March 1, 2008

Hi all. I'm having a friend post this for me. I haven't been able to access the blog since we got to Danang. Here are the updates and a few pictures.I sent this upon arriving in Danang:That's where we are RIGHT NOW. We're at the Sandy Beach Resort in Danang. It's breezy, around 65 degrees, and oh, we have our own private bungalow. Yeah! It's amazing. The bungalow is actually a bit smaller than our room last time, but it has a private entrance, private patio, and we're on the BEACH. That would be China Beach. It couldn't get better than this! Oh, but it does. We're meeting our daughter in 16 hours!! We'll get to spend a couple hours with her tomorrow morning, then get her for good on Monday afternoon. So let me back up to the beginning (this is going to be long). The flight to LA wasn't too bad. We only slept 30 minutes each, but it was only a 4-hour flight. Of course, after an hour in the international terminal (which is in HORRIBLE condition-exposed insulation, no ceiling tiles, etc.), Dylan had his first meltdown. It was completely expected, since it was around midnight our time and he hadn't been to sleep. So he laid in the floor, screamed as loud as he could and nothing could calm him. I held him and sang to him and he finally calmed down, though. The LONG leg (14 hours) from LA to Taipei was great. He didn't cry one time. He slept 8 hours (4 hours at a time) and was just a happy little boy the rest of the time. He watched movies, played with his new favorite car (a blue Lightening McQueen from grandma) and looked out the window. He loves looking out the window. The layover in Taipei was short and they had an awesome playground. I won't be too upset if we have to stay longer on the way back, since there's something to keep them entertained. It's also the most beautiful airport I've ever seen. Tons of live plant scenes. I'll share pictures later, but I got a ton at that airport!The last leg (Taipei to Hanoi) was easy. Dylan slept in my arms the entire 3 hours. In Hanoi, we met our travel partner (a single mom and her 8-year-old daughter, adopted from China). Our facilitator met us at the airport and flew with us to Danang. We had first class tickets and I don't know if I can ever go back to economy! Ok, I can't afford first class all the time, but wow-it's incredible. Fully-reclining seats, tons of leg room, wider seats. Too bad the flight was only an hour!Once in Danang, we came straight to the Sandy Beach and settled in. I haven't gotten the pics off my camera yet, so I'll probably be sending another email in an hour or two. I'll upload ALL pics to photobucket, and link in the good ones. But they'll all be there if anyone wants to check them out. I'll send the link once I've set it up.I hope everyone has a wonderful leap day and I can't wait to share pictures of my first meeting with my daughter tomorrow!
This one is from right after meeting Madison.We finally met Maddie! She's so sweet, and laughs a LOT. It's easy to make her smile and laugh. We were a little shocked when we saw her, honestly. With Dylan, he was perfect-clear skin, developmentally ahead, etc. Maddie has a raging case of scabies, so she has scabs all over her scalp, bald spots, flat spots on her head from laying in the crib, no trunk control (sitting up), not crawling yet, etc. But those are all things we can deal with. No big deal. We have medicine for the scabies. We can work with her on her motor skills. She's our daughter and she's perfect for us! I didn't want to leave, but we had to. They fed her and I rocked her and sang her to sleep, then put her in her crib and said goodbye. It was a great meeting.The pictures are in an album on photobucket here: http://s133.photobucket.com/albums/q71/DylanAVWright/Vietnam%202008/?start=allPassword is danangEnjoy! Stephanie