Bob and Kim

>

<

From Us to You

Dear Expectant Parent,

There are times in life when words fail to properly express the depth of our feelings. Saying “thank you” for taking the time to consider us as potential adoptive parents is certainly one of those times. Despite being not enough to cover everything we are feeling, allow us to thank you nonetheless. We may not know you yet, but we have tremendous admiration and respect for you and the journey you are on. Your courage and strength are incredible, and we send the deepest love to you and your baby. If you do choose us, we promise to provide your baby with a home always filled with love and support. Your baby will be welcomed into our family and together we will make sure they know as much about you and your family as you desire.

Our story together began back when we were both in our early 20’s and attending college. Though we didn’t go to school together, Kim’s dad worked with Bob’s mom. Through them, and Kim’s willingness to show Bob the newbie (whose college friends were all out-of-towners) around, we came together. We fell for each other – even if we didn’t want to be set up by our parents and fought it at first! From there on, we were a team. We knew we wanted to get married and spend the rest of our lives together. We didn’t rush into it, taking time to grow and build a solid foundation together. Our path down the aisle got held up along the way due to other life events, but the end destination was always certain.

After enjoying building a life together, we knew we wanted to add to our family. We found out that having children of our own wouldn’t be possible. It didn’t deter us though; we had talked about adoption being something we were both interested in before we even started trying to expand our family. Adoption is something both of us have had as part of our lives before. Kim’s older brother is adopted and it was something that was openly discussed as a family when she was growing up. We plan on taking a similar approach to talking about adoption; we intend to openly discuss it since it is something that should be shared proudly. Bob’s cousin (who was like an older sister to him growing up) had placed a child for a closed adoption when she was young. We have seen adoption from different angles and knew it was always an option we would be open to.

We were both lucky enough to have fantastic examples of how to be raised in a loving home, and look forward to being able to provide that to a child ourselves. Your child will be loved, supported, and encouraged to dream. We will be there to celebrate the highs, help ride out the lows, and enjoy the ride together! Kim’s crafty nature will ensure there’s always something fun to do and Bob will welcome the request for “just one more story” with a smile. There will be no shortage of family and friends (who we love like family) ready to share that love as well. Believe us, they keep telling us how they can’t wait too! Though Bob’s parents are no longer with us, Kim’s parents are very close to us and will make fantastic grandparents. Pets have always been a central part of our homes; we love the joy they bring. Our current girls (our three rats Latte, Cupcake, & Brownie) are just the sweetest and gentlest little things.

We are so looking forward to sharing our lives with your child, from the big events like vacations and celebrations, down to the simple daily things like spending quality time together at home. Holidays are big with our family, especially Christmas. We always welcome the chance to get together with our loved ones. Our Catholic faith is important to us and something we will share as well. We love to do things like going to the beach, visiting museums, or exploring the sights of Southern California. We call it our “Kimmy and Bobby Adventures” and can’t wait to add to our adventure crew! One of the adventures we’re looking forward to taking as a crew would be Disney World – we got to go with Kim’s best friend & her family for her daughter’s first visit, and are excited to meet them there again for your child’s first trip too!

With love and gratitude,
Kim and Bob

>

<

Why We are Choosing to Adopt

We want to adopt is to start our family and have a child to love, make new family memories, and have the same amazing relationship we have had with our own parents as grown adults. We have some fertility issues ourselves and feel adoption is the best way for us to expand our family.

Adoption has affected both of our families in different ways. Kim’s older brother was adopted 3 years before she was ever born. Kim’s parent’s viewed adoption as just a fact of how her brother became a part of their family. Just a piece of the family story. Bob also has some experience with adoption from the side of the birth parent. A family member placed a child for a closed adoption as a teenager, since that was the way it was done more often back then. With no contact at all, she always wondered how he was doing and what kind of person he grew up to be. They were able to reunite and she even visited him and his soon-to-be wife. Adoption has played such a role in both our lives it seems to be the perfect fit for us and our family story.

>

<

About Kim, by Bob

Let me tell you a little story about a woman named Kim. She is one of the most special and terrific people I’ve ever met. She has a great sense of humor and whimsy – and she has the sock collection to match! Nobody can make me smile or crack up as easily as she does. She doesn’t try to be funny either, it just comes naturally. Kim also infuses life lessons into things more smoothly than anyone I’ve ever known. I call it sneaking the cauliflower into the mashed potatoes, and I swear it’s her superpower. She’s especially good at that with her students, but I’ve seen her work that magic with adults as well. It never feels heavy-handed or forced; it just flows right along in such an “oh, of course” sort of way.

She has the most caring heart and loves with absolutely all of it. It shows in big ways, as well as everyday small ways. I think those characteristics are what drew her to working with kids in the first place. She cares deeply about her students and is always thinking about what she can do for them to get as much out of a lesson as possible. Seeing the way Kim cares for her students and those around her is how I know she will be an incredible mother.

>

<

About Bob, by Kim

Meet Bob! He’s got a huge heart and is one of the most caring people I know. Bob is the goof to my ball, the mac to my cheese, my better half. Bob is funny, loving, a great friend, and always willing to lend a hand even to strangers. If you need a random fact about movies, TV, books, or video games and even just random facts about life he usually has one. He’s a great partner for playing trivia games. He’s a great listener and advice giver when I have a problem. He cares about everyone and everything. He will even move poor defenseless snails from behind the tires of his car when he’s backing out so as to not squish them. Also, Bob has what we like to call kid and dog magnetism. If there is a kid or dog nearby, they will gravitate right to him like a magnet. It makes me smile watching him play and interact with our friend’s children. You can see how much he cares for them like family, as we have known most of them since they were born. Bob puts a huge emphasis on family and the importance of spending time together. Whether it’s roughhousing with the boys or playing tea party or reading a book with the girls, he gives them his full and undivided attention. That’s what he does, if you are the person he is talking with or listening to then he will give you his whole self. Bob will make a great dad and I can’t wait for the opportunity to see him hold your child, make a silly face or noise, and hear your baby giggle!

>

<

How We Met

We met almost 20 years ago all thanks to Bob’s mom and Kim’s dad and their tendency to talk about their children often while at work. Kim’s dad was a manager at a pharmacy, and Bob’s mom took a second job in the evenings at that same pharmacy.  Bob and his mom had recently relocated from the Midwest so Bob’s mom could be near family and Bob could transfer to a local college. When Bob’s school went on summer break, he lived in his mom’s apartment. Bob’s mom wanted him to make some local friends and get out more, as all of Bob’s school friends were from other towns/states, not local. Kim’s dad asked if she would introduce him to some people. Kim was not real keen on the idea of being hooked up by their parents, but agreed to have Bob call her if he was interested in hanging out.

About a month went by and Bob finally had time to call, as he had been on a cross-country road trip with some friends from back home. Kim had forgotten about the call by that point and had to jog her memory about who this Bob was that was calling her. We hit it off right away, our first conversation on the phone was about 45 minutes and the second was about 3 hours. We decided to get off the phone and Bob picked Kim up for ice cream. We hung out, talked laughed and people watched. After that Kim was trying to hook Bob up with a coworker of hers, but really just trying to deny the way she felt about him and that their parents had set them up. Later in the summer, Kim’s brother’s best friend was getting married and Kim asked Bob to come along. That is where the “what are we” conversation ensued and the rest is history. 20 happy years together and 10 fun-filled years married.

>

<

Lifestyle

We like to describe our lifestyle as not excessive, just excessively happy. We both work full time; Kim is a 1st grade teacher and Bob is a proofreader. We’re lucky to have jobs we enjoy that offer a good work/life balance. Once we are both back home, we fill each other in on our days as we make dinner. While we enjoy making a meal together during the week, we are also more than happy to have dinner out on weekends! Evenings are spent in each other’s company watching our favorite shows or laughing at silly stuff we find online. Weekends mean enjoying the things we don’t have enough time to do during the workweek. We use our weekends to do things like spending time outside, seeing friends, quality time with Kim’s parents, playing games, watching movies, and taking care of the errands we can’t do during the week. Anything we do is always more fun when we do it together!

>

<

Our Parenting Style

When we imagine what we will be when we are parents, we see 2 fully present, in the moment, go-with-the-flow parents who love unconditionally and always want what’s best for their family. We will raise your child to have love for themselves and others around them. We will teach your child right from wrong and how to have fun in life as well as be responsible. We will pass along our belief in God and our Catholic Family Traditions while keeping an open mind to others and their beliefs. We will teach your child that, no matter how old you are, you have to find ways to play and simple joys in the everyday stuff. We will show your child that when you make a mistake you must have humility, admit it, then learn from it because no one’s perfect. We will remind your child how lucky we are to be their parents and that you chose us to be a family.

>

<

Home & Neighborhood

Bob’s mom always described our home as warm and welcoming, which is the best way we can think of to describe it. After all, without the environment created within, a home is just walls, a roof, and a floor, right? In addition to the necessities of decor (a dining table, a comfy couch), we make sure to include pictures of loved ones and memories that mean the most to us. Though it is a condo, our community is located in the midst of single-family homes too, so it feels more like a traditional neighborhood. There’s a great park just about five minutes walk from our front door. We also have a couple of pools in our community. Our next door neighbors are super nice and have a little boy who is about a year old (along with a cute little dog named Albert).

>

<

Our Pets

Both of us grew up with pets as kids, and have great memories of all of the furry and feathered family members we had. We both had dogs in our families; Kim also had parakeets, cockatiels, hamsters, and rats. Our current furry family members are 2 dogs named Sami and Toby and a very funny bird named Peanut, who live at Kim’s parents’ house.

At our house, we have 3 loveable little rat sisters named Cupcake, Latte, and Brownie. We have had the pleasure of watching them grow from day one, as an old neighbor of ours reached out to Kim for some help. A young girl that she was a nanny for had recently adopted a young rat who, one day, gave birth to 20 little pink babies. They were first time rat owners, and our neighbor knew Kim had rats as pets since she was 10, so they hoped we could help them with how to care for them – and also who to take the babies to be adopted once they were old enough to leave their mom. We reached out to all our small animal rescue sources and connected them with the family. We also taught them how to care for the babies, including handling them from a young age so they would be used to being picked up and held. The little girl whose rat had the babies took that job very seriously. We got pictures (and even video) of how she and her mom were caring for these babies.

When it was time for the babies to be sent to the small animal rescue, they offered us the option to bring home a few as pets for our family. We were planning on 2 and left with 3 as they chose us. Brownie climbed onto Kim’s shoulder, cuddled behind her neck, and didn’t want to be put down. We each had a beige twin fall asleep in our arms, so we had to take all 3! They have such sweet, funny personalities and love to be held, run around on the couch, and get treats. They have 3 very unique personalities, though it is very hard to tell the twins Latte and Cupcake apart at times. We usually can tell them apart once we pick them up. Cupcake is a little bit lighter in weight than Latte, and she is a bit more of a cuddler. They all make the cutest noises of contentment we can only describe as baby grunts, grits, and swishes to let us know they are happy. They love to beg at dinner time from their cage, for whatever we may be eating. They are like tiny dogs. We can’t wait to teach your child how much fun pet rats can be.

>

<

Our Families & Friends

We are lucky to have a loving support system of family and friends. Kim’s parents live a few minutes away; she’s also got a brother who lives in Colorado. We don’t get to see him as often as we’d like, but phones and iPads help with that. Bob is an only child; his mom passed away but is with us in our hearts always. Kim’s extended family lives mostly in the LA/Orange County line area. We get to see them pretty regularly and the whole group gets together at Christmas. We weren’t able to for 2020, which was the first time in a very long time the family didn’t celebrate together. Bob is a Chicago transplant, so his family is mostly back East. One of his uncles that he’s very close to does live one state over in Nevada, though. Hopefully, sometime soon we’ll be able to head East for a visit and tour. We’ve got a tight-knit group of close friends in the area. We saw them pretty frequently pre-pandemic and will be getting back to see them more often now that we’re all vaccinated. Kim’s best friend since the 5th grade lives across the country, but like with her brother, technology helps keep them close!

>

<

Family Traditions

Family traditions are very important to us especially now that Bob’s mom has passed away. Our traditions have changed and grown from our different childhoods in California for Kim and Illinois for Bob, all the way to adults coming together as a dating couple, and now a married couple. Some traditions we have brought with us and some we have created new together.

One tradition important in both families is celebrating birthdays together as a family. Doesn’t have to be anything big just dinner, presents and something to put a candle in and sing.  Often the singing is intertwined with laughter and Bob echoing “you” in the background. It’s not the prettiest singing but it’s our very special version. Both Kim and her mom love to bake so something homemade is often requested.

Being Catholic, Christmas and Easter are also big holidays for our family. We often celebrate for several days as we split celebrating with immediate family, extended family, and friends. Once again, baking is a huge tradition for Kim’s side of the family, especially during Christmas. Our family has a lot of traditional family recipes along with new ones that Kim and her mom have added over time. Going to church is also an important tradition as learning our Catholic Faith and its traditions.

One of the traditions Bob brought from his family into Kim’s is when a teen in the family gets their first car, a close friend or relative must pin an angel pin into the car somewhere as a guardian angel to protect them as they drive. Since Bob is an only child, he is close to one of Kim’s younger cousins and he pinned an angel into his first car as Bob’s mom’s best friend had done for him when he was a teen. It was a fun way to connect our families and our traditions.

>

<

Our Promise to You

We promise, as adoptive parents, to raise your child in a loving and supportive home. We had great examples to learn from in our homes growing up and we plan on following suit. We’ll be there for them through thick and thin. We will teach your child the importance of close friends and family and never forgetting to say the words “I love you.” We feel those 3 words can never be said enough to those that are important in our lives. We will retell the story of how your child came to our family, and how grateful we are to you for choosing our family for them. We promise to be open with sharing any information that you are comfortable with and maintain the amount of openness you are ready for at any time. We promise to help your child have a belief in God and a connection to their faith, whether it be Catholic or something else. We will be open to your child’s thoughts and feelings and show them the importance of right and wrong.