April 25, 2006

That's a day I will always remember. Andrew and I went to the airport with our Guatemala coordinator to welcome home a mommy with her new baby. I didn't know the mom and was kind of hesitant about going. Terri encouraged us, and so off we went. She had some of her family waiting for her, so Andrew and I stood back and let them be in front. The minute I saw that baby coming down that walk I had an emotional breakdown. I was SOBBING. I don't just mean crying folks, I was sobbing and heaving. I was so embarrassed that I turned around. As the mommy was visiting with her family, Terri walked up and introduced us. I asked the mommy if I could touch the baby, and she let me hold her! That was the first Guatemalan baby that I had ever seen in person! What a precious moment that was for me. That sweet baby just patted my cheek. What a sweetie she was, and it made our adoption seem so real. I realized that a baby would actually be coming home with Drew and me one day. We became friends with that mommy and her baby. We went to agency functions and chatted on the phone. On October the 17 I got a call from our agency telling us that our baby had been born. I was hysterical, thrilled, elated....you all know all the feelings I experienced. After I calmed down enough to talk Terri said, "Lou, she is Kayleigh Ann's sister." Yep, you guessed it. That mommy was Cheryl and that baby was Kayleigh Ann. Anne Pearce has a biological sister that lives 40 miles from us. What a blessing from God that is! What a miracle! We are all so thrilled that God chose us to parent this girls and let them be a part of each other's lives. When my foster mom told the birthmother at the SWI the bmom just cried and said that God had answered her prayer, that her girls would get to know each other. We don't know when exactly we will tell the girls that they're sisters. For now they will be special friends who spend time and play together and are part of each other's lives.

Kayleigh Ann Berlin and Anne Pearce Carolina- Precious Sisters and gifts from God!