Where did I leave off? Ah, yes–last Monday.

Monday– One of abbu’s subordinates at work is moving to Brazil and was in town checking the area out to find a place to live.  Abbu, being his boss, graciously invited him over for lunch and a basic FAQ session.  So this guy showed up around noon with his wife… did I mention they’re South Indian, ??  Wery antarasting, indeed. (more…)

Sometime early last year my dad’s job relocated him to Brazil.  It was a stinking tragedy to have him move away from all of us, and then to have my mommy leave, too.  Since then my chances to hang out with them at any length have been few and far between.  And usually when I did get a chance to see them it was always for a special circumstance–wedding, baby, funeral, etc; so for the most part they were always preoccupied.  Our parental-baby time was usually pretty short.

So imagine my delight when I was asked to come visit them for 2 1/2 weeks in Brazil!  The excitement was primarily to spend time with them and secondly to get to see Brazil.  The past 8 days have been a blast. (more…)

Alhumdu’lillah 20 weeks down, and 20 more to go!

Yesterday Saqib and I went to an ultrasound to have a structural survey done of our child.  The ultrasound technician basically gave us a tour of our baby.  Alhumdu’lillah everything is in right on track, in place, functioning, and looking good.  I couldn’t have been more happy.

A funny feeling came over me when I was watching the screen and seeing all these different parts of my baby.  All I could think of was how it would use these things for good–to be a Muslim.

• We saw two eyes, that I hoped it would use to read Qur’an.
• We saw a nose, that I hoped it wouldn’t stick in the air.
• We saw a mouth, that was opening and closing drinking fluid; but I hoped one day it would use its mouth to make dhikr and speak good things.
• We saw two hands attached to two arms, that I wanted to see my child use to say takbir and pray.
• We saw a spinal chord, that I hoped my baby would use to be steadfast, upright and confident in its belief.
• We saw two little feet, that I hoped my baby would use to stand up straight in salah.
• We saw a stomach, that will one day be empty while our child is fasting.
• And finally we saw a heart, that I hope will be overflowing with imaan and a love for Allah.

May Allah, al-Khaliq, make it possible for our child, and all of us, to use the bodies that He has created to worship Him alone and to come closer to Him.

That’s right, my husband and I are expecting our first baby inshaAllah later this year.  The due date is 10/10/10, and as a math teacher and major nerd I am excited at the prospect that my child could be born on a day that’s entirely binary!

I’ve completed 15 of the 40 weeks.  Alhumdu’lillah everything is going well.  I haven’t had many problems at all.  I’ve thrown up on two occasions, and I don’t really think the baby was to blame.

The hardest part for me has been my really poor sleep during the night.  During the day I get pretty exhausted from being on my feet at work all day.  When I come home in the afternoon I usually try to take a nap but all I can think of is all the things I have to get done in the mean time.  Then at night I can’t seem to get comfortable, or my body is just… awake.  (more…)

In the teacher’s lounge one of my co-workers had brought her daughter down into the room from babysitting to eat lunch together.  My friends and I were sitting at one part of the table sharing a bag of chips, and the woman’s daughter wanted some.  We happily gave some chips to the little girl.  The mom told her that was all she was going to get.

After eating her chips, the daughter wanted more.  The mom said no, but the daughter threw a fit.  So the mom caved in and gave her daughter some more chips, again saying that this time was the last.  Of course, the same thing happened at least two more times.  After the third time, the mom finally decided to tell her daughter there weren’t anymore chips… she lied!

Well, after eating her chips, the daughter wanted more.  So she started crying for it, again.  The mom kept telling her the same old lie:  there weren’t anymore chips.  But she finally realized her daughter didn’t believe her, so she turned to me and said, “Can you give her some more chips?”

I was a little annoyed.  Didn’t she just tell her daughter the chips were done?  I actually mentioned that to her, “You told her there weren’t anymore…?”  The mom said, “Yea I know, but she wants it now.” (more…)