God-Sister Fun - Part 1

This post is way overdue, but definitely worth posting!

In February, we had one of the best weekends ever....a god-sister sleepover! Bryanna, Cassidy, and Julia arrived Friday evening, ready to get the fun started....

After changing into pyjamas, we made pizza for dinner...

The girls then enjoyed their dinner and exchanged CNY and Valentine's Day cards...

The big girls slept in the living room and they loved setting up their bed...

Who could resist these four little monkeys??

Then it was time for a movie and treats....

This is the first time that Maelyn sat and watched a movie. Paul and I felt like we were in heaven -- she was entertained and it was nice and quiet...

Bryanna, Cassidy and Julia looked after Maelyn the entire time -- and we loved having the extra help!

Bryanna, showing Paul how to use her new IPod Touch...

The big girls went and got Maelyn up in the morning -- and she was in heaven when she realized that the girls were still there!

Paul playing football with the girls in the hallway...

We then headed out to the spa for manicures and pedicures...

It was a fabulous weekend -- one that I cannot wait to repeat!! The girls are such amazing kids -- so polite, kind, very helpful and wonderful to be around. We missed them when they had gone home! Love them to bits...

Yay for Spring!!

Yesterday was such a fabulous day outside -- amazing what effect the weather has on us all!

We spent the morning outside, enjoying the freedom of being outdoors with a lot less outerwear than we have had to struggle with over the past five months. We decided to tackle the front yard and began raking the yard. My Dad took Maelyn around the block on her trike and she had a blast! We brought activities outside for her and watching her lying on her tummy, colouring us pictures, was a sight that brought a smile to my face. Her ease with the morning activities and the simple pleasure she took in colouring her pictures was another example of how our family has finally settled into a happy routine.

After awhile, Maelyn ventured to the backyard and discovered her much-loved play yard that she obviously missed so dearly -- it was a struggle to get her to come inside after an hour of enjoying her play yard.

Maelyn was 'sleeping' in her play house...hehe!

It was wonderful to spend the entire morning outside -- bring on spring!!

Later in the day Auntie Kara and Uncle Cam came for a visit and we enjoyed one of our favourite meals -- sushi!

Maelyn discovered soy sauce for the first time -- and when we weren't looking, she took the container and drank the rest of the sauce -- ewwww! Maelyn, however, thought it was the best thing ever!

Then it was time to play with Auntie Kara, Uncle Cam and Jake -- what a perfect way to end a fabulous day!

March Pics

I cannot believe how quickly the month of March passed by -- perhaps it has something to do with returning back to the classroom?!

March is always a big birthday month in our family and we celebrated my sister's milestone birthday with the entire family. Maelyn loves spending time with her Auntie Kara and when there is chocolate involved, the time spent together is even sweeter!

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Yummy!!

Spending time with Auntie Kara is the best!

Trying on Gamma's glasses...

We spent our March Break working on projects around the house. It was fabulous to get some projects out of the way and Maelyn was more than happy to help us out!

Not all of our time was spent indoors working on projects. We were able to get out to the Toronto Zoo with Auntie April and Kristie...

Maelyn loved running from footprint to footprint. She would pause and then jump on the print -- too cute!

Our neighbour dinners have evolved as our families have grown. We got together for a Sunday pot-luck dinner -- the kids played, the adults talked and we all enjoyed some great food!

The very beginning of a new adventure...

Families are formed in many different ways and are defined by love, not by shared DNA. For Paul and I this belief was confirmed when we first looked into the eyes of our little girl and fell totally and completely in love.

We have talked at length about expanding our family -- a possible sibling for Maelyn. Paul and I have decided that we are not going to pursue fertility treatments, but to proceed with a second adoption. Our adoption experience was so profoundly amazing that we just couldn't imagine not heading back to China to adopt our next little one.

So.....here we go! We are officially starting our next adoption journey to our little monkey!

We are adopting through the same agency and program that we did when we brought Maelyn home. Our little monkey will be up to two years old by the time we meet him or her and will also have a cleft clip and/or palate.

I have been asked many times if it will be easier to adopt the second time around and the answer is that no, it isn't really any faster or different from the first time we adopted. This month we have started the paper chase and our home study reapplication. Right now we are working on our getting our police checks, fingerprints, medicals and references.

Our timeline is most likely as follows:

February to May - home study reapplication paperwork and meetings
June - home study sent to the Ontario Ministry for approval
August - home study approved and work on gathering paperwork for China dossier
September - dossier sent to China
December - receive referral for our little monkey
April 2012 - travel to China

These timelines are just an approximation of how long it will take us to complete our second adoption. The timelines can vary and we have to remain very flexible and patient -- something this process has taught me. :)

We are excited to be starting out on our next adventure and our love for our little monkey is already starting to grow in our hearts.



February Pics

A little late, but here are some pics from the past month...

Singing along to the Glee soundtrack on the Wii...

Little Miss loves her 'lipstick!'

A cute, chocolate covered face!

Enjoying a Valentine's Day treat from Daddy in the morning...

A note on the following two photos...

Mama was on the phone making a speech therapy appointment for Maelyn. Maelyn was very, very quiet during this time. Mama became worried and searched for her little girl. Mama found Maelyn in Mama's shower, generously applying her cover stick as a lipstick...

I was laughing too hard to be upset with her... :)

Dressed up and ready to head to the Mandarin to celebrate Chinese New Year...

Dinner with friends we have made through Paul's work -- their niece, on the right, met up with us in China and helped us shop at the Pear Market. It was wonderful to see her again!

Play date with Grace, Lincoln, and Sidney....

Sydney playing dress-up -- too cute!

A week in review...

Well....I made it through my first work back at work! :) I have tried over and over again to come up with the words to help me describe my feelings and experiences, but the only word I can think of is this one -- weird. It was strange being away from my little miss for so many hours at a time. I found myself feeling the oddest mix of emotions throughout the entire week.

I am happy to be teaching again -- a job that I absolutely love and is so much a part of who I am. I love the feeling of independence and achievement that I get every day when I am with my students. I love the thrill of helping students learn new skills. I love interacting with my colleagues every day -- I missed it all!

What I found, however, was that I felt little pangs of guilt for enjoying my time at school, because it meant that I had to be way from Maelyn. Although I knew logically that I shouldn't be feeling guilty, the guilt still nagged at me here and there. I also felt sad that I was missing out on the cute and amazing things she would do throughout the day -- we spent so much of our time together laughing.

On the other hand, I am thrilled for Paul that he is getting the chance to spend so much time with his little girl. He is an amazing father and has proven over this past week that he is an extremely competent stay-at-home dad. I love being able to come home and hear about all of their daily adventures! (And on a side note, I totally don't miss doing the dishes, laundry, making dinners, etc. You are welcome to it, Paul!)

I find it weird to only spend a few hours at the end of the day with Maelyn. I wonder if I will ever get used to that??

I love that I seem to have more patience for Maelyn and love spending more time playing one-on-one with her in the evenings and on the weekends. What we have lost in quantity, we are making up for in quality.

It is weird to have Maelyn call me 'Daddy' by accident when she wants something, when it used to be 'Mama' for absolutely everything.

I learned that we can survive a change of pace in our family and that we are all going to be just fine....

In Daddy's shoes...

A change of pace...

Well, tomorrow is it -- I head back to work after being on leave for the past eight months with our little miss. I can hardly believe that eight months have passed so very quickly -- although, the first few months at home with Maelyn felt like they passed so very slowly. In the end, we found our groove and time simply flew by!

How do I feel about going back? I most definitely have mixed emotions, but in general, I feel excited about getting back into the working world. I absolutely love being a teacher -- it is a huge part of who I am and I have missed that part of me for the past eight months. I have spent many hours this month planning and preparing and it has felt wonderful to get back into the groove of things.

I also feel at ease about returning to teaching because over the past month or so, Maelyn has made huge progress when it comes to being okay with being separated from her Mama. We have worked really hard on 'proper goodbyes' -- telling her where I am going and that I will be back -- and she now feels very comfortable with and trusts that I will be back. Our little miss can now hug and kiss me goodbye and then trot off to play without showing any signs of distress. Sooooo much better than when she would scream and basically lose her mind if I left the house. I now know that she will feel more than comfortable with Paul all day long and that makes me feel relieved and able to move forward.

Paul will be staying home with Maelyn until the end of the school year. What a wonderful way to transition back into the working world -- I don't have to drop her off at daycare or start a new routine at home. I am excited for Paul -- he is a fantastic Daddy and he is really looking forward to the time they are going to get to spend together. They are going to have a blast! As a family, we are now going to be able to spend more time together. I get home so much earlier than Paul ever would, which means that we can do more as a family of three.

Have I convinced you yet?? I am ready to go back, right?!

I will miss seeing that laughing, smiling face all day long. I will miss being present for all of her 'firsts' and her new accomplishments.

A new chapter begins....wish me luck! :)

Playing with Mama's make-up...