Our trip to Oregon - Priya's first flight!

Yesterday was a big day for our little monkey! She had her first taste of travel via the friendly skies! We are happy to report that she did amazingly well - much better than we had expected!

We left our home at 1pm and finally arrived at our hotel in Salem at 9pm. Funny enough it took longer to fly there than it would have to drive! But the experience was a good one and it was encouraging to see how well Priya did!

Getting ready to board Priya's first plane - a United flight from Redding to San Francisco.

We appreciated being able to travel with some friends - Mark & Pam Gerring.

Our first flight was from Redding to San Francisco. Priya slept through most of it. We then had a 2 hour layover at SFO before boarding the next flight to Portland. Upon arrival in Portland we were happy to find all 4 pieces of our checked luggage - 1 suitcase for Ashish & me, 1 suitcase for Priya, our car seat and stroller. It's amazing how much STUFF babies need! Fortunately we didn't need to take our pack & play since the hotel provided one for her to sleep in - otherwise we would have been over out luggage limit! :) We then boarded a shuttle for a 1 hour trip to the hotel in Salem. Through it all Priya was able to sleep and eat and had only a few short episodes of fussiness. We were very thankful!

Priya enjoying some lap time with Daddy on the plane.

We are in Salem for a special weekend put on by the company Ashish works for - Schwan's. It is a special weekend to honor their employees with awards and recognition and to bless their spouses as well for the time that their long hours of work takes away from us. Schwan's covered the cost of everything - the flights, the transport to/from the airport, and they put us up in a really nice hotel - the Phoenix Grand Hotel. It has been a very nice mini vacation for us!

The family that flies together, stays together... Isn't that how the saying goes? :)

Today was the only day with an official schedule. We had a nice lunch and then Ashish & the other employees spent the afternoon in motivational meetings. While Ashish was in his meetings, I was able to meet up with a good friend of mine, Kirstin Moran, who recently moved from Redding to Portland. We spent the afternoon walking through a mall just a few blocks from the hotel with Priya in tow. Kirstin was then gracious enough to watch Priya for a couple of hours in the evening so that I could attend the semi-formal banquet with Ashish without having to worry about whether or not Priya would be ok to join us. It was nice to meet more of Ashish's co-workers and to see a bit more of his world.

I unfortunately wasn't able to stay for the entire evening because I needed to get back to Priya, but Ashish remained and is currently attending an awards ceremony that will be followed by a dance. Too bad I can't be there for the dance! I'd love to see Ashish cut a rug again! For those of you who have had the privilege of seeing Ashish dancing, you know that it's something special and shouldn't be missed! He's the life of the party! :)

We will head back home tomorrow. Fortunately we have a directly flight from Portland to Redding this time so we won't have to worry about more than 1 flight and long layovers. It also means that we'll get to stay longer at the hotel and enjoy its amenities before heading to the airport in the early afternoon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunday, February 17 -

Our time in Salem flew by! Before we knew it, it was time to pack up and head back home! We checked out of the hotel around 1pm and boarded a shuttle that took us back to the Portland airport.

The lobby of our hotel in Salem just prior to our departure.

Priya was all tuckered out from 3 days of fun, so our return trip wasn't quite as easy. But we were thankful for the invention of baby slings! It helped to tuck our tired little girl inside her "Peanut Shell" and let her fall asleep as I bounced her through the airport and eventually onto the plane.

Boarding our final plane home from Portland to Redding - I'm wearing a baby sling and Priya is tucked inside! Yes, there is a baby in there!

After a little bit of fussing, Priya was able to fall asleep and snoozed her way through most of the flight. When she woke up she was still pretty tired and was ready to get home to her own bed. :)

A tired little girl - almost home again!

One of my RA's picked us up at the Redding airport and before we knew it our whirlwind weekend was over and we were safely back at home again. Priya went to bed almost immediately and will likely snooze most of the evening away. We are hoping to be able to do the same! It was a great weekend, but there really is no place like home!

Fun with my feet

Priya is enjoying grabbing onto anything she can get her little hands on these days. One of her favorite choice of toys is her own feet! And yes, that is her shirt on her head. She loves it when I leave it there when I'm changing her. Interesting... ;)

Priya's Growing Hair

Priya's cute, spikey hair continues to grow - straight UP!

Giggles Galore!

Priya's giggles are contagious and are becoming more and more commonplace on a daily basis! How can you not laugh along?!

Priya is a Stevie Wonder Fan!

I'm curious to see how Priya will respond in the future - and whether or not she will have any kind of emotional reaction - to songs that she regularly heard as an infant.  Currently she seems to have a thing for Stevie Wonder - although she also had a preference for Third Day at one point as well!  

Jon (my awesome brother) gave me a CD about a year ago that I happened to be listening to a great deal over the Christmas holidays while driving in my car.  There is one song in particular on this CD that seems to be a favorite for Priya - "As" by Stevie Wonder.  She can be fussing up a storm in her carseat, but whenever I put that song on, she is completely quiet and content!  I've tried switching to various radio stations and her fussing will resume as soon as something OTHER than Stevie Wonder is playing.  And then as soon as I turn her song back on she is quiet & happy once again.  It's rather humorous to me.  

What is it about this song that she likes so much?  And how many hundreds of times can I listen to it before I begin to hate it?  Welcome to the world of putting your child's needs before your own.  :)

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...