Baby Shower

Last weekend was rather hectic...

Went to Ante Natal class, post birthday lunch for booTak with familia,

Dinner and the list goes on

To top it, booTak had to work on Sunday, so after that we went to KLConvention Centre for the baby expo.

Weeeee, we managed to get a very good deal for 4-in-1 baby cot (with premium latex matress hokieee), playpen and also collection for Burt Bee's bath care for the baby

Earlier in the morning, booTak said he wanted to treat me for nice hi-tea so he said wear something cantik for that

Little that I know that he actually planned the whole thing up

Just for this

A baby shower

Awwwwwwwwwwww

You see, he is not the kind of person that is very good when it comes to keeping secret. So whenever he tried to plan something nice or surprise more like, he usually failed to keep it away from me

I can sniff it in a jiffy

Thats how good I am

But this time around, I have to give him a standing ovation

Coupled with clap clap

together with annette, they planned this earlier

the deco department was handled by annette and he was in charge for financial related stuff

Hahahahhaha

Eventhough most people cant make it at a very last minute, overall I had fun

It was a small but close shower

Something that I will remember forever

The partner in crime

The mastermind a.k.a Finance Manager

We had it at Delicious Bangsar Village with 'A-Little-Man-Is-On-His-Way theme

Hi-tea for 12 people

Perfect, just what I needed

Something close and warm



Thank you again for the shower

I am indeed very lucky to have you both in my life

The List

30th weeks
10 more weeks to go.


When it comes to preparation to welcome this precious little gift, we are at the borderline of being ready. Of course we hit the 70% of the-must-have-list for the newborn stuff, but I am pretty concern on emotional preparation of ours.

Being the first timer in this area is pretty daunting sometimes. I dont know what to expect and sometimes my tear factory overflow without any particular reason. I blame it on the hormone. Hahahah. Easiest excuse pregnant lady get to use throughout this 9 month of our journey

Ive read about how pregnant ladies are often associated with emotional stability. Most of the case, it wasnt stable, so to speak. I once told myself maybe it is just your mind, if you set your mind to not face it, then you wont. Simple right? Boy, I was wrong

Sometimes you just feel down under. Sometimes you think everything is not enough. When you are typing something, suddenly your mind is at some other matters. You've become stressed out and you feel like everything is going againts you. Oh well, Allah is fair. I dont experience morning sickness at all but I am blessed with emotional yo-yo in me. Hahahaha....

Ive also read that when you stress, the lil munchkin in you can feel it. Its certainly scary that you are setting a bad example to your kid, but sometimes I really cant help it. There were times I was actually felt angry at myself for not trying harder to contain my feelings but who am I kidding. Sis in law told me once that it is okay to feel such way. If you are not than you are not human. Stop trying hard to please others. Just focus on your self. Make yourself happy

Truth to be told, only pregnant ladies will understand how does it feel. Well probably there will be a slight ratio of women who disagrees with this, but I think majority will nod the head to the above statement.

Okay, enough about emotional thingy, sheesshhhh
Now lets talk about the baby stuff. Yippie

As mentioned earlier, 70% of the checklist has been ticked. I went overboard with the clothing department to be honest but hey takpelah, its my first time. I get to use it for the second baby, insyaAllah kan?

The big ticket items are the one that needed to be cleared from the list first. But I think stuff like stroller and car seat etc can wait. You need it once the baby is in their 1month plus anyway right?

Lets see, where do I stand with my list.

Feeding

1. Breast pump (Medela Freestyle) + Citystyle Bag
2. Milk storage plastic
3. Cooler pack for milk (included in Medela)
4. Feeding bottles
• Anti colic 260ml bottles (Tommee Tippee) x4
• BPA Free 260ml bottles (Tommee Tippee) x 2
• BPA Free 150ml bottles (Tommee Tippee) x2
5. Bottle brush
6. Liquid wash for feeding bottles
7. Nipple cream
8. Breast pad (Medela)
9. Warmer (Tommee Tippiee)
10. Sterilizer (Philips Avent)
11. Drying rack
12. Newborn bib (Mothercare)

Bathing

1. Bath tub x2
2. Anti Slip Mat x1
3. Hooded towels (Carters) x4
4. Normal towel (Babylove)
5. Burt Bee's/ Buds shampoo and bath gel
6. Burt Bee's/ Buds Baby lotion
7. Burt Bee’s Baby oil
8. Wipes
9. Cotton roll
10. Cotton buds
11. Burt Bee's baby cream
12. Nail grooming set (Tommee Tippee)
13. Comb set (Tommee Tippee)
14. Washing detergent for baby clothes (Go Organix)
15. Buds Powder
16. Nappy changing mat
17. Wash cloths
18. Gripe water
19. Minyak Yuyee
20. Air badak
21. Nose saline water

Clothing

1. Mittens (Carters) – 5 pairs
2. Booties (Carters) – 6 pairs
3. Hat (Carters)
4. Diapers for newborns (x2)
5. Swaddle
6. Baby binders
7. Blankets (Carters)
8. Clothes
• Bodysuits (Carters) – 15 set
• Short sleeve side snap – 5 set
• Pants
• Sleeping Pajama (Carters)
• Sleeping suit (Carters & Pumpkin Patch) – 6 sleepsuits
• Top (Mothercare & Pumpin Patch)
9. Socks (Mothercare, Carters and Pumpkin Patch)

Travel system

1. Stroller
2. Car seat
3. Travel / diaper bag
4. Baby carrier (Baby Bjorn Air) + Bib
5. Nursing cape
6. Moses basket (Bumble Bee)

Besides the above stuff, theres going to be ante-natal class next weekend. Look forward for that :)

More update soon

Pressure cooker

No this post is not about cooking stuff,
Its about handling pressure
How you have to 'cook' it in order for good stuff to be served on the table

Ones can only take so much,
Ones can only do so much,
and
Ones can only hope so much

For now, I have nothing

Pay now or Pay Later?

Insurance,
Often we see this element as something which is not a necessity in life.
Some might says "I am healthy I dont need a health insurance as a plan"
Some even only pay for 3rd party coverage for their vehicle insurance, with the thinking that "Nah, I am not gonna meet any accident this year. Choiiiiiii"

Ever since we are blessed with this happy news of my pregnancy, I have become the most risk adverse person Ive ever known in my life. Everything needs to be hedge, be it financial position or even our baby clothes.

Then one day when I was watching Private Practice, there was this episode about a child that is in dying need of a blood transplant as shes diagnosed with leukimia. Waiting list from donor would take her more than 2 years when she only have 6 days left. Her only chance was stem cell transplant but of course they made it dramatic, she didnt have one. Her parents did not do it when she was born. Then the doctor went extra miles by violating the rules and search for a match in the private banks when he was not supposed to do that. Sigh things that you do when you are emotionally attached

Story cut short, the stem cell transplant saved her life. That was the moment when I realised if ones ever to be caught in the position, you wouldnt mind paying $$$$ money now to do the cord blood banking rather than spending more in the medical expenses department or worst, risking your child's life

So I went to my best friend, Google. I googled the information about cord blood banking and the acceptance rate in Malaysia. Statistic shows that the take up rate is relatively low in this country, nonetheless is in increasing trend. People nowadays believe in the thinking "Pay now rather than later"

So I thought why not Ill join this team. apparently there are 3 cord blood banks that are active in this country but StemLife is the most famous one (or more like the most URL ive managed to googled). After reading all the benefits and stuff, I told myself (and booTak of course) that we need this. We need to do this. I am not sure how others sees it but my environment told me that this is necessity

The collection fee is not that high but the cost of maintaining could be high as you need to pay for annual fee. But for fee as low as RM250 per year, I guess it is doable. With that, I need to purchase less shoes and handbag that is. :)

So ive taken the necessary step. I hope this is the best for my child and my future child insyaAllah. Hope more will do the same :)

The Fatty Life

Okay,

So I am now in my 24 weeks of my pregnancy,

Everything is going well so far, alhamdulillah.

But just one thing,

Just one thing....

The gaining weight department

Hhahahaha

I know I know its normal to gain weight and it is rather abnormal if you dont

But my ass is getting bigger by day

Me no likey

So we resort to some light exercise

Walking during weekend,

Ive been doing some yoga and toning session

But still, all the weight I needed to gain went straight to me ass

Hahahahahha

"Im so fat, I cant even bend"

But I feel happy when I do some walking, feel very fresh

Cheewaaahhhhhh

booTak has been very attentive as well. He rubbed my back in the middle of the night, he made the bed, he make me breakfast in the morning (well not everyday la kan) and all sort of things that you want your husband to do when you are pregnant

Or in the easier way to say it, you just want them to spoil you la

Hahahhahh

This is me

The fatty me now

Hehehee

But Im loving it

Real emergency or self-created emergency?

Credit card. Is it a payment medium or credit facilities?

Often we heard excuses given by people who applied for 2nd or 3rd credit card, "I need it for emergency cases". But have we ever asked ourselves what is the real definition of emergency? Car broke down and requires big repair before salary comes in or Isetan member's sale where every stuff are having 50% discount?

I have a confession to make. I used to hold 4 credit card with pretty good credit limit and it brought me to a dark phase. You see, I am those person who cant hold my back once I see pretty good deals on the internet especially when it comes to travelling. There was a year where I travelled to 4 different countries in 8 month time and I was having a blast. Not so much when I received the statement.

At one time, my accumulated debt stood at RM25k, enough for the country to declare 'bankcrupt' on me should I fail to pay the required amount (i.e 5% of total outstanding per month) for 3 consecutive months. That was the time when my panic button was pushed, not by any other person but my self.

By having that kind of o/s at a time, you end up paying more than what you owe. By not being a transactor, you end up paying 1.85% interest of the outstanding per month making it a total of 6.85% of RM25k: RM1,712 per month. This wont just stop here. By being a revolver obviously you would utilise back your limit once you paid your monthly payment. At one point, I was relying on credit card for my fuel consumption and that was just sad.

You do the math. If you keep paying that much of money with no intention of puting a stop in your utilisation, you'll end up with that kind of payment for the rest of your life. Every month when I pay that amount for something that Ive purchased earlier pissed me off and I have no one else to blame, just myself.

So, I thought it is time for some serious ratification. I was blessed with a handsome amount of bonus on one particular year (i worked in .gov related organization so that kind of bonus was considered good eventhough its peanut for some MNC), so I paid off one by one my card each year. Also, I resulted to converting my cards towards personal loan with fixed amount of payment every month with no room for any more utilisation. I cut my cards into 2 and I feel proud.

It took me 2 years to basically clear off my debt. Of course, I suffered along the journey but now I feel lighter in the credit burden department. I felt like writing this because I feel like sharing the consequences of spending outside your capacity and reliance on the plastic will not do you any good.

I now pay my expenses using my debit card. Thank God for Maybank Visa Debit. The expenses is now directly debited to my account so there is no more excuses of swipe first worry later.

I think you should do the same

Perseverance

Perseverance:

What is perseverance?

• Perseverance is commitment, hard work, patience, endurance.
• Perseverance is being able to bear difficulties calmly and without complaint.
• Perseverance is trying again and again.

You show perseverance when you ...

• Give up your tv time to spend hours studying
• Try a new sport that is very difficult but you don't give up
• Have a learning disability but keep studying even when discouraged
• Come from a home where there is fighting and unhappiness but you still try your best
• Have missed a week of school but you work hard to catch up
• Are at the end of a difficult race but you cross the finish line
• Save money and make sacrifices to buy something
• Spend hours practicing on your music
• Study and work hard to raise your grade
• Try out for something you weren't successful at the first time