Hokie Hope Day

Today is a day of mourning here in Virginia for all the victims of the shooting at Virginia Tech. Everyone was encouraged to wear Virginia Tech colors to show their support. Jai and I are adopted Hokies. Neither of us went to VA Tech, but our close friends went to school there and we have become Hokie fans. Last fall we went to a Hokie football game and it was a blast. After the game we drove around the campus. It is a beautiful place. You can tell that VA Tech is a close community and I could see why students fall in love with this school.

It has been a very emotional week. We have been praying for all the victims and all the students that have to deal with this horrible situation. I hope this is not the thing that defines VA Tech because it is really so much more than this horrible tragedy. After seeing how brave and strong the students have been through all of this, I think that VA Tech will return to the wonderful, beautiful and fun place of learning that it has always been.

Today was also Earth day. So we went to Daddy's work to celebrate and have lunch with him. We had a good time meeting everyone that Daddy works with. Ann Hartley also came to visit her Daddy, Eric, so we all had lunch together. Jai had a great time showing off his little girl!! Here is a picture taken at the Capital One campus with everyone in their Hokie colors.

Isha Loves Her Bumbo

Here is another show of Isha in her Bumbo. She loves this thing. She is wearing the sweater that her grandma Oberoi knitted for her. She looks so cute with the hat on. Isha and Mommy. Pink was the color of the day yesterday, obviously. Actually we wear a lot of pink around here. What can I say, Isha is a girlie girl.

Isha gets a Bumbo

Every since Isha realized that she could sit up, that is the only thing she wants to do. She is not content to just be held like a baby, she wants to sit up and check everything out. The Bumbo is perfect and she looks so cute sitting in it.

Isha slept in her crib Saturday night for the first time. We were so proud of ourselves and then came Sunday night. I gave her a bath and then fed her and I figured we were ready to go to bed. I sat and rocked her and hummed lullabies to her and she was still bright eyed. I tried singing, rocking, swaying, the pacifier, and then feeding again, all to no avail. An hour later Isha was still wide awake. I was so frustrated that Jai had to take over and a half an hour later she was asleep. So after one and a half hours Isha was swaddled up in her bassinet. So much for the crib. One for Isha, Jai and Jen: 0.

Sleeping Beauty

Jai took these pictures Wednesday night while I was working. He said she cried most of the time. It is hard to believe him after seeing these pictures, so you will just have to take his word. Maybe it was all the asparagus that I ate for lunch. Actually that might be a good idea. Try out all the gassy foods on the days I have to work. Just kidding, I wouldn't do that to Jai. She is such a little angel. Jai and I think she looks like she is praying. She probably is praying that I never eat asparagus again. Yesterday she was laying on the bed talking and fussing while I was getting ready. I noticed that she no longer sounds like a tiny baby. Her fussing and crying has changed to a more mature sounding noise. I noticed it again this morning. I know this sounds strange and I can't really find the right way to explain it, but she is definitely sounding different. I get excited when I realize changes, but it also makes me sad that she is growing up so fast.

Isha baby

Isha is very cute. She just sits there and smiles. What a great girl. I hope she stays this way.

Stitch talks

You better beware of dog. He will talk your ears off. I guess I'm getting good at this now. I don't know what Eric was talking about this being so hard "NOT".

Easter Sunday

Isha got all dressed up for mass on Easter sunday. She was a very good girl at church today. Just a little cooing during the homily. We almost didn't make it to church today due to a major blow out. In order to get out the door in time we had to cut the onsie off of her. I know this sounds extreme, but there was no way to get it over her head without getting pooh all over the place. So, out came the scissors. The sacrifice had to be made in order to make it to church on time. It was a stressful morning, but I was glad Isha was able to go to mass for her first Easter. After church we put on her other Easter outfit. Something more appropriate for the cool weather. Another little bunny oufit complete with ears and bunny feet. These outfits remind me of the bunny outfit the little boy gets for Christmas in the movie A Christmas Story. After church we went down to the Monument Avenue Easter on Parade. There was lots of food and things for the kids to do. We took Stitch with us also. There is an Easter bonnet contest for humans and for pets. There were tons of dogs and Stitch had a good time socializing with some other four leggers. This is a picture of the Robert E. Lee statue on Monument Ave. Many of the houses along Monument Ave. were decorated. Stitch and I stopped at the big blow up bunny for this photo. Sunday evening we went to the neighbors house for Easter dinner. It was a wonderful meal with great friends. After dinner there was an Easter egg hunt for all the neighborhood kids. With a little help Isha found her first Easter egg. It was fun to watch all the kids running around the yard looking for eggs. The kids had fun opening all the eggs and looking at all the treasures. Braden gave Isha one of his little toys. His brother Rylan and him are very thoughtful little boys. They both love Isha and they are always very sweet with her.

Weird Weather

This is what we woke up to on Saturday morning. It is hard to believe that the day before Isha was born I was playing miniature golf in capri pants and a tee shirt. Now, the day before Isha's 3 month birthday we get snow. Jai had bought a couple of cute Easter outfits and I figured Isha wouldn't get to wear them because I thought it would be to warm. Boy was I wrong. Here is Isha Bunny. This little outfit was so cute. I especially like the bunny ears and little cotton tail.

Isha talks to her dad

Isha talks a lot too. I guess she gets that from her mother "NOT". A girl after my own heart. You have to love her for that. I hope she keeps talking to me after shes older. Only time will tell.

The Stitch Man

The Stitch Man rests while ittle girl is out with Mom. This is getting out of control. More to come.

Isha laughs for everyone

Check this out. I posted this to youtube and copied the html code. Well that didn't work so I modified it until it did work. I'm "da man". More cool videos with higher quality coming soon to a blog near you. My little girl likes to laugh and have a great day. She's very special to me and her mom.

Friends Come To Visit

Eric and Hartley came to visit yesterday evening. We had a good time holding the girls and letting them play together. Jai and I were also privileged enough to see Hartley's trick in person. I hope Jai doesn't get any ideas. Hartley is 7 weeks older than Isha so she has already mastered rolling over. She was trying to teach Isha how to do it. Isha did pretty good, but never made it all the way over. We will have to keep trying. I think that this is the cutest thing I have ever seen. Not only are these two little angels totally adorable, but it is funny how different they are. Isha with all her hair and Hartley with big blue eyes. Here Hartley gives Isha a kiss. They are so sweet. Now that Isha can control her hands she always keeps them together and close to her mouth so she can suck on her fingers at a moments notice. Last night was a big night for us. Isha slept in her own room. We moved her bassinet into her room. I am going to get her used to that and then transition her into her crib. She has this beautiful crib and she has never even slept in it. It was strange not to have her right next to me. But I have to admit that her room is in our sitting room so she was only about 10 feet away. I was afraid that moving her would rock the boat, but she still slept through the night. Yippee and knock on wood that she keeps up the good sleep habits!!!

Defying Gravity

It is chilly here today so we have pulled out all the cold weather clothes to wear one last time. Isha's hair has gotten so long that it has grown down over her ears. A friend of ours gave us all these cute hair clips, so today Isha dawned her first hair-do! Isha is a total chatter box. She loves to talk. She makes all kinds of cooing noises and she is always smiling and laughing! Here she is telling her Daddy all about her day. Actually she is talking right now while I am posting this.

Yesterday we tried out one of Isha's cloth diapers. They are a one size fits all and they are still to big. They gave her a case of thunder thighs, front butt and badonkadonk butt. You can't see it as well in this picture, but this diaper was huge. I laughed every time I picked her up. I think we have a little while before we will us these full time. I was impressed with the diaper though. She wet in it and everything was contained. Now that was not the case a few days ago. We had to take the car in to get the oil changed and I had to sit in the waiting room and feed Isha. As I was feeding her I could smell that a diaper change was needed. When I finished feeding her I pulled the blanket back and my hand was on top of a great big green spot. Yuck. There is nothing funner that trying to clean a blow out up in a public restroom. Luckily there was a big counter next to the sink! The funny thing was that I almost didn't bring a change of clothes, I was halfway up the stairs and I turned around thinking I didn't need a change of clothes, but something told me I better get a change of clothes just in case. That was a good lesson learned.

And now I pose a question... How does poop defy gravity? Here I am feeding Isha and holding her head higher than her backside and still the poop managed to work its way up the back of her diaper and all over the place. If NASA wants to know how to overcome gravity all it needs to do is study baby poop. It is an amazing phenomenon!!

Wachovia's Newest Customer

This Saturday was a big day for Isha. We opened a savings account for her. I want her to grow up to be an independent young woman who can manage money, so hopefully this will help to get her started!! I guess Isha wasn't as excited as us because she slept the whole time we were at the bank! I think it is a good thing that we have control of the account because I don't know if we can trust her to manage her own money by the looks of this picture. These are actually Aunt Laura's chips, but Isha sure had her eye on them. We spent Saturday evening at the Sweeney's house watching the Georgetown game! Wish they would have won, but it was still a great evening ( except that there were no mashed potatoes to go with the subs! ) Like most of our functions there was lots of great food and the evening finished up with a game of poker.

Isha Sits Up!

With a little help from the Boppy Isha is sitting up. Since she has learned this she wants to sit up all the time! I can't believe how strong she is. She is still a little wobbly, but when she is laying down she will try to pull herself up to a sitting position. While is it exciting to see her do new stuff it also makes me sad because she is growing and changing so fast! Here is another shot of Isha sitting up. I will admit though that the back on the chair was holding her up. This shot is cute because she is resting her little elbow on the arm rest and just sitting back chillin'. Last night was bath night. Isha loves the tub. All that hair needs frequent washing. We had just finished watching American Idol and I thought that if Sanjaya could pull of a mohawk then Isha could definitely do it. Actually I think Isha is much cuter and she can probably even sing better than Sanjaya! This beautiful blanket came in the mail yesterday from Isha's great grandma Jeannette in Washington. Each square has a number and a saying which counts all the animals in that square. It is adorable. There was also a pillow and a Raggedy Ann doll. Isha is such a well loved (well maybe even spoiled) little girl. Thank you so much great grandma Jeannette.

A Good Week!

Great grandma Carol went home yesterday. We had a great week with her here. Isha got lots of love!!! I bought Isha a hat to keep the sun out of her face. She actually liked wearing it. We are going to the Irish Festival today so it should come in handy since we are having nice sunny weather this weekend. This week Isha has started grabbing at things with her hands and holding on to them. Usually it is her bib or burp cloth. We got her a few little toys that she could hold on to. She is doing great, but I don't think she realizes that she is making the rattle make noise. The other thing she is doing is sucking on her fist and fingers. She has been doing this for a couple of weeks but now she has more control and can keep her fingers in her mouth. Here is another pose from picture day. We will be busy these next few days trying to get announcements sent out so keep checking the mailbox. This picture was taken after the picture session was over. I think that Isha was relieved to be done! Tomorrow is my first day back at work. I thought I would be excited to go back to work, but I really am not. I will be working a 7:30 pm to midnight shift. I guess I can handle working 4 1/2 hours. It's not like I will have to be away form her all day. It will be good for Jai and Isha to have some time together to hang out.

Isha's First Professional Pictures

Poor Isha. She was mad at me for pulling her fist out of her mouth. Here is a sweet one. It was so hard to pick. We had 75 different poses to choose from and three different outfits. We narrowed it down to 6 poses and we now have more pictures than I know what to do with. But we had a great time. It was nice to have my grandma there because she gave her input and also held Isha while I worked with the photographer to pick the poses. By time we got to this outfit Isha had had just about enough. We only got a few shots of this one before we quit. It was so hard to decide on which picture to order, but the good thing is that we ordered enough to get all 75 poses on a DVD!!! So I have lots of cute picture that we can email y'all. (Had to throw the y'all in there. I am coming up on 4 years of living in Virginia and I guess it has rubbed off on me!)

Isha's First Professional Pictures

I kept the bib on Isha until the very last moment because I didn't want any messes and the second I took the bib off for the picture she spit up. Little stinker. Oh well the picture still turned out great. It was hard to get her to smile because she was overwhelmed by all the lights and noise. The tummy pictures didn't turn out as good. Isha hasn't spent much time on her tummy, so she wasn't quite sure what was going on. If I could read her mind she would be saying, "What the heck are you doing to me?" Jai loves this one. Check out her right hand. Oops, didn't notice that until we got home. I thought I taught her better than that. Actually her dad probably taught her that. I love this picture. Her grandma Carol bought her this dress just for picture day. We got a 10 x 13 in this pose that is a black and white. It is so adorable.

Here is Isha again in her dress sitting on the blanket that I crocheted for her. We even managed to keep the bow in her hair. And here is a helpful hint to anyone whose baby is blessed with as much hair as Isha: baby wipes are great at getting all that hair under control. I actually brought gel and mousse to the studio and I was afraid the girl would think I was nuts. She was the one who suggested the baby wipe and it was perfect!

A Visit From Great Grandma

Isha's great grandma Carol Ross came all the way from Washington state to see her new little great granddaughter. We have had a great time. Isha is getting lots of extra loves and Stitch is also getting more attention having grandma here. Isha loves having her grandma hold her and she has been giving her lots of laughs and giggles. Grandma Carol helped us yesterday when Isha went and had her pictures taken. Isha was a good girl. She put up with all the noise and wardrobe changes. The only hard part was that Isha kept putting her fists in her mouth making it hard to see her smile. She was frustrated with me because every time she got her hand up to her mouth I kept pulling it out. I'm sure she was thinking, what's wrong with you mom, I went to a lot of work to get that hand up there. We only had a couple of little crying spells, which was good. The photographer said that some babies cry the whole time and some sleep through the whole thing. So all in all it went well.

Dinner with the Millers

Last night we went out to dinner with the Millers and Prithams. It was great to get the girls together again. After a few minutes we turned the girls around so they could face each other. We went to Pescados, a great little restaurant just down the street. If you like crab cakes and the best steak (in the world - by Jai) then this is the place. The girls were great. Only a few little fusses here and there, which I am sure the other patrons appreciated. I'm sure when we sat down with 2 babies everyone was thinking..."There goes our Friday night." Eric sneaks in to get a shot with the girls. We all had a great time relaxing and eating some great food. I had my first drink since finding out I was pregnant. One margarita and this morning I had a raging headache. Ouch! I guess that's what happens when you don't drink for almost a year. I think the Millers could be in for some trouble. As soon as Eric opened his wallet Hartley snatched his credit card. I think they have a little shopaholic in the making. Isha started fussing because she wanted a credit card too. Wow, I didn't realize the peer pressure these little infants face. This is a picture of Isha last weekend before church. Her Daddy bought her this cute little blue dress. She is also wearing the booties her great grandma made her. She made them before she knew what we were having so she sent a girl pair and a boy pair. I was getting ready to pack up the little blue pair when Jai pulled out this little blue dress. It was perfect. Jai is definitely the shopaholic in our house. I think he has bought more clothes for her than everyone else combined.