Raygen Pruitt, 11, and Harper Pruitt, 6, knew for the past 10 months that their parents were working to adopt a child to join them and their two younger adopted brothers, Titus and Elliot.
“They would ask all the time, ‘Have you gotten a call? When is our brother or sister coming home?’” the sisters’ father, Shane Pruitt, told ABC News. “And they definitely wanted a sister.”
Family sports helmets in solidarity with 4-month-old baby 8-year-old boy raises over $6K to buy best friend new wheelchairShane Pruitt, 38, and his wife, Kasi Pruitt, 32, finally got the call the night of July 25 that a newborn girl was going to be their new daughter.
The Pruitts, who live in Rowlett, Texas, also found out they would pick up their daughter the next morning but they didn’t tell their children, in case something fell through.
The Pruitts left their home while their children were still sleeping and arrived home a few hours later with their new daughter, who they asked not be named for privacy reasons. Raygen's and Harper's shocked reactions to seeing their sister for the first time was captured on video.
Harper can be heard screaming, “Are you kidding me?” in the video, while her older sister, Raygen, breaks down in tears.
“Their two reactions are very fitting for their personalities,” said Shane Pruitt, who works as director of missions of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. “Harper, we say she’s very spicy [and] Raygen loves to take care of others.”
The video, which the Pruitts shared on Facebook and Twitter as a birth announcement, quickly went viral. Even Harper and Raygen have enjoyed watching their own reactions again and again.
“Out of all of those views probably 200 are of our daughters watching it,” Shane Pruitt said with a laugh. “If it shines a lot on adoption and encourages other families to step up and be foster parents or adopt, then that’s the ultimate win.”
Shane Pruitt said the family feels “humbled and excited” to now be a family of seven.
Their new daughter is 1 month old today and has been getting lots of attention from her sisters who were so excited and surprised by her arrival.
“Her older sisters definitely think they’re mommas too,” he said.