Today was our embassy appointment. The day started at 7:15am this morning with us frantically rushing around trying to get out the door in enough time to scarf down some breakfast before leaving for our appointment.
The Embassy appointment was pretty anticlimatic. Here is a detailed description of the entire process:
Got to be honest, not sure what I (Josh) was expecting at this point but after 2.5 years there was really just a huge sense of relief.
The next part of our day was probably the most exciting and exhausting. After leaving the embassy we headed back to AWAA's transition home to drop off some donations, deliver some care packages, take some pictures for families who are still waiting state-side, as well as get B's medical information, etc. The exciting part of this was watching the joy on the kids faces as we delivered care packages and took pictures of them and told them we would be sending them to their families.
The exhausting part was taking some last pictures of the room where B stayed, his crib and nannies. Even though we know that at some point it will be great to have these and share with him, we could definitely tell it was EXTREMELY difficult for him and created a lot insecurities about why he was there and who we were. To be honest, that greiving process that he is going through reached up and smacked us in the face at that moment. It was definitely a tough moment for all of us. Thankfully B seemed to calm down quickly and we left for lunch with some of the other AWAA families that are here.
(and now Tami will take over)
Lunch was the highlight of our day. B was eating, laughing, and having so much fun. One of the other families that is here have adopted 4 older children from Ethiopia (3 of them a few years back and one of them this week). They brought their 3 Ethiopian children with them. Why do I say Ethiopian children? Because of course they have 4 biological at home. Wait a second..and they are on the wait list for an infant from the Congo. Yep, that is 9 kids!! We have really enjoyed getting to know them. Their kids are GREAT and so is the entire family. B LOVES the two oldest boys who are 18 and 17. They make faces and play with him and he just loves it. Here are a few of his faces at lunch...
After lunch was to be honest not so fun. We got back and B cried for about 2 hours straight. We aren't really sure why. We have a lot of guesses, but nothing concrete. Although he is sleeping great at night he hasn't napped so great the last few days so part of the problem is that he is exhausted and doesn't want to eat much either. We cuddled a lot and he finally started to calm down. It is very hard to watch him grieve and know that he is going through so much and has already gone through so much in his little life. We are just trying to love on him as much as possible and show him that we are here for him. This will take more than just a few days for him to be able to grasp, but I'm so glad that we are finally here to begin the process of helping him understand that we love him and are a family.
This post somehow became quite long and B is sound asleep so I think it is time to spend some time together before bed! Again thank you for all of the prayers! We cannot tell you enough how much they are appreciated!
The Embassy appointment was pretty anticlimatic. Here is a detailed description of the entire process:
- Arrive at Embassy
- Go through Secruity
- Wait in an open area with lots of seats (think BMV) and listen for your name and window number.
- Get up from seat and walk to window (in our case it was window number 12).
- Pleasantries with the government official behind the glass window.
- Government official slides paper through the window and says, "I need one of you to sign his visa application."
- Sign visa application
- Government official asks if we met B before court
- We answer, "Yes!"
- Government official explains visa process.
- We nod our heads in an understanding motion.
- Government official gives us B's birth certificate and other paperwork
- We leave.
Got to be honest, not sure what I (Josh) was expecting at this point but after 2.5 years there was really just a huge sense of relief.
The next part of our day was probably the most exciting and exhausting. After leaving the embassy we headed back to AWAA's transition home to drop off some donations, deliver some care packages, take some pictures for families who are still waiting state-side, as well as get B's medical information, etc. The exciting part of this was watching the joy on the kids faces as we delivered care packages and took pictures of them and told them we would be sending them to their families.
The exhausting part was taking some last pictures of the room where B stayed, his crib and nannies. Even though we know that at some point it will be great to have these and share with him, we could definitely tell it was EXTREMELY difficult for him and created a lot insecurities about why he was there and who we were. To be honest, that greiving process that he is going through reached up and smacked us in the face at that moment. It was definitely a tough moment for all of us. Thankfully B seemed to calm down quickly and we left for lunch with some of the other AWAA families that are here.
(and now Tami will take over)
Lunch was the highlight of our day. B was eating, laughing, and having so much fun. One of the other families that is here have adopted 4 older children from Ethiopia (3 of them a few years back and one of them this week). They brought their 3 Ethiopian children with them. Why do I say Ethiopian children? Because of course they have 4 biological at home. Wait a second..and they are on the wait list for an infant from the Congo. Yep, that is 9 kids!! We have really enjoyed getting to know them. Their kids are GREAT and so is the entire family. B LOVES the two oldest boys who are 18 and 17. They make faces and play with him and he just loves it. Here are a few of his faces at lunch...
After lunch was to be honest not so fun. We got back and B cried for about 2 hours straight. We aren't really sure why. We have a lot of guesses, but nothing concrete. Although he is sleeping great at night he hasn't napped so great the last few days so part of the problem is that he is exhausted and doesn't want to eat much either. We cuddled a lot and he finally started to calm down. It is very hard to watch him grieve and know that he is going through so much and has already gone through so much in his little life. We are just trying to love on him as much as possible and show him that we are here for him. This will take more than just a few days for him to be able to grasp, but I'm so glad that we are finally here to begin the process of helping him understand that we love him and are a family.
This post somehow became quite long and B is sound asleep so I think it is time to spend some time together before bed! Again thank you for all of the prayers! We cannot tell you enough how much they are appreciated!
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