Outsourcing

Snow Dust on Garage Windows

JP doesn’t enjoy shoveling all that much, so we’re looking into outsourcing it to India.  This was a trial run, but we feel like everything went smoothly.

Our Indians didn’t mind the work, but indicated that their hands and feet became numb. 

Overall, this was a nice little storm for our visiting India Mom and Dad.  It was a good taste of what JP has told them about for all these years.  And, by the way, we are not really terrible people.  Mom and Dad wanted to test out their shoveling skills!  We wouldn’t have forced them to do such hard labor.  And, we all had some nice hot chocolate and tea afterward (even though I only went out to take the photos… someone had to stay inside with the baby…)

Speaking of the baby, Leila loves the Christmas tree…

At her two-month appointment yesterday, Leila weighed in at a hefty 10 lbs. 2 oz.

Way to go, Leila!! Mom and Dad are so proud. 

First few days with the Indian Tata and Ava

Tata and Ava are the telugu terms for grandpa and grandma.   We are teaching Leila to call her relatives using her Telugu words… so far she still thinks they all sound alike.   Then again, I hate to be the one to break the news to her that while we do want her to learn English and Tamil, she has to call her relatives in Telugu.

I wanted to share some photos from the past couple of days.  It has been wonderful to have my parents here in the US.  For the very first time, they got to meet Leila and they got to play in the snow.  As cold as this week has been, our hearts have been kept quite warm!:)

Four Years

JP and I celebrated four years of marriage on Thursday!

Wow!  YAY!

(marital bliss)

This year JP decided that we should get a Garmin (with the Thank You points from our credit card– THANK YOU very much, indeed– and a little kick-in from our bank account) for our Anniversary.  I was a bit skeptical.  I was concerned that it would just be a price-y piece of technology that would do many of the things that we could already do using our other price-y pieces of technology.  I thought this had more to do with JP’s addiction to gadgets than a real “need.”  However, it just took one trip to Grand Rapids for an Anniversary date to convince me that this little gadget was not only something we needed, but something we should have never tried to get along without.   It was a great gift to our marriage!

We don’t fight about directions all that much, but we do, shall I say, stress about directions often.  I’m not sure why, but JP likes to second guess the directions that I give him.  This has always frustrated me because, of course, I am right about the directions I’m giving at least 99.9% of the time.  (!!)  However, JP’s second guessing me isn’t nearly as bad as the consequences.  You see, when JP realizes that I’ve made an accurate assessment of where we need to be turning or going and he didn’t listen, he generally panics and makes haphazard judgments.  Last summer, for example, he took the next “exit,” which turned out to be another highway, and then there were no exits for MANY miles, and then we had to navigate back to the original highway after getting on the wrong highway.  Ugh.  40 minute detour.  As I said, it can be very stressful.  So, with the Garmin, when JP failed to listen carefully to the directions given by the Garmin and missed a turn, the Garmin realized this right away and gave us immediate access to recalculated directions.  We found our way between babysitter and restaurant without a hitch, really.  Praise God because I think we would have arrived at the restaurant in tears otherwise.  (We get turned around in cities– even small ones like GR.)  Plus, and this was very cool, the Garmin knew that there was an accident holding up traffic on the way there, and gave us different directions as soon as it knew about the accident.  This little gadget is going to be incredibly helpful.

helped us focus on being safe in the snow rather than worry about directions!!

dedication #1… This blog is dedicated to Betsy who gave us gift certificates to the restaurant of choice for our Anniversary date, Cygnus 27, in the Amway Grand.  It was a fantastic meal!  JP had the Lamb Tagine, and I had the Beef Nasi Goreng.  We highly recommend both meals.  They took very good care of us, and because I had mentioned when making the reservation that we were coming in for our anniversary, they gave us the cutest little complimentary dessert…

tiny fondue

I also should mention that the hotel looked very pretty, dressed up for the holidays.  We took advantage of the moment and posed for some pics.

dedication #2… We also dedicate this blog to Lori, who willingly agreed to be our first official babysitter.  My dad had watched Leila for a short while over Thanksgiving while JP and I went out for coffee, but this was the true test, a whole dinner out!  Everything seems to have gone well, thankfully.  Leila told me that she enjoyed her stay at Lori Auntie’s house, and I think that Leila didn’t wear out her welcome there quite yet.  We sighed a big sigh of relief to have the “first babysitter” experience over and done with.

Thank you to both Betsy and Lori for helping us has a superb anniversary!!

And finally, for those who only check the blog for cute baby pictures…

Leila is Bear-y Cute

Giving Thanks

Leila celebrated her first holiday– American Thanksgiving– and was, of course, the star of the show.  We traveled up north to spend the time with my parents, and also got to visit my Grammie (Leila’s Great Grandmother!) for the first time with the baby.  It was precious to see Grammie show Leila off to the folks at her retirement home.  We got a great generational photo…

Great Grammie- Mom- Ava (Grandmother)-Daughter !!!

I think it is a real treasure to be able to have so many generations together at one time.  I’m looking forward to capturing a similar moment in India with JP’s three grandparents.

Chatting with Ava

Reading with Tata

Leila is beginning to smile and coo quite a bit these days, which makes her seem downright conversational, and 100% adorable.  She wins over everyone she meets.  (Not that I expected much less, as she is her father’s daughter through and through.)

Now, for the other important reason that I needed to post about Thanksgiving, and that is on the topic of THE RELISH TRAY.  Do any of you have a relish tray on your Thanksgiving table?  The Wing family always has a relish tray, and it has long been the responsibility of my sister, Amy, and I to prepare the relish tray before the meal.  This job involves a full scale raid on the fridge, seeking out every last variety of olive, pickle, and pepper– and in my parent’s refreigerator it is a veritable relish haven, sometimes numbering in the dozens– and cramming them as artfully as possible onto the Relish Tray.

Now this year, Amy was not at the Wing’s for Thanksgiving, and I had a baby along with, and babies change lots of things.  So, this year Amy made her relish tray in Seattle, and toted it to the Morgan family Thanksgiving feast, and I found myself doing something else (green bean casserole, I think) at relish tray  time.  This year in Glen Lake Dad made the relish tray, and it was beautiful to behold.

I’d like to dedicate this blog to Amy, and say “Relish On!!”

Relish Tray Beauty

Back to basics

We are constantly amazed at how God can create something as tiny as a baby and can bestow upon her a personality all her own.  Leila has begun to smile and coo now.   As you can imagine, this only makes her cuter in our eyes.

I have been back at work now.   I am trying to get back into a schedule which is hard to do with a new baby (ask Katy).   I even managed to sneak in a 3 day trip a couple of weeks ago.  That was something that I needed to do but I think it was also a precursor to the 10 day trip I will be taking to India in January.   This short trip was not unusual by any means but it definitely was hard to leave Katy and Leila behind.   Also, I had this irresitible urge to show photos of her to complete strangers… but I retrained myself because of how weird that might be!

It is beginning to snow here in Michigan and I think it will definitely stay and make repeat appearances for my parents who arrive in a little over a week!   I cannot wait for them to meet their grand-daughter.   Lots of gifts to be unwrapped this season.