World Adoption Day

I didn't really know there was a World Adoption Day but it is good to bring awareness to everyone so they know just how many children need help out there, so many are in need of a family and a stable environment. I think there are many people out there who could help in any way they can especially adoption because just when you think you are done having children perhaps you can see that there is room for one more. Coincidentally our agency is travelling today to China with another set of adoptive parents who will soon meet their little ones. It brings to mind once again the beautiful adoption day of our daughter Maya Lanlan Josephine. It was meant to be.

Busy Months

Months of September and October are such busy birthday months for us. Starting with my birthday at the beginning of September it keeps going right up until the end of October. There are even more birthdays than what I show here. November and December are thankfully our quiet months and then it starts up again in January.  Here is the lowdown on these wonderful days which we love because on most days the family is all together and it's good for Maya to see what real family is all about.

End of September

We are chugging along in our world with one adopted child. She is settling in and is definitely doing better at school and at home. She is trying a lot harder to get along with others. Before it was all about her and only her, what her needs and wants were. Now, the rest of us are more in her world and she often gives consideration to the rest of us. Not that we are totally out of the woods yet. There are days when she forgets and goes back to her old ways. That is bound to happen, after all she is only three months home. Home forever. As she slowly realizes this I'm sure she will feel more safe and see that if she doesn't get her way today she might tomorrow because there is a tomorrow with her new family. Tomorrow and the day after and day after she will still be here. Right now she is still not so sure so in he mind she takes advantage of things while she can.

We have been enjoying fall and the fallen leaves. Many days it was so pretty with yellow and red leaves everywhere. We had lots of fun with it. She is looking forward to Halloween as she says there is Halloween in China but they do not do Trick or Treating. It will be a princess costume for sure for our princess.

We also completed the first Doctor's visit and ended up with three needles to start her immunization. We really do not have a complete record from China so we will start fresh with a new card and all the immunizations a child her age should have. She was very tense at first and clung to daddy and you can tell he's very protective and tried to make her comfortable all the way. Who would've thought that my husband has a heart for a little orphan girl from China. He is incredible.

Everything looks good with Maya healthwise. She is a little under on the weight scale so we will try to get into her a little more than noodles and rice. For height she is fifty percentile. Our Doctor is just about to have a baby, in fact any day now so we won't be seeing her for a few months but Maya will need to go back for more needles at end of November so we will need to make this appointment soon.

And just a few more pix of enjoying the outdoors with our oldest Sherie and family in September.

Remembering Angels

Back in September we attended a Remembrance Ceremony for lost infants. I must admit it was not easy. It's been four years since our oldest daughter Sherie and her fiancé John lost their twin boys Liam and Nathan at 22 weeks gestation and we still think about them often. We should've had at least three grandbaby boys by now but it was not meant to be. The twins who started out as triplets but one baby was lost very early on, should've been born in mid 2010 but they came early in April and May. It helps to think and talk about them and to remember them on these special days.

So, a few were gathered at Sunnybrook hospital where baby Nathan spent three days in the NICU unit, tiny and frail he did not make it and his twin brother Liam who was born before him did not even make it that far. We wrote messages on colored paper cut into butterflies and hung them on the a white tree in the Butterfly Garden.

Afterwards our daughter Sherie donated a bundle of tiny Angel Gowns she and others create from donated wedding gowns. Many kind people have joined Forever Loved Angel Gowns which Sherie has started earlier this year and donate their talent, time and needful things to make these gowns for tiny angels who leave do not make it home. Sherie has started this charity in honor of her twins who at the time had nothing to wear. These gowns are donated to the hospitals around Ontario who provide them to the parents who find themselves in similar situations.

You can see more here: http://foreverlovedangelgowns.com/
or here: https://www.facebook.com/AngelGownsOntario