I-600

I am still trying to get caught up from December! On the 18th we got an email notifying us that we could submit our I-600, the petition to classify an orphan as an immediate relative, to our agency. We filled it out and had it notarized and sent it to our agency the next day. Of course, the minute we did we got an email telling us that there had been a change in the way the form was supposed to be filled out and we would have to do it over. Last Wednesday, the 26th, we went back to the agency to do the form correctly. After we had finished I casually may have mentioned that we had not received new pics of Norah in almost 6 weeks and lo and behold we got some today! That post will follow shortly. So anyway, our I-600 should be sent to Vietnam this week and then it will sit there until they determine we are 3-5 weeks from traveling to submit it to the USCIS. With Tet on Feb. 7th and the government offices shut down for 2-3 weeks we are really hoping it will be submitted in a week or 2 so that we might be able to travel the end of February or early March. Cross your fingers for us!!

Safety First!

We're getting closer and closer and we can definitely feel the clock ticking. Norah's room is (for the most part) ready, we have her high seat sitting at the table (and the cats have miraculously left it alone, which is good because Dani would most likely strangle them if she came into the room and found one of them snuggled up all cozy-like in it) and now we have car seats! One in each car.




Once again, of course, it was a bit of a.........challenge to get them in. Seriously. Hopefully the people at the fire department won't point their fingers and laugh at my attempt.

And now for something completely different:

AHHHHHHH WATCH OUT HE'S OUT OF CONTROL!!!!!!!

Christmas aftermath garbage pile - I can't imagine what it's going to be like after Norah comes home and there's a little one getting presents

Our tree. Like Norah, this tree was once a itty-bitty baby tree and now it has grown into....a little bit bigger tree.

The vicious wild cat that is Aiden. Be careful if you see this creature. This picture was taken just moments before he pounced on the poor photographer and shed on her to death.

Merry Christmas

For Christmas this year the only thing I really wanted (other than Norah) were new pics from Vietnam. It has been 5 1/2 weeks and I am going crazy!! But Santa did not bring me new pictures today. I suppose I was just overly optimistic that they would be in my inbox when I woke up.

We did stay very busy this weekend buying our new camcorder, digital SLR and IPODs for our trip. I admit, splurging a little after saving for so long was kind of nice, and of course these were the things we were saving for. Barn set-up the pack and play from gran Becki and high chair while I put away the end of the shower gifts. We celebrated x-mas next door with Aunt Jessi, Uncle Chad and cousins Aiden and Liam. Aiden keeps asking when Norah is coming. I wish I had an answer!!

Thanks again Grandma Val for the baby monitors and high chair!

Daddy sets up the high chair.

A place at the kitchen table (I guess we have to start eating there now!)
There was a lot of unpacking to do after the shower!
And here I thought that I would be able to throw out one of these giant boxes in our living room. Addison thought the high chair box was a nice place to sleep.

Baby Shower #1 12-15-07

So I am a little behind at blogging again but it has been a busy month. On the 13th, 2 days before the baby shower, I got the flu. I felt horrible and popped a whole lot of blood vessels in my face from puking so hard. (It will be a long long time before I am able to eat Culvers again.) Then it started snowing... and snowing... and snowing... a whole 8+ inches worth in Lake St. Louis so people started cancelling left and right. With the huge storm front came a migraine so I doped up on prescription migraine medication and hoped that I would not vomit on any of my guests. There was actually a really good turnout at the shower, probably 30 or so friends & family and lots of babies. We played a few games: passed the bink with chop sticks, smelled the baby food, made everyone tear out babies behind their backs. The guys raced to drink apple juice out of baby bottles and Norah's Uncle Gil won. I can honestly say that I do not remember too much after that. It was a bit overwhelming and we had a time constraint on the room so I rushed and rushed to open all the presents.

A big thanks to Aunt Jessi for co-throwing us the shower:


Barnabas & I with my mom, my sister, Lauren, and her other half, Gil.

Here are some shots of all our wonderful friends:

Cousin Aiden playing with a lantern.

The Phon's chose a bath time and meantime theme.
Uncle Gil, Uncle Chad and good friend Tim chug apple juice.
Uncle Gil wins!

2 Months Today

Today it has been 2 months since our referral. Time seems to be going very slow and very fast all at once. Work has been very busy for both of us. Our first shower is this weekend and I am so excited. I have been waiting half of my life to celebrate my child. Woo hoo!! There are several families in Vietman right now that live close by and we were so excited to see them get their children this week. Congrats again to Matt and Ali on Princess Jenna and Karen and Andrew with baby Khai. We are so happy for you guys!!

We still haven't gotten any updates on Norah, she turned 4 months old last Tuesday, but we are still holding out hope for new photos this week. I have written our agency about the possibility of sending her a few toys to keep her entertained until we can get her. She has now missed her first Hannukah with us. =( Next year will be much better. It has to be!!

Strollers and Car Seats and Chairs! (oh my!)

We've started receiving items from out-of-town friends and family and we really appreciate everyone's help in getting us ready for our baby girl!

Here I am putting all of my brain cells to work trying to put together the stroller. An hour later we had a stroller for Norah! (Don't mock--I was a Humanities major, after all, not an engineer.)

Stuff! (Thank you Pop and Sharon for the car seat, Hollie for the stroller and Valerie for the high chair)

Aiden gets to play King of the Mountain until we take the seat out of the box.

Happy Birthday Liam!!

Today my nephew, Liam, turned 2 and we did not get to see him because his whole family has a nasty flu bug. I did bake some bina (banana) bread and leave it on the front porch, slowly backing far far away as it was retrieved. I remember the day that Jess ran through our back door with that barely positive pregnancy test, it does NOT feel like it was 2 years ago, more like yesterday. Yet, my wonderful nephew is growing up and learning more and more each day. We have learned to interpret his Mogwai speak and randomly quote him daily in our own conversation. Both he, his brother and his parents have changed our lives far more than they will ever know. Leemie, Uncle Barn and I hope that you have had a wonderful day and we promise to celebrate next weekend! We love you!!

PS. You better work on getting Mommy and Daddy to plan that trip to Disney World with us next year to see MeeeMeee (aka Micky) and Duck.

Crisis Averted

We had problems with our hit counter down at the bottom of the page. All of a sudden we didn't know how many times people had viewed this site! After a moment of panic and then a short period of introspection and calm, I found a new one. Whew. Glad that's over and we can all go on with our lives.

Thanksgiving

On Thanksgiving we were thankful for the usual things... friends, family, our health (good food ;-)) and of course, Norah. But little did we know that halfway around the world in Vietnam the Department of Justice was receiving the information that they needed to start processing our case. We found out yesterday that our official wait to travel started on 11/22 and now 2-4 months of waiting has begun. Barnabas says that now "waiting" has gone from an adjective to a verb, we are in the active phase. To me the waiting will be waiting until we are at the orphanage and Norah is in my arms!