...waiting...

Well, we are still waiting... and, sadly, we found out this week that my Mom will not be able to join us on our trip like we were planning... Hopefully, she will feel better soon, and we can all have lots of fun when Noah gets home!

In the meantime, I went to Vietnam travel class this weekend. The class is put on by our agency. It was a very good training, and it made me really excited about the trip!! We learned about the food, the hotels, the schedule and got all sorts of practical advice like: do not drink the water, be careful crossing the streets (very crazy traffic apparently) and buy lots of things! Two families that have recently returned from Vietnam were their to tell us about their experiences, which was very cool as well.

Also, although we are very late in doing so, we did get our vaccines today. So, our arms are a little sore, but we have been assured that having one shot of the series for Hepatitis A and B is still going to offer some protection (better than none). We probably will not get the entire series in before leaving, but hopefully we can stay healthy!

In addition, I have updated the quilt project blog with photos of all the wonderful squishes people have sent to Noah! Check it out at www.quiltofsquishes.blogspot.com

Oh, and in other news, I am featured as a buyer of art (the Des Moines Art Festival is coming up this weekend) on page 31 of this week's Juice (for those of you in Des Moines, you can check it out). For those not in Des Moines (Juice is a weekly news magazine put out by the Des Moines Register). There is a photo of me with a photograph that we purchased last year...and, among other things, they mention that we are looking forward to finalizing the adoption!:)

Part of the Normal Process....

We received an update on Thursday. At that time, our documents were being reviewed by the local Hoa Binh police (Hoa Binh is the province where Noah is). According to our agency, this part of the normal process, and there is no need to worry. We just need to let them finish their review...

I am getting very impatient (any modicum of cool that I had maintained over the last few weeks is now pretty much gone)! I cannot wait to get over there...

Hopefully, they will finish up that review, and we will hear something this coming week!

Waiting and Wishing for a G&R Date!

Okay... We have baby items, a finished nursery, valid passports ... and now we have travel visas!! We have almost everything that we need to bring Noah home. So, what are we waiting for??.....a G&R Date. That is a date on which the Vietnamese officials schedule our official adoption ceremony (the Giving and Receiving Ceremony).

I am finding it very difficult to wait for this date!! Until we have the date, we cannot buy plane tickets.

So, here's wishing that we get that date this week!!

Shower for Noah! Visas for Us!

My lovely friends (Amy, Shannon, Alicia, Vanessa and Meghan) threw a fabulous shower for Noah this weekend! It was great fun, and we received many many wonderful baby gifts for Noah! Thank you so much to the hostesses and the attendees; I had a great time!! (And special thanks to Mom for driving down to come!). We now realize that babies need lots of stuff..., and we may need a bigger house....:) (Amy did have the forethought to have a camera ready...so there are pics that I have not seen yet...maybe I will post some highlights later.)

In further preparation, we are asking for yet another governmental approval:) I have to admit, I am getting pretty exhausted with applications for approvals (Nate realized my frustration and took care of this latest round of applications...thanks, Nate!). This time it was for Vietnamese travel visas. A few people have asked why we need visas if we have passports. As I understand it, the passport is permission from the US to travel, and the visa is permission from Vietnam to come in. Some countries allow Americans to enter without visas (just passports), but they do not have to..., and Vietnam requires visas. So, today, application was made for Vietnamese visas. We requested the visas for proposed travel between the 19th of June and the 19th of July. We are using a visa service, and we are paying extra for quick turn time...so, we should get those visas very soon.

Now, we just need Vietnam to give us a date that we can come for our Giving and Receiving Ceremony (the official Vietnamese adoption ceremony). As I understand it, there are many Vietnamese officials that must attend the ceremony, and it is scheduled in advance to accommodate the attendees. In any event, until we get that date, we will just be waiting (hopefully, with visas in hand...and hopefully not too long).

The last couple of weeks have been weird...there is so much fun stuff to do to get ready, and I have so much energy (despite limited amounts of sleep),...but at the same time, my patience is really being tested. Now that we know about Noah, I REALLY do not want to wait any more!