The Adventures of Hailey Hemsworth

Another Glorious Cottage Weekend.

2009-07-30T22:05:00.002-04:00

Not the best weather, but the best feeling... being out of the city i mean, early on a Friday afternoon. In this case, on my own with a head start on the bunkie work. After several hours of caulking the bunkie and shed, they are finally ready to take stain. Had a beautiful night, some light rain but a nice sunset in the end and full sky of stars. Several beers later i experimented with shutter speeds and the timer on my camera. Alex and Hailey hit the road at the crack of seven Saturday morning and made it up mid-morning. While Toronto was drowned in rain, we had a gorgeous day and managed to get the shed completely stained before the weather turned. We headed to Kinmount to the theatre there. It is an old converted house with several movie theatres and dozens of old movie projectors and movie props- its pretty cool. We saw G-Force. Hailey liked it, well maybe it was the popcorn and junk food. We managed the get the bunkie stained on Sunday before the heavy rain came and chased us home. Hailey and I managed to get some good swimming in late morning. She is loving the lake. We are on vacation at the cottage for the next week and i wanted to get a post up before leaving. I am hoping to get a bunch of pics up after our vacation. Anybody that knows me, knows that i will probably shoot a few hundreds pics on our vacation. There is a Smash Up Derby at the Town Fair by the cottage this weekend and Hailey was really bummed that she missed it last year. We have been talking about it all week. She is pumped.

Halloween at Daycare.

2009-07-24T09:02:00.002-04:00

It is Halloween today at Leroux. Hailey was very excited last night and we got out all of her costumes. Her first choice was a ladybug, but we talked her out of that heavy fall costume in favour of a light summer costume. This morning over breakfast she was deciding whether she is Pocahontas or Tinker Bell. Her teachers thought she looked like a butterfly. Either way is cute. There is a parade later.

Hailey and Cyber.

2009-06-14T13:35:00.000-04:00

New Dock.

2009-06-14T13:28:00.005-04:00

Finally bought a new dock for the cottage.

Catch up!

2009-06-07T21:30:00.020-04:00

Hi all, it has been busy since the last post. We have been to Washington to visit Robyn, James and brand new baby Lauren. We have been up to the cottage to open it up and clean up to gear up for cottage season. Some nice weekends with cousin Andrew and a visit with the Pettigrews who we havent seen in too too long. We hope all is well with everyone. Love ya.

I look like Auntie Robyn.

2009-03-22T20:55:00.002-04:00

Hi Everyone, i look like Auntie Robyn today. My daddy says she has an alien in her belly. My mommy says its a blessing. I think its a baby. She must have ate one. I cant wait to meet my cousin. I think its a girl like Avery.
Love Hailey. xoxoxo.

Gotcha Day Party!

2009-02-09T20:51:00.007-05:00

We had our 2nd anniversary Gotcha Day party on Saturday. For those of you that don't follow regularly, this is the anniversary of the day we "got" Hailey or she "got" us. This is kinda like the equivalent of a birthday for a bunch of kids that dont really know their actual birthday. And, what is a birthday really except the start of your relationship with your family. It just so happens that this special group of kids share the same birthday and mostly come from the same part of the world, a world away. Enough of that though. We had a great time as usual (after we drove to St. Catherines by accident, ooops). Special thanks to the Carmody's for hosting and cleaning up afterwards for the second year running (but they didnt get to see lovely Grimsby- wherever that is?). And, thanks to all of our group for making this event a priority in your busy lives and putting our little ones first. Most of the kids were there. We sure missed seeing Zoe, Olivia, Justin, Jaiden, Sarah and Katie. We celebrated Maya's birthday with singing and a cake. There were crafts, snacks, lots of bouncy balls, and plenty of fun to be had. At the last minute i thought to pack the bouncy castle and the kids really enjoyed the bouncing. We really had a great time and was so nice to catch up with everyone. Boy have the kids grown! See you all soon!
Love Jason, Alex and Hailey. xo.

G O T C H A

2009-02-01T07:31:00.002-05:00

Superbowl and Gotcha together on one day! What a cause to celebrate. And i know how around 6pm today...

All kidding aside, this marks the two year anniversary of the day our life changed forever. Alot has changed in two years and for the better. We have gone from Hailey not sleeping to Hailey sleeping in. Hailey has gone from not even crawling at 1 to a Gymnastics star. She has learned a new language and sadly, probably forgotten the one she could understand. She has gone from having a team of nannies serve her every whim to having mommy, daddy and Grandma do that. She came with only the pyjamas on her back to having amassed what amounts to a full blown toys r us store and clothing chain. She has grown from a peanut to... well... still a peanut (maybe not that much has changed afterall)

We are thankful every day for the gift god has given us in Hailey. She is more wonderful than we could have ever hoped. We are blessed. I have again added the post from two years ago as a reminder of that crazy, amazing day. enjoy!

It is 9:30pm and i am sitting in the business center of our new hotel in Guangzhou. This is the most amazing day of our lives! We finally have our little girl. It has been such a special day for us. Just imagine delivering your baby at the exact same time as 20 of your friends in the same room after waiting for two years together... it was amazing!!

Let me start at the beginning... We all woke up by 2 am or didnt sleep last night. We had phone calls starting at 4am this morning throughout the rooms. Everybody was up and everyone was incredibly excited. We all packed last night and had our bags picked up so all that was left was our carry on and we forgot half the stuff we needed. We ate breakfast in the dark in the restaurant of the hotel in twenty minutes. The restaurant opened at 6am and we were leaving for the airport at 6:20am. On top of that, four families had just joined us so we had to catch up and wish each other well over a wolfed down breakfast anticipating that we would not eat again until late in the evening. We made our way to and through the airport and flew to Guangzhou landing at 12pm. Everyones bags made it (whew!), and we packed up and drove into the heart of Guangzhou to our hotel to freshen up and pick up the Chin family that were meeting us here after a few days in their first daughters province visiting. What a difference between Bejing and Guangzhou. Bejing with its wide avenues and orderly presentation. Guangzhou is quite old with its collection of high rise buildings- the highway, added later, winds through the buildings and you can almost reach out and touch peoples laundry hanging outside their windows. We arrived and in ten minutes, quickly reshuffled our bags and met to get back in the bus and head to the Civil Affairs office. We had a 2:30 appointment and the nannies had driven an hour from Foshan to meet us! We arrived at the office, went to the fifth floor, were shown to a boardroom style room where we waited. We did some small paperwork and reviewed the order in which the babies would be brought in. Of course the babies were brought in completely out of order and everyone was surprised to find out as their baby was brought in. We had arranged with Donna and Avery to be film buddies and not let the special moment go untaped. And thank goodness. We waited patiently only to have our baby brought last. Cute baby after cute baby brought in, we hoped they wouldnt run out! (ha ha) And saving the best for last, our little cutie finally arrived. Poor little Hailey had thrown up on the bus from Foshan and was not feeling well. On top of that we found out that she does not like loudness and she completely shut down. She was handed to Alex by the nanny and cuddled up close. What a great moment, what a wait for that great moment. It was so worth it. And to my surprise, our friends were all at the ready with cameras flashing capturing the moment with photo and video. And where do you ask are these special photos? Well, you will have to wait a little longer unless Deb posted our photo on her blog. The computer here does not accept my camera so i am unable to upload. Sorry guys, my storry will have to do for now. We had a chance to ask the nanny some questions with the help of our terrific guide Shirly and found out that her nickname is "Man, Man" which we understood to be quite common before travelling and had expected. We found out that she is quite attached to one of the nannies- that we didnt meet but hope to meet later at our visit to the orphanage. We paid our donations without incident and had to get moving quickly back to the hotel. We arrived back at the hotel and changed rooms to get one with a bath. The rooms here are incredible, spacious and modern. They wheeled in our crib and all is right with the world. I ordered some Congee from Room Service to make the bottle and then had to go back down to complete some paperwork while Alex fed the first bottle. Hailey wolfed it down and then cuddled in and fell into sleep. We ordered some room service food and finally ate for the first time since 6am at 8:30pm. We then woke Hailey up to feed her last bottle, which she sucked back in like 3 minutes flat. I left her and mommy falling asleep on the bed to come down and write this blog.

Favourite moments of the day: First time holding and snuggling her. She does this ET thing where she pokes a fingertip at the end of one of my fingertips and presses hard to see who will win- she is strong. She started waving to me soon after we arrived at the room with one hand.

We are back off to the Civil Affairs office first thing tomorrow to fill in more paperwork and then off to a local supermarket to pick up more formula, strollers, and other necessities. Everybody is so great and helpful both in Bejing and Guangzhou. We are really like sheep following the pack. They make everything so easy and answer the dumbest questions with seriousness.

Alex and i are in love again (not with each other of course) and we are walking on a cloud. Sorry again about the photos. She does look very much like the referral photos, only larger. She actually is a little porker, we dont expect some of our 6-12 month stuff to fit, she is bigger than we thought and has a little chubba. She is so sweet and terrific, i could go on and on, but i should probably go back up as i miss her already.

We wish we could come home right away, but are looking forward to exploring parenthood here and seeing more of the city that she might have called home, or might in the future.

We miss you all and we love checking the blog. I was blown away to see 15 posts today! Thanks for the love and support. Love Jason & Alex. (ma ma, and ba ba)

Congratulations to the Carmody's!

2009-01-30T11:41:00.002-05:00

Karen, Mike, Victoria, Austin and Samara have a baby brother on the way. We are so thrilled to have shared in their great news. We can't wait to meet little Denver. I have swiped from their blog the following...

It's a boy!!!
We are so excited to announce that God has blessed us with another son. We finally received “the call” late this afternoon!!!

He is just over one month old . . . born December 20, 2008 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

We have named him: Denver Jacob Baheran

Denver is a name we both really like.

Jacob is after Grandma Zandstra (her middle name is Jacoba)

Baheran is his Ethiopian name – given to him by his birthmother

He is the cutest little guy that you ever did see! Unfortunately you’ll have to take our word for it because we won’t be emailing his picture at this point. Things are different from when we adopted Samara from China and we are not legally allowed to post his picture online at all until he is officially our son. A court proceeding has to take place in Ethiopia before he is legally our child and that may take a few months. If and when you see us in person we will gladly show you the picture. In the meantime, we will keep you posted along the way.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Happy Birthday Hailey!

2009-01-28T17:55:00.007-05:00

Hailey woke up this morning so excited to have her birthday. She put on her birthday shirt to get ready for the day. We got a call from her cousins in Sault Ste Marie which was awesome. Hailey practically ran up the stairs of the daycare and couldnt wait to tell everyone it was her birthday. We all came home early today to celebrate. Hailey requested a nutritious McDinner and enjoyed every bite. We just finished making birthday muffins and then using one as her birthday cake, she was beaming! Alex is setting up Wallie to watch tonight as a special treat.

On another note, i have been thinking all day about Hailey's poor birth mother and how she must be thinking alot about Hailey these days with this being Hailey's finding day as well. Not to mention all the holidays of Christmas and Chinese New Year so close. I wish i could reassure her that Hailey is doing great and is loved more than anyone could possibly have loved her otherwise. I am also thankful to her, because without her or her difficult decisions, we would never have had our amazing daughter.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-26T20:41:00.004-05:00

Paul, Angela and Maya came over to celebrate Chinese New Year with us yesterday. Maya brought over a big dragon and we ordered Chinese food for dinner. The girls played together and had so much fun. Santa brought Hailey a bouncy castle for Christmas and the girls bounced like crazy to the Madagascar soundtrack. We were tempted to join in. Hailey showed Maya her new Tag pen that helps her to read- Maya really liked reading! What a fun time!

Disney World.

2009-01-12T21:32:00.039-05:00

We had an awesome time on our first family vacation. Alex booked us a last minute trip leaving New Years Day. Hailey was the perfect age for Disney. She was free for meals and park admissions so we saved hundreds of dollars. She was old enough though to go on most of the rides and enjoy them. We had six perfect days of blue skies and sunshine, with 25c highs each day- not a drop of rain. What a great week and one to remember for a long time. We did 3 character dinners and Hailey loved Mickey, Donald and all the princesses. She has been watching Disney movies nonstop since getting home.

Wonder Pet-tigrews come to the cottage!

2008-10-22T08:37:00.024-04:00

Caught red handed!

2008-10-15T21:44:00.004-04:00

This is a quiet little place down by the lake that i like to spend quality time with Hailey.

Cottage with my cousins in July.

2008-10-15T21:14:00.013-04:00

Dinner with my cousins.

2008-10-15T21:03:00.009-04:00

Great Wolf Lodge!

2008-10-15T20:53:00.006-04:00

My brother and family, sister and husband, and my parents celebrated my parents anniversary with a family getaway to Great Wolf Lodge this summer. which is harder than you think considering that my brother lives in Sault Ste. Marie and my sister in Washington DC. We had a great time!

Cute Monkey

2008-10-15T20:48:00.001-04:00

sorry, loved this shot from earlier this summer when we moved into the new house!

Perfect Saturday morning at the beach!

2008-07-21T21:04:00.004-04:00

This is why we live near here. So nice to pop down, grab a Starbucks breakfast and throw some stones into the lake. What a great start to the day!

Off to the mall....

2008-07-21T20:59:00.004-04:00

Look at the heels!

My Cousins have come!!!

2008-07-21T20:41:00.006-04:00

Avery and Ewan have finally come down from the Sault! I guess Uncle Kevin and Auntie Erin came too. We had a great time catching up when they arrived. Kim dropped by with Mackenzie and Jaimie.

Wacky hair at breakfast!

2008-07-21T20:38:00.002-04:00

Hailey, Maya and Madeline go to Centre Island for a picnic.

2008-07-15T20:49:00.017-04:00

Hailey, Maya and Madeline went to Centre Island for a picnic last week. We had a great time! Thanks Mag for organizing. Look how big and fast the girls are now. They had us running to keep up all evening. See you soon!

Hailey Bubbles.

2008-07-07T20:22:00.001-04:00

Hailey kills herself laughing every night lately watching this old video of herself in the bath. Just thought i would re-share! Enjoy.

Our Family.

2008-07-07T20:14:00.002-04:00

We visited Grandma and Grandpa at the trailer on Sunday. We had a nice breakfast, played in the playground, went for a fun boatride and swam in the lake! It has been a while since we took a family picture.

The Slip and Slide!

2008-07-07T19:45:00.004-04:00

We have all these great inflatables at the cottage. It seems like everyone that visits brings us another. This is either from the Pettigrews or Sanfords. The Superman Slip and Slide. We have a pretty good hill in front of the lake so it is perfect. Hailey really gets good momentum! Check it out.

Morning Breakfast.

2008-07-07T19:36:00.003-04:00

I really enjoy my mornings with just Hailey and I. She is usually full of beans and eager to help prepare breakfast. This morning she decided out of the blue that we should eat breakfast outside on the deck. She is such a little peanut that she uses the step stool as a half a picnic table. Mmmmm... waffles!

Sorry, we are back...

2008-07-03T08:40:00.003-04:00

I know the posting has been scarce. With living at my parents for 6 weeks and then the move into a new house we have been too busy! We have been meaning to capture Hailey's singing for a while and have finally posted up. Enjoy!

Love Jason, Alex and Hailey. xoxoxo.

The Famous Firetruck song!

2008-07-03T08:31:00.001-04:00

Hailey is completely infatuated with Firetrucks now. She has a whole bunch including one that she drives flintstones style on the street.

Frere jacques and where is thumbkin combined.

2008-07-03T08:30:00.002-04:00

Wheels with Mommy and Daddy

2008-07-03T08:28:00.001-04:00

The Mommy's on the bus say "shhh, shhh, shhh"
The Daddy's on the bus say "cut that out, cut that out, cut that out!"

Grandpa say go fishin...

2008-07-03T08:27:00.001-04:00

Wheels Ad Lib...

2008-07-03T08:22:00.002-04:00

"The grandma on the bus says i love you, i love you, i love you, i love the tv, i love video, all through the town. The grandpa on the bus says go fishin, go fishin, go fishin, the grandpa go fishin at the trailer all through the town. Wanna see my picture daddy!"

Lets Go!... Freeze! ... Quack, Quack Daddy!

2008-07-03T08:21:00.001-04:00

Hello Auntie Robyn... Quack Quack!

2008-07-03T08:19:00.000-04:00

We will Rock You!

2008-07-03T08:18:00.000-04:00

The Zoo.

2008-02-24T19:02:00.013-05:00

We had a great morning at the zoo today. The animals were all in great form- its so nice when they aren't just laying around snoozing all day. Grandma came with us. We ran into Jen, Ken, Colin and Liam too! What a fun day!

Happy Birthday Hat.

2008-02-24T18:59:00.003-05:00

Most mornings Hailey asks to get out some article of clothing, like this Birthday Hat from her birthday at daycare. She puts it on and then says and points "Camera". She then poses for a few pictures before demanding to see them. So cute.

Thank you.

2008-02-24T18:54:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Culvir and Birender for a great Family Day! We had a great time with you. Extra thanks for the sweet Dora videos, they are a big hit!

Happy Valentines Day!

2008-02-14T07:19:00.004-05:00

Happy Valentines Day to all my friends! I am modeling the super cute Valentines Day outfit that Auntie Robyn and Uncle James sent me. I think i look pretty today. In fact i have had daddy take me to the mirror so that i can check myself out several times. Love Hailey. xoxoxo.

Elaine and John visit for Hailey's Birthday!

2008-02-04T21:01:00.000-05:00

We had a great visit from Elaine and John last night. They came to celebrate Haileys birthday and take in some Superbowl. Hailey put on quite the half-time show- lots of bum drops! Thanks for the great presents, it was so nice to see you both!

Happy Anniversary Party with our Adoption Group!

2008-02-04T20:39:00.000-05:00

We had an amazing celebration with our group last Saturday. Many thanks to the Carmodys for arranging the use of the gym at their local school. And of course for all the effort involved and the pizza! It was so great to see all of the kids running around playing together, when only a short year ago the kids were just learning to crawl. Hailey had a blast! Can't wait to see everyone again very soon! Love Jason, Alex and Hailey. xoxo.

Happy Chinese New Year!

2008-02-04T20:28:00.000-05:00

G O T C H A !

2008-02-01T07:08:00.000-05:00

Hailey and I are looking out the window at home at the awesome storm outside, and thinking of the wirlwind day that brought Alex, Hailey and I together exactly one year ago today. Where has the year gone? For those of you that know me well enough, you know that my memory is very poor, but i do remember most of the last year. But it seems like yesterday that we first met. I have included our post from a year ago for your enjoyment....

It is 9:30pm and i am sitting in the business center of our new hotel in Guangzhou. This is the most amazing day of our lives! We finally have our little girl. It has been such a special day for us. Just imagine delivering your baby at the exact same time as 20 of your friends in the same room after waiting for two years together... it was amazing!!

Let me start at the beginning... We all woke up by 2 am or didnt sleep last night. We had phone calls starting at 4am this morning throughout the rooms. Everybody was up and everyone was incredibly excited. We all packed last night and had our bags picked up so all that was left was our carry on and we forgot half the stuff we needed. We ate breakfast in the dark in the restaurant of the hotel in twenty minutes. The restaurant opened at 6am and we were leaving for the airport at 6:20am. On top of that, four families had just joined us so we had to catch up and wish each other well over a wolfed down breakfast anticipating that we would not eat again until late in the evening. We made our way to and through the airport and flew to Guangzhou landing at 12pm. Everyones bags made it (whew!), and we packed up and drove into the heart of Guangzhou to our hotel to freshen up and pick up the Chin family that were meeting us here after a few days in their first daughters province visiting. What a difference between Bejing and Guangzhou. Bejing with its wide avenues and orderly presentation. Guangzhou is quite old with its collection of high rise buildings- the highway, added later, winds through the buildings and you can almost reach out and touch peoples laundry hanging outside their windows. We arrived and in ten minutes, quickly reshuffled our bags and met to get back in the bus and head to the Civil Affairs office. We had a 2:30 appointment and the nannies had driven an hour from Foshan to meet us! We arrived at the office, went to the fifth floor, were shown to a boardroom style room where we waited. We did some small paperwork and reviewed the order in which the babies would be brought in. Of course the babies were brought in completely out of order and everyone was surprised to find out as their baby was brought in. We had arranged with Donna and Avery to be film buddies and not let the special moment go untaped. And thank goodness. We waited patiently only to have our baby brought last. Cute baby after cute baby brought in, we hoped they wouldnt run out! (ha ha) And saving the best for last, our little cutie finally arrived. Poor little Hailey had thrown up on the bus from Foshan and was not feeling well. On top of that we found out that she does not like loudness and she completely shut down. She was handed to Alex by the nanny and cuddled up close. What a great moment, what a wait for that great moment. It was so worth it. And to my surprise, our friends were all at the ready with cameras flashing capturing the moment with photo and video. And where do you ask are these special photos? Well, you will have to wait a little longer unless Deb posted our photo on her blog. The computer here does not accept my camera so i am unable to upload. Sorry guys, my storry will have to do for now. We had a chance to ask the nanny some questions with the help of our terrific guide Shirly and found out that her nickname is "Man, Man" which we understood to be quite common before travelling and had expected. We found out that she is quite attached to one of the nannies- that we didnt meet but hope to meet later at our visit to the orphanage. We paid our donations without incident and had to get moving quickly back to the hotel. We arrived back at the hotel and changed rooms to get one with a bath. The rooms here are incredible, spacious and modern. They wheeled in our crib and all is right with the world. I ordered some Congee from Room Service to make the bottle and then had to go back down to complete some paperwork while Alex fed the first bottle. Hailey wolfed it down and then cuddled in and fell into sleep. We ordered some room service food and finally ate for the first time since 6am at 8:30pm. We then woke Hailey up to feed her last bottle, which she sucked back in like 3 minutes flat. I left her and mommy falling asleep on the bed to come down and write this blog.

Favourite moments of the day: First time holding and snuggling her. She does this ET thing where she pokes a fingertip at the end of one of my fingertips and presses hard to see who will win- she is strong. She started waving to me soon after we arrived at the room with one hand.

We are back off to the Civil Affairs office first thing tomorrow to fill in more paperwork and then off to a local supermarket to pick up more formula, strollers, and other necessities. Everybody is so great and helpful both in Bejing and Guangzhou. We are really like sheep following the pack. They make everything so easy and answer the dumbest questions with seriousness.

Alex and i are in love again (not with each other of course) and we are walking on a cloud. Sorry again about the photos. She does look very much like the referral photos, only larger. She actually is a little porker, we dont expect some of our 6-12 month stuff to fit, she is bigger than we thought and has a little chubba. She is so sweet and terrific, i could go on and on, but i should probably go back up as i miss her already.

We wish we could come home right away, but are looking forward to exploring parenthood here and seeing more of the city that she might have called home, or might in the future.

We miss you all and we love checking the blog. I was blown away to see 15 posts today! Thanks for the love and support. Love Jason & Alex. (ma ma, and ba ba)

Haileys 2nd Birthday Party!

2008-01-29T08:55:00.000-05:00

A quick catch up...

2007-12-16T21:27:00.000-05:00

putting on my lipstick

me and daddy

mommy and i went to the Barrick Kids Christmas party

We tried to sit on Santa's knee... (see Olivia's blog for a similiar outcome)

Maya visits for breakfast

Hailey and the Carmodys

shopping with mommy

cute little Halloween turtle

snuggling with our cousin

visit with the Bradys (we still include Kyle in alot of our songs)

Helping daddy at the cottage

I won a monkey while fishing at the fair with Grandma

driving the tractor at the Kinmount Fair

Auntie Joan and Tom visit

Ontario place

oink oink

Mommy and me off to the Ex

my cousin visits

Auntie RaRa visits

Cottage fun!

Hailey and Madeline at Marineland

Hailey's Second Christmas Parade in Two Days!!

2007-11-18T19:28:00.001-05:00

I had a great time today at the Toronto Santa Claus Parade. The weather was perfect! It was Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, Auntie Elaine and my cousin Andrew that came. I was supposed to meet my friend Zoe but we didnt see her. I did see Santa though. I had a great time. I also went to the Pickering Santa Claus Parade yesterday with Mommy, Grandma, Auntie Joanne, Cousin Kim (and her mom) and MacKenzie and Uncle John. We saw Daddy's cousin Jay (he is a Fireman and was in the parade!)

Tracey, Chris and River.

2007-08-15T22:05:00.000-04:00

Hi River, thanx for the fun time at the park! I am glad i made my mom and dad stop at your place last night. It was fun to swing, slide, make mud pies, balance on the wall and run around with you. You are fun. I will play with you again soon. Love Hailey. xoxoxo.

Gotta Go to Scottos...

2007-08-15T21:38:00.001-04:00

We had a really nice visit with Dawn, Dave and Stephanie on Sunday up at their cottage for the day. Grandma, Grandpa, Kevin, Erin, Avery and Ewan also came up for the day. What a surprise to see John and Gwen there too! Dave picked us up at the dock in Georgina and boated us to the cottage. Hailey loved the wind blowing in her face and the bumps of the boat. Dawn and Steph were waiting at the dock when we arrived. Hailey, Avery and Ewan spent hours on the trampoline bouncing around. We even took out the ATVs for some short rides with the kids. Hailey loved it. You guys have a beautiful cottage with lots of super fun stuff to do there. Dave drove us back to the ferry dock and we had a fun ferry ride back to Georgina. Hailey loved waving at all the boats and birds. Thanks for the great day! Love Alex, Jason and Hailey. xoxoxo.

Splish, Splash, Sweet pool party!

2007-08-13T21:44:00.000-04:00

What a great day for a Six Month Reunion for our group! Todd, Stephanie, Matthew and Sophie have a wonderful home and a great backyard pool and hot tub- perfect for a day of sun and fun. Wow how the kids have grown and developed! It was only two months ago that Ray, Mag and Madeline hosted our last get together- the kids had only crawed or sat and played. Now they are running all over the place! The kids were all so comfortable in the pool too! Olivia led the way by showing everyone how she can dunk under water and fly down the pool slide crashing into the water! It was so great that Donna, Darcy, Katie and Sarah made the long drive from close to the Sault. And great that Dave, Jayne, Jaiden and Justin made the long drive in too! (hope Justin's bump is doing better!) What a fun day, hope to see many of you this Friday at Marineland!
Love Hailey, Alex and Jason. xoxoxo.

Center Island with my friend Madeline.

2007-08-06T20:18:00.000-04:00

I went to Center Island with my friend Madeline this week. It was fun. Madeline's mom and dad came too. We met down at the harbour. Madeline and i waved to all of the people getting off of the ferry. Then it got really crowded but we had fun anyways standing in the windows and looking at all the sailboats and birds. Then we went up and down the stairs a bunch of times. They finally let us off of the board and we were really hungry so Mom and Dad found a fun place to picnic by the beach. We had a fun picnic and changed into our bathing suits and went to the splash pad. It was awesome! Madeline knew exactly how to work all the buttons to make the water come on in different ways! We ran around getting soaked for a long time, it was great. Madeline wanted to give me a kiss, but i dont really like that. We ran out of water and then decided to go to the zoo to see the horses and ponies. On the way we saw a dragon and a train, it was cool! At the zoo we saw the bunnies and chicks and horses and ponies and a peacock and a big fat pig. They are kinda smelly. I was getting really tired so we climbed into the wagon to go back to the ferry. Madeline had a burst of energy and decided to get out and pull me for a while. Everyone was impressed! We got on the ferry and went home, but not before thanking Madeline for inviting me out and promising to do it again soon. Thanks so much Madeline for a great time! I love you. Hailey. xoxoxo.

Trip to the park.

2007-07-30T21:16:00.000-04:00

Had a fun trip to the park tonight. We went down to the castle park in the beach and tried to drop by and see River, but nobody was home. We had a great time. Love Hailey. xoxoxo.

Elaine and John.

2007-07-30T21:13:00.001-04:00

Cousin Elaine and her boyfriend John dropped by to hang out last week. It was so great to see her and finally meet John. Hope you had a great time at the Jazz Festival! Drop by again soon. Love Hailey. xoxoxo.

Cottage with Auntie Catherine.

2007-07-30T20:56:00.001-04:00

Thanx for a great cottage visit Auntie Catherine! Hopefully the snakes will go away for next time. Love Hailey. xoxoxo.

Andrew's Baptism... A special day.

2007-07-27T13:11:00.000-04:00

We had a beautiful day on Sunday for Andrew's Baptism. The ceremony was part of the service at Melville Church. Rev Flute performed the service and Baptism which was very nice. We finally had the opportunity to meet Lyle's daughters and they were amazing! It was really great to have the whole family together. Hailey and i cut out early and went up to visit Nana and sing her some songs. Afterwards we went back to our place for a short lunch and celebration! What a great day! Congratulations to Elaine and Angelo!

Colin + Liam's 3rd Birthday Bash!

2007-07-27T12:56:00.000-04:00

We had a blast at the boys annual, special invitation-only gala at the Pettigrew Estates. This year the party was held outdoors in the McKay Gardens. It was the whos who of Pickering. We had a beautiful sunny day for the Summer Olympic portion of the event. We played and played and played, and then got credit for playing. The event went off without a hitch. We even enjoyed special animal-autographed hotdogs! Can't wait til next year! Love Hailey. xoxoxo.

Summer Catch Up.... (sorry for the delay in blogging...)

2007-07-21T20:24:00.000-04:00

Well it has been an awesome summer so far and Hailey has been amazing!!! We have not blogged in quite some time so i will do a quick catchup.

First, Olivia and Debbie came to visit.

Then we went to the cottage... and spotted our beaver!

And played on our new swing that Grandpa put up for us.

Back at home, Hailey loves Mommy's purse... lots of fun in there.

And we have had so much fun just chillin out at home...

Mommy got me a Monster Bouncy House!!!

Then Mommy and Daddy took me to Center Island and i got to ride on a big boat, ride a train and a merry-go-round... cool!

It really tuckered me out.

Mommy and i sometimes just read books all afternoon...

Or Mommy and i go and visit with Grandma, i love that!

Wwwwwweeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

But we keep on going to the cottage most weekends... sweet.

After a dirty weekend at the cottage i have to come home and get clean...

Well, thanks for catching up with the Hemsworths. Some other things i have done over the last two months are: go to Gymboree alot (i have moved up a whole level!), go to the zoo alot, spent a weekend at the cottage with Colin and Liam, been to the Dragonboat races at Center Island to root on the Children's Bridge Dragonboat, went to the Science Center, spent a weekend at the cottage with cousion Andrew, and lots of other stuff! My favourite word now is NO! I go back and forth between one and two naps. I am down to two bottles a day. I can walk so fast its almost a run. My vocabulary has grown alot, although Mommy, Daddy and Grandma seem to understand me best. Mr. Pettigrew has taught me "Props!" which is where i put my fist to your fist as a greeting.

We went to Colin and Liam's third birthday party today and we have Andrew's baptism tomorrow so i will have more to blog about soon. See you all soon.

Love Hailey. (and Mommy and Daddy)

Visit with Paula.

2007-05-23T21:20:00.000-04:00

I finally met my cousin Paula today! She followed my parents blog every day when we just got together as a family. Her and my dad were best friends growing up. She made this amazing scrapbook of our first few weeks together as a family in China. It must have taken her forever and it is so beautiful. It was so great to finally meet her! I hope i see her again soon. Love Hailey.

Topless walking...

2007-05-23T21:17:00.000-04:00

Hailey has got a little trailer park in her today. She thought she would walk around topless, diaper hanging out of her track pants. Isnt she an adorable little princess. What a monkey.

Happy Mothers Day!

2007-05-23T20:56:00.000-04:00

Wishing Groups 244, 243 and 242 a very Happy Mothers Day! We have completed a very special journey together. Alex celebrated Mothers Day with a nice littel snuggle to wake up. I tried to get up early and prepare a breakfast in bed, but the monkey was far too excited about Mothers Day to let me get a head start. We got up, got dressed and went to Grandma's house. We had some awesome play time with our cousins and had a great dinner with Grandma. We opened a whole bunch of gifts and had a great time. What a great day, just the start of many to come!

Bubble bath time.

2007-05-21T15:26:00.000-04:00

Hailey just loves bath time. She loves to drink the water and squirt everyone with her squirty toys. The mommy fires up the bubbles and its giggly time. Good times...

Hailey walks better...

2007-05-21T15:22:00.000-04:00

Hailey has really started to walk better lately... will continue posting progress.

Cute Monkey.

2007-05-08T20:53:00.000-04:00

Hailey was supper cute today in her "I love Dad" shirt. I couldn't help but take a pic for the record. Alex has been so sick and i have been running "Daddy Daycare". Boy, it really makes me appreciate how much work it is for Alex daily. Even with her two sleeps she really tuckered me out.

Mini-go-tastic!

2007-05-05T09:41:00.000-04:00

Hailey has finally warmed up to the mini-go now. But she has to do it herself. Our favourite part is when she flings it accross the room! That makes clean up fun (and easy).

Baby Andrew sits up and takes notice.

2007-05-05T09:35:00.000-04:00

Baby Andrew is sitting up now! Look how cute he is now. We love our little visits.

Madeline's Party!

2007-05-04T12:19:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Madeline, Mag and Ray for a wonderful afternoon in their beautiful home! We were so excited to see all of Hailey's pals from China. It was great to catch up and see how well all of the children are flourishing! What amazing friends we have. We even got a peek at what may become Shirley's living area if she decides to take them up on their offer to come to Canada. Can't wait for the next get together. We miss all of you already! Love Alex, Jason and Hailey.

Wheels on the Bus excitement.

2007-05-04T12:04:00.000-04:00

What a funny monkey. We had our nightly bath, but this time we gave her crazy Kramer (Seinfeld) hair. She sat on my knee to watch the Wheels on the Bus before bedtime and went nuts! She was dancing and talking and jumping up and down. What a silly pants.

Auntie Robyn visits....!!!!

2007-05-03T20:37:00.000-04:00

Auntie Robyn finally met us recently. She flew all the way from Virginia on her own just to meet us. (well maybe to see everyone else too and for Dads 60th birthday!) Daddy picked her up at the airport and she stayed for a sleepover. When i woke up in the morning, what a surprise to finally meet her for breakfast! We had a great playday with her and then Grandma joined us. The next day we went to the zoo with Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie Robyn, Mommy, cousin Avery and cousin Ewan! What a great day. Then it got even better the next day when we played all day at Grandma's house for Grandpa's 60th birthday! Daddy went out with Grandpa to play golf and even let him win! Then next day Auntie Robyn, Grandma and Grandpa came over for lunch and a long walk through the valley to the beach before Auntie Robyn caught her long flight back to Virginia. Thanks for visiting, i miss you already! Love Hailey.

long walks on the beach...

2007-05-03T20:32:00.000-04:00

It is so amazing to finally be in the nice weather. Its great to be by the lake and go for walks on the boardwalk at sunset with the monkey. so relaxing....

Cousin Andrew visits

2007-05-03T20:23:00.000-04:00

We love our visits from cousin Andrew. For those of you that don't know, this is Alex's sisters new baby of six months. See you again soon!

The cottage at last...

2007-04-26T22:09:00.000-04:00

We finally made it to the cottage two weeks ago for an overnight visit. What a surprise to find the lake frozen over. Monkey loved the cottage and we enjoyed the fresh air and peace and quiet. We got out for a few walks and some great downtime. We look forward to spending lots of time here when the bugs go away.

Happy Easter!

2007-04-26T21:27:00.000-04:00

Thanks Grandma, Grandpa and the Easter Bunny for an incredible Easter day! We had a great egg hunt with our cousins Avery and Ewan. There were eggs everywhere, it took 30 minutes or so just to find them all! Mom cooked up an incredible dinner of turkey, vegetables and a delicious apple pie. We missed Auntie Robyn and Uncle James today. The very next day we had our second delicous turkey with Auntie Lynda, Uncle Lyle, cousins Andrew, Elain and AJ. Aunts, uncles and friends all joined us for a great Easter dinner. We gave thanks to god for bringing our family together and for having Hailey with us this wonderful holiday. We also thought about birth mom and how we must be on her mind during the holidays.

Hailey walks to Mommy...

2007-04-26T21:19:00.000-04:00

The monkey is so cute with her wiggly walking.

Hi, its Hailey, how can i direct your call

2007-04-26T21:14:00.000-04:00

Most of our family and friends would tell you that we dont answer the phone or may not know what a phone looks like. Well here is good proof that we model phone talking enough that the monkey decided to pick up my computer mouse and dial in.

Welcome Dave, Jayne, Justin and Jaiden.

2007-04-06T07:26:00.000-04:00

We didnt realize that they have a blog as well. We just had a look through and it looks like they are doing great! Dave and Jayne were part of our veteran core in China and really helped us through some of the unknowns. We will always remember meeting them for the first time and having breakfast with them on our Gotcha day! We are so pleased that they seem to be settling in so well (and Leaf fans to boot!). Check out their blog below at the side under Haileys Friends.
Love Jason, Alex and Hailey.

Anyone out there?

2007-04-04T22:25:00.000-04:00

Just checking to see who is still checking our blog. Not getting alot of comments on the blog (Except the Carmody's who always post). Just making sure you havent all gone to Kirk and Debs blog again. I think you are all still there, just too busy to comment. Love Hailey.

Hailey Walks!!!!

2007-04-04T22:15:00.000-04:00

Hailey has made so much progress in the last week. She walked right accross the room yesterday and i managed to catch this little walk today. It is so great to see how excited she is to walk. Every accomplishment makes her so happy (and us proud). She is adorable!

The Musical Tent.

2007-04-04T22:12:00.000-04:00

Thanks to the Sanfords, the Musical Tent is a hit. It has a doorbell that alternates music to play a fun song. We love the music. It is fun to bob our head to the song.

Wagon Ride.

2007-04-04T22:09:00.000-04:00

We love our new wagon from the Pettigrew (extended) clan. Thank goodness for better weather!

Wheels on the Bus continued...

2007-04-04T22:08:00.000-04:00

We still love watching the video...

Wa Wa Wa Wa...

2007-04-04T22:06:00.000-04:00

What a stinker pants...

Squeaky Shoes from China.

2007-04-04T22:04:00.000-04:00

We love walking around in our squeaky shoes from China. We are so silly!

Grandma and our Funny Face.

2007-04-04T22:02:00.000-04:00

Grandma loves to have dinner with us and help us practice our funny face. We stick out our lips and squint our eyes. Its adorable.

Walk on the beach.

2007-04-04T21:59:00.000-04:00

Alex, Hailey and i went for a nice walk on the boardwalk last week. There is a playground by the Balmy Beach Club that we like. We watched the sunset over the lake while swinging and going down the slide. This kid isnt afraid of anything. The higher and faster the better.

Go Leafs Go!

2007-04-03T22:56:00.000-04:00

Hailey wants you to make the playoffs so that she can watch more hockey with daddy!

Grandma Swing.

2007-04-03T22:40:00.001-04:00

We love our Grandma swing. Its fun.

Hailey loves her chair!

2007-04-03T22:38:00.000-04:00

Hailey loves to sit in her chair and watch her Wheels on the Bus movie. It sure looks comfy.

Pizza Reunion.

2007-03-23T22:51:00.000-04:00

We went to our adoption groups first reunion since we got back to Canada a month ago (has it been a month already!) Most of the families were there. We got to see Samara, Maya, Madeline, Zoey, Emma, Renee and Sophie (plus some of the babies from the other group). It was so great to catch up with everyone. The girls have grown so much and really blossomed now that we are home and not living out of hotel rooms. It was awesome. Thanks for hosting Angela and Paul, your home is amazing and Maya is so cute!

The Chair.

2007-03-23T22:48:00.000-04:00

Hailey just loves her new chair! It is always talking to her asking her to come back... to ... the ... chair...! When she sits down, she can read the book and every page sings a new song, and the lamp talks. This is one of her favourite toys!

Egg-tastic!

2007-03-23T22:41:00.000-04:00

Hailey just loves her egg in the morning... not! We try and make it as fun as possible until she freaks out and demands her yummy bottle. Watch her cute little face after she eats the egg... de-licious!

The Zoo.

2007-03-22T22:54:00.000-04:00

It was a beautiful winter day. So we had our first trip to the zoo. We like monkeys!

Happy Hailey at Home

2007-03-22T22:51:00.000-04:00

Hailey visits Jump!

2007-03-22T22:48:00.000-04:00

The Week of Hailey!

2007-03-08T21:35:00.000-05:00

The Water Bottle Queen.

2007-03-01T20:23:00.000-05:00

Hailey just loves drinking from our water bottles. You cant even take a drink without her wanting to share in the fun. She drank like half of Alex's water. Ok, she spit most of it up on her high chair, bib and clothes. But she really loves it, funny.

Love Jason, Alex and Hailey.

Grandma Giggles.

2007-03-01T20:17:00.000-05:00

Grandma and Grandpa brought us dinner last night and had a great visit. Hailey and Alex had been over to visit Erin, Ewan and Avery earlier in the day. Grandma always knows the good playtime that makes Hailey just giggle and giggle and giggle. After a super-fun visit, Grandma and Grandpa left for home and Hailey went straight to bed for a great nights sleep. Thanks for the great night!

Love Jason, Alex and Hailey. (and Cyber)

Wheels on the Bus.

2007-02-25T20:04:00.000-05:00

Hailey just loves watching the "Baby Einstein - On the Go" video, especially this part- The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round. She has some of the actions down and is working on her performance. It is hilarious to watch her cute little butt wiggle back and forth as she dances. It puts a smile on her face no matter what and comes in handy when she starts breathing fire. Enjoy.

Love Jason, Alex and Hailey.

Visit with Jen, Ken, Colin and Liam!

2007-02-25T16:13:00.000-05:00

We were going to go to the zoo today but decided that it was too cold and windy! Mommy woke up from her long morning nap (she needed it after being on night duty) and felt great! So we went to see the Pettigrews! Boy were they excited to see us, and they filled our truck with gifts again (the 3 truck loads after the shower weren't enough i guess!) Auntie Joan got us a nice track suit and swim suit. Mrs. McKay got us a Santa plate and cup. Colin and Liam were waiting at the window with a rose and a Magnadoodle! We had some great play time (and finally some adult conversation!). Thanks for the great afternoon!

Love Jason, Alex and Hailey.

Yahhhh Weekend!

2007-02-25T10:26:00.000-05:00

It has been great spending time with Hailey this weekend. I have been only seeing the crusty morning before i head to work and then the witching hour when i get home - Kevin and Jerry- i knew about this from you, but man it sucks! But we had a great time yesterday- Grandma came over for breakfast and then stayed all day and played, and played and played. Grandma has endless energy and knows all the right tricks to keep Hailey laughing and giggling all day long. Grandma plays with the plastic monkeys and makes a monkey screetching noise that sets Hailey giggling uncontrollably! Grandma even brought over new baking (brownies, butter tarts and rice crispy squares!). And, made us all home-made pizza for dinner before packing up and the long drive back to Bowmanville. Daddy was feeling ucky all day long (days of stomach cramps) and finally feeling flu-like, went to bed at 8pm and slept through to 6am feeling much, much better. Mommy is still feeling yucky with chest congestion and has been handling the evening shift every night. Alex is really my hero, she has really stepped up to the plate, while i have taken some time to adjust to our honeymoon in China being over. I hope to get out for some fresh air today and get rid of that cabin fever feeling. Monkey has been asleep for about an hour and a half now so i should probably get her up. Thanks for your posts, keep checking in.

Love Jason, Alex and Hailey.

Tired Monkey.

2007-02-22T17:40:00.000-05:00

The monkey has been very tired lately- must be all the sleep deprived days we have been putting her through. She slept last night from 8:30 til 6:30 so we were thrilled about that. She is still not eating properly throughout the day and only eating breakfast and then dinner- so that probably wears her out too. You can see the look on her face- this is the look we get most of the time now- tired, tired, tired monkey. We are loving having her home and looking forward to getting the routine straightened. We are open to some short visits (30 minutes or so), please feel free- although Alex is still not feeling 100 percent. We miss you all and look forward to introducing you to Hailey.

Love Alex, Jason and Hailey.