Packing and Weather

Wow. I have officially begun to pack. last night I washed all the baby clothes and ironed them. Then I had the difficult task of trying to decide what to bring.

I think Maeve will be on the border of wearing 0-3 and 3-6 month old clothes. And it will be HOT and HUMID there. I was looking at the 15 day forecast for Hanoi....on some days it will be in the 90's, (35-ish + Celsius for the Irish reading ;) But it says it will FEEL like it is over 100 degrees F (39 Celsius)!!!!! Now add to that: the Vietnamese like to keep the babies bundled up. Meaning no arms or legs uncovered and hats are a MUST. And I am not exaggerating when I say that if your child is not covered the Vietnamese view it as child abuse. So imagine how they feel seeing all these Americans walking around with babies they are adopting and they feel as though we could care less about protecting them. I do want to respect their culture. And truthfully, Maeve is use to being bundled, but I am afraid of her sweating to death.

Oh, I forgot to add that the sidewalks and stores...etc...are not stroller friendly there. So I have invested in a BabyHawk Mei Tai. So Maeve and I will be strapped to each other. That should be something for the Vietnamese to see: the big, fat, sweaty, American lady! LOL! I can only laugh at myself right?! The bright side is that maybe I can sweat off some pounds while there!

So I am trying to guess the weight and length of a baby I have only seen pictures of and pack for a swealtering country that wants to see the babies covered. And I have SO MANY cute outfits for her that I want to bring them all!!

I have most of the medicines and all that bought. And shampoos and soaps...etc...An expensive trip to "WallyWorld" this week. I have a better stocked medicine chest to go there than I do for home! LOL! I have pepto, immodium, nasal spray, benedryl, advil, cough and congestion stuff, sleeping pills (for the plane just in case), lice stuff, scabies ointment, some other prescription skin ointment, tummy drops, baby triaminic strips, baby motrin, cornstarch powder, purell hand sanitizer, band-aides, infant nasal spray,infant cough and cold stuff, orajel, Aveeno soothing bath....I know I must have more. Oh and 2 cans of soy formula.

I am really trying to pack light...but how can I?



Back to the weather for a minute: I hope spring comes around New England while we are gone. As I am worrying about the heat and humidity in VN, I am reminded that tomorrow we are are expecting a snow storm! And possibly more on Monday!!! Ahhhh, spring in New England! Poor Maeve won't want to stay here if it is still this cold and wintery when we come back. Should I buy a snow suit for May? I hope not!

Here is a picture I took of my yard last week, I am calling it:

Spring in New England