Are We Ready?

Is it possible ever truly to be ready for something like this?

We have assembled all of the items recommended for travel by our adoption agency, as well as a few items we think necessary. These include: LOTS of baby stuff (or perhaps it seems like lots, because we've never traveled with a baby); gifts for various officials involved in the adoption process; and our own necessities. We are also considering taking our backpacking water filter, so that we can have plenty of cool water, rather than relying on hot, boiled water in our hotel rooms, or on bottled water of dubious origin. If there's room, we may take some decent coffee and our backpacking French press coffee mugs.

Looks like it will all fit into two small-medium roller bags, and we are each taking a daypack as a carry-on. Our own necessities are pretty minimal since we have washable/quick-dry travel clothes, AND all of our hotels will have laundry service.

We tested four different baby carriers, using a 10-lb bag of bird seed + a 7-lb bag of cat food (to roughly match her projected weight). We hope that Iris is a little more dense than this combination (we also hope that at least most of the time, she smells better). We selected one of the front-carriers, and a homemade sling (created by Emily Yates).

Hardware needed for assembling the crib arrived TODAY! I hope to have a chance to put it together before tomorrow's flight to Seattle. Our friend Judy is all set to watch the cats (and the house) in our absence. She is really good with both of them - she brushes them, plays with them, and brings them high-octane catnip from her yard. They will be spoiled. We will miss them. What a surprise they will get when we return!