Believe me, SHE KNOWS.

When I told my mom I am expecting, she asked me if I have already told Mariyah about it. I was surprised, I couldn't believe she would ask such a question.

"Are you serious?!"

"Of course I am!"

"Well, no not yet"

"Ok, keep it for now"

A couple of weeks later I went to see a doctor and all was confirmed. I called my mom. She said:

"Ok, you can tell her now".

I got excited about the idea. I sat down with Mariyah and showed her my belly and said:

"hone fi baby"---->There's a baby inside :)

She touched my skin and went away. She wouldn't understand, I thought.

That's what ladies around me kept saying...

"she's too young to understand...come on!!"

I kept talking to Mariyah about it, ever day, at least twice. I would let her touch it and I would repeat the same words...

Nowadays...If you ask her: "where's the baby?" she would come to me, pull up my top, knock on my belly and say "babyyyyyyyy babyyyy!"

Not only that, she would stick her head to it for a few seconds and then go away :)

It is so precious...she understands...and she knows and I'm sure she is expecting a baby to be around her sometimes soon!

This is a happy thought I wanted to share...Now I truly believe that kids her age understand. My mom was right "AS ALWAYS!!" :))

Today, she was sitting on Jeeej's lap, playing and messing around. She realised she wasn't wearing a onesie, so she lifted her top up, pointed at her rounded full tummy and said: "baby babyyyyyyyyyy!!!"

*Picture above taken by Laz in Auburn on thanksgiving .

Can I ??

A poem to my dear Mariyah...

Can I ??

Can I sandwich you between two chocolate biscottis

? Can I dip you in chocolate fondue?
and then gulp you down?!

Can I ?

I'm craving chocolate today :)

I used to write better poems...ask jeeej :p

Another Girl?

In my area, I know 8 pregnant women, including me. The due dates are all sometime between June and August next year. Inshallah:) It seems like no one is going to Jordan next summer...

As for me, I decided not to know the gender of the baby inside. My 1st ultrasound apt. is supposed to be next month and my friends here are going crazy about my decision ;)

As for what I feel...

I feel it's a girl...

Why!?
Because I am going through the same issues I went through while pregnant with Mariyah.
I eat tangerines like crazy.
My favourite drink is orange juice -sour-.
My mood is the same...NOT MOODY :)
I have to drink Diet 7-up every day, to help me burp :$
I am going to have a surgery to pull my 2 left wisdom teeth next month. I had to go through the same surgery when Mariyah was still inside -worst memories ever, the pain was stronger than the pain of giving birth :(

And most importantly...
Whenever I talk about the baby inside I refer to it using "her"
I will take her...
I will nurse her...

And to be honest...it would be much easier dealing with 2 girls at the same time...I mean, same bedroom theme, same clothes, same fun places, same stories, same songs...same everything...NO?!

It doesn't matter at the end...I swear it doesn't...but I just had to write my thought down :)

Baby inside, the size of a lime now...

I will love you no matter what!

I will love you so so much...I already do!

Call us crazy...

But we watched AVATAR in 3D again!

Still the best movie EVER ;)

Baby Mira Qwaider ....

Is on her way!!

Maioush...may Allah SWT make it easy and smooth!

Samer, be patient, and be her whole family now!

Baby Mira...COME HOME FAST!!

We can't wait to see you!

AVATAR+IMAX+3D=

AN AMAZINGLY PERFECT MOVIE!

Absolutely unbelievable!

I'm in LOVE.

Do You Remember Remi Bendali??

When I was a kid, She was to be my Superstar!

My mom told us that when me and my sisters were young, we would ask her if we could put our princess dresses on, she would play a video tape full of Remi's songs and we would dance non stop!

Last summer, while in Amman, I looked for her CDs and found non except at Music Box. The quality isn't that good, but better than nothing...

I play the songs for Mariyah once we get into the car...
Once a song ends and right before the next one starts, mariyah asks for more, saying: MAN, MAN!! -Kaman- :)

Sometimes she request the song Baba...
Sometimes she sings immyyyy...immmyyyyy...

I would love to hear my baby sing for her one day...would be amazing to be honest :)

Today, I was searching for more about Remi, and I found a great website for her. It has many of her songs...some of them I haven't heard in years, like: Amman & ya rait.

I saw pictures of her wearing her wedding dress, Beautiful as always!
I watched a recent interview with her, before she got married, she was teaching Music in Ghana.

They asked her about her favourite song, and she sang one of my favourites ever!
"rij3 il khareeef, khatyar wara2 il shajar" :)

I attended one of her shows long long time ago, it was the one about : "riznamit jiddi". I remember it was a dream come true...

I still remember her songs: "roo7i ya marjou7a", "mama, bi 3eedik shu bihdiki" and all of the ones posted on youtube!

When I see Mariyah dancing in her car seat listening to Remi singing I find myself smiling and my heart beating fast...
Because I still love Remi and I really hope to see her sing her songs again, and have them recorded in a better quality :)

Tonight, I feel like a little girl searching and reading and listening to Remi Bendali :)

http://remibendali.net/

Dying or Living?

The first Orchid Jeeej got me was the yellow dancing lady. It didn't live long, it died the next week or so. I didn't know how to take care of it. I never got an Orchid again. "I don't want to lose more" I thought.

On my first visit to the farmers market, Oct.25th, I got this Orchid.

Today is Dec. 16th :)

Is it dying?

Or living?!

Can you see him!?
He's getting really upset!
Let's have DINNER!!! He says :D
I think and I hope it's living...for an extra month at least...
I see it IS STILL HAPPY :)

Today...

Today...

I feel Creative.

Because I'm cooking -Preparing- the Magloubeh for tomorrow's dinner, although it's 9 pm right now.

And because I just finished these two paintings and hanged them on the wall :)

Thanks Mimi for the advice! Jeeej loves them :)
You may wonder,,,why am I being creative!
Because today I went shopping for new clothes...You see, I'm starting to show!
I'm still 10 weeks pregnant, but I'm showing :) My pants are getting tight & I love it!
Jeeej loves it too...and he is excited about my new clothes :)
:D
Thanks Jeeej, I love you so much
And Mariyah too
And BABY "Y" too !

eBay Coupons, Exclusively on Jeedo's

OK!

Here's the deal:

Enter Jeeej's eBay page & check out his listings, whenever you want. You can -Of course- buy whatever you want. But if he knows that you came to his page through my blog -this site-, you will get a great discount :)

* Purchases up to $49 get free priority shipping (2nd day shipping).

** Purchases $50 and over, get $5 off!!

*** Purchases $100 and over, get $10 off!!

Please mention "JEEDO'S" before you purchase on eBay!

Simple :)

There's a link to his page on my blog, it's on the right side...Jeeej's eBay!!! Click on it NOW...You'll love it ;)

Happy Bidding :D

Don't hesitate to ask, just leave me a comment...Thanks a lot! :)

Would You Eat?!

If your husband was craving some brownies...

And it was Sunday, but...
He was working!


And there was no one to help you make it...

Because it's so complicated!!

And then you look around you...

And you see your 18 monther offering help!

Would you make her help!?

And later on...Would you and your husband eat the brownies!?

WE SURE DID!!

Never trust Men &...

When Mariyah is bothering me while I'm out or while I'm doing something -not related to her- I distract her by giving her my cell phone. I know it's not right and I know I shouldn't do it but it happens sometimes :)

One day, We were in the outlet, Jeeej was shopping in a store while me and Mariyah were in another. I gave her my cell while she was in the stroller so I could finish my shopping, in peace. After we met Jeeej, he told me that he got a picture msg on his cell phone sent from mine. It was an old picture of him. It took him sometime to believe that it was actually Mariyah who sent it and not me! That day, I decided to delete all the "inappropriate" pictures, because I don't want her ever to send any of them to the shaikh's number, on my contact list! :D

Yesterday, I gave her lunch, and got online and started chatting with my friend. I gave her my cell phone to stay away for a while...

At some point, and for no specific reason I decided to have a look at my cell...and this is what I saw:

I took a picture of my cell right away, and sent it to Jeeej's cell phone, as a surprise! He called me back saying: Don't delete the application...I want to check it out!!!!

Lesson of the day: Never trust MEN! and Mariayh!

Some surprises...

I loved the movie "Julie and Julia" so much. The cooking in the movie got me excited about cooking more and more.
Jeeej Loved it too, and he loves the result!.


Few days after watching it, I saw a package in his hands. He just got it by mail...
It was a surprise from him to me!!
I always loved his surprises, but this time I didn't :p


It was this...

It's a big book, with SO many recipes. Sometimes, the measurements can be 2/3 tsp, or a little bit less...That's how complicated it is!

No fun pictures of course, and the dishes names are so hard to pronounce, which is something I can't live with :p

I would love to have someone cook for me using that book, everything sounds delicious! But as for me, I can't follow this kind of instructions and measurements. NO WAY!

Jeeej got upset of course, he thought I would love it! I swear I tried to like it...I went through it's pages several times, but every time I was convinced that it's not my type of cook book!

I wanted to blog about it when I got the package, but I didn't want to hurt Jeeej's feelings!

Today he announced: The book is SOLD!

He sold it on ebay, and made a few extra bucks on it!! Great ebayER!! :D

And then I asked him to show me the Description he left for the book to sell...

Here's what he wrote:

"Bought it as a gift for my wife who was more annoyed than pleased...She's the one who wanted to see the movie...I thought she'd like it. Oh well :). It was new when I bought it and it still is, I think the front cover is a tiny bit bent but other than that it's perfect. FREE SHIPPING SUPER FAST! 2.99 for Priority."

:D

He's soooo good when it comes to ebay & many other things too ;) He has so many items listed this season. Please pay his page a visit...He takes all the pictures you see by himself, and he keeps updating the items so many times during the week. HE IS A TOP-RATED SELLER.

There's always a link on my blog to his ebay page. You can always find it on the right side of my blog. Jeeej's ebay!

Hint for Jeeeeeeej :D

Will He Get It? ;)

BETTER than Zalatimo's?!!

I always loved Zalatimo brothers Ma'moul...

But you know what tastes better?!

MAMA's Homemade Ma'mooooouuul :*)

I love you mama, and thank you Nour!

Hope you have a safe trip back to Amman...

Kisses to family

and Adha Mubarak everyone!!

The Concept of "Siblinghood".

I got Mariyah this doll stroller and playpen a while ago, trying to teach her the concept of "siblinghood"!

I think she understands it really well :)

I love you Mariyah!

You're going to be the BESTEST sister everrrrr :)))

* The little stroller you see in the second picture is her newest and funnest way of transportation around the house these days ;)

**I made French Toast for Mariyah yesterday, right before taking these pictures.

My beautiful sister:)

May Allah SWT make your path easier than mine!

I love you so much, you make me SO proud :)

Today I celebrate my 8th year, and your first week too!

Our new talents :)

Mariyah started drawing.

A few days ago, we got her a small pack of Crayons and she is enjoying it.

Here she was hiding her 1st drawing from me, she wanted me to wait til she's done.

I hanged it on the wall in her room,

she already has 2 drawings looking at her while she's in her crib :)

As for me....I love Pillows...
Especially those I make by myself :D


I also have a cooking talent ;)

Because it's mine...

While I was pregnant with Mariyah, I tried so hard not to know the gender. But once I saw her on the screen, It was so tempting :p I couldn't resist asking the question: A boy or a girl?!

This time...I decided!
Jeeej doesn't believe I can do it, but here I am, announcing that I don't want to know what's cooking inside right now :)

It's hard not to know...but I want to keep it this way :)
I want to be able to feel it myself, I want to be able to enjoy the strongest connection ever, by myself!

Because as long as the baby is inside, it's mine...
Once it's out...it belongs to the whole world, including me of course!

I would love it if the baby is a girl, simply because I love sisters and I want Mariyah to play with her sister...

Jeeej would love it if it's a boy because he loves variety and because he wants someone to play PS3 with him one day! He gave up on me :p

As for Mariyah, she tells me she wants a sister, and tells jeeej she wants a brother!!!! Typical :p

It's going to be either a boy or a girl...so
whatever it is, it really doesn't matter...what is really important is a healthy baby, inshallah :)

Hello baby inside, you are about the size of a grape right now! And I love grapes and apples and I love pumpkins too! And I can't wait to see you and love you as much as I want :D