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We are Adam, Jennifer, Allison, and Lauren. We are a fun-loving family who is excited to be on our third adoption journey! Jennifer is a manager in Human Resources who enjoys trying new baking projects and exploring parks. Adam is an IT Network Engineer who is an aviation enthusiast and has had his pilot's license since he was 17.
As a family, we love day trips and staycations. A day at the zoo, a walk in the park, an evening at the farmers market, or building a backyard water park is our definition of fun!
Having two preschoolers means we have a very active lifestyle, but we both work from home with flexible schedules, which has given us plenty of special time each day where we focus on each of our children.
We want you to know, we have a passion for building our family through adoption. We have two open adoptions and we cannot wait to meet you and work together on a plan to give another child our love and attention!
We have been married ten years and together for 15 years. We first met during our junior year of high school and became best friends very quickly. We were (and still are!) the kind of friends that could talk for hours-on-end every day. In fact, on our first date, a lady at the movie theater asked us if we could talk a little less! Oops! Today, we love taking a cup of coffee out to the back porch to sip while we chat.
As long as we have been together, growing our family through adoption was always part of our dream. In January of 2019, our dream came true when Allison was born! And in 2022, our dream came true all over again with sweet Lauren joining our family through our second open adoption. Playing as a family every day brings us joy and we would love to add another voice to the squealing and laughter that fills our home!
When Allison was a toddler, she and daddy started a special morning tradition where first they would make coffee with a silly dance and then they would cuddle up and watch “The Octonauts” together on the couch before heading off to start the work day or school day. These few minutes in the morning have become a treasure to Allison, where she looks forward to deep chats or silly tickles to start her morning.
This year, we added an evening game to the family routine. As soon as the toys are picked up after dinner, we play a game called “boo” with made-up rules that includes lots of chasing around and shrieking and tickles. These few minutes at the beginning and end of each day illustrate exactly the kind of dad Adam is - his world revolves around spending time with his kids.
In addition to being an amazing dad, Adam has a great sense of humor, makes the best cheesecake, loves to plan ahead, has an aptitude for learning new things, and loves his Nana more than anyone else I know!
Jennifer is the kind of person that always goes the extra mile to take care of someone. To illustrate, when Allison was only a few weeks old and we were very sleep deprived, Jen would stay awake for several hours in the middle of the night to play with Allison because she was reverse cycling and in the mood to play. She could have simply rocked Allison back to sleep but she happily went along with what the baby wanted to do. With Lauren's first few weeks of life, she needed lots of cuddle care, so Jen learned how to wear Lauren in a soft fabric wrap most of the day, so Lauren would never be without hugs. I always suspected Jennifer would be an excellent mother, but seeing her be a mother to the girls has blown away even my highest expectations.
Jennifer has always found a ways to combine being a caretaker and a hard worker. She works part time - balancing a career as a manager with pouring attention into our girls. During the hours she isn’t working - she takes the kids to the library, park, plans play dates, or plans at-home-activities like sensory bins and painting.
In our home, meals around the table and reading stories together are daily staples. Every day, we work with the kids on learning-through-play activities such as building puzzles. Whenever the weather allows, we spend a lot of time outdoors exploring and getting messy!
Right now, we are focusing on teaching the kids how important it is to treat others with kindness. As they grow, we really want to instill in them skills to be able to make good decisions on their own, so we talk about choices a-lot. Most importantly, every day, we make sure we tell the kids “I’m proud of you” and “I love you!” many times!
We both have careers that are work-from-home with a lot of flexibility. Each of our kids attend part-time preschool programs where they make friends and have fun! Our favorite part about this flexible schedule is we often get to eat 3 meals a day as a family!
Every adoption is unique and telling our children their special adoption story is important to us. Allison treasures a photo from our first visit with her bio-parents that we display in her bedroom. She knows that she has her birth-mom’s beautiful smile and that she has her bio-dad’s cute tiny ears. Lauren also listens to our favorite books about adoption and has a routine video call with her bio-parents that she enjoys! We embrace openness and believe it is important that each child in our family knows their own story.
If you were to step into our home on a typical Saturday morning you would probably first notice the inviting smell of Adam's homemade lattes and hear some relaxing music playing in the background. Then, you'd take a second glance and notice the girls wearing their tutus and shrieking with glee as they chase after the cats!
Our home sits on a little over 2 acres and features a rolling Indiana cornfield view and a woodline view. On a nice-weathered day, we may be found playing a family game of soccer or filling the baby pool for a little tradition we call “porch, pool, and pizza.”
Our town has lots of great local parks. Our favorite nearby park has a paved trail for strollers and a toddler playground. We frequent a local zoo and a small farm where the exhibits are set up for toddler height viewing! There is a splash park near our home that includes a toddler wading area and lazy river. We also love our library and have a close group of church-friends.
Jen's family likes to hike and camp, visit museums, and enjoys board games and joking around. Adam's family enjoys great meals and trips together! In both families, the kids are the center of attention! Our families embrace adoption - across our two families, there are TEN adoptees, including our daughters.
Our promise is that there will never be a day your child doesn't know their special story. And, we know from experience that our parenting style will focus on making sure every day has time spent together as a family - playing, learning, and making memories. Most importantly, we promise every day, your child will hear so many "I love you's." We are praying for you and would love the opportunity to talk with you more.
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