One Year Ago in China...

A year ago today in China a prayer was answered, a family was born and 3 lives were forever changed the moment this beautiful baby girl was placed in my arms. I'm still awestruck everyday at how much love we have for Olivia and how lucky we are to have the privilege of being her parents. In one short year, she has shown us her gentle spirit, her strong will and her loving heart in more ways than we can recount. I know without doubt, that the years ahead are full of even more joy and laughter and look so forward to sharing in who this beautiful little soul will become. What an awesome ride....thanks for coming along.

My Life, My Love, My First Mother's Day

This face says it all. Happy Mother's Day everyone.

A New Canadian!!

Well, our beautiful girl is now officially a Canadian Citizen!!! We just got the word that Miss O's citizenship went through on May 3 and it took much less time than I thought it would. That was really the last of the many paperwork hurdles and a huge milestone for all of us.

I don't get to update the blog much these days, but we continue to be so blessed with this wonderful little soul in our lives. The days go by in a blur and try as I may to slow things down and to stop and smell the roses, life and our little girl are changing so fast. I'm back at work, Olivia is in daycare and she seems to have adjusted better to the arrangement than we have. The first 2 weeks were hard because she would cry so hard for 2 minutes when we left her at the daycare, but the third week was even harder when she just kissed me at the door of the daycare and turned to go play with her new friends. I still don't know which is harder - her crying when we left her, or her not crying when we left her...

I don't really know why, but a million years ago I thought that the novelty of being a mom might wear off at some point. Not for me - I still open my eyes every morning and marvel at the little miracle asleep in the next room. As time passes, I've come to wonder that maybe we didn't choose adoption - maybe adoption chose us. Either way, I'm so very greatful. A little sleep deprived at times perhaps, but I there's no way I would ever trade a second of it - not for anything.

Life is good...


Flowers for Mommy

















First day of Daycare













My beautiful girl.

A Few More Pictures

Here's a few more pictures I though worthy of posting. One is Olivia running around the house with headphones pretending she can't hear anyone. The second is my new tattoo - yes I said tattoo. I've wanted one for years but held out for just the right one. The characters are Olivia's Chinese name (which is Zhi Meng), the ladybug is a symbol of good luck and happiness in Chinese adoption, and the cherry blossom...well, I just liked it. The third pic is Olivia's latest talent - table dancing. No - it's not the start of a budding career.

A Short Update...

It's unbelievable how fast the days go by now. We are firmly rooted into our lives as a family and I can't remember a time when it was any different. Olivia gets busier and funnier by the day and just loves to get a laugh out of people. There are so many sides to this little girl and everytime we turn around, she shows us a new one. My biggest project over the past several months has been finding a good daycare and we feel so lucky to have found a great one. The only catch is that we have to start 6 weeks earlier than I would have liked, which means that I go back to work right after Easter. I'm already feeling the separation anxiety and I know it's going to be much harder on me than it is on her. The daycare we have is such a cheerful, spacious and happy place, I wish I could spend the days there too!! As hard as it will be to be away from Olivia for 8 or 9 hours a day, I guess it will begin a new chapter in her life and her world will start to get a little bigger (sniff, sniff).

Anyway, here's a few photo's of the little Miss since Christmas - enjoy...

Christmas/New Year's At Our House

What can I say...Our first Christmas together was what we expected...fabulous! Miss Olivia did the expected and collected decorations off of the tree for me each day leading up to Christmas and each day I got to put them all back on the tree and remind her that we should just look at them. We usually have a housefull of familiy and friends on Christmas Eve, but this year opted to have a quiet one with just the three of us. Our plan was to go to the Christmas Eve Choral service, but the wind and the rain were so bad again that we really thought the power would go out and a few more trees may come down, so after a brief visit with some friends, we stayed safely at home for the night. Christmas morning was soooo much fun with Olivia. I don't think she really got the "gift opening" thing, but she sure LOVES to tear paper. Even after she opened all kinds of new toys and fun things to play with, she still went back to playing with her good old familiar toys and the tupperware in the kitchen drawer - next year we're just wrapping empty boxes (not). Later in the day, we headed up Island to visit my dad and then on to see Ron's youngest son (who is a pilot and had to work most of Christmas day) and my brother and sister's families. All in all, a very busy, but enjoyable first Christmas home with our beautiful girl, finally where she belongs. New Year's Eve was also spent pretty quietly at our house this year - had our good friends, the Lums over, a lotta Chinese food and Pirates of the Carribbean 2 movie. We all barely stayed awake until midnight. While we are so very blessed with all we have to enjoy in our lives, it's hard to go through all that we have experienced in the last year and a half and not still think about all the other children left behind, still waiting for forever families. My hope is that they all have their own angels watching over them and that they are safe, warm and loved.

Family Fun Hockey Night

My ladies hockey team always has a Family Fun Night just before Christmas each year where everyone can bring their kids, spouses, partners, etc out for a fun night of shinney hockey and treats afterwards. Miss Olivia was a little confused by all these people in big hockey gear, but she loved rolling around the rink in her stroller sporting Spitfires team colors.






 

Hiding Places

Miss O's favorite new hiding place - under the dining room table. She thinks it's so funny when she thinks I can't find her, and then squeals with delight when I do. Since she started walking a couple of weeks ago, it's amazing how fast she can get from one room to another. Time to pull out the baby gates...or get a taller dining room table.


 

A Westcoast Snowfall...

I know lots of people on the Westcoast don't like the snow unless it's on the ski hill, but I think it's beautiful and wish we had this gorgeous scenery more often. Here's a few pics of the snow at our place. Soooo pretty.




 

We're still here!

So, a few of you have missed us and have been emailing for updates. How nice to be missed!! I haven't blogged for a while because.....hmmm...can't think of a good excuse so here's some updated pics of the diva. Some in her pretty new dress and some in our freak snowstorm. Our weather guys were calling for up to 5 cm (2 inches) of snow and at last measure, we had 37 cm (15 inches) in our back yard and it's currently snowing again. Folks in these parts aren't good with snow and it really screws up the city, but I love it - reminds me of my childhood in Ontario and gives us a spectacular short term change of scenery.

We're debating on whether or not to cut Miss O's hair yet. It seems to need a trim, but it's so fine that we wonder if we should wait until it thickens up and fills in a little more. What do you think?







 

Vanity run amok...

I'm not impressed with the pretty bow that mommy put in my hair...



But I do love myself...



...And I love napping with Pooh Bear.
 

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

Olivia's First birthday was on Thanksgiving weekend which made for an extra special and extra thankful Thanksgiving this year. A few friends and family came over celebrate with us.


Miss Olivia riding her new pony from Auntie Kathy and family.

Miss O deciding she's had enough pony riding.


"What?? Peas and ham for my birthday supper?"


I love blueberries and strawberries so what could be better than blueberry/strawberry birthday cheesecake?

The aftermath of the blueberry cheesecake! ("I don't know why mom took my shirt off")

We were guests for Thanksgiving Dinner at Ron's youngest son, Dales home. Dale's wife, Gisela is from Mexico and this is the first time she's ever cooked a turkey. I wish I had photos of it because it really looked and tasted like it would give Martha Stewart a run for her money. My big brother Stewart, and his family came over also. Excellent food, terrific company. Miss Olivia loved her elevated seat on top of the portable dishwasher where she could keep an eye on everyone. So much to be thankful for - everyday.

Not me...

We're almost certain that Miss Olivia's first words will be "I didn't do it." or "It wasn't me."



 

Good friends and busy days

After all three of us got over our nasty colds, we finally held our "Meet Miss Olivia" Open House for friends that hadn't met Olivia yet, and even those that had. It was great to see so many of our friends that we just don't get to see on a regular basis for one reason or another, and I think a good time was had by all.
A nice smooch from my new friend Deanna.


Having a swing with 2 pretty girls


Lovin' the hot tub


After a long busy day.

Life is so very good...

Hey...who took my cheerios?

What? I have to buy everyone drinks??

Cuddling with mommy on the boat.

I'm soooooo pretty and I can't wait to spill something on my dress. 

Two Months Ago...

Two months and two days ago, we slept for 8 consecutive hours, we got up when we felt like it, we had a relatively tidy house, we never tripped on toys, we didn't smell like formula and baby powder, my shirts were mostly clean all day long, the dog didn't live in fear of her tail getting run over, the washing machine ran only once every other day, and to open a cupboard all we had to do was pull. That was just over two months ago, but I swear it was in a different lifetime because I can't believe this beautiful baby girl hasn't been with us forever. While a tidy house was nice and getting enough sleep was good, I wouldn't change a thing. I know every parent must feel it, but I'm amazed at the love I have for Olivia. I knew I would like her and all, but this is something else. I was actually a little shocked to realize that it's only been two months that she's been with us. She just feels like such a natural and easy part of our family. Her adjustment has been amazing and she is bonding so well and so appropriately to us. She's been camping and boating - loves them both, but really loves to wake up and hang out with us in the morning in our kingsized bed at home with Emma. She is happy almost always, loves to be held, but is happy to play on her own for short periods also. We have yet to find a food she doesn't like. She really doesn't like baby food, but loves whatever we're having so that's what she gets, asparagus and all. Life is so busy and the days are just flying by. I've come the the conclusion that nothing speeds up the passage of time faster than the arrival of a child...and still I wouldn't change a thing. Sleep and dishes can wait.



 

Life a little less simple...

Wow - motherhood sure is a fulltime job, but I can't imagine my life any other way right now. I feel so lucky to be in a position to be able to enjoy our little beauty full time. We've been home almost a month now and the time is just flying by. Every day is full of discoveries and for us and for Olivia and it's so much fun watching her learn and grow. She intertains us with new sounds, facial expressions and smiles that make us want to smooch her to death. Even thought I'm not working at my regular full time job right now, I'm busier than I've ever been and it's hard to find time to do the chores like laundry, housekeeping and bottlewashing, etc. I don't know where the time goes, but by the end of the day, I'm exhausted and still haven't got everything done.

We had our first overnight trip on the boat this past weekend and I have to say that I think this little one travels better than we do! We went over to Pender Island and spent the night at Otter Bay where they have a nice marina and a pool. Olivia just loves being out in the fresh air with the wind in her face, watching all the new people and places she's never seen before - and boy, does she like swimming. We also bought a little kiddie blow up pool and put it in the cockpit of the boat and what a hit that was! It's where she had her bedtime bath on Saturday night and she splashed in it the whole way home.

We finally gave up on trying to get her to sleep in her crib in her room as she gets really worked up being alone and having her in our bed wasn't working either as she would spraw out and kick us all night. Also, Ron worries that he might roll on her in the night because she's so small. Sooo...we took her crib apart, set it up with only 3 sides on my side of the bed so that she's right beside me and made it level with our mattress. I don't know if it was all the fresh air from sailing or the new sleeping arrangement, but she slept from 9 pm until 4:00 am, then after a quick bottle and a change, went back to sleep until 7:30! That's the first time she's slept more than 3 hours at a time since we got her! I actually woke up twice to check her because I was worried that I hadn't heard from her. I think we might have found something that will work for all of us. I guess that's all part of getting to know each other and learning what works and what doesn't. Also, in the last week or so, she has started waking up with a smile and loves to cuddle and talk and play in bed in the morning - I think that's my favorite time of all so far. There's absolutely nothing like looking into that little face with the big beautiful eyes when she lays one of her smiles on you. So what if the laundry waits another day...

10 Days in the New World

Wow - I can't believe how fast the time has gone since we got home. We are starting to settle in and it's really taken all 10 days for Olivia's days and nights to get straightened out. She still doesn't sleep for more than 3 hours at a time - even at night, but everything is still so very new for her that we can't expect that to change very quickly. She is otherwise doing wonderfully and learns so much everyday. She is a very happy baby unless she has a good reason not to be and she entertains us constantly. Her and Emma get along just fine - they now have an agreement that Emma won't mind when Olivia runs over her tail with her walker as long as she keeps feeding Emma cheerios. Our first week was pretty low key - Olivia met some of the people who will be regulars in her day to day life and some of our friends have dropped in. She is very interested in new people and still holds her arms out to me if someone she doesn't know tries to pick her up - yay!! We are trying to limit the number of people that hold her right now until she is firmly grounded with who her parents are, and people have been really respectful of that.

We took her to the boat one day and she couldn't wait to play with the steering wheel and start pulling on the sail lines. Needless to say, Ron was tickled pink and can't wait to really start putting his new first mate through "Captain Ron's School of Sailing". I think my rank has just been reduced to "Galley Slave".

We are still in awe everyday that this little girl is now a part of our lives forever. We feel so very blessed to have her and to have experienced so many firsts with Olivia - her first bath, her first plane ride, the first time she played on the grass (still doesn't like it), the first time she went swimming, so many first foods that produce the funniest faces you can imagine - it's all amazing. God is good, and we are eternally greatful.

Home Sweet Home

We've made it home safe and sound and what a trip it was. It's not bad enough that the flight is 10.5 hours long, but we had the pleasure of an additional 2 hours of sitting on the airplane before it was even pushed back from the gate. We were so fortunate to have had a bulkhead seat with a bassinet attachment. Olivia slept for a very good portion of the flight which was so great. It would have been so much more difficult if we had to have her on one of us for the whole 12 hours. She travels alot better than we do! I don't sleep well on airplanes, but managed to get about 2 hours of sleep and ron got about the same, so by the time we got back to home, we were zombies. Olivia was great, but her time clock is pretty screwed up and she wants to sleep all day and party all night. We are working on that now and she seems to be starting to adjust. While home is comforting to us, it's yet another huge change for this little girl and we are trying to let her know that this is her last big stop for a while - no more busses, airplanes and hotels for us for some time. Emma was so happy to see us and her and Olivia get along just fine. Emma wants to know where she is all the time and sleeps on the floor in her room. The worse part about the trip home is that it appears that our video camera and several of the souveniers we bought in China were stolen either by the hotel bell hops, or the airline baggage handlers. I don't care about the camera, but I sure would like back the tape that's in it. We have 2 of the origional tapes we recorded and I'm sure one of them is the day we got Olivia, and that's the one that matters most. We won't know for sure until we borrow another camera to play them on.

We'll be spending the next while settling in and getting Olivia aquainted with her new home and surroundings. We want to thank all of you that joined our travels via our blog and want you to know how much we have appreciated all your comments and emails. While this has been the adventure of a lifetime, it's also had a few moments of doubt and anxiety. It's been so wonderful to have felt the care and encouragement of so many friends and even those of you we only know through cyber space. Thanks for coming along.... we hope to start sharing part 2 of the great Story of Olivia soon. Hugs to all.

Extra Photos

Last full day in China...

Yesterday was our last full day in China and it was the busiest one yet. We started the day as always with a great western breakfast at our hotel, then loaded up our bus and went to Tianenmen Square. I've seen so many pictures of it, but didn't really get a sense of it's vastness until we were standing in the middle of it. Then we went through the Forbidden City, which was the Emporer's home for all but the summer months each year. It's massive!! It took us over 2 hours to walk from one end to the other and that was without stopping to look at any of the exhibits. We walked through the center of 7 of the palaces and through the Imperial Gardens. I'm glad we have lots of photos, but so many of the things we've seen really must be experienced to be truly appreciated.

After lunch, we hustled back out again and spent 2 hours at the Silk Market - one of my favorite places. We didn't get a lot of time to shop because we had a charcoal sketch of Olivia done by one of the Chinese artists. It was amazing how this guy could sketch babies and people that were squirming and moving all over the place. We are just thrilled with the work he did.

Supper was to be out with the group for our last night here, but because the day was so busy, 2 of the families had to opt out as their babies just weren't tolerating the long day. The dinner was great and Yufin had a beautiful cake made that said "Good Bye China". It almost made me teary except for the very tired, and squirmy girl that was definitely letting us know she had had enough for the day. It's 7:00 am here now and Olivia had something of a rough night. I think the level of activity was too much for her on our last day. We are going to start packing like crazy anytime now and get ready to go home. We have loved every second of being in China and can't even begin to express to this county and it's people how very greatful we are for the precious gift we have received. We will do our very best to make sure we honor this gift for the rest of our days. We hope that someday, if she wants to, that we can bring her back here and show her all the incredible things we saw when she came into our lives. Until then, we'll just do our best to be her forever family. 

So many busy days...

There seems to be so much going on every day that one day just seems to melt into another and it's hard to keep everything straight. Today was another day of tourning and shopping while we wait for our final immigration documents to go home. We started off with another great breatkfast in the hotel and then went to the Silk Factory. We learned that a silk worm lives for only 60 days from egg to mature cacoon and produces silk after 27 days. The worms eat and live on mulberry leaves. It was amazing to see how they make everything right from harvesting the silk from the worm to beautiful works of art in the form of Rugs, murals, clothing, bedding etc. After that we went for lunch at a place called the Minority Restaurant. It's called this because in China there are 57 minority groups beside the majority of Mandarin. This particular group welcomed us with drums and music and the food was great. It seemed like a combination of Chinese and Thai food. Our guide, Faye, has been so good at ordering for us by not getting anything too spicy or strange to our eating habits. At this restaurant, there was also cultural dancing entertainment during lunch and Jenny, who is the 10 year old daughter of one of the families in our group, was invited on stage to dance with the troup - she was great. After lunch, the rest of the group went to the Pearl Market, but Ron and I opted to take a cab back to the hotel. We have just felt that the days are so busy and poor Olivia seems to have to be woken from every nap and we really wanted to give her some good sleep time and us some down time. The cab ride was about 30 or 40 minutes across town and cost 40 RBM which is $5. Anyone who has been here knows that when you get in a cab, you just close your eyes, or keep yourself distracted, otherwise you will be gasping at the close calls every 30 seconds. As it turned out, opting out of the afternoon shopping was a good move for us. Olivia slept from 1:30 until 4:00 and has now gone down for the night at 7:45 pm. We didn't even go out for dinner. Ron walked down to a little Chinese fast food place that was recommended by Yulin and brought back some vegetable won ton and some chicken with rice and vegetables - different, but good. I was feeling really bad tonight when we had to opt out of going to the Chinese acrobats because Miss O was just too tired, but it turns out that no one went with babies. Only Jenny and her Grandma, Marg-Anne went. I'd love to do and see everything, but there just isn't enough hours in the day and the day is sure tiring with a little one in this heat and humidity - still 36 degrees today with 85% humidity. Tomorrow we will see Tianenmen Square, the Forbidden City and shop at the Silk Market which is the HUGE market we shopped at the day after we first got here. As much as we love it here and have learned a huge respect for the Chinese people, their way of life and their culture, we are ready to come home and start to be settled in our own home. I really miss my puppy, Emma and I just know her and Olivia will be great friends.

One more thing - Olivia loves, loves, loves the bath. She has no fear of water at all and squeals with delight everytime she gets in the tub. 

Pics from Summer Palace and Beijing Zoo

Just before the Summer Palace, we made a quick stop at the Beijing Zoo and saw some of the Pandas. I don't particularly like seeing animals in anything other than their natural habitat, but the Chinese are very protective of this animal and are working very hard to keep them from extinction.

The Summer Palace

After our medical appointments, we went to the Summer Palace. This was the Summer Home of the Emperors and is an absolutely beautiful place. We were treated to a little thunder while we were there, so it was kind of cloudy, but still very hot and humid. Olivia is so great when we go places. She really just takes it all in. We experienced a huge mileastone at the Summer Palace. One of the people in our travel group wanted to hold Miss O, and as soon as he picked her up and started talking to her, she turned around to me, held her arms out and started to fuss. I was so thrilled I almost cried. This might not sound like a big deal, but in terms of starting to bond and attach, this is a very good sign. Yay!! 

Medical Appointment

Sorry, we were too pooped to blog last night. Yesterday morning was our official medical appointment for immigration. Our Olivia passed with flying colors. She is a tiny but long. She's 70 cm long and 14.2 lbs. They said we need to fatten her up some as she is in the 3 percentile for weight. Boy, did she come to the right family! She continues to amaze and entertain us and it's incredible how well behaved and content she is when we are on outings. The only time she fusses is if she's hungry, wet or tired and we have learned to identify the sounds and behaviours of each of these needs. She still likes to get us up twice in the night, but that's ok cuz I could just lay with her and stare at her forever. 

"For Mel and Donna"

Olivia Climbs The Great Wall!

What a great day we had. We started with a very happy baby and a great breakfast. We all loaded into the group van and our first stop was the Jade Factory. This is the biggest Jade Factory in China and we got to see and learn how Jade is processed and were shown how to tell the difference between the real stuff and the fake stuff. We also bought a few things for Olivia for gifts when she is older. Our next stop was the Great Wall. It really was awsome. While I certainly don't want to minimize the greatness of it's history, or seem ungreatful for such an incredible opporunity, it was pretty set up like a tourist attraction with lots of people and lots of commercial business going on. I would have loved to go to a part of the wall where there were no other people just to be able to get a better feel for it's awesome nature. At any rate, it was very cool. I only went as far as the second tower because I forgot to wear my runners so was stuck wearing thongs which aren't good for climbing. Ron, on the otherhand, decided that he wanted to be able to tell his daughter that he climbed the Great Wall with her, so up they went to the third tower which was a very steep climb. Afterwards, we went to the Friendship Store and Cloissonne factory for some great shopping and a FABULOUS chinese food lunch - probably the best meal we've had since we got here. There were no official appointments today, but tomorrow morning we have to be in the lobby by 7:00 to go for the babies' medical exams.

A little more about Olivia: She is such a blessing. I'm so very convinced that she was truly created just for us - I just hope and pray that her birth mother has some peace with her decision, and could somehow know that Zhi Meng is now with a family that will aboslutely cherish her forever. She continues to amaze us with the progess she is making both in her physical abilities and in her emotional well being. Her fourth tooth is just piercing through. She is soooo happy to see us all the time now. When I approach her, I get a HUGE ear to ear grin and she loves to giggle and play with both of us. She holds out her arms and cuddles right in to me when she wants to be picked up or held. Ron has become very protective and gets really agitated when the Chinese ladies want to pick up Olivia and start wandering around with her. I don't think this bodes well for her dating years.

Olivia is sleeping now, so we gotta get a few things cleaned and organized and off to bed ourselves. Here are a few pics of the Great Wall and one of Amanda, who was at the orphanage with Olivia. They are only 3 days apart in age.

A few More Pics...

A few Firsts...

We are now back in Beijing and Olivia was an absolute star for her first plane ride. She slept quite a bit before the plane ride, so we were a little concerned, but I'm proud to say she was the only baby on board that didn't fuss or cry at all. In fact, she played and laughed and gave us some of her best giggles yet. It was a long day and once we got back to the hotel in Beijing, she had some trouble settling in for the night. Today, we had her photos done for immigration and did a little shopping to get water and stuff for the second week here. We also bought a stroller as this hotel doesn't have any loaners and we would need one for the Great Wall trip as well as hanging in the airports on the way home. This afternoon, we took Olivia swimming in the hotel pool and she really seemed to like it. I noticed in most of the pics we've posted, she's not smiling, but she does smile and laught a lot, it's just that the camera seems to confuse her a little. Tomorrow we are touring the Great Wall which we are really looking forward to. Today is Kathy's last night here as she goes home tomorrow, so she went to the Great Wall today with our guide Faye and had her own private tour. Right now, there is a pretty big thunder and lightening storm going on and I haven't seen one of those since I was in Ontario last - it's pretty cool. Let's hope the weather holds out for tomorrow. Enjoy today's pics. We didn't think it was possible, but we love this little girl more every hour. She was definitely made for us.

Going Back to Beijing

We are busy packing up to head back to Beijing so here are just a couple of photos from last night...

Last Full Day in Changsha

Today was our last full day here and tomorrow we return to Beijing. Last night, Olivia had such a good sleep and subsequently, so did we. She was full of life this morning and eager to share more of herself with us. We are learning so much more about her everyday and she amazes us with her beautiful smiles. After breakfast, we went to tour the oldest university in China and it was a very peacefull and serene place. I could just imagine the ancient master scholars giving lectures in the outdoor lecture halls. Many of the walls are filled with ancient inscriptions and we also got to see what was Chairman Mao's bedroom when he was studying there. Lots of people came up to us to admire our daughter and when I showed them the card that says "This is our adopted daughter" in Chinese, we got huge smiles and big thumbs up. Everyone is so warm and kind and they sure do love babies. It does my heart good to know that the Chinese people have faith in us that we will give Olivia a better life than she might otherwise have. This afternoon was nap and shopping at the local department store. We've had to buy some new outfits for the little miss as almost everything we brought was too big. She is just fitting into mostly 6 month clothing and some 3-6 month stuff. She loves the stroller as long as it keeps moving - this one doesn't like to stay still for very long.

We took some great photos at the University today, but the digital card in our camera may have gone belly up as I can't seem to get to the photos on it. I'll share some of those photos if and when I can get to them, but in the meantime, here's some other photo's from the last 3 days that we thought were worth sharing. One photo is the ferris wheel across from our hotel. Each car on it holds 4-6 people standing up, so you can imagine how big the whole thing is. The others are a few more from the day our world changed. Ron and Olivia are both sleeping and I'm learning quickly that it's best to try to sleep when she does, so I'm off to bed.

A day of rest ....sort of.

We had no official appointments today and actually got a little sleep last night. Olivia slept from 7:30 last night until 6:00 this morning, but woke up every hour to tell us a little of her life story and went right back to sleep each time, and of course we would awake every hour right along with her. We are really getting to see a little of her personality now and she definitely has no trouble telling us if she doesn't like something. There's a playroom for babies down the hall at our hotel and we took her in there to see if anything was interesting to her and Ron had her playing the xylaphone in no time. She completely understood how to get noise from it and loves anything that she can bang like a drum. So far, I seem to be the one who can calm her down or get her to really eat, but Ron is the only one who can get her really smiling and giggling - otherwise, she is comfortable with us both equally and really looks for us if one of us leaves the room. She is a total bed hog - I had to put her in my bed as she keeps getting her legs stuck in the slats of the crib, but she always seems to work her way to the middle of my bed and sprawl out. At one point, she had my whole bed and I had to climb in with Ron in the small beds we have. She started eating a lot better since last night and I've been slowly transitioning her to the formula I brought as the Chinese formula is really little more than milk powder. We will have a little more meat on her bones in no time. She seems to be the exception to the rule and is the only Chinese baby I've ever heard of that really doesn't like congee (a milky, watery, rice soup) that every baby seems to love. She LOVES banana bread though.

Today our guide took us to the Embroidery Factory/Museum, which you might not think sounds all that interesting, but it was really amazing. The ladies that do the work sometimes spend up to two years on one piece working on it 8 hours a day. The work looks like photographs until you are right up close - incredible skill and patience these ladies have. Right outside our hotel is the largest ferris wheel in China. It looks just like the one in Paris. It has several gondolas attached and I'm sure you could see almost to our house from the top! We haven't had a chance to check it out yet, but if the cars are air conditioned, I just might consider it. It is around 35 degrees and very very humid here everyday and sometimes the smog gets pretty heavy. There's plenty to do here thought that we haven't even got to yet. There is a state of the art bowling alley in the hotel, as well as a billiards room, lounges, swimming pool, playrooms, etc. The service here is excellent and North Americans could really take lessons from the Chinese about how to treat others. The people here have been so kind and so gracious and just love the babies. We haven't come across the clothing police yet (the little old Chinese ladies that tell you there aren't enought layers of clothing on your child), but I think that's because it's too hot.

I haven't been able to attach any photo's at all to the blog, but thankfully, our friend Jen has been making sure the photos are getting to the blog for us via email - don't you just love the computer age? Pics to follow...

Ps - It is so humid here that my hair is starting to look just like Monica Geller in the Friend's episode where they went to Barbados.

24 Hours later

I can't believe all that has occurred in the past 24 hours. Getting Olivia was amazing and such an emotional experience for everyone. We recognized her as soon as we came into that room on the 3rd floor of the Civil Affairs office in Changsha. They had already told us that we couldn't go to the babies until they called each family's name and checked our passports, so we thought they would go alphebetically and we would be last, but they called us first and the world changed in an instant. Call it an epiphany, call it pure adrenaline or emotion, but the moment that little girl was placed in my arms, there was no doubt in my mind that the hand of God has been at work here for some time. Everything happened so fast that it all seems a blur now. My sister Kathy decided, in the very late stages, that since I was around for the birth of both her kids, the least she could do was come for ours, so she is with us here and I'm so grateful because she took all the picture and got most of the event on video and I know we wouldn't have been able to have that without her help. It was a very long train ride for Olivia to get there and she was so tired that she slept until 9:00 pm and went down again at 11:00pm - the problem with that is that she was up at 1:30 am and wasn't a very happy camper for the rest of the night. Ron and I took turns walking the floor with her until 7:00 am when we had to go back to the Civil Affairs office to finalize everything. Our Adoption worker here somehow managed to get us in first and we were able to complete all the paperwork quite quickly this morning and Olivia Grace Zhi Meng is now officially ours forever!! I get such a kick out of the fact that before we signed the papers, they ask if we like her and wish to keep her. I know with all my heart that this little soul has been ours since the beginning of time.

A little about our girl: She has 2 bottom teeth and one top one; she loves to be held and walked and won't let you stop moving; she likes bananas and watermelon; her orphanage staff said she was busy and naughty and that she loves her walker.

We will be here until Friday waiting for her Chinese passport, then it's back to Beijing to get her Canadian immigration stuff done. In the meantime, we'll just keep getting to know each other.
Thanks for all the notes and emails - I wish we could respond to all of them, but getting on the internet is touch and go here at best.

We Have Our Baby Girl!

We are the happiest people in the world and completely exhausted. We got Olivia at about 3:15 today and it was amazing. We are so tired so I will tell all about the experience in a later post, but here are some photos. We are all well and our daughter is more than we could ever have hoped for. She is very tiny - on the bathroom scale she is 6 kg which is about 13 or 14 pounds. We are so in love I can't describe it. Thank you all so much for your emails and kind wishes - we love hearing from you all. More later....

Today's the big day

Today was a fun but very long, hot day. It was about 35 degrees with no breeze and pretty smoggy. We shopped like crazy in the market near the hotel this morning, then enjoyed a wonderful 90 minute foot massage in the hotel spa. My feet were very grateful after all the walking in the markets. Later in the afternoon, our guide Shuo and his mom, Yufin took us to a beautiful Park called Jingshan Park which was just just spectacular. We then went to a place where you can have an Emporer's dinner, but the menu was just a little too adventurous for any of us so we went to a restaurant that was more for the locals. It was so loud in there, and it's fascinating to watch how people interact here. So far, I'm enjoying a vegetarian lifestyle here, but it's interesting to see what goes by on a plate. Ron isn't getting too adventurous with food yet, but he's really enjoying what he's trying. One of the dishes our guide ordered for us was some kind of stomach(!!!!) which of course no one ate, but I think he just ordered it for effect. Our room and bed are very comfortable, but I haven't slept well at all. There's so much to see and do and take in in such a short time that it's stimulation overload. We are leaving Beijing in just a few hours to fly to Changsha and we will go the the Civil Affairs office to get the babies shortly after we arrive. I get so weepy just thinking about it now, but I sure hope I can hold it together for Olivia's sake when we get her. It feels like it's taken so long to get here that it just doesn't seem possible to finally be at this point. Enjoy the photo's from today - the next ones will be of our sweet girl. If Doug and Connie are reading this, I hope Emma is behaving - we miss her. Hi to Aaron and Cheryl and Dale and Gisela - wish you were here with us.

Happy Birthday to Ronnie!!

It seems that I can post to the blog, but I can't read it so I hope these posts and photos are making it on ok. Today is Ron's birthday and we celebrated by venturing out on our own in a taxi to the Silk Market, which is a HUGE shopping market where you can buy anything your heart dreams up. Ron is thrilled with his purchase of new Bushnell binoculars and he thinks he can now see Olivia's orphanage in Hunan from our hotel window in Beijing! We are meeting up with our guide and the other family that is here now to go to dinner and tour a Hutong which I'm really excited about, but I'm more excited about the fact that 48 hours from now, Olivia will be in my arms. Here are a few photo's from today, I hope they post. The red sign is posted in the Silk Market and is intended as a code of conduct for the merchants about how they should and shouldn't talk to customers - pretty funny!

We're Here!!

We finally made it! The 12 Hrs. from Vancouver to Beijing was quite uneventul. The movie screen in our section was broken and the stranger next to me (see photo) clearly didn't want to play crib with me. There were 400 passengers on the plane and 399 slept most of the time while I read to same 2 pages in my book 400 times! Yes - even Atavan didn't help me sleep on the plane. By the time we got to our rooms, we had been up and moving for 24 hrs and feel like zombies. My body clock is a little messed up. It's 3:30 am here and Ron is peacefully sleeping, but after my 5 hrs. of sleep, my body wants get going. Anyway, it so so awesome to know that we're in the same country as our daughter now and she is sleeping under the same stars just a few hundred miles away. 2 more sleeps till we have our baby girl! Thanks for all your comments and kind wishes - it's so nice to know how supported our journey is! Photos are taking forever to upload so I'll add some later.

...And They're Off!!

We are on our way to our baby girl! We flew a whole 12 mintues from Victoria to Vancouver already and are now waiting in the Vancouver airport for the 12 hour flight to Beijing. Thanks to everyone for the kind wishes for our journey - our next post will be from China!

Hugs for everyone!!!

"There is only one pretty child in the world...
and every mother has it."
~Chinese Proverb~

A Picture Says A Thousand Words....

...and these ones say even more. Just received a small update with these photos last night. These pics were taken 5 days ago. This little beauty will be in our arms on Father's Day!!

A Baby Shower for Olivia

My friend Jennifer hosted a baby shower for us on Saturday and it was sooooo great to see some of my old co-workers, fastball team mates and friends. Some I hadn't seen in almost 5 years and it was just like seeing my own family again. Most of them have kids, some up to 15 years old and I couldn't help but reflect on when each of them was born, never ever thinking that someday I'd be the one sitting in the chair wearing the silly hat made of bows. It was hard not to be overwhelmed by it all and I finally really lost it when Jen's 9 year daughter Courteney gave us a painting she did for Olivia's room (see the photo below). Ron and I are both so thankful, not only for the beautiful gifts that everyone brought for Olivia, but that each of them cared enough to share in this incredible experience with us. We love you all so much and can't wait to introduce Miss Olivia to you all in person. Thank you for your friendship, your fellowship, your generosity of spirit and your kind hearts.

Angela, Helen, yours truly, Heather and Sheila
The artwork of the talented Miss Courteney
Andrea, Moi, Daphne, Carol, Val M., and Florence
The gang and Emma

More Shower photos

Cool Cake!
Some of the ball team girls and Douglas

Nice Hat!!
Jennifer, Heather and Lauren
I'm losin' it.

Travel plans are in place!

Wow - things are sure coming together fast now. Our flights are booked and we will be China bound in 4 weeks!! We will be traveling to Beijing on June 15th, spending 2 days there getting our body clocks adjusted, and on Monday the 19th we fly to Changsha in Hunan province, and we will be united with our sweet Olivia that same day! We'll spend about 4 or 5 days there and then return to Beijing to complete the rest of the paper work and return home on the 29th. It seems like it's taken forever to get to this point and now things are happening quite quickly. I have 2 very, very busy weeks of work left and hopefully will be able to get everything done in that time.
I feel like we've just begun another leg of "The Amazing Race - Paperwork Edition", but I know we'll win and the prize will be priceless.

A very Happy Mother's Day to all

Even though I won't be spending this Mother's Day in person with my mom or my baby girl, it's already one of the best ever - full of incredible memories and wonderful promise. Happy Mother's Day to everyone who's made a difference in a child's life - mothers comes in many different forms and each one is important and special.

Today is also a day (among many) that I can't help but think about Olivia's birth mother and the struggles she must have endured over the past 7 months. I keep her in my prayers and although it's unlikely that we will ever know each other, I hope that she knows how much her daughter is loved and how committed we are to raising her the best way we can. We hope that she is able to find peace in her heart over what must have been the most difficult decision she has ever had to make, and we thank her for choosing life for this beautiful little soul.

Baby brain stikes...

I've heard of it, I've seen it in others, I've made fun of it, and I've accused people of having it, I've seen it turn perfectly reasonable people into babbling idiots, but I sure never thought I'd get it. It's baby brain. It's when you're so pre-occupied with the newness of a baby or child that you suddenly can't speak in complete sentences, you forget where you're going as soon as you get in the car, you have no idea how you got to where you're going once you get there, you forget what you were saying in the middle of a sentence, you lose your ability to remember anything important and you function like a 6 year old. AND SHE'S NOT EVEN HERE YET!!! I have sooo much work to do before she's home, both personal and professional, but needless to say, it's really tough to stay focused on other things. Someone should take her pictures away from me so I can stare at something else for a while. NOT! Big sigh......

So what's next? We have crossed the t's and dotted the i's and now we apply for a China travel visa and wait for our facilitator, Family Outreach International, to set up all the legal appointments for us in China. Once they are established, then we book our flights into China and they look after all the "In China" travel and accommodations, etc. It looks like we may be leaving around the middle of June and will stay for 2 weeks to complete everything. While we are there, we will also have a chance to do some touring between official appointments. Waiting 5 weeks seems like such a long time, but we've come this far and waited this long so I'm sure we can last just a little longer.

We have our baby's file!!!

We met with our agency today and got the translated information about our daughter and we are excited to share some of that with you. She is:

Zhi Meng - "Zhi" is the first word of the county where she was born and "Meng" means dream.
Born on October 8, 2005 - 6.5 months old
Weight: 6.5 kg or 14 lbs as of Feb.27/06
Currently residing in Zhijiang Social Welfare Institute, in Hunan Province
This is a small orphanage with many caregivers so the babies receive a lot of care and attention - YIPPEE!!!!!!
She is reported as quiet with a beautiful smile, likes to be carried, playing with her toys and enjoys sitting in her walker. Her eating and sleeping habits are very good. Her motor development is where it should be in most areas and advanced in others.

We are sooo excited and still a little overwhelmed that this dream is finally becoming a reality. Many thanks to all of you who have been so supportive while we waited for this day. We look forward to sharing the very exciting journey to having her in our arms.


*** Her referral photos below have been re-sized and re-posted.

Small Update

We got a call from our agency social worker tonight and they have determined her birthday to be October 8/05. Our beautiful little Libra. We're looking forward to Monday when we can meet with the agency and get all the rest of her information. We're just over the moon in love with her.

INTRODUCING Miss Olivia.....

We are thrilled beyond words to show you our first photos of Miss Olivia - we have very little information yet as we won't get her translated file until Monday. Her birthday is 8/10/05, but we don't even know if that's August 10 or October 8 - either way, she's the most beautiful, precious baby girl I've ever seen. We feel so very blessed and couldn't be happier. We'll share more information as we get it early next week.

Patience is not really a virtue...people just like to say it is.

WAITING SUCKS!!! (Sorry for yelling)

THE STORK IS IN THE AIR!!

We just found out that the CCAA has sent out referrals for families whose Log In Dates are May 31st to June 6/05, and that's us!!!! Our daughter's file in on it's way to Canada as we speak. Once it arrives, it has to go through the Ministry for Children and Families and then get translated before we get it, so we're hoping to have more information to share next week some time. YIPPEE!!!!!!! Here's an ironic detail....it was one year ago today that our dossier left Canada to go to China

Something fun to pass the time...

I found this website that will look at another website and randomly pull words from it and make what's called a word cloud. So I plunked in this blog address and here's what I got. They'll even make me a shirt with this on it. Kind of cool, huh?....our referral would be even cooler. sigh...

What keeps me going...

Man, it's tough right now to think about much other than the possibilities of referrals leaving China at the end of this week, or the seemingly never ending and unexpected delays we are experiencing. Here's a little something I read quite a while ago and it sure has been a source of comfort for us lately:

Be assured that if God takes longer than you wish, it is only to make the blessing all the more precious. ~Unknown

Hopefully, we will hear something of our referral news late next week. Please accept our sincere thanks to all of you who have offered so much support, encouragement and comfort during the sometimes trying times of this journey. Even our adoption/blogger friends, whom we've never met in person, are appreciated more than they know. It's true that friends really will go anywhere with you...thanks for coming along.

Dispelling some myths...

A word of advise.... Whatever ideas and stereotypes you have about China, it's girls, it's boys and it's cultural beliefs relating to adoption or abandonment of children, forget them all because they are likely misconceived. Most people seem very quick to assume that the reason Chinese children, specifically girls, are given up and adopted is that "Chinese people favour boys". The truth is so very far from that and much more complicated than most of us realize. If you really want some firsthand insight into understanding some of these things, check out Brian Stuy's blog. Brian is a guy who has three beautiful children adopted from China and although his views can seem a little abrasive, has dedicated a very large part of his life to researching China, and it's adoption world, both domestic and international. He is on a continuous quest to understand, and help us all understand, how the Chinese governement influences all of this and how the Chinese people feel about their children. His postings also provide some insight into why we, and many other families waiting to adopt are experiencing increased waiting times. I encourage you to navigate around his site and keep an open mind. The biggest myth I hope to dispell, and the message I hope you glean from Brian's dedicated research is this: While we all face different circumstances on a global scale, it doesn't matter what the country, the skin color or the culture...everybody loves their children.

Happy Easter.

Betty doesn't live here...

Since a few have asked.... no, I didn't bake the cake - Betty Crocker did, and if you want the recipe (and other cool cake recipes), click here.

Happy Birthday to me....

(Sing to the tune of Happy Birthday)
Happy Birthday to me,
Happy Birthday to me
I'd love to have my baby girl,
Before she's Twenty three!!

It's a good day. I didn't have to wake up to an alarm, I get to coach a 9 & 10 year old girls softball team, I get to play in our last regular hockey game of the season tonight, and my husband got me a new bike! (well I went and got it, but it's from him and Emma) Yep, it's a good day. Now where's my baby girl???? I can't think of any reason why we wouldn't get our referral within the next 3 weeks, but after the past 2 months, I'm afraid to count on anything or make any assumptions. Say a prayer for us, cross your fingers, wish on a star or click your heels three times - we'll take it all.

Eating crow....

I NEVER should have said we were "next". It's like saying a goalie will get a shutout before the game is over, or talking about how great a recipe is before you've tasted it. You guessed it...we missed the cut off again this month. It's almost impossible to believe, but this month they are issuing referrals for Log In Dates of May 26-30th only. That's 3, yes 3 business days. Our LID is May 31. Last month, it was dissappointing not to get a referral with the rest of our origional travel group, but this month I really wasn't prepared for it. Soooo, I've spent the last 2 days blubbering and feeling sorry for myself and driving my husband crazy. Now that I've got that out of my system (mostly), I've resigned myself to the fact that we will wait patiently for another month to see a picture of, and hear about our daughter. I don't know if it makes any sense to people who haven't been down the road of adoption, or maybe it does, but I never in a million years, could have imagined how emotionally invested a person could get in a little human being they've never even met....and how hard it is to be kept from them.

What if she's a boy??

Oddly enough, a few people have asked us that question lately - What if we get referred a boy? I can only answer this: If the referral stork brings us a boy, we'll love him, call him Jack, and he'll be wearing girls clothes until he's 5!! (with many thanks to Angela and Janie for their very generous gifts of the lovely clothes that their girls have grown out of). Seriously though, more than 95% of the referrals from the CCAA are girls and as I understand it, what few boys are referred usually go to families that: a) have specifically requested a boy, or b) to families that specified no gender preference.

On another note, you'll all be happy to know that the daffodills made a miraculous recovery following our 1 inch snowstorm and are now doing just fine. Whew...like that's all I've been thinking about lately.

Ahhh spring....

The view from our front door this morning. We woke up to a full inch and a half of snow!! Last week I cut the lawn, all the daffodils were up in full bloom, the lilacs are budding, the tulips were 6 " out of the ground and the cherry blossoms have been stunning. This isn't supposed to happen in Victoria in March but you gotta love the change of scenery!
These Daffodils are very, very unhappy today.
Our back door. There are flowers in bloom burried under that little bit of snow. 

Bummed...

OK - so now it's official that we missed the cut off for this round of referrals, but the good news is....We're definitely next! So now at least we know and can move forward with plans to get busy with other things. My day of moping is over - onward and upward. I'm so excited for all my on-line and blogger friends that are receiving referrals over the next week and I can't wait to see photo's of their wee ones.

Missed the Cut Off...

Well, unofficially, we have missed the cut off this month for referrals. The word is out that the CCAA has issued referrals for LID's of May 14-25/05 so we missed it by 4 working days!! The CCAA hasn't officially updated their web site yet, so there's still a shred of hope for this month, but if we don't make this one, at least we know for sure that we are next!!

To look on the brighter side...

• We can get more yard work and odd jobs done before we go to China.
• Ron won't have to miss the annual Around Saltspring sailing race.
• We can pack lighter for warmer weather in China.
• The days are getting brighter and longer as we speak.
• Gives me another month to organize and finish a bunch of work related stuff before I hand my job off to someone else.

That's all I can think of for now. Feel free to let me know if you have anything good to add to this list because right now it's not making me feel that much better.

Their story...

Click on this Bring Me Hope link to see a short video about the story of many of the children in China waiting for a 'forever family'. Watch the 7 minute version and bring kleenex.

P.S. I want them all.

Tick, Tick, Tick....

Well, it's been 284 days since our dossier went to China and 247 days since it was logged in - but who's counting? February is shaping up to be a very busy month at work, which should help pass the time quicker. Also, even though we've had rain for 39 of the last 40 days, signs of early spring are everywhere here. My daffodils are 6 inches out of the ground, the grass is growing lots, the snowdrop crocuses are all out and there are blossoms on some of the trees. I even noticed driving home the other day that the heather is blooming everywhere. Victoria has it's official flower count every year in February, and I think this is just to pi-- off the rest of the country. Spring is my favorite time of year, so at least the signs of spring offer some hope of good things just around the corner. I know our referral will be one of them, but I'd sure like it sooner rather than later. 

Ladybugs and referrals...but still not ours.

You may or may not know that in the world of Chinese adoption, ladybugs represent good luck and good furtune. It is said that ladybug sightings are often reported just prior to referrals being issued. So here's our ladybugs......Ladybug shoes and a ladybug music box that plays the theme song from "Love Story". I always swore I wouldn't get too ladybug crazy, but I have to admit we also have a little ladybug towel for Olivia. That's it - no more ladybug stuff.....except for the little shirt with ladybugs on it and that's it, really. So, the news on the various China adoption boards is that as of today, the CCAA has updated it's web site to say that they have just issued referrals for families whose Log In Date is between April 26 and May 13. Those families are ecstatic and will receive the referrals this week. Where does that leave us? I wish I knew. One would logically think that because our LID is May 31, that we would be in the next group of referrals, however, there are 2 things that still make this uncertain. One is that I know that there are an extremely unusual number of families with LID's between May 14 and May 31st. This means that they may not be able to process that many in the next group of referrals. The second thing is timing - the CCAA closes for one week at Chinese New Year, which begins on Jan.29 and they will reportedly close for another week to relocate to their newer, larger offices in Beijing. If there are less than 2 working weeks for them in February, it is likely that they may not even issue referrals again until March. I thought I would be just about psychotic about these delays by now, but strangely enough, I'm surprisingly calm. I think I've finally come to a place where I have truly accepted that it will happen at exactly the time it's meant to. I know that a beautiful little girl is waiting for us - she just has to wait a tiny bit longer. In the meantime, we just hope and pray that she is loved and cared for.

More Referrals, but not ours...

The CCAA has just updated their web site that they have sent out referrals for dossiers logged in from April 15 - 25th. So that includes 11 days only - the last batch was 14 days and the one before that was 17 days. While it's getting discouraging that they seem to be processing fewer days each time, we are acutually getting closer. Come on May 31...... Rumour has it that there will be another batch before Chinese New Year which starts on Jan. 29. I certainly don't expect we'll be included with that one, but perhaps the one after. Big Sigh.....

Family Christmas

Although our little girl couldn't be with us just yet, we still had lots of family and friends over for dinner on Christmas eve. Ron 's family was all here for Christmas eve, and we went to my dad's for a visit on Christmas day and then off to my brother's place for a nice dinner.

Ok, so the latest rumours on the various on line China Adoption boards is that the CCAA will probably issue another set of referral at the end of Dec. or the beginning of January and then another set just before Chinese New Year, which begins on Jan 29. The CCAA closes for a week for Chinese New Year and historically, they have issued 2 sets of referrals in the month just prior. If this is true, there's a good chance that we may be included in the set of referrals that comes out near the end of January. I hate rumours, but wishfull thinking is better than nothing.

The littlest stocking...

We both really wanted our little girl home for Christmas this year, but while this was not to be, we still made sure she was a part of our Christmas. This is our newest tree ornament and Olivia's first Christmas stocking.

Cool Stuff

Sometimes we all need a reminder...

“The man whispered, "God, speak to me" and a Chickadee sang.
But, the man did not hear.

So the man yelled "God, speak to me!" And, the thunder rolled across the sky.
But, the man did not listen.

The man looked around and said, "God let me see you." And a star shined brightly.
But the man did not notice.

And, the man shouted, "God show me a miracle!" And, a life was born.
But, the man did not know.

So, the man cried out in despair, "Touch me God, and let me know you are here!"
Whereupon, God reached down and touched the man.
But, the man brushed the butterfly away and walked on.

Don't miss out on a miracle because it isn't packaged the way that you expect.”

— unknown

The Red Thread...

Processing Update

The past few weeks have kinda sucked - I've been home sick with a chest cold, then the flu and now have a mild case of shingles (which is really just a dormant chicken pock gone crazy). So I've spent lots of time on line, checking out lots of China Adoption journals, and getting all caught up on life in the adoption world. Now Ron has the cold and we're both lousy company - poor Emma has to listen to us both and just wants a pair of socks to carry around.

The good news today is that the CCAA has issued it's referrals for this month. The not so good news is that they issued referrals only for dossiers with log in dates of April 1-14/05. Our Log In Date is May 31/05. If they are only processing 14 days worth of Log In Dates each month right now, we may have to wait until March or possibly even April before we get referral, and travel 6-8 weeks later. I'm trying really hard not to be bummed out about the delays, and trying to enjoy this quiet time and get lots of other stuff done, but waiting really sucks!!

Since I don't have our referral baby picture to show you, I thought I'd show you one of Emma's baby pictures just because she's soooo darn cute! In fact, you could call this Emma's referral photo since it's the first picture I ever had of her.

Getting closer.....

I just found out that the CCAA (China Centre of Adoption Affairs), which could also be called the CVW (Centre of Val's World) these days, has just redone their web site and included a section that talks about where they are in their paperwork processing. They say that they have finished reviewing dossiers that were logged in in May (our log in date is May 31/05), which means we are now in the Matching Room!! (hard to breathe again...) We could be getting matched with our little peanut as we speak! (Between you and me, I think that my mom and the Big Guy already matched us with our little girl a very long time ago, but for now let's let the CCAA think they're still in charge of this gig.) The CCAA has been trying to get to where they can send out a full month of referrals at one time, but last month they only sent out 2 weeks worth. If they are going to send out a full month of dossiers at one time, then we could be on for a January referral, otherwise it would be a Feb. referral and travel end of March/early April. Please keep us in your prayers and keep everything crossed for us!

Lessons...

Well, this adoption experience, while apparently far from over, has taught me so much about adoption realated issues and process, now it seems I'm having a lesson in patience. When we first began this process, based on what all the parties involved, as well as folks who've already traveled this road have told us, we thought we would have a referral in Nov/Dec and travel to China in Dec/Jan. Oh, how naive we are. What I have also come to learn, is that the CCAA does things in their own time and no one seems to understand the rhyme or reason. Once we got a Log In Date, that pretty much means 'you've taken a number, now wait your turn'. Anyone who knows me knows that waiting is something I'm really not built for to begin with, but I figure, 'when in Rome', so we start paying attention to what referrals are coming out when. For expample, in September, anyone with a LID of Jan.28-Feb.24 got referrals. So we figured that if the CCAA is processing approximately 24 days of dossiers each month, we used that to count forward and calculate when we would get a referral with a May 31 LID. The problem with that theory is that in October, they only issued referrals for about 20 days, which meant we would get bumped back a month. We just found out that for November, the CCAA has just issued referrals for LID's from March 17-31 only. Again, I'm just guessing, but now it looks like we will be lucky to get referral in Feb. and travel in March. The latest information is that the CCAA is going to be moving to larger offices, so that move will likley slow things down a little again. Yes, it's a bummer and disappointing, but thankfully, our friends and family keep reminding us that it will happen when it's meant to and that the perfect little girl will come to us in due time. I'm hooked up with an incredible group of supportive people who have been through this process, some 2 or 3 times, as well as folks who are waiting just like us, and some of them waited over a year from LID to referral.

So the lessons I'm taking away from this are:

1. The CCAA will get it done when they're darn good and ready.
2. The weather is better in China in March/April than it is in Dec/Jan.
   
3. Good things come to those who wait - I really gotta go with this one.
4. Patience is not really a virtue - people just like to say that.
   
5. You can't hide broccoli in a glass of milk.
6. Cheesecake can make almost anything better.

Thanks for listening - I feel better now. Gotta go to the bakery.

Pooh Corner is done!

Olivia's Pooh room is finally done - except that there's supposed to be wispy clouds on the wall above her crib and above the window, but I'm too afraid of screwing up the wall. It'll have to wait until I get a talented volunteer (or get into the wine). Anyway, we're pretty happy with the way it turned out - now we just need Olivia to give us her approval. Now on to the bathroom...

Sonogram

Questions, Questions.....

Lots of people are asking lots of general questions lately so I'll answer them here as best I can, just in case you were wondering too.

1. Is Olivia born yet? Answer: I'm pretty sure she is. While our daughter could be up to 2 or 3 yrs. old, the vast majority of children are 7 to 10 months old at the time of referral and 9 to 14 months when the come home with their new families.
2. What's a referral? Answer: Referral is when families get notification and information about the child they are matched with. Referral usually has a brief write up discribing the child, any medical information that is available and 2 or 3 small photos.
3. Do you get to choose your child? Answer: No. The CCAA matches families with children. I don't think anyone really knows how, but rumour has it they do the matches based on lots of factors such as physical characteristics, birthdates, behaviors ie; active children go with active families, etc. Once a family gets a referral, they do have to officially accept or decline that referral.
   
4. When will you get your referral? Answer: I wish I knew. At the time our dossier was logged into the CCAA in China, the wait was 6-7 months from Log In Date to referral. Since that time, things seem to have slowed down somewhat at that end and sadly, the wait is a little longer. I'd like to say we will get referral in January or February and travel 6-7 weeks later, but I'm learning that this process can change quite quickly so we don't really know. We will certainly post our referral on this site as soon as we get anything and I'll update this site more as we get closer.
5. Are the babies all in orphanages? Answer: Most are, but some are in foster care with local families until they are adopted. Foster care is better for the babies for obvious reasons, but also, if Olivia is in foster care, it will make the initial transition more difficult for her, but will be much better for her in the long run as she will likely have learned how to bond and attach to a caregiver or family. Bonding and attaching is generally more difficult for babies that have been only in orphanages as they have had very little personal cuddling and attention due to the high ratio of caregivers to babies. We have been busy researching, learning and preparing for these scenarios.
   
6. Do you have to go to China? Answer: Yes - we will spend almost 2 weeks in China and we wouldn't miss it for the world. This will be such a great opportunity to learn as much as we can about her life before us, to see where she's from, learn more about her culture, etc. The first week will be in whatever province she is from in China to finalize the adoption process and meet all the requirements of the Chinese government. The second week will be in Beijing where the Canadian consulate is. That week is to get passports, immigration documents, travel visa for baby to come to Canada, etc.
   
7. Do the babies speak Chinese? Answer: The babies speak baby. (??)

I hope that answers some of the general questions, but if there's anything else you want to know, or anything you're curious about, just ask. If nothing else, I've learned through this process that there are so many people considering adoption as a means to create or expand a family and learning has been such a great part of this process - we're happy to pass on any information.

Gettin' there....

We are making some progress. One of the photos shows our resident decorating expert, Emma, has selected a wallpaper sample and is eager to show us her choice.

Is this nesting or what?...

So Olivia's room is almost done and I have to say, it doesn't look so bad. We are just waiting for the imported wall paper border to arrive. (It's being imported from the Target store in Phoenix where our friends Jennifer and Ed are visiting our other friends Sylvia and Craig) I might even show you a picture of it when it's all done. Anyway, while doing this room, I've spent a lot of time going back and forth to the bathroom across the hall and realized that now that the kid's room looks pretty good, the bathroom looks really bad. It alway did, but I guess was easier to ignore when the other rooms looked pretty blah also. So now I have new wall paper border for the bathroom (not imported) and paint to fix the walls and since I now have a sea sponge, I'm going to learn to use it. After I bought the wall paper border for the bathroom, I got to thinking that our bedroom is really plain. We've always talked about decorating it, but either got busy with other things or didn't agree on what to do. So now we're talking about colors (ok, so it's just me that's talking about colors) and Ron is rolling his eyes and hides everytime I hold up another Home Depot paint brochure.

Creating Pooh Corner....

ok - so I am admittedly the least creative person I know. I can't draw a straight line with ruler, I have absolutely no designer "vision", and I wear everything that's liquid, including paint. So I may as well start redecorating the guest room into Olivia's very own Pooh Corner. We are halfway done the painting and I have enough paint under my nails to do another room. I really hope the room comes out looking like the picture from the store (yeah right), but if it doesn't, it'll be nothing that 2 or 3 more coates of paint and a bottle of wine can't fix. Here's a couple of shots of the early progress. As you can see, Emma has decided that she can't miss out of any of this fun. Who picked out those colors anyway?? I reserve the right not to post photo's of the finished product.

My new logo...

I "Borrowed" this from another adoption blog - I hope they don't mind.

Can anyone tell which file is ours?

Here's a picture of the Matching room at the China Centre of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) in Beijing. This is where our dossier is sitting. Actually, it may still be in the review room, where they make sure the file is complete and meets their requirements, which looks very similar. All the files you see are families waiting to be matched with little girls. They are color coded according to country and agency and sorted by the dates they were logged in. The next bunch of referrals is due out at the beginning of November and then we'll have a better idea if we are next (Oh My Gosh that freaks me out!) or if we will be in the January referrals. I can already feel my pulse quickening - OMG, OMG, OMG.......

In training....

Today, I think that God and/or my mother are really working hard to train and test us for the coming of Olivia. I have 11 neices and nephews all of whom we dearly love, but just don't get to see as often as I'd like for various reasons, but this weekend, Jordan (10) and Isaac (8) have come to spend the weekend. I love this because it's a long weekend, it's Thanksgiving, we really didn't have much going on cuz the boys and their spouses are away, so it sounds like a really great weekend with the kids. We have plans to go swimming, skating, sailing, we'll do it all.... yeah, I don't think so.

Kids get here at 8:00 Thursday night. I am feeling good, but just took 3 extra strength tylenol for a wopper of a headache (because I now need glasses less than 5 years after paying a small fortune for laser surgery). Anyway, we visit, have a hot tub, unpack, make beds up... the usual. Isaac decides that he can't sleep and gets a little scared/homesick/overtired and doesn't want me to leave his room, so I lay down on the floor beside him. Everytime I try to leave the room, he jumps up crying and insists I stay. This goes on every 10 minutes until 1:30 am. When I finally sneak out like a burglar on my hands and knees, I approach my bedroom door only to discover that the snoring coming from inside our room is soooo loud, there's no point in going in. Off to the couch with me. Now I'm kind of awake and have to watch TV to get sleepy until 2:00. Finally, sweet sleep. At 2:15, Ron comes in and says "Where's Jordan?" to which I can only respond "in her bed". He says "no, she's not, I was just in there and she's not there". I said "where's Isaac?" He says "laying on our bedroom floor crying because he says he can't find you". I scurry down the hall wondering where the heck Jordan is and of course she's sound asleep right where I said she was. I guess he only looked under the bed instead of on top of it. Anyway, I collect Isaac off the floor, lay down with him and he finally goes to sleep at 2:30. I finally got to drift off around 3:00. At 6:15 I'm semi aware of little feet coming at me and I'm thinking 'he can't possibly be awake now'. Except that this time it's Jordan telling me she doesn't feel good and runs to the bathroom to throw up. Up I get to rub the back of a puking child and hunt down some children's gravol, which I don't have, so have to settle for 1/2 of a adult natural source gravol and some flat ginger ale. Works for about an hour, then more barfing. I finally get some childrens' gravol and doesn't really settle her stomach, but sure gets her back to sleep - she just wakes up to barf now. If nothing else, I'm at least thankful that she knows enough to get to the toilet on time. So far I haven't had to clean anything off the bed or floors. Isaac was kind enough to sleep in until 9:00 am. and kept entertained all day by the 1980 video games we've always kept and a number of the 150 tv channels we subscribe to. After a full day of this, Ron was kind enough to bring home KFC so I didn't have to cook anything, and after dinner I took Isaac out to get an ice cream and brought some extra home. Jordan hasn't kept anything down all day and still doesn't understand why she can't have a Dairy Queen blizzard (we did save her some for when she's feeling better).

It's 9:25 pm - day 1. One has managed to keep down a little gatorade and few bland noodles over the past 2 hours, and the other isn't crying. There are dirty kids clothes all over the floor in the baby's room, 8 or 10 half full kids' drinks on the counter, game boy games all over the coffee table, wet hot tub towels on the wooden furniture, but 2 cute children are peacefully sleeping down the hall (I think). Do I pass?

Why China....

Lots of people ask why we chose China. There are many reasons, but here's some of the main ones:

1. To control China's fast growing population, there is currently a "one child" policy that is still enforced in many provinces. Many families prefer to have a boy because it is culturally the boy's responsibility to work to help the family and boys will look after their parents in their old age. Girls will usually marry and will help to look after her husband's family. While many people assume that some babies are not wanted simply because they are girls, this is certainly not true. In many cases, the family already has one or more children and face paying unaffordably high fines, losing their jobs, or perhaps worse for having a second or third child. Because it is illegal to give a child up for adoption, there are approximately 1.5 million girls abandoned in China. These are children whose birth mothers love them very much, but clearly could see a better life for their daughters in one of China's many orphanages, or with adoptive families. Often, they are abandoned in very public places such as a police station, hospital, public park or shopping mall, usually with the mother watching from a distance to make sure they are safe and found quickly.

2. Children and infants adopted from China are generally very healthy. The prenatal use of drugs and alcohol is almost non existant. Fortunately, it's just not part of the culture in most areas of the country.

3. The process of adopting from China may be a little longer than some countries, but it's a very clean process with a child as the end result. Other countries have adoption processes that can be terminated by birth mothers at the 11th hour, or in some cases, after the child has been placed with and bonded to a new family.

There are many other reason's, but overall, we felt a real tug from China right from the start and we know with absolute certainty that this is right choice for us (and for our daughter!).

Our current baby...

Our current baby, Emma. I sure hope Olivia isn't allergic to Emma when she comes home - I'd hate to have to find her new parents so soon. OK - I"M KIDDING!!!! I sure love my dog though. How could you not love that face? Especially when she greets you with a mouth full of socks and doesn't just wag her tail, but rather the whole bum. I think Emma will be more than a little jealous of Olivia at first, but will soon love her to death when she realizes what comes off of that high chair everytime Olivia sits in it.

Beginnings.....

You may have got here because you've seen our other website. Well, the reason for this blog isn't that I have a desire to use every means possible to post this journal, but rather it's almost the opposite. The real truth is that I'm nowhere near technically inclined enough to figure out how to post multiple journal dates on the web site, but on a blog, it's pretty much a no brainer. I should probably have reserved that comment until I know for sure whether or not this will work, but for now the plan is that we will post our daily journals and photo's on this blog each day that we're away, and a few updates before then, so check in regularly.

Here's the latest: The paper chase is done, the home study is done, dossier is logged in at the CCAA in China and I'm really, really sick of waiting. Whoever said patience is a virtue needs a smack. I've heard everything from "the wait will be soooo worth it" to "it's just how long most people have to wait when they find out they are pregnant" to "the time will seem like it just flew by". I smile and nod take another sip of the 12th coffee of the day (get off my back about the coffee - I already quit smoking) and keep my foot from involuntarily kicking them in the shins. Don't get me wrong - I love my friends and family and I thank God daily that they are sooo helpful and supportive - I'm just really, really ready for my little girl to come home.

Anyway, I follow the Yahoo groups discussion board for Family Outreach International (our facilitator) and for Canadians Adopting From China, and there's always discussion about who has what log in date and who is getting referrals at the beginning of each month. Well, we have a log in date of May 31/05 and at the rate things are going, it looks like we will get our referral around the beginning of January and travel mid to late February. If a small miracle happens, and China gets caught up enough to work on a calendar month, there's a chance we may get a December referral and travel in Jan, but I sure don't want to get my hopes up for that. Please think good thoughts for us and keep your fingers crossed.

How did we get here.....

Thanks for joining us on our journey to adopt a beautiful little girl from the Peoples Republic Of China. We are thrilled to be able to share this story with our family and friend's and to anyone considering adoption, we hope you find the information useful. I know that when we were first researching adoption, reading other families' journals was a huge source of information and inspiration.

As many of you know, Ron and I have been together for about 18 years and married for 5 years. Ron has two wonderful sons, Aaron and Dale, from a previous marriage and they spent pretty much most of their teenage and young adult lives living with us. While raising two teenage boys in a blended family certainly had it's challenges, I wouldn't trade it for anything - they've taught us so much, and I think we will both be better parents as a result. As they grew and moved out on their own, it became more and more apparent to that I was really suffering from "empty nest syndrome" at too early of an age. Ron was certainly noticing this also....

Dec/04 - After years of on and off discussions and research, we decided to bring another child into our lives and decided that China was calling us! So begins our story....

Please join us regularly, as we will update this site with journals and photo's as often as there's something to say (and even when there's not).