Which healthcare insurance plan??..

I guess many new parents will experience what hubby and I are currently experiencing. When it comes to our precious baby Ethan, there are just so many topics to talk and think about. Parents always want to give the best to their children and we are no exception. One very important topic that we are now considering is the protection in terms of healthcare for the family.

As you and I are aware, medical expenses are very expensive nowadays thus taking healthcare insurance is indeed a wise move to make. However, finding the right medical coverage is not as easy as I thought. With so many choices in the market, finding one that is not only good in terms of protection and coverage but also one that will not burn a hole in our pocket is not an easy task. It can be very time consuming and not forgetting frustrating to gather quotes, compare them and to choose the most suitable one according to our needs. Ideally, we would always want to save on insurance premiums whenever it's possible. There are cheaper insurance rates out there, but we ought to consider the pros and cons of insurance plans before hand so that we will not compromise on the protection and coverage.

If you're having the same problem on deciding which health insurance policy to take up (and are residing in the US) hop on to Advantage Medical Quote. Your burden can be reduced tremendously as Advantage Medical Quote would be able to help you in getting quotes and deciding which is the most suitable health and medical coverage as per your requirements. This particular site is able to do comparison for you and to obtain the best health rates too. Now, isn't that much faster and hassle free? So if you’re having problem of finding the right health insurance, wait no more, Advantage Medical Quote is the answer to your problem!

Xtra pocket $$ through Blogsvertise??!!

WHY NOT!!

I think many will agree with me that it is always nice (NICE is actually an understatement ...) to earn extra income. What's more if you can do it at home, at your own free time and BEST of all, earning the extra $$ doing the things that you enjoy doing like blogging. Well, folks, you can definately do this via Blogsvertise!!

You may ask what is Blogsvertise and how do you monetized your blog through Blogsvertise? Well, let me enlighten you.

Blogsvertise is another paid blogging service in the blogsphere that you can get yourself register for free and start earning $$. Once your blog is approved, tasks/ assignments will be given out for you to blog about such as websites or products/ services. Once you have done the write ups and get the approval. You can get paid from as low as $4 per entry till up to $25 per entry. So say if you're able to do 3 entries worth $10 each a day. That will make you $30 richer a day. Do the calculation for 30 days, and you can make about $900 a month!! Now, isn't that an attractive offer to do at your own leisure!!?? It sure does to me especially if I can do it during the nights when my baby is already asleep which in my case, starting from 9pm onwards. So folks, there you go, why not give it a try :) I for one will certainly give it a shot! ;p

How much is my blog worth??

Here goes folks...drum-rolling....

My blog is worth $9,597.18.
How much is your blog worth?

Not much at $9,597.18 but hopefully it will grow continuously.

So, how much is yours? Check it out here!

U.S. consumer group flags more toys with lead

Last month I posted a news article about Thomas & Friend toys being recalled. Today, my hubby forwarded me another news about recalled toys - read the news below. If you're wondering why is high levels of lead in toys dangerous? It is unsafe because it may cause brain damage in children. So beware when buying toys for your children especially during this upcoming X'mas season, stay away from those mentioned in the news below and those listed in my previous post. I shall avoid toys made in China for now. Better be safe than sorry...BTW, the soft toy (Ethan's hehe..) on the left are not being recalled ya...just added as a decor on my posting here ;p

Reuters

Mon Oct 29, 5:50 PM ET

Dishes, toys, jewelry and backpacks that have not yet been recalled all carry "worrisome" levels of lead, the nonprofit Consumers Union said on Monday.

The group's Consumer Reports magazine staff recommended that people immediately stop using some of the products tested.

"Our lab tests detected lead at widely varying levels in samples of dishware, jewelry, glue stick caps, vinyl backpacks, children's ceramic tea sets and other toys and items not on any federal recall list," the group wrote in a magazine report.

It said the items were not included in recent recalls. Last week the Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled 665,000 products, including Go Diego Go Animal Rescue Boats from Mattel Inc's Fisher-Price division.

More than 20 million toys made in China have been recalled worldwide over the past four months due to potentially dangerous levels of lead and hazards posed by small magnets that can be swallowed.

Retailers and manufacturers have stepped up product testing, as high levels of lead can cause brain damage in children.

"We screened products from stores and consumers' homes in the New York metropolitan area using home lead testing kits and an X-ray fluorescence analyzer," the magazine article reads.

Consumers Union said some of the products it tested included a Fisher-Price blood pressure cuff from a toy medical kit, caps from seven Elmer's Glue Sticks and some duck-shaped backpacks.

"We detected the highest concentration of total lead, more than 10,000 parts per million, in a cuff that a child had regularly played with for the past two years," the group wrote.
The caps were on glue sticks decorated with cartoon characters and were all orange colored, the group added.

"What we envision is that a child will pull the cap off with their teeth will potentially chew on it," Donald Mays, who heads product safety planning for the group, said in a telephone interview.

Mays said the group used commercially available home lead testing kits.
"Any time that we saw a positive result with these kits and did more scientific testing for lead, we confirmed the presence of lead," he said.

The group said it also found lead in products that were unlikely to leach lead, even when chewed on by children, which raised less concern.

"There is no federal standard for lead in plastics, but the amount of lead detected in the glue stick caps was more than three times the 600 parts per million allowable for paint in the United States," the article reads.

"If you own those items, Consumers Union recommends that you remove them from use."

Ethan is not a car...

Two weekends ago, hubby and myself went shopping and left our precious with my mum for two reasons. One, it's easier for us to do our shopping and secondly, so that Ethan can have some time with his Dodu and Aki as he seldom see them.

Anyway, a day before the shopping trip, Dodu had a short conversation with my 4 yrs old nephew Joshua aka Uaua (his nick) while he was doing his coloring in the living room. BTW, Joshua is sent to my mum's place every afternoon after school.

Dodu: Uaua, bisuk Aunty J mau datang kasi "parking" Ethan tampat Dodu (Aunty J is coming tomorrow to "park" Ethan at Dodu's place)

Uaua: Apa Dodu bilang? (What did grandma just said?)

Dodu: Bisuk Aunty J mau kasi "parking" baby Ethan tampat Dodu (Aunty J is coming tomorrow to "park" Ethan at grandma's place)

Joshua stopped doing his coloring and asked my mom the 2nd time again and after my mum repeated the same thing, he went nearer to my mum and asked for the 3rd time

Uaua: Apa Dodu bilang? (What did grandma just said?)

So again my mum repeated for the third time and thought Joshua probably didn't hear her,

Dodu: Bisuk Aunty J mau kasi "parking" baby Ethan tampat Dodu (Aunty J is coming tomorrow to "park" Ethan at Dodu's place)

Knowing that he had heard it right, Joshua had this cheeky smile on his face (as if he was teasing and correcting my mum..) and said to my mum,

Uaua: Eeeee...napa Dodu cakap gitu, Ethan baby la bukan kereta, mana buli parking di rumah Dodu (Why said such a thing, Ethan is a baby and not a car, so how can he be parked at Grandma's house?)

Dodu Trying hard not to laugh yet ...: Siapa bilang tidak buli, orang pun buli parking ba, Uaua pun parking sini rumah Dodu hari-hari (says who can't, one can park a person too, you're parked here every day too)

Upon hearing that, Joshua just smiled and continued with his coloring....hmmm...kids nowadays are so smart!! hahaha...

Joshua with Ethan when he was 2 mths ++

Joshua with Dodu

My cheeky little nephew whom I adore very much :)

Not yet a blogging baby

Sometimes when I blog over the weekends while hubby is away and Ethan is awake and needs some attention, I will put him on my lap and continue my blog entry. He seems to enjoy it especially looking at the moving and colorful pictures on my laptop :)

Training session for future blogger hehe..

Look at his face...so engrossed!

Ethan looking at the screen...future computer whiz kid??..

Desperate Mommy

Yeah... I was eager to get more smiling pictures of my sweetie pie to the extend that I almost deprive hubby from his nature's call!! hahaha...sorry for being carried away darling hehehe..

Our conversation this morning when I was about to give Ethan his morning milk:

Aunty J: Ba kau kasi bangun dia and kasi dia sanyum and katawa ah, sia mau ambil gambar dia (wake him up and make him smile so I can take his pictures)
Hubby: Ok

Hubby went to the baby cot to unzip the mosquitto net and called out Ethan's name...Ethan as usual will strecth to his heart's content and gave us his gorgeous morning smile...Mommy aka Aunty J excitedly tried to capture the melting moments like nobody business. The camera went snap snap snap...but too bad my digi cam is only a normal 3.2 megapixel Nikon Coolpix 4100 :( So I failed to capture many of his smiling and laughing moments...not fast enough...sigh..But being the very determine person tht I am (which can be pretty annoying at times - ask my hubby hehe..), I persuaded hubby to keep on making Ethan smile and while sweet hubby keep making funny faces and sound to make our baby smile and laugh, our conversation went:

Hubby: Ba capat la, sia mau pigi jamban nie (be quick as I need to go to the loo)
Aunty J: Jangan dulu, kasi katawa dia lagi (hang on, make him smile some more first...)

and so poor hubby continued despite his nature's call...till...

Hubby: Ba ok la, sia pigi tandas luk (Ok, that's enough, let me go to the loo first...)
Aunty J: Nanti dulu, sia mau tangkap dia punya gambar tasayum and katawa dulu (hang on coz I still want to capture his smile and laughter first...)

After a few attempts, hubby started to move away but Aunty J quickly block his way till hubby said:

Hubby: Ba jangan mara ah kalau sia takancing (don't blame me if I peed in my pants..)

Aunty J reluctantly had no choice but to give way...sigh...

Anyway, I took many pictures of Ethan in the hope to catch his brightest and cutest smile again...but after taking almost 40 snaps or so & poor hubby having to control his bladder...this is all that I got...

Yes, I only managed to capture only one!! hmmm...how pathetic right! :p

Nonetheless, being the determine person that I am, I tried again when hubby was playing with Ethan later in the evening...and again due to my limited features digi cam, I only managed to catch one blurry shot of him laughing despite the many snapping away...SIGH...can anyone tell me which camera shoud I upgrade to??!!

Next time I should just use the video ....opsss baby is calling...later folks!!

Double Celebrations

Today was cute little Qeisya's bergunting rambut ceremony cum Raya open house. It was both hubby's and myself second time in attending a "bergunting rambut" ceremony which is one of the traditional Malay baby ceremonies. This is usually done after a baby is 44 days old i.e. after the 44th day of confinement. We didn't get to see the actual ceremony for Qeisya but if I'm not mistaken (correct me if I'm wrong here..), normally there will be prayer that ends with the cutting of the baby's hair by the family members including the guests.

The babies sitting with their mommies...not forgetting handsome little Qhareef hmmm...wonder why these two babies are both looking opposite ways...jual mahal ka dorang nie??!! (playing hard to get perhaps??) haha..

The babies, the toddlers & the mommies :)

Left to right: Qhareef, Mommy Qeisya & baby Qeisya, Aunty J, Neth with Aishah and Ethan, Jurra with Maya and Melissa with Maia

Another milestone

My baby managed to roll over on his own for the very first time just an hour ago!! Initially I tot my hubby had to help him but I was wrong...Previously he could roll to his side but he would still need a helping hand to roll over till he is on his stomach. Well, not anymore :) Oh ...he started drooling for almost 2 weeks now (see picture on the left)... I'm also wondering if he is teething coz since yesterday he seems to have slight fever - on and off...and since two days ago, he sometimes sleep on his side...Both hubby and my little baby are asleep at the moment while I'm trying to keep my eyes open to complete my assignment so that I can enjoy the weekend!

Father & Son Bonding

Pictorial entry of hubby with baby Ethan either, sleeping, feeding, playing or purely posing for the camera :)

Ethan @ 2 weeks old

Ethan's full moon

Coming to 3 mths...

3 mths 1 week

A week before Ethan turns 4 mths

4 mths exactly :)

4 mths 1 wk

Lucky

My parents in law just recently adopted a pet dog who is now called Lucky coz he was once rescued from a flood and saved from being send to the "kebun" as a watch dog :)

The kampung life...

We were attending a friend's wedding in Kota Belud when we came across this traditional and old fashion bamboo/wooden "gate". One either has to climb over (from the side) or slide the bamboo "gate" before entering someone's compound.

It has been ages since I came across this bamboo "gate". It must have been like 20 over yrs ago when we used to visit some of our relatives in Papar. But seldom will you see the bamboo "gate" being used nowadays as modern gates are much preferred now. Nonetheless, you can still find some folks who still don't mind using it.

Seeing the bamboo "gate" had me thinking how Ethan may not be able to experience some of the kampung life (which is really not a kampung standard if I really think about it as compared to our parents' time..) that me and my brothers used to experience during our childhood time.

Gone were the days when playing in the mud, playing marbles (main guli), "police & thief", climbing trees (including the so called haunted "pokok ara"), fishing (especially ikan karuk) with simple fishing rod using just bamboo and tiny pin as a hook, catching grasshopper (tangkap belalang), getting yourself dirty trying to catch tadpoles (tangkap berudu) were considered pure enjoyment. Today's kids are more incline towards expensive toys such as computer games, gameboy and playstation. But with the much talked about technology advances, what more can we say...just hope that some day, someone out there will write and compile about the many traditional games or kampung life especially in Sabah that was once enjoyed by the older generations as they are after all part of our history don't you think? :)

Talking about toys... hubby used Ethan's tiny towel to entertain him this afternoon and it did excite our precious till he got bored hehe... hmmmm a really cheap form of toy as it only cost less than RM1 for the tiny towel as compared to his other real toys! If only he can stick to this kinda toy till he is grown up...yeah keep dreaming girl!

This video clip was taken after he was almost bored with the game. I should have taken when he first got excited so you can see his funny facial expression hehe..

and of coz after his playtime it was nap time for my sweetie pie thus the blogging mommy :)

I just love taking his pictures when he is asleep...

Never too early for books...

As promised earlier, here are the books that I've bought from Duolos on Friday. I hope to have a library corner in the study room as I do fancy books quite a lot although I have limited time to do any reading nowadays. We hope to instill reading habit into little Ethan from a very young age too :)

I bought 9 books which cost me less than RM100! Cheap right!

So the new additions shall be added on to this still small but growing collection of my precious books :)

Sayonara Doulos..

Yup its true that comes 25th October, Doulos will be saying sayonara to Sabah as this would be their last visit to this part of the world...not only that, the 93 year old ship will hang its anchor and retire very soon. My only regret is not being able to bring our precious Ethan to visit this ship which I've known since I was a kiddo. Due to the hot and humid weather, Duolos would be a bit too hot, stuffy and crowded for a 4.5 months old baby. Nevertheless, I managed to grabbed some really good bargains of children books for our little prince which I shall do another entry after this ;p

Anyway, together with two of my colleagues (we met up with my SIL and nephew Joshua at the ship afterwards), we visited this historical ship yesterday during the long lunch hours.

I shall write no more and let the pictures below to tell you the story...

Click on the picture to read about the short history of Doulos

Read about the volunteer crew on board

It's all about books! I like!

No introduction needed...

My colleagues with SIL and my nephew Joshua

Happy faces :)

Mona Lisa wannabe??!! Hmmmm...I have no comment...

The hand that spoils the picture!??!! Ha ha! ;p

Farewell Duolos...

Raya @ Izah's

While attending a wedding in Kota Belud on Sunday, we got a call from Izah inviting us for lunch on the 3rd day of Hari Raya. So together with hubby's parents in his dad's car, we went over to Kinarut on Monday for another Hari Raya visiting. As we arrived at Izah's, her cute daughter Fara was already waiting and looking for her grandma (hubby's mum). She kept on asking my FIL, "Where's grandma? Where's grandma?". She must have missed her grandma very much, so cute hehe...Anyway, we were greeted by Izah and her family and soon after that, drinks and wonderful Raya cookies were served!! The thing about Hari Raya that I always look forward to each year is the cookies and delicious dishes that are normally being prepared and served. My all time favourite Raya cookies is of coz the famous Kuih Makmur that melt in your mouth while my favourite Raya dish is no other than the beef rendang!! So, when Izah and her mom were busy preparing lunch in the kitchen, I happily and shamelessly devoured the Kuih Makmur... mmmmm...so yummy!!

When lunch was ready and served, we moved to the dining area and oh boy, I can tell you that not only did the food looked delicious, they taste wonderful too! Besides the kismis mixed with cashew nuts rice (which I transferred all kismis to hubby's plate coz kismis or raisins is a BIG NO NO for me hehe), there were beef rendang (yay!!), chicken curry, chicken in black soya sauce, sticks of chicken and beef satay, ikan masak merah, nasi impit and ketupat. We, especially me and hubby really enjoyed the sumptious dishes coz they were indeed very tasteful!! I Like!! Even hubby commented that the dishes were better than Sempelang's!

We left Izah's around 3pm and lil' Fara followed us to our apartment and played with her fav uncle. I could hear her laughter even from the apartment when she and hubby were playing at the playground. I bet she must have slept early that evening hehe...

Fara with Ethan (who was bz watching telly...) together with their grandpa and grandma

Fara with cousin Fikri (son of Izah's younger brother) and their grandma (Izah's mum)

Aunty J with Fara and Fikri :)

Fara with her favourite uncle - the hubby ;p

Fara likes to hold and take picture with Ethan..

Another post of them together

My precious... He managed to take a nap on the sofa while we were chit chatting after lunch :)

Fara said, "peace!!" This girl really knows how to dress up, she even put on her own lipstick without a mirror!!

Fara busy teaching hubby how to play her Dora Game Boy...look at their serious faces ;p

My little "butot"

Previously, I called my precious prince, my tiny pupa. This time I shall call him my little "butot". If you're a non-Sabahan and wondering what it is? Its the sago worm that lives in sago trunks. If you're still clueless, you can read about it at Wikipedia (the life saviour when it comes to definitions and explainations on things!!). However, IF you're still curious on how it looks like, click here. But I must warn you that its not a pretty sight to look at so up close :)

So why do I call my precious my little "butot"? Cos he is just like the cream chubby worm that wriggles (moves) a lot!!

Look at his pictures taken on Monday morning and you'll understand why ;p I've just started unzipping his mosquito net when he woke up ...

but even before I finished unzipping the net, he was already stretching till one of his legs went out of the baby cot

feeling unsatisfied, he strecthed some more and put his legs up highhhhh...

then happily plonked his feet on the bed with a stump

after which he continued to move and wriggle around till one of his legs was out again

when he is done and satisfied, he looked at his mommy (with the digi cam again!!) with that "ok am done, you can carry me and gimme my milk now" look! ;p

However, a few seconds just before I carried him up, he gave me the cutest smile that really made my day! It was such a melting moment :)