Iryss turned 2!

 

Dear Iryss,

You turned exactly last month and we are so happy to celebrate

and thankful to have you in our life.

We have three celebrations for you and 

although you will not remember them much, 

we want to capture all those moments and

make you feel the happiest on your special day.

The first celebration was at your school,

and you also celebrated the day with your friend, Aaryan.

Your teachers told us that you and Aaryan are best buddies.

You guys always fight, yet you play most of the time together 

as he is only one day older than you.

We bought a Secret Indulgence cake from Secret Recipe,

as you love chocolate very much.

We also gave each person two packets of Koko crunch 

and a box of chocolate Dutch lady milk;

both are your favourites!

And we gave your teachers @bungawan cotton square hijabs.

We hope they love the tudungs!

(similar to the previous post)

The second celebration was on the 29th of July.

It was also a celebration for all July babies!

Nenda was born on the 12th of July, and Aisyah on the 16th of July 

and Wan Cu on the 21st of July, a day before you!

We celebrated it with my side of the family,

with all my cousins who were much younger than me.

We had food, durians, cakes and a kid pool.

We had bubbles and giant bubbles too!

You enjoyed the day very much, and so did Mama and Abah.

We decorated the garage, and it was all very last minute.

I gave all my cousins something for their late and early birthday gifts.

You received many presents from Atta, Tok Ma, Täti Sya, Mamang, Täti Na and Wan Cu.

I must remind myself to take pictures with Täti Sya, Mamang, Täti Na next time.

Last 19th August,

we celebrated your birthday with Abah's side of the family

and it was a celebration of three of Tok Pa and Genma's grandchildren.

It was Aaqil's birthday on that day,

Kakak Deenah's birthday is on 31st October and

yours was a belated celebration.

The theme was safari, and Ibu had planned everything for the celebration.

I helped out with choosing the decoration, Ibu and Ayah managed all the food,

MySu and Tok Pa cooked sup tulang for the day, 

Pak Lang, MyQa and MySu helped with the decoration too,

while Abah dealt with the contractor outside.

Genma made sure everything was in order and captured all behind-the-scenes moments.

Unfortunately, Alang wasn't feeling well that day, but

you kids only ate when Alang fed you all. 

Poor Alang had to share her food with you all :P

All Genma's siblings and families joined the celebration, and they're super generous 

in giving each of you nice gifts and money.

Thank you, NySu, Tok Su, Uncle Zhafran, Uncle Haziq, Aunty Pina, 

Tok Andak, Aunty Pia and Tok Yang

for the gifts and celebrating Deenah, Iryss and Aaqil.

Iryss,

Mama wants to highlight two profound moments that happened that day.

#1

When we were decorating, 

you were so excited as I assembled the balloons to make them into an arch.

When Pak Lang helped to hang the balloon arch on the wall,

you got more excited and impressed with the balloon arch.

The excitement made you say to me,

"Good job, Mama! Good job!"

with two thumbs up!

I was so happy at that moment,

you appreciated the efforts, and you were so happy with the results.

Thank you, Iryss, for appreciating the people around you.

#2

You had a nap for two hours before the cake-cutting session.

When we sang the happy birthday to you song three times,

because there were three of you,

you had a funny reaction of looking so heartless.

You didn't show any emotion for a while,

more like confused, or you had so many emotions at a time

that you didn't know how to express them.

Everyone had a good laugh at your reaction.

Everything was back to normal when you had your cake haha!

Iryss,

you'll grow up being a thoughtful, loving, caring,

kind, courageous, brave and wise lady.

You taught us so much about love,

patience, determination and strength.

We love you so much and will do everything for you.

May Allah bless you with everything good for you,

protect you from everything bad for you,

and May Allah suffice you.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Happiest 2nd birthday to my firstborn, Iryss.

Iryss had a small celebration at school with a Secret Recipe cake (chocolate indulgence, always)

and we prepared two packs of Koko Crunch and a box of chocolate milk for all her schoolmates.

We also prepared a piece of @bungawan tudung for each of her teachers.

If you know me well enough, 

you know I love celebrations!

I love preparing for the door gifts, food and everything.

But I told myself not to overdo anything this year because

last year was a huge celebration.

Simplicity at its best,

and, most importantly, pocket-friendly.

Iryss has grown to be such a kind and clever girl.

She understands most of the words we say; she can say most basic words, like,

"Mine!"

"No!"

"Please...."

"Thank you!"

"Tasheh (Terima Kasih)"

"Together, sama-sama"

"Share"

"Sakit ke?"

"Nak makan"

"Eat"

"Mama buat apa tu?"

My favourite of all, 

"Aww thank you, mama!"

When she thanks you with an aww at the beginning,

it means she's really appreciative of your gestures.

And yes, I still breastfeed her at night.

She's a girl with a stance.

She knows what she wants,

she's always certain about her choice, and she always sticks to what she believes in.

For example, this one morning, when she saw her Abah was praying on my prayer mat

while she was half-awake, she said,

"Abah! Tu mama punya! Abah, stop. Abah, pray outside!"

Because I always pray in the room, my husband sometimes prays in the hall cause I usually have assignments to settle and I have to shut the door, or else Iryss would not let me focus.

When I tripped or accidentally injured myself,

Iryss would come to me with so much love and empathy,

"Mama sakit ke? Iryss hug. Iryss kiss. (Ke)siannn, Mama"

She's super caring. She's the best firstborn I could ever ask for.

I thank Allah every day, every night, for lending me Iryss in this world.

I make dua to Allah, so I can spend more time with her in this world, 

and may Allah reunite us again in heaven.

For everything she does, she reminds me that she's mirroring us.

The way we speak, the way we behave, everything.

She's mirroring us, the parents, every kid she meets at her school, her teachers, and her surroundings.

She's mirroring her environment.

We as parents, as much as we want to protect her from all the evil in this world,

we can only do our best.

This a gentle reminder for myself,

to protect, guide and always be there for my Iryss.

Iryss, if you ever encounter my blog when you know how to read and surf the net,

please know that I love you so so much!

You're not celebrating your wins enough

The third semester of my master's degree was no joke. 

The ride is getting tougher, not easier. 

I’m jealous of seeing all my friends who are pursuing their masters abroad 

because they’re having the time of their life.

UiTM is tough. 

I salute all UiTM graduates because the assessments require hard work and deep understanding. 

You have to be fully committed to ace. 

As a full-time working mother of 1, 

I struggled last semester, and I foresee things not gonna change. 

I will still struggle this final semester.

May Allah bless all my lecturers for their dedication, 

understanding and supports, and because so far, the classes are still online (which I appreciate most!), 

I could hear their babies crying in the background. 

They have their own struggles and yet still do their best. 

That gave me a hard slap. Why couldn’t I?

I took study leaves when I was drowning with assignments and tests, 

I didn’t mind spending my annual leaves on my study.  

I had to do what I had to do. 

The amount of time my daughter and my whole family fell sick throughout the semester.

When I had to defend my proposal, I had conjunctivitis. 

I was so stressed out. You had no idea how many times I forced Pan to listen to me rehearsing. Alhamdulillah, all praises to Allah, 

the defence went well, and they accepted my proposal with minor comments. 

Yes, it's not perfect; it still needs improvement, but I’m glad it went well. 

One of the examiners mentioned that I sounded like a news reporter. I hope in a good way, haha!

March 10, they announced our results online and for the first time in a long time, I got all As! 

All As! 4.0!!! I’ve never gotten a 4.0 before! 

My husband was the first to know, and I was so happy that day! 

And I know this was not because of my hard work 

but the prayers and sacrifices of so many people around me.

Especially my husband,

who has to listen to my rants,

my crying sessions, my rehearsals,

my ideas, my complaints,

who has to take care of Iryss on weekends during my classes,

at night after work, because I have assignments to complete.

I love him so much!

My parents and parents-in-law for the moral support,

for taking care of Iryss on weekends when we're exhausted,

for keep pushing me to the limit,

for encouraging me and, most importantly, for their endless prayers.

My Tok Mak, for being the most feminist woman I know,

for believing a mother could achieve anything her heart desires.

For always telling me to dream high, work hard, and pray harder to achieve those dreams.

To my siblings for making me push myself harder because 

I want them to know that they can achieve more than I do.

Family > anything!

Sounds like a graduation speech over there, but I realised I didn't celebrate my wins enough.

So, today, after the second week of my final semester,

I realise if I didn't celebrate my wins,

I didn't do justice to myself.

To dear self who had to stay up late and wake up early to study and finish up assignments,

who had to breastfeed a child while having another hand typing on keyboards,

who had to work late during peak season yet needed to squeeze time in between for research proposals,

who had to stay healthy even you got so sick because 

dear self, you're doing 4 major jobs -- a wife, a mother, s student and a worker.

Pat yourself at the back.

Tell yourself that you're proud of yourself.

You can achieve what your heart desires.

Believe in yourself even if you're belittled and doubted by your own little mind.

Congratulations, Aliah!

For getting a 4.0 in one of the toughest semesters of your Master's degree.

You deserve to celebrate your wins!