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Dreams Realized
By sandi | September 3, 2007
In life I have experienced dreams I held for short times and dreams I have realized. Dreams range from tiny gifts to enormous undertakings. Dreams that I could never have had were among some of my favorites, even to hold just the dream in my mind was prize enough.
As many of you know Bill and I have always wanted to have 4 children. (Well, maybe that was more me than Bill, but he never opposes a good idea. 
) We traveled down a very bumpy road to reach these 3 children so a fourth really seemed like one of those dreams I would have to just hold in my mind.
Lately, Bill and I have been feeling more of a pull to introduce another member into our family. We had decided that adoption is the way we will be doing that. You may remember a post recently about something exciting may or may not be happening. Well things have progressed and thoughts and hearts have been changed. Something very exciting will be happening. Not in the way we first intended it but still this dream will be realized.
Before we conceived Annie or knew of Kimberly’s adoption, Bill and I had researched international adoption. We were planning to do it once Annie’s cycle of fertility treatments failed. (Yeah, we were really hopeful at that point.) But in the most amazing twist of fate we were blessed with not just one baby but two perfect little girls. We believed that they were all we would ever have until Mimi rolled into the scene by chance. Having a house full of three little girls and thoughts or dreams of international adoption were tossed to the curb. We were happier than we had ever dreamed.
We are still just as blissfully happy with this realized family. We can only think of one thing that would complete our fairy tale ending family and that is to add a fourth child through adoption. At first we thought that we would adopt domestically. Unfortunately, that left a lot up to chance and most likely at the end of our certification we would not have a fourth child. Serious improvements need to be made for children who are wards of the state. Someday when my children are grown I may be able to help out in that area. Certainly something I think about more and more as I looked at picture after picture of children who need families.
Why didn’t we go that route you might ask? Well, simply put the children who are available would most likely have not been a good fit for our family. We were looking at either having a older, aggressive child or a younger child with medium to serious health issues. Those are all great kids and they certainly need love but they would not have been a good fit for our family. 
After months of thinking about a fourth child Bill and I decided that we definitely wanted to add another. 
That left international adoption back on the plate like it was 5 years ago. And again it was there for the same reasons: it is guaranteed. If we go through the process in the end we will have a child. After much consideration we have decided that our child will be coming from either Guatemala or Ethiopia. For whatever reason these two countries spoke to us and are the ones we will be acquiring more and more information on in the coming days.
We will keep you updated along the process and we cannot wait to share our child with you. I am so excited over this. As we began the process I was not thinking, “oh goody, we get to live out that dream,” but along the way I began to feel like that. It is amazing how life twists and turns. It is amazing how dreams come to fruition.
Topics: Adoption, Family News | 7 Comments »
September 3rd, 2007 at 4:33 pm
I got goosebumps reading this!
So excited for you
September 3rd, 2007 at 9:53 pm
I am very excited to hear the news! The Brown family will be even more complete than it is now. Congratulations on coming to this decision.. I will be praying for you guys in the days to come!
September 4th, 2007 at 8:40 am
I am so excited for you. You will be such a blessing to some child. Please keep us updated.
September 4th, 2007 at 11:36 am
I was thrilled for your family to hear the good news! I wish you the best of luck in this new journey. The girls will be soooo excited to have a new sibling in the family too! They will be great big sisters.
September 4th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
Wow! A lot has changed since last week
I’m excited for you guys and look forward to watching this dream come to realization for your family.
September 5th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
Thanks for sharing your exciting news with us! I am thrilled for you! You are in my prayers that this will be a great and exciting process for you to bring your new daughter home!
September 17th, 2007 at 7:20 am
Just reading your blog for the first time. Congratulations on your journey through international adoption! I look forward to reading more.