Kaitlynn's Cafe

Here he is....

2009-06-13T12:33:00.004-04:00

I know, I know... I'm a bad mom. I should have posted these the day we got him, but things have been crazy. With the shuttle launch postponed, I have time now to update everyone.

Thanks to everyone for your name suggestions... but he picked his own name and its... Zeus. He immediately responded to that one the first time, and from that point on it was his.

He is a doll... or should I say a carpet, as DH had requested. He is so calm and gentle.. perfect Berner mentality. He was house broken in 12 hours (!) (sorry Nat), he knows to chew on his toys and not on other stuff except for 2 mistakes. I get to come home every lunch now to let him outside, which is such a nice break from the crazy life I lead. He and Zorro are inseparable, and I must say Zorro seems much happier now that he has a playmate - he is quite the big brother, showing the little one the ropes like: see, that kid right there on the street, he's our neighbor and I like to bark at him... so come and bark with me and lets see how long it takes Mom to stay "Stop it!"... bark, bark, bark X2 (with the little one not quite sure what that sound is coming out of his month). Hilarious!

Lots more to write, but I will start slowly!

New puppy - need a name!

2009-05-21T23:08:00.004-04:00

Yes, I know... we are nuts... but we are getting a puppy from the St-Hy Vet hospital. They called us! Anyhow, he is a 3 month old Bernese Mountain dog who is recovering from the nasty parvovirus. His sister is recovering also, and another sister is still in the hospital under care. You see, I did good... only adopting one dog!

He is going to be a Big dog, so we need a Big name. I suggested Zeus, but its not being universally accepted right now. So, calling all friends to post good male strong doggie names - keeping in mind that his older brother is named Zorro. I know you are lurking out there, and I really need some help as DH is suggesting names from his favorite show Babylon 5... or Sirius, Canis Major, as in the constalletion (not as in Harry Potter's Sirius Black which is what I thought). Sirius isn't bad, but its not easy to admonish with - go ahead, try it... the S is hard to do when you are mad!

Space Princess

2009-05-07T23:08:00.005-04:00

Yes, folks.. I'm temporarily back from outer space. Things have been beyond crazy around here - between school for me, school for the kids, the Mission, activities for kids... well you all get the picture, there's been no time for blogging.

MBA is going great. I'm about to finish my third course, and right now my average is an A. I hope with this course, Human Resource Management, that I will be in the top of my class! I'm hoping to get a scholarship to defray some of the costs for school, so I am working very hard... and so is hubby, taking care of the house and the kids, letting me do homework and assignments.

The Mission is a space based mission aboard the space station. We have been training, producing documents (last count was 85), testing and retesting, and operating aboard the station. I am working shifts too, which is hard on everybody. It will all be worth it if this can help Parkinson's patience and people suffering from vestibular problems.

Tristan has had a rough year. Between school and the constant challenge to concentrate, hockey goalie on the B team even though he was told he would make A, a major infection in his leg that required his hospitalization... well, its been tough. On a brighter note, he got recruited into a AAA hockey team representing the entire South Shore - one of only 2 kids from our city! He also got recruited for intercity soccer - the same week! So he is playing majorly competitive sports in two areas, which is an adjustment for all of us as we are in this for the fun of it while other kids parents are fighting to get their kids more ice time or more field time.

Zachary is growing so fast, that he has almost caught up to Tristan. They are wearing about the same size pants now. Zach continues to be just bouncy with happiness, and loves grade 1 and homework. He did his first figure skating presentation this year, and played MAGH-2 level hockey. He is anxiously awaiting the start of the local soccer season!

Jacob continues to be our Munsch. He skipped terrible 2's and saved it all up for horrific 4's. Things have got to be his way, exactly, or else... well, you don't want to know. He continues to be our little blond boy, with a 'tude, who is growing nicely into his pants - he is finally wearing size 4, but the waist continues to be a challenge for this slight boy. He started figure skating lessons this year, and we finally understand why penguins run with their flippers behind them: balance. That is exactly how Jacob skates - full out, fast, with arms behind him he looks exactly like a penguin!

Kaitlynn is quite the young lady, with a tomboy 'tude. She has grown so much in the past year, its amazing. She has lost all her baby fat and she is quite lean and long. Her hair is beautiful and long and thick - Daddy has gotten quite good at doing ponytails now. She and Jacob are following gymnastic classes, and while she is all in pink she is no princess pushover! She also took figure skating lessons this winter, and she glides and goes at her own pace. She is quite comfortable on the ice.. who would have thought, given how scared she was to slip on the ice during her first winter here. She is going to be 4 real soon!

That's it for now!

Birthdays and News

2008-10-11T14:37:00.003-04:00

We have a question we ask each other: bad news or good news first? Usually its bad news first. So first to the bad news. Kaitlynn's results came back from the retinal scan and she indeed has night blindness. What she has is rod/cone dystrophy, and not the other syndrome that eventually degenerates to complete blindness. What it does mean is that she cannot see in the dark. Additionally, her daytime vision is affected also but not nearly as bad as night time but it is mitigated by her glasses. There is nothing we can do either except track it and monitor the degeneration over time. Her doctor expects that it won't completely degenerate, but it has to be watched. I am quite zen about it, as I suspected for a while that something was just not right. DH has found it hard, but he is coming around (he figures her boyfriends can drive her around at night, when she wants to go out.). So I am getting in touch with the Montreal Institute for the Blind, to figure out if she needs to go to specialized school, looking into the waiting list for a Mira dog if it comes to that... see, all zen. She will be fine and she is a happy kid and that in the end is all that matters. Its up to us to keep her active and healthy - she is in a gym class and she is taking figure skating lessons and doing very well! - so see for yourselves... she is just fine.

Now onto birthdays!

DH turns 24!

Zach turns 6!

School is great and I am learning lots. Work is crazy - now we have the possibility of 2 more astronauts coming on board our mission so in scientific speak we may have an N of 9! Very exciting... but craziness, as these two late additions may mean "Going back to the USSR... you don't know lucky you are... back in.. back in..." sorry got carried away there.

Also, you will say I am crazy (don't you know that by now?), but I am also on the Conseil d'etablissement (PTA) for the boys school. I am also the parent rep at the school board. And I have just won a volunteer position on the Committee for the Family in our municipality - I was appointed officially just this week during the city's Council meeting. I know, I know, I know... but I guess my cocooning period is done and I am coming out and spreading my wings, and letting the wind take me where ever it seems fit to land.

I have other surprises up my sleeve (or should I say pant leg), so stay posted...even though I am only posting once a month now!

Road Trip to Ottawa

2008-09-21T18:39:00.007-04:00

I've survived my first two weeks at work, but talk about sending me for a crazy ride. I have a mission that is going to launch by next May, and while its really cool, its being thrown into the deep end from the moment you walk in the door!

In the midst of the crazyness, we had a road trip to Ottawa for my cousin's wedding. What a great time we all had, watching this strapping young man marry his sweet heart. I remember when I used to change his diapers... and now look at him:

The kids at the service... aren't they just adorable, and they were very well behaved.

Then it was off to the Museum of Civilization with Grammy Carol for a fun filled kids afternoon. Here are some pics of the kids having a great time:

Cutting out a circle with Grammy Carol's help.

Banging out a tune...

Welcome to my humble abode.

The desert is that way...

Not that way silly, this way...

Vrrrrooooommmmm.... heading down the highway!

More later when I have a bit more time!

The day has come

2008-09-07T20:27:00.007-04:00

Its my last night of my extended parental leave tonight. I have so many things to say, but can't find the right words tonight... so pictures are going to have to do for now. I had the most wonderful leave ever, and I am very sad to see it end... but I've done it in style, by going out with a great bunch of ladies last night and re-hashing old memories and seeing bright new faces. When the words come, I will do a recap of this leave and this wonderful adventure with my 4 kids and my wonderful husband.

Kaitlynn striking a pose!

Butterfly clips in my hair... see?

My new birks! Don't they just rock... ok, so they don't... its an acquired taste, trust me.

My four kids getting ready to go on the ice for the first time... and they all skate now!

Tristan and Kaitlynn... doesn't get much more special than that.

It's finally happened!

2008-08-25T20:26:00.005-04:00

Kaitlynn finally said "Je n'aime pas ca"!

She was referring to cumen scented zucchini. You see, she has eaten everything I have put in front of her, absolutely everything since we came together way back in November 2007... which, to be honest, is not "normal" for my children. I have children that have a lot of personality and a lot of hpmf in them, and I just couldn't figure out how to get Kaitlynn's character to come out when it came to eating. How could a child of 2 1/2 and 3 yrs old like absolutely everything... its just not right!

Out of the blue tonight, she looks up at me and says quite clearly "Je n'aime pas ca.". I told her it was all right not to like something, but that she needed to eat it anyways cause she was growing and needed her vegetables. She looked at her plate, then looked at me, and with an upturned nose, dug in to the best that she could palate. She ate most of it, but didn't like it at all. YUPPIE! Independent spirit on the way!

Hang on... I will be dreading this in a few months, but for now, I am just so happy that she found the courage to speak up and express her likes and dislikes.

On our way back home

2008-08-23T20:18:00.004-04:00

What a busy summer this has been. I have been barely able to sit down and read something, let alone write stuff down. Sorry to all those friends out there that are waiting for a response to emails or return phone calls- I just have not seen the days, and then a month has passed.

A quick recap of what we have been up to:

- Greg and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary by going on a surprise trip to Stratford, Ontario to catch some Shakespeare and some contemporary plays. This was no small undertaking - kids stayed with friends, DH's on call schedule was covered by a colleague, his boss gave leave approval.... all without DH having a clue of what was going on. He was thoroughly surprised when I did not drive the car towards Tristan's hockey game, but towards the airport for our 2 pm flight to Toronto. We had just a lovely adult time, watching wonderful theater, playing my very first 18 hole round of golf, and romantic dinner at The Church restaurant. We couldn't have done this without everyone's help - so thank's a million to everyone!

- I am letting the cat out of the bag, in a general sense. I have had a job interview or two, but haven't heard anything yet. I am trying to keep my head down, as I only have 2 weeks of leave left and I want to enjoy every minute with my kids! They are all home with me next week, while DH may very well have to work late a few nights... should be just fascinating how I maintain my sanity next week.

- Tristan finished his U8 soccer season (phew). His team finished in first place for the regular season, then during the play-offs, they finished in first place! He was invited to play Intercity league, against 9 year olds.... which we politely declined, and said to his coach "maybe next year". While Tristan's nickname may be "The Tank", as nothing gets passed him on the soccer pitch (he plays defense), he is only 7 and we worry that playing against bigger and maturer kids may be just a bit much.

- Zach finished his U6 soccer season (double phew). He had a great time, especially with the very muddy field! Zach also plays defense, but would from time to time surprise everyone and come from the back of the field to score a goal!

- Master Zorro, HIC, is now officially recognized as a herding dog. Grammy Carol, Orlagh, Zorro and I went off to Alfred, Ontario to herd some sheep one fine Saturday. I was so scared that Zorro would just not be into sheep, but boy did he surprise me. He was evaluated as being able to be a working dog, and we are just so proud of him! He demonstrated his herding technique on Zach one night recently, trying to get Zach back to the master herder (me)... it was quite funny, as they kept going around and around and around the couch, until I called off Zorro. He had medium eyes going btw!

- Jacob has grown over 3 1/2 inches since April! I have no idea what he has been eating, but he now looks like a bean pole with a mop of blond curly hair! He continues to be a wonderful mimic, and his vocabulary grows every day: he has now acquired the very important words such as "Stinker", "Stinky", "Poopster", etc. It still eludes him, however, to know when to go potty for number 2... hence the words referenced above.

- Kaitlynn has also grown just short of 2 inches since April! I guess its all that organic milk that I have been buying! Her glasses are working out just fine, but we still worry about her night time eye sight. She is waiting for an appointment with a bunch of PHD's at the Children's to have her retinal rods counted and to see if they are functioning. There seems to be two likely causes for this potential problem, and we are hoping that its the most simple problem which will only affect her night time vision. If its the other problem, then her sight will slowly degenerate. Keep your paws crossed for her! We are still waiting for speech therapy to start, but she continues to try out her "new" mouth: the other day she started making horse noises in the car! Her next visit for her cleft won't be till she is 4, when they will evaluate her orthodontic work requirements and whether teeth need to be pulled to allow room for her secondary teeth to come in.

- Tristan and Zach have both started the regular hockey season this weekend ( oh no! we just finished soccer!). Tristan, following two intense weeks of hockey camp with his brother, just wowed me on the ice with his side stopping and with his puck handling. I guess all those early mornings have paid off (but boy, am I tired!)! I am anxiously waiting to see what level of Novice he will make (A, B, or C)... won't know until late October. Zach continues to do his own thing on the ice, coming alive as defense when his team needs him, in MAGH-2... but he hasn't quite figured out that he won't get a pass if he isn't paying attention to the puck and the other players. I marvel at how his brain works - completely left brained, where I am right brained - and am in awe of my second son!

- Jacob and Kaitlynn both start activities this year! They will start maternelle figure skating lessons Sept 3 (while their older brothers will be doing power skating lessons on the other half of the rink). Jacob will be wearing Zach's old hockey skates, while Kaitlynn got her very first pair of pink figure skates! They are the cutest thing, and she took to walking in them like an old pro. Its still left to be seen how she will react to ice though! They will also both be taking a creative dance class on Saturday mornings.... that should be interesting to watch!

- Tristan starts Scouts this year too... did I mention that we only have 1 car now, so it will be an interesting challenge to get all this choreographed!

I leave you all with this photo... check out the clowns in the back!

I'm having a baby!

2008-07-16T19:00:00.003-04:00

And its name is MBA! Scared you, didn't I?

I can finally let this cat out of the bag. I have applied and been accepted to do an executive MBA program at Athabasca University! We are so excited, its just like finding out we are pregnant again! The late nights, the early mornings, the juggling of responsibilities... well, you get the picture. The gestation period is longer than an elephants (22 months... and yes, I checked) - it will take about 2 1/2 years to complete, and I start this September.... along with my return to full time work, and the older boys at school in grade 1 and 2. We are completely nuts, or rather, I am completely nuts. But I really think this is the right thing to do for me at this time - I need the challenge, the network of interesting people I am going to meet, and the exercise for the brain. There are also other indications that I am on the right path, but I can't go into that right now as its all very hush, hush. Let's just say that when it rains, it pours around here!

Now, before you think that we are moving to Alberta, we aren't. The beauty of this program is its distance learning, and you do your courses and your work according to your schedule. There are lectures that you download, course work that you complete on your own, and then you have your thesis project to do and some final comprehensive exams to do also. No need to drive downtown, park and sit in a lecture hall... I can do it in my jammies if I want! DH finally gets to get his dream computer now that I need it for school - I wonder if that is tax deductible???

So that's my big news for today! WEEEEEEEEE..... look, Mom, no hands!

We're back!

2008-07-14T09:46:00.021-04:00

What a crazy, crazy, crazy month this has been. We are just back from our very first family vacation to New Brunswick! We had a great time, staying in a chalet that we rented by the sea, swimming in the ocean, and doing "sorties". I think it might be best to do this with photos, so here we go!

Sunset in Riviere du Loup - this was the view from our balcony at a bity little motel that DH found. It was just lovely and a perfect way to start things off. They had a huge lawn in the back of the hotel for the kids to play on, with stunning views for the adults.

We started at the Acadian Village, in Caraquet. The kids loved it, especially the farms! Tristan was the most enamored with the whole Acadian feel, and would stop and ask as many questions as he could. Jacob loved the music, so we ended up buying a CD of Party Acadian music which was requested numerous times. I personally loved the molasses cookies, and couldn't get enough of them!

We stopped for lunch at a typical Acadian restaurant, in the Acadian Village. Everyone cleaned off their plate, and had dessert consisting of sugar pie and poutine au pain avec sucre brun... mmmmm!

We didn't always run around on sorties, we stopped and played at the chalet site too. Here are Zach and DH playing crocket together.

We also played catch. Check out Kaitlynn's pink glove! (Yes, I know... I am impossible!)

Day at the beach... what does Tristan do? Well, he immediately starts to build an aquaduc system. I think we have a civil engineer on our hands!

Playing on the beach. Oh, and that would be Tristan and Zach bringing water from the ocean to Tristan's aquaduc system.

Another one of our sorties: this one to Miscou Island, where the loneliest lighthouse resides. Its the farthest tip of NB and the lighthouse was built in 1816.

A brief stop at one of the marsh's on Miscou island. Kaitlynn was sleeping in the car with me!

Rainy day (the only one we had) involved a visit to the aquarium in Shappigan. The kids are at the touching part of the exhibit where they can touch any number of things that are found in the local waters, including a blue lobster (very rare).

On another day, we went to an eco park where we got to see the local birds up close. This one is a rare bird now, native to NB (can't remember the name), where they used to be many, many more but with the advent of colonization and man they have dwindled to very few.

The highlight of the eco park for the kids was the fishing. They actually caught a couple of fish!

Tristan proudly showing the fish and passing it around so everyone can hold it.

One of the beautiful sunsets from our chalet!

Our chalet is the orange topped one, second from the left. As you can see, we were almost right on the beach!

A very cold day at the beach does not mean we can't have fun. We went for a long walk and picked up neat-o rocks and shells and all sorts of treasures. The waves were extremely powerful that day, and the wind was so strong that it woke us up at 4 a.m. - I thought it was the ocean coming to swallow us up! It may have been the tail end of a hurricane, we thought.

This shot was done by DH... just lovely!

Hanging around!

It was an adventure, to say the least. I did not get much sleep, so I was extremely, shall we say, cranky and I could only focus on the negatives unfortunately. Thank goodness DH stayed positive. The roughest parts were putting the kids to bed (they didn't want too, especially Jacob) and the mornings, when they would get up at 6ish a.m. after having fallen asleep at 10:30 pm (the kids usually are in bed by 7:30 pm). The driving was surprisingly all right. We made numerous stops to run around, and when we would find a park we would jump out and play for a bit. It took us 9 hour and 40 minutes to get back, the first 5 hours 40 minutes out of NB to Riviere du Loup. Would we do it again? Definitely... but I need some sleep first! Maybe next year we will do mid-NB, around Bouctouche and day trips to PEI. Oh, and we watched the entire Lord of the Rings Trilogy... all 12 hours of it, one disk per night (the hobbits are off to Isengard, to Isengard, to Isengard!).

More later on the other fun we have been having, notably work related for me (its all good).

Soccer season, and this and that!

2008-06-04T10:53:00.008-04:00

So soccer has begun this week... did I mention that hockey and swimming haven't finished yet... no, well, they haven't... this Saturday and next are every mother's nightmare schedule wise. Both boys have swimming and soccer at the same time, and Tristan has hockey on top of that... at the same time. Tristan's soccer coach, that he has had for 3 years now, says its time to make choices - as in, choose soccer or else. He did mention that he has to make recommendations for intercity players... no pressure, none whatsoever (I really mean that, but I think said coach was trying to apply pressure). So choices have been made, and swimming and hockey have won out this time... see told you, no pressure. I am zen about all this sports stuff - if its meant to be, its meant to be no matter what I try to "force". (I was once one of those parents with stars in her eyes, but I have been sitting in a freezing hockey arena and a freezing soccer pitch once too often now, and I just go to enjoy to watch my kids learn new and exciting things now).

Now, having said all this, Tristan did really well even though he didn't want to go (he believes that his whole world is hockey, and the NHL). By the time we got there, he was just bubbling with enthusiasm and he found his form and his friends. I was very pleased to see him at the front of the pack during the running warm up, while some 4 or 5 kids were obviously lagging waaaaayyyyy behind and struggling. It reassures me that I keep these boys active and in good health (as was confirmed by his pediatrican recently - she let out, by surprise, what good shape he is in, with a very athletic build). He is also very tall - he is playing on U-8, even though he is just turned 7 and is among the tallest in the team of 12 boys.

They start playing positions this year, which is rough but Tristan tried hard to follow his coach's direction even though he couldn't always hear what was said to him (those soccer parents just talking away... yes, I am one of them, so I can put us down). He played defense for his two rotations on the field, but wasn't too pleased about it, but he did manage to get a kick on goal which was stopped. Final score, 0-0 (phew!).

Warming up!
(Yes, I make him wear a hat that protects his beautiful face and head from sun exposure, and I am one of the only ones... one thing I strongly believe in, and the boys have learned not to argue the point with me).

That's one way to corral a bunch of 7-8 year old boys.

Listening intently... well at least 2 out of 5 are. That is William (baseball cap) and Ulysse (blondish kid), just a couple of Tristan's best buddies.

More on soccer with Zach when I can actually get him to a game! He is part of the orange team, by the way. On Zach, he is just bubbling today cause he gets to go to school in grade 1 with Tristan this morning - Zach will be in grade 1 come September, and they set up a visit of the school for the kids prior to the start. Tristan and Zach were just bouncing, bouncing, bouncing with glee and happiness at the thought of spending the morning together at school. Tristan said very proudly that he would be giving up his chair to Zach during class, but that he would stay close to Zach to help him understand how things work. What a great bunch of kids we have!

As for my weight, well I only lost 1.6 lbs this month, as I sort of let things go a bit but overall I have lost 17 1/2 inches all over (down 2 inches from last month). Back on the wagon this month!

Finally, I have been quiet cause I have a big decision to make about work seeing as I am supposed to return in early September. Thanks to Nathalie for our nice long chat and words of wisdom. I haven't sent my decision in yet to my boss, but I am getting to a point of acceptance about it. I thought this quote I stumbled across recently summed up things beautifully (Thucydides):

"The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding go out to meet it."

We have a Canadian in the house!

2008-05-22T19:21:00.009-04:00

I was going to pace myself, really I was, but so much has happened that this just has to be a big post everyone.

First and foremost, you (and I) cannot believe what came in the mail today: Kaitlynn's Certificate of Citizenship! I applied on February 19th 2008, and here it is May 22 2008, a mere 3 months later and we have her citizenship card in hand!! We are just overjoyed and so excited that this came today, so unexpectedly (we received the form letter telling us it would take 13-15 months back in March!). Kaitlynn is now officially a Canadian Citizen... take a bow Kaitlynn!

Kaitlynn wearing her official Canadian team Olympic outfit, holding all the Beijing Olympic Mascots!

We celebrated two birthdays over the weekend: Kaitlynn and Tristan both have the same birthday, believe it or not (so does Zorro, for those dog lovers out there). First off, what a great birthday present to receive Kaitlynn's Citizenship Card. We got family pictures done with Grammy Carol (which I posted about all ready), and she got to have fun with the kids too! We did a dual theme: princesses for the girls, and hockey for the boys. Worked really well! Here are some choice moments:

Everyone gets their own cupcake to decorate, and I put a candle in each one that everyone gets to blow out.

For you picture takers out there, this is an amazing shot. I somehow managed to get Kaitlynn blowing out her candle... you can see the wisp of flame going out and you see Kaitlynn blowing! (more on the blowing below, for you parents considering adopting cleft affected kids)

I only like the candies and the icing! (She barely touched the cake)

My big boy Tristan who is now 7! Where does the time go?

Everyone around the table... yes, that is my 85% chocolate.
I can eat that type cause the sugar content is next to zero, and no I did not have any birthday cake! Did I mention that I have lost 24 lbs so far?

Now for the blowing: cleft affected kids cannot make a vacuum in their mouth when their palates are open. If you recall, Kaitlynn had her surgery back in February and she has healed nicely. The letters are coming out better now (we have nice n's and some p's coming), but creating that vacuum is hard when you are so used to being nasal. She tried and tried blowing into the party favour, which no outcome. Then I pinched her nose shut and ta-da, she blew through her mouth and got the thing to go out. Then miracles or miracles, she was able to create a vacuum again to blow out her candle. So that picture above with the candle going out is just amazing considering not 5 minutes before she could not do it, and then she could! She can now also drink from a straw (another vacuum thing). BRAVO Kaitlynn!

Going out on a limb

2008-05-21T14:00:00.004-04:00

I went into work today for the first time in 6 months. Everyone was very happy to meet Kaitlynn and to see the changes in me. Yes, I still have straight hair and I have now lost 24 lbs! Kaitlynn won everyone over and they were all very surprised to see that she speaks fluently in french. I'm not 100% sure I should do this, but here is a pic of me and the family taken last weekend, as proof of how cute my kids are and that indeed my hair is straight (I kept saying to my mother that I couldn't believe I was having a great hair day, on the day of pictures!):

I had also promised earlier to talk about daycare... so here goes. We decided to split the daycare spot that Jacob currently holds into two part time spots. That way Jacob could spend two days a week with me, alone, and Kaitlynn could go and meet some new friends and socialize a bit more than she has been at home. This, my friends, was a stroke of genius! Jacob has been so much happier and more calm than I could possibly describe in words, while Kaitlynn who was languishing at home with no kids to play with during the day has just bubbled up with happiness. This has worked out nicely too, as it will be a slow transition for Kaitlynn into the daycare atmosphere and hopefully by August/September, she should be all ready for full time daycare when I go back to work.

I will post the pictures from the kids birthday parties... once I find the camera... I know its around here somewhere... yes, that would be kids, as Tristan and Kaitlynn (and Zorro) have the same birthday date (not year, obviously).

Mother's Day 2008

2008-05-12T21:16:00.012-04:00

Oh my, oh my... was I spoiled this year. My kids were all very well behaved, pleasant and just a joy to be around. DH took cake of them all, kept his voice down (no mean feat this!) and we had a great day - started by getting up and opening presents, then off to brunch to my favorite restaurant (where the lady in charge asked, "So any new additions to the family this time?"... to which I responded yet again, "Yes, we have our daughter now."... she was just dumb founded... guess we don't get out there enough!), then off to shopping at my favorite kid's toy store (Oink Oink) where the kids got to choose 1 toy and 1 book each (call me crazy, but I just love letting them go at it in this store.. they have the coolest stuff), then home and nap time and I got to go to the driving range for a whole hour by myself and hit some balls (I'm getting much better at it too - the by myself bit is the biggy, I'm usually bringing someone under the age of 3 along with me), then back home to stay with the younger ones while DH brought the two older boys to Tristan's hockey game (they lost again, but only 10-6 this time, and again Tristan was the star of the game), amazing bbq steak and my favorite cheese cake. Just an all around lovely day!

My virtual twins, showing their purchases:
Jacob with a big school bus and Kaitlynn with her purple butterfly necklace and matching bracelet.

All smiles!

Jacob all smiles also, with a barrette in his hair - its Mickey, so its all right - and his school bus.
Just look at those curls!

This was Tristan's gift which just left me speechless. He made this - he knitted and then hand sowed it together to make a pot holder (but he prefers to wear it as a hat). I could not believe that he did this for me, such detail work from one who just loves to go fast!

Zach's gift of tulips and his art work for Mother's Day. He is on an animal kick these days - he made my mother a painting of a cow and I got a beautiful bird, with his lovely choice of colors! His imagination is just lovely to behold!

Jacob's contribution was a keychain and beautiful card. The photo of him, as he so proudly told me, was of him playing doctor. I laughed out loud when he told me this - I wondered if this was a premonition for the future, then I wondered where the other kids were (isn't 3 awfully young to be playing doctor with other's?)

Once again I was left speechless by hubby on this one. He bought me my very own ice cream maker... but not just any ice cream maker... this one has it own compressor, so I can just put the ingredients in, turn it on and presto I have ice cream in under 1 hour! I have been looking for one for oh, I would say, 6 months, but not like this one! Gourmet ice cream anyone? Now, I just have to find my cream (one that has nothing but cream in it, no fillers and no junk), and look out coffee ice cream, here I come!

Finally, DH found me the perfect gift to cap off the day: Chewie's clan unleashed! I got Chewbacca unleashed a couple of Mother's Days ago, and now I have the whole battle scene! Does DH know me or what?

Here we are!

2008-05-09T16:36:00.004-04:00

Yes, she has her glasses. No biggy it seems to her, but I nearly broke down in tears in the store realizing how much her world had changed. She is a little wobbly sometimes, which I am told is normal, but she is now doing stairs with gusto (alternating feet on each stair, where before it was like a block of wood going up the stairs) and she is looking at stuff in a different way now.

As of May 5th, its been exactly 6 months since this little angel came into our lives. It was 6 months ago that this frightened little girl came forward to say Hello to me and to DH aka Papa. It has been a time of renewal for her and of significant change, and if you will allow I will recap it briefly:

1. Meeting Maman and Papa, and discovering China together
2. Flying overseas for 30 odd hours to meet her 3 brothers, Grammy Carol and her dog (poor Zorro and poor Kaitlynn)
3. Awful jetlag to recover from
4. New food, new smells... and what is that white stuff on the ground? Oh, and how to walk in snowsuits and winter boots (that was a biggy!)
5. Christmas!
6. New Years celebrations with her first playmate, Lily
7. Birthday parties and playdate parties
8. Chinese New Years celebrations with friends
9. Cleft palate repair and tubes in her ears
10. Vaccinations!
11. Speech therapy
12. Swimming lessons
13. Spring time, and no more boots... just sun hats and sun glasses and running shoes and bicycles, and hockey sticks
14. Daycare (more on this in another post)
15. Being able to see the world through rose colored glasses...

Yes, Kaitlynn, the world is all right even if it has changed quite a bit for you. Hopefully, the next 6 months won't be quite as life changing and we will be able to slow things down a bit for you to be able to catch your breath!

Oh boy

2008-05-01T13:02:00.004-04:00

So I have had my moment, while driving back over the Champlain bridge this morning.

Kaitlynn and I went to her ophthalmologist appointment this morning as a result of some suspicions I had about her sight. I am quite proud of myself for following my gut. Consider please that I have no issues with my sight, I see far and near just fine and I have never needed glasses. I don't know what it is to not see, but I can empathize with those that need glasses and how frustrating it is to not see first thing in the morning or not be able to focus in the dark. I am also one to forget that someone indeed wears glasses because it becomes part of them, not a separate part of their entity (if that makes any sense).

I had no idea that my gut would pick up on one of my children not seeing properly. Kaitlynn would bump into things that she should really be able to see, or she would hesitate in the darkness of her room, stairs are still a challenge and watching tv involves a strange position of her head. Little things that sort of set off my gut and said... hmmmm, that's interesting... why is she doing that? Good thing I listened. She has astigmatism (her corneas are the shape of a football as opposed to round) and she is very myopic. Jeezzzze louise and a handbasket.

I know, I know, no big deal, so she needs glasses right? A lot of kids have glasses, I'm not reinventing the wheel. The moment, however, has made this a big deal for me: if we hadn't adopted Kaitlynn, she would be effectively deaf, blind and mute (tubes in her hears, glasses to see, and cleft repair so that she can talk to be understood). There you go... now, I have to go and have a good cry, cause its just too much to parse right now.

Firsts

2008-04-29T17:07:00.010-04:00

This has been a week of firsts. Without any further waiting, here they are:

First Summer Dress, with First Dolly in hand (dolly's name is Fira, with butterfly wings and purple hair...umm, she's updside down). This dolly means a lot, because its the first toy she has ever picked out for herself . Also, in swimming lessons (which she is doing really well in) she piped up that she was a butterfly in the water (Regarde maman, je suis un papillon!).

Our Zorro, after his first visit to the groomers.
He positively shines and his fur is all fluffed up... boy, did he need a bath!

First ponytail! Yup, and its a good size one too!!!

Miss K all smiles with her first ponytail.
Nope, I didn't hurt her at all while pulling and tugging everything in.

Tristan waiting for his first big game as a goalie (he's the one on the left). I love this shot... it makes me want to go and get it blown up - the colours, and the various stages of readiness of all the kids.
Boys being boys.

There he is... first game as goalie. It was rough one, but he loved every second of it. They lost (16-3), but this team has the best team spirit. After the second game (which they lost also, but Tristan held the score in the third period 3-3 with two amazing saves, that got the director of the program's attention... he came and talked to me and Tristan after the game, to encourage him and give him some pointers), the kids were all so happy with Tristan's work that they all swarmed him and jumped him. Tristan came out from the swirl of kids and sticks and mitts with the biggest grin on his face. Could he have found his spot?

Postscript:
Forgot to mention that Tristan is playing in a league of high performers. So for those in the know, he is playing against up to 9 year olds who played Novice A, AA, and AAA's! I would like to mention that Tristan just finished MAGH-2 (level below Novice), and he is 6! For those not in the know, next season, he has to try out for Novice and usually his age and experience means he will be in Novice B or C. Double and triple letters are considered Elite levels, btw.

Before and after

2008-04-19T19:15:00.005-04:00

Gotcha day, Nov 5 2007

New best friends with Zorro, Dec 1 2007

Today (April 2008)...
so when did you grow up so much? And look how long your hair is now!

Spring Hockey Season

2008-04-18T19:48:00.007-04:00

Silly us... no really, silly us... sign up our eldest son for spring hockey season so that he can be with his friends and continue to play hockey some more. Now, he doesn't want to play forward or defense... no, of course not... he wants to play in goals this time. Now, he started playing goalie last summer in a camp for goalies. By the end of the week, he was completely burnt out and didn't ask after that to be a goalie. We thought he was cured. But no, he isn't.

So the last piece of equipment he needed was a goalie helmet (he played with a player's helmet last year, which worked just fine) because this is the real deal: he will be playing with kids aged 7-9 year olds so he needs his head properly protected. Now price is no object when we talk about protecting the head of my dear son... but really now, HOLY COW is it expensive! We go out to the local store to buy his helmet: choices range from black or white (cheapest, at $180... before taxes) to painted Superheroes (most expensive, at $260). Then we see this beauty, priced in the middle... and the rest is history:

Tristan's first goalie helmet

Side view (its a painted goalie)

I think he would sleep with the helmet, if we let him...

The boys enjoying the start of the play-offs together... the testosterone, popcorn smell in the air was very strong... I left the room very quickly after taking the picture, so as to not damped the male bonding :o)

His first game is on Sunday, with the Blue Jackets of St-Hubert. His style is a butterfly goalie (a la Patrick Roy) and I am hoping that the kids won't pick up too fast that they can get the puck in high on him. Keep your fingers crossed that he doesn't get beat up to bad by the damn puck, and has a good time! At least his helmet will scare the pucks away (at least that is what everyone said at the store as he walked out with his helmet in his hands).

Oh... and this is not the end of it. He only wants to go to hockey camp in the summer - currently, he has three weeks of hockey camp (two with Canlan and one with the McGill Redmen, my alma mater!). We had to do all sorts of convincing to get him to agree to 1 week of circus camp and one partial week of "Plein Air" camp (learning how to camp outdoors, along with a 1-day kayaking trip!). Boy, this is a rough crowd... there is more to life than hockey, you know... no really, its true (blasphemy to be saying these words right now considering we are in the midst of hockey play offs and we live in a hockey town!).

I've been tagged!

2008-04-13T19:25:00.003-04:00

So here goes...

5 all time favorites:
1 first time my kids smiled at me... can still remember first time for each one!
2 St Lucia
3 Skiing in Whistler, B.C.
4 Figure Skating
5 My DH playing guitar and singing any Police/Sting/Fictionplane song just for me

5 favorite movies
1 Star Wars V: Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith
2 Blade Runner
3 Lord of the Rings, all of them
4 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (how could you not love it, with a title like that?)
5 When Harry met Sally

Baby names you love (but aren't planning on using):
5 girl names: Evangeline*, Trinity, Yasmine, Kasia, Jacqueline
(*if we go for #5, then Evangeline will be her name!... don't worry, we are faaaaarrrrrrr from any decision on this)

5 boy names: Alexandre, Christopher Robin, Max, Jack, Wolfgang

5 songs you could listen to over and over:
1 Somewhere out there (Our Lady Peace)
2 Drops of Jupiter (Train)
3 Killing in the name (Rage Against the Machine... yaaaaaaaa!)
4 Call me when your sober (Evanescence)
5 Go your own way (Fleetwood Mac... I was weened on it, me thinks!)

5 people who influenced your life in a positive way:
1 Mr. Hunt (high school math teacher)
2 My children
3 My parents
4 my boss from '97-2001
5 Lance Armstrong

5 items that stay in your purse all the time:
1 wallet
2 breath freshener/gum (habit left over from my quitting smoking days, about 9 yrs ago!)
3 lip balm
4 my security pass, even though I am off work right now!
5 kleenex (come on... I've got 4 kids, one is bound to have a runny nose!)

5 moments you knew things changed forever:
1 Jacob's birth
2 September 5 2003
3 When I left home to go to University
4 August 9th 2003: the night that I was made to feel alive again that gave me courage to face Sept 5 03
5 Grandfather and Uncle passing, and Dad losing his "new" job... in the space of a few months

5 obsessions you have right now:
1 Series of Outlander books by Diana Gabaldon (on 4 of 6)... aye, d'ye ken a big Scot in a kilt... who can resist?!
2 99% Dark Chocolate with my decaf coffee
3 Working Out/Losing Weight (down 18 lbs and 14 inches!)
4 Summer Vacation (going to NB hopefully!) and Hockey Camps for boys
5 Straightening my hair every 5 days

5 places you would really like to go:
1 Egypt
2 Away without the kids, to sleep as long as I possibly can!
3 Galapagos Islands
4 Russia
5 Africa

5 people you'd like to see do their tops 5's:
1 My mom
2 Colette
3 Dawn
4 Doris
5 DH

Survey says...

2008-04-02T11:22:00.008-04:00

Pics of the kids:

Hockey in the street... the great Canadian past time...

Oh no... Kaitlynn is playing hockey now too! Looks like I will have 4 kids in hockey now!!!!

Bright light, bright light... ummm, that would be the Sun, my son.

Jacob and Zorro, best friends

Kaitlynn and her tutu, 1.

Kaitlynn and her tutu and her mini-hockey stick (we don't stand a chance)

Down 18 lbs in 3 months, 5.5 lbs lost this month. Now, I would think that this flu had something to do with it, but I will take the numbers any day.

Sickies and clutter... oh my!

2008-03-30T16:00:00.003-04:00

We are all sick... its official as of today, we have all fallen. It started with Jacob and gastro, then it was Zach with his flu and coughing and fever, then DH got gastro and the flu (poor soul), then me who fought valiantly against the flu (had my flu shot!) but then the damn virus changed course and turned into a cold, then Kaitlynn with a runny nose ("sa fait mal Maman... quoi, cherrie?... mon nezzzzzzzzz!") and then today, poor Tristan got the fever. Now, I ask, how can this be... its still cold outside, there is still 4 feet of snow... where did these viruses come from? My nose is so raw, I cringe at the though of using a kleenex. I've been using a mix of Salinex and Hydrasense to "unplug", which works kind of well, cause I dislike the over the counter decongestants - they make me high or really low - anyhow, I believe that is why my nose is so raw too. Any home remedies out there to unplug some sinuses and get me back on my feet?

The flip side is I am so bored, not being able to get on my bike or lift weights (last time I was this sick, I didn't stop exercising... figured I could sweat it out... ended up with pneumonia and on asthma pumps for like a month... not going to do that again), that I have gotten another bug. Its all Oprah's fault really. I watched her two part show last week and it struck a cord in me, I can't tell you. It was about clutter, and this poor woman who has a serious, serious, serious obsession about accumulating stuff. It took them 8 weeks (that's 2 months!) to clean out there home with 100 people helping out. Now, I am not a hoarder by any means, but when we moved in here, I was just recovering from Jacob's birth and I basically just threw stuff wherever it would fit. Then you accumulate stuff, like magazines (my weakness) and you never get around to sifting through stuff. The office I think is the worse, with the accumulation of papers that you think are important (the Oprah hoarder's husband had kept 35 years of bills!), and I have been very slowly going through stuff. Its all organized into boxes and out of the overstuffed filing cabinet. Next step is to start shredding... but I got diverted and started attacking the main floor the other day. I have now cleaned out the main pantry, the liquor cabinet (hick!), the shelf above the microwave (which seemed to be the catch all place), the plastics shelf, and my magazines. I feel lighter all ready! I am also repeating to myself that I will have a garage sale this spring and sell all the baby stuff that is taking up room (except for the high chair, I think, since we still know of some babies that need it when they come over). Amazing what I can accomplish when I have three sick kids at home, I'm sick and can't do much else but sit on a stool and fill a garbage bag!

Stay tuned for my monthly update on my weight loss - the big weigh in is April 2nd!

Bet I can make you laugh!

2008-03-26T10:24:00.001-04:00

A little humor for you:

What a week...

2008-03-15T17:30:00.011-04:00

No, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth yet, but boy what a week! Let's see how it started:

Yes, that's right it was my birthday on Saturday... I am now 14 years old, according to Zach, which makes me very old now (your almost 12 Maman.. then you will be old!). I have made some subtle changes in my appearance (which I continue to work at)... now, I have no make up on and I was rather tired, but for those of you who haven't seen me in a while, I guess I will post this pic of me at my party:

Yes, that's right... my hair is now straight. It takes me about 1 hour to do it, but I have managed to keep it going this way for a bit now. I have also lost 14.2 lbs, and I will continue to work at that for sure (that cake in front of me is an expresso/vanilla cheesecake that my hubby made me from scratch that is on my diet, cause there is no sugar nor carbs in it... what an awesome man I have). I have been consistently working out 3 to 4 times per week for about 2 1/2 hrs per day trying to get all that "pre-toddler" weight off (those chocolate covered almonds prior to LOA/TA really did me in!). I only have another 55 lbs to lose, but I will be happy with 25 lbs in the next 6 months (I'm one of those people that loses 1 lb a week no matter what I do and no matter how hard I work out... very frustrating, but at least I know that I can lose this weight if I stick to the plan).

Everyone in the East experienced this wonderful last snowstorm that dumped more snow onto us. We spent the better part of Sunday digging out the driveway.. when I say "we" I mean all 6 of us. Why else have kids, but to help dig out from a massive snow storm? (said tongue in cheek of course). This is a pic of our backyard. That is a four foot fence around our inground pool. Needless to say that the kids are not allowed to go out back now. We were also worried about the dog "jumping" the fence, but I guess he still sees it as a barrier.

(Sorry, I hope I haven't offended anyone with this joke... but I typed in "hearing test" for an image search and this came up and just cracked me me).

Kaitlynn went for her hearing test, and great news: the tubes make a big difference. She was rated at 40 dB, and she is now in the normal spectrum of 15 dB. There was 1 funky sound at the end which she didn't react too, but supposedly it was a such a weird noise that most 2 year olds don't get it.... who would have thought?

Mollusks are not in my near future: finally, after 25 years of waiting, its looking more and more like I am allergic to mollusks only, but not fish nor crustaceans. I had another skin test this week, and while I thought I was going to toss my cookies again, only my skin started to itch when he put the scallop on my arm (yes, that's right the doctor put a piece of scallop on my arm). The test was not a conclusive "yes, you are allergic" but the next step is to have a blood test done where they put actual scallops in my drawn blood to see what it does... who would have thought that is how you get a definitive answer? DH is excited... he wants me to eat sushi with him. That is going to take a while to get too, me thinks.

Then, Jacob had his first dentist appointment and was a real champ. He got to hold all the instruments and help the dentist do his thing. I completely forgot that he needed to have preventative antibiotics (he has a PDA, or in lay terms, a small hole in his heart) before he had his teeth cleaned... so afterwards, we ran to the pharmacy to only wait about 30 minutes to get two pills into him (the pharmacist didn't believe me when I told her he weighed 28 lbs... I had to go and get him out of the car with DH and Kaitlynn waiting, and bring him in to weigh him. At least the pharmacist apologized for doubting me - I know two things about my kids at all times: their weight and their shoe size. Crazy I know, but I can't tell you how many times I am at a store thinking I need to get this one shoes or boots, and I need their shoe size; the same goes for weight, as all medication is done by weight... well at least in our household it is, since my kids are above average or below average size for their ages).

Today saw the end of hockey season for the two older boys. Zach played against St-Hubert (no score... just for fun), and Tristan's team played against the parents. I got on the ice, and shocked a lot of people, shall we say, when they realized that I was no push over when it comes to skating (I initially was the only Mom on the ice, and was later joined by another Mom, among a sea of Dad's). The coaches had the parents do the warm up exercises, while the kids watched... I don't think they realized that I could do it and do it well - I had the coaches attention shall we say. I got a goal during the game, much to my surprise, and I got to face off with my kid a couple of times. I also played defense to Tristan's offensive plays a couple of times and gave him a run for his money. He has a lot more respect for me now that he realizes we can play together, I think. Now, I am not going to toot my own horn here, but it was quite the feeling walking into the arena with my bag of gear on my shoulder, my borrowed hockey stick in hand, watching the mens' reactions to my approach. My DH believed it ran along the lines of: "Oh man... she's good looking and she plays hockey... mama mia!" Tee hee... its nice to know that I can have that effect on some people even at the ripe old age of 14.

Good news!

2008-03-07T13:13:00.003-05:00

Well, the prayers worked! Thank you to everyone for keeping Kaitlynn in your thoughts and prayers - she does not need surgery again... well, at least for the fistula. Its small enough that it will repair itself it seems. Its about 2 mm, as I thought, and it seems that its small enough that it can knit itself back together. Who would have thought....

We have a follow up appointment in 1 month with Dr. Williams, and she still needs to be a on a soft diet for another week or so but otherwise everything is good. She can even start swimming lessons at the end of the month! Daycare is out, though - we were offered a part time spot starting next week - as I don't think she is strong enough yet, from an immunity perspective. She lost a lot of blood during surgery and it will take time to build her hemoglobins back up again, so I will take the risk of refusing the part time spot in the hope that her full time spot in September will still be open to her (she is a priority as she has a brother in the daycare and I put her on the waiting list when we first signed up with Formons... in other words, 2 1/2 years on the waiting list for a daycare spot! Sound familiar to anyone?). She misses everyone when they are gone, but I think she needs a little more TLC at home first before I send her off into the regiments of daycare.

Update on Fistula

2008-03-05T15:21:00.003-05:00

We are going to see Dr. Williams on Friday morning, in between two surgeries (I told them not to rush the surgery on our account... the Resident had a good chuckle at that one). I'm panicking less now that I have had some breathing room (thank heaven's for nap time), but I am hoping her muscles in her palate will stay together and not rip apart completely by then.

Say a little prayer to the angels of palates that her's will be fine.

Damn it, damn it, damn it

2008-03-05T10:15:00.003-05:00

I would use much stronger language (like the f-bomb) if there weren't young ones who read this but I know there are so I am being very circumspect. She has a damn fistula, damn it. Of course it happens in between her follow up appointment last night at 5:15 pm and this morning at 7ish am. DH saw it first, then I took a good look and there it was. Its a big black hole about 2-3 mm big right at the margin of her soft palate and the flap that they put on her hard palate (a fistula is basically a tear in the incision. She has a piece of suture hanging down in the middle of her mouth, and this hole... or fistula). Damn it... at least the Resident called me right back after he was paged and told me that there is really nothing we can do yet. He is going to go talk to her surgeon, Dr. Williams, and get a plan together as to what we do. Hopefully, he will see us on Friday between cases. Till then, we sit tight.

Damn it.

She is just so happy

2008-02-29T18:28:00.003-05:00

I think these pics just sum it up beautifully:

She has literally been glowing since yesterday - even the doctors and nurses noticed. I've noticed a big change in her too - if its possible, her face has changed since the operation. It seems to be more delicate and more "put together", for lack of better wording. Is it possible for her to feel that a massive change has occurred and its just radiating from her every pore? I think she is truly happy beyond compare, and I think its all her (I don't believe we are putting our emotions on her here). Remember this is two days post-op!

She slept relatively well, except for a bit of pain at 11 pm last night. She woke up with a smile and has spent the day staying quiet and watching her favorite movies - Doodlebops and Mickey Mouse. I've got her on organic baby food till next week when she has her post-op appointment - she lost a lot of blood and her hemoglobin levels were very low, so we need to pump her up with the best of the best. She is much harder to understand now that everything is swollen up, but she is now saying nice "b" and "p"! Otherwise, she is doing just great!

P.S. Those pics were taken last night, while watching Ni Hao Kai-Lan! Believe it or not, we had just gotten home from the hospital, and I asked her what she wanted to do. She asked to watch Tree House, so I put her on the couch and turned on the TV. Max and Ruby was just finishing (THANK DOG!... I can't stand Ruby), and sort of turned my back to go and do something else. Then all of a sudden, I hear the theme song to Kai-Lan and I about dropped to the floor... I thought we had missed the premiere on Tuesday. Talk about timing! They all really enjoyed it, and Kaitlynn got up and danced with her brothers, and kept saying "Ni Hao!"

Got the call...

2008-02-28T16:54:00.001-05:00

Just talked to Stef... Kaitlynn can come home! I'm just waiting for our nanny to come to watch the boys and then I'm off to go get them.

They should be home by 7 or 8pm tonight at the latest.

Greg

A system on the breaking point

2008-02-27T19:52:00.003-05:00

If you are a looking for a feel good post, you've unfortunately not got me on my best day. Kaitlynn is fine and getting better - she threw a massive temper tantrum this morning because she wanted Daddy to hold her and he wasn't doing it fast enough for her liking. That to me is an indication of a child who is getting better.

First off, keep in mind I have had about 1 hour of sleep since Monday night... and boy am I cranky now. I love the Children's staff - they are a great bunch of people that should be given medals for what they have to deal with on a daily basis. But OMG what is happening to our health care system is just jaw-dropping. Case in point, Kaitlynn is in recovery and there are 2... yes, I said 2... nurses on duty, and the kids keep coming in back to back. The head nurse could not hide her eyes and the sheer shock of what was happening to her and to her colleague. She called out to someone that the OR had to be closed, and it had to be closed now as she and her colleague could not continue at this crazy pace! She felt aweful doing it it, but she couldn't continue to do her job properly... and anyone who was in that room could have seen it in an instant. I don't blame her one bit and I completely agree with her - it was just nuts, watching bed after bed get wheeled in, and every single child needing a nurse immediately to respond to his or her needs. To add to the lovely picture I have drawn, we were the only parents in the recovery room! Some kids came in, parents were called, they came, took a look at their child and turned around and LEFT! WHAT?? We saw this happen a few times, and I just couldn't believe it. One poor kid's parents couldn't be located.. he was SCREAMING in absolute terror. The colleague nurse had to hold him down until an orderly could find his parents before he ripped all his IV's out. So at one point there was the head nurse dealing with everything coming in. NUTS!

The other beautiful story I have is Kaitlynn needed to have blood work done ASAP this morning cause she bled a lot yesterday. Usually, a tech comes in and does the blood work right? Nope, not anymore. If you miss the rotation, you have to get your child downstairs to the blood clinic and wait in line for them to draw some blood... did I mention that our daughter just had surgery and really shouldn't be exposed to other people who have colds and flu's and such? K's nurse told me to go downstairs, and avoid large crowds and to get the blood drawn and results back STAT... if there were too many people, I was to come back upstairs. WHAT???

Now, the icing on the cake for me is the actual parents/family members/relatives that are supposed to be visiting their children.... but I think I should leave that for another day, as the screen is bouncing in front of my eyes.

Long Day at the Hospital

2008-02-26T21:49:00.003-05:00

They say there is a first time for everything, but apparently there is also a second - namely Papa blogging while Mama stays with Kaitlynn.

First, for those too eager to hear the whole story of the day, the long and the short of it is the surgery went well. Kaitlynn is in a bit of pain, but they seem to be managing it well.

The day started off early, we were out of the house a little later than we wanted, at 6:15, as we were supposed to be a the hospital no later than 7am. If we hit traffic anywhere, we would be screwed. But someone was looking over our shoulder because it was clear sailing all the way through and we even had 5 min to spare by the time we were parked at the Children's.

Now, I know the old saying "don't do drugs" but anyone who has ever seen a 2 and 1/2 year old on sedatives knows that it's a pretty funny thing. :) In order to make sure Kaitlynn wasn't too stressed going into the operating room, they gave her that same sedative to calm her down, and it just turned her loopy. At one point, while I was holding her with her chin on my shoulder, she just tilted her head, looked at me, and then just started giggling uncontrollably. Don't know what she saw, but it apparently was hilarious. :)

Surgery lasted about 3 hours total, and she spent about two hours in recovery because the nurse there was a little concerned about her high heart rate and the fact that she was still bleeding a little bit from her mouth and nose. A surgeon came to look, finally, and said there was no major bleeding, and it turns out her heart rate had been a bit elevated even during surgery so they just think her baseline is higher than normal. So, in the end we were headed off to the ward.

She spent most of the afternoon in and out of naps, but slept for a good hour or two near the end of the afternoon. She was experiencing some pain at times, and in one case it seemed to come out of nowhere and disappear just as quickly. But the pain is being managed and when I left at about 7pm, she was quite intently watching Cars and seemed to be in a good place.

Momma has the first night shift. I'm going to head back to the hospital tomorrow with the intent of spending the night. If all goes well, we hope to have Kaitlynn home by Thursday sometime. Generally they like to give 48 hrs of antibiotics (3 doses over 24 hrs in the IV, then 3 more doses over 24 hours orally) - they started at 5pm today, so the last dose should be Thurs morning. That's a likely time for her to come home, but not certain. We'll know more as we get closer to Thursday.

Thanks to everyone who've been thinking about us. It's good to know that so many people care.

Well, it's late, and Papa needs his rest for tomorrow. I'm sure Stef will have more to say when she gets home (and can correct all those details I've mis-remembered :).

Greg

Tomorrow is the big day!

2008-02-25T16:19:00.004-05:00

We are as ready as we can be, for our early morning departure to the hospital. Kaitlynn's surgery is first at 7:45 am, and I figure we will leave at about 6ish to get downtown. I say we cause DH is coming too - Tristan had enough sense to ask Grammy Carol to come and help out for a few days! So in spite of her beloved doggie being injured (and on the mend, she assures me), she should be arriving sometime after dinner tonight. The first question out of the boys mouths when they came home from school is "Has Grammy Carol arrived yet?", to which I answered no, not yet... but soon. It seems that they put a special request in for Grammy Carol to bring Timmie's donut holes...

We've had a few conversations with Kaitlynn to get her ready for tomorrow. I don't think she quite gets it yet, but she understands that her "bo-bo" in her mouth will be fixed tomorrow and that Maman will be there when she wakes up. I used "bo-bo" with her cause she sometimes gets food stuck in the cleft, by the gum line, and she will point to it and say "bo-bo"... to which I respond to and fix. I am hoping that she understands that this "bo-bo" will no longer happen - and not that her cleft is the bo-bo... a very important subtlety for me, as I don't want her to think that I think the cleft itself is a wound. We moved Jacob out of their room for the week, so that when she comes home in 3 or 4 days she can sleep soundly and long without Jacob getting up and turning on the the lights at 5:45 am! She kind of understands, but is still sad that her Jacob isn't with her in the morning.

We will be in the Children's Hospital, C-738 is the general area where the nurses can guide anyone who wants to come by and see us. I will be there with the K Tuesday and Wednesday, and DH will take over sleeping duties on Wednesday evening (in case I don't get any sleep on Tuesday night!). Hopefully, we will be home Thursday or Friday at the latest. There is no phone in the room and the nurses have asked that no one call unless its really urgent. If anyone is in the general area, please come up for a visit.

Please keep Kaitlynn in your prayers and thoughts over the next couple of days.

1, 2, 3, 4... yup, were good

2008-02-20T18:24:00.003-05:00

Ok, first off, we still have 4 kids... that's the good news. Bad news... well... I don't know how long that is going to last! Oh man, why do they do this (get really bad) when I am alone with them? They know I am outnumbered, me thinks.

Now, we survived this morning cause I canceled the ped's appointment - just too much craziness. (The kids all made it to school and daycare on time). We got to the hospital, with time to spare and met some wonderful people who will be our "family" next week. Kaitlynn was a real good girl and let everyone look inside her mouth and ears, and tickle her tummy and take her blood pressure without complaining one bit. The staff were quite taken with her, and kept raving at how good she was. We got a tour of the ward, and then headed home at about 11:30 am when everything was done. Good news is that her surgery is the first one of the day at 7:45 am, bad news is I have to be there with her for 7 am, fasting completely since 5 am. The surgery will take "a good 2 hrs", according to the assistant to the plastic surgeon, which I interpret to mean it will be longer. He explained that Dr. Williams will decide on the spot what is best for the palate repair, and then he went on to describe the most common repair (take grafts from either side of the cleft, put it in the middle, and then attach the muscles together from the back to the front - this is my interpretation of what he said, so its very simplified down). She may loose a tooth in the process, as there is one right inside the cleft, but they will try to save it. She will be on a soft diet for 2 weeks, and hopefully during that time she won't get a fistula (a tear in the incision) which means another surgery most likely. She will be at risk for sleep apnea for 2-3 days afterwards, as everything will be swollen, but she will be on a monitor for the whole time. Pain medication will be the old tylenol and codeine mix.

Now, time to run and put some youngster to bed - I needed a few minutes to myself, so I am hiding downstairs! Oh dang... they found me...

Coming together

2008-02-15T18:27:00.003-05:00

I haven't dropped off the face of the earth yet, I'm still here. It has been another crazy week, most notably we got "The Call" for Kaitlynn's surgery. They offered us one of two dates: Feb 22 or Feb 26. Go ahead, go look at your calender... back yet... yup, that's right, next week! Oh, did I mention that DH is out of town all next week? No... guess when he gets back? Go ahead... I'm sure you can figure it out, seeing as everything we do seems to come to the same point in time, even though they are mutually exclusive events. Yup, Feb 22... at night. So forget Feb 22. We agreed to Feb 26, which unfortunately means that DH needs to take 3 full days off work to look after the kids, while I am at the hospital with the K. Oh, did I mention that DH only has 4 days of holiday left? And the week after K's surgery is spring break for the kids... me, 4 kids, alone... for one week... with one kid recovering from surgery. Niiiiiiiiiice.

The fun doesn't stop there. I realized that K's vaccination appointment was the 29th, so desperately call the ped's to move up the appointment to make sure she is properly vaccinated before she goes into the hospital. They gave me Feb 20th, at 8:45 am. Ok, I can do that, the school bus comes at 8:04, walk Tristan to school by 8:15, in the car and ... oh, shoot, forgot, I am alone... means Jacob has to come along for the fun. Oh, that's all right we'll manage just fine - we will just make sure he is in another room while his sister gets 4 different limbs punctured (we want to make sure that Jacob doesn't go after the doctor, don't we?). DH calls the hospital to find out about the pre-op appointment. When is it? Yup, you guessed it, Feb 20th at 10 am... only day they do pre-op appointments. All right then, get to Taschereau by 8:45 am, hopefully get out out no later than 9:30 am, and boot it downtown for 10 am (praying that the bridges are clear and that there is no snow storm that day). Did I mention I have Jacob along for the fun? Should just be a hoot!

So, back to my original question: why does everything have to happen all at the same time?

So get this...

2008-02-09T12:39:00.001-05:00

After two visits to the pediatrician, one visit to the clinic, then a rush to the Children's hospital to see the surgeon, we finally get confirmation that Tristan's foot is fine - whatever we have been doing, with the soaking and the oral and topical antibiotics has worked to clear up the infection. So no surgery finally! Can you believe this?! At least our ped's admitted that she just didn't know but she didn't want to take any chances. Now we wait the 7 more days of treatment and then we go see a dermatologist (anyone know of any good ones on the South Shore?) to make sure that the damn wart that started this whole story is gone. Oh, and Tristan and DH got fast tracked at the hospital for some reason, so almost no wait time and no triage - they were in and out in about 2 hrs.

When I get up enough nerve, I'll take a picture of his heel and post it... so you can all go "UGGHHHHH.... that's disgusting!" (Which btw is Tristan's favorite line now "Maman, c'est disgusting"). You know... I should have finished my studies in pre-med and become a pediatrician... it would have saved a lot of heart ache this week!

Update on Tristan

2008-02-08T12:33:00.001-05:00

He is at the Children's Hospital now with DH... he has to have his heel cleaned up by a surgeon, even though we have been taking very good care of his foot and it looks a bit better (more white than red now), but there is a lot of dead skin to remove. More later... did I say Joy...

Well, there you go

2008-02-07T13:12:00.000-05:00

Happy Year of the rat to everyone!

I didn't post anything right way, cause things were a bit murky. Now that I have spoken to the audiologist, I can speak more intelligently about Kaitlynn's ENT appointment yesterday. (I should mention that yesterday was a day from ... well you know... Jacob had a fever and a terrible cough, Tristan's wart is infected and needs immediate attention, Kaitlynn needed to go to Children's in the morning... and all this with 1 car - we pulled it off, but Dh had to take the day off to make it so). Kaitlynn's audiology test was not what I expected - she has no movement in her tympanic membrane and she has problems hearing in the high frequency range. Normal hearing is rated between 0-20 dB, whereas Kaitlynn is at 40 dB. To give you an idea, go underwater and try to listen to someone speaking to you... that is what she hears. (As a reference point, Tristan has 20 dB is his right ear, and 35 dB in his left). Needless to say, I was shocked given that she is speaking so much... I've lost count on how many words she knows. Tristan at this age and with his hearing wasn't speaking at all! So what happens now you ask? She will have tubes installed when they repair the cleft. She will then be tested 2 weeks later to see what she is hearing. She will probably have to have the tube surgery a few times, as they tend to drop out every 6 months or so. (BTW, this is quite common with clefts). Joy....

Tristan's foot is very, very, very infected. He is at home for the next two days so I can keep cleaning it and putting cream on it, and giving him his antibiotics like clockwork, and to make sure he doesn't walk on it too much. If its not better by tomorrow, we are off to the Children's so that he can have surgery to clean it up. Joy...

Jacob had a terrible fever on Tuesday night, with a horrible cough. Not usually bad, except for his preemie lungs which are always a worry to me. We started him on the pumps, but they take 48 hrs to take effect. So he came to bed with me, and watched the news for a bit until the meds took effect on his fever. While watching the news, a couple of women on the news clip walked by dressed in heejabs. Jacob, better known as Munch, pipes up with "Is that Irak?".... ummmm.... no, its not... "Oh Good, cause I don't like Irak.".... ummm why honey? "Because there is war there and its not a good place to be right now". ohhhhhhh..... Now, I ask you how does he know about Irak? How does he know anything about heejabs? HE'S THREE (barely)! We have no idea how he has processed this information - we watched the news in English, he only speaks French. He had a fever, was red as a tomato and he is talking to me about Irak! Oh my, are we in trouble.... Joy....

Someone is growing

2008-02-01T08:53:00.000-05:00

For about 1 week now I had been noticing small changes in Kaitlynn. For instance, I remarked to Greg that her diapers didn't seem to be so tight anymore. Then I noticed that it was getting harder to put her in her one piece snowsuit. Yesterday, our part time nanny extraordinaire, Christiane, says that she thinks Kaitlynn has grown. This morning I am staring at her, going "I think she has grown... she looks leaner somehow." So I measured her this morning, and lo and behold she has grown almost 1 inch in 15 days! Oh my goodness... here comes the growth spurt! Here are some pics I took this morning: (oh, and the band-aids on her face? What does a 2 1/2 yr old do when she has eczema on her face?... you got it, scratches and gets the bo-bos infected)

We also went on a playdate with Tao Tao and Leanne and Gretchen last week. Here are some pics of the fun!

No traffic, no slowdown on the Jacques Cartier bridge, find a parking spot right in front of Leanne's when the snow clearing is coming through on the other side other street... result is you arrive 30 minutes earlier than you thought you would, and you get to watch Leanne and crew head out for a much needed doggie walkies! It was funny watching them head out to the park, while Kaitlynn slept soundly in the back (she always falls asleep in the car).

The Gretchen... banished to the front hall.

The kids ready for lunch. I tell you these two are related somehow, somewhere!
That would be Kaitlynn in the pink... in case you couldn't tell.

First Visit Down... only ???? to go

2008-01-29T08:56:00.001-05:00

We had the visit with the plastic surgeon yesterday, at Children's. Let's say that the doctor sort of ticked me off. After sitting down and maybe knowing us for 30 secs, the good old doctor asked me why I waited so long to get her palate repaired, then before I could answer, he pipes up that he knows its all my fault. I took a deep breath and explained that Kaitlynn had only been with us for 2 months, and it was in fact not my fault, and that I considered that we actually were quite fast in seeing the good doctor. The look of surprise on his face was complete, but he didn't apologize, he just continued to talk to me. Later on he says to me that Kaitlynn is probably deaf, as the palate can affect the hearing quite severely. Again, I took a deep breath and explained to him that no, she was not deaf, especially considering how many french words she had acquired in such a short time. I then explained that my eldest was hearing impaired and that I did not see the type of behaviour that accompanies hearing impediments in Kaitlynn. Again, he didn't correct himself... just kept talking. By the time he said 'Do you have any questions?" I had lost pretty much most of my respect for him. Let's just say his bedside manner needs some work.

Now, onto the important stuff, most cleft palates are repaired at 1 year of age and Kaitlynn is 2 1/2 yrs... so it needs to be done soon, very soon. Maria, the angel from the Cleft Clinic, and Laura, the plastic surgeon's secretary, said that they would work together to get her paperwork in place so that she could have the surgery asap. They are aiming for March, at the latest April to get this done. She will be in the hospital 2 or 3 days, depending on how she recovers, and we can stay with her the whole time. They will give us splints for her arms so that she doesn't go into her mouth and take the stitches out. The good news is the plastic surgeon said that it doesn't hurt nearly as much as getting tonsils out! If you recall, Tristan had his tonsils and adenoids out back in June and it was not a pleasant/pain free experience.

While at the Children's and trying to find Colette and her crew, they were giving out children's books for FREE to promote literacy. Can you imagine? Me and the K being given free books?!! It was like Christmas in July (or rather, January) for us! Kaitlynn also got to meet the author/illustrator of the Stella/Sasha books, Mary Louise Gay. She was so taken with Kaitlynn, that she drew her a little cat and wrote her a little note on a sticker. I think Kaitlynn is quite taken with the illustrator's in her milieu... right Lianne? She is, by the way, calling Tao Tao on her play phone every day... following a playdate she had with the Tao and the Gretchen. More on that later!

Je suis belle...

2008-01-26T19:19:00.000-05:00

That is what our daughter has learned to say since her haircut. I finally got to dress her this morning, as DH had the morning off (exhausted so he got to sleep in ... rather he got to stay in bed and listen to everyone party ), and I put her in a dress, and brushed her hair and put on some jewelery for her. She says to me and to Zach "Je suis belle". So what do you know!

The kids were up at 5:45 am today! What happens when Kaitlynn is up that early? She falls asleep at the table eating her Mac and Cheese for lunch. She couldn't keep her eyes open while Daddy washed her face!

Her plastic surgery consult is on Monday, where we will find out what lies in store for the palate repair. Then its ENT next week, then speech therapy and the dentist. I am quite surprised at how fast we have managed to get appointments with various specialists! Hopefully, she will have her surgery sometime in March, so that by the time the blue skies, green grass return she is up and at 'em to play outside.

Finally, I find that her gross motor skills are a bit behind - can't pull herself up into a sitting position, very stiff when she walks, stiffly goes up and down stairs - so I am trying to find a dance class around here that will take her and help her loosen up a bit, get more fluid and perhaps more confident about taking up space. Did you know that all dance classes start for kids that are 3 years old? At least that is what I have found so far. I am trying to avoid going into occ. therapy, as I think she can acquire a lot by doing a dance or gym class (and I am doing stuff with her.. but I am no expert).. but boy, its tough. Oh just had a thought... maybe kids yoga - I think there is a DVD actually. Off to find out if there is....

Kaitlynn's first hair cut!

2008-01-22T14:25:00.000-05:00

Kaitlynn was a real champ, and enjoyed herself thoroughly!

Here is the before shot

First time in the chair

Cutting and straightening out in the back

Look how pretty you are!

Finished! Aren't I spiffy.

I am going nuts... no really

2008-01-20T09:37:00.001-05:00

See, I've been saying to DH that we are done having kids, never going back to China, can't go through the culture shock again it was soooooo hard on me, no countries seem to be open to us for adoption, doing mixed-bank here is still very complicated (as you have to foster first with no guarantee of adopting). Been talking like this for the 2 months, 2 weeks that we have been back. Four kids is enough, right?

Well.... I am going nuts... no really, I am going nuts. You see, someone is in Nanjing right now adopting and I am just thrilled to bits for the family. I am so thrilled, I can taste the Nanjing air (believe me, not a pleasant taste), I can see Civil Affairs and what will happen, I can imagine going to the bakery around the corner and getting sticky buns and using sign language to order, I can imagine hunting high and low for shoes that befit a princess. I can remember the thrill of arriving and seeing Juliette our guide waiting for us in a sea of people, with her big bright smile. I want to go again... and adopt another girl or maybe a boy... oh man, I am going nuts... I have truly lost my mind. DH of course just nods his head, says uhuh, uhuh, among other things (we have a full life, I am sick of diapers - Jacob did a poop the size of his head this morning!). Going to go and lift some weights... maybe that will knock some sense into me!

I'm backkkkkkk

2008-01-18T13:38:00.001-05:00

A bit of catching up to do, I would say. First off, I'm better - the stitches come out in 2 weeks so I still can't smile nor laugh otherwise it pulls my whole cheek and causes the most uncomfortable feeling... but at least it is holding. I just heard that a friend of mine went through the same thing, but it ended in disaster when the stitches came out on their own three days later and the skin graft fell off!

Now onto pleasant things. I completely forgot to mention we had a great New Year's with our friends Sandra and Fred and their kids, Lily and Noah!

Isn't Lily just beautiful in her Chinese silk outfit! I of course forgot to put Kaitlynn in hers. The kids had mac and cheese, and the guys went all the way out to St-Lambert to get us Szechuan take out! Then we played Cranium for the first time, and we had a blast! Great way to bring in 2008.

Now, onto the festivities for Jacob's third birthday. The theme as you will see was Cars... all the way. The boy would watch the movie three or four times a day if we let him. The first words I hear from him in the morning, is "PISTON CUUUUUUPPPPPP"... I have no idea why, but he just loves the sound of it... but I digress. I made it through the day without one tear, so I think that is progress. DH had one or two moments, with flash backs, but he held up all right too.

the table before the activities

The kids decorating their own cupcakes

My three big boys, 6 1/2, 5 1/2, and 3!

Oh my... its.... CARS!!!!
(Its a carrying case for all his Cars' cars.)

I can't get the cake in fast enough so I will stuff it in!

Wants some? Its really good... honest, I just took a couple of bites.

Kaitlynn with her confection... she only likes the icing and the candies... for now.

I also just heard that a great friend of mine is getting married in March... I am just tickled pink for her and just plain HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY! I wish you the best wedding day, dear Rosie, and the best marriage - may it make you happy for a lifetime, and beyond that, 'cause you deserve it girlfriend!

Bob... the cutie patutie from Biggest Loser... (Check out the cool tatts, Pat!)

Finally, I am back on my healthy living plan - diet is a four letter word around here - and so I will be making some small changes on the blog to highlight this. The adoption community is changing, and it is quite frankly angry in a lot of places due to The Wait and the lack of information flow, and quite frankly the lack of having their child in their arms. I don't blame them for a second, and I am angry too about it... I just don't understand why so many kids and so many parents have to go unmatched, its just beyond me. I need some positive vibes going on, so I am going to look for some inspirational stuff to link too now. Hopefully this will help those that are still waiting for their angels to come see something different and positive.

I'm still here

2008-01-11T13:02:00.000-05:00

I survived the 3 1/2 hrs in the dentist chair, for the gum graph, on Tuesday. I am still recovering, but getting better. A little ice pack on the face in the morning, and I am able to get out of bed shortly thereafter. I decided not to go in for the root canal today cause the pain seems to be getting better from that troublesome molar. Keep your fingers crossed that this may have done the trick, and the nerves associated with the molar will be quiet now!

DH is finishing up his last day of leave today.. its all ready been a month home for him! His been looking after the kidlets this week while I mend and I think he has enjoyed every minute of it - even collecting the stool sample to bring to the Children's!

This isn't how it's really meant to be...

2008-01-05T20:08:00.000-05:00

Some of you know that January 12th looms large for me. It is the day that Jacob was born, and the day that I lost so much, including the "old me". The first year since that fateful day was marked with recovery and trying to stand up again. The second year was marked with the chase for Kaitlynn. Now, in a week, it will have been three years since the day I almost lost my life and while I am standing, I am still grieving for what was meant to be. It has tainted every breath I have taken since that fateful day.

January 5th is the day, three years ago, when things came to a head... and I was rushed to the hospital, dreading, hoping, praying. We started today in 2008 with a loving beginning, to falter only a couple of times. I finally let Greg put the baby bottles away from the cabinet, that holds the children's dishes. I thought I was ready, but still the grief and the tears came. We put the bottles downstairs with the other baby stuff, Greg reassuring me all along that we weren't throwing them out or making any other plans for them, but just moving them downstairs with the other baby stuff. The crib that we set up for Kaitlynn won't be coming down soon, I guess.

There are so many things that we were meant to be, at least that is what I believed. Now, I still don't know what I was meant to be... and what I am meant to be, and what I will be. Grief still has me.. and I am left to carry on and wonder why.

If butterflies are free to fly
Why do they fly away
Leaving me to carry on and wonder why...

I leave you with this to ponder...

2008-01-05T10:13:00.000-05:00

Oh damn, part deux

2008-01-03T17:48:00.000-05:00

Well, here it is -30 outside and we should all be comfy cosy in our Centrally Heated home right? NOT! Damn furnace doesn't work again, and we were at 18 degrees on the main floor, and I think upstairs it was much colder. This is the second time in about 3 weeks that we have had to call to get the damn thing looked at. Problem yet again is that there is air in the lines, so the repair guy had to bleed the lines again. Its now a comfy 23, as we are trying to get the upstairs heated for the kiddies bedtime. There is a solution - install a thing-a-mabob beside the furnace or destroy the basement and install a second line to the oil tank... as should have been done in the first place - and guess what, its going to cost. Just after we got a quote for snow tires for the truck that was reasonable, and here I am thinking, ok an extra $200 to pay down some debt. Well, not going to happen... again. Can you tell I am a bit frustrated? No really, can you tell?

Boys should be home tomorrow sometime, and that means no more sleeping in till 9ish and quiet days. Have I mentioned how quiet 2 two year olds can be? Quieter than a 6 and 5 year old. Can hardly wait to have the whole crew together again.

Oh damn...

2008-01-02T09:36:00.000-05:00

I finally got on the damn thing, and damn it, I've gained... again... that's what you get for being on the See diet. Umm, that would be, I SEE it, I eat it. I think this is the first Christmas in like 7 years that I didn't think twice about having a chocolate or a glass a wine or some trifle or some cookies... which was kind of liberating, but now I am paying the price for that freedom. So here we go again, back on my exercise/no sugar diet again, and again, and again. I hadn't wanted to start until after my surgery next week, but I don't think I can wait now that I know all the work that awaits me. The advantage I have is I will probably not want to eat much next week anyways, so it might help in the end... I just won't be able to do any exercise 'cause my blood pressure can't go up for three days (Ha! Good one... I have 4 kids, as if that is going to happen!)

Today was supposed to be day 1 of potty training for at least Jacob... however, the little bugger has developed a case of the runs overnight. So no potty training today for him! Kaitlynn is ready, but we want her language skills to be a little stronger so that we can understand when she has to go... she just gets a blank stare on her face when we ask her.

Happy New Year!

2007-12-31T13:34:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Grammy Carol for the lovely Christmas gifts received, the kids just loved them:

Jacob checking out the 1st Christmas photo album.

Zach discovering the world of Narnia, in the form of a pop up book (that is the most beautiful pop up book I have ever seen!)

Tristan explaining what sound a mammoth makes.

Kaitlynn twirling around with her purple *yes, that's right... purple* too-too (how do you spell that anyways?)

One of the scenes from the Narnia book.

The Lion from Narnia.

The 1st Christmas photobook that Grammy Carol put together... just lovely, especially with the ladybug paper!

If you are wondering if the kids are all wearing the same t-shirt, they are. They got their gift from Uncle Mark, who works for Disney Animation Studio, and the t-shirts are from this studio (they have Mickey on it, which just made everyone's day).

It has come to my attention that people I didn't expect to be reading my blog have been... I am honored and touched that these people enjoy this glimpse into our lives. So I am going to make an effort to keep posting at least every two days... oh my, this looks and smells like a New Years resolution doesn't ? Damn, and I don't particular like resolutions..... Some days I run out of things to write, and other days I have so much to say that its hard to limit things to one post. I will try to find a happy medium by posting every other day.

I wish you all the best for the New Year. I am hoping for a quiet year, to be honest... what are you wishing for?

I am such a twit sometimes

2007-12-27T15:13:00.000-05:00

I just now am going through all the stuff from China, and I finally got around to developing the camera that the orphanage used to take pics of Kaitlynn. Here they are!

The K striking a pose. Those pants and shoes are the ones
she was wearing when we met her.

I want to go over there, the light is better.

Fong Fong, Kaitlynn, Samuel (I think).

Ring around the rosy.

Kaitlynn with Fong Fong,
the other girl that we met at the same time as K,
and Samuel.

K and the boys, I think the one on the far right is Samuel.

This is the nanny that we met on Gotcha day.

Kaitlynn wearing one of the outfits I sent, with friends including Samuel.
It was too short!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T20:54:00.000-05:00

This would have been the best Christmas on record, if it weren't for the skunk that is presently in our driveway fixing on passing away there and the TV going wonky on its horizontal hold. Here are some choice pics from the fun. Merry Christmas everyone!

Getting Santa's plate ready.

Everyone get on the train to go to bed, Santa is coming!

Boys being boys... playing the modern day version of marbles, with Bakugans.

Opening up my first Christmas present - Minnie!

Diego rocks!

Taking a Nintendo break

Welcome to the annual Christmas day Garage League... literally. Don't believe me, look at the next picture.

The game was won by one goal, but one important player was missing
- Grammy Carol as goalie was not able to make the game!

Jacob talking on the phone to Grandmaman and Grandpapa Hammel, all the way out in S'toon.

All dressed up for Christmas dinner.

...but first I have to play with my brothers' hockey cards.

Daddy and me, after dinner.

Ruff.

Ode to a beater

2007-12-19T09:08:00.000-05:00

It is with a heavy heart that I must announce the passing of my Black and Decker beater. This was no ordinary beater, this was a member of our family for so many years. I remember when we first met, thanks to my Mom, who was convinced I would need you before I left for University way back in 1985. Through the years you put up with so much - at times, being left in your cupboard, ignored but not forgotten, then being overworked around Christmas time every year. This year was our best year together. You did so much for your family of 6, even though the years were starting to show. Your tines were bent, your white exterior was looking a little yellow, you would overheat a bit when you worked too hard, you would pant a bit in between sessions of baking and mixing. This is all to be expected from one who is getting on in years.

As all good things, it is your time to official rest where ever it is Black and Decker beaters go. There will only be one like you, you can never be replaced - they just don't make them like they used too. This is how I would like to remember you, hard at work and enjoying yourself. Rest in peace my friend of so many years.

Good news... kind of

2007-12-15T13:28:00.000-05:00

First off, recipes will come in a next post - I'm glad you are all impressed!

I wanted to jot down a quick note to let you all know that that damn satellite that I have been blasting for months has finally launched successfully. DH is working night shifts this week, which sucks but the good news is that he should be off on parental leave for a month as of tomorrow morning after his last shift. I nearly cried when he got home this morning and told me this... I am swearing at him under my breath now since I have a stress knot in my shoulders from taking care of the 4 kids all by myself this morning, again,... but if this is the last morning of this craziness, then I won't swear too much. This is quite amazing, especially considering a vast majority of the people he works with will be working over the holidays to get this bird working properly.

Also, I had the most amazing and pleasant day yesterday in spite of being alone with 4 kids and having to get downtown to the Children's, after 5 cms of snow fell, for 10 am. I was convinced that I would never make it on time especially considering the Victoria bridge was backed up for at least 30 minutes (or maybe longer... didn't hang around to find out, I went to the Jacques Cartier instead, after waiting 10 minutes or so), the fact that the truck is so big and hard to park (thank doG for a lovely parking attendant who parked it for me!), and that I needed to get a hospital card before heading upstairs (I get the number 40, and they are at number 3! Mistake, then took me right away). Now, on to the wonderful part: as I am trying to find the room number 1126 for K's Cleft Clinic appointment, I turn a corner and who should I see? A smiling Leanne with Tao Tao in tow! I wanted to weep... a happy adult face who looked just as surprised as I did. So we quickly made plans to meet after the appointment, for coffee. We spent I don't know how long in McDonald's talking and feeding the kids, but it was just lovely. I dropped them off at their house, and got to meet Gretchen (Hi puppy!) and I got cookies to boot! Then it was off to Colette's, and I got to meet her littlest angel who is just happy as can be. I tell you, I couldn't have planned this day it just needed to happen the way it did and I simply loved every minute of it.

I can hear my Mom sending me mental vibes.. "but what about the doctor's appointment?" K is just fine, she has "just" a regular cleft without any associated syndromes. She will need surgery asap to close the palate, but we need to go to ENT first and get her hearing evaluated to see if she needs tubes. She is speaking a lot, so I suspect her hearing is just fine (we have probably about 15 words in french now: auto, camion, pieton, velo, NO, Oui, Encore du lait, salle de jeux, Zachary, Jacob, Zorro, Maman, Papa, Leanne, Tao Tao, beau chien Zorro... ummm, I think there is more, but you get the picture). I think we are looking at March or April time frame, depending on the plastic surgeons availability. K will stay in the hospital for 2 or 3 days to recover too (I thought it was done on a day surgery basis, but its not). Then soft and mushy food for a bit - the doctor described it as getting your tonsils out, nothing more than that... to which I cringed at remembering Tristan vomiting and screaming in terrible pain for days on end (Thank doG for Nintendo... the only thing that kept him distracted completely from the pain... now what do I do for a 2.5 year old?). Hopefully, K isn't sensitive like Tristan is.

So what do you do when you are sick?

2007-12-14T19:03:00.001-05:00

This is what I do when I am sick - fever, cold, sore throat... yes, the whole kit:

Butter cookies, chocolate hearts, mice, butter cookies dipped in chocolate and more mice.

Close up of mice and butter cookies dipped in chocolate.

Mice close up.

Chocolate hearts.

Yes, I know, completely mental... but boy are they good!

Christmas tag

2007-12-12T18:56:00.000-05:00

So I've been tagged by brn2scrp, so here goes (keep in mind I am sick and delusional, so I can't be held responsible for weird answers... more on my sickies later):

01. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Santa Sacks - this dates from my mother, so we are going back at least 30 years here before recycling was fashionable. I still have some of the original bags she would use.

02. Real or artificial tree?
Real baby.

03. When do you put up the tree?
whenever we have time. This year it was after our Christmas party with other adoptive families but I have been known to put it up on Dec 23-24th.

04. When do you take the tree down?
When I can't stand the needles everywhere.

05. Do you like eggnog?
Love it... especially the new creamy one from President's Choice with some spicy rum.

06. Favorite gift received as a child?
Our family grandfather clock - weird, I know, but it was the center piece of our household.

07. Do you have a nativity scene?
Yes... somewhere... not very safe to put it out cause its made of porcelain.

08. Hardest person to buy for?
My Dad was always the hardest to buy for, hands down.

09. Easiest person to buy for?
Me... no the kids I guess.

10. Worst Christmas gift ever received?
Oh god... all right... here goes: I came home from university for Christmas, and saw a big huge box under the tree. I was so convinced it was the computer I had been begging for, I nearly went into shock when I opened the box and found... a desk lamp. The letdown was hard to hide, cause my parents were so proud and happy about the lamp. I still have the lamp today - its got my alumn crest on it. I doubt I would still have the computer.

11. Mail or Email Cards?
Hmmmm... whatever is easier for those sending cards. I just want one, regardless of how it comes.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?
Rudolf the rednose reindeer... yup, the old one made with clay animation. That abominable snowman still scares me to this day.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
September-ish, after school supplies and the like are done.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
ummm... don't think so.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Chocolate mice, shortbread cookies, turkey and cranberries.

17. Favorite Christmas song?
The Muppets Christmas cd... I kid you not, it wouldn't be Christmas without Kermit and Piggy fighting over Figgie pudding.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
Stay home!

19. Can you name Santa's reindeer?
Let's see, there's Dasher, Dancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitsen. I do recall the most famous reindeer of all. Am I close?

20. Do you have an Angel on top of the tree or a star?
Nope... won't fit this year, so its a series of bows.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
Christmas day, if we have the older boys. Otherwise Christmas is celebrated the 23rd, if the older boys are with their father.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
The rampant commercialism - in China, were they don't celebrate Christmas, they were putting up decorations and playing Christmas music everywhere. Why? I haven't a clue... but that was my clue to the power of commercialization.

I'm tagging Doris for this one. Now, off to do homework!

Christmas Party

2007-12-09T19:03:00.001-05:00

Thanks to Karen for organizing, and to all her elves! The Kids, at various times, had a great time. Mom and Dad are quite done for the day...

Tristan with Santa

Zach with Santa

Jacob, as elf number 2 3/4!

Kaitlynn, as elf 2 1/2

At the beginning of the festivities

NO!

2007-12-07T19:19:00.000-05:00

5 minutes till Dodo, Kaitlynn. ..... No!
Yes, Kaitlynn, 5 minutes till Dodo. ... No!

Kaitlynn, time for Dodo..... No!
Yes, come on sweetheart. ... No!

Nothing more beautiful to hear than a 2 year old saying No to me.

Oh, and did I mention that the dog that she was absolutely terrified of is now her best friend, to the point that she is feeding him from her hand her breakfast cereal? We have created a monster!

Its been a month!

2007-12-05T19:22:00.000-05:00

Today, it is exactly 1 month since we met Kaitlynn. How far we have come since that day, when she was so strong, grieving and so scared. She is a little under the weather with a nice little cold today, but she is still full of energy and silliness, as any 2 year old should be.

Here she is, first time in my arms at the Hotel on Nov 5:

And here she is goofing around with Jacob:

Can you see the difference? Look in her eyes, she is another child now.

Eureka!

2007-12-02T17:32:00.001-05:00

Nothing more needs to be said:

(Thanks to my Mom for outlining how to get this doggy integration to work... slowly!)

Experiences to share

2007-11-28T13:54:00.000-05:00

This post has been floating in my brain for weeks, and I think it needs to come out now. When I was pregnant the first time, I read everything I could get my hands on, talked to everyone I could about what it was like having a baby, was up on the latest nursery decorations, thought I was very well prepared for what was coming. Haha... well, didn't expect 3 days of labour ending in a c-section, didn't expect a massive blood infection that floored me and kept me in the hospital for over 2 weeks, didn't expect my hubby (who is now my ex) to care so little for me during the labour nor during the infection, and finally, couldn't believe it when they handed my Tristan and wondered "Ok, now what?".

You would think I would learn... but I haven't. I did exactly the same thing for this "birth" that I did with Tristan. Read everything, talked to everyone, thought I was organized and ready for anything and everything. NOT! Alot of the trip, I kept saying to Greg... why didn't anyone tell me this or that? Even if someone had, I don't think I would have been prepared for what has been going on, just as the other families I met in Beijing were not ready for what they were going through. What exactly am I talking about? Well, I figure I should share this for other adoptive parents - take it or leave it, its up to you, but somehow I think it will make me feel better that I have shared this somehow:

1. Your child will be nothing like you expected.

2. Someone else's child may look like an angel compared to yours who is spewing congee in the restaurant, but you do not know what happens behind closed doors or in the most public places you can think of (think airport arrivals area in Beijing). Don't compare!

3. Stay calm, at peace... your child will pick up on it, and will calm down if they are panicked. If you have never changed a diaper, and are panicking... calm down, deep breath... you can do this, its been done a million times by a million parents with no one loosing any limbs.

4. Your emotions will be all over the place, to the point that you think you are going crazy sometimes. This (I think) is normal.

5. The jetlag on the way back is just brutal. Have family and friends available to help you during the day, to keep your sanity and keep you fed. That's about all you can hope for during that first 10 days or so.

6. Plan to be away from LIFE as you know it for at least an additional 2 weeks beyond your travel. (This applies to those that have kids all ready; if you have no kids yet... say goodbye to your LIFE as you know it now, get ready to redefine normal as you will find it again in about 18 yrs or so... maybe).

7. The stares you will get from people in China will make your DH want to get violent, even though there is not one violent bone in his body.

8. Practice putting and taking diapers off a child in every inconvenient spot you can think of - back of taxis, in the tailgate of a van, on an airplane seat, child standing up in a filthy bathroom. Do this over and over again, until you can do it with your eyes closed, on zero sleep, in under 10 seconds. You think this is funny... I'm not kidding.

9. Practice having a diaper bag ready by the door, with snacks, change of clothing, toys, diapers, wipes, bottle. Bring it with you whenever you go out - leave it in the car - and ask hubby to take one thing out from time to time, so that you get into the habit of knowing just by weight and shift what is missing and add it promptly.

10. Say good bye to sex with hubby. Well, ok.. temporarily, like for the next several months or so.

11. Meds: well, everyone has their own system for this so I'm going out on a limb here. Carry only 1 painkiller/fever reducer and salinex with you on your person. I prefer Motrin/Advil personally cause it lasts up to 8 hrs, but you are fine with Tempra. Salinex is every mother's godsend - use it at the first sign of sniffles, and you will avoid ear infections, and the like. You will thank me for this one.

12. Do not go and get your child's medicare card the first week you are back. Do not go until the Wednesday of the following week - it opens at 10 am, get there by 9:45 am and you will be done at 10:30 am. (If you don't take my advice, you will end up spending 2 hrs wasting your time waiting for nothing cause you will leave empty handed with a screaming and unhappy child).

13. The beds in China are rock hard - you will get used to them, but you will love your bed when you get home.

14. Locate the nearest Starbucks or Haagen Daz restaurants (yes, that's right ... an ice cream from heaven RESTAURANT). Go in case of home sickness, or if you want to see some North Americans from time to time. You will get nods of acknowledgments that will make things a bit easier.

15. Be proud of yourself for going to such a foreign country and making it back. (I'm not there yet... still a bit shell shocked).

16. Your child in China is not the same child you will live with at home.

17. Bring some good books to read and be prepared to read them in the most uncomfortable spots while your child sleeps at night or during nap time - bathroom, hallway just outside your room, closet (I kid you not... I needed light, and the closet light was the only light available).

18. Give yourself time to adjust and to fall in love with your child. Accept the fact that it may happen quickly or not for a while... either way, its the right pace for you and her.

19. People will say all sorts of lovely things to you about what wonderful people you are to adopt a child. You can correct them and say something to the effect that its actually a selfish thing on your part cause you wanted this child for xyz reasons. Be prepared for the "are you growing a third head on your shoulder" look - people who do not adopt don't get it, and you can't change the world to make them understand what you have gone through to get your child.

20. Relax, don't sweat the small stuff. Your child will in fact be able to eat by themselves and brush their own teeth by the age of 18 yrs. And you will, one day, be able to have a good night's sleep.

1 week home all ready

2007-11-24T20:02:00.000-05:00

Time goes so slowly, then seems to go so fast. Its all ready been one week at home with the K, and it seems almost like forever. I got a bit of break today, running around by myself this way and that way - shopping at Walmart at 9:30 am with the parking lot FULL, hockey practice for the boys, grocery shopping, skate sharpening, visit from our friend Ernest - which helped me to re-tune myself. Skating tomorrow morning will also do me a world of good.

This week has been basically one of trying to rest and not exert too much effort in any one thing, but pacing myself and pacing Kaitlynn. Where she hated the playroom, she loves it as long as one of her brothers is in there with her; where she was terrified of the dog, she came up and petted his behind this morning, while Jacob was doing the same thing; where she had never seen snow, she became quite intimate with it this morning by falling over twice head first into it... damn boots, how can anyone stand in those things, let alone walk in them! She continues to eat just about everything we put in front of her, except ice cream (go figure) - I try to make at least one thing that would be for her comfort food (congee, noodles, dumplings, fried pork in pineapple) and that seems to be a nice balance for her. She is very smart - all ready saying "TERMINER" when she has eaten everything in her plate, "Beau chien Zorro" (mommy brainwashing her to believe that Zorro isn't so bad), and the standard auto, velo, camion, bus from Beijing. She is quite literally a sponge, and repeats everything we say. Her gross motor skills are getting better too - she is working on pulling herself up from lying down, just using her abs, she hops around like a bunny, and the stairs are still wobbly but she does like doing them.

I have a hilarious video of the kids which I will figure out how to post soon, so for now... good bye first week, I can hardly wait to see what week 2 holds for us all.

More random pics

2007-11-22T16:52:00.001-05:00

Sorry folks, but I am too tired to post much but I will put up some photos to give you an idea of our little adventure. Kaitlynn is slowly settling in, loves her brothers to bits and vice versa, while I try to recover from jetlag that includes nausea from 7 am - 7 pm.. not a good scene for me right now.

A little boy who followed us along while we visited the Park in Beijing. He was quite the character!

Seniors keeping nimble - writing with sponges and water.

Seniors getting together for a jam session.

This flamboyant lady, dancing away to 50's hits made me think of my Mom - carefree and just giving to the groove.

A lovely final scene from the park in Beijing.

Arrival of Leanne and Tao Tao at the airport. We think that the Tao and the Princess look like brother and sister. The boys were all smitten.

Three monkeys hanging out at the airport, waiting for Maman and the K.

Sleepless in Montreal

2007-11-20T05:46:00.001-05:00

Well, its hit - the jetlag is just terrible. I think I have slept all of 1 hour tonight, and all I keep thinking is today is going to be hell as DH is back at work today and I will be with the K all day alone without a sane adult around. K by the way was up from about midnight till 3ish, playing quietly in her crib. Then she finally went to sleep but by that time I was wide awake with no possibility for falling asleep.

Finally, here are some pics from the trip:

Daddy's Gotcha moment

Posing for the camera, all in pink!

About to scale the Great Wall... you aren't a man, supposedly, until you have scaled it.
I guess K and I are now men!

Cheeerio break

Summer palace.. in the rain.

Well this is it...

2007-11-16T04:43:00.001-05:00

About to go for our last dinner in Beijing. Almost all packed, and so ready to head home. Not looking forward to the flight, but as its the only way to get her home to her brothers there is no point in complaining about it. I wanted to travel light, but its just not happening for me - I wanted one backpack, but now I have mine and her's full of the stuff that she absolutely needs on a 12+ hr flight.

I am very tired, very much ready to see all your faces and to get some news (I can't see my blog nor the comments left), and to breath in the crisp Montreal air again. Beijing has been interesting, and thanks to my guide she found just the right mix of things for us to do. We went to a park today and just walked around, listening to the birds singing, the older folk dancing away in the middle of the square, watched little kids run around with bums showing, and just got some sun onto our faces. It was a good way to put an end to this adventure. I believe this is the hardest thing I have done, after Jacob's birth, and while words swirl in my head at night when I sit in front of the computer nothing comes out. I will feel better once I am at home, so till then, hang tight everyone ... I'm sorry I can't write more, but I am just completely drained and need to get the little one some food and to bed.

From China, this is the S&K show signing off. Zaijian!

I'm blogging, I'm blogging!

2007-11-13T20:38:00.001-05:00

Well, it's finally come to this. The homebound husband is blogging. Yep, another first on this fortnight of many firsts.

Stefanie has asked me to say that she misses everyone terribly, and she's sorry she hasn't posted or emailed but she's been very busy. Since the last post, the doctor has been seen (nothing untoward found!), documentation has been delivered to the embassy, much tea has been drunk, and the Great Wall has been scaled.

On the medical side of things, little Miss 'Anmei measures 88cm long (in the 50th percentile) and 13kg (in the 75th percentile) and is quite healthy. The doctor told Stefanie that with the type of cleft she has, she can be prone to heart murmurs, but none were heard. We are all very relieved!

And our little girl is just full of surprises. She has started repeating Mama's french ("velo", "auto", for example) and, most amazingly "Kaitlynn 'Anmei"!

Stefanie told me of how when they started climbing the Great Wall, their guide stopped at the first tower, but Mama and 'Anmei kept on going. They were past the second tower and halfway up toward the third when Mama had put on the brakes and make a very determined little girl turn around and head back down. A quick study and strong willed. Are we ever in trouble...

After delivering documentation at the embassy yesterday, they went to a tea ceremony and sampled many, many teas. Unfortunately, as old age creeps up on me, the first thing to go is my memory, so you'll have to forgive me if I can't relate the details of which types of teas they tasted. Let's just say that Stef enjoyed herself immensely.

Now, on to the most important things: photos! Yep, Baba brought home the digital camera card and downloaded the photos from the first week to the computer. So, without further delay, here goes.

The first picture of Mama and daughter:

Mama sure knows how to dress her little girl:

'Anmei and Baba after climbing a long series of stairs up toward Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Memorial in Nanjing. Notice the spring in her step!

Mama, 'Anmei, and our Nanjing guide, Juliette, near the entrance to Confucious' Temple:

And finally a few photos we received from the orphanage director, showing 'Anmei with some of her friends. (Sorry for their blurry nature, but they are photos of photos. The originals are still with Stef in Beijing.)

Well, I think that's about enough for now. I don't want to exert myself too much the first time out. :-) And jetlag still has a firm grip on my sleeping patterns, so I should start thinking about getting some sleep (although thinking about sleeping and actually getting some sleep are two completely different concepts for me right now).

Needless to say, we are all anxiously waiting for a very special homecoming. As we say at home, "juste 4 do-dos" (and actually only 3 more, for those in Beijing and already in the middle of a Wednesday morning).

Greg

A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step

2007-11-11T02:31:00.000-05:00

Actual Post Time: 3:30 pm, Beijing

And I think I am step 2 now! DH just left to return home (Mom, the cavalry is on the way!) amongst many, many tears... and not from my Kaitlynn as she was fast asleep. I was quite beside myself upon his departure, and I using this blog to get myself out of this funk. Fear of the unknown is powerful, and seems to consume me these days. So bear with me while I cope.

We left Nanjing on Saturday, again with tears as we were leaving our wonderful guide Juliette. She was a joy the whole time and it was difficult to say Zaijian. The plane trip, shall we say, was a challenge. Kaitlynn has emerged from her shell and decided to get mad at Mama in the Beijing airport, and get mad at Baba in the washroom at thousands of feet over China, while he tried to change her soaked diaper and clothing (note to self, always change a diaper BEFORE you get on the plane!). Baba just got high pitched screaming where I got hitting and struggling and kicking. Very hard time, but I am glad that it has happened and we are now able to move on... I think. We were greated by our new guide, Raphaelle, who is bright and organized and cheery. We got wisked to our amazing hotel, which makes our hotel in Nanjing pale in comparaison. We finally gave in and ate Mcdonald's for the first time - Kaitlynn loves french fries!- and put her to bed at 6 pm and we were out by 7 pm, till 5ish this morning. The day was spent quietly, eating brunch, walking outside and getting ready for DH's departure.

As I said, Kaitlynn has been a joy - still quiet, but loves to play, eat, sleep (hot damn! seeing some other parents around us, we realize how lucky we are that we can get 10+ hrs of sleep if we want or need!) and be tickled! It was heartbreaking to watch her get so mad at me, but I held strong and spoke softly to her and held her till it passed.

This week hopefully will pass quickly as I miss DH horribly all ready. I miss my boys even more and can't believe how my heart is torn into pieces - one piece in China and the other back home.

Last day in Nanjing

2007-11-08T20:27:00.000-05:00

Actual Time: 9:30 am Friday morning, Nanjing

What a beautiful child we have! She is a dream and a half. Calm, quiet, loves to play, loves her baba big time, giggle monster who loves to be tickled, loves to eat (oh my... time to get a third fridge, me thinks!), does not wake up well from naps and needs to slowly greet the day while looking at photos from the orphanage. Her sadess time is in the morning when she first wakes up, and sees us. We think she misses her friends horribly and so I have started giving her the photos of the orphanage staff and friends, and within 5 minutes she is telling us about the exploits with her and Mingxi - they seem to have been quite the couple! She loves wearing pretty things, and I have of course been obliging her :o) Our lovely guide Juliette exclaims every morning how beautiful Anmei is and you should see the lovely smile that comes across her face when she hears it. Baths are going well, and her skin and hair are lovely and soft - she has extremely thick hair, and our guide Juliette has exclaimed at how shiny it is. She smells like a baby, with the pudgy folds of a well loved child. The orphanage obviously treated her with love and kindness, and taught her many things (we often hear her singing nursery songs, counting to 5 in Mandarin and just jabbering away with much seriousness!).

We unfortunately could not visit the orphanage, nor her finding place. It seems that the orphanage is moving and that the road to it is under construction and hence its very difficult to get to it. The staff did take a full camera of pictures and reassured us that it would give us a good idea of what the orphanage was like and be a good keepsake for Kaitlynn. They did invite us back for a future visit.

On the flip side, the pollution is so thick here its constricting. We went into the mountains yesterday (Mausoleum) and what a good thing that was to do. The cold weather has arrived and you would thing that would help the pollution lift, but it actually makes it stay. There is a constant haze now, that blocks the sun - think of Blade Runner and you have a good idea of what the future holds for this lovely city... so sad.

The people are very curious about us, but they keep their distance. I am quite the center of the looks and some days its a bit harder than others. I am glad I brought my sunglasses to cover my eyes and give me some privacy!

We are a bit sad to be leaving Nanjing, one reason being that we must leave our lovely guide behind, Juliette (BTW, Leanne, Juliette extends a "Gros Bonjour" your way and speaks often of Taotao's exploits and his lovely and infectious disposition). She must stay in Nanjing to greet another family that arrives Saturday, and we fly off to Beijing having all the necessary paperwork done and in our hands. Like I said, Juliette is a joy to be with and she has taken us to a variety of lovely restaurants that have helped my poor stomach calm down. We have discovered the real Nanjing thanks to her, and she has brought Anmei out of herself on a couple of occasions... how special Juliette is, words fail me. We will miss her horribly when we set off tomorrow.

Postcard from China

2007-11-07T22:40:00.000-05:00

I talked to the little family in Nanjing tonight. At times it was hard to decipher what was being said to me because of the joyful noise Chunmei was making in the background, bubbling and chirping away. They had just come back to their room after eating breakfast downstairs and were heading out to tend to legal matters, according to daddy.

Stefanie asked if I would pass on a few current bits of information as there have been technical issues accessing the internet for nearly 48hrs.

They spoke of feeling blessed that Chunmei is healthy, intelligent, beautiful and such an easy-going baby. Stefanie and her St. Greg are actually able to greet the day in a leisurely, civil fashion, drinking coffee and showering because Chunmei takes an hour to wake up!

Monday they went shopping for shoes but found only one pair that almost fit her, an EU size 24 while Stefanie thinks she is more likely a 23, Cdn 6.5 or 7. Somehow they heard that we had a major winter storm here today, as reports were that 35" fell on Massachusetts, so a worried mommy wants me to go out and buy little winter boots. I don't even have time to check the weather these days. I think I would have noticed 35".

They have taken some wonderful photos which they will have to post from home. One photo she especially likes shows the orphanage director posed with two nannies holding Chunmei, and Mingxi, who is also doing well.

Tuesday the little group went to the Confucious temple to play in a park and mingle with everyday Chinese, relaxing and enjoying their wonderful, natural spaces. The hotel where they are staying is in a livelier, more upscale commercial district.

Stefanie's tummy has been something of a challenge and she is guessing the fishy smells that seem to abound are sparking her seafood allergy; however, she wisely chose to pack oatmeal in her luggage so looks to her comfort food of choice to keep the inner turbulence under control.

So, now you're up to date. *smile*

Stefanie's mom

Hush, now....

2007-11-07T14:26:00.000-05:00

I see a light in the sky
Oh, it's almost blinding me
I can't believe
I've been touched by an angel with love

~c.dion

She's Got Us!

2007-11-05T07:01:00.000-05:00

Actul Post Time: November 5 2007 8 pm, Nanjing Time

WHAT A DAY THIS HAS BEEN! I so wish we could figure out how to get pictures on line for you all to see this little (hmpf) munchkin, who is now our daughter.... she is just wonderful, to put it mildly. I will recap the day's events first:

We woke up at about 6:30 am, before the 7 am alarm (!). I slept really well last night, thanks to the Melatonin, but DH didn't this time. We were so jazzed to get up and go that we were ready about 45 minutes before we had to leave. Our wonderful guide, Juliette, met us at 9:30 am while trying to get a hold of our driver... who was sleeping in the bus, in front of the hotel. It was slightly comical, as he raced around half awake getting us into his bus (its more a minivan, but they call it a bus). We then sped off from the hotel, dashing through insane traffic (DH called it The Chaos theory: there is order in the chaos, we just can't see it! As a mathematician, who has studied Chaos theory, I loved his analogy, especially coming from a physicist... they all believe, my DH included, that physics is THE science to study, not math... but I digress into an ongoing argument between us). 15 minutes into this drive through Nanjing streets, Juliette on the phone with this person and that person (the kids had arrived!), the driver driving franctically while calling this person and that person on his cell phone, the driver jumps out of our bus and starts talking to a cabby. Juliette finally confirms that the driver is lost and does not know how to take us to Civil Affairs. Ahhhhhh, lovely... the mantra that Formons has taught us came in handy "Stay calm, be pleasant and patient." Over four lanes of heavy traffic, our driver does a U turn, heads back the way we came and then somehow gets us to where we have to go and I have no clue how he did it. Juliette in the meantime is pointing out how beautiful some of the trees are. The driver then tries to pull up to the entrance, but the guy in charge of parking stands in front of our bus and they start arguing. Our driver says something to the effect of "in your face, I am going forward" and continues forward until he drops us off at the door (the parking guy is fine, he got out of the way.. eventually).

We jump out of the bus, grap our stuff and follow Juliette inside. She then turns left very quickly and then walks into this office, and there is Kaitlynn Chunmei (with a friend)! Oh my, oh my... here we thought we had to sign this and that paper and then we would see our daughter, but no, here she was. I immediately got down to 2 yr old level (on my knees), and started saying "Ni hao, ni hao Chunmei" and she just looked at me with those beautiful brown eyes. The nanny with her got her to say "Ni hao mama" and then grap my fingers. She then said "Ni hao baba". She then backed away, a little scared of what she had just done (poor baby). The nanny then distracted her by breaking into song and dance, which put a big smile on her face. The rest is a bit of blur for me, but somehow she ended up glued to DH and refused to go to anyone else for over 2 hours, and this during our picture taking too ( she was not pleased with this in the least). We got a chance to meet the Orphanage Director, the Maitren of the nanny's and one of the two nanny's who looked after Chunmei. We presented our gifts to everyone, and got "Thank You" from them all (in English). Thank Heaven's I had extra ones, cause I didn't expect so many people! We got a chance to ask a few questions (is she potty trained? Yes, but she wears a diaper, and we are supposed to ask her every hour if she has to go... to which DH queried, how are we supposed to ask her?, what does she eat? everything... more on this later, does she nap? yes after lunch... then it was broken off and explained that we would have a chance to ask more questions tomorrow).

Headed back to the hotel, which was a complete blur. In the room, she clung to DH for at least 2 hours, and then slowly, ever so slowly, she started to play. Then she sat with me and let me hold her and feed her. She was in three layers, and we wanted to get her cooled down - not something she wanted to do, but we finally got the sweater off, and then when she understood that she could hold it, she relaxed. We then got the other two layers off, which were drenched in sweat (poor thing) and into some PINK PJ's.. which she could not get over. She kept looking at the clasps and then at her tummy! She then played quietly, immitating things I would do, but not saying a word. Oh, I should explain that the nanny told Juliette that Chunmei (or Anmei, as she was called in the orphanage) is very outgoing and full of life which we were not seeing. So, then Juliette come over to our room at 3 pm, and started playing with her... and we saw the real Chunmei burst out! What a character she has - I told you Colette, I saw character in her visa pics... she has tonnes of it. She giggles when you tickle her, and lets out these big guffaws when she does something funny. She is stacking sponges now perfectly, as she figured out that if she squeeshes them together they stay put. She loves books, and asks all sorts of questions about what is pictured. She can say Zorro's name when she sees his pictures! We are working on the boys names.

We went down for the buffet dinner, and boy does she eat well. So we have eat, poop (yes, she pooped... and the hardware is the required kind for HER!), and now she is asleep! She is devine, sturdy (she must weigh over 30 lbs.. 24 mths clothing "just" fits, I would get her more 2 or even 3's - no news on shoes yet - she has on a pair that says "25", but I think they are too big for her - I saw a pair of magic dancing shoes yesterday, which are pink and sparkly all over that we will go and get tomorrow afternoon), a joy, intelligent, funny, loves her daddy very much, and just wonders at me. The nannies have prepared her well for her new life - she all ready calls us mama and baba, anmei ma which I believe means we are hers... we certainly are!

I am in seventh heaven... and DH is fast asleep :o)

Adrift in a Broken Time Zone

2007-11-04T00:27:00.000-04:00

I was just about to post my message below when I noted a first report from the road! I could re-write but I have an early morning so I'll leave it as is, redundancy and all.

They arrived in Nanjing Friday exhausted but exhilarated, dropped their luggage and called immediately to reassure themselves that we were all well They reported that it had been a long, draggy flight broken up by 5 hours standing first on one foot, then the other in the Beijing airport. The adrenaline that had kept them ticking away through their final days at work, final re-packing and weighing challenges, as well as the demands of Hallowe'en (Stefanie commented, “Yup, that's all that was missing.”) had by now left them and with assurance from me that we are alive and happy, they were ready to lie down and sleep.

Unfortunately for all of us, most of the first conversation was taken up addressing a computer issue. Think of it: on the other side of the world and at considerable expense, Greg invoked his trouble-shooting skills so we could all communicate. I've not used a Mac since '85 and everything looks different from my PC at home. This was much bigger issue, however. It was a network gone wonky.

This morning as we enjoying a raucous breakfast preparing for several over-lapping hockey games, the second call came: Stefanie and St. Greg (you saw those randomly placed polka dots, right?) had walked around the main streets near their Nanjing hotel and both had slept for 13hrs-plus, They were beginning to feel ready for the next phase. There was a possibility that today could have been Kaitlynn's “Gothca' Day,” however I have not heard from them so cannot confirm. Perhaps they are just too busy holding their little daughter close, to write.

The three boyos are very active. I didn't have any boys so these past few days have been, ...erm, life in some parallel universe? Though I know downtown Montreal well, the South Shore is uncharted territory. I got lost the first day going to and from the Space Agency where the baby stays most days and, furthermore, it takes much longer to do anything in a large, cosmopolitan city. Garbage is separated into different piles from where I live. Remember all those packing materials from the last shopping trips to Ikea? And the water taps are reversed, as they could be in Australia so I take particular care starting the hot water to bathe the guys.

Does anyone know if Zorro is allowed to sleep on the sofa or where the bathing suits are for our early morning lesson tomorrow? I'd be grateful to hear from you.

Stefanie's mom

We are in Nanjing!

2007-11-03T23:12:00.000-04:00

Well we made it after 30+ hours of travelling. Slept for 14 hrs or so yesterday, and last night I couldn't sleep. DH is doing just fine though.

Its beautiful in Nanjing. Very cosmopolitan, modern, lots of shops and very good prices. We went to Walmart to get diapers and we paid $3 for a pack of 16 diapers! We also found a couple of toys for Kaitlynn which we hope she will like.

Gotcha is tomorrow at 10 am, alone. The other couple that we were supposed to travel with never made it, and our guide is now on her way to meet us this afternoon (she was waiting in Shanghai to meet them while we had travelled directly from Beijing to Nanjing on Friday night). I am disappointed for Kaitlynn that she won't have a playmate while we go through this process, but we will try to find a park nearby - we appear to be in a concrete jungle, and its proving difficult to find grass! Any suggestions Karen?

Unfortunately, we won't be able to post pictures till we get back home, but I will try to keep posting every so often to let everyone know what is going on. If I can't get through, my mom will keep the posts going (good news: all children appear to still have their limbs attached and the dog is still with us, and my mom is doing a great job!)

This is it!

2007-10-31T22:25:00.000-04:00

Yup, that's right... we are leaving tomorrow! I am exhausted. DH just got off shift and is running from one thing to another. Luggage is pretty much all packed, and weighs in at exactly 44 lbs each. Our carry on is over weight by 5 lbs, but I think its the 10 apples I am planning to eat from Montreal to Vancouver to Beijing that are causing that anomaly.

Hopefully we will be able to post from Nanjing. Stay posted.... if not, my Mom has graciously agreed to post stuff if we can't connect.

OMG

TA DAHHHHH!

2007-10-28T23:07:00.000-04:00

Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present the J&K room (drum roll please):

The blank space above the headboards is for their names, we just have run out of poop now and we need to go to bed.

WE ARE LEAVING IN 3 DAYS! OMG!

P.S. Compression bags rock!

The room is painted, dots and all!

2007-10-26T23:04:00.001-04:00

Thank you to my lovely husband who put in 6 back breaking nights of painting (I helped for two nights). There is candy floss pink, hot pink, dark blue and my personal favorite, purple dots of various sizes all around the room! Now we are exhausted and we have to get some sleep tonight(we have had maybe 3-5 hours of sleep in the past couple of nights), cause tomorrow is IKEA day! More pics of the J&K room on Sunday, after the IKEA building party - everyone welcome and BYOAK (bring your own allen key, silly)!

By the way, the lovely green border is just masking tape holding the plastic down and protecting the borders.

Don't forget to check the travel itinerary, that we got today on your right hand side!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH part deux

2007-10-24T22:31:00.001-04:00

All righty folks, this is part deux of our crazy life since we got TA;
1. Airplane tickets booked: check
2. Tonnes of money spent on medication: check
3. Tonnes of money spent on money: (not that much actually with the exchange) check
4. Tonnes of money spent on stuff we need (backpack, money belt, food, etc): check
5. Second car returned to dealer (we are officially a 1 car family!): check
6. Tonnes of phone calls made (Visa, M/C, Bank, Peds, Children's, etc): check
7. Paperwork for work signed off (I am officially off from Oct 31 till Sept 8!): check
8. Christmas presents bought (I am not going into Walmart with Kaitlynn!): check
9. Room painted, and painted, and painted... and painted (but not done... how do you feel about doing Polka Dots Mom?): check

What's left to do:
1. Immigration Quebec (for some reason that is the one thing that stresses me the most!)
2. Photocopy everything in double and quadruple... and kill a few trees at the same time
3. Get Travel Health Insurance for Kaitlynn
4. Get only car to the dealer for a tune up, so my Mom can drive without fear... well at least that the car won't break down on her... I can't be held responsible for Mtrl drivers, now can I?
5. Travel Meeting
6. IKEA!
7. IKEA Building party!
8. Order Panda Phone
9. Unpack and repack... and unpack and repack.... yes, I have too much stuff in my suitcase all ready... and my stuff isn't in there yet!
10. Hug my boys every chance I get, before I go - I am going to miss them horribly.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

2007-10-23T08:54:00.000-04:00

WE GOT TA WE GOT TA WE GOT TA

It arrived yesterday, but we didn't get the news until 10 pm cause we were at our Mandarin course. Funny, I really didn't want to be at the course last night - I guess somewhere I was picking up vibrations that our lives are about to get hectic!

We are still figuring out when we may leave - it may be as soon as Nov 2 or a week later on Nov 9, depending on another family (if they can wait an extra week or not). We did not sleep last night - if we leave Nov 2, DH's job in not going to like it one bit.

Sit tight everyone, will let you know when and how as soon as I can!

WE'RE COMING KAITLYNN - HANG ON!

Too funny...

2007-10-19T20:50:00.000-04:00

So here I am feeling blue, and I pop over to a friends page on facebook's and come across this... put a massive smile on my face! Enjoy!

Note: AC/DC rocks!

Latest pics

2007-10-18T09:26:00.003-04:00

Really late for work but I wanted to post these (Grandparents, don't worry I have copies for you that I will be sending along in the mail). Isn't he just gorgeous, our little angel, aka Munch?!

Oh my... I've been tagged

2007-10-17T16:38:00.000-04:00

Wow, this is hard!

10 things that are splurge-worthy:

10. Coats!?! (I seem to have like 20 of them)
9. Cut flowers from our free trade florist, whom my husband knows on a first name basis!
8. STARBUCKS! (since we have so few here)
7. Big bin of Leggo... (thinking of Christmas)
6. Haircut and colour (right with you on this one Nathalie!)
5. A beautiful dress in size 12 months to 3 yrs!
4. Anything Tilley
3. Books (I want to go just like Jackie O did, surrounded by her family and all her books)
2. A night out with hubby, with kids (can anyone say St-Hub?!)
1. A night out with hubby, no kids ( hit some balls, then Le Fondue Caquelon or Baton Rouge for dinner, then a movie, then... well you know..)

10 things that aren't splurge-worthy:

1. A BBQ (for some reason we can't find $200-$300 to buy one, but we can find $800 to buy new clothing in one shot!... o'k, $900... oh, all right then, $947.74 at Tilley... I am going to China for 2 weeks and I have a weight limit of 40 lbs for one bag and I am packing for two people in that one bag.. that's my excuse and I am sticking to it!)
2. Remote control cars - that break after one use!
3. Lovely Souris Mini clothing for my eldest - he just destroys knees in pants!
4. Rubber boots
5. Rubbers... and yes, you know what I mean... (did you know that you can get them at Maxi?)
6. $300 snowsuit for kids - can get the same one at a Fripperie for $50!
7. Volvo XC 90 (oh, boo woo for me... I WANT ONE!)
8. $227.85 to buff my leased car one week before it has to be returned... to avoid getting a new paint job for it after driving it for 4 years (supposedly now its o'k since I paid them to buff it!)
9. Gift bags more than a $1 - recycle the ones you have!
10. $300 shoes from Brown's... oh boo woo again...

Thanks Nathalie that was fun! While working out this afternoon, I got inspired: I have all of my Dad's old passports and I thought I could do some wonderful scrap pages with them, showing him at the time and his travels. I would like to put them up on the wall though, in a memory box. Now, to go and dig through my papers and stuff to find what I have in mind. Hope this inspires you!

Now, to tag... Doris and Julie, consider yourselves tagged!

P.S. No TA yet.

Been a crazy week

2007-10-12T11:30:00.000-04:00

Emotions all over the place, up and down, and up and down this week.

First off, DH has had a terrible time trying to argue his case for leaving for 7 days to go to China with me. Finally, this morning his bosses agreed to let him go in a three week window for 7 days. If we don't get TA by Oct 26 or Nov 2, DH can't go. If we get TA by Oct 19th, DH won't be able to go either as we would probably have to leave by Nov 2 and the other family that is adopting from the same orphanage would probably want to leave Nov 2 (and who wouldn't?). What is making things so very difficult for me is if I were to go into labour on Dec 8, there is no way DH would have been told "No, you can't leave. We need you operationally.", he would have been told "GO!". There is this general lack of understanding about adoption that really hurts me - this is our child and we have to do what we have to do for her benefit and for the families benefit, regardless of how she comes into our lives.

Second, finances are horrible. If we had been travelling in December we could have afforded it. As it stands, it looks like using points to fly over is way too complicated and not feasible. We have a ball park idea now of how much things may cost, which is really nice to know (thanks Leanne!) but scary at the same time. So we have been spending every night trying to figure out how to pay for all this and we are left with going into our RRSP's. It sucks, but I think in the end we want our daughter and it doesn't matter the cost. I should point out that we have a certain amount of debt too and we are going to pay that off as well, so that we can support our family by my being off till next September (yes, that's right, I would be off 11 months with my kids! they can come straight home after school, come home for lunch and no more weeks upon weeks of summer camp!) and then maybe, just maybe, only work part time when I get back!

Third, Jacob had a really weird allergic reaction to something. We don't know what it was that caused it, but he broke out in hives all over his body. Within 15 minutes of having benadryl, the hives were gone and he felt better... but what a scary thing to see, and poor Jacob got horribly scared too. Now, we are asking the daycare to document everything he is eating so that we can try and track what has happened in case he reacts again.

Fourth, Tristan is having a very hard time at school. His ezcema is getting better now, and we are trying to allievate his stress at home as much as we can but you can tell that he is wiped out.

Fifth, Zach on the other hand is doing just peachy at school. Green lights all the way! And he got his certificate for tying his shoes all by himself!

Like I said, emotions all over the place this week, from happy to sad to frustrated to "what the?" back to happy. Tell me when the station comes up, I want to get off this rollercoaster for a bit!

Miracle #2 and Giving Thanks

2007-10-05T16:51:00.000-04:00

Miracle #1 a, b, c, and d are the Boys and Kaitlynn.

Miracle #2 is my Mom. Guess who has just offered to put herself up for sacrifice to the Triple Boy Threat while we, (yes, I said WE) travel to China to get Kaitlynn? Daddy will be there for Gotcha thanks to my Mom! I am literally speechless... we got our miracle!

Greg and I are celebrating 4 years together by going back to the Chinese restaurant, in China town, where our magical journey together began. We are then going to see the Lanterns at the Botanical gardens.

We have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving weekend.

And its off....

2007-10-04T15:51:00.000-04:00

Crazy, crazy past couple of days. First off, I am sick as a dog so I am in a haze and I figure I am making mistakes that are costing me some effort and some time. For instance, had to run to FUF and took the wrong bridge! I was just blindly driving into downtown not realizing that I had just taken the longest possible way to get there. So by the time I get to the office, I am in a pissy mood so I just walk in, sit down at the large table, and then this lovely lady comes out of nowhere and looks at me like I am a crazy person... "do I know you? what are you doing here?"... oh... sorry, I'm Stefanie... oh, HI, its nice to finally see you... ummm, you are? Pauline! Oh my... did I feel like an idiot for a few seconds.

So, the notary has been visited and our paperwork is signed and delivered to us in quadruplet. This has been given to FUF so it goes to the embassy and to be translated. Visa pictures taken, visa application form filled out, LOA signed, travel spec'ed out and investigation into whether I can use my points is ongoing, travel docs filled out, passports located, care package put together and everything has been delivered to FUF this afternoon. Oh, and did I mention that the big T is sick too, so he has been a trooper this afternoon while we drove from Marieville all the way back to Montreal and then home.

The end result of all this, is everything that needs to be done for now, and the LOA will be sent off tomorrow which is when we officially start counting down for the TA to arrive. Also, its official DH is not going to China with me - no money, can't leave the kids alone for 2 weeks, damn satellite launch pre-launch exercises are in our window for travel. He's starting to accept it slowly and so am I, but its still disappointing.

LOA DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-10-03T13:43:00.000-04:00

It came, it came, it came!!!!!!!!! We have our LOA, and my, what a lovely document it is! I wish I could put it up here on the blog, but I am not certain that that would be appreciated... so you will have to trust me that its a beautiful document.

The big T and I went and picked it up at the agency last night. I have to go and get my Visa picture taken and fill out some other info, then drop that stuff off and the signed letter by Friday. Hopefully I can get a care package together to send at the same time too!

It looks like I will travel either Nov 9 or 16th. Someone is trying to convince me that its more like I will go before Halloween, but I am not holding my breath. Besides, I think I will have a coronary if I have to go that fast! The next thing we need now is the TA (travel authority) and then I go! OMG... I'm going to China to get Kailtynn in like 6 weeks... O. M. G.

Packages in the air

2007-10-02T11:08:00.000-04:00

So there appears to be packages coming to a variety of agencies - this through RQ - so could there be referrals for families mixed with LOA's and TA's? Who knows... I'm actually quite Zen about it today, by aiming for Century Club (day 100). We hit 75 today, so 25 more days to go! I think its the fever and the flu I have that are making me Zen and delirious.

Had a major run in with our sitter last night, which is weighing heavily on me today. She got quite mad at me for trying to explain that we want to go a bit easy on the big T for a while cause he is very stressed out at school. She lost it with me, saying she would resign if we had no discipline in the house and that the boys are playing us. He just needs a firm hand and to concentrate, and that by doing what we are suggesting, we will end up with no end of trouble. DH managed to bring the situation back to a normal speaking tone, and she quieted down but not before telling me that I was not speaking to her respectfully as she is my senior (I told her that I did not appreciate how she was speaking to me). I asked her to leave politely as it was late. She is supposed to come back tonight, and I am left wondering what to do. I don't like being given an ultimatum - don't do this or I will resign - and these are our kids and our family, and it really isn't her place to yell and get mad at me for asking her to follow along with us to help our child out. Trying to give myself the 24 hr cool down before I decide anything, but as I type this I am getting all angry again. Stay tuned...

One word for you all

2007-09-30T20:14:00.000-04:00

FRIPERIE!!!!!

I have discovered Friperies! OMG... what fun I can have in there, for such little money. Every time I mention to someone that I have discovered one, they invariably tell me about another one that I didn't know about! Its turning into a quest for me - I have found pants for the big T for $3, in perfect condition; I have found beautiful winter clothing, I'm talking jacket/pants/mitts/hat/scarf, that looks like it has never been worn for $50 (where the retail price would be $250). I am addicted to this new way of retail therapy. I haven't taken any pics of it yet, but if anyone is interested I'll do it. I just had to share my latest adventures.

We are, by the way, no closer to being ready. The J&K room is still not painted, even though the guys were supposed to come over this afternoon to paint. We canceled last night cause we haven't had time to clean out the room, tape it off, or even buy the paint! I should say that Dh just got back from out west, so its understandable that nothing happened cause it takes two to move furniture around and I couldn't tape off stuff, cause by the time I had time to do it it was like 10 o'clock at night. So maybe next weekend we will find time - its going to be white walls (did you know that there are like 73 different kinds of white?), with multi-colored polka dots (think primary colors). Should be fun with the pink and blue beds from Ikea, and I found a polka dot window dressing too. Oh, but now she has enough clothing for 14 days... I counted them cause DH was teasing me that she had enought to last her a month, to which I responded that no, she ONLY had enough for 14 days and that wasn't nearly enough for a girl. He just grinned and walked away from that argument (do not argue with women about girls clothing, gentlemen, it will get you no where.)

We go to the notary this week (for the power of attorney), which pretty much means that I am going alone without DH. We were hoping for some kind of miracle, but its kind of hard to get a miracle when you don't quite know what to ask for. I wish DH could come with me, but we can't leave the boys alone for 2 whole weeks. We can't afford to bring the boys with us, and I think that would just be plain nuts - 3 very active boys on a plane for over 13 hours... not going to happen.

And on that note, everyone needs a bit of Brad to get the week started off just right! Have a good one.

Everybody needs a bit of sunshine...

2007-09-26T15:41:00.000-04:00

No, there is nothing new... just thought it would be nice to see the sun today.

Chocolate factory x2

2007-09-24T10:15:00.000-04:00

As promised, here are some more pics from the Z's bday party at Heyez Chocolaterie:

K, this is really interesting, but when can I eat some chocolate!

Mayan Chocolate God!

Don't you just want to put your mouth under
that stream of chocolate and
eat it all up!

Here are all the chocolate molds done!

Everyone walked out with a

beautiful mouse chocolate!

We had a wonderful time - the party started at 3:30 pm, and we got out at 5ish. We then went to our house for some burn-off-the-sugar time, ate some sandwiches and chips and decorated cupcakes and opened presents. We then sent everyone outside to play - we had such a great time that most people only left at 7:30 pm, when we thought it would be done by 6 pm. Parents showed up and stayed to talk and watch their kids play together. Even some neighbourhood kids came out and played with us. It was a whole lot of fun, and I think this goes down as a great success. The kids learned where chocolate comes from and they learned how to make a mold, and they got to eat as much chocolate as they wanted.

I highly, highly recommend Heyez for this type of activity: they are very well organized, the pace was just right for a bunch of 5 year olds, and the chocolate was devine. All the kids got to walk out with a beautiful chocolate mold that they made all on their own. Heyez is booked until December for this type of activity, so if you are planning on a party for next year, better start calling and reserve now (ask for Annie)!

Chocolate factory rocks!

2007-09-23T21:00:00.001-04:00

Here are just a couple of pics of the fun we had at the Chocolate factory! More to come later (having trouble with blogger).

Vaccination time

2007-09-21T12:29:00.001-04:00

Off to get vaccinated this afternoon - the final boost for Twinrix - and to get a prescription for antibiotics for us, and anything else we may need in China. Let's hope my arm isn't too sore for tomorrow's fun and games (10 kids, at the chocolate factory, learning and making their own chocolate molded animal... who's idea was it anyways?)

2 months today...

2007-09-20T15:45:00.000-04:00

So you've all seen the ticker - 2 months today (day 63) of waiting for LOA. Sigh, and nothing in site for this week. We might get lucky next week, who really knows... chances are good though, since CCAA shuts down for a week of holidays the first week in October, so they might send something out just before they go on holidays. Let's hope so, as this week has just dragged on, and on, and on, and on for me....

Arrrivals at Airport

2007-09-18T19:53:00.000-04:00

Here are some wonderful pics of Penelope and Taotao with their respective mom's when they arrived in Montreal last Friday:

Look how happy Mary is... can you blame her?

She is such a cutie patoutie...

YUPPIE!

Leanne just glows! And so is Karen... :o)

Nothing...

2007-09-17T14:50:00.000-04:00

Nothing came in for us at the agency. I finally broke down and wrote an email, and just got a response back.

So we wait I guess for another 30 days, which would be normal btw since this 60 business was Leanne's good luck - I was just hoping that we would be lucky too. Day 100 is October 27th, so that is the next milestone I will be mentally preparing myself for.

Day 60, 11 am...

2007-09-17T11:02:00.000-04:00

and its killing me... will we get a call today or not? I woke up thinking not, since usually packages arrive at our agency on Friday's after 12 noon (I think someone told me this) and they would have called us on Friday if something had come, I'm sure. If I can make it to 1 pm today without calling the agency (its taking all my self control), and if there is no call, I think its not going to happen today. Which is all fine... just want the day to be over with so that we know one way or another.

One good omen on Friday though: got the Tilley catalogue, entitled "Let the Journey of a Thousand Miles begin" or something like that....

Not much to say

2007-09-15T20:32:00.001-04:00

As you can tell, I haven't got much to say these days. Don't know why, because there is still much going on. For instance, went to the airport last night to welcome home Leanne and Mary with their new babies. What a lot of fun that was! I can not get over how wonderful and emotional that experience was for everyone who was there. Leanne was a ball of adrenaline, and Taotao is just a perfect little boy: curious, fun loving and occasionally cranky cause he is hungry. The car seat introduction went just fine, btw, for little Taotao. Penelope is just a beauty, and her mom was just glowing with pride last night.

Tristan's eye is infected. Are we surprised? Not in the least, but its so frustrating when you repeat a million times, "Tristan don't pick your nose" then on the way out he rubs his eye... then scratches at his ezcema that has flared up on his face and on his arms. School is stressful for him, but he isn't speaking much about it. Occasionally he lets out that the other kids are telling him that he is ugly, or he witnesses the older kids being mean to other kids. He didn't eat much on Friday too... not an easy time for a little kid who is so sensitive.

Zach surprised me big time tonight: there is a game called Logix which they use in kinderg where you are supposed to put things on a card in a sequence, and you use some of your logical functions in your brain to figure out where some pieces go. Well, figuring that Zach is such an artsy person, using the right side of the brain almost all the time, there is no way he is going to get this and it will be struggle for me (left brained) to teach a right brained almost 5 yr old how to do it. Surprise, surprise, surprise... was giving Jacob a bath and during that time Zach had polished off 6 or 7 cards by himself. By the time I got downstairs he wanted to show me everyone one that he had done... he got them all right. Boy, was I wrong about this one. Tristan had an impossible time with this, and here is Zach just breezing right through it!

Then comes Jacob... I would like to remind everyone that this boy is 2 1/2 yrs old... he counted to 10 in the bathtub by himself! I figured that I would count out loud, so I started "oooonnnnnnneeeeeee,..." he pipes in "ttttwwwwwoooooo, ttttthhhhhhrrrrreeeee, ffffooouuuurrrrr..." and keeps going till he hits TEN. I was thunderstruck, so I had him do it again and again and again by himself. What the hay is going on? You're two and half, you can't possibly know these numbers yet! After ten, comes 9 according to Jacob, so I kept going to 20 with him repeating after me. We shall see tomorrow if he can count till 20 now. WHAT AM I SAYING? Zach can only count to 8 consistently, and for kindergarten you only need to know to 5 or 6 when they start. MY TWO YEAR OLD IS COUNTING TO TEN ALL READY! Oh man, are we in trouble....

School pictures were taken this week for Tristan and Jacob, Zach is in October. So watch your mailboxes grandparents and uncles and aunts for some gorgeous shots!

You will be happy to know (I know I am) that July people appear to be receiving their LOA's, so we are getting close. Day 60 is tomorrow, so Monday I am going to be a nervous wreck all day until I go to bed. If Karen calls me, I will scream in her ear... so Karen, you are forewarned that if you experience hearing loss, its not my fault! If I don't get a call, it will be all right for me. Greg is worried I will take it hard, but I won't... I will be a bit relieved to be honest because I ain't ready yet! Just kidding... I need to go and get her and bring her to her new home.

Greg is at Rush tonight - told him to give Geddy my regards! ha... its a guy thing I guess, considering that Greg and three guy friends are going. Oh, and we are on the hunt for the child who broke Greg's guitar string - no one has fessed up yet, but he will be found :o) Along with the child who keeps going into the food pantry for gummy worms for breakfast... but I digress. Time to go to bed, considering I am on the ice at 7 am tomorrow morning.

One word

2007-09-10T13:36:00.000-04:00

You.
Can.
Only.
Type.
One.
Word.
Answers.
1. Yourself: anticipating
2. Your significant other: romantic
3. Your hair: curly
4. Your mother: ethereal
5. Your Father: passed
6. Your step father/mother: distant
7. Your dream last night: frustrating
8. Your Favorite drink: Bailey's
9. Your Dream Car: volvo
10. The room you are in: office
11. Your Ex: loser
12. Your fears: bankrupt
13. What do you want to be in 10 years: retired
14. Who you hung out with last night: hubby
15. What You're Not: thin
16. Muffins: bite
17: One of Your Wish List Items: volunteer
18: Time: short
19. The Last Thing You Did: typed
20. What You Are Wearing: jeans
21. Your Favorite Weather: cold
22. Your Favorite Book: Potter
23. The last thing you ate: cookies
24. Your Life: exciting
25. Your Mood: happy
26. Your Friends: awesome
27. What are you thinking about right now?: Kaitlynn
29. What are you doing at the moment?: typing
30. Your summer: sucked
31. Your relationship status: awesome
32. What is on your tv?: dvds
33. When is the last time you laughed?: morning
34. Last time you cried?: morning
35. School?: mandarin

OMG, OMG, OMG

2007-09-10T10:14:00.000-04:00

Another pic of Kaitlynn from a friend I met on the net!

I just love the fact that she is wearing a little bracelet on her chubby wrists, and look at the way the nanny is holding her so close. I figure this must be about last summer sometime, as it must be warm for her to be wearing shorts, and its before her surgery. That would make her about 14-15 months old.

How the world is small... and I am not going to be able to get anything done today, my heart is up into my neck and I can't stop staring at her.

Let's all have a moment

2007-09-09T12:16:00.000-04:00

I would like to do the unconventional and ask people to spend a moment and think about Leanne on her journey to her son. She needs some sleep, IMHO, and I have been hoping that somehow she will find it... but not yet. Don't worry, those of you who aren't reading her blog (I hesitate to put it out there as you require a password), she is doing fine except for the lack of sleep. They are in Beijing and spent the day touring Tienanmen square on a very hot day... and shall we say she is a bit cranky after visiting the "concrete jungle" as she described it. So let's all take a moment and send a request to which ever doG you may believe in and request a nice peaceful night and nice nap time for Leanne...and you may as well include a wish that she doesn't forget her paperwork or passport or any other important thing she may need for the embassy visit tomorrow.

Its been 50 days of waiting

2007-09-08T09:26:00.000-04:00

I can't believe its been 50 days since we sent in our LOI. From what I can see from others, late June LOI's just received their LOA's so things appear to continue to be on track for us to receive something either by late September or late October. There is however absolute silence regarding where our file is at, so we can just hope that things are moving along in this black hole that is IA.

I'm backkkkkk!

2007-09-04T15:01:00.000-04:00

Dropped off there cause I was on vacation with my two eldest boys.

School started for both last Thursday - T in grade 1 and Z in kindergarten! Z loved it so much that he didn't want to leave after the first day and he threw a big fit. T had a little hard time getting into the groove of doing school, but by day 2 he was all there. The September calendar of school stuff is filling up - every Tuesday night, there is something going on at school. With Mandarin classes for me and DH on Monday's, skating for me on Wednesday's, boys hockey on Saturday's, and boys swimming and my skating on Sunday I have no idea how we will get through this school season!

As some of you may know by now, our eldest decided that son #2 should not be the only one with scars around his eyes. He felt bad for Z I guess... T slipped or fell onto the latch of the security gate that is supposed to protect kids from the stairs and he tore open his eyelid, just above his beautiful blue eye. (No that is not a pic of my boy... just thought I would give you a general idea of what it can look like... at least his scar will go into the crease of his eyelid and he won't have a big Z on his forehead like this poor guy... or like Harry Potter for that matter). For once in my life, I panicked and DH didn't - he screamed so, and there was so much blood, I was sure he had lost his eye. After an ambulance ride and a 5 1/2 hr wait at the hospital (and yes, we were a priority) we finally got to see a doctor who confirmed that his eye was fine but that he would need stitches. It took 4 grown men to hold my baby down while the doctor tried to stitch his eye lid back together (yes, they gave him something). He managed to get 6 or 7 stitches in, in two sessions of absolute terror. There is one stitch he couldn't get and we suspect he will have a bump on his eye lid as a result, but on the whole it appears to be healing well. I suspect that this won't be the last of it with our eldest - the very next day, I caught him trying to climb the banister on the damn stairs. Oh, and the gates have been thrown out and replaced with all plastic gates that don't have a a sharp edge anywhere in sight.

Saturday was the Preemie Picnic at the Royal Vic, and we all went and met up with Grammy Carol who looked like a beautiful baby blue apparition. The boys were soooo happy to see her, but then you know something called a "module" and "swimming pool" sort of won out. It was a bit too much for Jacob, so he ended up just clinging to us most of the time. It was quite a cathartic moment for me going back to that place. I have managed to avoid it for over 2 yrs now, and what better way to go back to that place where my life changed completely than through a picnic and seeing so many preemies and families doing just fine, thank you very much. I also hooked up with a preemie group and will be pursuing that avenue for my MNO after I hear back from the hospitals.