My two angels

Introducing you to my two angels - Iman Alexandria (5) and Irdina Alexandria (79 days).

May they grow and be the Solehah dunia and akhirat, Amin

New Milestone, New Adventure

Last year, I did a test-run for Iman by sending her to the school. I failed big time. I have to admit, it was a wrong move all together. The reason I sent her at that time was because my wonderful helper went back to her hometown for 3 months and I was helper-less hence, the decision of sending Iman to the play-school.

Since there was no one to teman her coz everyone was not available - my mother, Izwan and me. Tak kan nak tinggalkan Iman with her atok. So, I sent her for a full day session at school. Morning is the usual schooling hours and noon onwards is merely like a nursery. Obviously, she did not used to the whole idea of being alone in the school, she ended up hating the school so much sampai dengar perkataan "School" pon tak boleh terima. She got sick after a week of this routine and she hated school immediately. Hate! BENCI! TAK SUKA!. My life turned upside down because of this. Alhamdulillah, my helper came back after 2 months of "leave". Pheww....

But the misery does not end there. I had to slowly introduce Iman to the idea of going to school. Because my end goal is for her to start enrolling with the school environment by 2016. Slowly, I have to make her to like to the idea of going to school. Slowly but surely - that's my mantra!

Lama-kelamaan, she started to want to go to school on her own. So November last year, I sent her to Brainy Bunch Wangsa Maju for a play-date. She went there just to play. Alhamdulillah, she liked it!

So in January 2016, she is fully on-board. I was so nervous but it turned out well. My goal of sending her bukan sebab nak Iman pandai ke apa. But to introduce her to schooling environment. To start developing her motor skills. To socialize. Ultimately, kalau nak pergi sekolah untuk pandai is by 6 years old. This is what I believe tapi tak tahu lah parents lain. For me, I don't want to force Iman. Pergi sekolah is for her to get use to the idea nanti dah betul-betul masa untuk sekolah, then barulah sekolah. Get it?

5 months passed and Alhamdulillah, she survived and still going strong.

I write soon on her school experience. Slowly but surely :)

Have a nice weekend peeps.

The wonderfulness of motherhood.

I had a crappy day today. I was stuck whole day doing budgeting. You do not want to do budgeting whole day but when you have 42 active brands, you need full concentration especially when your numbers are being reported to the senior management team. You do not want to report faulty numbers no?! I have to ensure that the numbers provided by my agency are accurate. I have to ensure that my team members also submitted the right set of media budget numbers. Trust me, you do not want to know this.

On top of that, I also need to manage some other irresponsible people who like to sit on things. Who like to cause delay on other people's job. Who just like to sit in the office makan gaji buta. Amat geram rasa di hati ini. Sesungguhnya, hari ini adalah bukan hari yang baik.

Memandangkan hari ini saya berpuasa ganti, so I left office quite early compared to other days. Left at 6.30pm sharp just to ensure that I reach home right on time for berbuka. Sesampainya di pintu rumah, Iman rushed to me naked (because it is about time for her to take her bath) with a card in hand. She handed me the card that she made today at school. Ok, clearly it is not her handwriting but the thoughts of her knowing it's actually a mother's day put me at awe.

This washed away all the crappiness I had earlier today. This really put a smile on my face. I almost cried receiving this beautiful.... beautiful card. 

The wonderful thing of being a mother. Syukur alhamdulillah.

Child labour: Iman sweeping the floor

Macam boleh kena tangkap je kalau baca post title.

Being sick is no fun, especially when you have 1,001 things to do/accomplish by end of the week because you need to attend your company's teambuilding activities over the weekend.

I have been a very good girl this year that I hardly fall sick. Checking on my medical record, the last medical leave I took was some time last February due to my never-ending sinus sickness. I have been taking my vitamins religiously and Alhamdulillah, kesihatan amatlah memberangsangkan. Penyakit yang tidak dapat di bendung adalah penyakit malas yang tidak dapat disangkal lagi. Hence why most of my annual leaves were the ELs. Oh, oppps!

Anyway, kembali kepada cerita sakit.

I am currently on 6 different medicines just to make sure that the flu, sore-throat and sinus are gone and that, I am fit for the weekend teambuilding. And while being sick, I took a day rest yesterday hoping that the virus will be gone. Lucky me, the best medicine I had yesterday was a very cute spontaneous action by Iman, trying to help out doing house chores. One of it was her attempt in sweeping the floor.

I have never enjoy falling sick but I did enjoyed my day rest yesterday.

And it makes me wonder, how children pick up things that we never really teach them. I don't remember teaching Iman how to sweep the floor. She spontaneously went to the kitchen, took the broom and started sweeping the floor. But, high possibility that she thinks the broom is a mop as her sweeping method looks like mopping.

She surprises me with her new discovery every day and it makes me a proud mum. She has not yet mastered with her vocab, but physically, she has done more than most kids her age. She enjoys jumping, she knows how to wipe the table (bertuahnya Ibu), she loves playing hide and seek (which is super tiring), she enjoys drawing (more towards conteng-conteng), she has mastered her ABCs and 123s cuma tak master Alif, Ba, Ta je lagi - still work in progress. Syukur, Alhamdulillah.

And that officially make me a proud mum!

Kisah baju raya 2014

Just like any other typical Malay family, there will always be a theme color set for every raya, without fail! 

We had light green for our first raya celebration, brownish during the second, orangy on the third and this year we settled for grey. Izwan yang pilih nak color grey, alasannya sebab dia tak pernah ada  baju melayu yang berwarna grey. So, grey it is!

Memandangkan tahun ini merupakan tahun kemalasan dan tidak sempat untuk menghantar baju ke tailor, maka bermulalah acara mencari baju raya secara online. I bought a few. Mana taknya, with just one click, semuanya settled! 

I got my baju raya during the first week of Ramadan while Izwan's, macam biasa dibeli di BAK Tailor berdekatan. Masalah datang bila sampai nak dekat raya tapi baju Iman masih belum jumpa. Was searching high and low over a grey baju kurung tak can fit Iman. Unfortunately, there weren't any. Sampailah ke Parkson KLCC meredah, lalu terjumpa. However, the design wasn't up to my liking. 

Dengan ke-creative-an yang ada di dalam diri, I decided to alter the baju kurung and put up a nicer beading design on Iman's baju kurung.

It took me 2 days to complete the task. Not bad at all!

Dan inilah hasilnya apabila si pemakai menyarungkan baju kurung hasil buatan ibunya.

I must say that I am honestly proud with my own workmanship. Siapa nak puji diri sendiri kalau bukan diri sendiri, ye dak?! Hidden talent namanya.

Maybe I should put some serious thought on this hidden talent of mine. Mana tahu untung-untung boleh buka business, insya Allah!

Father's Day OOTD

It's Father's Day and we decided to celebrate it with papa!

Top: Anak ku

Pants: Polka dots pants from Cotton on (ibu got it from Melbourne)

Shoes: My favourite Mothercare pair of shoes

We had lunch at Tony Romas The-Curve; my papa's favourite dining place and I had my all-time favourite chips and my parents had the scrumptious burger and steak. Gees, why wouldn't they want to share it with me? I already have a full set of teeth!

So anyway, papa, thank you so much for the love that you showered me. Thank you for looking after me when ibu's not around. Thank you for dealing with all my dramas nangis-nangis, guling-guling. I love you very much and I'm sure ibu loves you too.

Here's our Father's day selfie

#OOTD

Ini cerita hari Sabtu.

Received a last minute birthday invitation on Friday that requires our attendance. Biasalah, Iman bukan lah selalu keluar ber-social sangat. She is either stay at home or out to the park which doesn't requires her to be all dressed-up. Her dresses all very limited. She grows up very fast that all her dresses semua dah senteng or kecil. And this little girl of mine doesn't like wearing dresses. Kau memang anak ibu, Iman!

So anyway, I bought this dress in Bangkok last year. I bought her few dresses and pants and guess what, all dah kecil. This dress is meant for a 3 year old girl. Time pergi Bangkok tu, Iman 2 tahun pon belum lagi. Saja gatal-gatal beli the dress. Luckily, I bought it and it fits her well, I suka!!

At first, I was contemplating whether should I dressed her in this dress or in her favourite polka-dot blue pants. Knowing how dramatic she can be, refuse to wear any dresses, I did few tricks on her so that she'll wear it. Nasib baik lakonannya tidak berlaku, she was happily wearing it without putting any drama on it.

She looks all grown-up on this dress. My girl is all grown up. Please don't grow up so fast my girl! #emomum.

Maybe I should post more of Iman's #ootd here. Eh, macamlah Iman selalu keluar.

That's the thing, I rather stay at home than going out. With the recent cases of kidnapping and brutal crimes happening everywhere, it is best that we always stay in than going out.

To all the mums out there, please be extra careful and please don't let your kids go out unattended. You may not know what's going to happen to your kids. Prevention is better than cure. Eh, tak ada kena mengena. But yea, please be extra sensitive. Orang sakit mental terlalu banyak di luar sana and they don't care if their victims adalah kanak-kanak ataupun orang dewasa. Yang mereka tau is bunuh je, nauzubillah! Semoga anak-anak kita dilindungi, amin!

Monday-not-so-blues

Assalamualaikum and good morning girls (I'm assuming my readers are all girls and I'm assuming that I actually have readers who read my crappy blog posts). How are you feeling today? Hopefully, you are feeling great as I am. 

Unlike any other Mondays, I'm actually feeling very energetic this morning. Like most mornings, I wake-up quite early to get my assignments done and a quick nap before getting myself ready for work. But somehow today, I did not dragged myself to work, oh well! oh well! Big improvement I would say.

I guess this is due to the fun times I had with my girl over the weekend. I was husband-less last weekend and I was left alone with Iman with my assignments piling up high like nobody's business. My aim was to get everything done so that I do not have to wake-up early every morning. And Allah SWT hears me. He gave me the most obedient daughter (surprise! surprise!) that accompanied me throughout my weekends just to make sure that I completed my assignments. Syukur, alhamdulillah.

I'm not saying that Iman is not obedient. She is! Normally, weekends is where she'll bullied me to play hide and seek, running/jogging non-stop in the house and non-stop nenen-ing but last weekend was totally different. All she did was sitting next to me quietly to teman me do my assignments. Good girl Iman, good girl!

I'm glad that I have such an understanding daughter. Semoga Allah lindungi Iman dan jadikan dia anak yang solehah. Amin

Have a nice week ahead girl. Just remember to take your vitamins.

The greatest thing about being a mom

After a very long day at work and,

After the long drive battling with the traffic jam,

It feels so good to be back home 

watching the lil muchkin feeling so happy stylo-mylo playing with her toys

I may have done something right in the past to deserve this.

Alhamdulillah, hilang penat serta-merta.

Thank you Allah for giving me the best gift ever, my daughter, Iman Alexandria.

That Hug

Despite the joy of having 3 working days only this week, it has yet be the most challenging week for me. A special day became a non-special day (and I guess, there'll be no more special day on that particular date) and it has been nothing but a fight for me to go through each day with tears coming down my cheek every single night.

I have become so weak, I broke down in tears so badly last night for almost an hour.

Amazing things happened after that, MasyaAllah. Allah maha besar dah maha mengetahui. 

I told myself that what ever happens after this, I shall take it and handle it rationally. And if things doesn't go my way, I will Redha because I know Allah is the best planner for all His ummah and I shall take it with an open arms. I will try! This was the conversation I had with myself while being all teared up just to push myself to stop crying. 

At that instant, Iman woke up with her eyes closed, facing me for 5 mins before she finally hugged me to sleep. That hug, that hug was all I needed and that hug washed away all the pain. That hug saved me from my tears. That hug made me realized that there is a soul who love me unconditionally and who will forever be mine. Even until now, I can still feel that hug. I cried, cried for the fact that I have forgotten that soul, that soul who I love the most.

She positioned herself comfortably and we were all cuddling throughout the night, MasyaAllah. Allah maha mendengar.

Iman Alexandria is the best ever gift Allah has given to me. She completes me. She is my everything. She understands me in so many ways. She reminds me of ME. She is the reason why I have been pushing myself so hard. I want to give everything to her; the best education, a good life dunia dan akhirat, InsyaAllah.

I will never forget that hug. That hug that have washed all the pain away. That hug that reminds me of love; my daughter's love. That hug that forever be mine, InsyaAllah.

Iman Alexandria turns 2

Two years ago, I was in a battle, fighting for the life of my loved one in a labour room of Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital. And to be honest, at that time, I wasn't sure if I'm actually ready to be a mother; raising a child in this very challenging world. What if I turn out to be so bad in this motherhood world? What if I fail in raising my children to be a good person? What if I don't have the capabilities in being a good mother? All these what ifs have been playing in my head hours before I gave birth to my baby girl.

But I guess, Allah is the best planner for His ummah. And He knows that I can do it. I turned out to be just fine - still struggling, learning, fighting with myself raising my growing up baby girl.

And today, my baby girl turns 2, Alhamdulillah.

It has been a very challenging years - watching her grow day by day. It's amazing how you can love someone so much and never want that feeling to ever go away. Loving her has taught me to be patient. There is no greater love than a love from a mother to her child because she means the world to me. She is my life.

So Iman Alexandria, Happy birthday to you. I wish you all the best in the world and I pray (and I pray hard) that you will be a solehah to your dad and me, Insya Allah. You mean the world to us. And I promise to always be there for you through your ups and downs, to be there to experience all of your firsts - first day of school, first boyfriend (eh?), first dentist check-up, first bus-ride and etc because my love for you is unconditional. Love you to the moon and back.

Sunday with Iman Alexandria

Last Friday marked the last day of the 3rd semester. I couldn't be happier. Alhamdulillah, it wasn't as stressful as the previous semester though. It's .... manageable. In fact, it was the best semester comparing to the other 2 previous semesters. Both our Media & Marketing Management group assignments were being picked as the top with highest marks compared to the other groups. Syukur! Syukur! I owe it to the group members. They were awesome!!

Anyways, as a celebration to the end of my 3rd semester, I decided to do a spring cleaning on Saturday and a day out with my lil munchkin on Sunday. I finally got the time to clean my room. My god, it was totally an embarrassment to see how dirty my room was. Cleaned, mopped and rearranged the room - full of satisfaction. I even hand-mopped the stairs. Semangat bukan!

The initial plan was to bring Iman to the park on Sunday. The usual KLCC park tapi ntah macam mana the plan got changed to a shopping spree in KLCC. 

A must mother-daughter selfie

Tak habis penat, baru saja sampai rumah, the boys came yesterday and oh boy, Iman was so happy to see her favourite uncles.

Anyways, I have approximately a month break before the beginning of the 4th semester and I am sure going to spend every second of it with my lil munchkin. 

She is turning 2 soon. Though, it is not going to be a big celebration this time around but I hope she likes it (I doubt she remembers). Mom is planning to have her celebration at school. Will see how it goes. 

We are heading back to Kedah on the 28th. Kesian tokma dia dah lama tak jumpa and we are really at fault for rarely going back to Kedah. It's time to spend some quality time with the other side of the family.

And to those who are already heading up to their hometown for the long Christmas/New Year break, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Be safe and enjoy your holidays.

Wordless Wednesday

Ibu misses you girl!

A Mother, Student & Senior Planner

My days have been tougher each day but having said that, I am forever thankful for the rezki, the opportunity to shine in my career (chewahhh, statement tak boleh blah!), and to challenge myself completing my Masters. Yes, I shouldn't be complaining sebab ini semua, sendiri yang cari pasal but yeah, with all of these commitments, I, at some point think that I have neglected the one person that I shouldn't be neglecting - Iman Alexandria.

Last Wednesday, she had an eye infection. Tak tahu dari mana datang, bangun tidur tengok her left eye jadi redish in color. I panicked but I seriously, I can't send her to the hospital as I just got back from a week of medical leave due to the tooth surgery and I had a long list of meetings to attend to that whole week. I asked my mother for her help to send Iman to the hospital and Alhamdulillah, she's all fine now. Ini situasi no.1.

Situasi no. 2 happened also on that same week of her eye infection. I had to leave for work early that week. Iman was still asleep when I left the house. And by the time I reached home, she was already asleep. It hits me like a thunder when that situation happened and I cried while carrying her to bed.

And I started to question myself - what type of mother I am for leaving my daughter with her nanny all day long and not being around her. I started to feel like I am a bad mother. Am I a bad mother?

Maybe I should reconsider my options. Maybe I should take that lecturer scheme so that I can spend more time my my family. Maybe I should.......

Saturday, Class & coffee

And because of the guilt I have for neglecting my daughter, I decided that I really need to balance my work, study and family life. Hence, although my weeks are occupied with work and studies, I will make sure that I spend some quality time with my lil' girl.

We went to KLCC park yesterday and girl, was she happy. Walaupun sekejap sebab weather yang main-main hujan tapi within that short time at the park dah cukup buat Iman bergolek-golek sampai seluar kotor. And I will make sure that my weekends are all spend with her, Insya Allah.

The guilty of a mother. Sigh!

R.E.S.P.E.C.T

A simple rule of life - if you don't know how to respect others, please don't expect others to respect you back. "Respect" is earned, not to be given for free!

Was my Facebook status for today.

It's simple - one must learn how to respect others in order to gain one and it is not something that you can get for free. It works hand-in-hand.

I'm very upset with what happened this morning. Not that I will write about it here, but clearly, I was really disappointed with what had just happened.

Where have all the good deeds gone too? People are becoming more cruel, rude and disrespectful. Sangat menyedihkan.

Anyway, to cheer my day, here's an instagram photo of Iman imitating her atok while performing solat Maghrib. It is her thing now to imitate everyone while we perform our prayers. Alhamdulillah, sejuk perut ibu. I must have done something right in the past, huh? ;)

Iman & Play School

Last August, Iman started her 1st play school session with SIM Kindermusik. We, my mother actually, got to know about this play school when she attended one of the kids exhibition at GE Mall quite some time ago and SIM Kindermusik was one of the exhibitor. They have a very interesting program for kids development and since Iman has no one to play with except for her Kakak nanny, we decided to enrol her with the play school. After all, her class is just once a week and it is over the weekend. At least, ada lah juga activity yang boleh dilakukan oleh si kecil itu.

Each week, there will be different activities conducted by the facilitator and everything is based on music. This is to give an idea to the baby/toddler how to do things - greeting, shake hands, dance, do the ups and downs etc and with music, it will eventually captures the interest of the baby. And of course, the parents is there to do the activities as well and trust me, it's very tiring macam tengah workout 1 jam.

It is not just any ordinary play school. After few sessions, I could see the changes in Iman's development/movement. She can do a lot of things on her own and she knows what is for what. She can identify the sound that she listen to, she develop interest especially when it comes to music. And that explain why she loves Barney so much and she can imitate things very fast. Plus, ada kawan-kawan so Iman takdelah jakun sangat bila jumpa orang lain which was so much different compared to before. Dulu, jumpa orang pon tak nak sekarang, super peramah pulak. It helps her to build her confident level.

Of course, it is not solely because of the program. But with the concept that they teach every week, I believe it gives good impact to Iman's growing development.

And after 8 classes, Iman finally graduated today. Yey!

How I wish I can still continue with this program but unfortunately, I have to stop her for a while. I have my other commitment (studying) hence, need to put Iman's play school on hold for a semester. But definitely will continue again next year and it will be on the different level pulak since she'll be 2 soon. 

I have to admit that I am one of those kiasu mom. With Iman's enrolment on this program doesn't mean that I want to pressure my daughter to be someone smarter but this program helps in way that Iman can learn, play and mix with her friends. At least, she does not feel lonely. Dahlah duduk rumah berkawan dengan orang tua-tua.

Of course, I want her to grow up and enjoy her childhood years as much as possible and that is why I will continue in enrolling her with this program supaya dia boleh bermain dengan bijaknya.

So momsies, if you're looking for a place for your children to "play", I recommend SIM Kindermusik. You can always log on to their website to check on their listed programs and check which one is suitable for your children.

Have a nice weekend momsies. 

Post Bangkok Trip

Had a wonderful-patah-kaki-duit-habis 4 Days 3 Nights trip to Bangkok. Will definitely write about it. So, tunggu! (Cheh, like I have readers jer, kan!)

This is my 1st trip of me not going with the family. Family means the husband and lil Iman were not joining me for the trip. Dah kata pon company trip, nak bawa family apehal? Well, the initial plan was them to follow me to Bangkok on their own expenses. After much of consideration, the husband decided not to follow due to work commitment. Lagi pon baru lepas raya semua and the younger brother in law just enrolled to the Uni. Being the understanding wife, I rela jer!

Glad that they did not follow else it will be a disaster for Iman as the weather was very very hot! Oh, will write about it soon.

I was all worried sebab tak pernah berenggang dengan Iman and worried much as to how will she survive without the breastfeeding thingy. Persuaded Iman's kakak to stay over just to look after her and nasib baik she agrees. Kalau tak, pengsan! I'm more convince having her around Iman that my family sebab confirm Iman akan nangis drama macam kena dera if the family were to look after her.

Every night without fail I skype-d with them just to check on Iman. Alhamdulillah, everything went smoothly.

The husband sent me Iman's photo just to make me missed her which I think was a success.

Kept on viewing this photo of hers every hours possible. Siapa tak rindu?!!

Post Bangkok =  malas nak kerja.

Have a wonderful week kawan-kawan. It's a 3 working days for me though.

World Breastfeeding Week

I wasn't aware that August is actually World Breastfeeding Week. I was reading Dr. Halina's blog when I saw one of her post promoting the World Breastfeeding Week event which was held last week. I wanted to participate and be part of other thousands Malaysia moms as it will be recorded (has been recorded) as the largest breastfeed moms at an event tapi hajat tak berkesampaian sebab I had other stuff to do on that day.

But I guess it is never to late to write about it since we are still in August.

I am a supporter of mothers who practice breastfeeding. In fact, I am still breastfeed Iman to date. Dah cuba nak ceraikan but it doesn't seem to be working. I have been breastfeeding Iman exclusively for the first 1.4 years. I decided to mix with formula milk sebab Iman dah tak mahu minum susu dalam botol. Macam-macam jenis botol beli, macam-macam jenis punting dah tukar but masih tak berjaya. So then, I bought Anmum Essential Step 3 and she seems to be liking it walaupun tak minum susu dalam botol. But I still breastfeed her at night.

It wasn't easy. Breastfeeding is tough. It's even tougher if you don't have the strong mind to fight yourself to keep the positivity. I've experienced having low supply sampai buntu tak tahu nak buat apa. But Alhamdulillah, the support I have keep me motivated to keep on breastfeed Iman. Kalau tak dah lama dah give-up. I tried almost everything - minum air fenugreek, makan buah kurma, makan supplements, makan rebusan betik muda - you name it, I had it all.... just to keep on having high level of production. Atas usaha dan kesabaran yang berpanjangan, Alhamdulillah my supply cukup untuk Iman. 

There were also the happy days where I experienced having over-supplied of expressed milk sampai boleh buang-buang sesuka hati.

The feeling is soo....satisfying for being able to feed your children with the best nutrients. Percayalah. Alhamdulillah, bila kita breastfeed, In Shaa Allah anak akan kurang mendapat penyakit-penyakit yang serious. Deman biasa tu adalah, nama pon nak membesar tapi Syukur sangat, Iman belom pernah lagi expereince sakit yang serious-serious.

I pledge to continue to breastfeed my children selagi mampu sekurang-kurangnya the 1st 6 months of their lives. And the bonding you have between your baby and you, Masyaallah sangat kuat! And you get to loose weight very fast!

So mothers & mom-to-be(s), my advise is to practice breastfeeding. It's not going to be easy (that's for sure) but with high determination, good support and the semangat to give the best nutrients to your baby will help you throughout your breastfeeding journey. Usaha, doa & tawakal applies, In Shaa Allah. Good luck mommies!

Happy 20 months baby girl

Dah lama tak tulis pasal Iman. Pejam celik, pejam celik dah 20 months young dah Iman Alexandria Muhamad Izwan and it's been a wonderful yet tiring journey that I have had so far. She is the reason why I work so hard so that I am able to give the best I can education-wise, monetary, living and semua lah. 

Having said that, I also want her to experience life the hard way - I mean, she has to work hard to earn something, she needs to know that education is important and she also needs to know that all the money that her parents give her is for her to use wisely and I will make sure that she will grow up not being a spoilt brat, In Shaa Allah. Anak adalah amanah dan tanggungjawab kita untuk mencoraknya sebaik mungkin.

Tiba-tiba I'm being all sentimental + emotional after reading Vivy yusof's post on her delivery. It reminds me so much of my own. 

Syukur Alhamdulillah, I had a smooth delivery. Sakit tu memang ada but it wasn't a long contraction pain. Was admitted on 12AM, 27 December 2011 when my water broke 3 hours earlier. But I experience no pain during that time. Sempat lah lagi order makan roti canai telur, melenggang-lenggang pergi hospital, jalan-jalan sembang dengan nurse dekat hospital. I was only 1cm dilated when I arrived at the hospital. The doctor estimated that I'll be ready for delivery at 11AM latest tapi tup-tup pukul 8.35AM, Iman dah tak sabar nak keluar. I remembered saying "nak berak, nak berak" and all the nurses/midwives gelak je kat labour room.

And it has been a wonderful journey ever since - dengan tak cukup tidurnya, dengan dugaan bergelut dengan breastmilk production, dengan dugaan Iman demam kadang-kadang, dugaan pabila kesabaran diuji, dugaan takde orang nak jaga Iman dan macam-macam lagi. Being a mother really mengajar erti kesabaran and in a way, ia mematangkan diri kita.

Here's to you Iman Alexandria.

Happy 20th month birthday sayang. Thank you for bringing that happiness to our family. You are the joy and happiness to all 5 of us - me, your dad, Atok, Nenek and your Aunty Ara.

I pray that you will be a good and solehah daughter. And when you grow up, you will be able to serve and help people who are in need. You will be a responsible elder sister and you will never stop helping your younger siblings. You will be the one to help me when I'm old. You will be the responsible sister looking after your siblings when we are gone. 

Please know that we love you so much. You mean the world to us. And I promise that I will never let you down, In Shaa Allah. I will be there with you every step of your way, helping you, guiding you through your ups and downs coz my love for you is unconditional.

And please, please be a good girl when I'm off to Bangkok this weekend ye? Don't trouble your kakak and nenek please?! Love you to the moon and back.

Wordless Thursday, eh?!

Iman's most viewed video, viewed by Iman and Iman only.

How I wish I can understand her baby language.

But it's fun though! And cute too.