I remember sitting in this exact same spot an year ago writing about a recap of the year 2008. I knew I was pregnant then, but was not ready to share that information with the world. Now I have a little one who is my world.
Highlights of the year:
1) Of course you all know the best gift 2009 brought us :) He is upstairs right now sleeping like an angel.
2) I was able to celebrate my birthday this year with both my parents. That was after 10 years and it was great having them here. Also, it was great to show them around a little bit and I love it that they got some time to spend with their grandson and us.
3)We took a babymoon to Hawaii and spent a last "just the two of us" vacation. It was an amazing time despite all the aches and pains.
4)We found some new friends in another church and although we visit that church only occassionally, it is great to connect with them at other times.
5)Although it is not official yet, I am in the brink of a major life change and I am excited about it.
6)We rented a beach home in the Keys and spent a week with my sister and family and had a wonderful time despite some sickness.
It is nearing to be midnight and I want to sign off for now and wish all of you a wonderful year ahead. May God give you all the desires of heart and bless your families.
Happy New Year!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Four months
Dear Neil,
You are four months today! Today your dad and I celebrated 4 years of marriage. One year ago we found out I was pregnant with you. It was the best anniversary gift ever. You are an even 15 pounds. Dr. C says you are growing according to the textbook :) Right now you are suffering from a cold and slight cough and that about kills this mamma's heart. It is so difficult to watch you being sick. I am just loving on you extra to make up for that.
1. You smile and laugh a lot now. Early morning your biggest laughs are enough to light up my entire day.
2. You love playing peek-a-boo. I had dreamt for years of being able to play peek-a-boo with my own baby and it was so sweet to do that.
3. You are improving your vocabulary every day and it is so fun to listen to you. Plus, you have expressions to go with it.
4. Now you don't seem interested in rolling over at all. You had put in a lot more effort last month. Now you just lay on your back and cycle hard. It is okay with me. I don't want you to grow up too fast anyway. I am just savouring each day with you.
5. If I call you sweetheart (or rather sweetheart in my mother tongue) you will smile just at the sound even if you are not looking at me. That is the sweetest.
6. We have a ton of fun with you. Since you are American by birth and me, your dad and grandma are taking care of you all the time, we say you are a Sheikh with three Indian slaves. So we call you Sheikh Agooboo, agooboo being what you say a lot.
7. You attended the Christmas banquet at the chapel and the ladies went ga ga for you. I was not sure if I would be able to get you back. You were being passed around like a parcel. All of them asked me if I was sure I wanted to take you back home :) You had on a bib which said flirt and you totally lived up to that :)
We love you so much and it upsets me to see you being sick or in discomfort. Your first Christmas is tomorrow and I have bought some special things for you. I know you won't remember any of it, but I love making memories with you. I know time is passing by and I won't get back any of these special times with you. Sweetheart, you bring so much joy in my life.
Love,
Mamma
You are four months today! Today your dad and I celebrated 4 years of marriage. One year ago we found out I was pregnant with you. It was the best anniversary gift ever. You are an even 15 pounds. Dr. C says you are growing according to the textbook :) Right now you are suffering from a cold and slight cough and that about kills this mamma's heart. It is so difficult to watch you being sick. I am just loving on you extra to make up for that.
1. You smile and laugh a lot now. Early morning your biggest laughs are enough to light up my entire day.
2. You love playing peek-a-boo. I had dreamt for years of being able to play peek-a-boo with my own baby and it was so sweet to do that.
3. You are improving your vocabulary every day and it is so fun to listen to you. Plus, you have expressions to go with it.
4. Now you don't seem interested in rolling over at all. You had put in a lot more effort last month. Now you just lay on your back and cycle hard. It is okay with me. I don't want you to grow up too fast anyway. I am just savouring each day with you.
5. If I call you sweetheart (or rather sweetheart in my mother tongue) you will smile just at the sound even if you are not looking at me. That is the sweetest.
6. We have a ton of fun with you. Since you are American by birth and me, your dad and grandma are taking care of you all the time, we say you are a Sheikh with three Indian slaves. So we call you Sheikh Agooboo, agooboo being what you say a lot.
7. You attended the Christmas banquet at the chapel and the ladies went ga ga for you. I was not sure if I would be able to get you back. You were being passed around like a parcel. All of them asked me if I was sure I wanted to take you back home :) You had on a bib which said flirt and you totally lived up to that :)
We love you so much and it upsets me to see you being sick or in discomfort. Your first Christmas is tomorrow and I have bought some special things for you. I know you won't remember any of it, but I love making memories with you. I know time is passing by and I won't get back any of these special times with you. Sweetheart, you bring so much joy in my life.
Love,
Mamma
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Three Months
Dear Neil,
You are 3 months old today! Quarter of an year old!! The time is just flying by. You are getting ridiculously cute by the day and your Daddy and I just want to eat you up. You are just surviving by the skin of your teeth, baby.
What are you upto these days?
1. You are growing well, you are at the 50th percentile for your weight and 10th percentile for height. But we are not worried because you are not a white, midwestern, formula fed baby and it is not right to compare you to such babies. You got 3 of your vaccinations and you were such a good boy about it. You only cried a little for the shots.
2. You put your whole fist into the mouth and suck on it while you play by yourself on the mat. It is the cutest thing ever.
3. One day while you were nursing, you stopped right in the middle and looked at me and smiled. You just couldn't stop smiling. And I started crying. I know, it wasn't a fair exchange.
4. You smile a lot more these days. And you have the biggest smiles when I talk to you or when you see me. I am selfishly very pleased about that. It is impossible to get a smiling picture of you though.
5. You and Daddy spent a day together while I took Ammachy to Universal.Daddy has his own games that he plays with you and you two have the best time together.
6. You still sleep sandwiched between us and you nurse throughout the night on and off.
7. You had your first trip to the zoo and first stroller walk this month.
8. You lie on your mat and coo and we talk back to you. A goo goo is what you say mostly. Is that baby talk for More milk please? If then, I am sorry I say a goo goo back to you. It must be very confusing for you. If we talk back in your language you get louder and more animated. It is WAY TOO MUCH FUN.
9. You almost rolled over and with a little help you turned your head. You have been holding up your head during tummy time for a while now, but it was exciting to see the whole thing anyway.
10. I make up the most ridiculous songs for you and when it is just the two of us in the car and you can't see me and start crying, I sing these to you and you calm down. I think you recognize the sound of my voice.
You are so lovable and squooshable and so much fun to be with. Your eyes are beautiful, so expressive and full of wonder. We look at you and wonder how we created someone as cute as you! It is so much fun to see you grow up and see you interact with your world.
I love you.
Mamma
You are 3 months old today! Quarter of an year old!! The time is just flying by. You are getting ridiculously cute by the day and your Daddy and I just want to eat you up. You are just surviving by the skin of your teeth, baby.
What are you upto these days?
1. You are growing well, you are at the 50th percentile for your weight and 10th percentile for height. But we are not worried because you are not a white, midwestern, formula fed baby and it is not right to compare you to such babies. You got 3 of your vaccinations and you were such a good boy about it. You only cried a little for the shots.
2. You put your whole fist into the mouth and suck on it while you play by yourself on the mat. It is the cutest thing ever.
3. One day while you were nursing, you stopped right in the middle and looked at me and smiled. You just couldn't stop smiling. And I started crying. I know, it wasn't a fair exchange.
4. You smile a lot more these days. And you have the biggest smiles when I talk to you or when you see me. I am selfishly very pleased about that. It is impossible to get a smiling picture of you though.
5. You and Daddy spent a day together while I took Ammachy to Universal.Daddy has his own games that he plays with you and you two have the best time together.
6. You still sleep sandwiched between us and you nurse throughout the night on and off.
7. You had your first trip to the zoo and first stroller walk this month.
8. You lie on your mat and coo and we talk back to you. A goo goo is what you say mostly. Is that baby talk for More milk please? If then, I am sorry I say a goo goo back to you. It must be very confusing for you. If we talk back in your language you get louder and more animated. It is WAY TOO MUCH FUN.
9. You almost rolled over and with a little help you turned your head. You have been holding up your head during tummy time for a while now, but it was exciting to see the whole thing anyway.
10. I make up the most ridiculous songs for you and when it is just the two of us in the car and you can't see me and start crying, I sing these to you and you calm down. I think you recognize the sound of my voice.
You are so lovable and squooshable and so much fun to be with. Your eyes are beautiful, so expressive and full of wonder. We look at you and wonder how we created someone as cute as you! It is so much fun to see you grow up and see you interact with your world.
I love you.
Mamma
The weekend
Last Friday, Neil got 3 vaccinations and by God's grace he didn't get fever. He was a good boy throughout and only cried a little while the nurse was giving him the shots. We stayed put at home that evening to give him rest.
Saturday morning hubby and I went to the gym and did a workout for 1 hour. We came back and decided that instead of taking an afternoon nap, we will do some work. We gave baby a bath, put him to sleep in the swing and set to work. Hubby had some work stuff to finish and I set about to reorganize our bedroom closet. I tried on lots and lots of clothes and decided what to keep, what to bag for goodwill and what to pass on to my niece. I got one bag for goodwill, two bags for my niece and was able to finally close the suitcase which was lying open for the last three months.
I was only planning to arrange and close the suitcase and purge the clothes in the hangers. But one thing led to another and I ended up cleaning out the entire closet.
No, I don't have a before picture.
There are some clothes I hold onto for sentimental reasons. These are two which has survived many purges. The red one was the top I wore when I first came to US in 2003. I was all of 87 pounds then and my sister when she saw me said I looked like I came from Somalia. The jeans which I wore with that has since gone to where all good jeans go. Man, I loved those jeans and literally wore it to tatters.
This white top is what I wore for our first wedding anniversary dinner in Greece. It is one of those What-was-I-thinking-when-I-bought-it deals. Seriously, I just barely fit on it then when I was 89 pounds and now when I am... well, never mind.
Moving on.
These are my wedding shoes and I keep it in my closet since I don't wear it everyday or any day for that matter.
Now the shoes and the two tops are residing together in the corner of the closet where the good memories are.
Then, there was a big shopping bag full odds and ends . There were a lot of greeting cards inside and I started going through them. I figured it was a waste of time especially when time is so scarce and I needed to finish tasks soon. Anyway, I started going through those. A lot of them were from hubby for birthdays, anniversaries etc. Then there were a lot of Congratulations cards from our wedding 4 years ago. I was going through all of that occassionally smiling, laughing out loud, tearing up and then suddenly inside a card, guess what I found?
A $50 gift card from Bed, Bath and Beyond.
Yes, from 4 years ago. And it is still valid. I called and checked.
Then I started going through all of the cards once more hoping something else will turn up too. It didn't, but still what a find, huh?
And then in the evening, hubby made batter fried vegetables, so yummy.
We went for a walk in the night after that and did some errands as well.
Sunday morning was the Lord's day and after church we had lunch at Chipotle and went for a walk. On the way back, we stopped at Babies R us to shop for some extra Medela nipples. They had some clothes on clearance and since baby outgrew most of his 3 month clothes, I decided to get him some 6/9 month clothes. I got 6 of these cute brand new clothes. And guess how much I paid for those?
$6.00
With a gift card a friend had generously sent us for the baby.
The Lord owns the cattle of a thousand hills, and he generously provides for us.
So, it was a great weekend to say the least. How was yours?
Saturday morning hubby and I went to the gym and did a workout for 1 hour. We came back and decided that instead of taking an afternoon nap, we will do some work. We gave baby a bath, put him to sleep in the swing and set to work. Hubby had some work stuff to finish and I set about to reorganize our bedroom closet. I tried on lots and lots of clothes and decided what to keep, what to bag for goodwill and what to pass on to my niece. I got one bag for goodwill, two bags for my niece and was able to finally close the suitcase which was lying open for the last three months.
I was only planning to arrange and close the suitcase and purge the clothes in the hangers. But one thing led to another and I ended up cleaning out the entire closet.
No, I don't have a before picture.
There are some clothes I hold onto for sentimental reasons. These are two which has survived many purges. The red one was the top I wore when I first came to US in 2003. I was all of 87 pounds then and my sister when she saw me said I looked like I came from Somalia. The jeans which I wore with that has since gone to where all good jeans go. Man, I loved those jeans and literally wore it to tatters.
This white top is what I wore for our first wedding anniversary dinner in Greece. It is one of those What-was-I-thinking-when-I-bought-it deals. Seriously, I just barely fit on it then when I was 89 pounds and now when I am... well, never mind.
Moving on.
These are my wedding shoes and I keep it in my closet since I don't wear it everyday or any day for that matter.
Now the shoes and the two tops are residing together in the corner of the closet where the good memories are.
Then, there was a big shopping bag full odds and ends . There were a lot of greeting cards inside and I started going through them. I figured it was a waste of time especially when time is so scarce and I needed to finish tasks soon. Anyway, I started going through those. A lot of them were from hubby for birthdays, anniversaries etc. Then there were a lot of Congratulations cards from our wedding 4 years ago. I was going through all of that occassionally smiling, laughing out loud, tearing up and then suddenly inside a card, guess what I found?
A $50 gift card from Bed, Bath and Beyond.
Yes, from 4 years ago. And it is still valid. I called and checked.
Then I started going through all of the cards once more hoping something else will turn up too. It didn't, but still what a find, huh?
And then in the evening, hubby made batter fried vegetables, so yummy.
We went for a walk in the night after that and did some errands as well.
Sunday morning was the Lord's day and after church we had lunch at Chipotle and went for a walk. On the way back, we stopped at Babies R us to shop for some extra Medela nipples. They had some clothes on clearance and since baby outgrew most of his 3 month clothes, I decided to get him some 6/9 month clothes. I got 6 of these cute brand new clothes. And guess how much I paid for those?
$6.00
With a gift card a friend had generously sent us for the baby.
The Lord owns the cattle of a thousand hills, and he generously provides for us.
So, it was a great weekend to say the least. How was yours?
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Baby Outfit Daddy Style
I asked the dear husband to get baby ready to go out.
Here is the result
1.A 12 month onesie too big for him
2.Yellow bib for a blue outfit
3.Purple socks
4.And the crowning glory? Socks for mittens...
The upside is baby doesn't care. Then again he wouldn't care if I put a Cindrella outfit and a tiara on him.
I think I should be just grateful for a Daddy who helps out with the baby.
Here is the result
1.A 12 month onesie too big for him
2.Yellow bib for a blue outfit
3.Purple socks
4.And the crowning glory? Socks for mittens...
The upside is baby doesn't care. Then again he wouldn't care if I put a Cindrella outfit and a tiara on him.
I think I should be just grateful for a Daddy who helps out with the baby.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Writing thank you notes is not something I did as a child. But I love it a lot now. There is something really sweet about sitting down and writing a note and also receiving one in the mail. I have of course made slip ups especially to couple of people while I was recovering from delivery. I even wrote them, but I couldn't find them anywhere. Lost, vanished, disappeared without trace. And now it has been 3 months!
Speaking of thankfulness, I wanted to write about two gifts we received for Neil since they were super special.
One was from a lady who attends my sister's church. I don't know her at all, but she apparently does from when she saw me ONCE 6 years ago!!! So when she heard from my sister that I had a baby, she bought these two cute outfits and a set of wash clothes and sent it. How sweet is that?
I LOVE it that it is a onesie and a pant and not a shirt and pant since that exposes their little tummies and backs. And it has "Here comes trouble" on his butt :)
And this one with a little coat? How sweet? It is perfect for the occasional cold Sunday here in FL.
I sent her a thank you note and she told my sister that she gives gifts to many many people and this was the first time someone sent a thank you note!
A while back, before baby was born, I was researching options on baby transportation. I was not planning on buying a stroller immediately. For one thing, I wasn't thinking of taking him out anywhere soon after birth. Plus, we have a convertible car seat that we could not use on top of the stroller. I looked at Maya wraps and slings, but they were putting more pressure on one side of the shoulder and I knew I would give up on that soon.
Serena did a series on breastfeeding at that time and she had mentioned babywearing in that article as something she is passionate about. I emailed her to ask her opinions and she graciously replied to all my 127 questions. Then I searched her blog and read all she had written about baby wearing and then emailed her some more and finally decided that a mei tai was the best option for me. I was all set to buy one online when she said she will sew one for me!!! As a gift!!! That was so incredibly kind of her especially as we don't know in real life, I was just a complete stranger she met online.
We are so very grateful for that gift as it allowed us take him with us places without carrying a stroller (this fits in the diaper bag).
R loves it and finds it very easy and comfortable. I do have a threshold though. It does hurt me if I walk like 2 miles with it. And baby? He absolutely LOVES it. He loves looking at the world from inside it facing out. And when he sleeps, he loves facing me/hubby resting on us.
I love it that it frees my hands and I can do cleaning and some computer tasks while I have him on me. Just a bit of walking and he is out like a light.The only downside is that Neil throws a fit when we take him out of that.
Neil being our first baby has been the recipient of a truck load of gifts. We have been completely overwhelmed by the amount of things we have been blessed with. (and is still continuing to get!). My boss has been out due to an emergency surgery since I joined work and today he stopped by the office just to give me this!
Baby is trying to open it with his mouth like a little pup.
Speaking of thankfulness, I wanted to write about two gifts we received for Neil since they were super special.
One was from a lady who attends my sister's church. I don't know her at all, but she apparently does from when she saw me ONCE 6 years ago!!! So when she heard from my sister that I had a baby, she bought these two cute outfits and a set of wash clothes and sent it. How sweet is that?
I LOVE it that it is a onesie and a pant and not a shirt and pant since that exposes their little tummies and backs. And it has "Here comes trouble" on his butt :)
And this one with a little coat? How sweet? It is perfect for the occasional cold Sunday here in FL.
I sent her a thank you note and she told my sister that she gives gifts to many many people and this was the first time someone sent a thank you note!
A while back, before baby was born, I was researching options on baby transportation. I was not planning on buying a stroller immediately. For one thing, I wasn't thinking of taking him out anywhere soon after birth. Plus, we have a convertible car seat that we could not use on top of the stroller. I looked at Maya wraps and slings, but they were putting more pressure on one side of the shoulder and I knew I would give up on that soon.
Serena did a series on breastfeeding at that time and she had mentioned babywearing in that article as something she is passionate about. I emailed her to ask her opinions and she graciously replied to all my 127 questions. Then I searched her blog and read all she had written about baby wearing and then emailed her some more and finally decided that a mei tai was the best option for me. I was all set to buy one online when she said she will sew one for me!!! As a gift!!! That was so incredibly kind of her especially as we don't know in real life, I was just a complete stranger she met online.
We are so very grateful for that gift as it allowed us take him with us places without carrying a stroller (this fits in the diaper bag).
R loves it and finds it very easy and comfortable. I do have a threshold though. It does hurt me if I walk like 2 miles with it. And baby? He absolutely LOVES it. He loves looking at the world from inside it facing out. And when he sleeps, he loves facing me/hubby resting on us.
I love it that it frees my hands and I can do cleaning and some computer tasks while I have him on me. Just a bit of walking and he is out like a light.The only downside is that Neil throws a fit when we take him out of that.
Neil being our first baby has been the recipient of a truck load of gifts. We have been completely overwhelmed by the amount of things we have been blessed with. (and is still continuing to get!). My boss has been out due to an emergency surgery since I joined work and today he stopped by the office just to give me this!
Baby is trying to open it with his mouth like a little pup.
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
My darlin' punkin'
Because there are a lot of posts in my head and I have no time, here is a picture of my pumpkin during Halloween. Get ready for some gratuitous cuteness.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Two Months
Dear Neil,
You are two months old today! I was looking at your older pictures and how tiny you were! At the most recent appointment you tipped the scale at 10 pounds! You have put on 4 pounds since birth. The doctor showed us some charts and said you were off the charts in growth. We are so thankful to hear that because we were a little worried about you. When I was at the doctors office, I saw another new born baby and I missed that stage of yours and wanted to have you all over again. Daddy thinks I am crazy and asks me if I don't want you to grow up. I do of course, but yet it is so bittersweet to see you grow and change everyday.
This is what is going on with you now.
1) You absolutely love playing in a mat on the ground. You just lie down there for upto an hour. You make little whimpering noises if no one is talking to you. But you are so happy if someone talks to you.
2) You smiled for the first time this month and we do anything and everything to elicit that sweet smile again. You are not very generous with your smiles at this point, so it is a huge treat to see you smile. It happens usually in the morning and it is a good incentive for me to wake up early enough :)
3) You sleep in the swing also, but only after you have already gone to sleep. We can't put you there hoping you would go to sleep yourself.
4) But you love your mei tai the best, except that you hate it when I take you out of it.
5) You still don't fuss a lot, although you are way more aware and sensitive to sounds and lights. It amazes me though that you fall fast asleep when we are out with you.
6) You attended the Ode to Joy concert and you slept through the entire thing. You have been to almost all of your parents' favorite restaurants.
7) You are really quiet and good at church. Right when the service is ending, you call out ingaaaa (milk) and you make everyone look at you. That was hilarious.
8) You look at the light for a long time and are fascinated by it. But we are very happy that you now know the difference between night and day and you sleep much longer during the night. That is just a great blessing.
9) I read children's bible stories to you every morning during mat time and it is such a fun time!
10) Oh, and you outgrew all your newborn outfits and even the 3 months one are getting snug! You are growing fast.
You are so loved baby, and you were so longed for! I look forward every morning to spending time with you and seeing what new thing you would do. I thank God every day for giving you to us.
Love,
Mama
You are two months old today! I was looking at your older pictures and how tiny you were! At the most recent appointment you tipped the scale at 10 pounds! You have put on 4 pounds since birth. The doctor showed us some charts and said you were off the charts in growth. We are so thankful to hear that because we were a little worried about you. When I was at the doctors office, I saw another new born baby and I missed that stage of yours and wanted to have you all over again. Daddy thinks I am crazy and asks me if I don't want you to grow up. I do of course, but yet it is so bittersweet to see you grow and change everyday.
This is what is going on with you now.
1) You absolutely love playing in a mat on the ground. You just lie down there for upto an hour. You make little whimpering noises if no one is talking to you. But you are so happy if someone talks to you.
2) You smiled for the first time this month and we do anything and everything to elicit that sweet smile again. You are not very generous with your smiles at this point, so it is a huge treat to see you smile. It happens usually in the morning and it is a good incentive for me to wake up early enough :)
3) You sleep in the swing also, but only after you have already gone to sleep. We can't put you there hoping you would go to sleep yourself.
4) But you love your mei tai the best, except that you hate it when I take you out of it.
5) You still don't fuss a lot, although you are way more aware and sensitive to sounds and lights. It amazes me though that you fall fast asleep when we are out with you.
6) You attended the Ode to Joy concert and you slept through the entire thing. You have been to almost all of your parents' favorite restaurants.
7) You are really quiet and good at church. Right when the service is ending, you call out ingaaaa (milk) and you make everyone look at you. That was hilarious.
8) You look at the light for a long time and are fascinated by it. But we are very happy that you now know the difference between night and day and you sleep much longer during the night. That is just a great blessing.
9) I read children's bible stories to you every morning during mat time and it is such a fun time!
10) Oh, and you outgrew all your newborn outfits and even the 3 months one are getting snug! You are growing fast.
You are so loved baby, and you were so longed for! I look forward every morning to spending time with you and seeing what new thing you would do. I thank God every day for giving you to us.
Love,
Mama
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
The day so far
I had been a stay at home sloth long enough. Today was a new day. I woke up at 5:30 to pump. Got 3 ounces instead of the usual 2.5. The day is starting to look good. Briefly thought about doing laundry and dishes and some sundry tasks and staying awake till 8:15 when it would be time to pump again. But then I need my rest if there has to be milk. I keep the alarm for 8:15 and go to sleep. Slept through the alarm. Finally wake up at 10 am refreshed. Justify to myself that I needed that after a bear of a weekend. Still a new day, new beginning. Decide that I will get laundry done today. But first, I need to pump. It is already later than it should be. By then it is 11. Mom insists I should eat a piece of bread at least. I comply. It is 11:15 now and I go to my room so I could gather the clothes. Oh wait, the tub is full of washed baby clothes from 5 days ago which I never put away. I empty them onto the bed. Decide I would fold this and the new load together. About to put the dirty clothes in the tub when I realized that the dried laundry from yesterday was still sitting in the dryer.
Went to the bathroom linen closet to put a towel away. Realized I haven't brushed my teeth today and it is already 11:30. While brushing, also realized that I haven't showered yesterday and day before. (In my defense, hubby was sick with the flu and Mummy was out of town and baby was clingy, so I have had barely time to go, let alone shower.) Figured today might be a good time for a hot shower and hopped in. The shower felt great and I realized I had planned to put the laundry in before showering.
Dressed and came down and took the empty tub with me to collect and put away the clothes sitting in the dryer. I was passing the kitchen when Mom reminded that I have to put rice for lunch. I put the tub down, collected laundry and since it was 12:15 by then, decided to put rice and fry some fish. Looked for a utensil to put rice in. Everything was either in the sink or in the dishwasher. Figured I might as well empty the dishwasher. Put rice. Kept pan with oil for frying the fish. Since sink was full and the dishes unloaded, decided to load it up. Started loading the dishwasher. Baby started crying. Made some formula for him. There was enough of baby's stuff to sterilize. Put all that and started that. Oil got too hot, started frying fish. Came and checked email, facebook. Almost given up on blog reading except for a few friends' blogs.
Had lunch. Time to pump again. Only 1.5 oz this time. In between all this, there were diaper changes, walking around with baby to put him to sleep. It became 2'o clock. Started feeling sleepy already. Thought I should blog since I haven't blogged for the longest time. It is 2:40 now and I wanted to tell you about my birthday gift and share pictures (birthday was 3 weeks ago). I would do all that except...
I still haven't done laundry.
Went to the bathroom linen closet to put a towel away. Realized I haven't brushed my teeth today and it is already 11:30. While brushing, also realized that I haven't showered yesterday and day before. (In my defense, hubby was sick with the flu and Mummy was out of town and baby was clingy, so I have had barely time to go, let alone shower.) Figured today might be a good time for a hot shower and hopped in. The shower felt great and I realized I had planned to put the laundry in before showering.
Dressed and came down and took the empty tub with me to collect and put away the clothes sitting in the dryer. I was passing the kitchen when Mom reminded that I have to put rice for lunch. I put the tub down, collected laundry and since it was 12:15 by then, decided to put rice and fry some fish. Looked for a utensil to put rice in. Everything was either in the sink or in the dishwasher. Figured I might as well empty the dishwasher. Put rice. Kept pan with oil for frying the fish. Since sink was full and the dishes unloaded, decided to load it up. Started loading the dishwasher. Baby started crying. Made some formula for him. There was enough of baby's stuff to sterilize. Put all that and started that. Oil got too hot, started frying fish. Came and checked email, facebook. Almost given up on blog reading except for a few friends' blogs.
Had lunch. Time to pump again. Only 1.5 oz this time. In between all this, there were diaper changes, walking around with baby to put him to sleep. It became 2'o clock. Started feeling sleepy already. Thought I should blog since I haven't blogged for the longest time. It is 2:40 now and I wanted to tell you about my birthday gift and share pictures (birthday was 3 weeks ago). I would do all that except...
I still haven't done laundry.
Saturday, October 03, 2009
My hands
I love my hands a lot much. They are my bestest weapon. I use it to:
~Neil
- Scratch onto my face when I get mad
- Scratch mommy's breast when I don't get enough inga
- Ball up into a fist and eat it
- Pull out my pachifier when mom and dad tries to cheat me into going to sleep when I don't want to.
~Neil
Thursday, September 24, 2009
One Month
Dear Neil,
You are one month old today. How fast the time went! When they brought you to me after cleaning and wrapping you, they placed you in the crook of my arm, and you were facing away from me. I could not speak for a few seconds because I was all choked up from holding you for the first time. Then I called your name and you turned around and looked at me. You were a few minutes old at that time. I firmly believe you recognized my voice. That fills me with awe even now.
But now you are a month old! And this is what is going on with you.
1. Your Appacha and Ammachy (grandpa, grandma) are here now. All of us have different names for you. Your dad thinks that the name I call you is feminine and he is right. But I don't think you mind now. I know that the time will come soon enough when I can't call you that anymore. Appacha calls you Neil Armstrong and he talks to you a lot. It makes me smile to hear that.
2. You are a small guy especially compared to your American peers and if I had a dime for every time someone says what a tiny guy you are, I will have a lot of dimes. Your Mama has heard how tiny she is all her life, so you come by it honestly.
3. You have a bassinet next to our bed, but you sleep on our cot between us from the day you came home from the hospital. Before you were born, I vehemently told your grandma that you will be in the bassinet, but once you were here, I realized that I sleep better having you next to me. I like having you really close to me.
4. You love looking at the light and when you are fussy your daddy can calm you down by taking you to look at the light.
5. You love music and you go to sleep soon when the music is turned on.
6. You love car rides and you hardly make a fuss when strapped in the car seat.
7. You love it when I sing to you and if your little tummy is full, and I sing You are my sunshine you are out like a light. You sleep 3-4 hours continuously and that is such a blessing.
8. You have such a pleasant personality. You only cry when you are hungry. You don't even make any fuss for wet and dirty diapers.
9. You smile the sweetest smiles while sleeping and it melts my heart. My dad says it is because you see angels in your sleep.
10. It is hilarious how you make complaining sounds when you nurse and doesn't get enough milk. You look at me out of the corner of your eye, forehead wrinkled with worry and drink and complain at the same time. I feel bad that I am unable to provide enough milk for you, but your complaining is still very funny to listen to. Although it took me a while to smile about that.
11. You sometimes get nightmares and cry out loud suddenly in your sleep. I pick you up and hold you close and you go right back to sleep. I know that later in the years I will look back to this time and sigh about how easy it was to comfort you.
You come up with new things to capture my heart everyday. You are such a blessing in our lives.
Love,
Mama
You are one month old today. How fast the time went! When they brought you to me after cleaning and wrapping you, they placed you in the crook of my arm, and you were facing away from me. I could not speak for a few seconds because I was all choked up from holding you for the first time. Then I called your name and you turned around and looked at me. You were a few minutes old at that time. I firmly believe you recognized my voice. That fills me with awe even now.
But now you are a month old! And this is what is going on with you.
1. Your Appacha and Ammachy (grandpa, grandma) are here now. All of us have different names for you. Your dad thinks that the name I call you is feminine and he is right. But I don't think you mind now. I know that the time will come soon enough when I can't call you that anymore. Appacha calls you Neil Armstrong and he talks to you a lot. It makes me smile to hear that.
2. You are a small guy especially compared to your American peers and if I had a dime for every time someone says what a tiny guy you are, I will have a lot of dimes. Your Mama has heard how tiny she is all her life, so you come by it honestly.
3. You have a bassinet next to our bed, but you sleep on our cot between us from the day you came home from the hospital. Before you were born, I vehemently told your grandma that you will be in the bassinet, but once you were here, I realized that I sleep better having you next to me. I like having you really close to me.
4. You love looking at the light and when you are fussy your daddy can calm you down by taking you to look at the light.
5. You love music and you go to sleep soon when the music is turned on.
6. You love car rides and you hardly make a fuss when strapped in the car seat.
7. You love it when I sing to you and if your little tummy is full, and I sing You are my sunshine you are out like a light. You sleep 3-4 hours continuously and that is such a blessing.
8. You have such a pleasant personality. You only cry when you are hungry. You don't even make any fuss for wet and dirty diapers.
9. You smile the sweetest smiles while sleeping and it melts my heart. My dad says it is because you see angels in your sleep.
10. It is hilarious how you make complaining sounds when you nurse and doesn't get enough milk. You look at me out of the corner of your eye, forehead wrinkled with worry and drink and complain at the same time. I feel bad that I am unable to provide enough milk for you, but your complaining is still very funny to listen to. Although it took me a while to smile about that.
11. You sometimes get nightmares and cry out loud suddenly in your sleep. I pick you up and hold you close and you go right back to sleep. I know that later in the years I will look back to this time and sigh about how easy it was to comfort you.
You come up with new things to capture my heart everyday. You are such a blessing in our lives.
Love,
Mama
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Birth Story
I am not sure if anyone is interested, but I thought I will share my birth story anyway. At the very least, it will serve me as a detailed record of the day he was born.
My due date was August 26 and when I had my routine doctors appointment on the 21st, I was not the least bit dilated. Doc said if nothing happened by my due date, we would talk about getting something done. Anyway, Monday morning at 7:30 I got my first official contraction. I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for a long time, but I knew instinctively that this was different. It wasn't very painful and I had another one at 7:50. It was 20 minutes apart and since I figured there was plenty of time, I didn't wake hubby. Then there was another at 8:10 and 8:30. By then, my parents had dressed and were ready to go to the hospital. Mom has a history of fast labors and she wanted me to get to the hospital fast. I was more inclined to wait a little more, but I finally woke R up and at 9, we headed to the hospital. We got there at 9:45 and by then, the contractions were coming every 5-6 minutes and lasted about 30-40 seconds. They put me in triage and a nurse checked me. I hated the nurse (and I usually love the nurses) they had at triage. Her name is Blair and at the end of our stay at triage, we named her "Blairwitch Project" She had the worst bedside manner and I had horrible bleeding ever from her cervical checks. I was terrified that she would be the nurse for labor, but thankfully there were other people at the L&D unit.
When they first checked me at 11:00 am, I was only dilated 0.5 cm! They asked us to go home. We had no plans of going home, so we waited at the hospital cafeteria and front lobby and finally went back at 3:30. When they checked me again, I was at 3 cm and 100% effaced and since I was really miserable by then, they decided to admit me. The doctor came and did an ultrasound and saw that he was posterior and a little transverse as well. She said that she was going to break my water and start the pitocin to speed up the labor. We neither agreed or disagreed and we had to wait another two hours before admitting me. By then, I was really getting miserable and unable to talk. Initially, we had resolved to wait until 6 cm to get the epidural. We figured that getting an epidural might slow down the progress of labor. But, at that point I was really in pain and yelling for the epidural.
They had not checked for dilation for a while figuring that I had a long way to go. At 6:00 pm, my water broke naturally and when they came and checked, they said I was completely dilated and it was too late for an epidural. Hubby got livid at this point since we had mentioned about the possibility of labor progressing fast and they had not taken that seriously. The main reason I had decided on an epidural was to avoid the "ring of fire." I had to calm him down since I didn't want to get the nurses back up at that point. Thankfully, another nurse came and checked and said I was at 9 cm and there was still time for an epidural. In spite of the pain, I felt good because I didn't feel as much of a wimp as I was actually in transition stage when I was moaning and groaning and not 4 or 6 cm as we thought I was.
But by the time the IV was in the system and the epidural took effect, it was time for pushing. Even with the epidural, I felt every contraction, and that helped with the pushing. I pushed for 45 minutes and they gave me rest for 1 hour and then again pushed for 45 minutes and finally he was born at 10:53 pm. I didn't need an episiotomy, but tore naturally. But, because he was in a transverse position, he had a hematoma when he was born. The size has reduced now, but the doctor says it will be 3 months before it completely goes away. He also had slight breathing problem and was taken away for observation immediately after birth, so I didn't get to hold him immediately.
I was in labor (including early labor) for almost 16 hours, but when I held him in my arms for the first time, all the pain and tiredness was just magically swept away! It is truly the best feeling in the world!!
I also should mention this as an aside:
When I was in the L&D room in a lot of pain and waiting for the epidural, hubby decided to figure out if I was in real labor or not. He asked me what 25 times 7 was. I answered 135 and then 165 before saying 175. He says that the fact that I actually multiplied in my mind was enough evidence for him that I was loopy and truly was in labor! Normally, I would just subtract 25 from 200.
They didn't teach this method of labor detection at Lamaze though.
My due date was August 26 and when I had my routine doctors appointment on the 21st, I was not the least bit dilated. Doc said if nothing happened by my due date, we would talk about getting something done. Anyway, Monday morning at 7:30 I got my first official contraction. I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for a long time, but I knew instinctively that this was different. It wasn't very painful and I had another one at 7:50. It was 20 minutes apart and since I figured there was plenty of time, I didn't wake hubby. Then there was another at 8:10 and 8:30. By then, my parents had dressed and were ready to go to the hospital. Mom has a history of fast labors and she wanted me to get to the hospital fast. I was more inclined to wait a little more, but I finally woke R up and at 9, we headed to the hospital. We got there at 9:45 and by then, the contractions were coming every 5-6 minutes and lasted about 30-40 seconds. They put me in triage and a nurse checked me. I hated the nurse (and I usually love the nurses) they had at triage. Her name is Blair and at the end of our stay at triage, we named her "Blairwitch Project" She had the worst bedside manner and I had horrible bleeding ever from her cervical checks. I was terrified that she would be the nurse for labor, but thankfully there were other people at the L&D unit.
When they first checked me at 11:00 am, I was only dilated 0.5 cm! They asked us to go home. We had no plans of going home, so we waited at the hospital cafeteria and front lobby and finally went back at 3:30. When they checked me again, I was at 3 cm and 100% effaced and since I was really miserable by then, they decided to admit me. The doctor came and did an ultrasound and saw that he was posterior and a little transverse as well. She said that she was going to break my water and start the pitocin to speed up the labor. We neither agreed or disagreed and we had to wait another two hours before admitting me. By then, I was really getting miserable and unable to talk. Initially, we had resolved to wait until 6 cm to get the epidural. We figured that getting an epidural might slow down the progress of labor. But, at that point I was really in pain and yelling for the epidural.
They had not checked for dilation for a while figuring that I had a long way to go. At 6:00 pm, my water broke naturally and when they came and checked, they said I was completely dilated and it was too late for an epidural. Hubby got livid at this point since we had mentioned about the possibility of labor progressing fast and they had not taken that seriously. The main reason I had decided on an epidural was to avoid the "ring of fire." I had to calm him down since I didn't want to get the nurses back up at that point. Thankfully, another nurse came and checked and said I was at 9 cm and there was still time for an epidural. In spite of the pain, I felt good because I didn't feel as much of a wimp as I was actually in transition stage when I was moaning and groaning and not 4 or 6 cm as we thought I was.
But by the time the IV was in the system and the epidural took effect, it was time for pushing. Even with the epidural, I felt every contraction, and that helped with the pushing. I pushed for 45 minutes and they gave me rest for 1 hour and then again pushed for 45 minutes and finally he was born at 10:53 pm. I didn't need an episiotomy, but tore naturally. But, because he was in a transverse position, he had a hematoma when he was born. The size has reduced now, but the doctor says it will be 3 months before it completely goes away. He also had slight breathing problem and was taken away for observation immediately after birth, so I didn't get to hold him immediately.
I was in labor (including early labor) for almost 16 hours, but when I held him in my arms for the first time, all the pain and tiredness was just magically swept away! It is truly the best feeling in the world!!
I also should mention this as an aside:
When I was in the L&D room in a lot of pain and waiting for the epidural, hubby decided to figure out if I was in real labor or not. He asked me what 25 times 7 was. I answered 135 and then 165 before saying 175. He says that the fact that I actually multiplied in my mind was enough evidence for him that I was loopy and truly was in labor! Normally, I would just subtract 25 from 200.
They didn't teach this method of labor detection at Lamaze though.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
The new normal
I had started writing my birth story a week back, but looks like the writing of the labor will take more time than the actual labor which was 15.5 hours. So stay tuned (or not) for the birth story full of excitement and intrigue coming to a blog near you. I could be finishing up that right now, but I don't feel like that. I just want to randomly write about stuff today, which, come to think of it is no different than any post I write here.
We are adjusting to the new normal here. When people say that a baby changes everything, boy, they are not kidding. I had to go to my office to pick up a package that came for me, and when I was walking up the stairs and getting into my room, it seemed surreal like I did all this a lifetime ago.
It is evening now and the house is quiet except for the dishwasher going on in the background. My child is on a life and death mission to double his weight in the next month, so he was nursing every hour in the morning. Now father and son are sleeping upstairs. I am downstairs in front of the computer. I know I am supposed to be sleeping when baby is sleeping, but somehow I don't feel like it even though I have been up half the night nursing, changing and rocking my baby to sleep. I am tired, but I am savoring this alone time right now.
Emotionally, it has been a crazy three weeks (more on that later) as well. I have been so thankful for the sisterhood of moms who called, emailed, and loved on me this time. Hubby is great, but he is not a woman and not a mom and so only up to a point did he *get* what I was going through. I will remember this time as the one in my life where logic and reason went for a trip and in their stead hormones came to party. I have never had PMS, and pregnancy hormones were nothing to write home about. The couple of meltdowns I had during pregnancy were over stuff I would have been upset anyway. So when the postpartum blues hit, it was so unexpected, I fell down in the middle of the road and got run over. I was crying a lot, there was stress over various things and physical recovery was slow. I still cry much easier than I used to, I hope that it will get better soon.
Baby sleeps right next to me and right now, he is most active in the night. So after feeding him, we lie next to each other and stare at each other. I look at him, trying to memorize every feature because he changes every single day. I sing to him "You are my sunshine" and put in his name instead of "only". Then I pray this blessing over him. Those are the most precious moments in my day. I thank God every day for our Nathaniel (gift from God- his name was derived from that) and I pray that we would raise him as God would have us raise him. Our attempts at parenting are sure to be pitiful at best, but God is faithful and his promises are steadfast.
He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young
Isaiah 40:11
We are adjusting to the new normal here. When people say that a baby changes everything, boy, they are not kidding. I had to go to my office to pick up a package that came for me, and when I was walking up the stairs and getting into my room, it seemed surreal like I did all this a lifetime ago.
It is evening now and the house is quiet except for the dishwasher going on in the background. My child is on a life and death mission to double his weight in the next month, so he was nursing every hour in the morning. Now father and son are sleeping upstairs. I am downstairs in front of the computer. I know I am supposed to be sleeping when baby is sleeping, but somehow I don't feel like it even though I have been up half the night nursing, changing and rocking my baby to sleep. I am tired, but I am savoring this alone time right now.
Emotionally, it has been a crazy three weeks (more on that later) as well. I have been so thankful for the sisterhood of moms who called, emailed, and loved on me this time. Hubby is great, but he is not a woman and not a mom and so only up to a point did he *get* what I was going through. I will remember this time as the one in my life where logic and reason went for a trip and in their stead hormones came to party. I have never had PMS, and pregnancy hormones were nothing to write home about. The couple of meltdowns I had during pregnancy were over stuff I would have been upset anyway. So when the postpartum blues hit, it was so unexpected, I fell down in the middle of the road and got run over. I was crying a lot, there was stress over various things and physical recovery was slow. I still cry much easier than I used to, I hope that it will get better soon.
Baby sleeps right next to me and right now, he is most active in the night. So after feeding him, we lie next to each other and stare at each other. I look at him, trying to memorize every feature because he changes every single day. I sing to him "You are my sunshine" and put in his name instead of "only". Then I pray this blessing over him. Those are the most precious moments in my day. I thank God every day for our Nathaniel (gift from God- his name was derived from that) and I pray that we would raise him as God would have us raise him. Our attempts at parenting are sure to be pitiful at best, but God is faithful and his promises are steadfast.
He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young
Isaiah 40:11
Monday, August 31, 2009
Introducing Neil
Blessed art thou O Lord Our God,
King of the Universe who has kept me alive
and sustained me and brought me to this
wonderful moment.
King of the Universe who has kept me alive
and sustained me and brought me to this
wonderful moment.
Baby Neil born August 24, 2009 6 lb 2 oz, 19.25 inches long.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Daily Life
1. Facebook is great and all, but almost all my blog friends are on facebook, and now I hardly feel like blogging at all. I love the fact that I have had personal communication with almost all of those I met through the blog. And few of them I can call friends for real. Isn't that great?
2. Tomorrow I start my maternity leave. I am 39 weeks today and according to the doctor, anytime now! I have finished all the work related tasks on my plate and things at my job are really slowing down for our group. My boss was saying it is a great time for me to be out since billable work is less anyway. I see it as God's perfect timing.
3. My hands and feet have swollen a bit more, and yesterday I had a headache, but I am doing much better. I guess there is the emotional aspect of having my parents around that really helps.
4. Mom is just getting used to the machines and mechanisms here such as dishwasher, washer, dryer, so I am not completely free of work, but the fact that I don't have the responsibility of cooking is a great relief!
5. I finally did the baby clothes laundry and when I left for work this morning, Dad was sitting and folding itty bitty baby clothes. It was really adorable!
6. I am hoping baby holds off for a couple more days until I get R to finish setting up the pack-n-play at least. I have given up on anyone putting together the crib for me, but the little one needs somewhere to sleep!
7. Those who are on my facebook know, I had a meltdown yesterday, but just having the baby clothes laundry done was a huge weight off my shoulders. It made me feel so much better!
8. Last day of work before leave starts tomorrow and I am looking forward to the time at home with Pa and Ma and getting things done around the house. Hubby is holed up in his man cave as he is very busy at work. Both of us are relieved that I can go shopping for stuff with them and just get things done. He is happy he doesn't have to come and I am happy I have someone to go with.
9.Bill, please stay away.
2. Tomorrow I start my maternity leave. I am 39 weeks today and according to the doctor, anytime now! I have finished all the work related tasks on my plate and things at my job are really slowing down for our group. My boss was saying it is a great time for me to be out since billable work is less anyway. I see it as God's perfect timing.
3. My hands and feet have swollen a bit more, and yesterday I had a headache, but I am doing much better. I guess there is the emotional aspect of having my parents around that really helps.
4. Mom is just getting used to the machines and mechanisms here such as dishwasher, washer, dryer, so I am not completely free of work, but the fact that I don't have the responsibility of cooking is a great relief!
5. I finally did the baby clothes laundry and when I left for work this morning, Dad was sitting and folding itty bitty baby clothes. It was really adorable!
6. I am hoping baby holds off for a couple more days until I get R to finish setting up the pack-n-play at least. I have given up on anyone putting together the crib for me, but the little one needs somewhere to sleep!
7. Those who are on my facebook know, I had a meltdown yesterday, but just having the baby clothes laundry done was a huge weight off my shoulders. It made me feel so much better!
8. Last day of work before leave starts tomorrow and I am looking forward to the time at home with Pa and Ma and getting things done around the house. Hubby is holed up in his man cave as he is very busy at work. Both of us are relieved that I can go shopping for stuff with them and just get things done. He is happy he doesn't have to come and I am happy I have someone to go with.
9.Bill, please stay away.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
The food bit me back
So tomorrow my parents should be here, God willing. They are starting from home in a few hours and it is a LONG flight which should get them here midnight tomorrow. I am very excited about their coming, but am also ashamed to admit that I am very much looking forward to all the food they are bringing. It is not really a pregnancy craving, just general home food craving. I have them all the time.
I had a rough Sunday with food poisoning. It was the most sick I have ever been in my life. Even two days later, I am still feeling kind of weak. I don't know what the culprit is. I am thinking it is a doughnut I ate Sunday morning. But apparently, no one else who ate that had any issues. So, who knows? I lost 7 pounds in the last two days. At 37 weeks, I am at 118 pounds. I am keeping myself hydrated all the time. Hopefully, I will bounce back soon.
So the anticipation of all the food is also a result of deprivation, I guess. Or, that is what I keep telling myself.
I had a rough Sunday with food poisoning. It was the most sick I have ever been in my life. Even two days later, I am still feeling kind of weak. I don't know what the culprit is. I am thinking it is a doughnut I ate Sunday morning. But apparently, no one else who ate that had any issues. So, who knows? I lost 7 pounds in the last two days. At 37 weeks, I am at 118 pounds. I am keeping myself hydrated all the time. Hopefully, I will bounce back soon.
So the anticipation of all the food is also a result of deprivation, I guess. Or, that is what I keep telling myself.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
In a nutshell
1) Work:
I finished all my deadlines for today and I am feeling so relaxed. I have work to do, but I am in the euphoria of having finished all the critical stuff I was supposed to.
2) Home:
Well, house is still filthy, but finished a lot of handyman stuff around the house. I had given up on getting all that work done, but the person who usually does the work for us (who is also someone we fellowship with at the chapel) was out all summer. But a change in plans had him home for this week and we got all this stuff taken care of. It is a great blessing to us!
3) Materials:
We had to have a new exhaust put in for the kitchen and Mr. G bought a white one for us. I didn't want the white since all appliances in the kitchen is black, plus we wanted one with a removable filter. With our kind of cooking, nothing else would do. So we went to Home Depot in the night and was looking around for one. The one with two removable filters were close to $230 and it was only available in stainless steel or white. And then we found one for $250 which was black, had two removable filters, AND was marked down to $60 since they were discontinuing the line. Praise God who is faithful even in little things.
4) Pain:
I loathe to talk about it since it is just bad everyday. Sleeping is torture. The slightest housework sets off pain alarms throughout. I am surviving though.
5) Friends:
An Indian couple we met at the church we visited invited us to their home last Friday for Bible Study and Prayer. Hubby and I went and there were about 30 people there. It was a nice time, they are great folks and at the end of it, the host said that there was some light food that they wanted to serve. And we went to eat the "light food", and there was Paratha, Chicken curry, Chicken fry, Mutton Biriyani, and Raita Salad. Except for the Paratha, everything was cooked from scratch for 30 people.
Yeah, it was real light and didn't fill me up at all.
I don't think I have written a more sarcastic sentence on my blog so far.
6) Family:
One. More. Week. My Pa and Ma are coming and I am beyond excited. I have a list of things I want Mama to cook for me. Please don't think I am all stomach (actually, I AM, so never mind). I hope there will be some days before the baby comes so we can take them around a little bit.
7) Baby:
The little one seems to be doing well, and my church friends are throwing me a baby shower this Friday. The room is painted, bedding has been bought, crib needs to be assembled and I am working on a couple of small projects for the room. I will show the pictures as soon as I am done. Which I really hope would be before the baby comes!
8) Hubby:
A friend was supposed to come and stay with us for a while. He is a missionary on a visit here and will be going back in less than a month. R was suggesting that he can come stay with us starting that night he arrived. Our house is a filthy mess as of now. (See No: 4) I am not saying it coyly, like Number 5 above. I am no June Cleaver or whatever. It is actually a sad, pathetic, dirty mess. And it makes me want to cry every time I see it. Hubby said "it is no big deal. He is a guy, he wouldn't mind. Just relax". I then realized this is one of the times I would cheerfully break a frying pan over his head.
I am just kidding.
Why would I waste a perfectly good frying pan?
I finished all my deadlines for today and I am feeling so relaxed. I have work to do, but I am in the euphoria of having finished all the critical stuff I was supposed to.
2) Home:
Well, house is still filthy, but finished a lot of handyman stuff around the house. I had given up on getting all that work done, but the person who usually does the work for us (who is also someone we fellowship with at the chapel) was out all summer. But a change in plans had him home for this week and we got all this stuff taken care of. It is a great blessing to us!
3) Materials:
We had to have a new exhaust put in for the kitchen and Mr. G bought a white one for us. I didn't want the white since all appliances in the kitchen is black, plus we wanted one with a removable filter. With our kind of cooking, nothing else would do. So we went to Home Depot in the night and was looking around for one. The one with two removable filters were close to $230 and it was only available in stainless steel or white. And then we found one for $250 which was black, had two removable filters, AND was marked down to $60 since they were discontinuing the line. Praise God who is faithful even in little things.
4) Pain:
I loathe to talk about it since it is just bad everyday. Sleeping is torture. The slightest housework sets off pain alarms throughout. I am surviving though.
5) Friends:
An Indian couple we met at the church we visited invited us to their home last Friday for Bible Study and Prayer. Hubby and I went and there were about 30 people there. It was a nice time, they are great folks and at the end of it, the host said that there was some light food that they wanted to serve. And we went to eat the "light food", and there was Paratha, Chicken curry, Chicken fry, Mutton Biriyani, and Raita Salad. Except for the Paratha, everything was cooked from scratch for 30 people.
Yeah, it was real light and didn't fill me up at all.
I don't think I have written a more sarcastic sentence on my blog so far.
6) Family:
One. More. Week. My Pa and Ma are coming and I am beyond excited. I have a list of things I want Mama to cook for me. Please don't think I am all stomach (actually, I AM, so never mind). I hope there will be some days before the baby comes so we can take them around a little bit.
7) Baby:
The little one seems to be doing well, and my church friends are throwing me a baby shower this Friday. The room is painted, bedding has been bought, crib needs to be assembled and I am working on a couple of small projects for the room. I will show the pictures as soon as I am done. Which I really hope would be before the baby comes!
8) Hubby:
A friend was supposed to come and stay with us for a while. He is a missionary on a visit here and will be going back in less than a month. R was suggesting that he can come stay with us starting that night he arrived. Our house is a filthy mess as of now. (See No: 4) I am not saying it coyly, like Number 5 above. I am no June Cleaver or whatever. It is actually a sad, pathetic, dirty mess. And it makes me want to cry every time I see it. Hubby said "it is no big deal. He is a guy, he wouldn't mind. Just relax". I then realized this is one of the times I would cheerfully break a frying pan over his head.
I am just kidding.
Why would I waste a perfectly good frying pan?
Monday, July 20, 2009
Notes from the weekend -10
It was a great weekend. I was relatively pain free and what a blessing that was! Of course most of the weekend, I spent just sitting around or lying down doing nothing. I am sure that helped.
I had an ultrasound on Friday and thankfully baby is doing well. I have a 3 cm tear inside my abdomen. The doctor is hoping that it would heal on its own after delivery, otherwise I might need PT or surgery to correct it. It is still in the future, so I am purposely not thinking about it now and stressing. There are a lot of uncertainties in our life right now, unfortunately I have to be rather vague about it here in the blog. Lot of things up in the air and things which we can't make any decisions on now. It seems difficult not to be able to have everything nicely and neatly tied in a bow, but it is what it is.
I got the nursery painted with one coat and will get the next coat done next Friday. Slow but sure, things are getting done. After Sean (he does the painting, landscape and most odd jobs around the house) left, we went to watch Earth. We both loved it. The movie was $1.25 each and the water was $3.00 (Note to self: Please remember to take a bottle everywhere.) After that, we went for a mile walk in the park. There was a free jazz concert which we enjoyed for a while and then went to the mall and I bought two baby outfits from Macy's with a gift card my sister had sent a while back. And to celebrate our annual trip to the mall, we bought some Godiva chocolates. I was on the phone with my sister and she asked me if the chocolates were part of my craving. I had to inform her though that hubby is the one with all the cravings. I have no cravings. Zilch. Zip. Nada. Is that weird? And then we drove to Don Pablos to eat our most favorite dessert ever. The chocolate volcano. We love it! It was a lovely day all in all.
We visited a different church yesterday. It has been something we were thinking of doing for about 5 months, but just got around to it yesterday! We met a friend there and we all had lunch together at their house. I got to hold her sweet 2 month baby as well! It was a nice time of fellowship. We came back home and stopped at Publix to get some groceries. And by that time, I was so tired like I had run a marathon. I was thinking to myself that the floor is clean and was seriously considering just lying down on the floor there. The fatigue is just unbelievable. I never thought I would feel this way. I guess a big part of it is the heat. It is HOT HOT HOT here in FL. We also somehow managed to walk a mile as I really needed my exercise.
So we had a nice, relaxing weekend and I am grateful for my husband, our growing baby, friends, loving family, a beautiful park, respite from pain and chocolate volcano. And what a privilege to serve a heavenly father who gives all these good gifts abundantly!
I had an ultrasound on Friday and thankfully baby is doing well. I have a 3 cm tear inside my abdomen. The doctor is hoping that it would heal on its own after delivery, otherwise I might need PT or surgery to correct it. It is still in the future, so I am purposely not thinking about it now and stressing. There are a lot of uncertainties in our life right now, unfortunately I have to be rather vague about it here in the blog. Lot of things up in the air and things which we can't make any decisions on now. It seems difficult not to be able to have everything nicely and neatly tied in a bow, but it is what it is.
I got the nursery painted with one coat and will get the next coat done next Friday. Slow but sure, things are getting done. After Sean (he does the painting, landscape and most odd jobs around the house) left, we went to watch Earth. We both loved it. The movie was $1.25 each and the water was $3.00 (Note to self: Please remember to take a bottle everywhere.) After that, we went for a mile walk in the park. There was a free jazz concert which we enjoyed for a while and then went to the mall and I bought two baby outfits from Macy's with a gift card my sister had sent a while back. And to celebrate our annual trip to the mall, we bought some Godiva chocolates. I was on the phone with my sister and she asked me if the chocolates were part of my craving. I had to inform her though that hubby is the one with all the cravings. I have no cravings. Zilch. Zip. Nada. Is that weird? And then we drove to Don Pablos to eat our most favorite dessert ever. The chocolate volcano. We love it! It was a lovely day all in all.
We visited a different church yesterday. It has been something we were thinking of doing for about 5 months, but just got around to it yesterday! We met a friend there and we all had lunch together at their house. I got to hold her sweet 2 month baby as well! It was a nice time of fellowship. We came back home and stopped at Publix to get some groceries. And by that time, I was so tired like I had run a marathon. I was thinking to myself that the floor is clean and was seriously considering just lying down on the floor there. The fatigue is just unbelievable. I never thought I would feel this way. I guess a big part of it is the heat. It is HOT HOT HOT here in FL. We also somehow managed to walk a mile as I really needed my exercise.
So we had a nice, relaxing weekend and I am grateful for my husband, our growing baby, friends, loving family, a beautiful park, respite from pain and chocolate volcano. And what a privilege to serve a heavenly father who gives all these good gifts abundantly!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Why I am not posting much
Because if I did, it would be like reading a letter from your 90 year old grandmother complaining about the aches and pains.
I wish I was a dog so I could make whining noises. That would be a relief.
I wish I was a dog so I could make whining noises. That would be a relief.
Monday, July 13, 2009
A new normal
It has been a fairly eventful couple of weeks to say the least. First of all, I apologize to all my non mom, non pregnant readers who has to put up with all the pg related posts. But when you are so big and fat that you can't see your toes and you wake up to go to the bathroom 6 times in 4 hours, it is kind of uppermost in your mind. As for the 3 men who read my blog, they might want to skip this post completely.
July 4th, I woke up with very bad pain in my lower abdomen and since I had no idea what in the samhill it was, we decided to go to the hospital. I had Braxton Hicks the night before and well, the money spent on childbirth classes paid off. I could recognize it for what it was and I wasn't alarmed. But this new pain was concerning and we went to the L&D unit of the hospital. The doctor came and touched the area below the navel and it was very very painful. So she told me that I don't have preterm labor (I knew that!), but what I have is diastasis recti. But, let us not get fancy schmancy on this lil blog. What it means is, my stomach muscles have separated due to the growing uterus (Sorry guys, but I did warn you). It affect 30% of pregnant women. Here is the funny part. It is not supposed to be painful, but it is for me. Very much so. Getting in and out of couch is difficult. As for the bed, it is torture.
The good news is that it is not affecting the baby in any way. The bad news is that other than a tylenol, nothing can be done about the pain at all. I have 6 weeks of this to look forward to. I can't say I am thrilled, but there is this. It was really bad yesterday. I suffered till about 4 am and then for the first time in 34 weeks, I had a Tylenol and the pain subsided.
The verdict from the doctor is that I should really take it easy. No bending, no lifting. I need to get by with doing the minimum necessary. My to-do list is mocking me. Hubby has taken over laundry and dishwashing. I have hired people to paint the nursery and clean the house. Even with all that, there is still things for me to do. The hardest part for me (aside from the pain) is to sit still. Sitting still is not part of my nature. It is no fun to be almost helpless either. But there is a season for everything. It is a season of quiet and slowing down for me. Maybe the Lord is preparing me for the time to come. I also don't know at this point if this will affect labor and delivery. I tend to be a little concerned until I remember who was and is in control. In any case, what a comfort it is!
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
July 4th, I woke up with very bad pain in my lower abdomen and since I had no idea what in the samhill it was, we decided to go to the hospital. I had Braxton Hicks the night before and well, the money spent on childbirth classes paid off. I could recognize it for what it was and I wasn't alarmed. But this new pain was concerning and we went to the L&D unit of the hospital. The doctor came and touched the area below the navel and it was very very painful. So she told me that I don't have preterm labor (I knew that!), but what I have is diastasis recti. But, let us not get fancy schmancy on this lil blog. What it means is, my stomach muscles have separated due to the growing uterus (Sorry guys, but I did warn you). It affect 30% of pregnant women. Here is the funny part. It is not supposed to be painful, but it is for me. Very much so. Getting in and out of couch is difficult. As for the bed, it is torture.
The good news is that it is not affecting the baby in any way. The bad news is that other than a tylenol, nothing can be done about the pain at all. I have 6 weeks of this to look forward to. I can't say I am thrilled, but there is this. It was really bad yesterday. I suffered till about 4 am and then for the first time in 34 weeks, I had a Tylenol and the pain subsided.
The verdict from the doctor is that I should really take it easy. No bending, no lifting. I need to get by with doing the minimum necessary. My to-do list is mocking me. Hubby has taken over laundry and dishwashing. I have hired people to paint the nursery and clean the house. Even with all that, there is still things for me to do. The hardest part for me (aside from the pain) is to sit still. Sitting still is not part of my nature. It is no fun to be almost helpless either. But there is a season for everything. It is a season of quiet and slowing down for me. Maybe the Lord is preparing me for the time to come. I also don't know at this point if this will affect labor and delivery. I tend to be a little concerned until I remember who was and is in control. In any case, what a comfort it is!
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
Thursday, July 02, 2009
And that is all I am going to say about that
To update on the story below, I have no (or ever had any) intention to take her to small claims court. The $25 is not worth the hassle or emotions for me or my baby. I was not relentlessly stalking her with a pitchfork, nor was I thinking about it every minute of the day. If I were, I would have sent a lot more emails and phone calls. It would come up every so often, and I would send a friendly reminder. I don't have the time or energy to rip apart her reply, but I can assure you, it is complete BS and "borderline lying."
She might be the nicest person in the world and she could have had a bad day and sent that email. Or she might be a jerk like many other people in the world. Thanks for all your comments, it was cathartic for me to write it out.
K, I want to address your comment though mainly because of the line about "taking emotions out and putting yourself in her shoes." I don't think emotions were really involved. You can see from my emails that it was pretty noncommittal. I did not tell her "I drove one hour to get the china cabinet and it is terrible what you are doing to me and I am 7 months pregnant and blah blah." She offered me to pay the money back if it didn't work out. My taking the piece was contingent upon getting transportation. When you make a verbal promise to refund the money, it IS her problem. And as for putting myself in her shoes, I would never behave this way. I mean what I say and say what I mean. If I am having a bad day or PMS or hormones and behaved badly, I darn well will make amends and apologize.
I want to end with another CL story. We had a green sofa in our office room which we didn't have room for anymore. I had advertised it as no rips or stains as I didn't find any when I was looking at it. I was trying to sell it for a while and a lady came and looked at it. She took a cursory look at it and said she was interested. We had offered delivery and when we were loading it in the van, I saw that it had a rip on it which I had never noticed. It was not huge and could be patched up. When we got there, we told her about it, and she was very upset. We reduced the price by $40, and she was a little appeased. I felt bad the entire day that I had not looked at the sofa well enough before posting it. Two days later, I wrote her a letter of apology saying what had happened was unintentional on my part, but asking for forgiveness. I also included $20 on it. She emailed me back with a sweet response and said it was not even a big deal, she could patch it up and she was very touched by the email.
I did not write the above to show what a great person I am though it may seem like it. *smiles* I just mean to say that even with the best of intentions, we can make mistakes. That is okay. The character shows in how you choose to correct it.
In dear Miss Shannon's case, other than *maybe* sending an occasional one line email, I am not doing anything. Unlike her fake busy-ness and stamp-less business ownerships, I really am busy with life - incredibly so. The blogging about it was great, because it got the nasty email out of my system without having to deal with her. She hasn't found the time to take 60 seconds to paypal the money yet, but I am going to let this go and her petty self can do the right thing if/when she chooses to.
And as someone eloquently said, "And that is all I am going to say about that."
She might be the nicest person in the world and she could have had a bad day and sent that email. Or she might be a jerk like many other people in the world. Thanks for all your comments, it was cathartic for me to write it out.
K, I want to address your comment though mainly because of the line about "taking emotions out and putting yourself in her shoes." I don't think emotions were really involved. You can see from my emails that it was pretty noncommittal. I did not tell her "I drove one hour to get the china cabinet and it is terrible what you are doing to me and I am 7 months pregnant and blah blah." She offered me to pay the money back if it didn't work out. My taking the piece was contingent upon getting transportation. When you make a verbal promise to refund the money, it IS her problem. And as for putting myself in her shoes, I would never behave this way. I mean what I say and say what I mean. If I am having a bad day or PMS or hormones and behaved badly, I darn well will make amends and apologize.
I want to end with another CL story. We had a green sofa in our office room which we didn't have room for anymore. I had advertised it as no rips or stains as I didn't find any when I was looking at it. I was trying to sell it for a while and a lady came and looked at it. She took a cursory look at it and said she was interested. We had offered delivery and when we were loading it in the van, I saw that it had a rip on it which I had never noticed. It was not huge and could be patched up. When we got there, we told her about it, and she was very upset. We reduced the price by $40, and she was a little appeased. I felt bad the entire day that I had not looked at the sofa well enough before posting it. Two days later, I wrote her a letter of apology saying what had happened was unintentional on my part, but asking for forgiveness. I also included $20 on it. She emailed me back with a sweet response and said it was not even a big deal, she could patch it up and she was very touched by the email.
I did not write the above to show what a great person I am though it may seem like it. *smiles* I just mean to say that even with the best of intentions, we can make mistakes. That is okay. The character shows in how you choose to correct it.
In dear Miss Shannon's case, other than *maybe* sending an occasional one line email, I am not doing anything. Unlike her fake busy-ness and stamp-less business ownerships, I really am busy with life - incredibly so. The blogging about it was great, because it got the nasty email out of my system without having to deal with her. She hasn't found the time to take 60 seconds to paypal the money yet, but I am going to let this go and her petty self can do the right thing if/when she chooses to.
And as someone eloquently said, "And that is all I am going to say about that."
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
A Craigslist Story
This is going to be rather long, so bear with me.
I have been looking for a china cabinet in craigslist for a long time. We don't have a very formal dining room and so I never felt the need for buying brand new for $1000 or more. The search has been on since end of April, but nothing has worked out.
In the meantime, we went to several houses, trying to get something that was reasonably well maintained and matched our existing dark brown furniture in the dining room. Finally, I found something that seemed to match (from the picture) and I emailed the person for more pictures. She sent it within 4 hours and I made an appointment to see it that evening. It was almost an hour drive from work, but I decided to go anyway. I got there and saw that the piece was reasonably good, although smaller than a regular cabinet. The color was not an exact match and there were scuff marks, but I had enough with all the searching and said I liked it. Shannon, who was the lady whom I was dealing with, said that some other people inquired about it and would I mind leaving a security deposit to hold it. I told her then that transportation was a problem, and I need to figure out how to get the piece home. She agreed that if it did not work out, she will refund the money back. I called R and asked him, and he said to go ahead pay them the money if I liked it. So I paid $25 as a good faith money and left the place. This was on June 8 around 7pm.
I came home, and the transportation thing became an issue. Friend's van didn't work out and U-Haul turned out to be too expensive and almost cost as much as the cabinet price. I emailed Shannon back on June 9 and told her about the situation. She emailed back immediately and said she understood and her husband would look around and see if he could help with the delivery and that she would put it back on the market. This was less than 24 hours before I left their house.
Three days later, I got an email saying she was able to sell it and she asked for my address so that she could send me the deposit back. I sent her back my address and waited. After all the back and forth, there was no response from her to my last email about when she would send it. I dismissed the thought and the days went by. 8 days later on the 20th, I sent her the following email.
I received no response. 4 days later, I called her husband's phone number, which was the one I had and basically said the same thing in the email. He said he would ask her that night. No response. 3 days after that, on the 27th I again called and left a message. Again, nothing. Finally, on June 29th, I sent an email with a cc to her work email which she had given me.
And I got the following (part) in reply yesterday. Spelling and grammar mistakes verbatim from her email.
So I sent her a one line email asking her to put the money in my hubby's paypal account.
These are my questions, interpeeps.
1. Are 2 (polite) phone calls and 2 emails in 18 days reminding to send refund money borderline harassment?
2. What would you have done?
a. Forgive her. Vengeance belongs to the Lord
b. Don't bother, it is only $25 afterall. And anyway, you deserve it for being stupid
c. Pursue it. It is not just the money, it is the principle of the thing. Send polite emails and reminders
d. Take her to small claims court and send threatening emails in the meantime.
3. What should I have done different? Should I have waited longer before sending a reminder.
and now, MORAL OF THE STORY
Thou shalt not be stupid like me.
And this is how I feel like now.
I have been looking for a china cabinet in craigslist for a long time. We don't have a very formal dining room and so I never felt the need for buying brand new for $1000 or more. The search has been on since end of April, but nothing has worked out.
In the meantime, we went to several houses, trying to get something that was reasonably well maintained and matched our existing dark brown furniture in the dining room. Finally, I found something that seemed to match (from the picture) and I emailed the person for more pictures. She sent it within 4 hours and I made an appointment to see it that evening. It was almost an hour drive from work, but I decided to go anyway. I got there and saw that the piece was reasonably good, although smaller than a regular cabinet. The color was not an exact match and there were scuff marks, but I had enough with all the searching and said I liked it. Shannon, who was the lady whom I was dealing with, said that some other people inquired about it and would I mind leaving a security deposit to hold it. I told her then that transportation was a problem, and I need to figure out how to get the piece home. She agreed that if it did not work out, she will refund the money back. I called R and asked him, and he said to go ahead pay them the money if I liked it. So I paid $25 as a good faith money and left the place. This was on June 8 around 7pm.
I came home, and the transportation thing became an issue. Friend's van didn't work out and U-Haul turned out to be too expensive and almost cost as much as the cabinet price. I emailed Shannon back on June 9 and told her about the situation. She emailed back immediately and said she understood and her husband would look around and see if he could help with the delivery and that she would put it back on the market. This was less than 24 hours before I left their house.
Three days later, I got an email saying she was able to sell it and she asked for my address so that she could send me the deposit back. I sent her back my address and waited. After all the back and forth, there was no response from her to my last email about when she would send it. I dismissed the thought and the days went by. 8 days later on the 20th, I sent her the following email.
Hi Shannon,
I had emailed you our home address last Saturday. I was wondering if you had a chance to mail me back the $25 I had given as a deposit for the china cabinet. Please do let me know.
In case you did not receive the last email, the address is
I received no response. 4 days later, I called her husband's phone number, which was the one I had and basically said the same thing in the email. He said he would ask her that night. No response. 3 days after that, on the 27th I again called and left a message. Again, nothing. Finally, on June 29th, I sent an email with a cc to her work email which she had given me.
Hi Shannon,
I have emailed you twice, and spoke to Bill twice as well. You still have not send me the $25 good faith money that I gave you to hold the china cabinet. On June 12th you emailed me that you already sold it. It has been 17 days since then. Is there a problem? It is bad that I have to keep emailing and calling.
And I got the following (part) in reply yesterday. Spelling and grammar mistakes verbatim from her email.
I mean you no disrespect as I am sure my words are going to be taken out of context; however, I must respond in this manner. When you left my home on June 4th, it was with the plan that you would be back that weekend to take possesion of the china cabinet I had listed on craigslist. At that time you left me a deposit for the china cabinet so that I would cancel the three addtional appointments I had scheduled for that evening. Thus cancelling any potential to sell the china cabinet. You then emailed me to let me know that you would be unable to pick up the china cabinet as agreed because of the travel requirements. I then relisted the cabinet on cragslist and was able a week later to sell the cabinet as described in my email on the 13th. It was in fact my intention to return your deposit as I asked for your address to do so. However the incesent phone calls and emails are bordering on harrassmnet. If you had left a deposit with any business and then backed out of the deal at your request, you would forfeit that deposit. With any business transaction that requires a refund it can take 4-6weeks for that to happen. I say this not to insue anger but yet to remind you to calm down. As I'm sure your life is busy; so is mine. Unfortunately with 2 businesses to run and a family to maintain you are not at the top of my priority list. It has skipped my mind on numerous occasions to send you a refund. In fact the envelope is on my desk waiting to be taken to the post office for postage. I have not however been able to fit into my day a trip to the post office when I begin seeing patients at 8am and stop seeing patients at 6pm. By the time I am anywhere near a post office, they are closed. At any time you would like, you are more than welcome to stop by for the refund. If I am unavaiable I can leave the envelope taped to the front door or if my childrens nanny is home she can give you the envelope. Otherwise I'm sorry but you are going to have to wait for my schedule to open up. If you have a paypal account you could send me an invoice for the $25 and I will be happy to refund the money in that manner as well
So I sent her a one line email asking her to put the money in my hubby's paypal account.
These are my questions, interpeeps.
1. Are 2 (polite) phone calls and 2 emails in 18 days reminding to send refund money borderline harassment?
2. What would you have done?
a. Forgive her. Vengeance belongs to the Lord
b. Don't bother, it is only $25 afterall. And anyway, you deserve it for being stupid
c. Pursue it. It is not just the money, it is the principle of the thing. Send polite emails and reminders
d. Take her to small claims court and send threatening emails in the meantime.
3. What should I have done different? Should I have waited longer before sending a reminder.
and now, MORAL OF THE STORY
Thou shalt not be stupid like me.
And this is how I feel like now.
Monday, June 29, 2009
I.am.officially.overwhelmed.
It is true!
I have always managed work and home with no issues. My energy levels were always good. Well, that was all in the past.
Now I have all kinds of aches and pains, my to-do list is never ending. I finish one task only to have 3 to take its place. If you want to tell me to take it easy, try telling that to my nesting pg hormones. It is totally on overdrive. It is apparently absolutely vital that the bedding and wall colors in baby's room match to a pixel becasue as we all know BABY WILL CARE TREMENDOUSLY if I mix up Ramie or Sapling. Baby will also care if all the cabinets in the kitchen and the closets and cupboards are not emptied out and rearranged and organized.
The timer is my new best friend. I work for 15 minutes and then rest for half an hour. That way, it took me all Saturday to organize the broom closet. The broom closet has been the bane of my existence for a long time. It was absolutely overflowing and things were jumping out if we tried to get anything from there. It has been on my to do list for the last 1.5 years. I purged, rearranged, organized, bagged for goodwill and it was a long process. But man, I am pleased with the result.
Here is a before picture.
And the after one!
Did you see the cute baskets? I love them. I got it at Ross for $1.99 a piece. I am in love with Ross. I will write about that love affair in detail later.
I have always managed work and home with no issues. My energy levels were always good. Well, that was all in the past.
Now I have all kinds of aches and pains, my to-do list is never ending. I finish one task only to have 3 to take its place. If you want to tell me to take it easy, try telling that to my nesting pg hormones. It is totally on overdrive. It is apparently absolutely vital that the bedding and wall colors in baby's room match to a pixel becasue as we all know BABY WILL CARE TREMENDOUSLY if I mix up Ramie or Sapling. Baby will also care if all the cabinets in the kitchen and the closets and cupboards are not emptied out and rearranged and organized.
The timer is my new best friend. I work for 15 minutes and then rest for half an hour. That way, it took me all Saturday to organize the broom closet. The broom closet has been the bane of my existence for a long time. It was absolutely overflowing and things were jumping out if we tried to get anything from there. It has been on my to do list for the last 1.5 years. I purged, rearranged, organized, bagged for goodwill and it was a long process. But man, I am pleased with the result.
Here is a before picture.
And the after one!
Did you see the cute baskets? I love them. I got it at Ross for $1.99 a piece. I am in love with Ross. I will write about that love affair in detail later.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
List-PG style
The closer I get to the due date, the more terrified I am. And that is the truth. Sometimes I think I want to try it without epidural, but then I think - Who am I kidding? I pass out during blood work.
Yesterday I was browsing a baby website and for fun took a test. I scored 1/10. I have never scored that low in any test in my life. As you can imagine, it did wonders to my confidence. Hubby scored a whopping 3/10. The good news is between the two of us, we made a passing grade. Maybe that is the reason why I dreamt yesterday that I failed History in school. The better news is we BOTH know that we should not give baby a bubble bath until 3 years old.
I had given hubby "The Expectant Father" for his birthday (in my defense he had requested for a "father book") to read so that he can get an idea of what is going on. He started reading and felt sorry for what I was going through. Thus, he never woke me up Monday morning and I slept till 9. I was supposed to be at work at 9. And today morning as I was waking up and still in bed, he was describing episiotomy to me. He can't help but share his new found wisdom with me. I am wondering now if it was a mistake giving him the book.
We briefly thought about cloth diapering the baby. And by briefly, I mean about 15 seconds. My philosophy for dealing with poop is that I would like to minimize contact to the maximum extent possible. I know that I have to deal with it of course, but I am thinking cloth diapers will require more of a "hands on" experience than disposable.
We never had a Costco account and never really saw the need for one. For the two of us, it was just too much. But our car needed the tires changed and they had the best deal even if you included the membership fees. So it made sense. Then we read somewhere that a baby goes through 10 diaper changes a day. That clinched the deal.
We attend a childbirth class every Thursday and hubby and I ask the most number of questions and we take notes. I think we are certified geeks. In our defense, we have no friends or family close by, so we try and get as much information and help as we can from other sources. We had only one class so far and the instructor asked how many were planning to try natural childbirth. There was not a single person. I felt bad for our Lamaze instructor.
You have heard of people asking permission for working from home. I am thinking of asking my boss if I can work from the bathroom. I pee 14 or 15 times in a given 24 hour period. So, it makes sense to take my laptop and work from there. I think my baby has found a comfortable perch on top of my liver or bladder.
A photo from a week before.
PS: It is dangerous to read some of the points in this post without a sense of humor.
Yesterday I was browsing a baby website and for fun took a test. I scored 1/10. I have never scored that low in any test in my life. As you can imagine, it did wonders to my confidence. Hubby scored a whopping 3/10. The good news is between the two of us, we made a passing grade. Maybe that is the reason why I dreamt yesterday that I failed History in school. The better news is we BOTH know that we should not give baby a bubble bath until 3 years old.
I had given hubby "The Expectant Father" for his birthday (in my defense he had requested for a "father book") to read so that he can get an idea of what is going on. He started reading and felt sorry for what I was going through. Thus, he never woke me up Monday morning and I slept till 9. I was supposed to be at work at 9. And today morning as I was waking up and still in bed, he was describing episiotomy to me. He can't help but share his new found wisdom with me. I am wondering now if it was a mistake giving him the book.
We briefly thought about cloth diapering the baby. And by briefly, I mean about 15 seconds. My philosophy for dealing with poop is that I would like to minimize contact to the maximum extent possible. I know that I have to deal with it of course, but I am thinking cloth diapers will require more of a "hands on" experience than disposable.
We never had a Costco account and never really saw the need for one. For the two of us, it was just too much. But our car needed the tires changed and they had the best deal even if you included the membership fees. So it made sense. Then we read somewhere that a baby goes through 10 diaper changes a day. That clinched the deal.
We attend a childbirth class every Thursday and hubby and I ask the most number of questions and we take notes. I think we are certified geeks. In our defense, we have no friends or family close by, so we try and get as much information and help as we can from other sources. We had only one class so far and the instructor asked how many were planning to try natural childbirth. There was not a single person. I felt bad for our Lamaze instructor.
You have heard of people asking permission for working from home. I am thinking of asking my boss if I can work from the bathroom. I pee 14 or 15 times in a given 24 hour period. So, it makes sense to take my laptop and work from there. I think my baby has found a comfortable perch on top of my liver or bladder.
A photo from a week before.
PS: It is dangerous to read some of the points in this post without a sense of humor.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Weekend Festivities
It was a very good weekend. It was hubby's birthday on Saturday and for his present, I sent him to get his cholesterol checked. That is what virtuous wives do for their husband's birthday. It says so in Proverbs 31.
After he came back from his check where they found that he had low HDL and slightly high triglyceride. Now I am scouring the net on how to raise the HDL levels for a vegetarian. His liver is producing the cholesterol, so there is not a whole lot we can do to reduce it by means of diet and exercise.
My plans for his birthday lunch was something like this. I am very glad though that I did not attempt it as hubby would have found lunch with a dead wife for the first course. No kidding, that meal took the two of us together 5 hours to prepare. So, I made him Pulav and Malai Kofta. Malai Kofta is the vegetarian version of meat balls in sauce. I followed this recipe. I should get an award for tolerating the annoying narration about 10 times. (yummy yummy sauce - eye rolling -) I make Pulav occasionally, so that was no big deal, but Malai Kofta took me 3 hours to cook.
You know what you probably shouldn't do when you are 7 months pregnant? 4 hours of straight cooking in front of a hot stove in summer when the temperature is a warm 95.
Just a piece of advice there.
And in the evening I made Palappam and veg stew.
And later in the night we went to the hospital to get our stomachs pumped out.
I totally made the last part up. But I think we were in danger of that. We ate that much.
I got a prenatal massage in the evening and since it was his birthday and all, I got him one as well. A regular massage, not a prenatal one.
Just making things clear here.
I also got him two of his favorite classical music cds, a book, couple shirts and a pair of shoes. It was great to see him relax and take a break from work. He lay on the sofa reading and I just cuddled up and went to sleep on his lap. It started out great.
Can I give another piece of advice?
When you are seven months pregnant and huge, don't think you can curl up and cuddle in small and soft spaces like you used to and not get a body ache when you get up.
You are welcome.
Here isthe disaster zone my kitchen after all the cooking.
Don't forget to notice the orange overload.
After he came back from his check where they found that he had low HDL and slightly high triglyceride. Now I am scouring the net on how to raise the HDL levels for a vegetarian. His liver is producing the cholesterol, so there is not a whole lot we can do to reduce it by means of diet and exercise.
My plans for his birthday lunch was something like this. I am very glad though that I did not attempt it as hubby would have found lunch with a dead wife for the first course. No kidding, that meal took the two of us together 5 hours to prepare. So, I made him Pulav and Malai Kofta. Malai Kofta is the vegetarian version of meat balls in sauce. I followed this recipe. I should get an award for tolerating the annoying narration about 10 times. (yummy yummy sauce - eye rolling -) I make Pulav occasionally, so that was no big deal, but Malai Kofta took me 3 hours to cook.
You know what you probably shouldn't do when you are 7 months pregnant? 4 hours of straight cooking in front of a hot stove in summer when the temperature is a warm 95.
Just a piece of advice there.
And in the evening I made Palappam and veg stew.
And later in the night we went to the hospital to get our stomachs pumped out.
I totally made the last part up. But I think we were in danger of that. We ate that much.
I got a prenatal massage in the evening and since it was his birthday and all, I got him one as well. A regular massage, not a prenatal one.
Just making things clear here.
I also got him two of his favorite classical music cds, a book, couple shirts and a pair of shoes. It was great to see him relax and take a break from work. He lay on the sofa reading and I just cuddled up and went to sleep on his lap. It started out great.
Can I give another piece of advice?
When you are seven months pregnant and huge, don't think you can curl up and cuddle in small and soft spaces like you used to and not get a body ache when you get up.
You are welcome.
Here is
Don't forget to notice the orange overload.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
The Birthday Boy - Updated
1. He makes sure I get enough protein every day by leaving loving notes around the house
2. He lets me put my cold feet on his warm ones during the winter when we sleep
3. He has his special way of letting me know when he is hungry: (If I don't get dinner in 10 minutes, you will be dinner)
4. He fights me for the leftover rice (if there is new and leftover) so I don't have to eat the leftovers.
5. He eats 7 oranges in one sitting after he has had a workout. We have a second income so we could support his orange addiction.
6. He loves Table Tennis and joined a group. He beat all the players every week and they got frustrated and closed the group.
He is turning another year today.
Happy Birthday, sweetie!
2. He lets me put my cold feet on his warm ones during the winter when we sleep
3. He has his special way of letting me know when he is hungry: (If I don't get dinner in 10 minutes, you will be dinner)
4. He fights me for the leftover rice (if there is new and leftover) so I don't have to eat the leftovers.
5. He eats 7 oranges in one sitting after he has had a workout. We have a second income so we could support his orange addiction.
6. He loves Table Tennis and joined a group. He beat all the players every week and they got frustrated and closed the group.
He is turning another year today.
Happy Birthday, sweetie!
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Handbag Miracle
I am slightly obsessed about certain purchases. And not always for big ticket items either. In early 2006, my husband's professor whom he is very close to sent R and I some wedding gifts. There were 2 handbags and a Chanel perfume set for me and 2 shirts for him. Since then, I have been using one of those bags on Sundays for church and the other one for the office and everywhere else. It is not a great bag as there is only one pocket and I stuff EVERYTHING in there and can never find ANYTHING.
I have a half an hour bag cleaning session every month where I complain and mutter to myself while emptying junk out. Hubby thinks that is great entertainment. When I went to India in 2008, my dad remarked that it is probably time to get a new bag. Now, to appreciate that comment, you have to know that my Dad is possibly the most low-needs person in the world. When he says that to me, I will have to leave to your imagination what my bag was like. That was a year and a half ago. Now, with more wear and tear, I can tell you, it ain't pretty.
So for the past 6 months, buying a bag has been on my mind. But I have thought so much about it that I am slightly obsessed about my "bag needs." Nothing satisfies me. I want a bag with at least 3 main pockets, 2 zippered ones and a middle one with a magnetic button, it should have a strap the length of which is just-so, not too long, not too short, preferably not leather (are there any other options even?). It would be great if there is an outside pocket for cellphone. Not a bag which is too big or too small.
I make it sound like I have been actively looking for one, but I haven't. I just look at bags every time I go to a store which sells bags - which I have to admit is not very often. When I did that last time, hubby asked, "You STILL haven't gotten a new bag?" I hang my head in shame. I have no girlfriends to go shopping with, going by myself is boring, and going with my hubby shopping is about as exciting as going to the dentist for a tooth extraction.
***************************************************************
I had written the above a while back and here is the update!
Anyway, it so happened that we were in a mall area for something else last Saturday and I decided I will look around for a bag this time. Hubby sat in the car and I settled on a bag, settled being the key word. I was all for having an outside pocket for eay access to cell phone and keys, but this was huge. It could fit my cell phone, keys and my baby too. I was unable to find anything else to my liking and I was walking to the counter to pay for it when I thought I should have hubby take a look. He took one look at my selection and said he hated it. And then proceeded to pick this or me - in 30 seconds flat.
It is PERFECT for me. It met all my conditions and more. It has two cute small side pockets which fits my PDA and keys. It is really small so I was thinking it would be a waste of space, but even my fat phone fits perfectly in there!
And it was on 50% off sale. What more could a girl want?
It is a handbag miracle!
I have a half an hour bag cleaning session every month where I complain and mutter to myself while emptying junk out. Hubby thinks that is great entertainment. When I went to India in 2008, my dad remarked that it is probably time to get a new bag. Now, to appreciate that comment, you have to know that my Dad is possibly the most low-needs person in the world. When he says that to me, I will have to leave to your imagination what my bag was like. That was a year and a half ago. Now, with more wear and tear, I can tell you, it ain't pretty.
So for the past 6 months, buying a bag has been on my mind. But I have thought so much about it that I am slightly obsessed about my "bag needs." Nothing satisfies me. I want a bag with at least 3 main pockets, 2 zippered ones and a middle one with a magnetic button, it should have a strap the length of which is just-so, not too long, not too short, preferably not leather (are there any other options even?). It would be great if there is an outside pocket for cellphone. Not a bag which is too big or too small.
I make it sound like I have been actively looking for one, but I haven't. I just look at bags every time I go to a store which sells bags - which I have to admit is not very often. When I did that last time, hubby asked, "You STILL haven't gotten a new bag?" I hang my head in shame. I have no girlfriends to go shopping with, going by myself is boring, and going with my hubby shopping is about as exciting as going to the dentist for a tooth extraction.
***************************************************************
I had written the above a while back and here is the update!
Anyway, it so happened that we were in a mall area for something else last Saturday and I decided I will look around for a bag this time. Hubby sat in the car and I settled on a bag, settled being the key word. I was all for having an outside pocket for eay access to cell phone and keys, but this was huge. It could fit my cell phone, keys and my baby too. I was unable to find anything else to my liking and I was walking to the counter to pay for it when I thought I should have hubby take a look. He took one look at my selection and said he hated it. And then proceeded to pick this or me - in 30 seconds flat.
It is PERFECT for me. It met all my conditions and more. It has two cute small side pockets which fits my PDA and keys. It is really small so I was thinking it would be a waste of space, but even my fat phone fits perfectly in there!
And it was on 50% off sale. What more could a girl want?
It is a handbag miracle!
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Then there were three
This post is actually long overdue.
I have thought of a thousand cute ways to say this. My friends in real life know already. Some of you have figured out from various subtle hints over time in this blog. For various reasons, I kept postponing saying this.
In addition to my parents, we are joyfully anticipating an addition to our family end of August. Unlike my parents who are thinking of staying 4 months at the most, this one is here for the long haul.
After three years of prayers and tears and heartbreak, we are counting down two digit days for the arrival of our baby.
This is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes.
It has been indeed the Lord's doing and I am thankful everyday for the answered prayer. For privacy reasons, I don't feel quite comfortable sharing all aspects of our journey. But I can say this. The Lord has been good to us. He has been faithful when I have been faithless.
This verse has comforted and ministered during the difficult times and is going in the baby's room in some form or other.
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory
To him alone be the glory. Amen
Officially entering my third trimester today.
I have thought of a thousand cute ways to say this. My friends in real life know already. Some of you have figured out from various subtle hints over time in this blog. For various reasons, I kept postponing saying this.
In addition to my parents, we are joyfully anticipating an addition to our family end of August. Unlike my parents who are thinking of staying 4 months at the most, this one is here for the long haul.
After three years of prayers and tears and heartbreak, we are counting down two digit days for the arrival of our baby.
This is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes.
It has been indeed the Lord's doing and I am thankful everyday for the answered prayer. For privacy reasons, I don't feel quite comfortable sharing all aspects of our journey. But I can say this. The Lord has been good to us. He has been faithful when I have been faithless.
This verse has comforted and ministered during the difficult times and is going in the baby's room in some form or other.
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory
To him alone be the glory. Amen
Officially entering my third trimester today.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Does this qualify as a harvest?
I didn't think so either.
These are from our backyard. Husband plucked them yesterday. And artistically arranged it too. There were more which he missed. I plucked them when I came home after work.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Visa
My parents got the visa to come visit us and God willing will be making the 8,000 (?) mile trip to the US of A first week of August. It would be 19 months since I saw them by then.
We are excited!
We are excited!
Monday, May 25, 2009
Long (Sleeping) weekend
So the long weekend went by in a flash. I had a huge, long list of things to be done and I have pretty much accomplished nothing. I woke up at 11 am this morning, had some milk, checked email and blogs and then puttered around until lunch time. There were some leftovers both of us had for lunch. Then I read a book until about 2 and then slept until 5 pm. By then, I was pretty disgusted with myself.
So much for the nice long list.
Friday evening I was hopeful of getting my ambitious list tackled. One of the projects I had in mind was rearranging the dining room closet and the guest room closet. God willing, we will have some back to back long-term guests starting August, so I had some plans for both rooms. Anyway, I pulled all the stuff from the dining closet onto the dining table and that is where it is sitting now. I have put away some of it, but most of it is still sitting there.
This is a picture of the dining closet before. Since I didn't actually do any work, I don't have an after picture.
In the unlikely event of a cleaning happening, I will be uploading the after picture. *Public service announcement ends*
This is one of the guest room closet. We are transferring all of hubby's cassette collection into an under-bed storage bin. He is in the picture scratching his head wondering as to how he got himself talked into doing this.
All Saturday morning I was thinking of going for some necessary shopping. But it was raining and that combined with my inherent dislike of shopping, I ended up thinking about it until evening when I could stop thinking and not feel guilty for not actually going. Other than all that thinking, I have no recollection of what I did Saturday morning. We had a showing of Pilgrims Progress at church on Saturday evening, Sunday went by with church, ladies meeting etc.
Today evening, I made some idlis home. I know none of you are interested in my Indian cooking tales, but this has been a a very difficult dish for me to master and I think I finally got it right today. (There is still scope for improvement of course) Husband and I may have done a victory dance in the kitchen. I am not admitting or denying it. There is no evidence, there are no witnesses.
The picture of those beauties - for two people who might be interested. Dad and Mom.
Here is idly with sambhar and onion chutney in my plate. Husband is behind the chutney. I want to give credit where it is due.
I also made lemon pickle for the future. I got 2 bottles full. By future I want it to mean 3 months, since we are technically supposed to eat them sparingly with rice, but at the rate we eat it, the future could very well mean 3 days.
Pickle is one of those dishes for which I assemble all ingredients beforehand like this. I cannot afford to miss any, the result will not be good if I do.
I am obviously not going to give a recipe because I know none of you are interested in a dish which contains 10 chili peppers and 16 tablespoon of red chili powder (paprika). Here is a picture of the final dish before being transferred into glass containers for the "future".
I had to write about all the food since that is about all I have to show for the three days I stayed home. Seriously, I get more things done when I work outside the home from 9-5. Maybe there is a time for everything and it was a God-ordained time for me to rest. I will console myself with that.
How did your weekend go?
So much for the nice long list.
Friday evening I was hopeful of getting my ambitious list tackled. One of the projects I had in mind was rearranging the dining room closet and the guest room closet. God willing, we will have some back to back long-term guests starting August, so I had some plans for both rooms. Anyway, I pulled all the stuff from the dining closet onto the dining table and that is where it is sitting now. I have put away some of it, but most of it is still sitting there.
This is a picture of the dining closet before. Since I didn't actually do any work, I don't have an after picture.
In the unlikely event of a cleaning happening, I will be uploading the after picture. *Public service announcement ends*
This is one of the guest room closet. We are transferring all of hubby's cassette collection into an under-bed storage bin. He is in the picture scratching his head wondering as to how he got himself talked into doing this.
All Saturday morning I was thinking of going for some necessary shopping. But it was raining and that combined with my inherent dislike of shopping, I ended up thinking about it until evening when I could stop thinking and not feel guilty for not actually going. Other than all that thinking, I have no recollection of what I did Saturday morning. We had a showing of Pilgrims Progress at church on Saturday evening, Sunday went by with church, ladies meeting etc.
Today evening, I made some idlis home. I know none of you are interested in my Indian cooking tales, but this has been a a very difficult dish for me to master and I think I finally got it right today. (There is still scope for improvement of course) Husband and I may have done a victory dance in the kitchen. I am not admitting or denying it. There is no evidence, there are no witnesses.
The picture of those beauties - for two people who might be interested. Dad and Mom.
Here is idly with sambhar and onion chutney in my plate. Husband is behind the chutney. I want to give credit where it is due.
I also made lemon pickle for the future. I got 2 bottles full. By future I want it to mean 3 months, since we are technically supposed to eat them sparingly with rice, but at the rate we eat it, the future could very well mean 3 days.
Pickle is one of those dishes for which I assemble all ingredients beforehand like this. I cannot afford to miss any, the result will not be good if I do.
I am obviously not going to give a recipe because I know none of you are interested in a dish which contains 10 chili peppers and 16 tablespoon of red chili powder (paprika). Here is a picture of the final dish before being transferred into glass containers for the "future".
I had to write about all the food since that is about all I have to show for the three days I stayed home. Seriously, I get more things done when I work outside the home from 9-5. Maybe there is a time for everything and it was a God-ordained time for me to rest. I will console myself with that.
How did your weekend go?
Monday, May 18, 2009
Because in this case a verbose description would be superfluous - Haleakala Sunrise
This is what we look like at 6 am.
We saw a sky full of stars, but I don't have a picture of that. I have just committed it to my memory. The series of pictures (which you can probably tell) is from predawn to sunrise. It does not do the actual thing justice, but it is the best we have. It was an experience of a lifetime.
It was worth getting up at 1:30 am.
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