Today was a busy one. Ellie picked me up at 9:30 after she dropped my papers off at US immigration. We went to the police station to file for Georgia’s passport. It was a busy, crowded place. We waited to be called by one of four people sitting at a long table at the front of the room. After about 15 or 20 minutes, a lady called Georgia’s Vietnamese name – I actually recognized it when she called so I was pretty proud of myself, but I still have a lot of trouble saying it. She went through the papers and asked Ellie some questions. She made me “sign” my name again (they really don’t like the long signature that we use in the US) so I scribbled my initials on the papers. She smiled a couple of times and Ellie leaned over and told me that she liked Georgia and that she is cute. I was so relieved that everything seemed to be going well. She gave us a receipt for the papers and we went to the cashier. Ellie tried to hand the paper to her and the woman snapped at her and slammed the paper down on the desk – yikes! There are no instructions posted but I guess Ellie was supposed to do something different than she did. Not that she could have known, mind you! Another few minutes went by and the woman took my money. In the cab on the way back to the hotel, Ellie said that she would pick me up again at 12:30 (just two hours later) to go for the medical exam. She wanted to go early in case immigration called me for my interview.

We hung out in our room and played with Georgia. She is such a sweet kiddo. She smiles easily and has the cutest little giggle! She loves to cuddle and play. She will lie on her tummy on the floor and reach for her toys.

Yesterday she pushed up on her knees! She can also creep a little and does a little swimming motion with her arms and legs. She only cries when she is hungry or tired. I can’t wait for all of you to meet her!

Prompt as always, Ellie reappeared at 12:30. It took over half an hour to get to the hospital. Georgia is not too fond of being out in the world. It seems that she never left the grounds of the orphanage while she was there and she is very overwhelmed by the noise and chaos of the streets (and she’s not the only one!). Once at the hospital, we waited for the “paperworker,” as Ellie called her, to come out and then Ellie went up, presumably to register us. We were called into another room and waited some more. Periodically, Ellie would ask a nurse a question. The nurses (in white starched uniforms with little white paper hats right out of the 1950s) in the waiting area were not very friendly but Ellie got right in there and got what we needed. We paid our money, waited some more, and then went to the examining room. A man measured and weighed Georgia.

Then the doctor and another nurse came in. They were both very sweet and gentle with Georgia.

The doctor was all smiles which made us feel comfortable. She asked me a few questions and seemed satisfied with the answers (although she might have thought that Georgia was eating a bit too much – she seemed surprised at the number of bottles she takes and she is certainly chunky). She will write her report and Ellie will return for it.

Back outside in the blazing heat (38 degrees Celsius) and high humidity, Mom and I waited inside the gates of the hospital while Ellie hailed a cab for us. I gave Georgia a bottle, which she devoured, and then she promptly fell asleep. We made another stop to have Georgia’s picture taken for her visa. You can imagine how well that went with a sleepy, overwhelmed baby! It took some doing, but the photographer managed to get a couple of shots. I guess one of them was OK because we got to leave.

We were thankful to get back to the hotel! I cannot even really remember what we did at that point. Around 6:30 we went to the complimentary cocktail hour and had a little food. Georgia was exhausted so we ate quickly and brought her back upstairs to go to sleep. I think all in all she handled the day better than I did, but we all made it through.

Tomorrow we wait for the call to go to the immigration office for my interview. Ellie gave us the address in case they give us short notice and she does not have time to come to the hotel to get us. It's hard to believe that the US government will not provide an appointment, but I guess they follow the customs of the country. I’m sure you can all imagine how hard it is for me not to know when I have to be somewhere or how long I will have to wait to find out. But, I just keep looking at Georgia and telling myself that the most important meeting has already taken place!