Emma's Welcome Home Shower.....

Saturday my great friends gave Emma Duong a "Welcome Home" shower. It was wonderful and Emma got many gifts. I was really unsure of how she would react, and yes she definately was over-stimulated, but she loved it and was really good. It did not take her long to understand that every present was hers and she had a blast opening and playing with her presents. As you can tell from the pictures the shower took a wrong turn when we came upon presents wrapped in purple and white (a color combination that Emma will learn to dislike). Inside the presents were all kinds items bearing some weird Kansas State Wildcat logo. Naturally one of the outfits she chose to wear the next day (yes we go through at least two outfits a day) was the awful purple and white. She still has alot to learn!!!!! Emma also got some dress up clothes that she ended the day in. She wants to wear them to school tomorrow but unfortunately for her, mom has the last word in what she wears to school.

Emma and I are definately adjusting to each other. For all she is going through she is doing great, probably better than I am right now. Although we can communicate with each other fairly well, I really miss the ability to ask her how she is doing and what she thinks about her new life. This week I am going to try and set up a meeting with a Vietnamese family that can talk to her and just make sure she is okay. Based on her actions alone I think she is fine but would like confirmation. She is picking up English words every day, Thank you, I love you, School, Mimi, Oh no, Patty, Bye bye, hot.... She still calls me the Vietnamese name for mom.

First Day of School.......

Today Emma started school and it was a successful day! Since we still have the language barrier I asked Thomas from my adoption agency to ride with me to drop her off and explain where she was going and that I would be back to pick her up. Thomas is from Vietnam and visiting the home office of my agency. Although it was obvious she was nervous and scared to get out of the car she did with no tears. School is only for an hour this week. When I came back to pick her up she was walked to my car by one of her teachers who said everything went well. The other teacher gave me two thumbs up. Parents are not allowed to get out of the car, it strictly pull in let your child get out with help from teachers and leave. Emma says school and I have heard this word several times today. Tonight we picked out her clothes for school and she was so excited. She understood exactly what were were doing. I know she misses being around children and the school setting has to be close to her days in the orphanage, or at least closer than spending everyday with me. I put Emma in school so soon for two reasons: 1. I did not want her to start in the middle of school when the other children were already comfortable with each other; and 2. She is 5 1/2 and very social. She has been with me for just 3 weeks and I already know that she is a child that needs to be around other children. School is starting very slowly with this first week at only one hour. Next week will be three hours and then when the teachers think she is ready school will go all day.

She is doing so well I am amazed. She no longer cries at bedtime but tonight did stomp her little leg when I put down our book and turned off the light. Stomping quit and she was asleep in 5 minutes. She loves taking a bath and figured out how to take a bath all on her own. I think it is really a condensed swim lesson as she is floating on her back and pushing off on end to the next most of the time, but still, she loves it. There are sad/tearful times but I am not sure what causes them. Tired? Communication issues? Sad? Probably a mix of all the changes in her little life. The sad/tearful times do not come often.

There are a few things that Emma does that are probably related to orphanage living. I found a banana in the hall closet. She eats like a little pig (but she is eating and I am glad). She is very independant. Although she is sleeping in my bed she wants no covers and does not use the pillow. She is very loud and can be rough if not watched when she is around other kids. When she falls, and she has several times, she laughs. I have never seen her cry from a mishap and some of them have been pretty hard.

Cats are traumatized, dog wonders why on earth this little one has moved in, but all in all we are doing great!

We are HOME!!!

Emma and I left Hanoi Friday at 7:15 pm and landed in Ho Chi Minh City around 10:00pm where we spent the night at the Rex Hotel one more time. Left Ho Chi Minh City for Hong Kong at 6:15 am Saturday. With only 3 hours of sleep, Emma was a trooper so early in the morning. United was kind enough to upgrade the first leg of our trip to business class. We had a two hour lay over in Hong Kong before heading to San Francisco. While waiting we met a Vietnamese family who lived in Denver and mapped out a plan for them to help me with the language barrier during the long flight. All of my concerns vanished when I met this wonderful family, but unfortunately they were flying standby and were bumped from my flight.

Entering the plane I asked for a Vietnamese speaking flight attendant but there were none, so they requested any passengers fluent in Vietnamese and English to please come forward. Passenger in row 40D ended up saving the day. Having been adopted himself he was more than happy to help and changed seats to sit with us for the 12 hour flight. Since Emma was done with the flight after 4 hours it was extremely helpful to have someone explain to her what was going on. Flight ended up being fine and really overwith faster than I thought it would be. In San Francisco my brother and his family were waiting to see us. We got to spend about 30 minutes with them before my next flight left for Denver.

From Denver we ran from gate 29 to 92 to get the commuter plane to Tulsa and arrived home at 6:20 Saturday evening.

This detail of my flight is for anyone traveling in the future. United has a great discount for adopting parents just keep in mind: 1) They do not fly out of Hanoi so you will have to pick up your visa and jump on a plane back to Ho Chi Minh City where you will have to spend the night to catch a 6:10am flight. 2) In total you will make 5 plane changes and one very short overnight...... It was hard but Emma made it through with flying colors.

I am so thankful to be home and Emma is holding up well. Very tired, but day one was a success. Trying hard to find food she likes. Found Cup of Noodles and she ate the whole thing for lunch. I know how hard and confusing this time must be in her little life and am now going to do my best to make this transition as smooth as possible. She spent quality time with her Mimi today and met several of my friends. Tomorrow I am leaving her with Mimi to check in at work for half a day..time to get life back in order. Oh, and I am not leaving the state of Oklahoma until our Hawaii vacation one year from now. There is no place like home - period. I understand this cannot feel like home to Emma, but it is her home now and she has alot of support in Oklahoma to make this her home as quickly as possible.

Emma Duong loves the water...........

Emma Duong is more comfortable every day in the pool. Stays in the kiddie pool and stays close to the edge but she jumps in forward and backwards and has a blast. This will be high on the list of things to do when we get home. She's had a good day. Three times at the pool. Shopping, the lake and time with the other family. Crying is still there but we are getting there and will be home soon to deal with our issues. I have no qualms about asking for help anymore. The engineer was in here tonight while she was crying and I had him talk to her.. It worked, she hasn't cried since he left!

She repeats everything I say to her. I think the language switch will be fairly easy when we get home and she has no one to converse with in Vietnamese. I don't think I have taped her voice here in Vietnam but I will try to do that quickly when I get home before she starts throwing in english with her vietnamese.

All of our paperwork is done and our agency is bringing us the sealed papers that the US Immigration will keep when we arrive in San Francisco tomorrow at 4pm. After that we are free to go home. Will catch a 7pm flight back to Ho Chi Minh City, check into the Rex and back to the airport for a 6am flight home!!!!

This hotel is great! Lots of international people here, on business, adopting, vacationing. Restaurant is the closest to home I have had since I've been here. Pool is fabulous. One note to people traveling - the washer/dryer is an all in one unit and Melanie and I both could not get our clothes dry. I did get one load of clothes washed while I was here and dried them on a clothes rack.

I love Hanoi..........

We are in Hanoi and I am loving it. Different character than Ho Chi Minh City. The hotel is great!!! On the 4th floor there is a awesome swimming pool and kiddie pool; outdoor playground; indoor playground and a restaurant that is really good. Within 10 minutes of the hotel is shopping (which Emma Duong loves to do) and a park. Only saw the park at night but our waitress said people take there kids there every day. I've got two days to burn and surely I can keep Miss Emma Duong on the go and happy here.

Plan ride was fine. Just like everyone warned, the seat belt was the struggle. Tears putting it on and then after we were airborne I didn't fight the battle. I am a bit worried about the plane trip home but my plan is to find someone who speaks vietnamese to help me on the trip to Hong Kong and then on the trip to San Fran. I am a pro at asking for help now and I know each part of the trip will go better if she can communicate.

My picture taking is slowing down but hopefully I can get some pictures tomorrow at the pool.

2 more days and then we're coming home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!