HO, HO, HO Merry Christmas???

So - should you decide to stop by our house you would think we were absolutely NUTS! I spent the day putting up Christmas at our house!! The mantle is decorated, the tree is up, the dining room table is set, and the house is festive!!!! I played Christmas music to help get me in the mood. Our friend came over to help - and she and I laughed as we were putting everything up! We are ready just in case it does take us a full month in VN. I can't wait to see Brenden's face when he sees everything!!

Tomorrow we are finishing up cleaning the house and we are starting to pack! I hope we can get done so that we can have Monday to go and see friends before we leave. I can't imagine being away from everyone for a whole month - however, it is TOTALLY worth it!!

I can't believe we are almost ready! I feel as though we have been running around so much since we found out about travel. It is nice to be almost done!!

Holy Cow - it is already Friday!!!!!

OK - so now I am officially freaking out!!!!!! I am an emotional wreck!! I laid in bed and cried last night because we are about to embark on parenthood. I feel so blessed!!! We have been trying for kids for so long - that now the reality is sinking in!! I put Brenden's carseat in the car today and cried the whole time!! What is wrong with me???

I have been running errands for the past 3 days - finally all the errands are finished! Now it is time to clean the house and put up Christmas decorations ~ yes you heard correctly! We are not scheduled to come home until November 29th - and I can guarantee you that I won't feel like putting up Christmas then. So - I will be playing Christmas music this weekend to help me get in the mood to put up the tree and all the other Christmas items! We will begin packing on Sunday and do last minute things on Monday. Then it is time to get on the airplane!!!

I am so nervous (excited nervous). I am not sleeping very well - I am sure it is just anxiety! I can't believe that in less than a week we will be holding Brenden! We have stared at his pictures for so long - soon it will be a reality!!!

I will be posting while I am gone. I am going to try to post regularly - but we will see. Also, I am going to try to post pictures of Brenden - but I am not very good at computer stuff - so all I can promise is to try!

Thank you for all your prayers. Please continue to pray for God's blessing upon our trip and our child. I pray we get home quicker than expected (but we are not holdong our breath).

Time to clean...

IT'S OFFICIAL!!!!!

So - we got the official call this morning at 10:30!!!!! WE ARE GOING TO VIETNAM!!!

They did move our travel dates by a few days. We have to be in Vietnam on Wednesday, November 1 and we are scheduled to leave on November 29th. We are leaving here on October 31st! Happy Halloween!!!!!!

We are traveling with one other person. The great news is that he and I found each other on the internet early this past summer. We have been corresponding about our adoptions ever since. Also, his son is from the same orphange as ours! We are so glad to be traveling with someone else that we feel we already know!!!

My husband and I, and another couple who we are close to are going out to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse tonight to celebrate!!!! We will start preparations for travel tomorrow - tonight we celebrate!!!!!!!!!

TENTATIVE TRAVEL!!!!!!!

We received an e-mail from our agency last night with tentative travel dates!!!! They hope to have something concrete by Friday! They told us to get to HCMC on October 29th and leave Hanoi on November 24th. Yes that is right - November 24th. I guess we will get held up by the APEC conference. They hope we won't have to stay the entire 4 weeks - but they can't promise anything. We are currently talking with a travel agent so that we can put our tickets on hold until we get confirmation from our agency!

Now we start preparing like crazy!! I think I will be doing this by myself mostly because my husband is going to have to put in more hours in order to be gone for an entire month. He can do alot from VN with his laptop - but the more he can get done now, the more time he will have to spend with us in VN and not his laptop. I have to wrap up a few projects at work as well, but hopefully I will be done by mid-next week so that I can focus on the house before we go. My friend is staying here while we are gone to take care of our dog, Charlie (130lb yellow lab). I want the house spotless before she lives here for a month.

If the travel arrangements stay as they are now, we will be bringing Brenden home a few days before his 1st birthday!! I guess we will have a welcome home/1st birthday combined party. I can't think of anything better!!!!

Last night on my way to dinner I had a heart to heart talk with God. I started to tell Him about how angry I was inside because nothing in this adoption process has gone the way I had hoped.
It is taking much longer than we were told it would, along with other things that were promised that were proven untrue. As I was letting it all out, I just started repeating this verse over and over -
"Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your way acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight."
As I was repeating it, "lean not on your own understanding" kept jumping out at me and I realized that was exactly what I was doing!! I have to keep remembering that I don't have to understand why things have gone differently than promised - I just have to remember and trust that God IS in control of this not me. It is not my understanding - but His!! When I got home from dinner with my husband I got the e-mail about travel. GOD IS GOOD!!!

Well I am off to the store to start purchasing supplies!!!!

Well... I'm Still Here!!!!

Well, I haven't gotten "the call" yet! This was a VERY long weekend! I am glad the week has started! I e-mailed the agency and they are still "hopeful" that they will here something this week about our travel. It is funny how "a strong likelihood" of travel has now turned into "hopeful"! I am really trying not to be too negative - but I am really getting angry. I am ready to be finished with all of this! The fact that my son will be 11 months old on the 28th doesn't make it any better!!

We got a Travel Guide from our agency that gave us guidelines for travel. One thing I found interesting was that they told us not to go out in public in shorts. They said that it wasn't socially acceptable. That is pretty much all I was planning on taking, expect for a few nice outfits for the Giving and Receiving and the interviews. Guess I will be going to the mall this weekend! Also, they told us not to bring the Playtex Drop-In bottle system. I had heard just the opposite - so that is all I registered for!!! I e-mailed the agency and they told me that the babies are not using those particular nipples - so they might not adjust to them. I was told to wait until I get there to buy the bottles and nipples because they would be cheaper. I guess that is what I will do. After reading the guidelines and learning in detail all the official stuff we will do there, I am getting very nervous. All I have thought about is getting my child - not all the other things we have to do before we come home!

Well, hopefully I will hear something this week - otherwise it is going to be another LONG weekend!!!

Good News (but not the official word)

So - I did not think I would post so soon!

We got a letter from our agency on Tuesday giving us an update (2 ladies from our agency went to VN a few weeks ago to visit the orphanages and to meet with Dr. Long at the DIA and be present for a meeting with the US Embassy). We found out that we needed to update a few of the items in our dossier because they are close to being past the 1 year mark. When I e-mailed our country facilitator about the items, I asked her if she thought we might be traveling this month. She told me that there is a "strong likelihood" that we would travel either the 3rd or 4th week of this month!!!! However, the official word has not come in yet. She is expecting to know more at the end of next week! We will only get a 1 week notice when the official word comes in. I am trying not to get my hopes up until I here something for sure - but I think it sounds like a great sign!! At least she didn't say "soon"!!!!

I am praying that if we are in VN while the APEC conference is being held that it won't delay us too long. However, the most important thing to me is that we are with Brenden. I have to remember that God is in control of this and that He knows what is going to happen. If we are delayed - He knew that we would be and will make a way for us.

I went to Babies-R-Us today with all the gift cards people have given to us. I had already picked out a car seat (Britax Roundabout), but when I got to the store I wasn't very impressed with it. The sales associates at the Babies-R-Us near us are not usually very helpful - but today was the exception. As I was trying to make up my mind, one of the associates asked if I needed help. I proceeded to tell her all about Brenden and that I wasn't sure which seat would be the best. She spent 1 1/2 hours with me trying to pick out just the perfect seat!! I finally decided on a new Graco seat (Safeseat Step 2). She told me it was the only seat that reclined while installed in the car. It got 4 out of 5 stars on the Babies web site. I will try it and see what Brenden thinks of it. While I was there, I printed out my registry and purchased some of the items I did not get at my showers. I came home with 6 giant bags full to the rim and a car seat! I had such a great time!!!!!!! Tomorrow I will go through everything and wash it all! I feel the need to get everything ready so that when we do get the call I won't feel so overwhelmed (hopefully)!!

I will write again when I hear something concrete! I am hoping that it will be soon!!!!!

October!!!!!

Well, October is finally here!!! I feel as though I write this same entry every month - just change the month!!! However, this has got to be our month!!!! We got our referral 2 months ago yesterday and they told us 2-3 months wait for our travel approval.

I am growing more and more impatient with each passing day! Ever since we got the new pictures of Brenden and I have seen how much he has changed, I can't stop thinking about going to get him!!! I am starting to get that panicked feeling that I had waiting for our referral (3 1/2 month wait). He just turned 10 months old last week - if I am not there with him for his 11 month I might scream!!!! He is an older child than we requested - so I think I might be panicked a little over this. I am upset that I have missed soooo much time with him already - I just want our agency to get us over there!!! I do know, however, that it is completely our of their hands. I am just praying that whoever has our paperwork in their hands will hurry up an approve it!!!

We have had our Visas for a while now - I hope that means that the call will come soon!!!! The ache for my child grows stronger with each passing day! I know that Gods is and has been in control of this entire process - so I must remember to put my trust in Him only!

Hopefully the next time I post I will have some good news to share!