Bringing Madison Home

Enjoying the Summer!

2008-07-29T12:46:00.011-03:00

I know I haven't been the best blogger since we've been home from China...and it isn't because I haven't had time, it's just that when I usually think about it I'm in the middle of doing something else and say to myself I'll do it later....and unfortunately later never comes.

I thought I'd give a quick update on the happenings since my last post on Mother's Day. hmmm, where to start. Madi is doing exceptionally well. She has grown so much and is talking so much now. She's not a baby anymore :o( She's a little toddler running around...and I mean that literally! She's talking a lot more too. It seems like everyday she is learning and saying new words. She must be saying close to 50 words by now.

Chris had a wonderful Father's Day. It was so great to see him finally celebrate this much anticipated day. Here's a pic taken with them in full camo...Madi's shirt says "My Dad Rules!"..it's so cute, but I had to have the barret and gold bracelet on to reflect her feminine side too...hahaha!

We had our first official Family vacation in June. We went to Portland, Maine for 5 days. Madi did awesome! She is such a little traveller. We went from sunup to sundown and she enjoyed the whole time. Here are some pics:

pit stop on the road -

waking up in the hotel and wanting breakfast -
Daddy and Madi at Daddy's favorite store -

We had our 6 month review for our adoption last month that went really well. I didn't know what to expect but it was comfortable and easy. We also celebrated our first Canada day. Chris had to work so Madi and I enjoyed the day by going to my Parents camp and then we headed downtown for the fireworks. We weren't sure how she'd do with the loud noise but she absolutely loved it. She was fascinated with the fireworks and kept saying Wow.....Wow....it was so cute.
Chris just celebrated his Birthday on Saturday, unfortunately I was sick and wasn't able to celebrate with him and his family....I'll have to make it up to him. We had a celebration the week before with my family here at home with a pool party....did I mention we got a pool...We LOVE it!

That about sums up what we've been doing the last couple of months. And I'm sorry to say that this is the last post for our blog. Thank you so much for following our journey, we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. We finally have our beautiful daughter home and we treasure everyday we have with her.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

2008-05-11T20:13:00.004-03:00

I can hardly believe I just celebrated my first Mother's Day! I've waited so many years to be able to share this special day and I spent several moments overcome with emotion and joy that tears streamed down my face. I had such a wonderful day and I will treasure this one forever. I have so much love for my beautiful baby girl that I can't even begin to explain how touched my heart and soul is that God brought her into our lives. She has been worth the very long wait.

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mom's out there and for all those Mom's still waiting for their precious baby.

as promised...

2008-05-07T21:53:00.014-03:00

here are some more pictures of Madi playing in her (partially finished) playroom tonight, enjoy!

Benny and Madi playing together

I love my Eeyore

and my giant stuffed puppy

How cute am I?

I love my music table

WOW, playing sure does tire me out - I'm ready for bed now 'night!

Yup, you are reading correctly....we've updated!

2008-05-06T19:47:00.007-03:00

Ok everyone, take a breath....a deap calming breath.....we've FINALLY made an update to our blog!!!

Now that the shock has worn off, I'm very surprised with myself that my fingers still remember how to type! lol!

Things have been very busy in our household and at the other times I've just been too lazy to update our blog to keep you posted on how our beautiful Madi is doing.....SORRY!

Where do I start, here are 5 things since the last update:

1: Madi started walking by herself on April 19th by taking a few steps. She is still trying to do some more walking, she's up to about 5 steps now but she's got awesome balance. She doesn't want to be held much anymore, she just wants down so she can go....go....go....just like a normal 15 month old.

2. She has a mouthful of teeth, she has 10 right now and is cutting 2 more molars as we speak, hopefully they'll break through this week!

3. She has taken another growth spurt and is now growing out of yet more pj's....she's going into 12-18 month old pj's with feet.....without feet 12 month (and 6-12 month from the gap) still fit.

4. We had Madi dedicated at our church Sunday and it was the most beautiful ceremony!

5. Madi is anxiously waiting for her 'bff' Ella to come home. Her Mommy and Daddy are leaving on Thursday for China to bring her home. Check out Bryan and Angela's blog on my links.

Chris and I are doing great - Chris is feeling better from his accident - with help from Physiotherapy and Chiropractic treatments. Things are finally setttling down around our house with regards to the renovations. Our basement is done! well, except the doors aren't installed and the wall hangings aren't up.....but that is very manageable! It looks great, we love it!

Here are the pics that you really wanted to see, enjoy!

Benny, Mommy and Madi

Like my pig tails? This is the first time Mommy put them in my hair, they lasted but a few minutes and I pulled them out :0)

For some reason I can't find the more updated pictures so I'll post some more soon, and try to upload a video, check back!

Take care and enjoy the sunshine!

Happy Easter!

2008-03-24T11:49:00.008-03:00

Is spring finally around the corner? Chris and I just saw our first robin in the backyard this morning...YEAH!!! That's a good sign spring will be here soon and we'll finally see an end to all this snow!

We had a wonderful Easter weekend spent with both our Families. The Easter bunny found Madi with a cute little stuffed bunny....I'm afraid of what next year will hold as she'll be old enough for all the chocolate and candy.... :o) She got some cute summer outfits from her grandparents that she'll look absolutely adorable in.

Chris is doing a lot better. He started back to work last week and the first few days were very difficult as he wasn't use to sitting so long so he was very sore, but he is doing much better now. Things are finally getting back to normal. We bought a new vehichle and got a great deal - it was hard to pass up! Here's a pic:

Madi is doing so great. She is growing like a weed! She's already grown out of several pair of pants and some tops - she is getting longer...and so are her feet, we are almost into the next size up of shoes. When we got Madi her feet had lots of room in size 2 shoes, now we are at the ends and will soon have to move up to size 3's! I guess that means more shopping...lol!

She is such a happy little girl and so much fun. She is very proud of herself right now as she is standing on her own for short periods of time...I think the longest I counted was around 10 seconds before she'll reach for support. I'm thinking she'll be running around this house within the next couple of weeks.

Here are a few pics to enjoy,

Tracy

Here is me and Madi at her friend Lily's Birthday party on Saturday:

I LOVE this picture of Madi:

Playing peek-a-boo?

I think the caption on this picture should read from the perspective of our dog Ben: "Are we almost done?"

P.S. We want to say Congratulations to Dianne and Joe who arrived home on Friday from China with their beautiful Meaghan!

Congratulations Bryan and Angela on your referral!

2008-03-14T15:50:00.003-03:00

Chris, Madi and I wanted to congratulate Bryan and Angela on the referral of their baby girl Ella. She is absolutely beautiful. We are so happy for them and can't wait to follow their journey to China and back home again. I know Madi and Ella will be the best of friends.

You can follow their journey and see a picture of Ella here.

Love you all,
Tracy

Bad things come in how many????....please say only 2.....

2008-03-04T20:04:00.017-04:00

It's been over a month since we last posted an update and I'm sure all my regular viewers have stopped checking our blog by now but for those of you who haven't let me tell you why we haven't had time to update our blog in over a month.

Our intentions were to complete our blog after celebrating Madi's first Birthday but that took a few weeks before the celebrations were over. Madi turned 1 on Feb 11th and we celebrated that with Chris's family at his parents house. We had a great time. Madi wasn't too sure about what to do with the cake so with a little help from Mommy she had her fingers into the icing and into her mouth. Here's a pic of Mommy and Madi:

We were then suppose to celebrate with my Family later in the week but one of our nieces got the flu so it was postponed to the following week. But before I share with you pics of that the night of my Birthday (the 12th) our basement flooded! Yup, the WHOLE basement had a couple of inches of water. So let's just say that the following few days were crazy cleaning up the basement and seeing what was damaged and having workers in the house cutting up the walls and we had to live with loud giant fans running for 4 days. We are still waiting on our insurance adjuster to finalize everything so we can start working on the basement again....

So now we are at Feb 22nd and we are celebrating Madi and my Birthdays with my Family - it was a lot of fun! Here's a pic of Mommy and Madi:

Daddy and Madi having fun blowing a party horn:

4 sleeps later on Tuesday Feb 26th my Husband was in a terrible car accident where a drunk driver hit another car from behind and sent her into the ditch and then ended up in the oncoming lane towards Chris and his friend and had a head on collision - on a highway no less - going over 100 km/h. We know that the hand of God was protecting them that night because without his protection the accident could have been fatal. You just don't know how precious life is and how quickly it can be taken away from you. It was amazing that all 4 people involved in the accidents walked away. Unfortunately it wrote off our Saturn Vue (grrrr....I loved that SUV) or at least we believe it has - we are still waiting on that insurance adjuster to go look at it. You judge for yourself if you think it's a write off:

So now you all know why it's taken us so long to update our blog post. Chris is doing great considering - he had a few cuts where his hand hit the windshield and his shoulder is still sore from the seat belt, as well as the rest of his body from the impact- but he is getting better each day and we are just so thankful to God that he is still with us today.

Ok, now enough about the negative stuff. Let's talk about Madi! She is doing amazingly well. I can't believe how much she is progressing each day. She is now pulling herself up to stand up and she is so proud of herself. She will walk if you hold her hands so I'm afraid it won't be long now until she is running around the house - I better get some comfy shoes because I have a feeling I won't be sitting down much! lol! She has 8 teeth (4 top front and 4 bottom front) and is cutting a molar - part of it is in already and she will be cutting another front tooth very soon. She is a great eater and sleeper - although when she is cutting a tooth she wakes up about once through the night. She has bonded and attached to us so well - and our families too. We are just so blessed to have her in our life and we couldn`t imagine her not with us. She is the love of our lives.

I`m going to end this post with some more picts of Madi - as let`s face it, that`s all you want to see :0) We`ll update again to keep you posted on how Chris is doing, if we find a new vehicle and the progress on the basement.

Tracy

One happy baby playing in her exersaucer:

Daddy and Madi having a catnap on the couch:

Madi with a friend`s Mom at Chinese New Year:

Madi all bundled up for a ride in her sled:

Our Second to Last Post

2008-01-30T23:40:00.000-04:00

Yes as the title reads this will be our second to last post.....bahumbug I know but Madi will be celebrating her 1st birthday on February 11th and we think it's time to allow her to grow up in privacy, like any normal child growing up in Canada. I never thought that I would enjoy writing as much as I did. I really thought it was going to be Tracy that would end up doing all this but it was me Daddy White. I mean yes I did have my editor read before posting and Tracy's input was of course always welcomed but I gotta say I really enjoyed doing this. Sharing with all of you the trip details, the emotions, pictures, and videos. It was alot of fun, but enough about me how about an update on Miss Madi....

Ok so here she is with friends of the family Frank and Val...geez guys hope you don't mind but you never know when the papparazi will be poking around....lol

...and here she is right at home with our fur baby Ben, I think Ben thought that Mom was putting down a nice quilt for him to lay down on.....sorry Ben it was for you AND Madi.

and how cute is she in her blue dress from China....ya I know I'm a little biased.....

sorry Ange but Madi just loves that Bear rug....and see how big of a girl she's becoming feeding herself!!!!

I'm not going to say she is this content all the time but pretty close.......

always loves to share a good laugh with Papa Cameron

heh Donna, looks good on your Mom, Madi with her Nanna's best friend Georgie....

Anyway I can't spoil you with too many pics so I'll save some room on the blogger site for some of her birthday. Speaking of which and not that this little girl isn't spoiled or anything but I have a funny suspicion that she might get a birthday present or two or three........Madi, Mommy and Daddy have waited years for something so precious as you to come along so we have a lot of birthday's to make up for!!!!

Chris, Tracy, Madi and Ben

About Time for a New Post!

2008-01-22T22:40:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone!!!!

Well, another week has quickly passed us by. We're pretty much into the rhythm of things and yes that includes Miss Madi. She cut two more teeth last week and only had a couple of restless nights and was then back to normal. Madi is progressing along and before you know it she'll be running around the house....ughhh, Madi please slow down and let Mommy and Daddy enjoy these precious years we'll have you as a baby......It's hard to believe that on Friday we will have been back in Canada for 5 weeks. We still pinch ourselves once in awhile to make sure we didn't fall into some deep sleep, dreaming such a magnificent dream of a little girl with jet black hair from a distant land far, far away.....but its real. We are definitely parents as I was reminded of that last week when sleep deprivation kicked in around Wednesday, and what a coincidence it occured at the same time that teeth did???

Anyway, Madi has had lots of visitors and is certainly making her way around. Last week also has had a few milestones which included receiveing both her Social Insurance Number and Medicare, along with her Permament Residence Card, next will be Canadian Citizenship! As well she had her first visit to Princess Auto with her Dad!!!! Now that's one for the books! Sorry gents no pics of that great event....but perhaps there is a Canadian Tire visit real soon or maybe even a trip out to Atlantic Motoplex to visit all the poor Yamaha's without homes......we'll keep you posted on this one.
We were told that time flys by when you become a parent and whoever said it were true to their word. My days without seeing my daughter until I get home from work at night even seem to be zipping by...one thing for sure we definitely need to be taking more pics so if you are about to become a parent heed the advice take lots of phots and keep a journal.

Madi and Daddy playing a little guitar! She loves to sing!

Anyhow all for now.

Chris, Tracy and Madi oh and fur baby Ben(our dog)

January 11th Update

2008-01-11T22:46:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone, and thanks for still following along! First, Tracy, Madi and I want to extend a big congratulations to the Mahoney's in Saint John as they received their referral this past week - Meaghan http://ourjourneytobabym.blogspot.com/. As well we want to wish Lorraine and Rowan all the best as they prepare to leave to be united with Adia http://www.irvine-roberts.com/ , how many more sleeps Lorraine? Anyway their blogspots have both been added to our site so please take the time to drop by their blogspots and have a look at their beautiful daughters. All the best you guys 2008 is going to be an awesome year! That goes for you too Bryan and Angela....Ella is patiently waiting in China! Hang in there guys.

For us, well how about a few pics for starters.

I know what a ham!

...and Oh what a smile!

Well where do I start this week....hmmm how about some quick advice for new parents to be like Lorraine and Rowan out west and most recently the Mahoney's in SJ.

The only advice I'll ever give is this and 'this' is something that I don't care what anyone says it's applicable straight across the board.....advice: Don't BLINK you might miss something!!! We've been home for 3 weeks and our 1 month anniverary with Madi was yesterday and we cannot believe the progress that she is making and has already made. The seemingly small things we take for granted are little milestones all along the way. Take for instance our little Madi on Dec 10th if you had given her a cheerio she cried as she didn't know what to do with it. Today on the other hand you cannot keep enough on her plate and not only that she picks them up herself! What day she start doing this? Exactly I cannot even remember. This is what I'm talking about, grab yourself a book and start writing stuff down that you consider to be milestones. As time moves along as you enter parenthood write down when your little one has reached these milestones, otherwise you'll forget the first time she waved, the very first kiss she blew, or that first step. They're all little things but when you add them all up collectively they become your child growing up. Take notice of them 'cause if you blink you might miss something.

Ok so on another note this week was my first week back to work and although I did not work the entire week it was a hard one to get through. I'm as proud as any new daddy but I gotta tell you this little girl has bitten off a huge piece of my heart and it's some hard leaving her each morning. But, and yes there's always that infamous 'but', when I get home and I've had a stressful day and that little girl smiles at me when I come through the door everything just vanishes away. All the worries of the world could be upon my shoulders but Madi takes them all away....sniffle sniffle.....I know know I'm awfully mushy......I'm so happy that Tracy has this opportunity to stay at home with Madi for the next 7 months. She is really enjoying herself as a Mom at home with her daughter and I would not see it any other way. What a great opportunity for her and it makes me feel so good each day when I leave that Madi's Mommy is right there to look after her while her Daddy is away at work.

To end how about a few more pics....

Madi and my Mom enjoying some time together

In the next couple of pics they of our nieces Julie and Nikki feeding Madi(we like to call these babysitters in training!)

Julie

Nikki

Anyway I don`t want to spoil everyone with too many pics right Ange? Oh and to the "girls" you know who you are Tracy's partners in crime I'll try to behave myself when you come over Tuesday night...lol or maybe I should just get out of your hair all together, Bryan what are you doing?

Have a great weekend and we'll see you all next week!

Chris

Time for Our Weekly Update

2008-01-06T10:58:00.000-04:00

Always happy and clapping her hands!

Well, another week has gone by and again this little girl just simply amazes us. It's hard to imagine that just 4 weeks ago she could barely even eat a cheerio and now you can't keep enough on her plate! It reminds us to the resiliency that children have and how quick they learn and pick up new skills and retain them.

Madi is fitting in so well, she has familiarized herself with most of our close relatives and friends and has no issue of attachement. This is very fortunate as many adoptive children do encounter attachment issues. Madi was in foster care since day one and it is very easily seen that she was well looked after and loved by her foster family.

I return to work tomorrow as I have been off since the last week of November. Kind of hard to believe that 5 weeks has already gone by. This will be a hard day for me. Madi has become the twinkle of our eyes and has placed such a happiness in our hearts that to miss even the slightest progression that she makes saddens us. The truth and fact of the matter is that the opportunities that she will have will be through her Mom and Dad's hard work to financially support her in what ever endeavor she decides to undertake. A friend from work best describes this situation as this little girl winning the lottery. How true as Tracy and I watched a documentary called Mardis Gras - Made in China. This documentary captures the essence of hard work in China as a factory produces the beads that are thrown away each year at the Mardis Gras celebrations in New Orleans. Some of the girls working in the factory started as early as 11 years old and work for as little as 10 cents an hour 6 days a week with no vacation. This struck close to home for obviuos reasons any of these girls could have easily been Madi, without a home and parents to care for her this is where orphaned girls end up, but we came along and ave now given her opportunity abound.

On another note when we arrived back from China we were suprised to have been contacted by a local news station that wanted to do a story on our journey to international adoption. We put the interview off as we were sick and still settling in to a routine. I hope the individual does proceed to contact us as we now feel comfortable to particpate. Tracy and I talked about this and thought it to be a great opportunity to share our good news story in expanding our family and to educate more people on what adoption from a foreign country is all about. You know who you are please give us a shout!

Anyway here a few more photos of Madi taken around Christmas time, if any of you are in the process of adoption from China and have any questions or concerns please drop us an email and we will do our best to answer your questions - trouting@rogers.com. We aren't experts but we would do our best to either give you the answer or help you find the answer.

Madi and her Aunty Tina

Madi and her cousins Julie and Nikki

Again always so happy even in her car seat!

Have a great week all and we`ll see you as the week progresses and keep you all up to date!

Chris

Whatever Happened to the White's?

2007-12-31T07:33:00.000-04:00

We haven`t gone anywhere we're still here just been a little busy

Happy New Year's Everyone!

This has been some kind of a roller coaster ride, and time seems to be slipping by awfully quick. We have only been home just over a week although it seems like we've been here forever with our little angel. Christmas went by in a blurr, all the visits, phone calls, and emails we've been quite busy. The visits have been great with all kinds of folks, some as even as far away as Tracy's cousin from Ottawa! Its been great to have everyone over and visiting with us. We're still getting use to the whole parenthood thing, but for us, it seems to be quite easy with such an easy going little girl, we've been truly blessed. Madi loves the car but not so much the build up to getting there. You know what I mean, the big bulky clothing that we make her get dressed up in so that she is warm and that awful car seat....not Madi's favorite by a long shot, but I yet to come across a child that enjoys them.

Madi is doing great! So far no attachment or bonding issues, she is just so happy and fits in so well. We have found that once she warms up in a room filled with family and friends she will then allow herself to picked up by others. However she will definitley not allow Tracy or I out of her sight. Of course when she is tired she only wants Mommy and Daddy, so this makes us feel good. This little girl has touched alot of hearts over the past month and the tears of joy that all of you have shed has really touched Tracy and I. There is such a sense of community and family with you all, it has made it so much easier with Madi with such support.

New Year`s Eve has a different twist on it this year. Friends of ours, Bryan and Angela, are coming over and we`re going to just have a nice quiet evening at home celebrating the New Year and hoping for quicker referrals....come on January, right guys!

We want to extend a BIG Thanks out to all of those that gave the many gifts for Madi, although she`s not quite an age where she is able to appreciate the gifts we sure do.....oh but she does like the sound of the paper though...lol.

Friends of ours gave us a card and on it of course is a little poem, thought to share it with you all and we send this out to all the folks that have little girls or are getting little girls.

Having a daughter means loving
more than you knew you could love.
It means giving
more than you knew you could give.
It means receiving
so much more in return...
Having a daughter means knowing
that whatever else
you did or didnt do,
you gave the world something beautiful.

Just a nice little poem that so accurately describes what it is to have a daughter, a daughter born into our arms and hearts.

Here`s some pics and video of Madi enjoying some time with our family!

Madi, always smiling and clapping her hands with happiness!!

Even with a runny nose you can`t knock her down, again always smiling and interacting!

My parents enjoying and holding Madi for the first time.

Tracy`s Mom enjoying some time with Madi. Check out that smile! Is she a happy little girl or what.

Opening gifts with Poppy and Nanna White

Opening gifts with Pappa and Nanna Cameron

The little drummer girl

Tracy and I are not quite sure how we'll top 2007 in 2008 but we're going to try.

We do hope and trust that you all have a wonderful New Year, and may 2008 bring for you great prosperity!

Christmas.....

2007-12-25T05:00:00.000-04:00

Ok it's quite early I just rocked Madi back to sleep. I never thought that having to get up at 4AM to rock a little girl to be so rewarding, but it is. It has been a tough past few days Tracy and I have ben both sick and we never made it to my Mom & Dad's for our customary Christmas Eve Dinner and gift exchange. This is not how we planned things to work out but just like everything else we've dealt with over the past month we simply roll with the punches. This parenting thing seems to come pretty easy for Tracy and I, and perhaps some of that is attributable to such and easy little girl we have. Don't get me wrong there has been some challenging moments but in the end all seems to work out. You know the past month has gone by like a whirlwind, it really truly seems like just yesterday when Tracy and I were sitting down in a goverment office peering at our daughter's picture for the very first time. It's very profound to have experienced what we have to have visited a civilization that is thousands of years old and that it is this civilization that our dear precious Madi comes from. We know that there will be someday a time when Madi will question where she came from and we hope to be able to bring her back so that she can experience China first hand with the understanding that she'll have as she grows up. For now though we will enjoy her, love her and provide for her the very best that we can. On her little shirt it says "Best Present Ever" to Tracy and I there has never been a greater present. We both agreed this year that we would not stress about getting each other gifts instead we would sit back and honor the true meaning of Christmas this year. That it is a time of giving and not receiving, that it is a celebration of the birth of Jesus not the commerciallizatin that western civilization has made it out to be. Last night it hurt us to be so down and out sick to not have been able to enjoy our families company and it is these times that I challenge all those of you that are still following our blogspot to just take a moment and reflect back on 2007, cherish the moments with freinds and family as once time has gone by it cannot be taken back.

Merry Christmas to each and everyone of you!

Chris, Tracy, Madi and Ben.

Settling In

2007-12-22T07:23:00.000-04:00

Ok, so we are finally getting over some of the jet lag and Madi is even adjusting quite well. Have I mentioned how great of an experience this has been? Maybe I did but I had to mention it again. We will still be maintaining our blog as we know so many of you have woken up over the past two weeks and enjoyed it and made it part of your daily routines. I know it won't be as exciting but if you would like to check in once in awhile and see how Madi is doing we'll be here and I'm sorry if I was mushy over the past few weeks but little girls melt their daddys' hearts. Through this blog Tracy and I not only wanted to keep you all to update as to where we are in China but to share the feelings and emotions that are behind the scenes that are so very often hard to put to paper. We have enjoyed very much posting and recieving al the wonderful comments. As we left China I took some photos of Beijing here are a few. Very interesting architecture One of the many pedways that exist throughout the city A toll booth - China style Traffic - China Style and yes this vehicle did break down and smash into the guardrail, the ony only accident we seen the whole time we were in China We'll miss China but oh what a welcomed site this was! Madi at home resting soundly in her own bed. Madi Meeting out dog Ben for the first time.

So here wer are back in Moncton at home in time for Christmas. We really couldn't ask for a better present! Madi is everything we ever wanted!

From our Family to yours we would like to extend to everyone a Very Merry Christmas this year and a Happy New Year.

Chris, Tracy, Madi and Ben

HELLO MONCTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-12-21T02:55:00.000-04:00

Well, here it is 3AM in the morning Tracy, Madi, and I have been traveling since yesterday(Wednesday at 7PM) 30 hours it took to get home.....yes I know leave it to the White's to complicate an arrival. We only got into the airport at 1AM this morning. We would like to Thank all those that showed up at 10PM....now we would like to apologize...sorry about that but you know us we are always up for the long way around. We did not expect anyone to stay but a special Thanks to those that braved the late night! The greeting home was SUPER and it was nice to see our family's and friends at the airport. It brought tears to both of us. Our Mom's & Dad's, you are guys are AMAZING and VERY SPECIAL people! Everything you have done for us not just over the past 2 weeks while we've been away but over the past 30 some odd years. We now understand so much as we have now become parents. This has been an absolutely amazing experience and with your influence on both our lives becoming parents has been so much easier.

We are so glad to finally be home. Madi loves our dog Ben and I don't think we have ever seen her so excited! She will fit right at home here in Moncton. I'm feeling so much better and we would like the folks at Christ's Church for all your prayer support while we traveled. This meant a lot to Tracy and I to know that we had such a support group back home in Canada.

Tonight or this morning should I say we will settle into family mode...finally after almost 11 years of trying to make this family complete it has really happened for us. Dreams do come true and prayers are indeed answered so never loose faith or hope on whatever your hearts desires and you WILL eventually be blessed.

Now Ange, there are no pics tonight as you did get see Madi tonight...so am I forgiven this time? We will post more pics and videos as we get closer to Christmas and what a special Christmas for us.....no words can truly describe how feel but one that does come to mind is WOW.....Goodnight all!

The Whites - Chris, Tracy, Madi and Ben!

Last Night in China - Goodbye China....

2007-12-19T09:09:00.000-04:00

Well this will be our last post before we get back home to Canada and the last time we will be online until Friday morning from home!!! This morning we toured Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, after some lunch we went shopping at the Silk Market 5floors of shopping. (Heh Bryan wouldn`t the girls love us after a week here! Never mind Dick`s Sporting Goods in Maine). Here a few pics that we took today.

Tracy Madi and I in the square with the countdown to the 2008 Olympics being held here in Beijing

A view of the square

The Forbidden City

A courtyard within the Forbidden City

.....Tonight we celebrated our stay in China and bid our farewells. I think I said it once before in a previous post but this is a bitter sweet farewell. First of all it is through this journey that Tracy and I have become parents to our precious daughter Madison. We have also made friends of which we shared very profound moments - becoming parents through adoption here in China. We were speaking with another couple today and we both felt the same way, that we share something very special between us, something that adoptive parents can only trully understand....haven`t quite been able to put words to paper on it but anyone that has been through this exeprience probably knows what I am talking about. The bitter part of this is that there is a little tug at our hearts that says we are taking Madi from her homeland and this does bring sadness to our hearts but we will give her what she would never find here being left as an orphan....Love, a Home, a Mommy and Daddy, and the support of our own friends and family back in Canada....ok now that I have stopped being such a mush ball I`ll be able to continue. Here a few pics of the families that travelled with us.

So I guess this is it China, goodbye for now, we will return someday with Madi to show her where she comes from this amazing country called China.......

See you all tomorrow night! 10PM at the Moncton Airport.

Chris, Tracy, and Madison

Day 12 - 2 More Sleeps Everyone!!!!!!!

2007-12-18T08:31:00.000-04:00

In case you didn`t know we are so excited that in 2 more sleeps we will be on our way home....yaaaaay!!!!

Today was a full day for Tracy and Madi, I stayed back at the hotel to rest and recoup from what we think is pnemonia - not fun stuff to begin with, try having it in a foreign country 8000 KM`s away from home.....well with some prayers said last night I`m 150% better today even though I felt better I opted to rest today. Another miracle for us in this `big adventure` of ours is what we`re calling this one. I gotta tell ya I was figured I was going to be seeing the inside of a hospital last night. Anyway botom line is I`m now getting better........

So while I rested at the hotel today Tracy and Madi visited the Silk Factory and the Pearl Market with the rest of the group. Tracy really enjoyed the day and found the Silk Factory to be very interesting. She did mention that she could have very easily maxed out the credit card at buying up all the beautiful silks. It`s pretty amazing what worms can make! The Pearl market was alot of fun as well as her money did not last very long!!!! Gerald(Tracy`s Dad) would have been very proud of all the bargains she got today!

Tomorrow we will visit Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City and then another large market called the Silk Market. I`m not sure why they call it that as you can buy just about anything there, anyhow it should be quite a jam packed day and with me feeling so much better I will be out and about tomorrow! Tracy is sorry that she did get any pictures but having Madi she had her arms full. So instead we are going to show you some other photos that we have taken along the way......

This is it a chinese 'squatty'

This is Me and Tracy along with Yulin the Director of FOI(our adoptin agency) and Emily our new friend from BC who came here to China to get a new sister. Emily herself was adopted 3 years ago here in China

.......and goodness we cannot forget a pic of our little Madi....now doesn't she look comfy!! Tracy took this one tonight

Anyway off to bed as we have a big day ahead of us, we'll see you all very soon!

Chris, Tracy, and Madi

Three Days to Go!

2007-12-17T07:12:00.000-04:00

Today was mainly uneventful, we are counting the days until Canada! 3 more sleeps for us....I'm still under the weather and we're just going to hang low for the next day or so. We unfortunately will not make it to the Great Wall, but that's not what we came here for now was it. Our prize , our precious little Madi is all we really longed for. The other stuff would be great to see and experience but our main focus is to get well for the plane ride home and to remain healthy.

We went to the doctor today and Madi made out pretty good, she is still somewhat timid around strangers but she warms up after awhile. She checked out pretty good has a slight cold but what toddler doesn't. Besides that we're hanging in there and wait impatiently for Thursday December 20th to arrive!

Tomorrow we are just going to hang around so I can get some much needed rest so here's a little video just to keep you interested.

Oh in case you are wondering Tracy says it's Tuesday in the video but it's actually Monday...she's just wishing the week away so that we can get back to Canada...

Chris, Tracy, and Madi

No 'Great Wall' for us today....

2007-12-16T04:58:00.000-04:00

Sadly Chris still wasn't feeling well today and wasn't up to going to the Great Wall today. Madi wasn't feeling well either so we layed low. Chris is feeling a bit better, he actually went down at lunch for a bite to eat and Madi is doing great now too - thanks to Sheri for giving us some meds to make things flowing again...lol!

Sheri, Shayna (Sheri's daughter), Madi and I went for a walk this morning as it was beautiful and we went to the market to pick up a few things. I got Madi some baby food as she isn't eating much solids yet. So far she loves the carrots. There wasn't a big selection to choose from unfortunately. After lunch Chris and Madi went down for a nap while I washed laundry...NOT FUN!!!! Madi is still sleeping but she'll be up soon for supper. She didn't sleep much today so she was very tired.

Tomorrow we take the babies to the Doctor's to get a check up and then have the rest of the day to relax. Tomorrow night we are going to see the acrobats - I'm really looking forward to it. If Chris is feeling better on Tuesday we may look into hiring a car to take us to the Great Wall and Jade Factory as the schedule just has us down as shopping and going to the silk market. If we go to the wall on Tuesday then we'll go to the silk market on Thursday morning and then fly home in the afternoon. So we still may be able to get all the site seeing done that we want. (sorry Dad - so far we haven't come across any watches...but I'm still on the look out!)

I don't have any new pictures to share with you so here are just a few we've taken over the last week. It's hard to believe that tomorrow will be 1 week since we received Madi. It seems like she's been with us forever. She is so comfortable with us as we are with her. Parenthood is AWESOME! Miss you all and can't wait to see you in 5 days!!!!!YEAH!!!!

This picture is just like her autie Tina - my parents have a picture of my sister sleeping in almost the same pose - leg up to the side...hmmm....do we have another gymnastic on our hands?

Here's Madi and Daddy having a snuggle after their nap.

Summer Palace & Panda's

2007-12-15T09:15:00.000-04:00

Don't worry, it's not a 'mushy' post tonight...I'm just too tired to really think about anything more than the facts! I've got some bottles to wash before I go to bed. We have a VERY full day tomorrow starting at 9am with a 2 hour bus ride to the Great Wall and a stop off at the Jade Factory. We'll only be back to the hotel around supper time. Please keep Chris in your prayers that he is well tomorrow so he can do the wall and actually enjoy himself.

Today was a beautiful day here in Beijing. It was kinda sunny...I think as sunny as it gets here with all the smog! It was a very full day - but very enjoyable...well, at least for me (Tracy), Chris unfortunately is still under the weather so stayed in bed most of the day as we were both up most of the night. We had to do some paperwork this morning and then I went to the supermarket with a couple of the girls to pick up some water and a few necessities. When I got back Madi was sleeping with her Dada. We had just 30 minutes before we had to be ready to head out to the Summer Palace so Chris decided to stay behind to rest and Madi stayed with him. We didn't want to wake her up to get ready and I think Chris secretly wanted some Daddy and Madi time :o)

The Summer Palace was great, I can just imagine how beautiful it is in the summer when all the trees are full and flowers are blooming. After that we went to the zoo to see the Panda's eating. I got a few pics but they didn't turn out very good because they were in glass enclosures and it was kinda dark so the flash was reflecting off the glass.

We love you and miss you all and can't wait to see you next week!

This picture is a view of the private temple at the Summer Palace. It was used by the women to burn incense for their loved ones and there is also a ballroom where the 'dragon lady' held her birthday party every year. We didn't go up as it was a very steep climb and we were on a time crunch to get to the zoo by 4:30pm to see the Panda's feed.

This is one of the views of a lake at the Summer Palace, there is an open corridor that you can walk along the coast to take in all the wonderful views - at the end of this corridor is the marble boat. This is the marble boat where the 'dragon lady' liked to have breakfast. We weren't allowed to go onto the boat so we've just got a side view picture.

Now here are the Panda's! They are so cute! I just wanted to get in there and snuggle. They are such beautiful animals - much better in person than on TV!

Hello Beijing.....again.

2007-12-14T10:09:00.000-04:00

Well wasn't that just interesting for Madi's first flight we may as well been on a ride at the Bill Lynch Midway, that had to be the roughest flight to date.....holy cow. Next flight....Canada bound!

So, we said our goodbyes to the folks that looked after us in Nanchang, Jiangxi - Mary our guide was wonderful, she really looked after us. Kudos to FOI they really know who to pick to look after the groups they bring to China.

It was somewhat a bitter sweet day as here we are taking Madi away from her homeland yet we're heading home to give her a life in our home and in our hearts giving her opportunity abound, to never be left abandoned again. We hope to be able to bring her back here someday once she understands how she came to us.

Here's a pic of Tracy, Madi, Mary our guide and I. This was taken in the foyer of the hotel we stayed at in Nanchang...yes it was 5 stars all the way.

Not much really to report as today was spent getting packed and jumping aboard a plane and getting back to Beijing. Tomorrow however we will be doing some paperwork first thing in the morning. Then we will be going to the Summer Palace. Later on in the day towards supper and feeding time for the Pandas we are off to the Beijing Zoo! Should be an interesting day.

Madi is doing awesome we could not have asked for anything more. She is now starting to respond to her Canadian name where we had been calling her Yi-Xuan we now use Madi and just about everytime we have her attention. Tonight we also had a break through, for the past couple of days Madi has been calling me Dada, well tonight while we were getting settled in she looked at Tracy put her arms up and said "Momma" we both had a tear come to our eyes. Leaps and bounds seems to be the way we're moving.....did we say we LOVE being Mommy and Daddy!!!!

The Whites are now one more step closer to home we cannot wait to get back to Canada and share our precious little Madi with everyone. You are all so wonderful, like yourselves reading our blog we sincerely enjoy reading each email and comment that you send us. Keep them coming.

Here's a family picture to enjoy see you all next week!

Just in case you're wondering...yes we are One Happy Family!

Chris, Tracy, and Madi

Day 4 - China is Real.....

2007-12-13T01:06:00.000-04:00

Well we left the hotel this morning and made our way to a village outside of the city of Nanchang. This hit close to home for most of us for the reason that perhaps each of our daughters could have ended up growing up in one of these places. Profound to say the least......take a look at what we saw today, you will get it once you see these pictures. Looking up the village street,
our hearts go out to these people and as bad as it looks they are all smiling..... The man above invited us in to look around at his house.....this is what we saw... Sparse living conditions but they seem to have all that they need. I guess we all need to be thankful each and everyday for what we have.... After the trip out to the village we went to look at some Porcelain. As we all know China is famous for it's porcelain production but it's particularly the porcelain that comes from Jingdezhen, Jiangxi which is most famous. This is the capitol of procelain production in China. Here's some of the Porcelain we purchased today We're all doing good. Madi is becoming more use to us and has really warmed up towards us. She loves touching our faces and loves to laugh and giggle. We are so trully blessed. Last night she went down for the count at 9:30 and slept until 7:30 this morning. She has three naps a day one in the morning one just after lunch and one late in the afternoon each for about 1 1/2 - 2 hrs, this seems to be working so if it's not broken don't fix it...right? I treid to find an online manual for these precious little gifts from heaven and there doesn't seem to be any around....lol. Oh almost forgot pics of Madi, right Ange!!! Just after breakfast this morning... Mommy and Madi taking a nap...ahhhhhhh..... oh and how about another video....enjoy...

Day 3 Comes to an End

2007-12-12T09:43:00.000-04:00

It's almost bedtime for us so here's is a post to end the day with as I know you all look forward to our blog each day. We now have the video thing worked out so bear with us.... Today we went to the Tengwang Temple. This temple was first built in 650 AD and then subsequently rebuilt over 20 more times being destroyed each time. The last time it was destroyed was in 1922. It was only rebuilt in 1989, it it still close to the original design of the time. Tengwang Temple Part of the Water Garden at the Temple ome of the amazing design and artwork that exists inside the temple We finished up with a show that was put on by all a group of women who ended the show playing some instruments. When they started playing Madi's ears perked up and it was as if she was understanding what they were singing. The chinese ladies playing their intruments The rest of the day was given to us to relax and continue the bonding with our children. FOI our adoption agency goes to great lengths to ensure that they give an appropriate amount of time each day to allow the families to grow with one another. Yulin and Bob have a very rewarding job. It has to be very touching to see so many families brought together....Thanks FOI for this! Later today Madi and Dad decided to take a little nap, unbenounced to me there was a photo shoot..... So day 3 ends and tomorrow we venture out to rural China where we will visit a town that is famous for its Porcelain production.

Here's a little video of Madi and Mom....enjoy

Good Morning - Day 3 - VIDEO ADDED...I think let me know

2007-12-11T19:42:00.000-04:00

Well, I guess I forgot to post a picture last night with our last post I almost forgot you folks back home do not have a view that we do LOL....so here's a couple.

A Daddy and Daughter's first glance.....ya I know this one is a tear jerker from Gotcha Day! .....and how about this one, this is what we see when she gets up and looks around each morning..... So there's a couple of pics, we hope you enjoy.... Cindy mentioned about Walmart......well have we got stories for you all. Walking around now that we have Madi is a much more different experience than just a couple of westerners. We have pretty much elevated to celebrity status. Everyone stops to see you and those that speak English enjoy practicing speaking with you. The 1 hr shopping spree turned into paparazzi frenzy. Very few disapprove of what it is that we are doing and we have these great little cards that say on them that we are here to adopt our little girl and all seem to be ok with, so far. Poor Sherri in our group was chastised for not having enough clothing on her little one, but I guess this is a common occurrence. Today is another day and we will share what suprises we come across in today’s adventure. We love you all, Chris, Tracy, and Madi

Day 2 Comes to an End.....

2007-12-11T09:19:00.000-04:00

Well, day 2 is over our first full day with Madi has come to a close Tracy is just snuggling her to sleep as I write a post to end the day with, while you folks back home in Canada are just getting geared up to start your days. Becoming a parent is a beautiful thing. I had someone tell me that you have to wait to understand what it is all about, how true they were. I guess having to wait for so long makes these two parents apppreciate parenthood that much more. Tracy and I work so well as a team we seem to be able to read each others minds when it comes to this stuff but I suppose after spending close to 19 years with one another that comes naturally.

Tomorrow we will visit a famous Pavillion of which we will learn more throuhout our visit. Then we are going to be visiting a village which is well known for its Porcelain production. Jiangxi is a well known province for its production of Porcelain. The village that we will visit will be closer to authentic Chinese living so we are looking foward to see what the majority of the popluation lives like.

Later on the week we will get Madi's passport so that we can travel with her. Last week we were counting the days until we got her now we can start counting the days until we arrive back home in Canada. We can't wait to share her with all of you. Hope you all have a great day, see you all soon.

Chris, Tracy, and Madi

Day 2 With Madi

2007-12-11T01:12:00.000-04:00

Tracy and I at the Jiangxi Province Center of Adoption Services.

We started out today back at the office where Madi was "born into our arms" (Thanks Krista) This is where we had to go through a very simple interview and also pay our fees, and give gifts to the orphange director and foster mother.

We also had the opportunity to hold Madi's birth note today although we were not allowed to keep it we did get some photos.

We do not ever get to meet Madi's foster mother but she must be quite a lady. The way that Madi is today can only mean one thing that Madi was treated with care and love. In our eyes she prepared Madi for us like no other could have. She sleeps very sound, very rarely fusses and eats, pees, and poops like a typical 10 month old. We are truly blessed to have such a healthy, happy little girl. We then were off to have documents notoraized where our adoption became official today here is a pic of us with that document.

So that makes us official!! Madi is ours, all documents have been signed and she is ours to keep forever.

For the rest of today we are just going to relax and kick back a little. All the stress and anxieties, worries etc are now behind us as Madi is ours. It is like this huge weight has been lifted off our shoulders and now all is good. The butterflies that we now feel are no longer the nervousness of this journey but are of becoming new parents. Wow it has finally happened and it's more than we could have ever dreamed of. We are so in love with this little girl that has been in our hearts for years and in our arms for only 2 days.

Tracy feeding Madi

Chris & Tracy and now Madi!

Madison Has Arrived!!!!! - Updated!

2007-12-10T07:46:00.000-04:00

Our new daughter Madison Yi-Xuan White.

Enjoy Everyone!!!

For Tracy and I this has been the most incredibe thing we have ever done as a couple to adopt our little girl Madi. I know that this is only the beginning to a long road of parenthood but we have waited together for over 10 years for the addition of a child to our family.

We are thankful to God as along this journey there has been way too many occurences that happened to be chalked up to coincidences. The way that this adoption has happened including how we arrived here in China so fast with so many stumbling blocks for us is nothing short of a miracle and sometimes it's the small miracles we overlook so very often.

We have quite a busy week ahead with a big day of paperwork planned for tomorrow beginning at 8:30AM we'll try to keep you all updated as to how we are doing but how about a picture of our little angel to end this post.....

Love you All, Chris & Tracy

Almost There - A Note of Thanks to You All......9 Hours to Go!!

2007-12-09T15:51:00.000-04:00

Well, it's quite early here in China, 4:30AM but we have to get up as we are leaving the hotel in an hour. We can't say how much we appreciate all of you following along leaving comments and sending emails, it means alot to Tracy and I to have such lines of support in every direction.

We would like to send out a special thanks of Love and Appreciation to both our families - The Whites and the Camerons how all of you have supported us over the past 3 years means alot to us. Everything that you have already done and all that you are still doing while we are here in China is appreciated beyond words, we Love you all.

To our extended adoption community family back home in Moncton you all know who you are. There has been so much that you folks have shared through your own experiences that have made ours what it is today - Thank-You!

Bryan and Angela, you guys are next! Stay focused on the prize at the end of your journey. This focus is what helped Tracy and I remain level headed in all the planning and preperation that adoption brings about.

To the girls that Tracy goes out each month - A Big Thank-You from me the Husband. You have looked after Tracy and kept her sane throughout what seemed insane times.

Our travel group that is here with us in China, we have only known some of you for days but it seems like lifetimes - thank you for allowing us to share in travels.

To all of you parents in waiting be patient and stay transfixed on your hearts desires. It may seem like a rough long wait today but the end result will be worth the wait.

Tracy and I would also like to thank our employers and all our co-workers who are following along in our journey - thanks for all those unexpected days off we had to take!

In 9 hours we will have Madi, wow what a life changing event will happen later today. Visiting China has been an experience that Tracy and I will never forget we can only hope to be able to one day bring her back to where she is from.

Keep watching as later today there will be lots of joyous moments......

Chris & Tracy

Day 3 - Almost Finished - Madison Joins Us In Hours...

2007-12-09T04:29:00.000-04:00

The main road through the Temple of Earth

Yup the title says it all, we're getting down to last bit of a long wait.....can't believe that tomorrow is just about here for us in China.

This morning Yulin the director of our agency took us to the Temple of Earth where the Chinese people do their morning exercises. We were very quickly invited to join in. Some of us did a cross between Tai Chi and Country-line-dancing, some ballroom danced while yet others played with an unusual hackie sack type of a toy. The lady in the right wearing red has the toy it has a small weight on the botom with large feathers that act like a parachute on top.

The Folks we played Hackie Sack with

Tai Chi with swords....yikes!

A small but normal size roadway in China on our way to the Temple

While I played the hackie sack game I just thought to myself that this all seems rather surreal. Here Tracy and I are in a country half way around the world about to get our daughter. Today we're playing hackie sack and tomorrow we'll be playing parents. Tonight is our last night as a family of two...It's pretty profound to think that our lives change forever tomorrow afternoon. We picked up a scroll of which we will hang in our house the translation reads "Without the accumulation of small steps, a one-thousand-mile journey cannot be finished". For those of you that know Tracy and I know all too well that we sure have taken enough small steps over the past 12 years to arrive to where we will be tomorrow. Yes it is the end of one journey but only the beginning of another.

We will try to have our blog updated before everyone goes off to work tomorrow morning as we are ahead of you by 12 hours. We get Madi at 1:30PM Monday so it will be 1:30 AM back home in New Brunswick. Keep watching as the next blog posting you'll see will be one of tearful joyous memories,

Saturday is Done, Sunday to go Then Madi!

2007-12-08T13:26:00.000-04:00

First of all wanted to send out a BIG CONGRATULATIONS to Scott and Jennifer on their new daughter Kate. Was on your blog guys and she is absolutely adorable. Cherish these moments forever, we can't wait to see and meet her.

The "Dirt Market"

Well we visited the "Dirt Market" today and it was certainy an interesting experience I think we pretty much have the haggling down to a science. If China is in your future plans this is a definite must on you places to visit. It is open Saturdays and Sundays. Nothing has a price tag on it so everything is up for negotiations which means all you yard salers out there would have a ball! First you ask how much? They then grab their calculator and punch a price usually about 1/2 of what the sale will end in. They then say "you no like the price?" "How much you want to pay?" Let the games begin! If you watch what you are doing you can get some bargains on some great Chinese culture based items which are you won't find back home in Canada. Take for instance the carving in the picture.

This must have taken hours to carve it is a a ball inside of a ball, inside of a ball, inside of a ball, that's right four balls carved out of a single piece of coloured Jade. The asking price was $360 chinese yuan which is roughly $45 well I purchased it for $120 yuan which works out to be around $16 CDN a great deal on a beautiful piece.

The cab drive back and forth was....hmmmmm.....interesting is the only word that describes it. Toronto or New York taxi drivers have nothing on driving in Beijing. It's unbelievable how everyone respects the tiny space cushion around one another's vehicle, and rarely do you see a vehicle with a scratch or dent....still amazed how accidents are avoided.

Christmas in China? Below is a pic of us in front of our hotel along with Shelly and her sister Teri. There seems to be some westernization of China as even here there is Santa Claus.

Tomorrow, which by the time you read this will have already arrived, we are going to see the Chinese people do their morning exercises the Tai Chi stuff, should interesting so we'll take lots of pics.

ONLY ONE MORE DAY until GOTCHA DAY!!!!!!

Chris & Tracy

China We Have Arrived!!!

2007-12-07T11:49:00.000-04:00

Well, we completely skipped a night to get here but we did it!! This
is a longer post but it does have a happy ending. It really seems
surreal and we`re still pinching ourselves asking is this is really
so. Well it is real and all the words that all that you have shared
certainly helped prepare us but really words are hard to describe what
it`s like to be here. It`s a city with 16 million people and 3 million
cars on the road...the Greater Moncton area has 120,000 people in it
with half that many of cars to put it into perspective.

Flying out from Vancouver was an amazing experience and prayers we`re certainly answered. Our original flight was cancelled and we were scheduled to fly out on Saturday but this would mean an arrival on Sunday evening and then only to fly out on Monday morning at 9ish leaving for the airport at 5:30 would have made the rest of the week difficult especially dealing with a toddler with new parents...so our friend Donna (who I might add is an absolute saint) drove us to the Vancouver Airport to go sit on standby to hopefully catch the 12:35PM flight. We showed up at 9:30 and plead our case, we even threw in the adoption card. The check in manager took us over to the ticket attendant who booked us in on Standby. By the time we got back to the check in with our boarding passes they were already talking about us and sent us down to the loading gate which was a long ways away. When we arrived the agent there
took our standby tickets and said ah you must be the White's he smiled and then asked us to take a seat. We looked over and our friends from PEI who are also adopting from China showed up....well not only did we end up on the flight but we ended up sitting right next to Shelly and her sister....AMAZING!!!

Tonight we went out to eat with some of the other families who are here to adopt as well, the food is amazing even though when they cook a chicken even the feet are included....check out the pick real close of what is in the iron skillet.

Anyhow real tired and only 2 days to go until we see our little Madi,
keep the comments and email us at trouting@rogers.com.......Chris.

We have arrived in Vancouver!

2007-12-06T11:38:00.000-04:00

Greetings from the other side of Canada...well at least for you Maritimers following or blog :o) Thanks to Donna for picking us up at the airport last night and letting us bord at her place last night. Feels just like we are home! She's taking us up to the airport today to see if we can catch a flight to Beijing, so keep your fingers crossed and say a few prayers that we get seats!

So here are the details....we arrived late last night in Vancouver safely. WOW, what an experience for my first time flying. We flew out of Saint John last night on a small little plane to Montreal and then took a larger plane from there to Vancouver. We were very tired when we arrived as it was about 3am 'our time', but we were able to get a good 6 hours or so of sleep last night.

Take care and keep us in your prayers for a safe trip home with Madi on the 20th! Hopefully our next post will be from Beijing!

Miss you all!
Tracy

OK....We're on our way...

2007-12-05T12:05:00.000-04:00

Well, this has been an absolutely crazy couple of days....First there was the delay in receiving our Travel Documents as the bus broke down, then there was the storm that pretty much shut things down at every airport in New Brunswick...then our flight out of Moncton was cancelled this AM which means we miss our connection to Beijing. The good news is that we are leaving for Saint John today to catch a flight to Montreal and then on to Vancouver....we then fly out of Vancouver on Saturday to Beijing. The good news is that we will be able to sit on stand by tomorrow and Friday and we may be able to get on one of these flights....So the packing is done of course along with the Madi's which we finally have some pics and video of. Enjoy and we'll probably post from Vancouver once we arrive at Hotel Donna...a big Thanks to her and her Family for providing accomodations for us while we wait in Vancouver. All for now keep the comments rolling as we love to hear from you all! Chris

I REALLY HATE THE SNOW RIGHT NOW!!!!

2007-12-04T22:00:00.001-04:00

Well, Mother nature decided to put us to her wrath today with a wild snow storm (about 50cm of snow)! We were without power since very early this morning and it finally came back tonight at 6pm. I was able to finish my laundry tonight and finish my packing...sorry Steph, I was hoping to have you double check my packing for me but with the weather as it is I wasn't going to ask you to come out :) I think I did good though. I decided to pack 3 suitcases and we are around 30-35 lbs per suitcase and we are bringing one carry on and our laptop carry on. I just wasn't in the mood to try to squish everything into 2 suitcases.

So....some bad news, our flight got cancelled for tomorrow morning. We are now on standby for the later flights tomorrow to Toronto and unfortunately we won't make it to Toronto in time to catch our flight to Beijing so we are flying to Vancouver and hoping to catch an early flight there. We have seats to fly out of here on Thursday to Vancouver for sure and then standby in Vancouver for Beijing...but have definite tickets to fly out to Beijing on Saturday. This still gives us time as we will arrive Sunday night in Beijing (Beijing time) and then we fly out Monday to Jiangxi to get Madi. So tonight has really been crazy stressful trying to work out all the flight schedules. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers tonight that tomorrow we will get all our flights to Beijing!

We'll post again as soon as we can..hopefully that will be from China!

The day b4 my sister & Chris leave :)

2007-12-04T15:01:00.000-04:00

Tracy is showing me how to work this blog just incase I have to keep this up dated.....I am just going to say I am so excited for you both your dream has come true and you are leaving in the morning for China woohoo!!!!!!! Now hurry up and bring your sweet daughter home to meet her auntie.....lol....I love you guys and have a wonderful and safe trip...take care!!!!

love your sister
Tina
xo's

PS: give Maddie a big hug and kiss for me :)

Is This Really Happening?

2007-11-29T19:55:00.000-04:00

Well, it's a few days since we updated so here goes. Oh and this is Chris that is updating tonight...This past week is going pretty quick considering we're on the home stretch and we figured that these last few days would seem like weeks in themselves. To answer my own question I guess this is really happening as today our Visas, Plane Tickets, and Itinerary all arrived safely... phewie... the stress and anxiety are getting lessened each day and even though Ange still feels like she's gonna be sick we're doing fine. Thanks Ange for covering that off for us. We'll be feeling that way next week on Wednesday morning as we fly to Beijing. :o)

Tracy and I both finished off work this week and with so much to do I'm glad we did. My day on Tuesday ended with a pleasant suprise. The teams that I have been working with got together and put together a suprise shower, and even though Kev(my manager) had a hard time getting me off the phone(sorry for being such a conscientious employee) we did finally make it upstairs where everyone had gathered with a beautiful basket full of gifts for Madison. Had a hard time with the card as I'm pretty much a ball of mush right now. I cannot even get through an episode of Oprah!!!!! That little girl is wrapped around Daddy's finger and she's not even here yet. What am I gonna be like on Gotcha Day?

Our notice of Travelling to China has been sent and we'll probably be taking a drive tomorrow or Monday to pick it up. All is working out for us and, I have to say, some serious prayers over the past few weeks are getting answered.

For all those interested below is our Itinerary, the where, when and what we'll be doing while in China.
Dec 5 - Leave for China 5:55AM - Scott, Jenn, who is buying the coffee?
Dec 6 - Arrive in Beijing - what are we time travellers?? nothing like crossing a dozen or so time zones - oh the 'jet lag'..........
Dec 7 - recoup from the 'jet lag'
Dec 8 - SHOPPING!!!
Dec 9 - Meet and greet with the rest of our travel group
Dec 10 - This is where things start to get interesting-----we fly to NanChang at 11:55 with an arrival of 1:15 in the afternoon......then.........GOTCHA DAY!!!!! Yes that's right this is the day we will finally be united with Madi....WOW!!!
Dec 11 - Provincial Government Office: Registration , and Notarization

Dec 12 - Visit the Tengwang Temple

Dec 13 - Receive Madi's Adoption Documents

Dec 14 - Receive Madi's Passport and fly back to Beijing

Dec 15 - Children's photos, Group Picture, Beijing Zoo, and a visit to the Summer Palace

Dec 16 - A visit to one of the 'Wonders of the World' - The Great Wall

Dec 17 - Medical Exam for the Childern

Dec 18 - Silk Store, and Indoor Market... wouldn't Gerald love the haggling!!(Gerald is Tracy's Dad, one of Madi's Grampi's, and he loves the yard sales)

Dec 19 - Tiananmen Square & The Forbidden City

Dec 20 - Leave Beijing for Canada arriving at the Moncton Airport at 10PM

That's a whirl wind trip if I ever saw one and home in time for Christmas! This is going to be a Christmas of Memories for our Family and we cannot wait to be able to share Madi with you all!!

Chris

Final Preparations!

2007-11-24T13:22:00.000-04:00

Well, as so many of you have pointed out, I've failed to post to my blog for over a week - so I'll make this a good one!

We've been quite busy with referral celebrations and a baby shower and getting paper work done and the nursery done all in preparation for travel on Dec 5th! Yup, you heard it right, Chris and I will be leaving with 6 other families to travel and get our children in early December. Due to the Christmas Holiday our agency has been scrambling to get things completed so we can travel early. It truly has been a miracle in the making that things are falling into place for us, although truthfully speaking it really has been an insanely crazy busy past week and a half.....certainly well worth the craziness though! I'm giving a shout out to FOI (our agency) for the exceptional work they are doing to facilitate this! THANKS!

We haven't yet received our full itinerary, all we know is the plane tickets are purchased for leaving on Dec 5th and returning home on Dec 20th. We'll post more information as soon as we have it.

Today I'm washing Madi's clothes and somewhat packing her suitcase trying to figure out what I've got left to purchase then heading out later today to do some shopping.

Here are a couple of pics of referral gifts we received from our wonderful friends! You guys are amazing and I don't know what we'd do without you. You've helped us through the many long months on this adoption journey and words can't describe what you mean to me! I can't post any pics yet of my shower because I'm waiting on my sister to send them to me :o) as soon as she does I'll post them. I'll also post pics of Madi's room once it's pulled together more. I've got gift bags all over the place and we are hopefully picking up her crib this weekend.

Take Care,
Tracy

****UPDATE****

As promised here are some pics of the wonderful gifts Madi received at her baby shower last Saturday. Thank you so much to everyone who came! It meant the world to celebrate the day with you! I was overwhelmed with everyone's generosity, you are all so thoughtful and giving - Madi is blessed to have you all in her life!!!!

The cake contributed by my Dad's company: Thanks Dad!

Preview of the gifts - yes it did take me a long time to open them!

All the wonderful gifts out on display, in the bag to the left of the picture is a super saucer and you can't see her car seat, I think there are even gifts stored under the table!!!!

Love,

Tracy

what a week!!!

2007-11-14T22:08:00.001-04:00

I never expected this last week to be so busy! All last week we were sitting on the edge of our seats waiting for referral, so of course that meant little sleep and I don't think we have caught up on our sleep yet. What a whirlwind of emotions! We're ecstatic with our little Madi and now can't wait to hear when we will travel to bring her home. So again this week we are back to the edge of our seats waiting for that news!

Last night I went out with some very good friends to celebrate our referral and they overwhelmed me with beautiful gifts! I certainly wasn't expecting it....they like to spoil me that's for sure. I feel so blessed to have met such wonderful friends on this adoption journey.

Well, Chris and I have finally cleared out the room we will be using for Madi's nursery... yes girls you can applaud now....you know who you are...ha ha ha!..anyways the only thing left in here is the computer but we'll move that tomorrow, then up comes the carpet and in comes new flooring and the walls get a new coat of paint then we are ready to move in! Someone pinch me...is this really happening?

I'm going to leave you now with another picture of our sweet baby girl, Enjoy!

FINALLY....Here she is!!!!!

2007-11-09T18:49:00.000-04:00

We would like to introduce you to our beautiful new addition Madison Yi-Xuan White, born February 11, 2007! Madi is from the Jiangxi Province and has been in foster care since she was found on Feb 12, 2007(Tracy's Birthday!) Madi was found at the entrance of Sheng Xi community, Yingtan with her was a birth note, a milk bottle, a bag of milk powder, and a few clothes. Whoever gave her up loved her very much. We are extremely excited together in this life adventure in becoming a Daddy and a Mommy. We cannot believe that we are now another step closer to our precious little Madi. We have a slight party going on if you can imagine so that's all for now.....Chris & Tracy

ok...next post will have the pictures!

2007-11-08T08:11:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to send a quick note to let you all know that we still haven't received referral. We were hoping it would arrive in Moncton yesterday afternoon but no luck. Our Social Worker is in Frederiction today...go figure...so it will likely be sitting on her desk all day waiting for her to get back....so we'll have it tomorrow morning for sure.

I can share this much, only because the other families in our travel group have received their referrals, Madi is from the province of Jiangxi! I 'believe' in the Yingtan area.

I'll update tomorrow when I have the rest!

Next post....PICTURE!

2007-11-06T15:17:00.000-04:00

We just heard from our Social Worker that our referral has landed in Fredericton and is being translated now...we may get it tomorrow, if not looks like Friday for sure!

My next post will be THE PICTURE!

Referrals are out....and WE ARE IN!!!!

2007-11-05T08:03:00.001-04:00

OMG!!! I can't believe it. The cut off is Dec 8th, 2005 so that means WE ARE IN!!! Some people received their referrals on Friday of last week so we 'may' see our referral towards the end of this week....please...please....please! I will post again with 'THE PICTURE'!

still waiting on referrals to be mailed out...

2007-10-29T17:02:00.001-03:00

...some seem to think that referrals will be mailed out this week, it's only Monday so there is still lots of time for them to be mailed, keep your fingers, toes, eyes and anything else you can cross for the stork to fly this week! I'll post as soon as I hear anything.

T

The count down is on.....

2007-10-22T17:34:00.000-03:00

....we are down to weeks now before we will FINALLY see our daughter's face and get to know more about her, there really isn't much for rumors out there, except that Dec 10, 05 may be included in this next round of referrals, which I hope is a true rumor. I'm also hoping that referrals come out next week, but I'm prepared for the first week of November.

Chris and I met one of the couples that we will be travelling with, they are logged in the same day as us, Hi Shelley & John! It was great to meet them, we had a lot of fun and I'm sure we will have a blast in China with our girls!!!!

That's about it, I'll post again when we get more details.

Tracy

WE'RE NEXT!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-10-09T08:12:00.001-03:00

I can't believe I actually get to say these words!!! CCAA has 'officially' stated the cut off is November 30th, 2005. They were on Holiday last week for the Autumn Moon Festival and have updated their website with their cutoff.

Congratulations to our friends Scott & Jen for getting their referral this week and Anik & Tim for the referral of their beautiful baby daughter Delphine (7 months from Sichaun) as well as all the other families who have or will receive their referrals this month!

The count down is on until we get to FINALLY see a picture of our sweet baby girl next month! YEEEEEAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!

quick update....

2007-10-02T21:08:00.000-03:00

and I mean quick....still no news, apparently referrals have been shipped but our agency hasn't received anything, we are touch and go whether we will be included or not and it's definitely been hard concentrating on anything, I'll post when things are confirmed.

T

No News.....

2007-09-21T08:40:00.000-03:00

Hi Everybody...sorry for not blogging lately, it's been crazy busy and I'm just getting over the cold/flu that's been going around so I haven't felt much like blogging. We had a busy day last Saturday...it was my niece and nephew's 2nd Birthday (yup, they're twins) so we had a small celebration at my Brother and Sister-in-law's for lunch as we had a Surprise 65th Birthday for my Dad later that day too, so there was decorating and setting up to be done. The party turned out really well and he was very surprised. It was nice to see all our family and friends come out to celebrate with us.

I've been diligently watching RQ and there have been no rumors going on....very odd as some predicted we may get referrals sent out before the Autumn Moon Festival Holidays in China...which is on Tuesday Sept 25th...seeing as it's Friday the 21st today looks like we won't see referrals until the beginning of October so we likely won't hear rumors until MAYBE the end of next week.....oh well, I've waited this long what's another couple weeks....Here's hoping they do at least 10 days this referral batch....if they do then we'd be in, if not, we would be next....WOW...hard to believe I'm able to FINALLY say those words.

I've been tagged....

2007-09-09T18:58:00.000-03:00

Well, I've been tagged by my good friend Angela with the top 10 things that Madi needs/mommy wants....so here goes....

1. Start nursery...see the pic below of a room...well, this room is being moved to the basement once it's finished and this will become Madi's nursery...as you see we haven't started it yet, but the basement is almost done so we will soon start working on the nursery

2. Car Seat:

3. Dresser: This is close to what we are looking at...

4. High Chair:

5. Stroller:

6. Baby Monitor: This one has a video monitor...how cool is that!

7. Super Saucer:

8. Stroller Toys:

9. Toys:

10: Play Park....this will eventually come for the back yard:

Thanks Angela, that was fun...now it's my turn to tag someone...and I think I'll tag Lorraine...Have Fun!

Madi's new 'lovie'....

2007-09-09T18:47:00.000-03:00

I'll start this post with a little history of this baby blanket...I purchased this baby blanket kit (to crochet) over 10 years ago when my Husband and I first started trying to get pregnant. At the time we lived in a small house so I kept it at my parents house. I told my Mom that when I came to pick up the kit that I would be pregnant....well, after 10 years and no baby and the adoption finally coming to a close I 'tried' to crochet this blanket....well, for a beginner (or a beginner with a little experience) it wasn't exactly the easiest pattern to make....sooo....my sister-in-law's Mother graciously said she would make it for us...well, in no time at all she had it done and what a beautiful job she did. THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH EUNICE! Words can't describe how I feel having this blanket done. I can't wait to see Madi snuggled in with it, I'll definitely take a picture of her and send to you.

Tracy

CCAA Update....10 days to go!

2007-09-03T12:29:00.000-03:00

Well, it's official, the cutoff for this month is November 25th...one day more than I thought it was going to be...I'm so glad I didn't get caught up on the other rumor that some of December was included.

Congratulations to those families that will be seeing pictures of their new baby!

We've got 10 days to go before we reach our LID of December 5, 2005.

Tracy

Rumor Rollercoaster!

2007-08-31T14:28:00.000-03:00

I hate this rumor rollercoaster! I love rollercoasters in general, but this rumor one I seriously dislike! I'm trying not to get sucked onto the ride this month, but I have to admit, i'm in the line up...albeit....at the back of the line!

RQ is stating:
"A second European Agency is now saying “with almost complete certainty” that some of December will be in this batch.
This is a very reliable agency and they have my complete attention with this one.
They basically say that they are positive that the 24th is in, and can say “with almost complete certainty” that some of December will be in this batch.
This one gets an R3½"

So, being at the end of the line I can't really see the rollercoaster yet...will it be a slow leisurely ride or will it be full of loops, turns and stomach dropping heights? Stay tuned....I'll post more when I hear anything else.

Happy Long Weekend!
Tracy

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!

2007-08-24T10:30:00.000-03:00

I can't believe it's been almost 2 weeks since I last posted....sorry :o(

Let's see....what's been going on ....work....work....hmmm....work again...! :o) Last weekend I had my two nieces Nikki & Julie, ages 5 and 7, for a sleepover - we had a great time. I took them out to rent a couple of movies and then we came home and popped some popcorn and watched a movie, after the movie I had sparklers for them to light outside and then it was bed time. The next day we watched movie #2 and we were hoping to get out on the boat but it was too windy so we decided to forgo that idea. It was a low key weekend but we still had fun!

My Mom is on a trip of a lifetime - she left on August 11th for BC for 2 weeks with her best friend. They are staying with her best friends daughter....and let me tell you...she is getting spoiled rotten! I'm afraid she won't want to come back home...ha ha ha! She called me on Monday night to say that she got surprised with tickets to Las Vegas for the next few days - and for my Mom who loves the slot machines...this was a dream come true! She went to see Celine Dion on Wednesday night and then last night was going to a circus show...not sure which one. She'll be flying back this weekend to BC. I'm so happy for her as I'm sure she is having a blast! Mom, if you are reading this, I miss you, Love you and can't wait to see you next week! Happy Birthday!

This weekend we aren't up to much, I want to go over and visit my new niece Reece and get some baby snuggling time in....We saw her last night for my other nieces Birthday...Happy Birthday Isabel! but unfortunately you know how that goes...you've got to share the baby snuggles, so I'm going to be selfish and visit and hopefully I won't have to share! ha ha ha!

Well, that's about it - not much news about the adoption....early rumors are CCAA will get to Nov 29th...which I so hope as friends of ours (Scott & Jen) are logged in Nov 29th and I would love to see them get their referral! If this is the cut off then there would just be 6 days to our LID and then we could possibly be next....WOW! How exciting is that...and scary since we haven't even started her nursery yet.....I know, I know...but there's still some time left...albeit, not much! I'll post again when I have more news to share.

Take care,
Tracy

I'm a new aunt....again!

2007-08-13T08:56:00.000-03:00

I've got a new little niece, named Reece, she was born on Saturday August 11th. She's so tiny and so beautiful. Mommy and baby are doing excellently and Daddy is doing great too! This is my Husbands youngest brother and it's their first child.

I'm so happy and excited for them, this is my 6th niece. I've got 6 nieces and 2 nephews.....next will be our baby girl! YEAH! I'm so excited to think we are FINALLY next. Since we started on the journey to expand our family I've had my 8 nieces and nephews born......so that just goes to show how long we've been waiting for our baby to arrive. I'm sorry I don't have a picture, we forgot our camera last night when we visited and Chris was away with our camera on Saturday.

Matching Room

2007-08-08T13:26:00.000-03:00

I came across a picture of what the matching room actually looks like at CCAA where our dossier is. I thought I would post it for those who are curious. Hopefully our dossier is close to the top of the pile to get matched!

As it stands my guess for our referral is October or November of this year and hopefully travel in mid November to December. Time will tell though, we'll see how they do at the next batch.

Tracy

CCAA Update! 7 down.....14 to go

2007-08-03T09:39:00.000-03:00

CCAA have updated their website to say that referrals have been completed up to November 21st, 2005....so that is 7 days completed and leaves us 14 days left to get to our referral! YEAH!

Congratulations to all the families receiving referrals this month!

.....We have contact.....!

2007-08-01T20:30:00.000-03:00

You know the time is FINALLY nearing when you hear from your agency asking for your immigration document # from your application to sponser your daughter....(and no girls...you know who you are....lol...we don't have it yet, our paper work is going out tomorrow.......it's all signed, sealed and on the table ready to be delivered!)

....we got an email today from our agency saying...and I quote...."Since time to a referral is getting short...." WOW...how exciting is that! I know we are likely still a couple months away from referral but I'm starting to see the glare that little pot is making at the end of the rainbow! I'm so excited....and nervous....and let's face it....scared to death.....I'm FINALLY going to be a Mommy! (...wipe tears away here...).

Well, that's all I had to share with you tonight, hoping to hear more news by end of week about the referral cutoff this month....rumor is that the stork is flying....come on referrals!

Good Times

2007-07-30T16:43:00.000-03:00

I'm a little late posting this Birthday pic taken last weekend, as mentioned earlier we went out with friends of ours, Brian and Angela, to celebrate my Hubby's 37th Birthday and we went back to their place as Angela made Chris a Birthday 'cake'....it was a drumstick cake...soooo good....well, here's finally a pic of Chris lounging in the lazy-boy chair holding his cake.....

I love the Ladybug Angela included on the cake....she did a great job! Thanks Angela!

I'll post again when referrals are confirmed...so far it looks like they are getting to November 21st, 2005....but the rumors are still light so it's hard to say how far they will actually get.

change of plans....

2007-07-22T13:23:00.000-03:00

Well, if you read my previous post we were taking my hubby out for his Birthday last night and the plan was to go to Montana's for supper and make him wear the buffalo hat, take a picture and post it to my blog...well.... I think he chickened out because he decided that the long wait to get a table would be too much for his back (his back has been bothering him lately), so we decided to make reservations at Boomerangs. Our friend Angela called to make the reservations and see about singing Happy Birthday but they don't do that unless it's the day of your birthday...or a day or two away....very odd....so since Chris's Birthday is only next Thursday we weren't able to at least embarass him that way....oh well....there's still time yet! ha ha ha! We had a great time though, the food was awesome and after supper we headed to Brian and Angela's for a special birthday cake (drumstick cake...mmmmm...).

So, with no picture to post of Chris, I thought I would post one of our fur-baby Ben....he's soooo cute!

CRAZY CRAZY EARLY RUMORS!!!!

2007-07-20T11:19:00.000-03:00

Has it really been 2 weeks since I posted last.....oops...sorry! I'll start off on a catch up of the last two weeks.....not much new has really been going on, last weekend we had my sister in law's baby shower - it turned out really nice, she's having a girl and she's due Aug 5. She got a lot of really nice things for her shower and I made note of a couple things I think Madi needs to have..ha ha...

We spent time with friends and finally made it down to the shore for fried clams...(mmm...my favorite) they were so awesome, I can't wait to go back again!

This weekend we don't have much planned, we may go to Montana's with friends to celebrate my Husband's birthday (it's next week, July 26th...Happy Birthday Honey! I love you!)....primarily it's for revenge so a friend of ours - Brian - can pay him back for having to wear the buffalo hat at Montana's for his birthday...so I'm definitely all in for that...I'll post a pic when we go...if I remember my camera that is....!

Ok, so to start on my title of my blog....CRAZY, CRAZY EARLY RUMORS!!! Here goes...my fellow Nov DTC Yahoo pal reports her agency said they were included in August's referrals....and they are logged in the same day as we are....sooo...if they are included we are too!!! Then there was another rumor that only towards the end of November are included, and today 3 more agencies saying all of November and early December are included....sooo...I'm really trying not to get sucked into this crazy rumor vortex, last time I did and it turned out to only be a 2 day referral batch....let's pray this isn't happening again and that the rumor is true....I can't wait to see my beautiful baby girl and start making plans to bring her home!

I'll keep you posted on the rumor roller coaster, for now, take care and we'll chat soon!

7 days down....21 left to go!

2007-07-06T08:28:00.000-03:00

Well, it's official....CCAA finished referrals up to November 14, 2005! Being this close to referral and it crawlling by is frustrating. We've got 21 days left of referrals to get through to get to us......when will it happen....it's anyone's guess. We've got to stay patient for a few more months I think.

I'm just beginning to see the end of the rainbow and instead of a pot of gold it will be our life long dream ~a daughter~! How exciting! It's surreal now that we are this close, it seemed that we would never get here but slowly and surely we are getting there. This will be one journey that I'll be glad when it's over :o) To finally hold my baby girl in my arms....what more can I say....

Congratulations to my fellow November DTC members who have received referral, I can't wait to see the pics and follow your journeys.

Take care

I almost forgot....

2007-06-20T21:18:00.001-03:00

Well, actually I did forget, but my friend Angela reminded me to post a pic of the t-shirt Chris and I did up on the weekend. I designed what I wanted and Chris put it together for me....what team work! :o)

Here's a pic....

I've only worn it once in public and I've had a lot of people notice my Tee but no one has questioned what it meant yet.....we'll see how it goes!

Where does the time go?

2007-06-19T20:41:00.000-03:00

Has it really been 2 weeks since I posted last....ah oh....I'd really be in trouble with my blog followers if I had Madi and didn't post for 2 whole weeks....I guess I'm safe since I still don't have her home with us....we are still counting down the login days....28 to go!

So, what's new with me from the last time I blogged.....hmmm...I received a wonderful swap gift from one of my DTC Yahoo pals, Thanks Juanita for the adorable pink ladybug sweater, stacking cups and the ever cool water bottle no spill spouts (say that 5 times really fast....ha ha!)...those will definitely come in handy when we have our munchkin home with us! Here's a pick of my goodies.

I've taken this picture on my new dining room table. I've been looking for one for a while but haven't really seen any that caught my eye. Well, this past Thursday I was out with my mother-in-law and found this beautiful table at the Homesense....and it was a steal of a deal....I know, I know....I was surprised to find it there too. They just got it in the day before I saw it, I put it on hold for my hubby to look at and we picked it up the next day. So all I have to do is get some chairs to go with it. I'm going to go with all leather chairs, they'll look awesome with it. It's got a huge leaf which stores under the table, so when you pull it apart you just take it out...very practical. It will seat 10 people comfortably with the leaf. Check it out...

Right now it's in the middle of my living room, once we have our renovations done we'll convert that room into a dining room.

That about sums it up. Take care everyone, I'll chat with you soon.

28 days to go....

2007-06-06T19:31:00.000-03:00

Some referrals are arriving and it appears as though the cut off is Nov 7....not what I was hoping for, but I guess it's better than a 2 day referral batch. Soooo......we are down to 28 days before our LID is reached...lets all keep wishing and praying that next month will be a large batch!

Congratulations to all those that have received their referrals and to FINALLY see the beautiful face of their long awaited baby!

no news yet....

2007-06-02T19:08:00.000-03:00

sorry I've been remiss in posting lately, it's been a busy week and I had been holding out hoping referrals would come in this week so I would have some good news to share, but nope...still no news. The 'rumors' have been all over the place this month so I really don't know what to expect. Hopefully referrals will come out this week. I'll post again when it's confirmed!

Have a Great Weekend everyone! Chat with you soon,

PHEW!!!

2007-05-22T18:27:00.000-03:00

Well am I ever glad that is done! My Mom gave me her Shoppers Optimum points over the weekend to go and pick up some of the meds we need for our trip to China. I didn't think it was going to be as bad as what it actually was! There are WAY TOO MANY choices out there. Although I had a list and was confident going in what I was going to get, when I actually got in front of the shelves and had to put something in my cart I freaked out. Thanks to my sister for calming me down and helping me out on what to get. A shout out to my 'personal shopper' too ~ I had some questions I posed to the Pharmacist and I think he took pity on me, likely because at this point I had been there for about an hour and didn't make it out of the first aisle...(not joking!) I told him what I was shopping for and he said to give him my shopping list and he went about the store picking everything up I needed while I waited at the counter - he definitely went above and beyond his duty! I've got a few more things to pick up but the expiry dates weren't that far out so I'm holding off on that stuff!

Today was 'lucky mailbox day'...or so I've appropriately named. Thanks to one of my swap pals from the US for the lovely gifts. The theme was 'Ladybugs and Panda's'! here's a pic.....

And to save the best for the last - I got this cute Sonya Lee doll over the weekend from my very good friend Angela - she's very thoughtful and giving!

Ladybug sighting!

2007-05-17T17:01:00.000-03:00

My sweet Husband brought me home two Lindt Ladybug chocolates as I've been home sick the last few days with the miserable cold going around. I wonder if the Ladybug sighting means referrals will be coming soon! I hope so, the rumor going around is that a large batch will be completed this month, a couple of large batches and we could see a picture of the daughter we have been waiting for a long time! Come on Dec 5, 05 referrals!

Happy Mother's and Mother's-To-Be Day!

2007-05-13T20:10:00.000-03:00

I hope you all had a wonderful day! We spent some time with my Mom and family today for supper and are hoping to see my Husband's Mom tonight, they've been away all day~so we may end up only visiting tomorrow night since it's after 8pm now.

As promised I've finally found some time to do up a few quick photos of some of my favorite items purchased while in Maine with our friends Angela and Bryan.

The first one is a stroller I saw at JC Penney last year and didn't get it, but when I went back this year and they still had them and it was on sale, I HAD to buy it! It's hard to see in this picture but it's covered with little ladybugs.

This picture has a sweet little ladybug top (on left) with matching shorts, the hems are ruffled..so sweet, the middle outfit is another pair of shorts with a sweet floral halter and the last picture is a little panda bear sweater and jeans with a ribbon down the sides.

When Angela and I saw the 'everyone loves a brown eyed girl' T-shirt at Target we HAD to have them for our girls. I also got a 'my dad rules' onesie in camo....my Husband is into Hunting and fishing so Madi can wear this when she is out with her Daddy having bonding time....no NOT hunting!, another onesie that says I 'heart' Daddy, and my absolute favorite purchase, a pair of pink 'chucks'. When I hit my teen years I had just about every color you can imagine in chuck taylor's...this is what we use to call them....not sure if they do anymore!
Well, that about wraps it up for tonight. I've got a few things left to do before the Finale of Survivor at 9pm. Have a Great Night!

Summer Fun!

2007-05-10T08:39:00.000-03:00

Ok, well, it's not really summer yet but with the weather we have been having lately it sure seems like it's summer. We topped at 30 C yesterday - I almost had to turn on my air conditioner....but didn't - I'm enjoying having my windows open and the fresh air blowing in....until we get the down wind of the farm up the road....YUCK!

I think I've caught up on my rest from this past weekend. We headed down to Maine for some R&R with some great friends, the weather was absolutley beautiful and the shopping even better. Angela and I both got lots of goodies for our girls - I'll try to post some pictures tonight. Our men didn't fair too badly either - they both came home with lots of fishing stuff.

Adoption update: it's still early in the month to get any rumors, but I'm sure they'll start trickling in over the next week or two.

Have a Great Sunny Day! It's suppose to reach 26 C today.

We're on a roll now....34 days to go!

2007-04-30T08:59:00.000-03:00

Happy Monday everyone! Ok, let's start this off by saying RQ is reporting cutoff for referrals is November 1st....YEAH!!! I was thinking it was only going to be another 1 or 2 day referral batch and we wouldn't reach the end of October, but surprise, surprise, it's been announced that many agencies have reported the cut off is Nov 1. Apparently CCAA have also posted this to their 'secret' site for the agencies, they should be posting it to their other site so we can view it soon....as soon as referrals are mailed that is..let's hope they got sent today.

I had a great weekend, I was up bright and early Saturday morning to watch my niece at gymnastics - she's doing so well and is really enjoying it, I'm very proud of her! Then I spent some time with my Mom doing some shopping - I think my Mom bought out the store! ha ha ha....she had fun and needed some new summer things so she was pleased she had so much luck....and we all know that luck has a lot to do with shopping...that's probably why I don't care for it much. Saturday night Chris and I went out with some friends from our adoption community, it was really fun, and NO....I'm not a pool shark! :o) (you had to be there). Yesterday was mine and Chris's 12th wedding anniversary, WOW, I can't believe it's been that long, time sure fly's. We went out for supper at one of our favorite restaurants to celebrate. We had a lot of fun. We're heading to the US for some 'retail therapy' this weekend with some friends, we're really looking forward to it....can you tell....3 more sleeps to go...!

Congratulations to all the families out there receiving referrals!

Today's Rumor....

2007-04-26T16:14:00.000-03:00

Well, the rumors flying about today are saying we 'may' see some referrals next week, but not to get our hopes up that it will be a good batch. Looks like we may see another small batch this month and possibly next until they are out of October, then we should be back to normal, or whatever normal is lately...so at this time I'm guesstimating we may see a referral in the September/October time frame. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE let me be wrong and we see our daughter's beautiful face a lot sooner than this.

I'm in desperate need of retail therapy!

Happy Monday!

2007-04-23T08:25:00.000-03:00

Today is suppose to be a beautiful day here today....high 25 C , we had a wonderfully busy weekend, Friday night we went out on the boat since it was a beautiful night and then we had friends come over Saturday night and tied up the weekend by going to the 'sugar woods' yesterday with my family. It was an absolutely beautiful day and we loaded up on maple candy, what more can a woman ask for !!! Hope you all have a wonderful week, and that CCAA bless us with another referral batch this week! Lets keep our fingers, toes and anything else you can cross for referrals to reach well into November!

Crappy Monday!

2007-04-09T10:40:00.000-03:00

Well, the rumor out there now is that the cut off for this month was only 2 days!!! I can't believe it. CCAA have a month to get through referrals and all they could do this month is 2 days....CCAA haven't updated their website yet, but they likely will in a couple days. So all in all, it's not a good day in the White household. We were hoping to get a good cut off to speed things up for our referral....if they continue the way they are we'll be lucky to have Madison home for Christmas of this year....Thank goodness it was Easter weekend and there is lots of chocolate in the house!

Happy Good Friday!

2007-04-06T12:27:00.000-03:00

I think we've settled on a page layout that both Chris and I like.....at least for now....who knows, when the mood strikes I may change it :o)

I'm going to get energetic and head downstairs to do some painting. Wish me luck!

Have a Great Easter Holiday!

here's our fur-baby

2007-04-02T21:06:00.000-03:00

Well, here is day two for trying to figure out the formatting stuff for our blogger. So for testing the picture upload I thought I'd share a picture of our fur-baby Ben.

Still no news regarding referrals for this month...or should I say March....let's keep our fingers crossed for referrals being received...and posted to CCAA...this week!

We are finally live

2007-04-01T21:41:00.000-03:00

Well, here's another thing I can cross off my list of 'things to do before we leave for China'. "Create website...check!".