Happy New Year!

2009 will be a very big year for many of us here in Blogville, as we receive referrals and start our new families. For us, this is not only the beginning of a new year but the beginning of a brand new and exciting chapter in our lives. We have been trying for parenthood for over 10 years now and our dream has finally come true! We have been blessed with a daughter who we feel is the perfect fit for us!

Today, after watching the Tournament of Roses Parade (a tradition for me) we officially started packing. Wow, talk about overwhelming!! Even with our list in hand, it is really intimidating sitting there surrounded by all the stuff that somehow has to go into our very limited luggage and make it across the world.

Since we are taking a domestic flight in China, we are each restricted to one 44lb check-in bag, one carry-on, and one personal item. Joe is taking a check-in, rolling carry-on and a backpack and I have a check-in, rolling carry-on and a purse. Another decision is what gets packed in the checked bags and what goes in the carry-ons and what's the smartest way to distribute everything. So far this is what I have in mind (any suggestions would be appreciated)...

• Joe's back-pack will hold the laptop and camera along with their accessories (batteries, memory cards, power cords, etc) and our document holder with the adoption paperwork.
• One of our rolling carry-ons is going to hold our 1st day Beijing outfits, long johns, hats, scarves, gloves...this way if our luggage is lost for a day we are at least covered for our touring day. This bag will also hold a copy of our adoption paperwork.
• Prescription meds in my purse (in their original bottles)
• Waist wallets will hold cash, passports and driver's licenses
• We are carrying on our coats, which can double as a pillow/blanket in a pinch.
• We are going to split Lauren's clothes up into two large ziplocks...one for each checked bag. I figure then if one is lost, we at least have some clothes for her. I'm thinking we should do this with our clothes too.
• All the non-prescription meds fit into a gallon sized ziplock (I took them all out of the packages and attached the instructions with a rubber band if they weren't already on the tube/bottle). This ziplock, along with some other baby care items is in a shoebox sized rubber-maid container that will be used for washing small items. I'm bringing light weight plastic tongs for fishing items out of the hot water.
• I'm questioning whether all our non-prescription stuff should be packed in the same bag...if it's lost then we have none of it. I wonder if I should split this up too.

There's just SO much to think about when you're new parents traveling around the world and taking care of a little child out of a hotel room for two weeks! I'm not freaking out, but it is a little bit scary. Please let me know if you have any tips on packing that might help.

I do have one tip regarding the non-prescription meds if you want to take them out of the boxes...many of them have the instructions on the tube/bottle, but it's in teeny-tiny writing. Our baby nail clippers have a little magnifying glass on them for baby's tiny nails. It works perfect for reading the med instructions! ;)