New year, new perspectives. . .

After a month and a half long hiatus from blogging, I am back. For those of you who have been encouraging me to write and post, thank you for your encouragement.

A lot has happened in the last month and a half. Most importantly, my wife and I had our first child. Esther Margaret Allen-Pickett was born on December 17th, 2009 at 1:50pm. She weighed in at a healthy 8lbs 8ozs and is doing great! She is quickly approaching three weeks of age and she changes and grows every day.





This year I am going to be doing a lot of posting about being a new parent and the daily miracles I am experiencing. I will also continue to post about global poverty issues, the global safe drinking water crisis and my work with Healing Waters International. I will not be traveling to the field for a few months as Jessica and I settle into our new lives and roles and parents, but will be back in Latin America before too long.

The first thing I want to share with you about our miraculous bundle of joy is the history of her name, Esther Margaret. The post below was written from Esther's perspective with a little help from her mom and dad. Enjoy!

The Story of My Name: Written by Esther with help from mommy and daddy

Monday, December 21, 2009

The big day has come and no longer am I just “Lil’ AP,” but I am now officially Esther Margaret Allen-Pickett. Outdated, old-fashioned, and maybe some might even say obscure, but my parents thought long and hard about this name. There are many special people who are a part of me; however, my parents figured that a name with an infinite amount of letters might not be the nicest “Welcome to the World Baby Girl” present they could give me.

My first name, Esther, comes from my dad’s paternal grandma. She was a great lady who lived to be 99 (less than two weeks shy of her 100 birthday). She had a kind and gentle spirit, an unassuming manner, and was the eternal optimist. If you could only use one word to describe her, it would be "kindness." My dad’s favorite memories of her involve, Chinese Checkers, pecan pie, love for dogs (I think this is where my dad gets his), weekday afternoons, and New Mexico style enchiladas. My daddy wrote a blog post about her last year that you can read by clicking here.

This is a picture of Daddy and Esther, Daddy's Grandma

My middle name, Margaret, comes from my mom’s maternal grandma. She was also an extraordinary woman. Whose strength carried her through many trials and tribulations. If you could only use one word to describe her, it would be “spunky.” She never took no for an answer, was hard as nails, but had the patience of a saint when it came to her granddaughters. Some of my mom’s favorite memories of her involve bicycle riding, cards, swimming in the river, the library, and chocolate chip cookies. This is a picture of Mommy, Grandma Char and Margaret, Mommy's Grandma with my big brother Sol

It feels like a lot to live up to (these two remarkable ladies), but I know that they, along with all of my past and present relatives and friends are with me. With the help of this great village, I know that I too will be an exceptional woman.