Monday, September 3, 2007

We have Alexia!

Actually posted Monday, September 3rd at 10:40PM

Sorry that I have not posted sooner but we have been otherwise busy with the arrival of Alexia Yun! So without further ado, here she is:


OK, this is Alexia but she wasn't exactly this thrilled when we received her. Now, let me go back to the beginning of the day. We woke up early as our bus was leaving at 8:30AM to take us to the domestic airport for an 11:30AM flight to Nanchang. This is a shot of our group prior to departure and before the children.

Upon arrival we were whisked away to our hotel, the Galactic Peace International where we will spend the next week. Very nice hotel, by the way. We had just enough time to rush off to the corner store for some last minute provisions (no baby stuff at this store :( but loaded up on water, beer and wine, the essentials). The Civil Affairs Office is right across the street so at 4:15PM we proceeded to cross the street (a feat in itself) as we had a 4:30PM appointment. A group from either Spain or South America were just wrapping up as we arrived and seconds later, the babies entered the room. Which one is Alexia? You could hear the panic in everyone's voices as it was very difficult to pick out your baby with all the confusion. There she is! It took a while to recognize her I must admit.

Once she was handed to me, she wasn't too sure what was going on and kept looking around herself. Cara-Li finally got to meet her meimei as she softly touched her cheek. The smile on Cara-Li's face will forever be embedded in my mind.


Once this so called ceremony was over (it probably lasted a grand totally of 30 minutes!), we were paraded back across the street to the hotel but this time, we all had this extra little being with us that we are to care for for the rest of our lives. It is crazy. Back at our room, we spend some time getting to know one another and Cara-Li is taking her big sister duties very seriously. She had to give Alexia her first bottle.

And now introducing, meimei and jiejie for the very first time! Aren't they the cutest!

We had approximately one hour to ourselves before we had to regroup for a meeting where all the final documents were to be signed and we were fingerprinted. During this time, Alexia fell asleep in her daddy's arms and was out until 3:00AM when she decided that she was hungry. We are not used to these wake up calls anymore nor do we remember how to mix formula. It was quite funny!

Today, Sept. 3rd, we went back to the Civil Affairs Office, followed by the notary and then the police station to finalize everything.

By noon, we were free to do as we pleased. So we had lunch followed by some more play and our first mommy and daughter nap (boy was that great!)

Here are my beautiful Southern Belles, together at last!

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you, thank you and thank you for allowing us to share in your exciting though long journey to mei mei. Congratulations on the arrival of your new sweet daughter and sister. Two beautiful girls. You must be very proud.
Love to all.
Karen and company

chantal said...

Oh at last,The Photos... I have been cheking since I woke up this morning but don't be sorry for the delay,it is more than normal that you should be otherwise occupied for a while to say the least!
The beautiful, happy, healthy looking baby. The expressions on all your faces tell it all.
Congratulations
Chantal, Dominique and the girls

Anonymous said...

oh my god! she is fantabulous! the smile on her! And Cara-Li is doing a GREAT job as a big sister, please tell her I said so.
you-know-who is glued to the screen, screaming "That's my fwiend!"

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness, your family is BEAUTIFUL!!! Thank you for sharing your most memorable day and pictures.
With love, hugs and kisses,
Brigeen, Gerry & Katie

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness, your family is BEAUTIFUL!!! Thank you for sharing your most memorable day and pictures.
With love, hugs and kisses,
Brigeen, Gerry & Katie

Claudia said...

What a doll! Times two!

CONGRATULATIONS!

Love,

C&P&G

rockbox said...

OH my God your family is just gorgeous. congratulations. wonderful!!!! what a lovely bright baby. enjoy every minute

rockbox said...

what a beautiful family; two gorgeous girls. your baby is full of light- big congratulations and enjoy every minute.

Wanda said...

Hi Susan,

THANK YOU for posting pictures so quickly. We've been waiting for any bit of news. What a beautiful baby - & so happy. Congratulations!! You make a perfect family.
Wanda
(say hi to Mary/Eric and Nathalie/Normand)

Sarah said...

You have very beautiful daughters... I even think they look alot alike in that last picture... meant to be sisters forever!

Congratulations on becoming a family of four!!

Sarah and Sophie~Bug

Anonymous said...

She's beautiful. Cody and Niki are so excited. They want to call you right now but it's 4:30 am your time. Niki wants me to call the airplane man so we can go to China and get a baby too. Oh new plan, she wants to know if the airplane man knows where we live so he can just bring the baby to us. We love you.

Debbie, Cody, and Niki

Anonymous said...

Congrats ! You have 2 beautiful cuties ! Alexia looks really happy and has a beautiful smile :-)

Rita who's patiently waiting for Emily xxx
(say hi to Maryse, Claude & Coralie for me!)

4D said...

Congrats! Your family is all together and the smiles are beautiful!

Keep smilin!

Natalie said...

Wow! We just came back from a week-end away, and your site was the first one I checked: what a cutie!!! Your girls are just spectacular! And I love everybody's smiles, it tells it all, so magical. Can't wait to be in Nanchang too, soon we hope!

LiYing said...

SUPER génial ce blog....pouvoir ainsi partager avec vous ces moments mémorables... La petite est superbe....la photo de famille aussi....Votre beau sourire en dit beaucoup sur votre état d'esprit...Martin et Amély se joignent à moi pour vous féliciter..Vous êtes tous rayonnant de bonheur....Gros bisous à toute la famille...
Amély adore voir son amie Cara-Li sur le blog...
Line, Martin et Amély xx xx xx

RoLo said...

YEAH this is just what I needed to see today. She is gorgeous that smile radiates, all your smiles do. We are so happy you finally have her in your arms.

Unknown said...

oh these are awesome pics..what a lovely lovely family

Unknown said...

Hi, Susie,
John et moi, nous sommes très heureux pour vous d'avoir enfin votre Alexia dans vos bras, Félicitaion! Les photos ont été bien réussie, j'aodore celle-ci, Cara-li et Alexia ensemble, elles se ressemblent beaucoup, est-ce que tu as remarqué?
J'ai hâte de vous voir à l'aéroport de Montréal!
Prenez soin de vous
Christine/Zhiqin

Anonymous said...

Hi I just wanted to say how very inspiring it is enjoying your journey!
We are Heather and Rob and we have a 15yr old son called Fred. We live in Queensland Australia and our file went to China in march 2006.
You have done a beautiful job. We wish you love and happiness and some sleep. Your girls are beautiful.
my email though I don't expect you to respond as you will be very busy is hap64@optusnet.com.au

Anonymous said...

Susan and Gordy

Congratulations on your new addition to the family. Those two litte darlings are going have a wonderful and loving life. It is a marvellous humanistic undertaking and best wishes to all. We would love if you could visit Stephenville and spend some time with us. The invitation will remain open. Bless you all

Stephen and Rosetta Penney

Fliss and Mike Adventures said...

Got this link via RQ... thank you for posting... my turn is literally just around the corner... so the more tips the better...
Felicity

LID: April 5th 2006