our-red-thread and beyond

Our trip to Europe

2008-11-30T19:33:00.007-05:00

We had a very nice trip to Europe.

It was great to see so many Dejardin family members and friends gathered in memory of Chris' Dad. We had a very nice stay with Chris' Uncle Roger and Aunt Dede their hospitality was great and very much appreciated. The girls got to meet and spend time some cousins on this trip.

The visit to Paris was wonderful although the weather was very cold and windy!!! We saw the Eiffel tower ,Sacre Coeur, MontMartre, we took a sightseeing boat ride on the Seine River.

Holland was beautiful and it was so nice to see Tante Hil, Tante Marianne, Tante Jes and Oom Paul. We had a very nice visit with each of them and Tante Hil took the time out to spend each day with us which was so nice.

England was so much fun. The girls loved the fact that they had other kids to play with.

With Paul and Karen's four plus our two we had six children running around the house. They had a blast getting to know them!! We of course had to visit Stonehenge and we went for a walk in the New Forest and had a picnic and we spent a full day in London taking in all the must see sights. Our last night we hired two teenage babysitters to watch all the kids so the parents could go out for a wonderful QUIET relaxing dinner.

Our visit to Port Colborne - Canal Days

2008-10-22T20:57:00.004-04:00

I know this post is long overdue!!!!
This August we went to visit Shelley, Barry and Faith. We had a great time. They were celebrating their Canal Days Festival. During the day we took in all the sights and sounds of the festival and of course a few shops too. At night we saw some awesome fireworks!!!We also went to Niagara falls and took the Maid of the Mist through the Falls. It was a lot of fun!!

A few Summer Pics

2008-07-24T16:24:00.001-04:00

Winterlude and a visit from Our Friends- Skating on the canal

2008-02-18T21:35:00.006-05:00

We had a fantastic weekend with Winterlude activities and a visit from many of our group 234 families. Saturday morning we visited Jacques Cartier Park for lots of fun on the ice slides, tubing, a hayride and delicious Beaver Tails. Saturday evening we met in a communtiy centre for a pizza dinner with lots of toys ,crafts and circle time.
Shelley Barry and Faith stayed with us and as usual we had a GREAT time with them.
We had lots of fun. It was great to see everyone and see how much the girls have changed.

Jacques Cartier Park

2008-02-18T21:22:00.002-05:00

Winterlude and a visit from our friends

2008-02-18T20:52:00.006-05:00

Gung Hay Fat Choy!!

2008-02-18T20:13:00.002-05:00

Sinterklaas and Christmas -a little late in posting but better late than never

2008-02-04T16:03:00.000-05:00

San Francisco

2007-11-26T13:35:00.000-05:00

We went on our first big trip without the girls to San Francisco to visit Paul.

It was hard to leave the girls behind but we really did enjoy ourselves and had a great time.

It was great to see Paul and enjoyed meeting some of his friends.

We went to Alcatraz, we visited a few wineries in Napa and enjoyed a picnic lunch, we also did some shoping in their famous Chinatown area.

The weather was perfect sunny weather and we had a very nice visit with Paul.

All in all a Great trip!!!!

Our visit to Margo. Bill, Liam and Ella's

2007-11-26T13:13:00.000-05:00

We had a great time visiting Margo, Bill, Liam and Ella.

We went to the Bowmanville Santa parade and did some shopping at the Pacific Mall.

We had a chance to meet up with Sandra, Jay & Jade, Anna, Chak & Amanda and Alice, Ian & Tatyanna for a delicious dinner.

Just having Fun

2007-11-16T11:18:00.001-05:00

FALL FUN

2007-11-12T13:29:00.000-05:00

Halloween

2007-11-12T13:23:00.001-05:00

Sophie turns TWO

2007-09-15T14:33:00.001-04:00

Forever family Day (Gotcha day) July 31

2007-08-10T13:40:00.000-04:00

It is hard to believe it has been one year since Sophie joined our family.

She brings us so much joy and Stephanie is an amazing big sister.

more pictures of PEI

2007-08-10T13:21:00.001-04:00

our vacation in PEI

2007-08-10T13:09:00.000-04:00

We had a wonderful vacation in PEI. The girls loved the beaches.

We visited a few Anne of Green Gables sites ,Avonlea village, Shining Waters water park,

Cavendish Beach and we climbed a lighthouse .

We all loved eating lots of fish and seafood. Yummy!!!!!

The weather was great, all in all a great vacation!!!

Stephanie's horse camp

2007-08-04T09:32:00.000-04:00

2007-08-04T09:31:00.001-04:00

Stephanie's spa party

2007-08-04T09:28:00.000-04:00

A few more photos of our trip

2007-06-21T14:16:00.000-04:00

Here are a few more photos of our trip to Port Colborne.

We only seem to be able to post a few at a time so here are a few more.

CCSS

Our visit to Shelley, Barry & Faith's

2007-06-21T13:53:00.000-04:00

We had a wonderful time visitng Shelley, Barry & Faith in Port Colborne.

We went to Marineland with them where Stephanie went on some scary rides, we saw a great show with sea lions and dolphins. Stephanie had the opportunity to feed and pet a Beluga whale.

Stephanie also got soaked by a killer whale when he diecided to sneak up on the crowd and give a HUGE splash with his tail , those who were in close range got a very cold and wet surprise.

We also visited the falls on this trip which was very nice.

Sophie and faith seemed to have a lot of fun and really started to interact with each other which was so nice to see. They really had fun blowing bubbles in the backyard.

We had a fantastic visit and can't wait to do it again soon.

CCSS

Spring is in the air

2007-06-21T13:38:00.000-04:00

The month of May is always a fun month with the warmer weather starting and the feeling that spring is finally here.
We've really been enjoying being out in the backyard.
The girls just love being outdoors and always hate when it is time to come in.
Just wait until the pool is up!!!!

We enjoyed the Tulip festival downtown, toured the International Pavillion and enjoyed a picnic lunch.

CCSS

Newest Canadian

2007-06-21T13:02:00.000-04:00

Sophie is now a Canadian Citizen.
We had a small celebration just the four of us with a Canada cake and Canadian flags.
YEAH!!!!!

CCSS

Our trip to the Sugar Bush

2007-06-21T12:20:00.000-04:00

April 7, 2007

We have fallen behind in our updates so these are late coming but better late then never!!!

We had our annual trip to the sugar bush, which was a lot of fun!!
But it was down right freezing on April 7 !!!!! Brrrrrr.
This was Sophie’s first visit to a sugar bush and she loved the sweet taste of maple sugar.
Stephanie did the Easter egg hunt and collected some yummy chocolate eggs.
We all enjoyed a pancake breakfast.
We took a wagon ride through the farm to the barn to visit some of the animals.
Despite the cold we all enjoyed ourselves.

gung hay fat choy!

2007-02-19T22:09:00.000-05:00

Happy Chinese New Year - the Year of the Pig

Here are some pictures of the girls at the Children's Bridge New Year Party.

We had a great time. Stephanie got to make some Chinese characters in calligraphy writing and we saw a performance of a lion dance (Stephanie got to try on the lion's head).

Sophie didn't quite know what to make of it at first but really got into the music.

CCSS.

Winterlude and a visit from our friends

2007-02-10T08:51:00.000-05:00

Last weekend (Feb. 4th) we had a very nice visit from Bill, Margo, Liam and Ella. Their visit coincided with the first weekend of Winterlude so we took the opportunity to take in some of the sights and to have a skate on the canal (the world's longest skating rink).

It was nice to see the Springgay-Josey family and to see how much Ella has changed (you don't really notice the changes so much when its your own child and you see her on a daily basis).

Sophie and Ella got along well togther (although we don't sense that there is any recognition of each other). Ella was fascinated with a toy electric guitar and the girls took turns sharing the musical instruments.

Liam is sure growing as well and is a terrific skater! He and Stephanie had fun playing together and it was yet another sad goodbye when they left.

On Sunday, we had our canal skate and met up with Lee, Lesley and Mara, and Amy and Molly (see the group photo of us on the canal). We skated for a couple of hours (probably about 5 km) and then headed back to Lee and Lesley's home for some pizza.
It was a great weekend and we're so glad to have made these lasting friendships with people in our group.

Chris, Caroline, Stephanie and Sophie.

Visit from Barry, Shelley & Faith

2006-11-13T21:40:00.000-05:00

Wow, what a great weekend we had with our "surprise" visit from Barry, Shelley and Faith. It had been months in the planning but we managed to keep it a surprise from Stephanie, and boy, was she surprised!

It was so nice to see them again and to see how much Faith has grown (she's probably one of the tallest babies in our group!). Faith can also walk and loves to give kisses.

Stephanie was so thrilled to see them (especially Shelley - her honorary mom) and Sophie and Faith had lots of fun playing together - as you can see from our picture with the tupperware.

The following day we had Amy and Molly and Lee, Les and Mara over for brunch - a sort of pre-reunion reunion :) It was great to see all the kids together and how much they've grown (physically, developmentally, emotionally). It was a great brunch and we managed to get some really cute pictures.

Sadly, all visits must come to an end and Barry, Shelley and Faith left Monday morning. We we're sad to see them go but we'll see them (and more of our group) soon - less than 2 weeks.

CCSS.

Halloween time

2006-11-01T21:36:00.000-05:00

On Sunday, we went to a Halloween party at Chris' coworker's house. It was lots of fun with everyone dressing up in costume. Sophie was dressed up as Belle from Beauty & the Beast while Stephanie was a witch. They had some great snacks (cookies shaped like severed fingers/"blood" punch etc..) and Stephanie got to be a costume judge (Sophie won the cutest costume). One of Chris' coworkers was dressed up in a really scary costume - the Grim Reaper complete with Scythe and severed head lantern that he carried around. He's also quite an imposing fellow (well over 6ft). Sophie was terrified of him and would crawl away as fast as she could - yet she kept looking for him. We didn't think too much of it but that night, she woke up with what we presume were nightmares - poor girl.

Anyway, Tuesday was Halloween, Sophie's first, and she loved it (we had some worries given her fear at the party). Luckily she had such good big sister to show her the ropes!

We went to friend of Stephanie's a few minutes drive from our house and "worked" their neighbourhood.Despite the somewhat mild weather (at least compared to the weekend before) there were surprisingly few kids out. That's OK since the kids got double the candy at each house.I don't know if Sophie knew what to make of everything, but she was very excited and wanted to walk up to each and every door (we held her hands while she walked - she can't quite make it on her own yet).Anyway, after about an hour and a half, we headed home to count the loot. Stephanie had so much candy and chips !!! We gave Sophie her first taste of chocolate (an Aero bar) which she loved and then cut up a cheezie into small pieces - not as big a hit as the chocolate.

CCSS.

A great reunion

2006-10-22T20:56:00.000-04:00

Well it was another busy week for us (are there any other kinds).

Tuesday was a regular doctor's appointment. Sophie is now 161/2 lbs (she's gained about 2lbs since August). She's still quite small but you can see her cheeks and legs getting chubbier. She also has another tooth, which makes 5 now (4 since we came home in August). She continues to eat and sleep well and is as rambunctious and energetic as ever.

On Wednesday, Stephanie's class had an outing at the pumpkin patch (see below) and Caroline and Sophie went along. It was quite nice but muddy (after many days of rain). Sophie and the schoolkids had fun and Sophie seem to enjoy (or at least she took it all in stride).

Sat urday morning started out grey and miserable but got nicer as the day progressed. By mid-afternoon we had nice sunshine and we had finished raking the leaves. Stephanie and the neighbour's boys took turns diving into the pile. Sophie wasn't too keen on the leaves (i don't think she liked the texture or the sound). Later that afternoon we headed over to Amy & Dave's for a reunion of the three families that travelled to China together. What a fantastic evening we had. We reminisced about our trip experiences while the girls played together. It's hard to tell whether they recognized each other, they didn't interact all that much at the beginning, but later in the evening they were playing together quite nicely. On the left are three pictures from the evening (in the middle one, the girls and Dave are under the stairs in a little cubby that Dave made - what a fantastic job he did on the basement playroom.

It sure was nice to see everyone again (for the firs time since August 13th to be exact). It made us realize how much we miss China and how fortunate we were to have travelled with such great people. We were truly lucky to have such a wonderful travel group and we can't wait to meet many of the other families in Toronto in November.

It was quite a late evening so everyone slept in the next morning (at least until 8 am- wow). On Sunday morning, we took advantage of the brief sunlight and bagged on the leaves in the front yard. Later we had a quick lunch and Stephanie invited one of her friends to come out with us to the Children's Museum (its in the Museum of Civilization in Hull). There was a special demonstration on music which was very interesting. The kids got to go into a room filled with objects some of which you'd see around the house (pipe, metal bowls, paper filled plastic bags, etc..). With these objects, the 2 musicians made about a 10 minute symphony that sounded at times like the rainforest and at other times like a haunted house. Afterwords, the kids all got a chance to play an instrument at the direction of the musicians and their group effort was taped and played back with some audio enhancements like echoing, pitch changes, etc.. It was really neat and the girls had a great time. After that it was back home to some pizza and a movie. The bad news is that we had some wet snow today - uggh! Winter is coming :)

Well that's about it for this week.

Chris, Caroline, Stephanie and Sophie.

An update - finally

2006-10-15T21:48:00.000-04:00

Well, it's been two months since we've been back and this is our first post. For all those who've been waiting for news anxiously, I apologize. I've been busy (and a little lazy I confess). We'll try to post on a more regular basis, likely once a week.

Now for the good stuff.

Sophie is settling in very well to our family, in fact it's almost like we've had her since birth. She is eating well and sleeping well and is just a huge bundle of energy. Where Stephanie was quieter and less adventurous as a baby, Sophie knows only one speed (fast and straight ahead). She is very curious and loves to explore her surroundings. We have her enrolled in a swim class (with her friend Mara) and in playgroup and we try to do many activities with her on the weekend.

She has already passed a number of developmental "milestones" since we've been back including:

3 new teeth - (teething has not been fun)
eating a wider range of food - She now eats from a spoon and likes all sorts of pureed vegetables and fruit, her favorites are peas and pears and she loves graham crackers and cheerios. We have her on regular milk but still give her formula as per the doctor's suggestion that she needs to put on some weight.
Crawling, standing and almost walking -She can now pull herself up and walk around the room holding onto objects (or our hands) - It won't be long before she's walking on her own.

She also babbles more and has said "momma" and "dada" and she just loves to point to her own picture on the fridge. She waves and blows kisses and just the other night she crawled over to me and gave me a kiss - a truly heartwarming moment.

Yes, Sophie is growing both physically (she's gained 2lbs since our return) and emotionally/developmentally. She's a real sweetie but has her moments (like any other 1 year old). She loves music and strangely, the Teletubbies (Darn I thought we were through with those weird characters when Stephanie outgrew them :) . Her musical tastes are quite varied (Sharon Lois & Bram, to Coldplay to Black Eyed Peas) but her favourite seems to be John Denver's "leaving on a jet plane" - maybe because we all have a soft spot for that song (David our guide in China sang it to us as we were leaving Guangzhou).

We've all settled into a sort of routine. It was hard dealing with the jet lag at first and we were glad to have a few weeks before school started for Stephanie, to enjoy some family time together. Stephanie is settling into school well - her stories of her summer were the best of the class (I mean who can top going to China to get a baby sister:). Stephanie has been a really good big sister and is so helpful around the house and in looking after Sophie (even when Sophie accidentally whacked her in the nose with the remote!)

As for me, I found it difficult going back to work as I don't get to see much of Sophie during the week. I think we also miss China and the friends we made. We all feel a strong connection with the families we travelled with and are hoping to get together with them sometime in November.
Enough of the babbling. Since what most of you really want are some pictures, I've included a few. I don't have many yet but will go back and add some over the next few weeks. Briefly, the first picture above was taken at my dad's, we're on a boat on the St. Laurence River. The picture on our left was taken on Stephanie's first day of school and the next two were taken at a dinner for my Grandparents 75th birthday celebration. I'll try to post more pictures shortly.

Well, that's it for now. There's plenty more to talk about but I'll save that for another time.

Check back weekly.

CCSS.

Back home at last

2006-08-13T08:03:00.000-04:00

After nearly 20 hours of travel we finally made it back home around 6:30. The connection through Toronto was frustrating given the recent terror events and the increased vigilance of security (they confiscated our contact lens solution, toothpaste and deodorant - the latter itself would make daddy qualify as a "dangerous weapon" :).

We were greeted at the airport by Grandma and Opa, Grammy and Grand-papa, Papi & Didi and Nana, and cousin Katie who was staying at Grandma and Opa's for the last few days. What a great treat to see all of the family at our arrival!

After what seemed like an interminable wait for our luggage, we all headed back to our house, where we had another surprise - welcome signs, decorations and flowers throughout the house - Thanks Alana, Heather and Aaron and Grandma, Opa and Katie. We ordered pizza and family stayed for a little bit while Sophie entertained everyone in the jolly jumper - she loves it already.

We fell into our beds around 10 pm, and managed to get a couple hours of sleep before Sophie woke us for the first time (at midnight) and then again at 2 am - poor kid. At about 4 am Stephanie was up for the day - as was dad, while Mommy and Sophie slept in (Sophie until 11 am). It was a quiet day as we were pretty zonked. Did some errands and banking and bought a new 3 in 1 car seat as the current model we have is older and does not fit Sophie well. We got out for a brief walk in the stroller and showed Sophie off to a few people in the neighborhood. After that, it was more unpacking and laundry - ugh!!!

Well, we can't believe that this part of our incredible journey has come to an end. Once again, we thank all of our family and friends for their incredible support and good wishes and a very special thanks goes to Children's Bridge and their wonderful staff (both in Canada and in China). We can't imagine doing this trip and completing all of the paperwork for the adoption process without their invaluable assistance and we look forward to continuing our involvement with Children's Bridge through the many workshops, playgroups and social events they offer.

Finally, to Sophie, we love you and feel very fortunate that you have become part of our family.

Love, Chris, Caroline, Stephanie and Sophie.

P.S.

We'll try and post update blogs on a regular basis (although likely not as frequently as before). We'll also try to post some tips/tricks we learned while in China for those that might be interested.

We have a number of medications (Nix cream, gastrolyte powder etc..)which we did not use in China that we would be happy to give to any local CB families travelling to China in the near future. If interested, please let us know through the comment section.

farewell dinner

2006-08-10T09:06:00.000-04:00

Well, today was our last full day in China. We started out with some shopping at the local market. Daddy had to buy a new suitcase to bring all the stuff home. Mommy has become quite the bargainner (I heard a sales staff say "oh you that Canadian lady" like her reputation preceeds her!). We bought a few more things to go into the new suitcase of course (its a vicious circle :)

After shopping it was home for some lunch (Subway) and our packing (don't want to leave things for tomorrow). At 4:30 the families met in the lobby of the hotel for our group photo [see above] and then it was off to our farewell dinner of Peking Duck. The meal was wonderful and we had a cake and sang "happy new family" to celebrate our new families and our time in China. A piece of China will always be with us and in our hearts and we are both happy to be returning home and a bit sad for leaving.

We're back home now and this is the last post to the blog for a while. Tomorrow is a long travel day, we have to be checked out of the hotel and on the bus by 10:00 am for our 1:3o pm flight, then its 14 hours to Toronto, probably at least another hour in immigration/customs, then a two hour wait, then another 1 hour flight to Ottawa - yippeee. Can't wait to see you all soon.

Love, Chris, Caroline, Stephanie and Sophie.

P.S. the first photo is Sophie after her bath - love the mohawk hair.

Hutong Tour and birthday party

2006-08-09T09:30:00.000-04:00

This morning, we and several other families took in an optional Hutong Tour. A Hutong is a traditional Chinese neighbourhood (actually, the word is Mongolian for a water well as we were told). I think at one time there were over 5,000 Hutongs in Beijing but they are being demolished and the people relocated to make way for high rises. Anyway, the Hutong we visited is one that will be preserved for tourists to visit. It is a maze of little streets as all the houses in the hutong are arranged in a quandrangle with a common courtyard. Sometimes, fifteen or more families will share a courtyard. Its a curious blend of the old and new as the alleys and courtyards seem old, yet many of the houses have electricity, air conditioning, telephone and tv's!!. On one hand you can see and old man peddling wild garlic from his bicycle and in another you can see young boys riding modern bmx bikes listening to mp3 players (weird).

We toured the hutong by rickshaw (we've never been in one before but it was quite comfortable - although the drivers are like car drivers in Beijing - crazy and fearless). We had a local guide for the tour and he took us to one of the more impressive homes in the hutong, which belongs to a man renowned for raising grasshoppers and crickets. Apparently, the grasshoppers are raised for their song and the crickets for sport fighting. Cricket fighting is a big gambling sport and we were told that on occasion up to US$100,000 has been bet on a cricket fight (can't really see TSN covering that one!!!).

After the hutong tour, we visited the Bell Tower of Beijing and had a tea tasting on the ground floor (we had jasmine tea, oolong tea and lychee tea with dried rose petals).

In the afternoon, Daddy and Stephanie headed out to the Beijing zoo. It is huge although the animals do not seem to be as well treated as in North America. In fact, animal rights activists probably would not be too thrilled with the Beijing zoo. The most impressive part of the zoo was the aquarium, which featured many exotic fish in huge tanks (including an escalator type walkway in a tunnel through the tank (you could see stingrays and galapagos turtles swimming around you - very impressive).

During this time, mommy stayed home with Sophie (Sophie napped). The big treat tonight was that one of the babies had her first birthday, so all of the families met in the hall outside their room for pizza and cake (and beer for the parents :). It was so cute to have all the babies on blankets in the hall (probably one of the last times they will all be together).

We're back in the room now and the kids are asleep (it seems strange saying kids in the plural). We got Sophie's visa stamp and Canadian immigration documents, so now all the paperwork is done. Tomorrow is a free day but some of us are going to do some last minute shopping at a local mall (we have to get an extra suitcase just to bring home the stuff we bought). For the grand finale tomorrow night, all of the families are going out for Peking Duck - a tradition with the adoptive families group.

It is with mixed feelings that we come to the end in China. We are getting very homesick, yet at the same time we feel incredibly fortunate to have had such an amazing experience, and a little sad that we are leaving Sophie's birth country.

We'll try to post once more tomorrow night and then it will be quiet on the blog front until we get home.

Miss you all,

Chris, Caroline, Stephanie and Sophie.

P.S. Chantale, you had asked what Sophie's measurements are. She is quite petite about 59 cm long and weighing 6.4 kg. She is wearing clothing of 6-9 months and some of that is big on her. She was swimming in Stephanie's 6 month outfit :)

Summer Palace

2006-08-08T09:48:00.000-04:00

Well today was another exciting but tiring day. We visited the Summer Palace, one of the most beautiful areas we've seen in China. It covers nearly 3 square kilometers most of which is a large lake. It has beautiful tree lined walkways and impressive architectural designs (as it's name indicates, it was the summer home of the emperor). It really is quite impressive and a very large area which we wish we could have seen in greater detail, but with the babies, the crowds and the heat (it was probably around 40 Celsius with the humidity) we didn't stay too long (thank heavens for air-conditioned buses!!!).

Although it is not as hot as Guangzhou, we find the humidity in Beijing to be worse. Even at night its a sauna and going from the heavily air conditioned hotels to outside is hard on the system - no wonder people catch colds. Also, the air quality here is horrible - the worst smog we've ever seen (and that includes Toronto).

After the Summer Palace we headed back to the hotel and went to McDonald's for lunch. We then visited the local clothing and crafts market (a very nice 5 floors of clothing, souvenirs, etc. and bought more stuff - we'll need an extra suitcase for sure). We then went out for dinner with several other families and finished the evening off with a final tailor fitting for Stephanie and Mommy's custom made silk dresses - very sharp!!).

Sophie has been adjusting very well. It's amazing how well she's doing considering all the activities we've been taking in (as well as the heat) and the overall adaptation to our new family life. She sleeps well through the night (9-6:30) and is eating better (she's taken to 3-4 feedings of formula per day). We're slowly introducing her to baby foods (i.e., applesauce, squash, peaches) and some baby cookies/cheerios, but she's not sure what to do with these (clearly she's never had anything but a bottle at the orphanage). She now crawls like a bandit and you can she that she is trying to push herself up in a standing position (it won't be long before she's walking). Overall, she is a lovely baby, very happy and giggly and she loves to play. She is however strong willed and has suprisingly good arm strength.

We fell very lucky to have been united with such a wonderful baby and we only wish that we could be home sooner so that you could meet her. Only 3 more sleeps.

Love, Chris, Caroline, Stephanie and Sophie

Tiennamen Square and shopping

2006-08-07T10:03:00.000-04:00

Today, we were off to Tiennamen Square (the largest public square in the world). First, on the eating front, we are pleased to report that Sophie had a bottle and a half of formula in the morning and the same amount in the afternoon, so it's a small improvement over yesterday (she's still drinking plenty of juice).

It was another hot and muggy day and the sun is finally starting to show (this improves our spirits but raises the temp significantly). The square is indescribably huge but not as crowded as we expected. There were of course lots of tourists and the Chinese love to have their picture taken with "foreigners" particularly those of fair skin and light hair (Stephanie must have posed for over 2 dozen pictures and she was quite gracious about it). We handed out plenty of Canadian flags, keychains and pencils to Chinese children we encountered and they seemed thrilled to receive them. Apparently Canadians are well like largely in part to the legacy of Norman Bethune, a man who is still revered in China (his life history is part of the school curriculum and there is a famous hospital named after him).

Pictured above is a picture of Stephanie and Sophie in the square, Stephanie and daddy in front of the "Maosoleum" (Ha Ha), and Stephanie with a group of Chinese schoolchildren.

After the visit to the square we went shopping at the Pearl Market (four floors of clothing, electronics, handbags, footwear, watches and of course, pearls). We made a few purchases and will likely return before the trip is over.

We got back to the hotel at about 1 pm and took a nap. One of the other families graciously offered to take Stephanie to the acrobatics show, so she went around 4:30, while we stayed in the hotel room with Sophie. While we missed Stephanie it was nice to have some quiet time with Sophie and we played on the bed then we had a nice long bath which she loved. Stephanie returned at 7 and said the show was great. Apparently, she led the group in some songs on the way back, including a happy birthday song for one of the dads whose birthday was today. She was quite the star.

We missed out on our chance to order pizza from Pizza Hut, but Stephanie was invited to have a slice with one of the other families, so Mommy, Daddy and Sophie went to eat in the restaurant in the hotel.

We're now back in bed ready for yet another day of sightseeing (tomorrow we go to the Summer Palace where there is supposed to be a very nice garden and pond/artificial lake). Hopefully, the kids will have a chance to burn off some energy!!

Love, Chris, Caroline, Stephanie and Sophie

The Great Wall

2006-08-06T08:45:00.000-04:00

Well, this was one of the tourist highlights of our trip. We boarded our bus this morning for the Great Wall. The portion of the wall we visited is about a hour from our hotel (within Beijing city limits). The Wall was about 6,000 km long but many portions have since crumbled. We visited near the Badaling portion which is quite popular with tourists (as it is less steep to climb).

On the way to the wall, we stopped in at the Jade factory where we saw a brief presentation on the manufacture, different types and qualities of Jade. I had no idea there were so many types and this stuff in the showroom was quite expensive. We bought Stephanie and Sophie a little jade pendant which is supposed to bring good luck.

Back to the Wall, it was much steeper than we had thought it would be and it was a pretty hot and muggy day (thankfully there was a bit of a breeze). Daddy had the baby carrier with Sophie and the backpack and all of us climbed to one of the first guard towers. After, Daddy climbed up to the top tower with a few others from the group, while Stephanie, Sophie and Mommy waited below. It was a difficult climb (the steps are quite uneven) and we all have rubber legs. The third picture above was taken from the top and you can see the tour buses below. The tower that you see in the middle towards the bottom of the picture is where Stephanie, Sophie and Mommy waited.

After climbing we got some souvenirs (Stephanie got a "I Climbed the Great Wall of China" t-shirt). Apparently, Chairman Mao said that "you are not a hero until you've climbed the Great Wall" so I guess we're all supposed to be heroes now. After the Wall it was off to lunch and then back to our hotel around 4:00 pm.

Daddy then went to shop to buy some more formula and snacks and got Subway sandwiches for dinner. After a brief swim in the pool, we've gone to bed. It's been a long day.
Sophie is sleeping well and is a real angel. There is only one problem, she refuses to eat! We've run out of the formula we got from the orphanage and she won't eat the new formula (or very little else). You can't get the orphanage formula here so we're trying another local formula without much success. She loves her juice but not formula or anything else (with the exception of a little applesauce). She's getting her fluids but her lack of eating is becoming a concern to us (when we try to feed her she just screams bloody murder and spits her food out). Oh well, we had similar problems with Stephanie and we got through it, so we'll just have to figure something out.

While we love seeing the sights of Beijing but we're getting tired and are looking forward to getting home. We miss our own beds and are tired of restaurant food. We can't wait to get Sophie home to meet all of you and to get into some semblance of a routine family life (and not living out of a suitcase).

Missing you all terribly,

Love, Chris, Caroline, Stephanie and Sophie.

Back in Beijing and medical appointments

2006-08-05T10:13:00.000-04:00

Hi there, we're back in Beijing. Yesterday was a very trying (and tiring) day but we are happy to report that Sophie is a good flyer. We left the Guangzhou hotel at around 3:30 for our 6:30 flight. It was quite an emotional trip out as we the realization hit that we were leaving Sophie's birth province. It seemed like only yesterday that we arrived and now we were leaving as a family of four. David led us in song (He sang leaving on a jet plane, and he's actually a pretty good singer - note to other groups - get David to sing for you!!!)

Unfortunately, we were still experiencing the remnants of the typhoon and the weather delayed our departure by about an hour. Therefore we didn't get into our hotel in Beijing until midnight and we were exhausted. A quick word about the typhoon. It made the front page of China Daily!!!. It made landfall about 100 km south of where we were (but later in the evening thankfully). It had gale force winds of 12 (don't know what that means but it was very strong) and 250,000 people were evacuated from the area. While the orphanage lost power, we do understand that they did not suffer any significant structural damage or flooding - as reported by the orphanage director that evening). Caroline was a real trooper on the drive home and on the plane the next day (as everyone who knows her can appreciate her dislike of turbulence. Luckily we did not have much turbulence on the flight).

After our late evening,we had to be up and in the hotel lobby for Sophie's visa photo at 7:15 am. We set the alarm but the battery must have fallen out. We looked at our watches in the morning and it was 7:30 (oops - so much for trying not to be late). Picture a dad who has thrown on a shirt and some shorts running down the hotel hallway with a baby mumbling "we have to get the picture or they won't let Sophie come to Canada" - very dignified (I sometimes wonder if the Chinese authorities might rethink our qualifications as parents :)

After the mad rush of the visa photo, it was off to the medical clinic for the mandatory medical exam. The clinic is located in the embassy section of town and is very modern (it's a western style clinic where you can get everything and anything without waiting (unlike Canada) but at a significant cost (unlike Canada). Sophie was seen by a Canadian doctor (from McGill). As expected, she is underweight but nothing that some good food won't fix.

Following our clinic visit we had a quick lunch then returned to complete some final paperwork (the Canadian immigration documents). We are so glad and thankful to have our wonderful guides (David and Frieda) to help us navigate the paperwork jungle. Finally, after the paperwork was completed we went for fittings (Chris got a suit and Caroline and Stephanie got beautiful silk dresses - don't worry we're getting other great presents for Sophie).

It has been a long day but this is the ast day with mandatory scheduled appointments. The rest of our time here is pretty much openalthough we do have some tours set up. Tomorrow we are heading out to the Great Wall (definitely a highlight of the trip). We'll see how out of shape daddy really is :). Later in the week, we'll visit the Summer Palace and Tiennamen Square and possibly the Beijing zoo. We also have shopping to do - yay.

We miss everyone at home and love reading your comments. Thanks.

Love,
Chris, Caroline, Stephanie and Sophie.

A few more pictures of the orphanage

2006-08-03T09:08:00.000-04:00

Top photo: This is a picture of Sophie and Mommy on the first floor of the Orphanage looking out.

Second photo: This is a shot from the first floor out into the courtyard. The construction on the left is part of a new wing which will house a laundry facility and dining hall.

Third photo: The family outside the entrance to the orphanage.

Fourth photo: Group 234 - Yangdong families

A trip to Sophie's orphanage

2006-08-03T08:38:00.000-04:00

Today, some of the families that adopted children from Yangdong province were given the opportunity to visit the Yangdong Social Welfare Institute (the orphanage). The orphanage is located about 300 km away, so while we knew the day would be long, it was something we had looked forward to doing.

Complicating matters was the fact that a typhoon was scheduled to hit land just north of Yangdong in the late afternoon!!!

We boarded the bus at 8:00 am and the weather was already pretty bad. If only we knew how bad it was going to get:)

The trip down was uneventful as we passed out of Guangzhou into the countryside. It was four lane highway all the way so the roads were good. The countryside is quite different, very lush and green with lots of fish farming (and rice fields). You could see mountains in the distance and we crossed several very large rivers (I believe they are tributaries of the Pearl River).

The orphanage is located in the city of Yanjiang (which I believe is the provincial capital of Yangdong Province). It is a small city relative to Guangzhou or Beijing (only 2.5 million inhabitants) but looked quite nice and modern from what we could see (by now the wind and rain are quite strong). Yangdong is known for two things: it is a famous manufacturing centre for knives and every September they have a kite festival in town (a whole square is devoted to kite flying).

The director of the orphanage met us in town and we followed him to the orphanage. It is a nice building with a courtyard where the children can play. We got a chance to visit with the nannies that took care of Sophie and ask them questions (one of the interesting tid-bits we learned was the pronunciation of Sophie's name in Cantonese (something like FY -FY). It was an emotional time visiting the orphanage, knowing that it will likely be the last time that Sophie will see her birth city and where she spent the first 11 months of her life.

Afterwards, the orphanage director took us to lunch at a local restaurant and we were treated to a veritable feast of food (very fancy restaurant). We then decided to head back home around 2:30 as the weather was getting very bad.

Let me tell you folks, the ride home was a bit hairy. We can now appreciate what the people in Florida go through during hurricane season. The wind and rain were incredible and the road was littered with debris and uprooted trees. What was supposed to be a 3 hour ride took us nearly five hours to complete and was complicated by the fact that we had trouble finding a gas station that was open (the power had been knocked out).

After what seemed like an eternity, we made it back to Guangzhou where we went to our room and ordered room service (the most expensive pizza I've ever had, $50 US for three personal pizzas and two beer - not everything here is cheap).

We've now crashed into bed. There is no rush to get up tomorrow but it will be a busy day as we leave for Beijing in the afternoon. As it is unlikely that we will get into our hotel in Beijing much before ten, I will not be posting a blog tomorrow but will resume the day after tomorrow. It will be sad to leave Guangzhou. Unfortunately, we did not have much time to see the city which appears cleaner and nicer than Beijing. We will certainly miss this fantastic hotel and its incredible swimming pool. Hopefully, the weather will clear enough for one more swim.

A word about the pictures: with this new program, I have to post pictures in batches. This batch of two pictures features Stephanie and Sophie in their matching t-shirts (I'm the big sister and I'm the little sister). The second picture is one of my favourites taken of Sophie sleeping in the snugli as we travel by bus to Yangdong. I'll post a few more pictures of the orphanage in a separate post.

Missing you all (Only 8 more days until our return).

Love, Chris, Caroline, Stephanie and Sophie.

2006-08-02T09:51:00.000-04:00

Here are a few more pictures from today. The first two are of us playing with Sophie in the afternoon. We then went to dinner in the evening with most of the other families (one of the dishes is pictured above - fish with a sweet and sour pineapple sauce - it was delicious). After dinner, Stephanie saw a monkey trainer on the street and had her picture taken with the monkey.

Chris, Caroline, Stephanie and Sophie

Temple Blessing

2006-08-02T09:12:00.000-04:00

We had a more leisurely day today and didn't have to leave the hotel until 9:00 :) Getting two kids ready and ourselves is always a mad rush.

We went to the six banyan tree temple today for a buddhist blessing. It is a small temple (relatively speaking) located in the heart of Guangzhou. The centrepiece of the temple grounds is the 9 storey pagoda style structure which you see pictured here. We don't know much about buddhism but were fascinated with what we saw. There were many people praying at several temples throughout the grounds and lighting incense. The ceremony was quite brief. All the babies and their mothers sat in on the ground (you had to remove your shoes) and a monk struck a drum like instrument and chanted for a few minutes, then dipped a leaf into some water and sprinkled each of the babies (kind of like the Christian baptism rite). After the ceremony we toured the grounds and I (Chris) and some other adventurous parents climbed the nine floors of the pagoda structure. There stairs were quite steep and narrow with a low ceiling (I had to stoop to go through). It is an interesting piece of architecture. Each floor had stairs leading up to a rotunda (inside) which featured six buddha figures behind glass and then stairs leading up to an outside level. It was quite confusing as each floor had six archways but only one went up and the other down. The remaining four archways led to the inner rotunda (I know it sounds confusing and it was!!!). One of the pictures above is of the Guangzhou skyline seen from the top floor.

We really like Guangzhou much better tf than Beijing. There is plenty of sunshine here and the air seems less polluted. Also, Guangdong province is one of the most affluent in China and you can tell. There are some very chic and expensive stores (saw the Rolls Royce and Lamborghini dealerships - no we didn't buy matching his and her vehicles :)

After our tour of the temple we stopped at a local mall which featured arts & crafts and souvenirs. There was lots of really nice stuff like porcelain vases, white jade, carved bone and sandalwood. Bought a few souvenirs for people back home. One of my favourite items for sale was "snake schnapps" a bottle of liqueur with a pickled snake inside. Apparently, its a good curative for rheumatism - don't know and likely don't want to know.

Sophie is really starting to change and become more comfortable with us. She is sleeping through the night (9-5:30) and is starting to take her bottle with more enthusiasm (not sure if we're getting the mixture right or if she's just given in to us). She is definitely inquistive and stares at us with those big brown eyes. She's quite strong willed and seems fascinated with little things (like a loose hair on a shirt). She also has a knack for putting her little finger through mommy's earring loops (quite a feat considering that these are tiny loops). She's also discovered her thumb and sucks on it when she's sleeping. So far, none of the babies from Sophie's orphanage seem to like soothers and most do not eat anything from a spoon. We tried some prunes (needed some help in the bowel department) and she had a few spoonfuls (I'm happy to report that they achieved the desired result). We also tried some peas without much success.

It's really quite amazing the bonding that occurs after such a long time. While we know that there will be difficult moments ahead, we've really been lucky with Sophie who quite h nestly has been an angel. After only a few days, it feels so comfortable.

Well this has been a long post. I have a few other pictures taken at this evening's supper which I will post separately. Tomorrow, we are off early to visit Sophie's orphanage, which will likely be a very emotional visit for all involved.

We hope that everyone back home is keeping well and we look forward to seeing you soon.

Love Chris, Caroline, Stephanie and Sophie.

Our first full day with Sophie

2006-08-01T10:38:00.000-04:00

Today was our first full day with Sophie. She slept wonderfully through the night from about 9:00 to 5:30. Of course, we didn't sleep that well (felt like we were rookie parents all over again getting up to check her breathing every so often).

After a small breakfast bottle (still haven't gotten the formula consistency right), we were up and on the bus for yet another busy day.

You see, yesterday we were only considered Sophie's "babysitters" for a 24hr period. Today, was the day we returned to the social welfare office to complete the paperwork and make it official. As we are a big group this was going to take awhile and while the offices are airconditioned it is still quite warm in the building. Adding to this was the boredom factor for the older children (thank God for technology - game boys and dvd players saved the day). We had two things to do today at the social welfare office. First we had to appear before the adoption staff to sign our confirmation of adoption, then we had to appear before a Notary for some other paperwork (We've signed so many documents we've lost track). We didn't finish until about 11:30 am so we headed back to the hotel where we had a quick lunch and a swim in the pool (they have a fantastic pool facility here!). At 2:45 we were back on the bus to head out to the Chinese Passport office to get Sophie's passport. This document should be ready by Friday when we leave Guangzhou.

After all the paperwork was completed, we went to a supermarket (a huge supermarket- 4 floors of everything you could want. It is a Carrefour - Papi, you will be familiar with this). We bought some extra water, juice, snacks, formula and splurged on an umbrella stroller (about 12$) although we had heard that the babies do not like to be in strollers.

We got back to the hotel, where we promptly fixed Sophie another bottle which she drank along with some apple juice. We were starving by now and decided to venture out with another family to a local restaurant (we were getting tired of the hotel restaurant). The restaurant was a little futher than we had expected but good news - Sophie loves the stroller and slept most of the way. The restaurant was quite an experience as we do not know any Cantonese or Mandarin and the staff knew very little English. We were quite the attraction (the Chinese often stare curiously at us). They are quite polite but some are frankly suprised to see "white parents" with Chinese children.

The meal wasn't that great. The food was good but we were tired, the restaurant was smoky and Stephanie was a bit cranky (She has been a real trouper but has had a few meltdowns when she gets really tired - who can blame her).

We got out of the restaurant and were greated with quite the downpour. So armed with an umbrella, we high-tailed it back to the hotel. With the airconditioning on high (as it always is in the hotel) we were chilled when we got to our room(hope we don't catch a cold). Stephanie and Sophie had a bath together - Sophie's first bath and she really perked up. We are starting to see some smiles and giggles which is wonderful. After an unsuccessful attempt to feed Sophie another bottle (she did drink some juice however) Caroline sat and held her until she fell asleep. Let's hope we have another nice night!!!

Tomorrow it is off to the Buddhist temple (Six Banyan Tree temple) where a blessing ceremony will be perfomed. We are then going to do some souvenir shopping (our first chance to really see Guangzhou).

Well, that's it for tonight. I really hope this works out with the pictures. Please let me know if you have any problems viewing them.

Love, Chris, Caroline, Stephanie and Sophie.

2006-08-01T10:29:00.000-04:00

Here are more pictures taken from yesterday (Monday), when we got Sophie. As you can see it was a very emotional time for us all.

Our first pictures with Sophie

2006-08-01T10:20:00.000-04:00

Ok, I know a lot of you have been waiting for these pictures. I've been having serious problems with Blogger (fine time to experience technical difficulties. It's funny that we've been able to post a picture of a "squatty potty" but when it comes to our daughter - nothing!!!

Anyway, here's the first of several pictures I will try to post this evening. Comments to follow.

Chris

Gotcha Day

2006-07-31T09:41:00.000-04:00

Well, today was the day we had been waiting for - Gotcha Day.

At 2, all 14 families boarded a bus for the Guangdong branch of China's National adoption agency where we would be united with our daughters. The nervousness and tension was thick as we took the elevator to 5th floor.

We were herded into a large meeting room where we had to review some paperwork (to verify that the information was correct. We could hear all the babies in the adjoining room. After what seemed like an eternity (but was only 20 minutes), the babies were brought in one by one to be united with their parents.

Pictured here are some of the earliest pictures of our little Sophie. What a cutie and so tiny. As you can imagine, the emotions were running high and with 14 babies, their parents and some siblings, it was quite the scene. I tell you, we started this incredible journey almost 2 years ago and it was well worth the wait!!!!

After we had all gotten our babies and had a chance to ask some questions of the nannies/orphanage director we headed back to hotel. I (Chris) had to do some more paperwork in anticipation of tomorrow's meeting with the Justice Department (when it will all become "official") while Caroline and Stephanie entertained Sophie.

So far, we have noted that Sophie is very inquistive. She cried a little at first and then fell asleep briefly. She cries a bit but seems to love music and noisy toys. She has taken well to all of us and has not fussed to much when one of the three of us picks her up. So far however, she has not eaten. We've tried several bottles of formula (mixed thick and served quite warm as they like it - or so we are told). She had a small amount of apple juice and a minute amount of congee (rice gruel).

We are now back in the hotel where we've managed to put her down in her crib. How long she'll sleep is anyone's guess. We're exhausted too, so there is lots of stuff that I have probably forgotten to write about. Oh well, we'll try to post more info and pictures tomorrow.

Love to all from Chris, Caroline, Stephanie and Sophie.

P.S. thank you for all your wonderfull comments these last few days. It is heartwarming to know that you are following our story. We are lucky to have such wonderful family and friends.

We're on our way

2006-07-31T01:45:00.000-04:00

Just a quick note to let you know we leave in 20 minutes to get Sophie. Yahoo!!!!

Chris, Caroline & Stephanie.

Day 5 - travel day

2006-07-30T10:23:00.000-04:00

This will be a short post as we are quite exhausted.

Today was a travel day. We got ready to leave the hotel at noon for our flight to Guangzhou. First we did a little shopping but man it was hot. For the first time since we arrived, the sun came out in Beijing. Let me say that I have never experienced such heat and humidity in my life!!!

All the families in Beijing met with our guide and we left for the airport around noon. We had a nice air conditioned bus so the drive there was pleasant at least. Unfortunately, the plane was late leaving and it was not until 3:00 that we finally took off. The flight was very comfortable (modern jet with lots of legroom and better service than Air Canada). We arrived in Guangzhou around 5:45 and took another air conditioned bus (thank God) to the hotel.

The hotel (Marriott) is by far the fanciest hotel we have ever stayed at. We checked in and then went to supper (a nice dinner of beef with noodle, vermicelli and shrimp and spicy squid - Stephanie's favourite). After dinner we stopped in to buy some water at the 7-11 and then dropped by the Starbucks (yes, you read that right - it's like being at home:)

One of the nicest things to see is a crib in the room. That means that we are getting very close now (in less than 24 hours we shall be with Sophie).

Well, gotta go. It will be a busy day tomorrow what with the paperwork that needs to be done in the morning and then the moment we've been waiting for - meeting Sophie at 3:00. Tomorrow's post will feature the best pictures of our trip!

Chris, Caroline & Stephanie

Day 4 - Some Shopping

2006-07-29T08:26:00.000-04:00

Today we visited the Pearl Market to do some all important shopping. It is called the Pearl Market because it is where you can find lots of pearl vendors, but there is also other types of jewellery (jade) and other goods (clothing, shoes, belts, watches, etc...). The market covered five floors in a large rectangular shaped building. It was very clean and bright and the goods on each floor seemed to get progressively more expensive as you make your way up the building (the top floor featured some very intricate jade carvings for 180,000 Yuan [$20,000] much too expensive for us).

The lower floors featured more reasonably priced goods, although prices are usually not marked or if they are, the price is considerably higher than what you should pay. China is the land of bargaining, and you have to haggle - it's expected. Unfortunately, we're not that good at the bargaining process, but we're learning quickly. The salespeople aren't as aggressive as we had expected (apparently they are worse at the silk market), but it was not unusual to have them grab your arm to entreat you to buy from them. We lost track of the number of times we were told that they would make "a special price for you" because "you are my first customer" or "you are my Canadian friend". It is difficult to bargain with products like pearls because we are not savvy enough to recognize good quality pearls from lesser quality pearls. However, we managed to buy a few things at prices which seemed to be a bargain for us.

We've attached a picture of the inside of the market. As you can see, it is set up like a department store with permanent stalls arranged around each floor. There was access to the rooftop of the market and that is the pagoda style structure you see in one of the pictures. From the rooftop, we took a picture of the street so you can see the traffic. Unfortunately it is still so overcast and hazy that you can't really see much of the city.

After the pearl market, we went next door where they had a toy market (again filled with vendors selling all manner of toys from Barbies to cars to Playstations). You name it, they likely have it.

We started getting hungry, so we made our way back to the hotel and stopped at a western style restaurant to satisfy a craving (club sandwiches and fries). We were all pretty tired so we headed back to the hotel where we met up with some of the other families that had arrived today. Stephanie played with Liam while we packed up our stuff for tomorrow's flight to Guangzhou.

At 5:00, we met our guide and all of the families went out for dinner. It was an early night as we are still very tired and want to be well rested for tomorrow's busy travel day.

Well that's all for now. Can't believe that we'll see Sophie in two days!!!!

Chris, Caroline & Stephanie

Day 3 - Forbidden City and some Kung Fu

2006-07-28T19:47:00.000-04:00

Chris had to meet a few work clients throughout the day so Stephanie and I were flying solo today (with our group of course). We braved the subway ( which was an experience on its own). Our guide Freda told us that after 9:30 am it is “less busy” so we chose the “less busy time”. I would NOT want to see it during the busy time.
We made it safe and sound.
We crossed Tiennamen square to get to the Forbidden city. Wow it is quite the place!!
Absolutely huge. You need several hours to get through it. An English speaking chinese man approached us to be our guide during the tour and we accepted him. It was great it was quite the history lesson.
It feels like the Forbidden City goes on forever. Stephanie got very attached to Shelley (one of the Moms in our group) and Stephanie started calling her her second Mom so that is what we call her now.
The weather was hazy a bit drizzly no sun out and very humid but we all agreed it was great weather to do the Forbidden City instead of burning sun with the humidity. There was actually a slight breeze at times which was quite nice.
Definitely a difficult tour to do with a small baby with many steps and up and down and uneven cobble stones.
After a brief break in the room when we got back to the hotel we saw Daddy briefly for about 15 minutes coming back from one meeting and off to another. The rest of us met to go the a theatre show called The legend of Kungfu. It was fantastic. We all enjoyed it.
For dinner we just ate at the buffet in the hotel restaurant (which is considerably more expensive than eating outside the restaurant) but we were all tired and looking for something quick and convenient.

There are a few pictures posted of the Forbidden City. There is a picture of Stephanie and Shelley (Stephanie's second Mom). There is also a picture of Stephanie and a little Chinese girl.

We were told that many people will want to take pictures of Stephanie because she is blond and pale (pale skin is beautiful to the Chinese). She had her picture taken several times by Chinese people today.

Stephanie wrote:

I went to the Forbidden City with mommy. It was massive. They had some construction going on and the gardens were beautiful. I saw some of Tienamen square .

In the evening I went to the red theatre to see the legend of kung fu”. It was really amazing. They had acrobats that did kung fu” moves.

We're off to do some shopping today. Only two more days until we see Sophie!!!

Caroline, Chris & Stephanie

Day 2 - a great trip to the countryside

2006-07-27T10:06:00.000-04:00

Today started off really early (we woke up around 3:30 am - thanks to the jetlag). We met the other couples for breakfast at 7:30. It was a good breakfast with a mixture of the traditional western (eggs, bacon, french toast) and the eastern (noodles, dumplings, congee [rice porridge]). I (chris) particularly loved the fresh lychee nuts - delicious. Anyway, after breakfast we met our guide Freda. Freda is a wonderful woman, very knowledgeable, helpful and friendly - she is going to be invaluable to us on this trip. Freda had arranged for a small bus to take us (10 people in all) to an ancient Chinese village about 90 km west of Beijing. The village is quite remote in a mountainous region and given to its inaccessbility, it has remained mostly unchanged for over 500 years. If I haven't mentioned it already, the traffic in Beijing is crazy. It took us about an hour just to get out of the city, but once we did what a change in scenery. It is very lush and green in the countryside and we followed what seemed like a valley through some beautiful mountains. The roads are very narrow and to pass you just pull out, honk the horn, step on the gas and pray that nothing is coming in the opposite direction (most of the time this works, but there were some hairy moments).

After about a 2 1/2 hour drive we arrived at the village. The village is laid out on the side of one of the hills. It consists of several familial homes each arranged in a square around a courtyard which serves as the family's eating area in the warmer months. It’s a strange picture of old and new. Most cooking is still done with coal but propane is more frequently used. Also, they do have running water and some very modern (and definitely not modern) washroom facilities. We walked around the village for about 1 hour. Most of the local population still lives there year round but it is becoming more touristy. You can actually stay the night with a local family. We met several locals during our tour and they were very friendly. Stephanie met one little girl of about 5 and she gave her one of our Canada Flag pencils. We took pictures of the two girls together which might appear on this post if I can get it to load.

Following our village tour, we stopped at the home of one of the locals where they prepared lunch for us. What a feast we had. There was some pork and green beans, tofu, fried mini-smelts, shrimp and many vegetables we did not recognize (swiss chard I think and some tempura battered and fried leaves).

After lunch, we stopped briefly at a souvenir shop (bought a few postcards) then made the trip home. Back at the hotel we took a short dip in the pool then had a nap. We met up for dinner and went to hot pot (Chinese fondue). It was delicious but a word of warning – when you order chicken you get the whole thing (head and all) kinda creepy.

Well, tomorrow will be a busy day. I have to meet some clients so I won’t see much of Caroline & Stephanie. They are planning to take the subway with other couples to visit the Forbidden city then in the afternoon, they have tickets to a theatre show which features acrobatics. Should be fun and I’m jealous.

Bye for now.
Chris, Caroline & Stephanie

We're in Beijing!

2006-07-26T15:33:00.000-04:00

We woke up all nervous and excited early Tuesday morning for our big trip. At 5:00 Sean came to pick us up and we got to the airport at about 5:30. There was a severe thunderstorm through the night and early in the morning which had us worried about flight delays. But we got up in the air on time and it was a pretty smooth flight to Toronto (only very slight turbulence).

Luckily, our transfer was in the same terminal and after a short walk we met up with the Shaubel's for our big flight. We boarded on time (the flight was only half-ful) and we gave up our assigned seats in the bulkhead for a family with a cute 3month old baby boy (he was a trooper and slept for most of the flight).

We had a whole centre row to ourselves and there were several empty rows which enabled people to stretch out and sleep (but we really didn't get a good sleep on the plane).

The flight was smooth and we were surprised that we flew North over Ellesmere Island (we waved to you Patricia) and then the North Pole before back down over Northern Russian then China. While it was a smooth flight it was a long one and it was hard keeping Stephanie entertained. Colouring books and games only get you so far and by about the 9-10hr mark we were getting a little antsy.

We did arrive in Beijing to very gloomy weather, it had been raining for over a week and they've had some spectacular thunderstorms. At least it was cooler than expected with temperatures in the mid 20's but it is still very humid and you can feel it everywhere.

Upon arrival at the airport we were met by our guide David and his driver and they took us along with the other family that was travelling with us to the hotel (about a 30 minute drive). David seems very friendly and gave us some tips and a quick tour of the neighbourhood around the hotel, pointing out grocery stores and restaurants. One word about Beijing traffic - it is insane. You really have to watch in all directions as bikes, cars and other pedestrians whizz past. We've told Stephanie that she has to hold our hand at all times when on the street.

Getting back to the hotel, we checked in and proceeded immediately to a shower and a nap. The two hour nap was needed but it was very difficult getting up (everyone was a little cranky at first). But nothing cures crankiness better than a good meal and a beer (a juice for Steph)!

We met up with the Shaubels, the Turners (and Joan) and Lee and Les and we went out to try hot pot (chinese style fondue) but the restaurant was too busy, so we ended up at the restaurant next door. The food was great, we ordered Chinese style (Several large dishes put out on a lazy suzan for sharing by the group). We had some Kung Pao chicken (very spicy), Pork with vegetables, shrimp and rice and the adults had local beer (very good and very big bottles - 1 litre!!!). The meal (as with most meals) is really inexpensive - our bill for the three of us came to 7$ and they don't tip in restaurants (although this does not seem to affect the service - which is very friendly).

During the meal, Stephanie had to use the washroom and encountered her first squatty potty. She managed like a trooper and we took a picture of the potty to commemorate the event :)

After dinner, we headed to a local grocery store in an underground shopping mall. The store was one you'd typically find in Canada with all the goods and conveniences you would find at home. We bought some milk and cookies and headed home exhausted.

After a failed attempt to go for a swim in the hotel pool (they insisted that bathing caps be worn and we didn't bring any), we headed back up to the room and went to bed.

Tomorrow we have a tour of the ancient chinese village planned. We have to be ready to go by 8:30 since it's a two hour drive each way. Apparently, we will be having lunch in the home of a local resident of the village so we are really looking forward to this.

We'll that's it for today (we're exhausted). We'll try to post some pictures but we're not sure if this will work.

Chris, Caroline & Stephanie.

Last bit of packing is done

2006-07-24T20:27:00.000-04:00

Well, this will be a brief post because we're exhausted. We've got everything packed, mowed the lawn, cleaned the pool, and managed to squeeze a movie with Stephanie (Monster House - it was excellent).

We're off tomorrow. Here's hoping for a smooth flight.

Sophie, here we come!

Caroline, Chris and Stephanie

Travel Update - Getting closer now!

2006-07-16T17:57:00.000-04:00

Wow. Things are definitely moving along more quickly now. All of our paperwork has been sent to the relevant authorities and our travel arrangements have been finalized.

The Itinerary

Tuesday, July 25th - Depart Ottawa for Toronto - Fly from Toronto to Beijing (direct)
Wednesday, July 26th - Arrive Beijing (we are staying at the Poly Hotel in Beijing:

http://www.polyhotel.com/polyEnglishweb/index.htm

From Wednesday, the 26th to Sunday, the 30th is free time. (Other couples will be arriving in Beijing during this time). It is looking like we may be going to visit an ancient village (Chuan Di Xia
http://users.cableaz.com/~donlarry/china/cdx000.html

on Thursday with some other couples. Friday, Chris has some meeting with clients. On Saturday, we might go to Beijing's "Dirt Market", a huge flea market that sees over 50,000 visitors on busy days.

After lunch on Sunday (30th), we and the other couples in Beijing fly to Guangzhou (Capital of Guangdong province and where we shall be united with Sophie. In Guangzhou we are staying at the Marriott

http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/canmc

Monday, July 31st is GOTCHA DAY. We should have Sophie in our arms sometime around 3:00 pm.

The following days, from the 1st to the 4th of August will be filled with some paperwork and sightseeing. We are scheduled to visit the Six Banyan Tree Temple in Guangzhou (a renowned Buddhist site where a blessing ceremony will be done for the babies.

We also found out that we will be able to visit Sophie's orphanage in Yanjiang - just not sure which day we'll be going (it's about a 3 hr drive each way).

From the 4th to the 11th of August, we are back in Beijing where we will be sightseeing (great wall) shopping, getting medical check and Sophie's visa, and most importantly, spending time getting to know Sophie.

Finally, we shall be departing Beijing on the 11th of August, and expect to arrive back in Ottawa at (6:00 pm) on the 11th.

What we've been doing to prepare

We've been hard at work preparing for Sophie's arrival. We've painted, cleaned and decorated her room (Stephanie helped Mommy with the decals). We got the crib set up, moved furniture around and washed, hung up and put away all her clothes. Pictured here is a photo of Sophie's room and Stephanie's room (Stephanie had us put up a "princess" veil over her bed)

Shopping - we've done tons of it. You name it, we've likely bought it. In addition to all the usual baby stuff, we've bought lots of medications (we feel like a travelling pharmacy). Still have some minor shopping to do but will be done soon.

Surprises

Last Thursday, Chris' work had a work party in the evening (as they do every summer). However, this time it was a surprise baby shower (and what a surprise it was). We got lots of stuff for Sophie (including some cute outfits, diapers, wipes, change pad, etc..) and Stephanie even got some clothes and stuffed animals. It was a wonderful surprise and much appreciated.

Stephanie picked out a stuffed animal for Sophie (a turtle). Stephanie got her stuffed animal (a lamb named baba) at birth which she still has and sleeps with (Baba's going to China) and she wanted to pick a special stuffed animal for Sophie to have.

Well, that's about it for now. We'll post another update just before we leave and we hope to continue posting during our trip.

Only 9 more sleeps until we leave!!!!

CCS

!!Welcome Sophie Hui Hui Dejardin!!

2006-05-25T22:30:00.000-04:00

It's official, at 4:08 this afternoon we got "the call" confirming the arrival of the referrals.

Her name is Hui Hui Dong and she was born on August 18, 2005. She is at the Yangdong SWI in Guangdong Province (that's in the south of China, near Hong Kong). She weighed 6kg and was 63 cm in length at her February check-up. As you can see, she's as cute as a button and Mommy, Daddy and Stephanie are thrilled.

As you can see from our title, we've decided to name her Sophie.

It looks like we'll be leaving for China on or about July 28th and we're hoping to post lots more information and pictures during our trip.

Well, that's it for this post. We're exhausted and our emotions are on overload. We'll fill you in on the details of this rather strange but delightful day at another time.

Referrals are on their way, Yahoooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!

2006-05-23T19:18:00.000-04:00

Well, it's official. Sometime late last night the CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) updated their website to announce that they had matched up to June 15, 2005. Soooooo, since we are LID June 9th, the latest batch of referrals includes us!

I was on the computer yesterday evening and noticed that the CCAA website was down and had some suspicions that this might be good news. But it wasn't until I got to work that I got the email from Caroline (one of the members of our group noticed the update just after midnight - great eye Hector!!)

Anyway this means that the referral information is on its way via courier from China and our agency should receive it within 3-7 days. After they receive it, it has to be translated, but they try to phone you within a day of receipt to give you basic info about your baby (including pictures which are emailed). Since our agency is in Ottawa, we plan on going together (Caroline, Stephanie and I) to pick up the info at the agency.

Once the referrals are in we have a short time frame to complete some paperwork and then begins the process of travel arrangements. It looks like we'll be leaving either on July 28th or August 4th, during one of the hottest months in China (but who cares, we're getting our baby!!).

We'll be sure to post pictures of our baby when they arrive so be sure to check this blog regularly.

Finally, we just wanted to congratulate all of the other waiting families in our group. The wait has been arduous but the reward will be great! To all those waiting to adopt, don't despair, we're hoping and wishing for you too.

Chris, Caroline & Stephanie

Our Journey Begins

2006-03-13T21:18:00.000-05:00

(Chinese symbol for family)

We began our journey to grow our family well over a year ago. After much paperwork and the completion of our homestudy our file was sent to the China Centre for Adoption Affairs (see photo below) and logged in on June 9, 2005.

The wait has been longer than expected but we can begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. With any luck, we should be receiving our referral information in April or May with travel to follow in June or July.

If all goes well, we should be able to use this blog to post daily reports (and hopefully pictures) from China.

In the meantime, please visit this site regularly for updates as we'll be sure to post our referral information and the picture of our newest little one as soon as it arrives.