Waiting For Ava: August 2009

Friends for life

Everyone is always asking how Ava and Yeti are getting along.

Well this picture is evidence of their fast building bond. Ava loves Yeti and Yeti is so patient and gentle with her. She looks for him every morning when she wakes up and he has learned that the best place to stand is next to the highchair during feeding time!
Too cute! We are so happy to see such a great friendship form.
Ava and Marbles(the cat) are doing fine too. Ava loves to pet and pull Marbles hair but Marbles is not as patient as Yeti and I can see we are going to have to watch Ava with the cat much more than we would with Yeti.

Ava is much more confident walking around and loves to pace back and forth practising her balance and keeping us in view at the same time.

She does very well playing by herself. She tries to dress herself but sometimes attempts to put her pants on top. Must be due to Mike wearing her pants on his head like a hat. She is such a funny, happy girl and we fall more and more in love with her each day.

Sleepless Nights

We have been going for about two weeks with little to no sleep. You could probably set a clock to when Ava will wake up through out the night. We are into a routine where we bath her then give her some Pablum then a bottle before she goes to bed. By the time that she is three quarters of the way done her bottle she is usually starting to fall asleep. She will fall asleep in our arms and then we put her down for the night. Exactly one hour later she will be awake and crying. We go in and pick her up and sooth her. Sit in a chair and comfort her. She will go back to sleep. When we go to lay her back down she wakes up instantly. Sometimes you are able to place down on the crib mattress and other times you can't. When we are able to she wakes up as soon as you reach her bedroom door. We have both been so tired and exhausted this past week. Then we found a god send. We went to Baby's R Us yesterday. We bought this thing for her bedroom that has a night light and plays lullabies and you can also load your own music onto it. It is made by Graco and is called Sweet Slumber Sound Machine. The name is very accurate. We put Ava to bed last night and it took awhile to get her settled down in her crib. We eventually pushed the chair over to be beside her crib. We didn't pick her up at all and just let her touch our hand. She eventually fell asleep. She slept for about eight hours uninterrupted. Then today we put her down for her nap. Again it took a little while but once she was down she slept just a little over two hours. I Love This New Find. It has been the best sixty dollars that we have ever spent. Today is a good day.

First Week Back To Work

Well this past week was my first week back to work. I hated leaving Terri and Ava each and every day. I eventually started getting kisses from Ava as I left each day. I still have to ask for them which is okay. I certainly do realize how much work it is to take care of Ava every day all day. Terri is doing great. I appreciate the work she does. I know that it has been hard for her because there has been days where Ava has been very clingy. She still freaks out when you leave the room that she is occupying. All you have to do is stand up and no matter where she is in the room she drops what she is doing and rushes right to your side. She grabs on and won't let go until you sit down. I got up with Ava this morning to let Mommy get some sleep. After only being up with Ava by myself for a few hours now I don't know how Terri ever got anything done in the house. Every night that I came home the house was clean, the dishes done and laundry done. I never have to worry about Ava at all. I can only say that it is unbelievable how much love I have for my two girls. They are both amazing. They are my whole life. I would re marry Terri a million gazillion times over and I certainly would wait all over again to get Ava. I don't have any regrets. Adopting Ava was the second best decision I have ever made. The first was asking Terri to marry me.

Late Night Pooh And Play

One night Ava was sound asleep in the crib in our hotel room in Beijing. She woke up and started playing and jumping and talking. We started filming her because it was so cute. We eventually realized that she was having a pooh. This is probably why she woke up. While she was up I guess she felt the need to get out a few things. She is such a cutie. I think Mommy and Daddy weren't helping the situation in this video. Ava ended up staying up for awhile after her bum was changed. To be honest we really didn't mind. We enjoyed the play time just as much as she did if not more.

Relaxing Music

One evening while we were in China. We returned back to our hotel in Beijing after getting dinner we noticed a trio of young ladies playing music in the front lobby. The music was so relaxing to listen to. So after going up to our room I went back down and filmed them playing. We really enjoyed it and we hope that anyone who wants to listen to it on our blog will also enjoy it.

Momhood...exhausting!

Well, Mike's first day back to work was yesterday.
I have to say that it was a tough day. We have done well the past few weeks having each other around when one of us need a break. We love Ava so much and would do anything for her but it really is exhausting taking care of her on my own.
I felt like I was in a three legged race with a dwarf. Ava had a death grip around my leg for most of the day and would not lay down alone for her nap. I wonder if she was reacting to Mike not being around.
It was very difficult getting anything done. I cleaned up the dishes with her hanging around my leg. I got the laundry done thankfully but will soon be doing more as the dirty diapers are piling up fast. It will be difficult for a while to keep the house as clean as I would like but I am going to try to get as much done during her naps as I can.
I always knew motherhood was hard and now I am a true believer. I wouldn't change a thing as I know I am going to love watching this little princess grow and change everyday. She is such a fabulous little girl. We are truly blessed!

Amazing Support and Friends

The whole time that we were in China and since we have come home we have received so much support and well wishes from so many people. Terri's co-workers have been amazing to us and Ava. Yesterday some of Terri's co-workers delivered a Step 2 Playground set for Ava. Some of the people got together and purchased it for Ava for her first birthday. We couldn't believe it. It is absolutely amazing how many people followed our journey in China and now at home. We just wanted to say thanks to everyone for their support and well wishes. It was and is greatly appreciated. Ava loves her new playground and wants to say thanks to everyone who contributed.

The Great Wall Video's and Pics

The visit to The Great Wall of China was one of the highlights of our trip. It is certainly big and beautiful. As I climbed the wall people would stop and ask me where I was from? As soon as I would say Canada they would get excited and ask if I would mind if they got their picture taken with me. Of course I replied with " I would be happy to " People were so pleasant to me. I still don't know if it was the hat or that I was from Canada. It was absolutely amazing to be climbing and run across all nationalities of people and of all ages. The climb is very physically grilling. So to see people obviously in their eighties or nineties was awesome. The views and sounds from the Great Wall were certainly unforgettable.

Daddy Holds His Little Girl For The First Time

This is a short video of Ava and I. I was a little scared to be honest. I wasn't sure if she would let me hold her. In the video I keep whispering her Chinese name into her ear hoping that it might comfort her. It was hard to hold back the tears. I certainly didn't want to scare her anymore than what she already was.

Gotcha Day Video

I spent about an hour and a half today uploading this video to our blog. Hopefully everyone can see it fine. The day that this video was taken will be a day that neither one of us will ever forget. That room that we were in was so hot. Little to no air conditioning. A thunder and lightening storm started about a minute before our girls were brought in. It was raining as we were leaving the Civil Affairs office. Everyone was so happy and engrossed in their little girls. I can only speak for myself but all I was thinking was get us back to our rooms as fast as possible. After seeing all those little girls in one place it is hard to believe that what we went through that day happens on a daily basis in China. It is just amazing.

Moments After We Became A Forever Family

This morning I got up and started going through our video files from our trip. We couldn't post videos from China only pictures. So now I will try and post the ones that I am able to upload. These three are of Ava and mommy on the bus just minutes after we received her. They are very cute. I still can't believe how quiet she was and you can see on her face in the videos that she was just trying to take everything in. There is one point in one of the videos where Terri puts her chin on Ava's head and looks out the window. This is one of my favourite moments while filming them. I could just see the love on her face and in her actions. At that moment I couldn't believe that we were finally together as a forever family.

and she walks....

Well today has been a great day. Ava slept from 9pm until 5:30am without waking for the first time. That was great. Now we have to stop waking p listening for her and we can all get some well needed rest. As well Ava has been taking a few steps here and there and been getting braver and braver as time goes by. Well this afternoon after her nap she got some courage and she walked! Really walked! Not just a few steps between Mike and I but walked the length of our kitchen and down the hallway to the front door. We are so happy that we were able to see this milestone but now I think we are going to be in for some trouble. She loves the outlets and power cords. I guess it is time for a trip to the store to get some safety items for this inquisitive child! Of course we are still madly in love and in complete awe of this incredible girl.

EVEN MORE PICTURES

The Look ------------------------Ava Trying On Her Cousin Alicia's Headband

The Birthday Feast --------------------Ava Eating Her Birthday Cupcake

Ava Playing With Her New Push-Ride Musical Car

MORE PICTURES

Ava & Aunt Bonnie------------------------Ava Hugging Her Cousin Alicia

Cousin Johny-----------------------------------Mommy & Ava Eating Watermelon

Mommy & Ava Opening Gifts

BIRTHDAY PICTURES

Daddy, Nanna & Ava ------------------------------ Nana, Papa & Ava

Ava & Cousin Ashley -------------------------- Ava & Cousin Shelby

Ava & Uncle Tom

Ava's First Birthday Party

We celebrated Ava's first birthday yesterday. She turned one today. She is adapting so well. It is scary. She doesn't really make strange to her family members. She is playing really well with her younger cousins. It is absolutely amazing. We were expecting something different. She is a little angel. We are still trying to figure out a good eating and napping schedule for Ava. For the first few nights she was waking up every hour on the hour. Last night she slept for a five hour stretch. She keeps waking up at around four thirty every morning. We are thinking that it is because she is hungry. We are going to start feeding her cereal and a bottle before bedtime. The cloth diapers that we purchased for Ava are working well for us. She doesn't mind them. We keep checking the computer each morning for any e-mails from anyone that was in our travel group. For any updates on how their children are doing.

First Morning At Home

Ava slept with us last night. She slept from 12:30 until just after 6 this morning. She is a little trooper. The plane ride yesterday was really hard on her. When she sleeps she tosses and turns. So we would lay her down across our laps and she would sleep for about a half an hour then she would try and turn and wake right up. We had to pace quite a bit with her on the plane. She would fall asleep in our arms walking then we sat down she would wake up shortly after. She wasn't to fawn of the car seat at first. She cried for about twenty minutes or so on the way home but she eventually fell asleep in it. Not bad for being the first time ever in a car or a car seat. When we arrived home last night she was scared. She would look at our dog Yeti and start to cry. We fed her a bottle last night and she went right to sleep. I kept waking up through the night just to make sure that she was still there. I know crazy but I couldn't help it. When she did wake up she awoke with a big smile and sat up and started clapping her hands. Yeti came to the side of the bed and Ava just sat and watched him. No tears. No crying. She really is amazing.

There Home!

Just some pics for those of you waiting to hear how every thing went at the airport tonight. It was a long wait but the happy family is finally home. It was amazing to be there to welcome Terri and Mike home with Ava. Words can't describe how beautiful she is and how happy Terri and Mike look.

It's hard to believe that it's been four years in waiting and now we have our little angel and it's our last night in Beijing. Ava just had her bath and her bottle and is fast asleep. We are both very nervous about the flight tomorrow. We hope Ava does okay. She did really good on the three hour flight from Guangxi but tomorrow is a bit different. Thirteen hours plus the day change. Hopefully she doesn't get her days and nights mixed up.

We walked down to the silk market today to get some last minute shopping done. We went out with a couple of families for dinner tonight then we had them back to our room for a couple of drinks and let the kids play.

We have grown quite fond of these two families. Hopefully we can stay in touch when we get home. One family only lives about a forty-five minute drive away. The other family lives on the east coast.

Our packing is all done. Hopefully nothing breaks. We received Ava's Canadian Visa today and her Immigration papers. They were nice to see and have. One thing that we did find out is that once Ava leaves China tomorrow she will no longer have a Chinese Citizenship. Apparently China does not allow anyone to have dual Citizenship. Ava can't wait to meet all her new relatives.

Love you all and we three will see you soon.

Walking to the silk market

The silk market

Beijing newsstand

Beijing sculpture

Sculpture outside a business

We have been watching Ava crawl around the room and play. She can be so funny. She has found the mirror. She keeps trying to kiss herself in it. She stands in front of the mirror and babbles on.

Today Terri and I both could swear that we heard her say Hello. It was so cute. She is a little ham for sure. She loved her picture being taken for the group pic. She came alive in front of everyone. In fact everywhere we go she seems to get fans. Fans that want to hold her and touch her. She just laughs and giggles.

The joy that she has brought us in such a short period of time is just unbelievable. I use to sit and wonder why. Why us? Why did we have to wait for so long? Why couldn't we have children? I caught myself many a time asking God why? Now I know why. I am convinced that Ava is a gift from God. A gift that we will forever cherish. I strongly believe that Terri and my and Ava's paths in life were meant to cross each other and come together.