5 sleeps to go!

Well, we leave for China tomorrow (February 1st) and will receive Claire in just a handful of days now. I think we're pretty much ready to go: we're all packed, the house has been baby-proofed, and my brother Stu is all set to housesit / catsit for us. Thanks Stu!

Thank you all for your support during our adoption journey. Your phone calls, emails and visits mean so much to us.

To all our travel-mates: we can't wait to meet you in Beijing. Have a safe trip and see you very soon!

Claire's room is ready!

I've organized all of Claire's wonderful gifts and have re-decorated her room slightly to accommodate all her great stuff. Check it out!

9 sleeps to go!

Today we received an update from our coordinator about Claire's measurements. She's the littlest button in the group!

She truly is petite at 25.2 inches tall and 14.3 lbs. For all our friends and family who gave us 6-12 month outfits and worried they'd be too small, worry no more. In fact, we're especially grateful because she'd probably swim in anything bigger than that right now.

I've officially begun packing now and I feel like I have everything under control. I'm sure I'll change my tune on Wednesday, though, when we're less than 24 hours from leaving!

Our itinerary

Last Friday, we received our itinerary from our coordinator. We're going to China a couple of days ahead of most families in our group, so I've made a note in the summary below to indicate when we meet up with everyone.

• Thursday, Feb. 1: depart Canada
• Friday, Feb. 2: arrive in Beijing and settle in to the State Guest Hotel (a.ka. Presidential Plaza)
• Saturday, Feb. 3: do whatever we please! (Will probably tour the Forbidden City)
• Sunday, Feb. 4: do whatever we please until our guide picks us up to meet the rest of our group at the Sino-Swiss hotel near the aiport. We'll spend the night there.
• Monday, Feb.5: depart for Nanchang, the capital of the Jiangxi Province of China. Receive Claire at 4 p.m.! We'll be staying at the Gloria Plaza Hotel in Nanchang.
• Tuesday, Feb.6: do a bunch of paperwork at the Provincial Government Office (adoption registration, apply for Claire's Chinese passport)
• Wednesday, Feb.7: visit the Tengwang Temple
• Thursday, Feb.8: receive Claire's adoption documents
• Friday, Feb.9: receive Claire's passport and depart for Beijing
• Saturday, Feb.10: children's photos for their Visas; tour the Beijing Zoo and the Summer Palace
• Sunday, Feb.11: tour the Great Wall of China
• Monday, Feb.12: medical exam for Claire; shopping in the afternoon
• Tuesday, Feb.13: shop at the Silk Store and indoor market
• Wednesday, Feb.14: kiss our little Valentine! And also tour Tiananmen Squre and the Forbidden City
• Thursday, Feb.15: depart for Canada. We arrive in Canada that same day, due to the time change.

12 more sleeps until we're with Claire!

16 sleeps to go!

Today, we received parcels from Kelley and Paul, as well as Kelley's parents Elaine and Dennis who live in my hometown in Saskatchewan.

Kelley has already sent numerous gifts for Claire so I was very surprised to see yet another parcel from her! She and I are both scrapbookers, so she sent this notebook for me to jot down observations while we're in China so that I'm equipped with ideas when we return home. Check out that cute little photo of Claire on the cover!

We also buy each other rubber boot-themed gifts on a regular basis (it's a long story) so it was fitting that she sent these cute little boots for Claire.

When Kelley and I were young, I always admired the home-made care bears her mom, Elaine, crafted. When I mentioned this to Elaine a couple of years ago, she obviously made a mental note of this because about a month later, I received my very own bear! Much to my surprise, we received a parcel from Elaine and Dennis today that contained a bear for Claire, as well as a matching blanket. (Elaine must have been worried that I was too attached to my bear to share it with Claire!) Claire's bear is named Lacie Daisy and I know Claire will love her!

Thank you so much, Kelley, Paul, Elaine and Dennis!




Left: me with my own bear in October of 2005

Right: Lacie Daisy with matching blanket

A baby shower!

On my last day of work (January 17), my work friends / colleagues held a baby shower for me. It was amazing - they really thought of everything. The room was decorated with helium balloons and super-cute pink decorations on every available surface. They also had a panda bear cake!

The most amazing thing, though, was the obvious kindness and big-heartedness from everyone there. I work with incredible people. With a touching introduction from one of my first colleagues and friends at the office (a guy - how progressive is that at a baby shower?!) to all the people who came to wish us well, to my colleagues taking pictures for my scrapbooks, to another colleague taking detailed notes of presents for thank you notes, I was just overwhelmed. And that was before I even saw all the gifts! Everyone was insanely generous, as you can see from the picture I've posted. In addition to these gifts, we also received two very generous gift cards which I will immensely enjoy using.

To anyone at the office reading this post, thank you so much; I can't express how much I appreciate your thoughtfulness and friendship.

Claire's finding ad

Orphanages in China are required to run a provincial newspaper advertisement for children that are found and brought to their orphanage. They are called "Finding Ads." These ads contain information about where and when the children were found and which orphanage is caring for them. Originally these were text-only ads, but most provinces now include photographs in their ads.

I ordered Claire's finding ad through a company in the States and just received it today. This is very likely the first photo ever taken of her. The ad tells us that she was born on April 11, 2006 and found that same day. It also says "she has thick black hair, and wore a flowered shirt with Monk's collar". The ad ran in the Jiangxi Economic Daily on June 19, 2006.

21 sleeps to go (and I love baby shoes!)

The countdown is really on now. I have only two days left of work, there are only 17 sleeps until we leave for China and only 21 sleeps until Claire is in our arms!

I recently purchased three pairs of PediPeds and am fighting the temptation to buy more shoes of all brands, styles and colours. There's something about baby shoes that is is so cute!

27 sleeps to go!

Alberta Children's Services called today and said our Notice of Coming to China (issued by the Chinese government) is in, so I'll be picking that up tomorrow. We're another step closer to Claire!

I can't believe we'll be with her in less than a month. And I can't believe I have only six days of work left. I'm excited and nervous all at the same time.

33 sleeps to go!

Wow, time is flying fast. It's already been more than a month since we received our referral and it is now less than a month (February 1) until we leave for China. Plus, I only have 10 working days left!