let’s end off the year on a positive note.

ahh, the birth of a new life. full of joy and promises – something i wish to all of you in 2008!

“why, hello Tahui Brudder #2! mimmy, why are you making him cry??”

and to us too. :)

“ahh, that’s better.”

anyone seeing the fireworks today?? not sure if we should stay up outside with the little one for that eight-and-a-half minutes of spectacular sky action, or stay snuggled up indoors catching up on those shows we’ve recorded on Smart TV.

ahh, we can do both, right? tomorrow holiday you know!

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remember this, girls?

and this? :)

well, i’m glad that i still do manage that “semblance of a social life” i was worried i’d miss after having a kid.

with another one on the way, the worry is doublefold. at least for now, the Husband can manage the little boy, coz well, it’s just ONE, you know? most likely, he’d bring him to his grandpa’s place where all the uncles keep him occupied and very happy, all that male bonding or whatever. i’m not so sure i can leave a little girl with them, though. they probably wouldn’t have the slightest clue what to do with her, lol!

sooooo… hmm. i’ll play it by ear.

(btw, girls, how’s this for freaky – aniq’s a december baby like ayu and me, and his sister, insyaallah, will be an april baby like esah and rini!)

i asked my grandma this evening, how did she give birth to seven kids?? her answer was simply, that it was different then, zaman dulu lain. i guess she didn’t have much of a social life back then, having been married by the time she was what, thirteen, fourteen?? it was all they knew, have kids and look after them.

but us women now, we want it all. and i mean, ALL.

and i intend to have it all too, or as much as i can get. and for me, two is all i want.

mr LKY would have been proud of me if this was the 70s. :p

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the sisters i never had. (coz i’m deprived like that.)

for their teary calls late that night, their hugs, their girly company, for being there.

and for ‘luring’ me out for our traditional “AGM”, i needed it. :)

ps: on another happy note, congrats to the neos on the arrival of another Tahui Boy! one more ‘brudder’ for aniq’s future clan hehe.

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i wonder how much one-on-one time i’ll have with him when the baby comes out.

staying home for the past week with him has been good. he listens better, speaks better, behaves better.

i’m sure my maternity leave won’t be as idyllic as the time we have together now. my energy and attention will be spent on another more demanding person! will there still be outings to the park, strolls at the airport, bus rides to the library? gawd, i really hope so. i don’t want to shortchange this little one.

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… is what u are.

a quick trip to the airport in the evening to let his little legs run free (and this time, even barefooted, seeing how totally people-less terminal three was). just one of our ‘let’s-get-him-totally-knackered-before-bedtime’ ruses. :)

*********

on another note, it struck me as we left the airport that i probably had the most memories of him there, where he used to work, the many years since i can remember of us travelling in planes. for some reason, i had an image of him sitting by the pick-up area at the arrival hall, waiting for us to fetch him home.

the last he said to mum was, that the plane had arrived and was she going to follow him or not…

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something to bring back a smile on the face after what seems like a gloomy week for us.

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i used to visit the cemetery with my brothers and father every friday after prayers at masjid sultan to maintain my mum’s and other late family members’ graves, as well as to recite prayers. however, since aniq was born, i have been going less frequently. i decided to bring him along on friday, the day after hari raya haji. it was his first time visiting his late grandma’s grave. she has been gone almost six years now.

he always enjoys being in the company of his uncles and yai. he was comfortable despite the sombre atmosphere and weather. he helped pluck out the weeds, sprinkle the flowers, and brought smiles to an otherwise dreary place.

and who knew he was going to visit it again the very next day, this time to bury another grandparent…

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it’s been a surreal day, but don’t worry, we got through it ok.

i guess we’ve been prepared for it for some time, you know? it’s been a long-drawn-out battle, after all, and there was little else we could do when one’s body deteriorates like so. once again, thank you for all your thoughts and concern. (and especially to those who dropped by, we really appreciate it!)

aidiladha, the day before his passing, we had the opportunity to qurban two sheep for him. a last minute thing arranged by a close family friend.

believe it or not, it was my first time looking at sheep at the mosque and collecting the meat. don’t ask me why, i was never asked to go before! i didn’t get to witness the actual act, though. most of the animals sacrificed were already hung up and the fleece were being stripped off them.

this boy, on the other hand, is luckier. my, what round eyes you have there! i do wonder what goes on in his head when he saw all those baa baas without any heads.

we still have some administrative things to do over the next few days. not even sure what they are or how to go about them. guess we’ll have to figure them out along the way, with help and advice from family members (especially izad).

yeah, this IS also my first time at this, after all.

in the meantime…

GET YOUR GRUBBY HANDS OFF THE LIL LADY, MISTER! :)

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and so we watched as he gasped for his last breath of air, life slowly ebbing away from his body.

2334hrs, his soul left with his last pulse.

thank you for all your calls and kind words.

al-fatehah.

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one of the rare few weekdays we get to bunk in together, laze around, and bathe at *looks at time* noon. oops.

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ok, bump update.

that’s 23 weeks. i get a lotta comments saying it’s beginning to look more like a ‘boy’ bump, like the last time. and it’s hanging quite low at 5.5 months. :S

food-wise, appetite has improved only slightly. i can eat better i guess, but the gassy burps have not let up. sweet drinks taste great but still leave a sourish aftertaste.

anyway, cik zah was in town and stayed at the ritz, so what else, i invited ourselves over for tea – on HER tab! well, we don’t get to see or ‘ketuk’ her often, so what the heck, right? :p

she’s getting married again, with the doctor she’s been seeing for six years, and she’s got great investments on her lands, etc. yeah, she’s worked hard at getting what she wants, i must say.

ouhh, the tea! the tea! sigh. i love scones. izad would say we’re mad for spending 38bux on a few pieces of finger food and tea, when he could get like ten complete meals with that amount, lol!

you can tell i was pret-ty happy pretending to be a tai tai for a few hours.

the view from the suite was fantastic – if you stayed there during national day! just below was the colourful seats by the marina bay where you can watch the entire show and the fireworks. for now, however, you’ll just have to close one eye on the Crane Heaven there and pretend it’s not there, and just concentrate on the city skyline.

and that’s my SIL and i, competing for the Bigger, Fatter, Rounder Stomach Award! she’s due two months before me, in feb.

so who do you think wins the award??

we were supposed to have gone for a holiday this month, but here we are, knocked up and looking (and feeling) like beached whales. i guess there’s a reason for us to be stuck here too. but we’ve made plans to definitely try for that holiday next year. or the next. well, depending on our finances and our biological state, that is. (no getting knocked up again, hehe!)

for now, here’s hoping for a smooth delivery for the both of us.

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Man with Womb = Woman

Bat with Womb = Wombat?

(ah, the things an idle mind produces…)

somebody, help me!

*counts the seconds till holidays begin*

ok let me think of something to distract myself.

to-do list says: ‘buy xmas gift for $10 to exchange at year-end party’.

how come during hari raya nobody has a party to exchange small envelopes with money ah? ok ok, nevermind.

was thinking of conjuring a gift hamper courtesy of items from those $2-dollar shops, like Daiso. hmm, clothes pegs… Magic sponge… mini manicure set… large bag of twisties… how much is that already? ok, let’s throw in a seat cushion. i sure could do with one myself here. butt is definitely sore from all this sitting in front of the computer. and coming up with loser $10 gift hampers.

can i just give a small envelope with money?

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it is an established fact that more often than not, it is the gormless s’porean caller who gets picked to go on radio to answer the most idiot-proof of all quizzes and win prizes.

this morning on ninety-one point three FM:

DJ introduces Gormless Caller (GC) and explains that to win a prize, he has to sing the next line to a song.

Studio Guest (SG), a local singer wielding a guitar, says she will sing a suzanne vega song since she will be performing in s’pore next month.

GC has not heard of suzanne vega, guitars, or music. it is a miracle he managed to dial the number of the said radio station in the first place. he probably meant to order a pizza or KFC buddy meal for himself.

SG proceeds to sing the first line, “My name is Luca…”

GC clams up.

SG begins to understand the gormless nature of radio callers in general and decides to be generous by continuing second line of song, “I live on the second ____.”

GC is still decidedly clueless.

DJ and SG try to cajole an answer out of GC with numerous clues. “It rhymes with door… more… four… etc. Let’s say you live on the ninth…?”

GC attempts.

“… storey?”

:S

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inspired by grissom after watching an episode of CSI where he dispensed trivia about the origins of bridesmaids and bridegrooms, i set out to find the origins of baby showers. however, i didn’t manage to find any interesting historical stories, except that it’s part of an americal culture, like… MTV?, which has since permeated to this part of the earth, and embraced by our generation of party-loving people. :)

(oh, and by the way, the role of bridesmaids is traditionally to act as a ‘shield’ to ward off evil spirits lurking around at wedding ceremonies, and bridegrooms dress up like the groom himself to ‘confuse’ them evil spirits, in case they get nasty and decide to, i don’t know, possess the groom into screaming out “i don’t!” at the altar or something. cool huh? like power rangers protecting the wedded couple liddat. only in better outfits. ok, i’ve been watching way too much kids central.)

so aaanyway, as i was saying, where there’s an occasion where food and girly fun is involved, you betcha i’m in! (coz really, we need as many excuses as we can to stuff our faces and leave the husbands at home, preferably with the kids.)

can you tell it’s going to be a girl? no??

more than that, it’s rallying around the mum-to-be (whether it’s her first, or fourth kid!) for support as she enters the final lap of that arduous nine-month journey called gestation, and showering her with the last bit of attention before the baby comes out and all eyes would then be solely set on the cute, crying, screaming bundle of joy. honestly, don’t you mums out there feel like you get sidelined and practically ignored the moment you’ve squeezed every ounce of your being in labour? hey, we need some lurving and celebrating for ourselves too, dammit!

so as you can see, i like the idea of baby showers, nevermind that we’ve pilfered it from western culture, and i’m glad that i had that memorable experience once myself too. (how can i forget that girl-on-girl kissing game?? lol!) ;)

good luck and have a safe delivery… insyaallah.

now, who’s next?? *rubs hands in glee* babies popping out everywhere, you know!

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