My Ameer is Finally Here

My new bundle of joy, Ameer, arrived to this world on the 4th of December 2011 at around 18:45, 18 hours after arriving at the hospital. I was 37 weeks and 5 days pregnant. I didn't see that coming that soon, but it was a great surprise and a great relief indeed :D

My mom was supposed to arrive from Lebanon on the same day, so hubby had to leave me to pick her up from the airport. Yes, I was left all alone in the delivery room when I was expected to deliver my baby at any moment. I felt bad, really bad, miserable to be more specific, and I cried and cried.. I felt so unlucky for not having any family or friends around, especially at such moments. But finally mom arrived a couple of hours before delivery, she came directly to the hospital and stayed with me the whole time while hubby had to stay outside with Kareem. I almost had a breakdown when I saw them coming and thanked God they made it before the baby did. Otherwise I don't know what would have I done without them. After delivery I forgot all about what I've been through, and felt that I'm the luckiest woman EVER for having such a mom, hubby and children.  May God protect them all, amen.

Ameer is such a gorgeous baby mashAllah. He spends most of his time sleeping, giving me enough time to sleep, do housework, spend some quality time with his brother, and even go out. This time, I feel more confident and more comfortable in dealing with a newborn, since I've been through all this before.

Kareem loves his brother, but he's a bit jealous of him, which is quit normal and expected. We're trying to give him as much attention as before, if not more, so that he doesn't feel any difference, still he goes crazy sometimes when we give the baby some attention.

My heart just melts when I look at my boys. I can't thank God enough for having such a bliss. Alhamdulillah :)

Kareem Going to School

 Sunday 18-9-2011was Kareem's  first day of school. He's still too young for KG1 (3 years two months old), but we thought that he can manage, at least academically, but socially we were not sure, still decided to give it a shot anyway. 

We've been preparing him for this day for a long time, telling him about school and all. We prepared him to the fact that parents don't stay with the children at school and all that.. Still we've been dreading this day for months now. We were sure that he'll cry his eyes out when we leave him at school because he's very attached to us, and is not used to be left with strangers for a long time now, especially that I've been jobless for more than a year, and he stopped going to the daycare since then.

Surprisingly, he was very  confident and excited on the first day of school. He did not cry at all. On the contrary, he was very happy and wanted to go there over and over again. On the second day he was also excited to go again to school. BUT on the third day he started nagging that he doesn't want to go there anymore! When I dropped him at school, he cried. Today (4th day) he also said that he doesn't want to go to school, but thankfully he didn't cry. It was me who cried this time. I've been holding my tears and struggling to stay calm and strong since the first day, but I couldn't take it anymore. I'm very attached to him, like he to me, and I'm not used to stay at home without him, it feels sooooo empty without him running around the house all day. Even when I worked for around a year and a half, Kareem used to stay with me in the nursery of the school I used to work at. We used to go together and come back home together, we were under the same roof and I could check on him at any time. So this time it is different, and more difficult, and being pregnant makes me even more emotional about the whole matter.

But what can we do. This is life and sooner or later he has to be given the chance to learn how to deal with things on his own. His teachers like him, and he seems to like them too. He's a good boy and actually makes me proud.

I keep checking the time and asking myself what is he doing now? Call me silly but I really wished they have a camera in his class to allow me watch what he's doing all day. Kareem, my precious, May God bless you and protect you always.

Its Blue again!

Well, e7em e7em, I hate to admit it but my feeling totally betrayed me this time. Maybe because I've always wanted to have a daughter, I kept having dreams that I'm holding a baby girl, which convinced me that what's growing inside my tummy is a girl. I even started to think of girls names...and was waiting impatiently to make sure of the gender to start buying pink stuff.... until it was time for an ultrasound that showed that I'm having a baby "boy"! I was shocked, to be honest, not that I don't want a boy, or that I object on God's will, but because of that "feeling", I was almost convinced that it's a girl. I'm still having those dreams by the way..

Anyway, alhamdulillah, I'm not sad or unsatisfied,  God knows I love him and want him as much as I've wanted a girl. The good part is that Kareem will have a "brother", which is cool. Kareem already calls him "akhoni".

And by the way, I'm halfway there, 20 more weeks to go..

It's Kareem's Third Birthday

Kareem is a bright boy mashAllah. I'm speaking from a teacher's point of view not a mom's by the way ;)
In the past year, I've been spending some time every now and then teaching him stuff. He can now identify all the English alphabet, uppercase and lowercase. He can count to 20, and read numbers up to 100. He can name most of the colors and shapes in Arabic and English, the names of  most animals, birds, vehicles, things, etc... also in both languages. I've just started introducing him to the Arabic alphabet. He recites four short Quraan surahs by heart. We do crafts every now and then, and he enjoys it. I think that his favorite toys are puzzles and trains. He likes balls and bicycles of course, a typical boy. His favorite dishes these days are spaghetti and french fries. He likes vegetables and fruits, thankfully. He's all ready to go to school after two months!!

My baby isn't a baby anymore. He's a big boy now, and is going to be a big brother soon inshAllah. Kareem turns three years old today. I can't believe how time flies! I still think of the moment I first laid my eyes on you as if it was yesterday. I can't tell you how much I LOVE you, how much I'm grateful to have you in my life. You're my joy and pride, the most precious gift I've ever had.  God bless you my dearest. Happy happy Birthdaaaaaaaaaaay, MWAAAH

Kareem and the Expected Baby

When we  told Kareem that we're expecting a baby, he didn't get it at first. It was important to let him know that there's a baby inside mommy's belly so that he stops kicking mommy there. We were really concerned that he might hurt me or the baby with his boyish way of playing, so that he becomes more careful. 

When he finally got it, he was surprised and pleased, and of course more careful not to hurt the baby. He said that he loves the baby and wants him to come soon to play with him. He keeps checking my growing belly and asking: there's a baby in there, right? I love him and he loves me, and we'll play together. He sometimes acts funny about it. Like once he saw me patting on my stomach, I often have a stomach pain :(, so he got angry and said "Mom, don't do that! You'll hurt the baby!" :@ haha

Once he was playing with his baby toy when he looked at me and asked: there's a baby in your belly just like this one, right? Yes dear, that's right. Then, let this one, pointing to the toy, enter your belly as well to stay with the other baby.

The funniest one so far was when he said yesterday: I also ate a baby, just like mommy did, it's here, inside my tummy. OMG, the boy thinks that I ATE a baby hahaha

Kareem is about to turn three, in less than a week :)

Pink or Blue?

I'm fifteen weeks pregnant now. We haven't discovered the gender of the baby yet,  as during the previous visit to the doctor the baby refused to reveal his/her goodies :D . Maybe we'll be able to know in the next visit. I'm one of those people who prefer to know the gender of the baby early. I don't know why exactly, maybe it has to do with the bonding thing or something, beside other things like shopping and names :D

Anyway, I have a "feeling" that it's a girl! Let's wait and see if my feeling is right this time too.

Kareem will have a brother/sister

We're expecting baby number two. I'm 13 weeks pregnant. My due date is on the 20th of December, 2011. Praying for an easy delivery and a healthy baby inshallah.

Zeeroteen and Oneteen

So Kareem already identifies the numbers from zero to ten, but after teaching him the numbers eleven to twenty, 10 becomes zeeroteen not to mention that 11 is oneteen!