First Time Parents Bragging Rights!

Sean and I have just been in complete awe of Cadence! She was obviously VERY WELL taken care of by her foster family. I believe she is developmentally on track ... maybe even ahead of schedule a bit. She has 4 teeth (2 up, 2 down), she sits up, rolls over and over and over, crawls ... fast ... can pull herself up into a standing position and move along furniture, holds her own bottle and sippy cup and can use her pincer grip to grasp cheerios and watermelon and just about ANYTHING we put in front of her! She is following her schedule pretty much to the tee which has made life much easier for us ... we are not taking ANY of these moments for granted ... we are very LUCKY ... and yes, we know we will pay later ... somehow! Attachment and bonding are definitely happening too! I know some BTDT folk may think we are just overly eager but I think you just KNOW! It's in the little things ... how at night she rolls between us and giggles, then rolls over to Sean and drapes her arm over his leg and just relaxes there ... how in the morning she grabs my fingers and smiles ... it's THERE and we know it is going to get better every day! Sean has really taken well to fatherhood ... it suits him ... and Cadence is definitely a Daddy's girl ... her face absolutely lights up the minute he enters the room! As much as we are enjoying our time here, we can hardly wait to get her home to meet everyone!
Now for some updates from yesterday...
In the afternoon, we bundled her up (the Chinese way!) and headed for the pool (getting her ready for her October swimming lessons!). She liked the water for the first few minutes, but it was a bit cool ... not like the Kearney pool!


Ater the pool, we headed in for 'snacks'! Nothing like chips and beer! Her and cousin Olivia are kindred spirits already!


Due to the high activity of the day, our girl didn't quite make it through dinner ...

I have a few pics from the morning, but I can only seem to upload 5 per entry ... I'll update again during tomorrow's nap. Well, off to the park soon ... Hope all is well ... THANK YOU EVERYONE for all of the lovely comments ... we look forward to reading them each morning!

It's Official!!!

Yesterday we travelled to the Civil Affairs Office where we made the adoption official ... Cadence is ours!!! Here is our first official family photo ...

All the babies did well to 'sit' around the office for about 2 and a half hours for one photo and a finger print from each member of the family (which took all of 5 minutes!). We basically had to sit around waiting for the policeman (to arrive) to verify the paperwork before we could go. It was all quite simple and laid back.
Afterword we took Cadence to the playroom to celebrate ... she loves the rocking horse and can do it ALL BY HERSELF! She is WAY too independent!

And of course, we parents needed to celebrate too! We headed to the 3rd floor restaurant for dinner and a glass of vino ... and yes, we took the girls! Here is Cadence with her friend Olivia ...

Our girl then had a bath and bottle and to bed by 8ish. Once again sleeping through the night ... 'til 7:00 am!!! Yeah, the whole time change thing will be a ... you know what!
Our girl was happy again this morning ... We took her for breakfast ... she's a western girl already! No congee for her ... she preferred french toast! We followed that up with another play date in the play room and then daddy gave her an afternoon bottle and put her down for her nap while mommy went shopping!!! And now that I'm almost done, she is waking up so here's a last photo for the day ... our phone girl! We'll be heading to the pool soon where there is sure to be many photo ops!

She's Got Personality Plus!

Hey all!
We had a GREAT night! We took Cadence out for her first dinner last night along with her friends Jenna and Olivia. Then she had a bath, which she loved a bottle and to bed by 8:30. We let her play for a while ... she is very persistent and has a voice ... a deep voice ... it is hilarious! You could swear she says, "Oh Yeah!" We laugh every time. She is sitting up with no problem and pulls herself up onto furniture, the headboard, you name it ... there is no stopping her! Just before sleep we layed her between us and she would roll and snuggle up to Sean and then roll and snuggle up to me. Precious I tell you! This went on for quite some time until I laid her in the crib and rubbed her back for about 5 minutes. Did she sleep through the night? You bet! She is an angel! We all got up about 6:30 am to a great big, melt your heart smile! We played in bed for a bit, changed a diaper ... success there too (two, if you get my drift!), and had some play time. Sean and I took turns showering and then Miss Cadence accompanied us to breakfast! After that, we had a play date with Evelyn in the 3rd floor playroom, where our little bully laughed when Evelyn cried ... Miss Cadence had taken her toy! We had some great laughs watching the girls downstairs. Cadence is very curious about everything. Her gorgeous eyes don't miss a trick and she is very vocal when she demands, I mean, wants something. She is as active as they said in her report! As I said she likes to move about hanging on to the furniture and the little monkey even tried to climb up onto the chair ... we are not going to have any 'baby' time I'm afraid. And you will not believe, she actually took a step ... I think I may have it on video ... she's a pure genius! At the moment we, I mean she, is enjoying a nap. We are heading to the Civil Affairs Office to finalize this adoption ... I think we'll keep her! More later today or tomorrow!
Now for some photos:




Mom, tried to phone but wasn't able to! You are going to LOVE her!

Introducing the Newest Kearney!

Pictures first!!!!



Well ... it was a calm and relaxed 'ceremony' ! Really, meeting Cadence FAR exceeded our expectations. We sat down to begin the 'paperworks' and all of a suddent the babies were 'here' and when they said here, they meant right in the room! There was no time for emotions or tears as we had a mad scramble for the cameras! Cadence gave us her first smile almost immediately!
She has been ours for about 2 hours already and she is BUSY! We are just hanging on the king size bed enjoying every moment of her. She is going out for her first meal in about 20 minutes ... she has been easy so far! I anticipate we will still experience some grieving within the next day or so but right now, we couldn't be happier!!!

We're HERE!!!

Hi Everyone:
We have just arrived in our hotel in Chongqing and we are feeling pretty good ... although a little hungry at the moment, but we are going to address that shortly! I still don't believe this is all happening despite the crib, stroller and bath that is ready and waiting right here in the room. Apparently we will be doing some paperwork in the morning and will be receiving Cadence around 3:30 China time!!!!! So ... stay tuned ... photos hopefully tomorrow!!!!!

Marnie and Dave ... be sure to drop a note through hotmail regarding Cadence's newest cousin ... we are anxiously awaiting your news too!!!

Final Post from Canada and Change of Tone

Hi Everyone!
I have kept this blog light hearted for the most part with a touch of humour ... that's just how I get through things!
But today I need to change the tone ... we depart tomorrow for what will be the single most important trip and end
to a very long journey! On Sunday our dream of 10 years will finally be realized ... we will hold the most precious
gift ever bestowed upon us ... Cadence ... and we can hardly wait! We have planned for this and are ready ... BUT
our poor little angel has not! Her happy little short life is about to be turned upside down ... everything she knows
is going to be ripped from her in one moment ... our moment! Yes, we will give her a good life, yes she will have
opportunities, yes, she will be loved ... but she doesn't know that yet and won't know that for a while. It will be
difficult for all of us ... her especially ... so as you enjoy watching our family be formed ... please take a moment
to grieve with her for all she is loosing!

AND ... I cannot express into words how VERY GRATEFUL and touched we are for ALL the support from our family
and friends!!! We are overwhelmed, overjoyed and just so very lucky to have such amazing people in our lives!
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU ..... FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS ... THANK YOU!

Well, this is it ... my final post ... I can hardly believe it (and I better end ... the power is flickering!). Next time you
here from me it will be from the other side of the world! What a wonderful world it is after all!!!!!

PS - Let's get that count up to 30,000!

Crunch Time!

Bags are packed and we're ready to go ...

I am hoping our 2 main pieces following us to Chongqing are under the 44 lb weight restriction ... my scale says they are but it is not working all that well! Hmmm ... maybe that's the root of MY problem!
I had the pool chemicals tested, the car seat inspected, my extremities waxed and my toes polished all this morning! And then ... Nat ... I RELAXED all afternoon by the pool! I'm going to recheck everything this evening ... just for good measure and then, that's that! I'm actually feeling oddly calm at the moment ... I'm sure that will pass! I do have some disappointing news ... my NB buddy who I was hoping to meet and travel with in China has experienced a glitch and will be travelling a week later than the rest of our group. I am happy for her in that her husband will be healed enough from surgery to join her ... guess things have a way of working out the way they are supposed to! I will certainly miss you Penny but wish you ALL the BEST on your journey to Lisa!
I really hope to be able to manage posting from China (Penny was to be my expert ... she didn't know that!). If I'm not able to manage that I will try to at least email a photo or two through my First Class (dkearney@smcdsb.on.ca) or Hotmail (dkearney67@hotmail.com) accounts.
My only worry now is for my little 'guy' ... he may be very sad over these next two weeks. He will be in loving care with family and with his brother Lucky who has been staying with us for the past week. These two really get along well and they are just too darn cute for words ...

That's about all I can think of for now ... tomorrow will be my last post from home ... unbelievable isn't it?! I am in awe of it all ...