Stuff

I have been lazy and not taken any photos the past several days. Hence me not blogging as much - I know everyone mostly wants to see Meg's photos :)

Random stuff:

*Shaune cannot wait to get home and have a home cooked meal of roast turkey, dressing and gravy courtesy of my mom. I'm sure he'll be hitting his mother up for a roast beef feast also. Although the food is very delicious here, he finds all the spices and flavourings to be of the same variety and is ready for some 'meat and potato' type food. I must admit that even though I am a huge asian cuisine fan, I too am missing the flavours of home finally.

*Flights are booked. We applied for Meg's Vietnamese passport on Tuesday and her Canadian passport this morning. We are booked to fly home Cathay Pacific next Tuesday evening through Hong Kong (leave HCMC at 655pm) and arrive in Toronto at the very early hour of 5:45am on Wednesday, July 8th. So... barring any 'further delays' (everyone say a prayer for us) we will be home as a family of 5 by mid day on Wednesday! We are so excited, as are the kids!

*Tampons are VERY hard to find in Vietnam. Just a warning for all my waiting mom's that may travel here and find themselves here much longer than they thought ;)

*Meg is a sleeping monster... as in: she does not sleep. I am thinking (and hoping) it is because she is growing and needs to still eat every 2.5 hours even at night. Seriously, this girl eats a ton and we are so happy. A little reprieve at night would be a blessing for her tired parents though. if anyone has any advice - we'd take it. I have got her taking about 4-5 oz and she eats every 2-3 hours all day. That is a lot of bottles. Her night time schedule lately is: Bed at 730pm at the latest. Wake for 1st night time bottle at midnight. Go back to sleep. Up again around 2:30am, eats again. Sleep zzz. Up again at 5 or 5:30am - wide awake and happy. Plays for an hour and then wants to nap for an hour. Then her day begins at around 8am. She naps a lot but only little cat naps when she is in her carrier. If I lie down with her or put her in her crib, she seldom sleeps for more than a 1/2 hr during the day. This means she has several naps a day and its not ideal. I guess we will get it all worked out once she is home and settled.

*The great news is she is growing so fast. I hardly recognize the tiny baby in those photos from June 7th. Her cheeks are getting huge and she is beginning to resemble that roly poly baby in her 2 month old photos before she was admitted to the hospital. She is also beginning to make strange if others (Loan for instance) hold her for longer than she'd like. She wants to be in her mommy and daddy's arms 24/7 and that is a great thing. She is a wiggle worm though and not much for just relaxing and cuddling into us.

*Tomorrow is Renny and George's daughters 1st birthday! They are hosting a birthday party for her and we can't wait to go celebrate with them. Lia is a beautiful little girl and has truly blossomed these past several weeks.

*Platex bottle users: If you are using Platex bottles and liners... pack WAY more than you think you'll need. I thought I'd brought way too much. But - the fact that Meg is eating so often throughout a day and that we have been here WAY longer than we anticipated - we are running out. I have saved enough drop in liners for the flight home because that will be easiest... but with 1/2 wk left here I wish I'd just brought a whole bunch more. The bottles she originally used only hold 4 oz and we are trying to get her to eat a bit more than that so switched her.

*In some ways you get used to the humidity and heat here. It is still so hot and uncomfortable at times but a little less that way each day. We are ready for some breezy Canadian summers though around our pool... where we can have ice in our drinks without spending a full day on the toilet ;)

*Shaune has had a hard go of it here. His health has not been great and the intense humidity is a killer for his arthritis. Add on to that some 'stomach issues' and he's been a very good sport (and help) considering.

*We have a few more souvenirs we'd like to get before we head home. I have bought a few things for Meg as she gets older for each 'family day' but I am thinking I should probably buy her an ao dai in every size up til about age 10 or 11? I know they are much more expensive in Canada (I saw them for $20 at a store in Ottawa, they are $5 here) and she will likely wear one at least once a year to celebrate Vietnamese TET and other functions we will attend. The tax center has some for about the same price as the Ben Thanh market... with out the bartering.

*We are loving the hotel we stay at. It is beautiful and modern and is in a good convenient location. The only issues we have had is that there is construction going on directly beside it... a tall office building going up from the looks of it. They are building the foundation the past several weeks and we have had a few days where the crane and cement trucks etc get on our nerves - most days it is ok though so we were too lazy to relocate to the other side of the hotel. The only other issues is the pool. It is big and clean but never used and not a 'social pool'. We have only went swimming 2x since arriving in Vietnam which for us water bugs is unheard of.

*The Highland Cafe is located within our hotel and is our 'room service'. The food is very good and quite reasonable. It has asian cuisine but also familiar stuff like Spagetti, Club sandwiches, omelettes, etc. The drinks they make are the highlight though - and the hot fudge chocolate brownies aren't so bad either.

*As much as we are desperate to get home, there is a part of us that will always miss Vietnam. It is the kind of place I could never describe and do it justice. It is full of lil' annoyances like honking cars, crazy traffic and intense heat yet you fall in love with this place easily. You get used to the cars and scooters honking every .5 seconds and by Day 3 you aren't closing your eyes as your taxi weaves in and out of traffic. It is easy to 'feel at home' here I guess is what I'm saying. It is also the place that blessed us with Meg and I will do everything I can to instill a pride and love in her for Vietnam - it will be easy. We plan on returning again here, our whole family and doing a tour of both North and South. I would like Meg to be around 7 yrs old when we do this so she can understand things and while Keaton and Chloe are still 'young enough teens' to want to join us on a family 'road trip'. There is so much we have not seen of Vietnam. Next time we will branch out and truly see the glorious landscapes this country has.

*Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon is very modern. It has been surprising to us just how trend and fashion obsessed many of the women are here and the amount of very high priced shopping plaza's there are to peruse. We have went in several and not bought a thing - beyond what we'd spend on things like purses and shoes for sure. Don Khoi and Le Loi street are full of big stores such as Louis Vuitton, Coach, Prada, Gucci, etc. - a shopping paradise for those that are into that.

*We prefer the other Saigon - the market and the small plaza's where things are very economical and you meet so many interesting people. Everyone has been very kind to us while we have been here with Meg. Yes, there are questions and lots of curiosity every where we go (especially when we travel as a group of 4 families) but people are kind and loving and they really love children here. It is rare to walk down a street here and not have someone stop you to ask about your baby and stroke her cheek.