I wanted to make you aware of a website I found that clearly explains what is happening in the world of Vietnamese adoptions, specifically the delays in processing of the Form I-600 by U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services in Ho Chi Minh City and the Immigrant Visa approvals by the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi. It also includes some sample letters that can be sent to our Georgia Senators:
Saxby Chambliss
416 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Johnny Isakson
120 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Since this directly affects the time we wait to go to Vietnam to bring home our daughter, I respectfully ask each of you to consider sending a letter to one or both of the Senators.
It's a shame that babies - OUR babies - are without their families longer than necessary and that the lives of these children have to hang in the balance of the politicians......
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
Progress....I guess!
Just wanted to post a quick update of the progress being made with the construction project.....we have our landline back (!!), the walls are built, and the sheetrock is in. We decided not to attempt the electrical portion of the work, and promptly called "Mr. Electric" directly from the good-old-Yellow Pages. They came out right away and did the work for a reasonable amount of money, I thought. (That's what professionals DO, right?? - - quick, easy!! - - - WHY are we doing the rest of this ourselves??)
So this weekend's projects include hanging both closet doors and taping and sanding the sheetrock.....
It's progress, I guess....
I'm just S-O-O-O ready to paint the fun colors, hang window treatments, and put up the crib with the oh-s0-cute bedding.....you know, the FUN stuff!! The stuff that makes it really feel like a baby's nursery and the stuff that makes you know that this IS happening and that our sweet little girl IS on the way!!
Oh, and BTW, I finally broke down and bought my first (of sure-to-be-many!) clothing item for Kai!! If I had had more time to shop, I feel sure it would have been dangerous. And of course, it's the most girly-girl thing I could find: a fluffy pink "Bunnies by the Bay" coat, complete with bunny ears on the hood and a silk tie!! PRECIOUS!! And at 60% off the regular price.....well....I'm SAVING, not spending, right?? :)
A big highlight of last weekend was getting in touch with a family who adopted a daughter from the same orphanage where Kai is now. They were actually there right before Kai was born...they just missed seeing her by a couple of weeks! The mom sent me some pictures of the facility and of the nannies there. She said it is very small and very poor, but that the nannies were very caring and loving. I have kept that in my heart all week, and it is a comfort to know that Kai is being nurtured and loved. I know it's not the same as the love she will get from us as her parents, but I know that God is caring for her above all else!
Hope you all have a great weekend!!
So this weekend's projects include hanging both closet doors and taping and sanding the sheetrock.....
It's progress, I guess....
I'm just S-O-O-O ready to paint the fun colors, hang window treatments, and put up the crib with the oh-s0-cute bedding.....you know, the FUN stuff!! The stuff that makes it really feel like a baby's nursery and the stuff that makes you know that this IS happening and that our sweet little girl IS on the way!!
Oh, and BTW, I finally broke down and bought my first (of sure-to-be-many!) clothing item for Kai!! If I had had more time to shop, I feel sure it would have been dangerous. And of course, it's the most girly-girl thing I could find: a fluffy pink "Bunnies by the Bay" coat, complete with bunny ears on the hood and a silk tie!! PRECIOUS!! And at 60% off the regular price.....well....I'm SAVING, not spending, right?? :)
A big highlight of last weekend was getting in touch with a family who adopted a daughter from the same orphanage where Kai is now. They were actually there right before Kai was born...they just missed seeing her by a couple of weeks! The mom sent me some pictures of the facility and of the nannies there. She said it is very small and very poor, but that the nannies were very caring and loving. I have kept that in my heart all week, and it is a comfort to know that Kai is being nurtured and loved. I know it's not the same as the love she will get from us as her parents, but I know that God is caring for her above all else!
Hope you all have a great weekend!!
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Landline....locked down!!
Hope you haven't tried to call me at home in the last week or so....
The first (well, okay, maybe it will be the last - - - yeah, right!) glitch in the closet re-do has occurred: the landline for the phone is down and has been since last Wednesday! Something having to do with cutting into walls, pulling wiring, blah, blah, blah..... All I know is that once we finally figured out how to retrieve our landline messages through our cell phones, we had a BOO-KOO of messages we had missed!
Catching up with those has left me little time to blog.....more later!
The first (well, okay, maybe it will be the last - - - yeah, right!) glitch in the closet re-do has occurred: the landline for the phone is down and has been since last Wednesday! Something having to do with cutting into walls, pulling wiring, blah, blah, blah..... All I know is that once we finally figured out how to retrieve our landline messages through our cell phones, we had a BOO-KOO of messages we had missed!
Catching up with those has left me little time to blog.....more later!
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Nursery Pre-Pre-Prep!
Ohmigosh!! The time has come to get the nursery ready!! But like most things, it's never just as easy as it sounds......
Long story short, when we built this house five years ago, we made the mistake of making what was a fourth bedroom into a "bonus room" and eliminated the walk-in closet to add square footage to that room. In anticipation of Kai's arrival, we need to change the existing playroom into a nursery, move Austin's room into what was the bonus room, and reconfigure the closet (split it in half, basically) in the nursery so that there is a closet for Austin's new room, too. We also need to have some unfinished storage space opened up as built-ins in that room. (Clear as mud??) Anyway! I had three contractors come and look at the work to be done (-I- thought it sounded reasonable!), but now -we've- decided to do it ourselves (can't you just hear Shawn saying "c'mon....it will be F-U-N!"??)
SO!! The last two weekends have been spent cleaning out toys (always a great time - although I highly recommend doing it when the 5-year-old is NOT there!), cleaning out the closet-in-question, going through those photos that have been sitting in the box (with "to be organized" written on the outside) for five years, and other countless activities whose end result is a house that looks like a tornado blew through!
It's making me a little crazy; I function much better when everything is orderly. Notice, I did not say spic-and-span-clean, although I like that, too, but I just need MOST things at least to be in their right spot....and at the moment, few things are! I know it will be worth it to get it all done so we can actually BEGIN the nursery itself. My parents bought us our nursery bedding for Christmas and I L-O-V-E it!! It is pastel pink, light green, chocolate brown and white in a funky, geometric print...SO cool!! You can see it on brandeedanielle.com It's called Modern Baby Girl Caffe. What I really like about it are the great textures of each of the different fabrics - - I didn't expect that when I ordered it online, but it was an awesome surprise!
I will try to post some pictures of the nursery once I actually have something to show you.........hopefully BEFORE we leave for Vietnam!! :)
Long story short, when we built this house five years ago, we made the mistake of making what was a fourth bedroom into a "bonus room" and eliminated the walk-in closet to add square footage to that room. In anticipation of Kai's arrival, we need to change the existing playroom into a nursery, move Austin's room into what was the bonus room, and reconfigure the closet (split it in half, basically) in the nursery so that there is a closet for Austin's new room, too. We also need to have some unfinished storage space opened up as built-ins in that room. (Clear as mud??) Anyway! I had three contractors come and look at the work to be done (-I- thought it sounded reasonable!), but now -we've- decided to do it ourselves (can't you just hear Shawn saying "c'mon....it will be F-U-N!"??)
SO!! The last two weekends have been spent cleaning out toys (always a great time - although I highly recommend doing it when the 5-year-old is NOT there!), cleaning out the closet-in-question, going through those photos that have been sitting in the box (with "to be organized" written on the outside) for five years, and other countless activities whose end result is a house that looks like a tornado blew through!
It's making me a little crazy; I function much better when everything is orderly. Notice, I did not say spic-and-span-clean, although I like that, too, but I just need MOST things at least to be in their right spot....and at the moment, few things are! I know it will be worth it to get it all done so we can actually BEGIN the nursery itself. My parents bought us our nursery bedding for Christmas and I L-O-V-E it!! It is pastel pink, light green, chocolate brown and white in a funky, geometric print...SO cool!! You can see it on brandeedanielle.com It's called Modern Baby Girl Caffe. What I really like about it are the great textures of each of the different fabrics - - I didn't expect that when I ordered it online, but it was an awesome surprise!
I will try to post some pictures of the nursery once I actually have something to show you.........hopefully BEFORE we leave for Vietnam!! :)
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