What a weekend!!!!....a Shower from my girlfriends

First, here is a little video of Mary Anne doing the hand to mouth action while eating a Mum Mum!!! Yipppeee!! She has been (with some assistance) doing this for the last couple of days. But today I put her in her high chair gave her a Mum Mum and she immediately put it in her mouth! This is a big step!!! I could tell she was very proud of herself. This is the only thing she will put in her mouth. She will pick up a Cheerio, put will not put it in her mouth unless you guide her hand.

Oh I just love this video. I love her little laugh! I just want to eat her up! Check out her hair!!!! tee hee




Today Mary Anne and I attended a shower at my friend, Marnie's house. I am not going to post photos yet as I am waiting for more from my friends. I will then do a little slide show. I do want to say we had the most amazing afternoon. The theme of the shower was Asian...lots of beautiful decorations and food!! It was so nice to spend an afternoon with all these beautiful women in my life. I felt so much love for Mary Anne. All these wonderful people who will be in her life. We are so fortunate!!!

Now I just have to comment on the Gift!!!! tee hee Everyone always teases me that I am a Mom that has everything...and what do you buy a Mom who has everything?....well they came up with the perfect gift. We received a Gift Certificate for FotoArt Photography. Check out her site! Go to her portfolio of children...amazing! I cannot wait to have her take photos of Mary Anne!!! Thank you! Thank you!!!! Everyone of my friends/family has waited with us.....I still cannot believe that today Mary Anne and I were at Marnie's celebrating her arrival. Unbelievable!!!!

One Month Ago Today....

September 22, 2008

October 22, 2008

One month ago today Mary Anne was placed in our arms. A day we will never forget!!!!!!! The best day of our lives. I can't believe she has been with us a month but at the same time the trip to China seems like a bit of a distant memory....

This photo was recently sent to us from another family we travelled with. This was taken from another angle when we were changing Mary Anne at the Forbidden City. I cracked up when I saw this photo...it shows Mary Anne's personality so well....smile at everything and go with the flow. She looked like she was enjoying it. Too funny!

Four Firsts Today....

First time on a swing....LOVED IT!!! Lots of giggles and squeals!!

First time touching grass. Check out the trunk stability on this girl!!!!! She is ready for Pilates.

First time walking on grass....

First time at Grandma and Grandpa's house....Boy did she ever love all the new toys to play with!!!

Surprise Shower from our Lake Friends....

We made it to the cottage this weekend! Mary Anne's first!! She did amazingly on the 2.5 hour drive strapped in a car seat. On the way up she slept for 2 of the 2.5 hours. She also did not have any disruptions in her sleeping...even though she was in yet another new place and in a Pack N Play. She ROCKS! We think she loves the cottage, fresh air and all her new friends. We absolutely loved having her with us. The cottage really is a great family place. No distractions...just family time.

Well, little did I know one of our lake neighbours (Dianne and Ron) was planning a surprise shower for me and Mary Anne. Iain of course was a part of the plan. Sunday on our way out, heading back home we were to stop at Ron and Dianne's for a quick visit. Well SURPRISE!! I was overwhelmed! Boy they are sneaky! We met our Lake Friends just 6 months ago...this was our first summer at the Lake. I am speechless at everyone's generosity and kindness. Some people drove all the way to the Lake just for the shower! I could not believe that everyone took the time to come and celebrate with us and to meet Little Miss Mary Anne. Of course she smiled away at everyone. She did awesome considering it was through her nap time! We received so many nice gifts!! I love every single one of them!!!! All the gifts are Lake gifts!...all pjs, shoes, blankets, toys and clothes etc etc...are for the Lake. How cool is that!

Here is a photo of all the gifts....

Here is a couple photos of Mary Anne's new Lake Coat!!! Thank you Izzy and Murray. Not long after we met Ron and Dianne. Dianne told me I needed a Lake Coat. So off I went to Mark's Work Warehouse and bought a Lake Coat. I think our next family photo at the cottage will be of us in our Lake Coats!



Here is a photo of Mary Anne in her new outfit from Ron and Dianne.

Thank you so much Ron and Dianne for hosting such a beautiful afternoon. We are so fortunate! I can't wait for Mary Anne to spend her summers getting to know all her Lake friends!!!

Mary Anne started doing the stomach shuffle today! I think she will be crawling in no time!!!

Where has the time gone?

What an adorable sweet perfect little face

Wow, I can’t believe how long it has been since I posted. Sorry about that! Sorry to keep everyone hanging on as to how Mary Anne is doing! I can’t believe we have been home 2-weeks tomorrow. Although it feels like we were in China ages ago.

Life in our household is fabulous! Mary Anne is the sweetest little girl and brings us so much joy. She is a lot of fun to have around. I love having a friend to play with all day!

It took us about one week but we are now on a routine!…she eats, plays and has two naps a day! She loves food, her bottle and is a deep sleeper. When she is awake she is on the move. Her legs are always moving. Her favourite thing to do is walk while Mommy or Daddy holds her hands. She is not crawling yet but she can certainly get around by rolling and twisting. The biggest smile we get is when she sees her bottle. She squeals with excitement! One of my many favourite times is in the morning when I go into her room to get her out of her crib. She looks at me with this big smile as if she is saying “Yipppee it is still you!” When I lift her out of the crib she smiles and kicks her legs with excitement and is ready to start her day. She is very vocal and babbles away all day. She lets you know what she wants. She knows how to do Patty Cake and will occasionally wave bye-bye. She LOVES music and will swing her arms and move her upper body when she hears it.

I absolutely love being a mother. It is bringing me so much joy. Everyday I remind myself of how blessed I am to have been given such a beautiful gift. She is perfect in so many ways. I know from all the nieces and nephews we have that we are lucky that she goes to bed easily and sleeps through the night. Having good sleeping habits makes life so much easier! She seems to love both her Mommy and Daddy and enjoys time with both of us. It is amazing how she has adjusted so well in such a short time. She is so happy and social that sometimes it is easy to forget all the changes and all the FIRSTS that are happening in her life.

Things she loves:

1. Bottle
2. Pureed Carrots and Pears
3. Home cooked meals. Likes to eat what Iain and I are eating!
4. Trying to walk
5. Jolly Jumper
6. Outdoors
7. Bath
8. Books
9. Music
10. Baby Bjorn
11. Being picked up and held

Things she is indifferent about: (doesn’t cry but doesn’t smile either!)

1. Jogging Stroller
2. Stroller
3. Car Seat

Things she does not like:

1. Pretty much all fruit except for Pears. She seemed to enjoy Mandarin Oranges following Thanksgiving Dinner but now she spits them out.
2. All cold food.
3. Having to wait for her bottle!

She had her first doctor’s appointment and once again was a trooper! She gave a little cry while getting two shots one in each leg. She quickly recovered and they did not seem to bother her one bit the rest of the day. She weighs 17 lbs and is healthy!

Have I mentioned how cute she is???? Here are some updated photos…that I know you have all been waiting for!

Waving bye bye....before heading on a run

Her favourite position!
Poor Bella always seems to rest in the wrong spot!


Mary Anne meeting her friend, Isabelle for the first time.

Mary Anne wanting to get Bella but can't figure out how....
Playing with Bella

Well I think soon I will put an end to our "Journey to Mary Anne". I will post a few more times...:) We started the process to adopt from China in early October 2005. Three years later we have our little girl home with us. The timing was all perfect! We are now excited to start the next phase of our live together as a family....

A little video of photos from the day....

Mary Anne....

First, I am told I need to apologize for my last post! I read it this morning and had a good laugh realizing that I was half out of it and most of it made no sense!

Here is Mary Anne in her jolly jumper. As you can see she loves it. Today she was really getting the hang of it.

Pepe and Mary Anne

This is Pepe putting Mary Anne to sleep. This was a big NO NO as we want Mary Anne to stay awake all day so she does not wake in the night! Although it does not matter to him as he will NOT hear her in the night!

She did have a bit of a rough night last night. Here is hoping for a better one tonight.

We did make it to Mass which was beautiful!

Thanks for all the comments, e-mails and visits!

WE ARE HOME!!!!!!!!!!!

Our first family photo in Victoria!
Seeing her room that has been around for a couple of years! for the first time!!! :)

Her first stand on the kitchen counter!



Mary Anne sleeping through the whole celebration at the Airport!

Grandma and Auntie Monica trying to fit all the ballons in the car! very funny to watch!
Some of the McAuley and Alexander clan

So sorry for such a delayed post to report our arrival. We are all doing great but busy as every parent would understand. Mary Anne is a gem! She had a great first night. It is unbelievable really. We are expecting the worse but really so far it has been good. She only woke once last night and went back to sleep which is truly a miracle. She had one long nap today and went to bed tonight at 7:30 so we are keeping our fingers crossed for another great night. We both also feel fantastic. I don't know what it. I think it might be the Jet Lag stuff I took and feel really good. But Iain did take and also feels good. Maybe are just very excited first time parents? :)

It was so wonderful to see everyone at the airport even though the little princess slept through the whole experience! We are very touched to all who came. Wow what welcome we had and what a crowd! We will never forget our arrival! Yahooo!!!!!!!!! What an welcome Mary Anne had to Victoria.

She is doing fantastic and taking it all in with her big brown eyes. We tried in a few new things today...the high chair, jolly jumper and exercisers. She loves them all but only for short periods.
It is feel so wonderful to be home and enjoy our time together and not busy rushing around everywhere. BUT we really miss our travel friends. So I can't wait until everyone settles down and we can catch up.

Thanks also to everyone who dropped by it was wonderful to see you and for you to meet Mary Anne. We look forward very much to the play dates that lie ahead!

OMG I just did a head drop into the computer I am falling a sleeep! tee hee I better close this post I wanted to let you know that we are home and and everyone seems happy. We are aiming to be up and out of here for 9:15 Mass and then breakfast. So I guess what we did in China, all the packing and going will come in handy tomorrow morning. Ok i better get to sleep while she is sleeping. It is absolutely wonderful having Pepe and my sister here with us and Grandpa and Grandma and Auntie Monica close by. thank you!

The photos are in no order to tired to straighten them out. We will post more soon of the little peanut!

GOOD BYE CHINA.....our final post from China

A few final photos from China....

Don't you just want to eat her up!!!!!!!!!!

Her last nap in her crib at The Presidential Hotel in Beijing!!! She loves her little blanket! Thanks Bruce and Wendy! ;)

Iris and Mary Anne

Iris is also from the Xiajiang Orphanage. Iris is about 5 weeks younger than Mary Anne and is going to Edmonton. I think they were buddies! I am sure they hung out together in their walkers!

Good Bye from China!!! Thanks to everyone for all your support and prayers. We could not have made it through the wait without you. Please pray that our journey back home goes smoothly and Mary Anne adjusts well to all the changes that lie ahead for her.

God Bless,

Love Iain, Christine and Mary Anne Xi

Last Full Day in China....

Wow, this is our last night. So many mixed emotions. Very very excited to return home and at the same time very sad to leave China, the birth country of our baby girl. I wish there was a way we could tell her birth mother and birth father that she is a happy and healthy baby and will be loved. We look forward to one day bringing Mary Anne back to her country of birth, to show her the wonderful place she came from.

Today we shopped at another market for half the day then spent the afternoon relaxing in our room and packing up. Our bags need to be outside our door by 10:30 a.m. and then we head to the airport. On the way we make a quick but very important stop at the Canadian Embassy to pick up Mary Anne's visa and Canadian Citizenship. We fly out at 4:20 p.m. and arrive in Victoria at 2:50 p.m. on Friday October 3.

Tonight we had our going away party. FOI had a clown come in for the children and we had cake. OMG was the cake ever good!!! There are very few sweets in China so some dessert tasted great! The kids loved the clown. There are a number of older children in our group that came with their parents to pick up their new brother or sister. Dinner was a bit crazy though. I swear there was something in the food as all the kids seemed to be freaking out! :) However it was fun and it was our last dinner with our new friends...which is sad.

Good bye China.....

Shopping Day

Well I don't have much to post today as we just shopped. I only took four photos today! Unbelievable!

We went to the the Pearl Market. What a place! It is 6 floors, pearl floor, clothing, shoe and purse floor, toy floor, electronic floor, Asian product floor, food court. You can bargain and haggle which is tons of fun. They chase you down the hall if you walk away. You can pretty much get everything for 50 to 70% below where the price started. I enjoy haggling! I like to see what I can get and I like walking away....they always agree on what you are willing to pay.

Tonight we went to the Acrobatic Show. WOW! First, though I have to say in Canada I would never think to take a 9 month old to a Show. But surprisingly the music and lights did grab her attention. She did great. I did have to stand at the end of the aisle for the last 10 minutes of the 90 minute show. Pretty good for 9 months!

We are getting very excited to come home. Only two more sleeps in China and we head home to start our life together as family in our home. We are excited to see everyone!!! and for you to meet our little girl. It is hard to believe our time in China is coming to an end. We will miss our travel group as we have all become very close. We have made some wonderful new friends.

Here is a photo of some of the moms and babies while we were in Nanchang. 7 Families were in Nanchang. There are 14 families total here in Beijing.


This is a photo from dinner last night. One of the other moms brought this chair which has certainly come in handy for her little girl as a lot of the restaurants have no high chairs. They were finished their dinner so passed it along to us. Well Mary Anne LOVED it. She loved being right at the table. It is so fun showing her all these new things!!!

Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square

OMG what a day!!!!!! Never I repeat never go to the Forbidden City or Tiananmen Square the day before a National Holiday in China!! All we can say is it was an experience. There was for sure over a million people there. We felt like a herd of cows moving from one point to another. At times it was pretty scary but we all made out fine and just kept following the Panda Flag carried by our guide. We did not see much of the Forbidden City or Square as there were just to many people. It was also a hot day. We are laughing about it now....but boy was it ever a long day at the time. We were all just tired and wanted to get to the bus. We were there for 3 1/2 hours basically walking from South Gate to the North Gate. Again Mary Anne was a trooper and as you will see from the video and photos she put up with a quick bottle feed in the middle of the herd and a diaper change on the fly. I think we are ready for anything now. Wow I am actually speechless when I think about our day. We are so fortunate with the amount of SPACE we have in Canada!
Mary Anne did sleep through the worse of the pushing and shoving!...as we were entering the Forbidden City. Our guide went off to buy the tickets and was meeting us at the gate. Well when Iain and I reached the gate our guide (we found out later) was still behind us. They let Iain and I through with no ticket! Apparently this NEVER happens. The guards just looked at us and must have felt sorry for us and let us through. People were pushing on our backs to get in. Insane!



I did get shopping with some of the other Moms for baby clothes later this afternoon. Our guide told us about this great place. We then had a nice Sushi dinner with a few other families and then a few of us went for a massage. Daddy had some good one on one time with Mary Anne today!

You gotta do what you gotta do!



Mary Anne waved hello today!!!!!!!!!!! Our guide walked up to her and said "hello Mary Anne" and she waved back!! I was not the only one to witness it. :) So everyone was so excited and started saying "hello Mary Anne" and waving but I think she was a bit shocked by everyone saying Hello and did not wave for the camera. :)






Tomorrow is shopping at the Pearl Market and Dirt Market.

Summer Palace and Silk Factory

First the Star of the Show! Every night when I download the photos I fall in love with new ones. I swear she is getting cuter! These are my two favourites from today. I think her eyes are full of sparkles. I know I am totally biased... :) but I finally get to brag!!! Look at her little belly!!!!! :)

Summer Palace is where the Emperors went in the summer to get away from Beijing. It is a very beautiful spot. There is a huge lake that is man made. Dug out by hand. There is the longest corridor in the world which is 738 meters long.

here are some photos:

I could not resist posting this one. The men in the orange hats!

The Man Made Lake
The world's longest corridor



We then went to the Silk Factory where the silk items are made. We bought a super king size silk duvet for $110.00 CAN. This is an amazing deal!!! We also found some really cute outfits for Mary Anne.

Here is a little video clip I took a couple of days ago....

How long before you think she will be walking? Look at those cute strong legs!