A Zulu, a Shona, and now a Xhosa!

Would you believe it, it's happening again! After an incredibly - and unexpectedly - long wait, we finally know who the next member of our family is going to be. We have been in this third adoption process for 3 years and 3 months, and our papers were in South Africa for 22 months, but FINALLY it was our turn.

On Thursday afternoon I put up this photo on Facebook and wrote: 

 Throwback Thursday: This was just after coming home with Sylvia in June 2010. Wonder when our next "just after coming home with _____" photo will happen?!?!?!?!!
 

NINE minutes later my cell phone rang and I could see that it was the adoption agency calling. And my heart started beating like CRAZY and I knew this was it. And as the lady started talking I just KNEW she was going to say that it would be another girl. And when she did say it, my heart was beating EVEN harder and I could hardly breathe! Whew! I wonder what my blood pressure was at that moment?! 

We have been given three daughters. What?!?!?!?!?! How is it possible? From a country where over the past year over 75% of placements are boys! My first thought – I am just being honest here! – was literally: Now we are going to have to adopt AGAIN!

I was home alone at the time. Niklas was going to be the one picking up Esther and Sylvia from school after work, so I decided just to wait until they arrived home before saying anything. I printed out a photo and when they came home, I had them all sit on the sofa while I showed them our good news. Esther’s first reaction was to SQUEAL FOR JOY and run around the house. Sylvia’s first reaction was to groan and say, ”Awww…but I wanted an Anders or Johan!” She still hasn’t quite gotten over it yet.

 Esther's reaction to finding out about her 

new little sister is priceless (and loud).

I can’t ”proudly present” her yet, our third daughter, since she won’t officially be a Lorentzon until November 26, but I can tell you that she was born in Cape Town, South Africa, to birthparents who are both from the Xhosa tribe. She was given a Xhosa name that means ”The Lord will hug and hold her in His arms.” Well, a name doesn't get much better than that! The pronunciation of her name is such that I don’t think we can call her that here in Sweden or in the US. But of course we will keep her name as a middle name, to honor her Xhosa heritage, and somehow we will come up with a name fit for her.

This Xhosa princess was born on Nov 5, 2013, so she just turned one last week. She was not born premature like my other kids, and she seems quite big for her age. She was already walking at 10 months and she ”does not like short baths”, hahaha! She has been with the same foster parents for her entire life, so her start in life is quite a bit different from my other kids. And, another difference is that this time we will meet the birthmother. Wow! Still not sure how to approach that situation. It could bring up a lot of emotion in my older kids if they are there for that meeting.

 

This Day After The Phone Call has been incredibly stressful, since we only have 7 days before we travel and that is a very short amount of time to get a lot of practical things done. Plus, most accommodations are already fully booked since this is vacation time for the South Africans, and seriously, if you live in South Africa, where are you going to vacation if not in beautiful South Africa?!?!?! For our other two adoptions we have only been in Pretoria and briefly in Johannesburg, so it is exciting for us to get to explore another part of this incredible country. We have received so many tips and recommendations about how best to enjoy our stay in Cape Town, one of the most beautiful places on earth, so I think the real problem will end up being having to pick and choose among all the wonderful things there are to do. Well, that, and convincing Sylvia that she really is going to enjoy having a little sister!