First Haircut

It was time for a little trim for our little Mercy. Her hair was getting kind of straggly so we thought we should get her hair trimmed. I took her to my hairdresser and she did very well after the initial shock of this new person and the whole salon setup. She sat in my lap and cooperated pretty well while my hairdresser trimmed away. She even got a lovely little gift for

being such a good girl from my lovely hairdresser.

Travel Group Visit - November

We were able to get our travel group together for a nice Christmas visit and it is hard to believe how all the babies have grown. We had a nice day in Barrie at Gord and Shannons' and all the children seemed to get along as if they had never been apart. Thanks Gord and Shannon for hosting us. The day was even absent of snow falling - even in Barrie! All the children enjoyed playing in Hannah's basement playroom - complete with slide and everything!!!

October Already!!

Well October is almost gone and I have to catch up on my blog!! Too busy with events and swimming lessons etc. Mercy is growing by the minute and having fun at home with family and friends.

Thanksgiving weekend we had a great visit with Nanny and Grandpa Allen. It was the first time visit for Mercy to her grandparents. She even met Auntie Carrol and Uncle Roger for the first time too!!! Auntie Carrol and Uncle Roger gave Mercy this wonderful outfit which included this great red hat!!! Is she in the "Red Hat Society" club now???

We enjoyed a visit to the petting zoo in the park by Grandpa and Nanny's house and Mercy saw all kinds of animals - ducks, lamas, donkeys, chickens, rabbits, goats. All what she loves to see - any animal!!

Mercy has experienced a lot of things even since she has been home. I think she is enjoying life in Canada with Mommy and Daddy!!!

September Events Continued

September was a busy month. We got Mercy dedicated/christened while Roger's parents were in town. We honoured Mercy's heritage by wearing our Chinese apparel. Mercy looks wonderful in red. I think she even enjoyed seeing everyone in church that day! We had a great visit with family members after.

We went to the Chinese Lantern Festival with friends and Mercy got to see the inflatable pandas and the Terracotta Warrior display.

Mercy was awed by the lit up dragons on the water!!!

Another new experience for Mercy in Canada!!!

Where has the Summer Gone?

Well it has been a jam packed summer to say the least. We've been getting Mercy settled into Canadian life and going from one event to another. Lots of birthdays this month!

We went to Aunt Norma's for a visit and had a great swim in her condo pool. Mercy loves the water.

We attended Katie's birthday party in September and there was lots of kids for Mercy to watch!!!

We had a great time and Mercy got to go in the pool again. Happy Birthday Katie!!! Thanks for having a birthday party!!

1st Birthday Party

Well, Mercy had a great 1st birthday party with her cousins and a little friend Sophie. She played in her little pool with Daddy and her cousins and Sophie that Nana bought her. She loved being in it. Daddy however was a little big for it!!!!

We had a great barbecue and then cake after. She seemed to love her cake. When we presented it to her to blow her candles out, she ran her hands across the decorated part for a taste. She had a big taste of icing from Uncle Jamie who tried to get her all "sugared" up. She seemed to like it and got it all over!!!

Thank you to everyone for her lovely gifts. We are going to have to make sure we create a playroom in the basement for all her "stuff". It was a great day!!!!

Birthday Girl

Well today our little girl was 1 year old. We had a nice quiet day with just Daddy and Mommy and celebrated with some gifts. Mercy really liked the new toy mommy and daddy got her and she took to it right away. She will be walking in no time.

We have had some nice visits with Auntie Laurie, Uncle Jamie and Sophie and long walks with them. I think Mercy likes to watch Sophie!! Mercy is getting more teeth in the top now and getting quite a bite to it. She is even learning to feed herself with her own hands!!! Mercy is a clever little girl. She has been to church twice now and both times has enjoyed the music and seems to fall asleep at the sermon time!! Go figure, she is starting a bit early with falling asleep in church!!! Mercy loves to be mobile and look around her when she is in the stroller and usually falls asleep in the van on car rides!!! Too bad she didn't fall asleep as fast at night time!!!

We are throughly enjoying our daughter and she is gradually getting to meet some new friends. She just charms everyone with her smile!!!

I will try and post more update in the coming weeks, as I have been a bit slack lately. I have some birthday pics to post as well. Thanks for everyone's good wishes and welcome homes. It is great to have Mercy home and enjoying family life in Canada. We can't imagine life without her now.

Stay tuned!!!

Home At Last!

Well we are finally home and settling into life in Canada with our little Mercy. She is truly an adorable little girl and we love her to pieces. It was a good flight home from Beijing and Mercy did very well sleeping 5 hours of the 12. She is becoming quite the little traveler. We were greeted at the airport by my brother and his wife and a surprise welcome from Roger's Aunt Norma and Uncle Barry. They were all very elated to finally meet Mercy. It was good to be home!! Nana Toman got to meet Mercy when we got back to our home and Mercy had some nice little smiles for her!!

We're slowly going through the paperwork we need to file for her - temp. health card etc. and today we have our first doctor's appointment. Mercy has picked up a bit of a cold so I am hoping we can get something to clear it up fast. Mom and Dad are doing well - over jetlag now, but still battling with loss of sleep at night when Mercy is up. I think she gets more sleep then we do at this point!

As you can see from the pics, Mercy is a happy little girl and is lots of fun. She has even met her new cousins Liam and Katie and also her new friend Sophie who wanted to play. So many people to meet so little time!!!

Great Wall

We made the big trip to the Great Wall on Sunday and it was a long steep climb to only the first level that we made. Roger and Mercy were troopers and Roger had Mercy on the front and the knapsack on his back.
Quite a few of the members of our group made up to the first level. There were about 3000 other people making the trek too it seemed. It was a great day temperature wise and we were glad to not have too much heat so we could all make the climb. It was an amazing sight as you can see.

Tomorrow we go to the Summer Palace and the silk road to do more shopping. We went to the Pearl Factory and the Jade Factory after the Great Wall and it was quite a shopping day.


We head to Tianamen Sq. on Wed. - another historic and symbolic site. We are enjoying seeing all the sights and sounds of China on our last few days here. Mercy
is doing well and has even slept through the night. She had her first baby food today and enjoyed it thoroughly.

We'll be home real soon and look forward to seeing everyone and Mercy meeting you all.

Gotcha Mercy!!

Well the moment finally came for Gotcha Day. We took a two hour drive from Chongqing to Fuling and arrived at the Fuling Social Welfare Institute with the staff awaiting our arrival.

Within 5 minutes of our arrival they started to bring the babies in to present to us. We were thrilled to finally meet our little daughter Mercy. As you can see she was studying us to see who we were. She was a very contented little girl and we were thrilled to see her play with the little rattle we gave her. Mercy seemed to be fine with both of us and did not cry at all. She even gave us a few smiles. We had a great tour of the orphanage and were able to visit where the children play and sleep. The staff at Fuling SWI were very caring and loving people as we could sense. We had a good first night and Mercy pretty well slept through the night. What a blessings. We are off to the Civic Affairs office today to finalize paperwork and then off to shop at Walmart. Mercy was a little bigger than we thought.

I will be posting some more pics real soon. Thanks to our friends Gord and Shannon who let us use their computer. Enjoy the photos!!

Safely in Beijing!

We are finally here in Beijing. We had a great trip. Flight was delayed a few hours but it was all good. Our wonderful guide Sara met us at the airport. We have already been on a couple tours to the Lama Temple and seen a show with the Acrobats. We are experiencing the many sites and sounds of Beijing which tickle your senses. There are many bicycles in the streets and they are very crowded. The whole travel group will be with us by tomorrow and we will be meeting our daughter Mercy on Sunday when we fly to Chongqing.

We have eaten some good meals at various restaurants - all good. We are taking another tour of a temple tomorrow. The pics will say it all.

Almost There!!!

Well we are almost there. Just about time to leave soon. We've been busy packing and getting things organized. Still have to childproof our home a bit!!!

I've been sharing with people about our journey we will be on to get our lovely daughter and it is amazing how many people know someone who has actually adopted either from China or from somewhere else in the world. It is so common now!!! Most people are excited for us and happy for us to receive our little daughter from across the world.
We just can't wait to hug her and daddy just wants to kiss her face off!!!!
She is so precious to us already and we just want to bring her home to be safe with us and enjoy all the things we have for her. I can't wait for all her "firsts". Her first step, her first bath, her first pair of fancy shoes, her first taste of winter and snow. All the things she has yet to experience that she doesn't know about yet. Her life as she knows it is about to change!!! We will truly love and bless her and let her enjoy all that life has for her!!!

I keep thinking of the "gotcha" moment and I wonder if she will smile, study us or just look at us funny. We'll try not to scare you little one!! Time goes on and we wait just a short while longer!!!!

We Love You Already!!!

As each day passes I realize how much we already love our little daughter Mercy. She is so far away, yet very near to our hearts. We just can't wait to hug and kiss her and play with her and make her laugh. My mother's heart will just burst the first time I hear her laugh, I just know it.

Nanny and Grandpa Allen visited us this weekend and we can tell they already love her too. They are anxious to meet her. Nana Toman has been showing her new granddaughter's picture to everyone and anyone. She is a pround Nana too.

I can't wait till cousins Liam and Katie meet our daughter. It will be interesting to see how the children all take to one another. Liam is already very good with his little cousins and his sister, so I am sure he will make a great big cousin for Mercy to follow around!!!

We have just a few weeks or so to go and we will be up in the air going to get our litte China Pearl!!! I do hope she is still little and hasn't grown too fast since we've been apart. She doesn't even know we are on our way to get her. She doesn't even know that Canada exists right now!!! We are coming soon little Mercy!!! Be ready for us!!! We have a big hug and kiss with your name on it!!!

By the way, the chinese symbol above I believe signifies "Love", which is what we feel right now from our head to our toes for our little Mercy!!!! :O)

Travel Group

Nanny framed Mercy!!!!

Got an email from Nanny Allen and she told us that she had Mercy "framed". She found this cute little frame and put her in it. I think Nanny is excited about meeting her new little granddaughter. The only one in the Allen family. Mercy will be a great new addition to the grandsons already!!!! Big cousin Jason and Ben will have to get used to having a little girl cousin in Canada!!!!

Got a great pile of clothes from Auntie Kathleen from Mercy's little cousin Katie. Thanks Katie. Mercy will be sure to show them all off!!! Auntie Kathleen has great taste in clothes!!!! Mercy is getting quite a wardrobe already!!! Just like her mom!!!!

Travel Meeting

Well it's been a while since I entered on my blog. So much to do lately and things to look after before we go.


We had a great visit with our travel group today in Toronto for our travel meeting. It was a very informative couple of hours. We had special guests who brought their son "Justin" who was just a little cutie and very smart. Quite the little boy. He was a Fuling kid. I see why they say that Fuling Kids are Great!!! So impressive. Lisa his mom gave us a good insight into the trip and some tips on things to take and see when we are in China. We had a lot of information given to us about the trip and also were surprised to learn that we fly to Chongqing in the morning on Sunday, July 8 and get our babies that afternoon. So soon!! We get to stay in Chongqing and do things and we are hoping to get a visit to the orphanage, which has to be confirmed yet. We are even going to be staying at a Holiday Inn!!!



We will be privileged to see places in Beijing like the Summer Palace, Tianamen Square and the Forbidden City, and of course the Great Wall. We will get to go shopping at different jewellry factories and see other places of interest along the way. Sounds like a great trip overall. We are praying that all the adults and children stay healthy and are able to stay cool through this trip. I heard about some UV umbrellas that you can buy when there to keep the heat off!! Count me in!!!! Don't like to get too much sun. Gotta take sun screen for us and little one while we are there. Don't want little Mercy suffering either.


Our travel date is July 3 to July 20. We will be home on the Friday night. We are going a couple days early to Beijing to get over jet lag etc. and scout out the area. Maybe we will even see an Acrobats show there.


Hope to post a pic of our travel group later on my blog.

My 2 Cents Worth (by Mercy's Dad)

Well, I am new to this blog thing but I just wanted to put a few words down. As you can well imagine, I am very anxious to bring our little one home and start our new life together. I have never travelled overseas before, so this whole trip is going to be an adventure for me. Being in a foreign country, seeing my daughter for the first time as she's being handed to her mommy, it's all just overwhelming to think about sometimes. I hope I can keep the video camera steady when the big day comes.

It's been so long since this whole process started that it's hard to believe that it's actually happening in only a few weeks time. All the times we've enjoyed spending with other people's children and now to think that we have one of our very own to bring up and enjoy. Very exciting!!

That's my 2 cents worth from a soon-to-be dad's point of view. All I know is that I am going to try my hardest to be the best dad she could ever imagine. I already love her to pieces!

Mother's Day

So it was a great Mother's Day for me. We celebrated with my brother and his wife and her sister and husband and kids and an aunt and the grandmas. There were 4 children all keeping us busy and entertained. My mother was given a nice framed picture of the "Grankids" and my brother had even managed to get our daughter Mercy in the picture frame. More pics to come Nana!!! It was such a great gesture and it made things so real!!! I even got a Mommy-to-be Mother's Day card!!! Thanks Chris and Kathleen for thinking of me!!! These are special keepsakes I will treasure. Children are such fun at this age. Liam was the big boy of the group and kept the little ones entertained. Even little Jake was in on the screaming with joy.

It was a wonderful day I will remember always!!! Thanks to my family for making it special for me.

MIW Dinner

Well what a wonderful night it was meeting all my mommy friends again for our MIW dinner. We met at the Pickle Barrel in Yorkdale. It was a perfect spot and the restaurant even had enough room for the whole 23 + 3 kids lot of us. We had a chance to meet some of the new babies like Olivia, Ava and Samara. They were all so cute and had so much fun together running around the table. Mommy Jill was kind enough to even give them some little toys to play with. She even brought the mommy's a great little treat of Chinese tea. Jill is so thoughtful!!! Thanks again Jill.

We had some mommy's as far as New York come to our dinner this time. I got to meet Nicole for the first time and she shared with us about her little Vietnamese baby boy she will soon get to meet. She had a great little album of pics to show us. He will be much younger than our babies probably will be. She is very brave!!!!

I was able to pick the brain of both Debbie and Karen about their trip and adventure and they offered some very helpful info. Thanks ladies!!! I hope I remember some of it when I finally get to China!!!

All in all the evening was a huge success and we made more friends. They're a great bunch of ladies!! Thank too Catherine for organizing it all. You are such a social convener!!!

Well there has been so much to do these days!!! Duplicating our China Pearl's picture a million times and passing it to anyone interested!!! We met with Deborah at Open Arms on Sunday night and got the first sight of little Mercy. We fell in love right away. She is about 17 lbs. or so already and no doubt will be at least 20 by the time we get her. The report on her was great and I noted on her medical for ears and blood pressure that they stated "no cooperative". I assume she doesn't like the fussing and just wants to play!!!! That's ok there will be lots of time down the road to see a doctor and I am sure she will be given a good going over then!

We got our final paperwork done and it's going back for the Ministry to approve etc. The next thing will be our travel meeting with our group. We are all so pumped now. The children are all so cute. Can't wait to meet them all. We have had so many people congratulating us about our daughter Mercy and asking about a baby shower etc. It is a bit overwhelming. It is just starting to sink in now. The first few days were a big foggy!! It will be a very special Mother's Day for me, as technically I am a mom right now. Yippee!!!

I appreciate everyone's well wishes and support and trust that I can share in other's moments as well when you all get your referrals. You just can't imagine how you will feel.

Looking forward to our MIW dinner this Sat. This time I won't be "mystery mom" as the word is out now. Can't wait to take and be in the pictures this time. I'm so looking forward to meeting some new MIW and some old friends from previous. We are getting to be quite the group now. We may have to reserve a whole restaurant next time!!! It's amazing how many people are in the same boat as us. Who would have thought that there would be so many other people interested in receiving these precious little ones from China!!!

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!

Well on Wed. May 2 we finally got the call. We were so excited to hear a message left from Deborah at Open Arms. When we finally spoke with her we still couldn't believe the moment had finally come. We learned that her name was Fu Bao Hao and that she had a birthday a week before mine on Aug. 7, 2006. We couldn't wait for the translation to be done and to get our package from Open Arms. We finally get to see her!!!!

We got our package on May 6 and are starting to roll on the paperwork that needs to be signed, reviewed and returned to Open Arms. Lots to do in the upcoming week. All our group got their package as well and the babies are all adorable. Three boys in the lot!!! Quite a blessing to have that many boys as well. The children are all from the Fuling Social Welfare Institute and when we looked it up on the net we saw that it looks like a wonderful facility that is quite equipped for children. We were very happy to see that she has been taken well care of. Will post more info as time goes by.

Easter Visit

We had a great visit with Sophie and Jamie and Laurie at Easter time and Sophie enjoyed doing her puzzles with us - again and again and again!!! She has grown to be a cute little girl and we are amazed at the expressions she comes out with. So polite and intellectual.

Roger had some good practice with play time and helped her with the puzzles too.