Before, During, After

So I have been slacking on the blog lately-- this post is pretty self-explanatory and a total mish-mosh of  pictures from random things we've been doing over the last couple of months-- Hope you enjoy!

Pumpkin Patch

Before

 

During

During

After

Halloween

Before

During

During

 

After

After

 Fun with Neal Mama

Before

During

After

Sahil's Party Hat

Before

During

After

Smash Cake

Before

During

After

Nikhil's First Haircut

Before

During

After

 

 

Thanksgiving

Before

Before

Before

Before

 

 

Sorry guys that's all from Thanksgiving the "During" was ugly and for the "After" there was nothing left :)

Santa (Cry) Baby

I went to Southlake Town Square on Sunday afternoon to get the kids out of the house and show them the Christmas decorations while Rakesh was out helping a friend at their new house.  So as  we window shopped and made our way to the front of the square where the Christmas tree was I noticed that Santa was there taking holiday pictures with kids and there was a pretty short line. So, "Silly To Underestimate the Potential of out-of- the-blue, Irrational meltdowns leading to Disastrous outcomes" Mom (hereby referred to as STUPID Mom aka me) thinks "Well this is perfect! They aren't dressed for Santa pics BUT they are fed, in a good mood, and how lucky that there are 3 childrens' stores within a minutes walk from where we are." So, STUPID Mom marches her happy self into Crazy 8, quickly picks out 2 matching sweaters and doles out $43 (way more than she would normally pay for 2 kids sweaters but, hey this was a special situation because, when would taking a picture with Santa be this painless and easy right???).  So, STUPID Mom leaves store, goes back to stand in line and finds out that Santa is on break til 3:30 which is 20 minutes away.  Oh well, no problem, she can dress the boys and walk around for a while. Well it takes the full 20 minutes to convince Sahil to put on the sweater because "I don't want to wear it Mumaaaa!!!" so that actually worked out well. Finally we are in line, the boys are happy again, and it's our turn.  Nikhil sits on Santa's lap and begins smiling and chatting it up and trying to pull Santa's nose off.  Sahil begins screaming and crying when Santa's elf who is doubling as the photographer tries to put him on the sleigh at which point Santa tells ME to hop up on the sleigh as well and maybe Sahil will calm down.  So here I am practically perched up on Santa's lap still wrestling with Sahil while the elf/photographer is snapping away.  So finally after all that... STUPID Mom has to pay $20 for THIS:

It was the best one of 7. Yeah, I can't wait til next year's Santa pics...

Thankful

November 20, 2010-- the date my Grandmother, my Mom's Mom, my Ba passed away. She was such a wonderful, strong, caring and feisty lady. As children we spent so much time with her because once she moved to North Carolina when we were young, she was never more than a 2-3 hour drive away. She was a fabulous cook, quick-witted and always had some story to tell or advice to share (sometimes not what you wanted, but usually what you needed, to hear.)  I knew the day would come when she would no longer be with us but never realized just how hard it would be.  She was the backbone of my Mom's family, having raised 9 kids by herself after my grandfather passed away when her youngest was 3 years old.  She was and still is an inspiration to all of us. I remember talking to her on the phone last year when Sahil had his first ear infection and she was giving me advice as to what I needed to do and I now think to myself, I can't remember what I did from one kid to the next, how did she remember this stuff from 60 years ago?  It's because she was one smart woman!  She taught herself to speak and even read English, she was intuitive and progressive. As she grew older she paid little attention to what was "proper" in terms of old or outdated cultural "rules" but always did what was right and emotionally supported her family through whatever came their way.  She was very spiritual and nurturing especially when you needed it the most.  I can hear her voice and the sweet way she added "ma" to the end of her sentence when she was speaking to us grandkids in her loving tone.  I can also hear her fussing at us for being too loud and running around her house and wreaking havoc :) And I hope I never forget the sound of her infectious laugh that could fill up a room after a particularly funny story that more than likely she told!
So as Thanksgiving is this week I am so thankful for over 34 years of memories and advice from my Ba-- thankful she gave me my Mom, who is so much like her--strong, nurturing, quick-witted, and yes, a little stubborn!-- thankful my kids got to meet one of their great-grandmothers--thankful I went to Charlotte two weekends ago and got to tell her that I love her and goodbye and she told me the same--thankful her suffering was relatively short in the end--thankful and so proud to be her granddaughter--thankful that she will continue to be a guiding force for all of us--So incredibly thankful to have had her in my life! I love you Ba!

One!

My baby turned one yesterday. My BABY turned ONE yesterday! While I took the day to celebrate Nikhil and all that he is to me and our family, I couldn't help but be a little sad that he is growing up way quicker than I am comfortable with.  It really hit me when Baby Center sent me their weekly email referring to my little baby as..."a toddler!" ...I literally got all teary eyed!  It was a sad and happy day for me, but really this post was not intended to be about me, but rather the little man of the day, Nikhil!  While we actually had his big birthday party with family and friends a couple of weeks earlier (pics of that will be up soon), I had had all these great plans in my head of taking the little munchkin to the Fort Worth Zoo for his actual birthday but the week got off to a rocky start with him getting sick. His birthday was the first day that he woke up without a temperature this week so I didn't particularly feel like chancing it and him being miserable later in day. So instead, we spent the morning with him "helping" me make his birthday cake.  I learned that among all his other fine attributes he is an excellent frosting taste tester (ok, I don't normally "sugar-up" the kids before 10am but, hey, it was his birthday!).  After picking up Sahil from school, fighting nap time, taking a walk, and playing outside we decided to meet Rakesh at Central Market for a little birthday dinner. Daddy greeted us with a birthday balloon but of course the birthday boy was fast asleep (due to aforementioned nap fighting) for the entire dinner.  Oh well, we came home and he did end up waking up enough to enjoy a sliver of cake :) All in all it was a great day to celebrate our little Nikki-poo!

So, what have I learned about Nikhil in his first year of life?  Well, he has exhibited quite a strong personality that is for sure!  He is energetic and expressive (do not try feeding him another bite of something he does not want to eat or it will be promptly swatted away by "Baby Kong"--Bina Masi's term of endearment),  playful and persistent, not a good napper but a very good eater, silly and STRONG--don't know if I can count on Rakesh and Sahil to protect me, but Nikhil without a doubt will come to the rescue!!  Which leads into the next description: DE-structive --he can tear the play area apart in mere seconds-- yet, endearing--he will smile and come give me a big sloppy wet kiss after I bust him and say and say "no!" in my firm "mean mommy" voice.

Yes, those are banana puffs all over the floor courtesy of my monster!

He is totally mischievous and a great partner in crime for his big brother, but, best of all...

 he is still my cuddle bear...

Hope that doesn't change anytime soon!

He is my second born, and I often go to bed feeling guilty knowing that because of this fact, he has had to be a little stronger and cry a little louder (and longer) than his brother to get Mommy's attention... but make no mistake he will ALWAYS be tied for #1 in my heart--  Love you my little Googie Bear!

Pigskins and Pedicures?!?

It's that time of year again-- when the air is crisp and the days are shorter-- when sweatshirts are a wardrobe staple-- when Rakesh is constantly trying to brainwash our kids (I'm not even joking) and all I ever hear from him is "the Browns should fire...wah-wahh--wah-wahh--wahhhh" (insert your best Charlie Brown teacher impression here) or "Ohio State is gonna win blah-blah-blah" -- that's right... it's football season!!

 

This year instead of dreading the inevitability of getting ignored for 5 months of Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays, I have decided to embrace this time of year.  I'm thinking that football is a good bonding time for all of my boys-- such a good bonding experience that there should be no girls around to ruin it.  I'm thinking that I should just make sure to be out of their way every Saturday afternoon and maybe even Sunday too-- I'm thinking I may have some of the prettiest, softest feet I've had in a while come Superbowl! I'm thinking "Yes... yes, I WOULD like to have a french manicure as well, thank you very much." Let's see how this all pans out...
BTW, I have started my own little covert operation:

 Don't tell Rakesh :)

Happy 40th!!!

I couldn't let the month of September pass by without paying homage to my wonderful parents who celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary this month. Being married only 5 years, I realize this is no small feat--marriage is hard at times and constantly a work in progress but they are great role models.  Throughout the years I have learned so much from the two of them.

They've taught us how to argue effectively.

 

 

How to laugh at ourselves (and I should also add here the importance of a good education.)

They've shown me how to be a better and more patient parent.

They've taught us that amazing experiences in life far outweigh amazing material things. We never had the most impressive wardrobe growing up but I can bet you we had some of the best family vacations!

Most importantly they taught us to always stick together...

 

 ...and the true meaning...

...of love!

 

Here's to 40 more fabulous years together! Love you!