Sunday, May 31, 2009

Lots of girls...

I was just thinking about our travel group that is leaving this week for Vietnam. We are all adopting girls. One family is adopting a 4 yr old beautiful little girl, Meg is 5 months, Renny's daughter is 11 months and the other couple are adopting twin girls that are 4 months. They all are from Vung Tau and will share that common bond. I hope they can all become and remain friends through the years!

We are meeting up with one other couple that is already in Vietnam that is adopting a baby boy - lucky him... he'll be surrounded by a whole bunch of girls :) I'm guessing this won't really phase him at this age but perhaps another decade from now he might enjoy a get together with his 'travel mates'.

Today we are meeting up with sweet Sadie and her mom and Dad - we are going to a chinese buffet for lunch... to follow the tradition we started last year when they were leaving in a week to go get their beautiful Sadie. Now Sadie is 2 years old and my children can't get enough of her. They cannot wait to see her today and play with her at a park after lunch!

Other than that... packing is still happening. We figured out Skype and have that all ready to go. We are making our playlists for our Ip*ds and picking out which reading material to take for the flight.

I am nervous about the long flight. I don't fly well, I get antsy and fidgety after a couple of hours... how will I ever manage the longest leg (which is 15.5 hrs)? Sleeping aids, earplugs and a sleeping mask will hopefully help me pass the time!

Friday, May 29, 2009

One week?

Click here.

If I know you or you are in the adoption community and would like to follow along with our blog while we are in Vietnam, please post here with your email and I will get you the password.

ps: the password is not changing, so if you already have it... that is all you need :)

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Meg at 5 months old!

I am so excited. We got new photos (8) of Meg. Click here with password.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Charming


Got it... and love it!

Friday, May 22, 2009

My sweetie started soccer


Chloe is not much of a sports-girl. Dancing and giggling are her sports of choice. But, this year she is a soccer girl (her choice) and is lovin' it so far. Check her out all sweaty after a game!

More photos on our family blog.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Tentative Dates

Great news... just in.

Click here!!!!!

5 months old

Meg turned 5 months old this weekend and I thought of her often. It was a long weekend here and we opened the pool and did some gardening, etc... we also spent time with family and friends = all of which are anxious for us to travel to bring Meggie home!

When will we get to be with her? That still remains a mystery. I am trying very hard to relish in all of our blessings here at home (there are many) and be patient. It will definetly be sometime in June at this point. Blah, I hate the thought of possibly another month without Meg.

Our luggage is all piled in Chloe's bedroom, waiting to be filled and organized. Meg's bag has been packed for a while... now I'm starting to wonder if I should take out the size 3-6 months clothes and put in the 6-12 months - it is so hard to guess on sizing. Of course I have washed all her clothes and taken off all the tags so I could have a lot of new clothing that will never make it on to our princess. Oops!

Keep Meg in your thoughts - I am finding this last stretch extremely difficult. Do I hop on a plane and head over early... or wait out an 'official' travel date? This question runs through my head several times a day. I wish I could settle on the right answer.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

No new news

This friday we will be 3 months since first seeing beautiful Meggie's face. My how the time has dragged at times, it feels sometimes that it has been a lifetime waiting to get to her - but of course it has not.

Nothing new to report. Because of the new regulation with DIA, papers that would normally go courier are going very s-l-o-w-l-y via regular mail. Any chances of us getting to Meg in May are slowly disappearing.

Meg is doing well though and I'm sure basking in the attention of a full time nou nou to love on her. I wonder what she is doing - she is almost 5 months old now and I find myself day dreaming about her personality and how it is probably really emerging right about now. I remember with both Keaton and Chloe... this was such a great time to enjoy them becoming a baby person. I cannot wait to hear what her coo's sound like and to hear her giggle for the first time around us!

I finished up any and all last minute items we need to pack up and hop on a plane - it is official... we are ready and can go tomorrow if necessary (a girl can dream!)

I have a few work projects to finish up and then I'm on a self-appointed 'maternity' leave until we return from Vietnam. I work freelance so I will not get a 'paid' mat leave. Hopefully when I get back I will be able to find a good balance - I know it will be a challenge at times.

Everyone continue to send prayers up that our travel time can happen soon! Meg needs us but I think we may need her even more!

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Mother's Day

Tomorrow is Mother's Day and I plan on having a fantastic day with the kids. Our family is having a get-together at my Gram's farmhouse so I will be able to celebrate Mother's Day with my mother and also my Grandma. It will be a great day - hopefully the weather will clear up for it... it's been raining cats and dogs most of today here.

I was hoping that we would have Meg join our family before Mother's Day 2009 but I feel so blessed to know she will be part of our everyday very soon - we cannot wait. I am so lucky to know she will soon be with us and I am so lucky to have Keaton and Chloe too. Being a mother is hard at times but it is the most 'bestest' thing in my life. I love my children very much and they bring me so much joy. I am so thankful for the priviledge of being a MOM.

Shaune asked me what I wanted for Mother's Day and initially I said nothing... I have all I want except Meg and that will happen very soon I hope. But, I went on Etsy today and decided to treat myself to this sweet little necklace pendant = a map charm showing Vung Tau (Meg's birthplace) and Ho Chi Minh City... where we will become a family for the first 3 weeks we are together! I love it... it is simple and small and a big part of my heart will always be in Meg's birth country - so it is the perfect gift for Mother's Day.




My good friend Tara

She has been such a support to me and now I finally get to scream and hollar: CONGRATULATIONS!

My friend, Tara lives in New Brunswick but we are old time friends who met at Camp Quin-mo-lac way back when we were teens - or was it pre teens?
She lived in Guelph and I lived in Belleville area, so we only saw eachother a couple times a year... but still our friendship was always there.

Tara is such a strong amazing person and a true inspiration for many reasons I will not get into. Trust me when I say the world needs more people like Tara.

I am so happy that on THIS mother's day she will begin the process of welcoming her new 11 year old daughter home. I am beyond excited for the journey she is on and how quickly things finally came together... when the time was just right for Isabelle to forever make her way into the Morin's hearts.

I am so excited that Noah will have a sister to love and fight with (ha!) - if he needs any advice on this matter... he can call and talk to Keaton on the phone on the best ways to bug a sister!

Love you Tara and I hope I will be able to meet Isabelle this summer if you make your way home from New Brunswick to Guelph to visit family.

Congratulations!

...several of my friends in the adoption community have big things they are celebrating this past week. It has been exciting and a nice way to keep our minds off the wait.

Julia and Danny recieved their referral for a beautiful baby girl that is a little over a month younger than Meg. She is adorable, her name will be Molly and I am so happy for this family! I see play dates in the near future!

Christine from our agency, and her husband Sebastian also recieved a referral for a sweet little boy in HCMC. I hope I will be able to visit him when we are over with Meg!

Kim and her husband from Ottawa travelled last week for their twin girls and are in Hanoi right now enjoying family life ...busy life I imagine with two little babies - they are so sweet and I'm enjoying following along on their travels.

Ellie, who I've gotten to know a bit from the waiting mom dinners we all attend in Toronto - she finally has her sweet Macy who I think is almost 10 months old. What a cutie and I can see from her blog... already the apple of her mom's eye!

Nicole and Brian received their referral about 4 days before we got Meg's. They are in Hanoi and awaiting their adoption ceremony. I hope it can be scheduled soon so they can all be together. They've visited him and their blog makes me so excited for when we will finally be at that stage.

Dominique and her husband finally travelled to their son, Alexandre. They endured a long wait between referral and travel and I'm so happy they are finally a family of 3. I saw some photos of their sweet union on Facebook. Alexandre is from the same orphanage as Meg = Vung Tau 2.

There are other families in Vietnam right now too. I think our agency had 6-7 families there right now and I know there are at least 4 families from Children's Bridge there as well.

...hopefully we are next!

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Update

Meg is doing well. We spoke to the agency today and she is finally doing good and will be released from the hospital today. This is such a weight off our shoulders... her being sick and in the hospital for so long was very hard to take.

The greatest thing of it all is we got confirmation today that she will go and live with her nanny! She has been described as a very nice and dedicated woman and we were told she has grandchildren and calls Meg her 'granddaughter' in Vietnamese. She clearly is loving her and all this one on one attention Meg will receive is a God send we feel!

The soonest we will travel now is end of May. KILLER! UGH! But we do take a lot of comfort knowing that she has someone who loves her until we are there for her. I feel a very special love for this woman who is caring for our daughter - she has no idea how often I think of her and her situation and thank the heavens that she is there for Meg. I hope I will be able to meet her and express my appreciation to her when we travel.

Monday, May 4, 2009

I hate Mondays

...the start of another busy week.
...the end of the glorious weekend.
...and bad news from our agency that has me literally in pieces.

Click here.