Pandas and other

I keep waking up with this nervous anxious feeling. I wonder is today the day that the Vietnam program opens for our agency? I can hardly stand it any longer, I keep being told that "with in a month it should be open" only to have that month come and go. I figure if the agency re-opens we should hear first thing in the morning because of the time change in Vietnam. No happy e-mail this morning, Fridays are particularly difficult because of the weekly update that gets sent from the agency.Last friday there was no news to update but when I e-mailed the agency requesting some information from them they told me about how the interview with the Hanoi police went well and they are awaiting a letter of recommendation and then their license will be issued. HELLO is that not some news? It's a hell of a lot better than "nothing to report". Oh, I hope tomorrow brings good news to everyone waiting for agency license, referral, travel approval... whatever you are waiting for "good luck"

On another note, I was watching T.V the other night and I saw a commercial for a well known toy company. There were many cute babies of all races on the commercial which obviously caught my eye. Just as I was noticing the very cute Asian baby I noticed the toy the baby had in his/her hand... a panda bear. I thought figures give the Asian baby the panda bear I'm sure pandas must be his favorite animal in the world! I never thought before that I would be the type of person to get annoyed at things like that, maybe I was blowing the whole thing out of proportion, maybe he really did want to play with the panda, but somehow I doubt it.
Overly sensitive already and the baby isn't even home yet, oh boy.

Construction has begun

After a year long wait, our family home has started being built. Our original closing date has come and gone. As you can see by the photos, it's probably a good thing we aren't moving in. We've just learned that the builder has gone with a new siding company and we're not quite sure what colours we'll be getting. They've asked us to "knock on wood" and hope we get what we want. So stay tuned to see what colours our builder chooses and to see if our house will match the nice drawing they've given us. (Let's hope it won't be purple!)

A new baby mover

The longer we wait, the more time we have to prepare.
My husband's sports car was getting too old so we traded it in for a minivan. For us it's one step closer to becoming parents, so it does help with the wait. Although it does feel bare without a baby seat!

closer

According to our agencies update this past friday things are progressing towards accreditation. They are awaiting the last two final steps in the process. 1)The agency office in Ho Chi Minh city has been inspected and a letter of recommendation is awaiting signature, 2) signature from the Hanoi police?. These two last steps could be completed in two seconds or......forever. Hopefully closer to two seconds! Keep your fingers crossed I have a good feeling about this week.

Possibly number 21?

So the update this week is that it will take another month or so until accreditation. No one is telling me why they believe it will be another month but at least it's not the worst news in the world. Also, from past e-mails I have concluded that we are probably number 21 on the Vietnam adoption list with our agency. I also think that we are the 2nd family in line open to adopting a boy. I'm not really sure how they will be processing the files, but in my head being 2nd to getting a boy sounds pretty good.
I'ts estimated to be approx. 6 months after our dossier is filed in Vietnam to referral of a boy, and then travel is 4-8 weeks later. I'm able to wait that long I hope. I really believe we will be referred a boy and it's getting harder to pass by the baby section and not pick something up. I just don't want to buy tons of boy things only to turn around and "SURPRISE your getting a girl" (not that I wouldn't want a girl, but I'd be surprised). I suppose I could always donate the other items to the orphanage. I'm not saying that we haven't bought anything... We purchased a stroller/carseat, and a few 12 month old gender nuetral sleepers. Hopefully we hear more soon from the agency and then I will be more comfortable with buying baby things because the adoption will be moving forward.