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

Dedication :: A Huge Picture Post

I know what you're all thinking. Finally! She's going to post some pictures from that big party! Sheesh! Took her long enough. Well, fooey on you, because it took me about ten million years to narrow down the choices (yes, this is actually narrowed down!) and also another billion million years to upload them all to blogger. Holy Moly. So, shut your traps  sit back and enjoy the show. (And my dumb comments, or you may ignore them if you prefer.)

Yep. Lots of food. Good stuff. 

(Sidenote: I ate those lemon bar leftovers all by myself, as evidenced on my left and right thighs.)

Love this little guy. He's all clean and ready to party.

Somehow, all the menfolk ended up babysitting. Hmmm. How to make that happen again???

MeMaw and Grandmama 

Asher's very own cake.

There was a little hand holding. 

And a little smoochin. 

We are blessed. (Oh, and check out that fancy mantlepiece.)

We had the ceremony in our yard, in front of our family, friends, neighbors and the whole world. 

This is our cousin, Jason. He officiated. It was sunny.

I'm pretty sure this is everybody. There were a few stragglers who came in late, so they aren't pictured. 

Time for the good stuff. Dig in. 

Asher's very first ever cake!!!

He liked to ooze it between his fingers. 

One bite and he's already comatose. 

Then we see the shove method kick in. 

I do not like this hat! This hat is distracting from my focus on the cake!!

Eh, well, I'm going to have to be more focused. 

With the hat out of the way, cake gets in the hair. Just like everything else. 

I love you PawPaw Earl, but don't even think you're getting any of my cake.

Pure cakey bliss. 

Mimi and Grandpa

(Special thanks to Grandpa because he is the only one who helped Mommy clean me up. 

And boy did I need some cleaning!!!)

More smoochin.

Still hungry. 

That cake (and all the food I had before the cake) did not fill me up.

I have hollow legs, I'm telling you! Don't judge me!

Thanks for coming to my party! Or for looking at all of these pictures. If this wasn't enough, you can actually see all 215 photos on facebook (in two albums). Thanks! Oh, and if you haven't voted (in the top right corner, two different polls) then please do so! Consider this post and all these pictures your thank you and reward.

Another special thank you to Starshine Photography for all these great shots (and the rest on FB). Tracy is a complete joy to work with and her hubband is fun, too. {Some of these photos are on the website!}

Referral Anniversary!

One year ago today, we received the call and saw this face for the first time. 

Soon-to-be Baby Galindo was three weeks old.

I could hardly believe my ears. 

Then I could hardly believe my eyes. 

Read about our amazing day in this post, and here, and finally here, as we continued to share the news. 

(I know, it's a little ridiculous that I spread it out into three posts, but I reread them just now -- and they are so fun! Get your tissues ready.)

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.

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!} 

simple prayer request

A while back, Justin and I volunteered in the children's department at our church. We worked with second graders specifically and at the end of the lesson, asked for prayer requests. Of course when working with children, these requests often vary from my dog is sick to the inevitable "let me get lots of good candy at Halloween and not the bad kind" and sometimes, you receive the really heartfelt request of a child who asks for a happier mom or a new job for daddy, or even a baby brother or sister.

We worked in the program long enough to develop relationships with some of the regular kids. The ones who cause trouble are usually the first you connect with, as was the case with Fischer. He was really busy, had a lot to say, and could top any story you had. But he was precious and I prayed that someday all that energy would be used for the Lord. Along with knowing the kids, you also begin to let them know you. Children are full of questions. Full full full. We were always asked if we had children, and many of them had come to understand that we hoped to adopt from Ethiopia.

The program had started having the kids right down their requests instead of verbalizing them, and the leaders then took them home to pray about them. I really preferred hearing them in class because sometimes, you just need a good laugh. But I collected the cards each week and shoved them into my Bible for later perusal.

Last week I was doing some fall closet cleaning and stumbled across the little pocket Bible Justin sent me when I first moved to Dallas. Inside were tucked three little prayer cards. The first asked for no rain for soccer games, another pet emergency, and lastly, the sweetest request I'd ever received:

"I hope your son stay in your heart forever."

4-20-08

Long before you were here, and before we even knew who you were, you've been dreamed of, longed for, prayed over, and loved.

it's just me

Our official numbers for January 2009 are as follows:

girl: 12

boy: 8

sibling: 10

Unofficially, (of course) we know that we are #2 on the boy list, #8 on the girl list, and #7 on the sibling list. And you know what? I'm pretty much, totally ok with that. 

I'm not going to lie. Last week while all the referrals were flying out I was pretty close to "crazy". I let that tiny thought creep in that it was my turn! A year in the making and it was finally my turn! 

But it wasn't. And that's ok. Our fingerprint issues are still not settled. There is no nursery. In fact, there is no anything for a baby other than a couple pair of footy pajamas. It's not our time. The Lord has been so good to pace our excitement --and anxiety-- level, and to give us a peace beyond understanding. I mean, I am so ready for our baby. I am so ready to paint the nursery, and put together the furniture, and settle on a name and for crying out loud, see a picture of our baby! 

But it's not so overwhelming or overpowering that I can't stand this a little bit longer. I'm trying to really relax and appreciate all this time when it's just me. And just us. 

Because once we see that face, it will never be the same. 

Halloween and November Numbers

Ok, I know. This post is way late. Like...waaaay late. But, better late than never. Right?

Here are the pics from Jess and Dan's famous Halloween Party. I know you've been waiting.

Yay for couple costumes! I am a bunny rabbit. And Justin is a hunter.

Justin will only wear "costumes" he already owns. That explains last year's dentist (scrubs) and this year's hunter (camo). I'm running out of ideas to match what is in his closet. Next year we are in big trouble.

Bunny Rabbit, meet Christmas Tree.

(And yes, we already got the inappropriate holiday mascot joke.)

Here is Jess as Scout from "To Kill a Mockingbird". Don't worry. Nobody else got it either.

Justin along with Dan the giraffe and John who went as Rambo. Please note his necklace of fingers. They were awesome...until the pool volleyball.

I'd like to think that this pose is because the prey is kissing the hunter...but it's not. Justin makes that face most of the time.

Christina, Jess, Nell Ann. During the evening, Jess always manages to slip out of her costume and morph into parts of other people's costumes. It's a unique talent.

There were lots of other pics. Most too embarrassing for the web. The bunny suit was great once the temp finally dropped late night. Before that it was sweltering. Sweats plus fur not only visually adds 60 lbs, but it also really makes you hot!!!

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If you recall, our October numbers were: girl 25, boy 15, sibling 9

Our November Numbers are: girl 19, boy 11, sibling 9

Yay for movement! I have been thinking lately that I am so very glad that the holidays fall in our wait time. It's good to have so much going on that I don't notice every single day that passes. Before I know it the holidays will be done and maybe we'll be in single digits. Then I'll have to get really busy on the baby's room.

By the way, we're taking suggestions for the baby's nickname. We're looking for something gender unspecific. We don't really have a peanut or baby bump or even a smudge (hi Angela!) so we're kinda stuck. So far, all we've got is doodlebug. We'd love to hear your suggestion. Who knows? Maybe our baby will have your nickname!!