Well, we are excited to announce that we are now the proud parents of an official US citizen! Nicholas received his certificate of citizenship yesterday at a statewide ceremony in downtown Des Moines. We are also excited to announce that we are DONE with paperwork for Nicholas! He is legally ours, has a social security number, US passport, and now proof of citizenship. As far as we know, the government is done with us, our agency is done with us, and we can just go about the business of living. That is a pretty awesome feeling!
Nicholas was one of 92 kids at the ceremony. They sat us all by country, so we met some other families that also adopted from South Korea. Since the ceremony started at 1:00 and we had to be downtown by 11:00, all the little kids in our row were having a tough time staying quiet. It was nice to be in such good company when Nicholas started to fuss! Luckily he wasn’t screaming when he took the oath or received his certificate or shook hands with all the dignitaries present. He even was pleasant enough to blow kisses to the judge! By the time it was all over, we were ready to “get out of dodge,” but just happened to be far enough away from the crowds that the NBC news station asked us for an interview. Since we’re not very good at saying no, and Nicholas was so tired he was mellowing out, we accepted. We tried embedding the video of the piece they showed on the Sunday night news, but here’s a link if the video below doesn’t work: http://www.whotv.com/videobeta/3bfb5013-b828-4b8c-a05e-bc9abd9830d5/News/Celebrating-Citizenship
After receiving his certificate – still grumpy, but able to hold it together! The child on the right was the youngest one there – 18 months old. Nicholas just missed the “title!”
After a nap in Grandma Cindy’s arms, some quiet time at home, and then a nice dinner, Nicholas was much happier and ready to celebrate! We had to edit the balloon as it was the only one we could find with red, white, and blue. It said “welcome back.,” but Kevin got creative and made it say “Congrats Nicholas!” I held the balloon in place because it didn’t float after having paper glued to it! The paper came off today as balloons are so much more fun when they fly away from you!
Nicholas playing with his flags today. He discovered that the flags fit together since one pole is smaller than the other. Personally, we think that’s a great visual image for who he is: not only American, not just Korean, but a beautiful blend of the two. And we will do our best to continue to merge the two cultures and provide plenty of opportunities for him to learn about where he was born as well as growing up in the United States. Speaking of which, the Lunar New Year is on Thursday, February 3rd. “Sae hae bok manhi baduseyo” Happy New Year everyone!
YAYYYYYY THAT'S SO EXCITING!!!!!! :D WHAT AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE YOU GUYS WENT THROUGH!
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