Surprises ...

Well, yesterday was a day full of surprises. Around 3:00pm the agency called Al to ask him how we felt about twins... they had a set of twin girls that were available but we needed to give them an answer right away. Al frantically tracked me down and after just a moment or two of conversation we agreed to the referral of twin girls, without even having looked at photo's, medical, etc.

Later, we were able to see our two new girls, looking very teeny tiny, and read a bit about their history. I think I figured out how to load up their images but I am still pretty dorky with this blog thing. I can't figure out titles, yet, etc, but suffice to say that although there are four pictures there are only two babies.

They were born 11/29/06 and the agency is telling us to expect to travel in two - three months, or by the end of April to the end of May.

So ... these are our girls. The first two pictures, the one with the blue towel under her head, is Maia Angelina Thanh, and the second two pictures, the one with the pink towel under her head, is Ilona Vita Hoang.

Somehow today, less than 24 hours after our news, I went from being shell shocked and panicked, to just wanting to bring the girls home and to make sure they are happy and healthy.

More later as my thought processes return to normal and we catch our breath.

Love to all,

Tina

No Progress But Some Information

This weekend our agency had their annual Asian New Year celebration. Al and I decided to go and celebrate and were surprised that there were hundreds of families participating. We were fortunate enough to sit with a family that had adopted their daughter from Vietnam and then, through them, met another family that had adopted a daughter from Vietnam and a son from Nepal. We also met the couple who will be escorting us around the country and through them found out some information about our stay and the approximate timing.

We found out that we should plan on being in Vietnam for at least 3 weeks and that we'll spend two of those weeks in HCMC at an apartment complex. We'll have a two bedroom apartment with living room, kitchen, dining room, etc. The complex will also have a restaurant, room service, and a grocery store for any supplies that we will need. We found out that most likely we'll be picking up our child and having the G&R (Giving and Receiving Ceremony - which is the point that Vietnam considers the adoption final) the second day that we are there. We will then have three more weeks in the country going through the things that we have to do for the US to consider the adoption legal. After about 2 weeks we'll fly to Hanoi for our appointments at the US Embassy.

We found out that the children are typically about 6 mos old at the time of travel.

We are still number 9 on the list for a little girl. In January there were nine referrals, all for boys. We were told that there were a number of referrals that are ready to be sent to the agency - 8 0r 9, but unless all the referrals are for girls - which is unlikely - we won't receive a referral in this next batch. It is possible that we will receive our referral in April or May, and then travel three months after the referral, in July or August, returning home in August or September. It is very hot in HCMC in August.

That is all the news for now. Not really any progress but just some basic information.

Love Tina

No News

Just a quick note to say that we have nothing to say. :-)

We heard from the adoption agency the other day and while there were nine referrals in January they were all for little boys. So we haven't moved up yet - we are still number 9 on the list for a little girl. The agency is expecting a few more referrals fairly soon, and then the country will close down for a few weeks to celebrate Tet - Vietnamese New Year.

We will be going to the Aisan New Year party that our agency hosts on February 17. Last year they had 900 local parents who had adopted children from Asia. Most of the children were born in China, a much smaller percentage having been born in Vietnam. We are so lucky that we live in an area where there are many children from Asia and where there is a large community that our family will be part of.

We are looking forward to celebrating the New Year this year and hope there will be three of us celebrating next year.

Cheers to everyone!

Love Tina