02/01/2013: Gran & Granpa Visit Lara

Gran and Grandpa visit Princeton Hospital to meet Lara.  Grandpa sees Lara for the first time!  They came all the way from Long Island to see Lara.  

Three Generations!  

The Joag Family 

Presents for Lara from Gran and Grandpa.

Dadi & Dadu

Dadi & Dadu are so happy to be holding Lara Baby.  They came all the way from India to be here when Lara Baby was born.  They did not want to miss a moment.  Dadi is happily holding Lara, while Dadu looks on... enamored by Lara.  

 Lots of Dadi Kissies and Huggies for Lara....xoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxooxoxo

The Sharma Family meets Lara on January 30th.

All in one day Lara gets to meet the Sharma family for the first time.  She gets to meet her cousins, Sagar and Sonal.  They are so excited, and happy to see Lara Baby. 

The Sharma Family came to visit at the hospital with Dadi and Dadu!!  Everyone is all smiles and all excited to meet Lara Para.

Dadu gets to hold Lara baby.  

Sagar Bhai is only too happy to have another little girl in the family.

Sonal is amazed to see a small baby!!  

January 30th... A New Day!!

Lara's First Day was busy busy!  She had so many visitors and all the special people in her life were there to hold her and kiss her up!!

My mom with Lara Girl.. Lara's Gran was so happy to meet her first Grand daughter!

The proud Daddy!  He can't take his eyes off Lovely Lara.  :)  Daddy's Girl in the Making...

Lara's Dadi.  Was so excited to meet the new bundle of joy!

And the New Mommy finally got some rest, while Lara slept.  

Lara's First Night

Lara had a quiet first night at Princeton Hospital, in Plainsboro, NJ.  She was with her Gran, my mother, and her Dadi, my husband's mother, as well as her Mom and Dad of course.  We were all the first to lay eyes on Lara Girl.

There's my Mommy hugging me, while I am hugging my little girl.  

And Lara's Dadi, my Mom-in-Law, was right there waiting to hug little Lara too.  

The first picture of the new family of 3!  Excited Daddy couldn't wait to hold Lara Girl.  

That night I cuddled up with my new bundle of love, with my husband sleeping at the side in our hospital room.  It was arguably the best sleep I have ever had.  It was all worth it to hold Lara Girl!  

How did we come up with Lara?

Lara's Song is the theme song from Dr. Zhivago.  Dr. Zhivago is a movie which came out in America in 1965, starring Omar Sharif, and Julie Christie.  The movie is based on the novel, "Dr. Zhivago" by Boris Pasternak.  It is a love story-drama set in the back drop of WWI.  The main characters revolve around Lara (Larissa is her full name).

This is where I first learned of the name Lara, and since I was a young woman, I've always thought I would name my daughter Lara.  And now here she is, Ms. Lara Sehgal... My daughter, born on January 29, 2013.
We thought we would name her Lara as it has multiple meanings, and transcends all cultures and languages.  In fact, Lara is a short form of not on Larissa (Russian), but also Laranya (Asian-Indian).  It's a short, sweet name, easy to pronounce, yet beautiful.  Especially growing up in the United States where names are routinely butchered if they are not "normal" American names.

Lara, pronounced LAR-ah, means Protection in Latin (i.e. the protector of households); It also means Cheerful and Famous.  Lara (short from Laranya -Indian) can also mean Graceful.
So, Anurag and I decided to name her Lara.  She was born 8lbs, 10 oz at 8:18pm.

If you notice, all of the numbers have something to do with the number 8.  I will take that to be auspicious.
Her Birthday: 01-29-2013 (if you all all of the numbers, it adds up to 8)
The time she was born: 8:18pm
And her weight: 8lbs, 10 oz.

Mom and Baby Lara meet for the First Time.

Oh Boy! Does she look so Bothered!!  That's the famous "bothered" look that we will get used to later!  :) 

When Daddy first saw Lara.

Yawn...Yawn...