Friday fun!

It was a blessing to be able to stay home today and spend time with Koko. I am taking Friday's off for the next couple months. She clearly prefers to be home than go to daycare. She was a lot less cranky today and more playful. Here's what she was up to...

Bye Koko...

...was the hardest thing to say this morning. Yes, my 4 months of maternity leave has finally come to an end. I felt terrible leaving Koko this morning and even shed a few tears (okay maybe a little more than just a few!). Shomeek dropped her off at daycare where she slept through most of her stay. After I got back home in the evening, all I could do was hold her close to me and smother her with kisses. She slept through most of that too. For some reason she was extra sleepy today. But all in all I had mixed feelings. After going to work I kind of liked the time away too though I could not stop looking at her pictures all day. But I have to admit that my new company has been really flexible with my needs. They gave me a very warm welcome and helped me ease myself back into the work mode. At CDA I really feel taken care of as an employee compared to my previous job. That's all folks!

CONVERSATIONS...

The pictures say it all~

Jazzing it up!

Every time of this year we make it a point to visit the jazz festival in old Sactown. We are not the ones to buy tickets and sit through one performance - we are the cheap wanderers - walking around, eating, enjoying the good weather and some of the amazing street performances and ofcourse listening to all the music that flow into the night from the real ticketed performances - so why pay??? ha..ha...
This year was no different except of course we had Koko with us. Yup that's what we are calling Evani now - since she seems to love it. She had a great time absorbing very intently all that was going around. The Baby Bjorn carrier did come in very handy. Our friends Soma, Kiran and their son Ronav also joined us there.

Here is Koko and mommy - all jazzed up!



These guys were amazing. Check out the scrap that they are using as instruments. This band is a regular at the event.



And here are some pictures from the evening...

FUN weekend!

I don't even know where to begin with. Saturday was the big birthday bash for the McNulty quads - Russ, Ally, Molly and Libby. I couldn't begin to tell how much fun they were. It was also Evani's first birthday party - and of course she slept through the entire celebrations - which was good for us mom and dad. Looking at Conor and Gen made me feel so proud - they are just wonderful human beings and I'm so glad to have them as friends. Here is a little video of the quads celebrating their b'day...



My very first mother's day morning started with cuddle time with Evani and a gift certificate for a 60 mins massage. That morning we took Evani to Costco to get her picture taken for her passport. I was sure it would be a disaster, but thankfully she was in a very good mood and after some acrobatics from Shomeek, we were finally able to get a shot of her without Shomeek's hands in the picture. She also let us finish our shopping at Costco unlike the first time when she had screamed murder and I had to retract to one corner of costco to get away from ugly stares. That time we had to abandon our shopping spree and run out of there.

The proud parents...

Weekend fun!

Much to our surprise it was a busy weekend. I've always told myself that I do not want to become one of those moms who won't step out of the house because they have a baby. So even though we have a cranky one - we are taking baby steps to take her around with us - and getting used to dealing with her crying in most inappropriate times and locations. This weekend included trips to Pick up stix in Folsom for take-out chinese, shopping at Mervyn's and sunday lunch at Mehran - her first ever restaurant visit - which was a mini disaster..ha..ha...

We've had a few visitors since last week. Aunty Linh and Meagan came over for cuddles. We also got to spend some time with Soma mashi, Kiran mesho and our dearest Ronav.

Testing out the new swing

My brave little darling

Yesterday was Evani's first shots. I was very nervous about the whole affair and especially since Shomeek was on a business trip and was not able to accompany me. However, it went off pretty well. She definitely cried while being poked with four needles (they have got to find a way of giving four shots at once!) - but after that she gave me no trouble at all. In fact she came home and had a little playtime. That might all be because I had started drugging her with infant tylenol even before we visited the doc's office...but I'd like to beleive she was very brave about the whole thing...ha...ha..

Some more pics

Lunch with aunty Michelle

So I was not kidding when I said that we were on a visitng spree. Today we visited aunty Michelle for lunch. Thanks to little Adah, Michelle has become quite the baby expert. Evani was fussy since it was her nap time - however, Michelle held her and put her to sleep in miutes. Not only that - she ate her lunch while holding her - something I haven't done yet..ha..ha... It was a very nice break for me. The best part was uncle Joss gave us a surpise visit and was able to plant a few kisses on a sleeping Evani.
As usual Evani was sporting a cute grandma Pauline outfit. Thanks aunty Michelle for having us over for lunch!

Visitng aunty CJ, Maggie and Daisy

Today was special in two ways. First - I was FINALLY able to dress Evani in an outfit sent by grandma Pauline. That is very exciting since whoever knows Pauline will know that this is not the only outfit she has sent from across the seas. There are many more even cuter ones and I've been dying to put them on Evani. Unfortuanately she was too tiny for them all this while - but not anymore! :) Thanks to grandma Pauline for making us look so pretty.

Second - today I made the first trip out with Evani all by myself. We went to visit aunty CJ for lunch. What a fun time we had. We also met Maggie and Daisy only with eyes half open though. Maggie was very curious with the foreign object (Evani's car seat) and Daisy seemed to go out for a stroll having found the door open by accident..ha..ha...
Thanks aunty CJ for having us over. Oh! I think I should mention what a beautiful house she has. By far one of the cleanest and tidiest house I've ever been to.

Other aunts and uncles - buckle up - for here we come...

Ms Bobblehead!

Play time

Look - I'm nearly 2 months old!

Its April and I NEED to post...

Okay...okay...I've been exceptionally lame with posting to my blog. I salute Conor, Joy and Michelle for being so regular - especially Michelle in the recent days...:)

I decided to get back to blogging today as it is kind of a special day for me. It is the first day since Evani was born that I am actually home alone with her. As most of you know my dad was out here to help me out - which he did a FAB job at. He finally left last night after 7 weeks. I miss him already.

Today was an interesting day. Evani being colic from birth, is the kind of baby who always wants to be held and gets real cranky at the slightest things, especially if she is put down. All morning today I've been trying to put her down in the bouncer, crib and play pen but to no avail. Even the Baby Bjorn carrier failed me. Finally after a morning full of crying she finally fell asleep at 1pm - hence me seeing the face of my computer. But despite it all - it just feels wonderful to be home with her by myself. Not that I did not like having dad here with me - he was great company - but I did miss our privacy, if you know what I mean.

So starting today, I'm looking forward to my time with Evani till I get back to work on May 29th. If I start losing my sanity I shall call for help! Till then Jen is my inspiration. I also intend to get out more often starting next week and spend some time with my dear friends - so look out for me ladies!!!

Also, for some reason I'm having problems uploading photos - so be patient...:)

Nursery

FINALLY our nursery is good to go. Thanks to Soma (for attempt #1) and Sanhita for their help with the wallie. Thanks to hubbie for intalling and assembling the shades, light and fan, furniture and the little cart as well as dealing with my constant nagging...:) well - atleast i'm happy now. The crib bedding from Michelle looks absolutely adorable - thanks MC!

The SURPRISE shower

Not only do I feel lucky to have family around me, but I am also blessed with some awesome friends who have become such an integral part of my life in this country. I never knew you could share such great friendship with your co-workers but at Lyon - it has been an entirely different story. My friend Joy along with Sanhita and Shomeek organized a baby shower for me on Feb 3rd. It was a great event as I met all my friends and could spend some time with all before the baby arrived. I only wish my little baby knows how lucky she is to receive so many blessings and well-wishes even before her arrival. Next week is Kim's shower and I can't wait to take part in welcoming little Hudson...:) And finally thanks to all of you who came and made the day so special for me. I LOVE YOU ALL!!! :) Special thanks to Joy and Sanhita for making this happen.

The BIG 'shadh'

Jan 28th, my mother-in-law single handedly threw this amazing event for me where she invited most of her and my friends from the Indian community. My brother and his family came from the bay area to be a part of it. Times like these I feel really lucky to have family so close to me in this country.