Family Fridays

family fridaysIn starting this blog, I had the intention of finding like minded people. I wanted to share what I've learned in my marriage and parenting biracial children. I've been surprised by what I found. I didn't just find a few people that wanted to hear my story. Instead I found a huge community of people in similar positions, a little family. I love talking to people in intercultural relationships! My definition of an intercultural relationship even changed. I thought it was two people from two completely different cultures coming together. I realized it doesn't necessarily mean two different countries. We've all been raised in different cultures and starting a relationship means blending the two. This blog is about family. It's about sharing experiences and a little something that can help you in your own life. I love being able to share my family with all of you. Now, it's your turn. I'm starting a new project called, Family Fridays. It's an opportunity for all of you to share your family with us. What better way than over a good meal!? Family Fridays will be a chance for you to showcase a family recipe and share a bit about your family. If you're interested in taking part in Family Fridays, email me at almostindianwife(at)gmail(dot)com. Let me know a little about you and what recipe you'd like to share. Then I will email you back details. Check out our first guest post here!  

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Our Life Is About To Change Again

Our life has never been boring, that's for sure. The last five and a half years have been full of so many changes. We've lived in two different states, had three little boys, purchased a home, made amazing friends, and made countless memories. Our life is about to change again. We're...... no we're not pregnant again. We're... moving!We've been thinking and praying about this for the last six months and now it's happening. We debated back and forth between Houston and Chicago. My husband has family in both places and both are great options for us. We recently decided on Chicago, the land of the best deep dish pizza! My husband is a "little" pizza obsessed. PicMonkey CollageThe main reason we're moving is because we want to be closer to a big airport. My husband travels for work and we need to be right by an airport so his trips will be shorter and we need to be a bit closer to the actual conferences. What can I say, we love Joel and want him home more! If any of you have been around us the last year, you will understand how much he's been gone. We're ready for more family time!We will be moving at the end of June. This means we're selling just about everything, moving our family to a different state, and settling in to our new home. Which just so happens to be my mother and father in law's home. My father in law will be living with us as well. My kids are beyond thrilled about this! They love their Thatha and can't wait to live with him. He goes to India a few times a year and my husband better not be surprised if I stow away in his luggage and he finds me in India as well! 1780898_10153779731810084_1560546820_nThis doesn't just affect me either. It affects you! How you say? My father in law is an amazing cook and I will be learning everything I can from him! All of his recipes will end up here! You will love him just as much as we do. I'm also excited about living in a much larger Indian community there. I can't wait for my kids to experience more of their culture. We've always been physically closer to my side of the family; an Almost Indian Family living in American culture. Now we will be an Almost Indian Family living in a predominately Indian culture. 10254040_583892693244_6820929993779377385_nI'll share everything I learn with all of you. This is such a big time for our family and I can't wait to see where God takes us in this next year. Check out my husband's blog to hear his point of view on our big move. 

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Culture, Family Culture, Family

Can You Eat Spicy Food While Nursing?

IMG_3820Oh this baby. He is always so full of smiles. My cousins even go as far as to say he is only ever smiling or crying! He only cries when he's hungry, so imagine a full day of the happiest baby alive. One question that comes up every time I have a new baby is how I eat while nursing. A lot of people stop eating practically everything while nursing, in fear of what it could do to their babies little bodies. I have never been one of them. I drink a cup of coffee every morning, eat spicy Indian food, and my babies have never been the wiser. WHAT! She eats spicy food while nursing!?Yep. You heard me right. Now, before I continue, kids with allergies are obviously a different case. My kids have never struggled with food allergies, so this works for us. There have been a few times when my children struggle a bit with me eating spicy food. If it's a significant amount, I will cut back a bit and slowly add more into my diet every week. Allow their bodies to adjust. Why go through all the work? You are developing your child's palate while you're nursing. Indian food is a staple in my family. That means my two and three year old eat spicy food on a daily basis. By helping their bodies adjust while nursing, it makes it a norm for them when we introduce solids. I continue this process with their baby food. I add curry powder, cumin, coriander, garam masala, etc. Here are a few baby food recipes I've used. Kids are eating spicy food in India every day, it's just as possible for my kids to. Joel loves telling our friends about some kids he met in India. They were eating chili peppers like candy! Do you think their moms stopped eating spicy curries while nursing? Nope!

Do your kids like spicy food?

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Our "Pet" Filled Adventures

imageOver the last few weeks, Liam has decided he wants a new pet. Usually, this means he goes outside and sees what he finds first. Last week he gathered a bucket of bugs. He went into daddy's office and dropped them. It took us forever to find them. This week's pet wasn't so bad. He named him "Frog Name." His creativity is astounding. He had him in a little bucket with grass all morning. I finally had to convince him to let his little pet go. He tried to convince me that Frog Name was his forever pet, but after about an hour of pleading, he let him go. Now, he's asking me if we will get him a new pet... We have a dog.. Can't that be enough? I guess this is my life with three boys. Dear God, please don't ever let them catch a spider for a pet!Our week wasn't all pet fiascos. We also had a great Easter! Liam ran around the yard trying to collect more eggs than his cousin, reminding him with every new egg discovery.IMG_1635Levi slept through most of it with a fever, but work up in time to drive their toy car around with all the cousins. IMG_1644 I love our little adventures with our boys. They all have such strong little personalities and they're just so much fun. Our days are never boring, that's for sure!

How was your Easter?

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Family, Home, Marriage Family, Home, Marriage

How To Survive A Traveling Husband Or Busy Week

IMG_1110When I tell people what my husband does for a living, they look at me and my kids and give me a big hug! They’re always asking how I manage.They wonder how I’m still alive with three kids under four and a traveling husband. Well, it’s a little crazy around our house while he’s away. 
 
If we were a traditional Indian family, one of Joel’s relatives would have moved in with us to help. Indian families are extremely close and they always step in when they see a need. I’ve been very blessed to have a great family as well. Every time I’ve had a baby, our family members fly or drive to see us and help. I don’t think I could have made it past the first few days without them. 
 
The first few days of a new baby are full of sleep depravation, spit up, dirty diapers, crying, and the zombie walk. You know what I mean by the zombie walk. You can hardly function because you've only had a few hours of sleep, but you have to get up and take care of the baby so you walk around in a daze all day. My husband has always been a HUGE help at night. He pretty much does everything at night so all I have to do is nurse the first few months. 
 
Now that Lucas is a few months old, I’m getting more sleep and we’ve fallen into a routine while he’s away. If your husband travels or has busy work weeks, these are a few things that can help you and your family. 
 

Freezer Meals.

 
I spend a few days, before my husband leaves, making a handful of freezer meals. I usually make breakfast burritos, chicken or veggie burritos, pasta sauce with meat, naan, keema, and muffins. You can spend a day making everything and freezing it or you can make extra throughout the week and freeze your left overs.
 

Schedule.

 
This has been a new development. I’ve never liked schedules, but I’ve started to use them more and more with my kids. I have a family schedule we loosely stick to during the day. It helps the kids and I to know what to expect and also helps us be productive. Even if “productive” means we merely get dressed that day. It also helps me to have a purpose each day so we don’t fall into the daze while my husband is away. I also make sure to schedule in quiet time every day. My youngest two nap and my oldest will either nap or read books. Either way, I get time to myself each day.
 

Alone Time.

 
This is one I’m working on. I always get alone time while my kids nap, but I often find myself napping as well! A friend of mine gets a babysitter the same day each week. If her husband is home, they go on a date. If he’s gone, she goes out with friends or alone. It’s well worth the cost of a babysitter. We love our kids, but we also need time for ourselves. It helps us to stay sane and love them a little more.
 

What do you do to help your family or yourself on those crazy weeks? 

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Indian Hospitality

526551_10151935137700084_1015017765_nDo you love food? I don’t just mean do you like to eat, I mean do you love food? Do you love making things for people and take pride when you watch them enjoy it? If so, maybe you’re a little more Indian than you think. 
 
One thing you will notice about Indian events is that it’s typically around food. I’ve never been to an Indian get together that didn’t include a large feast of some kind. I figured it was just a coincidence at first. I finally figured it out after a few years when our son Liam had his second birthday. 
 
I had planned this big party. It was also a bit of a going away party for us since we were moving that same week. My husband wasn’t incredibly interested in the party planning. He was more interested in what we were getting our little toddler. 
 
The day of the party rolled around and we spent the whole morning setting up. I laid out the snacks and the cake. We finished and I sat down with a sigh of relief. Then Joel came in asking where all the food was. Did he miss the adorable treats I decorated our table with? I annoyingly pointed to the table. He couldn’t believe it. He assumed we would have a huge lunch for everyone.
 
Wouldn’t everyone be hungry? 
 
I reminded him that most kids parties were this way. We hadn’t planned a dinner party, rather a toddler’s birthday party. He looked at me like I lost my mind and I figured he had no idea what he was talking about. 
 
I quickly noticed the common theme amongst all Indian parties in the few years following. Joel’s mom came for his college graduation party and quickly jumped in when she realized I hadn’t planned on dinner for it. I figured snacks all the way. Nope. She changed that to a HUGE Indian feast. I didn’t complain because who doesn’t want massive amounts of Indian food?!
 
Indian families love food and love getting together to eat with one another. It’s not just about feeding people, it’s the fact that sitting around together and enjoying a meal is special. 
 
Most of the times I’ve gone to Joel’s families houses, I’ve been pregnant. I always crave Indian food while I’m pregnant. When we all get together for dinner, his family is constantly asking if I want to eat or if I want more. I was the size of a house, so I knew I didn’t look malnourished, yet they were always offering food. Joel explained to me that in Indian culture, it’s rude to not offer food. 
 
Indian hospitality is beautiful. They’re always making sure you are full and taken care of. This is something I’m trying to teach my kids.
 
When someone comes to our house, I want them to ask if they’d like a drink. I want them to know they are a host when people are at our house. They don’t get to be selfish when others are here. They need to make sure our guests are taken care of. I love that Indian culture will teach this to my children. 
 
Are you hosting an event soon? Make it an Indian theme! A few meal ideas are chicken tikka masala, butter chicken, chicken curry, keema curry, daal, naan, or parathas
 
 
 
 
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Kids Say The Darndest Things

IMG_1215If you've heard me ramble on about my kids or have met them, you know they have very unique personalities. Well, the first two do. My little itsy, bitsy Lucas is too little to know his personality well yet. Liam and Levi on the other hand are always keeping me busy. IMG_0862Liam is my sensitive little social bug. He loves talking to people and being in big groups of people all the time. He's also the most sensitive little guy. My husband and I aren't so we've had to pray for understanding. Especially, when were faced with water works because Levi looked at him wrong. All we want to say is suck it up, but instead we ask why it hurt his feelings. Other times, his sensitive little heart overwhelms us. He is always the first one to take care of one of us if sick, rub our backs if he thinks we're sad, or tell us how beautiful or handsome we are. Levi is our crazy, rebellious child. It's always interesting to hear what the teacher says on Sunday mornings because we always faced with a new story. It's typically Levi hit someone so I put him in time out and he smiled the entire time. This kid LOVES time out. He loves it because he sees his older brother go in it and feels incredible pride when he gets to. He's always looking for something to get into or destroy, but then he will greet you with cuddles and an arm around your shoulder afterwards. He melts my heart and drives me nuts at the same time. IMG_1261Put them together and you get something pretty amazing. Here are a few of their conversations from the week. 

“Mama is that your soppy (coffee)?” -Levi
“Yes.”-Me
“No it’s my soppy. My friend said yes.”-Levi
 
Levi starts crying in the living room. 
“Levi, wait! Stay here. What happened?”-Liam
“You boom boom me!”-Levi
“Oh, I’m sorry. Levi if you sit here and tell me what happened you won’t be in trouble. I won’t tell mom.”-Liam
“Ok."- Levi
 
"Mom, I need candy cereal for dinner. If I don't my tummy will hurt."- Liam
 
"Mama, I sit with you. Liam needs pankin because he boom boom me." -Levi
"NO, I DIDN'T! HE PINCHED ME!" -Liam
"Levi, did you pinch your brother?" -Me
"Umm. Probably, no." -Levi
 
I love that my kids are getting old enough to talk with each other. Sometimes, it's not very nice and its Liam manipulating Levi or Levi lying to Liam. That's ok. They're learning. This is my favorite little conversation from this week. 
 
"Levi, I love you." -Liam
"I ya you most." -Levi
 

What's your favorite conversation from your kids or kids you've been around this week?

 
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Family Family

St. Patrick's Day

Happy St Patrick's Day everyone!! 

What are our plans today you ask? What grand Pinterest projects have inspired us today on this special holiday? 
 
Nada. 
 
Nothing. 
 
My children are too young to know much about St Patrick's Day other than the fact their classroom is green. I could have been a great mom and made green treats, played fun games, pretended a leprechaun came into our house, but no. Instead our day is just like any other day: wrestling boys, messes, sword fighting, dirty diapers, and mischievous children. 
 
IMG_0940
Will I make a big deal of this holiday in the future? I don't know. I have nothing against it and it could be a lot of fun. However, I've got to keep my children's expectations low. If I started to do extravagant leprechaun traps now at 3 months, 2 years, and 4 years old... what in the world would be expected in five years! They'd probably expect a real leprechaun! 
 
Or maybe I know my trap would look like a mangled mess and my kids would stare at me in disappointment. My Pinterest projects have definitely failed.. a few times. For instance, on Liam's second birthday I made a jello aquarium. It was going to look beautiful. It was going to be a fish bowl filled with light blue jello and have Swedish fish floating around. Instead it was dark blue jello with dead looking, sweedish fish floating on top. Oops. Luckily, Liam only noticed that their was candy in it and didn't mind that it looked terrifying. 
 
For now, I'm going to keep these little holidays simple. I figure I have another year maybe two, and then my kids will be demanding all sorts of extravagent holiday projects and activities. Who knows, maybe by then I will become a little more crafty and be able to do fun things for them!
 

What about you. Do you go all out on St. Patrick's day? If so what do you do? 

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Bread Bread

Paratha Recipe

As I'm sure you know by now, we make a lot of Indian food in our house. This means we need to have rice and roti (Indian bread) on hand. Typically, I will buy a huge bag of parathas and keep them in my freezer. While they are extremely delicious, I decided we needed some homemade, fresh from the skillet parathas around here! I posted this recipe a few years ago and decided to update it. This is a great recipe because you can tailer it to your specific tastes. It's a very forgiving dough and you can see where your imagination takes you. IMG_1326Ingredients:2 1/2 cups of whole wheat flourWarm water2 tsp oil1 tsp salt1 tbs garam masala1 1/2 tsp fenugreek leavesDirections:Pour all of your dry ingredients into a bowl. Mix them, add your oil, and slowly add your water until all of the dry ingredients come together. The stickier your dough, the more moist your parathas will be. Make sure you don't make it too sticky, otherwise it will be too hard to work with. Knead your dough for two minutes and then set it aside for twenty minutes.Pinch off a chunk of the dough and roll it into a ball. It should be about the size of a golf ball.Roll out your dough to about half an inch thick. Brush the top with oil and sprinkle with flour. Cut a small slit in your dough.IMG_1320Roll your dough like shown in the picture. This by no means needs to look nice or be perfect.IMG_1321Place the tip of this in your palm or on the counter and press down to flatten.IMG_1322Roll your dough out one more time.Heat a pan on medium high heat, add a small amount of oil, and fry up your parathas. Cook them until they turn golden brown or start to bubble.These are delicious, flaky, and make your mouth water as you begin to smell them! Serve this with butter chicken, chicken tikka masala, chicken curry, or any other Indian dish. I turned my back for one minute and already found bit marks from  my little boys.IMG_1329

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Family, Parenting Family, Parenting

Enjoy Every Season Of Parenting

unnamedPeople are constantly asking us if we were crazy, deciding to have three boys so close together. Maybe a little, but I’m loving this decision more and more everyday.
 
Everyday I look around at a messy house, knowing it was caused by creative little minds at work.
 
Everyday I look next to me to see all three boys within arms reach, fighting over who gets to cuddle mommy more.
 
Everyday I hear them in their rooms playing, while Liam teaches his younger brothers valuable lessons.
 
Everyday they try to convince to me to extend their bedtime for a few more weeks.
 
Life with my three little boys is truly a blessing. Yet, there is a constant fear in the back of my head. Time. As much as I try to hold time still, I feel it falling through my fingers. My babies are growing so quickly. My little Lucas Love is now in three-six month clothes. I’m not a sentimental person, but I couldn’t help getting emotional. My boys will never be in newborn clothes again. They won’t ever fit in the itty bitty clothes, filled with memories.
 
I know what you’re all thinking. They will just have another one. I can’t even begin to think about having another little one right now. I was eager after the first too, knowing I wanted a big family. This time, I find myself trying to make time stand still. I can’t think of the next baby because all I can think about is keeping my three boys small forever.
 
Parents are always staring at my boys, reminiscing over their little baby days. It’s been so long for them, they find themselves begging to hold Lucas. In the back of my mind I’m thinking your children are independent! I long for the days of independence.
 
This week it hit me. Independence means my little baby boys won’t be little baby boys forever. Maybe I’m ok with my dependent little babies. Maybe I don’t want them growing as fast as I thought.
 
Every stage has been so fun so far. My husband says Levi’s age is his favorite. He’s mischievous and full of such innocence. 
 
You’ve probably heard this before, but take time to realize what a blessing this season is. This season right now. Your children are growing up before your very eyes. Instead of wishing they were just a little bigger to make things just a little easier, soak it all in. 
 
Soak in the cuddles, the kisses, the chaos, the imaginations, and all the little baby coos. Remember it doesn't last forever, but hold on tight while you're in it. 
 
What's your favorite stage of parenting so far?  
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We Are The Fifteen Percent

imageI love sharing my blog with people. It's a great opportunity to talk to others about my marriage and what I've learned. Who doesn't want to talk to people about something that's made them so happy? I'm constantly looking up like-minded blogs. I want to hear other stories similar to mine, get advice, and see if they face the same challenges. I'm surprised when I only stumble upon a few. I forget that intercultural marriages aren't as common as I'd like to think. In a recent statistic, they stated only 15 percent of new marriages are intercultural. It's such a small group! So small in fact that it's started a movement called We Are The Fifteen Percent! There's a website where people all over the US share their pictures and show off their beautiful intercultural family. What a great idea! I love browsing through all the new pictures every month. It's encouraging when my husband and I go through challenging seasons. My husband and I have been very blessed to be in such a great community of people that support our marriage. All marriages have their struggles and some of ours come from blending two cultures, but most is just our stubborn attitudes. There are many intercultural marriages out there that can say the same thing. Not all couples are that lucky. Some are faced with tremendous prejudice and racism. I stumbled onto a story in the news this week. A server at a Buffalo Wild Wings was faced with racism over her relationship. She is white and her boyfriend is black which was apparently very offensive to a group of drunk kids. They started calling her boyfriend terribly derogative names. She then proceeded to write a blog post about it. She couldn't believe that this could still happen in 2015. Her post went viral! Thousands of people shared it and it had close to one million views. You would think that she would be greeted with a huge community support. She had a lot of positive and encouraging words alongside hate mail and death threats. Racism is real people. It hasn't gone away. Intercultural relationships may be more accepted, but it is the minority. What can you do?Be open to anything different and educate yourself. Learn about other cultures. Instead of awkwardly staring at someone with a turban, look up why they wear it. Every culture is rich with differences. Yours isn't better just because you're comfortable with it. If you'd like to share your story, share a picture of you and you're partner on Instagram and tag me @almstindianwife or share it on my facebook page. The more people hear and see the 15 percent, the less novel it becomes, and the more we defeat prejudice and racism. 

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Why Are You Sorry I Have Three Kids?

three boysIf you're a kid person at all, you love babies. They're so cute! You can cuddle them, make silly sounds to them, and everything they do is adorable.When I had my first son, Liam, everyone was so encouraging! I'd walk into grocery stores and would be stopped down every aisle. They all wanted to look at the little boy with "all that hair!" They started gushing when I said he was my first. We got pregnant with Levi and most people were still thrilled. They said I was crazy to have them so close, but were still positive overall. My little Lucas, baby number three was a different story. Instead of being positive and encouraging, I got a much different response. "Wow. Are all these kids yours?""Three boys? I'm sorry."

I have heard these two statements so many times in the last month. At first I laughed. Now, it bugs me. Why are you sorry I have three boys? I'm not. 
 
I love my children. 
 
Is it always loud in my house? Yes. 
 
Do my boys have constant energy? Yes. 
 
Do they sword fight from the moment they wake up until the second the go to bed? Yes. 
 
Do they always need a bath? Yes. 
 
Do my kids require a no farting at the dinner table rule? Yes. 
 
Are they messy? Yes. 
 
Will they ever understand what an inside voice is? Probably not. 
 
Am I outnumbered by boys? Yes. 
 
Are they as sweet as can be? Yes. 
 
Does my oldest play with my hair to be sweet? Yes. 
 
Do my boys love each other deeply? Yes. 
 
Are they best friends? Most of the time, yes. 
 
Are my husband and I proud to raise all three of these boys to be strong men? Yes. 
 
Having three little boys is loud, messy, chaotic, exhausting, and a blast. I love it. I'm not sorry at all. 

What do you say when you get comments like this?

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Go To Sleep!

Big_Bed,_Little_KidMy husband travels for work a lot. At first, I hated nights without him. I thought every sound was an intruder coming to get me. I’d send our dog out to check the rooms and even outside. Don’t even get me started on what would happen when my dog would bark because she heard something outside! Nights were the worst. I couldn’t wait for them to be over. I’d even have my kids sleep with me for comfort. Yes, I know a little one year old couldn’t save me from bad guys, but hey. 
 
As my kids have started to get a little bigger and I have gotten used to Joel’s trips, nights have become relaxing. My boys go to bed early and I get a good four hours to my self each night. Sometimes I fill it with a good book or binge watching a show while I crochet. 
 
When Joel gets home our nights change. I start to notice we both have our nightly routines. Most of our routines blend until the dreaded, let’s go to sleep moment. I’m always ready to go to sleep before him! He takes forever to fall asleep and will read or watch TV until he’s tired. This can be hours after I’ve gone to sleep. 
 
If you have kids or are busy all day, you might be like me and love going to bed in quiet. I hear my crazy kids all day long and I love sitting in peace and quiet. Joel on the other hand has to sleep with noise while on trips because he doesn’t like how lonely the road can be at times.  
 
So you see my dilemma… 
 
Usually I whine and complain until he turns off the TV. Healthy and mature I know. Lately, my sleep depravation has caused a solution. I’m so tired at night that I end up falling asleep mid-show or mid-book. 
 
I guess we will re-evaluate when I get more sleep. Ha. That’s funny. I doubt I’ll be getting more sleep until my kids graduate college. So, this may be the solution. 
 

Do you like to sleep in quiet or do you have to have background noise?

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Culture, Family Culture, Family

Speaking Telugu and a Bit of Nostalgia

IMG_7511My husband Joel learned Telugu as his first language. He lived in India for a few years when he was little and moved back when he was only about four. He started school and quickly learned a sad truth. Kids can be terrible. He was asked a question and answered saying, “kukka,” which means dog. The classroom immediately erupted into laughter. All of the kids started to make fun of him.
 
Poor little Joel stopped speaking Telugu. Even though he was fluent, he slowly started to lose the language. He speaks it now, but he compares his ability to that of a child’s.
 
Joel rarely gets opportunities to be around people that are fluent in Telugu. When he is, he loves speaking with them! It’s a moment of nostalgia and he feels like he’s back home. Vacations with Joel’s family is full of Telugu jokes and Joel’s hyena laugh!
 
This leads me to our first clash of cultures. 
 
I met Joel’s family, while we were dating, over Thanksgiving. I was a nervous wreck! I wanted them to like me and wanted to give a great first impression. Which of course meant I over thought EVERYTHING. 
 
Joel and his family would start speaking in Telugu mid conversation. So, of course I was convinced they were talking about me. I kept my paranoid thoughts to myself for our first few visits. Then I finally brought it up to Joel. He laughed, which by the way is the wrong response when your crazy wife if being crazy! He said that they were merely saying Telugu jokes to each other most of the time. 
 
Oh. 
 
We then decided what to do in the future when people spoke Telugu around me. Joel said he would start interpreting for me. I also said I wanted to learn Telugu. To be very honest with you, this can still be a source of contention for us. I get mad because he isn’t interpreting enough and I also haven’t spent as much time as I should learning. It’s a process. 
 
Yet again, this is why you need grace and communication. I have to be willing to talk with Joel rather than internalize which always leads to me blowing up. We also need to have grace for each other when we fall short.
 
It’s always easier to blame others instead of taking responsibility for your own actions. I can’t blame Joel for me not feeling like a part of those conversations. First of all, I’m not Indian which means Telugu is brand new for me. I can say hey I don’t know it so it’s your responsibility to make up for that or I can make the commitment to learn. 
 
I never want Joel to stop speaking in Telugu because I don’t understand. I want to take part in those conversations! I also want my kids to speak Telugu and understand which means Telugu has to be a part of our home. 
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Cooking 101 Cooking 101

Meal Planning

IMG_9813The moment I told Joel we were having our third boy, he responded with one thing… “They’re going to eat us out of house and home!” My kids eat a lot now and they’re all under three. I can’t imagine three teenagers. 
 
Other than my husband becoming a millionaire, we’re going to need to learn how to stretch a dollar. One way I do that now is meal planning. Oh the dreaded meal planning. Most singles or couples without kids laugh when I say I meal plan. They comment on how much work it is and how it’s not worth it. Although, three boys later… I think it will be worth it. It also saves us a lot of money already! 
 
I’m going to help you out. I’m going to teach you a few things to make meal planning easy and possible!
 

Keep it simple     

Choose recipes you and/or your family have had before and like. Then you can add a few new recipes. Be careful not to overload yourself on new recipes. If you try a new one and like it you can add it to the list of we love it recipes! 
 

Keep ingredients in mind

When you are choosing your meals, keep in mind how much of your ingredients you will be using. If you decide to make pulled pork sandwiches and coleslaw, you will probably have extra cabbage on hand. Instead of wasting it, you can make another meal using cabbage. This helps stretch your ingredients. 
 

Plan a few leftover meals

We call this fend for yourself nights. Chances are you will have enough leftovers for a few meals. This is great for those busy days where you’d rather binge watch your favorite show than head to the kitchen and cook. 
 

Stock your pantry with some basics

Think about the meals that you typically cook through out the week. What are the basics you tend to cook with frequently? In our house we use a lot of rice, black beans, bread, and Indian spices. Our pantry ALWAYS has plenty of those things. 
 

Get a calendar

Get a calendar and put it on your fridge or use your phone’s calendar. Write down the meals you choose for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Write a grocery list based off your meal choices. You don’t have to stick to the exact meal you schedule for each day, but it gives you a list of meals you have groceries for. 
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Family, Marriage Family, Marriage

Marriage Advice

IMG_9794This year, I sat around the Christmas tree with my growing family and looked back on the last five years. Joel and I have had three children, moved hundreds of miles away from a place we once called home, got a new job, made new friends, had our ups and downs, and we’ve learned so much together. 
 
Relationships are hard work and completely worth it. Intercultural relationships brings about their own little challenges. Most of the time you have no idea what you’re doing.  I’ve learned so much and love being able to share two rich cultures with my children.
 
I love being able to share what I have learned in the last five years with all of you! I’ve received many emails asking for advice in different areas of intercultural relationships. The biggest piece of advice I’ve given is to give grace and keep an open mind. 
 
You and your partner have grown up in two different families. You may have grown up in similar families or completely different. Either way your families are still different and you both have different expectations on how things should go.
 
You need to have grace for yourself and your partner. Joel and I have learned so many things by completely messing it up. We’ve said the wrong things, hurt each others feelings, and done things wrong. Afterwards you have a choice on how to respond. We could have said hey you don’t deserve my forgiveness and you better figure out how to make this better. Instead we gave each other grace; forgave and loved each other regardless of what they deserved based on their actions.
 
There’s no rule book on how to have an intercultural relationship. Sometimes you have to figure it out as you go which means you won’t always make the right choices. 
 
You also need to keep an open mind. You both have family traditions that have value to you. They can be as simple as when to open Christmas presents, using canning jars as drinking glasses, or raising children. Regardless of the tradition, you need to be open to trying new things. That doesn’t mean letting go of your traditions, but it does mean remembering the value of your partners. Joel and I have both made silly comments about a tradition and hurt feelings. 
 
When Joel and I got married we decided to start our own family. This means blending cultures, traditions, and our lives. The only way for this to happen is to give each other a lot of grace and to keep an open mind. 

What is your biggest piece of marriage advice?

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Family, Parenting Family, Parenting

It's Almost Christmas!

IMG_9731Hurry. Hurry. Hurry. Wrap. Wrap. Wrap. Crochet. Crochet. Crochet. That about sums up my week. Things have been so crazy this month with the arrival of our handsome little Lucas that we almost forgot about Christmas preparation. We knew Christmas was coming, but all the preparations kept getting put off. Now we are here, the week of Christmas! Our tree has decorations on the top half, we have a total of three other decorations sitting out, presents are wrapped sitting in our room, and I have one stocking half made.Hey, I'd call that progress!The great thing is that our kids couldn't care less. They are just excited it's almost Christmas!! We have been reading the story of the birth of Jesus every night before bed and having Liam retell it to us. So far he thinks Christmas is about mama who had baby Jesus in her belly, shepherds that fought with sticks, and Christmas lights. I also can't tell if he thinks I had baby Jesus in my belly at one point or if he knows it was Mary...My goal was to make all of us a homemade stocking, but it looks like Lucas may be the only one that has one... It's ironic that he's the only one that doesn't need one!Our first Christmas as a family of five hasn't gone as planned so far, but we are all so excited and are having a great time getting ready! I can't wait to wake up Christmas morning with our kiddos, have hot cinnamon rolls, hot coffee, open presents, listen to our children tell us the story of Jesus' birth, and remember how blessed we all are to have each other! Oh and don't forget the endless sword fights all day because I'm pretty sure Joel just went out and got the kids last minute Ninja Turtle weapons!

How have your Christmas preparations been going?
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Family, Parenting Family, Parenting

Stop Touching Me!

Before I was a mom, I’d look at moms cuddling their kids and say to myself, “I can’t wait until I can cuddle my kids all day!” It just looked like so much fun. Who wouldn’t want a little baby at home to cuddle with? 
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We had our first little boy, Liam, and it was amazing! I snuggled with that kid all day long. About a month or so later he started the cutest thing ever, or so I thought. He started sleeping with his hand on my face. Adorable! He loved me so much he wanted to touch my face while he was asleep for comfort!! I loved it. He started doing it a few times a day, then every time I’d hold him while he slept. He slept in our bed at night which also meant he would cuddle my face all night. I loved it for the first month… Then I realized he now HAD to sleep like that. If I moved his hand, he’d lose it. 
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Liam is now three years old and still does it! He says he’s cuddling us when he does it. We even have rules on when he can cuddle our face. It’s only when we’re going to sleep and once in a while during the day. I’m always trying to show him other ways to cuddle, but he reminds me that it’s not how HE cuddles. 
 
Levi tries to do it now as well because he sees Liam doing it. They even do it to each other! That usually ends in them hitting each other though because they fight over who can cuddle each other’s face. 
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I love my children. Don’t get me wrong. I know one day I will cry to myself wishing for this time back. However, my kids are touching me all. day. long. I never thought I’d actually have times I’d beg my kids to stop touching me! 
 
If you sit on the couch at our house, all the kids swarm you. I’m usually nursing Lucas and then my other two kids want to sit on my lap or “cuddle” me. 
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If you don’t have kids, relish in the times you can sit on the couch without a child touching you! If you do have kids, remember this time doesn’t last forever. If you want to get back at your face cuddling child, do what we do…
 
Joel and I will lean over and put our hands on Liam’s face. Both hands. Covering his whole face. He tries to move and we follow him saying we only want to cuddle his face. This always turns into wrestling or chasing. It’s very mature and makes you feel much better. 
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First Day Home Alone

IMG_9702My first day home alone with the boys. Well, they all survived... The house definitely looked like a construction zone while Joel was gone, but we pieced it back together pretty well before he got back. Joel was great and let me sleep in until he had to go to work. He had some training to do and had to go in a few times over the week. My usual routine is to wake up, make an iced coffee, get the kids breakfast, and start on some housework. I figured I'd aim for the same routine. Instead it took me two hours to make my coffee... When you're running on fumes, coffee is a MUST. Why don't my children understand that fact? We are huge coffee drinkers in this house. They even know daddy will not play or wrestle until he's had his coffee in the morning and start yelling for someone to make coffee when he wakes up! Come to think of it I don't even think they had breakfast... Wow. I really don't remember if I fed them an actual meal that morning. I know they had lots of crackers and snacks at least. Well, they ate right? I'll count that as a success. They even had a bath! Although it was unintentional. Levi got into the bathroom and turned the tub water on. He ended up getting wet enough that I figured he might as well. I left while the tub was filling up to get towels and of course both older boys had already hopped in. The rest of the day was spent keeping my kids up for the plumber to come fix our sink. It's been clogged for two weeks!!! I scheduled him to come while the kids napped. I figured I'd keep them awake until he got here and then put them to sleep while he was working. Each minute I waited felt like an eternity. He got lost and ended up getting there a few hours late. Luckily it only took him five minutes to fix the clog!All in all day one was pretty productive. I made myself a coffee, gave my kids a bath, fed them, and got our sink fixed. I feel like I deserve two gold stars for my day!

How was your first day alone with your new additions? Share you stories in the comment section!

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Family, Parenting Family, Parenting

Levi and Lucas. Friends or Enemies?

IMG_9669One of my biggest concerns with bringing Lucas home was how Levi would handle it. He was our baby for the last two years. He's also our feistiest child! I was nervous he would be jealous of Lucas. Levi makes sure everyone knows how he feels verbally and physically. If he decided he didn't like Lucas, it would be pretty obvious. He brought Lucas a little baby (little bird toy) at the hospital. He gave him a big kiss and held him. That was enough for him. He spent the rest of his time at the hospital cuddling mommy and hiding under my hospital bed. I told you, he's feisty. He was so excited to see Joel and I bring Lucas home that day. He ran around saying, "Baby" with a big grin. For the most part Levi ignores Lucas, but makes sure we all know if he's crying or needs something. If we don't respond IMMEDIATELY he starts yelling at us. That means he cares right... He also runs up and gives him surprise kisses a few times a day. I'll take it! He loves him in Levi's own little way. Although... He did punch Lucas on his second day home.I was nursing Lucas on the couch. Liam and Levi were attempting to sit next to me. It turned into them hanging on me while I tried to feed Lucas. All of the sudden Levi leans forward and starts giving Lucas a very confused look. Then confusion turned to anger and he punched Lucas in the arm, started pulling on him, and yelled, "STOP EATING MY MOM!"Apparently he thought he had to fight him to protect me!The funny thing was that Lucas hardly flinched. I guess the scrappy third child thing is true!This will forever be my favorite story. I will share it with everyone. I will remind Levi about this when he's older. I will be that parent that embarrasses him with this story all the time. Admit it. You're still laughing over it too!

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