My BBstore: Online Shopping Spree

I noticed most online baby shops are having sales until mid April. This is good because I still have a few items in my checklist that needs to be completed. That means, I can shop at a cheaper price without having to go to the store. *heaven*

I clicked on My BBstore the other day to buy a few stuffs. Yes, I just put four items into my shopping cart in the morning and later in the afternoon, they sent me an e-mail saying that the items have been shipped. As usual, I received them the next day, right on my doorstep. Super efficient delivery from Taqbin!

The big box is finally here!

From JJ Cole Collections. Reversible Body Support (RM69) and Diapers Caddy (RM99). These are the cheapest in town, trust me! Wheeeeeee! 

NUK Silicone Orthodontic Soother (RM22.80) and The First Years Digital Thermometer (RM26.91).

I make sure all these items exceeded RM200 in a single billing so I can apply its free shipping to my package. Hahaha kedekut nak bayar shipping pun berkira. Ppfftttttt!

Btw, I'll make a separate entry about those JJ Cole items real soon. So stay tuned!

House Renovation: Week Three

The third week of our construction work is progressing well. Most of the indoor renovation is almost settled. They just need to clear up the debris, clean the floor and do some touch-ups for the wall and such. For now, they're currently working on the porch and putting new glass for the front windows.

We spent so much this week. As I said, we have foreseen the hidden costs prior to this renovation works. This week alone, we spent bucks to buy tiles for porch and the kitchen wall. We also purchased new lamps, fan and stove to be installed for the new house. But that doesn't include payments for grill, bathroom/toilet utensils and other small items. Dizzy!

Here's a summary of pictures of the current progress for this week:

The mess at the front of the house. They're currently working on the steps, cement and later, will put on new floor tiles and glass for windows. Oh, new coat of paint as well.

The painting job for dining hall and master bedroom is done! All they need to do now is just clean up the floor and install new lamps.

The modern kampung concept for the bathroom and toilet is almost completed. They need to repair the pipes and whatnots before we can coat the walls with gloss paint and install some bathroom accessories. 

The back of the house is spacious. For the time being, this will be our laundry/drying area. Still waiting for the metal door to arrive and need to so some cleaning job and touch-up for the paint as well.

They still have another two weeks to meet our deadline. So far, everything is on track. Hopefully by next week, we can see newly installed grill, kitchen cabinet and the porch area in complete form.

Manjaku: Online Shopping Spree

Every month, our family will make a monthly visit to the grandma's house in Bangi. Always on the way to her house, I saw this big green shoplot, selling baby stuffs. Sometimes they have a big sale too, from what I observed when they set up some canopies outside their premise. I am married at that time and never cared much about the existence of the shop since I'm not pregnant.

And now I'm expecting, really I make an effort to finally stroll into the shop just to see what's inside. Manjaku is really not disappointing at all. They carry a wide range of baby items. Even Munchkin items, which is hard to find except in some fancy stores, are sold there. They have everything I wanted in my baby checklist but sadly, they don't have any discount yet. I went home empty-handed but contented after seeing the store.

Few days later I went online and stumbled upon their online shop, and they do have discounts specially made for online purchase. Okay, ini sudah bagus! Without much hesitation, I went shopping like mad at midnight on Sunday (hahaha!) and two days later, my parcel arrived at 10am. Since I purchased more than RM200 in a single receipt, I was entitled to its free shipping via CityLink. Yeayyyyy!

The box from Manjaku. I was having a hard time to open the package because it's securely plastered with tapes. Hahaha!

So what did I buy to complete the checklist? Nothing major, just a few things that I think necessary for the baby, or at least for me.

The Munchkin products that I've been eyeing for. Munchkin Big Brush (RM23.31) and Munckin Inflatable Duck Tub (RM89.91). Waayyyyyy cheaper than in Robinsons.

NUK products for me. Finally there's something for Mummy. Hehehe. NUK Silicone Nipple Shield in size M (RM26.10 for 2pcs) and NUK Ultra Dry Breast Pads (RM36 for 3 boxes).

Baby care items from The First Years. Medicine dispenser (RM11.61), nail clipper with magnifier (RM13.41) and nasal aspirator (RM8.91). 

Newborn lovenest pillow from BabyMoov (RM49.50). I've been looking for this item everywhere but couldn't find any until I saw one at Baby Manja. I ordered the red color but they ran out of stock and only left with cream color. Ok, fine. BabyMoov pillow is known to allow baby to keep a nice, round head shape. More info here. 

Most of the items above were on 10%-20% discount. Eventho it's not much but still, I don't have to waste my time to go to its store, use my petrol money and pay for the toll to get these items. Plus, I get to shop in the comfort of my own house, in pyjama and at midnight. So why go through all the hassle when these can be delivered to me free of charge? Talking about the bliss of online shopping. Hehehehe...

House Renovation: Week Two

Syukur Alhamdulillah! I cannot be more than thankful now, seeing the progress of our major construction. The workers are a wonder, they're quick! I went to the site for a straight 2 days and every other day, there must have been something new everytime we drop by.

I will share my contractors info and details once the house is completed. And whether they are recommended or not, based on my personal point of view and experience. For the time being, let's just do with the current updates on the house.

The major works for our living hall. Previously, the entrance is through sliding doors. We took them off, installed new 3-panel windows and set up a new 1-door entrance at the side.

The outside/front look of the house. The day we went, they already built the wall and window holes. The next day, they removed the old zinc awning and started to work on the wood awning. Yeay!

The bathroom and separate toilet. Once they installed the new toilet bowl and sink, we just realized that we still have ample space left for the bathroom. Aaaagggggg! We need to change the doors and coat the walls with gloss finish. Dizzy!

The new window for the third room at the back of the house.

The new black tiles have been installed, together with the new window. They just need to do another paint job and install new wall tiles, then the cabinet people will come and set up the new kitchen cabinet.

We received mixed reviews on the chosen wall colors from people who have visited the house. I admit the colors are too strong and yes, sometimes they do look like a splash of kindergarten colors. Haha but I kept ground and won't change the colors because I believe in my choice, no matter how fugly they are. 

This is really a major construction. We know we have some minor and hidden costs prior to this construction. This includes new fans, lighting, furniture, bathroom appliances and the list goes on. I'm in dire need of donation! For the time being, baby preparation is currently on hold. Oh, sedihnyeeeeeee!

I Love Enfamama!

I'm a big fan of milk. In fact, I still drink milk from the bottle up till I was 9 years old. Yes, my mom said I'd better quit or else people will talk about me. It was quite a struggle at that time, you know. When people came over to the house, I have to hide my milk bottle behind the door because I'm ashamed to admit that I'm still drinking milk with teats. Hahaha.

After I was successfully separated from my milk bottle (what a hard time!) because I have my brother at 10 years old, I drank milk occasionally. I felt the taste is kinda awful if you pour your milk powder in a cup than in the bottle. I was quite a chubby when I drink from the bottle and when the transition went to glass or cup, I kinda lost weight (not much, actually).

Soon, I started to ditch my loyalty from Nespray Milk Powder to the usual fresh milk. I have been drinking fresh milk for God-knows-how-long until I forgot what it tastes like to drink milk powder again when I'm pregnant now. I looked up on Google on which brand is better than the other to purchase. In Malaysia, I soon to know that the most famous brands are Anmum and Enfamama.

My sister swears by Anmum, some of my friends too but I heard people said that it can make your baby grows bigger. Complication would be during labour because you have to deliver a big baby. Haha. Okay, I don't want to have a very big baby. The baby's health is my main priority now. So yeah, I opted for Enfamama after reading good reviews about it. Especially on how it develops your baby's brain in the early stage, and they fully supported breastfeeding. I realized this because they don't have baby formula for until the baby is 2 years old, but they compensate it with milk powder for breastfeeding moms. Good.

Enfamama A+ in vanilla and chocolate

My first purchase was the old plain boring vanilla flavored milk. I made the milk as usual. 4 spoons of powder mix with lukewarm water. But somehow, no matter how gazillion times I stir it, there will still be lumps of milk powder floating on top of the drink. Disgusting and the taste is yucky! But for the growth of my baby, I made the sacrifice and swallow it with a big gulp. See baby, mummy is willing to do anything for you just as long as you come out healthy, smart and happy. Amin.

After a while, I can accustomed to the lumps of milk powder everytime I make my drinks. And one fine day, when I was too sick and too lazy to drink the milk, I just decided to mix the milk powder with cold water (room temperature) and boy, that was the greatest invention ever! Much to my surprise, the lumps were completely gone when you mix it with plain cold water. And it tastes good too. You can finally taste the vanilla. Heaven.

Then, I got bored with the vanilla because after a while I got sick of the smell and I changed to chocolate flavor. The chocolate flavored milk is the best. I become a happy consumer because it's so good I can gulp them down on any given minute. Hahaha.

So far, I have no problems with Enfamama. I know it's quite pricey but I just want the best, at least for me it is. I can just pray and hope that this milk will benefit my baby the most. Insya Allah.

Beatrix NY Little Kid Backpack

One thing that I totally forgot is buying a diaper bag for the baby. I know it's too early to buy everything now but I know I'll be too busy starting next month until my due date, with house moving, packing, chores, work and such. I think it's no harm to stock up early, just in case. At least when all the main things are settled, I can crossed off a few things off my mind. What an ease!

My initial plan is to just recycle my old big (hand)bags and converting them into diaper bags. Talking about saving costs! But then, I went online and saw many designs of cute diaper bag, being me, decided to forgo the cost-saving idea and went ahead on a shopping spree. Hahaha.

I have a soft spot on anything related to animals. I love pandas to bits but it's hard to find a cute, good size panda bag/backpack to be converted as a diaper bag. Then I saw a bunch of owl designs on the internet and since then was hooked on anything related to owls. One of them is Beatrix NY Little Kid Backpack.

This collection is currently a favourite in Hollywood. They do come in various animal design. Apart from backpacks (which comes in two sizes), they even have matching lunch bags/boxes, trolley bags and water bottles for kids. I don't know if you can get this bag anywhere else out there (do tell me if you happen to stumble upon it) but I knew there's a shop in Bangsar Village which sells Beatrix NY: Creatures of the Forest collection for RM149.90, if I'm not mistaken.

The Forest collection. I heart the owl backpack!

The complete range of the owl design, minus the water bottle.

I really got the itch to search for this bag online and when I finally found one, I was so happy and didn't think twice, just paid for it. And thanks to the excellent service by Poslaju, the bag arrived at my doorstep the very next day after I made the purchase.

The parcel from Supermak Shop.

Yeay! The Owl Little Kid Backpack.

The original tags. The owl's name is Papar. There's a brief story of her written at the back of the tag.

The overall look of the backpack. It has the smoothest surface on the front and I love the embroidered owl.

The back of the bag is stitched with a Beatrix label, where you can write your kid's name and your contact number.

I love the simplicity of this bag. Can't wait to stuff all the baby items in this backpack. Hewhewhew.

House Renovation: Week One

We are so grateful to finally have a place to call home. Plus, it's a land house, the one we've been dreaming of since we planned to start a family. And no no, we didn't buy a brand new house either. With our salary, even combined is still won't allowed us to own a house. You do know how expensive it is to buy a real estate now. *sighs*

The house that we have is actually an old one, a single storey and kinda spacious, belongs to my FMIL. It's more than 20 years old, even my husband used to stay there for a few years when he was a kid, so you can imagine how in dire state it's currently in. For the time being, we'll be continue paying the lease/rental at family's price. Thank God as it helps a lot! But someday, in 5 years time maybe (when we're in a really really stable financial condition), we're going to buy the house from my FMIL and change it to our name. *prays hard*

Looking for a contractor to start the construction work on the house was a headache. We have shortlisted a few candidates after looking into the budget and time frame. Mind you, we have a very limited finance to construct an old house to a comfortable place to live in, so budget constraint is number one problem. We finally resorted to these freelance Indonesian workers after seeing their works and how our budget suits their fees.

Since these workers are working on their own, we have made a very strict and clear instructions and what to do's and don'ts. We gave them a month to settle the interior construction and another couple of week to settle the exterior works. And we do make a compulsory visits on the site about 2-3 times a week to check on the progress. Alhamdulillah, so far everything is going well and works the way we want them to be, only faster. I'm so happy on seeing the progress.

The living hall. We installed a simple plaster ceiling and it was done a day after we requested for it. Super fast!

The dining hall with high ceiling and sun-roof windows.

The master bedroom, still in the midst of painting. Color in aqua blue.

The second bedroom, with high ceiling and sun-roof windows. The baby nursery will be in here. Room is painted in salmon pink.

The third room. It's in mint green. Just in case the baby is a boy, then the nursery will be in here. Haha!

The kitchen. Waiting for them to install new tiles then kitchen cabinet will follow suit. 

The bathroom in gloss cement. We're planning to put a seated toilet bowl. Hoping the outcome to be just as what we have imagined.

The toilet. We're going to put a seated toilet to replace the old one. 

The back area. It's really spacious outside. Because of budget restrictions, we have to postpone our initial plan to expand the kitchen and can only do with just building a concrete wall, put on cement floor and set up a simple awning. This will be our washing/drying area.

I guess that's all the updates on the house for the first week. Can't wait to see the second week progress. We can only hope that the construction works can be done earlier than we expected. Now back to the packing process in our old flat. I just realized we have a lot of unnecessary things at home. It's time to do some wardrobe cleaning and charity, yo!

Baby Binder & Swaddle Blanket

It's heaven staying at home without thinking of work. Stress free! And the best part is when the husband gives you extra pocket money for just nothing. I'm so grateful for that. *love you, hubs!* Of course, I'll be using the money for good use. You know what I mean with good use, right? Yes, shopping for baby stuffs. Hahaha! I bought so many things within a short period of time, he eventually forgot the last time I purchased anything. I was so excited to show him the purchases last night and all I got was just a simple reply "comelllll..." while he kept on tapping on the iPad. Huh! Haruslah jawab comel kan kalau tak nak kena bebel dengan wife die ni nanti. Hehe gile saiko!

We're lashing out our whole lotta fortune in renovating our home sweet home and installing new furniture starting this month onwards, and that's the reason I started preparing my baby stuffs much earlier. Will set up a few posts on the progression of our house later. Super excited!

For the time being, I, being a good wife, just stay at home the whole day and start clicking on items to be added into the baby's collection.

 I was eagerly waiting for this parcel to arrive. Finally, it has! Let's see what's inside...

Purchases from My Baby Comel. 3x swaddle blanket and 15x baby binder (5pcs each in size S,M & L - all with strings). RM128 inclusive shipping.

I was tempted to buy these after reading posts and reviews from bloggers who bought these for their babies. The workmanship is neat and they have cute prints to choose from. But be quick because as usual, the best fabrics will be sold out faster than you can imagine.

My Pregnancy Progress : 5 Months

As usual, I went for my monthly antenatal check-up at KK Puchong. My appointment was scheduled at 8am and by 9.10am, I'm done. Yes, I spent roughly an hour at the clinic. Boy, that was the fastest record for me. I really can't believe it. Even my husband who accompanied me, expected the procedure to last a few hours and was surprised. Eh, dah habis ke? Haha. Kudos to the staffs at KK Puchong. You guys are the best lah!

My second buku pink. I lost the first one after I misplaced it somewhere. I can be so irresponsible at times. The nurse kept reminding me to take care of the new book after this. Huhuhu sorry, nurse!

So what's the progress like being in the middle of the second trimester? I noticed there are a few changes incurred to me during this 5 month pregnancy such as:

• I can only consume food in small quantity and frequently, about half portion every 2-3 hours.
• My bowel works perfectly, saying that I make sure to make a rigorous trip to the toilet every morning.
• I guess that explains why I just gained 500gm this month. That makes me weighed at 57.5kg only. The nurse explained to me that I should gain 2kg every month for a healthier pregnancy. Okay, will start eating more next time.
• I have this awful pelvic pain if I walk, sit on the floor or stand for a long time. More so if I wake up from sleep. The pain is unbearable.
• The baby is most active during night time, when I'm about to sleep and during early morning. Oh not to forget, when I'm hungry too. Hahaha.
• My tummy usually starts to stiffened around evening until later at night.
• I have trouble sleeping. My sleep cycle now lasted for 6 hours only. I always wake up in the morning around 3-4 am and don't sleep until later at night.
• I must cushioned a pillow to support my back when I sit, be it at home or in the car.
• I like to dress up, look good and pretty when I go for outings now.
• I can't stop shopping online (is that even a progress???).

And just for an update, here's the latest snippets of me currently at 5 months pregnant:

Shopping with my younger sister at The Curve last night. Top from Kitschen, maternity pants from Mydin, flats from Timberland and bag from Coach.

The bump is visible now but it's not too protruding. I can still wear normal S/M size clothes. In fact, I don't go buy any maternity clothes at all because I can still fit into my old ones. Plus, maternity clothes are sooooo fugly and outdated. The only maternity wear that I bought is a pair of pants from Mydin. Yeah, they're so comfy and it's only RM39.90. Wayyyyyyyyy better than the over-rated Modern Mum and all those maternity wear outlets. *happy*

Revealed: Kekabu Bedding Set

Hi! Okay, I'm totally flipped today. Remember my post on this? Haha! Yes, I have made my choice for the kekabu bedding set. Based on my personal view, kekabu beddings can last longer, seeing the nearest example of my grandmother's. She still have her two kekabu matresses, they're a hit everytime Raya comes because they're very cooling, everybody wants to sleep on them eventho they're quite heavy to carry around. And they still look good even after 3 generations! Phewwwwww!

After a few selections listed (cewah!), I finally decided to buy the baby bedding set from BantalKabu, an established Malay company based in Parit Raja, Johor. I received the big parcel a day after payment was made, on a Saturday morning. Super fast and efficient delivery from GDEX.

Very neat packaging. It comes with a poly bag for easier storage and carriage. Really can't wait to tear off the plastic covers and reveal what's inside. Teehee!

 Yeay! The ever-so-bright animal print, cotton material from IKEA. It looks much nicer upfront with yellow piping along the hems. Bedding set consists of a mattress, 2 pillows, 2 bolsters and all covers. RM190 inclusive shipping.

I 'm extremely excited with this bedding set. Feels like want to sleep on it right on and use it for my own use. Haha! Thumbs up to BantalKabu for their very courteous replies. Please like their Facebook page and visit their website for more prints and updates. 

3D/4D Scan

I did my scan every month during my antenatal checkup, just to make sure my baby is in good condition and to check whether there are any abnormalities with my pregnancy. When my baby is at 20 week, I decided to do the first 4D scan. I even plan to do the second 4D scan when my pregnancy reach its 7 month.

I did the scan at PJ Women Specialist Clinic in SS2. I made booking 2 days prior to the scan day. Everything is easy. Booking can be made online here. It's best to choose your appointment time early in the morning, to avoid the crowd and long waiting period. 

My appointment was scheduled at 9am on Saturday morning but being a typical me, I woke up late on that day. I called up the sonographer and rescheduled my appointment and she was willing to accommodate me at 11am slot.

PJ Women Specialist Clinic

The clinic is on the same row as Affin Bank and the police station quarters, facing the main road and the many bridal house boutiques. You won't miss its bright blue signage. We arrived at the clinic around 10.30am, registered and paid RM100 for the scan. Had to wait about 20 minutes before my name was called. Jess, the sonographer is a young, friendly lady. She answered all our questions and obliged to all our requests. You can ask her anything about the baby, scanning is very detailed and the best part is she tried very hard to show us the baby's face. Hehehe.

I received 2 copies of 2D pictures and a CD after the scan, containing 4D images of the baby and some short clips of the baby's movements.

The tiny foot! Wheeeeeeeee!

The many faces of the baby. Haha.

According to the sonographer, since my pregnancy is just at 20 week, the baby still look a bit skinny because she just started to build up fats. But it's okay because we'll surely come back again for another scan. The baby is in good health, weighing at 300gm and everything is perfect, so far. Alhamdulillah. And one thing we noticed, she has my nose. Typical hidung kembang hokeh! I'm a proud mama. Haha.