We received her medical report!!!!

Hola,

We are so excited... we received her medical report and more pictures a couple of hours ago. She is so pretty and extremely healthy. The only issue is with her eyes. We need to get her glasses as soon as we return home and she will probably need a small surgery on her left eye. Other than that, everything looks really good. She seems to be a healthy weight and height... only two inches shorter than Bethany was at her age (and Bethany is tall for her age). Olga told me that her social report should be to us either tomorrow or early next week. She seems to being doing very well at the orphanage, so as soon as we send in our acceptance paperwork, Olga said we would leave 2-3 weeks after that (depending on our visas). Looks like we'll be heading for Colombia later in September!!!!

Adios,
Kathy

Today we received our referral packet from the adoption agency. It gives us a sample letter that we have to send to the orphanage accepting the referral, various travel papers, and our adoption agreement. They sent this now so that when the medical report comes in, we'll be ready to move forward. It looks as though we will not have to have the FBI background checks done again. A few of the documents that were sent with our dossier, including our FBI clearances, expire in six months from the stamped date. Those documents are all dated mid-May, so they don't expire until mid-November. I truly thank the Lord for things we view as "mix ups". There was a "mix up" with our FBI clearances and they should of been done the end of March, but they didn't get completed until mid-May. If they had been completed in March, we would now have to redo all of the documentation that would be expiring in September. That would of been a lot more money and time. I am so thankful for that "mix up" with the FBI... the Lord knew what He was doing and was watching out for us.

Well, it looks as though things are getting kicked into high gear and we're moving forward!!!

Chao,
Kathy

P.S. - Laura, I do not have an email address for you. I left you a comment under August 27th comments.

We received a WONDERFUL report today!!!

Hola!

We just received our daughter's psychological report from the orphanage and it is very positive. Her birth date is January 15, 2000 and she is in the 2nd grade. This is a huge help regarding homeschooling because she should know basic reading and math concepts. Even though she reads in Spanish, this is a great help because we can label most things in the house in Spanish and English and she should be able to read them. A friend of ours that teaches Spanish gave us that suggestion; it will not only benifit her, but it will help us with our Spanish.

In addition, the report says that she is very active and interacts well with the other children. They say she loves to participate in group games and encourages her peers to join in and play. It also states that she is affectionate and emotionally stable. We also noticed in the report that it documents the intake date to be August 18th... we were told she was there around August 1st. Jim thought that if, in fact, she didn't get there until the 18th, it shows that the orphanage is actually moving rather quickly. Our adoption agency said that Casa de Maria told them that the medical information is almost completed and we will have it very soon!!!!

Buenos tardes,
Kathy

Still waiting.....

It's been two weeks since we heard she's been moved, but nothing else. Our adoption agency told me yesterday (Friday) that she will push for more information this coming week. Now they are telling us that once we accept the referral, it may be 3-4 weeks before we leave vs. 2 weeks. They said it all depends on how much counseling is needed in preparing her to become part of our family. Again.... we wait...

Buenos noches,
Catalina (Kathy)

Small, but hopeful, update!!

We just found out tonight that they are moving our daughter from foster care into the orphanage, Casa de Maria. Our adoption agency is going to contact the orphanage early next week to find out when we can expect the paperwork!!! We're getting closer...

In addition, I found out last week that there is no charge for our Visas!!!! Colombia does not make US Citizens pay... what a blessing.

Buenos noches,
Kathy