A dear friend of mine and mother of three boys asked if there was anything we needed before we left for Vietnam.

I responded:
"Here is what I need - a condensed manual on how to deal with two boys. Can you get that to me in the next ten days? Oh, and can it include how to cross the Pacific without a major meltdown? ha."

Here is her response:
I have already written the manual. It is made up of the following instructions...

Take Wellbutrin

Laugh A lot

Say "serenity now" frequently

Take advantage of naptimes

Keep a "tee-tee bottle" (an empty coke one will suffice) in your car at all times

Check the pockets of their pants EVERY TIME you do the laundry before washing

Be prepared for all family secrets to be revealed by them in the check out line at Wal-Mart (the audience is usually very attentive)

Actually, scratch the latter, do not take both of them to Wal-Mart at the same time - shop late at night - ALONE

Back to the above, if you must shop with them, use the deli's free cookie as good shopping behavior blackmail

An entire bottle of Sunscreen spilled WILL ruin your carpet

Boys like to pee outside (and even on your brick)

When one of them gets the stomach virus, all of them do

Avoid red drinks (refer back to the above)

Take some comfort and satisfaction that your husband has to be the one to take them to the bathroom when you are at a restaurant. (For some reason, nature always calls in public places).

And last but not least, enjoy every minute with them! Being the mom of boys is a great blessing!!

I can't wait to meet Mr. Liam!

Melissa

Thanks, Melissa! You're the best.
Anyone else have something to add to the list?

tickets and visas - done

Plane tickets and passports with visas arrived today! One more thing to check off the list. We also have a travel itinerary from our agency and our hotel reservations have been made for us. That's progress.

Now - packing. The bags are out and piles have started to form around various rooms of the house. There are lists. Liam list. Ben list. Rob and Tricia list. Most of Liam's things have been gathered - that we already have. I am realizing that there are quite a few things that we don't have - like clothes. In my mind, he was always bigger than he is in reality - so now it is time to do some shopping. Another list...

Flights Booked

Wow - what a day! The tickets are booked and we are flying all the way through to HCMC with the Russell's! Hurray - playmates for Ben and Zoe (the Russell's 5 year old daughter). We leave on the 14th - arrive in HCMC on the 16th. That is approximately 33 hours of travel time. That will be fun!

We will spend that night in HCMC and leave the next morning for Vinh Long where we will spend the day in Ben's province. That night, the 17th, we will stay in Can Tho and on the 18th we will MEET LIAM! ONLY 14 DAYS! I can't believe it is so close. We have four sweet pictures of our little man - we can't wait to see his smiling face in person.

Now, time to pack pack pack.

Giving & Receiving - June 19th!

We have a date! June 19th - Liam will be ours!

Working with the travel agent on the tickets. Hoping to leave on the 14th so that we can spend some time in Vinh Long before traveling on to Can Tho. Will update when we know our itinerary. Visa applications went in the mail today! Hurray. Little Liam - we are on our way! 17 days and counting...

Our friends, the Russell's, got their approval today as well and will be traveling for Sam at the same time! This is much anticipated news and we couldn't be happier for them.

Here We Go Again...

To Vietnam!

We have I-600 Pre-Approval!

As of 4:19am, this morning, we have pre-approval for Liam's visa. We will get our G&R date early next week and then we can book our plane tickets. Now it is time to get out the luggage and start packing.

Will update as soon as we hear our travel date.

Happy 5 Month Old - Little Liam!

Liam turned five months old today. It is amazing to think that he was a tiny five weeks old the day we first learned about him. We are currently waiting for the US Citizenship and Immigration Services office in HCMC to give us pre-approval for Liam's visa. Once we check this off the list, we will be heading to Vietnam. It could be any day or possibly months. We will be notified via email so we check quite frequently to see if the coveted email has arrived. Hoping the wait is closer to "any day" than "a few months". We can't wait to see his precious little face and kiss him all over. Big brother Ben is very ready to see Liam face to face. Gotta go check the email....

Happy Baby!

We received two new photos of Liam and a height and weight update! This is such a gift during a stressful and uncertain time in the adoption world. We learned last week that our government might be putting a new policy into place. We do not know at this time how this policy might affect our adoption of Liam. We are praying that the potential delays will not increase our wait time to travel past the end of summer. In the mean time, we are enjoying looking at our smiling baby boy!