Halloween

Our little darling’s first Halloween!!

I can’t tell u how excited I am having a baby girl home. There seems to be an instant rise in the energy levels to celebrate anything n everything . I’m thoroughly enjoying making her the scapegoat, using her as an excuse to dress up, celebrate and do all things I find cute myself. Celebrating Halloween is one such thing!

Things that come to my mind when I think of Halloween has more to do with the cuteness than the scary stuff. Love the insanely cute costumes, the bizarre creativity and theme decors, jack-o’-lanterns, booing, trick or treating, and playing pranks. But not a fan of the horror stuff, the superstitions or the candy shower on kids

By the way, we hosted our first Halloween in Milwaukee last year. It was so much fun and the group made it more special. We were 3 families, all of whose babies were less than a year which meant it was “OUR BABIES’ FIRST HALLOWEEN”

Hmm… I had never really celebrated Halloween till last year as my dad had freaked out the one time I had thought of it. He said “no negativity at home” and had asked me to change the theme to something subtle”. I guess he was more worried about the after effects it would cause in me. Yes!! about the horror and stuff. I just can’t help it, still get scared to this day 😦

So now you guys know why it had to be a cutesy spooky party and nothing scary 😛     Here’s presenting you our first Halloween together 🙂

Happy Halloween from the Pink Panther!!!

 

 

Trick or treat time

 

LOL!! still can’t forget the look on her face

 

Our house getting party ready in Milwaukee

 

The silly spooky baby friendly decor

 

POTLUCK!! Menu: idly ,pizzas ,milkshake,cupcake and noodle pasta ;P

 

The fun crowd!

 

Pink panther, Owl and Bunny 🙂

 

Check the mommies hiding/holding them in place  behind 😉

It was like a circus trying to get them in a single frame. Three monkeys jumping, turning, laughing and crawling away. After about 30 minutes of constantly putting them back in place this is the best we  managed to capture

Aww! look at those smiles.. Totally worth it!!

Daddy’s girl

“Daddy, I may have found my charming prince but you will always be my undisputed king”

So used to being called a daddy’s girl all my life , I googled for the literal meaning of the phrase. Must say, I was quite surprised to find few negative interpretation which otherwise had been only beautiful in my head. A very cute phrase which in fact I was proud of. Something I relate to as being loved and pampered, being over protected, being the apple of someone’s eye

So what shaped this meaning for me ? Of course the memories and the world created by my dad. The first male that every girl observes through her twinkling eyes and the one who touches her heart forever is her father. Likewise, my dad has been a great influence in my life. Be it the way he strives for the family, the way he treats my mother, the way he shields us from evil eyes, the way he fills the air with laughter, the way he has set an example of how compassionate and loving a man can be

Thank u dad for giving the greatest gift of a fairy tale life and being a guardian who would  fight every battle in the tale along with me like “my gladiator”

As i wrote this blog i heard loud giggles and laugh from the other room. Sensing something fishy, I went to the room only to find all my craft stuff  out on the floor. The new generation father daughter duo had designed a game out of them . The minute i turned my glance towards my daughter, she grabbed a handful n ran to dadda, her gladiator

Looks like we have another daddy’s girl emerging in our family 🙂 No words to describe the sight of the tiny me right in front of my eyes..

Silly DAD!!

The safest place!

My love

I’m gonna eat you

My Play toy

Lets get a close up

Are’nt we cute?

Picnic time

Daddy’s girl 🙂

And I thought I knew better …

It had been a few days now. Though it was a mutual decision, I somehow wasn’t convinced yet. Don’t know why but I was frustrated. Definitely the right decision, yet not really the right one

I had decided to stay back and had let him go. Yes! I had, but why did he agree? Why didn’t he fight me over it? I hated it that he didn’t oppose me enough

It was high time I vented out everything. I knew he was sleepy but I didn’t care. I wasn’t seeking an explanation. I just wanted to give him a piece of my mind. So picked up the phone and did exactly that. Finally I said, “I have a 100 people here caring for me unlike you. I don’t need to have this conversation. I’m better off without your busy self” and slammed the phone down

What was really getting on my nerves was that it somehow didn’t bother him.
I knew it didn’t!
I knew he didn’t have time for me now!
I knew he didn’t understand me at all!

Tring tring!, rang the phone after a few minutes of silence. I looked at the phone not sure if I should answer the call. Reluctantly, I answered but kept quiet

The voice from the other end said, “Now, you can tell me that you miss me in a simpler and nicer way” 🙂

Blush blush! I was not prepared for this. He struck the right spot with just that single line

I had extended my stay at my parents’ place in Bangalore and it had been just 4 days since he had moved to Boston for work. He knew all the while why his wife was in her psycho avatar. And I thought I knew better…

Tiana’s Angelic Party

Yeah, its my party you are peeking into 🙂

Happy valentine’s to everyone. Its the season of love and I hope it spreads like wild fire all around the world. Here’s a sneak peak into the birthday party we hosted for Tia that symbolizes this infectious festival

A beautiful thought struck me a few months ago as I was digging into my bucket list . This made it easier for me to plan a special celebration I always wanted for  my little Bajaari’s (naughty one) 1st birthday which otherwise would be hours of brainstorming in my own head 🙂

So, what was the special thing ?? It was the guest list 🙂  We decided to have kids from an orphanage join us for the bash along with close family and friends. With this idea in place, it was time to plan the “Angelic Party“. Yes, that’s exactly what I called it. The mission was to gather smiles on behalf of Tia and to ensure we made a day special in the lives of those innocent kids

Party ready!!

The orphanage we chose was “Belaku Shishu Vihara”. We were associated with them on earlier occasions and had seen that they were doing a great job in raising the kids. Next job was to finalize the venue. My Chikkappa gladly offered his huge convention hall for the party. Guess it was the first time a b’day party was being hosted in this elite wedding hall:) With the basics taken care of, we rolled out these cute invites

Moving on to the decoration, I decided to go with the love theme. Red fans n white hearts served as the backdrop and the table was filled with chocolates, candies, cookies, the cake of course and few gifts.

The teeny tiny details

Oh! another important thing …  An angelic party without angels?? Of course not! The lovely souls who worked their asses out helping with the decor, planning, catering, monitoring, etc. were tagged “Tia’s Angels“. They kept the energy flowing and the entertainment rolling

Tia’s Angels

The party started with all the kids assembling on the day’s morning brimming with energy. It just took them an ice breaker to open up and they gelled like they were one of us. The games began and there was so much noise and laughter that we cursed ourselves for forgetting the mike.

The tattoo artist got busy and ensured every single kid was inked and the Golgappa(Indian street chat) uncle was kept busy till he had emptied  the entire basket. These two were a real hit with the kids. Then it was dance lessons which turned into mad dancing within no time 🙂

Come lunch time, the kids were so engrossed in the games that they refused to take a break. But when they actually did, there was not a single dish wasted in the counter. Post lunch it was a continuation of the revelry with more dancing, games and a session on recycling. Seriously with so much talent overflowing, it was quite an exhibition

The fun begins

Sweating it out!!

On spot volunteers

Overloaded!!

Finally, we all sobered down by evening, sat down to a relaxing badam drink and few lovely songs were dedicated by the kids to us, thus wrapping up an amazing day. It was a very different experience and made so much more meaning.

Such a lovely sight it was, with bundles of joy everywhere around. Mission accomplished! Cheers to Love!

A Birth Story

Knock knock!! called out a faint voice from within. It said,  “Mama, I am getting stuffy in here. Get me out and I promise to change your life forever”

It was a sunny Monday morning at the birth centre when my little baby got restless and cried out those exact words in my crazy head 😉 And blindly trusting our telepathy, I got myself prepared to bring it out into my beautiful world. After hours and hours of yogic breathing exercises, I finally  reached the 10cm  dilation point which is like the entry permit to the actual labor ward.

Yes! The moment arrived and as I was being shifted, we all rode an emotional roller-coaster to the labor ward. So nervous, so anxious, so tensed, yet so confident and excited. My husband Vikram, was such a bundle of nerves that he couldn’t even set the camera. Still, everyone filled in their places perfectly – Vikram by my side, an awesome doctor helping me bring a new life on earth, an anxious crowd waiting outside the room.  The intense pain, the tears, the encouraging voices-“Push, u r doing great! Breathe!  Now! Now! Harder! One final push!”. Pop came my little angel into this world. I finally did it:) Tears rolled down my eyes. My baby was out safe!

The new life was  placed immediately on my belly and our lifeline for so many months, ie the umbilical cord was cut. The nurse rushed our baby for a cleaning, while the doctor worked on my stitches. Vikram looked on, wanting to be in both places at the same time.  Doc said “Go to your baby” ,and he ran behind the nurse to be with his lovechild. As he stared on, the nurse gave the baby its first shot of injection. So overwhelmed we were, that we had forgotten one important thing till then. Suddenly a realization, “Girl or a boy?”, exclaimed my husband. The doctor laughed and shouted “IT’S A GIRL”

He rushed back to me with her, kissed me n said “Hennu magu chinnu!” (we have a baby girl). What a moment! Those innocent blinking eyes ! MAGICAL!! I instantly fell in love with her.

Did I just give life? It was so hard to believe that it was for real. I held her in my arm, all tears and smiles. With pride I felt “she is mine, so beautiful, adorable, soothing, and perfect”. She reminded me that something divine, may be god, must exist for such miracles and mysteries to occur. Thank u god for bringing this lovely little life into my world.

My little princess Tiana

Just outside the labor  room was my family waiting  to see the seed  of a new generation. As I am the eldest amongst my cousins, you can imagine all the hoopla around the first baby’s birth.  Literally every member of our big lovely family would be promoted. My grandparents became great grandparents, parents became grandparents and so on. Even the little pug who was the youngest in the family till now had a niece 🙂 And guess who shared the birthday!! It was my elder bro who turned 25 the same day which called for a double celebration. So it was 3 special cakes – One for bro’s 25th, one for the 1st time parents  and a 0 candle cake for the real BIRTHday girl Tiana

The Birthday Duo

I saw the joy filled room n sighed, what a brilliant decision it was to come back to India for my delivery. After all how many of us would have the privilege of having great grandparents by the side of our birth. I am so glad that we got back to our nest to weave such beautiful memories. May you cherish it forever Tia 🙂

One Happy Family

The celebration

So tiny… so sweet…

The great grandparents cutting the cake on our behalf