Pre Baby Projects - Surfing Thru Family Pictures

Spent the better part of tonight surfing thru family pictures from our recent adventure in Florida (Naples and Disney World). Here's a great one of DH and son kayaking out to the dolphins - they had a great experience and were able to get close to the dolphins - turns out they love kayaks!

Finally Received Confirmation of Receipt of our I-600!

For those counting - it took 11 days from arrival in Vietnam to finally receive a receipt of our I-600 paperwork! Now, the 60 day timeframe begins for approval. The US Govt. is now reminding folks that this is an estimated timeframe so with their backlog and Tet just around the corner, something tells us it will be longer than 60 days. But, there's always hope and at least we're moving forward in the process!

Here's wishing for a speedy approval - a gal can dream can't she???

No New to Report - ARGHHH!

OK - It's been 12 days since our documents arrived in Vietnam - how stinking long does it take to log us in and get our 60 days counting forward! It's driving us nuts that our US Embassy is so ill prepared for changes in the adoption law that they created. Can't they seem to understand that these babies are sitting in orphanages while we pay their salaries with our hard-earned tax dollars to figure this out. It's been 3 months since they enacted the change and the 3 or 4 of them overseas can't seem to get organized and move the process forward at a normal pace.

Think long and hard about who you vote for in the US elections as we really need change - this is why so many things are being privatized. Our government at work or lack thereof!

OK - so I'm ranting, been a rough, rough day!

And, I still haven't figured out how to post a portion of our little one's picture - maybe I better turn my attention back to something positive!

Someone share some good news...

Photo Update

Check out the photo in the right corner of the blog - this is the orphanage (described in a previous post) where our daughter is living right now with 5 other babies from our agency who have been referred...

We sure hope that some of us get the opportunity to travel together! We're going to work on a project for the orphanage (our case manager is in Vietnam now visiting the orphanage) and will find out their most pressing needs. Stay tuned for an update on this, our project and how you can assist us...

No News to Report on Confirmation Yet

2 More Days Passed and No News on Receipt of our documents that arrived in Hanoi on January 18th! What's the deal with the inefficiencies over there! Anyways, some of our friends from our agency received confirmation - it looks like they have confirmed receipt of documents received thru January 14th - so, we're only a few days away from receiving our confirmation (unless the 1 woman who processes this leaves on a Tet holiday). Guess we'll just have to wait and see...

This weekend's focus is on cleaning closets and organizing scrap booking stuff (gosh knows I'm a couple of years behind with our son's books and better get things at least categorized and work on his a little before our daughter arrives). The other major focus will be to post part of our daughter online - so, watch for those beautiful eyes and all that hair!

Just Waiting - Time to Make the Lists!

Waiting like so many others is difficult as our daughter gets older every day - she's hung up in US red tape - everyone, think long and hard about our choice for President - things need to change in the world of International Adoption!

Time to make the lists - projects to finish at home (closet cleaning, moving our son to his new bedroom, finishing taxes (Yuk) actually starting taxes, shopping for the baby, etc.); projects to finish at work - the lists never end - but at least it keeps us busy...

No News but Following Others Blogs...

No news to report on our end but so enjoying following the blogs of others in Vietnam experiencing the wonderful journey of parenthood!  There are 3 families who are traveling right now that we follow daily and love to read about their journey to parenthood!

What are we up to during the wait for our approval of our I-600?  Here's what?

• Complete remodeling of our basement - almost done!!!
• Organize all the closets in the house - sort of started...
• Decorate our son's big boy room (as our daughter moves in to the nursery when she's home)
• Make lists, lists, lists of everything we need to pack
• Figure out how to create a blog (done) and go high-tech -  how to download pictures, etc.
• Chat with others heading off to our orphanage in the near future - we're blessed to have 7 families heading to Bac Ninh this year - hope of all hopes that some of us will travel together!
• And more...

We'll keep you posted on the journey...

I-600 Arrived in Vietnam!

We received confirmation today that our package arrived in Vietnam.  Now the wait starts to see when they log in our final paperwork and process the adoption.  Our case manager leaves for Vietnam tomorrow and will visit the orphanage where Baby K is at - sure hoping for some more updated pictures of her real soon...

Finding Report Received!

We received the finding report today in the mail.  Didn't learn much about our little one other than she was lovingly left at the orphanage gate at 5:00 pm (just prior to a busy time and some of the deaf children found her quickly).  All we learned is that she was healthy (we knew that) and was wrapped in a yellow towel and wearing a white hat and gloves and a pink newborn outfit.

We also learned that there are 6 babies waiting for adoption in the orphanage - many of us adoptive parents are connecting online and hope, of all hopes, to travel together to get our little ones - 5 girls and 1 boy await their forever families!

Our paperwork arrives in Vietnam tomorrow -  let's hope they approve everything quickly and that we can get to our babies!

I-600 Package is enroute to Vietnam/Gift Received

Checked with FedEx and our precious I-600 package is on its way to Vietnam - scheduled delivery of January 18th - we'll keep tracking it...

Received a wonderful little dress complete with lace and pants and a beautiful white sweater from my WC Cyber Buddy this month - it's adorable and will probably be her Easter dress (although we may be in Vietnam - she'll be the best looking baby on the streets) 

Another Double Good News Day!

Two exciting things to report:

1.  Received word from WC that our I-600  was sent via FedEx to Vietnam today (just can't wait for word they received it so we can start the official wait for approval)

2.  A package from our agency is on its way to us that has news about our daughter!  Commonly referred to as the Finding Report -  it will give us details about her early life and how she came to be at the Bac Ninh Social Welfare Center - we'll be checking the mail daily for this important package!

Double Good Day for the Kesslers

Today was a great day - we mailed off our I-600 and G28 forms!  We were sweating out the fact that our I-171H expires in 2 weeks and we wouldn't be approved before it expires.  Guess what, in the mail tonight was our new I-171H form - magic!  Now we can send the new document to Vietnam and not worry about delays because of expired documents.  A great day for us!

Notice to File I-600 Form!

Hooray!  We received notice today to complete our I-600 and G28 forms to bring our daughter home.  It's exactly 60 days since we received our CFC and the first pictures of our daughter! We'll be sending the forms off tomorrow to our agency and hope that our daughter's paperwork arrives in the next few days and that everything can get to Vietnam within the next week or so.  Then, the count begins to wait for their approval (30-60 days).  After that, it's travel time!  Getting closer every day and so excited...

Pictures! Pictures!

Yippee!  Today we received 9 (yes that's 9) wonderful pictures of our daughter.  She has grown so much in the past 2 months - she's now 4 months old.  Her hair is longer (guess I need to get some hair bows) and she looks like she has filled out some more.  Those adorable cheeks just keep on getting cuter!

Others in our group also received pictures - all the babies look so healthy.

Now, where's the news on filing the I-600 form???  We just need to bring her home!

Updated Pictures on the Way!

Just learned that our agency received updated pictures of the babies. Hooray and we can't wait to see how much our little one has grown - she's nearly 4 months old!

Where or where are the I-600 forms - our daughter needs to be with her family!

Others Joining in the Wait from Bac Ninh...

Happy New Year! Just learned that 2 other families from our agency received their CFC's on New Year's Eve from Bac Ninh! That means we have other babies from the same orphanage going to families from our agency - Yippee!

Welcome to the Club and we hope for I-600 News Soon!