Run like a girl

Two saturdays ago, Paul, Sejal and I participated in the Nike Women's half marathon. We all ran like a girl, to say the least :) Sejal and I did the half marathon and Paul completed the full, quite an accomplishment! We all went to the Nike Expo in Union Square on Saturday, collected our bibs and found our name on the Nike wall. After a carb overload dinner at Pasta P's in the city, we headed back to Bij's place where my parents, Syona and Sej and I all stayed over. What a busy apartment! We awoke the next day at 5:15 AM, got our gear on and our game face on, had some breakfast and headed over to meet up with Kendra, Carolyn and the rest of the gang. Union Square was flooded with runners that Sunday morning, it was pretty cool to be part of something so big. The 13.1 miles went on and on and on, and in some cases up and up and up. The mile 4 mark was eventful because we saw our whole family there cheering us on, including Syona who was apparently clapping her hands for all the runners. I'm happy to say that I ran the whole thing. My time was 30 minutes slower than the half I ran in DC before I was pregnant but I was just happy I finished. And of course it was nice being greeted by the fireman in tuxedos handing us our run like a girl necklace. I'd love to run this race with Syona one day.

Pumpkin Patch

Today is Paul's dad's 3rd year anniversary since his passing. We drove up to Half Moon Bay Memorial Home to pay respects to his dad. It was nice to take Syona there and tell her about dia dia, her grandfather. Later, we went to lunch at dim sum. Then, Paul's mom, Syona, Paul and I went to a half moon bay pumpkin patch! (Jackie and Dwayne went to go watch the last day of the President's cup where we had spent the day before). I remembered to bring Syona's pumpkin halloween costume (the costume I always knew I would dress Syona in before she was even conceived). It was sooo super fun taking pictures of her amongst all the other pumpkins. Syona had fun reaching for the straw and getting used to all the different textures. She even rode with muma on a small choo choo train ride. I can't wait for Halloween to come to put her in her pumpkin costume again.

Working 9 to 5

Back to work at eBay! It's been nice being back with my same team. I have to say, I am happy I was able to spend 8 months with Syona getting adjusted with motherhood before making the leap back to work. I am currently working 21 hours a week which has been a nice balance so far. The best part is coming home to a happy and well fed and bathed Syona with dinner ready. Paul and I have been taking after work walks with Syona since there are no real tasks left to do when we get home from work. It's nice having laundry done and put away too! It's nice waking up and getting ready in the morning for work. And of course its wonderful to come home and have Syona super happy and excited to see me. Miss that little one! But happy to be back at work, having lunch with friends, and just feeling life is at a more normal, familiar, state.

Nanny Times

After several interview we found a nanny we absolutely love. Her name is Maria Elena and she is a very friendly, sweet, wonderful with Syona! She speaks several languages and cooks yummy food. Today she even brought the guitar and played songs for Syona that sounded so pretty. Last week I trained her for 4 days. I went through my process docs with her and showed her the ropes, how to feed Syona, where her toys are, diaper changes, napping schedule, walking schedule, etc. I also pumped and had the nanny give her a bottle through the day to get her used to taking a bottle. The nanny is a single mom and has a 6 year old daughter, Mariella, who is very shy and sweet as well. The nanny told us Mariella is excited because she has a new little sister (syona). Sooo cute! After school Mariella comes to our house and hangs out and plays with Syona. With work coming up, I was so happy to have found a nanny we feel comfortable with. We have a few kinks to work out, like finding someone to pick up Mariella from school, but other than that things are going very well!