Hi folks! I know.. I have been MIA for the longest time ever and I apologize for the same but the good news is that I am back here now 🙂 For those of you who are wondering what kept me busy last few months.. I have some news to share – I am not just a blogger anymore but have advanced to the title of a “blogger MOM”!! Yes, I delivered a baby girl last summer and the little munchkin is all I was investing my time and energy into these past months.
May I say – I have a new found respect (a HUGE respect) for the moms across the world and really salute all who are juggling the many roles and responsibilities that come with having a kid. When I got pregnant, I was pretty motivated to continue the blog and carry on with my client projects but I couldn’t keep up with it. Entering second trimester, I just couldn’t handle it all and decided to take a break and enjoy my pregnancy. My learning is – pregnancy is a different journey for everyone and sometimes all we need to do is step back and embrace the phase and all the changes that come along with it. For me, my blog has always been something I am extremely passionate about and I did not want to publish anything I didn’t give a 100% into.. so I decided to pursue it once I could 🙂
Pregnancy has been a wonderful journey for me and after I had my daughter, she became my biggest project in life! I was so focused on staying healthy throughout my pregnancy and rooting for normal delivery, I did not really think about the “AFTER the baby comes phase” :P. I wasn’t really unprepared for the mom role but I think (and I quote) that all parents would agree that you really do become parents only once you have the baby in your arms and no amount of reading can prepare you for this “all hands on” role.
The first few months just flew by … in between the long stretchy feed sessions, the coos and cuddles, the hugs and snoozes & the never stopping diaper routines. I was so desperate to catch on some sleep that I had to keep my sanity in the fore front and the blog remained on the back burner. I am really thankful to parents who came down all the way from India to help us with the baby and spent a good chunk of time with us. I don’t even know how else I would have been able to manage it all!!!
Btw, during my post partum months, I have eaten many a Besan Laddu loaded with nuts ! Not only do they taste amazing and are a storehouse of energy, they apparently also boost lactation. Win-Win. Check out my quick recipe for Besan Laddu – trust me, these laddus would make u drool. You can thank me later 🙂
When the baby girl got to the 6 month mark, I decided she needed to connect with her fam back in India and so I took her to India and spent the last 3 months there. I visited my folks after 3+ yrs and had a time of my life there – ate some delicious food, took some long naps (while my mother babysat) and even longer showers (had almost forgotten how relaxing that feels!). After that vacation and much needed TLC, I am back to California and slowly getting back to the grind.
It has been an intimidating, tiring, exhausting, mundanely repetitive journey with many moments that made me cry and feel blah…but oh well, it is all so worth it! The feeling of becoming parents is probably the most beautiful feeling in the world and is one I would never trade for anything in life.
What is my motivation behind starting the blog again?
Well that’s easy! The credit goes to all of you 🙂 Over the months of contemplation and hesitation of restarting the blog, many of you DMed me and emailed me and asked me what was going with my blog. When I started self-doubting myself and thought I had lost my words for the blog, my friends and followers backed me up and kept me motivated to come back to the blogger life. I am so thankful to each one of you. You guys never gave up on me and kept pushing me to kick start it again ! Over the past year, I came in touch with many people who would tell me why they liked my blog and to my surprise, many of those comments included that they loved reading my stories 🙂 It made me realize that I intrinsically had a voice for my blog and many people related to my stories. I am so thankful I have an amazing support system here with a great backing from family and friends, both offline and online 🙂
What now?
Well as of now, I am taking baby steps (pun intended :P) in getting back to my blog routine and trying to squeeze in time between my girl’s nap time to curate recipes and write posts. It takes me much more time to get things done and many more coffees and chai, but I am getting there: P The blog is going to take an interesting turn now and I plan to create much simpler and fun recipes for you all to try and recreate. Along the way, I will also share with you my experiences of being a mother and share tips on baby care, baby friendly recipes and quick handy tips for food management for adults … coz parents need to eat too 😛
I am all excited about sharing my new journey with you all and hope to have you guys join me with your comments, suggestions, and ideas for recipes or just about anything you would like to share. Keep loving and supporting me and look out for the fresh content that’s tempering on Divine Spice Box!!
xoxo
Congratulations Prachi.
May God bless you and little angel.
Waiting for your posts.