Settling in

Things are slowly getting back to normal here. Ed went back to work today. I was home with the 2 kids (John's school was closed due to Patriot's Day). We dropped by my work to visit and then went to a friend's house for a play date and lunch. Both kids slept in the car to and from (1 hour each way). Not quite as good as a nap in bed, but better than nothing. Liana was asleep by 6:30 and John by 7:30. Amazingly it is 9pm and I am still awake! I take the baby to the Dr for her first appointment tomorrow. I am not sure if they will start all her vaccinations this week or if we will go back next week for that. Liana is starting to warm up to Ed. She is definitely comfortable crawling all over the house, and chasing the dog. I can again put her in her crib while she is awake and she can soothe herself to sleep- a good sign that she is feeling safe here.

What were we thinking????

Ok, if I thought I was tired on Wednesday, you should see me now! Ed likes to remind me- with what were you thinking with 2 kids instead of 1!!
Liana still has only bonded to me- the jury is still out on Ed and she cries when I leave her with him. She does however adore her big brother!
John is trying so hard to help with EVERYTHING!! He wants to get out her pjs, there are now clothes all over the floor. She starts to play with a toy, he takes it away to "show her how to do it". He makes the formula for me every morning- we are both covered with powder when we are done! I go to put her down, he wants to help- talking the whole time and of course waking her up several times. He is putting on a very brave face, but at the same time he is very stressed- has to be in the room with me at all times, will not leave me alone with Liana, and breaks out into tears for no reason.
Since the baby is still not acclimated to the house and will not let Ed comfort her, I am up with her approx 4 times a night and have not caught up on my sleep. Liana has also given up on the wonderful nap schedule we had in Hanoi (3 hours in the morning and 2 in the afternoon) and has decided no naps is a better idea- way too many new things to explore here- why sleep?
I'm hoping by the time this long weekend is done, we will all be in a better routine. I need some good sleep soon!

We are home

Hey all, we arrived home on Wednesday, April 11. Liana was an angel. We had 30 hours of travel and I would say that she cried for only 40 minutes of that- mostly in our 3 hour lay over in JFK airport- where I think she decided enough was enough!
I slept approx 4 hours of that trip and was a little delirious by the time we got home. We both seem to have recovered from our colds/viruses/whatever.
John is so excited about his baby sister, but cries every time we call her Liana-"Her name is Isabella mommy!!" Finally on Thursday he decided that she can have 2 first names- Thank God! We had a rough first night as the little one wa a little scared of the new surroundings. But she was crawling all over the place exploring on Thursday. I have attached a picture of us arriving at the airport.

Getting ready for home

We will be hopping on our first plane home in 26 hours and will be in Boston 25 hours after that! Unfortunately, both Liana and I are sick. She has a bad cold and is taking decongestants and ibuprofin. I have a sore throat full of white patches and feel sore all over. I am taking zithro and ibuprofin and will take some psuedophed before the plane ride. We both had our chicken soup for dinner- me Pho and her Congee. Liana just took her bath and we are both getting ready for bed at 7:15.
The funny thing is I am so congested that I can't smell anything. Do you think my neighbors on the plane will tell me when she has a poopy diaper? :)

Happy Easter!

Now that I know we are heading home soon, I am really enjoying my time here- especially getting to know the other families. The only time I was sad was after I spoke on the phone to John. He told me all about everything the Easter Bunny had brought him. He was so excited! I am going to ask Ed to post a picture of him with his Easter basket. He wanted to know what the Easter Bunny had brought Liana and I. I told him that I got Oreo cookies and Liana received a new ball and a toy airplane.
I went out to dinner with the new PLAN families that have just arrived and will be getting their babies tomorrow. They are so excited. They are a great group and already seem very close with each other. We had a birthday cake to celebrate Abram's birthday- he turned 12 today. I look forward to meeting all their babies on Tuesday before I fly out. When I was with the new group, I felt like I had had Liana forever, yet at the same time watching their excitement it reminded me that only 3 weeks ago we were in the same place they are!

Easter pics of Liana

She was not very happy to put on this dress. I got back from the spa- great 90 minute massage- and she has a slight temperature. A dose of baby motrin and she is on the go again. We are getting ready to go out for our Easter dinner soon.

Overly full social calendar this weekend

As I have said, the visa will be available on Monday. I am flying out Tuesday night on Thai air and will hopefully be home to pick up John from preschool on Wednesday.
Things have been crazy here. I ran around on Friday afternoon to get flights, then came back and said goodbye to the friends in my travel group who were heading home that evening. Liana really misses Emma just like I will miss Kathy, Maureen, and Mel.
Saturday morning Liana and I were back at Thai air first thing to confirm our Tuesday flights. After her nap we went to the market to stock up on formula and Diet Coke- obvious who is drinking what here. We then went out to lunch with 9 of the PLAN families- lots of babies and chaos, but good food. The Doubleday-Bush family had arrived and stopped in to meet Liana and I after reading our blog- I love this family and wish they had been here sooner so I could have spent more time with them (No, I am not staying longer to get to know them better!!) Later Holly and baby Krista visited with some of the PLAN staff and then met another mother, Rene out for dinner. This evening I said goodbye to another family from another agency that I have gotten to know well.
Tomorrow is just as crazy- play date with the Los Ninos Agency babies over at the Somerset Hotel in the morning. In the afternoon, Holly and I have arranged for baby sitters while we get facials and massages, then i am off to a dinner with the new PLAN families who are just arriving- I am going to see if they will make Liana an honorary member of the BaVi buddah baby group as so far she is definitely the biggest, chubbiest baby around! (BaVi is the orphange where a lot of the PLAN babies are from and they are all well fed!)
Monday Liana and I will take it slow and recover from our social whirl and Tuesday we will pack up again!
I have posted a picture of Liana playing with Esther and also Rosie and Krista. Tomorrow I will post one of her in her Easter dress.

Waiting to fly home

We will get the elusive visa on Monday- the woman at the embassy told me Liana looks much cuter in person than she does on her visa-not sure what that means :)
They said the visas have to be approved in the US which is why they can't issue same day. I have flights out Tuesday night on Thai Air- they don't fly Monday. The mommies for Los Ninos agency who are starting week 5 here are also getting their visas on Monday- we were all happy to see each other at the embassy on Friday and have a play date set up for Sunday. I have lots of plans with all kinds of people to kep busy. The other families leaving picked up formula, water, and diapers for me at the market to save me the trip with Liana. Everyone is taking good care of me!

The political bickering is finally done

As of 5:00pm on Thursday, the USCIS, the US embassy, and the Vietnam Ministry finally reached agreement on the documentation needed for a child abandoned before March 1, 2007 to prove that they were abandoned and legally available for adoption. Luckily we have been providing them with 3 docs each day and they have all the documents they need to process Liana's case. My new friend Greg at the Embassy, personally called me to tell me I will get my appointment on Friday or Monday but will not get the visa issued until the next business day (meaning Monday or Tuesday). I think he was just tired of talking to me so many times, though he did sound like he felt bad about the situation.

I am checking into flights next week, but plan to ask very nicely if there is any way they can issue the visa same day so I can make my flights home. Since this is highly unlikely I have tenatively planned a day trip to Halong Bay. I also have an invite for a day at the Spa with another mommy in waiting as well as an invite to a baby play date with a group of mommys from Los Ninos Agency that are stuck here for possibly week 5. Yes, even in Vietnam I can be a social butterfly- now that I am not depressed thinking my baby would be stuck in the political red tape forever.

Just got some upbeat news!

It looks like the new letters may be working, Dr Hong says that they seem to be happy with them. Still awaiting the call.

Only bad news!

We have a problem with our paperwork that seems to be more of a US Embassy pissing contest than a real problem. We are stuck here while it all gets negotiated. As of March 1, 2007 all abandoned babies need a sworn statement from the person who found them. Prior to that it was not needed. The person who found Liana did sign a police statement, but that is not good enough. We got a letter from the Vietnamese Ministry stating that the law did not go into effect until March 2007 and since she was abandoned in May 2006 she is exempt. The Embassy says this only applies to babies in hospitals not found on the street and have implied that she could have been trafficked. They want us to track down Mr Nguyen who was at the bus station and get his sworn statement. Of course 90% of the Vietnamese are named Nguyen! We have responded with a letter from the Ministry saying that the law applies to all abandoned babies as well as a letter from the police saying that a thorough investigation was done to the full extent of the law that was in place at that time. These have gone off to the embassy and we wait again.

I need lots of positive e-mails as I have called Ed twice in the middle of the night in tears and he could use his sleep. I can tell you I am not leaving this baby in this country!!

Still waiting and new pics for Nana and pop-pop

We are still waiting for the embassy to call. 2 families were called yesterday (1 family was 3 days behind us, but seems to have caught up). There are still 3 of us waiting. If we do not get a call today there is a good chance we will not be able to make our scheduled flights out on Friday. That is a major issue as flights in and out of this country are booked solid. There are some families from Paris that have been done, but can't get out for 2 weeks. I also met some families from Los Ninos that got their babies when we did but just had their first interview. They are still hoping to get out on their flights this Friday??? Their visas run out on Saturday. We need to send Deb (our Sys Admin from PKI) there for 1 week- she could straighten out the whole system for the embassy in 1 week.
We are very optimistic that we will get a call today- everybody had better be praying or thinking positive thoughts!!! Send me e-mails as I need to be cheered up. I have posted 2 pictures for the grandparents- Liana and Liana with her playdate friend. Hopefully these will be the last pictures I will need to post for Vietnam!

The Angel and the Devil

My beautiful little girl is such an angel. She hasn't been feeling 100%, but she is such a good natured baby. She was singing to me tonight. Her head banging and scratching have totally stopped and she definitely knows I am her mommy.
I am considering the US Embassy to be the Devil at this moment. It is Monday night and they still have not called for appointment number 2. I am so ready to go home and really miss John. Everyone please pray that the embassy can get their act together so Liana and I can get home by Easter as planned.

Weekend outings

This weekend was all about keeping busy and getting out of the city- anything to keep busy while we wait for our visa call- hopefully today- Monday! Saturday, we went out to the silk village again with the other PLAN families and then out for a seafood dinner- I had giant prawns. Sunday, a few of us rented a van and went to BaVi National Park. It was great to get out and see some mountains (more like hills) but we didn't hike much once we got there as it was 90 degrees and too hot for the babies to go too far. We didn't hike far enough to see the wild monkeys but did see baby goats. I met 2 women here adopting from Ma, so hopefully we will get together when we all get home.
Liana has some constipation and it has made her a little grumpy. But her grumpy is pretty good natured compared to John as a baby. Ed took John to the Easter Egg Hunt today. John only got 2 eggs because he was more into opening them to see what was inside than collecting others. We told him the Easter Bunny will bring him more next week.

Beautiful baby after her bath

Waiting for that elusive Visa

Unfortunately the US embassy here has slowed to almost a dead stop. I had hoped to have the baby's visa and be on the way home this weekend. The embassy has major delays and backlog. The best we can hope for now is Tuesday at the earliest. I have been keeping busy with the other families. We rented a van on Wed and went to the pottery village. Today we saw the Water Puppet Show. Tomorrow we will travel back to the silk village with the March 25 PLAN adoption group- I don't need any more silk, but we want to socialize with the newer families. We plan to rent a van on Sunday and go out to a National park approx 60km from the city. Hopefully Monday we will get called for our Visa appointment. It is taking approx 15 minutes everytime I post a picture. So I am going to post these messages and post the pictures when I have some free time this weekend.

Streets of Hanoi

Here are some pictures of the daily street life in Hanoi-flower market, outdoor restaurant, meat market, etc. Hanoi is a mix of the old and new.

My crazed shopping spree-Don't tell Ed!

Monday Liana and I walked arond the lake in the morning, went to lunch with Emma and her Mommy Maureen, and went for her Visa physical in the morning. She is 20lbs! 50% for head circumference, 70% for weight, and only 20% for height. Needless to say her weight to height ratio is off the charts- with her little Buddah belly!
Tuesday I went on a crazy shopping spree- a bunch of silk clothes for me. The shop keepers laugh when I ask them if they have something in a big size. If they don't have your size, they will custom make it for you in 24 hours. I am unfortunately a XXL here where I am a medium in the US. We will cut those tags out when we get home!! I also bought some great little wooden toys for John, silk lanterns for the kids' rooms, teeshirts, and hand embroidered tablecloths. Liana and I went out to dinner with another family from Oregon whom I love. The food was great, but the weather is in the 90's and this place had no AC. It was hot.

Liana's first "Girl's Night"

Ed flew out last night and Liana and Mommy had their first girl's night together. We played, gave her a bath, and both fell asleep at 8:30. She woke at 1 and 4 to eat but went right back to sleep in 10 minutes. It took me a lot longer to get back to sleep. We both got up at 7 had breakfast and went for a walk with the stroller. It isn't too bad using the stroller if you go out early enough. I got a little lost coming back, but we found some new cool shops to check out. The hotel staff offer to babysit all the time. I may take them up on it for a few hours tomorrow because I would like to clothes shop for myself. We had a little playtime with 8 month old Emma down the hall and then Liana took a nap. We will go to lunch when she wakes up and then to the clinic for the phsical for her visa.

Family matters

Liana has finally begun to bond with Ed. Of course he is leaving tonight so he may need to start over again when we return home. Liana is laughing, doing lots of crusing- she is just about ready for her first steps. She is imitating giving kisses and clapping her hands. She slept great last night- waking at 1:30 to eat, then back to sleep until 6:30AM. She did bang her head on the floor, but seems to have a very hard head- no bruise and only a few minutes of crying.
Things are not as good at home. My parents are watching John and my Dad got sick and had to go to the hospital. The cable appears to be out and my 3 year old wants to watch TV! Daddy will be home in less than 40 hours and can give my mom a well deserved break after she took such good care of our little monster.
I am a little apprehensive that I will be here with Liana on my own. She is fine to take care of, but very heavy and there is no place to put her down once you leave the hotel room. My arms and back get very sore. I am becoming an expert at eating with 1 hand and juggling squrmy baby with the other.

Saturday trip to the Silk Village

The families took a trip to the Silk Village today to shop. Afterwards we hac a very nice dinner with Cherie (PLAN family liason), her son Brian, and Cong (PLAN driver). It was a multiple course meal. Everything was absolutely delicious. We got back and I finished up our shopping so that Ed can bring all our purchases back with him when he leaves. We got a few pieces of artwork, several pretty cotton hand embroidered dresses in different sizes for Liana, a dragon puppet for John, a laquered platter, silk scarves, an embroidered handbag, and a stone painted statue of a Vietnamese girl in traditional pose for Liana's room. We need to pick up some tee shirts today and we will be done. Believe it or not, I am a lightweight shopper compared to the other families here who seem to have bought alot more than me.
We had great homemade pasta for dinner.

Embassy appointment

WE walked around the lake on Friday morning, then the families had their first embassy appointment on Friday afternoon. It went very well. We were given the indication that it would take 3-5 business days to process our case for the next appointment. We were also warned that they would be doing a full investigation and "things can take much longer if any issues are found". I don't expect there to be any problems. The PLAN staff here does their job well. That evening 4 of the 5 families went out to dinner to a Spanish restauarnt (not as good as Tapeo, but I still had some great paella). It was pure chaos with one baby always needing to be walked, soothed, or changed.

Hanoi pictures

Wednesday and Thursday

Things have been a little crazy. We are a little sleep deprived. Liana has totally bonded to Mommy but wakes up scared and confused a few times during the night and wants to be held and soothed. On Wed she wanted nothing to do with Ed and would cry when he held her, but that is getting better. She scratches herself until she bleeds if she is upset, so we are giving into her demands for now until she feels more at home with us.
We have only had half days to walk around Hanoi as Wed afternoon we had to do our immigration paperwork and Thursday afternoon we had to get her passport. We went out to dinner with another family on Wed night and Thursday we went to a vegetarian indian restaurant. You go into what looks like an abandoned building, down this long alley, and up 3 flights of stairs. All the while thinking- "where are we going?" and you end up in a really nice restaurant with great food! We walked around the lake on Wed and did some shopping on Thursday- I bought the most adorable cotton, hand embroidered dresses for Liana- 3 different dresses in 3 different sizes for her to grow into.
One of the mothers from another family had to go to the hospital for IV today and 2 of the babies are sick. We had a "playdate" with 2 other babies in the hotel this morning while it was raining. Liana is 2 months older than they are- she was quick to crawl over to see what kind of toy they each had that they might want to "share".
We have our first of 2 embassty appointments tomorrow and Ed leaves on Sunday. what I wouldn't give for a high chair, bouncy seat, or ANYTHING to hold the baby after he is gone! I need to catch up on sleep before he goes or I am in big trouble.

Mommy getting Liana at orphanage

A few people have asked me to post a picture of me with the baby. Here is me after we just received her at the orphanage.

Pictures of Hanoi to come later this week!

YEAH! We just heard as I was loading this- first embassy appointment is on Friday at 1:30!!

Liana is legally ours!!

Tuesday was a crazy day! I wasn't able to get on line as the internet was down most of the day after a 5 minute power failure. Even worse, the streetlights have been out all day while 80% of the people don't seem to obey them, it is harder than usual to cross a street here!
Ed had to apply for her passport this morning. All the fathers went. After all the paperwork was submitted, they were told they will be ready on Tuesday. ED mentioned to the PLAN rep that he would not be here on Tuesday and I would have to pick it up. She got a look of panic on her face. There was another family in the same situation. We then had to fill out a lot more paperwork to expedite the passport so that Ed could get it before he leaves. After that, we had a quick lunch, Liana and I took a nap, and then we had to get ready for the Giving and Receiving ceremony. 4 of the 5 families went. 1 family had their G&R postponed until Thursday. We all sat around a large conference table. The judge came in and spoke about making sure the children did not forget their Vietnamese heritage and stressing our yearly progress reports on the children were sent in. She left. We signed a bunch of docs and a huge log book and were given the babies' birth certificates. We all had a chance to pose for a family picture and then we presented gifts. We gave out bottles of wine that we bought here. And that was it. The orphange director was there. She held each of the babaies at one time during the ceremony and was crying when she said goodbye to them.
We were getting the babies back into their jackets and hats. Liana decided to struggle, banged her head very loudly on the big wood table, and started to howl. I was so embarrased after I had just told the orphanage director that I would take such good care of her! At least it was too late for them to take her back!
We got back, went out to dinner with another family and went to bed by 9. She was up at 12 and 5 for quick bottles and slept until 7. We are now waiting to find out when our first embassy appointment will be.

The first night

Liana has been great. She fell asleep at 5pm and we ordered in pizza for dinner. We thought we were in big trouble for the night. She woke at 11 for a bottle and 3 for a bowel movement but went right back to sleep each time. The babies all drink formula and eat this porrige called Congee or Chow. It tastes like it is chicken broth based and the rice is cooked in it until it is mush. They sometimes add pork or chicken but Liana had problems chewing and swallowing the tiny hunks of meat. She wanted nothing to do with regular rice cereal like we would use at home and spit it all out! She is babbling, crawling, pulling herself up to standing, and cruising (walking while holding onto furniture. She has tried several times to take that first step, but falls down each time. She wants mommy to hold her all the time and my arms are getting sore! She is a heavy baby. The hostesses at all the restaurants grab her from me and hold her while I eat. She seems to be getting preferential treatment- whenever we are with another family, they always take Liana over the other baby- maybe I just look tired! Two of the other families have nurses or PLAN staff watching their babies at night- 1 has been very fussy and the other family adopted 2 little ones.

Gotcha day part 2

The nannies handed us our babies. We spent some time cuddling and getting to know them. Our little one had an immediate fascination for Ed until she got to play with her toy fish that we brought (daddy isn't nearly as fun as a fish). She was very serious, but not at all afraid or upset about being handed to us- all the babies had no problems going to their new parents. One of the nannies changed her picking a dress over the option of overalls. They were fascinated by the stockings that i had brought and loved her little booty shoes. While I fed her a bottle, Ed took pictures. She played for awhile then fell asleep in my arms. After more time with the nannies- communication is with signs and signals as they know very little english- we got in the van to head back. We got back to Hanoi. We were starving and went for a quick lunch where the hostess held and played with the baby while we ate. We gave her a bath later. She is the only chubby Vietnamese person I have ever seen- she looks like a little buddah with a big belly and fat little legs. Not what I would have expected from a child who has been in an orphange for 10 months (though we did find out that she was in foster care for 3 months when she was younger). She has a bad skin rash. After discussions with the PLAN staff, we decided to treat her with scabies meds just to be on the safe side. We also bathed her with a special soap they gave us here that helps rashes. After bath she decided that only mommy could hold her (daddy is on the outs already) She passed out at 5pm and is so exhausted we cannot wake her up. We are in big trouble tonight!

Also, the name debate is back on. We both kept calling her Anna Banana so we may make her name Anna instead of Liana. We will decide tomorrow. Tomorrow morning Ed will apply for her passport and the Giving and Receiving Ceremony where the Vietnamese Government officially signs off on the adoption is tomorrow.

The staff from PLAN that are here in Vietnam are amazing and working their buts off. Also, the nannies who care for the children at the orphanage love them very much and while happy to see the children get good homes, are very sad to0 see them go.

Gotcha Day part 1

This morning Dr Hong brought 2 of the babies to the hotel. One had been in an orphanage and one in foster care. The baby from foster care was younger than the others today and was not happy about her change of scenery. It took Dr Hong awhile to help the parents get her settled. The families that arrived last night had not gotten their luggage yet, so we lent them what they needed for immediate use. We ended up leaving for the orphanage an hour late (approx 10:15AM) with the other 2 families. It takes around 90 minutes to get to Bavi. Lots of rice paddies, oxen, etc on the way there. When we got to the orphanage there were approx 12 caretakers there. The older children were not there as they were at school. The babies are in 4 small rooms, approx 10 babies to a room, 2 or 3 to a crib.

Instructions for tomorrow to get Liana

We got our info for tomorrow. There are 5 families (3 of us are here already). We will be going with the Speros and the Humphreys tomorrow at 9AM to get our babies. It is approx a 4 hour outing. The Aime's baby is at a different orphanage. Their baby will be brought to the hotel tomorrow morning and they will visit the orphanage later. The Merchant's baby is in foster care and will also be brought to the hotel. Cherie was here earlier (PLAN family liason). She said that while the BaVi babies are well fed, they all have rashes. I'll let the rest of the PLAN folks with babies at Bavi know what Cherie diagnoses so you can make sure you bring the meds.
We had a great lunch at the Kiti- spring rolls, fried rice, ginger chicken. We had italian at Pane e vino for dinner- just pasta as we needed a change in diet- stomach is a little gurgly after the change in diet and lack of sleep.
We got a Sim card for the cell phone and are waiting for it to ring so we can talk to John. I found an embroidered bag and a present for my parents (can't tell-it's a surprise)that I want to go back and buy later this week. We have also started looking for a piece of artwork-we always buy a piece of art from each country we visit- not sure what we want to get yet.

The G&R ceremonies for all 5 families are not until Tuesday (where we do the official paperwork to adopt). I am not sure whether to bring the fancy dress I brought to the orphanage to make the nannies happy or to wait until the G&R. I actually have 2 nice dresses, but I'm not sure that I want to dress her all up just for a 2 hour bumpy van ride back to Hanoi.

Hotel in Hanoi

We are both still exhausted this morning it is raining like crazy, so not a great picture day. The shops look great- I wish I wasn't too tired to spend money. We bought a bunch of groceries for $8 and then I bought a cut up pineapple for approx $0.65 without negotiating- the woman was psyched as she probably normally gets $0.10 for it. After I started eating it (it is delicious) Ed told me I prbably shouldn't have bought it from a street vendor as her knife was probably not too clean! Of course he started to brush his teeth with tap water this morning since he was still tired. Let's see if we are both sick in 2 days!

Speaking of sick, our little boy is home with nana and pop-pop with a fever. Take good care of him for us, Nana! I have attached pictures of our hotel room, the outside of the hotel, and me traveling. We expect to get Liana tomorrow and will get good pictures of the city when the weather gets better.

We Have Arrived!

Just a quick message to let everyone know that we are here. We got lucky getting out of Boston Friday morning- the 2 flights to JFK before ours were cancelled and the 5 after ours were also cancelled. We lucked out that ours was the only one to make it out. Once we reached JFK, we had to slog through ice puddles to switch terminals and get the baggage check for our bags redone- the woman in Boston only checked them to Bangkok and they needed to go all the way to Hanoi.
Thai Air is great. We had great bulk head seats with 4-5 feet of leg room (thanks Todd- our travel agent). We had 3 dinners served- all great, but very spicy! For other PLAN families flying Thai Air, if you don't eat spicy, bring food.
We were 28 hours door to door-immigration in Hanoi took longer than I thought it would. And we will talk about the drving in Hanoi another time- I was pretty entertained and it definitely woke us up.
We are off the sleep- Ed slept 5 hours on the plane and I slept 2!

Packed and ready to go!

This morning I looked at the huge pile of stuff I had generated to pack and decided that I needed to reconsider every item. I cut it way down. We have 1 large suitcase for Liana and I, 1 medium size for Ed and the umbrella stroller and 1 duffle bag for all the gifts/disposables that we hope not to return with (we will use this for any purchases we plan to bring home). We do have a huge pile of electronics-laptop, videocamera, 2 cameras, cell phones, chargers for everything, converters and adapters. This stuff will be in the carry on along with the zillion books I packed to read!

The great name debate

For those of you who have not been in on the saga, there has been a great name debate here at home on what to name the baby. I chose Liana and Ed chose Anna (or Anna Banana as he liked to call her). Our son then decided since his best buddy Abby had a baby sister named Isabella, that baby sisters needed to be named Isabella. We have decided to call her Liana Isabella, but have come to think of her as LIA (note the caps for all 3 names). Yes, I know you will all chuckle when you see that she is getting the name I chose, but Ed named our son and he said I should get to name our daughter. Our son has said he will still call her Isabella no matter what her name is. As long as they get along I can live with that!

Setting up a blog???

Where is my husband the computer expert when I'm trying to set up a blog? Testing 1, 2 ,3. I just want to make sure that I can post pictures and stories before I give out this site address. Let's see if this works!