Two sides to the story...

PART 1: AN AMAZING HOMECOMING

We were so excited when the pilot came on the intercom and said "Flight attendants, prepare for landing." We had been traveling for nearly 40 hours at that point. It was all about be over and we were about to see Aiden for the first time in a month. The plane landed and taxied into the gate. As soon as the fasten seatbelt sign was turned off, we jumped up grabbed our bags and waited for the door to open. When it finally did, we walked as fast was we could through the airport making our way to our family. As we exited the terminal and headed to the baggage claim, we saw our many of our friends and family waving American flags. As excited as we were to see them, we were looking for Aiden. And all of the sudden, he came running toward us with a huge American flag in his hand. We dropped everything (except for Liam) and grabbed him up. Chaunta started crying...not just a little either...it was one of those big "boo hoo" cries. Aiden was saying "mommy" and "daddy". He was happy, but wasn't sure why Chaunta was crying...so he cried too. As our family approached, we handed them Liam to pass around a little and we continued to hug Aiden. After a few minutes we started to hug and visit with all our friends and family...many of them were crying too by this time. This was it, we were now really a family of four.

We headed to the baggage claim, only to find out that one of our bags didn't make. So I filed all the necessary paperwork and we headed home, as happy as can be. (Oh, by the way...I did remember how to drive. And we did get our Taco Bell on the way home) When we finally pulled into the driveway, there was a welcome hope sign in our yard. We walked into the house to find baloons and decorations. Aiden was in heaven with all the balloons. This was it...we were in our own home and family life together was about to be begin.

PART 2: JET LAG and JEALOUS BOYS

Little did we know how hard life would be after our return. Neither of us had slept for about 2 days. We got home at noon, which was midnight in Vietnam. We were both zombies trying to get through the day. Our goal was to stay awake until 8:00 PM so we could sleep all night! We did make it...thanks to all the visitors. I think if we didn't have them to distract us, we wouldn't have been able to hold off that long. We slept so good and so sound for the first time in a month. And then it happened...the clock struck 2:30 and I was wide awake. Not the least bit tired and ready to get up and start the day. I laid in bed trying to get back to sleep. The minutes slowly advanced forward and I was still awake. Then 3:30 rolled around...I decided to get up and take some Benedryl in hopes of going back to sleep. I was just about to doze off with Liam woke up ready to play. That was about 4:45. Chaunta got up with him and took him down to play (since she was wide awake too). I laid there a little longer and start to drift. That is when Aiden came running into our room, climbed in bed with me yelling "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy." Then he started to tickle me. At about 6:30, I realized I would not be going back to sleep.

We made it through yesterday only taking a short nap. We went to bed around 11:00 and here I am updating our blog at 4:30 this morning. I have been awake for about an hour now. Chaunta is awake too, and Liam is playing as if it were the middle of the day. We feel great right now, but if today is anything like yesterday...we will be zombies again by noon. Dizzy, sick to our stomachs, tired, and a little slap happy. Adjusting back to time here in the US has been more difficult than it was when we got to Vietnam. Hopefully, it will get better in the next few days...I have to go back to work on Monday.

On top of the jet lag, our family hasn't turned out to be as happy as we had hoped. Upon arriving home yesterday, Liam decided to check out the new digs. He made his way around the downstairs of the house, until he came to the toy box. He was in heaven. He started playing with the toys immediatly and was very happy. Until, that is, when Aiden discovered what he was up to. Aiden ran right up to him, snatched the toys from him and said "That's mine!" We tried to explain to Aiden that Liam was his brother and that they would be sharing things, but Aiden really wasn't too in to that idea. He again saw Liam playing with another toy, and ran up to him to try to grab it. But this time, Liam knew what was coming. He clentched onto that toy and fought for dear life. (I think he might have done that before at the orphanage...he was a pro at it). Until Aiden decided to kick him. We immdiatly grabbed Aiden up and put him in the corner. He defiantly went and waited quietly until his time was up. I then told him to tell Liam that he was sorry, but he refused. I asked him again, and he still refused. So back to the corner. This time he cried for a few minutes and then he finished his time quietly. He did finally say he was sorry and gave Liam a kiss. This whole turn of events repeated it self several times the last few days. Aiden will say, "Gimmie, that's my (car, toy, monkey, balloon, etc.." and snatch it back. Liam will fight until the bitter end. Liam is much shorter than Aiden, but weighs nearly the same...he puts up a good fight.

We have been trying to spend some one-on-one time with Aiden too. Usually when Liam is napping, I try to play with him or take a walk with him. He seems to enjoy that. But yesterday Aiden was sitting on my lap watching a cartoon, when Liam decided that he belonged on daddy's lap. He made his way across the room, and pulled up on the couch. I picked him up and sat him on the other side of my lap. Aiden tried to ignore him, but Liam wouldn't let him. Liam started pushing him off my lap. Aiden fussed and started to push back. UGH! We never imagined that this would be this hard. Aiden was so exicited about Liam before we left. He watched his video every night before bed...but now I think he would rather send him back!

We are trying to divide our attention as equally as possibly. It is very hard on us knowing how unhappy Aiden is with his little brother. We can only hope and pray that in time things will get better. Please pray for our boys and for us!

Stay tuned for updates on the situation!

PS - We hope to have pictures again soon. We will go camera shopping as soon as we feel good enough to leave the house!

Flight Changes...UGH!

We arrived in LA safe and sound. It took quite a long time to get through immigration. But after an hour of waiting in line and working with the immigration officer Liam was granted citizenship. We have a temporary Green Card until his citizenship certificate is received..

With still 2 hour to spare we made our way to customs. It was very easy to get through. Then we headed to the American Airlines counter to checkin for our flight. To our surprise our ticket had seats hadn't been confirmed properly and the flight was sold out with several people waiting on standby already. Still we headed to the gate hoping someone would take pity on us since we had been traveling for so long with a small child. And a few people did, just not the ones with the powere to help us. In fact one gentelman offered us his seat, and we had hope. Unfortunately, there were people ahead of us on the wait list and they got in. At 12:20am we realized that we would not make our flight. Tears flowed as we walked away from the gate. We headed back to the ticket counter to see if we could get booked on the morning flight (although we already knew that it had been sold out too). On our way, we found a flight getting ready to leave for Dallas. We figured that Dallas was one step closer to home, so we gave it a shot. It too was sold out and had a long list of standbys. But as we approached, liam started to sob. The young lady at the counter took pitty on us and put us at the top of the standby list. She then called Dallas to get us a flight to St. Louis. It too was sold out, but they somehow got us 2 seats. Within 5 minutes we were on our way to Texas. We arrive at 5:30 am. We then catch a flight to St. Louis that will get us home at 9:30. Only an hour and a half later than originally planned.

If you are coming to meet us at the airport, we are on flight AA1774 from Dallas. See you soon!
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Leaving Early

We received Liam's visa at 11:00 AM today. Since it came so early, we tried to get a flight out. And after two very stressful hours we packed our bags and got tickets to leave tonight. With our new travel plans we will arrive in St. Louis at 8:00 AM on Thursday. We invite everyone to meet us at the airport for our homecoming.

We are so close now... See you soon!
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Visa Interview Complete

Today we had our visa interview at the US Embassy. It went relatively smoothly. They asked us several questions about Liam's history, our adoption agency, and about ourselves. We answered them all honestly. Then he told us that we would be approved. Then about a minute after that he said that there was a problem.. Our hearts both sank. After a few moments of awkward silence as he reviewed paperwork, he finally realized that everything was ok.

We hoped we would get the visa tomorrow by 2:00pm so we could catch an earlier flight home, but it seems as if it will be 4:00pm...so there is no way we can leave early. We will leave on Thursday evening and arrive on Friday. It was disappointing, but we are very glad that the visa was approved and we will get to leave this week. Thanks so much for all your thoughts and prayers.

Today we also visited Ho Chi Mihn's mosoleum and home today. It was not really that interesting...and it was far to hot and humid to be outside. I will be glad to get home and enjoy some nice midwestern fall weather.

Tomorrow we will get packed up and ready to leave...ALMOST HOME!

VISA Interview Tomorrow

We returned safely from our weekend trip to Sapa. It was a wonderful trip overall. However the train ride home was horrible. Six adults and four babies in a 6x6 cabin with bunks stacked 3 high. No AC and no matteress. The bunks were Vietnamese sized and much to short for me. But we survived the 10 hour ride with a very unique experience. We arrived back in Hanoi safely, minus our camera. We were dissappointed to lose it, but relieved that we only lost one day of photos.

Tommorow we have our VISA interview at the US Embassy. We dropped off all the paperwork today. Please pray that the interview goes smoothly and the VISA is processed quickly.

Tomorrow morning we are going to visit Ho Chi Minh's home and tomb before the interview. We will probably spend most of the day Wednesday packing (and coming up with unique ways to pack all the stuff we bought here).

We miss everyone so much. But we especially miss Aiden. I cankt believe that we will actually return home this week. We will have been gone nearly a month by the time we get home. WOW! I hope I remember how to drive (I have learned some very interesting manuvers while here). I think we could solve a lot of St. Louis traffic jams if we could just ignore stop lights and drive on the sidewalks. It seems to work well here. : )

Thanks again to everyone who is helping with Aiden. We can't begin to express how thankful we are.

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Tastes like…MONKEY???

(I will explain the title later in this post…)

So last night we week took the overnight train to Lao Cai (right on the Chinese border). It was a very interesting trip on the train. The sleeping quarters were tight and musty… I took motion sickness medicine, so I slept better than Chaunta.

We arrived around 6:30 this morning. We met our guide at the train station, took an hour bus ride up on winding road up the mountain to Sapa. We weren’t sure if the trip was going to be good based on the train ride…but we were amazed at the beauty of this place. The pictures don’t even capture it.

This area is primarily inhabited by ethnic minority groups that migrated here from Thailand, China, Cambodia and Laos several hundred years ago. They means of living are very meager and they rely heavily on tourism to survive. We toured one of their homes. It was approximately 400 square feet and 12 people lived there. You could see right through the gaps in the boards that made up the walls. They only recently received a tin roof that was funded by UNISEF. Of the 400 square feet in the home, approximately 150 square feet were filled with rice and corn. Since they only have one crop per year they must ration it and make it last.

The weather is much cooler here. We are enjoying a break from tropical heat of the other areas we have visited. And we are dressing Liam in layers to ensure he doesn’t get cold, since he isn’t used to the cool weather. But it should be good practice since it will be cool when we get home.

Speaking of home, we are getting very close to leaving. Only 5 more nights here. We can’t wait to rejoin Aiden and begin life as a family of 4. But we are doing well here. I think we have both resigned ourselves to the fact that we just have to stay. This weekend away has been a great distraction to the homesickness.

Liam is improving everyday. Today he got his last does of antibiotics. I am sure he will be completely well by the time we leave.

Tomorrow we will visit 2 more villages here, visit the Chinese border, and catch a night train back to Hanoi.

Okay, now for the explanation of the title…

While on the bus coming to Sapa our tour guide was explaining about the local people and the different foods they eat. Many people here eat dog, cat, snakes and rats. WOW! He went on to say that dog meat is very good. Of course we asked him, “What does it taste like?” He thought for a moment and then said, “Monkey. It is very similar to Monkey meat.” Although that didn’t help describe the taste to us…it made for a very memorable story. By the way, monkeys live here on the mountain and they are also a choice meal to the locals.

Leaving for Sapa

Sapa, an old French Hill station, is nestled in the Hoang Lien Son Mountains in North West Vietnam right next to the Chinese border. It is considered to most scienic mountain location in all of Vietnam. It is inhabited by many ethnic minority groups. We leave tonight by sleeper train and arrive early in the morning. We will be there all day Saturday and Sunday. Then we will return via overnight train again Sunday night. The pictures that we have seen are just beautiful. I can't wait to post our own here.

Today has been another day of rest. Liam is still doing very well, but we wanted him to be plenty rested before our trip. We did a little shopping today, but not much. We have spent alot of time to day packing up. It will be nice to finally be home next week and not have to live out of a suit case.

All is well with us. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. And thanks to everyone who is leaving comments here...they are really encouraging. And finally, a big...no HUGE thanks to everyone that is taking care of Aiden. You all are the best. We love you so much. It makes our separation from him easier knowing that he is in excellent hands!


Here is the picture from yesterday that was never posted!

Liam is tons better today

Liam has had a very good day. He has rested a bunch, and is acting much better. He has eaten solid food for the first time in over a week. We are so relieved!

It was a pretty uneventful day for us. We stayed in with him almost all day. We went out for a little over an hour to do some shopping. It was fun. I got fitted for a tailor made suit. I picked out my fabric and got measured. I go to try it on tomorrow. It was only $100. So cheap! We walked for a while until we got incredibly lost. It was no big deal…I figured we could catch a cab back to the hotel. But Chaunta had the great idea for us to take a rickshaw back. The driver spoke no English, but I showed him the card with the hotel name and address. We both got in, but were much to fat for it. I think it is only made for 2 Vietnamese which is about 1.5 Americans. But we squeezed in, sitting on each other’s lap. After driving us around for about 15 minutes and taking us to 3 places that were no where near our hotel, we started to worry that our driver didn’t know where he was going. But he did eventually get us there. However, he tried to grossly overcharge us about $12. We refused because a taxi would have only been $1. We argued for a while, but neither of us had any idea what the other was saying. We eventually got an employee from the hotel to translate. I told him that I would only pay $2, because he took us to the wrong place 3 times and a taxi would only be $1. The hotel employee agreed that it was a fair price. After some more arguing, he finally agreed on $2.50. We paid it. We felt bad since he was sweating profusely…we probably weighed about 400 pounds between us and the baby. But he was trying to rip us off because we were tourists.

After getting back, we relaxed the rest of the night. Liam is sleeping now. If he is still doing well tomorrow, we plan to take a train to Sapa tomorrow. Sapa is a small town in the Northwest Mountain Range on the Vietnam/China border. It looks very beautiful. We will take an overnight train there tomorrow, and then another one back on Sunday night.

Here is a picture of Liam today.

A very hard night...and day...

Last night around 10:00PM Liam spiked a fever of 104 and had a seizure. We had to take him to the International Clinic to be treated. Before we got to the hospital he was no longer seizing. They put him on IV fluids and took his blood. It showed nothing, so they did an X-Ray. Then they found that he had pneumonia. They kept him there for a few hours until he was feeling better. We got back to the hotel very early this morning.

Today went pretty well. We let him rest most all day. We took him back to the clinic for a follow up and the prognosis was good. The antibiotics seem to be working. But then a few hours later his fever hit 104.2 again. We immediately gave him Motrin and Tylenol and got it down quickly. He is acting better again. Hopefully he will kick this quickly!

We are very fortunate that one of the other families traveling with us is a doctor. He is taking good care of us!

Since Liam is so sick, we have halted our sight seeing plans to let him rest and get well before our return flight next Thursday. However, if he gets better over the next few days we might still go to mountains…but we will not go if he is still sick.

Dillon International (our adoption agency) has been great support through everything. We are so thankful to have worked with such a good agency. They have excellent staff here in Vietnam, and have taken very good care of us. Even our contact in Oklahoma has called us a few times to check in. We are so impressed!

Thanks again for all your encouraging comments! Please keep Liam in your prayers! We miss you all!

A New Hotel...

Today we changed hotels to something a little more economical for our longer stay. It is a local hotel chain and is very small, but we love it. It is absolutely beautiful. We have a 2 room suite and it is only costing us $55/night. The other hotel was $130/night, and although it was nice it was very big and very much like a hotel in the States. This hotel is very Vietnamese, but still extremely nice. And go figure it has free internet and the other hotel charged $12/day. Anyway, we are very happy here.

On Friday we are taking a train to Sapa, which in near the Chinese border in the mountains. Several ethnic groups live there. We figured that since we have to stay for another 9 days, we might as well make the best of it. All the other families will be traveling with us also.

Then tomorrow we are going to visit Hoa Lu, the former capital of Vietnam. And we will also do a boat trip down the Hoang Long River. We will ride in a small row boat and visit several temples in the countryside.

Liam is doing well, although he continues to become a little more difficult since we arrived in Hanoi. I am not sure if this is true, but it seems like he has realized that he is not going back to the only home he has ever known. Don't get me wrong, he is fine...but he seems to be a little less happy with us than before. I am sure he will come around...

He is feeling a better, but has a runny nose. His little cheeks are really chapped right now. We are learning that the asian skin is different than ours and dries out easily. There are so many differences between us that I never realized before. We love him so much. He can brighten the room with his smile...when he smiles big, both of his eyes close.

Vietnam is also so different than the States. It has been an eye opening experience. We never realized how blessed we are to live in America. Prostitution is pretty pervasive here. Last night the husbands took our Lawyer out, and while on our way home around 10:30 PM we were ambushed by 4 prostitutes. They were very agressive with their flirting and didn't want to take no for an answer. This also happened in Saigon while we were there. I think they target foreingers because they think we are rich. They left Thomas (our Lawyer) alone. Other than that, the people here are very friendly and hard working.

Yesterday I took a motor scooter taxi to the airline to change my flight. It was very scary...the driving here is insane. But it was cheap and cool experience.

Tonight we are headed to the water puppet show. I am not exactly sure what it is, but the one here in Hanoi is world renound. I will tell you more about it tomorrow and post some pictures!

Thanks so much for those of you that are leaving comments...they are really encouraging. We love hearing from you!

Stuck...

We received word this morning that we will not be getting an appointment on Tuesday as we hoped. But it is worse that we imagined. Our appointment with the US Embassy isn't scheduled until next Tuesday. Thus, we will be spending another week in Vietnam. Our original plan was to leave this Wednesday, but it is unlikely that we will be able to leave until next Thursday now. We are trying to remain in good spirits. Our adoption agency had done everything right...it is just that the US Embassy is very behind. We were told that if we had submitted our paper work even a few minutes later that we would have to wait 2 weeks instead of just one. So we are thankful that we only have to stay one more week.

We have not yet changed our flights...I am waiting for the Airline to get back from lunch to call them. Hopefully there will be pleny of choices for our return next week.

Below are some photos taken yesterday at Ha Long Bay.

Trip to Ha Long Bay

Today we took a trip to Ha Long Bay. We were gone from 8AM to almost 8PM. It was a long day, but a very enjoyable trip. Ha Long Bay is very beautiful. We had a private cruise liner take our group out onto the bay. We also treked through a cave. I hope to post some pictures tomorrow.

Liam is feeling a little better today. I think he is starting to get over what ever he has.

Tomorrow we hope to hear from the Embassy about when our interview is. Hopefully it will be on Tuesday. If it is, we will likely be able to catch our flight on Wednesday. But if it is later we will certainly be delayed. Keep praying about it.

More tomorrow...
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Amazing Hotel

We are staying at an absolutely amazing hotel. It is right in the center of Hanoi, and has beautiful view of the city. Hanoi is much nicer and cleaner than Saigon (at least that is what I can tell so far. It reminds me much more of your stanard big city, but it has a strong French influence.

We really haven't seen too much yet. Liam is still sick, so we stayed in the room most all day. Liam slept the day away. We hope he will sleep well tonight also. We figured it would be good to rest today since we will have a very big day tomorrow at Ha Long Bay. We will leave tomorrow morning at 8:15 and not return until around 8:00 tomorrow evening. Hopefully Liam will be rested up and ready for a long day. While Liam slept today we took turns getting massages at the salon. They were the best we ever had.

Here are a couple pictures from today...

Liam with his Buddy Thai


View from our Hotel Window in Hanoi

8 Observations about Vietnam...

Today we traveled to Hanoi. It has been a very long day. Liam is not feeling well. We were greeted in Hanoi by our Lawyer with bad news. We do not yet have an appointment at the US Embassy to get Liam's Visa. It is not looking good for our return on Wednesday. We think will be delayed until Thursday or Friday. It was hard to hear since we are missing our son terribly. Please pray that something miraculous happens and that we will be able to leave on Wednesday as scheduled.

Below are 8 quircky observations that we have made during our time in Vietnam...ENJOY!



1) Motor Scooter Mania– 110cc’s of moped madness
Everywhere you turn – mopeds, mopeds, mopeds. We have seen as many as 6 people riding on one moped. I know you are thinking, “Wow” but remember the Vietnamese people are smaller than us. (see #7) Crossing the street is a challenge here. But we have learned, just keep walking and don’t stop. The moped riders will dodge you. Sometimes it is better to close your eyes…it is much less frightening.

2) Elevator Music Hell
We have previously heard Vietnam described as “Where bad music goes to die.” However, I am convinced it is where bad music is stripped of its vocals, turned into elevator music and SPENDS ETERNITY. Where else can you hear instrumental music from Lionel Richie, Britney Spears and Meatloaf back to back.

3) Vietnamese Dong – we are Billionaires (many times over)
$1 USD = 16,000 Vietnamese Dong (VND)
It is so strange to purchase something and pay $100,000.00 VDN. It is so hard to get used to cost of things. They are so cheap but sound like so much. We will be bringing home a little Dong.

4) Sqauty Potty – I have never been so thankful to be a man.
Imagine a gas station restroom with a toilet bowl built into the ground. You just kind of hover over it… I haven’t personally used one, but I would think that there is a splash factor. We have all been through those physics classes that teach you that falling objects increase in speed. The speed of the object hitting water increases the splash. That alone is enough to cause me to try to hold it. But if you aren’t sure, read number 5.

5) BYOTP – Bring Your Own Toilet Paper
Believe it or not, but many public restrooms don’t have toilet paper available. Either the Vietnamese people bring their own or don’t use it at all. Some questions are better left unanswered.

6) Rice, Noodles, or Rice Noodles. What’ll it be?
I have learned that no mater what you order, even if it doesn’t say it in the menu item description contains at least one if not all of the following: White Rice, Noodles (of various sorts) or Rice Noodles. Whether your order pork, beef, octopus or sand lizard, it will have one of those items. While a Kentucky Fried Chicken the other day, I found that they serve white rice with brown gravy (like mashed potatoes). I for one have had my fill of those items.

7) “You very large…”
Everything is negotiable here. Anything you want to purchase, you must haggle for. The Vietnamese people are very good at this. If you are a tough negotiator you can get more than half off. I usually settle for about 30% since they need the money more than I do. But the other day I was buying some shirts and trying to negotiate the price down. I couldn’t get her past 20% off. She kept saying, “You know you big size, right??? That take lot of fabric. Cost more to make…” At first it is a little insulting, but you must understand, I am easily 8 – 12 inches taller than the average Vietnamese man, and weigh probably about 75 pounds more (at least). We heard a story from an American lady that got a massage here. When she turned over to have her back massaged, the masseuse said, “You bottom very big and white, like two big marshmallows.” So I guess what they told me was mild.

8) Communism – The government either owns or controls most things.
From hotels to water bottling companies, the Vietnamese government has it’s hand in most business in Vietnam. It is hard to imagine having the government compete with local businesses using their tax dollars. But they do here.

Overall, we are enjoying our stay in Vietnam. There are a few quirky things to get used to, but being here is such an amazing experience. We are so thankful for the opportunity.

All better...

Today we are all felling much better. It is amazing what a 12 hours sleep will do for you.

We had a busy day of sight seeing and shopping. After breakfast we went on a walking tour of Saigon. We first visited the American War Crimes Museum (aptly renamed the War Remnants Museum to draw in more tourists). It was an amazing opportunity to see the other side of war. We often get the Americanized version of what occured, but this was different. I imagine that the truth is somewhere in between. The photos were horriffic. It is hard to imagine war in your own backyard. We are truly blessed that we have never experienced war at on US soil for a few hundred years. We heard the stories of a few South Vietnamese that fled after the fall of Saigon. They took a boat to an island were they lived in a refugee camp until they were sponsored by a Church to come to America. They left everything behind for fear of the North Vietnamese. Of course their history books all tell of the wonderful reunification, but many southerners still have a very different account.

We also visited the presidential palace that belonged to the Southern Vietnamese President before the fall of Saigon in 1975. It was very nice, but not as posh as I expected. There were pictures of the tanks breaking down the gates and photos taken after the Northern Vietnamese had bombed it. It has since been restored. It is now mainly a tourist site, but it seems that foreign government officials are often entertained there even still.

After that, we had an afternoon of shopping. We bought a few more things and headed back to the hotel. We spent the evening packing since we leave for Hanoi tomorrow. We are very excited to go to Hanoi. We understand that it is less touristy. We plan to take a day trip to Ha Long Bay on Sunday. It is supposed to be the most beautiful place in all of Vietnam. We can't wait.

We still haven't been assigned an interview date with the US Consulate in Hanoi. We hope to hear tomorrow when it will be. Please continue to pray that it will be Monday or Tuesday so we can return as planned on Wednesday.

Liam is still doing very well. Overall he is incredibly happy and easy going. He is becoming less and less independant. Just for the record, tonight he didn't want his momma. He wanted me to rock him to sleep. That made me feel really good.

We can't wait to get home so Liam can meet his big brother. We miss Aiden terribly. We haven't called home for a few days, because talking to him makes it worse. Thanks to everyone that is helping with Aiden. We are so thankful to have such loving parents and great friends. You are all the best. If you see him, give him extra hugs and kisses from us.

We love you all!

Now we are all sick...UGH!

The whole family is now sick. It seems as if we have the Asian equivalent to Montezuma’s Revenge. Last night was miserable, and so was today. We all seem to be feeling a little better this evening. We think we ate something bad.

Today was so busy, which was extra difficult since we were all sick. At 9:00 AM we went to get Liam’s passport at the immigration office. Then we went from there to the US Embassy in Saigon. We had an interview with one of the agents. She was American and very nice. She asked us a few standard questions which we answered honestly. She was in a hurry to get to the airport so she moved through all five families very quickly. She said that our paperwork was approved and that it would be available for pickup tomorrow. We went straight from there to the hospital for medical exams. The exam itself was very simple. They looked Liam over, asked a few questions, and took his weight, height, and head circumference. He weighs just under 20 pounds right now. The hospital here is not much different than at home. We waited about 3 hours to get the reports back. We did receive medical records for him also, but of course they are all in Vietnamese. We hope to get them translated before coming home.

Once the approval is received from the Embassy we can apply for an appointment at the Consulate in Hanoi. They only do appointments on Monday – Wednesday. Our lawyer is going to request Monday or Tuesday. If we get an appointment either day, we should be able to come home on Wednesday as scheduled. However, if we don’t get an appointment until Wednesday, we will have to change our flight. UGH! Please pray about that.

We purchased our Airline tickets to Hanoi this evening. We leave on Friday afternoon. We plan to do some sight seeing in Hanoi also. We are especially looking forward to seeing Ha Long Bay.

Tonight I went to Kentucky Fried Chicken and got dinner. Neither of us were feeling great, so we ate very little. The menu is very similar to the US. However Colonel Sanders has squinty eyes.

Hopefully we will all feel better tomorrow.

Oh, by the way. Liam is crawling on all fours now. It is amazing how much he is progressing with a little TLC. He still really prefers Chaunta, but is coming around for me.

Sick Baby

Well today has been a rough day. Liam is sick. We slept in this morning and went to a late breakfast. After breakfast we went shopping. Liam seemed a little warm when we were out, but that wasn't unusual. It is about 90+ degrees here with 100% humidity. The air is really thick (even worse than August in St. Louis) and we were all a little warm. When we got back to the Rex, we took his temp. It was 102.5 degrees. He was incredibly irritable and cranky. We gave him Motrin and Tylenol and then his fever broke. He is still sick though. This is the worst behaved he has been so far (understandibly). We are going to take him to the doctor tomorrow. The docotor that is traveling with us suspects and ear infection, but doesn't have his equipment to check. Did I mention what a blessing it has been to have a docotor with us. WOW - we are so thankful for him.

We didn't have our interview at the Embassy today, but it is scheduled for tomorrow. Liam's passport is ready to be picked up also. We will have a busy day tomorrow. Hopefully he will feel a little better.

It seems like we are on schedule to be able to come home next week as scheduled. We just can't wait to be with Aiden and have our whole family together at last.

SICK BABY

It was another early morning here in Vietnam. We woke up today at about 5:00AM. Not because Liam woke us up, but because Chaunta couldn’t sleep. We are staying at the Rex Hotel in Saigon. They have a breakfast buffet, and we really enjoyed it. Chaunta even found cheesecake on it this morning.

Liam is still really happy, but has the occasional temper tantrum. He has been so accommodating to our tourist activities. Nikki loaned us a baby sling and we have toted him all over Saigon the last few days in it. We have done a lot of shopping here. Things are so cheap. A lot of the big name brands in the US are manufactured here and imported. So the same things that we pay big bucks for at home are only $3-4 here. We have stocked up on several items. Additionally, we have bought the boys some traditional Vietnamese Aoi Doi’s. We plan to have the pictures done in them when we get home.

Taking advantage of the many choices here, we had pizza and pasta for lunch today. Surprisingly enough, it was very good. We did have a Vietnamese food for dinner tonight. I just love the Vietnamese spring rolls with peanut sauce. The restaurant we went to was very nice, but not really kid friendly. Liam learned to drink out of a straw tonight. He loved our fresh fruit juices (strawberry, banana, pineapple, and orange). I think that is what I will miss most when we get home. I have really enjoyed all the fresh fruit and juices.

We filed Liam’s passport paperwork today and also filed his I-600 (Petition to Classify Orphan as Immediate Relative) form with the US Embassy today. We hope to have our interview tomorrow.

Well it is off to bed. Little Liam already did...it looks like he has the right idea. Untill tomorrow...

On the road again

Today we left for Saigon at 9:00AM. With the luggage of all 5 families, the minibus was quite crowded on the way to Ninh Thuan. Adding 5 children to the ride home was going to be interesting. However, amazingly enough the children all behaved beautifully. Liam slept for about 5 hours of the 8 hour trip. He was a little antsy during his waking hours, but not more than can be expected. Leaving Ninh Thuan was bitter sweet. It is such a beautiful area, but Saigon boasts some of privileges of the Western world that we have taken for granted at home.

On the way back from Saigon, we stopped for lunch. The menu seemed somewhat questionable so we chose not to eat. When we arrived in Saigon at 5:00PM, we were starved. We quickly made our way to Lotteria (the McDonalds of the Far East). Surprisingly, it was quite good. A double cheese buger and french fries never tasted so good. After dinner we went shopping at a nearby mall. Chaunta got measured for a custom Aoi Doi (traditional Vietnamese attire). She picked out her fabric and it will be ready in 2 days. We also bought the boys coordinating Aoi Dois with rice hats. They will look so cute. Then we went to the grocery store to stock up on diapers, formula and the like.

Liam has been so good today, even with all the business. Tonight he is fighting his sleep and is a little grumpy and slap happy all at the same time. It still amazes me that he is ours. He is so perfect. We are very blessed to have two miracle children. God is good!

Tomorrow we begin the paperwork to grant Liam US citizenship and get his Visa to come back with us. This is the hard part of our journey. Please pray for a smooth and efficient processing. If all goes well, we will leave next Wednesday.

Send our best to Aiden.
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Liam the Hoard...

Today has been a day of rest. Liam slept very well again last night. We went to bed late since we took an evening nap. It was at least 11:00 when we went to sleep. Liam woke up at 1:00am and took a bottle. Then he slept until almost 7. It was very nice to sleep in a little.

Liam is still so well natured. He loves us, but I am not sure if it has anything to do with us being his parents. He just loves everyone. I know that I mentioned that he loves food, but we are beginning to notice why. He is a hoard. That is typical behavior of an institutionalized child. Since other children will eat their food if they don’t eat it quickly, they learn to store it. We noticed it in some of the children at the orphanage when we visited. When Chaunta shared our Cheerios with the children there, they would stuff them in their pockets and come back for more. We didn’t think that Liam would do this since he is so young. But we were wrong. We have often found rice stored in his cheeks long after the meal has been finished. Today at lunch, he must not have been hungry but he took food anyway and stored it in his cheeks. We didn’t notice until it was too late. He stored so much in his mouth that he started to gag and eventually vomited. Yuck! So we will have to watch him closely. Another family’s child does the same thing. They found soggy Cheerios stored in her mouth from hours before. It is sad to think that our children have learned to hoard food.

Just down the beach from our hotel are several tents and clap board houses. Evidentially, people are living in them. It is very sad. We have become friends with a waitress in the hotel restaurant. Her name is Kien (Kee-UHN). She has a four year old son that her grandfather cares for while she works. She just loves Liam. If she comes by and his face is messy with food, she cleans him up immediately. We noticed that she seems to always be in the hotel when we are there. So today we asked her what hours she works. She comes in each morning at 6:30 and works until 10:00 each evening 6 days a week! We were told that the average salary is $50-60 per month. It is so hard to imagine working that long and being away from my children. She is always so pleasant and helpful even after 16 hours of working.

We took Liam swimming again today. He just loves it. There is not many things that he doesn’t love, but there are a few. He hates getting his diaper changed and hates having his clothes changed, but he loves being naked! And it never fails, when he is naked he pees! He says da-da often, but no ma-ma yet. This makes me happy, but it is obvious that he prefers Chaunta over me (and that makes her happy!).

Tomorrow we leave to return to Saigon. We are not looking forward to the long bus trip (7 hours). This time we will have 5 children in tote. UGH! But I am sure we will survive.

We are really starting to miss home, especially Aiden. Chaunta is having a harder time than I am. Last night she broke down. Liam must have known that she was sad. He did his best to change her spirit…and it worked. He has the most infectious giggle. Check out the video below.


If you see Aiden, please love on him for us. Linda is brining him to Shane’s party today and to church tomorrow. I think it is a good break for my mom, caring for Aiden is wearing her down. We are so grateful for her. We are also extremely grateful for Nikki, Nathan, Carla, and Linda. They have been a huge help. It is so nice to know that we have an extended family to watch after Aiden. Thank you all so much!

Another Day

Another day has come and gone. Although it was not quite as exciting as the two previous days, it was filled with new adventures nonetheless.

Last night Liam went to sleep around 8:00PM. He goes to sleep so easily. He slept in bed with us and seemed quite at home. We weren’t sure what to expect, but we had figured that he would have a harder adjustment than he has.

We woke up about 1:00AM crying for the first time ever. He had a dirty diaper that leaked…YUCK. So we changed him and fed him again. He was right back asleep again. He slept until almost 6:00AM. He woke us up by is laughing and playing in bed between us. It was very cute

Breakfast has become our favorite meal of the day here… It is the only meal where they have food choices similar to what we can have at home. We usually eat bread, fruit, and eggs. I am very happy with it since it is the only meal of the day where I don’t have rice or noodles. I am growing increasingly tired of them! The last few evenings I have only had fruit for dinner. I am sure it is good for me…I hoped to lose a few pounds while here anyway.

We have free time until we return to Saigon on Sunday. It is nice to have time to relax and enjoy our son. After breakfast today, Liam went back to sleep for a few more hours. Then we went swimming. He just loved the pool. We played in it for a few hours. He cried a little when we left.

In the afternoon, our lawyer arranged a tour of the Cham Towers. They were built the 1200’s by the native Cham people. It was a place of worship to the late king because he had done so much good for the people. Today they are ruins, but still very beautiful. Then we went to the Cham Village nearby and watched them make pottery. We bought a small pot to bring home. Hopefully it won’t break. In case you were wondering, it seems that the Cham people were the first to inhabit Vietnam. I would compare them to our Native Americans. They practice Hindu to this day, and are the only group in Vietnam to do so.


After the visit to the Cham Towers, we went to the Market place in Phan Rang. It was very crowded. People flocked around us. Most had never seen white people. Many people pointed and followed us. They were very intrigued at why we had Vietnamese children. One lady even tried to take Liam from Chaunta (even though he was strapped to her in Baby Carrier). Our translator told us that she was saying he was beautiful and that she wanted to take him. He did say that she was joking though. Although it didn’t feel that way since she followed us through the market for about 3-4 minutes. We have learned that the Vietnamese people are baby crazy. They love babies. People constantly try to hold Liam. We always decline, since we are trying to get him used to us being his care givers. But they are very persistant, and sometimes no isn’t enough. They just try to take them from you. Our translator explained that even if we were Vietnamese, people would still do that. They just love babies.

We were very tired after a long day of site seeing, and laid down for a short nap. Unfortunately, our short nap turned into 3 hours. We are really hoping that it doesn’t mess up our schedule. We just finally got rid of the jet lag.

More about Liam…

Liam crawls on all fours sometimes, but mostly he army crawls. He pulls himself up on furniture. He smiles all the time, and he smiles with his eyes. His hair is long for a boy, and so soft. He likes to jump in your lap, and he loves to be bounced. He loves his tongue. He often sticks it out and licks us. He loves attention. He loves to be held. He is independent, and likes to hold his own bottle. He loves food, any food, anywhere at any time. He is not picky. He is eating the baby food that we brought (even peas). He also eats fish, shrimp, calamari, squid, pork, chicken and beef. He just loves food…he will fit in with our family well. He prefers his mommy, but likes his daddy too. He often says DA DA, but I am sure he doesn’t know what he is saying. He loves to talk, he makes all sorts of sounds and seems to enjoy listening to himself. He knows just how to cheer Chaunta up when she is sad and missing Aiden. He likes to be rocked to sleep…Chaunta is doing that now.

SLEEPING

BAD HAIR

Liam is officially ours...

It has been a very busy day…again. Last night was the first night that we slept through the night. Well I guess if you call 4:30AM through the night. But we did get 7 hours of unbroken sleep, so that was very good. Today we both feel much better and adjusted to the time zone here. After getting ready, we had breakfast here at our hotel. There is no western style food – only Vietnamese. We did find a few things we liked and they had several types of bread. We are very careful what we eat and drink since we are not used to the food here.

After breakfast we went to the orphanage and had a meeting with the director and the staff. The director thanked us for taking the children and let us know that they were happy to see them have good homes, but sad to see them go. He asked about each family, he wanted to know what our jobs were, if we had other children, and how long we were married for. He then told us that he was sorry that the orphanage wasn’t nicer, but they have very little money to provide for the children. He then told us that they did get a grant from the government and that they are doing renovations. The entire orphanage is open air, no glass in the windows, only shutters. I say things because as the director was talking, I watched a gecko crawl up the wall behind him. I don’t think there were any doors either (at least I didn’t notice them if there were). The orphanage is two floors, the younger children are on the 2nd floor and the older children on the first. There is a 2nd building with the office in it also. I didn’t notice if the building also housed children, but I think it did.

The director later asked that we provide good care for the children and that he hoped we would raise them as our “blood children”. He also asked that we keep our commitment to provide annual updates to the provincial authorities. He also asked that we send pictures our children and our family. He hopes that someday we will bring our children back to Vietnam and have them visit the center. He also said that he was thankful for the donations our group provided to the center (cloths, coloring books, tooth brushes, tooth paste, candy, etc) and also asked us to consider continuing to make donations after we return to the US. Then he thanked us again. He told us that he knows the adoption process is not easy, and that he knows we will be good parents because the commitment it took to adopt our children. He then asked us if we wanted to talk about our feelings. I was the first to speak and I thanked him for the wonderful care the children received and told him that it was obvious that the children were loved by the workers. I told him that we promise to provide for Lai (his Vietnamese name) as if he were born to us, and that we will give him every opportunity for education and success. And I told him that we would teach Lai about his Vietnamese heritage. Again, he seemed pleased with what I said. The other families also spoke.

After the meeting with the director we went to see our children in the other building. They were dressing Lai when we arrived. They were trying to put a diaper on him. He had never worn a diaper before…and they weren’t very skilled at putting them on. They dressed him and gave him to us. He nanny’s eyes welled with tears. Then she took him back and changed his clothes again. They passed him around from one nanny to the next as each said teary eyed good bye’s. The also “sniffed” him on his face, hands, legs, and head. We were told that the Vietnamese believe that they are taking in his essence by doing that. It was very sad to watch, and both Chaunta and I were teary eyed as we watched.

The nannies then got on the bus with our children and road with us to the court house. When we arrived they took us all into a medium sized room that was set up like a conference room. It was a little crammed with all of the parents, children, nannies, and officials. Amazingly, none of the children were crying the entire time. The director of the Provincial Justice Department thanked us and asked us to raise the children well again. Then they started the ceremony (which was not much of a ceremony at all). Each family went to the front of the room and signed several papers (none of which could we understand as they were all in Vietnamese). After we signed the papers, the nanny came forward and handed us our son. Then the Provincial Director came forward and handed us an official looking document with a seal. We all froze for a picture and then the next family was called. There are 4 other families with us and the ceremony took about an hour for all of us combined. We then took a group photo of our children, caregivers and provincial authorities on the front steps of the government building. After that we all loaded back into the bus and took the nannies back to the orphanage. After they left, the child were all ours.

We returned to the hotel and immediately undressed Liam and gave him a bath. He loved the water and was very playful in it. We discovered a small rash of some sort on his back. We have a doctor traveling with us (John and his wife Ly, who are also adopting) and he looked at it. He thinks it is some sort of yeast of fungus. We are going to have a local doctor look at it today. He also have several bug bites. We were told that about a month ago some flying ants came in over the water and infested the orphanage. Several of the children were bitten badly. The ones on the 2nd floor were not so bad as the older children on the 1st floor. They appear to be healing, and the doctor with us said that we should just keep an eye on them. He has a Mongolian spot on his back that will go away with time. Otherwise he is healthy and extremely happy.

We haven’t yet heard him cry. He is so happy and very rambunctious, I am a little worried about the trouble that he and Aiden will get into together when he gets home! He eats good and is chubby. None of the children appeared to be malnourished, I suspect that the staff gets paid by the pound. : ) Both times we visited, they were always offering him some sort of food or formula. At lunch he ate Chao, which I suppose is similar to rice porridge but it usually has meat in it. He had pork today, but I think they give him fish at the orphanage. He also takes formula. He ate very well, and then fell right asleep. That is what he is doing now. He looks so peaceful.

All of the men are going to the immigration authority this afternoon to apply for passports. The ladies will stay at the hotel with the children. We hope to take him swimming this evening if he is up for it.

We have free time until Sunday when we will return to Saigon. We plan to enjoy this beautiful resort, the beach, and the pool until we return. We are not looking forward to the 8 hour bus ride with 5 children, but I am sure we will survive. Please keep praying that things go smoothly with the US immigration authorities when we return to Saigon. Their efficiency really determines how long we will have to stay. If you see Aiden, please hug him and kiss him for us. By the way – Thanks to my mom and all of you that are taking such good care of him. We love you!

We meet at last...

It seemed like forever as we made our way across the country side of Vietnam. It was bumpy and mountainous...the driver was constantly dodging cows and goats in the road. It was a 7 hour drive two lanes all the way. We thought it would never end...but it did. We finally arrived in Phan Rang (the city where Liam lives). We checked into the hotel which is ridiculously nice. It is right on the beach. This is the view from our room.

We settled in briefly and ate a very good lunch. We did however pass on the braised sand lizard. I had white rice with chicken and Chaunta had braised pork with rice. We were both pleased. Then we quickly loaded into the bus and headed to the orphanage. It was an exciting and nerve wracking feeling as we pulled in through the gates. We would finally meet our son.

We walked up the stairs and saw children everywhere. As we looked around we immediatly recognized Liam with one of his nannies.

He was more perfect that we imagined. He seems smaller than we expected, but he is very round. He immediately warmed up to us. He went right to Chaunta and was smiling and giggling. He is so happy. He never once cried the entire time we were there.


All of the older children were so proud to show him off to us. We watched him crawl (more of an army crawl) and he will walk when you hold his hands. The teenage kids there were very friendly...the loved to practice their limited English skills. And we enjoyed practicing our even more limited Vietnamese skills. There were so many beautiful babies. We could have easily taken several home if allowed. One little boy in particular took a liking to me. He sat on my lap for a long time. In fact, when I wanted to hold Liam, he kept coming back and getting on my lap. It was so sweet.

We stayed for about 2 hours. At the end, Chaunta rocked him to sleep. One of his nannies took him from Chaunta to lay him down. She sobbed as she picked him up. We could see how much she loved him. She said "Thank you" to us in Vietnamese. We too teared up know how painful this was for her.

We return to the orphanage tomorrow morning at 7:30. Then off to court by 9:00. After court, Liam is officially ours. Later tomorrow afternoon we will apply for his passport. We will stay here in this town until Sunday and then return to Saigon to begin applying for his Visa to enter the US. Please pray that it goes smoothly. We miss you all!

More Photos...

We made it...

We just arrived at the Rex Hotel in Saigon. It is very nice.

The drive from the airport proved that this place is much more different than we imagined. Motor bikes were everywhere. Young, old, even babies were commuting on them. The business reminded me of Manhattan, but more chaotic.

Today we rest, and tomorrow we leave for Ninh Thuan (where the orphanage is) at 5:30 AM. It is an 8 hour drive, but we are so excited to meet little Liam.

Thanks for your thought and prayers. I will try to post some pictures later.

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Almost there...

We are in Taiwan now and leave for Saigon in about an hour. More to come...
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And we're off...

As I type we are sitting on a plane awaiting to depart St. Louis for Vietnam (by way of LA and Taiwan).

It was very difficult leaving our Aiden behind. But it was not too bad for him thanks to our friends Nikki and Nathan. As we walked away and he started to cry, they presented him with a new toy that was an excellent distraction. It didn't really help us though, we sobbed all the way to the gate.

We should arrive in LA around 9:00pm (PST) and then leave for Taiwan around 1:00am.

We arrive in Saigon, VN around 10:00am on Tuesday (and yes, if you are doing the math that is over 36 hour of travel). I am sure we will look and smell quite funky upon arrival. We will rest for a little less than a day' before boarding a bus for the 8 hour ride to the orphanage. We hope to keep this updated frequently.

If you see Aiden, please give him hugs and kisses from us.
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Liam's Room

We leave tomorrow, but I thought it would be good to post some pictures of his room before we leave. It is about 90% complete. Let us know what you think...

Also, we plan to keep this updated daily from Vietnam so check back.