So Much to do and so little time!

We have now received our tentative travel dates: March 27-April 10th. There is a huge trade fair in Guangzhou the last half of April so they have to get us out of there before it hits. This was exactly the same time of year we traveled to pick up Lily in 05. You could really tell the clientel of the White Swan was changing from Caucasion families with Chinese babies to business men in three piece suits the last couple of days we were there. Our travel family list shows that the Budges will be in our group once again. Sherry and Roger traveled with us back in 05. They are getting a waiting child in a different province but we should all meet up at the White Swan. They are not bringing Natalie on the trip. There are 25 families in all and four of the families will be traveling with us to all three provinces. We have already met each other on line and we all sound a little panicy at this point trying to decide what to bring. Another family is briging their 3 year old daughter so we won't be the only ones.
Now the clock is really ticking loudly. We had to redo the homestudy addendum to include all of Luke's specific information and approving our family to be appropriate for him. We are sending off for our visas today. I'm busy shopping and taking advantage of the winter clothing sales for Luke. His last measurements were taken when he was 18 months old and now he is 45 months old so it is purely a guess at this point. The clothes I have been getting are such good deals that I don't really mind if they don't fit, but I'm still hoping they do.
We have to pack a variety of clothes. Temperatures in Beijing and Urumqi will be chilly, probably highs in the 30s-40s, while in Guangzhou the climate is similar to South Florida.
I have sent off a care package to Luke containing a beanie panda bear, a disposable camera and a small photo album of our family. The nice part about having a live-in Chinese exchange student is that she was able to translate a letter I wrote to Luke's foster Mom. I told her I know this transition must be difficult for her but that if Luke bonded well with her there is great hope that he will bond with us. I also asked her to take pictures of Luke with her family and in his everyday surroundings. I sent her some locally made soaps and hand creams. I just hope that Luke is still in her care. Sometimes they pull the kids out of foster care several weeks before the adoption and sometimes they wait until the last minute.
I'm reading a great book about toddler adoption which Jessica loaned me. It really gives some good tips about bonding and what to expect. It was completely different getting a 13 month old who could not walk to this time around of expecting a fully functioning very active 3 year old boy! If anyone has any good tips about play items to bring on the trip to help us all bond, please let me know. I'm already bringing beach balls and bubbles and I figure we can take the kids to the nearest park for some active play.
Steven has agreed to stay at our house while we are gone to babysit all the critters and Yue Jia is going to spend the time with Jessica's family.
In the meantime I have Lily's birthday party to plan (March 4th she will be 4!) and lots of inspections to get done at work. I plan on taking 5 full weeks off and then do a week of half days while I get Luke settled in at Carol's home daycare and then I will take off one day a week for the rest of my 12 weeks on family medical leave. It will be nice to have the extra day off during the week to spend extra time with the kids especially in the summertime.