I've been really sick. Thanks be, I felt better for a huge chunk of the day
yesterday to really enjoy it but the long day took its toll and I was a mess
by last night. You know if I don't blog it is because I am really sick. So
that's the deal. The idea of sitting down to jot down all my thoughts was so
overwhelming that I just couldn't do it. It was easier to upload pictures
and video, for sure.

Today I took the Big Drugs - more cold meds, advil, and started the
antibiotics. I sure hope the antib's work - and fast. I am done feeling
horrible. I want to get out of here and explore and soak in this wonderful
city!

I do have a LONG blog entry I have written and almost complete about the
G&R. I'm not sure if I'll post it because it is really boring to almost all
of you. Bottom line: we drove out, we got baby, she smiled, I sobbed, she
giggled at her Daddy, I sobbed, she slept in my arms, I sobbed. That was
yesterday.

She is extremely happy and mellow, almost to a fault. After having 3
high-strung little boys, it is quite the change of pace. You can actually
lay her down and she'll put herself to sleep - who knew? And last night she
slept from 8:30 pm until 7:30 this morning. That's some crazy sleep! She out
slept us all, in fact, and Noah was positively pissed that he could not see
her immediately upon waking and that he could not pick out her clothes right
away. Haha. She has yet to cry, she does not even fuss. We don't really know
when she's hungry so we randomly feed her and she eats. She could care less
what is in the bottle or the temperature or the nipple. She just goes with
the flow. She's a very engaged baby - she loves to just stare into our eyes,
very deeply. I lose myself in those eyes.

Today she is starting to blossom. She starting talking up a storm which is
so much fun - here's some video:

Thursday, November 2, 2006




And she does a little sad face when
she wakes up and sees me which might mean she is sad she isn't with her
familiar nannies or possibly she is hungry. She cheers up when she sees her
Ba (daddy) and then I feed her and she is happy for a few hours until she
falls asleep. She is getting very mobile very fast. She will roll and scoot
and turn all over the bed. She still needs to build a lot of neck and back
muscles, she is far from sitting but pretty close to crawling.

The brothers are over the moon. I expected as much from Noah and Teegan (who
is a baby magnet - everyone who sees him hands him their baby! Haha) but
Dalton has been a nice surprise. He is absolutely head over heels in love
with her. He is not at all a baby person. He was never in love like this
with his brothers. It is so touching to see and hear how absolutely he
adores her, how he needs to see her, check on her all the time while she's
sleeping. He is the best big brother ever. He is also the kid in our family
who was not interested in adopting. That is, until Vietnam opened up and
then he was all for it. So it is neat to see how much this has touched his
life. It is like he has become a parent himself. It is amazing.

There is no jealousy at all but the boys are absolutely obsessed with
Addison. That has been the only frustration so far, exacerbated by my head
cold which in general makes me want to be in a vacuum without sound. It
sounds weird to complain about my adoring children but there are times when
she just wants to play and does not need 10 different toys dangled by 6
separate hands all at once! Haha. Thankfully they are pretty good at going
off and playing when asked and this apartment is so huge that I can get some
quiet time with her (and for myself) when needed. But I both hope and resist
the idea that the novelty of her will wear off soon, if that makes sense.

I have another blog entry I am writing that details some of my feelings
about this country. I'll post that later.

Thank you all for the continual emails and comments. So many have made me
cry and feel so blessed. I love you all!