Baby Irfan - 5 months old

My sweetheart turned 5 months old a week ago. Oh how time flies.. Rasa tak puas main dgn Irfan lately sbb I spent most of my time thinking about my career and future. Lately banyak risau pasal layoff, and how to save money and not ove spend, thinking about my career path and our next step sampai lupa yg Irfan is getting bigger every seconds.

But throughout the month banyak jugak bawak Irfan jalan2. We went to Drake Park and took some pictures. We even went to a snow park main2. But kalau nak keluar dalam snow ni boleh keluar kejap2 jela since Irfan kecik lagi. Takut gak kalau dia sakit. But he did really good, tak kena flu ke ape pun.

At 5 months old:
* Irfan will rollover as soon as we put him on his back, follows by a cry. Huhu dia mmg suka betul la golek2. Sometimes pening sgt sbb everytime letak je dia rollover then nangis then we put him on his back again then dia golek balik. Adusss baby mamaaaa...

* Irfan has started doing some chewing movement, that's the sign that he's ready to take solid food

* Irfan dah tak nak breastfeed...sob sob..he likes formula much much better..sedeynye. I'm not producing milk either, sgt sedey. I've been trying really hard but everytime pump, dpt less than 1 oz je. Irfan pulak akan nangis bila try nak breastfeed sbb he's not getting any milk. My supply jadi makin sikit sbb kes layoff etc ni la. I thought I can handle the stress but oh well..

* Irfan dah start tido dlm crib balik...yeay!! And mama and abah get to have some good rest without sharing the bed with baby Irfan

* Irfan cherry hari2 now since dah start solid. He's eating 4-6 oz of formula a day..getting really big

* Irfan sgt comel.. I've never seen him as comel as he is now. Keep kissing him every seconds

* He likes to be out of the house, and he likes to explore and really look at stuff. Sometimes when I cook dia akan tgk food tu mcm nak jump into periuk. Kalau atas meja banyak barang..dia akan tgk barang2 tu mcm interested sgt. I think when he's a little bigger habis la dia mencapai sume barang.

I think that's all for now..I really want to buy Irfan a jumperoo for his 5 months old bday.

Malaysia 2008

Ok lupa pasal nak post gamba time kat Perak. So here are the pictures. Anyway mana nonoi...lama dah tak dgr cite..

At Perak on Akikah day

At Zafir's

At Perak

Big smile for daddy

Irfan the tellitubbies

Before our flight back

Irfan with Onie and tok ayah

Kat airport with cousin ashraff..mata irfan mcm butang cute!!

Grandparents from both sides

Gathering (Amin's Birthday Party)

A few weeks after I came back from Msia, Zurin & I planned for a small get-together dinner. And since Amin's birthday was near and the fact that two Cerner Msians were coming to KC, we decided to invite them and had the gathering on Valentine's Day.

Menu: laksa Johor, ayam masak berempah, nasi minyak, acar timun, karipap & magelek
(Oppsss lupe amik gambar :( )

Sara & her new painted room. Believe it or not, almost everything in that room is pink in color!


Mika yg sgt cumel...

The birthday cake: Strawberry vanilla ice cream cake. Actually, Zurin wanted to make a birthday cake for Amin. Unfortunately, she didn't do it right (I'm not sure what, but the cake basically didn't rise) & she threw everything away :( I think that she was soo upset because she bought a lot of stuffs already, including a cake stand & another cake mold. To make it up, her husband was so nice that he bought an ice cream cake for Amin.

That's the thing about baking cake that I don't like & that's why I don't care to learn. If you screw up with the measurements, or if you don't follow the right technique, or basically if you don't have the $300 Kitchenaid stand mixture, then the cake won't taste as good as it should be. Anyway, I told Zurin, I'll help her some other times when she wants to make a cake :)


Amin was surprised with the cake :) (gotcha!) I think because his birthday was last Monday, and I already wished & sang the birthday song 100ths time to him... hahahaha..

Anyway, to tell you the truth, the birthday part was kinda awkward. Besides the Cerner Msian, kak Emmy & family was there too. I totally forgot that they didn't celebrate birthday. The thing I learnt about Malay Msian here in KC, they don't really invite people for birthday gathering because they don't celebrate birthday (I'm not sure why). So.. only 4 people (including me) sang the birthday song for Amin and I saw him hesitated to blow the candles.. because it felt like we were doing something (singing bday song), but some just sat there and did nothing. Basically this thing felt like half-hearted thing... mcm hambar tau

I personally don't blame them, because I know everyone has their own ways of life... But the reason I love birthday gathering, or any gatherings, is because I feel that this is a family thing to do. Like we appreciate each other company, and I regard everyone like my own family.

Whatever it is, we were very happy to see those people. That's what count.

George Owen Park

Again, very warm weekend last week. We decided to go to Independence MO which is only 30 mins away from home. We didn't have any real plans, just wanted to look around and do something.

First, we went to the Krispie Kreme shop for breakfast. Bought a dozen of donuts & a cup of coffee. What cool about this shop is that we could see the machines operating & watch them making donuts.



Then, we headed to the George Owen Parks. When we got there, this nice gentleman who was in charge of the lodge at that time, showed us a map of the area. We could walk around the trails for sightseeing or we could go hiking. Since I'm not dressed for hiking (I was actually wearing sandals & my pretty tight jeans :S), we decided to try the family trail.

The big lodge

Things that we can do at the park.

Funny thing, Amin wasn't very good at reading the map :S We unfortunately took different route and ended up at the wrong side of the area, so gotta go back and start all over again hahahaha.. but it was a leisure walk (kinda like romantic dating/walking hehehe) and we enjoyed the outing very much :)




Update on today's interview: Overall it was easier than the first screening. He just asked basic questions about my resume & education, so nothing new. He said he'll contact again in a week or two if they select me for the next home office interview. So now just wait and see...

Rambling

I'm sitting on my couch thinking..
Trying to let my brain and imagination do all the work for me
I'm hopeless..
I know that I need to be strong.. for Irfan and the family that I value so much
I never thought that I would have to go through this difficult time
Yet this is the reality of life.. there are ups and down

I'm sitting on my couch thinking..
Everything happened for a reason
And that this might be a turning point
To a whole new joy and adventure
Oh how I wish there is a magical end
To this journey that I'm about to start..

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I dont know why I'm writing this.. tapi rasa mcm best plak huhu. Ni supposely kena tulis resume but tulis ntah pape.

Anyway updates updates..I'm officially going to be unemployed in the next few weeks. Unemployment rate is so skyrocket here in Oregon. I got an offer to work in Independence, 3 hrs away from Gem's place, which is so tempting. But Irfan and Zuhri is my no 1 priority now. I want a career path that that has both my loved ones in the picture..
The only way we can make it work is if zuhri gets to move to Wichita, and I'll be working in Indy. And who's going to take care of Irfan? Mmmm..

Going back to school is not an option for now.. $25k a yr for tuition fee?!$% that's insane
We might wait for green card before we can pursue our post grad dream. Or both of us need to go back to school and get TAship.
I'm so freaked out. I guess this is what happened when you've been in the comfort zone for wayyy tooo looonggg.. *sob sob*

Back in Kansas City

It has been really cold for a few weeks after I came back here. I had sore throat & runny nose from the transition. It took me 2 weeks to be able to sleep at night & not sleeping during the day hohoho..

Kansas City skyline

Now the weather is much better, kinda like spring already. Last weekend on Saturday the temperature went up till 15 celcius. It was warm & sunny day, and we went to a nearby park to see its fountain. If you guys don't know, KC is known as the City of Fountains.. so you can find a lot of them here around the area (and mostly are small ones). 

One funny thing is that you can't really see the fountain these days because it was totally covered with ice, not from the snow, but from the water fountain itself. Here they let the fountain running all year long to avoid the water pipe from bursting.

Random Pictures from Msia visit 2008

Salam people..
I won't narrate all pictures. I'm feeling so down.
Picture say a thousand words, so ni la summary from our visit to Msia. I'll put together pictures at Perak later.
We're so blessed with the company of family and relatives.. I forgot to thank Mak & ayah for the kenduri. Pak lol did a great job with the gathering too. Food were delicious! I'm missing Msia already. I'm sure Irfan feels the same way. Enjoy..

Irfan & cousin Ashraff

My 'new' family at BP

Look at the food! Yummy..

Auntie, E & Irfan

Family Gathering Dec 20 08. All thanks to Pak lol & the cooks (Auntie, Anyah, Gem)

Family & Irfan

Dinner before Gem left for Utara trip

The morning before Gem's utara adventure


At Tg Piai..with the memory of Lalat+monyet huhu


Irfan happy faces at Batu Pahat


Our visit to Kampung


Our last morning at BP *sob sob*


Ayah singing his favorite song 'Tong Ka tong Ka tong'


Auntie Mah, Tok Ayah, Onie, Tok Tie, The parents & Irfan