Holiday Chaos

The latest with the girls...

Both are walking. Q is walking full time and A has to find something to pull up on first, but then she's off.  So, needless to say, things have been a bit busy lately.  They are also putting their minds together to figure things out.  If one mind can't succeed at getting the cabinet open, then 2 minds together surely can.  

Thanksgiving was great.  We had a couple of fun celebrations and believe it or not, we had a traditional Turkey Day food!  It was great and the girls loved it all -- especially the sweet potatoes.

We are gearing up for the girls birthday which could be anytime this week I guess.  We are celebrating December 9 as their birthday, but they were apparently about a week old at that time.  We hope to have a small bday celebration next weekend and then it's full swing, holiday cheer. 

We are leaving for Canada on the 19th which is seriously cramping my schedule, but I am super-excited about some cold weather.  While it is beautiful weather here in HK right now, it's not putting me in the holiday mood.  I need a coat for that I think.

I have some videos below of the girls walking and playing at a playroom near us.  And, have uploaded a couple of pics from that same day.  

They are growing up so fast.  I can't believe they are going to be 1!

Video#1-Quynh walking around

Video#2-Audrey walking

Video#3-Q&A playing

Happy Halloween!

Q&A were spectacular in their costumes. They went to a Halloween costume party at a friend's house and then we went to a trick or treating party where we just hung with the older crowd. They really steal the show, especially when Q shows off her walking skills with a big smile. A is a complete flirt and clown, she totally hams it up.

I've loaded some Halloween pics in the photo album. Never really got a great photo, but you get the idea of how they looked. I will load more soon as I had a few friends take pics for us that are on their cameras.

Happy Halloween to all!

btw, Halloween is exhausting!

Happenings

We've been busy at the Solberg house. Tomorrow is the girls' first Halloween. First of all, I can't believe it is already the END of October. Where has the time gone??? Q is going to be a ladybug and A is going to be a bee. I had to have the costumes made in China, but overall I am pretty pleased. I think Halloween costumes work better when you are either a little baby (not moving too much) or you are walking. Crawling doesn't really help the costume selection.

Speaking of walking, Q is taking 5-6 steps at a time. Would you call this walking? I am not sure. She is pretty balanced and will definitely be "walking" in a couple of weeks. She can go from a squat to standing without holding on to anything and then can take the few steps. When she walks from me to Wit and back she knows we are going to catch her so she doesn't concentrate as much. However, I have watched her when she doesn't think I am paying attention and when she really focuses, she goes quite far. A is not far behind. She is taking a couple of steps, but not as balanced as Q. Plus, she gets so excited that she ends of falling before she realizes she could take more steps. I can't believe they are almost walking.

Other happenings -- One set of grandparents just left HK and we had a great visit. My mom is coming on Saturday, so we are excited about that. Then it's Thanksgiving. HK doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving, but I LOVE to cook for it. Anyway, it makes us feel like we are in the States for a brief moment. If only we could get a football game...

The girls will be 11 months next week...can't believe the 1st bday is coming up soon. We are headed to Vancouver for Christmas and looking forward to the cold weather. Then I realized that I don't really know how to dress a baby for cold weather. I've started buying some stuff, but we have gotten by on shorts and tanks and dresses for so long that it is sort of odd buying such bulky stuff.

Anyway, will have some new pics to post soon.

Back from Holiday

We made it back from VN and had a wonderful time. The girls were great and handled everything pretty well. They were pretty good during the long car ride and were also good on the plane. No major meltdowns, so it was pretty easy. They kept their nap schedules and sleeping thru the night, so that was fabulous! Otherwise, we had a great time and the girls seemed to really like all the swimming. Quynh wasn't too interested in the sand, but Audrey loved it.

I posted some pics from the vacation in the photo album.

Me and the girls are headed to Cebu this week with a bunch of girlfriends and their kiddos. We will only be out 3 nights, but should be a lot of fun. Hopefully the girls are just as good as they were in VN. Quynh has a slight cold, but seems to be getting over it now. Both are growing and really leaving the baby stage behind...so wild to watch them grow up.

Doctor & Travel

Just got back from the doc for our 3rd round of shots. Wasn't too bad, two simultaneous sticks for each baby. Since our last visit they both have gained 1.1kg and both have grown 3cm each. Weird how they are tracking along so evenly. Audrey, I guess for now, will always be bigger and taller. They are actually doing quite well on the percentiles too. Quynh has jumped to the 25th percentile on weight and the 50th on length. Audrey is 50-75th on weight and 75-90th on length.

Travel -- So this is where living and traveling to foreign countries can be difficult. Everything that the girls eat, drink, wear, and need diaper/medicine wise needs to be packed. Yes, I know, I could buy diapers and formula in VN again, but I just don't want to transition them again and don't like the diapers as much there. Plus, they are in the solids phase where you have to bring food instead of being able to order food that they will eat. Sooo, packing all this crap for 2 for a week is creating quite the load! At least we will be going heavy and coming back really light with formula, diapers, and food for a week out of our bags by the time we get back. Note to self: Wait to travel until you can order food for them, or go somewhere you can actually recognize what you buy.

All that being said, I am so excited to get out of HK for a week. The pollution is kicking our asses and need a change of scenery. Plus, I am excited to see how the girls do since our world tour this summer when things were so up in the air.

We leave on Monday, so will post pics when we return.

Helloooo!

Sorry, it has been SOOO long since my last post. What's going on here? We are crawling in 2 different directions and general chaos has taken over our house. We are having a blast though. The girls have moved to the "big girl" bath meaning we have no more lounge chairs and are free to roam in the bath. Quynh loves the bath because she is a much better crawler/climber, but A-train is learning quickly. They are much more playful and crawling after one another. I am posting a few videos soon. Also, will be posting in the photo album very soon. Should be there in a few hours, waiting for everything to load.

We are taking our first family holiday in a week. Going back to Vietnam, beach town called Phan Thiet. Wit and I have been there before, but are totally excited to go back.

I think the girls are going to be a ladybug and a bumblebee for Halloween. Will be having their costumes made in Shenzhen, so who knows how they will turn out. We'll post pics after I get them back.

Video #1: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4586879545049186669

I've been tagged

I was tagged by E at Fajitas & Pho to write a meme and of course, I have the longest middle name ever!

You have to post these rules before you give the facts:

Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had. When you are tagged, you need to write your own blog post containing your own middle name game facts. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged & to read your blog!

E -- Extra busy lately, the girls are starting Kindermusik and Water Babies this week and I am trying to babyproof the house.

L -- Lake house -- we are in the market for one, anyone got anything interesting?

I -- Ideas on what my kids can be for Halloween?

Z -- Zero words come to mind.

A -- Audrey has learned to crawl in the last week and now has decided to pull up in her crib, but she is not quite sure how to get down yet.

B -- Balance --all about trying to find it.

E --Quynh's first name (Elizabeth) -- lots of ppl in my fam have that name.

T -- Toys. Everywhere.

H -- Holiday -- looking forward to the last week in September when we will take our first family holiday -- going back to VN to an area called Phan Thiet. Looking forward to some beach time!

Ok, that was hard.

Now, seriously, tagging 9 people just sounds wrong. I will tag anyone who has or plans on visiting Hong Kong (you can include yourself if you only stopped at the airport).

Busy days

Sorry, it has been a while since I posted. I try to do once a week, but my weeks seem to be running together!

The girls are doing great...we have some good days and some not so good days. Luckily, I don't seem to be hit by both have a bad day at the same time. Mostly the problem has been teething lately. We've had some strong storms in HK lately and sometimes the wind wakes the girls up, so sometimes they are just grumpy from being tired.

They are both clapping and playing pat-a-cake and peek-a-boo now. We still say dada, no mama, but indiscriminately. I just found Audrey sitting in her crib, so she has somehow found out how to sit up on her own. Still waiting for that to happen so I can see exactly how she does it. Quynh is trying her best to balance without holding on to things. She is getting better. She can now climb down the stairs -- climbing up was never an issue, it was getting down. She is cruising on all furniture and I am trying to baby proof this apartment quickly. They are both eating well, but not gaining much weight. I just moved Quynh up to a 6-9 month sleepsuit because of her length, but the size swallows her. She is just so tiny. Audrey should be getting tooth #6 soon, and Quynh is still working on #2 which I see, but it is moving very slowly.

In September, we start Kindermusik and swim lessons and playgroups, so life gets even busier.

More soon hopefully!

Update

Nothing too big to report this week. Audrey and Quynh both tested negative for TB, so that is good news. Audrey has her 5th tooth coming in and Quynh has her 2nd that just broke through. Quynh is running a slight fever that I am assuming comes from the teething, because she has no other symptoms besides being clingy.

Audrey has become the rolling queen. She can get to everything by rolling and quite honestly, she has stopped trying to crawl because of this newfound talent. Quynh is still trying to master the steps and standing without hands.

Hong Kong is in typhoon season, so its been raining for the last week. Looking forward to starting the fall, we've got Water Babes and Kindermusik lined up at the Amer. Club and lots of playgroups to look forward to.

Below is a video...for those of you who have met Audrey, you will know what a ham she is. Quynh is much more serious, but both LOVE the biscuits. Have a good week!

Hook 'Em!

For all the Texans, you knew this was coming. Hook 'Em Horns! (onesie courtesy of Gumpa)

I am posting some more pics in the Photo Album now, so they should be there shortly.

Dear Fellow American...

Well, the girls are officially US citizens. They have both received their Certificate of Citizenship from the US govt. This is a big step for us because living overseas has made this a little trickier, but we are done! Yay!

The girls had their second round of immunizations last Friday. They handle the shots really well, so let's hope that continues. Audrey, as I had expected lost about half a pound and hadn't grown, but Quynh had gained about a pound and had grown an inch.

Audrey -- 17.5 lbs, 27.25 inches
Quynh -- 15.2 lbs, 26.2 inches

Overall, they are doing really well. Quynh's cold has finally gone away and Audrey is gaining a lot more coordination. Both are jabbering the days away too. Nothing really understandable, but a lot to be said.

The news of the day is that both girls are now drinking juice and water out of a bottle w/handles all on their own. They love it and I have to say it is a huge help while I am in the car driving! Next stop is sippy cups I guess. As for eating, they chow down on food. And they love the biter biscuits (as do the dogs when the biscuit drops to the ground). We have been making a lot more homemade baby food lately, which has been interesting and fun. They seem to really like it.


More soon!

Teething Blues

Audrey is in the middle of the teething blues again. It will be her second top tooth. She is an incredibly fussy teether compared to Quynh. However, Quynh's seem to be moving really slowly compared to Audrey's. They both had a tooth come through at the same time and you can barely see Quynh's, while Audrey's is in full view. Oragel to the rescue.

Also, just posted some new pics in the photo album.

Update

The girls are doing great. In fact, both slept thru the night last night without a feeding. They both woke up about 12:30 and fussed for maybe 5 minutes before falling back asleep (on their own!) and not waking until 6 am. As for my sleep, I kept waking up thinking, when are they going to wake up and need to eat!! I know that by writing this they will probably have an absolute horrible night tonight, but at least we know it is possible to sleep thru the night!

Is Quynh ahead of the game? No, I am not one of those parents who thinks her children are gifted based on every little task they complete, but Quynh is definitely a mover & shaker with respect to motor skills. At not even 8 months, this girl is cruising on tables, chairs and anything she can pull up on. She has been crawling for a while, but now she is just fast and thinks the whole house is her playground. My house is moving up a level and things are being pushed out of reach because of her mischievous ways! If she sees me go to another room, she will try her hardest to get there too (stairs included).

Audrey, on the other hand, seems to get pretty pissed off because she lacks this skill. She is still scooting backwards (not forwards yet) and just generally hates when Quynh comes over and rips something out of her hands. I mean full tears, kicks her feet, pissed! I keep telling Quynh that when Audrey does learn how to crawl she better watch out!

The girls go for their 2nd shots on Friday, so I will know weights and lengths again. I think Audrey has grown in length and Quynh has definitely grown in weight. It will be interesting to see. In 4 weeks, do you think over or under 3 lbs?

As for Hong Kong, it is hot hot hot, but crystal clear blue skies. Where did all the pollution go? We are off for a short swim or float really, but at least something to cool off!

Day in the Life of...

Well, seeing how I just came up for a breath of air, I thought I would update everyone on the happenings in the Solberg house. We are completely over our jet-lag and settling into a routine, which is nice. It is so nice to actually have places for things rather than a suitcase. Also, we just now found a place for everything and all the boxes and suitcases are put away. Anyway, our day typically goes like this...

06:30 -- Audrey wakes first, chg diapers and go get in bed with Dad
06:45 -- Miss Q decides to make her appearance
07:00 -- Breakfast time -- usually fruit with oatmeal
07:15 -- Dad leaves (we are working on waving goodbye)
07:15 - 09:00 -- Playtime and change clothes
09:00 -- Bottle and nap time -- This has been about 1.5 hours lately
10:30ish - 12:00 -- More playtime or we get out (not happening too much seeing how hot it is here)
Noon -- Lunch time
13:30 -- Bottle and nap time again (This is anywhere from 30 minutes to 1.5 hours)
15:00ish - 18:00 -- Playtime (have been trying to get out at this time, either swimming, a walk, run errands, etc. Also, have juice and starting finger foods. The Gerber Little Graduates are great. Quynh is pretty good at getting them in her mouth, but Audrey would much rather you do the work for her (doesn't that sound like her?)
18:00 -- Dinner time
18:30 -- Bath time
19:00 -- Bottle & bed

Now, Quynh has been waking up around 23:00ish for a bottle, but then will sleep thru the night. Audrey has been waking at 03:00ish for a bottle. One waking per child isn't horrible and we are dealing with it pretty well right now. Plus, they are downing the bottles, so maybe they are hungry. I have tried feeding them more during the day, but they aren't too interested.

Anyway, Audrey cut her first top tooth a couple of days ago and Quynh just cut her 1st tooth! This is a big step because Audrey has been screaming about this tooth for about 3 weeks now! Still can't imagine what she is going to look like with 2 front teeth.

Whoever invented the ExerSaucer is a genius -- it is about the only way I can get some time to get things done around here. I am looking for a jumper, but no luck so far in HK.

Other than all of this, not much new to report.

I am trying hard to get pictures uploaded, but there are so many that I need to go thru and organize, so give me a break. I will post some teasers though...

I'm Back!!!

Holy Guacamole! We are finally back in Hong Kong! Some days, I never thought I would be saying that. It feels really good to be home. The girls are jet-lagged..again. They have met our other furry children and that has gone pretty well. Audrey loves the animals, but Quynh isn't sure about them when they sneak up on her. I promise I will post some pics soon. The furries are doing a great job with the new additions though.

Quynh has "dada" down but now sure if she really knows that when we say Dada, we mean daddy. Oh well. In time.

Audrey is losing some of her pudge, probably because of the increased exercise. She is on a strict workout schedule (just kidding!).

A lot of people have asked if sleeping has improved and I will say that yes, I think it has, but who really knows seeing how I change their environment about every 2 weeks. Now that we are back home, we will see how that goes.

More soon, happy to be home at the moment.

We have arrived!

We are here...after a LONG trip home, we have made it. It was rough for the girls, they were fine on the long flight, but the last leg from LA to Houston was too much. They had had enough. Quynh slept ALL day today and Audrey for most of the day. I am sure they will be ready to go about 10p tonight, but I am just as jet-lagged so not a big deal.

Everything else is good. Grandparents are spoiling them. Audrey LOVES my oldest brother (and he seems to like her too)! Quynh hasn't really opened up to all the new people yet. She is following me around the room though, which is a plus on the attachment front. Audrey is fine with just about anyone holding her. She loves to be held. Overall, they seem to be doing ok, but a little uncertain about meeting all the new people and my parent's pooch, who thinks they are about the scariest things ever.

More soon!

Good Night Vietnam

Well, we have visas in hand and we are D-O-N-E, done. Wit got into Hanoi this morning and I spent the most part of the day packing up. We had to run by the Cathay office to get tickets and then we met with our agency rep one last time to go over all the paperwork and double-check the visas. Everything looks good.

We leave the hotel around 8:30a Hanoi time and will be arriving in Houston around 6a on Sunday. My mom is meeting me in Hong Kong to fly the long legs of the trip, so that is a great thing! The girls have no idea what is coming, but doing well otherwise. They were both really happy to see Wit and just smiled and smiled at him. He is such a good dad already -- he even lets them play with his Blackberry. :-) I secretly hope they destroy the damn thing, maybe a little more drool would do the trick.

Next update will be from Texas. Good night!

Getting closer!

We have been approved by USCIS and have our visa interview Thursday at 2p. We have known we were approved since Monday, but because we live overseas, we have been trying to sort out which visa to enter the US with. We have chosen a path and we will see where that takes us. The most important thing is the ability to get US passports while in the States to re-enter Hong Kong. So, that is the goal.

If all goes well with visa issuance, we should be out of here Friday night (Hanoi time) and in Houston by 6am Saturday. 3.5 weeks in Hanoi!! It's going to be a long haul, but we will get there some way or another. For those of you wondering, Wit is going to see me to LA and then turnaround on the next flight back to HK. What a great dad!!

I will be in Texas for a week or maybe two visiting family and getting passports and then we are off again to see Wit's parents before heading back to Hong Kong.
~~~~~~~
As for the girls...they are doing well. We had a great day today. Audrey is finally playing a bit on her own and didn't need me to hold her every second of the day. We'll see how that goes tomorrow. Quynh actually took a 1-hour nap instead of her 30-minute regulars and boy, did she wake up a happy girl!

As for night sleep, I guess bad habits are hard to break. I am going to ride out whatever sleep patterns they have right now until I get back to HK and then we will start the intervention!

Audrey did go swimming the other day too...it was about the same as Quynh's experience. Pretty flat -- no thrills, no cries, just neutral. Baths are getting a bit better though. I will post a few new pics tonight.

Sunday Funday

Quynh went swimming tonight for the first time. It was fun? She didn't cry, didn't smile, just sat and looked around like what in the world are we doing all wet. There were other kids splashing so she was definitely checking them out. All I can say is she looked damn cute in her pink polka dots and hoodie coverup. It was difficult for me to take pics because I was trying to hold her at the same time, but I did post a couple. Where was Audrey during all of this?? Sacked out. We will try her tomorrow.

Quynh is also turning into a blankie baby, well, more like a burp cloth baby. She wakes up and starts fussing because she can't find it...put it in her hand and back to sleep. She also sucks her thumb. Audrey likes the burp cloth too, but not as much.

Audrey is going to be the picky eater of the bunch for sure. Still dislikes apples and bananas, but Quynh will clean up the scraps.

Hoping to hear some news tomorrow.

Life with Two

It's almost 8pm and (gasp!) I am about to watch a movie. Today was pretty uneventful. I had to run some errands and get some food for the girls who are chowing down on baby food. Also had to get some more diapers -- you have no idea how many diapers we go through in a day (well, Jenn knows!). No news from the Embassy yet, so we wait into next week it seems. The girls are doing good, we are up to 3 meals a day and loving every last bite. Audrey wasn't too keen on apples and bananas, but loved the pears. Quynh only takes 30 minute naps, so she can get pretty crabby around bedtime. Bedtime is still around 6:30ish and they are still waking at 1a and 5a. It seems to be a pattern that I can live with for a while. Other than that, everything is going well. They are handling the baths a lot better now, not so petrified of being in water, but not quite sure they like it either.

Wit is feeling better, so that is good news.

Sleep Update

Ask for advice and you get it -- thanks for all the helpful pointers. So here's what I changed yesterday and how it worked.

First, forget the pacifier ideas, neither of them are interested at all! Which is good and bad! I won't be chasing the things around, but it would be nice if something else soothed them like a bottle. I keep trying, but to no avail.

Yesterday was a long day, so probably not the best starting day. I took Jenn's advice first (since she is the mother of twins!) and decided to put them down after a bottle at around 4:30ish for a nap. They slept until about 5:30ish and then we played for a bit before starting dinner. Dinner is a messy event, but they seemed to like it last night. They are on the same schedule, just one follows 20 minutes behind the other. This lets me feed one, while the other is fine playing. I turned the lights down low and got them pretty drowsy before putting them down. They fussed (not even cried, really) for about 10 minutes and then were out around 7ish.

Audrey woke at 10p and was hungry, because she wouldn't take a bottle before bed. Quynh still woke at 1am on the dot and wanted a bottle, which was fine. I usually just go ahead and feed Audrey at that time too, even though she isn't awake. The good thing is that one doesn't wake the other. Just because one cries out, the other usually is unaffected.

Today they ate their breakfast meal earlier (since they are up around 5am), so I will also add a lunch meal today.

My conclusion so far is that they might actually be hungry. Quynh is so active during the day that I think she is burning everything off, plus she needs the extra calories. Audrey takes less bottle, but eats more of the solids.

Everything is one big experiment as my friend Marilu says. Things will work themselves out, but in the meantime, I am ready to get home and stop ordering in!

Medicals & Passports

Today I picked up their VN passport, which was quick and easy.

This afternoon, we had our medical evaluations. Everything went really well. Quynh is 13 lbs and Audrey is 16 lbs. Audrey is 2 cm longer than Quynh, but Quynh's head is slightly bigger than Audrey's. Both had clear lungs, regular heartbeats and no temps. All in all, it was quick and painless and they were great.

We are now officially done with all other stuff and just waiting on our call from the Embassy.

As for tonight, they don't do well after long days. Plus I woke both of them up from a nap for their medical visits. We did introduce baby food instead of cereal tonight and it was a HUGE hit. It might have stained everything all of us had on, but oh well - more went in than not. It was Hipp Vegetables with Rice, didn't smell too bad either. They drained an entire jar between the two of them and it was a bigger jar than normal baby food jars!

Sleep & Schedules

Got a question on sleeping thru the night. At 6 months old, or possibly even older(?), is it unfair for me to expect them to be sleeping through the night? I think they were being fed thru the night at the orphanage because Quynh wakes up like clockwork at 1a and 5a and will take a bottle (all of it at 1a and some of it at 5a). Audrey sometimes makes it all the way until 5a, but it isn't predictable. Then after about an hour of being wide awake, both of them go down again for about 45 minutes. I am not liking the schedule they are used to!

I am feeding them solids only morning and night and sometimes they eat like pigs and other times they just aren't that interested. I don't think they are hungry at 1am, just used to being fed I think. Should I let them cry it out to get back to sleep in the middle of the night? (I know, cry it out method is frowned upon with adopted children, but with 2 of them and 1 of me, it is almost impossible to rock them both to sleep!) Should I be feeding them 3 times a day? They are also wanting to go to bed for the night very early, like around 6:30ish. I have been trying to push it back, but they get very crabby and cranky.

I know a lot of this will iron itself out once I get home and in a quasi-routine, but until then, any ideas?? Remember, I need to start my routine now because I don't make it back to my home in HK for a while given all the travel I have to do.

Tongues!

Quynh has full on figured out that she has a tongue. She sticks it out constantly. I finally got a good pic of it and have added it. Audrey laughs at us when we stick out our tongues, but hasn't quite gotten the hang of sticking hers all the way out.

Not much new, we are picking up passports and going for the medicals tomorrow. Will let you know exact weights tomorrow evening.

Tips on Travel

Since I have been getting this question a lot, here's what I either brought with me and was thankful, or forgot and had to find.

hope it helps some of you on your way...

1. Bottle nipples -- glad I brought a selection. It took about 4 different nipples for Quynh to settle in on one she liked. Bottles -- Q likes the ventaire and A likes nuk, so who knows.

2. Infant Tylenol Cold/Cough -- Quynh had a cough that this cleared right up. I brought some, so haven't looked to see if you can find it hear. (In Hong Kong, the brand is Panadol, so maybe look for that.)

3. There is plenty of baby bath stuff here, don't waste space to bring it.

4. Spoons -- I didn't bring these and had to find them, so might be worth it to throw a couple in, especially if your child is around that age.

5. Formula -- the formula our girls was on was very grainy and smelly. We switched to Enfamil with Iron and have had no problems. There are plenty of selections to choose from, just may not be what you can get in the States.

6. Our girls became extremely constipated when we brought them home. So much so that we had to find infant suppositories, which was interesting. We did find them and they helped tremendously, but you may want to bring a couple just in case.

7. Diapers are just ok. The brand that is the best I have found and not so plastic-y are the Bobby Soft (teal green package). You can bring your own and they will be better, but you can get by on what's available here.

8. Big C is a wal-mart type store that we bought a lot of supplies from. Most taxi drivers no it by name, just make sure you ask them to wait for you. Ours waited for about 45 minutes and it was about $3 extra.

9. I brought way too many clothes for the girls. I found that with the heat, you might as well keep them in cool, cotton stuff. Save the cutesy outfits for home. You need to have them covered when you go out too, and most of my outfits don't cover appropriately. :-)

10. I have had sitters come and stay with my girls while I run errands. If any of you need one, please email me. We have a couple that are WONDERFUL! Would love to give you their numbers.

11. Hanoi is HOT in these months. I am accustomed to hot from living in Hong Kong, but be prepared for HOT and HUMIDITY! I can't stress this enough. Bring comfortable shoes, and clothes that can be washed and dried easily. Meaning, if it is thrown in the dryer, you don't mind. I brought all bermuda shorts and tees. I wore capris and ballet flats to the G&R.

12. Might be good to bring hand fans or those little battery operated ones. They will come in handy when you are sitting outside at restaurants and stuff.

13. A friend recommended that we do a bleach water dip after washing the bottles to help with diarrhea. We haven't had a diarrhea problem yet.

14. Shopping -- clothes are really cute here, so save room and buy some outfits.

15. Bjorns -- it is the only way we get around, but they are hot, so be prepared.

16. We are staying at Somerset Grand, which has been spectacular. There is a grocery store on the ground floor that has been very helpful and easy.

17. ATMs seem to only dispense VND 1,750,000 at a time, but you can use your card a few times. I seem to be using more Dong than Dollars, but always good to have cash.

18. If any of you are bag ladies, make sure to go to Ipanima or Tina Sparkle (sister of Ipanima) for some funky totes.

19. Lan Ong street is baby street, where you can find everything you need for supplies. Just walk around the area and you will find a ton of stuff. it's in the Old Quarter.

20. Toys -- throw some in, as well as teethers. They have been a big hit.

21. Teething gel has been a good thing too.

Update

Just posted a few new pics. Things are going considerably better now that we have started cereal. They are eating chicken/soya, vegetables, red rice, and rice cereal so far. Last night was the first "successful" night where we slept longer than 2-3 hour periods. They actually slept for about 8 hours last night and only woke up once for a diaper change.

Wit leaves today (Sunday) to head back to Hong Kong, again. He started feeling terrible last night and seems to have a bad cold, so probably better that he is leaving. I just hope he doesn't leave all of us ill!

We had our 1st visa interview on Friday and all went well. We were asked basic questions about job, home, Hong Kong, etc. We were told nothing about timing, so don't know when we start the "around the world" tour.

We've been venturing out to restaurants more and more. With two babies, we welcome any waitress who wants to hold our babies. However, they always give Audrey back because she is HEAVY! Our guesstimates were acurate. We sort of weighed them and decided Audrey was about 17 lbs and Quynh is about 13 lbs.

We pick up passports and have our medical evaluations on Wednesday and then we wait for the final interview. Hoping it is Thursday, but not banking on it.

New Pics and Updates

Thanks for all the nice comments and emails! We love reading them.

I just posted some pics from the ceremony day and in the process of adding some we took today. They officially smell like baby lotion now after their baths.

We have our first visa interview appointment on Friday, so that has been our good news. I actually thought with Memorial Day this week that we wouldn't be able to get in, but we did. I went to apply for passports this morning which was a pretty funny experience. A lot of stares, which I am ok with. But the pointing and talking and staring all at once was pretty funny. Then, I go up to the window where everyone is crowding around trying to get their number processed when all of a sudden some kind of argument broke out between a guy behind me and the lady behind the window. I am in the middle, but taller than him so he is basically yelling at my neck. I almost decided to move, but then didn't want to lose my place, so I held strong. We can pick up the passports next week.

Wit will post in a little bit about his funny experiences during his visit to the province a little bit later.

We did venture out tonight and actually went to a restaurant. No problems other than the waitresses kept whisking them away from sight. Literally, they were serving other people while holding them. It was pretty funny.

More soon!

We have 2 babies!!

That's right, Monday afternoon, we had our ceremony. Three long hours in a hot room with 2 babes to manage was definitely an interesting experience, to say the least! I'll post more about it when I have time.

We had one minor setback, but doesn't seem to be severe. Wit had to fly back to Hanoi today to go sign the books. They didn't like the Power of Attorney we had done and it was just easier to have Wit fly back. I am definitely thankful!

We had a good first night, despite getting back at 10:30pm. I think I slept less than everyone. Audrey is a dreamer and she flails. She kept whacking Quynh and waking her up, so I had to separate them from the same crib. So, Audrey slept in my bed. Not sure what we are going to do tonight since Wit will be here.

Quynh is the mover and shaker. She is scooting across the room. She so wants to crawl, but can't quite figure it out. Audrey likes to sleep. She throws her arms back and spreads her legs and is out cold. Neither one are eating very much at all, but that is expected. I will post some pics soon.

New Pics

We visited the orphanage again yesterday. This time the girls were brought out to us, which was much cooler and gave us a little more room. We got to hang out for about 1.5 hours which was fun. They seem to be doing well. We managed to get a few smiles, but mostly stares and curious looks. I have posted the pics, so take a look.

Wit leaves today to head back to Hong Kong, so I will be flying solo until Friday. Neither one of us are thrilled about it, but because we have to fly back to the States before entering HK, we think it will be better if he is with me during that portion of the trip. Plus, he hasn't been back to the States in a year, so it is time!

Good & Not so Good

Not so good is no news on the ceremony. Now, we wait for Monday.

Good is that we are going back out to the orphanage tomorrow to spend some more time with the girls. We are up early to hopefully avoid some of the heat, so I will post more pics when we return.

No one said this was going to be easy.

Still Waiting

We are still waiting for our ceremony. We found out yesterday that their are 6 families with another agency (same province) who have been waiting for 10 days for their day. We are trying to get grouped with them, but who knows if that will happen or if it is even possible. Will keep trying.

Bittersweet

We woke up this morning thinking today was the day and today became the day...sort of. We saw our baby girls for the first time and got to hold and cuddle and snuggle and coo and kiss and everything else, but it seems that the suspense hasn't ended. Our ceremony wasn't today. We are hopeful for tomorrow. While being a very disappointing day from not reaching a conclusion, we did get to finally meet our two girls. And, they were everything we wanted and MORE!

The orphanage is situated about 2.5 hours outside of Hanoi in an agricultural community. When we arrived, the front of the orphanage was a "smoke salon" where people can come and get their hair washed/cut, smoke cigs, and get coffee. The orphanage is for disabled people as well. The front was ran by deaf girls. It was great fun for me to sign mine and Wit's name to them and meet them through signing. They very much enjoyed feeling a part of "our" world. In the rear is a dorm room sized building that contained 20-25 babies all <6 months old. It was both a wonderful sight and a sad sight, which left us fixed with many different emotions. The caretakers truly loved each child. They were wonderfully loving and provided the best care they can for all the babies. It was HOT. Let me say that again. It was HOT in the room. Luckily, the babies weren't bundled up, but in tees and pants, no socks and no hats. They were sweating. The caretakers were fanning away to keep them cool, flies away and beetles the size of my fist fell from the ceiling!!

Being at the orphanage brought a HUGE mix of emotions. We were terribly thrilled, but also saddened given that these babies were in need. It was way too quiet to be among 25 babies, there were no cries for 1.5 hours. The caretakers were 4 of the most caring, loving women I could have ever hoped for. At one point, she asked for Quynh back because she was hating to see her taken away from her. This made me happy. I totally respect her feelings and am very thankful for them. Our babies were well cared for.

We are hopeful for tomorrow. Not worried about it happening, just wondering when it will finally happen!

I am posting some pics in the Photo Album soon. Click on the link on the right hand side. It is password protected. If I haven't given you the password, give me a shout and I will send it, just don't want to share with the "entire" world.

More soon. B&W

Hello Hanoi!

We've both arrived and just had a short meeting with our agency's facilitator. We don't know for certain what time our ceremony will be, but we do know for certain that we get to see our girls tomorrow!! We are making a trip to the orphanage tomorrow around noon and hopefully will have our ceremony that afternoon, otherwise on Thursday.

I will post pictures when we return.

We had a great Vietnamese dinner tonight. Mai, if you are reading, we went to the same outdoor place you and I went to, and surprisingly I remembered all the yummy things you ordered. Tomorrow is definitely pho.

Have a good night/day.

Packing Frenzy!

Well, I have entered the packing frenzy! I leave tomorrow morning at 9am and will be in Hanoi at 10am (Hanoi time), Wit arrives at 4pm. I have all day Tuesday to get a stroller, formula, and whatever else I need before our ceremony on Wednesday.

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT IS FINALLY HERE!!! (well, I can, but I can't believe it is for real this time)

As the plan stands now, Wit will be doing a back and forth exercise from HK to Hanoi and then we are off to the States to get US passports to enter HK and see both families, who are very excited as well.

Next post will be from VN.

No More Delays!!

Our ceremony has been confirmed for the 23rd!!! Finally, I feel comfortable saying that we don't expect any more delays. Now, we have to get ready...again!

Can't wait to update you from Vietnam!

Nothing New

Not much new to report on our end. We've been keeping busy by looking for another (bigger) apartment to secure before our lease expires this summer. Have found a couple of good ones, but Hong Kong needs a serious updating of all flats they offer. There just aren't many quality offerings.

Other than that, not much else going on. I believe Monday and Tuesday are VN holidays so we don't expect to hear much this week.

Hopefully more soon.

Certainties

Apparently there are 3 certainties in life right now: death, taxes, and DELAYS!

Yes, we are delayed.
Yes, it sucks.

No, we aren't going to kill each other and make death, taxes, and delays happen all in the same week.
No, we aren't that surprised. Our agency has been very good at explaining the circumstances.
No, we aren't giving up.

It looks like the ceremony will now be in May, perhaps towards the end of May.

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Bali

When we have to wait, we travel! This last week we have been in Indonesia - Jakarta for a few days and Bali for the weekend.

Jakarta was interesting. Security is tight everywhere. You can't get into hotels or malls without your car being scanned. Bali was really cool. A beautiful place and beach. We had great seafood dinners on the beach in Jimbaran and went to Ubud for the day.

We stopped by Monkey Forest and fed the monkeys. I had told Wit that monkeys kind of freak me out, mainly because they are so human-like. I told him how to feed them, just place the banana on your hand and hold it out, then they will walk up and take it. Wit was holding it like a baseball and flung it as soon as a group started surrounding him!! It is a bit nerve-racking when they come in herds. They are so dang smart! One monkey proceeded to climb my back while I was there, that was a bit disturbing, but funny.

The shopping was really neat. If only we had more time, I think we would have come home with some gigantic Balinese furniture. There's always next time...

Now we are back in HK. Still no definite word on our ceremony date yet, but we are still hopeful for the 23rd.

Below are a couple of pics from our trip, we are really bad about taking pictures when we are on vacation.

Bali

Q&A - Welcome to Hong Kong & the HK Sevens!

After giving my husband the third degree for wanting money that I assumed was going to some shitty piece of sports paraphernalia, he went and surprised me with a great keepsake for the girls. These photos were taken at the 2007 Hong Kong Sevens Rugby Tourney. What a great guy!!!

Private Photo Album

W has convinced me to keep our blog "public", so it will remain public for now, but the link on the above right (Photo Album) will be reserved for private pics. To those that have emailed, I will be sure to send the password to you for access when we add new pictures. If anyone else wants the password, just shoot me an email (solbergs@gmail.com). Thanks again -- we look forward to having new pics to add!

B&W

Delayed again

So, we are pretty tired of saying this, but we are delayed AGAIN. It looks like April 23 is the new date. Bummer!

Pets

Since our pets are about to take a backseat to two little girls, I thought I would give them the spotlight for now. We love our dogs & cat. Everyone thought we were nuts for bringing them to Hong Kong, but I don't know what I would do without them. They are always happy to see us and comfort us when we are down. I think Nelly has frightened the whole Southside at one point or another, but that's part of the fun. Enjoy the pics of Nelly, Norma & Willis.

Back on the Books

New ceremony date of April 2, so we will travel there on April 1 and see where we go from there. It seems to be pretty set this time around. More soon!

C'est la vie!

Well the chance that we would leave tomorrow has sufficiently dwindled out. We are, in fact, DELAYED! We hate to actually say it, but did expect it.

Yuck! We will let everyone know the "new" date as soon as we are confirmed. We really hate waiting!

Ho Hum

Well, we are mentally set to go, but are fully anticipating a delay. The families that traveled before us were planning for a G&R on Wednesday, but are still waiting for the ceremony to actually take place. They are hopeful for Monday, but it may be Tuesday before they get their babies. (Keep them in your thoughts.) All part of the ride, I guess.

My only hope is that we find out about the delay before we travel rather than after. We have the luxury of being pretty flexible with our flights, so hopefully an upfront delay doesn't affect us too much. Here's hoping to no delay. On a positive note, our agency has spoken with the DIA and there are no other bigger concerns at play. All of our paperwork & the babies paperwork has been cleared. It is simply a matter of scheduling at the provincial level (or at least that is what we can figure).

Hopefully we will know more early next week. Will keep everyone posted.

Times Two.

Now we are on number 5,6 carseats. Mothercare did agree to exchange my carseats after I explained to them that any mistake I made in purchasing items from them was amplified times two, given their ridiculous return policy. Trying another one now, the Maxi-Cosi Cabrio. After I made the sales lady walk it out to my car to make sure it fit, we are now carseat owners again. Someone needs to introduce Hong Kong to a "no questions asked" return policy. All this crap is made out here, so it's not like they have massive stocking issues. The problem is that all the brands are either UK, Aussie or US, which means they have to ship from there.

My other rant relating to China is the pollution it is causing in this area. The haze was awful today in Hong Kong! We are supposed to be moving out of the cooler, cloudy/hazy days into the hotter than hell, but at least clear days. I honestly don't think it is going to clear out this year. When does it end?

Getting closer

So everyone wants more info - quite honestly, we don't have any more info and probably won't until we are in VN. We did book our plane tickets to Hanoi yesterday so at least we are getting in the country. As for getting out of the country, we are going to wait until we know more about our schedule to book our tickets.

Here's the lowdown -- we need the girls to enter Hong Kong using US passports, not their VN passports, in order to get them HK visas that match ours. So, that means that I have to return to the US BEFORE entering Hong Kong. Yes, only 2 hours away from home, yet I have to fly around the world to enter. I guess the brightside is that we won't be jet-lagged while in VN and Wit can easily leave if needed.

What are we doing in the meantime? We are going to Ho Chi Minh City this weekend to take our mind off the wait. A little retail therapy that VN cures really well. And then we really only have 1.5 weeks until we go back to VN.

On another topic -- I think folks at Britax seriously got something wrong with their First Class car seat. It is a UK model. When it is installed rearward facing, the diagonal seat belt strap crosses right thru the place where you need to put the babies. It is by far the stupidest design I have ever seen, mainly because the seat sits so high off the car seat. We would have to unbuckle the seat every time we needed to put a baby inside. Maybe it is because the backseat of our car isn't enormous and the car seat sits really high, but they could have seriously thought about this a little more. So, I went to a friend's and tried putting it in her larger car. Same conclusion -- complete crap. The only reason I complain is that HK has this really awful return policy, where they DON'T. This is one of my biggest pet peeves about HK. You can't return anything here. If you can, you maybe have 3 days to do it and you only get store credit. Then when you argue with them (which makes me feel better), they get worried but do nothing about it. I am at war with Mothercare. Oh, and you can't try it in your car before you buy it. That is today's project -- get the car seats returned. Ughh!

Travel Dates

We on officially on the books! We actually have 2 ceremony dates, March 23 or March 26. Apparently, the province has a lot of ceremonies to process on the 23rd, so they scheduled the 26th as an overflow date. Our agency is trying to get one firm date, but at least we are officially on the schedule now.

More pictures

Thanks to a person (whom I've never met) that I was introduced to by another person (whom I never met) on a Yahoo group.....we have NEW pictures!

Her family is in VN to pick up their little girl this week from the same province as Audrey & Quynh. So, her husband spent time with our girls snapping some photos.

Q&A - 2007.02.28

Still waiting...

Well, we are still waiting to hear final travel dates. Apparently, the meeting to request the ceremony date will be held today or tomorrow, so we should know something very soon.

In the meantime, here is a video our agency took when they were in Vietnam recently (can be seen at www.adoptionbuzz.org). The orphanage is indeed where Audrey & Quynh are, maybe you can catch a glimpse of them.

In comparison, this is a very small orphanage with about 14 babies @ that time and 6 caretakers.

Chuc Mung Nam Moi!

Happy Lunar New Year! All this means is another week of wait time for us!

The process goes like this...

Under Vietnamese Law, the referral process is 120 days (excluding identification of an orphan child eligible for intercountry adoption). Of this 120 day period, 90 days is designated for compilation of the baby dossier and 30 days is designated for Review/Approval from the DIA and Province (in 4 steps): 1) DIA approves adoptive family dossier; 2) Province approves Dossier and presents baby dossier to DIA; 3)DIA approves baby dossier and confirms match to the approved family; 4)Provinces approves the family/baby and assigns the hand-over ceremony.

We have completed the 90 day period and are in the 30 day Review/Approval period and have completed step 1. Now our dossier is in the province, but Tet (Lunar New Year) will cause it to sit there an extra few days while the country celebrates.

So, we (not so) patiently wait to hear our travel dates. Hopefully we are only delayed by a week.

Update

Not much to update everyone on. We received confirmation that our Cable 37 was received by the US Consulate in Hanoi. That's very good news as it seems all our paperwork goes into this black hole and we never really know where or when it is received. Cable 37 is the receipt of our USCIS approval notice by the US Consulate in Hanoi. And, it also confirms that we are allowed to adopt 1-2 infants from Vietnam. So, one more little step completed. It seems that now everything follows a very specific sequence. We are still awaiting our ceremony date and until then, we can't make any air/hotel reservations.

More soon!

Thank you!

Thank you all for your well wishes & congrats! We hope to know more tonight about travel dates. Our agency now estimates the Giving & Receiving Ceremony (G&R) to be around the first week in March. We will be in Vietnam for about 2-3 weeks for the entire process to take place.

We will keep you updated and add pictures as we have them.

Thanks again!!

B&W

Audrey Mai & Elizabeth Quynh!

Introducing our girls!! Below is a pic of their orphanage, click on it to see more pics!!

Can't wait to let you know more!!

By the way, we will be calling the chubbier one Audrey & the thinner one Quynh.

Audrey weighs 4.4 kg or about 9 lbs, 11 oz and Quynh weighs 3.7 kg or 8 lbs, 3 oz.

DOB -- December 9, 2006 (abandoned)
Place -- Phu Tho Province (near Hanoi)

Babies!

New Zealand

Pics from our New Zealand trip over Christmas 2006...

From New Zealand