And more!

Our guide, Becky, came to our room to do paperwork with us after we got back from the adoption centre. She took most of these photos of us 'horsing around'. (By the way, Becky is GREAT!)

A double horsie ride:

And side-by-side horsie rides:

In the picture below, I'm holding a receiving blanket my Grandma Pauline gave to my mom before my oldest brother was born. Mom brought all seven of us home from the hospital in that blanket and had it at each of our baptisms. We had it with us when we received Claire and we had it with us today.

More of forever family day

Well, it's just before 9 p.m. on Monday and the kiddos and big daddy are asleep. I probably should be sleeping but I wanted to relive the day by looking at pictures and then I decided why not take a few minutes to blog some memories and pictures.

It's been an incredible day in so many ways. Ren is amazingly cute and so incredibly sweet. He still has only uttered a couple of words (not sure what they were but a beautiful red dress in a shop window seemed to inspire them!) and he has not cried one bit. I wonder when the floodgates will open! He's very engaging, though, in that he is seeking and maintaining eye contact, looking amused quite often (although still too cautious for a true smile) and being ever so watchful of his jie jie, Claire. We were done our paperwork by 5 p.m. so we had time for dinner and a nice bedtime routine. We went for dinner in a restaurant called "Paradise" on the 39th floor of our hotel - a fitting name for a place for us to share our first meal as a family of four. It felt so easy and natural to have the two kids with us. Granted, Ren is still quite withdrawn so 'easy' might very well be a temporary thing!

As for Claire, she is an absolute hoot. Many people comment about how shy Claire is, and she certainly can be, but when she's comfortable, she can be such a clown! She has been a little entertainer for Ren. She's also been very nurturing, which is no surprise given her loving and gentle nature. So far she doesn't seem to be jealous of our attention to Ren but Paul and I keep reminding each other to be mindful of giving her plenty of attention too.

I'm really blown away by Ren's orphanage. We received back every item we sent and much, much more. We got an extra camera (a real 35 mm one, not a disposable), plus clothing, plus snacks and milk powder, plus gifts for him and us, and the greatest treasure for Ren and us, a CD of photos containing nearly 200 photos of Ren with his caregivers and little buddies. We received other items too but I can't remember everything at the moment. I am incredibly grateful to them for the good care he evidently received and for the gift of his past through photographs.

We were also blessed today to see Marvin and Carolyn with Jaida. We received Ren first and unfortunately I missed their moment receiving Jaida but I'm grateful for the opportunity to spend this entire week and next with them.

I also met up with Bernice, mother to little Yao Yao from Ren's orphanage. Yao Yao, now known as Olivia, is just a bit older than Ren and the two were brought together today from Zhuhai. We took a bunch of pictures of the two together but I didn't ask Bernice's permission to post the photos so I better not do so. Now I'm especially glad we took the pictures of the two kids together because the CD from Ren's orphanage contains many photos of Ren and Olivia together.

Well, I probably should get to bed. But before I sign off, here are some more long-awaited photos!

Last pic as a family of three:

Note that Paul is wearing his 'receiving shirt', the same shirt he wore when we received Claire!

First glimpse of our golden boy:

Ren wasn't too sure of me at first but once his caregiver Kitty helped move his hand from hers (in addition to whatever words she was speaking), he let me hold his hand and soon, he was leaning into me.

One happy pop:

Our little nurturer feeding cheerios to her brother:

I'll do another post with a few more photos right away.

Thanks again, everyone, for wishing us well!

"Lookit, we got a little boy now!"

So said Paul about an hour after meeting Ren.

Things are great! We've not heard a peep from our little fella yet but we can tell he's just taking it all in. Thankfully he's accepting our affection and watching with interest as we do our best to entertain him. He's totally enthralled with his big sister, we think. She's being an incredible big sister. We are so proud of our girl.

Ren was dressed to the nines for us, and he is such a handsome little guy. So soft and cuddly too. He's a total sweetheart. I think with Claire's help, we'll get him comfortable fairly soon and then we'll really begin getting to know him.

More later, but I just had to post something quickly for all of you back at home 'watching'. Thank you so much for all the comments and thank you also for the silent readers! We are so grateful for your kind words, prayers and support!

This is the day!

It is Monday morning here in Guangzhou and we will receive Ren sometime today after 2 p.m! I won't go into all the emotions we're feeling right now - I think I've said it all before. Suffice it to say that we're incredibly excited!

We spent a fun morning yesterday exploring a bit of Hong Kong: the Avenue of Stars overlooking the skyscrapers (obscured by mist or fog, unfortunately), and flower and bird markets near our hotel. Here are some photos of our adventures.

Claire thinks subways are fun!

Paul and another woman having her photo taken with Bruce Lee's statue cozy up. Claire's not too sure about this arrangement.

There's a gorgeous flower market near our hotel that goes on for blocks and blocks. The sights and smells were amazing.

Also near our htoel is a bird market. We knew we were approaching the market because of the increased bird song and the sight of people walking with covered bird cages.

Claire wasn't into the sightseeing too much yesterday. She kept asking, "We go to China now?" Wow, this kid makes more of a distinction between Hong Kong and China than I do! But we could tell she was ready to meet her little brother and start that new chapter in our lives. To that end, we boarded a double-decker train and journeyed here in the afternoon. We're now settled into our hotel (well, as settled as we can get in this standard-size room; this is no Galactic Peace International Hotel that we enjoyed in Nanchang!) and we're about to run a few errands before meeting our guide, Carolyn and Marvin and finally Ren.

Wish us luck!

Disneyland Hong Kong, continued

Okay, we have an adaptor now (minutes after I last posted) so here's the second installment of our Disneyland adventure.

Claire was really tired in the afternoon but fought her nap big-time. She couldn't even work up any enthusiasm when meeting Mulan.

After Claire's nap, we changed her into her Belle dress, a surprise for her that we packed from home. Paul said that she looked so proud when she came running toward him from the washroom after I changed her. Here she is moments after transforming into a princess:Once Claire was rested, she was finally willing to try some rides. Paul took her on the teacups and the carousel. He was hoping for more but that was as adventurous as she would get (which was more than me!).

It was definitely a tiring day but also a wonderful day, full of happy moments. It was our 'last hurrah' as a family of three and it definitely lived up to all expectations.

A day at Disney

We had a great day at Disneyland Hong Kong today! That place is crazy-fun. From the moment we entered the area, we heard lively music that practically sent me into a frenzy. I think it had the same effect on Claire. Marianne, check out that shirt and ears! Who knew when you brought those home after your birthday Disney trip that we would put them to good use so soon?!
Check out how Claire is peering into the ticket booth!
There's just so much to see. But one thing - or shall I say two characters - slowed us down soon into our Disneyland journey: Mickey and Minnie! Claire of course just had to have a private audience with them. She decided we could also join in for a pic.
We had a ball exploring the various areas of Disneyland. The only downside of the entire time is that Claire fell asleep moments before the parade began. She had been fighting her nap for so long and then finally 'gave up the ghost' at parade time. I felt so sad that she missed it but I knew I shouldn't wake her up at that point.

Our laptop battery is dying and we don't have the right adaptor for Hong Kong so I better sign off now before I lose anything. More on Disneyland later!

By the way, the time and date for these posts are wrong - they're based on North American time not the time here. Just haven't changed the clock on the computer yet! It's actually Feb.22 here at 9 p.m.

Hello from Hong Kong!

We arrived at our hotel last night safe and sound after a great flight (albeit a long one at 13 hours and 40 minutes from Vancouver). Our flight was mostly during what would have been our daytime, so Claire only slept a total of 3.5 hours on the flight (a bit early on and again towards the end of the flight). Thankfully, she was very easy to please the remainder of the flight and it all worked out well because we got a fairly decent sleep overnight in our hotel.

Favourite moments of our trip so far include:

- During lunch in Vancouver, Claire began insisting that we had to go to China first rather than going to Hong Kong (including Disneyland!). Finally it became clear that she wanted to get Ren first.
- During the flight, Claire tugged on my sleeve at one point and said, "I ask you something: you pack my minnie mouse ears and my mouse shirt?" Ah, Disneyland is once again a priority for her. You bet, honey, we have all that and more for you!

We're off to Disneyland right away so this is just a quick post to say hello and to let you know we're here and all is great. Wow, we're close to Ren now - in time and in proximity. Zhuhai is actually only 70 km away from Hong Kong. I just wish we had time to go there but I'm afraid Disneyland and a little girl resembling Minnie Mouse beckon ...