34 weeks and counting

My bump at 33 and 34 weeks.

Yes RS, my baby has turned :)
I am looking forward for normal delivery. Good boy!

First day of school : 2013

I took a day off.

Early in the morning, we sent Nabil and Nazreen to the school. This was the first day for Nazreen at public pre-school.

This was Nabil in his class on the first day. He actually entered a wrong class at the third floor and lucky enough I was looking for his class teacher that morning. We manage to bring Nabil back to his class, at the ground floor :)

 This was Nazran at his brothers' school. He was so sleepy and a bit cranky.

Then we went to Nazran's preschool and registered him. After that, we went to pick up Nazreen after his class. We have another one hour before Nabil's class ended, so we went to a hypermarket to buy a clear plastic container that my dad asked for. Boy, he was really tired.

Then we picked up Nabil and send him off to sekolah agama. It was really tiring for me. And for the kids as well.

Silly mistake

This was what happened at 2 am when I was preparing Nabil's new school books for both elementary school and sekolah agama. Instead of writing his name, I wrote my name.

Corporate Club Annual Dinner : Pop Colour Nite

Last Friday was the last time I joined the Corporate Club Dinner since I have been transferred to a new office in March 2012.

It was a kind of bittersweet moment since Corporate Club is the best club I've joined so far with a great mix of personalities, and I have to say goodbye to them after the great 5 years together.
Enjoy the photos. Taken from Eiza's (the one in baby blue pant) and Radhi Yaa's albums. Will update more from my husband's camera. Later.

The youngsters
(Credit : Eiza)

For those who are not familiar with Corporate Club GRAND Dinner, these are the themes for our previous dinners :

The first dinner, 2008 (theme : Black and White) - I won the best dress :)

The second dinner, 2009 (theme : Retro Nite) - I won the title Queen of Retro 2009. I went all out for the hall deco. 

The third dinner, 2010 (theme : Red Nite) - I received Penjawat Awam Contoh Award. My husband asked me to only wear baju kurung (*cough* dress down *cough*) for this dinner.

The forth dinner, 2011 (theme : Bolly Nite) - I won the Maharani of the Night. I also went all out for the hall deco this time around. 

The fifth dinner, 2012 (theme : Pop Colour Night) - this post.

For the last 3 dinners, I was in-charged for the hall deco. I always arrived late because I have to get the hall ready until the last minute, went back and prepare my kids. This time around, I attended as a guest and BOY! that was a great feeling to have!! 

I didnt have to be worried about the installation of the decorative elements, where to buy the most classy-looking deco but CHEAP, who are patient enough to help me with the work, heavy deco that might fall down when people start coming, the centrepiece, the dance floor, the lighting, the candles that might burn down the hall and of course, the aftermath (people start to go home towards the end of the dinner, so there will be a few left to clean the hall - usually the group who stayed back for the clean up session are the same committed group of people and I am glad they were my ex-colleagues from International Unit - and of course my husband and kids). 

The iron ladies from the International Unit - Nadia (in turqoise pants) was crowned as the Pop Colour Queen 2012. Good job! You guys should maintain the title within our Unit with your classy style, ok? Nura (in pink tunic) won the best dress in 2010 (Red Nite).

(Credit : Radhi Yaa)

Love the food. Love the deco. Kudos to the team who worked hard to decorate the hall, blew hundreds of colourful balloons and prepare the props. You know who you are. When you see a lot of people took photos at the designated areas / photo corner, it means that you've succeed :)

Before I end... guys, remember to use masking tape. NEVER USE double-sided tape, ya! I can see the agony of peeling the remaining double sided tape off the wall during the aftermath :)

(Credit : Eiza)

G&B LIFESTYLE : Exclusive Engraved River Stones

FINALLY!

It is January 2013 and as I have promised, I will launch the garlicandbutter + lifestyle Page. You can click the icon on the left to access the page in the future.

It is basically a page where I sell a home deco / unique item which I try my best to design it myself. For a start, these are my first products - Exclusive Engraved River Stones.

Plus RM7 for posting and handling.
Please email me at nurulramly@yahoo.com to place your order.

Small Nice Wolves

This is their activity during school break. Reading.

I really love this Big Bad Wolf T-Shirt. I bought the cute T-shirt for them and for my husband during the recent Big Bad Wolf Mission 63. Unfortunately, I forgot to buy one for me. 

32 weeks

A few friends asked for my current baby bump photo. Here you go. 

The guy at the back refused to take my photo so I have to camwhore. That was my first time.

Moving In : Part 15 - Workstation

My friend from Shutterspeak Studios put up an ad on his wall to let go an old bulky table top that has been categorised as a ‘junk’ (because it has no legs) and he wanted to dispose it if no one interested to have it. 

I was like…ARE YOU CRAZY? That is one valuable piece! I immediately called him and rented a van to pick it up from his studio.

We cleaned it, bought 5 pieces of table legs from IKEA for RM10 per piece and voila! It looks like a NEW TABLE. Now we have a spacious workstation for my work-at-home husband in our bedroom :) 

More on our MOVING IN Adventures! Click here.

Garage Sale ended

Phew.

Only 3 items left. The sale supposed to end at 5pm today but we have a lot of work to do so we close down our booth at 2pm. I am sure if I stayed there a bit longer, I will bring back only the table cloth :)

It was indeed a very good experience. I bought a lot of hijab for RM3 per piece from the opposite booth. I wore two of them yesterday and today :) I am the fan of the brand and I know they worth RM30 per piece. The cute seller is Nasyrah (and she bought a lot of kitchenware from me). 

Glass bowl set (6 pcs) - RM12

Baby feeding set (bowl and spoon) - RM5

Cute ceramic vases (4 pcs) - RM4

If you are interested, do come and collect the item from me. If you dont want to pay, I will give them for free ;p

Update : Garage Sale 2012

Earlier post on the Garage Sale (here).

On Tuesday, I started with 30 items.

And today, only 9 items left. 

Just hoping I could sell the rest on the last day, which is tomorrow. It is easier to bring back ONLY the table cloth. Considering that I am 32 weeks pregnant and the event took place at different office block, about 10-minutes walk from my office. It is on level 16. The elevator service only available up to level 15. I have to use staircase to get to the hall on the 16th floor. It sounds simple. But it is tiring. For me :p

These are some items sold by my colleagues.

Brand new and second hand clothing, handbags and new shoes, starting from RM1. Crazy isnt it? They also sell homemade Oreo cheese cake, Japanese cheese cake, durian crepe and other type of cheese cake. I spent A LOT on cheese cakes in three days. lol.

This is my favourite booth. Opposite our booth. They sell jewelry, home furnishing items and a lot of unique stuff from all over the world - South Africa, China, Cambodia, New Zealand, the States and many more. Also as low as RM1.

Om nom nom

Just now. Amutha, my office mate, called me.
"Dear, have you had your breakfast?"

Me : Yes. I'll be attending a meeting in 10 minutes. 

(I thought she wanted to ask me to join her for a breakfast)

"Wait. I want to give you Nasi Lemak"

Me : Nasi Lemak? Boleh boleh. I'll wait. (Sure... I can squeeze in one small bungkus of nasi lemak after the meeting...)

And here is what I got. Nasi Lemak with prawn sambal, egg sandwich, curry chicken, strawberry cupcake and a pie. Wow.

Thank you very much Amutha for being so thoughtful!!!
I love being pregnant!

For my brunch, lunch and tea break.

Baking with kids

Last Saturday, we had 3 homemade pizzas for breakfast. I made the pizza dough from scratch. It was really satisfying to see it rise :)

The first one, simple thin crust four-cheese pizza.

Second one, thin crust classic pizza with tomato sauce, oregano and of course, a lot of cheese.

The last one is the most special. It was made by my 4 years old Nazran. All by himself. From spreading the pizza dough into the pan, spreading generous amount of tomato sauce, sprinkling oregano and arranging his favourite cheese on top. Of all delicious cheeses in the house, he opted for sliced Cheddar cheese. Although it doesnt melt beautifully like grated mozarella, his pizza is really cute :) and of course wonderfully delicious.

Then we made mini chocolate cinnamon rolls. This time, it is Nabil's turn to help me. Again, I made the dough from scratch. Nabil requested for chocolate filling and chocolate topping. Why not? The kids like it so much. I served it hot with chocolate on top. By the time I am done with the dishes, the mini rolls are gone :)

For lunch, I fried angle hair spaghetti. No photo.

Clearing The Stock - Baby / Kid stuff

For those who didnt know, me and my husband owned a company that sells baby/kids wear, baby accessories, green products, maternity wear and natural parenting stuff. We are clearing our stock (like, REALLLLLY CLEARING THE STOCK) to give way to new business.

Yes, we are closing down our baby business. There will be a lot of baby wear to be advertise here. Soon. Some of them have not being sell in our baazar before. For the time being, we are going to clear two accessories.

ONE - Baby Food Dispensing Spoon.

RM70. Free postage for Peninsular Msia.

Only 3 pieces left. The hard packaging is a bit kemek during shipping process but the spoon is in a very good shape. Very convenient. I love it very much. 

TWO - Dripstik.

RM17. Free postage for Peninsular Msia.

Only 8 pieces left. 

First come, first serve.

I am... we are...expanding

Yes, my family is expanding.

So does my blog.

I know this kind of entry will definitely drives you crazy. Sorry. Just watch out for :

garlicandbutter + lifestyle
garlicandbutter + foodstop

in 2013.

Everything - sweet and cozy

My 4th son is on his way. It has been 4 years since Nazran, so I decided to buy new baby stuff for the baby - swaddling set, baby binders, burp clothes and wet bag. I found it a bit annoying to put old baby stuff in the bag for the new baby. It is just unfair for him to use 7-years-old stuff with stains here and there. Pics are from Sweet and Cozy. 

However, I still keep some Nabil's cute rompers for the hand-me-down tradition.

Sneak peek

Went to Big Bad Wolf at 6am, Saturday. Catch of the day - some of them. Some are very dry (but VERY interesting!), some are quirky, some are just too cute to resist, some are just too cheap (like...RM3) and some of them are the must-haves. 

I only grabbed 4 books for my kids since they already have TOO MANY BOOKS. I got them cool Big Bad Wolf T-shirts and they wore it for 3 days straight (Saturday-Sunday-Monday). I haven't had a chance to wash them.

Evening snack : Almond & Cinnamon Pastry Stick

Me and my three helpful sons baked almond & cinnamon pastry sticks on one fine evening. We loved it very much!!! I served it together with hot green tea. Yummy.

I won : Independence Day Quiz

I have participated in an online quiz in conjunction with Malaysia's Independence Day in August. I didnt hope to win. I just did it for fun, as usual. And I have totally forgot about it until yesterday - when I was informed that I am the first runner up and was requested to attend the prize-giving ceremony this morning. 

Just now, I have received the hamper from the Minister.

KEEP ON TURNING!

Another 90 degree, please.

It is funny to be able to feel the round baby head at the side of my tummy. I hope he turns soon :)

Gotong-royong

This event happened a long time ago. In July. Before we cut Nazreen's hair. Before Ramadhan.

Gotong-royong at my parent's housing area. We love this kind of gotong-royong since the committee has arranged for bulky waste collector trucks. Some people took the opportunities to trim their branches, cut off trees, took out old cabinets, sofa and other bulky items that usually will not be collected by Alam Flora garbage truck. Me and my husband even brought old cabinet from our house to be disposed that day.

These are our bulky wastes. Bye bye portfolio case. We had been through a lot together :(

My neighbour's.

Kids were happy that day since the streets were full of people and everyone seems to keep their eyes on all children on the road. 

They were cycling happily everywhere since there was less car.

Kids' favourite stop. Free flow of cold drink, free nasi lemak, free chicken rice and free chicken nuggets for everybody!

Nabil made new friends. He worked so hard that day.

Bulky wastes collector truck has finally arrived!

Nazreen was having his shower that time and he was so excited when he heard the truck has arrived. He ran out - wrapped in towel - to see the truck.

Did I say he was SO EXCITED? that he need an up-close view of the collection process. He followed the truck (in towel) until they were done collecting bulky wastes on our street.

Happy 7th Birthday Nabil!

Today is Nabil's 7th Birthday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

We celebrated it at my MIL's house, after Nabil and Nazreen finished their reading class.

Turn, please

I am into my 30th week and I found out that my baby is in breech position. Doctor gave him another 4 weeks to turn or I am gonna have another c-sect. erk. no. (pic googled)

FEET UP, PLEASE.

Happy 4th Birthday Nazran!

Today is Nazran's 4th Birthday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!