Hyperventilation…

My sweet Aunt Fran emailed me today to remind me to BREATHE. She is a very smart lady, who obviously knows me well. I like to be organized, informed and always in control. And if there’s one thing about adoption that I’ve learned, is that you are NEVER completely in control. I’ve researched everything I can think of from travel items, to medicine, to formula and toys. I’ve already starting packing my clothes and Maddie’s things. I have a pediatrician’s appointment set for when we get back. I am trying to remember every little thing that needs to be done, so I have lists that I check off. In fact, I have lists of lists which I check off. No joke. Ask anyone.

But my Aunt seemed to know exactly what I needed to hear today because I keep having panic attacks. Actually, full blown hyperventilation attacks. I really don’t like to fly, and this is going to be a lot of flying, for long periods of time. I’ve also never been away from my kids for this long. We’re so blessed to have John’s parents coming, and I know they are going to be fine. In fact they will probably have a great time with Grandma and Papa and enjoy the break from their parents. I’m nervous about meeting Madison and being a new mom again. And I CAN”T BREATHE!!!

I just keep looking at her pretty little face and touching all of the kids and kissing them - way more than they’d like me to. But hey! These kisses and hugs have to tide us over for a few weeks, right?

So, if you see me over the next 18 days – remind me to breathe, okay? I’ll appreciate it. ;)

New pictures!!!!!

Every new mom thinks her baby is the cutest baby in the world...and I am one of them! The fact that we don't even share a gene should make me more objective, but I can't help but take all the credit for my baby being THE cutest baby in, not only the world, but quite possibly, the UNIVERSE! Take a look...



Isn't she GORGEOUS?!!! I am so in love with my little girl. And you know who else I'm in love with?

Sam, Carter (nice mohawk!) & Codi...they are really excited about their little sister too!

Sorry it's taken me so long to post something new, but I was really hoping for these new photos to share with you all. 23 more days until we leave to pick up our bundle of joy. We've heard a lot of horror stories this week about the babies being very sick with upper respiratory problems and ear infections. We know the babies are not being fed proper formula and they have skin problems to deal with, but I don't think she looks ill, so that's wonderful. We've been told that none of the babies weigh more than 14 pounds - and even though Maddie has big, chubby cheeks, she is probably a little pidget.

Keep checking back to see what's new...we're getting closer!

Love to you all!!!!!

Andrew ROCKS!

I received a lot of emails informing me that nobody could post a comment to my blog. So, I pulled out my trusty “Blogging for Dummies” book and did my research. I tried reading the HTML text, copying other people’s pages and finally got smart and askedmy good friend Julia (the IT genius) for help. And help she did! She turned me over to Andrew, who also works with me, and after a few short minutes, his fingers were flying over the keyboard, cutting, pasting, copying…and viola! You should now be able to post comments. Andrew ROCKS!

I wanted to let everyone know that we have solid travel dates now. We leave on February 13th and arrive in HCMC on February 15th. John’s parents are flying in to take care of the kids. They arrive on the 12th and will stay until a few days after we get home. It’s a huge relief to know that the kids will have some sort of normalcy to their life while we are gone…and Grandma is a great cook!

After the baby shower, Samantha and I went and bought several of the big ticket items that we needed, the stroller, the car seat (thank you Grandma Helen!) and the Baby Bjorn. I also ordered the high chair and it should arrive this week.

We fell in love with another outfit (yes! another outfit!). I’d really like Maddie to wear it for our Giving and Receiving Ceremony. Tell me what you think.

Baby Shower

I work with the most amazing people. I know they are really smart and caring too. But for some reason, even knowing all of this, I was still overwhelmed by their generosity. I’ve said this before, but just in case you missed it, I’m so blessed to have a job that I love, but even more blessed to work with my best friend, Angie. She and Tana and Denette threw me a baby shower on Thursday after work. I brought the kids and John stopped by too. Sam took pictures, Carter helped open presents and Codi entertained the ladies with his origami and stories.

Madison, you are one lucky little girl to have some of the sweetest Aunties ever! They spoiled us rotten. Here are some photos from the shower – in a Hello Kitty theme, of course!

We have our travel dates!!!

We received our travel dates. It was a little disappointing to find out that we still have another month to wait. We need to be in country by the 15th of February, so John and I will be traveling on Valentine’s Day to get to Vietnam. We are working on tickets with our new awesome friends, Jen and George.

Jennifer and I met several months ago via email. We hit it off and have been each other’s “go to person” when we need to vent or babble on about something that only another adoptive parent can understand. We’ve all had a chance to meet face-to-face and now we know that we will all be traveling together in February, so that is great – because I couldn’t imagine not getting to finish this journey with her. Our daughters were born three weeks apart and they are in the same orphanage. We’re pretty sure they are in the same room too. This is going to be an amazing trip. I get to travel with my wonderful husband and hang out with my new friends! I am a lucky woman!

I am going to miss the kids though. I found my self standing outside the house the other night just sobbing at the thought of not getting to tuck Carter in at night, or listening to Sam ramble on for hours (I’m not kidding) about her day and boys, and I especially worry about not being there for Codi if he needs me. That is going to be the hardest part for me. I can’t wait to go and bring Maddie back so we can be a complete family.

The chicken fiasco

First let me say, that in my defense, I’m a little preoccupied. The chicken fiasco actually began two nights ago. I decided to make a family favorite recipe we lovingly call “Joe’s Chicken” aptly named after our favorite firefighter who introduced us to the dish. It’s basically a crock pot dish with cream of chicken soup, pineapple, cinnamon, nutmeg and chicken. It’s really yummy over rice!

So, two nights ago I prepared the dish and put it in the fridge before I went to bed with the notion to remind my daughter to turn the crock pot on for 4 hours on high when she came home from school. And, like all great ideas, I forgot all about reminding her. So, the chicken sat in the fridge another night. No big deal – we could make it for dinner tonight instead.

I woke up this morning still reeling from the amazing news about Maddie, and hurriedly got ready for work, all the time reminding myself not to forget the chicken again. As I was running out the door, I threw the crock pot on the counter, plugged it in, turned it on low and left. I was so proud of myself! Yeah! Dinner would be ready when I go home.

I checked in with my daughter in the middle of the day. She mentioned she was a little concerned that the “gravy” was a bit runny. I mentioned this to my friend, Angie, and she suggested adding another can of cream of chicken soup. I was still on top of this!

As I walked through the door into the house I knew immediately there was something wrong. I could not smell the chicken cooking. Usually the whole house fills with the aroma of cinnamon and nutmeg – but today – nothing! I opened the crock pot and couldn’t believe what I saw – RAW CHICKEN. I had turned the crock pot on all right, but not low, on WARM. It looked so nasty, so I closed the crock pot and called Papa Johns to the rescue.

Now you would think this is where the chicken fiasco ended right? WRONG! I left the chicken sitting in the crock pot on the counter while we ate and then I put the kids to bed and messed around on the internet. I knew I couldn’t put the crock pot off any longer, so I headed to the kitchen and opened the container we will now call the Abyss of Hell! It smelled like a sweaty gym locker, feet and dead animals. I seriously almost vomited! It had started to ferment and make bubbles – gag! So…I dumped it in the garbage disposal. H-m-m-m…raw chicken and a garbage disposal – I guess I didn’t think that through. When the disposal started to back up and make weird noises I turned it off and had to reach in with my hands and pull the vile chicken out of the “soup” that came from the Abyss of Hell. I put it in a garbage bag and left it in the garage for my loving husband. Happy Birthday!

Now the house smells like a sweaty gym locker, feet and dead animals. I really need to get my act together. Did I mention I’m a little preoccupied?

Here we go....

Welcome to our blog to document the voyage to bringing home Madison Hope! We’re really glad you decided to come along on our life-changing trek across the world.

It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since we started on this amazing journey to bring another beautiful child into our home. I was overcome with joy tonight when I opened my email and saw that we had our approval to travel to Vietnam!

Our adoption agency is guessing that we will travel the first week in February, just after the Tet (New Year) celebration. It would probably be too hard to get hotel rooms or travel arrangements during the New Year, since it is the most important holiday in Vietnam.

I truly long to hold my daughter…but by having to wait, we have the time to get everything in order for our other children and can hopefully book decent fares for our tickets.

I’ll do my best to keep everyone up-to-date, but seeing as this is my first try at blogging, please bear with me if things don’t always go smoothly.