Day 20 Our last day in Hanoi

With visa finally in hand we are ready to head for home. Seven hours from now we will be boarding the first plane back to Buffalo, arriving home Friday afternoon. A heartfelt thank you to the Hoang Ngoc staff for making our stay so comfortable, all of you had such a positive effect on our stay in your country. We never in our wildest dreams expected to encounter so many people as friendly and helpful as you all have been. We feel very fortunate to have met you all. As our baby boy grows, we will tell him often of the wonderful people we stayed with.






Thank you Mr. Tad, Mrs. Jorie, Miss Laura and everyone else at Orphans Overseas for uniting us with our son. Thank you for the hard work all of you put into making our dream come true. You will all have a special place in our hearts always.

Day19

WE'RE READY TO COME HOME!!!!



Karen and Tanner had their second interview with the embassy today and his visa will be ready to pick up Thursday afternoon!

Day13

Tanner had his physical today. The doctor said he is very healthy and strong. He weighs 15.9 pounds. We still don't know his length, by that time Tanner had enough of the doctor and stopped cooperating. He had a slight fever due to teething, he has two top teeth coming in now too. All in all the doctor was very impressed with Tanners health and size, he gave a lot of credit to his nanny. Tanner is also starting to eat more at one time agian. He ate 5 and 6 ounces at his last two feedings.

Days 11 and 12

Karen had her first interview with the U.S. Embassy Tuesday, Day 11. The whole thing was short and sweet, but the officer gave us a little scare by saying that the approval usually takes four business days but could be stretched to two weeks because of an investigation into Phu Tho. However, Bridget had her interview next with the same agent and was told something completely different. We have since learned that the term "investigation" is used pretty loosely at the embassy and isn't necessarily something to worry about. We're praying to get info. on Tanner's visa on Monday.
Today, Wednesday day 12, Tanner was supposed to have his physical at the SOS Clinic. The hospital ended up having some kind of emergency and they cancelled all appts. They have been rescheduled for tomorrow. We're anxious to find out how much he weighs. Once this appt. is out of the way there will be just one final interview with the embassy to receive Tanner's visa and they can come home!
Karen had a little incident with nature this morning. Apparently mini Godzilla found his way into the hotel room. There are little lizards in Vietnam, we had one in our room while I was there and they're difficult to catch. They are fast! To make matters worse (or funny, from our point of view) there was a bit of a language barrier with the receptionist. She was trying to explain that there was an unwanted guest in the room and he apparently thought she was trying to order breakfast! MMMM, I wonder what you'd dip that in. Once they were on the same page, some poor guy had to run around the room trying to catch this thing. In the end the lizard found refuge behind the air conditioner. So, Karen is now armed with one of those electrified fly swatters! I wish there were a video!!

Post from Buffalo

Karen is having trouble with the internet connection and asked me to post for her. Friday was yet another rainy day in Hanoi. I guess that's why they call it the rainy season.
And silly us didn't even think to bring an umbrella! She and Tanner stayed in the hotel all day. Apparently since I've left he won't even let her out of his sight. Poor little guy, as if I needed more to feel bad about, now he thinks I left him :(
Karen met Sandy and Randy today. Tad and Jorie are supposed to be in late Saturday. Tanner has regressed a little with his eating. He's back down to 4 oz. every three hours from six oz. every 4 to 5 hours. He may just be getting fuller faster now that he is getting 1/2 american formula with 1/2 Vietnamese formula. His eating habit changed when the formula changed. He's eating the same amount in one day, just less at a time.

Days 5 and 6

We got a little behind in our posting. Yesterday was another rainy day in Hanoi. Every time we thought the rain would let up enough to get to the park, it would start again. We ended up going back to the mall instead just so that we could walk around. We found some very tasty chocolate there! The rest of the day we spent taking pictures and making movies of our baby boy. We had hoped to post some clips, but the file format is not compatible with Blogger. We'll have to find a good conversion program so we can get some up.

This morning we met with Mr. Linh and Mr. Dat to fill out the I600 application. There were a lot of typos in the paperwork from Phu Tho so we're waiting for those to be corrected before we make our appt. for the I600 interview. Everything is supposed to be ready to go this afternoon, so we're hoping for an interview on Tuesday. Monday is a US holiday and the Embassy will be closed. We heard that a Typhoon hit central Vietnam last night and that 200,000 people had to be evacuated. We had some hard rain in Hanoi last night, but that was about it. It did stay rain free long enough today to finally go to the park! It was cloudy and breezy today so it kept the temperature down. Funny though, the humidity seems to be 9000% no matter what the weather is doing! We enjoyed our walk though and the park is beautiful. I would love to see it in the spring time when everything is in bloom.

Unfortunately, this is my last day here and I leave for the airport later tonight. Needless to say I feel uneasy about leaving Karen and Tanner here, but I know they are in good hands. The hotel staff has been amazing. We also heard that there are two families arriving over the next two days and I think two more next week. Congratulations to those families, you are in for a great ride.

Tanner is doing great. He is already eating 6 ounces of a Vietnamese/American formula mix at one time and he lets you know if he hasn't had enough. Last night he slept 6 hours between feedings and then slept until morning. He is very smiley and can be quite talkative. We got him a teether when we were at the mall yesterday, he seems to be bothered by the teeth he has coming in.

Karen and Tanner: I am already missing you two tremendously. We will all be anxiously waiting for you to come home. I love you.

Day 4

First, we wanted to thank everyone for their comments. We look forward to reading them each afternoon. Thank you for all of your prayers, so far everything has gone very smoothly. This morning we applied for Chungs passport. It was pretty painless, it was kind of like being at the DMV. After that was all done, we went shopping for baby clothes. We bought three outfits and a toy for $20.00. Not bad. We had hoped to finally make it to the park today, but it is a rainy day. Maybe tomorrow.

Day 3 The day we've been waiting for

My nanny loves me very much.



Today is the day we've been waiting for for so long now. We arrived at the orphanage shortly after 1:00 to pick up the babies for the Giving and Receiving Ceremony. It was a heart wrenching experience. We were filled with so much joy and excitement that this moment had finally arrived but at the same time we were filled with sadness because we felt we were taking Chung away from the person who had spent the last six months falling in love with him. The woman who has fed and cared for him, nurtured him and watched him grow. The woman who was so proud at how strong and healthy he is, who wanted to make sure we knew all of his needs and likes. We felt like we were taking him from his mother.
Chung's nanny changed him into his new outfit and made sure he said goodbye to all of his friends. Then she handed him over to us for the last time. Her last request was that we send her a photo. We expressed our gratitude for the wonderful job she had done and we all waved goodbye as we climbed into the van to travel to the provincial offices for the ceremony.
The Giving and Receiving Ceremony lasted a little over one hour and that's really all there is to say about that. It was really just just a bunch of signing and waiting. Kind of a let down. Finally, after a very long day of driving and waiting, we were driving back to the hotel with our son.


So that's what a bath is....




I love my moo chew...thank you Aunt Annie!




Some facts about me:

- I am a big baby by Vietnamese standards, but the only thing chubby on me is my cheeks. I fit into my 6 month clothes, but not for long. My legs will outgrow my clothes before my waist will.

- I roll from my stomach to back.

- I can sit up on my own from my tummy.

- I roll from my back to my stomach.

- I crawl!!

- I can pull myself up and stand while holding on.

- My nanny did a good job, I'm not behind at all.

- I am cutting both of my bottom front teeth, just ask daddy's finger.

- I DO NOT like to wear my hat. I take it off immediately. Grandma would be mad.

- I only eat 3 ounces every 4 to 5 hours. But just try to take the bottle away once I start. I am very strong.

- I am very cute!

Day 2

Today we made the drive to the orphanage. It was neat to see the more rural areas of Vietnam. There is a lot of construction going on here, so we would see farmers tending their rice patties amongst heavy construction equipment. One of the roads we travelled was two lanes being widened to sixteen! We also saw the beginnings of Hanoi's first skyscraper. It will be 70 stories when completed. When that area is complete it will become the new center of Hanoi and the area where we're staying will become the historical area.
The drive lasted about 2 1/2 hours. Traffic was lighter because it is Sunday, so I'm not sure how long the drive will be for the giving and receiving ceremony. On the way, we were told the ceremony will be tomorrow. When we finally got to the orphanage, there was a woman standing just inside the doorway holding a baby that looked familiar to us, but we weren't sure. When we went inside there was a bed with three other babies on it. We looked back at the woman holding the baby and she was smiling at us. She said "Chung" (his Vietnamese first name, pronounced choong). That was all we needed to hear! I hope she wasn't planning on holding that baby much longer because we were comin' for 'em! She started speaking to us and soon realized we had absolutely no idea what she was saying, so she enlisted the help of Mr. Linh. She had been trying to tell us that he ate the most of any baby in the orphanage. She seemed very proud of this fact as she squeezed his arms and legs periodically throughout our visit while smiling and nodding her head, making sure we saw how she'd "fattened him up". It was very obvious to us that this woman cares deeply for Chung and we expect tomorrow to be emotional. Karen held Chung first. He had the cutest confused look at first. Probably because there was a camera in his face. Within two minutes though, he was fast asleep. As he was passed to me, he woke long enough to satisfy the urge to grab my nose and then he was out again. We were told he does not fuss and that he sleeps after being fed. He must have just eaten because he certainly wanted to sleep. Come to think of it, that confused look did slightly resemble the after Thanksgiving Dinner look! We are suspicious that his caretaker may have spoiled him, she told us when he cries we must pick him up right away and walk with him. We promised we would. We also were told that he and two other babies were "the naughtiest". Apparently when these three cohorts get together they are too much for one caretaker to handle! All too soon the time came to leave. Talk about a dirty trick, as if we hadn't waited long enough! Oh well, I guess we can stand one more day. Then he's ours for keeps!

May we have your attention please

IT'S A BOY!!!

First day in Hanoi Pt.2

We met some more of the hotel staff this morning. They are all very nice people. They have already made us feel so welcomed. This afternoon Mr. Linh took us to the Vincom Tower, a local mall, to do some shopping at the grocery store. Yes, this involved a cab ride. Even now, at night, we're still laughing in disbelief. I'm sure we'll get used to it soon. Before dinner we had a meeting with Mr. Dat, the facilitator that works for our agency's Vietnam staff. He said we will be travelling to Phu Tho tomorrow (Sunday) to meet Tanner. We are so excited! It's a 2+ hour drive each way and we'll get to spend an hour with him. Our giving and receiving ceremony will be Monday or Tuesday, the date has not been confirmed yet.

First day in Hanoi

We took a short walk after breakfast. These are just a few of the things we saw.

Driving to the hotel

So we've all heard the stories about traffic in Vietnam. Cars, bikes and buses driving all over....cross the street confidently and traffic will flow around you, etc. We've even seen video clips of the chaos of Hanoi streets. None of that even begins to prepare you for actually being in it. On the way to the hotel from the airport, we were literally clenching our jaws, looking through squinted eyes and squeezing each others hands convinced we were going to kill somebody. It really is mind blowing to witness what is normal driving in Vietnam is. We will try to post a clip this week. It is literally a horn blowing frenzied free for all. Then, all of a sudden, our driver appeared to be a little confused about where he was going. He pulled down this dark (it was the middle of the night) narrow street, drove a little way and then backed up backing through the intersection and continuing to drive in reverse down another alley. Needless to say we were a little concerned, not at all comforted by the fact that our driver didn't speak any English other than "o.k." and if he did he wasn't letting on. After he made a quick call on his cell he was again driving with confidence. We later learned the confusion was caused by the fact that there are two streets with identical or near identical names. Within a few minutes of the call we were at our hotel. Feeling nervous and quite overwhelmed with culture shock, we were greeted at the taxi by Mr. Linh..... Mr. Linh is a Godsend! He definitely made us feel a lot more comfortable. He took us into the lobby and quickly explained what his role will be during our stay, gave us his cell phone number, told us to go up to our rooms and get some rest and said all of our luggage is already there. We hadn't even realized it was gone!

All rested up...... mostly

Hello all.....We are ready for a longer post now that we've had some much needed sleep. Everything went pretty smoothly travelling the last couple of days. Our first flight left Buffalo at 7:15 Thursday morning on the smallest commercial jet plane we've ever seen. The plane sat two on one side and one on the other. Thankfully there was no delay on the tarmac in that plane, it could have gotten ugly really fast! They loaded us into the slingshot and sent us on our way on a short (again thankfully) flight to JFK in NYC. After a four hour layover we left for Seoul, Korea on Korean Air. That was a long one! Those of you who have already made that flight, I'm sure, remember how much fun it was. In theory, a 14 hour flight was going to be a great time to catch up on sleep. In reality? about the only thing that slept was my butt. I do have to say though, we have never met a friendlier, more accommodating staff than the people with Korean Air. We were very impressed with them. After finally making it to Korea, we found, much to our delight, that the seats at the connecting gate were perfect for napping! Our layover was only a couple hours and we finally found ourselves aboard our final flight to Hanoi. Then, a few minutes after we got into our seats, we found ourselves getting OFF our final flight to Hanoi! We were told that the mechanic said the plane could not fly. Umm...did anyone ask him before they boarded the plane? So now we're getting a pit in our stomachs. How long are we going to be here? Is the person who's supposed to pick us up at the airport in Hanoi going to hang around? ....But Korean air came through again. They got a new plane in, transferred the luggage, food etc., got the plane ready to fly and had us aboard in less than in hour! You can imagine how relieved we were. I would bet that delay would have been much longer at JFK (who by the way we were not impressed with in the least). That last 4 hour flight brought us to Hanoi and here we are.
Coming up......the ride from the airport to the hotel.

We're here!

Not real sure yet that this is going to work, everything is in Vietnamese when we view it. But we'll give it a try. We have just gotten settled into our room after a 32 hour journey. We didn't have any major glitches in our flights. We had a minor glitch in Korea, but we'll put up a more descriptive post tomorrow. We just wanted to let everyone know that we're here safe and sound. Talk to you all later!

Our journey begins

Welcome to our blog! We are keeping this blog to allow our family and friends to follow us as we travel to Vietnam to adopt our son. We plan to update daily, so check back often!