Changes to our blog...

After many conversations with various family memebers and friends, we have decided to take off our hometown and all pertinent information and pictures of Aidan off of the blog for security and safety reasons. There are a lot of ill individuals who like to surf the blogs and while we are protective, didn't think it was a huge deal. But, it was brought to our attention that anyone can read and get information and copy the pictures of Aidan.

We had decided to make the blog personal and by invitation only, but have had some resistance to this due to the sign in procedure. So, we will keep this one public and have a secondary blog for our family and friends with more detail and pictures that will require a sign on process. It is easy and doesn't take long at all. If you would like to follow the more personal blog the address is www.familydreamscometrue.blogspot.com. If you have not received an invite, please email me at cowboysgirlforever@hotmail.com and I will add you to the list.

Sorry for the inconvenience, but we want to protect our peanut's privacy, and know those who love us and have kids understand better to be a little more guarded than not be protective at all.

Happy Chinese New Year!

The year of the pig has arrived and we just wanted to wish our friends and family a Happy New Year! We look forward to good luck and love this next year with Aidan and hope for the same for all of you!

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Love,

Dan and Kelly

Ok, I am getting old...What is Wrong with People?

Ok, this is how Dan and I feel today..... after being up from 4:06 am and on this morning, thanks to our neighbour's son. So, remember while reading this that we
have had this happen to us twice now. It is the middle of the night,
and we are cozy in bed. Peacefully. Until all of a sudden Kia starts
barking her low gutteral someone is in the yard bark. Dan bolts straight out of bed. There are lights shining in the window. It is a cab! Dan yells "not again", and flies down the stairs. I hear the screen door open down stairs and I hear him scream: I can see you! Pay for your (insert profanity here!) CAB!!! He sees 2 dark figures running through the bush towards the neigbours. One is falling down (drunk) and the other is a girl screaming for her partner in crime to hurry up! Dan then goes and gets his shoes and tells the cab driver that the 2 girls he just drove here who ran up a $100 cab fare coming the 40+ minutes from town, just darted through our our backyard going towards the neighbours and they are not our children. So, the cabbie proceeds to swear and goes flying out of the driveway towards the neigbours house, where it is all dark! He then drives up and down trying not to wake up anyone else but wanting to find the girls and wring their necks. About a half an hour later of listening to Dan rant and pace up and down, we realize how dumb these kids are. (When this happened in September, it was dark and we had no idea where they went, or in what direction, because we were alseep and confused when the cab driver started pounding on our door. He was screaming about our daughter ripping him off, and you know the rest of the story!) Well, it is not September, and bless Thunder Bay, there is some snow on the ground, and we can follow their tracks in the morning! Suddenly, a car goes flying out of the neigbours yard, after shining their highbeams into our bedroom window. (Which is very unusual as our neighbours tend to work evening or night shifts). Well, we are up for the day. Dan proceeds to go downstairs and watch the NBA Freshman all-star basketball game he taped the night before and then he heads to the barn to do chores. I lied there cursing teenagers and the fact that before we moved here this summer, our nearest neighbour was 1/2 km away and we had some peace and quiet. I swear that my son will not be disrespectful of others and over my dead body will he be having friends pop by at 4 am! (Let's revisit this post in 17 years and see if my predictions ring true!)

Needless to say, we did follow the tracks at first light this morning. Directly from our place to the neighbours back door. I called the neighbour this morning. She was oblivious. All she knew is her son had 2 girls over in the night, and she said she had no control over what her son did after she went to bed. I told her this was the second time, and she was a little confused. She had no idea that the kids were being dropped here, waking us up or the poor cabbie losing his fare.
She promises she will get to the bottom of it, and swears it won't happen again... "but, if it does, to call and she will deal with it". Good thing Dan didn't have shoes at the back door or he would have DEALT WITH IT!!!

Either Dan and I are getting old, or we were brought up with some respect and common sense. (Amen to both!!!)

Well, another busy week with working on the nursery, but we are getting closer to being finished. I painted the wainscotting yesterday, after finding the perfect paint colour. It is called Nantucket White, and is an antique cream colour. As you can see by the pictures, today we started on the decorative painting of the clouds. Krista came out to help Carol and I get started, and we finished the first 2 walls. Tomorrow we will finish the other 2 and Carol will start on the Panda Bear. We are hoping to have the chair rail and the trim and the baseboards done by next week so we can start to put the decorative touches on and touch up the paint before putting the furniture in. Our house looks like Home Depot. There is wood here and there, mouldings, a brad nailer, air gun and various tools, implements and supplies all over the upstairs. It almost looks like we know what we are doing! NOT! Good thing we have friends! :) Of course, I forgot to get one of the girls to take a picture of Dan and I working in the room for Aidan. Well, there is always next time.

Sweet Sentiments!!

Well, my husband never ceases to amaze me! :) While he is not a man who does big romantic gestures, I have always know that he loves me. But, with the demands on him with the clinic and emergencies, he is not always able to make it to town to get a card on special occasions. Well, I came home today to a dozen pink roses (he knows I have issues with the traditional red roses) and a Valentine's Day card. I was so shocked. He has never bought me flowers before (except on our wedding day, and I still suspect he was coached by his brother!). When I asked what the occasion was since Valentine's day was tomorrow, he responded that they were not for Valentine's Day... They were for no special reason except to say that he loves me and he felt he should start taking better care of me. Ok, he honestly got me teary... Where did that come from? When I asked if one was from Aidan, he said ABSOLUTELY NOT! Aidan would have to fend for himself, all these brownie points were his! I am still stunned... don't know what to say, except I am one lucky girl...twice over. The yellow rose in the middle was a gift from one of our employees' husband, Martin. He came in and brought Tammy a beautiful bouquet of purple and white daisies and me the yellow rose. So sweet!

Thank you to our secret Pal!! - January edition...

Just a quick note to our secret pal. Our January gift arrived today, which was such a warm thing on such a COLD day! We love all of the "Feeding Baby" items from this month and know they will come in so handy both on our trip to China and when we bring Aidan home! I am really grateful for the sippy cups I hear that they are wonderful for kids and they are helpful in transitioning them to regular cups. SP must be a mom, because she knew the things we would need! Such a fun thing for a Monday morning!!

It was pretty funny. I opened the package at work and one of our staff, who just got married and is not a mom yet, laughed at the thought of us baby proofing the house, and the look on my face must have been priceless as I realized that maybe I should clear out some room in the kitchen for some plastic wear. Hadn't really thought about that part before. Room check. Baby gates check. High chair check. Things to feed the baby with-- uh oh. Watching an adopive parent panic? PRICELESS!

Thank you again secret Pal, and thank you for your wish. Little feet will pitter patter this year!

The Generosity of Friends...

Our friend Kim, whom we are anxiously awaiting news from today sent us this fun and unexpected package in the mail. It arrived on Friday and made our day! It had some fun things for Aidan, as he currently loves his teethers at the moment, and some adorable clothes from the Children's closet. I love kids in orange, so immediately a smile came to my face when I opened this wonderful gift. Dan really liked the pants as they are lined and will be great for those cool fall days. I also love the bib, as I can see Peanut's mischevous face in the middle of it. My favorite things though was Kim's card. It was so sweet, and thoughtful. We are so grateful everyday for the friendships we have made on this journey. This time and the people who have touched our hearts can not be replaced and makes our adoption of our son so much more richer with special memories. Such an unexpected thing, but it means so much. Aidan is such a spoiled peanut already. Thanks Kim!

Just got an instant message from Kim! It is a "DONE DEAL!" and Channing is officially hers. The paperwork is signed and the LOI is written! I will wait to post this message until she has done so on her blog and to the groups as not to spoil her fun! We are so happy for her and for Channing, and are keeping our fingers crossed that we will be able to travel together to get our children! More adventures are on the way!!! :) What a happy day! I think I will go and make some brownies and a big supper so that we can celebrate for them!

Happy Birthday to Mark! & More room renos....

Happy Birthday Mark!! Hope you are reading this and had a great day! We tried calling, but you were out. Hope Anne and the kids spoiled you. I'm sure that Mom made you a great BD dinner!

Today was a day spent doing the wainscotting and playing with colour designs with Ellena. The guys did a quick and wonderful job with the woodworking. Now I have to decide on the right shade of cream to go with the fabric for Aidan's room. Which means, a trip into town tomorrow to Home Depot! :) I love that store.

Ellena found this plaque for Aidan's room. It kind of hit her...seriously. She was out shopping in Home Sense and stuff started to fall from a shelf. This was at the top of the pile. Karma? It gave her goosebumps, and it is so weird as most people spell Aidan: A-I-D-E-N. So, the fact that it is spelled correctly and has a basketball on it-- Weird. Very weird. But fun!

Not such a good luck charm...

Well, it wouldn't be fun if the Raps won them ALL. We lost to Detroit tonight, but it was close and they are a great team... That is all I am going to say!

Working on Aidan's Room...

Today was such a fun day! We (well, me--Dan was out on calls and at the farm) worked with John and Ellena on putting in Aidan's flooring in the nursery. It is a bamboo inspired laminate, and we decided to put it right over the old carpeting. Well, decided is kind of a loose term... more like forced to as the carpet was glued to the floor 20 years ago, and there was no way of getting it up without creating an even bigger mess! But, it has made the floor feel almost bouncy, and the jokes were: Imagine how much higher Aidan will be able to jump as he goes for the dunk! (Ok- more basketball- a wee bit obsessive!). John used to do renovations for a living, and did such a nice job. The floor has a distinct pattern to it that is very neat, and he was so careful with materials we had over a box left over.

Of course, John was very shy for the camera, but I can forgive him for that considering all of the help he has given us. Tomorrow, we will continue on with the wainscotting and then the room will be ready for Carol's artistic design.

Raptors WIN!

Ok, for all of you not too familiar with Dan and I, Dan is the BIGGEST Raptors fan. I was not, until just before Christmas. Then, Dan started insisting that I watch with him when the Raps are playing as I am apparently good luck and they were winning when I watched each night. So, this theory is true, and they have won every game that I have watched. Each one they have lost has been when I have not been home or have been busy and have not been next to Dan when they have played. (Aside- Dan is so superstitious about about it that he has his lucky Raptors hat -- his favorite Christmas gift next to the Carhartt's-- and it has to be sitting at a certain spot on the side table!) So, unfortunately for me and the staff at the clinic, I have become addicted to Raptors Basketball as well.

So, tonight's face up was with the Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant. Well, let me just say that Raptor's WON AND KICKED BUTT! I am equally pleased because my "boy" Anthony Parker was matched up against Kobe a lot and he did phenomenally well and had his highest score in a game ever. It was fantastic! And, the best part is they were playing in Toronto and the crowd was going wild. Ok, I have lost it! I am posting basketball to the blog. Somebody help!

A referral for Kim?

Waiting and hoping that Monday comes very quickly for our friend in Saskatchewan who is waiting on the referral of her little girl! We hope the next 2 days fly by and that she is able to meet with her social worker EARLY on Monday morning. We are thinking of you Kim, and hope the stork flies quickly to meet you. We can't wait to meet Channing!

I wonder which province she will be from? Maybe she will be like Aidan and live in Jiangsu province. Xuzhou is up at the top of Jiangsu at the extreme left of the province (look for Shanghai on the right and go up!).

Our Little Peanut!

The last week and a bit has been such a blur between the clinic and all of the excitement with our news. We celebrated yesterday, both our referral and Dan's 36th birthday with Raptor's basketball (another win- YEAH!) and with Dan's favorite home made pizza and cherry chip cake. All in all a great day!

It is funny how attached you get to a little person you have not laid eyes on yet. We both look so forward to him coming home. We have a lot of work to do yet between finishing the nursery and getting things prepared for when he comes home. But, luckily that will keep us busy and hopefully the time will fly by.

NEWS! NEWS! NEWS!

We would like to introduce everyone to the newest member of our family. OUR SON! Yes, you did read correctly. We received our referral, and we were granted the immense pleasure of becoming parents to our beautiful baby boy! Our agency received the file along with the others on January 8th. We then had to wait for translation and for the referrral. Our social worker was away for a week, so we needed to wait for her return, accept the file and then have the paperwork issued and signed. We heard from Joan on Monday and she was in agreement that this is our son. Family Outreach sent the paperwork on Tuesday and we signed on Thursday! So, now we wait on more paperwork and travel arrangements to go to China to meet him and bring him home!

Travel can take a while, so here are some facts about Aidan to keep everyone occupied and to get to know our little bundle of joy.

We have give him his Canadian name: Aidan Wyatt Xiaolin. (Meaning- Aidan: Little fire, Wyatt- From the wood.)It is kind of interesting that we had his English name picked out before we knew his Chinese name. They are very close! Meant to be. We referred to a couple of Doctors about his file. He is doing fine, and is growing like a weed.

His Chinese name is: Xu, Xiaolin. Xu is his last name. Xiaolin is his first name. Chinese names can have many meanings. It depends if the syllables are separated out or kept together. His name is comprised of three syllables. Xiao has the same sound in Chinese as little (named this as he was brought to the Orphanage on the day he was born) it also means strength. Lin is in reference to the Police at local officers brought him into the SWI. Xu is for the city in which he was found. His name is pronounced SHOW LIN SU. (X's are pronounced S). Dan thinks he sounds like a kung fu master! His name translated into English is Dawn Forest. (We think this is in reference to him being found in the forest at dawn, but this is a question we will ask the SWI director when we are in China).

He was born on April 13, 2006. He is on the younger end of the kids referred in the program.

What the SWI director said was that he is a very happy and active child. He is 70 cm tall at the moment and is 8.5 kg in weight (as of January 18th), which is great as he is right on par with what the Canadian growth scale says he should be. The orphanage director said he is "lively, lovely, very likeable, but is also very mischevous!" He is crawling, and likes to try to climb out of his crib. He is light sensitive (this is one of the symptoms of the albinism), but says it is not serious, as he does not have a problem with indoor light. He drinks 6 bottles per day and the majority of his diet is still milk. He has 3 teeth, and he loves his caregivers very much. He is very close with his nannies. He sucks his thumb, especially when he sleeps, he likes brightly coloured toys, and is very curious by nature.

Two questions we are being asked is: I thought you were adopting a girl!? and: What happened, I thought you were adopting from China? Ok, to make it simple we thought we were getting a girl, Because girls are mostly referred, but were never opposed to a boy and we were approved for both by the Ontario ministry. Secondly, Aidan is Chinese. He has albinism. Which simply and without going into a lot of details means he was born without pigment in his skin, eyes and hair. Well, the other question we are asked daily by everyone (including those who don't know the news) is WHEN are we going. Not an easy answer, especially with all of the changes brought into effect by China in December. Could be anytime in the next 6 months. Travel arrangements often take a while and we are still at the mercy of the Social worker, Ontario goverment, Canadian government, our agency and China. We just have to wait and see.

We have mailed off of Letter of Intent to adopt, which is basically a health and nuture plan that is sent to the CCAA to let them know that we have agreed to adopt Aidan and that we have done our homework and have a plan in place with our GP and know what steps we will take to ensure Aidan's medical needs are looked after when he returns home. After this, we wait for another piece of paperwork in the Waiting Child Program and that is called a Seeking Commitment Form. After that, we should have our travel arrangements. We are officially waiting again and back in the paperwork stage, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and staring at Aidan's pictures makes it easier and harder at the same time!