Booked our flights!

Mommy and Daddy are coming to get you Mhyia!!

Well we have booked our flights!

We were told we could fly out on a Friday but we decided to leave 2 days early.  For us to leave here on a Friday afternoon we would get to China Saturday night and then up in the morning and on another plane for 3.5 hours to Kunming City and then possibly get Mhyia within hours?  Too much!!

We decided for sure that we would leave one day early but then when we went to book our flights and we realized the direct flights were sold out that day we quickly decided to go 2 days early LOL!

We will leave here on the Wednesday and get to China on the Thursday - hopefully go to bed and actually sleep and then we will have all day Friday and Saturday to get the lay of the land, purchase some things we need, exchange money, re-pack suitcases etc...

We don't have our exact itinerary yet but we should fly to Kunming City on the Sunday and then stay there until the Friday or Saturday then back to Beijing and then Home Sweet Home on the Friday!!

We have so much to prepare, pack, organize etc.... but oh how we just want to go right now!!

"THE" Day - and Oh what a day!!!!

Okay where do I start?? I am just not a writer and I have so many feelings about that day and I don't even know how to write them down to capture how I/we were feeling that day?

First of all we found out Tuesday, March 27th that we were in and that the packages had been mailed from China, we found out on the Thursday afternoon that our package had landed in our agencies office and that it was on its way to translation. This was a huge relief because you just never know if you get skipped or if you actually had a different lid etc.. We were told that we wouldn't get any information until the following week maybe Tues or Wed. This was so hard because I knew that the girls at the agency had seen our baby and knew how old etc... and we knew nothing. Monday came and I soooo badly wanted to call my agency but I held off. Later that morning I had to email them about something so I asked at the end of my email "do you think we will hear anything today?" They emailed back and said that the file was back from translation but they were waiting on one small detail that translation did not give them....UGH...okay now it is killing me...LOL. They told me they would get it that night from China and call us tomorrow. AAAHHHHH tomorrow - after 6+ years we were finally going to know who are little girl was, we were going to put a face to the name we have been saying for 5+ years, we were finally going to see her little face, know where she was living, know when she was born - I couldn't believe it....FINALLY TOMORROW!!!!

Tuesday morning - April 3rd, we both got up and headed to work, we had no idea what time they would call so we figured we would head to work until we got "The Call". Around 9:30am I went up to the front desk to cover for Cathy while she ran downstairs. I was up there for less than 2 minutes and I saw a call coming in from my phone - OMG my heart dropped and I picked it up - it was Darlene from the agency, our conversation went like this...

Tammy - "Is everything okay? do you have all of our information?"
Darlene - "yes I have everything here and I can tell you when you are ready"
Tammy - "OMG I can't believe it - I am going to call Mike and we are going to head right home and we will call you in less than an hour"
Darlene - "okay sounds great"
Tammy - "have you called our other group member yet?"
Darlene - "No of course I called you first, lol"
Tammy - "okay OMG I am so excited"
Darlene - "Yes I think you are going to be very surprised!"
Tammy - "Okay I am going to go get Mike we will call you soon"

I immediately called Kimberly and told her I got the call, I think she was running up to the front before I even had a chance to hang up the phone, "Go, Go, she said - I will cover" I headed to my desk, told my boss I got the call and was heading home (of course I was shaking and half crying at this point). I tried to call Mike at his desk-no answer, his cell-no answer, "are you kidding me" tried his desk again-no answer so I pushed "0" and got put through to a lady in his office. Well after a small search they came back to tell me he was in the washroom, "seriously, you have got to be kidding me" I said can someone go and knock on the door and have him call me immediately!

So I sat at my desk waiting, by this point Kimberly and a couple of other friends were gathered around my desk as we all sat waiting for Mike to finish in the bathroom and call me back LOL. Then the phone rang, I told him to head home

"It was time!!"

On the way home I had a million thoughts running through my head - first of all what did Darlene mean "you are going to be surprised?" was this a good thing? I know Darlene was well aware of my feelings bout a baby as young as possible and how badly we wanted that - especially for her to be here before her first birthday - so was that it?? Is that what she meant?? Oh I was just sooo excited - I can't even put into words all the thoughts, hopes, fears et... going through my mind, it was amazing!!

So I arrived home first, set up the video camera, got out our "call" sheets to fill out. Mike arrived, he put on his "China" shirt and we were ready!! We started the video camera and dialed the phone number...Darlene answered and we both said hello - all of a sudden the phone went dead. We were sitting there saying "hello" "hello" and nothing. Darlene's work line had died LOL we tried calling her back but it was busy so we waited - meanwhile I thought I would rewind the tape and re-start - well of course as I am rewinding the phone rings and it is her. I was so frazzled that I was trying to push record and I had no idea what I was doing. We had her on speaker and before I could get everything set she says "You have a daughter" I was yelling "wait, wait" "I am trying to record" LOL I was a mess LOL Anyways I got it working and the call continued...

She repeated for us "you have a daughter" AMAZING - I felt pretty positive that this was the case but you just never know?? When Darlene had said "you are going to be surprised" earlier it got me thinking LOL I was not crying but I seriously couldn't even read he words on my call sheet, I kept looking for all the blanks to fill in and I couldn't even comprehend what I was reading.

She then said her birthday - September 3rd, 2011 - and I wanted to start bawling (I think I did a little) - it is exactly what I had always wanted and I couldn't believe it!! Before I left work that day I said to my friend "I just want her birthday to be Aug or Sep't" and it was!!! Right in between Mike and I and most importantly she was only 7 months old!!! 7 months that day! I really, really wanted her home before her first birthday and it was a reality now!!

Darlene went on to tell us all about her and the details etc.. She went on and on about how beautiful she was and how we were just going to think so is soooo beautiful. To be honest I was excited to hear those words but I thought we will see, sometimes those little pics they take are so not flattering, I wouldn't want to be judged on one little passport like photo LOL. After the call she said it would be about 20 minutes for the pics to be emailed!

Mike and I were just soooooo happy and soooo relieved and so excited etc... I/we cried it was just the most amazing feeling in the world - we were parents FINALLY and she was everything we had prayed for! About an hour later we finally got the pictures and I was soooo nervous - I don't know why? I/we started reading the email and thought what the heck are we doing and started frantically scrolling to the bottom to the pics - as soon as we hit the first picture I started to cry - she was SOOOOOO CUTE!! I looked at her and said to Mike "OMG she is soooo cute, (still scrolling) and she has matching socks!" LOL Over the last couple of months I have seen so many referral pics with crazy not matched socks and I always joke "what is with the socks?" Well not my girl, she had matching socks! it was a match made in heaven and love at first sight!! Mike and I just couldn't stop staring at her!

We could not believe that everything worked out exactly how we had always wanted it to - it was a very hard 6 years with alot of good and bad and ups and downs and every single second was worth it once we knew who she was and saw her little face! I know people have said that for years to us and it is honestly kind of annoying lol but it is soooooo true - once you see her and know she is yours all the bad stuff and miserableness of 6+ years of waiting etc... just disappears and it is soooo worth it!

I can't even begin to tell you how much we love her already and how we just can't wait to get her and bring her home, finally our lives can begin as a family of 3!!!

The first person I called was my mom - her and m dad were at Lowes and she answered her cell - I couldn't live it! she said "sooo?" ad told her - I don't know if she was crying or not but I was lol. I know she was just soooo happy that she was exactly what we wanted and that she was so young. They were on their way down to our house lol! I called Kimberly and sent her the pic, I called my cousins and sent them pics too - it was just the most amazing feeling!

When my parents got to our house they had a beautiful plant and cute gift for Mhyia(so sweet)...I just couldn't wait to show them her pic - they 100% agreed she was a cutie!!! We headed right to Walmart to make multiple copies to give out/show off! Mike had to go back to work and didn't want to tell his family until Good Friday (3 days) when they were all coming over for dinner. I didn't think that would last but I left it up to him! Later that day when he got home we called a few more friends etc... and then it got the better of him and we called the family one by one - we were still going to say the pic for Good Friday but it was soooo exciting to tell them our amazing news - we were just sooooo happy!

Truly one of the best days of our lives....so far!!

Mhyia's Nursery!

Well I have been working on Mhyia's room and it is about 98% done!! I have a few more little things to do and of course I need to organize her closet! It has everything we have in there right now and I need to organize the sizes and the seasons etc... and really see what I have and what we will still need!

As for the nursery - we cut her closet door and made it larger which turned out great - you can see it here! Then I found a small night stand that someone was throwing out and I re-finished it as well as I re-finished my old dresser from when I was little and painted it a soft pink - they both turned out great - you can see them here!! My Mom and Dad bought us the crib which is absolutely beautiful and will turn into her bed afterwards!

I painted two very light green stripes on the walls, put up the crown moulding, we built a window valance and I covered it in the co-ordinating material we purchased approx 5 years ago! I painted a pink scroll design above the bed and put the words "such a big miracle in such a little girl" I love this saying! I also covered a little footstool and made a cushion cover etc.. in the co-ordinating material - I have to make a couple of armrests as well - not done yet!

All in all it has come together very nicely and we are very happy with it - now all we need in there is Mhyia!!

Her Royal Highness

I re-finished an old kitchen light

Without the pink scroll design

tracing out the design

done!

We also hung some large white frames with "mommy", "daddy" and "baby" in english and chinese and then put our handprints in them! I will try to post a pic of them tomorrow!

Tick Tock....Tick Tock......

Well this past weekend was our last weekend we will spend without a picture of our daughter!! It is so unbelievable that after soooo many years we are days away from seeing the picture of our daughter – the little girl that will join our lives and our family forever! This weekend we visited with some friends, my mom and I went to a bridal shower on Saturday and then we had some visitors on Sunday. We didn’t get as much accomplished as I would have liked but there’s always today LOL!!

This week is going to be excruciating – everytime the phone rings I think my heart will skip a beat! We are waiting for our agency to get our file back from translation and then they will call us. I am sooo excited and so nervous at the same time – I just want everything to be what we want and we have had soooo many years of disappointment that I think it makes me worry about every little thing. I think once we have her info and everything is fine I am just going to breath the BIGGEST sigh of relief.

For now…….we wait……again……

We have CARSEATS!!!

Last Friday Mike picked up both our carseats which was very exciting!! Especially since the CCAA didn't send any referrals out - it helped to keep us in a good mood LOL.

We tried them both out in our vehicles and loved them - I got the Britax Marathon 65 - Onyx which I love and it fits very nicely rear and forward facing. I had tried others like the Diono etc... but they were way too long and the passenger seat had to be pushed too far to the front. My vehicle is the pone we dive at night and on the weekends so we needed something that allowed us to be comfortable in the front too!!

Mike got the Safety First Complete Air 65 LX Mike really liked this one!! Although rear facing in his car does push the passenger seat right to the front it isn't really a big deal - Mike would only be using his car for daycare pickups, Daddy/Daughter days etc.. and once it is forward facing it is fine!!

It was so exciting to actually put the seats in our cars and try them out - I can't believe it is almost here. We are both getting VERY impatient now and of course China is taking their sweet time.

Valentines Day!

We never make too big of a deal about Valentines Day. It is just another day pretty much! We do usually always get each other a card and sometimes we will go out for dinner.

This year Mike had a meeting that night which I wasn't overly happy about but I decided to clean out the pantry and let me tell you it was one of the best Valentine's Days yet LOL - I love getting organized!! I wanted to clear out 1 - 2 shelves for us to put Mhyia's stuff (bottles, plates, snacks etc..) Mission accomplished!!

This is the card (home made I might add) and yes in case you are wondering Mike did the lettering on his own, freehand!! Pretty good! He also had some sour keys (my fav) wrapped up!!

Gung Hei Fat Choy – Year of the Dragon!

Happy Chinese New Year to all our friends and family and to our baby girl who is somewhere in China – it won’t be too much longer and mommy and daddy will be coming to get you!

Year of the Dragon is known for being one of the luckiest years and we are hoping this proves to be true for us!

We have some big changes coming in our lives and we cannot wait!!

I read this article on the some of the history etc.. and found it quite interesting so I decided to re-post it here! Enjoy…

"Gung Hei Fat Choy" That’s the traditional Chinese New Year greeting that means “wishing you prosperity” in Mandarin. The first day of the Chinese New Year – which begins at midnight on January 23, 2012 – is the most important of Chinese holidays, celebrated by billions in China, and by millions of ethnic Chinese around the world. It’s a celebration that lasts for 15 days, culminating with the Lantern Festival. Each year is associated with one of twelve animals in the Chinese zodiac. For 2012, it’s the Year of the Dragon.

There are several variations on the mythology behind Chinese New Year celebrations. Most are based on a ugly bloodthirsty monster named Nian that would emerge on the last night of each year to destroy villages and eat people. A wise elder advised villagers to scare the monster away with loud noises. That night, they set fire to bamboo, lit fireworks, and banged their drums. The monster, afraid of the loud noises and lights, ran away to hide in its cave. In another version of the myth, an old man persuaded Nian to turn its wrath on other monsters, not the villagers. Before he was seen riding away on Nian, the old man, actually a god, advised the people to hang red paper decorations in their homes and set off firecrackers on the last night of the year to keep Nian away. On the first day of the new year, the villagers celebrated, greeting each other with the words “Guo Nian” which means “survive the Nian”, a tradition that has continued to this day to mean “celebrate the new year.”

Chinese New Year celebrations traditionally lasts 15 days, from the first day (during a new moon) to the 15th day (a full moon). Each day holds a special significance that varies according to local traditions. But first, before the arrival of the new year, homes are thoroughly cleaned to sweep away ill fortune, and to welcome good luck. On new year’s eve, there are family gatherings to celebrate and enjoy sumptuous traditional feasts, and to greet the new year with fireworks at midnight.

The celebration culminates on the 15th day with the Lantern festival; on this night of the full moon, families mingle in the streets carrying lighted lanterns, often creating a beautiful light display.
The Chinese New Year for 2012 will be celebrated on 23 January. It’s the most important of Chinese holidays, celebrated by billions of people across the world. Festivities traditionally last for 15 days to culminate with the Lantern Festival. This calendar is based on a complex lunisolar calendar system that uses both lunar and solar cycles to mark time. As a result, Chinese New Year falls on different dates each year, between January 21 and February 21 of the conventional Gregorian calendar. Each Chinese lunar year is associated with one of twelve animals in the Chinese zodiac. For 2012, it’s the Year of the Dragon.

Mike and I didn't have anything planned this year for Chinese New Year but when he came home from the gym he brought this little surprise!! These were the best chicken balls we have ever had - form a little local restaurant - why haven't we tried them sooner!!!!

Six years ago today!

Six years ago today Mike and I headed to London for our agencies information session on adoption – it was the start of what has turned into this incredibly long journey. Although we have hated the wait I kind of feel like now is the perfect time for Mhyia to come into our lives – I am in a job I love, we have completed things we wanted to get done around the house, we are more mature, we have met so many amazing friends along the way etc… the timing is Great!!

Today we will mark this special day by assembling her crib, I/we have been slowly working away at her room (pics to come soon) and we thought that this would be a special day to assemble her crib!! I am soooo excited!! Even though we have had the crib in the house for a month or so it hasn’t hit me like I think it will when it is set up.

Thanks soooo much to my Mom and Dad (aka Grandma and Grandpa) for buying the most beautiful crib for Mhyia – we love it and we love you – Thank You!!!

This was an exciting purchase - the mattress - I didn't want to put the crib up unitl I could put it all together




This is her crib before and after assembly!!

New carpet, fresh paint and a long list in waiting!

We have a 4 page list I have had posted on the fridge for a year or more. I have it broken out by room of the house and "cost money" and "doesn't cost money" - until lately we have not been great at knocking things off.

I feel with our referral getting closer I am almost in a panic - I feel like I have soooo much to do and not enough time to do it.

We are getting new carpet up the stairs and in two of the bedrooms and I can't wait!! We repainted the hallway, repainted the banister and now the new carpet - it has forced us to clean up all the rooms and get rid of stuff we don't use etc... it is such a great feeling!!

Once the new carpet is in I will work on finishing Mhyia's room - sooooo exciting - I don't want to post pics until it is finished but as soon as I am done I will post pics! I am loving it so far!!!

FINALLY in AUGUST!!!!!!!

Well we weren't sure if we would see referrals in October but to our surprise we not only got them, we got them early!! I woke up on Friday October 21st to RQ reporting that the CCAA had referred up to and including Aug 2, 2006.

OMG can I just point out that they are FINALLY in August!!!!! The referral batch was really small, in fact the smallest EVER but I was happy for a couple of reasons:

• to see referrals for this month at all


• to see that they made it in to August


• to see that they came over a week sooner than we thought!


• also there is only group 271 ahead of us now at our agency!

What does this mean for us?? Good question LOL - I am still thinking March or April for a referral and we are fine with that!! I totally expect they will skip a month either Nov or Dec and then I feel it will take them 3 to 5 months to finish Aug and of course we are Aug 29th. Now according to RQ polls there is no one logged in Aug 19-27, which should help to speed things up for us a little.

As always - only time will tell!!

Happy Thanksgiving 2011

Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians!!!

Soooooo much to be Thankful for this last year, we have had family members come through some scary health issues, we have had good health with the rest of our families and friends, I am back working full time at the place I have always wanted to work (and loving it), we have been able to start getting excited about China as it inches closer to us everyday, all in all it has been a great year and we are so Thankful to be here happy and healthy.

This year we wet to Amy's for dinner on Saturday (also celebrated Meghan's 3rd birthday) and we went to my Mom and Dads on Sunday. As we were in the kitchen at my Moms I actually stopped and thought (and said out loud) next year there will be a highchair at the table!!!! OMG can you believe it?? It is so unreal LOL - can't wait!!

We also rec'd a call on Sunday telling us our crib was in!! My parents bought our crib for Mhyia and it is sooooo beautiful!!!! Mike and John headed over to pick it up and returned with it - we realized it may be easier to get it up the stairs if we take it out of the large box - well as luck would have it it was damaged :( Back to the store it went and another one has been special ordered. That was not so great but either way we have another one on order and hopefully the next one will be fine!!

61 MONTHS!

Today marks 61 months since our file was logged in with the CCAA - as always I really can't believe it. Although today I am not upset about it - yesterday the CCAA matched 14 days worth of families and that was VERY exciting!! It not a huge batch in terms of babies but we will take it and I LOVED marking 14 days of my calendar at work. Kimberly marched right over to my desk and made me mark them off as soon as I got in. We are "hoping" that we will have about 6-7 more months to go still?? Which seems like nothing really after this long. Mike actually called me at work and said "maybe we should paint the nursery?" - so cute - I LOVE that he is starting to get excited too!!

Our file as I said was sent to the CCAA and logged in there computer system 61 months ago and since then it has been sitting on a shelf - maybe in one of these pics?? who knows?





I have also been thinking about Mhyia alot lately - I have been thinking that she is probably born now and waiting for us in an orphanage - it upsets me that she will be there for months before we get her but we will make up for lost time once we have her in our arms. Of course I am hoping for the youngest baby possible and am hoping that if we do get a referral in March/April - I am hoping she would have a birthday of Aug/Sept or dare I even say October!! Only time will tell!

Our first concrete project!

My Birthday!

Fantastic Fundraiser - Sep'tember 17th!

5 YEARS - since our file was logged in at the CCAA

I would NEVER have imagined I would ever type this post. When we started we were soooo excited and were told 9-12 months. In fact when we started in Jan 2006 people who were then receiving referrals had waited 7 months. I can remember the night they told us at Adopttalk that it could reach 18 months, I cried all the way home.

I am not going to lie - these 5 years have been very hard - during this time soooo much has happened..births, deaths, marriages, vacations, job changes etc... when I stop and think about it it is even harder. We have friends/family that have gotten married and have 2 kids now and yes we are STILL waiting. I think about how Mhyia's Uncle Kevin will never meet her and it makes me sad.

I think the hardest part is the fact that I have not yet gotten to a point where we can truly be excited - we are always cautious. It has always been so far away that we actually have tried not to talk about it too much. Although I want to talk about it - I want to be excited, I want to look at and buy some baby items without feeling silly or guilty. I want people to ask me how it is going and about the process etc... and I find that most people don't ask us ANYTHING and that is hard. I think the past couple of months we have finally started to get a bit excited, and although we are still cautious we are moving forward - we see a small light at the end of the tunnel.

I think about her everyday and I wonder if she is born yet, I think about the woman walking around who is pregnant with her and how this will be the hardest thing she will ever do yet in some strange way the best thing that will ever happen to us. I wonder where she will leave her and if she will leave a note, I think about how we will love her more than anything and try to give her everything yet her birth mom will never know where she is or who she is with. I think about that day we will receive her referral and how I pray she will be as young as possible, and at the very least have her here before her 1st birthday.

We can't wait to go to China, we think about it all the time, we can't wait to meet her, we can't wait to go back to our hotel room with her and hang out just the three of us, we can't wait to be home with her and get on with our lives as a family of three!

So today although in one way sad in another way it is exciting because we are always one day closer to her and to be honest as much as this wait has been the worst thing EVER I feel like the timing is now perfect and we are soooo ready for her!!