The MacDonald Clan!!!

Lily is having a great time at home. She is settled into her sleep routine(all night!!), loves to play with her brother and sister and enjoys her special time with dad and mom. We have had a quiet week of spending time together and getting into our little routine. I thought I would be blogging earlier, but we are pretty busy with the three kids. Lily is now pulling herself up and cruising all around the furniture. She likes to try new foods and is enjoying her new books and toys. When she wants to play, she will grab your hands, pull herself to stand and throw herself into your arms laughing...It is sooo cute. Anyway, I wanted to thank everyone for following us along our journey to Lily and her journey home. Reading the blog when I woke up in China would give a boost for the day, and often a little cry. I am going to print and bind this blog into a little book for Lily so she will know the incredible trip we had in China and all the love and support that came from family and friends. I am wishing everyone a Happy and Safe Holiday Season.

Lily is home!!!

What a homecoming!!! Lily, Paula and I had a long day of travelling. About 20 hours in airports and in flight. We were so excited to get home and see our families. When we got to the escalator we saw some posters downstairs and the tears started!!!! Bernie, Isabel and Sam were there with Jules, Maggie and Chloe and Jean, Laurena, Sine, and Mairi. Lily started smiling and was a trooper once again. She went with her brother, sister and dad, no problem. It was her true Gotcha Day!!! After a bit of visiting, we headed home to the Valley. I felt like I had been gone for a year. Lily is having a good first day at home. We both grabbed a nap this afternoon and she is playing with Sam and Isa. I am curious to see how quickly we can flip her back to our time frame. I am including a few pictures of the homecoming and Lily settling at home. I might blog a few more entries in the next days. Thank you for following our incredible adventure in China. The connection to home was wonderful and I loved your comments.

We are going home!!!!!

I have now packed my bags and I heading down to breakfast. We are going to go walking around a bit and we are going to the airport this afternoon. We are sooooo excited to go home and see our families and for Lily to meet the rest of hers!!!! For me this is her real Gotcha Day!!!! Love you all. I will blog some pictures of our homecoming.

A day at the Pearl Factory

Paula, Lily and I had a day of exploring and shopping at the Pearl Factory. Lily was great. She had her nap in her carrier and spent the rest of the day hamming it up with the people we met. Last week, we would joke about Lily having two sides: the funny happy Lily and the Mao Lily. I think the Mao Lily is gone. She is just so pleasant. Just a bit of grumbling when she is hungry and I get the same way, eh Bernie??? Isabel and Sam, we are coming home tomorrow. I am so proud of both of you. Thanks for taking care of daddy for me. Lily is so lucky to have both of you as brother and sister. You are all going to have lots of fun together!!! I am including pictures of Lily having fun this morning in bed with auntie Paula, the girls shopping at the market and Lily enjoying some noodles for lunch. Tonight we had fun with the little one and when Paula was leaving for supper, I said "say goodbye to Paula" and Lily stopped mid crawl, lifted her little hand and waved bye bye. Paula and I were shocked. She is very smart, just like her sister and brother in Greenwood. I miss you all and will see you very soon!!!!!!

Touring in Beijing

We had a nice sunny day for our touring. We started off at the Summer Palace. It is where the Empress used to vacation during the warm months. A beautiful 48 acre site with a man made lake, huge palaces and stunning scenery. I don't have any pictures because my camera ran out of batteries!! I did get some video footage. We then visited the Pearl Factory and had lunch. Our next stop was the Olympic venue. It was so cool to be at the Bird's nest and the Water Cube. The whole place was beautiful and you felt a certain excitement in the air. By this time it was 3:30pm and the girls were all getting tired of the day. We still had to visit Tieneman Square. We decided as a group to just go to the Square and only stay for a few minutes and get some pictures. I was fine with that. Lily had been a great girl again today with all the visiting, but were all getting tired. It is now 6:30pm and we are ready to put Lily to bed. She is crawling around and playing after being in the carrier for the day. Hope all is well with everyone back home. Paula and I are counting the sleeps---2 more and we are going home!!! Yah!!! The picture of the hotel with the funny roof is where the athletes stayed during the Olympics. It is a 7 star hotel and the series of buildings are made to look like a dragon. Pretty cool!!!!

Medical clinic day!!!

We have now finished our last day of paperwork and appointments. We went to the medical clinic to get Lily checked out and our paperwork went to the Canadian Embassy for final approval to return to Canada. Now, all I need to do is go through immigration at the airport in Toronto. It was a long morning!! We did get to go to a traditional tea house and participate in a chinese tea ceremony. It was very interesting and Bernie I kept thinking about you. Lily had a glowing medical report! The doctor was a nice lady from Montreal. She was very happy to hear that Lily is crawling, and pulling herself up to stand. I was a bit surprised with her stats. She is in the 5th percentile on the North American scale and about 15 percentile on the Asian scale. She is a small girl. Her head circumference was in the 15th percentile so she fits right in with the MacDonald clan!!!! Lily and I went shopping a bit this afternoon. Well, Lily slept through the whole thing and I didn't manage to buy much. I already have all I need. My lily and a family I cannot wait to get back home to.....3 more days. Tomorrow, we go to the Summer Temple in the forbidden city and to Tienmen Square. I should have some neat pictures for the blog tomorrow. Today, I have a picture of Lily and I at the tea room and Lily at the clinic playing with her friends. Have a great day!!!

The Great Wall!!

Paula, Lily and I had an awesome day!!! We started out at 7:00am with breakfast and we were on the bus by 8:30am. Our first stop was at the jade factory. We learned all about this precious stone that is so special in the Chinese culture. The Great Wall was next on our list. Words cannot describe the majestic wall. Paula and I were brought to tears a few times during our climb. We climbed the side that is on the third picture. Lily and I made it to the third tower and Paula went all the way to the red tower. It was just unreal and the weather was perfect: sunny, light winds and about 15 degrees. You really felt that you were in the presence of a higher power. The steps were all different heights so it was very tricky with Lily on my belly. ( I was very careful Bernie!!) On the main level was a temple to the God that would protect the warriors on the Wall. We had 1 1/2 hours at the Wall and it went very fast. Our guide took us to a restaurant after all our walking. By that time the girls were all starving. Lily pretty much slept the whole afternoon. We had a nice lunch and headed home. I am late tonight because I went out with two other moms to go to the store. We needed supplies for the baby and ourselves. Auntie Paula stayed with Lily. It was strange to be walking without my Lily. I can't believe that a week ago, I didn't know her. I can't wait for all of you to meet her. She is quite the special little girl. My pictures today are of the entrance to the Wall, the Wall, the temple and Lily at the end of a very busy day. I am heading to bed because we have to be up at 6:00am. We are going to go see the doctors tomorrow to have Lily checked out and then to the embassy for our immigration paperwork. It feels like a long day to me. Have a great day back home.