My nephew

Last night we sent in the paperwork with our daughter's new American name: Gianna Mai Thi Schmidt. My 2.5 year old nephew was so excited when his mom told him about his new cousin named Gianna that lives in Vietnam. He woke up today asking where Gianna was. His mom told him she is in Vietnam, another country, now, but we'll get to meet her soon. Then he said he wanted to go to Vietnam today and see Gianna and go shopping. Me too Grant!

Now we are waiting for a new fingerprinting appointment with the CIS and a bunch of other stuff that I can't keep track of without our adoption folder in front of me. Dan put Gianna's photo as the background of our phones. Everytime I make a call my heart melts. Also, a big weight off my shoulders, I told my boss about the adoption today. It turns out, he used to volunteer with his wife at an orphanage in Egypt, so he has great respect for international adoption. Commenting on his volunteer experience, he said these children have absolutely nothing, nobody to love them, little food to eat, no future. He would play with the children and bring them toys but in the end what they needed was parents and a home. So he is going to do all he can to make sure I get appropriate time off for this adoption. Thank God!! He also joked that Dan should call Brad Pitt if he needs any parenting advice. Hardy-har-har!