a lil touch of something..

I was browsing through my newly upgraded gadget (another gift from Mr.sweet Ai.. ;) , then a thought hit me; why do we always.. ALWAYS post our beloved baby's video.. just like it is.. a video of him giggling, turning, blabing bla bla bla..
there's no harm in a little bit of editing..

So I started to experiment with the power of IPhone4. I downloaded iMovie for iPhone, then started my production, with the star of the day; Mr.Maqeel. (He was actually bargaining for more milk during the 30minutes filming.. being a typical-demanding-star-on-the-rise ;).

The apps is so easy to use, and best part is the iPhone didn't even hang once! No more the hustle-bustle of filming video on camcorder, then uploading it to a pc, then edit, then upload to the internet. That's 2 steps down from the traditional 'movie' production. Thumbs up for iPhone4! Because of you.. I will definitely produce more fun video!

Here goes peeps.. Enjoy, the 3minutes plus short movie i called Susu Ninja!

Fully filmed and edited on iPhone4.. with supercool surrounds sound effects! hiks :P (yeah.. i know I went a lil bit overboard with the storyline..) and please pardon the quality of my editing.. I was rushing to go to work.. i know it could have been much shorter and cooler. :)

Oh yeah.. and here's a lil something from Mr.Ai too. Maqeel news

Err...Can I ask you something?

A colleague of mine out of the blue pop up a bonus question for me. We've gone longgg back since 2006 when I'm still not wearing hijab.

He suddenly ask "Hey yeeney, tell me why are you wearing that thing all the time now? (pointing out to my hijab) Is it because you have children now, so you have to wear it?"

I laughed. I'm not really sure whether to answer him, or to smack his big nose down (well he literally has a BIG nose).

Then I answered "Well I didn't wear it until Myra's almost two didn't I?.. so that's not really the reason why I wear it.. Truth is, it's compulsory to all Muslim women to cover up, but when I was younger, I chose not to.. cause I'm a bit evil-like back then..and nowww, I feel like I wanna go to the good side, avoiding sin and all, so.. that's why"

(Yeah.. the westernization had a big impact on all of us, from my own experience and observation; most of us -muslim women in Malaysia- refused to wear hijab in our younger life. Maybe because we were so immature and easy to influenced. That all we could see was that sexy hairdos are so in!.. and I wanna look just like that.. Thank god that phase has past, thank god that there's still a tiny bit of me that wanted to change to the good side)

He nodded.. then open his curious mouth again "But then, why some of them cover up like this" (Gesturing niqab-like cover with only two eyes showing)

I laughed again.. "Hurm.. good question. It's because they are super pretty I guess?"
Dalam hati aku pikir: Soalan yang agak susah nak jawab.. I then just summarize it to be because of the differences of mazhab, some says you hafta cover all except for your two eyes, and some just your face and two forehands.. and some says depends on your beauty.. the more beutiful you regards yourself as, the more you need to cover, and vice-versa =)

That short conversation reminds me.. I so hafta build on my islamic knowledge! I'm pretty sure there are plenty more curious friends that wanted to know, but just too shy to ask.

After sometime when I thought the topic was over, he again brought up the subject, still curious to why women has to be forced to wear hijab. He thought every women who wore hijab were forced by their husband or family as a symbol of protection of his belonging. I then corrected him, I was never forced. Mr.Ai has never forced me to wear it, we were married with kid for sometime before I decided to wear.. it was my choice, and my choice alone....

Then I gave him this youtube video to better understand "Why Hijab'


"That's good that it's your choice.." he said.. silence... I guess knowing that it was by choice he was convinced and satisfied.. hopefully now gained a respect of one of the most important point in the beauty of Islam.

"Freedom is about doing the right thing without fearing other people"

timed

I came home from work today, showered with Myra's cheerful voice "happy birthday Mommy!". I cheekily joked and said "wish je ke? kek takde?" and she honestly replied "ade-ade, kek kat blakang!" then she ran off to the kitchen calling her dad to bring the cake in. So, there goes the surprise that daddy planned for Mommy ;P
geli hati..
Just when I tot he didn't quite care, he surprised me with the lil celebration. Then just when I tot that's that.. he surprised me with more. A flower, a touching card and a glittering gift on our bed.. awaits me.
thank you you.. for the most thoughtful touch of my heart... muah!

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Shape Up!

Time to face yet another fitness challenge. Now i understand why some mother never bother to try to get back in shape... it's either there's no chance and time or they just couldn't care less.
Me on another hand is standing in between. I wanted to start all the fitness regime that I could think of to get rid of all those yucky fats off me bummm, but knowing the fact that attending fitness classes means leaving my babies more often, I kinda hesitate. Then come the malas factor; sejuk, ngantuk and macam2 lagi... huk huk cooobaaaan
But tonite I finally made the big move, went to Aspire ladies club, cheking out the classes there, for a one-off trial class, they charge QR50, and to signup for a month is only QR200. And for 3 months is QR450. We (me and another lepas-branak friend) tried the 315 class- a comby of some aerobic, with weight and step. Focusing on toning of the entire body. Best.. berpeluh2. And the best part to go with a friend is; when we made a pack to keep each other motivated. Anyho our enthusiast effort dah terbantut, when they said february registration is closed.
Nak tak nak terpakse look forward for March jela; hmm sementare tu, mintak2 semangat nak kurus tak hilang..

huuu 10kg to go!

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Dubai and DSF

more like disaster shopping festival. 2 days after completing the ever so-'torturing' confinement, i decided to join my family for a short trip to Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Thinking it'll be super fun and all.. when it turns out, people with small kids stays at home more for a good reason! (padan muke beta eheh). Just forget how canggih the itinerary was, everything won't go as you plan, and if it ever did, you won't quite have that super energy to enjoy it to the fullest. And.. just leave all that shopping dream at rest.. even a quick 30seconds window shopping become lika super-special and rare previledge.. uhhh you'd think just for a tiny bit moment, let me eye on those shoes.. then BAMMM.. the baby cry for attention. But, nonetheless, going with family served a lil comfort, i still got to do the essential shopping (look&grab) for 3-4 items, which is good enuff considering the cry baby thingy heh.
but sayangnye, my in laws didn't quite get the promised trip that they've been told, many of the itenerary changes, and they didn't quite see all the must-see-thing in Dubai. huk huk will there be next time???? hmmmmm

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Pantang o pantang!?

Confinement period.. one could only hope that it'll go by quickly.. and then doomed with disappointment, whenever one count the remaining days to go without that walk in the fresh air that one has always have.

Why is it so important to jage pantang? Was it only one of Malay tradition? Was there a solid reason for all the pantang that we have to obey for 44days from the day we gave birth?

Yes.. I could have run the marathon the minute after the baby pop, and yes that was a bit too exaggerated..hehe. Although I do not feel tired and restless.. but I was told to lie down and rest.. reason being to let all the urat saraf that mengembang tak ingat to come back to its normal size.. or at least as close as it was, before birth. And I have 44 days of doing that.. well who's to complain? We deserve that break after all that hard work we've been through for 9 months plus Mommies! ;)

I know little about all the pantang reasons, but for all I care, I trust my mother and my MIL when they said the pantang is not for now, it is for your own good later in life. Take my mother for best example, she kept telling me how she never have her chance to really pantang during her past life. She had to do the laundry herself, cooking, cleaning and everything from the day after she gave birth.. not much rest at all..and no one to help her with (except my Dad.. but you know how 'helpful' a husband can be)

Then now.. she ended up with lots of sakit-sendi, sakit lutut, sakit segale lah... Comparing her, at 54 and with my MIL at 58, my MIL looks a lot healthier and energetic with less trouble with her body. And my MIL has got her fare chance of pantang.. so I guess it is true what they said about this later-life-thingy.

Believe me, I have tried to do some 'light' house chore 3 days after my confinement period.. that nite itself, I felt some serious miss-placed of my sendi kaki.. can't even stand properly. So after that day, I just simply close one eye to the dust on the floor, or to Myra's toys yang bersepah tak-ingat...sabor sabor.. few more weeks to go I'll say.

I was told one will lose so many million numbers of urat every time one gave birth (well, maybe i didn't get the number rite, but i know they are lots).. explaining the reason why after some years, woman with kids will look lot older than woman with no kids of the same age.. Now lets do some research on this topic and let all the other 'modern' woman out there know the reason and the necessity of these pantang to appreciate ourselves better.

::Pantang main air::

This it the part that I could hardly accept.. can't compute the reason why one can't play with water during their confinement period. My MIL even ask me to leave all my dirty dishes after every meal.. I was uncomfortable to let her clean my dirty dishes, but do as she said.. out of respect. Maybe, logical reason to this pantang is to avoid playing with cold temperature water.. I know it is bad to let yourself being expose to cold air. So, what we should do, is bath and clean with warm water.

::Pantang larang makan::

I guess, this is the most important subject of all pantang. Why some food is good and some are bad? Luckily, both my mother and MIL are not entirely strict on the food subject. They will think of reason for every food, what'll heat up the body (which is good) and what will cool down the body (which is bad). But they never really follow that rule of no watery-dish. So takdela asek makan food yg bakar-bakar jer.. and I even ended up with lots of yummy pantang food, even had Lamb Beriayani the other day! :)

Note: Some good food during confinement includes Ikan Tenggiri, Ikan Bilis, Daging, Ayam & Telur (after a week or lepas wound dah kering), Daun Pegaga, Black Pepper and Ginger. Avoid seafood, timun.

::Pantang berjalan::

Yeah, heard about people who had to do the pengantin-walk during their entire pantang-time. Logical reason that I could think of is to avoid that wound to be worsen.

And one should never do too much of walking, need to lie down and rest more. I know it's killing-us-modern-mom that used to berjalan sane sini (nak nak at these season.. when lots of outdoor activities are happening and lots of clearance sale! Urghh ) but this is to avoid Bentan. Heard of that word before? What is Bentan? Well, from my understanding and through the experience of my sister-yg-degil, Bentan is when one could not walk, shivering and felt cold inside and sometime even demam.

So to make thing easier, just sacrifice your desire to let loose of boredom at home by avoiding that unnecessary outing. Bile dah terkena baru nak terase.. tapi dah terlambat. Prevention is always better than cure (So I said to my bored self)

Hurm.. stakat ni je what I could think of about the pantang-pantang. I needed to put it on black and white for my future reference, mane la tau.. kalau umur panjang.. next time it will be my turn to jage my own daughter during her confinement period pulak, and I don't want to be blur and hopeless on the subject.

Until then.. happy berpantang to myself! (Errr.. happy ke? hehe 3 weeks to go huuuu)

The 'unsangkerable' prison break

Man.. one thing about mulut masin, and another on unexplained mother-instinct. After my last post, I've had the strangers feeling that it won't be long until I meet my new baby, and I was right.. on the night of 11th of Dec I started to have some blood show- which is an early sign of delivery. I contacted Dr.Rafah, and due to my previous experience with Myra, she advice me to go for a checkup. The CTG test doesn't show any major sign of contraction, nor there was any different in my dilation. It was still 2cm. The nurse was ready to ask me to leave, but after consulting Dr.Rafah.. she said I am admitted for further observation.

So there goes my entire night.. CTG test after another.. not much different at all.. and yet the blood show started to thicken and changed to hot-red, with me not feeling any of the contraction at all. Dr Rafah then came around noon, after checking, I am only 2-3 cm dilated, but my cervix is shortening, which mean I am progressing, but it is just too slow.. and she's a bit worry to let me go, thinking about the traffic and all. (Kang satu keje plak terberanak dalam kete... hehe)

She then suggested a pill, which can enhance the contraction and hopefully the dilation too. I was contemplating to accept the idea of putting up a pill under 'there' to speed things up. But after consulting another doctor, who is a friend; I then understand.. it is for the sake of not having the risk of infection to the baby.. so I agreed.

So nak pendekkan cerite, at 20 days earlier.. baby Maqeel bin Mohd Aizal, brilliantly (as the meaning of his name) chose 12.12 to be his birth date. Safely came to the world at 7:46pm..weighing 2.55kg.. complete and healthy, alhamdulillah.

So, there was no picnic for Mommy, no Brunch and no Agong too.. but it was all worth it.

And now there are 4 of us ;)