Naomi and Lilah BW 
Saturday, May 14, 2005
Sunday, May 08, 2005
Saturday, April 16, 2005
April 16
Ah . . . it's good to be home!
We departed Beijing on Thursday after a flurry of last minute shopping that morning. My dad and I headed out to the Wholesale Clothing Market in the wee hours of the morning in search of shoes. What a plethora we found, but only a few vendors with children's shoes. Nevertheless I bought 10 pairs for 200 yuan ($30 bucks Canadian) and found the prices to be about half what I had been paying in the department stores. Being a diehard bargain shopper, I was on quite a high! We arrived back to the hotel, and with two hours to go Joel, Naomi and I headed back to Yashow to get rid of our remaining Yuan. Picked up a knapsack (to hold me new purchases) and also a unique item on the way out. A goosedown vest -- MADE IN CANADA -- for about $20. What a unique shopping experience! Shopping complete we returned to our hotel to finish packing.
Our flights home were relatively uneventful aside from three barfing incidents, no change of clothing for any of us due to having to check a piece of luggage we had originally planned to carry on (cranky attendant at the checkin counter), neither daughter sleeping much and landing in Vancouver 30 minutes early (whew). We breezed through customs and immigration in less than an hour and had time to visit with my friend Mandy and her new baby boy Nathan. At 2 months old, Nathan weighs more than Lilah. He's a cute little guy and we welcomed the opportunity to meet him!
Our marathon ended in Toronto at 10:30pm, with many many friends and family were there to greet us! Lilah was a bit overwhelmed and overtired but we were so happy to share that moment with everyone. We were also grateful to our friends Janet, Sara and Linda who took care of getting us and our stuff home - since neither of us was in any condition to drive.
Now that we're home, Lilah seems to have put herself on a fatten up program. She practically eats anything in sight and almost all the time! Loves her bottles, cheerios, squash and Nestle Rice Cereal. We call her lizard girl because the minute she realizes she's being fed she starts sticking out her tongue and grunting in anticipation. When I find my camera I'll post a photo of it.
All of us are feeling pretty tired from jetlag. The girls seem to be tag teaming on naps and sleeping. It seems like as soon as one goes down the other gets up. Sort of frustrating for us, but we are tremendously grateful to our good friends who keep sending meals and offering to help with Naomi. Speaking of the Princess #1, she's so happy to see her friends. It was a blast watching her chase Frances around at the airport. Yesterday we took advantage of the warm weather in the afternoon and she played for a couple of hours with Gavin. I think all her boyfriends really missed her. Today she was up at 3am and still not remotely tired at 8:30 am despite the fact that Joel and I were paralyzed by sleep deprivation. Sara came and picked Naomi up so she could play with Gavin this morning. Naomi decided she wanted to have a sleep over in Gavin's bed (ok now, but in 10 years, hmmm) and she slept from 1 - 3pm there today. I picked her up at 4 and she was quite mellow. She fell asleep at 5:30 and we're praying that we all get some sleep tonight.
So one journey has ended and another is just beginning. As we get to know our new little peanut, we realize we have so many things to be grateful for.
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
April 13th
Our last full day in Beijing and we headed back to Yashow to pick up some clothes for the girls. Two hours later I couldn’t have done another deal, was all shopped out and completely out of money again. Things may be cheap here, but money is easily spent too!
We had originally planned that I would go find the shoe mall after Yashow, but Sharon and I were so burned out that we decided to wait until after we did some packing and had dinner to go. The girls all napped, we packed and felt much better by 5pm, so we headed down to dinner at the place we found on our first night here. Once again the food was incredible and we dined for about $5 per person including a beers all around. Lilah is hilarious when food is around and she’s been eating up a storm at dinner time. When she wants something now, she lets us know by sticking out her tongue and wagging it at us until we put something in her mouth. Easy to tell what she likes and when she’s hungry at least!
All our babies are moving through developmental stages quickly now. Where Lilah couldn’t roll over or sit up two weeks ago, she’s now making games out of both. It’s incredible to see her learn new things daily. She adores Naomi and is always looking around for her. I think she’s happiest when she’s watching her big sister.
After dinner, Sharon, Trish and myself caught a taxi to the area around the Beijing Zoo in search of some shoes. When we got to the area, we found an outdoor pedestrian area with people doing ballroom dancing, chatting and doing calligraphy in water on the concrete. It was neat to see the nightlife in China. Unfortunately we arrived too late to do any shopping. There are two malls in the area, one closed at 5pm and the other at 8pm. We arrived at 8:05pm. Being the diehard shoe shopper (I’ll be calling Shoe Shoppers Anonymous when we get home), I’ve rounded up some other diehard troups to head back tomorrow morning. The Wholesale Clothing Market opens at 5:30am and the other mall opens at 10am. I’ve got a short window, but I think it can be done!
Today we also bid our new friends the Littlejohn family, the Vanderhorst Family and the Ireland family farewell as they headed back to Canada. It’s sometimes hard to believe that two weeks ago we were strangers. Now, I feel the families in our group are now a part of our extended family. We’ve shared some really fabulous moments together as we met and got to know our daughters, as well as their homeland. Our group has been terrific, very closeknit and always banding together whenever someone needed something. For us, this group has been part of what made our trip go so well. There has always been someone to share a glass of wine or Bailey’s with, someone to borrow a diaper from, someone to entertain Naomi during desperate moments and someone to offer an ear when things were tough. Thanks everyone!
The other person who has been indispensable has been my dad. We could not have done this trip without him. Not only has he been there for the girls (which he has done lots of), he’s also learned so much about China which he will take back to Canada with him to share with the Naomi and Lilah as they get older. When you adopt internationally, your waiting room full of loved one’s is on the other side of the ocean and two weeks away. It has been special for me to share this trip, this country and our “birth” with my dad. I think each family in our group has adopted him as well and he’s Papa Tom to 7 other little gals. He’s a special person and words cannot express how grateful we are to him.
So this will probably be my last post from China. Tomorrow will be a busy day with the shoe shopping expedition in the morning and we must depart from our hotel by 12:30pm. We are pretty much all packed and ready to go. This trip has exceeded my expectations and I’ve enjoyed myself, but I am definitely ready to go home. I'll post once we get settled at home!
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