On a light note

Conversation between me and my 7 yr old.

My son: mom you should use dad's shower gel.

Me: why?

My son: because it's calming. It will calm you and you will not shout at me.

Me: grrrrr... but I have seen you using it, why you use it?

My son: (showing me the back of the bottle) it's say it attracts female means GIRL's attention.

Me:  oh!!! So that's why I am attracted to you.

My son: mom.... remember I said GIRL' s attention.

Me: :((((((

Flower arrangements- part 2

While going through some of my old good housekeeping magazine, I found few more easy flower arrangements.

Toy Joy:

For creating the above  you just need the following:

• Clear glass vase/bottle 
• number blocks (other alternatives can be legos pieces , blocks, hot wheel cars) etc.

Fill the vase/bottle with the pieces and decorate with flowers.

Bouquet of Pencils:

For creating the above  you just need the following:

• Any vase/bottle 
• Lots of pencils
• Rubber bands

Arrange pencils around the vase and tie them together with 2 rubber bands.  Decorate with flowers.

Leave a comment below if you like the article. Share with us your ideas.

3 month baby/postpartum

Baby:

Miss Shanaya is 3 months old now. All active and ready for the world. She smiles at us everytime our eyes meet. She has a million dollar smile.. awww... my baby. She started grabbing toys and rolls to sides sometimes.

Myself:

Back to feeling normal self. Getting sleep now as Shanaya sleeps through the night and I am loving it :)  yay!!!!. Still not able to get into my old clothes :( I guess I will have to wait for a while or rather start working out.

This is my last update on baby/postpartum.

Levana Lila Digital Baby Video Monitor Review

Once my Parents left to India and we were on our own, we decided we should buy a baby monitor to make our life easy. We are so happy we bought Levana Baby monitor.

Few of the features are:

• Invisible LED night vision
• Talk to Baby 2-way communication
• Easy adjustable wall mount
• Expandable up to 4 cameras
• Compact and convenient design
• LED volume indicator
• Adjustable brightness
• 72 hour battery life in PEEP mode
• Cheaper that most of the Baby video monitor available in market. Retails at $99 in US.
• Easy to install and use.

This product can be purchased at Walmart

2 Month Postpartum

Time is flying by.... Shanaya is growing so fast. She is more active and awake now.  She has started smiling and its such an amazing feeling :) She loves to play in her activity mat.

Regarding me, I finally feel like my own old self... well except for the extra pounds which I am yet to lose :( I have got back my energy. My doctor appointment went very well and all seems good.

My son Vaidik loves his sister.  He loves to show her to his friends :) He is such a help nowadays. He would help me by checking on Shanaya if I am working on something. He would remind me of her feeding time. He gets so happy to see Shanaya come to his school to pick him up.

March favourites

Below is the list of my month of march favorites:

1) Caress Juicy escape body wash

Love the yellow color and its smells like heaven. Awesome grapefruit smell. love love love it :)

2) Herbal Essences hydraulicious shampoo and conditioner

Love the smell of the shampoo and conditioner. It makes my hair soft and sleek.

3) Dove Pink Rosa deodorant

Love the smell. It visibly reduces underarm dark marks. Keeps my underarms dry.

4) Garnier Fructis anti-humidity smoothing milk

Keeps my hair frizz free for 24 hours as it claims.

5) Calgon Parisian Charm body cream

Love the sweet floral smell and keeps my skin hydrated.

Baby must haves 1st month

Apart from the basis must haves for a baby, below is my list of additional must haves that helps in the 1st month of the baby.

1) Co sleeper

2) Diaper genie

3) Bath tub

4) Grooming Kit

5) Activity mat

6) Bouncer

7) Swaddle

8) Bottle sterilizer

9)Breast Pump

Do share with us your must have list for baby.

Sibling rivalry

Our main concern when our daughter was born was how our son going to react. But we must say he is handling it quite well. One of the main reason I think is the age gap between our 2 kids.
My son adores his sister. Wants to meet her first thing he comes back from school. Wants to help me give her a massage and a bath. Also, he keeps track of her feeding time :)))

Few things me and my husband did while I was pregnant:

• Let him know early on my pregnancy that he will soon have a brother or sister. This helped him to get used to the idea of  having one more member in our family.
• That he has to share his mommy and daddy time with the new member,
• That the new member will be his own. This helped a lot.

Things we are taking care now after our daughter was born:

• One of us is always giving time to him. So if I am feeding the baby, my husband will be playing/ talking to my son. When I get time, I talk to him , hug him.
• Make him participate in taking care of the baby.

I hope the bonding between my son and daughter will always be there, Amen.....

1 month postpartum

Gosh.. One month has already gone by.

Baby Shanaya's is one month old now.  She is doing good. She had gained 2 pounds. I am so happy :)
She feels more alive now. We have started playing on the activity mat for sometime. My son loves playing with her. Also, she has started to smile, which is so so adorable.

Regarding mommy,  physically I feel good, slowly getting back my energy.  The belly band I got from my hospital did helped me with the c section recovery. The incision getting healed but it sometimes do feel sore. Still has to get up at night time for Shanaya, but me and my husband are taking turns.

Emotionally I feel at peace and happy. I love my baby girl and it feels good to see how my son getting attached to her. Love to see the sibling love :))))

Miss Shanaya is here :)))

Shanaya (meaning: first ray of sunlight) our daughter was born on Jan 14th 2014 through c section. She weight 6 pounds 13 ounces at birth.

She is at home now and doing well. On her last pedetrician appointment, she weight 6 pounds 7 ounces. The doctor said its normal to lose birth weight in the first few days.

Our Life now...

Me and my husband are enjoying our time with the little one. This time around we are more relaxed as we know what to expect.

My son loves his sister. He is acting as a protective brother. Everyday he looks forward to meet her first thing when he come back from school.

Shanaya is eating and sleeping well. We have to wake her every 2-3 hours to feed. Its so much fun to dress her up. Mommy loves it :)))))

My c section recovery:

This time around, I feel I am recovering faster. Maybe as I know what to expect. I have lost 22 pounds in 3 weeks another 22 to go. The postpartum support belt is helping a lot in recovery and getting into shape again.

I am planning to blog about my postpartum recovery and babys monthly updates. Let see how much I can do it.

Makeup - Current Favorites

After years and years of trying and failing to understand how to select and apply makeup, finally I found my favorites.

Please note I have not yet mastered the art of applying makeup :) Still trying.... one day hopefully :D

I love drugstore makeup. They are affordable.  I don't feel bad to throw them when they expire.  The quality is also not that bad. Departmental store makeup although quality wise its best but they are expensive. I rarely buy departmental store makeup (except for clinique lipstick) as I don't wear makeup regularly and I end up expiring the makeups and it hurts to throw them. Usually makeup expires within 6 months - 2 years.

I have warm tone skin, black hair and brown eyes.  Following are my current favorites:

Face:

1) Garnier BB cream

For everyday use. Its lighter than a foundation. It provides decent coverage. Its build able. Don't break out my skin. It has SPF15. My color is medium.

2) Revlon foundation

For special occasions only. Good coverage. Don't breakout my skin. Its my trusted foundation. My color is golden beige.

3) Physician formula happy booster blush

Gives good glow.
4) Nyx eye cream

Its a eyeshadow primer, but I use it as a concealer as well.

Eye:
1) Nyx eye cream
Eyeshadow primer.

2) Maybelline liquid eyeliner

Glides easily over the eyelid.

3) Almay eye pencil
 I use purple color.

4) L'Oreal carbon black mascara
 It is a voluminous mascara.

5) L'Oreal eyeshadow palette for brown eyes
 You can find a palette for any eye color.

Lipstick:

1) L'Oreal sangira lipgloss
The color suits almost any skin tone.
2) Clinique lipstick

Sugared Maple

3) Clinique lipstick 
Blushing Nude

4) Burt's Bee lip balm 
Replenishing lip balm with pomegranate oil. Its a tinted lip balm.

Nasal congestion/dryness home remedy

Recently I had severe nasal congestion and dryness. Due to it, I got headaches and bloody dry mucus inside my nose. I felt like I was having a sinus infection.  As I am avoiding any kind of medicine, a very easy mom's home remedy helped me.

She took mustard oil in a pan and fried slices of garlic until they turned brownish black. I applied the oil using a Q-Tip inside my nostrils multiple times throughout the day inside my nose. You need to be careful not to put the garlic pieces inside the nostril. Everytime I would warm the oil a little bit in the microwave.

I also used Boo Boo Better heat pad that I got from my local CVS Pharmacy. It is microwavable one. I just heat it from 1 min and used it near my sides of the nose, cheeks, near my ears.

Using the above 2-3 times, I could feel the difference. My nasal dryness, bloody mucus and headache was gone.