the fun shall commence
We had an interesting and hilarious experience last week - it was the perfect commencement to our many travels together as a family. We applied for nadia's passport at the Springfield Post Office. We re-arranged her feeding schedule (poorly), and arrived at 1pm, then waited in line for 30 minutes. When it was our turn, we approached the passport desk only to find out that there was no need for us to have waited at all; we could have circumvented the line and gone directly to the passport man....great. Live and learn.
Anyway, the clerk gave me the application to fill out, and i sent phil back with the baby to get her picture taken (YES, they take a photo of her! and somehow the child passport is good for 5 whole years - i don't understand how that works - i can see it now, we're at customs in Singapore or, better yet, some nameless hole between here and Indonesia, and the customs agent, who speaks some language no one knows, eyes her passport with the newborn pic, looks up at the 4 year old in front of him, looks back at the photo, looks up at mom and dad, looks back at the 4 year old, looks again at the photo, and disappears for 6 hours to find out what he should do....i've been there before).
i filled out the application and proceeded to await the return of my husband and daughter. i waited more than 15 minutes, then began to wonder where the heck they had disappeared to - then i began to wonder if i should have left phil to fill out the app, and i went with the babe for the photo shoot.
it was THEN that i heard the screams...Oh great. This is perfect - we are in the big fat downtown post office with a newborn (during lunch hour, no less), and she is now screaming her head off in the mysterious recesses of said post office. The line of people (which was deep) directed their collected attention in the direction of the screams beyond that wall....i wanted to leave. i'm a bad mommy - but i wanted to leave. instead, i just laughed to myself and imagined poor phil juggling the screaming slinky that is our baby while trying to stay cool, and do whatever it is that she is objecting so violently to.
A few minutes later, phil and the baby emerge from the depths - Nadia's little nose all pink, her eyes all wet, the pacifier moving vigorously, and phil's hair disheveled.
Apparently, the federal regulations call for ALL photos to be of an individual who is looking directly into the camera, holding his/her head up straight (unaided) and not holding his/her mouth open...Ok, no prob. I'm 6 weeks old, and i can't see straight, but i'll cater to your crazy regulations just this once...here let me hold my head up for you - oh wait...
Below is the photo that resulted in those efforts. Even the postal lady thought it was hilarious (she had a heart) - They were somehow able to get a good one in the end, but phil's thumb is somewhat visible in the photo (trying to help her keep her chin off her chest), and it may get rejected because of that...we'll see. (for crying out loud!).
Also, i ordered note cards with this picture as the artwork. Classic.
posted by phil and shell at 6:28 PM
6 Comments:
Dave and I were just wondering the other day how that all works with have an infants' picture taken for the passport. Hmmm...good to know...poor Phil...and baby Nadia.
That's so funny! Poor Nadia!
Haha, what a funny story! Wow, the comedy never stops in this life as a missionary, does it. I think you will laugh at that photo for years to come. Was Nadia ready for a nap after her eventful afternoon?
FUNNY!!!!!!!!!
Yah, picture time around here is my WORKOUT, the only one I am able to get around to these days!!!! :)
Ay Yi Yi!!
So funny and a great memory to tell her when she is older....you missionary family, you.
Lizy for the Bunch
p.s. the new pic of the Fab Five on our blog, as you can see, Owen is not all about a photo shoot, the one I chose to share, he was at least sitting down, Mr. Serious and all :)
LOVE YOU
haha, I can just see Phil standing there completely unsure of what to do while Nadia has to have her picture taken. Glad to hear all is well with you guys!
Carl
Hee hee. We have had some passport and visa photos like that. They really don't care what they look like too much with newborns, at least in our experience. Usually, when you go somewhere with the 4-5 year old, they'll make a comment, but that's it. Oh, we even had the wrong child's photo on a visa once. No big deal. They said, "It's a baby, right? Yours? No problem!"
Oh, and a tip for next time: it's much easier to do the photos at home, yourself, beforehand. Lying down looks just the same as holding her head up.
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