A decade ago

With the engagement of our friends Ben and Anna, I was reminded of my own a decade ago. For a 30 second question, I sure used up a lot of words! :-)

Still here

Sorry to all the regular blog followers - I know I haven't posted in a few weeks. Just been busy with work, and haven't brought out the camera a lot. Since summer is coming, and I'll be going on reduced hours, maybe we'll have time to do more family things.

In the meantime, enjoy these couple of videos from the vault.

Happy 4th birthday Priya!

My little girl turned 4 over the weekend. I still remember vividly driving home that evening of the 5th knowing that by the end of the day we will have a girl. And there she was...

Priya had quite a fun birthday weekend. We had a combined party for her and Skylar on Friday night. Most of their friends are common, and it ended up being a blast! The theme, as is apt for all girls their age, was a "princess" one.

Armaan doesn't look too happy here, but he had a great time!

The amazing cake!

Here come the guests...

Sabrina was the royal greeter

There's a royal conspiracy afoot

Here is Armaan rascalling around

Dental Hygiene

As I was filling in the health insurance forms for next year, I found out that I had already added Priya to our dental plan last year. Since the deductible was paid off already for the year, we decided that it was as good a time as any for her to have her first dental visit. She's been brushing her teeth for a while now, but has never gone in for a formal cleaning. The first time she ever went to a dentist was when she was about 3. The whole set up kinda freaked her out a bit, and she didn't want to have anything to do with it. But the last couple of times that she accompanied me, she got warmer to the idea of getting it done herself. So when the day for her appointment came, she was pretty excited.

Starting this week, Armaan is now also getting his teeth brushed. Like with most everything, he takes everything in stride. There's a video at the end where you can see that he is not the slightest bit fazed with getting his teeth brushed.

Getting ready for cleaning

And all done

As far as my work goes, things are slow. We got the news that there will be a company-wide pay cut of 10% with reduced work hours. Even with that, there are probably no guarantees that there won't be cuts. No one really is to blame for this. The economy just plain sucks, and getting 90% of any salary is better than getting nothing at all.

Restarting an annual tradition

We had been going to the Chicago Flower and Garden Show at Navy Pier for a few years before they shut it down. Even Priya got to enjoy it when she was about a year old. I was always a little sad when Armaan got to about the same age, and we couldn't go there last year. This year, the city decided to bring it back. So on a pretty nice Saturday, after Tish got home from work, we got everyone in the van and went down to Navy Pier. By the time we had had dinner, there was only an hour left before the show ended. But as it turned out, that was plenty of time to walk around, and get a good feel for the show. My favorite thing at the show was always the competition entries, but this time either they didn't have the competition, or had removed the flowers earlier in the week.

Before we get to those pictures, we had Grandma visiting us for a few days. She got to see where Priya goes to school. The kids had a really good time with her.

Priya as a future WNBA player

Armaan walked more that day than any other day in his life

Can you see the whole front of his face bruised from a fall? Can you also see how much he cares about it?

It's here, it's not here

I'm talking about spring. Even thought the official start is still a couple of weeks away, we had some nice warm weather this past week. Though I wasn't around to enjoy it. I spent most of the week in Seattle where it was mid-30s and raining. Exactly what everyone expects Seattle weather to be like.

In the most exciting news of the week, Priya had her first hair cut! Her wanting to get it cut has only been a recent phenomenon. Until now she was morbidly afraid of getting it cut. But after seeing Armaan get his hair cut a few times, she got more open to the idea. Her hair's still long, and a lot more manageable.

Nice and trimmed

Tuesday afternoon kid hangout

Superman with kitty boots

Priya's long hair before the the trimming

I think she's ready for roller derby