Tentative Travel Dates

Our tentative travel dates per our agency are: June 4-18th!
Our 10th Anniversary is June 12th. We can't think of a better way to spend our special day than with our Daughter in China! :)

Well, it literally seems like I blinked my eyes and 13 days has gone by. Here is what we've been doing in preparation of our new life with Lauren:

1) Care package was sent off with a letter written to her nannies thanking them for their wonderful care of our daughter.

2) Sent a request to obtain Lauren's "finding ad" which will give us her earliest picture. The finding ad is the newspaper ad the police put out when she was found. (They do this to make sure she wasn't lost.)

3) I've spent hours searching for any pictures of the orphanage or the hospital she was found at, to no avail. What I have found is that the area she is in, is extremely remote and there are just not pictures available via internet. I hope we can visit her orphanage when we are there and possibly even the hospital, so that we can get pitctures. I want to give Lauren as complete of a story as possible. I have found pictures of Guizhou in general, which I've posted prior, it's so beautiful! Also, I have had awesome people write me who live in Guizhou and offer to answer any questions I may have about the area. I've been overwhelmed with the generosity of these people who don't even know me! Thank you if you're reading this!

4) Took the picture Stephanie made for us to be framed, it will hang over Lauren's crib.

5) Registered for our baby shower at Babies R Us. This was so fun! It was also a little challenging because we only have a little information about her and any information we do have is 5 months old, but we did our best and it was wonderful thinking and planning for our future with our girl. :)

6) I've been gathering clothes that friends and family have given me over the years and I finally was able to sit down and go through all the clothes and pick out what I think will fit Lauren and have set them aside. I plan to wash them all in hypoallergenic detergent today and get them ready to be packed. I am taking 12-18 month clothes. Since she was in 9 month clothes at 15 months, I'm guessing she will be in 12-18 months clothes at age 21 months. I'm bringing diaper cloth pins that Donna recommended to sinch up any waistpants that are too big. I'm hoping to get an update from my agency regarding Lauren's wt/ht. before we go. If all else fails, we'll just go shopping in China! :)

7) I printed the packing list that Donna used for her trip. Thanks Donna for sharing all your tips,etc.! I plan to go off of her packing list and tweek it specifically for our trip. I'll post this later for my bloggy friends who will be leaving just behind us!

8) More paperwork was filled out, signed, and sent off to Missouri and then to China.

9) Searching for the best flights available within our tentative times. By the way, mom makes an awesome travel agent! Thanks mom! :)

10) Each night I go to bed I know Lauren is just starting her day in China and I pray for her day and am praying God prepares her heart for our arrival and the huge changes to come.

Last night, as I closed my eyes, I could almost feel her in my arms and what it will feel like to kiss her fingers. Parenting is humbling and has caused me to rely on God even more lately. I want what is best for Lauren and only God knows this, so I rely on Him to show me.

Thank you God for this miracle in our lives, you truly give life abundantly....