Family Time & Citizenship

Family

This past weekend Tony, Oliver and I hopped on a plane heading south...all the way to St. Louis. Oliver does surprisingly well on the airplane, though the iPad movie helps a fair amount. He called the window seat (on both flights), managed to woo the flight attendants, and had a lot of fun raising and lowering the window shade. He doesn't seem to get nervous about take-offs or landings, little bumps along the way or the general idea of flying through the sky. He just takes it all in stride.

It was our first visit since mid-October, so long overdue. This was an especially exciting visit because Oliver and Uncle Andy finally got to meet! I know Andy enjoys being an uncle, and Oliver seemed to warm up to him right away. It turns out that Andy is also an excellent bedtime story reader!

So serious!

Having fun

The weekend included a number of fun and special activities. We were able to spend a lot of time with Grams, who was in town for the weekend. Oliver met his Aunt Lacey and his cousin Aly for the first time at a family dinner Saturday night. I had the opportunity to catch up with two very good friends over a delicious homemade crepes brunch (and I didn't have to worry that our catching up time went longer than planned). We also watched Ian play basketball and enjoyed some quality family time.

Two other "big" things happened: First, Ian was baptized! What a joyous and special time. Just shy of 11, he made the decision to publicly declare his faith and to follow God's word and be baptized. In his church baptism is done at infancy, so I think it's an even bigger deal that he asked to do something out of the norm -- and he handled it all very well.

A proud pose with the Pastor after the service

The second was the celebration of Uncle Andy's birthday (technically on the 24th, but we celebrated a couple of days early). I can officially welcome my brother into his 30's (and will share the decade with him for two and a half years). Happy birthday!

My bigger little brother...now 30 years old! How did that happen?

Oliver had a terrific time and was very sad to leave (as was I). I wish we were able to see everyone more often. I appreciate how welcoming my Mom and Dan are to us when we are in town. Their house was overflowing (they even slept on the couch), but they treated all of their guests with love, patience and kindness. Thank you!

Citizenship

My daily stalking of the USCIS Case Status website has finally paid off! This morning I was greeted with this message:

11 months. That is how long it took for them to process our request for an amended certificate (one reflecting Oliver's legal name). Once the certificate arrives we will be able to:

- Prove he is a citizen of the US

- Obtain a social security number

- Get him a passport

I am so relieved. With talks of Homeland Security shutting down I feared our case would be delayed even further. I still do not understand why it took more than 11 months, when the average processing time is 5-6 months. But, we have made it through. Not a bad way for February to end.