ALIMKids PJ PROMO!!!

Being me.. again.

It's been awhile since the last time I've kept track of my finances. Apparently being pregnant this time around has lowered my motivation to do what I have always enjoyed doing before, tracking/growing/saving basically anything to do with my money.

However, thanks to years of tracking and budgeting, my finances are not out of control yet eventhough I havent looked at it for months now. And yes... this baby loves to spend, much like the father yes?

I have made several impulsive buys, something which I don't usually do. Heck I even think twice when it comes to buying a bottle of water. Azalia is getting the most fun out of it though, I suppose she sensed how easy it is for mummy to spend lately.

But I think I'm slowly gaining my identity back. I've started to read those financial blogs I usually frequent and I've at least opened my excel and updated a few things. And my mind is working to grow the business that I've always envisioned I would have.

Aaaahhhh to be yourself again is liberating.

I must say Asa has been wonderful in letting me spend. Not judging and actually encouraging.. haha... But I think he must be relieved that I've finally switched off this spending spree I was on.

Now back to reducing cost and boosting income.

But.... I haven't really bought any baby stuff yet.. hehe.

Bengang mode.

Since I did not have a pelamin when I got married, I really don't have any experience in dealing with this.

But when my parents were dealing with it during my brother's wedding, It was rather straightforward so I thought.. what the heck, sis wants fresh flowers pelamin for her nikah so I thought of doing the leg work for her.

Urghh I wish I hadn't volunteered my service.

After looking around the web, I finally settled on this one vendor, I thought their ideas were young, fresh and when I met the owner, she was very helpful and I felt good about it so I booked them.

Told them roughly what we wanted, sis showed the picture of the dais she wanted and they told us to go back and finalise a few things till the next meeting. This was 5 or 6 months before the wedding.

So come november, and I found out the owner, the person we dealt with is pregnant and is due on Nov. She told us not to worry, her older sister will take care of everything.

So I called and texted the sister, I ask to meet up, at our house so I could show her where we wanted the dais etc etc and also since we havent met her (the sister) yet, so it would in some ways give me some peace of mind knowing who I'm dealing with and the answer that was given to me was.... "there's no need to meet. It's just a mini pelamin. Usually we don't really meet up for mini pelamins. Even the big pelamins we don't. Clients just trust us. "

And I'm at a total loss of word. Like.. seriously!!! Is that really how things works? Look... this is my first time but I do think we need to meet to finalise things..Don't we? I mean the last time we spoke was freaking 6 months ago and it wasn't even with you. IT WAS WITH YOUR SISTER!!!

And even if you think its not necessary and a totally waste of time, I'm your freaking client who wants to meet you for goodness sake because I've never meet you before so why in the world its so hard for you to arrange that AT LEAST!!! And mind you bukan nak jumpa 10 kali pun. Satu kali je.. SATU KALI.

Told her my concerns, nicely, told her my parents are concern (well they did ask about it) and she finally agreed to send us at least a sketch. ( at least I can tell if its as we've discussed or not. Although.. I'm still a bit concerned with the colours..sigh)

I just pray that it turns out the way my sister wants it. Actually I pray my parents will like it.

Honestly, I don't like her tone when she spoke to me. Like my business is not important enough for her. Urghh.

Sing a song

Azalia has been singing a lot of her own songs lately. She told me one time

"Dlm brain Alia kan mak ada banyak lagu. Alia tengah keluarkan satu-satu"

Funny girl.

The other day she was taking a bath and sang a song about playing with water.

I guess she's at the age where she's exploring her creative her side.

Muhasabah diri.

Anytime any misfortune befalls me, I would pause and do some self reflection, after all, semua ujian itu datang dari Allah. I must have done or didn't do something that may have displeased Him. Afterall, I am His humble servant who continuesly make mistakes in life and needed some self reminder every now and then.

And yes I realise that lately I have been taking some of my obligations towards Him rather lightly using my current condition to justify my actions. Tsk tsk tsk. But sesungguhnhya He is the most merciful and most compassionate, reminding me to buck up and do what I'm supposed to do instead of letting me be.

May this be a reminder to not just me but Asa too. Ameen.

6 years

We got married quite early. We were 22. Were we ready? I'm not sure myself, but I knew the commitment and responsibility that comes with a marriage and I thought.. heck... if our mothers think we're ready than why not.

We had fun being students and married. We traveled, no kids, studied together and had friends over. Plus being abroad means no weekend visits to the parents house so we actually had a lot of time... just us.

Of course we had our arguments. Living together meant getting used to each others quirks and habits. And it wasn't all easy. Asa decided to take up my bad habits and I was annoyed by that because... 2 of me is a bit too much. hehe.

But were there any regrets being married so early? OMG no!!.

I have to say that final year, was the best year I had in the UK because I had a family by my side. My husband.

And now, this year, last August, we've been married for 6 years. And the knot that was tied six years ago gets tighter everyday. Having Azalia around is a blessing and having another baby on the way is just icing on the cake.

Sure we have more years to go but after everything that we've been through, we knew we would have each other's back.

My friends once asked me... how do you know, six years ago.. that he's the one.

Simple.

He can put up with me when I'm at my worst, and I can put up with him when he's at his worst. Plus I can see myself spending the rest of my life with him. And I hope he can too.

Whatever it is.. a marriage is not a bed of roses. Heck.. you'll have really bad arguments that you're thinking.. WHY AM I PUTTING UP WITH THIS??!! But saying sorry helps.. A LOT. even when you don't think you're wrong. Putting your ego aside and communicate and spend time with each other helps you get through it. And having sometime without the kids once in awhile even if its just for an hour having drinks helps to maintain a loving relationship.And privacy.. yes even when you're married.. both of you would still love some privacy.

To Asa-chan.. It might be the hormones that's making me extra clingy and affectionate nowadays but you know how I feel, so always remember that especially after March 2012, when your son is born and we have less time for each other..hehe.

The story of the cash register

Azalia had played on Uncle Aarif's cash register toy for awhile. And she kept saying how she loved it. I thought of buying her one but never really looked for one whenever I'm out shopping.

However the other day while at T*sco, I spotted a home brand cash register toy.. ON SALE!!! The think I like about it's home brand's toys are it's sturdy and safe like F*isher P*ice and but it's half the price. And when it's on sale... MEMANG A BARGAIN!! One time I got those shape sorter type of toy for only RM10!!..



Anyway.. back to the original story... the price was only RM30 (50% off) and I just grab it because honestly those flimsy ones also would cost at least RM50.



But guess who was excited to play with the thing??? hehehehe ME!!!!.. serious cool ok. I thought it only had the cash register thing but noooooo... it had a card swiper with actual sweeping sound. A mic you can talk into that actually works. A scanner that actually makes that beeping sound that the scanners at the store makes and the cash register is actually a calculator that actually works.



And Azalia's reaction when she got it?



" Ooo mummy you're so kind you're so good.. I love it very much..... kenapa mak beli ni mak?" heheheheh

Nampak sangat mak nye tak selalu beli toy. Kalau beli mesti bersebab. Oh well.. thank your little brother because apparently ever since I'm carrying him I'm spending without any second thought.. OH NO!!..hehe

Boy!!.. It was a pretty awesome week.

Brought Azalia to the doctor on Wednesday (9.11.11) to see the gender of the baby. And before the doctor told us what it was, I could see the 'thing' right in the middle.

Yes... it's a boy!!. Syukur Alhamdulillah.

But apparently it wasn't good news for Azalia. She cried and said how she wanted a sister and ordered the doctor to say it's a girl. But all the doctor could do was say.. mummy will try again next time.. ok? erk!!

She only calmed down after I said having a baby bro would actually be a good thing for her because her baby bro will grow up to be strong and can defend her against anyone who likes to tease her.

Afif boleh mak? Yeah her uncle Afif teases her A LOT!! and he's 13 ok!!!.

I said sure.. why not... And she immediately smiled and cheered about having a baby brother.

Oh boy.

haha.

But overall it was a very good week last week. We found out the gender of the baby. I was on holiday from work. Although Azalia had fever since Eiduladha but she was her usual active self so it wasn't much to worry about except the high temperature she would suddenly get in the middle of the night for 2 nights in a row. (My worry mode kicked in and thought it was dengue but God had mercy on me and the it immediately came down during daytime. )

Asa had a good run with his propery project.

A really good friend got married and we got to see some old friends that we haven't seen for quite sometime at the reception...

So all in all a pretty awesome week.

And you know how sometimes you're having a good run you're just waiting for things to go wrong? well... it crossed my mind today but I'm praying it won't.