Kanya's Birthday

Yesterday was Kanya's birthday. It was hard not to celebrate it with her. We did have a little party with Aunt Courtney, Uncle Ryan and cousins Kian and Niamh. We were surprised to come home to a very sweet email from the foster mother and some great pictures. Good news she mentioned Kanya LOVES shoes. She also included a great picture of her and Kanya. Here are some pictures of us celebrating followed by some new pictures of Kanya.

We have new pictures...YAY

Our adoption agency was able to send us new pictures of Kanya. We are super excited. The pics are from all different stages of her life, have a look

Kanya's Room

During the last couple weeks we have painted and put the finishing touches on Kanya's room. We are really excited about how it all turned out. Here are some pics

Thanks Everyone for a Great Shower

Two weeks ago my family had a shower to celebrate Kanya. We still have no word when we will be able to go to Thailand, but it was fun to have a shower. It really made everything feel real. I really want to thank my aunts and my mom for making a unique adoption shower that included a quizz on Thailand and a Thai fruit dish. I also want to thank everyone who attended for making it a special day.
Here are some pictures from the day

Thai Fruit dish

The gift table-I love all the princess bags

Gracie helping me with the gift opening

Makenna showing everyone the picture frame she made

Me holding up a picture my mom made.

That picture my mom made has Kanya in the background with an adoption poem over top. I thought I would share the poem:

The Gift of Life
We didn't give you the gift of life,But in our hearts we know.The love we feel is deep and real,As if it had been so.
For us to have each otherIs like a dream come true!No, we didn't give you The gift of life,Life gave us the gift of you.

Kanya's room

We bought some bedding for Kanya this week. We love it. It's everything we were looking for. Purple (to match the tinkerbell pillow) femine, and not too over the top. It's cool to walk by her room now. It looks like a little girls room. Sometimes I just go in and sit. Crazy eh.

New Picture

We have a new picture!!! She looks so cute. So big. So happy. It reminds me how hard it will be for her to leave her foster family.

She will be two in September. I am just trying to remember what my nieces and nephews were like at the age. I wonder what words she knows, what she likes to do.

Sorry It's been so long

I apologize for the delay in a new posting.
Things are good here. We have received our "Order of No Objection" from the Canadian Gov't. From what we understand this is the last thing we were waiting for here in Canada. Now we just wait, and wait.
We now have the email address for Kanya's foster mom in Thailand. We have exchanged introductory emails. I have so much I want to ask her. I need to slow down and remember we have months to get to know her, so I don't have to rush.
I have a few new outfits I thought I would post. Also Aunt Jill bought us a baby scrapbook. It is so cute. It is hard to find baby books that will work with adoption but this one is perfect. It has one page entitled when we were waiting for you which is perfect. We can put the pictures and emails we have now.

Check out the New items purchased at Disney

The clock says "click your heals and you'll be carried far away. " I love the Wizard of Oz!!

The pillow says "Dream" at the top. I am thinking a nice lilac would be a good colour to paint her room. What does everyone think? Any good ideas for a little girls room?

Just so everyone knows we also bought a carseat so I have purchased some practical items.

Gift for Ganya

Hello everyone,

Well now that I know I have having a girl I couldn't resist a little shopping. I didn't realize how excited I would be. I went to the mall by myself and as I looked around the stores for girls clothes I just wanted to call everyone and say "Guess what I'm doing".

The first thing I bought was a little purse. Then I got her an outfit to match the purse. I know it's crazy I don't have a car seat and tons of other stuff I am sure I need, but at least my little girl will have a purse. Here's a picture of what I bought

A little History

Craig and I began our adoption journey a few years ago. We heard about Children’s Bridge through a friend of my moms. We checked their website www.childrensbridge.com and went to an information session. We immediately knew we wanted to adopt from Thailand. I can’t even explain why we felt so strongly that this was the right thing for us, it’s just a feeling I guess.

We got a social worker and began the home study process. Our plans were abruptly put on hold however when the Tsunami hit. Thailand closed their adoption program completely as all their resources understandably had to be devoted to the recovery. We waited and luckily within a few months the program reopened. We quickly finished all the work of putting a dossier together. We had great help and support from our family, friends, Social worker and Children’s Bridge. Soon everything was ready to send.

Then we waited. I will admit the long wait for a referral was starting to take it’s toll. Unfortunately adopting internationally can be a long process. Then a couple weeks ago I was in Montreal for a couple days for work. I flew home and was grumpy and exhausted. Craig picked me up from the airport and I was ready for bed. There was a message on the answering machine from the adoption agency to check our email. There it was a referral for a little girl… I have a daughter. Ganya is her name. There was some medical and social history and pictures.

You have to send a formal acceptance of the offer of a Child to Bangkok which we did right away. Once that is processed we will be able to receive updates from her foster family. I can’t wait.

PS Here is a website I have been using to try to help with my Thai http://www.learningthai.com/greetings.html

First Blog

Hello Everyone
I thought it might be fun to start a blog to keep family and friends up to date on our journey to adopt from Thailand.
Recently we received a referal for a little girl Ganya. She was born September 14, 2005 and is currently in foster care. We will still have to wait about 8 months before we can go to Thailand to bring her home, but knowing that there is a little girl out there who is meant to be our daughter brings my husband and I so much joy.
I don't have a lot of time today to post more details but here are the pictures we have