My new SLK

New paint I mean! We do not have the budget to change for a new car and definitely not planning to change for a new one in the next few years. Very unlikely since we always seems to spend whatever exra cash we have on ... .... The money just vanishes everytime the pay check comes in. Whoooshh. Gone. The paint on my SLK  is peeling off and if we do not do anything about it, I will have a rustic car soon.

Ooh, i got it painted at 50% discount. Good deal, maybe?
Well, hopefully it (the paint) will last for another 5 years at least..

Here's my Small Little Kelisa in grey!

Will we survive without helper?

We defnitely will, keeping fingers crossed.  Decision has been made. The maid has really stepped overboard this time. She has tested our patience to the max. Enough is enough. This is final. . 

No doubt she has been a great helper in certain ways. But she has overstepped and been taking things for granted for the past 18 months. Every month, she would complained not feeling well, breaking things at least once on average. She has selective hearing and memory. I have to remind and instruct her DAILY on her tasks. I feel like I am becoming her PA in some ways, cleaning up when she didn't complete her tasks. Oh, and she must have her daily afternoon naps too. Else, we would be seeing a zombie in the house.

Even after making the decision to send her off, both hubby and I were quite hesitant in our ways. She is here to earn a living afterall. Or maybe she has taken lightly to our warnings. scoldings, advises and whatever it is. We have been hard and soft on her. Nothing seems to work. My MiL even allowed her to take a break when my MiL herself does the house chores. She is pampered in my eyes! She is not grateful and even told my relatives that she deserved her naps, gifts and whatever not. We didn't really want to have such an ending.

So, the day has finally come for us to send her to the agency. We didn't tell her much but just instructed her to pack her clothes from my in-law's. I inspected her bag, which is just a day or two days' supply of clothes and drove her there. I believe she knew that she is being sent off. Reach the agency, signed some documents, stated the reasons for terminating the contract and off I went. I believe reality sink in on her when the agent scolded her, interogating her. The agents sure have their way to speak to them. The lies we have been fed. Till now, we are not sure how she got her handphone. I sympathise her for having to pay so much for her flight ticket to work here (7.5 months!!) and the time away from her family. If only she behaved well, attitude right.. if only.

Things I found when I went back home to her room to pack her stuff. Extra handbags, bracelets, trinkets, blings blings.. Come on! You are not going anywhere to see any prince charming. Why do you need them? And who gave these to you? Did you earn them by washing some extra clothes from my relatives??? Oh well, it doesn't really matter now. Jaga diri baik-baik, those were my last words to her. Gave her some extra cash and didn't deduct her salary for breaking our things, I hope we gave her a good working experience as her first working place in Malaysia.

Back into the world of washing toilets, ironing clothes, floors...

Testing my patience

How does one feed a 1yo toddler? It is quite a task to feed her now. With her not sitting still, she is driving me mad everytime. Maybe I should strap her down to the chair and let her bawl. But then, there will be a risk of her throwing up too if she cries too long. I will then be very upset if all my hardwork is vomited out! And the stress of knowing empty tummy in lil' missy petite body. How to grow??!!

I've seen parents used dvd player, tv and now ipad to keep them entertained. I am refraining until, until...

As for now, this is my tactic (Have I shared this before?) Well, I don't remember and if I did, take a look of how she has grown to be a cheeky monyet (monkey). She's 13mo here.


Posing before realizing that she's stuck

With her smiling..

Her legs can't reach the floor and so can't find a footing to get away from the stool..

Crying, the next!

I love this stool. It is very expensive, RM 30 for one but we don't get to see it available anywhere now. It's like a dying art. Got this in Melaka, and will buy a few more if I have the chance to go down.

Sheep :)

There was once we were out and she had not had any nap throughout the day. What do you think we have then? A super cranky with no appetite baby with us! Gosh, it was so hard to feed her then. And I succumbed (which is a good thing) to letting her feed herself. Let not the food go to waste. At least, she gets to practice some eye and hand coordination.

The messiest ever! Wait till we have art session with her..

Do you share the same madness to handle? How do you overcome the challenge? How do you feed an active toddler?.. without the mess. Sorry, still not so ready to clean up the mess. Sigh..

Lil' Missy turns ONE

Lil' missy, the apple of our eyes

We were quite hesitant to host any party for lil' missy. We are L.A.Z.Y. Imagine the amount of time needed to plan, food especially since I don't cook, WHO to invite, BUDGET... but we relented. We are thankful not just for her, but to the people around us, supporting us. Truly, we wouldn't be able to stay sane in this transitional period in our lives if not for the support we have. And, decided to host a small party at our humble abode. We had her fullmoon in a japanese restaurant. So, this time, we wanted to test our place a lil' bit.

Food, a pain! I don't can't cook and definitely not for a big group. I don't like to order from catering either as the menu doesn't look tempting. Besides, we don't meet the minimum headcounts due to limited space, and hence short guests list. I would prefer to cook if I could but I wouldn't want my guests to lose their appetite. Stress, stress! And then, I remember her! Tasted her food from a friend's party and defenitely recommend Azlin! If I ever going to have another party, I do not have to worry anymore except to watch out for Ramadan. I almost change the date to accommodate her since she doesn't cater during fasting month. Understandable. But since she has been so kind to prepare 2 main dish, I quickly accept the offer. I sourced from other places to fill in the rest of the menu. Of course, I also took the chance to introduce my lo-mai-chi. Since carbo and meat are well taken care of, I just need to prepare some salads (vege), fruits and drinks. Dessert, the birthday cake of course! Looks like complete menu. eh? Thank God that the party turned out well.

The post will not be complete without a picture of the cake. Since we didn't spend on a wedding cake during our wedding, I wanted one for lil' missy. So, here it is.

The orange and chocolate cake. Yummy, thanks Shing!

We also dedicated lil' missy on that day too!

Western cuisine for the day

I love mushrooms!! And naturally, it will be one of lil' missy's meal too. And she had an whole egg today too! Something different today unlike the usual porridge. Seriously, I wonder if she's ever bored with fish and porridge. Maybe I shouldn't even need to worry about it so long she's eating. I don't even want to think the time she'll turn to be a fussy eater, with her petite size.

Today, she had egg, potato sandwich for lunch. It would be yummy (for me at least) if there isn't any cheese or butter. I don't like cheese and butter just in case you wonder why. As for dinner, she had creamy mushroom pasta. And I would have walloped all the mushroom soup if there're salt and pepper in it. It tasted soooo bland except for the mushrooms. We, parents prepare the best as we could for them don't we.

And did she like it? Not sure... She didn't take much of the bread, About 1 whole piece. Maybe it is filling as well since there are so much of carbo from the bread and potato. As for the pasta, I can't say either as she was a bit cranky. All because of the 2 hours nap for the whole day and that has been the average hours of naps for the past few days. If you're sleepy, you won't have much appetite too right? And she has finished almost all the pasta except a few spoonful. Will see when I cook her western food again. In case you want to know the recipe of the creamy mushroom soup, here it is.