Almost Home Monday, March 14, 2011

Today was a huge day for our family.  We took another step toward getting Blythe home to the United States.  We met our driver at 7:45 a.m. and headed over to the US Consulate.  In the lobby we met up with a lot of other US families that we had seen around town.  One family from Long Island had twin girls - they were adorable.  We went through security and got checked in and then of course we waited.  Finally a woman came out and administered the immigration oath that we took on Blythe's behalf.  The oath is not for citizenship but rather that you were truthful in filling out your documents.  Then we waited some more...can you see a theme here???  After about an hour and a half only the four Gladney families remained so of course I went up and started asking questions... I found out that there was some sort of scheduling confusion and according to them we were not due to be processed for an hour or so.  How do you think I took that?  I asked for her supervisor of course...she came over and gave me an overview of how the system works and that if she did it for us - blah, blah blah.  Finally she agreed to process us but wanted to make sure I understood how much of a burden it was for her... I reminded her that the gentleman next to me had been waiting five years to adopt his daughter - that pretty much ended the conversation and we were the next family called.  I guess they wanted me out of there!  We don't have any pictures at the Consulate because they don't allow it but check our Blythe in her adorable dress!  She looked so beautiful! Shopping was next on the agenda.  I wanted to find dresses for the girls but a communication error (I am now legendary for them) led us on an hour and a half forced march followed by a taxi ride in traffic and finally a 15 minute shopping spree before we had to get back to the hotel for my spa appointment.  I know it sounds indulgent but I have three kids now!  I need to relax a little!  Christian parented Blythe through a fussy period and then I returned to her sleeping - perfect timing.  We then headed down for formal tea - yum!  We capped off the day with a walk and a bath for Blythe.  Not a bad day at all!