Hey Y'all, Did You Know I'm Adopting A Baby From China?

Before I write a thing I have to say you guys almost made Mark pee a little with your comments. He happens to think y'all are mighty funny and I have to tell ya, I agree.

Dudes, it's true. I am 13 days (7 days of work left for those of you playing the EB home edition) from leaving for China. China! And I understand it's like really, really far away.

I should be ready. I should be so ready that the bags are next to the door and I've timed how long it'll take us to get to the airport. I should have flowcharts and colored graphs and maybe a Powerpoint presentation. I mean I have whined and bitched my way through about 21 months of this or since the earth was filled with volcanoes and we were all a couple of proteins vibrating in the primordial ooze, and yet - not so ready.

Don't judge me.

We have now packed and repacked Jie Jie's suitcase (why yes, she does have her own suitcase) 3 times already.

And I'm going to do it again tomorrow. 

The issue at hand are the clothes to take, basically because I want to take them all and I'm not so sure fleece is an appropriate weight for Guangzhou in August.

Have I pondered what I'm going to wear? Well my friends, that would be a no. I see myself throwing a bunch a crap in a bag the night before we leave which may leave me with leggings a turtleneck sweater and no bra.

But the Chubbin is set, I've even packed my baby smile secret weapon.

 

Ok, it will either make her smile or scare the holy hell out of her, it really is a dice toss but I'll be damned if I'm leaving it behind. My philosophy at this point is bring everything! Once I discovered the 44 lb. bag thing doesn't pertain to us because we won't have any intra-country travel - I've been pondering packing a formal gown just 'cause I can. Would leopard print stilettos be inappropriate for squeaky shoe shopping?

So everyone mark your calendars, we've been told to prepare for departure on the 18th, two weeks from tonight. Eek!

Much more packing humiliation to come as I ponder bringing my Uggs and maybe false eyelashes and some body glitter.

Since I'm upating ye ole blog, if I have your site listed incorrectly over there on the sidebar, or if I've told you I'd add your site then promptly blew you off, let me know.

Comments

[Shelba]

Damn, that is mighty fine packing. Everything looks so neat and orderly. I'm impressed!

[Dee]

2 Weeks! EEK! So cool.

[Kristine]

Hooray hooray hooray hooray. But I still want to hear the story of what happened with your paperwork on your travel papers. Did you crawl up in the DHL truck? Did you accost at the port? How did you get it and how was it and all that? Or did you just start packing???

And I'm not sure about this, but I'm guessing that if you forget something that you can get it there and/or borrow it from some other overpacked parent. PARENT! That's you. :)

[Johnny]

As you may or may not know, the clothes you first greet your kid will be important to them for the REST OF THEIR LIVES.

I can't remember. It's something like.........the color of the outfit will have a soothing effect on them. i.e. they will always associate that color with meeting Mama.

OR

Maybe they'll associate that outfit with pain and horror as they experience that tramatic day.

Kinda a coin flip, dontcha think?

Ooops, sorry, did I add more angst to your packing and prep work?

(and also, I just made up all that stuff. heh)

[Tracee]

Just checking out the packing pictures...not so much to critique...but to remember. However, those containers of fruit? PUT THEM IN ZIPLOCK BAGS! I know they are supposedly sealed...but anything could happen and then all of EB's things would be covered in MUSH.

I would put ALL clothes in those new huge ziplock bags. Because you are traveling in the dead of summer...humidity is going to suck. However, when you are at your "cruising altitude" it ain't going to be very humid up there and it's going to be mighty cold. So, when you land in Guangzhou, everything is going to "thaw" and most likely be damp to wet...

Ziplock bags are your friend. I promise.

[Melissa from Tulsa]

Hi - congrats on your TA. I agree 100% with Tracee - plastic bags (Ziplocs, Spacebags) are a must! My wipes package exploded (or was ripped open by TSA) somewhere on the flight from Tulsa to LAX. I had the sense "just to give it one last look" in LA and lo and behold, everything was wet and powder fresh! I had most everything protected in bags so no real damage was done and I popped the open wipes in a Ziploc baggie too so they didn't dry out. They really do make packing so much easier since you can compress the air right out.
HAPPY PACKING! Guangzhou is an oven in August and JieJie may enjoy a small inflatable pool boat/floaty (we bought one there at GrandBuy and the inflated it for us at WS, our daughter loved it). The WS pool is very nice. It made for a good time and we got some great pics - just a suggestion...

[Sparky]

I don't see any duct tape or a traveling clothes line. Haven't you learned anything while waiting all this time? Sheesh!

[Jacquie]

You're back! You had me scared a minute. 2 weeks??? Holy hell, it's here!

[Kimmy]

Exc' AH llent!

Great design & graphics, Steph'!

The flower, spider? Can't wait to see Em's reaction. I think it will go directly to her mouth. Leave it to you to find such a cool "pacifier."

[zgirl]

Congrats! Andand I'm glad your blog is back up.