Well, we are all trying to settle in and catch up on lost sleep. That is NOT happening. Little Jackson has other plans, and it is not to sleep. We are definately sleep deprived at the Brown household. Jackson was so use to always having a nanny or little friend next to him at all times, he does not want to be out of sight of anyone. But, overall, we are all doing well. Jackson loves his new home, all his new friends he is meeting each day, and loves all the family. He has had his first car seat ride, not fun for any of us, has had his first lunch date and did great, got a new high chair and loves that he can pick up his own food and eat. He is crawling all over the place and I feel will be walking really soon. He is a big ham, smiles all the time, and is just lots of fun!! The fussiness starts only when tired and hungry. Could care less about a messy diaper, could stay in it all day without a fuss. Loves to be rocked and loves his new nursery!!
Posted some new pics of our new experiences now that we are home and trying to adjust to life in the good ole USA!!!!!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Hello Chattanooga
Yeah!!!!!! We made it home!! It was so special to see all of you at the airport and meant so much to us. Jackson loved meeting all his new family and friends!!
The last few days in Vietnam was getting long. We were ready to get home and see everyone and have some good ole southern cooking. We got up our last day around 0630, well, Jackson got us up. Our flight that day did not leave Vietnam until 1130pm. So, there is one whole day of not sleeping. Our flight from Vietnam to Seoul, Korea was 4 hours and Jackson slept that whole flight. So, a little nap for us. We had about a 4 hour layover in Seoul, so we are still awake. The flight from Korea to Atlanta was about 15 hours and Jackson slept a total of about 4 hours. He was awake and ready to play. He did nap a couple of times with Lynne so a little shut eye was nice. Thank goodness we made the connection flight to Chattanooga and got home the next day around 1230pm. Had a great day seeing and visiting everyone at the airport and then at the house. We appreciate everyone coming to the house and visiting and getting to know Jackson. He is adjusting well to his new home and all the 4 legged friends that keep kissing him. He slept in his crib last night and did good. He woke up around 4 am for his bottle and back to sleep he went. Was ready to go this morning and played all morning long with everyone. He loves all the attention!!!!
We had a great trip to Vietnam and loved the country. It has some beautiful areas and really do hope to visit again when Jackson is a little older. Have lots and lots of great pictures we want to share with everyone.
Thanks again for all the love, thoughts, and prayers during this time. Lamar and I can not believe we finally have our baby. We will continue to update the blog as Jackson grows.
The last few days in Vietnam was getting long. We were ready to get home and see everyone and have some good ole southern cooking. We got up our last day around 0630, well, Jackson got us up. Our flight that day did not leave Vietnam until 1130pm. So, there is one whole day of not sleeping. Our flight from Vietnam to Seoul, Korea was 4 hours and Jackson slept that whole flight. So, a little nap for us. We had about a 4 hour layover in Seoul, so we are still awake. The flight from Korea to Atlanta was about 15 hours and Jackson slept a total of about 4 hours. He was awake and ready to play. He did nap a couple of times with Lynne so a little shut eye was nice. Thank goodness we made the connection flight to Chattanooga and got home the next day around 1230pm. Had a great day seeing and visiting everyone at the airport and then at the house. We appreciate everyone coming to the house and visiting and getting to know Jackson. He is adjusting well to his new home and all the 4 legged friends that keep kissing him. He slept in his crib last night and did good. He woke up around 4 am for his bottle and back to sleep he went. Was ready to go this morning and played all morning long with everyone. He loves all the attention!!!!
We had a great trip to Vietnam and loved the country. It has some beautiful areas and really do hope to visit again when Jackson is a little older. Have lots and lots of great pictures we want to share with everyone.
Thanks again for all the love, thoughts, and prayers during this time. Lamar and I can not believe we finally have our baby. We will continue to update the blog as Jackson grows.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Wednesday in Hanoi by Lamar
The Visa arrived today...the Visa arrived today...the Visa arrived today! We are a family...we have the documents to travel along with the documents for US adoption. Jackson did not sleep much last night...I guess he was a little nervous.
We went to the Army museum today...we read a lot about puppet governments and invading forces. There was a lot of US military equipment in the museum. More on that when we get home.
We found Hanoi Stadium and we tried to sneak in, but it would not be opened until 2 o'clock. I will try to go back tomorrow.
We leave on Thursday night at 11:50 Hanoi time. Over 5 hours to Seoul then a 4 hour layover with a 15 hour leg to Atlanta. The immigration stage may take a little while too, so it will be a long day on Friday...but a short day, since we get back to Chattanooga at 12:30.
We went to the Army museum today...we read a lot about puppet governments and invading forces. There was a lot of US military equipment in the museum. More on that when we get home.
We found Hanoi Stadium and we tried to sneak in, but it would not be opened until 2 o'clock. I will try to go back tomorrow.
We leave on Thursday night at 11:50 Hanoi time. Over 5 hours to Seoul then a 4 hour layover with a 15 hour leg to Atlanta. The immigration stage may take a little while too, so it will be a long day on Friday...but a short day, since we get back to Chattanooga at 12:30.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
U.S. Embassy Day
Jackson had a great night of sleep!!! We did a test dose of benadryl and he slept really good, so now we know the 15 hour trip on the airplane will be a little easier. He woke up once around 2am for a bottle, then back off to sleep he went until around 730am. Wow, that was a first. Had a good morning just hanging out and playing. Took a good, long nap before lunch then we headed out to explore more of the city. Went to the U.S. Embassy at 130pm. Very easy process, just asked us that the information we provide was true and Lamar signed the papers. We are just waiting on his Visa to be ready which should be tomorrow. We just hung around the city all day today, exploring the area, and seeing all we can in our last few days here in Hanoi. All is going well for us, we are enjoying the sites and love learning all about this country. Hopefully in the future when Jackson is older, we can bring him back to his birthplace. Plan to go to the war museum tomorrow and see the lake where the B52s crashed during the war.
Love all the comments on the blog and glad you are enjoying the pictures. We appreciate the followers.
Love and thanks,
Elaine
Love all the comments on the blog and glad you are enjoying the pictures. We appreciate the followers.
Love and thanks,
Elaine
Hanoi-by Jackson Brown
I got my best sleep last night as I was waiting for the big day. My dad told me that it was the 2nd time that he had heard "Earl Brown come on down." (The first time was on the Price is Right. That it is what they said when the man at the US Embassy called our name. It was short and sweet. All we had to do was answer a couple of questions. I have my visa (not actually, the printers are down at the Embassy, so I will getting it in a day or two)!!!
I went to church for the first time today. Hanoi Catholic Church.
My dad carries me around on this funny blue backpack type thing. When people see me they want to hold me, kiss me, squeeze my cheeks. One lady told me today that I was lucky. We saw another couple from Pittsburgh today. They had adopted a little girl. My dad asked them if they were still celebrating the Super Bowl. I asked my dad what a Super Bowl was.
My dad wrote this song to the tune of a Johnny Cash song
We got married in a fever, hotter than a pepper sprout, we've been talking about going to get Jackson, ever since the fire went out.
We are going to get Jackson, Jackson Brown.
We are going to go get Jackson, lookout Vietnam (sounds like yam).
I thought that you would like to see my schedule
6:30 wake up
play time with Daddy and mommy
7:00 bath
7:30 breakfast
food, play, nap (repeat) until 4:00
4:00 poop
food, play, nap (repeat)until 8:30
8:30 go to bed
2:00 food
I went to church for the first time today. Hanoi Catholic Church.
My dad carries me around on this funny blue backpack type thing. When people see me they want to hold me, kiss me, squeeze my cheeks. One lady told me today that I was lucky. We saw another couple from Pittsburgh today. They had adopted a little girl. My dad asked them if they were still celebrating the Super Bowl. I asked my dad what a Super Bowl was.
My dad wrote this song to the tune of a Johnny Cash song
We got married in a fever, hotter than a pepper sprout, we've been talking about going to get Jackson, ever since the fire went out.
We are going to get Jackson, Jackson Brown.
We are going to go get Jackson, lookout Vietnam (sounds like yam).
I thought that you would like to see my schedule
6:30 wake up
play time with Daddy and mommy
7:00 bath
7:30 breakfast
food, play, nap (repeat) until 4:00
4:00 poop
food, play, nap (repeat)until 8:30
8:30 go to bed
2:00 food
Monday, February 16, 2009
Road trip--trip on the road-Lamar
Jackson ate his first green beans today. He ate 6 or 8 spoonfuls of the green stuff. It was a big day for him. He has had pineapple, banana and green beans. He is slow to eat anything, but quick to put everything in his mouth. We found out that Thanh means blue and Tin means prestige. There may be other translations, but those sound good to us.
From the road today, we saw all of these things on the back of 120cc motorcycles: 2 live cows (wrapped around the body of the driver), a boy and girl carrying a 5 foot piece of glass, a herd of pigs on 1 motorcycle, 1oo baskets stacked 8 feet high, and about 6 dogs caged like chickens. I must say Elaine was very upset about this.
We had our first dog story today: no, I did not eat a dog, but on the breakfast buffet they served Vietnamese Sausage. I asked a guy what it was--I am still not sure..could be dog. I did not have it.
We had a very aggressive driver bringing us back to Hanoi. I believe his philosophy was "it will all work out." Sometimes we would be driving 40 miles an hour in the wrong lane with no room to merge, but somehow it all worked out. Even our tour guide said that we got back an hour sooner than he had planned. He said he prayed to Buddha for us.
Tomorrow, we go to the US Embassy for our interview. Be praying for the 1:45 appointment.
From the road today, we saw all of these things on the back of 120cc motorcycles: 2 live cows (wrapped around the body of the driver), a boy and girl carrying a 5 foot piece of glass, a herd of pigs on 1 motorcycle, 1oo baskets stacked 8 feet high, and about 6 dogs caged like chickens. I must say Elaine was very upset about this.
We had our first dog story today: no, I did not eat a dog, but on the breakfast buffet they served Vietnamese Sausage. I asked a guy what it was--I am still not sure..could be dog. I did not have it.
We had a very aggressive driver bringing us back to Hanoi. I believe his philosophy was "it will all work out." Sometimes we would be driving 40 miles an hour in the wrong lane with no room to merge, but somehow it all worked out. Even our tour guide said that we got back an hour sooner than he had planned. He said he prayed to Buddha for us.
Tomorrow, we go to the US Embassy for our interview. Be praying for the 1:45 appointment.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Sunday in Ha Long Bay
With the US Embassy celebrating President's day on Monday, it gave us another free day, so we set up a 2 day trip to the most spectacular site that we have seen...Ha Long Bay. If you have ever seen the most recent King Kong Movie, it reminded us of that...3000 islands poking themselves out of the water. The islands are tall and pointed, so there are no humans on them. Somehow, our travel agent secured a boat just for us. Generally, each boat will hold 30 or 40 passengers. Needless to say, it was an adventurous day. On the way over, we saw 1 rice paddy after another. We also traveled through 2 coal mining towns, one of them nicknamed black city.
We also ate fresh pineapple from a roadside stand.
Lynne is doing an outstanding job helping us put Jackson to sleep. Elaine and I are considering offering her a hammock in our pavilion at home. She has been a world of help.
I should say that our menu today consisted of boiled prawn (2 types, 1 that looked like a praying mantis and the other that looked like a gargantuan shrimp), whole snapper fish, stewed squid, beef, pork, vegatables and mandirin oranges for desser. So add stewed squid to the list. I have had squid before at our favorite restaraunt in Chapel Hill, NC, Squids.
Our guide today was Han. He has a wife and 2 children. It was hard to explain to him why the US has 1 holiday per month. He knows English, Russian and Chinese. Before 1991, all students in Vietnam had to learn Russian, now the students learn English.
Please note that while we are in Vietnam spellcheck does not wrok.
We also ate fresh pineapple from a roadside stand.
Lynne is doing an outstanding job helping us put Jackson to sleep. Elaine and I are considering offering her a hammock in our pavilion at home. She has been a world of help.
I should say that our menu today consisted of boiled prawn (2 types, 1 that looked like a praying mantis and the other that looked like a gargantuan shrimp), whole snapper fish, stewed squid, beef, pork, vegatables and mandirin oranges for desser. So add stewed squid to the list. I have had squid before at our favorite restaraunt in Chapel Hill, NC, Squids.
Our guide today was Han. He has a wife and 2 children. It was hard to explain to him why the US has 1 holiday per month. He knows English, Russian and Chinese. Before 1991, all students in Vietnam had to learn Russian, now the students learn English.
Please note that while we are in Vietnam spellcheck does not wrok.
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