Happy Thanksgiving

We took advantage of the great weather and went to a pumpkin farm yesterday. Owen loved running all over the place & he of course loved the tractors. There was face painting, pony rides, hay rides, a corn maze, and plenty of other things for little people to do.

We are so thankful for him to be home.

Baby News

On June 12th we learned that we were expecting our second child. I could not believe it when two dark pink lines showed up immediately on the pregnancy test. I was expecting the test to be negative, especially because I tested earlier than the recommended test date.

Much to my surprise I saw this:



I called my mom immediately, & then tried to wait patiently until Gavin came home to tell him the news. I wrapped the test in a gift bag & had Owen carry it to him. He had no idea what was going on. Gavin had a look of shock on his face when he looked at the test. Although he was happy, he didn't really believe it. He wanted me to test again in a few days. I did, the results were the same, we were pregnant.

With my family Doctor on maternity leave I had to have the pregnancy confirmed at a walk in clinic. We were recently referred to an OB, & heard the baby's heartbeat last week. Today we had an ultrasound, which confirmed that there was only one baby in there! The baby was kicking & moving his/her hands around.
So exactly 1 year + 1 day after seeing Owen's referral picture we saw this:


We are 15 weeks pregnant, & the baby is due February 19th. The pregnancy has been going great so far. I still have morning sickness but not as bad as in the first trimester. Other than that I feel great & am ready to meet baby number 2! My belly has been expanding by the week & Owen has taken it upon himself to keep poking me in the belly & laughing. Kids can be so honest sometimes. We also have no plans on finding out the gender, we are looking forward to that surprise.
Just click on the above picture to make it bigger.

What a Difference A Year Makes

1 Year ago today we received our referral. I can not begin to describe the excitement & joy we felt seeing those three photos for the first time. It was one of the happiest days of my life. Just look at how much Owen has changed this past year.

Birthday Boy

We had our families over on the weekend to celebrate Owen's birthday. He had a great day opening presents, playing, & eating his first piece of chocolate cake. Next year we hope to have a big party with all of his little friends.

July 31st will always be a special day for us. It was the day that Owen was destined to join our family. We are so blessed to have him as our son. It is a day to remember everyone & everything that has made him so special.

We love you Owen. Happy Birthday my sweet baby.

Pictures from father's day

First Steps

Happy Mother's Day

Last year I ached to hold my little boy. I felt very much like a mother in my heart. Gavin wrote me this lovely mother's day card last year.

It read :

The last 15 months have been quite a journey and I am so fortunate to have spent them with you. Everyday I see you more excited, and anxious, to become a great mother. I'm proud of you for doing so much research into parenting and encouraging me to do the same. I can honestly say that you have already made me a better parent (to be). I hope your first Mother's Day is a good one, with greater ones to come.

Love Gavin (and our baby to be)

This year my card from my sweet baby was perfect.

Mommy,
You do so much for me & daddy and we really appreciate it! I love you so much.
Love, Owen

Melt My Heart.



Owen gave me a few great gifts and then we spent the day at a local zoo. It was a fun way to spend the day as a family. My mom was even able to join us for Owen's first trip to the Zoo. Here are a few photos.





Happy Mother's Day! Especially to those that hold the love of their children in their hearts, but have yet to hold them.

Waiting Mommies Dinner #10

Last Night a group of over 20 of us met in Toronto for a "Waiting Mommies Dinner". The group is growing to about 50 members now, & hopefully the group will have more babies to show off soon. There were many more Vietnam waiting families there last night. Some are just starting the process & others are very close to referral.

I love the support the group offers. It doesn't matter where you are in the process of adopting, or what country you choose to adopt from. We are all in this together.

What a great way to spend the eve of my very first mother's day.

Sweet Boy

How sweet is this picture? he has the most beautiful smile. It was really difficult to get him to stay still long enough to get his picture taken. Every time they would try to snap his picture, he would crawl away.

Owen has been ours for almost three months now. It really seems like he has lived with us forever. We can't remember what life was like before him.

What we've been doing:
Owen is still co-sleeping with us. For us, it works. He sleeps through the night from about 8:30 pm. to 7am. Occasionally he wakes to make sure we are there, but settles back to sleep easily. He continues to have 2 naps a day, but they've gotten longer. He now naps between 1 & 2 hours each time. We are very strict when it comes to bedtime routine. We aim for getting him to bed the same time every night. The routine is basically, bath, books, bottle, brush teeth (he has 6 now, & he really likes to brush his teeth.) then to bed. We always listen to the same music when we are putting him to sleep as well. We let him sleep in a play pen in the living room & then carry him to bed when we are ready. I really feel that if he were in his own room, we would be in there many times a night. We take our cues from him, & don't rush him. We can tell he isn't ready to sleep alone & that is OK with us. At the orphanage the caregivers would sleep with the babies, he is very use to co-sleeping.

His favourite game is to be chased. He squeals with delight when he thinks you are chasing after him. It really makes your heart melt to hear him giggle & be so happy. You just have to say " Here I come. I'm going to get you!" & he gets the biggest grin.

He is not walking yet, but he can stand alone. He is comfortable walking with assistance, but is still too weary to take a step . I don't imagine it will be much longer though.

He can say a few words. He says momma, dada, babba (bottle), ugh oh, & ball. His new thing is to stand at the edge of the bathtub, throw each of his bath toys in the tub one at a time and say "ugh oh".

We are so thankful that the weather is finally getting nicer. We have made it to the park a few times now, & it is so fun to watch Owen try new things. He loves the swings & watching the other children run around & play.

Waiting Mommies Dinner #9

Last night a group of 10 of us gathered for another "waiting mommies dinner". The group is made up of waiting moms, & moms that have waited on children through adoption. There were moms last night that are waiting with China, Vietnam & Ethiopia. What a wonderful group, full of supportive women.

On the way to the dinner I thought about turning around & going home because Owen cried the entire time he was in the car!. I'm glad I stuck with my original plan, it is such a fun group to get together with. Before the dinner,I met up with my friend Bev. We like to do a little shopping at Yorkdale mall when we get the chance. We always stroll through the baby stores dreaming of what the new babies would like. We held back & didn't buy anything this time. Hard to believe.

Owen made his debut appearance, & was the hit of the party. That is until his 8pm bedtime, when daddy came to whisk him away. He was really good during the trip to the mall & the hour at dinner. He always makes mommy so proud! I got a little emotional talking about going back to work after parental leave. So silly really, I don't even go back to work for another 4 months.

When I arrived home Gavin had put Owen to bed, & he was sleeping peacefully. He had fallen to sleep in the car, that is after crying for half an hour on the way home. I have no idea why he hates the car. It is proving to be difficult taking him on outings that's for sure!.

I can't wait until the next waiting mommies dinner in May! I hope there are many things to celebrate. Referral news for some of my friends would be a blessing! It would be so fun to share the photos at a dinner just before mothers day. Here's hoping!

Just because he's cute

Birthday Party'n

We went to a birthday party on the weekend for a friend of Owen's. It was to be on saturday, but with the last dump of snow it was pushed to sunday. Here is Owen enjoying his time on his little friends ATV.

baby shower/gift mania

WOW! Owen sure is loved. There was a baby shower on saturday for Owen. Below are some photos of all of his gifts in our living room, & of him playing with some of his toys.I took my camera with me to the baby shower, but for some reason forgot to take pictures!. Other people took pictures, so i'm sure i can get some from them. I"m glad we took the mini van with us, because the van was full of gifts when we left. crazy really.

the main man

I can't believe how hard it is to find a minute to update the blog. This baby is keeping us busy for sure. A typical day starts at 7am and goes straight to 7pm. Owen only naps a total of 1 hour the entire day. i think he's afraid to miss something. At night though he sleeps with us & is sleeping through the night (mostly). If he does wake up, we are able to soothe him & get him back to sleep easliy. Usually he just reaches out his arm to make sure we are still there. Sometimes though he pats your face & giggles & starts clapping his hands in the middle of the night, It is usually when we know he is awake but hoping he goes back to sleep. You can't help but laugh at him. He is so funny sometimes. Even at 3am he can be so cute!

We have been trying to balance family time, one on one time with owen, & visiting friends & family. We had a welcome home party a couple of weeks ago & had friends & family over that day. Now we are focusing on owen & spending time with him. We have been gaining his trust little by little. He has come a long way from that first day we had him. He is amazing. So trusting with his little heart already. We just love him.

After he has a bottle he just turns into us & goes to sleep. So sweet. He doesn't try to hold his bottle anymore, he lets us feed him. We want him to know that he has a mom & dad now to look after him. Feeding is going very well. He LOVES food. Which is obvious because at his last DR. appointment he weighed 20 pounds. If we are eating & he isn't watch out!

Vietnam feels like it was so long ago. We are already talking about when we would like to go back & visit.Most days i can't believe he is finally home. It seems like we've always been together.

Owen's Adoption Video

We're coming home!

As that Daughtry song keeps going through our head, we'll soon be coming back to Canada.

Our time here in Vietnam has gone by so fast and there are still many things we would like to see. I guess they'll have to wait till we come back. I'm thinking maybe in spring or fall next time. A few more sunny days would've helped to get us out on a few more tours.

All in all though, we did come here to get Owen and mission accomplished! We received his Visa today so the only thing stopping us now is a 15hr flight and customs. (Let's hope the customs people are having a good day?!)

A few members of our family and friends are meeting us at the airport when we arrive on Saturday. If anyone would like to join them both of our parents have the flight info.

See everyone soon!

Sights of Hanoi

Over the past couple days we've had the opportunity to get out and see some of Hanoi's great culture.

On Friday we made a short visit to the Temple of Literature. The architecture was amazing and even thought most of the historical stories we're in vietnamese I think we got the gist of it. Owen's been great on outings. Most of the times he takes in the fresh air and has a nap. He may be missing the sights, but we're making sure to get it all on film.

Yesterday morning we got up early to take in a show at the Water Puppet Theatre. We discovered that it's one of the last Theatres of its kind in the world. They say it's a lost art. The show was fun, made up of authentic music and historic fables. Definitely a must see.

Afterwards we met with a friend of ours at a nice hotel in Hanoi for Dim Sum. We haven't tried it before and the variety of more chinese food was great. While we were there we got the chance to check out Hanoi from the rooftop of the hotel. What an amazing view. You really get a chance to discover how huge Hanoi really is! The population is estimated to be close to 8 million people working/living here.

As Owen gets more comfortable with us we may venture out to do a bit more shopping. (The deals in Vietnam are amazing!)

Also, we're trying to update our flickr account with more photos as we take them, so click on the badge to the right for more pics!

Playing at the hotel

Today is a chilly, rainy day in Hanoi. While we spend the day in our hotel room, we're continually amazed at what Owen is learning to do.

Very Busy

Just wanted to let everyone know that we are well & very busy. Owen is the most mobile & energetic baby in the group & we are still adjusting to the lack of sleep. He goes & goes until he exhuasts himself! Usually we can get him to sleep by 9pm, but on days that we venture out of the hotel we pay for it that night. Last night it was 11:30 before he finally settled & went to sleep.

The past few days have been fun. One day we went shopping in the old quarter. We bought a few things, but mostly just looked around. We were out for over four hours shopping. Then the next night we went for dinner with a friend of Gavin's that lives in Hanoi. He took us to a great local restaurant.I think the name of the restaurant was hava vien. I'll have to check on that. We went with the Mason's & ordered about ten different dishes to share. The food was good & Owen was a hit at the restaurant. The staff are always wanting to carry Owen around, & twice now we've caught him behind the bar serving drinks! I've found most of the food to be very good. There are millions of choices for food & you never know what you are going to get. But, for the most part we have enjoyed everything.

Yesterday we ventured out to Halong Bay. We left at 8am & returned at 8pm. So that's probably why Owen had trouble getting to sleep. Halong Bay was even more beautiful than we expected. The weather is cool here about 14 degrees on average. It would have been nicer if it were a little bit warmer. The caves are magnificant! You can't even imagine how big they are. We took over 200 photos of Halong Bay. Owen was so amazed he had to take a nap (pic above) ;>

Today we are staying in the hotel. we said goodbye to Gavin's dad this morning & now we are on our own here. Thursday we are meeting with our agency rep. & getting the babies passports, then we apply for the visa. We are still expecting to leave Hanoi on Feb.2nd.

Video/Photos

Here's the video that we couldn't post before and we're trying to post as many photos to our flickr account. (It's a little faster with uploading, but not much)

short post

I know we have to get better at the blog updates. But we've been staying in the hotel for the past couple of days. I think Owen is feeling much better & we hope to get out & around this afternoon. I want to try to get that video up later & upload all the pictures to flickr. It takes FOREVER to get one picture on the blog. This post itself took 40 minutes. I don't seem to have very many extra 40 minutes these days.... we will try our best later. No promises though.

The Next FULL Day

Today was great and very busy.

Owen Danh woke up in a good mood and we started the feedings. He doesn't eat/drink a whole lot each time we feed him, but he lets us know when he's hungry. We're doing what we can to get him on a routine.

He was sounding a little sick today, we thought his cold might be getting worse. So we took him to the SOS International Clinic just to be safe. Owen was brave as he ventured out, taking in all the sights and sounds. The doctor was very friendly and she told us that he has minor bronchitis (sp) and an ear infection. This was probably part of why he was crying so much yesterday. So far he's taken his meds, but he sure doesn't like them. Ange and I were even thinking of asking the doc to check us out as well, since we've both had sore throats all day.

On the way back we stopped by the local FiviMart to pick up a few things. Owen had his first shopping experience and he behaved remarkably. He was amazed by the selection and couldn't get enough of Vietnamese TV playing on the big screens in each isle. The baby clothes weren't great but we picked up a few colourful items for Owen, since most of his pants don't seem to fit him. (His belly is bigger than expected)

During this full day my dad has been a big help by running around getting us meals, picking things up for us, and only providing a little parenting advice here and there. Thanks Dad!

Tonight after Owen's nap he was up and playing with us for a while, we saw a few smiles as he crawled a little and a few grunts as he had his first poop! (eeewww, baby poop stinks more than I thought!)

Sorry we haven't posted more photos/video we really did have a busy day, we'll do what we can. We are having trouble with the video. But we will keep trying.

Our First Day

Hi everyone

I'll recap what happened yesterday, as we were too tired to write a proper post. We left for the orphanage at 10:30 am, we took clothes to get the babies ready for the G&R. None of Owen's pants fit over his belly! they are all too long but too tight. He has one jumpsuit that fits, we are going shopping later today.

The G&R was nice, the officials gave a speach & then all we had to do was sign a few papers & take photos. The nannies drove the babies to the G&R. Owen did well during the ceremony, never cried at all. the nannies couldn't stop crying & kissing the babies goodbye, it was really quite sad. Afterwards, we had to go back to the orphanage with the babies to get some papers stamped. I stayed in the car with Owen, but one of his nannies came up to wave at him, he started screamimg & crying. He had a bottle & eventually fell asleep in the car.

We then went to the passport office to start that process. The guys went in to get that done, while we waited. Owen woke up & screamed for at least a couple more hours, until he eventually took another bottle & went to sleep. It was awful to see. We were trying not to cry, so we wouldn't upset him more. At the hotel he did much better. He actualy slept from 8pm-1:30, had a bottle & played for half an hour. He never cried when he woke up. He fell asleep again at 2:30 & slept until 6:30. We had a much better night then I expected. We were able to get about 5 hours sleep.

Today we are staying low in the hotel room. Daddy & baby are having a nap. When Owen wakes up we plan to take him to the SOS clinic. He has a bad cold that I would like to get checked out before it gets worse. Bad cold, teething & grieving are making for some fairly cranky moments. But all is well.

We are so happy that everything went as well as to be expected yesterday. We are hoping for some better days in the weeks to come.

Owen Danh is Ours! (officially)

It's been a long day, but the Giving & Receiving ceremony went well and Owen is finally (officially) ours.

Ange is sleeping with Owen right now and I (gavin) will be joining them soon. We will post more pics and video tomorrow.

Better get back to being a daddy. (I like the sound of that!)

Stay tuned…

We Made It

Just a very quick post to let everyone know that we made it to the hotel last evening. All families are doing well, & all luggage arrived.

Plans have changed . The giving & receiving ceremony is going to be on the 17th instead. I hope to find out lots about baby Owen.

I slept only about 3 hours last night & have been awake since 2:30 in the morning. I tried to post earlier, but it seems that the lobby opens at 6am. There is only internet connection in the lobby, not the rooms.
We will post when we return to the hotel tonight. We will post pictures as soon as we can. We have already gotten some great photos. Even though we have researched hanoi for almost 2 years, there is still so much that you can't even imagine until you are here.

As for meeting Owen, we are very excited & also much more nervous than we expected. Even gavin is awake early with a bad case of nerves. Wish us luck.

Until later....

And We're Off!

We leave in just a few short hours for the airport. We feel relaxed & ready to go. I even got some much needed sleep last night, I can hardly believe it.

We had a minor emergency with having to re-issue a last minute plane ticket for Gavin's dad. But all is well, it arrived this morning with the correct information on it, & we are feeling much better about our travels.

Next post will be from Vietnam!

Thanks EG

During this LONG and sometimes very trying wait I've come to realize one thing. Well two things, one I love Owen & my hubby more than anything, & two I've met some of the most wonderful friends during this journey. These past two years have been fillled with meeting bloggy friends that always have a comment of encouragement. I've also met some new friends that are among the strongest most wonderful people I know. The strength, courage and thoughtfulness of these women have been my strength during these two years. The wait was never easy, but it was possible with these women. I am thrilled that Owen's little friends will have the best parents around. I can't wait to have them all together for a group photo.

So with that, a sincere Thankyou. I hope your lives live out your dreams....
Love,
Ange

Spa Day Photo


You feel like a candle in a hurricane
Just like a picture with a broken frame
Alone and helpless
Like you've lost your fight
But you’ll be alright
You’ll be alright

Chorus:
Cause when push comes to shove
You taste what you're made of
You might bend, till you break
Cause its all you can take
On your knees you look up
Decide you’ve had enough
You get mad you get strong
Wipe your hands shake it off
Then you Stand,
Then you stand

2
Life's like a novel
With the end ripped out
The edge of a canyon
With only one way down
Take what you're given before its gone
Start holding on, keep holding on

Chorus:
Cause when push comes to shove
You taste what you're made of
You might bend, till you break
Cause its all you can take
On your knees you look up
[Stand lyrics on http://www.metrolyrics.com]

Decide you’ve had enough
You get mad you get strong
Wipe your hands shake it off
Then you Stand,
Yeah then you stand.

Bridge:
Everytime you get up
And get back in the race
One more small piece of you
Starts to fall into place
Ooohhh

Chorus:
Cause when push comes to shove
You taste what you're made of
You might bend, till you break
Cause its all you can take
On your knees you look up
Decide you’ve had enough
You get mad you get strong
Wipe your hands shake it off
Then you Stand,
Then you stand
Yeah then you stand. ~rascal flatts

Christmas

This is my Christmas card from Gavin this year....



Merry Christmas my Sweet Baby!. While we wish that we were able to have you home for the holidays, we are comforted knowing that we are leaving for Vietnam soon. We hope that you've had a wonderful day, with lots of hugs & kisses from your nanny. Today we think about the future with you & we can't wait to see Christmas through your eyes.
We Love You Owen. We are coming soon.
Love Mom & Dad


Some of Owens Loot



Stockings

Vietnam Here We Come!

We received confirmation that we leave for Vietnam on January 12th at 8:15 pm We are beyond excited! We fly from Toronto into Vancouver, then to Hong Kong where we have a HUGE layover, then on to Hanoi. We don't actually arrive into Hanoi until Monday January 14th at 3:55 pm. That's almost 2 days of travel. It looks like flights were hard to get, as the other families we will be travelling with are on different flights. But oh well, we don't care we just want to leave!

We are coming for you baby Owen!
WOW! what a great Christmas present.

Travel Date (sort of)

We received word from our agency on friday, that they have a tentative travel date set. We are told to plan on leaving January 12th!. We are cautiously optimistic, & hope that the date doesn't get changed. But for now we are thrilled, and for now we have a travel date!

Small Update

Sorry I have been away from the blog world for so long. It's just been very hard to post the "we're still waiting" post. Currently we are awaiting our "letter of invitation" from Vietnam. It was expected two weeks ago, then last week, & now this week. Once that letter comes in, we are to be in Vietnam within 30 days.
Our agency has informed us that flights to Vietnam are booked up over Christmas, and the first week of January looks somewhat the same. It is expected that travel will be mid January.

We plan on decorating our house for Christmas. We have the lights up outside, but are waiting to decorate the tree. Seymour (our cat) LOVES to climb the tree & sit in it. I'm not ready to deal with that, so the tree will be going up last minute. It took some time to decide if we wanted to decorate for Christmas this year, it's hard to be in the Christmas spirit. After some thought we decided that Owen would have loved the lights, so the tree must go up!
Oh and of course Santa will still be visiting our house this year to drop off baby Owens presents. They will be waiting for him when he gets home.

And now why I can't put the tree up early...

Last Years tree Before....



And After.....

New Baby Pictures

Today we got to see new pictures of Owen! We are so excited, but a little sad to see how much he has changed. His pictures are so cute though! You can't be upset for long. He looks very happy & healthy. To say we are thrilled to have new pictures would be an understatement. I am dying to post the pictures for everyone to see. But I don't want to post them to the blog until things are final with the adoption. If you are dying to see his new pictures leave your e-mail address in the comment section. If I know who you are I'll send them to you!.


Still no word on travel. There is hope it will be before Christmas. We need to get this little baby home by then!

What a great day!

1 Year

What does one year look like since DTV?

70 + e-mails from adoption agency

280 + e-mails to and from adoption friends.

and not one e-mail about travel to Vietnam.

UGH

With Love to Adoptive Parents Poem

This poem was sent from our agency today. The author is unknown, but I LOVE this poem.


With Love to Adoptive Parents

You cannot change the truth
these are your children but they come from somewhere else
and they are the children of those places
and of those persons as well.

Help them to know all about their past
and all about their present.
Help them to know that they are from extended families,
that they only have one set of parents
but that they have more mothers and fathers…
They have grandmothers, godmothers, birthmothers, mother countries and mother earth.
They have grandfathers, godfathers, birthfathers and fatherlands.
They have family by birth and by adoption
they have family by choice and by chance.

Childhood is short
They are our children to raise.
They are our children to love
and then they are citizens of the world.
What we do to them creates the world that we live in.
Give them life.
Give them their truth.
Give them love.
Give them all that they came with.
Give them all that they grow with.

Your children do not belong to you
But they belong with you.
You cannot keep from them what is theirs
But you can keep loving them.
You do not own your children,
But they are your own.