It's coming together.....S L O W L Y

I feel like I'm in the shopping Olympics and I'm in contention for the Gold! (Like there was ever a doubt!). Our wonderful travel mates have all been busy with the emails on what to pack, what not to pack and lists, upon lists, upon lists, that I have found completely invaluable. My list sits beside my computer and it gets updated everyday with new things that I would have never thought to buy and bring with us on our trip. We have a list of tasks that we've all been busy assigning volunteers for within our group. Tasks such as buying gifts for officials, nannies and orphanages as well as coordination of luggage tags and paperwork. Well I've signed up for purchasing nanny gifts for families with daughters' from the Wanzai orphanage. They recommend things like candies, chocolates, makeup and local Chinese goodies that are NOT "Made in China" so I went out today and bought what I thought fit that description. Since Canada Day is just around the corner, there are a lot of Canadian treats and memorabilia in the stores. I bought these:

Now, I'm not sure if the nannies would understand or appreciate the humor in this but I thought it was a cute idea. We'll see what the group thinks....I may have to consume these little poo poos all on my own, which wouldn't really be a bad thing! (BTW, that IKEA frame has been sitting picture-less since we moved into this house 3 years ago.....I digress!)

I did buy some other things like Canadian Maple Leaf cookies and chocolates shaped like the maple leaf so it wasn't a wasted shopping trip. I plan to get other goodies like makeup, lotions and LIQUOR (now we're talkin'). I am also bringing a little gift for Jenna's foster parents but I'm not sure if we will be able to meet them or not. We haven't received our in-China itinerary as of yet so I'm not even sure what day or where we will be receiving our daughters. We should know when Jenna-Day is by the end of week. Either way, I wanted to include a little album of pictures of the husband and I, the house, her room, Shelby and a few other treats. Just a little something to let them know that Jenna will be taken care of as they've been with her since she was 3 months old.

Things I've bought...so far:

• enough medication to stock a school infirmary
• sleepers with feet, sleepers without feet and most importantly, sleepers that say "I Love Mommy"
• dresses....oh the dresses
• baby Mum Mum (gluten free, egg free, cholesterol free....TASTE FREE!) I was told the kiddies love 'em though
• diapers (I even opened up the package and put them away in the closet....I know, it's a new-mom thing!)
• toys, toys, toys
• table and chairs for the basement, table and chairs for the main floor, chairs for her room!! My baby will always have a place to park her rump!
• strollers, high chairs and car seats (I went for color rather than durability....love BROWN!)
• and the list goes on and on and on.....

Another thing we received the other day is our "Notice of Coming". This is essentially the document we need to take to China to receive Jenna. No paper, no Jenna.

23 MORE DAYS........