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.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

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

tentative TRAVEL DATES

Our tentative embassy date is JUNE 1, 2009.

THAT IS ONLY TWO WEEKS AWAY!!!!!

weeknight update

Tonight at small group we decided to have a going away party for one of our members. She's spending the summer working at her very favorite summer camp and I'm really going to miss her. Anyway. I made it home from the grocery store and was putting groceries away and making cupcakes and preparing cookies when the phone rang. It was Julie from AGCI. I figured it was just another update. Julie calls me a lot. Well, actually, we play a lot of phone tag. I digress. She said she had good news for me. She told me the news and this was my reply, "Ok, great. Well, thanks for calling. Have a good night." 

And then it really hit me. 

I called Justin immediately and said, "He's ours!" To which he replied (very confused), "what?" and I said, "You heard me, he's ours!!!" and then we were both excited and happy and discussed who to call next. I told my friends this evening that I must have been in shock or too focused on those silly cupcakes because none of it made sense at first. 

And now, I am sitting on the couch thinking about how crazy it is that we have a son. We really have a son now. It's legal and everything! One day really soon we're going to have a little person here in our house living with us and making us happier than we'd ever imagined. I just can't believe it.  We don't have our travel dates yet, but hopefully we'll hear that really soon. 

Praise the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me! 

referral part three -- face to face

Our referral happened on a Thursday, which is Refuge night. I drive to church and try really hard to wipe the smirk off my face. I think it only kinda worked. My friend, Jen, said she knew right away something was up. We went through the normal Refuge stuff. But at the end, the leader asked if there was anyone who wanted to testify ... and I ran to the front as soon as I could. I spoke about how special it was that our entire group had prayed for the formula crisis in Ethiopia and for our future child. I mentioned how thankful I was that God answers prayer. Then I spilled the beans. I wanted to share with the group my praise to God for answering that prayer -- yes! -- but mostly for just being a God who is ABLE to move mountains; a God who is INTERESTED in the deepest desires of our heart; a God who is KIND enough to bless us in seeing His will accomplished here on earth. A God who doesn't need our help by any means,  but who ENJOYS giving us a role and working His masterpiece around us. I spoke about being so glad to serve a God who LOVES us and is WORTHY of all praise, of all our WORSHIP, and who deserves to be RECOGNIZED because it is HE who works all things to GOOD in our lives. How extremely blessed am I to serve THAT God, to be loved by THAT God, and to be saved by THAT God. I can't wait to teach our son all about THAT God and His amazing plan for each of us. 

Those moments were so profound in our referral day. I was surrounded by friends. The girls in my small group rushed me with screams and squeals of congratulations and big big bear hugs. I will treasure those moments forever. 

It was nearing 9:30pm, and Misty -- as well as the others -- would be heading to my home soon. I drove home and straightened up a bit. After all, my mother in law was coming over! : ) Christina made it to my house before Misty, so I made her park at the neighbors and hide in the hallway right after we stopped jumping up and down and laughing. And more crying. 

Doorbell. 

Christina runs to hide in the hallway.

I open the door and let Misty in. 

me: Hey, how was your day.

M: Good, how was yours? 

(I can tell she is confused...hehehe, I'm smirking on the inside!)

me: I love your hair!! blah blah blah  What did you do today?

M: well, I went to work and then hung out with my family. It's pizza night. Blah blah. What about you?

me: Well, you know, I had a son today. 

M: WHAT?! (crying starts now) OH MY GOSH! (crying really going now) I can't believe it! I KNEW it! I told Joey before I left that something was up! I KNEW it! (Christina runs from the hallway and now we're all three jumping and screaming and crying) When I got here I thought to myself, "hey, where are all the cars? what's going on...?" But I knew something was up!

I was so proud of myself. I had totally forgotten to remove the nametag from Refuge that said, "Mommy". But she didn't even notice. She immediately started calling more people to tell them. I'm pretty sure she talks about our baby more than we do. 

Other family and friends start to pour in. I think we had about 15 family and friends around. Justin was home before I knew it...but we had to wait on his Dad for nearly 20 more minutes and that was torture for everyone. We were all so ready! When everyone finally showed up, Justin and I sat at the head of the table and looked at all our pictures first. We oohed and ahhhed and giggled at some of his expressions. Justin said, "there are a lot of naked ones" and I said, "well, that's how babies come!". We finished and someone (I think it might have been MeeMaw, Justin's mom) said, "Hey! Let us see now!" So we did. Everyone else oohed and ahhed and commented on his expressions. It was so sweet to watch their expressions as they gazed at our boy. So precious. Misty and Christina were crying. We had celebratory cake (thanks Christina!) and looked at him over and over picking our favorites. 

The night was settling down when my friend & neighbor came home and Christina and Misty ran outside to invite her in. She came in and thought we were just hanging out for cake. I randomly asked her if she'd like to see pictures of my son, and she stood really still, eyes bulging, and screamed! It was so fun to do that over and over again! 

I think everyone was about gone around midnight. It was such a perfect day and night. I couldn't have come up with something better if I had planned it. I mean, I wish I could have told more people in person, but there just isn't enough time in the day! I've run into several people since then who hadn't heard yet and the first words out of my mouth are not hi or hello, but instead, "We have a son!!!!" It still gets good reactions. I'm going to use this up as long as possible. 

We have a son!! 

Oh, and p.s. Happy One Month Birthday, Little One! - Love Mommy and Daddy.

referral part two -- sharing the news

First I tried to stop crying. Seriously. Then I'd giggle. Then the tears would come again.

I called Justin first. 

J: Hello. 

me: Guess what.

J: What?

me: We have a son.

J: What? Wait, a referral?

me: Yes!

J: Today? They called today?

me: y-- (interrupted)

J: (sirens blaring) I have to go. (hang up.)

Ok. So I sit and wait. Because I can't call anyone else until the Dad knows. Right?

me: Hello?

J: Hey, sorry. Code one. 

me: It's ok. We have a son!

J: Wow. 

me: I know! He's three weeks old and--(interrupted)

J: ( sirens blaring) Crap, gotta go! I'll call you back.

me: Wait! Can I tell others yet!?

J: Yes. Bye. 

Well, he said I could. So I did. 

A little background: The previous Sunday my BF Christina had said she guessed we'd get a call on Thursday. For no reason, she just thought Thursday would be a good day. Thursday morning I emailed her to remind her that she had placed that bet and that if she was wrong, I was going to call her and laugh at her. 

So I called her. 

C: Hello.

me: Hi there. What are you doing tonight? Like, what's your Thursday activity?

C: Just kickball (yes, that's right. she's in a kickball league.) ... Why? Am I a psychic? (Inside joke: for Christmas I gave her a pamphlet on the "10 Easy Steps to Becoming a Psychic")

me: Well, I don't know since you only had ten steps...but I do have a son today.

C: WHAT! Oh my goodness oh my goodnessohmygoodness!!! (She starts crying. And giggling.) Oh! I can't believe it! Congratulations! (I hear this noise.) Oh, and I just want you to know that my secretary is clapping. Oh my gosh! I'll be there tonight. As soon as I can. 

Hm, this calling people is fun. Let's do another one. How about...Justin's mom. Yes, let's do that one next. I call her office and her sister answers the phone.

DL: Hello. Any news yet. (Gotta love caller ID.)

me: Ha. Well, I was really just calling to ask JK a question.

DL: Allllright. 

JK: Hello?

me: Hiya. How are you today?... blah blah blah... So, what are you doing tonight? Do you have any plans?

JK: Uh, well, no I don't think so. I mean, dinner. But no, no plans.

me: Well, good. Because you need to come to my house to see pictures of your grandson.

JK: Oh, ok. (pause) WAIT! Did you say? Did you get the call! 

(in the background I hear this: -- DL: She lied! She didn't tell me anything! JK: Well, who do you think she's going to tell first! Me! The grandmother! Not you!) 

This game is so fun! But I started to run out of people to call. I knew I was going to see some people later on...so I wanted to start saving some for face-to-face. I mean, if it was this fun to tell people over the phone, then how fun would it be to see them?! One last call...

Misty: Hello?

me: Hey. Can we meet for coffee tonight after church? I know it's kinda late, but I just need some hangout time. Is that cool?

Misty: Coffee?! Of course! 

me: Good. Can we just hang out at my house instead? We'll make some coffee and just hang out and not get kicked out. 

Misty: (sounding suspicious) Uh, suurrre. 

I know that she is already suspicious, so I start on a plan to throw her off the scent. I love surprises. And being sneaky. 

Stay tuned. The next post is telling people in person. It's really good. 

details and "the call"

Ok, an apology first because I know you've all been waiting. So here goes. All the info you've been on the edge of your seat for. 

We have a son. 

His birth day was January 8, 2009.

As of today, he is three weeks and two days old. 

He weighed 6 lbs and 6 oz at one week, and was 18.8 inches long.

And yes, he's absolutely adorable. 

"The Call":

It was Thursday, and after a quiet morning, I was headed to the other side of town to visit with my grandparents at the nursing home. I'd been there around an hour when the phone rang. I tend to ignore most phone calls when I'm with them, but I checked it anyway. 

A friend. I'd call her back. 

We continue to visit and the phone rings again.

I see that it is Julie from All God's Children. 

I smile. 

I know what's coming. 

I answer.

me: Hi Julie...

J: Hi Nell Ann. How are you today?

me: Good, I'm visiting with my family. How are you today?

J: Oh, I'm good. Do you have a few minutes to talk?

me: Of course I do! (And I immediately start looking for a pen and paper.)

J: Well, good because there is a little boy that I wanted to talk with you about.

Commence the tears. 

I'm sitting very close to my grandmother's bed and whisper, "It's a boy - I have a son."

She smiles, and I can see the joy in her face as she shares this precious moment with me. I write down everything Julie says -- on the only paper I can find -- the Moving Up (used car) section of the Houston Chronicle. She pats my hand and shoulder as she smiles. My grandfather, who had been sitting on the other side of the room, looks up and realizes I am crying. "What's wrong", he asks, "What's the matter? Why is she crying?" He's kinda deaf and doesn't pay attention sometimes, so he had no clue what was happening. I hang up the phone and try to hold back the tears. (I then called Justin, but will save that for another post.)

I am convinced that I would have squealed and jumped up and down had I been anywhere else when I got the call, but this story is great. I told them all about my son, and that Julie would be sending pictures soon. Justin and I had planned to invite our families over for a big unveiling, but I knew my grandmother couldn't be there, so I waited for the email. Then, I very carefully opened it on my phone, and scrolled to the bottom of the text, showing my grandfather how to do it. I sat down in the corner of the room and watched their faces as my grandmother and grandfather looked through the pictures of their great-grandson. It was such a precious and sweet moment for me; to know that they could see him and already start to love him even if I couldn't yet. 

There's a lot more to tell about that day -- we're only at like 3:30 pm and the story goes until midnight. I'll post that later because I'm out of time for tonight. Enjoy this and more will come!!!

it happened today

i am a mommy. 

number one!

Sweet, sweet Kim received her referral today. A precious boy. 

That makes me

no. 6 siblings

no.6 girl

no.1 boy

Yes, you read that correctly. 

NUMBER ONE!!!

I already have the cutest stories of how people responded:

1. I called Justin's mom to tell her. She's super-excited about her first grandbaby, especially since she's the last to get one. Anyway, I called and this is what happened:

me: I have some news. We're number one.

JK: I already knew that.

me: wait, who told you?

JK: told me what?

me: we're number one! 

JK: I already know that.

me: no...we're...(cuts me off)

JK: OH! You're NUMBER ONE! On the list! Oh! OH!

It was so cute. She thought I was just reminding her that we are her favorites or something silly like that. I wish I had recorded it. Too cute! 

2. I posted on facebook that we were number one. I answered the phone when Christina called to straight up screaming. It was hilarious. 

3. When I told one friend, this is what I heard, "SHUT UP! ONE? SHUT UP!"

It's been really fun around here! 

Also, for those of you who would like to be notified as soon as we get the call, you can post a comment with your email address and we'll send you a little shout out when we get the call...you know, since it could be anyday!

one more left

More referrals today. More beautiful babies finding their way into the hearts of families waiting. 

There is only one more referral to be made before it's my turn...

y-i-k-e-s!

Kim is sitting at number one.

I am sitting at number two.

In all seriousness, I ask that you would go to the Father for us. We have still not heard back about Justin's fingerprints and we do not yet have our FDL. In short, without this really important piece of paper, we don't have permission to adopt. So I beg of you to please boldly pray for a miracle that the fingerprints would be accepted and we would quickly receive our paperwork. 

For fun, I thought we could make some guesses about when we'll get a referral. Now, it's pretty obvious that it will most likely be a boy. I know, there are those of you who knew that from the beginning. Anyway. Let's take a poll...

When will Baby Galindo be announced?

There's some generic guesses on the sidebar on the right, or you can place a real guess in the comment section. If you win, we'll work out some kind of prize (something from etsy, bragging rights, first to hold the baby, whatever!) and if you don't, it will still be fun to play along. And I'll end up with a baby! Fun!! Start guessing!

holy toledo batman!

There were three referrals today. One baby boy and two tiny girls, all less than eight weeks old. I am absolutely delighted. 

I am also absolutely blown away that my new unofficial numbers are estimated at:

girl: 9

boy: 3

How about that? How about that in-deed!

I am certainly hoping there is at least one more call for dear Renee tomorrow. 

On the other hand, I am still in pain from my broken toe. Who knew such a little toe could be such a big pain?

WE HAVE NUMBERS!!!

And I want to tell you.
Really I do.

But we haven't been able to tell all of our parents yet...
so please,
be patient!

I promise you will know.
They are awesome-
by the way,
in case you were wondering.

(Shout out to Julie @ AGCI who looked at our stuff the moment it arrived and was able to get through it all - without laughing too long at our ridiculous pictures - and call me back with our fabulous numbers on Wednesday. Did I mention that the numbers are fabulous? Well, they are.)

check check check

Hip hip hooray! Our home study was sent to All God's Children for review today (5-7 business days) and a completed, signed, and notarized copy of our home study should be mailed to us anyday to send to USCIS.

I'll mail the rest of our dossier this week (still having issues with pics) and then I'll be done.
Just waiting for CIS.
And then waiting for the wait list.
And then waiting for our baby.

At the Galindo house, we love The Office. I especially love Dwight's Beet Farm (and Bed and Breakfast). Today at Wal-Mart there was this little bright green onesie with a big red beet. It reads "and the beet goes on". I know it doesn't really represent The Office, but I feel like it's close enough for me to giggle at. And, I mean, come on! It's a cute onesie. I bought it in size 3-6 months. I realize that was really optimistic...but here's hoping. That's not the first onesie I've purchased, but there are definately not even a week's worth in the baby's closet, ranging in size from 3-6 months to 18 months. My dorky hubband makes jokes that our kid can "wear something once and just throw it away" implying that at my purchasing rate combined with our families'...that kid will have more clothes than Mariah Carey. And I pose the question, "what's so wrong with that?"

Update on bedding: it's coming along. My grandfather says "well, it looks like something alright". And my grandmother has made several comments about how dizzy she feels from looking at the fabric all the time. I can't help it. I like things a little modern, a little edgy, a little funky. Well, my kid does anyway. I'm still working on myself. (I've always had the soccer mom/kindergarten teacher issue.)

Thanks everyone for all your well-wishing and encouragement. It's meant more than you know!