Shauqi Haqqi turns 1 month old

Been more than a month since my last update.

Been busy with an even new(er) role as a mother of two.

Here's Shauqi Haqqi...

my newfound love,

my hero,

my son.

Petua 8P

Petua 8P dari Ustazah Siti Nor Bahyah.

1. PUJI iaitu setiap pasangan perlu saling memuji antara satu sama lain dalam semua aspek kehidupan seperti masakan atau ucapan terima kasih apabila diberi pertolongan.

2. PELUK yang mana pasangan suami isteri hendaklah selalu peluk memeluk antara satu sama lain sekerap mungkin pada setiap hari kerana pelukan itu adalah belaian penuh kasih sayang.

3. PENGHARGAAN di mana amalan memberi hadiah boleh menambah kasih sayang.

4. PERHATIAN adalah yang mesti diambil berat kerana kekurangan perhatian boleh mengakibatkan pasangan terasa diabaikan

5. PERSEFAHAMAN

6. PERGAULAN iaitu pasangan suami isteri mesti menjaga pergaulan masing-masing dengan orang lain bagi mengelakkannya daripada melampaui batas, menimbulkan cemburu seterusnya membawa kepada pembabitan orang ketiga.

7.  PERCUTIAN di mana kita perlu merancang percutian berdua-duaan dengan pasangan di tempat yang jauh daripada kesibukan dan kehidupan rutin.

8. PERMOHONAN iaitu doa kepada Allah supaya merapatkan kasih sayang antara pasangan suami isteri serta dijauhi daripada godaan kemewahan dan keseronokan dunia.

Ilmu itu memuliakan manusia. 

Manakala amal pula mensucikan.

To the hospital...again!

Baby is still pre term i.e 35 weeks and 2 days today. Doc is not confident that I can hold the baby any longer but I hope baby will remain inside till 40th week.

And little Shaura never fails to make my day when I'm feeling down :)

Water Baby

The one thing that makes me upbeat and chirpy:

The smile of my loved ones.

Senyumlah kerana senyum itu sunnah dan penawar.

Tok Adam ada kebun

Family outings are fun.

It has always been you...

Family matters most.

Beautiful December

It was really windy when we arrived at Changi Boardwalk and Shaura was very cranky as it was her nap time. But the shoot has to go on. We chose a nice spot at the bridge. Filzah and Raudha was very patient with us. At one point, I almost gave up chasing Shaura. She was running to and fro, almost knocking some of the visitors at the park. Boy, I was glad when it was over!

We took lesser pictures this time as compared to last year's maternity shoot at Botanic Gardens - it's not about the quantity but the quality that matters in the end :)

To Filzah and Raudha, thank you for accommodating this rather last minute request and being there for my family photoshoot for the second time. You're simply the best!

Credits

Photographer: Filzah Abdul Rahim

Assisted By: Raudha Ismail
Photos Edited By: Siti Zalinah

Camera: Nikon D60

Lens: 18-105 and 55-200

It's a boy!

The then 8-month-old Shaura looked like a boy, right?
Expecting Baby No. 2 to look like this!
Good that I can recycle all her boyish accessories and clothes.
Hehehe!

Now that's what I call forward thinking.
Yeah right... :p



Joke aside, here's a smile that makes me happy and sad at the same time. Sigh.

Been spending more time at work than at home. Working mothers, do you feel me? :(

Looking forward to the 4 months maternity leave in Feb.

My New Year resolution: To spend quality time with my babies!

Love will keep us alive

Some say having a child will ruin your career or relationship with your spouse. Rubbish! No teacher or parent I knew would ever have talked to us about the joy of being parents, the amount of love and laughter it brings into our lives, together with its sense of purpose and meaning. 

From changing diapers to feeding my lil' munchkin, I now know my husband makes a great father and I'm extremely thankful for his thoughtfulness and help rendered with daily chores, no matter how small it can be. My husband will even ensure that we are colour-coordinated when it comes to family outings - he's really good at mix-matching our clothes. The best part, we are still very much in love as a couple.

My joy comes from freezing those moments as a family and looking back at the photos with great pride. I can't imagine living without a camera to document these memories. The day will come when I'm old and frail but I hope my memory doesn't fail me.

I love you, my honey bunnies.
You mean so much to me.

Swimming Good Times!

Shaura loves water so it's just natural when we first introduce her to swim, doing simple kicks in her buoy. She loves it! But it's been a long time since we had a swinging swimming good times! The first post on Shaura's swimming lesson was posted here back in Dec 2010. At 16 months, Shaura has definitely outgrown her bumble bee swimsuit. Thank god for the suit which Kakak gave on Shaura's birthday, it fits her albeit tight-fitting. Sigh. It's true, baby does grow very fast!

 Seen above, Fazlan's blowing air into the buoy. Blow, wind, blow!

We lost Shaura's coconut tree buoy (picture above) and had to buy a new one - a red patrol car meant to be recycled for Shaura's baby brother. Hehehe.

The best part about swimming - we get to meet Hani Natasya, the proud owner of Kiki, the cat. Shaura loves Kiki, you can tell from the way she holds him dearly, just like hugging her favourite teddy bear.

This picture says it all. Shaura's supper happy just to be near Kiki.

And of course, Shaura is even happier when she's in the pool.

Hubby and I are thinking of enrolling Shaura for a proper swimming lesson when she turns 2. The difficult part - to coax her out of the pool after every session. She'll definitely kick up a big fuss :/

True encapsulation of "Daddy's Girl"

This Thai commercial really brought tears to my eyes. Actually most Thai commercials are good at making me cry, it's an Art that the Thais are exceptionally gifted at - from the technicalities (directing, cinematography, acting) to the storyline that touch a million hearts.

But this commercial is extra special....

Cos' it reminds me of them.



Trust me, a father's love is as powerful as a mother's love.

A Lost Art

I love handwritten letters and postcards with stamps. It's just something "old school" about them that made my day.  So nice of Kakak to send this all the way from Cuba.


It reads:

It's sad that writing personal letters by hand to family and friends is quickly becoming a thing of the past. Maybe it's time for me to start penning letters and notes to my loved ones.

Let's start with something less ambitious, shall we?

Here's a post-it to my dearest husband:

Introducing Maths

My husband is better at Maths than I am. I'm not really interested in the subject until I had Shaura - strange, how motherhood has changed me. I started using flashcards when Shaura was still a newborn (even though the great Einstein never believed in using this method)

....and we gradually progressed from finger-counting which has proven to be more meaningful than flashing a bunch of "meaningless" cards to singing nursery rhyme "10 Little Indians" as I realized Shaura learns better through songs. Will try to post updates about her development on fractions next. Till the next entry!

Raya was awesome!

Senyum

Perasan tak? Apabila kita dewasa, kita semakin jarang tersenyum kecuali jika kita benar-benar berasa gembira? Jika senyum itu satu sedekah, betapa besarnya pahala kanak-kanak yang tak pernah lekang dengan senyuman. Bersyukurlah kita diberi mulut untuk bercakap dan mengukir kebahagiaan melalui senyuman yang ikhlas.

Ajak

Shaura's new word of the day besides:

• Ayah
• Abu (Ibu) and...
• Ada tak?

I'm proud of you, baby!

Eat With Your Family Day - 27 May 2011

If you have not been eating together, then you should start initiating it ;)

Shaura's visit to the library

Shaura & her 2 teeth

Don't you ever give up, Shaura Marissa!

Cos you're special in every way.

Love,

Mummy