Best of Alizehmysoul 2017-Hi5!! It’s time for Best 5!!

Its been around 6 months of active blogging and I had a wonderful journey in penning down my thoughts. This 2017 is a learning year for me. I have grown with my baby step by step and now we as a family are welcoming 2018. These 6 months with my blogging as a hobby I have gained wonderful followers and I do get encouragement to work on more on my niche. I just thought would you guys like to know the best of my work. Here I am linking up with some of the Best posts of ALIZEHMYSOUL.

1. Baby Alizeh’s Role in the Environment:

The best one of Alizehmysoul was the post where I wrote about Baby Alizeh’s role in the environment. Here we have discussed about the usage of Cloth diapers and nappies and how she made me to switch to the menstrual cup. We even have discussed about the food grade silicone teethers and why is it eco-friendly.Literally how my daughter is contributing towards the environment to make the place clean and healthy for the generations to come. This article was shared a few times then and I had people write to me to tell me how much it had helped them to realize how can we contribute towards the benefit of the world.

2. Attitude or Gratitude- A Simple note to Parents:

   This post was also written on June 2017. I wrote this because a thought struck on me. “Will babyA think about the efforts I put on her growth?” Will she be thinking about me once she finds her responsibilities? Then a mind voice asked me the same questions! I have combined the things which I did earlier and planned stuffs for the future in this space. It too had a good reach and was happy that I was accepted as a blogger!! To know more about it have a look at here!

3.20th Century Vs 21st Century moms:

This post was written on July in the view of a bloggers marathon and it had a good reach! Many agreed my views on why I supported 21st Century moms are better. 21st century results  are outcome based whereas 20th century is time based. To know what are the evidences I have given please do check my space.

4. Why and How should I register a carseat?:

        This post was a sponsored post but still very important. Here I have discussed about the importance of registering the carseat and the steps to register the carseat. To know more about it please do check out here.

5. Peek-a-P[boo]:

       This is a memorable post and when I wrote about it I got weird look from my husband but now based on the reach we both are laughing out. Can you imagine an article with poops and poops! Here you get an adventure of poop and stages. Few mommies said they were able to rewind how their mommy dates were full of poop talks and the blowouts. To experience the wonders of poop please do click here!!

You can visit the most popular posts by other Muslimah Bloggers below. Each blogger has chosen their five most popular post from 2017. These are the best of the best posts from around the web!

 

JeddahMom

The Imperfect Muslimah

The Lady of the House

By Shahira

Alizehmysoul

Multicultural Motherhood

Umm Afraz Muhammed Blog

A Crafty Arab

Ilma Education

MyBlessedNest

Ilm Student Central

Mommy’s Next Step

AfreensKitchen

 

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Jacket in a BabyCARSEAT? Yes or No

As winters are approaching I wanted to keep my baby warm but at the same time had to  check if she is safe and comfortable with the jackets ON in the carseat. I had to check on this because whenever babyA is in carseat with her jackets ON she used to cry her lungs out and will be in peace if she is out from the jacket. But I had no option to keep her warm. So ended up researching and was shocked to learn that kids shouldn’t be with the Jackets in a carseat. Even the adults shouldn’t be with their jackets within the seat belt.

Now lets see why is it unsafe?

In a crash, the maximum protection for a child  can be given only when the harness or seat belt is near the child. So its like the more close it is the more safe the baby is! The loose harness can fit the heavy coat but during a crash it won’t serve the purpose and the baby may even eject from the carseat. The principle is same for everyone so please donot use puffed jackets in your vehicle with the seatbelt mode ON.

How to check why is it unsafe?

1. Put the coat on and make your baby sit in the carseat and buckle the seat.

2.Tighten the harness to remove the slack.

3.Unbuckle the seat without loosing the harness.

4. Remove the coat and make the baby sit again.

Image and knowledge sharing @thecarseatlady

Now you can check yourself the gap between the child and harness. This empty air will harm the kid and it doesn’t allow us to fulfill the purpose of using a baby carseat.

So our next question lies to what will be the scenario if we are using layering technique. Will that not harm then?

It will require a little harness adjustment unlike the puffy winter jackets. The layering technique will compress the air whereas the puffy jackets have uncompressed air. So there lays an issue. The slack can checked with the help of Pinch test.

The baby doesn’t feel cold actually. This is what i have learnt from babyA and that too within a car i don’t think so they would need the puffy jackets. If at all if you feel you need an option to cover them you can cover them with a baby blanket and a hat. This has helped us till now. You can even get the Cozywoggle and Poncho which are suitable for the carseat  where it doesn’t affect the harness. I started to research on this when a mommy friend of mine suggested to get a cozzgwoggle.

In fact there are many ways to use the car seat during winter. As a person who has moved recently from India, i felt spending dollars just for a cozzywoggle which she might outgrow soon wasn’t my take so i ended up using a blanket. There is no best option we will have to choose which is best for us. And I understood one point my baby is safe if i don’t introduce extra slack under the harness with almighty’s grace. Parenting is a never-ending learning process. I have learnt this part only through my daughter. Just because she cried I had to learn about the various options for warm and safe travel. She is my teacher, my guide right now. She has done her part to make me understand the safety measures and i have done my part to share with you guys! So what’s your take on this?

Some Crazy Reasons for the love of Babywearing

Anyone who  knows me in person will know that I am an advocate of babywearing and cloth diapering. If you are babywearing we can do the household tasks and few tasks without worrying about it as your hands would be free. It’s also said by wearing your baby he/she is close to you so the bonding develops more and more. Here I am coming up with few crazy reasons of babywearing

1. I can eat biryani in a wedding feast
You know muslim Biryani’s are always tasty and that too wedding feast yummy. With a baby in a carrier  was and still I am able to relish each and everything with joy without the fear of disturbing her and I had developed the art of eating without spilling over  her.

2. So I can go shopping carefree
I am a person who hates shopping and now being a mom I have to shop where I am left with no choice. So when I go for shopping babyA will be on me and I would be able to analyse and check racks and racks and find the stuff on the list.

3. So I can speak with babyA
I love to speak a lot with babyA and we speak about birds, trees, prices of each and every stuff if we are in the shop, if we are out we speak about the cars, clouds, rain, and what not and no one can mistake me that I’m speaking alone

4. I can use escalator
I have a fear that I might  drop babyA down while using the escalator. If I babywear her I have a courage to use the escalator and enjoy the happy moments with her.
These were the few crazy reasons I have/had during babywearing. Please do share yours with me.

Book Review 2: The Blessed Bananas

Author: Tayyaba Syed

Illustrated by Melani Putri

Series: A Muslim Fable

Publisher: Prolance

What the Book Says:

            Everyone in the village knows that they shouldn’t enter the old monkey Rico’s zone or touch his precious bananas. If at all Rico sees someone near him he becomes cranky and overprotective of his zone. However, after some unwanted encounters like the entry of Chico the mouse, tucana the bird, and Simon the Elephant  Rico learns a life-changing lesson. The author has introduced the Islamic principles slowly like how to be patient and how to pray when we are in trouble and when to thank almighty in a clear manner. She has also told in a playful way the importance of being generous. With the characters involved we are able to know how giving is truly receiving. She has made us understand that generosity and kindness is the main quality of a true Believer of Islam.

What I love about:

• Lovely illustration [Simple words and introduction of characters in a wonderful manner as well as enjoyable way]
• It is a great base for the kids to know about basic principles to be a perfect human.
• I love how she has slowly introduced each and every character and how the concepts have been introduced.
• How she has asked the readers to maintain patience and to pray when in distress.

Approximate age: 2 years and up

BabyA loved the illustrations a lot and she was able to understand few concepts al hamdulilah. In shaa allah a good book to introduce the concepts of kindness, praying and being true and generous.

This book can be purchased at www.prolancewriting.com

Disclaimer: This book in the form of e-book was sent to me in exchange of honest reviews. The review is purely based on my experience and not a proven one. All the opinion are my own.

Baby-A Turns ONE

While thinking about these beautiful words “Baby A turns One” a mixed feeling comes within me joy, tears, how the time flies?, etc. It’s really amazing to feel that I am a mommy of an 1 year old now. My baby is no more a tiny squish who is pink in colour. Missing those newborn moments of course. This One year had too much to handle like so many hugs, kisses, cuddles, maturity, patience, anger what not? This one year not only alizeh has grown up but also we the family members. Happy birthday to all of us!!

                As baby A turns ONE the first and foremost thing which comes in mind is “THE FIRST BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS”.I can hear you guys what will a 1 year old girl understand about the celebrations? Even I thought about it a lot but she really understands something special is going to happen and was excited just like her mumma and papa. It’s more of a celebration for a family that they have crossed 1 year of parenting, risks, joy, happiness etc. As you guys know that we have recently moved to Denver we really missed the family back in India and had oscillations whether to celebrate or not to celebrate but with our family’s encouragement madeup our minds to celebrate the birthday. As we are here wanted to celebrate simple as we really didn’t want to leave the family unattended. So the planning started a month back. My mind was working on possible decorations, what should her attires be? What accessories should baby A wear? Will she cooperate with the head band or will she throw it??  And the big day was nearing and I had to do lot of planning. As a new mommy who is new to DIY and arranging a big event for the first time felt my jotting down would help other fellow mommies to plan a DIY Birthday Party.

Planning for a Date, Time and Venue:

                Being a Long weekend, we didn’t want to plan for a weekend as we didn’t want to collapse others plans and We wanted to happen it on the same day so fixed the party to be on her Birthday 29^th June. We wanted to be in sync with the families in India [her grandparents] so fixed a time based on that so it happened to be 7.30 to 10 p.m. and the venue we booked a community club in a neighbourhood as we didn’t want to pack the house with people and make babyA to panic. This clubhouse had a hall attached to pool so if at all babyA cries we could move to the pool to calm her down. This was our plan and everything went as per the plan.

Theme

I was too specific on a theme but since we didn’t give her screentime till now she wouldn’t know about the cartoon characters and she won’t be able to relate that. And I too can’t decorate the hall with the theme so for easy job took a simple colors theme. Fixed purple as her dress was purple and ended up adding small inclusions which would complement the colour purple. And we didn’t want to trouble the guests by asking them to dress based on the theme so it was colour themed party.

With the theme in mind my lovable sister designed the party invite and once approved it was circulated to the guests. If you are really impressed and if you would like to get one made for you I would recommend you guyz to my sister to make one for you.

 

Guest List

                One fine day we happened to sit and jot down the tentative guest list mostly it was new friends who are close to our family right now as you guyz pretty well know that we moved recently to Denver and online guests[her grandparents and aunts] Mainly based on the availability of the day we finalised closed circle of friends to make the event more memorable one.

Budget

                Once the guest list is finalised we made an approximate budget which is the duty of babyA’s dad as I am a shocker in nature. Still didn’t come out of the Indian scenario and still keeps on calculating and converting the currencies so strictly moved out of this and BabyA’s dad made a perfect budget and planned accordingly. It included our catering, DIY decorations, Cake, travel, etc.

Decoration

                As the clubhouse was little bit of grand in nature didn’t want to decorate more to spoil its beauty. But as I wanted to do something for my daughter I made it a point to work on this. Made a centrepiece with blocks and it rocked the décor. My sisy helped me in giving the embossing effect on the letters and faru helped in wrapping the boxes with wonderful gift wrappers and it is rocking even now. A birth wreath was made with the thin details of babyA and it was placed in the entrance of the hall and it was spoken by all. Then got few readymade swirls from the partycity and hung up them here and there. Made giant flowers with tissues and pompoms and decorated the hall great. All happened only because of the support from my husband and his friend. Made a Chalkboard chart which was incomplete and it rocked :p

CAKE

                A cake is the heroine of the show next to the Heroine of the day. First I planned to bake A cake for her but with time constraint ordered the cake from SAMS CLUB. Planned for a 10.20 theme cake as she was born by 10.20 p.m.; but later changed to the Paris Love cake which rocked the event. Everyone spoke about the beauty which was a three tiered cake where chocolate layer was sandwiched between Vanilla layers. Letters A and E was placed on the top of the cake which was the icing on the Cake’s beauty.

I wanted everyone starting from my family to the guests to be a part of the birthday celebrations. As its her first birthday felt she shouldn’t miss the love of India and her family. So asked the family back in country to write letters for her and messages for her to open up when she reaches an age where she is able to understand how much they love her. Even her apartment friends made a video to wish her on her big day.

Friends Became a part of Family

                There is a saying when we are in a different land friends become family members and it has been experienced by us through my daughter. They all love my daughter a lot and helped us in arranging the event just like their family. Two people volunteered to take the pictures on the birthday. One person took care of collecting the cake. One welcomed the guests and made the rest comfortable till we reached the venue.

                Totally both Faru and I are satisfied to make this as a family event with the limited time we had in our hand to make it grand. Certainly we miss our families but happy that we were able to do live streaming and make it happen. Thanks to almighty to make it happen.

We had few fun entertainment too and we all enjoyed as planned and babyA’s reaction while cutting the cake was priceless. Instead of looking at the cake she looked at the people which made me feel bad for the care she has for the crowd. We were able to relate how she missed people and family back in India. In shaa allah we will meet soon and celebrate grand events in the near future.