The last couple of days have been difficult. I have not been feeling good, and on Monday a little bump in the process emerged. Although yes we have adopted internationally 3 times previously, this being our 4th time … we forgot a very consistent form through all of the adoption processes: the notarized vaccination affidavit.
The key word was ”notarized.” In the past, this very simple document has not had to be notarized. The next complicating factor is that I’m not a US citizen and my Chinese guide was not sure if the US Embassy would do it for me, being that I’m a Canadian Citizen and a US Permanent Resident. In a bit of a panic he had me call the US Embassy and they assured me they would do it for me. Still though, time would tell.
So this morning at 6:15AM Jase and I went to the lobby of our hotel (the famous White Swan Hotel) and waited for our guide to come. 6:25 AM and he was not there, which was strange because our guide is never late. I had questioned our guide on the time repeatedly on Monday because it seemed awfully early, but he had repeated it back to me many times. Then Tuesday when I found out that other families were leaving at 7:05 for the same embassy appointment, I wondered … but felt confident because I had asked him about the time so many times.
Well, 6:30, 6:40, 6:50 …7:05 … I tried calling my guide but did not get through … then finally at 7:15 he came = ) At this point I was just completely THANKFUL he was there because I was starting to get worried that something had happened and that I was going to miss my appointment all together. I wasn’t panicky, just slightly worried.
He was confident he had told me 7:15, I KNOW he had not! This time was not wasted though, both Jase and I enjoyed our own granola bar and we shared an orange. Now this might sound simple, but is actually HUGE!! Last week Jase would not try 98% of the food I offered him (and every day we had a breakfast buffet that mostly had Chinese food and some American food). He would shake his hand at me, his way of saying no. I never once pushed food on him, and honestly I think he probably lost weight last week because he ate very little. This week, he is pretty much trying everything. He had his first Starbucks scone on Monday which he thoroughly enjoyed, a Subway sandwich on Monday where he ate mostly the ham and bread, a panini sandwich on Tuesday, and last night he ate 2.5 slices of Hawaiian pizza (kid you not). And Monday night when we went to a local restaurant and I ordered him an Asian dish (some kind of noodles) and me an American dish (a mini pizza), he wanted my food!! Sooo YEAH Jase got a good breakfast this morning, well somewhat … but still, him eating the orange with me was HUGE!
We then went to the US embassy and after 20 minutes of looking for a parking spot and parking somewhere only to get yelled at and told to move the car, my guide found a parking spot.
Up in the lobby I saw some familiar faces, other adoptive families. We were all waiting for the US embassy to come and tell us we could come up. AND I was told by my guide that we were also waiting for our medical to arrive. WHAT … =)
The medical arrived and we went upstairs. The new policy of the US embassy is that the guides are not allowed to go in with families. So my guide left me in the line with the other families.
The first check point was making sure your name was on the list. The guard looked at my ID and searched his list and could not find my name. Okay, at this point … my heart skipped a beat (literally). He then had me look and I found it …whewwwwwwwwww!!!
We proceeded up to the Adoption part of the embassy … and from there it was smooth sailing! After our swearing in ceremony, I was the 3rd family called up for an interview. The sooooooooooo NICE lady (in charge) notarized my paper for me during my interview with the officer, and she was sooooooooooooooo NICE about it! What a complete BLESSING!!
So Jase now is one step closer to becoming a US citizen and to us coming HOME! We get his visa tomorrow and we fly out Friday morning!
THANK YOU JESUS for taking care of ALL of the details of today! THANK YOU for meeting me in the middle of the difficult, thank you for your real felt presence here in China! THANK YOU for our amazing new sweet son who I so ADORE and know that Sam and the kids will too … he is a GEM!
The key word was ”notarized.” In the past, this very simple document has not had to be notarized. The next complicating factor is that I’m not a US citizen and my Chinese guide was not sure if the US Embassy would do it for me, being that I’m a Canadian Citizen and a US Permanent Resident. In a bit of a panic he had me call the US Embassy and they assured me they would do it for me. Still though, time would tell.
So this morning at 6:15AM Jase and I went to the lobby of our hotel (the famous White Swan Hotel) and waited for our guide to come. 6:25 AM and he was not there, which was strange because our guide is never late. I had questioned our guide on the time repeatedly on Monday because it seemed awfully early, but he had repeated it back to me many times. Then Tuesday when I found out that other families were leaving at 7:05 for the same embassy appointment, I wondered … but felt confident because I had asked him about the time so many times.
Well, 6:30, 6:40, 6:50 …7:05 … I tried calling my guide but did not get through … then finally at 7:15 he came = ) At this point I was just completely THANKFUL he was there because I was starting to get worried that something had happened and that I was going to miss my appointment all together. I wasn’t panicky, just slightly worried.
He was confident he had told me 7:15, I KNOW he had not! This time was not wasted though, both Jase and I enjoyed our own granola bar and we shared an orange. Now this might sound simple, but is actually HUGE!! Last week Jase would not try 98% of the food I offered him (and every day we had a breakfast buffet that mostly had Chinese food and some American food). He would shake his hand at me, his way of saying no. I never once pushed food on him, and honestly I think he probably lost weight last week because he ate very little. This week, he is pretty much trying everything. He had his first Starbucks scone on Monday which he thoroughly enjoyed, a Subway sandwich on Monday where he ate mostly the ham and bread, a panini sandwich on Tuesday, and last night he ate 2.5 slices of Hawaiian pizza (kid you not). And Monday night when we went to a local restaurant and I ordered him an Asian dish (some kind of noodles) and me an American dish (a mini pizza), he wanted my food!! Sooo YEAH Jase got a good breakfast this morning, well somewhat … but still, him eating the orange with me was HUGE!
We then went to the US embassy and after 20 minutes of looking for a parking spot and parking somewhere only to get yelled at and told to move the car, my guide found a parking spot.
Up in the lobby I saw some familiar faces, other adoptive families. We were all waiting for the US embassy to come and tell us we could come up. AND I was told by my guide that we were also waiting for our medical to arrive. WHAT … =)
The medical arrived and we went upstairs. The new policy of the US embassy is that the guides are not allowed to go in with families. So my guide left me in the line with the other families.
The first check point was making sure your name was on the list. The guard looked at my ID and searched his list and could not find my name. Okay, at this point … my heart skipped a beat (literally). He then had me look and I found it …whewwwwwwwwww!!!
We proceeded up to the Adoption part of the embassy … and from there it was smooth sailing! After our swearing in ceremony, I was the 3rd family called up for an interview. The sooooooooooo NICE lady (in charge) notarized my paper for me during my interview with the officer, and she was sooooooooooooooo NICE about it! What a complete BLESSING!!
So Jase now is one step closer to becoming a US citizen and to us coming HOME! We get his visa tomorrow and we fly out Friday morning!
THANK YOU JESUS for taking care of ALL of the details of today! THANK YOU for meeting me in the middle of the difficult, thank you for your real felt presence here in China! THANK YOU for our amazing new sweet son who I so ADORE and know that Sam and the kids will too … he is a GEM!
Comments
Your family is adorable and Your new little guy is so sweet. Many blessings to you all as he is joined into the crew.
~Marla