Alhamdulillah, this is our new daughter, Tahira, born on November 2nd, weighing in at a whopping 9 lbs 10 oz.

Zahra has a new thing:

zahra: “What’s this?”
me: “trash can.”
zahra: “trash can. What’s this?”
me: “ceiling.”
zahra: “ceiling. What’s this?”
me: “chair.”
zahra: “chair. What’s this…”

You get the idea. She could go on for hours, except she invariably gets distracted.

Possibly one month to go, and she’s already 7lbs 9oz….(alhamdulillah, I’m glad I’m a man).

Wife is 9 months…baby is really big….special ultrasound today.

will report any news soon, inshaAllah.

Numbness in arm…shortness of breath…chest tightening…can’t go on describing symptoms…

“You will give me candy.”

Today, at the Zainabia, we had a pot-luck lunch for the Prophet’s Birthday (may Allah bless him and grant him and his family peace). We prayed at the Zainabia and then took all of the food and the kids to the park. The park that we went to is very beautiful. What I did not expect were so many other families to be there. I had forgotten about Easter.

Zahra loved the park. I pushed her on the swing for at least 30 minutes, and she never wanted to stop. Umm Zahra and I had to take turns pushing her. We tried to get her to swing her legs and swing herself, but she was content being the little princess. After she got out of the swing, she ran all over the park from end to end, not caring how far away from us she ran. I had to chase her all over (which she loved). Then, we found a squirrel sitting near us, watching. Zahra wanted to run up and touch it, so I had to hold her.

Some of the other people played soccer, and a lot of the other kids played on the playground. Most of the elders, of course, sat, ate, and talked.

Overall, it was a good outing. The only disappointing thing is that there was no one there to speak about the Prophet. We really need some leadership in this community or someone not too shy to make things happen.

They showed me the building plans for the new Zainabia. It has just about everything. Most impressively, the men and women have equal prayer space, and it is side-by-side (with a partition in the middle). None of that, women locked away in a room or in the basement kinda stuff you see in many masajid. May Allah make the venture a successful one.

I forgot to take pictures of today’s events, so you’ll have to use your imagination.

We’ve had some little visitors lately, and apparently Zahra is terrified of them. Whenever she sees ants, she screams and runs away. She’s not afraid of thunderstorms, the “Were-Rabbit,” or the dark, but ants, they scare her. And I’m not talking about the big black ones, just the tiny brown ones.

They grow up so fast.

This is your baby on sugar…

Any questions?

Umm Zahra is with child. I pray for a successful term and a healthy issue, inshaAllah. Lord knows that it will be quite a journey.

We’ve now had at least 4 days of rain, with flooding. While some despise the rain, I see it as a symbol of growth and life. It is the marvelous beginning to a new season, a new beginning.