Crazy girl is starting to show off

Kali has definitely figured out that her Mommy is the best in the business!  Her personality and smiles are starting to show thru.  We had a boys and Mommy tickle session at the end of breakfast - Kali really liked it.
She has shown a LOT of interest in stacking cups and in following Mommy!
We had a great experience in the pool this morning.  She even left Mommy to go to Medko!  Definitely a water baby, even trying to drink the water.
She has been eating semisolid food quite well - still interested in formula but much more interested in congee with chicken, tofu, honey nut Cheerios, watermelon and green beans.  Due to gas, we switched over to soy formula and she is doing much better.  Some face puffiness has disappeared too.
She had been getting formula in the middle of the night too - midnight and 4pm but is fine with a little water or Donna's touch.  She is also fine with sleeping until 8am or so.

We made it!

The flight from Hanoi was a bit bumpy and we faced some mystery meat in the snack service, but otherwise it was good.  The boys were a bit iffy - mostly seeking ngative attention behaviors.  We made it to the hotel around 5pm, and after some confusion, we picked up our phone and made it to or rooms - adjoining.  Pretty gorgeous!  We asked for a couple of chairs to be removed to make the access between the rooms safer.  After unpacking we had some very yummy dinner - but the boys were nearly GONE!  Medko misunderstood something about pizza and ultimately put his head down and Tam fell asleep on Donna in a VERY noisy restaurant.  All in all, they were tough given the amount of change they are facing and the amount of travel.

We met Hang (aka Katty) in Hanoi for a post breakfast chat.  She and Tam were super duper cute walking down the street holding hands - picture(s) to come.  Really nice to see her and catch up.

Some serious confusion on internet access (for now) - hotel charges a mere $80 for a week for wifi in the room.  We paid it last night, but it now appears that maybe we didn't have to... we'll see.  Planning for a day of exploring the hotel and surrounds - a big park across the street and the pool plus a kiddy play area a couple floors down have promise.  And finding a real life 7 Eleven in our hotel complex - think Vegas style hotel system - just not quite as big.  Bottled water is apparently a biger money maker here than in the US.  $12 for an Evian, $15 for a 800ml Voss.

We are looking at what might be state controlled weather - 91 high, 79 low, 60% chance of rain everyday for the next 7.  Not really of course - just odd.  

Day 2-VietNam

Tam and Donna did not sleep last night.  Barry and Medko slept like the rocks they are.  Donna tried to around 1am, but as soon as her head hit the pillow Tam walked into the room and they were together until about 6:30am.  So this made for an interesting day.  After breakfast Tam was ready to come back to the room and sleep.  He slept for about 2.5 hours.  We woke him up to go out exploring.  He has had a rough time with all the smells and smoke.  He can handle it if he is well rested, but not today.  He said he was having a hard time breathing.  We think he was just exhausted and could not handle it. Once he got some food from Truc Lam Trai he perked up.  Thank goodness!!!  Both pagodas we visited were "closed" - one we couldn't go in, the other we could, but there was no activity except for some external renovations. 

After lunch we came back to the room for a little rest before heading out to see the Water Puppets.  Both Tam and Medko loved it.  They could not take there eyes off of the stage.  We really enjoyed the music this time.  It was a great night.  The boys really enjoyed walking around the city at night.  We got to see the biggest cockroaches we have ever seen attacking some food on the street!!!  Tam, of course, wanted to touch it. 
We have enjoyed our time here in VietNam and look forward to coming back once all the kids our older. Sorry...no pictures yet.  We am hoping those once we get settled in China and we will be able to upload them. 

In the morning we are meeting Hang for some coffee.  Hang is a dear sweet person who we meet 5 years ago while here with baby Tam.  She could not be any sweeter to meet us at our hotel. 

Getting ready...

We have spent a full day (plus a little) traveling to Vietnam, and most of that was quite good thanks to Korean Air.  Now we've spent a full day in Hanoi.  It has been a very rich day - fast and slow at the same time.  Tons to see and do and absorb.  The hotel has been great - especially breakfast and proper A/C!  Even on a cloudy, post storm day with a high of 90, it was hot and sweaty.  We tried to visit the Thien Thai Hotel, where we stayed with Tam back in 2008.  They were closed for renovations.  Kinda bummed - missed out on a great view from the upper floors, won't get the recipe for "green smack" - a mysterious drink of choice for the ladies - and especially won't get to show Tam the seemingly infinite number of stairs we climbed up to 4 times a day just to get to wifi back in the day...  It might well have blown a gasket or two for Tam if some of the same staff was still there and got to oooh and ahhh over him.  Got a bunch of shopping in too, as well as general exploring - Hoan Kiem Lake's temple, a good bit of the old quarter, the cathedral near our hotel.  Have to say that Kangaroo Cafe was not all that memory said it would be, though...

The effects on Tam are just beginning...  So very glad he came with us. He spent a good bit of the day concerned or complaining about needing a break or to be carried - mostly due to not breathing well.  Barry felt a similar "tightness" because of the high humidity and occasional smoke and exhaust.  So, on breaks, Tam spent more time in a squat than he has in the past month - clearly identifying with the Vietnamese folks doing the same.  And there were times, early on, where he talked of being overwhelmed, with there being too much to see and take in.  His wheels are clearly spinning - perhaps wondering what else ties him here...

Medko is still in recovery from sleep deprivation from the flight.  Tough little dude - but wow, some little things - like fingers in the hair and mouth while eating, were popping up like crazy.  Great on walking and handling the shopping though.  Not so much on the using his words - certainly not compensating for the din of honking horns, motor bikes whizzing, and general bedlam that is the street.  Very happy with his hotel bed though :)

Everybody's appetite was a bit suppressed by the heat too - much more interested in the juices than the chewable food.  And pho - Tam had it at all three meals :)

And through all this, there is the growing anticipation of another shift - to China - and the addition of a little lady to shake things up even more.  It has been great to have this time - both to share heritage and history and food, and also to help the boys recover physically with 3 hour naps today - before an even larger city experience in Guangzhou. 

Hoping for some pictures next time.....

She's Super Kalifragilistic!

She won't show up here until we meet her on July 22.
She has a cleft lip and palate and lives in Dianbai, China.

Here is a not-so-brief account of what has happened so far:

Homestudy —  09/27/2012

Addendum done 10/09/2012

I-800A —Our approval arrived  12/05/2012

Dossier —This is a BIG stack of papers that we compile for China.   So once that last piece of paper is notarized, certified and authenticated, we will send our dossier to our agency, who will then send it off to Beijing.  01/18/2013 was our dossier to China (DTC) date.

Log in (LID) — Within a week or two of our dossier’s arrival in China, it will be “logged in.”   Our LID is 01/22/2013-we found out about this date on 02/06/2013.

Referral — Once our paperwork is logged in, we wait for a call from our agency saying that they have matched us with a child.  We received our referral on 02/26/2013.

Letter of intent (LOI) — After reviewing whatever medical information is available, we sent a letter requesting to adopt that particular child and outlining how we plan to take care of her that same night, 02/26/2013.  And now the hard part of the wait begins.  She has a face.   She needs a family, a full belly and a warm bed.  All we can do is hope things move quickly so we can bring her home.

Letter of approval (LOA) — This is the biggest deal of all the paperwork steps.  This is China’s ok to adopt our child.  It usually takes anywhere from 1-3 months after PA for this letter to arrive and for me to breathe a little easier. LOA on 04/11/2013.

I-800 was received in Texas on 04/15/2013. Forwarded to Mo 04/17/2013

I-800 — More American side paperwork.  This is our application to adopt a specific child.  We need our LOA to file this application.  Our approval arrived 04/29/2013.

NVC letter — Once our I-800 is approved, our information has to be sent to the American consulate in Guangzhou, China.  We received our letter on 05/06/2013.  This allowed us to submit our article 5 paperwork.

Article 5  – It usually takes 2 weeks once our agency sends the necessary paperwork to Guangzhou for the consulate to issue our Article 5.  Our Article 5 was picked up 05/22/2013 .
Travel approval (TA) — Once our agency delivers our Article 5 to Beijing, the good folks there can issue our travel approval.  This usually take 2-3 weeks.  Ours arrived 06/17/2013. This could have been faster too, but they were upgrading their computer systems, and then we hit Dragon Boat Festival holiday.  Wouldn't have been bad if the next step hadn't had a snag too...

Consulate appointment — When our agency receives travel approval, they request an appointment at the US consulate in Guangzhou.  This date, towards the end of our stay in China, determines the rest of our travel dates.  Our CA will be on 07/30/2013.  This could have been much sooner, but the entire Embassy is moving.  Really???  REALLY??

GOTCHA DAY — After reading all that mess above, it’s hard to believe anyone ever gets to this point.  Adoption really is a miracle.  We will meet Kali on 07/22/2013.