Honeymoon Pad

Alexandra is six months now and to celebrate we decided to go hiking to one of our favorite trails in the mountains. On our way there, Alexandra wanted to nurse right away and we had to make an emergency stop since I was not sitting in the back seat with her and her sister Emma. It was perfect timing because we knew just the place to stop. It was our old home. Seeing the pictures now, I like to call it our honeymoon pad. This is were Juan Carlos and I lived our early years of marriage. There are a few homes around a blissful tranquil lake. Life was simple, no worries, just the two of us, ready for the adventure of our life together. As the years have gone by it seems like our lives have gotten busier, but we are still happy, especially with our two sweethearts. We never planned on going back to that magical place with our daughters. However, Alexandra had it planned otherwise. Emma was so excited when we got out of the car that she wanted to jump right away into the lake. Juan Carlos was a bit hesitant, but I said to him: "just let her have fun! we used to jump in this lake all the time. Remember the time when we took a dip in the cold water with our friend Tara & Chris in the middle of winter? We had so much fun!" He said: "Yeah, they were all into that cold water therapy from their Russian friend Natasha." So he smiled remembering those fun days and let Emma take a dip while she could hardly control her excitement. I nursed Alexandra, took her clothes off since it was rather hot and also let her dip her toes in the water. Happy six months my love!

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Amish Nursery

We are lucky enough to live by the most beautiful, calming, bountiful Amish nursery. I started going there ever since I was pregnant with Emma. The owners have seen her grow and now they were happy to see her little baby sister too. This was Alexandra's first official visit to the nursery outside of my womb.

A very loving, peaceful, full of smiles and kind words family owns the nursery. They have always been so gracious to me, especially when I was pregnant. They would immediately and joyously offer to carry the produce and plants to the car for me. Always helpful and at ease, I am amazed and inspired by their being. There is so much to learn from them.

The owner of the nursery and mama of the family mentioned how big Alexandra was for her age. My husband Juan Carlos told her proudly that she was born at home. I thought to myself: "oh no! I can't believe he just did that! she probably had ten kids at home and it's not a big deal... they all have their kids at home." So I immediately asked her: "How many kids did you have at home?" and she graciously answered: "Nine and that's the best place to have them!" and we all agreed.

Emma was so happy to pick out flowers for the garden, as so was I. We already planted some marigold seeds at home, but I love marigolds so much that I had to get some that were already in full bloom. Marigolds remind me of India, of the peaceful rush of life, of temples and garlands, of women working in the flower fields and selling flowers in baskets. Having those precious flowers at home just takes me back to joyous times I was blessed enough to have in India.

I am glad that my daughters share my love of flowers and gardening. Emma loves to get into the dirt, plant seeds, water plants, smell the flowers, and pick whatever edible leaves she can get her hands on. For now Alexandra enjoys observing all the gardening activity and taking in the beauty of it all.