Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from Dubai. We're spending another year in another country that doesn't acknowledge this holiday, but oh well. Today my in-laws left. So now it's just the four of us…

It was an exhausting week but at the last minute, Ram and I decided we are going to make Thanksgiving dinner. For the next month I am doing a dairy, nut and berry free trial to benefit Riya. Poor baby's digestive system doesn't seem to be able to breakdown the enzymes right now and it has already helped get rid of some of her splotchy skin. Needless to say, this new diet is not exactly holiday friendly, especially in Dubai where we don't have many specialty food stores. It's amazing how many products have traces of dairy!!! I never knew. But I keep telling myself, this diet will help me lose those last few pregnancy pounds, so it's a win-win.  And I figured, today was as good as time as any to have that first drink. Ahhh it tasted so good. And I found some tobacco free molasses so I could smoke some shish :)

Love me some Belgian Ale!

It was a mad scramble at the grocery store to put together a diet friendly meal. I managed to find rice "milk" so I could make mashed potatoes. And we couldn't find ingredients to make gravy or stuffing from scratch, so we were stuck with the instant options, which actually turned out decent. Of course there was no turkey (we could have ordered one from a restaurant if we wanted to feed 12), so we decided to roast a chicken. It was very easy. The hardest part was the fact that I couldn't make my fav pumpkin cheesecake or pecan pie for Ram.  And since there was no way I could make a dairy free dessert, Ram was stuck picking out an apple pie from the bakery.

All in all I think it turned out well for a last minute meal. Take a look:

My pretty little helper:)

And so we could feel more connected to home, we threw on one of the Friend's Thanksgiving episodes:)

This was the year they did Thanksgiving flashbacks

So much to be thankful for this year, but most of all we are thankful for the light and joy Riya brings in our lives. She still manages to put a smile on my face during her 2am feeds. She's a keeper:)

'Tis the Season

I cannot believe Thanksgiving is around the corner! That means we have been living in Dubai for almost a year. And it looks like we will be here until 2015 at least. I'm thankful we don't have another international move this year, but at the same time was hoping we would be able to explore living in another country next year…I know, I'm getting greedy:) 

These days I feel like a hamster running on the wheel. Going, going, going but never seeming to accomplish enough. I think it's safe to say, that feeling will last until Riya goes to college. Yippe. Now would be a good time for the world to perfect the cloning process. I would like to sign up please. 

I'm so excited for Riya to experience her first Thanksgiving and Christmas. Even though she probably won't remember it, I want to make it special. Since we've been married, we haven't had a tree or decorated for the holidays for one reason or another. That ends NOW. I know I'm in the wrong country to cultivate my new found holiday spirit, but dammit I'm going to try! 

I'm surprised to hear that they have a big Christmas Festival in December with an ice rink and fake snow and everything. Done. And this weekend one expat group is having a Festive Fair. I really hope I can find some cute holiday ornaments and decor. I sincerely regret not picking up any ornaments on any of our European travels…I mean we even went to a Christmas market in Prague. What the hell was I thinking?!

In other news, baby girl is starting to sleep a little longer at night. Do you know what that means???? 

That's right, my first drink is around the corner! 10 months, 1 week and 5 days sober…

Lessons from A Newbie

Happy Due Date to me! I cannot believe that I could have still been pregnant till now. I also cannot believe I have a two month old baby. It still weirds me out referring to Riya as my daughter. Look at her trying to hold her bottle already! She's growing so fast...

So far I learned quite a bit, and I'd thought I'd share, so here goes:

1. Sleep trumphs all. Yes, even showering.  

2. Rush Hour. I always feel like I'm rushing through everything now. This is especially true when it comes to eating or running an errand. Since I have to keep Riya on her schedule, I find myself devouring my meals in less than 10 minutes or rushing through the grocery store to make it back in time for her next feeding (and forgetting items along the way). Feels like I'm always racing against the clock.  

3. Watch out. It doesn't matter how fast you change her diaper, she will still manage to pee on you. I thought this was an issue for boys only…

4. Talk is cheap. I suck at baby talk y'all. My mom puts me to shame. For some reason, it just doesn't come naturally to me. So instead, I give Riya real talk. Like how she needs to meet Prince George and make him fall in love with her. You know, the important stuff. 

5. Milking it. I faced some horrid feeding challenges half way through but now those dark days are behind me (I hope). It's oddly exciting seeing how I have the ability to supply food for my baby. And in case you're wondering, no I have not tried my milk…

6. One step forward and two steps back. It's hard to get excited when she sleeps an extra hour at night or stays awake after every feed one day because by the next day we're back to square one. And I hear that for pre-term babies the milestones don't begin until after their real due date. God help me. 

7. Swaddling sucks. But it's the lesser of two evils. I rather her fight the swaddle for the first half hour than have her wake herself up from her hand hitting her face halfway through her sleep cycle.

8. Eight is not enough. Unless you plan on doing laundry every day (which it still feels like I do), eight of everything (blankets, burp cloths, bottles, etc) is not enough. 12-15 is more like it.

9. Let it out! Burping requires both skill and patience. After 6 weeks, I finally acquired both. I feel like an expert now, thanks to Riya.

10.  I have 5 visible gray hairs. Enough said. 

Tomorrow's my mom's final day with us. One month flew by! It's going to be an adjustment not having her here, but my in-laws will be coming in on the 18th, so can't wait for them to meet their granddaughter!

Flash Friday

Happy Friday everyone! We decided to take advantage of the cool morning air and take some outdoor pictures of baby girl. I created a website for Riya that you can log into and view anytime you want. The site info is :

https://riyaaiyer.shutterfly.com

Password: september12 (if you are a shutterfly member, you can use your your shutterfly password instead)

I hope to be able to update the site several times a week. The entire shoot from today is on there, but in the meantime here are some of my faves:

Happy Halloween!

Hope everybody had a fun Halloween! I'm sure the partying will continue for everyone this weekend. This is the first year I don't have a costume or anything planned. So it begins...

Last year for Halloween we were lucky enough to spend it in Scotland, where this fun holiday originated. We partied and boozed it up with our wonderful friends from the 'Deen. Oh, the memories...

This year, I bought candy for the trick or treaters, but we didn't get any (probably because we were at an event) :/  We took Riya to the Golf Club to attend the Halloween event they hosted for children. Baby girl slept through pretty much the whole thing (lol) but it was nice to get out and socialize for a little bit. Here are a few of my faves from the event. I'm working on a share site where I will post videos and pics for family and friends to view whenever they want. Will share the link once it's ready :)

Motherhood

Hello blogosphere! I feel like it's been ages since my last blog, but it was only 2 weeks ago...these days I don't even know what day of the week it is or the date. The weather outside is finally starting to cool down, which means high 80's instead of 104, yet I'm stuck indoors. I'm hope soon I will be confident enough to take Riya out for a stroll on my own to get some fresh air. Right now leaving the house is a two person job...

It's been a month since Riya has been home and today she's 6 weeks old. Surprisingly, motherhood has been quite challenging for me. Something I didn't expect. Everyone used to always tell me I was a natural and I think that got to my head a little. Well, let me just say this, it doesn't matter how much practice I've had with other babies or how much research I've done, motherhood is KICKING MY ASS.

I'm so thankful that I have an extremely patient and understanding husband who has been the brunt of many hormonal driven tantrums and breakdowns by yours truly. Not to mention my selfless mom who has been picking up the slack for me and making sure I rest as much as possible. No one ever tells you how hard it is once you are home with the baby and the challenges you face will feeding her and working in some sort of sleep routine.  Every mother I know conveniently glossed over the challenges they faced in those first few months (thanks a lot ladies) and made it look so easy. Turns out this is the hard part. "Hard" doesn't even begin to describe my plight at the moment.

Anyway, if it sounds like I'm complaining, I'm not. I'm just being honest about my experience. I feel like I could write a book. You know, talk about the stuff that no one ever tells you. But then maybe people wouldn't procreate....

So Halloween is upon us. One of my favorite holidays.  It will be interesting to see how this city celebrates Halloween. I have yet to come up (and attempt to get away to buy) a costume for Riya. Any suggestions? What are you dressing up as and doing for Halloween? 

Zero to Thirty

I'm going to try to be one of those moms that doesn't talk about her baby non-stop. But so far, I'm failing. I. AM. OBSESSED. Right now my world revolves around our princess, every 3 hours to be exact, so I really don't have anything else to talk about. Sorry folks!

I cannot believe that Riya is one month old today. It's amazing how time is managed as a mother vs a non-mother. Now-a-days, watching an hour long episode of a TV show seems like a huge waste of my time. I rather be sleeping or (gasp) folding her laundry. And it's also amazing how much I can accomplish in ten minutes!

Anyway, enough about my revelations for now. More on that later. Here's a snapshot of the best month of our lives:  http://youtu.be/qmHYEUTGawc

Grandma comes in town today and we cannot wait!