Salam Aidilfitri 2015

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

from our growing family to yours!

This year's Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration has got to be the quietest one ever. For one, I was hospitalized just a few days before and in need of bedrest. Good thing my OBGYN was kind enough to give me concession "time off" to be home for a few hours during Hari Raya. 

Not forgetting the fact that I am 36 weeks pregnant at this point (and am way too tired to do much visitations or hosting), whereas the rest of our family decided to pack up and celebrate this year's Aidilfitri overseas.

We still kept with traditions, no matter what. The four of us paid our respects to family members who are no longer with us by visiting their kubur on Raya eve.

On the 2nd day of Raya (July 18, 2015), Kevin and I had a couple of friends over for a simple and yummilicious homecooked dinner, specially prepared by my Masterchef mom, so that our kiddos can have Raya playdate while we adults caught up and ate. 

Although a number of friends were out of town and unable to make it, those who could pop by (with their kids) had a blast that evening. Then it was time for me to head back to the hospital.

Keira's Raya Playdates

When you're expecting and currently at the end of your third trimester, it's not easy to set up playdates these days with friends and their kids. 

Best way to go around that difficulty it is to link it up with other festive occasions, like Hari Raya, for example. Which is exactly what we did today... For this year's Raya Aidilfitri celebration, we had two-in-one playdates set up so that the adults can catch up while the kiddos played.

Bella and her parents arrived first, so they kicked off the playdate. Bella and Keira are about eight months apart, but they have been playing together since she was a few months old ever since their first playdate. Hence, they already share an instant bond and enjoy each other's company, as you can see from the video and photos below.

 

Kieran, Kaira and their parents arrived a little later to continue the playdate with Keira. They too share instant bonds with Keira since they meet regularly and are familiar with each other.

 

Blacked Out and Hospitalized

I blacked out at office earlier today. 

Blacking out all of a sudden at 36 weeks gestation can be a little scary and should not be taken lightly. Which is why it was a good thing a few of my colleagues were around our usually "empty" office today and one of them helped send me to the hospital after I gained consciousness.

The diagnosis - hypertension and high blood pressure, causing the black out. Apparently, I also have some contamination in my urine causing urinary tract infection.

In other words, my body is also signalling me to cut down on my work and stress levels and start taking care of myself better if I want to stick to my all-natural birth plan.

I was immediately admitted for further monitoring and tests, and pushed into one of the labor rooms - strapped to the CTG machine to check on my baby's fetal heartbeat as well as signs of contractions.

Keira Learns To Match Shapes

Keira never fails to amaze us day by day with her learning development.

No one officially taught her about shapes, and yet, she knows how to match the shapes through learning from her educational toys and probably time spent doing online learning on mommy's tab. 

I guess she figured she has had enough practice on her own with the shapes and, earlier this week, decided that she was ready to reveal to us her new self-taught skill. 

Isn't our two-year-old toddler just awesome!?!

Mastering the Art of Taking Selfies

I love that Keira LOVES taking selfies of herself on my Samsung Tab every opportunity she gets. I look forward to finding surprise selfies of her every day.

Truth be told, I am to blame as I was the one who would take wefies with her all the time (since birth!). My bad! But I can't help it... she's just too cute! To miss an opportunity to wefie with her is such a waste, don't you agree?

 

 

Alas, her selfie fascination was unleashed! 

At first, I would find "blank" photos on my phone, of either the ceiling or the walls. Then, it improved - with "half blank" photos and stands of her hair, parts of her face or finger captured on screen.

  

 

But as she gets more daily practice in mastering her selfie shots (and centering herself into the pics), I can see she her perfecting her self-learnt selfie-taking skills... and I absolutely enjoy flipping through her masterpieces captured on my phone.

 

 

Voila, I'm left with super awesome daily doses of surprise selfie shots of my little girl! I could not ask for a better way to help brighten up my day. Keep 'em coming, darling! :)

Keira Eliza Turns 2!

The day has come!! Our little girl turned 2 years old at exactly 11.25pm today. 

At 24 months, she's already given us the happiness to last our lifetime by just being the super awesome little being that she is. She has grown twice as adorable and precious too, don't you think?

Happy 2nd Birthday to the queen of our hearts!

This birthday was not as lavish as her 1st birthday celebration, as we only had a cake and ordered tons of pizza, coupled with a multiple "happy birthday" singalongs - all done at home with just our immediate family. Even then, her 2nd birthday party was filled with just as much love from our entire household. Most importantly, she has a blast cos all the attention was zoomed in on her! :)

There are so many things she loves, Minnie Mouse, Hi-5, WWE, Care Bears, balls, anything pink... Since we have baby #2 coming on the way, and in August last year (when we were in Hong Kong to visit my paternal family) Kevin had made us personalized Liverpool jerseys (with our first names and the number 7 - our lucky number), so it was not hard to settle on a "soccer ball" cake for this birthday so that we can also wear our Liverpool jerseys. We did not know of baby #2 then, so the personalized jerseys are somewhat exclusive to the three of us. And what better timing to do it than this birthday. Next year's birthday, she will be celebrating it together with her adik.

Since my uncle bought her a red 'birthday gown' and gave it to her in the last minute to wear when blowing out her candles, we figured we'd start her off with the dress for a proper birthday for a young lady, then change her into her personalized football jersey for the cake cutting. That way, everyone wins!

Here are some shots of the three of us!

 

Here's Keira with the rest of the family! :)

 

 

She had tons of presents and loved them all. Not only from family; a few of our close friends dropped off some pressies for her too, remembering that it was her birthday! How sweet of all you guys... Thanks everyone :)

Then, it was time to open her presents!

  

 

The night would not be complete if we did not at least try to get a good shot of the three of us from the back so that our names and lucky number can be seen. The only way to get her to remain quiet is to put her amongst her new presents. It was definitely NOT an easy task, but we did it in the end. Check out the snapshots below!