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.