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.

Another Blog Entry will be coming soon!

Hey all you Blog/Lily Junkies!

Francine asked that I send along a quick message to let you know that she will be providing a "Lily Fix" to you all soon!! We had a big day today and incredibly Cin found the energy to head out on an adventure to the Silk Market. I have the honor and pleasure of babysitting sweet Lily. Unfortunately (for me not her) she is snoozing away and so my fun is limited and I will refrain from my temptation to make lots of noise in the hopes of waking her to play - because she is such a doll. Anyway, no chance of that since our wee Lily sleeps like a log - Francine and I so wish we could sleep as soundly as Lily. It has been another awesome day in China and I know Francine will tell you all about it and offer up some great pics - so hold tight!

Auntie Paula

Travel Day!!!

It is 7;30pm and we have had a long day on the road. We left at 8:00am for the airport, took a 10:20am flight to Beijing and finally arrived at our new hotel at 3:30pm. Lily slept on me most of the morning but woke up and was very busy in the plane. The 13 hour flight should be interesting on Thursday.We had to meet before supper for another meeting, so I just stayed in tonight to unpack and put the munchin down. Paula and a few people went to a dumpling restaurant, Beijing has so much to see. We are going to the Great Wall tomorrow. I am really excited. Well, I must go prep for tomorrow. I included a cute picture of Paula when we left the hotel this morning. I don't know if she knew what she was getting herself into coming to China!!! I also have a picture of Lily and I with Smile. We were sad to say goodbye to him today. We get another guide for the Beijing part of our trip. And as you can see in the last shot, Lily is making herself confortable in the new hotel. She is such a pet!!! I hope that no one has belly aches from too much candy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISABEL!!!!!

My Isabel is turning 8 years old today. Enjoy your day Isa and mom and Lily will soon be home. Have a great time trick and treating tonight everyone. Sam and Isa, save me a bit of chocolat from your bag!!! Isabel, the picture of Lily with the balloon is her wishing you a happy birthday. We had a busy day in China. We left this morning for a tour of Hunan University. The buildings were beautiful. It really felt like China. The picture of Lily and I in front of the chinese writting is special. Parents have their picture taken here with their kids because the symbols means respect and love for parents. Lily slept the whole morning on my belly in her carrier. She is such a trooper!! The boys also had fun with Paula's yellow rain poncho. They kept calling Big Bird!! We have our last supper in Changsha tonight. We leave for Beijing tomorrow morning at 7:00am. One step closer to home. Yah!!! Lily is napping so I will try to pack before supper. Have a great Halloween!!!

A NOTE FROM AUNTIE PAULA

Hi Folks,

I thought I would offer up an entry to the famous Lily Blog! You have only heard from Lily's Mom who is biased in her view of Lily and so I thought I better provide an objective perspective about Lily! We quickly discovered that this wee little one has a heart the size of China!! When you look into her eyes, reflected there seems to be the wisdom of all the generations of the country. When Lily offers up one of her gorgeous smiles, it starts at her beautiful eyes and then travels down to her lips - and then straight into the heart of the receiver. She has the most incredible sense of humour and loves to tease - is it possible that she has the "Nobert" gene all the way here in China?! She can also bring you down to earth and humble you with her "deadpan" stare - if we have a stare-down Lily will win every time!! Lily is one in a billion - her personality, her heart, that smile or the way that she looks around for her Mom when she is tired or uncertain or hungry - well there is something sacred and holy about all of it. It is destiny at its best. I feel so privileged to be a part of it. When we started the journey Francine and I talked about the concern of Lily connecting with me and then me being gone. This is not a concern for her at all as her heart is naturally connected to others which will be magnified tenfold when she meets Bernie, Sam and Isabel. The concern is for me!! and how I will cope with not having the daily "Lily Blessing".

One final objective point is if a person could capture the image of pure and untarnished love - one "head over heals in love", one of passion and devotion then that image would surely be that of Francine with her children. She is an incredible woman and unbelievable mother. It has been an honor to see that heart of hers at work and seeing Lily reap the benefits. China is incredible but it doesn't hold a candle to the true meaning of this trip - the completion of the McDonald family and bringing Lily home.

Love,

Auntie Paula

A day off!!

Well, we finally have a day to ourselves, no meetings, no paperwork.....Paula was up early and out for a run with Craig. Lily and I had a nice breakfast with another family. Lily slept another 12 hours. She is an amazing little girl! Our guide Smile dropped us off at a children's store and I had my first China culture barrier moment! There were about 20 salespeople following you around with a basket and if you picked something they carried it around for you. Very nice but strange for me. When I went to pay for my purchases, I was wondering about the price of a box of cookies. Well, the only thing that I could understand on the box was 12 and the lady wanted to charge me 24 so I was trying to ask her why. Well, there was soon 6 ladies around me trying to explain the price to me, all in Chinese. Then, a lady puts a phone to my ear. It is Smile our guide on the line explaining to me that the 12 means 12 months and that 24 is the price. He was with a few families in another province, 2 hours away. They had called him on his cell phone!!! Well, I started to laugh land soon everyone around us was having a chuckle. The funniest part is that the box only cost me about $3 Canadian. We got back to the hotel and after lunch, Lily had her first play date with her friend Mary-Lou. There is a cute play area in the hotel. After,Paula and I went for a walk to do some more exploring. We are now back at the room playing with Lily and we are going to go explore the hotel because Lily is getting tired and I want her to sleep tonight. Hope everyone is having a great week. I included some pictures of our walk and Lily's playdate. Enjoy.

A visit to Linxiang- Lily's orphanage

We had a great day! We left this morning for Linxiang to visit Lily's orphanage. It was raining today so it was a bit more difficult to appreciate the scenery. We had a two and a half hour drive each way in a very small bus. Bernie, your legs would never have fit!!We were the second group to ever be aloud inside the orphanage. We met with the director of the orphanage and the director of the welfare institute. They answered any questions. This small orphanage suffered major damage during an ice storm last February and all the children were placed in foster care. We were suprised and happy to find out that Lily was fostered since the end of February. She was in a home with a foster mother and there was also a 4 year old boy.Orphans who are fostered usually receive more attention than in an institution. I think that has alot to do with her easy adaption to us. We then went to the finding spots for the four families with dauthers from this orphanage. Lily was found in front of a radio broadcasting station. That is the picture with Paula, Lily and I and the director of the orphanage. It was very emotional. We finished our day with a nice lunch and headed back to the hotel. After a nice bath Lily, Paula and I enjoyed some down time. I included a picture of Lily on the move and how she lets me know that she is ready for bed. The thumb is a wonderful thing!!!

A day of discoveries

I want to thank everyone for your nice comments. It makes us feel closer to home. We had a busy day today. We had to return to the adoption agency and sign all the paperwork. Lily is officially part of the MacDonald clan! She is such a pet and a joy to get to know. She cuddled right into me when she woke up this morning. We discovered that she can crawl very well and stands up in her crib no problem. We tried new foods today and she doesn't seem too fussy. This afternoon she had her first bath as you can see she had alot of fun(so did I). All the families in our group have been blessed with healthy and happy girls. All the babies slept well last night(lily did 12 hours) and the parents are all very calm and happy. Hope everyone is well and getting ready for Halloween. We have 30 degrees today!!!! I didn't bring any shorts!!!! Have a great week everyone.

Welcome Lily!!!

What a day!!! It was beyond my wildest dreams. Lily was a bit scared and apprehensive of me, but she quickly warmed up and was giving us smiles. We came back to the hotel and after a quick sponge bath, a bit of congee(rice pudding babies eat in China) and a bottle(it took a few tries with different nipples and heat of formula) Lily is asleep in her crib. She sucks her thumb and seems to have no problem self soothing. I am one happy maman. Paula was a great help to me. At one point she said that she felt like a maid of honour! Isabel, Samuel and Bernie, I miss you and I wish you were here. We will be home soon....