16 July dates

Not only full time working mom is looking forward for weekends, but stay at home moms love weekends as well. That's when we have one extra pair of hands.. and inhale some fresh air or take a break from the kitchen and eat out. It feels so refreshing to be able to at least get out from the four walls at home and explore the city.

Remember we took some photoshoots of baby Vi at Brides n Blooms (Puchong)? Last weekend we headed over again to choose photos! We purchased a coupon from Groupon for only RM29 and the package comes with 4 edited photos in soft copy and 2x4R 2X8R. Tell me now, 4 out of 60+ photos, how to choose when all the photos are so so good and pretty? It was just so hard to choose. Okay fine, if you want to top up additional photos, it will cost RM10 per photo. Or I can purchase all the photos (roughly about 150+ over photos), for RM450! Definitely a no-no to purchase all the photos. The husband is not going to agree. And some photos are repeated, I don't need to own all. A few different poses will do.  

 

We were late for the appointment because it was raining cats and dogs outside. So, we decided to leave the kids in the car with Justin while I quickly go up and choose the photos. I wish it wasn't raining and everyone can tag along.

 

These gowns are so so pretty! I have this idea to sign up for another wedding photoshoot package (gonna look for cheap package on groupon, again) on our 10th anniversary. I think it would be fun... to look back how far we have come along after 10 years of marriage. 

 

 I couldn't resist, but to add on this additional piece. I wanted to add a few more but I was afraid the hubby is gonna kill me! Haha. Little did I know, when I told him in the car that most of the photos are so so pretty and it only cost RM10 per piece, he actually asked if I did add any extra and purchased those photos since we had took so much trouble and time to go all the way for the 2 days photoshoot. I said no, I only added one photo. HUHH? Only one? Why you didn't add a few more? My hubby is an unpredictable man. Whenever I think he doesn't approve, the outcome is always the opposite, he approves. But whenever I think he is ok with something, after discussion with him, he said not worth. Lol. 

After choosing all the photos, it was already 3pm and we decided to head to the mall for early dinner. I went straight to the nursing room to nurse baby Vi. It's a little difficult to nurse her in public nowadays because she distracted easily when she hears noises. She will be latching and unlatching whenever she hears some noise. It was much easier to nurse her in public when she was younger (less kei po chi, hehehe). After nursing her, I changed her diaper and yess... mommy and baby window shopping time, while the two older kids hanged out with daddy at the toy's shop. I hopped in and out of the shops. It feels so good to even get to "cuci mata" with all the latest trend and new arrivals of clothes. Window shopping might be so boring for her that she zzzzz off in her stroller. 

Nothing much to buy, I only look for clothes labeled with 50% discounts. Unfortunately most of them ran out of stock. Left with either too small or too big.We then had early dinner, as early as 5pm. Sushi Zanmai was the call for the day.

 

Yummy yummy sushi.. I just love sushi zanmai and can never get bored of their sushi.

 

The hubby ordered this tofu hotplate. First time trying this and again, Sushi Zanmai never disappoint us. I guess everything in the menu are good. 

After finishing our dinner, our tummy is calling out for desserts! We shall end our Saturdate with a nice dessert. We walked around the mall and came across this new dessert restaurant, Madame Waffle. The menu looks interesting, it was quite crowded as well and we decided to give it a try.

 The green tea lover hubby decided to try this, which cost us RM30. *rolling eyes* 

And the berries lover (me) chose Blueberry cream cheese waffle which cost RM10.50. Guess what? Turn our mine is nicer than his. Haha.

And that pretty summarizes our Saturdate. 

And on Sunday, we brought baby Vi into the church auditorium for the first time! Usually I will be hanging out with her and few other fellow mommies in the nursery, but yesterday I decided to bring her inside the main hall. I prayed that she won't fuss during the service. She did cry a while during the praise and worship because the drums were too loud, but after some cuddles, she slept and woke up when the preaching started. Baby Vi needs some spiritual food is it? She woke up automatically when Ps Troy went up the stage. She didn't fuss, I continued to carry her until the few last minutes, she started to get a bit reckless. Thank God, the sermon was about to end and yeay.. we did it! Well done baby Vi, more Sundays to come. I would rather go into the hall with her than be in the nursery. =D

Look at our happy baby when the church service ended. I hope every Sunday she's like this so that I can enjoy my Sunday service in the hall.

And look! Who's in the kitchen? The hubby took over the kitchen's job for dinner and he cooked up a storm. Grilled salmon with boiled broccoli and mashed potatoes. He's my western hubby because he always love western food.

I love it whenever he steps into the kitchen. That pretty means I get some much needed rest and I don't have to crack my head to think what to cook. This meal is so hearty.. so much love in the plate. 

By far, this is my longest post? Haha. Thank you for reading if you do ... I just love weekends and counting down for the coming weekend, though today is only Monday. Hehe. Goodbye weekends, see you soon! 

Vanilla Butter Cake

Finally, it's the last block of expired butter left in the fridge. I did not want it to go far beyond the expiry date, therefore, I decided to bake this cake. I was supposed to use a 8" square pan to prevent the crack on the top, but I do not have the pan at home. Anyway, ignore the look. It's ugly on the outside but really good on the inside. So soft, so fluffy and so buttery! Again, egg separation cake is always soft and fluffy.

 

Here's the recipe that I used : 

Mrs NgSK's Vanilla Butter Cake

I posted the same recipe here again for my future reference. So in loved with this butter cake that I will definitely bake this again. 

Ingredients:

230gm butter (salted), softened (cool at 18-20C, not glossy)
200gm eggs, no shell (4 grade B eggs)
50gm + 150gm sugar
200gm self raising flour, sifted.
60ml milk
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)

1. Preheat oven at 180C (conventional). (I only use 170C). Prepare a 8 inch square pan. Line the base and grease the sides (greasing helps the cake’s sides to rise well)
2. Separate the eggs, and place the whites into a medium sized bowl (6 cup capacity)Beat egg whites until soft peaks, gradually add 50gm sugar and beat until stiff. Set aside.
3. Cream butter and 150gm sugar until pale and fluffy (KA speed 2-4 ). Put in vanilla seeds and and beat for a while. Put in egg yolks one by one and beat well after each addition.
4. Put in half the flour and mix on low speed until incorporated. Put in milk in 2 additions and mix until well incorporated. Mix in balance of flour.
5. Put half the egg whites in and mix on low speed. Pour the balance of egg whites in and FOLD.
6. Pour batter into pan and level.
7. Bake for 45 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. (I reduced to 150C for the last 15 minutes because the top seems to be getting dark)

Banana Butter Cake

Remember in my previous post I mentioned about my expired butter? Don't worry, it only expired about 2 weeks (the smell is still alright) and I have to quickly bake a butter cake so that the butter will go inside our tummy and not the bin. My friend used to tell me that I buy things to throw, not to eat. Lol. It's quite true because I have a lot of items in the fridge that are near to the expiry date. Lesson learned, never go for groceries shopping when you are hungry! You will end up buying the whole store! 

I have few bananas that is too ripe and yucky to eat on its own, some part of the skin already turn blackish. And the idea of banana butter cake came into my mind. I started to google for the best recipe and I found this. Looks good, because I know butter cake with egg separation method is really moist and soft and delicious! Here's the recipe that I found online.

I still have two bananas left and decided to use it as decoration. Alright, the look does not do the cake justice. In actual fact, the cake is really really good. I have visitor that night and everyone praised the cake. The 6yo loved this cake so much that she wanted to bring some back. =D

Look at the super moist banana cake! The texture is so soft and fluffy. Egg separation cakes can never go wrong.. it's always the best! This recipe is definitely a keeper.

Here's the recipe that I adapted from here, posted it here for my future use. 

Ingredients A
250g unsalted butter at room temp
150g fine sugar
5 egg yolks

Ingredients B
50g g fine sugar
5 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar (optional)

Ingredients C
300g plain flour (I used cake flour)
sifted with 1 tbsp milk powder + 1 tsp baking powder

Ingredients D
200g ripe bananas, mashed using a fork
a pinch of salt

Method
1) Preheat oven to 170 degrees celsius. Prepare a 7-inch square pan, line the base and sides with baking paper such that the edges hang over the sides of the tin, for easier removal later. 

2) Whisk butter and 150g sugar using mixer till pale then add egg yolks one by one and mix well after each addition.

3) Add in half the sifted flour and mix using mixer at low speed briefly. Add in mashed bananas and mix briefly. Finally add in the remaining flour and mix briefly at low speed till well-incorporated. 

4) In a separate clean, dry and oil-free bowl, whisk egg whites until frothy, then add cream of tartar, followed by sugar in 3 additions. Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks.

5) Add half of the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture and mix at low speed using mixer until incorporated. Add the remaining half of egg whites and FOLD using spatula.

6) Pour the batter into the prepared lined tin, smooth out the batter with a spatula and bake in preheated oven for 170C for about 60 min

7) Remove from oven and let it cool on cooling rack before serving.

Baby V at 4 months

Date : 13 July 2016

How far along : 4 Months 1 week

Weight :
Newborn : 2.87kg
20 days old : 3.8kg
1 month : 4.65kg
2 months : 5.8kg
3 months : 6.41kg
4 months : 7.33kg

Height :
Newborn : 47cm
2 months : 58cm
4 months : 63.5cm

Head Circumference :
Newborn : 37.5cm
2 months : 39cm
4 months : 41.5cm


Baby V had her 4 months 1 week checkup yesterday, 12 July 2016. We were glad to see that she's growing slightly above the graph, which means she's growing so well. Thank you Jesus. She had her rotavirus and 6in1 vaccination which cost us a bomb, RM600 for everything including consultation. OMG!! And worst still, she vomited out half of the rotavirus vaccine together with some milk. Wasted half a tube. Thank God she didn't spit out the 2nd half , I guess she only had a few drops of rotavirus vaccine. T___T Hopefully the few drops that she consumed at the end is still effective and protects her from rotavirus.

Sleep : She sleeps like a champ, sometimes from 12/1am up to 6/7am. I have my much needed sleep if I don't need to get up and pump at 3am. Sometimes I'm just so lazy to get up and pump - off the alarm and sleep. Until I wake up to two big rocks on my body. Some days, it is like a war just to put her to sleep at night. She wanted to nurse and nurse, but I know she wants to suck for comfort. The problem is, I know that she's already full. I'm just so afraid that she vomits out the entire feed because she's full, but she wants to suck for comfort. Whenever I unlatched, she screamed and yeah, serve me right.. I have to repeat the entire process again to put her to sleep. Yesterday was a rough day as well. She was super cranky after her vaccination. She didn't sleep well. She woke up crying and screaming! She never cried this loud before.. and I knew something was not right. I hold her up tightly and then I heard a loud BURPP. Oh baby, the burp might be so uncomfortable to you. After that loud burrrppp... she was more relaxed and I nursed her again and she slept till 7am. Hopefully she's back to her normal self today.. mommy needs a much needed sleep!

Food : Dr Cheah advised us to continue to breastfeed until she's 6 months old. No rush in giving solids. So, 2 more months to go before she gets to taste all the yummylicious food! For now baby, just enjoy nursing yeah. Sometimes she's so picky with one side of the boob that she just refused to nurse on the other side. And that makes me super frustrated. The more I force, the more she cried. I give up, I nurse her favorite side and pump the other side. That's when I just love my Haakaa silicone breastpump.

Best moment this week : She learns how to scream! High pitch kind of scream.. and she will continue to scream until someone attends to her. She's trying to signal everyone in the house, don't leave me alone in the room or don't busy with your own things and never look at me. Haha. Oh yeah, we spotted her trying to roll from tummy to back, but stuck halfway. (like the picture below) We just couldn't wait for her to roll freely in her cot.

Homemade chicken essence

My little boy is considered as a picky eater. I have to squeeze my brain or sometimes I just have to use force to make him finish of his food. Else he says "I don't want already. Full already." 😂 The worst is he can sit on the high chair for 1 hour plus just to finish a small bowl of rice. I just wish he has a big appetite, a big love for food just like his big sister. Till today, he only has few favorite foods. Roti canai. Cheese. Anything with strawberry. Anything orange. Soup. Vege except potatoes. Fish. And some other unhealthy food like biscuits, chocolates. No matter how much I feed him, his weight maintained at 11+ kg @ 3yo. We're a little worried about his growth. I just hope that he can put on more weight and he has a big appetite and he loves food. 

I started to google on how to increase appetite in children. One of the ways is to exercise. And no TV while eating. Feed small portion but frequently. With one small baby in hand, I hardly have that time sit down and feed him every two hours. I just have to squeeze out that time and multi-task! 

And suddenly I remember about chicken essence. Since he dislikes chewing chicken/meat,I shall make him chicken essence once a week. Hopefully it helps with his growth and he'll grow up strong. 

 

My MIL bought for me this cookware and I'm beginning to love it. All I need is to place the smashed kampung chicken on top and the golden essence will drop bit by bit from the hole. I set the timer for 5 hours so that the chicken is double boiled as long as possible.

 

The smashed black kampung chicken. I almost vomited when I did this.. haha.

 

After 5 hours.. here's the goodness! The golden soup. A concentrated chicken soup.

I plan to do this every week and hopefully it helps him to gain weight, the much needed weight before he goes to preschool next year.

Imagine and Draw

Recently my little girl loves to imagine and expressed it by drawing on a piece of paper. She imagines this little princess with a nice flower necklace, a soft elegant makeup (just like mommy), long hair and so on.. 

The below is one of her drawings... she said this princess wears a necklace like hers. I gave her one of my old necklace which I used to wear during my college time and she loves it. Don't worry, it's safe for toddlers yeah. She wears for fun at home for few minutes. Few minutes also fun right.. kids! 

Okay peeps, this is not a scary monster with a long black hair yeah. It's a black hair princess. Check out the makeup on the eyes and the curl up eyelashes. And, BLUE lipstick! Wow.. my little girl is cool! And this princess wears a necklace just like hers... but princess has no hands. Haha.

This drawing is just so precious. Gonna keep it in a treasure box and guess when she's older, she will look back and laugh/smile.