Baking and Decorating!

Well i think by now everyone knows how much i love to bake...and then decorate my artwork...and ofcourse happily eat it too :) in 2008 [well last year] i attended a beginners and an advanced course in cake decoration and i must say...i enjoyed it to the core..

For christmas i made this cake...

And for new years i decided that i should challenge myself...and since we r not at the sydney harbour bridge to celebrate and see the fireworks...lets get the bridge to our kitchen...and voila i decided to make the harbour bridge...surprisingly not many people have done this...or atleast i cant see it on google!...after a few sketches...cutouts...i had it all planned...and then i did it...i must say i am mighty impressed with myself...my friends were excited to see it... :) well we couldnt have fireworks so i got some sparkling candles...and it did a decent job!!!..here r the picts!!!

Time for TimeOuts

It is definitely not fun having a toddler...well most of the times..and today is one of those days!

Elisha is teething and last 2 days she has had some fever, runny nose and ofcourse drool..yew! with the teething n all i reckon she didnt want to eat..so she hasnt eatten much the last couple of days..TOTALLY not her.

Well today she pointed to the banana sayin nananana...assuming she wanted some..i gave her a tiny bit...ate about 3/4ths and threw it on the floor...and squashed...oh god...i asked her to pick it up and give it to me or throw it in the bin...well she proceeded to look at me and walk off.. got her back to the scene of crime and asked..she picked and then because it was soooo mushy she threw it back..

neverthless that was enough for me to go over the roof..i had just cleant the kitchen...

she was given a time out :)..its her 2nd...1st one she dropped my gigantic mug of coffee on her and all over the kitchen floor...thank god it wasnt hot..

she definitely wasnt too happy about the time out...but did not move an inch...crying like someone slapped her...thank god praveen didnt interfere...the time out was followed by some followthrough and then orange juice which was gulped with much enthusiasm...all the screaming must have left her dry!!

So eventhough i know this is the 2nd timeout...am sure there are going to be HEAPS more to follow..and i will lose count..

Merry Christmas...HO HO HO

To all my Family, Friends and my Beautiful Mommiefriends...

Merry christmas...and an even better Newyear :)

Love to you all from all of us :)

Its Never too late for good news...

well 20 weeks is a tad bit late...but hey atleast i am blogging before the bub would be out right.. :)

yeup..we are expecting baby #2 :) Due on May14th...

so far this pregnancy was a breeze...havent gained weight at all...soo much different than last time...no morning sickness, no heartburn or Symphsis pubis dysfunction yet...infact i barely feel preggers...minus the kicks and squirms and the ever growing tummy..

Ofcourse having a toddler around gives u absolutely no time to sit...Elisha sure knows how to keep me busy...i bareeelllyyyy have time to sit...infact my quality time..sorry to say is when i am in the loo!!!...sad i know!

Elisha thinks everyone has babies in their tummy including hers...tooo cute...i am a little worried about she will react once the bub comes...she doesnt like to share us and not fond of other kids sitting on our laps...mmmm...

so heres hoping for another 20 weeks of hassle free smoooth pregnancy...and hope the baby comes out alll safe n sound n healthy.. :)

Mumbai's Night of Terror

There are so many things i wanted to blog, but kept putting it off and now when i heard about this i couldnt stop from writing.

On 26th Nov at around 10pm Indian Time Mumbai was struck with terrorists. This was no just bomb blasts, but Attacks like one would see at war zones. its been 35 hours right now and the battle is still going on.

The work is by some extremist Islamic group and all this is being done in the name of Religion and God. Why??? All Religions in this world prech about peace and unity in humanity, yet we see sooooooooooooo many acts of discrimination.

The so called terrorists have taken into hostages innocent people because their muslim brothers and sisters are being killed around the world. In this world that we live in, are there only muslims who are targetted??? What about the Jewish persecutions of the Holocoust? What about Christians being raped and killed in northern India? What about 100's of Hindu's beheaded? If all these religions were to start replying to Violence with Violence then this world would just not be the place to live in. So why then are just these small extremist groups doing this?

Because of these groups targetting innocent people, muslims all over the world are persecuted and always looked upon as terrorists? Is that right? not at all. They are humans, but because of certain fanatics they have to go through crap.

Because of this people with muslim names are targetted when it comes to security. My last name is Jose, anything but muslim, yet whenever i go through security, i am considered high security coz my last name can be muslim!!!! same goes for my cousin. He travels internation a dozen times...and all the times his bags are scanned opened and he is frisked. A price innocent people have to pay thanks a few ignorant people who are killing people around.

Theres so much more i want to write, but i dont want to sound like just another rascist bitch. I am sick of the way fanatics react. Depressed beyond words that my home mumbai is going through terror. A city where even after the 1993 bomb blasts, the city didnt stop. Yet today mumbai has come to an halting stop.

Wake up people. Lets not kill people on the name of religion or caste. We are all humans. We all have a common relationship. We need to stand together instead of breaking apart.

Heres hoping this comes to an end and all these attrocities will stop, be it in India or Africa. Lets make this world a better place for us and for our kids to live in.

50 Tidbits about myself..

All my mummy friends have this blog up on their pages thanks to Teri's great idea about posting things about herself. I am going to give it a go. lets see how we go..This is in no order..

1. I have learnt Indian Classical Dance for over 9 years but could not complete my final performance.
2. I used to be a voracious reader. Now its luxury.
3. I am an Accountant, but i would rather teach Special kids who i taught for 1 year.
4. I grew up in Bombay and lived in the same building all my life.
5. My early childhood days were really the best.
6. I am a Tomboy.
7. I have many friends but handful close ones.
8. I want to go back to Bombay, coz thats where i truly belong.
9. I feel lost in Sydney.
10. Being married to Praveen has been great with a lot of rollercoaster rides in between.
11. Elisha has been my blessing.
12. My Soulmate Veena died 6 years ago.
13. She was everything to me and her death has left a huge hole in my heart.
14. I am scared of getting close to people after Veena's death
15. I am NOT a morning person. and neither is Elisha wooohooo
16. I could party all night long.
17. I dont drink a lot.
18. Love Vodka and Tequilla and Wine.
19. I enjoy baking.
20. I love to decorate cakes.
21. I am a nerd.
22. Love to watch Antiques Roadshow and Want to buy something which will appreciate and be an antique so Elisha can enjoy.
23. Even though i might say bad things about Reality shows, i am curious and keep watching.
24. I am very inquisitive.
25. I am a Control Freak
26. I have very limited patience.
27. Love to Travel and am always looking for new places to go
28. Do not like shopping. Idea of shopping is going to a mall and coming back empty handed.
29. I dont wear makeup. Just gloss and eyeliner.
30. I have watched FRIENDS about a zillion times. So much so that Elisha is addicted to it too.'
31. I am a huge fan of Brothers and Sisters, House, Desperate housewives and 2 and a half men.
32. I used to watch Oprah, but now i prefer watching Ellen.
33. I think Dr.Phil is a jerk who is always praising himself.
34. I rarely dream.
35. Driving relives my stress.
36. I get anxious very easily.
37. Annie is the best sister in the world.
38. My parents are too cool and i wouldnt trade them for anything.
39. Pranav is my bestfriend and we have known each other since kindergarten
40. I am always looking to do some new projects.
41. I cannot sit still for one minute. Need to do something ALL the time.
42. I need to lose some weight. But i am never satisfied with my body no matter how thin i get.
43. I am addicted to Bags, shoes and Perfumes.
44. I own about 30 different types of Perfumes. Favourite being CoolWaters by Davidoff and J'adore by Christian Dior.
45. I am a decent cook.
46. I am now a workout holic.
47. I hate unclean toilets and kitchens.
48. I used to paint.
49. I play the piano and sing / conduct the choir.
50. The radio is always on in my car.

Wow i did manage to do this. cheers

Random Update..

I have been quiet for sometime...well not quiet really just awfully busy!!! highlights of what happened..

Onam
We celebrated a South Indian harvest festival in september. Infact we celebrated it 3 times. jeez. One i cooked up a whole feast at home on the day and at the last moment 2 of our friends dropped in and we had a great time. Two we were invited to our friends place. And Three all of us friends had one and it was such a blast.

LadiesNightOut
Last weekend of September, we girls decided to go and let our hair lose. And boy o boy was it worth it. Surprisingly the guys didnt want us to come back early. So we walked around the harbour and Rocks. Went for dinner to Pancakes on the Rocks and after an overstuffed meal we walked around somemore. It was such a deserved timeout and this will be the first of many more ladiestimeout.. :)

Weekend at PortMacquarie.
This weekend, we all took a day off and left on our annual vacation on Friday to PortMacquarie. about 6 hours drive from sydney. It was not relaxing as such since there were 9 kids to look after. But it was a good get away. The men were drunk and in the pool..the ladies were hanging out in the lounge gosspping and chatting away while watching the kids..and the kids were being kids having an absolute ball of a time. By Gods grace there was no fights, no problems, no arguments. Everything was great..

Annie coming back
what??? yes madam annie wants to see elisha soooo badly that she is coming in tonight. She left early june and its end of october and shes back..ofcourse her coming is always welcome..and this year is going to end on a better note :)

Miss.Attitude..

Last saturday we were at our friends place. They have a 6 year old son and a daughter who is 10days elder than Elisha.

While all the adults were in the lounge just chilling out the kids were at the back playing. There was a tricycle and a scooty[one you push with your feet]

Mary and me were on kids duty so we were at the back just overseeing what was happening. Elisha was sitting on the scooter, while her girlfriends were just sitting down. One of the boys were on the tricycle and the 6yr old boy wanted the scooter elisha was on. He was arguing with her asking her to get up coz you dont sit on the scooter.

Elisha [all of 14mths] just had this look on her face and was looking at this boy. after 2 minutes of him pleading, she said "addiuooooo poooddooooiiiii" [i am guessing thats her language for "here take it you baby and shove it up your A$$"] and walked off. Much to the 6yr olds amusement who had this wierd look. Mary and me were in splits.

The rest of the time she didnt go and sit on the scooter. mmmmm Whereeee did she get this attitude. Oh my god. Elisha is one going on 21 i think. I am sure theres soooo much more going to come our way. Just hope we can handle it.

Elisha's 1st Swim class

Finally we enrolled Elisha for swimming. We got her into the Waterbabies class. So its parent and child in the pool. Being the 1st class i wasnt tooo confident on going with her, so i roped praveen into doing it. and now that the class is done, i am kicking myself for not doing class 1 with her. well she has another 3 more this term.

How was she? erm not good at all initially. She was soooo scared. When we got into the pool area, she got very pale and wasnt smiling. Thats a sign that she is nervous and her brains going at a 1000miles. Into the water and she was screaming and crying. [at that point i was soo glad i wasnt dealing with it] Praveen did so well with her and in about 10minutes or so she was slowly calming down.

She did side to side, blowing bubbles into the water, got used to water being poured onto her head, floating on her back and front.

30mins later, class over and miss.elisha didnt want to get out of the pool. Hahah talk about having a change of mind. She was loving every minute of it. Initially she refused to go to the instructor. In the end she was jumping out to her. Then praveen had to take her to the big pool and play for somemore time and then we had to drag her out.

So our 1st class was a success and she loves her water. Hopefully she will enjoy it more and enjoy water as much as her parents do.

here are some picts we took.



Entrance of the pool


First go...not very happpy


Getting better


Pouring water


nope...not happy again


Now in the big pool..getting confident


See how confident she got.



All done. Not happy about going back home.

Ta-Bye

HUH..what?? have i finally lost it?? erm no...the title is Actually a word..in the books of Miss.Elisha..

When she was about 6-7 mths...her first words were Ta-Ta...which meant going out...she loved going out and hence associated Tata with is...so much that in recent days she wakes up in the morning grabs her shoes and gives them to me sayin Tata...[in my mind i reckon she is sayin..mum move it u need to get ur ass to the gym and i need to go to the junior care there]

Since a few weeks she has been hooked to 2 kiddie shows...one being "In the night Garden" and "Teletubbies". I totally fail to understand why and how can she be hooked to it...but must let the creators of those shows know...those 2 shows are totally doing what you intended to!! Helping mums pour breakfast down the kids throat and give some mum time :)

Proceeding to TeleTubbies...very few words in that show...Hello..which sounds like Eh-o..go figure and BuhBye...

Smartypants Elisha...realised ohhhhhhh the waving of hand...its going out..its TaTa...so buhbye is the new word...

But when it comes out of her little mouth...she says.. "Ta-Bye"..what she has smartly done is combine the two words together...just incase her poor mum wont understand that hey byebye means Tata...

hahahah..its the most cutest word ever...really...Praveen and me have a Laugh everytime she says it...and to make matters cuter we keep sayin tata...and she says Ta-Bye..its catching on...it will be the new hep word in town.. :)