Let me out

This is how Aliya sits at the gate, like a little monkey in a cage, pleading to be let out.

Valentines 2010

Valentines Weekend 2010
Friday Feb 12th- I have a very smart husband, for Christmas I received 2 tickets to Wicked, a play I have been wanting to see. He bought tickets for valentines day weekend and gave them to me as a Christmas gift! Way to kill 2 birds with one stone, honey! I was very proud of him! Mom Rawji gave us a $50 gift certificate to the restaurant of our choice as a valentines day gift and Mom Bartlett came over to baby-sit Aliya as a valentines day gift (she bought Aliya a walker, Ali managed to walk backward in the kitchen but hasn’t quite figured out how to move forward or move on the carpet yet.) Thanks Moms! We headed out to Roy’s for dinner. We had never heard of Roy’s before that day but it sounded good being a Hawaiian Infusion Restaurant. It was a little spendy for us but so delicious. Instead of bread they brought to the table baskets of edamame beans in this sweet spicy seasoning. For dinner I had chefs fish 3 ways. Out came this rectangle plate with 3 sections and in each section was a small piece of fish in a different sauce. On the left was butter fish in this red curry sauce with Kim chi, it’s a good thing I didn’t know there was Kim chi on it before I tried it otherwise I wouldn’t have. (btw-Kim chi is fermented cabbage). It was delicious, so delicious I had to ask what was in it and then I found out it was Kim chi…..urgh. In the middle was Ahi tuna in a mustard sauce, it was suppose to come rare but I asked for it cooked, I normally don’t like mustard sauces but Yum! On the right was salmon in a lemon sauce, so light and heavenly. Rob had Tiger Shrimp in a pumpkin curry. It has spinach and small fried purple potatoes in some batter, ohhhh it was so good. Everything that was brought out looked like art. It made me feel as if we were eating on Top Chef, maybe we’re a little uncultured when it comes to fine cuisine. For dessert we had Guava Cream cheese bread pudding and Chocolate flourless molten cake with Raspberries and Ice cream. I’m not going to tell you how wonderful they were, I may fall into a dreamlike state and never awaken. Even with our $50 gift card our bill was still another $50. I told you it was spendy! We headed out to Wicked at the Tampa Bay performing Art Center. The seats were amazing. Rob had us on the main level right in the center! The play was so much better than I expected. I had heard good things and the book is a best seller but I have never read it. It was actually great though because I never have gone to a play where I didn’t already know what was going to happen. Everything here was a surprise. The music was fantastic and I just really enjoyed myself.

At the play

Aliya with her new walker

Saturday Feb 13^th- We headed out for a fun family day. We started off at Mellow Mushroom, a hippie pizza joint. Our pizza was awesome and then to mall for some browsing. For dinner, Mom Bartlett had us over for Prime Rib, Chocolate banana milk shakes and strawberry shortcake…so good. Ali loved the milk shake and then decided to pour it all over her and mom, it was really cute and messy! (okay so much of what I have written today has been about food, I must be hungry!)

In the mall

At Mellow Mushroon

At Moms house for dinner, per-milkshake spill!

Sunday- Valentines Day- Rob woke up and took care of Aliya so I could sleep in. When I awoke the house has filled with flowers and breakfast was ready. (interesting story to follow about his adventure to get flowers and breakfast) Aliya got a dozen peachy roses and I got the most beautiful bouquet of tulips, in shades of white pink and red. Since it was Ali’s first V-day we wanted to spoil her, so we purchased season tickets to Busch Gardens and Sea World. We spent the day walking around Busch Gardens. We didn’t go on any roller costars and the only ride we did was the merry-go-round. It was so fun and stress free. Ali saw all the animals, I think she liked the meercats the best, though it was hard to tell because she didn’t really seem to notice any of them. Willie Nelson was in concert so we saw him for a minute. We took the safari train ride around the park, Ali fell asleep, and caught a couple of shows which she seemed to like. It was really a great time! After the park we drove around to check out some houses since we will be moving in that area in a few months and went to World Market for dinner. After picking up a smorgasbord of food we came home, ate, watched some TV and went to bed! It was a perfect V-day weekend! Thanks honey! I love you!

Busch Gardens

Home Theater

This brings home entertainment to a new level. Mom and Dad had purchased this projector a while back and had not been using it. Meanwhile, Rob has been dying for a projector and every time he saw one he got excited and wanted to buy it. I asked mom if she wouldn’t mind if we borrowed it for a while, when Rob saw it his face lit up! He hooked up his play station and instant movie theater in our bedroom! Granted it was a little crooked but it was on the whole wall and crystal clear! We watched half a movie (couples retreat) laying in bed, how awesome is that, a full size movie screen to watch while you lay in bed! It was so fun! Rob even played his PS3 game on it, I think the people were larger than life size! So cool! Thanks mom and dad

I'm not ready for this!

She just started to crawl, does she really need to be pulling herself up to standing already?

Happy Birthday Dad

When I think of you dad, I feel very blessed. I am so lucky to have you in my life. A genuinely great guy. You make me strive to be a better person, to follow more rules, and to care more about people. I really look up to you and I know Chalula will too. I wish you all the happiness on your 52nd birthday. Happy Birthday, Dad. I love you.

 

okay... keep laughing! I happen to think a surge protector power strip with remote is pretty cool!

Snob

I walked into the main prayer hall at Jamat Khane (Church) last Friday with my head held high. I was the mother of a perfect baby and I was going to sit in the prayer hall with her and she was going to sit quietly for the whole service. I was delusional. Not even a third of the way through services and I had to leave, head hung low and embarrassed I walked out of the prayer hall. My angelic daughter, whom I though wore a halo brought out the horns and started screaming. Leading up to that moment she had been babbling and my stress level was so high hoping she wouldn't get louder. The only praying I got done was praying for her to not scream. It didn’t work. I didn’t want to go to the room they have set aside for moms and babies. The one in the back of the building. That’s the room for loud babies, the misbehaving ones who are rowdy and as I mentioned before I have an angel, but there I went into the room with my daughter.

I am such a snob.

It was delightful, stress free, and fun. Aliya started to crawl around and play with the other kids. She found some other moms to read to her and feed her cherrios (the yummy sweet ones not the plain ones I give her). I can't believe I was so stuck up to the idea of sitting in there; a place where I could be a mom and Aliya could be a baby. I didn’t really get much praying done in there either but it was worth it. You can hear everything that is going on in the main prayer hall through the overhead speakers so I didn’t really miss out either. I am sorry for being such a snob, the once dungeons room in the back of the building is now my sanctuary.

My only issue- no outlet covers on the electric sockets. Luckily, she didn't find them, she was too entertained by everything else going on. I am going to tell one of the volunteers so they can put them on to keep little babies safe. Like they say 'Trust in God but still lock your car door.' Just because we are at church doesn't exempt us from electrocution. (Even if it does I am not going to let her put fingers in there to find out!)

Carpet burn

Poor thing, all that crawling is rough on baby knees.

First Super Bowl

Someone takes after their daddy in more than just looks and hair (or should I say lack of hair)!

Family

Our family was in town from London. It was so nice to see them and they got to meet Aliya for the first time! We had a great day together, massages, manis, pedis, Jamat Khane (Church), and Bahama Breeze for dinner! Can't wait to see them again! We missed Ali and Sayeed.

Grandmas

Love, pure and deep. Aliyas grandmothers light up when they see her. I think they are blown away by how much they love her. You can see it in their faces when they see her. Aliya is so lucky.

Discovery

Its great that we baby proofed the other day because we have a curious cat on our hand. She made her way all around the living room by 10:30 in the morning. The caged bird sat by the window for a long time pleading to be let out. Then she made her way though the narrow passage created by the couch and ottoman, its about 3 ft long and half way she whipped around to see which path was shorter to get out. She almost gave up but managed to find her way out and headed over to the dining room. After checking out her baby gym from another perspective (under it) she went to look at the OMM table and exercise ball. She got a good lay of the land this morning. I hope I can keep her contained in this area but I think it won’t be long till she’ll want to discover the rest of the house.

Home, Safe, Home

It wasn’t as bad as I expected, probably because Rob did most of the work, but baby proofing is done! We rearranged all the furniture because someone likes to pull at the very unsteady bookshelf, which was just waiting to fall down . Now its tucked away and houses the computers and the very enticing computer cords, all out of reach. A baby gate stops baby from entering the kitchen, I didn’t want to even think about starting to baby proof in there, this was easier. Corner covers and outlet covers rounded out the baby proofing and not a moment to soon as little fingers were drawn like a moth to a flame into the small electrical holes.

Enough with the gum already!

What is it with my family and gum disasters? I came home today to fine not one but 2 packs of gum chewed up, ripped apart, and shredded all over the carpet along with a pack of cough drops. Madison had found her way into Robs bag and was a very naughty girl. Of course she was hiding in the closet like a pound puppy scared and shaking in anticipation for the harsh “bad girl” I was about to yell at her. Now normally its not a big deal when a dog gets into something other than the mess that awaits you, but this time it was a really big deal. See both the gum and the cough drops were made with Xylitol, a sugar substitute that is poisonous to dogs. Since she ingested so much I called the vet who had me induce vomiting. FYI- don’t do this on carpet, I don’t know what I was thinking by not putting her in the bathroom or outside but I chose, not so wisely, the kitchen, which is attached to a hallway, which is carpeted, to induce vomiting. Poor pup threw up so much, 4 huge piles of vomit (btw- I swear dog food expands to about 20x its original size in a dogs stomach), all on the carpet by the way. Interestingly it smelled pretty good. It was the most aromatic vomit I have ever had the displeasure of smelling, must’ve been all that minty and watermelony gum or the strawberry drops. Aliya is next in line to pull a gum stunt and if she does I’m banning it in the house. Its my new nemesis. Zahra vs. Gum. Score 0-2. Read about the last gum disaster here.

Crawling

I can't upload videos for some reason but check out her crawling action through pictures. She came around the corner and down the hall!

Ali at the Library

Its been a while since I have taken Ali to Mothergoose story time at the library. Read about her first visit here. She was loving watching the kids- all 30 of them and their mothers in a small room. Needless to say it was cramped and chaotic. Kids were running around all over the place. Ali sat so nicely and watched all the action around her. I was very proud of my well behaved little one.