Finally some progress...

First of all, Cintia's MRI report is back and she has a lipoma of the filum terminale. What is that? It is a fatty tumor in the area where the spinal cord turns into a horse tail of nerves down in the sacral area. This is one manifestation of tethered cord syndrome although not on the cord...if we understand it right. We are waiting for specialists to call and let us know what we should do now. This comes as no surprise to me. From the first day I had her, I said, "There is something not right with this baby's legs." She has very weak legs and poor balance. She has come so far...but still not right. We have no idea if this will require immediate surgery (from what we read online..it is a surgical issue with very good outcome...Praise God For That!) or whether it can wait for her to be insured $$$. That would be great. However, we have said that God knows what it will take to have her where He needs her and this could be His way of getting her another visa to come back on. It could also help expedite an in country adoption. Again, this is not a surprise but rather an explanation of her symptoms. Does it mean no cerebral palsy? I don't know that either. Her neurologist will have to decide that.

Now to the situation in the court....Praise God our judge has FINALLY agreed (with some help from PGN) to schedule her abandonment hearing. That is the good news. The only issue that one might debate is the date of it. It is in early October. Apparently, the date in May the court official was hoping the judge would give us was filled. That was at the time we found out that someone was going to the court for information about Cintia. Now, the judge is scheduling into March of 2010. They actually are squeezing us in for the October date. Pending all notifications (and I am assuming that means ads in the paper to notify any family members who might want to claim her), the judge will issue a resolution (that is a legal document) making our date official. We have been given permission by the judge to keep her here until the hearing. Once we have the hearing, we should have an adoptable little girl within a month or two (or once the official documents are drafted).

The question we have now is whether we can leave Guatemala after the hearing. My attorney and I will meet with the judge next Friday morning to see if she will allow us to leave with her after the hearing. She won't tell him...but she will probably tell me. If she says no, we will prepare to move to Guatemala in August and work on getting foster custody of Cintia. If she says yes we will be able to leave, we will proceed to the embassy of the United States on Monday morning to see what we have to do to get a new visa without Children of the Americas. We will not return through their program. We will seek an alternate route. If the consulate says, No way...no how...we will proceed to ask for foster custody and still move in August. Basically if the judge or the consulate say no, we will know the direction God wants us to take. Why August instead of October? We have a hearing in early October along with 5 kids in school. We would not move after 6 weeks of school and then have to homeschool in Guatemala. First of all, tuition at our school for 4 at $6000 each...so much that I can't even type it...of which we would lose half....$12K....not doable!!!! We would also have a hard time getting them into the Christian Academy of Guatemala (an amazing missionary school that we plan to put all 5 school age kids in) unless they start at the beginning of the school year which is the last week of August. So it makes sense. It is sort of funny because the entire time we have been going through this mess, my "ideal" if we had to move to Guatemala was to move in August so that we had a summer to prepare. We will have a home to prepare in Guatemala and one to leave here. God has just plowed through lots of muck and got it done. Even if the worse case happens and we have to relocate, it will be sooooo much easier than trying to do it on a weeks notice. Now, if we see that we will get to bring her back home, we will just return in time for the court date.

Next week, I fly to Guatemala on Thursday (May 21) by myself and will return the following Tuesday (May 26). I will meet with our attorneys on Thursday, the judge on Friday, house hunt with my friend Robin on Saturday, visit the consulate and school on Monday, and return home on Tuesday. Please pray for safety for the kids at home, sanity for Kenny and my mom, and a safe productive trip for me. Pray that we have the answers we need to plan our next few months. Tuition is due in June so we need to know God's plan for that.

On a positive note, Payton Rose made cheerleader at Silverdale Baptist Academy. Tryouts were yesterday and she found out today. If we are here, she is going to have a blast! If we aren't, God has bigger things in store. We decided to not live in the "what if's" and keep her from having the opportunity to try out. She had a blast at practice all week and is very excited that she made it. For anyone who doesn't know Payton, she has more spirit in her little body than 10 cheerleading squads put together. She is a natural!

Blessings!
April