Mummy

Extremely busy finalizing my preparation for data collection. After 4 months post-interim assesment, my SV and I have weighed our options and finally came to an agreement to conduct the data collection in Malaysia. We have refined our research questions, tweaked our approach and hopefully will formulate the appropriate tool for our research. Ethical approval has been submitted, and is now waiting for the all-go clearance from the Uni. Budget have been requested and all forms submitted (with massive headaches & many sleepless nights on my part), and now pending for approval (though only formally needed, it has been agreed upon verbally) from a somebody in my school. With another month to go, I need to finalize my questionnaire and interview questions, get the green light from my SV, confirm the appointments with research participants in Malaysia (thank you my dear friends, for all your kind help) and then only I can start packing my bags in peace.

Oh, and there is the looming dread in my mind, that I am to travel alone with my very active toddler on a 16 hours journey halfway around the world.

…..

Daddy

With mummy being extra occupied in her mind (and schoolwork), DH has to cut down his shifts at work and carry more weight around the house. He has been extremely helpful, and I am so thankful that he is being such an angel to me in my time of need. Earlier in the month we found out that we could no longer afford to keep our car, although were initially frustrated, it turns out to be a blessing in disguise. We sold the car, terminated the insurance policy(s) and were able to use the extra cash to pay for me & Daniel’s flight home for my data collection without compensating our monthly rent fund. Even though I can claim the travel expenses from my school, I will only get refunded when I return in December. Hope it works out well, Insya Allah.

Our dear friends gave DH and me an offer that is too good to resist, in our time of darkness. We felt very touched by their kindness. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you dear friends, you know who you are. Semoga Allah murahkan rezeki dan merahmati kalian sekeluarga, Amin.

And yes, Daddy is very happy. Thank you for making him happy

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Afwan Daniel

Our little man is now almost 28 months old. He is progressing well, Alhamdulillah. He is now able to form 4-5 word sentences, sometimes even speaking in 2-3 complete sentences. He speaks English fairly well for his age (even better than we were when we’re at that age), occasionally combining a couple of bahasa Melayu Kedah in his conversations (hehehe!). He has a healthy appetite, an absolute vegetable lover (current favourites are courgette and aubergine), and is more receptive towards meat and fish than before. His sleeping habits are slowly improving (*sigh*), and is getting more attached to us, although to others he may seem independent & adventurous (kalau dapat adik ok sikit kot?). He is quite sociable, loves it when we have friends staying over. As most boys are, he has an absolute fascination with cars, buses, trains, aeroplanes  etc and no visit to a carboot sale could miss him getting one of such things.

Oh, another thing, he is proving to be more artistic than I ever was (credits to the genetic trait from daddy!). He is constantly drawing on his doodleboard, and previous doodles have included grass, bus, lorry, car, house and a window (apekah?), not forgetting that he can now doodle almost all of the alphabets. His current favourite doodle is a scooter.

drawing alphabets

He asked for a lorry, so I drew him one (at the bottom right of the doodleboard). He then drew his version of a lorry on the left.

alphabets again.. now includes N, R, O, T, S and B to his favourite A & E.

his current favourite, the scooter

The concept is there, see? Ok lah, at least more artistic than Mummy kan…

Our appetite for sahur is running low, now that Ramadhan has passed its 15 days mark. There are days that we just woke up, and stared at each other not knowing what to eat… padahal makanan bertimbun dlm fridge. And then I remembered, my parents will always have some acar buah in the kitchen during this time of Ramadhan, and we will just resort to the acar to accompany our sahur meal. DH bought some from a friend selling in Bazaar Ramadhan in Cheetham Hill last week, and ye lah, mana la mampu nk beli sampai seperiuk kan… org tu meniaga.. nk banyak, pandai2 le buat sendiri…so, I tried my hand at making Acar Buah Utara… hehe..

Boleh la kan… rupa ada, taste quite good too but I think I went overboard with the chillies hehe.. need to cut back on the chillies next time. Kalau kat Malaysia guna buah jeruk beli kat Pekan Rabu, kat sini..we bought dried fruits (pears, plums, apples, raisins, apricots, prunes & pineapples) sold in Morrisons jer… My dad will say that it is the orang kaya’s version of acar buah.. hahaha..

So far our Ramadhan experiment has included murtabak (thanks Hanim!), kastad jagung (amik resepi online, tak jadi pun.. hihi), deep fried wontons (yummeh.. dah buat 2-3 kali with success!) and most recently the acar buah (also resepi online). Hmm.. we’re having some friends over for iftar this weekend.. maybe will experiment on ayam percik next. DH been wanting to get reacquainted with his BBQ set for awhile now, hopefully the weather cooperates with him this weekend

We have been married for 3 years now, and together for 5 years. Not a day pass me by without me thanking God for bringing my other half into my life. Semoga dipanjangkan lagi jodoh kami berdua hingga ke akhir hayat, Amin.

Happy Anniversary, my love. Thank you for loving me the way I am.

It has been almost 2 weeks since we decided that Daniel should sleep in his own room… He has been doing well sleeping on his own, but so many things happen (i.e. balik Msia for 6 weeks, then winter, then mummy depressed so must have him near all the time, then mcm2 lagi…) and by the time we tried moving him back to his room, he clearly got much smarter and resisted the change each time.

I finally put my feet down, and move him out of our bedroom after my brother left. We re-do the room, put his toys on the shelves, and his things in the dresser… to make the room his. He usually goes to bed ok, but woke up in the middle of the night either crying, or running to our bed and then we put him back to sleep on his bed… and this has been going on since we move him out to his own bedroom.

This morning DH & me woke up, and we look at each other in amazement. Daniel didn’t cry/come running in the middle of the night like he usually does! We both got our 5 solid hours of uninterrupted sleep in our own bedroom. Wow …

Alhamdulillah

Our car gave us a surprise this very morning… on the day it is supposed to get MOT’ed, on the way to the garage.

Right in the middle of the busy Regent Street ok!

Hopefully the mechanic would be able to fix it. I hate to think of what will happen if not.

Dugaan.

Sabarlah wahai hati.

Yup, I am a self-confessed gardenaholic. Sangat obses, that I could just spend hours working in my little green patch. Nasib baik kecik jer, kalau garden besar .. uhuuu.. kena convert buat PhD in Gardening.. kihkihkihh  :)

When my parents came, it was really fun to spend time with them each morning, perusing and greeting each new flower bud as they bloom, welcoming the promising warmth of spring and summer. My parents would look out the guest room window every morning.. counting the number of tulips, pansies, roses, petunias, sweet peas, calla lillies, geraniums and hydrangeas as they appear. How I miss those moments!

For a few days after they left, I did not even look at my garden, as I am constantly reminded of how I spent most mornings with my mom weeding in the garden, and how my dad would just sit there in the evenings as Afwan Daniel ran about the huge communal garden. I finally had some quiet time this afternoon, and decided I would give an update of how my little garden is getting on.

Most of the pansies have by now served their short cheerful lifetime, and the hydrangeas are coming into full bloom. The petunias have passed their glorious colourful nature.. and sadly, slowly declining. The elegant calla lillies and sweet peas are in abundance and in their prime, and have both graced my living room in their fresh cuttings self. The geraniums are also in their full bloom, greeting me with their vivid colourful blooms, so cheerful they make me smile each time I look at them. I have also managed to harvest some lavender, and dried them in small bunches, for my many closets. I am getting more for my borders, and hopefully can get a few more winter-hardy lavender species soon. I have yet to see any sign of my gladioli buds, but they normally bloom in autumn.. so maybe much later then.

the climbing sweetpeas

purple petunias in hanging planters by our patio door

another planter of petunias..

.. and another planter of petunias ..

french lavenders

pink lavenders

geraniums

my absolute all time favourite .. hydrangeas!

our yellow tea rose.. we got a pink one too, tapi tak sempat nak ambik gambar .. huhu

pink calla lily .. we also got white ones too

Oh, in case anyone is wondering, why do I have sticks near my lillies, it’s to ward off my neighbour’s cat, who has a knack for digging up my precious flowerbeds. I was so stressed out about it.. I mean, I absolutely love cats.. you know that, but please lah.. dah hang tu duduk tingkat 2, tak payah le nak bela kucing.. kan ke payah nak kontrol.. ish ish ishhh. I think she must have noticed me yelling expletives in Malay everytime her cat left some ’smelly presents’ by my flowerbeds and finally found a way to manage her cat better. Nasib kau la labu..

Since summer is ending much earlier than expected this year, I need to replant my hanging baskets and planters soon… replace the petunias and pansies with some other plants… maybe will go and look at garden centers sometime next week… oh, I can’t wait!

BTW, upon special request by Cik Su.. I present to you the blooming shamrock!

the blooming shamrock as per requested

p/s: Model tangkap muat.. bersungguh2 depa nk pegang pokok tu.. hahahaa!

Been working at it for almost 2 weeks now.. still not clicking in my head.. aduhai, camne nk proceed kalau benda kecik ni pun tak boleh nk disiapkan?

Oh Faiza, get it over with, already.

Must. Submit. Today.

It has been going on for more than 3 months now. I really had hoped that it is just a phase that Daniel will grow out of eventually, however my endurance to not having a proper night’s sleep is wearing thin.

With the pile of work I have going on in my research, sleep is such a luxury that I no longer can afford. I struggle to keep my focus whenever I open my books, coz more often than not, I am too sleepy/tired/worn out from the previous night battle with my precious munchkin… *sigh*… how laa?

It’s bound to end sometime, these bedtime battles. Hopefully soon. For now, we’re just gonna try one more thing starting tonight… let’s just pray that this one will work.

We bid farewell to Abah & Mama yesterday, after 3 months and 1 week having them stay with us. We then drove 4 hours back to Eccles, while they took a 13 hour flight back to KL. Sebak pulak bila mengenangkan jarak ribuan batu dan betapa susah payahnya Abah & Mama datang jenguk kami 3 beranak di sini..  :(

We arrived in Eccles exactly at midnight, and though Teh isn’t due to leave until this Sunday, the apartment feels so much emptier. Isk isk isk sedih betul… my only consolation last night is how relieved I was that Afwan Daniel slept the entire way home from Stansted, and not even waking up after we put him on his bed. Alhamdulillah, syukur dipermudahkan perjalanan pulang kami anak beranak.

I also would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Fifydani & Dr Lam in Worsley, Fariny & Saiful in Amsterdam, Nasrun & Izah in Crumpsall, Nurul & Izhar in Edinburgh, The Wains in Leeds, Norzamni (kak Noi) in Cheetham Hill, Hanim & Pirus in Cheetham Hill and Naza & Ihsan in London; for having the whole lot of us over and making my parents stay in the UK a memorable one.  May Allah bless you & family with endless happiness, good health and wealth.

Now that my abah dah balik, kena la rajin update blog yer? hmm…

Ok, it wasn’t by free will, DH coming with me to watch Edward Cullen on the big screen. I had purchased the tickets 2 months ago, way before he has any chance to formulate a plan to get out of the Eclipse movie date. Since my parents & brother are still around, might as well take the chance for a movie date, before we ran out of the babysitter option card.

Naturally, most of the ppl in the cinema were ladies. Some are on team Jacob, and some on team Edward. The small number of men that were in the cinema, like DH, I suspect were dragged if not bribed by their wives/fiances/girlfriends who are “twihard” (thanks Ann!) to see the earlier shows.  Anyways, it was all in good fun. DH consoled himself that he was free to look at “hot vampire chicks” while I ogled on Edward Cullen. Hehehe

The storyline is no secret, if you read the books you know how it all ends.. but halfway throughout the movie I was quite meluat bored with Bella not being able to decide between Edward and Jacob. I can safely say that this one is the better Twilight Saga movie, with New Moon being the one that I liked least.. but hey, this is my own opinion. I enjoyed the fight scene, and was hoping there was more of it, but then I remembered it is a PG rated movie, so cannot ganas-ganas sgt lah kan.. I could tell only Twihards were eager enough to watch Eclipse this early, and it was confirmed when they cheered and clapped the moment Bella accepts Edward’s down-on-one-knee proposal.. hahaha.. saya tak terlibat ye..

My verdict: A must see if you read all of the books, a no-bother if you think Edward Cullen looks like nyah.