I'm on pinterest!

This is what I do when I'm bored...http://pinterest.com/aainaaribena/

Follow me if you're bored too ;)

sloppy kisses xx

Innalillah.

Ayden, one day i will tell you all about how you laughed when dada put you on his knee and played horse, how he always sang you the ABC, how his face would light up whenever he saw you and just how he loved you so so much. You may be too young to remember all that now but one day i'll tell you all about your grandfather, that fiery spirit he had, the same quality i see in you. The amazing father he was to baba and to me, the father i never had. One day ayden, you'll understand how he lives in our hearts and yours.


-Reposted from my facebook status. Yasir's father passed away in Mekah on the 1st of May 2012. He was a great man, a dedicated father and a loving grandfather. Ba, you will be sorely missed.

The Chosen One.

Stole some photos from Maine's album (thanks Maine!) for a little sneak peek of Ayden's 'The Chosen One' Star Wars themed party!

More to come!

sloppy kisses xx

Nooooooo.

Okay, so I promised updates on Ayden's birthday the other day, but I'm having some problems transferring the pics, so unfortunately that post will have to wait! aaaack. In the meantime, here are some random pics:

Ayden doing his thing at Tumbletots :)

Rayyan's 5th birthday party at KFC!

When Ayden came to visit me at Gleneagles (was admitted for 3 days for viral fever!)

Chilling with my boy ;)

Will update once I get those photos uploaded!

sloppy kisses,

Aainaa

Ayden is one.

My little baby boy isn't so little anymore..he turned 1 on the 11th of April! We celebrated with a festive but cosy get-together, complete with star wars "the chosen 1" theme :) Updates this weekend!

Sloppy kisses xxx

Reading material.

Sometimes a momma's just gotta multitask ;)

sloppy kisses,

'Aainaa

Blog lurrve.

So there a couple of blogs which I adore to death and read on a regular basis. They are, in no particular order...

- Bleubird Vintage Official Blog. A mum of three, this ridiculously stylish momma has a passion for all things vintage. Her photos are so charming, and you'll find yourself going ooooh and aaahhhh. Love, love.

- Karla's closet. I've been following her since, like, forever. I want everything in her closet. Her style is a little bit feminine, a little bit tomboy, a whole lotta glamorous. And we like glamorous!

- Dear Baby. This mum of two is such a beautiful writer, every one of her posts gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling. Her words just melt like butter. And her baby boy is so sweet he gives me a toothache ;)

- I've Got A Lust For Life. If you have a passion for edgy in-your-face fashion, make this your inspiration.

So there you go, just a few of my faves. What are yours, would love to know :) Share the love!

Sloppy kisses,

'Aainaa

Hello, New York City!

Happy Sunday!

xxx

Black and white.

I'm no Photoshop expert (far from it!), but converting photos to black and white proves to be super addictive. Almost as therapeutic as shopping. Almost.

sloppy kisses,

'Aainaa

My dearest Ayden.

Where did the time go? I can't believe you're 9 months already baby bear! This time, 9 months ago, the doctor in Mediviron told me I was going to have you. And we haven't looked back since, have we? :) You're growing before my very eyes, coming into your own. You're a little firecracker - you're showing signs of stranger anxiety when you meet people you don't recognise, but your smile is bright enough to light up the darkest room when you see me and your baba coming home from work. It's the best thing to come home to.

You still love your Sesame Street videos, your current favourites are Bruno Mars' Don't Give Up, Musica (the penguin playing the bongos gets me every time), Adam Sandler's A Song About Elmo (you crack a smile the second Elmo comes out at the beginning of the video!) but you still love your first ever video, Will.I.Am's What I Am. This song still garners a gummy grin from you! Development-wise, you are still army crawling all over the place. You grunt a lot now, just like the bear that you are. You'll go "HURHHHHH" when you call for someone or need some attention. We're working on you to pronounce some syllables instead of grunts, but no pressure, kiddo ;) You sit up sturdily now, but you still love being on your belly. Your legs are getting stronger when you stand up with support, you are balancing yourself steadily but you're not showing any interest to stand up just yet. I've come to realise that with you, it's better to not worry about whether you're hitting your milestones right on target - you develop at your own pace, when you're ready and when you want to do it. No way is anyone going to force you to do something you don't want to do, no sirree! One thing I can't help but wonder though, is when your first tooth is going to make its appearance! Everytime you start drooling a little more than usual or chomp down on your stubby fingers and go to town on them, baba and I look at each other and exhange 'I-think-he's-teething-aaaaanytime-now' looks... just for your gums to stay toothless for the next few months! But you sure act like you have teeth, gnawing on your baby bite biscuits like a pro!

Alright, here's the thing I love about you the most. Your sense of humour. It's a tad on the sarcastic side which is hilarious! This one time, baba was playing a video of a chubby kid being spanked by his mother for cutting school (don't ask, someone linked it on facebook). So this boy was whining and crying saying sorry for cutting school while being spanked (lightly) by his mum who was scolding him. True story - you actually watched the video and started chuckling. Baba and I found that so funny and we laughed along with you. And this may just be coincidental, but you laugh at adult jokes. A couple of times Baba would crack a sarcastic joke and you laugh your heh-heh-heh laugh as if you understand what he's saying. You're a hoot, kiddo!

Ayden bear, sometimes I feel that you're growing so fast I can barely catch my breath. There are times when you won't even let me hold your hand and I catch a glimpse of how one day you'll want to do everything on your own and I'll just have to step back and let you be independent. Then, there are those moments where time stands still and you come close to me, let me hug you and you look at me with 'that look' and I feel like I'm all you ever need. Thank you for those moments, kiddo.

Here's to many more, no matter how big you get.

Love,

Your mama bear.

updates coming your way :)

I promise to blog this weekend. It's been too long. *cracks knuckles* good long weekend holiday, perfect time to write.

Sloppy kisses,
`Aainaa

We're still here..

sloppy kisses,

'Aainaa

Blogless.

This blog has been pretty slow with the updates because I find myself losing the interest to write lately. Sometimes I ask myself why I even bother blogging. Too often, actually. I used to be one of those girls who used to write in their diary everyday-I started writing in one when I was 9-years-old. Datuk bought me my first Garfield diary and I started every entry with "Dear diary", like how you're supposed to start at the beginning of everything. I didn't have an 'audience' then, it was just me and my thoughts. And I guess by having a blog, I thought that I would satisfy the urge to just...write. About anything. About my life. What I did today. What I feel like doing tomorrow. How hurt I am about something someone did and I just feel like venting. And now, it's mostly about how much I adore my son. How he's growing at lightning speed. How I love being a mom. How exhausting it is being a mom. And on it goes.

But here's the thing. I'm pretty sure there are some of my 'readers' who visit my blog just so they can bitch about something I've written. Any occasion, they'll be up for it. Because I get it, there are people who have nothing better to do but to dish out nasty comments. Like when I wrote the post to my husband telling him how much I appreciate him, because he was feeling a tad bit left out just for someone to call it "NAUSEATING". So when something like this happens, yes, I really feel uninspired about blogging, especially revealing my innermost feelings. And because of this 'icky' feeling, I find myself drifting away from my blog and putting off writing. I hate that I have to think twice about writing something because of these people, when it's my own personal space to begin with. I feel like it really takes away the whole purpose of me blogging. So to my dear genuine readers, I'm going on a 'blog break' for now. I'll return when my heart feels like opening itself up again and I can put myself out there so I can eagerly share with you details of my life, just as I have been doing all this while. 2011 has been one heck of a journey, and I thank you for coming with me on the ride.

Till we meet again, happy new year, everyone.

Sloppy kisses,

'Aainaa

Come to mama.

I finally got around to purchasing this, after eyeing it for so long. Will be playing around with this baby when I'm not playing around with my actual baby (insert "hahaha you're so witty" laughter here). So far, the colours seem pretty alright, but the brush feels a bit on the cheapo side. Which reminds me, I need to get a brush kit soon....and maybe a good skincare set to go with it....

sloppy kisses x

Sunday.

Maine has joined the 28-year-old club and is kicking ass at it. Maine, happy belated birthday you sexy thang you! To everyone else, if you like breakfast (mushrooms, eggs, ham etc) and you like pizza, then you GOTTA go to Estate at Intermark. Because some genius thought up BREAKFAST PIZZA. And it's super yummy. I'm salivating just thinking about it. Go now people! now now now!

sloppy kisses,

'Aainaa

Ayden is eight!

Months, that is. He is a squirmy wormy momma's boy who is as fast as lightning in his walker! Road Runner ain't got nothin' on him!

Happy 8 months baby bear! True love forever, kiddo.

8 sloppy kisses,

Momma bear

To my husband.

I know it seems as if I've only had time for Ayden lately, but I see the sacrifices you do for our family. How hard you work (often till the wee hours of the morning!), how much you love Ayden and would do anything in the world for him and how you still manage to make me laugh everyday.

You're never overlooked sayang. I see all that you're doing for us. You're a father and a husband and you take it all in your gentle stride. Sometimes I look at you and see the man that I first fell in love with. That man will always be there - no matter how bogged down we get with daily responsibilities, how much we've evolved into different people (physically as well as emotionally). I still see us, our first date in your old car, having drive thru McDonalds at 2am, talking about anything and everything under the sun while we munch on french fries, discovering things about each other and slowly falling in love. The dimple in your right cheek as you flash me that smile of yours that always makes me melt. That will always be us.

After all these years, I could not adore you more. And as our family continues to grow (Insyaallah in years to come) my love for you grows deeply too. You're my confidante, my soulmate, my bestfriend and my husband.

I see you, sayang. I always have.

Love always,

Your wife.

Cute weekend outfit.

Pic courtesy of (where else?) ASOS

Being a mom and having to handle a baby during weekends out has made me a slave to the one-piece outfit. I usually just totter about in a dress and flats because it's hassle free, but this denim playsuit is too cute. And I know babies aren't accessories, but with red ballet flats and an adorable bouncing baby dressed in denim in tow and you'd finish off this outfit perfectly. ha ha!

Happy Sunday everyone!

Smell you later!

ok, I'm OBSESSED.

Last Friday, I strolled into Sephora and spritzed Fresh Brown Sugar's perfume on me, because I thought the name initially sounded interesting...I mean, brown sugar perfume? And I like brown sugar, so what would it actually smell like as a perfume?

So I tried some..and I'm in love. It does have this sweet, caramel smell, but it's mixed in with citrus too. Yummy and light. It might not be for everyone, because I do realise some people do not favour gourmand fragrances (right now I spritz myself from time to time with Victoria's Secret Coconut Passion body mist and my colleagues find it weird that I would want to go around smelling like a cake). Anyway, here are the notes for Brown Sugar, in case you were wondering:

top: Scicilian lemon, tangerine, acai

heart: Sugared magnolia, sheer honeysuckle, peach nectar

base: Caramel, warm amber, cypress

I read the reviews online and the response has been good, just that it may not have that much lasting power. So you may have to keep on spritzing throughout the day. Random note: Chloe perfume lasts AGES. So if you're looking for something which still smells strong hours after, you may want to check it out. I wore some out last night and many hours later it still smells like I've just sprayed it on!

sloppy brown sugar kisses,

'Aainaa

p/s: if any of you ever get to try out brown sugar, let me know what you think!

Gravity.