What a face to wake-up to!

Jynger must not sleep much. In my inbox this morning (1 am CDT 2 am EDT) were PICTURES of beautiful Izzy Thu Thi. Don't you just want to reach in there and pick her up?

Happy 3 month-bday Izzy Thu Thi!

Izzy Thu Thi turns 3 months today! There are two families in Vietnam right now celebrating their Giving & Receiving Day... their kiddos were at the same orphanage as Izzy (and four other little ones referred the same week as Izzy). If they were able to take photos of the kids, AND they are able to post from Vietnam, then we should get some updated pictures. I received some updated weight/height info the other day; izzy, as of July 31, weighed 11.68 lbs. She is being well fed by all of her wonderful caregivers. The reports also said "she appears to be good malnutrition and smily girl". Thank you for taking such good care of her!

So what goes into the timeline?

Special thanks to Jessica V because I plagiarized her list :)..... Here is the 12 step processes that has to happen before we can travel

1. After Dillon receives our acceptance paperwork (last week) they sent a letter (in this case on 7/13) to the DIA (Dept. of Int. Adoptions) in Hanoi telling them which child we want to adopt. Once this letter is accepted (this can take up to a week) we can estimate travel within 3-6 months (praying for 3-4).

2. The DIA sends a letter the local Justice Dept. in Ninh Thuan telling them which child we want to adopt. (can take up to 7 business days)

3. The Local Justice center sends a letter to the Orphanage telling them which child we want to adopt. (this can take up to 7 business days)

4. The Orphanage then writes a letter back to the local justice stating that yes this child is available. (this can take up to 7 business days)

5. Once the local Justice gets this letter they then send a letter to the DIA stating that yes this kid is available. (guess what, this can take up 7 business days)6

6. When the DIA gets that letter they send a letter to the Dillon staff in Vietnam requesting that they send the acceptance papers of the child that has been referred. (another up to 7 business days)

7. Dillon Staff will send the Acceptance papers to Hanoi. (bet you can't guess how long that can take?...)

8. Then the DIA send a letter to the local justice dept. asking them to compile the baby's dossier (legal papers). This can take up to 45-60 business days or longer... this is the biggest chunk of time.

9. Once they finish putting together the baby's dossier, The Local Justice then must review it and then send it to the DIA (this can take a week or longer)

10. The DIA will review the baby's dossier and the family dossier. Once that is complete both Dossiers are then sent back to the local Justice Dept. in Ninh Thuan. (This can take a week or longer)

11. The Local Justice Dept. then reviews the family dossier. Then they send both dossiers to the People's Committee. (This can take a week or longer)

12. the people's committee with then review the Dossiers. Once the have completed this they will set a date for the giving and receiving ceremony. (this can take a week or longer)

Then we get approximately 2 weeks notice before travel. YAYYYYY!!!!

Man, she's beautiful. Hi Izzy.

Here she is, little and proud. how lucky am i?
July 3rd, 2007. Katie, thank you for that call. THANK YOU! Ruth

Izzy (Vietnamese name Nguyen Thi Thu). She was born May 20th, 2007 in Ninh Thuan. She currently weighs 3.7Kg(8.1 lbs) and is 50cm long(19.7 inches). Pinch me.

April 28th - What a Week

Wow. For months now the group has waited -- and waited and waited some more. I had been #4 on the referral of a little girl list since January. There had been no female referrals since that time. And then there was so much activity last week! G&R dates (giving and receiving ceremonies, the date that your child actually is 'given' to you in Vietnam -- officially). Travel dates. Two referrals for little boys. And then Vy - a beautiful little girl--was referred to a waiting family and we learned of it on Friday. And apparently, there is another child who has been referred. So I have moved from 4 to 3 to what I believe is #2 in just a day or so. Wow.

It's been awhile - March 28th, 2007

It's been awhile since i have posted; no real news to report. We continue to wait for news on baby girl referrals. Not a lot of activity in that regard in ages. I keep assuming that any day now there will be two - they seem to come in pairs. And then i will be number two. The crib and dresser and rocker get delivered on April 6th. That will make it more real as i look in the baby's room and see the CRIB! Art, Roberta and I painted the room in January. It's a BRIGHT lavendar. Once the crib is in there i can assess the other decorating needs. As for child care, i have begun that process, too. Exploring it, at least. There are a number of families in Vietnam right now, picking up their children; their reports are so terrific and helpful. It's exciting to read and exciting to get the color that their reports convey. So we wait.

New to the Blog-Space

So it's December 25th and I found out just a few weeks ago that I am on the waiting list for a baby girl from Vietnam. She doesn't know it yet, but she's Izzy. And i am now moving more rapidly down the path to find her. It began in early August; there seems to be so much waiting but in the scheme of things, it's really nothing. Because in all likelihood, next December Izzy will be home. With me.
So today as the year rapidly draws to a close i start to think that i better think beyond finding izzy and actually think about raising Izzy! cribs, highchairs, car seats, childcare, healthcare... and of course THE BLOG! because as my friends and family share in the adventure, i can share a little back by documenting it.
So tonight i tool around the web trying to figure out this blog thing. Feel free to tell me if this doesn't work. If Izzy is anything like her mom-to-be is with her mom, she'll tell me for sure.

So here i go. I will do my best to document this journey. For me, for my family and friends, and for izzy.
Happy Holidays for sure.