Packing physically and mentally

We leave in 11 days. That fact has begun to be a bit surreal for me. Being this close has kicked me into gear thankfully. I worked on packing Simon's clothes over the weekend. I really have no idea what will fit and what won't, so it is a little hard. I am packing 3T and 4T shirts, most likely they will be very baggie but I do what to make sure they are long enough, because Simon is fairly tall for his weight. Pants are a little more difficult. I have packed a variety of sizes and styles. In the end I just told myself, if we have to we will just wash the pants that work and re-wear them. I have some 2T and 3T pants that I am hoping will work as shorts and then some 3T and 4T pants. I have gone back and forth about whether or not I should even put him in shorts. I don't want him to be hot, but perhaps that is impossible due to his weight. :( In reality I don't really want people to see his legs anyway. Perhaps I will just go take the shorts out :) (See this is still a work in progress)

We are not packing things that we can buy in country, like wipes or diapers or baby food. When he come home I will start being more concerned about nutrition, making my own purees and all but for now, he has been eating their baby food for over a year so he can do it for one more week. I was BLESSED with specialized formula and thick it from a dear friend and adoptive mother. I am hoping to get formula in him one way or another because it will help rehydrate him and give him nutrients in a easy to digest sort of way. I will be adding a standard process supplement called immnoplex to his food during this trip as well. It will serve as a multivitamin and also an immune-system booster.

I don't know how or if he will drink liquids. We tried to give him a bottle and a sippy cup while we were in country in March and he wouldn't put his mouth around either. However, I am still bringing those items along BUT I am also bringing a couple syringes. I also saw that another adoptive mom gave her son a honey bear straw bottle and he was able to drink from it. So after a fruitless search for a ready made one, I gave up, spent 1.49 and bought a honey bear from a local store in town and then found that my neighbors have tubes in their house that I could use as a straw, it worked perfectly. (they also provided me with the large syringes, thank you Abbi, wish you didn't have to have all this stuff around) We know that Simon will be dehydrated, they feed him liquids "by spoon" in his orphanage, if you could see me say that you would see my eyes rolling. Most kids struggle with constipation that first week at the hotel, it will be hard for us to know if it is what we are feeding him or his state when we picked him up. This puts us in a difficult situation. We are bringing some prune juice along, my game plan is to push water if is it possible...and pray that he passes stool without too much pain. We might also bring items to help him with it but I don't know if I want to mess with that too much.

When I went to Grace's house to pick up some options in sippy cups, she had bought every type to try to get Sam to drink from them, which has not worked, she also gave me some other helpful items. I had a so-so stroller in my car that I was going to wash up but Grace said, why don't you take Sam's old one, and I said, yes, why don't I! She also loaned me a carrier and told me where to buy my honey bear! It was a wonderful visit. I love hanging out with her because I can jump into adoption questions at any moment, "What did you do when....?"

The car seat is the final big thing to work out. My lawyer informed me that we need to bring a car seat with us for use in country. I am not sure what that will look like. I have emailed a missionary in Sofia and have asked her what a car seat would cost there and also if she could find me one to borrow for a week. If they don't cost too much and I don't want it for the plane ride, I would like to buy it and leave it with my lawyer for future families, but I haven't heard back from her to see if that is even a possibility. I also need to wash off the car seats that were given to us for Simon.

Well I think that is all I have been doing. I have gone to target once already for some travel items and will probably have to go back for a few more things. Tonight, dish-soap and bottle brushes were added to my list.

I can't wait to get there!!!!