We've come to our fifth day in Hanoi, our 12th day of the trip. Julia is doing much better during the day, but is not sleeping well at night. That is leaving Doug and I exhausted. This morning was a difficult one, at least for me. I am finding it a little stressful and discouraging that we don't know exactly when we will be going home. On Monday, we pick up Julia's passport and go for her medical exam. We have also been given permission to email a person at the US Consulate on Monday and see if we can gain any info on when we can expect approval for Julia's visa. We are hoping to hear that we can expect it soon!
The day got better when we went to visit the Temple of Literature. This was a temple built in 1070 and dedicated to Confucius, in addition to being Vietnam's first university. In addition to the temple, it has five large courtyards with beautiful gates separating them. It was fascinating to see something so old with such beautiful architecture.
We take taxis most everywhere we go and Julia loves them. She is a wild woman in the car moving all around trying to see everything at once. (They don't have carseats in Vietnam, so she just sits on our lap.) I can tell already that she will not be a fan of her carseat when we get home!
It has been fun watching Thomas on this trip. The people here love our children and when they come up to Thomas, he just starts talking with them whether they understand him or not. He starts telling them everything about why we are here, how we got Julia and what she has most recently learned. He has gotten his picture taken with many Vietnamese families. Therefore, we also have many pictures of him with a lot of Vietnamese people that we don't know.
Tomorrow we are off to the museum of Ethnology. We've heard positive things about this museum from families who have traveled here in the past, so we are looking forward to it.
Well, I am off to bed and hoping for a better night's sleep. Hope you are all doing well.
Good night,
Barbie
P.S. On our taxi rides we try to see who can spot the scooter with the most people and things on it. (It is amazing what all they can fit on one.) The confirmed record is 3 adults on one scooter and we might have even seen one with four people on it. It is definitely a sight to see.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Thursday, November 29, 2007
We've moved!
Hello,
It's been a good day here on the other side of the world. This morning when Julia woke up she didn't cry when she saw us (and that was even with a stinky diaper!) She even played a little before breakfast. Usually she doesn't get down to play until later in the day. Then our morning without plans took an unexpected turn. My parents and sister found out that there are some "deluxe" rooms in the hotel and after some discussing with the reception desk (these kind of discussions are never as easy they sound and there is usually lots of pantomiming involved) we found out that there were two available. So Mom, Dad and Heather are now in one and we are in another. Our new room is about twice the size of our old one and actually has enough sleeping space for our family of 5. (Before Thomas would bunk with his auntie for the night). And they are charging us the same rate as our other room since we are staying here for so long. This is a much nicer set-up and gives us a little more breathing room. It also has a great view - it looks out over one of Hanoi's lakes - and because it is on the backside of the hotel, we can't hear all the horns from the street as easily either. The downside is that we can't get the internet connection from our room anymore, so I am currently writing from the hotel lobby.
This afternoon was the water puppet show. This art was developed by farmers in Mekong River delta as a form of entertainment when the river flooded. Now they perform indoors in a pool. There is a set with a screen about halfway back the length of the pool and the puppeteers stand in about waist deep water behind the screen and work their marionette type puppets by a stick underwater. The effect is dancing dragons, children, etc playing on the water. Thomas and Helen thoroughly enjoyed it.
We are ordering pizza in tonight and listening to the Christmas music CD that I brought. It is weird to hear the music and look out our window and see palm trees, people playing tennis and people boating on a lake with no ice. I hope we make it back home before Christmas to get my mental calendar straightened out!
Thanks for checking in. We hope that you all are doing well.
Barbie for all
It's been a good day here on the other side of the world. This morning when Julia woke up she didn't cry when she saw us (and that was even with a stinky diaper!) She even played a little before breakfast. Usually she doesn't get down to play until later in the day. Then our morning without plans took an unexpected turn. My parents and sister found out that there are some "deluxe" rooms in the hotel and after some discussing with the reception desk (these kind of discussions are never as easy they sound and there is usually lots of pantomiming involved) we found out that there were two available. So Mom, Dad and Heather are now in one and we are in another. Our new room is about twice the size of our old one and actually has enough sleeping space for our family of 5. (Before Thomas would bunk with his auntie for the night). And they are charging us the same rate as our other room since we are staying here for so long. This is a much nicer set-up and gives us a little more breathing room. It also has a great view - it looks out over one of Hanoi's lakes - and because it is on the backside of the hotel, we can't hear all the horns from the street as easily either. The downside is that we can't get the internet connection from our room anymore, so I am currently writing from the hotel lobby.
This afternoon was the water puppet show. This art was developed by farmers in Mekong River delta as a form of entertainment when the river flooded. Now they perform indoors in a pool. There is a set with a screen about halfway back the length of the pool and the puppeteers stand in about waist deep water behind the screen and work their marionette type puppets by a stick underwater. The effect is dancing dragons, children, etc playing on the water. Thomas and Helen thoroughly enjoyed it.
We are ordering pizza in tonight and listening to the Christmas music CD that I brought. It is weird to hear the music and look out our window and see palm trees, people playing tennis and people boating on a lake with no ice. I hope we make it back home before Christmas to get my mental calendar straightened out!
Thanks for checking in. We hope that you all are doing well.
Barbie for all
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Hanoi Day Three
We started the day by bathing the kids (which doesn’t seem to last as long as a bath back home.) After that we went to the Dong Xuan market in the Old Quarter of Hanoi to see what there was to see. The three story market was packed with clothes and other textiles. The place was crowded and there were only small aisles between the goods. We wandered around awhile and played the part of the zoo animals (people watching us). People tickled Helen and picked her up as they were so excited to see a little blonde girl. When they saw Julia they always say (or are the asking?)
We had enough of that after a while and took a short taxi ride to a street market. The meter wasn’t running, so I asked the cabby what the deal was. He said, “you decide.” I said, “one dollar”, and he seemed content with that. On this street we were looking at t-shirts when our 2nd youngest decided that she needed a water closet break. We worked with the lady at the t-shirt shop to communicate that we needed a WC, and she let us (Helen and I) through her store to a dark, dank, concrete hallway. We went past a kitchen and a dark room with 2 kids watching TV and then came to a very dark, wet, smelly bathroom with a squatting-style potty. The lady held our child as she did her business and the helped her re-robe. After we made our way back to daylight, we felt obliged to buy a t-shirt. $4 wasn’t bad (although the t-shirt looks like it might make it through 3 washes). On this street we also met a woman selling t-shirts. She wouldn’t leave me alone, but her t-shirts weren’t very good and weren’t very cheap, so I refused to buy.
Later in the day, we all went for a cyclo tour. Cyclos are like bicycle-driven rickshaws. The driver is on back and you sit on the front of the cyclo. One adult went in each cyclo and a child joined some of us. We went around for about one hour around the Old Quarter. It was great fun! We were in with all the other traffic (bikes, motor scooters, taxis, delivery trucks, large buses, pedestrians, etc.) It would have been totally unnerving earlier in our trip, but by this time the ride was strangely relaxing. I asked the group how many times that their cyclo was within 2 inches of something else (scooter, another cyclo, taxi, etc.) Everyone seemed to think that they couldn’t count that high. Julia rode with me on my cyclo. We had a grand time. She enjoyed the ride and we did a lot of clapping, smiling, and giving five. Also, during the cyclo ride, the same woman that tried to sell me t-shirts earlier came up to me again and walked next to me for 5 minutes trying to sell me t-shirts again. Boy is she persistent. If she comes up to me one more time I might have to buy something from her.
After the ride, we went to an Italian restaurant nearby. The place was probably the nicest, cleanest place we have been so far. We enjoyed the food, but it was priced American-style. It wasn’t so expensive by American standards, but this was the first time that I ever paid half a million Dong (approximately $31 including tip) for our family to eat here.
We are back at the hotel room now and the kids are sleeping. Evenings before bed have become pretty fun as Julia is ready to play full-bore at this time. She is silly and wild. Then she gets a bit out of control. The she is ready to crash. This evening as she went to sleep she spent her time sucking on every part of the pacifier (you know, the one that I found at night in
We are biding our time and it is going quicker than I thought it might (tomorrow is already Thursday). We get Julia’s passport on Monday and then her Visa medical exam and then we just wait to hear from the
That’s all for now. Pictures to the blog are simply not working. Tonight I will send out a group of new pictures to Barbie’s “Julia Update” email list. If you aren’t on that list (which would be evidenced by not getting any pictures), just email me at douglasatkins@gmail.com and I’ll make sure you get copied.
Take care all,
Doug
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Hi everyone,
It's Barbie again. We hope that you all are doing well.
Today was another good day. We spent the entire day on a boat trip on the Red River. There were 3 "ports" - 2 temples and a market. The temples were interesting and the market great. It was a world famous ceramics market and a bargain hunters delight. We purchased 2 tea sets for the girls, a fisherman figurine for Thomas, 2 Christmas ornaments, a vase and some wind chimes (all of these were beautifully painted ceramics) for $9.50. That's my kind of place. There was just one near miss with another boat, complete with a few "pleasantries" exchanged between our captain and the other vessel. It was an enjoyable trip and good to get out of a busy city for awhile.
Julia continues to do well. Today was the first day that she didn't cry for the nannies. This evening she was walking around and playing and interested in everything she could reach - we have some serious babyproofing to do when we get home! Early indications show us that she has the potential to be headstrong and very busy! (Here is where I hear all the men saying "Typical woman!") We had our first opportunity to show her a book today and she was very intrigued by it and how the scenes changed when you turned a page. It appeared like she has not had many, if any, opportunities to see books in the past. The people that we run into during the day seemed very intrigued with our family and the mix of our children. And even though it is in the upper 70s, I have been scolded by a woman for not dressing Julia warmly enough (everyone here is wearing jackets, sweaters, pants, hats, etc because it is winter.) Oops!
There's just a snapshot of our day. Thanks for checking in.
Barbie
It's Barbie again. We hope that you all are doing well.
Today was another good day. We spent the entire day on a boat trip on the Red River. There were 3 "ports" - 2 temples and a market. The temples were interesting and the market great. It was a world famous ceramics market and a bargain hunters delight. We purchased 2 tea sets for the girls, a fisherman figurine for Thomas, 2 Christmas ornaments, a vase and some wind chimes (all of these were beautifully painted ceramics) for $9.50. That's my kind of place. There was just one near miss with another boat, complete with a few "pleasantries" exchanged between our captain and the other vessel. It was an enjoyable trip and good to get out of a busy city for awhile.
Julia continues to do well. Today was the first day that she didn't cry for the nannies. This evening she was walking around and playing and interested in everything she could reach - we have some serious babyproofing to do when we get home! Early indications show us that she has the potential to be headstrong and very busy! (Here is where I hear all the men saying "Typical woman!") We had our first opportunity to show her a book today and she was very intrigued by it and how the scenes changed when you turned a page. It appeared like she has not had many, if any, opportunities to see books in the past. The people that we run into during the day seemed very intrigued with our family and the mix of our children. And even though it is in the upper 70s, I have been scolded by a woman for not dressing Julia warmly enough (everyone here is wearing jackets, sweaters, pants, hats, etc because it is winter.) Oops!
There's just a snapshot of our day. Thanks for checking in.
Barbie
Monday, November 26, 2007
We've had a breakthrough!
Hi all (from Barbie),
As we arrive at evening time here on the other side of the world, we are excited to say that things with Julia have improved greatly. We started out after a rough night last night. She would wake up often and when she realized that her surroundings were not at all familiar she would be quite terrified. When I would go to her, she would calm down so that was a good sign.
Upon waking, she didn't cry very much, but for the first part of the morning, she continued to cling to me as she had been for the last 3 days. Her clinging has been out of fear and she would hang on for dear life even when I was just shifting in my seat. Later this morning, she let me sit her next to me on the bed and eventually even crawled away from me to play with some toys - the second time she has played with some toys in our presence in the last 5 days. She even got down on the floor and played by herself for awhile. This was wonderful to watch.
This afternoon, it was daddy's turn. He, in true daddy fashion, taught her to "give 5." When she did, he would tickle her and she would even laugh. She is starting to relax around us and that has been very good.
Doug went this morning to apply for her passport and that went without a hitch. We should be able to go pick it up next Monday.
Thomas and Helen had a harder day. While Doug was running around this morning taking care of the adoption stuff, I had the rest of us just stay in our room so that Julia could have some more adjusting time. After a few hours, I think that we were feeling a little bit trapped (or maybe I was just feeling that way because Doug accidentally locked me in the room this afternoon. We are having a difficult adjusting to getting our larger family out the door and I was the one who paid the consequences this time!) Anyway, Thomas and Helen are now realizing that Julia takes up some of their time and attention and they are not feeling so great about that. I am sure that some of their difficulty comes from being someplace unfamiliar, with not a lot of space to be apart and not having a definite ending date for this adventure . We found some chicken nuggets and fries for supper and that seemed to help a bit.
Tomorrow we are going on a day trip boat ride down the Red River to see some sights. If the river is as crowded as the streets are here we will be in for it...
Thanks for checking in. We appreciate hearing from you with your comments and knowing that you are thinking of us.
Barbie
P.S. Doug wanted me to let you know that I was able to post this from our room. He found a weak wireless signal that happens to work better than the internet available downstairs in the lobby. Now I am hoping that I haven't jinxed it.
As we arrive at evening time here on the other side of the world, we are excited to say that things with Julia have improved greatly. We started out after a rough night last night. She would wake up often and when she realized that her surroundings were not at all familiar she would be quite terrified. When I would go to her, she would calm down so that was a good sign.
Upon waking, she didn't cry very much, but for the first part of the morning, she continued to cling to me as she had been for the last 3 days. Her clinging has been out of fear and she would hang on for dear life even when I was just shifting in my seat. Later this morning, she let me sit her next to me on the bed and eventually even crawled away from me to play with some toys - the second time she has played with some toys in our presence in the last 5 days. She even got down on the floor and played by herself for awhile. This was wonderful to watch.
This afternoon, it was daddy's turn. He, in true daddy fashion, taught her to "give 5." When she did, he would tickle her and she would even laugh. She is starting to relax around us and that has been very good.
Doug went this morning to apply for her passport and that went without a hitch. We should be able to go pick it up next Monday.
Thomas and Helen had a harder day. While Doug was running around this morning taking care of the adoption stuff, I had the rest of us just stay in our room so that Julia could have some more adjusting time. After a few hours, I think that we were feeling a little bit trapped (or maybe I was just feeling that way because Doug accidentally locked me in the room this afternoon. We are having a difficult adjusting to getting our larger family out the door and I was the one who paid the consequences this time!) Anyway, Thomas and Helen are now realizing that Julia takes up some of their time and attention and they are not feeling so great about that. I am sure that some of their difficulty comes from being someplace unfamiliar, with not a lot of space to be apart and not having a definite ending date for this adventure . We found some chicken nuggets and fries for supper and that seemed to help a bit.
Tomorrow we are going on a day trip boat ride down the Red River to see some sights. If the river is as crowded as the streets are here we will be in for it...
Thanks for checking in. We appreciate hearing from you with your comments and knowing that you are thinking of us.
Barbie
P.S. Doug wanted me to let you know that I was able to post this from our room. He found a weak wireless signal that happens to work better than the internet available downstairs in the lobby. Now I am hoping that I haven't jinxed it.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Hanoi
We made it to our final city prior to returning for the US. We have only been gone for one week, but it seems like a month!
We awoke in Saigon this morning. The kids all got up earlier than we would have liked them to (5:30 or so) and Julia had a kind of rough night after 3 am. We had our final Lan Lan 2 breakfast (the big hit this morning was the beef stew--complete with potatoes and carrots). After breakfast our family's travel party (the now five of us plus Barbie's parents and sister) and the other adoptive family we are travelling with loaded into three taxis and went to the airport.
Unbeknowst to us, we were flying business class (a 1000 mile flight for $157 per adult), thus we got to enjoy the business class lounge while waiting for our flight. They put out a great free spread full of food, drinks, and snacks. Julia ate yogurt and bread there. If she is willing to put something in her mouth, she will normally eat it. The trick is getting her to try it. We got to have a great, comfortable, short flight to Hanoi. It was really great, but the big, comfortable seats seemed like a waste on such a short flight (1 hour 40 minutes in the air).
At the airport we were greeted by our agency's representative, Mr. Hien. Mr. Hien is a very nice young man and he had arranged a van to take all of our luggage and us to our hotel. It was about an hour ride to the hotel from the airport. Hanoi is definitely different from Saigon. It is cooler this time of year, you can see mountains through the haze, it is much older, and what we drove through seems to be a maze of narrow streets. Seeing a clear view of the sky didn't happen often during the trip.
We are stayng at Hanoi's Center for Women's Development (CWD Hotel). I'm not kidding. It seems like a regular hotel, and it seems pretty nice (the internet speed is worse than the slimy internet cafe in Ben Tre, however). Thomas is sleeping in his auntie's room tonight to make more room for us. Helen and Julia were asleep in the room when I came down to the lobby to use the substandard internet (6000 Vietnamese Dong per hour after the first, free 20 minutes...it took 20 minutes to load this web page to start typing! If I expect to post any pictures soon I'll have to find a better internet connection). The hotel is supposed to have a pool, but we haven't looked too closely for it yet.
Julia is making small steps at being more ok with us each day, it seems. She really prefers Barbie to hold her, and is mostly content when Barbie holds her. She will play with me if I work it really hard. She is becoming more comfortable with the kids, too, it seems. It isn't gong to happen overnight, but maybe we are seeing glimpses that someday she will try and get to know us and let us get to know her. Mornings have been toughest, and it is possible that it will be tough tomorrow mornng.
Tomorrow morning after breakfast I will go wth Mr. Hien to apply for Julia's vietnamese passport. It will be ready a week from Monday (December 3). When we get her passport, then we can go get the medical exam for her passport. After that, we simply need to wait for her I-600 visa application (which was submitted a couple of weeks ago) to get approved, and then shortly after that, we'll be done. Regardless of when that happens, after 11 am tomorrow, we will have nothing adoption-related that we need to do for 7 days. We will just be tourists. We have no idea what we are going to do, but we'll have plenty of time to do it.
I know that Barbie would tell you that she is most excited that she doesn't have to re-pack the suitcases again. This is the fourth different hotel stay that we have started in the past 7 days. We have a boatload of stuff with us. It is great to get to unpack and not wonder which suitcase or plastic bag or whatever someone's toothbrush, underwear, passport, etc. is in. Therefore, I will put up with this bad internet if it means we don't have to pack again.
I know that a picture is worth a thousand words, but our picture-uploading situation hasn't been the best. I'll try again tomorrow.
Hope you are all well. We're all pretty good.
Take care,
Doug for the Atkins 5
We awoke in Saigon this morning. The kids all got up earlier than we would have liked them to (5:30 or so) and Julia had a kind of rough night after 3 am. We had our final Lan Lan 2 breakfast (the big hit this morning was the beef stew--complete with potatoes and carrots). After breakfast our family's travel party (the now five of us plus Barbie's parents and sister) and the other adoptive family we are travelling with loaded into three taxis and went to the airport.
Unbeknowst to us, we were flying business class (a 1000 mile flight for $157 per adult), thus we got to enjoy the business class lounge while waiting for our flight. They put out a great free spread full of food, drinks, and snacks. Julia ate yogurt and bread there. If she is willing to put something in her mouth, she will normally eat it. The trick is getting her to try it. We got to have a great, comfortable, short flight to Hanoi. It was really great, but the big, comfortable seats seemed like a waste on such a short flight (1 hour 40 minutes in the air).
At the airport we were greeted by our agency's representative, Mr. Hien. Mr. Hien is a very nice young man and he had arranged a van to take all of our luggage and us to our hotel. It was about an hour ride to the hotel from the airport. Hanoi is definitely different from Saigon. It is cooler this time of year, you can see mountains through the haze, it is much older, and what we drove through seems to be a maze of narrow streets. Seeing a clear view of the sky didn't happen often during the trip.
We are stayng at Hanoi's Center for Women's Development (CWD Hotel). I'm not kidding. It seems like a regular hotel, and it seems pretty nice (the internet speed is worse than the slimy internet cafe in Ben Tre, however). Thomas is sleeping in his auntie's room tonight to make more room for us. Helen and Julia were asleep in the room when I came down to the lobby to use the substandard internet (6000 Vietnamese Dong per hour after the first, free 20 minutes...it took 20 minutes to load this web page to start typing! If I expect to post any pictures soon I'll have to find a better internet connection). The hotel is supposed to have a pool, but we haven't looked too closely for it yet.
Julia is making small steps at being more ok with us each day, it seems. She really prefers Barbie to hold her, and is mostly content when Barbie holds her. She will play with me if I work it really hard. She is becoming more comfortable with the kids, too, it seems. It isn't gong to happen overnight, but maybe we are seeing glimpses that someday she will try and get to know us and let us get to know her. Mornings have been toughest, and it is possible that it will be tough tomorrow mornng.
Tomorrow morning after breakfast I will go wth Mr. Hien to apply for Julia's vietnamese passport. It will be ready a week from Monday (December 3). When we get her passport, then we can go get the medical exam for her passport. After that, we simply need to wait for her I-600 visa application (which was submitted a couple of weeks ago) to get approved, and then shortly after that, we'll be done. Regardless of when that happens, after 11 am tomorrow, we will have nothing adoption-related that we need to do for 7 days. We will just be tourists. We have no idea what we are going to do, but we'll have plenty of time to do it.
I know that Barbie would tell you that she is most excited that she doesn't have to re-pack the suitcases again. This is the fourth different hotel stay that we have started in the past 7 days. We have a boatload of stuff with us. It is great to get to unpack and not wonder which suitcase or plastic bag or whatever someone's toothbrush, underwear, passport, etc. is in. Therefore, I will put up with this bad internet if it means we don't have to pack again.
I know that a picture is worth a thousand words, but our picture-uploading situation hasn't been the best. I'll try again tomorrow.
Hope you are all well. We're all pretty good.
Take care,
Doug for the Atkins 5
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Hanoi, here we come!
Hi all. It’s Barbie again. Sorry for not posting last night, we were kind of exhausted by the end of the day!
We are hanging in there. Julia had a rough morning yesterday. She clings tightly to the first person who picks her up in the morning and won’t let them go. She also would cry for the nannies throughout the morning. The kids at the orphanage call the nannies “mom” which is mei (pronounced “may”) and she would cry like a little lamb “mei, mei.” It is heartbreaking to say the least. She would eat and she slept a lot. Doug took the older kids out to play at a park, while Julia and I stayed in the room and tried to help her adjust to us a little better without continuously throwing new environments into the picture. By mid afternoon, I was slightly discouraged. I realize that this is all normal for her to go through, but it is so hard to watch. But when she woke up from her afternoon nap, we started to see glimpses of our little girl. She started to play with some toys and interact with us and her siblings. We even got a laugh out of her when she spilled some of her fruit snacks onto her face. She was content to sit next to us rather than needing to hang on to us for dear life. It was a very welcome sight. We even ventured out for some pizza for supper (which was a nice break from rice and noodles) and she did well with that outing.
This afternoon we fly to
Thomas and Helen continue to do well. They fight over who gets to sit next to Julia, play with her, etc. At one point, Julia was not so excited that they were near her and so I told Thomas that she needed some space and that there would be plenty of time to play with her later. He replied that he wanted to play with her now because when she turned 2 and 3 years old she wouldn’t be fun to play with anymore (referring to how he feels about his other sister!)
Friday, November 23, 2007
It's a girl!!
Greetings from a new (and exhausted) mother of three. I thought I would take my turn at this blog while Doug is out running around the streets of Ho Chi Minh City trying to hunt down a pacifier for our newest arrival.
Right now, all three kids are sleeping and I feel a little like I should be taking the advice that new mothers get – sleep when your kids are sleeping because you can’t guarantee how the next sleep will go. We will see what this night has in store for us.
It has been quite a day. We started out with breakfast at the hotel and then went to the care center for one last visit. Julia was still not our biggest fan. I let Doug have a shot with her this time and she kind of cried/whimpered until she finally fell asleep. She woke up, got a bottle and promptly spit up all over Doug. That brought the nannies back into the picture and our time with her was pretty much over.
We have both been very impressed with the place where she has spent the first part of her life. It is very clean and the nannies love the children immensely. The children get held a lot and receive much interaction. In fact, Julia apparently loves to be held so much that she wraps her legs around the waist of the person who is holding her and has quite a tight leg grip for someone so tiny. This is a great and unique thing for this kind of situation and we are extremely thankful.
After that, we went back to the hotel, packed, ate lunch, changed into our nice clothes and checked out of the hotel. From there, we drove around her town for a few minutes and went to the care center to pick up the two children. The other child is having a little easier time adjusting so that is good. We were able to get back the blanket that Doug’s mom made (Thanks Terrie!) and Julia seemed to like snuggling into that a little bit (by that I mean that she wasn’t crying all of the time). Then it was time for the Giving and Receiving Ceremony.
We went to the government center and went upstairs to a room where we met with 6 others including 2 provincial officers and the director of Julia’s care center. They took Julia from the room and we signed some papers, promised to raise her to the best of our ability and to be proud of her heritage and promised to send yearly developmental reports back to the VN gov’t on how Julia is doing. After that they brought Julia back in and handed her to us and she was ours. Grand total: 4 happy Atkins family members and 1 not-so-happy Atkins member. =)
After that we got on the bus for the 3 hour trip back to Ho Chi Minh City. This at times proved to be very overwhelming for our newest daughter as she has never been outside the orphanage center gates since she arrived there. She didn’t cry but just sat very still and almost catatonic as she tried to take it all in. We finally arrived to back at the Lan Lan 2 around 7:00 with three hungry and tired children and no food. We threw together some snacks for the older kids and some rice soup from the restaurant downstairs for Julia (which she again spit up all over Doug). Then they were all jammied and put to bed.
One funny story on the bus ride back to HCMC. Thomas was talking to Julia and saying that she was special because she was the newest member to our family and that he was special because he was going to teach her a whole bunch of stuff. And then a little voice (Helen) pop up from the seat behind us and said “Hey – wait a minute- I’m special too!”
How lucky are we to have three special children?
Well, it’s 9:00 local time and way past my bedtime. =) Doug has not arrived back yet from his pacifier hunt so you will have to wait to see how that turns out.
We are thankful for all of you and appreciate the support that you have given us through this process. We look forward to introducing our darling daughter to you all.
Barbie
Note from Doug – I got the pacifier…how incompetent does she think that I am that I can’t get a pacifier in Saigon at 9 pm on a Friday night (by the way…scooters were out in force!) I also got some cheap knock-off BBQ flavored Pringles. Nice and greasy. Now I will attempt to upload a few pix.
Right now, all three kids are sleeping and I feel a little like I should be taking the advice that new mothers get – sleep when your kids are sleeping because you can’t guarantee how the next sleep will go. We will see what this night has in store for us.
It has been quite a day. We started out with breakfast at the hotel and then went to the care center for one last visit. Julia was still not our biggest fan. I let Doug have a shot with her this time and she kind of cried/whimpered until she finally fell asleep. She woke up, got a bottle and promptly spit up all over Doug. That brought the nannies back into the picture and our time with her was pretty much over.
We have both been very impressed with the place where she has spent the first part of her life. It is very clean and the nannies love the children immensely. The children get held a lot and receive much interaction. In fact, Julia apparently loves to be held so much that she wraps her legs around the waist of the person who is holding her and has quite a tight leg grip for someone so tiny. This is a great and unique thing for this kind of situation and we are extremely thankful.
After that, we went back to the hotel, packed, ate lunch, changed into our nice clothes and checked out of the hotel. From there, we drove around her town for a few minutes and went to the care center to pick up the two children. The other child is having a little easier time adjusting so that is good. We were able to get back the blanket that Doug’s mom made (Thanks Terrie!) and Julia seemed to like snuggling into that a little bit (by that I mean that she wasn’t crying all of the time). Then it was time for the Giving and Receiving Ceremony.
We went to the government center and went upstairs to a room where we met with 6 others including 2 provincial officers and the director of Julia’s care center. They took Julia from the room and we signed some papers, promised to raise her to the best of our ability and to be proud of her heritage and promised to send yearly developmental reports back to the VN gov’t on how Julia is doing. After that they brought Julia back in and handed her to us and she was ours. Grand total: 4 happy Atkins family members and 1 not-so-happy Atkins member. =)
After that we got on the bus for the 3 hour trip back to Ho Chi Minh City. This at times proved to be very overwhelming for our newest daughter as she has never been outside the orphanage center gates since she arrived there. She didn’t cry but just sat very still and almost catatonic as she tried to take it all in. We finally arrived to back at the Lan Lan 2 around 7:00 with three hungry and tired children and no food. We threw together some snacks for the older kids and some rice soup from the restaurant downstairs for Julia (which she again spit up all over Doug). Then they were all jammied and put to bed.
One funny story on the bus ride back to HCMC. Thomas was talking to Julia and saying that she was special because she was the newest member to our family and that he was special because he was going to teach her a whole bunch of stuff. And then a little voice (Helen) pop up from the seat behind us and said “Hey – wait a minute- I’m special too!”
How lucky are we to have three special children?
Well, it’s 9:00 local time and way past my bedtime. =) Doug has not arrived back yet from his pacifier hunt so you will have to wait to see how that turns out.
We are thankful for all of you and appreciate the support that you have given us through this process. We look forward to introducing our darling daughter to you all.
Barbie
Note from Doug – I got the pacifier…how incompetent does she think that I am that I can’t get a pacifier in Saigon at 9 pm on a Friday night (by the way…scooters were out in force!) I also got some cheap knock-off BBQ flavored Pringles. Nice and greasy. Now I will attempt to upload a few pix.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving
This is like no other thanksgiving day we have had before. Today we had the privilege of meeting our new family member, Julia Binh An Atkins. She is much cuter in person than she is in her pictures, and she doesn't seem to like us at all! The nannies (who seem to take wonderful care of the children at the care center) say that recently she has become very afraid of strangers.
We spent a couple of hours in the morning terrorizing the poor girl and then we returned to do the same in the afternoon. She fell asleep in Barbie's arms this afternoon while crying. When she woke up, she was ready to go back to a nanny.
Thomas loved playing with the older children at the orphanage (his age and up to 12 years old). The children loved playing with him and were very kind to him. He loved running and playing instead of just being cooped up in a hotel room. Helen was excited that she got to use the potty at the orphanage that doesn't have a chair.
We got a chance to talk for a while with a nanny that is one of Binh An's primary caregivers. She told us about her daily schedule, likes and dislikes, personality, what she eats, when she sleeps, etc. That was really valuable to us! All of the nannies kept reassuring us that the girl normally acts just fine and is easy to deal with when strangers are not around. I wonder how long we will be strangers to her?
This evening we had a meal with the orphanage director and a representative of the provincial government that deals with the orphanage. That was good, but Thomas and Helen ran out of gas at the meal and we barely made it back to the room without a major crisis. They are doing remarkably well given the time difference, food difference, lack of sleep, and how the Vietnamese people treat them. Thomas and Helen have celebrity status wherever they go. People want to touch them and look at their faces, eyes, and hair. People here seem to love kids, and these two kids without black hair and eyes are a novelty to them. They are all well meaning, but sometimes (especially for Helen) it is kind of intimidating.
Well, we have much to be thankful for. We are so happy to have met our new daughter, although to be honest, her reception of us has us a little nervous about how difficult the transition may be. Regardless of that, we are so thankful that tomorrow at 1:30 pm (12:30 am Friday CST) she will become a permanent part of our family. Tomorrow we will travel back to Ho Chi Minh City to apply for her passport and have her Visa medical exam. We will have a better internet connection there (back at the Lan Lan 2), so we will try and upload a few pictures.
Take care and happy thanksgiving!
The Atkins family
We spent a couple of hours in the morning terrorizing the poor girl and then we returned to do the same in the afternoon. She fell asleep in Barbie's arms this afternoon while crying. When she woke up, she was ready to go back to a nanny.
Thomas loved playing with the older children at the orphanage (his age and up to 12 years old). The children loved playing with him and were very kind to him. He loved running and playing instead of just being cooped up in a hotel room. Helen was excited that she got to use the potty at the orphanage that doesn't have a chair.
We got a chance to talk for a while with a nanny that is one of Binh An's primary caregivers. She told us about her daily schedule, likes and dislikes, personality, what she eats, when she sleeps, etc. That was really valuable to us! All of the nannies kept reassuring us that the girl normally acts just fine and is easy to deal with when strangers are not around. I wonder how long we will be strangers to her?
This evening we had a meal with the orphanage director and a representative of the provincial government that deals with the orphanage. That was good, but Thomas and Helen ran out of gas at the meal and we barely made it back to the room without a major crisis. They are doing remarkably well given the time difference, food difference, lack of sleep, and how the Vietnamese people treat them. Thomas and Helen have celebrity status wherever they go. People want to touch them and look at their faces, eyes, and hair. People here seem to love kids, and these two kids without black hair and eyes are a novelty to them. They are all well meaning, but sometimes (especially for Helen) it is kind of intimidating.
Well, we have much to be thankful for. We are so happy to have met our new daughter, although to be honest, her reception of us has us a little nervous about how difficult the transition may be. Regardless of that, we are so thankful that tomorrow at 1:30 pm (12:30 am Friday CST) she will become a permanent part of our family. Tomorrow we will travel back to Ho Chi Minh City to apply for her passport and have her Visa medical exam. We will have a better internet connection there (back at the Lan Lan 2), so we will try and upload a few pictures.
Take care and happy thanksgiving!
The Atkins family
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Greetings from Ben Tre
Last night Barbie and the kids went to bed about 6 pm. Helen woke up at 2 am and Thomas at 3 am. We stayed in bed until 6 am (Helen slept a little on and off between 2 and 6). However, everyone did pretty well and the kids just went to bed at 7:30.
After we got up we went to the hotel breakfast at 6:30. The Lan Lan 2 puts out a pretty good spread. There was all types of fruit (including dragon fruit which we talked Thomas into trying), baguettes (really good), croissants, yogurt, fried bananas, pho (rice noodle soup), ham sandwiches, all sorts of vietnamese food that I don't know how to describe, and really good strong coffee. We had a very successful meal.
After breakfast, Barbie's dad, Ken, and I went shopping for a few things that we needed. When we got back, we had a little lunch in a small cafe down the road and then a bus (arranged by the adoption agency) picked us up at the hotel and took us to the adoption agency local office. We met the other family that is going to have adopt a child from the same orphange there and the agency representatives gave us a bit of a idea about what to expect the next couple of days.
After our orientation, we got in a bus and headed for Ben Tre. The trip took about 3 hours, but we didn't cover much ground (maybe 50-75 miles?) A lot of time was taken getting through the thick Ho Chi Minh City traffic (still incredible) and once we got out of Saigon, the trafic was better, but still terrible.
Once we reached the river that borders Ben Tre province, we had to jump on a ferry (sp?) to travel across the river to Ben Tre province. From what we've seen of the province so far, it is full of rivers, canals, and coconut palms. We checked into our hotel when we arrived at about 4:30. It is nice enough and clean, so that is good. We seem to be seeing a lot of mosquitoes around here, so we are glad that we got our malaria meds before we left.
Tonight we had supper with the other family that is adopting and our agency representatives that have travelled with us (4 people). Thomas and Helen did a decent job of trying the different foods there, but it is new stuff and they were tired, so they were glad that some miniature bananas showed up at the end of the meal so that they could fill up on something!
The family is going to bed now (8:00 local time), and I found an internet cafe a couple of blocks away and decided to blog. I hope this works, but the connection is pretty slow and unpredictable. I'll guarantee that you won't get any pictures posted on the blog until we get back to Saigon on Saturday!
It is pretty surreal being here (in this haze of jet lag made more acute by the heat and humidity) knowing that our future daughter is very close. She doesn't have any idea what's in store for her in the next several days/weeks/months. It's going to be pretty difficult for her, I imagine. A bunch of strangers will come and visit a few times, and then take her on a bus drive for 3 hours (first time on a bus) away from the only home she has ever known, to stay in a small hotel room with these strangers for a few weeks before getting on a crowded airplane for 24 hours on the way to Minnesota in December (I'm quite sure that it is hotter right now in this internet cafe than it has ever been on thanksgiving day in Minnesota). We are very thankful for the opportunity to bring this girl into our lives, but we are also feeling a bit bad about what she's going to have to endure in the short term.
Anyway...we meet her tomorrow. What a trip. I hope it goes ok. I'll try and let you know. Take care and thanks for being interested enough to read.
See ya,
Doug for Barbie, Thomas, and Helen (soon to add another name here)
After we got up we went to the hotel breakfast at 6:30. The Lan Lan 2 puts out a pretty good spread. There was all types of fruit (including dragon fruit which we talked Thomas into trying), baguettes (really good), croissants, yogurt, fried bananas, pho (rice noodle soup), ham sandwiches, all sorts of vietnamese food that I don't know how to describe, and really good strong coffee. We had a very successful meal.
After breakfast, Barbie's dad, Ken, and I went shopping for a few things that we needed. When we got back, we had a little lunch in a small cafe down the road and then a bus (arranged by the adoption agency) picked us up at the hotel and took us to the adoption agency local office. We met the other family that is going to have adopt a child from the same orphange there and the agency representatives gave us a bit of a idea about what to expect the next couple of days.
After our orientation, we got in a bus and headed for Ben Tre. The trip took about 3 hours, but we didn't cover much ground (maybe 50-75 miles?) A lot of time was taken getting through the thick Ho Chi Minh City traffic (still incredible) and once we got out of Saigon, the trafic was better, but still terrible.
Once we reached the river that borders Ben Tre province, we had to jump on a ferry (sp?) to travel across the river to Ben Tre province. From what we've seen of the province so far, it is full of rivers, canals, and coconut palms. We checked into our hotel when we arrived at about 4:30. It is nice enough and clean, so that is good. We seem to be seeing a lot of mosquitoes around here, so we are glad that we got our malaria meds before we left.
Tonight we had supper with the other family that is adopting and our agency representatives that have travelled with us (4 people). Thomas and Helen did a decent job of trying the different foods there, but it is new stuff and they were tired, so they were glad that some miniature bananas showed up at the end of the meal so that they could fill up on something!
The family is going to bed now (8:00 local time), and I found an internet cafe a couple of blocks away and decided to blog. I hope this works, but the connection is pretty slow and unpredictable. I'll guarantee that you won't get any pictures posted on the blog until we get back to Saigon on Saturday!
It is pretty surreal being here (in this haze of jet lag made more acute by the heat and humidity) knowing that our future daughter is very close. She doesn't have any idea what's in store for her in the next several days/weeks/months. It's going to be pretty difficult for her, I imagine. A bunch of strangers will come and visit a few times, and then take her on a bus drive for 3 hours (first time on a bus) away from the only home she has ever known, to stay in a small hotel room with these strangers for a few weeks before getting on a crowded airplane for 24 hours on the way to Minnesota in December (I'm quite sure that it is hotter right now in this internet cafe than it has ever been on thanksgiving day in Minnesota). We are very thankful for the opportunity to bring this girl into our lives, but we are also feeling a bit bad about what she's going to have to endure in the short term.
Anyway...we meet her tomorrow. What a trip. I hope it goes ok. I'll try and let you know. Take care and thanks for being interested enough to read.
See ya,
Doug for Barbie, Thomas, and Helen (soon to add another name here)
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Snoring in Saigon
We're here! As I type this I hear deep, regular breathing sounds from each of the other three Atkins family members. It is only 7 pm Vietnam time, but I figured that the kids have missed approximately 16 hours of sleep that they would have had during the same time period at home, so we are really proud of how well that they held up.
We got here about noon today Vietnam time and got out of passport control/baggage claim/customs about an hour or so after that. We checked into the Lan Lan 2 hotel (we don't know much about the Lan Lan 1, but we're sure that this one is better). Barbie's dad and I went with an agency representative to shop for some bottled water, diapers, and Julia Binh An's formula of choice (Lactogen 2 - again...far superior to Lactogen 1.) When we got back we tried to have a supper at the hotel restaurant, but the kids were falling asleep at their places, so Barbie took them and put them to bed.
We learned today our schedule for the next couple of days. Tomorrow (wednesday) we will go to our agency's Saigon office at noon. From there we will travel to Ben Tre (province where Julia is). We will check into the hotel and have dinner, but we won't get to meet julia until the next day (thanksgiving). We will visit the orphanage morning and afternoon that day, and then again on Friday morning. Friday afternoon will be our Giving and Receiving ceremony and at that point, she will be our daughter. We are definitely excited, but it seems unreal that we will be meeting her in two days!
After the G&R we will come back to Saigon for maybe another week or so until we head up to Hanoi to hopefully receive Julia's visa in a timely fashion. At least today I received an email from the Consulate in Saigon confirming that they were in receipt of Julia's paperwork. Let's hope that the visa gets approved before we get to Hanoi!
A couple of impressions about Saigon...first, as soon as we walked out of the airport door, the hot, humid air hit us. It was like a muggy July day in southern Illinois. When we left Minnesota Sunday evening it was sleeting. Second...I heard that Vietnam had a lot of scooters on the road, but they have a lot of scooters on the road! It is pandemonium! Hundreds of scooters going down a busy street inches apart from each other. Throw in taxi cabs, trucks, buses, and pedestrians and it is incredible to watch. In taking a few cab rides to go shopping there had to be twenty times where I was SURE that someone was going to wreck/collide/smash someone else. There was not a single incident other than we saw two people knock their knees together. Incredible.
I'll try to keep posting, but we don't know the internet situation in Ben Tre.
Thanks for reading. I'm trying not to bore you.
Doug
We got here about noon today Vietnam time and got out of passport control/baggage claim/customs about an hour or so after that. We checked into the Lan Lan 2 hotel (we don't know much about the Lan Lan 1, but we're sure that this one is better). Barbie's dad and I went with an agency representative to shop for some bottled water, diapers, and Julia Binh An's formula of choice (Lactogen 2 - again...far superior to Lactogen 1.) When we got back we tried to have a supper at the hotel restaurant, but the kids were falling asleep at their places, so Barbie took them and put them to bed.
We learned today our schedule for the next couple of days. Tomorrow (wednesday) we will go to our agency's Saigon office at noon. From there we will travel to Ben Tre (province where Julia is). We will check into the hotel and have dinner, but we won't get to meet julia until the next day (thanksgiving). We will visit the orphanage morning and afternoon that day, and then again on Friday morning. Friday afternoon will be our Giving and Receiving ceremony and at that point, she will be our daughter. We are definitely excited, but it seems unreal that we will be meeting her in two days!
After the G&R we will come back to Saigon for maybe another week or so until we head up to Hanoi to hopefully receive Julia's visa in a timely fashion. At least today I received an email from the Consulate in Saigon confirming that they were in receipt of Julia's paperwork. Let's hope that the visa gets approved before we get to Hanoi!
A couple of impressions about Saigon...first, as soon as we walked out of the airport door, the hot, humid air hit us. It was like a muggy July day in southern Illinois. When we left Minnesota Sunday evening it was sleeting. Second...I heard that Vietnam had a lot of scooters on the road, but they have a lot of scooters on the road! It is pandemonium! Hundreds of scooters going down a busy street inches apart from each other. Throw in taxi cabs, trucks, buses, and pedestrians and it is incredible to watch. In taking a few cab rides to go shopping there had to be twenty times where I was SURE that someone was going to wreck/collide/smash someone else. There was not a single incident other than we saw two people knock their knees together. Incredible.
I'll try to keep posting, but we don't know the internet situation in Ben Tre.
Thanks for reading. I'm trying not to bore you.
Doug
Monday, November 19, 2007
Hello from Taipei, Taiwan
Well, it's 6pm on Monday (Minnesota Time) and has been 25 hours since we left Minneapolis. In 5 more hours we will finally be in Vietnam. The LA to Taiwan flight was long, but went well. Thomas is enjoying playing with his new video game and Helen is excited about the big Hello Kitty store in the airport. Our next flight leaves in one hour and we are excited to get there.
The other side of the world is farther away than I realized.
Well, I have to get the kids out of the Hello Kitty store so we can catch our flight. Thanks for being interested enough to visit our blog. We'll do our best to try and keep it updated, but I'm not sure that every place that we visit will be as easy as the Taiwan airport to get connected to the internet.
Take care,
Doug (for all of us)
The other side of the world is farther away than I realized.
Well, I have to get the kids out of the Hello Kitty store so we can catch our flight. Thanks for being interested enough to visit our blog. We'll do our best to try and keep it updated, but I'm not sure that every place that we visit will be as easy as the Taiwan airport to get connected to the internet.
Take care,
Doug (for all of us)
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
We have a departure date!
We are happy to report that we now have a confirmed date for leaving. This afternoon, we bought our tickets and we are leaving on Sunday afternoon, November 18 at 5:15 pm and arrive in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) on Tuesday, November 20 at 11:40 AM Vietnam time (which is central time +13 hours). This has been our 9th (and final!) date change in the last 20 days, so it has been a bit of a roller coaster for us lately. Now we are frantically getting ready to go in less than 96 hours!
The province in Vietnam that Julia is living in is requesting that our adoption ceremony (Giving and Receiving Ceremony) be held on Nov. 23. Julia's visa to enter the states still might take until mid-January to complete, so that means that Barbie might be spending the next 7 weeks in Vietnam with Julia while we wait for her visa. Doug, Thomas and Helen would hang out there until sometime after Christmas (if necessary) and come back in time to get Thomas back to school after winter break. Of course, we would love it if her visa paperwork was completed sooner so that we could be home in 3 - 4 weeks (and spend Christmas at home).
Thanks again for all of your support and prayers over the last year and a half! We really appreciate all of you.
The province in Vietnam that Julia is living in is requesting that our adoption ceremony (Giving and Receiving Ceremony) be held on Nov. 23. Julia's visa to enter the states still might take until mid-January to complete, so that means that Barbie might be spending the next 7 weeks in Vietnam with Julia while we wait for her visa. Doug, Thomas and Helen would hang out there until sometime after Christmas (if necessary) and come back in time to get Thomas back to school after winter break. Of course, we would love it if her visa paperwork was completed sooner so that we could be home in 3 - 4 weeks (and spend Christmas at home).
Thanks again for all of your support and prayers over the last year and a half! We really appreciate all of you.
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