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

As Ren's birthday approaches ...

I'm drawn back to what we were doing two years ago on December 3, when Ren was born.

Paul and I had just spent an amazing weekend in Jasper. We went there to celebrate Paul's birthday but it turned into a different sort of celebration when, on the drive there, we received the call we'd been waiting nearly two years for: we had been matched with a baby girl in China! Claire Caiwen entered our reality that day - December 1, 2006 - and life has never been the same.

What we didn't know at the time is that we actually became parents twice over that weekend. As we revelled in the joy of seeing Claire's face for the first time, the boy who would become our second child was born into the world. In hindsight, it's no wonder our joy was so great and the weekend so magical to us.

And yet I can't help but consider that at the same time we were preparing to accept our beautiful little Claire into our lives, Ren's birth family was faced with the opposite situation. How strange that our two children's lives were changing enormously at the same time in nearly opposite ways, unbeknownst to them.

Ever since we received Claire's proposal on December 1, I've thought of early December as a magical time where our family became a reality. That still holds true, especially now that we know our son was born that same weekend. But now I also think of another family - Ren's birth family - who experienced a great loss at the same that our family was forming. They will always be in our thoughts.