Wake Up and Smell the Cake

Today's the third day of work since I came back. It SUCKS. Day 1 was okay. My reactions are always slow. Like jetlag. And fasting. Second day onwards then I'll feel the strain. Day 1, we left him at my in-laws', he didn't cry when we went off cos he was still a bit groggy. My chubbycheeks isn't used to waking up so early in the morning hehe. I almost teared, but I tried to hold it back. Day 1 he behaved, he drank from his bottle, he didn't cry much, and he slept well. We were relieved. I missed him, but it was manageable. So I thought, okay this is not too bad! When we came to fetch Junior, he was all smiley and happy. My charming angel :) Day 2. Started out okay too. But I got really emotional and sad and all teary when we got back home. It finally kicked in that I wasn't going to spend as much time as I did during maternity leave. I hated the send baby-go work-fetch baby routine. When we reach home, I'll only have at most an hour before I have to

Today I left Junior at my mum's for about five hours, to bottle train but it was a total failure. Sigh. Why oh why won't my darling not drink from the bottle! How would he survive without milk when I'm back at work! :( Anyway. I decided to make No Bake Cookies. I have loads of Hershey's chocolate that Other Half brought back from his NY trip a couple of months ago. As much as I love chocolate, I was disappointed with the Hershey's pack he bought! Doesn't taste like good chocolate at all. Even the Kisses aren't good. While looking for recipes at random, I came across one which could make use of Reese's peanutbutter cups, the chocolate I dislike among the mix. It looks fast, simple and no baking required! It is the No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies . Ingredients that I use which I shouldn't have adjusted to: 125g butter 1/2 cup milk 2 cups sugar 1 and a half cup Reese's Peanutbutter Cups 3 cups quick oatmeal 1 teaspoon

If Junior mistakes a sealion for a seal, it's my fault haha. Only realised I got the animals mixed up after I wrote the letters.

Once again I did not step out of the house to get groceries. Yes, I'm such a procrastinator, I've been wanting to do it for a week now but everytime I just postpone. Monday's dinner was a result of the procrastination. You see, I've ran out of onions. And I only have a whole chicken in the fridge. So what did I do? Find a recipe where cooking doesn't involve any onions hahaha. Couldn't think of any cos onion is such an essential ingredient. So I thought of cooking with the next most essential ingredient - garlic! And I found this garlic chicken recipe ! I had a tahu kering set and that would be made into a simple soup dish, of which I added too much garlic. Hurhur. Note to self: never EVER use more than three cloves in a soup. It'll just be bitter. Anyway. I tried the chicken recipe and Other Half loves it! Although he only ate one piece -_-" I wasn't confident of the taste, didn't know if he liked it and I know he won't like the

It's been ages since I last baked! Today I did the cheesecake, only because the cream cheese is expiring today. HAHA. Yes. And I still have one packet left I don't know what to do. I curi a tiny piece while the cake is still cooling cos I was hungry hehe. With baby asking for milk every hour and sleeping for 30 minutes each nap, I needed a fast recipe, and one where I don't have to buy any ingredients, so I modified and made my very first cheesecake without recipe. Ingredients 2 packs cream cheese 1 tin (388g) condensed milk 4 tbsp flour 1 egg 1 tbsp vanilla essence Crust: 125g digestives + 50g butter Crush the digestives and mix with the melted butter. Press them onto the springform pan and bake at 170 degrees C for 8 minutes. Mix condensed milk and cream cheese. Then add in the egg, mix well.  Add flour and vanilla essence. Bake at 160 degrees C for about 45 to 50 minutes. Done! :) Haven't tasted it yet though hahahaha. But I'm sure it'

I am so thrilled to see poop! You see, Junior didn't have bowel movements for 5 days last week and we went to the doctor who gave him a solution via the anus to flush out the poop. And boy did he flush out everything. Two days after, he pooped but a bit less than usual. And today, another two days after, his farts have become so pungent like the smell of his poop. That could only mean there's lots of poop waiting to come out, hence the smell. His tummy wasn't feeling too good too. He cringed a lot just to let out gas. So I went to the trusty Babycenter forum for some tips, and found this massage technique recommended by the contributor's doctor. Gave it a try, and Junior felt happier! He didn't cry when I left him alone, and played actively too! And best of all, he pooped just like what I read! Amazing! Happiest moment in the day! Haha! I gleefully messaged my mum the good news and she replied, "The simple things in life that make u happy..seeing ur child b

Celebrated our second anniversary last Monday. What an amazing two years it has been, and thinking back all the things we did and went through! This year, with a baby practically hanging on to me 24/7, I couldn't bake or even complete a decent card! But I did come up with a short and simple message which sums up everything: Loving you is like butter cake. It is easy, non-extravagant yet so good and wholesome, and it gets better by the day :) I know! Butter cake right! Me, baking, buttrer cake! Perfect! Muahahaha In other news!! My fingers got itchy and so!!! I got for myself a snakeskin handbag! At a steal ! The last time I bought for myself a leather handbag was a year ago, my favourite leather, ostrich skin. So okay la hor one year on, quite justified to get one now hehe. Awesomeposum! Just in time for raya! :)

While others had their first night of terawih last Sunday... Junior learnt ABC using [self-declared] yummy godmummy Shez and playing with Sophie the giraffe from Auntie Sophie! Tired lah learn so many things at one go! My chubbycheeks!! I love you very much, sweetheart ♥♥♥

Baby's over the one month mark! He's getting more interested in talking to people and wanting people to talk to him, and I've started reading his books to him. But I think he's more interested in the pictures than the content haha. The past two days or so his eating patterns have changed again, there was one period of time which was amazing for me, breastfeeding reduced to about 15 to 30 minutes per session instead of the initial one hour or so. And then it reverted back to the old pattern! Less sleep again :( But on the good side of things, I think my breast milk is stabilising. Though sometimes when Junior gets too impatient he doesn't want to latch on properly and that isn't good for either one of us. Have started using the ring sling! I decided to ask Sis Nurhidayati for recommendations since she has loads of advice on breastfeeding and all things baby. I got the gauze double layer ring sling after much consideration (mostly of the colours haha). Black +

Taken yesterday, at three weeks young. We tried making him hold his own bottle :) Didn't last long, of course. Hahaha.

Am at my mum's house now, have been staying here while Husband is in NY for a work trip. Yes! A work trip when baby is only over two weeks?! Sadness. Even the mother of the baby is extra sad :( Can I blame it on post-natal hormones? Haha. He flew last Sunday night, and for the whole day, Junior refused to sleep, only wanting to be cuddled and given attention especially by daddy dearest. It's like he knows daddy dearest is flying off. Heart wrenching. But since Sunday, Junior's been a good boy behaving himself. But sometimes he still wants attention and to be cradled. I guess that's normal for newborns. Five more days till Other Half is home! :) I miss him. Somehow I'm reminded of days of London, cos he's very very far away. If he were to go, say, Brunei, it won't be as bad. New York is just so, scary. Watching too much crime dramas like CSI New York and my favourite Bones makes US sound dangerous with their small, dark alleys and guns!! Guns! Is it real

I am zombified. Sleep deprived. Headache from sleep deprevation. Yesterday we set a new record: baby was awake for four hours and like three and a half of it was spent on breastfeeding. I could feel my breasts empty and much lighter! Plus, before that he was already waking up for feeds like every hour. I do hope it's because of a growth spurt! Have tried my best to avoid formula milk, but when he refuses to sleep after almost an hour and a half of breastfeeding at night and I doze off while breastfeeding at the edge of the bed, formula milk is sooo tempting to quench his never-ending thirst. Puts him to sleep quickly and lasts a little bit longer. Plus it's dangerous too what if I accidentally lost grip of Junior. Today Junior is 15 days old. I can't really believe it, two weeks and eleven hours ago, I was pushing with all my might to get this darling out. Felt like its been ages though! And I kinda miss the feeling of being pregnant. I was heavily pregnant yet energ

It's Day 11 with Junior, but it feels like we've had him for a few weeks! Haha. My mum's been a fantastic help around the house coming almost daily to cook and help with household chores. Best mum ever :) Her mum did that for her too when she gave birth to me, and I think she's just passing it on. And it's a huge advantage having your parents live near you! Junior was born on 30 June 2011, at a little past 11pm, and weighs a whopping 4 kilos! By normal birth mind you. A total of 44 hours of labour, though the contractions at the beginning weren't that bad cos I could still walk around the hospital. We went to the hospital on 29th, two hours earlier than our induce appointment because I already had "show". We thought, Junior's very punctual! First sign of labour on his EDD! But dilation took longer than expected, plus there weren't enough beds for non-emergency cases like me so I had to wait till 30th afternoon before they could burst my water

...because Junior is out! :) Have loads to tell, but I don't know where to start. I'm loving Junior more and more each day, and I thank God for this blessed child. He just gets more adorable by the day, and it's amazing to see what he can learn. I do hope we can be the best parents to this little angel. Amin.

Today is the first day of maternity leave. Baby still show no signs of moving out yet. I hope tomorrow all goes well! Have some time to kill, and I would love some cookies or cake in my kitchen when I get back from the hospital, so I decided to make the long overdue German Cookies. Ingredients 250g butter 80g icing sugar, sifted (5 heaps tbsp) 250g potato starch 160g flour (I used cake flour) Sift the icing sugar and flour and mix with the butter. Add in the potato starch and mix them altogether. I mixed them using my hand! Heehee Once consistent, roll into small balls with diameter of 1-2cm, and press down using a fork. Bake at 160 degrees Celsius, for 15 minutes. This recipe is pretty popular, and actually I doubled the recipe because I have 250g butter. And that only made 100 pieces only! Even with double the recipe, I don't think it's enough! I can't help but pop them into my mouth! This cookie can definitely be a Hari Raya kuih, but I would have to make

Today I is a bit eager to cook, lunch was pizza and dinner was chicken curry with soy sauce vege stir fry, and I decided to make chocolate lava cake for dessert after clearing up dinner. And with all that work, I now have enormous elephant-like legs. Hahahaha. Chocolate Lava Cake 170g butter 170g chocolate (I used Van Houten baking chocolate) 4 eggs 5 tbsp sugar 1 tbsp flour pinch of vanilla powder pinch of bicarbonate soda Melt the butter and chocolate together using double boil. Mix flour, sugar, vanilla powder and bicarbonate soda together. Add an egg each time and beat till consistent before adding another egg. Add the butter-chocolate mix. Fill the muffin pan till 3/4 full, bake at 200 degrees Celsius for 6 minutes. The first batch I baked at 230 degrees Celsius, for 8 minutes and they turned out to be cake-like, no lava centre! See? No oozy sink-in centre. Bummer. But with each trial and error comes a brilliant find. For I have found! A brownie recipe! HAHA.

Home alone lunch before check up! Decided to make mini pizzas because I have leftover capsicum and bread. This time round I added a little sauce to the minced meat. Simple but yummy! The minced meat is sweet and tasty! Ingredients 3 slices of bread 1/2 capsicum Cheddar cheese & pizza cheese Chilli sauce & tomato sauce for the base Minced meat: 150g minced meat (rough estimation) 1 tbsp light soy sauce 2 tbsp honey 2 tbsp chilli sauce Yummy yumyum pizza before adding the cheese. Baked at 180 deg Celsius for about 20 min. My first time baking pizza using normal bread, and it turned out surprisingly crunchy and toasted! Love it! I have one piece leftover. Anyone wants one? :)

Baby's still not out yet! I have a feeling Junior's gonna be overdue. Hahahaha. The Husband really can't wait for baby to be out. It's like so near but so far. Check up went well, Junior is of healthy weight -- or maybe TOO healthy since he's on the heavier side! Haha! And my health is all well and fine, so there's no need to induce. We did a major clean up of the house last Saturday, even cleaned the ceiling fan! One of our frames was broken in the process, when it's not even hung up on the wall yet! So wasted. We bought a pair of bamboo floor lamps and the pair of Moroccan-ish lanterns that we wanted so much, but when we brought them home, honestly we didn't know what to do with them. Haha! We literally sat at the sofa and stared at them for quite some time. Maybe our TV wall is just too big and whatever we do is kinda weird. I am very much in a holiday mood already. I am BORED here. I wanna bake. Can I go home and bake? I wanna make butter cake an

This must be the healthiest lunch I've ever made! Vege soup never tasted so good!! Sometimes sambal and curry and all that heavy gravy stuff can get boring.

Please please let me get well soon. It was only a few weeks ago I was plagued by cough, and now I'm having slight fever and a bit of flu. I have to be in tip top shape! Gonna use a lot of energy soon! Was very reluctant to come to work today, felt like sleeping and sleeping and the weather's perfect for that too. But then I thought of outstanding laundry and cooking and I thought, ah well I'll just leave those and go to work hahaha. Or maybe I shall go back in the afternoon. Yesterday I felt these weird constipation-contraction-like compresses coupled with backaches for about one and a half hours. I'm seriously not sure what it was, could be false alarm cos I walked a lot right before getting those, and when we got home I felt much better. Have to start monitoring such pains. Baby don't come out so soon! I have yet to stock up my fridge, and iron as many clothes as I can, and go Ikea! :)