Giving Thanks

At a time like this, I have to remind myself that although I am heartbroken, I have a lot of blessings in my life. To focus on the positives. I have so many things to be thankful for...

I'll get straight to it.

1. Though I miss him dearly, I am extremely thankful that Luca was part of many happy milestones in my life and that he led a full life and is now at peace;

2. I am thankful that I am carrying this baby to term. We got a peak at baby boy Aiyer this morning at the doctor's office and he is happy and healthy; 

3. I am thankful that my mom is able to fly out and spend the holidays with us and will meet her second grandchild as a newborn;

4. I am thankful for all the joy and light that Riya has brought into our lives, she is such a character these days; and lastly,

5. I am very thankful for my husband who continues to exercise patience and unconditional love, especially now when I need it the most. And I'm thankful for the experiences and opportunities he has afforded us to live a dream life in another country.

ODE TO LUCA

After nearly 11 years with us, today we lost our beloved Luca. Due to serious medical issues, and seeing him in pain, we decided to put an end to Luca's suffering.

Loyalty and compassion are the words that come to mind when I think of Luca. He came into my life at 5 weeks old on my 25th birthday. I will never forget how he took his first steps in front of me a few days later. I will never forget how he accepted Ram as the man in my life with open arms. I will never forget how he loyally followed us around the world to experience life on the other side of the pond. After all, our home would never be complete without Luca.

The images of Luca sneaking back scratches on the rug, dragging himself from one end to the next, and snoring his way through each and every door bell ring (because lets face it, he was never a guard dog), are still fresh in my mind.

And now...all there is is deafening silence.

I already miss hearing the pitter patter of his paws and the tail wagging waddle that awaits me every time he sees me. It didn't matter if he had just spotted me 10 minutes ago in another room, he was always happy to see us. His heart was full of love. These coming days and weeks will feel empty without our Luca by our side but we know that he is finally pain free and that's all we ever wanted for him.

Keep smiling Luca...we will always remember you.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween marks the start of the holiday season, in my opinion, but overseas, Halloween is marginally celebrated and then its straight to Christmas (or Father Christmas as they call it here). Even though we have spent 4 Christmases away, and it's one of my favorite holidays, I still can't wrap my head around seeing Christmas decor out for sale in October. OCTOBER. It just doesn't make sense!

With everything we have going on, I let Halloween almost slip through the cracks this year. We weren't even sure if we were going to take Riya trick or treating. Even though Halloween was born in Scotland and is widely celebrated up north, its not a big deal here. All week at Riya's nursery they were making Halloween related crafts. So when we got a note from Riya's nursery that the kids are welcome to come in costume on Friday, I panicked. Having a family themed costume was definitely out of the question. Luckily I found a last minute costume for Miss Riya that was super cute!

Here's our lil mouse:

Halloween was such a beautiful day over here and uncharacteristically warm (70's). Only a few houses on our street participated in handing out candy, but our little mouse was too shy and overwhelmed to actually trick or treat. After going to 2 houses, we stopped. But she enjoyed watching us hand out candy:

Dancing on the street as we hand out candy <3

Yes we let her have the 2 pieces of candy she trick or treated for :) 

And we actually got invited to an American Halloween house party which required a costume as well so being as pregnant as I am, I just decided Ram and I would have to throw something together with accessories. When I saw nerd gear (aka suspenders, glasses and bow tie) at a store, I just went with it:) Ram did a much better job than I did. That hat made all the difference :p