a new challenge ... and it's fun!

I read a challenge that sparked something inside me.
Something about passion.
Something about fun.

And yesterday I heard something about using my ordinary-everyday-life to do something big.
No, like really Big.
BIG.

This afternoon I saw something that gave me an idea.
And I want to tell you all about it.
Via the mail.
Snail mail.

So I will write you a letter, handwritten, not typed.
About the everyday, ordinary life we lead,
about the not-so-ordinary things,
and lots of stuff in between.
On fancy stationery like the stuff J bought me our first married Christmas.
Or funny stationery like the stuff I had when I was a kid.
What? You didn't have stationery when you were a kid?
Well, that's sad.
Go and get yourself some kid stationery.
And use it. You'll feel all sorts of fun when you do.

What was I saying? Oh. Letters. Writing. You.
Just email me your snail mail address.
nifty giftys at gmail dot com  (no spaces)

Then wait by your mailbox.
Or stalk your postal worker.
You know, like you did when waiting for your adoption paperwork.
Or Publisher's Clearinghouse.
Or netflix. Whatever.

I would love this opportunity to share with you, boldly.
And I thank you for the privilege of your friendship!
Thank you.
Thank you now and thank you again later.
Let's have some fun together!

PS -- If you need a new mailbox, check these out for inspiration.

how crazy is that?!

Someone mentioned myspace the other day. Whoa, flashback for sure. I realized I had no idea if I'd ever deleted mine or not...so tonight I went to check and delete if it was still there. And guess what...? It's still there! Eeek! As I was nosing around the me of a few years ago, I found this little posting (what were they on myspace?) and it made me giggle. 

Baby Talk...yes, the rumors are true.

Yes, the rumors are true. There's been baby talk in the Galindo house. This summer begins a year of prayer (and study and work) and next summer will mark the beginning of our journey to grow our family.

We feel the special call to adopt internationally and will begin filling out the necessary paperwork (dossier) to adopt from Ethiopia next summer (post-graduation and job switch). The whole process should take about 9-13 months so by the following summer (2009--I know, it sounds far away, but it's not!) our home will be filled with the laughter of a new baby.

We're not pursuing a particular gender, we feel like the Lord knows best who belongs in our home.

So pray for us on this journey! Oh, and our soon-to-be family member, too!

Asher, within the first 5 minutes of being home with us in our house, May 2009. 

Man, was he a cutie!!!

The best part is, that the summer of 2009 is actually when Asher came home! We actually started the paperwork process way before we planned, which is good since it took us so long and Asher was ready to come home by the time it was all finished and said and done. 

I just love how God works things out. Don't you?

ooops

Well, I had no intention of letting a month slip by sans post, much less three months! But it has happened and now I'm to the point where I need to post so people know we are still alive. We are, indeed, still alive. And now, a recap.

In February, shortly after the last post, we had a little chili cook-off which was great fun! I kept putting the camera down which means the pictures from that event are hardly worth mentioning. Most of them are pictures of a certain couple while he's trying to kiss her and she's trying to escape (RB, you can thank me now) or of people open-mouthed shoveling chili as fast as they can (names left out to protect the guilty). So here is a picture of some of the tiny chili hooligans watching WordWorld and dumping out every.single.toy.in.our.house.

Then later Asher and I went to the zoo with my mother and a friend of hers, Rae, who was visiting from out of town. I had anticipated that Asher might not be ready for a rousing day at the zoo, but we preceded anyway.  He lasted about two hours. Which is the equivalent to the time it took to get there and get home. He did seem to like the elephants, but did not understand why he was not allowed to climb all the fences and run where he wanted. We did finally make it to the children's area and that was much better. As he ran from play area to play area, I repeatedly heard other adults comment on how fast he was. If I had time to slow down myself, I would have assured them he was not even traveling at full speed. Oh, and he seemed to really like the big fountain, too, but again, why he was not allowed to play in it was completely unclear and thus, unsatisfactory.

That same day was the day I learned that Asher could climb into his high chair at will, by using the furniture around him. Since then he seems to have forgotten that skill. For now...

In March he took to hiding himself for peek-a-boo a bit more creatively than before...

Look for another fun post soon! I promise!!!

A Verse

I've always loved names with meaning. I have a name with meaning. It's not been an easy name to live with, but because of it's meaning, I've grown to love it more and more. {I am the namesake for my maternal grandmother.}

I've always wanted our children to have meaningful names. A reason behind why we chose a name other than it's popularity or quirkiness or how great the monogram would look on a pillow. Something with substance. Something that would provide direction for our children. Something that would promote our deepest prayers and hopes for their lives.

I have a friend who is excellent at this. I was so excited when they had their first child, a daughter, and explained her name in her birth announcements.  I loved that it had to do with where she was born, but also provided some direction for her to grow into. Their next daughter was no disappointment either. I actually found the post that shows her announcement and the meaning behind it. This very week they welcomed their third child into this world, a son, whose name and meaning I could hardly wait for. I love that each of their children were given meaningful names with a history or verse. I also love that all their babies have so much hair. {Hi Glo! Congratulations!!!}

Then there's Emily. We've never met, but I want her to be a good friend of mine. She lives far away. Not as far as Dubai, but in the Pacific Northwest, so she might as well be. I mean, it's outside of Texas... I want her to be my big sister. I want to grow up to be a lot like her. Only without the red hair. It looks so lovely on her, but I am pretty convinced I could not pull it off. Anyway. She chose a beautiful verse for her daughter and prayed this over her. Love that. She also recently shared how a particular verse related to her name's meaning impacted her life and how she wants to live it. Love that, too.

All this had me thinking about names and verses and meaning and purpose. We chose Asher's name because of it's meaning and how it seemed to perfectly fit both his personality and exactly how we felt as his parents. And while there are verses about the Lord and His joy, none of them seem right for my son. I just can't find the perfect fit.

To be continued...

BUT! Are there certain verses you pray over your children? Certain ones that always make you think of your child? Does your baby's name have a special meaning? Please tell. Please tell.

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

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!

Stirring up baby Jesus

I wanted to write a blog post about something. Anything. But I have too much stuff to do.

I need to throw the clothes into the dryer and start another load.

But I can't do that until I make some more laundry soap. To do that, I need to get out all the ingredients and wash the big bowls I use that Asher has taken over to collect his favorite toys.

What are his favorite toys? A giant jingle bell, the green ring (From the stacking toy), a teether, a pig rubber pig, and baby Jesus (who was promptly evicted from his nativity set to live in the bowl in the bottom drawer in the kitchen). He likes to stir his toys with a big wooden spoon. And I let him. Except it's a little strange to me that he's stirring up baby Jesus.

I'm trying to be encouraged that at least baby Jesus is one of his favorites that gets extra special treatment.

totally behind

Asher started school in November. I know time flies, but don't worry. He's not really in kindergarten or anything. I took these pictures that morning because aren't you supposed to have pictures from your first day of school? Asher didn't think so. : (

Maybe hiding behind the trash can will help. Nope. It doesn't. 

On a side note, while packing his lunch, I was really worried about what he'd eat since their lunch time was way earlier than our normal eating time. Actually, everything about school is way earlier than our normal time. Also, I was concerned that he'd run out of food while other kids were eating and that could be detrimental to the rest of his day. So I packed and packed and packed food for him. 

Lunch includes:

1 peanut butter fold over with extra peanut butter

cheese puffs

1/2 cup yogurt puffs

string cheese

two clementine oranges

5 pretzels

2 animal cookies

water

He ate every bite. 

Also, mornings are much better now. And he likes school. He doesn't always eat that much for lunch. But sometimes he eats even more. : )