We are very excited to announce the arrival of our daughter Sophie Anne Shah! Sophie, as per her name, was wise to arrive on May 7, 2012, after her daddy was done with his gradings! At 7lb4oz at birth, she is healthy and a happy baby. Sophie’s parents are sleep deprived, but otherwise everyone is fine and ready to go home! 
Yup, the spring is here. It’s been several weeks we have seen daffodils and crocuses in our front yard, and now we also have tulips! The picture here is a proof.
And since the spring is here, Sophie should be arriving soon. We have finished our birth and baby-care classes. We are going for doctor’s appointment every week. Tomorrow is Lori’s last day at work, and then she is just home waiting for Sophie!
That’s right! It’s only 6 weeks away! Can’t believe it. Lori and I have been quite busy lately gathering all the stuff we need for Sophie. We started with big stuff like crib, changing table, dresser, rocker, and stroller. Then we kept buying small things as we found time and money (and deals)!
Much to Lori’s surprise, she got a baby shower at her work (ya, it was a surprise baby shower) and that brought in lots of useful stuff for Sophie, especially books. More than the stuff, we were just amazed by how awesome the shower was organized. There was food, games, and wonderful people with lots of love! The baby charades were lots of fun!
Lori also painted Sophie’s room, prepared the closet, and organized her dresser. She even tried out the car seat. We are also taking childbirth preparedness classes.
Ya, so we’re ready to welcome Sophie in our lives!
The news we’ve all been waiting for! Our little one is a little girl!!!
I can’t wait to start decorating her nursery! I can’t wait to meet her! I’m over half way there!
So, we’re expecting! Not a package or an invitation, but a whole little tiny baby! That’s right! We are going to be parents!
We are, of course, irrationally excited, ridiculously terrified, and completely confident. Somehow this mixture of emotions seems to be hitting us at very odd moments. Yesterday was mostly filled with excitement as we got to see ultrasound images of our new little one rolling, kicking, and waving its minuscule arms and legs.
My due date is may 4th, but as we all surely know, these things happen on their own time line. We hope to find out whether the little one is a boy or a girl sometime in December.
Yes, it’s been a year since we moved to NJ. Last year, we left Durham, NC at the end of June and moved to Bordentown, NJ. The first two months that we spent in Bordentown were filled with mix of things; it was a new place, new job, and yet, we knew we wouldn’t be there for long. More than half of our stuff was still in boxes, and often it was frustrating not being able to find or use things. On top of that, we were looking to buy our first house in an area that was an hour away from Bordentown.
But it all turned out great in the end once we found our house in Somerset and moved one more time that summer. After a long chain of packing and moving, we were home! Of course, soon after moving to our new house, we left for Canada for a few days’ vacation, and of course, it took us several months to finally feel settled down, but nearly a year later, we do feel it has happened! We are here and we have been settled. You can see house pictures here.
Besides the house, a lot has happened to us during this year in NJ. Lori successfully completed her Karen Pryer Academy certification, and started her Clicker Training NJ business. She also got a job at the Turtle Back Zoo recently. Chirag encountered many new challenges and opportunities at his job as a faculty at Rutgers, faced a grave family setback in India, and got back into teaching ballroom dancing.
So, all in all, a year with lots of highs and lows. Tomorrow (4th of July) we will be celebrating two years of our engagement. Yes, it’s been two years since Chirag knelt down in front of Lori at St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow, and popped the question!
A lot to look forward to now in the coming year. For starters, we are finally taking a vacation – visiting China later this month. And then who knows!
We’ve been married for a year and 5 days! I can’t believe how quickly time has passed. I still remember how beautiful the ceremony was, the magical feeling of it all. It was so nice to feel the love, and the memories will be with me forever.
Love you 4.1 Chirag!
Wow, I can’t believe it’s march already. It seems like just yesterday when everything was covered in 2 feet of snow and now we have our first bulbs just starting to pop up from the ground. I love the spring!!
Chirag and I are about to celebrate our first anniversary! I cannot belive it’s been a year already! March 21 is only a week away! We had planned on a vacation to Jamaica to celebrate our anniversary in the sun, but unfortunately my body disagreed with that decision. I had an appendectomy last thursday after having a thyroid biopsy the previous friday. This month has been a bit of a medical disaster for me i’m afraid. 
I am healing though, and Chirag has taken amazing care of me. I am so greatful and thankful for him!!
In other news, I am crossing my fingers that I will get the job I recently interviewed for! We also got a new washer and dryer, it’s so exciting to be able to do laundry at home! I also finally painted the kitchen, even though i’ll probably have to repaint it when we get it redone.
Thinking of all of you!! 
- Lori
So, I guess I haven’t been really good about updating the blog. We’ve been busy since moving to New Jersey, it seems like every day brings new challenges. I finished my dog training course and am now a KPA CTP, check out my web page www.clickertrainingnj.com . It was definatly a challenge to complete that course, but I enjoyed it. Owning a home has definately been an eye-opening experience for Chirag and I, with all the many challenges and joys it presents. My favorite thing, has been getting to decorate for the holidays, and having enough space to be able to invite people over for a holiday party.I had a good holiday with my family, we visited New York, it was my dad’s first trip there. We saw the Rockefeller christmas tree, and a few other things.
It’s snowing today. Giant white flakes are falling everywhere, coating everything. It’s strange to me to be in a place where snow is just a part of the winter time. The last snow that fell hadn’t even had a chance to finish melting before it snowed again today, and it will be snowing again next week. Strange. I remember, when i was living in florida, I was able to go for my tuesday night runs in january wearing shorts and a running tank top, and I wasn’t too cold. I kinda miss that. I keep thinking about maybe investing in a treadmill so that I can really get back into running. Chirag really enjoys seeing everything coated in white. He really likes how pretty everything is. I’m glad that he gets to enjoy snow again, I know how much he enjoys the winter.
My new resolution, I will try to update this a little more frequently.
Time just flies by, doesn’t it? We got home safe from Canada, after an unexpectedly extended visit, and went staight back to work. The semester started for Chirag, so he has been very busy with all sorts of Rutgers-related tasks. I, on the other hand, got straight back to painting, and finished all the interior walls except the kitchen. I also finished getting our house straightened up in time for us to have a birthday/housewarming party. It was my 30th birthday, and it was Chirag’s birthday too. (Aren’t we just the cutest couple?) A good time was had by all, and when the guests cleared out we were left with a sense of accomplishment at a job well done. The last of the pictures were hung on the walls less than 30 minutes before the first guest arrived! After the party, things slowed down a little, except that we bought a pair of guinea pigs, and a new bedroom set! Then my parents came to visit/work. My dad most graciously devoted an entire weekend to building a white picket fence around our backyard. He did 98% of the work. My mom was the best go-fer ever earning her 1%, and I finished up putting on the gate latch and putting in the rest of the screws which means I only earned 1% also. Thanks DAD!!! Every time our dogs get to run free in the backyard, they’ll be thanking you (and so will we!) The dogs are incredibly excited to finally have so much space to run around and do their business. We’re trying to do a little bit outside too before it gets too cold, like planting some bulbs in front of our fence, trimming the overgrown hedges, and raking the endless leaves. Hopefully things will start slowing down around here a little bit so that we can catch our breath before the next (inevitable) round begins! My next dog training seminar is next weekend, so I better go see if I can’t cram a little more knowledge into Legolas’s head!
Laters!
Lori
