and bailey makes three: getting to know each other

Sorry about missing a day. Motherhood is exhausting! Sadie (and grandma and grandpa) are napping so I'll try to catch you up. First, how cute is Sadie sleeping!?

So where did I leave off? Oh, that's right. The first night, Sadie fell asleep at 5pm and ended up sleeping until we woke her at 5am. She hadn't had much to eat and I didn't want her to be hungry. She quickly downed 8oz of formula and then proceeded to go back to sleep for several more hours. I forgot to mention in my last post that as we were leaving the orphanage with Sadie, my agency rep said that the nannies said to tell me she is an "active baby." Oh really!? My baby? Are you sure? The most active I've seen her so far is when she sleeps! We all got up and showered and decided to head down to breakfast just after 9am. I had Sadie in the sling and she didn't mind it at all. Sadie ate an entire jar of plain yogurt and a mini mashed banana. She loved it! She is very curious and even nosey. She was charming the people at the next table and was very interested in what they had to say.

We then went back to the room and switched from the sling to the carrier to do some shopping. We walked around the hotel and found great little shops where we bought more embroidered baby clothes, some gifts, hanging birds for her room, stuffed animals from Sapa and a few other things. I haven't yet mentioned just how hot it is. Honestly, the heat is not too bad but the humidity is a killer. And holding a baby against your body doesn't exactly cool you down. Poor Sadie was sweating up a storm. I wanted to get her in some air conditioning for a bit and desperately needed something to drink so we popped into a restaurant for a break. I had a yummy banana smoothie and Sadie watched intently each time I brought the glass to my mouth. She totally charmed the wait staff and even smiled at them.

Eventually we went back to the room where Sadie once again fell asleep. I was supposed to go pick up Sadie's passport at 4pm, but my agency rep called an hour early and said it was ready so she came around 3:15pm to pick me up and I left Sadie behind (sleeping) with her grandma and grandpa. Getting the passport was a piece of cake. When I got back to the hotel, another agency rep met me to pick up Sadie's passport so he could go get her medical paperwork. We arranged to meet the next day to buy our tickets to Hanoi. I went back to the room and Sadie was still sleeping. I didn't want to hold my folks back so they went shopping for a while, while Sadie and I hung out. At 7pm we went down to the pool because one of the staff told my dad they were having a water puppet show for the guests. Turns out it was a private event so we just went to dinner. All of a sudden, she was a different baby. Grabbing things, kicking her legs and not interested in sitting still at all. There was no way I could eat my sandwich while holding her so my dad ate his salad really fast then held her while I ate. He also got her to take a bottle so her tummy was once again full.

After dinner we walked in to a few shops and I noticed that she was getting tired. I saw her yawn for the first time and she started rubbing her eyes. So, we went back to the room and I held her until she fell asleep. This girl does not want to be put down which works out great for me because all I want to do is snuggle with her. She fell asleep around 8:30pm and we all went to bed right after that. We got to see her smile a few times that day which was great.

This morning, Miss Sadie awoke at 4:30am. I was asleep but my mom noticed her sitting up in the crib. She didn't make a sound. My mom went over and started talking to her and I woke up. Her schedule from the orphanage says that she was fed a few times during the night so I figured she was hungry. She quickly downed 5oz of formula then proceeded to again fall asleep on me. This girl likes to sleep! I finally moved from the chaise we were on into my bed with her on my chest. She then proceeded to roll and rock until she was laying across my chest with her legs in my face. It was so cute. We were supposed to meet my agency rep in the lobby at 10am to go get our tickets to Hanoi so we decided to go to breakfast at 9am. I had to wake Sadie up, but she let me change her clothes, diaper and brush her hair. She seemed to like having her hair brushed but is still not a fan of the diaper change. In fact, the only times she has cried so far are when I lay her down to change her diaper and when I put her down if she is awake. No matter what the circumstances, she stops crying the moment I pick her up.

Sadie had another jar of yogurt and a mashed banana for breakfast. Then we walked with the agency rep to get our tickets to Hanoi. We booked the 1:30pm flight on Sunday and we're flying business class since it will be Sadie's first time on a plane. It was only about $50 more per ticket. We're hoping the extra room will come in handy on the nearly 2 hour flight!

On the way to the ticket office we saw some cute shops so we were going to go back for more shopping. I decided to ask my agency rep if it would be easy to take a cab to Tu Du Hospital to take some pictures of the outside for Sadie's baby book. He said we could go now and he would take us so we piled into a cab and were on our way. While in the cab, I asked how we would arrange to go back to the orphanage to take pictures. He asked if I wanted to go now. I happened to have the emails from the families who I told I would try to get pictures for with me but I also had Sadie and I was worried that it might be difficult for her. I didn't want to confuse her, but then she started to fall asleep so I thought....perfect! So, we drove by the hospital to get some pictures then on to the orphanage. As we pulled in, she woke up. I figured there was no turning back now. I know other families have gone back with their babies so I decided to just hope for the best. We got out of the cab and we were taken to the baby room. I have to say that I was so impressed with how clean and cool the room was. There were a lot of babies! Some were very small. There were a handful of nannies who were so excited to see Sadie. They started calling her by her Vietnamese name and she would smile at them. They put their hands out for her to come to them, but she just held on to me, which of course made me feel good. They took us around the two rooms with all the cribs and pointed out the babies that I asked to see. We got a few really great pictures. Unfortunately, one of the babies was sleeping on her tummy so we didn't get any good pictures of her. They showed me Sadie's crib which still had her picture and name on it. I can't tell you how sweet the nannies were. It made me feel really good to know that if Sadie couldn't be with me all these past months, at least she was well taken care of and loved by these wonderful ladies. We finally left the baby room and took some pictures in the play area and main office. Then we were back in the cab on our way back to the hotel. The agency rep came back with us and he gave me all he paperwork that I need for Hanoi. All I have to do is hand it to my agency rep when we arrive. I changed Sadie's diaper and tried to put her down to play but she just wanted to be held. I saw her eyeing some mini bananas that we have in the room so I mashed one up and she ate the entire thing. Then she cried when I put the empty bowl down so we opened some bananas and pears and she ate about 1/4 jar. Now that her tummy was full again, you can guess what happened next. We snuggled for a few minutes and I actually got her to laugh (adorable!) Then back to sleep. I held her for a while then transferred her to the crib and that brings you up to date. While I'm sure this was enthralling to read, I know that what you really want are pictures so here you go...