Hello! Thank you for reading our profile – we are grateful that you are taking the time to learn about our family, and we look forward to meeting you. Even though we don’t know you yet, we’ve thought a lot about you, and we are so proud of you for thinking about an adoption plan – this is such an amazing, selfless and positive thing to do! We can’t possibly understand everything that you are feeling right now, but we can sympathize with having a tough choice to make and with the deep emotions that are involved. We hope and pray that you receive the guidance you need both before and after your decision so that you can know that you’ve made the best possible choice for you and your baby, whatever that choice turns out to be.

We’d like to share a bit about us and our story – it’s hard to condense so many experiences, hopes and dreams (and photos!) into a web page, but hopefully this story gives you an idea of who we are and of the type of parents that we’d like to be.

Our Story
We live in downtown Chicago, very close to Lake Michigan. Our house is a townhouse that faces a very pretty courtyard, and there are lots of children around us. We love getting out and enjoying the lake by taking walks or having picnics. Often, we imagine what it would be like to take our child along, and can’t wait to have the opportunity. Even though we love the city and enjoy our neighbors, we also dream of having a standalone house someday, so we will probably move eventually. For now, however, we are in a good place and we love our house and neighborhood. We were both raised Catholic and continue to find peace and community in our church, and we plan to raise our child to be Catholic as well.

We have been married for 10 years, and knew each other for two years before that. We met at Jon’s office Christmas party through our mutual friend, Mike. Mike worked with Jon and went to college with Laura, and Laura was his date for the evening. Laura noticed Jon because he was tall (Laura’s pretty tall too, but not as tall as Jon is!) and he had twinkly blue eyes and a great smile, and Jon noticed Laura for the same reasons! As Mike talked to his boss, Jon swooped in and asked Laura for her number, and the rest was history. We dated for two years and got married in July, 1999 on one of the hottest days in Chicago history. It’s amazing to think that we’ve been married 10 years already, but it also seems like just yesterday. We’re a good match in many ways: Laura likes to cook and Jon likes to eat; Laura has a lot of piles of stuff around the house but Jon is very neat and helps keep the piles in control; we make each other laugh; and we just enjoy each other’s company!

We like sports – both watching and playing. Jon loves to golf, and Laura is learning – well, every summer she says she’s going to learn but never manages to play more than a couple of times. Jon also plays softball, baseball, ice hockey and floor hockey. Laura plays softball and floor hockey, and we both like to ski (when we get the chance) and go bowling. Of course we love the Chicago sports teams, as well as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Penn State Nittany Lions. Occasionally we get to go to games, and can’t wait to bring our child along as the newest fan.

Music is another shared interest of ours. Jon plays the guitar (he played a song at our wedding reception with the band, which was awesome) and he enjoys going to concerts and listening to music. Laura played the clarinet in her high school and college marching bands, and also knows how to play piano and saxophone, although she hasn’t played very much in the last several years.

In addition to traveling to see our families (more about our families soon), we try to plan an adventurous trip each year. This past year we went to Ireland, which was amazing, and a couple of years ago we went to Alaska. Sometimes we go skiing with Jon’s aunt and uncle out west but that’s pretty expensive so we don’t do it every year! Soon we hope to visit Maine to see where Jon was born, and we’re thinking about going somewhere warm this winter since winter is always so long in Chicago. Thanks to her dad, Laura has been to every state except Hawaii and North Dakota, and Jon is working on his list. (Laura has no clue when she’ll get to North Dakota… any ideas?)

We also like just being goofy, especially on Halloween! It is a great holiday – and will be even better once we have a child. Each year we watch our family and friends celebrate with their children, and we can’t wait to join in the fun with our own son or daughter. He or she will have the best costumes ever!

Family and Friends
Family is very important to us and we are lucky to have Jon’s immediate family nearby in the western suburbs: his parents, his two brothers (Mike – older, Dan – younger) and their families – giving us three nephews (ages 13, 4, almost three) and one niece (age 11) to play with. His aunt, uncle and two cousins (ages 16 and 21) live close by as well. Also, one set of grandparents just moved here from Florida. Family get-togethers are a regular occurrence, and when all 18+ of us are there, it’s pretty crazy (and fun)! Jon has another set of grandparents and more aunts, uncles and cousins in South Carolina and Pennsylvania.

Laura’s immediate family lives in Portland, Oregon: her parents and their dog, Daisy, and her younger sister Karen and her husband Kyle and their two cats, Penny and Suzie. While we wish that Laura’s family lived closer, we see them several times a year. We enjoy having a place to visit and the chance to see another part of the country. Oregon is very beautiful! The rest of Laura’s family lives in Seattle, Milwaukee, and California. We enjoy traveling and seeing our family is a great excuse.

In addition to family, we are also very close to our friends. Since Jon was raised in this area, his closest friends are those with whom he grew up. This makes for some very strong, supportive relationships. Laura has some good friends here in Chicago, and also has many others scattered across the country – again, providing many fun reasons to travel. Many of our friends have one, two or three children, and we always enjoy visiting and playing with them – although it has been hard watching these families grow while we’ve struggled to build ours. Looking back, we would not trade our journey, for we have learned a lot about each other, our hopes, dreams and fears, and what is most important to us. However, we are definitely ready for the next step of our journey in becoming Mom and Dad!

Laura’s Story
I was born and raised in Los Alamos, New Mexico with my parents, younger sister and lots of dogs. I’d love to have a dog again someday but not while living in the city. I lived out in the country and we had a big house and a big yard – my sister and I played with our friends outside almost every day. We lived in Maryland for two years when I was in middle school, which was a big challenge but also a great experience. (It also helped us cross many states off our list!) I went to high school back in New Mexico, where I played soccer, was in the marching band, and was also in the theatre group (I worked backstage – I’m a bit shy, so you’d never catch me in front of the curtain!) I went to college at Notre Dame (go Irish!) and majored in Math. Education was very important to my family, and Jon and I plan to ensure that our child receives the best education that we can provide. I got a job with IBM in Chicago after school and have been there ever since, doing a variety of different jobs. Right now I manage a team of sales people who sell IBM services to customers. It is hard work but I enjoy my job. I also enjoy volunteering with both children and adults in a variety of ways, such as teaching adults about computers, helping children with their reading, and mentoring girls and young women in school, helping them learn more about technology and what they can do with it.

My parents are both creative and I am as well. My sister Karen and I are great friends and we grew up baking cookies for all occasions, decorating Easter eggs, carving pumpkins, making Christmas decorations – you name it, we did it. We had a lot of traditions, which I remember quite fondly and which I am eager to continue in the family that we’re building. I still love crafts of all sorts and even have my own website where I sell some of my creations. I enjoy reading all types of books but mostly historical fiction, popular fiction or fantasy. I also like to cook and bake, knit, do crossword puzzles, play games, and do jigsaw puzzles. My childhood was full of unconditional love and support blended with the expectation that you would do your very best at whatever you tried. I think it was a great way to grow up, and I hope that Jon and I can create a similar environment for our child. I am very much looking forward to being a mom and introducing our child to music, books, and the fun of art and play, and to encouraging him or her to use his or her imagination to have fun.  

I have struggled with the decision of whether or not I should go back to work after we become parents. My mom stayed home while my sister and I were in school, and I always thought that this was the only way to do things. I have learned, however, that there are many ways to raise a child, and have watched my friends and colleagues take many different approaches – all of which seem to work just fine. At this point, the plan is for me to take at least three months off from work after the baby arrives, and Jon plans to take two weeks off from his job. I currently plan to go back to work after that time, possibly part-time, and we will figure out daycare (there are three daycare centers in our neighborhood) or a nanny or a babysitter or some combination. When the time comes, I do want to ensure that I am home when our child finishes school each day – my mom was always there for us, and I want to always be there for our child. I am fortunate that my job is flexible and I can work from home, or take breaks throughout the day as I need to. I am also leaving my options open – I may decide that staying at home is the right thing to do for a while longer – it’s hard to know until we get there. Rest assured – our child will be the most important thing in the world to us, and we will keep him or her as safe, happy and healthy as we can!

Jon’s Story
I was born in Bangor, Maine, way up in the northeastern corner of the United States. My father worked in the retailing business for Sears and was being transferred around the country quite a bit. In fact, it wasn’t long after I arrived that our family was transferred to Burlington, Vermont. At this time, my mother was a stay at home mom, taking care of me and my older brother Mike, who turned four shortly after I was born. We lived in Vermont for about two years, but then my father received the call that he would be transferring to Chicago, Illinois. The Sears Tower had finally been constructed, and at last my parents had found the place we would all call home. My family moved to Glen Ellyn, Illinois and this is where I grew up and became who I am today.

A few years after we moved to Glen Ellyn the last member of my immediate family, my younger brother Dan, was born. That made me the middle child and as you can imagine I lived a very active childhood with three boys running around the house. I followed my older brother to his room, to school (one of our old family stories is about a two-year old me showing up at Mike’s school in diapers), in sports, you name it. That was the beginning of my love of sports and it has grown ever since. I used sports as an outlet and to understand the art of teamwork. I hope to be able to teach my son or daughter those same values by encouraging them to engage in teamwork, be it sports or any other type of recreation that interests them. My father was my coach in both basketball and baseball, and from that we formed that special bond that fathers and sons enjoy when doing something together they both love. To this day we enjoy watching and talking about sports together, and we both value each other’s opinion. I hope to share a similar bond with my own son or daughter someday. 

Not only did I play sports growing up and through my high school years, but I also began to play the guitar and realize my passion for music. I really enjoyed playing the guitar and listening to many varieties of music. I still love to play and listen to music, but unfortunately I don’t get to play as much as I used to. Someday maybe I’ll have a basement where I can plug in the amp and let loose…

My parents were both born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, so even though we were in Chicago we had a lot of family living there and in other various parts of the country. We would take our vacation by visiting our family, which made me appreciate traveling and exploring other parts of the wonderful country we live in. I can remember eagerly anticipating our long trips in the car, only to ask my dad five minutes out of the driveway, “Hey Dad, when are we going to get there?” I hope to be able to take my son or daughter on those very same kinds of trips, because I know how I cherish those precious times to this very day.

It wasn’t long before I graduated high school and I was off to college. I attended Illinois State University, and majored in Industrial Technology. I had always had a curiosity and interest in building and construction as I passed by construction sites growing up. Upon graduating I took a job in the construction business and have been it in ever since. Currently, I am a project manager for Opus North, a large land development company. My construction background also helps for being able to fix things around the house, which Laura seems to enjoy a lot.

Jon’s thoughts about Laura: Laura is one of the sharpest and most down-to-earth people I know. I realized this from the day we met, and these were just a few of the reasons I quickly fell in love with her. She is also beautiful, creative, and a lot of fun to be around. We are extremely lucky to have each other. It’s been a struggle as we have wanted to start a family for quite some time now, but there is no other person I would rather have in my corner as we continue our journey to have a family. I feed from Laura’s strength and courage through this process. I honestly feel this will make our own family stronger in the future. Speaking of family, just thinking of Laura becoming a mother brings a smile to my face. With all of Laura’s love, thoughtfulness, and creativity, our child will be lucky to have Laura for his or her mom.

Laura’s thoughts about Jon:Jon is a big guy, both in body and heart. His smile lights up a room and when he tells a story, he engages you immediately and makes you laugh out loud. He is caring and loyal and smart, and even though his love of sports borders on obsession during football season, I love him very much! Family is very important to him – in fact, the first picture he showed me after we met was of his new little nephew. When I think of Jon being a dad, I see a strong, protective father who would do anything for his son or daughter, keeping them safe and well-provided for – while making them giggle uncontrollably at the same time. No matter what his child is interested in, Jon will be his or her biggest fan.

Our Dreams
Thank you for taking the time to read our profile. As our story has hopefully shown, we both come from close-knit, active and supportive families who helped us grow into caring and loving adults. We are very much looking forward to bringing a child into our family, and our baby will have so many people to love him or her – from our immediate family and friends in Chicago and Portland, to family and friends all across the country. We will create a stable and nurturing environment built on love and support in which our child can develop and explore and live up to his or her full potential. We know that this will not be easy and that there will likely be many challenges, but we believe that we have a very solid foundation upon which to build our family. We embrace each other’s quirks and differences and use humor and love to get through any rough patches, and we’ll do the same with our child. We dream of establishing and continuing traditions of all types in our new family – from holiday traditions, to sports and fun, to how we celebrate birthdays, and everything in between. We dream of watching our child grow, discovering what his or her interests and strengths are, and sharing this all with our family and friends – and with you if you so desire. Over the last several years, as our family and friends have had children and we’ve experienced the joy of being aunt, uncle and godparent, our longing for a child has continued to grow. We are eager to become parents ourselves so that we can share our love and help our baby grow into a strong, capable adult.

We leave the decision about openness completely up to you, but we would love to meet you and get to know you, so that we could help our child understand the wonderful people who gave him or her the ultimate gifts of life and of love. And if you’d rather keep things more private – that’s OK too! We wish you the very best of luck as you work through your decision-making process and we hope that you find the strength and support that you need during this time and afterwards. We thank you with all our hearts for considering adoption for your baby and for considering us as possible parents.

For more information please contact Sunny Ridge Family Center.

Laura and Jon

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