June 30, 2008

Yesterday was Cuong's birthday. He is now one year old! Where has the time gone? When we got our referral, J- and I commented on him being so young.

Now, 6.5 months later, we still wait to bring him home. Still waiting for the I-600. We are now past five months of waiting for it. Yes, FIVE months!

I did buy him the cutest book yesterday. It is a "Scanimation" picture book. The title is Gallop! and it is by Rufus Butler Seder. The illustrations look like they are in motion. It is a cool book! The text is simple and pages are pretty durable.

Proud Mama

Tatertot and I were at Kohl's looking around today. She spotted their Kung Fu Panda display and fell in love with the stuffed panda. I told her we weren't buying it and she said, "But Baby Brother will love it." After I stated I wasn't buying it, she asked if she could buy it. I asked her if she is willing to use some of her birthday money and she said she was. She is such a giving child. What a proud feeling it gives me to know she is so loving of a child she hasn't seen other than a picture. She is going to make a wonderful big sister.

What do beavers make?

Here we are sitting in our room at the Chattanooga Choo Choo hotel. Tatertot and J- were playing a game of UNO and I was going through the suitcases looking for something. I heard "UNO". J- won the game. Then, I heard it!

Tatertot "d***"
Me- What did you say?
T- d***
Me- We don't say that word
T- Mama, I said D***
Me- Well, we don't say that word!!!!
T- Mama, It is what a beaver makes. (said in a most sincere manner)
Me- (Trying hard not to fall over laughing)
When you lost the game and said that word, it isn't a nice word.
T- But it is what beavers make!!!
Me- The way you meant it, made it a bad word. We don't say it.
T- (again she says) But it is what beavers make!
Me (Still trying not to let her see me laugh)
I say the Mama thing... "Mama doesn't want you to say that word, it isn't a nice word to say
even when you hear others say the word."

What will she come up with next??
Anyway, it made a funny story to tell my family. We were all together in Tennessee for my niece's high school graduation. It was nice to have most of the family together!

What we know....

Nate is now 11 months old.
We want Nate home!!
He is still in Thanh Hoa.
Thanh Hoa is still blocked.
We have been waiting for our I-600 for more than 120 days.
Vietnam has given us IAD approval.
It is past time for our son to be home!!

Wizard of Oz

Tatertot is going to be five years old on the 26th. About a month ago, I asked her what kind of party/cake she wanted to have. She replied, "Wizard of Oz". She loves the movie, especially the Wicked Witch. Go figure...

So, I got on the internet looking for ideas. I found a lot of games and activities, but not many decorations. The few things I saw, were expensive. I decided to go with balloons, since there was the hot air balloons and rainbows. She wants a cookie cake, so I'm going to make her one. We'll see how things progress over the next few days...

105

105...What an interesting number. 105 is a very high fever, an A+ on a test, a day too hot to be outside. In our case, 105 is the number of days we have waited for our I-600. Sucks!!!

IAD

Our agency called today to say we now have IAD approval. It wasn't suppose to come for another week, so was good news. However, we are well past 90 days of waiting for our I-600.

Tatertot is feeling much better today. She took a 2 hour nap and feels good. She is running around the living room and rolling on the floor. We need to go outside~~~ Too much energy for me and the house.