Saturday, February 20, 2010

Sheikh Agooboo and the Patriarchal Family

Who says we are not a patriarchal family?

Look at the (one socked) family patriarch.



Banging his hand on his bumbo armchair and asking for his mama headslave.



What do you mean she is not available? I am hungry!!!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Lentil Fritters

Day before yesterday I cam home from work and look what I found.



It is lentil fritters or where I come from, it is called parippu vada. It is really delicious. I had made it once before, but it tastes so much better when I am not the one doing the work.

My MIL is staying with us for a while. My husband's slightest wish is her command, so I have been enjoying some of the fringe benefits as well :)

Monday, February 15, 2010

Just a hello

It has been such a long while since my last post. Things are crazy busy as usual. Neil got sick recently and he is on antibiotics. Him being sick really puts a damper on my days and brings me down like nothing else. His voice changed because of the sickness and for a while he sounded like he hit puberty. And the coughs... oh my word the coughs. Hearing them almost did me in. I tried to keep him off the antibiotics, nut the infection was not going away. He started getting lethargic and it was so different from the happy active baby that we see every day. He is mending and on his way to getting better. Except that I got sick taking care of him. It is not even 9 pm and I have no energy.

He was up almost till 4 am on Saturday. I got up at 8 am and then cooked, went shopping and was sick and dead tired by the time I was back. I was planning on going for a Bible conference, but instead I slept like a baby till 9 pm. I guess I needed the sleep as it was that or church Sunday morning. I am still sick and exhausted.

I am doing well on most of my resolutions except for the one about walking every day. Then again, the weather here has not really been conducive to walking. It has been crazy and I have not been doing any exercise either. My stomach is not a thing of beauty and certainly not a joy forever, but I need to get disciplined if that has to change.

Is there any pill or something I can take for my energy levels? Don't know if I mentioned, but I am really low on energy.

I am sure there were other things I wanted to write down, but I can't think of a thing. But I wanted to say hello to my 2 readers out there. Oh, and how can I post without at least one cute picture of the little one?



Now I will do everyone a favor and go to sleep. I don't want to be whiny on the blog, so I was almost not going to say it, but I really have no energy.

Friday, February 05, 2010

Eat your vegetables

Dr. C, Neil's pediatrician asks us every time if we are eating enough vegetables. Else we should have juice plus. He is a nice dctor and we love him, but his obsession with juice plus is not very appetizing (no pun intended).

Anyway, this is a dish we have fairly regularly, at least once every two weeks.



(The picture is before I cooked it)

It has 11 different vegetables in it. I guess my question is

Are you eating your vegetables, Dr. C?

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Cure for Ills

If you are feeling slightly down today, here is something to bring a smile to your face.

Enjoy!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Five months

Dear Neil,

You are 5 months old today! Giminy crickets, at this rate, before I blink, you will be off to college!



But for today, you are still my small baby who I can cuddle and dress up (as you can see from the above photo). And YOU ROLLED OVER TODAY!!! I have been working on your rolling over for a few days now and today just like that you did it yourself.



And then you did it 2 more times. Your dad, grandmother and I cheered you as soon as you did it and there was the biggest smile on your face. We are so proud of you, baby!

So what is going on with you?

1. Your first Christmas: Our Christmas was infinitely sweeter having you around. You probably had no idea what in the world was going on. But we had the best time with you. Your aunt (my sister), uncle and cousins came over here for the holidays and baby, you were loved to bits.



Your cousins could not get enough of you and were kissing and hugging and playing with you and I could never tire of seeing the love.



2. We travelled to the Keys and rented a villa. Since your grandma had to leave to India in the middle of the vacation, there was quite a bit of traveling and you are the BEST TRAVELER EVER. You didn't make any fuss at all and was always smiling and laughing and playing with everyone.

3. Your grandma had to leave back home after Christmas. She helped me look after you for the first 4 months of your life and she missses you really badly.



4. Now your other grandma is here and she has some tricks up her sleeve to entertain you. She has also totally fallen under your spell. One of her tricks is to make an air bubble in the mouth and break it. You just find it highly entertaining and laugh loudly.

5. We took you to your first movie, "Where the Wild Things Are". We all went when your cousins were here and you slept through the entire thing. Actually, so did I. But everyone else enjoyed.

6. We also took you to putt-putt golf. You were in a sling on your Dad's back and you were awake and enjoying almost the entire time.



6. You also went bowling, and it was not even your first time! You also went for a Lion safari and we just scared you by all our yelling and excitement. We also took you on a glass bottomed boat tour while we were in the Keys.

We take you just about everywhere we go and you are so well behaved. Unlike some of the blessings we take for granted in life, in this case I well realize what a blessing it is that you have such a sweet, sunny personality.

The day your grandma arrived, I was walking towards the kitchen to meet her with you in my hand when I slipped and fell. I broke the fall with my knees and elbows and you were safe in my hands and did not even touch the floor. But that evening, you cried for almost 2 hours like you have never before. Later we found out that it was eczema, but we wondered if the fall had hurt you internally. I have never wondered about my love for you. But that evening, during the agonizing hours I spent wondering about the fall, I came face to face with the extent of how much you mean to me.

You are so interactive now, it is such a joy to be around you. I start every morning with "Good Morning Agooboo" and you give me the biggest smile. God knew that Mamma needed a Neil in her life and I thank God every day for the privilege he gave me of being your Mom. My hope and prayer for you is that you will grow into a man He wants you to be and that you will know Him early in life, the one who loves you more than I do.

Love,
Mamma

Friday, January 08, 2010

New Year Resolutions

Hi, if you are coming over from Kelly's, welcome. Thanks for visiting. I will have you know that I kept all of last year's resolutions because I had none. Last December, we found out we were having a baby after a struggling journey. It was the most exciting time for us. So when New Year came around, I had no intention of making resolutions, all I wanted was a healthy baby come August. And now, our sweet Neil is 4 months old and he is the sunshine of our lives. But along with Neil, I also got a nice tummy which makes me still look about 4 months pregnant. Now I know it is everybody's favorite NYR of all time to lose weight. Please don't hate me, but even after a baby I am only 108 pounds. So mine is not exactly to lose weight. It is rather to stop my tummy from jiggling when I walk. If you are new here, I will also have you know that I love making lists. Before I was a Mommy, I made extensive lists. I still do, just that I don't get past 2 items from the list. There is nothing like a little online accountability to get things moving. So after the longest introduction ever, here is my list of NYR.

Since I want to actually keep these, I have only some very humble, attainable goals. Here goes.

1. Read 1 chapter of bible everyday. I am ashamed to say that with arrival of baby, I have really slacked on this.

2. Floss 4 times a week. I know, it is kind of odd to make a resolution like that. Much like saying "It is my resolution to shower everyday or wear clothes" or along that lines. But the fact is that I don't floss and the dentist has assured me that considering the amount of cavities I have, I should be flossing or else wear dentures soon. And why 4 times a week instead of everyday? Because I am all about low expectations.

3. Eat prenatal vitamins every day. No, I am not pregnant again. But it has been recommended for "women of childbearing age", and I have decided it is good for me.

4. Blog twice a week. Or 100 posts in 2010. if you look at my past posting, it seems a highly unattainable goal. And looking at past week, I am already fighting a losing battle. But I still have my hopes up. And I really want to do it. I have things I want to say, hubby can pretend to listen only so much.

5. Drink 2 bottles of water a day.DH says it should be 4. But coming from 4 sips a day, I think I should start low. Again low expectations.

8. Eat breakfast every day. I haven't eaten breakfast since 2003. I know. Its never too late to make changes. Or is it? I had breakfast only once in 2010. So again, losing battle.

9. Do stretching everyday. To do away with the jiggle I was talking about.

10.Walk 3 times a week. Again, hasn't happened in 2010. I blame the cold weather. As soon as it goes, I will be walking. Cross my heart and hope to die.

11.Start attending Ladies Bible Study at chapel. I loved going to it and hasn't gone since August. I would love to start going to that again. And stop making Neil as an excuse for my laziness. Should that count as another resolution?

12.Read to baby every day. I do that pretty much everyday and it is something I love to do, but I sometimes just skip. And I don't want to do that.

So, you have it. I am thinking I will do a monthly accountability post. Which should also make up for 12 posts out of the 100 in 2010. And hopefully keep my resolutions.