Don't Forget To Date!!

Hi There!

Are you a new mom too? Well, I'm not that new anymore.. It's been a year, but yeah, I guess in many ways I'm still new ;)

Isn't it amazing listening to our baby babble endlessly, trying to speak the kind of words he hears us speak? I enjoy talking to my son when he keeps on talking with words that I can barely make out :D And isn't it amazing when your kid cuddles with you before going to sleep at night? Or when he reaches his hand behind your head, pulls you close and licks you leaving a trail of saliva as his sign of love? Well, don't we all love that!

But for today, I give you one piece of advice. Please give due attention to your hubby dearest. Go out on a date with him. Arrange a babysitter and give him what was his in the first place - your undivided attention. :)

Enjoy mothering!

Funny Advice

Recently one of my best friends shared a pic on her FB timeline. It was a onesie hanging on a hanger that said, "My Mommy doesn't want your advice"

Hilarious but So true! People ought to realise that their advice often is unwanted and not really required. More than half of what they say, we already know. And the rest, we probably do not agree with. So many times I have people telling me, "Oh your baby's hungry... Oh his diaper needs changing.. He looks sleepy..."  Well, all moms know pretty much that although all the advice we get from well-wishers, friends, family and even strangers isn't always welcome, there's probably no escaping it. So I've decided to try and see the humor in it all. That way it won't irritate me.. After all, there's something about babies that brings out the compassionate side in everyone, hence all the advice! :P And one incident was quite funny, so I thought let me share it here.

My family went out for dinner with two of my hubby's ex-colleagues, and all three families had sons! My son being the youngest (he was 4-5 months back then) and the other two boys were around 2.5-4 yrs old.

So at the table, when Zachy woke up and was hungry, I started making his bottle (cuz my baby is bottle-fed since he was 2 months old) one of the moms who was sitting right next to me said, "Oh! You should breastfeed him for at least 6 months.." I replied, "Oh yes I know! I also wish I had succeeded in doing so, but I haven't.." Thankfully, she didn't talk about it very long. Minutes later, Zachy started putting his fingers in his mouth and sucking on almost half of his fist, at which the same mother said, "Oh you know, people say not to let babies suck on their fingers, but I think its perfectly fine! You shouldn't stop your baby from sucking on his fingers" To THAT I heartily agreed! I really don't think anybody has a life-long problem of finger-sucking, so I don't really care if babies soothe themselves that way. {PS. I am aware that dirty fingers in the mouth can cause infections, but as long as the fingers are clean, I really don't care}

Anyway, after dinner, we walked out of the restaurant and this time the other lady was standing with me and talking to me about stuff... And she said to me, "I noticed you were bottle feeding. I think that's a really great idea... It frees up the mom to such a great extent.. You can go out when you need to without breastfeeding demands restricting you.. etc etc" I was glad she wasn't judgmental about me not being able to breastfeed.
Minutes later, our dear Zachy decided to demonstrate his fist-sucking capability again, LOL. At which this mom started saying, "Oh no no no no ......! Don't let him suck his fingers...! It's not good for him at all.. (and so on and so forth)"

It was such a joke..! Two mothers offering EXACTLY opposite advice about bottle-feeding and finger sucking! Haah! Made my day..ummm.. I mean evening :) ;)

True love is 'Band-Aid and a Chocolate Smoothie'!

So with the baby finally asleep, I was taken up by my sweet-toothy desire when I realised I had some leftover 'mawa' from the Gajar-ka-halwa I made a few days ago. And bubbling with enthusiasm, I rushed the mawa onto the grating board and ouch!! The mawa broke into two and my thumb got grated instead! (OUCH!!!!)

I ran to the tap trying to wash away the blood, but the flow just wouldn't stop!!! And then entered my hero (As Zachy would probably say when he grows up: My Daddy's StrongEST!) :D He quickly helped me tie it up and then decided he would go get band-aid for me (even though it was 11:30 at night!)

When he got back, I found two choco-smoothies in his pocket :)
Hubby darling decided to quench my sweet-craving while he took care of my wound. What would I do without you Aby? You're my hero :D Love you! Zachy's gonna have a wonderful role model in you as he grows up :) Thanks for that!

Save your marriage

Here I am again, eager to share something new my husband and I started this past December. First of all, a very happy new year to all of you out there! Thank you for taking the time to read my blog posts :)

So here goes. You see, I recently heard about this custom the Catholics have called the "Advent Calendar". So a month or so before Christmas, they give small gifts to each person in the family every single day. I was so taken up by this custom, that I decided we should do something similar. We decided we would write a small note with a compliment to each other every day till 1st of Jan. Odd dates would be his turn (Odd stands for Adam) and even dates for me (Even stands for Eve)

I'm so glad my husband was faithful in doing this with me through the past month. It has been intensely uplifting and encouraging. We realized there's great value in saying something positive to each other and making each other feel special. It's particularly wonderful to write something positive to the other after a fight! Lol.

Its important to preserve love in your marriage, especially after you have a kid. Many parents forget to continue to bond with each other and end up living their lives around their children, and when their kids fly the nest, they are left staring at each others, feeling like strangers. Let that not be our story. Let's resolve this new year, that along with being wonderful parents, we will be even better partners to our spouse.

He wants me! Yay!

Just felt like posting the newest development in my lil Zachy boy! He's started wanting to be in my arms rather than others now :D Hehe..!

So this is how it happened. You see, his grandmoms love to hold him (which is obvious!). But yesterday when he saw me while my Mom was holding him, he started to bend towards me and making "Mmmhhh mmmhh" sounds! I thought it may be a simple coincidence.. After all, he's not even 4 months yet.

But then today when my hubby's Mom was holding him, I walked over to him and asked him, "Bacha, do you want to come to Mumma?" And LO N BEHOLD! He bent over towards me and made the same sound! Yippppeee!!

You know, when a child is born, you expect the child to hug you and kiss you and tell you he loves you. Well, nothing could be further from reality. A child knows the mother by the sound of her voice and her scent, but doesn't really know how to show affection. So when he was born, there I was in the hospital with my little baby in the cradle next to me, and my baby decided to look at everyone except me! How sad! But I'm so happy he's finally beginning to show signs of affection :)

And I know perhaps someday, I will wish he'd go to someone else's arms for a change, but today I'm a veryyyy happyyy mommyyyy :D

My Story

I love stories! So I decided to share the story of how I came to be a mother.

It all started in 2010 when we celebrated our first wedding anniversary. We wanted a baby soon, and were hoping I would hear good news of pregnancy in a few months. But when 6 months passed, I remember thinking something was wrong with me and decided that I should go visit a doctor. The doctor had me checked and said there was nothing wrong and I should keep expecting and not be tense.

The harrowing visit to the doctor and the blood tests had me very upset, and I was sad to the point of opening my Bible to the well known story of Hannah, who was unable to have a child for many years. In her desperation she had asked God to give her a son so that her reproach could be taken away., and she would give the son back to God to serve Him all his life. I echoed the prayer that night in my sadness of desperately wanting a child and feeling inadequate to have one.

Time passed, and soon it was the month of August in 2011. I was in Hyderabad with my husband, attending the wedding of my very good friend. There we met a friend of hers, who is a prophet of God. He met us after the ceremony and told us that God was telling us that He will give us a baby and we will have a baby boy in our arms in a year and a half. He added, that God specially wanted me to know, that there was nothing wrong with me! That drove me to tears, because it was a gentle reminder that God cares about ALL our thoughts, and He doesn't want us to condemn ourselves for anything.

As per my calculations, I decided that I must be pregnant by March 2012, to have that baby in my arms in the year and half period that he had mentioned. And I did get pregnant! But alas, that baby didn't make it to our arms. He died in my womb after three months. We were shattered! We didn't know what to do, and what to expect next. I remember myself cleaning up the house corner to corner, hoping that I would succeed cleaning up the sad thoughts in my heart as well. I would stand and cry, sit and cry, walk around the house and cry.... Our friends fixed up a little holiday for us in Khandala so that we could rest and come back feeling better (perhaps!). On the drive there, I was absolutely inconsolable. I cried and cried, and that day I prayed to God and asked Him to heal my broken heart. On the way there, God spoke to me through a Bible verse -

Isaiah 61:3

To all who mourn in Israel,
    he will give a crown of beauty for ashes,
a joyous blessing instead of mourning,
    festive praise instead of despair.
In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks
    that the Lord has planted for his own glory.

This verse seemed to put new life in my heart, and I sang a song to God that day which said, "You have made me glad, I'll say of the Lord - Your are my shield, my strength, my portion, deliverer, my shelter, strong tower, my very-present help in times of need" God had healed my pain and I was able to get back home with new hope in my heart.

Six months down the line, I became pregnant. This time around, I was very anxious about the well being of the baby, but he kept growing and becoming stronger everyday! Finally in September 2013, we held our dear son in our arms, with tears in our eyes. As a memorial to God's faithfulness, we named him John Zach Abraham. John - 'God is gracious' and Zach - 'God remembered'. 

Its true - God never forgets what He promises.

A Changed Life

You know, when you're a mom, you're not the same carefree, free-spirited woman you once could be as a wife, or as a single woman. Life takes on a 180 degree turn and everything changes, literally EVERYTHING. Gone are the days when I could go Christmas shopping at the drop of a hat, or when I could go on a date with Aby without having to worry about where to leave my baby, or when I could sit and eat my lunch with no interruptions. Ah well, you get the picture I guess.

The single thought that hit me, was, "Will I be able to live my life like this forever??" Well, its amazing that even though being a parent is more and more responsibility as the days go by... Its still such an amazing privilege! Each day, when I am tired and don't think I can stay up another hour, I see my little one cooing and smiling at me, that lights up my life! It really does. When I see him doze off in my arms, I think maybe he feels, 'my mommy's arms are the safest place on Earth'; or maybe he just loves the warmth of a hug.. At the end of the day, parents are everything to a little helpless baby, and I'm grateful to God for trusting Aby and I to be given this precious baby to take care of, and bring up, and love and cherish.

We're dedicating him this Sunday, i.e. 15th December 2013. Its the day we vow before God, that we will love this him, and bring him up to love Jesus. The day we publicly declare, that he belongs to God first, and then to us. The day we pray and ask God to protect him from all evil and commit his life to Him.

I love you, lil Zachy Packy! :)