Viet Nam Adoptive Family Interviews : An Introduction

What are some of your favorite memories of your time in Viet Nam?

The Engelbrecht Family - Cyclo rides, Hoa Long Bay, trip to our daughter's province

Christina - The best parts were the times when Zeeb was happy and smiling and having fun, even if the kids were just playing with toys in our room or on the hotel playground. But... more

Viet Nam Adoptive Family Interviews : An Introduction

Can you offer some advice to parents about the plane ride home with their new child?

The Engelbrecht Family - Make sure you get a bassinet but be prepared for your child not to like it. Take a lot of extra clothes (Sienna rarely spit up and had never had diarrhea, but she did on the plane-she came home in a twice used pair of pants and a cardigan with... more

Viet Nam Adoptive Family Interviews : An Introduction

What do you suggest parents–to–be purchase in advance for their child?

The Engelbrecht Family - If you may be traveling in the winter-take sweatsuits, etc for your child. Vietnamese want the children to be warm and temps in the 60's for us is very COLD to them. Definitely take meds with your for your child-you never know if you can get English labels.... more

Mary over at the Ethiopia Adoption Blog recently wrote a post about encouraging empathy in children, and it touched very close to home for me. Ella has begun testing limits and pushing boundaries at an amazing pace. Honestly, in the past week she must have had a little light bulb go off in her head that brought all kinds of new questions with it.

The reason I was so glad to read Mary’s post was because; of course, I want Ella to be an empathetic child who grows into an empathetic adult, and I am seeing positive signs of growth as she goes through this new stage. Her main testing limit trick of choice... more

Viet Nam Adoptive Family Interviews : An Introduction

Can you describe what it was like when you received your referral?

The Engelbrecht Family - I was very excited! We even waited up so that we could get the pics printed at WalMart and then take them to our families. It kind of seemed surreal.

Christina - Our referral sort of came in two parts … first there was the phone call... more

Viet Nam Adoptive Family Interviews : An Introduction How did you get through the wait to receive your referral? Was it easier or more difficult than the wait to travel after you saw photos of your child?

The Engelbrecht Family - I bought a lot of stuff (not the best idea). I think it was harder after we had her pic and then travel kept being postponed and that was really hard.

Christina... more

Have a child from Viet Nam’s Vinh Phuc province? Waiting to travel to adopt a child from this province? If so, then today’s post is for you. Below you will find information about Vinh Phuc, including sights to see and things to do in the province while you’re in Viet Nam. This post is just one in a series of “Provinces 101” posts that you can find under the travel section in the table of contents to the right of your screen. I strongly encourage parents to spend some time exploring and getting to know their child’s province if possible. If... more

Viet Nam Adoptive Family Interviews : An Introduction

Was your home study experience a pleasant one? What is it that stands out in your memory about your home study? The Engelbrecht Family - Yes, we had no problems. I found it odd that they wanted to know information about our honeymoon.

Christina - We had a very good home study experience. We worked with Children’s... more

I’m packing up my family tomorrow and heading out for a really long road trip which is making me a little nervous. The longest car ride that Ella has ever been on was eight hours and let’s just say it was not the most pleasant of experiences. We learned quickly that the best way to take a road trip with a baby (now toddler!) was to dress in comfy pajamas and set out around bed time with mommy and daddy driving through the night. Now that she’s older and can put up more of a fight, I’m not quite sure what we’re getting ourselves into. We’re borrowing a dvd player for the car and Grandma’s supplied a new supply of books, so even if she resists sleep, she’ll have plenty of things to keep her... more

Viet Nam Adoptive Family Interviews : An Introduction

Did your family and friends support your decision to adopt? If they were unsupportive, how did you handle it?

The Engelbrecht Family - They were supportive for the most part. Some family members wanted us to try to have kids first, but we explained this is what we wanted. Others wanted us to go domestic, I chose to ignore them if they wouldn't listed... more