Adeline Rose Garcia

On October 9, 2011, we welcomed our baby girl into the world. She was born at 3:37a.m. weighing in at 7 lb 6 oz and 20''. With a full head of bright red hair, she was the talk of the Maternity Ward at the hospital. Such a perfect angel.

By grace, we had a wonderful birth experience with no complications and a healthy baby! Ben was an awesome coach and we were so humbled and amazed at the incredible process of how God designed the body and gives life. I am so thankful for finding http://qcnaturalchildbirth.webs.com/ and for how Sarah and the Bradley Method helped to prepare us for a natural birth. It was an incomparable experience which I am very passionate about and can't imagine having it any other way. If you are in the Quad cities and expecting, it's certainly worth looking into!

Now our sweet girl is 2 1/2 months old (WOW). I am actually a little surprised by how much I love being a mom. Not that I thought I would hate it, but it's more joyous, more exciting, more sanctifying.. just MORE than I expected. I love caring for her and taking care of Ben and our home. I feel such a peace about where we are and where I am and I could not ask for more than that.

Best part so far: Adeline started smiling at 5 weeks. That is the best feeling in the whole world when she looks into my eyes and gets a huge grin on her face. 

Hardest part: SLEEP. Or lack thereof... It's amazing how good you get at going on so little sleep. Occasionally it catches up to me, but I have handled it surprisingly well. I think...you could probably get Ben to tell you a more accurate reading of that one. 

And here she is...

Updates

It's now been over a month since we made the move to Iowa. The last couple of months have been filled with gracious friends opening their homes to us to keep us from being homeless. We've had the pleasure of living with 2 married couples, 2 one-year olds, and a single gal during this time. Words cannot express how thankful we have been for their hospitality to us, and it's been a fun adventure!

At this time, we don't quite have an apartment nailed down. We have a couple of leads, but apartment hunting in Iowa could probably be compared to finding a spot in NYC. It's a rat race to get a good place at a decent price, so this one is definitely going to have to be a "God-thing".

Baby Adeline is growing and kicking like crazy. We are less than three months from her arrival and getting so excited/nervous/joyful at all that lies ahead. I (Robin) will be making a trip back to Texas in August for a baby shower and to see family and friends! Time is getting shorter and shorter before baby girl gets here! This is the most recent picture of how she looks at 29 weeks.



Since being here, we have discovered a wondrous place. CHICAGO. WE made a trip and loved it! The Navy Pier, H&M, Food Festivals, and water taxis. So much fun! Here are a couple of pictures from our trip.








We have another trip planned in a couple of weeks to properly celebrate our anniversary. Any suggestions on must-dos while we're there?

Lastly, we are loving our new church family at Harvest Bible Chapel. The mission of the Fellowship is awesome and we have been very blessed to be a part of what God is doing here in Davenport, and the mission they have for the rest of world. Here is a link if you would like to learn more: http://www.harvestbiblefellowship.org/.

That's about it! We are getting settled in and finding God's purpose for having us here at this time. The future looks bright and I can't wait to see what God has in store during this season of our lives.

Friends, Chick-fil-a, and Rob Bell

Adventure #2: The Move

Close friends are something to be treasured. Both Robin and I are so fortunate to have made some of the best friends a young inter-racial couple could ask for. We are unfortunate in that most of them have moved away at one point or another. Some of their destinations include Midland, Missouri, Iowa, Arkansas, Oregon, the Philippines, Oak Cliff, Houston, Mansfield and Denton. (For our sensitive readers, if I didn't write your city don't worry, you're still a close friend.) There have been several requests and attempts to follow these friends to there respective locations. Unfortunately all attempts to leave the Metroplex ended in failure. The desire was there, but the pieces never seemed connect. Until one day...

After having another one of those, "Y'all should move here" conversations with one of the aforementioned friends, we began to seriously consider moving. Our reasons for moving were these:

1. Robin has had a burning desire to leave Texas. Since my love for my wife supersedes my love for the great state of Texas, I began to dream with her of leaving.

2. We have grown tired of the busyness of city life. Traffic sucks. Need I say more.

3. I have been searching for an opportunity to be involved in ministry at a good church somewhere.

4. Lastly, with a baby on the way Robin would prefer to stay at home with the baby. This means that I would need a full time job to support us. Waiting tables at Olive Garden nor substitute teaching would cut it anymore. "Even though I loved both of those jobs, " he said while shaking his head. nope

We expressed some of these needs, especially the one about me working to our friends and began to pray about this possibility. Several days and phone calls later it was evident that we were going to be moving.

The destination: Davenport, Iowa. The amazing friends that helped us with the whole process were Austin and Katy Tullos.
Austin is the Worship Pastor at Harvest Bible Chapel in Davenport. I am planning to help out with the music as much as I can. Hopefully, after learning from Austin and gaining more experience I can steal his job. (just kiddin) I do hope to one day be leading worship at a church somewhere and look forward to playing with the band at HBC until then.

I still needed a job though. Enter Chick-fil-a. Austin talked to one of the members of his church who owned a Chick-fil-a about me. "Luckily" he had an open position at his store. I called him, I flew up and met him, and I got the job. This summer I will be training to be the kitchen manager at Chick-fil-a.

During my interview at Chick-fil-a I was asked if I thought God had called us to Davenport. My response was, "uhh yeah!" Obviously I said it in a more respectful, formal way. But seriously, there is no I would have ever thought to move to Iowa. I don't think anyone does. But this is where I believe God is moving us. I had the opportunity to visit Davenport. It is a very picturesque, Norman Rockwell type of a town. It is a place that experiences all four seasons. As a native Texan that will be fun to experience. I'm not looking forward to the winters, but if "hot" Austin Tullos can handle it, I sure can.

So there it is. We're outta here. It saddens me to think that my baby won't be born in Texas. I plan to teach him/her in all things Texas. After all Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it." I'll just use that verse for my own context, Rob Bell did (ZING***).


Garcia later

How to cook a "Bun."

First of all, sorry for taking so long to update our blog. When we first started the blog we had such grand aspirations of blogging all the time. We would have the most interesting and fun adventures, that surely everyone would want to read about. We would be the next Jon Acuff. Alas, we have found out that maybe we're not as interesting as we thought. However, we are in the middle of two huge adventures.

Adventure #1: Baby.

Robin is now in her 21st week/5th month of pregnancy. During the first trimester Robin's relationship with most foods was on the rocks.

B: "So, babe, where do you want to eat tonight?"

R: "Wherever you want, my love."

B: "Chick-fil-a? McDonalds? Sweet Tomato? Pizza? Mexican?.......

R: "None of those sound good. How about some dinner rolls? =)

That conversation happened many times during those first three months. Another common occurrence were comments on Robin's size. "You're tiny!!" "Are you really pregnant!!??" Yes, yes she is. Funny thing about being pregnant, you don't just start out with a giant belly. The bun has to cook in the oven before its ready to come out, people.
Robin now has the cutest little baby bump. Here are some pictures to show it off.

Robin's appetite has returned with a vengeance. You'll be happy to know that both Robin and the baby a very healthy and eating all the time.















Thank you Ashley and Elise for providing the pictures and the squealing over the bump. Your enthusiasm is greatly appreciated.

Robin is scheduled to have her second sonogram. Our first attempt to find out the baby's gender was unsuccessful due to the fact that the baby hadn't grown enough yet/ the baby was hiding what it had grown. So, hopefully the baby isn't shy this time. We will share with everyone what it is very soon.

Until then, cast your vote. Do you think its going to be a boy or a girl? Everyone who gets it right will get a kiss on the lips from my little brother, the Aaron Garcia. (maybe)

Adventure #2: The Move

Stay tuned to LaVidaGarcia for the details to our second adventure. It will be up soon, I promise.

The Failure of Mr. Bruce

Shortly after getting married in 2009 my wife began to beg me for a puppy. She claimed that it was for the sake of having company when I was away form home. Now I love dogs. But I was very opposed to the idea. I knew that getting a dog requires a lot of work. It was work that I didn't want to do. It was work that I knew I would probably wind up doing. I was imagining pee and poop on the carpet, barking, and vet expenses.

[Flashback: My Dad stepping on poop in the middle of the night from a dog that we later gave away.]

Eventually I caved. We found some people who wanted to sell a little long-haired miniature dachshund. This mini weenie dog would come to be known as Mr. Bruce.

What I have yet to tell you is that Mr. Bruce had just one job. He had one purpose. He had one duty. That duty was to be cute. Not only that, he had to be cute enough that it would curb Robin's desire to have a baby. I was advised by many that this would work. Mr. Bruce failed.

If anything, Mr. Bruce enhanced Robin's baby fever. According to her, seeing me with Mr. Bruce made her think of how good a daddy I would be.
Mr. Bruce accomplished his goal for about a year and a half.

If you haven't figured it out yet, I'll say it plainly. Robin is pregnant. She is about 11 weeks along. We are very excited about this little bun in the oven. I hope my sarcastic tone doesn't make you think that I'm dreading this little blessing. I'm very much looking forward to it. Would I have preferred to wait a little longer to have kids? YES! But this is how our life has happened. I trust that this is where God wants us.

Robin: Honestly, I don't think Mr. Bruce had a chance. We've had the honor of being surrounded by some of the cutest babies ever courtesy of some of our besties. The cuteness of Mr. Bruce could only go so far to contain the power of cute little socks and funny faces. So we are embracing this time and looking forward to whatever the Lord may have for us.

                                                  (This is our family Christmas Picture.
                                                    Mr. Bruce is in his Santa suit.)

Shout out to Gina Garcia for the creepy photo-shopped pictures.  And Shout out to I Love Lucy.  I will be playing the role od Ricki Ricardo and Robin will play the role of Lucy. Enjoy

Reflections from The Wife

I realize we are already a couple of weeks into 2011, but I feel the need to take a look back on the milestones of 2010 before I can really dive into goals for a new year.

The highlights:

Work. 
I had 4 jobs in 2010. That’s a lot. The culmination was my first “real” job as a first grade teacher. I am learning very quickly that six year olds are much different from fourth graders, and I daily need the Lord’s grace to keep my cool and to teach them anything. They are a tough crowd, but it’s good and I love those kiddos a whole lot.

Friends. 
We had to say goodbye to some sweet friends this year. Our apartment buddies packed up and moved on their adventures across the country. Other friends got married, and many embarked in new adventures of their own. It’s been bittersweet walking through life with these guys, supporting them, and living vicariously through their adventures.

Love. 
We celebrated our first anniversary this year in Fredricksburg, Tx. We had a fun trip, and accepted the reality that we are city folk. The turn from year one to year two seemed very natural. I think last year was about us finding our groove and learning how to appreciate our differences. We are learning how we are wired and how to serve each other in ways that are most important to each other.

Jesus. 
For me, this was a hard year in the spiritual sense. God was always present, but rarely approachable. The Lord has been working on my heart and I have already felt challenged and inspired in this fresh year. I am excited about those things to come.

Home. 
We moved from the first home we knew as a married couple. Bittersweet. We are now in our “temporary home.” At least one move is in the cards for 2011 as we move closer to my job…or wherever God may lead. ;)

Maybe the next post will be about looking forward. I definitely have some thoughts on that. Leave me some love!!

Thoughts about the Holidays

The Cowboys vs. Eagles game just started. Since this game really means nothing, I thought this would be a great time to put down the thoughts that have been rolling around in my head this past Holiday season.

"Jesus is the reason for the season."
Really? Every year we hear this. I just don't think its true. I would word it more like, "Jesus is one of the reasons for the season. Presents, trees, songs ect....are the other reasons." And thats fine. I am not trying to call everybody out on how bad of a Christian they're being cuz they open presents on the 25th. I'm just making an observation.

All of our Christmas traditions are a part of our culture, and I love it. I love opening presents with my family. I love hearing Nat King Cole's "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire" twenty times in one hour on the radio. And I love hearing sermons about the birth of Jesus again. Why are we so adamant about this. Is it because it rhymes? Why can't we accept that as Christian Americans we celebrate Christmas a certain way. Jesus is always there, and during Christmas we give gifts.

I guess what I'm saying is "Jesus is the reason for the season" is almost the same thing as "W.W.J.D." It's a good thought, but its more of a concept or Christian fad than the way things are.


Happy New Year!!!
This year my wife and I had the privilege of bringing in the New Year with my good friends Joel Davis and Hailee Christal. I love celebrating New Years. Its like a yearly scheduled party. genius. I don't have a list of resolutions this year. Talking with Joel, he made the great point that as Christians we have a new beginning in Christ every day. There is one thing though that I definitely want to accomplish this year.
I have written quite a few songs in my day. I have yet to do a good recording of any of them. So hopefully sometime in the near future I can make that happen. I will be sure to let you know when I do.
My 2nd goal for 2011 is to graduate from college. I'm aiming to graduate in December this year. I started college in the Fall of 2002. ITs time to be done. It's beyond time.

I'm looking forward to this year and the blog posts it will bring. Also, please leave a comment. I need online affirmation. Its sad I know. Just say hi or something. Garcia, OUT!