My Inner Shakti

finding strength in everyday things

Weekend Things – Catnaps, Friends, (No) Santa and More

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Ahhh another weekend came and went. I know I’ve always been like ‘guys, time is flying by,’ but with two kiddos, time is REALLY flying. Vishnu and I joke (kind of) that we look at the clock and it’s 7 am and when we look again in five minutes it’s 12 pm and then 7 pm. And then boom it’s the next day – rinse and repeat!

This weekend was no different. It was a little more packed than usual but still fun.

On Friday morning, my best friend texted and asked if we wanted to get together for dinner that night. Her, her husband and her daughter came over, and we had so much fun talking, playing, and eating. For years, we’ve talked about how great it will be when we live closer to each other, and I’m so thankful that time is now. There’s nothing better than having a core group of friends that are more like family. It’s also so crazy to see some of my best friends become parents. Weren’t we just in college the other day with no responsibilities, no real insight into what was to come…?

On Saturday morning, Vishnu and Kaiden headed out pretty early for a breakfast with Santa with another friend, her husband, and their son. Kaiden was really looking forward to seeing his friend and Santa (or so I thought), but Vishnu called and told me that Kaiden refused to step near Santa and didn’t want a picture with him. Given our past positive experiences with Santa, I was a little surprised by this, but oh well…there’s always next year! They headed to a nearby park afterwards and had so much fun. K was exhausted by the time his head hit his pillow – a sign of a good time!

While Vishnu attempted to get K to go near Santa, I tried to conquer Ms. Mila and her catnaps. Not sure what’s going on, but our great little sleeper is not such a great daytime napper anymore. I’ve been reading more about wake windows and planning to be stricter about those this week. Fingers crossed that we hit a better groove with her, but we’ll see! I didn’t know about wake windows with K (or many other things), and while I’m thankful to have more knowledge this time around, it almost feels worse having a name for it. Ha…you can’t win!

A resource I found online that I’m following. Wish us luck!

On Sunday, my in laws came over in the morning and hung out with us for a few hours. Again, it’s so nice to have all our loved ones so so close. Makes everything so much easier!

And one again, Vishnu and K headed to piano and I tried my best to get Mila to nap (no dice!). Piano went well at least! K learned how to play Jingle Bells, but of course, he wouldn’t play for me when he got home.

And that was our weekend in a nutshell. Nothing crazy and totally normal and just the way I like it (except the naps…I want her to sleep more!).

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Weekend Recap – Just the Two of Us

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This weekend was Vishnu’s first call weekend, which means he worked Friday until 9 pm, Saturday until 8 pm, and Sunday until 5 pm. It was just me and K for the most part…just the two of us!

And to be quite honest, it was actually a great weekend. Knowing I would be along with K for more than a day used to bring me a lot of anxiety, but now, it’s fun. We talk, we eat, we go out to play, we sleep, we watch TV…the best of friends!

Anyways, even though I was flying solo this weekend, I feel like it was pretty productive. Here’s how it went down!

Friday

I worked on Friday but was able to squeeze in a quick baking sesh before picking K up from school.

I made these scones and these muffins. HIGHLY recommend both!

Saturday

Saturday morning felt like it started earlier than normal with Vishnu’s pager going off twice a little after midnight! Oh vey. Not fun!

Thankfully, the rest of the day didn’t bring any big surprises. We went to the park in the morning for 1.5 hours – we blew bubbles, played with rocks, looked for sticks, ate apples, etc.

The only hiccup was that Kaiden refused to nap. I tried everything, but it didn’t work. I let him watch Frozen instead. You win some, you lose some I guess.

My biggest accomplishment from the day was finishing Well Behaved Indian Women. You guys, this book was everything I didn’t know I needed. So good! Highly recommend putting it on your reading list!

Dinner was another accomplishment. Mainly because K seemed to enjoy it as much as I did. We made Manali Cooks’ Instant Pot Hawaiian Tofu. SO GOOD!

Sunday

Sunday started early because Vishnu’s alarm went off at 5:45. My body wasn’t quite ready to get up, so I slept in until 7:20…because K slept in until 7:30!!! What a win!

We lounged around, until it was time for our play date with our friends Saranya and Ishaan. The boys ran around an empty parking lot until it started raining. We then moved the party inside and colored for while until it was time to go.

K ended up napping for 1.5 hours (WOO HOO!), so I worked out and showered. We then played for the rest of the day (some independent play, some mama play).

Vishnu got home a little after 5, so we got some extra family time as well which was nice because K hadn’t seem him in a couple of days!

And that, my friends, was our ‘just the two of us’ weekend! Thankful to have a cutie pie, fun little boy who loves to keep me on my toes. Never a dull moment, I tell ya!

Hope y’all had a good weekend!

Weekend Recap – Food, Fun, and Whines

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I haven’t done a ‘weekend recap’ type post in a while. Mostly because I have no energy to sit down on a Sunday night and recount everything we did. This weekend I committed to blogging a little bit every night so that my Sunday night, all I need to do is put the finishing touches on this bad boy and hit schedule.

Still didn’t get my s*** together enough to post on Monday morning. As K would say, ‘ay, ay, ay!’

Anyways, let’s dive right in…

Friday

Friday was a lot of fun. The morning started the way most Friday’s do. I got up, made breakfast, got Kaiden ready, got ready myself, and went to Trader Joe’s. After coming home and putting all my groceries away, I put some lentils on the stove for the falafels my sister and I planned to make for lunch. I also made a batch of these blender muffins…sooo good! I then headed to the gym for a 30 minute HIIT class. #sohard!

My sister was over 30 minutes after I got home from the gym, which gave me some time to shower and relax. After she got here, we started making lunch. She tackled the actual falafels (for the sandwiches), while I got the veggies ready for roasting and made the sauce.

When we finally sat down to eat (my BIL was also over at this point), I was in heaven. This was such a satisfying and delicious meal. The falafels themselves were so flavorful, and the sauce is perfection – so creamy, a little tangy, and just finger licking good! A must make recipe IMO!

After lunch, we headed to our annual optometry appointments. No change in my prescription…phew!

After we got home, I made Chocolate Covered Katie’s Deep Dish Brownie Pie. You guys. Make this. It’s so good. You can’t taste the black beans…I promise!

Then it was time to pick Kaiden up from school. When we got home, he was so excited to play with his masa, masi, and dada. We ended the night just the two of us since my sister and BIL went home, and Vishnu went to his program’s holiday party.

And that was Friday in a nutshell!

Saturday

Looking back, Saturday started off a little weird with K, but I just assumed it was something that would pass and that we should just roll with our plans. Vishnu even called it out as we were getting ready. Like, “K doesn’t seem like himself. He’s extra whiny.” I figured we should keep with our plans and he would adjust like he usually does.

I was wrong. We went to the library to return books, play and pick out some new ones. About 30 minutes in, Kaiden started acting a little too rowdy. We reminded him where we were (the library…shhhh!) and what would happen if he continued acting the way he was (re: we would leave). Guess what…we ended up leaving with a screaming toddler in tow.

He ended up calming down in the car a bit, so we headed to his haircut appointment. The library must not be his thing because he was a gem for the duration of his haircut.

We got home, gave K a bath, ate lunch, and then napped…all of us!

We spent the rest of the afternoon/evening playing, dancing, and hanging out. Once Kaiden was down for the night, Vishnu and I finished the last two episodes of The Americans. If you need/want a new show to watch, make it this one (it’s on Amazon Prime). SO GOOD!

One note – make this Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup if you own an Instant Pot. It tastes like Thanksgiving in a bowl!

Sunday

Sunday started with soccer (K still loving it) and a trip to Costco (also still loving Costco).

And again, when K napped, mama napped. I was tired!

Our afternoon/evening was filled with books, music, a little TV, and some dinnertime fun with salads!

Overall, it was a fun weekend with little bits of whines and cries! Man, toddler emotions are just…so tiring! And I can only imagine how K feels…haha!

Oh well. It’s a new week. Let’s make it a good one!

Weekend Rehash – LDW: One Good Thing a Day

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Labor Day weekend 2019 is done and done! And it was a good one. Lots of family time, lots of friend time, lots of delicious food, and lots of fun.

But you guys know me. I like to keep it real. While the weekend was a great one, there were some tantrums and early wake ups. But that’s normal and expected when you live with a 2 year-old! 🙂

With that, let’s dive right in…

FRIDAY

On Friday night, I got ready and headed to Beatnik on the River to meet up some of my favorite Chicago Instagram mamas. It’s always interesting meeting people for the first time, especially when you’ve connected online. You know so much about them already! In fact, I actually knew two of the girls from previous play dates/meet ups.

Anyways, we had a lot of fun chatting on Beatnik’s riverfront patio. The drinks were awesome and the space wasn’t too crowded.

We then headed to Rooh for dinner. You guys, if you live in Chicago or are visiting, this place should definitely be on your list. The food was fantastic. In my own personal words, the food can be described as Indian with a twist. Think Tandoori Mushrooms on Upma Polenta. So so delicious.

I got home around 12:30, went to bed a little before 1, and K was up at 5:20. Fun times all around!

SATURDAY

Despite the early wake up cry, Saturday was a good day.

The highlight was dinner at RPM with friends (their son goes to school with K). It was there first time and my tenth, and I was so happy to introduce them to my favorite Chicago restaurant. I, of course, ordered the eggplant parm (to share). It’s seriously the best!

Kaiden and their little guy stayed at their place and were watched by one of their former teachers (one of K’s favorites). They had such a good time! K and R were giggling like crazy when we got back. About what? Who knows!

SUNDAY

Vishnu worked a 12 hour shift on Sunday, so it was mostly just me and K all day.

Until my sister came over that is!

We had a blast with Aekta Masi – playing and dancing and laughing! It was a nice little break for mama too. Always appreciate the extra helping hands!

MONDAY

We were all home on Monday, so that was a nice pace of change!

If K was writing this post, he’d say Monday was great because he got to go to the park twice!

I thought it was fun because of my fantasy football draft! It’s held on Labor Day every year, and there’s always such good food and decor because my friend Thea is a huge football fan, and she wants to make the draft as fun as possible for all of us! It was so fun catching up with friends too. That’s probably my most favorite part…aside from the delicious food!

And that’s a wrap on Labor Day weekend 2019! I hope you guys had a great one as well. 🙂

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Weekend Rehash – Messed Up Naps

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This was a good weekend for our little fam!  I think we did a decent job balancing outside the house activities and indoor play.  Also, Vishnu didn’t work this weekend, so in my mind, that’s always a win!

Anyways, let’s get to it!

FRIDAY

Friday started off as it usually does – dropped K off at school, worked out, made a Trader Joe’s run, unpacked groceries, and ate lunch. 

After lunch, I decided to make a ‘quick’ trip down to Michigan Avenue to return some stuff at Uniqlo and Nordstrom.  You guys, something you should know about me is that I can’t stand slow walkers.  It drives me bonkers.  The only thing that trumps that is people with poor sidewalk etiquette.  And boy did my pet peeves get tested on Friday.  I probably looked like a mad woman weaving in and out of all the pedestrian traffic.  I was so winded that I decided to treat myself to a little froyo on my way home! 

Half eaten but had to get that pic!

I then came home promptly fell asleep for 2 hours.  This was not part of my Friday plan!  But I guess I needed it
? 

Anyways, I woke up and scrapped my meal prep plans and just made Lindsay’s Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Oat Bars.  SO GOOD!  Vishnu liked them too, as did K.  But I probably liked them the most, given that I ate the most.  I love it when I make things ‘for K’ but end up eating them. 

The rest of the evening was good!  Vishnu and I recently started a show called the Americans, and we are hooked!  I think we watched a couple of episodes before calling it a night.

SATURDAY

If you saw my Instagram post from yesterday, you know that our Saturday was a little wonky.  K woke up on the wrong side of the bed.  But we persisted anyways.  I went to a Cycling class at the gym, and then we headed to a new-to-us lunch place called Egg-o-Holic.  The food was great and really inventive.  However, my child only ate the chips that came with his sandwich.  Oy vey!

We then headed home in time for nap time.  K slept for 1.25 hours before waking up.  So much like last weekend, I went in to rock him a bit but ended up falling asleep with him on the bed.  We slept until 4!

This would’ve been ok (ish), except we had a play date planned with my friend Mownika at 3:30.  I quickly messaged M and told her about our situation.  Honestly, I almost cancelled altogether.  But then I rallied the troops, and we headed out around 4:45.  We stayed at Mownika’s place for about 2 hours.  It’s safe to say everyone had fun – adults included!

Two little monkeys!

Even though it was a little past Kaiden’s bedtime, he didn’t fight us too much.  Of course, once he was down, we watched the Americans!

SUNDAY

Our grand plan for Sunday was to take Kaiden to the Shedd Aquarium.  We thought he’d love looking at all the fish!  Turns out a 2-year-old can only look at so many fish before getting bored.  About 15 minutes in, Vishnu looked at me and said, “We’re losing him!”  Thankfully, he came alive again when we encountered an interactive submarine play station. 

We attempted lunch time at the museum, but that only worked well for me and Vishnu.  Kaiden wanted to goof around and play!

We eventually headed home, fed Kaiden lunch 2.0 and attempted to put him down for a nap.  I know he was exhausted, but he didn’t sleep a wink.  Instead, he rolled around his crib screaming every vocab word he knows!  It was super cute but frustrating at the same time!

I then gave the whole ‘let’s sleep in the bed’ thing a chance, but even that was a no go!  He just laughed and laughed, while I closed my eyes pretending to sleep.

I then said forget it and just let him play.  This did mean that bedtime was earlier than usual at 7 pm.  He fell right asleep and stayed that way for 11 hours.  Thank goodness!

And of course, once he went down to sleep, Vishnu and I continued on with the Americans!

That was our weekend in a long nutshell.  I hope you had an enjoyable one as well!

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Weekend Rehash – A Whole New World

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The title of this post has nothing to do with our entire weekend…just a small part of it. But given that Aladdin is one of my favorite movies of all time, it felt right!

FRIDAY

Friday was my most productive day. I think it had something to do with getting my grocery shopping and the majority of my food making out of the way first thing in the morning versus walking over a mile to go to Soul Cycle and then doing everything else.

Anyways, I went to TJs and Target first thing, which was nice because both stores were practically empty. I then came home and cooked for two hours. I made The Chutney Life’s Instant Pot Lasagna Soup and her Black Bean and Quinoa Burgers. Both recipes are really good and a huge hit in our family!

I headed to the gym for a Barre class around 11:30, which was a nice change of pace. The class was hard but I loved it. So many shakes and quakes!

After coming home and showering, I ran to Costco to get some essential items like toilet paper!

I wrapped up my Kaiden-free time by making my Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but these are so good. As evident by the fact that the 24 muffins I made are gone!

After picking Kaiden up from school, we headed to the park since it was such a beautiful day.

SATURDAY

Saturday started off strong. I went to a cycling class at my gym…it’s no Soul Cycle but it’ll do!

Kaiden and I then headed to a fun brunch with a few girlfriends (all boy moms!), including my good friend Ruchi who is in town as part of her annual US trip. So fun to see her and catch up with everyone. I wish I could say Kaiden was a perfect angel for this meal. He ended up falling asleep in my lap at some point, which means the rest of the day was kind of hit or miss. I didn’t want to miss out on seeing Ruchi and knew that would mean messing up K’s nap. I was hopeful it wouldn’t but it did. I didn’t want to keep him at home because Vishnu was studying. Ah well…you live and you learn…that it’s one day of many!

The weather was a little iffy in the early afternoon, so I took Kaiden to Target just so we could get out of the house. The park was an option…just one I didn’t want to entertain because I was tired!

Vishnu stopped studying when we got home (!!). We played and sang and danced.

My sister and BIL stopped by for an hour or so right before K’s bedtime, which made him so happy. Aekta and Adarsh are two of his favorite people. To illustrate, imagine this – we were walking to Target and he started chanting their names! And this happens regularly!

Anyways, my coworker and good friend Lamia and her husband Dusty came over after K went down for the night. They kindly agreed to stay at our place so Vishnu and I could go see ALADDIN!

You guys! Go watch this movie, especially if you grew up loving it as a kid. The only thing I would say is expect it to be a little different. For example, Will Smith brought his own flavor to the role of the genie. A lot of people feel like Robin Williams can’t be replaced, but I think of all people, Will Smith did an amazing job. Think of this version of the movie as a modern one!

SUNDAY

This brings us to Sunday. The hardest day!

I don’t know what it was. Maybe the lack of a good nap on Saturday. The 5:15 am wake up. But Kaiden was in a mood.

We headed to the Children’s Museum for what I thought would be a fun morning in a different environment. All was well until about 9:40 when more kids showed up and also wanted to bowl. This meant Kaiden has to share the space and the balls. He didn’t want to. I took him to another area of the museum that he usually loves. Didn’t love that. I took him to an entire floor altogether and offered him some snacks. Didn’t want any part of that. So when the screaming wouldn’t stop, I decided to take him home. I find that sometimes just getting him of the environment is best for everyone.

So then we came home, ate a little snack, put on our sunscreen and headed to the park. This worked out a lot better for the most part. He didn’t want to wait for people to finish with his favorite swing so when they saw Kaiden making a fuss they kindly got off and offered it to us. To be honest, I was thankful and a little embarrassed. But it is what it is. Another boy mom at the park told me her newly minted two year old refuses to share and is lacking major patience…which wasn’t a thing before. Good to know we’re not alone! With that being said, Vishnu and I are brainstorming ideas for how to help Kaiden when he’s feeling these big emotions. Will keep y’all posted on that!

Kaiden ended up taking a 1.25 hour nap after lunch, so I decided to take advantage and nap too. It wasn’t the most restful sleep but I’ll take what I can!

Later in the afternoon my friend Pankti and her little guy Arjun came over for an impromptu play date. We headed back to the park so the boys could run around and expend some energy. All was fine until Kaiden decided the water fountain was his new BFF. I was fine with him splashing himself and playing with it, but then he started reaching for it when other people were actually trying to use it. To make a long story short, our park visit ended with me carrying a kicking and screaming kid home. Ay, ay, ay!

The rest of the evening was spent playing and home and chatting with Pankti. Kaiden continued to have his moments but again…it is what it is! He’s almost two!

After I put K down for the nap, Vishnu and I talked for a bit about what we can do to help him and where a lot of this is stemming from. And the only conclusion we came to is that we have to be more strict about his naps on the weekends. No exceptions! When he doesn’t nap, he’s a different person. And not a pleasant one!

Anyways, I’m going to stop right here with this lengthy post and wish you all a happy week! If you made it this far, thanks for reading. 🙂

Kaiden and grandpa

Favorite Weekend Moments

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Ahhh the cherished weekend!  Something we treasured oh so much pre-baby.  Now?  Well, to be honest, I’ve been mixing up my days since Kaiden’s birth.  Saturday doesn’t really feel any different than Wednesday.  But when your baby is freaking adorable, who cares!

While the weekend doesn’t feel much different to me, everyone else can still tell the difference, so with that, here are a few favorite weekend moments…

My dad flew in on Thursday night, walked through the door, and immediately asked to see/hold his grandson!  Kaiden was asleep, but my dad?  He was so excited he couldn’t hide it.  So much love in that one moment!

Kaiden and grandpa

On Friday, Vishnu and I experienced our first solo evening at home with the baby because my parents attended a wedding event in the burbs.  We ate cereal for dinner, we watched TV (for the first time in 15 days), we fed/burped/changed/rocked Kaiden to sleep, and most importantly, we survived to tell the tale!  We’re getting the hang of this parenting thing…slowly but surely.

My BIL, Niel, flew in on Friday night.  Another sweet and exciting first meeting!

Kaiden and Niel

Vishnu worked a 24 hour shift from 8a Saturday to 8a Sunday.  He was beyond exhausted because…a 2b/2b apartment + 3 extra people + a baby that gets up every 3-4 hours…doesn’t exactly equal relaxation.  Again, he survived so there’s that.  But with him not being at home, my parents planning to attend the actual wedding on Saturday morning, and my BIL not having any real baby experience, my mom asked my sister to come over on Saturday to help me as needed.

Welllll…things didn’t go exactly according to plan.  Kaiden had an off night on Friday, so we were up a lot more than expected.  And because I didn’t want Vishnu getting up with us, I told Niel to sleep in our room, and I slept in the living room with Kaiden (who was safe and secure in his bassinet). After finally reaching my breaking point at 5 am, I woke my mom up and asked her for help.

Ultimately, this meant that they weren’t able to attend the early morning ceremony but did make it to the reception late in the evening.

This wasn’t necessarily a favorite weekend moment, but it did make me realize how lucky we are to have so much love and support around us, especially in these early weeks.  I know not everyone is so fortunate.

Saturday morning/afternoon flew by.  Between a nap for me, extra pairs of arms holding and playing with Kaiden, and a visit from Adarsh’s parents/sister, it was the evening before we knew it.

Before I share more about my solo evening with K, I want to link to John Oliver’s latest video on vaccines.  As a new parent, I found his perspective/humor super interesting and informative.  I highly recommend taking the time to watch this in its entirety.

Ok, so on to the evening.  With Vishnu at work, my parents at the wedding reception, and Aek/Adarsh/Niel/the rest of the gang at the beach, I was able to spend a few hours at home…alone.  AND to top it off, it just so happened that this time aligned with Kaiden’s nap time.  YAHOO!

What I should’ve done during this time is nap myself.  What I did instead was plop on the couch, turn on Netflix, and watch a documentary.  More on What the Health and my thoughts coming soon.  It was glorious, even though I paid for it later.

What the Health

A few hours later, Aek/Adarsh/Niel/Adarsh’s parents/sister returned home with dinner…pizza from Home Slice.  It was so delicious I forgot to take a picture.  We will be ordering from here again!

Sunday’s main highlight was having Vishnu back home.  It was kind of remarkable how when he walked through the door and saw Kaiden his exhaustion melted away.  He pulled a Par and stayed up with all of us instead of taking a longer nap.

The rest of Sunday included hanging out at home and spending time with Niel before it was time for his flight.  There was also a nice long nap for mama, Adarsh’s parents stopping by one last time before also heading home, and Aek and Adarsh coming over for a bit.

How was your weekend?  Name some favorite moments!

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