Cross Off One Thing, Add Two New Things

Its becoming a race - cross one thing off the "to do list" and add two new things that must be done. Get everyone's prescriptions filled, get all the paperwork in order, plant the iris bulbs, have Mom sign the papers so she can be on our bank accounts at home (just in case), arrange for a cell phone to have while we are there, make Elle's medical appointments for when we get home, mow the yard, get the boys' homework assignments, have the mail forwarded to my parents, wait for them to tell us the hotel locations, figure out how much can be stuffed into a suitcase, clean out the fridge so it doesn't smell horrid when we get home.... the list is endless.

We have ElleAnna's main suitcase packed now - and it weighs exactly 50 pounds. To be honest, very little of what's inside there is for her. We are to bring gifts for the orphanage children, their staff, the orphanage director, the government offices where we have appointments - so there are cans of peanuts, picture frames, tubes of red lipstick, baby blankets and newborn clothes all in there too.

As for ElleAnna, we don't know what size of clothes she will need, so we only took three outfits in size 2T and three outfits in size 3T. We didn't pack a coat or shoes because we have no clue what size to bring - we've been told that those items are cheap in China, so we'll buy those there. We don't know if she is potty trained (although, with the stress, that will be subject to change), so we took a couple different sized panties, some diapers, and some pull ups. We have lots of goldfish crackers, raisins, marshmallows, and dum-dum suckers. We have stickers and playdough. We have colored pencils and picture books. We have noisy toys and bubbles. We have oodles of things for her to do to pass the time.

Its quite an alarming thing to not have everything in place, but slowly and surely, its coming together.... We leave in a little over 8 days.... YIKES! That reminds me, I still need to borrow a couple more suitcases, write another note for work about where something is located in case someone needs it, pay another bill.....