Saturday, March 14, 2015

Around here // March 2015



1// We have a newly ambulatory member of the family.  He was so proud of himself for walking.

We are too. 

This has been a big week for him.  He has been talking a lot and lifted his life long ban on the word Mama.  Yay! No one is more excited about that than I am.  And, I'm sure Dada appreciates the break.

He also got a four week reprieve from weight checks by the pediatrician for all his recent weight gain.  Go Lakshman go!

2// Getting ready for our little girl's Pi Day birthday.

This year is a big one because when "I turn four, I gonna be a baby again."

I wonder if she's trying to tell us something with this?  The psychology at work is quite the mystery.



3// Enjoying the emergence of the sun.  I am so ready for spring.  I live in Texas now, I don't do winters anymore!  Bring on the flowers and days at the park. Our garden is pretty much planted, but I still love our regular trips to Natural Gardner in our neighborhood.


4// Looking at Anthro's new Indian-inspired line and trying to figure out why the marketing irritates me so much.  The fact that all, save one, of the Indian people are used as photo props, and not protrayed as equals doesn't help. I seem to be getting offended by everything these days.  Don't even get me started on the last episode of the Mindy Project.  Hindus are 'Godless" now?  Nice one Stephen Colbert.




5 // We already broke out the eggs after a recent trip to Target.  For $3 you can buy white craft eggs, to dye and decorate.  These are worth their weight in gold.  Not having to poke holes and wait for all the goop to drip out and then trying to puncture the yolk.  Or worse, hard boiling them and finding a nice pungent little surprise in the most random places around the house.  And, half of them break while dying anyway.


These are sturdy and not plastic.  We dyed them but the result wasn't fantastic.  We are going to paint them next.  I kind of want to make these galaxy eggs really badly.



6 // I feel like the everyone is descending on Austin this week for SXSW.  I am at least equal parts excited and scared.  The traffic is horrific and FOMO is palpable.  Hoping to find at least one fun free concert to take the kids to.


Sunday, March 8, 2015

Happy Holi | Holi Ke Din Dil Khil Jaate Hai



Growing up this was the type of Holi celebrations my dreams were made of.  I would pore over the pictures of my parents playing Holi together in India with utter amazement.

Growing up in the 80's in Pennsylvania we just didn't have regular access to Indian stores and I never remember seeing any stocked with Holi color.  It is always too cold there to have much fun anyway.  Playing Holi was the unattainable.  The long lost and left behind celebration I could only dream about.

I think a lot of people are more familiar with it now as the Color Run.  But that is based on an actual Hindu holiday and custom.  It is not a race or competition.  It is about renewal and faith in God.  It is about community.   It is about pure joy and love.  It is about family.
This is what the Holi of my dreams looks like now.  Sitting down trying to open up more bags of colored powder while I get ambushed by these three.

And, it is way better than I ever imagined.

Fun to the core.

Joyful, a time to let go, get messy and run around wildly together.



 Does life get any better?



Of course I never get stressed the mess going all over? NOT A BIT. 

Ok, a bit.  

But, the car is easy to clean, we go straight in for showers and baths. I worry about the rugs, I do.  Though I make everybody put their clothes in the washing machine as soon as we get home.

I also wrapped my camera body up in bandages so the powder wouldn't get stuck deep inside the mechanism.  It seemed to help.
 Nandini loved it.  Chasing Avinash and running around with their newly made friends.  She was so excited about the new white dress we bought together the day before.  Right at the end she started to worry that her dress was "getting messy".  Really, where?  I don't see anything unusual. 

She totally didn't buy our, "It's getting more beautiful" line.  Smart girl.

Lakshman loves anything that involves chasing his kids around.  They were pretty good about keeping the powder off his head.  They would lovingly dab his legs and feet, just make my heart melt why don't you? Most of that on his face is from me.






Happy Holi everyone!

Monday, March 2, 2015

Lakshman, you are one!



 Lakshman, you are one year old!  We can hardly believe how much you have changed and grown!


I think you were getting a cold on the actual day of your birthday.  We stayed home, other than your year one check up.  We played with your animals and I took lots of pictures in the playroom.  Definitely one of your spots in the house.  If you only knew how to climb down the stairs safely we would let you hang out there all the time .

You are the happiest, sweetest and most friendly baby I have ever seen.  Your capacity for joy is enormous.  Either when bouncing in his swing or playing ball with his kids, I have never seen joy and laughter like yours before. You have made friends with at least half the kids in Avinash's kindergarten class.  You play with them so much you have started to recognize them.  And you jump out of my arms when you do so you don't miss out.  You love to poke and prod your friends until they laugh right along with you.


You have a fuzzy head and love to snuggle.  You have only grown more bear like as you grow older much to our delight.

 The year has not been with out it's ups and downs though.  You got the flu at the beginning of the year and our pediatrician started to really panic about your lack of weight gain there after.  You are teeny tiny and we are still playing catch up (You wouldn't even eat your birthday cake, or taste it and mama cried).  A few days after your one year check up the doctor was ready to put you in the hospital.  We managed to hold off on this because you gained a few ounces that week but weekly doctor and therapy visits have become the norm.  We have finally started making progress, but it is slow and steady at best.

Things have been stressful but you have it doesn't seem to have affected you in the slightest thankfully.  We have changed up your diet to include lots more fat and it is helping.

The day before your birthday you were definitely in better spirits than the actual day of.  We went to the botanical garden and soaked in the sunshine.  It was the day of the superbowl, just like the day you were born.

Last year we watched from the hospital right after you were born.  My eyes never even looked at the screen.  My family was there, helping me and helping with the kids.  The very first my mom said after you were born was "He is one lucky baby" thus naming you and anointing you. My best friend, who normally lives over a thousand miles away, miraculously showed up at the hospital too, just in time to meet him on his birthday.

One year later, the day was much less exhausting and thrilling but I am reminded of how we are the lucky ones and how much he has added to our lives.

We are so proud of you and love you so much! Happy Birthday (and one month) Lakshman bear!

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Harry Potter Story | LOTW

I am back again on the Studio Calico blog this week for my HP Story layout.  You can check out the feature over here.


It is so simple, but I really love this layout.  The big black letters from this past month's kit are so bold and graphic, I couldn't help but fall in love.  The picture may or may not have anything to do with Harry Potter really, but the baby really does love to wave his arms and cast spells with the big kids all the time.

I actually would like to do more pages about the books we read and listen to.  It is such a big part of our life but I so rarely have any images to go along with it.  Any ideas for scrapping about this would be much appreciated!
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