Post #30 30-day Photo Challenge

Post #30: In motion

So my daughter has been learning to walk since 3 months now, but she has been very slow. She finally has started to enjoy walking, and its an absolute delight to see her walk everywhere in the house, as well as outside the house. She has FUN and is LOVING it, and so are we :). Here's an "in motion" video of the newest toddler on the block :).

"Please click below link as blogger would not allow me to post it the video here without uploading to YouTube"

https://picasaweb.google.com/103403912050712677171/2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCO3A57rN-L3FwQE#5658326078189382642

With this, we come to an end of this 30-day challenge. I sure had fun doing it....a couple of days were very challenging for me so I could not do the post before midnight, and made sure I wrote a post for each day. This challenge gave me something to look forward to after a busy day at work and a busy day as a mom and wife and daughter. It made me go down the memory lane on many occasions and I cherished some of the fun times of the past. It also helped me pen down my thoughts on motherhood on a daily basis, and I am sure I will cherish these writings years later when my kiddo is all grown up :).

Thank you for reading and following along!

Day 29 30-day Photo Challenge

Day29: Purchased

Jeez this one is tough. Things I purchase on a routine basis are not worth blogging about. I was hoping that by the time I write this post, I would have purchased Ruhi's Halloween costume for this year. I kept on thinking what I would buy....hubby and I even exchanged links of few costumes, but nothing stood out. Today evening, our neighbors (who are amazing) gave us an outfit that their daughter wore a couple years ago. I don't want to spoil the surprise, so I will just say that I absolutely loved it. I still have to try it on Ruhi, but I am positive it will fit, and it will look amazing :). I am so relieved - I don't have to scratch my brain and think about what to buy, neither do I have to spend any money.

I recently read an article on "getting rid of gifts". I whole heartedly agree with the writer. I have been trying to follow this principle since quite some time now. The best gift someone could give me is their time and attention. I really admire people who listen to me. Sometimes, it is so important for me to express myself or vent out something - that is the only way I would feel better if something is hurting or bothering me too much. And I am fortunate that almost all the time, I have found someone in my close circle of family or friends who can provide me a listening ear.

Another fantastic gift would be an experience. A trip or an adventure or a well planned/thought surprise. My husband's siblings gifted us a trip to Mauritius (all inclusive) as our wedding gift. I thought that was awesome. For our first anniversary, we did not give any gift(s) to each other. We took a 10 day vacation to Hawaii and had an amazing vacation. For my 30th birthday, my husband planned a surprise party for me - he invited all my friends, and made arrangements for great food, cake and decorations. Almost everyone who was invited showed up, and I was thrilled to experience all the love. I have something special and unique in the works for our upcoming 5 year anniversary.

I also appreciate small unique, personalized, or thoughtful gifts. Like someone sending a postcard from their travels. A hand written letter. A book mark. Anything hand made.

Books are also great gifts. A book is a gift you can open again and again...isn't that special :)?

My sister is such a good cook, and always pampers me with delicious home cooked meals....fancy gourmet stuff. Oh how I love that!

I have digressed so much. Didn't I say this topic was tough? Coming back to it, the few plants/trees that we have purchased and planted in our home make me very happy. I absolutely love this modern classic "bonsai tree" that I chanced upon at a local store one day. It gives me a soothing feeling every single time I look at it. It's like a living miniature of a tree with a huge trunk. It requires very little water/sunlight and its leaves grow very fast. I trimmed them just before taking this picture on my iPhone today.Many people have admired it and a couple of them wanted one, but haven't been able to find it very easily. I'm sure its available, just not locally anymore.

I have a couple things in mind for tomorrow's post. It's good to have options {sometimes} :)!

Post #28 30-day Photo Challenge

Day 28: Daily Routine

Being a mommy to my little girl is easily the best part of my life right now. My daily routine includes hugging her and getting hugs, kissing her (its more like smooching, squooshing, squeezing her) and getting wet kisses :P, sleeping with/on/under her, massaging and bathing her (and getting soaked every single day as she "accidently" points the hand shower towards me), making her laugh n giggle, reading to her, walking with her, and loads of playtime. The least favorite part is feeding meals, but even that brings a lot of content at the end of it.

I was just wondering last evening when I had a few minutes of free time (hubby was feeding her dinner) - what did I do with all this time before she was born? I wasted so much time. I am so much more efficient with the other routine stuff now, and since I have an awesome husband who splits our parenting and household duties with me, I also manage to find time for many other social n recreational activities that I would like to do. Yes there are compromises that we have made after the baby, but it seems the stuff that we let go of anyway needed letting go. The people that we are not in regular touch with truly did not deserve our time and needed letting go of from our life. Our TV time has been cut down to 0% since more than a year, and I don't think we miss it at all. Our sleep was a major issue until the baby turned a year old, but even that has improved now. It has reduced from our non-baby days, but it's still 7-8 hours a day, which I feel is adequate.

There are things than I don't get to right away - like folding laundry, cleaning the house, yard work, organizing closets, etc. but I think I need to be more efficient at planning out and managing those tasks better during the week/weekends. One other thing to add is regular workouts for hubby and I. I am doing some exercise, but it keeps falling off the routine.

However, as the baby grows older and becomes more independent at doing things herself, we will have more time for the above stuff.

Here's a collage of some recent playtime pictures with "the love of my life" :)!

Post #27 30-day Photo Challenge

Day 27: After dark

The husband has switched his work hours to be able to pick up the baby earlier in the afternoon. So he leaves home by 6.30am, which means he gets to sleep {early} when the baby sleeps :). It's cuteness personified to watch them both sleep the same way {see picture below}.....and then when I join them, I kiss them both goodnite, and more often than not, the baby turns over and snuggles into me :P

Day 26 30-day Photo Challenge

Day 26: Something Old

Here is a picture of me when I was about a year old - as old as my daughter is today. This is at my maasi's (my mom's younger sister) wedding....she is the one holding me, and in the background is my first cousin. I am very close to both of these people and adore them :). My parents brought this picture with them from India and gave it to me when my daughter turned one :).

Something new:

And here's a picture of my daughter with my first cousin and my maasi :). She is loved a LOT!

Post #25 30-day Photo Challenge

Day 25: Sunflare

The picture below is taken by a professional photographer for Ruhi's 1st birthday shoot. But I take credit for planning this shot. I had wanted this picture exactly the way it turned out - I requested for an outdoor location with the water as a backdrop, I scheduled the shoot at sunset, and I had requested the photographer to use the sun rays to illuminate Ruhi's gorgeous curls.

Sometimes, things don't turn out as expected. And sometimes they do. I'm glad they did for this shot :)!

Post #24 30-day Photo Challenge

Day 23: Smile

Apologies for posting this an hour late. It was a pretty rough day, but it started out well (went for Mommy n Me breakfast at IHOP and got to meet my group), the in-between sucked (big time), but it ended on a high.

Tonite, we went for our first garba of 2011. It was my daughter's very first time going for garba, and I was sooper excited. I dressed her up and got dressed up myself. It was at my school, CSU Sacramento, and the band was also very good. I knew half of the crowd that was there...friends were all over. My husband understands how much I love to do garba, so we had decided that he would leave early and come home with the baby when it was her bed time, and I could stay back and dance the night away :). Things went as planned, and I had an awesome night out dancing with my friends.

My legs are sore...

My feet have blisters.....

My shoulders are aching.....

My mind is numb with the loud music.....

My heart is beating fast.....

But,

I'm relaxed and content.

I had a great workout - I was covered in sweat all over and that has not happened in a while. I'm trying hard to lose the pregnancy weight and this hardcore workout definitely helped towards the cause.

Coming back to the topic of today's post, I saw so many smiles today at Garba. Everyone was happy, everyone was in the mood, everyone was dancing. It was colorful and vibrant. It made me smile from within.

And, my daughter looked ADORABLE in her chaniya choli :). I clicked this picture of her when she was playing with her bandhani dupatta and was smiling at her daddy....the smile combined with the twinkle in her eyes makes it a very special picture for me :)

Post #23 30-day Photo Challenge

Day 23: Sunset

I wrote a post about Sunsets are while back. Click here to read it :). It pretty much summarizes what I feel about sunsets and how I never miss an opportunity to witness one :).

We live on top of a hill, and right before we enter our community, we have a beautiful vista point overlooking the city of Folsom and the surrounding hills. On  a clear day, you can even see the tall buildings of downtown Sacramento. I walk to this place as often as possible, preferably around sunset. I even take the baby with me if possible, and just sit there peacefully, watching the sun go down. Any first time visitors to our area are also taken there. On many days, there are photographers perched with their tripod and other equipment, capturing the beauty of nature. This point always reminds me of Mount Abu in Rajasthan, India. I think that's my first ever memory of watching a gorgeous sunset.

Here's a sunset picture that I clicked last year on one of those evening walks. A friend and her husband, who are nature lovers, were visiting us that day. This picture is not edited at all except for a crop (but the uncropped is also as good as this)....it is a raw image right out of the camera.....nicely captured by yours truly :).

Post #22 30-day Photo Challenge

Day22: Trees

Palm-tree lined beaches - one of my most favorite sights!

Giant Sequoias at Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park - Fantastic!

The towering Redwoods, Redwood National Park - Amazing!

The Lone Cypress at 17 Mile Drive, Monterey - such a delight!

The good old Banyan Tree - I used to swing holding the roots of the banyan when I was young. There is a beautiful banyan tree in Maui in Lahaina which was brought from India and is a center meeting point in the town.

Today, I went to a local elementary school to meet my PC Pal for the year (as part of the Intel PC Pal volunteering program) and I had lunch with 2 pals under a huge OAK tree. Even though it was pretty warm outside, it was cool and shaded under the tree, and I had a wonderful time chatting with the girls.

The pictures below are taken outside the California Academy of Sciences, SFO. It is located within the Golden Gate Park. If you have not visited yet and live in the area, I highly recommend this place. We were only able to cover the rain-forest dome in the few hours that we spent there, but it was fascinating. The area outside the academy is covered with these bare trees, mixed with some palm trees. There was an art exhibit on display, a guy playing flute and kids playing near the fountain on a fun, sunny but chilly morning - it was sure an inviting place.

Post #21 30-day Photo Challenge

Day 21: Pretty pattern

Being a Gujju at heart, the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of a pretty pattern is "Bandhej" or "Bandhani". I absolutely love Bandhani fabric, and have tons of sarees, dresses, chaniya cholis, dupattas, skirts, etc made of Bandhani. I have seen how this fabric is made in Kutch, and would love to do a workshop on the art of tying and dyeing someday.

I have memories of going shopping with my mom, sisters and aunts to a Bandhej store...and getting covered all over in the thousands of threads that tear and fall apart from the tied fabric. To be able to see the pattern and how it would look on us, the salesmen open a part of the fabric for us; by the time we have seen 10+ pieces, there are tiny threads spread all over. But the colors n smell are soooo good...it is a treat to the eyes....it is truly something to experience if you haven't so far.

When I was in India earlier this year, I bought a few traditional outfits for my daughter. This pink Bandhani frock was one of the outfits and it looks so pretty on her :).

The Navratri season which starts soon will feature Bandhani in all colors and designs - I can't wait!!!!

Post #20 30-day Photo Challenge

Day 20: What you read

I've already mentioned the two books that I'm currently reading in the previous posts of this challenge. So books wise, I have nothing new to share.

However, while reading Day 20's topic yesterday, I decided to do something different :). What I read today are my daughter's eyes. The first time, I read them when she woke up. I looked at her, held her head between both my palms, and said "I love you betu". When I dropped her off at daycare, she screamed her head off. So I took her back from the daycare lady for a few moments, locked eyes with her, calmed her down, and told her she will be just fine. She hugged me tight and stopped crying instantly. Of course she cried again when I left, but I got a call from her daycare even before I reached work saying she was happy and playing with other kids.

When I went in the evening, she did not cry. She stared at me, and was slightly angry. But then she gave me a beautiful smile when I picked her up, and then while feeding her milk, she kept smiling at me with her eyes. She now turns her head around from the car seat and watches me drive. Sometimes, at the signal light, I look back, our eyes meet and I say hello to her, and she gets so excited :).

While giving her a bath today, I was talking to her about how my day was, and asking her what she did at daycare. She cannot speak and express, but she listens to me intently. So many times, I read her eyes during bath time and was so content looking at her so happy. Bath time is both of our favorite things to do during the day. I was alone at home with her today evening, and she did not give me a hard time at all. She let me dress her up, drank her last bottle of milk, then hugged me tight and slept within 10 minutes. After she was sound asleep, I was looking at her eyes again. She has gorgeous eyelashes.....I was smelling her hair and skin - babies smell sooooooooo good after a bath.

One can tell so much by looking at a person's eyes. People who know me well can take one look at mine and guess my mood or what's on my mind. As they say, eyes are the mirror of the soul.

The pictures below were clicked on our way to SF last weekend :). Her eyes are so mesmerizing....and her cute little hands n feet have babyness written all over them :).

Post #19 30-day Photo Challenge

Day 19: Where you slept

The last 13.5 months, and the 9 months of pregnancy prior to that - I've slept with my daughter. When she was in my tummy, I had the privilege and blessing of having her all by myself. The notorious one that she is, she would wake up right after I had dinner, and keep kicking me from inside until the wee hours of the morning :). I absolutely enjoyed every kick of hers, even though I may have grumbled to my husband the next day about my lack of sleep. Hubby used to give me foot massages while she kept kicking, and the combo felt wonderful!

The first few days after her birth were truly stressful. She had jaundice, and she lost more weight than normal in the first 3 days, and my mom used to panic about her irregular breathing pattern (which I later found was normal for babies that young). I remember just staring at her all night watching her breathe. I used to sleep with her laying on my chest all the time. I still do, and it's absolutely my most favorite thing to do in this world.

Today, my babie did not sleep well at daycare. So I put her to bed an hour earlier than normal. I could tell she was tired, so I sang a couple songs, and she slept in less than 10 minutes. I let her sleep on me for half an hour, and then shifted her to our bed.

Co-sleeping is one of the BEST things I've done as a parent. It has been extremely rewarding as well. I have no idea how people have the heart to put their babies in the crib in their own room. Even with video monitors, I don't have the heart to leave this young child all by herself at night. I get scared living in this huge house by myself, think about the baby. Also, even sub-consciously, during our sleep, we sense each other. With mother and father by her side, she is constantly in connection with us. Many times during the night, she comes over and hugs me or her dad. She sometimes strokes my tummy, or holds her dads hand during her sleep. She would miss this sense of belonging and warmth if she was by herself all night. We would miss her cuddles as well. And when she wakes up, she instantly lights up our day with her smile :). She gives both of us a huggie and kissie, and starts talking gibberish. I have seen videos or recordings of video monitors that many parents have posted of their children waking up in their own rooms and playing happily, but I still strongly feel that atleast until 2 years of age (maybe more), the baby is better off sleeping in the same room as you. If co-sleeping does not work, then keep the crib in your room.

Earlier this week, my husband commented that ever since we switched the side of the bed each of us slept on, Ruhi does not sleep with him :). So, that day, we went back to our original side, and he tried putting her to bed. Needless to say, it didn't work AT ALL :) :). Even though she was very sleepy and tired, she only wanted mommy :P (such moments are blissful). I pretended as if I'm asleep, so she crawled over my back, and slipped into sweet dreams in less than 5 minutes. Here's a picture of me sleeping under my daughter :P

PS: Blogger is acting up on me...this picture gets rotated by itself and I have no way of changing it back. It's too late in the night for me to keep messing around with it...I'll try to fix it tomorrow if possible!

Post #18 30-day Photo Challenge

Day 18 In my bag

I have a beautiful Coach purse that my sister gifted to me from her first salary. I am not too fond of purses but I quite like that particular one. Its elegant and classic. However, after becoming a mom, I just don't carry a purse anymore. I have a wallet with money, cards, and gift cards which I usually carry with me, along with my cell phone. While going to work, I carry my laptop bag, which does not have too many things in it. Just the laptop makes it so heavy....I refrain from adding stuff to it.

But the other bag we carry everyday with us is "the diaper bag" :). I bought one from the ORE Sugarbooger collection at a huge discounted rate. The two main reasons I like this particular bag are: 1) Its made of cloth and I can wash it in the washer and line dry it. 2) It's very spacious - I dump so many things inside, and it gets bulky, but I can fit everything in. It also has a built-in changing pad which has come in handy many times while traveling. Here are a couple pictures of the bag I carry....

Not looking forward to the end of the weekend {sigh}!

Post #17 30-day Photo Challenge

Day 17 On the shelf

Here's a glimpse of my book shelf....Ruhi loves to browse through books, and she had brought down all these books from the shelf in less than 5 mins while I was folding away her laundry.

On the floor, we have Greg Mortenson's Stones Into Schools, William Dalrymple's Nine Lives, The Holy Geeta, Rowing the Atlantic by Roz Savage, Journey of a Hope Merchant by Neal Peterson - and on the shelf, we have iCON by Steve Jobs, some Chetan Bhagat, some Paulo Coelho, some V.S.Naipaul, Lord of the Rings and a few cooking books.

As you must have observed, I don't read much fiction. I like true stories, and books on Adventure. I have had the pleasure of meeting 2 of the above authors - Roz Savage and Neal Peterson. Roz is currently rowing the Indian Ocean solo, and I follow her journey through her blog. I loved her book.

Currently, I am reading "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall and "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett. Both are quite good and interesting so far.

Have you read any of these books? What are you currently reading?

Today's musings:

I met a friend today for a couple of hours. She lives in downtown SF and I've been wanting to visit her place since quite some time. She just moved into a new studio apartment, and her place is so cute. I quite liked it. She made a wonderful banana+nutella crepe for me, followed by Indian style coffee - it was AWESOME. Just what I needed after dropping mom-dad off at the airport, to shake off the sad mood. We had a great conversation, and she got to meet n spend time with our baby as well :). We made plans to spend a weekend at her place sometime soon :).

I got to watch a wonderful sunset over the bay while driving home. I clicked a couple of pictures after the sun went down...will have to download and see how they turn out, since they were clicked from behind the tinted windows in the moving car.

Post #16 30-day Photo Challenge

Day 16 What you ate

Today's dinner was supposed to be either dosa or something else made out of dosa batter with coconut chutney. Mom had soaked the rice/dal, grinded it, fermented it and prepared the coconut chutney. But, I wanted to take them out for dinner as they are leaving for India tomorrow. And my parents LOVE Chipotle, so that's what we ate.

10 Reasons to Love Chipotle

1) Fast Service - helps when I am picking up 6 burrito bowls with a baby in tow
2) Made to order in front of your eyes - you can pick n choose the quantity of each ingredient. I go easy on sour cream n cheese, my dad gets extra corn, my husband get fajitas, and mom goes easy on rice. Each one is happy with their unique combo.
3) Quality - Mostly organic, fresh ingredients -
4) Quantity - Portion sizes are so generous - we sometimes get one order and split it into two.
5) Well cooked rice, with cilantro - Rice is so easy to make, but most places don't cook it properly. Chipotle never disappoints. The cilantro gives it a fresh flavor and colorful touch!
6) Fresh made nacho chips - again, a simple thing to make but not everyone makes them this good.
7) Cleanliness - I never find the place messy. The servers are also pretty neat as well.
8) Awesome cup stories - I've found great stories on Chipotle drink cups....provides for a great lunch conversation and makes the meal interesting!
9) Fresh Limes - Hubby squeezes some in his food, while I drop in a couple slices in my water. Its very refreshing!
10) GUACAMOLE - The #1 reason I pick this place is for it's GUACAMOLE - its PERFECT. Chunks of avocado, freshly made, never a black spot in sight. I love me a dollop of Chipotle Guacamole :)

Now I did not click a picture of the food we ate today, but here's a picture of Shachi's homemade burrito bowl....takes a while to assemble the ingredients but it tastes as good as (if not better) Chipotle!

Today's musings:
While driving to Chipotle to pick up our dinner, the weather was so pleasant. The baby and I sat on the back seat with the windows rolled down. It was a fantastic drive....the baby enjoyed the lights and the breeze, and I enjoyed the quiet time with her in the back seat for few mins. I love going on long drives at night, and we don't get to do that often now, so today was a welcome change (even though, in reality, it was a short drive).

The specification that I had working hard to release since the last month finally got released today. I found a last minute issue which everyone else missed in their review, so I got appreciated for it. Another senior colleague gave me a kudos award ($25) for helping him out with his content. Phew! Sigh of relief w.r.t work today!

While putting the baby to bed, she found that sweet spot on my chest where she could listen to my heart beat. Before going to sleep, she babbled non-stop for few minutes in the quiet dark room....she was engrossed in herself, and it was so adorable to experience that. I wish I recorded it.

Post #15 30-day Photo Challenge

Day 15 My Shoes


This is a boring topic. I am not a shoe person at all. I have some friends who buy matching shoes for all their outfits...and I wonder how can they spend so much on footwear. Eh, but that's just me.

Currently, I am in love with my Chaco's. I wear them every day, and have even worn them to the gym sometimes, when I know I am going to do just weights or exercises on the machines. They provide great grip when I am outdoors, and can be washed very easily.

Now Chaco's are usually pretty expensive. But one of my close friends told me about the REI used gear sale, which happens once a year (or maybe twice). Last year, with a 3-month baby in tow, we went to check it out. The sale is very crowded and you can get good stuff only if you are lucky enough to get in fairly early. They allow people in batches after the store opens, and who they allow is decided based upon the ticket number you received while waiting in line. Our ticket numbers were not among the first, but a sooper nice lady who came by herself told us that she would take one of us in with her if her number was called out before ours. Sure enough, that happened, and I went in early, and grabbed these for $15 :). Ain't that a GREAT deal? I got a pair for mom as well, and few other bargains.

These were actually not even used; they were new, but were returned by someone. After coming home, we thoroughly cleaned & sanitized them, then washed them and left them to air dry.

That's the little story behind my Chaco's :). My mom and dad both have a pair, and that's the only pair of shoes they carry wherever they travel. I'm planning to buy one for hubby for his birthday this year :).

Today's post brings us to the halfway mark of this marathon - YAY!!!!

Something sooper cool happened today: my daughter walked (kind of ran) towards me and looked at me in the eyes, and said "mamma". She has been saying mamma since months now, but she rarely associates me with the word mamma. She knows for sure, but she cannot express it well enough. Today, it was loud and clear :). My heart skipped a beat and then I scooped her up into my arms :).

Post #14 30-day Photo Challenge

Day 14 Flowers

What would life be without flowers :)? Give it a thought.

I love flowers....almost any kind. We have lots of them planted in our garden - roses of different colors, daffodils, camellia, marigold, lilies, etc.....I want to plant Tulip bulbs this fall and see them bloom in the Spring :).

We have an English Rose plant that we planted right outside our master bedroom window. When I open the blinds in the morning and let those first rays of the sun into our room, I get to see this plant every day. When it is in full bloom, this is how it looks like....and it always brings a smile on my face first thing in the morning :).

Post #13 30-day Photo Challenge

Day 13 From a distance

When I read the title for today's post, I could not help but laugh out loud thinking about all the "door se dekha" jokes that we used to crack back home. For folks who don't know hindi, "door se dekha" translates to "seen from a distance".

Here's one of those....

Door se dekha to kuchh dikha nahi......
Dooor se dekhaaa.. to kuchh dikha hi nahi....
Paas jaake dekhaa to kuchh tha hi nahi


And one more....


Door se dekha to Patthar dikhta tha...
Dooor se dekha... to Patthar dikhtaa thaa...
Paas jake dekha to... suchmuch Patthar hi thaa.


LOL!


Another thing which came to my mind while thinking about "from a distance" is mountains. They are so majestic. One of the top 10 reasons I like living in the US is the National Parks. They have made nature so accessible for us. I have been fortunate to visit so many mountain ranges in the US, the most recent one being the Alaskan Mountain Range. 


Here's a picture of Mount McKinley in Alaska "from a distance" (view from our BnB patio in Talkeetna).

We saw this mountain from near and far....we even flew very close to it. It's simply breathtaking. It's the crown jewel of the Alaskan Mountain Range. I would love to go back to Alaska and explore some more!

Post #12 30-day Photo Challenge

Day 12 Close-up

No matter what today's topic was going to be, or what number of day, I knew what I would write today. So it's a coincidence that today is Day 12 (September 12) - my late grandma's birthday.

Happy Birthday Baa (what I called her) - I am missing you so much today. When I woke up today, I visualized how you would play with Ruhi if you were around. You lived with me my entire life in India and you passed away about 6 weeks after I came to the US. Even though phone calls to India were very expensive in those days, I spoke at length with you on the last weekend before you passed away. I was fortunate and blessed to experience your love for 22 years. You are my only grand parent that was alive when I was born, and for me, you were everything I could ever wish for from a grandma. Love you and miss you so much. I wish you were still here with me!

The picture below is of grandma, my sister and I. Look how weak and pale she is? It's because the last few years of her life, her food pipe had become narrow, and since she was a heart patient who had survived more than one heart attack, she refused to go through surgery which would widen the food pipe. So she was on a liquid diet, and whenever she felt like eating something she could not resist, she would ask my mom to make it, and ask my mom to feed my sister and I in front of her, and would be content watching us eat to satisfy her craving. It was very hard for us to go through this. She became weaker and weaker, but was very alert. She was very spiritual and much forward in her thinking for her age. I remember watching Hollywood movies like "Baby's Day Out" with her. She was very fond of my dad, as he was her youngest child, and so naturally, among all cousins, had a special fondness for me and my sister. My mom had lost both her mom and dad before she got married to my dad, and she always always treated my mom as her daughter. I could go on and on praising her, but I wish more and more people are like her in their old age as my grandma.

I do have a close-up portrait of her, but not on my laptop. So putting up this picture for today's post. Radhasoami Baa!

Post #11 30-day Photo Challenge

Day 11 Something fun

We just got back from a fun outing to Apple Hill. It's an area filled with fruit orchards, mainly apples. We go here every year to pick berries (blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, etc) and pears, peaches, cherries, apples. Every year, we have gone with different people....mainly first time visitors. This year also we went with a couple who is one of our close friends, and it was their first trip. The harvest season for apples is late this year, so there were only few farms that were open for apple picking. We picked one and spent some time there. As it happens every year, we enjoyed more in "stealing" the fruit (this year it was blackberries) than the actual fruit picking. Last year, we "stole" cherries from the trees on the side of road and had so much fun discussing our adventure in the car :).

I have been here when I was pregnant, and again when our daughter was 2-3 months old. Today when I took her there, I was nostalgic about the two trips I had made last year. We tried to get her to ride on a pony, but she was not interested. She did play with goats and lamas, and also played with the pony and a doggie for a little bit. She enjoyed walking on the grass at Grandpa's Cellar, where we stopped to have lunch.

Today is Grandparents' Day (just one other Hallmark Holiday) but since the baby has both sets of grandparents visiting, we took the opportunity to click this picture below, which she will cherish for years to come!