Happy Days!

An extremely busy weekend it was!

Saturday was Fun Day at the lake and the theme this year was Super Heroes. We basically dress up and then parade around the lake in whatever water vehicle of choice. Cara-Li was Batgirl, Alexia was Supergirl, Gordie was SuperDad and I was, of course, SuperMom. Lots of fun was had by all!



Next on the agenda, was a family party over at our friends’ cottage across the lake. This included a wonderful dinner, late night swimming in the lake, ‘Smores and a campfire (indoors due to inclement weather). Once again, lots of fun was had by all!



Sunday, July 27th, was the most specialist of all days. It was our 5th anniversary of the day Cara-Li joined our family. 5 years! Where has all the time gone? We have had the pleasure to watch Cara-Li blossom into a bright and wonderful little girl from a very frightened little baby. These past 5 years have been the very best years of my life! In order to celebrate this very special day, we invited 2 other families that we travelled with to spend the day with us. They came up for some fun around the lake followed by dinner and lots reminiscing about our trip. The girls had a great time despite the language barrier (the French, English thing). By the end of the evening, Cara-Li even stated that they had lots of fun even though they couldn’t understand each other sometimes. And since Alexia was born on the 27th, she turned 21 months today. Happy Birthday, Baby!



On Monday evening, we took the girls out for our traditional Gotcha Day dinner, this time at our favourite Chinese restaurant in St. Sauveur followed by some very tasty homemade ice cream at a local ice cream parlour.



Gordie is on vacation up North with the girls while I am at work. I am commuting back and forth so I do get to spend time with the girls. And my dinner is always waiting for me!

I am looking forward to a quiet weekend at the cottage… you know, the kind where you just sit around on the dock sipping coffee (morning) or beer (afternoon) while watching the loons swim by. Perhaps I will have one of these this coming weekend. No activities are planned and no visitors are expected. At last… Peace and Quiet!

Emotions Gone Wild!

Today was an interesting day. We had an appointment with a social worker as we are experiencing some minor issues with Cara-Li. We thought that seeing someone would help us guide her through these rough patches and after listening to us for close to 2 hours, she concluded that she definitely could help us. Good. We left there feeling really good about everything.


Fast forward to this evening. After supper, I went grocery shopping in preparation for the cottage. All is well. I am alone and I am taking my sweet time going through the aisles, looking at all the products and thinking of what we would eat this weekend. As I am picking through the green beans, I realize that there is this cute little Chinese girl in the cart to my left and her father (who is Chinese) is to my right. I smile at the little girl and then I couldn't take my eyes off of her. I was mesmorized by her eyes, her smile, her hair, her skin... and then the WAVE hit me (see 3D's post about her wave). Here is a little girl who is with her father, her Chinese father. She is where she should be. My daughters didn't have that chance, the chance to be with their birthparents. They were ripped away from it all to be placed in an unknown place, all alone. Yes, they are finally in a loving home and we couldn't love them more and they couldn't be any happier. But I can't help thinking about what if they had stayed with their birth family like this little girl did. Everything would have been so different, for them and for us. My head was just spinning with these crazy thoughts that I didn't realize that I was standing over the green beans with huge tears pouring out of my eyes and sobbing. I could see the look of confusion in the poor little girl's face and the father's too.

Anyway, I came home and I feel better. I realize that I am truly the luckiest mom in the whole wide world and that I couldn't have been blessed any more than I have with these two wonderful daughters. And they are exactly where the belong... in our home, in our lives and most importantly, in our hearts.

5 Years Already!

Another memorable weekend! It was our 5th year reunion with Cara-Li's adoption group. This weekend we loaded the SUV up and headed for the campground. Well actually, we rented a bunch of cabins up in Morin Heights (yes, that's 7 minutes away from our cottage!) and we camped in luxury! These tiny but practical cabins sleep 5 people, has a full bathroom with shower, has an eating and living area and a complete tiny kitchen. Outside, each cabin has a picnic table and fire pit. One couldn't ask for anything more! Heehee... I say that because I was the one who planned it this year and so I thought the place was great.

Once everyone settled in on Friday night, we had a wine and cheese party while the girls got reacquainted. It was early to bed for most as we had an early departure in the AM for the forest adventure I had planned. The girls went on the junior circuit while some of the adults did the adult run. And then it was poolside for the rest of the day for most. Some did have to take a nap after their 3 hour adventure! It was a potluck dinner in the evening and marshmellows and 'smores by the campfire.

It is always great to see these families every year and to see the girls grow up. I remember each one of them as babies in China as if it were yesterday. They have changed... but I could still see that little baby in them. Until next year!

The Girls and the siblings

The Moms

The Dads

310 Days

Today is a very important day in our household. It marks 311 days since Alexia joined our family. Which is one day more than she was in the orphanage. We can officially say that we are the people she has known is the longest! She is so much a part of our lives that we cannot imagine life without her nor can we remember life before her. She is an utter joy!

Last night, Mommy and Cara-Li had a date with Mortimer's Mom and Dumpling. WEll, actually, the girls had a date and the moms were the chaperones. We went to see Slava's Snowshow. It is basically a clown show and what a show it was! We were engulfed by a giant web (actually a huge piece of cotton, but I mean HUGE!), we endured yet another huge snowstorm or two (like we didn't have enought this past winter), we experienced a flurry of bubbles and we were harrassed by clowns during intermission. The show was great and the music was even better. And at the end they dropped and released at least 10 massive, larger than life balls with many smaller ones for the audience to toss and hit around. Needless to say, the girls had themselves a blast!

The Infamous Call

Just this past Sunday, July 6th, marked our one year anniversary since we got ''the call'' informing us of our new daughter, Guang Yun Xia who was merely 8 months old. Our lives have not been the same since. See our original post here.

Friday, July 6, 2007

IT'S A GIRL!!

Yes, we have a girl! We got the call today and we have been floating on cloud nine ever since! Her name is Guang Yun Xia born on October 27, 2006. She is presently at the Guangchang SWI in the province of Jiangxi. She is a little over 8 months old... just a baby! We will have her file and photos some time next week. I know, I know... it's difficult. We must wait as the files are translated but at least we have some information to get us through the week. And we did not have to wait until Monday. For this, we are thankful!

Cara-Li is thrilled to have a baby sister! We have been preparing her for the possibility of a brother. We could almost see a sign of relief when we told her it was a girl. We have a very, very happy 5 year old right now.!

I am in panic mode. We don't have any clothes for such a young baby as Cara-Li was 16 months when we brought her home. Must go shopping! I have not prepared a care package to send to her in China despite the 20 months we had to prepare. Must go shopping! We must get some suitcases. Must go shopping! She is 8 months old... do I need a smaller car seat? Must go shopping! What about a baby carrier? Must go shopping! What in the world have I been doing for the last 20 months? Apparently, not much!

Here is a map of China so that you can see where our girls are from. Cara-Li is from Guangxi and Yun Xia is from Jiangxi... a couple of Southern Belles!

P.S.: I know some of you are afraid of blogs and do not know how to Comment. Here is a quick how to for those who don't blog! At the bottom of each post you will see a number with Comments . If you click on this you can read comments others have made AND add one of your own. Type your comment in the big box, click on the Other bubble, enter your name and finally the Publish Your Comment bubble. It is just that simpe.OK... I am off to, you guessed it, SHOP!!!Oh, geez! I guess we should name her too! Goodness, where is my ''To Do List''...

Posted by Susie & Gordie at 11:11 PM 32 comments
Labels: Mei Mei, Referral

Andy Collins for Kids

We had the privilege to attend the Andy Collins for Kids Charity weekend up at Carling Lake this past weekend. Who would have thought we would have had such a fabulous time!


Let me explain... Andy Collins was a local party boy, a bonvivant, whose life ended rathered abruptly at the young age of 46 about 12 years ago. It was at his wake that his fellow party buddies decided that he should be remembered by starting a Funday and golf tournament to help raise money for the Montreal Children's Hospital as he had a great love for kids. And now, in its twelve year, they have managed to raise over $1 million with $225,000 this year alone!


The golf tournament was on Saturday morning followed by a cocktail hour and both silent and live auctions. A dinner followed in a tent set up on the premises with a fabulous live band. Since Gord had to get there early for tee off, we decided to check in on the Friday and make a weekend out of it. Gord and the girls had a head start and myself and L. drove up a little later. L., C. and I went out for dinner upon arriving and let's just say that in a just a couple of hours, we managed to catch up to those that were there earlier. By the time we went to bed, we were, let's just say, pretty happy. Morning did come a little too soon and thus making the beginning of the day a little difficult. Gord was off golfing (with what was described to me as an obscene amount of alcohol) while L. and I stayed with the girls. We enjoyed the beautiful lake, pool and lawn chairs. We had our babysitter K. present at the event (she was being honoured for helping to raise funds with her 'Soccer for Charity' event) so we piled 4 kids into 2 adjoining rooms with K. and we were off for the evening (well almost. We did have some issues). Anyway, we enjoyed our evening of food, drink and dance. The next day was way more tougher than the first seeing that Alexia hardly slept and I was 'on' that night. I do not think that I slept that entire night (or what was left of it).


In conclusion, hats off to all the misfits that helped organize this incredible event and I am sure that Andy Collins is looking down upon you all proud to have had you as friends. And I, not having known him, am in awe at what these people have done in the name of a cherished friend.


And not to mention, that this weekend has for sure taken 2 years off of my life! I am SPENT!

Bullets

Due to the this super busy time in my life, I must reduce myself to using bullets for this post.

• We are in the process of renovating our master bathroom. Things are moving so slowly!! And everything is soooo dusty!


• On July 27th, Alexia turned 20 months old. Happy Birthday sweetiepie! She is such an active baby and keeps us all on our toes. She now is able to answer to 'What is your name?' with a 'Sha-Shaaaaa'. We often call her by her Chinese nickname which is Xia Xia (pronounced Shia Shia). She whispers it and says it with a grin from ear to ear. She is too cute!

• We spent the long weekend at the cottage with more setting up and preparing for the summer months. We also bought some new shoe racks at Ikea which we combined 2 together to form a cute window bench with storage. No shoes in these shoe racks... only toys!

• It rained most of Saturday and Sunday which is when we did most of our work but Monday was a glorious day! I spent it with my girls and Auntie L. and her niece on the dock and kayaking around the lake. A blast was had by all!

• Gord ran for 'HBC Run for Canada' on Canada Day. They help raise money for our Cnadaina athletes in the Olympics. Nevermind... Gord just wants to win the trip to Beijing!


• Our dear friends C. and P. hosted a wonderful Canada Day BBQ which was a great way to start the festivities.


• Cara-Li was asked to join the Montreal-West Canada Day parade with her school. So we marched down the streets of our little town with her in the blistering heat which ended in the neighborhood park where lots of activities were planned for the entire day and ended with fireworks (which we did not see!)



• Wednesday, July 2nd... it is 10 months ago today that our sweet Alexia became a part of our family. What a wonderful day that was!


• Wednesday, July 2nd... instead of spending my entire day with my 2 beautiful daughters, I went to work. Today was my first day back :( It was tough. Tough being back at work, tough being away from my girls, tough, Tough, TOUGH!!!

THE END.