Mademoiselle

So, I'm now officially the only non-French citizen in our family.  And, although Gui is also the only non-American citizen in our family, I still feel like I'm totally missing out on something good here.  Technically, I could have applied for French nationality as of April (it simply requires being married to a French citizen for at least 4 years and living in France for at least 3 years), but we figured we'd wait until Avienne was here and we could do everything together.  Well, our French consulate is in Houston, and we just haven't been motivated to  make the 3-hour drive with an infant to submit my application.

Thankfully, though, the consulate allows French babies born outside of France to apply for their citizenship by mail, so we didn't delay having Avienne added to our livret de famille.  I was kind of hoping they'd send our nouvelle mademoiselle a French flag or a beret (or a baguette!) or something, but they just scribbled her information into our book, stamped it and sent it back.  It seems so underwhelming for such a momentous occasion.

We do still need to get the ball rolling with my citizenship, and since Gui's passport is up for renewal and Avienne will need a passport, too, we'll probably be spending some quality time in Houston at the beginning of next year.  As for Gui and his potential American citizenship, it's a bit more complicated and requires at least three years of residence in the US...we're working on it.

our little mademoiselle