Renovation Update & Adoption

Well, wonders never cease. We found a contractor and he hasn't quit yet nor has he attempted to jump off a bridge or throw "someone" else off that bridge. That's a huge feat in itself. Just that alone is a cause for celebration, but wait, it gets better. He's also a fast worker and reasonably priced. In half a week and considering "someone" made him waste alot of time, not to mention money, the apartment is already half framed and the concrete has been cut and prepared for the plumbing work. We're pretty excited and think we actually have a shot at getting moved in and settled before we leave for Vietnam.

As for the adoption, we don't have any updates however we got all our paperwork completed and all that's left to do is the visa forms. I still feel like it's so unbelieveable, like it's just a dream. Everytime I look at that little face, I fall more and more in love. It will be 2 weeks on Sunday that we first saw that beautiful, innocent, baby face. I can't help thinking about him in everything we do. It's times like this that I just want to stay busy in hopes that it will make the time go a little faster. I want to be there right now. Normally I'd be so excited about Mexico but for now I eat, sleep and breath Vietnam. I ordered a Frommer's travel guide for Vietnam and hope to have it way before we leave for Mexico.

Portia had her two little friends Kloe and Connor for pizza. Infact they got to make their own pizza thanks to the patience of Alex's mom. They played so hard all afternoon and there was a disaster to show for it, but it kept them busy and overall quiet. Marianne then came over with her chunky little monkey, Hayden. I still can't believe he is 8 months old and 23 pounds, not to mention he came into life 5 weeks too early. It's funny with premmies, they usually calculate their progress according to the date that they should have been born, but with Hayden, the doctor said they can't do that since he's in the 95 percentile for weight! Can you imagine, he'd be considered obese!! This kid has rolls on his rolls. You just want to gobble him up. Hopefully we'll soon have little Vu in our lives to gobble. BTW, we picked a name. We had a few we threw around but Reuben seemed to be the best fit. It means "Behold, a son!" It's appropriate since we never expected a little man to join our family.

Adoption Stuff

Things are moving fast but really slow. We finally received confirmation of Part 1 of the Canadian Citizenship. The agency will be sending us an e-mail with the details of what to do for Part 2. We really aren't too concerned about this step since we already have our sponsorship papers ready, just incase, and we've been through this with Portia before. Mind you, it sure would be nice to have our little man officially become an instant Canadian citizen the moment he lands on Canadian soil. As well, we were hoping that there would be more information on our little guy however it appears for now that the medical update that we received, as well as the pictures, are all there is to the proposal. We were told that as time goes by, Vietnam will provide more official documentation along with approvals and added details. Of course I would have preferred a novel sized report, but that's not going to happen. We now are starting to plan out the trip, or at least think of some of the details. The agency will be sending us a powerpoint presentation with particulars, so that should be fun to go through. As well, there have been a few other families using the same agency and like us, have just received their proposal, so it's a really happy time for many. Hopefully we'll be travelling and getting to know some of these ones better. When we travelled to China, we were fortunate enough to travel with 9 other families and we are lucky to say that we keep fairly close in touch with these ones, although most do live in the GTA.

More Good News

We had a friend of the family come and look at the work that needs to be done and he's agreed to take on the renovations. We are so happy and the best part is he can start early next week. He made some really good suggestions so the layout will accommodate more personal preferences. Wow, I can't believe we finally are moving forward. I can't wait to get our things out of storage. One more step in the right direction.

We were disappointed to hear that Alex's brother will no longer be able to join us for holidays. The good news is that Alex's sister is likely to take his place. Yes, this is the same person that is crazy enough to want to travel to Vietnam with us. We better be on our best behavior in Cancun or she just might change her mind about Vietnam. Wow, I can't believe there will be 17 of us going south. Actually there were more that were going to join us but our hotel sold out.

Portia had a great playdate with Kloe today. If they weren't in the tent, they were playing hospital. We even had to make little face masks for the surgeries that needed to be performed. Portia even "x-rayed" my leg, yeah the same old spot that I smacked into the side of the couch the other day while I was running like a madwoman to the bathroom, while Portia was in my arms spilling all her cookies. Yes, she got The Flu, and even ended up with Roseola, poor thing. Anyways, Portia and Kloe had a great time dancing to Abba songs this afternoon. Mamma Mia was a big hit. They even had the pretend microphones going, well at least until Portia decided to spin, fall and smack her head. I love the fact that Portia loves Abba. Anyone who knows me knows what a big fan I am. Disco, now what would I do without it? I just hope that the new, little man likes it. If not, we'll have to get him and Alex matching earplugs, especially since Portia and I love to sing. We're both tone-deaf but that doesn't stop us.

The Little Man

We are so in love! I woke up in the middle of the night to find my husband sitting on the bed gazing at the little man's photos. Such a nice feeling. We have so much to get done so I'm hoping the wait time is going to fly. Plus all of a sudden the renovations have become a priority. There is so much to do but my brain has become mush. The reality of it all still hasn't hit me.

WE GOT THE CALL!!

We were proposed a sweet, little baby boy!! We still can't believe it. We've been trying to adopt a second child for over 3 years now and finally, the wait has paid off.



I woke up early Sunday morning (yes, that's right, Sunday) and couldn't get back to sleep, so I decided to check my e-mail account. There was nothing special, just the usual, which I sat through and read. I started feeling tired and since everyone was still sleeping, I closed up the notebook and fell into a deep sleep. At around 9:20 a.m., Alex comes to the room and calls my name. I groggily opened up my eyes, still feeling the heaviness of sleep. Alex says to me "Come here. I need to show you something." I then asked if it could wait since I was still tired, but he insisted. I then got worried but he reassured me that it was good. Automatically I thought finally we got some head way on the renovations. He walks me over to his computer and tells me to read it. There was an e-mail from our agency that said : "Dear Alex and Letizia, I have a possible child proposal for you. Can you contact me at home today or at the office tomorrow. " I couldn't believe my eyes! I called immediately but was asked to call back in 10 minutes. I called back EXACTLY 10 minutes after and found out that a little boy was being offered to us. He's 11 months old and really little. He very likely was born prematurely. He's a smiler and loves to babble. The report states that he is a very alert, happy, responsive and talkative baby. We met with our pediatrician today who gave us the go ahead. And now we wait to hear back from our social worker. It will be approximately 2 - 3 months before we travel. I will post some pictures soon but it may take me some time to before I wake up from this dream!

Feeling Discouraged

Unfortunately there is no news. We were told that perhaps our proposal may come this month but there are definitely no promises. We found out that although we are #1 on the Ontario list, there are 2 other couples ahead of us on the Quebec list. And since the proposals are split between the two provinces, I would imagine that would mean that the likelihood of us getting one of the two prospective proposals would be slim. The medicals still need to be done on these children and then they will assign which agency they will go to, so there is even a chance that our agency won't even get them. I'm really feeling the wait. We are likely going to go away on holidays so I just got to set my mind on that and think of other positive things to keep me busy. I think the fact that we are in total disarray with the renovations has me even more discouraged. It seems like everything is taking so much longer than what I considered the worst case scenario in my head. I'm probably going to be going out with my girlfriends on Sunday so hopefully that will lift my spirts.

Portia & Kloe

Portia is ecstatic since we'll be babysitting one of her best friends, Kloe, two times a week for the month of February.  The girls played so nice together and didn't stop until Nathan & Karina came to pick up Princess Kloe after 5pm.  She is a such a well-mannered child with a very active imagination.  They played dinosaurs, wedding, camping, barbies, polly's and you name it.  We even took time to go tobaganning at a nearby hill but I can't figure out who had more fun, them or me.  We all came back soaked but boy, did I sleep well last night.    

Waiting Game

Our agency still doesn't have any news for us so we continue to wait regarding a couple of potential proposals that are coming their way. In the meantime, our homestudy update was received by our agency and they will be sending it in to the Ministry this week. Since it is only an update, we were told that it shouldn't take long to hear back. Also our RCMP checks were received and the good news is that we don't have to do another local police check. Woohoo!!

This waiting game is getting hard and patience isn't definitely not my strong point. In the meantime I'm living through other adoptive parents that are ahead of me in the process. We are reading blogs to help us pass the time. I'm really thinking we should just book a holiday away just to take a break from everything. I could be wrong but I think it would be so much easier if it was summer time. We tend to spend most of our time outside during the summer and the time flies by quickly, well at least quicker.