Birthday party for K and A

So, guess which outlet did the girls request for their birthday party this year?

Yuppp, KFC again (T_T). Third year here guys.. tak boring ke? I suggested A&W, Pizza Hut, all lah except McD, but it's their day. So, we obliged.

But, this year.. Khaira is a bit shy. She is no longer interested with the games and all.

Next year, tempat lain please?!

Thank you to all our families and friends!

Aisha turns 4!

Aisha turns 4, how time flies 😭

As usual, we had a birthday celebration for her at her school. Cake bought from #shaeryscake

At 4, Aisha's own personality started to shine. She's a fast learner, it surprises you again and again. Tough and moody, but deep inside she's super sweet. She is the type of person who would wait for you in front of the door to come in from work, ask if you are okay, massage you and always check on you. Before I go to bed, she makes it a habit to comb my hair. She's just like Kapal junior, not only physically. In fact, that is what I called her nowadays, Shaharil Jr.

It’s funny how these girls are way too opposite of each other. While K prefers to speak in Malay, A prefers English. K panics and think ahead, A calm and adaptable. Each have their pros and cons.

But both has the same traits, they’re a thinker.

The other day, A asked me about the no photo sign outside Daiso. Why is it ticked not crossed. And kept on asking me to tell the cashier to correct it (T_T)

Recently, Love told her that he would be outstation to Kuching, Sarawak and she asked why would Abi go to Sarawak to buy cat.

She's adorable like that when she's not cranky.

My baby is all grown up. I still come home and smell her all over, hoping the toddler's masam smell won't go away and kiss her all over without her complaining. I love you, Aisha Asyikin. May you grow up and be caring always k, Sweetheart?

Aisha in kindy

2018 is a big milestone for Love and I not only because K is in Standard 1, but our youngest baby is in Kindy already!!!! How time flies.

Deciding which kindy to go was another difficult tasks and I have planned for years as well.

Undoubtedly, I love Little Caliph's syllabus but K had the worst history with that kindy.

On the other hand, we have always loved Genius Aulad, but the syllabus didn’t challenge K mentally. I always believe in the old saying, “if you’re the best in the room, you’re in the wrong  room.” Hence.

After years of thinking, we decided to give LC another chance. As the principle has changed, we hoped for a better management.

First day was ok for Aisha, she didn’t magically participate, but she wasn’t crying either. Only thing, she slept half way of the class (and this continued throughout her LC life).

However after a week, she kept complaining about a boy who kept on hitting her. Every day and it finally got to a point that she refused to go to school on the third week. We complained to the teacher and teacher said that the boy had a delay in development as he couldn’t understand instructions and behaved like 7mo still.

But the school principal was so kind to stay with Aisha the next day to make sure she wouldn’t be hit again. But guess what? My baby girl went home half naked, no pants or panties.

Aisha’s side of story, she peed in her class because the teacher wouldn’t let her go to the toilet. And since her backup pants that I provided her was wet earlier as they had water activity, teacher just let her go.

Teacher’s side of story, the principal left the class about half an hour before they released the student home. Teacher was busy releasing the kid when Aisha requested to go to toilet. She accidentally peed which was unusual as she hadn’t  peed on herself for years. No backup pants as there was water activity earlier and lots of parents didn’t bring extra pants in the bag so they need to used the ones in the kindy.

Me? I didn’t send my girl to an islamic kindy just so a teacher would release my daughter home half naked.

I didn’t think twice. I know the principal had done her best, but if her best is not even half of what I expected, I guess the answer was clear. I took a time off. So did my husband. Both of us cancelled our meeting, under heavy pouring rain, I went to A's kindy and decided to pull her out immediately.

And it has been 5 months now, she is more than happy in GA. It's like deja vu all over again. Fully awake throughout her class. And Alhamdulillah shine more than we expected.

Since school, she catch up on her studies very fast, Alhamdulillah. She’s finishing Iqra’ 2, she memorized 8 surahs already, finishing Cepat Membaca 1 and already in Adam Dina 3. She spoke English everyday.

I let her go to her first school trip when she was not even 4. Well, I was reluctant but Love followed her all the way and she only joined half of the time, so, compromise lah kan.

Recently she had a Sport’s Day. And boy, look how happy and energetic she was.

During the sport’s day, one parents talked to me and told me she admired Khaira and remembered her from last year's concert. Too sweet ok! Dah keluar GA pon ada peminat Kakak K!

Leaving the girls for my second umrah trip (T_T)

I remember in 2015, my good friend was telling this every time after solat,

"This year, I want to go for umrah!"

But she didn't make any preparation for that. Come December, her brother in law (BIL) was supposed to go to Umrah, but had to be cancelled due to work, guess who went to replace the BIL and his wife?

Then 2016, this same friend of mine was telling me again, every time after solat,

"This year, I want to go for Hajj!"

Again, she didn't make any preparation and about two months before Hajj, guess who was invited by the Almighty?

One day I asked her, "How?"

"If you want something good bad enough, Allah will help you!" Her level of faith and dependency, I cried!

"I did want it bad enough.." I said.

"What hold you back then?" She asked, smiling. I thought hard. It was the girls. I am one hell of clingy mom, so does my girls. "You have to let go. When you know it is a good thing to do, your niat is for Allah, Allah will take care of them."

I took it to heart.

I let go, sincerely for the first time, let loose, give all the control to Almighty and left them for Umrah for 6 days. And my heart is totally peace in Makkah and Madinah, I missed them. But I wasn't paranoid, it didn't ache.

I am blessed to be constantly reminded by good people surrounding me. Love said, that is also my form of rezeki. Mufti Menk said sometimes, Allah gave a reminder to us via normal people and normal event.

So how was it to leave them?

I told them earlier of my plan, reminded them every day.

Left them love letters, so they could read one by one every day. One side of the letter was coloring page, one side was my notes.

Left them homeworks, day by day.

In return, Khaira made us a box with letters from her day by day as well before we left. It was priceless.

Aisha was crying almost everyday at night before we left, but once we were in Umrah, she was doing ok. Khaira on the other hand was cool and all before we left. But on the day, she cried for half a day. Was inconsolable at the airport.

But, Alhamdulillah for my strong family support. One of my brothers and my SIL took leave to cheer them up. They brought them to Petrosains the next day. My parents in law visited them every now and then at my parents' house. Everything was smooth sailing.

Every day, K would write us letters and send us the photo. A sent some too, but of course, it was just some sketching of something that we could not make sense of.

We would call them everday via Kakao as apparently Whatsapp Call was blocked in Saudi. It was quite difficult to get the sim card as contrary from the previous year. Booths in airport was offline, so we waited until the next day to buy sim card in Makkah. I had to roam for two days.

They would send us videos and pictures and voice messages. This was my favourite!

By day 6, K was already super sad. Cried at night a bit and all, but it was ok, because we reached Malaysia the afternoon of 7th day :)

Alhamdulillah, the longest I left them and the first time both of us were not there. Thank you Alllah for taking care of them while I was gone, and for taking care of them all these while 24/7 :)

Aisha is 3!

You read that right! *sobs*

Both Love and I got a little bit more melancholy this time around. Maybe during the girls' previous birthdays, I was either pregnant or breastfeeding, so you know.. Just couldn't get over that tiring stage.

But now, I'm at my most comfortable stage. Happily raising up my girls and enjoying every second when suddenly, BAM! She's three. She's still a baby, sleeping on top of me at night, drinking her milk from bottle on my lap, how come she is 3??

*cries*

At 3, this precious finally have a daily routine of mengaji and hafazan though just 5 mins a day. She fluently memorized Al Fatihah and Al Ikhlas alongside with many other doas. Her terribble twos were over the past 2 months, she became more manageable and mature. Next year, she will start schooling *faint*

Birthday cake from Mama Long

She is manja and full of character. Some of the funny things she said throughout the year that I still remember..

Scene #1: She insisted to eat on her own.
Me: Kalau tumpah nanti, kena gigit, faham?
Aisha: Faham, ibu!
Me: Kalau tumpah kena apa? (To check her understanding)
Aisha: Kena baju! (T_T)

Scene #2: My mom scolded her for pulling Khaira's hair
Mom: Kalau Aisha buat lagi, Nanny kurung dalam store. Ada cicak, lipas apa semua dalam tu. (Really angry tone)
Aisha: Tikus ada? (Fascinated) Tikus ada tak Nanny? (Kept on asking until my mom answered)

Scene #3: She is obsessed with a Korean cartoon called Larva
Aisha: When I grow up, I want to be a Larva
Me: Kenapa nak jadi Larva, Larva tu kan ulat
Aisha: Larva tu bantal peluk lah!

Most of the time, it is hard to scold this one.

A couple of days ago, Love and I heard this song on Spotify which brings back all the good memories, a song I kept on repeat when I was pregnant with Aisha. We called it the "Aisha song".

Aisha Asyikin, if you read this one day, I am so thankful to have you in my life. You are a prayer comes true. Alhamdulillah, thanks to the Almighty for giving you excellent health and intelligent mind. I hope you grow up knowing that Ibu, Abi, Kakak Khaira love you so much until eternity. And at the time being, this song sums up my feeling towards you, my Love.

When we celebrated it with the whole gang

...

Mindy Gledhill - All about the heart

I don't mind your odd behavior
It's the very thing I love
If you were an ice cream flavor
You would be my favorite one

My imagination sees you
Like a painting by Van Gogh
Starry nights and bright sunflowers
Follow you where you may go

Oh, I've loved you from the start
In every single way
And more each passing day
You are brighter than the stars
Believe me when I say
It's not about your scars
It's all about your heart

You're a butterfly held captive
Small and safe in your cocoon
Go on you can take your time
Time is said to heal all wounds

Oh, I've loved you from the start
In every single way
And more each passing day
You are brighter than the stars
Believe me when I say
It's not about your scars
It's all about your heart

Like a lock without a key
Like a mystery without a clue
There is no me if I cannot have you

Oh, I've loved you from the start
In every single way
And more each passing day
You are brighter than the stars
Believe me when I say
It's not about your scars
It's all about your heart

Weaning off Lil Aisha!

I finally weaned off Lil Aisha at 2y 2m.

But the method I used is completely different with K. Read how I weaned off K here.

I had it easier with Khaira. But with Aisha, I've somehow forgotten to give her heads up earlier. Since my milk production was Alhamdulillah quite plenty with Aisha, I didn't really mind her being clingy with my milk all the time.

With Aisha, she didn't mind the taste of salt at all! *cries* (yup, i put salt there!)

Slow talk worked slowly with her, too slow for me, I needed to weaned her off pronto.

So, this tough mom put coffee for this tough baby and she hated the brown colour that the coffee was making and within 2 days, stopped completely. Alhamdulillah.

"Did you miss her clinging on to you?" Love asked.

Nope. Not at all. Without hesitant.

I mean, I cherished that two years, but not gonna miss it, nope.

My big girl is too cool for susu ibu already ♥

The Asyikins' 2016 birthday party

I can't believe it is almost a year since I last wrote about the girls' birthday party in 2015. Read the full story here.

Anyhow, this year we had another celebration for the girls and decided to have it at KFC again. But this time, a bigger KFC as we have bigger crowd. Last year was at Jusco Equine and this year at Jusco Seri Kembangan where they reserved the whole top floor for our guests.

Compared to 2015, I guess the organizer was better last year. And the packaged also has been reduced much more although price is still the same. Cake is no longer included in the package this year, so I had my SIL made one for the girls

Castle cake!

My princess Aisha was super excited about the party and has been practicing her Chicky Dance for days.

But during the party, this Lil Missy slept the wholeeee time! Balik baru kebuluran and excited Chicky Dance sorang2 (T_T) Kesian buah hati!

Khaira was one happy lady berlari non stop and sambung main sampai malam since my cousin dropped by at mom's after the party so her girl could play with my girls.

I can't stop thinking that it was just last year we had the party where my beloved Grandmother was still there. It was saddening, really. I kept thinking about it every now and then during the party, I tried my best to push it away.

And for that, it meant the world.. that my best friend in the whole world dropped by for our party although she had to travel alone with her two girls who were the same age as mine. One super lady, I could not imagine doing that on my own.

Only God knows how much I love these girls!

I read from iMuslim, a lesson on Gratitude from Surah Ibrahim.. I guess lemme just share it with you here..

You can't have patience until you have gratitude. Of course I wish my Grandmom was still there this year for the girls' birthday party, in fact I wish she is with me every day, every year.

But if I can't have that, truly I am very thankful for those around me.

Our relatives, most of them are there for the girls. My super busy uncle, even my Korean aunt all the way from Korea.

My SABians friends; the ones whom I know 14 years ago, whom with me through thick and thin.

Love's friends since kindy..

The parents had fun..

As well as obviously the kids..

 My girls obviously were psyched whether at KFC or lampi at home. Nonetheless, thank you EVERYONE (mentioned or not, in pics or not) obviously it matters to us. Perhaps the only time we get to meet nowadays. I hope this is not the last time all of us gather together.

Lots of love, Kapal and the Asyikins.

Al fatihah to arwah Grandmom.

Aisha turns 2!

Aisha turned 2 on 2nd August last month.

Alhamdulillah, forever thankful for her health and happiness.

We had a small celebration at home, where Khaira was so excited to make a cake for her sister.

I. DID. NOT. BAKE.

But, I would like to think that I'm a good mother hence I can read Khaira like a book.

So, I went to get a Japanese cheese cake for Aisha, some chocolate and sprinkles. I let Khaira pour the melted chocolate and decorate the sprinkles all over.

She was so proud of herself, I swear (>_<)V

Aisha was as usual one "happy" baby who went cranky when people sang her a happy birthday song.

Mood was haywire that day sebab tumbuh gigi geraham. I'm struggling to wean her off still, she didn't mind the salt technique guys! I should put some coffee tonight. Sigh..

But, my Buah Hati.. Happy Birthday, Sayang. I love you more and more everyday, you are so adorable, full of character. I can't wait for you to be big enough so we can have our date together just the two of us. I know you have been sharing everything your whole life, but do know that there is a special place in my heart belongs to just you, no sharing there, sweetheart. I love you forever.

Oh my Aisha!

Last night, we were all on the bed ready to sleep when Aisha decided to hop down the bed cheekily.

I was tired by then and started to scold her.

She then took Khaira's telekung and sejadah, rukuk and sujud, then went up to the bed again. An act that she usually did with Love before they went to sleep, only that day, Love had performed his prayer earlier.

What a view. :)

In a mean time, enjoy Aisha's videos which I played again and again in my phone for weeks!

Hello Kitty Go Around 2016..

..was one I regret going.

Little girls had been obsessing to go to Hello Kitty's house forever. So, I thought it was a good opportunity for us.

With the price of RM48++ for adult and RM38++ for 3yo toddler and above, and another RM50 for 5 vouchers, it was a waste of my time and money, baik pergi Sunway Lagoon.

Firstly, because it was small, and only places to take pictures. No rides whatsover. And the games were too hard, even for expert adults like my husband (he always won something), what more for the kids.

My review, it is not worth it especially if you bring your kids. At least have a Hello Kitty mascot walking around pon the kids dah happy.

But if you're a big fan obsessed with collectibles, perhaps you would enjoy it.

Aisha's flashcards progress

By now, Aisha is 15 months old.

Similar to Khaira during her age, she is at a stage where she is learning hijaiyah flashcards. 

Although this time around I've learned that we should start earlier, I found it less easy to commit with the two girls. Love arrived from work around 9pm everyday, I arrived around 6.30 pm. So I was rushing like mad everynight to find time to teach Khaira and Aisha before Aisha fell asleep. But after she turned 1 and has a fixed sleep time, I became more discipline.

Back

Front

For Aisha, I tried a different set of flashcard which suits her personality more. The flashcards are from Little Qari.

These flashcards are equipped with images at the back to assist you on what to act to that particular letter so it would be easier for your children to memorize. 

Example; dzho for zikir.

She's still progressing so far. Able to pronounce a few letters, Alhamdulillah. I hope to be more istiqamah after this. 5 minutes a day in shaa Allah.

The Asyikins' birthday party

Khaira was born in October and Aisha on August. So we decided to choose 26th September to organize a birthday party for the girls!

Normally we did it at home. This year we had it at KFC, which proven to be:

1. More cost savvy; at home other than food, you need to pay for entertainment, the cleaner, the canopy etc.

2. Less hassle: no need to clean the house yay.

3. More fun: you can entertain the princesses and the guests better.

But I still love having people coming over to my house. Because we seldom have guests, so every now and then it was fun.

The cost for the birthday party was RM1400; inclusive of food, magic tricks, chicky costume, face painting and an hour of games also goodie bags and cake. So worth it.

You can add any menu as per normal price, we added some rice.

Highly recommended to have it here. I rate it as 10 over 10. Thank you KFC staff... they did a very good job. All my guests had fun! And my princesses just excited!!!

Face painting

Cake kfc surprisingly sedap

Goodie bag

One group photo

Magic tricks

Mascots and chicky dance

Some games

And last but not least..

Princesses would like to thank everybody for making it to their birthday party.

Horse riding

So many events come and go.. I couldn't find time blogging about it. But this one is worth the catching up session.

Khaira has been forever obsessed with this Disney movie called "Brave". I'm not particularly happy with it. But, hey.. better than "Frozen" anyway.

In this movie, there is this Princess called Merida. She's good at horse riding and archery. Sunnah kan.. and Khaira has been obsessed with these two as well.

A friend of ours recently held a birthday party at a horse riding club, cowboy style.. so we thought we would all be dressing up like cowboy and cowgirls..

Except Aisha. We dressed her up as a cow instead. Ohhh.. the fun..

Khaira got to ride a horse, she has been so obsessed with horses since she was small. We would frequently visit the horses in my office where she claimed one of the horses is hers and named the horse as "Nurul Asyikin" sigh..

It was a very wonderful and memorable event for K.

Happy birthday to Hareez and Adleena. And thanks Ainee and Krel for having us!