Hopefully...

our travel approval shows up this week because our agency can't set up our appointments and we can't book travel until this "invite" from China arrives. Ooh, I just got butterflies in my gut typing this.

I spent time this weekend pre-packing any items I could, dividing stuff between 1 large suitcase and 2 carry-on size. We are in between luggage sizes on the packing...2 large pieces is too much, but 1 large, 1 carry-on is not enough. On the flight home, we will be much lighter...other than the 18lb little mouse we are carrying home with us...I hope she doesn't have motion sickness like her Baba!

The luggage will be lighter because we will be ridding ourselves of the 8 gifts we bring for government officials and our guides, plus we will be using the formula, diapers and wipes. If there are any clothes that are too small for Emma, I will be leaving those behind for the orphanage...wish we could lug more to give away! I'd love to figure out a way to get developmental toys and clothing to the orphanage...looking at the pictures, they don't have much and what they do have is very outdated. However, I've heard stories of donated items being thrown away or boiled to death out of fear of bringing disease to the orphanage, so I don't know.

Once our luggage empties out some, we will have plenty of room for shopping items. I'd like to bring back milestone gifts for Emma and some other "somethings" for her birthdays. Apparently Nanchang has really good shopping and we will have plenty of downtime between adoption appointments to shop and explore.