about to fall asleep...zzz...

altho you may think it's weird to blog about my state of sleepiness. but this is a real issue for me right this second. & i am blogging in a noble attempt to keep awake at work.

by the way i have changed jobs (finally) since august this year. given my new-ness, i should at least pretend to be awake and alert but it is a hard and trying feat, i can tell you that.

i have seen my colleagues taking a snooze under their desks. how cool. but again, i am new, not to mention a bit prim & proper-ish, and as such, would feel mightily awkward snoozing under my desk. and possibly snoring. and possibly drooling. and hopefully not scratching myself like guys do hihihi... mana lah tau right...

so yeah, i changed jobs, i am currently sleepy and blogging to keep awake.

by the way, im not sure if i've posted about my new addition to the family. i gots myself a daughter now. a real cutie sweetie pie who is now 7.5mths old and developing just great. she can dance, hum, scream for attention, crawl, stand supported, smile a fake smile, make faces, squint her eyes, smile at the camera, grab onto you if she doesnt want to be put down etc. we've started her on solids and this time around, i've ventured the food puree way and so far, shes taken to pureed carrots, pumpkin and potatoes famously. ethan, who had a bit of trouble adjusting to the shared attention in the 1st month, now loves his baby sister and whenever someone suggests taking ava home with them, ethan will say "mummy you carry ava". often when i call home in the afternoon, the maid's report is "there, they are playing. ethan is singing and ava is dancing." imagine the scene... hahaha... ava is a tiny tot but she's quite steady. still, imagine a tiny tot who's dancing away to his brother's screaming.

ethan too is doing well, and about to start playschool in jan. his speech has gotten better & clearer but still with some baby talk peppered in good measure. his eating habits too are getting better with an affinity for "peanut butter bread", cheese & nesvita 3-in-1 oats while his milk intake is slowly decreasing. his sleep hours are getting worse with him only turning in at midnight or later. we are such terrible parents. also, since im in the mood for self-bashing, he doesnt get enough reading time or learning time with us. why are we such lazy parents. it's gotten worse now with my new job which keeps me busy almost every day and with a new baby in the house which makes for a cranky, impatient mom in me. ptooiii to myself. poor ethan. i do so need to spend some quality time with him. maybe i'll take him out for some cake to share tonight. oh yes, he's also quite fond of the ipad and seems to be more adept at it than the adults.

christmas is almost upon us, like in 4 days time :) the house, altho decorated, lacks some christmas spirit because, again, mom's just too tired and busy. sigh. tonight i shall try to put on some christmas carols and to roll about on the floor with my kids.

ok so, time to go, cos after all i am in the office. will hopefully be able to post more updates on christmas soon.

a blessed christmas to one and all :)

getting in touch with my roots

in the name of getting in touch with my roots, i brought along my kadazan attire back to sabah with the intention of taking a family picture with all 3 of us clad in the kadazan costume. if you're wondering why the husband is botak, he says its so his son wont feel lonely. hihihi...





i ended up wearing it also for my brother's wedding cos i couldnt be bothered to iron the baju i had originally intended on wearing :-).



going back to sabah also coincided with the sikayu*n family reunion party which was attended by approximately 250pax. lots? yeahhhh... & i dont really know everyone. we had to be color coded as well. & my family's color was designated as green. the pink clad people in the back are from another granduncle's family (kira my 2nd cousins lah).



also, not sure if this counts as getting in touch with my roots, but i managed to get a picture of an iguana at the back of my mom's house. check it out:

christmas eve 2008 in sabah

christmas this year was spent in sabah with my family. not only was this my son's first christmas but also his first trip back home to sabah. so yeah. big deal. at least for me lah. i think he couldnt care less.

a typical christmas for my family sees us going for mass on christmas eve and then proceeding to a fancy dinner out somewhere. which is a good thing cos no one wants to be the one stuck with cooking a meal for the family (2parents + 6kids + 5inlaws + 5grandkids). this year however, we decided to attend christmas morning mass thus leaving the eve free for dinner.

in the family, i'm considered the "dresser". so i was really looking forward to dressing up for the dinner. unfortunately, everyone decided to dress down. so there we were in jeans, t-shirts, sneakers & all things casual. not to be down-trodden, i wore my killer red heels with jeans so yeah... i was still a little fancier than needed (muahahahah!!).

these are some pictures taken on christmas eve night:

this is one of the whole family minus 1 brother-in-law (who didnt make it back from overseas)

this is the lovely-ly decorated tree. my sil got most of the decorations from manila which is a haven for all things christian.


heres my sister & her husband

heres another sister whose husband didnt make it back this year. but her kids nicol.e & mega.n came along.

this is my brother & his wife-to-be. their wedding was just after christmas on 27dec08.

heres another brother & his wife who is now the mistress of the manor. (but my mom is still the ladyboss).

here are my 2 10yr old nieces. i love this picture!

heres my youngest brother (whos got longer hair than all his sisters) with my baby boy.

& here are my parents.

& this is my little family of three. can you see my red heels & the husbands sneakers? harummphhhff...

this is etha*n in his 1st party hat

& then he fell asleep during the party with his face penyet-ed on his fathers shoulder.

this is my nephew & his bestfriend, my dad.

happy new year 2009

hello & happy belated new year’s 2009.

i’ve been meaning to update my blog but have been so busy at work yadayadayada…

we’ve had a lot of things happening from mid-december onwards so heres a snapshot of where we were & what happened:

baby & i left for sabah on 20dec. lucky we took MAS (comfort) and luckier even that my sister & family flew back with us (assistance). baby was ok-ish on the flight to & fro. thanks baby! the husband joined us on Christmas eve. our schedule was super-packed what with celebrations for Christmas, my brother’s wedding, a family reunion (for 250 of us) and new year’s. while we were in sabah, etha*n got a little sick but not too much: conjunctivitis, cough, flu –all contracted from his cousins. but that’s ok… makes him stronger in the long run. we even found a pediatrician that we liked. other than the planned functions, etha*n & i stayed home mostly just to relax. he ALMOST got into the inflatable pool with his cousins but the water was too cold & he screamed in protest as soon as I dipped his one toe into the water. ethan “finally” got his passport done in sabah. yippee!! so a trip down to singapore is due soon. to get in touch with his kadazan roots, i ordered a kadazan costume for him & we took a family picture out in my mum’s garden dressed in this traditional costume. my mum said: better take it in the garden rather than a studio –looks more real. for gifts, etha*n got a lot of clothes… luckily… cos if not i would’ve had a hard time ferrying toys & books back to sabah.

we got back to kl on 1jan but didn’t get much rest as we had planned. etha*n has started teething so hes been a bit cranky & clingy & even had a bit of fever over the weekend before i started work. however, on my first day of work he had a bad case of runny nose which made him very uncomfortable. over the next few days it graduated to a full blown cold with cough in the mix. poor baby. anyways, he got over the cold BUT developed rashes pulak. my mil said it could be measles & so we took him to yet another pediatrician. on the up-side, we FINALLY found a pediatrician we like in kl (cos the other one we like we found in sabah hehe… takkan nak fly back every time hes not well, right). so this lady pediatrician who works partly in ttdi (sundays) and partly in sri damansara which is near to us (tuesdays & fridays), said that its not measles & nothing to worry about. phewwwww!!

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

ok so that’s the story. as im wont to do come every new year, resolutions are a must. wellll… theyre not exactly resolutions resolutions that i follow. its more of a taking-stock-of-my-life-&-who-i-am & then listing down what i’d like to change for the better. the change might not come in the actual actions but i find that sometimes when i acknowledge my negative sides, i am more vigilant of being mean / bitchy / whiney / cruel / downright ungrateful while i am being that & even if at that moment, i am too into the bitchy-mode to stop being bitchy, at least i’m wracked by guilt later which serves me right lah kan. & it does propel me to apologize.

anyways, panjangnya introduction, here are my “resolutions” which aren’t even near to being exhausted (& some of them might overlap):

better catholic
- church on Sundays, days of obligation
- volunteer / charity work
- less bitching

- stop swearing

better family
- read more books to my son
- quit my job / change jobs that can let me spend more time with my son
- keep the romance going
- be more supportive / understanding

better mind
- less complaints
- count my blessings
- do more thinking
- ambition
- sudoku

- stop swearing

better health
- drink more water
- exercise (right)
- cook
- more fruits & vegetables
- enough with the curries
- choose chicken over beef
- choose fish over meat

better finances
- zero-rize credit card debts
- full settlement of personal loan
- full settlement of study loan

better home
- water my plants
- clean weekly
- sweep daily?? right…
- don’t forget to wipe
- re-decorate

better environment
- less toilet paper
- less paper
- less water
- less electricity
- recycle

i’ve noticed that when i was young (er) i had more self-discipline than i do now. i used to have pets that i took care of rather well. although they stank. but now, my plants are either dead or dying. i used to bring around a small towel for bathroom visits instead of using toilet paper (to save the trees lah right). now, i cant live without toilet / tissue paper. i used to eat a LOT of fruits, drink gallons of water but now aiyohhh… so bad at it lah.

so, in the name of being a better person, i hope that this year, i’ll be able to condition myself THINK BEFORE I DO / SAY.

LBD compliments from the husband

oops.

i did it again.

i bought a dress.

and...

it's a black dress.

such a shopaholic.

and...

still a goth.

but it's a toga / one-shoulder style dress which i've been looking for quite a while.

well, it'll go quite well with my red shoes + red clutch purse.

although...

i'm not sure why i'd need a clutch purse when i'll have my hands full with a baby.

oh well...

i CAN still try to be vogue cant i?

theres always the husband to carry him.

but then that leaves me with the diaper bag?

baby or bag??

i think baby will make a nicer accessory for me hihihi...

hope i wont stumble in my killer heels though.

not only will i look foolish in my lovely black dress + red shoes, etha*n will start crying.

but the dress was a steal at rm159 from egg bangsar.

it's an even bigger steal cos i got the husband to pay for it.

:-D

i'm gonna wear the dress for my brother's wedding at the end of the month.

but i'll take it for a pilot run this weekend at a another wedding.

double :-D

preparing for christmas

my christmas decorations are down (from up above the closet that is). they're just lying about in the dining area. so tonight, me & my ball are gonna do some decorating. i hope he'll be content in his bouncy-net so i can do my work.

this is one tradition of my husband's family which i quite like: they put out a nativity set to recreate the scene from Jesus' birth in Bethlehem, the child in a manger scene or sometimes just the baby Jesus in a crib. i have a couple of loose pieces of the nativity set which the husband's aunt gave us but since shes not a favourite aunt of mine these days, i might just go buy a new set which has all the pieces attached to the base of the set which is easier cos i dont have to think of how to susun the different pieces right. hmm... i saw one in hartamas for about rm50 which is not bad really. but kan, i see first lah. since we're not gonna be around this christmas, maybe i'll just put up the basic decorations only i.e. tree, stockings + wreath on the front door.

i've started dumping things into my small suitcase just so i'll have everything in there by the time i have to really get down to packing seriously. by then all i have to do is "streamline" my packing. that reminds me, i have to ask my mil for a bigger suitcase to pinjam.

i got myself some footwear "necessary" for my trip back to sabah in december. hehehe... i gots myself a pair of gold sandals, a pair of flats & a pair of killer red heels. please let me justify my shopping -- the gold flat sandals are for casual jalan2 yang not so serious, the black flats are for some serious casual wear and the red heels are for christmas. now i just need a pair of black heels for formal occasions. or i suppose i could rummage through my shoe cabinet & see what i have. however, i just threw out 3 pairs of shoes cos although they're not fully used, they've been in the closet for sooo long, theyre disintegrating. tsk tsk...

this year i'm not buying any dresses although i have a couple of functions to attend (christmas, brother's wedding, family reunion dinner, new year's dinner). instead i'm recycling my old dresses. after all since this year we'll be in sabah, i dont think my sabahan friends have seen all my dresses here ma. actually for my family reunion, i only have to don on a green shirt hehehe... a baby tee also can. so for that i think i'll just pair it with jeans.

speaking of jeans, i can now fit into my pre-pregnancy levi's jeans. whoopee!! of course still got the muffin top syndrome lah, you know, the love handles jiggling out of the sides like that. but at least i can zip & button it up hehehe... so thats gonna go into my suitcase too. tengok2 makan banyak sangat during the festivities till cannot fit again. oh well. i can always save it for next year. IF i can lose the weight again that is.

this year, my christmas gifts arent so happening lah. we're just buying gifts for the kiddies. the oldies, sorry lah ya. no money lah friend :-(. kan this year we had etha*n. thats the other thing i have to do before i leave for sabah i.e. gift-wrapping. the husband & i got each other early christmas gifts so you know what i'm gonna do? hehehe... i'm gonna wrap the boxes only (hp for me & tennis shoes for him) & place them under the tree. told you we dont have money this year!! can't exactly get another gift for each other right if you got no money hehehe.

now we're still deciding what to get for etha*n. you know i saw this lovely tuxedo romper at the curve for rm118. mahal kan?? we MIGHT get it though & make him wear it for a few occassions to make it worth our investment. it even comes with a red bowtie lah... how cute is that?? then as i was browsing the net i saw a 5-piece tux for rm69.90 so thats another option although i think a 5-piece would be over-the-top no?

its that time of year again

i love love love this time of year. feel like starting my decorations but need one round of spring cleaning first. the husband is like "but we're not gonna be around for christmas".

but still.

it's etha*ns first christmas. & it's not like the decorations will be up only for christmas day right. it'll be there for a while. so i'll probably start soon. i have to finish up my christmas shopping & wrapping. & i have no idea what to get for etha*n as a first christmas gift. hmm... my christmas carols should be playing when we get home so that he can join along with his chortles.

the poor boy. i used to sing him to sleep but not anymore. last night, i put on one of those music channels while rocking him to sleep & he began humming along like he used to when i sang to him.

i wish i could get new curtains but i guess i'll save it for next year since we're not entertaining this year.

oh well.

updates & christmas plans

2dec and 6dec07
my christmas tree is up. with presents underneath. the tree has been put up once (2dec) then was taken down (2dec cos the husband pissed me off) then put up again (6dec). the christmas carols have also been playing while i'm at home. oh how larvely. the husband has also been strumming on his guitar & we've been singing at the top of our falsettos. i tried doing a pavarotti. my new christmas wreath is now hanging on my front door. so purdy. and i got christmas stockings hung up too.

6dec07
i havent finished my christmas shopping yet although i have started. i got the husband's gift already. he has also been informed of what to get me for mine. so i hope he was listening. hihihi...
i've bought, addressed and mailed out the required christmas greeting cards. i've wrapped gifts & placed them under the tree. but i've ALSO finished all the miniature snacks which i bought for young visitors. tsk tsk...

24dec07
we're going for mass on christmas eve. havent decided which church to go to & which mass to attend. after that, we'll be heading to the MIL's for the customary meal of stew & bread. since my appetite has been funny lately, maybe i'll make a dash to the dimsum shop & tapau some siew mais & charsiew paus. bet the MIL wont be too happy about that but hey... it cant be helped. either that or go hungry. of course there'll also be the fruit cake & home-made wine that will greet us when we enter the house. hmm... should i stock some of those in my home too? for visitors to my house? ok ok, apartment. i suppose i should. the husband wants to maintain some of his family traditions. hmm... but if he thinks i'm gonna be making the stew, fruit cake & wine by myself, he's sorely mistaken.

25dec - 27dec07
on christmas day, we're heading to PD for some frolicking-in-the-sun time. i hope it will be sunny. it wont be a good time for me to swim though. sighs. but i suppose i could still laze by the pool reading a book. we'll be heading back to KL on 27dec.

28dec07
going for a medical check-up. the god-sister is due to arrive for a 3-day stay.

29dec07
maybe i'll arrange to meet with my scottish friend who's in KL to visit his malaysian girlfriend.

30dec07
no plans yet.

31deco7
new year's eve. was thinking of inviting my immediate family & the husband's too for dinner. then can see the fireworks from my balcony. supposed to be good. but what shall i serve ah? just order some kfc hor? hihihi... or i could learn how to use my oven & roast a chicken. & mash some potatoes. & make some salad. hmm... see how lah.

1jan08
i wants to get some rest cos its back to work on 2jan08. hohumm...