The Final Countdown!

Today is our last day of waiting until we travel to bring Lilymei home. This past week has been crazy with all of the things one needs to do to prepare for a journey like this. Last night Scott and I packed most of the clothes~I still have a little bit of laundry to finish, all the medicines we are taking, and the gifts we are bringing. Today I spent the whole morning cleaning house (so our house sitter doesn't have to walk into a mess!). The boys are at vacation bible school and Scott worked a half day. He is now off to get a hair cut, look for better locks for our luggage, and bring home anything I may have forgotten to purchase.

I was also able to talk to our neighbor, the local CIS field office director, and FINALLY get our fingerprints cleared with ACS in Guangzhou! Now I just need to pack all the snacks, diapers, IPods, books, toys.......Will tomorrow just get here?!

We do plan to keep posting as often as we can while we are in China so please check back often and give us some feedback on how the blog looks. From what I hear, it is very difficult for us to actually "see" our blog while we are in country. Leave comments so we know you are following along and pray for us safe travels and an uneventful return trip home!

Lucky #7

7 Days to go until we fly to Beijing! Somebody pinch me! Today has been a productive day; I have all of the clothes I'm bringing for Lilymei folded and ready to go. I have most of our meds in one location~just need to add those last minute items. I have the books, toys, and stuffed animals (Thanks Patti!) ready to go. I started to assemble the gift bags for the orphanage director, notary and registrar, our CHI coordinators, and the nannies. I still have a few things to pick up to complete the gift bags. Thank goodness for the AOSC gift shop!


The plan for this evening is to run to the BX (our Walmart/Target/whatever you want to call it) and pick up some lightweight socks, diapers, swim diapers, and wipes. I also want to stop at the commissary (grocery store) and get some Goldfish snacks, Crystal Light on-the-go packets for bottled water, and more Ziploc baggies (thanks for the tip Monica!).

Whew!!! The next couple of days are going to be crazy busy and I won't be home much. The scouts are going rock wall climbing Thursday afternoon and on Friday the boys have their music lessons and I have a manicure/pedicure appt. in the afternoon. Will I be ready by next Wednesday? I doubt it. That's ok though, I'm gettin' on that plane anyway!

7 more days until we leave! 11 days until we get Lilymei!

10 Days!

Today is Sunday, July 13th and we have...


that's right, 10 days until we leave for China!

I still haven't started packing suitcases yet but I do have the suitcases sitting out on the floor. I did pull out 4 shirts for myself that are good candidates to be put into the said suitcases sometime this week. I told the boys that they had to set aside a few shirts and shorts for me to look at and see if they qualify as travel worthy. I want to make sure that I hide their clothes so they don't wear them this week and then I'm frantically trying to do laundry at the last minute.

I need to do some laundry for Lilymei too. I haven't decided what to pack for her since I just don't know what she will fit into. I plan to bring an assortment of clothes and shop for extras in case nothing fits. This is one outfit that I plan to bring. These are the first articles of clothing that Scott purchased for Lilymei.


Osh Kosh for Lilymei!