rollercoaster of a week

What a week!  I've had highs and lows galore.  The week started with my mom FINALLY coming home from the hospital Monday night.  She's still struggling with some pain, but is able to eat more and is getting her strength back.  When you talk to her, there is no question in her mind that she will be making the trip to Vietnam.  Hooray!

On Tuesday I received an email from USCIS about my I600.  I don't really want to get into it, but I answered their question and had a bad feeling that that wouldn't be the end of it. 

Thursday I got word that the plans for my Family Leave at work were pretty much finalized so I can stop worrying.  The day ended with what I thought was a great "Lost" episode.  WTH is Kate doing with Aaron?!

Friday was not one of my best days.  I got to work and found an email from my agency saying that I have to re-file my I600.  I then proceeded to call my mother and sob on the phone for a good 20 minutes.  Sadie is going to be 9 months old on Monday.  She was abandoned in the hospital when she was 3 DAYS old.  How is it OK for this process to take so long?  At this point I'm not convinced that she'll be home before she is one.  This breaks my heart. 

But today, Saturday, things started looking up.  I received  2 new pictures and measurements.  Sadie is now 26 inches long and weighs 15.4 pounds.  She's not any longer than she was in December, but she's put on a little weight.  The new pictures are so much better than the last ones.  She's not smiling, but she just looks happy.  I can't explain it.  There is a twinkle in her eye. 

She looks so healthy.  Her skin is beautiful!  In one picture she is being held by a smiling nanny and in the other, she appears to be standing in her crib.  I LOVE THESE PICTURES.  And if these weren't great enough, I am told I will get more pictures and VIDEO when my agency director returns home.  : )

The day just got better from there.  I went to the mall to return something from one of my showers and ended up buying lots of treats for Sadie.  First I bought her a bib and plush play set for her first Passover.  It's so cute I could die!  Then she got a onesie, a sweater and a little outfit from Macy's.  A dress, nightgown, socks and a tee from Gymboree.  And the cutest bathing suit EVER, from the Gap.  It is navy blue with cherries on it.  It went on sale a few weeks ago and I've been looking for it ever since.  I found it in her size (I hope!) tucked away on a shelf, behind some other items.  It was meant to be. 

Here's hoping next week brings only good news!

tiny prints

I can't believe it, but I won another blog contest.  One of the blogs that I read each day is Celebrity Baby Blog.  It's got fun stories about pregnant and parenting celebrities.  They even mentioned the hospital I work at recently because it has become quite popular with celebrities!  They also have frequent contests.  About a month ago, they had a contest to win a $100 gift certificate to Tiny Prints.  This is a great online shop for photo cards, announcements and invitations.  I've looked around their site a few times.  I would love to get my adoption announcements from them.  Well, looks like the $100 is going to come in very handy! 

I just have to say how impressed I have been with Tiny Prints.  After I won, Jenny from Tiny Prints sent me an email congratulating me on my adoption and contest win.  I emailed her back letting her know how excited I was about the win and using Tiny Prints for my announcements.  Well, Jenny wrote back and thanked me for the positive comments and said they were looking forward to being a part of my adoption journey.  How nice is that? 

Then, to top it all off, when the gift certificate arrived, it was accompanied by a handwritten note again congratulating me on the win and my adoption.  I can't wait to place my order!!!

care package

I got a great surprise this week.  The director of my placement agency is going to Vietnam next week and she offered to deliver care packages to the children.  I was told that I could send whatever I could fit in a 2.5 gallon ziploc.  The catch was that I had just a few days to get it to North Carolina.  So, yesterday I left work early and went to Target to buy my munchkin some goodies.  I know it's ridiculous.  I've had 2 huge baby showers and have a room full of stuff, but I was warned that she may not come home with the items that I send so I didn't want to send anything that someone special had given her.  So, I went to Target and had a blast.  I bought her a little fleece blanket, a little butterfly toy that lights up and makes noise, a teether shaped like an apple, a plastic book, a little silky blanket with a giraffe head, a disposable camera, a cute purple dress, 5 onesies and 4 pairs of pants.  I got everything home and did my first load of baby laundry.  It may not seem like a big deal, but it was quite the moment for me. 

I bought an adorable stuffed turtle at the gift shop in the hospital where I work and also had a cute little cotton blanket with cherry blossoms on it.  Finally, I had a "Who Loves Baby" plastic book which I filled with pictures of me, Bailey, my folks, their dogs and my grandma.  I was up until 1:30am trying to print pictures off my computer with very little success.  I finally ended up going through old pictures and pulling originals out of photo albums.  Unfortunately I didn't have time to make labels in Vietnamese (or English for that matter), but I'm thinking it will be pretty clear who is who.  I did, however, think to write a note to the caregivers which the ladies at the nail salon near my work were more than happy to translate for me.  The woman who helped me, however, doesn't like her handwriting so she wrote it out in Vietnamese and I had to rewrite it.  Do you have any idea how many little marks, accents and dots there are in that language?  Oy!  Not easy.  I just thanked the nannies for taking such good care of my girl and told them that I hope to meet them soon.

Anyway, here is all the stuff I sent!

Somehow I managed to fit everything into the ziploc and sent it on it's way this afternoon.  I also sent a notarized release of information so that my agency director can speak to USCIS about my case while in Vietnam.  Not sure it will help, but it can't hurt, right?

I love the idea that Sadie has things from home.  I truly hope that she is able to come home with one or more of the toys or blankets that I sent.  It would definitely be nice to have a transitional object that she is attached to!

 

freedom

I was driving home from work one night this week and I heard George Michael's "Freedom" on the radio.  I can't remember the last time I heard that song but it instantly made me happy.  I cranked up the radio and started singing.  It totally took me back!  Isn't it amazing how a song can make you feel a certain way?  I know I've blogged before about my love of music.  I can't wait to share this passion with my little one.  She already has her own MP3 player, thanks to her "auntie" W and her mom, K.

mom update

Well, my mom is still in the hospital but they FINALLY let her try to eat and drink today and she kept it all down.  Hurray!!!  She had some broth, jello and apple juice.  This is the first she's eaten and kept down in weeks.  This is a very good sign.  They want to move her up to solids slowly so she'll be in the hospital a little while longer, but she is definitely feeling better. 

This makes me VERY happy.  I don't want to sound selfish, but I want and need my mom to come with me to get Sadie.  I can't explain it, I just do!  It just wouldn't feel right without her there.  My dad and I went to dinner last night after visiting with my mom and I asked him if he was ready to make the trip with me alone if need be.  Thankfully, he said he would.  So, I know I won't have to go alone, but it won't be the same without my mom.  Thankfully, she seems to be on the mend.  And since my I600 approval will likely take many more weeks, she'll have time to regain her strength and gain a little weight back.  I never thought I'd be OK with the slowdown at USCIS.  I guess everything happens for a reason.  : )

one year ago today

I just realized that it was a year ago today that I signed with my home study agency.  I can't believe it's been a year already.  In the realm of International Adoption, it is pretty amazing that I am where I am today after one year.  Some families have to wait a year or more for their referral.   Does this realization mean I'm going to chill out and handle the wait better?  Heck no.  It just makes me realize how blessed I truly am.

acknowledgement received!

I have NEVER checked my email before going to work.  For some reason, I decided to check this morning.  Well, there it was!  My acknowledgement from USCIS.  I guess the positive thinking in yesterday's post paid off.

Unfortunately, the good news came with a bit of bad news.  There's a hiccup with a date on one of Sadie's documents, but my agency tells me this shouldn't be a problem.  They've written a letter and I sent an email explaining as well.

So far, every aspect of my adoption has gone smoothly and taken less time than expected.  Please let Sadie's approval come quickly and smoothly.  

deciding on a name

I don't know why I continually refer to my daughter as "baby girl" or "munchkin" on this blog.  As soon as I decided to adopt, I got a name stuck in my head.  My mom and I would refer to my future baby by this name.  At the same time, however, I was always warning my mom that I didn't want to commit to a name until I saw my daughter.  Well, as soon as I saw my referral picture, I knew.  The name suited her perfectly.  I considered other names just to be sensible, but no other name felt right.

When it came time to pick a middle name, I knew that I wanted to use part of her Vietnamese name.  Now that I know that she was abandoned at the hospital at 3 days old, I wonder who gave her her name.  But the truth is, it doesn't matter.  It's the only name she has ever known and I want to honor that, as well as her culture.  My daughter has 4 names.  The first is her surname, then I assumed the next was her middle and the last two were her first name.  What I thought was her middle name is Thi.  This is a VERY COMMON Vietnamese middle name and in my daughter's case, it is really just a gender identifier.  I finally decided to ask my agency what the caregivers call her.  I was told  that in addition to calling her "sweetie," "baby" and "honey," (which made me smile) they call her by her fourth name.  As soon as I heard that, I knew that would be her middle name.  So, here it is:

 

Sadie Hieu

Y

what a week

I'm so happy that tomorrow is Friday.  It's been quite a week and I'm ready for it to be over. 

Still no acknowledgement and Tet starts next week.  That is not good since rumor has it that everything shuts down for many days during Tet.  Monday will be two weeks since my I600 was submitted.  Come on people....just let me know that you have it so my "60 days" can start already.

I found out today that 2 families with my agency have been waiting for I600 approval for 62 and 72 days, respectively.  That just plain sucks! 

On Tuesday, my mom ended up in the hospital, where she remains today.  She had been really sick for a few weeks and it finally got so bad that my dad took her to the ER.  They finally decided today that she has pancreatitis.  She's going to be in the hospital for several more days at least.  She's lost a LOT of weight and still can't keep anything down.  She needs to get well soon if she is going to make the trip to Vietnam.   And if she can't make the trip to Vietnam.....what the heck am I going to do?

Yesterday I started to feel like I was coming down with something.  Nothing major....stuffy head and sore throat.  I worked for a few hours today but now I'm just vegging on the couch getting ready for the new episode of "Lost."  I'll probably work a half day tomorrow as I have some things that have to get done but then I've got the whole weekend to rest. 

Let's hope February brings good health, new pictures of the munchkin, an acknowledgement and maybe even approval!  Hey, a girl can dream!

that's what friends are for!

I don't know why, but I've only given my blog address to 2 of my friends (Y and E).  I'm writing it for me and my munchkin.  It's not that I don't want my friends and family to read it.  Eventually, when my munchkin is here, I hope to use the blog as a way to keep those I don't see often, up to date on how amazing my daughter is.  For now, however, I update it when I have the time.  I don't really think about anyone else reading it so it's always a lovely surprise to find comments from other adopting parents who have somehow found me in cyberspace!  Especially my Internet friend K in the Netherlands!!

So, imagine my surprise when I received a call from Y this afternoon saying that she saw my blog and wanted to help get me out of my funk.  She wanted to know if I wanted to go shopping and to the movies.  For a minute I thought it would be easier to stay home and veg.  But then I decided that I wanted to get out.  Well, we had such a fun day.  First we went shopping for baby clothes at Macy's.  She needed a gift for her brand new niece.  I needed nothing, but of course my munchkin ended up with no less than 6 new outfits!  Everything was on sale and I had a coupon so how could I not?!  Then we went to see "27 Dresses."  Predictable but cute and just what I was in the mood for.  We had a fun celebrity sighting on the way out of the theater.  We saw Patricia Wetig and Ken Olin.  I've loved them both since "Thirtysomething."  I still think he is sexy, but he's not aging as well as I imagined he would.  Anyway, we finished the night having dinner with her fabulous hubby.  I'm a lucky girl to have such amazing friends.  Can't wait for my munchkin to meet her Auntie Y!

pity party

I'm in a funk today.  A real funk where I don't want to do anything.  I have about 80 thank you notes to write to my amazing friends and family who have spoiled my little one rotten and I'm just not in the mood.  Tomorrow will be a month since my last munchkin update.  Some of the families with my agency received video of their kids over a month ago and I hear that others just recently received video.  I've never seen video of my baby girl.  I was told that they took film of her but had problems converting it to dvd.  Obviously, it is not the end of the world, it just bums me out.  I've never seen her smile.  I have 6 photos of her and that's all. 

My agency is great though.  I have complete faith that I will get some sort of update this week.  I just need something to help me get through the wait.  Poor me, right?  It's not like I'm the only one living through this wait.  It just seems to get harder each day.  I'm officially at the end of the road.  Just waiting on I600 approval and I'm done.  Her crib and dresser are being delivered on February 8th.  I've got almost everything else she could ever need thanks to the 2 amazing showers I had this month.  I feel ready.  My house is basically ready.  Bailey, however, is definitely not ready and neither is work.  OK.....there's my focus.  Do what I can to lessen the blow that is about to wreak havoc on Bailey's life.  How do you prepare a cat for such a major life change?  And focus on getting everything organized at work so I can enjoy my 12 glorious weeks of Family Leave.  Wish me luck!

munchkin is 8 months old today

Munchkin is 8 months old today.  I've been thinking about her all day.  (Not that that's new!)  I know they are taking good care of her.  I know they are meeting her basic needs.  But she deserves so much more.  Eight months is too long to be without a mommy.  And it will probably be at least 2 more months before I hold her in my arms.  I hope someone holds her, hugs her and kisses her today.  I wish she knew that I'll be coming for her as soon as possible.  That I think of her every day.  That there are so many people here who love her and can't wait to meet her.  Hold on baby girl.....I'll be there as soon as I can!!

still no acknowledgement

I still have not received an email from USCIS acknowledging receipt of my I600.  I have been obsessively checking my email - even more than usual.  I finally emailed my agency today and learned that my I600 wasn't sent until this past Monday, 1/21.  Argh.  This means it could be two more weeks before I even receive my acknowledgement. 

I just have to make it through this last waiting period and then I am on my way to my baby girl.  I can do it!  I think I can, I think I can.  : )

munchkin's new nickname is lucky

I swear my munchkin is good luck.  I've mentioned that I check many blogs daily and enter various contests.  Well, much to my surprise, I continue to win. 

I've already blogged about the onesie and the Baby B'Air.  Since then, on December 21st  I won a $100 gift certificate to www.naturalpod.com.  I haven't decided what to spend it on yet.  Then, the very next day I won a bib and drooler set from www.febebebe.com.  I chose the cupcake print.

Then yesterday I found out I won a pair of shoes from www.seekairun.com.  I chose the Emilie in a size 9. 

And finally today, I found out I won a Downtime Sleepy hat from www.downtimebaby.com. 

How cute is that?  May come in handy on the 20+ hour flight home from Vietnam!

I have never been lucky and never won contests before this.  This is why I am convinced that my munchkin is my lucky charm.

I600 on its way!!

I received amazing news today.  My agency received my munchkin's paperwork today so we can now file my I600.  This is the last step before travel approval.  OH MY GOODNESS!!!! 

In addition, I learned that I will receive a copy of all of her paperwork.  It will include her birth certificate, police report and any information available about her birth parents.  I can't wait to learn more about my baby girl!

USCIS says it will take up to 60 days to approve the I600 once it is received, but I know that some families have been waiting longer than 60 days since this is a new process.  So far everything in my adoption process has come quicker than expected so here's hoping for a swift approval!