Naturalization

I am officially an American citizen! As of, coincidently, Mina's birthday. The final step of the immigration process was for the court to administer the oath of allegiance.  The judge gave a very heartfelt speech to officially welcome us to the country and then we got our certificates.

I received my passport too, which means we can finally all travel in the same immigration lines at the airport

Homemade Play Dough

Non-toxic, potentially edible (but not advised) play dough that's easy to make and customize with different colors and consistencies. 

1 cup flour

1 cup water

0.5 cup salt

1 tbsp cream of tartar

1 tbsp oil

Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat. The dough is done when it starts to pull away from the sides. Divide up the dough and add a few drops of food coloring to each section. Knead to mix it thoroughly. The dough turned out great -  soft, pliable and non-sticky. We stored it in a tupperware container at room temperature and it has lasted for at least 4 weeks.  Some got left out and dried up a bit, but I used wet hands to knead it and it came right back to the correct consistency.  

Celebrating Mina's 2nd Birthday

We had two birthday parties for Mina this year to try and make it more interactive and less overwhelming.  Also, it would be a little more bite-sized for us, having just moved it and not being able to accommodate a large crowd. Both parties went off smoothly, although Mina was definitely more comfortable with her day care "frands"

We got a kiddie table and two stools for her birthday - we had it ready when she woke up and she made a beeline for it. 

Trains from Grandpa and Grandma. She loved them!

A tricycle and some more trains from Nani and Ajoba!

Alex

The infamous Madeline, her BFF

Getting her big-girl car seat.  She liked it so much she said of the other one: "Rowan sit there"

Funny things Mina says/does

One word sentences

"Relax!"

"Cream" - as she rubs tomato soup on her face

Two word sentences:

"Go way!"

"more milky"

Walking around the neighborhood without her shirt because its "too hot!"

Three word sentences:

"My tummy huuurts". Two seconds later, she does a giant fart and grins.

"See you soon" - as she pretends to walk off with her hand-"baig"

Four word sentences:

"I love you, jaanu!" - because we call each other jaanu.

"Dan, where are you?" - because I call her daddy Dan.

"Mina no feel sad?" - because the bears at Ikea had to stay in the store and we had to say goodbye.  Awww, when did she start expressing real emotions like fear and sadness?!

Five word sentences:

"No like the scary squirrel"

Bigger sentences:

"Mommy I did susu on the potty!"

"I got a owwie, I put a bandaid right here" - she is very big on bandaids and likes to read "Dan the Bandage Man" almost every night

Our New Home

We have settled down into a real home, white picket fence and all. It feels like we have finally found our little patch of the world (for a few years anyway) and think its going to be very functional for our growing family.  It's got a super cute playset for the kiddos and enough space for Dan to work at home without bumping into them at every corner. It needs a bit of a facelift, but I think we are both looking forward to some DIY projects! Dan is extra excited because Dy and Pranay are going to let us have all the tools that their (crooked) contractor left behind.

Keeping Mina occupied during the move

Didn't want to nap, so she got tuckered out...

Celebrating the closing

Photos from the listing

Moving day! Pap is taking the picture.

Celebrating Dan's Birthday simultaneously, since he had to share it with Moving Day.

The process itself could have been a bit smoother, but we have discovered that people thrive on chaos here. Here were some of our headaches:

1. Movers got the moving date wrong.  

2. Internet providers got the date wrong. They turned off our internet two days early, which is a real problem because Dan works from home. After several hours on the phone, they turned it back on, but forgot to turn it back off again and charged us for an additional month. Eye roll.

3. Our bank decided to overcharge us ~$5,000 dollars in escrow, until we questioned it. They did agree to give us a little credit (yay!) but then forgot about it at closing, and then forgot to send it to us later too. 

4. Our lawyer was supposed to tell us how much to bring to closing.  Luckily we didn't listen to her, because she got the numbers all wrong.

5. We had to "tip" our title search guy a couple hundred bucks. Which is like, a bribe, right?  

6. Our walk-through of the new house showed a cracked sewer pipe.  Plumber says its going to be quite a major fix, but managed to create a temporary patch.
7. The landlady of our rental noticed some "major problems" during our move-out walkthrough.  As in, we had moved a shelf from the inbuilt bookcase, we didn't clean out the lint collector in the dryer, there were holes in the ceiling (not created by us; just drywall settling), the drywall seams were visible (again, not something we had anything to do with) etc. We tried to call her (>10 times) after the move, but she didn't answer and has no voicemail.  She doesn't have email. Oh, and she won't answer her door.  In the end we had to write a letter and leave it in her mailbox.

Nevertheless, Mina is liking "new house" already, and constantly wants to be outside to play on the slide. I have definitely fulfilled some serious "nesting" urges, and Dan has been happily researching insulation and fireplace DIYs.

Cleaning out the gutters 20 ft up in the air.