Swinging

Here's a video of Kiki from last fall.

Pictures from Christmas Day

Ready to Start!



Santa comes through with the big head!


Kiana loves ribbon!

Kiana loves pickles?

Future percussionist.

Current clown.




Taking a break from opening presents. We are saving some to open on New Year's Eve.

Maia's Birthday Party Pictures

Details of the party coming soon!

Pictures -- finally!!

First Tooth!

Kiana has her first tooth! Her pink, gummy grin is gone forever. It must have popped through overnight, as there were a bunch of us holding her and playing with her yesterday and we didn't see it. Maia spent the night at her friend Sarah's last night, so she didn't get to see it until this evening. I was so excited all day about showing the big news with Maia!

Recent Milestones

Sunday, November 12 -- A 4-year habit broken overnight

Tonight, quite out of nowhere, Maia declared that she would start sleeping in her own bed.

For those of you who don't know, I lost the battle of the beds just over 4 years ago when Maia, in an incredible feat of will, stayed awake screaming in her crib for two weeks, until I cried "Uncle" and let her sleep with me. There she's been ever since. Oh, sure, I've tried to get her to sleep in her own room: bribes, threats, even putting her in there after she fell asleep, only to find her snuggled next to me come morning.

This day, however, with no prompting from me, Maia decided that she would add sleeping in her own room to her daily chore chart! There were a few moments of regret at bedtime, but she gamely jumped into her own bed and has been happily sleeping there ever since!


Tuesday, November 14 -- Oh, that's why

I'm stretched diagonally across my huge bed, nestled into the down comforter that I've just pulled out of the closet in anticipation of the coldest night in 8 months. This is my 3rd night without Maia and I'm rejoicing in the spaciousness.

But a thought nags me: why haven't I ever slept diagonally like this before?

And that's when I realize: this is the first time in over 20 years that I've slept alone in my own bed! Consider this:

• Twenty-two years ago, Katie the cat took up residence on the pillow next to mine.
• Fifteen years ago, I invited Carson to sleep on the bed: I figured if he was on the bed then he couldn't eat my shoes. It worked!
• Twelve years ago, Skammie decided that if Katie and Carson got to sleep on the bed, so did he!

Katie, Carson and Skammie have moved to the Happy Hunting Ground, and their successors, Gracie and Princess, prefer their own beds to mine. So that's how I can now sleep diagonally, sideways or upsidedown in my own bed. At least until Kiana moves in.

Thursday, November 16 -- Look at me, Mom!

Kiana demonstrated her ability to walk while just holding on to our fingers...and she's quite proud of herself! It won't be long now until she's bi-mobile.

Saturday, November 18 -- Peek-a-boo!

Our clever little girl lifts her magic blanket over her head and then pulls it down...peek-a-boo! She even plays it with Gracie! She's always loved peek-a-boo, but now that she can control the blanket she chortles with laughter! The most beautiful sound in the worl!

Monday, November 20 -- An unwelcome first

Maia had her first cavity filled today. The dentist forsaw this over 3 years ago during her first exam. Evidently, this particular tooth has a little ridge where it's near impossible for a brush or floss to clean.

Maia shed 2 large tears when Dr. Kiley injected the novacaine, but was a model patient for the drilling and filling. That's my girl!

Kiana's First Shoes

Saturday, 11-11-06

8 am. We normally leave the house at 8:30 on Saturdays, but this week we left 30 minutes earlier. Clearwater was hosting the Ironman 70.3 (half an Ironman) on Saturday, and the bike portion followed many of the streets that we take to gymnastics. We left early to work our way around the road closures.

10 am. After Maia's gymnastics, we spent a few minutes watching the bike racing. All of the riders were riding as individuals, not on teams, so there was no strategy, no pelaton. Someday I want to see the symphany of a world class bicyling team in person.

Just as well, as we were already late for our neighbor's 5th birthday party! Again, we had to work our way around road closures to get to the party in Tampa. We got to the party in time to jump in the bouncy house, eat pizza and cake and see the gifts get opened. Poor Kiana: the 3 yo girls thought she was their personal, living doll and wouldn't leave her alone.

12 noon. Since we were already in Tampa, we decided to find the store that sells the hair piece Maia needs for her role in the Nutcracker. We met up with BFF Sydney and her mom Patty at the Flea Market. There's no directory, like at the mall, so we had to go up and down every aisle until we found the hair lady.

2 pm. Time to hit the road again! Maia went home with Sydney, so Kiana and I (mostly me) decided to hit Michael's for birthday party supplies. Kiana fell asleep in her carrier (thanks, Mark and Jan!) and stayed asleep the entire time I was in the store. Michaels was next to Hallmark, so we went there next and picked up some Christmas supplies.

3:45 pm. Kiana's feeling good, but hungry. Stop at Taco Bell. Yes, Kiana eats tacos. In fact, she eats just about everything I eat, and more than Maia eats. She doesn't know that she's not supposed to like lettuce or raw tomatoes.

5 pm. Exit the drug store and go to get Maia. We hang out at Syd's house for a few hours and finally Kiana gets some play time! She takes turns chasing Maia and Sydney and being chased by them.

7 pm. Kiana is doing so well I decide to cram one more stop into our day: the MALL. It's time for Kiana to get her first pair of walkers and I'm a firm believer in StrideRites. Syd and Patty decided to come along and join us for dinner in the Food Court.

8 pm. After a plate of teriyaki chicken and steamed veggies, we headed off to the StrideRite. The place was packed, so the girls played with scattered toys while we waited our turn. By the time it was Kiana's turn to have her foot measured, she had a stinky diaper. The family restroom was on the other side of the mall, so the clerk was just going to have to deal with it! As soon as we put the shoes on her feet, Kiana started screaming unconsolably!

8:30 pm. Headed to the family restroom with a screaming baby, but not fast enough. About half way there Kiana throws up all over me! I have to take off my sweater and use it to wipe the big stuff off. Thank goodness for the family center: cleaner counters and a a whole row of wipe warmers! Not only am I able to clean up the baby, but I leave the place nearly presentable!

8:40 pm. We're not done yet! I had promised Maia that she could buy a pair of Healys (sneakers with a retractable wheel in the heal) with her birthday money (thanks, Poppy and Mormor!). Luckily, the Healy store is next to the door where we parked. Healys in hand, we make it to the car by 9:55.

10:20 pm. Kids are in bed and I'm in clean clothes!

The Joys of Motherhood

****WARNING --- This blog is not suitable for all viewers.****

****Readers with sensitive stomachs should stop now.****

As all parents know, kids are cute for a reason.

I spent 4 days this week thinking about how really cute Kiana is. When she smiles. When she squeals. When she chases the cat. Even when she has a stomach virus. Yes, even then. Six loads of laundry. Four changes of the crib bedding. Two rounds with the carpet shampooer. Five emergency baths. Eleven changes of clothes.

Yep, that Kiana sure is cute.

Of God and Pickles

The 5 Days of Halloween
Thank goodness the "5 days of Halloween" are over. As posted, this high holiday started on Friday with the Fall Festival at Maia's school and the Halloween Party and Parade at Kiana's school. On Saturday, Maia went with friends to a halloween festival in Tampa in the afternoon, and then we all went with other friends to the Honeymoon Island Halloween Festival. The best part of this event was being on Honeymoon Island after dark. It was a cold, windy night (well, cold and windy by Florida in October standards) and the waves were crashing and the tree branches flailing. The island normally closes just before dusk, so this was a rare treat (no pun intended).

On Sunday we finally made it to the local pumpkin patch. Really it's a grassy field next to a church, but it's the closest thing to a pumpkin patch in Pinellas County. Maia carefully inspected every pumpkin before choosing 2 perfect specimens, a small one for Kiana and a medium one for her. After the pumpkin patch Maia went to her BFF Sydney's house to play and ended up staying for dinner, coming home in time to take a bath and get ready for bed.

So that meant that we had to rush through dinner on Monday so that we'd have time to carve our pumpkin! The good news is that I bought one of those pumpkin carving kits a few months back. I still can't believe how easy it was to carve and hollow out the pumpkin using the cheap tools in the kit! All these years I insisted on using a spoon and a paring knife! What an idiot! And, even better, the kit came with patterns, so we actually carved the best jack-o-lantern of my ENTIRE life!! As it turned out, we found out on Monday that Maia won the drawing for the pumpkin that her classroom decorated for the Fall Festival. Had I stuck around for the drawing on Friday night, I could have sat out the 3rd and 4th days of Hallowen.

Finally, the BIG day arrived. The BIG day really has 4 phases, 3 of which include me.
Phase I: Halloween Party at Maia's after-school program.
Phase II: Main Street Trick-or-Treat in Downtown Safety Harbor. The street gets blocked off and all of the businesses pass out candy to trick-or-treaters. There are also food vendors, crafts, a bouncy house, etc. We arrived about 5:15, hooked up with friends and left about 6:15.
Phase III: We rushed home, fed the dog, lit the jack-o-lantern and sped out of the house to join the neighbors for trick or treating. By the time we were done, Maia had about 4 lbs of candy.
Phase IV: Get home about 7:40. Most of the trick-or-treaters must have come while we were doing our thing, so we only got to hand out candy to about 7 kids, 4 of whom live next door. So, in addition to the 4+ lbs of candy that collected over the 5 days of Halloween, I have the 3 lbs that I bought to give away. Hmm, I wonder if the food banks take candy?

Of God and Pickles
Tonight I found myself explaining to Maia about head lice. She doesn't have them, but other kids at the Y do and they just want us to keep an eye out. So I said that lice are really tiny bugs that like to live on our heads, yada yada. She innocently asked, "Why did God make lice?" I replied that she should ask him, and while she was at it, ask him why he made mosquitos. Next I hear, "God, why did you make lice and mosquitos? And pickles?" I, perhaps too quickly, corrected her by saying, "God doesn't make pickles, people make pickles." To which Maia said (to God, I presume), "Oops, sorry. Sorry about the pickles". Yes, aren't we all sorry about the pickles?

Long Week

It's been a long week. Tonight was the Fall Festival at Maia's school. It was a lot of fun with all of the hokey games you'd expect. I love Maia's school. Several friends from work, whom I've know since before any of us had children, have kids there so we always see them at school events. My plumber and my mechanic both have daughters in Kindergarten. Two of Maia's friends from Kindercare also attend...3 if you count the older brother. It is truly a community school.

We left the Fall Festival about 8 pm and came straight home. While I got Kiana into PJ's, Maia went to her room to change for bed. I got Kiana into bed and went looking for Maia. I didn't have to look far: she had fallen asleep on the floor in her closet, fully clothed with one shoe and sock still on. She must have been so tired that she just collapsed when she sat down to take off her shoes. I took off her remaining shoe and moved her to her bed, where she sleeps still. I wish I'd taken a picture of her asleep on the floor.

Kissimmee Weekend

This past weekend, the Pinellas Single Adoptive Moms -- the PSAMs, for short -- took a short holiday in Kissimmee, Fl, right next to Disney World. Eight families, consisting of 9 adults and 13 kids were in attendance. The children range in age from 9 months to 9 years. We are an international group: 8 kids from China, 3 from Vietnam, 1 from Guatamala and 1 from Kazakhstan.

We doubled up and shared 4 cottages that faced each other around a small, common area. The kids could run from cottage to cottage and still be within site of all of us. Saturday was spent around the pool, and then we split up in the afternoon, some of us shopping, others napping (we napped, if you must know!). For dinner, we all went to a local chinese buffet where all of the kids learned to like crab legs! After dinner we walked to Old Town Kissimee. I don't know if it's really the old town or if it's just marketed to be. The street is closed off to vehicles and has permanent carnival rides at both ends, including a ferris wheel. We spent a few hours there, until everyone was too exhausted to ride another ride.

Sunday we packed up early so we could spend the rest of the morning by the pool. Most of the families stayed until about 1:30 and then a few of us stopped for lunch so we could feed the kids before they fell asleep for the ride home.

The girls -and the moms!- doted on Kiana and she ate it up. I think she's missing the extra attention tonight! Maia had a great time hanging out with the "older" girls (the 7-9 year olds!)and she also liked it when the "younger" kids (the 4 year olds) followed her every move!

We regretted that no one had brought a blender and vowed to make that a priority next time.

The Fire Station

A good friend of mine advised me to chaperone Maia's first field trip so that I could meet the kids in her class and put faces with the names I here about everynight. Thus, I found myself at the local fire station this morning.

It was quite fun, actually. The fire engine and 2 FC SUV's came to the school and escorted us to the fire station, 5 short blocks away. It was like a parade, with the fire vehicles blocking the streets from other cars. At the fire station we got to meet all of the firemen and paramedics on duty. We even got to see Sparky the Fire Dog slide down the fire pole! After instruction on fire safety, pictures and a walk through a real-live fire engine, we walked back to school.

It was especially fun to see Maia interact with her classmates. These are 6 kids who I remember the best(I'm not using their names...you understand):
-Girl #1 is one of those kids with a perpetual smile, which right now is missing 2 top teeth. Too cute! Girl #1 is bi-lingual, which Maia finds fascinating.
-Maia decided to be Girl #2's friend the very first day they met. She is a tall, regal young lady.
-Here's a coincidence: Girl #3 is adopted from Ho Chi Minh City by a single mom!
-I'll get in trouble for this someday: Boy #1 is Maia's 2nd choice boyfriend (her BFF's brother is her 1st choice!) He's a quiet boy, and when I asked Maia why she likes him she replied, "He's soooo cute!"
-Boy #2 is about the cutest little boy I ever met! He's very small but with dimples bigger than his face! I wanted to take him home! Maia must agree, because he is her 3rd choice boyfriend!
-Boy #3 is a head taller than any other kid in class and he's as sweet as could be. He wanted to hold my hand on the walk to the fire station.

I can't wait for the next field trip!

11 seconds

Today when I took Kiana to daycare, I stood her on the floor and let go, expecting her to plunk down on her bottom. Instead, she just stood there for what felt like forever! The 2 teachers and I gasped and said let's try it again. So we did and you probably know from today's title that she stood solo for 11 full seconds! Go Kiana!

Sisters

My favorite time of the day is between 6:00 and 6:15 am. This is when Maia and go into Kiana's room and wake up little sister! Kiana is a very light sleeper and often hears us coming before we even get to her door. Up she pops! Eyes open, head alert! I take her from the crib, cooing in and kissing her ear. I lay her on the bed, where she greedily drinks a bottle while big sister blows raspberries on her tummy. At first, Kiana is too hungry to respond. But, soon, she spits out the bottle and flashes the first big smile of the new day...to Maia, of course.

This is my favorite time, but I seldom get to enjoy it. In the moment, I am racing the clock to get kids dressed, fed, packed and carted off to their respective schools. Only later do I get to savor their incredible sisterliness (new word). Sure, I'm the one Kiana wants when she's hungry/tired/hurt/sad/needy. But it's Maia who makes her laugh, and you haven't heard angels sing until you've heard a belly laugh coming from a 15 lb. baby! I know, without a doubt, that since before Kiana or Maia were ever born, they have been sisters.

Kiana isn't yet big enough to drive big-sister crazy or get into her stuff, so all is giggles and laughs. None of the sibling rivalry that is sure bless this house in the years to come. To Maia, sisterhood it is still like having a real-live doll! I know, I know, I should slow down and appreciate these moments, and I do: I just have to appreciate them a little faster than other people. ;^)

FYI: Four months ago yesterday, Kiana came into our family. Four months ago today she finally stopped crying :-)

Daily Life

4:45 pm: leave office
4:55 pm: pick up Kiana
5:35 pm: arrive at Maia's school
5:45 pm: arrive home
5:45-6:45 pm: unload car; feed dog; give Kiana a snack; make dinner; check mail and listen to messages; set table; squeeze in one or more small chores, such as taking out trash, all while Maia is outside playing with the neighbor kids (she is allowed to play outside without me as long as at least 2 of the older neighbor kids are there)
6:45-7:15 pm: family dinner
7:15-7:35 pm: bathe the kids and get them ready for bed
7:35-8:10 pm: family play time, homework
8:10-8:20 pm: family reading time
8:20 pm: Kiana goes to bed
8:20-8:45 pm: Maia and mommy reading/snuggle time, Maia goes to bed
8:45 pm: I do last minute chores, such as dinner dishes or dropping in a load of laundry and get ready for bed. If time, I check the computer and pay bills, etc.
9:00 pm: I go to bed
4:00 am: alarm goes off. I get up and reset to 4:20
4:20 am: shower, etc.
4:50-5:55 am: feed dog and cat. Move clothes from washer to dryer, as needed. Make bottles for Kiana and pack lunch for Maia. Empty dishwasher as needed. Make breakfast and pack lunch for me. Pack Maia's backpack with lunch, homework, etc. Clean up around house, take out garbage, finish upopened mail and bills, etc. from night before. Read yesterday's paper.
5:55 am: wake Maia and get her ready for school.
6:05 am: Wake Kiana and give her a bottle. Get her dressed for school.
6:25 am: load 'em up! Put the dog away and herd everyone towards the car.
6:40 am: drop Maia at school (YMCA before/after care program.
7:05 am: drop Kaia at daycare
7:20 am: arrive at work

August 24, 2006, Safety Harbor

Sorry for the dry spell. I have been debating whether to continue posting to this blog since I can't restrict access. I've decided that I will, but I won't be posting any pictures. I'll upload the pictures to a secure site (one of these days) and post directions on getting access.

I have a lot to tell and I'll do my best to catch up as quickly as possible.

MAIA
Maia started Kindergarten at our neighborhood school on August 8 and absolutely loves it! She's such a big kid now. She's signed up for the before school care and after school care that is run by the YMCA on the school campus. For the last week she's been riding the bus in the mornings and I pick her up a few hours after school is out. I wanted her to get used to staying at the YMCA program before I go back to work, and it turns out that she really likes it and would chose to stay there anyway! She loves to ride the bus, but when I go back to work on September 5, I'll be dropping her off at 6:30 am (you read that right!) and she won't be able to ride it anymore, unless I'm not going to work for some reason. She loves her teacher and has made some new friends already. There is one other kindergartner who Maia has been in day-care with since they were 8 months old, and we also know lots of other kids there, so Maia felt right at home from the very first day.

Maia seemed to forget how to swim from last summer, so I took her back to her old swim teacher, Miss Kathy. Even when she was swimming strongly in the deep end of Miss Kathy's pool, she'd go to friends' pools and be too scared to leave the steps. Finally, she finally made the breakthrough I was looking for and is now confident in her swimming skills and not afraid of the water. She's diving 9 feet to retrieve toys from the bottom of the pool and learning the butterfly and back stroke. Her crawl is beautiful...arms slicing into the water, her head turning to the side to breather without ever lifting forward. Next summer I'll see if she wants to join a swim team.

Maia is still taking gymnastics and recently talked me into cheerleading! I told her she could do an activity with her best friend Sydney, who is going to a different school, and cheer leading seems to be it. I was hoping for ballet, but what can you do. Her first practice is on Friday 9/1. Dont' worry...I will not let her be a flyer!

Maia has a wonderful circle of friends. So many in fact, that sometimes it seems like she is gone for days at a time! She'll have an allday playdate with one friend on Saturday, and then a sleepover with another friend on Saturday night! This week she is going to a slumber party on Friday with 3 other girls who were all in the Kindercare baby room together. The slumber party doesn't end until late Saturday afternoon! No doubt some other friend is going to want her on Sunday, and another weekend will fly by without her! I'm happy for her and I'm very glad that she had such good friends, and friends whom she's known for a long time, but I do miss her sometimes!


Kiana
Kiana started crawling on 8/13, sitting up on 8/17 and pulling herself up on 8/18! Today is the first day that she really started crawling a long distance. Twice she made it across the room and around a corner before I realized she was gone, so it's time to be more vigilent. She had her 2nd checkup this week and the doc says that she has no development delays and she is the picture of health. I got scolded because she didn't gain enough weight since the last checkup...just 4 ounces. That brings her up to 13 lbs. 5 oz.

Kiana has the sweetest smile and everywhere we go people fall in love with her. She still loves the water and likes to stand on the step during Maia's swim lessons. Miss Kathy showed me how to bop her head under water and put her on her back to get her used to the feeling of floating. In the bathtub, she lays on her back and kicks and kicks until the entire bathroom is dripping wet. She very quickly learned how to push the buttons on her toys to make them make noise. Maia didn't have these toys when she was Kiana's age, so I don't if there if a difference there, but I was sure amazed at how quickly Kiana figured it out.

On the flip side, she cries everytime she turns over at night, so of course I get woken up alot. Even if she stops crying right away and I don't have to get out of bed, she wakes me up 5-8 times a night and it's hard to go back to sleep because I think I should stay awake and make sure she doesn't start to cry again! She doesn't like to sit in her stroller or a high-chair, so she's hard to take to restaurants. I was certainly spoiled by Maia's good manners, even as an infant.

Kiana adores our dog, Gracie, and Gracie adores her. Gracie let's Kiana pull her ears and take her toys right out of her mouth, and all she wants in return is the privilege of licking Kiana 24 hours a day. Luckily, I am there to cancel the transaction, returning Gracie's toys to her and moving Kiana out of licking range. Kiana also loves the cat, but, as expected, the feelings are not mutual.

Kiana starts daycare on Monday at the same facility where Maia went for 5 years. We've stopped by there several times this summer and Kiana seems comfortable. All of the teachers are anxious to have Maia's baby sister on board. They let Maia pick the crib, and instead of choosing her old crib, she chose the one next to her pre-school teacher's daugher, Ashley, who is 2 months older than Kiana.

It has been really nice to have 9 weeks at home with the kids. We didn't "do" as many things as I'd hoped, but we've had fun. We went to Weeki Wachee Springs, an old-time Florida attraction, where we saw the mermaid show and swam in the springs. We went bowling. We went to the Florida Aquarium and the Lowry Park Zoo. We've been swimming alot. Maia went to craft camp for one week and took ballet lessons with her old teacher at Kindercare. Swim lessons have taken up a lot of time. Some good friends took care of both kids for me last Saturday so I could go to MOSI (Museum of Science and Industry) with a friend. We meet one friend or another for dinner at least once a week, and the single-moms' group has had a few pool parties in addition to our regular monthly outing. This weekend, in addition to Maia's slumber party, we are having diner with (new) friends on Saturday (they live in St. Pete and adopting a little girl from the same orphanage as Kiana!) and want to try to to go the Dragon Boat championships in Tampa to see Dad and Annika's friend Dan.

Now it's time for me to get some sleep.

Cathy, Maia, Kiana

2 am, July 14, Safety Harbor, FL

We are home! We arrived in FL last Thursday am, July 6th. I didn't sleep more than a few minutes on plane, so Thursday was spent napping, interupted only by my need to offer the most basic care to my two children. Before hitting the couch, I made Maia a huge pot of mac & cheese and handed her the remote. Needless to say, she was a happy camper for the remainder of the day (unlike me, Maia slept from sea to shining sea). I planted Kiana on the floor with a bunch of new toys, and she too was happy most of the day. I vaguely remember giving her bottles, but I think I was sleep-feeding. I did venture out of the house on Thursday evening to walk Kiana around the cul-de-sac. My plan worked well and a few neighbors came out to welcome us home, including new parents Jason and Sarah and their 6 week-old daughter, Andie.

On Friday it took me until 2 pm to get everyone ready to leave the house so we could make a run to Costco and Target and pickup Gracie from the kennel. More on wonderful, crazy Gracie later.

The last 8 days have been very, VERY busy and updating the blog has not been on the top 10 list of things to do. Heck, I haven't even opened up all of my mail yet. I admit that I'd forgotten how much laundry a small baby can generate.

This post is really just to let everyone who is still looking at our blog know that it has not been abandoned. In fact, I have decided to keep adding posts to FlyUsToTheMoon so anyone who wants can keep up on the antics of Maia and Kiana. I'm finally entering the 21st century and am getting high-speed internet, so I'll even be able to add pictures. Add FlyUsToTheMoon to your favorites and I promise to add more posts about the girls. (And I haven't forgotten that I still need to add our Hanoi travels).

Thursday afternoon, Mt. Aukum, CA.

Hi, all! Yes, we are back in the Golden State! We arrived in San Francisco on Tuesday evening and spent the night at an airport hotel. It's sad how excited we were to have dinner at Chili's with real American food. Maia polished off a big bowl of mac & cheese and I savored the chips and salsa. The beds were mama bear soft and we could have slept all day. We left for Sac about noon and after a few stops, arrived at my grandparents place about 5:30. After a short vist there we made the final leg of our drive to my aunt and uncle's oasis in Mt. Aukum, in the Sierra Nevada foothills. We are relaxing in the pool and adjusting our bodies to the time difference.

The kids did great on the flight from Hanoi. Maia slept the entire flight, a dejavu from 5 years ago, and Kiana only woke when she needed food or a diaper change. She did as well as could be expected on her first car ride confined in a carseat. She is really a different child from the one I first met 2 weeks ago. The inconsolable crying has stopped and she only cries when she needs something.

We're headed to the pool now, but I will come back and tell you all about Hanoi and more about Kiana and Maia.

Monday night, Hanoi.

Great news! We have finished all of the paperwork to bring Kiana to the US and we'll be leaving Vietnam on Tuesday, June 27, 4 days earlier than planned. We'll spend a week in CA and arrive back in FL on Thursday, July 6th.

Hanoi is very different from HCMC and I promise to go back and update the blog with my impressions of this beautiful city, once we get to CA. Right now I'm hitting the sack so we can get up early on our last morning in Vietnam.

Cathy, Maia, Kiana and Wanda

Friday night in Saigon.

Have I mentioned that this is a country that never sleeps? Although most citizens work 6-7 days per week, they still treat the weekends as special. The night clubs fill up, the restaurants pull out differnet menus and the streets are packed with weekend revelers. I need to confirm with Thuy, but mom and I think that most Vietnamese do not cook at home very much. The streets and lined with food vendors and they are always busy. Every night the parks are full of families just hanging out. Most homes here are small and lacking A/C, so people escape to parks in the evening to relax and socialize.

Wednesday night we ate dinner at the rooftop restaurant at the Rex. It's a lovely setting, with a steady breeze and an excellent view of the city center. Maia managed to stay awake through the entire meal! Mom and I thought it would be best to go to a very close restaurant so Maia and Kiana would be subjected to long walks or car rides, and if they both got cranky we would only be steps from our room. Our plan half worked: Kiana fussed most of the meal. This kid just wants to be held all the time, and held in a certain way. She loves to be out and about and is especially interested when we are around Vietnamese. She just can't take her eyes off of them. She is getting better--or we are getting better at anticipating her needs--but meals are still a major drag.

Thursday morning Mom, Maia, Kiana and I went to Maia's orphanage in the Go Vap district of HCMC. Thuy had called the orphanage director to notify her of our visit and she told Thuy that she remembered Maia and even had a picture of her on her desk. Sure enough, there was Maia before she lost all of her baby hair! Mom didn't recognize her because of the hair, but it was her. Go Vap used to be a Catholic orphanage and Thuy's mom worked there when she was a little girl. It houses over 300 children and adults, many of them with special needs. In Vietnam, children with severe disabilites spend their entire lives at the same orphanage, so as they age out of the children's section, they move to the adult section. Go Vap doesn't have the elder orphanage like we saw in Kien Giang and Vin Long, just the special needs adults from its childrens wards.

The newborn nursery is on the 2nd floor. I can still remember the first time I ever saw Maia, walking up those stairs with Thuy and Kirk and having a baby thrust into my arms that I barely recognized as being my child from the pictures I'd received just days earlier. I was expecting to make that same walk today, but there are 2 newborn rooms and Thuy took us to the other one first. It has 30 babies in it with about 5 caregivers. Thuy explained who we were and I showed them a picture of Maia in her old crib. Four of the nannies remembered Maia and couldn't stop hugging her and rubbing her cheeks. We were allowed to walk through the entire second floor of the orphanage. Kirk, that little playground is still next to the nursery and you'd almost think it was the same kids playing there. In the classroom where we used to visit with Maia during that first trip, about 15 special needs kids were dancing up a storm. They were so sweet, even trying to entice Maia to dance with them. They filed out for lunch and we started passing out the bags of gummy candies that we'd brought. The nannies made sure we didn't miss anybody and took us from room to room. Some of the children had very disfiguring ailments and were confined to wheel chairs and back boards. In one room, all of the children were wearing bright orange t-shirts that had been donated by a Japanese company. One of the little boys in this room wanted to hug mom, and when she bent down to hug him he jumped right into her arms! We look at these kids from our frame of reference and think, "what poor little kids. They have nothing and live in metal cribs stacked side-by-side with clothes too big and no families to care for them." But they don't see it like that at all. They have nannies who love them, warm, nourishing food to eat, beds to sleep in, a roof to shelter them, and they find joy and delight in the small things that we over look, such as a token of candy or a hug and caring word from a stranger.

Maia was, as expected, overwhelmed by it all. In fact, durig the 30 minute trip to the orphanage she was very quiet and didn't even want to look out the windows which was a shame because we drove through the Go Vap market, where live fish, eels, frogs, etc where for sale right there on the side walk. The fish didn't bother me, but I did hate to see the frogs all tied together by one leg, each trying to hop in a different direction and thus none of them going anywhere.

If you know Maia, you know she was studying everything and missing nothing of the visit to Go Vap, dispite her unease at being there. I'm going to try not to pry but to wait for her to start asking and talking about what she saw and felt there.

Thuy showed us the 2 babies that CHI familes will be picking up next week and she was able to get a referral for another little boy while we were there, so more babies are finding their forever families! Thuy was at a meeting with CIS at the US Embassy in Hanoi on Monday and was told that of the 39 adoptions that have taken place since the moratorium was lifted, 19 have been through CHI!

I am so glad that we were able to visit Go Vap with Maia. Someday I hope to take Kiana back to her first home in Kien Giang.

We were very hot and sweaty when we got back from Go Vap (hot and sweaty is a recurring theme in Vietnam, and we've been told that Hanoi is even hotter, which we all think is impossible), so we took an early lunch in the airconditioned sactuary known as the Paradise Lounge. In the afternoon we were confined to our hotel as we waited for the call to pick up the babies' Vietnamese passports. When the call came, we piled back into the familiar van, sans babies this time. At the passport office we again just signed our names and voila! our children had passports. Thuy kept the passports so one of her employees could take them to the hospital to finalize the paperwork for the medical exam. We now have everything we need to go to Hanoi! We leave at 9 am Saturday morning and arrive about midday. Our embassy appointments are for 1:30 Monday afternoon, so we should have the babies' US Visas by Tuesday morning! This means we can leave Hanoi for the US on Tuesday evening, a whole 4 days early! There's only one catch: it seems that there are no seats available from Hanoi to Taipei. If it looks like we'll have to stay in Vietnam until Saturday the 1st, we are talking about taking some excursions out of Hanoi and spending a night in Ha Long Bay and before going to the mountains of the Montanaird (spelling?) villages. We'll just have to see what happens.

For dinner on Thursday we went to the Continental Hotel, and old Saigon institution. It's a grand old hotel from the French era. Unfortunately, our sweet little Kiana still doesn't like restaurants very much. I had to leave with her twice and mom twice. Mom even ended up leaving her glass of wine, if that tells you how serious the screams were. On the plus side, the food was excellent and Maia ate her biggest dinner meal since we arrived 10 days ago.

This morning (Friday) we got up early so we could take a day trip to the Cu Chi tunnels. Only two families were going and we had a baby sitter lined up for the little kids. But Kiana woke up with a fever and so mom decided to stay behind, and then the other little boy woke up with swollen glands, so those parents decided to opt out, so the whole trip was cancelled. It as just as well, actually, that we had a day to relax in Saigon before Kiana's first airplane trip.

Well, I'm almost caught up, so I'll adjourn now and try to logon from Hanoi tomorrow.

Cathy

It's hard to believe that we've had Kiana for 7 days now. She is growing and changing so much every day! She'

Sorry I had to run out yesterday. I'm trying very hard to catch up the blog to the current day, but I don't want to leave anything out that we're doing.

So, Monday night we met up with our taxi driver from 5 years ago and he took us to a different barbeque than we asked for. I am happy to say that it was a very lucky mistake. We had some of the best grilled meat (beef slices, in case you're wondering) ever. They bring a small hibatchi to your table with a plate of marinated meat and you get to grill it yourself. Scrumptious. We also had sauteed bindweed with garlic, a new favorite of ours. Needless to say, Kiana fussed through most of the meal, but at least it wasn't full out crying! While we were eating, a young woman came to our table and asked it my girls were adopted. She was also adopted by Americans after being evacuated from Saigon during the baby lifts in 1975. This was the second day of her first ever trip back to Vietnam. That day she had been to visit her orphanage just outside HCMC. She will be here for a month. I wished I'd been able to ask her for advice about what I should do as a parent to adoptive girls from Vietnam, but I didn't get the opportunity.

Tuesday morning we again had early appointments, this time for the babies' phyicals. The only hospital approved by the US to conduct Visa physicals is located in Cholon, the Chinatown section of Saigon. It was all exactly as I remember. It's hot and crowded with all of the people who are waiting for their visa physicals. The exam is short. The babies are weighed & measured and checked for rashes, ear & brochial infections. All kids passed. The only food I can be sure Maia will eat is the spaghetti in the hotel restaurant, so I took her there for lunch as I have everyday.

In the afternoon we went to see the Saigon water puppets. This artform evidently started in Hanoi and only recently came to Saigon. It's hard to explain how it works. The pool of water is about 2 feet deep, and it had something in it to make it a milky blue color. The puppeteers are behind verticals screens. They control the puppets with horizontal sticks that are submerged under the water. It's beautiful and I hope we get to see it again in Hanoi next week! They have dragon, lion, bird, fish, turtle, and human puppets, but we liked the dragons and the lions best. They can really get them moving and splashing...it's amazing to watch.

In the late afternoon we had to go apply for the babies' passports. All the paperwork was done for us, but we had to go sign the forms. This was much like going to the DMV. Tuesday night we finally made it to the Texas Barbeque. We decided to walk because we didn't think it would be very far. It turned out to be about 12 blocks away. Thank goodness they had a A/C section because we were very hot and sweaty by the time we got there. True to form, Maia fell asleep at the table. But, miracle of miracles, Kiana slept through the entire meal so we got to eat in peace!!!!! We took a cab back and tossed the kids into bed.

Wednesday we had our CIS appointments. We were told that this could last anywhere from 2-5 hours. In some repects we didn't care because at least it had very cold A/C! Thuy talked to the CIS officer for about 30 minutes when we first got there and then I was the first to be interviewed. She asked if I knew anything about the birth parents, had contact with them or paid any money to expidite Kiana's adoption. She is a very pleasant woman and we also spent some time talking about Vietnam in generaly, the Rex Hotel, the new adoption process, the Kien Giang orphanage and how hard the US-Vietnam flights are. Everything went very smoothly and when we were all done she told Thuy that she would have all of the paperwork ready by the next day and we could go ahead and schedule our appointments at the embassy in Hanoi!!! This is big news, as it means we'll be able to leave Vietnam much earlier than expected!

We should be able to fly back to the states as early as next Tuesday, if we can get seats. In fact, I must sign off now because I need to go to the airline office and see about tickets. More later!!

Thursday afternoon in HCMC.

Although you probably want to know what's happening right now, I'm trying to give you the story in chronological order.

So, Sunday morning I took 2 families to Binh Thanh market while mom kept the girls at the hotel for some rest. I absolutely love Binh Thanh. Okay, confession time. I'm not really sure if it's Ben Thanh or Binh Thanh. Either way, it's a blast.

Kiana slept alot on Sunday and had only a few crying spells. There's a short list of remedies for when she cries now: she either needs food, a clean diaper, Orajel or to be laid down so she can roll around. The only time we are out of luck now is if we are at an appointment and she's in a "lay me down so I can roll around" mood.

Sunday night Thuy had a meeting with all four familes to prep us for the interview at CIS (used to be INS). CIS is very concerned about money changing hands for the babies, so they ask questions about if we ever met the birth parents, if we paid any fees to expedite the adoption, etc. Afterwards she took us all to an incredible restaurant down on the river. It's a huge buffet with I think she said 67 items. It's like a huge Sweet Tomatoes, but all Vietnamese. There was a station for just grilled items: beef, fish, squid, shrimp and chicken. Another station was for Bun: vermicilli noodles with vegetables, meat and broth. There were also many kinds of soup, different rice and noodles dishes, fresh spring rolls, fried spring rolls, fish prepared in every way imaginable, deep fried okra--but without the breading, desserts, salad, and stuff I think I never even saw. It was all outdoors, with each station under it's own thatched roof hut. It started to rain while we were there and the 2 girls had fun playing in the rain. Kiana did well, but like her big sister, she's a heat bomb when you have to hold her. Maia fell asleep on the ride back to the hotel and had to be, literally, dragged from the van and thrown over my shoulder.

Monday morning at 8 am, we had to meet downstairs to go get the kids passport photos. As soon as that was done we were planning on seeing the Saigon water puppets (more about them later), but they were closed so we went to the Reunification Palace, instead. Kiana had a blow out and while we cleaned that up we got separated from the rest of the tour group so we didn't get the entire story. What I did learn is that the building was built by the French in 1864 or 68. It must have been a very modern design in the 1860's. It has long, clean lines, reminescent of a Frank Lloyd Wright design. There's no A/C: it's built with windows to keep out the rain, but it's open all along the floors to let in fresh air. I wonder how they keep everything from mildewing in this wet weather?! When Kirk and I were here before, there were replicas of rural log buildings on the grounds that we could walk into. One of them had been full of Vietnamese musical instruments. I'd been telling mom about these for years and how much she'd love them, and, what do you know, but they were gone! What a dissapointment.

Thuy got us a stroller on Monday, so finally we didn't have to carry the heat bomb all the time. Unfortunately, she doesn't LOVE the stroller like Maia did but she will tolerate it if you keep her moving.

Monday afternoon we were confined to our rooms while we waited to see if we would need to go to an afternoon appt. There are several things to accomplish in HCMC. We need to get the children's Vietnamese passports, we need to get their medical clearance, and we need to get CIS approval so that we can apply for the US Visa when we get to Hanoi. No phone call came on Monday, but it was a good excuse to stay in and play with the kids. Kiana loves to play and laugh...as long as she's not hungry and her diaper isn't dirty. I tell you, this kid's needs are immediate!

We'd been hearing from many people about a new Texas Barbeque restaurant in HCMC that is run by an American Ex-pat married to a Vietnamese woman. After 4 days of very authentic Vietnamese food, we thought it might be nice to have something a little more familar. We asked one of the bell hops here to get a taxi, and who should the driver be but Thanh, our taxi driver from 5 years ago! When we were here getting Maia, we hung out alot with another woman who was here adopting a 2 year-old. She'd met Thanh and used him to drive us everywhere. He'd either drop us off and come get us at at appointed time, or he'd stay with us and take care of the kids while we adults shopped or did our sight-seeing. His parents live in Amarillo and it is very expensive to mail letters from Vietnam to the US. He gave mom a letter to mail when she got home, and his mother was so pleased that she called mom to thank her! He said that he was sorry, he didn't remember us because he meets so many Americans here to adopt babies, but he was obviously very touched that we remembered him. We cheated a bit, because we have a picture of him with Maia and the other baby, so we'd been able to refresh our memory of him before we actually saw him.

So, anyway, the bell hop didn't seem to understand me when I asked for the Texas Barbeque restaurant, but he relayed the request to Thanh. Thanh said, "You want barbeque...very good restaurant." He dropped us off at a happening affair and offered to come back in one hour to pick us up, and we didn't have to pay until he took us back to the Rex Hotel. Now, we'd heard that the wait staff at the Texas joint all wear cowboy shirts, hats and denim, and have to say that's not what we encounterd. The menu on the wall didn't say anything about Texas or barbeque. Instead, they listed grilled delicacies that would make the male readers squirm and the female readers blush, as well as more mundane offerings such as frog legs, eel, etc.

Oops...gotta go pick up Kiana's passport. Later.

Hi, again. It's Wednesnight here. I'll try to catch up as much as I can before this place closes down.

Saturday morning we piled into the van for the 6 hour ride back to HCMC that really took 9 hours. Did I mention that Kiana screamed most of the way? My mom and I passed her back and forth without success and Thuy held her for quite a while as well. She did sleep fitfully, but would wake up if you so much as moved a muscle. She take a few gulps from a bottle, but then spit it out and cry. Thuy thought she was car sick, but that didn't explain why she screamed all night. Mom started using phrases like, "hyper sensitive" and I started wishing I'd listened to my dad when he admonished me to not press my luck with a second child.

About 4 pm we stopped at a rest stop and I let Kiana suck on the bottom of my ice tea glass...she instantly quited. Now realizing that she was teething, I applied a little Orajel and within a few minutes she drank a whole bottle and fell fast asleep! It wasn't a great sleep, but at least the last few hours on the road were a little quieter. To add to this day's misery, Maia was running a fever and not feeling well...she eventually developed a slight cold and is all better now.

Part of the reason it took so long to get back to HCMC is that we stopped by an orphanage on the way back...Vin Long I think it's called. CHI is hoping to start adoptions there very soon. While we waited for Thuy and her staff to finish their business, we walked the grounds. This is another orphanage that houses both children and elders. The children were in school, but the elders came out to see us. I gave Maia some gum and cancy to pass out and all signs of shyness flew right out of her! On her own volition and unaccompanied, she even walked up and gave a piece of candy to an old man with a long Ho Chi Minh beard! You all know how shy she is, and she is especially shy, even scared, of men with goatees. She and Alison, the other little girl in our group, had lots of fun passing out candy. We took the ferry back across the Mekong...it was just as fun as the first time.

When we finally got back to the Rex Hotel in HCMC, the entire van heaved a sigh of relief. She got a beautiful room over looking Le Loi, a busy street just off of the main drag. It drives some guest crazy, but mom and I love listening to the sounds of HCMC. Mike, one of the new Dad's in our group, picked up some pizza for us from a nearby restaurant, but Maia was asleep by the time he got back. Mom and I retired early, as neither of us had slept much while in Rach Gia.

The Rex provided a lovely rattan cradle for Kiana. We popped her in there and she slept really well most of the night, only waking up for diaper changes and bottles. Other than one night terror, the incessent screaming was over!!!!!

In addition to her shock at being removed from her home and all the people she knew, I think now that Kiana was probably feeding off of our emotions as well. We were anxious about the hotel accomodations in Rach Gia, the long bus ride back to HCMC, and I was worried about Maia's fever, since at the time I didn't know if it was going to develop into something serious. She probably sensed our relief at being back at the Rex.

Sunday morning we all woke early, just because. After breakfast, I took 2 of the other familes to the Binh Thanh market. Maia was still a little under the weather, so mom kept her and Kiana at the hotel to rest up.

Oops. The internet cafe is shutting down. See you all tomorrow.

So, where was I? Oh, yes. We were just returning to our hotel in Rach Gia from a scrumptious Vietnamese lunch.

Just as we pulled up to the curb, Thuy hung up her cell phone and exclaimed, "We have G&R today! We have 20 minutes. Please hurry!" So up we ran 4 flights of stairs to an UNAIRCONDITIONED hotel room (housekeeping must have turned it off and we couldn't figure out how to turn it back on) to change into our "nice" clothes and get our diaper bags! Another storm was blowing through and so I was able get a decent cross breeze through our room, but it wasn't enough. Hot and sweaty, Mom, Maia and got back downstairs as fast as we could so we could so could get back in the A/C'd van.

It was a short ride to the Department of Justice building, but again there were many stairs and NO AIRCONDITIONING. We were brought into a small conference room with a large statue of Ho Chi Minh and many patriotic banners and pictures. All of us were seated along 2 sides of a large square table. One end was reserved for the Director of Adoptions for the People's Party of Kien Giang province, the orphanage director and another official. About 8 minutes later, 4 of the older children from the orphanage came in with our babies. Kiana came in first, then the 3 boys. They took seats opposite of where the officials would sit. I recognized the girl holding Kiana from pictures we'd received of the orphanage during their Tet celebration.

Thuy explained that we were waiting for the final paperwork to be typed. From what I can tell, they still do not use computers for any of this: it's all done on hardcopy. We waited about 7-8 more minutes when someone finally told the kids that it was okay to let us hold our babies. I could tell that the girl holding Kiana was reluctant to give her up, but she eventually brought her over. Oh, those big eyes! She was full of smiles and giggles for us. Maia gave each of the kids a pack of gum.

Finally, it was time for the G&R ceremony to start. The orphanage director started it off by thanking us for the donations to the orphanage, and for our desire and willingness to take these orphan children into our homes and families. When he finished, the Director of Adoptions for the People's Party of Kien Giang started her remarks. That's when Kiana started crying. Then she started screaming. Nothing I did helped at all and I wasn't sure if I should take her out of the room or if I was supposed to stay and of course I started to worry that they'd decide that I wasn't fit to be this child's parent and that they wouldn't grant the adoption!!! The orphanage director motioned for the girl who carried Kiana in to come help and that's when I got up and took her into the hall. Lan, another CHI coordinator, took her and told me to go back into the ceremony without her. We could hear her crying as the officials finished their remarks. At some point during this, Thuy translated the official saying, "And, as of now, these are officially your children." So there were the other 3 families hugging and kissing their new babies, and I just sat there with Maia and Mom because my child was still out in the hall screaming.

The next step of the ceremony was for each family to go up to the officials end of the table for a family picture under the People's Party of Kien Giang banner and to sign the paperwork. You sign 4 sets of duplicate documents and then sign a ledger/book where they record the adoptions from Kien Giang province. All of the officials sign the same documents and then the ledger/book as well. Of course, Kiana was outside when they called me up, but at least she'd stopped crying by this time.

After the ceremony, we changed the kids into clothes that we'd brought. The orphanage had sent a bottle of formula with each child which we allowed to take with us. I had no idea at the time how important that little gift would be. Finally, we were allowed to leave. We went back to the hotel and spent the rest of the night holed up in our rooms getting to know our children.

We plopped Kiana on the bed where she thrilled us with her physical feats. She could roll from her back to her stomach and do some impressive push ups. She was trying hard to roll from her stomach to her back, but she kept getting an arm stuck behind her. She really giggled and laughed whenever big sister Maia came near and really liked playing with the toys that Maia had picked out to bring for her.

But it wasn't long before the screaming began. Thuy had given a little speech to the families adopting for the first time, saying that orphanage babies are very easy going and seldom cry. When they do, it's usually for a reason such as being hungry or needing a new diaper. This was true of Maia, so we assumed it would be the same for Kiana. Oops.

She screamed. We made bottles. She screamed. We rocked her. She screamed. We changed her diaper. She screamed. We put her down. She screamed. We gave her toys. She screamed. We wrapped her in blankets so she'd be warmer. She screamed. We took off her clothes so she'd be cooler. She screamed. She wouldn't stop screaming. I would have been in tears if not for my mother. She just kept trying different things and finally Kiana cried herself to sleep.

Now, for a brief insite to our mindset: Maia's orphanage was very regimented and Maia came to us already on a very predictable schedule. Five large bottles a day, lights out at 7, lights on at 6, 3-4 naps a day. And, since my only parenting experience is with stoic, good-natured Maia, I certainly had no reason to think that Kiana would not be similarly easy going. A night of wailing and flailing soon brought that foolish thinking to a deadstop. Mom and I took spent the night taking turns trying to pacify a very unhappy baby who didn't sleep more than 60-75 minutes at a time. At some point it occured to me to get the bottle from the orphange. I washed it out, poured the formula from my bottle into that one, and she drank enough to let her sleep for 2 hours! For the next 24 hours, she would only drink if I used the nipple from the orphanage bottle. That's not to say I found the secret to stop the screaming...not by a long shot.

Maia woke early, and since Kiana was actually sleeping, Maia and I slipped out at about 6:30 to survey the streets around our hotel. As I said before, our hotel was next to a river that empties into the Sea of Thailand. We crossed the river and followed the river front towards the sea. Buildings lined the river front on one side of the river, but this side had a wide sidewalk and seawall lined with trees. The streets were already packed with vendors and shoppers. Evidently, Rach Gia does not get very many tourists because we did not see any postcards for sale. The sidewalk ended at a large marina filled with colorful fishing boats. Of course, we didn't have a camera with us, so we had to record the image in our memories. The people were quite interested in our presence, and of course they all asked if Maia was Vietnamese. She has almost gotten used to all the people who rub her cheeks. In America this would never happen and we'd probably be suspicious if it did, but here it is acceptable and even endearing how men and women alike love children and want to rub their cheeks. I see lots of families recoil from it, but it's done with total sincerity and true affection and I never try to stop them.

At 9 am it was time to pile back into the van for the very long trip back to Ho Chi Minh City.

It's Monday evening and I've brought you up to Saturday morning, but I promise to write more tonight or tomorrow.

Cathy, Maia, Kiana and Wanda

PS: Kiana...that's why I called this site Fly Us to the Moon. Kiana was at the top of the name list when I set up this blog.

It's Sunday night in Ho Chi Minh City and you've probably been wondering what's been happening.

Bright and early Thursday morning we crammed ourselves into the Children's Hope van and headed for Kien Giang. We were 4 families: 10 adults and 2 kids in all, plus Thuy, our adoption coordinator, and her husband Minh, who was driving. About 11 am we stopped for a boat tour on the Mekong River. We visited small, family operated factories that made local handcrafts, candy, and other food stuffs. We were on a fairly small boat that was able to manuever through very small canals and branches on the river, getting us very close to peoples' homes and farms. It was much more "real" than previous Mekong tours I've been on.

After leaving the tour, we proceeded to Kien Giang, but first we had to cross the Mekong River by ferry. In Vietnam, passengers have to get out of their vehicles and walk on board. This was okay with all of us, as we wanted to experience it all close up. For the boarding process, cars and trucks enter via the road, but motor cycles drive up onto the sidewalks and through the ticketing building WITH THE PEDESTRIANS!!! It was crazy!! We didn't expect this, so we were all pretty startled when the motor cylces kept weaving in and around us. They drive right up to the ticket window along side the pedestrians! When the gates open to board, the pedestrians and the cycles are still fighting it out to get on the ferry. Getting off was similar, except that Thuy had us wait until all of the motor cycles got out of the way before we walked off. It was a short ride, but loads of fun.

It was still about 4 hours to Rach Gia, the town in Kien Giang province where our hotel was. This part of Vietnam is very different from Ho Chi Minh City. There are few cars--just buses, vans, motor cyclbes and bikes. Water is every where. I never did figure out if they were rivers or canals or both. There was some farming, but it was obvious that most people make their living from the water. Every once in a while you'd see a multi-level building, but most were single story. The homes seemed to open right onto the street, so as we drove by we could see straight into the living rooms. As it got darker we could see the TV's tuned to World Cup soccer.

Before leaving HCMC, Thuy had said that if we could get to Kien Giang by 4 or 5 pm that we possibly visit our children at the orphanage that night! We were all excited by that, but pretty soon it was 5 o'clock and were where still 90 minutes away. I drifted in and out of sleep and woke with a start just seconds before Thuy said, "Here is the orphanage on the left. We are going to stop and visit your children." Her husband had parked the bus before we shook off the shock and gathered ourselves to meet our children for the first time!

Maia was sound asleep and even the prospect of seeing her baby sister failed to rouse her. I had to schlep her into the meeting room that had been prepared for us with ice-cold bottled water and fresh fruit. Thuy introduced the director of the orphanage and before we could nod a hello to him the nannies starting bringing in the babies. I can't remember the order, but I think Kiana -- yes, her name is officially Kiana Eve Ngoc Lien -- was 2nd or 3rd. She looked just like her picture and I recognized her right away! Her eyes were as big as full moons and when I took her in my arms she stuck out her tongue and gave me a huge smile! Maia was sitting half asleep on my lap and there I was with my two daughters in my arms! The 3-1/2 years of waiting seemed to melt and it felt as if the three of us had been a family forever.

We visited for about 45 minutes. We met the nannies and were allowed to allowed to go into the nursery and see where the babies lived. It was sparse, but extremely clean and it was obvious that the nannies cared for the children very much. Kiana continued to be happy and smiley for most of the visit. We were surprised that she could already hold up her head, as Maia couldn't until she over 6 mos (Kiana was 5 mos. on Tuesday the 13th). The smaller kids are

There were some bigger kids running around, maybe 3-10 years old. Maia and I had brought small bags of gummy candy to pass out to the kids at the orphanage. Maia was shy at first, but then got into it and soon had a swarm of about 30 kids around her. Mom was a huge hit with the kids for taking their pictures on her digital camera and then letting them see the results.

The visit ended all too soon and we had to leave. We were a mixed bag of emotions as we drove the 20 minutes to our hotel in Rach Gia. We were boosted by meeting and holding our children and seeing that they are all healthy, but anxious because we still did not have an appointment for the "Giving and Receiving Ceremony," as they call the adoption hearing here. There was a chance that it would still happen the next day, Friday, but it was also possible that it wouldn't happen until Monday. We had expected that we'd be able to take the children back to our hotel while we waited for the ceremony, but in this province they do not allow the new parents to take custody until after the ceremony, so this was another disappointment. (In HCMC and other provinces, the adoptive parents are allowed to take custody of thei children up to 48 hours before the adoption is official).

It was after dark when we arrived at the hotel. Compared to our accomodations in HCMC, it was somewhat primitive. Our room was on the 4th floor and there was no elevator. Thank goodness we didn't have to carry our bags up ourselves! Instead, this little Vietnamese women, about 5 feet tall put a suitcase on each shoulder and carried them up without so much as breaking a sweat! The room had 2 beds. The first was Papa bear hard and the other was Great-grandpa bear hard. The AC was cranked and the fridge was stocked with cold water, so all was not lost. I went into the bathroom and said, "Oh, %$#&*, where's the shower?" when I saw the faucet and shower head on the wall. Just like an RV! The entire bathroom was also the walk-in shower! It was the hand-held shower head, and the first time I used it I accidently sprayed the roll of toilet paper and my towel, but at least I was free of 9 hours of sweat.

The other families and I walked next door to a restaurant on a river. We sat outside, next to an unnamed river and along Rach Gia's main drag. It felt quite cosmopolitan, eating exotic foods and listening to the sounds of the city. I am convinced that Vietnam is the country that never sleeps, as there is traffic 24 hours a day.

I didn't sleep well at all that night. For one thing, I was sleeping on the Great-grandpa bed. I was also anxious about the next day, wondering if we'd be able to have the adoption hearing or if we would have to wait until Monday.

About 5 o'clock, I heard the winds pick up outside, so I pulled back the drapes to see what was going on. Low and behold there was the Sea of Thailand about to get beat up by a thunder storm. Mom woke up and we watched the clouds and rain blow through, raising white caps and jostling boats as it went. A little later we all walked down and had breakfast at the same table where we'd had dinner the night before. But the night before, we didn't realize how close we were to the Sea. Now we had a new view to enjoy and add to the cosmopolitan feel of the place.

At 9 am we left to visit the children at the orphanage and present our gifts to the staff. Kien Giang is extremely poor, so Mom and I gave two $260 dollars to buy clothes and medicine to donate to the orphanage. some of the other families had brought suitcases of donations from the US. All of this was also presented to the orphanage at this time. We got to stay with the kids for about 90 minutes this time, seeing more of their daily routines and how they interacted with the nannies. Just before we left, Thuy took us on a tour of the rest of the orphanage (we'd all been hanging out in the infant room). Kien Giang has 66 orphan children, and it also has 32 orphan elders (yes, they are called orphans). These are seniors without any family to care for them. Children's Hope is in the process of purchasing washers and dryers for the orphanage. Currently, all laundry is done by hand. Here's another thing: the diapers give the babies heat rash, so the nannies say they would rather leave the diapers off and just wash the clothes and bedding after every incident! That's a lot of [yucky] laundry to do by hand!

We kissed our babies good bye and headed off to lunch and to stock up on diapers and formula....just in case!

Thuy took us to a fabulous restaurant and ordered family style for the whole group. I completely lost track of how many dishes and course were delivered to the table. There were morning glory leaves and pumpkin blossoms sauteed in garlic butter, fish balls, grilled shrimp, amazing calamari, spring rolls, a hot pot of fish, pork and beef pieces, and something similar to a chinese hot pot, where they brought 3 small braziers to the table where they brought fish broth to a boil, and we then added the noodles, greens and seafood of our choice. The seafood was so fresh and flavorful! Stomachs full, we trekked the few minutes back to our hotel to wait to find out if that would be the day we'd get our babies!

The internet cafe is closing, so I guess you all have to wait until tomorrow to find out what happened.

Cathy, Maia, Kiana and Wanda

Oh, the name! Maia is one of the stars in th Pleides. I found a website that said that Kiana is Hawaiian for "Moon Goddess." Maia latched onto the idea of having her sister be the moon and she be the star. I also liked the name Kira, which means "sun" in several languages (do you sense a celestial thing here?) As we drove to Kien Giang, we ran through all of the options again, and I decided to let Maia make the call, and she chose Kiana. Eve is for my Grandmothers Elizabeth and Velma, and my great-aunt Evelyn. Ngoc Lien is Kiana's Vietnamese name, given to her by her mother, Thi Ly.

It's Wednesday night here...Wednesday morning for all of you. We've had a very busy day! After breakfast, we took off for Ben Thanh market with the Mosers of Illinois. They are here with 3 of their six kids and their newly adopted 2 year-old. Ben Thanh is kind of like a huge flea market/shopping mall/grocery store. Fresh meat (and by fresh, I mean FRESH), seafood, produce, spices, dried fish and shrimp, and foods, exotic and mundane, occupy about a third of the market. The rest of the space is for dry goods, such as house wears, health and beauty, toys, linens, handbags, and apparel, which is what we were after. I didn't mean to shop so much on the first day, but I got into the swing of things pretty quickly. Of course everything was for Maia. She picked out 3 Ao Dai (silk, Vietnamese dresses) in orange, mint green and light pink that should hold her for about 6 more years. She also picked out 3 (fake) Ralth Lauren polo shirts for school. Next we went to the shoe section where she found 3 pairs of beaded slippers that she can't live without. We then wandered around the market some more before taking side streets back to the hotel.

We sat in the downstairs restaurant for lunch and couldn't believe it when we saw a "postcard" girl that we'd met 5 years ago! In the midst of the excitement of seeing a familiar face from 5 years ago was the realization that this bright, friendly girl had was still making a living by selling postcards and fans to tourists.

Maia swam with the Moser kids and then we went back to the room for a nap. About 5 pm we walked down to a big bookstore to look for stuff for the kids. Maia and mom went back to the hotel pretty early, but I went with the Mosers for more shopping! Once I got going, I decided to do as much souvenir shopping as I could before we get the baby.

Speaking of the baby...
The other 3 families in our travel group arrived today, so we are leaving tomorrow for Kien Giang province. We are going to stop along the way for the Mekong Delta tour, so we won't arrive in Kien Giang until 5-6 pm. We'll get our babies on Friday morning! We don't have the adoption appointment yet, but Thuy thinks we could still have it on Friday afternoon. Otherwise it will be Monday. We'll still be able to get the babies on Friday and keep them at the hotel with us even if the adoption isn't until next week.

That demen jet-lag still has us firmly in its clutches. We did our best to stay awake until a normal, local bedtime last night, but Maia fell asleep and would not wake up! Okay, she did wake up, but not until 2 am and then she wouldn't go back to sleep. She had about an hour nap today, and Mom said that Maia was asleep within 5 minutes of getting back to the hotel this evening, so I expect her to be alert by 3-4 am at the latest tomorrow. That won't be too bad, but I would like her to be able to stay awake through dinner before we have to leave! I'm ready for sleep myself, and it's not quite 9 pm.

It's the rainy season here and it's definitely cooler than it was when we were here in May. It's been staying overcast most of the day, which helps alot.

What's changed in 5 years?
-Very few, if any, cyclos, the 3 wheeled cycles that used to be ubiquitous. I saw a few on the drive from the airport, but there are not any hanging around the hotel like there used to be.
-It used to be that the city parks all had tall walls around them. A few years ago the government decided to remove the walls to make the parks more accessible. What a change! Where there used to be stark, blank walls fronting the streets there are now beautiful parks full of flowers, topiaries, and even vegetable gardens.
-Coins. The government reintroduced coin money about 3 years ago.
-Flying in to HCMC, the city looked cleaner and more colorful. Many of the houses and apt. buildings are painted in bright blues, greens and pinks. I think the rain must clean up the air polution some what, wiping a brown patina from the city.
-The Rex Hotel has lost some of its old time charm as it remodels in an attempt to become a true 5-star hotel. There used to be a huge central court yard with water fountains, song birds, and hundreds of potted flowers and plants. That's all be torn out in the name of progress. On the otherhand, it's fascinating to watch the new construction. We'll have to take some pictures to do this justice. Think of a contruction site about 300x100 feet. There are at least 3 dozen contruction workers on site. Some wear hard hats and boots; many wear flip flops and ball caps. Electrical cords criss-cross the work site, strewn up precariously so that the workers have to duck to get under them. To mix concrete for the pilings (right word?) that will hold a 7 story building, they have a small mixer like you'd rent to make a backyard patio. The hose doesn't quite reach to the mixer, so the workers have to haul water the last 20 feet by bucket. They use wheelbarrows to bring in the sand and gravel. They mix a load and dump it in the hole, over and over again.

I've been told that my PC time is up, so I'll continue this at another time. The hotel in Kien Giang does not have Internet service, so I don't know when we'll be able to post again.

Cathy, Maia and Wanda

Welcome to Fly Us to the Moon! This is the adoption story of Nguyen Ngoc Lien, soon to be known as Kiana Eve Ngoc Lien ...