A Day of Fun!

Priya had a pretty fantastic day today. She has been asking me for a while now to take her to gymnatics so we headed out for open gym this morning. We hadn't been for a few months and I was amazed at the new things she attempted and how much more daring she was. She didn't stop running, jumping or moving the entire time we were there - and loved every single minute of it!

Priya's friend Elliot from church/Mom's Group came to spend the evening with us. The two had a blast together and had me cracking up too.

They are wrapping up the evening by watching Toy Story 2 and enjoying some popcorn. Fun times!

Elliot will be coming over again tomorrow evening. Should be another fun-filled night!! :)

Is it a BOY or a GIRL? We finally have the answer!

The verdict is in...

We visited the doctor this afternoon and brought Priya with us to give her an opportunity to see her brother or sister for the first time (Ashish's mom also joined us - she'd never seen an ultrasound before so it was extra special for her). I talked Priya through what the doctor was going to do and showed her the equipment (without touching it of course). I'm not sure that she fully understood what she was seeing on the screen, but it was neat to have her there to take part in that special moment. It didn't take long for the doctor to announce that we are having a BOY (and it looked pretty clear to us too)! Yep, Priya is going to have a little brother and her cousin Jake is gonna have a little buddy to play with only one year apart in age (now if we just lived closer to Uncle Joel & Aunt Emily...or the rest of our family for that matter)!

A funny note to end the day... When we got back to the waiting room Priya came up to me and tried to pull my shirt up asking if she could see the baby in my tummy again. There were quite a few people in the waiting room and that gave them all quite a giggle. Kids really do say the darndest things... :)

Random Cuteness

I've seen and heard some pretty cute things from our little monkey lately and thought I'd take this time to record some of them.

*Tonight when putting Priya down for bed she came running at me from across the room, jumped into my arms, gave me a big bear hug and said "I so proud of you". With all of her potty training success, she's heard that statement a lot lately. I thought it was really cute to hear it back. ;) (By the way, she is fully potty trained now! She's even had the pooping down for the past 2 weeks and hasn't had a single accident!) Yes Priya, we are so proud of you! :)

*A few weeks ago we were at the grocery store and I accidentally bumped Priya's head when taking her out of the shopping cart (there was a metal bar above her). She cried for about 2 seconds and then broke into song singing, "Glory hallelujah, I shall not be moved..." How timely!

*We've been trying to get Priya used to the idea of having a new brother or sister soon. Last night while we were getting ready for bed, she asked if she could pray and ask God for a sister. We are totally open to either and will actually find out on Tuesday afternoon if Priya's prayer will be answered the way she hopes. We'll be sure to update the blog once we know more.

*Below is a video of what a typical day with Priya looks like. She absolutely LOVES to dance and twirls her little heart out every chance she gets. She was given this bathing suit/grass skirt when she was a baby and wants to wear it almost every day!

The weather in Redding has brought us back to our usual summer sweat fest. So after going to multiple stores to find a little blow-up pool for Priya to splash around in and finding nothing (seems everyone else in Redding had the same idea we did), we came home with this crabby monstrosity. Priya loves it and it provides a little shade for her as well so we're thankful. It's just challenging to store when not in use...
Apparently it's really fun to play in with no water indoors as well! And it does a number on Priya's hair which had us cracking up quite a bit. We are currently keeping it in Priya's room (she's sleeping in the baby's room for now and uses her room as a play room so it's all working out right now).

Thanks for looking! :)

Playdate

Yesterday we enjoyed having Bella and Lucy Slavens over for a couple of hours to play. These are two of Priya's favorite little buddies and she loves every opportunity they get to play together.

I love to observe the create games that kids come up with in their play times. In the pics below they were pretending to be cowgirls. They also took turns being mommies and babies and putting each other (including me) down for naps. They read stories to each other, sang songs and tucked each other in. So sweet!
Emily (SIL) gave me the idea of getting some pipe cleaners and beads and letting Priya make necklaces and bracelets out of it. She has loved the craft and it's been amazing to see her dexterity sharpen with this task. We used heart beads and amazingly enough she arranged them by alternating color (never repeating the same color before using a new one) and managed to get all the hearts facing the same direction! Impressive! Bella and Lucy enjoyed making their jewelry as well and did a fantastic job!

They are showing off their finished products below...

Family Vacation

Ashish, Priya and I are currently enjoying a small vacation in the Sacramento area. How wonderful to get away and to enjoy some quality time as a family! We drove down yesterday and tomorrow we'll be heading home again. It's been quick but we've managed to cram quite a bit of fun in. Here's a "highlight" of our adventures (warning, lots of pics ahead!)...

We visited Fairytale Town this morning. What a neat place!
The Old Woman in the Shoe...

Owl's House (Pooh's friend)...
The Tin Man and Dorothy :)
Petting the "cow who jumped over the moon"
Cinderella's carriage (this was definitely Priya's favorite)


Jack's Beanstalk

Pirate Ship
Watering Rabbit's Garden
Mother Goose slide
Priya's first exposure to Shakespeare. It was a condensed version of Macbeth. Sadly she didn't last very long and was ready for a nap.
Swimming at the hotel after nap time. "I love swimming!"

Dinner at Chevy's
Priya's 1st Carousel ride after dinner. She LOVED it!

Back at the hotel for some snuggling before bedtime.