Sunday, June 27, 2010
Lebanon
hello everyone. i havent updated this thing in ages...so let's give it a go. my phone isn't cooperating, so there will be no caps. najib and i have been in lebanon for about a month and we have almost exactly one month left. i have never seen this little boy happier, and i haven't felt this fulfilled in a very long time. there is nothing better for the soul (at least mine) than to be surrounded by family and those who love you. abdallah's family is the best i could have asked for. i feel like i was born into their family, i am so comfortable and at home with them and feel that i have known them my whole life. najib's cousins play with him all the time and it fills me with joy to see them kissing on him and the way he lights up when they walk into the room as well.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Christmas & New Year
I am exceedingly happy right now. Charlie FINALLY got a few days off for Christmas (the first in over 4mos of working 105hrs a week...no that's not a joke 105!), and then a couple more days for New Years. My brother, Jedidiah, flew in around the 12th from Germany. I hadn't seen him since I was 6mos pregnant, and of course, my life has completely changed since then and there is now a boy that is the center of my world that he had not yet met.
My brother and sister went ahead of us to Tyler, so we got a couple days alone in the house to just rest and enjoy our time together with the baby. Then, we followed Christmas Eve with the baby and annoying dogs in tow. Laith had the time of his life, we took him to see the Christmas lights with Cort, Sarah's boyfriend's son. They had a blast playing together and Laith was all over the place, crawling everywhere.
Then for New Year's Eve, my parents came to town, as did Jed. We had our good friends Moustapha, Assaad (w/kids) and Jim-Dear. We had tons of food and a constant flow of coffee and sparkling cider (we bought several bottles of wine, and it turns out no one wants to drink? except my dad? bizarre...). We gladly wecomed the new year and kicked the old year in the ass on its way out. I am not a fan of 2009...
ALSO, I got a new car!! WooHoo! It's a 2009 Nissan Pathfinder - dark gray, beautiful! Finally I don't have to climb to the backseat of the car with the baby in Jed's little 2-door Civic! I'm so excited, those who know me know that I love novel things!
Okay, I've run out of time to write. More later!
My brother and sister went ahead of us to Tyler, so we got a couple days alone in the house to just rest and enjoy our time together with the baby. Then, we followed Christmas Eve with the baby and annoying dogs in tow. Laith had the time of his life, we took him to see the Christmas lights with Cort, Sarah's boyfriend's son. They had a blast playing together and Laith was all over the place, crawling everywhere.
Then for New Year's Eve, my parents came to town, as did Jed. We had our good friends Moustapha, Assaad (w/kids) and Jim-Dear. We had tons of food and a constant flow of coffee and sparkling cider (we bought several bottles of wine, and it turns out no one wants to drink? except my dad? bizarre...). We gladly wecomed the new year and kicked the old year in the ass on its way out. I am not a fan of 2009...
ALSO, I got a new car!! WooHoo! It's a 2009 Nissan Pathfinder - dark gray, beautiful! Finally I don't have to climb to the backseat of the car with the baby in Jed's little 2-door Civic! I'm so excited, those who know me know that I love novel things!
Okay, I've run out of time to write. More later!
Monday, December 7, 2009
6months 3 weeks
Laith will be 7 months old on December 12th. That is CRAZY! I often find myself looking at his newborn pictures and wondering when he stopped being a baby baby. I find myself having such mixed emotions as he grows. On one hand, I'm overwhelmed with pride and excitement with every new accomplishment, but I can't help but feel this undercurrent of sadness and loss of dependence he once had on me. I am thrilled that he can entertain himself sitting up and crawl around and play with his toys happily, but I also miss him just sleeping peacefully and contentedly in my arms.
FOOD:
He has been eating solids for about 3 weeks now, and so far has had sweet potatoes, oatmeal, banana, pears, carrots, butternut squash, peas...and probably other stuff that I can not remember. He loves eating in his highchair and took to it right away without any prompting. By the time he actually got the food in his mouth, he had already been grabbing at my food so much that I guess he knew exactly what to do with it.
WORK:
So...blah. Don't know if I even want to go there. Um, yeah, I love working...I really do, but I have never had so much stress in my life as I do now. I feel like I'm in a rat race, with no finish line in sight...just frantically rushing through every day and by the time its over I am so wound up and still behind on everything I've set out to do that I can hardly sleep. I wake up with my mind reeling and tired. By the time I wake up with Laith and get him clean, clothed and fed, I take about 10 minutes for myself before rushing to work, making sure I have loaded everything in my car and all the products I need for the day. Did I mention that Laith is over 20lbs now and super heavy to carry?
FALLING:
I have fallen 5 major times since I had Laith...2 of the falls happened this weekend. I slipped on the floor at obee's on Friday AND Saturday. I feel like I spent the night at the fair riding treacherous rides...I woke up completely sore all over. I have bruisy scrapes down my arms from trying to catch my fall on the counter, I feel like I have whiplash and like I did a thousand sit ups because of the deep muscle aches in my back and abs. Just feel sorry for me please!
PROGRESS:
In terms of business, Charlie and I have both hired new employees that seem to be working out quite well so far. Hopefully we'll be seeing eachother a bit more soon.
In terms of Laith, he sits up on his own for long periods of time, and scoots pretty dang well across the floor on his hands and knees. He now has his 2 front bottom teeth, which he uses....Lord does he use them.
I am including the latest video of him crawling to the Christmas tree, which he is wildly fascinated by and can't help but try to get his anxious hands on those shiny ornaments!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSIuNwzPm6k
FOOD:
He has been eating solids for about 3 weeks now, and so far has had sweet potatoes, oatmeal, banana, pears, carrots, butternut squash, peas...and probably other stuff that I can not remember. He loves eating in his highchair and took to it right away without any prompting. By the time he actually got the food in his mouth, he had already been grabbing at my food so much that I guess he knew exactly what to do with it.
WORK:
So...blah. Don't know if I even want to go there. Um, yeah, I love working...I really do, but I have never had so much stress in my life as I do now. I feel like I'm in a rat race, with no finish line in sight...just frantically rushing through every day and by the time its over I am so wound up and still behind on everything I've set out to do that I can hardly sleep. I wake up with my mind reeling and tired. By the time I wake up with Laith and get him clean, clothed and fed, I take about 10 minutes for myself before rushing to work, making sure I have loaded everything in my car and all the products I need for the day. Did I mention that Laith is over 20lbs now and super heavy to carry?
FALLING:
I have fallen 5 major times since I had Laith...2 of the falls happened this weekend. I slipped on the floor at obee's on Friday AND Saturday. I feel like I spent the night at the fair riding treacherous rides...I woke up completely sore all over. I have bruisy scrapes down my arms from trying to catch my fall on the counter, I feel like I have whiplash and like I did a thousand sit ups because of the deep muscle aches in my back and abs. Just feel sorry for me please!
PROGRESS:
In terms of business, Charlie and I have both hired new employees that seem to be working out quite well so far. Hopefully we'll be seeing eachother a bit more soon.
In terms of Laith, he sits up on his own for long periods of time, and scoots pretty dang well across the floor on his hands and knees. He now has his 2 front bottom teeth, which he uses....Lord does he use them.
I am including the latest video of him crawling to the Christmas tree, which he is wildly fascinated by and can't help but try to get his anxious hands on those shiny ornaments!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSIuNwzPm6k
Monday, September 7, 2009
The Golden Days
Announcement! Big baby accomplishment this weekend! He held himself up on his forearms at 90 degrees and flipped from tummy to back. At first I thought he did it accidentally, but then he did it 5 times in a row, each time exciting himself and letting out a big squeal. He also was able to roll from his back to his side, which wasn't nearly as fun to watch, but I sure was excited!
This weekend was fun with my parents. They couldn't believe how much bigger he is compared to just a few weeks ago, and how much he laughs and smiles. These days, I don't struggle with feeling as exhausted...which often turns into depression because I have no energy for anything. Laith is just so much more enjoyable and can entertain himself more. He is so content almost all the time, and all you have to do is look at him and he will give you the biggest smile ever.
We are also really happy because we FINALLY got our hammock set up! I got it as a b-day gift from my brother, sister and Christine back in March - but we didn't have the stuff we needed to get it up and then it was a matter of just doing it. So we are looking forward to cool mornings and evenings to snuggle in it with Laith.
A little gripe: I went to the store with my mom and Laith in the stroller. He hadn't had a nap all day and was starting to be fussy when he finally fell asleep. About five minutes later, this lady walks up to him and starts practically yelling "LOOK AT THE BAAAABY!", which of course resulted in both Laith and I jumping. Then when he opened his eyes, she exclaimed, "OH LOOK, NOW HE'S AWAKE!!!"---That was the first time I've ever been REALLY annoyed with anything a stranger does with the baby. I'm just going to believe she's mentally handicapped...
This weekend was fun with my parents. They couldn't believe how much bigger he is compared to just a few weeks ago, and how much he laughs and smiles. These days, I don't struggle with feeling as exhausted...which often turns into depression because I have no energy for anything. Laith is just so much more enjoyable and can entertain himself more. He is so content almost all the time, and all you have to do is look at him and he will give you the biggest smile ever.
We are also really happy because we FINALLY got our hammock set up! I got it as a b-day gift from my brother, sister and Christine back in March - but we didn't have the stuff we needed to get it up and then it was a matter of just doing it. So we are looking forward to cool mornings and evenings to snuggle in it with Laith.
A little gripe: I went to the store with my mom and Laith in the stroller. He hadn't had a nap all day and was starting to be fussy when he finally fell asleep. About five minutes later, this lady walks up to him and starts practically yelling "LOOK AT THE BAAAABY!", which of course resulted in both Laith and I jumping. Then when he opened his eyes, she exclaimed, "OH LOOK, NOW HE'S AWAKE!!!"---That was the first time I've ever been REALLY annoyed with anything a stranger does with the baby. I'm just going to believe she's mentally handicapped...
Friday, September 4, 2009
Happy- Happy- Joy- Joy
Things have really taken a bit of a happy turn in my world. Not only is Laith SO much more interactive and fun, but I have also reconnected with a girl I met when we were both 3 months pregnant looking for the maternity section in a store. We had dinner shortly after that, but due to my working and being utterly exhausted, we just kept in touch via text for the remaining 6 months. She had her baby girl Audrey just 2 days after Laith was born, and now that the little ones are old enough, we've been getting together. It has been SO nice to be able to help eachother out and talk about stuff that is unique to our babies' stage of life. I'm learning alot from her and hopefully helping her out as well.
LAUGHTER
Yesterday morning just when Baba was leaving for work, he gave Laith his morning kisses. Usually we get huge smiles and Laith will jump and squirm with excitement...but this time it set off a string of laughter that sounded like a sqeaky mattress...and it didn't stop! So then the rest of the day he would just look at me and start laughing! Oh these are the little things that life is made of...
I'M A MORON
So, yesterday I was getting out of the car and walking up to Melissa's house with Laith's carrier, when suddenly I stepped and rolled my foot on a waterhose stretched across her steep driveway. Laith and I went flying. I had the subconscious sense to swing Laith safely to the grass - and when I stood up I realized that I had taken all the jeans and skin off my knee and there was a blue streak on the pavement. I bled alot and couldn't walk on my right foot! Needless to say, I felt the humiliation alot sooner than the pain of the actual fall...but I certainly felt it eventually. I hobbled around all last night, and this morning the lower half of my body feels like it was run over by a truck or something. My hips, knees, feet...all hurt. Please feel sorry for me. It makes it feel better...
LABOR DAY WEEKEND
I'm sooo excited about this weekend! My parents are driving up again tonight, and though I see them practically every other weekend, I am always so excited to have them. They are the only people as infactuated with Laith as Boudee and I. I can't wait to see how they react when they see how much he has changed in 2wks and when they hear him laughing. He is such a sweet and social baby. Obee's will be closed for the holiday, so I will have Abdallah to myself (whenever he isn't dove hunting). We will of course be barbequeing...which we love. YAY!
DIET
So...I gained 60 pounds during pregnancy, 30 of which I lost at the hospital. That leaves me with 30lbs...and I naively believed that it would just melt off after a month or two, considering I was finally able to eat normally (during pregnancy my preferences completely changed and I couldn't stomach most foods). But I was wrong. I have exercised and lived off lettuce for way too long and my body is haaanging onto every ounce. I have pretty much given up. I am eating well because I enjoy the healthy foods and the way they make me feel, but I have decided to just plain love the skin I'm in. Even if it is kinda loose these days! So, I'll keep on drinking my almond milk veggie/berry smoothies and salads and doing my 30day Shred! haha!
LAUGHTER
Yesterday morning just when Baba was leaving for work, he gave Laith his morning kisses. Usually we get huge smiles and Laith will jump and squirm with excitement...but this time it set off a string of laughter that sounded like a sqeaky mattress...and it didn't stop! So then the rest of the day he would just look at me and start laughing! Oh these are the little things that life is made of...
I'M A MORON
So, yesterday I was getting out of the car and walking up to Melissa's house with Laith's carrier, when suddenly I stepped and rolled my foot on a waterhose stretched across her steep driveway. Laith and I went flying. I had the subconscious sense to swing Laith safely to the grass - and when I stood up I realized that I had taken all the jeans and skin off my knee and there was a blue streak on the pavement. I bled alot and couldn't walk on my right foot! Needless to say, I felt the humiliation alot sooner than the pain of the actual fall...but I certainly felt it eventually. I hobbled around all last night, and this morning the lower half of my body feels like it was run over by a truck or something. My hips, knees, feet...all hurt. Please feel sorry for me. It makes it feel better...
LABOR DAY WEEKEND
I'm sooo excited about this weekend! My parents are driving up again tonight, and though I see them practically every other weekend, I am always so excited to have them. They are the only people as infactuated with Laith as Boudee and I. I can't wait to see how they react when they see how much he has changed in 2wks and when they hear him laughing. He is such a sweet and social baby. Obee's will be closed for the holiday, so I will have Abdallah to myself (whenever he isn't dove hunting). We will of course be barbequeing...which we love. YAY!
DIET
So...I gained 60 pounds during pregnancy, 30 of which I lost at the hospital. That leaves me with 30lbs...and I naively believed that it would just melt off after a month or two, considering I was finally able to eat normally (during pregnancy my preferences completely changed and I couldn't stomach most foods). But I was wrong. I have exercised and lived off lettuce for way too long and my body is haaanging onto every ounce. I have pretty much given up. I am eating well because I enjoy the healthy foods and the way they make me feel, but I have decided to just plain love the skin I'm in. Even if it is kinda loose these days! So, I'll keep on drinking my almond milk veggie/berry smoothies and salads and doing my 30day Shred! haha!
Sunday, August 16, 2009
3 months
Tomorrow Laith will be 3 months old! That is INSANE! As I write, he is cuddled up in my sling that a friend sewed for me. I really can't emphasize enough just how much love we have for this little man. Every new thing he does is like Christmas morning. I get giddy with excitement and I feel like my heart could just burst.
Just a couple days ago, Charlie and I were talking about what a blessing he has been for us this year. If it weren't for the arrival of Laith, this would have been one blot of a year on our lives. This has been such a tough year for us in so many ways, but all I can see is the utter joy of our family. No matter how bad a day may be, or how empty our bank accounts, or late our bills, there is our child - and we can't help but be happy.
I'm trying to think of all the things that have changed in this past month. First of all, he has already doubled his birthweight, making him around 16lbs at least right now. My arms are really tired...really tired. I would say he has overall just become so much more alert and aware. He is eagerly checking things out. I have a hard time getting him to nap because he is so busy exploring his ever expanding world. He has been standing up for a while (with help of course) and now he likes to bounce and hop up and give us a little Jackie Chan move. People are surprised when they are around for a while and see that he almost never cries. He is not one of those babies that smiles all day, but he is certainly content.
Speaking of smiles, everytime he hears his baba's voice he just freezes and stares at Charlie wide-eyed and this gigantic smile comes out of nowhere and he bounces with excitement. I can't get over how good Charlie is with Laith. It gives me so much joy to see how much they enjoy eachother. I only wish things were different and Charlie could be around Laith more.
Today is Sunday, and Charlie is in San Antonio all day. I couldn't go with him because there isn't a place for the baby there. I really really hate being apart so much. We have never been away from eachother like this before. For sooo long we drove to work together, worked side-by-side for up to 15hrs, drove home and spend everynight together. We quickly learned how to survive like that, and now we have to figure out how to do things differently. I miss my partner! We're used to being able to depend on eachother to help with any little thing. Oh well!
Unfortunately, I do not have a picture. I need to get my camera out and take a 3 month pic of Laith. Coming soon!
More later - Em
Just a couple days ago, Charlie and I were talking about what a blessing he has been for us this year. If it weren't for the arrival of Laith, this would have been one blot of a year on our lives. This has been such a tough year for us in so many ways, but all I can see is the utter joy of our family. No matter how bad a day may be, or how empty our bank accounts, or late our bills, there is our child - and we can't help but be happy.
I'm trying to think of all the things that have changed in this past month. First of all, he has already doubled his birthweight, making him around 16lbs at least right now. My arms are really tired...really tired. I would say he has overall just become so much more alert and aware. He is eagerly checking things out. I have a hard time getting him to nap because he is so busy exploring his ever expanding world. He has been standing up for a while (with help of course) and now he likes to bounce and hop up and give us a little Jackie Chan move. People are surprised when they are around for a while and see that he almost never cries. He is not one of those babies that smiles all day, but he is certainly content.
Speaking of smiles, everytime he hears his baba's voice he just freezes and stares at Charlie wide-eyed and this gigantic smile comes out of nowhere and he bounces with excitement. I can't get over how good Charlie is with Laith. It gives me so much joy to see how much they enjoy eachother. I only wish things were different and Charlie could be around Laith more.
Today is Sunday, and Charlie is in San Antonio all day. I couldn't go with him because there isn't a place for the baby there. I really really hate being apart so much. We have never been away from eachother like this before. For sooo long we drove to work together, worked side-by-side for up to 15hrs, drove home and spend everynight together. We quickly learned how to survive like that, and now we have to figure out how to do things differently. I miss my partner! We're used to being able to depend on eachother to help with any little thing. Oh well!
Unfortunately, I do not have a picture. I need to get my camera out and take a 3 month pic of Laith. Coming soon!
More later - Em
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