I used to get so much done!

My little one doesn't like naps anymore, nor does he like to be away from his mama, nor does he like me feeding him. Stubborn little man wants to do everything on his own including climbing a mount everest of stairs and doesn't want help coming down. Sigh. I used to have a schedule that looked something like this:

7 - LD wakes up, eats breakfast, plays on own while i clean up
9-11 LD naps
11-1:30 LD eats lunch, we play, etc
1:30-3 - LD naps
etc etc...no longer does LD nap like this so i can't get anything done!

I used to do this:

Nap #1: Read Qur'an, get on treadmill and read magazine while on treadmill, shower
Nap #2: Pray, makes his food, make dinner, read, think, etc

Well no longer. I can't get stuff done anymore because he doesn't want to be away from me and he won't nap as well - sometimes i get two short ones, sometimes one long one and sometimes none at all. Seperation anxiety and stranger anxiety have reared their heads over here too and when he's up he no longer plays on his own or even near me. His favorite is when i fold laundry, he likes to unfold it. But he always wants to be right on me, wrapped around my leg, or me playing next to him - no not with him - he's far too independent for that (see how contradicting that is - doesn't want to be away from me but doesn't want me to do anything for him - well except when he's yelling for food as he sees me preparing it - grrrrr). I play with blocks while he plays with something else and when he gets bored with his toy he knocks down my beautiful construction. By the way, i think this is one of the best gifts he got from his birthday: Melissa and Doug Alphabet Nesting and Stacking Blocks - they stack three feet tall and he loves to knock them down and i'll find all sorts of things inside them. He really likes his ball popper too but he likes to stick the pieces from his shape sorter into it. Such a little thinker.

Oh, and here's a tip for moms who have similar kids who THINK they can feed themselves but really just put cereal all througout their hair, on the walls, on the floor, on your hair, and a little itty bit in their mouths. Buy a couple cheapo shower curtains from the dollar store and fold up and put under the high chair. It'll save you a lot of time because you can just pick it up and dump the big stuff, wipe it off or throw in the wash.

Blurkers

blurker: One who reads blogs but leaves no evidence of themselves such as comments behind; a silent observer of blogs

I wish I knew all who read my blog because if they are reading it, it's obvious we have something in common. A couple months ago, I got what I thought was a random comment on my blog by a "blurker". I found out later that this person had read my blog for two years. You heard right, two years. And I had no clue and boy was I missing out! Two weeks after that comment was made, we met in person and a good sincere friendship was established over a wonderful meal with our families. I honestly consider her one of my best friends today. Like she says, it's not the amount of time two people know each other, it's the bond that is created. I found a true friend that day and insh'Allah our friendship will continue to grow and our boys will play, and pray, together. *You* know who you are - so glad to have you in our lives!

I wonder who else reads my blog so I'd like every blurker to just post one teeny eeny weenie comment - anonymous if you want - about whatever you want. I think of that quote, "A stranger is a friend you haven't met yet" - Are you in fact a friend I haven't met yet?

In one year...

I just read this today (Parents, October) and some of these numbers really shocked me!

In the first year of a babies life, on average, an infant:
Spends 4,745 hours sleeping
Will go through 2,788 diapers
Grows 10 inches longer
Triples in weight
Guzzles 9,303 ounces of breastmilk or formula
Cries a total of 730 hours

Ramadan Mubarak!!!!

Little Dude's new ride

kelty backpack
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

I'm so excited. I went to the consignment sale down the street at the church, got there soon after the doors opened - what a freaking madhouse! Those women are out to do some damage. I was looking for specific things - outdoor backpack, sleep and play (i never bought one of those and need one for travelling), books, baby food books and big lego pieces for a toy table a neighbor gave him but was missing the blocks.

Found: Kelty Backpack brand new with tags (!). These are the best of the best in baby backpack world and go for $100-$200 at REI. I scored it for $65 and was a little afraid to get it for that price but man there was a line of women waiting to take that puppy out of my arms, following me around, lol and I had to decide quick and since it was new with tags I got it. Score! I also found the lego blocks.

So.... ZACK - when are we all going hiking??? We're readyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. :-D Just need to find a hood in case of rain...we do live in the land of unexpected buckets of rain.

I love fall!

autumn in colorado
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Fall is my favorite season. Here's a few things (i'm sure i'm forgetting a million) that i like about fall:

1. Falling leaves
2. Leaves changing colors
3. Brisk cool air with sunshine
4. The smell of the cool outdoors
5. Having a blanket laying around on the couch to curl up in
6. Wearing fuzzy warm sweaters and sweats
7. Hot chocolate
8. Hot apple cider
9. Fall festivals
10. School supply bins (buying school supplies when i was a kid)
11. Kids back at school and seeing them walking to and fro school
12. A break in busyness...time for reading again.
13. Fall foods - squash, apples, pomegranates, etc
14. Thanksgiving
15. Walks in the woods/park/wherever fall is present
16. Comfort foods (after a summer of eating lighter food, it's nice to get to heavier comfort food).
17. Good books and good movies come out in the fall (they plan it that way...summer movies are action for men, cartoons for kids, and silly stuff for teenagers - the good stuff comes out in the fall). I learned that in a college film class.
18. Baking (what is better than the smell of a bread or similar item baking on a cool afternoon???).
19. Crunching leaves, raking leaves, playing in leaves
20. Picking a pumpkin.
21. Autumn door wreaths.
22. Charlie Brown cartoons
23. First snow (in Colorado)... :-( I miss that so much!
24. Ramadan (for now...i know pretty soon Ramadan will be in the summer, but for now it's in the fall and it makes fall nice too.)
25. Long stroller walks with my little dude.

I could go on and on. It's just the best season. Not too cold, not too warm. A dream of mine is to spend a few weeks driving around the Northeast (Vermont, Maine, Mass...etc) to see the changing leaves there. Hint hint hubby. lol.

26. How could i forgettttt - scarves, gloves and mufflers! I love hats and scarves.

To: all mothers with kids

Do not, under any circumstances, bring your sick, sneezy, runny nosed child to another child's birthday party. The birthday boy doesn't like being sick the day after his big day.

Ugh, an unexpected gift. At least it only lasted a few days. I don't understand why people do this though. We missed our baby playgroup this week and the library too because i don't want to get other kids sick. Why oh why do people do this?

Woodpecker

woodpecker hole
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Look at the size of this hole! We have a woodpecker that pecks away at our trees but then he went for the deck. He likes the deck because the annoying carpenter bees lay their eggs in the wood to create more annoying carpenter bees. The woodpecker then, in the Darwinian hierarchy, goes after the eggs and pecks until he gets them. We have three holes like this. I must say though, he is one beautiful bird! Just gorgeous. I haven't caught him with the camera yet but have seen him close up...he's almost a foot high.

Party pictures!

Kids table
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

This is the kids table (they had pizza). Obviously we did a Sesame Street theme since he's beginning to like Sesame Street - especially that Count Dracula dude and of course Elmo. It's his daily dose of tv. There were a ton of balloons too but i took the picture before they were added.

Cake #1

Store bought cake
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

The store bought cake. I love love love this cake and had to call several stores in order to find it. Too cute!

Birthday cake #2

My first decorated cake
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

I made this cake...wasn't sure how it was going to turn out since I have never really decorated a cake besides whipping some frosting on. It is much harder than i thought, hence the crazy numbers and letters but overall i think it turned out well for my first try at decorating and LD loved digging into the blocks. It was fun to see him picking up those little ones. :-)

Desi food

Desi food
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Chicken tikka (there was a whole nother platter too but i forgot to add the limes and red onions until after this picture), Chicken curry, dalcha, okra, rice with peas and samosas. Not seen is the naan and chutney.

Amreekan food ;-)

Amreekan food ;-)
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Had to make some food for those who don't like desi food. Lasagna which got rave reviews. I was really nervous because i wanted to dress up my lasagna so experimented a little even though dh told me not to - it turned out better than normal. I think the fresh basil and parsley were key as well as baking it twice so the juices settled into the noodles. On the side is caesar salal, cheese cubes, halal pepperoni and tomato, basil and mozarella sticks drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Kids got pizza.

Party!

So LD's birthday party was the biggest party I've ever thrown and it was a lot of fun! I was so busy trying to keep things in line I didn't even get to eat until after everyone left but I think it went well. Everyone loved the food and several asked where I catered it from and a few wanted to use my caterer. When they found out I made all the food, they were so surprised. I always get nervous cooking for desi's that I haven't cooked for before because well, desi's can be quite the critics and tend to look for faults in gori wives - and check to make sure we do everything right.

I made Chicken Curry, Chicken Tikka, Dalcha (daal with goat), Bhindi, Samosas, Tomato chutney, Lasagna, salad, and apps. (pepperoni, cheeses, and basil tomato and mozarella sticks - I think that's all. I'll post pics on my food blog soon. I also made a cake and also ordered one because 40+ people were supposed to show up and we didn't want to run out but it ended up being around 30 or so people including kids. The kids were happy with pizza. Most importantly, LD was very happy to get his first taste of sugar. I made a cake just for him and his grubby little hands. He fought bed for a very long time even though he was stumbling all over himself unable to concentrate. I think that's enough sugar for a long while. Everything went well though...the only bad thing is I was so busy with everything, I didn't get very many pictures. Only like ten. :-( I did get video though.


It was fun the morning after to make breakfast for us all. Now that he can have egg whites, I made us scrambled eggs, sausage, toast and cheese and he was able to eat it all with his hands - very important these days since he won't let me feed him with a spoon anymore and his aim with the spoon is quite interesting. He turns one and thinks he can do everything on his own now. Stubborn boy. Doesn't he know he's going to be the only doctor at the hospital who lives at home with his ammi and abu? It was fun cooking the same food for all of us though!

My little dude is now a big little dude! Mash'Allah. One year has passed and he's just a lovely little person. He was so cool during the party - in his own little world really. He's sort of like me that way. It's like he's at the party and a bunch of people are around and has fun playing with the kids and then he finds mom every so often to make sure everything's cool, then he goes off and does his own thing again (usually raiding other people's plates) - like my friend Amber says "You like to cook, he likes to eat, you guys have a perfect relationship." So true!

The unmentionable topic - regifting!

Now let's talk about the unmentionable in desi culture too - regifting. Okay, I don't regift myself but I also don't care if people regift stuff to us but come on, at least make it appropriate and at least give something that you don't mind your own kid/s having. I have gotten terrible regifts (a christmas platter for a wedding gift (?????), a pink bunny for a baby boy etc. This is the thing - there's nothing wrong with regifting in my opinion, even if I don't do it, I really don't care but tacky is another thing. I don't want to sound ungrateful but seriously, it's just cheesy when it's so obviously inappropriate. I guess I don't regift because I like to give nice gifts and I don't want to give anything that I would be embarrassed about giving. Like for LD's party, I made party bags for the kids and we put a lot of thought into what to put into each and each one was tailored to each kid - we put thought and effort into it. I also spent days in the kitchen cooking. I want things to be nice for people...I don't understand why people would want to give something they find hideous to another person. Do they not like us? Should we not invite them to our parties? I know I'm not supposed to talk about this stuff but the people that do these things just fascinate me because the strange thing is that the nicest gifts come from those who don't have a lot to give and the tacky gifts come from those that are very well off. What gives? I still can't fathom what would drive someone to give a Christmas platter to a Muslim couple on their wedding day. Some Christian couple might like it but a Muslim couple? And it was given by a Muslim too. I probably sound ungrateful because gifts are fun to get and well you really shouldn't complain about them but it's just the people that do it that fascinate me. They obviously don't care what people think about them nor do they really care if the person can use the thing they give or maybe they just don't think we will know. I have a friend who is a great regifter and her regifts are great. She's got it down to an art form - probably because she throws a lot of parties and has lots of friends so gets lots of presents. We only have a small group of friends. Anyway, I give props to her because she seriously has made it an art. Oh wait, you know what? We have regifted! That Christmas platter - it was a nice thick German crystal 3 tier christmas tray/platter and very southern if you know what i mean and dh knew one of his secretary's would like it and she did. She kept talking about what a great gift it was and it really was if you celebrate Christmas. If i had Christmas parties, i'd like it. That's the thing, one person's bad gift is some other person's great gift - linking the two is key.

Khatm (finished)

Big goal accomplished. I finally finished the Qur'an beginning to end with two commentaries. Such a fulfilling experience. I will begin again during Ramadan.

It's finally here!

It's here! That day when you can finally breath again...the day that there is a little bit of coolness in the air. At last!!!!! I love it i love it i love it. It feels like Colorado to me. Finally the nights are getting cooler too. At last!

I usually love summer but in GA i hate it. Fall is good and all the other seasons suck. Summer is too hot, humid and buggy. Winter is too cold and rainy. Spring is too flowery making allergies crazy. I didn't even know i had allergies until i moved for this godforsaken state. But fall, fall is beautiful. Sunny and warm but not overkill and there's tons of things to do. Last year we went with our few week old son to the apple festival in the mountains and it was just awesome. Idyllic is the word i think. I hope we can do it again this year. Sort of a yearly trek to remember his first outing. You can also go hiking and just enjoy the outdoors again. I'm doing the happy dance today and poor little dude is looking at his ami likes she's lost her marbles.

Haven't done a meme in a while...from Otowi's blog

Favorite vegetable? That's a toughie but i'm gonna go for the potato since i like it every which way, fried, baked, raw, etc

Gold or silver? silver

What is/are your favorite TV show(s)? Food Network in general, Gilmore Girls

What did you have for breakfast? bagel with laughing cow swiss cheese, strawberries and a little pear yoghurt with flax seeds (that one was little dude's leftovers)

Favorite ice cream? Jake's (place in ATL) animal cookie ice cream

Favorite color? blue then green, then swirled blue and green

Favorite sandwich? Chicken salad with lettuce and tomato or grilled cheese

Where would you retire to? Colorado or France

Are you a morning person or a night owl? Night person but being forced to be a morning person

Favorite type of weather? Quiet snow day or rainy day. Colorado has the perfect weather to me. Snowy in the winter, brisk cook in the fall, hot in the summer, and spring is a mixture of it all. It doesn't rain there as much as i'd like it to, but when it does, it's dramatic.

If you had $500 to spend in a bookstore, which section would you head to first? Religion, kids, cookbooks, fiction

If you could be instantly fluent in three languages, what would they be? Urdu, Arabic, French

Which talent or skill did you always wish you had? Photographic memory.

Favorite beverage? tea with lots of sugar

What books are you reading? See my sidebar

Favorite Smells: LD's head...when it's clean, when it's sweaty, when it smells like sweat and suede from his car seat, basically my little dude. Pre-LD: rain, nag champa, autumn, pencil's being sharpened, new textbooks

Favorite Flowers: bird of paradise, orchids, tulips, orchids

Pet Peeves: People who think they know it all. I like people who really do know it all (or at least a lot of it)

What sound or noise do you love? Nature as long as i'm not sleeping. Crashing waves. Walking in snow (that muffled footstep sound)

What sound or noise do you hate? Noise when i'm sleeping, especially snoring. I can hear it rooms away.

Do you think your blogging friends have an accurate image of you? Probably not. Some know me and they do. Since i don't post a lot of personal stuff i don't think people do. They know the good side of me i suppose.

Is there a certain type of blog that you usually read? People i can identify with and people i can learn from

If there was a blog convention and you had the opportunity to meet everyone in blog-land in real life would you go? That would be a scary convention and i probably wouldn't go because it would be too hard to find the people i'd want to meet.

If you went and you were seated at a table for four, which other bloggers would you want at your table? I can't possibly choose four.

Do you share your blog with significant others, family and friends in your real life or is it your little secret? My friends that have blogs know i have one, dh knows i have one, brother knows i have one but i don't think he reads it and that's about it.

One year come and gone.....scary.

I just can't believe my son is going to be a year old in a week. I'm busy preparing for his big day. I hope it's going to be a good party. I know it's more for the me at this age than him but i never had a birthday party in my life so i'm so excited to be doing this for my son. Very excited!!!

It's crazy how much my life has changed in one year. It's a kazillion times better than i ever imagined...

Ramadan activities for kids

Sesame Street Ramadan Coloring Sheet:
http://www.sesameworkshop.org/sesamestreet/coloringpages/view.php?contentId=6063260

All types of coloring sheets...some islamic ones too:
http://www.thebestkidsbooksite.com/coloringsheets.cfm

Prophets mobile:
http://www.dltk-kids.com/world/muslim/mobile.html

8 crafts plus some songs:
http://www.submission.org/YES/child2.html

Mosque mobile:
http://www.kiddyhouse.com/Ramadan/mosquecraft.html

Useful links and crafts:
http://www.knowledgehound.com/topics/ramadan.htm

Ramadan decorations:
http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/coloringnewyear/a/blramadandeco.htm

a bunch of ramadan crafts:
http://ourseeds.tripod.com/activities.html

bunch of information - decorations, craft and food ideas:
http://www.modernmuslima.com/ramadanfun.htm

Various activities by age:
http://www.eduplace.com/monthlytheme/september/ramadan_activities.html

stories and poems:
http://www.ezsoftech.com/ramadan/ramadan15.asp

great ideas for activities on soundvision:
http://www.soundvision.com/info/ramadan/kidstrategies.asp

ramadan song:
http://www.nancymusic.com/Ramadan.htm

Great food link

I have this posted on my food blog as a link but i never blogged it before. I love this link. It gives you substitutes for practically any alcohol ingredient. I use it all the time. Today i wanted to make soba/buckwheat noodles for lunch and every recipe i've found asks for mirin. I've wanting to make these for months. I just didn't think the website would have a substitute for mirin. It is a Japanese wine/saki sort of ingredient. I can'tbelieve i didn't check before because i use this website at least once a week. It's a very handy one to have around. :-)

Bugs

We've had a lot of rain lately - typical for us for hurricane season - but with rain comes bugs. Bugs in droves. In various sections of our house are ants galore. Nasty! They are so small and in seconds there are millions. I had a dream last night that LD had food on himself from lunch and as i was cleaning up his high chair ready to grab him to wash his face and hands, i turned to pick him up and he was covered in ants. Yuck! The problem too is that bugs in the South don't discriminate - they don't care if your house is clean or dirty. They are usually either escaping the rain or looking for water. Roaches here are that way too. In the week after a big rain, it is almost guaranteed that a roach will appear. Usually, it's when you finally let down your guard and there will be one in the bathroom or on the bed. It's awful and if i have one major complaint against the South (the list is long!) it would be bugs. I know they have a purpose but really, i can take care of my own house, i really don't need their help.

Another thing bugging (pun intended) is the other day in a discussion on a yahoo group someone called me an extremist because i believe that prayer is required to get to heaven and that i said that you must pray five times a day to truly submit to Allah. I couldn't believe it. Because i pray five times a day i am an extremist. What the heck? It's written in the Qur'an a kazillion times that those that don't keep regular prayer will be the inhabitants of hell. I didn't write the book, i just use it as my guide and for that i'm an extremist. Amazing.

I look at prayer like this. I eat pretty healthy and i try to feed my family well. If i were to say that i believe eating healthy is good for you but don't do it what does that make me? A hypocrite right? Believing isn't enough. It's one thing to profess something, it's another to follow through. Following through is what prayer is. It's like insurance. If we don't pay our insurance, how do expect to be covered? There are five pillars in Islam. All are necessary to expect reward. It's really not that hard to do either. I just couldn't believe i was considered an extremist for believing what the Qur'an says.

Speaking of reading the Qur'an. I'm quite excited reading it lately. I have 6 surah's left for this round of reading. Six! I try to keep that kind of stuff to myself so that i don't sound bragging and because i think maybe there's more reward in what is kept private between Allah and I. It is He who i'm doing it for. And myself of course... but I'm so excited. It took a long time this reading because i read it straight through with the complete commentary and tafsir (by two people). The tafsir and commentary is usually longer than the verses. I just feel so happy to be finishing this go around. I was going to try and read the entire Qur'an over Ramadan but then i thought about it. What's the point in doing that if i'm not understanding 100% so i think i'll just do the same thing i'm doing now. Reread everything again and even if i don't finish, it'll be more beneficial. I also plan on listening to a lecture a day, learning 4 new surah's in arabic and in english and to give more in charity than i have in the past. Should be do-able, even with the LD wrecking havoc. :-)

What's your plan for Ramadan?