MA

Videos of S :)

2010-03-07T08:21:00.000-08:00

walking

2010-02-25T18:15:00.000-08:00

2008-12-05T21:27:00.000-08:00

very behind :)

2008-01-28T11:29:00.000-08:00

Wow! I'm a year and a half behind on updating this blog...will be updating soon with some pictures of Sarra too. Time is just going by way too fast!

Ramadan Mubarak

2006-09-26T13:52:00.000-07:00

I'm taking a break in my catch up pictures to say Ramadan Mubarak to all. Ramadan started on September 23rd (last Saturday). So far it's been great, alhamdulillah. Mariam kind of understands what's going on because we don't eat from her when she offers food to us, and we explain that we have to wait until sunset. Her comment is 'oh. Mama no eat...Maya eat' This is a little picture of her when she insisted that she wear this blue scarf - she calls it her scarf and for awhile was inseparable from it. Here she is telling us all Ramadan Mubarak:

A wonderful visit

2006-09-26T13:27:00.000-07:00

While we were in Saudi we had a wonderful visit from Tata Ebtesam (Tata Sam) and Gido Mostafa (Dido Tufa). It was wonderful seeing them and Mariam (as well as all of us) had a great time with them.

Here is Mariooma with Tata Ebtesam and Gido Mostafa:

Mariam sitting happily with Gido.

Giving Tata Ebtesam a hug:

Gido reading to Mariam. She brought him all her books and asked him to read them for her.

Going out and about

2006-09-19T13:50:00.000-07:00

We went out and about to various places while we were in Saudi. Here's Mariam and Na-na on their way out somewhere. Mariam loved going out with Na-na.
Doing a little workout on the treadmill. "Gotta workout you know - you think it's easy looking this good?"
Breakfast at the dining hall with Na-na and Randa - an all time favorite. "gimme the camera - I want to take some pictures"

Another favorite hangout - On Gido's (dido) shoulders :).

In Saudi

2006-09-19T12:42:00.000-07:00

We visited Saudi the last two weeks of July and had a blast, alhamdulillah. Here is a picture the morning after we got there at the meridien where we went for breakfast. Na-na, Gido, Randa and Mariam.
Hanging out with Gido on their favorite sofa.

Hanging out with Gido on the front seat while waiting for the rest of us to come out.
Mama and Na-na.

One busy day

2006-09-19T12:01:00.000-07:00

The 8th of July was a busy day for Miss Mariam. We travelled to the airport to see Tunt Rasha and her friend, then at night we went to a wedding.

Here she is on her way to the airport in her cool shades (gasses as she calls them)

Here we are with Tunt Rasha - we saw her for only 30minutes but it was great seeing her.

At the wedding, Mariam's eating cheese - she kept wanting to get up and dance (dan) even though no one else was. We had to dance with her aruond the table to keep her happy.

The dress was annoying her most of the night :).

Going to 'school' (daycare)

2006-09-18T13:22:00.000-07:00

When Mariam goes to 'school' (as she calls it) - her hands can never be empty. She has to take everything she may need for that day. This was a lighter than normal day when she only took her purse (shunta) and her snacks. Apparently she carries the shunta around with her all day and refuses to put it down at daycare.

This day in particular she refused to leave the house without her 'shub' (isharb or headscarf). Normally she'll put it on as she gets ready and then I manage to convince her to take it off before we leave. But not this day, this day she insisted on having it on when she left and she freaked out when she felt it slipping off. It was very amusing to watch. I managed to leave it in the car when we went to daycare :).

This day was one of the funnier days. The picture's a bit foggy because it was really humid that day and my camera lens kept misting up. This day she wanted her 'orange aqua', her crayons, her pink blanket (pink blanit), and her yellow balloon (yewo boon). She refused to let me help her carry any of it.

Cutie :)

Childrens Museum

2006-09-18T12:08:00.000-07:00

Mariam loves the childrens museum (who doesn't?). She loves all of it now, but she mainly appreciated the tot spot when she was younger.

Hanging out at the tot spot:

Picasso at work:

She was very serious about her art work :)

4th of July at the Mendoza's

2006-09-18T11:29:00.000-07:00

We went to Noha, Marco and Mariam's house for the 4th of July. Here's a picture of the cuties hanging out.

3rd of July

2006-09-18T11:17:00.000-07:00

Hanging out happy in the afternoon eating some chips on the kitchen floor:

Then night fell upon us and the fireworks started. Mariam was not a happy camper - she was terrified of the sound of the fireworks, sat on her bed and refused to take her hands off her face.

Poor baby:

Visiting Cousin Keemo

2006-09-14T13:54:00.000-07:00

We went to visit cousing Keemo, Khalo Mohammed and Tunt Maha Labor day weekend and had a blast - these are just two pictures from the first hour we were there. Will continue to add pics as time permits.

Sitting on the doorstep from backyard into kitchen - giving herself a foot massage after the long journey :)

Keemo hanging out in the backyard wondering who the heck these people are and why they're here disrupting his peace - especially the little girl called Mariam who came with them :)

More 'keem'

2006-07-13T09:49:00.000-07:00

Here she is again with the 'keem' (cream) - sunscreen in this case - she smears it everywhere.

Trying to take the camera from me to take a picture:

hmmm...tastes kinda yummy...

Barnes and Nobles

2006-07-13T09:41:00.000-07:00

Mariam loves Barnes and Nobles and anywhere that has books :). She particularly likes the books that make music. Here are a few pictures of Mariam before we left the house to go to Barnes and Nobles and one while we're there:

Here she is sitting with her carebear - the white stuff on her face is sunscreen which she helped put on.

Silly face:

Hey mama, are we going to go now? I'm ready.

Reading a Winnie the Pooh book.

Playing with her hairband

2006-07-13T09:14:00.000-07:00

In the car, she likes to entertain herself with anything, since the poor girl gets so bored in the car. Here she is playing with her head band on June 15, 2006.

Playing with blocks

2006-07-13T09:01:00.000-07:00

Mariam loves playing with her colored stacking blocks. Here are a few pictures while she's playing with them on our bed on June 14, 2006 after her pediatric appointment.

Sweeping the floor

2006-07-13T08:37:00.000-07:00

Mariam loves to help in housework now. If we're doing anything she has to help (may it continue til her teenage years :)). She has a habit now of opening the pantry and grabbing a pack of chips and sitting on the kitchen floor to eat the chips. She dumps a lot of them on the floor also. After she finishes I start sweeping the floor but she insists on doing it. Here she is:

She decided to take a break while sweeping and eat what she's sweeping! so I had to stop videoing so I could stop her :).

A visit to the Pediatrician

2006-07-05T12:59:00.000-07:00

We recently took Mariam to her pediatrician for her 18months check up and shots.

Sitting around waiting for the pediatrician to come in:

He..he... mama you're funny, of course I'm not getting any shots today :)

Right?

Just come 'seet' (sit) mama and stop taking pictures - we've gotta talk about this shot thing:

No shots right?

Unfortunately she was wrong :) but I didn't have the heart to take after-shot pictures :).

Get this thing out of my hair!

2006-07-05T12:51:00.000-07:00

I put a hair clip in Mariam's hair and she spent awhile trying to take it out. I originally put it in because she wanted it in and then I'd take it out and she'd want it in again so I finally just left it in.

Hi mama, I like this hair clip :)

Ok I've had enough, now I'm gonna take it out:

I'm gonna take this thing out I tell you....

Can you take it out for me??

Some shots of a sleeping Mariam

2006-07-05T12:25:00.000-07:00

Sometimes as I'm on my way out to work and Mariooma is still sleeping I take pictures of her cute sleeping positions :). Here's just a few of those pictures:

Mine!!!

2006-07-05T12:21:00.000-07:00

Recently Mariam insists that everything is hers. If I mention that it belongs to someone else she gets pretty annoyed and says "Maii" - she's either saying mine or I think more probably she's saying "mariam". She says "Maii" instead of Mariam because she can't quite say her whole name yet.

Here's the video. She is holding an elephant that belongs to Zayd Ali (Sadia and Nasir's son) which she got attached to at our last visit to their house. I'm trying to tell her that it's Zayd's elephant, but she insists it's hers and won't be appeased til I admit it :). Enjoy:)

Supper at the Saadi's

2006-06-30T14:22:00.000-07:00

The following day we had supper at the Saadi's house - friends of ours from Abqaiq ARAMCO. Mariam had a BLAST there - it was great because I (mama) finally got to relax and not worry about her because she was entertaining herself with the Saadi kids. She loved them.

In this picture we're still at home - she's just finishing up a crayon masterpiece before she leaves the house:

Here she is with Randa and Noor - she really liked Randa a lot - kind of the same feelings she has for her aunt Randa ;)

Here are a couple of pictures with the rest of the Saadi's except for Ahmed who had already fallen asleep. We had a great evening.

The zoo makes me HAPPY!!

2006-06-30T14:17:00.000-07:00

Here's Mariooma taking a picture beside the little statue of the elephant near the elephants at the zoo. Last time she wouldn't stand here alone. This time she had a blast.

I can't quite remember why she's cracking up here :)

She also watched the elephants doing 'poo poo' and cheered them on shouting 'yey..poo...poo' since when she does poo poo mama cheers her on - it was pretty cute.

A trip to the Zoo

2006-06-30T14:06:00.000-07:00

We went to the zoo on Saturday June 10th with Sarah and Isaac. Mariam is never to thrilled on the way there because she doesn't like the early trip in the car and being confined to her carseat. You can tell how unhappy she is in this picture:

When we get there it's a different story. She loves the giraffes - here she is pointing to the daddy giraffe while sitting in her stroller.

She can only sit for so long. After a little bit she requests to be picked up by saying 'up' or 'sheel' (lift me up in Arabic) so she can get a better view. Here is the giraffe she was pointing at:

Mariam and mama after the giraffes cheered her up a bit:

Our zoo buddies: Sarah and Isaac:

June 8 2006

2006-06-30T14:02:00.000-07:00

Sorry, not much of a picture but the only picture I took that day. She was kind of out of it and not willing to pose :)

outside again - this time singing and dancing

2006-06-21T10:03:00.000-07:00

Mariam loves her Winnie the Pooh book - she sits and sings along with the songs and then also dances, twirls around, or moves her hands in dancing motion. She loves it when we sing along too, but never wants to stop :). Sometimes we'll just sing and sing...

and sing and sing....

and sing and dance... :)

'Hey mama, put that camera down and sing and dance with me...'

she looks kinda tired huh? Probably because she wouldn't go down for a nap :)

Her work station on the patio

2006-06-21T09:46:00.000-07:00

Mariam loves to sit outside on her little picnic table and draw in her book.

She likes to show off her colors as she is coloring. She especially likes being quizzed on all the colors and their names :) Here she's showing me the green crayon after I asked her where the green is...

Here she's telling me that this crayon is booo (blue)...

Mama seeet (sit)...she likes me to sit with her as she colors.

Back to the drawing board :)

Sunday June 4 - nap time

2006-06-21T09:34:00.000-07:00

Mariam was tired and was getting grouchy before we went out and didn't want to get dressed...

but Muhammad insisted and finally got her dressed.

She was a happy girl after that.

In the car she finally fell asleep.

Lazy Saturday

2006-06-08T13:06:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday was our lazy Saturday - we just hung out at home. Here are a couple of pictures of Mariooma on our bed after her bath.

'I have nothing in my hands...see'

Leaving for NY

2006-06-08T12:51:00.000-07:00

Last Friday we got ready to go to NY - although we never actually got there, Mariam had a lot of fun getting ready for the trip and at the airport.

Here she is helping us close the suitcase after we'd finished packing. She helped us by sitting in the suitcase during the packing process.

Here she is in the airport running around. She had a blast just running around and talking to other waiting passengers. Couldn't get a still shot of her.

Wondering off to find another passenger to talk to while at the same time checking to make sure her wallet's in her pocket :)

A moment of stillness - as she stands in deep thought...

Off again to show other passengers what she discovered in mama's purse...

Keeeam

2006-06-08T12:43:00.000-07:00

Mariooma loves body cream or lotion. She sees the tube of lotion and says 'keeam' (cream) 'peeeaz'. Then she sits and asks you to squeeze some in her hands and she puts it all over her face. Here she is lotioning her face prior to bed.

Salah...Prayer

2006-06-01T13:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Mariam decided she was going to show Muhammad how to pray. She says 'buba...akbar' and tries to make him go into sojood. The following are a step by step approach to her teaching method :)

"Ok buba...I'll make this fun but you gotta listen...I want you to go ahead and place your forhead on the ground..."

"I said...placccce your heaaad on the ground...I'm gonna get you to do this if it's the last thing I do...I know I'm strong enough...just...got-ta pull hard..."

"Good...good...you're getting there..."

"Buba...This is how it's done..."(not really how it's done for those unfamiliar with the Muslim prayer ritual...it's just how Mariam thinks it's done :)...)

"I suppose I'll give you a pass since you love me so much :)"

Molokhiya - May 31, 2006

2006-06-01T13:14:00.000-07:00

I made molokhiya for the first time yesterday. Mariam seemed to like it at first and here she is helping herself to some. She only ate a few spoonfuls, but I think it's because it was a new dish.

First she puts the rice on the spoon with her fingers:

Then, she brings it to her mouth:

....very messy indeed....

That was ok mama...but where's the MEAT??

After a while she decided that chicken was for her not molokhiya so here she is eating the drumstick. She's a meat lover like her father.

As you can tell it was overall a very messy meal and she went straight into the bath after it.

Sha3 - May 31, 2006

2006-06-01T13:05:00.000-07:00

Mariam loves to pick flowers and put them in her hair. When she sees a flower she points to her head and says 'sha3' (Arabic for hair). She even says this if she sees the flower on TV. Here she is trying to pick a flower:

Proud of her flower.

Putting it in her hair...(sha3)

May 30th, 2006 - Mama's Birthday

2006-06-01T12:49:00.000-07:00

Mariam playing '..side' again. She was playing with the little monkey Hana gave her. Offering me a leaf as a present :).

We went to our friends' (Rania and Mohamed's) house for dinner. Their son Saif was infatuated with Mariam, but she was not very amused with him.

"Mama tell him to leeeave me alone..."

FOUNDERS FAVORITE
Afterwards we went to coldstones and had some yummy founders favorite - I think it's a favorite of Mariam's too.

Butter, no bread peease...ta..tu

2006-06-01T12:40:00.000-07:00

Mariam has just discovered butter. The morning of the barbecue I buttered some bread for her and she loved the butter - she started licking it off and when she was done she'd want me to re-butter the same slice of bread. It was amusing to watch. She had just woken up so excuse the hair :).

YUMMY!!!

May 29th, 2006 - Barbeque

2006-06-01T12:30:00.000-07:00

We had a barbecue and invited some friends over. There were many kids and they had a blast. Here's a picture of the kids playing together. Zaid, Sophie, Isaac and Mariam.

Isaac and Mariam started roaring at each other. Every time one child finished roaring, the other roared louder and it just got louder and louder :). They were very cute doing it.

Mariam was able to find someones sunglasses and try them on. She loves herself in glasses.

Here's a picture with mama, buba, Mariam the Pahlavans and their little Sophie.

May 28th, 2006

2006-06-01T12:21:00.000-07:00

In the early hours of May 28th we went to Mary'z. It was obviously way past Mariam's bed time. Here you see her passed out in her dad's arms. Tunt Rasha kept us well socialized that weekend.

Later that day in the evening we went to a wedding and here you see us all dressed up. Tunt Rasha wasn't going but she still looked good :).

May 27th, 2006

2006-06-01T12:16:00.000-07:00

Tunt Mona came and visited us for a few days in Houston. It was great seeing her again. Here are a couple of pictures of Mariam and then one of Mona and me (Mai).

2006-06-01T12:09:00.000-07:00

Tunt Rasha came into town again, which is why we have more pictures :). Here's a picture with Tunt Rasha on her 2nd day in Houston. Obviously Mariam has been getting A LOT of sun. She is out in the sun a couple of hours a day. We are using sunscreen and trying to prevent so much exposure, but it's sooo hard to say 'no' to her little 'side...side...side'. :)

Pigtails

2006-04-08T16:13:00.000-07:00

Mariam's hair finally grew long enough for pigtails. It's nice to be able to do her hair every so often. She really looks like a little girl now.

Peeease

2006-04-07T08:24:00.000-07:00

Mariam is almost 18months old - time is flying - and I've been slowly trying to work on weaning her especially at night (yes, she still nurses). Her word for nursing is 'um' so when she wants to nurse, including in the middle of the night, she says 'um...um....um....um....um....um....um....' and she'll repeat it 20 times until I start nursing her. Lately I've been telling her 'no' and then she cries and I hug her and kiss her and pat her back to sleep. So, since she hates to be told 'no' (it really hurts her feeling and her pride :)) she's been reluctant to tell me 'um' - she just stares longingly (poor baby :)) and if I don't look like I'm going to let her nurse she goes on with her business or falls back asleep. Just the other day, however, she walked up to me rubbed her little hand on her little chest (the sign for please) and said 'um peeeeease'. How could I say 'no' to that????? So now we're back to square one in the weaning process since Mariam has discovered that I can not say 'no' to her little chest rubbing peeeeease.

Videos of Mariam

2006-03-26T18:04:00.000-08:00

Tunt Rasha came into town this weekend and we had a wonderful time. She came over Thursday during the day and received a huge 'I missed you' hug from Mariam. Thursday night we all hung out at home and watched a movie which you can see in her all done video and her please video. She was saying please because she wanted more popcorn and you can see that she stubbornly refused to say thank you afterwards :). All done was when she was done with the popcorn. And then, after being on my lap for a little bit she decided she'd had enough and wanted tunt Rasha to carry her so you can see her saying 'upf' to Tunt Rasha which is Mariooma's 'carry me' :).

Friday, Rasha and Mariam hung out all day while I was at work and if you click on the animal sounds video you'll see what they were up to while I was at work. We all went out to Papasitos for fajitas Friday night. Mariam wasn't much in the mood for fajitas but she did have a little bit of rice. Saturday we all went to the zoo with Sarah and Isaac, and you can see her kissing the animals and loving the seals and the giraffes in the videos below. She also had a wonderful time at the little water park at the zoo. But unfortunately she got soaked which is why you see her in a different outfit after that. Then we met up with Muhammad and had a wonderful lunch with Nabil and Dahlia at La Madeline.

The last video clips are of Mariam and Rasha singing "Old McDonald had a Farm". This was earlier in the morning on our way to the zoo. Sunday we had a great time going to Kimah where we met Noha and Marco and their Mariam. The only downer of the whole weekend was the slight gastro we all experienced on Saturday :( but now we're all good :)...Enjoy!

This is Mariooma Saying all Done
Animal sounds in Black and White
Pleeease
Carry Me!
Kissing the animals
Splashing in the water at the Zoo
Old McDonald
Old McDonald some more
And More

2006-03-23T11:19:00.000-08:00

hey...you tryin' to take away my spaghetti?? uha...that's what I thought...

2006-03-23T11:18:00.000-08:00

We went to memorial park a couple of months ago and Mariam enjoyed eating spaghetti during this beautiful day. She refused to let anyone feed her - she is after all a big girl. :)

2006-03-23T11:00:00.000-08:00

Mariam in the Childrens Museum

Mariooma

2006-03-23T10:18:00.000-08:00

I'm going to start this blog spot for Mariooma. Sarah FernandezLopez inspired me. She's been great posting a picture a day of Isaac since birth. I'm going to try to post pictures of Mariam and I'll try to be regular about it. :) That way if her grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends want to see pictures of her anytime or hear about her progress they can just get on this website :).

I'll start with this picture of Mariam at the Children's Museum. Muhammad, Mariam and I went to the Childrens museum with Sarah and Isaac and we took them to the painting room for the first time. Mariam had a blast and came out with three wonderful painting which I will post later. Of course, when it came time to go Mariam did not want to and she decided that she was done with painting on paper and that it was time to move on the bigger and better things. She tried painting on the floors and walls and of course taking away her paint brush resulted in tears. She still has her painters shirt on.