Happy 1st birthday Victoria!

One year ago today, at 10:40pm, a small package was found near the front gates of an orphanage.  Wearing white infant clothing, a white hat and wrapped in a red felt blanket was a beautiful little girl.

One year later, my Christmas gift:

I know that it must have been hard for Victoria's birth mother to leave her.  I'm thankful that she chose life for Victoria and gave her the opportunity to enjoy God's beautiful world.  

Happy 1st Birthday Victoria

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