This is just a quick post about the status of our blog. As we’re traveling in China, we have no idea if we’ll have access to update this blog. A lot of blogs are blocked in China, and we’ll have no way of knowing about ours until we’re there.
Worse comes to worst, we’ll see you on the other side.
I would like to draw your attention to an older post on this blog, about attachment.
Let’s recap, before we all meet Alexander.
“When are you guys going to China?”
“How long will you be there?”
“When is Alexander coming home?”
Answers below…
Tonight, we met a few folks that we might be traveling to China with. We’re going to have a few meetings where we discuss the logistics and details and whatnot. But of course, the meeting began with the ceremonial exchange of adorable kid photos. Phones were passed, and some people even had print outs.
There’s one other couple who is adopting a child from the same province that we are, so it’s possible that we’ll be traveling together. Regardless, we’ll have a local translator/fixer on hand during throughout our trip. We also found out about the piles of money we’ll be bringing, and how to keep it all from getting folded or wet. And don’t drink the water.
Overall, there wasn’t much new tonight, but it was still a nice review, and it was good to share with other families getting ready for this crazy journey. Just a few more months..
We’ve decided against the word “nursery,” since, in the strictest terms, there will be no “nursing.” We’re word usage sticklers, so sue us.
Today, Kathleen and I visited the Application Support Center. No, we didn’t go to Dell customer support. It’s a nondescript unit in a mini-mall in the middle of the suburban shopping parking lot expanse that is the border between Naperville and Aurora. You wouldn’t know that it’s the INS until you’re safely inside the one-way-glass door.
Once inside, we filled out a couple of quick forms and were issued our service numbers, deli counter style. Both of our numbers were then immediately called. Talk about efficiency! At that point, the staff treated us to our second fingerprinting of this whole adoption process.
This fingerprinting is required for the naturalization process of our child. This makes it (once we’re approved and all) so that once we step back on to American soil with our child, he or she will immediately become a U.S. citizen.
The fingerprinting was mostly uneventful, though they did have a little trouble with my left pinky. It’s a little misshapen from a childhood accident. It was slammed in a door when I was three or so, and from the base of the fingernail or so up, it had to be sown back on. Kathleen was suitably horrified by this story, but I thought I had told her before. I guess there’s always more to learn about each other.
In a word, yes. In more words: it’s complicated.
As I said in a previous post, we’ll be tourists with our new child while we’re in China. We’ll be handed our child on day two of the trip. There will be a significant amount of paperwork to do once we’re there, but not 19 solid days worth. So why the long trip? Continue reading
Just a quick post… Tonight after work, we shipped out the I-800A form, our formal petition to adopt a child. It was about 30 pages and a big check for Our Government, and it marks another milestone in this process. Once that form is approved, we can then complete our dossier for the Chinese government. Then we get a login date, and then hopefully soon thereafter, a match. A child.
There’s still quite a ways to go, but this is a big item to check off.
Electronics, huh? You’d think I have a one-track mind. You’d be pretty close to right.
So, we’ll be in China for almost three weeks. The point being that we’ll have a cultural experience of China that we’ll share with our child. God willing, we’ll be able to return as a family when our child is old enough to think that we’re lame parents.
We’ll be tourists as well as new parents. Both tourists and new parents need a video camera, right? I’ve been thinking about investing in a nice digital camera that also does a good job of doing video. Add a big SD card, and we’re all set.
Has anyone out there done this kind of thing? I just figure that with the level of technology in high-end digital cameras these days, what’s the point in having a video camera, and a separate still camera? All digitals take video of course. The fewer gadgets we’re hauling around, the better.
The question is whether to get a video camera, or to just upgrade to nicer digital still camera that takes great video as well. Thoughts, gadgets geeks?
You experienced parents might have seen this before. If not, watch the video.
4moms Origami Stroller in Silver
Pros:
Cons:
I guess I haven’t found the perfect stroller yet…