Our Family Adventures

Home Five months...

2010-09-07T21:48:00.000-07:00

Well, the summer breezed by and here we are in September...Gus had his first day of grade 2 this morning and was delighted to see all his little buddies... Big smiles all around. Hildy is growing! SHe has gained 6 pounds since we brought her home and grown almost 10 cm! She has hair now and is full of smiles, is trying desperately to walk and loves her big brother. Here are a few updated pictures...

Please donate to cancer research....

2010-06-29T20:03:00.000-07:00

This year my family suffered an agonizing loss to cancer: my cousin. He was an amazing dad, husband, brother, cousin, nephew, firefighter, friend... I could go on. It has ripped a huge hole in our family and we need to raise money for research to stop this from happening again, again and again. Please consider donating to his brave daughter, who just graduated from grade 12. She is participating in a Reach for the Cure campaign in honour of her dad. Check out her website at http://convio.cancer.ca/site/TR/Thirdpartyevent/IFE_AB_General_?px=3627804&pg=personal&fr_id=6750
It would mean a lot to my family... Thank you for your support. Please pass this website on to anyone you think would be interested in helping her on her journey.

Summer Has Arrived!

2010-06-08T19:31:00.000-07:00

Ok, gorgeous day. Had dinner on the deck with Nana and Papa. Here are some pictures of the kids from the past couple of weeks....

Just hangin' around

2010-06-04T14:16:00.001-07:00

Not much to report this week. Gus went to Tristan's birthday party last weekend and got to check out a real firetruck...very cool. Hildy has the sniffles so likes to be held all the time..seems like she is bonding well. She has mastered crawling and is now pulling herself up...has yet to take any steps... She is now 18 pounds... not sure how long she is but has grown out of her really small sleepers. Gus is winding things up in grade one... only a few more weeks until summer vacation and then on to grade 2. How did that happen?? Here are some pictures of the past two weeks...

Cuties at Home

2010-05-25T11:12:00.000-07:00

If there were ever two pictures that capture the personalities of my kids, here they are...

First trip to Pender!

2010-05-25T11:00:00.001-07:00

We went to Pender for the May Day celebrations this weekend. Hildy's first trip! She didn't seem to mind the ferry but was a little freaked out at not being in her own crib etc. She did ok but is a litle unsettled now that we are home... just going to hang out at home this week. It was great to see everyone!! Introduced Hildy to the "Thursday Girls"... Lisa, thank you so muich for the beautiful cake. Thank you all for the picnic and showering Hildy with goodies...You guys are the best and I miss you all so much. It was so great to all be together again. Gus went fishing with Papa and caught 17 fish!! A new record. A great weekend ...

Update from the weekend

2010-05-17T12:36:00.000-07:00

We had a riviting movie night (see photo) on Friday night, had a fun day Saturday just hanging around and went to Kerri's for a baby welcoming on Sunday... Hildy got to hang out with Norah and meet lots of anuts and uncles and cousins! Lots of fun.

Happy Girl!!!

2010-05-12T11:13:00.000-07:00

Well Hildy has definately figured out this eating thing. She squeals and laughs when she eats and is putting it away! She likes black cherry yogurt and banana rice cereal. She does not like potato and cheese casserole... We'll try to expand the reptoire soon.... ps: she has grown 4 cm since we met!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T09:49:00.000-07:00

Dear Mumsy,
Thank you for always being there, for showing us what love looks like, for the care packages when I lived in Bella Bella, for celebrating my children and for all of your unconditional love. How lucky are all of us to have you in our lives... Much love to you today and always.

She eats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-05-09T09:39:00.000-07:00

So, we had our pediatrician's appointment on Friday. She did an in-depth assessment and examination of little miss and decided maybe she has a silent reflux problem. She gave us a prescription to minimize acid in her tummy. Her thought was myabe she doesn't eat as it hurts her and burns the esophagus etc. I got the prescription filled, squirted it into a very unhappy Hildy (it smells so bad, I'd cry if I had to take it too) and two doses later, less than 24 hours after the appointment, guess who opened her mouth like a little bird and ate as much yoghurt and rice cereal as I was willing to give her?! A very happy and full Hildy then promptly went for a two hour nap. Poor thing...fianlly someone figured it out! Thank you Dr. Kalaher!!!!!

Papa's Birthday Bash

2010-05-09T09:32:00.000-07:00

Well, we had a the fam here for dad's birthday. Lots of fun and lots of cuddles for Hildy. Gus and Lili played, Doug, Heather and Sarah came, great day. So good to see dad surrounded by his grandkids... a perfect place to spend his birthday!

Home for Three Weeks now...

2010-05-07T10:15:00.000-07:00

Well, Hildy and I have been home for three weeks today. Some things are going great. Some things..not so much. Hildy is developing physically quite well. She is sitting up on her own very strongly now. She took her first two crawls yesterday, is pulling herself up to standing (while using my hair as a handle) and got her first tooth last night. She is still having some issues at night with crying in her sleep, a little screaming here and there but perhaps that is teething, hunger? It seems to me she is dreaming and scared but not sure. We aer going to the doctor today to get some updates and help with our major issue: eating. She will not take a spoon/food of any kind. She is drinking lots of bottles and gaining weight but I think we need a little help with the food part. Gus is doing well. He started baseball and is doing well at school. He still loves his little sister lots..too much some days as the swatds from her let him know. Here is a quick summary of the past few weeks:
Things Gus has learned:
1. Hildy is not a doll... she will swat and grab ears if they are left too close.
2. Lizards cannot (should not) eat granola bars.
3. Fish cannot be left on the counter top whilst cleaning out their tank.
3. The best job in the world would be Lego tester/inventor... Gus' new goal in life.

Things Hildy has learned:
1. Gus can make some awesome noises with his mouth that are hilarious (mostly bathroom noises with the odd machine gun fire in there as well)
2. Mommy's hair is not a handle.
3. Grass exists. It feels neat.
4. Dogs exist. They are ok but not really sure about that yet.
5. Shoes and jewelry make Hildy happy. Really. She spends lots of time looking and grabbing at both.
6. Putting her hand in ketchup from Gus' plate was not fun. For anyone.

Things Mommy has learned:
1. Having two children is not twice the work..it goes up exponentially.
2. Sleep is awesome... I remember it well.
3. Building trust and teaching someone what a family is takes a long time.

Settling in...sort of

2010-04-20T22:20:00.000-07:00

Well, we are home and getting used to being a family of four...sort of. Gus is in love with Hildy...He adores her and is an amazing big brother. His favourite thing is to sing to her and she dances...well jumps up and down in a jerky kind of way as I hold her up...He cuddled in with her in our bed on her first night home to read her stories... He picked the Todd Parr "Family Book" which talks about all the different kinds of familes. When he got to the adoption page, he turned to her and said, "See, Hildy...that panda is adopted just like you...and me!!". Yes, I cried.
On Monday, Gus asked if I would bring Hildy for show and tell at school. He proudly marched in there introducing her to everyone we passed, then got up to the front of the classroom and said, "Good morning boys and girls. This is my new baby sister all the way from China!!!". He had the biggest grin on his face. Then he asked all his classmates to quietly sing their ABCs to her so she would dance. So there I am at the front of his class holding up my new baby with approximately 6 minutes of sleep in 4 days, my body feels like it is midnight and there are 24 grade one kidlets singing ABCs in hushed voices to us... A moment to cherish. I looked up and all the moms were at the back of the room crying. Then, his teacher, the wonderful Mrs. Cowley announces the class has made Hildy a book. Each student in the class wrote and colored one page that they have laminated into a book. They each picked their favourite thing to do in Canada and wrote about it to introduce her to Canada. Ok, I SO would have been crying if 24 little pairs of eyes had not been glued to me. What a lucky family we are to have so much support and love around us.
As for Hildy, she is sleeping ok. She is stuggling with the time change but is coming around. She still freaks out at night...up for three hours crying lasat night but went to bed better tonight so we'll see how the night goes. She is up to 4 - 5 six ounce bottles per day but won't let me put a spoon anywhere near her mouth. If I do manage to get some rice cereal in she either gags, vomits or cries and the liquid just oozes out. She has no idea that it is food ans she should swallow it. It is very obvious that she has never been fed anything but a bottle before. I am going to contact the Child Development Centre and my pediatrician to see what we should do in terms of her eating and stage of develpoment...we'll see what they say. I had to buy her some clothes today as nothing i had fits... I ended up buying her 3 - 6 month clothes... she is so tiny..Otherwise, I am so glad to be home. Thank you to each and every one of you for your love and support. When I was 5 thousand miles from home and feeling lost, your words of encouragement and love went a long way. I appreciate every comment and every email. This kind of a journey is not possible without support from family and friends and for that, I thank you.

WE'RE HOME!!!

2010-04-16T18:14:00.001-07:00

Last full Day in China!!!

2010-04-15T07:48:00.001-07:00

Well, we have had our last full day in China. Hildy had a pretty good night last night. She went down instantly at 7pm then was a little fussy around 11pm so ended up sleeping with me. She likes to be wedged in tight between three pillows forming a "U" shape with her two pink blankets around her middle...just covering the right side of her head but not covering her legs. I was watching her sleep a little before I went to bed and she was dreaming. During those first few days, she would thrash around and cry during her dreams. Last night, her fingers and toes were all moving around and she was smiling in her sleep...definitely a change for the better! She woke up with smiles and a giggle this morning.We got up and headed downstairs for breakfast. I have been wearing the same clothes for the past two weeks and had saved a clean, brand new shirt for today so I wouldn't feel quite so "traveled". I got dressed, we sat down for breakfast amidst stares(as per usual) and while everyone was still watching us, Hildy promptly tucked her head in nice and tight to my chest and barfed up the bottle that she had just finished into my shirt. Ahhh so much for clean laundry. After a quick shirt change we ended up having a long chat over breakfast with some people we met from Australia that were quite taken by our adoption story, then got into the cab and went to the Silk market...another gong show. People calling out to you every step you take, "Hey, Lady you want some silk/shirt/jacket/CDs/you name it..." to come and buy their wares, haggling for everything right down to the last yen; it is exhausting. We got a few last things then headed to Tiannamen square. We got there, wandered around a bit then just came right back to the hotel to pack. It was not really what we were expecting... it is huge but there is a really busy road between the square and the mausoleum,didn't expect that. You can't really walk up to it...you have to go around barricades, cross 8 lanes of traffic etc. I know it has a lot of history and is significant in the story of Mao, etc but it really just looked like a giant cement parking lot. Oh well, at least there were no crazy rickshaw incidents today... all very calm (minus the early morning barfing, of course). Smoggy but calm. No one grabbed me or Hildy today or stared and created a mosh pit around us so all in all a good outing. We came back to the hotel to meet our driver then Tom and I and Hildy went to the embassy. That was cool. We got to go inside...passport check, security clearance and all...got a visitor's badge...felt very diplomatic... all we did was go a few flights of stairs up to pick up papers for immigration but i still thought it was cool to be let inside. So, we came back, then got picked up for dinner. Really good dinner...didn't recognize anything i was eating...I decided to just eat it and not ask any questions. It was all really good. Could have been donkey or ox or some other creature but I was hungry, our "guide" didn't speak English and it was our last dinner here so I thought I would live dangerously...I'll let you know how that turns out.
I have pretty much finished packing. Dad is taking a few things home for me as I have run out of room in my bags... In some ways it feels like we have been in China for months not 2 weeks and in some ways, it feels like the trip just whipped by. We have seen so much, learned so much about this country and the many people we have met along the way. I am so glad we spent the time here that we did to get to know Hildy's country of birth. It is a place of huge change and much contrasts from the Beijing hutongs to the 50 story Shanghai skyscrapers. We have seen $46, 000 watches for sale in the trendy shops of Shanghai and we have seen deplorable living conditions in the outskirts of Wuhan that made me cry and that have been burned into my memory forever. We have about a million pictures and just as many stories to share once we get home. Mom, your ears are going to be red from all the stories I am sure dad has saved up for you for the next year or so. And when he's done, I have a few too. Thanks for sharing along in our journey... see you in Vancouver.
Lots of love, T, Hildy and the big guy (who incidentally informed me he is ready to go home... He just ate his last granola bar...)

Beijing - the Forbidden City

2010-04-14T07:29:00.000-07:00

Family from home tells me there was a significant earthquake in Southern Qinghai. Didn't feel it or hear about it...mind you, the news is all in Chinese so maybe people are talking about it! Just got back from the Forbidden City. They really should call it Forbidden City with a Million Freakin' People and no Exits. We were trapped in there with everyone in China and couldn't bloody find a way out. Everywhere you turn more tour groups in red hats and about a million old ladies that run up to us, pull on the babies and babble at us in Chinese...then we finally found a way out (and I'm talking after a good hour of searching and walking about 10 k) and we got absolutely attacked by rickshaw drivers...they swarmed us and we literally had to run down the street away from them. Picture me with Hildy strapped to my front, Heather with Norah strapped to her front, Tom and Dad with giant diaper bags all running down the street being followed in hot pursuit by about 10 rickshaw dudes running after us....dad hailed a cab, we all jumped in and escaped with barely the diapers....It was CRAZY! We got back to the hotel, ordered pizza (best thing on the menu) and enjoyed our luke warm cokes... they may have invented gunpowder but refrigerated drinks have not yet been discovered. We are all absolutely beyond exhausted and ready to come home...except maybe the babies...they still have not yet figured out what has happened to their worlds. One more full day here (silk shopping in the am and Embassy /celebration dinner in the pm) and then pack, drive through the insanity known as Beijing traffic (hopefully we can elude the rickshaw drivers) and then onto Air Canada. I am SO looking forward to touching down in Canada, seeing everyone and being in a place that I understand and can function independently in. I am not used to being so dependent on translators, drivers, guides, etc. Almost done with paperwork... Ok, Hildy is down for a nap so I am going to join her, must rest before I collapse!

Lots of love, T and H and dad (aka the Canadian guy who has met everyone in the hotel...I'm not exaggerating)

The Great Wall!

2010-04-13T07:43:00.000-07:00

Well, we got up at 5am again today... it seems to be a pattern with little miss. One thing that the time change will take care of once we get back home... She slept ok..still a few night freak outs but she is able to calm herself now. i woke her up fully at 1am to feed her...she sucked back a whole bottle then and again at 5 am. She is eating more now...4 bottles per day and about 6 oz. per bottle. I am making them full strength now and she is able to keep them down so that is a good sign. We went to the international clinic today to have a Canadian doctor look over the girls. It was a really cool place. Doctors from all over the world so that visitors or foreigners living in Beijing could see a doctor that speaks their own language and get medications they are familiar with. Our doctor was a woman originally from Montreal who has been living in Beijing for 13 years. She gave Hildy a once over and had her do little tests to see about her strength and development. She wrote up her report which we then delivered to the Canadian Embassy. It was weird, I was looking forward to going in to the Embassy but no such luck. Our driver phoned ahead and someone came out to meet us... I guess a little easier for them in terms of security for someone to come out rather than 4 adults and 2 babies come in. Anyway, we gave them all our paperwork that we have been compiling since we got here plus passports and pictures etc etc etc. We have to go back on Thursday to pick up some other official document that we need for the girls when we land in Canada on Friday. So, we came back to the hotel and had a ridiculously good lunch at the hotel...buffet... lots of delicious Chinese food...everyone else had Western food but i have been really enjoying the Chinese food. The pastry chef here at the hotel is Parisian so I will have the French pastries with breakfast and lunch but I still have my noodles, rice and dim sum too. Off combinations but so good. Needless to say even with all the walking we have been doing, we are all a little chubbier thanks to the Novotel Peace Beijing...

After lunch, Tom, Heather and Norah decided to stay at the hotel. Norah has bronchitis (and is now on antibiotics) and Tom and Heather are both a little under the weather so dad, Hildy and I ventured out alone. We took a cab across town (I use the term town loosely...the is a bloody huge city) and found a little shop I read about and really wanted to visit while we are here...it is called the Shard Box. They make little jewelery boxes with shardof pottery that were recovered from the smashed pots and plates during the cultural revolution. They are beautiful little boxes and the little fellow that runs the shop(since 1984) was so happy to have visitors from Canada..he and dad talked for quite a while while Hildy and i picked a few things out. Then, we hopped in another cab and went two districts over to the Lama temple. That was very cool...burned some insence and wandered through the place...it is a huge temple with monks here and there...They have a 13 m tall buddha statue carved from a single sandlewood tree...huge and quite magnificent. We stayed until we got kicked out at closing, then wandered around the surrounding area a bit before coming back to the hotel. We wanted to go into a hutong but chickened out... it looks a little intimidating...if we have time maybe we will go to a more popular one that sees more tourists... Anyway, we were both still full from lunch so I came back to my room to play with Hildy and he stayed for a bit then went to his room to "read the paper" which I know is secretly code for falling into bed. We are going to Tiannamen tomorrow and the Forbidden city. Thursday morning we will probably go to the summer palace, although Heather wants to go to a silk factory. Then we go to the embassy and a final dinner. Friday we get up, pack and head to the airport for the 12 hour flight.... still trying not to think too much about that... hopefully Hildy's runny nose etc. is done by then... Ok, will send some pictures, then I will go "read the paper".

Lots of love, Tammi and little not so grumpy but still unsure Hildy

Beijing - Day 3

2010-04-12T07:31:00.000-07:00

Hi, Sorry I haven't written for a couple of days. It has been a bit rough lately. Hildy has figured out that these changes around her are permanent and she has not been very happy. Since we were on the plane from Wuhan, there has been a lot of crying and she has been very unsettled. She is ok during the day as we are busy and she likes being in the baby carrier, nice and warm, and held tightly. At night, she cries a mournful cry and will not stop. The night before last she basically cried on and off all night. It is heart breaking that I try to console her and she just pushes me away. She falls asleep but then has these little fits where her arms and legs are flailing and she is just crying her eyes out. She arches her back and pulls away and continues to grieve for her losses. Last night was a little better. She will not go into her playpen here that the hotel has provided. It is very different than the crib she is used to and just will not go into it. I held her and put her in the bed right beside me last night tucked in close to my body and held her with my arm and she slept. i think she slept from 8 - 4. She woke at 4, had a bottle and then slept fitfully on and off until 5:30 so we just got up and started our day. We had a bath together...she will put up with the water now...she definately doesn't like it but at least she doesn't scream anymore. Yeah...take each little positive. I am trying very hard to just take it one day at a time knowing that she will get better, will get used to me and will eventually be happy and feel safe again. That probably won't happen until we are home as there are so many changes between now and then.. We shall see. We were supposed to go to the Great Wall yesterday but it was raining so our guide postponed the trip until today. So yesterday we went to the Hong Qiao Market. They sell everything from electronics to pearls, jade, china, porcelin, silk...It is very overwhelming. People are shouting and trying to get your business. People are everywhere. We all got a few things...no one in the group likes haggling so we aren't buying very much. I bought a few things for Hildy to have from her home country as she gets older.... I thinkdad cried a little when I bought a beaded, blue silk clutch for her wedding day. He put a few yuan in it for luck. While we were there we caused quite a stir as always. Lots of people stopped us and tried to talk to us. We showed them the information card that explain we adopted the girls, that they were abandoned. Lots of smiles and thumbs up. We met a couple of 20 something girls were we bought some jade. They had lots of questions about the girls and about their life in Canada..would they still be Chinese, would they ever move back to China, would they speak Chinese. As we were leaving their shop, the girl held Norah's hand and said, "Lucky baby. In China, they treat boys like princes and girls like dogs". That brought tears to my eyes. How many other girls in this country feel this way about their situation?

We came back to the hotel for a couple of hours for the babies to have some play time then we went for a walk down Wangfujing Street, the premier shopping street in Beijing. There was lots to see...all kinds of brand name stores as well as silk, jade, toys, tea, etc. We wandered down the alley where they have "street food". you can buy anything you can imagine to eat...literally. We saw rice being sold from a wagon; people would come up with their stainless steel bowls and fill up, candied crab apples on a stick, skewers of pig hearts for bbqing. Skewers of giant beetles and live scorpions !! That's when dad turned around...he had seen enough and wanted to get back to the safety of things known... So we came back to the hotel for dinner and then bath and bed for the babies.

Beijing - Day 1

2010-04-10T09:26:00.000-07:00

It's 7:30pm here. Flight was not good for Hildy... she cried the whole way. She has been throwing up her bottles quite a bit so not sure what is going on...making the bottles weaker and will talk to the Dr. on Tuesday. She has pooped twice so that is becoming less of a problem. She is very upset... the flight plus one hour van ride to get from the airport to our hotel here was not pleasant for her. The flight home is not looking good. We are just hanging out in the hotel...had dinner,it is very "western" here. Very different form Wuhan. In Wuhan we were the only white people in the whole city. Kathy told us that most of the people that swarmed us at the market yesterday had never seen a white person before. Here, we counted 11 white people in the first ten minutes off the plane. Met a really nice couple with a 1 year old son who teach here. They have lived in Beijing for two years. They teach at the international school. Our hotel is a 15 minute walk to the Forbiddencity. My room overlooks a hutong... interesting. We are meeting Mr. Yang at 8:45 tomorrow morning to go the the Great Wall. Dad is very excited, we all are! Heather and I were glad to leave Wuhan where we got accosted every time we left the hotel and Tom is excited because the beef is safe to eat here so he had a hamburger for dinner. No more donkey for him! Dad is down at the pool so he is happy. Hildy has just fallen asleep so I am going to unpack,get settled in and have a bath. Hopefully the water here smells better. I am sick of smelling like potatoes/dirty feet. So far the pollution here doesn't seem as bad as Wuhan, we'll see tomorrow. I am feeling very tired, will chat again tomorrow when I have more energy. That flight really did us all in. Less than a week until we are all home!

Wuhan Day 6

2010-04-09T07:26:00.000-07:00

Hi, Our guide had to go to the notary for us this morning and pick up documents etc and she said we didn't have to go so why don't we check out the Farmer'sMarket just down the road from our hotel...we wouldn't have to cross the street (ie: no imminent threat of death) easy to find so why not. In my head I am thinking the fresh open air farmer's markets of home...yes, I would love to go! So, we wander down the street, dad is almost killed by mopeds twice, I am almost speared by a guy on a bicycle carrying giant strips of metal something-or-other, Tom is almost run down by a van (yes, we were on the sidewalk for all of this action). Then we get to the "market"...It is three city blocks of hundreds of vendors crammed into a warehouse. There were stalls of vegetables of all kinds, live fish, turtles and chickens, meat being cleaved into chunks, you name it, they were selling it. We got into the middle of all of this and then a little old lady discovered we had Chinese babies...a crowd gathered around us about 5 people deep...it got a little crazy. All the little old ladies (most with no teeth) want to touch the babies, ask us a million questions (of course in Chinese) and call all their friends over. We had a card printed up that explained the girls were orphans, we had adopted them and were taking them home to live in Canada. I gave it to one old man, he read it and then shouted it out for all to hear...then an even bigger crowd gathered...we smiled but politely pushed through the crowd of smiles and thumbs up to get to a door...not before almost slipping on fish and other assorted items for sale. a little girl followed us through the whole market and smiled up at us... it was quite the show... We escaped down a side street (much to the stares of locals) and wound our way back to our hotel. Whew... that is the last time we venture out by foot in Wuhan. We cause quite a stir wherever we go. We are going to hide out in our hotel until Kathy comes to pick us up at 2 to go back to the civil affairs office to pick up the girls' passports and final documentation that says they are ours. WE will then start filling out the paperwork for the Embassy in Beijing, go out for a celebration dinner here then return to the hotel to pack for tomorrow's flight to Beijing. We asked Kathy if she would bring her husband and son out to dinner with us tonight. Her son is Gus's age...i really hope to meet him. Her husband is a college professor...dad would LOVE chatting to him! (That would give Kathy's poor ears a break)..Little miss got a little freaked out in the market so we came back, she had a diaper change a little play and then fell asleep mid-play in the middle of my bed... I must remember that this big city is new to her too...she has spent her whole life in a tiny little village so the constant traffic, beeping, construction, yelling etc is all overwhelming for her too. Well,must go and try to wash the smell of the market out of my hair... I don't think dad is going to eat any more chicken for the rest of the trip..... Oh how i long for the smell of the perfume department of the Bay Downtown.... I am such a lightweight. Love to you all,

Tammi, the peanut, and Papa

Wuhan Day 5

2010-04-08T07:32:00.001-07:00

Well, got up this morning and went for breakfast amongst stares and smiles. People, especially older people, seem to be happy to see us with the babies...they give us the thumbs up sign and say, "lucky baby". Get some stares from younger people and always wonder what they are thinking when they see us with the girls. Anyway, went to the Buddhist temple across town this morning. Took a tunnel under the Yangtze river...that was cool...how often can you say, "Yeah, i was under the Yangtze river this morning, how about you?" ha ha. Went through traffic for about 40 minutes to get there...if traffic could be more insane today than yesterday, then it was. I don't understand how anyone could get behind the wheel twice in this town...one try would be enough for me! Went by this huge market...stuff everywhere,people everywhere...absolute insanity...Anyway, got to the temple and wandered around looking at things. Got lots of attention from little old ladies that came up to touch the babies and smile at us. Some would try to talk to us, some would just give us the thumbs up sign. Overall a very positive response to us having the babies... Of course we get stated at but that is ok now... got used to it. When we went through this one section of the temple, there were a bunch of little old ladies in blue robes. They stopped us and asked us who we were and our guide Kathy told them we had adopted the girls, that they had been abandoned and that we were from Canada. They got all excited, pulled up chairs for us, poked at each of the babies, smiled and chatted away with us, then they went and got peanuts that had been blessed by the monks and put them in each of the girls' hands, (symbolic offering to always be blessed with abundance) then performed a blessing together for each of the girls. They were so gracious and excited about us... It was a very cool experience... so the girls have officially been blessed.. Felt pretty good about that.
From there we went on to the Hubei Provincial Museum to see some lacquer artifacts that were over 1500 years old and the contents of a tomb that was excavated in Hubei and contained artifacts, etc that were over 2000 years old!!! Very cool to be standing beside things that were carved that long ago...mind boggling,really. Dad enjoyed that... glad to be able to do that for him.
Anyway, the girls are doing well. Hildy has her moments when she is very quiet and sad but then comes out of her shell, laughs and plays. Today I was singing while she was playing on the bed so i could clean up a little and i looked over and she was dancing with a big smile on her face. Priceless . She loves to be held, to be propped up on the pillows and played with and to have me hold her hands so she can stand up. She is very wobbly but she loves doing it!
Norah is still struggling a liitle. She prefers to be with heather but will now let Tom hold her. She seems to be struggling also with a little cold so that is making things a little tricky too. Through it all, Tom and Heather have big smiles on their faces. Tired smiles, but full of love. Heather and I were sitting in the back of our crazy little van while our driver was weaving in and out of traffic, horns blaring, people yelling, smog swirling around us and we were just holding our girls and taking it all in...we looked at each other and knew exactly what the other was thinking: we made it. Through all the struggles, heartache and waiting, here we were, in the middle of chaos somewhere in Hubei province, holding our sleeping little girls... Looking into Hildy's big, dark eyes and hearing her little butterfly voice erases the four years it took to get to her.. Today was a good day.

Wuhan Day 4 - Another Crazy Day!

2010-04-07T07:25:00.000-07:00

We had a pretty good first night together. Hildy woke up at 11 for a bottle and then again at 5:45am. She was a little freaked out when she woke up but calmed down pretty quickly with some cuddles and a bottle. She drank a whole bottle this morning...she was hungry. We tried having a bath but she did NOT go for that... combination of being naked and the prospect of water..the bath was a no go. She loves to be bundled up and sweaty... All the babies in China have so many layers of clothes on them they look like the little brother from A Christmas Story. We get looks if we are out and about with the babies and they don't have at least 4 layers on, one a giant puffy coat. No skin can be showing... Anyway, after the non-bath wipe down we got dressed up and headed to the Civil Affairs Office for the province of Hubei. I went in and was interviewed about me and Horst, about our jobs, our levels of education, our reason for choosing China to adopt from, our plans for our daughter's future education. I was more than a little nervous... I signed another round of documents, had my piicture taken, stamped my fingerprint on each signature and then Hildy signed the document via a red food stamp! She didn't seem to mind as long as we didn't take her finger out of her mouth...
After we went to the bank to change our orphanage donation from US$ to RMB. That was the most insane experience... we had to get past a security guard to get into the money exchange area, there were little kiosks each with a teller behind glass with a microphone/speaker system. there were people everywhere, each teller was practically yelling through the microphone, every time a client came into the bank, a huge bell rang, people were shouting into cell phones, talkingto each other...Then the teller was asking us a bunch of questions, scrutinized my passport for 5 minutes, scanned it, then she took each bill from me, put it through a counterfeit scanner three times, then counted it, recounted it, entered it all into a computer, I think you get the picture. We went in to exchange and it took easily 45 minutes. Somewhere during that time a "street man" came in waving a newspaper and ran up to an American man behing me and was yelling at him and pointing at the paper... Security freaked out and ran after him and took him out the front...didn't see what happened to him... Needless to say, i was VERY glad to get out of there and get back into our van to be driven back to the hotel. Except of course for the traffic. There really are no lanes, no rules, cars,vans, bikes, pedestrians motobikes, mopeds, buses you name it, all trying to get past each other with about a cm to spare.
After we got back we decided to cancel our planned trip to Qichun tomorrow. We were going to go to the orphanage but it is 2 hours away, no car seats, no seatbelts, babies that don't even know us yet... So instead we are going to go to a Buddhist temple in the morning and if we are up for it to the Wuhan museum in the afternoon. Hildy is starting to come out of her shell just a little...we were treated to some smiles, a giggle or two and lots of playing this afternoon. She loves to lay on the bed and play with her feet, make all kinds of funny noises with her mouth and she is discovering that toys can be fun too. She loves to be carried and I love holding her so we spent a lot of time today just snuggling... its a pretty good gig. Papa is enjoying his role as babysitter and assistant to baths and eating. Hildy just sits and stares at him. She reached up and stroked his beard this afternoon...She is not afraid of him...just checking him out. They look pretty cute together. She is so tiny. She was tired tonight. I just wrapped her in a blanket, put her in her crib and put two more blankets on top of her, she cooed twice, turned over and went to sleep.... I think I will do the same... good night.

Our Daughter!!!!

2010-04-06T07:47:00.000-07:00

How do I even begin to describe this day? Got up at 3:30... nervous until we left for the Civil Affairs Office at 9:30...waited in quiet polished-florr calm until the babies arrived and then the craziness started: tears, babies, nannies, directors, more tears (mostly mine) and a haze of papers to sign (through tears..all mine). Zi Jie was very calm, very quiet. She came to me easily and cuddled right in. There were tears but quiet and reserved tears... she is like a little butterfly. She is tiny...her hands and feet are the same size as Gus's from when he was 2 months old. She studies my face and tentatively touches my hair with gentle, delicate hands. We came back from the office and had time to just stare at each other and try to figure out what to do next. She drank all of 2 ounces and then fell asleep on my chest. After more tears (mine) she woke up, cried a little herself and then we played on the bed, cuddled, played on the floor, cuddled, cried (me), cried (her), then I got my first smile and the hint of a giggle...she is very ticklish. Went down to the hotel restaurant for dinner and got a taste of what it wll be like out on the street... we are quite the spectacle. Norah, Heather and tom's baby, is much bigger than Hildy. She downed an 8 onuce bottle in 45 seconds as soon as we got back to the hotel and then ate half a bowl of congee at dinner. hildy just cuddled in silence... no food. We came back up to our room, Hildy drank another 2 ounces and then our guide Kathy showed me how her foster mom would have put her to bed. She wrapped her mid section with a thick blanket like a sausage roll, put another heavy blanket on top of her whole body, gave her a toy, turned out the light and that was that... She is still laying in her crib and playing silently with her toy as I type this... Not sure whether to pick her up and cuddle her (because it's all I can do not to...) or to let her fall asleep as she probably has for the past year...alone in her crib. We'll see how it goes... I am exhausted, stiff from the stress of the morning and absolutely, completely, head over heels in love. I am so glad we never gave up... today was worth every second of the wait and it was only our first day together... my heart is full.

Wuhan Day 2 - Yellow Crane Tower

2010-04-05T09:02:00.000-07:00

Well, the number one attraction in Wuhan is the Yellow Crane Tower so that is where we headed this morning. We went with Kathy, our guide and a driver. The grounds and gardens were beautiful and the tower itself was very impressive. It served as a military lookout tower for the past 1500 years (!). It has been destroyed by fire a few times and every dynasty would rebuild it according to their likings...they had scale models of each reincarnation of the tower over the past few hundred years. As expected, we were part of the display/attraction so many people wanted to talk to us and take our pictures. It is weird to have people just grab your arm and pull you over into their group to take pictures with you. One thing you lose in China is your need for personal space...there just isn't any. We have all adjusted to being stared at. And I mean stared at...not a quick, polite glance but full-on in your face-Yes, I am staring at you staring. It was unnerving at first, but now it is just part of our day, especially here in Wuhan. Our guide said, "Just wait until you have the babies..." Oh boy..... Speaking of which, tomorrow is the big day. We will leave the hotel for the Civil Affairs Office at 9:30 am China time, that is 6:30 pm Easter Monday your time. By the time you finish Easter dinner we will have the girls. The appointment tomorrow is informal and will simply consist of us meeting the babies, having a chance to ask any questions we have of the nannies that bring them to us then coming back to the hotel to get to know each other. Our first formal appointment will be on Wed. when we sign some papers, make a pledge in court, etc. We will be going to the orphanage and the girls' finding places on Thursday. On Friday we fill out paper work for immigration and citizenship then fly to Beijing on Saturday... our first flight with the girls. We are all pretty excited about tomorrow. We have this afternoon and evening to get ready for tomorrow...We went to the equivalent of Walmart to buy water and diapers and are now unpacking, set things up, getting ready... Today is our 4 year anniversary for being logged in to adopt Hildy. After all this time, I will finally hold her tomorrow. I wonder if I will sleep tonight? I wonder if Norah and Hildy have any idea what is about to happen in their lives... From here on in there is going to be a lot of change in our little group... The next email will have pictures of our little peanut...

Lots of love, T

Wuhan Day 1 - What a Difference!

2010-04-04T11:26:00.000-07:00

Woke up in Shanghai, got delivered to the airport, checked in and had a nice flight on a smaller plane to Wuhan. We were met by our guide here, Kathy who is very nice and extremely helpful. As soon as we left the airport, things around us changed. No longer are we in the land of glass and steel towers with marble bathtubs overlooking the city skyline. The change is a bit shocking. I don't know if the pictures can really tell the story. The roads are full of pot holes, the buildings are old, some falling apart. The roads from the airport into the main city of Wuhan are littered with garbage, packed with cars and motorbikes... no one actually drives in a lane. Everyone just honks and drives wherever there is space. I actually felt like I was in the middle of a Lonely Planet show as we whisked through intersections amid honking and vehicles coming at us from every conceivable direction. The highway we were on had apartments, houses, restaurants, stores, each looking run down, dirty. After an hour and a half ride over the rough road dodging trucks carrying pigs, sewage, building supplies, people, etc we arrived downtown, got to the hotel and quickly learned that English is not spoken much here...and foreigners are very unusual. All the hotel staff was in the lobby upon our arrival. They all know we are adopting babies and watched us come in with curiosity. Our guide, Kathy helped us check in and took us up to our rooms. Our rooms have cribs, baby baths and are ready for our babies.
It was now 8pm and we hadn't had much to eat since breakfast. We went down to the restaurant in the hotel to have something to eat. There was one menu in English...one for the whole hotel. We took turns with it then played charades with our drink orders. Coke is the only universal drink...dad tried for tonic water and that caused a 10 minute consultation amongst all available staff as they tried desperately to get him what he wanted. They want so badly to use their limited English and want to be perfect... they are trying very hard. He finally settled for a Sprite, then Tom ordered a beer. "No beer..sold out" was the response. Instead she brought him a warm Heineken...no bottle opener... Not sure if she didn't know that was beer or if it isn't Tsing Tao it doesn't rate.... Then we were served sandwiches that none of the wait staff could pronounce. Heather asked for some mayonnaise for her sandwich (with the help of her digital translator) and got a large gravy boat full of mayo... It was quite an experience. Kathy is coming tomorrow morning to take us to the Yellow Crane Tower and then to a store to buy bottled water and diapers in preparation for receiving the babies on Tuesday morning.
I am tired from the flight and experience coming into Wuhan. I am so glad we had the time in Shanghai to get into this time zone and have a few days to prepare... We will receive the babies Tuesday, go to court Wednesday then go to their orphanage and finding places in Thursday...it is just about 2 hours away from here. It is sure to be an emotional week!

Day 3 Adventures - Last Day in Shanghi

2010-04-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

Well, just go back from yet another adventure. Getting used to the traffic... taxi rides today seem old hat. getting better at crossing the street...just look straight ahead and go...FAST in the cross walk... no near death experiences today..things are looking up. We had a great breakfast at the hotel agin and then headed to Xintiandi neighbourhood. Walked for miles and miles along streets with all kinds of clothing stores...saw $46 000 US watches, $1200 outfits you name it. Tried to shop but finding the haggling overwhelming. Will wait until tomorrow and beyond when we have guides to help us. Experienced our first Chinese style squatty potty in a department store bathroom today... very challenging... Went for lunch in a true Chinese restaurant just outside Peopl's Park...chicken hotpot looked good until Heather pulled out a chicken's foot.... that is when I stopped eating. People's park was pretty cool. It is a huge park in the middle of the city with beautiful gardens, lots of children and kites flying all over the place. Made out way back to the hotel... feeling pretty good about hailing cabs and trying to make our way around. I think if you had two weeks you could go to a different part of this city everyday and experience brand new things every day... it is mind bogglingly huge. Just walking down the street, so many people, cars, bikes, buses, mopeds go by you. It literally makes my head spin. Just being out and about tires you out regardless of what you are doing because of all the rush and energy around you. We are back at the hotel for a little downtime, a swim and then we will venture out for dinner and drinks for our last night in Shanghai. Flying to Wuhan in the morning... one step closer to Hildy..

Day 2 Adventures!!!!

2010-04-02T10:10:00.000-07:00

"Wow... I can't believe we have only been here for one day. I got about 4 hours sleep last night which brings me up to a grand total of 4 hours of sleep in the past 48 hours. I went downstairs to put all of our adoption paperwork in the main vault and the boys at the front desk all greeted dad with a hearty hello. Apparently he had already made the rounds and given everyone Canada pins before I came down! We had breakfast here in the hotel overlooking the Huangpu River. The pastries in the hotel are to-die for....with strong coffee..... perfect. We spread out the map, picked a spot then got the fellows downstairs to call us a taxi. Taking a taxi through downtown Shanghai is CRAZY! No one follows the lights or stays in their lanes... Dad sat in the "suicide seat" beside the driver and Heather, Tom and I cowered in the backseat. Dad was jamming on his imaginary brake the whole time we were in the cab. Hilarious. We strolled down the Bund overlooking the river and looked at all the architecture from the time of the foreign occupations and concessions along the river front. Very cool. We wanted to go to the Yuyuan Gardens so decided to venture off the Bund into the neighbouring area...Heather and Tom were nearly run down by a delivery van and dad was almost hit by mopeds...three times...we crossed one street....with the light. I was laughing so hard; I wish I could have taken pictures but I was running for dear life. We wandered into the Old Street Bazaar. I cannot begin to describe this. Narrow alleys full of stalls and shops selling everything from high end gold, pearls and jade to touristy t-shirts and Mao kitch. It was absolutely jammed with people bumping up and into us, the air was thick with incense and the old buildings were covered in lanterns and red ribbons. We wandered around, tried a little bartering then ran into a chatty fellow named Liao at a stall who asked us where we were from and why we were in China. We had a good chat; he was very excited about us adopting two little girls and leaving the "busy city" for Wuhan. We asked for his recommendation for getting lunch. We had a best friend for the rest of our time in Yuyuan. He took us on a wild path through stalls and past streams of people up these stairs we would never have found behind a different store to the top of the buildings to look over the whole area. Then we went further into the maze to a tea house for locals where he ordered tea and dumplings for us. The woman who runs the teahouse,Yin, made us all kinds of different tea, chatted and laughed as we tried tea and Chinese. Tom tried to tell the woman ( in Chinese) that she had a beautiful daughter and wanted another dumpling but apparently ordered a "stupid prostitute" instead. We don't let Tom try his Chinese anymore........ I laughed so hard at the look on Liao's face... I thought he would die from laughing. We took a taxi back to the hotel (another adventure in Shanghai traffic) and decided to spend the rest of the afternoon recovering from our adventure at the hotel.

Dad has made another best friend in the hostess. We met her last night and she sat and told us all about her travels, her boyfriend from Ecuador and her life in Shanghai then listened to stories about Vancouver, snow and Quebec.. She remembered dad and greeted him like a best friend. Amazing how many people that man can befriend in a day. Had another great meal of kung pao chicken and desserts aplenty. I am now ready to pass out.What an amazing day!"

We Have Arrived!

2010-04-01T15:40:00.000-07:00

Message past on from Tammi:

Well, we're here. After a 12 hour flight, a crazy line up at customs, meeting our driver (who didn't speak English) and an hour or so drive through Shanghai, we arrived at our hotel. The air quality is horrific. I can feel the poolution in my nose and throat already. The hotel is absolutely beautiful..marble everywhere. My room is huge. We are on the 40th floor. We have been up for 22 hours...I need to go to sleep. We are in Shanghai until Sunday morning, then we fly to Wuhan and get Hildy on Tuesday the 6th. I am hoping to get on China time today!

Her humble blog-servant,

Wendi

Our Hotels...

2010-03-28T00:27:00.000-07:00

I told dad to bring a tie.............

4 days

2010-03-27T21:08:00.000-07:00

We will be in Shanghai, Hubei province and Beijing.

6 more days.....

2010-03-25T16:54:00.000-07:00

Ok, only 6 days until we leave. I'm starting to feel emotional about all this... cried my way home from our agency this afternoon while picking up the last of the court documents and booking a side-trip to see Hildy's "finding place"..the spot where she was abandoned. Also starting to dread leaving Gus for 16 days... Nothing about this is easy...

9 days until we leave!!!

2010-03-22T21:17:00.001-07:00

Only 9 more days until I get on a plane to meet my sweetie... Part of me is busy crossing things off the "to-do" list and part of me can't believe this is actually happening...I put in my Leave notice at work today, booked travel medical insurance for us, received our hotel and in-China flight bookings from our agency... Now just to double check the packing, get those last minute things for the flight, etc. This weekend will be busy checking and rechecking things (in my slightly obsessive manner...). I think I am almost ready to go... Woot woot!

Flights are Booked and Bags are Packed

2010-03-20T05:37:00.000-07:00

Well I have the flights booked and we are ready to go. We leave at 1:15 on Wednesday, March 31st (less than two weeks away...) and arrive back home in Vancouver Friday, April 16th. I will receive Hildy on Monday, April 5th and will go to court in Wuhan so she will officially become my daughter on April 6th. I have goosebumps.....

And Away We Go!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-03-17T22:21:00.000-07:00

So we have been waiting for the past three weeks for one last piece of stamped paper from China to confirm our travel permission.... I just found out that we have received that document through our agency today and we are now free to book our flights. YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO that is the news we have been waiting for. We will chat with our agency in the morning to see the earliest a guide/translator is available... We will leave for Shanghai on either March 24 (a week today) or the following Wednesday (March 31st).
Our basic itineray:
-Shanghai for 2 days
-leave for Wuhan-receive Hildy on the third day in China
-fill out paper work, go to court, get to know my daughter in Wuhan for 5 days
-leave for Beijing, visit Canadian embassy, doctors, more paper work then wait for her passport to be issued while doing touristy stuff and getting to know Hildy
-fly home on the 16th day in China

Whew.............. simply can't wait to get on that plane.... Can't believe I will hold her within two weeks..............

Hurry Up and Wait

2010-03-12T22:46:00.000-08:00

Well, all paper work is in, all bags are packed, all systems go....so hurry up and wait. We are waiting on one last piece of paper from China that confirms our adoption of Hildy. Once we get that magical paper, we can book flights, our agency can book a court date, hotels, in-China flights, etc. They have no idea when we will get "the paper"...they just told us they would notify us as soon as they have it. We do know that we will fly to Shanghai on a Wednesday , stay for 16 days then fly home on a Friday... so our best guess is that we will be leaving for China either on March 24 (long shot), March 31( could be) or April 7 (really hoping to leave before then..). Only time will tell.... we'll keep you posted... (no pun intended.. ok, it was intended...)

Hildy's Birthday Present

2010-03-02T18:43:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of Hildy's early birthday present. She should receive it tomorrow or the next day. It includes an outfit for her, a soft blanket, a soft bunny,a camera for her foster family to take pictures of her and them, cookies and candies for her foster family and a letter from her big brother, mom and dad in Canada. We are sad that we won't be able to hold her on her birthday but it won't be too long after that.... Still waiting on word from China as to the court date and permission to travel.... Hoping to know soon. This part of the wait is very hard...looking at that little picture of her and not being with her. Here's hoping we hear something soon!!!

Care package for Hildy

2010-02-23T22:12:00.000-08:00

Well, I sent a care package to Hildy today. She will receive a blanket, pjs and a doll for her birthday. Her foster family will receive cookies and candies and a disposable camera that I hope they take pictures of her foster mom and where she is...their house and surrounding area. I thought Hildy would appreciate having those pictures when she is older. She should get her package in about a week. She is 11 months old today...

Olympics

2010-02-21T19:27:00.000-08:00

Sitting here watching the Olympics with Wendi, Scout and Gus. Giving Wendi a crash course in blogger so she can update the site when I am in China.... Maybe if she paid more attention to this than teaching Scout to play dead things would be looking at little more promising.................

Olympics!!!

2010-02-16T21:15:00.001-08:00

Well we went downtown on Sunday to check out the Olympics and go to the first medal ceremony in Vancouver. It was great. Thousands of people, lots of live music and tons of energy. We wandered around, saw the Olympic flame, went through Aboriginal House, went for dinner (where Gus promptly fell asleep at the table) then on to BC Place for the Victory Ceremony. It was quite amazing to see our city all decorated for the biggest party on Earth.

Healthy Checkup

2010-02-13T08:58:00.000-08:00

We had a phone consultation with a pedeatrician and all the information we got about Hildy says she is healthy. Small but healthy. She is in the 15th percentile for growth but growing steadily so that's good. She has been immunized and seems to be on track for motor development. I was told what medications to bring, formula to buy etc. I also found some pictures online of her orphanage. The first image is of a bulletin board in the orphanage of other babies that have been adopted internationally from Qichun. The second image is the playroom at her orphanage...she is brought here once per week to play with the other children also in foster care but under QiChun orphanage's care. The last two pictures are of beds in the nursery. I assume this is where she would have slept when she was first brought to the orphanage at three days old and where she naps while her caregiver gets lessons about childcare. Nice to feel connected to her and see where she spends some of her time. I am going to put together a care package that I can send to her with a disposable camera and a toy. Hopefully her foster family will take pictures of her and themselves so when she is older she can see where her journey began.

Where Hildy is Now

2010-02-08T18:19:00.001-08:00

We know so far that Hildy is in foster care with a local family that lives near the orphanage she was taken to after being found. We are happy that she is in foster care as she has had one on one care and attention in a family setting and had the chance to bond with her caregiver. Although it will be traumatic for her to be removed from this family, in the long run she will have benefited from the contact and care. She is brought to the orphanage once a week to have a play date with other orphans also in foster care in the area. Above is a picture of the orphanage and some of the surrounding area (the yellow building in the third picture). It is a rural area that grows a lot of herbs. It is known as the "city of scholars" because so many famour doctors, professors and scientists have come from this region. The closest large city is Wuhan. I don't have any information about when we could possibly travel but will talk to the doctor tomorrow to review her medical file and hopefully touch base with our agency as to what to expect next.

Group 18

2010-02-07T07:56:00.001-08:00

When we started this journey back in January of 2006, there were 13 other families doing the same thing with our agency in Vancouver. We were named "group 18". After this excruciating wait, all that is left of group 18 is us and one onther couple, Tom and Heather. Heather and I have gotten together a few times over the 4 year wait and we all got together for dinner last night to share pictures of our sweeties and make plans for travel. I can't remember if I have posted our travel plans but Horst and I decided it would be too stressful on Gus to bring him on this trip. We decided that he would be best at home with one of us so I had intended to make the trek to get Hildy on my own. In October, my dad surprised me by letting me know he would like to come with me. I was so surprised, then relieved that he would come with me. He will be my rock (except of course, when he is crying too...) Dad and I will be traveling with Tom and Heather throughout our stay and sharing a guide/interpreter. Their daughter is from the same orphanage as Hildy.. We imagine they have played together over the past several months and will be a comfort to each other in the days of change and confusion for them as we leave Qichuan, make our way to Wuhan, Beijing and ultimately back to Canada. As far as we know, we will travel in April. We are waiting on a court date to be booked in China to know exactly when we can go to get our girls. We will all arrive in Shanghai, stay there overnight, fly to Wuhan in Hubei province where we will receive our daughters. There we will go through several meetings to sign papers, go to court to make the adoption official then have a few days to get to know each other. After that we will fly to Beijing where we will visit a Canadian doctor at the Canadian Embassy, get all the paperwork authenticated, then order the girls' passports. We will have a few days to sightsee and get to know our girls, then as soon as their passports are ready, make the journey back to Canada. Whew... we have a lot to prepare for.

More information

2010-02-05T17:38:00.000-08:00

Here is one proud big brother... He took her picture to school today and showed it off. The first grade class was a-buzz with excitement...
We received Hildy's translated file today. She weighed 15 pounds and was 65 cm long at her checkup in October. We are guessing that she is around 18 pounds now. We know where she was found, what she was wearing and wrapped in. It is incredible to think of the pain that her birth-mother went through in abandoning her, not knowing what the future would bring for this tiny little girl. We are so thankful that she was found and brought to the orphanage.
She is currently in foster care in Qichun County, Hubei. Her favourite food is congee (rice porridge) and noodles and her favourite toy in a doll. She is "outgoing, smart and active. She is full of energy and would listen adults talking. She is easy to smile and likes being outside. She is a cute baby." Sounds perfect to me. All of her medical reports state she is "healthy". We are so incredibly happy. She is safe, well fed and in good care. Now I can sleep at night...

here she is...

2010-02-03T21:04:00.000-08:00

We are absolutely overyjoyed...happy isn't a big enough word. Introducimg our daughter Hildy Ellen Zi Jie Brunsch. She was born on March 23, 2009 in Qi Chun, near Wuhan, Hubei Province. There have been many tears, smiles and much joy in the Brunsch household tonight. We will be given her whole file once it is translated and have her picture to stare at until then... We hope to travel in April to bring her home. Thank you to everyone for your love and support along this journey. One step closer to holding her...

We got "the Call"

2010-02-02T22:35:00.000-08:00

So there I am in the middle of Gus's Grade 1 Student-Led-Conference and Marg (from our adoption agency) calls to update me!!! I had to call her back!!! I've waited four years for the call and I had to call her back. Hilarious. Anyway, I called her as soon as Gus's presentation was done and she let me know that our referral had arrived in Canada, had spent the day at the Chinese Embassy in Victoria and is currently en route to her office in North Vancouver. She should have it by noon tomorrow and will email me the pictures, date of birth and location of orphanage as soon as she gets it. That means I will have a picture in my hands tomorrow of our daughter. It's going to be a a long night.....

We're in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-02-01T17:43:00.000-08:00

Well, my day started out with the best news possible. Heather (the other adoptive mom in our travel group)phoned at 6:51am to tell me that overnight the CCAA (China's Centre for Adoption Affairs) had matched up to and including April 5, 2006....THAT'S US!!!! Sometime during the night, on a desk in Beijing, someone held our file in one hand and the file of a little girl who needs a family in the other hand and matched us...a forever family. We have waited 4 years to hear this news. Some of those days the waiting was bearable, other days it was excruciating. I am just overjoyed that the wait is over. Her file arrived in Vancouver today, was couriered to the Chinese Embassy in Victoria and will be sent back to our agency in Vancouver tomorrow. We should receive her photo and preliminary information tomorrow and her full file after it has been translated. Today is a good day.

Wow...it's November

2009-11-02T15:23:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's November. School has started up, Gus is in grade 1, birthdays have flown by, we sadly lost my dear cousin Don in October, our annual Whistler trip has come and gone and Halloween was this past weekend. A lot has happened in the Brunsch family in the past 4 months. I haven't even blogged about the summer! Oh well, time for that in future posts, I suppose. As for the China drama, the CCAA has matched up to and including March 28th. There are 7 days before they get to us; four of those days have 0 - 4 log-ins per day so only 3 heavy log-in days before they get to us... Seems like we have been a this forever... Well four years is forever when you are waiting for a child you already love. Oh I so hope we have a referral in hand for Christmas. I will now change up a few things on the sight and add some pictures. Send me an email to say hello...
T.

Georgia's Day

2009-06-26T17:00:00.001-07:00

There are moments that sneak up on you that will stay with you forever. This week I went to Georgia's grade 5 grad (she goes on to middle school next year). There were speeches, a video of all the kids who have been together since preschool, funny stories, then this (see video below). It caught me by surprise: I turned with tears in my eyes to look at my beautiful sister with tears in her eyes and we watched her little baby girl grow into a confident, beautiful young woman right in front of us. Gone is the pink little baby getting her vitamin K shot at midnight at Royal Columbian, the cutey pie with the pig tails bossing us all around.... "So take a photograph, a still frame in your mind...I hope you had the time of your life". Georgia, your life is just beginning and I am so proud and happy to be a part of it....

Sports Day !!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-06-20T07:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, I really think that Sports Days are actually held more as entertainment for parents than as a fun, active day for the kids. Here is a clip of Gus doing the "Obstacle Course" station at Sport's Day last week. The laughing you can hear in the background is me .....

Father's Day!!

2009-06-20T07:24:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to my husband and fabulous father to Gus. Seeing the two of you together makes my whole heart light up. Also to Papa, my dad. How many memories do I have with dad... working in the garden, fishing at Pender, building forts and doing small jobs around the house, hanging Christmas lights, making weird Halloween decorations... the list goes on. Thanks for all the good times, dad...oh and that little talk on Louis Riel...

New Hobby

2009-06-15T08:55:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have no idea how this all works but I thought I would give it a try. Welcome to our blog. I will be posting about our daily adventures and figuring this site out so that when I travel to China to pick up our little sweetie I will actually know how to post her picture, etc. OK, now to decorate the site a little...
T.