Visa interview day.

Another big day began with lunch at 11:00.  Miss Oh took us to an office building nearby the US Embassy to eat before our visa interview.  We all put in requests for food and Miss Oh did the ordering, since you checked squares on a form to order which was written in Thai.  A few minutes later, bowl and plate after bowl and plate showed up on our table.  They were passed around family style so we could try lots of new foods and flavors.

Anyone want to guess what the brown cubes are in the curry above?

Coagulated blood cubes.  Um, yes.  I did say cubes of dried up blood.  ...and yes, that is T about to take a big bite.  Thai delicacy, for sure.  I wasn't brave enough to try it.

J and T's daughter C kept us laughing by packing food into her mouth.  Hours later J would have to fish it out before she fell asleep.  Many orphanage children store food in their cheeks, maybe because they want to get as much food as possible?  They may not trust when they will get more?  Not sure, but Sweet P has started doing this occasionally since we arrived home.  

Bathroom pictures don't usually make the blog, but I had to take this one for two reasons.  1. C is so darn cute and tiny!  She is hardly taller than J's knee when she is standing!  2. I should have observed others grabbing toilet paper before entering the stall... that got me in trouble a time or two and I had to holler for help.  Many Thai restrooms had both "western toilet" (as in the only kind you see in America) and otherwise (as in squatty potties that I first encountered in Japan).

We left from lunch to go across the street to the US Embassy.  We were escorted into a waiting room after being screened and checking in our cameras.  No pictures are allowed in or around the Embassy, including on the street outside.  The visa interview consisted of us going up to a bank-like window and signing a few forms for our paperwork in front of an American Embassy employee.

So, here's where the huge smiles come from... the US govt was expecting a shut-down.  When we went to the window to submit our paperwork, the lady told us Sweet P's visa would hopefully be ready in a matter of hours (instead of days) in case the shutdown did indeed happen.  The guys in our group waited it out while the mommies took the kids back to the hotel to rest.

K returned with visa in hand just before dinner.  HOORAY!  Right away our wheels started turning, and K got on the phone to see about changing our airline tickets.  It was Friday.  Our flight home to our other two kiddos wasn't until Wednesday.  Praise the Lord, we were able to change them without charge!  Then days later our last three hotel nights were refunded!  Blessings all around. 

For our next-to-last night in Bangkok, we hit a really small night market nearby our hotel. I had a few more purchases to make for Sweet P to give as gifts later in life:  graduation, wedding, etc.  I was also able to snag a beautiful photo of a floating market that will hang in our home in Nevada.  

Thai version of Starbucks! 

These last two pictures are of street vendors and their goods.  

We took a quick taxi ride back to the hotel to sleep before our final full day in Bangkok.  More on it soon.  Blessings, angela

finally, the long-awaited zoo trip.

It was good to finally make it to the zoo, after the shenanigans that went on when we got taken to Safari World.  The taxi drivers in Bangkok must take the same short-course, because our driver this day said "Oh, zoo too small.  I take you much better."  Um, got roped into that charade once before.  Not going to make that mistake again.  No thanks.  

It honestly took a little convincing to get him to take us just across the city to Dusit Zoo.  Although smaller than Safari World, it was much closer and a super cheap morning outing ($1.60 for adults and $0.33 for children).  Mind you, it was sweaty hot so thankfully we didn't feel it a waste to leave after only a couple hours.  

The tigers here were much further away, so our children were safe.  (see this post for details!)

This is Chitralada Palace, the equivalent of the White House in Thailand.  It's right next door, so it was beautiful to see it from different points around the zoo.  

Who knew even Thai kiddos want to be in the US Air Force?

The royal palace.

We had an up close encounter with elephants again.  They are amazing creatures.  

I have never been more miserable at a sea lion show sitting in 90+ degree heat and trying to figure out what on earth they were talking about -- and there was an excess of talking going on and not so much performance.

Throughout the streets of Bangkok, pictures of the king are everywhere.  This display was near the king's palace.  There is no mistake, the people of Thailand love their king.

It didn't seem that Sweet P has experienced ice much, if ever.  We thankfully grabbed a drink before getting in the taxi (since traffic was heavy due to a public holiday) to go back for nap time, and I fed her ice chips.  This was the expression she gave us!

The more we laughed, the more she did it.  

For many days after this occasion, she made this face after eating the first bite of anything... because she enjoyed our reaction.  I already know it's going to be fun having her in our home forever!  

Bring on the drama.  

Bring on the comedy.

interview day.

April 5th marks a big day for Sweet P.  We signed the final paper in Thailand to mark us as Sweet P's parents forever.  We still must follow up with three post-placement reports done by a social worker at 2, 4 and 6 months here in America.  ...but she's ours.  Music to my ears!

Awaiting our interview with the adoption board.     

It was much like I expected... we walked into an office and were met by three ladies behind a desk.  The one in the middle did all the talking.  She flipped through all our paperwork and asked us questions, many I could never have expected beforehand.  Many about K's profession.  Many about our home state of Virginia, including "What president is from Virginia?''  Oh good grief, I'm awful at history, but luckily I do know Jefferson's home Monticello is just up I-64 from us.  Then she went on to ask about the cherry blossoms in D.C. and then asked if we have cherry trees in our yard.  Fortunately, we do.  White blossoms.  Yes, she asked.  


She also asked if we can still have children.  Considering my youngest was born two and a half years ago, I thought it a weird question, since we have spent the last year or so in the process to adopt Sweet P.  I don't think one year postpartum is enough time to give up and decide you're infertile, is it?  (especially for you breastfeeding moms, aren't you unable to conceive for a good long while after you gave birth?)  So, it was weird to be asked.  


But where she was going was her next question:  "If you got pregnant again, would four children be too many?"  I guess she wondered if we would mail Sweet P back??  We quickly told her no, four is not too many, as we hope to adopt more!  

 This face is of our guilty Sweet P, she figured out where I keep the lollipops and was helping herself.

 This is that evening as we returned to our hotel with groceries, helping out with the buttons.

 This video is cute of her toddling to our room.  It's fun to see her understanding more and more.  I'm so in love with this little girl!  

down time.

Generally down time in Thailand meant one of two things:  park time or pool time.  Thankfully Lumpini Park was down the street from us, so after mornings of appointments and such, we'd walk down to the park for some fun.  

One evening we met T + J + their cute girlies at the park.  Most of our time was spent watching two komodo dragons battle it out over a dead fish.  Discovery Channel in the flesh.  It was frightening.  I didn't get the big fight on video because it felt much too close for comfort.  

We were just in time - but not properly outfitted - for group aerobics after the work hour.  Plus, it was 90 degrees and 90% humidity.  I much prefer air-conditioning when I'm sweating, thank you very much.  Let's just say I got in trouble (from my man) for taking so many pictures and videos.  I will leave you with three for your viewing pleasure.

These guys were pretty entertaining too:

Other days we spend a little time at the pool.  One fellow Thai adoptive mom suggested to me many months ago to stay at a hotel with a pool.  Two reasons:  the heat in Bangkok and it forces bonding, as most children do not know how to swim and must rely on you to hold them in the water.  Sounded like really good advice to us, so that was one big reason we chose the hotel we did.  (It was also a street over from the Embassy and within walking distance of it and the skytrain.)  

We would have never guessed Sweet P would be so averse to even entering the pool waters, so it didn't do us much good.  We did enjoy some time outside down on the pool deck but didn't spend any time of note in the water.  We hope to change that when we visit my parents this summer.  

doctor visits.

You already know we received our Sweet P with a sinus infection and bronchitis and went right to the doctor the next day.  As required for visa processing, we took her back to the hospital for a visa medical appointment a couple days later.  It's basically a part of the bureaucracy of adoption, to ensure we aren't bringing a child back to America with certain illnesses or diseases.  The doctor merely looked her over, checked her ears and eyes and listened to her breathing.  Nothing invasive and literally a couple minutes long.


First they got her height and weight.  

Then we received a coupon (and some of you know I love me some coupons!) for "coffee break."  You can bet any doctor's office in America who implements this process would get some major business. :)  Here we are chatting with C and C on the left and J and T on the right.  I haven't introduced you to C and C yet, but they are an amazing family who adopted twin girls from Thailand just a few years ago.  They were back to Thailand to adopt an adorable four-year-old brother for their girls.  

Here were our coffee break treats.  Almost instantly after we finished feasting, we were called back for the exam by a British doctor.  

After the visa medical we walked over to pediatrics for a follow-up with the doctor we saw on March 31.  She wanted to look over Sweet P's medical records, and we also needed a new prescription for one of her meds.  

This is the most cheery peds clinic I have experienced, complete with a huge play area for the children.  The wait was a little long, so Sweet P entertained herself with the toys and watching Cartoon Network.  Tom and Jerry seems to be a national favorite.

She was a trooper.  We waited for about an hour to see the doctor, who was so helpful in our health plan for Sweet P upon arrival back home.  As we talked through her records and current medicines, she spoke up and told us in Thai "I want to go out!"  The doctor laughed and translated for us that she was tired and ready to get out of there pronto!


It's difficult to explain how special it was to hear those words.  We knew she was speaking words (with Miss Oh's help) but we had not yet heard sentences.  Honestly, we weren't sure much about her development based on the limited info we were given.  It was overwhelming to know her little brain is working so well and she is on target with many developmental milestones.  Praise the Lord!

She will go to the pediatrician on Friday to get an initial check-up.  We expect to be referred to a neurologist shortly.  We are praying in expectation that she will be weaned from both her anti-seizure medicines after that appointment.  From the little we do know about her condition and the fact that she has had no further seizures since her shunt was inserted, we hope that is a possibility!  

For the first week and a half of our time in Thailand, we were giving her this smorgasbord of meds (it's missing one - for a total of five) a few times a day.  Yikes.  Too much for one little body.  Now we're kicked back to just two.  


It's a joy to be with her every day and see her learning and soaking up new experiences like a little sponge.  Thanks for reading along on our journey.  


Blessings, angela

home sweet home.

Yep, we're home.  10,000 miles from Thailand to Japan to America and we made it back three days early with smooth flights.  Sweet P only got upset on the plane was when it was time to sleep, but I could have guessed that ahead of time.  She is really a sweet and silly little girl except at nap time or bed time.  

You can imagine our huge sigh of relief when we finally landed on American soil and got her passport stamped.  I may or may not have been seen dancing in the airport.  ...or maybe that was my body's natural reaction from being strapped into a flying cylinder and eating prepackaged food for over 24 hours.  You decide.  

Our friends M and G came to take pictures of Peanut meeting her sister at the airport.  I am so glad they were there to capture Peanut's face!  She has long awaited the arrival of her sister.

You can see her excitement with the jumps, and then don't miss the hair flip near the end.  That is signature Peanut when she's in a new situation where the spotlight is on her.  I love it!

Buddy stayed behind because that boy needs sleep like his momma.  He met Miss Sweet P in the morning... I love the part where he says "she's walking around!"  I really think he expected a baby from Thailand.

I'm not sure that I have ever been more happy to be home than I was Sunday night!  Blessings, angela