An affair with Mumbai

Mumbai, the city that I call home. The city that stirs up so many emotions in me. A city that I love and yet am not unaware of the issues. A city where people come together in time of crisis but in everyday life, the same people stare or ignore you. Mumbai, a city filled with dreams and dreamers. A city I call home even though I haven't live in it for 10 years. A city that will always be special to me. Which is why, I absolutely enjoyed showing his beautiful city to my beautiful child, Laksh.

Here are some pics from the trip, I wish I has enough words to express what joy this has been for me but for now, let the pictures guide you through.

                                                                                                                          

New year; Old me?

Dear readers,

Happy 2018 everybody. Hope this year brings you all joy, love and good health, everything else will fall into place in time. I would like to thank everyone for their support so far and I hope to keep getting more love for Laksh and our little venture; this blog.

It seems like we just celebrated Christmas and in a blink of the eye, its already 2018. Christmas has always been the best part of the year. All the lights, and festivities around me always cheers me up. Recently, I have started to feel the need to start traditions, things that I want Laksh to look forward to. Things like, baking cookies for Christmas together, opening gifts Christmas morning, wearing matching family PJ's, taking family trips across the globe, taking a minute to reflect and being grateful, give to others what we can, being kind and smiling a lot.

I have never been the kind of person to wait for new year to make resolutions, if I want to change something I do it right away. I am also someone who likes to celebrate and capture every moment that I can, because that is what makes life worth living, at least that is what I feel. My sisters and I have always been those people who love to celebrate and cherish each other and the people around us.

January 1st marked the beginning of this year but for us, it also marked the day our baby boy turned 5 months old. We spent the day celebrating his 5 month birthday instead. Hubby and I baked a chocolate cake for Laksh and it was such a fun experience. This lead me to think of other ways to be able to have more fun, be responsible and also lead a more meaningful life. To live life and not merely exist.

• Read a book to Laksh every night
• Laugh at small things instead of getting angry 
• Try to get quality sleep time
• Family movie night with popcorn (pop corn not optional)
• Go for a brisk walk (even when its freezing cold)
• Listen to music and dance
• Lite a scented candle
• Drink more water
• Try new recipes
• Don't freak out over every small thing and go with the flow (more of me than anyone else)
• Give someone a compliment and mean it 
• Be helpful and kind to strangers
• Be more patient
• And remove the Christmas tree before the end of this month. 😉

As we start a new year, I hope people learn to be more tolerant, kind, open-minded, accepting, friendly, understanding, polite, and kind. I know I said kind twice, that’s how important it is. If there is only one thing you want to take away from this blog today, then let it be kindness.

21 things I am grateful for this Thanksgiving

In this busy life, it is easy to forget what things we have going for us and keep focusing on things that are not. For instance, focusing on not getting the promotion you were gunning for and forgetting to be grateful for having a job. Getting upset over not being able to get that branded bag but forgetting to be grateful for the other bags you already have. Crying over baby having diagnosed with down syndrome at birth instead of being grateful for this tiny miracle you created.(see what I did there 👶❤)

I know this blog is not completely from Laksh's point of view or even fully about him like it usually is, but I needed to put this in writing for him to see when he grows up. It being thanksgiving weekend, I decided to come up with reasons 21 that I am thankful/grateful for this life that God gave us. (21 has become my most favorite number recently, oh & also, it is my birth date)

1. We have Laksh and he has us
2. We have a roof over our heads
3. We have food in our bellies
4. We have love in our house
5. We have people that care about us
6. Laksh has both sets of grand parents
7. Laksh has two older sisters (cousins but closer than the real deal), aunts and uncles
8. Laksh has a fur brother
9. We are healthy
10. We have an amazing online DS community, our extended family
11. We have jobs so we can provide for our baby
12. We have access to great medical care
13. We became parents
14. We saw his first smile
15. We heard his first cry
16. We celebrated his first Rakhsha Bandhan
17. We celebrated his first Diwali
18. We celebrated his first Bhai Dhuj
19. We celebrated his first Halloween 
20. We celebrated his first thanksgving
21. And last but not least, we will have the rest of our lives to see his many firsts and seconds and more.

Never forget to be kind to others as kindness is all that matters. Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours.