Smile and the whole world smiles with you!

It is amazing what a toothless grin can do to people. The Vietnamese people appear to be somewhat serious in my opinion; but when a baby is around they become so silly just for a smile from the baby. Aimée has certainly been showered with tons of love from so many strangers. The people here looooove babies and will stop you so they can talk, hold, sing, and yes even dance for your baby!!! Aimée is becoming quite fond of the waitresses here at the hotel. They always pick her up and play with her. She is being entertained by one as I write. Aimée tries to be patient if they are busy with other customers; but if after 10 minutes they have not said hello to her, she starts babbling ( even shouting) loudly to get their attention. She is victorious each and every time!

It has not been quite so hot these last couple of days so we have taken this opportunity to go for walks by the lake. It is nice and funny to see so many men standing on these tiny stnds in the middle of the lake to fish. The stands are maybe a foot wide. They must have tremendous balance. I would have fallen over on my first cast of my line.

Today is Vietnam's National Children's Day. It is a very big celebration here. There are lots of things to see and do. Depending on how the babies are feeling, we may head out this afternoon to the old quarter and check things out.

Have a good day!

Life really does not get any better than this!

Hello everyone! Today we did some paper work in the morning and some chilling in the afternoon. Aimée loves the water. She is a water baby. Taking her to the pool is so much fun.
We are now waiting for her Canadian and Vietnamese passport to be processed along with her exit visa. Thuy is trying to book us a fight home for Wednesday. Yahoo! If all works out, I will be home with Aimée late Wednesday night (1pm or so). I am so excited for all of you to meet her. She is such a ham.

I have not done any touring with the baby. Aimee is teething and is often feverish. It is way too hot for her downtown waiting in queus. After we do our paper work running around in the morning we usually are sticky hot and tired. We are hoping to take the babies to the water puppet show this weekend. I did get to see lots of sights last weekend and I will share all the pics with you on my flickr account once I get home.
We had a much better night last night. Happy me! I just hate when she is screaming in pain and there is nothing much I can do to sooth her. The baby Advil has helped tremendously, thanks Juli!!! I also had to cut her nails last night. Nobody warned me on how difficult that is. I cut her thumb nail way too short and oh she was not happy with her mommy. She cried.... I cried........
"mxrki n" That is a little message from Aimée who is presently sitting on my lap and hitting the keys. I think it means "love ya" in the baby language.

Talk to you soon.

Instructions not included!!!

Hello! We are doing well! There is still soooooooooo much to figure out. For the most pat, Aimée is being patient with me. Yesterday, she was quite feverish. She is teething. Her two bottomteeth are trying to come out. OUCH!!!!! Poor babe. K, you will be pleased to know she is not interested in a soother at all, despite ALL my desperate tries. She spits it out and it flies accross the room each and every time. Last night we had about 4 hours of sleep and only one of us is full of smiles this morning. Can you guess who?

Mommy, Maman, Mom, Mama, mamamama any of these will do

It is official!!!!! Aimée is my daughter and we are a forever family. I am thrilled. She is sitting beside me as I type and is being entertained by the waitress. I have had a perma grin for the last 24 hours. We had our ceremony at 3pm (very nice but oh so hot). When we got home I bathed her and if I was not already drenched by the heat, I was with the bath. I was really nervous about the night because after the ceremony I was told by a nanny that the little miss was a little... hmmmm.... I think the word was difficult. She said that when she was 3 months, the nannies took turns (only one week at a time) caring for her because she always wants to be in someone's arms. She does want to be held all the time; but once asleep, I put her in her crib. It took a good 30 minutes of crying before falling asleep. My arms are not use to carrying her all the time. Hopefully, she will learn to sit in the stroller for more than 5 minutes at a time. She woke up 3 times and I fed her. She fell quickly asleep again and woke up with big smiles this morning at 5am. It was a very good first night!!!! Few!!! I worried for nothing. I am blessed. Today, we are off to the embassy for her passport.

Off to the Temples we go!!!

Hello! It is Saturday morning and very humid and hot. Unfortunately, the papers for our Giving and Receiving Ceremony were not signed until late Friday afternoon. The good news is they have been signed and our G and R ceremony is scheduled for Monday afternoon at 4pm. We will leave Hanoi around 1pm and make the two hour drive to Hoa Binh. I am not finding the wait too difficult because there is so much to see and do. The silver lining of this short wait is that it will give us the weekend to tour.

It is so great to hear from all of you. Thank uou so much for all your kind emails. It makes home seem not so far away.
Oh, by the way.... Guess who was on our flight from Hong Kong to Hanoi... Monsieur Jean Chrétien!!! Believe it or not, he and his buddies were flying in the economy section. Well, the truth is there really was not much of a first class section because the plane was quite small. He even said hello to us. (I think he knew we were Canadian because we kept staring at him and plus we were the only other caucasians on the plane.)

Goodnight Canada!

My cup runneth over......

"Good morning Vietnam!" I have been wanting to say that for so long.
I have been here for several days now and it has been so busy. First of all, I met Aimée. We arrived at our hotels after over 31 hours (one of the couples lost some of their luggage) and were told we had 10-15 minutes to check in if we wanted to go to the orphanage that day. We jumped at the glorious opportunity! We drove 2 hours to the orphanage. Let me tell you, everything you ever read about the crazy driving in Vietnam is understated. Nobody can put in words the pure terror of driving in Vietnam. I sincerely thought we were all going to die and never even see our children.

Aimée is such a sweet baby. She played strange at first and cried a little. The nannies found it very funny that both Aimée and I had our hair sticking out everywhere (Hey, it was hot and I had not showered in almost 2 days, what can I say?). "Baby like Mommy" they kept saying. Oh, she is so tiny, so lovely, so clever and so precious. They let me feed her. The nannies were warmly laughing at me again because I had the food all over the place. She is one strong girl! They taught me quickly to hold Aimée tighly against me and keep one little arm kind of at the back so she can't grab the food. Oh, boy, am I ever in for one heck of a learning curve. I was so taken back by the kindness, warmth and sensitivety the nannies showed us. They care so much for these babies.
We are hoping to have our Giving and Receiving Ceremony this afternoon. After this, the babies are officially ours!!! Then we can take them back with us. I am very nervous about how Aimée handles the transition. She really adores her nannies. She would look at me and start crying, then a nanny would show up, say a little something in Vietnamese and she would burst out laughing. It breaks my heart to know that her little world is going to be turned upside down for a few days before she gets used to me. We will take it one day at a time, or even one hour at a time if need be.

I am so happy. If you scroll down this blog, you will find a little slide show on the right hand side of the computer screen. Click it and it will bring you to my flickr account. There you can see some pictures of my first few days and more importantly, Aimée!!!

Well, I'm off...

All my suitcases are packed and I am ready to go. Hope I didn't over pack. You can never really know until you are there. You know what I mean? Just kidding. Those are not my suitcases. I only have two; one for me and one for the baby. Today's THE day! I am flying high quite figuratively and literally. I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for all of your encouragement and support over these last few months. Next time you here from me, I will be in Hanoi Vietnam!!!! Cheers!!!

2 More Sleeps!!!

The travel agency had my tickets and visa sent to me a little while ago. I was sent an eticket and one hard copy ticket for the return. It puzzled me as I am not a seasoned traveler. I had to have friends explain to me first of all what an eticket was. Then, I could not figure out why they sent me one hard copy ticket for the way home. Was I to use the eticket or the hard copy ticket? Why both? If they bothered with the hard copy of a ticket, why just for the way home? Where was the hard copy for the way there? I asked my friends. None of us could figure it out. What made my return flight so different than my departure flight?????? Eventually, I spoke to the agency and they explained it slowly and clearly for me...... The return ticket is for my baby. Ooooooh! Silly me! Can I help being a little absent minded???? I am going to meet my daughter for the first time in just a few more days.

Aimée's ticket home!

I do believe in fairies, I do, I do!!!!!!

In case you were feeling a little skeptical, (which by the way, I totally understand...) there are 5 more sleeps until I am off to Vietnam. No delays... No changes.... I have the visa and plane ticket in my hand ready to go!!! Need I say how absolutely thrilled I am to be finally going?

So Kiss Me and Smile For Me. Tell Me That You'll Wait For Me...

'Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane! Don't know when I'll be back again.......

Yes, it is finally happening. I will be leaving for Vietnam on May 19th. Nothing, and I mean nothing is going to get between me and this new travel date. My ticket has been purchased and cannot be returned. The adoption dossier has now been sent to the Department of International Adoption. "Hip hip hurray, here I come Aimée!"

Keeping Busy!!!

I have kept myself rather busy this week. It has helped with the waiting game.

At the beginning of the week, I bought a new computer and set it all up by myself. I then got quotes and arranged to get my roof reshingled (ouch). I finished putting up my gazebo. I installed a different infant car seat (long story).
On Wednesday, I hung out with Jo Ann and adorable 6 week old Michael. He is so tiny. We went to the Employment Services Office and inquired about maternity/adoption leave. It was a whole adventure for us. I love spending time with them. Jo-Ann lets me try Mommy things on Michael. I nearly put his diaper on backwards (no joke). Jo-Ann, who happened to be eyeing me by the sidelines, kindly redirected me. I do know that tabs go to the back... I think I just got nervous. Here's to hoping I don't diaper Aimée's head!!!

On Thursday, I met up with some very special people. I went to Kingston to meet Sarah who has just been adopted by Jaqueline and her husband from the same orphanage as Aimée. What a lovely little girl. It was amazing to see how well adjusted she is considering all that she has been through in the last month. I also got to meet Leslie and Jaqueline in person. Leslie and her family are patiently waiting for a referral, which I hope will happen very soon for them. Besides being blessed with a beautiful daughter, this adoption process has allowed me to meet some of the kindest people around. The day left me with warm fuzzies all over!

A Difficult Time...

I have not been feeling particularly positive these days. In fact, I would say I have been in a slump. The May 8th departure date which I chose not to post "just in case" has now officially been cancelled. We do not have another departure date yet; but, it will be at least three more weeks at the earliest. Who knew that a heart could physically feel so heavy? For now, if I need to just lay low and indulge in some old fashion self-pity and chocolate ice cream, I will. I know that it will pass and soon my spirit will be hopefull once again.