who does my son look like

it is always fun to trace who does a newborn look like....

when nadia nasira was born, it was so easy point who does she look like.... when anyone sees her goes..........'ooooooooo, she looks like her dad', it must be true lah, right... according to the elderly, it is sejuk if a daughter takes after the look of her dad while a son, the mother.

now that i have a son, the same intriguing question of who he resembles appeared in my mind. my husband's aunt said he looks like my sis's youngest daughter and my friend, khine, said the same too....

let's see........

this is alisha on her cukur jambul day....

this is muhammad nashwan nasr, soon after his cukur jambul day

this is syahmi, after his first eid prayers

this is muhammad nashwan nasr, growing up so fast, note his legs...

it's balik kampung time

hari raya aidilfitri 2008 is on the day after tomorrow!!! ever since i got married to an only son and his father, an arwah already, my first day raya is with my in laws family. the first year, after breakfast, i went to the puchong perdana mosque with my husband and mother in law for the raya prayers in the morning . with the birth of nadia nasira, i don't go to the mosque anymore. we wait at my mother in law's house until my husband comes home from the mosque. we, then, go to the kubur of my arwah father in law to pay respect and offer prayers to him. there will be salam salam session and the giving of duit raya. my duit raya is reserved for buying gold. last year, i gave a gold anklet to my daughter. now, i have a daughter and a son. so, i owe my son and equivelant amount. i think i would get both of them a gold bar for this raya.

the best part of raya is balik kampung. we go back to my hometown where i spend my raya with my family!!! there are so many of them there.... 5 other siblings and their spouse (for the 3 married ones) and their children 8 of them, my parents (my dad is in Sabah), both grandmothers and friends and relatives. it is so meriah!! the thing about blood relations is that the love for each other runs in the bloodstream, unconditional love, total acceptance and total forgiveness. life's circumstances may have changed to many of us but these are the things that are heartfelt and would never change, not only for me but it is an universal truth for everyone... may everyone share the strong bond among family members and spread the love around them.

the other best thing about hari raya is foood..... looking forward to eating, eating and eating my mother in law's and my mother's cooking (my mum's for 5 days, how is that?).

Wishing everyone a safe journey to celebrate the Aidilfitri!!!

a touching message

my friend, aliya muhammad sent me this message and it has deeply touched my heart, tears sprang in my eyes. The world will be a heavan if there were so many of us who has the values iterated in the message. May the message be felt in the hearts of those around me.

Breakfast at McDonald's
This is a good story and is true, please read it all the way through until the end! (After the story, there are some very interesting facts!): I am a mother of three (ages 14, 12, 3) and have recently completed my college degree.

The last class I had to take was Sociology. The teacher was absolutely inspiring with the qualities that I wish every human being had been graced with. Her last project of the term was called, 'Smile.' The class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions. I am a very friendly person and always smile at everyone and say hello anyway. So, I thought this would be a piece of cake, literally.

Soon after we were assigned the project, my husband, youngest son, and I went out to McDonald's one crisp March morning. It was just our way of sharing special playtime with our son. We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to back away, and then even my husband did. I did not move an inch... an overwhelming feeling of panic welled up inside of me as I turned to see why they had moved.

As I turned around I smelled a horrible 'dirty body' smell, and there standing behind me were two poor homeless men. As I looked down at the short gentleman, close to me, he was ‘smiling'. His beautiful sky blue eyes were full of God's Light as he searched for acceptance. He said, 'Good day' as he counted the few coins he had been clutching. The second man fumbled with his hands as he stood behind his friend. I realized the second man was mentally challenged and the blue-eyed gentleman was his salvation. I held my tears as I stood there with them. The young lady at the counter asked him what they wanted. He said, 'Coffee is all Miss' because that was all they could afford. (If they wanted to sit in the restaurant and warm up, they had to buy something. He just wanted to be warm).

Then I really felt it - the compulsion was so great I almost reached out and embraced the little man with the blue eyes. That is when I noticed all eyes in the restaurant were set on me, judging my every action. I smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray.

I then walked around the corner to the table that the men had chosen as a resting spot. I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue-eyed gentleman's cold hand. He looked up at me, with tears in his eyes, and said, 'Thank you.' I leaned over, began to pat his hand and said, 'I did not do this for you. God is here working through me to give you hope.' I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son. When I sat down my husband smiled at me and said, 'That is why God gave you to me, Honey, to give me hope.' We held hands for a moment and at that time, we knew that only because of the Grace that we had been given were we able to give.

We are not church-goers, but we are believers. That day showed me the pure Light of God's sweet love. I returned to college, on the last evening of class, with this story in hand. I turned in 'my project' and the instructor read it. Then she looked up at me and said, 'Can I share this?' I slowly nodded as she got the attention of the class. She began to read and that is when I knew that we as human beings and being part of God share this need to heal people and to be healed.

In my own way I had touched the people at McDonald's, my son, the instructor, and every soul that shared the classroom on the last night I spent as a college student. I graduated with one of the biggest lessons I would ever learn:

UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE.

Much love and compassion is sent to each and every person who may read this and learn how to LOVE PEOPLE AND USE THINGS - NOT LOVE THINGS AND USE PEOPLE.

career

been here in this department (in different forms) for 10 years already. though i did english language and literature in the uni, i never wanted to teach.... what do i do here? teach!!! what subject? risk management!!!! such an irony. i am doing well in this area and i hope in the future, i will be climbing up the corporate ladder from risk management to strategic management.......

studio picture

it is in my culture that when you have a baby, you must take picture of him or her in her first year, usually after they have flipped over or they can sit. i didn't have one because according to my mum, i was like a little doll and she was worried of evil eye.

well, this is nadia nasira's first studio pics. many shots had to be taken as she was camera shy....or rather stranger shy. she was all smiles in the pic because we were all behind the camera man making her sit still and smile!!!!

new home in Puchong Hartamas

it was our first year wedding anniversary, my husband came up with an idea that we shall buy a hse together. it will be the first year wedding anniversary present! looked around for a hse a few days before and on the day, we decided where to buy the house!!!! it is the taman next to where we have been renting for 2 and half years!!! i felt it was an easy process to decide. referred to Kak Aishah for some feng shui related stuff and yes, that is the house. Alhamdullillah!!!!

this year wedding anniversary.....we decided to renovate the house and shall be the second year wedding anniversary present!!! got some quotation, looked at some houses and decided on Kenny, the guy who renovated imraz's house. hahahaah imraz did the screening of 17 contractors and chose Kenny..... this made our decision making much easier knowing imraz!!! originally, the renovation works were supposed to be minimal, as the work progressed, we decided on more and more additional works.

i should say that this house is attributed to my husband!!! we both came up with the concept but he took much pain in being meticulous about everything. what warms my heart is that he consulted me all along on everything. eheheheh he left a lot of the choices especially the kitchen to me!!!!

here are some pics, before and after.....

the before look

our renovated house

the bumiputra commerce gate... remember their add?

the famous chandlier

dry kitchen

hehehe nasib baik pandai masak, otherwise, this shall be part of house deco

wet kitchen

wet kitchen, the extended portion

master bedroom...note the blue light!!!!

master bedroom toilet

nadia nasira's activities at home....

now, you wanna look for nadia nasira? here are some clues for you.....

hmmmm, what shall i do?

mummy's bag....interesting!!!

something more interesting captured nadia nasira's eyes...

make a bee line to the target!!!!

look at what have i found, and i know exactly how to hook it!!!!!

sweet little pie...where is she heading to?

mummy is no where within sight, so climb!!!!

climb, climb, climb before mummy reaches the site!!!

hahahaha been found already!!!

hmmm, nothing else to do?

found something to do!!!!! mummy goes, "aaaaaaaaahhhhh"!!!!

what shall we do now?

at her link-a-doo chair, trying to buckle up

penatnya.....

transition from a baby to a toddler

i felt that my little nadia nasira was still a little baby.... but no.... just after her 1st birthday, she is like a little girl with her own personality.... now that she is 18 months, she is a character!!!! her NO! has become vigorous NO! NO! NO! her tiny smile has become HAHAHAHA! mummy needs great negotiation skill with her, yet we share precious mother and daughter moments during bedtime. Mummy need to churn out creative ways of putting her to sleep..... from a simple selawat and zikir to ibu, ibu, engkaulah ratu hati ku!!!



some days, she will be wailing for daddy to safe her from being put to sleep. on those days, mummy need to talk to her about the neighbours, from their dogs to their poo poo and what they might be doing at the moment to what mummy did at work. .... on a peaceful day, there is no story telling time, it is just hugging hugging and laughing time while nadia nasira is giggling and sucking her thumb and mummy tickling her.



One day, daddy was putting her to sleep and tried mummy's tricks. He tried telling her a story about the little brown bear!!! by the time mummy came upstairs to check what was happening, little brown bear had already 1 week of activities, yet nadia nasira was still wide awake!!!!

nadia nasira in her cute moments......

shares mummy's taste when it comes to ice-cream, nothing less than baskin robbins...

cocopops time....

mummy and daddy spoiling little nadia nasira.....

sandar sandar and watch tv!!!

signs of a baby turning into a toddler...
sibuk lah with mummy's laptop.... she doesn't understand why mummy's best companion is the square box...

anak dara dah pandai pegang kunci rumah.....

what can i say!!!!