My darling nieces.....

Family

Just testing out my one and only video I've made so far of my nieces. I need to make sure I know what I'm doing before leaving for China!!!

Jenna-Day confirmation.....

We now have our long awaited itinerary!!!! Here are the details:

June 29
Leave Edmonton to Beijing via Vancouver

June 30
Arrive Beijing, guide to transfer us to International Hotel

July 1
Rest and wait for other families to arrive

July 2 ( Jenna-Day!!!!!)
Fly Beijing to Nanchang, transfer to Gloria Plaza Hotel
Go to the Civil Affairs in the afternoon to meet the babies and sign the adoption agreement

July 3
Go to Civil Affairs again for registration, notarization and applying for passport

July 4
Guide will bring families to local department store to buy some daily necessities for the babies

July 5
Visit the Temple of Teng Wang Ge

July 6
Visit the resort for Ba Da ShanRen

July 7
Pick up passports
Fly Nanchang to Beijing, transfer back to International Hotel

July 8
Medical Exam and take photos for babies

July 9
Sightsee the Great Wall

July 10
Go to Canadian Embassy for visa appointment

July 11
Visit Tian An Men Square and the Forbidden City

July 12
Rest day

July 13
Hutong Tour
Pick up Visas
Beijing Duck dinner

July 14
RETURN HOME!!!! (Arrive in Edmonton on Flight AC242 @ 4:55pm)

So there it is folks, only 17 more days until we have Jenna in our arms forever!!!! I just can't believe this is all hapenning. I've gotten a little further with the packing. I now have 1 large suitcase filled with just things for Jenna, not including the toys and clothes I plan to bring for her. It consists mostly of medication, diapers, wipes, etc. I don't know how I'm going to fit everything into 4 suitcases! I guess there will be some packing, unpacking and re-packing to be done in the next few days! Wish me luck!

Blogger doesn't want to co-operate!!!!

So this is the picture I was trying to insert in my last post but blogger wouldn't let me. Bad Blogger, bad!

This is our official "Bring Jenna Home" card. There she is, all black and white on the bottom of the sheet. I'm sure she's changed so much since this picture was taken, I hope I'll still be able to recognize her.

We are still waiting for our in-China travel itinerary which we were suppose to have the beginning of this week but probably won't get until next week. Also, our passports and other travel documents will be mailed out next week sometime and then I think we have everything we need. I'm doing a wedding cake this weekend so this week was a complete write off for any packing or sorting out of Jenna's room but the next 2 weeks will be devoted to getting ready for the trip.

20 more days!!!!!!

It's coming together.....S L O W L Y

I feel like I'm in the shopping Olympics and I'm in contention for the Gold! (Like there was ever a doubt!). Our wonderful travel mates have all been busy with the emails on what to pack, what not to pack and lists, upon lists, upon lists, that I have found completely invaluable. My list sits beside my computer and it gets updated everyday with new things that I would have never thought to buy and bring with us on our trip. We have a list of tasks that we've all been busy assigning volunteers for within our group. Tasks such as buying gifts for officials, nannies and orphanages as well as coordination of luggage tags and paperwork. Well I've signed up for purchasing nanny gifts for families with daughters' from the Wanzai orphanage. They recommend things like candies, chocolates, makeup and local Chinese goodies that are NOT "Made in China" so I went out today and bought what I thought fit that description. Since Canada Day is just around the corner, there are a lot of Canadian treats and memorabilia in the stores. I bought these:

Now, I'm not sure if the nannies would understand or appreciate the humor in this but I thought it was a cute idea. We'll see what the group thinks....I may have to consume these little poo poos all on my own, which wouldn't really be a bad thing! (BTW, that IKEA frame has been sitting picture-less since we moved into this house 3 years ago.....I digress!)

I did buy some other things like Canadian Maple Leaf cookies and chocolates shaped like the maple leaf so it wasn't a wasted shopping trip. I plan to get other goodies like makeup, lotions and LIQUOR (now we're talkin'). I am also bringing a little gift for Jenna's foster parents but I'm not sure if we will be able to meet them or not. We haven't received our in-China itinerary as of yet so I'm not even sure what day or where we will be receiving our daughters. We should know when Jenna-Day is by the end of week. Either way, I wanted to include a little album of pictures of the husband and I, the house, her room, Shelby and a few other treats. Just a little something to let them know that Jenna will be taken care of as they've been with her since she was 3 months old.

Things I've bought...so far:

• enough medication to stock a school infirmary
• sleepers with feet, sleepers without feet and most importantly, sleepers that say "I Love Mommy"
• dresses....oh the dresses
• baby Mum Mum (gluten free, egg free, cholesterol free....TASTE FREE!) I was told the kiddies love 'em though
• diapers (I even opened up the package and put them away in the closet....I know, it's a new-mom thing!)
• toys, toys, toys
• table and chairs for the basement, table and chairs for the main floor, chairs for her room!! My baby will always have a place to park her rump!
• strollers, high chairs and car seats (I went for color rather than durability....love BROWN!)
• and the list goes on and on and on.....

Another thing we received the other day is our "Notice of Coming". This is essentially the document we need to take to China to receive Jenna. No paper, no Jenna.

23 MORE DAYS........

Da Plane...Da Plane...

Our plane tickets arrived today and it's really starting to sink in that in less than a month from today, we will be on a plane to China to pick Jenna up. It's just really starting to dawn on me that life as I know it will never be the same. I will have this little child attached to me at all times, requiring every moment of my time and energy. My life will not be mine to do with what I want, when I want and how I want. My life will now belong to this little child forever. How's that for a reality check! Scary and exciting all at the same time. For those who know me, I live a pretty easy, carefree life, with not a lot of worries or stresses (other than the husband). I'm also sure that those who know me well may be laughing (under their breaths of course) at the fact that my carefree life will now include getting up early, changing poopy diapers (that will take a lot of work for me, cuz I'm not good with poop that's not mine) and tending to a child all day. I'll probably fumble at it for the first little while and I suppose having a good sense of ha-ha will pull me through those stressful times, but to be completely honest, I've been waiting for this for a very long time and I can't wait for the challenge.

I realize that raising a child is hard work and that it's not all about going to the park and playing patty-cake all day. I know and have heard, second hand, of all the not-so-wonderful sides of parenting that some people don't often speak about. I also realize that, with adoption, comes bonding and attachment issues, especially at the age Jenna is at, and that it could be really difficult in the beginning. I'm not expecting the clouds to part and angels to sing Halleluiah in the background once Jenna is placed into my arms. What I do expect, and have been mentally preparing for, is the fact that the husband and I will probably be the last people Jenna will want to be left with and she will cry, and she will grieve, maybe for a day, maybe longer. I know my heart will break into a million tiny pieces, but I also know that grieving is going to be part of her process that she needs to get through.

Mostly though, I realize how fulfilling parenting will be, for both of us, and how lucky we're going to be in the next month, when our little family will grow by one. We. Can't. Wait!!!

Happy 10th months baby girl!!!!

Jenna will be home just in time to celebrate the monumental 1 year birthday and I just can't wait to have her home. Mommy and Daddy hope you're safe, happy and above all, loved, today and everyday until we can do all those things for you ourselves! Hang on tight, we'll be there soon!

Let the frustration begin!

It seems that nothing throughout this journey has been easy. I thought that after we received referral, things would just magically work itself out.....not the case. Between communication with our agency, paperwork problems, and now, to add to the excitement, travel arrangements, the last part of this process has turned into a 3-ring circus! I'm too exhausted to even get into the details right now, but let's just say, I can't get to China and back fast enough!!!!

As it stands, we are still going to be leaving around June 30th (could be the as early as the 28th or 29th, depending on availability) and coming back on July 14th. I have not gotten word on our Travel Approvals yet. This is what the CCAA sends to our agency to let us know that we are approved to travel to their country to pick up our child. I know that they have already been issued for other families who are working with other agencies but our agency has not communicated this information with us....yet. As well, I haven't heard anything about our Consulate appointments either. This is normally what we need to book our trip around. I'm going to assume this date has already been secured as we already have our travel dates sets, again however, we were not communicated this information. (See my frustration!!!!????) I realize that there are many different agencies who all do things differently but I don't get how I feel so left out of the loop?? It probably doesn't help that I read all sorts of blogs day in and day out and get a glimpse of how other agencies (in Canada, and the U.S.) handle referral and travel, but once referral happens, how different can the process be??? I just don't get it.

With something as important as this, it is very hard to just "ASSUME" that things are being done on your behalf, especially when it seems like I'm the one who's having to ask for things over and over and over again.

Okay, I'm done. Now, I just have to look forward and hope that things start to get easier from here on end. I should have a travel itinerary in the next couple of days....

Sad, sad day...

Over the last month or two, our Shelby had started limping. We thought that maybe he had just sprained his ankle or hurt his foot. I've made appointments for him a couple of times to see the vet only to have the limping go away for a few days so I just cancelled the appointments. Well, it started again a few weeks ago so I finally took him in this morning and the vet took some x-rays. We also thought maybe he had arthritis and we could just put him on some medication to ease his pain a little, after all, he is 11 years old. Well, I was definitely not prepared for what the doctor had to say. Our beloved dog has been diagnosed with OSTEOSARCOMA and the vet speculates that given the size of the tumor in his upper left shoulder, that it will soon spread to the lungs. He's giving Shelby about 4-5 months. My heart stopped and I couldn't hold back the tears. The only thing we can do for our boy is give him pain medication so that he's comfortable. I'm so sad, I don't even know what else to say....except Momma loves you Shelby!

This, that, and some deep thoughts....

So after the big fiasco with my agency (don't ask, I'm still a little bitter) is finally over, our documents (visa applications, travel documents, copies of acceptance letter, passports, etc) were finally mailed today and should arrive at Children's Bridge tomorrow. Now that that's over with, it's time to start looking over the list of the million and ten things left to do. I guess that's why there's such a wait to travel....so that you can get everything in order before going to China. I've traveled a lot over the past few years so one would think that I would be an old pro at packing and getting ready for a trip, but I've only ever had to worry about myself...(and sometimes the husband) but now, trying to pack for a trip to a country I've never been to and for a baby I've never met is going to have some challenges. I'm sure I'll drive my husband crazy over the next few weeks (if he was reading this, he'd say that was nothing new!!), but I'm feeling a little overwhelmed!

Mother's Day turned out to be a great day. I finally went out on the new boat and actually had a really good time. My MIL came out for the day and the weather couldn't have been any better for a ride out on the North Saskatchewan. My husband was truly in his element and it was nice to see him have a great time. I just kept picturing all the wonderful rides and picnics we'll have with Jenna when she comes home. And since it was Mother's Day, it had me thinking of Jenna's birthmother, who ultimately made the biggest sacrifice to give up her precious daughter in the hopes that a family could give her a better life. I can't imagine how difficult that decision was for her to make, but on the other hand, will be eternally grateful to a woman, who I know I will never meet, for giving us the greatest gift. If she only knew how much Jenna will be loved, I know that she would have peace in her heart and conviction in the decision that she made to leave Jenna in front of the orphanage that day. I thought of her yesterday and I will think of her every Mother's Day from now on. It will forever be a bittersweet day for me.

I've always believed in fate, and if, throughout my journey to become a mother, things would have been any different, I wouldn't have been able to experience this adoption journey to our Jenna, met the wonderful people (on-line and in real life), and had the time, through heartache and tears, to appreciate motherhood and all that it entails. I'm certainly not professing that I'll be great at it, but at least I've had the time to mature and gain a small sense of what motherhood and parenting is all about.

People say that she will be one lucky baby, but in truth, we are the lucky ones.

We have a date!!!!

So I just got back from sunny California (wayyyy to hot for this cold-blooded gal) and yes, I did alot of shopping. There were just too many cute outfits to pass up, I wanted them ALL!!!

So we will be leaving for China on Friday, June 30th and coming home on Friday, July 14th. That gives us exactly 7 weeks and 1 day to get our (err, I mean my) ass in gear! There are so many things to get done that I'm afraid I'll be in over-drive for most of the wait. There are still quite a few things left to do in Jenna's room as well as finishing and gathering up all the paperwork, going through the 100 list of things that still need to be packed and purchased (in-China gifts, medicine, baby toiletries, etc, etc), my head is spinning just thinking of it all.

Also, before I left, we received the translated referral documents and all checked out well with our adoption practitioner. Here are just a few things we learnt about her:

• She was found at the entrance of the Wanzai Social Welfare Institute on the same day she was born (July 26, 2005) by the Vice Director of the institute.
• She had a red birth note that had her birthdate written on it
• She was sent to foster care on November 14th (at 3 1/2 months old)
• As a newborn, she was quiet and smart
• She seldom cried
• At 4 months (when the report was written) she was attracted by her hands and liked to stare at them
• She loves having a bath or playing in the water
• She likes to stroll the streets (I'm assuming this means she likes to be outside??)

On the day she was born, I was at a friends' cabin out at Pigeon Lake for a couple of days. It was her birthday (yes, she has the same birthday as my Jenna) so we went golfing and later celebrated with a carrot cake that I had made her....

Little did we know that while celebrating her "29th" birthday (right LC?), we were also celebrating the birth of my daughter!!! How weird is that!

Also, I got these chocolate birth announcements made last week. Aren't they cute!!!!!

My head just hasn't been the same since we received referral. The last week and a half has just been such a blur and I find it hard to concentrate. During the day, she is all I think about and when I close my eyes, she is all I see.

Thanks to everyone who's been following along and sent their good wishes. It means alot to us!

Questions, questions, questions.....

Now that all the "when do you get referral?" questions no longer apply, now all I'm hearing is "when do you get her?". Honest question, and quite frankly, we don't have any definite dates yet. All I know is that we were told by our agency that travel is expected to happen the end of June or beginning of July. Right now, Children's Services has faxed over our referral to CB where it will get translated (why? because I can't read Chinese). Then CB will forward a copy back to Children's Services and to us which we will then take to a local Adoption Practitioner who will, based on the medical information provided on the referral, make an assessment on the health of the baby. We will read over the assessment and decide whether or not we want to go ahead with the adoption (like, please, as IF we wouldn't go ahead with it!!!). We then complete the adoption acceptance form and send it back to our agency who will then forward it to the CCAA. We were told that the translation would take approximately 4-5 business days and that we should expect the translated referral as well as additional paperwork to arrive by courier 5-7 after referral. So at the latest, we should receive the paperwork on the 9th......while I'm in California for my nieces' birthday no doubt!!! Oh well, I'll have to get it faxed over to me if it arrives while I'm away.

CB says that we should be hearing about additional information on travel dates tomorrow so maybe that means they're already working on that end of things. I could be ready tomorrow if they told me I had to be!! We will be leaving on Thursday for California where I plan to do a 'bit' of shopping for my girl. All the 12-18 month clothing I've purchased so far are going to be way too big for her but no worries......this mama knows how to shop and my girl won't be without some outfits that actually fit her. Besides, the shopping in California is, by far, better than around here so watch out Macy's and Nordstrom's.....here I come!

We're in LOVE.....

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the number of moments that take your breath away"~

Here's our sweet precious girl....





We are so in love with her already. I love those LIPS!!! And it looks like there's a bit of curl in her hair...is it possible?

The events of yesterday will forever be ingrained in my mind and in my heart. Who knew that a simple phone call from a woman, who, for all she knew, was just calling yet another family to give them word of their baby half way across this world, would change 2 peoples' lives forever. In that one moment, I had no words, and my heart had never felt so full. (And crocodile tears is a definite understatement!!) This is the exact feeling I've been dreaming of for the past 7 years and finally, finally, she's here and this mommy couldn't be any more proud. I pray she's happy, safe and loved until we can finally meet and then, life as we all know it, will never be the same.

Introducing......

We are pleased to announce the highly anticipated arrival of:

Wan Jin Ji

Birthdate: July 26, 2005
From: Wanzai Social Welfare Institute, Jiangxi Province
Weight: 6kg (13.2 lbs)

Picture to follow, when I can get it scanned. Just know, she's the most beautful little munchkin I've ever laid my eyes on.

Can you spell C.R.A.Z.Y. ??????

Okay, so I've now spoken with the lady at Children's Services 3 times since yesterday. (I just got off the phone with her). God bless her for being so understanding of my current state of CRAZY!! She said that nothing has arrived at her office yet this morning but packages arrive all throughout the day until about 3:30pm so I guess I wait some more. I have a hunch that I won't hear anything until Monday.....I honestly don't know how I'm going to make it through the weekend, so let's all hope and pray that our referral is in a truck somewhere today to be delivered early this afternoon. Everytime that phone rings, my heart goes flying out of my chest. I'm checking out other blogs and reading of all the referrals coming in and the babies are all so adorable (of course) and can't wait to get my hands on mine.

Relax......breath in, breath out.

Stork cleared for take off.....up, up, and away!

We just received 'official' confirmation from our agency this afternoon via email and this is what it says:

"Well the time has come we can confirm the CCAA has matched files up to and including June 6, 2005. We are expecting your referrals to arrive late this week to early next week. Please remember we will require a minimum of 6 hours to review copy and scan the referral before we can call families. We try and call families as soon as we can, so please rest assured we are working hard to get them done. If you have any updated email addresses or phone numbers, please send them to me via email.
KM will be answering all of your questions regarding travel. We do not yet have a tentative travel date, we will have to wait and see when they arrive. We will provide you with more information regarding meetings and travel when we contact you with the referral information. I am looking forward to giving you some great news!"

Other American agencies have even told their families that referrals were mailed from the CCAA on Tuesday (China is 12 hours ahead of us) so hopefully we'll see something by the end of the week. I spoke to AB Children's Services today (since we don't live in Ontario, our own provincial ministry must handle the referral) and she said that once they have the referral in their hands and reviews it quickly, she will scan and email Jenna's picture to us. Then they will fax a copy to Children's Bridge where it will get translated and sent back to Children's Services. We will then go and pick up the referral at their offices downtown. She says that if they receive it in the next couple of days, we could see our daughter's face by FRIDAY!!!! I can't believe this is finally happening! Thank goodness I had alot to do today to keep me pre-occupied otherwise, I don't know how I would have managed today.

Thanks to all my peeps who have been hearing me say "maybe next month" a million times when asked when, when when. It's a hard process for non-adopters to understand, I barely did myself. Our journey to a family started sooooo many years ago and to think that in only a few more days, I'll be able to see our 'new edition' with my very own eyes, even if I won't be able to see through the buckets of crocodile tears streaming down my face. To all those who have missed the cut off, by however many days, my heart goes out to you. I know how you feel, I've been there and it blows chunks, but hang on.....it's coming.

THE STORK IS READY FOR TAKE OFF........

I've been saving this picture for months and months and months hoping for the day I get to actually use it on my blog. It's OFFICIAL...not a rumor, but OFFICIAL. Here is what the CCAA website said this morning:

I knew we were next but after all we've been through the last couple of months, I still had my reservations. But, finally, finally, this is starting to become real to me. I've had a bad week so this is the best news I could have possibly been given first thing this morning. I woke up to check my email and I received an email from one of my travel mates and all it had to say in the subject was "Congratulations Group 232" and I just about fell over!!! (Thanks KG!!). I was reading blogs late last night because I couldn't sleep and I wanted to scour the rumor mill, and there was still no update on the CCAA website either....but lo and behold, here it is!!!! I'm so excited I could pee my pants!!! Hopefully we'll get a call from AB Children's Services today to let us know when to expect the 'Golden Package' and believe you me, I ain't leaving this house for no one!

So keep checking back......I will soon be able to introduce our "Sweet Baby Jenna" to all my faithful followers!!

God I wish that dang phone would ring already!!! I'm soooooo done waiting. Bring it ON baby, I'm sooooooo READY!!!

Happy Easter!

Hee, hee, hee. I crack me up!

The almighty Crystal Ball....

So I went on this goofy astology prediction website (don't ask) and I ran into this site where you can ask the crystal ball a question and it will give you an answer. Well I asked "Will I get my referral next?" and the moronic answer I got was:

The answer is obvious.


WTF!!! Obvious as in "Of course you'll get your referral next, you are the next day!" or Obvious as in "Obviously you're an idiot to believe that you're actually going to be next!" The reason I ask this questions is because the latest and greatest rumour that's floating around in China Adoption land is that the next set of referrals will only cover part of May 31st. HOW CAN THAT BE! Someone is definitely playing with my damn mind! The running joke after the last set of referrals was that the only way we wouldn't be next is if the CCAA decides to match half days only. And we thought that was hilarious. OH MY GOD!!!! This just can't be true. Who comes up with this! For the sake of my sanity, I'm going to keep believing that the rumour was started by some nerdy snot nosed whiz kid somewhere who sits behind his computer, eating Cheetos and M&M's, surfing China Adoption related blogs and gets his thrill on seeing what effects a rumour like that has on soon-to-be-parents who are already on the verge of a nervous breakdown caused by this slowdown. Now there's a vision huh?

Nothing really new to report from CB Weekly Update. The only thing they did say, aside from appreciating our anxiety towards this whole waiting situation, was that now the wait time from LogIn to referral will be increasing to 12-13 months. I guess after Jenna comes, we won't be applying to China again for our second....unless things change drastically. I don't know if I can handle going through all this again. I just turned 33 on Tuesday and I already feel like an old lady!

Bye Bye Music...

So I decided to do without the music afterall. I've been to other blogs and found it a bit distracting when I was reading posts so I decided to do away with it. And ever since I put music on my blog, my computer security kept blocking pop-ups. So there you have it....bye bye music!