LOA & I-800

Yesterday we received our LOA (Letter of Acceptance) in the mail!  After we signed it, I was able to scan a copy to include in our I-800 application.  I mailed that this morning and it is guaranteed to arrive on Monday.  Christmas is going to cause a slight delay with that process, but it shouldn't be more than a week.  I can live with that.  We also have a ton of paperwork to sign & return to our agency before that gets approved.  The agency also gave us awesome news that we don't need to pay the $1,500 for escrow because they still have it from the last time.  In all of the expenses and the double-paying, it's such a relief to have 1 thing that we don't have to pay again!  The only thing we are needing to do for the paperwork is to notarize one of the forms.  (Ugh!!  I HATE notarizations because of the headaches that they were in Germany!)  We plan on getting that tomorrow and then mailing these documents either tomorrow or Saturday.  There isn't a rush on them, but I want to have them in the mail before Christmas so I don't have to worry about them.  Then we will be in a pleasant position of getting to relax and enjoy Christmas!!  (Well, relax as much as we can when the forecast is anything but reassuring!)  After we get back from visiting family over Christmas, we will work on submitting our visa applications to get that out of the way.  That is the last stressful part, IMO.  Booking flights is so full of excitement that the stress is overshadowed.  Beyond that, it's all adrenaline!  :-)  And this time I won't have to rush getting her a passport or worry about a German visa!  Yay for something else being easier!!

Application Submitted

Our LOI (Letter of Intent) and online application were submitted to the CCCWA today.  Next we wait for their approval and then we go from there.

We said yes!

After speaking with the pediatric ophthalmologist and the pediatrician, we have decided to accept the referral!  We are very excited!!  Now we need to repeat some paperwork.  Ugh....

3rd time's a charm??

About an hour and a half ago, I got another phone call!  This little girl will be 2 on Christmas.  Her only need is "congenital cataracts".  Everything else looks great!  It's funny...when we started this journey, we were trying to adopt a girl who was completely blind.  After that fell through, we sort of retracted and decided that a child with some vision would be a better fit.  This little girl only has light vision.  I really don't know why, but I'm a bit nervous about the possibility of her not regaining any other vision.  I wish China would remove cataracts early!  If they had done that when she went into care, her vision would be fine!  The information I found online was incredibly vague about her situation.  It basically assumed you would have the infant and could get them removed right away.  Well, for those of us without that option, there isn't really any information about what her prognosis might be.  Thanks for nothing, internet.  :-\

I have called 3 different eye clinics before finally finding one that knew enough about the condition to actually talk to me about it.  The other 2 just referred me elsewhere.  Fortunately, this clinic seems amazing and isn't too far from us.  The Dr. who would see her is going to call me back after clinics so I can get a better idea of what her prognosis might be.  This is the most important phone call, IMO.  The pediatrician is supposed to call me back sometime today too, but I don't have a time for that.  They only flag I see in her other medical report is that her growth seemed to take a step backwards between 12-18 months.  I doubt she really shrank 3 cm in 6 months though.  It's much more likely that the measurements are just wrong.  Everything else is, as our agency said, rather boring.  Boring is good!  Nothing to report is always a plus after our previous situation!  ;-)  We have until tomorrow evening to decide whether to pursue her or not.  In the meantime, I will be talking with the pediatric ophthalmologist, the pediatrician, & my husband.  Lots of talking.... I will keep you posted!  Fingers crossed!!!