Catch up...

I kept meaning to find some time to update my blog, but alas, I've not been very good at it. I did manage to finally download some new pictures from the camera so here they are!

We just got back from Vegas last week. It was a long 5 days, the longest we've ever spent in Vegas. We went with some friends of ours and Grandma and Grandpa. It was okay but I don't think I'd ever take Jenna there again. I don't know what I was thinking in the first place. It was hard for me to have fun and let lose because I was always worried about her and felt bad that GMa and GPa were looking after her....and also being pregnant and not being able to enjoy some nice icy 'beverages' in the heat. There will be lots of time for Vegas when the kids are older but I think the only vacations we'll be taking are 'kid friendly' ones!

We do, however, leave for California the end of June and will be flying to my sisters' and then hopping on another plane the very next day to head to San Diego. I can't wait. I just LOVE Sea World.

I'm finally starting my 2nd trimester and actually starting to feel human again. The nausea and vomiting really kicked my butt but now I seem to have more energy and a bit more of an appetite (YIKES!). All in all, things are progressing quite nicely.






Jenna and her 3rd haircut!!! Her hair grows amazingly fast and is so thick...makes her mama envious!












Jenna striking a pose.

















Jenna with her grandparents in Vegas watching the light show on Fremont Street. She was a little unsure of the loud sounds though.













This is the infamous quart of milk that we ordered from room service. It cost us $13.00!!!! She drank every bit of that milk though! Nothing's too good for my baby girl. ($13.00 for a quart of milk though.....come on!)








Jenna loves to sit on things and will tell you to sit along side with her. But she REALLY loves to sit INSIDE of things, regardless of whether or not her cute little butt will fit into it. Too cute. Also, notice she's sporting the famous "bed head".












Just this past weekend, Jenna's little friends came over for a play date. They had fun playing in the yard and chasing all the bubbles from the bubble machine. Jenna loved it so much that I went and bought one of her very own!

It's a..........

BABY!!!!!!

So this is the news that I've been meaning to post about for a while but I really wanted to wait until my ultrasound (which was today) to make sure things were progressing nicely with my pregnancy.

JENNA'S GOING TO HAVE A BABY BROTHER/SISTER!!!! The little peanut was moving around like crazy today and my heart skipped a beat. I've only ever been pregnant once before but, sadly, that ended in miscarriage at 6 weeks so to this little being inside of me looking like a real live baby just sort of took my breath away.

On March 10th, we transferred our 3 last remaining embryos that had been frozen for last 2 1/2 years. On transfer day, the embriologist showed us our thawed babies and said that they certainly weren't of the best quality but if we wanted, they could transfer all 3 of them anyway. I figured we had nothing left to lose at this point so they went ahead and transferred all 3. Two weeks later, after peeing on a stick, we knew, and the rest is history! I really think that having my Jenna around to keep me pre-occupied really helped in making this cycle, out of the previous 6 cycles, successful. There was just no time to dwell on every little thing that could go wrong. I guess I had also surrendered to the fact that if this didn't work out, well that was okay too, because we were blessed with Jenna and there was no need to want anymore. But now we're going to be blessed with one more and we couldn't be any happier!

The baby is scheduled to arrive on November 28th, 2007. This could be a realllllly long summer! But one I'd gladly sweat through!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

My first Mother's Day started off with a breakfast prepared by the husband and little Miss Jenna of course (an egg, a piece of toast and a bowl of strawberries!). It was the best breakfast I've ever had and it was just so darn cute watching Jenna carry the heavy plates to the table as she helped set it. Then, on top of my strawberry bowl, there was a card, and in my bowl was a beautiful diamond necklace....man am I spoiled!!! Daddy even said Jenna was the one who picked it out. We then met some friends for brunch (because the small breakfast early this morning just wasn't going to cut it!) and pretty much lazed around together the rest of the day. It is just what I was hoping this day would turn out to be. Watching the husband and my baby girl twirl around in the kitchen this morning will be a scene that will melt my heart for a long time. I know that Mother's day is just one day out of 365 days, but it's a day I've been looking forward to for a very long time and it couldn't have been any more perfect! My camera died yesterday so I won't get to post pictures until tomorrow.

Happy Mother's day to all you Mother's out there and especially to those who are are still waiting to become Mother's. You're time will come, and it will be so dang good!!!

Goodnight!

Happy 1 Year Referral Anniversary!!!

(I kept trying to find time to post this yesterday, the ACTUAL anniversary date, but better late than never!)

One year ago today, we saw our baby girls' face for the first time. I remember sitting in my computer room staring at the phone like a raving lunatic, when all of a sudden, it rang. She was telling me all this information about our baby and I was frantically trying to write it down while gobs of tears are falling from my face onto this piece of paper. It was around 2:30 or 3:00 on a Friday and she said that if I left right away, I could go and pick it up in her office before it closed at 4:30. All I remember is calling the husband, blabbering a few bits of information to him (that I'm sure he didn't even understand) then gathering my things and jumping into my truck and driving like a mad woman. When I got there, the ladies came into the room and said they didn't think I'd make it there that fast. I was thinking "Lady, if you only knew the longing and the heartache I've been through over the last few years to get me to this point, you'd be saying it took me too long!"

I remember opening that envelope ever so slowly, as if it were the most delicate piece of glass, and I saw the picture and I cried, and cried and cried. All the hurt and disappointment that only someone who has been through infertility would understand seemed to have lifted off my shoulder the very moment that I laid eyes on my daughters' face.

I also remember thinking that I will no longer be staring at a lit Christmas tree in the middle of the night crying because my baby is not here, or going to a kiddie party and sitting in a corner not knowing what to do with myself, or going to summer festivals and staring at all the happy parents pushing baby strollers. No, not anymore because what I felt missing in my heart was instantly found in that tiny, overdressed, little pouty face. It all seemed like a big burden for my baby, that she was going to make my saddness, my sense of longing and years of disappointment go away, but seeing that face for the first time, I just knew she would.

And now.....she is beyond my wildest dreams. She is just so easy to love.

Thank you my sweet girl for making this mommy the happiest she's ever been! Happy Anniversary!

New pictures..

I've now taken up all my free computer time catching up on my blog list that I only have time to post a few new pictures (well, maybe not so new). There a few new & exciting things going on in my life right now but I will write more about it later. For now, here's my sweet baby girl, who, by the way, is growing waaayyyyyy too fast!

Jenna's second hair cut. This is her "Cheese" smile. See the dorky mom behind her in the mirror?

Jenna has the thickest hair I've seen and it grows really fast!

Jenna all prettied up before going to my birthday dinner with friends. Who knew leopard would look so cute on her?

Easter at my brother and SIL place. At this point, she had no idea what was inside those eggs...

Aaahaaaa! This is why these silly people are going "goo goo" over me finding these eggs....CHOCOLATE!!!!

MY LOOT!!!!

Pictures....

What a difference 8 months makes!!! Same girl....same place...same balls....and sadly, same germs!!!






























Jenna and her friend Allie on the balloon ride

A girl in a fast car....

And the best part....the ice cream after a morning full of fun! Thanks Allie and Tracey for such a great time!

We went to the Boat and Sportsman show a few weekends ago so the husband could drool over some speed boats and there was this man with this owl....it is definitely real, although I don't think Jenna thought so. I'm not sure she would have taken a picture with it if she thought it was. What a beautiful bird....oh and the girl's kinda cute too!

No time......

I've been trying to find time to update this blog for quite a while but by the time I get caught up on everyone else's blog, Jenna gets up from a nap or starts to lose fascination with the things I've throw over my shoulder for her to play with. How do you all find time to blog with little ones wanting your attention all day? I watched an episode of Super Nanny one day and one of her tips were to give your child their own activity table/sheet/or box to keep them occupied while doing work on the computer (not that I call this work or anything but I NEED to have my blog fix daily!!!). While this idea is good, I find that by the time I've spent 15 minutes or so on the computer, I turn around and Jenna has a multitude of things (such as cards, all 52 of them scattered all over the floor, old keys, pens, papers, books and old remote controls) all over the place and is STILL pleading "Up, Up, Up!". Then I feel bad for ignoring her and log off. Right now it's early and she's still sleeping.

Anyway, not alot new here. I know that I was suppose to post pictures of our CNY part at the restaurant (read above) and quite frankly, I really didn't take a lot of pictures. When we first got there, they wanted all 12 adults and 7 kids to sit at a round table for 15. WHAT!!??? Thank goodness we had an early reservation and were able to get 2 tables. Dinner was served a little later than I thought and the babies started to get a little antsy but otherwise turned out pretty good. The food just kept coming and coming and I thought it would never stop. All in all the food was quite tasty, except for a few dishes people pretty much passed on, like jelly fish (honestly looked like onions) and pickled pork hocks. After about an hour the place was jam packed and you could barely hear yourself talk but everyone had a good time.

Jenna's been growing like a weed and is also talking more and more everyday. Sometimes she goes into a babble that makes the husband and I just stare at each other and roar...it's just so darn cute! She pretty much understands everything we say, not necessarily listens to it all but understands it nonetheless.

She has her followup appt with her pediatrician on Wed and this is where I'll find out whether her iron levels have gone higher since she's been home with us. Her counts were low and she needed medication and iron supplements for a while. Her doctor thinks that it could be hereditary in which case there's not a lot she can do about it, but it could have also worked itself out. I guess we'll see.

Anyway, Jenna's waking up so I better wrap this up. My camera is downstairs so I'll try to download some pictures tonight.

Happy New Year!!!

Jenna is hosting a Chinese New Year dinner with her little friends today at a local Chinese restaurant. I really wanted to invite the "whole family" (we have a really big extended family) but I decided that I'll incorporate CNY celebration when I do my annual Easter dinner. Anyway, they have a special menu for today and when I went and looked at it last week, they hadn't translated it to English yet so I thought I'd be brave and just go with it. Well, during the week I had second thoughts as most of the guests will be, ummmm, how do you say.....White or non-Asian. It's a good thing I went yesterday because dishes like fried sea urchin, fish ball soup and a couple other dishes didn't sound like they would go off too well among my Canadian friends, so I replaced them with some really "safe" dishes like fried rice, shrimp and noodles. I'm sure those traditional dishes are very tasty and I would probably try them myself, but I'd rather pay for food that I know will be eaten. Plus, I'm the biggest "white-washed" Filipino you'll ever meet so sticking to what I know is best. Anyway, I'll update tonight complete with pictures of Jenna's first Chinese New Year home with us!

Random photos.....

Just some random photos that I finally downloaded from my new camera I got at Christmas time....



Last week Jenna decided that she really didn't need an afternoon nap so after fighting sleep for so long, the poor little thing crashed just as I was giving her after nap snack. She's never done this before but I'm sure it won't be the last time either! Too cute!








Jenna and her Daddy just before going to the Oilers game against the.. ummm, whoever. We went to the game and lasted a whole period and ended up going home. Let's just say we won't be going to a game with Jenna until she's a little older to sit in her own seat and keep herself amused by shoveling piles of junk food into her mouth. You can dress her up, but you can't necessarily take her out.....to a hockey game that is!
















This was at New Year's at Auntie Terri's and Uncle Brad's fondue. This was the first ever article of clothing I ever bought Jenna. It was at Macy's in California and although I knew that referral was a long ways away, I couldn't resist this pretty little party dress. I remember putting it on her that night and thinking how badly my heart ached for her back then....and now here she was wearing her dress. Who would have ever thought beautiful could look this beautiful!



















Jenna's first hair cut at a cute little shop called Beaners. She picked the princess care to ride in (of course) and she was such a good little client. Better than I thought she'd be.














Amazing how cutting a few little hairs can change my baby's face soooo much. It brought tears to my eyes!




Jenna and her cousins' place in California. How cute do my three little girls' look!!

Happy 1 and 1/2 years baby!!!

I just can't believe that, yesterday, our Jenna was a 1 1/2 years old. I was looking back at old blog posts tonight and reminisced about our time in China. It feels like so long ago. Some days, my heart aches to go back to relive all those memories all over again. I know that going back for a sibling for Jenna is becoming more and more out of our reach with all the new rules that the CCAA has implemented. I am just so thankful everyday that our journey happened when it did, otherwise, who knows where we would be right now.

I wanted to post to this video again because as I was reading my archives tonight, this post in particular made me weep. Jenna has grown so much over the past 6 months that I am filled with awe at how far we've come.

Mommy and Daddy love you so very much baby girl!

Jenna's new Choo-Choo Train

Happy New Year!

It’s now the New Year and I look back at the last 6 months in complete and utter amazement that:

• We (or I should say I) actually survived the wait until referral
• I got to experience the truest feeling of love at first sight when I saw my baby’s sweet face for the first time
• We actually went to China (dude, I was in China man!!!)
• I survived the first 2 weeks home with Jenna when the husband went back to work
• The husband survived all the huge parties and rather large gatherings of people in the last 6 months (birthday, baptism, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years) because if you knew the husband, you’d understand his need for personal space
• Christmas with our little family of 3 couldn’t have been more perfect
• And last but definitely not least, Jenna completes our family in a way I never thought possible and I cherish everyday with her.
  

The husband was home for quite a few days over Christmas which was really nice. I think Jenna is a real Daddy’s girl, which warms my heart to no end, so having Daddy home for a few extra days was just up her alley.

We just had our 6 month post placement adoption visit with our social worker the other day and it went really well. There were no white gloves, which is a good thing because my house needs a good clean, and there were no harsh or negative words to be had on her part regarding our parenting. Phew. Not that I had any reason to believe that there would be a negative word to be said but I guess it’s a bit of confirmation that we’re really on the right track with her as far as her bonding and attachment goes. Jenna is a very easy going, happy, social baby and pretty much has been since we first met her. Once she gets a little comfortable around people, she has no problem going to them and saying “up, up”. This did have me a little worried but our social worker said that if she was doing that with strangers right off the bat after first meeting them, then we should have cause for concern, but she does play shy with some people, more so now that she did before, so I guess that’s a good sign. I think the bonding has gone quite well but the attachment issue always had me a little worried because of Jenna’s personality and I wondered if we were overlooking that whole process. She’s happy and friendly therefore she must be attaching to us. Not necessarily the case. Anyway, as it turns out, we’re apparently on the right track in that respect so all is good in the world.

Jenna is embarking on yet another plane ride, this time with both her Mommy and her Daddy. We’re going to California again for my little nieces’ 3rd birthday. We’ll be flying there with the husband but Jenna and I will stay a few extra days to do what the husband hates most in this world and that is TO SHOP!!!!

I'll part with a few photos from last month.

Jenna and her cousin Elijah at his 2nd birthday















At Auntie Terri's house opening her presents















Christmas Eve morning with her shopping cart from Nina
















Grandma and the Lola's dressed her up in what seemd like ALL her dress up clothes from Grandma and Grandpa all at once. She was a princess/party girl/ballerina/pocahontas all in one!

















Late Christmas Eve the husband put out all our presents for us to open and this is what Jenna got from Mommy and Daddy, her very own Leap Frog train set! She loved it! (Video to follow)

Merry Christmas!!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a New Year filled with love and happiness!

Pictures...

Jenna's 1 year pictures























Jenna displaying her "not so happy" face" with Santa





















All dressed up for her Christmas photos. What a cutie!!!

Is it really December already???!!!

Wow, it’s been almost a month since I posted last and quite honestly, it feels like just yesterday. My days slip passed me so quickly I’m afraid to blink in fear of opening my eyes and seeing Jenna coming home from school!!!! How do you stop it from going so fast!!!!

Anyway, we just got back from Thanksgiving trip to see my sister and her family in California. It was apparently a good time to be away as the temperatures here in Edmonton dipped into the -30 range….eeek! There were days at my sisters where we were playing with the kids in the front yard in the sun, how is that fair? Our trip was fantastic and, as always, went by too quick. Jenna had so much fun with her cousins but not so much with their little dog CoCo. Her and that dog just didn’t click, but it was so cute to see how she interacted with her. My sister taught her to waive her finger back and forth and say “No, no, no” and now she does it all the time, even when you tell her no….too cute.

As always, she’s growing like a weed. I think a haircut is in order sometime soon. My mom bought her a Halloween outfit in a size 2T for next year and we couldn’t even get it buttoned without her belly popping out! I think it might have been sized wrong because she's still wearing size 12-18 months. My little girl is growing way too fast. She still doesn’t have a lot of words that we can understand, although she seems to have her own language and we’ve become accustomed to actually understanding it. A lot of it is pointing and grunting which, sometimes, hammers on my nerves but I have to remember that it’s the only way she knows how to communicate so I have to learn to be more patient and take more time to try to teach her more words.

Her sleeping is good for the most part but there are still those days where she wakes up in the middle of night and we end up having her in our bed. And to be quite honest, I quite like cuddling with her in our bed so it really doesn’t bother me all that much.

We did the Santa picture thing when we were in Sacramento and at first, we had Jenna sit on her cousins’ lap when the 3 of them took the picture. Then she took one with Santa by herself, which would have been fine had she not turned around to see who was behind her. That was when things turned ugly…really, really ugly. My poor Jenna cried so hard there was hardly a sound coming out of her mouth. Who can blame her though, she’s never seen anything like this Santa Claus man and then her mommy leaves her on his lap and walks away. I guess I’d be pretty upset too. Needless to say, the $30 I spent on the package of pictures has her with a big crocodile tear running down her face. Oh well, it’s her first Christmas with us and it had to be done! I’ll have a good story to tell when she looks back at those pictures one day.

This week, I’ll be working on doing a legal name change for her so that we can get the ball rolling on her Citizenship, passport and social insurance number. We’ve been home with her now for almost 5 months and our 6 month post placement report will be due shortly. This is where we meet with our social worker again so that she can write up a report to send to China basically stating how Jenna is adjusting to her new life. And I can personally say that Jenna’s life is filled with more love than she can handle but more so, our home has been filled with more love, more laughter and more happiness than I could have ever dreamed of. I still catch myself sometimes staring at her in complete and utter amazement that she is in our lives. This little girl has changed my life in so many wonderful ways and I just love her to bits. She is definitely my dream come true! Today she got her Christmas photos done and she did such a good job. I was especially proud of her because this silly mama booked the photos right when she usually naps in the afternoon but she definitely exceeded my expectations.

I’ll leave you all with a few new photos….

(Okay, maybe I won't as Blogger is once again not liking me very much tonight and I'm wayyyy too tired to keep trying. I'll try again tomorrow!!!)

Where does the time go?????

I've been meaning to blog for quite a while now but when I went on the blog tonight, I didn't realize that it's been since October 19th that I've blogged last! Time is just going by way too fast. Anyway, I haven't got anything brilliant to say so I will just post the many pictures I've taken over the past few weeks...


Jenna & Allie (her Chinese "Cousin") having a play date at Chucky Cheese















"Hold on Allie, dont' be scared....I got it all under control!"
















My ladybug hotdog wraps for my halloween party. It was a hit!!
















Playing freeze dance with all the witches and princesses.















Jenna and her friends















Sporting her first ever set of pigtails....mommy was soooo happy!















Outside sledding with Daddy














"Look at me, I'm sitting on my new sled!! And I only did a face plant twice!"















Helping Daddy shovel the snow