I love our Agency! They are soooo great! I received an email this morning. Levi's visa appointment went great and his visa issuance was approved. He just had his appointment today (actually yesterday in the Philippines). Our agency gave us the okay to book our tickets. We are scheduled to be in the Philippines the 9th-15th. We were hoping that this coming travel week would work out because there is a Global Adoption Conference in the Philippines the third week of August and if we didn't get to be there the 2nd week, we would have had to wait until the last week of August. Miraculously, they were able to make it happen. Wes and I want to go a couple of days early so that we would be able to recover from jet lag and be able to do a little sight seeing and shopping before meeting Levi. I booked our tickets with a travel agent while the girls were getting haircuts. Imagine me trying to tell the girls how cute their hair looked by not talking outloud, writing a check, and still trying to hold a conversation with the travel agent. Phew! I was completely multi-tasking all day long. We are leaving on Wednesday the 5th out of St. Louis. Yes, that is in 5 days. OMG...I have so much to do. I have my lists made and have already made 2 trips to Wal-mart trying to get things that we need to stuff in our suitcases. Not only do I have to pack for Wes (he will pack his basics) and I, but I also have to pack for the girls week and a half stay with grandparents. And it is really hard to pack for someone that you have never met. I have been going through Jaidyn and Addy's scrapbooks and trying to figure out what sizes they wore at that age, what toys the played with and what they liked to eat. We are planning on buying most of Levi's items once we arrive in the Philippines.
Jaidyn helped me get Levi's bed ready this morning. We are going to try out the toddler bed. Both Jaidyn and Addy moved from the crib to a bed when they were 15 months, so we will try it out with Levi too. We might have to make a switch, but hopefully, it will work out. Hope he likes blue, brown and puppy dogs!
15 comments:
Wow wow wow!!!!! I can't believe your travel wait went so fast. That is so encouraging - do you think it has a lot to do with your agency? Holt sounds really good.
Please let me know if you have questions. Eze was 20 months when we brought him home, so a little older, but his favorite things were books about animals and wearing our shoes around. Mostly books though! Hopefully my size e-mail helped too.
So excited for you guys to be leaving in 5 days!!!!!!!!
Rachel,
Yes, Kristine and Mike w/ Holt have been so wonderful in trying to keep things moving smoothly. I would recommend them in a heartbeat.
I did pick out several of my favorite board books to take along. One is farm animals, one is up-close baby face emotion pictures, one Elmo peek-a-boo book, and two lift-a-flap mommy/daddy loves baby books. They were some of our girls favorites at that age.
I love all your pictures of Eze wearing around your shoes...I am not sure I have planned on taking any high heels with me. Ha!
Yes, your sizing answers were very helpful. I am narrowing down the outfits I had picked out(also gives me an excuse to buy several why we are there).
Do you suggest that we take our laptop. I would like to, but I didn't know if it would be more trouble than it's worth. Did you have problems finding a place to connect to while staying at the Intercontinental?
I am so excited for you!!!
It is wise that you guys are taking a few extra days. We allowed ourselves one day to recover from the travel and we are sooo glad we did that even though all we did was hang at the hotel, it was worth it.
As far as the laptop, I would take it. I hesitated, too but my husband really wanted to take it. It ended up being our lifeline. We didn't stay at the same hotel but we stayed a hotel of similar comparison and they provided us with a cable to connect in our room. We were able to keep everyone up to date on our blog, email, and even Facebook. It was one of the best decisions we made. Plus, we had some issues with our credit card while we were there and we were able to pull up our account information online.
Sizes are hard to guess. Our son was 5 when we got him and he wore size 18 months swimming trunks! So, the best advice on that I can give you is to take some things of different sizes. If you are staying in Makati, the Shoemart, SM, is a nice place to shop if you are planning on buying some of Levi's things while in the Philippines. We found their prices to be extremely reasonable and we bought Jay-R's Filipino barong shirt there.
Good luck getting everything around!
OMG!! I just got goosebumps as I was reading your post! You're leaving in 5 days!! Have a safe trip Jenny and Wes. I can't wait to hear about it and to see pics of the newest addition to your family. :)
Congrats Jenny and Wes! Have a great trip. We'll be excited to see pictures when you get home. Hope the girls have a great time at grandma's.
wow Jenny! I am so excited for you! You're leaving in five days! Wow! I can't even imagine how that must feel! Have fun packing and most especially have a great trip!
Looking forward to hearing all about it!
OMG!!! You're leaving for the Philippines so soon. I am super excited for you guys! I can barely sit still to write this comment :0)
I can't wait to hear (or read!)all about your trip. Take lots of pictures, if you get the chance :0)
I think it's really smart that you're going for a few extra days, in order to have time to get over the jet lag. We plan on doing the same thing.
Well, have a great trip! I am sooo excited for you guys :0)
I am so excited for you Jenny! Have a great trip. Can't wait to hear all about it. Where is Levi's orphanage? Will you be staying in Manila most of the time or off the island?
Jennifer~
Levi's is at the Heart of Mary Villa orphanage in Malabon City which isn't very far outside of Manila. I think it takes an hour or so to get there, but mainly because of Manila traffic. We will be staying in Manila for the entire time that we are there.
Amber~ I am sure we will take lots of pictures. I have already purchased another memory card for my camera and we will share our slide show when we get back. I think I am going to take the laptop so I am sure we will give updates while there. :)
Jenny,
I can't believe that things are happening so fast for you guys. You must be just thrilled and your head must be swimming with a thousand things you have to do before you go! Now the final countdown begins!! Have a safe and wonderful trip and I look forward to hearing all about it when you get home. I'll be thinking about you guys.
yay! Safe travels! i'd bring the laptop ~ we used ours quite a bit when we were in Manila, although there also wasn't a shortage of internet cafes and business centers, so it would not have been a big deal if we didn't. it was convenient to be able to use it in our room, though. ingat!
What an exciting time for you - Congratulations Jenny & Wes! What a beautiful family you have and your new son Levi is as cute as can be! You will love having a son (not that having daughters isn't great as well). Enjoy your journey, safe travels!
Brett
(from the Journey to Ryan blog).
OMG Jenny! It feels like it all happened to fast. Good luck to you, have a safe trip, can't wait to see the new addition!
(((HUGS)))
Dear Jenny,
I'm so excited to hear to you are leaving today!!
Things went so smoothly with your adoption. I am doubly excited to know you are going to Heart of Mary Villa in Malabon City because that is where our son Bryan(we just got the referral on Monday)is currently living. I will be following your progress so carefully!! Good luck and safe travels to you and Wes.
i can't remember what my name will show up as under this account, but it's Brandon B. and we went to high school together. that should be enough info...
i read a bit of your blog after seeing the link posted at your FB account. pretty cool for sure. Danny and i have talked about adoption for as long as we've talked about having kids (after 13 years, a lot!) because i have this weird thing about...well, i have this weird 'philosophy' about having kids when there are soooo many that are already out there who need a home. Danny disagrees on some points, of course, but is keen on the idea of adoption at some point.
i know you're gone at the moment, and will be busy for several years to come ;), but i will remember this and will most likely pop up again in your future to ask you questions...as long as you don't mind, naturally. hope you have/had a safe trip and i wish you and your family all the best!
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