funny faces

We bought Nusayba a used camera for Eid, but it's really Asmaa that's taken a liking to it. She took all the pictures here (the one's she isn't in, of course).

Carnival at School

OK, so my new goal is two posts every month insha'a Allah! Now all you have to do is make dua'a:)

This is at Nusayba's preschool (parents nursery school). In the beginning of October each year, they have a carnival that's run by the parents and open to the public. It's pretty cute with games for the kids, food and dessert--basically a fundraiser for the school. Allaedin was out of town so Ahmed and Seraj came and helped me with the kids. How I love having my brothers-in-law here:)

There was another shot Ahmed took with both of them smiling at the camera, but i felt this was more telling of their personalities:) I call Asmaa, Nusayba's shadow!

The kids were supposed to dress-up for the carnival, but I didn't get a chance to go and buy costumes so we picked out some outfits from the dress-up area at school:)

Eid Al-Fitr 2009

The girls waited so patiently to open their gifts. I wrapped them and placed them on the table the day before Eid. On Eid morning, we went for the prayer and from their to a couple of friends' houses to give Eid gifts to their friends. We only got back at around 4:00pm which made it so much more exciting:)

note: not all the above gifts were theirs:) two of them were for their friends.

Every Eid is even more special than the one before--by 2015 we'll be celebrating with the entire family insha'a Allah:)

face painting at the eid fest!

intensely watching as their balloon turns into a monkey--not really!

At 9.5 months he took his first steps. Yes, definitely in a hurry to keep up with his sisters and now at 10months although he prefers walking over crawling, he's still very wobbly:) (I'll post a more recent video of him soon insha'a Allah)

A Eid Gift for Iman & Noor

Although they're far in distance, Iman & Noor are always mentioned around here. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to gather us in this world and in the next insha'a Allah. We hope to spend Eid with you next year!

A little something from the girls

He's cruising...and PUSHING!

Baba's visit and San Diego: Part I

Ramadan Mubarak! May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accept your fasting, prayer and worship and keep us in your dua'a.


Alhamdulillah, we had a wonderful week right before Ramadan when baba blessed us with a very short visit. We drove to San Diego and visited a few places, the high light of which was the sea world except i haven't uploaded those pictures yet! In the mean time you all can enjoy pictures from the wild animal zoo and the beach.

note: unfortunately as i was uploading i realized that the camera was set to the lowest resolution.


The Wild Animal Park

part of the wild animal park was a computer operated dinosaur area with over 20 dinosaurs. asmaa and abdurrahman were freaked out so only nusayba and i really go to enjoy this area. since it was only the two of us, nusayba got to take the above picture!

and here nuzayba wanted to imitate me and pretend she was afraid of the t-rex behind her (mind you, she was kind of afraid!)

Asmaa's hand against the ape's!
(subhan Allah--so much like a humans)

The La Jolla Beach

Back at home and the girls enjoying their last evening with their grandfather

Homemade popsicles!

Assalamu alaikum!

Yes, it's been too long! these are so long over-due i'm staying up after fajr (six o'clock in the morning) to post them...and you all have no idea how precious the next two to three hours of sleep are!


here the girls are making some homemade popsicles...they actually turned out very good alhamdulillah

a little too excited!

after the first set of go-gurts

the concentration is vital

then the second set


it actually tasted much better than it looked:)



some more concentration...




some five hours later...delicious!

My three musketeers

Our new bunk beds...

Alhamdulillah, this was a good investment and we can separate the beds eventually if we need to :)

yup...he's already sitting!


and racing too:)

My little Olympic Gold Medalist:)

During our trip north of San Francisco--Asmaa also got to swim:)

and eat ice cream!

this game really helped nusaybaa with her Arabic letters. we also wrote letters on regular paper and started jumping around in the house--she especially enjoys making me jump around!

Just Abdu!

At the jungle...

He can really jump!

Nusayba's old goggles:)

We drove up north during memorial day weekend and basically spend the day in the hotel:) We went swimming twice in the pool, but i didn't take any pictures (and regret it! :( )

This is an older shot (i think when he was around 3 months)

And this was just a couple of days ago:)



showing off our latest moves!

We miss you Nana!

Abdurrahman's cooing and Nusayba's reading!

yes, insha'Allah i will make an effort to take more pictures/videos of him insha'Allah. you should see/hear how he coos and interacts with us...it's amazing subhana'Allah!

Abdurrahman over a month ago!

We're now following the "teach your child to read in 20 easy lessons" and alhamdulillah, nusayba has really caught on. we only do 2 pages a day and only when asmaa's sleeping. she really looks forward to this "alone" time where my attention is just on her.

i think it's time i start incorporating some arabic!

Swimming

Since mid-March Nusayba has been patiently waiting for April 13th, the day she starts swimming lessons! I decided to create a calendar and clearly label 09/13 so that she would understand that it was some time to come. Alhamdulillah, the calendar wasn't a bad idea after all. I think she'll eventually understand the concept of months, the days in the week and that numbers go beyond 10:) Oh, the calendar also helped us keep track of the weather!

The anticipated April 13!

alhamdulillah, she was a lot braver than I thought she would be. They even ducked her face under water twice (after asking her to make a "bubble face") and she didn't cry or panic!

on the way home she exclaimed "a'jabatni alsibaha katheeran!" (I enjoyed swimming very much) :)