Mashallah thats amazing, you are so lucky!!!
For ihram - no you dont have to wear black. In will be very hot, so black will make it more difficult, especially if you are not used to normally wearing hijab/abaya. You can wear white or other light colors, like beige, light blue, light green etc. It will make it more bearable for you. If you dont want to wear an abaya, you can wear a skirt and a shirt, or even a long shirt to the knees and wide loose pants (like desi style even). Get flowy material that your skin can breathe it
To prepare, you should study and understand as much of the fiqh of umrah as possible, so you know what you are doing, why you are doing it, what you should not do, what to do in case you make a mistake etc. Check with your umrah group, usually they organize like workshops or something to teach this stuff
The Handbook of Hajj and Umrah helped me prepare for Hajj. If you cant find it at your local Islamic bookstore, you can read it online here
http://www.soundvision.com/Info/hajj/hajj00.asp
The following are articles written about Hajj, but much of it also applies to Umrah so you might find them helpful to you
A list of common mistakes people make on Hajj
An article about the Inner Dimensions of Hajj
http://www.soundvision.com/info/hajj/inner.asp
A list of 50 things to do on Hajj,
Some general tips:
- Try to get hotels as close to the Haram as possible as it will be easier for you and encourage you to spend as much time as possible at the Haram
- When learning and preparing, make sure you check with a respected scholar if you have questions. People have alot of information to share always and you want to make sure you are getting the correct information
- Come early to prayers and stay late. Spend as much time in the Haram praying as possible
- Designate a meeting place for you and your husband in case you get lost or seperated
- Bring a small bag to put your shoes in for when you enter the Haram
- Bring sunglasses and a hat
- Bring anti-bacterial hand lotion and wipes and use them often
- Bring your medicine bag, like for pain relief, diarhea, nausea, cough drops etc
- Get a money pouch that you can wear under your clothes and dont keep all your money in place or on one person
- E-mail yourself a scanned copy of your passport just in case
- Keep your hotel card on you at all times
- Pay off any debts before leaving and ask forgiveness from your family and friends for anything you might have done
- Drink lots of zamzam and water and becareful of what you eat. Its easy to get sick and weak there and if you do, your experience will not be what you want it to be. Make sure you always ask for no ice if you buy soft drinks or juice from restaurants
- You will see alot of beggers and they will break your heart. So many little children with limbs missing. Its sad but the truth is they are working for professional beggers and giving them money doesnt help them. Give money to the cleaners at the Haram instead, they will never ask for it but will truly appreciate it
Will try to post more later. Please remember me in your prayers when you are there if this helps you in any way