It’s been a long birthing process- two years in the making. Little did we know that when we started to apply to adopt a second time in July 2016 that there was a little four month old boy who needed a forever family. Today, we met that little boy for the first time. His name is Caleb Hong Xi LaMotte.

The day started a little earlier than we anticipated. A thunderstorm woke us up at 2:00 am and I have been up since. Along with another family, we had to navigate the city to find a bank that would exchange our US currency for Chinese Yuan. While the teller, thankfully, spoke some English, it was a 45 minutes ordeal of paperwork and struggles through the language barrier to get the tasked accomplished. While it was lunchtime, our teller immediately closed her window as I walked away! I think she had had enough!

The receiving part of this adoption was much more organized than when we adopted Malachi. There were not as many families present, and they brought each child out one at a time to be united for their forever family for the first time. It made it easier to be in the moment and to capture that moment with some pictures.

Caleb came walking out with one of his caregivers. It was great to see him for the first time. He looked healthy and happy, until Andrea tried to pick him up. It was stranger danger! While he cried, he did settle in quickly until I tried picking him up which caused him to cry again. I am slowly working on a rapport with Caleb. This is to be expected as he has had women caregivers with, likely, very little interaction with men.

When we returned to the hotel, Andrea and Chloe accompanied Caleb back to our room where they began to play with some toys together. While the fun stopped when I entered the room, Andrea said that Caleb was laughing and showing off his personality. That personality is present in some of the pictures we received. While we know we have a long road of bonding and becoming, we were encouraged by our first few hours together.

Thanks to all those who continue to keep us in your prayers. We feel them and continue to covet them!