Quick Update

Hi everyone!!!

Sorry for the delay in writing! We are still in HCMC waiting on approval from the CIS. There was a glitch in the baby's paperwork. The orphanage has been fixing it over the weekend. We should have approval on Monday (God willing). If the approval comes through on Monday we will fly to Hanoi on Tuesday for our final interview. We are hoping to come home next weekend. We will miss Thanksgiving - but really - we hold our "Thanksgiving" every day!! We are growing tired of HCMC and are ready to come home - but we are trying to make the best out of our situation.

Thanks to all who have been praying for us!!!

I will write again once we hear from the CIS!

It's Official

Hi everyone!!!

Sorry about my last post! I was having a pity party!!!!

Yesterday we had a fabulous day! Our facilitator took us out to the Mekong Delta. It was absolutely incredible. If you are coming to Ho Chi Minh City you have to make time to see the Mekong delta!! I was worried about how Brenden would do since he has not been feeling very well, but he did great! It is very shaded throughout the Delta - so he didn't get very hot. If you go to the Delta - don't eat before you go because you stop for food the whole time - I must recomend the coconut candy!!! I am not a fan of coconut - but the candy is great!!! We took lots of photos and recorded about an hour of the trip - so guess what family?? You get to sit through some very exciting home movies!!!

Brenden slept great last night - 11 hours!!! He seems to be feeling better today - however the bumps on his face are not getting any better - so we are going to take him to the American Hospital today so they can look at them. I don't want it to scar his face.

So today we finally got the call to go to the Justice for the Giving and Receiving Ceremony!!!! I still wasn't sure the orphanage director was going to show up - but she eventually did. I was so thrilled to see her. We waited a few minutes and then they called us back for the Ceremony. Brenden had just woken up from a short nap - so he was in a great mood! He just laughed and giggled through the whole thing!! We took video of that too!

What a relief to have that done!! Now we wait on the passport and our first CIS interview. We still have plans to go to Hanoi on the 2oth - so lets hope it all gets done by then!

Thank you to all those who have been praying for us during this time - we are feeling MUCH better!!!!

Still Not Ours Yet

Well, We have been here almost 2 weeks and we have not had the Giving and Receiving Ceremony yet. We were supposed to have it last Thursday, but the orphanage director was in a meeting and could not make it. Then we were supposed to have it Friday at 10:00 AM - but again the orphanage director had meetings. So - we moved it to 4:00, agian - meetings!!! So we have spent the last 2 days sitting in our hotel room dressed and ready to go! Needless to say - we are beyond frustrated!!!! We hope that this won't put us back from going to Hanoi on Nov. 20th.

Brenden is fighting a chest cold and is teething badly! We have been in the room today hoping this will help him feel better. For the past 2 days - he has only wanted me to hold him. If I put him down he screams. It has been pretty rough! I am going stir crazy in this room!! I am hoping he feels better tomorrow. Sitting in our room has really gotten to my husband and me! We are hoping to get out at least for a little while tomorrow!

We are hoping to go the Mekong Delta tomorrow - but we will see. I would hate to leave here and not really be able to see all the wonderful sights. With everything that has gone on here (some things I should not mention) I am not sure if we will adopt from here again. We might choose another country next time.

I know I might sound a little jaded right now, but I don't want that to take away from the overwhelming joy we feel for our son!! We love him soooo much - we are just ready to take him home! I am still hoping that we will make our original flight on Novemmber 28th - but I don't know!

Hopefully we have our G&R ceremony on Monday. If we do I will try to find time to post to let you know!!!

By the way, we are still working on the pictures!!!

I think I can write now!

Hi everyone!!!

Sorry for the shortness of the last post. It has been crazy the past couple of days!!

let me start from the begining - We arrived here at 12:30 AM Thursday morning (VN time). The flight was grueling!!!! We flew Korean Airlines - it was very nice!!! The flight attentdants were extremely catering!!!

The next morning we went to breakfast and met the other couple who were from our agency and our facilitator. We then went to apply for our Giving and Receiving ceremony. If you adopt a child in HCMC you have to apply for the G&R ceremony in person. We will not have our ceremony until next Thursday - Nov. 9th. Then we went to the orphanage to visit our children. Brenden was having his diaper changed. When we finally saw him we were overwhelmed! However, our facilitator told us that if possible we shouldn't cry because the Vietnamese don't show emotion and the nannies would be watching us to see if they wanted to give him to us now before the G&R Ceremony. Brenden was not pleased to see me! I think I scared him because I was so exited!! However, he loved my husband (of course) and went right to him. David held him the whole time and he just stared at us. A few minutes later the nannies took him and we thought that our time with him was over for the day - but they changed him and gave him to us to take home!!! We were excited, but shocked! We had just gotten to VN a little over 12 hours ago!!! When we took him back to the hotel he took a nap. I am sure he was completely overwhelmed - I know we were!!

After he woke up - I gave him a bath and then changed his clothes. He just laid on the bed for quite a while and looked around! His orphanage had an outbreak of scabies last month and he is still suffering from them. I brought some scabies ointment with me and I rubbed it all over him. I am hoping that it will help his itching! He looks so pitiful! We just tried to get used to each other the first day.

The next day (Friday), we took him to get his passport pictures made and have his medical exam. They told us he was 24 inches long and 16 pounds. he is very little for an 11 month old. We were told he was malnurished in the orphange - so we are hoping he will gain a good amount here. He has been eating like a pig! I am feeding him all the time. He is finally starting to show some personality and laugh. Our facilitator told us that becuase he stayed in the orphanage for 11 months and did not get enough attention - his personality has not had a chance to develop. We are constantly playing with him to stimulate his mind. He is soooo cute!! We just stare at him in amazement!!! We can not believe that God has given him to us!!!! he is perfect!!

Yesterday we went and did some sightseeing. We went to the Post Office, Notre Dome and the Palace. It was fun - but different with a child. I was so busy making sure he was ok that I really didn't enjoy it. I am sure that I will get used to having a child with me - but it will take some time.

This morning we met our faciltator for breakfast and she showed me how to introduce solids to Brenden. He seemed to really like papaya! She said that she thought he felt heavier than he did a few days ago. I sure hope he can gain at least 5 pounds will we are here.

She did have some bad news for us regarding Hanoi. The APEC confernce has caused the US Embassy to close down the week of November 15-20. We are expected to get into Hanoi on the 15th. And, she is not sure about getting us rooms at the Guoman - which is where we were supposed to stay because they could all be booked. Therefore, I am not sure where we will be staying - scary!!! She told us not to panick - but it looks at though we will be here every bit of 4 weeks if not more. While we are enjoying being in our son's birth country - we are ready to come home to ours!!! We miss everyone very much.

I hope I will be able to post pictures of him while out here. The internet connection we have in the room is very slow - so my husband isn't sur eif the pictures will download or not. Hopefully we will have time to do this soon!!

We are finally not feeling so jet lagged. We were hoping to get over that before we brought Brenden with us back to the hotel. We ahve been fighting to stay awake with him. reat news - he is a great sleeper! So at night we are abel to get some sleep. Just today we are starting to feel better! The food here at the hotel is good. Since we have gotten here we have just been eating breakfast and snacking for dinner. We are not ready to bring him out to dinner yet. We need a little more time to learn his schedule.

I will try to start posting everyday. Thank you to those who have been leaving comments. It helps to hear friendly words from home.

We are here and we have him!!