So, so so so so happy

... for a friend who has waited right behind us on the list for her baby girl and finally has seen her face.
Congrats to you (you know who you are) and I cannot wait to share this special time of joy and anticipation with you! I really hope we will travel together.

Friend, she is so beautiful. I'm sure her and Meggie will become great friends, just as I consider you a wonderful friend and support!

Walkin' on sunshine...

I find myself in a daze most of the time since our proposal of our daughter last week. I am happily enjoying this time and think of Meg often... well almost all the time! She is a part of our everyday chatter around the house and everything we plan now includes her. I also can't leave the house now without wanting to gather and buy the things we are going to need... I guess nesting is trying to set in already - even though we have a few month wait ahead of us still.

We are very happy. Period. Happy and feeling so lucky.

Today I ran into town and bought a cute adoption story book - it is a cute book!

I also got a super cute outfit for her. I can return it if it is too small - it is from Children's Place and so sweet - it was mostly the hat I fell in love with!

I also have 100% decided on the Bum Genius diapers that extend as the baby grows... so these should fit her from whenever we are able to bring her home until potty training. Since it is a big investment I am really happy that it will be a one-time only thing pretty much. My local store sells 12 and the 13th pair is free so I'm going to get them soon.

I have video of us when we opened up Meg's referral photos for the first time. We also video taped the kids when we told them the news and showed them her photos... it is sweet and funny - I will get that all uploaded to share some time soon.

Her name

...will be Meg Linh Bao Thy Lightfoot

Her Vietnamese name is Bao Thy - pronounced Bow (like how) Thy (likethe letter T)

Linh is a Vietnamese name and honours my husbands mother, who's name is Lynn.

We were told by a Vietnamese family last night that her name means:Precious gem (Bao)and poem (Thy).

I am already calling her Meggie! To Dad and kids she is lil' Meg.

Sweet, Sweet Baby!

Peek-a-boo!

If you know me and need the password, email me and I'll get it to you asap.
llightfoot@xplornet.com


Oh happy day!

Wow!

You must read this old blog post below that I posted 2 months ago. A post about a vivid dream I had about my daughter... the first (and only I think) vivid dream of her. Here is a small snipit of my post:

"Do you think dreams mean anything? I dream a lot ... Shaune says if he does dream, he doesn't remember anything when he wakes up.

Last night I had very vivid dreams of being in Vietnam and meeting our daughter for the first time. Our family was there with us (I wish!) and the orphanage was very loud and chaotic. There were tons of people in front of us and a woman was pointing to a little girl and saying "she is right there" and it didn't matter which way I darted, I could not see her. Then there she was and she was beautiful... she smiled and then held on tight to her Nanny.

...Just something I wanted to document - just in case dreams do mean something."

Ok. I'm sharing this with you because I about fainted when I looked back on my blog to this post to see what I was doing on the day our new baby girl was born. December 17, 2009 - the night I put my head to my pillow and dreamt this first startling dream of her was on her first day on earth. I wrote about my dream the next day on Dec. 18th.

Now how freaking cool is that?!

Breathe In, Breathe Out

I've been reminding myself to breathe in and out all day.

Our hopes and prayers are answered... today was the day we've been waiting on for almost 2 years.

I'm stuggling to get into words how I am feeling. Today, we have shed tears of joy and sighed in sheer fascination as we stare at the photos of our daughter on the other end of the world. She is glorious and when I can I will share photos (password protected for friends and family). Tonight though we have hockey practice and we haven't even told the kids yet. I am waiting for Shaune to bring Chloe home so we can tell her and Keaton (who is watching tv downstairs right now probably wondering why his mother is skipping around the house). I can't wait to show them this beautiful little girl who will complete our family ...we've thought of her and talked about her so many times over the past 22 months - is this really finally happening?

I cannot describe this feeling of sheer magical bliss! It's a beautiful life!

Stay Tuned

...happy news coming soon!

Hello again Crib

Our baby crib I gave to my cousin a couple months before we started our adoption process. I figured we would be waiting a while (although I didn't think it would be this long) and she needed a crib for her new little one. I also considered that because we were open to older babies, we may be referred a child that would go from co-sleeping with us right into a toddler bed or her Bunk bed.
Well, baby Teyen never really took to the crib. She co-sleeps with her momma and who can blame her for refusing a crib when she has her mommy's loving arms.
Erika has given up on the crib idea and is going to graduate her right into a toddler bed so the sweet crib pictured here (that peacefully slept both our other children and that Chloe slept in until 3 yrs old because she loved it so much) is coming back home. I think we will keep the crib in our room at least at first. I've got Chloe's Pottery Barn butterfly bedding to use in it and we are all set.
Another thing we needed that we can now mark off our list.

On another note, look how young Chloe was when we started this journey! I took these photos in March of 2007 and we applied for our adoption in the beginning of April 2007.

19 months DTV

Our dossier has now been in Vietnam for 19 months.

Wow. Never dreamt it but here we are still. We are keeping busy and hoping every minute that today is the day. Each day goes by and hope springs up again.

One of these days it WILL be 'the day'... so today we celebrate that we've made it through 19 very long months wait - and know that it is all worth it.


Will this be the day? Will this be the week? Will this be the month? I guess only time will tell but I think all of us (Mommy, Daddy, Keaton and Chloe) agree that we are more than ready for our little girl.

Celebrating Family

Today we celebrated the Ontario holiday declared: "Family Day". It was nice to have Shaune off with us on a Monday. We dedicated the day to the kids and it was a nice day spent skating at the local arena and making a yummy 'kids' supper of pizza and pistachio chocolate pie. I did think about baby Lightfoot and wished she could be a part of our family already but I know it is coming (slowly it seems) and she is already in our hearts. We ended the night with a bubbly hot tub under the stars, surrounded by snow. The kids love the hot tub and they were making wishes on stars again: same wish every time... bless their little hearts - every star is a wish for their baby sister.

























They are terrific kids. Today was a wonderful day to just BE together and remember how lucky we are to have each other. I love my family!

The rest of our photos are on our family blog for anyone interested.

We could sure use a pick-me-up

What a rotten week it has been.
I'm ready to pack and move somewhere maintenance free... and in the city.

Explanation:
It all started when my husband got around to changing the UV bulb in our water filtration system for our well water. Things got broken. Costly things. We spent the next day sorting that mess up and still haven't gotten it completely fixed.
Next comes our hot water tank which quit producing any sort of water when the taps are on 'hot' - so we have been without hot water for 2 days now while that gets figured out.
Next ...our basement floods. Yes, yipee skippy! What a mess. This is where I work and a lot of my supplies are likely headed to the trash can. This just happened in the Fall so this is not a happy house this week for any of us.
We had about 2-3 inches - the sump pump is apparently 'frozen' from the cold frigid weather. It got very mild the past day and so the result is melted snow in our basement - oh joy!

Is it bad to have a stiff drink this early in the morning because I think it would do me good?
Kidding (i think).

If there was ever a time that we could use some great news about our adoption - this might be the time. I know in truth, our troubles are small and we will get it all squared away... but it's just been a crappy week and it seems to keep getting crappier!

I'm giving our phone permission to ring and change all that with our proposal. We are ready for some sunshine and happiness around here.

Airmiles are good for something...

For us our airmiles accumulate sooooooooooo slow. We rarely shop anywhere that rewards them and so I have had the same airmiles card for over 10 yrs and only have something like 950 miles. Shaune had about double that so we spent his last night on something worthwhile and much needed: LUGGAGE.

My mom gave me luggage a couple years back but it didn't last long - it does take quite a beating at the airports, doesn't it?! So, we knew we would need new luggage for our travels to Vietnam. We got some good luggage in a bright colour (because I like that my luggage 'stands out' and is easy to find on the luggage belt after a long flight)...blue. It has a 10 yr warranty so hopefully it will last us for many more flights in the future.

I for one cannot wait to pack it full for our trip to Vietnam.

Meeting Ava

The past few weeks has been baby, baby, baby :)

My friend Tammy had a beautiful baby girl a couple wks ago and I went up and photographed her in that precious newborn stage. It proved to be more difficult than I thought because this sweet little princess was curious (for one wk old) and didn't want to STAY asleep much for photos. I did my best though and captured a few I hope Tammy and Paul will like. Here is one:




...the rest are posted here at our family blog.

The entire album is here:
Ava baby

Meeting Benjaminh

My friend made it back from Vietnam with her beautiful son a couple weeks ago. I was excited to finally meet the little guy! Julia had a little get together at her place and myself with Chloe drove up for the chance to see him. He is wonderful - handsome and very full of character I thought with lots of bright facial expressions and love for his momma.

B - congrats on your little boy. I know you are as proud as a peacock of him and so you should be. He is sweet and perfect and YOURS!

Baby Carriers/Slings

I have 2 types of baby carriers that I keep mulling over.

1) The first is the babyhawk but I am unsure if I want to spend that much money on a carrier. I also don't know about all that tying and fabric. The babyhawk's are beautiful with lots of different fabrics and strap colours to chose from but the cost of approx $100 + shipping has me thinking twice. This is our last baby and I am not sure I would get my money's worth out of it.

I didn't wear my other 2 children (because I only had a basic cheap carrier that didn't feel stable) so I haven't had the experience doing it to know if I'll keep up with it.



2) The second one I'm looking at is the Hotslings... mostly because it is super cheap in comparison and appears to be very simple for both me and my husband to wear. I can buy them at Target or other places so I get the benefit of trying one on to be sure they fit nicely. My questions with this type of carrier (I've also looked at the Peanut Shell slings) is how practical it is for carrying a baby that is past the young infant stage? I would think at the minimum our baby will be 7-8 months old when we travel so I think she would like the front facing or hip depending on her age and development. Can this type of sling comfortably support (and keep a baby happy) from the age of 6 months-18months? I have big boobs and am a size 14 so I'm not sure also about fit or if this type sling is only good for the skinny chicks. Ha! Be honest!



So, I keep on with my research and am trying to pass my time without obsessing too much on when our referral will come. Honestly though, it is February - I can't believe we are still here in the same spot...

Ooops, I said I wasn't going to obsess.

On the research front: I went and talked to a woman at a store that carries a big variety of cloth diapers, including the gdiaper system I was considering. After looking at all the styles and types of cloth plus looking at the prices I think I've decided on the Bumgenius one-size diapers. They are pretty neat because of a special snap system that makes the outer cover expand as your baby grows. For anyone in my area, Small World in Belleville carries this brand. If anyone has used these let me know if you like them or not.

Good news

...no not the news I was hoping for today, on my birthday ... but great news for our agency and hopefully the first step in more children being adopted with our agency. Our director just sent a note out that the People's Committee has approved our agency's accreditation in the province of Ben Tre.
I guess what this means is perhaps more child referrals will begin for our agency in the coming months.

For my birthday I played it very low key. My mom and Aunt Betty took me out for lunch at Saigon - one of our favourite restaurants. It was delicious! Then I was at the arena for Keaton's hockey practice and I just enjoyed birthday cake with my wonderful husband and children.

Simple and amazing... just like my life. I'll end my birthday with some Thai spicy chicken on rice for supper (yes, we are eating very late tonight) and my favourite show: Lost. I am 'this' close to finishing an excellent novel I picked up a few wks ago... I think I'll finish it up before retiring.

It was a good birthday. I am happy and I feel blessed.

A birthday surprise would be lovely!

I know it is probably too much to ask but tomorrow is my birthday and I would love to recieve our daughter's proposal for my birthday gift. I don't want anything else... just that - nothing else will do!

Shaune my dear husband, please buy a fantastically sinful cake in the event that this birthday miracle does not occur.



Ok, all joking aside... wouldn't that be nice? I don't expect it. Our agency told me that things are just getting back to normal after the Vietnam TET holidays the past week. Still... a girl can hope and dream. It has only been 3 wks at the #1 spot on the wait list and I've managed to remain very calm - I haven't lost it once. I think the longest our agency has went without a girl referral has been 3 months... I could be wrong but I think it was that long once. OMG I hope we aren't 3 months waiting at #1. I guess only time will tell.



In other news, I finally decided on a stroller. We purchased the Quinny Buzz Wagtail from a store up in Toronto and got a great deal on it because the 2009 models are coming out soon and he was clearing the 'old' ones out. We got it for $250 brand new with a 1 yr warranty. It is a sporty little thing - I went in and tested a Buzz at Sears the other day with Chloe.



The things I loved the best about it:

1) the seat can be outward facing or face in at you. I love this feature!

2) the look... it is unique - and I love unique.

3) the push bar is adjustable. It goes down low enough that Keaton and Chloe will be able to push the stroller (and probably fight over who's turn it is) and it raises high enough for tall people so they are not hunched over

4) It opens up with no work by me - it is effortless

5) It drives really nicely!



2 things that made me hesitate:

1) not much storage at all (I 've decided to overlook this and just add some accessory to it from Babies R Us)

2) folding the stroller down and latching it to STAY closed isn't as easy as it should be. Again, I overlooked that for the price and all the features I loved about it.

Want opinions on Quinny Buzz Wagtail

I just found a killer deal on this stroller (new) but do not know anyone who owns it.
Anyone have thoughts on this... I don't know if I can walk away from this deal. Our local Sears is $449 for the Wagtail and I found it for much cheaper and within driving distance.

Anyhow, I'd love to hear opinions on it. Only draw back I see is that there is very little storage. I will mostly be using this stroller to walk in the summer on a paved couintry road, as well as mall shopping and the occassional crappy snowy icy parking lots in the winter time. I'm not a jogger... and sadly never will be.

It is a damn cute stroller!