Hanoi Or Bust!

This is it, the moment its all been about. Its 12:20 now and we're just getting back to the house after running a few errands and dropping the animals off. I got the short end of the stick and had to make the hour long trek out to my brothers this morning to drop off the cats. And true to herself, Melissa got carsick as usual. Although this time she truly outdid herself. I had to stop on the road twice to clean out her carrier! Sorry if anyones squeamish, but she was so bad that it was coming out both ends! And just for added measure, she screamed the whole way. All I kept thinking was "I can be a mom, I can be a mom, I can clean this mess up and Im not going to lose it myself. I can listen to this incessant screaming and still drive the car. I can do this." Maybe she was doing it to test me? Thinking "alright, you wanna be a mom? Lets see if you can handle this!" If you knew Melissa, you could definately see this as being true.

So everyone, wish us luck! We'll try to keep the updates coming, and maybe even get to post a few pics!

Our Last Night At Home!

So this is it. My last night in my house! The next night I spend here I'll be Bryans mom, and I'll be sitting with him in his Snoopy room. Diapers, bottles, middle of the night feedings. Im so ready for it. My arms just hurt to hold him now. I just want to hug him and kiss him and tell him that I love him and I'll always take care of him and be there for him. That I'll never leave him.

Tomorrow we just have to drop off the dog and the cats at their respective babysitters, tie up any loose ends that are left, and thats about it. Were planning to arrive at the airport at about 4PM for our 7PM flight to LAX.

Wonder if I'll sleep tonight......

Only Fourty-Five Hours To Go.......

until we take off for LA!!! But whos counting, right? Thankfully today came and went much easier than yesterday! Did a few last minute things this morning and went out to lunch with my buds from work. Then tonight George and I packed up the last of our stuff. I hope we packed ok since its pretty hot in Hanoi right now. Its in the 80s during the day and Im sure the humidity is up there.

Oh and we finally decided on a first name for the baby! We are naming him Bryan Tinh. He almost was a Kevin, but I think Bryan suits him better. I love it, and I love him. Even though I havent even held him yet, I love him crazy. All of his little things are packed in his suitcase. Little socks, bottles and diapers, a few toys, a cute little Pooh outfit for the Giving and Receiving ceremony, and the blanket I made for him.

Let The Countdown Begin!!!!!!!!!!!

In three days at this time, about 5PM, we will just be arriving at the airport to begin the first leg of our trip. Today I must say was a long and boring day. Yesterday I decorated the house for Christmas (everything but the tree), so we're pretty far ahead of the game at this point. Im always the first one to point out those neurotic people who have their houses decorated this early. Well hey, the stores here were putting out the Holiday stuff right next to the Halloween displays. Thats one of the things that really gets me peeved. I love the fall. Its my favorite time of year, and its short enough without everyone starting the Christmas music (hello.........anyone at work reading this??? You know who you are!!!), and putting up the lights, ect before the season offically starts. Nobody needs to be singing Rockin' Round The Christmas Tree during the first freakin' week of November! Hey, all you University Dental people, this means you!!! Now that I'm gone, ya'll can crank that junk up and Ho-Ho-Ho all you want!

Oooooops. Better get back to the point. So this year due to the fact that I will be in Hanoi enjoying my son on Black Friday, which has always been my ritualistic bust out the Christmas decorations day, I found myself putting everything out yesterday. In 80 degree heat and with shorts on, yes, Chris was outside hanging garland and bows on the house. Should have taken a picture because that will never happen again in my lifetime! There will be no Christmas stocking hung before Turkey Day. Still in all, its one less thing I'll have to deal with upon arriving home. I dont want to have anything to do except settle in with George and Tinh.

So that was yesterday. Today I didnt do anything. Seriously, there isnt anything left. The only thing I did, and it was primarily out of sheer boredom, was take a bath. Im not much of a bath girl at all, but for some reason I felt the need to do it today. So I got out the tub pillow, and a Vogue magazine I had lying around, and soaked for a bit. I think theres just something about knowing in the back of your mind that your days are numbered and that little luxuries.....little snatches of me time like that will be a thing of the past, so you do them even though it isnt something you cared much for to begin with. Weird.

Thankfully, I do have a few errands, although small, to do tomorrow. So being out of the house for a part of the day will make it zip on by. Cant take three more days of just hanging around like this. Thats for sure.

There really isnt anything to do now. Nothing but wait............

Catching up, Part Deux

So as it stands right now, our rescheduled travel dates have us leaving Wednesday Nov 15th and arriving in Hanoi on Friday Nov17th. We could have left a few days later, seeing as we dont have to be there until the 20th, but all the flights were booked. At this point I dont care when I leave. Just get me there! My heart went into big time panic mode when we learned from our travel agent that flights for this timeframe were really hard to find. For about a day there I thought we may not be able to get to Vietnam on time! Talk about stress........and fear! But much to our relief, Todd did a great job and managed to get us our tickets.

Since were going to get to Vietnam three days early, our program coordinator suggested that we take a trip to Halong Bay to see the sights. I looked it up and it really looks amazing. So we'll probably do that when we get there. We would love to get to see as much of the country as we can, so I think that the flights getting messed up really worked in our favor. We'll get to have a mini vacation, or a five year anniversary celebration a little early. Still hurts that we missed a week with Tinh though, but little baby, we're getting there as fast as we can!

I think we're just about all set to go now. Everything we had to rearrange has been done, and our bags are just about packed.

Our house is ready for a baby!!! Hurry up and get here Wednesday!

Halong Bay or Bay of Descending Dragons

Local legend says that long ago when the Vietnamese were fighting Chinese invaders, the gods sent a family of dragons to help defend the land. This family of dragons descended upon what is now Ha Long Bay (hence the name "Bay of Descending Dragons") and began spitting out jewels and jade. These jewels turned into the islands and islets dotting the bay, linking together to form barriers against the invaders. The people kept their land safe and formed what later became the country of Vietnam

So Much Catching Up To Do!

Wow has it been a long time in between posts! Not good. This is the time when everything is happening and I should be documenting every minute, but all the preparation for the trip has been keeping me really busy. Busy is always good though. So anyway, whats been going on???

Trying to think back to the beginning........

OK, well, we finished the nursery, and then on Oct 26th my friends at work threw us a baby shower. I was so surprised at how many people came, and how much love and support everyone had to send our way. Not to mention all the great gifts that Tinh got too. After all, they are gifts for the baby. And it was great that Tinhs Grandpa, Uncle Doug and Aunt Courtney, and his cousin Ashley came too. It was amazing to be the one sitting in the chair with balloons having everyone celebrate us and our new family. The family we waited so long for. Thanks everyone for leaving us with wonderful memories of such a special time.

Then after that, well, we were suppossed to be leaving for Vietnam on the 10th. So we were in full swing with packing, and all the down to the wire things that have to be done before leaving home for a while. Not to mention bringing a baby back home with you. We had gotten our travel visas, had our flights booked, plans for Dyna to be boarded at the vets office, Doug taking the cats, George freed up his work schedule, and I had my last day of work planned for Nov 9th, the day before we were to leave.
Our travel itinerary had us leaving NC on the 10th and heading to LA. From there we were to fly to Hong Kong, and then into Hanoi on the 12th. Total time in the air 22hrs.


Here comes the bomb.........

Everything was going so smooth. I guess I should have thought it was going too smooth, but hey, I've been on a cloud for so long now, and so busy that one day is just running full steam into the next. So I didnt see the bump in the road coming. It happened on Nov 3. One week until we were to leave. I was at Doug and Courtneys house with my dad having, of all things, my goodbye and good luck dinner with them. When all of a sudden George calls. Imagine our shock to find that our trip had been postponed for another week. Another week? You might as well make it a month because thats just what its gonna feel like. Are you kidding? We've been waiting and waiting, and now you tell us we have to wait AGAIN?!?!? No way.

Well, just like that all the wind went right out of my sails. This is the thing about international adoption though. Things can change at a moments notice. Sometimes it will be for the better and sometimes not. But all you can do is try to keep a stiff upper lip and your chin in the air, and try to roll with things as they come your way. You have to expect that these things will happen.


The APEC SUMMIT.......

We had known that it was being held in Hanoi weeks ago. All the hotels are booked because of it, which didnt leave much choice for us as to where to stay when we were making our travel arrangements. What no one seemed to realize, was that everything governmental is shutting down during the time that the Summit is going on. So what this meant for us was that no adoptions were being done at all between the 15th and 20th of Nov. So the agency said that we can still fly to Vietnam on the 10th, but we will be hanging around for a whole week with nothing to do. Not a bad idea if we could have swung it. I would have been heading out on Friday in a heartbeat if we could have just to be where Tinh is. But that just isnt possible unfortunately.

Heres a little snip of what the APEC SUMMIT is about.........

The upcoming APEC Summit will be held in Ha Noi, Vietnam in the fall of this year. As APEC 2006 host, Vietnam has selected the following theme to guide discussions throughout the year: "Towards a Dynamic Community for Sustainable Development and Prosperity."

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is the only trans-Pacific forum dedicated to intergovernmental economic cooperation. APEC members account for 57% of world GDP, 45% of world population and 50% of world trade.

APEC's year-round activities culminate in an annual APEC Summit where Leaders adopt a vision statement aimed at achieving stability, security and prosperity for all people of the Asia-Pacific region.

This year, in Hanoi, Vietnam, Ministers will gather for the Annual Ministerial Meeting on 15-16 November. APEC 2006 meetings will then conclude with the APEC Leaders Summit, to be held on 18-19 November.