Maddeningly frustrating

This was supposed to be the BIG weekend. We finally were all together to go out and get Priya's mattress, and change her crib to a full size bed. We headed out to Costco with our friend Sherry and her three girls. The store had a pretty good deal on a mattress set that was hard to beat.

Here is Priya trying out her mattress.

And then the fun really started. The crib called for "hook-on" rails. This is where the end of the rails slide into and get hooked on two bolts on the headboard and footboard, instead of being bolted to them. We had neglected to get the conversion kit when we bought the crib (totally our fault). Now the model has been discontinued, and getting it special order is $99-130. I thought, Ok how complicated is this thing. Shouldn't all rails be the same, following the same standard. Was I wrong. Following these many sets...

And ruining the beautiful cherry finish on an otherwise pristine crib...


We ended up with this...

On closer examination, I found out that the bolts in the crib are more recessed than what standard rails can hook on to. So what the crib manufacturer is doing is forcing you to buy the conversion set through them. So now we will have to end up paying the extra money instead of using a $20 generic set.

We also went through a number of ceramic space heaters for Armaan's room. His room gets kind of cold at night. But Tish didn't like any of them, and there's always the paranoia of having a space heater in the house, ceramic or not. So I put up insulating plastic on Armaan's window (the kind which sticks on, and you have to use a hair dryer to stretch). That noticeably warmed up his room, and I think will do the trick.

Armaan is almost able to sit up by himself

Priya and Skylar on another one of their play dates

Cold Snap

I can't remember the last time we had such cold weather for so long. It was 0 deg F (-18 deg C) last night with the wind chills in the -20s. Brrr... It was Tish's weekend to work, and the kids and I stayed in. I think Priya is getting a little bit of cabin fever, but best that than exposure. This coming week is also going to be as cold. There's not any significant snowfall in the forecast which is unfortunate because that brings up the temperatures.

As I mentioned before - it's all in the training!

Hangin' out

The not so little fella is six months old now!

Armaan and Ben

Armaan loves to hang out with Jin

My work after-holidays Holiday Party

Happy 2008... With a little from Christmas '07

So here we go off and running with 2008. The big event for us this year will be our vacation to the Grand Cayman. Yep - that's right - not only am I going to open an offshore account to hide my wealth, I am also going to make a vacation out of it. Ok. So maybe the last part is true. Check out the place we're going to stay at - The Anchorage. The trip is planned for the middle of May.

Here are some pictures from Christmas '07 in Michigan.

Armaan worn out before we even started out

Can I open presents now?

Priya LOVED sleeping in the "Pink Room"

Lemme at this stocking

Ok - I finally got something out

It's all about training

I didn't think this was too safe, so it's going back. But at least Armaan and Priya had fun while it was there.



Santa visits grandma's house

Merry Christmas!

Yay for Armaan's first Christmas. It was also so much fun now that Priya understands a little bit more what the fuss is all about (wait.. it's not about presents?). Speaking of which, there's lot more presents to come once we get to Michigan tomorrow.

Todd and Susan looking good with Armaan

Priya enjoying her first fondue with her new friends Lukas and Leo

While sister Ella hams it up

Leo wishes he had a straw

Armaan got pretty beat from the long day

But recovered nicely for Christmas day!

Priya's been galloping around the house

Does this happen every year?

Next Stop: Hollywood

This past weekend was Priya's theatrical debut in our church Christmas play. She had been practicing the songs every Sunday in her Sunday school class, but we never knew that she was actually going to be a part of the play. On Friday we got a couple of calls encouraging us to consider having Priya up on stage. The first try was on Saturday. No go. She was all fine, until a few minutes before stage time. Apparently it was too dark backstage, and she got scared. We heard this cry, "Mama!" and of course we could recognize her voice. When Tish went back there, Priya was saying, "I'm scared, mama." So that was the end of that.

Priya sat with us for the duration of the play and enjoyed it. Later that night we asked her if she wanted to be in the play the next day and play drums (you'll see). She said yes. The answer was the same the following morning, and even more enthusiastic. This time - no problems! Watch out for the part where she sees me filming her!

Here's Priya in some more of her "princess" clothes. She loves wearing these.


This year our tree came from the very unromantic Home Depot. We used to always get them from a farm, though for the last couple of years we'd put up an artificial tree. Nothing like the smell of fresh pine to make it feel like Christmas.

We got a pretty big storm over the weekend - about 10 inches or so. Once all the shoveling was done, we had just enough time to make a Priya's first snowman (before I collapsed from exhaustion).


Not to forget about the little guy, here's some pictures of him. Here he is pretty much wiped out from all the exertion of trying to roll over. I found him totally still, with his thumb in his mouth.