Merry Christmas

From our blessed family to yours ::

Have a Merry Merry Christmas!!!

Love,

The Galindo Family

I Can't Believe

San Antonio 2005

It's been five years.  Man, sometimes that seems like so long ago, and then other times I think that is the blink of an eye. Or two eyes. Unless only one of yours blinks. But that's actually winking.

The night he proposed -- Babin's 12-17-05

Five years ago today, I went on the first date with this grouchy boy who demanded suggested that I drive to his side of town. And I got in trouble. And I was a mess.

The following morning at church when he told everyone and they all cried. Everyone but Santa. He's always jolly.

You see, originally, he was going to be right down the street from me, playing in his garage band with his buddies. {You may laugh. It's ok. He has a snarky comeback.} But like lots of things, with garage band buddies, it was cancelled last minute so he was no longer driving the 45+ miles to my side of town.

Fredericksburg, Texas   March 2006

Then the demands started. I should just drive one million miles out there. I was so against that. But his verbal ninja convinced me otherwise. Which was terrible. Because I thought I had all this time. Time while he was driving, while he was banding it up, to get myself ready. Nope. I'll confess that I drove a good bit of the way with giant velcro rollers in my hair. {Eeek. Did I really just let that go?} For shame.

Our wedding day  June 2, 2006

I actually drove to his house.

I know. I know I know! You can stop judging me already. In my defense {a wimpy one at that} we had all already googled him and his job to make sure that he was who he actually said he was. Those results were pretty funny in themselves.

More wedding love

So I pulled up to his curious little house and knocked on the door. And then we went to Babin's. It's fancy. Well, not really fancy, so much as out of my price range. I was a poor college student. I could not understand why he picked that place. Have you seen the decor there? There are fish hanging on the walls. Fish! Fish with funny names.

Our first Christmas together in our new house

We made fun of fish the entire dinner. We laughed a lot. Afterwards, we planned on getting some hot cocoa from Starbucks and driving around looking at fancy Christmas lights. We were in The Woodlands, afterall. Poor guy, he had no idea that everything closes down early. No hot cocoa. He couldn't even find any good lights.

Ethiopia   June 2009  waiting to hold our son

We went to Wal-Mart. Stop. I know you are so jealous. Wal-Mart. Can you believe it? Then I married this guy? We bought paper and ribbons and tags and tape and everything else and went to his house where I wrapped 95% of all his presents. And I made him listen to Christmas music. And I taught him how to wrap a box and tie a pretty bow. After we were all finished he sighed and realized he'd have a lot of explaining to do. His family was going to know something was up with all those pretty packages.

summer 2009

That's it. That's how it all started. Not a lot of charm, or planning, not even a goodnight kiss. But there was lots of laughter {and we all know how much I love wrapping ... and how fun I am in general} and he was hooked. That's all it took.

And I must admit, I am happier now than ever.

confession

I have a confession. I cheated. Well, kinda cheated. Mostly ignored.

I cheated and ignored you. That's got to be the worst.

I can explain.

You see, for years I watched-oogled-followed-stalked adoption blogs. I am not kidding. I'm pretty sure I am half of the earlier hits on Micah's, Deacon's, and Silas' pages. No joke. These boys just got me all giddy. Then I started finding other pages. And I was hooked.

So I lived vicariously through these pages. And then I finally made one. Bold, I know, after months of stalking.  And then I became even braver {is that a word?} and actually started leaving comments. And after loads of comments, people read my blog! It was thrilling. I would watch the number of hits get bigger and bigger. Thrilling. Really.

It was amazing to be connected to so many others who actually understood what I was feeling, what each step of the process was like. And then it was time. We were actually leaving. We were actually going to Ethiopia to meet our son.

I'd decided that if I was going to be stuck at home all the time {all that cocooning frightened me!} that I was going to have to fix some stuff up here at home. So that's what I did. And a friend turned me on to another kind of blog. Housey blogs. About all sorts of stuff --- that I love --- and so my addiction wandered.

Last night as I was lying in bed with a headache, far from sleep, I thought about this blogging community. I thought about how much I owe you. About the thousands of thank yous I should send because you sustained me through one of the longest periods of longing in my life. You welcomed me into your homes, your families, your own experiences with open arms. You advised me. You appreciated me. You loved me.

Many of you did more. We're regular friends. Not just friends on facebook, but actual friends. We've hung out. We've hugged.

And some of you, a few special ones of you loved on my son before I could. You whispered sweet secrets of his family, of the love we had already, of our coming. You kissed his cheeks. You held his hand. You sent me pictures. You told me stories. You filled the gaps for me.

While I may have wandered, I will never leave you. You are part of us, part of our history, part of our family. We need to remain for those yet to go, for those looking to find, and for when we return again.

Thank you.

eleven months

This is my baby. He's eleven months old today. He's been home with us for six whole months. Six whole months and three days, actually. Isn't he cute? Look, you can even see his two teeth!

Our son's name is Asher Elyas Galindo. Asher is one of the tribes of Israel. His name means happy, fortunate, blessed. Elyas is the name his birthmother gave him. It means The Lord is God.

Today, I am tearfully thankful that we are fortunate enough to serve the One, True God. The Sovereign Lord who knew where our son was, and was able to connect us to him so we could live happily ever after.

I am tearfully thankful that our son lives up to his name with laughter and giggles and big giant toothy smiles that show the world how happy he is. Everyone we meet comments on it.

And mostly today, I am just plain tearful at how blessed we are.

lucky lucky lucky you

Turns out since I have to order our Christmas Cards in packs of 20 that I will have approx. 15 left.

If you'd like to receive a fun Christmas Card from the cutest baby ever, leave your info in the comment section.

{If you've received cards from us in the past, you're still going to get one this year, too!}
{Oh, and this picture is not what you'll be receiving!!}

just a little note

Background::  For those of you who've met my hubband, you would know that he is a manly man. The type of manly man that most other manlyish men still fear at least a little. Yes, he is that manly. In fact, a common phrase of the men in his line is "all that is man". I think you get it.

This morning, I found a note at my sink in the bathroom. It reads:

I put my shoe on this morning and there was a pacifier in it. : )

We will miss these days once he is older. 

I like being a parent with you (and not just because you change the nasty diapers).

I love finding notes in my bathroom. And I love love love it when they are mushy. 

{And cute! A pacifier in his shoe!} 

funnest mom ever

Yep. That's me. I am officially the funnest mom ever. My baby told me so. You want proof? Ok. Twist my arm. Make me show you bazillions of fantastic pictures of my handsome boy, proving that I am, in fact, indeed, the funnest mom ever. Fine, maybe not bazillions, but lots. I think you can handle lots.

I'm on this new kick where my child should have a ridiculous amount of fun every day. I realize this is bold. And maybe dumb. But there should be at least one point in every single day that makes that day worth living. {Perhaps we adults should consider this as well, but his best moments are often mine, too.}

Our über fun moment today was when I decided that someone could feed himself his own lunch.

Crazy. I know. But so worth it.

Obligatory before picture

Look! Mommy left the spoon and bowl where I could reach!

What a fun idea Mommy.

I have the spoon and the power!!!

Like this?

No. Like this?

This oatmeal is tricky stuff.

Forget the spoon. Where did that go anyway?

Oh well. I have fingers for a reason.

Uh oh. This wasn't supposed to happen. But it's really fun.

Sticky tricky oatmeal.

Ooops.

Oh look. There's still plenty that didn't make it to the floor.

I'll just eat this.

Mom, what a great idea.

Mommy, I clap for you because you are the funnest mommy.

I clap because I can't talk yet to tell you how fun you are.

And I clap because I love it.

I love to clap.

I clap for you funnest mommy!

And if you'd like to see all seventy-something pictures I didn't delete, you can see them all here. If you click through them fast enough it's almost like a video!!!

just for fun

Everybody knows what babies do.

Sleep.

Eat.

{you know what comes next...}

Learn new tricks.

So, as a treat, I thought I'd highlight our sweet boy doing some of these regular ol' baby things, but from way back when up to now. Sounds fun, right?

I'm still deciding what to do first. Should I just go in order?

Here's one to keep you coming back.

an ode

This week marked the birthday of a special lady in our lives.

Her name is Diana.

She's a bonus mom.

And a terrific Grandma-Nanny-Mimi.

{Her grandparent name is as of yet, still undecided.}

Today, as our boy's special gift, he's written a little something just for her. Some of it is a little hard to decipher, as it is a well known fact, he is a genius, and sometimes, geniuses are a little hard to follow.

This is for Grandma-Nanny-Mimi

You know who you are

Who is the best grandson ever???

That's what I thought you'd say

But you're right

I am awesome and adorable and talented...

and so so so much more

Just like my Grandma-Nanny-Mimi

Happy Birthday!!!

{the belated part is Mom's fault. Blame her.}

I love you!

{Mooooooo!}

here I am shrieking and laughing because this is so much fun!!!

Halloween Pictures

Here are the Halloween pictures. You can all stop with the not-so-very-nice-or-patient-emails. It's ok, though. He is the cutest kid to ever live, so I understand your need. He's like a super cute little addiction. Here's your fix:

This was the best monster face we could get out of him.

We'd practiced for days, but all attempts end with laughter.

And here's my sweet little huggin and kissin monster.

Cute!

We went to my mom's festival at the church. She took a ride in the pony cart. If I remember correctly, she once wrote a paper on how to have a successful pony cart crash. How's that for weird fact?

And because I'm incredibly funny and can't wait to hear comments about this last picture, this pic is of Justin's parents on their way to a party. Oh and yes, they dress like that all the time.