While we were actively praying for the blessing of our payment request, and we knew that news would confirm whether there were 1 or 2 children, I was preparing my hear that it was likely one (and I had been praying specifically that if that were the case I would feel the confirmation that this was our child and wouldn't feel any disappointment at there not being a twin)...and we didn't think we'd get any other information at the payment request that just that. Since it was a sibling group they legally fall under a "special needs" adoption category so Chareyl was able to advocate for us to be matched to them specifically, and could thereby tell you who they were once we received our match and payment request.
So! We ended up not only with a payment request but also with news of twins! That it was two girls! What orphanage they are at! And that it was the specific twins I'd seen a picture of and asked about a year ago! Lots of news that we didn't expect.
When I got off the phone with Chareyl I was flooded with adrenaline. I wanted to tell Mark right away, but tried to quickly think of some sort of fun way to share the news with him. I jumped in the car and sped to our nearby craft store where I bought two little pumpkins (appropriate for this season and I also think the term pumpkin' is adorable for a little child). Then I chose two different "It's a Girl" helium balloons and attached them to the pumpkins. I sped to Mark's office with the said items in big white bags. He actually called me while I was en route so I came up with some excuse that I was headed to Harmons near his work and since he happened to be on his lunch maybe I'd stop by and show him something a neighbor dropped off as I was leaving (it was the best I could come up with on the spot).
So, I tried to keep my cool when I got there and told him that a neighbor dropped something funny off and it would be more amusing if I could set it up on his desk and have him come in and see it. He bought it and left his office. I locked the door quietly for good measure and set everything up. When he came in I was filming his response with my phone which threw him off, but he saw the balloons and said, "Really?" (meaning did the payment request really come?). I told him yes and kept filming waiting for it to sink in that there were TWO balloons and TWO pumpkins. I caught him too off guard and so did the fact that he was being filmed. I told him to look closer at what was on the desk. He began examining the balloons and the pumpkins until I finally blurted out that, "There are TWO!"
Mark was in shock for a bit, then we hugged and got a little emotional and then Mark just couldn't wrap his mind around it. It was a lot of fun for me.
When it came to telling the boys, we originally thought we wanted to keep the news a secret from most everyone (which obviously means you can't tell the kids) until we got the official referral, but we quickly realized that wasn't going to happen. We worried they'd overhear us talking, or it would slip, or one of the couple people we wanted to tell would say something in front of their kid on accident...so we decided to tell the boys.
We did tell the boys right away that we got our payment request and that meant our referral should be coming soon (they would have picked up on the buzz at our house anyway). Then we said we wanted to have a family meeting about the adoption to talk about it and answer any questions. I bought two little beanie-boo soft toy unicorns and put them in a gift bag.
We told them we wanted to get a little something for their sister that they could give to her someday and remember this exciting week for our family. Then we let them open it. There were two unicorns, but it didn't mean anything to them. After about a minute of coaxing we got more direct in our questioning and here is how that went:
So much fun!
I had the idea of telling a few close friends and family members of our news by giving them items that were in twos and letting them figure it out (that was fun). I was able to get clips of most people's responses so I'm going to compile a short one second video compilation of them and I'll include it here when it is done. What a fun, joyous thing to have people excited and happy to celebrate in our good news with us!
Now, if we can just get that referral so we can go meet our girls! Chareyl did tell us on Thursday (October 18th) that she has the receipt from IBESR for receiving and logging our payment, but that they requested one more document from the orphanage. (Bummer, but I'm glad they are being thorough) Luckily the orphanage said they have it, so we are praying they will get it to them quickly and there won't be any major delays in issuing our referral so we can travel in November!!
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