Hanoi Update with Pics

Well, we went to the airline office to see about adjusting our flights on Saturday, but they were unable to view the availablity of the US portion of our flights and we are trying to schedule a stopover in L.A. to visit my brother and his lovely family on our way through so they can meet little miss buttercup. We managed to accomplish nothing on that visit--the last bulkhead seat with bassinet was taken by the family that we went to the airline office with (but they have graciously offered to share if we need it--Our travel agent reissued itineraries for flights out on Tuesday for all the families since the visas are supposed to be issued tomorrow and pretty much everyone has decided to take them, so we will do the same to make things simple. It's hard to leave knowing there is so much more we wanted to see and do, but hopefully we will bring her back someday soon.

We walked around yesterday with Bethany and Kevin and their daughter Leah and went out to Hoan Kiem Lake, which is in the middle of the city and has beautiful parks and walkways all around and a little pagoda in the middle and a temple on an island on one end that is tied to a legend of a tortoise and a sword. There is a huge preserved tortoise in a glass case inside and a pretty red bringe leading up to it-definitely a big tourist spot, but pretty cool. We bought some art to take home at the shop next to the temple.

We ate at a great french restaurant called the Green Tangerine that we have heard good things about from families traveling before us. Then we made our way to the Silk shop where Matt had a fitting for his suit jacket--we had to wait a while for the tailor to arrive with the jacket, so we rested on little wooden stools and the babies were very patient.

The little drama queen had a meltdown though back at the hotel--I think she is working through processing all the change she has and is going through and is grieving her losses a little bit, so the nights are much harder for her. We weathered through it and she fell asleep in my arms until she woke up for round two and then finally gave up and slept for the night. Needless to say it was a room service night again. Tonight went much better--we had very little screaming to speak of and we actually walked down from the hotel to a wonderful restaurant called Koto that was started by an Australian in order to train street kids in the culinary arts and the food is awesome. We met an extremely nice couple from NY at the table next to us that just loved the buttercup and they only realized that we had adopted her after we had talked to them for quite a while--I usually assume that is obvious, so I don't feel like I need to make that clear--perhaps we are all starting to look alike! :) They have grandchildren her age and were very tolerant and helpful when she decided she had had enough. The staff was great too and one of the hostesses took her for a walk around the restaurant and introduced her to the kitchen staff so I could finish the last of my pumpkin ravioli in peace. It feels kind of weird to let them take her, but that is very common here, and I could see her the whole time. The Vietnamese LOVE babies and everywhere we go they will smile and talk to her and clap and cluck and want to touch her face and hands-the latter gets a little old though, as we would like to keep her from getting sick as long as possible. There comes a point where you just want to dip her in Purell, but it is just the culture difference and I can accept that.

A lot of passers-by will say "Baby Vietnam?" and when we say yes, we most often get the response "Ah, very good!" and lots of smiles. The number one question by far that we are asked, though, and this is everyone from the market vendors to the front desk staff from Saigon to Hanoi, is "How many months?" and even though she is usually dressed head to toe in pink, with a pink fluffy coat on, they say "Boy?"---I think she looks like a girl, but evidently it is hard for them to tell and they don't have the US tendency to assume pink = obvious girl. The culture is so interesting to me, and we have been greeted by everyone with such open friendliness......EXCEPT for the cab driver we had on the way back from the restaurant tonight--he just happened to be right in front of the place when we were making our hasty exit while waving goodbye to our new friends with a very crabby baby so that they could enjoy their food and I guess he thought we looked like pretty big suckers--remember we walked to the restaurant--but needed to get back fast since baby had reached her limit and he proceeded to rudely correct our pronunciation of our hotel (when I have heard it pronounced how we said it by other Vietnamese people) and then proceeded to snake around down half a dozen streets at about 5 miles an hour and when Matt questioned where he was going, he had attitutude and kept on his merry way--I was getting a little concerned that he was taking us to the "hood" to mug us, as nothing looked familiar, but then we finally saw our hotel in the distance and instead of pulling into the circular drop off (mind you, I am trying to comfort the getting hysterical baby, so you would think he would have driven faster!) instead he pulls up to the sidewalk next to the hotel and basically orders us to get out there. I was ready to gladly oblige, and of course he charges us twice what it was supposed to be, and when Matt gave him the money, he took cell phone call and igored giving him any change. I was on the sidewalk waiting and was afraid he would drive off with my husband, so I opened the door back up and told him just to let it go and cut our losses--a classic a**hole in any culture. Ugh. Such a contrast after we had had such a nice experience at the restaurant.....

We also went to a good restaurant for lunch today recommended by my friend Jenny-thanks, Jenny!-it was really cold today walking around and the restaurant had a little fire going and they sat us right next to it. It felt so good to warm up--luckily we brought the little fuzzy pink coat that we inherited from Jenny's girls so the buttercup was toasty, but we are quickly finding out we did not bring enough warm clothes for Hanoi this time of year--it has been in the high 40's to low 50's and all I brought was a hoodie jacket. She was in a great mood and giggling, but somewhere in the middle of lunch she had a diaper blowout and would have no more happy time, so Matt took her outside while I hastily paid the bill and chugged down my nice warm cup of coffee and we grabbed a cab for the hotel for some tummy time and a nap. We would have loved to have spent a little more time, but it's all about the buttercup now and she calls the shots (have I mentioned how loudly?). :)

Also, this morning our whole group went to the Water Puppet show--I really enjoyed it. It is kinda hard to explain, but it is basically wooden puppets acting out scenes of traditional Vietnamese culture one a "stage" of a pool of shallow water. There are dragons and ducks and fish and fishermen and dancers all set to traditional Vietnamese music. There are puppeteers standing in the water behind a screen operating the puppets. I loved the music and Marin was mesmerized until she fell asleep--I did have to see most of the show standing up in the aisle though, as she got tired of sitting still. A huge group schoolchildren came in and the little rambunctious boys that looked to be about first or second grade all piled into the lower seats around where we were sitting and were so happy to practice their English. They kept all yelling "Hello!" and "How are you?" and "What is your name?" It was so cute, but they kept doing it, so I had to shush them and motion for them to watch the show. It would stop them for a bit. :) Luckily the music is pretty loud. All of the girls were sitting politely up in the upper seats behaving--ha, ha. Even those young boys, were smiling and cooing at the buttercup and wanted to rub her cheeks. You just don't see that in the US. They are also not afraid to put their arm around each other or sit on each others laps--they were all just plain adorable and when the show was over, a man with bullhorn (seriously) rounded them all up and they filed back on to a couple of buses. They were all waving and saying "Goodbye!" on their way out. And all I can figure out in Vietnamese so far is Thank You! Gotta work on that.....

So, tomorrow (Monday) is our last full day here so we will have to make our plan --we will get back by the airline office, we will pick up our things from the tailor, and I would actually love to eat at Koto again--perhaps we will see if a few of the other families want to try it--and there are a couple shops I would like to get back by....Then we will sadly say goodbye to Vietnam for now--we are excited to get home to our family, friends and pets, but I have to admit the long flight with this baby has be shaking in my boots.... :)

Wish us luck!

Interview: Check!

We had our interview today at the US Embassy--was a piece of cake! We didn't need any of our additional paperwork (just our passports!), and we were done in a matter of minutes for each family. We are supposed to be able to pick up our visas on Monday at 4--Quoc will pick them all up and deliver them to the hotel for us-he is such a gem! FYI, that is the piece of paper we have been waiting for all this time, as it gives us the ticket to bring little Buttercup home!! Yipee!! We had all been figuring if it didn't go well, we could all just set up house like a commune and live here for two years and get back that way, ha, ha--but it seems all went well! There is still some possibility the visa processing could be delayed if internet systems go down temporarily between here and the US, as they have been known to do, so Quoc thought allowing for Tues too would be on the safe side, but it seems there is not a flight on Wed, so we may settle for leaving Thurs. on the noonish flight. We are planning to go to the ticket office tomorrow in person to get things switched around--will keep you guys posted.....

**Us celebrating with Tea at the hotel after the interview**

We went to the area of Hanoi that does custom tailoring in a matter of days with Bethany and Kevin this evening-- We got measured for custom clothes that we will pick up Monday! I am getting a jacket and an Ao Dai (traditional Vietnamese dress) and Matt is getting a suit. All custom made in fabrics of our choice--pretty cool! We left and walked a ways and ended up running into a street fair of sorts with all sorts of booths set up in the street and took in all the sites. We saw some beautiful original paintings in a shop that we loved, but the prices were a little out of our range--up in the thousands, so we had to just admire and walk away :(--we will have to try to find some more reasonably priced--the art is just beautiful--we just evidently have really expensive taste! (The gallery staff said that she had sold a pair of paintings to Bill & Hillary Clinton like one of the ones we really liked--ha, ha) We have tickets to the Water Puppet Show for Sunday morning--have heard a lot about it and am looking forward to see for myself what it's all about!

The little buttercup is doing well, however, I don't know if it's the weather change or what, but the eczema on her face has really gotten worse--this has been the case with all the Danang babies with skin issues--it doesn't seem to bother her at all, it just looks so red and seems like it would be uncomfortable, but I think it just looks worse than it feels. She just woke up this morning with a bad case of acne--poor baby--we are putting on some creme and hoping it will calm down. The doc in Saigon said she would probably grow out of it at some point.

I am loading more pics to the flickr site as I type, but as it is late, I will have to add captions and tweak later tomorrow.

And of course, what you are really looking for, the many faces of Buttercup..... :)

**When she's happy, she is so happy!**

**And Silly!**

**But, OH, when she is not happy, you certainly will hear about it--This is one of the famous screams--(we just had to get a picture) Tears your heart out, doesn't it? Really this was in a matter of getting her bottle ready--she gets testy if it's not there in a nanosecond--she was fine seconds later, when we delivered what she wanted. :)**

**Riding in the Cab, she is snug as a little bug in the carrier. She usually is sleeping**

**Naptime--She absolutely loves this little duckie named Emmit from Miss Niki--she sucks on his beak like a pacifier (which she will not have anything to do with) when she is trying to go to sleep and snuggles up with him--we have got to find another one for back up when we get home, just in case! **

"What's up" from Hanoi!

We left Saigon this afternoon after spending the morning packing all of our junk up again--it took hours, again--and now we are in Hanoi, the capital city in the north of Vietnam. We had a little drama, after finding out the van didn't unload our carry-on bag that has all of our paperwork that we were told to bring and have shclepped halfway across the world and drove off with it!!! I almost had a coronary. Quoc says he doesn't think we need it, but I didn't care--that paperwork has been my life for the last 20 months, and anyone who got hold of it could probably assume our lives!! Crisis averted, though--they found it and the guy brought it, and another family's bag who was also left on the van as well, back on a scooter (of course) after some phone calls from Quoc. Whew--nothing like a little scare! We have kept a close eye on it, believe me, it was just some last minute shuffling to get people on the van, and it got stowed at the last minute--won't let that happen again, however that is probably the last time on this trip that all six families and all of their luggage will be loaded up at the same time. We are an unusually larger group than they are used to dealing with on these trips and we are quite the circus!

So far it seems really different than Saigon....much cooler,which is nice, and from what we saw on the way in from the airport, I think we are all in agreement that it just looks like a beautiful city. Saigon was interesting, but it was much more chaotic and crowded and while there were beautiful areas and the people were so nice and helpful, the city view we experienced does not compare to what we have seen in one drive through Hanoi. We have heard the attitude can be different here, and not quite as inviting, so we will see........we have our interview at the embassy tomorrow afternoon and Quoc says we should have visas by Monday! I will post more picures and update about the interview tomorrow--haven't really unpacked everything yet here and I am bushed! Gotta sleep some while the little munchkin drama queen is asleep--ordered room service again here tonight--
By the way, We went to the best vegetarian restaurant at one of the Buddhist temples down the street from our hotel last night with Dianne, Joe and their little Ben. Probably the best food we have had so far. (Em, Dianne said we will get you the name and address!--she has it written down--all I can remember is Viet Cay) We just let the waiter suggest things and we all tried everything. Very yummy! The temple was so peaceful, which was surprising since it opens up to a four lane road with honking traffic and neon. I wish I could have gotten pictures, but it was too dark and using the flash would not have done it justice anyway. The juxtaposition of things in Saigon is so interesting--there is definitely a melding of all kinds of culture. I am curious to see more of Hanoi in the light of day and close up--more tomorrow! I promise more pics too when I can get them downloaded....We are staying at the Horison, which is very nice, but we have to Pay for internet!! Bummer, man!

Also--Thanks for all your comments! I can't reply to everyone, but it is great to see all the support while we are on our journey! Thanks also to all of you back home keeping our fur-balls and keeping things in line! We just couldn't have done this without you and your support! Can't wait for you to meet our little Drama Queen! It has been confirmed, she is the loudest of all 6 of the babies here. Yay, us! :)

Love and hugs from Hanoi!

Yipeee!

Will post more later, but just have send a shout out to say how happy I am that my buds Em and Kristen got their I600 approvals---FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Go get your girls, my dear friends!!! See you on the other side of motherhood! :)
Big, HUGE hugs and congratulations to you--I will deliver them in person as soon as I can!!

Also, Cindi's little guy, Hudson is home from the hospital!! Good news all around! Yay!!!

Man, are we parents now...

Whew, we have had our roughest night and day since becoming parents--I have now listened to hours of blood curdling screaming, been thrown up on and projectile pooped on. Evidently we had tummy issues last night, but at the time we had no idea what could be wrong, but that she was NOT a happy camper. It was very hard and at those times, you start wondering if you were cut out for this--it can really get to you. At one point last night, I was just hoping she would exhaust herself from screaming and go to sleep, as nothing we could do was helping. Finally, I think that happened when Matt finally put her in the crib and just rubbed her back and she passed out. This morning did not lend itself the usually happy baby we had gotten used to either, and figured either is was greiving finally setting in, or the fact that we hadn't gotten a poop in the last day or so. :)

Chalk it up to not knowing the lanquage when you buy baby formula added to the fact that she is on medication that can upset the fine balance of an infants tum-tum. When we went to the store the other day to buy more formula, we thought we were buying a smaller can of what we had been feeding her (at the orphanage too), but on further inspection at the store yesterday, we realized we had accidently bought formula for a one to three year old (they seem to have lots of toddler formulas here, right with the other kind). OOps--the can labels looked almost the same, except evidently one was level 2 and we meant to get step 2--honest mistake,right!? Hey, we are new at this, and all the labels are in Vietnamese! Evidently either the formula change or the antibiotic or both did not sit well with her digestion. Well, in her crazy fits last night, she worked herself up so much, she threw up all over me, herself and the bed. That was fun. Then today, after our outing and she was still a little fussy, and just not herself--we took her temp, and no fever, so we decided it was probably the lack of pooping issue and gave her a tiny bit of infant laxative--about an hour later, we acheived what we all had been waiting for when she started grunting! We waited until we thought she was done to change her diaper, but when Matt went to change her it became evident she was not in fact done, and the diaper started to overfloweth--I ran to help, and while Matt ran to get a back up, I moved it away and was shot in the leg with you-know-what. I think she smiled. It was pretty funny, actually when all said and done and everybody was clean again. I know she will love reading this when she is 16. :)

Yesterday we doodled around in the room with fussy baby, and then at the appointed time, headed out with some others to take our laundry to a place the dads had found the day before near the city center. They were picking up, and we were dropping off, so we all went together. Interesting to say the least, it is so different how you can be on a busy street, with modern stores and then turn down a narrow lane and you will find women making food on little stoves by the sidewalk and just intimate daily life going on right at your feet. Many people live in the same shops that they work out of, by just pulling out a mat, so all of it is so intertwined. The "Laundry Place" turns out to be a tiny little 8' (if that) wide stall with a bike parked in front, that blocked the whole front, and the little lady comes out and weighs your dirty duds and charges you by the kilo. I think our good-size bag came out to be around 111,000 dong, which is around $7. Pretty good deal, seeing the hotel charges that for two items. I have been washing alot of small things in the sink in the room, like some baby clothes and diapers we use for burp cloths. I think I wash 6 of those a day. Word to people who will be traveling soon-bring extra, and bring the one-ply kind, not the pre-folded, as it takes everything a long time to dry in this humidity. You can get laundry soap at the store here, but I brought these little travel sizes that are the size of a travel shampoo (All Small & Mighty) and I'm glad I did.

When we got back yesterday, we walked down the street exploring a bit, the sidewalks here are pretty hard to navigate--there are scooters, raised grates, concrete debris and carts with things for sell all taking precidence over the area meant to walk--also, if the traffic is heavy people will drive their scooters right up on the sidewalk to get around it. We walked about a mile toward a baby shop I had seen when we were in a cab, but decided it was too far when we got to a certain point--the smog is really heavy and I had the baby in the Bjorn with a burp cloth over her mouth and nose. We realized today in the shuttle downtown that it was right around the corner from where we turned around--Oh, well, I may cab it next time. We ended up back at the mall with the "Big C", which was quite packed this time--I guess most everyone grocery shops on Sundays! Couldn't stand it for too long, so we had another coffee and Highland Coffee and headed back to the hotel--then we ordered room service again and (see above) ensued.

To go to the laundry place, the hotel shuttle drops us off at a place called Saigon Centre, another little mall with some upscale shops and cafes. That is where we bought M the new stuffed piggy and a couple of cute dresses that we paid more for than we would have in the States, but we can say they came from Vietnam-we are trying to buy her some things from her homeland that we can give her for future birthdays and such. The challenge is to keep them pack-friendly. :) There are so many things I would get if getting it back was not such an issue.

Well, after the poop, it looks like we have our baby back--for a while there I thought she had been replaced by the chick from the Excorc*st. She is a silly little thing with a sense of humor already.

Must go to bed now, but I am composing a post of Buttercup tidbits--little things we are finding out about our little girlie-girl.....

We are trying for a trip to Ben Thanh market tomorrow--we are running out of time in our stay in Saigon and we need to see a few things--if the little one is up to it, of course! New pics are on the Flickr site, so feel free to check them out--hopefully we can take some more tomorrow--haven't gotten out of the room a whole lot in the last day or so, unless it was to a little mall. :)

Matt & baby are sleeping......must get there too.....G'night!

Hi, from Saigon! (Ho Chi Minh City)

Hello! I think we are finally up and running again! Thanks so much to my bud Emily for posting for me! The hotel in Danang blocked all blogger sites and acted like they didn't exist, and I couldn't remember my code to post by email--yet another thing forgotten in our haste to leave...

Anyway, like Em posted, we had the Giving & Receiving ceremony on Wed, so buttercup is officially our daughter! Woohoo! She behaved wonderfully, and fell asleep right up until it was our turn. She said goodbye to all the nannies who I know will miss her and she them. She was all dressed in her fancy duds (which then got put in a ziplock to suffocate the critters!) The next day, Thursday, we left Danang to fly back to Saigon, so she had her first flight in Business class. There we learned our buttercup has some good lungs and knows how to use them! Man can our girl scream! I am really looking forward to that 11 hour leg of flight home! Not! I finally got her to sleep--it was only an hour flight, thank goodness. She will not take a pacifier, so we couldn't get her to ease her ears that way. I never understood a baby not taking a pacifier until now, if we try to stick it in her mouth, she gets mad and screams louder! Ha, ha. She is getting us trained, I guess.

We are doing good and all getting to know each other. We spent that night getting settled and figuring out we didn't have the easiest baby in the world, evidently--she must have been pooped that first night because it was a breeze to get her to sleep then--check out the new pics of the sleeping angel. Last night the benedryl that helped her itching the night before didn't work so well, so it was a little battle of the wills to get her to sleep....The next morning, yesterday, at 8 am sharp, we all met Quoc in the lobby to pile in two vans to go apply for the babies' passports, get the babies' medical exams done for the visas, and to have their passport photos taken. All went well--we are in good hands with Quoc. He left yesterday and will meet us in Hanoi. We have until next Wed to wait for the passports to process, so we finally have a little downtime to get out and explore. After we got back fromt the appointments yesterday we did just that--we went to Pho 24 to eat---what else, but some Pho (Vietnamese Noodle Soup), one of our faves--with Bethany & Kevin and their daughter, Leah and then we braved the traffic to cross to the little mall to do some shopping at the "Big C" store. It is like a smaller Vietnamese Super Wal-Mart. There is everything from groceries, to shoes, to electronic appliances. It was really neat and I love that everyone is getting ready for Tet and is so festive--liken it to shopping right before Christmas for us. We managed to buy Buttercup enough fancy red envelopes to celebrate Tet for a few years to come. This is where we found the adaptor that saved the day and is allowing us to charge all of our stuff now. Whew, one crisis averted. We shopped our little hearts out, going down every aisle and bought some food for the room, so when Princess M is sleeping (or screaming) we have something to munch on. We got some interesting different fruits to try--it is really a mystery because everything is really all in Vietnamese there. Most places tend to have English translations on the signs, but not in there, so it's gonna be mystery fruit! The little bananas they have here are so good! They are really tiny and sweet--I stock up at the breakfast bar in the morning.

We all relaxed and had coffee at Highland Coffee (for those of you that didn't know, Vietnam is the second largest producer of coffee and it is so rich and good here) before braving the traffic to head back to the hotel. The traffic here defies description--it is absolutely insane. I had heard all about it, and still I am utterly amazed. Picture 1,000 motorbike/scooters and a few cars and vans in a constant stream of traffic that never lets up, just jockeying for position and passing and weaving around each other (it's scary enough riding in a car/van from that view) and needing to cross to the other side. Well, the method is to just pick a moment and step off the curb into it and they will just swerve around you as you walk (hopefully)--the trick is to keep a steady pace so they can anticipate where you will be to get around you. I just keep my eye on the other side and keep walking--imagine that with a baby strapped to you! So far, so good, we have crossed twice! On the way back another dad had joined us in his trip for supplies and he got video as we were crossing--I hope to get a copy to show later. Don't worry everyone--that is just how it is done and you see young kids carrying toddlers across in the same way. I guess they just have to be very aware of what everyone is doing around them--it must work, surprisingly we have seen no accidents at all!



Today, after Breakfast we took little Miss M to the International Clinic to have her looked at because she is still really uncomfortable and itchy and it gets worse at night and makes it hard for her to go to sleep (not hard to scream though!) and we noticed a little wheezing when she lays down. One of the other families who have a son from her orphanage took him in this morning, as his scabies is causing some major skin issues and he ended up having a slight fever and upper respiratory infection--we thought we'd better get her checked. The doctor said she had no fever and didn't seem too concerned, but told us to stop the benedryl (it will dry her up) and gave us prescriptions for an antibiotic/anti itch cream for the couple remaining places on her and an oral antibiotic to combat any infection. All that for a total of less than $20 (with no insurance!). Hopefully she will get some comfort soon--we go for a recheck on Wed. before we leave for Hanoi. She was pretty good for the doc (who was very nice, but a little hard for me to understand), and the nurse asked how long we had had her, and when we said three days, she was surprised and said she looked like she was more familiar with us--a good sign! After we got back, she played a bit and took an almost 3 hour nap, so we have been nap-trapped for the day just hanging out in the room (and spending hours uploading pictures with the much appreciated, but very slow/low internet connection--So enjoy!). New pics on the Flickr site--I am trying to slowly, but surely catch up.... Here she is getting weighed at the Visa Medical Exam--7.5 kgs and 69 cm long!



Will try to update tomorrow--hopefully we can get out and explore a bit more-hope things are open on Sundays!

Love to all! We are doing well and are loving getting to see and spend time in Vietnam-These are some of the nicest people in the world-I will try to post a pic or two, but since connection is slow, it may not work, so check out the flickr site!

Hey,
Emily here posting for Kim.
So, I think we would all agree that Kim has kept us waiting long enough, right?
Well, it turns out that she has had a lot of trouble getting into her blog. And she blew out her adapter while drying her hair. So Auntie Em to the rescue!
Here is what she had to say:
***
Just let everyone know that we just haven't been able to post yet, but everything is fine, and we have our daughter and she is wonderful! She only woke up once last night --went to bed at around 9, woke up at 12:30 am and we gave her a bottle and then she was fussy and I think itchy,so it took us about an hour an a half to get her back to sleep--she finally fell asleep on my chest and I moved her on the bed between us and she slept until 6:30 am! We all got up and took a shower to wash off the scabies cream and she ate and then went to sleep for a nap and has been asleep for 2 hours! I think we will have to wake her up to grab breakfast before we leave.
***
They have already had their G&R and will post those pics as soon as she can. Here are
pictures of the new family!

Hello from Taipei!

Hi, All!
We made it to Taipei and are just waiting to board our flight to Saigon--We are at the Hello K*tty gate-it is pretty adorable. Hello Ki*tty everywhere and complete with a store and a playground. This is the first airport we have found a good internet connection. We are doing well--our flight was very long, but the service was great and coach wasn't too terrible! That is about as long as I ever want to stay on a plane, though! We are still wondering how it will be with a baby on our laps though--very different, I'm sure. I don't think any of this has quite fully set in yet--I think it is beginning to......We are with most of our travel group, so that is really nice. Well, better get back to the Hello K*tty gate and get ready to board for our last flight for the day! We are almost there! One more three hour flight and we land in the long awaited Vietnam....Till then, love to all!

The one where we have GREAT news...

Well, did you wonder where I went??? Well, it kinda started because of the new I600 policy--I was so devastated by the news of more delay and red-tape that it was kinda like "if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything". Well, I haven't had a lot of nice things to say about this wait since then.......and then I just got superstitious--I just decided to myself that my next post was going to be the absolute best news.....

AND WE FINALLY GOT IT!!! Yes, that darn coveted and longed for I600 approval was in our email box on Tues night!!! I had convinced myself that our paperwork was lost or fell off some one's desk. We never got the email from USCIS confirming receipt, and my email to inquire had gone unanswered-we knew our agency had submitted it on Dec 3, but after that, nothing-and well, I am that glass half-empty type of person who assumes the worst--I was just at the point that day to beg anyone to help me get information, and lo and behold, M runs up the stairs to ask me if I have seen the email (he had it open on our other computer)--what?? the email that I just checked for the 2000th time 10 minutes ago? Perhaps not--so I open our email (again!) and there IT is. We stared at it for a second, and M asked, "is that what we are looking for?" There is was--we were so floored. I can't believe with how long we have been waiting, we continue to be surprised when these things actually happen. It is a wild ride, this adoption thing......

Now we continue to be shocked and amazed, as our agency has been able to pull off a miracle and get us all travel arrangements to get this completed before the Tet holiday--YES, we are leaving THIS SATURDAY!!!!!!!!

We are still just overwhelmed and making lists and trying to figure out how we will be ready in time, but we can do it! We are having to make pet accommodations, pack, set up for the renovations to our house to keep rolling along in our absence, etc...... all with 3 days notice!!

Please send good thoughts our way that we can pull it off--I don't think I will believe it until we are actually in the air, or maybe even when we land! But we are almost on our way!! I will do my best to be a good blogger while we are traveling and keep you all updated on our adventures. (I know I don't have a good track record--sorry!)

We'll keep you posted! Buttercup, we are coming to get you!!!! Sorry it took us so long! :)