Giving Thanks for my Dream Come True

"What do you do when you realize all your dreams have come true?"

This quote came to mind when I started thinking about all I am thankful for in my life this year.

Because my dreams have come true.

Someone calls me wife.

And someone calls me Mama.

I adore being able to claim those two titles for my own (although daughter and sister are pretty awesome too!).

I am thankful for so many wonderful people that I have in my life: my family, my friends, Boo's babysitter, my co-workers.  But there are three very special people that I thank daily in my heart and whom will probably never know the depth or extent of how grateful I am to them.  They are Boo's foster parents and his birth mother.

The mother and father who opened their hearts and their home to a baby boy who needed some loving care, knowing that they would eventually have to say good-bye to him.  Judging from the pictures of Boo that we received from them when we picked him up, we know that he was a happy, well-loved baby during the time he was with them.  They did not know that he would be with them for an entire year when they first took him into their lives; at that time, it was more like 4-6 months.  They probably have one of the hardest jobs and they do it voluntarily, time and time again; that of taking in a child, loving him, caring for him, giving him a piece of their hearts, and then placing him in another couple's arms who whisk him halfway around the world.

These are amazing people.

The woman who made two of the hardest decisions one may possibly ever have to make in her life; the first being the decision not to end her pregnancy (in a country where there is still a huge stigma against unwed mothers) and the second being to make an adoption plan for that child...for her child...for our child.  Because I cannot imagine my life without the little boy she gave birth to for the both of us.  I thank God for him and for her unselfish decision every day.  A decision that is most humbling because I do not think I would ever have been able to do the same.  I feel almost guilty at times because I am the one who gets to see our little boy grow up, who gets to feel those arms wrap so tightly around my neck, who gets to hear that little voice say "mama."  And I just end up holding on to him tighter, never wanting to let go.  I hope somehow she knows that he is absolutely loved, cherished, and adored and that because of her decision, my dreams really have come true.

So to you: "What do you do when you realize all your dreams have come true?"