Our Indian Baby Shower!

I’m back after almost a full week in Atlanta!  More than any other trip home, I can truly say this one included ALL the things I love – my momma’s food, my favorite people, and pure relaxation.  Sure, I worked from home a couple of days, but honestly, no one wanted me to run errands and do stuff (being a third trimester preggo will do that!), so aside from my workouts, I didn’t move around too much.  While that’s not usually a good thing in my mind, I enjoyed not having to think about cooking dinner, washing dishes, doing the laundry, etc.  Certainly a welcome break!

Vishnu and I flew to Atlanta for our Indian baby shower.  Overall, everything turned out perfectly – the food (#1!), the venue, the decor…everything.  I’m so thankful for my amazing mom and mother-in-law.  They put a lot of effort into planning the perfect shower, and it showed!

If you’re wondering how an ‘Indian’ baby shower differs from any other shower, let me tell you!  Gujarati (Indians who are from the state of Gujarat are Gujarati) showers incorporate a few different religious and cultural rituals.  For example, Vishnu’s cousin’s wife and I exchanged a coconut and rice seven times (for the seventh month of pregnancy).  I looked up the significance of this, and from what I can tell, it essentially represents the exchange of blessings, strength, etc. from a mom to a mom-to-be.

Another ritual involved Vishnu’s younger brother putting red powder on my face (and me returning the favor!).  I overheard someone explaining why this is done, and apparently, it’s because he will no longer be the baby in the family, and he’s not giving up his longstanding spot without a little teasing and fun.

Other than those types of things and some additional praying for the baby (and parents-to-be!), our shower was similar to most others.  We had good [Indian] food, played games, and cut/ate cake!

Overall, we felt overwhelmed by the amount of love we were showered with this weekend!  It was so fun sharing our excitement with our closest family members and friends, many of whom drove or flew quite a distance.  I’m so thankful to everyone who made the effort to celebrate with us…each and every person’s presence was deeply appreciated!

While I’m not a huge center-of-attention person, I honestly can’t wait for my Chicago shower now!  More than anything, I’m looking forward to relaxing and spending a few hours with good friends.

And finally, a heads up to those who read MIS regularly (hi, mom!) – my blogging schedule may be off a bit over the next few weeks.  We have a lot going on from now through the middle/end of May, so I’m not sure how often I’ll be able to post.  However, because I have lots to share and talk about, I’m hoping for at least twice a week.  We shall see!

And with that, I hope you have a happy Tuesday!