Holidays' Spirit Created by Yourself :)

Hello my lovely friends! West Christian Christmas is just round the corner so is the New year! I am full of holidays' spirit these days, creating the mood myself for myself and wanting to share with all of you. I will also visit your lovely blogs soon, since I absolutely LOVE all the holiday posts made by you, and I want to finally keep a pace too :)
(Maybe not related to this post, but I started reading the Thirteenth Tale by Diana Setterfield and I love it! Anyone read it too? Perfect read to divert your thoughts).
My holiday spirit started with ... baking! I tried for the first time to bake cookies in our IFB convection oven. First attempt... hmmm, too sugary and buttery and crunchy, but we ate it all :P

Second attempt - much much better! I am going to use the same recipe with different flavours for Christmas treats. In plans, let's see how it realizes itself, to make a traditional winter wine gluhwein! :) Yumm! I will find this eggless recipe among my notes and provide a link here.

Yahoo, I managed to make some tree ornaments! Which cost zero I believe. Here is a Pinterest inspiration  - a Christmas star ornament made of sticks :) I later painted it golden, and also painted pine cones my D got from Manali last year, more photos are yet to come.

 We went to buy a New year tree few days ago, and it was proudly placed in the drawing room :))) Of course I wanted to have it primary for my little A to enjoy all the celebrations related to Christmas and New Year, since we cannot go to Kazakhstan this winter. But.. I am a big child too, therefor it brings loads of joy to me as well. It is not yet fully decorated in this picture.

And at last... My little boy is now a Christmas elf! :) I don't usually post his pictures in my blog, but it's a special occasion now. How do you like his look? D's childhood sweater (more than 30 years old!), and a red hooded shirt along with a hat created an unexpectedly elf-looking costume. Little A loves wearing this Santa hat, especially that it has become really cold at home. Here are his photos to compare how much he grew since last year. I cannot believe this! :)

To conclude my post ;

Happy holidays and happy coming up Christmas, dear friends, from our family! 

Changes and challenges

Hello my dearest friends! Phew... First of all, everything is fine here in our small city beautiful Chandigarh :) It's just we got a little busy, a little lazy, but very happy too :)
Our baby boy is going to hit his first birthday next month! Wow! Time doesn't fly, it knocks you off your feet, without letting to take a breath and stop a moment... My boy grew and changed so so much since last year... He has got 2 lower teeth, he now can stand with support and he is very active and impatient to explore the world!
My boy's hand... in January when we were going to meet my mom at the Indira Gandhi Airport... His hand is a little bigger now of course.

 A beautiful pouch gifted by my very good blogger friend Preeti from Create -E-witty Unleashed. It came handy and very convenient to take along everywhere I go!

You know how many times I was collecting photos for you, was going to write about my life these days... but I guess I still feel too tired, and head is too full of thoughts about my child now, that I stop half way and leave the idea of opening the blogger... But I never ever stopped and stop thinking about all of you! I hope everyone is doing great and healthy in their cozy homes :)
We are welcoming the monsoon season here, this year, it has arrived on time hopefully. It is extremely humid here, though temperature dropped down from +40 to about +33 in day time :) It makes me happy you can understand how much.This summer I am finally travelling home!!! After 2 years! I am so excited as this time we have planned something new for out trip, I will tell you about it later.
I resumed my office half day and now running between home and work, work and home...I lost loads of weight since last year, which is not unusual when you breastfeed but somehow makes me worry as everyone points out at it. I really need to take a good rest and change the surroundings, get energy from my family and my country, gain some weight, eating the food of my home...
Overall I try to be busy and try not to dive too much into housewifing, however thinking of an opportunity to be with my child home full time and take care of him better than I do now. Thanks to my in-laws for their support and care of their grandson, but children have to be with their parents, not speaking of how much happy my son is when we both are around... he misses us a lot while we are away!
Hence in order to fulfill my plan or a dream, I am trying a new venture - retail business. The idea was given by my D, so I started just few weeks ago and posting mainly on Facebook. Here is the link to my page Authentic Indian Suits if you are interested. I am trading Indian traditional wear - suits, of which there is a great variety and a huge range of designs and shapes!!! I am planning to create a website too whenever I have time...
So don't give up on my blog, I am still around my friends!

Have  a lovely day ahead! Take care!

Cakes, crochet and flowers

First of all, Happy New Year to all! May it be happier than the previous one and bring you all the things you wish for! Aww... I have a guilt for abandoning blogging, and lets admit, you my friends... but you never left my mind! Every day I'd think whether I had something ineteresting to tell about, I took pictures but they ended up being locked up in the camera memory card. I freed them today. I so to say freed myself in these last 3 months as My Indian Prince grew a little more. We started going out, I visited my friends, I resumed my hobbies, I started working from home for my company, I recently colored my hair burgundy, and also they are showing "The Desperate Housewives" and "The Big Bang Theory".. So life has got better, touch wood. :) Plus an immense pleasure of being a mom to my little boy who grows up so fast, and Today he is 6 months old :)))

So here what I have been all these months. We went to Kasauli hills few times back in November. Once it was foggy, damp, and a little cold. Some parts of the hills looked like in a dark fairytale... I'm having goose bumps when seeing that fog veiling the trees...

And the abundance of colorful flowers all scattered on the hill side was a pleasant view.

I suppose that once the dahlia seeds were spread by wind from some garden,and since then they have become wild dahlias.

The other time it was sunny and warm, but the night was cold and I couldn't keep my baby out for long. The night in the hills is so different from the one in the city! When our son was sound asleep we spent some time at the balcony, star gazing and watching at the glittering lights in the hills.

The last time we made the trip with our friend and her kids. I even had an opportunity to go for a walk with her and my D without my baby! We admired various flowers growing on the road side.

These reminded me of a tomato plant. I don't know its name though.

Oh,I baked  these days ! I tried out banand cake recipe, eggless, and it turned out great! Also I baked my mom's favorite apple Sharlotka. All made from atta (Indian flour).

As I had said I visited my friends too, and especially enjoyed baking by Lebanese friend. So now I know a little bit of Lebanese kitchen too. 

When the weather started getting colder I made two pairs of crochet slippers.

This pair was made for my sister-in-law.

And yea, I finally finished the throw I began last year.. before  i got to know I was pregnant. I am not a fast crocheter, lol.

This is only my second crochet blanket.  I wanted to incorporate lavender color and beige. If interested, it is the Red heart square pattern I used. Looks totally different from the one on the website. My squares are also smaller.

Dear friends, I will tell more about latest events, how we are trying to implement cultures' chord, what challenges are there when bringing up a child in a multicultural, multilingual family. Till then take care and I miss you all a lot!

Nearing Two Month... Already

Up at 8 in the morning, feeding, making him sleep, then rushing to the shower, preparing breakfast and eating... fast (that's why it's called "breakfast"?). Sometimes I am on time, sometimes have to take my little one along to the drawing room and place near myself. Then again: feeding, making him sleep (if he wishes), changing nappies, cuddling, kissing his soft cheeks, then bathing him in the evening, waiting for papa to come from office... I feel a little relaxed when he is around, and my baby boy feels happy to see his daddy after so long! Here is pretty much the same schedule I have been following since my son's birth. I love it... but I long to go out of the house too. Like far out... not just in the park near by. So we did when finally made a short trip to Kasauli hills with our friends, one of whom also has a baby, June born girl. The trip was awesome, I had loads of interaction with Russian girls, and we had a great time together with D and our Indian Prince.

view from the balcony

My Indian Prince had his first 1 month birthday on the 5th of August... The month was a flash because of its business, because of a new life we have begun which evolves around our dear son. He gained more than a kg (from 2900 g to 4190 g!)  and grew 4 cm more (from 51 to 55!) - all in one month! I am proud of it as I can say that I nurtured him well :)
I used to feel overwhelmed, exhausted, happy, helpless, grateful - all possible feelings you can have when you realize you are a parent. I am sure that after a while things will become more steady, more interesting, more challenging too. I will be ready! Right now I enjoy so much kissing tiny fingers and touching his cute little nose, watching him sleep peacefully with his mouth open and a tongue slightly out sometimes (hehe), and there are many many more such things me and D adore witnessing.
On the Indian Prince's first birthday a friend of mine, who is residing in Russia now with her Indian husband, came by with her two boys. She brought lovely children books from Moscow. One of them is short poems for children by Agnia Barto. I myself still remember many of them as my mom used to read them to me too :) Now I have something to start incorporating Russian language as my child grows.
He is nearing 2 months already, and a special ceremony was performed when he was 40 days old, and the told by the priest, my son was kind of "baptised" into a Hindu... Anyway he indeed has changed so much, became more chubby and healthy looking, smiles and makes happy sounds a lot, tries to convey us something in his baby language. I noticed he started sleeping for longer periods in the night...but he is still so small and depends on us so much in all the aspects!

In spite of a busy new schedule I found time to make this cocoon for our son from that eye lash yarn I intended for a shrug first.  It was meant to be used during our trip to the hills, but I completely forgot to take it out... let us try it some other time.

Some more baby stuff I'd like to share. My baby received many many gifts, among them is this lovely book I'm a boy, sent by Preeti of Createwittyunleashed. Thank you Preeti! I have started to fill  it up, and hope to use those huge buttons for some projects ) Also I got many other things by post, and will tell about them later.

My mother-in-law sewed two pretty cotton sheets for her grandson. Thank you mom!!

 More teddy bears! A friend of mine visited three days ago with a bag full of things for my baby boy.

And this special cross stitch I made around a month before my son's birth - a Slavic amulet Fireeye (Ogneglaz) with a symbol of the young babies Radinec in the middle. 

That's all for now, I hope to be back soon with a more organized post :) Or may be less...lol. As you see now I am a totally baby oriented blogger ))

Have a lovely week ahead, my dears!

The Indian Prince Had Arrived

Yes, dear friends, we finally became parents to a boy on the 5th of July at the start of the 39th week of pregnancy, and exactly a month after my D's birthday. Both my husband and son are summer boys :)

Well, what to say, I feel a little better today after all we had to go through. It seems like a bad dream now... I ended up with Cesarean section after 24 hours of labour but it was worth it! We are immensely happy and looking forward to new discoveries on this "being a parent" way. I get loads of support from my in-laws, so basically I only care for my baby and sometimes watch Harry Potter while he is sleeping or sleep myself :)) 

It is not at all easy straight after delivery start taking care of your little one! So many things we don't know yet however I hope it will get even better when he is at least 1 month old. My D takes a big part in everything related to our baby, and at times worries much more than me. As of now my little boy is taking a nap in his cot and probably dreaming of... the next portion of sweet milk.

Thanks to all for constant support as well, and I am happy to share this happy event of my life with you :)! I do hope that the days of blogging and crocheting are not that far away for me! The monsoon has started here, today especially the air is cool and fresh.You know how much I love this season :) And I love it even more because my son was born during it.

Have a blessed day, my dears!

Relishing the Present

The very first thing I want to say - no, I haven't disappeared because of the great event, it hasn't happened yet :) But of course anticipation and preparation made me a little less interested in some other things, sorry to say, in blogging too. I must be having loads to share, many pictures to post, and I will do this yet right before mid July... as of now I am slowly falling into some sort of renunciation while my body is getting ready to finally do what it has to and my mind is filled with emotion and unrest. We celebrated our 4th marriage anniversary on the 15th of June, and feeling blessed and grateful for our togetherness.

Me and D are also getting a little sad as our time we could spend only together is finishing to be replaced with a new kind of experience in which we will have to become even more caring, loving, tolerant and happy. So far the journey has been good for both of us, nature has been kind to me in terms of health, and we hope for a successful end of this period and a successful beginning of a new phase of life. I think that it is such a wit of nature it gives us whole 9 months to get used to new feelings and also plan things! If I could say I was not ready back then now I can't wait to kiss soft little cheeks and tiny fingers of our baby who will be entirely a creation of our own! We have prepared almost everything, and with a great help of my D's parents our room was repaired and now it is looking fresh and cozy :)  

I can proudly say that I have not been idle and am relishing:

1) lovely time with my D while shopping for our baby, attending counselling sessions, planning, enjoying evenings at home or outside, and so on! 

2) new dimensions of marriage

3) healthier food choices (which I hope to continue)

4) baby's movements and funny lumps formed by his body parts on my belly

5) love and care which multiplied

6) my clumsiness and a moment I have to take my belly in both hands in order to turn from one side to another (lol)

7) a thought of becoming a parent, and all good we can  teach and pass to a child (I hope it is good mostly)

What I understood while going through my pregnancy - be as active as you can (if health permits) and

this will save you from many discomforts both physical and mental. Having a support of your partner is very

very important too, I have been lucky to get it :) 

This post seems like it could be the last before I get back to my blog again (though I might make one right

before mid July). Till then, my dears, please bear with my absence. I will still be peeking into your posts

and reading as many of them as I can. I wish you to have days 

filled with happiness, pleasant moments, smiles of your loved ones and love of course! Keep on smiling and I

will keep on expecting ...

North Goa - Little Vagator Beach - Part 4

Hey, friends! Hope you all are doing fine and are happy at your places. I am yet to finish my Goa tale, and to my surprise, we had really done many things in just 1 week, as I can see now from all the photos.
What concerns my pregnancy - we are doing just fine. Three days ago I had 2 level scan, which revealed that baby is fine :) I have started feeling kicks now more clearly; they are light and not yet that frequent, but good enough to make me smile and love my baby more and more with each passing day! Thanks for all kind comments on last post - I know that all a woman is going through is worth the result!
My D is a great support to me these days, I am so grateful to him for all his care and help.I guess he also hasn't realized he is going be a "daddy" soon, but he feels good about it and starts discussing things like names already.
Well, and for today I have few snapshots of our very first day in North Goa, Little Vagator Beach. I had already showed our stay, but wanted to keep some more of them. Such a classical exotic scene!

Another through palms view. Te palm trees were very tall and all had coconuts on them!

As soon as we left our bags in the hut, we rented scooters and went to visit a famous Anjuna Wednesday market. The parking was full of scooters and bikes. 

There were many locals and foreigners. Very noisy and colorful rows of goodies. We bought 2 t-shirts for D and some small gifts for our parents.

 The trading rows were endless. We got tired very soon there, considering we didn't have any food since morning and traveled whole day. So after some time I said I'd like to withdraw from there, as in such mood we were not able to enjoy shopping.

 The best part was that after all we were back to our cozy peaceful location and swam at the sunset.

 Aww, now I again have that nostalgia coming back... Missing that place a lot. 

 Meanwhile our hotel cum restaurant lit up the lights, and later one we went there for dinner, thinking of our next day's activities. And for that we planned rather tough schedule, however we enjoyed it a lot.

 Today we both are visiting Delhi, I am at my D's relatives' house, and he is at work as it's an official trip. So I've got few minutes to greet all of you and tell something new. Day before yesterday I finished reading "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini - a book which will stir your feelings for sure and will make you look at your life at different angle. Blessings to all!