And we thought the exersaucer was a blast...

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I think I'll try Grammie's sink this time...

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So many new friends!

Teaching Brett how to use chopsticks:)




Rocking with Auntie Amy!




Sharing the chair with Auntie Amy and big cousin Cole!

Meeting my Great Grammie Milligan for the first time :)

Hanging out with the Porter family...Jill, Kevin, Kayl, Hayden and Karch!

Baby Mum-Mum

This post is especially for Catherine and Cari. These are Baby Mum-Mums. You can buy them in grocery stores and drugstores, in the baby section. They come in individual packages with two pieces in each package. I don't leave home without them...

A Week At Home...

We've now been home for a week. It's amazing how much things have changed over just 7 days...here are just a few things...
--Kennedy now puts food to her mouth. She didn't put anything to her mouth when we first got her. This was good in a lot of ways but we knew that developmentally this is one of the first things kids do...put things to their mouth in an effort to explore their environment. So thanks to Uncle Mark for teaching her that last Sunday :)

--Sitting up. Again when we first got her, she could not sit up on her own. After a week together in China, she was strong enough to sit on her own. She is now taking it one step further...she can pull herself up when she falls backward (she always has pillows behind her because she loves to "throw" herself back!!) She is just so much stronger now.

--Routine. Amen for routine. She is now, in just 7 days, a very predictable baby. Wakes up around 7-7:30. Breakfast. Playtime. Does her "business". A one hour nap somewhere around 10-10:30. Lunch. Playtime. 2 hours nap around 2:00. Supper. Playtime/Bathtime and bed @ 8pm. The beauty of it all is that she LOVES to get out and about and can fall asleep anywhere. Noise does not bother her. So we'll be on the go lots!

--Mum Mums are her ABSOLUTE favorite snack. If you need a minute to do something, just give her a mum mum. Cheerios come a close second.

--Constant runny nose. This hasn't let up since the second week of our trip. And she absolutely HATES when you try to wipe it :) It doesn't seem to be bothering her much. She's in a great mood, no fever, etc.

--She says mama and baba on occasion and has waved bye-bye a couple of times. Her hair is growing...we may have to go see Stacey for a trim soon!

A few pics:


Listening to some music on the plane from Beijing to Toronto!!



Playing with my cousin Taylor! He's a lot of fun!


Meeting my cousin Cole! He likes to hug me!

Danielle's Housewarming

Tonight, Kennedy and I headed over to Danielle's for her housewarming party! It was so nice to see everyone from work and Kennedy loved playing with everyone, especially Mya, Sophie, Chloe, Savannah and Kennah! Yep, that's right, Kennah was there and I told Jen that I'm gonna post her picture!!!! So for everyone out there that's been waiting to see baby Kennah, here she is...


Okay, so it's not such a good picture of Kennah...I'll leave the close ups to Jen. I just wanted to prove to you all that I did meet her and hold her. She's sweet!





This is Mya and Kennedy playing "Rubbermaid dishes" together. Aren't they just the best toys?


Kennedy playing with Monette...we can't wait for Kennedy to meet Monette's girls, Julie and Isabelle


Kennedy with Jen. We switched babies for a bit!

Splish Splash!

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Playing in my exersaucer

...with Oprah in the background and mommy blogging....


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Bath Time

Today Kennedy had her best bath time yet. Ofcourse, the big bathtub is just too big, the little baby bathtub, still a little big...but the sink is just right. Her favorite part is pouring the water over her hair to rinse out the shampoo!! Go figure. I remember screaming my head off when mom did that to me! Kennedy thinks it's fun. I think she's gonna like the pool this summer...

First hockey game (many more to come!)

Tonight we took Kennedy to the rink to see her cousin, Brett, play hockey. She loved it! Brett even scored a goal for her! Kennedy got to meet lots of new people including many that have been following our blog. It's so nice when people come up to us and tell us they've been following along. Here are a few pics from our day...

Another great sleep!

Yep! We got another great sleep last night. Miss K went to sleep at 8:30 and slept until 7:00! Cheers to that! She's really settling in now...more comforable with her surroundings and not as fussy as the first few days. She's met LOTS of people and that is when she's at her best. Like Aunt Marlene said, it's a good thing because in our family, there's always a crowd around.

I went to get our pictures developed yesterday...it took me over an hour. We have more than 400 pictures...that cost us a bundle, but it was well worth it.

The top photo is a picture of our entire group....absolutely fantastic people.

The bottom two pictures show Kennedy and I with our friends Raelene and Bryn; Shea and Caia. Raelene, Shea and I were in very close contact in the months leading up to our trip. They are both in Saskatchewan, so it was very hard to say goodbye, not knowing when we would meet again and when the girls would be together again...hopefully someday. We miss you guys!!!

Grandma visits!

This morning Grammie Milligan is here to entertain Miss K. Did I mention that she LOVES to be entertained? The bigger the crowd, the better. She finds Marvin and I to be rather boring and would much prefer to be out and about visiting people. Social butterfly on our hands.

Last night Kennedy went to bed @ 8pm and slept through till 3:30. Then she came in with us and eventually fell asleep by about 5:00. We were then all awake by 6:30. So a little disrupted but still much better than it was. We'll take it.

Sleep..........

It's amazing how much difference a good night of sleep makes. Since we got home, Kennedy had been sleeping in spurts through the night and having her big sleep during the day. So we decided to do our best to keep her up all day, with just a short nap, and put her to bed around 8ish. We did this on Sunday, with help from Aunt Kim, Uncle Mark and cousins Breanna and Chloe. Still, Sunday night she was waking up several times through the night, but I felt like we were heading in the right direction. Yesterday she had a couple of 1 hour naps and was ready for bed by 8pm last night. I went to bed at the same time, prepared to be woken up within a few hours. We I finally woke up, it was 4:30 a.m. I was so happy I could hardly get back to sleep. Now for the best part...Kennedy didn't wake until 8 a.m.!!! Then we got up and headed off to Greenfield School to see some friends, then to Aunt Kim's work...this afternoon our friend Ruth dropped by with some homemade soup and biscuits (Thanks Ruth) and we're heading to Grammie and Grampie Milligan's for supper! Will she make it through another night? We'll see...

We went to Charlottetown yesterday to welcome home Roshandra, Catherine and Kevin. It was Roshandra's birthday!! Nice to have everyone home safe and sound and start our new lives together...

Happy Chinese New Year!

It's the year of the Pig! Happy New Year everyone!

Well, it's been a tough few days for all of us. Our clocks are confused, to say the least. Kennedy has her days and nights totally reversed so we are working hard at getting that turned around. Today we went to Grammie Clow's house where Kennedy played with her aunts, uncles and cousins ALL day. She loved it! She had a 45 minute cat nap around 3 o'clock and we managed to keep her up until 8pm so hopefully she'll sleep through until at least 5 or 6 a.m. The last two mornings she woke up at 3 o'clock and 1:30 so we're thinking it can only get better, right?

We are also all battling colds/sore throats. I was actually in such discomfort this a.m that I went to emergency only to find a FULL waiting room at 8 a.m. I knew I couldn't sit there all day so I came back home. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow.

Tomorrow we are heading to Charlottetown to welcome home the Stetson family. It is Roshandra's birthday tomorrow and we can't wait to see them again. We know their older children must be so anxious to finally meet their baby sister.

Thank you to everyone who has called, stopped by and sent messages. We still need a bit of time to get adjusted but we'll be up and on the go soon.

Home Sweet, Sweet Home!

It is soooooooo good to be home. I have now been up for 36+ hours without a wink of sleep. We arrived home at 2 ish, greeted friends and family at the airport and off we went to Summerside...straight to McDonald's. I hadn't eaten for so long...about 36 hours I guess. The flights were delayed everywhere, we missed a connection, waited and waited and waited. Let's just say I don't want to go near an airport anytime soon. Carrying a baby through airports and on airplanes for what seemed like forever was exhausting, but worth it for sure!!

I'd like to thank the makers of the evenflo exersaucer for their wonderful invention. Kennedy loves it and I love it too!! It's now 8 a.m. Marv is getting some sleep and Kennedy is good to go. Marv is getting sick, so he needs rest more than I at this point.

Thank you to those who came to the airport to welcome us home. It was heartwarming to see so many people there. I know there were several others that had planned to come, but with our late arrival it was impossible to get there. We totally understand this. Thank you for your thoughts and well wishes.

Mom, thank you for cleaning our house and having it all ready for our return :)

And yes, today is my 35th birthday. Who knew I'd be bringing my girl home on my birthday. What an awesome gift.

Thanks for posting the pictures Sue!

A HUGE congratulations to Jeff, Jen and Savannah on the birth of Kennah! Can't wait to see you guys.

Special hello to our friends who travelled home with us from Beijing...Kathleen, Pat, Lucilla, Marcus and the beautiful Maeve! We miss you guys already. Thank you for your friendship throughout the trip and special thanks to Lucilla and Marcus for all your help each day! You are truly wonderful people!

I must make mention of our friends Bryan and Angela, who travelled from Moncton (took the day of work today!) to welcome us home. That means a lot to us! We cannot wait to share the details of our journey with you as you prepare to bring Ella home. xoxo

More to come...

MORE PICTURES!!!

Here are some more pictures....what a cutie!!!

WELCOME HOME KENNEDY!!!

Hi Everyone,
This is Sue, it is 3AM and I am just back from the airport to welcome Miss Kennedy Joy Clow to PEI!! She is absolutely beautiful....and what a little personality on her! The plane landed at 2AM and there was a good crowd there to welcome them home!! I just wanted to post a 'few' pictures of the Clow arrival and Carolyn will post as soon as she is up and running!! Congratulations........and WELCOME HOME KENNEDY!!!
Hugs and Kisses,
Sue

Last Night in China: Wednesday, February 14th

Yes, it's hard to believe this is our last night in China. It is with a heavy heart that we take Kennedy from her homeland, all the while knowing that she will have a fresh start in our awesome country Canada with two parents who love her more than anything...

We are worn down and ready to return Summerside. The support we've received from our community has been tremendous, with people sharing our story with their friends and so on...Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

And finally, our dear girl Kennedy, we bring you home to the wonderful people of Prince Edward Island. Finally...we are a family.

Thanks for following along everyone. You can continue to follow our journey when we return home. Stay tuned...

Tuesday, February 13 9:50 pm.

Hi Everyone! We continue to take in the China sites...today we went to the silk store and chose to skip the pearl market and lunch as we were feeling pretty tired. Our AWESOME guide, Faye, hailed us a cab to take us back to the hotel. for about a 45 minute drive it cost us 7.50 canadian!! That means we could go from Summerside to Charlottetown for that price! Hilarious!!

We've been able to talk to Kim, Amy and Mom over the last day or so, so that's been nice. Kennedy has quite a runny nose. It's been an extremely hectic schedule this week so we're all a bit tired. Marv went out tonight and bought us another suitcase to take our treasures home in. We had planned on doing this as our other luggage was stuffed pretty full coming here and we knew we wouldn't have much room to take stuff home. Kennedy is allowed a suitcase, so that will work out just fine. Tomorrow we head to Tiananamen Square and the Forbidden City, then shopping again. Tomorrow evening Yulin is having the traditional going home party for the girls. It's hard to believe we'll be heading home in just a couple of days. We leave the hotel at 10:30 a.m. on thursday and fly out at 2:40pm. Ofcourse with the time change, we arrive home at 11pm, but really it will be about 24 hours in transit for us. We are praying that we can get home okay as the forecast doesn't look good :(

It will be hard to say goodbye to China, but harder to say goodbye to our travel group...The Stetson's and us are the only ones in the maritimes. Everyone else is Ontario west so it will be difficult to see each other. But with the amazing world of internet, we will be able to keep in touch.

Thank you all so much for your continued support! It's so exciting to read all the messages and know how many people watching our journey. We cannot wait to see you all when we return to Summerside.

Lots of Love from Beijing,
Carolyn, Marv and Kennedy

Pictures...I hope this works!!

Arrival in Charlottetown on Thursday at 11pm

Hi again everyone! I just checked the PEI weather for Thursday, and what do ya know? Snow and blowing snow. As we all know, things can change in a hurry so we'll keep watching.

Our flight number is Air Canada 7676 from Montreal due into Charlottetown at 11:05. You never know with flight delays etc., so you can keep posted on the internet by checking if we're on time. In the case of a major storm, mom and dad STAY PUT!! We already made plans for Sue and Marty to come and get us. We will stay at their house for the night. The last thing I would want is to be driving through a storm at midnight!! So, we will give a call home once we get to Canada and make plans from there.

Monday, February 12, 2007

Hi Everyone. This is a rare moment when the internet is actually working for me. I considered pitching the computer out the window a few times, but luckily I didn't...

Everything continues to go very well. Kennedy is behaving very typically for her age...squirming, babbling, laughing, flirting...We had our medical exam this morning. She LOVED the doctor and he quite liked her too! She was a very good girl. No needles Stephanie...so that was good!! Yesterday we visited the Great Wall, a truly awesome sight and the Jade Factory. Absolutely beautiful jewellery, but quite expensive.

This afternoon we are having Kennedy's photos done by a photographer. Another family in our group had them done and we just couldn't resist. So many things here are once in a lifetime opportunities so we want to do everything! Tonight we are going to an acrobat show. Tomorrow will be lots of shopping. We are going to the pearl market. (Marvin is speaking mandarin to kennedy right now...he learned how to say DADDY loves you...she smiles!)

McDonald's was good...tastes just like home.

I will not even attempt to load pictures. When I get home, I will post lots of photos from the trip...

Can't wait to get home to see everyone.
Lots of Love from China
The Clow Family

internet gone bad.....................

hi all....we're all doing well...I have a girl on my knee so I'm doing this FAST. Marv just went on a mcdonald's run. Yay! We're CRAZY busy here in Beijing. lots of sight seeing, less paperwork. the internet is bad here so i don't know how much i can post. i just got back into my sympatico account so keep sending messages. kennedy is now a squirmy monkey!! more later i hope

xox

Beijing

Well, it's now 8 a.m on Saturday morning in Beijing. We didn't get to our rooms until about 11:00 last night. Needless to say we were ALL tired. Let's just say the plane ride was interesting. Kennedy slept for the first half hour and cried for the last half hour...she wanted no part of a bottle, so perhaps her ears were bothering her...she was also tired because she had interrupted naps all day. We have another busy day scheduled today, so we'll see how it all goes. Internet service is not quite as good here as in Nanchang. It's slower for sure. Hopefully it all works out okay. It also costs to use the internet in our rooms here. In Nanchang it was FREE. But that's okay...I'm willing to pay it to keep in touch with home...

Again, thanks for the e-mails and comments on the blog. We are getting anxious to get home now. 5 more sleeps

Last few hours in Nanchang

We are just back from getting Kennedy's Chinese passport. We have packed our things and are ready to head out to Beijing. It's with mixed emotions that we leave Jiangxi, Kennedy's birth province. Hopefully, one day, we'll be back again. Goodbye Nanchang and thank you for our beautiful daughter...

Happy baby:


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IT'S A BOY!

Our friends, Leah and Todd, have a baby boy! I don't know any more details at this point, but I will let you all know when I do. This is a little brother for Anna and Lauren. Congratulations to the Clark Family!!!!!

Another site to follow!

I have another site for you all to follow. The Hendricksen family is travelling with us. There are two big sisters on this trip with us: Kate, daughter of Aggie and Rob and Helena (Hendricksen), daughter of Beth and James. You can check out Beth, James, Helena and baby Ava's site
here!

Raelene, Girard and Bryn

This post is for everyone, but especially for Raelene and Girard's family and friends. Hope you all enjoy these pictures. Bryn in an absolute doll!

Another great day in Nanchang

Today we went to the Tengwang Temple. It was a sight to see. I was exhausted afterward as I carried kennedy for about one hour as we toured around. We took our stroller but there were so many steps that we left it at the bottom. We made a few purchases and then it was off to dinner at a local restaurant. I'm very tired tonight...better get to bed early. We fly to Beijing tomorrow afternoon. It will be interesting to see how Kennedy enjoys the flight. Hopefully internet will not be a problem in Beijing...this will be my last post until we get things up and running there. Here are some pictures for you all!