Called the Immigration services lawyer that Adrinna recommended and the outcome is not very promising.

We have three options.

Option One: If we have $500,000 to invest in the US, we are eligible for green card. OK, it would be good when we win the lottery - so, option one OUT.

Option Two: Green card lottery. Now is the time to apply but there are only 50,000 issued each year and the chances is like .... NEVER considering my luck with lottery.

Option Three: Family sponsorship. The waiting time at the moment would be 11 to 12 years and if we put the application in, it would be in time for retirement.

We have made up our mind more or less on what we intend to do.

It looks like England would be our home until our circumstances change i.e win the lottery (big one). We both feel that we will be more secure in UK because Jem likes his job. I can continue with my studies and all the facilities and training are in place for Alex.

I will miss my sister and the kids but I guess, we can always visit when we have the means.

We are now in Tallahassee, Florida.


Been here since last Friday after a five and a half hour drive from Atlanta, Georgia. We are staying with my sister Adrinna and her family - hardly see them as they are all so busy.


Alex has finally shake off that nasty cough - it hasn't been easy for him with the cough and the changes.


Here's a summary of what's been happening since our arrival in the US:


Wednesday 17/10


Left home at 7:30am to London Gatwick Airport for flight to Atlanta. An eight and a half hour flight arriving at 4:30pm in Atlanta (5 hours difference). Alex threw up a few times during the flight trying to clear his throat. He didn't eat anything in the plane.


Arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, passed the immigration with no problem until we tried to retrieve our luggage at baggage claim. On our way down, a custom officer from the Agriculture division took our declaration form and asked us a few questions ensuring that we have not been anywhere near a farm (mad cow disease) and where we intended to stay etc. Then we went to the baggage claim and that's when everything went wrong.


We had our luggage and we need the declaration form to pass customs but we couldn't find it. I did not recall the custom officer returning the form to me, so I told them that we didn't have it and it wasn't returned to us. I was told to fill in a new form upstairs.

I went upstairs to look for the officer but she wasn't there and in order to fill in a new form, I had to show them my passport and to pass immigration again. My passport was downstairs with Jeremy and Alex, so I had to run downstairs to get them again. I took the passport from Jeremy and was about to go upstairs again, when the custom from the exit asked me to wait and asked us to follow him to another area to get our luggage checked before he let us out. He said that it is unusual for the custom to not returning the form but it happens sometimes. We were all so tired and thankfully Alex was really good the whole time. I couldn't curse or swear because the officers were all so polite and I knew they were only doing their job. If this happens in UK, the officers will never be this polite and I would have bitten their head off.

Anyway, we passed customs but we had to check our luggage in again for another screening and to collect the luggage from another terminal. My GOD! I was about to burst but I kept my cool - this is a bloody nightmare - someone please wake me!

We walked about 15 minutes and still hasn't reached the baggage claims and all this while, Alex was tagging along and running for dear life with his short legs. Then, we realised we can take the train and we did, it was another four stops before we reached the baggage claims. If we were to continue walking, it would be another 30 minutes before we get our luggage. Alright, we finally got our luggage and we had to go to the car rental place to get our pre-booked car.

Arrgggggghhhhhhhhhhhh I could kill someone now, the queue at the car rentals was so long and there were only one girl working. I gave up! Jeremy went to queue and I found somewhere quiet to sit with Alex and I was just so proud of him. He just sat there and gave me a big hug and I am so thankful that Alex is so good.

Finally, after 50 minutes and what seemed like eternity, we got our car sorted and had to take a bus to the car rental warehouse to pick our car up. When we reached the place, we were told that we can choose any car we like from there and we chose a Toyota Highlander, it was the best thing that happened to us considering the disasters we met as we arrived in the US.

We stuck our satnav on the windscreen and set it to take us to our hotel. Fifteen minutes later, we sat comfortably on our bed. Alex still very very good and still very very proud of him. We got ourselves cleaned and ordered a Chinese take out. Boy! The portion were just enormous and generous portion of meat. We knew we over ordered when we opened the cartons - they were stuffed so full that the rice and noodles couldn't breathe. In England? Half the portion and double the price.

We ate and slept until the next morning.

Thursday 18/10

Alex woke us at 4:30am. We let him watch his DVDs to keep him quiet as I am sure our neighbours will not appreciate a screaming child. We went down for an early breakfast in the hotel and drove into downtown Altanta to visit Georgia Aquarium. Both Jeremy and I have been to many aquariums in different parts of the world and we were so impressed with Georgia. If there is one aquarium you must visit in the world - it's Georgia Aquarium. Alex was so impressed by the sea lions that he stayed for a good ten minutes watching them chasing each other and laughed so much. It makes you feel you could fly when you see your child happy. I felt a million dollar watching that cheeky face smile.

Went back to the hotel and finished our chinese left overs. Watch a little television and went to bed.

Friday 19/10

Woke up early again for breakfast and then start our semi slow drive to Tallahassee. It's a five hour drive and stopped at Thomasville for lunch.

Arrived at Adrinna's house at about 3:00pm and the kids were just so excited to see us. Erin is only 11 but she is like a teenager. Josh, the cheeky little boy has so much to share. Adrinna, well I missed her and so glad to see her. Bill came home at about six and we went out for dinner at an Italian restaurant.

Saturday 20/10

The Reed household is football crazy! Saturday is College Football and you can hear my sister scream from a mile away. We stayed home to recuperate from our stressful journey (especially at the airport).

Sunday 21/10

Went out for a drive around Tallahassee with our SatNav. We like it here, the people seemed friendly but the cost of living is rather high if you are earning US Dollar. Some things are cheaper here only if you compare and convert but if we live and work here, I am afraid it would very much be like in the UK. Food is definately more expensive compared to UK but there are more choice when it comes to eating out. Again, if we live here for good, we won't be able to afford to eat out as and when we wish.

Monday 22/10

Looking around town again and being more adventurous. My sister and her family is really busy. We are on our own most of the time and the children have heavy schedules with after school activities and my sister going to school. Watching them coming in and out of the house is like watching bees working around their hives. So exhausting and I really do not know how they do it? Hats off to them.

Tuesday 23/10

Took Alex to Tom Brown Park. It's about fifteen minutes drive from Adrinna's house but it's worth the trip. The park is so well looked after and the facilities were just amazing. Alex enjoyed it so much. We didn't have to tell him what to do, he just ran into the play area and start sliding down the slides and walking on the balancing beams and played with see saw etc.

If facilities as such were to be built in England, it would definately be vandalised. The weather was quite warm as well and Alex seemed to like it here. He grew up quite a bit in the last few days. He wouldn't do what he did here back home.

Alex grew quite close to Bill eventhough he only see him about 30 minutes everyday. He seemed to look forward to his return from work and he would give him a hug and then he's satisfied. He would point at the family portrait a few times a day asking where uncle Bill is.

Relationship is a very strange thing.

It's been two weeks since my last blog.

Here's a picture of Alex taken in school for a hand-drawn portrait. (I like it in sepia)

Alex hasn't been well since Saturday when we return from Ben's first Birthday party. Ben is Jeremy's best mate, Brian's son. The last time I saw Brian and Vicky (his wife) was when they came to Alex's first Birthday party.

It has been two days and his fever's quite persistent at a constant 37.5 degree and he has been coughing a lot.

My poor little boy is so lack of sleep because of the cough that he went to bed all by himself about an hour ago, only to be awaken by his cough again. He is so tired that he just fall right back to sleep. Oh dear, I hear him coughing again and just hope that he is well enough to travel on Wednesday.

Just checked on him and he is still very tired and went back to sleep. Anyway, we have some great news. Alex's speech is coming along and I heard him say "no go" when his dad wanted to go out to the shop this morning and he has been very talkative since my last update.

Neel from TASS came to see us on Friday and assessed Alex. She is quite impressed with him. She also recommended that we visit a few mainstream and special needs school in order to make a decision as to where we should place Alex next year. She also suggested that we should have Alex "statemented" as soon as possible as the process will take about six months. Whichever type of school we place Alex, they all need a statement for him. Once he has a "statement", it is our right and by law that the Government has to provide all the necessary facilities to ensure that his needs are met. There will be no excuse to say that there isn't enough funding for the school year etc.

There are two special needs schools in Bracknell and both about 15 minutes from us. Kennel Lane is a special need school for 5 years to 19 years and they open to children with ASD, Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy etc. The other special needs school is a "half way house" between mainstream and special needs school. Rainbow centre is a reputable school accepting children with ASD and they are quite picky with the type of students they accept. The other option is mainstream school Holly Spring Infant (about 5 minutes from us).

Once we return from Florida, we will make all the appointments to see the schools. Both Jeremy and I are keen to put Alex in mainstream school but we are also afraid that he may not be able to catch up or bullied. It's a tough decision.

On a brighter note, Neel did mention that if we put Alex in mainstream and he is struggling, we can always change him to special needs. I just hope it's as simple as that but we will never know right now.

One thing that I am very reluctant to leave UK is that all the professionals working with Alex are very very good and caring. They are all paid for by National Health and Bracknell Forest County Council is considered as one of the best in the country for Special Needs.

We should go to Florida and look around before we make any comparison. This is not just a holiday!

He is turning into a pain in the you know where!

Well actually it's a good thing according to Christina, he is developing his own personality and he knows what he wants. Most neural typical children go through this stage where they rebel and test their boundaries. According to Christina, if Alex is too passive, then we are in trouble.

I could see why he was so difficult for the past few days. He was house bound for two weeks because of chicken pox. Alex is used to going out and about with us and staying at home is not something Alex likes. He would be happier if he could go outdoor to play but the weather has been "yucky" again and hasn't stop drizzling for a week.

He was so defiant and when you tell him "No", he would cry like he is saying "it's not fair" and then ran off and slam the door. It just amazes me to see my nice little Alex turned into a "brat" and I don't know whether I should be angry or laugh. I chose the latter secretly though.

We went to the Speech Therapy yesterday and Angie, our therapist is amazed at his progress. He has a few new words and also used two words to form a sentence (I think). Last week, we were having dinner together and Alex said "more" and then I looked at him and he said "je" meaning more juice. He also said "baa" for bath time and "Sss" for shoe. I also caught him saying "four" and "seven" when we were counting the steps.

Everyone who works with Alex has no doubt that he will talk soon and they all agreed that he is one fast learner. His only trouble is developmental delay (he is currently at around 18 to 20 months) and once he master something, there is no turning back for him.

I have faith that Alex will talk real soon.