Live it!

Feb 20th is our Referral-versary

Yes, yesterday marked a big day for us. On February 20th, 2009... after what felt like an eternity of waiting, we recieved our referral from Vietnam. I will never forget the phone ringing (the house was silent... the kids were already gone for the day) and answering it to hear Dorinda, the Director of our agency on the other line. I had never spoken to her before, always her assistant or other administrative help in the office - so I knew immediately that she was calling with the news we'd been waiting for.

She told me a lot of things in a short period of time and it was all going by in a blur. Luckily I had somehow thought to grab a pencil and paper and was quickly writing down information as it was given to me:

Name - Ngo Thi Bao Thy

Age - 2 months old

Vung Tau, in the south.

Height, Weight, and all that jazz. Dorinda told me how beautiful our baby girl was and that she was going to email me her photos right away. I was so excited and had to contact Shaune immediately since I had promised him that we would see her for the first time together. He rushed home and then we opened Dorinda's email to find SEVERAL photos of her, mostly from her initial medical at 3wks old but then also 2 photos of her at 2 months old... taken 2 days prior to this phone call.

To say we were smitten is an understatement. It was most certainly and absolutely love at first sight. Immediately I was head over heels and worrying about her and how quickly I could get to Vietnam to hold her in my arms.

The rest of the day is a blur, with us calling family and telling the kids when they got home. I'll never forget Keaton seeing her photo for the first time and saying (so sweetly and excitedly)... "that's our baby?"

It was a very happy day in our house and one I will never forget. It is hard to believe a year has gone past since then... and now we don't have to know Meg through pictures - she is in our house and in our hearts forever.

Happy Referral-versary day to you Meg Linh Bao Thy Lightfoot. We love you so.

Then:

 

Now:

Chuc Mung Nam Moi (a couple days late)

This past weekend was busy. We celebrated Valentine's day on Sunday and it was also the lunar new year for vietnam...we've entered the year of the TIGER!

We didn't really celebrate Valentine's day... the romance is gone - lol! Actually it is just not a holiday I hold much stock in - love should be celebrated often and not because a holiday tells you to. I guess that means Shaune needs to shower me with his love every other day of the year. Sounds good to me.

On Valentine's day we had my parents and brother up to do some belated birthday celebrations. My birthday was Feb 4th, Shaune's was Jan 13th, my brothers was Jan 7th, and my father's was Jan. 24th. Whew... that is a lot of birthdays and because of Keaton's hockey season - this was the first we could all gather together on a weekend. My mom was fabulous and made each of us something 'special' that we enjoy - she is an amazing cook! She made me: pumpkin & cream cheese roll. She made my dad: cherry chip cake. She made my brother: raspberry danish rolls. She made Shaune his favourite: pecan pie. Shaune bbq'd us steaks, I made bacon water chesnuts, shrimp royale, baked potatoes and all the fixin's. It was such a feast and it is a good thing we don't eat like that all the time!

We will celebrate Tet (Vietnam New Year) in Toronto on the 27th of February. We've been planning it for a while and are really looking forward to our whole family heading up for the festivities. We will meet up with the other families we travelled with to Vietnam - it will be wonderful and something I hope we'll do yearly as the girls all grow up together.

On Family day we met up with friends for a delicious breakfast at the 10 acre - there were at least 20 of us there, I didn't count but we took up 4 long tables. The kids had a blast sitting together and I was reminded once again of how lucky I am to have made such lifelong friends... most I've known for over 30 yrs. I know our children will look back at these times we get together & know that friendship is such an important part of life.

I hi-jacked these photos from my friend Kerri who always (thankfully) carries her trusty camera with her:

After breakfast Meg went for a visit with her Nana Lightfoot while we took Keaton and Chloe to see Avatar. It was a really great movie - I am so glad the kids talked me into sitting through a 3 hr movie. It was super busy because it was Family Day so we were actually sitting in the theatre for 4 hours total because we had to get tickets and a seat 1 hour prior to the start of the movie. Craziness... glad it was worth it in end.

She walks

...and just like that Meg is off to the races. She started taking a step here and there a couple weeks back but was so cautious that I wasn't sure when she'd getting around to actually putting in a good effort.

Well, tonight she shocked us all by standing up and taking step after step after step without falling. 1.2.3.4.5.clap.6.7.8.9.10.clap... etc

Yes, every 5th step (or so) she'd stop and clap for herself... she knew this was a big deal for us and could see how proud we were for her as I ran for my camera and Daddy ran for the video camera.

Meg, you continue to amaze us lil' one. You may have had a rocky start with your health and growth but you just keep proving to us that you can do anything you put your mind to. Mommy and Daddy (and Keaton and Chloe too!) think you are truly amazing!

Sisters

...in a tub. Meg is finally out of her 'baby tub' and loves having so much room in our soaker to splish and splash. Today Chloe decided to take a bath with her sister and I can't decide which one had a better time. The laughter and silliness coming from both of them warmed my heart. Now that Meg is getting older and more active, I can totally see how she and Chloe are going to be such great friends. Chloe delights in everything funny Meg does and Meg loves to hear Chloe's infectious laughter.

Meg had a blast throwing her wet washcloth at her sister, over and over and over again. I can see that bath time is going to be a lot more fun for them both.

 

 

 

 

 

 
  
 
  

 

Winter blahs & some photos

Is anyone else as tired of the winter as me this year? Usually I embrace it but I have to admit that this year I am counting down the days til' Spring time. Meg has still not even been out in the snow to play - how pathetic is that? Truthfully, it hasn't been 'white, fluffy, soft snowing' in forever... it is just hard, crusty, crunchy snow and a lot of cold. I've promised myself that next time we have a beautiful sprinkling of snow falling down, that I will bundle Meg up and let her sit in the snow.

The truth is we've been so busy with hockey. Keaton's team did great this year and improved so much as the season passed by. They went from winning only a handful of games to winning most all of them at the end. Our first round of playoffs, we easily won against Loyalist. 2nd round we knew would be really hard because it was against Gananoque and they had the one team we'd not beaten all regular season. The boys did so good and shocked the Gananoque team I think. They admitted to our coaches that they expected to sweep us in the first 3 games... but instead our boys fought hard and it came down to the last game of the round to determine who would move on. Sadly, the boys lost the final game 3-1 but we are so proud of them. They just did amazing and I really loved watching their games.

This photo is of Keaton all dressed up in shirt and tie for his hockey game. In Rep hockey they have a strict dress code and Keaton was really good about having to get all dressed up for each game. The biggest challenge for me was making sure his lucky socks and underwear were clean for each game... sometimes 3 games a week. Isn't he just an adorable kid. I love this boy!

 

Chloe has managed to escape my camera but I'll be getting some of her soon - perhaps on Valentine's day. She is really enjoying school and has a fabulous teacher. She is reading quite well now and is very proud of herself... and so are we! Last night she read me 2 books from start to finish and only had trouble with a few harder words. She is movie obsessed and her current favourite is "Aliens in the Attic" and "Titannic". lol.

Meg is keeping me hopping. I haven't had my camera out since Christmas time - is that not just awful?! I have missed a few things as you can see from her photos... she has sprouted 2 bottom teeth. She got her first tooth on Christmas Eve and the other one followed about 3 wks later. She had a hard time with teething and I'm glad we are through with it for a little bit... until the next ones are coming. Meg is just something else. She just cracks us up at home and is becoming a little parrot all of a sudden. Any words we say - she tries to repeat them. Hot. Down. Up. Don't. Hi. Yum.  It is quite funny. She loves to blow dramatic kisses now and likes to 'roll it and poke it' in Patty Cakes. She is finally graduating from her little baby tub and sits in shallow water in the tub now and splashes all over. Bath time is fun!

Here are a few photos of Miss Meg at 13 months old. She is really growing and moving around... I think she'll be walking soon. At her last doctor's visit she weighed 18 lbs 4 oz and has hit all the milestones we thought maybe would be delayed a bit due to her long hospital stay, etc. She is amazing!

Fresh out of the tub:

   

Families with children from Vung Tau 2 orphanage

Just putting the word out there...

A new private yahoo group has been started for any families who have adopted a child from Vung Tau 2 orphanage.

If you'd like to join, here is the link to go and sign up for membership to the group:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FCVT2/