So, here is how it all went down.

Sunday morning started pretty normal. Mr. T got up to play at the early service for church. I was going to attend but backed out in favor of more sleep since I was up for another late rehearsal. I got up in time to meet him between services so we could attend the Adult Christian Ed. session. Great discussion about finding one's spiritual gifts. It is something both of us are struggling with right now...figuring out what we are created to do and then having the guts and grace to actually do that thing. Hearing about the different paths people traveled got me thinking about my passion and my art and how I long to find passion in my work for the sake of my sanity and my family. A mom with two beautiful little girls adopted internationally spoke. She and her sister have been so incredibly supportive during this process so she gave me more hope.

People asked over and over "So where are you at?" "Any news?" "Any word on the kids?" Both of us delivered our memorized reply "Not yet, but we are hoping soon...We are still waiting for a referral...Could be any day now...then we'll have to wait for court..."

After the service, one of the little girls in our parish (adopted from Kazakhstan) came over to Tadd to look at his trumpet. He was so sweet;he held it out for her and let her press on the valves while she counted how many there were. I smiled and started thinking about our own kids learning to play their first instruments.

Then our friends asked us to go to lunch at one of our fave places. It is a restaurant in a bookstore! How fabulous is that?! Seriously, it is probably one of my favorite places to be since I could spent all day in a bookstore. We ate and chatted before making our way home. We had time for a good nap before I had to head out to rehearsal again and we were both exhausted. I walked in the house and turned off the alarm while hubby started to unload his trumpets. I heard the beep of the answering machine announcing a message.

I hit play and heard our agency reps voice. I heard her talking, but it seemed different. She said "I hope this is you all's answering machine or else this will be a really weird message for someone!" (We have no identifiers in our message so if you call our house, leave a message anyway) The she started saying "Congratulations! We have two children for you..."

Everything started going in slow motion as she gave info. I just stood there with my eyes wide and my hand covering my mouth, not sure if I should scream or cry. Tadd walked in on me like that and was like, "Is this it?" I looked at him and barely croaked out "It's Alisa! We got our referral!" The message ran out and I hit play again as everything started reving back up to normal speed. I grabbed a pen and paper and frantically wrote down everything she said before turning to Tadd. I just started to squeal and laugh all at once. He started to laugh, too. (He is not big on squealing.) Then we just ran and hugged each other really tight, laughing and chattering away before we started running around in circles trying to figure out who to call first.

So a little about our babies...Our little boy, Little T, is about 6 months old. He was born in Axum and is tall and thin with big brown eyes. Turns out he was the little baby we were told about months and months ago. At one point we thought we were getting two boys but it didn't work out because the baby needed more time in care. Well, he is healthy and ready for his new home. And our little girl, Ni-Ni, is about 3 moths old. She was born in Mekelle and is just a cute little round pumpkin. In the picture, she looks like she might have gray eyes, but it is hard to tell. But they are big and expressive. I'm sure she'll be a ham like her mommy!

Two little babies...One boy and one girl. Virtual twins. I am still a little in disbelief. This morning when I looked at their pictures again, it felt real. I started talking about next steps for the first time in months. I actually have a desire to finish painting the nursery.

I have NO idea when I will shop or start gathering items or making lists. I think I'll postpone all of that for this week. This week is just to wrap my head around the fact that I will be holding my babies before I know it. I watched my first video of Ni-Ni tonight. All I could do was sit here on my couch and cry. I heard the voices of the orphanage caretakers whispering sweet baby-talk to her and I was able to imagine for the very first time my own voice whispering those words over her head.

And it is one of the most beautiful thoughts I've had in a very, very long time.