Hooray for Kate

OK, I posted alot of pics to my Facebook account and posting them to this blog would just be way too much work. Blogger is just not designed for many many pics.

Here are the lins to the pics. You dont need a Facebook account to view them
Link 1
Link 2

It's been a while since I did an update and well, it's time for another one.

Kate is doing fabulous. We're keeping her busy with walks in the stroller or sled and trips in the car to visit people and she seems to love every moment of it. We were able to go to a friends place Friday night, put her to sleep there, and bring her home and put her to bed without an issue. What a relief. Now we know we can still socialize outside of the house without any major issues from Kate.

Jen and Kate started their "Talk with Me" class Thursday. This is a provincial gov't sponsored class which helps to teach us the proper way to communicate to her. She seemed to have enjoyed it.

Things are still positive here. She's still sleeping thru the night and still taking a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. We're still getting some company but not as much as before. if you want to come visit, come on over... just call first.

No real words yet - lots of baby babble, but nothing understandable. She's crawling up a storm, but no real walking yet. Lots of steps holding onto our hands and she can stand on her own for 5--10 seconds so any day now she should be off running like a track and field star.

One thing we've noticed about her is how "mechanical" she is... she needs to know HOW things work. What makes the pages of a book turn, how does her walker work, how does the sound come from that toy, and my favorite, what happens when I push the release button or squeeze the chest strap on the car seat. You need muscles to undo the car seat so she wont be getting out any time soon.

We're doing well, she's doing great and life here is good. Stop by and visit!

I'll upload some more pics later today.

Another great day. We were storm stuck all day but Grampy and nanny F still managed to stop by for a visit.

Here are some more pics from Grampy F.

Christmas socializing with family on Boxing Day.
Kate's favorite "bribe" - Cheerios More Christmas socializing. The best 50 cents we ever spent. We bought this set of stacking cups at a yard sale for 50 cents and they are Kate's favorite toy. They kept her amused for hours in China.
Part of the welcome home crew at the airport. Thanks girls for the awesome signs.
Kate and Nanny FKate and MY Nanny (and more Cheerios)

Its been a few days but I thought it was time to post another entry before the curtain closes on this journey.

I hope Day 1 of 2008 was a great day for everyone. We're in between snowstorms today so we were appreciative of the sun and enjoyed the day. Jen is still fighting a cold so Kate and I had some extra time to ourselves today.

Things are going exceptionally well here. Awesome would be a better word. Kate is bonding nicely and is still sleeping thru the night. She is healthy, happy and just a joy to be around. She's taken nicely to her grandparents and still wants to come to her mommy and daddy. Travelling in the car goes well, nap time goes well, everything goes well.

Looking back on the trip, China was an absolutely beautiful country and the trip was nearly perfect. We have nothing bad to say about China at all. It surpassed our expectations 100%. A word to everyone who is waiting... anything you need can quickly, cheaply and easily be found close to the hotel, so do not over pack. We packed quite lightly and still had lots that we didn't need or had too much of. We had 2 large suitcases 3/4 full... if we did the same trip again, I could do it all in 1 suitcase and get the rest in China. I'll post more on that at a later time as I feel this subject deserves a detailed explanation as this is the information I found hardest to find before we left.

The arrival into Moncton and seeing all of those people there was spectacular. We didn't receive many pics from people who were at the airport when we arrived home, so if you have some pics, could you please send us a few? We've shared so many with you... can you share some with us?

Work wise, I've been given the opportunity to spend more time with Kate and Jennifer than I had planned. This notice was given to me on my last week at work and came as quite a surprise. I will not be returning to my old job or to my old employer. Wait... this is a good thing. I can honestly say that I am thrilled to have the opportunity to bond more with Kate over the next few weeks. The timing on this ended up working out perfectly with our adoption so I packed up my desk for good on that last Friday. So, if someone is looking for an excellent people person / sales guy / IT professional, call me.

Jen and I would like to thank everyone for all the gifts and well wishes we've received. We could never have expected all the support over the last few years and especially over the last few weeks. Giving everyone a look into our lives thru this blog and the previous blog was a labour of love and I'm glad I maintained this since the very beginning. Now we have a complete documented journey for Kate to read in the years to come.

As we begin our lives together as a family, we will always be indebted to a family in China for being brave and strong and doing what they felt was best for their child. We will never know what thoughts were going thru their minds when she found out she was pregnant, when her belly began to grow, as she gave birth, as she walked away, we will never fully understand the process on how He Fu Qing ended up being matched with us, we will never be able to fully understand how a year in an orphanage feels, but we do know that no other child out there could make us as happy or as proud as we are right now. Because of those people who we will never know, who we can never thank, who we can never update, because of a system we don't understand, because of a society so different than ours, we can now live the dream that we've been chasing for so long. We are mother and father. Thank you whoever you are and wherever you may be. We love our baby Kate.