And so it begins…

I still cannot believe sometimes how crazy our lives have been.    Take 2009 for example.  The year had barely dawned when I took a team of 10 and headed to India.   It was for Western Theological Seminary’s Inter-cultural Immersion.   It was pretty sweet to engage this crowd in deep discussion using India as the lens.    I was in India for 10 days exactly and then headed back to my women and the 70 degree temperature drop!   Here is a link to a slide show I made of the trip.

Last week, I finally finished my laundry from the trip and I put the suitcases away.   And strange as it might sound, our travels are actually going to get crazier now.   Katy, Leila and I will be taking a long trip out to Iowa and South Dakota tomorrow.   We have not done a trip of this magnitude with the little one.   So, today, we pack again.   Fortunately, we have wonderful people along the way who will provide wonderful respite for us.   Even so, keep us in your prayers.

We hope to get back to Michigan sometime next Tuesday.   We have a week or so to again get our laundry done and get us adjusted back to Michigan.  Then we are off to the west coast.  We are going to take Leila on her first plane ride out to Seattle.   That should be interesting.  We get to spend some time with Amy (Katy’s sister) and her husband Kyle.  We also get to visit some other friends of ours.   This will be good on many levels but mostly, it should be a good dry run for us as we prepare for the whopper of a trip coming up in March when all of us head to India for a couple of months.   It will be interesting to see how Leila handles cabin pressure, how she handles jet lag, and most of all… how we handle all of it with her.   

So there you go…  a typical three month stretch for the Sundararajans.  Like I said before, I still cannot believe how crazy our life can get.

Monkey Contest Winner… Debby Li !!!

Congratulations, Debby!!

Leila has 28 monkeys or monkey-related items.  (Debby guessed 26.)  You can see the monkeys pictured below with the exception of a monkey mirror in our car, a monkey attached to her crib mobile, monkeys on her crib sheet, and a monkey hook in her room.  You may notice a monkey hand puppet, which I counted as one item.  And, the only semi-clothing type item that I counted was her monkey bib.  (Sorry,Kandyce, I did not count her dad.  And, Ava, I could not count the monkey that she might get for Valentines Day… no matter how cute it is.)  THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED!!  These cookies are off to Singapore, where Debby lives (send us your address)!  We hope you enjoy them!

PHOTO GALLERY of  MONKEYS:

Mom, look at me, I'm being silly!

Leila with her monkeys

Enough monkey business, Mom. I'm ready for my nap.

Sorry that the picture of Leila with all the monkeys isn’t very good.  I wanted to show that Michigan gets a little sun once in awhile.  And, Leila really was ready for her nap.  She sure is a good sport.

Contest #1: MONKEYS (of course)

The question:

How many MONKEYS and/or MONKEY-THEMED ITEMS does Leila own?

(Articles of clothing with monkeys on them do not count.)

The Rules:

You may guess only one time, so make it good.

Post your answer in the comment section.

The deadline for all responses is Tuesday, January 27, 2009 at 10am EST.

(In the case of a tie, a tie-breaker will be announced by 12pm EST on Tuesday.)

The Prize:

2 Dozen of Katy’s WORLD FAMOUS Chocolate Chip Cookies mailed or delivered to you within the week.

(Your address will be requested upon winning.)

MAY THE BEST MONKEY WIN!!

Our Little Dwarf… 3 Months

Sleepy Dwarf

I’m certain that some of you may think that we’ve fallen off the planet. We do apologize for not posting more often, but December sort of ran away with us, and we’re just now getting back. You already know that JP’s parents came for a visit, but you may not have known that my parents as well as my siblings and their families came for the Christmas celebration this year. Our house was bursting at the seams with good people, good food, and good times… not to mention a porch that leaked!!

Take a look at this beauteous family…

Family!!

The best part of the holidays was being able to have all of our family together, though I should apologize to that precious family for being a bit crabby at times. (It was trying, at times, to have so much going on while also taking care of a baby with little-to-no sense of schedule.) It was a BIG year for the Wings, with a new brother-in-law (Kyle,) and two new babies (Eleanor and Leila). What a treat to be all together. You can’t tell from the picture, but it was a big year for the Sundararajans as well, with a new sister-in-law (Anita,) and one new baby (Leila,) and one on the way (James & Anita’s due in March.) Soon we’ll all be together too… looking like mid-March.

Wouldn’t you know, our camera lens broke about four days before Christmas and had to be sent in to be fixed. And then, because they called the wrong phone while JP was in India, we’ve just now gotten the camera back in our possession. We may have missed Leila’s first Christmas… … but we did get her 3 month pictures! All the pictures of Leila in this blog are from her three month birthday.

Big Girl

Leila is doing great… sleeping on more of a schedule these days, and happy as a lark most of the time. She loves to share her thoughts and opinions with anyone in the room, can hold onto her toys when she wants to, and rolled over once. Each day seems to prompt a new skill or experience, which is exciting for both Leila and her parents.

Look Dad, I can hold this ball!!

Happy Dwarf

Here’s to 2009!!