Our travel meeting

Last night, Terry and I attended our travel meeting in preparation for our travels to Mimi.

We met most of the couples that we are traveling with. Several couples are adopting their second child.

They all seem very nice and we are all going to be staying at the White Swan Hotel (very glamorous)together for the whole trip.

All of their babies are beautiful.

Our rep basically told us that we won't be seeing the babies orphanage,that if we send care packages to the orphanage ahead of time that the children won't get them.

That my translated questions would go unanswered. I felt disappointed on these points.

I have been communicating with many parents on the baby's orphanage web site and they are a wealth of information in this regard.

Several parents have taken video of the orphanage and they have posted them online.

I scour the playroom video and the crib room video in search of my precious Mimi.

The children seem to be played with and interacted with which is the most important thing.

I can deal with scabies and boils and such, those can be treated and will go away.

I just want to know that Mimi was cared for and had contact with her caregivers.

I feel prepared for the trip, I have finished my shopping lists and I am ready to start the packing process.

I am also thinking ahead to our next daughter. Terry is, of course, very nervous about the finances(foreign adoption is very costly)and with me being at home for a few months with Mimi)we are strapped.

I am considering fund raising.

The other parents in our group that have adopted before began their paperchase for their second child about 7 months after their first daughters came home. The Chinese government requires that a new application can not be submitted for one year after your first adoption.

The idea is to get the paperchase underway and then submit days after your first year is complete.

We will see how things go.

As I was shopping for things for the baby, I was struck by how much has changed since Paulina was a baby. I was so overwhelmed by all of the gadgets and stuff that a baby has now.

I am older and I am thinking I am going to keep it simple.

Mimi will be 15 months old when she gets home so I have switched gears a bit on the requirements for her(no monitors,changing table,baby swing etc).

I bought her 2 rattles and I tried to find a small ball like the ones pictured with them in the orphanage photos.

I was amazed to find that it is really difficult to find a small ball. They blink, they talk, they glow in the dark, they jump up and down...but a small rubber ball is a rare thing.

More later