I love my job

I am so lucky to have a job that I love. Sure, I've had lots of JOBS- starting at age 15 when I worked at the McDonald's drive-thru (laugh if you want- I got all the Happy Meal cookies I could eat!), and even had a few pretty "impressive" jobs- Army Captain, Enron, Hines....NOTHING compares to being a MOM. It's the BEST.

Here's a quick update on the kids:

Catherine is loving her life. She absolutely LOVES her school, and actually wakes up excited about it every single day. She's been riding in with a new friend every morning- she and Holly have hit it off, and her mom Simone is an angel from above to take her every morning (and spares me having to get all 3 of us out the door by 7:15!) I do the afternoon pickup, and it brightens my day to see Cate with such a smile on her face after such great school days. She loves to play with Ryan, and loves to color, play on the computer, practice her letters/numbers and dress up. She's still a hoot, with quite a sense of humor!

Ryan is still growing! He had more shots last Friday and weighed in at 11 lbs, 5 ounces. He is officially out of newborn-sized clothing and I'm so excited to start pulling out some of the super-cute outfits we've gotten as gifts- the child has a bigger wardrobe than me! He is working very hard on holding his own head up, and has been making it through the night with only 1 feeding. He loves to play on his activity mat, and already has some favorite toys to swing his wild arms at! He is also really recognizing me, Mike and Catherine, and flashes us all a huge grin when he's in the mood. My heart melts each and every time!

Here are some pics for your viewing pleasure :)

Cooking again!

Cooking has been a little...well, FRUSTRATING for me here in India. Due to the lack of ingredients (or the difficulty in finding them even if they DO exist here in Mumbai) was my biggest challenge.

But- NO MORE! I kept a list while here in the spring, and hit the grocery stores this summer like a mad-woman! I can only imagine what the check-out people thought as I'd buy 25 boxes of cereal, 12 cans of olives, 15 boxes of Rice-A-Roni and every spice/herb you can imagine. I'll admit, I'm a creature of habit, and I like my own stuff. Plus, it makes home taste a little more more like HOME.

So far, we've enjoyed homemade pasta sauce, chicken divan, sloppy joes, chili, ranch-seasoned hamburgers, poppy seed chicken, beef stroganoff and soft tacos. Mostly pretty easy stuff, but oh so good when you are so far from home!

Tonight: pork tenderloin marinated in our all-time favorite: Mr. Yoshida's from Costco! The only question that remains: am I brave enough to actually use a box of Rice-A-Roni? :)

Buon Appetito!

Ganesh

This week marked the 10-day Ganesh Festival here in Mumbai (and throughout most of India as well, too). It's a big to-do, beginning with fireworks at midnight on the first day and ending with giant Ganesh statues being lowered into the water on the last. The festival celebrates "his coming down on the earth to bless the humanity".
Ganesha is the god of wisdom and prosperity and is invoked before the beginning of any auspicious work by the Hindus. It is believed that for the fulfillment of one's desires, his blessing is absolutely necessary.
According to the mythology, he is the son of Shiva and Parvati. One day, before bathing, Parvati created a boy out of the sandalwood dough that she used for her bath and breathed life into him. She assigned him the task of guarding the entrance to her bathroom.
When her husband Shiva returned, he was surprised to find a stranger denying him access, and struck off the boy's head in rage. Parvati broke down in utter grief and to soothe her, Shiva sent out his squad (gana) to fetch the head of any sleeping being who was facing the north. The company found a sleeping elephant and brought back its severed head, which was then attached to the body of the boy.
Shiva restored its life and made him the leader (pati) of his troops. Hence his name 'Ganapati'.
Shiva also bestowed a boon that people would worship him and invoke his name before undertaking any venture. Thus, Ganesh is considered to be the remover of obstacles- and explains why every vehicle on the road has a small Ganesh statuette on it's dashboard.
Due to our hectic school-week schedule, I've been unable to capture any pictures of my own. However, I've found a few on the internet that may interest you. I'd like to note the crowds. UNREAL. Everyday life here is not THAT extreme, but close! :)

School Girl

Catherine started at the American School of Bombay last week- and so far, it's a hit!

All dressed up on the first day!


She is in the 3's, and she attends 5 days a week, 8-12. This makes for a VERY busy week, but so far, she seems to like it! They run on a 6-day cycle, and each day includes a different activity: P.E., Music, Cooking, Library, Show-and-Tell, Swim lessons, etc.

Showing off homework on the drive to school


Playing with Ms. A and a new friend!


It's a VERY cool school and I love just walking around and hearing all the languages being spoken. Surprisingly, only 1/3 of the students are American.

View of ASB from the outside


Our challenge comes in getting out the door by 7:15 for the 30-40 minute drive. Then, once I drop her off, I turn around and get back home by 9:00. Back in the car at 11:15 for noon pickup, and home for lunch by 1:00. That's about 4 hours a day in the car for me and Ryan, so we are going to start carpooling with some other families that live in our building. Hope it works out!

Tired girl after a long first day!

Big Boy Ryan

Ryan had his first doctor's appointment here in India- his 2-month check up.

It's a different experience over here...the hospital we go to is a private hospital, and it's considered to be top-rate. And I was pretty impressed with the pre-natal care I received while here in the spring. BUT- there are some definite differences. For example, they do not put fresh paper down on the tables for each new person- they use the same cloth sheet over and over again- GROSS. So needless to say, I put my own blanket down on the table whenever we go.

Back to the point: Ryan is HUGE. He weighed in at 10 lbs, 8 oz today! He has gained almost 5 lbs since leaving the NICU- that's incredible! I must have MAGIC MILK! Haha!

The poor boy received his first round of shots today too- I was a little nervous about the cleanliness of that whole deal, but I watched the doctor unwrap new syringes, so I felt better. He actually did pretty well, and only cried for a few minutes. He is sleeping it off now, thanks to some infant tylenol.

So all in all, Ryan is THE MAN. He is growing so fast and is doing much better since his reflux meds have been increased (the doctor increased him even more), and we are all so so happy that he is a healthy (and now happy) little boy.