Mand

Aidan, just read your post. Congrats!! It's great news and you both must be thrilled!!

Counting down the days now Collen for our little bundle to make an appearance! Nervous and excited, but probably more excited to be honest!!

Gavin got there yesterday didn't he? I can only imagine that you're either off work or completely useless to them today Say HI to the new Irish man in the U.S. and hopefully AOS goes smoothly for ye....but concentrate on each other for now and forget all the paperwork malarky for a bit

Colleen, that's great news!!! Don't forget to surface every now and then for some food and fresh air

Hi all

I'm on countdown here...10 days till EDD and our baby is as active as ever! The head's engaged but not fully yet, we're only at -2 station so another bit to go Can't wait to meet our bundle of joy soon!! And treat myself to some boots when my feet go back to their normal size...currently they resemble Hobbit Feet (minus the icky hair!!)

Sammy, I went off meat during my 1st trimester too...my saving grace was the International aisle in the supermarket where I stocked up on Heinz Beans. Beans on toast was a life saver!! I also had the pregnancy skin breakout too, but from the 2nd trimester on my skin felt soooo soft and never looked better. I think that's also down to my pre-natals which have the essential fish oils and fatty acids.

Irisheyes, I found the "What to Expect" book great too, but another one I loved was "The Best Friend's Guide to Pregnancy". I can't remember who wrote it, but it had me in stitches and really got me out of the medical mind-set that the "What to Expect" had me in.

Allison, I didn't notice any kicks until Week 20/21 as this is my first and I didn't know what I should be feeling. My husband was able to feel them around this time too. They say if you get him to feel your belly with the back of his hand, there's a better chance the baby won't suddenly stop kicking. Apparently the male body temp and pulse is different to a females, and the baby can sense this change and stops kicking!

Best of luck to all the pregnant ladies and newbie Moms!!

Marilyn, we're so sorry to hear about you and your husband's loss.

Marilyn, I just popped in here to check how all the Moms and Moms-to-be are and I read about your little boy. My very best wishes go out to little Noah, you and your husband. My 24 year old sister was born at Week 23 too and came through perfectly fine. And that was 24 years ago! So, I can only imagine that your little guy has the very best care at his disposal and will fight on too. Big (((HUGS))) Marilyn and we'll say a prayer here for little Noah. Being allowed to touch him is a great sign and must have been such a thrill for you. All our thoughts are with your family

Congratulations Fiona and Andrew. I think all of VJ has followed your journey and wished you guys the best. May you have many years of wedded bliss together

Colleen,

Wow, he got a great deal on the flight and only 3 more weeks to go. You must be climbing the walls with excitement!! I'm so happy for you guys and wish ye all the best

Amanda

Hi woodaa

This site is for family based visas, so we really don't know much about the GC lottery.

From what you're saying, you want to get the GC but continue to live in Ireland? As far as I know, this isn't possible. I have a GC, but since we now live back in Ireland, I will be handing it back. To maintain a GC you need to be residing in the U.S. And if not, you cannot remain outside the U.S. for more than 6 months or it becomes null. It used to be 1 year, but immigration has become stricter.

You're making the process out to be a walk in the park, when in fact there's a lot of hoops you have to go through for the lottery based GC. It will also take longer than you are anticipating. Plus if you want to live in Ireland, why bother with a GC? If you do get the GC, but live in Ireland, you will also still have to file U.S. taxes Form 1040 and Foreign Earned Income Exclusion 2555-EZ.

Anyways, I hope it works out for you and good luck.

Donal, good luck with the interview

That's great news Donal, you must be thrilled to finally have it!!

All's going well here, only another 9 weeks to go till the baby is due, so we're all excited and enjoying our weekend lie-ins while we can!! The weather has really been great since we came back, a couple days of rain but really nothing too bad. Mayo and Kerry are playing in the All Ireland football this Sunday, so it should be a good match if Mayo don't fall apart like they usually do! I'm not a big fan of gaelic, but we watched the semi's with Mayo v Dublin and it was a brilliant game.

No major news here at all to be honest, Tesco and Dunnes are in the middle of a "price war" so I'll be heading to either one to do the groceries...see what you're missing Ha! Ha!

Well, good luck job hunting and hope you get word on the AOS too

Colleen, any date on Gavin coming over?

Bartek, they're really great pics!

Congrats!!! You must be both so happy and I hope Nani is doing ok. Your little girl has the same b'day as me!!

That's great news you guys and I love the name you choose...I can't see the pic, but imagine she's adorable. Many happy days and years ahead with your new daughter

new due date.. april 9

It's been a while since I've visited, but add me to the list.....due date Feb 15th.

My Wife is due The first week in Jan

We are expecting a baby Boy

He is due January 7th,07

Congrats everyone!! Looks like VJ members have been busy!!

Reinhard, just remember that whatever way the baby is born is a good way, and if it is by a scheduled c-section, at least you have the comfort of knowing the date and being prepared! Either way, best of luck and looking to forward to hearing some good news

Kiki...adorable!! I've just under 10 weeks to go and just cannot wait to see our baby. We don't know if the baby is a boy or a girl, so that'll be a nice surprise for us. Although, I've had a feeling from the very start that I'm having a boy, and from the way I'm carrying, my mother and friends agree...we'll have to wait and find out!!

Same here, we moved back to Ireland...hmmm, why did we all abandon Ohio!?!?

The final stretch, folks. Three more weeks or thereabout until our little angel arrives.

It's the "any day now" period. And yes, we're ready.

And it seems like yesterday that you were announcing the good news...although I doubt Nani feels the same at this stage!

That's brilliant news Aidan, glad to hear things are working out there now! All the best with the job hunting too

Congrats Kiki!! Olivia's absolutely beautiful...and love the name too (I've a sister Olivia).

I just sent mine regular post Karo. I've never gotten any receipt or notification, but since your old address is your parents...I wouldn't worry about sending it again.

We also sent in the form I-864a (I think that's the number) for Rob, as he also had to notify his address changing, since he is my sponsor. He got an official form back and was all thrilled to see his name on the Dept. of Homeland Security paper for a change!

Hi Sherry

Great to hear things are moving along. If you check THIS VJ link to the Irish Embassy, it tells you what's in Packet 3. Now, I updated the info so it's more in relation to K1's. I'm not up on the CR/IR visas, so maybe his packet might be different? Anyways enough babbling! Here's what was in my Packet 3:

* DS-230 Part 1

* DS-156, Non-immigrant Visa Application

* Information Sheet-Evidence which may be presented to meet the public charge provisions of the Law (Affidavit of Support forms) For me this was the I-134

* Medical Instructions and list of Docs names and addresses (The VJ link also has these)

* Checklist for interview

* Notice of Readiness

Hope that helps!

Amanda

First confession comes before first communion. I remember having it around the same time, as preparation for first communion, but I don't have any official certificate of it. I also went to Catholic school, and I highly doubt they would have allowed your husband first communion without first confession. He probably just doesn't remember it.

I figured that too

Hi guys,

I was just reading another thread and it got me thinking. My husband (USC) and I are Catholic. He remembers making his communion, but said he has never made a First Holy Confession and has never been confirmed. Would his First Holy Confession have been part and parcel of his First Holy Communion and he just doesn't realise it? He went to Catholic school as a young boy, and made his First Holy Communion there, but went to public school for the rest so hasn't made his Confirmation.

I'm asking, cos we now live in Ireland and will be meeting the PP one of the days to talk about our future baby's christening/baptism and the possibility of the PP blessing our marriage in the church (just with ourselves, not a big shin-dig) and I guess we'll need to know these things.

Cheers lads!

Mand, why did you go back to Ireland? Will staying there long term affect your PR status in the US?

Rob lived in Ireland for almost 3 years before we moved to the U.S. and I think the move was always seen as a "do we prefer the U.S. or Ireland". In the end, Ireland won. Rob missed the the way of life in Ireland and we both missed friends and family. We also decided that we'd prefer to raise a family in Ireland...with Cork accents Ha! Ha!

I'll be handing back my GC, but haven't called the Embassy yet to find out the finer details. I'll use the VWP or go the Embassy for a holiday visa when we're visiting Rob's family.

Mand-Old Bay..............isn't it great? we have a place here called Chickie's & Petes..........they have crab fries, they are chips with old bay & cheese on the side, they are SO delicious. Soft Pretzels-I miss them when I am in Dublin.

Colleen, Rob's family are originally from Baltimore but live in PA now, so whenever we'd visit them we'd stock up on the UTZ chips with Old Bay...yummy!! ...fresh from the factory which was just a few miles from them

It was vanilla with buttercream and a fresh berry filling with strawberries and rasberries.

triple yum.

Drooling!!

I love the pic of you and Stuart! And the colours you choose are gorgeous, I love pinks and greens together!!

We had the same problem too, and as Rob was living and working in Ireland, his bank was an Irish one...who had never heard of such a "crazy" request. We gave them all the figures and even a template to copy.

In the end we had to threaten to move banks if our request wasn't met...2 days later we had the letter! Rob played good guy and I played bad guy