In order to read the full blog simply go to the right hand side of the screen (or the bottom) and click on(2008)tab. You will be redirected and be able to start from the beginning. I hope you enjoy reading about our journey as much as I will enjoy sharing it with you all. Natalie and Chris
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Love for our baby girl
Feeling her have the hiccups and kicking me throughout the day is an undescrible feeling.
I have loved and grieved the loss of a child with the previous unsuccessful adoptions; however, this miracle has made our hard journey better in more ways than I can describe. It's the first time in a long time that I can't express how I feel in writing.
Although she will be here in 3 short months, I would love to keep her inside me for a longer period of time to fully protect her from the world and all the dangers out there.
I want her to know that from the first day we found out about her she has been so loved and has meant the world to us. She is our miracle and I must admit she will probably be treated as such for her whole life. Thank you for coming to us the way you did, we will never let you forget how special you are to us all. We love you so much baby girl.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
New Due Date
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.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Our Baby Girl
Here are some pictures of her 3D ultrasound.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
What a month!!!!!!!!
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.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Happy Birthday to the First Man in my life
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Reality
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Good Luck Steph and Robert
Monday, April 11, 2011
Seattle 2011
Chris calling out the pitcher...well pretending to anyways.
Looking like he belongs and looking good all at the same time.
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.
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
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
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
Thursday, March 24, 2011
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.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
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.....
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Before and sort of After -- Kitchen
Congratualations on your baby girl.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Skiing at Sun Peaks BC
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.
Gift from Matante Ren and family
Thanks again Matante Ren, we all love it and can't wait to use it.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Goodbye 2010
I'm sitting here in my livingroom reflecting on 2010 and wondering what I should write. Quite alot has happened in our lives in 2010. To think this time last year we are about to put our house for sale to move across the country and start a new life and now here we are nicely settled in our new home, town, province. It has been a hard year to be away from part of my family, however having my sister and her family near by has been a blessing. 2010 was also the year we stopped our Ethiopian journey to begin a new adoption journey, which we are as well settled into and waiting for news in 2011.
Chris and I both started new careers and are both happy with our choices. We are both very happy for the choices we made for our family in 2010 and so far all is falling into place as it should. I would like to say 2010 was a horrible year, as we are begining another year without a child in our lives but I can't say it was horrible. It was a year filled with new adventures and happiness. We really are in a good place in our hearts and our minds to begin 2011.
There were definitely moments of pain, sadness and fear in 2010 but it all worked itself out for the best and we all came out ahead in the end. So cheers to 2010 and blessings to 2011.
May 2011 be as filled with new adventures and happiness as 2010.
I would also love to post that 2011 will be THE YEAR for us but I can't. My attitude going into 2011 is hopefully it's the year for us but if it's not meant to be the year that's ok, we will deal with things as they come and be all the stronger for it.
Blessings to you all in 2011.
