A July full of cousins

In July Audra was able to meet many of her cousins who live out of state.

 

First up were the Boyle cousins on 4th of July weekend.  Sean's cousin who lives in North Dakota was in town to see her parents.  So we all headed down to Philadelphia for a mini family reunion.  She has 3 kids...her oldest is 7 months older than Riley and her youngest is 6 weeks younger than Maura.  So everyone had a playmate! 

 

 

The Boyle cousins from left to right:

Riley, Quinn, Charlotte, Maura, Harper, Aidan, Patrick, Audra, Daniel

 Sweet girls...and silly boys!
 

 

  Four Boyle girl cousins...all 5 years old!

 

The next weekend was my sister's wedding...so many family members finally got to meet Audra, including my brother and his family who live in North Carolina.

Here is my sister with some of her nieces and nephews:

 (3 of my 4 kids and 3 of my brother's 4 kiddos)

 

And finally, the last weekend in July is always the Kelly Family Reunion

(Sean's father's side of the family)...

and everywhere you look is a Kelly cousin!

(Kelly-cousin is a bit of a loose term, because everyone at the Kelly reunion is considered a cousin...by blood or marriage...1st, 2nd, 3rd, whatever...everyone is a cousin!)

 

My girls with "the babies". 

 

Maura was so excited to see them again...last year they were only a few months old.

I have no idea what "degree" cousins they are to each other.  My girls' grandfather is the 1st cousin of "the babies" grandmother...  

Audra's first get-away

warning...this post is heavy on the pictures :)

 

The beginning of last week I started packing a suitcase.  Each night before bed I would put a few things in that I wanted to make sure I didn't forget.

 

I noticed Audra seemed sad and tearful each night.  Not usual for her.  Then I realized...

I was packing the suitcase just I like I had in the hotel in China.

I packed a suitcase, then suddenly her world was turned upside down...again.

 

So I started showing her the items in the suitcase...

clothes for mommy, daddy, Audra AND her brothers and sister.

She seemed a better then.

 

Thursday morning we packed the car with suitcases, food, pool toys, bikes, scooters...

and 4 kiddos!

 

And we were off...

to Eagle Rock Resort, PA

for the annual Kelly family reunion...plus a few extra days of R&R

 

 

Once we got there, we unpacked, settled in and...

the girls helped with dinner the first night:

 

 

 Our 4 plus their 2 cousins, Daniel and Charlotte:

 

Enjoying the fruits of their labor...

First thing the next morning we headed to the pool.

Remember my recent blog post...
how Audra warmed up to our local pool on her second visit...

Well, she wasn't having any part of it this time!

Not even when big brother, Aidan, tried to coax her in...

We managed to finally get her in the baby pool for about 17 seconds...

enough time for only one cute photo:



 

Maura and Charlotte (aka "the fish of the family"):

 

Riley...another water lover:

 

Later that day we packed in a little more fun:

at KNOEBELS!!

 

 Audra was afraid of the rides. 

She was finally coaxed onto a few kiddie rides with her big brothers riding along:

Saturday was the day of the reunion.  It was a little overwhelming for Audra and Charlotte...

so many people in one house...all very excited to finally meet them.

But they both did wonderful!

They loved playing outside in the cozy-coupe cars. 

There even as a bit of "bumper cozy-coupe cars" going on!

 

On our last day there, we finally made it to the beach/lake:

gorgeous and peaceful!

  

 

 

Our four nights away went way to quick!  But it was a perfect first get-away for Audra.  She loved having mommy and daddy around all day, every day. 

She ate non-stop, played hard and happily, and slept like a rock. 

Life is good!

Audra's tummy trouble...

Yesterday we took Audra to the doctor because her belly still isn't right.  She's in the bathroom up to 10 times a day and still isn't eating like she usually does.  This has been going on for 12 days now.  I was so happy that she hadn't lost anymore weight.  At 22lbs she doesn't have much to spare!  They sent a bunch of stool studies, and so far one result has come in...she has C-diff.

C-what?!

Because she has been on multiple different antibiotics for the past 2 months her intestinal tract has been affected.  While the antibiotics did their job in getting rid of her infections (UTI, renal abscesses, and ear infection) unfortunately they also got rid of the "good" bacteria in her intestines, which has allowed this C-diff character to flourish and take over.

The treatment:  another course of a different antibiotic and some ever-friendly probiotics!  She should be feeling better in a couple of days.

Of course there are still multiple studies pending, so we are really hoping this is the only thing she has going on in her tummy.

The pool: take 2

Second time is a charm!

We were back at the pool recently and Audra was a new girl...she LOVED the water!  I suppose she just needed some practice, or some time to warm up...because now she is a natural!  I wasn't even going to take her, but she insisted on going along with the other kids.

 

On Monday Audra had her bi-weekly scheduled weight check.  And my arms knew the truth...they are becoming really accurate gauges of her weight!  She had lost a little over a pound since her Adoption Clinic visit just 4 days prior.  Her belly is definitely still bothering her...she's not eating like she usually does.  She is eating some, but she isn't eating everything that isn't tied down...like we know her to do!  More like just bites here and bites there.  And she's in the bathroom quite a bit more then usual for her.  She's a little more cranky than normal, with some temps in the 100.something range, and she actually takes short naps during the day...otherwise she is her usual happy, playful, rambunctious self.  Her pediatrician is hoping this is just a touch of a GI virus that will pass soon.  So, lucky for her, she got out of getting her catch up vaccinations...AGAIN!  The good news is that her ears looked better...there's still fluid in the left ear, but no more infection.  She has been antibiotic free for 7 days now!  But probiotics are still her best friend...Hoping for a happy tummy for her soon :)  

A Baptism for Two





Today was a very special day...

 

Audra's baptism!

 

Made even more special by the fact that Charlotte was also baptized today at our church along with Audra.  We were honored to be chosen as Charlotte's godparents, and it was a blessing to have her baptized in our church along side our daughter.

 

We are thankful that our good friends Renee and Pete are Audra's godparents... 

 

 

 

Sean and I with Charlotte as she was baptized...

More blessings:

In true 'Audra style'...she got some beauty rest during part of the ceremony:

 

 

Charlotte with her parents, Tim and Dawn:

 

Dawn and I had hoped to find dresses for the girls' baptism while we were in China, but never found anything we liked.  Ironically, we found these online once we were home:  traditional Chinese dresses direct from Guangzhou, China!

For now, this is the only picture I have of the two girls together.  (I am hoping someone else got a better shot and they will share with me soon.)  Audra wasn't in the best mood today, therefore she was not into having pictures taken.

  

Charlotte, on the other hand, was happy to pose for the camera (as usual!) 

She is so beautiful!

 

Charlotte and godparents...

Audra and godparents...

 

Sweet, sweet face...but no smiles for the camera today.  She doesn't seem to be feeling 100%.  Her stomach is giving her a hard time the past two days...maybe from all the amazing new food she tried at the wedding Friday night! 

 

I found these amazing prints online that could be personalized with the girls' names, Chinese characters, province and even their picture.  They are absolutely gorgeous!  This picture does not do them justice.  Audra's will soon be proudly displayed near the front entryway to our home. 

 

God Bless our beautiful daughter,

Audra Qi Jia...

and our beautiful goddaughter,

Charlotte Grace