Hi let us introduce ourselves, our names are Heather and Jim and we are honored that you are taking the time to read our profile. We want to start by thanking you for considering us in your adoption plan for your child. This must be a difficult decision to make. We hope this letter will help you get to know us better and help you make the decision.

Courtship and Wedding
We met in 1989 in high school. We are both unsure exactly how we met but we think it was through mutual friends, but we both remembered our first date. One spring day Jim showed up at Heather's parent's house to ask her to go fishing. Heather was very impressed that he remembered a conversation they had at school about how Heather went fishing with her grandfather all the time. We went to a local forest preserve and enjoyed the day together. Sadly we did not catch any fish but Jim caught Heather’s attention and it never went away. Through out that year we hung out together but we were not a couple just good friends. Jim graduated and left for the military. We kept in touch through letters and Jim's determined mother. Jim's Mother really wanted to see us together as a couple and made sure she talked to Heather and encouraged Jim to contact her. The next year Heather graduated from high school and started college. We would see each other whenever Jim came home on leave. After Jim got out of the military we started to spend more time with each other and to much happiness of Jim's Mother we began officially dating. We have been inseparable ever since. We are glad now it took so long for us to get together because through those years we developed a deep friendship. We can both honestly say we married and love our best friend.

We got married October 30, 1998. Halloween is our favorite holiday and we wanted to share it with friends and family but we did not want to make the kids go to a wedding on Halloween so we opted for the day before. We now celebrate our anniversary on Halloween but we know when there are children in our lives we will have to go back to celebrating on the 30th so we can share our love for Halloween with our children.

Heather was raised in the suburbs of Chicago. She lived most of her life in the same house and still has many of her friends from growing up. It was a quiet neighborhood and all the kids on the block spent every day together. We would spend all day playing kickball in the street or ghost in the grave yard at night. Her parents split the job taking care of the kids. Heathers Mother was the primary discipliner and really work hard keeping the family in order. Dad worked full time but made sure dinner was on the table when Mom worked and our home work was done. On the weekends we would do things as a family. Dinner time was a big part of our house. Mom made sure the whole family sat down for dinner together and talked about their day. That was something Heather thinks was very important part of her family and will keep up the tradition. Holidays and birthdays were always important in her family. Big family birthday parties were planned every year and there is always some party to go to for the holidays. Even the small ones like July 4th meant a cook-out or dinner with family. Christmas was a big one. Every Christmas day mom held a brunch with all kinds of goodies to eat she spent all week making. With mom gone this is a tradition Heather and her sister will keep alive for many years to come.

Heather and her Family
Heather's parents were married for 40 years until the unexpected death of her mother in November 2007. This was a tough year for her family with her mother falling ill and her Paternal Grandmother also passing away earlier in the year. Jim was a great support during this trying time.

Heather has a twin brother, George and an older sister Morgan. We are typical siblings we have our fights, we pick on each other but in the end we still love each other and everything gets solved. George lives in Milwaukee and has a son Alexander. They come in to the Chicago area about once a month and we try to all get together. George and Alexander are excited to welcome a new cousin in their lives. Morgan is a career woman. She will be the exciting Aunt. She travels all over the world and has great traveling adventures to share with a niece or nephew. Morgan is really big on family traditions and really pushes to keep those traditions alive in the family. She is excited to share our family traditions with any future family members.

Heather graduated from Illinois State University in 1996 with a degree in elementary education. After graduation she worked for abused children. It was a life learning experience but a sad one that she could not do for long. Shortly after this she began teaching at St. Mary's She really loved working with the children but after 2 years decided teaching was not for her. We moved back to our home town and after a few short term jobs Heather began working at an office with Jim's sister and 2 cousins. She enjoyed it very much and learned a ton but really missed working with children. After 5 years we moved to our current home and Heather found her dream job. Heather currently works as a children's librarian at the local library and loves going to work each day.

Heather has several hobbies she loves. The one hobby that drives Jim crazy is home decorating. Having moved in to a new home she has a whole home to plan. Jim just shakes his head when Heather kicks him out of a room so she can decorate it. The recent room she has been planning is the baby's room. She can not wait to put all her ideas together in the room. Other favorite pass time of Heather's is playing games on the internet and visiting with friends on Facebook. On the weekends she takes time away from the computer to go to craft fairs, hiking, camping and helping Jim find beautiful pictures to take. Heather is also the event planner for us. She loves to stay social and makes plans to visit family, friends and the occasional party at our home. She is always looking for something fun for us to do with others.

Over the years Jim and Heather have become foodies and amusement park junkies. We plan all our vacations around amusements parks and we are always trying new recipes and looking for interesting places to go for dinner.

Jim and his Family
Jim was raised in the suburbs of Chicago following his fathers discharge from the Marines when he was four. It was the typical neighborhood setting, with the kids hanging out and playing together. Growing up Jims' mother was primarily a stay at home mother until both he and his sister were school age. Then mom took a part time job working during the day while the kids were at school. Dad worked full time as a meat cutter. After coming home from school the afternoon was spent playing with friends. Dinnertime on weeknights was at 6, followed by homework time. Weekends were often spent together with the family, everything from camping, boating, fishing to going to the museums downtown or to family gatherings.
Growing up Mom was the primary discipliner and dad only stepped in when needed. Birthdays and holidays were always spent with family although big birthday parties were only done up to around age 5. However other events such as confirmations and graduations were always met with much fanfare.

Jim's parents were married for 27 years until his mothers passing in 1996. It was a difficult time, and all looked to the support of family to make it through this emotional time. Jim's father remarried in 1998, to a bi-racial woman names Lois. Lois is a lovely woman and she and her children have been openly accepted into the family.

Jim has one sibling, his sister Kellie. Their childhood together consisted of the typical brother - sister relationship. Kellie was born just prior to Dad leaving the Marines and was named after an African-American soldier that dad was friends with in Vietnam. Hence the "IE" opposed to "Y" spelling of her name. Jim and his sister continue to have a good relationship, and Heather, Jim, his sister Kellie and her husband Dave usually try to get together for dinner or to do something once a month.

Jim graduated from high school in 1989, and then spent four years in the ARMY as a Military Police Officer. His duty stations included The Presidio of San Francisco, Camp Humphries in An-jong Ri South Korea and Fort Huachuca Arizona. After leaving the military Jim returned home and in 1995 began working in security at Dresden Station Nuclear Power Plant. Jim has continued to work at Dresden making his way up through the ranks and is now one of the managers for the security force.

Jim has one main hobby which is Photography. Jim's love of the outdoors and camping afford plenty of opportunity to indulge in this past-time. He also enjoys listening to music, hiking and just being outdoors in nature.

Our Home
We always knew we wanted to raise our family in a nice subdivision where all the neighbors got a long and did things together. We wanted some place with a good fenced in yard big enough to have a swing set, patio and if Heather ever gets her way a pool too. Jim is not quite on board with this one, but Heather will continue to try. Choosing the home was a hard process for us. Heather had definite ideas as to what she wanted and well Jim not quite so picky it had to just feel right. In 2007 we built the home we wanted. It put Jim only 15 minutes from work, which means more time at home. Heather got her nice big corner lot in a quiet diverse neighborhood. Heather still doesn't have the pool she wants but, she has the next best thing a soaker tub with jets. The neighbors they are wonderful just what we were looking for. The kids play together all the time and the adults too. We all get together regularly to hang out watch the current sporting event, play games and talk while the kids run around doing what kids do. We are finally content with the town and home we live in and hope to be here for a very long time and can not wait to fill this home with a family.

 Dad and Lois only live 20 minutes from us in Joliet were they can help us find hair salons, activities and a church in an area that is much more diverse than our town and allow us to meet the needs of having a multi-racial family.

Our Furry Friends
We have 2 furry friends in our home. Heather's little girl is our dog Gracie she is a small black Pomeranian that is completely devoted to Heather. She has to be were ever Heather is and looks at Heather for all her wants and needs. We are sure she will love to share Heather's lap.

Our other furry friend we share our home with is Patches our cat. She is quite a bit less needy as Gracie. She loves to lay in your lap when you are watching TV or sleeps between Heathers legs at bed time. Other than that you can usually find her sleeping in our closet. We love our pets very much and can not imagine our home with out them. We are sure there will always be some kind of furry friend in our home.

Religion
While we were both raised Catholic, we were both raised with different sense of religion. Growing up having a faith was important to Heather she was involved in church activities and attended CCD or religious education. Her family did not go to church every Sunday but they did go a couple times each month. Jim's family did not go to church regularly but realizes that having religion in his life still helped mold who he is today. We want to raise our family with the Catholic Faith. We may not attend church all the time but we still feel it is important that our children have faith and god as part of their lives and will share the Catholic Faith with our children.

Infertility
We always knew we wanted to fill our lives with children. When we realized that was not going to happen naturally we sought fertility treatments. From day one of this long process we talked about our options and the possibility of adoption. During the treatments we did some research on adoption and talked to family and friends. Shortly after this we listened to our hearts and decided that adoption is the route that was meant for us. We are excited about sharing our lives and home with a child.

Adoption and Openness
Since deciding adoption was the direction we wanted our lives to go we knew we had a lot to learn. At first we were uncertain and afraid of the idea of an open adoption, but after attending classes through Sunnyridge and reading about openness on line, we found our apprehension melting away and decided this is the road we wanted to take. We have learned how important an open adoption is for a child and realize there are so many degrees of openness. We feel that the decision is something that needs to be planned together and is as unique as the families involved. We would love to meet you prior to the birth of your child to talk about your adoption plan for your child if you are comfortable with that. We think any child placed with us should know its birth-family. We would love to exchange pictures and letters a couple times a year and we would also be open to talking to you about possible visits once or twice a year.

When we joined our family we joined many cultures. Jim's family members are Irish, Polish, Italian, English, African American and Croatian. Heather's family is German and Irish. Joining all these different heritages we have experienced so many different things. We look forward to learning about your culture, traditions, and heritage to share with your child. We have people in our lives will to helps us meet your childs cultural differences. With Lois and her family all supporting us in our adoption decision, we have many family members that are excited to help us teach our child about their heritage and help us care for their special hair and skin needs. Our friend Dorothy who is a foster parent herself and African American has already teaching me care skills and a little about racism and how it will effect our lives as parents of an African American child. So you see with all the love and support in our family and friends we will be able to meet the needs of your child.

Childcare
Heather will be the primary care giver because she only works only 30 hours a week. When the baby first comes home Heather will take 6-8 weeks off of work in order to get the baby settled and a routine started. Jim will take 2-4 weeks off to help.

Heather's career at the local library keeps her close to home, its actually only 5 minutes away. She works only 4 days a week. 2 Days Heathers hours at work over lap with Jim's so the baby will only have a baby sitter for approximately 4 hours these days. We spoke with our neighbor across the street and she will be our sitter in her home those 2 days. The other 2 days the baby will be in a day care center that is right by the library. Our plan is to have one of us home as much as possible for our children. We do not believe in having someone else raise our children and Heather will always work with in minutes of home so that she is available to be there for sports events, sickness, and other needs the child needs. Jim will care for the child when he gets home from work and assist Heather on the weekends when we spend time as a family. Jim's work for the most part is flexible and also only 15 minutes away, so he will also be available to be an involved father. He plans to be able to come home in time to take them to scouts, baseball or be able to be at school programs. He really wants to be there for his children.

We want to thank you again for taking the time to reading our story. We hope this letter gave you a better insight into our life and family and help you to make this tough decision. Our thoughts and prayers are with you as you develop your adoption plan for your child.

For more information please contact Sunny Ridge Family Center.

Jim and Heather

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