Saturday 30th July 2011

Daddy's little girl during lunch at country patch with Aunty Siti


Back at home and commemorating sofie's 2nd month



Nadia, Sofie & Yours Truly







Blowing ze candles

In the evening we headed to my aunty's place for our tahlil and birthday celebration for April, May, June and July celebrants! One of the celebrants include my niece, Syaza!






The birthday girl requested this birthday cake







And the birthday girl wearing her birthday gift from us! Glad we could grant her wishes hehehe

The sighting of the moon will be held tonight and so I take this opportunity to wish everyone selamat berpuasa and welcome back ramadahan al- Kareem.. Alhamdulillah di pertemukan semula dengan bulan yang mulia ini..

Oh I now have 1 month of maternity leave left.. Hohoho

Sofiyya: 2 months

Dear Sofie,

Happy 2 months chubby cheeks!!

I can't believe that it has been 2 months! Back when it was Kaka Dia, I was already back to work by now so we have to be thankful that I the Gov't extended the maternity leave from 56 days to 105 days.. And as of now I have exactly one more month left before I have to go back to work..

In that respect I have been leaving you behind when we go out and letting you stay with Nenek Girl and Aunty Mar as part of my training.. So far you have been good but the last couple of days you have scared them a bit cause you cried quite hard. Dunno why you did that but I sure hope you were just pulling a joke on them and not because you were being picky and looking for me.. You have also so far taken your bottle well so I hope you keep up the good job!

We have also gone back to cot training you.. So far it has been good and I hope this arrangement keeps up..

We have taken you out in the evening a couple of times and one time we took you out the whole day! You behaved so well!! Speaking of which we have a function tonight over at Nenek Besar's place and I hope you behave well..

Ok baby girl, Mummy better go and prepare your bath now.. Mummy, Daddy and Kaka Dia loves you.. Be good now my sayang..

xoxo,
Mummy

Dry skin and potty training (again!)

My poor Sofiyya has very dry skin now and it's just concentrated on her forehead and face.. At first red spots appeared on her face and after a couple of days her skin started to peel.. If the spots and dry skin were to appear all over the body I figured it is something she is allergic to like bath cream but its just on her face so I assume that it's just baby acne.. She used to use QV and I have now changed it to Eubos.. And have also started to apply QV moisturizing cream on the effected area.. Hopefully it will get better soon..

Sofiyya is growing into her clothes more quickly compared to Nadia when she was Sofie's age.. Oh and she also smiles a lot more!











Oh I am back to potty training Nadia again..! So far it has been good, with some accidents of course so I have resorted to letting her wear a dress so that it'll be easier for her to take her undies and go do her business..

iBreastfeed..

..is an app that I recently downloaded on my phone..




It provides mummies guides on breastfeeding..




It also helps mummies records activities of their babies..





I mainly record my expressing activities and the picture above shows that I have so far expressed 19oz from 1am to 1pm.. Good tracking tool!

App is sponsored by Medela and it's free!!! So fellow breastfeeding mummies and future ones, what are you waiting for..? *tee hee*

A toddler, a baby, a stroller and a travel system

Now that Nadia will turn 3 next year we have started to think about sending her to school.. I stayed up one night thinking about it and it has left me quite restless to tell you the truth. Restless because I am not sure how she is going to take being around strangers.. She has always been a picky baby, refusing to be held by others and although she is very talkative and cheerful at home, she becomes very shy when she is in front of others.. Or people she percieves as strangers.. We intend to send her to a nursery before going into the real deal and hopefully there she will rid herself of this extreme shyness in public..

I have started to store my EBMs at 3oz per bag. I hope that by the time she finishes EBMs at 2oz, she will increase her appetite and is able to finish 3oz in one sitting.. Stock check: 610oz!!! Syukur syukur alhamdulillah..

We took the girls out to the Mall yesterday, a first for Sofie.. We had to take both stroller (for Nadia) and travel system (for Sofie) and I noticed that the Mall is not that baby friendly.. The doors that leads to the elevator is so heavy that we needed to maneuver the 2 strollers properly.. Shops in Brunei are also not baby friendly as the aisle are so narrow! Hubs had to wait outside with both strollers while I did this and that! I breastfed Sofie in public (under a nursing cover of course) twice and meals are taken in turns..

Our Little Missy and Chubby Cheeks at Swensens

Little Miss Grumpy in her stroller

Nadia and the ice cream she picked out on her own..

We headed to the ILs after for a short visit.. I have started to think about a sleepover but can't seem to grasp how many things we have to bring over! Hahaha

A few weeks ago I sort of gave up trying to cot train Sofiyya but when hubs were at work on Friday night I placed sofie in her cot and dia in our bed and surprise surprise that arrangement worked well.. So back to cot training then! I am slightly tired compared to when we co-slept so hopefully I get the hang of it soon..

Nadia saying good morning to her baby sister!

Morning kiss!!

Her smile

Sofie smiles a Lot and I Managed to catch sofie's smile on camera hehe

The 500 mark

Stock check: 560oz!! Syukur alhamdulillah.. I believe that the stock that I currently have is double of the maximum amount i have ever had when I was BFing Nadia.. Alhamdulillah, rezeki sofiyya..

Please note that i have no intention to show off how much stock i have or be ambung for that matter, but it is rather a reminder and motivation to myself.. If other mums comes across my post, i hope it motivates you too..

Alhamdulillah this time around i am able to do it without taking any supplements. I make sure I drink lots of water and take milo at least once a day.. It comes to show that you don't need supplements in order to produce that much. All you need is to stimulate your Bs regularly, drink lots of water and a positive mind.. Insyallah, if our intent is tulis and ikhlas, insyallah Akan di permudahkan perjalanan Dan urusan..

On that note I think an investment in a good pump helps.. I am very glad that someone recommended the Medela FS to me. Prior to buying the FS I thought, why would I need my hands to be free while I express? Is it really worth the extra hundreds? Well Now I don't think I can express if I don't go handsfree..!! Not that I necessarily do something while I pump pulang but it does give me an option to do so.. I normally read or facebook or play games while I express and when I am relaxed like that I am able to produce more..!







Oh I have started to put a safety latch on my freezer door cos I have discovered it to be improperly closed on a couple of occassion which leaves some of the EBM unfrozen.. I don't know how the door is closed improperly closed but hopefully I doesn't happen again.. Speaking of freezers, need a second one soon *looks at hubs* LOL what I should be thinking about is should we get the drawer freezer (better organization of EBMs) or deep freezer (EBM lasts up to 6 months and cheaper)?

Other than a freezer I also need to stock up on EBM bags.. I currently store my EBMs at 2 or 2.5oz each.. I realized that I used up the 100 bags in approximately 2 weeks.. I will use up less bags as I start to increase the amount per bag.. The question is when should I start doing that? Sometimes Sofiyya finishes 2oz in one sitting but on some occasions she takes in bit by bit..


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Happy 28 months Nadia!

Dear Nadia,

Happy 28 months my darling daughter..

I have to begin by telling u how sad I am.. I am sad because you used to be potty trained and now you seem to have forgotten how to tell us when u go pee2 or even worse poo2!! Ypu have now gone back to being dependant on your diapers.. Why my dear, why.. Is it because I am around and you become too manja..?!?

Just before I went to bed last night I thought about sending you off on your first day at school.. Thinking about it made me really nervous and almost teary.. When the new year comes we intend to enroll you into the day care center so you can familiarize yourself being with other kids your age and not your family.. I hope you I'll behave then and not bully the other kids like you do your cousins.. Its about 5 months away so for now enjoy yourself and learn to let go.. Learn not to be too dependent on us.. Be a good big girl I know you can be..

We went to Miri last weekend an we have to applaud on how you behaved.. 2 hrs at the hop waiting for my car and you did not throw a fuss.. Good girl!!

Be good now Nadia.. Mummy, Daddy and Sofiyya loves you..!

xoxo,
Mummy

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Halfway,,

I finally had my Mummy time last Thursday.. Had some errands to do and had lunch with the girls.. It was nice to see everyone and it is possibly our last lunch before Puasa.. Before one person pops baby no 3 out, before one goes on her much needed holiday, before one goes back to work and before one goes off on another trip to Korea! Too bad we forgot to take a photo huhu

Finally had pasta!! Om nom nom..!!

On Friday we took Sofie for her first trip to Yadu and Yaki's place.. Because hubs had to work on Sunday we decided to just go ahead and go back in the evening..

Yadu, Yaki & Sofie

Our trio!!

On Saturday hubs, Dia and I headed to Miri to fix the tints on my car.. What was supposed to be a short trip became a long one..! Alhamdulillah I managed to express 13oz in 10mins midday and another 9oz when we got home.. Sofie took in total 14oz so I still made a profit..! Oh and I now know roughly how much o prepare when I go back to work..

Nadia enjoying her shows on her iPod..

This photo was taken this morning. Even in her sleep Nadia seeks to be closer to her Adik..! I feel blessed in every way.. Syukur alhamdulillah and I pray that these 2 will remain close forever..

Hanging out

And then she fell asleep..!

Speaking of work, I have 7 weeks left before I go back to work hohoho...!

My mornings..

..usually starts off in bed with my 2 girls..

Saying hello to each other

Saying hello to Mummy

Kidding around

Have a good day everyone!!

18 days to ramadhan

I realized this morning that we have 18 days left to ramadhan.. With that of course like other BFing mummies, I am concerned about BM production.. Because I have done this before I know that Production will decrease slightly but like before I will have to make sure that I take lots of food and liquid in the evening and make sure I eat rice during sahur.. Reading from discussions from BBM group, some mummies recommends eating 3 dates and drinking 3 glasses of water during sahur and intend to do just that.. I also intend to continue my current ritual of expressing when I wake up..

Did a quick stock check and I have in total 494oz of EBMs in our freezer! I can't say this enough but syukur syukur syukur alhamdulillah..

Speaking of EBMs we have been making sure that Sofie is bottle fed at least once a day.. Alhamdulillah she is taking it well however she gets fussy and angry if the bottle is not given to her immediately.. Hoho such a grumpy monkey!!

Dia has a slight cough and partially lost her voice yesterday so gave her some cough meds this morning and she fell asleep at 10.30am!! 3 hrs earlier from her normal nap time..









She also caught footie fever and is still wearing the football jersey her uncle jelan bought her from a recent trip to KL..

Busy busy bee

Its been quite a week for us..

On Wednesday we went to the opening if Ideal Cafe and Grill in Tutong town!! We are very happy that they decided to open a branch here hehe Congratulations Izmah!!

Nadia, Sofie and Ideal mascot

Friday was the Nikah day for my cousin and the start of a series of events..

Sofie Friday morning during our pre-event get together

Breastfeeding Mummies, direct feeding their babies under nursing covers + Nadia enjoying her keropok..

The newlyweds!

One thing I will always remember during this event was the imam's advise! He said when in anger or should there be a mis-understanding, the couple should not air out their dirty laundry all over facebook! LOL

On Saturday the hubs and I went to bridex! The organizers did a great job at organizing the whole thing! The crowd management was significantly better than the previous one, they had better pick up points for the shuttle and overall it was better exhibitors I think.. The airshow was similar to the previous one I think.. But we enjoyed ourselves..

The pens we got from the exhibitors

It was also 40days after I had Sofiyya and my first cold beverage was ice lemon tea from Excapade! What a good drink especially after the hot outing at bridex!

After a 6hr outing I was dying to express and alhamdulillah I managed to get 13oz.. Sofie on the other hand took 8oz so I made a profit!! Weheeee

In the evening was karaoke night at the cousin's!

Nadia and Sofie in their matching outfit no 2!! It's sooo fun to dress them up together hehehe

Sofie wearing her first jeans!!

Wide awake when we got home huhu

And today was the wedding day..! I did not take any photo.. Guess we'll have to wait for photos frm the photogs hehe

More pics..!

My beautiful babies

Sofiyya's double pusar-pusar

Look at how happy she is!

Joy!!

Laziness

.. Is starting to sink in.. I normally express twice daily, once in the morning when I wake up and once in the evening.. I realized in the last couple of days that I have been skipping my evening session.. Maybe it's because my Bs don't feel so full anymore (which is bad because in order to ensure high production I need to stimulate my Bs more) or te act that I have more than 350oz in stock or the fact that I am running out of storage space for my EBMs.. Either way I need to snap out if this phase! Haha

Speaking of storage I normally would store using zip lock bags and I would freeze them flat but I have ran out of stock and my orders for them bags have not arrived.. So I have to use another type of bag..

As u can see I have to use rubber bands to tie the bags and will not be able to store them flat.. I must now think of ways on how to organize them in my normal 40oz batches.. Hmm on a positive note these bags are cheaper at $13 for 100 pcs compared to the normal $6 for 25pcs.. If this method works out well I might just keep it up..!! Hehehe

Stock check: 430oz!! I now need to start thinking of another storage space.. I think its best i buy another deep freezer for this purpose.. But where to place this deep freezer?? Ph how i wish i have my own house/space.. huhu

Sofie's first 24 hrs

I finally got round to checking out photos in my camera and here are some photos taken within the first 24 hrs of Sofie's life..

Minutes after birth

This was before kena Azan

Being vaccinated in Ward 17

Uwaaaaa

The first time Dia saw Sofie

Saying hello to me!

Checking my tummy!!! LOL