We have arrived.

We have officially finished our first week as Shanghai residents. Our last week in the states was a crazy emotional mess. We had so much shopping/shipping/packing to do. 

We were allowed a generous poundage amount that we could ship to Shanghai so we definitely took advantage of that. Knowing that we have a little one on the way, we decided to send over a TON of baby things. We did a Costco run and got about 21 boxes of diapers. Along with diapers, we also bought many baby essentials. Bottles, pacifiers, bibs, onesies, stroller, high chair, etc. We were the most prepared 16 week pregnant people you would have ever found! Since baby things are very expensive in China we wanted to make sure to get them before our move over here. I am so glad that we did. We got exactly what we wanted and now I can just sit back and relax until this little one is born. (Yeah right). 

This is actually only about 1/3 of what we shipped. 

Wish I would have taken a picture of the whole thing. 

Being new parents, we had no idea about sizes and how many we should get!
We were literally walking around Costco asking people how big their babies were. Not our finest moment.  Peyton even googled "How many times a day do babies poop?" 

Shipping day!!! We had some guys come and weigh and box up all of our stuff. It will take about 2 months to get here. I can't wait! It will be like Christmas to open up all those boxes and have our stuff with us. 

Our last week was also bittersweet because I got to spend some much needed time with some very special people. I cherished the time I got to sit on my bed with my Mom just chatting. Peytons parents were able to come down and spend our last weekend with us. My Parents threw us a Farewell party and it was so nice to see and say goodbye to friends and family that we will miss so much. 

My best friend Melanie came down from San Francisco and I got to spend the best 24 hours with her.

 It was so nice to just sit and talk for hours. 

I am so grateful that I got to see her before we left. She keeps me sane and I love our daily text exchanges. 

There was definitely a time crunch, but we got everything done just in time for the driver to come and pick us up on leaving day. 

 Here I am crying before take-off. My sweet Husband thought that this was mandatory documentation material. We joked about how long it would take for me to cry the day of our departure. I did really well until we got on the plane. I think all of the flood of emotions hit me at the same time. Once we were on the plane and I looked out the window at the beautiful USA, I realized I am really going to miss this place. 

I was also feeling bursts of excitement. This will be an adventure and I am really looking forward to exploring China and being able to travel and do something really different and unusual for the next two years. Yes, I will miss "home" but this will be a great experience. I am glad that Peyton is by my side through this relocation. I cannot imagine moving to China alone! So we did it. We left the United states as a family of 2...and when we return we will be a trio of three! Crazy crazy crazy.