Everything is falling into place. There are more ups than downs at this point. It feels a little weird..., but we are taking it in and are all smiles. My brother's girlfriend's brother and my father will be house sitting. The dogs, house and Mike's business will all be taken care of. My mother has been taking Chinese classes and all of our families have open arms for Ming. We couldn't ask for anything more. She will have the best grandparents, cousins (3 that are near Ming's age! Go Jess, Cassidy and Kyle!) , aunts and uncles. This we celebrate!
Today I received an e-mail from an adoption family who recently came home with their daughter Lily. We were connected through a mutual friend and have been following each other's story ever since. BTW - I am certain this is a red thread connection! I am so happy that they are finally together :) Knowing Lily is home makes our travel seem even closer!
Last week I couldn't help but buy some bedding for Ming. I saw it at Wal-Mart and fell in love. We were going to wait until she came home. That way she could pick out something she would like. Instead, I was just way to excited about the cutest bedspread ever. It is very girly - so unlike me! It is pink, blue purple, sage, white, yellow with ribbons and flowers. The letters
"M I N G" that Ming's cousins made/decorated were the inspiration! Above is a photo I downloaded from the WalMart website.
Mike and I are able to fit all of our travel items into one suitcase. We haven't weighed it yet. Hopefully it will weigh under the maximum amount of 44 pounds. All of our gifts are in zip lock bags and ready to go. I've been collecting them over the past 2 years so they all have been chosen very carefully. For those family traveling in the future and are interested. Here is our packing list:
Ming: Pretty brown flowered sundress, brown skort, black Capri stretch pants, pink shorts, yellow flowered top, yellow flowered tank top, green strawberry top, Red US flag shirt, PJ's, purple fleece (this will come in handy for the train and plane ride!) few undergarments, few socks and personal hygiene/hair items. We'll buy her a swimsuit, shoes, a couple of pieces of nice jewelry, a few sizes of the traditional Chinese dress and anything else she needs in China. I hear the weather is very humid and high 90's. This will be a challenge for us. We melt in 80 degree weather w/o the humidity. Poor Ming will adapt even more when she comes home to barely swimsuit weather in the mountains!
Mike/Tara: We are packing very light ourselves. Four outfits, swimsuits, PJ's, light jacket, Chaco Sandals for Tara, Tennis shoes and sandals for Mike, general medications, laptop, translation dictionary, loads of adoption paperwork, light comfort food, personal hygiene items, UNO (can't forget this!) and a few other small items that I can't recall right now.
We will purchase a small suitcase for Ming in China. We hear they are very cheap - $10 - $20.00. Hopefully with the extra suitcase and giving away the gifts to the orphanage contacts and guides we will have enough space in the large suitcase to fit small gifts.
I've been gone overseas for much longer before - three months and didn't have a worry in the world.....or at least that's how I remember it. Of course it was a vacation and not an ADOPTION! This time is much different. My responsibilities are greater now (funny how getting older can do that to ya!) and we are bringing home our daughter! If we forget a piece of adoption paperwork, it could throw a huge kink into the matter. Those of you who know me well...understand that Mike is much better than me in this department :)
Hope to post more before the weekend -
Today I received an e-mail from an adoption family who recently came home with their daughter Lily. We were connected through a mutual friend and have been following each other's story ever since. BTW - I am certain this is a red thread connection! I am so happy that they are finally together :) Knowing Lily is home makes our travel seem even closer!
Last week I couldn't help but buy some bedding for Ming. I saw it at Wal-Mart and fell in love. We were going to wait until she came home. That way she could pick out something she would like. Instead, I was just way to excited about the cutest bedspread ever. It is very girly - so unlike me! It is pink, blue purple, sage, white, yellow with ribbons and flowers. The letters
"M I N G" that Ming's cousins made/decorated were the inspiration! Above is a photo I downloaded from the WalMart website.
Mike and I are able to fit all of our travel items into one suitcase. We haven't weighed it yet. Hopefully it will weigh under the maximum amount of 44 pounds. All of our gifts are in zip lock bags and ready to go. I've been collecting them over the past 2 years so they all have been chosen very carefully. For those family traveling in the future and are interested. Here is our packing list:
Ming: Pretty brown flowered sundress, brown skort, black Capri stretch pants, pink shorts, yellow flowered top, yellow flowered tank top, green strawberry top, Red US flag shirt, PJ's, purple fleece (this will come in handy for the train and plane ride!) few undergarments, few socks and personal hygiene/hair items. We'll buy her a swimsuit, shoes, a couple of pieces of nice jewelry, a few sizes of the traditional Chinese dress and anything else she needs in China. I hear the weather is very humid and high 90's. This will be a challenge for us. We melt in 80 degree weather w/o the humidity. Poor Ming will adapt even more when she comes home to barely swimsuit weather in the mountains!
Mike/Tara: We are packing very light ourselves. Four outfits, swimsuits, PJ's, light jacket, Chaco Sandals for Tara, Tennis shoes and sandals for Mike, general medications, laptop, translation dictionary, loads of adoption paperwork, light comfort food, personal hygiene items, UNO (can't forget this!) and a few other small items that I can't recall right now.
We will purchase a small suitcase for Ming in China. We hear they are very cheap - $10 - $20.00. Hopefully with the extra suitcase and giving away the gifts to the orphanage contacts and guides we will have enough space in the large suitcase to fit small gifts.
I've been gone overseas for much longer before - three months and didn't have a worry in the world.....or at least that's how I remember it. Of course it was a vacation and not an ADOPTION! This time is much different. My responsibilities are greater now (funny how getting older can do that to ya!) and we are bringing home our daughter! If we forget a piece of adoption paperwork, it could throw a huge kink into the matter. Those of you who know me well...understand that Mike is much better than me in this department :)
Hope to post more before the weekend -
2 comments:
WOW!! you are getting so close! I love the bedding you picked out for Ming. Thanks for sharing your packing list. I can't wait to follow your trip. I'll be thinking of all of you. Safe and happy travels, mama!!
Great minds think alike Tara! Cassidy has the exact same bedding set in her bedroom, you might have even seen it when you visited in Dec. So glad you love the MING letters, the kids actually picked out the colors and painted them. I am very excited for your family! Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.
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