Updated Medical Reports

I finally got the most recent medical reports translated!! (By "most recent", I mean May 2010, so they are still very outdated, but it's better than nothing) As much as I would love to get a more recent medical report, I am not hopeful on that one. :-\ BUT, this report still gives me a million reasons to jump up and down and get excited! It gives more details about her early life as well as mentions in much better detail how she was diagnosed with cortical blindness! I can't tell you how excited I am to know more details about this! The best part? Apparently, the doctor they took her to who made the diagnosis said that since some membrane was in pretty good shape, she should have a high chance of recovery!!!! Now, I have no idea whether that is medically valid since it wasn't written in a report by the doctor, but written in a summary that had been conveyed by one of the caregivers, but still! I am going to have our pediatrician friend look over the report tonight since he will be coming here for life group. (God's timing actually matched "my" timing on this one!!) I'm hoping that it makes more sense to him and he can tell me what this means for us, and for her. :-D There was also a lab result that came back positive, but I have no idea what it was for, so I'll ask about that too. I have my theories, but I'll wait until he tells me what it means. I'm not worried in the slightest. I'm just ecstatic that her vision might be able to be restored!!! Praise God!!!!

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One More Step

I finally received the email I have been waiting for. Our home study has been approved by our placing agency! Yay!! Now the home study agency has to sign, notarize, seal, attach, etc, etc. 4 original copies and mail them to us. They said this could take up to 2 weeks, but I'm hoping it doesn't. God sure is working on cultivating an extra large portion of patience in me lately. *sigh* I am very eager to receive our home study in the mail so we can submit our I-800A application and hold our breath for 10 weeks. ;-) I will keep you posted!

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Progress!!

Last night, I got an email I have been waiting weeks for! The placing agency finally reviewed our home study and emailed our home study agency with a few changes that need made. (I may be odd to be so happy that changes are needed, but if we had waiting all this time for them to review it and it met their criteria, I would've been upset that we waited for nothing.) There were only a few minor things that needed addressed, so that's good too! Nothing terribly major. Or so it seemed....

One of the issues was quick and simple. The home study was a bit vague on who pays rent for our apartment and how much. I had forwarded the lease to our home study agency, but it shows the big picture better than it shows who pays what. So, a quick email cleared that up.

Another issue was that the home study didn't list the dates of the kids last medical exams. This one is a bit more confusing because I'm not sure if well-check visits count or if they need a special exam complete with blood work like D & I had back in October. (You know, the one that we have to re-do anyways....) I sent an email for clarification and am waiting to hear back. I'm hoping the well-checks will be adequate. We can show that they are healthy and up-to-date on all vaccinations. I would hate for them to have to endure blood work if it isn't entirely necessary!

The 3rd issue is our trickiest. We have to list guardians who would be willing to take care of the children (really, they only care about Z) if something should happen to us. It isn't legally binding in any way, but Crescent Moon wants some form of proof that we have thought about it, I guess. The catch is that the guardians must meet Crescent Moon's eligibility guidelines as well, meaning they must be between 30-50. I called to speak with someone from our placing agency last night and she highly suggested finding someone between 30-40. Since we're 30, most of our friends are skirting 30. The problem is that a lot of them have spouses younger than 30. Or they already have lots of kids in their homes. I don't know for sure if this will be a problem or not because I forgot to ask. The form that we need for this asks for ages, occupations, and how many children live in the house and their ages so I would assume that is an important criteria. I guess we will have to submit guardians who have kids and see if it is a factor or not. I am hoping it's not because the special needs program with Crescent Moon offers an exception to the limit of children in the home, so hopefully that exception can also apply to the guardians. I mean, they aren't checking their income or doing background checks or any of the other things they verified for us, so surely they will be more lax, right? I guess we'll find out! lol!