The Smile

I finally got a couple of pictures of Maddie smiling. She is starting to smile more and more, it's just difficult to get a picture while she's doing it. Martha took these last night at dinner. She definitely looks much happier here.

Here She Is!

I finally have Madison! Yesterday was an amazing day. We began our day very early @ 7am and headed out for our VERY long (4.5 hours) VERY bumpy ride to the Phu Tho province of Vietnam. It was an extremely rural area but such beautiful scenery. Unfortunately I couldn't get much video because of the bumpy ride, but I did manage to get a little, and some quick snap shots as well. We arrived at the orphanage around 11:30 and were taken to the building where the babies were. I saw Maddie almost right away and she looked right at me. I had someone take my video camera when we walked in and was able to get our first meeting all on video tape. She wasn't very happy to come to me at first, she cried a lot. The nannies in her orphanage were wonderful, they were all so loving and each came up and held her and gave her big hugs and kisses. I was able to get all of this on video as well, it is very touching how they love all of the babies so much and care for them so well. They helped transition Maddie to me and eventually she didn't cry. We had to wait about an hour for the orphanage director to show up so we could meet with him and then we were on our way to Viet Tri for our G&R ceremony. Maddie slept most of the way there, bumpy roads and all. Our day ended very late and we did not get back to our hotel until around 8:30p.m. we all skipped dinner so we could focus on the babies. I gave Maddie her first bath (which she did not like) and a bottle and she fell fast asleep around 9:00 and slept all the way through until 6:00 a.m. Right now she has quite a shy personality and is very sensitive at times. She doesn't like for me to put her down and when I do she cries. But once she falls asleep, she is fine on her own in the bed. I didn't see any smiles from her yesterday, but today and especially tonight at dinner her silly little smile started coming out. She wrinkles up her nose, squints her eyes and does a cheesy little smile. I haven't been able to capture it on camera yet, but I will keep trying. We applied for her passport today and will get it sometime next week. Once we have that, we get her visa and shortly after that we can come home. Meanwhile we will continue to enjoy the sights of Hanoi, it is such an amazing city and country.

More Pictures

Above are some more pictures from our journey out this morning. I'm sorry I haven't yet figured out how to label each individual picture. Each time we venture out we get better at navigating our way around the streets (and mopeds). We did a bit of shopping then found a Highlands Coffee (like Starbucks in the US) that overlooked the lake and we sat and relaxed for a while before doing a bit more shopping then returning to the hotel. I wanted to do a quick post now because it will be a busy afternoon and evening preparing to go the orphanages tomorrow. I have to get the diaper bag all packed and clothes gifts all ready. It's going to be an early morning for us. We leave the hotel @ 7a.m. for our 4-5 hour ride to the orphanage. It is going to be a very long day. We were told we probably wouldn't be back to the hotel until 6-7p.m. We are all getting very excited about finally getting our babies. So hopefully my next post will be pictures of Me & Maddie!

Out & About In Hanoi

My second day in Hanoi it rained all day so we didn't venture out and about until dinner. We tried a local Vietnamese restaurant and it was pretty good. Other than that I spent most of the day unpacking and getting my nanny gifts put together to take to the orphanage. This morning it rained again but stopped after breakfast so we ventured out to explore some of Hanoi. Another couple who already have their baby and have been here for a while offered to take a group of us "newbies" out to show us around. It can be quite overwhelming trying to explore the streets of a foreign country when all streets look the same. We learned that some of the streets here are named after the "goods" that are sold on that street, there is toy street, baby street, silk street etc. The most interesting thing about the streets of Hanoi are the mopeds. This is the main source of transportation for people here. Crossing the street is a real challenge. You need to find an opening and just walk out into it and the mopeds just swirve around you. Walking along the sidewalk also poses a problem because that is where everyone parks their mopeds. We also found a big grocery store where they have just about everything we will need for our stay here. We all picked up some diapers and wipes to stock up for the babies. We ended our day at a terrific authentic italian restaurant that was recommended to us, yum!

Greetings From Vietnam

I made it! 4 planes and 28 hours later, I arrived here in Hanoi just before 10am Vietnam time Friday. My trip went very well. I was able to sleep 7 hours on the long flight from LA to Hong Kong. The weather here is just like Charleston, warm & humid, so no climate adjustment needed. My hotel is very nice and the wait staff are wonderful and very helpful. I had a shower and a short nap this afternoon and just finished a small dinner from a restaurant down the street called the Kiti. It looks like I will have to wait a day longer to get Maddie. I received an email from our agency contact just after arriving and they said that we will go to the orphanage on Tuesday to get the babies. The rest of the Phu Tho families are getting here tomorrow and Sunday, so I will have some friends to hang out with soon. I am looking forward to talking to Andy & the boys this evening via Skype, we're all hooked up on both ends, so let's hope it works. Above are just a few pictures of the beginning of my journey.

Single Digits, Plane Tickets & My First Shower

We are down to single digits now, I leave one week from today. I am slowly getting everything packed and ready, I can't tell you how many times I've packed and unpacked my suitcase.

My plane tickets came about a week and a half ago and it was exciting to see Madison's name on the return tickets. My visa should be coming today, so I'll be all set to go.

Last Friday some of my friends got together and threw me a surprise baby shower, it was so nice. Thank you Kristin, Melissa, Carolina, Megan, Cait, Mariah & Brittany! Above are some pictures of some of the gifts I received. One gift not in the picture is a new jogging stroller, yeah! It was delivered yesterday. I will take a picture of it and post it after Andy assembles it for me. I will also post some more pictures of my shower as I get them.

Travel Plans

My travel plans are coming along. Yesterday I officially booked my plane tickets and my hotel. I will be leaving on Wednesday, September 3 (3 weeks from today) and will arrive in Hanoi, Vietnam on Friday morning (Vietnam time). I will be staying in a hotel in the Old Quarter part of Hanoi where many other families from our agency will also be staying. Over the past few weeks, several other families also received travel approval so there will be quite a large group of us over there at once. We are scheduled to go to the orphanage on Monday the 8th, that is when I will get Maddie!!

20 days, and counting!!