Preparing for Hurricane Irene

This may be my last post for a little while.  We are about to get hit by a pretty substantial hurricane.  We are ready .... everything brought inside, stocked up on food, water, batteries, flashlights, lanterns, etc.

We're most concerned about a long-term power outage.  We do have 1 pretty large tree that is really close to our house, so I'm worried about that tree falling, too.

We have not been ordered to evacuate, so we're staying put for now.

If you don't hear from us for a little while, that's why!

A Wish List for Kenzi

I've had a few people ask about things we need, so here is our Wish List on Amazon.  Items do not have to be purchased from Amazon ... there is a link on each item that says "Buying this gift elsewhere?".

http://amzn.com/w/1CI6ZURETERGR

Monday, Monday ......

We're still waiting for our LOA.  It's frustrating because there seems to be no rhyme or reason to it.  People that have been waiting less time than us have gotten theirs.  I know that once Kenzi is home, we won't even remember the waiting.  But it's hard to know that your daughter is in an orphanage and there are so many things you don't know ... does she have enough to eat (probably not), does she have someone to hold her if she gets hurt, does she get to play and laugh, stuff like that.  I really try not to think about it too much, because there's nothing I can do to change the situation right now.  Once we get our LOA, I have our forms ready to send to US Immigration, so that's my part in the situation ... being ready once we get the LOA.

In the meantime, it's pretty much the same old thing around here:

1.  We're enjoying our last 2 weeks of summer ... sleeping in and just being generally lazy.  Luke is very ready for Kindergarten to start!
2.  I (Sherry) have lost my college teaching job for this semester.  My classes didn't have the enrollment necessary to keep them.  So ... that's been frustrating, especially since we still need around $10,000 for our trip to China.  We're trusting God that this will all work out.  I am looking for other jobs that wouldn't require paying for daycare.  So we'll see if anything happens.
3.  When we're going - We're still hoping to go get Kenzi by the end of the year.  As long as we get our LOA by October 1st, we should be able to do that.  We have decided that we will both go and Aaron's mom will stay here with the kiddos.  It will be hard to leave them, especially if we end up being gone over Thanksgiving or Christmas.  But we know those are just dates on a calendar and we can celebrate another time.
4.  Kenzi's Middle Name - We're getting closer to making a decision.
5.  Packing List for China - We need to clear a space in our former guest room to start getting stuff together for the trip.  I've been buying little things here and there as they go on sale so we don't have a ton of stuff to get at the last minute.
6.  Jacinda is potty-trained!!!!!!!!  It took a loooooong time.  At the same time, I'm trying to wrap my brain around having a little one around again.  Luke and Jacinda can do a lot of things for themselves, including keeping themselves occupied for a few minutes so I can take a shower!  Life will change around here once Kenzi gets home!!!

Our Packing List

We're still waiting for our LOA.  Don't worry ... you'll know when we get it because you'll hear us all screaming and jumping for joy!!!!

Jacinda has been very sad lately because she says, "I miss my sister."  Breaks my heart every time.  I forget sometimes that this process is hard on the kids, too.

A friend who is also adopting from China asked for my packing list, so I thought I'd post it here.  Even though it will be a while before we go, I'm starting to buy things here and there so that we don't have to buy tons of stuff right at the end.  It looks like a lot, but it all works out somehow.

Here you go:

Luggage

Checked luggage: 2 large suitcases (1 for each of us)

Carry-Ons: Backpacks

Personal Items: Laptop Bag and Purse

Luggage must be under 44lbs/20 kg for in-China flights and 100ml liquids were allowed.

Toiletries

Q-tips

Individual Wet Ones/Wipes

Disposable Razor

Shaving cream

Travel shampoo

Travel conditioner

Face wash

Travel size dove soap

Baby shampoo/body wash

Oatmeal bath

Travel size tissue packs

Floss

Lotion

Hair ties

Hand sanitizer

Toothpaste

Hairbrush

Hairspray

Hairdryer

Flatiron

Contacts and solution

Extra Contacts

Glasses and case

Medical

(medicines were in plastic baggies with dosing instructions cut from box and in the bag)

Immodium

Cipro

Tums/Liquid Maalox

Ibuprofen

Afrin Nasal Spray

Benadryl

Tylenol

Infant tylenol (include dosing chart)

Infant Ibuprofen (include dosing chart)

Childrenʼs benadryl (1/2 tsp dose)

Sunscreen SPF50

Thermometer

Pedialyte powder - individual

Bandaids and Polysporin

Nail clippers

Safety Pins

Tweezers

Bug spray

Scissors

Office

Post-its

Pen

Paperclips

Power strip – not sure yet about this

Plug adaptors

Household supplies

Small dish soap

Laundry detergent

Extra plastic bags, sandwich size

Extra plastic bags, quart size

Extra plastic bags, gallon size

Small diaper trash bags

Reusable shopping bags for carrying stuff

Baby (18 months old, unrepaired CL/CP)

Diapers (30), purchase more in China

Swim diapers

Wipes (1 refill pack)

Travel changing pads

Sling – not sure which one yet

Take & toss bowls

Spoons

Bottle brush

Toothbrush

Bottles/sippy cups (2 plus cleft nipples) – not sure what we’re doing about bottles/sippy cups yet

Burp cloths

Bibs

Soft, comfy blanket

Toys

Small inflatable beach ball

Books – only 1 or 2

Socks

Sweaters

Light summer coat

Swimsuit

Long pants warmer outfits

PJʼs

Short-sleeve onsies

Long-sleeve onsies

Several headbands

Sherry

Swimsuit

Swim cap

Socks

Underwear

Lightweight pants (2) (wear one during travel)

Lightweight capris (2)

T-shirts (7) (wear one during travel)

Flip flops

Tennis shoes (wore them)

Aaron

Swimsuit

Swim cap

Socks

Underwear

Flip flops

Tennis shoes (wore them)

Jeans (1 pair) (wear during travel)

T-shirts (7) (wear one during travel)

Undershirts

Shorts

Snacks

Plastic bin for snacks (doubles as a place to wash bottles, cups, etc in hotel rooms)

Individual serving peanut butter (14)

Granola bars

Pop-tarts

Individual Coffee

Individual powdered creamers (took too many of these last time – coffee and cream are readily available at meals)

Individual sugar packets

Tea bags

Goldfish

Carry-Ons

Adoption Paperwork – Holt will tell us what we need

Translucent folder for paperwork – I think Holt gave us one last time

Thumb drive with scanned documents – also, upload documents somewhere online

PASSPORTS

Passport organizer

Extra passport photos (6 each total) – Holt will tell us how many we need

Extra copies of ALL documents (passports, visa page, driverʼs license, credit cards) - I

also left extra copies of ALL paperwork at home where our parents could easily access

if needed - I was convinced that if I had copies everywhere, nothing would go wrong!

Small notebook for taking notes

Printed travel itinerary

Travel insurance info

Information sheet of all hotels

Information sheet of Western doctors/insurance info AND consulate contacts

Contact sheet for US doctors and important ppl, including adoption agency

Sunglasses

Playing cards/card games

Cash

Credit cards/debit cards – let Discover and Chartway know we are traveling

Converter (no adapter needed for us - check the voltage on your electronics)

Travel tissue packs (2)

Toothbrush (2)

Travel toothpaste (2)

Individual wet naps (6)

Deodorant

Ibuprofen

Tylenol

Benadryl

Hand Sanitizer

Gum/Mints

Snacks

Laptop/charger

Ipods/charger

Contact case/lenses/solution

Glasses

Travel face wash

Travel moisturizer

Clothes & diapers to last baby a few days

Reading material for plane ride

Makeup

Iphone/charger

Camera/charger

Gifts

Holt will tell us what we need to bring

New Pictures!!!!

We finally got the update on Kenzi we've been hoping for.  She has grown a lot, so that's good.  She can sit up by herself and walk a few steps if someone holds her hand.  She has 6 teeth and it seems that her cleft lip and palate don't cause any problems with eating and drinking.  She appears to have normal hearing.  Her lip has not been repaired (obviously) and we think it will not be repaired in China.  We're still not quite sure about that, so we're trying to find out more.  Our surgeons here don't have a preference ... they're ready for whatever situation is presented.

A Non-Update.....

Nothing at all has happened this week adoption-wise.

1.  We are waiting for an update on Kenzi.  We're hoping to get new pictures and some answers to questions we submitted.  Our agency said it could be 2-3 weeks from when we asked.  Today has been 2 weeks and 2 days.  So hopefully any day now ....
2.  No LOA yet.  We're at 28 days and the average is around 60.  Lots of people do get them around the 30 day mark, though.

So that's it.  Nothing.  Luke and Jacinda pray every night that Kenzi would get home soon and safely.

An Update ..... of sorts ....

There's not much going on, but I thought I'd post an update of sorts.

1.  We FINALLY got our tax refund!!!!!!!!!!  YAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2.  We sent a few questions to our Agency regarding Kenzi.  It could take a couple of weeks to get the answers.  We're hoping to get some new pictures, but we aren't counting on that.
3.  We have a few low-interest adoption loans we need to apply for.  We are waiting to hear about a grant we applied for.  I believe our application is being reviewed in August.
4.  Waiting.  That's mostly what we're doing.  It seems the average wait for LOA (our approval from China) is around 60 days, and we're at about 21 days.  But the LOA wait seems to have no rhyme or reason and we could get it much sooner than 60 days (or much later).  I need to get our next US Immigration form (it's a long one) ready to go so that when we get that LOA, the form is ready to go out the same day.  We're REALLY hoping to go to China by the end of the year, and we may be down to a matter of a few days making the difference.
5.  We sent Kenzi's photo album to our agency and it's getting sent to China today.  Hopefully by next week sometime, she'll be looking at all of our pictures we sent her!  We also included a few sheets of stickers and a CD with Lullaby songs.  I hope they can play it for her!  (Click the pictures to make them bigger.)  Aaron works with a guy from China and he has been so helpful to us.  He translated the captions for the pictures.

 The kids drew pictures for Kenzi!!!