Family Day

I have always heard friends talk about how quickly time passes by once you have children. And just like so many others 'things' I would hear, I thought I understood what they meant -- until I started thinking about the fact that we met our little miss for the first time one year ago! A year?! How did that happen so quickly?!

This week I have found myself thinking about our trip to China and I sometimes find my breath catching as I remember the excitement and anxiety we felt as we embarked on our adventure. It felt like an eternity to get from the day we officially decided to adopt to the day we finally took Maelyn in our arms. This past year seems to have gone by in a flash -- time flies when you're having fun, right? :)

Maelyn has brought a joy to our lives that is indescribable -- except to say that we are happy and we feel fulfilled. She is a gift not only to us, but to our friends and family as well. She is perfect - in every way possible. We love her more and more each day -- even when she is not pleased to hear the word 'no.' The Red Thread worked its magic and brought her to us -- our daughter.

A Daddy and his little girl...

This week is a Daddy kind of a week. Firstly, it was Father's Day -- Paul got to enjoy a day out golfing and the resounding cries of 'Happy Easter, Daddy!' from Maelyn. Now, we are thinking about the shift that is going to take place tomorrow -- Paul returns back to work, now that his parental leave is finished.

This time last year, Paul had never changed a diaper, given a child a bath, dealt with a tantrum, or given hugs to help make a boo-boo go away. Now, Paul is a certifiable Daddy expert! The change in him over the past year is not unbelievable, but it has been amazing to watch.

In the beginning, Maelyn wouldn't have anything to do with her Daddy. She attached to me first and just didn't have room yet to let another caregiver in her life. Over time, her bond with her Daddy has grown stronger and stronger -- to the point that now Daddy is her number one choice on many occasions.

I admire Paul for making the most of his time off with his little girl. He didn't waste a second! Paul and Maelyn spent hours riding bikes, playing at parks, visiting the zoo, going to toddler-type classes, attending speech therapy and so much more. Paul has a gift for being able to drop what he is doing and completely engage in play-time with Maelyn.

I also have to say that for me, it has been wonderful to have Paul at home -- coming home to cooked meals every night is a luxury I could easily get accustomed to! I am thankful that Paul now has an appreciation for the work that a stay-at-home parent does every single day. We are able to share the load because we both understand how much work it takes to keep things going around the house and with our little miss.

My kind, shy, compassionate, loving husband has changed over the past year -- into the most amazing father a little girl could ask for!

A beary good time...

Today I started off the day feeling lighter and free -- thanks to the head colds that have been plaguing this house slowly disappearing and due to the fact that my reports cards are finally DONE!!

After getting some cleaning finished, I decided that it was time for Mommy and Maelyn to spend some quality time together. Last year Maelyn received a Build a Bear gift certificate and I thought that today would be the perfect day to venture out of the house. The best part was that April was able to join us on our bear adventure.

Maelyn was in teddy bear heaven -- so many stuffies to choose from!

After much deliberation, Maelyn chose a Dalmation puppy...

I thought that it was going to be difficult to get her to put the rest of the stuffies away,

but Maelyn just waved to and said goodbye to them as she held on tightly to her puppy...

Helping to stuff her puppy...

Putting the heart inside her puppy...

After he was properly stuffed, we brought him to the 'washing station,'

where Maelyn brushed him clean

Then it was time to choose an outfit...

 And then we registered the puppy...

It was our first trip to Vaughan Mills Mall and I loved it! It also helped that Children's Place had a great sale on today and I was able to find Maelyn some sunglasses, dress sandals and a few summer shirts.

After shopping and our bear adventure, we went out for lunch. When the waitress came to the table, Maelyn said 'Hello! I want eat! I hungy!' April and I were killing ourselves laughing -- she was so cute! 

It was a spontaneous day and we had a blast! I really loved spending time with my little girl -- she is so much fun to be around!

At the end of the day, Paul remembered that we were to have had my Dad take a family photo of us for our 12 month post placement report that we have to send to China. We don't really have many pictures of the three of us -- one of us is always taking the picture! :) We have put this off for so long that we decided to just go for it -- even though it was late and she was tired...

This is one picture of about fifty -- we were begging her to smile at the camera. After fifty pictures, this is what happened...

Hehehe...

We were finally able to get a picture that is at least semi-acceptable...now we can send in our post placement

report and our paperwork for Maelyn's adoption is done! :)



One year ago today...

One year ago today we left the house and headed for the airport.

One year ago today we endured a thirteen hour flight, knowing it would bring us closer to our little girl.

One year ago today we started one of the most amazing journey's of our lives.

Today found myself in disbelief that a year has already gone by since we started our China journey. How could a year go by so quickly?! I spent the day thinking about what we did and what we were feeling a year ago as we began the trip of a lifetime. I thought a lot about our travel group and how much I miss them -- especially those that live outside of Ontario.

Mostly, I thought about how enriched our lives have been since Maelyn has joined our family. One year -- the best year of our lives...

Adoption Update

Paul and I have been working hard on getting our paperwork together for our next adoption adventure. When we originally planned out the timing for getting started again, it seemed like it was far away. Now that we are in the thick of it, I cannot believe that it is already here! We are very excited about the prospect of having another little monkey in our family!

Paul and I have kidded with one another that we equate the pain of the paperwork that inherently comes with the adoption process, to the pain of labour -- something you magically forget once your little one is placed in your arms (or so I have been told!). Well -- we are now vividly remembering that pain. I had forgotten about the unbelievable amount of paperwork, checks, meetings and divulging of personal information that goes along with the beginning stages of the adoption process. I think that the pain of the paperwork in compounded by the fact that we are still completing post placement reports and citizenship paperwork for Maelyn -- we are a little paperwork inundated. My return to work right around the time we started tackling this again also made it feel a little overwhelming. Well worth it, though! :)

We are just about done the Canadian portion of our paperwork. We have met three times with our social worker to update our homestudy and along with many discussions about topics such as our marriage and parenting, we have completed the following documents and checks:

• police checks
• fingerprint checks
• medicals
• financial statements
• reference checks
• guardianship statement
• home safety check
• fire safety plan
• child welfare checks
• etc.

Our social worker is now writing our homestudy reapplication. The draft will be sent to us shortly for revision and then the completed document will be sent to the Ontario Ministry for approval. This should take about two months (fingers crossed).

While our homestudy is at the Ministry, Paul and I will get together our paperwork for China. Then, our entire dossier should be sent to China by September (again, fingers crossed). We hope to have a referral by December or January. Then, the fun begins!

May Pics - Part 2

Visiting Jennie -- we had gone almost two whole months without seeing them!

The girls had a blast together!

Are these two just sooooo cute?!

Maelyn looooved the horse -- it was hard to pull her away!

Visiting with Julia (Ju-wa as she is now called)

God-sisters -- love them both so much!

With chalk on their noses...

People always say that a box is the best toy there is.... :)

Cuddle time with Daddy...

Playing doctor with Rocky

Pretending to be a baby...

May Pics - Part 1

In trying to catch up on blog posts, I have complied activities and pics from May into the next two posts...

Celebrating Mother's Day with Gamma, Pops, Auntie Kara and Uncle Cam...

Enjoying the beautiful weather with Auntie Kara -- and Maelyn got her nails painted!

Showing her nails off to Daddy...

We spent the entire day outside -- a perfect day!

Maelyn & Daddy learning how to play hopscotch...

Going for a bike ride...

Settling down after a busy day...

Can you tell that she dressed herself this day? :)

She loves to jump!

We welcomed home Madisyn -- what an amazing experience to be at the airport as she first arrived on Canadian soil....

Madisyn and her Mommy

Maelyn loved seeing Emily again and loved getting to spend some time with Madiysn