Buat passport baru

Kakak renew passport.

Adik buat passport baru.

Mama... surf airlines website...

(I can't start my studies yet... I have to go somewhere first and get this travel bug out of my system.. Earghh!!)

My new role

As of last week, I begin a new chapter in my life... as a phD student.
I've cleared my office, said goodbye to my colleagues and will be on leave for the next 3 years.

Funny, all i can think about is travel, travel, travel! Hehe..

My girls as of today

What's up today

• Sufya is taking drama classes & Quranic for the school hols.
• Sarah had her first taste of milk other than mine. Sadly...! I was able to hang on to fully breastfeeding her for 1 year & 3 months. And due to the impossible amount I pump out now, I had to resort to a backup. From today on, she'll have a serving of fresh milk and the rest breastmilk..sob sob. Having said that though, i'm proud of myself for making it this far..

(Yikes, just realized the camera date is wrong!)

Gasp!

Sukasukasukasukasukasukanyaaaaaaaa (^_^)
Abang Coach.. tunggu... i'm comingggggg

The biggest secret of all

I just came back from teaching IELTS skills to my fellow colleagues - lecturers who are about to further their studies abroad and need to sit for this internationally-acknowledged English Test where they need to achieve a certain band to proceed with their application.

And God, I feel good.

I get stints like this once in a while apart from what I teach everyday - which is Technical English, and think to myself- this is what I wanna do, this is where I belong - teach proficiency to appreciating adults. I'm reminded again of what brought me here in the first place - my love for teaching proficiency English.

What I do now is teach Technical English to engineering and IT undergrads, who half-dragged themselves to class, looking like something the cat brought in, wishing that the skies would fall down that day so that class would be cancelled.

Today I drove home feeling FULL. I feel satisfied, accomplished and just happy. It doesn't help that my absolute current fav song was on air too ~ Next Plane Home - Daniel Powter (best gilerr kan lagu ni??) which I loudly sang and danced along with.

I love the wide-eyed innocence of students, be they 20 or 45, and the look on their faces when they understand and recognise something. The grin and nods make you feel like you've shared with them the biggest secret of all! It's just priceless.

And when the teaching profession get slammed, hit and clobbered left, right and corner, this twinkle-in-the-eye is what gets you through the day. When the day sucks and all you have is the smallest will to live, this is the the thing that picks you up and pushes you to move on. When we have nothing else to hold on to, this hope is what we have.

And noone but us teachers will know how that feels.

And that, ladies & gentlemen, is the biggest secret of all! Hah! So who has the last laugh now?

Gundah gulana

Hatiku tengah gundah gulana..
Stok freezer tinggal 3 botol saja lagi. Combined with daily production.. it's only a matter of time before I have to resort to buying milk elsewhere other than my own.. :-(

Ya Allah Ya Tuhanku, please increase my milk supply for my baby... you have blessed me for 14 months.. Kalau benarlah itu rezeki anakku, engkau permudahkanlah laluanku.
Hanya kepada Engkau sahaja aku berserah. Amin..

Beginilah cabaran seorang ibu menyusu..

I wish it were that easy to just go and buy a can of milk for her.. but apparently not. It's like I've declared war with formula milk and yet after a year, I realize I shouldn't be so hard on myself anymore.

I'm so darn confused!

Sufya is 7

Today, my firstborn turns 7. Gee whiz.. where on earth has the time gone?

7 years ago today, I was in one of the labour rooms in UH PJ, giving birth to a 3.98kg baby after 14 hours of labour. Doctors had to resort to double instrumentation because of her size - vacuum and forceps, which resulted my post-partum haemorrhage to be close to a litre.

Sigh.. and that isn't even the bad news.

The sad news is my baby girl is growing up before my eyes and before u know it, will be leaving home to marry off the man of her dreams. Sob sob.. and as she turns 7 today, I'll be lucky if I have 20 more years with her as my baby.

Are all mothers like this on their daughter's birthdays?

Lovely

Thanks aunt Cik Ni...

Technology.. it's only a matter of time now before people are able to publish books in their own backyards..

For sale

Salam all,

I'm selling my manual pump for RM150, inclusive of shipping and handling. First come, first served, peeps! (Reason: eyeing a gorgeous brand new portable pump ^_^)

Avent Isis + some accessories + some freebies

*Note: Breastpump sold!

Sarah is 1

I can't believe it's been one month plus since I last wrote! Tsk Tsk..

Anyways..

My baby girl Sarah turned 1 two weeks ago. Happy Birthday sayang!

At this moment, you are happily taking a nap in your buai, snug as a bug in a rug in your kain batik cocoon, you love eating blended rice porridge with brocolli+chicken+carrot+ potatoes, trying out all kinds of consonants and vowels so very loudly and strongly every chance you get.. that the neighbours can hear you...hehe... and are struggling to take your first steps!

And most importantly for mama, I have never had to buy formula milk for you at all! ^_^

That's right! My breastfeeding journey has reached its 1st year anniversary and I must say I'm pretty proud of myself. Any full-time working mother can agree with me that it isn't easy. It still isn't easy now, milk supply dwindling due to fasting month, less chances to pump while I'm outstation etc but alhamdulillah.. I'm holding on so far! Ini rezekimu sayang. Absolutely no formula milk for you ^_^

Sarah, abah and I hope you'll have fun learning and growing with us and kakak Sufya who loves you to bits. You're such a delight to us with your antics every day. We love you so much!

Hapy 1st Birthday anak mama!