After hearing yesterday that IBESR had received the document it requested on Monday a tiny part of me was really hopeful that we could get a referral today, but I hardly dared give that thought any attention let alone mutter those words out loud. Thursday and Friday are a holiday in Haiti so I knew it was likely that we wouldn't hear anything sooner than next week - assuming that the document was in order and they were satisfied with it (and if not that could have led to long delays having it redone).
So! Today was Halloween. Anyone who knows me is aware that I am a huge fan of Halloween. It's my favorite holiday. So it was so appropriate to me to get this long awaited news today of all days. I was at the elementary school for Max's costume parade and class party. My mom came also, but we found out that the parade she came to watch happened earlier that day, so she decided that she'd walk by her other grandkids' classrooms and then be on her way. I went in to help with the party and dose Max insulin for any snacks they were having at the party. About 5-10 minutes into things I was looking at my phone to manage Max's numbers and saw a text from Chareyl come across my screen. It said:
"It's your best Halloween! I am just getting home but got a message from Nisthone that he just sent me your referral packets. A____ and A____ born September 22, 2016. I'll be sending to translator and to you soon!"
I gasped and dropped what I was doing and instinctively ran out into the hallway. I was trying to hold back happy tears and half hyperventilating and ran right out the door into my mom that was still at the school after saying hello to her other grandkids! She immediately got all worried and quickly asked what was wrong (thinking I was upset). I told her that we got our referral and she was so excited...and wanted to see the text for herself. I had her video me trying to FaceTime Mark, but he didn't answer. I was so overwhelmed, emotional, happy and couldn't think straight.
I began to get texts from Mark saying he had a really bad headache so I offered to bring him something and he asked for Excedrin. At this point I realized that I had forgotten about Noah who was just getting out of school, so my mom drove over to pick him up. Before going back in to finish Max's party I FaceTimed my dear friend Sarah to tell her the news. I was so emotional and excited and trying to hold it together.
When I went back into Max's classroom I went over to the game of musical chairs he was playing and when he got out I couldn't contain things...I called him over to me and whispered to him, "We got our referral! We got the referral for the twins!" He was really excited and just kept saying over and over how happy he was. Then I snapped this picture with Max to remember that moment.
I asked Max not to tell his brothers and then after school was out I told them myself right away! Then my mom took Noah and Lincoln and dropped them off at home while I took Max with me to tell Mark!
I did bring Mark Excedrin, but Max and I also had an elaborate plan of how Max would video me telling Mark about the referral and when it came down to it...as soon as he was filming I just blurted it out. Mark managed to stay calm and see 3 more patients while I about crawled out of my seat waiting to open it with him!
We already received the huge news about being matched to twins, who they were, how old, and what orphanage they're at (things you normally find out with referral) so the thrill with this was knowing that it's official. The photos that were included were older black and white copies of photos, so we're anxious for more updated photos! We did find out their names though which was exciting. I'm not going to type them here as I don't think we should share any specific information about them or pictures of them until the adoption is finalized.
I still feel elated though. It's after midnight and I should definitely be sleeping, but after we finished at Mark's office we sped home and immediately jumped straight into costumes and trick or treating! I haven't had enough time to digest our big news! I just got online and announced it on the Adopting from Haiti page and joined the facebook page for families adopting from our agency.
Chareyl has emailed me several things we need to get going on, but we can't do anything regarding solidifying travel dates until we can coordinate with both the orphanage and IBESR so that won't happen until after the holiday weekend. There is paperwork I can't get going on tomorrow when I have slept and have a clearer head though.
Honestly my head is so foggy right now. I just didn't want to wait even one day to document this. I feel so overwhelmed with gratitude. So excited to be able to move forward to the next step of this journey. We started this adoption journey over 6 years ago. Six years. In 6 weeks we'll have been in process with Haiti for 4 of those years. We still have about another year to go, but we are so excited to know who our children are! Where they are! To know that we'll be able to hold them in a few short weeks!! I feel so, so grateful.
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