Doing his Civic Duty, Volunteering, Dinner, and Outfit!

Since Anand became a citizen in Friday, he is able to vote now!
Yesterday, he registered to vote and completed his absentee ballot (he will be out of state for work on Election Day). Civic duty completed!








I volunteered in Suri's class in the afternoon. I absolutely LOVE being around all those kids-they have such awesome energy and are so much fun to be around! They created insects out of lots of recyclable items-I manned the glue gun. They were all so creative!

For dinner, I threw together a homemade chicken fried rice-it was a hit (no leftovers!):






Oh, the pillow & throw came in today, so I was able to finish up the playroom/guest bed:




I LOVE the purple!

Today is a dreary, rainy day. Errands include: picking up bagels & deli meat at the local bagel shop and going to the Social Security office to change Anand's status to "citizen" (something I would have had no idea he had to do). I also have laundry on the agenda today. Fun all around 😜.

Here is today's comfy errand running outfit:




Leggings-Gap
Long tank with Overlay-Sam's Club
Boots-Target (years ago)
Purple Scarf (no idea)

Have a great day!



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Whole30-Day 13 & Painting!

Yesterday was Day 13...still going strong!

I painted the girls' playroom yesterday. A few months back, I made a giant magnetic dry-erase board and still had one wall taped, so I finally decided to get it done. I chose Martha Stewart's "Orchid" for the room (color matched in Behr Premium Plus). It's a pretty pale lavender with gray tones. I love this color!





First up was to get the room cleaned out. What a mess-the girls helped. Then, I finished taping the room (Maya helped), and then Maya & I painted the room. I did two coats and it came out beautifully.

Before:








After:











This room also serves as a small guest room with a twin bed for when my Mom or Aunt stays over during my infusions. I am now on the hunt for some curtains, a cozy rug, and some bedding. Today will be spent putting the room back together. I can't wait for Mom to see it!

I stepped on the scale again today (Mondays will be my weigh-in day). I lost 1.6 lbs! It's so exciting to see the number going down along with feeling good.



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Two Down!

I had my second infusion on Friday. My body actually cooperated a bit more this time around. My blood pressure dropped at one point, but got back up to normal within 30 minutes. I didn't need as much fluid this time around, so that was nice.

I saw the doctor-he removed a foreign body in my eye (go figure), and another eyelash that was growing the wrong way. He told me that it was a bit too soon to say, but he thinks my eye looks a bit better already-that was great news-makes me feel like all this crap may be actually worth it. He also told me that I'm one in a million (tell me something I don't know LOL!). Apparently, OCP is extremely rare-statistics show that only one person in a million has this disease. Gotta live up to one of my favorite quotes-go big or go home!

Look what I found in my bag! I put notes in the girls' lunch boxes, so Maya surprised me with a note in my bag! I almost cried!




Since I didn't need as much fluid, we actually got out of there an hour earlier than the first time. It was still a very long day, and I went to bed right when we got home. My nurse had told me to start taking Zofran (anti-nausea medication) that night, then take it every morning and night to prevent nausea. It definitely worked and I would start feeling nausea when it was wearing off. The problem with taking Zofran is that it makes me tired & dizzy, so all I did was sleep. Nausea or fatigue? Not sure which is worse-I mean, seriously, you can only sleep for so many hours. It gets old quick. Last night, I had a really bad headache, my eye is hurting (has been hurting since Saturday morning), and was really tired. This morning, I decided to try to skip the Zofran since I wasn't feeling any nausea when I woke up. I felt great all day! My eye still bothered me (sensitive to light, feels like something is in it, pain) but otherwise felt good all day. In fact, today was my first "nap-free day" in about two weeks! I went grocery shopping and picked up some Mums to decorate for my FAVORITE season-Autumn!














The girls helped me with the scarecrows when they got home from school. It felt so great to do something fun with them!

Two weekly infusions down, six to go! I can do this!



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Nervous Energy?

With my first infusion only days away (3 to be exact), I have had some ups and some downs. Yesterday was a "down" one for sure. I woke up and just wanted to hide under the covers for the next few months until it was all over. I sat around and felt really sad (and scared) all day. This morning when I woke up, I decided to keep busy to keep my mind off everything. So, this is what I accomplished:

-Washed every piece of bedding in the house/remade beds
-Cleaned/vacuumed/washed my car
-Took trash from garage cleaning (I did that on Saturday) to the dump
-Grocery shopped for the next week/put everything away
-Scrubbed my car mats (the girls helped a lot with this!)
-Scrubbed outside & inside trash bins
-Took care of some clutter in the living room
-Picked up entryway
-Wiped down stainless appliances
-Cleaned the deck off
-Washed the girls' booster seat covers (first time ever)
-Prepped/labeled the girls' backpacks for first day of school tomorrow!
-Prepped the girls' outfits for school
-Made Rice Krispie Treats for school snacks
-Made a fantastic meal-Basil Chicken (recipe coming soon)
-Helped the girls' shower/bedtime routine
-Read "The Night Before First Grade" to the girls

I think that's it for today.
And what did I do this past weekend? Cleaned & organized the basement and cleaned & organized the garage.

My husband thinks I have a lot of nervous energy. You think?



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My First Two Weeks of Being a Stay-At-Home Mom!

Maya & Suri had school on Monday and half a day Tuesday. On Monday, we got up, I made breakfast, and took them to school.






Then, I had a mammogram-fun times! Before I knew it, it was time to pick the girls up at school.
Tuesday was a fun day-last day at school and I went with them! I stayed in Maya's class first. It was so much fun watching the kids interacting and playing. There was so much excitement in the air!
Maya with her friends:



They played a learning game together, and also sang and signed a song that almost had me in tears!



There were a few parents there, and I met the mom of a boy in Maya's class who lives on our road!
I went to Suri's class, which was cool because I got to go with the kids to meet their first grade teachers! Suri was SO excited when she found out she got the teacher she was hoping for! I got to take all the girls to the bathroom-first volunteer duty!



Then, it was time to go to the year-end assembly. Talk about a great times! The school has grades K-5, so they really celebrated the fifth graders and gave awards. Sitting there reminded me of exactly why I decided to stay home. I felt like I was exactly where I wanted and needed to be!
Here are my FIRST-GRADERS!



And their report cards:
Suri is so artistic....she loves to sing, dance, and act. Her teacher definitely sees that side of her as well:



Maya is so interested in learning. She loves helping others learn, too. A little teacher, for sure.



After school was out, we went to Panera to celebrate! Then to Target to shop :)
On Wednesday, I decided to paint our living room. The living room with TWENTY FOOT walls. Ugh. Never again, Sage came to help me, thank goodness!
Before:



On the left is before, the right is after. We went with Martha Stewart "Cement Gray", color matched in Behr Premium Plus.



I really like it, which is great considering I don't ever want to paint this room again! Thankfully, Sage came to the rescue and did the trim:



This is the before of the built-in that drives me crazy. It's loaded with DVDs, BluRays, photo albums, books, and the kids' art stuff. Too.Much.Clutter. So, I emptied it to paint.






But, pretty much filled it up again because I'm not sure what to do with everything. Once our new furniture arrives, I will hopefully get some brilliant idea. It's definitely a work in progress! Then, on a whim, I decided to paint the stairway because we had a wall repaired like 3 years ago and it has looked like this since (minus the gray stripe on the side):



I stripped the wall paper and painted it. After-aaah....much better! Painted with our kitchen color, Martha Stewart "Bedford Gray":



So, lots of home improvement happened. But, we also had a lot of fun! We celebrated my Father's birthday!






Stacy & Suri:



Aunt:



And took lots of selfies:
Me and Nana:



Nana & Maya:



Nana & Suri:



Me & Aunt:



Stacy, Aunt, & I:



Me, Nana & Stace:



Me, Paul, and Stace:



Me, Dad and Stace:



Stace, Mom and I:



Maya showing us her new trick:



We had a really fun time!
We celebrated Father's Day! I made dosa, potato puliya, and chutney for Anand! My first time making all three!
Dosa batter:



Potato Puliya:



Chutney:



In the evening, we celebrated with gifts that the girls picked out:






So, that was my first couple of weeks at home! We had a lot of fun, along with getting a lot done! We have noticed a change in the girls since I've been home. They are really happy and just relaxed! I am feeling really relaxed and just enjoying my time at home. Next up: dance camp, more projects at home, and vacation!
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