we enjoyed the days of harvest last week. there were handmade items, traditional clothing, autumn produce, every kind of honey, must (basically unfermented wine, kind of a grape cider), romanian food and every kind of dessert imaginable. i dedicate this post to my middle brother, andrew – – i could see him cooking like this.
p.s. mercy loooooove must (moost)!
and this is a post i found from summer 2014 when addy and mercy were attending the same kindergarten…
however, finding pictures of our moldova to romania move {january 2014} just made me want to stay in this apartment for forever, haha!
i think a little too often people assume my mer girl is grumpy when i take her pictures. truth to be told she is just painfully shy around the camera and she is not the kid that puts on a fake smile. every once and while…she and her sissy start goofing around and she completely forgets how much she hates the camera. then i get photo shoots like this… 
it is weird, wading through old unpublished posts. i took these on saturday and then eisley was born on sunday and i never published it. just a little weird and sad altogether.
dear mercy adoniyah,
i will probably say this every year. but i am so proud of you. you are such a strong and capable little person already. you have had some of the weirdest experiences and yet you keep growing and changing and amazing me. this past year has been weird and wonderful and downright sucky. you turned three and started kindergarten without a flaw. you love it and you already have learned age appropriate romanian. your summer was rough, filled with sickness and infection yet you still made it to kindergarten, still learned, still played and even still grew. whew. you spent a week in the hospital with pneumonia and then traveled to america. thanks to a california christmas we discovered you were vitamin d deficient which seems to have taken away all your sickies, yay! you were such a champ in january and february…traveling, staying in people’s homes, standing up in front of churches…things that just aren’t “you” but you still did it. march and april officially become the worst months of our lives as a family (in a way) and yet some of the best. in march, you traveled with mama back to america to meet and say goodbye to your cousin eisley hope. i don’t think i could have done it if it wasn’t for you. your simplicity, your determination, your pure fire personality…these are things i have come to love and adore about you. i wouldn’t change you for the world. some days i have no idea what to DO with you…those are the days i learn so much FROM you. last night as i lay in your bed with your random 11p-1a wake up (just keeping it real, right?) i thought about the past four years. some times i want to freeze time and yet i am so curious what your tomorrow will hold. grow old with me, baby. i love you so much.
love always and forever,
mama
*****
a walk down memory lane:
the day you were born
your birth announcement
one month old
your newborn pics taken by your dohdoh
your birth story
two months old
three months old
four months
five months old
then we moved. hahaha. thank goodness for iphones or the next six months might have gone undocumented hahah!
just a little you
then i actually found your six month pictures, ha!
nine months old
more videos
ten months old
happy first birthday
iphone mercy
happy second christmas
iphone mercy
happy second birthday
iphone mercy
just a randomness
our trip just the two of us
happy three. and your 365 video.
one last one
international kids’ day rolled around and boy did we stay busy. we went from a normal (full) week of work to a weekend full of activities for all the groups of kids we work with. so by the time monday (actual kids’ day) came, we barely had any energy for our own kids. we did manage to take them to the mall for dinner and then we roasted marshmallows on daddy’s new bbq. thank you target for the random post-easter find of gluten free/corn free/soy free marshmallows (which is much harder than you realize!)
please don’t be too weirded out. they are sharing their food “lady and the tramp” style.
happy international kids’ day until next june!
only I would find unpublished blog posts like my seven yeah anniversary…when I’m two months away from my eighth. ha. oh well! 
if you ask mercy “what is your name?” she will respond “mercy.” but if you ask her “cum te cheamă?” she will answer “mila.”
this kid cracks me up.
and next week she will be four.years.old.
i’m working on enjoying and savouring it. this kid always gets the weirdest birthdays. this year is no different. good thing she’s such an easy going kid.
p.s. don’t judge the pacifier. just pretend you don’t see it. 😀
one of the things i love about romania is an amazing springtime storm. there is something crazy and cool about the sudden lightning, thunder, downpour and the breathtaking sunrise the next morning.
