3 Days...

THREE days! Every time I stop and think about that my stomach feels queasy. Not only will we be going to AFRICA, but we'll be meeting the newest members of our family. We'll be parents to THREE children. Not to brag, but I think I look pretty good for having three kids. ha-ha

To do...

• Pack - everything is picked out, I washed the kids' clothes today.
• Finish making tote bags - About 2 more hours worth of work and these will be done!
• Break out the Amharic cd & book.
• 2nd HepB shot on Friday.
• Make copies of passports & print out forms we need to bring
• Find a gift for our agency's liaison in Ethiopia
• Install additional car seats

Edited to say: We just got our travel docs in the mail from Susan Parr travel, whom I highly recommend. We never use a travel agent anymore as it's easy enough to find your own good deals online these days. But I didn't realize quite how much you have to think about when it comes to a trip like this.

Travel dates can change if there's a snag in the visa paperwork. With most airlines you can't change the tickets, or you have to pay a large fee. Susan has contracts in place that allow her not only the best deals, but she's also able to change out flights if needed. She deals with everything you don't even want to think about - like which country you should travel through to avoid having to get additional visas. And if you find yourself stuck on a runway somewhere, you call her and she makes everything better. In this long crazy process it's nice to be able to give a piece of the stress and responsibility to her, so that you don't have to deal with it.

8 Days...

I did what I hope will be my last shopping trip today. Picked up all the last minute things - earplugs for the plane, bug spray...that kind of stuff.

Still to do:

• Get a haircut
• Get all of my work stuff arranged so that my fill-ins don't have to do a lot
• Pack (I don't have the suitcase out yet, but am piling everything up in one place)
• Find / make gifts for the nannies (Bought fabric to make tote bags for them)
• Drop a boat load of stuff off at Goodwill
• Make a list of doctor's numbers / locations for Grandma
• Get the kids on my health insurance
• Break out the Amharic cd & book

We spent this morning dying Easter eggs, then planting lots and lots of vegetable seeds. I ran some errands in the afternoon, then we went to the Colorado Rockies game with Marc's elementary school. We only made it through the 4th inning, but Fletch said it was "really awesome". I think he enjoyed the shuttle bus even more than the baseball game. It's been kind of odd (in a good way) the past few days thinking "This is the last time we'll do XYZ as a family of three."

Well, the babe is in bed and I'm off to do Easter Bunny duty. Hippity hoppity...

First Time Mom v. Second Time Mom

I have to laugh at myself. Well, I do that a lot, but this time it was at the difference in me as a first time mom v. me as a second (and third) time mom.

For my first child, I had everything. Cloth diapers and disposable diapers, little baby washcloths, lotions and soaps and diaper rash creams and ointments, medicines for everything under the sun. Clothes coming out of our ears, toys bursting from every closet. An exersaucer, a playmat, a bouncer, a swing, a jumparoo, a glider and more.

When my mom called on Friday to see what we still needed for the new kids I had to think. We are getting 2 carseats from local families off of Freecycle. Felix will have Fletcher's hand-me-down clothes, and we already bought a few clothes for Macy. "Well...." I said, "We have carseats, clothes and food. I guess that's all we need!"

Fletch has more than enough toys for himself and his sister. The baby can play with the toys we have in storage that belonged to Fletch when he was a baby. They both have beds. What more could we need? Sure, there are some odds and ends I need to pick up - hair care products specifically for African hair, toothbrushes, and things like that. But for the most part, I'm feeling much more relaxed about adding these two new children to our family that I felt bringing the first one into it.

A Good Friday

Fletcher's checkup was this morning and dare I say we actually had fun!? We had a great ride into the city and saw so many exciting things (well, exciting for a two year old): tall buildings, tractors, a crane, multiple giant excavators, a fire truck, a zillion buses, a giant mail truck, dump trucks, construction men (Fletch told them "careful, don't fall down!" Awww...) and we even went through a "tunnel". Wowie, that's a lot of excitement.

At the doctor's office, they make you undress your child so they can get weight, height and do the general exam. Well Fletcher decided that he'd like to take his pull-up off as well and try to run around the halls naked. Oy, now that was embarrassing. It's like they know that you won't/can't yell at them in front of a doctor, so they push just as far as they can. So there I was trying to act like Mother of the Year by patronizingly explaining that those were his private parts and that only mommy, daddy and the doctor were allowed to see them. I finally broke down and gave him a "That's one!" He immediately came back and got his pull-up on. Victory!

He really was so excited to go to the doctor. I guess he doesn't remember all those shots as a baby and he's matured so much since the last time we were there. All the way there he talked about how the doctor was going to listen to his belly and look in his ears and mouth like on Elmo Goes to the Doctor. After all that I explained how the nurse was going to poke his finger and take some blood. He just watched in amazement that blood was pouring out of his finger. I was quite surprised and he was just excited about getting a band aid. Then for the part where I was sure he'd lose it - the flu shot. I told him he was going to get medicine in his leg and it might hurt at first but then it would stop...and that I had a special treat for him after (a sucker). That shot was over before he even knew what happened and we left with absolutely NO TEARS.

My little man is so cool. :)

We also got his doctor's note about his health, so we can check that off the list. Now if only my doctor's forms, Marc's doctor's letter and our last letter of recommendation would all come in the mail today. A girl can hope, can't she!?