Dear Birthmother,

Even though we haven’t met you, we have been thinking about you and have been praying for you.  You are a special person and we know this is a difficult time for you. As you consider our profile we want you to know that we are overjoyed about becoming parents someday soon. We are excited that you are thinking about how your child will be raised, and are considering an adoption plan.  If you choose to place your child with us, your child will be part of a loving and nurturing family who will shower them with lots of hugs and kisses! Your child will have a good education and experience the wonderful things life can offer.  We have written about ourselves below, so you get to know us.  This will give you a glimmer into our lives.

How We Met
Jim and I met on a hot summer day in 2002. Both of us had spent years trying to find the right person. Jim always comes up with fun ideas for dates. On our first date, Jim took me out for Thai food. We ordered our favorites. Jim ordered spicy beef and I ordered Szechuan chicken. I noticed that Jim’s brown eyes light up when he eats something he likes. I like mildly spicy food, while Jim likes his meal to have a real kick. We both enjoyed our dinner with sticky rice and tea. After dinner, we took a long walk. The summer air was warm and breezy. The stars were twinkling overhead. I thought Jim had the nicest brown hair I had ever seen. When Jim took my hand, our hands fit together perfectly. It felt so natural and right, I knew he was special. On our second date, Jim took me canoeing. We paddled out into the lake. Ducks were swimming around. We paddled along  the shore and then out into the lake.  Jim steered our course.  I noticed how skilled he was. We chatted away the whole time, talking about what we wanted to do with the rest of our summer. It was so hot out, we splashed water on each other. For our third date, we went to a summer barbeque. I got a chance to meet Jim’s friends, who knew each other from high school or from work. Everyone at the party knew each other for years, and were so nice to me. After that, Jim and I knew we had a good thing going and became best friends. We spent a lot of time getting to know each other, and then Jim met my family. My father really liked Jim. My dad told me “don’t let Jim get away. He’s a keeper.” We dated for nine more months, spending a lot of time together with our families. Then Jim asked my father if it was ok to marry me. When Jim proposed, he told me what I meant to him and why he loved me. It was one of the most heart-felt experiences in my life. Jim is such a caring, bright and nurturing person. I knew that he would make a great husband and father.

Our wedding was a truly memorable day in our lives. We were married in the Cathedral near my hometown on a sunny day. Our family priest, who has known me my whole life, officiated at the wedding. We were fortunate that all of our relatives and friends were at this beautiful ceremony. Then we had an unforgettable night of celebration, great food and dancing at the reception. And our niece and nephews looked so cute!

Our Life Today
We have been married over four years. We live in a beautiful suburb of Chicago, in a lovely two story home. When Jim and I first saw our house, we thought it perfect for us. There is a cozy kitchen which gets lots of sunlight. Our house has extra bedrooms, a play room and a family room. There is a big yard with plenty of room to play catch and have a jungle gym. We live across the street from a park, with a playground, tennis courts, and field where lots of kids play. The neighborhood is filled with children. Our community offers excellent schools, a lovely town square, and a magnificent library. In general, the school, library and park districts provide many fun activities and classes for children and families.

Jim and I love to cook our meals at home. We enjoy eating breakfast and dinner together everyday in our cozy kitchen. We hang out in our yard to barbecue, garden and talk the day away. On summer nights, we go for long walks after dinner. For fun, we like to go out with friends to dinner, watch movies, go bicycling, hiking, swimming or golfing.

We attend Catholic Church weekly.  We have a great church, and learn a lot. We read the Bible, and see how it applies to our everyday lives. We pray at all meals. Our church has groups for studying the Bible and other community activities. We are fortunate to have a family priest, who joins us occasionally for dinner.

And we love vacation! (Summer of 2010)

Our Background: Shavonne
I grew up in River Forest, a tree-lined community full of families with children. I am one of 4 children (an older sister and two brothers). I was blessed with wonderful parents, who dedicated their lives to their family. My parents provided a loving and stable family, which they graced by their marriage of over 50 years. My mother dedicated her life to her family, and was a stay at home Mom. My mother would spend the days cooking wonderful meals. The house was filled with aromas of dinners and homemade desserts. I spent Saturdays with my mom learning how to make cookies and pies. I would fill the cookie box for the week. Friends loved to stop by and stick their hands into the cookie box. Mom also taught me how to keep a nice home. During the week, I would sit at the kitchen table with Mom, where she helped me learn to read and write. She would have made a stellar English teacher. My father ran his own business. But he was always home for dinner every night, to enjoy my mother’s cooking and to have time with his kids.  I spent many evenings with my Dad, reading and listening to stories. My father had a great love of history and math. He taught me about my family’s heritage.

My parents were both Catholic and had deep faith in God. They helped teach their children about God, so that we would be close to God in our daily lives. We went to Catholic schools until college, attended Church weekly, and helped our neighbors.

I have fond memories of growing up with my siblings and our friends. Every day was a new adventure.  My brothers and I rode our bicycles up and down the brick roads in town, racing each other and laughing. We would play endless hours of catch in the yard. We had a huge sand box, and built many sand castles. Then the dog would jump in, and demolish everything! My parents had a cottage, where we spent our vacation. Warm days were filled with swimming, gleefully diving in the lake.  As a family we would swim for hours everyday. Then we would do gardening, help with dinner and wash dishes. We would play outside all evening. We would reluctantly go inside at dusk, and couldn’t wait for the next day to start.

During holidays and summers, we would see our cousins. They are wonderful people, and a great source of joy and kindness. They have families of their own now, and are raising their children.

I went to Catholic grammar and high schools, and attended the University of Illinois in Urbana for a business degree. I later completed a Masters in accounting. During all of my school years, I developed close friendships, which blossomed into lifelong relationships. I love to spend time with my childhood and school fiends as often as I can. They have such lovely families…and lots of kids too!

For work, I am an accountant and love working with computer s. I am very lucky that I am with one of the best companies and have flexible work hours. Best of all, I work 10 minutes from home. This allows me to maximize the time I spend with family.

Jim
I grew up in the Chicago suburbs. My parents moved out of an apartment in Franklin Park, IL and purchased a white brick ranch in Itasca, IL. Itasca at the time was not yet a fully developed suburb. When we first moved into our home, there were open fields across the street and also to the left of our street. The fields were full of frogs and cattails. Itasca looked more like a farm town than a suburb that is so close to Chicago and employment. Today I love the outdoors and suspect it’s because part of my childhood was in such a beautiful place.

My mother was unexpectedly widowed at a young age. After a few years she remarried to a man who was also a widower with two girls. My step sisters are married and have a total of four boys and one girl. I was very fortunate in that my elder sister along with the 3 children who lived next door also loved being outside. At every opportunity, we would be outdoors until our parents would call. Usually shortly after the street lights went on. During the summer our favorite activities included practice stealing bases, riding bicycles, various games with the kids on the block and our ultimate favorite Nerf football with our Collie. The fun didn’t stop in the winter. We lived on a half acre and had plenty of room for outdoor adventure. My step father owned a landscaping business and once built an outdoor ice skating rink in our back yard complete with lighting. This of course made our home the favorite place with the neighborhood kids.

The story of my childhood would not complete without mentioning my Austrian American grandmother on my mother’s side. Grandma was a gourmet caterer and once had a job with one of the 1969 Cubs. Needless to say, she was a super fan. She took me to my first baseball game and I have been a fan ever since. When my step sisters came into my life, we didn’t need encouragement to go to Grandmas for a dinner. The food was fantastic and if there was a game, it was on. My Grandma made the best apple strudel.

We are all still very close today. Recently we all went to Disney World together and took a cruise to the Bahamas.  It was fun. I can only hope this is what heaven is like. More frequently our favored Summer activity with the family is BBQ and the pool at my mom’s condominium.

My philosophy on raising children is to surround them with a circle of love, structure, encouragement, acceptance and protection. The greatest gift that we could give a child is to provide the foundation needed to thrive and be happy in life.

In terms of my professional life, I have a Bachelor of Science in Management from the University of Illinois at Chicago and also made Deans List during my junior year. For the past 17 years, I have worked in the insurance industry. Currently I am a Financial Consultant leading an account team that manages Fortune 500 customers.

Our Future
We have always loved children, and can’t wait to be parents.  Our families are very excited about us adopting. Jim’s mom can’t wait. She wants to know when the child will be here. Our niece and nephews want to know when they will have a new cousin. And of course, our many friends are there for us.

We are committed to being great parents. We will love and nurture your child. We will teach this child that God loves them. We have a beautiful home, where the child will have their own room and plenty of space to play and grow. We will provide a home life with many fun activities. We will help the little one with their homework, just like our parents helped us. We will work hard to provide this child an excellent education. We can’t wait to take our little one to the beautiful areas of our community, like the library, parks and ice cream shops.

Jim and I are committed to sharing our child’s history and birth story with them. We look forward to telling the child that our family was built through adoption. Our child will always know that they had a loving birth mother who wanted the best for them. We are comfortable with openness, and want the child to have contact with you. As the birthmother, we will honor and respect the level of openness that you desire.  We welcome you, and can’t wait to meet you! We will support you in your planning for your child and admire that you made a decision to give your baby life.