Wound up sleeping most of the day. We woke about about 6:45 and went out in search of water. The area we are in feels a lot like a Vietnamese Times Square, with uniformed security guards personnel (not sure if they are police or the equivalent of security guards) frequently visible on the street. Crossing streets is very interesting with the high traffic and lack of traffic controls. Given the drivers awareness that I mentioned last night, you can pretty much just wade right in regardless of the traffic and they will avoid you, but it still takes a lot of nerve to do so! We hesitated during a particularly heavy cluster of traffic, and one of the police / guards came from the corner without a word and waded right in to help us more or less escort us across, even though we would have been happy to wait a few seconds for traffic to clear. This took about 10 seconds, so it's not like we were even having trouble crossing!
Our hotel was out of currency for exchange (it is Sunday), so we found a currency changer and exchanged $100... At the current exchange rate, minus about a 2.5% exchange fee, we got 1,570,000 VN Dong. Talk about an exchange difference! Still getting used to the math to do the exchange, since it's about 160 Dong per cent (not exactly even math). The exchanger had free Internet, so took a quick opportunity to email home. Not sure if the etiquette will allow us to use it without doing other business there, so we will see. Also won't allow us to upload files, so we will have to find other Internet when we want to email photos regardless.
After that, we went in search of water. The hotel provides two bottles a day, which are about 1/3 liter, not nearly enough, and with sleeping today we did not get room service to replace what little we get. It is just understood that the tap water is not drinkable unless boiled. (I suspect it is the same in Korea, as the drinking fountains in the airport had signs saying that it was safe to drink.) Regardless, we have been warned to be careful taking showers, to drink bottled water, and to be careful of fruits and vegetables that may have been washed in tap water. I'm pretty sure the water served at the hotel restaurant would be OK, but we are still being careful even about that.
So we found the shopping area that is about a block from the hotel. It has a "supermarket" which is much more akin to a very small (and crowded) Super Target. Groceries, luggage, hardware, clothing, perfume, you name it! We spent about $3 on 9 liters of bottled water, much cheaper than the US. Plenty of familiar brands and products (such as Pepperidge Farms cookies), but those seem to be about the same price as in the US. (Not really surprising.) Found some bagged candies that are six months out of season in the USA and some other products that are not available to us in the USA anymore, so kind of wonder what route exactly they took to get here. Also walked by a vendor selling movies, including "Ocean's 13," which just released to the movie screens last weekend! Needless to say, we will not be buying movies here (not that we planned to).
Just got back from dinner. The restaurant in the hotel is pretty good. We got a complimentary meal upon check in, so we used it tonight. We had:
- ceasar salad (which neither of us ate much of - combination of not yet being in cycle for the travel and a little concern about the water)
- minestrone soup
- fettuccine Alfredo
- fruit plate of pineapple, watermelon, and a local fruit (I think dragon fruit)
Everything was good and the service was very prompt and courteous.
Shannon's addiction to trash TV is even fulfilled here. She managed to find "Fear Factor" in a local language! (We don't think it was Vietnamese or Chinese, but couldn't tell for sure.) TV also has HBO in English. All the "comforts" of home I guess...
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Travel!
We are in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)!
Last night we met some people traveling our same Delta flight and connecting through to HCMC as well. Talked briefly, and bumped into them a couple times on the way through Incheon airport. (The were flying coach, so they couldn't get into the lounge, or we might have talked more; we needed someplace a little less hectic for a little while tho.) It was a party of 6 - we talked to one woman about our age who was really excited for us, and an older man and woman. The man said they were from Virginia, but was obviously mostly (or all) Vietnamese. He spoke with a very interesting accent that was half Vietnamese, half Virginia drawl... I'm guessing he learned English there. He warned us to be especially wary of the children when we were on the streets - many of the street children survive by picking pockets apparently. Kind of a stark reminder of one reason why we are doing this in the first place.
Clearing Immigration and Customs was unexpectedly efficient and uneventful. Immigration just typed the info from our forms into the computer, checked the photos on our passports about 4 times, and stamped us. Then we claimed luggage and they just x-rayed it. I think the lady running the x-ray was mostly asleep... The hotel representative was right on time, even though we had landed early and had cleared customs in about 10 minutes, so his driver was not expecting us for another 20 minutes at least. He was nearby, so we didn't even have to wait much for that tho.
Not sure what to make of the air quality yet; the HCMC airport was very bad (smelled like a full out smoking lounge all the way through, although they had separated smoking rooms). One we got outside and into the car, we didn't notice as much, although several moped drivers were wearing surgical masks or bandannas. Those were by far the minority, but were frequent enough to be notable. The hotel seems fine, and the hotel restaurant is non-smoking. I wasn't really expecting there to be any sort of designation actually.
The drive was an interesting experience - probably 60% of the passengers travel by moped, with 2-3 people on each (one even had 4!). Children get the front seat, and learn very early (like 2 apparently) to hang on. (Picture here.) Road rules don't apply to the mopeds (including lane markers and one way streets!), and don't apply much more to cars. Everyone watches out for everyone else, and doesn't expect any more space than what their vehicle physically occupies. Not many traffic controls; in a 20 minute trip I think there were only 4 stoplights. Everyone just keeps moving fairly smoothly, probably averaging about 20 MPH, which is actually not bad considering that you have very little wait time for stoplights (and when considered opposed to home where you average 30-40 when you are moving, but have to stop for a light every 5 feet.)
First night was pretty uneventful. We were pretty exhausted by the time we got into the room (about 11:00p). We both showered and were asleep by 11:30p. The streets are crowded and noisy here, so the city noises were similar to NYC several years ago before they started enforcing horn restrictions (incessant honking, although the honking means much closer to "I'm here, watch out" rather than cursing at each other). When I woke up about 4:30a, all was silent tho. I'm not sure if HCMC has a curfew or not, but it was almost eerie considering what we had fallen asleep too.
The sun came up about 5:30a and I was awake... All in all, I got about 9 hours of sleep in the last 36 hours, so that's not actually all bad considering.
We haven't left the hotel yet, but the city from our room looks totally different under daylight than it did last night. Nguyen Hue Boulevard is a tree lined street without a huge amount of traffic. I understand that we are more/less in the tourist district. The people at breakfast seemed to be about half Western looking, half Asian looking, so that would corroborate with us being in the tourist area. Didn't notice anyone else speaking English as language in choice in the whole restaurant (caught some German, and another Germanic language that wasn't German), which was a little interesting as well.
Breakfast at the hotel is buffet style, with Asian and Western commingled right side-by-side. (One steam tray had fried rice and noodles, the next one had bacon and sausage.) They also had a person making omelets, right next to a person making a made-to-order Vietnamese soup of some kind. The mix of cultures is pretty interesting.
When we got back from breakfast (about 9:00 or 9:15) there was already a note from our co-facilitator with original copies of the individual pictures we already had, and letting us know that we would not be going to the orphanage until Tuesday. I'm guessing this is because there is another couple coming on on Monday that is going to Vung Tau as well, as they are trying to get us on the same schedule. While understandable, it's still disappointing, as it is one more day delay and one more day of waiting here. Hopefully we don't wind up needing that day in order to beat the upcoming Independence Day holiday.
Last night we met some people traveling our same Delta flight and connecting through to HCMC as well. Talked briefly, and bumped into them a couple times on the way through Incheon airport. (The were flying coach, so they couldn't get into the lounge, or we might have talked more; we needed someplace a little less hectic for a little while tho.) It was a party of 6 - we talked to one woman about our age who was really excited for us, and an older man and woman. The man said they were from Virginia, but was obviously mostly (or all) Vietnamese. He spoke with a very interesting accent that was half Vietnamese, half Virginia drawl... I'm guessing he learned English there. He warned us to be especially wary of the children when we were on the streets - many of the street children survive by picking pockets apparently. Kind of a stark reminder of one reason why we are doing this in the first place.
Clearing Immigration and Customs was unexpectedly efficient and uneventful. Immigration just typed the info from our forms into the computer, checked the photos on our passports about 4 times, and stamped us. Then we claimed luggage and they just x-rayed it. I think the lady running the x-ray was mostly asleep... The hotel representative was right on time, even though we had landed early and had cleared customs in about 10 minutes, so his driver was not expecting us for another 20 minutes at least. He was nearby, so we didn't even have to wait much for that tho.
Not sure what to make of the air quality yet; the HCMC airport was very bad (smelled like a full out smoking lounge all the way through, although they had separated smoking rooms). One we got outside and into the car, we didn't notice as much, although several moped drivers were wearing surgical masks or bandannas. Those were by far the minority, but were frequent enough to be notable. The hotel seems fine, and the hotel restaurant is non-smoking. I wasn't really expecting there to be any sort of designation actually.
The drive was an interesting experience - probably 60% of the passengers travel by moped, with 2-3 people on each (one even had 4!). Children get the front seat, and learn very early (like 2 apparently) to hang on. (Picture here.) Road rules don't apply to the mopeds (including lane markers and one way streets!), and don't apply much more to cars. Everyone watches out for everyone else, and doesn't expect any more space than what their vehicle physically occupies. Not many traffic controls; in a 20 minute trip I think there were only 4 stoplights. Everyone just keeps moving fairly smoothly, probably averaging about 20 MPH, which is actually not bad considering that you have very little wait time for stoplights (and when considered opposed to home where you average 30-40 when you are moving, but have to stop for a light every 5 feet.)
First night was pretty uneventful. We were pretty exhausted by the time we got into the room (about 11:00p). We both showered and were asleep by 11:30p. The streets are crowded and noisy here, so the city noises were similar to NYC several years ago before they started enforcing horn restrictions (incessant honking, although the honking means much closer to "I'm here, watch out" rather than cursing at each other). When I woke up about 4:30a, all was silent tho. I'm not sure if HCMC has a curfew or not, but it was almost eerie considering what we had fallen asleep too.
The sun came up about 5:30a and I was awake... All in all, I got about 9 hours of sleep in the last 36 hours, so that's not actually all bad considering.
We haven't left the hotel yet, but the city from our room looks totally different under daylight than it did last night. Nguyen Hue Boulevard is a tree lined street without a huge amount of traffic. I understand that we are more/less in the tourist district. The people at breakfast seemed to be about half Western looking, half Asian looking, so that would corroborate with us being in the tourist area. Didn't notice anyone else speaking English as language in choice in the whole restaurant (caught some German, and another Germanic language that wasn't German), which was a little interesting as well.
Breakfast at the hotel is buffet style, with Asian and Western commingled right side-by-side. (One steam tray had fried rice and noodles, the next one had bacon and sausage.) They also had a person making omelets, right next to a person making a made-to-order Vietnamese soup of some kind. The mix of cultures is pretty interesting.
When we got back from breakfast (about 9:00 or 9:15) there was already a note from our co-facilitator with original copies of the individual pictures we already had, and letting us know that we would not be going to the orphanage until Tuesday. I'm guessing this is because there is another couple coming on on Monday that is going to Vung Tau as well, as they are trying to get us on the same schedule. While understandable, it's still disappointing, as it is one more day delay and one more day of waiting here. Hopefully we don't wind up needing that day in order to beat the upcoming Independence Day holiday.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
See ya!
We're outta here. We're finishing up the last bit of packing right now, and getting our documents together as well. I doubt I'll have time to write again before we leave.
If you want to keep in touch, use vnadoption@gmail.com to communicate.
If you want to keep in touch, use vnadoption@gmail.com to communicate.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Dan and I had the carpets cleaned in every room in the house with carpet (minus his office and our bedroom). We had that done today. :-)
Yesterday/this morning we finished painting the nursery. I'm so sad (burst into tears sad) because we tried to stamp dragonflies on the walls and it didn't work. *cries some more* This afternoon we went and bought two cribs and two mattresses. We spent $915.81, including the "Twins discount" at Cribs 4 Life. The cribs are nice...very basic, but will convert all the way to full size beds. I didn't really care if they did that or not, but it's a nice enough feature I suppose. We also bought two awesome dragonfly wall art hangy things. We'll put one over each crib. I'm excited about that. Dan is currently building the second crib (he did the first one earlier), and then we will start moving furniture around in the room and get it all set up. Sadly, I do not have my linens yet (valence and dust ruffle). Heck, I don't have sheets either! But furniture is a great place to start!
This evening I went to a baby shower for my friend Julie who just adopted a little baby girl. It was nice to spend some time with her and several other girlfriends I dont' see often. I got to share pictures of the boys with friends, and let everyone know that we leave in less than a week. I got lots of offers of help, and I SO want the help, but I don't even know what I need help with, so I just said "Thank you", and that I would call.
Last night I sent an e-mail out to pretty much my entire contact list letting them know about the adoption, and our traveling. Some people didn't even know we had started a process, so it's been fun to get e-mails from people wishing us luck and offering prayers.
My friend Jennfound me an awesome "Twins" shopping cart cover cover and mailed it to me. It will work perfectly for our Costco trips! Thanks so much!
Okay, so this wasn't short and sweet. Oh well.
Oh, and have I mentioned that I have the most amazing friends? Because I totally do, and I totally take all of them/you for granted. If I don't say thank you enough, know that I'm thanking you in my head about a million times a day.
Yesterday/this morning we finished painting the nursery. I'm so sad (burst into tears sad) because we tried to stamp dragonflies on the walls and it didn't work. *cries some more* This afternoon we went and bought two cribs and two mattresses. We spent $915.81, including the "Twins discount" at Cribs 4 Life. The cribs are nice...very basic, but will convert all the way to full size beds. I didn't really care if they did that or not, but it's a nice enough feature I suppose. We also bought two awesome dragonfly wall art hangy things. We'll put one over each crib. I'm excited about that. Dan is currently building the second crib (he did the first one earlier), and then we will start moving furniture around in the room and get it all set up. Sadly, I do not have my linens yet (valence and dust ruffle). Heck, I don't have sheets either! But furniture is a great place to start!
This evening I went to a baby shower for my friend Julie who just adopted a little baby girl. It was nice to spend some time with her and several other girlfriends I dont' see often. I got to share pictures of the boys with friends, and let everyone know that we leave in less than a week. I got lots of offers of help, and I SO want the help, but I don't even know what I need help with, so I just said "Thank you", and that I would call.
Last night I sent an e-mail out to pretty much my entire contact list letting them know about the adoption, and our traveling. Some people didn't even know we had started a process, so it's been fun to get e-mails from people wishing us luck and offering prayers.
My friend Jennfound me an awesome "Twins" shopping cart cover cover and mailed it to me. It will work perfectly for our Costco trips! Thanks so much!
Okay, so this wasn't short and sweet. Oh well.
Oh, and have I mentioned that I have the most amazing friends? Because I totally do, and I totally take all of them/you for granted. If I don't say thank you enough, know that I'm thanking you in my head about a million times a day.
Friday, June 8, 2007
Questions
We are calling Bonnie soon, and she asked us to go through our travel guideline packet and come up with questions. The following ones are what we've come up with so far...
Travel:
1. Weight restrictions on luggage
2. Will we be allowed to wear wedding rings, or should we leave those at home?
3. Can we wear shorts?
4. What type of dress is appropriate for our meetings?
Paperwork:
5. Do we contact Katrina for a "Final Statmenet of Fees paid" to take with us?
Money/Gifts:
6. Do we need to carry "Clean Bills"?
7. What denominations should we carry?
8. Will we need to exchange any money?
9. Gift suggestions for caregivers/orphanage director?
-For care givers, is soap/lotion acceptable as part of a gift?
-Handmade bracelets?
10. What kinds of gifts for the Provincial officials? How many are there?
11. For our facilitator, driver, etc., what gifts are appropriate?
Vung-Tau:
12. Will we stay in Vung-Tau overnight?
13. Do we have a date for our Giving & Receiving ceremony?
Visa:
14. Do we need to e-mail and request an appointment to submitour DS-230? When do we e-mail?
Travel:
1. Weight restrictions on luggage
2. Will we be allowed to wear wedding rings, or should we leave those at home?
3. Can we wear shorts?
4. What type of dress is appropriate for our meetings?
Paperwork:
5. Do we contact Katrina for a "Final Statmenet of Fees paid" to take with us?
Money/Gifts:
6. Do we need to carry "Clean Bills"?
7. What denominations should we carry?
8. Will we need to exchange any money?
9. Gift suggestions for caregivers/orphanage director?
-For care givers, is soap/lotion acceptable as part of a gift?
-Handmade bracelets?
10. What kinds of gifts for the Provincial officials? How many are there?
11. For our facilitator, driver, etc., what gifts are appropriate?
Vung-Tau:
12. Will we stay in Vung-Tau overnight?
13. Do we have a date for our Giving & Receiving ceremony?
Visa:
14. Do we need to e-mail and request an appointment to submitour DS-230? When do we e-mail?
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Ahhh...
I'm starting to feel overwhelmed. Really, REALLY overwhelmed. I'm all panicky and anxious and just VERY weird.
My to-do list is about to grow significantly. I have slacked off some of the things I should have been doing all along, and it's catching up to me.
We're trying to get the nursery finished. Thinking we had at least a couple of weeks before we'd hear anything about travel we decided to get ambitious and do something cool in the nursery.
We need to buy cribs and car seats. Those are our two last "big" purchases, and I think we'll do that on Sunday. I wish we could do it Saturday, but I don't know that we'll have time. We're getting the carpet cleaned all over the house (living room, loft, stairs, hallway, nursery) on Saturday afternoon. It takes at least 2-3 hours, which doesn't give us time to get to BRU before I have to be at a baby shower (not my own) at 7pm. Sunday is fine though. We'll go to church and then hit BRU on the way home. By then the carpets will be totally dry (they are actually dry about 2 hours after he's finished...he uses some kind of cool dry cleaning method on them), so we'll be able to set up the nursery on Sunday!
Our Ergo carrier's came today! Actually, TWO SETS of Ergo carriers came today. I called the company to tell them they shipped two too many, but they were already closed. I will call tomorrow to see what they want us to do with the extras. They are nice though. Sooooo easy to put on, and I'm hoping they will stay this easy once you put a baby in the mix. My friend Laurie has offered to let me borrow Josiah and put him in to see how to do it with a baby. I have to add getting together with her to my list of things to do in the next few days.
Oh, and our stroller came today. I put it together, because I'm awesome like that. :-)
Oh...........so many other things floating through my head. I can't think anymore. I sure hope my Mei Tai from Lindsey gets here before we leave. I want to use it in Vietnam too.
OHHHHH. We have our travel plans too. We leave Orlando at 8:30am on Friday, and arrive in Ho Chi Minh City Saturday around 9:45pm. We leave Hanoi on Saturday (july 7) at 1am and arrive in Orlando at 10pm on Sunday. And because we're even more awesome, we were able to book our entire flight on SkyMiles, ANDDDDDDD we're flying First Class and/or Elite Class the entire way. We rock. Dan rocks.
And because it must be said...There is not a person on this earth that can tell me that there is no God...not after the last 5 months. We are so blessed. It's been a long journey to get here, and it hasn't been fun, but I just believe with my entire being that we are exactly where we are supposed to be.
My to-do list is about to grow significantly. I have slacked off some of the things I should have been doing all along, and it's catching up to me.
We're trying to get the nursery finished. Thinking we had at least a couple of weeks before we'd hear anything about travel we decided to get ambitious and do something cool in the nursery.
We need to buy cribs and car seats. Those are our two last "big" purchases, and I think we'll do that on Sunday. I wish we could do it Saturday, but I don't know that we'll have time. We're getting the carpet cleaned all over the house (living room, loft, stairs, hallway, nursery) on Saturday afternoon. It takes at least 2-3 hours, which doesn't give us time to get to BRU before I have to be at a baby shower (not my own) at 7pm. Sunday is fine though. We'll go to church and then hit BRU on the way home. By then the carpets will be totally dry (they are actually dry about 2 hours after he's finished...he uses some kind of cool dry cleaning method on them), so we'll be able to set up the nursery on Sunday!
Our Ergo carrier's came today! Actually, TWO SETS of Ergo carriers came today. I called the company to tell them they shipped two too many, but they were already closed. I will call tomorrow to see what they want us to do with the extras. They are nice though. Sooooo easy to put on, and I'm hoping they will stay this easy once you put a baby in the mix. My friend Laurie has offered to let me borrow Josiah and put him in to see how to do it with a baby. I have to add getting together with her to my list of things to do in the next few days.
Oh, and our stroller came today. I put it together, because I'm awesome like that. :-)
Oh...........so many other things floating through my head. I can't think anymore. I sure hope my Mei Tai from Lindsey gets here before we leave. I want to use it in Vietnam too.
OHHHHH. We have our travel plans too. We leave Orlando at 8:30am on Friday, and arrive in Ho Chi Minh City Saturday around 9:45pm. We leave Hanoi on Saturday (july 7) at 1am and arrive in Orlando at 10pm on Sunday. And because we're even more awesome, we were able to book our entire flight on SkyMiles, ANDDDDDDD we're flying First Class and/or Elite Class the entire way. We rock. Dan rocks.
And because it must be said...There is not a person on this earth that can tell me that there is no God...not after the last 5 months. We are so blessed. It's been a long journey to get here, and it hasn't been fun, but I just believe with my entire being that we are exactly where we are supposed to be.
Uhm....
So, we're going to Vietnam next week! I guess our coordinator heard my cries over the pictures yesterday!!!
Holy cow. I can't believe I'm going to be sitting on a plane a week from now, on my way to meet my babies!
More later...right now I'm frantically trying to book plane tickets and get the nursery painted!
Holy cow. I can't believe I'm going to be sitting on a plane a week from now, on my way to meet my babies!
More later...right now I'm frantically trying to book plane tickets and get the nursery painted!
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Such a tease!!!
We got new pictures of the boys in e-mail today.
But...
they are 92x84 pixels, so we can really see them! *cries*
One of them is holding his head up in his picture though, which is cute (and good!). The other one is laying down.
WHY CAN'T WE LEAVE YET????????????????????????????????????
But...
they are 92x84 pixels, so we can really see them! *cries*
One of them is holding his head up in his picture though, which is cute (and good!). The other one is laying down.
WHY CAN'T WE LEAVE YET????????????????????????????????????
Friday, June 1, 2007
YAY!
Our final batch of authenticated paperwork is on its way home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No word on travel though. Boo.
No word on travel though. Boo.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Health Update
All bloodwork came out clean. Apparently I'm suffering from anxiety. :P
I'm supposed to "eat better and get more exercise". :P I exercise over an hour a day 5 days a week. But I agree with the eating better.
I'm back on potassium, something I took when I was pregnant both times. I feel better already, just from taking the first dose of potassium. I was also given something to take to help with the anxiety. I'll take my first dose tonight at bedtime so hopefully it will help me return to "normal".
In other news, we had to update a couple of documents for our adoption, and I have been waiting (im)patiently for them to return from the state since last Monday. They came today so I headed out this afternoon to Fed Ex to send them to San Fran to the consulate. I'm hoping they will have the quick turnaround that some of my other adopting friends are having.
I'm supposed to "eat better and get more exercise". :P I exercise over an hour a day 5 days a week. But I agree with the eating better.
I'm back on potassium, something I took when I was pregnant both times. I feel better already, just from taking the first dose of potassium. I was also given something to take to help with the anxiety. I'll take my first dose tonight at bedtime so hopefully it will help me return to "normal".
In other news, we had to update a couple of documents for our adoption, and I have been waiting (im)patiently for them to return from the state since last Monday. They came today so I headed out this afternoon to Fed Ex to send them to San Fran to the consulate. I'm hoping they will have the quick turnaround that some of my other adopting friends are having.
Never Dull
I started having some trouble with my left arm/shoulder over the weekend. I didn't think too much about it; I figured I overdid it at the gym last week or something. It has gotten progressively more concerning so at my doctor's appointment yesterday (I had an appointment from a couple of weeks ago set to discuss our travel plans and medications) I mentioned it to him. He sent me home with a script for an MRI thinking I have a pinched nerve in my neck somewhere that's causing the pain. After leaving there I met a friend to do some baby shopping/talking and after I left her to meet up with my mom, I had hot flashes and nausea/dizziness. Of course, by now my doctor was gone for the day so I called my friend David, who's a cardiologist. I was really freaking out that there was something cardiac going on. He had me come in and did an EKG. He asked tons of questions and sent me for labwork. I did my labwork this morning, and we're waiting for the results to come in. Both David and my regular doctor just think I'm having panic/anxiety attacks, as they are the same symptoms as many cardiac things. I don't know what's going on, and to be honest, didn't think I was particularly stressed anymore. I know I've been pretty tense the last couple of weeks, but I thought all of that had kind of gone away in the last week or so. But I was pretty freaked out yesterday.
hahaha!
I met up with my friend Kim and we went to BRU yesterday. It was quite amusing from the very beginning, because it seemed like everyone thought we were a couple. :-) (Background on Kim: She's about 32 weeks pregnant with twins!)
I got a gun, so I could add things to my registry, but Kim did not get one. Of course the person at the desk thought we were "together".
Then we were looking at breastfeeding tools, and bottles, and discussing the varieties of supplies for each and we ended up talking with a woman in that department. I am pretty sure she thought we were together too, but Kim and I cleared that one up. :-)
We moved on to look at car seats and then strollers. I was showing her the ones Dan and I liked, and asked another employee to help us figure out how to fold them up. Then I was asking some other questions (how many returns do you have on them, which is the better seller, any complaints). I'm pretty sure he thought we were together.
As we're walking down different aisles in the store, we are seeing other customers, and I suspect we got some funny looks from them as well. At one point Kim asked me if she was getting the vibe that people thought we were lesbians. I said that I totally got that vibe. She said that I was acting like the "dad" because I was asking all the questions, while she was the one all pregnant. :-)
I got a gun, so I could add things to my registry, but Kim did not get one. Of course the person at the desk thought we were "together".
Then we were looking at breastfeeding tools, and bottles, and discussing the varieties of supplies for each and we ended up talking with a woman in that department. I am pretty sure she thought we were together too, but Kim and I cleared that one up. :-)
We moved on to look at car seats and then strollers. I was showing her the ones Dan and I liked, and asked another employee to help us figure out how to fold them up. Then I was asking some other questions (how many returns do you have on them, which is the better seller, any complaints). I'm pretty sure he thought we were together.
As we're walking down different aisles in the store, we are seeing other customers, and I suspect we got some funny looks from them as well. At one point Kim asked me if she was getting the vibe that people thought we were lesbians. I said that I totally got that vibe. She said that I was acting like the "dad" because I was asking all the questions, while she was the one all pregnant. :-)
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
It's been a while...
So I haven't said much around here in a few days. I'm not feeing quite so overwhelmed anymore. As soon as I chose fabric for the nursery, all those feelings over being overwhelmed just went away. It's a wonderful feeling.
On Saturday, we went to a party, and got to share the news of our adoption with several friends. It's weird, though. One would think that we'd be sending e-mails and making phone calls with our news, but we just really haven't. We sent a few here and there, and made phone calls to those who needed to be told (grandparents, parents, best friends), but mostly we've been taking the news a day at a time and as we see people.
At the party, we checked out the room of their daughter. She's about 7-8 right now, and still have her baby furniture, and most of the decor is from her nursery days. Her fabrics are beautiful, but she's beginning to feel like it's a little childish, and wants a "cooler" room. So her mom has been out shopping and is doing a sort of Arabian theme in there. It's going to be great. As a result of redecorating, they are getting rid of her old furniture. She has a tall dresser and a shorter dresser/changing table w/ tower. It's a natural/honey color but the tops are a slate blue. It's great. We offered to purchase their furniture from them, and they gave us a pretty good deal. That's done! They are willing to keep it until we have space for it-hopefully less than two weeks, and this will help narrow our crib search down to cribs that are in the same color family.
We started working on a registry. We have received awesome gifts from my parents, grandparents and my Godmother in the form of cash. This will cover cribs/matresses, the furniture we're buying from our friends, and a double stroller. If we spend it right, it should cover two car seats as well. Some amazing friends have already showered me with gifts. Offers are coming in from everywhere for clothing, toys, etc. It's just been amazing. I have wonderful friends, and have met awesome strangers! We've put a lot of books and non music making/light blinking toys on our registry. We also included a note on the BRU one saying something to the effect of not wanting stimulating colored toys/fabrics. We want to introduce those things very slowly, so hopefully people will honor that. And, if you haven't looked at baby toys lately, it's almost impossible to find something that doesn't blink, light up, sing, make noise, or is otherwise very stimulating!
I have had multiple people tell me that they wanted to throw me a shower, and that has been wonderful. It looks like we'll have it July 21. We're hoping to have already traveled and returned home by then. I wanted to do it on June 23 originally, but that isn't good for one of the hostesses. Anyway, the plan is to do it as an "Open House" setting, because of the number of people who want to be invited. My mom has 18 friends alone who are itching to come to the shower! If all is going well at home, I'll be able to take the boys with me to the shower. :-)
There's no real news to report about our travel time frame. We got our Visa's back last week, so the earliest we can enter Vietnam is June 6th. We have papers at the SOS right now, which will hopefully arrive back here in the next day or so, so we can get them off to the Embassy. Those papers are the only thing holding up our travel (or rather, could hold up our travel since we can't leave before June 5th.).
On Saturday, we went to a party, and got to share the news of our adoption with several friends. It's weird, though. One would think that we'd be sending e-mails and making phone calls with our news, but we just really haven't. We sent a few here and there, and made phone calls to those who needed to be told (grandparents, parents, best friends), but mostly we've been taking the news a day at a time and as we see people.
At the party, we checked out the room of their daughter. She's about 7-8 right now, and still have her baby furniture, and most of the decor is from her nursery days. Her fabrics are beautiful, but she's beginning to feel like it's a little childish, and wants a "cooler" room. So her mom has been out shopping and is doing a sort of Arabian theme in there. It's going to be great. As a result of redecorating, they are getting rid of her old furniture. She has a tall dresser and a shorter dresser/changing table w/ tower. It's a natural/honey color but the tops are a slate blue. It's great. We offered to purchase their furniture from them, and they gave us a pretty good deal. That's done! They are willing to keep it until we have space for it-hopefully less than two weeks, and this will help narrow our crib search down to cribs that are in the same color family.
We started working on a registry. We have received awesome gifts from my parents, grandparents and my Godmother in the form of cash. This will cover cribs/matresses, the furniture we're buying from our friends, and a double stroller. If we spend it right, it should cover two car seats as well. Some amazing friends have already showered me with gifts. Offers are coming in from everywhere for clothing, toys, etc. It's just been amazing. I have wonderful friends, and have met awesome strangers! We've put a lot of books and non music making/light blinking toys on our registry. We also included a note on the BRU one saying something to the effect of not wanting stimulating colored toys/fabrics. We want to introduce those things very slowly, so hopefully people will honor that. And, if you haven't looked at baby toys lately, it's almost impossible to find something that doesn't blink, light up, sing, make noise, or is otherwise very stimulating!
I have had multiple people tell me that they wanted to throw me a shower, and that has been wonderful. It looks like we'll have it July 21. We're hoping to have already traveled and returned home by then. I wanted to do it on June 23 originally, but that isn't good for one of the hostesses. Anyway, the plan is to do it as an "Open House" setting, because of the number of people who want to be invited. My mom has 18 friends alone who are itching to come to the shower! If all is going well at home, I'll be able to take the boys with me to the shower. :-)
There's no real news to report about our travel time frame. We got our Visa's back last week, so the earliest we can enter Vietnam is June 6th. We have papers at the SOS right now, which will hopefully arrive back here in the next day or so, so we can get them off to the Embassy. Those papers are the only thing holding up our travel (or rather, could hold up our travel since we can't leave before June 5th.).
Monday, May 7, 2007
Ugh!
If I have to wait a full three months before traveling, I will go absolutely stark raving crazy.
I want to go NOW!
In other news, I'm going outside to stain the woodwork that will go in the kitchen. :-)
I want to go NOW!
In other news, I'm going outside to stain the woodwork that will go in the kitchen. :-)
To-Do List
Visa Application: Miscellaneous:
Cover letterOriginal PassportVisa application form - DanFilled out and signedPassport photo attachedMoney Orders $150 totalCompleted checklist at bottom of applicationVisa application form -Filled out and signedPassport photo attachedMoney Orders $150 totalCompleted checklist at bottom of applicationMoney Orders$70 - Memo line: Visa Fee - Daniel$80 - Memo line: Multi-entries processing fee - Daniel$70 - Memo line: Visa Fee - Shannon$80 - Memo line: Multi-entries processing fee -Pre-paid return envelope - Use US Express Mail, US Certified Mail, or Priority Mail, with delivery confirmation
Mail to: EMBASSY of
Agency Paperwork:
Referral Acceptance Letter - OriginalSigned and notarized - 5/5/07Faxed to agency 5/6/07 confirmation of receipt 8:42am, 5/7/07Photo Release FormSignedAttach letter stating our decision will be amended after our return tripTravel FormFilled outPower of Attorney - 4 originalsSign and print name onlyCommitment Letter - 8 originalsSign and print name onlyLetter to the DIA stating we are honored to accept the referral - 2 originalSign - not necessary to have notarizedFedEx all documents to agency
12 photocopies of passport signature page - to do before sending passports with Visa ApplicationPhotocopy each document, for our records- Begin making travel arrangements
- Call doctor office to request an updated medical letter
- Have Medical letter notarized
- Certified by the SOS
- Authenticated by the Embassy
Travel Route for this afternoon:
Certified Check for Country Fee$300 Cash for Visa FeesAmscot (You're okay with us!)FedEx/Kinko'sStarbucksUSPS
- JC Penney's
- Target
- Babie's R Us
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Overwhelmed
Well, I think the title says it all. I am so overwhelmed by the last few days that I don't even know where to begin. I can't even process everything at this point.
Yesterday, I was so...I dunno... We signed our acceptance letter for our referral about 9:15am. Then it was off to the VN restaurant close to the bank to celebrate with Vietnamese egg rolls. A quick trip to Lowes followed, and then we were home again. I spent much of the late morning/early afternoon on the phone with friends and family. About 2pm I crashed on the couch with a Lost DVD, and just sat there. We had dinner with family last night, and got home around 10pm. It was back on the phone with more family last night, sending a few e-mails to those who should be told individually (as opposed to a mass e-mail), and in bed about midnight. I took two Tylenol and two Benedryl, and actually got some sleep.
Today we went to church, and then I went to the grocery store. This afternoon? I've just sat at the computer or on the couch, just completely and totally overwhelmed.
My stomach is in a constant state of flip-flops, and I don't even know where to begin. We have SO much to do in such a short period of time. I wish we knew a travel date, and while we don't have one yet, we're working off of the hope that our paperwork is accurate in telling us to get our Visa, and date it one month from referral acceptance. That means we could travel as early as June 5th! Holy cow. That's like 30 days from now. Do you know how much stuff we have to do???? I just don't know what to do first.
Instead of doing ANYTHING today, I have spent the afternoon playing and losing multiple hands of Gin on Yahoo. I can't even follow the game closely enough to play it!
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Twins!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)
Yesterday, I was so...I dunno... We signed our acceptance letter for our referral about 9:15am. Then it was off to the VN restaurant close to the bank to celebrate with Vietnamese egg rolls. A quick trip to Lowes followed, and then we were home again. I spent much of the late morning/early afternoon on the phone with friends and family. About 2pm I crashed on the couch with a Lost DVD, and just sat there. We had dinner with family last night, and got home around 10pm. It was back on the phone with more family last night, sending a few e-mails to those who should be told individually (as opposed to a mass e-mail), and in bed about midnight. I took two Tylenol and two Benedryl, and actually got some sleep.
Today we went to church, and then I went to the grocery store. This afternoon? I've just sat at the computer or on the couch, just completely and totally overwhelmed.
My stomach is in a constant state of flip-flops, and I don't even know where to begin. We have SO much to do in such a short period of time. I wish we knew a travel date, and while we don't have one yet, we're working off of the hope that our paperwork is accurate in telling us to get our Visa, and date it one month from referral acceptance. That means we could travel as early as June 5th! Holy cow. That's like 30 days from now. Do you know how much stuff we have to do???? I just don't know what to do first.
Instead of doing ANYTHING today, I have spent the afternoon playing and losing multiple hands of Gin on Yahoo. I can't even follow the game closely enough to play it!
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Twins!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Twins!!!
-cropped.JPG)
If you're looking at this picture and wondering what the heck it's all about...well...hold on to your hats! We got our referral on Thursday!
Despite the outfit colors, you are looking at twin boys. Right now their names are Vinh (left) and Thanh (right). They were born on January 19, 2007, so they are three and a half months old as of today.
We are thrilled to report that as of this morning, we have officially accepted the referral. Keep checking for more information as soon as we get over the shock of this amazing news!
Friday, May 4, 2007
I guess you could say I'm a little bit distracted
See what I did to my finger tonight???
I was working on dinner, and sliced the heck out of my finger. It bled like crazy...
We went to the urgent care center and they did steri strips (my request) instead of stitches. It hurts like crazy, and is all swollen/bruised. :-(
I was working on dinner, and sliced the heck out of my finger. It bled like crazy...
We went to the urgent care center and they did steri strips (my request) instead of stitches. It hurts like crazy, and is all swollen/bruised. :-(
Thursday, May 3, 2007
A good report!
Dan and I spoke with Dr. Johnson with the University of Minnesota. He was wonderful on the phone, and took a lot of time to talk through everything.
We uploaded the pictures and medicals to the UM website, with a plea that they be looked at quickly, and that we hear from them ASAP. With receiving the referral on a Thursday, we were a bit concerned that the clock would be ticking on our acceptance/denial (we'd been hearing that people needed to respond within three days, which would have put us in the middle of the weekend). I did this at 1:30pm today.
I walked in the door at 5:02pm, and Dan was on the phone with the doctor. His words were: "These are beautiful baby boys. I don't see any reason why you wouldn't accept this referral. Congratuations." Such great words! We asked tons of questions, and he eased our minds about everything.
We spent the evening in Tampa watching the Minnesota Twins get beaten by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. How ironic that we were watching a Twins game while discussing our referral of twins! It hit me in the middle of the game...I turned to Dan and said, "Oh no! TWO baseball players!" He thought this was SOOOOOOO funny.
We have decided to accept the referral, but can't do it officially until our Referral Accpetance packet comes in the mail. It should arrive on Friday.
We uploaded the pictures and medicals to the UM website, with a plea that they be looked at quickly, and that we hear from them ASAP. With receiving the referral on a Thursday, we were a bit concerned that the clock would be ticking on our acceptance/denial (we'd been hearing that people needed to respond within three days, which would have put us in the middle of the weekend). I did this at 1:30pm today.
I walked in the door at 5:02pm, and Dan was on the phone with the doctor. His words were: "These are beautiful baby boys. I don't see any reason why you wouldn't accept this referral. Congratuations." Such great words! We asked tons of questions, and he eased our minds about everything.
We spent the evening in Tampa watching the Minnesota Twins get beaten by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. How ironic that we were watching a Twins game while discussing our referral of twins! It hit me in the middle of the game...I turned to Dan and said, "Oh no! TWO baseball players!" He thought this was SOOOOOOO funny.
We have decided to accept the referral, but can't do it officially until our Referral Accpetance packet comes in the mail. It should arrive on Friday.
Unofficial News
I woke up this morning a little later than normal. Typically during the week I head out to the YMCA for a water fitness class that starts at 9:30am. This morning I overslept and couldn't get out the door in time.
So, instead of hitting the gym, I checked my e-mail. There was this very nonchalant message from Bonnie, our coordinator:
So, instead of hitting the gym, I checked my e-mail. There was this very nonchalant message from Bonnie, our coordinator:
Good morning Shannon and Dan,
Uhm, yes! We're interested. I replied immediately asking for further information, medical and such. I didn't even ask Dan first, since he was on the phone for work. We have read over all the information, written back and forth with Bonnie a bit to find out what some of it means (since all the medicals are in Vietnamese/French), and now we are anxiously awaiting a phone call from a doctor with the University of Minnesota International Adoption clinic. We're hoping for good news!
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