~Traci~

I'll email it to you

I've heard they have pb there so we're not taking it. We're taking a few packs of crackers (like the wheat & pb, etc), singles goldfish, & singles animal crackers. We're just taking a few packs of each b/c every list I've read that there's notes for when they came home said they didn't eat 1/2 of it and left if there. I know how we are w/ snacks on our driving trip and we're not really "snacky" people so I don't want to take 30 pkgs of crackers or anything. There will be 3 of us so I'm sure 1 of us will be able to run out somewhere to get something if it's needed.

Lisa - I don't know if I can only take 4 pairs either but they do pack up pretty small! I think we'll take 7 of each. I'm also going to get these:
American Tourister Space Savers By Space Bag

I think we can get away w/ just 1 for each of us (to put all our clothes in) & ziploc everything else in their own bags (like office supplies, food, etc). Baby clothes we're going to seperate in to days w/ clothes, socks, etc in each ziploc for each day). Toiletries will be in a ziploc bag as well. Diapers will go in a ziploc bag w/ all the air taken out. All the medications will be taken out of their boxes. The pills will go in ziploc bags. All the medications will go in to a "medical bag" which I found this one:

(I would have linked it but it wouldn't like for some reason)
It's the www.landsend.com toiletry bag (the small one). It folds up to 19" which is really small when you think about the 45" that you can carry on. I've been told by frequent flying DH that it will not be counted towards what we're carrying on (like a free item-kinda like a purse).

So between us, we'll have:
2 backpack carryons (37")
backpack diaper bag (38")
2 Suitcases on wheels (42")
Waistpacks (2 b/c my DH refuses to wear one!)
1 Suitcase on wheels (not sure about the size but one of ours)
Hanging Toiletry Bag (for meds)-small-19 in.
Something to put our video camera in--not it's own case

I've way slimmed down our packing list (just taking less of each item and cutting out little things completely). Lisa, I'll send you the new one as soon as I'm done w/ it I really think we have to do COO so we can check some bags on the way back since we'll be limited to 50 lbs/pp (not the 70 lbs/pp that is usually b/c of our travel plans).

ETA: Lisa, I forgot to ask you. Do you remember what airlines you flew while in China? I wanted to see if they had websites to tell what you could carry-on & what you have to check.

TTYL
Traci

~Traci~

Hey Lis,

You flew United right?

On United's website it says:
Carry-on baggage information
For travel worldwide on United, you may carry on one bag and one personal item such as a purse, briefcase, or laptop computer.
A carry-on bag must fit under your seat or in the overhead bin.
Carry-on bag dimensions should not be more than 9" x 14" x 22" (length + width + height) or 45 linear inches (the length, height and width added together).
United may require that a carry-on item travel as checked baggage if the item cannot be safely stowed on a particular flight.

United exempts the following personal items from the one piece limit:

Child safety seats for ticketed children
Assistive devices (e.g. canes, crutches, etc.)
Outer garments (e.g. coats, hats, etc.)

So would a backpack be considered a personal item or a carryon? I know it could actually be considered either but I'm just wondering if in this case it would be considered one or the other when bringing both a suitcase and a backpack... It's ok if you don't know.

I did email United about lap seats, this is what they said:
Infant under 2 years old can travel on a lap seat with purchasing an
infant ticket at 10% of adult fare. The free baggage allowance is:

- 1 PIECE MAXIMUM TOTAL: 45IN/114CM - 70LB/32KG.
- 1 FULLY COLLAPSIBLE STROLLER OR PUSH-CHAIR.

Infant can also occupy a seat by purchasing a ticket at 75% of adult
fare, and will receive same free baggage allowance as adult.

It would be 50 lbs for us (wonder if that's check in or carryon...) but that means we can buy a suitcase there and still be ok even if we didn't do COO on the way there!

Ok, going to work on the packing list b/c I'm getting obsessive about it!

TTYL
Traci

Lisa67

Hi Traci,

So glad things are moving along for you. Now, on the ICS paperwork--they put my maiden name on my forms and when Melanie called to correct it it was done in a day. Now, that was after I'd been f/p but still..they were able to correct it. Since your HS agency isn't helping much do you think Mel could help?


Restaurants
When you are in BJ they will provide your 3 meals--breakfast at your hotel then the other meals out while you're touring or near your hotel. Basically in BJ you'll never be on your own.

In her province you will have breakfast & dinner provided for, again usually at the hotel. For lunch we never wandered too far and the hotel served us fine. But if we were out we just asked the guides for recommendations. That'll really depend on where you are.

In GZ...lots of options. Take out from Danny's Bagel was pretty good---their spaghetti sauce needed help but it was OK when you are really craving American food! Their cream cheese was nasty so don't get that!

The food at the White Swan is delicious. Can't go wrong there except that their dinner buffet was near $30 US. so we skipped that and went off the much more reasonable menu!

Lucy's was pretty good too. A mix of Chinese & American style foods. It's the first place we ate in GZ and we were pleased with it.

There are a couple other local restaurants on Shamian Island that were good. Check out this map which is so cool!

Shopping

I could go on forever with this but in her province you'll want to buy whatever her area is known for. Some places it's silks, for us it was porcelain.

But in GZ the shops are endless. Look on that map above too. It's what you'll spend most of your free time wanting to do. I have to say, though, my favorite shop is Michael's Place and I CAN'T WAIT to go back to see him. He's just the sweetest guy and was so kind to us. We gave him most of our business and when we were leaving he presented us with a beautiful wall hanging and said it was a gesture of our friendship. V ery sweet!!

I'd list out all the shops but my best advice is to not jump on the first thing you see. You'll notice the shops have similar items (some are owned by the sam family) and you'll be able to barter till the cows come home. I hope you're into that--I hate it and I'll have a hard time doing it again but it's how they operate.


If you have more ?'s or I forgot something let me know!

~Traci~

Here's what I have (it's long b/c it's detailed & I pulled it from Excel):
Pre-Paperchase
Traci - get parents birthdates 2/28/2005
Traci - Verify Health Ins. 3/21/2005
Traci - Home Study Agency? 3/21/2005
Traci - Marriage Certificates 3 3/24/2005
Traci - Employment Letter 1 4/4/2005
Traci - Find Divorce Date 4/5/2005
Traci - Agency Application 1 4/18/2005
Traci - Birth Certificate 3 4/21/2005
Traci - Divorce Decree 3 4/21/2005
Traci - Proof of health ins. 1 4/27/2005
Traci - Medical Forms 2 5/10/2005
Traci - get passport 5/9/2005

Chris - Ck pport exp. & pgs 2/26/2005
Chris - Copies of License 2 3/29/2005
Chris - Birth Certificate 3 3/30/2005
Chris - Cert. Docket from Court 2 4/14/2005; 5/9/05
Chris - Divorce Decree 3 4/14/2005
Chris - Find out Marriage Date 4/18/2005
Chris - 3 years tax returns 4/25/2005
- Year 2004 1 4/25/2005
- Year 2003 1 4/25/2005
- Year 2002 1 4/25/2005
Chris - Employment Letter 1 5/10/2005
Chris - Medical Forms 2 6/6/2005

MIL - Get Birth Certificate 1 5/23/2005
MIL - Get Passport 5/23/2005

Both - References 4
Reference 1 - Work 5/25/2005
Reference 2 - Relative 5/18/2005
Reference 3 - Friend 5/10/2005
Reference 4 - Neighbor 5/13/2005
Both - Guardian Letter 5/16/2005

Home Study:
Both - Home Study app 5/20/2005
Both - Home Study Post Placement Fee 6/28/2005
Home Study Visit 7/19/2005
Home Study Report 1st Draft 7/25/2005
Home Study Report 8/23/2005
Home Study Update May?
Post Placement Visit-6 months December?
Post Placement Visit-12 months June 2006?

I-600A
Traci - Child abuse clearance2 5-Jul
Traci - Pictures (us& house) 10 5/20/2005
Traci - CCAA Letter 3/8/2005
Traci - Copies of photo & signature passport pages 1 6/28/2005
Traci - Medical Forms 2 5/10/2005
Traci - Police Clearance 2 7/13/2005
Traci - Passport photos 4 5/16/2005

Chris
Chris - Child abuse clearance 2 5-Jul
Chris - copies of photo & signature passport pages 1 5/16/2005
Chris - Financial document 5/14/2005
Chris - Medical Forms 2 6/6/2005
Chris - Police Clearance 2 5/23/2005
Chris - Passport photos 4 5/16/2005

Both
Both - I-600A ($525) & Fingerprinting Fee ($140/each) 8/3/2005
Fingerprinting Notice 8/23/2005
Fingerprinting 8/30/2005

I-171H
USCIS Approval 9/23/2005

DTC
Dossier To China (DTC) 10/25/2005
Log In Date (LID) November???

The dates are when things were done. I have an entire Excel document full of dates when things happened, etc. It's full of dates but I can clear it & send it to you if you'd like. It helped a lot b/c I could just look at it and figure out what else needed to be done (& if you knew me, you'd know I can't live w/o Excel documents!).

Also, for our police clearances I actually went to the county & got county misdemeanor & felony letters (since DH supposedly had a misdemeanor I thought it would be easier to get a letter...come to find out there is no record of it so I did all that extra work for nothing!).

ETA: The #'s next to each item is the copies I got. I did have to get extras b/c we had a different HS agency so you may have to get extra things...like our HS agency had their own medical form and refused to take the one that went to China.

Traci

__________________

Married 6 years (1/16/03) to my wonderful husband!
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1 DD (B: 9/06; A: 8/07)
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2 fur kitties- 9 angels (Single Loss 05/03; Quad Loss 09/03-D&C; Twin Loss 02/04; Twin Loss 2004. All RPL testing "normal" No cause found ('05 & '09)

New Gonal-F cycle started 9/5/09- Cancelled 9/14/09 due to too many follies all growing the same (all under 10mm still) Started Soy 120mg CD12-16!
RE said IVF next
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....starting IVF Feb/March 2010

2550mg Met
100mcg Levothroxine
Prenatal
Baby ASA

~Traci~

Lisa - It sure does sound like they should be starting on June soon! Of course, it also seems like between May & November is such a long time...it feels like it's going to take forever for our referral

Brandy - You should be able to do your physicals for your HS & dossier @ the same time. At least we did... Your documents can't be more than 6 months old when they go to China and once you're LID the "clock" stops on your documents until referral and then starts back up. We were DTC in October and some of our documents had April dates on them and they're fine.

About financials, they know that things fluctuate and what you have in your bank acct probably won't be that amt next year. You should write what your current situation is. As far as I know, the financials don't have to exactly match next year...Lisa would know better though b/c she's filled that paperwork out in China (right Lisa?).

For the extra person: You just have to make sure they have a passport before travel (I would go ahead and pick who's going and get them a passport now) and let your agency know you're bringing them. They will also need a visa but you'll just send their passport in along w/ yours when the time comes. There are no special requirements for the adoption or anything b/c it's just for travel.

Referances: They're just for the adoption agency. They don't go to China @ all. The Guardian letter (if your agency requires it) doesn't go either.

Here's what goes:
Birth Certificates
Marriage Certificate
Divorce Decrees (if applicable)
Letter of Intent
HS Report
Medical Forms
Employment Letters (if you don't work, you have to write an unemployment letter basically explaining that you don't work, your DH supports the family & you stay home to take care of your son and will do so when your daughter comes home)
Copies of passports
Extra passport photo (make sure it's a good one b/c I've heard they use this one to match you)

I'm sure there are a few others. I really don't know what exactly goes in to a dossier b/c I just gathered all the documents & sent them to our agency. Our agency then notarizes, certifies, & authenticates everything so I don't really know what goes & what doesn't but this is the rough estimate of everything.

I think on either Paperchase or APC there is a file of things that go for the dossier.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/a-parents-china/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/paperchase2000/

Did you want me to send you the Excel Doc?

TTYL
T