Well this morning I drug myself up bright and early, and took all 3 kids to the post office. Doesn't that sound like a fun way to start the day? Although the rest of us have our passports, little Ms. Emma is still sitting with her Chinese passport and US Visa. Since we plan on flying over the pond next spring, we thought we better get a matching passport to the rest of the family!
For those of you outside the US, passport turn around times have grown to amazingly long periods now. Headlines say 3 months, but we've heard rumors of close to 6 months. Since we leave in 8 months, we figured better to be safe then sorry.
Getting a passport in a small town for a child who wasn't born here is an adventure. Thank God we re-adopted when we got home. If you are adopting internationally, when you get home adopt in your state, even if it isn't required. It makes so many things easier, and getting a passport is no exception.
The US issues one piece of paper to prove citizenship when your child arrives in this country. It isn't something you get copies of, it is a single copy. Had we not readopted, we would have had to send our lone copy off with the passport application and been without it for 8-12 weeks or more. This way I gave them an official Oregon birth certificate and off it went!
We got there 15 minutes before the offices opened, and we were 4th in line. By the time their office did open there were 10 of us waiting. I'm glad we went when we did.
So another thing done in our slow planning of our trip across the ocean. Jo, here we come!
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Friday, August 24, 2007
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
To move or not to move
Well I have a very long other blog, mostly centered around the kids, that has been going for years. Do I move it or do I leave it stand alone? I've been pondering this for a while now and I've decided to keep this new one separate, and let our prior adventures stand on their own. I'll probably drag bits of it over now and again but for the most part I think we'll go forward like this.
I've been blogging for about 6 years, let me see what I can compress in a few paragraphs. I live in a loud and busy house in the hills. At night, when all the little people go to bed we often sneak out on the back deck to watch the city lights in the distance and listen to the wind blow through the trees. We have a little deck off the master bedroom that has a cover, so we can also watch the rain come across the valley.
Last night I took our youngest daughter out on the back deck alone and showed her how beautiful it is. She is two, and seven months ago we flew to China and met her. We also had a chance to do a little touring and we absolutely fell in love with the country. We didn't expect to- we thought it would be third world poverty - but it was gorgeous. I'll try to share some pictures along the way. Anyway, in talking to my naturopath, she suggested that perhaps my daughter needed more of that kind of time to get reconnected to the earth after the massive changes that have happened in her life.
We have two amazing older children too. They are twins, and Monday of this last week I registered them for kindergarten. It seems like only yesterday they were tiny helpless little babies, and dh and I joke often that we don't know what happened!
Both of my parents died about 10 years ago, as well as DH's dad. His mother lived with us from 2005 onward and passed away in late January. We are still grieving the loss of that amazing woman.
Today after I drop the kids off at daycare I get in the car and I head north to the big city, a few hours away. I'm going to a training conference for 2 nights. The kids are visably upset, as the last time I did this they were too young to really 'get it'. This afternoon I hope to catch up with some old friends and some newer ones. One of my good girlfriend's has a daughter in the hospital there - a few weeks ago they found a tumor on her spine and the doctor's successfully removed it yesterday. Thank God it appears that it is benign and it won't effect any nerves, but we have all been on edge for a few weeks waiting for the outcome. Tonight, I'll go see another miracle. My 45 year old girlfriend who was told she would never have children has promised to let me hold her 2 month old as long as I want.
Funny, but the thought of a quiet hotel room with no one to steal my covers on the surface sounds so inviting. From having done this before though, I know its too quiet. I will be lonely. How will I wake up without three small people climbing over us and stealing covers and giggling?
I've been blogging for about 6 years, let me see what I can compress in a few paragraphs. I live in a loud and busy house in the hills. At night, when all the little people go to bed we often sneak out on the back deck to watch the city lights in the distance and listen to the wind blow through the trees. We have a little deck off the master bedroom that has a cover, so we can also watch the rain come across the valley.
Last night I took our youngest daughter out on the back deck alone and showed her how beautiful it is. She is two, and seven months ago we flew to China and met her. We also had a chance to do a little touring and we absolutely fell in love with the country. We didn't expect to- we thought it would be third world poverty - but it was gorgeous. I'll try to share some pictures along the way. Anyway, in talking to my naturopath, she suggested that perhaps my daughter needed more of that kind of time to get reconnected to the earth after the massive changes that have happened in her life.
We have two amazing older children too. They are twins, and Monday of this last week I registered them for kindergarten. It seems like only yesterday they were tiny helpless little babies, and dh and I joke often that we don't know what happened!
Both of my parents died about 10 years ago, as well as DH's dad. His mother lived with us from 2005 onward and passed away in late January. We are still grieving the loss of that amazing woman.
Today after I drop the kids off at daycare I get in the car and I head north to the big city, a few hours away. I'm going to a training conference for 2 nights. The kids are visably upset, as the last time I did this they were too young to really 'get it'. This afternoon I hope to catch up with some old friends and some newer ones. One of my good girlfriend's has a daughter in the hospital there - a few weeks ago they found a tumor on her spine and the doctor's successfully removed it yesterday. Thank God it appears that it is benign and it won't effect any nerves, but we have all been on edge for a few weeks waiting for the outcome. Tonight, I'll go see another miracle. My 45 year old girlfriend who was told she would never have children has promised to let me hold her 2 month old as long as I want.
Funny, but the thought of a quiet hotel room with no one to steal my covers on the surface sounds so inviting. From having done this before though, I know its too quiet. I will be lonely. How will I wake up without three small people climbing over us and stealing covers and giggling?
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