....15 days until we leave, 19 day until we hold our girl....here's a little look at our journey to now documented in a video.
It's been a LONG while
3 years ago
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Sunday, October 28, 2012
18 more to go....
I feel like Christmas is coming early this year - and it IS!!!
Everyday, I get a few more things crossed off my 'To-Do' list and it's feeling great.
This weekend was some MAJOR 'checks' off of my list:
Christmas shopping for the kids - CHECK
Big batch (10L) of spaghetti sauce - CHECK
Car Seat installed - CHECK
This week, I'll be:
Wrapping (oh joy, not my favourite task - oh well!)
Continuing to get things out to pack
Taking down Fall decorations
Appointments
Making some calls re: things for the trip
Christmas Craft for misc. gifts
Crossing my fingers that we might receive an update on our peanut
Counting back more days until we travel (and hold Faith)
I feel SO lucky to be SO close in our process.
Everyday, I get a few more things crossed off my 'To-Do' list and it's feeling great.
This weekend was some MAJOR 'checks' off of my list:
Christmas shopping for the kids - CHECK
Big batch (10L) of spaghetti sauce - CHECK
Car Seat installed - CHECK
This week, I'll be:
Wrapping (oh joy, not my favourite task - oh well!)
Continuing to get things out to pack
Taking down Fall decorations
Appointments
Making some calls re: things for the trip
Christmas Craft for misc. gifts
Crossing my fingers that we might receive an update on our peanut
Counting back more days until we travel (and hold Faith)
I feel SO lucky to be SO close in our process.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
22 days and counting
Our countdown continues until we leave for China!
Oh and did I mention 26 days until we have our sweet little peanut in our arms....
I spent almost an hour and a half on the phone with our agency this week. I swear, he is so excited for each of the family they form. He walked me through Gotcha Day (for those of you who don't know the 'lingo' - Gotcha Day means the day we get Faith in our arms). Talked about 'the FOUR of us walking the halls' holding hands (as a way to attach)...that made my heart do a flip and a half....
MORIN - PARTY OF 4
We received our travel notes and I've contacted each family, and introduced ourselves. I've been emailing one family privately and we chatted on the phone yesterday. She has a 10 year old son who has similar interests of Noah...can't wait to meet all the families.
We realized that Faith will be the only girl being adopted this trip (out of the 9 families)!
Jacques is going to the bank today to get all of the cash we need to travel (and now we are just one step closer to being broke)!! lol
It all seems SO real....and it is! It's just been such a long time coming, it seems all surreal!!!
TODAY...I got all of our suitcases out and layed them out in Faith's room. I began by putting all the Canadiana stuff I got for the orphanage and the gifts I got for the officials. I also put in the little snacks and toys we brought for Faith. After I realized that 2 suitcases are almost full with this stuff....I looked over at the clothes we are bringing for Faith and soon realized that I may have to 're-think' my packing strategies because there is very little room left for our clothes now - YIKES!!!
It's all GOOD....Jacques, my husband always reminds me that I am the BEST organizer (he claims that's why he married me after seeing our 'wedding spreadsheet')!!! I WILL make it work.....
It's just so exciting....can ya tell I'm just a little excited!!!
Oh and did I mention 26 days until we have our sweet little peanut in our arms....
I spent almost an hour and a half on the phone with our agency this week. I swear, he is so excited for each of the family they form. He walked me through Gotcha Day (for those of you who don't know the 'lingo' - Gotcha Day means the day we get Faith in our arms). Talked about 'the FOUR of us walking the halls' holding hands (as a way to attach)...that made my heart do a flip and a half....
MORIN - PARTY OF 4
We received our travel notes and I've contacted each family, and introduced ourselves. I've been emailing one family privately and we chatted on the phone yesterday. She has a 10 year old son who has similar interests of Noah...can't wait to meet all the families.
We realized that Faith will be the only girl being adopted this trip (out of the 9 families)!
Jacques is going to the bank today to get all of the cash we need to travel (and now we are just one step closer to being broke)!! lol
It all seems SO real....and it is! It's just been such a long time coming, it seems all surreal!!!
TODAY...I got all of our suitcases out and layed them out in Faith's room. I began by putting all the Canadiana stuff I got for the orphanage and the gifts I got for the officials. I also put in the little snacks and toys we brought for Faith. After I realized that 2 suitcases are almost full with this stuff....I looked over at the clothes we are bringing for Faith and soon realized that I may have to 're-think' my packing strategies because there is very little room left for our clothes now - YIKES!!!
It's all GOOD....Jacques, my husband always reminds me that I am the BEST organizer (he claims that's why he married me after seeing our 'wedding spreadsheet')!!! I WILL make it work.....
It's just so exciting....can ya tell I'm just a little excited!!!
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Signs it's really happening and trip anticipation
My goodness, everything these days are giving me butterflies of excitement.
So much is going on that confirms our trip is REALLY happening.
This week we 'celebrated' (so-to-say) two milestones in our countdown....ONE MONTH until we travel and ONE MONTH until we hold our precious baby (ok, maybe not so baby - but she will be OUR baby) girl!!!
We received the list of families that are travelling with us, along with our first set of travel notes from our agency. I have made contact with each of the other families, there are 9 in all (including us)...much more than 3 like originally thought by our orphanage.
We bought ourselves a little video camera for our trip. Noah is very proud that this will be HIS responsibility to video tape.
We went shopping to get some 'travel' jackets for Noah and I (rather than bringing big bulky winter coats) for our trip that are warm, wind proof and water proof. All three of us also got ourselves new toques.
We are still waiting on updates from 2 sources on Faith....I just want to see her sweet face again (and not the same 3 photos we've been staring at for 3 months now! I did email Ann (at Red Thread) and she emailed the orphanage on Friday morning so hopefully we'll wake up to a photo or two of our precious girl one morning next week.
This coming week, I will be preparing some more freezer meals (in preparation when we come home from China). I may also get out our suitcases and lay them out in Faith's room to start gauging what kind of room we have to determine if we are going to pay for an extra suitcase or not.
I know, I know...I'm a list maker and an organizer at heart....so I am just soaking in all there is to do with great anticipation and much joy! Maybe I'm a little ahead of schedule, but the way I look at it is this IS part of the excitement of our trip, so I want to enjoy every LAST minute of it (and I am)!!!
So much is going on that confirms our trip is REALLY happening.
This week we 'celebrated' (so-to-say) two milestones in our countdown....ONE MONTH until we travel and ONE MONTH until we hold our precious baby (ok, maybe not so baby - but she will be OUR baby) girl!!!
We received the list of families that are travelling with us, along with our first set of travel notes from our agency. I have made contact with each of the other families, there are 9 in all (including us)...much more than 3 like originally thought by our orphanage.
We bought ourselves a little video camera for our trip. Noah is very proud that this will be HIS responsibility to video tape.
We went shopping to get some 'travel' jackets for Noah and I (rather than bringing big bulky winter coats) for our trip that are warm, wind proof and water proof. All three of us also got ourselves new toques.
We are still waiting on updates from 2 sources on Faith....I just want to see her sweet face again (and not the same 3 photos we've been staring at for 3 months now! I did email Ann (at Red Thread) and she emailed the orphanage on Friday morning so hopefully we'll wake up to a photo or two of our precious girl one morning next week.
This coming week, I will be preparing some more freezer meals (in preparation when we come home from China). I may also get out our suitcases and lay them out in Faith's room to start gauging what kind of room we have to determine if we are going to pay for an extra suitcase or not.
I know, I know...I'm a list maker and an organizer at heart....so I am just soaking in all there is to do with great anticipation and much joy! Maybe I'm a little ahead of schedule, but the way I look at it is this IS part of the excitement of our trip, so I want to enjoy every LAST minute of it (and I am)!!!
Monday, October 15, 2012
Big Brother Butterflies
I haven't written on my blog about Noah's journey into Big Brotherhood....until now!
Though he has admitted and even sometimes often acted jealous (mostly when he couldn't get his way or have something he wanted), what he talks to me about most often is his excitement and fears about the kind of big brother he wants so badly to be.
Just yesterday, while we were folding laundry together he brought up (again) how he wishes we could just get on a plane NOW and go get Faith.
When he has shown me a side of jealously, I just let him feel what he is feeling. I let him talk it out and I listen. I tell him that it's completely normal to feel this way, and it's okay to feel this but it's all in HOW you deal with these feelings that is the most important. I am always available for him to talk to when he feels like this with NO judgement. One other thing we are doing, is allowing him to be a part of the planning (example: when in China, we are going to buy several little gifts from China to give her yearly on her birthday, gotcha day or Chinese New Year, to celebrate her joining our family - we let him be a part of the decision as to what DAY we would celebrate this). We also talk about situations that we predict could be hard for him, giving him a chance to think about how he would react and how to respond in the best way possible.
I don't know if all of this will come crashing down when we bring her home and she is an immediate threat to his undivided attention with Mom & Dad, but for now I am dreaming that maybe, just maybe he will surprise us at what we thought would have been a terribly hard transition for him.
Any of you have older children in the home when you brought your little ones home from China? Any suggestions??
All I know is that he is JUST as excited as Jacques and I to bring our little peanut home!
ONE MONTH TODAY...but who's counting!!!
Though he has admitted and even sometimes often acted jealous (mostly when he couldn't get his way or have something he wanted), what he talks to me about most often is his excitement and fears about the kind of big brother he wants so badly to be.
Just yesterday, while we were folding laundry together he brought up (again) how he wishes we could just get on a plane NOW and go get Faith.
- He says he wants to be the kind of big brother that will teach and protect Faith.
- He says when he has money from chores or later on from a job, he wants to treat Faith to the movies or a special toy that we won't buy for her.
- He says he wants to teach her how to make a snow fort, shovel snow, make a snowman.
- He says he wants to read her bed time stories and be there for her if she is scared from a dream.
When he has shown me a side of jealously, I just let him feel what he is feeling. I let him talk it out and I listen. I tell him that it's completely normal to feel this way, and it's okay to feel this but it's all in HOW you deal with these feelings that is the most important. I am always available for him to talk to when he feels like this with NO judgement. One other thing we are doing, is allowing him to be a part of the planning (example: when in China, we are going to buy several little gifts from China to give her yearly on her birthday, gotcha day or Chinese New Year, to celebrate her joining our family - we let him be a part of the decision as to what DAY we would celebrate this). We also talk about situations that we predict could be hard for him, giving him a chance to think about how he would react and how to respond in the best way possible.
I don't know if all of this will come crashing down when we bring her home and she is an immediate threat to his undivided attention with Mom & Dad, but for now I am dreaming that maybe, just maybe he will surprise us at what we thought would have been a terribly hard transition for him.
Any of you have older children in the home when you brought your little ones home from China? Any suggestions??
All I know is that he is JUST as excited as Jacques and I to bring our little peanut home!
ONE MONTH TODAY...but who's counting!!!
Friday, October 12, 2012
33 days...
...the excitement is building and building and building inside. I just want to dance for joy.
IF I feel like this today, how is going to feel a week or 2 weeks before we travel! Or heck, what about only a few days before!
Got Faith's room all washed and have done the final set-up, with the bed rail on the bed. I mean, it's been pretty much done for months now but NOW...I've pulled out the clothes we are bringing to China with us, put her winter coat in the front hall closet, etc. EVERYTHING is done - completely done!! All of her sippy cups, plastic cutlery and plates are set up in the kitchen, her high/chair is in the kitchen.
One last thing to finish is the play room....just to organize the toys that we moved from her room.
It's looking and feeling FANTASTICLY GREAT to see it all come together...just waiting for the little pitter patters and extra finger prints on the walls now!!
On a side note: I saw these cutest little dolls that are the most precious. I really WANT one for my girl for her birthday - her FIRST birthday with her forever family! More for a keepsake, with the scripture that means SO much to me from 1 Samuel 1:27 (I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him.) http://babybeblesseddolls.com/ Check them out...so stinkin adorable!!!
IF I feel like this today, how is going to feel a week or 2 weeks before we travel! Or heck, what about only a few days before!
Got Faith's room all washed and have done the final set-up, with the bed rail on the bed. I mean, it's been pretty much done for months now but NOW...I've pulled out the clothes we are bringing to China with us, put her winter coat in the front hall closet, etc. EVERYTHING is done - completely done!! All of her sippy cups, plastic cutlery and plates are set up in the kitchen, her high/chair is in the kitchen.
One last thing to finish is the play room....just to organize the toys that we moved from her room.
It's looking and feeling FANTASTICLY GREAT to see it all come together...just waiting for the little pitter patters and extra finger prints on the walls now!!
On a side note: I saw these cutest little dolls that are the most precious. I really WANT one for my girl for her birthday - her FIRST birthday with her forever family! More for a keepsake, with the scripture that means SO much to me from 1 Samuel 1:27 (I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him.) http://babybeblesseddolls.com/ Check them out...so stinkin adorable!!!
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Backed-up...
Seems I haven't stayed caught up with blogging these days and so much has happened.
Since last month:
It's been an exciting month to say the least.
The 'official' countdown is on our refrigerator calendar....36 days until we leave!!!
Since last month:
- Got notice that our LOA/LSC was being processed. (Sept 28)
- Notified that our LSC was on it's way to our province (but we were out of the province - so we called and asked them to hold it, should it come in while we were out of town). (Sept 30)
- Contacted by the travel coordinator (Michael) to get flights booked (already done) and Visa applications underway. He lights my day up when he says 'It really IS happening!' - I like him already!!! (Oct 4)
- Arrived home. (Oct 7)
- Started organizing playroom and re-arranging Faith's room. (Oct 8-10)
- Got China Visa applications filled out. (Oct 8)
- Got more (3rd set) passport photos taken. (Oct 9)
- Received our LSC in mail. Our mail lady was very cooperative (Oct 10)
- WILL BE...sending our Visa applications and signed LSC out. (Oct 11)
It's been an exciting month to say the least.
The 'official' countdown is on our refrigerator calendar....36 days until we leave!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
