Planning

Things are moving so fast here! We only just received our LSC on Monday morning. By late afternoon, we learned we will receive Ren on February 23!

I expect that we'll book our flights later today. The usual route is to fly to Beijing, then to the child's home province, back to Beijing and then home again. Paul and I have decided we'll go to Hong Kong first for a couple of nights, and then do the quick flight over to Guangzhou in Guangdong where we will receive Ren.

And what shall we do in Hong Kong? So far, the plan is to tour a very important architectural and historical wonder ... Disneyland! That's right, Disneyland opened in Hong Kong not long ago and we decided that would be a special thing for us to do with Claire on our second-last full day alone with her before Ren joins us. (How bittersweet these last days are as a family of three. How Claire's life is going to change ... in a wonderful way ultimately but it may not always feel like that to her.) The tricky part with Disneyland will be to convince Claire that we do NOT need to pack any princess costumes. Thankfully we have a cute Minnie Mouse t-shirt and a headband with mouse ears from our good friend Marianne; that'll pack much better than a flouncy gown!

Yet another piece of great news is that we will be travelling in China with good friends Carolyn and Marvin! We met them on our first journey to China for Claire and learned about a year ago that our girls - Claire and Kennedy - were actually fostered with the same family. Such a connection we have with their family already and now this. Their beautiful daughter, Jaida, is also in Guangdong so we will be travelling with them from Guangdong on. I am so thrilled that we will reunite with them in China - the best possible place for a reunion - and that we will have their companionship and support once again.

Our letter has arrived!

Today, day 97 of our wait, we got the fateful call from Faith at Alberta Children's Services: our Letter Seeking Confirmation had arrived! Claire and I dashed downtown - missing Paul by only a few minutes - so that I could sign the letter. Faith told me that Paul had the sense to read the letter before he signed; for the first time in my life, I didn't read something before I put my signature to it! Thankfully, when I came to my senses and actually read the letter, everything was in order.

We also got updated measurements of Ren. He's approximately 32 lbs and 35 inches tall. His feet are 15.5 cm long.

I'm waiting to chat with our coordinator to get an idea of when we might travel. It's possible it could be in mid to late February so that's what I'm hoping for! In any event, it won't be long now. Yahoo!

By the way, I love that this happened on the 5th of the month. It seems to be a very lucky day on our adoption path:

- we were logged in for Claire on September 5 (2005);

- we met Claire on February 5 (2007);

- we were logged in for Ren on March 5 (2008); and

- we received our LSC - today, yahoo! - on January 5.

Happy New Year!

2009 is bound to be a good year - it's the year we will meet Ren and officially become his forever family! Happy New Year to all our friends and family.

Yesterday we sent off another care package to Ren. This time we sent it on our own (not through our coordinator) so we didn't have a size restriction. Most of the items are for Ren, but we sent a bunch of stickers and sticker albums for the other kids. The candy is for the nannies to have for themselves or to distribute as they wish. The package will arrive for Ren in time for Chinese New Year's (January 26).

We're continuing to enjoy Grandma's company here. Paul is working on the reno, and I've been spending time doing things around the house when I'm not with Claire and Grandma. Grandma is amazed by how much Claire has changed since she saw her last, especially in terms of language. She's talking full, long sentences now, with a few sayings that constantly pop up in our conversations. One of her favourites is, "We match!", which is used in various situations: when they are drinking the same thing, wearing the same colour, etc. It's kind of silly, actually, but very sweet too. It's definitely one of those sayings that we'll always remember. I've got to keep this short to get back to visiting with Mom and Claire, but here are a couple of pictures we took before church today.

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!

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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!