Daddy and Naomi 

Naomi's Snow Family 

Thursday March 10 - Orphanage Visit Updates

Hi Folks,

The past 24 hours has brought about some updates to our in-China itinerary!

We've received news that while a visit to Chenzhou orphanage is not permitted, we are being offered a trip to the city of Chenzhou on Thursday April 7th. While I am still hopeful that with a little prodding once we get to Changsha the decision to not allow us to visit the orphanage might be reversed, I do recognize that even a visit to Lilah's hometown will give us the opportunity to document what her life could have been in this reportedly very poor farming community. The trip will be a long one (5 hours each way), but undoubtedly very rewarding. We may decide that only one of us will do this trip.

The news on the trip to Zhuzhou is slightly more positive in that we are being permitted to visit the orphanage, the city and Naomi's finding spot on Friday April 8th. It will be a special treat to visit with those who so obviously cared for her during her first 8 months of life. A chance to see more of the countryside will also help us gain more information for Naomi later in life as we see what her life may have been like.

For both our daughters, I am grateful for the opportunity to connect with their finding spots -- places that evoke so much emotion in me.
During our trip, we plan to make donations to each of our daughters' first homes. We have already collected 50 pairs of Robeez and a bag full of toothbrushes. As a group, our travel companions will determine how to best donate to Chenzhou SWI. Since we are travelling to Zhuzhou on our own, we have made some enquiries as to what is needed there. When asked what the most pressing need is, Director Zhang always answers, "Formula!" And no wonder; it takes about $1,400 USD permonth to provide formula for all who need it. If you are interested in contributing, feel free to contact us. Alternately, you can purchase a pack of Guo Kids notecards for $15 at http://www.zzfamilies.com/shopping/pgm-more_information.php?id=1&=SID. One set of cards provides one meal for almost all the bottle-fedbabies at the CSWI; for four sets, you can feed all the babies for an entire day.

I feel that we are so blessed to have been given the opportunity to explore these pages of our daughters' stories. While each of these journey's will be emotionally draining and I am sure that we'll be exhausted at the end of it all, I am also certain that the rewards of this kind of trip will be outstanding. I pray that we will have the health and the strength to carry through with our plans.

Karen

Wednesday March 9th - Travel Itinerary

Hi Folks,
Well the long awaited travel itinerary arrived today! We now have a basic list of what we are doing, a Gotcha date and a list of hotels we are staying in.

On the 29th we depart Toronto, arriving in Shanghai on Wednesday March 30th at 4:35pm. We will be staying at the Baolong Hotel in Shanghai (http://www.sinohotel.com/hotel/hotel.html?hid=865). The bulk of our travelgroup will arrive on the 1st of April and we have a scheduled day of tours on the 2nd. The remaining sightseeing, we will do on our own.

On Monday April 4th, we depart our hotel at 6am (yikes) for a flight to Hunan arriving at 10:05am. We will check into the Grand Sun City hotel (http://www.sinohotel.com/hotel/hotel.html?hid=238) and briefly grab some lunch. At 1:30pm, we'll be meeting Lilah at the Civil Affairs office -- GOTCHA!

Tuesday April 5th, we'll be processing paperwork while Papa and Naomi check out the hotel amenities. We are hoping either Wednesday or Thursday will be our trip to Zhuzhou. Friday we pick up Lilah's Passport. We depart Hunan at 8:05pm.

At 10:05pm we arrive in Beijing and are staying at the Poly Plaza Hotel (http://www.sinohotel.com/hotel/hotel.html?hid=57), which is very close to Tiananmen Square in the Northeast part of downtown. Saturday Lilah will have her medical examination, Sunday April 10th is our trip to the Great Wall. Our group is planning a trip to Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City on the 11th, but we'll probably take a down day that day to allow the girls to get to know each other and catch up on some rest. We may visit the Beijing Zoo if all is going well. Tuesday the 12th is a shopping day and we may also visit the Summer Palace or the Temple of Heaven. Wednesday we pick up Lilah's visa and have the traditional Peking Duck dinner to celebrate. On Thursday we depart for Canada at 4:20pm and arrive in Toronto at 10:30pm (a mere 6 -- I mean 18 hours later).

In checking out our Hotels, it appears that we have great accomodations. You never know when things might change though, so we have to be flexible in that regard.

Cheers,
Karen

Sunday March 6th - A busy week!

Wow, time sure is speeding by! Only 23 sleeps till we leave and things are coming together.

Naomi is starting to talk a bit about Lilah - HOORAY! On Monday, she gave Lilah's picture a kiss and hug before bed and has started to talk a bit about where Lilah will fit into our lives. It's probably a bit of hopeful thinking on our part, but this week she really seems to be coming to terms with the idea of a sister. Although that is probably not going to be as big of a reality in 4 weeks when Lilah arrives - it is comforting to know that she will adjust eventually.

So the hug and kiss are now a morning and evening routine. We also received the new stroller this week, and Naomi loves to ride around the house in it. She even tells us that Lilah will sit in the seat beside her! As I hear her talking, I fall deeper in love with this little person who has so much to offer a baby sister. She is such a character and has such a terrific sense of humour. I can hear the two of them concocting stuff already!

Yesterday we hosted a get together for our travel group and had the opportunity to meet some new faces. The party was a kick start to our trip, and has really gotten us excited about our journey. In less than a month we will be together in China, have new babies in our arms and be celebrating! Our group is a wonderful mixture of first and second timers, with a few bio kids in the mix. We met up with 3 of the 7 other families travelling to Hunan, as well as 5 of the 10 families travelling to Guangdong. Since we all have the same travel service, the two groups will be meeting up in Beijing.

Joel cooked up a nice suprise for me at the get together! He arranged to get a birthday cake for me with Happy Birthday written in Mandarin, then brought it out during the party. Naomi had fun blowing out mommy's candles. Lots of wishes coming true, and the biggest birthday present to arrive in less than a month! Poor Joel though was afraid if he put the cake (ice cream cake) in the freezer that I might see it before he was ready. Given that it was cold outside, he left it in his truck with the sunroof open to keep things chilly. He forgot to close the sunroof last night after bringing the cake it. We got snow last night, then rain the morning. Thank goodness for leather seats - easy to clean!

We heard from Children's Bridge this week that we should expect our in-China itinerary to arrive in the next few days. We are anxious to get this information, because it will tell us if our visit to Zhuzhou (Naomi's orphanage) will be permitted.

Our friend Jenny is working on translating several documents for us this week. When we travelled in 2002, we had a translation card indicating our baby's name, age and that we were adopting her and bringing her to Canada. It was very well received by the Chinese as they greeted us and gave us the thumbs up. Jenny is making one for Lilah, and also one for Naomi to explain that she was adopted in August 2003.

We are also having her make a translation card for Naomi in case she gets lost (which we hope won't get used), a letter thanking Lilah's caregivers and a sign for Naomi's finding spot. We would like to put the sign up at the place that Naomi's birthparents left her with a photo of her now, one of her at referral and a note indicating that she is safe, healthy, well loved and living with her new family in Canada. Often when I sit back and marvel at the gift we have in Naomi, I am moved by the fact that her birthfamily is missing out on such a wonderful little treasure. We will never know if any member of her birthfamily will see it, but since it has only been 2 years we are hopeful that they will at least hear of it. I can only imagine the pain that they must feel - perhaps it will give them some degree of peace.

It sounds like we will not be allowed to visit Lilah's orphanage in Chenzhou. For one, it would be a 5 hour drive one-way. While we would be eager to make this journey, it also sounds like the government offices in the area are discouraging visitors right now. Thankfully we do have some pictures from another family who made a return visit to their daughter's orphanage last year. Apparently, it is affiliated with a seniors residence and the "grandma's" routinely visit the babies to cuddle them. It is nice to think that Lilah will have experienced this in her life already.

The only other news to report is that we've made grand strides in Lilah's room. It now looks less like a spare room and more like a nursery! Since Naomi's room is now purple with silver stars and moons on the walls, we took the theme from her original room and modified it in Lilah's. The theme is gardens, with lots of butterflies, ladybugs and flowers. Lilah is beginning to have more and more presence in our home. It's starting to feel very real this week.

So, I'm now also counting down the days left of work. I finish on the 17th of March, just in time to celebrate with some green wine! It seems odd to be wrapping things up with my clients, as I feel like I just returned. Then again, I guess I did!

x0x0 Naomi and Lilah's mommy

Sunday February 27th - 31 sleeps to go!

Well we're down to a month before we travel and things are now coming together quickly. I am reminded this week of the many fortunes we are given. Not only have we been blessed with two daughters to light our lives, but we've also got some pretty special people who share places within our hearts. Without the support of our friends and family -- I am quite certain that our lives would be much less. Thank you God!

Last week I mentioned that I might be dreaming to get Naomi's room painted before we travel and this week I am happy to report that the dream came true. With the help of our dear friend Linda, Naomi's room is now a beautiful hue of purple. So a huge THANKS to Linda (and Sydney - who allowed us to duplicate her purple room)! Now we are ready to focus on Lilah's room, which will be an easy project for the upcoming couple of weeks. No major painting is required! Yahoo!

We've had two other major accomplishments this week in our task list. We finally chose a double stroller and it should arrive sometime next week. Papa is looking forward to seeing his new granddaughter's in his gift. We are so thankful to my dad, not only for the stroller, but also because he has offered to accompany us on this trip to China. His assistance is greatly appreciated for several reasons. Firstly, we would not be able to take Naomi with us to get her new baby sister without a spare set of hands. Secondly, we are so excited to share our daughters' birthplace with a member of our family and to have him in the "delivery room". Thanks Papa!

The final accomplishment is also a major one. In one of Lilah's referral pictures, there is a green striped block infront of her. Naomi still doesn't really get excited about much to do with Lilah, except that block gets her pretty jazzed. She seems to think it is a present for her from Lilah! Well . . . we have finally found the present and the wrapping paper to match!

The other really great thing that happened this week is that we've received a very generous donation from Robeez to take with us for Lilah's orphanage. Before we travelled to Naomi's orphanage, we contacted Robeez (a Canadian kid's shoe company) and they donated 20 pairs of my favorite shoes for us to take with us for the kids left behind. We contacted them again last month and they were even more generous with 50 pairs being forwarded this time. I can't say enough about how wonderful these shoes are, or about how wonderful this company is -- so I'm now shamelessly plugging ROBEEZ!

Sitting back, I often think about all the wonderful people in our lives who will soon share Lilah's life. Never before have I felt so loved -- and I can't wait for Lilah to feel that way as well!