First picture of all three

Clearly not picture perfect.  I think it will be impossible to ever get a photo of all of them looking at the camera.  

All three at the hospital.  It was a bit challenging but we did it.  Isaiah is sick with a nasty virus.  He still got his chemo and is getting IV antibiotics as well (even though it is a virus).  Protocol.  We go back again this afternoon.  

We’re home!

It’s so nice to be home.  We arrived late Sunday evening.  The boys were waiting for us at the airport when we arrived.  They were really happy to see us and were anxious to hold their new little sister. 

Victoria has been very jet-lagged and has had trouble sleeping during the night.  It’s been challenging for me to stay awake during the day since I've been up with her.  I am hoping her schedule flips around soon.  She was such a great sleeper in Vietnam.  Twelve hours minimum at night and a few naps during the day.  

Last night was a bit better except that Isaiah spiked a fever and had to go to Children’s Hospital at 2am.  Thankfully Dave took him so that I could catch up on my sleep  and meet them at the hospital in the morning.  Fortunately, Isaiah was not admitted last night and returned home around 8am.  We will have to go back to the hospital later today for his regular chemotherapy visit however I'm not sure if he will get it being as sick as he is.  Hopefully we won’t see a repeat of last year and be admitted to hospital. 

Victoria has been full of smiles and seems so happy to be with us.  She still wants to be held constantly and cries when I put her down to get something done.  This morning I had to vacuum with her in my arms.  It was very challenging.  Overall, she's a very content little girl.  

Coming home tomorrow!

We're so excited about coming home tomorrow.
I can't wait to hug my sweet boys.  I'm amazed that I survived 21 nights without them!  We have a lot of catch-up cuddling to do.  Thank you so much to the grandparents for taking good care of them.

This has been an amazing journey and we feel so humbled that God would entrust us with this beautiful little girl.

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.