The Castillo Family....La familia Castillo

To our family and friends all over the world....A nuestra familia y amigos en todo el mundo.

Monday, November 27, 2006

Finding her voice

Elisa has found her voice. She has become quite an opinionated little baby. Just in the last 2 weeks she has learned how to get angry, not just cry, but crinkle up her cute little face and scream. She has also learned how to vocalize. As she plays she will "talk" in a high-pitched voice as if she's trying to tell you something. Seems cute at first until it goes on and on. In fact today when I went to go work out, the lady in the daycare told me she "talked/screamed" the entire time, but very joyfully. I guess she just wants everyone to know she's in the room. Thank goodness she still likes a pacifier! :)

Well, we have the Christmas tree up (thanks Mom!), the stockings hung and lights outside. We didn't hit one store this weekend, but I am not stressed. Wil has really taught me not to stress out about little things in life. I am so much more laid back than I used to be. To me, it doesn't sound stressful waiting til the day before Christmas to buy gifts....humm....or being on time to things....well, not exactly.

Update on Wil's immigration
He will hopefully get his work visa renewed here in a few weeks, but as for that residency...still no word. Thanks for the prayers.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Getting in the Spirit


I am so ready to start decorating for Christmas. Elisa is getting so active and loves to observe people and things, so I am excited to put up the tree in our new house. Lucky me she can't sit up or crawl, so I don't have to worry about that yet. I am not enjoying this cold, windy weather, though. I can't believe it started to turn cold after Wil's mom, sister and brother left. They have still yet to experience the cold Missouri weather when they have come to visit, so they think they were are making it up! Hah!

We had a great time with them while they were here for 2 weeks. Wil hadn't seen his family for a year so I know that excitement when you meet them at the airport. I can remember that rush I felt when I flew to California or to KC to see family after living so long in ES. I think his family got their fills of Wal-mart trips, a short trip to St. Louis and shopping til they dropped. Prices are so much better here that in Central America so they could definitely take advantage of all those summer clothes that are on clearance. They also had a great time with Elisa. She is laughing and talking so much, so it was the perfect age for them to meet her.

Elisa also took part in a Salvadoran tradition when they were here. She got her ears pierced! Yep, Salvadoran girl babies usually get their ears pierced in the hospital, so we decided to wait until Grandma Nuria was here. She did cry a little, but looks adorable and I am glad that Nuria got to experience it with her.

Immigration and waiting...

Prayers are needed for Wil's immigration status. It's frusterating that for those that come to the US and do everything legally get the runaround. Wil is having to renew his work visa because the government has not given him his temporary residency yet. The process of citizenship is the work visa (which he has), then temp residency and then green card/citizenship. The citizenship takes a few years. But it has just been a waiting game with the government. They tell you 90 days, you wait, then another 30, you wait. We have faith that it will come soon, hopefully by Christmas -- that would be such a blessing!

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

4 Months

Elisa turns 4 months today. I can't believe the time is passing by so quickly. I look back at her 1-month pictures and how fragile she looked and think it was just a few days ago. She is starting to really get a little personality. It has really been shining these past few days as Wil's mom and sister Wendy have been here.

She has been totally immersed in Spanish. It was such a joy to see Grandma Nuria (abuelita) and Aunt Wendy's (tia) faces when they saw her for the first time. Uncle Rodrigo (tio) comes in town Saturday so that will be fun for Elisa to have another playmate! In fact, I can tell she is getting spoiled....as she starts to whine if you put her down. Uh, oh, looks like this mom is going to have to do some retraining after they leave. But that's okay, I am enjoying the extra help and Elisa constantly has a smile on her face.

Yesterday Wendy and Nuria taught me how to make Salvadoran rice and friole soup (bean soup) which are two of my favorite foods. Hopefully I can make them for Wil like his mom does. Nuria had to bring the beans to the US for us because the only similar beans that we can find are in Jamesport, MO, produced by the Amish! As for the rice, I am still on the hunt for the right kind, looks like Nuria will have to go shopping with me to figure out what kind to buy. Seems easy, but actually finding the same Salvadoran ingredients to make the food taste just like "home," isn't as easy as it sounds.

But for a while yesterday with the smell of garlic and beans cooking and only hearing the sound of Spanish speakers at home gave me a little taste of Central America.

PS. Our little giraffe fell asleep early last night at Grandma's house, but stayed up long enough for a few pictures and her pumpkin of candy.

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