16 days

Wow! I cannot believe that we will be boarding the plane to China in 16 days. The time is flying now, so much to do still. This is where a little panic starts to set in.
It's going to be so difficult to leave Avery for 2 weeks. I think the longest we've ever been apart is 2 nights. However, I know that she just would not adjust well in China so this is the best decision. Yet, knowing that doesn't make it any easier.
I also know that Avery is going to have a great time with both sets of grandparents, she may be slightly spoiled by the time we get home!
Blair and I are very lucky to have parents who are looking forward to, and are able to care for our daughter while we are away! We can't thank them enough.

It's too late, Avery is just like her Dad!

Avery and Blair are off to the big Science Fiction convention in Toronto today. Despite all my efforts, Avery is just like her dad. The first thing Avery asked me this morning was "Is it tomorrow"? "Yipee, we're going to the Sci-Fi to see robots today". She loves Sci-Fi and she is only 3 1/2.
Really, it's the robots (as she calls them) and the costumes that she loves. Nothing scares her, she loves the storm troopers, daleks, monsters, doesn't matter. The only thing that scares my girl are dolls. She screams anytime she sees a doll. Guess that Mulan barbie I bought 4 years ago (and is collecting dust in the closet) will be for Brennyn!
I really don't think she is into Star Trek yet, but I could be sadly mistaken.
She does love to watch Dr. Who, but even I love Dr. Who!
I think Avery's Dad (Blair) is loving this! Don't tell them, but I think it is really cute that she loves what her Daddy loves.

EDIT: A great time was had by all! The picture proof has been added.

Xi'an

The pink castle! Brennyn is being cared for at the Xi'an CWI in Shaanxi province. The yahoo group is very active (compared to the yahoo group for Avery's SWI) and I have been able to "chat" with some other parents. When we first received An Yi Rui's referral, I immediately joined the yahoo group. One of the first people to respond to my post was a volunteer who worked on the floor where An Yi Rui was living. This floor was funded by a charity group. This woman was able to tell me so much about An Yi Rui, and answered so many of my questions. It was such a relief to talk to someone who had the opportunity to hold and care for this little girl.
Unfortunately, the funding was cut and the children had to be moved to the other floors of the CWI. I am sure that An Yi Rui is still receiving great care, it was just that there were less children on that floor and many more volunteers to give them one on one time.
I am really hoping that we will have the opportunity to visit the CWI and speak with some of the nannies and volunteers who cared for our daughter!

3 weeks tomorrow

The flight info is in my hands. I think the timing may be better this time around. 3 years ago, we left Toronto in the morning and arrived in Beijing around lunchtime (the next day of course). It was so hard to stay awake, I can admit that I didn't make it. I suffered from Jet lag for 4 days.
This time we are flying out in the afternoon and we arrive in Beijing around dinner time. I won't have to struggle to stay awake as long.
This time I am going to sleep on the plane. I'll just keep telling myself that. Last time I read book 2 of the Twilight series and finished it before we landed, no sleep for me. I was a little excited and nervous as well (first time mom). Although, I am finding myself just as nervous this time (and it goes without saying that I am excited).
It's a whole different adventure this time around, I just hope I am prepared! I just cannot wait to hold my little girl.

3 years

3 years ago today we received the much anticipated, wonderful phone call telling us we were parents. An hour or two later, we were gazing at a picture of a beautiful, pudgy, bald little baby girl. She had a sparkle in her little eyes that has grown brighter in the last 3 years!
Hard to believe that little baby is now going to be a big sister.

The room, complete

Finally, Brennyn's room is finished! Took a few hours to get all the furniture assembled. Yes, we forgot how to put the crib back together again, even though it was only 1 year ago that we took it down. I don't think the crib will be used for long, since Brennyn is now 26 months old.

I just discovered that a little monkey has "borrowed" my camera in the last day or two. Had to delete 15 pictures of Avery's foot and the dog's tail.

EDITED TO ADD: Realized that Avery has gum sticking out of her mouth in that picture. We are nothing if not classy around these parts.

Pictures again.

Just wanted to put Brennyn's picture at the top again. Only 26 more days to travel!
I am so thankful that we have been given updated pictures of Brennyn from other parents who have traveled before us to Xi'an. The original referral pictures we received in Feb. are over a year old now. She has changed so much, from a baby to a little girl!

Mini vacation

We are home from our last visit to the beach for the season. Avery had a great time building sand castles, jumping in the waves and painting rocks with her daddy.

28 days until we leave, the time is flying now! Brennyn's room is finally complete. We decided to set up the bed and the crib since we aren't sure what she is sleeping in right now. Wow, in just over 30 days we will finally meet our little girl. Seems surreal right now. Time to get those suitcases packed and lists finished.

Pics of the room to come soon!

Room in progress

Brennyn's room is almost complete. My husband wanted to do it all by himself, no help from me. It only took him 3 weeks to finish. Let me explain: my husband is a bit of a star trek fan. I am not, just saying.
My husband started collecting star trek figures 15 years ago (before I met him) and has around 350 (many of which are signed by the actors). The computer room (now Brennyn's room) was his room. We called it "the star trek room".
In the process of dismantling the room, my dh had to catalogue, tag and bubble wrap every single figure. I did a little happy dance when the last figure hit the bin.
Blair may have cried a little.

We just have to add the furniture and the room is complete. I love the colour we picked, so bright and cheery. Blair, you did a great job!!

EDIT: I posted the pics in the wrong order, but you get the idea.

35 days

Only 35 days until we leave! We've had so much time to get organized, but did we? NOPE. Now the rush is on. I'm trying to find money belts, converters, etc. all from our last trip. Our house isn't that big, but do you think I can find these items?

I was able to speak to a fellow adoptive mom whose son is from Xi'an. She was able to spend a minutes with Brennyn when she visited the orphanage on her trip to meet her son. She is also the source of most of my photos of Brennyn, a priceless gift to a waiting parent!
Being able to chat to someone who has seen your child helps set your mind at ease. To know the conditions of the CWI and see pictures of the toy room, nannies, and the children is reassuring.

All I can say is thank-you!

Tickets are booked

Just got the e-mail, tickets are booked. It's official, we are leaving September
17th. That's only 5 weeks away! 5 weeks until we finally meet our little girl! Let the countdown begin.

We have travel dates

SO excited!! Looks like we are leaving Toronto on September 17th. That is just over a month away. I totally did not ask the travel contact any of my questions either so I had to e-mail her (on my back up account) 15 minutes after I got off the phone. I know, it would have made sense to just call her back but she isn't in her office. I find e-mail works better anyway, they seem to respond quicker.

I didn't even ask what day we would be meeting Brennyn. My brain is all fuzzy because I am so excited. Although, I think they need to wait for our TA to be sure. They must be in contact with the CWI to be able to book our flights, or they are guessing??

Did I mention that I am excited!

Waiting for the phone to ring

Okay, it's now 10:55 am. No phone call yet from the travel lady. I feel like I'm stuck by the phone, again. To top it off, I've done something weird to the computer and now I can't check my e-mail. Why am I so techno challenged. Of course this happens 2 minutes after I send an e-mail to the travel coordinator asking a question. To top it off, Avery may have learned a new word and it wasn't a good one, heh heh.
Had to add a picture of Brennyn's big sister Avery.

So much to do

Let the panic begin! I started researching packing lists last night, forgetting that I have our original list on the computer. My dh reminded me of that by stating "why are you doing that, you could just print off the packing list from when we traveled to Avery". Of course, we are adopting a 2 year old this time, not an 8 month old so some revision is in order.
Honestly, it's like I've never done this before. You should have seen Blair and I filling out the paperwork for the Visa/travel forms. In our defence the forms have changed slightly. Really, who can remember from 3 years ago.

Brennyn's room is almost done. We've decided to set up the crib and the bed. I am fairly certain that I will end up sleeping in the bed anyway (at least for the first few weeks). She may want to sleep in the same room as her big sister, although Avery may not be so keen on that idea.

Travel coordinator is calling tomorrow, can't wait!

Timeline

I suppose I should blog the timeline for Brennyn's adoption. Hope I don't frighten anyone with our long wait for LOA. You know it's bad when the agency biweekly update finally has your family name and it states something about the longest wait they have seen for LOA. Yup, that's us.

LID: Oct 17th 2008
Referral: Feb 2009
LOI: March 17th 2009
LOA: August 06 2009

We should know our travel dates within the next 2 weeks.

I just want to get on that plane tomorrow and go get my daughter!!

Our travel Blog

Time to start a blog for Brennyn now that we finally have our LSC/LOA. It only took 140 days, but I digress.
All the paperwork has been sent via FedEx back to Ottawa so we should have our final dates in the next few weeks. At this point CB (the agency) has us leaving Toronto on Sept. 24th.
The pics of Brennyn (An Yi Rui) were taken when she was 11 months, 18 months and 23 months.