How long has it been....

Well here we are finally posting again. For the longest time we couldn't even get into our blog. But here today I am able to post. Too happy!!!!

So much to update on now. We are cozy in our new house!! And more importantly Imogen has become a big sister, and a very good one I might add. So I this will be the first to the huge change in our blog. This is now the blog for Imogen & Beatrice Coady!

Beatrice is now 5-1/2 months old and is growing like crazy. We are very blessed as our girls are both very happy. Sleep leaves a little to be desired, but hey we can't have everything. This is a milestone week for Beatrice has cut her first two teeth.

Now that we are heading into Spring we have so much to look forward to. With our first Family Day (Our 2 year anniversary of Imogen's Gotcha Day!) on May 13th. Our visit with our Ontario China family, and a reunion with 5 more China families in PEI during the summer.

We are planning on posting more often now. We hope all is well with you and your families.

ELIB

Some Birthday photos

Hi there,

Can you believe it 2 posts in less than a month. How crazy! Imogen is doing very well, and had a great birthday. She got very spoiled, we have a few photos here of her birthday and some of an outing with Randy, Andrea and Nathan at Chuck E. Cheese. She loved it there!

We hope everyone is doing well.

ELI

I just can't pick...

Here are a bunch more photos of Immie, see below for the update.

The end of the summer, where did that go?

Hi Everyone,

It has been quite a while since we last messaged on here. So lets give you a quick recap:

May - Was the month that started the bustle, we were packing like mad people to move in with Grandma & Grandpa Snow for a month while we waited for our house. We had a garage sale to slim down our packing (which didn't work that great!) But the kids did well with their Kool-Aid stand at the Job's. However, I think Shayla, Imogen and Tanner drank their inventory.

In June we continued packing as the closing date was quickly approaching. We were very lucky to have a lot of help and got things packed and out on time.

We did however, end up packing our camera. So we borrowed Nannies to get us by.

July we lived with Grandma & Grandpa and had fun walking around the block petting the giant Frogs. Imogen also realized how much fun it was to splash Dad with the puddles of water.

Then came August 2nd we got our new house, the move in went well better than the move out, and again we had a ton of wonderful help! We have all settled in nicely in the new house, and Imogen is loving her new room.

Over our holidays in August we had Granny and Papa's 65th wedding anniversary, which is where Imogen is going with her hair up in a bun. And we also got to visit African Lions Safari, we had a blast. Imogen loved all the animals, and ended up with a pink monkey following home.

Well we are only 2 days away from Imogen's 2nd Birthday and she is now saying Superkalifrajilisticexpialidious, much better than I can spell it. She loves the Sound of Music and sings along with the soundtrack. And she is now trying to convince us that she is old enough to stay home while we go grocery shopping. I'm not kidding, this was a conversation we had the other night while we were getting ready to go. She is very much a girly girl and loves to pretend shop for lipstick. Not quite sure what we are in for next.

I hope everyone has a great long weekend, and we will post more photos after her birthday.

ELI

Happy Gotcha Day! One year...

Well it has already been a year since Eugene, Imogen and myself became a family. Looking back at all the posts on the blog certainly brings many tears. It has been a year of a lifetime, we waited so long to meet our daughter and she has been more than we ever imagined. She is beautiful, bright, and loves to tease.

Although Imogen was 8-1/2 months when we got her we were lucky enough to see many of her milestones! Shortly after we got home Imogen said her first word "cat". She went like wild fire with her words and surprises us when we hear her now say "Congratulations Robin", or "Mommy Mastercard pay". We got to see Imogen go from crawling to walking and right on to running, she now loves to take her baby for walks down the streets. And yes as many of you know we were blessed in many ways. Imogen started on the potty for us at 10 months old, and by a year she asked to go. What more could a parent want.

We have been able to celebrate her first birthday, Thanksgiving, Robin's wedding, and our first family Christmas with her. It was a year we will never forget, a blessing to us and all of our family.

Imogen is now looking forward to being a big sister in November.

New photos...

Hi Everyone,

Well I can't believe it myself, we are posting new photos already. Imogen is so much fun, she loves to put anything on that she thinks makes her look pretty. And she loves the camera, our big problem most of our photos are of her walking towards us. She doesn't give us enough time to take the photo before she is coming over to see it.

Imogen is starting to enjoy her nursery school very much! She has made friends, and enjoys the book time. She comes home everyday with something new she has learned.

She is now climbing stairs holding the railing. I have to admit we still trail behind just in case. And her memory is still out of this world. Her new thing is repeating everything we say, so our language has changed over the last little while.

Well we hope everyone has a great Easter!

Eugene, Lori & Imogen

Long time and coming...

Hey there,

Well it has been a long time since I posted anything here, Imogen is just growing like crazy. She says new words everyday, has a memory like you wouldn't believe, and has started throwing lovely temper tantrums....

Imogen is beyond our wildest dreams last year at this time, yes can you believe it one year ago next week we got our referral. The first beautiful photos of our little girl. Now we have been a family for 9-1/2 months. My the time flies, it also means that I am heading back to work. Where's the lottery win when I need it.

Below is are a few photos of Imogen. Oh all we have to say is look out Sports Illustrated.

Talk to you soon,

Lori, Eugene & Imogen

Counting Down until Christmas...

Hey everyone!

Thought we would update you with some photos of Imogen starting her Christmas celebrations! She went to the Petro kids Christmas party today and met Santa for the first time. But before that she got to play in the lovely snow we got last night. She had an exciting funfilled day, and we are exhausted!!!

Imogen thinks all Christmas trees are prreeetttyyyy....

22 Days until Christmas!

Pumpkin Picking...

It has been a while since we last posted photos. We can't believe the last month and a half have gone by so quickly. As you can see Imogen is no longer our little baby. She is walking, no wait - running everywhere.

Today we had a beautiful day to go pumpkin picking with the family. Imogen loves hanging out with her cousins. And we think she loved the idea of getting her own pumpkin. We are very excited about Halloween this year, as we get real candy. We mean Imogen gets real candy!

Have a great week!

ELI

Happy Birthday Imogen!

Hi Everyone!

We wanted to send some from photos from Imogen's Birthday on Friday. We had a very nice day as we met with Dad for lunch, than came home and made 60 cupcakes for her party on Saturday with Nanny and cousin Mackenzie.

On Saturday we had a party for her in Lowville park, which was very nice. We had a whole bunch of family and lots of friends there to celebrate. Imogen loved being the centre of attention, didn't care much about the gifts except for the singing bear and the rocking horse that Grandpa made.

Imogen has been walking for 2-1/2 weeks now, and tries most times to run. She is very proud of herself, she is saying quite a few words, including the most recent our niece Tawnie taught her "catch". And she very clearly says the "ch" sound at the end. She has taken very well to sign language, and signs more, please, bottle, potty, finished, & thank you. She loves to blow kisses to Daddy as he leaves for work, I am sure this makes the whole leaving thing much more difficult for Eugene. Although she takes to both of us, she is definitely a Daddy's girl. As for sleeping we go through phases, a few weeks of horrible sleep, than a few weeks of great sleeping. Imogen loves our family hugs before she goes to bed.

ELI

It's Birthday week.

I can't believe the last time I updated photos was at the beginning of August. And now we are at the end of August, with Imogen's birthday fast approaching.

Imogen is growing like crazy. She is walking and very proud of herself for doing so. We discovered today that she now has 6 teeth, which is good because she loves to eat. And she is saying all sorts of words, as well as using her sign language. She amazes us when when she uses another sign like yesterday using "Thank you". I have even gone into Imogen's room at night when she is fussing and she is asleep signing more, and saying more.

This past weekend Imogen attending her second wedding. I have included a few photos, one of her by herself, one with the bride, and one giving Great Grandma a big kiss.

I will post more photos on the weekend of her first birthday bash.

Lori, Eugene & Imogen

The Brat Pack

We are definitely enjoying the heat! Just wanted to add a photo of Imogen hanging with all of her cous's! She loves being a part of the gang!

ELI

Enjoying Imogen...

We are finally back posting some more photos and giving an update on Imogen. Since we last posted Imogen was baptized on July 15th. She wore the white Chinese silk dress we had made for her in China. She was so good. Napping didn't happen that day, as she must have felt the craziness in the air. But she smiled for everyone all day and fought to stay awake. There is a photo of Imogen in her dress and another one of her with us and her Godparents.

Imogen is also working very hard to walk. She is walking behind her blue hippo, and loves to stand by herself now. She will pull herself up, let go and look at us and clap.

You will also notice that she is enjoying spending time with her Uncle John who is here from England. She sat with him last night and heard all about their trip to Northern Ontario. Imogen looks pretty interested.

Well have another great week, please let us know how you are doing...

Eugene, Lori & Imogen

Happy Canada Day!!

Imogen and her parents would like to wish everyone a very Happy Canada Day!!

We were able to get a family photo with Milly the Millstone the Milton mascot, as she was designed by our friend Michelle Job.

We also promised photos of Imogen in her Canada get up! She looks too cute!

We will update again next week, we have a week of preparing for Imogen to meet her family from England, Uncle John, Aunt Anne, and her cousins Jenny and James.

10 Months cont'd...

10 Months old!

Sorry it has been so long since we last posted. But as you could guess our world has been extremely busy and exciting!

Our days have been filled with many many firsts for Imogen, and ourselves. Thank goodness for digital cameras as we are taking photos every two minutes. Imogen has gone from a baby that could hardly sit to furniture surfing in the matter of 6 weeks. She is scooting backward mainly, but really is concentrating more on the whole walking thing. She is also saying a few words like "cat" "bye" "ball, and our favourites "Dad" and "Mom".

Last weekend she got to attend her first wedding which is where she got to wear her beautiful pink Chinese dress. And this weekend she got to go on her first swing. As you can see in the photos.

Well we will be celebrating Canada Day and Imogen's 10 month old day tomorrow. We will definitely post photos of her in her Canada outfit!

One Month Anniversary...

Well it is our one month Anniversary!

I can't believe it was a month ago that we got to lay our eyes on Imogen. It feels like she has always been a part of our family!

It is week 3 of being home, and Eugene has returned to work. Imogen really misses her Dad, and when he gets home she gets very very excited! It is very cute to watch her. Imogen and I are working out the schedule, not sure if the Dad thing has her a little antsy about napping. But it does take quite a bit to get her down. I figure that should iron out soon.

Imogen has been able to meet almost all of her Canada family, and most of her friends. Still a few to catch up with. She loves meeting people and showing everyone what she can do. She loves to dance, yesterday I put the radio on and turned around to see her dancing. She also learned how to sit up on her own yesterday. Honestly it is something new everyday!

Well we just want to say it is good to be home, and great to be a family. We are sharing many fond memories on our one month anniversary of our Gotcha Day!

See you soon,

Eugene, Lori & Imogen

3 weeks...

Well it has been 3 weeks since we became a family with Imogen, here are a few photos that we have taken since we got home. We will go through our trip photos and post some of our photos in China.

We have to say China is beautiful, and will be close to our hearts forever. Although there are very poor areas it is very rich with culture and beauty. You will see what we mean when we post our photos.

Talk soon,

Eugene, Lori & Imogen

Home for a week...

Well here we are home for a week already. It is real, we have a daughter now! We are settling in nicely at home, it took us about 4 days to get through the jetlag, and determine Imogen's sleep schedule. Hopefully it is all figured out now.

We are really enjoying Imogen, she wakes up with huge smiles and loves to play. We had our first doctors appointment on Monday, and we were told she is good health. We are working on some tummy time to strength her for crawling. However, this morning she pulled herself to her feet. Wow!! Walking not sure if Mommy and Daddy are ready for that.

Imogen is enjoying visiting with her family, and of course the spoiling they are giving her. She also loves her Angel. Angel is wishing that Imogen was a little gentler but that will come.

I have to tell you we got a wonderful welcoming home last week, with a group at the airport who waited very patiently for us. Then another group at our house, with decorations, camera and a lot of fanfare for Imogen. Everyone has been wonderful to us and Imogen. We really appreciate everyone's support and want to thank all of you for helping us through the last two years!

Just so you know we do intend to update the blog now and again. We loved having everyone's comments.

We will post more photos this weekend.

I hope you are all doing well. And Imogen is looking forward to meeting all of you!

Home sweet home

So Lori, Eugene & Imogen are home!
They arrived at the airport last night at about 7:25pm.
Below is a picture of their plane landing....
(couldn't believe I managed to get it, but I did!!)

Imogen is absolutely wonderful!
Welcome home guys!!

Robin

24 hours!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EUGENE!

We are on the plane in less then 24 hours. We can't wait to be home. We love China, it is beautiful, and the customer service is 2nd to none!!

Again, our guide Ma Rei is absolutely fabulous, she is our peace of mind while we go through the process.

Today started well as Imogen gave Daddy a great present she slept until 8:00. She wore her "Daddy's Little Present" shirt, and gave him lots of kisses.

We are looking forward to seeing everyone! Love ya.

Eugene, Lori and Imogen!

Here's the pictures!

Hi guys,

It's Robin. So I tried the online album, but it just didn't work out, so I picked out a bunch of pictures and posted them below...

(they're adorable...what a beautiful family!!)
Enjoy!!

Robin

Monday...

Hey there,

Today we visited the Silk Market. Eugene had a great time bartering people down, except when he had two people pulling at him.

The rest of the day we are enjoying some down time. We will go for a stroll with our friends from Nova Scotia Dave & Karen.

Well I shared a ton yesterday, so I will try and get back to you one more time before we come home.

I hope everyone had a great May 2-4 weekend!!

Love, Eugene, Lori & Imogen

Back in Beijing!!

Sunday, May 20th 2007

Sorry we haven't written in the last few days, we travelled back to Beijing on Friday.
Imogen is quite a traveller. Even after a 2 hour delay, she slept for the entire 2 hour flight. Let see how Thursday's flight goes.

Yesterday all the girls had their medicals. Imogen is at the top end of the American charts for her height, and needs to put a little weight on her bones. We also got our minds put at ease. Imogen has a bruise like mark on her lower back. A few of our group members told us that it was a Mongolian birthmark, and they were all right. Imogen is in great health!!

Today we visited the Great Wall, what an amazing site, it is breathtaking! We didn't climb to the top as it was a little rainy. We got tons of great photos. We will try to post a few tomorrow.

Tomorrow we will be visiting the Silk Market, which is suppose to be an experience all its own.

Imogen has been wonderful! She gave me my first kiss the other day, and is copying all that we do. She also loves to have us sing her to sleep. Especially the Dixie Chicks - Lullaby song. A Mommy's girl!

Better go, way past Imogen's bed time. It is our one week anniversary!!! We love it!

Love, Eugene, Lori & Imogen

Pictures??

Hi Everyone,

It's Robin here again. Lori & Eugene (and Imogen) sent a whole bunch of pictures this morning...far too many to post on the blog. They asked me to pick out some of the best ones and post them, but I think choosing what ones are "best" will be much too difficult (they are all wonderful pictures!) So what I'm going to try to do is post them all on a picture site and then post the link to that site here, so you can all just click over and view them. I hope to get this done soon, so thank you for your patience!

And just a little message to Lori, Eugene & Imogen, since we haven't posted a comment...
It's so great to see you guys looking so happy! And what a beautiful family! I still can't get over how adorable Imogen is...I've been showing her off to everyone at work and all the neighbours.

Thank you so much for sharing your photo's with us! And for the updates...

We hope you guys are having a blast (I'm sure you are!) You deserve it, just like you deserve the wonderful blessing you received this week. We are so happy for you and proud of you.
Still can't wait for you to come home!! ;)

Love you guys!
Robin & Dave

Day 7!!

Hey there,

Well we are on Thursday or day 7 of our trip to China. It really has been a whirl wind. We really are enjoying Imogen. She is the greatest!! The best part is when we go to sleep at night, Imogen lies between us and has to touch both of us before she falls asleep. It is the greatest feeling!! we know, bad habits. But it is so hard not to.

Imogen is all smiles from the moment we wake up, till we go to bed. She is very good with her naps and is eating like crazy. She had a full egg this morning!

I have to tell you, Children's Bridge does a top notch job with this. Our guides Mary and Monica are absolutely wonderful!! They planned a wonderful trip for us today to Anyi which is a 1400 year old village. It was gorgeous. We will show you all th photos when we get home.

I will try to email again!

Love, Eugene, Lori & Imogen

& More Pictures!!

More Pictures!

Pictures!

We have her....

Hi Everyone,

Well it is day 3 here in China, and Imogen is sitting beside me as I type this. Yesterday was a day of full emotion. We got to the hotel in Nanchang at 2:30, and at 3:45 got a call to say Imogen was here. We came down with the rest of the parents in the conference room, and waited to be presented with her. When our guide Mary saw us, she looked at Eugene and said she couldn't believe how much Imogen looked like him. We then got to see her, needless to say there were many tears...

Imogen has a head full of hair, but still looks very much like her photos. We were totally surprised at how small she is. Many of the outfits we brought are way too big. But all the more reason to shop. We were told by the nannies that she was a little spoiled as they would all check on her repeatedly.

So far Imogen is sleeping quite well, but we are having a little trouble feeding her. As far as I can tell right now, it looks like Dad has his first poopy diaper to change. Pheewww!!

We will send photos later

Love Eugene, Imogen & Lori

WE ARE HERE!!

Just wanted to send a quick note to say WE ARE HERE!!!!
Flight was good, landing was very scarey!!!
Hope todays flight goes better.
Have a great day, and Happy Mother's Day!!

Love, Eugene & Lori

Update: Today's the day!! (in China)

Update:

Hi Everyone!
Since they weren't sure when they would get a chance to update the blog, and it still said "2 Days..." Lori & Eugene have asked me (their neice) to update everyone.

As we all know, Eugene & Lori left for China yesterday (Friday May 11th) at 2:10pm, and arrived in Beijing, China at approx. 5 o'clock Saturday morning (our time), so about 5 o'clock Saturday evening (China time)...Yes, we were tracking their flight last night :)

Right now it is about 7:00am, Sunday in China (7:00pm, Saturday in Canada) and Lori and Eugene are probably getting themselves all ready to meet their daughter for the first time. We are so incredibly excited for them as we know everyone else is!!

We wish them the very best of luck and can't wait for their update!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY LOR!

Robin & Dave




Lori & Eugene, if/when you read this, we love you guys so much and please give Imogen a BIG
kiss for all of us!
Also remember to check your comments, so many of your friends and family have left you messages :)

Hi Everyone!

Eugene and I would like to welcome you to our blogspot. We would also like to say a huge thank you to Robin for setting it up for us!! We are hoping to update this on a regular basis when we are in China. Please visit every so often to see if there is anything new...

Have a great day! Only 2 more days!!!


Eugene & Lori

3 days away.............

Let's get this started!!