Maggie and Daddy (notice that she is happier with Daddy???) 
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Maggie and her parents
Maggie and Mommy.....
Maggie and Daddy (notice that she is happier with Daddy???) 
Maggie and Daddy (notice that she is happier with Daddy???) 
Other Newfoundland Families
Cathy, Don, Andrew and Lily
Tammy, Brian and Mia
Abby Lynch (sorry I did not have a picture of Abby with her Mom and Dad - Joe and Yvonne)
Abby Lynch (sorry I did not have a picture of Abby with her Mom and Dad - Joe and Yvonne)
We are into our third day
Thank you all for posting comments and sending us emails. How nice it is to hear from our family, friends and coworkers from home. We miss you all and can't wait to see you!
Well we are in to our third day with Maggie and she is doing great. She has a cold and, from what we can tell, an ear infection, so we had to start her on the antibiotics. Almost all of the babies in our group have colds. Our guide told us this is very common, as the kids are use to being in the orphanage where there little or no heat and they are bundled up in layers and layers of clothes. Now they are living in a heated hotel room with only one or two layers. The change in temperature often brings on a cold.
All of the babies are adjusting differently. Some babies have been upset since Monday, and others are happy and content. It is amazing how different these babies adjust. I can only imagine how scared they must be. As for Maggie... well her adjustment has been very odd. She doesn't cry much.... she simply stares at us with a confused look on her face. I guess she is wondering why these strange looking white people are fusing with her so much. She constantly stares at us! The poor thing must be so confused. She has been very content, is drinking her formula (finally), has no trouble sleeping (sleeps for 10 hours through the night plus a nap in the afternoon), has had several poops (yipppppeeee!), sucks her thumb when she is tired (just like big sister Gracie!) and loves playing. She is clearly behind in her development though (due to being in an orphanage) as she can't really sit up on her own or turn over by herself.... but she is trying. We are seeing improvements in her everyday.... and once we get her home and she starts interacting with Gracie... she won't be long catching up!
All of our adoption paperwork in Hunan has been completed. Today we went to the Embroidery Factory and purchased a hand made embroidered Chinese dress for Maggie. We really wanted one for Gracie too... but there was nothing there to fit. When we go back to Beijing, we are going to ask a tailor to make matching Chinese dresses for Maggie and Gracie. I can't wait to see them both dressed alike!
The food here is different. We can't wait to get back to Canada to get a steak and ceasor salad! We are meeting the rest of the families at 5:00 p.m. today for a pizza party. I am sure that will be fun! We will try to take photos of the other Newfoundland families then and hopefully post them tonight! Gotta run, Maggie is waking up from her nap. We will post again once she goes down for the night. Here are a few pictures taken this morning. Love from China.....
Well we are in to our third day with Maggie and she is doing great. She has a cold and, from what we can tell, an ear infection, so we had to start her on the antibiotics. Almost all of the babies in our group have colds. Our guide told us this is very common, as the kids are use to being in the orphanage where there little or no heat and they are bundled up in layers and layers of clothes. Now they are living in a heated hotel room with only one or two layers. The change in temperature often brings on a cold.
All of the babies are adjusting differently. Some babies have been upset since Monday, and others are happy and content. It is amazing how different these babies adjust. I can only imagine how scared they must be. As for Maggie... well her adjustment has been very odd. She doesn't cry much.... she simply stares at us with a confused look on her face. I guess she is wondering why these strange looking white people are fusing with her so much. She constantly stares at us! The poor thing must be so confused. She has been very content, is drinking her formula (finally), has no trouble sleeping (sleeps for 10 hours through the night plus a nap in the afternoon), has had several poops (yipppppeeee!), sucks her thumb when she is tired (just like big sister Gracie!) and loves playing. She is clearly behind in her development though (due to being in an orphanage) as she can't really sit up on her own or turn over by herself.... but she is trying. We are seeing improvements in her everyday.... and once we get her home and she starts interacting with Gracie... she won't be long catching up!
All of our adoption paperwork in Hunan has been completed. Today we went to the Embroidery Factory and purchased a hand made embroidered Chinese dress for Maggie. We really wanted one for Gracie too... but there was nothing there to fit. When we go back to Beijing, we are going to ask a tailor to make matching Chinese dresses for Maggie and Gracie. I can't wait to see them both dressed alike!
The food here is different. We can't wait to get back to Canada to get a steak and ceasor salad! We are meeting the rest of the families at 5:00 p.m. today for a pizza party. I am sure that will be fun! We will try to take photos of the other Newfoundland families then and hopefully post them tonight! Gotta run, Maggie is waking up from her nap. We will post again once she goes down for the night. Here are a few pictures taken this morning. Love from China.....
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Day two with our little angel
Hello everyone. It has been another amazing but exhausting day. We finalized our adoption paperwork today – so Maggie is legally ours! She is doing great. She only cries when she needs a diaper change, is hungry or tired. She is really heavy! We are not sure how much she weighs, however it has to be more than 20 lbs! I don’t think I have enough clothes with me that will fit!!!
I know that many of you were hoping to see pictures of all 5 Newfoundland families and their babies...we were going to get together this evening to take the pictures and post, however all of the Mommy’s and Daddy’s were too tired. We will try again tomorrow. Sorry folks!
Here are a few of the pictures we took today of Miss Maggie Mei Bussey. We will write more tomorrow. We are beat again tonight!
Gracie, Maggie really loves your pink blanket, as you can tell from the photo of her sleeping. What a great sister you are for sharing your blanket with Maggie! We love you and miss you lots, and we can’t wait to give you a big hug and kiss. Love Mommy and Daddy.
I know that many of you were hoping to see pictures of all 5 Newfoundland families and their babies...we were going to get together this evening to take the pictures and post, however all of the Mommy’s and Daddy’s were too tired. We will try again tomorrow. Sorry folks!
Here are a few of the pictures we took today of Miss Maggie Mei Bussey. We will write more tomorrow. We are beat again tonight!
Gracie, Maggie really loves your pink blanket, as you can tell from the photo of her sleeping. What a great sister you are for sharing your blanket with Maggie! We love you and miss you lots, and we can’t wait to give you a big hug and kiss. Love Mommy and Daddy.
Monday, March 05, 2007
What a day!
Well we finally got to meet Maggie! She is the youngest and the biggest in the group!!!
We are way too tired to post much tonight, however we promise to write lots tomorrow about our first moments with Maggie. We do have a few pictures though!
These are two pictures of Maggie right after she was ready for bed tonight. She is soooo cuddley! She actually prefers Brent... however I have no doubt that will change after he goes back to work.
These pictures were taken moments after we received Maggie. What a chaotic and emotional process that was! We will write more about that tomorrow.
Paul with his new daughter Lily.
Cathy Roche with her Lily.... 
Andrew and his little sister...
Maggie just went to sleep and we are beat. We will post more tomorrow.
We are way too tired to post much tonight, however we promise to write lots tomorrow about our first moments with Maggie. We do have a few pictures though!
These are two pictures of Maggie right after she was ready for bed tonight. She is soooo cuddley! She actually prefers Brent... however I have no doubt that will change after he goes back to work.
These pictures were taken moments after we received Maggie. What a chaotic and emotional process that was! We will write more about that tomorrow.
Paul with his new daughter Lily.
Cathy Roche with her Lily.... 
Andrew and his little sister...
Maggie just went to sleep and we are beat. We will post more tomorrow.We love and miss you all.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
We have arrived in Changsha
It is almost 6:00 a.m. on Monday March 5th -- the day we meet Maggie! We have not slept that much because we are so excited, so we will keep this post short. We arrived at the hotel around 9:00 p.m. last night, and we were beat so we went to bed. We are getting ready now to meet the other families for breakfast, then we meet our guide at 9:30 a.m. to collect our money and paperwork, and then at 10:30 we leave to drive to the Civil Affairs office to meet our babies! I can hardly believe it... today is the day that we finally get to meet our precious Maggie.
We have to shop this afternoon for the babies, however when we return to the hotel later today, we will try to post a picture or a video. We will also try to post pictures of the other families travelling with us, as I know that you are all interested in seeing all of the babies!
When we arrived in the hotel room and saw the little crib ......I lost it. Believe it or not, this was the first time I had been emotional since we left Canada. For the first time, this feels real. Check out Maggie's bed for the next 5 nights. Just 5 more hours until our family is complete!!!!!
Gracie, we love you so much and can't wait until we are all together as a family. You are going to be such a great big sister. We will try to call you on Monday evening (NL time) to tell you all about your new little sister. We love you with all our heart......love Mommy and Daddy.
We have to shop this afternoon for the babies, however when we return to the hotel later today, we will try to post a picture or a video. We will also try to post pictures of the other families travelling with us, as I know that you are all interested in seeing all of the babies!
When we arrived in the hotel room and saw the little crib ......I lost it. Believe it or not, this was the first time I had been emotional since we left Canada. For the first time, this feels real. Check out Maggie's bed for the next 5 nights. Just 5 more hours until our family is complete!!!!!
Gracie, we love you so much and can't wait until we are all together as a family. You are going to be such a great big sister. We will try to call you on Monday evening (NL time) to tell you all about your new little sister. We love you with all our heart......love Mommy and Daddy.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Email in China
For those of you who would like to email us and are not comfortable posting on the blog, feel free to email us at kingpinbdb@hotmail.com. We will be checking this email on a daily basis and would love to hear from you. Also for those of you who would like to send a message to the other families travelling with us, feel free to use the above email address and we will be sure that your families / friends receive the message.
One more sleep!!!!
One more sleep!!!!
Tiananmen Square & The Forbidden City
Yesterday (Saturday) we visited Tiananmen Square & The Forsbidden City. This is located at the center of Beijing City. At Tiananmen Square we visited Tiananmen Tower, Monument to the People's Heroes, Great Hall of the People, Mao Zedong Memorial Hall and the national flag. Thousands of people come to the Square every day. It is the most visited place in Beijing City.
At the north end of the Square is Tiananmen Tower... the front door of the Forbidden City. The most important use of it in the past was to declare in a big ceremony to the common people who became the emperor or empress. Until 1911 when the last feudal kingdom was over, no one could enter the Tower except for the royal family and aristocrats. We walked through the Forbidden City (which is now known as the Palace Museum) which covered 74 hectares and 9,999 buildings! It is huge!!! The Forbidden City is divided into two parts. The southern section, or the Outer Court was where the emperor exercised his supreme power over the nation. The northern section, or the Inner Court was where he lived with his royal family. The Palace Museum is now one of the most popular tourist attractions world wide. We have attached a few pictures of Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.
We are off to Changsha today... and we will meet Maggie tomorrow! We will try to write more tonight when we arrive at the hotel. If we do not get a chance to write tonight... our next post will be about us meeting our daughter!!!!
At the north end of the Square is Tiananmen Tower... the front door of the Forbidden City. The most important use of it in the past was to declare in a big ceremony to the common people who became the emperor or empress. Until 1911 when the last feudal kingdom was over, no one could enter the Tower except for the royal family and aristocrats. We walked through the Forbidden City (which is now known as the Palace Museum) which covered 74 hectares and 9,999 buildings! It is huge!!! The Forbidden City is divided into two parts. The southern section, or the Outer Court was where the emperor exercised his supreme power over the nation. The northern section, or the Inner Court was where he lived with his royal family. The Palace Museum is now one of the most popular tourist attractions world wide. We have attached a few pictures of Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.
We are off to Changsha today... and we will meet Maggie tomorrow! We will try to write more tonight when we arrive at the hotel. If we do not get a chance to write tonight... our next post will be about us meeting our daughter!!!!
Friday, March 02, 2007
More photos from our busy day
After we left the Kindergarten class, we visited more of the city and then we participated in an authentic Chinese Tea Ceremony (see picture below). We bought some Chinese tea for you all to try when we get home.
For supper, we went out for an authentic Chinese dinner.... they served many dishes and we all sat around the table and picked a little from each. You should see Brent trying to use chop sticks... it was really funny! Too bad I didn't have the camera. The food is really different... we didn't eat much except a little rice and vegtebales. We are going to hit McDonalds today. Apparently the chicken nuggets are just like home. Many families who have adopted from China say that when they leave, they never want to see another McDonalds chicken nugget again!
After dinner we went to the acrobat show. That was absolutely amazing!!!!! We were not allowed to take any pictures, however we did manage to take a few just before the show started.
One of the other families in our group also has an adoption blog... so feel free to follow their journey at http://www.journeytomira.blogspot.com/.
For supper, we went out for an authentic Chinese dinner.... they served many dishes and we all sat around the table and picked a little from each. You should see Brent trying to use chop sticks... it was really funny! Too bad I didn't have the camera. The food is really different... we didn't eat much except a little rice and vegtebales. We are going to hit McDonalds today. Apparently the chicken nuggets are just like home. Many families who have adopted from China say that when they leave, they never want to see another McDonalds chicken nugget again!
After dinner we went to the acrobat show. That was absolutely amazing!!!!! We were not allowed to take any pictures, however we did manage to take a few just before the show started.
One of the other families in our group also has an adoption blog... so feel free to follow their journey at http://www.journeytomira.blogspot.com/. Also, for those of you interested, two of the Newfoundland families that are with us now have been interviewed by CBC. Their adoption stories will air on Monday, March 5th (the day we get the babies!) on CBC radio some time between 7:15 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. and then again on Here and Now at supper time. Wanda and Eric, can you tape Here and Now for us on Monday?
The internet may go down in the hotel later today so I am not sure if we will get to post tonight. We are off to Tenneman Square and the Forbidden City today, and then we fly to Changsha tomorrow morning. In Changsha we have to do adoption paperwork in the evening, and then we meet our babies on Monday morning!!!!
We love you all and miss you very much. What we wouldn't give to have a hug from Gracie Little Bit now!
Tour of Beijing - Kindergarten Class
We toured Beijing today... it was absoluletly incredible. The architecture in the buildings is like nothing we have ever seen. We have lots of pictures however we thought that we would post pictures from the highlight of our day -- a visit to a kindergarten class!!!!
This is a picture of me handing out candy to the 5 year olds. They were so cute, and grateful too!
A couple of 5 year old girls discussing the treats they just received from the foreigners.... we gave them gum, candy, pencils, stickers, etc. They loved it!
This little girl is absoletly adorable, don't you think?
This is a picture of me handing out candy to the 5 year olds. They were so cute, and grateful too!
A couple of 5 year old girls discussing the treats they just received from the foreigners.... we gave them gum, candy, pencils, stickers, etc. They loved it!
This little girl is absoletly adorable, don't you think?
Two boys discussing how much loot they got!
This is the room where the kids (not nap, sleep!). The kids sleep at the school from Monday to Friday and then go home to their parents on the weekends. 
This is where the kids (boys and girls!) pee. Everybody has to squat to pee!
We have lots of pictures of the city, and the places we visited, however we will post more later. We are amazed at how much poverty is here. It really makes you appreciate the rock.
This is the room where the kids (not nap, sleep!). The kids sleep at the school from Monday to Friday and then go home to their parents on the weekends. 
This is where the kids (boys and girls!) pee. Everybody has to squat to pee!
We have lots of pictures of the city, and the places we visited, however we will post more later. We are amazed at how much poverty is here. It really makes you appreciate the rock.We love and miss you all, and will post more tomorrow. Just a few more sleeps until we fly to Changsha to meet Maggie!!!!
Thursday, March 01, 2007
We made it!!
Well, we made it! The plane ride was horribly long and we are exhausted, but we are here... in Beijing, China. Talk about culture shock! The weather here is much warmer than Canada. Today was 6 degrees... much warmer than our minus 10! The smog is unreal... I guess because of the polution. There are alot of people, and so far they are all really nice.
Our hotel room is small but nice. We are adjusting to the smells of the city... very different! We have not tried any Chinese food yet, but we plan to tonight. Dinner last night was a peanut butter sandwich (thanks Dena for the homemade bread). We were totally exhausted last night (we had been awake for almost two days) so we went to bed around 7:00 p.m. and got up this morning at 3:00 a.m. We did not take many pictures yet as we were totally exhausted, however we do have a picture of our wonderful guide Freda. She is really nice and helpful. We are doing a tour today and going to the acrobat show this evening, so I am sure we will have lots of pictures tonight.
Our hotel room is small but nice. We are adjusting to the smells of the city... very different! We have not tried any Chinese food yet, but we plan to tonight. Dinner last night was a peanut butter sandwich (thanks Dena for the homemade bread). We were totally exhausted last night (we had been awake for almost two days) so we went to bed around 7:00 p.m. and got up this morning at 3:00 a.m. We did not take many pictures yet as we were totally exhausted, however we do have a picture of our wonderful guide Freda. She is really nice and helpful. We are doing a tour today and going to the acrobat show this evening, so I am sure we will have lots of pictures tonight.
We love you all and miss home already. Thanks Wanda for posting about Gracie. We talked to Gracie several times while in Ontario, and we are so thankful that she is in such good hands. I hope your visit went well.
Gracie, we love you sweetie and we miss you terribly. We are going to try to buy a calling card some time today and will call you as soon as we can. We wish you were with us. We hope you are having lots of fun.... talk to you soon. Love Mommy and Daddy.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Gracie and her new baby cousin Carter
These pictures were taken Friday night just before we left Newfoundland. Gracie is really taken with her new little cousin -- who she calls Baby Carter. Here is a picture of Gracie, and a picture of Carter with his Mommy and Daddy. Brent and I have been so busy this week, that we did not get a chance to spend much time with our newest nephew Carter (who is just 10 days old!), however we will have to make it up to him when we get home. Isn't he absolutely adorable??
Sorry everyone!
Sorry everyone. I know that some of you are trying to post comments, however the blog was set up (in error) to accept only comments from registered bloggers. I have just changed it to allow anyone to post a comment. We are looking forward to hearing from you, so please post when you can!
We made it to Stephanie and Jeff's very late last night (many flight delays!), and finally got to bed around 4:00 a.m. Ontario time (5:30 a.m. NL time!!), so we are tired today. Here is a picture of the runway at the airport in St. John's, NL. We were very lucky to even get out last night!
We made it to Stephanie and Jeff's very late last night (many flight delays!), and finally got to bed around 4:00 a.m. Ontario time (5:30 a.m. NL time!!), so we are tired today. Here is a picture of the runway at the airport in St. John's, NL. We were very lucky to even get out last night!
Jeff prepared a lovely brunch for us this morning, and now we are going to go out for a few hours to explore Kingston. Here is a picture of Brent, Jeff and I (without makeup!) at breakfast this morning.
Gracie -- it was no nice to speak to you today. Mommy and Daddy are so glad to hear that you are having a good time with your friends. We love you very much and we can't wait to bring Maggie home to you. You are going to be such a great big sister! Love Mommy and Daddy.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Our flight was cancelled!
Our flight to Ottawa this morning was cancelled due to the weather. We are flying out late this evening. We lost one day with Stephanie and Jeff!! That is too bad, however at least we will get to spend some time with them tomorrow and Monday morning. We are taking the train on Monday to Acton to visit with Rod and Dena... and then we are off to Beijing on Wednesday!
I will try to post more tomorrow.
I will try to post more tomorrow.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Maggie's baby shower
Some of our close friends and family members came by last weekend with presents for Maggie! I really did not want to have a baby shower as it has been crazy busy but we decided at the last minute to have a shower in our house. It was absolutely lovely! Here are just a few pictures from the very special day.
