Upcoming appointments for Maria

10/12--We are taking a swab test of Maria's mouth for more genetic testing. At this point they have not found anything, but this test may. The results take up to 2-3 months and the tests are $5000. Thank goodness for health insurance, although we are not anticipating full coverage.

10/19 at 2pm--Our 1st visit to NYC to the cochlear implant team. We'll be spending the night Sunday the 18th, so that we can get to the appointment on time.

10/20--We have a CPSE meeting at 9am at the Horseheads school to request the 1:1 aid.

10/27--We leave for NYC again for Maria's appointments on 10/28 at 1pm and 2pm. She also has two appointments on 10/30 at 1pm and 2:30pm.

11/5--We leave again for NYC for Maria's appointments on 11/6 at 11am and 12:45pm.

Again we are thankful for insurance, but believe these appointments will at most be 80% covered. Please pray that we will be wise in paying for Maria's medical bills. We are staying in NJ instead of NYC in order to save money on hotel bills, so that should help. Also please pray that these appointments will reveal whether or not Maria is a candidate for a cochlear implant.

We have some videos on cochlear implants, one for children and one for adults if you are interested in understanding the process. We've already had some family and friends borrow and watch them. Even though they aren't exciting, they help with understanding where we are as a family and what Maria is experiencing and will experience.

Thank you so much to those of you who have requested to know where we are with Maria's hearing and education. We appreciate your interest in our family. Macella & Kirstie are doing a great job as big sisters. We are so very proud of them.

The Lord has blessed us with wonderful family and friends. He is also providing for us in many ways. Thankfully Marsha was able to begin work and has been given permission to take off for all of Maria's appointments. Thankfully there is a safe place for Maria to go during the day and receive all of her therapies. Thankfully the girls are settling in to school and doing well. Thankfully Marsha's mom was able to help us out once again and stay with Maria for now. Thankfully we have a great support system in Christ and in you, our family and friends. We appreciate your prayers and love.

Marsha's mom saves the day again:)

Monday 10/5, We heard back from the school & county and they will give Maria a 1:1 aid if she attends the 2 year old preschool/daycare. It is the only place in the area that has a school curriculum, so she can qualify for the aid. We were not aware that we would be sending Maria to college already, but it's the option that seems the best:) Her school meeting is not until the end of October and since Maria's NYC appointments are at the end of Oct. she will start the preschool/daycare the 1st Monday in November. Ana is babysitting today and tomorrow. Thanks to Ana for working so hard and showing Maria such love. Marsha's mom will be coming out Tuesday night until the end of October. She will go home on the weekends, but spend the week with us. God certainly gave me the most wonderful mom!

Wednesday 10/7, Maria enjoyed speech therapy with grandma:) They had such a great time.

Thursday 10/8, Maria had even more therapy. Grandma is enjoying helping Maria show off her skills.

Friday 10/9, Our friends the Proper's are so sweet that they took all three girls so that we could go out for our 16th anniversary. Wow--where did the time go?! We realized that this is only the 2nd time since bringing Maria home that we've had a night out alone. Thank you Proper's for being so kind:)

Apple farm in Rochester

Today we went to Rochester to the Apple Farm with our adoption group. It was so exciting to see 3 of our newest additions. It is so neat to see how families are put together and to see such great love in everyone's eyes.

Maria took her 1st hayride and enjoyed picking apples with her sisters.

Marsha's new job and Maria's schooling

Wednesday, 9/23--Today I started my job at Pediatric PT & OT Services in Horseheads. Maria was not able to go to Head Start today because there was not a substitute teacher to be her 1:1 aid. Thankfully our friend Ana has decided to watch Maria on the days she cannot go to school. In addition, this Monday there is a meeting for Maria. If they do not give her an aid, she will not be able to return to Head Start. Ana has agreed to watch Maria and have therapies at her house. We are so grateful for her help.

Friday, 9/25--Jeremiah, Ana, & the kids spent the night at our house. It was an overdue time of fun. The next day Ana and Marsha attended a CPR and First aid course. It was a lot of fun!

Monday, 9/28 at 8am we met at the school with the therapists, the Head Start staff, the county staff, and the school staff. We knew it would be a long meeting. We were told that Head Start found Maria to be too big of a safety risk even with an aid. The school district and county did not believe that Head Start was an appropriate placement, so they would not give an aid anyway. We finally decided that she would have to get less services at Ana's house. Most wanted her in a preschool setting, but nothing really exists in our area. We have one 2 year old preschool/daycare, but it is very expensive. After the meeting, we explained everything to Ana and she agreed to watch Maria for us.

At 3pm, a social worker from America World met with us to write Maria's 6-month report for China. It was kind of funny because we had to explain Maria's typical day and we have yet to have had a typical day since beginning September. We guessed what her schedule would be at Ana's and apparently to that was good enough.

Thursday, 10/1, Ana let us know that she would no longer be babysitting. She is going to substitute teach at the school. She felt really bad about it, but it is what is best for her family right now, so we certainly understand that. This meant that we had to double check on all the phone calls we already made to see if there was some place else for Maria to go. The problem with a daycare with multiple kids is that a 1:1 aid would not be given to her there. Her safety would certainly be an issue with a bunch of kids and only a few adults. With her not hearing and putting everything in her mouth, we really didn't feel as if this was a safe solution. We also checked into having her babysat at a home with only a few kids, but then we were concerned about her safety as well. A babysitter would not have all the regulations of a daycare. Also, since we did not personally know any of these people and Maria does not have a "voice" she is the perfect target for child abuse. All of these thoughts brought us back to the fact that our only real choice is the 2-year-old preschool in Elmira that is quite expensive. I called the preschool and found out that they would not accept her without a 1:1 aid. After more phone calls, we have to wait the weekend to find out if she will get an aid.

We would ask for prayers that Maria will end up where the Lord deems best.