We couldn't have imagined just how rewarding it was when we first met Michael Ji-Tang.  If we knew it was going to be this exciting, we would have started adopting sooner!

We have been on a year-and-a-half long journey to add to our family.  We already have two girls; we desperately wanted a little boy to add to our family, so we turned to adoption.  We ended up with a beautiful six-year-old boy from China; he just came last month and it has been a rather exciting (if nerve-wracking) time for our family!

Michael Ji-Tang was four when we first saw his photo on the Waiting Kids listing at Holt International; it was instant love at first sight.  We knew immediately upon seeing his photo that he was THE one.  So we subjected ourselves to PAC (Parenting And Adoption Classes), home studies, medical examinations, extensive criminal and background checks, and mounds upon mounds of paperwork.  Lots of tears have been shed, but then came the day when we got the Call, the call that was to announce that we had been approved to adopt Ji-Tang!  It was the happiest day of our life!

Okay, the second happiest.  The first happiest day was just last month, when we went to the airport to pick our little boy up.  We knew from the reports that Michael had special needs; it was reported that he had Down syndrome and was mentally disabled.  We didn't care.  All we cared about was that we were to become parents to a son, and our two daughters, Cryssa and Clarinda, were to become big sisters.

At the airport, we cried tears of joy when Michael Ji-Tang was placed into our arms.  He was absolutely beautiful.  He cried too, but it was because he was probably terrified.  We did our best to comfort him, but I am sure it was overwhelming to him because a.) he didn't speak our language, and b.) we were strangers to him.  He was thrust into an entirely different land with people he didn't even know (or realize that was his new family).

It was the best possible Christmas present we could have ever imagined.  Instead of toys and clothes for the girls or perfumes, candies, or video games for the grownups, we got the joy of a little six-year-old boy from China. 

We know that there will be many struggles and adjustments on our part, but we, as Michael's new family, will do our best to help him adapt to his new life here in America. 

~To be continued!~