Being the summer people we are, everyone in this house is a little sad to see it unofficially (or officially?) end. Not to mention, a glimmer of sun over the long Labor Day weekend wouldn't have hurt, would it? Every day E got up and said, "Mama, it's not boooo-tiful outside, is it?" Which translates to: "We aren't going to the beach, are we?"
But, we can't complain too much. We had an awesome summer of beach days and day trips to fun places, lots of feasts and festivals, and plenty of good times. We kept it all within driving distance, though, since we didn't feel R was ready for sleeping away from her still-new bed yet.
Speaking of our newest addition...R's really doing great. Settling in and just becoming one of the gang. The girls are definitely becoming friends more and more every day. Warms this Mama's (and Baba's!) heart.
So, a little wrap-up of August in pictures...
 |
| Boston Common carousel. |
 |
Funny face picture at a cafe. We did it once, and now we have to do it
ALL THE TIME. |
 |
St. Agrippina feast. Protecting all of us from thunderstorms
and bacterial infections. How perfect is that? |
 |
| Swing, batter batter! |
 |
Loving the water she used to be afraid of!
Wingaersheek Beach |
 |
Mama took the girls blueberry picking. It was a HUGE hit!
Honeypot Orchards |
 |
| We have the two most beautiful little berry pickers around! |
 |
So proud!
Look at R's belly! Smooch!! |
 |
Emmie driving the tractor.
(Rosie would NOT get on the tractor, no surprise there...) |
 |
| A rare day indoors--baking cookies for Baba. |
 |
| Look at the diva poses! |
 |
Rosie tearing into a whoopie pie from Bread and Roses bakery in
Ogunquit, ME. We'll fatten her up yet! |
 |
| Along the Marginal Way with Baba. |
 |
All dolled up in traditional outfits for the Boston Chinatown August
Moon Festival. |
 |
| Beautiful dragon at the festival. |
 |
Emmie's reaction to the aforementioned dragon.
I guess not all Chinese people like dragons. |
 |
On to the North End. Here comes the parade!
Much happier! No dragons! |
 |
Enjoying an arancini at the Madonna Della Cava feast in the North End.
It was quite a multicultural day! Started with rice noodles, ended with tiramisu. |
 |
Transfusion day.
(You knew they had to get tanked up SOMETIME in between all this fun...) |
 |
The shirts say it all! We were so excited to get one to
match the shirt Emmie got last year at the same exact feast! |
 |
| Our favorite, the Fisherman's Feast. |
 |
Getting a little temporary Hello Kitty tat at the Quincy
August Moon Festival. |
 |
| Outside of Crema Cafe in Harvard Square. No, we did not give them espresso. |
 |
| Or, did we? |
 |
One day Emmie woke up and said, "Mama, today I want to go on a boat."
So, we did! (Just the MBTA ferry from Boston to Charlestown--not a Carnival Cruise or anything.) |
 |
Salem, MA. The girls got Chinese Yo-Yos.
When the sales clerk took them from us to ring in, he said, "OK, you have two Chinese yo-yos."
To which I responded, "Are you calling my kids yo-yos?!"
We all had a good laugh. |
 |
Salem, MA.
Enjoying the ocean breeze on a super humid day. |
 |
Our last feast of the summer, St. Anthony.
Emmie was SO SO SO excited to pin her dollar on the saint. |
 |
| With Baba strolling the streets of the North End. |
 |
Rosie destroying a piece of Umberto's delicious pizza. These kids know good food!
Again, we'll fatten her up yet! |
 |
Every time we were in Boston this summer, Emmie asked when the carousel would be ready.
We went in especially for the grand opening on Labor Day weekend! |
 |
| Emmie was very excited to get to ride the lobster! |
 |
Just as excited to get to eat lobster, too!
(Yes, the girls LOVE lobster.) |
8 comments:
I don't know if I have commented before but have followed you since E's coming home from RQ! Your girls are just beautiful! Looks like you had a very blessed summer! I am laughing about the comment "not the beach again!"... my daughter would just LOVE to go to the beach! LOL!
Thank you so much for sharing E and R with us!! they are really sweeties!! remind me of our daughter ,adopted 15 1/2 years ago from China!! wow she has grown too fast !! just as these 2 are !! Blessings,Cathy in Illinois!!
I absolutely love reading your blog and seeing all of your pics. So much fun.
I bought my daughter the same little pink dress from China one of your daughters had on. Thanks for sharing all your stories and fun.
I am like everyone else , love your blog. Really love the pics.
Hi Tracy,
I came across your blog recently and I was wondering if your blood disorder was ever an issue for you being eligible to adopt from China. I have epilepsy, which is controlled with medication and we were just told that because of that we are not eligible to adopt from China. We are very disappointed as we really had our hearts there. I hope you don't mind me asking....
Thanks, Michelle
Hi Michelle,
I certainly don't mind your asking, and I'm so sorry you were told that about your epilepsy. To answer your question, no, my thalassemia intermedia did not affect our eligibility to adopt from China. (Although on paper it certainly sounds like it would.) We disclosed it fully and had my doctors write letters stating that I am in good health, with a normal life expectancy, and that my thalassemia does not inhibit my ability to parent a child. Of course, I also addressed it from the angle that (in our opinion) my having thalassemia is a very positive factor in terms of our caring for a child with thalassemia. ie, we already know everything about the disorder, I can relate to them on a very real level, and I am already extremely connected in the thalassemia community.
I'm just wondering if you were just TOLD that you are ineligible by an agency or SW, or if you actually submitted PA and got rejected. You hear about people getting waivers all the time, and many agencies support families in trying to adopt despite medical issues that might seem ineligible. If it's the case that you were just told this, then I would certainly suggest that you try another agency, and work on creative ways to at least try to work around this.
If your hearts are set on it, then I would keep pushing it a bit further...
If you want to email me, we can chat about further. Just leave your email here as a comment, but I'll be sure NOT to publish it and I'll get in touch with you.
Best of luck to you!
Hi Tracy, I have recently stumbled across your blog and had to write to tell you how much I love it! Your daughters are just beautiful and its obvious that you were all meant to be together.....
We too are adoptive parents... to a little girl, Gracie, who is 1 month younger than E.
Our girls are so similar, it makes me laugh!
Please keep blogging,your story is so inspiring!
Debbie
From Scotland, UK
Hi Tracy, I just came across your blog yesterday and spent hours pouring over the past 2 years of posts. LOVE it! My husband and I adopted two unrelated children from India 10 years ago with Thalassemia Major. Sadly , we lost our youngest, Sanjay, when he was 10 years old, 2 1/2 years ago. When we adopted them we had never heard of Thalassemia, and we knew nobody with the disease. We STILL don't! Our kids have always been favorites at Peds Short Stay where they went for transfusions.( Josy still does) We were lucky that we got them on the same transfusion cycle...every 4 weeks. We all miss Sanjay so much, it would have been his 13th birthday yesterday, which is why I was browsing around looking for other Thalassemia adoption stories. I don't now if God is going to call us to adopt again...but if He does,I'm willing. Blessings!
Post a Comment