Packing Excitement... 3 Days!!

Well with THREE days until we depart for China, we have begun to pack! (Actually last night.) We have the little girls' suitcase packed and our Philip Hayden suitcase packed. The girls' suitcase weighs 47 pounds! We have 12 outfits for each girl, bibs, socks, tights, bows galore, and toys. For Kate, of course, there are bottles, diapers, wipes, lovies, and Robeez, among other things. For AnnaClaire, we have night time diapers, shoes, lots of panties (AC loved picking out PRINCESS panties the other day! All of her panties have been plain HannaAndersson, so it was fun to get PRINCESS panties!) and milk (not risking anything with the milk issues in China... we are bringing Horizon Organic boxes that don't have to be refridgerated!) We have a bunch more stuff packed, that's just what comes to mind. I think we have thought of everything. We have quite the weather changes! Beijing is supposed to be chilly (50s), Jiangxi is supposed to be similar to our weather now (mainly 60s, maybe low 70s), and Guangzhou is supposed to be HOT (80s and 90s!) That could all change, of course.

When we were in China in 2006, we bought a suitcase in Guangzhou to bring souvineers back. It is not a nice suitcase and to be honest, I'm not sure why we still have it. However, we decided to fill it up with things to bring to Philip Hayden and then we can just leave it in Beijing (also because we are allowed to bring two suitcases to China, but have to pay to travel in China with two... so this will work perfectly!) So we went shopping and filled that with nanny gifts, candy, supplies, and little packages for Katherine and Emily. (Our family sponsors Katherine and I sponsor Emily.) I do not think we can fit anything else in there!

The diaper bag is ready, too, with diapers, wipes, a bottle, and little toys for gotcha day. On top of all this packing, we have had to get some things for Boo since we will be in China for her 3rd birthday! I can't think of a better way to spend her birthday than as a family in China! A few of her gifts are for the plane ride, so she gets to open them early. We have a few things to bring with us to China and she can open them on her actual birthday. (The 27th... a week from today, my baby sister will be THREE!)

I have let all my teachers know (don't worry, I let them know before now!) and have gotten work to do while we are gone :(. I will miss 11 school days total. We have a fall break Thursday and Friday of this week, so that's two less days! I'm not going Wednesday (a girl has to pack! Besides, do you really think I would be concentrating the day before we leave for CHINA?) so tomorrow will be my last school day until we get back.

Things are coming along and it is starting to feel INCREDIBLY real. We are going to China THIS WEEK. It really is just amazing to think that we are ACTUALLY going to bring Kate home... THIS WEEK!

On another note, we went to the Steven Curtis Chapman and Michael W. Smith concert on Saturday night and it was AWESOME. If they are coming somewhere near you, GO. You will not be disappointed. It was an amazing night with a sell our crowd! The music was great (of course!) and the stories were heart wrenching, yet very good. SCC will never cease to amaze me that he can loose his daughter and still sing his songs. It was AMAZING and a perfect way to send us off to China!

Lastly, I promised I'd show a picture of AC and Kate's new stroller. Grandma got this for us. It's a Joovy sit and stand and so far, we are LOVING it! Can't wait to have both AnnaClaire AND Kate riding along together in their stroller!

3 days until we leave for China... 5 until we are holding Kate!