MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL!

Hi Everyone,

Sorry no pictures to blog this week.  We've just been too busy getting ready for the holidays and all of our company.  Pa Pa Pa arrived on Tuesday and the rest of the gang arrives on Friday.  We will have a full house and are very excited.  Lily grows more and more excited everyday.  She not quite sure what all is happening but knows Santa is coming soon.  Once she figures it all out, I'm sure there won't be any going back. 

Last Saturday marked the one year anniversary of my referral date, this being the date that I received my package with all of Lily's details.  Boy, What a difference a year makes!    I can remember how excited I was last year to just get the news and what a wonderful xmas present that was but that doesn't even compare to the present I'm getting this year of her celebrating her first Christmas and just seeing the excitement in her eyes everytime she experiences something new.  Christmas really is for kids.

We want to wish everyone a wonderful and very Merry Christmas.  I promise to post lots of pictures next time.  Enjoy your families and please be safe.

Love Lily and Maman   xxoo

Getting Ready for the Holidays!!

We definitely know who Santa is!  As soon as we see him, it's Ho!Ho!Ho!  

Last weekend, Pa Pa Pa came to visit and we spent a great weekend doing some of his shopping and we took the opportunity to go visit Santa at the mall.  Lily was very excited to see him.  She was waving and ho ho ho'ing all the way down the line as we were waiting and then it was our turn!!!  All of a sudden, she brakes went on and she refused to go near him.  I finally picked her up and we talked to him for a bit and then Maman sat down next to him with Lily on her lap for the picture.  Maman and Santa looked happy but Lily - not so much.  Now she didn't cry but she wasn't smiling.  The funniest part was that as soon as we left the area,  she was back to waving to him and being all happy.    Oh well, I hear that's a typical reaction for a 2 year old.

This weekend, Auntie Leslie came to help Maman set up her new treadmill.  It's a monster and a few times we thought it might get the best of us but being the strong women we are, we read the instructions and managed to get it up and running.  Thank goodness and thank you Aunt Leslie.  No more excuses not to exercise.

Lily's fighting another cold (life at daycare) so we spent the day at home and decorated. She wanted to look in "every" box and helped put decorations on the tree and outside.  The place looks festive and is ready for our Christmas guests.     Next weekend, we need to start baking and start our shopping.

We took a few pictures while we were waiting for Santa and at home.  Enjoy!

I think I hear Santa!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

                                                                   Holiday Spirit !

Whoo Hoo!  I like all the lights.

First Halloween!

We've been practicing "Trick or Treat" for a while now and today was the big day.  We started with our day costume as "Raggaty Ann" at the daycare and then we moved to our colorful "Witch" or "Candy corn" outfit for night.  Let us know which you preferred.  Maman thinks Lily looked cute in both.

We went down the street "trick or treating" and Lily was thrilled when she realized that there was candy in her bucket.  She was afraid of going to most of the houses with decorations, but didn't want to go home.  Once we did get home, she did have fun answering the door and seeing the other kids.  All and all I think the evening was a success, especially when I let her have a few treats once we got home.    The big test will be to see if she remembers the treats tomorrow and asks for them again.Hope you had lots of fun today.  We sure did.

Love Maman and Lily

                                                                Mom dressed me this way!

                                                             Do you like my freckles!!

I'm ready to try this "Trick or Treating" stuff!

                                                          Enjoying the fruits of my labour.

                             All gone!!  Happy Halloween!!

Lily's 2!!!!

It's been a party weekend.  It started off with a birthday celebration on Friday night.  Iris and her parents came for dinner and we had a lovely time but Maman made one rookie mistake and planned an evening for a two year old who usually goes to bed at 7:00 pm.  so needless to say we were a little cranky and tired and it was a real early night for all of us.  Even with the crankyness we still managed to have some fun. 

On Saturday we surprised Nai Nai with a Mexican Fiesta party at her house since she's still in a cast and wheelchair with her broken ankles.  She was suppose to have left for Mexico on Friday but because of her accident had to postpone her plans so Lily, Tante Linda and I brought Mexico to her.  It was a great surprise and we  enjoyed nachos, margaritas and sombreros all around.  It was another successful party.

Here are some pics from the birthday celebration. 
Happy Birthday Lily!!!   Love Maman

                                                              We're having a party!!!

                                                         I'm 2 today.  I'm a big girl now!

                                                               Elmo Cupcake Tree!

                                                          Sorry Elmo but you were yummy!

                                                               I like my new robe!!

TIMMINS WEEKEND!

Our weekend started with the security officers strike at the airport.  That was a fun experience, but it didn't put a damper on our plans.  The flight going and back were fine.  Lily was pretty good going both ways.   It was nice that the flight attendant moved the people next to us so that we could have both seats to ourselves which was a godsend because I don't think it would have been a pleasant flight for anyone if Lily had to sit on me the whole flight.  She couldn't get enough of looking outside.

Lily was thrilled to see Grand-Papa (or Pa Pa Pa as she says) when we got to the airport.  She flew into his arms and gave him the biggest hug.  It was really sweet and Grand-Papa was thrilled. 

On Saturday, we celebrated Lily's birthday.  It's a little early but I wanted to celebrate it with the whole family.  We had a Princess Theme (it was the first thing we saw at the store) and had balloons, presents and a wonderful cake.    Lily had a great time.

On Sunday, Lily was baptized at the St-Joseph church.  It was a lovely ceremony and very personal because she was the only one being baptized.  Noncle Robert is the godfather and Aunt Kathy in BC is the godmother but since she couldn't come, Tante Sylvie was her proxy.    The priest made special efforts to involve Lily whenever he could and she was very good during the ceremony.    She started off in a little navy dress and half way through the ceremony (once she was officially baptized) she changed into her little white dress.   It was like the Oscars.  Two dresses for one ceremony.   We then went home and had champagne and cake (again!).   

The rest of the weekend was spent enjoying the fabulous weather on the patio or during long walks and Lily spent tons of time with her cousins playing on the trampoline they got this year.  She (and the boys) had a blast.  The grown ups tried it too but weren't very graceful to say the least.

Hope you all had a good weekend too.  Now comes the fasting to lose the +++ pounds we put on eating all that cake and turkey.  Thanks Tante and Noncle for being such great hosts.   We can't wait to see you again at Christmas.

Enjoy the pics.

                                                         Future Cirque de Soleil acrobat!

                                                                    Birthday Princess!!

                                                     Going to Church for the Baptism.

                                                          Coming home from the Baptism.

                                                      Celebrating with cake.  Yummy!

                                                     Enjoying the fall weather in our new hat.

                                          Cousins going for a walk.

Luv Maman and Liliana 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Well, potty training is going very well which is great.  I don't even need to bribe Lily with anything to use the potty.  After hearing many horror stories about this process I am counting my blessings.  She also continues to be quite happy at daycare which is also a huge relief.  We're all good.

We are off to Timmins for the long weekend.  We are flying this time so hopefully she will be okay on this flight.  I still have nightmares about our China experience.  Yikes!!  Thank goodness it's only a 1.5 hour flight.  Hopefully snacks and a movie will manage to keep her occupied.

As for our itinerary while in Timmins, our calendar is quite full.  Other than spending quality time with the family, we will be celebrating Lily's birthday and she is being baptized on Sunday.  Lots of party time for us.  Noncle (uncle Robert) has ordered a special combination baptism/birthday cake.  Don't know what will come of that but I'm sure it will be interesting.  Will post pictures of the celebration next week.

I have to admit that I just had my first "Rushed Maman" incident.  I arrived at work to realize that I have two different boots on this morning.  Not sure how I didn't notice it before getting here since one has a pointy toe and a higher heel and the other a square toe and lower heel.     Guess I'll have to bring an extra paid of shoes to leave at the office.  It could have been worse, at least they are the same color.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.  It looks like it will be a gorgeous weekend weather wise.   Gobble !  Gobble!!

Luv Maman and Lily

READY FOR POTTY TRAINING!!

The daycare has told me that Lily is ready for potty training.  She's used the potty almost everyday this week and we have started using it at home a little too but will go full force this weekend.  This is very exciting for Maman and for Lily.  She's pretty proud of herself when she uses it.
Sorry, no pics to go with this post but I'm sure you can understand why not!! 
 If the weather is nice we may go to the pumpkin patch so stay tuned for pics next week. 
Have a great weekend. 

FALL IS HERE!

Hi All,
Hooray! for me.  Lily seems to be embracing daycare.  We no longer have meltdowns when I leave and the daycare employees have told me she's pretty happy during the day.  I guess she figured out it's better to enjoy it than fight it.  Now the challenge becomes at home where she is much more clingy and wants to be held most of the time.   This becomes pretty hard when trying to make dinner or change but I'm getting pretty good at distracting her during these episodes.

On the weekend, we had to make a trip to the doctor.   Seems we have a chest infection and needed medicine.  She spiked some high fevers for a few days but we took cool baths and a bit of Advil and got through them.  I have to give her credit, she wasn't very cranky considering she wasn't feeling well. 

Since we were feeling better by Sunday afternoon, we decided to go apple picking.  It was a beautiful day and we had lots of fun.  Lily loved to pull the apples and run through the field.  Now Maman has tons of apples.  Guess I'll be making pies this weekend.  Unfortunately their pumpkin patch wasn't open so we'll have to go back for those later in the fall.

Here are a few pics of our apple picking adventure.  Enjoy your week.

Love MC and Lily

                                                              Ready to pick em apples!

                                                      Is this a good one Maman!!

                                                                  This bag is heavy now!

DAYCARE - WEEKS 2 & 3

Hi All,
Well we are at week 3 at daycare and fingers crossed, all is going well.  We had a few rough days last week but Lily is slowly embracing being there.  This week I've even gotten a few waves and smiles when I was leaving in the mornings vs crying like last week and she is usually playing when I get there so there are rarely tears anymore.  Yeah!!!!  I'm sure we will have moments of regress at times but for now I am thanking my lucky stars that she's not constantly crying.

Lily did come home with a red swollen eye yesterday and they think she got stung by a bee or wasp while being out on her first "Fire Drill" with the school.  Poor thing looks like she has a shiner but she's not complaining about it so it must not hurt.  I've attached a copy but the picture doesn't really show how red and swollen it really is.

Other than that, we went to the zoo a few weeks ago and the Brampton Fall Fair last week where Lily entertained a crowd of people dancing to an "Elvis" impersonator that was performing.  She looked pretty cute and at one point turned to me and said "Maman dance" so guess what.  I did!! it was pretty funny.

Before I go we want to say "Feel Better Nai Nai" who broke both her ankles last week poor thing.  We miss and love ya and will come visit soon. 

Luv Lily and Maman

                                                                Lily and Bambi

                                                    Amelia feeding the giraffes a banana.

                                                 Lily eating the banana meant for the giraffe.

                                                    Lily and her new backpack for daycare.

                                                                      Wrap anyone !

                                                                    Going to daycare!

                              You should see the other guy!  or bug! or whatever it was
                                                   that got me.

DAYCARE - WEEK 1

Hi All,
Sorry we've been away for a bit but it was a busy and stressful week and on top of that both of us have been fighting a cold.

Lily started daycare on Tuesday and for the first day she cried (well screamed) for the 3 hours she was there.  That was very discouraging for Maman but as the week progressed she had less frequent meltdowns and by the end of the week she was there for 7 hours and was eating and even sleeping at the daycare so there is hope that she is adjusting and will eventually love it (or at least tolerate it).  I have to admit she is much more clingy when we get home but that's to be expected.  We'll start again next week and play it day by day. 

Since I'm going back to work Monday, I will be posting less frequently but will try and continue to put updates when we do exciting things (or I have some time).

I hope you've enjoyed following our journey these past few months and from the number of comments I have gotten from many of you it seemed liked you did.  We've enjoyed keeping you up to date and this will be a wonderful journal for Lily when she grows up.

I unfortunately don't have any pictures to add today but we plan on visiting a pumpkin patch or two in the fall so will post pictures when we do.

Take care and love you lots.
Marie-Claude and Liliana  xxoo

THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS!!!!!

Yikes!! I go back to work in 2 weeks and Lily starts her new full time daycare on Tuesday next week.  We've been talking about daycare alot but I know she's doesn't understand and I'm fully expecting the next few weeks to be stressful.   We go for an open house tomorrow night so hopefully she'll feel comfortable and next Tuesday will be less shocking.  I don't go back to work until the week after so that I can help transition with her first week.  Wish us luck!!

Other than that, we have been busy visiting, had a goodbye party for uncle Tom who's moving to Germany, buying new shoes for daycare (they are so cute!).  We also had a visit by Jamie Lyn who came to spend the day with Lily while Maman was cleaning closets and she was a big help.  To end the week, we had a sleep over on the weekend with Iris so her mom and dad could celebrate their anniversary.    The girls were really good and I even took them to church on Sunday morning.  I was quite prepared to leave if they became too loud but they both did very well. 

This week will be the quiet week before the storm.  We need to get our supplies for daycare organized but other than that will keep it low key.  Besides, Maman managed to break her baby toe on Sunday and it's still pretty sore.  Thank goodness I just had a pedicure and chose a dark purple color so now my toe matches the nail color.  Don't worry I'll live.

Have a great week everyone.  Here are a few pics for your enjoyment.

                                                     We're trying something new with our bib!

                                                                      Pleassssssse!

                                                              Oh goody!  It worked.

                                   I have a new dressup skirt and love it!

6 MONTH ANNIVERSARY!

Yesterday marked the 6 month anniversary of Lily and I becoming a family.  It's gone by so fast and yet we've come such a long way in such a short period of time.  If you look back at the first pictures of Lily compared to now she's definitely a different child.   Maman just can't remember life without her and is head over heels in love.  I don't know how the authorities in China do it but I couldn't have been matched to any better little one.  She's very much like me in personality but yet has her own special traits that make you laugh daily.  Right now she's holding a building block and talking into it like it's a telephone and having a conversation with god knows who but it must be good because she's dancing while babling.

We've had lots of outings this week and the more we see friends the more comfortable she becomes with them and is less clingy.  I haven't tried going back to the daycare at the gym because I realized that one of the reasons she didn't like it is because the staff wasn't consistent and they were strangers to her ( and we've been so busy we haven't had time).  We're just going to grin and bare the first few weeks at her daycare until she feels comfortable with the staff and hope it goes well.

Until then, we are getting ready for a big change in routine and will savor our current free time and routine for the next few weeks. 

Hope everyone survived the wicked storm we had yesterday without damage.  We made out okay except for our pool which ended up flying through the yard and landed in the back of the garden.   A minor issue compared to the major damage others suffered as you watch the news.

Have a great week and here are some of the recent pics for your pleasure.
Love Marie and Lily

                                                       I just love to wear Maman's shoes!

                                                         Girl!!! We say that often these days.

                                 Just watch.  Panda hats and ruby glitter slippers will be all the rage this fall.
                                             Thanks Amelia for the shoes.  We love them.

                                                              We just love the bath!!!

                                            Can you do this????

Whirlwind!!

We have had a busy couple of weeks.  We went to an anniversary party where Lily had all of the teenagers and young adults under her little finger and had them doing the chicken dance and ring around the rosy.  She had a blast and I think the others secretly did too!!

We then had visitors from Ottawa.  One of the other families that was in China at the same time as we were came for a visit.   Lily and Chloe had a great time bonding.  They weren't too sure at first but after a while got into a groove.  The only issue was the "Chair".  Chloe took a real shine to Lily's cosy padded chair and it became a game for the girls to keep an eye on each other and make sure the chair was occupied at all time.  It was quite comical at times.  I think Santa will definitely have to bring Chloe a similar chair. 

Next we went to Prince Edward County to see Aunt Donna's new home.  It's quite lovely and Lily loved the beaches that are in the area.  We also had a great visit with Donna's parents and were spoiled rotten by them.  Mrs. Purcell knit Lily a gorgeous sweater.  Almost makes you want the cold weather to come sooner so we can wear it.  I said "almost".  There will be plenty of time for that in the fall.

We then left from there and headed further east to Gananoque.  MonOncle Robert and family were there for a vacation so we met up with them.  Lily had a wonderful time with them all,  especially with the boys.  Phillip and Theo are so good with Lily.  They took her fishing and chased her all day.   She was so tired that she fell asleep immediately after getting into the car.  This was great because some of Hwy 401was closed down for repairs and they rerooted the traffic for miles.  Anyway, the long story short is that, what was suppose to be a 3 1/2 hour drive ended up being an overnight stay at a hotel.  Maman was not impressed but Lily didn't notice. Thank goodness.

We are now home and not going anywhere for a while.  We need some down time to get back to routines.  

Here are some pics from our adventures. 

                                             Helping to make cookies for our out of town guests. 
                                             Secretly hoping Maman will let me lick the bowl!!                                          

                                                Going to Deb and Bill's 25th Anniversary Party!

                                               Enjoying the beach at the Sandbanks.

                                                          Trying to splash Aunt Donna!  It worked.

                                             Checking out the worms to go fishing. 

                                                         Lily's first fish!! 

                             Concentrating and getting some help from Phillip!

COTTAGE GIRL!

Well, Lily is officially a cottage girl.  We spent several days with Aunt Dee and Uncle Tim at their cottage, or as they call it, The Lodge.   Maman thinks it's now a Resort rather than a lodge now that it's been remodelled.  Koodos to the designers and decorators.   It is fabulous. 

Lily rode on a pontoon boat, speedboat (this ride was really bumpy and Maman had to hold on with all her might) and paddle boat.  She wasn't too sure about the speedboat but seemed to enjoy the others.  We swam and played in the grass.  We even saw a snake.  Figures, it was the first sighting of the season.  I swear they seek me out.  Yikes!! and of course we experienced some bug bites which has caused the little one much discomfort since returning home but we just happened to be going to the doctor for something else and got some special cream to take care of the swelling.  We'll live.

We just want to say a big thank you to our hosts for making Lily's first cottage experience such a great one.  She may not remember it but we will have plenty of pics to show her.

We are now back in the city for the weekend and then will have some visitors from Ottawa next week and then off to another location for some visiting so it may be a couple of weeks before you hear from us again.
Have a good long weekend everyone. 

                                      We just had to try out our new travel high chair. Snack anyone!

Our sun suit.    Tour the France anyone??

Lily and Bailey waiting for the boat.

We were promised a Margarita but we never saw the waiter.

It was still fun.