It's hard to believe it has been two years... Ava Day is about to commence

It is so hard to believe that it has been two years since we arrived in Vietnam! So much anticipation lead to the experience of receiving my daughter that I can't express the feeling of joy that I had the moment she was placed in my arms at the orphanage in Thai Nguyen. Here is the post from that day. It just made me cry all over again...

AVA DAY 2007

Post - http://avalinh.blogspot.com/2007/01/ava-is-in-our-arms.html

Pictures - http://www.flickr.com/photos/13188015@N05/sets/72157602219243752/

AVA DAY 2008

http://avalinh.blogspot.com/2008/01/ava-day-we-received-ava-in-our-arms-one.html

Tomorrow is officially Ava Day - January 15th. A day when all things stop in my world, so that I can focus on Ava Linh. When I was in Vietnam I purchased 16 gifts for her - one for each year until she was 16. Last year she received a bird toy, this year she will receive a little orange silk jacket - I will post a picture after I take it. Can you believe that her favorite color right now is orange and this is the year that little jacket fits... that is pretty cool to me.

Well, in a perfect world where I did not just start my job, could count on Daddy's participation for some of the day, daycare did not close for 10 days less than a month ago, I did not spend most of today with Ava after a doctor's visit, and I was not laying off people tomorrow (which I am scared to death to do) - I would do it. But - I can't - so we will do it very soon and hope that in the future these types of things don't come together on January 15th, so I can keep my commitment to celebrate Ava Day, Ava's way every year for the rest of her life. We will celebrate "Ava Day" very soon - but not tomorrow.

I mentioned that Ava went to the doctor - Ava has a bad case of bronchitis. So - we are using a nebulizer every three hours and fortunately she likes to "take medicine" so giving her the oral steroids and antibiotics will not be as tricky... Please keep her health in your prayers and while you are praying, please pray for the people I need to meet with tomorrow about their jobs and my ability to convey the message in the most humane way possible.

Now onto Ava notes:

Ava is 2 years, 5 months old, weighs 22 pounds and is 33.25 inches long. She loves shrimp, pasta, carrot ts (especially great grandma's), pizza, lo mien, prawn chips, colored cereal (Trix), milk, ice cream, cheese, and cake (bean cake from Vietnam) fortunately it is not chocolate cake... She regularly claims that she is a princess, often says "me do it", "I need", "please", "thank you","no", "read", "sleep in mommy's bed - pleassse", and "where is my ____". She definitely likes everything in it's place and routine (so this move has been tough). She loves music, drawing, puzzles and to read. If I would let her watch TV 24 hours a day she would. Her favorite shows are - Dora, Diego, Max & Ruby, the Wiggles, Handy Manny, Kilan, and Pooh. She is not potty trained but loves to receive stickers for sitting on the potty. She has a great sense of humor and loves to be tickled and chased. She is very healthy, eats and sleeps well, and as several people have said - she has a strong will. She is my angel and I am so thankful she is in my life.

So - if she wakes up tonight (the official start of Ava Day) and wants to slide into mom's bed -she will, If she wants mac and cheese for breakfast we will have it, if she wants chocolate at 7am I will find it, if she wants to eat in her bedroom and skip her bath we will, and if she wants my attention at any point that we are together - she will have it. These are all requests that often receive a "no" or "wait one minute" response from mommy. Today all attention is focused on Ava and her special day. So when we are home there will be no blogging, phone calls, face book, emails or shopping until after she falls asleep.

Have a great Ava Day!