November 18th is National Adoption Day!  Although its seems like everyday is National Something day- I can’t let National Adoption Day pass without a post. Now that Ashling has settled 100% into O’Cathain life, I actually don’t think about adoption on a day-to-day basis because I am too consumed with life! But every few days, I have to smile and think what adoption has meant to our family. I imagine, like many people, I always thought adoption was wonderful but never really thought about it in my world. I just assumed Domhnall and I would “pop” out 4 kiddos and that would be life. I reme ..read more

What a day! Ashling has surgery today to untether her spinal cord and to remove her sinus track that was open to the spine. Surgery was a success and she is resting comfortably in the PICU now. The next few days will be a challenge as she has to lay flat on her back. We are so thankful for the surgeons today. If you look above you can see that Ashling spinal cord ends around L4 because it’s attached and pulled down at the bottom. Her spinal cord (and everyone else’s) should end at L1.  Today, the surgeons released it and it sprung back to L1. They also removed a sinus track that was comp ..read more

I recently read an update on one of our travel family’s blog. It reminded me that it is time to update this blog! Sorry!  It’s hard to believe Ashling has been home over 5 months. We had such an amazing summer! A summer of fun- between cousins from Ireland, friends and a very long vacation to Nantucket- we were very lucky and thankful! We have been back to real life for a month now.  Thankfully, it’s going smoothly. Keira and Connor are happy to be back in 2nd and 1st grade and loving their millions of activities. Ashling loves Pre-K and is a learning a ton! Every morning ..read more

Ashling is so active, smart and happy its very easy to forget that she has some medical issues. As many of you know we adopted her from China Special Needs program so we were fully aware that she had some minor medical issues. We spent yesterday at Hackensack hospital for some testing under general anesthesia. It was a long day but she did great. As they were putting in her IV she kept saying “no doctors, Nana perfect,” It was so adorable and  so sad at the time same time. We will know more in the next few weeks but thankfully its all relatively minor. But yes baby girl- y ..read more

Keira and Connor are done with 1st grade and Kindergarten and ready for summer! Ashling is very excited to have them home! I can’t believe we only adopted Ashling 2 months ago! Ashling continues to do really well. She is picking up English so quickly and is just a happy, funny, out-going and smart child. However, the more comfortable she gets at home, the more she is testing boundaries. Big picture this is terrific but day-to-day the temper tantrums when we say “no” can be very challenging. I don’t think anyone ever said NO to her before and I also think she gets frustrated (understandably) w ..read more

Hard to believe it’s June and we have been home well over a month now.  Things continue to go amazingly!  It’s been shockingly how well Ashling has adjusted although the more comfortable she gets the more she is starting to test/learn boundaries. She loves saying “nope” but hates hearing it. We managed a surprise family trip to North Carolina for Memorial Day, several nights out with sitters and lots of things we never imagined we would be doing at this point. Langauge is still a bit of a struggle at times but she is picking it up so quickly. She has started to show an interest in b ..read more

  Last week was a blur of jet lag, no sleep, friends and family visiting and getting caught up at work. I don’t know where the week went. Capped off by a great 50th birthday party for Tricia- which Ashling did amazing at. This is our first real week back. The kids are back to school, I am working reduced hours and Ashling is settling in. Overall she is doing us doing better that we could ever had expected. I haven’t had much to post because it feels like she has always been here. She really fits right in. I am still getting used to everyone’s schedules but that has more to do with hav ..read more

We are happy to be home! The trip home was long! 26 hours long but uneventful. Kiddos we’re  all amazing and played in their iPads, watched tv and slept.  We were met at the airport by my sister Tricia and her family and that was so great. Jet lag has been tough and we are all exhausted and waking up way too early. I am beyond exhausted today and feel a little in a daze. Ashling is a rock star. She is is adjusting so well to the overwhelming changes being thrown at her: we planned a low- key weekend but have had a bunch of visitors and she has done really well. Can’t thank everyon ..read more

Good byes have been said, bags packed- I can’t believe this trip is over. There really are no words to express how thankful we are. We truly love this country  ( the people, the sights, and the food) and had such an a memorable and fun trip! However, even more than an amazing trip- we gained a beautiful daughter. While we are sad to leave, the kids are ready to go home and we are ready to show Ashling real life and introduce her to our family, friends and her new world. A few days before we left, I was running around getting stuff and saw these 3 matching  outfits and HAD to get th ..read more

“How did we get so lucky?” seems to be our favorite phrase. Today was another memorable day but I think the highlight was  the hour long dance party in our room tonight (way tooo late). Ashling is incredible! Today was packed! We joined friends at a local park which has lots of rides. The kids loved them and Keira scared me on a ride she was tall enough for but probably not old enough for. The reason I included the pic of Ashling as a mess above is because it makes sure me happy.  She has skinned knees from playing with her siblings, she is wearing Keira’s dress because her cloth ..read more