43 Steps For Stressing Yourself Out. To the Max.

I feel like my life has been a bit of a whirlwind lately, at least in regards to my travel documents. It's been an...interesting...experience trying to get my passport and my greencard up to date. Just my luck that both documents were set to expire within weeks of each other, and just a few weeks before we had planned to fly to Manitoba to visit my family.

I wouldn't wish this stress on anyone. But just in case there are people out there who feel like there lives just aren't stressful enough, I've provided a helpful, step-by-step guide to achieving a big, fat travel/legal document headache, and by the end of it, you'll need that vacation you've been planning! Here we go!

Step 1. March 2011 - Realize that my greencard is going to expire in June, and since we're planning on flying to Manitoba in August, I should probably fill out the paperwork to renew my card.

Step 2. Have a baby and completely forget about immigration paperwork.

Step 3. April 2011 - Realize that my greencard is going to expire in June and that we're planning on flying to Manitoba in August, so I REALLY need to send out the paperwork to renew my card.

Step 4. Fill out the greencard renewal form and go to the bank to get a big fat money order.

Step 5. Silently curse the heavens that greencards cost so much money.

Step 6. Go to the post office and pay a hefty fee to get my forms to their destination right quick.

Step 7. Receive two letters within a week's time. Letter #1: "We got your paperwork, and you will receive another letter instructing you what to do next." Letter #2: "Go to Seattle to have your fingerprints captured and your picture taken."

Step 8. May 2011 - Go to the Department of Homeland Security in Seattle to have my fingerprints captured and my picture taken, then spend a nice afternoon in Seattle with Art and Sophia.

Step 9. Wait for my greencard to arrive in the mail.

Step 10. While I'm waiting, realize that my Canadian passport is going to expire in July, and that we're planning on flying to Manitoba in August, and proceed to fill out those renewal forms.

Step 11. Go to Sears to have my passport photos taken.

Step 12. Go to the post office and pay a nice hefty fee to get my forms to their Canadian destination right quick.

Step 13. Silently curse the heavens that I have to dish out so much money in such a short space of time to get new legal documents.

Step 14. Still waiting for my new greencard, and trying not to panic, as my old greencard has now expired.

Step 15. Rejoice when FedEx shows up at my door a couple of weeks later with a package from Canada.

Step 16. Silently curse the heavens when I open the package and see my old passport, my forms, my photos, and a letter of rejection from the passport people because my photos were too shiny.

Step 17. Go back to Sears, explain what happened, and get new, less shiny photos taken for free.

Step 18. Go back to the post office and fill out some forms to have my passport sent International Guarantee (very fast, very expensive), while trying to quiet my fussy baby in her stroller.

Step 19. Silently curse the heavens when I'm told that I need to provide the phone number of the destination in order to send it International Guarantee. I don't have that phone number on me.

Step 20. Gather up all those papers and rush out of the post office, with a plan to go home, find the phone number, and return to the post office.

Step 21. Silently curse the heavens when some of the papers fly out of my hand and go sailing around the post office parking lot, forcing me to abandon my very fussy baby in her stroller while I chase down said papers.

Step 22. Get everybody and everything in the car and decide to feed Sophia right there, before we go home.

Step 23. Silently curse the heavens when I discover that Sophia has a leaky diaper, and that both our clothes have big wet stains on them.

Step 24. Go back home. Find the phone number. Write it on the form. Change my clothes. Change Sophia's clothes and diaper. Feed her a little bit more. Put her back in her car seat. Gather up all my papers. Haul everybody and everything back down to the car. Go back to the post office. Pay an extremely hefty fee to have my passport go back to its destination really really really quick.

Step 25. Rejoice when, a few days later, I receive a letter in the mail from the Dept. of Homeland Security.

Step 26. Start to worry as I feel the envelope and notice that there is no greencard in that envelope.

Step 27. Open the envelope, and read the rejection letter in complete disbelief.

Step 28. Go online and try to figure out what that letter is talking about and what it all means.

Step 29. Completely lose it as I realize that my greencard has now expired, which means I technically have no legal basis for being in the States, and that I could possibly be deported.

Step 30. Call the National Customer Service line for the Dept. of Homeland Security to ask what I should do.

Step 31. Make an appointment to go down to Seattle to speak to an immigration officer in person.

Step 32. Go to the appointment, and find sweet sweet relief when I hear that it's not a big deal, and that I can simply file the correct paperwork with a letter of explanation, and that I could also request a refund, since I paid big money with the previous application, and got nothing for it.

[Explanation: When I got my greencard (aka became a permanent resident), it was based on the fact that I first had a spousal visa. This is called a Conditional Permanent Resident. I had absolutely no clue that that's what I was. When my greencard was going to expire, what I was supposed to do was file to remove the conditions of my greencard. Why they make it so complicated I have no idea.]

Step 33. Fill out the correct form, write a letter of explanation, photocopy a whole bunch of supporting evidence, go back to the bank and take out yet another, even bigger money order to pay for this new application.

Step 34. Silently curse the heavens that we have now paid over $1000 on all of this and have nothing to show for it.

Step 35. Go back to the post office, pay yet another hefty fee to make sure that these forms get to their destination overnight.

Step 36. Send up a prayer of desperation as I realize that we're supposed to fly out to Manitoba in 10 days .

Step 37. Impatiently wait for a letter from the Dept. of Homeland Security.

Step 38. Try to call the National Customer Service line for the Dept. of Homeland Security. They tell me that I must simply wait for the letter to arrive in the mail.

Step 39. Rejoice when I get a letter from the Dept. of Homeland Security the very next day.

Step 40. Rejoice even more when I read in the letter that the expiration date on my greencard has been extended for one year.

Step 41. Call National Customer Service again to ask about being able to cross the border and fly out to Manitoba.

Step 42. Make yet ANOTHER appointment to go back down the Dept. of Homeland Security in Seattle to speak to an immigration officer in person, so that they may stamp my passport, so that I may go back and forth across the border with no issues. By the way, the date of this appointment? Is the day before we are supposed to fly out to Manitoba. Talk about last minute!

Step 43. Apologize to God for all the silent cursing, thank Him for working it all out, and vow to try and trust Him more.

5 Month Update

I can't believe my little girl is 5 months old! One more month until she's half a year. Half a year! How has that much time passed already?

So what has she been up to?

1. Still lots of drooling, and sucking on her fingers. I learned that this is indeed a sign of teething. I also learned that there is a difference between "teething" and "cutting teeth." She isn't cutting teeth yet (thank goodness. I am not looking forward to that time).

2. She doesn't "talk" as much as she used to. Art commented on this the other day, and I told him that I think it's because she's concentrating on other new skills and developments.

3. She sometimes reaches for things intentionally, but even if she's just stretching out her arm, if she feels something near her palm, she'll often try to grab it, and if she succeeds, she'll try to bring it to her mouth. Her favorites are the burp cloth, her own clothes, and my hair.

I find it slightly amusing (and sometimes annoying) that she would rather stare at her teething toys than chew on them. Which means I have to hold it in front of her (when I would rather just give it to her and be able to walk away and do something).

4. She can't sit unsupported, but she tries to sit up, from a laying down position. She also tries to roll from her back to her front, but she can only get to her side. I tried to get a picture of this, but she only does it during a diaper change, and, as cute as it is, I am not putting her bare bum on my blog.

5. She rubs her eyes with the back of her hands when she's tired. It's so cute!

6. She often pulls at her hair and ears when nursing. I don't know why she does this and it kind of bothers me, because it looks like she's hurting herself! I try to hold her hand and sing to her. This seems to help.

7. At her last check-up she weighed 13lbs. I'm guessing she's close to 15lbs now.

8. She still sleeps through the night. She usually goes down around 9:30 or 10:00, but she'll almost always wake up, and so it ends up being 11:00 before she's asleep for good. She wakes up around 7am or 8am, nurses, and then goes back to sleep for an hour or so. There was a short period of time not too long ago where she started waking up around 4am or 5am and then wanting to play! But that's done now. (*Fingers crossed*)

9. We're still going strong with breastfeeding (I don't plan on stopping for at least another year). But now we're getting into the distracted nursing phase, which is not so fun. She starting to look around if she hears someone talking, and most of the time she unlatches when she does this. This sometimes means her feeding is cut short, which could result in another feeding soon after. C'est la vie.

10. Another thing that she really pays attention to is when I eat. I'm excited by this because it means she's going to start solids soon! I'm doing what's known as Baby Led Solids (or Baby Led Weaning). The idea is that you wait for your baby to tell you when they are ready to try table food. Most parents know when that time comes because the baby tried to grab food off their plate! :)

I've never liked the idea of starting Sophia on rice cereal, and I'm glad to know that I don't have to! When she's ready (and when she can sit up unsupported), I can start giving her my food. And it makes so much sense, that she would just start eating the food that I eat. And maybe this way I can ensure that she won't be a picky eater. (*Fingers crossed*)

In preparation for her journey with solids, I have been giving her tiny tastes of my food. I grab the tiniest little piece, squish it between my fingers, put my finger in her mouth, and let her nosh for a few seconds (in hopes that she'll swallow it, which doesn't always happen).

So far she's tried:

- chocolate (this happened when she was 2 weeks old, and it's Art's fault. I will not give her chocolate on a regular basis)

- mint ice cream (this one is my fault, but again, not something that she will eat on a regular basis)

- eggs

- blueberries

- salmon

- avocado

- watermelon

- bananas (she LOVES bananas)

- bacon juices and sausage juices.

How do I feel 5 months in? It's so much fun being a parent and watching your child grow and learn and discover new things. Thus far, I don't feel like she's growing up too fast. I'm not dreading the concept of her getting older. The older she gets, the more fun and interesting all of our lives become. Of course, I'll probably be eating my words when I find myself shopping for her first bra...

Happy Family News

I have a new niece!

On Friday, August 12, at 5:21 pm, my sister gave birth to a little girl: Haley Joy. Here are just a few pictures of this sweet little girl (that I totally stole from my sister's blog).

We're planning a trip to Manitoba in a couple of weeks to see the family. I can hardly wait to meet this munchkin!

For those of you who would like to read the story of Haley's birth, click here!