Well we have been home a week and two days and life is just getting better. Sophie is still as wonderful as the day we meet and actually more so. She has had a big week. Her Grandma was here with us until Thursday, her Aunt Carrie and Uncle John came to visit and brought her some toys, and she had a full day out on Sunday meeting her great great grandmother (Granny T), her Great Uncle and Aunt Greg and Angela and her Cousins Carley and Lance, her good friend and surrogate gandmother Jackie, and then spent some time with Nana, PawPaw and the Shorts. She went on her first hay ride and got her first pumpkin.
At the pumpkin patch she had to go number two and did it all over herself so we had to do an open air cleaning and while we were changing her on a pallet made for pumpkins she discovered pine needles and covered herself in them!!
She has dicvoered her toungue and sticks it out at every possibility, she has dicovered laughter and gets her self so tickled she can hardly breath, she sat up yesterday after some help from mom and held herself up for about five minutes. She is going to be sitting up soon. This is good because she is nosey and she can position herself so she can see what is going on. I put together a string of alphabet letters yesterday for her to play with and she loves them. She sucked on them mostly but she entertained herself for a good 30 minutes with them.
It is just amazing how quickly children develope. It is so much fun wathcing her learn new things everyday. Although I love Chris very much and could not ask for a better husband and could not ask to feel more love for my husband. I could never fully imagine the love I feel for Sophie. She is so amazing and precious and I cannot wait to see the new things she learns everyday and the new things I am taught by her everday. Just seeing her smile and hearing her laugh makes the day. She truely is a gift that we have been given charge of and I only hope everyday I am doing the things that will help her be the best person she an be.
I have to go now as i is bottle time. Daddy is home with us todya but he has to run a few errands.
Love From 2874
Summer
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
At Last
Well we have come a long way baby. We are home with Sophie!! She is doing well. First I will give you the down low on hte trip home. We left Vietnam on Sat after finishing some shopping, and going to a Water Puppet show on Friday night. It was incredible. We walked fromt he lake to our hotle and commenced packing.
Saturday we flew from Hanoi to Taipei and then from Taipei to LAX. We got lucky and the bassinett and bulkhead were avaliable afterall and it was a God send as Sophie slept alot in the bassinett. Then we got to LA where the fun begins. I thinkthe entire country of the Phillipins deboarded just before us and all had immigrant visas to process and the only line open for doing this had two men working in it. We had a 2 and half hour layover and spent two hours of that in immigration. So we got our bags and went through customs then jogged as well as you can with 3 bags, 4 carryons, and a baby strapped to you to terminal 1 (5 terminals away) to geton our flight. We rechecked our bags just to find out that there were not two seats together. Sophie is starving, and we get to security they catch us in the random screen. I had to take Sophie out of the bjorn and they took the bottle of water I was going to make her bottle with. We geton the plane two seconds before the door closes and ask the flight attnedants to help us find a seat together. Finally a nice gentleman helped us out. We sat down for the flight ans Sophie is licking and sucking my face becsue she is so hungry and we just did not have time to do the bottle thing before the flight and now we had no water. So of course at take off she starts screaming like a banchee on a red eye flight. This lady in front of us turns around and says you might want to try a bottle or a passy. Duh, but Sophie will not take a passy and we no longer had any water to mix a bottle. So I told Sophie to scream louder!!! Finally the flight attendant is able to get us some water and that calmed the angery bear and she slept most of that flight.
We were recieved at the airport by my parents, Chris, mom and my sister Missy andher Husband and three children. We had breakfast together at the Cracker Barrel and were glad to be in out of the 40 degree temps which shocked both us and Sophie on arrival. It was a wonderful homecoming.
The church had decorated our house with pink ribbons and they hung a welcome home sign done by the children after we got home. My neice Molly also made us a beautiful welcome home sign that she brought to the airport. We also brought Nancy home with us for a few days to get readjusted.
Now we are home and Chris has Ho Chi Minh's revenge so he may go to the doctor before Sophie. We are doign well. Sophie slept on a normal (that is NC time schedule the first night), but has been adjusting the last two nights to NC time. But she is doing well and is trying her best to adjust and be the happy baby she is. She is just so wonderful and I love having her in our home and in her room. Which my mother finished while we were away and it is so beautiful. I cried when I first saw it. Sophie usually pulls at the bumper pads at night and we often find her on her side hugging them in the morning. She loves the birght red which is stimulating to her when she is awake. She has switched formulas without problem. We mixed half and half the first day and I have to tell you it did not smell good and she did not tale it well. So the next day we just used the formula we were goignto put her on by itself and she seems to be doing well.
As for motherhood. I love it. I really don't mind the fact that I sleep four hours at a time and sometimes four hours total. I love feeding her and holding her and cuddlign her. My favorite time is when you just get her to sleep and she lays so soft and gantly agianst you falling into you and sleeping so peacefully. I also love the time when she wakes up for the seond time. I say it is her second wake up becasue she usually wakes around 4 for a bottle then she wakes up around 6 and this seond wake up is wonderful she is looking for Chris and I and then when she finds us she gives a big morning smile. Then she plays for a while but is still in that sweet cuddly mood not quite awake yet. I know alot of people have different bonding experiences with their children and Sophie has taken her time to get used to us and be a cuddle bug, but she has and I have felt in love with her from day one. I wake up wanting to check on her and go to sleep wanting to check on her. She is so absolutely amazing. She has her own liitle personality and can give a good stink eye when she is not happy with me or her father. She has changed so much just since we first meet. Her head controlis great now, she can turn to her stomach, she can propr herself into sitting for about 1 minute before toppling over, she is growing hair.... I could go on and on. It seems that she does new things everyday and it is like watching a flower unfold in slow motion. I am going to cherish this time off work and cannot wait to see what the next how many ever years have in store for us.
So for now I will leave it at that. We are continually amazed by her and hope to be amazed for the rest of our lives by her.
Love From NC
Summer
Saturday we flew from Hanoi to Taipei and then from Taipei to LAX. We got lucky and the bassinett and bulkhead were avaliable afterall and it was a God send as Sophie slept alot in the bassinett. Then we got to LA where the fun begins. I thinkthe entire country of the Phillipins deboarded just before us and all had immigrant visas to process and the only line open for doing this had two men working in it. We had a 2 and half hour layover and spent two hours of that in immigration. So we got our bags and went through customs then jogged as well as you can with 3 bags, 4 carryons, and a baby strapped to you to terminal 1 (5 terminals away) to geton our flight. We rechecked our bags just to find out that there were not two seats together. Sophie is starving, and we get to security they catch us in the random screen. I had to take Sophie out of the bjorn and they took the bottle of water I was going to make her bottle with. We geton the plane two seconds before the door closes and ask the flight attnedants to help us find a seat together. Finally a nice gentleman helped us out. We sat down for the flight ans Sophie is licking and sucking my face becsue she is so hungry and we just did not have time to do the bottle thing before the flight and now we had no water. So of course at take off she starts screaming like a banchee on a red eye flight. This lady in front of us turns around and says you might want to try a bottle or a passy. Duh, but Sophie will not take a passy and we no longer had any water to mix a bottle. So I told Sophie to scream louder!!! Finally the flight attendant is able to get us some water and that calmed the angery bear and she slept most of that flight.
We were recieved at the airport by my parents, Chris, mom and my sister Missy andher Husband and three children. We had breakfast together at the Cracker Barrel and were glad to be in out of the 40 degree temps which shocked both us and Sophie on arrival. It was a wonderful homecoming.
The church had decorated our house with pink ribbons and they hung a welcome home sign done by the children after we got home. My neice Molly also made us a beautiful welcome home sign that she brought to the airport. We also brought Nancy home with us for a few days to get readjusted.
Now we are home and Chris has Ho Chi Minh's revenge so he may go to the doctor before Sophie. We are doign well. Sophie slept on a normal (that is NC time schedule the first night), but has been adjusting the last two nights to NC time. But she is doing well and is trying her best to adjust and be the happy baby she is. She is just so wonderful and I love having her in our home and in her room. Which my mother finished while we were away and it is so beautiful. I cried when I first saw it. Sophie usually pulls at the bumper pads at night and we often find her on her side hugging them in the morning. She loves the birght red which is stimulating to her when she is awake. She has switched formulas without problem. We mixed half and half the first day and I have to tell you it did not smell good and she did not tale it well. So the next day we just used the formula we were goignto put her on by itself and she seems to be doing well.
As for motherhood. I love it. I really don't mind the fact that I sleep four hours at a time and sometimes four hours total. I love feeding her and holding her and cuddlign her. My favorite time is when you just get her to sleep and she lays so soft and gantly agianst you falling into you and sleeping so peacefully. I also love the time when she wakes up for the seond time. I say it is her second wake up becasue she usually wakes around 4 for a bottle then she wakes up around 6 and this seond wake up is wonderful she is looking for Chris and I and then when she finds us she gives a big morning smile. Then she plays for a while but is still in that sweet cuddly mood not quite awake yet. I know alot of people have different bonding experiences with their children and Sophie has taken her time to get used to us and be a cuddle bug, but she has and I have felt in love with her from day one. I wake up wanting to check on her and go to sleep wanting to check on her. She is so absolutely amazing. She has her own liitle personality and can give a good stink eye when she is not happy with me or her father. She has changed so much just since we first meet. Her head controlis great now, she can turn to her stomach, she can propr herself into sitting for about 1 minute before toppling over, she is growing hair.... I could go on and on. It seems that she does new things everyday and it is like watching a flower unfold in slow motion. I am going to cherish this time off work and cannot wait to see what the next how many ever years have in store for us.
So for now I will leave it at that. We are continually amazed by her and hope to be amazed for the rest of our lives by her.
Love From NC
Summer
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
On our way home, Maybe?
We had our second interview today and will return to the Embassy tomorrow hopefully with a visa in hand. We are going ot try to fly out on Sunday if everything falls into place and we will be home Monday morning.
Sophie is back to being healthy, knock on wood and hoepfully her scales will stay away this time.
We are eating dinner with the other families at a Italian restaurant (hopefully Hanoi Italaian is good).
Sophie is just a wonderful little girl and she has been so happy since we got her to feeling better. She is upstairs pooting and and smiling at her daddy right now. She is just amazing. We are so very blessed to have her. All the other babies have had their bought with minor illnesses and for once Sophie is the healthy one. Everyone is ready to come home. Although I must admit Chris and I leave with a bit of sorrow. Not that we have definite plans to leave yet. The country is so beatiful and the people are so warm and wonderful. We could not have asked for a better expereince ( minus the Scarlett Fever ordeal). We are really enjoying our time in Vietnam and have tried to take opportunities to learn about the people and the culture so we can share as much as we can with Sophie as she grows. I want her to know how much we enjoyed our time in the country and that she really has roots from a very special place full of people who love her. Everyday people on the streets come up to say congrats to us and pat her on the head or kiss her hand. They really love their children in this country. I have to admit at times an appetite has been hard to come by, but losing a few punds won't kill me. The food is good just very foreign and we usually eat breakfast, snack in our room and then have dinner. The hotel Guoman has taken us in like family often holding Sophie (sometimes when I don't want them to) so we can have a meal together, they know our names and ask if one of us is alone without the baby how she is doing. Sophie is in love with one of the doormen and coos and smiles at him every chance. The house keeping staff is wonderful. In fact one of the housekeepers brought us a stroller to use while in Vietnam. If you are going to be thousands of miles away from home this is a good place to land. I cannot express in words the warm recieption we have been given in this country. Considering that we are in the Northern part of Vietnam and the history between our two countries the people are some of the most friendly I have ever come across.
Well as we prepare to wind down our trip we plan to see the Water Puppets and maybe do a day tour to area attractions, but we will see what happens with our travel plans. We are going to do the last of our shopping tomorrow morning before going back to the embassy in the afternoon to finish up there.
It is with great anticipation (and fear of the long trip with baby) that we are able to start planning to come home, but also sorrow as we have a love for this counrty that will forever be a part of our lives. We cannot wait to bring Sophie home, but we are goingto make the best of the time we have left here.
With love from VN,
Summer
Sophie is back to being healthy, knock on wood and hoepfully her scales will stay away this time.
We are eating dinner with the other families at a Italian restaurant (hopefully Hanoi Italaian is good).
Sophie is just a wonderful little girl and she has been so happy since we got her to feeling better. She is upstairs pooting and and smiling at her daddy right now. She is just amazing. We are so very blessed to have her. All the other babies have had their bought with minor illnesses and for once Sophie is the healthy one. Everyone is ready to come home. Although I must admit Chris and I leave with a bit of sorrow. Not that we have definite plans to leave yet. The country is so beatiful and the people are so warm and wonderful. We could not have asked for a better expereince ( minus the Scarlett Fever ordeal). We are really enjoying our time in Vietnam and have tried to take opportunities to learn about the people and the culture so we can share as much as we can with Sophie as she grows. I want her to know how much we enjoyed our time in the country and that she really has roots from a very special place full of people who love her. Everyday people on the streets come up to say congrats to us and pat her on the head or kiss her hand. They really love their children in this country. I have to admit at times an appetite has been hard to come by, but losing a few punds won't kill me. The food is good just very foreign and we usually eat breakfast, snack in our room and then have dinner. The hotel Guoman has taken us in like family often holding Sophie (sometimes when I don't want them to) so we can have a meal together, they know our names and ask if one of us is alone without the baby how she is doing. Sophie is in love with one of the doormen and coos and smiles at him every chance. The house keeping staff is wonderful. In fact one of the housekeepers brought us a stroller to use while in Vietnam. If you are going to be thousands of miles away from home this is a good place to land. I cannot express in words the warm recieption we have been given in this country. Considering that we are in the Northern part of Vietnam and the history between our two countries the people are some of the most friendly I have ever come across.
Well as we prepare to wind down our trip we plan to see the Water Puppets and maybe do a day tour to area attractions, but we will see what happens with our travel plans. We are going to do the last of our shopping tomorrow morning before going back to the embassy in the afternoon to finish up there.
It is with great anticipation (and fear of the long trip with baby) that we are able to start planning to come home, but also sorrow as we have a love for this counrty that will forever be a part of our lives. We cannot wait to bring Sophie home, but we are goingto make the best of the time we have left here.
With love from VN,
Summer
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