his arms. Neither one of us is a perfect parent but I firmly believe that we try our best to complement each other in making sure that chubby Little Pea is happy and comforted at all times. It is very exciting to be blessed with having a child but it is by no means an easy feat.

Alas...I now understand why I seemed to have (temporarily) lost a few friends when they had babies.

Make Me Over!

Some mornings are so relaxing because someone's not cranky. Since she is still sporting the crew cut, uncannily resembling her father (oh boy...), I thought  that it is just appropriate for  me, as the mother, to give her a virtual makeover so we can be sure of what look is best for little missy.

Adele, David Arumugam or The Real Slim Shady?

Voting line opens now.

Duhai apakah gerangan budi balasan

A mother would do anything for her child.

Go sleepless when the child gets cranky in the middle of the night,

bear the soreness when the child refuses the bottle and all she wants is a dried up "nursing well",

build pillow fortress around her so she could hold the child in her arms all night, or lose the arms to  protect the child from rolling over and fall on the floor, for her tummy is the only spot where the little one would sleep soundly on,

do many a trick to muffle her coughs so the child won't startle in her sleep,

and...

and...

and.............
.
.
.
.
...and thus she may, one day, take the child on a guilt trip with a photo such as this should the child rebel too much against her.

Mwahahahhhh.

(Bangun tido tangan kebas maksimum sebab tahan cik not-so-kenit-anymore yang sudah bergolek ke tepi.)

Hush little baby

:-)

Makaaaaan budaaaaaaaaaaaaaak

Access baggage i.e. pipi labuh kiri dan kanan.

Can't help it. She's my life, my world, my everything. So I'll only write about her as long as I want to.

Even if it means having to hold her in my arms the whole night so she can sleep soundly,

Even if it means having to leave my schoolwork pending so I can soothe her from the feverish temperature,

And even if it means that life is totally different and totally more overwhelming than what it used to be,

It's okay.

Because she's the most beautiful gift that I could ever ask for.

Get well soon, baby darling. Mommy's here to comfort you.....

Imma Momma It Ain't Easy No More

Agak-agak ini semua safety hazard tak kalau pakai pastu dokong Audrina? 

Maybe the lizard one is ok. Mmmm....

Source: H&M Malaysia 

(eh, why so expensive unlike in Europe aaaaah?)

:[

Wrote a long post and it's been stuck at "publishing" status since 8.35pm. Blardihel.

Anyway, happy 1 month birthday Audrina sayang. Lagi 2 minggu kita pigi jenjalan eh? Weeeeeee!!!!

L.O.V.E.

Okay, maybe sleep does.

Wan Nur Audrina Binti Wan Muhammad Arif Azim

3 weeks and 3 days today, with lungs as big and strong as a whale's.

♥♥♥

DIY Wednesday: Part VIII (and the imminent birth of Ms. Wan Little Pea)

After weeks of DIY block, I came across this tutorial for a no-sew coloured pencils roll-up case. All of a sudden, Kakak Krafter's hat popped on my head and tadaaaaaaahhhh....I came up with a similar version for make up brushes! 

Warning: I am still in my malas mode so please excuse the wonky end product.

*****

1. Get a piece of felt. Draw these lines - this will be your brush slot band.

2. Line them brushies up.

3. Mark the width of each brush neck. Snip off the sections, creating slits.

4. I was feeling a lil' bit fancy and honestly, the original tutorial was too straightforward. Since makeup brushes should be kept off germs as much as possible, I thought that it's just appropriate that I make a properly covered case. 

I took a chunk of fabric from my stash - didn't even bother to properly measure the dimensions and I just placed the felt piece from above on the fabric and snip a rectangular piece off it. Remember, we're still trying to aim for a no-sew craft here, so hem the sides using fusible tape we did.... hahahhaaaaa!!!!! 

If you're in Malaysia, you can get your fusible tape at sewing/craft supply shops (there's a good one in Pertama Complex) or buy online here.

5. Attach the felt piece. Fold the bottom bit of the fabric upward to make a pocket. Again, we use our trusty fusible tape on the sides. Heheh.

6. Slot your brushes in. Almooooooosst ready.

7. Okay, I missed a picture here (bahhahhh, lazy mode lazy mode). 

There will be quite a bit of fabric on the top bit, yes? 

Now you use that as the top flap to cover the bristle. 

Make a tiny slit in the middle, or wherever you want, so long as the front and back bits of your floral print fabric meet.

Grab a long-ish piece of elastic thread (you can also use hair elastic). Make a loop and thread the disjointed ends through one of your snipped slits and a button. Make a knot. 

8. We are now ready for the finished product. Roll the case from the no-button end to the other. In this case, it's left to right. If you're a lefty I imagine you'd have done this the other way round ;p

Loop your elastic around the case and tuck the end into your stopper i.e. the button. 

FINITTO!!!!! 

Told you it's wonky. Measure properly if you're a stickler for perfection. I'm pregnant and not being my usual self. 

So here we have what's probably my last DIY before Pea's birth. I hope that I'll feel as crafty and that time will be on my side during my confinement period. I've seen friends who were bored to the bones when they had theirs but I seem to always experience things differently compared to others, in both good and not-so-pleasant ways, so I'm not gonna put my expectations up so high for now. Just gonna relax and go with da flow...

*****

Ahhhh...Pea. You're 39 weeks today and still happily wriggle about in Mommy's tummy. You come out when you're ready okay? Whatever it is, I believe it's all for the best. Guess you're too much of a priority to me now that I'm gonna be fine with how it will clash with my classes. Let's just pray that Mommy can sit for both Research Methods and MIS classes. Sayang dia mwah mwah!

Oh chup! I find it funny that the Mister startles a lot in his sleep these days. Like, when I wake him to help me get up to attend to nature calls, he'll go "kenapa sayang???? kenapa sayang???" thinking I've gone into labour hahahahahhhh.... 

(Laughing now, potentially screaming later) 

-__________-

Haaaaaaarrrrrkkkkkk now even them fingers are swollen!!!!!

Pea come out soon please :s

Mrs Van Hoof You Approve?

I LOVE METROJAYA.

There. I said it with no commission paid.

How can you not, when the merchandise on sale literally scream forget-me-not?

AMOUNT OF CASH BURNT: RM97.15 (ONLY)

This had been fun. I went in looking for a pair of comfy and pretty leather sandals and found none. Was I bummed? Nahhhhh...it was expected since I had been on the hunt for a while now. It's just that the feet had been swelling up 'nicely' since the last few days that I thought I should probably give it another go. Clarks, hush pups, lewre, kickers, naturalizer, and that other brand which my pregnant brain can't seem to recall, you name it I've seen them all - the pretty ones have heels (hence the beauty) and flats are frankly speaking, made only for Aunties. Don't bother suggesting Fit Flops because I don't believe in paying RM400 for latex sprinkled with glitter. And I won't fit into them once I get back to my originally very narrow feet. And I'm gonna give birth to Pea real soon too. We will make do with whatever we have in the shoe closet (read: car). 

So I do what we women do best: BROWSE AROUND. CUCI MATA. 

Finally, cuci dompet. 

I have to say that this was my most enjoyable purchase in months considering that I couldn't get my hands on mint/coral/buttercup jeans or any of those gorgeous apparel that everyone else has been sporting. I have also mostly invested my money in stuff for Pea. Not that Mommy have issues with you, dear. Just that it's not as fun when I don't get to try on the purchases I make. 

But now, aaaaaahhhh...the joy of owning a collar necklace (finally), a festive-season-appropriate and pregnancy-friendly top for one of the weddings this weekend and cute ladybug earrings. Plus plus, ngeeeee.

Thank you Metrojaya. I look forward to more rebate vouchers from you this year end. I really hope that my husband will go on a spending frenzy again (he loves your departmental store as much as I do we are oh-so-MFEO) and contribute those extra rewards points to my account. 

Now, should I consider the other two pairs of sexy necklace which I painfully put back on the display shelf? 

Hmmm....decisions decisions.

**************************************

p/s: I love you too, Ruscoe. You make the best wallet-friendly fashion jewelry in town!

So I'm Still Pregnant. So I Still Get Crazy Food-Related Dreams at Night.

Funny how I could always will myself to cook whenever I'm back at mom's. And since my appetite has gone wankers during these final weeks of being pregnant, I decided to treat myself to the most unhealthy find in the freezer:

THE UBER LEGENDARY RAMLY BURGER PATTY

2 patties, onions, garlic, ginger, curry powder, chilli powder and celery stuffed in a pita bread, and I'm done with lunch. Awesome when all you want is greasy food and you don't really wanna trouble your husband (who's fasting) to wait in the long queue at Mcdonald's yet again. If only I wasn't too lazy to grate some Gouda cheese and grill these babies..they would have passed as something one gets from an American food truck. Okay I watch too much food tv, I must admit.

Lazy Sunday and I hope the Lil Pea makes her grand entry into the world soon.

Aidilfitri Hari Bahgia

Pea is yet to make her grand entrance but that just means I have another day to stuff my face with lemang and rendang oh oh oh....awesome.

Raya in the capital is not too bad at all. Being able to go back and forth between two places (my parents' and the in-laws') on the first day makes the whole celebration, as a married couple, much more bearable. Honestly, I don't miss having to travel for 9 hours to see my parents for Raya like we did last year. Mom, let's just make this a new tradition for our family. Please?

Compared to threatened labour and the bleeding episodes since Thursday, I think swollen feet (and ankles and calves and, well, the whole of both legs) scare me more. Oi, I didn't even stand still for that long and was on the move most of the time when my butts were off the chairs! Blood circulation should have been good then, no? It's raya for heaven's sake. Lemme entertain my guests and run to the kitchen sometimes la.

I'm currently having so much fun with the new phone despite the loss of a real keypad. Wonder how do those with stubby fingers manage. I miss using two thumbs and typing ten lines of messages in under 2 seconds. Boo.

The icing on the cake for all of these is definitely is the hubs. I know...I know....I may sound like that annoying woman who worships her husband as if he's the God of Acropolis, but I have to say that he has made my raya this year a lot more meaningful by being the awesome person that he is. And he paid for this phone, bahhhaahh! Thank you sayang. Just like Bruno says it, you're amazing just the way you are :)

Selamat hari raya aildilfitri, maaf zahir dan batin

Baby coming?

Maybe...signs are there and bapak & mummy are playing da waiting game. Mummy's playing with her new phone too. Tehheeee....

DIY Wednesday: Part VII (Special Tribute)

Do-it-yourself onde-onde gula melaka. Made by Ms Ki-Moira, and she deserves credit for her effort. Not bad for a first-timer.

I told you babe, cooking is therapeutic. You even missed gula in one because menggentel bebola kueh is so syiok kan? I look forward to many more of your adventures beyond kedai makan for good food like this. We have faith in you, yeahhhh!!!!!

That moment when your hubby asked if you had prepared that thing for your freelance work and you answered "no" and he replied "I bagi you singgit je sebulan nanti" with a sheepish grin on his face...

...and you let out an unstoppable laughter. Like, hahahahhahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahhahahahahhahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..... (sampai keluar air mata, nervous seh...singgit?). No no, En. Arif is not that cruel. He, in fact, almost always gives in when I ask for something even when he doesn't necessarily need to, like, saying yes to 60% discounted Bimba & Lola flats, when I could have easily paid for them myself. I guess it's true when they say a woman somehow would marry a man with similar traits with her father. Haha yes, my dad is also that gullible when it comes to his girls' requests (upcoming mission is "Atok belanjalah Pea punya kambing aqiqah nanti." Ngeh.).

I know that it's not like I have massive followers here or anything but I am that perasan and believe that there were people who waited for my DIY Wednesday post. Kehkeh. 3rd trimester has really kicked in with a bang since the last weekend. There was massive exhaustion and some weird contractions going on. Even helping mom out for to prep for buka took a toll. I could barely walk that Sunday night and half the time I thought I was gonna deliver the baby already. To force myself to get out of bed for sahur, I imagined that last mile in running events - always toughest but rewarding at the end. Heh, drama drama drama. But I was literally a case of "a pain in the ass" where doing/not doing anything for too long led to this sharp, stabbing jabs in my lower body (especially in the nether region). I mean, how can sleep be a painful experience? It felt like I was hit by a truck on Monday morning and it left me lying down (read: falling asleep due to exhaustion) in the prayer room at work for 3 hours. Such agony a mother has to go through even before the birth, and later having to deal with kids who talk back to you and who pretend they're too sick to go to school when they actually didn't finish their homework, tsk tsk..... (aaaahhh okay that was me, bahhahhh!)

Ummmm...yeah, I really just wanted to say that I was too tired to do some crafting for the past week. And it was all really unnecessary because it turned out that I only contracted another bout of bladder infection. Bahhhhhh. Fourth episode throughout the pregnancy no less. I think I should sign up for UTI Anonymous already, or perhaps the bacteria should create a fan page for me ('-_-). Now feeling better on a prescription of potassium citrate, I feel like running a half marathon.

Do I need to babble so much? No, not really. When you didn't get enough sleep, your brain either shuts down completely or it loses the ability to control whatever it needs to. For me this morning, it includes peeing and shutting my mouth up. Told you 3rd tri hath kicketh. That, or the "friendly" bacteria hasn't fully vacated my urinary tract.

On another note, I am (not) proud to announce that I'm yet again a late adopter. Just started reading Sheikh Muzaffar's wife's blog on juggling life as a mother. OMG, I can't believe how down-to-earth she is. My sister has always adored her blog and been pestering me to pay a visit one too many times but I held my ego up high until today. The reason being, a silly assumption that she must be another celeb wife riding on her spouse's popularity - I bet she talks non stop about her astronaut husband and his activities and accomplishments yada yada yada. I was even adamant (in my head) that she must have some nuffnang ads going and it's just another channel for her to earn some free pocket money for her Chanels. Maybe I should also admit that I have always thought that she's just a trophy wife. Well, shame on you, Nadia, because it appears that she is all but none of these *self bitch-slapping me now*. Gosh, she is just so....normal. Like you and I. She could use some help with her grammar (naaaaak jugaaaak point out orang punya kelemahan kan, haha kuang asam eeewww) but I guess she radiates so much humility that something so important in my book of rules had taken the least priority as I read through every post down to the first one. Her writing is nothing more of a young, working mom's journey, and yet you subconsciously "read" her sincerity beyond those written words. I think I would know whether this is really what I think it is or if it's just an effect of lack of sleep. What I love most is how she portrays her husband as really, her husband, and not the celebrity we all know him for. Now I feel double regret for having been on team Dr Faiz all these while. But then again, he does look more of a stud than a muffin, which I think the Sheikh is (I mean it in a good, poster-boy, Korean-pop-star-good-looking-girls-screaming kinda way and in no way offensive, Dr Halina). Oh, she also blogshops! She doesn't need to, does she? I'm sure they have cash all stashed up in their children's trust fund already but she goes gaga over RM10 baby books at baby fairs. Aaaaaahhhh....I'm clicking "Like" on your Facebook fan page already.

Haihh...this weird mommy thing that I never thought I would get. Maybe I wasn't born to be a drill sergeant mother as I had imagined all along (thank God). I already feel connected to stranger moms in the blogosphere and I can't get enough from stay-at-home (and none of them being broke) mommies like Camp Patton, Buggie & Jellybean,  The Rhodes Log, and a many more out there. This week I truly had the conviction that taking a year off work will Insyallah work out just fine for us. Throughout the course of this pregnancy I went for a few job interviews and had received positive feedback for most of them (except for one with this very stuck up iPad tapping Manager who obviously was supposed to know if I fit her requirements from my CV, but appeared surprised when I told her I'm not the number crunching type and that I have only dabbled in finance for about a year. For the record, the headhunter turned internal HR personnel misunderstood the actual job scope thus leading to setting me up for the interview).

So here I am, (will be) staying home and just making the decision alone had made me feel like a HUGE burden has been lifted off my shoulders. I'm probably half doing it for my sanity - no more fearing my efforts are considered below par after labouring my heart and soul into an assignment, no more being anxious of hearing screams from beyond the walls, no more self guilt for turning up late (I may be tardy sometimes, but it wasn't so bad when I still had the passion). For the most part, I believe that it is time for me to finally leave that self-centred life of my younger years and devote the most part of me to enriching the lives of others i.e. our little nucleus family. Anyway, if you can't be offered a career, why bother be stuck with a job (that leads to nowhere?). And who says you need to conform to what the general society expects you to be/do?

My MBA is just another 6 subjects and a research paper away, so that's the self-reward that I will work on for myself (heh, I'm only human so I still need to feed my ego mmmmkay...). I hope that the freelancing gig(s) will come in on a continuous basis. A good friend is helping out to pull me into this freelancing resource (Alhamdulillah) and one of my besties had helped me secured my first ever job last month. Now it's just time for me to make my service availability known to the world. Hint: I proof read my husband's MBA research paper and he admitted that had he engaged someone else, he would be potentially broke to the bones for every major and tiny, minor correction, and document formatting (and re-formatting due to somebody else's Microsoft Word incompetency, uurrrgghhhh) I made. So ya know who ya gonna call for proof-reading and editing services now. The charges are very reasonable :)

Gosh, this is one long post. Guess it makes up for the week of silence, eh? And since the blog's URL is Snap 'n Tell, and since I am a big camwhore, I just can't bear signing off without some of my favourite shots of the week hehe.......

32 weeks + 3 days as at last Saturday. I'm huge and waddling like a stuffed penguin, but I have my pillar of strength to support me, both physically and emotionally :)

Who would expect a new group of awesome friends at this age? And this lot makes you feel so youthful!
(pic courtesy of the ever-wacky Azlin)

I love you, you and you.

When moms-to-be are let loose at the baby fair, things happen.

Hey Cik Kenit Pea...look what Mommy got you!!!!!


Absent from the picture: Baby essentials (I swear they're essentials!) and Korean junk food for mommy & bapak (don't ask).

DIY Wednesday Part V: A Quickie

Are you in a dilemma where wearing tops that reveal too much to be desired is of concern?

Are you sick of relying on boob tubes which half the time are too snug for your comfort?

If you answered "yes" to both questions, fret no more because last weekend I found a cheap, comfortable solution for all you decently dressed women out there!

HOW TO MAKE AN EXPRESS MODESTY PANEL USING A HANDKERCHIEF


Grab a handkerchief/small scarf. Rummage through your mom's drawers if you have to.

Fold it into a triangle.

Wear your bra (if you aren't already).
Do the following.

...and you're done. No more boobie show!

Cost: MYR 0

Satisfactory level: Priceless

I've had the handkerchief for 15 years, if not longer. It came in a set of 6 and I have no idea what happened to the rest of them. The dress is about 3 years old, and seldom worn because of the cleavage show factor. Now they have both suddenly become my favourite maternity outfit yeay. 

31weeks+4 days Pregnant
(Smiling despite having issues with my chubbier than ever cheeks. Gemok, and I need a haircut.)

I have a love-hate relationship with tube tops so I only opt for them in times of desperation. Don't you just hate how they clam your breasts and back?

If your DIY adrenaline is on high drive this week, you may want to try this tutorial instead.

NB: 

Apologies for the less-than-enthusiastic DIY project. I'm way too tired being 32 weeks pregnant and fasting in Ramadhan. If I happen to whip my (almost-the-same-size-as-pre-pregnancy) ass this weekend, I'll launder the baby's outfits and go on a DIY spree on a few (or one) of the white rompers. We'll see about that. The only thing I wanna do these days is to curl up on the couch and read. 

The single best predictor of happiness? Having friends. Yeah, that's what scientists discovered!

This book is the real shiznit. I'm not done with it yet, but let me tell you this: everyone should read it, whether or not you have or are expecting a child. For one thing, it advises against subscribing to frivolous "brain development" programs for babies/children because truthfully, most are not totally scientifically certified or are just backed by some weak research findings. Yeah, most are just glorified by marketing goons' (goonies?) words (okay, I may be shooting bullets against my own kind here haha).

What I love about this book is it does not just share with you the scientific facts behind what goes on in that cute little skulls of your children, but it makes you think beyond this domain (of child development) and suddenly, you understand why YOU are the way you are. The author stresses on the importance of the environment and especially in the level of interaction parents have with their infants. Yes, INFANTS. Babies aren't just cute, crying and pooping mini-yous - their brains observe your every move and whatever you do today may determine how happy they are and what they will likely do later in life. So anyway, I'm not saying go back home and start yelling at your parents for every fault in your system may have stemmed from what they did in front of you when you were 3 months old. I just feel that it's so delightful to experience some sort of self discovery by reading this book. The best part is, it's not even intentional.

The author, John Medina, is a developmental molecular biologist, research consultant and bioengineering professor at University of Washington School of Medicine. He writes in my language - the geek in me is totally stoked by all the science speak, and the lazy bum side of me is very pleased by the dumbed-down analogies and examples scattered throughout the book. Bottom line is, you don't have to be brainy to understand the brain.

If you, like yours truly (ehem), have some level of formal education or work experience in cognitive science, neural network, or biology and genetics, go buy/read this book. If you don't, go buy/read this book too. It's a really worthy RM55 investment.

Brain Rules for Baby - it is not some wishy washy parenting book. Mark my words.

You deserve extra treats this weekend!

Cik Kenit at 31 weeks. Still small, according to the OB. Meaning, Mommy can still do weekday dieting and weekend indulging. Ha. Ha. Ha.