Check out the counter....17 days! I'm SURPRISED at how fast time is going....it may have a teeensy bit to do with the fact that though I'm immensely excited, I'm a bit on edge about things, too. This is ALL new to me. Never been on a plane. Never been out of the states. Never met my son. Never LEFT my son. Never left my 2 children here for that long. So far away. Ready or not, here it comes!
Lots of emotions. Lots of things to think about. Lots of lists to make. Yikes.
Lots of emotions. Lots of things to think about. Lots of lists to make. Yikes.
So, help a girl out!!! I'd love to hear your tips. To make this EASY, I'll post in categories :~)
CATEGORY 1: Joshua
So far I have:
enough clothes, shoes, swim trunks, towel
stuffed animal, shape sorter, puzzle, water squirt toys
assorted sippy cups and a bottle
wipes (lots) and diapers
bathtime soap, lotion, powder, and diaper cream
books and photo book
I still plan on getting:
vitamins
anti-fungal cream
toothbrush/paste
truck & ball
crayons, paint, paper
pediasure
sunscreen
We'll have Tuesday afternoon through Friday afternoon to feed him. We'd like to pack our suitcase full of 'good for him, HIGH CALORIE snacks.' We have hope that even in this short time, he eats well and benefits from it. The problem is, I need suggestions. What travels in a suitcase well, and yet really packs a calorie punch? Not so much empty calorie snacks, but really stick-to-ya snacks. Yes, we'll be taking meals at the guest house, so he'll have things he's used to, but I just want to add to that the best I can.
So, if you see anything we're missing or would like to suggest as we look at our Joshua list, please leave feedback. I really want to know!
10 comments:
Abbie was a lot younger, but she adored Cherrios, dry of course....... I took a whole box and between her and all the other 9 babies, it was all eaten before the 2 weeks we were there! Its really portable too!
Aunt Dawn
Larabars! They are made mainly of just nuts and fruit. Our boys and all the other kids at the O LOVED them, and they don't contain any of the junk like grain, soy, corn, sugar, etc... that they already get too much of in their diets. They're also small enough to pack easily and don't melt in Haiti heat. You can buy them online or at most health food stores, but our local Wal-Mart recently started carrying them (in the vitamin section- not in the groceries.) If you can't find them fruit leathers and nuts are also great and very popular with the kids.
I can't believe you haven't been on a plane before! What an exciting trip this is going to be for you! I'll keep you in my prayers.
Oh, one more thing you might want to bring- a nail brush. You will get a bunch of black junk under your nails in Haiti. It's nice to be able to clean them up, especially before the plane trip home when you'll already be feeling grungy enough!
Peptobismol for you for the airplane ride. EVERY time I flew to Romania and got ready to land, the thought of seeing my family, the bad airplane food and the being high in the air made my stomach sick. It's a good thing just to have with you. =)
I have no tips...I just wanted to say I am soooooo excited for you guys!! Try to relax, rest in Him. He has blessed you greatly in getting you to this point, just keep resting in Him to get you through the rest of the way.
I canNOT WAIT to hear all about this trip and first meeting of your boy. :squee:
If I come up with any ideas I'll be sure to post back. If I remember and get a chance to talk to my friend who adopted from Guatemala, I'll ask her for ideas as well.
Hi. Just found your blog & am excited for you. This trip will be amazing. My thoughts for your list (hopefully not too basic)...
-Thin blanket to sit on outside while you're playing
-Balloons
-Glow sticks
-Mosquito repellant
-Hand sanitizer
-LOTS & LOTS & LOTS of diapers
-A white sheet. If you drape it somewhere you can kind of get professional-type photos of your little guy
-Something to leave behind for him that has your photo - a laminated photo for his crib?
Have fun!
Heidi
Hello,
I,too, just discovered your blog. We brought our 2 year old (then) son home in late 2006, but prior to that visited a couple of times. I suggest a flashlight (just in case), those little individual applesauce containers (with spoons), and some cheap towels that you can leave behind or toss. Cheerios are great, light, and travel well.
And if you can, get bug spray and a prescription for scabies. Best wishes.
Ok, I know the current category is Joshua, but these details came to mind and I didn't want to wait for the next category. Please disregard if you have these issues covered.
Part 1
Cell Phone:
I assume you have a cell phone. Call your carrier and see if it will work in Haiti. I have AT&T, and while my phone works in Haiti and other countries, international calling is disabled by default. AT&T has several international calling plans for a small monthly fee, but for the short time we were in Haiti it wasn't worth it, so we went with the no-plan $2 per minute option. They charged me 50 cents per text message.
As a side note, AT&T told me there was no unlimited data plan available, and that data rates were INSANELY expensive at 2 cents per kilobyte. That's $20 per megabyte, or $20,000 per gigabyte.
Credit Cards & Bank Cards
You should call your bank and credit card companies to let them where you will be going and how long you will be staying. (Out-of-pattern-spending is the term they use, if I recall correctly) We didn't use our cards in Haiti, but we did in Miami.
Part 2
The 'Green' immigration cards
On the relatively short flight to Port-Au-Prince we were given a green form to fill out (one for each traveler). One of the things they want to know is where you will be staying, and how they might get hold of you. You might want to talk to Dr. B. to see when he would suggest you put on the form. For our trip, I just got the address of the guest house (I put this down as where I was staying), the NLL offices, and wrote down all the phone numbers I could find. For us, it was enough information.
Also, they wanted us to declare what we were bringing into the country. As I understand it (not 100% sure – check with others) they're looking for people bringing things in for commercial purposes (importing for someone in Haiti). I didn't bother to declare the MP3 player, soccer ball or other gifts I was bringing as there was no commercial intent.
When I passed through customs they kept most of the green sheet, and gave us a stub from each of our forms. This stub was needed to give to customs/immigration as we were leaving Haiti (i.e. We needed it to get out of the country).
With all the concern about the H1N1 virus, you may also need to fill out related sheet about that – listing any symptoms you may have had recently.
Part 3
Assigned seats
At the end of my first trip to Haiti, actually getting on the plane to head back to the states turned out to be a little more exciting than expected. You can read about it here.
http://makefunofyourday.blogspot.com/2008/08/more-to-story.html
After this, I always try to make sure that I have assigned seats on all my flights. If for any of your flights you don't have assigned seats, it might be worth it to see if you can get seats assigned ahead of time. Otherwise you may find yourself waiting to get your name called after those with assigned seats have boarded the plane.
Luggage
Not so much a tip as something to watch out for. In the terminal, I didn't see our luggage on the carousel after a fair amount of waiting. I don't know what made me check what other people were taking from the luggage carousel, but after some searching I had found that a lady had my bag mixed with her bags. All her bags were red, and my bag was red, so she assumed it was hers without checking. Yikes! Most of the gifts I was carrying were in that bag.
BTW – if you need to use a cart to move your luggage through the airport, the carts now cost $2 to rent, not $1 as listed on the NLL site.
Looks like you have everything covered! I just want to say I am beyond excited for your trip.
Post a Comment