Life goes fast!

Too fast... Do you ever just want to stand up and scream STOP !!! Everything STOP! Everyone STOP!!! And just take it in? I feel like I haven't done enough of that lately! There aren't enough hours in the day or days in the week. But. You know how it goes...

We celebrated Sami's 4th birthday this weekend!! Can't believe my little man is four already. (See what I mean about time flying!?)
He was quite excited for this Spiderman cake...

His auntie bought him a spiderman SKATEBOARD! And can we say "EXCITED"?! (I'm thankful she also got him all the safety gear to go with it! Because... lets' face it.. Sami is not a world class skateboarder!) safety first!
I'm also thankful this is how he's starting out. Won't have to worry too much about injuries this way!! ha!

Today was a gorgeous day which the kids spent outside , running, jumping, playing, screaming. Great fun.


I even took some artsy fartsy pictures of Maya!
Don't you just want to eat her up?!!? I do ! I do !

This is just what I mean about time going too fast! I can remember when ALL the kids were this small. And it's fleeting. TOO fleeting. It makes me all emotional and sentimental. Husam can't stand it. He caught me looking at newborn photos this morning and loudly complained! Jesus hun! Look at you!!! I'ts like porn for you! Looking at all those babies!!!! "Aww they are so cute!" I know what's going through your head! Stop looking at them! Next thing I know you'll be pregnant again!"

But I digress... No more babies !!!! I swear!!!! My hands (And my heart) are quite full with four. But I will forever love the baby stage. The first year of their lives is by far my favorite. I'm a caretaker ... It's my nature. I love to be so needed. Perhaps something is wrong with me! ha!

Anyways. I've spent most of the week packing for our DISNEY TRIP! Kids are SO excited to head back (And to see Grandma who will be meeting us there! yay!) But seriously...

Packing for six people...... sucks.... ass.... There is SO much to remember. And need I go into the mountain of laundry I'm going to have to do upon return! UGH! I don't even want to THINK about it!!!! However the smiles the kids will have while we are there are all worth it. It's our very favorite vacation spot!

But the packing. yuck.

I've finished *I think* all four of the kids.. And have only scratched the surface on Husam and I...

Oh. And other big news on the Shahin front? We have decided since it's going to be damm near impossible to sell our house to even pay off what we owe being as we bought at a horrible time, we're going to rent it and buy a new house. A house we love! A house we can fit into ! ! ! When we bought this house we had Nadia. That's it. Just Nadia... (Some of you who've been reading since I was on xanga may remember...)

Anyways. We've outgrown it... It's not awful, we do have 3 bedrooms, but with the four kids we need at LEAST four... So here's to upgrading! We plan on going full steam ahead with this undertaking after we get back from Disney!

I'm actually terrified of the process, I remember buying this house was more stressful than getting married and having kids all rolled into one! And moving!? Let's not even GO there! AHHHH!

Hopefully it will be worth it... Nothing worth it is ever easy right?

That's all that's going on here... I'm not sure if I will be able to blog before I leave for our trip (We are leaving really early am on Friday) So if not, You will hear back from me after our return!!!!

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone had a nice Easter :-) Ours went great.. We dyed some eggs, complete with Samirah eating the dye. Fun! Filled those basket up with (Mostly non-candy) goodies! (Yea, I'm no fun like that!) And had an awesome egg hunt which ended in Sami crying because Nadia found the golden egg, and Nadia crying because Sami found the MOST eggs *Sigh* I can't win! *Shakes fist in the air*

It was great though. Those little moments are the ones I LIVE for as a mother! Makes it totally worth it! I even got a FANTASTIC picture of ALL FOUR OF MY KIDS! At once! In the SAME picture!!!! (I know you don't believe it right!?!?!?) Well here is the photographic PROOF!


See!!! I told you!!! Fantastic right?!
Don't get TOO jealous. The 99 pictures I took before this one looked something like this...
Ha! The latter pictures are probably a more accurate representation of daily life around here (Hey I totally feel like crying sometimes too! I actually DID resort to tears to get them to sit for the one nice picture!) But I'd prefer to remember the moments in picture number one.. Those beautiful perfect moments :-) Yup. That picture is going into a frame baby!

So. How was YOUR holiday!?

My latest creation!

So wanted to share the latest creation I knitted up! I'm quite happy with it!
I want to do a pair of socks.. But I want to do them on 9" circs rather than dpns... I found a few patterns to do it but if you have one you like then please leave it in the comments!
Thanks!

Spring has Sprung!

Well it appears Spring has sprung here in New Jersey! This has been one of the mildest winters I can ever remember! Last year we were slammed with several feet of snow.. I remember the last storm bought nearly 2 feet alone.. And it followed a storm that had just dropped over a foot. It was miserable and late in the winter.. I'm thinking mid-March.. You know, that point where your really ready for winter to be over!!!

But this year we really didn't have any snow at all.. We had one freak storm in October and that was basically it.. No white Christmas.. The ski resorts had an awful season... But I'm not complaining. If you know me. I hate snow!!! I hate winter!! The only good things about winter were the births of the two youngest kiddos :-) Samirah and Maya were both born in the winter xoxo.

So. Everything here is going good. My days are super busy with the kids, and at night time I try to sit and knit.. I'm working on a really cute pattern actually! I found it on ravelry.. I bought it too.. which I rarely do. I always feel i can find something similar for free... But it was such a cute skirt pattern that I went for it! It's pleated and I'm hoping it comes out well.. I finished the waistband on it, but am waiting for some new yarns to come in the mail so I can finish it.

What else?? We're preparing for a return trip to Disney in April for Sami's 4th birthday! To say the kids are excited would be an understatement! We were there last November and everyone had so much fun. This will be Maya's first trip! I'm a little worried how the car ride will go for her, but hopefully it wont be bad.

Still tandem nursing Samirah and Maya.. Though Samirah is really only nursing Mornings and Evenings.. though sometimes she'll even forget one... She's 26 months now, so weaning is up to her at this point. 2 years old is always my goal then I let them do the weaning after that point.

I don't have anything else terribly exciting to report, but don't want to leave my blog quiet for so long anymore, I'm working to post more. I do have some serious actual informative posts I want to make, but they will require me to be more well rested lol.

So just saying "Hi!" Blog-o-sphere! Talk to you soon!

Has it really been THAT long??

Has it really been THAT long since I blogged??? Gosh.. I used to blog every. single. day. That was way before kids though.. So I guess I get a little slack ???

All 3 kids are doing great. Nadia is excelling in school. Reading and writing better and better every day. Math is her favorite and best subject though..

Sami has... FINALLY potty learned!!!!!!!!!! Thank you GOD for that one!!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is *almost* completely weaned. Nursing only every so often.. It's been a good week since he's asked. My baby is growing up :-( (He turns THREE on Monday! wowza!) He's my man.

Samirah is talking more now.. She's nearly 15 months old and such a doll.. Okay.. She actually is kind of moody and cries way more than any person should lol But I love her to death and she's one special little creature!

My babies! time consuming little loves of my life!!!!!!!!!!!!

Husam. He's well. Same old Husam.

You know. These people take up the majority of my time.. Leaving very little for anything else. I so want to write a regular blog. I love to let it all out on here. It's free therapy for goodness sake! I just need more hours in the day! Between the kids, the husband, the house, and our menagerie of animals I'm so busy!! Plus I volunteer here, there, and everywhere which also takes up a lot of time..

Trying to plan our summer vacation but we keep going back and forth.. I wanted to do a cruise.. Husam suggested Hershey Park... Just don't know. We'll probably end up at a beach with a boardwalk. Husam's favorite... Any suggestions from my blog friends??

I've been tweeting a lot.. It's easier to fit random thoughts in here and there in 140 characters or less than typing out a big blog... I'm Habibti812 over there... So you can always check in with me there!!!!

Anyways. Hopefully it will not be QUITE so long until I blog again...I'm including some recent pictures of my babies!

Bullets

• Nadia's Halloween party at school is today. I'm helping. I did the goodie bags.. Despite being really tired and feeling unmotivated I'm actually really excited about it. Must remember camera... Must remember camera..
• I'm going to attempt beautiful pictures of all the grandkids tomorrow as a gift for my inlaws.. Ages?? Well mine aged *almost* 5, 2 and a half, and 9 months. then my one SIL's aged 7 and 12 and then the my other SIL's aged 16 months... Yea... that should be... um.. interesting ... yea. ha!
• Sunday is HALLOWEEN! My kids are beyond excited. nadia's being a my little pony (Dont' ask the costume is scary) Sami's going to be a dinosaur *(surprise surprise)* and Meerkat's going to be a love bug. I was going to dress her as a Meerkat but decided against it. Oh well.
• Bought our Disney tickets! Can't believe it's almost time!
• Nadia's birthday is coming up. I Don't even know what to do since we leave for Disney so soon after. Maybe just a small family party..
• Anyways. That is all.
  

The great debate (in my head)

It's days like yesterday that make me say "Oh I'd LOOOOOVE a 4th child!" You know the day. All the kids are being good, kind, loving, etc. They are listening and even (gasp) doing what they're supposed to without even having to be told! It's those days that my head screams "oh come ON! You KNOW you want a 4th! Look how GOOD your kids are! You could SO do it!"

And then. There are days like TODAY! Where they are fighting with each other from the moment their eyes pop open! About. Ev.ry.thing! If your a Mom, or even been in the vicinity of small children. I'm sure your aware of "those days" ... Not as fun. But still rewarding. Especially when I make it through alive! However, it's THESE days where I think... Yea... 3 kids is plenty!!! Am I out of my mind for even THINKING of a 4th!?

Who knows what will happen. I love my kids so so much. They are my entire world. I don't make any choice without considering them first. They come first, and always will for the rest of my life. Will we have a 4th? I don't know. Depends on what day you ask!!!

I'm such a bad blogger.

I never used to be! I swear! I used to blog almost everyday. Sometimes more than once a day. I don't know what happened between then and now.. Maybe it's all the children I've had? Maybe I don't have as many interesting things to say? Maybe I just have less to rant about.. I'm not sure...

My mind is always going a million miles a minute too. So my blog is never consistent. I'm over here... then I'm over there! That's partly my personality though. It's just me. how I am..

And now... The holidays are quickly approaching.. Nadia's 5th birthday.. Our trip to Disney.. There is so much to do that I can barely think straight! And it's essential I spend most of my time keeping it together here. Because if I don't... Who will???

The kids are all doing well... Meerkat turns 1 in January. I can't believe it... I really can't. Where is the time going? i say that about all of the kids though.

I'm still on the fence about baby #4. But I am on birth control until we make some type of final decision.. Wonder if I'll ever really know for sure. I love birth, babies, and pregnancy so much.. I must repeat my mantra "Newborns turn into 2 year olds" ...

Anyways, I'll try to be a better blogger... I promise promise promise!

So...

I've been meaning to post but.. Nadia and Sami have been at each other's throats the past two days! I don't know if it has to do with the rain and the fact we haven't been able to get out or what.. Maybe there is a full moon or something? Samirah's been super cranky which makes me question everything I know about Mommyhood, and Husam's also been extra crabby and more helpless than normal.

So. ***Sighs*** I haven't had enough time or energy to sit down and think of something funny, witty, or interesting to say. Do you forgive me?

Luckily, tomorrow should be nice. And we have a LLL meeting in the morning where Nadia will have some playmates. Then I'm taking a trip to Kohl's.. I got a 30% off peelie so I want to go hit up the clearance racks! woo hoo! Then I may even take the kiddos to the lake after lunch. Go go go! Like that book Nadia reads.. "Go Dog GO" Only my version is "Go Mommy.. GO!"

I'm hoping they will all be more cheerful tomorrow. Truly more for their sake than my own. I love them no matter what but I know I don't like very much to be in a bad mood and feeling out of sorts. So I imagine it's not very fun for them...

So. once they chaos calms. I will be back with something of substance to say.

Any suggestions? I'm thinking of an Adventures in Tandem Nursing post.. Or something along those lines.. :-)

PS- Still waiting on Samirah's petti/tutu and I'll def have an awesome photo shoot when I get it!

What Attachment Parenting means to me.

There are so many different aspects of Attachment Parenting.. A lot of the things I've done in Parenting were just things that came naturally to me..

When I was pregnant with my oldest, Nadia.. I knew I wanted to be the BEST Mom in the world , I wanted to be PERFECT!! (keep dreaming, right? ha ha )

When she was born and they handed her to me, it was instinct that told me to put her to the breast and nurse her. It wasn't as easy as I had imagined, but it still felt naturally for me to do so. It was instinct that made me want to hold her closely to me as much as possible. Do you know how many times I heard "You will spoil that baby if you don't put her down!!" Really?? Spoil a baby with love?

It was instinct for me to put her in my bed so I could watch over her. These things felt like the right thing to do. It wasn't something I had researched at length at the time.

As more children came along, and I learned more, and researched more I found out there were so many benefits to how I had been parenting. And how I could become an even better parent..
For me, I always thought it was normal what I was doing.. But talking to other Mom's I realized not everyone did those things. Some people felt more comfortable putting their child in a crib. I even came across some Moms who let their child cry it out. These ways of parenting were just not for me. I could never sit by while one of my kids cried. In fact, I still can't. It doesn't feel right.

So, for me, these practices came naturally to me. How about for you? Was it something you researched and learned about? Or was it just what you felt was the right things to do at the time?

Has breastfeeding effected my marriage?

So I've heard a lot of to-do lately about breastfeeding effecting a marriage negatively. Now, I have nursed all 3 of my kids. Still nursing my two youngest in fact. And I like to think I have a pretty strong marriage...

My husband and I have been together for 9 years. The very happiest years of my life for sure. So as I hear people suggesting that breastfeeding could be effecting us negatively I decided to take a step back and evaluate.

We have, like I mentioned, 3 beautiful children. I always new I'd breastfeed. I think if your REALLY going to do it, you have an idea going in that it's what you want. In fact I believe I heard at one of my LLL meetings that by the age of 16 a girl has a clear positive or negative view of nursing. I don't know where I got my view from since NO ONE in my family breastfed. I just knew it was best. And of course, I wanted to be the best Mom ever to my kids. So breastfeeding it was!

I remember Husam being very supportive when it came to nursing Nadia.. In his religion, breastfeeding is mandatory for at least 2 years. So he never batted an eye at all the boobin' co-sleeping, and baby wearing that was going on in our house.

True, for the past 4 and a half years there has been a child between us in our bed lol. But he's never complained to me. And we've obviously found a way to have more kids! lol Two fold! So I decided to ask him if he felt our marriage was being negatively effected by my breastfeeding. His answer? "Are you out of your mind? No way!" He went on to explain that watching me nurture and do what is without a doubt BEST for our kids, he's only fell in love with me more. I think we can both acknowledge our relationship is different than it was- say .. 6 years ago. But I think kids change that regardless. And I don't think it's a bad thing.

We both recognize this time is about raising our family in the best way we can. Sure, there are sacrifices. But we plan on being together for the rest of our lives! So these young years, when I'm needed SO much by them, are really a blink of an eye. And what husband wouldn't understand that? What marriage would really break under something so beautiful and wonderful??

So has breastfeeding destroyed our marriage? Put it on the rocks?? No way. Has it changed it?? Sure.. No more than having kids has though. And only for now. There will be a time when our kids grow up, move out of our home, and we will again be left with each other. Loving one and other much more than we did to begin with.

What about you? How do YOU feel breastfeeding has effected your marriage?

Guess I should update huh?

So I've enlisted the help of some pictures to update everyone on where I've been.. Hmmm. With the nice weather around we spend a lot of time at the park and on playdates! After an entire winter of being trapped inside, we were all anxious to get outside and enjoy the SUNSHINE! We even do a picnic lunch out on our deck most days. The kids love this.

There are Nadia and Sami's crafting projects! They love to do them. And I've found "The Christmas Tree Shops" has some very cute crafts that are really reasonable prices! Nadia's also been working on her reading and writing. She's doing beautifully, I'm so proud of her. Her determination to learn is amazing. She certainly got this from her father LOL. After consulting with Nadia's pediatrician they felt Nadia would do best in Kindergarten. (She misses the cutoff date) And she suggested we fight the school to get her early entrance. They had tested Nadia and found cognitively, she functioned at the level of a 6 year old. So putting her back in pre-k really became something that wasn't an option for her. The school pretended to entertain us, but really I think they had no intentions of even entertaining the idea. At any rate, we got our answer "no" and moved along to private schools. I spent much of the end of April looking for a school that would suit her. We found one not far from our home that we liked. So she's enrolled and ready to go to Kindergarten! Woo! And she gets to wear a cute little uniform! So what beats that!?

Ahh MOTHERS DAY! How fantastic was that? The kids ALL slept until 8. Which really is amazing because none of them have EVER done that in their entire lives! Let alone all 3 of them at once! It was a great treat.. Hubby got a serger for me from them which I was SUPER excited about!! (A serger is a type of sewing machine!) Nadia made me that beautiful pot you see above with the lovely flowers. It brought tears, I am not going to lie. lol. The poem was precious and my kids and husband made me feel very special and appreciated. It was a wonderful day!

Mrs Meerkitty! She's doing GREAT! 4 and a half months now! I can't believe it. She's so beautiful and I'm so head over heels in love with her! She is a fantastic little baby and ever so cute. I love being her Mom and I feel so lucky to hold that title! She's a great little nurser and growing wonderfully! I'm still nursing Sami too. The tandem Nursing is going fine. It can be tiresome on certain days, but I have always committed to doing what's best for them, and not for me! So I continue. And I wouldn't have it any other way. If I ever feel weary, all I need to do is look at their precious little faces, and that's all the encouragement I need to continue on with what I'm doing!

I had my hair cut! As you can see!!! It was WAY too long (Even thougH I love my long hair!) I really needed to part with it. Just too hard to maintain with so many children to take care of LOL. I went to my cousin's salon (pink comb salon) www.pinkcombsalon.com in Nutley NJ. And as you can see- She did an AWESOME job, evening out my color and giving me a bit of a style! IT's fantastic! I will definitely be going back to her in the future. Not that I didn't know my cousin was awesome, but my Mom is also a hair stylist so she is the only person who's ever really cut my hair. But she lives in Florida now so it really was about time to find someone else!

We are leaving on our first vacation of the year shortly. We're going to Ocean City Maryland for a week! Anyone familiar with the area? Any good tips of where I should hit up? The kids and my husband are SO looking forward to this!!! Which makes me excited as well. I really need to start on my list of things to pack for everyone since I'm the sole person in charge of this! It's a bit overwhelming. Esp to have to pack for an entire week! Our other vacation is in November. to Disney- The kids and I are SUPER excited for that one! Disney was my favorite place growing up! I used to go 1 or 2 times every year until I was 18!! And I hold such good memories from my trips there!

That's about all that's going on here. I will try and update more regularly!

So I was asked today...

Not just today actually... Lately a lot of people have been asking Husam and I if we're "done" having kids... I can't answer yes or no. I don't know. I thought for SURE after Samirah that was it for us. But neither of us can say with any certainty that we are done...
For one. I LOVE being pregnant. Despite the severe morning sickness lol. With Nadia I only had morning sickness from 6 to 10 weeks. I threw up maybe 10 times a day though. It was TERRIBLE I could barely keep anything down at all. But my boss at the time said what a happy pregnant woman I was despite constantly barfing my brains out. And he was right_ I was absoloutely glowing. Inside and out. I loved every moment of her pregnancy! I worked 50-60 hours a week right up until I had her. My last day of work was that Friday and I went into labor that Sunday. And I would have been at work Monday had I not gone into labor LOLMy pregnancy with Sami was wonderful as well. I now had my little toddler keeping me busy at home but I was able to rest more not running to and from work and being busy with that. Granted I had Nadia to care for and the house and Husam. But I could lie down on the couch for a few minutes if I needed to! I had morning sickness with Sami for five SOLID months. I threw up at least twice a day. Everyday. LoL It was definitely trying at moments! I remember leaning over the toilet throwing up and Nadia coming in and pulling back my hair telling me "It's okay mommy, I will take care of you" LoL. That always made me smile. My little care taker Nadia. The end of Sami's pregnancy was trying. He was a very big boy! 8lbs 10 oz at birth! And that gave me some back/pelvic/hip issues. but I still loved being pregnant!!!
Samirah's pregnancy went so fast! I had morning sickness for five months with her too, but I would only throw up maybe once a day, and I'd even get a day here and there where I didn't throw up at all!! Her pregnancy went very smoothly after that though! Until the fall down the stairs that injured my tailbone I was in constant pain after that- Esp having to chase after Sami and Nadia!! Samirah was also a bigger baby (8lbs 3 oz at birth) But believe it or not despite all that I still LOVED being pregnant with her!!!!!!!!!!So for me to say - Yes I'm done.. It just wouldn't make sense. I LOVE being a Mother. I LOVE being pregnant. Heck- I even LOVE giving birth!!! All of these things have been some of the most AMAZING experiences of my LIFE!!! I can't say for sure that I'm done. That I will close that book. I just can't. If Samirah is it, I'm blessed, and happy with my family. But if God decides to throw another blessing our way, I would feel truly happy about that as well!!
So. Everything else is going well. Mrs Meerkat is a champion nurser and Sami has become a little better about sharing the Nur with his sister lol.. Tandem nursing is fine for us. It really works out. Sami knows that he still can so he asks less. On a usual day he only nurses 3 times now. But he certainly has days where he is upset or just "off" and he nurses more often. I am lucky to be very supported by my husband about the Tandem nursing because I know everyone doesn't understand it. *Including most of our family* But I've never been one to let others dictate what is best for my children lol.
We had a fabulous photoshoot for Samirah!!! I did the photoshoot myself. But I really love how the pics came out!!! I'm going to share them with you all! I also have pictures of Sami's new Race Car bed that his father and I bought him for his 2nd birthday! (Not until April 11th but he was climbing out of his crib so we had to get it now!)There is my update!! I just want to share the pictures!

My Kiddos and my Awesome cuz!!

Sami and his race car bed!!! His big sissy was also excited for him! My kids are so good to each other!! (Most of the time! lol)

Mish mash

I have had so much going on here! (Yes, more so than usual with the three kids and husband I care for LOL) We decided to put our house back up for sale. We had taken it down last summer after the market was just so crappy. We are hoping to have better luck this time around. So with that going on we started decluttering the house this weekend. We took some furniture out of our bedroom and the living room and chucked it. We took Sami's changing table out of his room but just put it in the attic (Hey you never know if we'll have another baby that we'll need it for! lol)

I was also kind of waiting to post until after my fabulous photo shoot with Samirah! I bought her some cute tutus and headbands and I'm going to have a FIELD DAY taking those pictures and editing them! So keep an eye out for those!

So while we were de-cluttering I realized I have WAY too many cloth diapers.. And WAY too much wool.. (Think in the 200's in terms of diapers. JUST FOR MY SON!) So I am deciding to do a MAJOR de-stash. If anyone is interested all reasonable offers will be considered! I need to clean house a little.I need to get rid of at least 100 diapers. I have so many NIP goodmamas it's not even funny. These things need to go. ASAP!

Anyways. That's all I've got for now! Ill be back with some super awesome photos of samirah all dolled up!

"I need a break"

So I was reading through posts on cafemom today.. Mainly in my Breastfeeding Group.. And I see yet another "this kid is always attached to me I really want to quit nursing so I can have some time to myself" type of post.. And I just can't answer them.. I don't get it. Am I the only Mom who totally loves having my kids always with me!?!? I mean .. Sami is nearly 2.. And the first time we spent apart is when I was in the hospital giving birth to his sister. I always LOVE using breastfeeding as an excuse to not leave my kids anywhere! It works wonders!! "Sorry.. can't leave them with you- What if they have to nurse?!"

So I'm always taken aback when I read these posts of Mom's who so desprately want to be away from thier babies for a bit or they feel like they will lose thier minds.. I don't know. It makes me kind of sad. I'm a very attached parent. Which doesn't mean my kids don't get on my nerves every now and then. But I feel locking myself in the bathroom for a few minutes does the trick to bring me back down. I hate the idea of them being away from me!!! Nadia, who is 4 sometimes spends a few hours out shopping with my Dad.. Because, you know, me and Daddy aren't as "fun" and I always miss her! I'm like.. Man! I wish Nadia was here with us! It feels totally UNATURAL for me to be seperated for my kids. I swear! Even going in the shower without oNE of them feels totally strange and foreign to me. I don't know if it's the quiet of it.. I don't know..

Maybe I"m the oddball? I just thought it was a natural mothering instinct to constantly want to be near your kids. Hmph. Thank goodness I have an understanding hubby- becase, as you can imagine we haven't been on a date in years. *sighs* he'll get a chance one of these days :-P

Spreading myself thin.

So I still have 3 sick kids on my hands.. As well as being sick myself.. Although the older two are definitely a lot better and on the mend for sure.

You know when your sick.. And you just want your Mom?? Or is that just me? I know when I don't feel good all I can think is.. "I want my Mom" Well. I have 3 sickies who all, like me, want Mom when they don't feel well. So I've been spreading myself kind of thin trying to make sure they are all spoiled and comforted.. Nadia and Samirah co-sleep so they have me all night. In fact I was so bothered by Samirah's cough last night she slept in my arms all night.. Needless to say I didn't sleep much.

I do credit breastfeeding for making this illness less severe in the younger two... Im thankful for that.

Sami and Nadia are back to their old antics. Nadia kicked him twice today. I don't know what has gotten into her! She got sent to her room both times. I was highly irritated. We have a "no hit" policy in our home. Meaning NO ONE uses physical violence. I don't spank the kids and neither does Husam. So I don't know where she gets this mean streak from!! It's been fairly recent. I'll admit, Sami can be a pretty annoying little brother.. But he still doesn't deserve kicks! (well... maybe at times he does. But I sitll can't tolerate that type of thing)

Sami is standing on the arm of the sofa and jumping into the cushions.. I hate when he does these types of things. But he is all boy, and there is no stopping him. *sighs* At least I know he's feeling better.

So that's it. I'm still waiting for the sickies to be-gone.

I would like to do a blog on that show "Teen Mom" and "16 and pregnant" on MTV.. It will probablyhave to wait until I and the kids are better though... I have a lot to say on the subject... Stay tuned!

New to Blog land... Kind of...

I have been blogging on xanga for almost 6 years now.. But I feel I have kind of outgrown that blog.. I started it right after I was married and we were just starting our life together! We now have 3 kiddos, and I'd like a blog devoted to the joys (And trials) of raising my precious gifts from God!

We have 3 kids. Nadia, Sami, and Samirah.

Nadia is 4. She is a lively little woman with a mind all her own and she's not afraid to let me *(or anyone else)* know it! She is in preschool and she loves it! She's very bright (Sometimes a little TOO bright) and she loves taking ballet and doing crafts.













Sami turns 2 this coming April. He's my little manly guy. He's a very calm kid and very attached to me. I still nurse him.. I am currently breastfeeding him AND his younger sister! So I'll have plenty of humerous stories having to do with tandem nursing. Sami loves playing with trucks and cars.. Anything with wheels really. He is all boy!! He rarely cries or complains. He's such a good good boy.






Samirah is the newest addition to our family. 2 weeks new today! She joined us via a water birth which was absoloutely beautiful and peaceful.. After two "land births" giving birth in the water was an amazing experience for me. And God willing I ever have more children- They will also be brought into the world that way. Samirah is a nice calm baby. She nurses well and is very cuddly. She loves to be held (by me.. Not so much by daddy) and loves kisses and hugs. She tolerates her older siblings well. Who.. mean well... but... can be... rough.. lol











Husam.. My dearest husband.. Going on 9 years together... He's the loves of my life. My very best and dearest friend and I can't imagine living a day on this earth without him. He has his faults sure.. But so do I. lol. We can irritate the heck out of eachother but at the end of the day, we both know it was meant to be. I can tell him anything. And vice versa. You'll hear plenty about him here too!!

Me? Gosh I never like talking about myself because I tend to identify myself with being a mother and wife. I enjoy taking care of my kids and my husband and I define myself by being good at that. I don't work outside of the home, but do wish to one day, become a lactation consultant as breastfeeding and seeing others be succsessful at breastfeeding is my passion. One day.. When I'm not so needed around here ;-)

Well. I look forward to getting to know others out there in blog world!!! I hope to update fairly often!