Have wheels will travel.

Lily and Dale today at the Shady Forest in the National Park.

Noella and Lily at Beach Grove trails.

We are somewhat settled. Lily is having a smoother transition than Mom and Dad. I cannot seem to find the time to clean the house and get organized. She has gained a pound since she has been in our care. She is teething, drooling lots she has a lower tooth coming in...We make a point of going for at least one walk a day if not two walks.

She is so funny, one moment all sweet and gentle the next moment not so delicate. The cat pretty much ignores her, the dog gives her a wide berth. We are still working on getting her to gently pet Chipper. He is enjoying the way she throws food on the floor occasionally. Take care, N

Home - safe and sound

Thank you for the warm welcome. Lily is doing fine. Dale and I and Chipper are going to take awhile to get into a routine. Hopefully we can all reset the internal clocks sometime soon. Dale was so sick on the flight from Toronto to home, I felt bad for him. He was able to eat a bit today.

Goodbye to Beijing

This pic is from last Sunday, after her first bath with us, still very scared. She is definitely not so timid or scared these days.

Above is our Gotcha moment. I tried not to cry...

We are packing up and heading to the airport shortly. The missing documents finally arrived around 1pm yesterday afternoon just before we were heading out for a shopping trip. Needless to say I was in a much better mood and had tons of fun shopping/bartering at the Pearl Market. Got some squeaky shoes for Lily and a few other keepsakes.

Lily is having a nap at the moment and I was able to switch seats online so now we are all sitting together on the flight from Beijing in Toronto. We are overnighting in Toronto and will be home around 12:30(noonish) on Friday!

I missed saying goodbye to CAM this morning, Lily fell asleep and I was waiting to Dale to return from grocery shopping - sorry CAM. I cannot tell you how grateful we are for your assistance and support during this trip.

We enjoyed China more than we anticipated. It is bittersweet knowing we are taking Lily from her birth country but she has such wonderful friends and family waiting to meet and welcome her to Canada. We hope to be able to take her back for a visit when she is older. Thanks for following along and all your encouraging comments. Love, Noella, Dale and Lily.

Photo shoot with CAM

These photos are so beautiful, I will let them speak for themselves. CAM has a natural talent for photography, she did not use any special lighting, they were taken using her duvet and simply in her hotel room - amazing. Lily had fun.

More random pics

Some random pics. This is the night we were locked in the hotel, while the military practiced, we were in awe by the number of military vehicles and military personnel.

Lily watching the parade practice from CAM's room.

Chowing down on her snackies, we have to fatten up this gal.

The Great Wall

An amazing view from the Great Wall.

Dale had a heavy load to carry.

Dale, Lily and CAM climbing The Great Wall of China.

Travelling Homer enjoying a mini-can of Chinese beer.

Lily sleeping, she looks so peaceful.

OK, seriously why are we up so early every morning. Lily never wants to get up as early as we have had to this past week...

Today we toured a Jade factory and climbed the Great Wall. We did not go very far on the wall the steps are very uneven and steep. It really was amazing, had spectacular views, I really could not believe I was at the Great Wall. Lily had a pretty good day. I cannot believe how soft her hair is now after only a week. It was very coarse when we first met.

Tonight the group went to a restaurant near the hotel for Peking Duck. It was delicious, I passed on on the duck but everything else was great. Actually Lily was sleeping when we were scheduled to meet in the lobby so Dale and Lily stayed behind, I think Dale was relieved not to have to go, probably afraid he would eat some kind of meat organ by mistake. Ha!

So we still have not received the original "Notice of Coming" can you believe it? Apparently it was only received at the hotel in Nanchang on Monday, so they have sent it to us here in Beijing, we should have it tomorrow. Please keep all your fingers and toes crossed it arrives ASAP and our departure is not delayed. N

Below is part of a walking tour of the older area of Beijing.



Lots of little shops like the below to buy trinkets.

This is the procession of rickshaws of folks from our travel group as we made our way through the Hou Tong.

CAM's camera battery died so she had to use our camera, you can see the difference in the quality of the photos. Her shots are normally so clear and professional looking...

Lily had an afternoon snooze in the baby carrier. Nothing can make that little Chinese swirl lay flat, no amount of washing or brushing - Ha!

Saturday in Beijing

Today at Tienamen Square.

This is our hotel in Beijing.

Below is the early morning departure from home last Friday.

We made it to Beijing late last night. This hotel is not as baby friendly as the one in Nanchang but has comfy beds and a great breakfast buffet. We have quickly learned that the days of wearing clean clothing and eat a full meal are over for a while - Ha!

Well Lily is like a different child today, no crying everytime she gets a diaper change, is eating a good variety of foods and does smile and giggle at Silly Baba alot. She is seriously cute. We are working on getting her to spend more one on one time with me because she is so attached to Dale. Her fine motor skills are great, her gross motor skills(walking) are going to need some work. She spends alot of her day trying to feed her snacks to Dale or I, OMG it is just adorable.

Today we went to Tienamen Square and the Forbidden Palace and did a Hou Tong tour, it was a long day for the babies. The Hou Tong tour is on bicycle rickshaws, poor guy that had to take Dale and I and Lily, he worked for his tip.

Tomorrow we are going shopping in the morning and doing paperwork in the afternoon. The guide does not want us out and about Beijing tomorrow afternoon because at 5pm they are practicing for their 60th National Day celebration in the street in front of the hotel. So if you are not safely in the hotel you are out of luck till the next morning. Seriously, kindof scary. When we checked in to the hotel last night in the lobby all our bags had to go through a security scan like at airports and we had to walk through a metal dector. You cannot have your windows open tomorrow evening either.

Anyways, I will post a few pictures. Looking forward to return to the clean fresh air of home!

Today at the Ancient Village.

Lily showing her 4 teeth.

Yesterday at the TengWang Pavillon.

Thursday, September 3rd

We are suppose to depart Nanchang tomorrow at 5:45pm to return to Beijing. Our Notice of Comings have still not arrived, seriously enough stress already please. I just checked online with Purolator and it left the Hong Kong depot a few hours ago. I still cannot get a straight answer out of anyone if we will be able to depart with the rest of the group or not, seriously big freakin' sigh. I am praying our guide can work some kind of magic with all this red tape nonsense.

Today we travelled about 2 hours into the countryside to tour an ancient village. Boy it was hot there, everyone had sweat filled shirts our backs were drenched, the locals had on jackets some where even wearing polar fleece, you have to love that. Lots of wonderful sights and sounds, not sure I can say the smells were wonderful. It was beautiful, what you think China would look like, moutains off in the distance and surprisingly lush and green. Lily handled it like a trooper, barely broke out into a sweat. I had purchased a sun umbrella at Wal-Mart the other day, Dale was carrying Lily in the baby carrier and they used the umbrella today, too funny.

Lily and I had a few stressful moments today, she is so attached to her Baba already that when he stayed at the buffet to finish his breakfast and I brought her up to the room to get ready for the tour she had a major meltdown which lead me to have one also then she had another one late this afternoon when Dale and CAM went to a grocery store about 5 minutes away. We were down to 3 diapers. She is amazingly good at letting us know what she wants and does not want.

Her first English word that she fully understands is water. We were asked twice today if she was a boy or girl, of course I was not impressed either time - Ha! I will post more photos shortly. N

Day 5

This morning we went to TangWeng Pavillon, just a short walk from the hotel, all was good did not have to cross a street and deal with the crazy traffic. The Pavillon is so beautiful and we got a couple of great family shots. I will post those once CAM gets back from her afternoon tour, they are on her laptop. Lily is having a nap right now and Dale is gone to find us some lunch.


As each hour goes by Lily is becoming more comfortable, showing us her cute little personality and eating more. She is so curious about everything. She is showing a strong preference for her Daddy. That is OK, all will come along in good time. I can feed her and change her diapers but when she gets a little sad she wants Baba to comfort her, it really is sweet to see them together.

I have to say all those years of reading adoptions blog certainly paid off and of course talking to other parents of international adopted children. The stacking cups are a huge hit, Cheerios, ziploc bags and tons of little washcloths have been such a help.

Thank goodness, CAM is here she has been such a help. Yesterday I ordered Lily the most amazing white silk dress to wear as a baptism dress. We are loving Nanchang. The hotel staff are so friendly and helpful and the food is delicious. Now if only Dale and I could get more than 3 or 4 hours sleep at night, all would be good. Take care, N

She only has eyes for Daddy.

Various pics - a wedding at our hotel of the traffic in Nanchang

This is our lovely guide Lily.

Yesterday afternoon Lily took CAM and I for a foot massage. It was incredibly cheap, very entertaining. Dale and Lily were having a nap at that time.

Every day sight here in Nanchang.

This is the view from our hotel room. It is working man's city, the real China.

This hotel hosts alot of weddings, aren't they just an adorable couple, CAM asked if she could get her photo taken with the bride and groom. Too funny.

Sleeping angel