This Time v's Last Time

Going to China this time will be very different from our last trip there in 2003.
Here is a list of random thoughts in no particular order.

Last time we were first time parents.
This time we will have BTDT

This time we will have 2 schedules to contend with. Lily's and her Mei Mei's

We will confirm our flights out of China ourselves 48 hours prior to departure!
Last time we found out our seats from Guanzhou to Hong Kong had been sold out from under us and we had 15 minutes to pack and get to the airport. (not fun)

We will probably spend a lot of time ordering room service just so that we can get to know each other and not be surrounded by people all the time so that we can start to bond. We did this last time and it was wonderful, for us.

We won't be first time parents who carry the worlds largest diaper bag with them EVERYWHERE they go. We dragged this monster bag with us just to go downstairs. Hey, we were new at this and wanted to be prepared.

I won't spend weeks stressing about the gifts to take to China. I have so many lists about them now it will be a breeze. I can share the lists if you want them.

We won't pack quite so much stuff this time around. Everything you could possibly need is sold in China and the hotels all have laundry service.

We won't be quite as nervous this time as we have first hand knowledge that WACAP will handle everything and very well.

We will buy another stroller when we are there but this time we WILL take a sling or carrier of some type. New mummy arms are incredibly painful.

We will enjoy China this time and not be totally fixated on the adoption process.

We will take a suitcase filled with snacks and chocolate. I really missed my fix of the brown stuff. We will also take cup a soups again as we are not the most adventurous eaters. Anything with a head and eyes attached makes me YAK.

We will be taking a possible entourage with us. Hopefully my dad and Jeanne and definitely my cousin Andrea. They all know the rules with regard to the baby and they are fine with them. We can't imagine experiencing such an important time in our lives with out them. I know alot of people think this is wrong but it works for us.

When we get home we will put ourselves under house arrest for 6 weeks. This was something our agency recommended although they didn't call it house arrest. If you want to see Chopstick you have to come to us and then you leave and she stays put. It gives her a sense of home. We did it with Lily and it is hard cos you don't get to do so much but it helped her get acquainted with her new home really fast. Lily was a really easy baby so we will see with Chopstick.

We will brace for the worst and hope for the best with regard to grieving and attachement. Last time we expected a hard time and prepared for a hard time and were very pleasantly surprised.

We will have to buy another suitcase to fit all our loot in for the return journey, again. There will be more shopping this time around than last time.

We will hopefully get to meet some of you since there is a large group of us in close LID proximity and the way they are splitting up months who knows who will be there at the same time.

We will be just as incredibly giddy and excited this time.

There won't be a "last hurrah" for us in Hongkong this time around as we will have Lily with us but we will probably go to Beijing first instead.

When we leave our hands will be very full and our hearts will be overflowing with love.

P.S. I had all these cute little graphics for every thought and blogger said, "no way baby" and dumped every single one of them, the bas***d.