what a fun party :)

Today we went to one of Naief's little friends' houses for a bday party (is the punctuation correct? - seems like nowadays, I can't remember my English grammar. Not that it was ever my strong suit... but still, and you know... I hate that I'm forgetting it. What is up w/ that?? Having a baby?). Anyway... what a fun time. His mother is such a good mother.. so patient, so calm and so good w/ her kids.... and she's so talented! She went to a carpenter here in Bahrain and had huge farm animals cut out of wood or some such and painted white, then all the kids got paint, at the party, and had a field day painting all the animals. Naief and all the other kids loved it and had so much fun. Must say that Naief loves the attention of others and especially adults, as he would turn around to see who was watching him and do his best Picasso impersonation! ;)

Didn't know beforehand about the painting, since all the kids were supposed to bring a change of clothes (didn't get the invitation since we've switched to the afternoon class at the baby gym, while my friend and her son go to a morning class... ), and since I didn't take any clothes for painting fun, my friend lent some clothes to Naief to paint in (how sweet, huh?!!). I felt bad though coz didn't want him getting his friend's clothes all messy... but I tried to go w/ it. And momma didn't wear the appropriate clothes either.... don't think white linen pants and a indigo linen shirt were the right attire for a painting party!! But, thankfully, didn't get any paint on me.... :)

They also had goats for the kids to enjoy. Had them in the side yard... Naief loved it. There was a little kid (baby goat) that was soooo adorable... jumping around and climbing through the gate, only to make his momma very upset. The whole little gang would cry for him to come back in, but he seemed to be having too much fun on the other side of the fence. At one point, my friend's hubby had to go on the other side to get the little guy. It was really sweet and a great idea. All the kids loved giving them food and watching them play. Got a text from my friend today telling everyone to bring any veggies to be thrown out... and crazy me wondered what that was about and thought maybe they were composting... !!!! yes... I did think this!!! Didn't even dawn on me that it could be for the party!!!!!!! lol

Naief was so well behaved as most of the kids, except a few. One little boy was being quite the bully... pushing kids and taking their things, and making several kids cry in the process. At about the time we were leaving, I was getting a telephone number and this little boy's mother brought Naief to me, crying. She told me that her son had pushed him outside. She felt bad and I felt bad.... but Naief was fine and stopped crying rather quickly. I think that he gets a little scared of kids like this. I just hope this little boy was having a bad day coz I've talked to his mom about a play date, but if her son is a bully and is mean... not sure if I want that happening to my little guy... but, can't shield him forever, right?!! Will have to take this slowly just to see how it goes.

All in all it was a wonderful afternoon. I had a terrible headache when we got home, but probably due to my not having eaten most of the day and just being sorta stressed... but took some meds and it's gone now.

Went over to see my SIL. She gave birth to her 2nd child three days ago. He's soooo tiny!!! Only weighs 4 lbs! To me, that's too small... but so many Bahraini women have itty, bitty babies. From what I've heard, it's about not wanting it to hurt when they give birth, so they try to gain as little weight as possible to make it all easier. She wound up having a c-section... not being able to go into labor and even after they gave her the meds to induce, she still didn't ... so they took the baby. He has a huge, pointed nose.... probably from Hashim's father. They all said that Naief had this nose, but I knew he didn't, since it wasn't pointed. It still isn't... I think he'll have mine since all the baby pics of me and him look the same.... and his nose is identical.... poor little guy! I hate my nose!!! but... maybe it'll be cuter than mine. At least I can hope! ;)

Anyway... this week has wound up w/ two cancellations for engagements/play dates, so I'm relieved since I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed and stressed as of late. Tomorrow we have nothing and I plan to spend a lot of time w/ Naief and cleaning. Still having a difficult time balancing these two things, which causes me a lot of stress. If anyone has any good ideas on how to manage and tackle these two things, please do pass it on. I need all the help I can get.

A friend came over the other night to say goodbye, since she'll be going to Qatar to teach for a few months and before she came, I told her that my house was a mess. I'm not one for having company when the house isn't in tip top shape... but... I let her come anyhoo. She was fine w/ it and we sat in the kitchen, which was a mess... but she assured me she understood... I do have a two year old after all. Made me feel good that she understood.... but I was still a bit in that 'embarrassment zone' after she left... aaahhh... my constant task of cleaning.

Yeah.. I know this is a long post, and sorry for that... but... commenting on my first para, not only am I forgetting grammar, but I'm forgetting things like crazy. I've noticed lately that I'm doing things and not remembering to finish whatever it was. For instance, I'll turn on the water outside and forget about it, which doesn't make the hubby all too happy. One day I left it running for over an hour! Totally forgot. Then the other day, I was filling up the watering thing for the cats and I went off and forgot about it. Came back to see it overflowing all over the place.. then did the same w/ the sink and dishes. Started running hot water and soap to do dishes (which isn't done here, btw... nothing is ever done w/ a sink full of hot, sudsy water) and turned around to do something else and totally forgot about it. Left the room and everything. Don't know how long it was, but when I came back, it was overflowing onto the floor... actually was all over the kitchen floor. Ridiculous really... that I'm doing this. Have even done w/ cooking, which scares me a bit. Saw a show on Oprah today about women forgetting things when they have kids. I really need to slow down, breathe, relax and do one task at a time... or finish the task that I've started... but you know, it's hard.

have a good one everyone.... until next time. :)

Killer Puppy on the Loose

Imagine those headlines... and imagine a killer puppy looking like him..... awwww, who couldn't love a killer puppy looking as sweet as this!!

This is one pic from the birthday/Halloween party we went to this past Sat. It was so much fun and Naief really had a good time. He didn't cry one time, loved being around all the kids, and he even got to sit at the table like a big boy (in a booster seat) when we ate and had cake. He swung his little legs and seemed to be on a little heaven cloud.

One nice woman came up to me at the party and said that when she came in she actually thought Naief was a little dog and wondered when my friend, H, had gotten it. ;) I think the fact that Naief is still crawling really made the outfit! Not sure that everyone got the scary blood thing... but I did tell everyone he was a killer puppy... seeing that the theme was scary, atlho only the bday boy and his brother, and Naief, held firm to that. :)

I was really pleased at how well it went. I was worried he'd get tired, but he didn't really show any signs of that until the end. He loved all the toys and the balloons. I was worried that he might pop one in his hand or something, and even though he got ahold of a few, none popped... thank goodness. There was one little boy, in particular, who was so sweet to him. He'd come up and bring toys to Naief and even squat down to play w/ him. He was 19 mths and I found myself in amazement at the fact that this little boy didn't try to slap him in the face, kick him, pinch him or head butt 'em or anything (which is the case I'm usually up against)... not one child did anything mean to him... it was such a beautiful release... I can't even tell you how peaceful that was.... and all these kids were all around 2 yrs.

I really enjoyed the party and so did hubby ..... me, because there were other mommies to talk to and I was able to see that Naief is normal or behaving the way he should at this age, and hubby got to spend some quality time w/ the guys. I also found out that Qatar Airlines flies straight to the U.S. now. I didn't know this. You can pick up a flight outta Doha and fly right into D.C. No stops, nothing. This is good to know. I hate having a 7 or 8 hr layover in London.

btw... my dear friend, Puppy... I hope I did you proud w/ his outfit!! :) Next year we may do Chucky!!! he he heeeeeee

Dress up time

One of my favorite holidays is Halloween. I've loved it since I was a child. My mom made many of my costumes and, every year, I couldn't wait to get out of the house to trick or treat for candy.

This year, one of my friends is having a Halloween/birthday party for her 2 year old son. She's invited us, which I'm really happy about, but, for the life of me, I can't figure out what to dress Naief up as. I asked if the adults were dressing up as well and she said "as you like"... so, we can dress up if we want, which I'd love to do, but not sure if Hashim will go along w/ it. I told him today that he's a party pooper because he said he wouldn't, but I'm hoping he'll change his mind.

So... what do you guys think... what should I dress Naief as? The theme of the party is "scary". I've been thinking a zombie, but Hashim's first choice was an American soldier! heheheheh But hey.. where would we find a helmet?!! We also thought about terrorist, but I don't think too many ppl would find that funny... it is, but in a sick way. Which is the way I do best! Imagine strapping little bombs (fake of course) to his chest, under his clothes and stuff. Yeah... I know it's demented... but I LOVE IT!!

We've looked at Toys R Us for costumes but they don't have anything for a baby. I think we'll look at Seef Mall. They have a costume place there... but I'm thinking they'll probably have nothing for his size.

So bring on your suggestions. Remember... I don't have a sewing machine and I've never made an outfit. But I can sew by hand....