SULKING....
That's the only title I could think of to describe my mood today! I can't stop thinking about the update that is yet to come hopefully next week. Our program director is in VN until tomorrow and will hopefully return on Monday with a world of information for us. My fear....another stupid delay. I can't continue being nice guy everytime we get a delay anymore. This is getting crazy. I fear not so great news because whenever the director has good news he shares it and we haven't heard any news back from him in the 3 weeks he has been in Vietnam....SCARY!!!!!


On to better things....
I thought I would take a little time and tell you about Michelle's visit. We had a blast. It was a jam packed schedule but we got it all in. She did tell me it took a lot of sleep upon her return home to catch up though. Take a look at a few photos of things we did together:
Here we are picking Michelle up at the airport.

And we brought her to this...


We spent a few hours checking out Chocolate World in Hershey, PA

Oh and another great highlight was our trip to the Wing Buffet (50+ flavors of wings)

A trip to a local hangout...Norm was our "Party Wagon Driver"

I got in trouble for this one by security

Michelle climbed (not without difficulty) high on top of a rock at Little Roundtop in Gettysburg, PA

Michelle & I stormed Little Roundtop with our captivating ways



It was a truly emotional farewell for me at the return to the airport


It was an absolutely wonderful visit that I wish wouldn't have had to end. The greatest thing of all is that I have found a friend with whom I share a world of likeness with and even though we are on opposite sides of the U.S. we will always have each other. Thanks to the world of technology and my persistance to find someone from the same agency and the same adoption country as us I found Michelle!!! The only consoling words I could hear as she departed from the airport were Norm's words saying how wonderful it was to watch Michelle & I interact and have such a great time together. There was never a moment that didn't feel right. It was like we had been friends or sisters forever. What an awesome time. We now look forward to hopping on a plane and (as Michelle would say) "jet-setting" across the country to her home and to meet Jeff. We can't wait. How wonderful it will be to spend such an important time of our lives together in Vietnam. It really doesn't get any better than this:

NEW PICTURE...
We were awakened today by the sound of the telephones rings. Norm answered as usual and I could hear our CM's voice on the other end. WOOHOO!!! I was hoping for a substantial update however there was no news yet. The positive to the call was that she told us she had placed a new picture of Derek in our inbox. WOW...what a great start to the day and week!!! I love the update days!!! Wish i could post the whole picture but I can't yet. So anyway he is really growing and SOOOOO CUTE!!!!! He is standing so i'm sure it won't be long until those sexy little legs get him from spot to spot. Oh are we in for trouble.
SNEAK PEEK...

I HAVE BEEN TAGGED.....

These are a fun way to learn a little extra about our friends in "Adoption World". Here it goes.
I will list the rules and then on to the game:

Here are the rules of this tag...


You have to post these rules before you give the facts.
Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name.
**If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
**When you are tagged, you need to write your own blog post containing your own middle name game facts.
**At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.
****Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged & to read your blog!

Fortunately for me I have an extremely short middle name!!!

A--Always on this crazy computer looking for any tidbit of info I can find or any encouragement out there from my friends.

N--Norm my hubby is the light in my life. He has been my strength and my contentment through some of the roughest of days on this journey.

N--New friends can be found through this process and I was fortunate enough to reach out and be persistant in finding one and along came "My Michelle".

Now I will TAG 3 people (Bet alot of you out there are glad I have a short name now too aren't you!!!):

Michelle--Harwells.org
Ange--The Road To Vietnam (CONGRATS ON THE NEW REFERRAL!!!)
Jonathan--Days of the Dragon

Have a good time with this it is fun!!!!

24 HOURS

In 24 hours Norm and I will be at the Harrisburg Airport waiting in extreme anticipation for Mihelle's plane to land. Soon I will be able to wrap my arms around my very dear long distance friend and feel the warmth of our friendship. We have journied through this adoption together for 11 months now and with the help of our webcams we have united in a new way. Seeing each other and sharing 4 days together will only add to the excitement of our bond. I cannot wait to see Michelle and to spend our days doing whatever the day brings to us. Keep alert as I will be sure to post some pictures of our exciting reunion together!!!!

Pictures....
No not of Derek but this is his crib bedding that I finally settled on. It looks so cute in his room and it is soft and cuddly. We just need Derek to complete the set. I am going to go to Babies R Us and buy a few of the coordinating pieces to this set. I have to hang the valances yet but other than that we are set. This is the Zanzibar pattern by Kidline. Isn't it too cute!!!!! I chose a design that will grow with him. We will be able to continue to use this on his toddler bed as he passes the next couple years. i also thought since he won't be much of a baby anymore once he is home that a little more mature of a set would be better. Not to mention the previous set I picked out was dicontinued and we didn't get all the accessories for with it and OMG I am all about the accessories!!!!

NEWS, NEWS, NEWS....

First I have to say that I am SOOOOOO excited to tell you that I am going to get to spend 4 wonderful days with...... MICHELLE!!!!! Yes, it's true. Michelle and I have become great looooong distance friends through our adoptions way back in the fall when we began talking. It was like a connection that clicked instantly and as time went on we needed to talk more and more and share all our ups and downs together. When I was down she was up and vice versa. We have complimented each other time and time again. We have shared incredible things through our adoption process. After all Michelle is the one who accidentally got our referral picture and fell in love with him only to find out "he" wasn't a "she" and it wasn't really her referral. She was such a trooper throught that. So I could go on and on with how many things have affected the two of us in mysterious ways. God has been so good. Anyway, I got a call from Michelle that she would be able to book a flight here to spend 4 days together. I CANNOT WAIT!!!!! She will be here in 12 days. We are going to have 4 whole days (not nearly enough but we'll make up for it) together to bond even more. I can't imagine what it will be like to pick her up from the airport. I have never done that before and it's going to be an awesome experience filled with tears of joy. Norm isn't sure he is ready to share me but I think he'll enjoy watching us together. He values our time together but I know he is excited for me to get to be with Michelle. He is a wonderful husband!!!! So stay tuned for lots of pictures of Michelle & I embarking on a new side to our friendship!!!!

In adoption news...we received an update today that we should know more news in a few weeks. Our travel will still be hopefuly October but it has a potential of being later. YUCK!!!! We are praying for Derek to be HOME for Christmas. The paperwork is finalizing and the authorities are getting their loose ends tied up which will hopefully be quick and we can hop on that flight. We'll post more as we hear it!!!!

100TH POST!!!!!!

Well I hoped for this post to be really exciting a chock full of good adoption news....
Sorry for the let down!

Anyway I wanted to post a few pictures from our vacation to Atlantic City wih the girls. We had a great time and the weather was blistering hot! We didn't spend alot of hours on the beach because it was just scorching! Enough time to get a few good pictures though. The girls had a great time!

Here's Jessica sitting on the window ledge 32 floors high above the construction at the hotel. The next few pictures show the inside and outside of our BEAUTIFUL hotel we stayed in compliments of DONALD TRUMP!!!! Thanks Donald...we were so spoiled here!!!









What an awesome place...huh?!?!?!
Here's a few random shots of the girls having fun and hanging around. We really enjoyed ourselves and it was a great family time together.










So today Alyssa started Field Hockey Camp for 2 weeks and then she andJessie start back to school on the 28th. Farewell to summer and relaxation!!!!!

TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT I'VE BEEN UP TO.....

I just thought I'd humor everyone by showing you a few of my latest spending adventures. I will soon have us too broke to travel if I don't stop.
(Kimberly...I don't have the yard full but the house sure is getting cramped)!!!
I have been on a shopping frenzy and you aren't even seeing a quarter of it here. Since I have decided not to have a shower I thought we should start buying the things we are in need of. I have my eye on an awesome bedding set that I am working on finding at a great price. I'll find it....I hve perseverance (obviously).
So here is some of the goodies we've bought:

Naturally every nursery NEEDS a rocking chair. This one looks comfy for late night feedings and I should be able to doze off in it. Rocking makes me tired so I hope it works for Derek too!!!

Of course we need a place to contain all of that finger food since that's what he'll be ready to eat by the time he gets home. I thought the colors on this highchair were great. They match our kitchen perfectly! And it has the jungle animal theme on it!!! HMMMM!!!

When you can't have the real thing you substitute to make the space look occupied! This is a bear that we adopted for Derek at the Boyd's Bear Country while we were in Gettysburg. Jessica and I adopted twins. I named him "Thanh Dat" (Derek's VN name) and he lays on Derek's changing table. It sure isn't the same but sometimes when I look at it it reminds me that this is still real and we will get Derek home soon!

One might say that a woman loves her shoes. Well who says a little guy can't too. I do love children's shoes. Unfortunately alot of the ones in this drawer aren't going to fit and will be out of season. I'd say that it is safe to assume that we won't be wearing sandals in the fall!!!! If you think this is alot check out the next picture...

This isn't even a third of his clothing. We have 2 totes filled and his dresser drawers are packed. He certainly will be the best dressed kid in Dornsife!!! I have once again been able to become a "Gymboree-aholic". I just love their clothes and I wore them on my girls and now I am finding the cutest stuff for Derek too. At one time I thought boy clothes weren't cute...boy was I wrong.

So as you can see I need to stop spending now and start saving for the trip. I have worked on trying to finalize packing but I need to see what the weather will be there in October. A little cooler I am sure and hopefully the rainy season will be over til then. I know flight prices come way down so that is a help!!!

Well hopefully we will have some more news and hopefully new pictures in the next few weeks. Keep watching here!!!

My next post will be my 100th post so I'll try to make it a good one!!!!

Today is again for me another day to reflect. I think back to the beginning...I remember attending the adoption seminar in Camp Hill, PA. Norm and I were so excited to go. We hadn't told anyone so it was a secret trip that night. We were one of the last families to leave. We just couldn't hear enough. At the time we were in the mode of China and that is the choice we made when we walked out the door that night. We looked at each others excitement and knew it was time and this would be the right choice for us to make together. We called the very next day and asked for a packet to be sent as we were ready to commit to adoption. WOW!! What an excitement that filled our hearts. After many phone calls and a preliminary application we found we would not be accepted by the China program due to my health issues. We were upset and felt the bricks in our wall being laid. The agency suggested the "NEW" Vietnam program and it sounded very hopeful and we approached it very optimistically. The process moved along rather quickly as we were very excited to get our required paperwork done as fast as we could and get on that list. Much to our excitement we made it to #5 on the waiting list. Things moved along just not quickly enough for us and in March we received word that there was a boy approximately 3 month old available. Would we be interested....I called my mom first because she is my focus factor and she talked me through it. She made me realize that God wanted this little boy for us. I hung up in glee and called Norm right away. I told him to come home as quickly as he could. He only works next door and it seemed like an hour until he showed up. I told him about our opportunity and we cried together as we made our final decision and called our CM. She answered and we told her "Yes, we want the baby boy". I remember how excited she was and we heard a quiver in her voice. So the paperwork got finished and sent off to Vietnam and what we had no expectation of...the hardest wait of all. It has been 4 months, 3 weeks , and 4 days since that referral and we are still waiting to travel. It is 4 months and 1 day today since our dossier was logged in. This is the gruelling part since we were supposed to be able to travel 3-4 months after log in. It looks like another 9-10 weeks before we go. We have been on the ups and downs of this roller coaster way too long. We have hit almost every brick in that wall that started way back at the beginning and now we just want the wall to crumble and let us through. Derek is growing so much and we have been truly blessed to have gotten updates and new pictures of him periodically but it just isn't like having him home. We'll continue to persevere in this process with our heads held high, our hearts filled with joy, and most of all our arms open wide to accept him into.
We have met some wonderful people along this journey so far and I have been blessed to have found a wonderful friend all the way across the country from me. Our distance from each other hasn't stopped us from growing closer, sharing joy & pain, and anticipating our travel to bring home our babies together. Michelle has been a true blessing to me. She picks me up when I am down and she makes me smile everyday. Her name among many of you on the forum and in blogs that I follow each day have become a part of our family. When I speak your names people know who you are.
I want to thank each one of you who has been praying, encouraging, reading, or even thinking about us as we travel through this wonderful adoption experience. You are all a special part of our lives.
Teresa

Just wanted to throw in a few pictures of us in Gettysburg!!! We really had a great time! We are now planning a 2 day trip to the beach with the girls hopefully Aug 6 & 7. The next 2 weeks are hectic. The girls are leaving Sunday to go with their bio dad camping for the week and will return on Friday to come see me before heading out Sunday to attend a week of e=overnight bible camp. Jessica is a camper and Alyssa is a counselor. They will return on Saturday and spend that day and Sunday with their dad while Norm & I head to the Poconos for the Nascar race (which I would like to thank Tony for hooking us up with those tickets...free of charge) which I can't wait to go to. We will pick them up Sunday night when we return and then hopefully be heading out early Monday morning on the bus to Atlantic City for a 2 day getaway at the beach. Thanks to Donald Trump we will be able to stay at the Taj Mahal free of charge Monday night and eat at their delicious buffet also free of charge. We will ride the casino bus down and get our money back for those tickets and we will only have to pay for our tickets back home. All in all it will be one inexpensive getaway!!!! That's my favorite kind. Then the girls have a little down time until Alyssa starts field hockey and band camp for 2 weeks and then school starts. Remind me again...WHERE DID THE SUMMER VACATION GO???? I'm sure Shara & Jenna out there in blogger land can relate on this one.
Anyways...here are those pictures:

ALYSSA eating and goofing around as usual. Always have to be the smarty pants!!!

JESSICA eager to start our adventures

NORM doing his favorite thing...eating GOOD'S potato chips

Teresa...I hate my picture taken so I took my own and YUCK!!!

Scene off the top of Little Roundtop

YARD SALE.....
Yesterday and today I am spending my days having yet another yard sale to pass off the multitudes of clothing we bought for Derek. We had drawers and closet space packed with the cutest summer outfits for him. It was definately hard to part with some of them. Don't worry though we already had a stockpile of fall clothes for him in totes so we have dug those out and filled the empty spaces. I refuse to remove the tags and was them though as that was obviously a bad omen doing that with the summer ones. This way I am covered also in case somethings don't fit, I have the receipts to return them. When I don't have baby items for sale everyone is looking for them and now that I have them....nobody is coming for them. The prices are dirt cheap and they ae new clothes...what is wrong with people??? I guess I'll box them up and try again next spring.
So let this be a lesson....as hard as it is not to buy for your unseen little ones, try to hold yourself back. I got burned several times on this one so far. Who's to say the fall clothes won't be the same story....

As for the adoption...
Still the same news, October hopefully for travel. We just want Derek home for Christmas. Honestly Michelle and I joked about that statement back about 2 months ago when we were sure we would travel and be back in June or July and now we have to seriously hope that it will happen. Geez...who would've thought there would be so many delays and date changes??!! Since we anticipate an October travel I need to cover September and October for the salon and guess what...I have a wedding scheduled for Sept. 22nd and one for Oct. 27th. So there are now yet another 2 weddings to cancel doing in the salon. It's starting to give the salon a bad name and I am afraid people who don't quite understand the adoption world process will start to say negative things about the shop or myself. I can't afford to lose any more clients. On the up side to October...at least it may be a little cooler there and the airfare delinately goes down in price. So these are a few of the benefits to it.
We'll keep letting you in on the latest and hopefully greatest of the process as it progresses...slowly but surely!!!!

Today IS H***...
We received an update from our agency's Vietnam Director and were told that we would not be traveling to Derek until October at the earliest...it could even go beyond that. I have reached my breaking point!!!!! I am so disgusted and exhausted with this that I can't even think straight anymore. This isn't the news I expected to get right after a peaceful, restful vacation. The wait has been gruelling but this news has been the worst yet. Just a few short weeks ago we were told August and we began preparing for that and now it is extended another 2 months beyond that. Ridiculous!!! I am trying to sort out where the fault should be placed for this situation. I am trying to get some straight up answers.
Today will be yet another day of emptying drawers and closets to return summer clothes and replace them with fall clothing as it seems that it will be in the cold weather seasons when we finally get him home. I am so tired of waiting now. I knew International Adoption was difficult and that there would be ups and downs but this is totally crazy. According to Vietnam Adoption Law, dossiers have to be processed and a G&R date has to be done within 120 days of submission of the dossier to Vietnam. We are already beyond that so I don't know what happens now. Plus the fact that it's going to be more like 7 or 8 months from referral to travel rather than the stated 3-4 months. Geez this is nuts.
Keep praying...it's all we have left.

MUCH NEEDED VACATION....

We have just returned from a much needed vacation away from the computer and the turmoil of the adoption. We had a great time in Gettysburg. We packed up Friday around noon and hit the road. The girls were in the back of the van chattering with excitement the whole way there. We stopped by a vistors center when we arrived and were informed that it was "Bike Week" and that we may have a lot of trouble finding a hotel vacancy. I thought...why not, nothing else is going right for us so that may as well be a problem too. Well there was a very dear and helpful lady working there that day and she made a few phone calls and got us hooked up with a great room right in the center of it all. We walked to every museum and attraction that we wanted to see. It was awesome!!!
Friday afternoon we hit a few museums and took a Ghost Tour at night. The tour was awesome...we actually got a few good pictures and Alyssa got spooked out alot. She seemed to have the attraction of the spirits. I was actually quite jealous. We went to an old orphanage and spent time in the basement where the children were kept. We got some pictures there of some spirits and Alyssa got to hear the rustling of dresses across the floor above us. She also saw the bottom part of a child sitting on a bench. It as really cool. We went back to the hotel exhausted.
Day 2 came. Saturday...we got up early and went to breakfast at the hotel then headed out to a few more museums and then caught the bus for a 2 hour battlefield tour. That was so cool. It was neat to see Alyssa correlating the actual locations to her history class lessons from this past school year. She would light up and remark about things she learned about that spot. It was fun. Norm was so absorbed in it all as this was his first time there. What a fun vacation. The afternoon we spent at more museums, went out for supper, took the girls to Boyd's Bear Country, and back to thehotel so they could go swimming. There was a bike parade but we went sightseeing instead. I needed the quiet time. At Boyd's Jessica and I adopted bears from the nursery. I did it for Derek and I named the bear "Thanh Dat" which is Derek's Vietnamese name. Jess named hers Aaron. Norm & I also made a stuffed monkey and dressed it in traditional Vietnamese attire for Derek while the girls each made ones for themselves too. We had to put beads inside them so we added lots of Bravery beads to Derek's since he will have to be brave to leave his country and travel to his new home here.
Sunday we were ready to head home so we packed up the van...just a few more things than we went with...and headed for home. It was early yet when we got back so we took the girls to Knoebels for some fun there. They had a ball. They went from one end of the park to the other and we drug behind them. When Norm and I crawled out of bed this morning...OUCH...Sore Legs!!!!!
So today i get to do all the laundry and put away all the stuff we drug along and drug back home. My work is never done.

NEW MEASUREMENTS.....

This just in...today we eceived NEW MEASUREMENTS on DEREK!!!! This is exciting. It is always great to get a new update of any kind. Kinda boosts the day a little. Still no travel news but at least we have a brief report on Derek.
Weight 19.8 pounds
Height 27.9 inches
Head Circ. 18.3 inches
Foot Length 4.4 inches
Wrist Circ. 4.1 inches

He appears to be tall and his foot size shows that he is probably going to keep shooting up. Been there and done that with Alyssa. His wrist is very tiny so I believe he is skinny. I think his weight is taken up by his height!!! Well another basketball player in the family!! He'll learn well from the girls.

We will continue to keep you updated.

ADDING INJURY TO INSULT.....

After finding out that we probably won't be traveling anytime soon (possibly August more likely September) I woke up to a crying day! I hate those days. I am overly emotional today about the following points:
1. We may not travel until late August or early September which will cause us to be trapped in Vietnam over the National Holiday on September 2nd. Now remember they DO NOT celebrate for 1 day...the celebrate for 2 weeks. So there will be no interviews or adoption related action in those weeks therefore posing a possible travel delay for us.
2. The girls will be back in school and I will lose my opportunity to stay in touch with them via webcam everyday. They will be staying with their dad and he doesn't have a computer.
3. I have to cancel yet another wedding in the salon. That makes 1 in July (which I could've kept scheduled had I known we weren't going to travel yet) and 1 in September due to the fact that we MIGHT travel then. Big money loss!!!!
4. I just want to have my baby boy in my arms.
5. I fear our paperwork is going to expire and we will have to have some of it redone before we can travel. Again MORE MONEY!!!

Then to top off the crying of my day....There was a robin building a nest on the archway above my salon entrance and Norm has took her nest away 4 times. Well this morning I noticed she had rebuilt a very small nest and she was just sitting in it. Norm decided to come check on me and WALAH!! he took the nest down and 2 beautiful blue eggs plummeted to the ground. So once again the tears flowed even heavier. Now the robin continues coming back looking for her eggs.

It is funny how the other day a client of mine who is a dear friend is a pastor in a local church and she is truly a shoulder for me to lean on through this. She tried to use the nest as a similarity to our adoption. She said God may be using this persistance as a sign for us. He is showing us that we need to continue building the nest for Derek and that we should be perservering constantly to have things prepared for his arrival. Everytime the nest is removed is like everytime our travel date gets delayed. Now I am fearful of what sign He is sending us by the destruction of the eggs. We have not gotten final approval yet and hopefully this isn't a bad omen of us not being able to carry out Derek's adoption. Okay well maybe I should stop thinking and typing because I am making myself cry again.

Please continue to pray for our travel and for Derek's health and safety.

Today is our 4th Wedding Anniversary!!! WOW how the years have gone by quickly. It has been 4 wonderful years and I am so lucky to have such a generous, caring, devoted, loving husband to spend my life with. He has given me sunshine on some of my darkest days. He really has pulled me through alot.
When my cancer struck Norm was by my side every step of the way. He cared for me like no other could have. He was my strength as I tried to raise my daughters on my own while struggling financially. He was my encouragement every day that I could do it. He was my rock, my strength, my shoulder to cry on as I dealt with my daddy's sickness and then his death. He holds me up when the days are weightful on my shoulders. Norm has been my blessing and angel sent to me from God. I am so thankful to have him as my friend, my lover, and most of all my husband. Thank You Norm for being in my life!!!!

We hoped to be spending today in Vietnam with Derek however that wasn't where we were supposed to be for some reason. We are more than ready to travel to bring him home to our family. Everyone is getting so anxious and antsy just like us.

We appreciate your continued prayers and as new news comes our way we will be sure to pass it along to you.

PARTIAL EXCITEMENT FILLS THE AIR TODAY....

We DID receive 2 absolutley adorable pictures of Derek today. I wish i could share them on here...hopefully soon!!!! He is growing so much. He is using a walker and seems to really enjoy it. A few things we learned about him...
He seems to be right-handed, He appears to be a thumb sucker (I was hoping so), He may have a tooth (it's hard to tell by the picture really clearly), He is HAPPY!!!!
We are so anxious to go bring him home which brings me to the partial part that's not so exciting...
Due to a few delays our paperwork is still being processed nd it looks as thought it may be August when we go. Wow, the time is ticking on isn't it. Each month we get word that it's on month further away. Soon they will have to let us come though. We are praying that it will be early August and we can be back home with him before the girls head off to school. We'd like to have a few days to adjust all together as a family and maybe take him on a day tripor two with the girls. We'll have to wait and see. In te meantime we are going to cherish these photos as they are probably the last ones we will get before traveling to bring him home. We are hoping the delay will get us some better airfare prices too!!!
We'll continue to let you know how things are moving along and share any updates we get.

Update Received....

Yesterday I woke to find a forum post from on the agency website. He is in Vietnam for the next couple days yet and hopefully when he returns we will be filled with "GOOD" information from his trip. He did have time to visit the DaNang orphanage where Derek is and was able to let us know he is doing well, other than some heat rash, and he seems to be the most active one there. Here is his quote:
Hi Ladies:

Ray is here, not hiding or anything. Congratulations on getting to p.40. Happen to be able to get online, surprisingly. Some fishermen in the South decided to strike it rich by fishing out some undersea fiber optic cables. Vietnam lost a major portion of its internet connection capacity to outside. Glad to be able to post on time, otherwise, I think I will have to do some editing when I return ....

Very hot and humid here, about 105 or 106 degree yesterday, plus high humidity. I took a bath whenever possible, one day I took 3, so you can tell.

The kids in DN orphanage are doing fine. Only having some "hot" rashes due to the high temperature. Told the caretakers to give them washdowns more often. Sending photos during this weekend. So parents should be receiving it on Monday. BTW, Derek is the most active one, never stops riding his "VN Ferrari" walk trainer or whatever it should be called. I am sure he wants to help Norm in the shop when he grows up. Linhly was actually sleeping when I went there, the caretaker woke her up so that I can hold her. So adorable since she did not cry at all, good girl!

I will provide case progress thru your CMs although I know it will be copied here anyway. This is enough to get some protests from CMs already...

Oh Kelly, I got too many to carry anyway when I went to Taiwan. I helped feed the toddlers at Cathwel, fun!. Got them baby bottles and blankets for their nursery as well since Penny said they needed those. I will try to fix the PM function when I return. Then I will hand off the moderator responsibility to a coworker. Not sure if he wants to keep the auto-approval step wide open for you guys.

I know there are other questions from some of you out there, I will provide a program update when I return.

OK, I kept my promise, sort of, and I also promised myself not to make any other promise here. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Ray

So it sounds like Derek will keep us moving!!! We are now anxious for night fall so that we can wake tomorrow to NEW pictures of Derek. Hopefully we will soon get an answer to "When we will travel".

Things are looking up!!! Keep praying!

ANOTHER WEEK...

We have started yet another week of waiting for our G&R date. We found out yesterday that we are waiting for the DOJ to forward our paperwork to the DIA (which may already be done and we have no clue about it) and the DIA needs to review our file and issue us "THE FORM" (which I am truly hating this form at this point) and once we return it we should get our G&R date quickly! So time will tell!!!! Our director is in Vietnam this week for an Embassy meeting and will be trying to get to the orphanage to take pictures of Derek for us. We anxiously await those. Hopefully when he returns to the office he will have some updates for us too. I am just curious where our file is and what the anticipated wait time is yet. They are now saying possibly the end of July, so i am shooting for Auust sometime. We hoped to have Derek home to enjoy the summer with him and the girls before school starts back in but that isn't going to happen. Not to mention all of the clothing we have for him is summer and he won't have time to wear it all.

Signed,
Frustrated!!!!

Yesterday we did one of my favorite things...we went to the Pocono Raceway for the Nascar race. I just love it there. It wasn't such a good day though. After a 3 hour rain delay the race finally got underway and my favorite driver...

MATT KENSETH, started in the race field in the 24th position and climbed to 9th position after a few back and forth battles between he and Denny Hamilin and guess what... the rain began to fall yet again. By now it was too wet and too late in the day to dry the track and start up again. Well at least Matt finished on a red flag rain stop in 9th position and he is now 2nd in points in the Cup Standings. WOOHOO Matt!!!
The fun was that our friends were there too and even though we couldn't sit together we did get to tailgate with them. They sure know how to cook up the food!!! Breakfast, lunch and supper!!! Yummy!!! We had a great time with them and we had the chance to run into my brother and SIL there too!! So even though we only saw 1/2 of a race and we got a little wet...we had a great time of it.

STILL WAITING....

We are still waiting for the information to finalize and get our G&R date. We received an email today from our CM that the agency dirctor updated her on the form situation. Our file needs to be sent back to the DIA from the DOJ and the DIA needs to review it for a final approval and then they will issue us the form and our G&R date can be set. It looks more like a July or August travel though. All the anticipation has gotten the best of me now. I am so down and I just can't seem to keep a happy face about it all.

Oh how I long to have this little hand wrapped around my finger...


and these little piggies pattering across my floor...


Just wait until you see all of him....CUTIE PATOOTIE!!!!!

We'll keep you posted!!!

NESTING....

I have officially started "NESTING" today. I woke up a 7:00 and dug in to cleaning the house...top to bottom. The mirrors and glass tables sparkle, the dust bunnies have been swept away, and the house smells....clean!!!! I love when it looks like we just moved in it.
It's another quiet day in the salon so I should get a lot done today in the house. I intend to go out and pull some weeds this afternoon too. Wow, I'm not sure where this energy has come from. Now I just have to get the girls convinced to clean up after themselves a little.
Jess has a softball game tonight so we will head off to that around 5:00. I think I'll order wings and fries for supper then. Sounds good to me.

New Duds...
Today since i am bored out of my mind and need something to occupy my time I decided to make Derek a shirt. I mimicked Norm's work shirt design and but it onto a onsie for Derek so he can be like Daddy...

CUTE...RIGHT!!!!

Alyssa & Jessica finished school yesterday so now my torturous summer begins. It will take me about 3 weeks to adjust to the new schedule. The girls stay with their dad now from Saturday til Wednesday afternoon so I don't get to see them those days and for me that is just torture. At least during the school year they come here everyday after school. Divorce is tough...but so is a bad marriage. Sometimes we have to do things in life that just require a little extra adjustment. We are used to the routine now though since it's been almost 6 years. Life is GOOD now!!!! So a few weeks for me to get use to the school bus not coming and I'll be okay!!!

Alyssa is a very creative and artful young lady and she came home from school the other day to see that I got the fixins for Strawberry Shortcake (it's that time of year) so she dug in and created this masterpiece...

Looks GOOD huh?!?!?!

We have a lot planned for the summer as far as day trips and hopefully some of that will get postponed so we can travel to bring Derek home. Happy Summer!!!!!

SOMETHING NEW...

Yesterday, after much nagging by Norm, I bought a webcam. Now for those of you who know me...I am computer illiterate. But...I did manage to buy this, bring it home, hook it up, and with a little encouragement from Jeff, got it working last night. You see, Michelle and I talk like all the time anymore and well her cell minutes went over and oops...trouble!!! So she said before she had a webcam and she would be using it to stay in contact back home once we travel so Norm decided that it was what we needed so I can talk to Michelle FREE whenever we want to. It was so awesome to actually see her as we spoke last night. What a great connection!!! I bought a double pack camera so that the girls have one for their use here when we go to VN and that way we can stay in touch cheap and they get to see Derek and it will hopefully be a little bit of an easier transition for Jessica. Hopefully they can get theirs hooked up and working!
Today we got the same old news about the mysterious form. Nobody knows anything about it at our agency. AARRRGGGHHH!!! I want to go get Derek NOW!!!

WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!!

We have progressed quite quickly and consistently through our adoption process...until now! We have been waiting 3 weeks on a step that the Vietnamese gov't has indicated should take 1 week. We haven't been able to get any answers to the delay from our agency nor have we been able to solve the mystery on our own. All we have to do is get this stupid form that they are telling us we need to fill out which the gov't supposedly hasn't issued yet, however other agencies have gotten it for their families, and we can get our G&R date. Sounds simple to me. We need more prayer please. Prayer that the gov't will process this paperwork so we can travel. We are so close but with the delay we are worried that problems are rising. The comfort is that it isn't only our dossier, it is Michelle's too so it makes me think there isn't a major problem with the dossier itself...just the fact that they are dragging feet. Derek needs his mommy & daddy. He needs to be cuddled, and loved, and nurtured. He needs a comfy bed to rest in and the sound of joy from family to fill his ears and heart. He needs to come HOME!!! As I said our agency hasn't given any straight answers for the delay but I have my speculations.

Tomorrow will be 3 months since referral. Time is ticking by and Derek is growing so much. We hope to be receiving more pictures next week since Ray is traveling there and intends to take pictures for us. WOOHOO!!!
The update we received today wasn't the news we wanted to hear...once again. I questioned Ray about "the form"...you know the one that is holding us from bringing Derek home...and he said that he still has no word on the process of how we will receive and complete this form. Once we do complete it though, supposedly we will get our G&R date quickly. We'll see since nothing else has been "QUICK" in the rest of the process. I concluded that adoption is not for the impatient!!!! Hopefully the DIA in Vietnam will decide to pick up our paperwork look at it and say okay lets send out this form and get these folks over here for their baby!!!! Pray for that please!!!!
On another note...we are getting a web cam hooked up today. Michelle & I love talking and we overextended her cell phone minutes for last month and therefore I haven't been able to speak to her for over a week now and might I tell you...IT"S KILLIN ME!!!!! So Norm insisted we get this camera so she and i can talk through the computer and actually see each other too. Now I have to do my hair and makeup everyday. But it will be cool to talk to her live. I just hope I can figure out how to hook it up. As many of you know I am technologically challenged!!! But I am a determined person so it'll get done!!!
Things are quiet in the shop this week. That is going to make for a loooong week. Hopefully the phone will ring. The girls only have a half day yet tomorrow and then school is out for the summer. WOOHOO!!! No more getting up at the crack of dawn for a few months. I love summer vacation! We want to take a few day or weekend trips with them. It's very hard to plan anything too far in advance since we don'y know when we will be traveling yet.
Next Sunday we are going to the Poconos (about 1 & 1/2 hour drive) to the Nascar race. This is a sport I fell in love with last year and I can't seem to shake it. We went to Pocono in June & July last year. I don't think we'll make it to the August race this year...at least I hope we'll have our excuse not to go by then (Derek). The interesting thing is that I bought 2 tickets from Ebay and now Norm got 2 free tickets from one of his suppliers and we now have to sell 2 tickets. I haven't found anyone yet to buy them. Possibly my brother but I won't hold my breath. I thought about taking the girls but I don't know if they will tolerate that for a whole day. Plus it gets a little rowdy for them too. I try to shield them from too much of that. Regardless I am going to the race and I can't wait. GO KENSETH!!!!!!
Well we'll keep you updated!!!!
Teresa

DEREK'S NEW WHEELS

Sunday was a fun day for Norm & I as we set out on a shopping trip. We decided it was time to buy Derek his first set of wheels. We ended up coming home with 12 wheels. Check out the pictures below...


Being that Norm is a huge Mustang lover we found it quite appropriate to get Derek a Mustang as his first "ride". Great little car and boy will he be a cutie in it. Truth is...Norm has one too and I loved when he used to come pick me up for a date or just a ride around town in it. We are hoping that Derek will be home for the local parade in September so he can ride in the parade with us in Norm's convertible. Gotta get him started early!!!!


So while we were at Toys R Us we found the little 4 wheeler on sale too. This is adorable. The girls can ride Norm's while Derek rides his. They'll have a ball with that.


And...of course he needed the lawnmower too. Hey it was on sale!!!!

I love a great sale and I love shopping for Derek!!! Alyssa & Jessica are getting to fussy for me to buy things for that suit them so it is nice to have a little one to buy for that won't curl his nose up about it. Don't get me wrong...I still try to buy for the girls but I usually strike out and everything gets returned. I have learned to drag them along with me.

Still no news on the progress of the adoption but as you can see we are getting ready to bring him home!!!!

Travel Talk Post

Yesterday we had our "Travel Talk", which basically consisted of going over our travel guide and having Ray answer our questions and to just thoroughly explain all topics of concern. Part way through Ray decided I guess that it got the best of him that we were being so good about not pressuring him for a travel date that he asked the question..."Doesn't anyone want to know when is travel?" Of course before we were to hang up that was the ONE question Norm was going to ask. Ray told us that it is just an estimate but he believes we should travel the end of June. We are so ready to go. That's only 4 weeks!!!! This is getting good. We still are waiting for the commitment form as this is the last step of the approval before getting our G&R date. Ray said some of the hold up may be because VN just had election...like us...on May 20th and sometimes they celebrate things longer than we do so hopefully now that the election is over we will get that form.
It was interesting to hear about the orphanage and we are going to be able to go there on the 2nd day to meet Derek. We will actually have to leave him there though that night and then the next day we will have our G&R and he is OURS from there on out. So we can't wait to get there and at least cuddle him for a little while.
So the news seemed good and hopefully we will continue to get progress and our date will be here shortly!!!!

Yesterday we received a phone call from our CM stating that it is official that we will have 1 more form to complete before receiving our G&R date. There is no word yet when we will get the form, how much legalization must be done with the form before submitting, nor how long it will take after returning the form to get our "date". So we are sitting ducks at this point yet.
We are still scheduled to have our travel talk on Thursday so we have a few questions to clarify but other than that I am curious what all we are going to get to talk about.
We'll let you know as we get moe info. Pray for good to come this week!!!!

GREAT NEWS!!!!...
No...no new adoption news.

Today my SIL stopped in and pulled a piece of paper from her hand and oh what excitement. She had her ultrasound pictures. She is 8 weeks pregnant and is due December 22nd. What a Christmas present that will be. We are hoping for a boy for a playmate for Derek and since she has 2 girls a boy in the mix would be nice. As my MIL said...we need to even out the bunch. Right now it is 6 girls and 2 boys, includes Derek. So boys would be good.
Our CM returns to the office tomorrow so hopefully she will have some sort of news for us about the new form that we need to complete. We want to get it rolling so we can just bring Derek home and settle in. It is still looking like a late June to late July travel though.
I am preparing for my yard sale next weekend so I have been cleaning out closets and drawers. It's amazing the things that the girls have accumulated. The money I make will go toward our trip to VN. So I hope to do good!!!!
Keep praying and hopefully soon we will get word about travel. Remember next Thursday is our Travel Talk so I will be curious to see what we get from that.

NOT SO GREAT DAYS

We found out yesterday that our anticipated date to go bring Derek home has been extended significantly. Now it is being said as late June to late July. I am devastated. Of all day to find out too it was on Mother's Day. We initially upon referral were told to expect to travel late May to mid June at the latest aned this has been reiterated over and over since then until yesterday...BAM!!! Big explosion!!!!
We found out that Ray has received new information and a change of procedure has taken place. Surprise..surprise!!! I am about at the end of my wit's with all of this. We now have yet another form to complete before we can be given a G&R date for Derek's adoption. At this point we have no idea how close we are to getting that form nor how long after filling out the form it will take until they issue a date. Therefore I am not really sure why we have to be in a hurry to have this Travel Talk since we may not go until July. I'll forget what we discussed until then. I guess I should record it for safety sake.
In case you cannot detect it...I am a little bitter about all of this. I just have had enough of this roller coaster and I can't figure out how to stop the ride so I can get off.
I continue to pray but I must be doing that wrong too because it sure isn't being answered.

Here we are at the end of yet another quiet week. Fortunately we got our travel talk date now all we need to know is when we are going to travel.
I haven't been handling this very well over the past 2 weeks especially. I have been having one continuous stress headache that doesn't seem to want to leave my body. I can't understand what it thinks is so great about staying here with me. I am hoping once we get our G&R date that this will go away.
Mother's Day is approaching quickly and I was hoping to have the G&R date as a M.D. gift but by the looks of things it isn't happening. I feel a quiet day coming on today too. Let's continue to pray for some news next week.

We received an email late this afternoon asking for Norm & I to be available on May 24th at 11:00 to do a conference call about our Travel Talk!!! Woohoo!!! This is a step in a GREAT direction! We are now hoping that we will get our G&R date prior to that conference call. We know it is getting so close. If only we could make the phone ring!!! Good news seems to be jumping in our laps the past few days so keep praying...it is working!!!!!
Thanks,
Teresa

Yesterday morning was a wonderful one!!! I got out of bed shortly after Norm left for work and decided that maybe I should check my email even though I was sure there would bnot be any update yet. Well much to my surprise I had an email from our CM titled: "Updated picture for Lahr". Well you can only imagine how excited I was, but I knew not to open it until I called Norm. I fumbled with the keys on my phone, as I was very excited at the moment, and called him to come over to the house to see what was inside the email with me. He came over quite quickly I must add. We opened the email and attached was an absolutely beautiful picture of Derek. We couln't stop looking at it. Norm's first reaction was a tearful..."that's our boy!" It is so wonderful to be experiencing this with him. He is so compassioante about the process and so anxious to bring him home. We just can't wait to hold him in our arms for the first time and forever. I quickly printed off numerous copies of the picture and began distributing them to family. I emailed it off to everyone right away. We quickly began getting email and telephone responses. We were very pleased to see that he isholding his head up while propped on his arms lying on his belly very well. This is a great developmental sign for us and puts ease into our minds and hearts that he is doing well. He had no hat on so we got to see that he has pretty much hair!! WOOHOO!!!!
Yesterday one of my clients who has a daughter and a son brought me 3 large garbage bags FULL of clothes for Derek. I had a ball going through them and they are going to be so cute on him. She has supplied me with many things we needed. Thanks Denise!!!!
Today I have a million things I'd like to accomplish. We are moving our computer as it was in Derek's room and we needed that corner for a rocking chair so we moved it downstairs and I am not happy with that so we bought a desk on Sunday and we are going to put it inside our hall closet which is very large and then it is out of sight but easily accesible. Just a few wiring fixes and we'll be in business again. I need to put all of these clothes for Derek away and I would like to clean the downstairs today. Quiet in the salon til tonight so I need to take advantage of the time while I can.
Well we are still hoping to get our G&R date this week or next. We are supposed to have our Travel Talk the middle of the month so I hope we know by then.

First of all I better begin this entry with our newest news:
Derek's new stats have come through, still no picture but the update on measurements is great to have. We can now plan our packing a little better according to his size.
Here they are:
Weight: 18 pounds
Height: 27.5"
Head Circum: 18"
Foot Length: 3.9"

I really don't know how these stats stack up according to the average size of a 5 month old. If anyone has an idea can you let me know...please!!!

Next...I looked at how many times this blog has been visited aqnd when I began this I never imagined that it would be looked at 1500 times. WOW!!! Thanks everyone who is foloowing along on our journey and those who are praying for us. We truly appreciate every one of you!!!

Next...This weekend our community had our Relay For Life activities. I am so PROUD and happy to announce to you that we surpassed our goal by mucho money!!!!! For those of you who are unfamiliqar with the area we come from here is a little briefing. This is a small rural community that is mostly farming and there are very few large corporations. Therefore the financial support through businesses isn't the strongest. We all dug in our heels and set out to top our goal of $83,000.00 for this years event. After alot of walking and great amount of socializing, and a ton of fundraising we got to the closing ceremonies today and found out that we not only made our goal but we went above aqnd beyond to the amount of $97,858.42. Not bad for a small community...right?!?!?!?! We are so PROUD!!!! My daughter Jessica collected money for the Penny Walk, which she took first place in last year, and beat her goal. Last year she raised $91.00, this year her goal was to raise ten more dollars and she was blessed with $102.00. She took 2nd place this year. We will beging raising money already for next year now. This is a special event to us as Norm has a sister who is a 12 year cancer survivor, my father, who went to be with the Lord 1 1/2 yrs. ago, was an 8 year survivor, and I myself am a 4 year survivor. So we have been blessed and thankful to all who have supported the American Cancer Society!!!!! Next year Derek will be able to participate as well!!!

So we are anticipating pictures the beginning of the week so stay tuned!!!!

I just wanted to let everyone know that we received an email yesterday from DeNese, new CM, and she told us that Ray is expecting Duc to send him new photos of Derek this week. Today was their Independence Day and that has held things up briefly. We are praying that along with the photos will come info for us about our G&R date. We anticipate to be hearing this date sometime within the next week. As of Saturday Derek will be 5 months old and we will have had his referral for 2 months now. It seems like that 2 months went fairly quickly.
Yesterday I spent a few hours working in Derek's room and it is almost finished. I also did a ton of packing. The suitcases are getting heavy. I have one completed at least until we have our Travel Talk and then I will probably have to rearrange it. We are really getting VERY anxious to travel.
I'll let you know if we get those pictures and you'll have to stop in the salon to check them out if you get time. I can't legally post them until the adoption is final but I can maybe post a good description.
Keep watching!!!!!