New pictures

I have some new photos of Linh to share. A family traveling to Hanoi was kind enough to bring the doll Linh is holding in the photos for us and send photos. It is so amazing to see her holding an item that was with me just a couple of weeks ago. Thank you Cathy for your thoughtfulness!!

Our wait seems to be getting longer

We have been told that approvals are taking longer right now in Vietnam. Our hope to be in Hanoi with Linh or home with Linh by Christmas may not happen. We heard from our agency that travel may still be this year, but it may not happen until January. We are not alone -there are at least 3 other families that I know of waiting to bring their children home from the same orphanage. It has been 18 weeks since we first saw Linh. I really hope we are more than half way through our wait.

I have one suitcase packed with gifts for the children at the orphanage, the staff, and officials. I used our large suitcase. I am relieved that I started shopping early. I have been able to find some good deals on gifts. I have the tissue paper, ribbon and just about all of the needed gift bags. There are a couple of gifts I still want to pick up- but since they are Sanders chocolates (made in Michigan) I need to wait until travel. Those of course will go in my carry on luggage. I suppose its good that I used a large suitcase- this way when we do travel we will have a lot of space for souvenirs from Vietnam! I tested out packing Linh's things and it appears I can fit everything into our smaller suitcase. Once her room is set, I will wash her clothes and pack the suitcase. John and I need to try to fit everything in one other large suitcase. We have another small one we can use but I just can't see us walking through an airport with 2 big suitcases, 2 small suitcases and 2 carryons. It sounds like so much luggage. Plus a baby on the way home!

We STILL have not finished bedroom which is why I have not posted photos. The freshly painted vent covers have been installed. It is amazing how much paint can accumulate on vent covers over 54 years. It took a number of steps to remove all the old paint before they could be painted white. The new light fixture is hanging. The walls are painted. The hold up is the casing for the door which John has removed, sanded and is restaining. And we need to finish painting is the floor molding. The plan is to finish that up this weekend. We'll see how it goes...

I600 Approval!!

I checked my email this morning before work - which I began doing about 25 working days ago when I found out our paperwork had been submitted to USCIS in Vietnam. To my surprise we had an email from the embassy indicating we are approved. Hard to believe it only took 22 days! Now we wait for approval of Linh's dossier by the MOJ. Then People's Committee Approval, then travel approval. We are one step closer to Linh. Maybe we will be home by Christmas with Linh?

In the meantime, work in her room has slowed. This week has been totally about preparing for John's sister's wedding. Her wedding is Saturday and John is standing up. We have worked on cookies, place cards, and tonight flowers. Sunday we will be back to finishing Linh's room. Then we'll post some photos.

Linh will be 1 yr old on 10/10. I sent a package to our agency and it will arrive next week in Vietnam. I'm sorry we won't be with her for her first birthday. But I know we will be with her for her next birthday and each one after that.

Update Day!

We received updates yesterday on Linh's progress! She is crawling around the room very fast to get toys and play with her friends. She can stand with support. She gained 2 1/2 lbs and grew 2 inches in 3 months. Her hair is a bit shorter too. Here are the updated photos from 8/6/08.

People really are good

I checked the Holt blog today (at work which I try really hard to limit). And I had a PM from another family adopting a little boy from Hanoi. They had received a video of their little guy. In the video is another child that he thought was Linh- based on her referral photos I posted. So I sent him my email. I am unable to check home email at work (security and all). As soon as I arrived home, I checked email and would you believe he already sent the video? It is about 1 minute in length and their little boy is the focus (very adorable baby about 1 month older than Linh) and there is another child in the background. Most of the time you just see 2 little legs moving around and the child is playing with a toy. But then the little baby turns around and it is Linh! There is no question about it. All that hair and those eyes!

I am so grateful to this family that sought me out to send me the video clip. We do not "know" each other and have never communicated before today. But they gave John and me a glimpse of baby Linh. It is wonderful to have this snippet of her.

I600 Submitted!

Yes, our I600 paperwork has been submitted to CIS in Vietnam! CIS typically takes about 60 working days to investigate orphan status. This means that the required child documents have been received from the Department of Justice and sent with our CIS paperwork for review.

This happens concurrently with the submission and review of Linh's dossier and the hopeful approval of the Peoples Committee.

Still Waiting

My mother and I went to Ikea today. I love that place! We filled up my Honda with goodies for Linh- a chair, rugs. and light fixture for her room, essentials like bibs, potty, step stool. Grammie of course picked up some soft toys for her. She couldn't resist. I came home and John arrived with a nearly new dresser from one of his Navy friends. It is perfect. We had planned on refurbishing the one I used growing up - but now we will have one less project. I will put new knobs on it to match the color in her room. We will try to paint her room the weekend after Labor Day. Then we can start loading the room up - I'm looking forward to that! It is going to be so fun putting it all together. It has been fun planning too!

Other than planning and shoppping- we are waiting for an email from Holt with some news. Hopefully we will hear something soon.