Sunday, February 24, 2008

HELP!

Am I an idiot??? No one answer that. What am I doing wrong? I can't seem to make the picture of me, Danny and Rani (on the side bar) any bigger. It gives me a headache just to try and look at it! Does anyone know how to fix this?

Sunday, February 17, 2008

The Story Behind "Rani"



Lately there has been a lot of confusion with Rani's name. I know it's different and she is probably going to hate us later on in life when nobody can say her first OR her last name, but there is a reason why we gave her that name. Probably some of you reading this don't even know how to pronounce it, which is why I thought I'd take the time to explain, for those of you who don't already know. When she complains about her name later I'll tell her to look on the bright side. Chances are she will never have to deal with the first letter of her last name being included in her first name. You know, like in 2nd grade when there was five thousand Jeremys, so you would call them Jeremy R., Jeremy H., Jeremy B. etc!

So, here it is...her name is Rani Ana (after my Mommy) Bilbao. (People are so going to think she's foreign!) You pronounce it like - Ronnie, not Rainy. It's an Indian (Dots not feathers!)/ Hindu name that means "Queen". It is actually a pretty popular name in India too. I love when we go to the Indian restaraunt to eat or to Costco and the cute little Indain ladies that give out the samples start to play with Rani and then ask her name. As soon as I tell them their faces light up and they say, "is Indian name"! They are even more happy when I tell them how we spell it. Anyway, we debated on several different names, but none that seemed to stick. The name Rani was suggested to us by my very, very good friend Seema, who is like a sister to me. She told us of a very popular and might I add gorgeous Indian actress named Rani Mukherjee. When she suggested the name both Danny and I automatically loved it. It fit. Seema and her family have had such an impact on us while we have lived so far away from home. We have been completely submerged in Indian culture and it's been so much fun. I love the food, the clothes, the stories about Krishna and most of all the smells. (The smell of curry and cardamom will probably bring me to tears when we move from here!) So, the name just clicked. They are our family away from family. The name means so much to us and it will always remind us of our Indian family in Delaware that we love so much!

Seema and Rani at the super bowl party. Not the best picture of Rani!

Happy Valentines Day!


We ate WAY too many sugar cookies. Both Marisa and I got sick to our stomaches!

Yes, that's Rani's big old foot right in your face.

Me and my sweet Kaylen.

Monday, February 4, 2008

Happy Birthday Ranster Monster!


Thank you Acme! I got this cake for FREE! Acme (aka Albertson's) gives you a free 1rst birthday cake and being the poor, cheap girl that I am, I totally jumped on it. For a brief minute I felt like a big fat slacker for not making the cake myself but I got over it. I was just expecting a little individual cake or something, but no, it was a whole cake! They kind of messed up the colors, but beggers can't be choosers. Did I mention it was FREE?!

Could it get any better? Naked cake eating!


Hmm, what is this?

Kinda squishy, but I like it.

Yes, yes I do like it!

Ugh. Cake hang over! No, no just one more bite. I promise I won't puke!

As Promised Jess!




Here are some of the final pictures that Jesse did for us. Sorry Jess, I couldn't wait to put up the finished ones. I love them, they turned out great! ( I just wish Rani would have smiled a little more!) Thanks again Jess!