It was March 9, 2009

Six months ago today we met this tiny little angel for the first time.

She has brought us so much joy- more than John and I ever even imagined. Linh is such a sweet and happy girl. She is the best gift in the world.

Look at her today. Our sweet little baby is now an adorable toddler.

So soon?

I know its amazing. A second post in 2 days. I was looking through some more pictures of Linh to bring to work and found some more cute ones to share. Ok, who am I kidding? They are all cute. However, it would take a lot of computer time to upload all 663 pics to the blog, so since I'm filtering through, I picked some particularly adorable pics. I'm also working on uploading a cute video, but so far I'm having technical difficulties. Be warned, I may have ANOTHER post later in the week if we are able to work through the technical problems.

Until then, enjoy-

Isn't she the cutest duck you've ever seen?

The best sound - her laughing

Sweet Linh

Linh and Rudi

Good friends - Linh kissing Rudi

End of July already

Wow! Time flies. Linh is doing wonderful. I feel like I say it all the time- but she really is so much fun!

Here are some pics from the 4th of July weekend.

Playing at the park with Daddy-

Hanging out at the CityFest -














So this is a Slip N Slide-

Has it really been 3 months?

It seems like yesterday that we stepped thru the doors at Metro airport carrying our very exhausted little girl. Yet Thursday marked 3 months home. During this time Linh has become very comfortable in her home and even more comfortable with us. It seems as though she has always been here. She is such a happy and fun little girl.

In the past 3 months- she has become much steadier on her feet. She has settled into a good sleep routine. She is comfortable with Rudi and Chico- she even gives them kisses and helps to put the food in their bowls. She has grown taller and at 20 months old, her size 12 month pants are finally starting to look a bit short. Sometimes she will let us know if she doesn't want to wear a particular shirt. Who knew it would start so young? She also likes to try on my shoes and walk around the house. Her bangs are growing and she is finally willing to allow me to put her hair back in tiny pony tails. She is comfortable taking baths, however washing her hair is still not a favorite of hers. She went swimming for the first time on Father's Day in her kiddie pool and really seemed to enjoy it. She likes to brush her teeth. Whenever she sees us brush- she wants to brush too. She is now going to school 3 days a week and brings home art projects everyday. Painting is a favorite. She is "talking" all the time. She understands a good amount of what we say and she says many words that are understandable- mama, dada, ball, cup, cat, car, bowl, bubbles, go, gogurt, cookie, cheers, hi, bye bye, Emma, and no. Some of the words are pronounced clearer than others but we can recognize them all. A couple of weeks ago "no" was her favorite word all weekend. Thankfully, I think Emma is her favorite word now. Emma is her cousin that she saw the last two weekends. She generally drinks out of a sippy cup now except for her bedtime bottles. She uses spoons and forks- sometimes it means putting the food on her spoon/fork with her fingers and then putting in her mouth. That is amusing to watch. She made it through her first long car ride- a 3 hour (each way)trip to see my sister. Hopefully next time there will be less construction. Thank goodness Grammie was with us to help Linh get through the last 2 hours home. She hugs with and without us asking. She gives John and I kisses with or without us asking. She laughs a lot and it is the sweetest sound! Six teeth have popped through since we have been home and she got through it like a champ.

Certificate of Citizenship

Today we received Linh's certificate of citizenship. This is the legal document which states that Linh became a citizen of the United States the day we landed in the U.S.A. Yay!

Linh is doing well after being home for 4 1/2 weeks. She has been sleeping thru the night the last couple of weeks. It took some time for her to get over the jet lag and then adjusting to her new environment. She takes 2 hour naps without any problem. She eats most foods but she does not seem to care for the American child standard mac & cheese, or cupcakes. We are not disappointed that those are foods she dislikes- I would rather her continue to like her fruits and vegetables. She has gained 1 1/2 pounds since she has been home, so we're definitely feeding her enough. She is perfectly comfortable at our house. She says mama (not always, but I hear it), dada, wow, ow, and yum. She understands quite a bit of what we are saying and she babbles a lot. We play music in the house a lot of the day- she loves to dance to it. Her attention span has grown a bit and I am usually able to read a very, very short book to her without her flipping thru to look at the pictures. She has started to scribble with crayons. She is trying very hard to use a spoon and fork. About 90% of the time, she manages to bring the fork/spoon to her mouth with the food still on it. The other 10% lands somewhere else :) This is a huge improvement since we have been home. We still need to work on scooping up the food with the utensil. Some foods are obviously easier (yogurt and applesauce) but she'll get there eventually. I'm not in a hurry, but she gets upset if she doesn't get to feed herself some of the meal.
Overall, I think she is doing fantastic. We are so happy! Her hugs and now sometimes her kisses (only to mommy) are so sweet. She has such an easy going personality.

Here are some pics-
Easter Sunday- she was so anxious to get at the basket of eggs at Grammie's















At home Easter Saturday -















Not sure why but kids love to swiffer- so I
tried it with Linh and she swiffered the entire
house.















Playing inside one cold Michigan day in April-















Practicing eating breakfast on her own-

We are home!

We arrived home Wednesday afternoon after nearly 28 hours of travel. We left our hotel at 8:30pm Tuesday (Hanoi time) for one last taxi ride to the airport. Our first flight was 4 hours (from Hanoi to Seoul). Linh cried almost the entire first hour of the flight. Thankfully flight was not full and we were able to spread out in to a couple of row. We were finally able to get Linh to sleep and placed her on a couple of seats. She was still sleeping when the plane landed. During our 5 hour layover in Korea, Linh slept another 2 1/2 hours at the gate. John and I tried to rest because we knew we were in for a 12 1/2 hour flight with a sleepy 17 month old. Overall she did good on the flight. We sat in the bulkhead seats with a bassinet. We did not have a seat for Linh - after a lot of debating we decided against the extra seat. Since she was under 2 we were not required to buy a seat for her. As it turned out, the bassinet was a better way to go for us. The first flight Linh was sprawled out over 2 seats, so even if we had purchased one for the long flight she would have been squished. She was able to stretch out somewhat in the bassinet and sleep. Only her little feet were hanging over the sides. It was adorable. She was awake the first 3 hours and played and ate a lot of Cheerios. Then she fell asleep and we placed her into bassinet. John and I quietly clapped our hands. The sweet woman across the aisle also clapped her hands. Linh slept 3 hours during which time we tried to sleep. Then she was up another 3 hours, then she slept the last 3 1/2 hours of the flight. She barely cried- we worked to keep her occupied with toys, bottles, walking around, books, crayons - anything we could think of for her. We were so relieved to hear the captain announce we were preparing to land in Chicago. Once in Chicago, we went thru the immigration process. We submitted the paperwork that we had guarded since receiving at the US Embassy in Vietnam. The immigration officer looked it over then congratulated us and indicated that Linh's Certificate of Citizenship would arrive in the mail. She is now a U.S. citizen. We then picked up our luggage and went thru customs. We rechecked luggage and then went to gate to wait for the 45 minute flight to Detroit. We met a couple at the gate that had been on our flight from Korea. They told us that Linh did very good on the long flight. It was nice to hear that other passengers noticed. We finally boarded our final flight. Linh was immediately taken by the man next to me. He was very friendly and entertained Linh. He has 3 young grandchildren and was perfectly happy to sit next to a squirmy child. He was full of questions about Linh and Vietnam in 2009. He served in the airforce during the Vietnam War and was stationed for 7 months in Saigon (nka Ho Chi Minh). He helped to get her to sleep the last 20 minutes of flight. Thank you kind man!


After 28 hours of travel, then sitting in a car seat for the first time in her life during rush hour traffic through downtown Detroit, touring her new home, being greeted with hugs and kisses by family, what else could a 17 month little girl do but fall asleep on mommy's lap while sitting at the table?

We're heading home

Today is our last day in Hanoi. In fact, we leave in 9 short hours. Our bags are packed. Our little girl is napping. We have our paperwork ready. We will miss Vietnam but are anxious to come home.

Yesterday we went shopping in Old Quarter and then to Fanny's for ice cream before heading to another bookstore for a cookbook (for me) and a Vietnam architecture book (for John of course). After the rave reviews of the Vine, we decided to try it for dinner. The food was delicious and the service was wonderful. Linh had a high chair and the waitstaff brought her some toys. John and I tried to hurry up our meal before Linh became fussy- but it never happened- she was so quiet the entire meal. I think she enjoyed the music.

We went to Halong Bay on Sunday with another Holt family. They headed home this morning. Hope your flights are uneventful Ben and Elizabeth! The boatride was very nice and the bay was beautiful. I will post some pics when we get home tomorrow.

Another humid day in Hanoi

It is humid during the summer in Michigan but I think it is more humid here. Or maybe its because we are walking around carrying a 20 pound little girl. On average, John is taking 3 showers a day. Mostly because he is the one carrying Linh in the Baby Bjorn.

This morning John, Linh and I went to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. We had to take turns going in because Linh was too little. So John went first while me and Linh sat on the steps with about 5 or 6 men who talked to us. They were very friendly. Unfortunately my Vietnamese has not improved much since our drive from the airport 13 days ago. I know they asked our names and I told them. And I told them I was American and that Linh's father is American (they asked about her bo).

We had pizza from Jaspas for lunch. I never expected that I would be eating so much pizza in Vietnam. (I am not complaining) Then off to the U.S. Embassy. We had our interview and then were told to come back about one hour later to pick up visa. The woman interviewer did say that Linh looked like a very happy little girl and she was glad to see that. We walked down the street to a cafe and had some soft drinks and a hot sandwich of butter and sugar. Then we went back at 4pm and picked up Linh's passport with the visa in it. Yay! We can bring Linh home! Looks like we are staying until Tuesday as originally planned. No available flights from Seoul to Chicago.

Here are some pics-

Linh finishing breakfast.

Sound asleep Linh. Do the pj's look familiar Laura? Thanks cousin Emma.

Hanging out on the boat waiting for lunch.

Playing in the room with Daddy.

Happy Wednesday!

Today a second Holt family left for home. We are so happy for you Sheri and David! It has been such a fun week! I am so glad our travel overlapped.

We picked up Linh's passport today! Yay. One step closer to coming home. We also went back to the clinic for her health check. She did good. We saw the French doctor again and I think it helped to see a familiar face. Tomorrow is visa interview! Looking forward to that appointment!


Here are some random pics:

Linh posing with some police cadets at Ho Chi Minh museum


Me and Linh in front of Uncle Ho statue
Splashing in the water at a "park" by the lake.

The 4 moms and kids. Boy it is hard to get little kids to smile at the same time and look towards the camera.

Linh playing Supergirl one afternoon. I wish I could post the video of her laughing. It is adorable.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

I sat down to check email I realized that today is a holiday! Hope everyone is wearing their green back home!

Right now John and Linh are both taking naps. John has a sore throat and Linh is just sleepy. She had a long day yesterday. We went to the Pottery Village this morning after breakfast. It was a fun trip- about 20 minute cab ride from the city but definitely worth it. We couldn't find it in the guide book, but the manager at Al Fresco's who is extremely nice told John and me about it the first night we went for dinner. I picked up a number of souvenirs. Beautiful pieces all hand painted.

This afternoon we are going to have a pizza party for one of the families that is heading home tomorrow. We pick up Linh's passport tomorrow morning, then hopefully her visa on Thursday. At this point, it looks like we will be in Hanoi until next Tuesday unless seats become available on an earlier flight. That is ok- we still have places to visit.

Yesterday morning we went to old quarter and walked around. That was our first time in that area. We went to dinner with the 3 other Holt families for a traditional Vietnamese meal. The day before we went to war museum and visited the most prestigious hotel in Hanoi- Metropole Hotel. I think that was the same day John went for weazel coffee. I was not brave enough to try it. He of course will try anything- yesterday he had street food and some street beer. Oh yeah- one day he convinced me to ride on a motorbike too. That was a scary 5 minutes. Those that have been in Hanoi traffic would understand.

We did buy Linh the infamous squeky shoes! Thank you Jackie for reminding me! The first pair of shoes lasted only a couple of days (we lost the one on the motor bike). So we went back to the little shop downstairs and I looked for a size 3 (yes the footprint we were sent by agency was not correct size- so the size 6 I bought back at home are huge) and I found a cute pair, tried them on and Linh started walking and squeeking. I said those are the squeeky shoes! She loves putting them on in the morning. Sometimes when she is fussy about getting dressed, I hurry up and put her socks on and then her shoes and she calms down.

I know- everyone is waiting for pics. Here are a couple. One of the other families here emailed these to me. We went to Cafe Smile (a restaurant/ cooking school for former street children) and John ordered creme caramel. I believe he had one bite and our little Linh gobbled up the rest.

I will try to download some more later. I know I'm supposed to be the electronic whiz in the Austin household but not when it comes to downloading from my camera. We have a lot of camcorder video too. At night we review the day of Linh laughing. It is fun!

Update Day!!

We received our update for Linh yesterday or maybe Tuesday (Obviously I have been a very poor blogger these days). I posted a couple of the pics (last 2). I didn't expect the update, but it is great to have more pics of Linh!
John has been claiming to see a smirk here and there from Linh but this morning at breakfast we both saw real, honest to goodness smiles! She even laughed. It was wonderful. Today is the third full day with us.

She has not been feeling well- we took her to the SOS clinic yesterday. Holt VN staff set up appointment and brought us there. She had a cold which we had been treating with meds from orphanage, but it turned into bronchitis. So now we have new meds which we started last night. She seems to be feeling better today which may be why we finally saw a smile. There are 3 other Holt families here. It is great to meet after communicating online for so long. We are going to get a group picture of the kids tomorrow morning.

We did go to Hoam Kiem Lake one day and to the prison aka Hanoi Hilton on Sunday. We hope to get out a bit more once Linh is a little better. The last 2 days we have really kept a low profile and spent lots of time around hotel. We are really adjusting to being parents. I have to say, by the end of the day, John and I are both exhausted. Last night we stayed up until 9pm. Woohoo!

We have gone to Al Fresco's 2 times - they have really good pizza which I keep bringing back to hotel- it is a great snack. Sunday we also went to Big C. It was overwhelming- so many people. I will try to be better about updating blog. Here are some pics- I know that's what everyone is looking for-

Its Wednesday

We went to apply for Linh's passport this morning. We are doing well. Trying to adjust to each other. Linh eats a lot and sleeps without any problem. She is wobbly walking but she seems to like it. I have some pics below- I know everyone has been waiting. Sorry it took me so long.

We are here!

We arrived in Hanoi last night. Today we met another Holt family at breakfast and then went to the Big C to do some shopping. We took it easy this afternoon and walked around a bit to familiarize ourselves with the city.
Tomorrow morning- we meet Linh!! I will do my best to post some pics.

We are going to Vietnam!!!!

We received the most wonderful phone call yesterday! We have approval to travel to Vietnam. We are going to meet Linh on 3/9/09!!!
We are still on cloud 9!

We have our flights booked, our hotel requests submitted, visa applications on their way, re- fingerpint appointments in process. This weekend I will work on a game plan for the next 2 weeks of what we need to complete.

We are going to have the best weekend knowing that we are only a couple of weeks away from meeting Linh.

And we received these photos of Linh that were taken just last week! Look at how she has grown!

Good news last week for Hanoi families!

Last week we found out another family will be traveling soon to meet their daughter. We are so excited for them! Congratulations!!
It is wonderful to know more children are being united with their forever families. It has been three weeks since Tet and already it is a good new year!

And we wait some more

Monday is Tet which means everyone in Vietnam will be celebrating the New Year with their families and friends for a couple of weeks. John and I had a pre Tet dinner last night at a wonderful Vietnamese restaurant. The food was delicious. The chef was born in Vietnam and studied in France so there is a French influence to the traditional Vietnamese food on the menu.

We have reached week 10 waiting for PC approval. Since there will be celebrations for the next couple of weeks in VN, we will not hear anything from Hanoi until after 2/9 when everyone goes back to work.

I guess I have a bit more time to finalize the list of clothes I will be packing.

Good news today for Hanoi families!

Today I found out that three families have received travel approval to leave for Hanoi to meet their children! Congratulations to all of you! February is right around the corner.

On another note, we finally finished Linh's room. There may be a few other decorations that I add, but for the most part, its ready.