Here is a slideshow of this morning's "readoption" ceremony at the courthouse. We ended up waiting for 40 min. to get into the courtroom. We don't know if the previous family in the courtroom were finalizing a settlement or if we were waiting for the judges. Other than the wait, the actual ceremony went off without a hitch. There was one other family waiting like us for the readoption ceremony. The lawyer was there to tell us what to expect and to take all the signed documents from the judge once the ceremony was over. We should be receiving a new birth certificate for Ava in about twelve weeks. The birth certificate will have Ava's new name on it. I was really happy that my parents, brother and best friend was able to join us today and help us celebrate anothe special day in my children's lives. Not to mention that Sebastian was able to share this moment with his sister today ;-)
So with no further a dieu (?) here is AVA LIEU HICKS!!
p.s. if the slideshow appears small on your screen, you can click over the pictures below and it will send you to the website where the slideshow is on and the pics will be normal size.
Ava did great for her first Thanksgiving. She absolutely loved everything at the dinner table. There wasn't anything she didn't like and she got upset if everyone was eating and she wasn't. Everyone got such a kick out of her ;-)
Sebastian and Mommy had a special lunch date at the school's cafeteria. Sebastian was so excited that his Mommy was joining him for lunch. I think he told the entire class that day ;-) It's so sweet that he still gets excited about having a lunch with his Mom....I know it won't last forever :-P
Sebastian had a choice to either bring a packed lunch or buy from the cafeteria and he wanted Daddy to pack. He wanted it to be extra special with a packed lunch.
Yes, the white stuff you see on the ground is snow! We were excited about it because we were off the entire Thanksgiving week and could enjoy the wet stuff fron the comforts of our own home.
Sebastian getting ready for the school bus. Unfortunately there wasn't enough snow to keep him home from school.
The snow was too wet for Ava to come out and enjoy. Somehow, I don't think she missed anything.
Ava's first footprint....on a frozen glass door of course. Just practicing for the real thing.
Ava's expressions have been changing dramatically lately. She is learning quickly what expressions get her the most reactions from family members and practices them quite frequently. Yep, she is quite the little "ham" ;-)
Here are some snapshots of Ava and Sebastian playing so cute together. One of the rare moments when Sebastian isn't barreling Ava over or stretching her to the limits.
Ava has discovered a whole new world....walking with assistance. We've only had the baby walker for a year and Ava has figured out how to use it over the weekend. As they say....it won't be long now!
This was the most important birthday in November because it was Grandmom's birthday! We took everyone out to dinner and then stopped over for some homemade birthday cake and coffee.
Sebastian and Daddy mixing up the ingredients. The taste tester. (sorry, we couldn't show you the end results because it was a secret! Plus, I forgot to take photos since we had to rush out the door)
After dinner.
The life of the party ;-)
On top of the world...still brings a big smile to her face :-p
Sebastian was invited to two birthday parties two weeks in a row. The first one was at a Horse farm and they had hayrides, marshmellow roast over open fire and a pony ride. The second birthday party was at a roller skating rink. Boy, they didn't have these kind of parties when I was a kid! They have all kind of themes for birthday parties, anything from magicians, clowns, moonbounces to go kart rides and paintball fights. What will they think of next?
Birthday #1
Last year Sebastian tried his first roasted marshmellow and hated it. He tried it again this year and found out that if you don't brown the marshmellow, it's tastes all right.
Perfect example of "cremated" marshmellow. Mommy likes her marshmellows crispy. What do you mean it looks like......?
Birthday #2 - Limbo Dance on Roller Skates (it's not as easy as it looks!)
Sebastian told me on the way home from the roller skating party that the girl on the right, Angelica, asked him if he would be her "boyfriend" some day. Oh boy!! They are all in the same class together.
We finally got a Readoption date for Ava. I felt so guilty not following up on the paperwork until months after our return from Vietnam. But I found out that the other families who traveled with us in July just had their readoption cerremony or are about to have their readoption ceremony. So I don't feel so bad.
What is a readoption? It's basically a "formality" and the final phase of the the adoption in the U.S. You hire a lawyer to submit all your legal adoption documents, including Ava's Vietnamese birth certificate, Certificate of Citizenship, etc. to the local county courthouse. In return, you get an "American" birth certificate with her "American" or new name if you choose to have a different name other than her birth name. My parents changed my birth name but kept part of my Vietnamese name as part of the new name. I am still really torn about Ava's name (what it's going to be). I like to think there is a tradition here and a little of history "repeating" itself ;-)
Back to the readoption. Once the lawyer submits all the paperwork, you basically get a court hearing in front of a judge. When a date is picked, you receive this letter below. Then you invite friends and family to come to the Readoption Ceremony at the courthouse. After 60 days of the ceremony, we can then apply for a Social Security number for Ava, using the American birth certificate. Also, her birth records will be forever stored at the courthouse in case we would need addtional documents reproduced.
The great debate on Halloween night was who did Ava look more like, Smurfette or the girlfriend of the Dutch Boy you see on the pain cans? Yes, that was Sebastian as the Black Ninja. His job as the oldest sibling is to ward off any potential male predators that may be in hot pursuit of the cute Dutch Girl?
Just Ava being Ava as usual ;-) I can never get enough of her video clips. We really need to convert some of Sebastian's home movies from tapes to CD's. CD's are more accessible than tapes with all the current technology (i.e. laptop).
The name of my blog page represents the journey of Mother, Son and Daughter. I have "Come Full Circle" as an orphan in Vietnam and as a parent of two Vietnamese children. I have returned to my homeland and I am starting a new chapter with my family. This is a story of hope and dreams. It is a new beginning for all of us.
