HANOI, Vietnam (AP) Accusations of baby-selling and corruption are prompting Vietnam to end its child adoption agreement with the United States. Vietnam says it will stop taking applications from American families after July 1, but will follow through on those that were filed before.This breaks my heart. But I can't blame the VN government for taking this action. For anyone who has followed our blog and those of others who were caught up in the US government's bullshit, you know how badly our government has treated the Vietnamese. In addition, I've seen firsthand the lies, deception, and maltreatment our government dishes out to its own citizens. I'm ashamed of the US's actions in dealing with VN. And now it has come to this.
Monday, April 28, 2008
VN ending adoptions with US
Thursday, April 10, 2008
My Babies
Will being Will.
Ava with her Mimi
He was really excited about this birthday present.
Ava is ALWAYS laughing, chirping, and smiling.
Hamming it up for the camera
Tiger love
Not much of a rodeo fan
She loves Peekaboo on BabyTV.
Galloping past PawPaw at his birthday party
Brunettes definitely look good in red.
I am so blessed.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Life with Will & Ava
It has been almost 6 months exactly since we got back. The first few months were tough - for me, learning how to be a first-time mom with two infants was kinda like learning to ride a bike without training wheels. It's not always smooth sailing and you get banged up quite a bit. But I did it and both Ava and Will are doing wonderfully.
Will began walking back in December. No exaggeration. Everyone is amazed at how well-developed his motor skills are. I've never been comfortable with the fact that he was so spoiled, held, and coddled by the caregivers at the orphanage but I have no doubt that that is the reason for his advanced motor skills. By January, the boy was running thru the house and getting into everything that wasn't locked away. We had to move up the baby-proofing by a few months. His verbal skills aren't as well-developed but we had a specialist look at him. She told us not to worry and that most children with extremely developed motor skills lack a bit at first in verbal. She said not to worry; he'll catch up. So we're working with him. He says baba, dada, mama, and uh-oh (his favorite). And he did say "Dixie" the other day (the name of his grandparents' dog). The boy LOVES his Dada. We used to have problems in the morning when Dennis left for work. Will would hold on to Dennis's shirt like a little monkey cuddling into its mom to try to keep me from taking him. It's not so bad now. We go out onto the porch so Will can wave goodbye and that helped. He has 7 teeth right now and one on the way. Will is such a handsome boy and has such a good sense of humor. He'll probably be the class clown.
Our little lump (aka Ava) is advancing in leaps and bounds. She is just amazing. The girl is a crawling fiend. She has this funny gait where she slams her hands down onto the floor as she crawls along. We call it her "commando crawl." She's very determined and knows exactly where she's going. You can hear her from a mile away on our hardwood floors. My baby girl has advanced greatly from the tiny malnourished utterly underdeveloped premature baby we received that couldn't even lift her head off the floor at 4 months old. (Whew - take a breath.) I'm sure next time we go to the dr. we'll find she weighs more than Will. And beautiful? Omigod - the most beautiful baby I know and I'm not being prejudiced. ;-) She has stood a few times on her own, moves along the couch or table, and walks with us holding a finger. I can't wait until she walks on her own because it's going to be such a big deal to her. She's always laughing and just the sweetest little girl. Today I was getting a bit frustrated with both of the kids. They were grabbing everything off the tables and couches -- one thing after another -- while I was folding towels. I went to the kitchen to get bottles and heard a little voice say, "Mama." I looked to the gate we have up between the dining room and kitchen and there she was. "Mama," she said again. And just in case my heart hadn't completely split in two, "Mama," one more time. Frustration gone! God, I love these kids.
After reading so many blogs of our friends, we quit feeding the kids baby food and began feeding them whatever we're eating. They sure do eat much better. Ava, especially, loves cheese -- just like her mom.
And speaking of "just like her mom," Dennis and I are amazed at how much Ava is like me and Will is like him. Ava is very adventurous, jumps in with both feet and keeps on going. She loves swinging -- the higher the better and even likes spinning. I always told Dennis I wanted a child to ride the roller coaster with me (because he's too scared) and I got one! Will, on the other hand, is more cautious. We always laugh when we watch him swing as his face goes from pleasure to fear, pleasure to fear...and the swing's barely moving. I don't know how the adoption coordinators do it but they definitely choose the babies that fit best with your family.
I start back to grad school in a month. I'm both excited about going and reluctant to go. The time I've spent with the kids has gone by so fast and I'm glad I took the leave of absence from my studies. It is the best decision I have ever made and I will always treasure this time. It's gone by way too fast.
Will began walking back in December. No exaggeration. Everyone is amazed at how well-developed his motor skills are. I've never been comfortable with the fact that he was so spoiled, held, and coddled by the caregivers at the orphanage but I have no doubt that that is the reason for his advanced motor skills. By January, the boy was running thru the house and getting into everything that wasn't locked away. We had to move up the baby-proofing by a few months. His verbal skills aren't as well-developed but we had a specialist look at him. She told us not to worry and that most children with extremely developed motor skills lack a bit at first in verbal. She said not to worry; he'll catch up. So we're working with him. He says baba, dada, mama, and uh-oh (his favorite). And he did say "Dixie" the other day (the name of his grandparents' dog). The boy LOVES his Dada. We used to have problems in the morning when Dennis left for work. Will would hold on to Dennis's shirt like a little monkey cuddling into its mom to try to keep me from taking him. It's not so bad now. We go out onto the porch so Will can wave goodbye and that helped. He has 7 teeth right now and one on the way. Will is such a handsome boy and has such a good sense of humor. He'll probably be the class clown. 
Our little lump (aka Ava) is advancing in leaps and bounds. She is just amazing. The girl is a crawling fiend. She has this funny gait where she slams her hands down onto the floor as she crawls along. We call it her "commando crawl." She's very determined and knows exactly where she's going. You can hear her from a mile away on our hardwood floors. My baby girl has advanced greatly from the tiny malnourished utterly underdeveloped premature baby we received that couldn't even lift her head off the floor at 4 months old. (Whew - take a breath.) I'm sure next time we go to the dr. we'll find she weighs more than Will. And beautiful? Omigod - the most beautiful baby I know and I'm not being prejudiced. ;-) She has stood a few times on her own, moves along the couch or table, and walks with us holding a finger. I can't wait until she walks on her own because it's going to be such a big deal to her. She's always laughing and just the sweetest little girl. Today I was getting a bit frustrated with both of the kids. They were grabbing everything off the tables and couches -- one thing after another -- while I was folding towels. I went to the kitchen to get bottles and heard a little voice say, "Mama." I looked to the gate we have up between the dining room and kitchen and there she was. "Mama," she said again. And just in case my heart hadn't completely split in two, "Mama," one more time. Frustration gone! God, I love these kids.After reading so many blogs of our friends, we quit feeding the kids baby food and began feeding them whatever we're eating. They sure do eat much better. Ava, especially, loves cheese -- just like her mom.
And speaking of "just like her mom," Dennis and I are amazed at how much Ava is like me and Will is like him. Ava is very adventurous, jumps in with both feet and keeps on going. She loves swinging -- the higher the better and even likes spinning. I always told Dennis I wanted a child to ride the roller coaster with me (because he's too scared) and I got one! Will, on the other hand, is more cautious. We always laugh when we watch him swing as his face goes from pleasure to fear, pleasure to fear...and the swing's barely moving. I don't know how the adoption coordinators do it but they definitely choose the babies that fit best with your family.
I start back to grad school in a month. I'm both excited about going and reluctant to go. The time I've spent with the kids has gone by so fast and I'm glad I took the leave of absence from my studies. It is the best decision I have ever made and I will always treasure this time. It's gone by way too fast.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
We're home
We got to Austin about 8:30 am Austin time, and to our house at about 10:00. We've pretty much slept the rest of the day.
It was a very long trip -- we have seen 3 sun-rises and 3 sun-sets since the last time we went to bed. Our thoughts are with those from our travel group who still have business in Viet Nam.
Dennis
It was a very long trip -- we have seen 3 sun-rises and 3 sun-sets since the last time we went to bed. Our thoughts are with those from our travel group who still have business in Viet Nam.
Dennis
Thursday, October 11, 2007
We got our visas
The kids' visas were just dropped off about 2 minutes ago. We're so happy to finally have them in our hands.
We're coming home Saturday night on the flight listed to the right.
Dennis
We're coming home Saturday night on the flight listed to the right.
Dennis
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
We're coming home!!!!
I called the Embassy this afternoon for an update on our case. The American officers were busy and one was going to call me back later this afternoon. About 15 minutes after I hung up we got a call from one of the Vietnamese women at the embassy telling us that our visa had been approved!
She asked if we could be at the embassy in the next 15 minutes for our 2nd interview (my answer was "Hell yeah!") and we were on our way. We met WC staff at the embassy, paid some money, and we were on our way.
The other families in our travel group are still waiting on their paperwork. Somehow, and we have no idea how, we went from being at least a day behind everyone to at least a day ahead. WC staff did tell us that (he thought) in January 2008 the embassy would switch to the 1 interview method, so all investigations are already completed by the time the families get here. That should eliminate most of the pain that we and the other families went through while we were waiting.
As we speak we're waiting on our travel agent to wake up and try to book us on an earlier flight. WC staff will get the visas tomorrow at 4:00 and we can leave anytime after that. We're hoping we can get on an early Friday flight, but worst case we'll be leaving Saturday night as planned.
We've decided to stay at our new hotel (Horison) for the duration. We can both finally breathe.
Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. We'll see everyone soon.
Dennis
She asked if we could be at the embassy in the next 15 minutes for our 2nd interview (my answer was "Hell yeah!") and we were on our way. We met WC staff at the embassy, paid some money, and we were on our way.
The other families in our travel group are still waiting on their paperwork. Somehow, and we have no idea how, we went from being at least a day behind everyone to at least a day ahead. WC staff did tell us that (he thought) in January 2008 the embassy would switch to the 1 interview method, so all investigations are already completed by the time the families get here. That should eliminate most of the pain that we and the other families went through while we were waiting.
As we speak we're waiting on our travel agent to wake up and try to book us on an earlier flight. WC staff will get the visas tomorrow at 4:00 and we can leave anytime after that. We're hoping we can get on an early Friday flight, but worst case we'll be leaving Saturday night as planned.
We've decided to stay at our new hotel (Horison) for the duration. We can both finally breathe.
Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. We'll see everyone soon.
Dennis
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Embassy update
I called the embassy today to get a status report. It's been two weeks since our I-600 interview and we should have heard back a week ago.
They're still trying to track down one of the witnesses in either William's or Ava's case (he couldn't recall which, but we're assuming it's William). They've been trying to find the witness and haven't had any success so far. He (the embassy guy) did think they'd get to him (the witness) either today or tomorrow, and HCMC would get the case later this week. Assuming that Mister X exists and states the same facts that he did when the baby was abandoned, we should get a (favorable) ruling from USCIS later this week (Thursday). We would get our visa Friday and be homeward bound on Saturday. Assuming they can find the guy.
The other families are in a better position than we are. Their docs are in HCMC and they should hear back today or tomorrow.
Dennis
They're still trying to track down one of the witnesses in either William's or Ava's case (he couldn't recall which, but we're assuming it's William). They've been trying to find the witness and haven't had any success so far. He (the embassy guy) did think they'd get to him (the witness) either today or tomorrow, and HCMC would get the case later this week. Assuming that Mister X exists and states the same facts that he did when the baby was abandoned, we should get a (favorable) ruling from USCIS later this week (Thursday). We would get our visa Friday and be homeward bound on Saturday. Assuming they can find the guy.
The other families are in a better position than we are. Their docs are in HCMC and they should hear back today or tomorrow.
Dennis
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