New Due Date

We went for our official diagnostic ultra sound last thursday and it seems I was a little farther along.

Our new date is August 30 2011.

Only 3 months to go and we get to hold her in our arms; however, I love every minute of having her in me and feeling her move.

We are so in love with our daughter already. It's undescribable.

Progress pics so far

2 days after finding out

25 weeks 5 days


2 days later
26 weeks 1 day

27 weeks. The bump has fully made it's appearance.

I'm loving every minute of it.

Our Baby Girl

What a crazy week. My brother and his family arrived last Saturday and we have been busy with our little one with appointments all over. We had the pleasure of seeing our little one on May 24, through a 3D ultrasound, it was absolutely amazing. We also got to find out that we are expecting a little girl. So we have been busy shopping ever since, getting rid of the blue and buying pink. So much fun, she will be so cute in all her outfits. Our visit with the family has also been an exciting one, we have been so blessed in this last week, to have all my family around and to find out about of Little Miracle. I am still crying happy tears, not believing this is happening to us. We have had so much bad news in the last 8 yrs that this seems unrealisitc..then she kicks me and oh...she is real. :) I can't believe how much I can love someone in such little time. I'm so protective of her already. She has quickly become a large part of our lives and she is all we ever think about. I guess that is what parenthood is all about.

Here are some pictures of her 3D ultrasound.

What a month!!!!!!!!

Our month began with devastating news. We received a letter from our Adoption Agency explaining to us that the cost of the adoption had gone up a significant amount. With this news Chris and I were forced to make another very difficult decision and due to the financial strain of everything we have been through, we decided the best choice for us was to let go of yet another adoption journey. Grieving another child we had been waiting for was a very difficult moment for us but in our hearts we knew it was the best decision for us and our family.

Although we decided to let go of the adoption, we never gave up on our dream of becoming parents. We decided to book an appointment with our local fertility clinic and discuss our infertility options. Luckily, we were able to get in within 2 weeks of calling.

This Wednesday we drove to Kelowna, 2 hrs from home, for our consultation meeting. I was very emotional that morning as I felt this appointment was officially closing the door to our little Quinten, but yet opening another opportunity. I was also very scared as if this didn't work out we may not be able to look at any other options. Running out of options is a hard thing to face.

We sat down with the Dr. in Kelowna, and as she was reviewing my blood work she noticed there were some irregularities with my blood work. She asked me if she could do another test on me to determine what may be going on, and of course I said yes. She said she needed to rule out pregnancy before going forward. There we were sitting in the Dr.'s office, looking at each other saying "there is no way we are pregnant", just as the Dr. walks in and say "YES YOU ARE PREGNANT". Chris and I burst into tears, not believing what she is saying. We were in total shock, how was that possible, I can't be pregnant, we have believed for 8 yrs that we can't have our own children and here we are pregnant...!!! What? What? What? is all we kept saying.

The Dr. then did a quick ultra sound to see how far along we were. She began with a pelvic u/s and all of a sudden there was a small foot and hand that came up on the screen, OMG, tears, tears, tears, OMG. She said, we need to do a regular u/s, and there was our baby, heart beat and all. After a quick measurement, she told us that we were not only pregnant but that we were 5 1/2 months pregnant. More than half way there. WTF???? I had no idea, i mean NONE.

We drove home in total shock that day and three days later i'm still in total shock, cannot believe it. I'm loving every minute of feeling the baby move and trying to understand what has happened.

We are overjoyed with this news and still feel like we are living a dream.

Our due date is around the 20th of September.

All I can say now is YAYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Thank you all for your continued support. Our blog will not be a journey to parenthood as we let you all into this new adventure.

Mommy and Daddy Fournier + Baby.

PS. Ultra Sound Picture to Follow.

Happy Birthday to the First Man in my life

My Dad, always there for me no matter what I need or when I need it. Full of great advise throughout our lives, whether it was asked for or not. I have learnt so many of my life lessons from my dad. He is always supportive of our ideas or life journeys. He is a big part of our everyday life. Although we don't live in the same town most of the year and may not be in the same town for a large part of the year we are always in contact. Something I would not be able to imagine my life without. I am who I am because of my parents.

I thank you everyday for all you do and have done for me and I thank god to have been blessed with you as my father.

I love you. Happy Birthday, and Cheers to many more fun filled healthy years ahead. xoxo

Reality

Why is it that realitynever fails to contantly come back and hit you when you just start to put it aside. We have been doing so well with this new journey, waiting almost 6 stress free months, no new rules everyweek, no feeling of uncertainty, just waiting, day by day. Getting up every morning, thinking is today the day, and realizing at night that it may not have been the day but it was one day closer to the day. I know, great attitude, right? But then sitting here on a snowy, cold spring day alone with my thoughts and feelings and the reality of the pain comes creeping back up. The hurt that we feel for not being parents yet, the hurt of the emptiness inside. I've been struggling with the lump in my throat all day, trying to fight the reality of not being a parent yet and finally I lost the battle. Luckily, the breakdown only last minutes now, unlike my days of full on breakdown, but the pain is still there. Dealing with reality of the wait is getting easier as the months go by, however the reality of the doubt that "this may not happen, why would someone pick us" also comes back when you least expect it. Having passed my moment, the pain has subsided and I am now ready to deal with the reality of waiting again, waiting months and months for the birth mother of our son to choose us to be the parents of her child. The reality of not knowing what day it will happen, and how long we have to wait. However, the biggest reality of all is that our dream is waiting to be fulfilled everyday, and our love for our son grows with every hit of reality.

Good Luck Steph and Robert

I have friends leaving for Ethiopia this Friday to meet their future daughter and hopefully successfully pass court and have her become their legal daughter. I wish you all the luck in the coming week and am sending you as many positive vibes as I can't. xoxo

Seattle 2011

Although Chris grew up in Ontario, he has always been a big Seattle sports fan, cheering on the Mariners and the Seahawks for years, never thinking he would live close enough to Seattle to actually attend a life game. So when we moved here it was definitely on his wish list. We received free tickets to a Seahawk game this past season but were unable to attend. We haven't really been anywhere since we began the adoption journey and always feel guilty when we spend even a dollar on something now adoption related, but we saved our pennies and off we went to Opening Night of the MLB season in Seattle. The trip was quick but being only 4 hrs away we had to go and had a wonderful time. It was so nice to reconnect again as a couple having fun. Adoption tends to take over your life and you don't think of anything else, however it is so important to remember each other and take the time to appreciate each other as well. I can't wait to go again, and hopefully we will have Q to come with us. Here our some pics of the trip.

Opening Night

Chris in the owner's box during our tour Here I am on the field Outside of the field Chris in the dug out looking like a Pro

Chris calling out the pitcher...well pretending to anyways.

Looking like he belongs and looking good all at the same time.

Chris on the field The Moose mascot poking through.First night our seats were high up but second night we were on lower level with a much better view.

Ready to go cheer them on...they didn't win all weekend but we still had a blast. We hope to be able to do it again soon.

5 Months

I missed the last few months of posting the month milestone but I look at that as a good thing. I look at it as we are ready for Q to arrive any day but we are not dwelling on the pain everyday. Life goes on knowing he will be in our hearts sometime soon and we can't wait. We also feel like the WILL actually happen someday, which is the big difference between this adoption and our Kaysen adoption. With our Kaysen (Ethiopian) adoption we always felt like things had to happen NOW as they may be taken away at any minute but with this adoption for Q we feel confident that it will happen, therefor we are able to somewhat relax about it. Don't get me wrong we are super excited and anxious but it's completely different. It's actually not a bad experience this time. Why we had to go through what we did with the Kaysen adoption we will never know but we know that the day we get to hold our son will be the day that we understand. Hopefully that day comes sooner than later.

Almost two years after our world came crashing down see post here the directors of Imagine Adoption have finally been charged. What this may mean for the long run we aren't sure, I personally would love to see them suffer in jail thinking every long day and night of the pain they have caused to so many families and of all the children that are still sitting in orphanages because of the delay their greediness has caused. We are pretty sure the money situation will not change and that we still won't see a thing however having them behind bars would be a sweet feeling. They are to appear in court next month and I will keep you all posted of the outcome. Thank you all for your continued support. People like the people charged in this case are truly unbelievably cold hearted people, why they exist we don't know or never will know but they are horrible people and unfortunaltey they effected us in our journey to parenthood. Although we have moved to a new adoption journey then Ethiopia we have felt and still feel the pain caused to us everyday. Here's to justice being served for all of us.

Directors charged with defrauding adoption agency of $420,000 ANNA MEHLER PAPERNY Globe and Mail Update Published Friday, Apr. 08, 2011 11:23AM EDT

The founder and general manager of an international adoption agency are accused of defrauding the agency of hundreds of thousands of dollars almost two years after trustees first found “questionable” spending in its records.

Cambridge, Ont.-based Imagine Adoption, which matched up Canadians with orphans from Ghana and Ethiopia, declared bankruptcy in July, 2009, leaving hundreds of families in adoption limbo.

Now, the agency’s founder, Susan Hayhow, and its general manager, Rick Hayhow, are charged with breach of trust and multiple counts of fraud, totalling more than $420,000.

Police allege the frauds took place between January, 2007 and the agency’s bankruptcy declaration. During that time, police say, money paid for adoption services was spent on international vacations, renovations to the couple’s shared home in Cambridge, food and clothing.

The charges are cold comfort to the families, many of whom have moved on or tried to adopt through other avenues.

But it raises questions about how an agency involved in the increasingly lucrative business of international adoptions, whose license was renewed multiple times by the Ontario government, could have operated for so long with its financial irregularities unnoticed.

International adoption has become a multi-billion-dollar global industry; children’s advocates argue it’s under-regulated and ripe for abuse.

Ontario has “some of the most comprehensive international adoption licensing requirements in Canada,” said Anne Machowski, a spokeswoman with the Ministry of Children and Youth Services. Imagine Adoption, which was first licensed in 2005, had its license renewed annually.

“Why hasn’t the Ontario government yet taken responsibility for their failure to properly monitor an international adoption agency?” said Ingrid Phaneuf, who had been waiting for adoptions from the agency. Ms. Phaneuf has since adopted two boys, eight and 10, from Ontario.

Children and Youth Services Minister Laurel Broten wasn’t available for comment Friday, Ms. Machowski said.

Since the Imagine Adoption case, the province has strengthened its licensing process: It now requires an audited financial statement, an annual report available to the public and a report from the board of directors that outlines agency operations and activities.

“When the Ministry became aware of the difficulties concerning Imagine Adoption we acted quickly and immediately,” Ms. Machowski said in an e-mail, adding that the province worked with BDO Dunwoody to help families affected and ensure the agency’s orphans in Ethiopia were safe. (The orphanage Imagine Adoption was working with in Ghana, which the Canadian agency did not operate, was shut down by the Ghanaian government over allegations of child-trafficking right around the time of Imagine Adoption’s bankruptcy declaration.)

Susan Taves, the BDO Dunwoody trustee charged with handling Imagine Adoption’s bankruptcy and restructuring in 2009, says spending irregularities at the agency were apparent when she began going through its financial records.

“It was clear from our banking review there was some really questionable stuff,” she said. This included travel to the United States and renovations that clearly hadn’t been done on Imagine Adoption’s Cambridge office. But Ms. Taves said she wouldn’t expect the province to have noticed that.

“Licensing is like issuing a license for someone to be a car salesman: They’re not going to be in there every day to see if the price of cars is going up or down,” she said. “This is an operating issue I think it would have been difficult for a licensing body to see.”

Mr. and Ms. Hayhow are on record as having declared personal bankruptcy in 1996, with $165,712 in declared liabilities. The couple bought a house on Roseview Avenue in Cambridge in 2004. It was sold for $417,000 in 2010.

When Imagine Adoption declared bankruptcy, the couple owed money to a swimming pool business, a home-renovation contractor and a landscaper who confirmed the work was done at Ms. Hayhow's private residence.

Imagine Adoption has since restructured and is technically operational, although its adoptions are being run by Mission of Tears in Toronto.

For board member Christine Starr, things turned out all right: Her 19-month-old daughter Soleila arrived from Ethiopia in December.

“I would do it all again in a heartbeat.”

With reports from Celia Donnelly and Jennifer MacMillan

Justice May Be Served...Finally

Almost two years after our world came crashing down see post here the directors of Imagine Adoption have finally been charged. What this may mean for the long run we aren't sure, I personally would love to see them suffer in jail thinking every long day and night of the pain they have caused to so many families and of all the children that are still sitting in orphanages because of the delay their greediness has caused. We are pretty sure the money situation will not change and that we still won't see a thing however having them behind bars would be a sweet feeling. They are to appear in court next month and I will keep you all posted of the outcome. Thank you all for your continued support. People like the people charged in this case are truly unbelievably cold hearted people, why they exist we don't know or never will know but they are horrible people and unfortunaltey they effected us in our journey to parenthood. Although we have moved to a new adoption journey then Ethiopia we have felt and still feel the pain caused to us everyday. Here's to justice being served for all of us. Directors charged with defrauding adoption agency of $420,000 ANNA MEHLER PAPERNY Globe and Mail Update Published Friday, Apr. 08, 2011 11:23AM The founder and general manager of an international adoption agency are accused of defrauding the agency of hundreds of thousands of dollars almost two years after trustees first found “questionable” spending in its records. Cambridge, Ont.-based Imagine Adoption, which matched up Canadians with orphans from Ghana and Ethiopia, declared bankruptcy in July, 2009, leaving hundreds of families in adoption limbo. More related to this story Fraud investigation into adoption agency begins •Board questions adoption agency's expenses •We just want to bring our son home Now, the agency’s founder, Susan Hayhow, and its general manager, Rick Hayhow, are charged with breach of trust and multiple counts of fraud, totalling more than $420,000. Police allege the frauds took place between January, 2007 and the agency’s bankruptcy declaration. During that time, police say, money paid for adoption services was spent on international vacations, renovations to the couple’s shared home in Cambridge, food and clothing. The charges are cold comfort to the families, many of whom have moved on or tried to adopt through other avenues. But it raises questions about how an agency involved in the increasingly lucrative business of international adoptions, whose license was renewed multiple times by the Ontario government, could have operated for so long with its financial irregularities unnoticed. International adoption has become a multi-billion-dollar global industry; children’s advocates argue it’s under-regulated and ripe for abuse. Ontario has “some of the most comprehensive international adoption licensing requirements in Canada,” said Anne Machowski, a spokeswoman with the Ministry of Children and Youth Services. Imagine Adoption, which was first licensed in 2005, had its license renewed annually. “Why hasn’t the Ontario government yet taken responsibility for their failure to properly monitor an international adoption agency?” said Ingrid Phaneuf, who had been waiting for adoptions from the agency. Ms. Phaneuf has since adopted two boys, eight and 10, from Ontario. Children and Youth Services Minister Laurel Broten wasn’t available for comment Friday, Ms. Machowski said. Since the Imagine Adoption case, the province has strengthened its licensing process: It now requires an audited financial statement, an annual report available to the public and a report from the board of directors that outlines agency operations and activities. “When the Ministry became aware of the difficulties concerning Imagine Adoption we acted quickly and immediately,” Ms. Machowski said in an e-mail, adding that the province worked with BDO Dunwoody to help families affected and ensure the agency’s orphans in Ethiopia were safe. (The orphanage Imagine Adoption was working with in Ghana, which the Canadian agency did not operate, was shut down by the Ghanaian government over allegations of child-trafficking right around the time of Imagine Adoption’s bankruptcy declaration.) Susan Taves, the BDO Dunwoody trustee charged with handling Imagine Adoption’s bankruptcy and restructuring in 2009, says spending irregularities at the agency were apparent when she began going through its financial records. “It was clear from our banking review there was some really questionable stuff,” she said. This included travel to the United States and renovations that clearly hadn’t been done on Imagine Adoption’s Cambridge office. But Ms. Taves said she wouldn’t expect the province to have noticed that. “Licensing is like issuing a license for someone to be a car salesman: They’re not going to be in there every day to see if the price of cars is going up or down,” she said. “This is an operating issue I think it would have been difficult for a licensing body to see.” Mr. and Ms. Hayhow are on record as having declared personal bankruptcy in 1996, with $165,712 in declared liabilities. The couple bought a house on Roseview Avenue in Cambridge in 2004. It was sold for $417,000 in 2010. When Imagine Adoption declared bankruptcy, the couple owed money to a swimming pool business, a home-renovation contractor and a landscaper who confirmed the work was done at Ms. Hayhow's private residence. Imagine Adoption has since restructured and is technically operational, although its adoptions are being run by Mission of Tears in Toronto. For board member Christine Starr, things turned out all right: Her 19-month-old daughter Soleila arrived from Ethiopia in December. “I would do it all again in a heartbeat.” With reports from Celia Donnelly and Jennifer MacMillan

Touching Letter from my niece Jessyka.

The one thing with this adoption is that if effects alot more people than just Chris and I. All our family and friends are effected and until today I didn't quite understand just how much. My niece Jessyka wrote this letter to her friends to help sell our cookbooks. This is such a touching letter and means so much to Chris and I. It really made us realize how much our families have gone through in the background, while being strong and supportive for all of us. I thank you so much for this Jessy, the love and support of our family and friends is what keeps us going everyday. Someday, Q will be home and will be loved by so many. He will be one lucky little boy to have such love and support, that began even before he arrived.

Please take a minute to read this.

For over 5 years my aunt Natalie and uncle chris have tried to conceive, without any success, their dream of having a baby was turning into a nightmare. Unfortunately, at this moment the idea of conceiving seems almost impossible, therefore they have decided to adopt! How exciting! So we thought. It's been a long, hard and very emotional journey that began several years ago. They started this process and decided to adopt a beautiful baby boy from Ethiopia, they named him Kaysen. After going through months of the referrals and house visits, they were finally one step closer to their baby boy. So we waited. Bought him endless supplies, baby clothes, toys, talking Elmos, kids books with his name personalized in them, Christmas ornaments for our trees, set up his bedroom, dreamt about him, talked about him for hours on end, without even knowing him yet. It was all so surreal, my aunt was going to finally have her baby! He had become part of our everyday life, always keeping faith, holding on to hope that next month, okay by the summer he'll be here, don't worry Matante he'll be here by Christmas... Slowly but surely it all became very real, Kaysen wasn't going to be here as fast as we'd hoped so we went about our lives, still bringing him up, but only on occasion, for the hurt of not being a mom, a dad, an aunt, uncle, big cousin or grandparent again, was always there, it was tough but we all did our best to keep the spirits high for my aunt Nat especially.

The weeks turned to months and the months turned into years, every night she
walked by his empty nursery which ultimately turned into a lot of heartache and questions as to why he can't just be here and why she can't have a baby of her own. It was heartbreaking to see my aunt, one of happiest people I know dwindle as time went on. If the wait wasn't hard enough, just imagine the pain she felt in July 2008 when she found out the adoption agency she had given all her money, her hopes and most of all her vulnerability to, had fled, they went 'bankrupt', not only did my aunt and uncle go through this but hundreds of other people had trusted them as well... That was it for her, she had put so much emotion into this little baby, that she was ready to give up. I still remember that day, where I was and how I reacted, in uncontrollable sobs, and asking why? I can't imagine how it felt for her and my uncle, I could litterally feel my heart hurt. Although I had never met him, held him in my arms or changed his diaper. I loved him. He was my little cousin, he had been a part of our lives for 3 years, I felt as though my baby cousin had passed away, I would never get to see his first steps, here him laugh, see him on his first day of school, take him for ice cream or smother him in the long awaited 3 years of kisses I'd been holding out for. That was it... We mourned Kaysen, talked about him until the sun came up, cried, and helped her and Chris as best we could to hold on to hope that someday they will be parents... They never did give up.

About a year ago they decided to go with a new agency, one in Florida. Adopting is very expensive but they were willing and trusting enough to invest in this second agency because they know that they were meant to be parents. The adoption process is looking very promising and they are on their last step to getting their precious baby boy, Quinten, home! On that note, we need your help, she is selling cookbooks of all our family recipies (over 100 recipies) for 15$ a book in hopes to raise enough money so she can finally have her baby in her arms and begin the life she's longing for. She wants nothing more in this world than to be a mom. My aunt will be one hell of a mom at that, she was at all our school concerts, sporting events (even though she hates hockey) knows all our friends by their first name, always there to lend a hand, a shoulder to cry on, a ride to the movies, horseback riding, to hold our hair while we're getting sick, a lunch date, a supervisor on class trips and she
is always coming up with fun family ideas, most of all she's a great friend. I know, even though Chris has stayed pretty strong through this whole process he is counting the days until he can bring his little guy home, the years until he can teach him to play catch, walk the dogs, watch his first football game and teach him to drive. I know that they will make amazing parents, please help their dreams become reality.

If you'd like a cookbook, please message me on here and I will send you more information on how we will send them and receive payment.
They are $15 each and they will be available for pick up in Chemmy this summer.
Thank you very much!
Jessyka


Jessyka, you are an amazing young women and we are proud to be your aunt and uncle. If only we could describe what this meant to us. We love you xoxo

Cookbooks Are In!!!!!!!

I came home to find a box full of our cookbooks yesterday and if I may say so myself, i think they look great. It' is so exciting to see all our hardwork completed into a finished product.

We will be selling them for $15 per book or $20 with shipping. Please do let me know if you are interested in receiving any. Simply leave me a comment with your email address or email me directly at jmzfournier@yahoo.ca and i'll give you more details.

I would like to thank everyone that has contributed to the cookbook with fun family recipes.


I would also like to thank you all for your continued love and support.

Immigration

We received the approved immigration paperwork today. So excited. What this means is that we are now approved to bring our son home when it's time. We have a second portion to fill out once we get the wee ones information such as DOB etc. and then off we go to go pick him up. I was worried something may happen before we had the paperwork but now we have one less thing to worry about. Come on phone ring.....

Before and sort of After -- Kitchen

Since i've moved in i've hated all the white and my kitchen was the next project in line. Although I would have loved to go to a kitchen cabinet store and picked out a brand new set of cupboards it wasn't in our budget at all....so I figure, why not try painting them. So after much hole filling, sanding, priming and painting I am so excited with the results. Now we will be painting the white walls to add a little more color and we should be done for awhile....yeah, like I won't find another project to take my mind off the adoption in no time...lol So here is the before and after shot. What do you think?

I do realize there is one door missing in this picture but once i'm done with the wall painting i'll add the finished pictures. For now, I couldn't wait to share. All I need now are beautiful new stainless steel appliance (not going to happen) !!

Congratualations on your baby girl.

Sending a BIG CONGRATULATIONS to my friends Tammy and Sid and little Josina who is soon to be a Big Sister. You are both such wonderful people and both deserve the very best from this point on. You are in our thoughts and prayers everyday for a safe and fast process. Sending you love.

Skiing at Sun Peaks BC

My sister and I drove up to Sun Peaks today to try our luck at skiing. I used to live on the hill when I was young but I haven't skied in over 10 yrs and Renee skied once last year but it had been awhile before that for her as well. We had such a great day. Alot of laughs and only got lost on the mountain once. We made it up to approx. 6000 feet and the scenery up there was amazing. The trees were covered in snow in a way that you could only see at such high elevation. The weather was great, the pizza was yummy and the adventure was one will do over again and again. The village is beautiful and something I used to dream about seeing and now it's only a hop skip and a jump away.
After my legs were close to falling off we decide it was time to call it a day. We bring all our gear back, grab a coffee and chocolate and walk over to the truck...only to not have a truck there to get into. Yep the truck was gone. I start to hyperventilate and panic all the while Ren is saying "don't worry we'll find it!!" I was like "how can we find it, it doesn't just walk away" She was laughing out of nervousness and I was trying to breath. We walk over to the Service counter and I have a seat as i'm thinking, how the heck do I tell Chris our truck is stolen and how far we are from home. I hear my sister in the background "we think my sister's car got stolen" and then "what kind of vehicle" "Ford Edge" "oh, that truck was moved to the compound as it was in the way" how it was in the way we are still not sure as there was another vehicle parked in our spot, but yep, they towed my truck to a compound and scared the crap out of us. So I catch my breath, learn to breath again and then laugh with my sister about it all the way to the truck. What a way to end such a great day. I can't wait to do it again.

The view was breath taking

Ren posing by the snow covered trees

A close up pose from Ren

Me posing up the mountain

Had so much fun with you today. I love you and our time we spend together, it's never a dull moment but always a great time. Looking forward to more days together. xo

Gift from Matante Ren and family

I have been looking the "perfect" lamp for Q's room for over 2 yrs and could never find one that was within budget so I figured I wouldn't have one. Well to my surprise my sister was in Vancouver last week and found the "perfect" one at Pottery Barns for Kids and purchased it for me. I was so surprise and happy when I saw it. It's exactly what I was looking for and the room is officially complete.
Thanks again Matante Ren, we all love it and can't wait to use it.