Of this one song....

I've been waiting to upload a song that the husband got recorded recently and presented it to me as a surprise mother's day gift, but every day I forget to bring the CD from the car to my desk. Today I remembered to do so :).

He got 3 songs recorded, but the one that I (and my daughter) liked the most is: "pyar maanga hai tumhi se, na inkaar karo". Here is the link to the audio.....(warning: the quality of the uploaded version is not as good as the CD version, but this is the best I could do to share online).

https://soundcloud.com/sthakkar/pyar-maanga-hai-tumhi-se-sam

So, since the first time we heard that song, whenever I drive the daughter to school (or anywhere else in my car), she buckles up in her car seat and says: "mumma please pay pappa's song". {I love when she says "pay" instead of play - oober-cute :)}. And soon as it turns on, I look behind to find her grinning ear to ear. Her happy smiling face makes me heart melt....every.single.time.

Then, one day, she insisted on listening to that song at home too. I explained to her that we only have the CD in the car, and we cannot play it on our iphone or ipad. But I also said, you can listen to the same song in a different voice. And she was eager to listen to it :).

So I played the above, and she was mesmerized. She must have watched this video more than 100 times by now. And when I asked her, whose voice is better, she tells me: "mumma in one nine nine two I like man's voice; in mumma's car I like pappa's voice". Smart cookie! {one nine nine two is our house number hence the reference}.

Then one day, after watching the video, she tells me: "mumma I sad. Man sing song and lady cry. Lady very sad mumma she not stop crying" - LOL! {watch the song and you will see the heroine crying and that's what she is referring too}. I have tried telling her that the man singing is Kishore Kumar but it has still not registered in her head :)!

She loves music, and she loves dancing. She can sing so many hindi songs now....even though she cannot speak fluently in Hindi or Gujarati, she really enjoys bollywood music...and I am thankful for that :).

Overall though, the daughter is going through a very rough phase right now. That is the main reason I have not been able to post more regularly on this blog. I don't know if its because of the preschool or a growth thing. We checked in with her ped and everything seems to be okay, nothing alarming. So we are doing our very best to understand her, empathize with her, and keeping our patience when dealing with her tantrums. She went through a phase couple weeks ago where she would hit the baby zillion times a day, but this week we have seen a remarkable improvement and they both have been playing very well with each other. We hope it only keeps getting better :)!

Hoping to write more regularly from June onwards....and ending this post with a few pictures from the Mother's Day photoshoot!

Happy weekend!!!!

Mothers Day 2012 - a photo post

After having my mom with me for the last couple years on Mother's Day, I missed her presence by my side this year. We had decided to keep it low key - we have been traveling quite a bit and have another trip coming up, so we stayed home....I spent the day being a mom to both my daughter and my hubby, as well as to a couple who is close friends of ours. They were in much need of TLC, and we tried to provide just that.

We took the kiddo to the park in the evening - hubby has been to this park with her many times, but it was my first time with her....and I asked him to take lots of pictures of us :).

Aren't we both lovely :)?

Spring is here so it's all green and flowers are in full bloom.....

The kiddo is showing off some dance moves to her mumma :).....

Check out this stylish babe....

I took these close-up shots of hers....her laughter is electrifying.....

Around the slides and play structures....

She sat on one of the structures and posed for a smiley photo....

And then daddy found some balloons near the water tap....he filled them with water, and started bursting them. The kiddo along with a gang of 4 other Indian kids surrounded him for the next 30-45 mins....and all of them had a blast bursting the water balloons that hubby was filling n tying up for them.

Balloon POP :)

And with a teeny bit of help, a lot of interruption but lots of fun with the daughter, I completed this small craft as a gift for myself :)

That was our Mother's Day this year....

Two blessed weekends

The weekend of May8-9, 2010 


My parents came to the US for their third time on May 7th this year. The weekend they came was an amazing weekend. My sister and her fiance came over to our home from LA, and my close friend P drove from the bay area. On Saturday, we were all busy preparing for my baby shower on Sunday May 9th. We also had a surprise ultrasound appt. booked for mom-dad to see the baby on Saturday afternoon.

After lunch and my yoga class on Saturday, we headed for the ultrasound appointment. We could see the baby's face and a lot of her antics inside my tummy. We got some cool 3D pictures and a video to bring back with us. Mom-dad and others were thrilled to see her for the first time :)!

Sunday was a triple bonanza...it was my mom's birthday, Mothers' Day here in US, and my baby shower. We had a small puja at home with the ladies in the morning, and then headed over to our close friends Harish-Deepika's home for the baby shower lunch. Everyone who was invited showed up on time, and the party was a huge success. We played a couple games after the cake-cutting and lunch...and everyone who was present participated.

I came away from the party with a feeling of content and a huge sigh of relief. It all went as planned, and more than anything, we were all happy and had so much fun.

I also felt very loved that day. As I reflected upon the weekend later, I realized that I am surrounded by so many people who genuinely care for me, and love me. Some of these people (apart from my family) have been there for me through many of my difficult times, and have never hesitated to offer help when I needed it or asked for it. Also, they have never made me feel obligated for what they have done. I truly cherish these relationships and feel very blessed.

In the days and weeks leading up to my parents arrival, we had spent a lot of time getting the house ready for them, as well as preparing for the baby shower function. I tend to be a detail oriented person, and don't like last minute panic situations. This time around, because of my physical condition, I could not do much by myself, so I had to rely on help. And I must say I was not disappointed at all.

Another few weeks and the much awaited baby will be here. Life will be so different, so exciting, so much more fun :).

The long weekend from May12-May16, 2010


Right after a sooper busy Mothers Day weekend, we had another busier weekend planned. This one involved air travel, which I had not done since I got pregnant. So I was a little nervous about how I would feel.

My younger sister was graduating with an MS in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology from USC in LA on May 12, and my close friend P was graduating with a doctorate in Electrical Engineering from Binghamton University, upstate NY on May 15.

I had taken couple days off to attend these graduations and be able to travel. On May 12, we got ready in time to leave for the airport, and on our way found out that the flight was delayed. The ride to the airport was filled with anxiety, frustration, disappointment, and phone calls. I was trying to find alternative flights that could get us into LA area by noon or 1pm, so that we would not miss the graduation. My parents had come all the way from India to attend it, and it would be a huge letdown if we missed it because of a flight delay.

On reaching the airport and looking at the various flight options, we decided to stick with our original flight. Hubby let the pilot and air hostesses know that we were running late for a graduation, and they provided some good humor during the flight announcements by making graduation announcements to all the passengers :). I survived the flight okay as well.

After the flight delay and horrible traffic through downtown LA, we finally made it in time at the venue. The graduation ceremony was a blast. My sister got hooded on stage by her department chair, and got her degree and we were able to see her walk down the red carpet and click some good pictures. Mom-dad and I felt extremely proud of her achievements. It was great to see her get her second Masters' Degree. She has been the youngest in our house, and we have watched her grow up so closely. This was a moment to cherish!

The second ceremony at the USC main campus was also good, but the place was too crowded and hot. We got out from there as quickly as we could.

The flights into Binghamton, NY were surprisingly comfortable. I got front seats on both the flights, and my friend P came on time to receive us (which is rare). The entire time we spent in Binghamton - meeting P's college friends, getting him ready for the commencement, attending the actual ceremony and clicking pictures, shopping in a frenzy at the university bookstore, Indian buffet dinner back at our hotel, a tour of the campus and P's apartments around the next day morning, etc - everything was just perfect. I was so happy just to be able to make it there at this stage of my pregnancy. And I also felt very blessed to not have any health concerns due to the travel.

I flew back home Sunday night and went to bed feeling so content, so blessed. A lot of times you plan things for so long, and they don't work out for some reason. Sometimes they do, but you hit roadblocks. And sometimes, they work out just perfect. Each experience is a blessing, and teaches you so many things.

These moments and occasions of my life will be cherished forever. The memories have made a permanent place in my mind, and heart!