O. meets her parents!

One of the best parts of working at an orphanage is watching adoptions take place. I've always loved watching the babies meet their adoptive parents, but after this afternoon, I can say that there's really nothing like watching an older child meet his/her parents! 

O. is four years old, and if I'm not mistaken, she's been at Casa de Amor since she was one (maybe one and a half). She moved to the girls' house early last year and has been the "baby" at House 3 almost the whole time since then (Saret recently moved there and is just a little bit younger than O.). We knew that she had the possibly of getting adopted, but as O. is now four and a half years old, we worried about whether or not she would get adopted. Many Bolivian families prefer babies, and she's certainly not a baby! 

We found out recently that there was a family interested in a little girl, ages 3-5 years old, and hoped O. would be the one. It turns out, she is! She was told this past Sunday about her new family and as expected had mixed emotions. She was excited to have a family but was very scared to leave the only life she remembers. The other girls have had a pretty difficult time with it as well as they don't want her to leave and also want families of their own. 

Today was the big day that her parents would arrive to meet her! When I arrived to the girls home this afternoon, she was freshly bathed and deciding what to wear. She seemed just the littlest bit nervous and when I was combing her hair, she was very concerned about her appearance. She told me several times that if she wasn't "pretty" her new parents would say "Look at that ugly little girl! We'll pick Saret for our family instead." I was surprised to hear her saying things like that because it's so not like her! We all reassured her that she's pretty no matter what and they've already picked her!

Finally the moment arrived! Our normally super talkative little girl was at a loss for words. Her family seems wonderful and did great with her. She slowly came out of her shell throughout the afternoon and was talking a bit more before they left. She had a great time playing on the motos with her new brother, and we know she'll warm up to her new parents too.