Packing - Clothes

I don't know how interesting or helpful this will be, but I thought I'd go through all the categories of "stuff" we brought to China, one at a time when I get time.

So for clothes: I brought 4 pair of capris plus the ones I wore on the plane, and a shirt for each. That was plenty, BUT, we spent a lot on laundry. I think next time I will bring one more outfit and maybe we can just have laundry done once and not twice. Our guide said we spent the most on laundry in our group! Ooops! It's funny because when you get the clean laundry back it comes individually wrapped in plastic, it looks like a little present. We had a good laugh one day when we went through our newly cleaned clothes "Oh look what I got! A new shirt!" "New underwear!" I think we were tired and slap happy at the time.

In addition to the 5 outfits I brought a sweatshirt (wore on the plane), pajamas, sweat pants for in the hotel room, slippers (they were also provided in all 3 hotels we stayed in, wouldn't need to bring them but I wore them on the plane so I'll bring again), undergarments of course :-) and an extra pair of shoes. Both pair were tennis shoes, next time I will bring a good pair of walking sandals and one pair of tennis shoes.

Hope you're not yawning too much after reading this most exciting post.

September Moon Gazers

The DTC group I am a part of has a website!

http://www.septembermoongazers.com/

We're on Page 3 of the Meet the Moon Gazers page.

I'm also in the OctoberDTC group but am more active in the September group where I started. It's hard to keep up with 2 groups but I have a September DTC date and an October LID. Doesn't the CCAA understand the difficulties they create for us when they log us in so long after DTC? LOL

I've added some links to other blogs, both families in my DTC group and other misc. blogs I'm following. Reading adoption blogs is my new addiction!

Packing Part 1

I'm not going to get into specific things to bring in this post, just want to share my pet peeve. :-) I don't like when people say "You MUST bring this or that" or "Do NOT bring this or that, you do NOT need it." There have been things that people have said are "musts" that I didn't need at all, and things people have said "Don't take" that I found very valuable. (like a CAR SEAT - more on that in another post - we brought one and will do it again).

Everyone has different likes/dislikes, different needs, and different experiences. So anything I share worked or didn't work *for me* - you have to weigh it out in your own mind and decide if you want to bring something or not. I'm not an expert either, I went to China once, so remember that too. Have a great day!

Thanks Secret Pal!

I got my first gift from my Secret Pal yesterday! (September2005DTC) I was just thinking on my way home from Target in the morning that one thing I will need more of when Allison comes home is hooded bath towels. Now I know I can use regular towels for the girls, but I like to use the child's hooded towels too. Lindsey has some plain ones (2 are from when Ben was a baby!) and one ladybug towel she got from a friend.

Anyway my SP gift is a ducky hooded towel with matching washcloths, bath mitt, and sponge. I also got some ladybug stickers and 2 teethers. These are the first new things I have for Allison. Like I said before, I won't be shopping that much. I don't need as much as I did before Lindsey came home, I don't have as much money as I did before Lindsey came home, and I don't know how old Allison is going to be. She may or may not need a lot of the baby things, she may just need toddler things. :-)

Packing for China

I feel like I don't have much to say right now since all we are doing is waiting! Waiting for a long time yet. The whole adoption feels different (in some ways, but not in others). Last time I was so unsure of so many things, both about the trip and about having a little one again. "What is the best stroller, carseat, high chair, sippy cup, baby carrier...." on and on. Since we're asking for 18-24 months I really can't buy much for Allison right now (not to mention we have no money $$$$) She could be under a year, she could be 2. So I'm not in a frenzy to purchase things at the moment.

As for the trip, last time my obsession was packing lists! Now I pretty much know what I want to bring and not bring. I just may need to tweak my packing list from last time a little bit. Even though I don't have PLO (packing list obsession) this time, for some reason I still like looking at other people's lists. I thought maybe since I can't think of much else to say right now I could talk a little bit about some of the things we brought last time that were very helpful to have.

I think I will start with that next time though. Jay will be home from his Greek class any minute and I want to read some before I go to bed. So I'll leave you hanging for now! Good night.

All moved in!

I started my adoption blog at http://www.xanga.com/kunstman but for various reasons decided to move over here to Blogger. If you want, go over to my old site to catch up on where we are at, then bookmark this new site to follow the rest of our journey!

To summarize where we are at in the process:

May 2 - applied to our agency, AWAA (http://www.awaa.org)

Mid-June - all dossier documents except homestudy and I-171H notarized and ready to be certified and authenticated

July 21 - homestudy sent to USCIS in Milwaukee

July 27 - fingerprinted

August 20 - I-171H received

September 9 - DTC!

October 12 - Our LID, finally! after a 33 day wait!

Grrr, I thought for sure we'd be logged in in September. I had not seen a LID take longer than 3 weeks before it was our turn. Now that I am over the initial disappointment (although I think it will always bug me a little until we get our referral!) I am just glad to be logged in and officially waiting for our referral in April? May? Time will tell!