Speed Shopping

What a crazy weekend! On Saturday, I shopped for everything on my gigantic packing list. Toiletries for the baby mostly but also for Layne and me, shorts at Ross (sometimes you can go in there and find absolutely nothing, other times... well, did I really need 6 more onesies?), gifts for officials, the foster family and the orphanage, a Wally World trip where I FINALLY found those little travel-size containers of peanut butter and of course, a stop at the ice cream place where I met Laura and her little one for a ridiculously huge sundae. I spent a little too much time in the baby store (but I was very good, daddy -- I only got what was on my list!). How can you leave that place empty-handed? :-)

Thank goodness for travel-size containers of almost everything you could ever need. I must admit, however, that I AM bringing the jumbo size bottle of Tums. (Can you OD on those things?) The tub of chalky disks may not make it to travel day... I eat them like candy. At 3 AM I was fumbling around in the nursery in The Medicine Bag for them, during that big thunderstorm, and finally found them in a flash of lightning that lit the room up in black and white. I watched a river flow down the street as I dug around for the blueberry ones, and seriously considered just closing the door, turning the light on, and going through her closet one more time for the darn motion sickness wrist bands I bought and promptly lost. 

I have plenty of clothing and shoes for Jai Li now. I fretted until I arranged at least 10 outfits that are all interchangeable (maybe my OCD-ness will wear off? Fat chance!), and thanks to Laura's great listening skills I now have 2 cute little jackets for those cold days in the White Swan. They say we need to keep our babies bundled up when we're in the Western hotels, because the kids have never been in air conditioning. So, flannel and fleece sleepers and a dozen socks are packed up!

I still don't know what to do about bottles. I don't know if she will still be using one. And what do I buy for a child with CLP? I know there's a special bottle and nipple to use to help deal with the cleft palate. I sure hope that extra packet comes with updated info and more pictures. 

Ok, time to prepare my to-do list for tomorrow, so until then... before I go, though, I would like to thank our incredibly generous friends for their amazing gifts for the orphanages. Every pair of pants or top or onesie that I fold up for the seabag brings tears to my eyes. Here's a photo of the bag of goodies Layne picked up from our friend Melanie earlier today. Nana Mel, you make my heart swell! Honestly, I can cry at the drop of a hat these days, and the gifts from our very caring friends that we will deliver to the orphans will, I think, be one of the many amazing things I will be blessed to be a part of in the upcoming weeks.

Love you all. Thank you so very much for making this time even more special for Layne and me.