A Letter to Maya

Dear Maya,

In less than a month, we will be able to look into your eyes and draw you close to our hearts. We will ask you to take our hands and to leave your life, your world behind you. How strange and confusing this will all feel to you. Please don't be afraid. I hope you can look beyond a face so different from any you have known, beyond the tears that will certainly be there, and see the love that I have for you. Then, take my hand.

I am bringing with me a tall, dark ( and handsome) man who may also seem frightening to you. Look closely and you will see the kindness within his soul. He is your father. He will introduce you to a world that you have never imagined. A world of hockey and soccer and chocolate chip cookies. He will journey with you to a place called Narnia, and stroke your hair as sleep overtakes you each night. He will be your greatest advocate, he will be your strength. Take his hand.

When you arrive at your new home you will meet two very big, very furry creatures unlike any you have met before. Do not be frightened. They are our faithful companions Sam and Berkeley. They will love you forever if you share your meals with them and shower them with kisses. Take their paws.

You will meet so many new people in the coming weeks. Oma, Gramma and Papa are waiting anxiously to hold you in their arms. Your Auntie Susan counts the days until she can finally kiss your cheeks. Auntie Beth is waiting to introduce you to the land of moguls and wake-boards. Robert, Genny, Kendra, Genessa and Jenael are so very happy to have a new cousin and look forward to seeing you this summer. Uncle Don and Uncle Glenn will introduce you to vacations which are filled with giggles and ice-cream. You will discover waffles, and become an honorary PoPoGee. Your new family awaits you. Take their hands.

You will meet many of our dear friends and family who are awaiting your arrival. David, and Hinson, Susan, Lynn, Richard, Taia and Alan, Tim, Ben, Mario, John Ma, Brian and Martha, Ruth and Alf, Rob and Cheryl, Karen, Deb, Juanita, Andrea, Mag, and many others. You have already touched so many hearts. We are very blessed to have these people in our lives. Take their hands.

Only thirty days until we begin our adventure together. We will be beside you every step of the way. Take our hands.

Love,

Mom & Dad

It's a Date ! - We think....

With the Christmas holidays fast approaching, everything has shifted into a different mode. Decorate the house - check! Shop for presents for the family - check ! Bake cookies for Paul's office cookie exchange - almost a check ! Buy Paul's Christmas gift - oops !! Guess I know where I'll be this weekend !

We have Purolated our visa applications and paperwork to our agency in Ottawa. The next step is to have the Chinese Embassy approve the travel visas. The problem is that we are smack dab in the midst of holiday season. The Canadian officials will retire for their Christmas siestas next week. Then, the Chinese population will ring in their New Year on February 17th. We were originally told that we would travel to China after the CNY - so around Feb 23rd. Next we were told that the second week in January might be a possibility. Now, they have settled on Feb 2nd as our departure date, and we will return to Canada on Feb 15th. Not bad, we will be able to share our daughter's 1st birthday with her, and enjoy our first Valentine's Day as a family! But, if there are any hiccups along the way... we may be back to traveling in late February.... Always an adventure !

Maya's Name

CEN LI TIAN

'Cen' refers to a mountain in the Heng Feng area. All of the children from the Heng Feng Social Welfare Institution (SWI) have this surname.

'Li' has many meanings, depending on the context in which it is used. It can mean 'bountiful' and 'beautiful' - I think these are both appropriate for our little girl !

'Tian' means 'heaven' - a more fitting name for our 'heaven-sent child' cannot be found.

'Maya' means 'a gift from God', 'a much wished for child', 'mother' and many other things depending on the language in which it is used. We thought it was a very sweet name for a little Chinese girl - and it goes with 'Falcao' !!

'Grace' - well that's my mom's name. Thanks mom !!!!

Our Purolator 'Stork' Arrived Today !!!

We received Maya's referral package today !! It contains translated versions of her medical history (as of August 6, 2006), her developmental milestones, the toys she likes to play with ( a 'rattledrum'), and the foods she likes to eat. "She has a good living habit. Now she can sit in her walker and play for a while alone. She takes milk powder and honey mixed rice flour as her staple food. She takes four to five meals a day, with 220ml for each meal. In addition to milk powder, she also takes noodles, rice porridge, eggs and other soft food... " With an appetite like that - she's definitely MY girl !!!

We have also received information about Maya's first days of life. Paul and I have both agreed NOT to discuss the particulars of her abandonment - until Maya is old enough to truly understand her own history, and to give HER permission to discuss it.. This little girl will come to us with very little that is hers and hers alone. Her history is one of those things.

They tell us not to become attached to the photo. Sadly, but fortunately on RARE occasions, a child is not well enough to proceed with the adoption. There have been families who have returned home with a different child, or worse, with none at all.
I understand the sentiment and the rationale, but it's too late. I truly love this child. She is my daughter - and in each of our hands lies a red thread.

Maya's First Scrapbook Page

This page was created by our friend Debbie. Deb and her husband Kirk will be traveling to Beijing with our group in late February, 2007. They are the very happy new parents of a little cutie named 'Olivia'. Thank-you Debbie !!!

Miracles Happen !

During the past few days, I have spent many hours surfing the 'net'. I have been searching for 'adoption' sites, 'China' sites, 'baby referral' sites and many others - all in the hope of finding more information about Maya's birth country. There are thousands of Chinese children adopted each year( over 7,000 in the USA alone !) There are several hundred websites, and thousands of blogs related to 'adoption fom China'. When I have typed in the keywords 'Heng Feng SWI', or 'Heng Feng referrals' etc., the search has always yielded the same results. Today, our results were nothing short of miraculous!

I found a family in the USA who adopted a little girl from Heng Feng in August, 2006. In the family's blog there are MANY entries and many photos of their journey to China. But in particular, there is an entry which describes their daughter Olivia's foster mother:

"...The information stated that her foster mother is Xu Xiang Feng, a sixty-seven year old woman who also cares for another child from the orphanage named Cen Li Tian. I assume that Cen Li Tian is still in her care and I'll be curious to see if I can find who adopts her..." - She already has, I e-mailed her this afternoon !!

Most children who are adopted from China have very little information pertaining to their medical histories, the circumstances which led to their abandonment, etc. It now seems possible for us share much more with our daughter, and we may be able to maintain contact with her foster mother. Words can't begin to express how blessed I feel at this particular moment.

Legacy of an Adopted Child - a Poem

Once there were two women, who never knew each other.
One you do not remember, the other you call Mother.
Two different lives, shaped to make you one.
One became your guiding star, the other became your sun.
The first one gave you life, and the second taught you to live it.
The first gave you a need for love, the second was there to give it.

One gave you a nationality, the other gave you a name.
One gave you a talent, the other gave you aim.
One gave you emotions, the other calmed your fears
One saw your first sweet smile, the other dried your tears.
One sought for you a home that she could not provide,
The other prayed for a child, and her hope was not denied.
And now you ask me, through your tears,
The age old question, unanswered through the years.
Heredity or environment, which are you a product of?
Neither my darling, neither.
Just two different kinds of love.

Author unknown

Maya Grace Tian Falcao

Call Us Mommy & Daddy, Please !!!!!!!!!!!!

Paul received the call from Cathy Murphy at Children's Bridge this afternoon - We are the ecstatic new parents of a baby GIRL !!!!!!!

Cen Li Tian
Jiangxi Province
Born : February 7th, 2006
weight: 7.1 kg
height: 64.8 cm
head circumference: 40.8 cm
chest circumference: 40.7 cm
She is quiet and likes games, and is very attached to her foster mother
She resided at the Heng Feng SWI

I was at my Dr.'s office when the phone call came, so Paul got the joyful news! We have'nt seen her photos yet but will post as soon as we can. Thank-you Father for prayers answered- Mom and Dad

Coming soon - we hope !

All is quiet, after the storm

This has been a very rough weekend - lots of tears, beautiful flowers from my husband, but very rough. But then, the funny thing about cliches is that they are usually true. The sun really does 'come up again tomorrow', 'Things happen for a reason', 'You will get the child who is meant for you'.... We sure hope so, 'cause if we get the child who's meant for someone else, we can't send them back !!

We have received many emails from our fellow group members, and have seen the photos of the children referred to them. They are over-the-moon with joy with their new babies, and they should be - they've earned this little piece of happiness. Many of these families have come to the process of adoption after periods of great pain, and in some cases great loss. Some have experienced failed fertility treatments, some - failed marriages, but for most, the adoption journey is not an easy one.

I spoke to our agency this morning and have been told that no, our file has not been lost - it's just somehow taken a detour - and hopefully, we will receive a referral soon. 'From your lips to God's ears, mam' - that's all I can say.

The Wait Continues...

We just received a call from Children's Bridge and we have NOT received a referral this time. The rumour we had heard was in fact true ( even though our agency had told us all was fine). Our file was set aside because of a question in the Matching Room and it did not rejoin the rest of our group's files. The agency said it will try to contact CCAA and expedite the process for us- so hopefully we will receive our referral before Christmas. I was told that the rest of the referrals are from Guangdong and Jiangxi provinces in the south of China. We are very happy for all of our fellow group members - many have become friends during this long process. Congratulations! to everyone and we hope to travel with you in February.

What Sam Thinks About the Delay !

Things the make us go waaahhhhh !

Our dear sister-in-law Beth called DHL courier last night. This was after a lovely day of having their truck break down on the side of the road. They (and the doggies) were going to Deep Creek, and the truck decided it wasn't. They finally made it home that night- safe but very tired we're sure. Thank you Beth for all your effort!

DHL has no record of a package being sent to Children's Bridge within the last seven days. We hope it will leave Beijing today - if it's already on its way -yippie !! If it took that left turn at Albequerque - we're hooped !!!

Stork Alert !

Referrals are arriving in the European agencies - so they're officially on the way to us !!
The CCAA has also updated its website - finally ! - and the cut-off date for referrals is Sept. 8th, 2006. Again, hoping that our being questioned in the Review Room has not changed our LID.
We're going to be parents ! Dance of Joy !, Dance of Joy !

We're Officially on the Roller Coaster Ride !!

Elvis has left the building !!

Rumour has it that the referrals have left Beijing and are now enroute to North America. One thing that seems to be consistent EVERY month is that nobody knows for sure when things will happen. We know they will be sent by DHL courier. We know they will arrive this week or early next week. We think Sept. 7th is the cut-off date set by the CCAA. We think we're included in this batch. We think we are losing our minds !!

Maybe next week !!!!!!

Paul and I just returned from a lovely trip to Atlanta. It was a long-weekend get-away planned by Paul. For those of you who don't know, I have a wonderful husband, and I know he will be an equally wonderful father to our child.

It was sunny but cool (mid 40's) - but the stores at the outlet mall were toasty warm! We went to an Atlanta Thrashers hockey game, toured CNN and museum-hopped with Jimmy Carter and the Louvre!. It was a great trip, and a nice diversion while we wait for news about our referral date. Rumour has it that we may receive a referral late next week or the week after. We've waited for so long, over 2 years, and this may finally be happening. Maya or Ben - we'll see you soon - love Mom and Dad

And so we wait, and wait........

Today is a warm day for the month of November. No snow yet, but it will likely arrive by the holiday season. Sam and I went for our daily walk in the park, Paul rode the subway to his office, our cat clawed the chairs in the kitchen - such excitement!!

The wait that we are enduring, that all adoptive parents (perhaps including Madonna) must endure, is very difficult. Today, we have been told that the CCAA (the Center for Adoption Affairs in China) has changed some of its policies. There is a possibility that one of these changes will affect our LID ( log-in date or the day that our file was officially registered in China). The end result may be that we won't receive our child's referral when the rest of our group does - which will hopefully be before Christmas. We may have to wait until January or perhaps February to receive our referral, and we won't be traveling with the families we have come to know. We have a very good agency, but even they seem to be in the dark as to any new changes. And so we wait, and so we pray, that we will meet our child, whoever that child may be , very soon.