Shopping

Let me just point out I have been helping boost the economy here in Hanoi. It has been a great day shopping with my Mom and Martha. Laurie and Michael got in today and we are overjoyed that they made it here safely. Mom and I had a great breakfast here at the hotel and then went to Pepperoni's for lunch for some pizza. Let me just say that that was just as good as home. It was nice to have some comfort food. Mom and I are going to baby street in a little while. We will see what goodies I can get for Lauren there. I have already purchased 2 ao dai's for her but I need to get a few more sizes that she can grow into. I will post more tomorrow after the meeting with Martin.

Made It To Hanoi!!

We FINALLY made to Hanoi!!! It was a long 22 hours but we made it in one piece and had great plane trips. Martha managed to find us in Taipei. She dropped her bags and came running up to hug me. It was so nice to have a familiar face. Everything went real smoothly. I will say that it scared me half to death when they were driving us to the hotel. I tried to watch out the window and not pay attention to the driving. After we arrived at our hotel, Martha, my Mom, and myself all decided to take a wee nap and get cleaned up and meet back for dinner in the hotel at 6pm. It was a great meal but they do serve a BIG meal, much more than I could ever possibly eat. We decided that we would meet up for breakfast and do some shopping tomorrow. We are hoping for a good nights sleep even though the horn honking and yelling is loud. I'll post more tomorrow.

Travel Approval!!!

I finally received travel approval!! I was starting to think I was never going to get it. Mind you I was going to go to Vietnam anyway but this was there will be no delays. I'm actually getting excited that I am leaving in 2 days! I am a little apprehensive about leaving my husband and sons but my husband can take care of everything.

Almost there....

I'm essentially ready, I have my bag to pack but Lauren's is packed and ready to go. On Wednesday or Thursday I will wash clothes and possibly cook up some dinners and freeze them so my husband won't have to cook every night. My boys are still in school so I want to make sure all their clothes are ready to go. My husband has said to not worry about the house because he and the boys are going to get it in tip top shape before Lauren and I get home. I love my husband to death! He is very thoughtful because he knows that I will be stressing about everything and he doesn't want me to worry about cleaning house when I should be getting ready for the trip. I have been trying to sleep during the day and stay up at night to get myself used to the time change. I used to work nights and I thought that was going to be easy. HA! I'm so used to going to bed at 10pm and getting up at 6am that I can barely stay awake and it is only midnight. I keep reminding myself it will all be worth it in the end when I finally get my baby girl in my arms. The house renovations aren't finished and not everything has been done and bought but it will all work itself out. The end is in sight and looks wonderful. I can't wait to meet some of the lovely ladies that I have been chatting with and emailed back and forth. I was talking with Martha yesterday and we realized that we are on the same flight from Taipei to Hanoi. It was so nice to know that my Mom and I wouldn't be arriving there alone. I will post more along the way and pictures as soon as I can. I have rambled on enough for one day.

Finally!!

I have called Todd Gallinek, the adoption travel God, and he is getting me tickets to Hanoi for April 23rd. I think our G&R should be on the 28th or 29th. That should give me a few days to get over jet lag and get acclimated to Vietnam time. I want to be completely refreshed when I get Lauren. Definitely can't have a cranky Mommy. I have one suitcase packed and the other one I will pack the day before I leave. I'm thinking on taking all my clothes to the cleaners and have them starch them so maybe my clothes won't look as if they have been thrown from one plane to the other. We still haven't received travel approval but I'm sure before next week we will have the approval for that. I have been in contact with National Visa Center in HCMC and hopefully they will lift my hold status and send my travel approval. I'll update more later....time for more shopping.

Happy Easter!

I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Easter! As I was running around outside this freezing cold morning hiding brightly colored plastic eggs, I realized that next year I am going to get to do it for 2 children. And let me just say that warmed me right up. Have a great Sunday and a great Easter!

Waiting again.....

Waiting to figure out when out G & R is. JJH has said probably April 22nd which means leaving the 18th but then Sheryl has said the 28th. I'm not sure when it is and I can't seem to get a hold of anyone to find out anything. I have found some really great priced tickets but I can't buy them until I have a firm date. Waiting is hard to do....at least I have been able to get some of the last minute stuff done. Everything has been coming all at one time. Easter this weekend and then next Friday is my sons 15th birthday.

APPROVAL!!!

I thought I would let everyone know that we received a wonderful email from Memphis saying that we were approved and its being sent to Vietnam. We hopefully have travel approval for April 22nd. We are getting flights for April 18th. Whoo! Finally! We are coming for you Lauren! I'll meet the Fab 5 in Vietnam!

Expedited Forms- LOL

Well.....I heard from Memphis and they pretty well told me that they were working on it and it will be approved in due time. That all I600A's are considered expedited forms....excuse me but this is expedited. And anyone that has had to have a I600A knows dang good and well that there is nothing expedited about this form or process. This is the last of my griping for today. God, I'll try to do better tomorrow. LOL.

Waiting.......

I have emailed Memphis USCIS field office and still haven't heard a word from them. You would figure that someone would want to get that off their desk and out of their hair. I might have to call my State Representative before this is all over with. It's so frustrating that it has taken so long to get a simple approval on a form that I was already approved of in the first place. Bureaucracy crap is just getting on my last nerve. On a better note......Congratulations to Martha and Laurie for receiving final travel approval. That is fantastic news and I couldn't be more happier for you two. I hope to be able to report some good news soon.

Trying to get ready...

I have 3 rooms left to paint and then the new carpet can be put in the bedrooms. And if anyone knows me they know that I absolutely HATE to paint. I have been procrastinating all morning about getting this done. I have been renovating for around a year now getting everything ready for when Lauren gets here. We want to make sure that everyone has their own bedroom. Of course, everyone has got to deal with the choice of color that the other person picked out because everyone is rotating rooms. Poor Devin has to live a week in the pink Tinkerbell room aka Lauren's. I hope I don't give the kid a complex. On the adoption front, I'm giving the Memphis USCIS field office until the middle of the week and then they are going to be showered with emails until they approve my I600A. They are going to be so sick of hearing from me they are going to want to approve me just to shut me up. I can be very stubborn and persistent.

To blog or not to blog????

You might have to bear with me while I try to figure out how all this works but I am going to give the old college try. I might have to get some help before its all over with. I wanted to be able to communicate with my Fab 5 ladies and anyone else that is on this adoption rollercoaster.