Some useful tools for new moms

As a mother of very young kids I remember the struggles I went through when becoming a mom for the very first time.  It seems that no matter how many books I read, how many wonderful pieces of advice I received I still had no idea what to do.  But alhamdulillah, somehow with the help of Allah, you get a hang of it.  And once the second child comes along you feel like a pro.  :)
I wanted to share some really nice and useful tools that helped me out a lot when I finally got a title of a mother.
1. NURSING COVER
This became very useful when I was outside the house (doctor's office, store, mall, mosque, someone else's house) or when I had visitors over.

And here is a video that shows you how to make it yourself

2. NURSING CLOTHES
It is also important to remember that you have to have appropriate clothing when planning on nursing your child.  I love wearing abayas when I am out but they are not exactly nursing friendly.  Here are couple of websites that sell maternity abayas with built-in zipper for nursing!! Very affordable as well

East Essence Maternity

3. CAR SEAT CANOPY

I found it useful when I was at the store or in public and the lights and sounds seemed to bother my kids a lot.  This way they slept better.  They are made of very thin cotton and obviously you can just use a blanket instead.  But these fancy canopies are cute and stay in place better because of the strap that is attached to car seat handle.  

Car Seat Canopy website

And here is the video of how to make it yourself :)

4. POSTPARDUM SUPPORT BELT

I have heard a lot about this invention from my family members who swore by it.  I bought one and found it not that comfortable to wear.  I gave up about a month after but keep hearing all these wonderful stories online and on TV.  They also suggest wearing it after a major surgery (not baby related) so it seems like it is really useful

This is the image of a very old fashioned, cheapest version but they have since updated it drastically.  They now come in different colors, designs and softness.  Its pretty much up to you and how much you want to spend on it.

Belly bandit webiste

These are just some of the items that I can think of right now.  Please share if you have any ideas that could benefit others.

If you are a new mom or going to be one, just remember that it is a very beautiful journey and what makes it so special is that you and your child go through all of the hiccups together.  All the sleepless nights will pass, dirty diapers no more, screaming and fighting..... well that does not end. But subhanAllah, Allah chose you for this important role.  Let's give thanks. 

Organizing your hijabs

Like the rest of the hijabees, I am having a lot of issues with organizing my hijabs.  The problem seems to be the fact that I have way too many scarves that I don't wear anymore or haven't worn in years.  So I decided to take control of the situation and make sure I utilize all of my resources :)
The first step was going through everything and donating, giving away, throwing away the scarves I don't like, need or simply can't wear anymore.  You will be amazed at how many underscarves I had of the same color and some were given as gifts and simply didn't fit me right.  Surprisingly, that reduced my "collection" in half.
Next step was going on Youtube, google, etc and browsing through hundreds of ideas that other muslim girls have.  Here is the list of the solutions that helped me.

This is a tie hanger that you can purchase at IKEA for $9.99 and that works out perfectly for your non-cotton hijabs.  I noticed that if I use cotton ones they wrinkle quite a bit and so you will have to iron your scarf before wearing it.

Also at IKEA you can find these drawer organizers that are very light and can be used for your underscarves or cotton 2 piece hijbabs.  They are $3.99 each and come in different colors and sizes.
I use IKEA as an example because you can find that store in any country, state, etc.  but there are lots of other places that sell similar stuff.
Here are some videos that are very useful as well.

Watching these videos I get a little jealous because even though I organized my hijabs, they never stay that clean and neat..... Oh well.  :)