Niya 7 months

I am so behind on Niya's monthly letters. But for once I am going to be early. Niya is turning 7 months tomorrow and I am already writing her letter.

Dear sweet Niya,

You are turning 7 months. I never did write you a letter when you turned 6 months. We were not at home, and I didn't have computer access. I assure you, we had a fun time though.

We had a big group at West Palm Beach including your grandparents and uncle, and aunt and cousin. Everyone just spoilt you and you had the best time ever. So much has changed for you. You sit up pretty now, interacts so well, rolls over in both directions, and go from one end of the room to another in no time. I swear you understand stuff that we say to you. When we ask you how does Niya laugh?, you actually show us the laugh.

 

You love your exersaucer and you love television. I am not so thrilled about *that*, but if I am honest, I have to admit that it does help me out when I am in a bind. It was a hard month also for you as you got really sick. I am just glad you are okay now. While so many things have changed, one thing has remained steady and that is your love for Neil. He entertains you the best and loves you back to pieces.

It was an exciting time for you meeting with a lot of new family members. You had your first Halloween, first Thanksgiving. Also the big thing, you started solid foods. I made some steamed apples, and baked sweet potato for you. You loved the apple, but didn't care too much for the sweet potato. We got a little off track with the sickness, but hopefully, we can get back in track soon.

 

You are still super attached to me and even if you are sitting quietly and playing, you will start wailing if I walk past you and not pick you up. You still like the bumbo also I am rather wary of putting you in there because of all your calisthenics. You went on a Christmas Train and you loved it. You were not the least bit scared of Santa. You have gotten over your car seat dislike and you love going out now. You also are a lot better with strangers. I am told you are doing quite well at BSF. I was so glad to hear that.

I keep buying clothes for you. I realize I have a problem, but you are little only for so long. Soon you will hate everything I pick out for you. I know I am biased, but you look so adorable in everything. You are growing way too fast and I want to make every day count with you. Having your brother made me realize how fleeting this time is and I just so badly want to hold on to it.

Love,

Mama

Stats: 26.25 inches and 16.7 pounds at 6.5 months.

21 Days to a More Disciplined Life - A Review

I have been a Money Saving Mom reader pretty much since I started blogging 6 years ago. It was around that time she started the blog. I learned how to shop at CVS from her. I think I still have some of the things I got for free from 6 years ago. 2 children later, I don't have time for that anymore, but she remains as one of the people who inspire me. I love reading her different series on the blog, so when I got a chance to review her e-book, 31 Days to a More Disciplined Life, I was glad to do it.

I am technically a "SAHM" and if possible I like to Stay At Home AT ALL TIMES. I never used to be like this, but now the thought of going anywhere out with a 3 yr old and a 6 month old spitter-upper gives me as much enjoyment as going to the dentist. (Unless, I am going alone to the dentist. Then I totally like it) In addition, to two kids, I help run a business with my husband, have an occasional teaching job, one rental house that I manage, and a BSF study that I attend. With all this, I feel very much overwhelmed and disorganized most of the time. I am perpetually late to anything I attempt to go to, things get pushed to the very possible last minute, so that I have one crazy week, and then to recover from that week, I take 2 weeks off and then lather, rinse, repeat. I need to be motivated and inspired.

The book came to me during one of the craziest weeks of my life. If there was ever a time I needed to read about discipline, it was then. I started the book, and I started having computer issues. It took me 3 days to fix it, and today I read it in one shot. It is short, but packs a good punch. It has a lot of practical tips to help you get more disciplined. I am actually excited to read it together with my husband, one chapter a day and see if we can develop good habits.

Some of the things that stood out in the book for me which I am planning on practicing right away are Focusing on one task at a time, creating realistic goals and not giving up in frustration when my plans go a little awry. Unfortunately, my personality is an all or nothing kind, so I tend to give up completely once the smallest hitch happens. That is the story of most of my days with little ones.

I recommend this book if you are looking to be more disciplined in your life. It is graciously written, without judgement, and would be a good 21 days experiment to do. I like it that it is not preachy, but makes you actually want to do it. If you would like to buy the book, you can do so at 31 Days to a More Disciplined Life.

I received a pre-release copy to review the book, but was not required to do a positive review.

Day 14- the 5 month post edition

I was trying to get this post up for a few hours. The iPad was not cooperating, the Mac is dead and frankly, I am not feeling the love for Apple. Now I have borrowed hubby's trusty old PC and typing away.

Today Niya turned 5 months old. The days are flying by so fast, I just can't believe it. In just one month, she will be half way to an year old. Right now, she is lying down quietly, so close to me. Earlier, she was so antsy and hyper and making so much noise. Now, she completely calmed down and is flashing me the sweetest smiles. Dear Lord, I could just eat her with a spoon.

She rolled over from back to front Oct 2. She has been doing the tummy to back since 2 months. So she is getting mobile now. I am so not ready for that. At her 4 month appointment, she was 14 lbs. I think she is smaller than Neil was at this age. 

She is super interactive though and I love that. She smiles and laughs a lot and is very pleasant most of the time. She doesn't care for the car seat and makes a mighty noise when we go anywhere. She loves to sleep on her tummy and that scares me a little. She gets a little less attention now that the grandparents are not here. I hate that, but it is what it is.

If she could talk, I am sure she would tell me she loves Neil the best. She sleeps through the nights mostly, but does get up every once in a while. She still sleeps on our bed, and I don't think I am yet ready for her to be sleeping in her own room. Bath time is the absolute favorite time of her day and as soon as we walk to the door, she starts laughing loudly.

Precious girl, you are the apple of my eye and I am so glad God sent us you. You are the sweetest thing and just looking at you every morning and seeing your bed head and beautiful smile is enough to make my heart explode with love.

Today I didn't do any procrastinated tasks. I started making a list of many times postponed tasks to make it easier to get them done. I didn't get through the list. I hope to finish that tomorrow.

Day 13

Today was Bible conference at the church and I went with both kids. Neil was in his class and I took Niya with me. Out of the three sessions, I must have heard 10 minutes of 1 message. She was out to kill me. She didn't sleep at all since morning and that made her super cranky. She finally slept in the evening and I am sure she is going to be up in the night as she hasn't eaten enough.

I was tired by evening and managed to sneak in a 20 minute nap. I wanted to sleep a little earlier tonight, tomorrow being Sunday and all, so I will keep this short and sweet.

The task I got to today was putting some plastic bags together in an empty Kleenex box and putting in the car. I managed to do that AND took it when I went shopping. I have always wanted to reuse the bags since we have way too many plastic bags. Hopefully, once we run out of them, I want to shift completely to cloth bags. I had wanted to do this for the longest time and I am so glad I remembered!

Days 5-12

I fell of the 31 days wagon, but the good thing about falling off is that I can get on again. I was in a bit of a slump. My parents who were with us for nearly 5 months left last Monday. I was just finding my way back again being a family of 4. I thought I would miss the help (and I do), but more than that I really miss having them home. I am getting back into our new normal with 2 small ones in the house again and no delicious lunch waiting when I come back from BSF :)

I updated last Thursday. Friday we went to get my parents back from the cruise and after that we went to Kennedy Space Center. It was really nice, but honest-to-goodness, such a hassle going anywhere with two kids! We didn't get to see some of the stuff. I especially missed the memorial and I wanted to see Kalpana Chawla. Niya's middle name is Kalpana which is a namesake of her.

Saturday, we went to an IFly place which was a birthday gift from Rajiv. After having done real sky diving, it wasn't too much of an adventure, but I did feel like throwing up afterward. I didn't though. Sunday was church, and family photos. Monday was the big feast I prepared as a thank you for my parents especially my mom who provided pretty much a feast for us every day of the last 5 months. I have never cooked so many dishes for one meal before in my life. We ate on a traditional banana leaf and I actually had fun doing it. Mom did help a lot, so it didn't end up being something we completely did for them, but I know they loved it. Here is a picture. There were 14 side dishes to the rice.

After that we went shopping before they left for their flight. We have one more month before my in-laws get here.

The week went slowly for me, unlike how I felt it usually flies. Thursday was a very interesting day, and I will write about that tomorrow. Although I am not sure in what order I did these, I did do some procrastinated tasks over the last week.

Cleaned out car and van: That should count as 2 tasks. Come to think of it, it should count as 4 tasks. I am just so glad now that when people sit in these vehicles that their feet touch the floor. I had a big bag full of trash after my cleaning. Actually, I need to vacuum both as there are stray almonds, cheerios, crumbled gold fish, sticky juice and all sorts of loveliness in there. Neil was my "helper." He gets really really upset if he doesn't help with EVERYTHING. I used to be annoyed with that because I don't deal well with 'help' from 3 year olds, but he looks so cute, I allow it. Plus, he is not going to want to tag along with mama soon. As an aside, it is so funny, he looks like R, but he is totally my personality and super attached to me. He has my love of reading, my memory, and love of numbers and best of all, the total inability to concentrate on what is going on in the tv. Niya looks like me and we don't know her personality yet, but she loves the tv and that is totally R. But right now, she is just a round ball who smiles and laughs all the time.

Found receipts and put together all things for return: We had a party recently and I over bought everything, and now we have a bunch of returns to do. I thankfully found a receipt for everything, and put it all in the van to do when we are out and about next.

Swept family room: Yeah, I totally should do it everyday, but I don't, and I did it after almost a week. So it counts.

Threw away stale flowers: If you ever visit, please don't bring me live flowers. I can't keep them alive, and I feel real guilty when they die an early death. I have enough of mom guilt, and I would appreciate if you didn't add to that.

Cleaned out paper clutter

And that was what I accomplished in the week I was gone. I hope to continue getting things done and hopefully blogging about it.

Day 4

I feel pretty terrible today as I managed to waste quite a bit if time during the day. It started out great, but somehow I lost steam and ended up wasting time. Ugh. Still, I am committed to doing this thing, so I did one small thing. After the party on Saturday, the furniture was all over the house. Today, I put it all back where it was supposed to be. And that is all I did.

It is not usually I have some "free" time when both kids are sleeping. Yesterday, for a wonder Niya slept through the night and I wasn't even feeling tired by the afternoon. I could have done stuff. I could kick myself. And I am afraid, today the 31 day challenge was only name sake.

Tomorrow we are going out for the day and meeting my parents after their cruise, so it is going to be a busy day. I should be asleep as my day is going to start very early.

Day 3

Wednesdays are our most busy days. We have BSF in the morning, then a quick nap, and speech therapy in the evening for Neil. Yesterday night, I stayed up way too late just wasting time on the net. I hate when I do that. I then have to wake up with Niya at least once. Especially today, when I knew I had to be out the door at 8:30 am with both kids, that was a pretty stupid thing to do. Well, I woke up totally behind, tired, and almost wondering if I should go. I did go, but was dreadfully late, and half the discussion was over. Niya was good for both trips back and that was a huge relief.

Came back, fed Neil some rice, fed Niya, had lunch and for a miracle, both kids went for naps at the same time. R and I were supposed to use that time to sync up on some work and get it done. Well, by the time we both were ready, Niya started waking up. I had started getting a headache by now, and I figured I would sleep with her a little bit to calm her down. Next thing I know, all three of us were sleeping. I woke up at 4, started running around to wake both kids up and dressed and go for therapy. Somehow managed to be out the door by 4:40 and go there on time. Niya was good on the way there and while we were there. Coming back was a different story. It was peak traffic time, and a 20 minute drive took me 1 HOUR. Niya was screaming her head off. Since grandma was with us till now, she is always used to someone picking her up at the slightest pout. Well, the good times are over, baby. I can't do a thing when I am driving by myself. I did stop once and soothed her. She stopped crying as soon as I picked her up and I knew that the crying was just to be picked up and not for hunger, clean diapers, burps etc. I sat with her for some time and then started driving again. The wailing started again and this time Neil also started. He hates to hear her cry. Fun times.

Somehow, we reached home and 30 seconds before we got home, she stopped crying and went to sleep. R and I made some dinner together and watched both kids and he also caught a show at the same time. It was a simple dinner.

While I was typing up this post, Neil came and sat with me. Once it is night, it is only mama. He will not leave my side. Well, he used to when Appacha and Ammachy were here, but now it is back to my side. He wasn't very mischievous, so I could actually write.

Day 3 of the challenge

Task: Put a dresser we do not use on craigslist
Delayed by: 11 days
Took me: 5 minutes

Day 2

It is with a heavy heart I am writing today's post. A friend of ours who used to worship with us passed away this afternoon. She had a long battle with cancer and for her sake, I am glad she is no longer in pain. She is with her Savior whole and happy. I have only seen her once since she moved. She was a bubbly personality and loved to talk enthusiastically about everything. We moved to the other side of town 9 months ago, and actually she just lived 20 minutes from us. On Sunday, when a mutual friend was telling me she was nearing the end and had only like a month left, I thought of going with the whole family and seeing her. She loves kids and I figured she would be happy to see us (she was ok with visitors). I didn't end up going as the kids were cranky and screaming. It seems like a feeble excuse now. I regret not doing that. I regret being all wrapped up in my little stuff that I couldn't take out time for visiting. I am trying not to dwell on that, but instead pray for peace for the bereft family.

My friend was saying she had gone downhill a lot and was in really bad shape when she saw her yesterday. In a way, I can always remember her the way I do now. Healthy, bubbly, full of life. Her excited scream when I announced I was pregnant with Neil, at the baby shower for Neil, patting my tummy and being all excited telling me how fast nails grow during pregnancy, at my house for Ladies Tea.

STUPID CANCER.

She is healed and happy and resting with the Lord she loved.

I hardly feel like writing about procrastination, but I have committed to it, so here is what I did today.

I cleaned out the car. It was full of junk and the floor was not to be seen. But now there is a floor and we can put our feet there.

Task: Clean out car
Delayed by: 2 months
Took me: 12 minutes.

It is good to remind ourselves to do the important things in life as sometimes it gets just darn too late.

31 days of fighting procrastination

I have trouble with procrastination. I feel silly when I actually do the things I have procrastinated for YEARS. It usually takes me anywhere from 5 minutes to 1 day. The chinese couple who had been gracing the engraved anniversary photo frame that my husband gave me for our fifth anniversary? I finally did that yesterday. (We have been married 7 years now!) Took me 20 minutes to find a good picture, put it in the usb, and get it printed at Walmart while I was shopping there.

Then there was the garage to clean. That took me a day. But what a relief and joy to be finally able to park the cars there as the good Lord intended it. I did all this because we had a housewarming party on Saturday and I was inspired to do these things. But I want to intentionally spend the next 31 days focusing on things I have been putting off for years or months and just GET IT DONE.

I do suffer a lot and struggle with self inflicted stress because I keep putting off things I find disagreeable. I help my husband with our business. At the end of the month, there is a day of reckoning. Now, this day can be a lot smoother if I do a bit every week. I just keep postponing it until the end of the month when I get into this mode of snapping at everyone, oh-for-the-love-of-God-why-is-it-taking-so-long wailing. I am a perfectly lovely person to be with at that time as you can imagine.

I will try and write a post everyday with things I have accomplished, if not I will at least update with one line.

I am linking with Nester on this.

Niya 4 months

Dear Niya,

You are 4 months old now. I am actually struggling to come to terms with the fact that you are already 4 months old! You are 13 lb 11 oz at your well visit yesterday and 24 inches tall. You are right in the 50th percentile. For my tiny, SFGA baby, you are doing great! You also got your first cold. Thankfully, it has not become an ear infection yet.

It was a fun last two months for you! I never did write your 3 month letter, but we were out of town and I didn't have my laptop with me. But you had your first beach trip to Miami, went to the pool and had a blast. You are always smiling and laughing. I am thinking you are going to be a social butterfly. You love everyone, but you think your brother is the BEST. You reserve your best smiles and laughs for him. When he comes to you in the morning, your face lights up like nothing else. Neil loves to sit next to you and "read" you his favorite books.

This month Appacha came to visit and he calls you the princess of FL. Neil calls you Plinty Plincess. I call you a string of gibberish as the Spirit moves me. Appacha and Ammachy loves to carry you around all the time. If you show as much as the smallest pout, you are immediately picked up. You are well loved (and well spoilt). When someone plays with you, you show a shy face and roll your entire fist inside your mouth. You already show separation anxiety. People who see you say I will never be able to do anything as you wont let me be away from you. It is amazing to everyone (including your pediatrician) how fast you have recognized me. You already cry when I take you to the doctor. I have no idea how you know. Are you supposed to know already?

I love how intently you look at the books Neil reads to you. I hope you would love to read. You love the swing, the gym mat, and the mei tai. If someone can carry you close to them all day long, you are supremely happy.

Dada is not supposed to say you are cute because if he did, I get to ask for another baby. This is just a game we play. But he says that all the time unawares, because you are just that cute. I know, I set him up for something I know he will fail miserably. You are a bit of a drama queen some times. You cry like you are getting murdered, and I come flying from the ends of the earth, and all you wanted was to be held. And once you are held, it is like a switch turned off. Neil gets very upset if he hears you cry. He empathizes a little too well.

You bring so much sunshine and joy into our lives. I just wish the days went a little slower.

Love,
Mama

Letter to Neil 3 year old

Dear Neil,

It says 10:53 on the laptop now. It has been EXACTLY 3 years since you were born. I didn't plan to start a letter at 10:53. I wish I were able to plan things that well, it just happened.

I look at you today and I am not sure what happened. I got you home from the hospital, blinked and now here you are 3 years old. I remember crying when I held you for the first time. And then you looked at me. I might forget many daily things like where my keys are and call your sister by your name or fail to wish people Happy Birthday, but I can never forget that. I was thinking so much of you today all day.

You got many gifts today, a trike, flash cards, clothes, tag reader books, play food. But I think the thing that made you the happiest was some undivided attention from me. You had a bubble bath which you loved, lots of reading, ipad time, great food, payasam, and fun at your little party. It was just your Dad, me Ammachy, and Niya, but it was nice.

You are such a loving little boy. You are completely missing that thing called jealousy. Even with a lot of my time going towards your little sister, you have not shown a spark of resentment. You love her to bits (literally) and get up every morning and ask for her the first thing. Cuddles are so few these days, but bedtime is the best. I put you in the crib and you make your lovie into a pillow and say "Mama go to sleep" (which means mama, sleep with me) and when I get up and go after some time, you say "Stay" That is when I get to shower you with kisses.

You love reading, playing in the water, piano, music and your current love, the ipad. You love doing laundry, and thanks to you, I am on top of laundry now. You are very persistent and I love that. On the same note, you are quite stubborn. We are trying to help you best to do things without crushing your feisty personality. You have a fantastic memory and a sense of humor which is coming out now. It is hilarious to hear you come up with things. You are 100% boy, you love "toot" jokes. I think at this point you love your Ammachy best. Maybe it is because you get your own way with her the most. You love being with her and I think you are going to miss her once she goes back to India in 2 months. You love your preschool and is now happy to go there. We took some cupcakes there to share with your friends.

You bring so much joy into our lives. Although it has only been 3 years, it is hard to imagine a time when you were not there. (What did I do all day?) I am realizing that the time before I got pregnant with you is starting to become hazy. Sometimes when I look at you, my heart gets so full that my eyes fill up. And your heavenly Father loves you even more than that. Imagine! Neil, I hope you always remember that you can do nothing to make us love you any more or any less. We know you are struggling with some things. We are trying to help you the best we can. Sometimes, it just hurts to watch you struggle and I want to come in and take it all away. But I know I can't. I can hold your hand so far and then let go and let you work it out and have my prayers follow you. Just as it will the rest of my life.

Love,
Mama

Niya 2 months

Sweet Niya,

You are 2 months old. Well, you turned two months old yesterday, but I just got around to writing today. Mommy was sick for a week and now Daddy is sick, so things have been busy. I just hope you stay healthy. You have your 2 month appointment tomorrow and we will find out your stats. I don't need to know any stats though to know that you are growing fast. Today you sat alert at church and was just playing by yourself. You have blossomed out so much and have outgrown all your newborn clothes. I feel a little sad you are growing so fast. I have the most fun putting you in all your adorable clothes and getting you ready.

You are the most content baby ever. I was looking at the milestone chart the other day and you have achieved all the advanced milestones for your age. Smiling, laughing, putting weight on feet, doing push ups for tummy time, cooing and gurgling, you are just at it. Yesterday you even slept for 8 hours through the night! You still sleep with us and although your room has been ready before you were born, I don't think you are going to be there any time soon. Sometimes I feel a little bad I don't get to spend as much time with you as I'd like, but you get a lot of love and attention all the same from all of us. Our time is when you wake up in the morning and I feed you and then while I am pumping milk for you, you lay awake and we talk and laugh. By the time I am done pumping, you are asleep and you don't know it, but that is when I kiss your chubby little hands and feet. I can't get over how sweet you are!

Neil is completely in love with you, getting you diapers, clothes, lying down next to you. I think he would be happiest if I leave you with him all day. You love being snuggled and carried and I love carrying you in the mei tai.

I am glad God saw it fit to send you to us. You are such a blessing and joy to all of us.

Love,
Mama

Niya 1 Month

Dear Niya,

You are one month old today!

How fast the time went! You were born so fast and the whole process was so great that I smile every time I think of it. It has been a great time after that too, you are such an easy baby. But I will tell you one thing. When you were born and even for like a week after, I was terrified of you. You were such a tiny thing I was afraid to handle you at all. And for two weeks you remained like that. Then you started putting on weight and  now you have blossomed.

Today you gave us all big smiles with mouth wide open, looking right at our faces. These interactions are the best. When you wake up in the morning and after you have had your milk, that is when you are the happiest. You sleep with us (of course!) and you love to cuddle close to mama every night. Even if you have the pacifier and is wrapped, you will still complain until you are close and cuddled to one of us.

You have a closet full of clothes and one of my favorite things to do is dress you up. You don't really fit into anything other than newborn clothes. You have outgrown your preemie clothes and the 3 month clothes are too big, so my choices are a bit limited.

Neilu loves you a lot and wants to be with you all the time. At preschool he tells everyone proudly he is a big brother. You are very blessed to have him as a big brother.

You love car rides, made up songs and you tolerate the swing.

You are quite a happy, fun baby and thoroughly spoiled by your Ammachy who holds you all the time.

I love you precious baby, and can't get enough of kissing, and cuddling you every day.

SUYL: Kitchen

If you are coming from Kellys Korner, a hearty welcome to you. If you are a regular reader, then thanks for stopping by again. Today is my favorite SUYL topic. Kitchens. Kitchen is my favorite place in the house. It is a  love born out of familiarity. I spend the majority of my day there. As does my kids. It is the hub of our home. As I have mentioned probably 15 times here in this blog, Indian cooking is very time consuming. Not that I am complaining about the results, but it takes a lot of effort nonetheless. We recently moved to a new home. The kitchen was a source of despair in the older house. My main criteria in the new house was that the kitchen should be spacious.

Before I show pictures, here is my disclaimer: Don't hate me because of my mad photography skills.

This is the view from the family room.

This is the view from the entrance through the family room. This is our breakfast area and the pantry is behind it.

I think it is funny that although it is a "breakfast area', breakfast is the only meal we don't have here. My breakfast is usually a piece of bread and butter which I try to eat between feeding my son and daughter at the same time. But we love sitting here just for the view. In a rare while (more often before Niya was born), I sit there in the mornings with my Bible and read and pray. Sometimes, I just sit and watch the sunshine slowly chasing the mist away. Kind of like how quiet moments with God can chase the fears away. 

These are some lovely canisters I got at a garage sale for a princely sum of $2. These are my second favorite thing in the kitchen. My favorite thing would be the blue and yellow cookie jar bought at the same garage sale for $1. It is there in the first picture. In my stellar photo shoot, I forgot to get a close up of that.

This is the view towards the dining room. And I love, love the backs plash. I think it made a huge difference in how the kitchen looks.

Some oranges in the jar. We prefer real fruits and fake flowers over here :)

This is the view from the dining room. I realized later that I should have put on the light, that would have made for some better pictures.

Now the walls are kind of bare. I had taken off all the stuff for painting and never got around to putting anything back. It is one of my goals this summer.

I am giving myself a free pass as it has not even been 4 weeks since baby #2.

Hope you enjoyed the tour.

Niya's Nursery

I love looking at kids' rooms. So I am linking up with Kelly's Korner SUYL.

When Neil was born, we were living in a small 2 br house with a den. We bought the house when we were just the two of us and thought it was plenty big. At that time, I was working outside the home and hardly spent any time in there. Soon, with the birth of Neil and both sets of (our) parents staying long term, plus R working from home full time, we outgrew it. To top it all, I became a SAHM. Not only was it a smallish house, it was very quirky. It has the worst use of space I have seen in a house. Anyway, this year we moved to another house and I was able to put a nursery together for our daughter. Right now, she is hanging out with us, so it is looking great, so I wanted to put a post and pictures together to remember how it once was :) Soon enough, it will be like the rest of the house.

I didn't want an all pink super girly room. I love soft green and white so I wanted to do something along that lines. Then again, I couldn't help but throw some pink in the mix.

The crib is my absolute favorite brand, Baby's dream (Neil has the same one). It is quite pricey as far as cribs go, but this one was from a garage sale and it was in excellent condition.

These are the canvas art I custom ordered hanging above the crib.

The one on the far left is a favorite verse from Zephaniah 3:17, middle is the initial of her name and the third are the different meanings of her name.

This is how it looks from the door. I love the crocheted blanket hanging over the rocking chair that a lovely lady at the chapel made for the baby. Above the changing table is the Feltman Brothers dress that she came home from the hospital in. She was so tiny that it was a mercy that those dresses run a little small so she could fit into it without looking ridiculous.

The changing table is Neil's old one which I also painted white and green to match the dresser and night stand.

Her closet, which frankly I think are way too many clothes, but in my defense I must have bought her 3 outfits, all the rest are gifts.

When I was pregnant with her, we asked Neil what we should name her, he said Button. Pressing the buttons around the house is his favorite thing to do. So, for fun, I made this little craft with buttons and scrapbook paper and put it in a white photo frame from Ikea. I loved how it turned out!

The dresser and night stand were two pieces I bought for a song from craigslist and painted white and pale green and changed the knobs. It looks nice and different and I love the lines on it.

The milky way on the ceiling and it looks great when it is pitch dark.

I loved working on the nursery as it was a labor of love for me. With a toddler, and work, and a hundred other things clamoring for my attention, it was hard to spend a lot of time thinking about the baby inside. But when I was painting, and ordering fabric, it really was a sweet time thinking about her. (usually late at night when I get a minute to myself)

It really is a very peaceful room, much like the personality of our baby girl who is a week old today. Finally, a picture of our precious Niya.

Niya's birth story

I have not updated this blog in forever, so I am not even sure I had mentioned I was pregnant with baby #2. Well, 40 weeks and 2 days passed and I gave birth to our beautiful baby girl Niya in the year of our Lord 2012. I want to remember how she was born so I am recording it here. I am not even sure anyone other than myself reads this blog anymore so really it is just for myself.

This whole pregnancy was so different from when I was pregnant with Neil. One of the main reasons for the absence on the blog is that we were super busy with a house move, and I had a horrible first trimester. I was hit with migraines which I have never had before in my life. Then they found I had a thyroid issue. I lost a lot of weight and the morning sickness was horrible. I gained my first pound at 21 weeks. Anyway, all this to say that I should not have been so surprised that the birth went the way it did. At close to 38 weeks, I started having contractions and while it was not too bad, it really scared me into thinking that I was going into labor. That really sped up things from my end of getting ready for the baby. I got everything ready for the nursery and got the hospital bag ready and even washed her clothes. Since my mom was not planning to come until the 28th, I even arranged with a friend to watch Neil. So, all was in readiness. After all the getting ready, she then decided to stay awhile after all. At my 37 week check, I was 1cm dilated and 25% effaced. Every week after that, I was 1 more cm dilated. So, at my due date I was 60% effaced and close to 4 cm.

My due date fell on a Saturday and my last check up was on Tuesday. We scheduled an induction on Tuesday if baby was not planning on coming before that. I was not super thrilled about the induction, to be completely honest, but I was happy that at least I was able to have my favorite doctor there that day. When I was praying, I prayed I would be able to go naturally on Tuesday. Saturday came and went, and so did Sunday. We all went to church and went out to eat. We came back and I was seized with a desire to clean house. My mom was baffled and kept insisting that I should rest. I was on a roll and cleaned the kitchen and living room and even cleaned the leather sofa with a conditioner that I had bought a while ago which was not opened until that day. Should that have been a clue? I had been having Braxton hicks for pretty much every day until Sunday, but that day, I had no pain, and was very much energized. My mom and I talked late into the night, then I felt hungry around 1 am. I ate some noodles, had water melon, and finally at around 2 am went upstairs to sleep. I was tired and woke up at 2:45 with a contraction. This felt different, but I decided I won't disturb anyone until I felt it more intense and more frequent. I continued to try and sleep. I got the next one at 3:10 and it felt about the same. I didn't really go back to sleep and at 3:22 am my water broke. I immediately woke up my husband, transferred Neil to mom, grabbed the hospital bag, and was out the door and in the car by 3:32 am.

It was a 30 minute drive to the hospital and the contractions at first were every 10 minutes. Then it became every 4 minutes and were getting very intense. I kept praying over and over, Lord, please let me get to the hospital. We got there and since it was in the wee hours of the morning, the door was locked and R had already driven away, I started panicking. Thankfully, there was a phone and I managed to call in and get in. I went to the reception, and she asked me for the SSN. I could barely talk and gave her my number and then started kneeling on the floor. At this point, I really felt like I wanted to poop. They took me to triage, checked me, and almost immediately wheeled me out to labor and delivery. I kept saying, it hurts, it hurts. I felt like I kept asking for epidural, but hubby says that I only asked for it twice. It was 4:20, I remember everyone asking me to breathe and I was not listening. Nothing was helping. I vaguely remember wondering why they were not giving me IV for epidural. There was a haze of faces and the pain was intense and I know I wanted to push so bad. My whole body was telling me to push and the nurses told me no pushing as the doctor was not there. R told me lat that I bit him and that I kicked one of the nurses. I don't remember any of that. One thing I do remember. R looked straight into my eye and said, Annie, she is almost here, you are going to have to do it without an epidural. What stood out to me is that the called me Annie. He has called me Annie twice before in our married life. Once when saying the wedding vows, second when Neil was born. I then knew things were serious. I calmed down then as I knew I had to do whatever it took to bring her out. I heard the nurse say, she is full term and she can push with the next contraction whether the doctor is here or not. God bless her! Thankfully, the doctor came then and when the next contraction came, I pushed her out.

Niya Kalpana was born at 4:32 am perfect and beautiful at 5 lb 11 oz, 18 inches long. Yes, she is tiny. But not a lot tinier than how her mama was. It was a very short labor by any standard and all things considered, it was perfect. I had a minor tear which the doctor stitched with a local anesthesia. It was not too bad actually. I never had a birth plan, and an all natural delivery was certainly not in any plan of mine. But God orchestrated the details perfectly, he gave me the grace to undergo the pain (albeit the kicking and biting) and it worked out so well that the pain came in the night so we could get to the hospital in time with no traffic. I don't know if it has anything to do with the fact that I had a drug free delivery, but my recovery was much better and faster. I personally think it was because of the fast labor so it was not very exhausting. We feel very blessed and are back home from the hospital now. There is a Jewish prayer I posted when Neil was born and I can't find anything more appropriate than that.

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.