Family Archives - My Inner Shakti

Weekend Rehash – Home Sweet Atlanta!

As I’m typing this post, I’m sitting at my parents house with my laptop in my lap and my feet propped up. It feels good to be home!

Is it just me or do you guys also feel a little more dependent when you go home? Like I run the show in some ways in Chicago, but when I’m home, I ask my mom for her opinion about every little decision.

Anyways, we’ve had a great start to our visit. Lots of outdoor play and delicious food.

Let’s backtrack a little and rehash the weekend!

FRIDAY

I know I sound like a broken record, but Friday started off in the usual way. As soon as Vishnu and Kaiden left for school and work, I headed down to our apartment gym for a quick workout. I then made my way to Trader Joe’s and Target.

As soon as I put everything away, I got a message from my sister giving me the green light to pick her up at Carmax. There’s a bit of a backstory to all of this…instead of retyping it all here, I’m going to direct you to today’s post on Instagram. So many emotions!

And here’s to my sister and BIL buying their first car together!

I quickly got my act together upon getting home and made food for the week for Vishnu – lasagna, My Heart Beet’s Butter Chicken, and rice. All set for the week!

I also packed on and off throughout the day. As I was putting things in our bag, I thought about unpacking and audibly groaned. Ugh!

The rest of the day/night followed the usual flow – playtime, dinner, bath time, reading/getting K to calm down, bed time, and a little downtime with Vishnu.

SATURDAY

Saturday morning started at 6 am because we wanted to be out the door and on our way to the airport at 7:45. Thankfully, we managed to do just that.

I plan to share my tips and tricks for travelling with a two year old (when toddlers get their own seats) in a separate blog post, but let’s just say our <2 hour flight had plenty of ups and downs. The downs mostly revolved around the fact that K wanted to sit in my lap vs. in his own seat. Not great when the seat belt sign is on.

Anyways, we eventually made it out of the plane, on the train, up the elevator and to my parents who were happily waiting for us. Then came the one hour drive home. Haha!

By the time we got home, I was so tired. I fell asleep on the living room floor! My mom woke me up in time for my pedicure appointment. #muchneeded

The rest of the evening included badminton in the backyard and Zheel’s delicious Spinach Dhokla that my mom and ba whipped up. A must try recipe if you’re a dhokla fan (and even if you’re not!).

SUNDAY

Kaiden was up and ready to go at 7:30 (YAY!!!). We played and hung out on the shaded part of my parent’s patio until my in-laws arrived. They came to spend the day with Kaiden.

Sunday can be summed up in one word – FUN and lots of it. With all four of his grandparents present (plus his great grandparents), Kaiden was getting spoiled from all sides. He danced, played, ran around, kicked balls, took a 1.5 hour nap…rinse and repeat!

Here’s to an even better week ahead! Happy Monday. 🙂

Weekend Rehash – Family Time

written by Parita 3 Comments

What an awesome weekend! Like I mentioned in Friday’s post, Niel and Neelam, my BIL and his girlfriend, visited, and we had a blast.

Let’s start from the beginning…

FRIDAY

Friday started off with the usual routine – drop K off at school, work out, Trader Joe’s run.

But then for 1.5 hours, I deviated from the norm and met up a blog reader and new friend, Mira. We met up for a coffee and probably could’ve chatted for another hour. We talked about everything from new motherhood to mom guilt to making mom friends to everything in between. It was such a refreshing meet-up because we were on the same wave length about so much. I’m so happy we made the time to meet. Here’s to next time and more authentic friendships.

I spent the rest of my afternoon cleaning and prepping dinner (lasagna!). Vishnu got home a little earlier than normal, so we hung out before it was time to get Kaiden and before N&N arrived.

The rest of the evening was spent eating, playing, and talking. Even I went to bed a lot later than usual!

SATURDAY

Saturday morning started with made from scratch pancakes (sharing the recipe soon).

We then got ready and headed to the post office to submit an application for K’s passport. He’s doing some international travel later this year!

After finishing up there, we got some coffee, walked around the River Walk, and then headed to Sienna Tavern for brunch (so yum!).

Kaiden fell asleep on the walk home for like five minutes which obviously means he didn’t have to nap at all the rest of the day. Grrrr…

It all worked out because we rented a boat for the afternoon with Niel, Neelam, my sister and my BIL, so while K was tired, he still rallied. If you’re ever in Chicago, I highly recommend renting a pontoon boat and heading out on the river. And guess who captained our boat?! ME! My sister took over towards the end because my back hurt, but it was a ton of fun!

We planned on playing some games after K went to bed, but our Door Dash order never showed after 1.5 hours, so the evening went a little south in terms of that. Still a fun day overall!

SUNDAY

Vishnu and N&N took Kaiden to the park in the morning so I could clean, cook, and have some alone time.

Luckily, Kaiden took a 2.5 hour nap which means the rest of us did as well. This mama was tired!

We then scratched our afternoon plans to visit the beach and headed out to get some gelato instead. Perfect idea on a hot Chicago day!

And now we start a new week with new adventures! Happy Monday, y’all.

Weekend Rehash – When the Grandparents Come to Visit

written by Parita 1 Comment

This was a good weekend! My parents were in town and that made everyone happy. Especially Mr. Kaiden!

FRIDAY

Friday started off on the usual note, except for one thing. It was K’s first full day in the young 2 classroom. He was super quiet at drop off, but he didn’t cry, so I’ll take that as a win. Our guess is that he warms up throughout the day because the pictures we received in the afternoon showed a very smiley, happy boy!

I then spent the rest of my morning/early afternoon running errands, prepping some food, going to the gym, and then heading to my sister’s place. My parents stayed with her and Adarsh (my BIL) this weekend because they came to celebrate her residency graduation. My sissy’s going to be an attending…yahoo!

I decided to make a haircut appointment while I was there since the hair salon I go to is right across the street from my sister’s place. Well…if you guys follow me on Instagram, you know that it didn’t turn out the way I wanted. She cut it a lot shorter than we discussed, AND on top of that, she took off way too much volume all around (I told her to stick to the back). Ay, ay, ay! At least hair grows back!

We hung out for a bit before heading back to pick up Kaiden from school. You guys! You should’ve seen him when he saw my parents. He ran straight to my mom. CUTEST THING EVER!

After some park time, we came home, ate dinner (a Gujarati feast by my mama), and hung out for a bit before calling it a night.

SATURDAY

Kaiden and I headed to my sister’s place around 9 am. GOOD MORNING, FAM!

After a walk to and around the Green City Farmer’s Market, where we enjoyed a blueberry smoothie and some delicious grilled cheeses, we headed to the zoo where we saw zebras and gorillas before calling it a day (it was getting close to nap time!).

We all napped for about 2 hours while K napped. Best decision ever! I can’t wait to live closer to my parents!

In the late afternoon, we hung out at home and made falafels for dinner. Well, my sister made falafels and I assisted! They were so good!

Vishnu actually finished at a decent time so he was able to join us for dinner! Also, you guys, we had Trader Joe’s Bon Bons for dessert, and they are AMAZING (#2 on the list)!

SUNDAY

Sunday looked a lot like Saturday in that we spent it at my sister’s place again. Except this time, I napped…A LOT! I don’t know why, but I woke up super tired and just needed a little (lot) rest.

We decided to stay in, enjoy each other’s company and eate more of my mom’s delicious food!

After saying bye to everyone at 4:30 ish, Kaiden and I headed home. We played and ate and played some more before I put him to bed.

Once Vishnu got home, he ate and suggested we watch a movie. He wanted to unwind! At first, I was hesitant and then said ‘what the heck!’ We watched Always Be My Maybe. It was super cute and funny, but not something I’d watch over and over again. I did, however, really appreciate the diverse cast. More of that please!

And that was our weekend in a really long nutshell! Thanks for indulging me with these posts! The future me will love reading about this weekend, so it’s important to present me to document even the mundane details. Kaiden will only be so little for so long!

Have a great week!

December 2018 – The One Where Kaiden Took Out the Whole Family

written by Parita Leave a Comment

Oh December 2018, I can’t say I’m going to miss you. Sure, you brought some fun memories, like Vancouver and the holidays, but man has it been a rough ride, especially for our family.

This month will forever be embedded in my mind as the one where Kaiden took out the whole family. Let me start from the beginning…

Two and a half weeks ago Kaiden had a fever which lasted over 6 days and morphed into an ear infection. I was in Vancouver for most of that time, but my sister, Vishnu and dad were around Kaiden quite a bit. And all three of them caught whatever he had. Think cold + cough + fever.

Fast forward to the following week. Everyone was still sick (minus K), and now Adarsh (my BIL) wasn’t feeling too great. I was the last man standing at this point and so thankful for it.

Fast forward again to this past Thursday. The day Kaiden and I left for Atlanta. Kaiden woke up at 6:30 am, which was such a pleasant surprise. I went in to pick him up and noticed his pajamas felt a little damp and crusty. I immediately thought he had diarrhea and woke Vishnu up so we could manage the situation. Vishnu went in to K’s room and yelled out that he had vomited and that we needed to give him a bath immediately. So we did all that and everything seemed ok.

Then right before we were heading out for the airport, Adarsh was getting K ready (putting his socks, shoes, and jacket on) when he vomited again all over our couch.

Again, we cleaned everything and everyone up and headed out the door.

I prayed all the way to the airport that Kaiden wouldn’t get sick on the plane, and thankfully he didn’t. In fact, he slept for most of the flight.

Everything was fine until the next day. And then K had diarrhea. Because we’re experienced with stomach bugs, I did my very best with hand washing and sanitizing. I did not want to catch whatever he had. I told my parents to do the same as well.

Well, no dice because I experienced the same symptoms starting Friday night well into Saturday morning. And. It. Was. Miserable.

I felt ok Saturday evening, and Kaiden seemed to be on the mend too, so we thought all was good.

Kaiden feeling good enough to roll around and make a mess while the rest of us stuffer…lol!

Again, no dice. My mom felt sick Saturday night and went through exactly what I did well into Sunday.

Here’s the kicker. My poor dad, who already got sick in Chicago, got sick again last night with the same symptoms as my mom and I.

I’m hoping we get better before we head to my in-laws’ house on Friday. Fingers and toes crossed!

And that’s why I, along with the rest of my family, am ready to say goodbye to December 2018.

Our Trip to Vail, Colorado – All That It Was and Wasn’t + Lessons

written by Parita Leave a Comment

I can’t even believe it! The trip we’d been looking forward to and planning for months is behind us.

Vishnu’s cousin got married in Vail, Colorado this past week, and instead of just going for the wedding, we (V, K, me, my MIL, FIL, and BIL) decided to add a couple of days to the front end and make a mini vacay out of it.

All good in theory! But something I didn’t consider is how unpredictable something like travel can be with a 13 month old. I’ll get to that in a minute.

Because I really do believe in focusing on the positive, let’s look at what everything our trip was…

More than anything, this time away in Vail allowed for some real family time. My MIL didn’t have to spend hours in the kitchen, we didn’t have to worry about cleaning, etc. I absolutely loved the quality family time we got. My favorite moments were sitting around the dining room table chatting about random stuff and laughing…a lot!

The trip also allowed for us (me, V, and my BIL) to experience and see Vail via a “moderate” hike. While the terrain wasn’t hard to navigate, the elevation factor definitely made us more tired than we anticipated. Holy headaches!

Vishnu’s extended family is amazing and so much fun. Even though our time with them was limited, it was great seeing everyone and catching up when possible! It was also super fun to see Kaiden interact with everyone. With the exception of a few people, he was meeting everyone for the first time. One of V’s uncles mentioned making this a yearly thing (a reunion not a wedding!), so Vishnu’s taking it into his own hands to make it happen. I hope he succeeds because so much love for this family!

And last but certainly not least, the wedding! It was all so beautiful. Vishnu’s cousin Tara and her new hubby radiated pure joy. There’s something about witnessing two people who are meant to be take the next step in life! Speaking of the next step, Vishnu gave an awesome speech at the reception about just that. Instead of going down the usual route of telling stories, etc., he shared 10 pieces of advice about marriage and married life. While I didn’t get to see him deliver it in person (I stayed home with K instead of going to the reception), I heard it was awesome and one of the best speeches of the night!

In terms of what this trip wasn’t…it wasn’t relaxing! Not that I was expecting much relaxation with K being the most active he’s ever been. However, by the time Wednesday rolled around, K had a fever. And it didn’t go away. To make a long story short, K ended up experiencing his first ER visit (more precautionary because of a high temperature).

In the spirit of focusing on the positive, I don’t want to fixate on what didn’t go as expected. Instead, I want to focus on what I learned from our time in Vail. For one, I love my family. Obviously, this isn’t a new feeling, but man did I marry into a great family! Everyone was all hands in with K and ready to give me a break whenever possible. And beyond that, I love seeing K bond with his grandparents and uncle. So many special memories! On a more philosophical level, I learned that in this season of life (maybe all seasons…?) I really just have to go with the flow and take it one moment at a time. If I look at our time in Vail overall, it’s hard to see all the fun we had, but when I break it down day by day, moment by moment, I see nothing but fun. Perspective is everything. And finally, once again, I learned a lesson about gratitude. The grateful life is the best life because regardless of what’s going on when you focus on all the good in your life (and there’s always something) you’ll always be grounded in what truly matters.

And now we’re back home and slowly moving into our regular rhythm and flow. Here’s to a healthy and happy week ahead (longer if possible)!

Recently + Good Reads

written by Parita Leave a Comment

My blogging mojo has been off for the past week or so. I have lots I want to share but 0 energy when it comes time to sit down and type. That’s life I suppose!

Kaiden’s been a little off the past few weeks, which threw me for a loop. I know I shouldn’t let it, but it’s hard. For example, he’s had a fever every week for the past three weeks. It comes, sometimes stays for a few days, and then goes. One of those fevers led us to discover his first ear infection. Poor bubs! The next one lasted a day. Like I said, he’s been all over the place. The doctor said it’s likely due to daycare. More than anything, I’m thankful it’s nothing serious, but it just throws me off when he has to stay home from school, we go back to multiple wake ups throughout the night, etc. Understandably, everything is either put on hold or straight up ignored until he feels better. Such is life with a baby!

Apparently, he’s also in the middle of a LEAP week. When I told Vishnu about this concept and what it means, he said the whole thing doesn’t make sense. I feel like the signs/symptoms match up to a tee, so I’m on team LEAP!

In the midst of fever land, we spent some time with family this past week. My aunt (mom’s youngest sister), uncle, and cousin visited from Arizona and stayed with us Wednesday through Saturday. This was their first time in Chicago, and they LOVED it. Because Vishnu and I had to work Wednesday and Thursday, they went out and explored on their own. On Friday, we walked to Millennium Park, the Bean, and Grant Park. We also made our way to Lincoln Park to see my sister and Adarsh. We ended our night with a fun little quiet (sleeping baby!) game night at our place. So much fun! I wish all my favorite people lived in a 1/2 mile radius from me and not hundreds, if not thousands, of miles from me. Wouldn’t that be nice?!

Other than that, we’re gearing up for our week long trip to Vail. We leave next Monday! Vishnu’s cousin’s getting married, and we’re so excited for the family reunion. I’m hoping Kaiden’s sociable side makes an appearance versus his ‘I’m going to cling to my mom for dear life’ side.

And finally, is anyone else in denial about summer coming to an end in like a month? Chicago starts to cool down in September, so we really only have a month or so left of warm/hot summer temps. I’m hoping we get a bit of an extension this year (FINGERS CROSSED!).

Good reads

Whenever I read an interesting article/blog post, I think about sharing it on MIS but then forget. With that, here are all of my forgotten but good reads from the past few weeks…

Goodbye Dr. Spock

Your Best Parenting Advice: From Meddling Parents To Poop Management

Motherhood in the Age of Fear

In Which I Lost My Wedding Ring (the comments are gold!)

The Joy of Missing Out

How to Trust The Division of Responsibility Model for Feeding Kids

And with that, I hope you have a wonderful start to your week!

Baby’s First Christmas

written by Parita Leave a Comment

Baby’s first Christmas was super fun…and a little scary!

This was a special trip for many reasons – Kaiden’s first visit to Atlanta, his first Christmas, etc. The only missing piece was Vishnu. 🙁 But we made sure to FaceTime as much as possible so Kaiden didn’t ‘forget his daddy.’

As far as celebrating Christmas goes, we don’t do so in a religious sense, but culturally, we are all in! I’m sure Kaiden was a little confused by all of his boisterous and giddy family members opening presents and yelling over one another!

Because my sister and Adarsh flew out on Monday, we decided to celebrate the holiday a day early on Christmas Eve. My MIL and BIL drove over to my parents’ house in the early afternoon and spent the day with my parents, my sister and BIL, Kaiden, and me. My FIL ended up having bronchitis and was unable to join us. A TOTAL and COMPLETE bummer.

We started the fun by opening presents. My BIL was our designated Santa, and at first we went person by person, gift by gift, but then we had to restrategize because K looked sleepy. We handed out everyone’s presents and opened them all at once to save time. To ensure we included EVERYONE, we FaceTimed my FIL and Vishnu. Chaotic and fun all at once!

For dinner, I made Green and Panang Curry. Totally forgot to snap a picture, but they both turned out great (in my humble opinion…ha!). We ended the meal with my MIL’s banana, pecan, chocolate pie. Yum!

And this is where things got a little scary…

As part of our plan to transition K to formula, we’re essentially phasing out my breast milk and adding in formula until he’s 100% on formula. Well, Christmas Eve just so happened to be the day he had his first bottle of formula, and let’s just say it didn’t agree with him. When Kaiden woke up around midnight, I went in to check on him. After changing his diaper, I lifted him up, and he immediately threw up a ton of milk. My sister, who was in the room with me, called out to my mom, and the three of us ran Kaiden to the bathroom. After giving him a quick bath, we got him ready for bed when he threw up a ton of milk again. After another bath, we tried to put him back down, but he still looked sick, so I held him while my sister kept an eye on him. Thank goodness because he threw up one final time (but a much smaller amount this time around). I called the pediatrician, more so for my own peace of mind, and his recommendation of easing into the formula wasn’t much different from my sister’s (a pediatric resident).

Kaiden finally fell asleep (and stayed asleep) around 2 am. My sister slept in the room with us just in case something happened. Thankfully nothing did.

I have never been so scared in my entire life! I know this is just the start of experiences like this one, but man…I will never forget the sight of all that milk pouring out of his mouth.

Kaiden’s doing great (fingers crossed!) now that we’re gradually phasing in the formula two ounces at a time.

As for me, my plan to wean off the pump is on hold for now…anything for my baby boy. I’ll ease back into that when we’re in Chicago next week.

Other than that, I’m battling a pretty intense cold right now – sore throat and all. Also, Kaiden and I are staying at Vishnu’s parents until Sunday (when my MIL, Kaiden, and I fly back to Chicago) and are looking forward to spending quality time with this side of the fam!

Well, from my family to yours, I hope each and every one of you enjoyed a fun and memorable Christmas holiday!