It's official! Ashish is an American!

Two Americans!

Registering to vote!

A patriotic family

Patriotic Priya!

A proud new citizen!

Today was quite a day! We arrived at the Crest Theatre in downtown Sacramento at 7:40am and Ashish's parents, Priya, & I were quickly ushered in and seated in the ornate auditorium. Ashish had to wait outside in line to be processed but soon appeared in the auditorium with a big smile on his face and an American flag in his hand. Those being naturalized were seated in separate sections from guests, so we had to observe his excitement from afar. We sat and patiently waited for the ceremony to begin while being serenaded with LOUD patriotic music. :)

At 9:00am sharp the ceremony began. A judge introduced herself and called the court session to order. It was very official. She gave a brief speech and then invited the naturalization applicants to stand and take the oath. Within about 10 minutes the ceremony ended and was closed with the pledge of allegiance. Guests were then ushered outside to wait while the new citizens received their certificates and finalized other paperwork.

Once outside Ashish had the opportunity to fill out the paperwork to register to vote. He was quite excited and proudly displayed his certificate of citizenship. Once the whole event had come to an end we celebrated - by going back to his Indian roots and visiting a fabulous Indian restaurant. Kinda funny that Ashish's first act as an American citizen was to make a beeline for something familiar from back home. :)

Priya did amazingly well during the entire trip. She slept in my arms through the ceremony but enjoyed herself while we waited for the ceremony to begin and afterwards as well. It was so much fun to have her along and to actually feel like it was ok to be taking her places!!

A big day for Ashish...

Tomorrow is going to be a big day for Ashish!  He will officially become a US Citizen!  Tomorrow morning we will attend his citizenship ceremony and will witness him take the oath.  It should be a fun day!

We are currently in Sacramento spending a little bit of time away from home with his parents and our little Priya to celebrate this special time in his life.  Priya experienced her first "long" car ride and her first hotel stay today!  So far she has done really well!  

We'll be sure to update our blog tomorrow after the ceremony.  :)  Until then...

The shots are done - and I'm still happy!

Thankful for a good day - after round 2 of shots!

Priya had her 2nd round of shots today at her 4 month checkup. She handled the experience about 500% better than last time! Thank you God!! I was quite nervous today hoping and praying that Priya's reaction would not be so bad.

She had a fun time playing with Daddy today - playing with toys, chattering away, and trying to roll over again. She managed to roll over from tummy to back 3 times. Unfortunately we didn't capture those on film, but were able to get some cute moments nonetheless.

Priya continues to expand her vocabulary!

Ooooooooooooooo...

Priya and I enjoyed some lively conversation this evening...

Priya Gets Some Love From The Grandparents...

Priya got some love from both sets of grandparents last night as we said farewell to Grammy & Grandpa who returned to Canada today and celebrated Dadi's birthday (Grandma Christian).

Another milestone!

Priya rolled over for the first time today! She is also making all sorts of new sounds and is thoroughly enjoying using her voice as much as possible! Needless to say, it's a little loud around here... :)

Bouncing RDs!

Becky was feeling a little left out and wanted to be bounced like Priya. So Trisha decided to give it a shot... Needless to say it made for a some great entertainment!

Priya likes to party with the girls of Irwin-Shellrude!

Priya recently enjoyed some party time with the girls of 1st floor IS.  She also enjoyed some quality time with one of her favorite babysitters - Laura R.

Naptime for Grandpa & Priya

Priya Walking!!

Priya Finds Her Thumb

Priya continues to bless us immensely!  I never imagined that I would love being a mom this much (especially now that we've made it through the colicky phase!).  I was never much of a baby person, but everyone that told me it would be different with my own was more right than I ever expected!  

Priya was absolutely delightful today!  She laughed and giggled more than I've ever heard her before!  It brought so much joy to my heart to see her laughing with others as well - and not screaming when someone other than Mommy held her!  :)  

Priya has also found her thumb!  She has been sucking her hands like mad since the teething began about a month ago, but Friday night she found her thumb and has been sucking away ever since.  It's so cute to see her trying to coordinate her movements to successfully get it into her mouth.  Who knew that we could be so proud of such simple things?! :)

Best Day Yet!

Today was an amazing day! I'd have to say that it's been Priya's best day yet to date! It's so encouraging to see the improvements and growth that are taking place in our little girl on a daily basis! Despite the great changes that have been taking place over the past several weeks, Priya has continued to be somewhat fussy and challenging (probably at least partly due to the fact that she is teething). But today she was happy - laughing and smiling throughout most of the day! She has been sleeping very well at night for a while now, but has struggled with her daytime sleep - sleeping 15-20 min at a time, then stretching to 30-45 min at a time. Today she made it a full hour and 1/2! And she's learning how to sleep on her own - no more bouncy chair! She has made the transition into her own bedroom and we are all sleeping better as a result. What an adventure this has been so far! And we're only 3 1/2 months into this journey! :)

On a side note...I'm adding some photos that were taken by my sister-in-law, Jenetta Penner (see below). You can check out her website at www.jenetta.com.

Jenetta's Photos...