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.