of dian khayla turning two & our 2013 eid celebrations

Well, hello there everyone ! 
Assamu'alaikum !
Selamat Hari Raya ! Still valid lah I guess since today is the last day of Syawal, teehee. :)


This is going to be a looooong post so bear with me ok ? :)

On the 13th of August, 2 years ago, after 21 hours of labour (yes, you can click here to relive my birthing experience, hee), this precious gem was born ! 

Happy 2nd Birthday my Beautiful Light !

Thank you Allah. :) 

Dearest DK, Mummy loves you so so so so much & I cannot imagine life without you and your incessant chatter.
I pray that you grow up to be bright and the best in this world & the hereafter. May you be blessed with all the pretty, happy & wonderful things you deserve. Aameen.

Loadsa love, hugs & sloppy kisses from your Mummy ! :')

Mr. Sunshine and I planned a birthday celebration for Khayla at Burger King, Extreme Park, Shah Alam on the August 25th. We invited family, some relatives friends who lived nearby. 
I ordered a Barney themed birthday cake & Mr. Sunshine hired 'Barney' to entertain the kids.

The Barney we hired turned out to be skinny and looked pretty different (haha) from the real Barney, so Khayla wasn't really pleased. In fact, she was terrified ! Haha.

The birthday cake from Jasmeen Home Delights

THE BIRTHDAY GIRL, WOOT WOOT !

Cake cutting session. :)

 

Told ya she was terrified of this version of Barney. Poor baby ! Hehe.

I even had to distract her with a toy to take a picture with Barney.

Us, sans Fahim who was asleep. Hehe. I look so tired !

Arina & pretty Ayra !

With my BFF Annisa and Lene.

The in-laws :)

The extended family ! :)

The friends ! :)

Mak & Abah who came all the way from Batu Pahat. :')

 Disclaimer: No carbonated drinks were served at the party. Hehe.

Alhamdulillah, the party went smoothly. Khayla would like to thank everyone for their presence & presents ! :)

Now moving on to our Raya celebrations this year, as I mentioned in my previous post, we spent Raya eve and the first two days of Syawal in Gombak this year.
Daddy bought beef rendang from Aunty Leha and I made some peanut sauce, chicken curry (as per Mr Sunshine's request) & boiled some nasi himpit. :)

I had a makeup malfunction on the first day of Syawal. I realized I bought the wrong eyeliner because this one made me look like I have black eyes. Blergh. And because I didn't bring my makeup remover, I had to deal with fugly eyes the whole day !

Selamat Hari Raya ya'll ! :)

We went to arwah Mummy's close friend, Aunty Zainah's place in the morning. When I was small, I used to think that this was our kampung. Yes, that's how long we've known Aunty Zainah ! :")

Sunshine ! :)

Seth Fahim wore a baju melayu along with a sampin, super cute tau !

The future dentist and I.

The only photo we took at Aunty Leha's place was of Khayla and her cousins, hehe.

At Aunty Maziey's. Just like the good old days. :)

With Sal on the second day of Syawal before leaving for Batu Pahat. :)

Beraya in Batu Pahat in purple. :)

With the in-laws. :)

This was on the 5th of Syawal before going to Akey's house. :)

My bestie of 15 years with her daughter Qaireen Alisha. :)

Last stop the day before I go back to work - Mak Andak's. :)

There's gonna be a huge change in our lives, soon InshaAllah. No, Khayla is not getting a sibling, YET. I'll blog about it soon.  Ok ok, I'LL TRY to blog about it soon. Don't be mad if I blog about it 6 months after it happens, haha.

I hope all of you had a splendid Raya ! :)

xoxo

my 1433H eid.

Hello ya'll !
I hope it's not too late to wish all my Muslim brothers & sisters SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI !

Last Monday marked 6 years since arwah Mummy left us and the day before (Sunday) would have been her 62nd birthday if she was still around. I'm still in a bit of a sombre mood, but I'm trying my best to not let it affect me too much. Gotta concentrate on work. I can't believe it has been 6 years already. It still feels like it was just yesterday. :'(

Al-Fatihah.

August is a bittersweet month for me. *nangis*

Gotta. Focus.
Gotta. Focus.

How has your Raya (I somehow prefer addressing Raya as Raya instead of Eid) been so far ? I was on leave for the whole of last week. Not because I wanted to beraya but because my workplace was closed for the whole week and so was Khayla's nursery. Soooo, I had no choice but to take leave. But I think I've managed to put all the spare time to good use.

As I've blabbered in my previous post, we spent Raya eve and the first two days of Syawal in Batu Pahat. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I'd have to be honest that I felt awful on Raya eve when everyone was busy preparing dishes for Raya. All I wanted to do was curl up in bed and cry. It wasn't just about being in Batu Pahat, it's just the same emotions I go through every year before (and during Raya) and I guess it was exarcebated by the fact that I wasn't in Gombak.

Alhamdulillah Mr. Sunshine was always there for me, he thanked me for agreeing to be in his hometown, and constantly had words of comfort for me throughout the eve of Raya. Things got a little better on the 1st day of Syawal, I managed to contain my tears whole day, even during the bersalam-salaman and the whole visiting relatives sessions. What an achievement, Alhamdulillah.
So yeah, it wasn't that bad.

Green was our theme in Batu Pahat. Mr. Sunshine and I reused our outfits which we wore for Marc & Linn's wedding. :)

My beautiful sisters in-law.
I'm so fortunate that I can joke around with them and talk to them as if they're my own blood. :)

My man. :)

Awesome mum in-law. :)

Mr. Sunshine's extended family ! :)

We were back in Gombak on the 2nd day of Syawal. We went visiting the next day. We intend to continue visiting friends/relatives this weekend. InshaAllah. Mr. Sunshine, Khayla and I were all supposed to be in purple, but the tailor didn't managed to finish sewing Khayla and my baju kurungs. What a disappointment ! :(

Family shot on the 3rd day of Syawal.

I love this shot of us !

Last Thursday, Mr. Sunshine took Khayla and I on a 3 days 2 nights vacation to Penang. Traffic was heavy along the way but there was no jam. All we did in Penang was eat, eat, and EAT.
I didn't gain any weight throughout the first 4 days of Syawal, but I managed to gain a kilo after being in Penang for 3 days !

Yummy Penang Food.

MORE yummy Penang food.

Khayla had her first trip to the beach at Batu Feringghi, and she didn't like it that much. She was in tears every time the waves hit her legs. Hehe. Driving down Batu Feringghi brought back a lot of memories of when I was there with Daddy, arwah Mummy & my siblings.

At Batu Feringghi beach.

We also took her on a ferry ride on which she was pretty cool and calm, pointing at the sea water, unlike her Mummy who was terrified and couldn't wait to get back into the car. Yes, I am still terrifed of deep water.

Khayla and Ayah on the ferry.

Mummy explaining to Khayla why Mummy is afraid of the sea. Haha.

Khayla was also pretty cool on the train ride up and down Penang Hill (Bukit Bendera). We got on the front coach and we let her stand by the front window. :)

The view from Penang Hill. :)

Khayla was a bit cranky throughout the whole Penang trip. I guess she was fatigued, because everytime we were in the car she would hug me and fall asleep. Poor baby.

Yesterday morning I think I heard Khayla call out, "Mi, mi !" but I am still not too sure whether she means Mummy. Hehe.

That's all for now. Hope all of you had an awesome Raya.
Bye !

xoxo

confinement blues.

Day 22 of confinement.
I am halfway through ! Alhamdulillah.
Mr. Sunshine is back in Kuala Berang as he starts work tomorrow, so it's me and Khayla at my in-laws.
I have got to admit that I'm not coping so well emotionally.
I think it's partly due to the lack of sleep which every new parent is bound to experience with a newborn.
I have been so accustomed to getting at least 7 hours of sleep every night before this, so adapting to 1 to 2 hours of sleep is tough !
Khayla is not the only baby in this house, because I have also had my share of crying spells. Sometimes I just break down for no obvious reason. Exhaustion maybe ?
It's painful not to have Mr Sunshine by my side because he is the one who has been my rock, comforting and consoling me without fail, rubs my back when I am nursing Khayla in the middle of the night, hugs me the minute he sees tears in my eyes and of course he is my partner in putting Khayla to sleep. :'(
Mr. Sunshine, if you're reading this, I miss you and I need you. *nangis*

I know I should be grateful to have my in-laws here taking care of me and trust me, I am ! But I am sure wives out there would understand how it is like being away from your husbands. Especially in times like these.

I hope I don't end up with post-partum depression.

22 days old Dian Khayla is doing good, Alhamdulillah.
She feeds, poops, pees, cries and sleeps every day. Hehe.

This year is my first year celebrating Eid as a mother, Alhamdulillah. I had to borrow my sister in-law's baju kurung this year as I foolishly didn't get one for myself (and Mr. Sunshine) and also because I can't fit into the one I brought from Kuala Berang.
Daddy, Marc, Lene and Linn came over on the third day of Eid and spent half a day here. :)
Here are a few of my Eid snapshots.

Khayla with Atuk ! ;)

Khayla with her Uncle and Aunts. :)

My awesome in-laws. :)

My everything. :)

I pray for the strength to get through the days ahead. Ameen.
I need to stay strong for Khayla.

GOTTA


STAY


POSITIVE !

*nangis*

xoxo

of sacrifices.

I have to work tomorrow but I am still awake, forcing myself to blog about how my Raya Haji/Korban went.
When we talk about Raya Korban, the thought about slaughtering an animal to commemorate and remember Prophet Ibrahim's trials comes to mind. It is also sometimes associated with making sacrifices in our lives, either big or small.
I have to say that this year's Eid-ul-Adha saw me making a big sacrifice which was agreeing to spend only ONE night in Gombak. :(
These past few days were kinda bumpy for both Mr Sunshine and I.
We left Kuala Berang at about 0620 hours on Tuesday morning, hoping to reach Gombak by lunch time. About 15 minutes into our drive, our car hit a hole and two of our left tyres were punctured ! We initially thought we lost only the front tyre, but while replacing it Mr Sunshine realized that the rear one was losing air too !

Sweater's on.

Sweater's off.

Poor Mr Sunshine. :(

So we drove very, very, very slowly with our hazard lights on, looking for a tyre shop. Luckily enough there was one about half an hour from where we hit the hole. Alhamdulillah. But it opened at 0900 hours, and it was only 0730 hours. We decided to have breakfast at a stall nearby and wait for the shop to open.
Mr Sunshine had to fork out almost RM500 for both tyres. We're fortunate he had extra cash on him, but the cash was actually meant for paying Mak for the kerepek orders we had asked her to help get.
The sport rims were also dented, so we knew we were gonna have to fork out more money to get them fixed.
Dugaan betul. :'(

Oh well, enough of all the sad news, I was really happy to get to be back in Gombak even it was only for a night.
Mr Sunshine drove Daddy, Lene and I to Empire Shopping Gallery Subang where I treated them to dinner at Serai Empire. :)
We chose to go there as Marc's office was just around the corner so he would not have any trouble joining us after work. Dinner was good. Mr Sunshine, Marc and I ordered the Serai Platter, Lene had the Nasi Kerabu and Daddy had the Middle Eastern Medley. To top all of that, we shared a Berry Pavlova ! Oh nyums !

The guys engaging in a serious conversation about, hm, cars.

Daddy, Lene and I. :)

The Serai Platter. 

The Nasi Kerabu. 

The Middle Eastern Medley. The lamb shank was so delicious !

This is Daddy trying to take a bit from the Berry Pavlova before I got to take a photo of it. Lene and I screamed, "Noooo !" Hahaha.

If we didn't scream, I would not have gotten to show you this. *drools*

My brother, fresh from his first day as a Marketing Executive ! ;)

On the morning of Eid, after Mr Sunshine repaired his rims (and was more than RM100 poorer), he drove us to Shah Alam for lunch.

:)

Daddy had his hands full entertaining his grandkids.

Daddy had his hands REALLY full entertaining his grandkids. Hehe.

The ever adorable Alya. :)

We left for Batu Pahat after dinner at around 2030 hours that same day and reached just before midnight. All of Mr Sunshine's siblings were around this time. :)
Since yesterday and today were not holidays in Johor, my parents in-law had to work, so we had less time to spend with them. :(

One big happy family, at dinner. :)

And today we're back here in Kuala Berang.
Although I wish I had more time to spend in our hometowns, but I have work commitments, and I shouldn't be complaining because this is my rezeki. :)

My eyes are tearing and my back hurts, my body is sending me signals to tell me that it's exhausted.
Goodnight everyone ! ;)