The Little Ones Went On A Field Trip

The DFA-Daycare Center Kids went to the newly renovated National Museum of Natural History  last week and guess who's excited? 

FIRST BUS RIDE SHE CAN'T STOP TALKING ABOUT IT

NOPE. Not the kids. It was MEEE even though I can't be with them! Hahaha! I've been meaning to visit the National Museum since two years ago, but I don't know, it's not on our must-visit list. Maybe because its very near that we don't put it on our priority list? Because that's life, we often take for granted the things that is already laid in front of us. Naks! Back to the kids, so when Teacher Faye informed us that the kids are going on a field trip to the museum, I got excited for them! :) 

HAPPY TO BE IN A DIFFERENT KIND OF VEHICLE. I'M PRETTY SURE SHE HAS NO IDEA WHERE SHE'S HEADING. LOL.

Buti pa mga anak ko, nakapunta na ng National Museum. Haha!

DFA-DCC KIDS

LOLONG. He was labeled as the biggest crocodile, I wonder why he's not in the CONGRESS. Ooooppsss... 

"INA, NAKITA KO ANG EAGLE!!"

Miss Carry-Me-Ama

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We'll visit more museums when you grow up, my loves. In shaa Allah.. 

"INA, MAY ELEPHANT DIN. LAKI!!"

Fatherhood. 

Grateful to this man for everything he is doing for me and the kids. He accompanied them to the museum even though he can opt not to since we have a helper to look after the kids. Alhamdulillah. 

Oh how I love collecting beautiful memories of my little ones, I know they will appreciate it when they grow up. In shaa Allah. Though I rarely post their faces on social media, I have private albums in my Facebook account that is dedicated to their growing up years which I love to reminisce about even though it was only 2-3 years ago. Haha! My daughters will never be this small again so I smooch them with kisses and hug them as often as I can before they start to need me less than they do these days. Aaaaww...  

Amreen Nurlailah (Part II)

This post is a bit too late but for my Amreen Nurlailah, there's no such thing as too late. Lol! To my Amreen who might be reading this in the future, I'm apologizing as early as now. You know how busy Ina is these days. I left you at home, cuddled and kissed you goodbye while your Kaka Yamyam is still sleeping, and off I went on a Saturday duty. All our sacrifices will eventually pay off, in shaa Allah. Know that your Ina misses you every second of the day and would still want to cuddle and kiss you all the time if only time permits, but right now, I'm temporarily finding comfort in looking at your baby photos. MashaaAllah Alhamdulillah...

My Amreen is 19 months as of writing time. Alhamdulillah I was able to capture so many baby photos since I know that my baby will never be this small again. 

 

At 1 week old. 

  

At 1 month old.

 

At 2 months old. Look at those tiny feet! I used to kiss and smooch them until she started walking and getting dirty. Haha! 

   

At 3 months old. Look at that smirk, my little girl was always mistaken for a boy!

  

At 4 months old.

At 5 months old. That smile that melts my heart away....

 

At 6 months old. She started going to the daycare!

 

My little girl literally grew up in the daycare. She learned to crawl and walk first inside the daycare. 

 

 

A visit to the Pedia. She's not as cooperative as her older sister during her shots. She looks calm in the above photo but few seconds after that, she refused to be put down. The mere sight of the bed scares her already! I was so relieved after her MMR shot at 1 year old, I never brought her to the Pedia since then. Alhamdulillah. We love her Pedia though!

Her first ever solid food at 6 months old was a carrot puree. I used to feed her with pureed fruits and vegetables and she loved 'em all! 

  

 

                                            

My little Muslimah at 9 months old. Look at those tiny little teeth! She loves to wear a mukna and pretend to pray beside me whenever she sees me doing my salah. MashaaAllah. My biggest achievement was exclusively breastfeeding her until 9 months! If it wasn't for pre-residency, perhaps I would still be breastfeeding her past 1 year old.

May Allah protect our children at all times and may they grow up to be among the pious. Allahuma ameen. 

Amreen Nurlailah

I was going through my Motherhood entries and noticed that I blogged less about my second child, Amreen, compared to her older sister. To avoid future heartache on the part of my Amreen when they eventually found out about this blog and see that I write less about her, this post would be wholly dedicated to her. The photos already belong to the throwback category (Amreen is 1 year old and 3 months as of writing time) but how sweet it is to look at her newborn photos, so adorably plump. MashaaAllah.. 

Amreen is our surprise baby, I never expected her to come along as soon as her older sister turned 7 months old. It was a bittersweet moment when I saw the double line on the pregnancy test. When I missed the arrival of the red flag that month, I already had a hunch that I might be having a new baby in my womb. I was right. Jabar was so excited to have a new baby while I cried. I cried not because I didn't welcome her but because I felt like my body hasn't healed yet and here comes another one and I'd go through the entire pregnancy process again. I haven't had enough sleep yet since Yamyam was born and here we are again with a new baby. I thought of the new environment we will be in as we were about to be recalled to the Philippines at the time, I thought about my residency plans. It'll be postponed for sure. 

Love at first glimpse.

Right when she was already out of my womb. 

It was a relatively easy pregnancy like that with my firstborn. No morning sickness, no easy fatigability. In fact I wasn't convinced I was pregnant until I saw her ultrasound on my 11th week. Perhaps I was still in denial. I continued my usual pregnancy self-care --- nourishment and taking my calcium and vitamin supplements---except that I didn't have a regular exercise. We were already in the Philippines during the whole duration of my 2nd pregnancy, living in Quiapo where my husband bought a condo unit for his siblings who were studying in nearby unis. Where do you think I'd go walking in Quiapo without getting stressed? Haha! Unlike in Bangkok where we live near a park and where there's a gym within the building where we live, I never had a regular exercise with my pregnancy with Amreen. As a result, I found out on my 33rd week that she's in a breech position.

Jabar, my parents, his uncle Bapa Sowaib, and my cousin Ate Lalay. They're our companion right when my baby and I was wheeled into our room.

Upon discovering that she's in a breech position, that was the time that I started to do serious exercises. I did yoga at home and started morning walks along Luneta. At 36 weeks, my OB told me my baby's still in a breech position. I was determined to have a normal delivery that I even considered undergoing external cephalic version which my OB disapproved because of risks of uterine rupture. My pregnancy went beyond 40 weeks AOG and I didn't feel any hard contractions yet. I have seen cases of meconium staining where babies didn't survive the infection, or babies and moms had postpartum complications because of meconium staining on top of breech delivery. Subhanallah. I can't afford to see my baby in any condition other than normal.

Yamyam was 1 year and 4 months old when her younger sister was born.

At 40 weeks and 3 days AOG, after praying salaatul istikhara and conferring with my husband and my parents, I told my OB that I want to undergo a CS delivery even without labor pains yet. I don't want to wait for that time when there's no turning back. I don't want to expose my baby for any risks concerning her breech position. 

Mom for the 2nd time around.

On the evening of December 17, 2016, I had my beautiful baby girl whom we named Amreen Nurlailah. Amreen is an arabic word for sky while Nurlailah means light of the night. Indeed, LAST YEAR when Jabar and I were wrapped in utter darkness, our Amreen stood as a bright light who made us forget all the horrendous happenings in our lives. She always made us smile amidst our sadness. She was such an easy baby. MashaaAllah alhamdulillah.. 

Photo taken as we were about to be discharged from the hospital. Yamyam was left at home. 

I was able to breastfeed her until 9 months when I had to go into pre-residency. She used to cry when I refuse to latch her then she got used to drinking from her bottle. She's very attached to me that when I had to leave her at 3AM during pre-res, she also wakes up and sees me off. Aaaww... my little girl. 

Motherhood has really changed me. It made me more understanding and more sympathetic to others' needs. Right now, I couldn't be more grateful that we have Amreen in our lives. She's her older sister's playmate and of course isn't it more fun to have two little rays of sunshine? 

Amina Mariam and Amreen Nurlailah