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it is weird, wading through old unpublished posts.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.
just a few weird kids during one of our many jetlags of 2015…part of the “marie posts old posts series.”
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!
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. 😀
it’s been real. it’s been good. it’s been real good. (my husband taught me all my cheesy jokes.)
but it’s time to get back to do romania. cause kids need Jesus. and babies need love. and we have a calling to do. so while we will miss all you amazing peoples of california…we want to let you know that you blessed our socks off. we will always remember this furlough with warmth and affection.
thank you guys!
grammie saved a special dress of mine and it was finally mercy’s turn to wear it. addy also wore it when she was three years old. that means this dress was worn in 1981, 2011 and 2015. pretty special if you ask me!
About Me
I am the second oldest of six kids. I was shy and quiet as a kid with a vivid imagination. When I was five my parents gave up the fast paced city life for quieter Northern California. I was in heaven, spending my time outdoors, running around barefoot, climbing trees and raising any and every animal I could get my hands on. My parents homeschooled me in an eclectic mixture of un-schooling and world schooling, giving me a life long love for learning. I have a colorful imagination and a different way of thinking about things (something I have just recently discovered is called synesthesia). I am a dreamer and a complete optimist, an artist and lover of glitter, I am right brained through and through and I absolutely love science experiments and art projects. I have a deep passion to help those that have no one to advocate for them. My life’s goal is to be a little more like Mother Theresa, Gladys Alwood and Amy Carmichael every day. I have been married to my bestest best friend for over ten years and he is seriously the glue that holds my crazy together. I can’t imagine adventuring and wandering without him. We are currently raising two very capable and strong willed children that are both very creative and very smart. Being a mother was never something I imagined I would love the way I do and I can’t wait for the Lord to bring more kids into our lives!