chapter closed. a sad goodbye.

when em was 14 weeks old, i left her in the care of rosa candida (aka candy). since may 2008, she has loved and cared for emily and aaron as if they were her own. she has been home with her new baby, almides emanuel, for the last few months. the kids have missed her very much and were beyond excited when she came for a visit last night and introduced us to baby almides.

he is 2 months old and soo cute and tiny!

aaron loved holding him. it was very sweet.

this is his daddy, almides

we had a great visit. the babies really missed candy, and em barely left her lap. as miss candy and her family were leaving, she gave us back our house keys. i wasn't expecting this and was really sad. (and strangely, even though i knew it would happen eventually, the more i've thought about last night and about candy leaving us, the sadder i get. tears may or may not have been shed, too. i think it's finally truley appreciating the comfort and peace of mind that she gave me each day). we had been wishfully hoping that she would return to us soon, but as a mother, i know how hard it is to leave your baby, so i cannot blame candy one bit. almides is a lucky, lucky boy!

thank you, candy, for loving us and our babies so much and for being a part of our lives. we will miss you very much and never forget you!

here are some pictures of em with candy from fall 2010. i wish i had taken more. unfortunately, we don't have any from when em was a baby. boo.