She is four-years old and we will call her Y.T. here until
we can tell you her real name. And show
you real pictures. We have seen videos
of her laughing and dancing and hopping like a bunny, and you will have to
trust me when I say she is adorable.
We were standing on a beach in Tobago when we got the call
from our caseworker that the birth father has chosen US to be her parents. My ugly cry followed… Johnny and I hugged and
could not let go. I expected to feel
like I did when I found out I was pregnant with our first two, but this was
more raw and emotional. It felt more
like when they were actually born.
For those of you saying, “back up, back up, I thought you
were waiting for a toddler in Latin America for the last 2 years!”, I will
start at the moment we saw Y.T.s picture in our adoption agency’s September blog post, listed as a
“waiting child”. We knew we wanted to be
considered as soon as we saw her information.
What is next? The court process in Taiwan will take 6-8
months (details on the timeline for anyone interested), so we will probably
travel in May or June to bring her home.
I will be hoping she can celebrate her 5th Birthday with us
in May… we have missed so much of her life it is hard to tolerate the loss of
another birthday. In the meantime, we
are studying Mandarin, doing paperwork, and painting the spare bedroom! Our oldest daughter has definitive ideas
about the decorating process based on what she remembers liking when she was
5. Both of the kids are ecstatic to
finally know their sister’s name and see her face. They have been amazingly patient with all of
the twists and turns of the adoption process.
Thank you all for your love and support! This waiting period has been really hard on
our family and we could not have made it without you. We are now focusing all of our energy on
preparing for Y.T. and the tough transition ahead. We know nothing about “hard” compared to her
challenges, but we cannot wait to love and take care of her.
More to come!
