Our first care package

As luck would have it, we happened to get our referral just as a family with our same agency adopting from the same orphanage was leaving for Vietnam. The family had offered to bring care packages (thank you Wendy!!). The little pink power ranger shirt our little girl is wearing in her referral picture is rather worn and thin. I'm sure she doesn't care. But I want to send her some new, soft clothes from us. Finding infant clothes that are not onsies is very difficult. They don't use diapers in the orphanage, they only use shirts and pants. In my hunt for clothes (at the eleventh hour because I had to make the fed-ex the next morning) I found several pairs of pull-on pants and some little tops, a hat, some socks, and a soft blanket. The items get stuffed into a gallon ziploc bag so that they don't take up too much room for the family taking them. I wrote Mattine a note telling her that we loved her. At least, I hope that is what I wrote- it was late and I was having a hard time finding an on-line Vietnamese translator. Did I mention that we did this the night we received our referral call? I just couldn't think about sleep and wanted her to know how much she is already loved and how much more love there is to come. I hope she gets to wear the clothes or that a child in her orphanage gets to wear them.

A little schooling

This educational excerpt is from Wikipedia. Thái Nguyên Province is a province situated in mountainous and midland region of North Vietnam. Thái Nguyên is not a large province and accounts only 1.13% of the country's area and 1.41% of its population or approximately 1,095,400 individuals. The climate of Thái Nguyên has two clearly distinguished seasons: the rainy one from May to October and dry one from October to May. It rains most in August and least in January. Generally speaking, Thái Nguyên's climate is favourable for developing agriculture and forestry. And lastly, here is a little information about names in Vietnam. Vietnamese names generally consist of three parts: a family name, a middle name, and a given name, used in that order. Like their Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and other counterparts, this is in accordance to the East Asian system of personal names. The family name, positioned first, is passed on by the father to his children. It is estimated that there are around one hundred family names in common use, although some are far more common than others. The name Nguyen is estimated to be used by almost 40% of the Vietnamese population. In Vietnamese cultural practice, women almost always keep their family names once they marry, just as in other Eastern Asian cultures, including Chinese culture, to the north and northeast. The middle name, or more correctly, intercalary name is selected by parents from a fairly narrow range. In the past, almost all women had Thi as their middle name, and many men had Văn. The given name, or last name, is the primary form of address for Vietnamese. It is chosen by parents, and usually has a literal meaning in the Vietnamese language. For women, names often represent beauty, such as bird or flower names. For men, names often reflect attributes and characteristics that the parents want in their child, such as modesty.
Typically, Vietnamese will be addressed with their given name, even in formal situations, although an honorific equivalent to "Mr.", "Mrs.", etc. will be added when necessary. This contrasts with the situation in many other cultures, where the family name is used in formal situations.

Today is the day.......

This morning around 10:30 we were pleased to find out that we had become proud parents to a beautiful little girl in north Vietnam. She is perfect. She has stolen our hearts. Her name is Mattine. We are hoping to travel soon. We are elated and so thankful that we get to share this experience with friends and family around us.

We received a very profound e-mail from a friend, "Sept 11th is a day that we truly realize how precious life is. What a perfect day for this news!" We couldn't agree more and are humbled by this day.

With peace and joy in our hearts.......

We got a gift today!

This is so exciting because we really haven't gotten any gifts yet for Mattine. Don't get me wrong we have received tons of fabrics for her quilt which have been amazing to open and have kept me very busy BUT an actual gift for our little one with her name on it. And of course, I have picked up a few items on sale that would have been a crime to leave behind at the store but other than that.... What a great surprise! This is from my best friend and her family. I just love it and I have already placed it in her dresser with everything we are taking with us to Vietnam. It has been a wonderful day going to the mailbox- very few bills and a present!

Names have been changed to protect the innocent....

The following is an excerpt from a Vietnam adoption website that I follow. I haven't stopped laughing since (although it is not entirely funny but still very profound) and I hope nobody minds that I repeated it and of course changed the names so that identities will be protected. It goes to show the lack of sensitivity for adoptive parents and their children. I know humor goes a long way in getting through difficult situations and this could not have come at a better time. Well-said fellow PAP!

"Let me start by saying I’m not one usually to get on a soap box but, my step mother convinced me to sign up with several of the formula companies so I could receive their coupons. I am getting really irritated with them telling me where I should be at in my pregnancy each month, and/or offering me a coupon to get the free gift bag when I deliver at the hospital. I have emailed a few of them explaining that I feel there advertising and marketing is discriminatory and offensive, because they make no effort to differentiate and market to adoptive parents. One company sent me an email in response directing me to a remote section of their website that discusses adoption, but yet I still receive weekly and monthly emails about my supposed progress in my pregnancy. Anyone else frustrated by this?

The following is an excerpt from what I received and my suggested change to it:

As received:

Hi Pregnant Female (insert name),
You're almost there! Your baby now weighs about 7 pounds and now has about 300 bones in her body, some of which fuse together in her first few years of life. Read more about Week 39.

Should read:

Hi Prospective Adoptive Parent (PAP),

You’re almost there! You’re paperwork now weighs about 7 pounds and now has about 300 signatures, notarizations and authentications in your completed dossier. You’re baby is probably celebrating her first few weeks of life.