Day 16 & 17 - Paper work completed!

I`ll make this quick and post again tomorrow.  Just wanted to give an update that Victoria was granted Canadian citizenship yesterday and received her temporary Canadian passport this afternoon.  We feel so relieved that everything is in order.  We`re so excited to come home on Sunday and can`t wait to see the boys and introduce them to their baby sister.

Day 14 & 15 - Waiting for the paper work

We're still here in Hoi An, waiting for our paper work to be completed in Singapore.  Time is passing by slowly and we are feeling very anxious to travel home.

Victoria is becoming more and more comfortable with David and I.  Look at that cute smile!

She plays this little game with us where she squints her eyes and makes a sniffing sound.  It's adorable.

Apart from that one day where we were able to walk along the beach, it has continued to rain.  We are still trying to get out of our hotel room and go for walks despite the weather.

Day 12 & 13 - Hoi An

These past two days have been brighter.
Victoria finally pooped.  We were feeling very concerned that we'd run into bigger problems without medical insurance for her.  No one would cover us because she is not yet a Canadian citizen.  Even though she is a Vietnamese citizen, we are responsible for her medical care.  We are going to lay off the bananas and rice for a while and introduce new foods slowly.

My vegetable soup diet

My mom was able to drop off my birth certificate to the passport office in Surrey on Friday.  I'm hoping to find out tomorrow if our file is moving along according to schedule.  We've sent the original with another family who will be arriving in Vietnam this week to adopt their child.  Thanks moms for doing all that running around for us.
Despite the colder weather, I found it to be nice today.  It was a bit too breezy to swim but we found a nice beach to walk along.  It was nice to get out of the busy town and enjoy a quieter spot.
We tried to find a church to go to today but it seems that there really aren't very many in all of Vietnam.  We were reading up on it a bit more and it seems that Christians are very persecuted here.  Church's need permits to have gatherings and are often not granted these permits.  We've read stories of church buildings being destroyed and pastors being imprisoned for practicing Christianity.  All printing of religious materials need government approval.  Import licenses are virtually never granted.  It must be difficult for people here to even have access to a Bible.  Most Christians meet in house churches.  I feel grateful that I can freely attend church on Sunday mornings.

Did you know Vietnam is only 1 of 5 remaining communist countries?  Can you name the other 4? 

Lanterns in Hoi An

      

Day 10 & 11 - Some minor (as of now) hiccups

Yesterday, everything was perfect.  We sent off the last of our paper work and were ready to spend the rest of our time here relaxing.  We decided to book a last minute flight to Danang/Hoi An.  We were getting tired of being in Hanoi and since we had to be here until our paper work was completed, we figured it would be nice to see another part of Vietnam.  So, the closest touristy spot was Hoi An, only an hour flight from Hanoi.

Unfortunately, right when we got here, I checked my email to see that the lady from the Canadian embassy had sent me an email telling me that my original birth certificate was needed to complete the paper work.  I was so annoyed because I already knew that this document was forgotten in Canada and was going to have it sent here by rush mail over a week ago but was told that this was not necessary, including the lady from the embassy herself.  So frustrating!!  We've been told that someone from Canada can bring it to a passport office in BC to have it looked at instead of sending it here.  That's what the embassy here said.  Who knows what is actually required on the Canadian end of things.  Thank you mom for running to Surrey for me tomorrow on such short notice.  I'm so worried that this will delay our process.  I really don't want to have to change our flight home because I'm so home sick and don't want to pay another couple thousand dollars on airline tickets.  
Please pray that everything would come together and that we would not be delayed in coming home.  I'm missing my boys so much.  

On top of that, Victoria hasn't pooped at all, not once since we've had her.  I'm so worried something is wrong with her.  Maybe it's because we started her on solids, I don't know.  She doesn't seem to be in pain but didn't eat normally this afternoon.  Some Vietnamese staff here at the hotel made a vegetable concoction for her and she drank it down.  Hopefully we'll get a poop soon!

On another sour note, the weather has been terrible.  It's been raining and it's cold.  None of us packed for this weather so we've been wearing the same thing every day.  I haven't even had the chance to go swimming and there's such a nice pool at our hotel!

Sorry this post is so negative but it's been a bad day.  Hopefully things will look brighter tomorrow.

Day 9 - Vietnamese passport received

We received Victoria's Vietnamese passport
Now we apply today for Canadian citizenship and her temporary Canadian passport.  This is the paper work I'm worried about because it gets sent to Singapore.  I'm so worried that I will have filled something out incorrectly.

Day 8 - First full day together

Victoria did very well today and so did we! :)  She experienced many new things including morning cuddles with a mama and a daddy, solid foods and Hanoi's crazy traffic.

Trying banana for the first time

Exploring the Old Quarter of Hanoi

We are learning a lot about our little girl and doing all that we can to love her and bond together.  Her skin is starting to look a little bit better but there are still many bites and bumps.  She seems to be pretty content though.  There is one sad behaviour that has resulted from her institutional care that makes me cry.  We've discovered that she rocks herself back and forth periodically to self-soothe.  This is not uncommon for children in institutional care who do not get the nurturing love they need to develop.  She has learned to depend on herself for comfort since she has not had a consistent caregiver to attend to her needs.  I'm sure she rocked herself to sleep many nights.  I wish I was there to hold her those nights.  I hate that she had to experience such loneliness at such a young age.  What torment!  It makes me sick in my stomach to think of all the children who have no one to care for them tonight.  I'm just happy there is one less orphan and am so grateful that God would spare Victoria from such a dreadful environment.  I know it will take time for Victoria to rely on us for love and comfort.  We are going to work very hard to develop a strong bond.

The good news is that she now cries whenever I'm more than two feet away from her.  I can't even go to the bathroom without her bursting into tears.  I'm so happy for this.  She is bonding already.  What a blessing!  I tried to get a picture of her in front of the Christmas tree but she was upset that I put her down.  So we took a picture together instead.  I'll cherish this photo forever because I think this is the first moment when Victoria wanted me to be her mom.

We finished off the night with room service again, this time mashed potatoes and pumpkin.  We also had some bare skin time.  I don't think she had much bare skin time in the orphanage because she was fascinated with her belly button.  It was really cute watching her play with her tummy and her toes!  I love her!

Such a cute giggle.  Watch the video clip.

Day 7 - Gotcha Day!

What an amazing day it was.  We drove about an hour and a half to Thai Nguyen province where Victoria's orphanage was.  We were not allowed to look around the orphanage but were ushered right into the ceremony room.  Victoria was brought to us.

Meeting Victoria for the first time:

Ceremony and pictures with the officials:
I got our translator to take pictures of Victoria's room in the orphanage since we were not allowed inside.  I know one day she will ask about where she spent the first year of her life.  It definitely isn't an ideal nursery for a little baby.  We were told that she does not get held very much which I already expected for a child living in institutional care.  Apparently all orphanages in Vietnam are run by the state.  Seventy to eighty percent of children in the orphanages are girls.

Where she slept for her first few months

They watch a lot of TV

When she was given to us, she whimpered for a little bit but then clung to us tightly.  When we tried to distance ourselves from her to get a good look at her face, she would pull closely again and bury her face in our chest.  

She has marks all over her body.  I'm not sure what they are but they look like big bites.  She also has two very large bruises on her back and bum that look very painful :(  We gave her a nice warm bubble bath (which she loved!) and got her all cozy for bed.  

Bath time

New toys

We ordered room service, played and then went to bed.

Story time

What a day!

I have the cutest video of her giggling as I'm playing with her feet.  I'll try to upload it later.
One of the happiest days of our lives!  We love you Victoria!