I am sick :(

I got the stomach flu. Not sure how unless it was from my neice or nephews. Luckily Zuzu is tired today so I can get lots of rest too. Hopefully baba will come home early so I can get even more rest. I just hope Zuzu doesn't get what I have. Two sick girls would make baba crazy. :)

Cooking Iftar (Mesaka'a)

Zuzu has stared to coo when listening to music now. She is so funny.

Zuzu and I got up early and walked to the store so we could cook something good for baba since he is fasting. Of course it took hours because we had to take nursing breaks, but I am finally almost done. Here is the recipe for Mesaka'a with Bechamel.

Ingredients

1	Eggplant ,peeled and sliced (1 cm thin)
1	Onions , chopped
1.5	lbs Minced Meat
1	Tomatoe ,red
1	tsp Garlic ,crushed
4	Oil for frying
1/3	Pack of pinenuts
2	tbsp Raisins
3	tbsp Tomato Paste Fine Foods Knorr
2	tbsp Butter
3	tbsp Flour
4	Cups Milk White pepper

Directions
1. Preparing meat
In a medium pan, heat 2 tbsp oil over medium heat. Stir in one chopped onion and garlic until yellow. Add minced meat, salt and pepper and stir. Reduce heat, cover pan and leave to cook for 15 minutes.

2. Fry up Pine Nuts in 2 tbsp of butter till golden. Then remove and set aside.

3. Preparing tomato sauce
Slice tomato and blend the rest in a blender with 1/4 cup water..
Add blended tomatoes, tomato paste, 1/2 cup water, salt and pepper. Reduce heat and leave to simmer for 20 minutes. After about 15 minutes, add raisins.

4. Combine meat and tomato mixes. Add pine nuts.

5. Fry eggplant slices in oil until just golden (don't over fry). Heat oven to medium-high heat (200 C)

6.In a baking dish, arrange eggplant slices at the bottom making one layer. Pour half of tomato/meat sauce over layer of eggplant. Then add another layer of fried eggplant.

7. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add flour stirring constantly for 15 seconds.

8. Add milk and whisk frequently until sauce is smooth. Add salt and white pepper. Bring to boil (3-4 minutes). Take off heat. Pour béchamel slowly over layers in the dish.

9. Place in oven and leave to cook for 30-40 minutes. Serve immediately.

Saturday Night

Saturday night Zuzu went to bed at 10:30 slept till 2:30am in her crib. Then she ate and went back to sleep in her crib till 8:30.

We had a nice weekend starting Ramadan at baba's sister's house. She sent us home with good food for me. Sunday we took Zuzu shopping of course she did not cry one bit and we all took a nap together in the afternoon.

I think as time passes I love her more.

Today the diapers (from 1800diapers) and the nursing tops (from Glamourmom) came. Now we should all be happy for a few weeks :)

Blah

Today was just blah. Baba was being a pain this morning, but Zuzu was a good girl like always :)
I feel like I am getting a little dehydrated again and I am really craving chocolate. I haven't had any chocolate since Sunday which has got to be a new record for me. :)

Part of me wants to go back to work but the other part of me knows I am not ready to yet for the sake of Zuzu and everyone's sanity. Thank goodness some other moms I know will be able to hang out soon.

Zuzu likes her Crib

Last night Zuzu would not snuggle with me and go so sleep. She was all over the place and unhappy. We were up till 2am. Then I decided to just feed her and put her in her crib to sleep. (She has been sleeping in there the first shift of the night and for all of her naps now.) Zuzu fell right to sleep and did not wake up until 6am (her usual feeding time). I tried again after that to have her sleep with me in the bed to no avail. She went back to sleep in her crib again. Finally at 8am baba snuggled with her in bed and she went to sleep till 10am but she had her own space since baba had already got out of bed for the day.

Little Zuzu is really growing up fast. She will be 12 weeks tomorrow and already she is asking for her own space to sleep. I think we better get a 2 bedroom place soon before she asks for her own room :)

We have found a diaper

So after trying Pampers, cloth diaper (service), Target Brand, and Tushies, we have a winner. 7th Generation Diapers! I bought a pack from Whole Foods yesterday and showed baba, he loved them. No bleach, chorine, or perfumes. They are thin like Pampers but have better velcro like stretchy closures and no cartoons. In sizing they run a little small, like Target diapers. Not to mention at 1800diapers.com they are only 1 cent more a diaper then Pamper Swaddlers. I am so excited to find a diaper we all like and that isn't that expensive.

7th Generation Diapers rock! I think I will have to try their wipes next :)

Our weekend

This weekend Zuzu tried to say her first sentence using different consonants. I wish I could understand what she is saying. She still mostly does a lot ooooo's and aaaaa's.

Mama and baba had their first night together since having Zuzu. I think I tore a little bit because it hurts a little like when I came home from the hospital and I had a tiny bit of bleeding. Yes, it did hurt at the beginning but after that I enjoyed myself. (Until we were finished and I realized it hurt there.)

We also went to Bare Esentuals today and I bought make-up. All of my make-up is 2-5 years old and I needed a new look so I can start to feel better about myself again. Now if only I can loose the rest of that baby weight I will be SOOOO happy.

Nursing bras and tanks

Things I have bought and what I think about them.

Target Bra- okay, but a regular bra works just as well.

Target Tank- okay, decent for the money. The openings are huge, no pad holder, easy to open and close with one hand.

Bravado nursing bra- good coverage and decent support, snap closures are sometimes a challenge with one hand, no pad holder.

Glamourmom nursing bra tank (maternity)- maternity is longer so it is good for covering a post partum belly, perfect size openings, holds nursing pads, hard to close with one hand, straps are made of regular material (non elastic)

Glamourmom nursing bra top- perfect size openings, holds nursing pads, easy to close with one hand.

My experience: When it comes to bras my regular cotton Victoria Secrets work just as well and better than the other nursing bras I have tried. Not to mention if offers better support.
When nursing in public I love Glamourmom nursing bra top. I can wear a button down top over it or take a small blanket and be very discreet. The ability to easily open and close the top is essential when you have a squirming baby in one hand.

I am off to buy 3 more nursing tops from Glamourmom. If you think they might be a good fit for your lifestyle they can be found at www.glamourmom.com If you want to be kind and help me get a free one you can enter this code at checkout: AMSH90 if you don't want to use the code that's cool too.

If you have tried something else that works better leave a comment and tell us about it.

Trust??

Zuzu is still not going to sleep at night like she used too. Last night was a little better because we were sleeping by 11pm.

Baba thinks it may be because she has a hard time trusting us after Monday. Watching her actions, he may be right. At night she is afraid to go to sleep. Every time she catches herself falling asleep she wakes herself up. She did this at least 10 times last night.

I have also spent some time researching shots. In general, I have always been a minimalist especially when it comes to medicine/drugs. I guess it helps that I have always been a pretty healthy person too.

I have decided that Zuzu will now only be getting the shots she needs now. Hep B will wait until she is older. She will just be getting what she needs to protect her from those virus that are common in Egypt since we are frequent travelers there.

Marrige after Zuzu

Baba and I use to have a great relationship....and we still do but....
Zuzu co-sleeps and baba works really late. He comes home and works some more from home and/or spends some time with Zuzu. Then I am exhausted and go to bed at 11pm and baba comes shortly after.

I am starting to get sad because all I get is a kiss a day from baba. Nothing else. I miss the "else" and I am sure baba does too. I miss being held close and kisses more than once a day. I miss my lovin'. It doesn't help that I feel fat and don't have time for a shower on most days. I don't exactly feel sexy with leaky boobs, stinky pits, and stretch marks all over my belly.

It doesn't help that Zuzu was miserable tonight again. It is not like her at all. I don't think she will be getting anymore shots until she is a lot older if it is going to make her so upset. Also my brother has not been heard from in over 24 hours which makes us all a little nervous. I guess I just have a lot of reasons to be sad tonight and being tired doesn't help either.

No sleep for Zuzu

Zuzu decided she was going to stay up last night. She normally falls asleep around 9/10ish. Last night she was wide awake and nothing was working to make her fall asleep. Baba and I took turns trying. Finally I fed her again at 12 am and she fell asleep after eating for about 20 minutes.

Today she woke up at 7am ate and slept till 9:30. Then I fed her again at 10:30 and she is sleeping again. I don't mind her sleeping this much during the day, I think she is trying to make up for last night, but I really hope she sleeps better (earlier) tonight.

I am also happy that one of my friends had her baby, and it was a girl. We have mommy/baby get to gathers and poor Zuzu was being out numbered by the boys 4:1.

Pampers "Natural" Wipes

It's a lie. Tried them on Zuzu within 1 hour she had a rash. I think I'll stick with Tushies brand wipes and making them myself. I really am starting not to like pampers at all.

To make your own wipes:
-1/2 roll of paper towels (I fold accordion style and cut into thirds)
- container (anything that seals shut or an old wipes case)
- 1/2 bottle of water (or 8oz of boiled water)
- 1 table spoon of baby oil (Burt's Bees is what I use)
- 1 table spoon of no-rinse baby soap (Mustela PhysiObebe)

Combine water, oil, and soap. Put 1/3 of the paper towels in container and pour 1/3 of the solution on them. Then put in another 1/3 of the towels........etc.

We made it through the night

My brother is still hanging in there. I BS-ed with him a bit this morning to lighten things up.

Zuzu is back to her old ways today. Last night she had some milk, then medicine, then threw-up about 3 oz of milk. Thank god we have a leather couch. I do have to wash her boppy pillow cover now, but she is doing well. She slept normally during the night. I am very proud of her for being so brave yesterday.

Zuzu's first shots

We just got back from her first round of shots. Baba held Zuzu. She got two in each thigh. It was so hard watching her get four shots. I wanted to cry with her. I think I am traumatized now. :(

Zuzu is now sleeping soundly on my lap after eating and taking some Tylenol. It seem as if she is either sleeping or crying. Six hours later her tempature is 99.5 F. Dr. says to call if it gets above 100.6 F.

In other news:
My brother is in Iraq with appendicitis and we are all hoping and praying they get him to Germany to take care of him. He officially leaves Iraq in 2 days, but we are afraid the paramedics at his truck stop of a base are not the best people to deal with him right now.

Baba woke up :)

We got out this afternoon and did some shopping. We were just going to look into new Verizon cell phones (since our contract has ended), but nothing new as usual.

So we went to Toys R Us. Zuzu needed a few Pjs in the 6-9m size so she has something when she outgrows her current clothes. The cutest part was baba (carrying Zuzu in the Ergo carrier) wandering off looking at clothes for Zuzu. About 3 different times he brought back cute girl clothes to show me and ask if we could buy it for Zuzu. So cute to see baba shopping for his little girl.

We spent $50 and got 2 Pjs, 4 long sleeve oneies, and 2 pairs of jeans. Now I just hope the larger sizes will get her threw the winter. Zuzu now weights 12.6 lbs.

Poor Baba

Yesterday we went to my parents because my mom's 49th birthday is today. Zuzu spent 2 hours each way in the car with us and she did a great job.

Baba came home and had to work. Some one (Rack Space) messed up and baba was up till 2:30am dealing with their drama. Now his day is ruined because he needs his sleep and that is less time he gets to spend with Zuzu.

Any start-ups need a great system admin/software engineer in the bay area? :)

Put your crib bumpers back on.

This just in....
Researchers just discovered that it is a genetic mutation that increases the risk of SIDS.

Ever notice if you are a truly responsible parent you can ignore half of the warnings and even recalls. My favorite was a recall not to long ago of a walker. They recalled it because it did not stop on its own at the top of stairs. DUH! Watch your kid like a hawk or put up a gate if they are up stairs in a house.

I know as moms sometimes we don't think straight or life is too crazy but some common sense sure does go a long way.

"The Happiest Baby on the Block"

So I had a mom to be asked me what this book is about because she was not happy with her infant care class from Kaiser, so here are the basics.

There really is no such thing as colic it is just that babies needs are not meet early on (in the first 3 months of life...AKA the fourth trimester). In this book it talks about 5 S's how to do them and put them together for a happy baby. S's are swaddling, swinging (movement), Shushing, suckling, and side (or stomach). I think that if you read the book and discuss key points with your husband this is effective (just as effective as the DVD) because you will be setting the examples and doing most of the child care anyway. This is what I did and it worked great.
Not to mention the book is only $6.99 vs. the DVD is $15 :)

This book and my Ergo carrier were the best baby investments for me.

Cooking with Zuzu

Zuzu slept less than 2 hours yesterday, so for some reason I thought she would sleep more today. I was wrong.

We started our day with a trip to the elementary school I use to teach 2nd grade at. Everyone was excited to see Zuzu and commented on how much hair she has. (She is 10 weeks today.)

After we got home, I started making dinner. The recipe normally takes about an hour, but with Ms. Zuzu wanting to be rocked to sleep every 10 minutes screaming her head off, it took closer to three hours.

Note to self: No more real cooking for a while.

Update:
I made a lot of food tonight...

my local moms club has a mom that requested food for tomorrow night and that it not be spicy...
I slaved away...now it is too spicy...I put too much pepper in it....so now I am just going to get the other lady something from whole foods as the organizer suggested....I am just bummed about it though :(

It is 8:30pm and baba is STILL working….not the best day.

Baba's New Toy

On Saturday baba bought himsef a new toy. A KLR 650. I thought I was okay with it since I grew up on a motorcycle, but that all changed when he rode it home.

Baba has never been a good driver here in the US (but an excellent driver in Egypt). He has about 5 tickets in 5 years, likes to drive by brel often, and just doesn't pay attention in general. His thoughts are..."driving here is too easy." Yeah, he makes me laugh too.

All I can say is thank god the speed limit is 40mph all the way to his work. Now the big question, When do Zuzu and I get our new toy? :)

We are going "home"

I just booked the tickets for March. We will be going home to visit baba's family and friends. I am very excited. I miss my loved ones and hope they will all enjoy Zuzu's smiles. The one thing I don't look foward to, smog. Makes L.A. look like nothing.

Zuzu Busts a Gut

Yesterday while baba was getting Zuzu in her car seat so we could go to Costco he was making faces at her to keep her happy. All of a sudden I hear this great laugh (the kind of hysterical laugh an older baby makes.) I look over and Zuzu is laughing so hard and making so much noise. I tried to grab the video camera to get it but I was too slow. I am sure there will be plenty of other laughs to catch on video, but the first one would have been golden.

Over the weekend we found out that Zuzu does not react well to polyester. Disappointing considering my mom bought her 5-6 sleepers and a small pile of clothes that she will never wear.

The Tushies Diapers: They leaked just like the rest of them, but on a good note they keep Zuzu's butt rash free. Baba is disappointed that there are not more chemical and gel free diapers on the market. I totally agree with him.

Tushies (Diapers)

I got my Tushies Diaper order from Amazon yesterday. The diapers are bigger and thicker than your regular disposables and the closure is closer to tape. They very much remind me of the old school disposables that were made in the early 80s. There are 30 in a pack.

When you get them and before you plan to use them it is best to unfold a few. You have to be careful when unfolding them otherwise you might rip the diaper liner a little bit (but this does not affect use.)

I ordered the medium for Zuzu. They say on the package 12- 24lbs. I figured since she poops out everything and she does weigh 12 lbs the mediums would probably work the best...even though I heard they run big.

So far I like them. They are cotton, gel, dye, and perfume free. I have also heard that babies who wear them also get fewer diaper rashes. Zuzu did the biggest bowel movement to date this morning (completely filled the diaper) and just a little tiny bit leaked out the side. I hope they continue to work. I can easily afford the extra 2 cents a diaper if they keep her butt healthy and poop off of her clothes.