Magic

"Children see magic because they look for it."

-Christopher Moore

I celebrate.

Today I celebrate the anniversary of my sweet baby's birth.

I celebrate one year of life and blessed motherhood. Of experiencing a love I never knew possible, and finally learning what a full life consists of.

I celebrate the joys, the laughter, smiles, cuddles, kisses, milestones met, and challenges overcome.

I also celebrate the tears, frustrations, struggles, confusion, sleepless nights, and endless dirty diapers.

As I think about the past year with my little girl there are an extraordinary amount of feelings and thoughts that come to my heart and my mind. Gratefulness, happiness, beautiful memories, joy, LOVE, LOVE, so much incredible love.

And yet at the same time there is always that one overwhelming feeling that will never leave my being. The knowledge that I am completely unworthy of such a beautiful, precious and angelic gift that I get to call my daughter. I am overcome with more love, delight and wonder that I could have ever dreamt when I look into her beautiful brown eyes.

All the while I know that no single explanation nor eloquence of words could ever describe the sorcery of beauty that connects a parent to their child.

When I rest in stillness with my little one after a full day of pure and exhausting fun, I observe her breath as she sleeps, watch her chest rise and fall, brush her hair out of her eyes, I sit in awe of her perfection...all I can whisper is thank you, thank you, thank you.

I celebrate that unexplainable, ungraspable perfection of my underserved blessing; my daughter.

Indian Independence Day

August 15th marked the 65th anniversary of Indian Independence.

India might have many fun and exciting festivals and celebrations, but I'm sad to say that Independence Day in India is not much compared to U.S Independence Day. :-P I'm used to outdoor picnics, barbeques, live bands, family and friends, and lots  butt-loads of fireworks. To India's defense, it is monsoon season, and rain not only covered, but flooded Independence Day without even a minute of dry relief. So besides the deluge of rain, the day was rather uneventful.

Gaining Independence from the British in 1947, it is a rather young country. Nonetheless, Happy Birthday to India, a country full of deep and colorful culture and traditions not found anywhere else in this world.

Someone Give That Baby A Name

Its called Naamkaran, the ceremony that takes place in which a baby receives his or her name from a Hindu priest. Naam means name and Karan means celebration, or something of that nature. We went to be a part of the naming of the baby of Abhinav's aunt. He was born April 7th and just now received his name on May 25th, a month and a half later. In the U.S. we would find this strange that a baby doesn't have a real name for almost two months. How can he have a birth certificate made without a name? What would everyone call him for the time being? And why wait for so long, you've had nine months to consider your options?

According to Hindu religion every person has specific astrological attributes according to the time of their birth. In the case of names, the priest must determine the star constellation in which the moon is placed during the baby's time of birth. According to this, their are some options for the baby's name. Usually the priest will give the first letter or beginning sound that fits with the zodiac and then the family can choose a name that goes with the given first letter.

Unfortunately, we ended up being a little late for part of the ceremony and then a gigantic storm came through that postponed a lot of the fun, food and dancing. But we did get to be there to celebrate and meet the precious little boy....everyone meet Ekaksh.

Mother-In-Law holding Ekaksh...check out how much hair he has! 

Me holding the baby. 

And here he is :) 

--Note: the black dot on the side of his forehead is not a big mole. Its black makeup put there to keep away evil spirits (the evil eye)...more about this later. And the red dot is a tikka, or type of blessing.

We've Got a Birthday Today!

I just wanted to make a quick post to announce that today is Abhinav's birthday! Originally, when we were trying to figure out our marriage plans we thought I would be in India right now...but certain events because of school have postponed our plans so we can't be together for his birthday this year. Whether we are together or apart, I still think a birthday is a good enough reason to bake! So here is a cupcake dedicated to my love... :) yum!

'A' for Abhinav :)

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