A Cop Story

This past Friday, I was on my way to a friend's house for a committee lunch. This committee is not for planning something; it's more or less a way to get out of the house for a while and also a way to save some money. The idea is that all the people in this committee put up $100 every month and then whoever ends up getting that money (via a drawing or whatever), hold a luncheon at her house. So if there are 10 women in the committee, they get together once a month for 10 months until every woman had had a turn. At the end of that time, each woman will have essentially saved up $1000.

So anyways, that's where I was going on Friday. I had never been to this friend's house, but I trusted Mapquest would get me there. Well, not quite. I got to the end and I realized that my directions did not tell me which way to turn after taking my last exit. So I turned right and kept going. I soon realized that I was probably going the wrong way but I wanted to make sure. So I called her. I had turned right at a light onto a dead end street and I was turning around while I was on the phone, when lo and behold, I see that a policeman sitting in his car had seen me on the phone while behind the wheel. So he pulls up next to me and rolls down his window. By this time, I had hung up with my friend, (while she was still talking, I might add!), and waited for what this cop would say to me. So he's like, "That's $105." And I'm like, "Excuse me?" He repeated it, adding that that was the amount of the ticket for being on the phone while driving. My bewildered mind thought that he was asking for the money right now. I quickly apologized and told him the truth, that I was lost and I was getting directions. Looking back, I am so GLAD and LUCKY that I didn't pull out my wallet; he might have thought that I was trying to bribe him or something!

Anyways, before we got any further, he glanced in the backseat where the kids were and proceeded to tell me what was wrong with the way they were in their car seats! On Zahra's seat, I had left the car seat carrier bar up and Fazal's shoulder straps were not posititoned correctly. He made me get out and fix that and then he got out of his car and started looking at how the seats were installed. By this time, I was over an hour late for the lunch, but I didn't care. All I cared was cooperating with this cop so that I wouldn't get a ticket! Anyways, he ended up taking both seats out and reinstalling them correctly, telling me horror stories about children being in car accidents while sitting in car seats that were not properly installed. He ended up being really nice and gave me credit for having the child safety lock on the car doors.


Here are some guidelines that he gave me:

-In an infant car seat that doubles as a carrier, the bar should always be down (I think I knew that but I didn't follow through with it; I'll spare you the details of what MIGHT happen if left up)
-There should be a fist's width of space between the passenger seat and the car seat
-The shoulder straps for an infant should come from below the baby's shoulder
-If you use the LATCH system to secure the seat's, put all your weight on the seat while installing the seat and pulling the belt
-For a front-facing car seat, the shoulder straps should come from above the child's shoulders and the front clip should be at chest level
-The car seat should not move more than an inch around any which way


Whew!! I think that was all. He was nice enough to ask me if I had the time so that he could install them right. Well, of COURSE, for my children's safety, I have all the time in the WORLD!
These two are my everything!



I was more than happy to get out of the car and take time to listen to him and have hims install the seats right. I really think that
having a car seat installed correctly is very

complicated. Not all parents, even the very
careful ones, take the time to make sure that the seats are installed correctly. No parents wants to think about the "what-ifs"


But as parents, we must be prepared to take every step possible to safeguard our kids. I know that hospitals will not release you and your new baby unless you have a car seat. But I am not sure how many make sure that the seat is installed right. Just like car inspections are required by law, perhaps child seats should have the same kind of law. You should be required by law to have your car seat checked, because I am sure that in a lot of car accidents, the extent of injuries and even fatalities could have been prevented by proper installation.

In the end, the officer was extremely nice (he introduced himself but I forgot his name!) He didn't give me a ticket and helped me with the directions. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. He made sure that those seats were really secure and tight. He may have saved their lives. At least, now I have learned my lesson to be even more diligent in these types of things and be more careful. My little munchkins deserve that...and so do yours!

Potty Training, Treasure Box Jewelry, Etsy, and Winter

Yipeee!! OK first off, Fazal is doing really well with his potty training! This is actually a second attempt; we started this adventure back in August, just before he turned 3. It was NOT working at all, so back in diapers he went. A lot of people that I talked to told me to wait until he is 3, or even 3 and half. Waiting until then allows them to get better at control and all that. I was a little skeptical and very sick of changing diapers. But wait I did and now we started 4 days ago and he is really getting it. I am so happy and relieved...and yet again, amazed at this journey we call parenthood!


On to my beloved Treasure Box Jewelry. The story of how it started begins with Twlight. Just before the movie released, I got pulled into reading the books and seeing what all the hype was about. Well, at first I was like, why do people think this is amazing literature. Then I reminded myself of the demographic that it was aimed at. Even then, it's not great writing. But the plot and basis for the saga pulled me in and it worked its magic on me. So I was online one day and I was just wasting time and I came upon a link for Twilight-inspired jewelry. It led me here. Amazing jewelry and then on to amazing Etsy. I totally fell head over heels and I imagined that I could do the same. So I did and that is where Treasure Box Jewelry was born. Lisa , the author of the Little Lovables blog, has been amazing throughout the entire process, giving me tips and sending me goodies in the mail. I am forever grateful! So I am now a jewelry designer and I absolutely adore it. I am in the process of ordering busniess cards and seeing if I can get either wholesale or consignment orders, aside from my Etsy shop. I am always adding more pieces. Here is one of my latest:

Dragon Charms Optical Lens Necklace

And another piece, my Twilight inspired Bella Charm bracelet

I have lots more in my shop, and I try to list new items every few days. So be sure to check it out!

Thank goodness I have this jewelry venture to keep me busy this winter. I have come to the realization that I truly detest winter. The cold and the wind and the having to bundle up like the yeti to go out and get the mail. Also, the hassle is multiplied when you have young kids. TRying to wrestle them into fat puffy coats and then strap them into car seats...exhausting and frustrating! But most of all, it's the cold that seeps into my bones...it makes me feel feel like 92 instead of 29. Oklahoma had winters too, but New Jersey winters are different. I am just waiting for it to be over. Can't wait for t-shirts and flip-flops! I may make some cute anklets to celebrate!

Paci War Won!

So Fazal has finally stopped taking his pacifier. It only took a trip back home to my parents' house in Tulsa for him to stop. My mom, somehow, magically, convinced him that he is now a big boy and that he doesn't need it. It took a few days, but he finally went the whole night without it. I was afraid that once we got back to NJ, he would want it but though he mentioned it a few times, he never actually came out and asked for it. Here he is, a big boy on his aunt's laptop!






Now, on to potty training!

The Paci Wars

Oh my goodness gracious! Well, here I am again...at least it hasn't been quite a year yet since my last post. I think I may be getting better at this. Well, no matter. I write this for myself and, in my defense, it is hard to find the time to sit and blog while I have these 2 running around. So anyways, all is good at our house. Fazal and Zahra and I have settled into a comfortable routine that definately has its moments of utter chaos. The latest is getting Fazal, who turned 3 this past August, to give up his beloved pacifier. He calls it his "patha"...don't ask me where he got that name, I have no clue! I know I am going about it the wrong way. Let me tell you, it's been a struggle and it's still going on! My father-in-law is a dentist so he is always worried about Fazal and his need to, at the very least, go to sleep with his patha. But his doctor was lways like well, as long as he gives it up by the time he is 3, it should be fine. Well, he's 3 and it is most definately NOT fine!

I started to wean him off a few months ago. I didn't want to start right after Zahra was born for the obvious reasons. So we talked to him about him being a big boy and only needing it for sleeping time, not during the day. He seemed to understand that pretty well and was actually really good about it. Then came a few days where he wanted it again during the day and I would always distract him. One day, I came home after running errands. Nasir was with the kids and it had been a particularly long day and what do I come home to? Fazal is running around with his patha in his mouth! Back to square one, so to speak. I glared at Nasir, knowing that he gave in, and proceeded to gather up all the pathas and took them into the kitchen and cut off the fronts. I showed them to Fazal and told him that they were broken and he couldn't use them anymore. Well, of course, he started to bawl. Of course, I realized what I did was horrible! He loves his patha and he didn't want to see them broken! So I began the whole "big boy" speech thing again and supporting and encouraging and only giving it to him when he went to sleep. He was okay for a couple of weeks, and again, he has started to ask for it again. But this time, the demands are accompanied by lovely temper tantrums involving screaming and flailing about. Even now, as I am am typing away he's at my shoulder, begging me for his patha fix! What's a mother to do? But I am resolved to be strong and get him through it, because I have realized that this is about him, not me. He has spent his whole life thus far with his beloved patha. Of course he needs time and patience on my part to get used to a life without it.

But that doesn't make it any less annoying!

Back to Blogging

Ok well, here I am again. I must be the worst blogger in the world. But to be fair, I did just have another baby. Yes, Nasir and I are now the proud parents of our baby girl! Zahra Noor was born on September 15, 2007, so she is now 4 and half months old. I have visited some of the blogs that I used to read, so I have yet again been bitten by the blogging bug. I am sure there are millions of people who are clamoring to see what I have written ;) But seriously, even if there are only a few people who do take the time to read this, I think I just like doing this for myself. I could describe myself as one of those old-fashioned girls who still wishes that people wrote letters to friends and reltives instead of sending an email, however efficient it may be. Don't get me wrong. Technology is great and email and all that is fun and fast. But there is just something so wonderfully romantic about sitting down with a cup of tea and some beautiful stationary and writing letters. I am so glad that Nasir and I wrote letter, not emails, to each other during our engagement. Even though I was in Oklahoma and he was in Pakistan, we wrote letters. Of course, computers over there had not become that common as they are today (we're talking about late 1990s here). So now I have this bundle of our old letters all tied up with a ribbon. I can't imagine doing that with email. I might have printed them out and then tied them up...but somehow it's not the same thing.

So, now dear readers, I have now finished with my musings for right now. I have some serious tending I need to do to my blog. And of course, I have forgotten the slight amount of HTML that I had taught myself so I will have to brush up on that so that I can update everything. So please, stay tuned!

Queen of Procrastination

OK well I am officially the Queen of Procrastination....all bow to the Queen! I have neglected my blog so bad that they are sending Social Services out to my house. It's just that being a new mother is so much more time-consuming that I thought and in the words of my husband: "You only have ONE right now!" Ummm, I think I can count. But seriously, it is crazy. Everytime I get a routine down, something happens that changes it. Fazal is either cutting a new tooth or he doesn't want to sleep at night. It's always something. So you could say that I am only procratinating only when it comes to me because Fazal is doing great! Recently, I signed on to Facebook and MySpace and then I remembered this poor blog of mine. And everytime I get somewhat decent at HTML, I stop blogging and then I forget what I have learned and I have to start all over again! But I am going to do justice here and give my very first blog it due attention. And then hopefully, someone else will get my crown.

Initiation into BabyLand!

Hi everyone!! Well my last update was around the time when my baby was due. He was born on August 27th and he is already 6 months old!! We named him Fazal, which means God's blessing. So far everything has been so wonderful with him and we have a great routine set. I can't take all the credit for that; I think he was just born that was because he sleeps and wakes at the same times every day.....AND he sleeps through the night **gasp**!!! But seriously, I got really lucky with him and I think I see him as more precious because I had to suffer losing 2 pregnancies before finally having him. He is at a great stage right now, just starting to sit up and roll all around but he still needs me...but that will probably change in a few more months as we go to crawling and then walking. He has started solid foods now, actually for a couple of months now, and now he wants to feed himself. He of course lacks the motor skills to do so, but that sure doesn't stop him from trying!!!! All in all, it truly is a life-changing experience (excuse the sap here), and I can't even begin to imagine my life without this 15 pound love of my life!! Right now he is sleeping, so I thought I should probably get some things around the house, but my blog has been seriously neglected, so I figured I'd take a few minutes to give it some much needed TLC. Stya tuned for some more updates coming soon.....and I promise this time, it will be soon as in a couple of days, not a few months!! Ciao!