FOREVER?!

In a couple of weeks I will stop teaching. It's always hard to think about it, let alone talking to the students about it!

They know for sure that I will stop at some point but what they -or their parents- find hard to accept is the fact that I won't get back to teaching, Ever!

Not because I'm tired of it or because I don't enjoy it anymore, It's just about becoming a mother of 2 means that I'll become a stay at home mom.

I don't really know how to prepare myself for such a lifestyle, I think it'll just happen.

The most common question I am being asked these days is: "Are you going to stop teaching? FOREVER?!"

I sometimes say "Who knows?" but most of the time my response is:

"yes, Forever!".

Not My Baby Shower #2

The baby shower will take place next weekend but I couldn't wait til then to post these pictures of the favors I have prepared. I made 20 of these :) They will be filled by white and blue dyed chocolate.
This is the second time I work on favors. I loved both ideas and enjoyed making them all.

Now, it's time to start working on my Own baby's favors!

Pinkish pinkish ones...My eyes got tired of the color Blue...

TWO MARIYAH

I blinked and my baby turned two!

It will keep speeding by seemingly faster than the speed of light...

I will try my best not to blink much ;)

My Favourites While at Home

My favourite TIME during the day

is when she naps.

I get to nap too.

My favourite ROOM at home during the day...& night

Is the fridge!

I'm only six weeks away from becoming a mother again. Insha'Allah :)

So, it's OK!

Embarrassing Mothers

I started teaching three new students after my vacation to Amman last Summer. For some reason the mothers of these students are a little bit "different", unlike the rest of the mothers I've been dealing with since 2007.

One mother keeps pushing her kid into sitting on the table in the guests room so we could start the class. Once she goes back to the living room and right before I start my class, the sounds of her son's DS start! It's so distracting and it always gets louder with time. The boy shakes his head several times during the class.

One mother takes forever to open the door for me, simply because she can't hear the door bell ringing. Of course she can't, she is a singer! She has a few microphones at home and a recording machine with huge speakers. I hear her singing once I park the car in front of her house.
Once I start the class, she stops singing of course, BUT she plays musical movies -Indian?- on the TV in the other room. It's always loud! The boy can barely focus while reading Quran. He goes to his mom at least once/class asking her to keep it low. It works for a few minutes but then....
She told me she is a popular singer back in her country. She records her songs here in the US though.

The last mother is the funniest.
Every time I step into her house she starts complaining about her daughter -my student- for not practicing Quran between my classes. She says it's hard to make her daughter focus on anything these days.
I start my class in the dining area and the mother lays down on the couch in the living room and then falls asleep and then starts snoring so loud!
It was funny at the beginning but later on it became annoying & definitely embarrassing!

I wonder...

Will I ever embarrass Mariyah in anything I do? Will she ever shake her head and act like my students do?

Get Fat & Lazy Weekend

It wasn't the kind of weekend we were looking forward to, but we survived it after all :)
Messed up schedule for Mariyah, the stomach bug was hard on her...Hope she'll feel better tomorrow.
A lot of eBaying and Playstationning -Are these real words?-.

Some fun time at the farmer's market, park and library though. Anything to cheer her up. She is almost two years old and I love her

forever!

Knock Knock...Who's there?

SUMMER TIME!!

Movies and Us

Movie dates are our favourite!. I've never imagined myself living this kind of life where movies take a big part of it. I'm not complaining at all, I actually love it. Especially after a long tiring day.
Sometimes, the movies Jeeej gets too excited about are not my favourite. Why would anyone enjoy horror movies and "stupid" ones too?
He asked me several times to join him for the opening of Iron Man 2 but I insisted on not going and suggested he joins his friends instead. It upsets him sometimes that I don't trust his taste in such movies, but I learnt my lesson after watching Kick Ass with him...THE WORST MOVIE EVER!

Anyways,
The night Iron Man 2 came out, and while getting Mariyah ready for bed he asked me if I'm too tired to go to the movies. I said: Anything but Iron Man.

We went to the "surprise" movie and I had no idea what to expect! I kept guessing but he never gave an answer.

It turned out to be one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen.

"BABIES"

It's about 4 newborns from 4 countries around the world. The movie follows their first year of life, how they grow up and the environments they grow up in.

The cutest baby was the one from Mongolia. He made me laugh so many times, he's so funny and lovable...they all are, who doesn't love babies?!

I left the theater thinking about how extra careful we are sometimes about our babies, how we put so many limits to their freedom and how we force them into becoming like us while raising them. It is ridiculous.

I hope I will be stronger with the coming baby this Summer. I don't want to be the worrywart I was when Mariyah was a newborn. I want to be more relaxed and enjoy the first few months with baby Selma!

I CAN'T WAIT :)

Ya Allah!

As for Iron Man 2, Jeeej went with his friend to see it

one day after the opening ;)

And if you're planning to watch Robin Hood,

go ahead! It's a piece of art!

;)

Fashion & Myself

When it comes to fashion, I'm the last one to talk to.
Two facts about me: I love LOVE colors. Colorful clothes, scarves, shoes and purses.
and I love feeling comfortable in whatever I wear, think shoes!
I almost never wear high heels.

Before my wedding night, I remember how my mom was worried I'd wear my favourite Nike shoes with my white dress instead of white satin high heels. I ended up wearing white ballerina shoes.
I am lucky Jeeej is only a few centimeters taller than me so there's no need to wear high heels AT ALL!

A conclusion I came up with after living for 4 years here is that when I do shopping for my trips to Amman, I think of Amman only! I realised that what I wear and enjoy wearing there isn't suitable for my busy life here.

My "heavy" situation these days requires feeling extra comfortable, especially with a toddler to RUN after.
Recently I have discovered some nice and colorful Maxi dresses online. I ordered two and the black one has arrived.
I wore it to the park the other day, where a birthday party was held for my friend's little son.

I felt light!

Some ladies said I looked cute, some said it made me look bigger and I don't know about the rest...but who cares?

My body loves it and it can't wait to get the navy blue one by mail...and soon I will order more to spend the summer feeling cool, relaxed and comfortable too.

Please, It Is Worth It.

For months now we've been trying to teach her how to ask for something she wants politely

by saying: "PLEASE"!

She always refused to say it no matter how angry she gets

for not responding to her requests.

The only way she would say it was:

"NO PLEASE, BALASH PLEASE".

TODAY,

For some reason, she didn't stop using it :)

I couldn't wait to see Jeeej later on

to have him hear her saying the word...

pseeeees, pseeeeees!!

King Abdullah II and My Brother Ward

When my brother Ward was born, both my parents accepted the fact that he's a Down Syndrome but what they refuse to accept is that he's disabled.

Since he was born they made sure he goes to regular schools and they keep enrolling him in after school physical activity programmes. He is a great swimmer, basket ball player and an amazing dancer, too.

This year at the age of 14 he was nominated by his school to participate in a nation wide competition to win King Abdullah II award for physical fitness. He practiced so hard in order to win. It became his biggest goal. I remember when I used to video chat with my family before the competition, he was practicing push ups and pull ups and other kinds of exercises in the living room.

When he has a goal, he works hard to achieve it! If he feels he needs to lose weight he would stop having dinners no matter how tempting the food on the table is . If you know about Down Syndrome you'd understand how hard this step is. He is so confident yet so simple and nice to all people around. He is so sensitive and considerate too. Everybody loves him! EVERYBODY :)

A couple of weeks ago my parents invited a group of his "normal" friends to Mansaf and my mom told me that my dad was so excited about, as if he was inviting the king himself!! When the parents of his friends came to pick them up, they all wanted to meet Ward. Their kids never stop talking about him.

I'm so proud of my parents and I'm proud of my brother even more!

YES, HE WON THE COMPETITION. HE WON THE GOLDEN MEDAL. THE KING WILL MEET MY BROTHER ON MAY 21ST TO HAND HIM THE AWARD. WE CAN'T BE ANY HAPPIER!

Have I mentioned that he's a great dancer? Watch this video til the end and see what a wonderful human being he is.

He's the biggest gift Allah SWT sent to our family, Ever!

I love you Ward and I can't wait to see you!

Feeding that little tummy

When I go pick Mariyah up from the day care, the babysitter likes to give me a report on how my girl was active or naughty that day, how she danced and how she played in the back yard. She would ask me about the meaning of some Arabic words Mariyah keeps repeating while there and we talk about some other stuff too.



Sometimes she apologizes for giving Mariyah a little piece of chocolate or some chips. "You know," she says "She saw the kids eating this and that and she asked for it, I can't say no to her, it doesn't feel right!". I keep telling her that I don't mind. That I'm trying my best to keep her away from junk, but if there was no way out, then it's OK :)



I understand the guilty tone coming out of the baby sitter's mouth. All kids who go to her daycare eat whatever she provides for them. Whatever she prepares for them. She does her best but then again, their parents accept it all.



I am the only one who prepares My kid's food at home. I make sure there is a variety. Fruit chunks, raisins for snack. Whole wheat pasta or rice with veggies for lunch. Plain yogurt with granola, fruit and honey for another snack. It all depends on how long she spends at the day care, each day is different.



I don't bring candies or chocolate home. There's always a pack of jelly beans in the car, I use them when I give up on her listening to me. She gets to have 2 or 3 beans/day.

I also offer her a lollipop as a treat/day and I believe it's enough sugar for her.



I have never used prepared baby foods for her. I feel good making it from scratch and she enjoys watching the steps of preparations and cooking too.



I wonder if I'll be able to keep doing this with more than one child on my hands...I'd love to!

What Joke?

I finished my last class for Friday and was about to leave my student's house when the mother stopped me and asked me if I could start giving extra classes to her daughter before summer time.

I said: "Yea, I'm going to start teaching on Tuesdays so I guess I can squeeze her in".

- "You know, because it's summer time and we are planning to go on a vacation to Bangladesh".

-"Yea and before I give birth this summer Insha'Allah :) "

- "Give birth to who? It's a joke right?!"

- "What Joke? Is this a joke?"...........

Is this a joke?

Was she really surprised?

Is it the new way of cheering pregnant women up?

It didn't work out with me...

Well, maybe a little bit :)

I'm almost 8 weeks away from giving birth and I'm about to explode, for real :) !!

Baba Zeeez !

Now, because of his new job, He gets to come back home way earlier than before.

He leaves in the early morning though,

But early mornings don't matter,

Mariyah is an early bird so she's always in a good mood when she wakes up.

What I love the most about this new schedule is that we find him home

once I'm back from my classes.

Mariyah keeps singing baba zeeez habibi all the way back home from the day care.

Once she sees his car parking in the garage, she gets too excited and you could tell

how happy she is from her fast steps running towards home.

Once he opens the door, I feel relaxed and so happy to be back home!

She becomes his everything. I love watching them playing together and I enjoy some peaceful time on the couch.

Her favourite time spent with him is in the tub when he gives her a bath. A big mess in the bathroom and a lot of water splashed on the floor.

But who cares!!

It's just sooo good to be home, I'm blessed :)

I love you Baba Zeeez !

* Her friend calls him ammo zeeez now!

Mariyah's Art Gallery...Opening soon!

Are you guys ready?

I think we are :)

I C U

Last week my good friend's daughter had an open heart surgery. She stayed in the ICU for a few days afterwards.
Today she's been moved to a private room and hopefully she will be discharged soon :)
Il hamdolillah!Today, me and Mariyah were invited to a brunch and one lady there asked me about my friend's daughter's situation.

I said: "She just left the ICU and she's feeling much better...."

A little voice came from my lap interrupted me and said: "PEEKABOOOOO, I C UUUUU"!!

:))

I LOVE YOU MARIYAAAAH :)

I love my car

Not necessarily the one I have right now..

But the fact that I have a car for transportation in this state

is a blessing, a big one.

Last weekend we went to San Francisco, with the goal of visiting Alcatraz.

Jeeej was planning for the trip online when he suddenly asked me if I want to go crazy that day and take the train and other kinds of transportation before we take the ferry to Alcatraz.

I was feeling good that day and said: YES! When else would I ever take a train in this country?

We ended up taking the train, the bus, the cable car and the subway back and forth. Once it was time to take the ferry to the prison I decided that me, Mariyah and baby Selma inside were too tired to have a tour there!

We ended up taking a ferry to Oakland, which is only a 30 min trip.

Towards the end of the trip Mariyah started going crazy, she couldn't decide what to do or how to react to the fast walking and sometimes running to catch the train or bus. It was a very long exhausting day. The whole time I was calming myself down by remembering :

That it's only for one day.

That the car is waiting for us at the train station back home.

That if Jeeej ever mentions trains and buses to me ever again I would give him a scary look that will make him forget his name.

I felt bad for those who looked as tired as we were. I know some do this by their own choice and some got used to it they forgot how tiring it is. As for me it was fun that day -but never again-.

The book I'm reading these days -The glass castle/true story- made me write about this. I reached the part that talks about the family's car that stopped working in the middle of the desert because of the Dad's stupidity and how the 6 of them had to walk back home before some lady picked them up and took them back home.

A very interesting book reviewed here by 7aki fadi.

al hamdolillah I have a car,

and yes, I love my car :)