baby shower Archives - My Inner Shakti

The 6 Words I Whisper to My Baby Every Day

Before I divulge the 6 words I whisper to my baby every day (a little cliffhanger…!), I have to share a little bit about my friend Sweeti’s baby shower I attended in Fort Lauderdale this past weekend.

I flew down to Florida on Saturday morning and flew back to Chicago on Sunday morning, so it was a super short trip. But I’m so glad I was able to be there to celebrate Sweeti and her husband Sunay’s baby girl. Everything about the shower exuded love and fun. My favorite parts involved sitting back and relaxing with friends and the game night Sunay planned. If you follow me on Instagram Stories, you probably saw a few clips of the shenanigans. So. Much. Fun.

Also of great significance (to me at least) was the fact that this was my very first night away from Kaiden. My strategy for how to deal? Lots of FaceTiming and reminding myself that my being away is good bonding time for Vishnu and Kaiden. And guess what…I was right. They had a blast! In fact, when I got back, K was constantly looking out for Vishnu, and every time he would appear so would a huge smile on K’s face.

The 6 words I whisper to my baby every day

After reading Brene Brown’s parenting manifesto, my views on motherhood/parenthood shifted in a big way. Above all else, my ultimate goal is to raise a kind, compassionate, well-adjusted, courageous child. A pretty tall order, I know!

For one, something Vishnu and I talk about all the time is how we need to lead by example now that we’re parents. Even now, Kaiden watches our every move. If we want him to be kind, we have to be kind. If we want him to be courageous, we have to be courageous. I think a lot of people attribute their success as parents to their kids achievements, when in fact, it’s all about our own behaviors. Are we leading the way? Do our words align with our actions?

Leading by example becomes more and more critical as kids get older. So what about the baby era? Well, I truly believe babies are intuitive beings. They know more than they let on! Even in the early days/months/years, our words carry significant weight. And that is why I whisper the following 6 words to Kaiden every day…

See, I believe in order to embody everything I mentioned earlier, one of your core beliefs has to be that you are loved, lovably and worthy. This should be your foundation. I want Kaiden to feel love and worthiness in his bones. And more than anything else, I want him to love himself deeply. I’m confident he’ll be ok if this rings true.

This is precisely why I’m working on my own feelings of love and worthiness. I need to lead by example when it comes to this notion. Like I said before, words will only go so far. This topic is probably worthy (see what I did there!) of its own post.

But until Kaiden is a tad bit older, my words will have to do…

Kaiden, my beautiful boy, you are loved, lovable and oh so worthy!

My Perfectly Parita Chicago Baby Shower

written by Parita 6 Comments

Talk about a super special weekend! I celebrated our little guy’s upcoming arrival with my Chicago girlfriends, and I must say, it was one of the most beautiful and perfect baby showers ever (not that I’m biased or anything!).

My sister Aekta and best friend Roshni planned everything, and you guys, they did an AMAZING job. Everything from the venue, to the decor, to the food, to the games was all so thoughtfully put together. These two sure know how to make a mama-to-be feel special and loved.

Vishnu asked what my favorite moment from this shower was, and I couldn’t give him an answer. It was all my favorite!

Overall, I’m just overwhelmed by all the love showered upon us over the past few months. Sometimes when I feel anxious/nervous about being a mom, I think about all the loving, caring, and supportive people we have by our side, and I immediately feel better.

With that being said, I am so thankful for my sister and Rosh. They really went above and beyond to make my shower perfectly Parita. I love them both so much!

Ok I’ll stop rambling now, and let the pictures do the talking!

Our Indian Baby Shower!

written by Parita 11 Comments

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!

Weekend Recap – NYE, Baby Shower, Home!

written by Parita 12 Comments

We’re already four days into 2016. What?! I honestly feel like I JUST got home from London and started my two week holiday. Time flies when you’re having fun. And fun is exactly how I’d describe the past few weeks. Maybe that’s why I felt a twinge of sadness when we got home yesterday. All I could think was “back to the grind.” I told Vishnu how I felt and he reminded me of all the fun to come – a trip to Panama at the beginning of February, my sister’s wedding, our move to Chicago, etc.

Now let’s rewind back to NYE. For the first time in years, we decided to stay in and keep it low key. Low key for the six of us (me, Vishnu, my MIL, my FIL, my BIL, and Neelam (my BIL’s girlfriend) included lots of my MIL’s delicious food and board games, specifically Scattergories and Taboo. We started with Scattergories, and let’s just say my competitive self definitely came out. I ended up in second place right behind Vishnu. We then took moved on to two rounds of Taboo. I was on the winning team in both rounds…just saying! We rang in the new years by counting down with those in Times Square!

I know I talk about my in-laws every now and then, but I don’t think I’ve ever expressed how thankful I am for having such loving, kind, generous and hilarious people in my life. I hit the in-law jackpot…there’s not doubt about that!

Friday was a day of pure relaxation – we talked, we ate, and sat around and watched TV. Such a nice change of pace from the rest of the week (we ended up having more plans than I thought we would).

On Saturday morning, I headed to Augusta for my friend Monica’s baby shower. She’s having a baby girl in March, and I could not be more excited and happy for her and her husband Amit!

The shower was super cute and so much fun. Monica’s mom and SIL hosted and did such a good job with all the details -the decorations were adorable, the food was delicious and the games were entertaining! Everyone had such a blast! Personally, I just couldn’t get over the fact that Monica is going to be a mom in a few short months – it’s surreal! I still remember when she told me about Amit. Can’t wait to meet their little princess!

On Sunday morning, Vishnu and I woke up at 6 am, got ready, packed the car, and started on our seven hour journey home. Since I drove up to Atlanta, Vishnu offered to drive most of the way home. Instead of falling asleep (which is my go to physiological response during car trips!), I stayed up and kept him company. We listened to music, we listened to the first four episodes of the new season of Serial (if you haven’t already – get on it!), we talked about everything we have coming up in 2016, and we truly enjoyed each other’s company (I stayed off my phone for most of the trip).

Now it’s Monday morning – Vishnu starts a busy rotation today and I’m back at work and excited to see what new opportunities come my way.

Bring it on, 2016. We’re ready!

How did you ring in the new year?

The 6 Words I Whisper to My Baby Every Day

My Perfectly Parita Chicago Baby Shower

Our Indian Baby Shower!

Weekend Recap – NYE, Baby Shower, Home!

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