A Date With My Girl

Had a good outing day earlier today with ‘Atiyyah. Its been a very overwhelming couple of days (and nights) and I have to put it here somehow. To remind me of the rewarding journey insyaAllah

Just look at that pure little girl face. She face some meltdown episodes this past few days and nights. Perhaps turning to 2yrs soon huh sayang.

We went for a nursery hopping today. The pic was after a good visit to one of the nursery in the mall (yes so strategic for us moms ya 😷). Then she fall asleep in the stroller while i had a good shopping spree alhamdulillah needed for so long. Planned to find some stuff for myself which i think the boys wouldnt enjoy if i do it in the weekend (waiting is boring i know). She woke up jusssssst in time we reach the restaurant for our lunch goodgirl youuuu little baby. So she was all bubbly and fresh and masyaAllah so behave

Going to visit few more schools in the next few weeks until we found the best school for her. Will enroll perhaps after summer when she turns two in Sept and insyaAllah will wean off by then.

May Allah ease everything xx

Kids and School

Few weeks ago we had a parent teacher meeting (virtual) with ‘Aaqil and ‘Arfaan teachers. This was the 3rd one since they enrolled here in NCBIS.

For ‘Aaqil, he is now starting to come out of his shell. He is comfortable with his classmates. More open in class. Alhamdulillah. Still trying to fit in with the boys tho – every now and then he will bring stories from school about his friends not wanting to talk to him. Or even if his football friends coz they rarely pass the ball to him. Well i think its normal la as long as he doesnt get into a fight. And im glad that he express his feelings instead of keeping it to himself. We need to know everything first hand kan parents 🥲 Moga ‘Aaqil bertemu dgn rakan2 yg baik. Ms Imam proposed us to arrange a playdate with the boys to develop friendship and that very weekend he was invited by Seba for a playdate at Bounce Cfc with 3 other boys. Hehe. And the following week we arranged a football practice with Aarav, Yeho & Raef. Aaaand just recently he came back from a 5d4n school trip to Luxor-Aswan and he definitely has loads of bonding time with his friends insyaAllah.

‘Arfaan now in Reception. Ms Elaine said he is so ready for Year 1 – ultimately based on his reading progress. He needs to improve in making proper english sentence – make it longer using ‘and’ ‘so’ & such. He has good friends named Jingran, Samy & Noor. Sometimes he mentioned Jia, Carla, Pablo, Rasheed & Adriana. They will have poetry basket songs every now and then. Every Wednesday he will bring back 2 books to practice phonics & story telling. Every Thursday is library day – kids get to borrow 2 books weekly. Alhamdulillah he is coping very well with school. No more crying in the morning he he

Few more weeks to end Term 2. New term will begin after EidulFitr insyaAllah 😊

Bebe & Chicklet

Its ‘Atiyyah new favourite teddies now. Yang kelakarnya dua2 bukan dia punya pun. Bebe tu teddy hadiah dari ‘Aaqil utk ummi masa mothers day tahun lepas.

Chicklet pulak ‘Aaqil (& ‘Arfaan) punya beli kat CFC sebab ‘Aaqil nak plushy toy nak bawak peluk atas flight hehe

So ‘Atiyyah sedang develop girlish side of her . Nak ada baby doll yg dia boleh tidur kan, bwk peluk, or even buh kan ubat kat muka bebe. Hehe

Bebe yg blue stripes & Chicklet the brown one

Gambar kat atas ni semalam sebab dia afternoon nap 2jam lebih. Jarang berlaku ye. Sedap sgt tidur sbb malam sebelum crancky yg amat smpi ummi migrain esoknya haha

Stay cheeky my baby girl. We love you so much!

Khatam Quran

Alhamdulillah 26 Feb lepas kami sekeluarga akhirnya khatam alQuran bersama2 buat pertama kali. MasyaAllah

few more pages to go

Kami mula baca masa mco 2020 antara maghrib isya’. Kadang ada masa lepas sahur sementara tunggu nak subuh time bulan puasa. ‘Aaqil, husband & I would take turn to read one page each. Lepas habis, baca terjemahan. Ada je hari kami tak baca #notgood.

Fun facts just for our safekeeping and memories;

  • Ada beberapa masa hiatus lama sangat masa tempoh pindah rumah, pantang ‘Atiyyah & husband already moved to Cairo
  • Our first khatam after almost 13yrs of marriage
  • I know this sound wrong but if not bcoz of covid (hence lockdown) we might not do this. Allah knows best
  • We learnt a lot by just reading Holy Quran translations. MasyaAllah the love for qur’an grows day by day
  • We target to improve our kpi for next cycle insyaAllah at least khatam in a year perhaps?
  • In a way it became an activity with them kids. ‘Arfaan & ‘Atiyyah pun tau qur’an mana sape punya he he
  • Mak sempat join juga baca masa di P14 & Afdhal masa dia dtg Cairo last year
  • Made pulut kuning and rendang ayam the next day to celebrate but had to throw all rendang because the pot’s glass lid cracked into pieces #tefaliscancelled

Jika ada pahala dari amalan ini, kami hadiahkan buat guru2 qur’an kami baik secara langsung mahupun tak langsung (socmed etc). Rasa macam nak berguru this year alang2 dah ada di bumi anbiya’ ramai syeikh syeikhah…moga dipermudahkan

Breakfast Like Locals

Locals start their day late. Thats something that I learn here. Hehe. Its a norm to have lunch at 3pm. Especially during weekends, the mall is quiet until after 2pm. Its getting busier after 9pm hehe

So the other day friends ajak for kopi2 at a mall nearby. We met up at about 10.30am. Thinking of having brunch instead of breakfast. Settled at a cafe called Olives. After looking at the menu for a good 10mins, we wanted to place order but unfortunately only menu under breakfast section are available. Full menu is available at 1pm onwards. Although its an international cafe but 90% of breakfast are egyptian lol ie foul, molasses, tameya yadayada. Since its quite rude to just leave so we think oklah kita order drinks pastu kita gi lunch kedai lain. So we ordered drinks (and fries for ‘Atiyyah) then we leave at 11.30am.

We went to another resto, Eatery – it has a menu like a book tebal gila so takkanla breakfast je kan. Sekaliiiii lunch only served on 1.30pm onwards. Kahkah. Such a bummer. Maka kami beleklah menu takat 2-3 helai. So I settled for salmon egg benedict and K Ammal & Izyan shared a shared meal – as pic.

Left-CLW : foul, fried boil eggs, tameya, tahinj, molasses, (tak sure) and roca at center

Tapi quite nice la the shared platter cuma kita kan tekak melayu mesti nak proper meal pagi2 he he. So 6moral of the story, nak makan pagi heavy sikit kena survey dulu la which cafe yang betul2 serve full menu since morning. Especially during weekdays.

Anak Soleh

Hello 2022! Hehe. Rindunya la nak post kat sini. Just realized so many things happen but I kept on delaying the updates in ig nor blog then in the end no post at all. Boo

Lets start of with what happen yesterday. Otw back from school ‘Aaqil casually told me that he performed his zuhr prayer with Raef. That was the first time I heard this name. So nak dijadikan cerita, Raef ni mmg satu kelas dan kawan football ‘Aaqil. Cuma baru minggu lepas ‘Aaqil berborak dan rapat dengan Raef.

Apparently this boy tanya ‘Aaqil solat zohor tak. And bila dia tau ‘Aaqil solat, dia kata dia nak ikut. So ‘Aaqil ajak la dia sekali ke library masa lunch break and they solat together. My heart just melts. Feels like all the reminders (or was it nags?) to find time to solat, dont forget your sejadah, ask teacher where can you solat etc membuahkan hasil… masyaAllah. I can see that he no longer feel like performing zuhr at school alone, is a hassle. Alhamdulillah we are in a muslim country. Only that this is an international hence performing prayer is uncommon. Moga Allah tetapkan hati anak ummi utk solat anywhere, any condition. A lesson to us as adults too.

Now that Zuhr is longer (winter almost over) so he can pray at home once back from school. But I encouraged him to zuhr at school during break so that he doesnt have to rush once arrive home (only 20mins to shower and solat until ‘Zuhr time is over)..

Thank you ‘Aaqil for teaching us the meaning being a good muslim. I know it is hard to have the courage to ask your teacher, and everyday to take wudhu and bring your sejadah to library alone – and then perform zuhr alone. Haza min fadhli rabbi..

Makcik Bawang

Sekarang kalau nak buat kerja kat dapur kalau si kenit ni ada sekali dia akan tolong kemas bahagian simpan bawang. Haha. Mula2 dia akan selongkar. Lepastu dia kupas kulit. Dan makan! Tapi rasanya dia tak telan la dia kupas masuk mulut n kemam. Aduyaiii

Muka selamba je makan kulit bawang

Ada satu hari tu ‘Atiyyah ‘hilang’ tiba2. I came out from toilet, the boys playing in their room and husband on conf meeting. MasyaAllah berderau rasa tak jumpa ‘Atiyyah anywhere in all rooms!

Senyaap je. Kat hall pun takde. Sekali pergi dapur guess what dia tengah buat apa? Kupas bawang!!! Lega nya ya Allah tapi muka dia masa tu macam alamak kantoi haha. Senyap2 je dia sorang2 ke dapur. Aduhai ‘Atiyyah janganla buat mcm tu lagi. Belum dpt kaki lg ni.

Nak kena pasang sensor kat si kenit ni tau gerammmm. Kita tgk fasa kupas bawang ni sampai umo berapa 😂😂

Covid Happened

Yes it happened but all is well now alhamdulillah. So much to tell but anyways will sum up based on each one of us la kan senang sikit.

Husband : the first one to get covid (i think, based on symptoms). started with fever which lasted for 3days mcmtu. Then followed by strong cough. He actually had 4 diff cough syrups – coz nothing seemed to work. Tussistop, Breacol, Cough Rest and Ultrasolv. Basically the third one did most of the work as it put him to sleep. The first one was prescribed by the Covid doctor but after few rounds hmmm the cough got worsen(??). His cough lasted for almost 2 weeks. The 2nd week we decided to start natural remedies ie hot honey lemon + hot boiled water with cloves. 2x daily. And bottomless warm water w honey in his water bottle. Pity my husband as he still needs to work (wfh) with covid and all. Boleh tak in lieu itu MC semua 🥲 Alhamdulillah the cough just went away after 2 weeks of intense meds+remedies.

‘Aaqil : he’s the first to recover. Demam 2 hari satu malam je no batuk no running nose. Oh ada hilang deria bau lepas baik demam. Rasa mknn ok lagi. Thing about ‘Aaqil is he really misses school and outside world. He lost his appetite (i think) coz he barely finish his meal each time. He didnt tambah his nasi like he used to. Maybe becoz of the loss of taste which he didnt noticed?

‘Arfaan : demam, batuk, selsema. Demam prolong sikit mungkin sebab dia ada batuk selsema yg degil nak baik. Tapi budak ni suka makan ubat so takde masalah. Air madu cengkih pun dia suka. So i made him drink the ‘potion’ everyday macam walid. Also Ultrasolv really works like magic. Terus hilang semua batuk kahak alhamdulillah. Soalan lepas baik adalah bila boleh makan aiskrim niii haha

Me : demam, sakit kepala. Fever lasted more than 3 days. I think because the first few days I took only half dose of pcm. Then i cudnt tahan the yoyo fever so i took full dose and alhamdulillah the fever gone after 2 days. The zombie mode was one of the hge diff from other fever I experienced before. You feel like youre okay but you still like in a cloud somewhere up there. Haha. But it fully gone after a week or so. Lost smell and taste on the day I did my pcr (positive). So i knew the result before it came out lol. Got back my smell and taste after a week alhamdulillah

‘Atiyyah : this one right here got her first fever ever due to covid. Boo covid. So it was a bit hard on her as its her first fever since born. Fever lasted for 5 days plus no appetite then we called up another tabibi. He said her throat was inflamed so doc prescribed her with Maxilase and cont pcm. After 3days no change still 40c. So we insist to get her thorough checkup. Another drama as we are still on quarantine but we need to get her to emergency pronto. At first we plan to go with everyone in the car and to usual hospital ie Queens Hosp. BUT as we are still considered positive, we are required to wear full ppe as our driver is not covid and he needs to be protected. After few phonecalls, we decided to minimise the risk so only husband with ‘Atiyyah going and we changed to a covid hospital somewhere at Nasr City – Dar al Fouad Hospital. No blood taken btw. Just checked her lung (it was clear alhamdulillah). Cut story short the doc there prescribed her with a general antibiotic ie Zithrokan. Her fever went off just by taking the first dose. And shes fully recover and got back her appetite after few days alhamdulillah. Oh her runny nose also gone.

It was crazy roller coaster ride with covid. The moment you think you are done, then temp went up again. Or your cough getting worse. You thought you got the right meds, but the fever still high up. We have our best days. And we have our worst. Worst was when we learned that my husband was positive. We literally fighting the covid – ensure kids temp below 37.5. Sponging. Shower in the middle of the night.

Handling household who are all down with covid was very humbling. A lot to be thankful for. So here goes my gratitude lists;

  1. We both already fully vaccinated. In fact just imagine I had my 2nd dose on 3rd Oct and this all happen 3wks after. Allahuakbar
  2. ‘Atiyyah able to eat anything including normal rice. She no longer had stomach bug like when she was 7-11months old. It couldve been worse if covid came when she was smaller. MasyaAllah
  3. This happened when the boys are on school break. So less days of ponteng. And importantly we managed the covid within our household only not affecting other kids (at least)
  4. We have amazing Malaysian neighbours who sent us food. And offered to buy us groceries alhamdulillah. Also helped us to get meds at pharmacy
  5. We have amazing driver cum personal assistant 😂 who helped us with groceries every other days. Also when we run out of cash. Pick up our food deliveries. Taking care of husband’s offices thingy. Run errands.
  6. We missed the boys photo session at school for their year book but the school will do another session (today) for those absent kids. Only thing that a bit off was their class photo – that needs to be photoshopped later huhu

We had a thought that its just a matter of time that we experienced covid first hand as the viruses still out there and we are out and about – kids at school, weekend outing, vacation, husband at office… so we redha. Kami redha dengan ujian ini dan harapnya ini pertama dan terakhir. And nobody wud have to go through this ordeal like us did. Amiin

Now where to celebrate tonight? First outing after SEVENTEEN days🍦🍦

‘Atiyyah Graduated Solid

Dalam 2 minggu sebelum birtday ‘Atiyyah, setiap hari ada progres positif dgn penerimaan ‘Atiyyah to solid food.

Kalau sebelum ni,

  • Tak boleh accept air masak even minum dari cawan, akan buat muka mual
  • Takleh telan any food yg walau sekecil butir nasi dia akan buat gaya tercekik
  • Ada sesetengah food macam contain wheat or even rempah biasa, lepas 2 jam cmtu makan dia akan muntah habis semua

So ada satu malam tu kami test la bg dia buah mangga. Eh boleh pulak. Dia suka sangat. Lepastu try timun. Pun boleh. Cuma masih struggling nak kunyah n hisap sebelum telan. Tapi at least dah tak choking macam sebelum ni.

Then I have a water bottle of my own. Jenis straw. Saje nak kpi minum air masak daily. Dia suka tgk ummi minum so saje la hulur straw kat dia. Mula2 dia acah2 je konon nak minum. Sekali ada satu time tu dia berjaya sedut haaa tersedak. Pastu dia syok and dia berjaya sedut dan telan. MasyaAllah what a milestone. Sebab abg2 dia dulu rasanya dah one yr + baru pandai straw. Drastik sangat dari xleh accept plain water lansung sekali syok pulak dia dpt straw haha alhamdulillah

Bubur kami masih bagi yg hancur sebab nak cepat dia telan dan boleh mix banyak2 sayur n protein. Fav masih sweet potato w spinach and hav to add ikan bilis for flavor. Ayam pun boleh makan da.

So bila tengok progress dia cemerlang, we try to give her croissant, bread, rice, pasta. All she has no problem to chew and swallow and best thing is she didnt vomited hrs after the meal. Syukurrrr. Few days back tried to give her ‘Arfaan’s fried egg and she ate it no problemmm. No allergies as well.

Now she weighs 8.3kg and catching up ❤️

I dunno what we did that we managed to solve most of her feeding issues. Partly I believe the zikir works. I learned from one of Ustzh Asma Harun ceramah to practice this one zikir ; Laailaa ha illallahu wahdahu laa syariikalah lahulmulku walahulhamdu yuhyi wayumitt wahiwa ala kulli syai’in qadir – 100xdaily. Salah satu khasiat zikir ni adalah akan dilepaskan dari kita 100 kesulitan dan diberikan 100 kebaikan. I believe all the good things happen recently are due to this. MasyaAllah tabarakallah.

Little Brother is Here

Alhamdulillah Af selamat sampai di bumi Mesir hari Selasa lepas. Plan asal nak datang awal bulan 8 tapi freeze kejap sebab bila Mesir dah masuk under red list nak kena complete la 2 dos vaksin. Towards end aug baru diskas balik nak mai sini ke tak.

Beberapa hari je lps decide terus Af fly. Settlekan visa, vaksin polio dan beli tiket. Hehe sempatla pesan rtk covid test kit, Lemsip and few other brg yg takde kat Mesir.

almost 11pm sampai. made daging kicap pedas waghih for him hehe

Sian last jumpa family tahun 2019. Alhamdulillah kami ada kat sini so dekat sikit nak jumpa family tho bukan mak abah or rumah kelubi. Flight 4jam je LHR-CAI. Tak jetlag la sbb beza masa timezone pun sejam je Bristol Cairo.

sejak lahir selalu vidcall and insta je.akhirnya bertentang mata
boys are beyond happy having their pakcu around. this was from last nite

Af will be in his final year starting next month. May Allah ease and who knows we’ll be visiting him at 🇬🇧 pulak to attend his graduation 2022 ehem. Biiznillahhhh