Routine

• My everyday's routine seems so boring and full with unimportant activities (such as Facebook). So, I created this blog to fill my daily time with 'some' works. From this blog, I can improved and polished my English writing.
• If you followed and read my previous blog entires, the grammar and word structure are not good enough. I try make it better by learning new words from online dictionary, take notes, and read English magazines.
• I am staying at USA, but I don't have much opportunity to speak English. I mostly spend my time at home with Aliya, and I don't have any social connection with other people except Papa.
• Papa is a super busy person. He works 24/7. We only had quality time together on weekends, but only if Papa not working on Saturday or Sunday. I am lucky to have Aliya around. Alhamdulillah.
• I hope Papa will finish his school as soon as possible with a good result.
• I hope we can be a better person and a better Muslim, insyaAllah.

Aliya of the day!

Aliya

My everyday breakfast!

Iced chocolate

Ingredients:

• Hershey's chocolate syrup
• Fresh milk

*Fill in the Hershey's chocolate syrup into the glass (secukup rasa). Then, fill in the glass with fresh milk, and put the ice cubes.

4 months baby

Aliya of the day!

Enlarge (by clicking on the image) for better view!

"Good morning everybody! Aliya just wake up from sleep. Mama left Aliya alone at the crib..."

Baby ages & stages (from South Dakota Children book)

4 months baby

• Sits with support
• Lifts head and chest while lying on stomach
• Plays with fingers, hands and toes.
• Reaches for things she sees and explores objects with mouth.
• Turns head toward lights and bright colors.
• Watches mother as she walks across the room.
• Smiles when spoken to or faces is touched.
• Reacts to sound of voice, rattle, bell, etc.
• Discriminates between friendly and angry speech.
• Jumps or is startled when there is a loud or sudden noise.
• Can distinguish between colors- blue, green, yellow and red.
• Makes sounds like 'oooooo' and 'aaaaa'.
• Laughs out loud.
• Recognizes bottle or breast.

Alhamdulillah

Praise be to Allah.

• Papa allowance has been transfered last Friday.
• Rash on Aliya's face is getting better.
• Many thanks to Allah for all His kindness and supports, thanks for everything we had.

"Praise be to Allah, who promised his faithful slaves victory and support by saying, "And it was a duty incumbent upon us to aid those who believed."

I bear witness that there is none to worshipped save Allah, One, with no partners.

He sent His Messenger Muhammad (s) with guidance and the religion of Truth to cause it to prevail over all religions even though the unbelievers may detest it." and I bear witness that our Master, Prophet, and Beloved Muhammad (s) is the Messenger of Allah, He is the Imam of the Pious, the Master of the Messengers and the Mercy to the worlds." ~ Khutbat al-Jumu'ah

Aliya of the day!

Papa & Aliya...

Aliya faces....

My princess, a gift from Allah...

Notes: Last night we watched Couple Retreat movie, rented from redbox.com. These are some reviews from that movie:

• I think, this movie is fun to watch.

• It is a romantic comedy centered around four couples who settle into a tropical-island resort for a vacation. While one of the couples is there to work on the marriage, the others fail to realize that participation in the resort’s therapy sessions is not optional. ~movie blog

• Couples Retreat, at its heart, is a funny movie with a pretty solid premies that shoots itself in the foot repeatedly by not developing an identity for itself, acting like it’s smarter than it is one minute, and the nose diving into unfunny nonsense slapstick comedy the next minute. A movie that starts pretty strong but leaves you feeling like the filmmakers didn’t have a clear vision for where they wanted the film to go, and thus the movie stalls in the third act. Still, there were enough laughs and smiles in the film that I don’t regret taking the time out to see it, and so overall I give Couples Retreat a 5 out of 10. ~movie blog

Baby not pooping

• Aliya is 4 months old now and she breastfeed everytime.
• She not poop for one week since we put the bowel medicine into her rectum last Monday, but she has been releasing gas everyday.
• After medical check-up with Dr. Turner last Thursday, Doctor said Aliya was fine and healthy, Alhamdulillah.
• If the baby is a full time breastfeed, it is normal for the baby to not poop for a few days. The baby absorbs pretty much everything they eat.
• The number of bowel movement usually decrease if the baby is breastfed. If the baby seems completely happy, eats and urinates just as usual, there is probably nothing to worry. The poop will come. ~Paula
• But, if the baby is formula-fed, the risk of constipation is higher, so please contact the doctor as soon as possible!
• For more informations and details, you can visit these forums and websites:

[1] http://www.easybabylife.com/baby-not-pooping.html

[2] http://www.susuibu.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?forum=7&topic_id=2167

[3] http://www.mothering.com/discussions//showthread.php?t=462117

Mama & Aliya

Notes: If you have any experience, suggestion or comment regarding to the baby pooping behavior, feel free to write yours in comment's column. :)

written by;

mama

Hemoglobin E

Aliya + Hemoglobin E!

Notes about HE below was taken from wikipedia, and I am not really familiar with the scientific terms stated.

Doctor Turner said Aliya has Hemoglobin E in her blood (kurang darah merah). Mama and papa hope she will not get any harm disease from this conditions.

• Hemoglobin E or haemoglobin E (HbE) is an abnormal hemoglobin with a single point mutation in the β chain. At position 26 there is a change from a glutamate to a lysine.

• People with the hemoglobin E trait have a mild hemolytic anemia and mild splenomegaly. Hemoglobin E trait is asymptomatic. In combination with certain thalassemia mutations, it provides an increased resistance to malaria (P. falciparum).

• Hemoglobin E is most prevalent in Southeast Asia (Thailand, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Vietnam) and North-East India, where in certain areas carrier rates reach 60% of the population. The mutation is estimated to have arisen within the last 5,000 years.

Notes: Kashturi want to visit us this evening. Mama and papa will preparing goreng pisang and lemon cake for her and her husband.

Today's, mama and papa will cleaning, washing, the house, it is quite messy here!

written by;

mama

My Bookmarks

My bookmark's bar

• I want to share my google chrome bookmarks. I bookmarked important webpage that I want to visit in the future or, the webpages contain important data and informations.
• With bookmarks, we will be able to save time with quick links to our favorite webpage.
• Below are some examples for my "Recipe and cooking" bookmark:

[1] http://www.myresipi.com

[2] http://www.trymasak.my/index.php

[3] http://hanieliza.fotopages.com/ (taken from kak pah)

[4] http://noorsha.blogspot.com/ (1001 cerita 1001 rasa)

[5] http://www.foodnetwork.com/ (network food channel)

• Below are some examples for my "Islamic webpage" bookmark, mostly were taken from Abg Hamka's Facebook links.

[1] http://www.muslimconsumergroup.com

[2] http://www.quranflash.com/en/quranflash.html

[3] http://www.zaharuddin.net/

[4] http://abuumair1.wordpress.com/

[5] http://muslim.or.id/

[6] http://www.hamka-ibnrusyd.blogspot.com/

[7] http://www.al-fikrah.net/index.php

[8] http://islamicstyle.al-habib.info/

Aliya of the day!

• Mama covered Aliya's body to prevent her from scratches her face. Aliya's rashes look much better than yesterday after papa put the rash cream (USD32) on her face.

Notes: Good luck papa for your exam today! Do your best!

written by;

mama & papa

Aliya

Aliya's appointment with Dr. Turner

• Today, papa and mama brought Aliya for her routine doctor appointment. She had a shot today. For the first time, she cried and scream soooooooo loud. She never act like that before. It took a while for papa and mama to calm her down.
• Everybody in the clinic looked very worry including the doctor and nurses. After around 30 minutes, she started to calm down and fall asleep. Pity her. Maybe because of the pain she had after the shot, make her uncomfortable. Hope she will get well soon especially for the rash on her face.

Watch me grow! Aliya is 6.8kg.

written by;

papa & mama

Photography book review

Petersen's Big Book of Photography!

• Papa have bought a photography book for mama last month titled Petersen's Photo Graphic, Digital Photography Guide.
• That book contains many useful information on photography guide, such as the exposure basics, exposure tips, metering mode and others.

http://www.photographic.com/

• A few things that I learned from this book:

1. Each time you photograph, you must make a choice about image effects.

2. Balance between ISO, aperture and shutter speed is important.

3. Lighting balance is important.

4. Set the photo subject.

5. Rule of thirds!

6. Leading lines: direct the viewer eyes.

7. Framing technique: edge enhancement for the eyes.

8. The important of backgrounds: they can make or brake an image.

9. Classic landscape technique: capturing the lay of the land

10. Set your perspective, this can be improved every time we shoot.

Aliya

ALIYA

• Yesterday, Aliya was given the bowel medicine because she hasn't poop for 4 days. Aliya pooped less than 5 minutes after papa put the Glycerin Suppositories into her rectum (scary huhu).
• She was crying for a while but feeling better after few minutes. The medicine is 1.5 inches long, as shown in the picture below:

Glycerin Suppositories

Aliya after the pain! Pity her.

Baby's websites that I like:

• Tanya sifu
• Baby center
• Baby portraits

written by;

mama & papa

eBay, Canon & Life!

eBay!

• I sold another top today in my virtual shop, eBay. For the first time I used eBay to sell women's cloth that I bought from JCPenney. This is only for fun and to fill my time. I'm not a serious seller!
• I started my eBay selling last month, and I managed to sell 7 items.

One of my selling item.

My DSLR Canon!

• I'm waiting for FEDEX delivery for my Canon today, sent by Canon Factory Service Center at California.
• Last week, I sent my camera for evaluation and repair, because I having a problem with the built-in flash. I hope everything will going well when I received the camera soon. The camera is still under warranty and I no need to pay any dollar for the service. Lucky me!

My camera, Canon 500D

Notes: I received my camera at 12.40pm. My camera has been examined and it was found the upper cover assembly was jammed the built-in strobe did not pop-up. I hope this problem will not occur in future!

LIFE!

• Last night, I watched LIFE at National Geographic Discovery Channel, Subhanallah, it really amazing show! Visit this WEBSITE to explore more! Worth to watch and don't miss it for next Sunday!

taken from http://dsc.discovery.com/

written by;

mama

Burger in making...

[1] This morning, papa played with Aliya. They were having a great time together.

[2] Around 10.30am, Papa and mama making burger with minced meat. This is the recipe:

• Minced meat
• salt
• flour
• black-pepper
• eggs

*Mix all the ingredients!

Notes: Bravo Manchester United for beating Liverpool!

Mama's Birthday celebration

Mama's birthday is on March 16, but the "party" was postponed today, March 20.

Today's activities:

[1] In the morning, Aliya and Mama just stay at home while papa went to his green house to take care his paddy(rice) plants. After Mama and papa having their breakfast, they bathing Aliya with warm water in the baby bath-tub. For the first time Aliya cried while bathing, pity Aliya because the soap bubble all over the face.

[2] At 11.30am, we went out to the post office at down town. Mama need to do delivery for her eBay item, after that, papa drove us to Wallmart. :)

[3] At Walmart, Mama and papa do the shopping while Aliya sleeping in the baby seat. krooh krooh...zzzzz..... We shopped at Walmart for 45 minutes before we heading to HyVee, then papa order pizza from PIzza Hut for today's lunch, yummy-licious vegi, extra cheese pizza!

[4] At 2.00pm, we reached home! Time to solat and prepare meals for the birthday party. Papa made Strawberry cheesecake, chicken BBQ and nasi impit. Thanks to papa for special treat today!

Papa is preparing the BBQ

Cheese cake!

Strawberry cheesecake recipe (modify from food network channel magazine):

1. Cheese cake layer:

• Cream cheese
• Eggs
• Sugar

2. Strawberry whipped cream layer:

• Fresh strawberry
• Sugar
• Whipped cream

*Mix all the ingredients in *1 in mixer, bake for 1 hour. While waiting for the cheese cake layer to bake, blander all the *2 ingredients. Then, put the blend cream on the top of the cheese cake layer. Lastly, put the cheese cake in the freezer for 4 hours and ready to eat! Yummy-liciuos!

[5] Time to settle down, rest, watched Ponyo movie (we rent it from redbox.com) and then sleep. Goodnite everyone.

Alhamdulillah.

written by;

Mama