Day two with Grace!

We just wanted to let you know what we know about Grace so far... She is definitely as big and as tall and weighs as much if not more than we were told. She has a fair bit of dark hair on top but for some reason, they shaved the back of her head which only serves to highlight her already prominent ears! She has a face that is as cute as a button and she loves to scrunch up her face into this "aren't I adorable" grin! She has a mouthful of what appear to be perfect pearly white teeth. Her skin is much more olive than her referral pictures showed. We think that this due to her being outdoors with her foster mom much of the time. Once we manage to coax her into a good mood, there is no stopping her. She loves to have a good time and is very interactive and verbal, ofter jibber jabbering away as we play.

Today was a better day with Diane. Grace has started to let Diane at least feed her and play a little, however Grace still insists that Murray be her constant companion. The boys are crazy about their new sister, almost to the point of excess! She has taken to the mini-sticks and gets quite a kick out of the thrill of hitting the ball, and is learning new words by the hour!

Yesterday she hardly ate, but today she began to have an appetite and ate three meals and took 4 bottles! The hotel we are in is an eliptical shaped building, so the floor makes for a perfect walking track... and walk Grace loves to do. We have noticed however that her toddle is not like that of other children her age (very wide gait and somewhat unsteady). We're looking forward to having the team at Sick Kids evaluate her and see what they can do to help.

Today after some additional adoption paperwork, we visited the Terracotta Warriors museum. This was a fascinating glimpse into China's history, especially the Qin dynasty from 2200 years ago. Everyone was fascinated with the size and scope of this ancient archealogical find.

First Days with Grace

Sorry we haven't posted sooner. As you can imagine, the last 32 hours with Grace have been a blur. We met Grace for the first time on Monday at 2:00 pm. She was NOT happy to see us. She is a very big girl for her age, and quite advanced. We wonder if her age is not correct... if it is, she is very different from most of China's orphans.

By last night she had given her first smiles and giggles. Although mostly, she cried.

Today she was unhappy until later in the afternoon, when she again enjoyed playing with the boys and best of all... she walked! She has a wide stance and quite a toddle, but she is fairly good on her feet. It is awesome to see and such an answer to prayer.

Our greatest concern right now is that although she is starting to bond with Murray and the boys, I (Diane) am still not welcome. I'm really trying, and will continue, but I'm already getting concerned about Murray returning to work. We appreciate your prayers for little Grace and all of us. This is a HUGE adjustment for us all.

Here are some photos of our "big girl" Grace :

Day in Beijing

Today was a good day. Some of us couldn't sleep past 5:30 am, but Matt and Josh slept until 7:30. We visited the drum and bell towers as well as the Lama Temple. The temple was very interesting and beautiful, but also unsettling.

The rest of our group arrived today and we all went out for an early dinner this evening.

We get up at 4:00 am tomorrow to leave for the airport by 5:00. Not sure of our schedule after that, but think we should see our Grace for the first time tomorrow afternoon (that's the wee hours of Monday morning for all of you).

We are so thankful to know that loved ones are praying for us, and for our little Grace!

We've arrived!

After a 3 hour delay (2 in the airport, 1 on the plane) in Toronto, our flight finally took off at 5:30 Friday afternoon. (See picture putting in time at the gate!)

We arrived Saturday night at 7pm in Beijing. At the Beijing airport, we met our guide and two other families who are also part of our Family Outreach International (FOI) travel group. Both families are from PEI. J&J have 4 biological children and are adopting a little boy, 6 years old. C&M are adopting from China for the second time... a sister for their 3 year old. Their girls will end up only being 25 days apart in age!

The boys travelled well... Lots of movies and TV on the personal entertainment system and food and snacks on the way over. Matt watched High School Musical 3 times! Despite the fact that our carefully selected seats were completely changed upon arrival, we basically ended up taking over the back of the plane with lots of extra room to spread out and sleep.

We have checked into our hotel for the night and had a chance to visit a local grocery store and enjoy some authentic chinese food for a late dinner.

Tomorrow will be a "free" day in Beijing. We purposefully planned to come a day early so we could catch our breath before flying out to Xi'an. We plan to see a local temple and the Drum and Bell towers, both popular attractions.

We can't believe we're here!

Leaving home with everything but the kitchen sink!

Our Amazing Race begins... soon!

Four more sleeps until we fly to China! We fly direct from Toronto to Beijing (a 13 hour flight) on Friday, February 20th. We'll be there for the weekend where we'll meet up with other families who are also adopting through our agency.

Monday morning, our family will fly to Xi'an in Shaanxi. We are the only family from our group travelling to Xi'an. Our guide will meet us at the airport and will accompany us to all adoption related appointments. That afternoon, we'll meet Grace for the first time! Grace's adoption will officially take place on Tuesday, February 24th. We'll travel back to Beijing at the end of that week where we'll complete all the necessary paperwork with the Canadian Embassy. We return home on March 5th, Diane's birthday!

Our visas finally arrived late last week as did our "Permission to Travel". So it's time to starting packing ... This week will fly by!

Here's a picture of Joshua with his countdown chain.

Yan Fei's Referral Pictures

Gettin Ready to Fly!

Just one week and counting till we fly to China!

We fly direct from Toronto to Beijing (a 13 hour flight) on Friday February 20th. We'll be there for the weekend where we will meet up with the other 10 families who are also adopting through our agency. Monday morning we fly to Xian in the Shaanxi province. That's where we will meet Grace for the first time! The adoption will officially take place on Tuesday February 24th.

We'll travel back to Beijing at the end of that week where we will complete all the necessary paperwork with the Canadian Embassy. We return home on March 5th.

Our Visa's finally arrived this week as did our "Permission to Travel".

So it's time to starting packing ... This week will fly by!

Here's a picture of Joshua with his countdown chain.