Christmas in review

We had a really nice low-key Christmas this year. We've been so busy with trying to work on the basement that it was nice to stay home this year and just relax. We celebrated with close friends on Christmas Eve and then had Christmas day all to ourselves. We opened presents, played, had a Christmas morning picnic by the tree and fire, and then played some more. It was nice to celebrate quietly and really absorb our last Christmas as a family of three.

Claire had the pleasure of opening Ren's gifts. I tried to emphasize that once he's here, she won't get to open his presents anymore! Here's a picture of his loot, followed by a photo of an ornament I forgot to include in the first shot:

Most of the gifts are from friends and family. The little silver fortune cookie, though, is from us.

We gave one just like it to Claire too, when we were waiting for her. Ren's fortune, just like Claire's says, "You will soon meet your forever family who will love and cherish you always". Once, while dining together at a Chinese restaurant, my dad suggested to me with some degree of seriousness that if I didn't get into law school (which thankfully I did), I could use my English degree to write fortunes for fortune cookies! I scoffed at him then but who knew that 10 years later, that’s exactly what I would be doing - for my children at least!

My mom is visiting us right now, which has been absolutely wonderful. Claire is enjoying her company so much. With Mom watching Claire, I've been able to catch up on some chores around the house. I had such a productive day yesterday - something practically unheard of in my world lately!

Today is day 91 of our wait for our Letter Seeking Confirmation. Our good friends (and travel-mates from our 2007 China trip for Claire) who sent in their LOI a week ahead of us got the call TODAY that their LSC is in. Such wonderful news! I am so happy for them, and am feeling optimistic that our LSC should arrive somewhat soon too (though who knows whether the week that we are behind them in terms of our paperwork will amount to a week in waiting time - probably not.) At the moment, I'm not too stressed: just revelling in our friends' good news.

Tomorrow Paul and I are actually going to have some alone time! Mom is going to watch Claire while Paul and I go for dinner and a movie. I better sign off this post so that I can look up the movie listings right now!

Merry Christmas!

A very Merry Christmas to all our friends and family, especially our newest little family member, Ren!

In the review room

I've been trying to guess when we'll travel. If we received our Letter Seeking Confirmation very soon, it'd likely be February. However, I got this note from our coordinator yesterday:

I talked to CCAA this Monday, I was told that your file is still in the reviewing room. It will take some time to pass to the office who will issue the Letter Seeking Confirmation.

Based on that, I'm guessing the earliest we could get our letter is a month from now, with travel in March. And that's the earliest. Darn. I have to keep reminding myself that we knew our window was probably anywhere between February and May.

I guess this just gives us more opportunities to send care packages to Ren. I'm gathing his next one now. His orphanage is in the process of moving and they aren't sure of their new mailing address but apparently, waiting families can use the 'old' address and their mail will be forwarded. I'll post a photo of the package when it's ready.

The tradition continues

We have already received many special gifts for Ren and we appreciate every gift and gesture so much. We can't wait to see Ren enjoy all his new things! There is one gift in particular I want to mention on this blog. By way of background, here's an excerpt from Claire's blog, dated January 20, 2007:

When [my friend] Kelley and I were young, I always admired the home-made care bears her mom, Elaine, crafted. When I mentioned this to Elaine a couple of years ago, she obviously made a mental note of this because about a month later, I received my very own bear! Much to my surprise, we received a parcel from Elaine and Dennis today [January 20, 2007] that contained a bear for Claire, as well as a matching blanket. (Elaine must have been worried that I was too attached to my bear to share it with Claire!) Claire's bear is named Lacie Daisy and I know Claire will love her!

***********************************************

Well, Elaine and Dennis never cease to amaze and surprise us! Last week, we received this bear in the mail for Ren!

This little bear couldn't be more perfect for Ren - and Paul, since that's a Saskatchewan Roughrider logo on its belly! Also pictured are some Roughrider shoes / slippers that Kelley and Paul sent for Ren. Paul is in his glory!

Thanks again, Elaine and Dennis, for thinking of our newest addition and creating something so special and meaningful for him. We are blessed to have you as our children's honourary grandparents!

Here in spirit

Although I wish Ren were here with us for Christmas, I'm happy he is at least here in spirit: that we know about him and will meet him soon. We were in the same situation when we were waiting for Claire - a referral before Christmas with a travel date in the new year - and I remember the bittersweet feeling of hanging a specially chosen ornament with her photo on the tree. This year, Ren's referral picture joins Claire's on the tree. Bittersweet as it is, I know we are blessed to at least be matched with a wonderful little boy on the other side of the world. My heart goes out to the families still waiting to be matched with their little ones.

As Christmas cards come in from friends and family, it is wonderful to see so many of them addressed to "Paul, Monica, Claire and Ren". Clearly, Ren is already viewed as part of our family - by ourselves of course but also by others. When our friend Marianne invited Claire and I over to decorate a gingerbread house last weekend, I was delighted to see five little figures representing our family: Daddy, Mama (with curly hair!), Claire, Kitsya and of course, little Ren. Here's a 'family photo' (Ren is just right of centre):

Today is day 78 of our wait for the Letter Seeking Confirmation. I have my heart set on a February travel date but I'm afraid if our letter doesn't arrive soon, March will be the earliest month we can travel. I know things will unfold the way they are meant to and that we will be together very soon regardless but an extra month at this point seems like a long time to wait.

Nesting, with help from our parents

With the help of our parents, we've been getting ready for Ren's arrival.

Paul's dad Wally recently stayed with us for a few days to get a jumpstart on a mini reno in our basement. We're carving out a little space in our basement (from our family room) for an office. Currently, we have filled-to-the-brim bookshelves in our spare bedroom in the basement and in Ren's room, with other office stuff located in Ren's room and our basement familiy room; we decided it was time to consolidate all the office stuff in one space so that we can actually get into Ren's room and furnish it for his arrival.

This reno gave Paul the excuse to rip out the circa 1970s fireplace and mantle that he was itching to get rid of. It really was a hideous thing. The guys then framed the walls, did the electrical, put in a pocket door frame, and put up drywall. Paul is now doing the mudding and sanding. Next steps will be to paint and put in cork flooring (throughout the entire basement living space). Once the flooring is in (at least in the office), I can then get to work moving our books into there, etc. I can't wait till it's finished because I'm incredibly anxious to furnish and decorate Ren's room. But I have to say that I'm thrilled with how much progress has already been done on the new space. Paul and his dad worked so quickly AND tidily! I expected our basement to be a complete mess during this whole time but they neatly cleaned up after each step.

Claire really loved having both of them working here; she often called out to them, "Hi boys!", or "Nice work, boys!". Sometimes, before they had a chance to tidy up a mess, she'd walk over and spout out a line from one of her favourite TV shows (Big Comfy Couch): "Hey, who made this big mess?!" Her answer was always, "The boys!".

On the weekend while Paul and his dad were working, Paul's mom took Claire to our community centre to enjoy a Christmas party. Together, they coloured, went on a wagon ride, shopped and met Santa! I met up with them in time for Santa's visit, and then together we perused the tables of handicrafts. I left them for a few minutes to make a purchase and found them shortly later buying little bracelets! Claire got two, Joanne got one to match one of Claire's, and then Joanne treated me to a bracelet as well! It was really sweet to see Joanne and Claire pouring through a basket of toddler-sized bracelets until Claire found the ones she liked best.

My mom is also helping us prepare for Ren. She is an experienced and passionate quilter and of course, only too willing to make a quilt for her new grandson. I had been searching for the right quilt pattern for a while and finally found it online. Ren's referral said he likes cars, so that's what he's getting!

I had a chance last week to pick out the quilt fabric:

My mom will be visiting us after Christmas so I'll send this all home with her. It won't take long before we have the quilted product back; Mom often sews and stiches from morning till night. I can't wait to see the finished product! I feel so fortunate that both of my kids have / will have beautiful quilts made with love by their Grandma.

Thank you, grandparents, for your contributions! You have each contributed in a way that is unique to you and your personal talents. We are so grateful for your help and involvement in our lives and the lives of our kids.

Two more pics of the celebration

I think these two photos, as well as the first one in the post below, were taken at the orphanage. The furniture in the background looks like the standard government office furniture we saw in China.

Pictures of Ren's birthday celebration

I am so incredibly thrilled to say that Adele at Blessed Kids was able to get us some information about Ren's birthday celebration!

Get this: his caregivers took him to KFC for his birthday celebration and "he had a great time"! I love it! I can just picture him enjoying some finger-licking-good chicken! The funny thing is that we were thisclose to ordering KFC for us on Ren's birthday! I have no idea why we considered KFC (other than because Paul loves it) but it was between that and Chinese; in the end, we thought "Well, there's no KFC connection to Ren so let's get Chinese food". But there was a connection after all! This KFC birthday celebration may have to become a yearly tradition.

Adele was able to get us something else equally precious and priceless: new measurements and pictures of Ren! Adele's father who lives in China contacted the orphanage before sending the package to confirm that the address was correct. While they were speaking, he mentioned to the orphanage staff member that it would be great if they were able to take some digital photos of Ren and take new measurements, which of course he and Adele could pass on to us for a small fee. As a result of his and Adele's wonderful entreprenurial spirit, we now have the pictures you see above.

Ren's measurements for height and weight are the same as the ones we received in November through our coordinator but we also received head, chest and foot measurements this time. Yahoo, let the shoe-shopping commence!

We are so comforted to know that our little boy was treated to a celebration on his birthday. I'm really surprised (but elated) by the fact that the orphanage caregivers took him (and obviously some other kids) out to a restaurant. I also love how a caregiver in one picture has her arm draped around his shoulder while she is feeding him. Seeing our little one receive attention and care like this definitely helps with the wait.

This Mama's heart is happy.

Ren got the cake!

I received confirmation today from Adele at Blessed Kids that our letter, birthday card and disposable camera arrived at Ren's orphanage on November 21 and that his cake was delivered on his birthday! Please keep your fingers crossed that the orphanage used the camera to take a bunch of photos of the birthday boy with his cake, his friends and his caregivers. From other parents who have adopted kids at Zhuhai, it sounds like the caregivers will indeed use the camera and return it to us on Forever Family Day. Yet another reason to look forward to that amazing day!

I feel so fortunate that Blessed Kids provides this service (and many other amazing services). Check out their web site at www.blessedkids.com.

I also learned from Adele that the orphanage hasn't moved yet. I'm waiting to hear back from her about whether they were informed of the exact date for the move.

A sister's birthday song

Don't ask me why she's wearing rubber boots.

Happy Birthday, sweet boy

Happy birthday to our sweet boy who turns 2 on December 3. I'm posting this today (December 2) because with the time change, it's already his birthday in China.

Ren, we love you and will be there soon.

Mama, Daddy and big sister Claire
xoxoxo