Friday, January 12, 2007
Our flights are booked!
Well, we officially have a travel date! We leave NL on February 24th, fly to Ontario to spend a few days with familiy and friends, and then meet up with the other NL couples on February 28th to fly to Beijing! We will arrive in Beijing a few days earlier than anticpated. This will help with the jetleg, and we will have an opportunity to spend some time with our travel mates -- not the mention a little shopping! We are still not sure what day we actually get to meet Maggie -- likely on March 3rd or 4th. It won't be much longer now!
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
File translated
We received Maggie's translated file yesterday, and we took her medical report to the doctor for him to review. Her medical was completed on October 17, 2006, when Maggie was 4.5 months old. As we expected, Maggie is perfectly healthy! At the time, she was 60 cm in height and weighed almost 13 lbs! My doctor said that she was healthy and BIG! I wonder how big she will be when we meet her, at 9.5 months of age? I am starting to second guess my size 12 month purchases!!
Her referral indicated that her name "Kang Mei" means that those who named her conveyed good wishes that she would grow healthy and happily into a beautiful and vigorous girl in the future. She loves bright colors, being massaged (who wouldn't like that?), and sound making toys. At 4 months old, she would utter "oooo" like sounds when someone was talking to her and amusing her. She sleeps with her hands clenched on both sides of her head (I can just picture how precious that must look!). She has a very ready smile, loves music, and is a "lovely and active little angel." Her favourite thing to do is rock in a rocking chair. The minute one of her Nanny's sat in a chair with her, Maggie would kick her feet to try to rock the chair. OK, I have to get a rocker for the nursery!
Ohhh my.... is it time to go yet?
Her referral indicated that her name "Kang Mei" means that those who named her conveyed good wishes that she would grow healthy and happily into a beautiful and vigorous girl in the future. She loves bright colors, being massaged (who wouldn't like that?), and sound making toys. At 4 months old, she would utter "oooo" like sounds when someone was talking to her and amusing her. She sleeps with her hands clenched on both sides of her head (I can just picture how precious that must look!). She has a very ready smile, loves music, and is a "lovely and active little angel." Her favourite thing to do is rock in a rocking chair. The minute one of her Nanny's sat in a chair with her, Maggie would kick her feet to try to rock the chair. OK, I have to get a rocker for the nursery!
Ohhh my.... is it time to go yet?
Friday, January 05, 2007
Gracie is a big sister!!!!!
We got the call today! We are thrilled to announce the newest addition to our family! We are waiting on the file to be translated, however we do know the following:
Chinese Name: Chen Kang Mei
Canadian Name: Maggie Mei Bussey
Residing: Chenzhou Children's Welfare Institute in Hunan, China
Born: May 27, 2006 (just 7 months old!!!)
We are in love!!! She is absolutely beautiful!
Chinese Name: Chen Kang Mei
Canadian Name: Maggie Mei Bussey
Residing: Chenzhou Children's Welfare Institute in Hunan, China
Born: May 27, 2006 (just 7 months old!!!)
We are in love!!! She is absolutely beautiful!
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Updated pictures of our treasure - Gracie!
Here are a few updated pictures of our beautiful daughter Gracie! I can't believe that she will be four years old in April. Where does the time go? She is no longer a baby -- but a beautiful little woman!
Monday, December 04, 2006
An update from our agency
We spoke to our agency today, to seek further clarification. Here is what they said:
We brought the problem of log in dates to CCAA’s attention and requested that files be matched in the proper order of log in date, essentially so our families/groups be matched in order sent CCAA indicated they would consider our request, but we did not know what had been decided until the referrals arrived in the office. In matching the groups it did this month, CCAA evidently looked only at the Ontario CB files. I appreciate that this caused no end of confusion and upset for out of province families, aggravated by my not explaining this clearly in the update.
There is no way I can rectify what has happened. What we can and will do is to urge CCAA to match the next families in waiting before Christmas, if at all possible. We have no idea if we will be successful, but we will try.
We are still praying that we will get our referral in time to travel with the rest of our group.... but given our luck lately, I won't be banking on it!!!
We brought the problem of log in dates to CCAA’s attention and requested that files be matched in the proper order of log in date, essentially so our families/groups be matched in order sent CCAA indicated they would consider our request, but we did not know what had been decided until the referrals arrived in the office. In matching the groups it did this month, CCAA evidently looked only at the Ontario CB files. I appreciate that this caused no end of confusion and upset for out of province families, aggravated by my not explaining this clearly in the update.
There is no way I can rectify what has happened. What we can and will do is to urge CCAA to match the next families in waiting before Christmas, if at all possible. We have no idea if we will be successful, but we will try.
We are still praying that we will get our referral in time to travel with the rest of our group.... but given our luck lately, I won't be banking on it!!!
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Moving past this mess...
I am telling myself that I have to move past what has happened to us (and 3 other NL families) over the past few weeks and focus on something more positive -- GRACIE! Gracie has been with us for 1.5 years, and we can not wait for her adoption to be finalized. She is the light of our lives. Here is a recent picture. Isn't she the most precious and beautiful little girl? We love her sooo much!!
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Just when we thought things could not get worse...
As you are aware from my previous post, we were notified last week that we will not be getting our referral this month, as our LID had been changed from September 3rd to September 13th. Since the cut-off was September 8th, we had to wait until after Christmas to see our daughter's face. We were devestated, but sort of understood. You see, we are from Newfoundland and our file was logged in at a different time than the rest of our group (group 243) from Ontario and other provinces. We were logged in September 3rd, and the rest of our group was logged in September 14th. There was a mix-up at CCAA in September 2005 which resulted in them logging files in the wrong order. The group behind us at our agency (group 244) was actually logged in ahead of us on September 7th. Adjusting our LID to September 13th has placed us more in line with our group 243 .... but still behind group 244. It was hard to swallow, but we had to live with it.
Last night, we received a newsletter from our agency, which stated the following:
Referrals have arrived for groups 242-244! Congratulations to all the happy families. On the CCAA website it notes that files registered up until September 8th were matched. In fact group 243 was registered September 14, 2005, after group 244. There was a problem at CCAA during September 2005 resulting in some files being delayed in registration. Our groups were, in fact, logged in out of order. CCAA very kindly agreed to match all three groups.
Can you imagine our excitement???? The CCAA had decided to provide all of the groups with their referrals because of the error last fall. Yiiippppeee, we were so happy and excited! However we should have known better. When we checked with our agency, we were advised that the CCAA did not make this exception for the Newfoundland families (there are 4 Newfoundland families in this group with the exact same story, LID, etc.). We are so angry and hurt. Why would the CCAA include all of group 243 and exclude the NL families? That does not seem fair. Our LID is now actually one day ahead of the rest of our group.
It has been the most emotional week. Last week we were waiting for our referral (LID September 3) and we told ALL of our friends and family (big mistake). Our agency emailed us and said that our LID had changed to Setember 13th and to not expect a referral this month. We were devestated. Then yesterday our agency emailed the groups to say we were indeed getting our referral this month. And then hours later told us that we were not getting our referral this month. I am just about ready to crack.
To make matters even worse, the next group with our agency is not expecting their referrals for many months, so if we do indeed get our referral in January, we will have no group to travel with (except for the NL families who are equally affected). I am absolutely numb now.
Last night, we received a newsletter from our agency, which stated the following:
Referrals have arrived for groups 242-244! Congratulations to all the happy families. On the CCAA website it notes that files registered up until September 8th were matched. In fact group 243 was registered September 14, 2005, after group 244. There was a problem at CCAA during September 2005 resulting in some files being delayed in registration. Our groups were, in fact, logged in out of order. CCAA very kindly agreed to match all three groups.
Can you imagine our excitement???? The CCAA had decided to provide all of the groups with their referrals because of the error last fall. Yiiippppeee, we were so happy and excited! However we should have known better. When we checked with our agency, we were advised that the CCAA did not make this exception for the Newfoundland families (there are 4 Newfoundland families in this group with the exact same story, LID, etc.). We are so angry and hurt. Why would the CCAA include all of group 243 and exclude the NL families? That does not seem fair. Our LID is now actually one day ahead of the rest of our group.
It has been the most emotional week. Last week we were waiting for our referral (LID September 3) and we told ALL of our friends and family (big mistake). Our agency emailed us and said that our LID had changed to Setember 13th and to not expect a referral this month. We were devestated. Then yesterday our agency emailed the groups to say we were indeed getting our referral this month. And then hours later told us that we were not getting our referral this month. I am just about ready to crack.
To make matters even worse, the next group with our agency is not expecting their referrals for many months, so if we do indeed get our referral in January, we will have no group to travel with (except for the NL families who are equally affected). I am absolutely numb now.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Unbelievable, but unfortunately true...
As most of you are aware, we should be getting our referral next week (our LID is September 3, 2005). However we have just received some unfortunate news. We just found out that our Province and / or CCAA (no one seems to know who made this mistake) advised us of the wrong date - our LID is actually September 13, 2005!!! As a result we will not get our referral until after Christmas. I am so angry because we were looking forward to receiving our angel's picture before Christmas. I don't think people (i.e. our Province, CCAA, or even our agency) realize what this does to people! The Province will not return my emails or phone calls and our agency simply says that it was not their fault. We are completely devestated.
It has been one issue after another since we started this process. We have hit every stumbling block possible -- mostly because we live in Newfoundland. To make matters worse.... we have already started to train my replacement at work (who obviously has now started too early!) and now that we will be travelling later than planned we have to find a new sitter for Gracie (my sister is pregnant and due in March). This "simple" mistake has completely turned our lives upside down.
But most of all.... another Christmas without Maggie is just hard to swallow. Here is a copy of the email that we received from our agency:
We have been advised that your Log In Date at the CCAA is actually September 13, 2005 rather then the previously reported September 3, 2005. This means that there is a greater chance that your referral will arrive in January as opposed to December. I understand this is highly disappointing for you, especially with the holiday season approaching. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.
It has been one issue after another since we started this process. We have hit every stumbling block possible -- mostly because we live in Newfoundland. To make matters worse.... we have already started to train my replacement at work (who obviously has now started too early!) and now that we will be travelling later than planned we have to find a new sitter for Gracie (my sister is pregnant and due in March). This "simple" mistake has completely turned our lives upside down.
But most of all.... another Christmas without Maggie is just hard to swallow. Here is a copy of the email that we received from our agency:
We have been advised that your Log In Date at the CCAA is actually September 13, 2005 rather then the previously reported September 3, 2005. This means that there is a greater chance that your referral will arrive in January as opposed to December. I understand this is highly disappointing for you, especially with the holiday season approaching. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Monday, November 06, 2006
Cute witch!!
Gracie had an absolute blast trick-or-treating this year. We stayed out for hours! She does not even like chocolate or candy, however she loved going door-to-door. Isn't she the cutest witch????
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Delays, delays, and more delays!!
Sorry that I haven't updated this blog in such a long time. We have had a rough few months. I won't get into all of the details.... but I will summarize very briefly.
1. There have been MANY delays in China, and even though our file was logged in September 2005... we will be LUCKY if we get to travel by Christmas. There are many rumours circulating about why the delays are occuring and about whether or not things will speed up. The bottom line is we just have to sit and wait. Waiting is very hard! We started this process in January 2004. It feels like we have been pregnant for 2.5 years!
2. Gracie's adoption has been put on hold until after we get back from China. It is very long story.... we thought we may loose her at one point, as we were told that we can not proceed with an international and domestic adoption at the one time. Needless to say that we have had a very stressful time over the past few months.... not knowing if we would get to adopt Gracie and Maggie. However I think everything is settled down and we may be able to proceed with both adoptions. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that we do not have anymore stumbling blocks. Since Gracie's adoption won't be finalized until after Maggie's... we will not be able to take Gracie to China with us. A friend of mine made a comment a few months back about the fact that adopting is so much easier than pregnancy / birth. Boy, she does not have a clue! If she only knew what we have been through in the past two years, she would change her tune!
3. I am still trying to finish my master's course on a part-time basis. It is hard - trying to balance work, home, and school. I have thought about quitting....but I only have three more courses left. I can't wait to finish!
On a more positive note.... we celebrated Gracie's third birthday on April 30th (she had so much fun) and our one year anniversary with her on May 5th. Despite everything that we have been through.... this past year has been absolutely wonderful.
Gracie is the light of our lives. What in heavens did we do with ourselves before Gracie? Here are a few pictures of her birthday celebrations (which lasted 2 days). My sister-in-law made the barbie cake!
1. There have been MANY delays in China, and even though our file was logged in September 2005... we will be LUCKY if we get to travel by Christmas. There are many rumours circulating about why the delays are occuring and about whether or not things will speed up. The bottom line is we just have to sit and wait. Waiting is very hard! We started this process in January 2004. It feels like we have been pregnant for 2.5 years!
2. Gracie's adoption has been put on hold until after we get back from China. It is very long story.... we thought we may loose her at one point, as we were told that we can not proceed with an international and domestic adoption at the one time. Needless to say that we have had a very stressful time over the past few months.... not knowing if we would get to adopt Gracie and Maggie. However I think everything is settled down and we may be able to proceed with both adoptions. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that we do not have anymore stumbling blocks. Since Gracie's adoption won't be finalized until after Maggie's... we will not be able to take Gracie to China with us. A friend of mine made a comment a few months back about the fact that adopting is so much easier than pregnancy / birth. Boy, she does not have a clue! If she only knew what we have been through in the past two years, she would change her tune!
3. I am still trying to finish my master's course on a part-time basis. It is hard - trying to balance work, home, and school. I have thought about quitting....but I only have three more courses left. I can't wait to finish!
On a more positive note.... we celebrated Gracie's third birthday on April 30th (she had so much fun) and our one year anniversary with her on May 5th. Despite everything that we have been through.... this past year has been absolutely wonderful.
Gracie is the light of our lives. What in heavens did we do with ourselves before Gracie? Here are a few pictures of her birthday celebrations (which lasted 2 days). My sister-in-law made the barbie cake!
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Update on Gracie and Maggie
Well it has been a long time since I posted. A lot has happened in the past few months. We have started the paperwork to adopt Gracie. We are keeping our fingers crossed that her adoption will be finalized before we go to China, so that we can take her with us. As difficult as the trip will be with a three year old, I can't imagine leaving her behind. We are hoping to travel in July or August (our LID is September 3, 2005) so that my sister (a teacher) can come with us and help take care of Gracie.... however with all of the delays, I don't think that will happen.
Concentrating on Gracie and her adoption, and trying to complete my master's degree part-time while working full-time, is definitely keeping me busy.... but waiting for our referral is still hard!
I have enclosed a few pictures of Gracie playing in the snow. She likes to eat snow.... but we have to be careful that she doesn't eat the yellow stuff!!!
Concentrating on Gracie and her adoption, and trying to complete my master's degree part-time while working full-time, is definitely keeping me busy.... but waiting for our referral is still hard!
I have enclosed a few pictures of Gracie playing in the snow. She likes to eat snow.... but we have to be careful that she doesn't eat the yellow stuff!!!
Sunday, January 08, 2006
So beautiful!
Here are a few pictures of our beautiful foster daughter, Gracie. Isn't she the cutest froggie you have ever seen? We are praying that we will be able to adopt her. She is very excited about travelling all the way to China to meet her new sister!
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Introduction
We are Brent and Lisa Bussey and we are from Conception Bay South, NL, Canada. We are in the process of adopting a baby girl from China. Her name will be Maggie and we hope to bring her home in the Spring / Summer 2006. We also have a 2.5 year old foster daughter, Gracie, that we are hoping to adopt. Our agency is Children's Bridge, and we are DTC August 23, 2005.
