Baby - Boy

You will know when he's no longer a baby when:

1. you will buy less pampers
2. he can take off his jacket on his own
3. he can pull the zip of his jacket on his own
4. we no longer need to lie him down on the changing table to change his clothes
5. he can take off his own shoes
6. he can climb and run
7. he can dance
8. he knows the diffeence between a real handphone and his plastic toy one
9. he can converse with you, in his own language and understands what you're saying
10. he wants to try ayam masak kari, masak kicap and sambal belacan
11. he can be asked around - please put it on the table, lets sit down and eat, can you please clean up the mess, he passed with flying colours!

AND..
you will realise it more when you no longer head to the baby section for his clothes but head to the boys section. and then you will realise that their clothes are getting more expensive!

I'm amazed,.every single day. and i'm very proud of him. Aidan's really growing. but he's still my baby...

Z

Snowy Spring

We have had a snowy start to spring. it snowed last week. we have had plenty of snow showers, hail and sleet. it's not suppose to snow, it's end of march! my tulips, hyacinths and daffodils (probably the only 3 flowers i currently have in my garden), are in total shock! they're now confused as to whether they should come out and bloom!!! i just pray that they wont die on me! i'm sure it wont cause it wasnt me who planted them, it was dad. he planted the bulbs for us last autumn. he has green hands and whatever he plants will surely grow!

We were in the car, back from the DIY store, getting my picket fence, and this was the view.

It snowed the next morning too. our car covered with snow. but slowly melting away....

View from Aidan's room. on the right is our garage roof, and below is the roof to our dining room and kitchen.

My olive tree on the right (fingers crossed, please grow, please please).

Weather's much better this week. we even played in the garden. hope it'll stay! till my next post (which is going to be very soon!), have a great week ahead guys!

Z

My Baby Boy Bunny

Being in a foreign land (which we now call home), it's always nice to learn of other cultures and celebrations - the carnaval, sinterklaas.. and today, it's pasen, or easter. Aidan went easter egg hunting last friday at school and brought back some chocolade eitjes (chocolate mini eggs). the best thing about sending your child to playschool/nursery is that not only they get the exposure and you get your own time, but they'll come back with loads of scribbles, coloured papers, and all sorts of craft! he came back with bunny ears, eggs, chocolates and some coloured bunny drawings he coloured himself.

As promised, Aidan got his bite of chocolate today. ok, bites. but only today. i dont give him sugar, but today's an exception. so after breakfast, he had one whole chocolate. (consider it a belated treat for your 18 months ya Aidan!). we enjoyed counting the eggs, as they get lesser and lesser by the minute (yes, guilty... we ate them too!)

It is very important for us to learn of other backgrounds, religion and cultures. and most importantly to respect them too. we dont celebrate easter, we just enjoy the chocolates and the decotations at the shops. but to those of you who celebrate easter, hope you've had a good weekend! tomorrow is still a public holiday for us, i'm gonna make full use of my time and enjoy them with my boys!

Hope Aidan will feel better tomorrow (he woke up with a slight tempreature this morning). have a good week ahead everyone!

Z

My Haven Home

I remember back when i was younger, i used to LOVE playing "house" or the malay word "pondok pondok". i'd go to my favourite corner, grab some pegs and put up a cloth to make the roof, i'd take my dolls and my toys and just stay, play in my so called house. i was the happiest. and if i was outside, i would ask dad to put up my smurf tent, and i'd have my tea party with kakak and the rest of the gang (toys!) i can recall every single minute, we have photos of us having our little tea party, but they're not with me now, p.s: is it with you fi?

As years went by, i told myself that eventhough it might take me ages, but i would love to have my own house. back then, i could picture my own house with my little white picket fences infront of the house, a garden of daisys, an apple tree, white windows and doors... and here i am, away, far far away from that little corner where i used to put up the cloths, hundreds and hundreds of miles away from where that smurf tent once stood, i have a home- a dream came true.

One would be surprised to see what we have embarked ourselves into, almost 3 years ago. we bought an old, old house and had a huge renovation done to it. back then, having been in The Netherlands for less than half a year, being pregnant with our first child, little knowledge in dutch language, no relatives, little friends whom you can rely and trust, we were CRAZY! absolutely crazy to actually want this house, and get it. getting the mortgage was a huge problem, and we had a dateline too, since my tummy was getting bigger. but we have had good, very good and nice people who helped us, from the person responsible getting us the mortgage and sorting all the paperwork, to the man who laid the bricks (there's a post and pics i once wrote here - in loving memory). now, we're slowly, putting in the interiors, bit by bit. it takes time to furnish the house. and having had just a little bit of rezeki lately, last week, we bought another sofa. a single seater sofa to be added alongside our 2 sitter.

As i sat on my new sofa today (after ironing!), with my tea, looking back at what we had gone through, looking at our living room, dining room and a glimpse of our kitchen from where i was sitting, and not to mention our floor (Hardy, Dad, Kakak & Redza did the whole entire flooring of the house), i thank God for all the help, and the patience, and all His blessings, for getting us through one of the most challenging period of our lives. it turned out just the way we'd dream of.

I can only imagine what Aidan's feeling, and what he thinks of his new "house". no major renovation though. with just a bit of his papa's creativity with the sofa boxes, he now has his own "pondok pondok" (mama's creativity will come later, i'll help him choose the paint to colour his walls and windows!).

(oh, hardy's gonna help me put up my white picket fence and plant an apple tree this summer!)

I remember my parents always taught me on the importance of loving your home and to love being in your own home. its not about putting expensive furnitures and fittings, it's about making it a home, making it your own, and not to mention filling it with love. i absolutely love being at home, it is my absolute haven.

Z

A Housewife's Chore

I am so terrible. when mum was here, she irons all our clothes - happily. she'd pull the ironing board closer to the telly, turned to Jeremy Kyle (a talk show), and irons away. and boy she's good at it (amongst many many other things!) you'd see the rails all empty, and all shirts tucked away, hung in our cupboards.

Hardy's shirts are getting more and more now since the "travelling year" and the year of conferences year began. i find myself washing more these days, not to mention Aidan's clothes gets dirty pretty fast too. now there's rows and rows of them, in our laundry room, just waiting for me to straighten them out. i tend to put it on hold, day after day... besok lah... and when tomorrow comes, besok lah. i seldom put household chores on hold but just this one. this tiny teeny one - this ironing bit.

As i was ironing last night, with no telly on, thoughts came pouring (your mind can REALLY go places when you're ironing!). then i thought, 3 years ago, i wasnt doing these. there wasnt any hoovering (3 floors mind you!), there wasnt much ironing (for 3 people), there wasnt any much cooking (for 2 1/2 people - aidan counts as half!). wouldnt it be nice to have a maid, just a weekend one like my neighbour. gosh.. god knows how expensive they are over here!

I feel like a housewife more when i'm ironing!

The good one sitting on my right ear then whispered to me, you're doing this for your husband and your son. not that you're working, not that you have 3 kids. and by doing this you'll be rewarded, with pahala. 3 years ago you werent this happy, what more do you want, just look at the boys and what you have now. and then happy thoughts came pouring- with Hardy coming back from the office and kissing me on my forehead, grabbing Aidan and tossing him up, wrestling with him on the floor... why did i think about getting a maid?! i should be grateful that i have all this time to do the chores for them! it's all trully worth it.

We knew before our big move here that we wont be having such kind of help, no maid, no familes to leave Aidan for a short while for you to get some rest when you're down, no cheap warung stalls to go to for dinner when you dont feel like cooking.... but all the good stuff of being here outweighs them. it works more for us. ironing? what's ironing!?

I better stop. gonna go downstairs and finish up ironing. but wait.. american idol's about to start! heheh..

Have a good weekend everyone!

Z

Win & Lose

Sorry for not writing for almost a week. me throat got the better of me, and i wasnt feeling dandy lately. only now i'm feeling better back to writing and crafting.

So, ok... i've counted the votes (thank you guys, for all the comments, i practically laughed my way through each and every one of them!). vote's been counted and Aidan won! he's cuter. of course he's cuter. that wasnt my best angle you see. but anyway, not that i mind loosing to him at all... :) you should see my other photos when i was Aidan's age! sama, serupa, sebiji!

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I am now officially adicted to ebay. i dont know why i've only just discoverd the thrill of bidding, i am so terribly slow at all these - only recently i discovered and actually tried out photoshop (click here to see my new header). and now, ebay! where have i been!?! i find myself clicking on to ebay at least 4-5 times a day. i find myself wanting more and more things. i find myself wishing i have more to spend (so not good!). but i finally found it. i found one item that i wanted. i scouted for it, i was patient, i was lucky and i WON! yeyheyyy! i kept refreshing the page right until it says "Congrats". i then shouted "i WON!"Aidan looked at me and started to clap his hands! i straight away called Hardy and broke the news! the best thing about both my boys, whenever i'm happy, they'd react happy and thrilled as well! haha!! mama... mama...

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And so the Malaysian Elections are on back home. anyone voting?