Sara's first birthday party

Whew! I survived Sara's first birthday party. Due to my kedekut thrifty nature, I ended up doing EVERYTHING myself. I did the goodie bag, the sugar cookies wrapped with clear plastics to put in the goodie bag, the thank you card, the birthday cake, the cupcake and the list just keeps going on and on...

We had a kenduri doa selamat in the morning and the birthday party in the evening so the amount of foods cooked is massive. Luckily, my in-laws and aunties came to help us with the preparation. Our kenduri menu consist of white rice, kari nangka, sambal tumis udang, pecal, ayam goreng berempah and pecal with all the condiments. On top of that, we also had pulut kuning with rendang, apam butter and watermelon. Our birthday menu is soto complete with bergedil and creamy chicken soup for the kids. Oh, we also rent the chocolate fountain and I made marshmallow and strawberry sticks.

My family and I have been cooking non-stop from Saturday. I made hundreds of apam butter and cupcakes and cakes. The cake was quite a challenge for me as it was my first time frosting such a large cake (I usually do cupcakes only). I was happy with the result. My sisters and cousin helped, of course.

I force put Sara to nap twice in the morning and after lunch and she was one happy kid. She mingles with other kids with an ease but she does seem reluctant to share her toys. She also has the ability to totally ignore people so she managed to hurt the feelings of a very sweet girl who was following her trying to give her presents.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everybody that came and or all the lovely presents. Hope you guys had as much fun as we did :) And oh, we forgot to sing happy birthday to her.

My Birthday Bash

Hi everyone...

Last Sunday, my family threw me a birthday party and I had the time of my life.

Mummy made me a cake that looks like me and ladybug cupcakes.

I get to be the princess in a cute red dress and a matching tiara.

I got lots of presents which we opened together later that night.

So, at the end of the evening I got tired and sleep.

She walks!!!

Hi everyone.

My mummy told me that this is where she tells stories about me. Well, I have another news for all of you. I can walk.

Actually, I have been doing this for quite some time but Mummy says I'm cheating, because I can only walk when somebody put me on standing position. Well, guess what? I can stand up on my own already. Yeay!

The one-year old kid

Sara is ONE!!!! She's no longer a baby :( .... and true to that, she's beginning to demand and act like a one-year old. (Pic above is Sara with her birthday present from Atuk and Nenek)

Once, we laughed soooo hard during our eating session, both of us ended up with stomach cramps, not from the food but from laughing too hard. There was nothing funny in particular, she demanded asked to see the contents of food in my mouth (yup, the chewed food IN MY MOUTH). I showed it to her, and she find it disgustingly funny and laughed and proceed to show the contents of food in her mouth. Then, I started to laugh, she laugh even harder and who could resist the ringing laughter of a cute little toddler so we keep laughing and laughing for almost ten minutes.

Yesterday, was her monthly check-up. She weighs 10.5 kg and her height is 77 cm. Before our turn to get Sara's one-year injection, there was this mother whose son is wailing uncontrollably after getting his injection. She looked at us and said "Lepas ni dia ni la pulak menangis" - referring to my little angel, of course.

I took one look at her son and dreaded the moment because Sara's cry out of pain is very sad and leaves me feeling terribly guilty. With heavy heart, we went in. Since Sara is already one-year old, the injection will be administered on her hand rather than on her thigh. I remember thinking, this is definitely going to hurt and she will definitely cry her heart out.

Well, whaddayaknow...she didn't even cry. She flinched, her face got red (out of shock or pain, I dunno) BUT THE MAIN POINT IS SHE DIDN'T EVEN CRY! I feel like calling back the mother I met earlier and gushed "Look at my baby, she's not only cute, she's strong as well and such a good little girl for not crying. Unlike your baby. Boo!!" Heh. Even the nurse is quite shocked. Wee....I'm sooooo proud of my one-year old kid!

Sara with Nenek after the injection. Notice the bulging shirt sleeve?

Anyway, did you know that government hospital will take care of every phase of your child's development. Why, they even asked me to come back on February to give worm medication. I was constantly amazed by the fact that they think about everything. Yeay for public hospital!!!

Ridiculously OVER-priced

Did you noticed that some baby products are ridiculously OVER-priced? Sure, some expensive products have superior quality but I do believe there are alternatives that can offer the same benefit at a fraction of the price. For example :

Exhibit # 1 : Baby bath seat

This ergonomically shaped bath support is very useful for first time mommies to bathe their child. You can have free reign of both your hands during bath time. Priced at Rm 70++ at Mothercare, but I got mine for only RM16.90 at Giant. :)Exhibit # 2 : Baby pouch / Baby carrier

The cheapest I found was RM50++. I sew mine (okay, my mom sew mine) using existing cloth at home which costs me...nothing!! :)

Exhibit # 3 : Swaddle

I am a firm believer of swaddling my baby (during the initial stage until 2 months++). Some people just use traditional napkins to swaddle their baby, but if your baby is as big as mine, the width of regular nappy is not sufficient. I've come across pretty and modern swaddle (Bumblebee, Kiddopotamus etc.) priced at RM35++ EACH and it just struck me as being obscenely OVERpriced. So, what I did was : I went to Kamdar/Nagoya and bought cotton flanel fabric with cutesy design, cut them in square, trim the edges (if you don't have the edging machine, you can always sent them to any tailor and get the edge trimmed for very reasonable price. nak tempah dengan saya pun boleh)

Exhibit # 3 : Birthday party crown

The cheapest I found was RM30. I made this myself for less than RM10. ;)

Being the thrifty person that I am, I chose to find cheaper alternative or to DIY. Very easy, I tell you. Wait for my step-by-step instruction on how to sew a baby pouch and how to make a birthday crown for your little girl.

Happy First Birthday

Dear Sara,

Today marks the day you were born to this world. Although it took you almost two weeks to come out of me, the moment we saw your face, it was priceless.

You were such a great baby. You were the apple of everybody's eyes. You were loved by everyone and you were such a pleasure to be around with. You made cute cooing sound and each tiny movement was special.

Slowly, you begin to grow. It took you almost six months to learn how to roll, and you started eating solid food. I have to admit, the eating process was the MOST fun for me because you eat EVERYTHING I shove into your mouth.

It doesn't surprise me that your emotional and intelligence growth surpasses your physical growth. You were very reasonable since your early days and you were never the one throwing tantrum in the house (I think that role is destined to ME, and me only ;p)

You only crawl when you were almost eight months, your first teeth shows at nine months and you started taking your steps at ten months.

You, my dear, have grown sooo much and as much as I miss you as my little baby, I can't wait to see what else you can do. I am amazed and humbled by your existence and I can only hope that I will become a better mommy to you in times to come.

Happy first birthday, Adlyna Qaisara! "I love you" is an understatement for what I feel for you.

A simple no-fuss life

Most women change when they journey to mommyhood. For me, the most significant change I see in myself is the way I pack my own stuff. Makin lama makin sikit sebab barang Sara banyak sangat ;p

You see, I am a fairly simple person. I want to have an everyday routine such as moisturizing my body with lotion or cleaning up my face before sleeping but it just seems too...fussy. Heh.

Every year, my resolution would be to at least clean my face and put toner and moisturize before going to sleep but every year, I just can't bring myself to do that.

Every night, my resolution will be to wake up early and blow dry my hair, put some make up on before going to work but when you wake up at 7.45 and you have to be out of the house at 8.00, mana la sempat kan?

Recently I went to Cameron Highlands for a workshop for 3 days and 2 nights and guess what I brought?Yup, just an overnight bag which became the topic of interest of everybody. Macamana ko boleh bawak semua barang ko? Cukup ke? Keciknya bag...etc..etc...

Inventory of all the items : 1 work blouse, 1 jeans, 1 cardigan (not in pic), 2 sleeveless shirt, 2 t-shirt, 1 pair of track bottom and t-shirt (for sleeping), toiletries, undies (not in the pics of course!) and a jacket, shawl, black pants I was wearing. Oh, I forgot to bring my comb so I didn't comb my hair for three days. I almost looked like a hyena on the third day ;p (almost being the operative word here)

My so-called toiletries are not even worthy of mentioning. Oh, how I soooo badly want to have these kind of stuff in my toiletries bag..

pics credit to google and the site owner

But then, it will be just too.....FUSSY, no?

Bukit Gambang Waterpark - Get Wet, Stay Cool

What better way to end 2009 than a splash at the pool? With that in mind, me, hubby and Sara went for a splash at Bukit Gambang Waterpark on Saturday.

The weather has been very fickle that day. First it rained non-stop until 11.00 am. We almost cancel our trip. Then, a ray of sunlight appears and we decided just to go through with it. Throughout the way (it took us almost 1 hour to reach the place from MIL's house), the weather change is incomprehensible. One minute it rained, another kilometer or so, its bright as a summer's day. Gahhhh!!!

We arrived aroung 12ish, and man! The place is crowded like a warehouse sale. Hubby bought the e-value ticket for himself (RM50.00) and entrance ticket for me (RM19.90). We had to buy a tube for Sara and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the shop boasts very competitive prices. The shirts were around RM8.90 to RM22.90 and other stuffs were moderately priced. Unlike some other ridiculously overpriced souvenir shop ;p

The first thing that happened when we reached to the man-made beach was.... I fell flat on my bum. Ha! I was carrying Sara at the time and eventhough it was funny (me falling down) BUT we were greatly relieved that Sara was okay. Seems that I fell in quite a slow motion and I managed to put Sara safely on the hut first. We quickly composed ourselves into a more dignified position (i.e me, standing up, brushing the mud on my bum!) and changed into bathing suits.

Despite my fear that Sara would be SCARED as she usually is, she was enjoying herself to the max. She waded the pool using her tube until her little feet couldn't touch the base. That girl has no fear, I tell you. :)

We stop to eat and again I was pleasantly surprised by the price and variety of food they serve. Since the waterpark uses cashless concept, we paid using hubby e-value ticket. We had regular sized pizza and chicken chop for less than RM20. Wayyyyy valuable than other places *cough*ayerkerohwaterpark*cough*

Having said that, don't expect too much of the slides and pools in Bukit Gambang Waterpark. It is still undergoing its construction and right now, the waterpark has only five areas (I think) and no thrilling slides like other waterpark. For an infant like Sara, she's having the time of her life and that happy face of hers makes up for everything we have to endure (especially Mummy's sore back)

Sara sleeping after a tiring day ;)

One more gripe I have with BGWP is THERE ARE NO BABY ROOM. It is extremely hard bathing ur baby in a toilet shared by everybody, adults and screaming toddlers alike. I wrote an email to Sentoria, the management of BGWP regarding this issue. There should be a baby room as from my observation when we went there, there are numerous amount of babies everywhere. Some as young as three months old (the family brought rocker and picnic under the stairs). I know it is entirely up to the parents regarding the suitability of such a young baby to be brought to places like these, BUT I also do think that the management ought to take a more proactive approach in serving the customers.

All in all, this was certainly an enjoyable treat. Let's get wet and stay cool at Bukit Gambang Waterpark ;)