Wednesday, July 28, 2010

A Day in My Life

We met a friend on the street today, and he asked me how my day was going.  This is what I replied:

"It's 4:30pm, and I have just picked up my morning coffee.  I ate one meal today, and haven't showered yet.  I desperately need some groceries, but I should be at home feeding Molly her dinner right now.  I hired a housekeeper to help me clean, but when she didn't show up, I phoned and found out she was out of town, and will come by next week instead.  I hired my friend's son to come to the house to play with Molly for an hour or so, but he has only made it over once - he's out of town this week with his family.  We haven't played with any of her friends for a long time, and the last time we went to the park was a week ago."

However, it's not all bad.  We had an appointment this morning with the Infant Development Program, and found that Molly's gross motor skills are delayed, which was expected, but not bad enough to warrant any professional therapy.  I have some things I can do to help her learn to walk.  She scored really high in the social and communications areas, and all other areas of development are just fine.

Molly also has other recent accomplishments.  I bought her a potty last week, and she is using it!  Some days she likes it more than others, but she sits and does her business.  I also bought her a bowl with a suction cup on the bottom, and gave her a spoon yesterday.  She now feeds herself most of her meals.  She eats cut up vegetables by hand, and her rice and cereal mixtures are moist and sticky enough that she can scoop it up with her spoon and get it to her mouth without losing too much on her bib.  She learned how to fling food off the spoon today, and got some in her hair.  Yayyyy!  That's a big milestone.  Way to go Molly, Mommy's proud of you!

Monday, July 26, 2010

Remembering Ba Ria - Part 2

This posting is about the part of town where the orphanage is.  If you look at my sidebar, there is a Google map titled 'Where Molly Lived in Vietnam'.  The marker shows that the orphanage is in a township on the outskirts of town.  It took about 10 -15 minutes by taxi to get from the hotel to the orphanage everyday, and cost 50,000 dong, about the equivalent of $3, one way.

The gate of the orphanage

I didn't see more than a block or two any direction from the orphanage.  Just about every day I would go out to buy water, coffee and fruit.  There was a 'convenience' store kitty corner from the orphanage, Sic Cafe across the street, and I bought fruit at a stand from some very friendly people a block down the street.  I wandered a block up once or twice - I ate lunch at a street restaurant, drank sugarcane juice from a cart, and bought fruit from another vendor up that way on occasion. Again, I wasn't out long - it was too hot and humid to walk more than a few blocks.

Goats wandered freely in the neighborhood, along with some really ugly chickens.  I didn't get any good pictures of them.

The 'convenience' store where I bought water

These cows were wandering past one day - shepherded by the guy on the motorcycle.

Cafe Sic.  I drank lots of their coffee.  Sometimes I sat there, but often, the nannies would phone over an order, and they would deliver iced coffee to us in the baby room.  We shared the ice-cubes with Molly and the other toddlers.

My favorite fruitstand.  The ladies were very friendly.  There was also flowers, meat, vegetables and seafood offered in the street stalls.  Just like the grocery store...

Sadly, I see that I didn't take many pictures of the town, or my surroundings.  If I had written this posting while I was still there, perhaps I would have wandered out just to document the area more completely.  I wish I had more to share with waiting families, but hopefully someone else will take more pictures when they go there, and fill in the blanks that I've left!?!

Friday, July 23, 2010

A Sale on Sale

Robeez is offering an addtional 25% off their sale items until August 5th.  There are good bargins for summer shoes for girls and boys.  The free shipping offer is over, but there is still free shipping on orders of two pairs or more.  Type the promo code "EXTRA25" on the basket page when you make your purchases to receive the discount. 

Click on the link in my sidebar to get started.  Thank you for helping Molly get a baby brother!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Remembering Ba Ria - Part One

I spent so much time in this small town when we were in Vietnam, but have posted very little about it.  This is the town where Molly lived for the first year of her life, and I wonder if she was also born here, or nearby.  Ba Ria is at the junction of two highways, Highway 51 that comes out of Ho Chi Minh City, and continues south to Vung Tau, and Highway 55 that turns north, running up the coast to all the beach resort towns.  The Province is called Ba Ria - Vung Tau, obviously named for the two largest towns in the region.  It is an affluent Province - there is offshore oil providing infrastructure.  Road improvements, schools, hospitals and government offices can be found everywhere.  There is even a university in Ba Ria.  The town is full of churches (Catholic) and pagodas (Buddhist).

Despite the fact that we lived there for almost 2 months, I saw very little of the town.  We drove from the hotel to the orphanage every day, and only had the odd weekend free to explore.  I walked around a few blocks from the hotel, but couldn't go far - it was too hot to stay outside for long.  There was a Co-op Mart (supermarket) two blocks away on one side of the hotel, and the town's market two blocks the other direction.  Very convenient!  So we didn't really need to go much further.  The freeway was right in front of us, and the few blocks behind consisted of the typical Vietnamese lifestyle.  Almost every home had a business at street level, and the family would live behind and/or above it. 

The freeway approaching Ba Ria from Ho Chi Minh City, about a 2 hour drive away.  It was a cloudy day, but no rain.  It rarely rained when we were there.  The monsoon should have started in April, but it was very late this year.  There wasn't much rain in May either.

This is a street scene just around the corner from my hotel.  Note the motorbikes and the pastel colored homes. 

A home/business a block away sold live chickens.  They would wander live on the sidewalk in front of the home.

The boulevard across the street from the hotel.  It separated the street from the freeway.  A very large and incredibly noisy truck would come by at about 4:30am every morning to water the foliage.  It would make a couple of passes back and forth, just to make sure it woke me up.  But the traffic noise from the freeway was much worse.  Horns blared all night and all day, too.  I'm surprised Molly slept through it.

This is the water feature at the An Nam Restaurant that we ate at often. Actually, Merel and Nathan ate there often, and they would bring a doggie bag back to the hotel for me. It was open-air, large, and very beautiful. The food was great too!

We watched the rice harvest happen here about a month later than when we were in the Mekong Delta.  This is the stalks of rice being transported from the fields to be processed.  The ox-drawn carts roll down the streets with all the rest of the traffic.

Another street scene.  Nha Nghi - lots of rooms for rent.

The street behind the block from the Hotel Thanh Sang

My hotel. Very new, very nice, and the family that owned it was very good to me. We were happy there, and I would recommend it to anyone else who wanted to stay in Ba Ria.  Our room was on the first floor on the right, blocked by the tree.

The front desk of the Hotel Thanh Sang.  Note - get a room on the first floor - there's no elevator.

Our room. They didn't have a crib for Molly, and she could have fallen out of the bed overnight, so they put a mattress on the floor between the two beds for us. This was the realm of Molly's existence there. I didn't allow her to wander off the mattress. On the desk across from it was the thermos of hot water, her bottles, cereal and formula, our medicines and vitamins, and fruit. There was a small fridge underneath. We had everything we needed.  Cost - 300,000 dong per night, about $15 - $18 Canadian equivalent, depending on the exchange rate.


The family that owns the hotel.  They took very good care of Molly and I.

The grandparents.  Grandfather was very sweet to Molly.

The town gate.  This picture was taken from inside a moving taxi, when Molly and I were going back to Ho Chi Minh City for our last 2 days before flying home to Canada.  We had just passed the hotel, and I started crying.  I had just told Molly to say goodbye to the place where she came from.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Just Because I Can - April

Here are more random pictures of Molly from April 2010, while we were still in Vietnam:

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

The Fab Four Celebrate Together

Throughout this whole adoption experience, I have often said that the best part is meeting the other families who are doing the same thing as me.  I have received immeasurable comfort and support along the way from many, many people.

More specifically, there is a small group of single parents that have become my closest support system.  We have all brought our children home from Vietnam within the last year, Molly being the last one to arrive.  While Molly and I were in Vietnam, we missed most of the kids' first birthdays, and of course, Molly celebrated her birthday there, without her little buddies.

Last weekend, a group of us got together to celebrate our children, exchange a few birthday gifts, and let the kids get to know each other.  I hosted the party at my house, and we all contributed party favors, cake and food.


What a fantastic time!  I loved watching Molly interact with her friends.  Her eyes really light up while she watches the other kids.  They are so sweet when they play together.  It was a bit chaotic with four 1-year olds running amok in my house, but I loved it!  I have waited such a long time to be a mother, and have often dreamed about having play-dates at my house.  So many dreams have finally come true.


And my incredible single mom friends!  Unlimited support, sounding boards, hugs, kisses and lots of love for each other.  I am so thankful that we all feel the same about how important it is for our children to know each other as they grow up.  And I'm so thankful that I have had these special women to help me through the last 2 - 3 years.  We lean on each other in lieu of having spouses.  I'm not sure I could have held myself together at some times without them.  And we have a life-time of continued friendships to look forward to as we raise our children.

To Susan and Quan, Rita and Ninh, Lesia and Mylan:  Thank you for being our BFF's.  You all hold a special place in our hearts.  Molly and I love you lots!


Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Free Shipping!

Robeez just updated their shipping promotion.  From now until July 21, free shipping on all orders.  Check out the new Eco-Friendly Collection.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Please Help Molly Get a Baby Brother

I feel that because Molly is a single child of a single mother, she needs at least one sibling to grow up with.  I had always thought I'd be a stay-at-home mom to 3 kids, with a lovely husband and a picket fence, etc.  Things didn't turn out that way, so I decided to start with just one baby first.

Check.  Now that I have Molly, and I'm aware of how long it takes for adoptions to complete, it's time to start the next one.  My experience at the orphanage taught me that I can handle more than one child!
So while I'm off work this year with Molly, I'm looking for some creative ways to earn funds to pay for the next adoption.  I have attached a couple of links to the side-bar of my blog for some useful baby items.

Robeez is a company that was started by a mom here in Burnaby who sewed a better shoe for her own son, then grew a company with it, and eventually sold it to a multi-national corporation.  The shoes are a good and very popular product.  They have a new Eco Collection, they will gift-wrap and direct ship a gift for a small fee, and right now they have an offer of free shipping for orders of two or more pairs of shoes.

Dimpleskins Naturals is a local company based in New Westminster.  It was also started by a mom who made natural products for her daughter.  The Bum Bum Balm is the diaper salve I use for Molly.  It is handmade with high quality ingredients, and contains no chemicals, toxins or fragrances.  It is also made without zinc, which plugs up the absorbency of Molly's cloth diapers.  There is a full line of personal care products for the whole family and a wonderful Baby Bundle Gift Set.  Plus, all their packaging is is recyclable.

So please think of Molly's little brother when shopping for your kids, or choosing gifts for other families.  If you purchase any of the Robeez shoes or Dimpleskins Natural products through the link on my side-bar, I will receive a commission, which will go towards the adoption fund.

Molly thanks you, and so do I!

Friday, July 9, 2010

Memories of Mui Ne (April 23 - 25)

Back in the days when we were stuck in Ba Ria, a long weekend was approaching, and Loan invited Molly and I to join her and her friends at a beach resort in Mui Ne for a couple of days.  I hesitated, just because I am Loan's work, and this was a personal holiday for her, but it didn't take much convincing.  Mui Ne!  I had heard lots about how beautiful it is, and it was only a 3 hour drive up the coast.

My hotel owner arranged a car and driver for me, and we met Loan and her friends there.  There were a couple of families with young children, so Molly and I fit right in.

We stayed at the Sand Garden Resort, which was across the street from the beach, but had a really lovely pool and restaurant.
Our hotel room


Our bathroom was outdoors, and had a garden growing in it

Nice open-air restaurant
We spent an afternoon at the beach.  Just look at the views!

The resorts down the beach from us

My feet in the South China Sea

Playing in the surf

Mui Ne is also known for its sand dunes.  We passed by the red sand dunes that were crowded with tourists, and drove a ways up the coast to some white sand dunes beside a lake.  We got there just before sundown.

  Gorgeous!

The rest of the time we chilled by the pool and throughly enjoyed ourselves





This is what Molly thought about being beside the pool, instead of in it!

Thank you Loan and friends for wonderful memories

Monday, July 5, 2010

Molly and Friends

Molly and I have been getting outside to play as often as we can:
In the sandbox with Nhan

In the sandbox with Quan

Playing on the swings with Uncle Ron

Picnic in Victoria with Aunty Lesia and Mylan

Feeding Cheerios to Uncle Nathan
Playing on the slides with Ninh

Making bubbles with Ninh

Sliding through the tunnel

Peeking through the circles

Loving the swings!