The first visit...

Our meeting went well at the MOE this morning and we received our referral for our little girl. We got to meet our daughter today!! She is just precious. What a cutie pie. She is very well cared for and very well loved. Our first impression is that she is not fond of strangers...she most certainly did not take to us as we did to her. But by the end she was doing better with us. She also seems to know what she wants...she is a little spitfire with her red hair and all. And I think she might like girly things. We brought her a little crown to wear and she wore it the entire time. Which makes us think that she is a little princess and she knows it! We can't wait to go back again tomorrow and see her. I've only been with her one day but already I know it's going to kill me to leave her here, even a short amount of time.

We also got to meet up with another couple from our agency here on their first trip. It was really great going out to dinner with them and sharing our stories of meeting our children.



This is a total side note but I've been thinking about what has been useful for our trip and wanted to share some ideas.

We are in a large city and I've noticed that a lot of people dress up. Black is very popular and everyone looks very stylish and trendy. Most women are wearing some type of black leather heeled boot and cute black wool jacket. Half of my clothing is jeans..so I'm a little bit dreading wearing them and standing out quite so much. It's not that cold here, although it did rain and snow just a bit today.

Try to pack light and carry important items you want in your carryon..a few changes of clothes, electronics, all documents and the items you are using at the babyhouse. Most hotels offer laundry service so you can get by on a few outfits if your luggage gets lost. The other family with us did not get their luggage yet and one of the families that traveled before us also had their luggage lost. Carry a toothbrush and paste with you if you have long flights. Also carry travel tp and sanitizing wipes for your hands and hand lotion and chapstick. Other items that are handy...ziplock bags of various sizes, an umbrella, a calculator, security belt, crystal lite packages on the go (they can be added to your bottled water for a new drink), prepackaged snacks for late nite snack attacks. A peanut butter sandwich, apple and granola bar for the plane ride or layovers comes in nice. Back up batteries for camera, extra camera card or video camera tapes. A power strip to charge all electronic items and TSA locks for your suitcase and a bottle of bubbles for the visit. It is the one item that really saved us today with our little girl. She loved the bubbles and had a blast. She also liked the small ball we brought. Any child around the 9-15 month mark is probably teething...bring some kind of teether. Our child wants to chew on everything! Also plenty of pens as they wander away and a journal for notetaking. Lastly, buy a few bottles of water once through security on the last leg of your flight or before you leave the airport for your hotel in case you don't get another shot at stopping for water before the next morning. That's about it for now...hope that helps some!