Yesterday was B.'s pinning ceremony. He is now officially a Navy Chief!! I remember when we were first married, living in Hawaii, and he was applying for an officer program. He was trying to explain the Navy and how it worked. I asked what he REALLY wanted by the time he was done with his Navy carrer. Without hesitation he answered, "be a Chief." Nine years, 4 bases, (3kids!!) and LOTS of hard work on his part, here he is!!

E. pinned on one anchor and A, the other. They were so excited to be part of the 'show' where daddy would get his new 'costume'! It all comes back to pretend play in their minds! He'd ordered flowers for all of us to be delivered on stage. He'd picked blue for E and pink for A- of course- but the delivering sailor got them backwards. Well, little miss A set him straight! Everyone laughed and I loved seeing how uninhibited she was on this huge stage with all these people staring at her! I am truly blessed!

And, of course, no entry would be complete without new pictures of my sweet girls! E posing with her BLUE flowers and A wearing the all important Chiefs hat (yes, I know it's a cover, but that always seemed like a riduculous, unnecessary addition to the already overflowing English language). I didn't take many photos b/c they had a Navy photographer there taking loads, so I just enjoyed for the most part, but a friend of mine took a few. Oh, and the weirdest thing. After the reception we went to eat at the Chinese restaurant. We had lots of presents for B, and the waitress assumed it was his birthday. We couldn't seem to get her to understand the truth, so we smiled and clapped as he was serenaded by a chorus of Chinese "Happy Birthday"! It was incredibly surreal- but we'll never forget it!!

Here are the photos- I'm sure you'd rather look at his sweet face than read my ramblings, anyway. (but in case you're interested- I added some details under the pictures)

It's update day!!! We came home from buying new soccer cleats and I checked the email and there it was!! I had given up for today, but Michelle (the VN lady at Holt) must have gotten them out at the last minute!! Oh, he's so cute!! The medical stuff is all great- still eating well and no more pnemonia!! It says he's really attached to his foster mother and hides when strangers come close. That is great news from a developemental/ attachment standpoint. Yet, I am so sad for him because that reminds me how very upsetting all the upcoming changes will be for him. He has no idea who we are- we send photos, etc, but really, he's just 1 1/2!! He can't comprehend what's coming. One more loss in a young child who has already lost so much. But we know this is right, and hopefully we will know how best to help with his transition. The best part of getting updates are the pictures--seriously, I could stare at that face for hours!

So, last Saturday night I went to my parents house in Kentucky with the girls. We were going to have a combonation birthday party for me and my dad. When I walked in, though, it was a surprise baby shower!! It was so very sweet and I was completely floored! I wish B. could have been there, but he stayed in Georgia for work. Isaac got lots of cute clothes and toys and we even got some things to give to the orphanage when we travel to pick him up. What a sweet family I have!

So, not sure how to change the dates on these posts. I had saved them but not posted them until today, and they are showing todays date. Anyway, here goes---

Our son has a name!! He'll be called Isaac Tuan Minh. We recently found out that Tuan is said as Toon- and very nasal. No way we are going to be able to say that properly. But, we will try, especially if he seems to need to hold on to his name for awhile. It was impertant for us to keep his VN name, we wanted him to have something from his early days. Plus, I love that it means bright and intelligent! I had loved the name Isaac for so long, but it was never my husbands 1st choice. But after staring at his picture for WEEKS, it just fit him. The Vietamese attach such importance to names (so we are told) that we wanted to give his American name a lot of meaning. I, like Sarah in the Bible, laughed when God told me to build my family through adoption. Are you kidding me? I don't have the money, or the patience. I have two perfectly great children already! And my extended family will never approve. Seriously, God. But the more I tried to point out the ridiculousness of His plan, the more I heard Him say, "trust Me." My husband was going through the same thing. So, we took the leap. And what a faith-building journey it has been so far!! Funding showed up unexpectedly at just the right time. Family members have been supportive. And now I look at his face and I laugh for sheer joy-- I have a son! And I hope for Isaac, that he has a life of laughter. All that to say, I think we have the perfect name for our sweet boy! Now he just needs to hurry home!

This is from June, when we finally got Baby Brothers picture!! We went out to eat at the Japanese steakhouse (it's as close as we could get to Vietnamese food locally!) and gave them each an envelope labeled Chi Hai (big sister). When they opened it, there was his precious picture!! A. can't believe she's finally a big sister and tells everyone-- 'I'm a chi hai'. They look at her strangely and walk on, usually, but that hasn't dampened her enthusiasm! E., as usual, was more reserved in her responce, but SO excited!! She carefully studied his picture for almost 5 minutes, then started asking really smart questions about how well he could walk and eat, etc. I'm sure the people sharing our table wondered what we were doing- a family w/ 2 small kids poring over medical reports and pictures from a FedEx envelope. But a very memorable night. Now if we could just hold him--oh, yes, and he still needs a name!!