care package

I got a great surprise this week.  The director of my placement agency is going to Vietnam next week and she offered to deliver care packages to the children.  I was told that I could send whatever I could fit in a 2.5 gallon ziploc.  The catch was that I had just a few days to get it to North Carolina.  So, yesterday I left work early and went to Target to buy my munchkin some goodies.  I know it's ridiculous.  I've had 2 huge baby showers and have a room full of stuff, but I was warned that she may not come home with the items that I send so I didn't want to send anything that someone special had given her.  So, I went to Target and had a blast.  I bought her a little fleece blanket, a little butterfly toy that lights up and makes noise, a teether shaped like an apple, a plastic book, a little silky blanket with a giraffe head, a disposable camera, a cute purple dress, 5 onesies and 4 pairs of pants.  I got everything home and did my first load of baby laundry.  It may not seem like a big deal, but it was quite the moment for me. 

I bought an adorable stuffed turtle at the gift shop in the hospital where I work and also had a cute little cotton blanket with cherry blossoms on it.  Finally, I had a "Who Loves Baby" plastic book which I filled with pictures of me, Bailey, my folks, their dogs and my grandma.  I was up until 1:30am trying to print pictures off my computer with very little success.  I finally ended up going through old pictures and pulling originals out of photo albums.  Unfortunately I didn't have time to make labels in Vietnamese (or English for that matter), but I'm thinking it will be pretty clear who is who.  I did, however, think to write a note to the caregivers which the ladies at the nail salon near my work were more than happy to translate for me.  The woman who helped me, however, doesn't like her handwriting so she wrote it out in Vietnamese and I had to rewrite it.  Do you have any idea how many little marks, accents and dots there are in that language?  Oy!  Not easy.  I just thanked the nannies for taking such good care of my girl and told them that I hope to meet them soon.

Anyway, here is all the stuff I sent!

Somehow I managed to fit everything into the ziploc and sent it on it's way this afternoon.  I also sent a notarized release of information so that my agency director can speak to USCIS about my case while in Vietnam.  Not sure it will help, but it can't hurt, right?

I love the idea that Sadie has things from home.  I truly hope that she is able to come home with one or more of the toys or blankets that I sent.  It would definitely be nice to have a transitional object that she is attached to!