Sunday, April 29, 2007

Yesterday, after waking up with a migraine and being sick all day, we ventured on our bus trip. I knew it was a day that I should have stayed in bed but the seats were paid for and I think norm was looking forward to the day away so I humored him and went. Our trip was to Atlantic City to the casino. The noise and smoke just made things get worse as the day went on. I ended up sitting on the steps having Norm rubbing my neck and shoulders to try to alleviate it. No luck on that or any success on the 14 Advil I managed to down in the day. So I woke up this morning and I still am blessed with it. Been a long time since I felt this lousy. So I am taking the day to relax and watch the Nascar race. Something I have grown to LOVE over the last year. So anyway we had to pass by the Philadelphia Airport which is HUGE and as I watched planes coming and going I cried softly to myself thinking about the day we will board the plane (my first plane ride) and fly to get our precious son. What a wonderful day that will be. And our return home for our family to bond with and love Derek will be even better.
Hopefully we will get the new updated picture by the end of this week and we can see how much Derek has grown. That will be a bittersweet moment. It will be great to see him thriving and growing but sad to know what we have already missed. We are anticipating with great hope and faith that we will have a G&R ceremony date in the next week to 2 weeks. That will set up our travel time and that in itself is going to relieve a spot of stress for me.
The other news we got yesterday is that Norm's sister, mae is expecting their 3rd baby around Christmas or New Year. Someone for Derek to play with. They will be one year apart.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

First let me start this day by saying:
HAPPY 15TH BIRTHDAY ALYSSA!!!
It is hard to believe 15 beautiful years have gone by. I look at my daughter and see her growing up...literally (6 foot 1 inch)...but not only in size but in maturity also. She has always been kind, considerate, pleasant and most of all full of love for God and others in her life. She will always be a treasure of mine.
Now as we journey toward our NEW treasure I am making a plea to all who are reading and following our blog:
First of all THANK YOU to all of you who are following our journey, as you know it has been a very emotional one. I'm sure that isn't over by any means.
Second I am asking everyone out there to put their prayers into motion for us. I want everyone o PRAY that Norm will be holding Derek in his arms for Father's Day!!!!
I know prayer works because i wouldn't be where I am right now if not and if you wanted a list of things that have proven Power of Prayer to me I can make one for you. So I know it can work if we all come together and do it. Please for me!!!!

We haven't gotten any news about Derek for a couple weeks and as the phone call day approaches each passing day hold much emotion. We are excited at the beginning of the day and each time the phone rings I answer it with question and excitement that this may be "The Call" and at the end of the day and there has been no calls...we look forward to facing tomorrow!! We know the day is close and that it may only be a few more weeks and we'll be flying the friendly skies to get Derek home. We were hoping for an updated picture this week but that hasn't presented itself yet and I'm wondering if any will before we get to travel. I am just concerned by the measurements they gave us in comparison to the age they gave us as to whether they are in sync with each other. We aren't even sure what sizes to pack for Derek.
Well as the emotions continue to run rampant, we ask you to think of us often and remember to continue praying for us.
Thank You!!
Teresa

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Okay, so today happens to be one of my "not so good" days. I try to overlook the fact that I am tired of WAITING and I tell myself and others that I am calm and that it is soon. Well deep, deep down my heart is aching so badly to go get Derek. I want to hold him so tight and kiss his cheeks. He is so beautiful and I can't wait to bring him home for everyone to meet. Wait til I can post his pictures...you will agree with how sweet he is. This has been one LOOOOOONG jouney and as it gets closer to the end I am getting more and more cranky with the wait.
I spoke with our new CM today, DeNese, and she seems very informative and sweet. I'm sure the relationship will grow as the time moves on. As my friend Michelle said in an email today soon we won't need our CM's we will have our babies. DeNese reassured the indication made to us earlier about our G&R being by the middle of June. If this really holds out we may be traveling in about 6 weeks or less hopefully!!! So maybe if we are really lucky we will get that call about the date for Mother's Day and we can be over there for Father's Day. I want Norm to have Derek in his arms on Father's Day so badly. The time is drawing near and the suspense is eating at me. I hate surprises as some of yu know and this is definatley one I am chomping at the bit about!!! She also said that there is still the possibility that we may not travel with Michelle & Jeff. If that happens I am going to be devastated. We are looking so forward to this time together with our babies. God has been good so far in keeping us together so as I told her I have faith THAT He will continue that for us. So as we now just sit each day and wait for the phone to ring with our date we look back over the whole process and progress we have made so far. WOW!!! We have accomplished alot. Keep praying with us for the phone to ring SOON!!!!

Friday, April 20, 2007

SAD DAY...HAPPY DAY!!!!!

I had to title this post because it reflects my feeling today. Today is the day that our very helpful and more than adequate case manager goes on maternity leave. We are as of Monday turned over to our new CM DeNese. Diane has assured me thatshe too will be wonderful and is very informative & helpful. Its just that feeling of having a "blankie" and you lost it at a store and your tummy churns everytime you think about it. I am nervous. With Diane I didn't ever feel afraid to call her or email her...she always comforted me. I'm sure DeNese and I will build a relationship too but I am going to miss Diane so much!!!
The happy side is that the reason Diane is leaving for now is because her baby is due in a couple weeks. This is so exciting and I can't wait to meet them in person. We are hoping to have Derek back home by the 23rd of June so that we can go to the agency picnic to show him off. Diane should be there too so I want to meet her so badly.
There has been no news about Derek or the dossier this week. Hopefully by the middle of May we will have our G&R date. I am so tired of waiting. Norm looked at me last night and once again said..."When are we going to finally get to go for my baby boy". He is so ready!!!

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Yesterday was yet another day of shopping. Norm & I both worked in the morning and then loaded up the girls with the portable DVD player and their Ipods and off to Hershey Outlets we went. We found someawesome deals there. I have been searching with no luck for sundresses to take on our trip. Finally yesterday I went to the right place. I found numerous ones at The Dress Barn so I bought 2. They are the type of material that doesn't need ironed and they will pack really well. One more thing to check off of our list. The girls got some great deals at Aeropastale and I found a few tops for myself there too!!! Even Norm got a shirt. Then it was off to The Childrens Place...one of my favorite shops...and we found great stuff for Derek. Alyssa found the most items and the best prices. We had fun. Even Alyssa said when we got home that she had a good time...unusual for a soon to be 15 year old, especially mine. So I feel like I am making some headway on the packing which I better soon do.
Last night we went to a 25th wedding anniversary party for friends of ours. That was a great time. We got to be with some friends of ours that we unfortunately don't get together with often enough. We laughed about old times and made a few new memories to look back on next time we get together. Congrats to Chris & Tina for 25 years of marriage!!!!
I'm not sure what today hold for us yet. We have alot of things we'd like to accomplish today but it is rainy and that makes us lazy. Tomorrow, weather permitting, we are heading to Philly to the PA Hair Show. I love going there. Norm always goes with me. He is VERY supportive of my career. He truly is the best soulmate for me. I love that he wants to know what I do and to learn about my career. I'm not nearly as interested in his mechanic career though. I care but I don't get that into it. I hate the dirt. YUCK!!! All I think about is how dirty Derek is going to be after a day of tagging behind "DADDY" in the garage. Which remindsme...we got hime the cutest one piece shorts romper that says "Future CEO". I thought it was quite appropriate.
We probably won't hear much more on the adoption front until we get the call with our G&R date. So keep watching and I'll keep posting. Next week we will be getting our new case manager so I am a little on edge about that right now. I'm sure it will be fine. Just yet another adjustment to make in the process. Hopefully only about 3-4 more weeks and our paperwork will be back to the DIA and he will issue us our G&R date and we can begin our travel arrangements. We are looking so forward to getting to VN for Derek and also to CA to meet Michelle & Jeff. She has a few things in mind for us to do and see so we can't wait. I warned her it will be "rednecks" in the city when we get there. LOL!!!!

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Wer received a phone call from Diane today with good news....She gave us a travel update!!! Here is the run down:

The DIA sent your dossier copies to the Department of Justice in DA Nang as
of last week. The DOJ has ordered the Da Nang orphanage to assemble a child
dossier. The orphanage director is currently working on collecting all
necessary paperwork for the dossier which should take about 7-10 days.


By the end of April the DOJ will have both the copy of your dossier and the
child dossier. They will then instruct the local security police to perform
an investigation on the child information. This is just a formality since
the police have already investigated the abandonment.


Then the DOJ will seek the endorsement of the Da Nang�s Peoples� Committee
before making a recommendation and final report back to the DIA in Hanoi.
Upon receiving the report from the DOJ the DIA will make the necessary
authorization or �final approval� for the DOJ to invite the families to go
to Vietnam to attend the G&R Ceremony.


We still do not know when you will be traveling, but we are still thinking
that it will probably be in June.

So please continue to pray with us that the paperwork continues to move quickly and that we may still have a chance to travel before they are anticipating.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

I am so excited. I have been anxiously awaiting for the 1000th reader to view our blog. It is great to see so many people taking advantage of reading blogs. I have found many favorites and many very informative ones myself. I hope to all that haave read this blog so far that you have gained some sort of knowledge from it. We will continue to keep it updated for your enjoyment!!
Thanks Again Readers!!!
Teresa & Norm

Monday, April 09, 2007

Hope everyone had as great of an Easter as we did. We ate good, had wonderful family time and I must say Norm & I slept good last night for once. We have no news about Derek today. The one thing that has me on pins and needles at this point is that our case manager (Diane), whom might I add is wonderful, is going to be reassigning our case to another CM due to her maternity leave. We only have 2 weeks left with her (but who's counting, right!) and then we get a new one. I guess I probably don't need to tell you how nervous we are about this change. We have found a friend and a comfort in Diane that is unexplainable. She has been the oneto calm me when I get out of hand with worry. I'm sure our next CM will be wonderful too but Diane knows us and our case so well that I just want our dossier to complete its rounds and get a G&R date before she takes her leave. That would mean only 2 weeks and I doubt it will happen that quickly. I'm still going to wish for it though.
I have once again today decided to tackle some of the packing. What dilemna's. I don't know where to start really. I'm not sure what I should put in our carry ons and what to put in the regular luggage. This makes me crazy. Today I am sorting out the important items for our carry on and putting them in quart ziplock bags as required. Geez...we need to pack alot of stuff!!! I overpack just going to the beach for a week imagine what it looks like here packing for a foreigncountry for 3-4 weeks. Last night Michelle & I hashed around (over email) a few hotel choices and I think we might have it narrowed down. We are using the Sandy Beach Resort in DaNang and probably the Lucky 2 or Paradise in Hanoi. We want to stay someplace respectable and accomodating for the right price.
I haven't been feeling well for the last few days and I have a doctor appointment tomorrow. Friday I got hit with a nasty headache and dizziness and I can't seem to get rid of either. Hopefully only an inner ear infection which will go away with a little medication. I am going to take along Derek's medical info we received and try to get the doctor to look his blood test results over quickly. Not that I have any concerns but I am curious if they are okay.
When we hear more I'll post ithere!!! Keep watching!!!

Thursday, April 05, 2007

Happy 4 month Birthday Derek!!!! We wish we were there to hold you and kiss you for your birthday but I promise we will make up for it as soon as we can. All that's left of the wait is in the hands of the officials there in Vietnam. As soon as that call comes we will be booking the flight, finishing packing, and pacing the floors til travel day. We can't wait to hold you.
Love,
Mommy & Daddy

Monday, April 02, 2007

Many of my blogger friends are in the process of working on their baby's nurseries and continue to ask about how Derek's is coming along. Well I have been putting off taking pictures because as you will see in these we have a little bit of everything all ove the place in there right now. It is our packing station for the time being. I try to add a few things to the suitcases each week. It's all part of the "hurry up and wait" process. We have not gotten crib bedding yet as that is something i thought we might get for a shower. As it stands, my dear SIL's were wanting to throw one before travel but because it may be sooner than we expected originally time is too short. They will have one after our return. They have however asked that we make a list of the must haves to come home to and they will make sure it is all in place for our return with Derek. How great is that. They are a great bunch of girls. One would be as lucky as me to have them in their lives. So I have put the bedding on the list among a few other items that came to mind. Actually it is a little overwhelming seeing as I haven't done this for 11 years and I forget alot of what to expect. Well reality will strike once Derek is in our arms and anything I forgot on the list I will be sure to email home about. So here are a few pictures. Keep in mind that this is our sitting room just off of our master bedroom so it will be a perfect place for him.
This is his incomplete crib so far. This is when you walk into the room. This is my creativity in curtains...I didn't feel like hemming once i cut these off so I just slit the bottoms to make them look like grass. I impressed myself. The huge 60" shelf is hiding the many holes that were holding up the girlie things I originally had on the wall. Check out the clothing tree in the corner, I bought it at a craft show. Too cute to pass up.
Here is the pile of luggage. I cannot wait to be done packing!!!!!
I know this isn't jungle looking but I thought it was so cute and soothing for above his crib. When he gets a little bigger I'll change it to jungle animals. And on the wall that the crib end is, I have his dresser but no decorations yet. Waiting for a rocking chair for in there too!!!

So this is a peek at the nursery. Hope you like it as much as we do!!!!

No new news on our paperwork...we don't expect to hear alot until the day they call with our G&R date now. Keep watching for updates though!!!