Mijn Zus - 35 Vandaag

My sister, my friend, my pal, my best friend.
My advisor, my strength, my confidant, my helping hand.

She defines the word beauty,

She's very strong and witty,

Although sometimes can be moody,

But she's our absolute sweety.

For all the memories we've shared,

and for all the dreams we've yet to share,

I thank you for making my world, my life, a meaningful one.

We love you loads, And miss you tonnes,

We wish you all the love and joy by the bus and truck loads,

And hope you'll have fun!

Thanks for giving, for sharing, for listening and caring,

Now go and have your usual morning hot lemon tea and we'll give you a ring!

Een heel fijne dag voor jouw, en gefeliciteerd met hopelijk vandaag jouw mooie verjaardag!

Happy Birthday Fi! May all your dreams come true!

You're the best sister anyone could ever have,

you're our star,

way above par,

i hope you know how wonderful you are,

we love you more eventhough you're slightly far!

With all our love,

Adik, Hardy & Aidan

Aidan's 1st Steps & His Blabberings

Date: 20th October 2007

Venue: Shopping One, Genk, Belgium

Aidan's age: 13 months

Our Aidan has started walking. he was holding Hardy's hand in the beginning, and slowly Hardy pulled his hand away, gradually letting him go. and then he had his first few tiny steps, on his own, unaided. what you see on the video was his 3rd attempt, thus the whining, tired probably! or... probably scared of the loud cheers he had! 3 cheers to Aidan!! Hip Hip Hoeraaa!! Hip Hip Hoeraa!! Hip Hip Hoeraa!!

And these are currently the noises that he makes...

His new word these days- "bu...ah". will try to capture it one of these days!

Dah besar dah Aidan....

Aidan & Ferran

We had a memorable Eid. Fifi, Redza and baby Ferran drove all the way from the UK, to be with us. it was really wonderful. we had a lovely week, where we spent quality time together, as a family.

We toured Holland and Limburg, in two cars with walky-talkys in each. it was like being in one of those police movies, minus the sirens and chases. thank god for those walkies! we would not have that much fun without them.

It was a long time ago that all are together under one roof on Raya. seldom i should say. and by far, this was our best raya ever. all together. forget baju raya, forget raya shoes, forget new hairstyle for raya, forget raya hampers, forget jars and jars of raya biscuits... this was the time to be together, and be thankful that we are still together with our new additions.

There were loads of laughter, loads of laksa and rooms full of love.

This was one of Aidan & Ferran's moments:

Aidan: "Che' Ferran, this phone's really cool..."

Ferran: "huh? what phone? which phone? i cant see, i cant move.. "

Ferran: " hey, why are they all looking at us and making funny noises Che' Aidan?"
Aidan: "eh, ye la...this must be a trick Ferran, the phone's just a decoy rupanya!"

Aidan: "lemme have a go at it first.."

Ferran: "yeah sure... dont worry about me.. i still cant see the phone.."

Aidan: "ok, thats it, they're laughing louder now.. i'm outta here.."

Ferran: "help me la..."

Aidan: "sorry mate, you're on your own..."

Ferran: "fine... you guys wait till i can crawl and walk!"

Ferran was then left alone on the sofa..

Ferran: "i'll get you guys for this one day!"

(1 min later, Aidan joined him)

Aidan: "ni la telefon Ferran, nanti Ferran besar boleh amik mummy Ferran punya k.. they're very useful when teething"

Ferran: "finally! at long last i can see it!!"

The UK-factor

I have to admit that we are quite fond of the UK, I guess because both of us attended schools and studied at the uni's there - so much so that we were used to the getting around and about. Getting used to the things here in the NL took some effort, mainly the language, the culture and how things work. Nonetheless, we grew to like NL too. Since last year, with main destination West Midlands, and in particular Warwick (Fifi, Reza and Che' Ferran...we miss you!), we flew and drove a couple of times each. I think driving is by far the most convenient - no weight limit and stop as much as you want. It's just that we realized that we need more space, not that we're having more kids but for more stuffs and things we tend to buy!

I still have Scotland as my yet-to-check destination - wondering how the old school of mine looks like - probably not much.... Came across UK Hotel Reservations and Bookings which specialize in last minute booking, even on the day of departure. Being me, this is great news as I tend to decide on Saturdays - 'where do we go today? Don't know....ok let's go see kakak'....only then Z put my feet back on the ground when she mention the journey Aidan has to endure....1400km in 2 days....I got her point....

The site is managed by Hotelshop - co-founded by Vivienne Hudson and Julie Shorrock, two highly successful businesswomen. It offers plenty of 2-5 star hotels from privately owned to large groups of hotel chains, with lots of weekly and special offers to choose from. You can even buy gift vouchers (could be useful for wedding present!) and tailor-made your holidays/breaks according to your liking (I would love to try the Alton Towers Break......it was more than 10 years ago I last went on the Nemesis ride).

H

Selamat Hari Raya

Pictures of Aidan wearing his first baju melayu on Hari Raya. his baju melayu arrived just in time! he'll probably grow out of it in the next couple of weeks!!

Still a little bit shy showing off his malay traditional costume! come on Aidan, give everyone back home a smile in your baju melayu!

There we go!!

"Selamat Hari Raya Semua, Maaf Zahir Batin Daripada Aidan, Mama & Papa"

(Thank you Cu, for buying Aidan's first baju melayu, thank you uda, a.faizah for posting us the whole package! we really appreciate it and love you lots!)

NEXT UP : AIDAN & COUSIN FERRAN!

61

I wonder how you do things the way you do...

I wonder how you manage to look so good all these years...

And i've come to a conclusion - its simply because you're one in a million, simply special and different from the rest. you're simply the best!

For what you have given others,

For how you have treated and helped others,

For all the love and care you have given especially to us,

You trully deserve the best of everything!

So mum, may all your dreams come true and be blessed with many many more happiness throughout the coming years!

HAPPY 61st BIRTHDAY MUM

We hope you've enjoyed your day with all of us here, together with you! we love you!!

Grateful & Hopeful

We heard from our family doctor, our good family friend, dr. chng last weekend that my grandad fell off his bed. he is 86. i entered mum's room and she told me of the news. her eyes were red and she looked extremely worried. mum then texed my aunt and she confirmed it. we called my Tok Bah right away to persuade him to go to the hospital and get it checked. as usual, he didnt want to and changed the topic to Aidan.

We kept on persuading him by carefully choosing our words and layering it up with a few jokes so that he wont feel pushed or forced.

Before we hung up the phone and said our goodbyes, this was what he said to me:

"jaga cicit saya tu baik baik. didik dia betul betul. i would want all of you to come back for raya one day" and my eyes started to water. holding back my sadness, i said "insyaallah (god willing) i love you tok bah". went into the bathroom and cried, but of course, without mum or anyone seeing me.

My aunt's bringing my grandad for an x ray today and hopefully there's nothing serious.

At times like this, i wish malaysia is only an hour away and i can fly all of us back home. and at times like this i am grateful and thankful regardless whatever problems and worries we are all facing, we are alive and well. alhamdulillah.

I hope these two pictures will merge, and become one, hopefully Aidan will meet his greatgrandparents one day.

Z

Garage as you know it

To most, garage as we know it, should be able to hide your car, at least. But it is not certainly the case here in most Western European countries as most houses have garages for storage purposes rather than keeping your automobiles away from the morning dews or the snow during the hard winters.

Our garage is reasonably spacious, luckily planned with a window but need extra lighting. A budget double flourescent tubes was all I could afford for my garage lighting, but that's sufficient for now. I'm yet to kick off on any project, well maybe I'll start when Aidan is big enough to give me a helping hand instead....you know, like men quality time....I can sense Z's frowned-one-eyebrow-higher-than-the-other- one look....

H

This post is sponsored by CarGuyGarage.com

Happy 3 months!

My nephew Ferran is 3 months today!

Yippeyayeyyyy!

He is really a happy baby..

Laughing and smiling away!

He poos and he pees

And he clearly sees

He is one smart pea

Our chubby bumble bee!

50% mummy, 50% daddy,

Your eyes are very chinese-y, And cheeks are so rosey!

We love you,

We miss you,

Cant wait to see you!

Well done mummy,

Well done daddy,

We are all very happy,

Love you 3 dearly

From Aidan, Zaza and Hardy!

Measuring Up!

Most of you guys would probably have your Baju Raya (malay traditional dress) ready by now. we're just going to use previous year's. I'm pretty sure by now people are in their Hari Raya mood. busy preparing for Eid, buying/selling cookies, making hampers (i so so miss it), painting the front gate, putting up new curtains, radio stations are playing Raya songs... at times like this, i miss Malaysia more than ever. after reading today's NST online, i can almost hear the buzz at Jalan Masjid India.


We measured Aidan up for his first Baju Melayu today. Aidan's Mak Cu (my aunt) will help find him one back home. this is going to be Aidan's 2nd Eid. we cant wait to get a parcel from back home containing Aidan's first baju melayu, and hopefully, together with my nephew Ferran's too!

These was what we wrote in an email to Mak Cu earlier today, regarding Aidan's measurements (in Malay). dont be surprised! he's a growing boy!

Lengan to lengan - 26" to 27"

tengkok ke hemline baju - 15"

seluar - 18"

pinggang - 20"

leher - 12"

songkok - 19"

kain sampin - 11"

Hope there's one that fits him!

Z

Dutch at world level....

The Dutch reputation for being happy with a C+ is undeserved, according to HP/de Tijd. The magazine carries a list of 50 Dutch facts which, it says, are worthy of an A- at least. A selection:

- Groningen firm Avebe is the world’s biggest producer of potato starch.

- De Boer International in Alkmaar is the world’s biggest tent hire company.

- Almelo’s Ten Cate is the world’s biggest producer of artificial grass for sport fields.

- The Netherlands is the world’s biggest importer and exporter of flowers and plants.

- The VanDrie group in Apeldoorn is world market leader for veal, processing 1.4m calves a year.

- Stork is world market leader in producing conveyor systems to slaughter chickens.

- The Netherlands has the world’s biggest inland shipping fleet (8,600 vessels).

- And the Dutch academic dictionary Het Woorden-boek der Nederlandsche Taal is the world’s biggest dictionary, with around 400,000 words.

On the last point, as they probably have more vocabs for argument and discussion purposes, no wonder I'm struggling a bit with the language.....

H

Thank You Ann

Our neighbour rang our door bell and handed us a parcel from Switzerland! it came when we were in the UK.

It was from Ann, my first blogger friend. we've been reading each other's blogs for quite sometime now, and we managed to meet up during our last trip to Zurich last June. it was a pleasant meeting together with Aidan and Alesha.

Ann was very kind to send Aidan a birthday gift. gifts actually! it was very kind of you Ann. thank you very much! we hope you'll have a good raya back home (we envy you!) and hope to see you guys again soon! have a safe trip, have fun and enjoy yourselves, which i'm sure you guys will.. 8 weeks!!!!!

(Pictures of Alesha and Aidan during our 1st meeting in Zurich)

You can read about Ann here and here.

Whoppers!

When the doctors pulled Aidan out from me a year and almost a week ago (c section) i didnt expect he would be weighing 4.28kgs. we were told by the doctor after our last scan that he was gonna be big.... but not that big, way above the size of average dutch babies. it must be the potatoes, pasta and nuttella! it probably would have been more if i were back home eating apam, ikan bakar, harisa and laksa..

It was slightly easier for me to handle him (then) but struggling to carry him (now). we hope he'll walk soon (he has started walking, holding our hand).

I just read about a woman in Russia, who just gave birth to a whopper!! a 7.75kg baby Nadia. read about it here.

7.75kgs!! my god.... 7.75kgs!!!!!

Z

Aidan's 1st Birthday

Our son is now 1. how time flies so so fast. it was a year ago that i had the most tiring day of my life after a 24 hour labour and 3 epidurals (dont ask me, ask the dutch doctors!), it was a year ago that i felt the pain of contractions, and scratched hardy's hands whilst lying down on the hospital bed, and it was a year ago that i first held my most beautiful precious baby. it was a year ago we welcomed our son Aidan into this world. and then all the pain dissappeared. how time flies.
I wanted to write a poem for Aidan but i'm not much of a poet. not at all in fact. but anyway, here's one i composed a few mins ago:

1 year of buying pampers,

1 year of smelly diapers,

Panic, blur and helpless at first,

But now we hope we're less clueless.

Much to be said on the past 1 year (trust me, we've gone through quite a bit) but these days, i try to focus on what we have now.

Anyway, back to Aidan's day.. i didnt want to plan anything for Aidan's 1st. all i had in mind was just to be with the people who loves him most, and enjoy each other's company. that weekend was simply dedicated to the people who cares for him most, and making the best of it. what we have now.

We opened the presents one by one with all of us in the living room at kakak's (a few of us still in our pjs). i dont know who enjoyed it the most, Aidan or us! even Ferran enjoyed himself, with the balloon attached to his moses basket! he even wished Aidan happy birthday whilst on the changing mat!

They even ordered Aidan a cake. and i absolutely loved it! loved it loved it loved it! i almost cried when i first saw it. it was just so special.



Our son is now 1. and i still cant believe it. i am grateful, and very thankful that all of us are safe and in good health. extremely proud of Aidan, and looking forward to many many more birthdays to come (together with Ferran's next year!)

Uncle Ian, thank you so much for the walker. it was very thoughtful of you and how we are all so very touched. it now adds another 10 mins to my resting time. aidan loves it, especially the screw on the steering wheel!! see you in a couple of weeks and hopefully you and the walker will add an hour to my resting time (i.e: you+aidan+walker = play = zaza rest)

Ez, thanks for remembering and thanks for the lovely shirt! we're gonna wash it and make surre Aidan wears it to school this Friday. thank you so much (next time please dont worry about the box!)

K.Na, Nigel and baby Aiesha, thank you so much for driving all the way to see us! gosh isnt it amazing now the 3 of us are now holding our babies!? thanks so much for the present and spending time with us last weekend! we should do it more often k?

Adik, thank you so much for remembering and calling us. wishing aidan and wishing us love. you are most thoughtful and we really hope you and the girls will get to meet Aidan soon! abang and i love you very much.

Kakak, Redza, you guys have done so much for us last weekend. thank you for planning and organizing everything. we love the presents!! and again, thank you for being the perfect host to the 3 of us. we had a really good time! see you in a couple of weeks for raya!! yeyyy!! we love you both very much!

Mum, Dad, how does it feel to have a 1 year old cucu now? hehe. thank you so much for all the presents! especially the kassa! we had a wonderful time and we're glad that the both of you are here with us, on Aidan's 1st! love you both so very much!

Ferran, thank you for keeping Aidan's baloon! thank you for making all of us laugh. we've got loads to plan for your 1st!! hugs and kisses!!

And to Hardy, thank you for being the best dad, the coolest, full of love and support to both of us. thank you for driving us to the uk. we had the best 1st birthday! we love you soooooooooooo much!!

Last but no means least, you guys, the thoughtful you lot, who remembered, who wished, thank you ever so much guys!!

Aidan, we're very lucky! we have so many things to be thankful of. we love you loads and loads and hope you had a wonderful 1st birthday!

Z

Vandaag is Aidan's Eerste Verjaardag!

From a day to a year......

21st September 2006 - Hello world Aidan Hardy is geboren

Oktober 2006 - I need sleep, lots of it Aidan 1 maand

November 2006- Sultan Aidan 2 maanden

December 2006 - Don't mess with me Aidan 3 maanden

Januari 2007 - On all four, world in a correct perspective Aidan 4 maanden

Februari 2007 - Future football star Aidan 5 maanden

Maart 2007 - Growing and growing Aidan 6 maanden

April 2007 - Getting bulat-er Aidan 7 maanden

May2007 - Ground explorer Aidan 8 maanden

Juni 2007 - Aqua lover Aidan 9 maanden




Juli 2007 - Through the glass Aidan 10 maanden

August 2007 - Relaxing Aidan 11 maanden

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY AIDAN!