Bal Vikas Buddies

On Saturday, we drove to East Lansing to meet two other Michigan families who have adopted from Bal Vikas. Two previous meetings were cancelled due to blizzards and bad colds, so we were so happy to finally get together! After a delicious Indian buffet lunch, we headed over to a local park so the kids could play before the drive home. Pictured above are Samedh with his BV buddies Mari and Anish. Us moms also posed for a photo. We'd spent so many hours on the phone or email with each other over the past several months, and it was so nice to meet again in person.

Our Trip to Dallas

Photos at the Kennedy Memorial and downtown Dallas


Budgie Bonanza at the Fort Worth Zoo


Other miscellaneous pictures from within the zoo


Photos with friends at home. Samedh loved the boys!

A Smile Rarely Caught on Camera

This is a miracle photo! This little guy is so quick, I rarely get a photo of him smiling. Somehow, I lucked out this time.

My "Masti" is really growing up fast! He will be 19 months old on Sunday. Samedh has had many new discoveries this week. He started walking backwards, and has been spinning in circles every chance he gets. Oh yes, he gets dizzy, but he loves it! It's part of his masti (which is the Hindi word for mischief). He's even been "walking" on his knees around the living room for entertainment. I just can't tell if he's trying to entertain us more or himself...

I can't wait to see what forms of entertainment he'll be displaying at the airport this weekend.

Headin' South for the "Winter"

This is what our backyard looked like yesterday, and it is snowing AGAIN today! Not sure when this will end, but we're not waiting around to find out. Pankaj, Samedh, and I are heading to Dallas on Saturday to visit friends. It's supposed to be in the 70's during our stay, and we are looking forward to it.

A Cold but Happy Easter

This Easter looked more like Christmas....


(Here we are coloring eggs)


but we still had a wonderful time!

No Shirt, No Shoes, No Swimming??

Yesterday, my sister and her family came with us to the Holland Aquatic Center for some Spring Break fun in the pool. Everyone had a good time except for Samedh. He wanted no part of the pool, and cried most of the time. Pankaj came directly from work, so he and Samedh sat poolside while the rest of us swam. I think the environment was too overwhelming for Samedh...there were SO MANY kids all over the place. He had never been swimming before, and it will be quite a while before we try such a big pool again. I think Samedh will spend this summer in a small plastic wading pool in the comfort of our backyard! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Is it Spring or Winter?

Both of these photos were taken earlier this week. Pictured above is Samedh walking barefoot in our front yard on Tuesday afternoon. He really enjoyed the grass between his toes! The photo below is the snow and ice covering our deck and backyard the very next morning. Samedh was happy to see the snow again, but wasn't too thrilled when I hauled out his snowsuit from the closet. In two days time, we went from 70 degrees to 30...even lower if you count the wind chill. Yes, it is certainly Easter time in Michigan!

Family Photos

We tried taking family photos yesterday with our new camera. Not an easy task. These are some of the better ones...

Meeting New Friends

Yesterday our friends Clive and Amy came over for a visit. They are expecting their first child in August, so Samedh will soon have yet another little friend to play with. This was the first time Samedh met Clive and Amy. He was a little shy at first, but warmed up quickly. It wasn't long before he was throwing toys and playing peek-a-boo from behind the chair. (I'm talking about Samedh; NOT Clive:)