Kitchen-less. Oh no no no!

You know what was the one thing that I missed so much when I was away in Malaysia??

Believe you me, it was my KITCHEN!!!!!! Oh my! I never knew I would ever miss cooking in my own kitchen but, I did. Three months away from my kitchen was what I would say, torturous. Yes, it really was. Not having that quick-get-something-ready-coz-Khairaldin's-starving stress was unbearable. In Malaysia, I had to literally stuff food into Khairaldin's mouth because he refused to eat. He wouldn't willingly open his mouth to eat whatever's been prepared for him. He will scream and shout and just refused to eat. Because of not wanting him to end up in the hospital, I did what I had to do, feed him regardless of anything! 


He was boney when he got back from Malaysia! Even Iskandar was scared to hold him because he was toooooo skinny! His leg was literally just bones and meat no fats what so ever. And for a 3 year old, that wasn't a pretty sight. I thought by the time we arrived the UK, I wanted to bring him straight to the doctors to get him checked.

Someway somehow, his behaviour changed straight away! The next day after we arrived, he was already asking for break AND cereals! He also wanted his Milo almost everyday now. Alhamdulillah shukur!! His appetite is increasing by the day. He asks for his normal rice, chicken and veges during lunch time. Dinner time is just a breeze. SubhanAllah. We have come to realise that they're just comfortable with everything in the UK, Alhamdulillah. Layina also had some issues in Malaysia, InshaAllah when I have the time I will update more on that. :)

Ever since we got back, I've only left the kitchen to breathe on the weekends.... And that was after being forced by Iskandar! Hehe It is so good to get the chance to cook for my loved ones. I never knew how to cook before I got married. Heck, even after I got married Iskandar was the one cooking for a few good years. I started to get the hang on cooking when I was pregnant with Khairaldin. I was made redundant and I just kept myself busy with cooking... Now also with baking! I love being in the kitchen and it's even better to know that my children prefers my cooking on top of everyone else!!!! The next time we go back to Malaysia, I'll make sure it will only be for a month, maximum. InshaAllah. Any more than that will only be a fight with me and my inner strength. :D Yeah, drama I know. But really, I miss my kitchen so very much and couldn't get enough of it. Alhamdulillah shukur!!!

Thank you so much Allah for giving me the chance to serve my family! Thank you for taking my job away from me and to give me a better one altogether. I am so grateful that I get to be there for my family. I am so thankful that I am the person they look for when their belly needs refuel, when they need a nap or even when they wanna play. I will always try to be there for my family during their happy and sad time, Amin!!!! May Allah give me the strength to endure what he has planned for me. Amin yaRabbal Alamin.

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Our little Muslimah!

SubhanAllah! Alhamdulillah!!

Our little Muslimah is just 2 weeks shy to 1 year old. SubhanAllah Alhamdulillah! She is growing up so fast it's just bittersweet for us. She started walking when she was 9 months old and now she's already running and following each and every thing that we are doing. I am glad that 'solat' is one of the things that she's immitating us other than being on the iPod/BBM. hahaha Well, we do not some balance in life, yes? 

We pray everyday that our children will grow up to become the leader of the Ummah. Amin! 

 (Yeah, I do 'prayers' on my blog because I believe the more 'Amin' I get the more my du'a will come true. So, don't judge :P)

Oh yeah, so far she can last in a hijaab for at least 4 hours straight. Masha'Allah! And to think I thought the hijaab was rather 'tedious' for her but she seems to like it. I don't wear it on her everyday, just during cold summer days. Rather than wearing her a hat or what nots, it's better to put a hijaab on her right? After all, she does look adorable in it. SubhanAllah. We are slowly practising her in hijaab because she will be wearing it to school when she is three years old. That is just 2 years away!!! I'm sure it will flyby. :') I'm trying really hard to bring up my son and daugther to become a great Muslim. It may be "easy" now, but Wallahualam, I'm not sure what the years to come have to offer me. So, while they still have the 'clean sheet' I guess it's best for me to paint them with beautiful colours which is; ISLAM! Love you both lots Khairaldin and Layina.

12 hours plane journey with 1 infant and 1 toddler!!

Phewwwww!

 

That was a mouthful and tiring subject on its own yeah? Yes! That's exactly how I embarked my journey back from Malaysia exactly 3 weeks ago. As most of you might already know, the 4 of us went back to Malaysia in late March. The kids and I stayed on till May for my brother's wedding. Unfortunately, Iskandar couldn't stay on because he was on work probation and could only get 3 weeks time off. A lot happened when he went back to the UK and left the kids with me, but that will be a different blog update altogether :)

So, everyone asked me the same question every time they hear I was going back with both kids all by myself, "how will you manage with 2 kids on the plane??", "what if 1 of them starts to throw tantrum suddenly? Will u cope??". Everyone had their concern and was doubtful about my journey back home to the UK. To be honest, I couldn't give any rational answers when I was bombarded with these questions. All I could answer was, "InshaAllah, with Allah's will, I will be able to handle them on my own."

When we booked our tickets, the plan wasn't for me to bring both kids on my own. The initial plan was for Khairaldin to travel with my brother via Emirates and for me to travel with Layina via MAS on the same day. Somehow, the plan changed because Emirates didn't have any spare seat for Khairaldin. Since I've already booked for Layina and my flight via MAS, I had no other choice but to book for Khairaldin's flight with us. In all honesty, I wasn't prepared for this ordeal at all. But with so much faith in Allah, I took this opportunity as a Mother. Everyone who knew about my travel arrangements started to label me as a "SUPER MOM". All I have to say is, I'm no where near that title.

So, here's how our travelling went. I have to say, Alhamdulillah shukur for such a superb and easy travelling provided by MAS. Staffs were helpful and everything was just bearable from the check-in counter onwards. We + my parents arrived the airport at 8am and dropped our luggage at the check in counter. We requested for a travel assistance since I had 2 kids with me. At first they didn't have anyone to assist us but they had that initiative to get someone nonetheless. I had to wait for someone to assist us at 9am. So, we just continued waiting at the departure lounge. By 9, one of the staff came to help us out. Well, the reason I needed help was only to have someone to pull my hand luggage. Khairaldin was in the pushchair and Layina was in the baby carrier. It wasn't a problem in that sense.

Good thing about having assistance is that they assist you right into the aircraft and everything is priority; priority lane for passport checks, priority for boarding pass checks and of course the first one to get onto the plane! It was amazing! No hassle at all Masha'Allah. I was so glad. I would have given the young boy some tips, but by the time I settled down in my seat he has already pass his duties to the steward(ess). Didn't get a chance to say proper thank you. Guess he was scared if the plane took off hehehe. He'll be in my du'a, inshaAllah.

Oh yeah, I didn't request for a bassinet seat because when travelling with Khairaldin before, he didn't like sleeping in the bassinet. So I thought, it's ok, give others the opportunity. But I really wanted at least the whole row to myself. Before we took off, I asked the steward if there was any vacant rows. Unfortunately there wasn't any. Flight wasn't that full, there were spare seats but not rows. However, a guy sitting at the bassinet seatings offered to give his seat to us. I accepted his offer and swapped seats with him. It's very nice of him! After swapping seats we waited patiently to take off. Just before take off Layina cried for milk. I thought, that's good at least she'll get her nap straight away. Seeing that our flight was at 10:05am, it's the time she normally have her naps. So I breastfed her and by the time we took off she was already sound asleep. The stewardess then assembled the bassinet for her and I put her in it straight away. Little did I know, Layina is so different from her brother! She loved the bassinet and what I thought was going to be a short nap actually lasted for 4-5 hours straight!!! How good was that?

Khairaldin on the other hand, wasn't as easy as Layina. He suddenly had tummy ache and was restless. After putting Layina in the bassinet, I had a steward to look after her for awhile whilst I brought Khairaldin to the toilet. He had diarrhoea! Sigh. I did put diapers on him before we left for the airport, but being toilet trained, he couldn't 'do it' in the diapers. But Alhamdulillah, we only went for 2 toilet trips in 15minutes gap. After those 2 trips, he felt much better and fell asleep straight away! I was so glad. Since both of them were sleeping, I didn't waste anymore time and straight away 'joined' them to sleep. Alhamdulillah I managed to sleep for 2hrs straight. It was good!

By the time they woke up, we were already half way through our journey. We went for a few rounds around the aircraft, read a few books, played a few games and just made a mess on the floor! Thankfully Layina was already walking, saved me from having to carry here everywhere in the aircraft. We managed to catch some short naps. Layina wasn't awake that much. It was only for awhile that she was awake. Khairaldin was lucky as he got to just spend time with me :) Two hours before landing was a bit tough. Khairaldin kept asking what time we were gonna arrive and kept bugging about wanting to eat bread with chocolate spread from Nana's house! So I had to reason out with him until he really gets the idea that we are far away and there is no way he's getting his bread and choc spread in the plane. Hehehe

All in all, it was an interesting experience as it wasn't as how I expected it to be at all! I was prepared for the worse and Alhamdulillah, that was nowhere near my expectations. I am sure this breeze journey was from the numerous thoughts and du'as people sent to me! Alhamdulillah shukur! I believe that if we have a plan, we should tell your loved one about it so that they constantly du'a and remember you. JazakAllahu Khair, everbody!

 

Any tips or tricks? No really. I guess it was a rather "easy" journey on my side because I am with my children almost 24-7 therefore I know when they are restless or about to throw tantrums. If I was a working Mom, I don't think I would be able to take up this adventure. Basically, you really need to know your child when you're about to travel. Get them as comfortable as possible, InshaAllah everything will be great! :)) Personally to me, SUPER MOM are those working Mom's who would be brave enough to take such adventure seeing that they're rarely with their child during day time. But either way, mother instincts are the best!! :))

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Allah is beautiful, Abah.

Yesterday,  Khairaldin randomly chat with Iskandar about Allah. And during their conversation he said, "Allah is beautiful Abah!" "Really, she's beautiful". SubhanAllah, when I heard that my heart was smiling so hard! Ya Allah, he remembers you!! It's amazing to hear those words from him.

He will be 3 next weekend Insha'Allah. As he slowly grow out of his innocence we can only du'a that Allah will continue to protect him and guide him through and through. Let's pray that this memory will remain in him that Allah is beautiful and there shouldn't be any doubt in him that this is the God he/we should be worshipping, Amin!! May he grow up to be a great Muslim!! Amin yarabbal alamin.

SAHM in Malaysia

Sigh. As much as I enjoy having maids around, I get offended when people ask me to ask the maid to change my child's diaper or to feed my child lunch. It's as if ayong I don't know how to do my 'job'. I don't tell you how to do your job as an accountant or anything now do I? So yes, being a Mother is a job to me! I feel the need to clean and feed my child with my own hand. Looking aftery children is a reward to me. Please don't take away the only luxury that I have. It's fun having an extra hand but there are things that I would prefer to do on my own. Maybe preparing the kids' clothes whilst I bathe them is helpful enough. Anyway, that's me ranting. I love my job so please let me be. Even if you see me with eyebags, just kmow I'm enjoying myself. I will ask for help if/when I need it. Alhamdulillah, I am coping. :)

Dear Blog,

I miss you way too much! I'm in Malaysia now and living the life ;). I just went thru my old entries and oh my! I miss writing and most importantly, READING!! I wanna go back to the UK where life is less hectic :)

But for now, I shall cherish this holiday till the end. I'm not sure when will I ever get he chance to go on another holiday!

Till we meet again dear blog.

Ps: I've deactivated my FB account. You should be honoured that I'm making you more useful and personal! Haha

Xoxo,

Iva

I have a problem. I need to talk.

Isn't it true that we've been brought up in a society to always "share your feelings"? Heck, even on FB it asks "what's on your mind?" and when you're done, you'll be clicking the "share" button. Right? So yeah. Whenever we have something on our mind we don't hesitate to share with others. After all, that's how we've been brought up. People will always advice you to talk to someone if you have a problem, you'd feel better after that. No doubt in that.

Sometimes, when I'm at my lowest point, I'd constantly go thru my Facebook friend list or BBM list to look for a non-judgemental person and a trustworthy one. I would go back and forth until a point I just don't know what I'm doing. One day, it got me thinking.. such person does not exist. Never! Even if they do, at least not on my friends list. haha It's veryyyyyyyyy rare to find that one person who could tell you the truth without hurting you even more. Of course at this point you're asking, why not just talk to your husband? Oh yes, I do talk to my Hubby. But in his eyes, I am almost perfect. How can I not be when I've got tears and sadness in my eyes? Would he dare to turn around and say, "it's your fault!" Hahaha He knows what will definitely happen next. So at times it's difficult to trust him as he wants the best for me. After I've calmed down he will then reason out with me rationally. I don't do rational thinking at my lowest point :)

I'm thankful for the people that has brought me down to my lowest point. It has only opened my eyes and heart about the life I have been leading. Like I said, we are told to share our problems. But what people forget to say is "don't share it with human beings!". Just imagine, when you are carrying a bag full of items and you need to stop because you're tired but at the same time you want to continue your journey. What would you do? You'd find a person to help you carry the load whilst you take a breather. So, what if this person you pass your load onto is a weak person? Of course they could not carry the load for long. They then pass it on to another person and it carries on.

It's same with problems. You tell a person about it and EXPECT that person not to tell anyone. But this person might not have that strong willpower to keep it to him/herself. It then spills to another and carries on. This is how gossips and backbiting happens. You don't mean to do it but you have your own problem to deal with on top of another being load on you. So the cycle begins. One story passed to another and another. At this point, think, would that story remain as how it is? Of course not! Everyone have their own imaginations. People tend to reconstruct what is being said or told to them according to their own experience. Story becomes distorted, people become upset. We are all human beings. We make mistakes but the best are those who repent and not make the same mistake again.

What do you do then when you have problems and really in need of someone to talk to? This is obvious but definitely the last choice we would take. TALK TO ALLAH/God. HE will definitely not judge you! HE even have the solution to your problems. So why speak to others? Why spill every single thing to others? Here's another thing, talking to ALLAH is FREE! You don't need to pick up the phone to let off your steam. HE is there with you all the time. When you speak to HIM, the conversation is safe with him. It can never be spilled. So, choose HIM first before others.

For Khairaldin and Layina, my advise to you is to choose Allah first before confiding onto anyone about your sorrows. If you want to confide in Mommy/Abah, please do so. But you have to know, your story will not be safe with us. You are our children, and if you are hurt, we will all be. Please, talk to Allah if you need to let go of your stressful or happy days. Tell Allah everything. If you were to tell Mommy, the story will get to Abah or even your Uncles and Aunties. If you tell your friends, the story might just spill when they come over our house or even when I fetch you from school. ;) My point here is, your story can never be 'safe' with a human being. If you really want it to be a secret, then keep it to yourself. If you can't, take sometime on the prayer mat and just converse with Allah. HE is there. HE is waiting for you to talk to HIM. There's nothing to lose.

Mommy and Abah are currently striving to do just that. We will Insha'Allah guide and help you through it when the day comes. Here's a quote Mommy recently came across:

Don't trust anyone because even your shadow leaves you in the dark!

There you go. Allah knows best, your solution is there with HIM.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Khairaldin's first education?

Assalamualaikum..

Firstly thank you to all of you who still drop by at my blog even though I update once a month. It is so nice to know that you are checking on me or us. *hugs* Anyway, I have been quite tied up lately. We'll be going back to Malaysia for a few months Insha'Allah. So, I have to start packing because it is not easy to pack for 4 people!! Hubby's never done his own packing, because I am a bit obsessive when it comes to packing. I have to make sure how the clothes are packed and what match with what. Haha To be honest, I just wanna make myself look busy even when I'm not. So excuse me! ;)

So, as per my previous entry, Insha'Allah Khairaldin will be starting school in September 2012. We are still waiting for reply on his waiting list and have been doing a lot of thinking about his first education. Just wondering, how do you parents choose what type of school to send your kids to? Is religion something you look at? Or the distance from home? Do you all even plan beforehand what type of school to send your child to? As for me, since we are living in a non-muslim country, I find it important to firstly educate my children about Islam. Alhamdulillah, at this age (2.5years old) Khairaldin understands that he has to eat with right hand, read Bismillah, and a few other basic Sunnah. Knowing that we (people around him) have taught him all of this basic yet very important sunnah, make me feel that Islamic school is a necessity for him. I want him to know and to learn a LOT more about Islam. I don't want him to be one of those to just follow blindly because one day, he would be bored of following our instructions and that's when friends become their best adviser! So, I want him to know why we do what we have to do in this life. I need him to know the important of this life.

Last Sunday I attended a Ta'leem at our local Masjid. Masha'Allah, the topic discussed was exactly the things going through my mind. Iskandar received and e-mail about the ta'leem and I said I wanted to go without knowing what it's about. When the Maulana spoke, he started mentioning about 'Ilmu' (knowledge). He emphasised the importance of knowledge and how it could help us in the Hereafter. Nowadays, we are interested on the best secular education to send our child to. For example we make sure that the discipline level are top notch, results are clean sheet without any Bs even, just to name a few. What we have forgotten is, how would all this help bring us to Jannah? It's not wrong to send our children to the best of all school, because even if you are a doctor, you can still help a patient because of Allah Taala. You can serve the society because of Allah Taala no matter what your profession is. But you have to instill in your heart that everything you do IS for HIM and noone else.

As the Maulana continued, he quoted a hadith, as follow; Rasulullah Salallahualaihiwassalam said, "When the son of Adam (human being) dies, his deeds are stopped except for three things, namely, his good deeds, his knowledge, and his pious child who prays for him". I'm gonna concentrate on knowledge and pious child. When we learn, we have to set our intention of why we are learning. Is it just for the sake of passing the test? For the sake of pleasing our parents with all the As? Or even for the sake of "going to school is the norm", not knowing what our intentions are? Intention is very important without a doubt. It can make you and break you! So we have to choose wisely.

Coming back to Khairaldin, when I was carrying him, I prayed for a baby boy. I desperately wanted this "baby boy" to lead the younger siblings to the right path if one day either of us are gone (before them). Alhamdulillah, Allah has answered my prayers and Khairaldin is now a responsibility (Amanah) from Allah to us. Because Allah has given us Khairaldin, it is only fair for us to take care of him the way HE has wanted us to do so. Sending him to an Islamic school has always been my first choice. However, because of this wait list, I have told Iskandar that if he doesn't get a chance to join this school, I want to home school him. You see, I have always always! wanted to be a nursery teacher. After having kids, I don't feel the need to be a nursery teacher. Somehow this hadith has lead me to my dreams again. As the hadith said, knowledge is one of the things that will not stop even after we die. This means, if you have learn something, teach!! The person who learns from you will pass on the knowledge and the cycle will continue. Even when you die you are still getting deeds! How amazing is that? SubhanAllah. For all the wrongdoings I have done, I really need those deeds to accumulate continuously! I have told myself, if Khairaldin doesn't get a place at Leicester Islamic Academy, this is such a blessing for me. Education doesn't have to be in a school. Even if the child goes to the best of school, the parents still need to carry on and practise the things being taught at home. This way the child will know the importance of the things he have just learnt.

Yes, I am still sane. I don't plan to teach my kids till high school or further. Haha. My plan is to take it one year at a time. There is no need for him to start school at 3 years old because everyone is doing it. I pray that I will be able to teach him as much as I could before he reach a certain age. I want him to remember us as his teacher and educator. In the end of it all, we need his/their prayers when we die. All I want is for him to become a pious child who will always remember his parents and make du'a for his parents. And like a quote I found before, "to be in your children's memories, you have to be in their lives today!". Insha'Allah, that is exactly what I am aiming to do.

2012, everything new :)

SubhanAllah Walhamdulillah! It's already 2012. I know I know we should be aware of the Hijrah year. The only reason I'm excited is because it's the year Khairaldin will start nursery, Insha'Allah. When he turned 1 year old, people kept reminding me to register him for nursery. You see, in the UK, the education is free so if you want nursery closest to your place, you have to register as soon as possible. However, we can only start registering when the child turns 2. Fast forward, Khairaldin turned 2 in June 2011. We didn't bother that much since we had Layina around and was pretty occupied. He then had his 2 years development appointment when he was 2 years 3 months. At that time, his nursery nurse reminded us to start looking for nurseries. So we did.

Iskandar and I discussed about his big step into the 'real world'. We were contemplating on whether to put him in an Islamic Nursery or to put him in a ermmmm I shall call it, 'Western' nursery. Iskandar and I decided on enrolling him into a 'Western' nursery because we thought there "wouldn't be" any government funded Islamic Nursery. Obviously I'd consult my parents for such matter since they have experience. We told them that we planned to register Khairaldin into an Islamic school when he's a teenager. Because if we are still in the UK, I'd be easy for him to go for his prayers or even Friday prayers. My parents didn't agree to that because according to them, we should instill Islam at a very young age. Once they know the importance of Islam, it would be easy for them to follow up. So maybe when he is a teenager he can start 'Western' school as he has been taught the importance of Islam. We thought, that made a lot of sense than what we had in mind.

I was very determined to send Khairaldin to an Islamic nursery. I want him to know this Beautiful religion! I don't want him to waste his youth. Alhamdulillah, thanks to Google, we managed to find 2 Islamic Nurseries which were government funded (ie; FREE). Without hesitation, I called the nurseries to have a look around. SubhanAllah! The nursery stole my heart straight away. I lovvvvvvveeee the nursery from the moment I entered their parking space. It's such a decent nursery almost like private but it's not. The nursery were in between semi detached houses. I think the nursery was formed from 2 semi detached houses. So, it's quite big. As I had the tour, they also told me that they have primary school in that building. Suddenly I'm thinking, how can they manage to make a 'proper' school out of semi detached houses?? Straight away I felt the place might betoo cramp for Khairaldin. But Masha'Allah, it really is Allah's power. The house/nursery/primary school is huge in the inside!! They even got a hall in there! It's amazing! The space is just surreal. Of course bear in mind there's only 1 class for each Year. So Year 1 till 6 there's about 30pupils in a class. It's still a big number for such a place.

Then I had a look at the nursery. It's an extension from the Primary school which if it's a house, it's considered in the garden :). When I went there, the nursery pupils were in a different room. They were having 'Islamic Studies'. I was so glad to have come at that time because I really wanted to know what they were learning about. I was brought to their classroom and as I entered, all the children gave salam "Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh!!!". Ahhhhhhhhh! Imagine 3 year olds saying that! Super duperrrrr cute. SubhanAllah. Now you know why I'm in love with the school? :D The teacher then told me that they just got back from NEC waterworld. Basically it's something like Aquaria in Malaysia. So, the teacher was telling them a story about a shark. Mind you, it's an English storybook not even Islamic but somehow they managed to link it up with Islam. The story was about a Shark who was scared of everything (weird enough ey?). The way they linked it was at the end of it all, he wasn't as scared because he knows that Allah will help him regardless of anything. Of course there's a lot more to it but I didn't stay for the whole story time. Because the kids just got back from NEC underwater, they can then imagine how the sharks and other animals looked up upon Allah swt. Masha'Allah. It's amazing.

After we have finished touring the school, I went to the office to enrol Khairaldin. Since there's only 2 Islamic Nursery in Leicester, I didn't think twice about enrolling. But sadly, there was already 73 people enrolled before us. Khairaldin is still enrolled but in the waiting list. The school only accept 50 pupils and 20 pupils are already confirmed because they're the siblings to the primary pupils. We will only be able to know if Khairaldin has a place or not at the end of January. If 23 people cancels their application, Khairaldin will then get a chance to study in that school. Insha'Allah.


I'm so excited for him and I know he will feel comfortable in this school. Please keep Khairaldin in your du'as!!!!! May Allah help us throughout our journey on bringing up a soleh(ah) children. Amin Ya Raabalalamin!!

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Public Display of Affection :))

Dearest Iskandar,

 

Credits

Please be aware that this entry was written after I have finished browsing 100s of Rainbow Cupcake recipes. My intention was to bake Rainbow Cupcakes for our Anniversary to show how much you mean to me. But since you are not a dessert person, I have decided to write a 'sweet' entry tasting just like a cupcake so you can taste the sweetness in our relationship. Because really, I don't wanna end up baking the cupcakes which will only end up in my already fat tummy! Just so you know, when eating cupcakes, people are more interested in the frosting so, I have personally chosen a cream cheese frosting for this 'non existence cupcake'. All I have to say is, expect a whole load of cheesy-ness in here. ;)

Alhamdulillah, we are in our 4th year marriage today!!! After all the hard work you went through during the solemnization (three times akad), it's all worth it as we are still going strong until today, Mahsa'Allah. Even during the 'akad' I knew you were not only winning my heart but also my parents'. Day after day you are only getting better at sucking up to them, I mean, making them love you more ;) Even though we've been together for four years, I feel that our journey has only just begun. THE journey to everlasting love! THE love that we've never seen it before. 

Sorry, I'm allowed to be cheesy and show the blog my love for you, right? ;) I want our kids to grow up and read these entries to always remind us and themselves what love should really mean!

Anyway, I know we say not to make a big deal out of birthdays, wedding anniversaries, couple anniversary or even reception anniversaries :) At least I know you don't. Haha As a lady, I still have that space in my mind to just remember all these unwanted facts! So it's just fair for me to give myself that peace of mind to "celebrate" it even though it's just through my blog. All you have to do is 'hear' me out, like you always do anyway! Hehehe

Iskandar, as the years go by, our relationship has somewhat bloomed into a whole different level. We don't feel the need to have random surprises/presents to make believe that we are indeed still IN love. We are blessed in so many different ways. We have had people not believing in us and not supporting us, but we stayed strong, for Allah's sake. Alhamdulillah, with the kids around, we are left astonished every single second. We will always turn to each other thinking "how in the world did we bring them up this way?". It's all with Allah's will, that's all that we know. We could never have done it all ourselves. Never ever!

Iskandar, we really have Allah to be thankful to for giving us another day closer to each other and most of all closer to HIM. I feel so thankful and blessed that Allah's given me lots of rain and shine throughout this relationship because without those rain and shine, you, My Rainbow would have never appeared. You are THE rainbow in my Cloud 9. Insha'Allah, if I continue to follow your lead, you will lead me and the kids to that pot of gold (Jannah/Heaven) where we all will be living happily ever after. That is all that matters to me! No amount of diamonds or material stuffs can ever buy us the happiness in Hereafter.

Alhamdulillah! Only Allah knows how thankful I am to always have you by my side w hen I am experiencing my happiest or saddest moments. I always pray that Allah will always guide us to the right path in this world as there's nothing more that I want than to live happily with you in the Hereafter. Our love means a lot more 'there' than when we are here. Let's pray that we will continue to share and help each other through this life for our ultimate goal, THE JANNAH.

I love you for the sake of Allah subhanahuwataala. Thank you for being a great partner and father to the kids.

 <3<3<3<3<3<3<3,

Your inseperable wife, Insha'Allah

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

THEY'RE OFFICIALLY DIVORCED!!!!

because HE had an affair! Meh.

How many times have you heard of such marriage break ups? I've heard it one too many times! Which has made me think.....

Who do we blame when a marriage ends because of the GUY having an affair? Of course we blame the guy instantly! I mean come on, he's having an affair!!! How bad is that? There's no justification on his side as to why he had the affair. But hang on a minute. Do we stop to ask the guys their reasons for the divorce? Of course we don't. I mean, why should we?? He's made an offence so why should we listen to what he's got to say. Right?

Wrong!

If one is really concerned about someone's divorce, they would take the initiative to listen to both sides of the story. Of course both stories will differ tremendously because there is something that either party wouldn't want to disclose. So, what do "we" do next? We start judging from our own perspective because we've heard it all. I mean, that's what we do best right? We have seen it all in Law & Order, CSI etc etc. After we've heard both parties' story, we, the Jury, will sit down, discuss and give our final thought as to who is at fault. Unfortunately, that's absolutely NOT how our life should be! Even in Hudud law, four PIOUS witnesses have to come upfront and admit that they have witnessed such adultery in PERFECT DETAIL, IF, by any chance their statements do not satisfy the requirements, they (the witnesses) can be sentenced to eighty lashes for unfounded accusation of fornication. That is how bad assumptions and suspisions are perceived in Islam. We as human beings are not given the chance to judge another person.... at all! Judgement day is there for a reason. It's stated in Surah Al-Fatihah verse 3- Maaliki yawmi-d-Deen; MASTER of the Day of Judgement. It's ALLAH's 'job' to put us on the spot and judge the good and bad we have done in our life. Even if we've heard both sides of the story, do you think we can be unbiased? Of course we can't. Especially if we have experienced it before.

Before I got married to Iskandar, I've always told him. If you wanna have 2 or 3 or 4 wives, carry on. As long as you can fulfill all the requirements that you're supposed to. Yes, I am frank when it comes to serious things like this. There must be a reason why ALLAH allow men to marry 4. I have never believed that affairs happen BECAUSE the guy is unfaithful. I believe that it takes two to tango, so it takes two to break a marriage too. There must be a solid reason behind an affair. My Mom always tells me, some people just HAVE to marry 2 or 3 or 4 because there are things in their life that they need to be fulfilled but with one wife, it's not possible to be fulfilled (for example, one wife is only just good at cooking and the other maybe sewing). There must be a reason why ALLAH has matched them together. My Mom has always 'encouraged' polygyny if it has to happen.

So, back to affairs. Why is it always the guys that gets the blame? It's simply because they have higher sexual urges than girls (that's a fact!). Then, of course guys will get blamed regardless of their story. But! Doesn't this mean that there is something that the ladies aren't doing to please the man? This is why I say it takes two to break a marriage. We can NEVER pin point a person for their wrongdoings because we don't know what happen or doesn't happen behind CLOSED DOORS. Why are we so quick at judging the guys for being the bad one? From my point of view, affairs happen because the wives aren't fulfilling their responsible as a wife. It's as simple as that. I'm not only blaming the wife, it's silly for the guy to have an affair but I'm just saying... It takes two to tango! Simple as that. We have no knowledge to just point a finger to one person and look bad on that person because he had an affair.

Ok, let's turn the table for a moment. If a girl has an affair, who would you blame? I'm sure there must be some amongst you that will say "HE deserves it for not treating the wife correctly." "HE deserves it for not showering the wife with lots of love and happiness". Am I right or am I right? Wouldn't the blame still be on the guy? Yes, it will still be. Only because we have been brought up with a mindset that girls are to be showered with lots of love and DIAMONDS! If they're not, they will never be happy. So, who's to be blamed for not showering all this? THE GUYS!!!

We have been brought up with a mindset and society that girls are sensitive and guys are HEARTLESS! No matter what guys try to do, they get the blame. It's just like when a wife gets beaten up, the guys will get the blame because he's just not supposed to hit his wife. It's wrong to smack a lady because they're fragile. But when a lady beats up a man.. it's okay because she can't express it any other way. How is that fair? Yes it's not fair! It can never be fair. That is why ALLAH swt has made it easy on us to not judge another person because we can NEVER be fair! It's not wrong to be concerned for one party, but it is wrong when ties are broken in the whole process. People tend to be emotionally involved till they forget their own flesh and blood.

Even worse when the divorce has finalised and the guy is going out with the so called "affair lady". People without hesitation make a judgement that YES!!! THE AFFAIR WAS TRUE AFTER ALL. Hang on a sec, couldn't it be because that so called "affair lady" has always been there throughout the whole process and has been his 'friend' throughout the downfall? So, it is only right for her to be in the picture and comforting him from his divorce. No? But, most important of all, isn't it ALLAH that has brought them together? Isn't this what they call fate? Just because it's not a fairytale like fate, doesn't mean it couldn't happen. It is all ALLAH's plan. Whether we like it or not. HE, the Almighty has planned it out perfectly for us. So, who are we to Judge that "It's WRONG for him to go out with the so called "affair lady""?

So, let's take a step back if we've gone too far. Let's think in a positive way. Everything happens for a reason. Only ALLAH swt knows the reason behind it. Marriage, affairs, divorce etc, is beyond our control. It's ALLAH's way to show that HE is in control. Doesn't mean you have a perfect marriage, your marriage can never break up. If ALLAH wills it, you have no say! Everything is in ALLAH's hand. Let's think about it, if we are upset with the person's "affair" or divorce, doesn't it ONLY mean that we are upset with ALLAH's decision?? Think about it. And from a cousin's quote: The Mind can be controlled to shift from a Negative state to a Positive one. Just find something Positive to do. Your Mind will follow next. So, think about it in a Positive way and throw out all the Negative views that we have been brought up with from Movies or Dramas etc. Insha'Allah, may we look at things more clearly and not make a 'judge' out of ourselves. Judgement day will come, so let's just be prepared for that day and leave the judging 'work' to ALLAH swt. Don't waste our precious time too engrossed with other people's affair (pun intended ;-).

May we have more barakah in this life, Insha'Allah. AMIN!!

I will also leave this few Hadiths, Insha'Allah. May we Ponder upon it. :-)

Hadith : Bukhari and Muslim

The Messenger of Allah salallahualaihiwasalam said: " Beware of suspicion, for suspicion (may be based on) the most untrue information; and do not spy upon one another and do not try to bare each other's hidden failings."

"O ye who believe! Avoid suspicion as much (as possible): for suspicion in some cases is a sin: And spy not on each other behind their backs. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Nay, ye would abhor it...But fear Allah: For Allah is Oft-Returning, Most Merciful." (surah al-hujuraat verse 12)

"Behold, ye received it on your tongues, and said out of your mouths things of which ye had no knowledge; and ye thought it to be a light matter, while it was most serious in the sight of Allah." (surah al-noor verse 15)

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah : "Beware of backbiting, for backbiting is more serious than adultery.  A man may commit adultery, and drink, and then repent, and Allah will forgive him.  But, the backbiter will not be forgiven by Allah until his companion forgives him." [Suyuti, Al-Jami` as-Saghir, 1/174, #2919, from Ibn Abid-Dunya, and Abush-Shaykh, Al-Tawbikh.]

My life.... Now.

Brother and Sister at Play

Well, Assalamualaikum (Peace be unto you) there! It's been wayyyyyy too long since I last blogged. As you can read from my previous entry, Iskandar is now in a full time; office hours kinda job. I didn't expect my life to be this busy and yet loving each and every day as a Stay At Home Mom (SAHM) and Housewife. Oh, I have to say that ever since Iskandar started his job, the term SAHM doesn't apply anymore because I've been "hanging out" in Khairaldin's toy room more than ever and it's like I'm a Play At Home Mom until a few hours before Iskandar gets home. Only now I realised how much Iskandar's been Khairaldin's play buddy. It's not easy taking care of an active toddler. He wears me out by 11am! That soon!

On my first week, I didn't dare to bring the kids out because I thought I could not handle. But then, I somehow had to buy some stuff from Tesco. So I braved myself and went shopping with BOTH my kids!! It's an amazing experience! Khairaldin is such a good brother. He loves to kiss Layina every now and then even when in the trolley. People were smiling at how loving he is and of course he loved the attention too. It has been a breeze bringing both of them all by myself. We've been out and about more often now. Khairaldin is not a stay at home person like me. Because of that we have to go out to Tesco every other day just strolling down the aisles buying little unnecessary things. Once we've done that, he's a happy bunny for a few hours at least.

Excited to try cherry tomatoes!

Of course I have my "can you please just sit down quietly!!!!!!!" moments....one too many time! But this will overcome when I drag both of them into the kitchen. Khairaldin loves to help me in the kitchen as it is the time for him to try new food. Alhamdulillah I manage to cook fresh food for Hubby almost every single day. I feel my day accomplished when all 3 of us sit down at the dinner table for dinner. Layina will be in her swing entertaining herself that time. It's an amazing feeling knowing my Husband and kid(s) are being fed by my 'hardwork'. Alhamdulillah. For sure I couldn't have done it without Allah's will.

Anyways, I've always had people asking me on how I can cope at being a full time housewife and Mom. I've never got the chance to answer that question because I've always had Iskandar or my parents by my side. Iskandar was working part time (4 hours) before this. So, this is the first time I'm handling TWO kids all by myself! Alhamdulillah, it's been 1 whole month of full time Housewife and Mom. One word: AMAZING! SubhanAllah! I am loving each and every moment of it. Now, if anyone asks me about how I can cope as a SAHM and a wife, my answer will simply be "My body is engineered to do exactly all this therefore it is not something impossible to do. Insha'Allah, start the day with Bismillah and all will go down smoothly."

I'll end now and Insha'Allah will start blogging again. I'm slowly getting on track and hopefully will be able to do some reading and sharing. Oh by the way, we visit Iskandar's workplace every Friday for Solat Jumu'ah. And Alhamdulillah, Khairaldin look forward to Fridays because he wants to go 'Masjid'. Also..... I get some time-off from Khairaldin because there'll be a few students wanting to babysit him. So yeah, Alhamdulillah. It's been amazing ( I know I've said this one too many time.. Oh well)! My utmost respect for all SAHM! For those working Mom's without maids too! Hats off to all of you who's made it till today. Definitely not an easy job but to know you're being rewarded by Allah swt, priceless!

Ps: I'm also 'working' on a small project starting today. If all goes well, I will 'spill' Insha'Allah.

Pps: Amidst all those "busy" days, we still managed to get some day off with the kids and my parents in London ;)

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

THIRD PREGNANCY ALREADY??!

I can remember very clearly the day I announced my second pregnancy. I received mixed reaction from family and friends. There were those who were very excited as if they were the ones that are pregnant and there were also those who were upset for numerous reasons. Some even questioned how in the world I could think about getting pregnant when my Husband was still jobless. Of course I couldn't change people's reaction but Alhamdulillah I was still the healthy and bubbly me throughout the pregnancy. Well to be honest, we didn't plan for Layina's birth. Actually we didn't even really plan for Khairaldin's. All we know was that we wanted a child and Masha'Allah, we're now blessed and living happily with two children, Alhamdulillah. Throughout my pregnancy, Iskandar didn't have a proper job. He was on part time jobs most of the time. Alhamdulillah we managed to live with whatever income that was coming in. Also thanks to my parents for making sure we stay in their house. Alhamdulillah.

No doubt Iskandar was looking for jobs. He wasn't choosy of the job as long as it pays Halal income. He tried so many places and yet were rejected or no replies. We didn't give up, we believe that Allah WILL shower us with rizq when and how HE wants to. Iskandar kept searching high and low for a permanent job but the rezeki was just not there...yet. We didn't lose hope. We kept praying and asking for HIS help everyday and night! Come Ramadhan, we prayed extra hard for HIS help because only HE can grant us the best in life. Iskandar was so determined to look for jobs. He's on the PC every now and then looking for Islamic Banking jobs or even as a lecturer. He's applied almost everywhere, be it in Malaysia, UK or even in the Middle East. Noone replied to his application. Personally I know how much he's been hunting high and low for a Halal job. Trust me, it's not easy.

As the days go by, I finally gave birth to Layina with 

a "jobless" husband beside me. I was not afraid of the idea that my husband was still jobless. In fact, my faith grew even stronger! I know for a fact that Allah will not burden us with what we could not handle. HE has promised and repeated this in the Qur'an time and again. I felt everything will fall into place if not now, Insha'Allah in the hereafter. To know that we now have a baby girl could only mean two things, Rezeki and Barakah is on our side. In Islam, having a daughter is something special. It's mentioned in a Hadith; 

Jabir ibn 'Abdullah reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Anyone who has three daughters and provides for them, clothes them and shows mercy to them will definitely enter the Garden." A man from the people said, "And two daughters, Messenger of Allah?" He said, "And two." [Bukhari]

There I was thinking I don't have the luxury that everyone is talking about but what matters most is Insha'Allah I will have that luxury in the afterlife. Having said that, it doesn't mean we have given up with our life now! Of course we can't do that. Whatever we do it has to be for Dunya and Akhirah. There must be balance in our life. So, Iskandar was still with his job hunting. We were also thinking of going back to Malaysia for good if he doesn't get a job anytime soon. We were ready to hijrah to another country if he still doesn't get a job. It is good to do hijrah with the niyah for Allah Ta'ala.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a friend of my Dad e-mailed my Dad saying he wants to meet up with Iskandar as they have a job that he might be interested in. This person is a Director at MIHE (the place Iskandar was awarded his Masters in Islamic Banking, Finance and Management). Without hesitation he met up with the Director and was offered a permanent job there and then. It's nothing fancy but definitely a start for him. Who knows he might get connection from MIHE and can further his career or even do PhD there? Only Allah knows.

So, Insha'Allah, Iskandar will be starting his permanent job with MIHE this October.

This job offer has opened our eyes even more. All the places that he's applied for didn't even bother to reply to just say that they are not hiring or anything at all. However, the place that we'd never think of offering him a job suddenly contacts him and offered him the job. We have always believe that rezeki is from Allah swt even when people gave us the reason to doubt this. Who says you can't suddenly wake up and stumble upon a pot of gold? I believe that miracle do happen if Allah wills it. Nothing is impossible but of course, first we have to work and pray hard for the miracle to happen. Always believe that noone can give nor take anything away from you without Allah's will. If HE has stated that your rezeki will be there, it will be there. Sometimes HE is just testing us to see how far we would go to worship him.

Of course this is a reminder to myself too. Even though Iskandar will be in a permanent job, this doesn't mean we should stop worshipping HIM. This is the reason we should continue to worship HIM more as HE's given us something we least expected!! It just goes to show how powerful HE is and SubhanAllah there is just no reason to defy HIS power! We are really thankful to HIM and to those who's been praying for us. May Allah bless you all with goodness in this life and hereafter, Amin!!!!

If you are still reading and waiting for me to officially announce about my 3rd pregnancy, sorry to say, I'm not pregnant. At least not for another few years, Insha'Allah. I'm sure if I suddenly announce my 3rd pregnancy there will be people out there who'd say something like "3rd pregnancy already??!" Even with a "working" husband people will find excuse to just mock about another person. Sometimes we just forget rezeki comes in many shapes and form, it's not just money/wealth wise.

Like I always say, we can plan all we want but in the end of it all, Allah has the last say. :) 

Ps: wish me luck on becoming a FULL TIME HOUSEWIFE and MOTHER to a toddler and soon to be 3 months old baby. Please pray that Allah will make it easy on the 4 of us, Insha'Allah. JazakAllahu Khair!

 Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Khairaldin's journey to diaperless bottom!

Khairaldin at 5 months old in Cloth Diaper :)

Alhamdulillah! Khairaldin's been diaper free for 1 month + now!!!! Never imagined this day coming true but Alhamdulillah, here I am writing about his diaper free journey. He's now 2 years 3 months. We started potty training him on 5th Ramadhan at around 4pm. I remember this clearly because I had a break from fasting so since I couldn't fast, I thought I might as well start as soon as possible and not procrastinate anymore. The reason I wanted to start him then was because it was Ramadhan and I had more free time also, things somehow flow perfectly during Ramadhan. And I was right! Alhamdulillah it's been a month since then!

Some CD Stash

Just so you know, we started him with going for number 2 as early as 1 year 10 months. Since he was wearing cloth diaper, both Iskandar and I became disgusted with him poo-ing in his diaper that we decided to firstly train him with number 2. Khairaldin is a creature of habit. He does everything in routine hence it was easy to train him. We knew when exactly he goes for number 2 since he does it around the same time everyday. It's easier on us because we are with him almost all the time. Training him for number 2 wasn't hard at all. Personally I think he found it disgusting to poop in his cloth diaper that's why he cooperated with us. Number 1 however, was difficult! We've tried one too many ways, for examples rewarding him with stickers, putting him in nice training pants so that he'd not wee in it and putting him straight in underpants. We failed miserably with those styles! I gave myself a deadline of 2 months because I wanted him potty trained before Layina's debut. We didn't succeed and were running out of time as I was already very heavily pregnant and just couldn't be bothered to train or even argue with him anymore. We then left the potty training at just doing number 2 in the toilet and number 1 was still in his diaper. That was good enough for us newbies. After Layina was born, we still felt disgusted with the smell of his wee every morning!!! We constantly told him to tell us when he wants to wee. Everyday when he wakes up we just kept going on and on about wee-ing in toilet. It didn't work. We felt that he's just wee-ing in his diapers to irritate us because I was irritated with our whining!! Then, on that particular day when I decided to train him, I just felt enough is enough! I can't deal with washing 2 batches of diapers everyday. People would say, "who ask you to put him in cloth diaper in the first place?" But may I just say, if it's not because of the cloth diaper, my son will probably be in disposable nappies till he's 5 years old or more! Really, thanks to cloth diaper as we are where we are today, Alhamdulillah!

So how did we start and succeed this time round? Well, at 4 pm, I decided to change him in just his underpants and t-shirt. I lifted his t-shirt just above his pants to supposedly see when he felt like wee-ing. But that didn't happen. I couldn't see it and the next thing I know, he's wee-d on the carpet in his toy room at 5pm. Oh by the way, I didn't dare to let him go anywhere around the house so we just stayed in his toy room for few good hours. When I first trained him, I always brought him straight to the toilet every one hour. I've somehow come to realise that he only does his business in his toy room so I brought his portable potty downstairs in his toy room. I even asked him if he wanted the potty downstairs and he said yes! Anyway, when he wee-d at 5pm, I instantly timed how frequent he wees. The 2nd time, he wee-d at 6pm at the same spot whilst we were learning some Arabic alphabets, really there wasn't any sign that he needed to wee. He was just standing up, talking to me and suddenly wees. He let's go when he feel like it without thinking of the consequences. Now that I know he needs a wee every hour, I asked him "do you want to sit in the potty and wee?" at about 7pm. He said yes. I brought him to his potty and he comfortably wee-d in there. I did that again at 8pm and again he wee-d in his potty. Then I stopped for the day because it was nearing his bedtime. He was back in diapers by night. Oh yeah, after every wee I rewarded him with sweets/marshmallows. So he had just 2 on that day because he managed to do it twice.

• On day 2, I brought him straight to the toilet when he woke up. Again, I asked him every hour if he wanted to wee in his potty and I got a yes every time. This time I varied his reward with sweets and watching his favourite Youtube videos. I didn't want him to do it because of sweets so I varied his reward. By night time, he was back in diapers. I was also monitoring his diapers at night and it's still wet.

• On day 3, I tried asking him every 1 and 1/2 hours. He has now learnt that wee time is only when I ask him if he wants to go or not. I managed to make him control for 1 and 1/2 hours. His reward was just Youtube videos on this day. He looks forward to watching his videos hence wee-ing in the potty was ok for him.

• Come day 4, we (the parents) were slacking a bit. We became overly confident that he can hold his wee that we sometimes forget to ask him if he needed the potty. So there were a few accidents in his toy room. Thankfully he don't dare to have "accidents" in the living room because the carpet in the living room belongs to my brother. He knows that he can't mess around with people's things if we tell him not to. After we came to realise our fault, we started asking him again and this time it's every 2 hours +.

• By day 5, we brought him out to Tesco. Told him he has to tell us if he needs a wee as people will get upset if he wee's in Tesco. He decided to hold for as long as he could and only told us he wanted a wee at home. I've noticed until today that he doesn't like to wee at public places unless we tell him that he's got to go because of long journey. If it's just in town or groceries, he'll hold until we get home. By now we were confident that he can hold his wee for more than 2 hours. So we decided to train him in the toilet. I kept the potty away and everytime he says he wants to go potty, I'd say the potty's upstairs and that we'd have to go to the toilet. After a while, he just asked for the toilet instead of potty.

So that's our potty training journey. After 2 weeks, he can hold his wee for a maximum of 4 hours and we hardly get any wet diapers at night. Until today he's still in diaper during night time just because we've got spare disposable diapers and didn't want to waste it. We call it "special pants" and he knows he can't wee in it or else he will get drenched.

Ok, just so you know we didn't only have 2 or 3 accidents. We probably had about 5-6 accidents at the most. I've come to learn that he have accidents when I am sleeping because he doesn't dare to ask Iskandar to bring him to toilet. One time he also forced himself to wee because he wanted my attention when I was cooking. Other than that, he's doing great! It is difficult at first but don't give up too quickly. Give it a few days and you and your toddler will get the hang of it eventually. ALSO, it's better if the Mothers are control of it until you see the successful point. To be honest, Mothers level of patience is absolutely different to Fathers. Iskandar for example expects Khairaldin to be a professional wee-r by second day. He didn't have the patience. It became slightly difficult because Iskandar was pushy and gets upset when he had accidents. So, Khairaldin became scared of him since he gets told off everytime. As for me, I do get upset when he have accidents but I can tell myself that he's only 2 years old and that I can't expect much from him. After Khairaldin was comfortable with his potty training, he didn't mind going to the toilet with either one of us. So my advice is, make sure only one parent is active in the training and that only one style is being used. Having both parents active during potty training could only confuse the child. Like with Khairaldin, he goes to potty every hour at first so I didn't want Iskandar to accidentally ask him if he needs potty after 30mins because then he will change his routine to every 30mins or so. This doesn't mean Iskandar wasn't part of the training. When I needed to do something myself, I told Iskandar to only ask him at so and so time. This way it kept the ball (or in this case child) rolling at the same pace.

Diaperless big boy on 1st Shawwal :))

I hope this entry has been helpful to you Mommies and Daddies who are planning to potty train. This style might or might not work with all. I tried so many ways with Khairaldin too but one day I came to realise that patience was all that was needed to make the potty training successful. Also, need to know what's their interest if you're planning on giving reward. If you're scared they will just do it for sweets then vary the reward slightly. When we first started, with stickers, it was a downfall from then because he wasn't interested with stickers yet we were trying to impose to him that it stickers are fun. Know your child. Some say wait till they are 'ready', but really, how are you to know when your child is ready to go to the toilet? There's not harm in trying or introducing them with the potty/toilet. If you are determined to diaperless their bottom, Insha'Allah, there will be a way for you too.

All the best to you Mommies and Daddies!!! This will be one of the easiest task we'll have to do for them. Once they are an adult, our task becomes more difficult. Insha'Allah we'll all be able to get through this challenge! :)

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Kabsa Rice Recipe (Nasi Kabsa Resipi)

Two words for Saturday meal: ALHAMDULILLAH SUCCESS!!! At least that is what Hubby complimented. When I cook, I feel everything is just not right. I'm never satisfied with my cooking because I'm just annoying like that. ;) Anyway, I got my recipe from this website. She has A LOT of gooooooooddddd recipes! I can just drool looking at her blog. Since it's in Malay language, I decided to translate her recipe onto my blog. So for my British friends, you guys won't miss out on this yummy food! Do try it out!!

Kabsa Rice in a HUGE pot! NOT ENOUGH!! ;)

Ingredients:

1 kg beef + bones  
(or 1 whole chicken cut into half)
3 cups Basmati rice (wash and soak for 30 mins)
5 cups of hot water
(or you could use the water from boiled beef)
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 tbsp Ghee
1 cinnamon stick
3 cardamoms
3 pieces of cloves
2 onions- diced
3 cloves of garlic- diced
1 big carrot - grated

1 whole tomato- blended 
(I used the canned chopped tomatoes)
2tbsp tomato puree
1 teaspoon yellow/orange food colouring (saffron)
2 tbsp kabsa spices for recipe click HERE
1 whole lemon- make a whole in the middle
(get the most riped lemon as you want it to be sour-est!)
1 red bell pepper- diced
1 tsp black pepper
2 whole red chillies
1/4 cup raisins

Salt & sugar to taste

Method:

1.  If you're using beef, then boil the beef first until soft. Possibly for an hour.
2. Heat oil and ghee. Saute cinnamon stick, cardamom, cloves, onions and garlic until you can smell the aroma.
3. Then, saute the blended tomato, tomato puree, lemon, food colouring and kabsa spices.
4.  Put the beef in with the rest and add salt & sugar. (If you're using chicken, then put the raw chicken in at this stage and leave it in till it's cooked)
5. Once the beef/chicken is cooked, put in carrot, red bell pepper, chilli, raisins and rice. Put in the hot water to cook the rice.
6. Leave the pot closed and make sure you keep stirring every 4-5 minutes so that the rice won't get burnt at the bottom of the pot. 
7. ENJOY YOUR MEAL WITH YOUR LOVED ONES!!!! :))

Hopefully you are able to follow these steps. It's my first time writing out a recipe! Do let me know how you get on with it. If I've missed out any parts or you have better ingredients for the recipe, do leave a comment to share with all of us! Wishing you the best of luck, cooking monsters!!! May your cooking bring you closer to your loved ones....tummy & heart! ;)

 

Oh, in case the rice ain't spicy for your liking, you can make some sauce with it. I didn't try the sauce because I don't really eat spicy food. So this recipe is just nice for my liking. Try this:

Sauce: Blend tomatoes, green chillies, corriander, sugar and salt. Once it's done, squeeze some lemon into it.