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!!!!

Blown away..

I just finished reading "Bloom" by Kelle Hampton (http://www.kellehampton.com/) And I'm just blown away... I think every mother should read this book. Scratch that! EVERYONE should read this book.

I laughed, cried, and saw a beautiful perspective on accepting things in life...

I'm not nearly as eloquent as the author- so really! Go buy this book! Read it! Be blown away too :-)

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!?

Getting in shape!

My new motto

"If you really want to do something you make time, if you don't, you make excuses"

And how true is this!?

I'm on my fitness kick. Getting my body back. My tummy is finally flat again (Happy dance!) The weight is falling off and I feel GREAT! Strong, and fit, and WONDERFUL!!

I still have a little ways until I'm completely satisfied, but I remind myself Maya is only 3 months old!

I'm getting there! Go mommy go!

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!

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!

My Children...

I have heard women say they lose themselves after having children.. For me.. It is the opposite. Having my children has made me find myself. In a whole new way. I am "Mommy" "Mom" "Mama" "Maaaa!" and I wouldn't have it any other way.

My kids are my whole entire life... I can't imagine living without them. And I almost can't remember life before them.. How did I live then ? Without these precious people in my life.

Having children is such a miracle. They are made from something so small.. They grow, inside of you, into an entire person! As if that isn't amazing enough, Your body KNOWS how to birth them.. Without any aid, without any help, your body knows. And then, from no where, there they are.. They come into this world so tiny and fragile, they depend on you for everything.. And then they begin to grow (Far too fast if you ask me) And they bless you everyday with their words and actions..

I promise you there isn't a day that goes by that I don't hit my knees and thank God for blessing me with my children. I thank Him for trusting me with the most wonderful little people. For believing I can do a good job in raising them.

For all the hardships of Motherhood. For all of the sacrifice, there is no way on earth I'd ever trade it for anything else in this world.

I always knew I wanted to be a Mother. It was one thing I was always sure of. I have always loved everything about babies. So when Husam and I got married I wanted to have children right away. Husam wanted to wait a bit, but we compromised and Nadia was conceived 9 months into our marriage. I remember being pregnant and asking my Mom "But what will I do with her when we get home?!" She said- She will let you know ;-) And she did.

I found you can never understand the love your parents have for you until you have children. I knew my parents loved me of course.. But until I experienced the love of a Mother for myself, I could never comprehend how unconditional, how strong, how powerful, how amazingly consuming the love of a Mother is. I remember looking at my first daughter when she was a few days old and thinking "wow. my Mom REALLY loves me"

I don't let a day go by where I don't tell my kids how much I love them. I tell them several times a day , everyday. And I am glad for this, because Nadia who is 4 now will just randomly say "I love you Momma" I always tell her "I love you too baby, more than anything in the whole world!!!" She's such a loving little girl.

I am lucky. Sometimes I think.. Why do I deserve this? My children are amazing. I am blessed. I am loved. I am Mommy. And guess what? There isn't anything else I'd rather be.