And Now There Are Four

Day 5 July 19, 2007 We Got Her!

Let me first clarify the time difference for our friends and family back home. Vietnam is twelve hours ahead of Decatur time so if it is 12:00pm July 19 here, then it is 12:00am July 19 back in the pride of the prairie. Something I should also mention is I usually don’t write any notes until the next morning, so for events on the 19th I’m actually writing early on the 20th. I hope this helps. I also want to thank everyone for all the comments you have posted on the blog because it helps to hear encouraging words from back home.

Today Logan finally slept until 6:00 am. Logan and I switched beds because he was complaining about how hard the mattress was. It’s worth me sleeping on the hard roll away bed if he can get some sleep and not be a grouch in the afternoon. When we all were ready, we went downstairs to get something to eat. Becky and I told each other that we were going to stay upbeat about this and that getting Gracie will eventually happen but its hard not let your mind wonder to the “what if” syndrome. At breakfast we ran into several of our friends who already have their babies. It’s always good to hear their encouraging words and get their support. At the table close by us, there was an elder couple that sounded European that said they had adopted twin girls from Indonesia 26 years ago so they knew what we were all going though. They said at that time it took about 4 weeks for the process so for everyone to hang in there.

During breakfast down at the restaurant seems to be the time to catch up with all the couples at the hotel. Dawn and Eva joined us at our table for breakfast and Joe, Amy and their baby Collett was at the table next to us. Nancy, who is a single mother and adopting through World Child like us was with her baby boy a couple tables away. Her little boy has been fighting a terrible cold ever since we have been here. After breakfast Becky and I stopped by to see how Nancy was doing. She appeared calm but after speaking with her she seemed at her wits ends. She didn’t know what to do. This was her first child in a far off place with nobody to help her so Becky told her she was a nurse and starting suggesting medication. Nancy was concerned about mixing any medication she already got from the clinic. Becky assured her she could mix motrin and Tylenol without any problem and that she could have some of ours. Nancy seemed to be relieved after talking to Becky.

We got the call

When we got back to the room, we just waited for our phone call from Kenny. Logan played video games, I watched some TV and Becky was on the computer. After an hour or so the phone rang and Becky rushed to answer the phone. It was Kenny telling us that the plan was to travel to the orphanage at 1:10pm and to take our passports because there might be a chance that the official might have time to sign the papers, but he also told us we might be traveling just to see the babies and return some other day for the Giving and Receiving ceremony. This didn’t change our uncertainty of the situation. There was a glimmer of hope because the same thing happened to Joe and Amy when they went to get Collett a week earlier. They were also told that they could travel to the orphanage but their papers weren’t signed so chances were they would not get her then. At the last moment the official signed their papers and they were able to attend the Giving and Receiving ceremony. This was definitely a test.

Dinner and a Show

We knew we might not get a chance to eat so we set out for a new restaurant(Moco Café) we had not tried yet. This place was just a couple of streets away from the hotel. The place had a large menu of items consisting of soups and sandwiches. It also has traditional Vietnamese dishes and items from China and India. Logan played it safe with the spaghetti again and I had vegetable fried rice and a Light Cola (not diet) and Becky had some apple and something salad that she thought would be more lettuce but was about half apples. The place kind of had a Western style atmosphere; that’s probably why there were more foreigners there. The food was good and again inexpensive so I would highly recommend this place to anyone traveling here. We got the added bonus of a marriage dispute for entertainment while dining. Becky first noticed a young man and woman having an altercation in the back of the restaurant that quickly moved to the front by the door. Apparently the man took the woman’s purse and was trying to make his way outside with it. She was very determined to keep him at bay. The workers were trying to keep everything low key. The man finally made his way to the door but the woman wouldn’t let him outside. She started to go after him so the man decided to make his way through the tables. When he headed for our table, (we were in the front corner on the other side of the restaurant) I told Logan to stand on the other side of me in order to put me in front of Logan. Eventually the workers were able to corral both persons and get them outside. He looked as though he grabbed some sort of ID from her purse and she looked like she was going to get some help. Whether from police or from whom I don’t know. (And I thought I wasn’t going to have anything to write about today) We sat and speculated about what might have started the argument. Becky seemed to think he was taking her purse so she couldn’t get drunk (it was only 12:00pm and she wasn’t stumbling) and I thought he worked for the government and was taking her ID to turn her in for her anti-communists ways, lol. As we left the place, we asked the woman sitting at a table next to the door what it was all about since we saw her talking to a worker about the incident. She said the young couple was married and they were discussing money budget matters. Good luck to them.

Getting ready for the trip

It was getting close to our departure time so we headed back to the hotel. The street was filled with people cooking up all kinds of stuff and sitting all over the sidewalk eating their lunch. It smelled like walking through the carnivals back home. I would like to try eating some of this type of traditional dishes but I just don’t want to risk getting sick.

When we got back to the room, we changed into long pants (required for the giving and receiving ceremony just in case) and got the presents all organized. Becky practically did this the day we arrived here. At 1:00pm we headed for the lobby to meet Kenny with our transportation. We ran into Joe at the hotel’s computer on the way and he wished us good luck and reminded us that the same thing happened to them and they came back with their baby. I thought I was starting to come down with something because I was sort of light headed. I didn’t have a temperature so I tried not to worry about it. Kenny was already in the lobby and we were quickly lead outside to a van waiting outside. Kenny and the driver had already picked up the other folks from the Melia hotel. There was Tracy and her sister Amy, who we had met at LAX and a couple from Tennessee Dave and Christy. Everyone was very excited but there was a dark cloud inside the van because everyone knew we might be returning without our babies.

Ride to the Orphanage

We headed for the north side of Hanoi. We passed several very nice high-rise apartments at the edge of town. I don’t know what the portion of middle class is but it appears as though they are doing very well or very poor. Not much in between. I could be wrong because on the edge of the cities after we crossed the Red River we saw a large industrial park with many manufacturing plants. There was Panasonic, Yamaha, and at least 12 others. We past the airport as we left Hanoi’s divided highway and merged onto a smaller 2 lane road similar to a county highway back home. As we drove past the airport, everyone commented on how we all couldn’t wait to get back on that freedom bird. Vietnam has been great to visit, but the thought of living in a hotel room with a new baby is a little taxing. The van passed through many rice fields and small villages. People were hard at work in the fields or in their small shops along the road. The water buffalo and cows pretty much roamed were they wanted to. We drove for about an hour before we hit the Thai Nguyen province(where Gracie lives) so everybody was getting excited. I still had a light head and didn’t know what to make of it. We continued through more rice fields and small villages until we entered the city part of Thai Nguyen. The van entered the center of the city and drove around the circle and headed off in another direction. Kenny gave us a warning that we would be at the orphanage in a couple of minutes. You could hear all the cameras clicking on. The van made a turn into a street about the same width as the van itself. We drove for maybe a couple hundred yards (I still can’t convert to metric distances here) and pulled into the orphanage.

Visit at the Orphanage

It had several buildings all very old and painted yellow. The buildings were in considerably good shape. We all stayed in the van while Kenny went inside. There were young boys and an old man outside that made their way to the van. We all smiled and waved at each other. Logan asked if the old man was there because nobody ever adopted him. Too funny. Kenny eventually made it back to the van to show us to the door. We entered the front room of the orphanage. It was a small room with several chairs and the air conditioning was very low. One wall was glass and you could see a staircase through it. Kenny was standing next to a caregiver and said the babies were on their way. There was quite a buzz in the room. Everyone saw the caregivers walking down the steps with the babies in their arms. As the babies came into the room it was amazing. They were all so beautiful with their eyes opened wide thinking what in the hell is happening to me. We all got to hold our babies and change them into new outfits and take pictures. Gracie seemed to connect to Becky from the moment Becky grabbed(and I mean GRAB) her from the nanny. She was wide opened mouth and smiling when Becky spoke to her. I still had in the back of my mind that we might have to leave today without her. A short time later Kenny erased those fears by saying the official was able to sign the papers so we would be making our way to the government building for the Giving and Receiving ceremony. Everyone was so relieved. Shortly after the Kenny’s announcement, I noticed my light-headedness went away. My nerves were shot. I don’t realize the consequences Kenny was going to make if he told us we weren’t going to take them home today. He would have had to deal with the likes of Tracy and Becky and I don’t think he understood what that meant.

To the Giving and Receiving Ceremony

The ceremony is conducted at the government building that’s a 10 minute drive from the orphanage. It is where the Vietnamese government recognizes the adoption of your child. So we all loaded back into the van with the kids in our arms (no need for child sits here with the way they drive) and headed for the government building. The room was on the second floor and contained a long narrow table with seating around the table as well as along the walls that made it difficult to maneuver in but we were all able to get situated. We had to wait about 10 minutes for the ceremony to start. The air conditioning was weak and the clothes we put on Gracie was making her sweat so we couldn’t wait to get back in the van to cool her off. Kenny had us sign some papers and then he left the room. A couple minutes later Kenny returned with two older gentlemen and a younger woman that appeared to be an assistant. One of the primary caregivers who rode with us from the orphanage was also there. The assistant asked each of us to come to the end of the table to sign more paper work with the old gentlemen looking on. When Becky and I were done signing, we shook their hands and sat down in our original seats. I still wasn’t sure who the elder men were. When we were all finished signing our papers and back to our seats, the two elderly gentlemen stood at the end of the table with Kenny next to them to interpret. The one gentleman with a uniform on was the official who started by apologizing for the wait but he had other important issues to tend to. He wanted us to understand that it was our duty to raise them until they were of age 18. None of us had a problem with this. After he spoke for several minutes, he asked if we would comment. We all told him how grateful we were. I told him this makes our family complete. Becky attempted to speak but tears started to flow and she had to make a short comment on her part, which included thanking them for giving Logan the opportunity to be a big brother. The ceremony ended after about 30 minutes. It takes longer to buy a car. We were all relieved and ready to get in the van and head back to Hanoi.

The ride Back to Hanoi

The ride was great. This was the first time we got to just sit and look at her. She is just beautiful. Becky’s crazy antics and noises makes Gracie smile a lot. The babies dozed in and out of sleep and we even tried to give Gracie a bottle. Logan got to hold her as well. He is going to be such a great big brother. He just kept asking me if we were going to get to keep her. I kept assuring him we were. We arrived in Hanoi about 7:00pm and made our way through the cities. We dropped of the folks at the Melia hotel first but the closest we could get to the building was several buildings away because the police had closed the street since a diplomat from Laos or Cambodia was there so they all had to walk. The van then dropped us off at our hotel and Kenny told us Martin would be by tonight for us to sign a couple more papers to be ready. Not a problem since it was such a stressful day we weren’t going anywhere.

Gracie’s first bath

We brought her up to our room and got her ready for her first bath. At the same time we ordered a pizza delivery from Al Frescos to make things easier. About the time Becky got Gracie undressed, Martin came to the room for our papers to sign. I took Gracie while she was wrapped in a towel so Becky could sign the papers. Miss Gracie must of felt the air conditioning because she proceeded to pee on my arm. Pretty warm stuff. The paperwork went quick and then Martin told us what to expect for tomorrow. Before he left he pointed towards the air conditioner in the room and commented on maybe turning it down. I’m always amazed at the level of air conditioning the Vietnamese don’t like. We will have to wean Gracie on the Western level of air conditioning. We gave Gracie her first bath while I held her, mom washed her, and Logan got it all on camera. We visited with her for a while but she got sleepy so we put her to bed. The remainder of the night we ate pizza and caught up on emails and the local soccer scores.

Pictures to follow compliments of aunt Julie.