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The picture with them in their pyjamas is the first morning Alexandre and Olivier met their new sister. They sat in her room and played with her.

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We're Home!

We've been home since last Thursday night. The flight went well. She slept about 8 hours and the rest of the time she played. She only cried once for about 20 minutes so overall she did great! It feels great to be back and to get back into a routine. Karine has been doing great! She is adjusting so well you would think she's been here for much longer. She's understanding a lot more when we speak to her. She got over the jet lag a lot quicker than Martin and I! She doesn't want to take a nap in the afternoon but she's doing well without it. Around 6:00pm, she starts to fuss a little so we know she's getting tired. She sleeps really well at night. She's sleeping about 12 hours straight each night. The boys are doing well with her. Alexandre is showing a little jealousy but we knew it would take a little longer for him to adjust. For the long weekend, there was a Midway Fair so we went for a little while. We then went over to my sister's for some fun in the kid's pool. She really enjoyed the water!

May 18th and 19th‏

On Tuesday, we went to the silk factory. I bought 2 silk dresses for Karine. We then went shopping at the pearl market. They sell pretty much everything. It was really busy and it's not very relaxing to shop as the vendors are always in your face. You can bargain for a price but after a while, it gets really exhausting. After shopping, we came back to the hotel for a little rest before heading back out for the acrobatic show. It was a very long day. Karine did great considering we started our day at 9:00am and got back to the hotel at 9:30pm. She LOVED the acrobatic show! Her eyes were fixed on the stage the whole entire show. She barely blinked.
Today we went to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. I have never seen such a big crowd! It was really beautiful. Karine was not as happy as yesterday. She fussed quite a bit today but I know she's probably tired from yesterday. Tonight, they're having a going away party for all the families. We'll be receiving our children's paperwork tonight as well. We need them for tomorrow. Our flight is leaving at 6:00pm on Thursday. If everything goes well at immigration in Toronto, we should be arriving in Ottawa at 10:00pm. All the other families are soooo ready to come home! I just pray that she'll sleep on the flight. I'll post one more time when we get home.

May 17th - Summer Palace‏

Today we went to the Summer Palace. It was beautiful but so busy with people. Our bus was still parking and we were already swarmed by local vendors. We were told by our guide not to by from them as other vendors would surround us and they sometimes gave fake money for change or different currency. Karine had another great day. Each day we're learning more and more about her personality. One thing we learned quickly is that she likes to act silly. She'll fit right in with her younger brother! She loves to laugh and make you laugh. We have to watch her because she thinks that running away from us and us chasing her is hilarious. We got her 2 pairs of shoes today. At least now we have shoes that fit her better as she was loosing the pair I had brought from home. Tonight for dinner was to each is own so Martin and I decided to go to the same chinese place we had gone with the group a few days earlier. We ask the guide to write down in chinese some of the food we liked. The food was great and really inexpensive. We had 4 different dish plus beer for about $18. Tomorrow is a shopping day. They're taking us to the silk factory, pearl market and indoor market. Hopefully I'll be able to find some good buys. Thank you everyone for your comments! They mean a lot to us. I'm sorry that I can't respond to them as I'm sending my posts and pictures by email to my sister.

May 16th - Great Wall‏

We went to the Great Wall today. It was cloudy so we didn't have the best view on the wall. We decided to go on the more challenging side as there were less people on that side but oh boy was it ever steep! Karine decided she wanted to walk too! We let her walk a bit but when it got too steep, Martin carried her. On the way to the Great Wall, we stopped at the jade factory. We got to see more of Karine's personnality. She was running around laughing. One of the employees ask her where was her mama and baba(daddy) and she pointed to us! Well, that made my day!

May 15th

This morning we had some paperwork to fill out for immigration. This afternoon we went to the Beijing Zoo. The crowds were unbelievable!! The crowds were more of a zoo than the animals. She is doing well. This morning, was the first time that she didn't cry for breakfast. She did great at the zoo. She LOVES the animals! For dinner we'll be going to a chinese restaurant with other families. Tomorrow we're going to the Great Wall. We can tell that she is more comfortable with us now. She laughs and wants to play. She is now responding to her name. Each day is getting better.

May 14th

Martin went to visit at Starfish. For those who don't know, Starfish Foster Home is where Karine had been living since she was 11 months old. Amanda and the nannies do amazing work with these children. He wasn't able to stay very long as he had to be back by noon so we could check out of the hotel. He was able to meet her nanny. The children came up running to Martin. We have a lot of information on her health and progress and information on her surgeries which will be so beneficial for when we go see the specialist back home.

In the afternoon, we went to visit the Pagoda which is a Buddhist temple. The grounds were beautiful. Our guide, Penny, explained its history. We then went to a Buddhist restaurant which was really good. We followed with a visit to a tea ceremony. That was also a nice experience. After this, we went to an art museum/gallery. We ended up by buying a beautiful piece by a very well known chinese artist. Along our trip we bought a few gifts that we want to give her when she is older. We then went to the get her passport as it was ready. The guide and driver drove us to airport. We only got back to our hotel in Beijing past midnight. We were exhausted!

(There is a picture of Martin with Karine's favourite nanny and a couple of others from Starfish Foster Home.)

May 13th - Terracotta Soldiers‏

We went out to the terracotta soldiers museum today. It was really impressive. Karine was fine during our outing. She LOVES to sit in her stroller. Even in the hotel room she wants to sit in it. Since we've had her, she hasn't really walked. She either wants to be picked up or sit in her stroller. She prefers the stroller. I would like for her to walk more but I'm not going to push her right now. She hates going into a restaurant. When we go to the breakfast buffet, we have to almost swallow our food whole. She's still not eating a lot. She loves the cheerios and loves fruits. We went to a grocery store this afternoon and bought her some bananas. Tomorrow morning, we have a free morning so I think we're going to go for a walk on top of the old city. It is so impressive and especially and night as it is all lit up. In the afternoon, we have a plan tour of Xi'an City. Our plane leaves for Beijing tomorrow night around 8:00.

May 12th - A Quiet Day‏

Today was a free day. Our guide was away doing some paperwork for us. We stayed mostly at the hotel and also ventured out for a little while. Karine did better today. She still cried but not as much as the day before. She is still very serious, no smiles. She loves going for walks in her stroller. She really doesn't like staying in the hotel room. We've tried to play with her. She really liked the colouring book and crayons. It's difficult to distract her. She's not showing any interest in the toys at this time. I'm sure that will change once we get home. This morning we were able to skype with the boys. It was so wonderful to see them!! We miss them a lot and will be glad to go home.

Pictures from May 11th‏

The first pictures are of us at the Civils Affair Office signing the paperwork making Karine our daughter!
In the evening we went to a dinner performance of the Tang Dynasty. We first had dinner which was a dumpling dinner where we had 16 different dumplings. I was quite full after this meal! We then went downstairs for the performance which was fantastic. Our guide, Penny, stayed with us which was great as she entertain Karine. It was actually the first time Karine ate since we've had her. We know it's a language barrier because Penny was speaking to her in mandarin and Karine was responding so well to her. She was fantastic all night. I have to say that we have a fantastic guide! She's helped us a lot and has given us good advice.

May 10th and 11th- We Have Karine!‏

We arrived in Xi'an around 10:00 and met by our guide Penny. She told us that we would be getting Karine at 4:00 at the Civil's Affair Office. It gave us time to get ready. I tried to take a nap but couldn't fall to sleep. I hadn't slept one minute the night before. We were the first one to arrive at the civil's office. About 10 minutes later Amanda walked in with Karine in her arms. She seemed fine but as soon as we sat down, she began to cry. There was no consoling her. She was very upset. We left in the van with the guide. She calmed down and would cry a little at times. As soon we walked into the hotel room, she began to cry again. She was holding on tight to me. Martin was able to take her in his arms as well. After about 2 hours, she calmed down. We had brought some toys. She didn't want to play with them but would point to which stacking cup she wanted to stack. Our guide went out to buy us a stroller and sippy cup. She didn't want anything to do with her bottle. During this time, Martin took her for walks in the hallway. He had to carry her as she doesn't want to walk on her own. Which I know is normal at this stage. We all went to bed by 8:30. She slept until 6:15am and didn't wake up once. I got about 5 hours of sleep which felt wonderful!
Today we went back to the civil affair's office to do some paperwork. As soon as we walked in, she looked around and I knew she realized that it was the same place where she had been handed over, she began to cry. She cried on and off while we were there. We left there to go for her passport picture. That was quite the challenge to take a decent picture of a crying baby. When we were done, we went for lunch. She doesn't want to eat or drink much. It worries me as it's hot and I'm afraid she might get dehydrated. She at least took the cheerios today. The miracle of cheerios! :-) We're going for a dinner performance this evening. I'm a bit worried how that is going to go as the morning she didn't want to sit for breakfast. We'll bring the stroller with us as she really likes to sit in it while eating. Tomorrow is a free day so we're still not sure what we're going to do. On Thursday we're going to visit the Terrecota soldiers. We're so excited that we'll get the chance to visit this museum! It's about an hour drive but she should be ok. She loves riding in the car. She's very curious. When we went out for lunch, we got quite a few stares. They looked puzzled seeing these white people with a chinese baby. Our agency gave us a card saying "This is our adopted daughter". One lady stopped and starting waving at her. We showed her the card and she did a thumbs up while saying something in chinese. As it makes me sad to leave her province, we'll be very happy to get back to Beijing and find all the families again. We're finding this time difficult as we're trying to get to know each other and no one to talk to as we're the only family in Xi'an. We're trying to stay positive and know that each day will get better and better.
Please keep us in your prayers so that we can get through this difficult transition.

The pictures are from the day we got Karine.