Christopher Thanh

New Blog

2010-03-02T09:37:00.000-08:00

We started a new blog for our daughter
Please go to
http://www.thomastales3.blogspot.com
to see our newest addition!

We are in!

2010-02-26T11:24:00.000-08:00

The stork is flying! It has been a long 4+ years but we have received word that referrals have been mailed & we are in! Freaking out!!! Hopefully we will get the call on Monday, Christopher's Birthday!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-23T10:43:00.000-08:00

Obsessions

2009-11-15T19:04:00.001-08:00

Christopher is BIG into fire trucks these days, fire trucks & Thomas the train!

Christopher is also still obsessed with his Bear Bear! He has 3 of them incase we lose one. They are Ty Beanie Bears that I have only been able to find on E*ay. He has always bitten the bear's nose & we have finally had to empty them of all their beads & restuff them.

The very first thing he says to me in the morning now is, "Mommy, I want Thomas!" He will continue to whine & whine about Thomas until I put him on. What is up with the Sprout network only airing 10 min videos of Thomas the Train throughout the day???!!!!

We recently went & looked at the fire trucks at our local park & I think he was a little disappointed that it was not red. It took him awhile to warm up to it but then we had to pull him out of the driver's seat.
Anytime he hears a siren, he says, "look Mommy, Firrrree truck!" & gets so excited. I would like to tell him that it is just some poor soul who probably just fell down & couldn't get up or someone who had a heart attack but something tells me he wouldn't care.

Lots of Changes!

2009-08-02T09:56:00.000-07:00

I never would have imagined life where it is right now. 3 years ago, things seemed kinda bleak. We had just turned our paperwork in for China & I had a terrible sinking feeling that it was going to be a very long wait. On April 11th 2009, we were officially LID 3 years. Never did I imagine it would be THIS long. I really started to see the writing on the wall at the beginning of 2007, that is when I secretly started researching concurrent adoptions. Our agency issued an email in Feb(?) of that year that they would allow concurrent adoptions or pregnancies if there was a space of 1 year between placement of children. When I read that email, I went full steam ahead. I was scared to death that we were not going to make the 1 year requirement, but we decided to risk it & give it a try. I am so glad we did. Christopher came home Aug 2007.

Last year we were given a wonderful opportunity & with the help of medical science I got pregnant. Never happened in the 5+ years we were trying. We were shocked pretty much the entire pregnancy. Once again, we were scared that we would not make the 1 year policy of our agency. After talking with our agency, we have been assured that we can go on hold to meet this requirement, IF needed. I am not convinced that we are going to have to go on hold & my agency seemed to think we might be alright. It is so sad that the China adoption process has slowed sooo much.

On Febuary 24th, we welcomed a beautiful baby girl into our family. Christopher is a big brother! He is finally warming up to her. For the longest time, he acted like she was just part of the furniture. Now, he talks to her, holds her hand & will kiss her forehead. He calls her "Sissa" or "Sissy". He is even letting me get some pics of them together now & he held her for the first time when she was 3 months old. He is such a good big brother & very loving to her, I cannot wait to see him with 2 sisters.

Eating Noodles & cheesing it up!

Christopher turned 2 this year & had a great birthday party @ McDonald's with his cousin.

Stroller Giveaway!

2009-05-28T08:43:00.000-07:00

Please go over to Heather's blog & donate, you could win a stroller & help build a new home!
Click HERE

VOTE FOR CHRISTOPHER!!!

2008-11-04T06:20:00.000-08:00

Remember this photo?

It is from Halloween 2007. I entered it in Laurie's photo contest to win a double stroller & he made it to finalist! Today is the last day to vote, so please go
vote for Christopher the Cowboy here ------ >>>> VOTE FOR CHRISTOPHER!

This year Christopher went as Elvis for Halloween. I did not get great pictures of him so sometime next week we are getting back in the costume, so I can get some good shots. He is doing great & into everything!!! He babbles ALOT & is very expressive with his hands. He has taken to calling me "MA!" instead of mommie. Bye Bye is his favorite word & he will usually give you lots of kisses while waving bye.

He had some Elvis glasses but refused to wear them.

We trick or treated downtown, then had a long night going door to door with his cousins in a local neighborhood. He was exhausted. He consumed 3 dum dum suckers throughout the day, which were his very first taste of a sucker. He loved them, but they didn't love him the next day. We had some stomach issues.

I promise to do better updating the blog, we have been busy getting our homestudy updated hopefully for the last time. Sometime next year, this little boy will be a big brother!

One Year Anniversary!

2008-08-14T19:12:00.001-07:00

Happy Christopher Day! Our 1st glimpse of our son was on April 17th 2007. We were both so overcome by emotion.

Our first pictures with Christopher.

It seems like yesterday that we met our little man, yet so much has changed since then. I cannot imagine life without him. We feel so blessed to be his parents. I spent the day looking over pictures and reminiscing about those first few months with him. It amazes us how much he has changed and grown. We squeezed him extra tight tonight when we put him to bed, is it possible to love him anymore than we already do? Happy "Forever Family Day" Christopher!

Vacation

2008-07-10T06:42:00.000-07:00

We just returned from a week in Florida and had a great time. Christopher loved the beach and waved to anyone who would pay attention to him. We bought him a 24 inch kiddie pool & he sat in it for hours playing with his toys.

My 2 favorite guys!

The first day of vacation, Christopher decided to start walking. He had been taking steps here and there but took off walking everywhere when we got to the condo. His balance was horrible that first day & within 2 hours he had busted his lip and fallen flat on his face on the tile floor. Notice the bruise under his eye in the picture. The bear in the picture is Christopher's favorite, it can comfort him in most situations. He carries it around in his mouth, biting his nose. He talks to it at nap time endlessly. He loves this bear so much that I found 2 more online and bought them for him. We keep 1 in the crib, 1 in the den & 1 in the closet as backup.

Wild hair after a nap!

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-11T06:33:00.000-07:00

Happy, Happy Mother's Day to my Mom, Mother in Law, Sisters and Sister in Law! Also, a special Happy Mother's Day to all those soon to be moms who are waiting to bring their little ones home. I know the pain you are feeling on this day. Every year that passed without a child, I wondered if we would ever have a family of our own.

This is my first Mothers Day and as I was rocking Christopher to sleep last night, I was overcome with my love for him. We are truly blessed with him.

These are 2 pics from our latest photo session! LOVE THIS BABY!

13 months!

2008-04-08T19:42:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, I am a really bad blogger! But this post is pic HEAVY! I will try to do better!
Christopher is 13 months old! He is doing great! At the last well child visit,

*He weighed 19.5 lbs

*He was 29 3/4 inches long. I think that he has grown a good bit since that visit especially in height.

*His hair has taken off. It is now laying down on his head instead of sticking straight up. I kinda miss it sticking up :(

*He is cruising around the coffee table often.

*He says Mama, Dada, and tonight said, night night.

*Loves music

*Cries when he hears another baby crying.
* Is very, very ticklish.

*Hates anything sweet but can eat his weight in veggies.

*Will NOT take a sippy cup.

Christopher had a Cookie Monster themed birthday party. We decided to give the sesame street underdog a chance and choose Cookie instead of Elmo. He had a great birthday! It is hard to believe that he turned 1. He has changed sooo much since he came home.

We tried to get him to eat some of his cake but all he wanted to do was squish it between his fingers. He is not a sweet eater, which is good for my waist line.

Already sooo tired from all the attention of his birthday!

This baby is very lazy when it comes to holding his bottle. He perfers you do it for him and will take maybe 2 sips out of a sippy cup. These pics were taken after we both got up from a nap. I had to get ready for work and he was still super tired and just a little bit whiney. He would not hold his bottle so I got creative with 1 of his birthday gifts. Thanks Spidey! He stayed like this for at least 2 minutes, NO JOKE!

Christopher has some serious teeth! I remember the last pics that we got of him before we left for Vietnam. I could make out at least 2 teeth in the pictures. I was so sad that I missed his first teeth. We were very surprised to discover that he had 5 teeth when we got him back to the hotel. That was 5 teeth at 5 months! Last month, we had 1 really bad week with sleep. Once again, it was those darn teeth. 4 of them coming in at once. His upper eye teeth are coming in and to our surprise his upper molars are coming in too. This week, I was looking in the his mouth and teeth #13 & 14 (molars) are soon to make their appearance on the bottom. He hates to have you brush his teeth and he will clamp down very quickly if a finger is anywhere near his mouth.

Love my daddy!

2008-02-19T19:47:00.000-08:00

I lied! There is no sleeping through the night at my house for anyone. It happened for a short period and, poof it was gone.
Just posting some pics today, but will post more later. Mr. Christopher has a birthday coming up! I cannot believe that he is going to be 1! He is such a little man & crawling all over the place.

11 months!!!!

2008-02-01T20:47:00.000-08:00

11 months today and . . . .

* WE FINALLY STARTED CRAWLING TODAY!!!! WOO HOO!
* 18lbs
* 29 inches long
* Eating solid food
* Sleeping through the night (most of the time, but don't tell anyone!)

I have offically lost my camera, planning to tear the home apart this week for the 2nd time. Please send positive finding thoughts our way.

Santa! Santa!

2007-12-27T20:04:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning, I asked Christopher if he wanted to go see what Santa left him and this was his beautiful face. I just happened to catch it on camera at the right moment. Every time I would say, "Santa, Santa!" He would burst out laughing.

He always looks so different to me in pictures. He has so many different expressions and 1 minute he looks like a little baby and the next a big boy. We sure do love him!

The Sunday before Christmas, we got together with my college friends. Christopher loved being around all the other children and the best was that he got to see Santa again. He loves to pull on his beard and climb all over him. Santa made a special trip to the party to see all the children and brought a gift for everyone.

Later after Santa got to relax, Christopher was still so excited, that he dropped his drawers for him. It was hilarious! My friends turned the Christmas party into a mini surprise baby shower for Christopher. So he got double the gifts.

It seems as if Christopher is always fighting off some type of bug. When we got home on Christmas night, he woke up from a short nap with a 104.2 fever. Here we go again! We are back on breathing treatments and throwing up due to snot is once again a daily activity in our lives. How does a baby who mostly stays home get all these bugs? We are off to the doctor in the morning. What will the diagnosis be this time?

Hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Sick, sick, sick!

2007-12-11T00:32:00.000-08:00

It started out rather slowly. The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, Christopher finished eating his dinner and started coughing. He then proceeded to throw up his dinner. I assumed he got choked and didn't think much else of it. He took his night time bottle and then went to bed.

The next morning, he started coughing again & threw up after his morning bottle. By mid morning, he had thrown up 2 more times. We called the pediatricians office and started the pedialyte for 12 hours. He slept most of the day and was listless but kept the pedialyte down.

During the night, he spiked a 103 fever and was up most of the night. We made an appt and went to the ped the next morning. Christopher acted happy and was all smiles for his doctor. She said it was probably viral and would run it's course. I asked about the flu and she said, "Oh, he doesn't have the flu, he is too happy for the flu. But we will swab him if you would like."

Well, guess what? He had the FLU and tested positive for both strains A & B. The office was impressed, they had not seen that yet this season. We were house bound on Thanksgiving and by that point I was not feeling too well. Our Thanksgiving dinner, consisted of chocolate chip cookies and vanilla ice cream.

By Friday, Christopher had spiked another 103.5 temp during the night and was getting Tylenol and Advil every 3 hours to keep the temp down. He was absolutely miserable and the coughing/throwing up episodes were happening at least twice a day and once during the night. He could not be laid down flat or he would start coughing which would result in throwing up in a matter of seconds. It didn't matter if he was awake or asleep. The throwing up was the worst, I cannot tell you how many times I had him practically upside down, trying to help him get it up and watching him gasp for air and turn blue. He scared me so many times.

Saturday, he woke up and his breathing had changed. He was wheezing pretty good and the throwing up continued. Thankfully, our ped is open half days on Saturday. He got a respiratory treatment in the office and then we got admitted to the hospital.

We spent Saturday and most of Sunday on the pediatric unit, where he got IV fluids and fought fluctuating 103.7 temp for 12 hours. Once we would get it down it would then shoot back up. Christopher hates any medicine. So, between taking meds every 3 hours, throwing up every couple of hours, resp treatments every 4 hours, vitals every 4 hours, lab draws, general crying and listlessness, there was no sleep - in a nutshell it was horrible and terrifying. There truely is nothing worse than a sick baby.

In the hospital, he still managed to find some play time after the fever was down.

Sick as a dog but still playing.

We changed our follow-up ped/hospital admission appt from Wed to Tues. due to another night of 103 + temps and a bout of bronchospasms that lasted about 20 mins the night before. Finally we got on an antibiotic and had our first night of 4 hours of sleep that night. They were afraid that after 7 days of fever that something else was starting to brew.

10 days later and finally life is getting somewhat back to normal. Christopher lost about 3 lbs during his illness but is almost back to eating the amt. he was before.

His 8th tooth also broke through during the whole flu fiasco and I never even noticed. I am sure it only made the fever worse.

Our new playtime activity, respiratory treatments.

We finally have our tree up and somewhat have the house decorated. I have done most of my shopping over the internet during the last week, and I hope to be done soon. Christopher is doing so much better and I hope that this is it for awhile. He has fought one infection after another since August and we are all so ready for a healthy baby.

Christmas photos up next!!!

Ear Tubes

2007-11-05T13:42:00.000-08:00

Christopher got ear tubes today. We were there at 6 am but he didn't have the actual procedure done until 8:10 am. We had to delay the surgery cause the lovely nurse who did our pre registration told me I could give him a bottle up until 3 am. I asked twice and clarified, "Up to 3 am, he can have a bottle?" "Yes." I asked again and she wrote it on the pre op paperwork. Bottle til 3 am. WRONG! Only clear fluids til 3 am, which I knew was right but once again, I asked her TWICE. Oh, well!

The actual procedure lasted 10 min. I got my first real feeling of mommy panic when they said that the doctor would come and talk to us. About 10 bad case scenarios went flying through my brain in a 20 sec time period. But he did well, both ears had fluid in them and were drained. He was extremely fussy afterwards and broke out in a rash from the Atropine, so we were there for a little bit longer observing him. Any time he has had anything invasive done, he gets really pale and looks hypotensive, which freaks me out. He has some bloody drainage from the right ear, which is the one that was sooo bad in Vietnam. We came home and all 3 of us slept for 3 hours. Christopher was out of it. Hopefully, we will all start sleeping through the night now and there will be no more pulling and clawing at his ears. He is a real trooper and such a sweetie.

Our little Gun Slinger

2007-11-01T20:22:00.000-07:00

"Enough with the pictures lady, don't make me call the posse!"

Christopher layed back after a long day on the range and let mommie collect the candy.

October Happenings

2007-10-16T09:33:00.000-07:00

Halloween Preview

We took Christopher to the park the other day. He was more interested in the little girl swinging beside him than anything. But, mommie and daddy had fun.

He has been doing better, today was the last day of ANOTHER antibiotic. We have an ENT consult on Friday and the possibility of tubes look good. Hopefully, we can get him healthy before the winter season begins.

He is definetely getting bigger and the clothes he was wearing in VN are almost too short for him. He is not a great eater and cannot stand the canned fruits and hates rice cereal and oatmeal. Vegetables are ok, but still not too happy with the canned baby food overall.

Screams bloody murder most of the time. Meal time is fun! He much prefers table food, which I can't say I blame him.

Princess Leia?

Time to put the bouncy seat away. A couple of weeks ago, I came into the room and saw him completely leaned forward putting his head underneath the toy bar and laughing.

Sleepers

2007-09-29T21:01:00.000-07:00

Sweet, sweet! I had to go get the camera.
What is it about sleepers and babies that is sooo cute? I just love to see Christopher in his sleeper at night and his cuteness just overwhelms me. We are currently working on sitting up. He is getting stronger everyday and is so close to sitting up all on his own.

He has been sleeping through the night for the last 2 weeks and it has been great for everyone.

Happy Baby!

2007-09-18T05:47:00.000-07:00

His new thing is sticking his tongue out. Yesterday it was out of his mouth about 80% of the time. We are still working on the night time feedings, hopefully once he feels better we will get it all sorted out. We are back to the ped today for another shot. He definitely feels better but is still digging at his ears. I love his smile, his whole face lights up & if you are lucky, you may catch a glimpse of some of his 6 teeth!

Night time is the Enemy for the Ears!

2007-09-15T20:26:00.000-07:00

Well, the past few nights have been hell. Christopher has been up every 2 hours screaming and unable to console, he will only sleep for 15-30 min naps after spending at least 30 min to get him down. He claws at his ears so bad that they are bleeding inside and is truely MISERABLE at night. After a round of antibiotics in VN & 10 days of Amoxicillian here, we were back at the pediatrician Saturday morning. He still has fluid in the left ear and the right ear is "a mess" to quote the doctor. So, 1 IM shot of Rocephin and I pray we are on the way to a healthy baby. Tuesday, we go back in for another shot of Rocephin and Thursday we have our first official new baby appt at the ped, even though we will have been there 3 times already by then. I was so glad that he got the shot and we are being more aggressive. He is just miserable at night and Firday night was the worst. Ater the appt and shot, he napped on his own for two 1 1/2 hour naps and went down easily tonight. We just want him to get healthy and well. Still he is such a sweet and happy baby during the day, he plays and and greets us with many smiles. He weighed in at 16.5 lbs today which is a 2.5 lb gain since VN. Hopefully, we are on the road to recovery.

Daddy and Christopher taking a break from fighting sleep & crying in the house. Charlie is checking them out.

Christopher in his new used bumbo from Ebay!

2007-09-10T19:32:00.000-07:00

Sniffing each other out at their daily meet and greet.

Trying out my elephant chair.

In 1 week, Christopher has developed 2 bald spots. One at the back of his head and the other just on top. When he wakes up from naps he will have little baby hairs on his face. Kinda sad to see his sweet baby hair go.

Trying Cereal

2007-09-07T05:40:00.000-07:00

The spoon is a teething toy, right?

He is not too sure about the cereal but will take a big bite into the spoon and hold on soo tight. We are managing to get a few bites down and enjoying them despite the unhappy face in the pics. Every day brings more consistency and we are SLOWLY getting on a schedule and feeling better around here.

We are home!

2007-09-04T21:13:00.000-07:00

We arrived home on Saturday morning, it was all a blur. The flights went really well and we had bulk head seating with a bassinet on the long flight from Taipei to Seattle. We got stuck in immigration in Seattle with 1 slow poke processing paperwork and almost missed our plan home to Atl, but we made it. We had a 7 hour layover in Taipei and for anyone going, I strongly suggest looking for the Hello Kitty nursery rooms. My sister and I camped out in the nursery for the majority of our layover. The room consisted of 2 changing stations, sink, free diapers, purified water system, 2 couches, nursing station with couch and lots of Chinese people obsessed with Hello Kitty peeking into the room. It was great and we took over the room and relaxed and spread out. I guess they are not familiar with nurseries as several people came in just to take pictures.
We went to the pediatrician today and like we suspected, Christopher has an ear infection. I also went to the doctor today and was diagnosed with an ear infection too. We are both on antibiotics for 10 days. Christopher has also broken out with some severe exema on his face and we got some steroid cream for his face. He has not been sleeping well and is back to the every other hour of waking up during the night. We are reliving the early Vietnam days but thank God we are home. He is currently on the couch and has been in a sleeping coma for the last 8 hours getting some much needed sleep. He just doesn't feel good and has been through sooo much. Even sick, he has the best personality and is so sweet and giving smiles. More pictures coming soon. The house is a wreck and we don't know if we are coming or going. The good news is he gained a pound and weighed in a 15 lbs!

2007-08-29T01:53:00.000-07:00

The power went out in the hotel yesterday for half the day. We still had lights but no air and the elevator wasn't working. The weather hasn't been too bad here and it has rained for the last few days, but as soon as that air stops blowing, You feel it! Here is a pic of the power line outside our hotel. How they ever figure out which line goes where, I will never know. They are all just a jumbled mess.

There are bikes everywhere and the men will just sprawl across them and sleep.

Chicken anyone?

There are now 8 families here with babies, the oldest being a 1 year old. We have overrun the place. My sister and I are shopping til we drop and fall in bed at night. Christopher is such a good baby and puts up with us dragging him all over the city . He loves his Aunt Cathy and she is teaching us both lots of songs. Rubber Ducky is one of his favorites and we sing it all day long. Much better than me singing Madonna to him when I run out of songs. We have 2 more days here and are making the most of them, but are so ready to come home. We are dreading the airport journey and are hoping the time passes quickly. We will arrive home this weekend and cannot wait to see our loved ones faces!

Another shopping day

2007-08-25T06:48:00.000-07:00

I love to get some kisses!

Another shopping day in Vietnam! Lots of walking today. We went to a local market here that was overwhelming, but we didn't buy a thing. We were quite the attraction though and were surrounded by friendly Vietnamese women just wanting to touch Christopher and see him. They are very supportive of adoption and love to see the babies. Everywhere we go, the people are happy and smiling at us and telling us how beautiful he is and asking about him.

I love snuggle time after my baths!

2007-08-23T17:16:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts. It seems that I have caught Christopher's bug and now can really sympathize with his apparent misery of the last week. After several nights of limited sleep and q 2 hour feedings, it was all I could do to get thru the day. We went through a 2 day rough patch of Christopher refusing feeding anything over 1 - 1 1/2 ounce but we have now seen the light. Last night he ate and kept down 5 oz and slept for 4 hours, then ate 4 oz and slept for another 4 hours. This is huge. We have turned a corner He is off antibiotics and obviously feels better. He has more smiles and laughter and is beginning to really snuggle in. We have seen a complete turn around and are so grateful to God for Christopher. He is a fighter and such a sweet little boy.

Yesterday was a big day! We got our final US approval and we are officially a family! It was an unexpected phone call to rush to the Embassy for our 2nd INS interview. We sped over in a taxi and expect to get Christopher's visa tonight at our celebration dinner.

However, we will be in Vietnam until the end of the month. There are no available return flights so we will just explore and enjoy our time in our son's birth country. There is plenty of shopping to do and sites to see.

I got an aromatheraphy a massage (75 min), manicure and pedicure the other day. All for the low price of $24.00. The massage was great! She painted my toes first and put a flower on EACH toe nail. When it got time to do my fingernails, I asked for no flower. Well, guess what I got? A flower on each fingernail. I like to call them, hooker nails. Notice them in the above photo.

One of our favorite places to eat.

My Aunt Cathy

Random photos

2007-08-21T07:43:00.001-07:00

Catholic Cathedral 1 block from hotel. We were going to go to mass on Sunday, but the entire day, I thought it was Saturday. Jet lag sux.

Local Bride sweating her butt off at museum photo shoot

Hoan Kiem Lake--->

Party of 5! The traffic here is crazy. There are NO rules and you drive whereever there is space. Horns honk every second, literally. There is almost always 2-3 people on the motorbikes or they are carrying something. We saw one carrying a flat screen TV. Crossing the street is very scary. You just have to go for it and pray you don't get hit.

shopping day-Monday

2007-08-20T07:32:00.000-07:00

Love those toes!

Last night Christopher rolled over for the first time for us. Unfortunately, it was at 1:30 in the morning and he couldn't get back over so we all were woken up. But, what a great moment. I just had to sneak a picture before helping him out. I am sure he really appreciated it. LOL!

We call this the grandpa pant look!

Today was a shopping day for us. You can get so many things for little to nothing $ wise here. We already have filled a suitcase with all our great finds. I am having velvet and silk coats made for him and his cousin which were $14 each. I also have been using my hotsling, which he loves, and am going to have her make me some extra's. The people here are so talented, it is simply amazing. She is having the jackets completed in 2 days and the hotslings will be done in 1-2 days also.

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for Christopher's health. We have been having eating issues and he is not taking as much as the other babies here are. But today was a better day and he is very alert and active. One day at a time. He gives us many grins and loves to be kissed. He is very ticklish, especially under the chin.

I wish that I could read the comments while we are here but please keep posting them. To whomever left the directions to video store - My sis forwarded it to me, Thank you!

Friday

2007-08-18T15:48:00.000-07:00

Friday, we went to the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology. We were hoping it was air conditioned but no such luck. It was very interesting and had many exhibits of the different tribes. We were unsure what village that Christopher was from and one of the girls working at the shop asked us. We showed her some of our paperwork that had his town on it and she told us he was Tay. It was nice to be able to identify his specific ethnic group and see the exhibits about the Tay.

Christopher does not do well in the heat and looked just plain miserable at the museum. His body temperature rises + he is not 100% yet. We are trying to stick to a/c or very short ventures out for him. We have 2 more days of antibiotics and hope they do the trick for him. After we got home, we put him in a nice luke warm bath to cool him off which helped. He loves a bath!

Christopher has to know what is going on around him. He is scooping out the Martinez Family and their baby Nicholas.

Multi-tasking. The fruit here is wonderful, just don't eat the skins. Daily, I have been having wonderful fruit smoothies. You can get them at most restaurants and they have a variety of choices. Every day, the hotel brings us a plate of fruit that we quickly devour. We are not sure what we are eating but it is still very good.

Shoes we purchased at the museum shop, they are a little big!

Me, pitch a fit? Never happens!

GT HAT

2007-08-16T23:40:00.000-07:00

For My Papa

2007-08-16T05:21:00.000-07:00

What do you do when a baby spits his entire bottle on you, ALL over you? Jump in the shower with him, of course!

This has been a once a day occurence here. Between the antibiotic, gas drops, tylenol, eating and pitching a fit when being given all the above ~ Spit Happens!

Today was our 1st INS interview, it went very well and was not all that bad. It was over and done with in a little over an hour with 3 families being interviewed. Because of staffing, our papers will be sent to Ho Chi Minh on Monday, instead of Friday. We have the weekend free and need to figure out what exactly we are going to do.

Random photos from the last few days.

We at at Al Fresco's tonight. Dean had the ribs and I had the beef quesdillas. Very western & very good. It was a little pricey but we enjoyed it. Our dinners has mostly been $10 for the 2 of us. But tonight, we had an appetizer of nachos, fruit smoothies and dinner for the 2 of us was around $30. We walked to the Catholic Cathedral after dinner and are planning to go back tomorrow and explore that area more. Christopher & Dean after walking the streets of Hanoi. Notice the sweat stains on both.

1st night

2007-08-15T06:58:00.001-07:00

Last night Christopher was up about every 3-4 hours. When sleeping, he is a very good sleeper and sometimes I think he sleeps too much. He has been running a low grade temp and seems very uncomfortable & unconsolable at times. He has been through alot. Yesterday, he was thrust into our arms (complete strangers). He was taken from all that was familiar to him; sights, sounds, smells, touch, everything is new and scary to him. Who are these people kissing me on the face and neck and whispering in a strange language in my ear? For all that he has been through - he seems as if he is doing well and coping through the unknown. He really is a sweet baby and coo's to himself and is still always playing with those hands. He has 2 bottom teeth, and 2 top teeth, 1 on top is just now popping through. When we got him, he had little to no muscle tone especially in his arms. We have seen a difference in just 1 day of being with him. He can hold his head up and does that well. He is not pushing up yet when we have him on his tummy. But he is improving every day.We took him to the SOS clinic today and they diagnosed him with an Upper Respiratory infection. He has started to pull at his ears some and has an occasional cough. He weighed 14 lbs and was 26 inches long. He absolutely HATES all medicines and hated the doctor touching him today and assessing him. He can go from 0-60 with one drop of Tylenol on his tongue, it really is crazy to watch the personality change so quickly. He definetely has spunk. Tomorrow, we have our first INS interview with the US govt. Dean applied for Christopher's passport today and it should be ready sometime next week. We wish that we would have brought some movies or something, it is easy to get stir crazy in the hotel. You can only take so much of the outside heat and street peddlers, so you have to stay inside. We are hoping to do some sight seeing this weekend.
Blogger won't let me post photos, so more pics tomorrow

Gotcha day!

2007-08-14T13:13:00.000-07:00

We have waited a long time to write that word, Gotcha! I am just going to start posting pics cause I know that is what everyone wants anyway. The caretaker brought Christopher out first and it was quite unexpected when she breezed into the room holding him. He was very calm and just taking it all in. I will have to right in more detail when it is not 3 am. Tomorrow, we go to SOS clinic for eye infection, wheezing, fever, body rash that is all for now. We are so in love with him! He has a great little personality and calms very easily.

Being held by me for first time
After G&R ceremony, he was changed into clothes that we brought for him.
The long van ride home. Christopher slept most of the way home.

Chillin'

My beautiful face after spitting up nearly all my dinner on Dad!

Crib!

2007-08-13T04:37:00.001-07:00

So wonderful to get a crib in the room today and also so odd. We have waited so long for this day and to have it upon us feels so strange. We are gathering our baby supplies & orphanage items for the trip tomorrow morning. We are leaving at 5:30 am and will probably be back some time in the afternoon. I am going to try to take lots of pics and video and hopefully the jet lag will be gone by then. Today we bought some formula & wash cloths. We walked to a big indoor mall and didn't buy a thing. It is cheaper on the streets. We have actually not done much shopping at all yet - this jet lag thing is hard. We are off to shop and have some dinner. We had breakfast in the hotel this morning, it was pretty good. But I think something made me sick from it - could it be the fried spring rolls? Everything else I had was western (eggs). We had lunch at Little Hanoi today and it was very good. They have mostly a western menu with a few VN items. Dean had a cheeseburger and I had some spagetti Pomadora. We will be going back. It was filled with tourists, which is a good sign for the tummy.

Tomorrow is Christopher DAY!!!! We are so happy!

Window with a view

2007-08-12T18:56:00.001-07:00

This is the view outside our window. It is amazing to see all the people. I can't even differentiate which house is which, let alone how many people live in each. Today, we are off to explore.

The Hong Ngoc

We made it!

2007-08-12T01:02:00.000-07:00

Our Stash (1/2 baby supplies & 1/2 mommy/daddy supplies)

The Bathroom (bring plenty of outlet converters)
Desk area, where I blew a fuse in the first 15 mins in the room! Whoops!

The living room

Driving by the lake on the way to the hotel

After 30 hours of travel time, we have made it to Vietnam! The best flight was the longest, we slept for 8 hours - it was pure exhaustion. We met up with the 2 other families at the airport once we were in Taipei. We are staying at the Hong Ngoc Hotel and it is lovely. I have included some pics. Today has consisted of resting, eating and JET LAG! We met with Martin, our coordinator while here and the G & R is scheduled for TUESDAY! We leave the hotel at 5:30 in the morning, which would be evening back home. We will travel to Lang Son (3 hour drive) and meet Christopher. Then we will go to the Justice department for the G & R ceremony. After the ceremony, Christopher will be legally ours in the eyes of Vietnam. They expect for us to be back sometime in the afternoon & hopefully apply for Christopher's passport the same day.We are super excited and extremely exhausted at this point. Tomorrow is all about catching up on sleep and preparing for baby, if that is possible.

Thank you to all our family that has helped us and supported us throughout this process!

Night Night!

We got the Call!!

2007-08-09T12:09:00.000-07:00

Wednesday at 12pm, we got the get your tickets call! Not only did they tell us to get our tickets but, "can you get to VN by Sunday?" This sent us into a flurry of activities: calling 3 travel agents for quotes, simultaneously using the cell and home phone, running through the house bumping into furniture while shoving items in drawers and closets. So much for being organized at home before we left. Did I mention that we both had to work last night and I had to work a 12 hour shift (7p-7a). Plus when I got home this morning, our air was out! (please refer to My Luck post below)

So, Saturday night (Sun morn VN time) we will be in Hanoi! With a possible G&R date of Monday or Tuesday or ? ? ?. I think most of us in the adoption world know how being given a definite date for anything goes! LOL!

Please pray for us that we arrive safely and have a speedy flight. Neither of us have ever flown this far, so it will definetely be interesting. We hope to have Christopher by Tuesday at the latest! It will be a very emotional day. We are traveling with 2 other families and we are all receiving boys. I cannot wait to meet the families and get some pictures of our boys together. These precious boys have spent the first few months of their lives together. We hope to stay in touch so that when they get older they will always have a connection to their past through each other.

To Kate, Charisa and Kari- I hope your travel dates come soon and we will all meet in VN!

Off to pack!!!!!

Green Light!!!!

2007-08-08T10:42:00.000-07:00

Got Shots?

2007-08-07T09:47:00.000-07:00

NO, not this kind of shots! Today, we went to the infectious disease doctor and got our travel shots. We wavered back and forth on whether or not to get shots and finally I left it up to whether we could get an appt or not. So, what did we get? We both got the Hepatitis A shot and I got the Tetanus. Hubby got the tetanus last year. We will get the 2nd series of Hep A in a year and that will give us lifetime immunity.

We discussed the Typhoid and the doctor felt like we would not be at risk for it being primarily in Hanoi. He gave us a preventative antibiotic for diarrhea and an antibiotic if we get diarrhea. Sounds like our chances of getting it are pretty high, but at least we got antibiotics.

He also suggested lots of immodium! All this for the low, low price of $300!

We are still waiting on the travel call and pray that it comes today! It was a pretty rough and emotional at my house this past weekend. This is the toughest part yet. We just want to travel. I will take whatever intestinal bug that I get if it means getting Christopher home. So, please continue to pray that all our travel dates are coming soon!

Get Your Visa!

2007-08-02T10:51:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, we got the GET YOUR VISA call! It was very unexpected and exciting! Still no word on travel dates ~ and I really don't expect any word til next week. But keep you fingers, toes and nose hairs crossed that we will hear soon!

Christopher, we are coming!

Do you see what I see?

2007-07-31T15:05:00.000-07:00

Do you see what I see? What could it be? But 2 little teeth sprouting forth!

(Yes, my son is in a pink puffed sleeve onesie and he wears it well!)

My Luck

2007-07-25T08:08:00.000-07:00

Ok, let me describe how my past month has been.

~Nursery furniture arrived with nicks and doors misaligned etc. Furniture repairman came out and fixed the nicks etc. New doors and top are on order due to arrive, who knows when!

~My dryer broke. I bought a new dryer, when I turn it on it sounds like fingernails on a chalk board. I am getting another new dryer today that I had to pay $50 more for cause they no longer had the one I bought in stock.

~Bought a dyson for all that dog hair. It works great but I have a problem with the visual electrical spark that snaps everytime it is in use. They are sending me a new one.

~I have had a computer armoire on order for about 4 months. It usually takes about 6-8 weeks for the furniture to come in . I called at 7 weeks. Guess what, it is discontinued. Nobody knew! DUH! So order a different armoire, 6 weeks later and it came yesterday. The doors are

SCREWED UP! Delivery men in my house for 2 hours trying to fix it, not listening to me about what the problem is, then they finally leave. Looks like they are probably going to order me a new one. Let me guess, I will get it in October.

~Travel notices came out for families who were DTV right along with us and we were not one of them. So I pray, I wait, I cry, I stare, I snap, I yell, I cry then repeat the whole process again. Meanwhile, my son is still sleeping on a bamboo mat. Am I emotional? Damn straight!

So tonight, I am going out with the girlfriends from work and having a couple of these! Hope I don't cry in my margarita, it would ruin the taste.

How you doin?

2007-07-13T14:02:00.000-07:00

Pretty Crazy over here! We are waiting word on travel and the speculation alone of, "Is today the day I will get the call?", has been enough to send me over the edge. There is still so much to do but I would drop it all to start making travel plans. I have started packing and we have ordered our new crisp $ for the trip. I have the visa applications, passports and passport pics by the door ready to send. The nursery is still a work in progress as is the rest of the house. He has a crib and a co-sleeper, formula, diapers + parents to kiss and love him, so what else does he need?

TO COME HOME!

Godspeed, little man!

The Nursery!

2007-06-29T14:19:00.000-07:00

Room Before
Christopher's room started out a deep pink color. We knew that that wouldn't work for a little boy, so the room got painted a nice green color that I hope he will like. This was the beginning of the painting fiasco that I have managed to span out over several weeks. I still have trim to do, clean up on the floors around the trim and a few places on the ceiling. Hopefully, motivation will strike again soon. This was my art work that I took a picture of to use for a scrapbook page for Christopher's scrapbook.

We love the cribs and I think they look great in the nursery. Why do we have 2 cribs? Well, we are still awaiting our little girl from China. We are anticipating a referral in August of 2008. So we went ahead and got her crib and set it all up. The baby bedding is from Target, Amy Coe "Hush A Bye Baby" collection. Except I got mine off of Ebay. They are sold out in the stores.

Now, I need to finish the trim, find a rug and get things put away. I also need some sort of art work for the walls. Any suggestions?
The other pieces of furniture have problems! We got a door chest and dresser. We are waiting for a repairman to come out and assess the furniture and see if he can fix it. Guess what I am not accepting that and I am demanding new furniture. The furniture store has been great about this and we are using the furniture til we get new. I was so disappointed that our furniture came directly from the factory with VISIBLE flaws. I will upload the pics of them later to show. So now I have a ?.
Do we keep the chandelier? I am looking into the chandelier shades for the lights and will give it a deep cleaning and paint the gold part at the top a darker color. Or should we go for some ceiling fan of some sort?

2007-06-23T19:01:00.000-07:00

We got 3 new pictures of Christopher on Monday, June 18th. This is our 3rd set of pictures we have received. He really looks good! We even commented how he looks like he just got a bath and they combed his hair. In 2 of the pictures, he is playing with his hands. This, I am told, is developmentally appropriate and is good! He looks like a deep thinker. We have not gotten any pictures of him smiling or even really a hint of a smile. He looks very serious. We cannot wait to get him giggling and smiling!

We had our 2nd shower today for him and got alot of great gifts! The shower was great! Thank you to my family for throwing a great shower! I need to take a picture of all his loot. He really got great stuff!

Christopher's furniture is being delivered on Monday. Our house is a wreck so hopefully, we can get better organized and get things put away. Once we get things settled, I will post some pics of the nursery. Our dossier has been in VN for 6 weeks now, we are still hoping for travel in late July or early August! So, keep your fingers crossed!

Thank you Moore Family

2007-05-30T14:21:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much to the Amanda and Bill Moore! They are currently in Lang Son awaiting their G&R date for their beautiful baby, Thuy! They were kind enough to take a care package for our son with them to Vietnam. She even posted a picture! If you look close you can see that our gift is the one in the front. We appreciate this more than you know and are looking forward to a new picture of Christopher!

We sent the cutest little whale outfit, a football rattle and a disposable camera. We know that we may not get the camera back but we are hopeful! The outfit is a 3-6 month outfit, so it will probably be big on him. At least, I will be able to guesstimate on what size he may be in if I get a picture of him in this outfit. I just love the little whale on the tush of this outfit!

Thank you so much to the Moore's! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Introducing Christopher Thanh

2007-05-16T12:10:00.000-07:00

We started this blog to document on journey to Vietnam to adopt our son, Christopher Thanh. His Vietnamese name is Thanh. Thanh is currently in an orphanage in Lang Son, Vietnam. Our baby boy was born March 1, 2007. Here is a preview of Mr. Christopher.

Our family and friends have been given multiple pictures of him! Once he is in our arms in Vietnam, we will post full pictures of him. We are very excited and plan to update this blog on a daily basis while we are in Vietnam.

Where is Langson? Lang Son is a province in Northern Vietnam on the border of China.