Pictures of Ailee

When we visited Ailee's orphanage, we brought a memory stick with us and asked if they had any pictures of Ailee that they would be willing to share with us. Thankfully, they did have a few on their computer and we were so happy to receive more pictures of our little monkey.



Earliest photo of Ailee -- what a cutie!

 

 

This little boy was Ailee's best friend. He was adopted shortly before we brought her home -- he now lives in Spain.

While we were waiting to bring Ailee home, we sent her a care package and in the package was a disposable camera. The following are pictures that we were able to print from that camera -- some of the pictures are on funny angles, but we love them!

 



This is my favourite picture of all -- just melts my heart.

Happy Mother's Day!

Today was a day of wonderful firsts....

It was the first year that Maelyn really understand the meaning behind Mother's Day and she was very excited about surprising me with many special treats. She could hardly contain herself when she came home from school with the presents that she made for me -- but wouldn't let me peek at them until today. :)

This morning, she helped Daddy make breakfast for me and once I made my way downstairs, after being able to stay in bed a little longer than usual, it made me smile to hear the squeals and giggles from her as she helped prepare a delicious meal. Maelyn kept telling me not to peek and repeatedly told her Daddy that making breakfast was fun!

So proud of her creations...

The other important first of the day was hosting Paul's family for Mother's Day. Due to their health issues, they've never been for a visit as a family in our home. It was so important to Paul that his family had a chance to spend time together. They haven't been together since last October and it was heartwarming to see how much they missed one another.

I did my best to take care of things around the house so that Paul could spend time with his family and the girls. He was happy to be able to share our videos of our adoption journeys with his parents, as they hadn't really been able to participate in or watch our journey to becoming a family.

The other first for today was the weather -- I don't think I have ever seen it hail and snow in May!!

The girls enjoyed spending time with their grandparents and it was wonderful to see them connecting with them and the fun they had together.

As the day comes to an end, my thoughts are with two birth mothers -- women whose sacrifice helped to make our family whole. I think of them with love and thank them for the most wonderful gift one human being can give to another -- the love of a child.

Spring is here!

At last! Spring has decided to make an appearance and I don't think I have ever been so happy about the change of season in a very long time.

It has been a long winter, hunkered down with our family and helping Ailee settle into her new home. But, as the leaves are finally beginning to bud on the trees, as the birds now wake us up with their morning song, and as those pesky wasps once again make their nests in the pillars on our porch, our family is also experiencing an awakening of sorts.

We are finally starting to feel like life is 'normal' again. Our little monkey has settled in beautifully with our family and those initial months together, which are so tough, for so many reasons, are coming to an end. We will soon reach that magical six month mark of being home with Ailee and we are all beginning to relax and enjoy our time as a family of four.

I am definitely feeling the shift. I am not forgetting as many appointments, I am starting to return phone calls and emails, I am not feeling like I am just 'getting through' the day anymore, and I am generally feeling more relaxed.

Paul, however, is still dealing with quite a bit of stress when it comes to his parents' health and their living arrangements. Since we have been home, his mom spent months in the hospital and is now living in a retirement home, he is starting the process to sell their family home, and when it sells, his dad will move into a retirement home as well. Generally, he has taken over most responsibilities for his parents -- a big job. I am trying to alleviate his stress by taking over more at home and it seems to be helping.

We are loving the time together as a family and there is so much to update about our girls -- if only I could catch up on the zillion posts I want to get done! I will call that my 'Spring Resolution.' Check back for a catch-up on the past four months. :)

Celebrating Ailee's Birthday -- In photos...

The cutest little man in the world....

We tried out her birthday dress that Auntie April gave her -- but it didn't go over well. She just ended up staying in her pyjamas for the rest of the day. :)

Love that these two are now such good buddies...

These cousins are just so cute together! Ailee loves to take care of Ian...

Ailee was feeding Ian his dinner and was very proud of herself...

Happy birthday, sweet girl!

Yang Yang was very tentative with the cake...

But the bigger girls got right into the action...

Soon everyone started joining in -- and ended up eating our homemade cake over the pretty cake we bought!

Happy Birthday, Ailee!

Happy Birthday, Ailee!

Our sweet, incredible, amazing little monkey turned 2 years old today! And what did we do today to celebrate?

Well, we headed to Sick Kids hospital where Ailee had day surgery to get tubes put in her ears. This was never the original plan, but we found out a few weeks ago that her surgery date had to be changed and the only date available was today. After having Ailee on medication four times over the past three months, all due to ear infections, we decided that it was important to go ahead with the surgery.

Our day started out very early and we arrived at Sick Kids by 7:30 this morning. Paul works across the street, so although he had to head to work, we were able to drive into the city together, which was really nice. :)

I entertained Ailee while we waited over four hours for the surgery to start -- the waiting is always so much fun. :S  I think I sang 'Baa, Baa, Black Sheep' about a million times today! It was nice, however, to spend one on one time with our little monkey.

The surgery went well. Unfortunately, the nurses did not come and get me before Ailee woke up in recovery and our poor Yang Yang completely lost it when I wasn't there. It was so frustrating for me that they forgot my request to be there right away because Ailee ended up being absolutely inconsolable. The nurses had tried to feed her a bottle (which she can't drink out of), and they were trying their best to reassure her. When someone did finally come and get me, the look on their face told me that something wasn't right and I was worried. A few steps down the hallway and I could hear her panicked screams -- which made me want to scream in frustration.

Almost an hour and a few bruises later for this Mama, Ailee had calmed down and I was able to take her home.

At home, Ailee fully recovered from the morning and was, in fact, very active -- even though this Mama was totally exhausted and was hoping for a late afternoon nap. Didn't happen.

After dinner we sang Happy Birthday to Ailee and she squealed when she saw the candles. Can't wait until we get to put a full cake in front of her at our family birthday party for her on Saturday!

"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you..."

Big sister Maelyn wasn't very happy that it wasn't her birthday....

We love you so much, Yang Yang!!

Beautifully made...

Tomorrow is Ailee's second birthday. Hard to believe that our little monkey is already going to be two years old!

After having returned to China and having visited where Maelyn was found, the girls' birthdays hold even more meaning for me than they did before. We always thought of and honoured Maelyn's first family on her birthday, but I don't know that I truly spent the time to think in detail about the sacrifice her first family made so that our family could have the joy of celebrating Maelyn's special day with birthday hugs and kisses.

Tonight, we will honour Ailee's first family by lighting candles and knowing that her first family is most likely thinking about her on her special day. Oh how I truly wish we could let her first Mama know that her little one is celebrating her birthday this year with her forever family. I wish we could let her know how much Ailee is loved. I wish we could let her know that we will always care for and provide for Ailee. I wish we could reach out to hug her, reassure her.

But most of all, I wish we could tell her how thankful we are for the chance to parent such a wonderful, sensitive, quick-witted, cuddly little girl.

Happy Birthday, Yang Yang! You are so beautifully made....