tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37211164925009633202024-03-12T19:30:30.360-04:00Good Morning VietnamThis blog is to give our friends and families updates on our adoption process. We are adopting a baby of either gender and between the ages of 0 months to 24 months from Vietnam. Our agency is Families thru International Adoption (FTIA).Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721116492500963320.post-88202916022923487002009-05-11T08:26:00.001-04:002009-05-11T08:28:06.979-04:00Happy BirthdayToday is Nieman's second birthday. He remains in Vietnam not knowing he has a family waiting for him. We miss him and wish he was home with us. All I can say is Happy Birthday.Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810559555840230876noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721116492500963320.post-82061459386166334762009-03-04T21:07:00.007-05:002009-03-04T21:39:56.300-05:00More PicturesHere is a picture of the boys. Nieman is the one on the far right. He has on the yellow shorts and the Power Rangers tank top.Here is one where Ms. Lam asked what Nieman was doing when he pulled up his shirt and pointed to his belly and smiled.Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810559555840230876noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721116492500963320.post-66337728205308927042009-03-03T20:06:00.009-05:002009-03-03T20:37:11.361-05:00New PicturesWhile Keith has been in Vietnam trying to fix our mess, he took many pictures of the children and the new Center. The children and the staff moved to a new location. They said the rooms are bigger and have 3 different rooms for all the children. After visiting the children this is what they said about Nieman. Active boy, often play w/ Diep, Lan, Nghi, Ho… The Vice Director, Ms. Quyen likes him Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810559555840230876noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721116492500963320.post-41134008243745509992009-03-02T12:33:00.002-05:002009-03-02T12:48:36.243-05:00How's it goingPeople keep asking about the acupuncture. It's really made an improvement in my neck and shoulders. The pain and tightness are gone. My sleep is improving. I find it easier to fall asleep but I still have problems staying asleep. This, of course, depends on my cat's mood. She loves to step on my pillow and hair to wake me up at night. I can't figure out why, most times, so I've been ignoring her.Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810559555840230876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721116492500963320.post-83836489754563538862009-02-17T16:06:00.002-05:002009-02-17T16:18:16.610-05:00OptimisticMy new goal this year is to be optimistic. We are waiting for movement still with Nieman's paperwork. Our agency director is in route to Vietnam. He plans to meet with officials to see if he can get an answer on whether or not this adoption will be processed. The group of us waiting parents (24 in all) are actively writing letters to The State Department (i.e. Hilary Clinton) to see if she will Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810559555840230876noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721116492500963320.post-58649120245412116022009-02-05T18:45:00.002-05:002009-02-05T19:01:23.591-05:00Big ball of stressI've been a big ball of stress for a long time. I recently had some very painful neck and shoulder pain, I attributed to my pillow. So I changed pillows, it didn't fix the pain. I had always wondered about acupuncture. They say it was able help with infertility, too. I finally found someone who had done it and got the name and number of their doctor.My first visit was today. I told him about my Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810559555840230876noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721116492500963320.post-4100767689469557052009-01-14T12:22:00.004-05:002009-01-14T12:27:45.714-05:00New picture for December.We received a new picture for December of Nieman. His growth is not very significant. He looks good but also sad. I'm sad that he is not home yet. I hope that he will be with us soon. Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810559555840230876noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721116492500963320.post-25172235114325560562009-01-08T19:11:00.003-05:002009-01-08T19:56:25.417-05:00The Trip to MiamiWe are back from Miami after watching our home town team lose. That was the worst part of the trip everything else was great. I had the best time. It's great to be with friends who know all the stress you've been under and they make sure you have nothing but fun. I feel like they did that for me and hopefully I did that for them.We had three great dinners at 3 wonderful and different restaurants.Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810559555840230876noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721116492500963320.post-66889774315339431022009-01-05T15:49:00.003-05:002009-01-05T16:10:00.781-05:00Time to helpNow is the time for everyone to help us and other families by calling or emailing your senators or state representatives to urge them to sign a letter to the Prime Minister of Vietnam regarding the future of intercountry adoptions from Vietnam. Ask them to contact Senator Landrieu's office to sign the letter. If you want to look up your senator or representative's number or email addresses here Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810559555840230876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721116492500963320.post-46208187579672733412008-12-30T12:41:00.003-05:002008-12-30T12:48:34.250-05:00Blowing this popsicle standWell, I'm outta here, I'm going to Miami. We are heading down to Miami to watch University of Cincinnati play Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl. Hopefully, after a 17 hour drive down we will be able to party in the New Year on the beach. I don't wish the city snow but it would be great if it happened while we are gone. LOL.I just want to say Happy New Year to everyone and I hope everyone stays Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810559555840230876noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721116492500963320.post-44557405997312058712008-12-23T11:15:00.003-05:002008-12-23T11:31:15.165-05:00Merry ChristmasThere are so many things I'm feeling, things I want to say and questions that I have to ask. However, I'm scared to do so. I did ask back in November if we would be traveling in December. I knew before I asked what the answer would be but I asked anyway. Now, I don't want to ask my questions or say my thoughts out loud for fear of the outcome.There are many people who are praying for the childrenCourtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810559555840230876noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721116492500963320.post-55223239293195753102008-12-19T13:25:00.002-05:002008-12-19T13:34:10.790-05:00Joint CouncilThe Joint Council is one of the oldest and largest child welfare organizations, Joint Council on International Children’s Services is the lead voice on inter country children’s services. With a mission to advocate on behalf of children in need of permanent, safe and loving families, Joint Council promotes ethical child welfare practices, strengthens professional standards and educates adoptive Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810559555840230876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721116492500963320.post-76734815715059819212008-12-09T12:48:00.002-05:002008-12-09T12:56:56.366-05:00No newsThere is no news, no news at all. Why is there no news, no one knows why. The director of our agency is in Vietnam now trying to get an answer as to why we can't come get the baby. He is trying many different things to get the answer. We may not know if these things he is doing will work for several weeks.In other news, Christmas is 16 days away and we have no presents bought. We have not put up Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810559555840230876noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721116492500963320.post-82106041817658418282008-12-04T08:29:00.001-05:002008-12-04T08:31:47.759-05:00Happy Birthday to ChrisI want to wish my wonderful husband, Happy Birthday. He is a great man who deserves more than anyone to be a father. I love him and all that he does for me. I love that he is willing to put up with me and all my rapid mood changes. I hope you have a great day.Love you,CourtneyCourtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810559555840230876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721116492500963320.post-88134945481056246782008-11-26T15:42:00.001-05:002008-11-26T15:42:17.632-05:00New PicturesUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721116492500963320.post-46867095071070864862008-11-24T12:27:00.003-05:002008-11-24T12:35:19.164-05:00Shout outsI just want to give a shout out to my older brother and his girlfriend Amy who recently gave birth to their daughter, Avery Olivia. I can't wait to see and hold her. Another grandchild for the parents to fawn over.I also want to say Happy 50Th Birthday to Chris's Mother. We are all very thankful she agreed to come to dinner where we were all waiting to surprise her.Lastly, I want to express our Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810559555840230876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721116492500963320.post-61487891893919592022008-11-19T19:12:00.003-05:002008-11-19T19:22:32.131-05:00Eats and walks wellI received a great email today from the agency. They were able to give us some details about how and what Nhi is doing in the orphanage. The wife of the director of the agency visited the children in our province on Sunday. She was able to send back some information on how he is doing. I'll just cut and paste her email.Son Nhi is a handsome boy. He is the Vice Director's favorite so she threw a Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810559555840230876noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721116492500963320.post-29378033034734127692008-11-14T08:26:00.002-05:002008-11-14T08:40:08.752-05:00New PicAs you can see we received a new picture of our boy. He is getting bigger but it's hard for me to really tell without seeing him everyday. I'm not sure where the picture was taken but apparently near a motorcycle. We joke that he is so smart that he was working on the motorcycle when they took his picture. From this picture I feel like there is a good possibility that he is walking or starting toCourtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810559555840230876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721116492500963320.post-49961973314671394862008-11-13T13:30:00.002-05:002008-11-13T13:34:09.848-05:00FloodingThere has been very intense flooding occurring in Vietnam in the last two weeks. Several families from our agency have been there during the rains and lived through it. Some of them sat on buses for hours in deep water trying to get their new babies back to the hotels. Here is a link to some pictures of the flooding.http://vnexpress.net/GL/Doi-song/2008/11/3BA080EE/http://www.vnexpress.net/GL/Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810559555840230876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721116492500963320.post-11657231448081187352008-11-07T12:52:00.002-05:002008-11-07T13:14:07.646-05:00No baby in 08Yeah, you read it right. The agency said with the police hold up in our providence, travel seems unlikely this year. Even if the police signed off in the next week our paperwork has to go to IAD - International Adoption Department, then to PDOJ - Provincial Department of Justice; then toPPC-People’s Provincial Committee then we get travel dates. This is unlikely to happen in less than 2 Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810559555840230876noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721116492500963320.post-45473427549113856442008-10-29T14:57:00.002-04:002008-10-29T15:12:19.661-04:00Need something to doI need something to do in order to keep my mind busy. I started packing the other day thinking that would occupy my time for a while. I have taken many lists from other families who have traveled or that have thought about what is needed. I typed up a list of things that we needed to buy to pack. I had to put all my summer clothes away anyway so instead I just picked out several outfits to pack Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810559555840230876noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721116492500963320.post-72875516638271093892008-10-15T16:15:00.005-04:002008-10-15T16:30:38.488-04:00Feel like a Mom alreadyI was telling Chris (DH) the other day that I already feel like a Mom. I was off on Monday and I spent the whole day cleaning his room, doing his laundry and putting together a little project for him. I said I already don't sleep due to the stress of not having him with us. So the only thing I need really is Him, to play with, to bathe, to dress, to feed, to put to bed, to hug and kiss and to Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810559555840230876noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721116492500963320.post-72000036301330151672008-10-10T12:52:00.002-04:002008-10-10T13:00:27.294-04:00I-600 ApprovalGreat news, today! We received our I-600 approval today. This was the last paperwork step we were waiting for prior to traveling. The wait is not over, however, we still must wait for the Giving & Receiving Ceremony (G & R) to be set. This is where things slow for us. The police chief in our providence has been slowing the process for all the families that have their I-600 approvals. He Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810559555840230876noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721116492500963320.post-75495647914207691992008-10-06T16:22:00.003-04:002008-10-06T16:28:46.869-04:00For my sonI love you more as time goes by.I love you so much it makes me cry.I love you without holding you at night.Your little faces shines, you are my light.We can't wait to have you home.Your bed sits empty and alone.Your room is filled with toys and clothes.I just can't wait to kiss your nose.The love I feel for you is strong.The wait for you has been too long.My patience is tired and my heart just Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810559555840230876noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3721116492500963320.post-22184294610873140892008-09-30T12:46:00.003-04:002008-09-30T22:01:24.949-04:00No Tainted milkI have had some people were have asked if the orphanage uses milk from China to feed the babies. The agency sent out a notice on this to the waiting families. It was said the only reason the milk from China has been found in Vietnam was due to it being smuggled or imported. Many orphanages use Vietnamese infant formula and there have been no concerns about them.4 families in Thanh Hoa have Courtneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15810559555840230876noreply@blogger.com1