Referral-iversary

It was two years ago today that we received our referral call from Julie at AGCI 

And two years ago today that I let my grandparents see his sweet face before I did

And two years ago today that I called Justin while he drove a patrol car with the lights and sirens and he kept saying, "what?!" 

Two years ago today I held my breath the entire night at Refuge to not give it away and share at the very end what had happened that day

Two years ago tonight, we had our family and friends here at our home where Justin and I would sit down together, after a long day of waiting and wondering, to see our son's face on a computer screen

Two years ago, we turned the screen around and watched and listened as everyone we loved ooohed and ahhhhed about our unnamed child

Two years ago we ate rich chocolate cake and jumped up and down and squealed and screamed and cried and danced and shouted and prayed and praised and felt the joy of family

Our son was only three weeks old 

Our son was tiny

Our son.

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And because I am feeling especially sentimental and have a few more minutes until naptime is over, here are some fun places to go back and relive all the excitement.  

All the comments are super fun, too! Be sure and check those out as well. 

Finding out We're Number One

When I Got The Call

Details of The Actual Call

Telling Justin

Grandparents See Great-Grandson

Sharing the News via Telephone

and Plans in the Works

Seeing Our Son's Face

Asher's Birthday :: Part 2

We decided to forgo the big party this year and do a simple birthday dinner on a weeknight with all our parents. Which was great because there were no invites to make or mail, no weather to worry about, and no exposure to sick kids. There was, however, a lot of laughing and squealing and screaming. Not just by Asher, either. You put eight adults madlyinlove with the cutestbabyonearth and see what volume you reach. "It goes up to 11." {Bonus points if you know that quote. Serious bonus points.}

I made a super simple dinner of soft tacos, spicy corn, pinto beans and cupcakes (with incredible fugde frosting). All served buffet style. I have no idea why my family didn't do things this way growing up. So fewer dishes! Anyway. Super easy and quick and tasty. 

 {Any "My Name Is Earl" fans? We love the closed-eye picture tradition.}

There are no family photos. I can not believe it! I'm resolving right now to be better about making someone take a picture of Asher with his Mommy and Daddy. Seriously. 

The plan was simple: sit around the table and eat while we watch Asher eat. He always provides good supper-time entertainment and general face messyness. He was definitely entertaining during dinner. The best part was probably after dinner, though. Justin got up and began clearing the dishes (I know, bonus points for him) and when I joined him Asher went to play with his little barn. He loves the music and plays the songs over and over and over again. Well, he played the songs and ran in circles. The entire time we did dishes. At least twenty five circles. He'd stop and dance for a  minute, but then back to running. None of the grandparents took pictures though, so be mad at them, not me. I think we did get some video, so I'll try to check into that soon. And my next post won't have anything to do with Asher's birthday. But it will probably still have something to do with him. Let's just face it. 

Asher's Birthday :: Part 1

You've waited long enough. No more delays. I mentioned here that I'd made about thirty meals. It just so happened that I did that when Justin was out of town. And it was Asher's birthday. Sometimes things just happen that way. Here's how it went down. First, when it's your birthday, I am an advocate of having whatever you want for breakfast. Actually, I feel like this fairly often, but especially on one's birthday. Especially when you're two. So Asher has milk and grapes and donut holes. Actually, this is his first experience with cakey donut holes, but I thought he'd like them and they sounded good to me when we were at Kroger. Don't judge me.

Asher ate his breakfast, we practiced our flash cards and sang happy birthday and I started on this. 

Cajun 16-bean soup. Can you find sixteen different beans? Me either. I only counted twelve. Maybe I'll try again later when we eat some. 

While I souped, Asher played. We're big fans of free play on Saturday mornings around here. I just read an article about how free play is really good for fostering independence. Not that he needs any help in that department. 

I rounded up supplies for all my meals. While it was a lot of work, I am excited to do it again. And it's been so fun to eat things from our freezer. Tonight we're having Santa Fe Chicken Chili and tomorrow Cream Cheese and Spinach stuffed Chicken wrapped in Bacon. Be jealous. 

Asher helped me get out some other things. 

I cooked, he played. He cooked, I played. We cooked. We played. 

We took a break for lunch and wagoning. Asher received a Radio Flyer for Christmas so we wagon often. Elmo was in Asher's good graces that day, so he was offered a wagon ride as well. 

After wagoning, Asher took a nap and I returned to the kitchen. Later that night, Asher went to MeMaw and PawPaw's for dinner and movie. Lucky kid. I was still in the kitchen...

P.S. Asher loves meatballs.

Not Two. Nine. Thirty. Doves. Chili. Song and Dance. Boredom.

Brace yourselves, people. This could be an exhausting post. I have a lot to say.

First things first. TWO. My boy is TWO. It's earth-shattering and mind-numbing and not-a-big-deal all at once. I tried to explain to someone at church the other day that he simply cannot be TWO. We haven't had him that long, we haven't known him that long, wehaventhecan'tthat'sjustthewayitis. We're not having a big party for him this year. Just the grandparents. Secretly I tell myself that if we don't have a birthday party, he hasn't had another birthday and he's not really TWO.

I cooked for NINE hours on Saturday. All by myself. It's not even Thanksgiving y'all. It may have been somewhere around nine hours, minus some time outside with a certain birthday boy and his red wagon and a quick trip for more broccoli, but I made ELEVEN breakfasts and almost THIRTY meals for our family, plus a few to take to our pastor and his wife when their new baby is born.I'm actually blaming Gloria because she's the one who first talked about OAMC and then I thought that sounded fun and then several of my friends were also interested. So I bit off. A lot. Almost more than I can chew. But I did it and I didn't quit and my freezer is pretty full.

I'm also expecting about FORTY doves to arrive any day for me to stuff and wrap with bacon. They will also live in my freezer until we have a dove party. Does anyone even like dove?

We're having a party. In February. We're bringing back the Nell Annual. This time it's a Chili Cookoff. With a prize and everything. Start practicing.

I started doing a little coupon clipping. And while it drives me a little crazy, it also makes me feel so accomplished when my receipt says, "You Saved $39.48" which then makes me do a fun song and dance routine.

Speaking of routines and gallbladders, I'm getting a little bored with this blog. I know, it's not your fault, it's mine. And I'm sorry about that. So I think I might be shaking some things up. I'm not sure how yet, but I know that I used to love blogging and I haven't loved it in a while, because if I loved it I would do it more often.

Speaking of fun, remember last year when we did this? It was so fun. I can't believe it's been a year!